//------------------------------//
// I:Exodus 
// Story: Equestrian Girl 
// by HorseStories 
//------------------------------//

The first thing Sunset noticed on the other side of the portal was that it was raining. A lot. Within seconds, her fur was soaked through - except, strangely enough, she no longer had any fur.

It was dark - too dark to see anything. She could still feel her body, but it was... wrong. New parts had appeared, and old parts had vanished. She scrambled to her hooves, and promptly fell flat on her face. Her legs were gone, replaced with thinner, weaker appendages with strange little... were those fingers?

Hesitantly, she raised her new limbs up to her muzzle - or the space where her muzzle would normally be. As she suspected, she had hands. With fingers. Long, slender and remarkable responsive. She had seen similar appendages in Minotaurs, yet she had never once dreamed she would own a pair herself.

Minotaurs... hands... perhaps she was meant to walk on her hind legs? They certainly felt more stable. Clumsily, she raised herself to full height, grappling an unfamiliar nearby structure for support as she did so. As the numb sensation from crashing out of the portal subsided, Sunset became more aware of her new form. Her ears were smaller, less sensitive. Her mane was still there, but far longer and thicker. Her tail was gone.

Shakily, Sunset took a step forward. Then a second. Then a third. Within a minute, she was walking, jogging and even running with ease. In fact, she was probably faster now than she had been as a pony.

Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness now, enough that she could see the buildings around her in detail. The structure she had exited through towered over her, the imposing figure of a reared horse cut in white marble atop it disrupting the star-studded sky. 

Behind it stood an enormous building, white lettering emblazoned on the front. "Canterlot High School". As she approached the building, she caught a glimpse of motion in one of the windows. She froze - and so did the figure in the window. Approaching it more closely, she realized she was staring at her own reflection.

A girl with waist-length hair and turquoise eyes stared back at her. She had seen illustrations of humans in books she'd "borrowed" from Celestia's private library before, but this was the first time she had seen one in the flesh. She had been given a set of clothes to match. Was that the custom here? The spiked leather jacket and knee-high boots reminded her vaguely of the portraits she had seen of Griffon Knights in dress armour.

Her horn was missing! Clasping at her forehead, she felt a knot form in the pit of her stomach - or in the region she assumed her stomach was located. Was she no longer able to perform magic? Could humans perform magic? Focusing her attention on a small rock in front of her, she took a deep breath and willed herself to lift it in the air.

Nothing. Sunset swore and tried again. Still nothing. She tried once more, this time muttering a few spells under her breath. This time, the rock shook slightly, and she could feel traces of magic flowing within her, but she collapsed from exhaustion in seconds.

Not good. Unicorn horns were central to magical performance, focusing raw magic into a directed spell. Without one, her magic was unfocused, weak. If only she'd thought to bring a magical artefact with her, a stave, an enchanted gem, anything that could act as a conduit.

Focusing on the mirror to distract herself from this new, unpleasant development, she considered the form before her. She was young. She knew little of humans, but she could tell that the form she had taken now was in late adolescence. A quirk of the portal? Well, it had turned her into an entirely different species, so taking off a few years wasn't unthinkable. She might even pass as a student of this school.

All things considered, it seemed somewhat... mundane. Celestia had fought so hard to keep her from the mirror, Sunset had expected to find a world filled with beings of unimaginable magical talent and wisdom, or artefacts of unsurpassed power. She had to be missing something.





Sunset groaned and slid the book in front of her to one side. If she'd learnt anything, it was that humans liked to write books. A lot of books.

She had been in the library for - she squinted at the clock on the wall in front of her - nearly five hours. In that time, she'd barely covered the basics of human life. If she wanted to fit in properly, she was going to have to do a lot more reading.

Humans were... fascinating. No magic to speak of, but their technological and scientific accomplishments put Equestria to shame. Computers, wireless communication, nuclear power... Sunset hadn't even known what an atom was an hour ago. They made Equestria look wild, untamed.

Then again, their history wasn't as sanitary as the world around her would suggest. Humans sure loved to kill each other. Sunset could list the number of wars in Equestrian history on one of her newly acquired hands, and that was going back as far as the Three Kingdoms. Distastefully, she flipped through her copy of Encylopedia Militiarum. They even had a word for ethnic mass murder. Genocide. 

In a way, Sunset reasoned to herself, idly scanning the pages for anything that caught her interest, she couldn't really judge them. Despite their accomplishments, their violent nature showed humans were clearly a more primitive species, not unlike the Griffon empire, or Yak chiefdoms of the north.

Sunset had known since she was a young filly that Celestia was a fool for focusing on dialogue and cooperation with other creatures. Yaks and griffons could never be treated as their equals - and clearly, humans couldn't either. Presumably Celestia had some misconceived notion of sending ambassadors and diplomats through the portal. But Yaks and Griffons were primitive savages. Humans were strong, and outnumbered them ten thousand times over. Sunset could see it now.

An army of humans marching on Equestria, armed with guns, bombs and tanks, leaving a trail of burned cities and piles of corpses. Canterlot in flames. Celestia's severed head on a pike in the main square. Why not? If humans treated their own with such cruelty, who knows what they'd do to another species.

The mirror had enticed her in with promises of power, but now Sunset saw the real reason she was here. She was here to save her home. The natural instinct of humans to engage in violence and destruction could be redirected to serve her own purposes. When that wretched portal reopened, Sunset would remerge, a legion of slaves behind her.

And when she did... All of Equestria would bow to their saviour. Their new ruler. Princess... no, Empress Sunset Shimmer.

"Sunset?"

Sunset nearly jumped out of her skin. Spinning around, she found herself face-to-face with a man she had never seen before in her life. "Wha-a-a--"

The man looked just as surprised as her. "I..." He paused, then decided to continue. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to catch you off guard. I was going to pass this on to you tomorrow, but I suppose I might as well do it now." With that, he dropped off a bound stack of paper onto her desk, covered in tables and charts Sunset didn't recognize. Her confusion must have shown, because the man continued.

"Your lab results? They came through. Finally, am I right? Anyway, good luck, because I couldn't make head nor tail of them. I'm sure you'll have better luck." He paused, eyeing her up again. "You look... very different. I could swear..." He shook his head. "Nah. I just need some sleep. Have a good weekend, Sunset. I'll see you on Monday."

With that, he turned around and walked away. Sunset hesitated, before grabbing the paper and scanning the cover.


Lab Report - Sunset Shimmer, MSci.
Matter-displacement through quantum gravitational anomalies: A feasability study.


The rest of it was indecipherable nonsense to her.

But Sunset didn't care about the lab report. The only thing that captured her attention was the name at the top. Her name. There was somepony - someone out here who looked just like her, and had her name. An - it sounded absurd - an alternate version of her.

Sunset gripped desk in front of her as she felt a cold panic set in. Her eyes spun around the room, desperately searching out any trace of flaming red and yellow hair. The last thing she needed was to run into a copy of herself.  All of a sudden, her sense of security in anonymity was gone.

Did everyone in Equestria have parallel versions of themselves here? This was the universe she had trapped herself in for the next two and a half years?

She needed to get away. She couldn't stay here, not in this town, not in this country. She couldn't-

Who was she kidding? She had no allies, no money, no magic - the three things she'd relied on her entire life. But maybe - she sighed. She wouldn't last a week here. Maybe there was still time to go back home before the portal shut forever.

She rose to her feet. Grabbing the stack of paper the man had dropped off, she made a beeline for the door. She wasn't sure why, but she wanted to have something from this world to bring back with her.

Once outside, she set off at a brisk pace. She wasn't sure how long the portal was open for. She knew it was open for three days, but how long had it been open already? Given nopony had followed her through, it could very well be due to close for another thirty moons. She picked up the pace, quickly breaking out into an open run.





Sunset knew she was too late before she even arrived at the base of the statue. She threw herself against it anyway, one last desperate hope dashed into oblivion as she crashed into it and dropped to the floor.

As she laid there, Sunset heard the soft sound of footsteps signalling someone approaching behind her. Instinct kicked in, and she scrambled to her feet, eyes scanning the darkness around her. "Who's there?"

"Hello, Sunset."

Sunset felt the hairs on her neck stand up. The voice was female, and vaguely familiar. Someone she knew - or at least, their counterpart. Better to avoid playing along. 

"I'm sorry, who? You must have the wrong person."

"Oh, I don't think so. I've been watching this statue for some time now. I expected someone would come through it eventually. I have to say, I'm a little shocked it would be you."

Sunset knew there was no point in playing stupid. "What do you know about this portal?" A well of hope suddenly sprung up inside her. "Do you know how it works? Can you get me home?"

"Calm down." The voice was commanding, yet soothing. "Maybe. You help me, I help you. Sound good?"

"What?" Sunset squinted, slowly turning on the spot. "Help you how? Show yourself!"

The voice gave a low laugh. "As you wish."

With that, a woman stepped forwards, illuminated by the light of a nearby streetlamp. Sunset felt her eyes widen, and her arms grew weak, before falling to her sides. "You?"

The woman grinned. "Yup."

The two Sunsets stared at each other in silence.





The coffee shop was deserted, save for a bored-looking teenager behind the counter. Sunset wasn't sure the two of them should be seen in public, but her doppelgänger had dismissed the complaint.

"Just play it cool, and nobody will notice a thing. Do you drink coffee?"

They sat in silence for a few minutes, studying each other intensely. Sunset attempted to size up the the woman in front of her, not sure what to make of her. 

She was clearly much older than her. Her hair was tied up in a tight bun, and she wore a pair of thick glasses with golden rims. She dressed shabbily, wearing a thick hoodie and combat trousers, with a pair of thick boots. Most unnerving of all was her eyes, which seemed to dart back and forth constantly, as if looking for something hidden. It was her human counterpart that finally broke the silence.

"So, what are we going to call each other? Because it's going to get really annoying if we keep calling each other Sunset."

"Oh." Sunset hadn't been expecting that. "Whatever you like, I guess. Do you have a preference?"

"Most people call me Shim. It might be easier for you to just call me that."

"Suuuree..." Sunset slowly put down her coffee mug. A million questions raced through her mind. At random, she picked one of the most pressing. "You said you might be able to get me back home?"

Shim nodded. "Maybe. But I need you to help me. Believe me, what I want is what you want."

Sunset's eyes narrowed. "You want to open the portal too?"

"Sure."

"And you think I'd trust it in the hands of one of you? A human?" Sunset almost spat out the word. "I don't think so."

Shim stared at her, before letting out an involuntary giggle. "I'm sorry, but what?"

"You heard me." Sunset felt her usual arrogance return with surprising ease. "You creatures... I've read enough about you to know what you're like. Warmongers. Thieves. Murderers. How do I know you're not just looking to invade my world?"

Shim gave her a dispassionate stare. "Why would I do that?"

"Well, what other reason could you have?"

"I want you to help me with my thesis on interdimensional travel."

Sunset blinked. Of all the responses she had been expecting, she hadn't expected that. "Your thesis?"

"I'm doing my PhD on it. Since you can travel through dimensions, I'm sure you know all about it."

"Uhhh... no."

"No?" Shim looked confused. "I thought... how did you get here in the first place?"

"Well... magic, I suppose."

Shim snorted. "Seriously." Seeing the expression on Sunset's face, her gaze softened slightly. "Seriously?"

Sunset nodded.

"Magic? As in... real magic? Spells, hexes, all that?"

"I guess." Sunset shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I know it's not particularly helpful, but it's true. Magic is kind of... a thing in my world."

"Can you show me?" Shim pressed, eyes shining with a new brightness.

Sunset nodded. "Probably." Focusing on the spoon in front of her, she raised her hand, and slowly raised it into the air, rapidly muttering spells under her breath. It still took a lot out of her, but not as much as before. She had expected gasps from Shim, but she simply watched, transfixed. Eventually, she let it clatter to the tabletop. "Happy?"

"Fascinating." She fixed her gaze on Sunset. "Is there anything else you could do?"

Sunset nodded. "Lots. Teleportation, transfiguration, curses, you name it. I've studied magic my whole life. But I can't do much without a conduit. Normally, I have my horn, but I could do it with-"

"Your horn?"

"Well, yeah. I'm a unicorn." Shim's eyes widened.

"A unicorn? Like, a horse with a horn?"

"A pony."

"Sorry. So, the portal gave you a new body?"

"Yeah. It's... pretty weird."

Shim set her cup down. "So. Magic is real. But you went back to that portal to go home. From this, I take it the barrier between our universes is in a fixed position, but periodically opens and closes?"

Sunset was impressed. "Yeah. That's where I thought you were going to come in."

Shim shook her head. "So did I. I assumed you must have come from a technologically advanced society that had already figured most of this out. Magic is... out of my field of expertise."

Sunset felt the fledgling hope within her die. "You can't help me out?"

Shim traced the rim of her coffee cup with her finger, deep in thought. "Magic... I'm sorry, this is all a lot to take in. Can you tell me anything else about the portal? Where it came from, how it works?"

"Sure." Sunset sighed. "It opens every thirty moons, for three days at a time. In my world, it looks like a mirror. It... well, that's about it."

"And why were you chosen to come through. What are you? An ambassador, a scout, something like that?"

"Uhm, yeah. I'm an - an ambassador." Sunset wasn't about to admit to being a wanted criminal. "I was sent here to-"

"Bullshit."

"Excuse me?"

"You know how the portal works, how often it opens, how long it stays open for. Why would you come through just as the portal was closing?" Sunset opened her mouth, trying to think of an excuse, but Shim overran her before she could utter a word, an almost bored expression on her face.

"You come through, and try to leave in under an hour. That means you had just enough time to learn about this world to know you didn't want to stay, meaning it's your first time here. Correct?" Sunset said nothing, and she continued. "You came here on impulse. You didn't even bring anything with you. You're on the run."

"You're just making this up-"

"Please don't insult my intelligence by denying it."

Sunset snarled. "And what if I am?"

Shim shrugged. "I'm not going to turn you in. I'm not sure who I could turn you in to. Just don't lie to me in the future. It won't work."

Sunset gave a slow nod. "Fine." She stretched her arms out, before laying her hands flat on the table. "All right. So you know my story. What about you?"

Shim blinked. "What about me?"

"What's your story? What do you do? Why are you older than me?" Sunset pressed on. "Come on, it's not every day you meet an alternate reality version of yourself."

Shim shuffled around in her seat, clearly uneasy at this new line of questioning. "Well, I'm a postgrad at Canterbridge. Canterbridge University. You know what a university is?"

"Sure."

"Well, I studied physics there. Uh... I went to Crystal High before that. Got accepted to the Everton Study Program, actually. The only one in my entire year." Shim seemed to glow when she said that.

"And...?" Sunset pressed. "Family? Friends?"

"I don't really do friends. I... had a mom and dad, but they died when I was younger. I grew up... elsewhere."

"Oh." Sunset suddenly regretted asking. "I'm sorry."

Shim waved her hand dismissively. "Don't be. It was a long time ago. Did... you have parents growing up?"

Sunset shook her head. "No. My dad didn't , uh, stick around. My mom..." Visions of a young mare with a crimson mane and amber coat flashed before Sunset's eyes. Too young. "She wasn't... able to take care of me. I grew up in an orphanage."

Shim gave a sad, low chuckle. "Guess we got that in common." She looked back to Sunset, a new sadness in her eyes. "I look so much younger. What are you, fourteen?"

Sunset frowned. "Twenty-three. I don't know, maybe the portal de-ages everypony who comes through."

"Everypony? Seriously?"

Sunset laughed. "Yeah. Seriously."





Shim's apartment was cramped, but Sunset was relieved to have somewhere to stay for the night, even if it was the last place she had expected it would be. A couch was better than an alleyway.

"You hungry?" Shim wrenched open the fridge and rummaged through it, pulling out a jug of milk and checking the expiry date. "I'm vegetarian, so I don't have any meat, but I'm guessing that's not going to be a problem."

Sunset felt her stomach lurch. "Meat? Like... dead animals? You people eat that?"

Shim nodded. "Yep. I don't blame you for thinking we're monsters." Slamming the door to the fridge, she pulled the lid off the milk bottle and took a gulp. "Help yourself, I guess."

With that, she wandered out of the room, closing the door behind her. Once again, Sunset found herself alone.

Sunset opened the fridge. Pulling out a bag of carrots, she sat down on the couch and sighed. She tugged at the heavy leather jacket she had been given. If she had to wear clothes every time she went outside, she was going to go crazy. 

Sunset spent a few minutes figuring out how to get her clothes off before she collapsed back on the sofa. Her eyes raked across the room, taking in every detail. Books galore. Framed awards and certificates. Shim was clearly an overachiever. Just like her.

Sunset wasn't sure what to make of Shim. She seemed so... decent. Nothing at all like the violent, bloodthirsty humans she had read about. Of course, she could be the exception. But Sunset needed to make sure that was the case.

Reclining back on the couch, Sunset made up her mind. Tomorrow, she would see more of this new world. Not just read about it. Experience it. After that, she could make up her mind.

Sunset yawned, feeling her eyelids grow heavy. Tomorrow...