Today was the day. I was going through the portal to Sunset Shimmer's world. I call it that instead of Earth because Twilight told me that the world on the other side of her portal didn't really match my description of my old world.
Anyhow, Twilight gave me a few heads-ups for when I cross through, such as Sunset will look like a human and that I'd be appearing right in front of a school. It was Saturday, so I didn't have to worry about interrupting anything.
Twilight also told me that she has a journal that she can use to communicate with Sunset without going over there in case of emergency, though I made her promise not to use it too much. She told me that Sunset would be waiting for me on the other side.
I looked directly at the portal. It was a mirror, so I was just staring at my own reflection.
"Nervous?" Twilight asked me.
I looked back at her, Starlight, and Spike. They were all here to see me off.
"No," I replied. "It's just gonna be weird, being with my own kind after so long."
"I-If you want, I-I could go with you for a few minutes just until you get used to things," Twilight offered.
I shook my head. "Nope, I am doing this on my own."
Twilight hung her head in defeat. "A-Alright then, I hope you have a good time."
Seeing the sad look on one of the faces I'd come to love, I couldn't help but frown. I knelt down and cupped Twilight's cheeks in my hands.
"I promise you, I won't leave you like I did two years ago. And no matter what may happen between me and Sunset, I will always love you." I demonstrated my point by giving her a kiss on the forehead, below her horn.
Twilight threw her hooves around me in a tight hug. "I know, I'm just gonna really, really, really miss you," she responded, tightening the hug with every 'really'.
I chuckled as I let go and walked over to Starlight and hugged her too.
"See you in a week," she said in a much more cheery tone than Twilight.
I simply responded by giving her a kiss in the side of her head.
I then stood up to face Spike.
"Have fun, Jake. And tell Sunset I said hi," Spike said, waving a claw.
"Thanks, buddy, and I will," I responded.
With that, I finally looked back at the mirror. I put my hand against the surface, and it sunk in just a little. My hand felt cold and a little numb in the other side. I wasn't sure if the portal was instantaneous or not, so I didn't know if my hand was sticking out in Sunset's world.
I finally decided to stop putting it off and stepped through. To answer my own question, no, the trip was not at all instantaneous. The second I stepped through, I was falling through a vortex lined with rainbows. Only, I wasn't technically falling, I was moving forward. And I wasn't just moving straight in through. No, no, no, I was swirling though. It felt disorienting as all hell. Part of me thought Twilight hadn't prepared me for this on purpose, but I didn't have time to think about that.
The trip, disorienting as it was, was at least short, and I felt myself being pushed out, onto solid ground. I skidded to a halt on one foot, still a little dizzy.
"See what I mean? There has got to be a way to fix that," I heard a familiar voice ask behind.
With a hand rested on my forehead, I turned around to see a girl about my height with a familiar skin tone and a familiar hairstyle. She was wearing an aquamarine skirt and a black, leather jacket, along with some dark blue leggings and some black heels. An odd combination when you think about it, but it seemed to work.
"S-Sunset" I asked.
Sunset simply stared as I got a better look at her. 'If I thought she was hot before... Wait, whoa, whoa, no, no, no, that makes me a-'
"Y-You're...younger," Sunset stuttered, interrupting my thought.
Sorry, what?
"I-I-I...I'm what?" I managed to stammer out.
Sunset searched her pockets until she pulled out a smartphone. She hit a few buttons and swiped a few screens until she showed me the screen.
The screen was on selfie mode, so I could see myself. Sure enough, as Sunset had pointed out, I appeared younger than before. I was a bit shorter, and my skin had gotten a little brighter and smoother. My hair was also combed back and covered in gel, so much so that I there was sunlight bouncing off of it. I was wearing the same clothes as before, a pair of jeans, a white shirt, and a brown jacket.
"Huh, didn't see that coming," I said to myself. Now that I heard myself, I sounded younger too.
"Well, the portal does kind of make those who go through it older or younger. For instance, when Twilight came here, she was my age, but in Equestria, I'm a few years older than her," Sunset explained.
"It's like the portal knows where it is and adjusts its users accordingly," I said, motioning toward the high school.
Sunset followed my gaze and nodded. "I see what you mean. The is where I go to school, by the way, CHS, short for Canterlot High School."
I looked at Sunset with confusion. "Canterlot? What do you mean?"
"Oh, Twilight didn't tell you?" I shook my head. "Well, a lot of the places here have the same name as in Equestria. And did Twilight tell you about my...friends here at all?" I shook my head again. Sunset chuckled before she continued. "Oh, well, a few things you need to know. First, we refer to Twilight as Princess Twilight. I know it may seem a little weird to you for...obvious reasons, but you'll see why. Second, my friends will look and sound...and act extremely familiar, but keep in mind that you don't know them. You've never even met them."
"What do you mean? What are you hiding?" I half-joked.
Sunset gave me a wink. "You'll see."
Just then, her phone buzzed.
"Oh, well would you look at that. I just got a text from my friends, and they were wondering if I wanted to hang out at the mall," Sunset said.
"Do your friends know about me?" I asked.
"A little bit, but they don't really know about you're...relationship status, if you know what I mean," Sunset answered.
"Yeah, I'm not entirely sure how anyone would react to my...relationship," I agreed. "Anyhow, I'd love to meet your friends."
Sunset tilted her head and smiled. "Really?"
"Yeah, why not?" I smiled back.
Sunset shrugged. "Okay, but like I said, you don't know them, no matter how familiar they look. Anyhow, if we hurry, we should be able to catch a bus to the mall. I'd drive us, but I don't exactly have a car...or a license."
"That's fine. I had my license before I appeared in Equestria, but I wasn't really big on using it," I responded.
"Alright, let's go. The bus stop's not too far from here."
A few minutes later, Sunset and I were walking around the mall. She said she got a text from her friends, telling her they were in the food court, which was all the way on the opposite side, so we had a bit of walking to do.
"Just out of curiosity," I started. "Have you had any boyfriends in the past?"
Sunset stayed silent, but I noticed her look away from me with an ashamed look on her face.
"Everything okay?" I asked, slowing down a little.
Sunset sighed. "Yeah, I've had a boyfriend before, but I kinda treated him...very, very poorly."
"It's alright, you can tell me. I promise I won't judge," I said, taking her hand in mine.
Sunset stayed silent for a moment. "Remember what I told you, about abandoning my studies with Princess Celestia and coming here?" I nodded. "Well, I figured that I'd need to...climb the ranks, if I was ever gonna, you know, succeed in what I had planned to do. And I figured, why not dating? Anyhow, remember the guy I told you about, who Twilight liked?"
"Yeah, you said his name was like, Flash Central, something like that," I said, nodding my head.
"Close, Flash Sentry. Anyhow, when I first came to this world, Flash was the most popular freshman in CHS...so I decided to use that to my advantage. I kinda...dated him for a while, so I could become a bit more popular." She withdrew her hand form mine. "But whenever we were together, I'd just...order him around and treat him like crap." She paused. "We've become friends again, and I know that all that's in the past, but...I just can't help but feel guilty whenever I see him." By the time Sunset had finished, there were tears forming in her eyes, and she couldn't make eye contact with me.
I could feel how sad Sunset was, so I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her, one arm around her back, and the other on the back on her head.
"It's alright, I'm glad you told me. I know that it's hard to let go of something that personal, but it's not like he hates you or anything like that. You said he wanted to be friends right?" I said, lightly stroking her hair.
Sunset backed away just enough to make eye contact. "Y-Yeah."
I moved both of my hands to her shoulders. "Then there you go. Just be his friend."
Sunset smiled and leaned forward to hug me, standing on one foot even. "Oh, thank you so much, Jake! You're such a good listener."
I chuckled as I returned the hug. "Some say it's my best quality."
We continued walking, our hands still joined.
"So, why'd you wanna know about my relationship with Flash?" Sunset suddenly asked.
I tilted my head and smiled. "Just to see who I should talk to, so I could take you on a date."
Sunset stopped and blushed furiously. "D-Date? I-I-I th-thought this w-was just a...t-trial."
I turned and smiled at the embarrassed, but cute teen. "It is, so how are we gonna find out if we should be in a relationship with a real date first?"
"I-I-I honestly wasn't expecting that. I really figured we would just kinda...hang out for the week and decide," Sunset admitted, still blushing.
"What good is a relationship trial without a relationship?" I smirked...until I realized something. "Yeesh, I sound like Twilight."
We both stood there, laughing, until something behind me caught Sunset's eye.
"There're my friends. Come on, let's go introduce you!" Sunset said, grabbing my hand and walking toward a group of girls.
One of the girls noticed us and waved. "Hey look, Sunset's here," I heard her say. I don't know why, but she sounded extremely familiar.
Once we got closer, I got a good look at the six girls waiting for us.
First, the one who spoke had lavender skin and dark purple hair with a light pink streak that ran though it. She wore glasses, a striped shirt, and a skirt.
Another girl wore a white shirt with a soccer ball in the middle, along with dark blue vest, a pink skirt, and black shorts underneath. She also had cyan skin and rainbow colored hair.
A third girl wore a simple, white shirt. She had butterscotch skin and long, pink hair that curled over her face.
Another girl wore a white buttoned shirt with a blue scarf and some jeans, along with a cowboy hat. She also had bright skin, with freckles on her cheeks, and short, blonde hair.
There was also a girl who wore a teal shirt and a dark purple skirt. She also had a pair of what looked like diamond earrings. She had plucked eyebrows and perfectly curled dark purple hair.
Finally, there was a girl who wore a white and pink tank-top and a poofy pink skirt. Her skin was a bright shade of pink, and her hair was very bubbly and a slightly darker shade of pink.
Once I went through each description in my head...my head stopped working.
"Um, you alright there?" asked the girl with the rainbow hair.
I blinked a few times before darting my head for Sunset, to the girls, to Sunset again, and this went on for a few seconds.
"I-I...uh, I just...wha-wha...I-um...I......WHAT?!"