//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Hostile History // by Jest //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer stared at the empty envelope in her fingers, listening to her friends’ voices as they squealed in excitement, celebrating anew with each new revelation. They were in the yearbook room, where they wouldn’t be bothered after hours. Sunset propped a chair up near the back, listening to them celebrate, without joining the lively conversation. College was apparently the most important thing in the life of any young human and it all sounded amazing. Adult relationships, adult opportunities, and a future. A future Sunset Shimmer couldn’t have. Mirror’s still waiting for you. Sunset Shimmer thought to herself. Equestria hasn’t gone anywhere, nor would it now that her world’s Twilight Sparkle had wedged the door open for good. Sunset Shimmer knew that if at any point it got too hard she could always give up and go back to where she came from. But the former pony hadn’t, for Equestria just didn’t truly feel like home anymore. This place that had started as a simple shelter from the pony she’d wronged, and maybe a source of magic for her revenge had grown into something more. “It’s a truly avant-garde program,” Rarity excitedly explained, clutching a thickly embroidered envelope against her chest like it was a confession of love. “Not so much in the way of traditional classes, but there are industry professionals from all over the world, and all your grades come from internship performance. They even have designers from Paris, New York… everywhere!” “Sounds swell,” Applejack said, before even she had her own bragging to do over where she’d been accepted.  A school famed for its agriculture courses, naturally. Which was located somewhere in flyover country with corn in all directions. But that didn’t matter, what mattered was that Applejack was getting what she wanted. Sunset Shimmer had stopped feeling like so much of an outcast and hanger-on since the events of Camp Everfree but days like this were painful reminders of where she used to be. As she stared at an empty envelope she’d stolen from the supply cabinet, she was staring at a reminder of what couldn’t be. Soon they would be leaving on a bigger adventure, one which Sunset Shimmer couldn't follow. “Hey, Sunset!” shouted the raspy voice of Rainbow Dash. “Earth to Sunset, come in Sunset.” The former pony sat up, wincing slightly. “Sorry. What’s up?” “We’re going for celebratory smoothies at the mall. Wanna come? Fluttershy’s driving, and she swears she won’t crash the van this time,” Rainbow Dash teased. “It was just a little fender-bender,” Fluttershy said from behind her. “You can barely notice it.” “Right,” Rainbow Dash muttered, rolling her eyes. “You in?” “Nah,” Sunset murmured, shuffled around her empty envelopes, settling them down on the desk behind her. “Got some things I need to catch up on. You girls go ahead without me.” “Suit yourself,” Rainbow Dash replied, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Probably safer that way.” Sunset took out her phone, and pretended to be busy with it while she slid apps around on the screen and occasionally changing the font size. Until Twilight Sparkle nudged her and Sunset Shimmer looked up.  Only for the former pony to immediately wince at the brief bit of physical contact. The era of her powers being completely out of her control whenever she made any kind of physical contact was over however. Thus she could avoid learning everything her friend was thinking and feeling.  Unless she wanted to of course. “O-oh, Twilight!” Sunset rose, her face going bright red as she pocketed the phone. “I-I thought you’d have… gone with them!” “Nah.” Twilight shook her head, glancing back to the door where the rest of her friends had disappeared to only a minute earlier. “Smoothies are really just a different way to drink liquid sugar. If I’m gonna be unhealthy, I feel like committing to it with a latte. Plus Timber was going to pick me up for a movie soon, so…” Timber. One of Sunset’s hands clenched into a fist at the thought of him. Generous, kind, thoughtful, and attractive, even. Everything Sunset should’ve hoped her best friend would find. But he’s not you.  Twilight could have better if she wanted. Sunset almost said as much so, but then she opened her mouth and only a, “That’s great,” came out. “Yeah.” Twilight sat down beside her without invitation, tossing her backpack to the ground next to one leg. It landed with a meaty thump, heavy enough that the young girl’s back should’ve been straining due to the weight of it. But Equestrian geodes or not, Twilight seemed to have an earth pony strength when it came to school supplies.  “Were going to go see The Revengencers fifteen, return of the mad titan. I’m not really into superhero movies, but Timber loves them. The cheesier the better,” Twilight explained. “Hopefully I don't have to look up a wiki halfway through in order to understand what's going on.” Sunset nodded, but the subject of Timber didn’t fill her mind with friendly and constructive things to say. Nor would some movie she had never heard of before. “I noticed you didn't join in with the acceptance letter opening party. Did your mail not come yet?” Sunset Shimmer offered, silently hoping to steer the conversation away from any mention of Timber. “Oh, that wasn’t it,” Twilight replied before reaching down and pulling on the zipper of her backpack.  Sunset glanced in, and winced as soon as her brain recognized its contents. Not textbooks today, or makeshift robotics parts, rather there were what looked like hundreds of envelopes inside the small bag. Not the thin ones with rejections inside either, but the thick ones with new student orientations inside, printed on parchment paper. “I didn’t want to make the girls feel bad,” Twilight muttered, wincing and looking away. “I may’ve applied to… a few safety schools, just in case.” “A few ,” Sunset repeated, rolling her eyes. “Looks more like there were a few you didn’t apply to.” Twilight’s blush deepened, and she looked away. “Well… that’s not the only effective strategy. I’m sure you knew exactly what you were looking for from your school, and you chose it without the fuss,” Twilight said, reaching over for the envelope. She got her hands around it before Sunset could stop her, turning it over. There was nothing but blank paper however, with nothing inside save for a hastily folded slip of looseleaf. “W-where’d you put it?” Twilight questioned. There was no getting around it now, Sunset Shimmer thought to herself. It had been childish to play pretend, but it was somehow better then admitting that she had nothing. Sunset Shimmer was suddenly reminded of lying to her friends when she was younger, the filly having claimed that she had gotten great Hearth's warming presents. When in reality she had gotten little more than a gift card and a new quill, both of which had been picked up from the local dollar store down the street. With the girls all there at once it was easy to just hang around near the back and look busy. So long as noone asked her, or touched the envelope Sunset could pretend that she was like them. But now… “Twilight, I’m… not from around here,” Sunset Shimmer murmured. “I know that! What does that have to do with college? You went to an American high school. You’re near the top of our class!” Twilight exclaimed. Not the top, because that’s you. Sunset Shimmer thought to herself. The fact that the girl across from her was the only one to ever best Sunset academically made Twilight seem strangely more attractive in Sunset’s mind. “Yeah,” the former pony muttered, voice low. “But I’m not, uh…” she coughed. “I’m not here legally or anything, Twilight. Not that I cared when I got here. A magical unicorn invading from another world doesn’t really care much what the ones living there think. But… I can’t apply for colleges. I don’t even have a driver’s license! I can only work at the sushi shop because they pay me, uh… under the table and not a lot either.” It was the same way with the apartment she was living in. The same with every aspect of her life, cobbled together since her arrival, barely functioning and held together with luck and hope. “I had a few charms prepared when I got here the first time. Artifacts I could use to slip myself into places and not be noticed. But that magic ran out a long time ago, and it wouldn’t work on an admissions board on the other side of the country,” Sunset Shimmer continued. Twilight’s jaw hung open, the human silently gaping at her friend. Which was exactly what Sunset had been afraid would happen. Next would come the indignance, then the open wondering as to if maybe she should return to Equestria and go to college there. Do something that didn’t even exist in a world that had never accepted her to begin with. Twilight reached over, taking one of Sunset’s hands in hers and squeezing. “Sunset, did you… You never talked to a counselor about this, did you?” Sunset Shimmer opened her mouth to speak but twilight didn’t wait, yanking them both to their feet with surprising strength.  “No, I know the answer. I can’t believe nobody told you!” Twilight exclaimed. She started hastily walking away, kicking the yearbook room door open as though it had been the messenger of an invading Persian army. “Told me what?” Sunset Shimmer asked, quickly thinking about prying her arm free, but quickly dismissed the idea.  This might not be a date like she’d frequently imagined sharing with Twilight—like Twilight would soon be sharing with Timber. But Sunset Shimmer couldn't help but think that the other girl  looked rather cute when she was being forceful. “You don’t just give up because one thing doesn’t go your way!” Twilight exclaimed. Sunset recognized the way they were going now, even if she hadn’t at first. Towards administration, and the principal’s office. As to why her lavender-haired friend would want her there was beyond the former unicorn. “Then what do we do, Twilight?” Sunset asked. “Well, first of all we have to make sure we get you into the system for late application before everywhere in the world closes their doors for the fall semester,” Twilight began, not even slowing down as they turned a bend. “Special circumstances like yours… I wonder if you might be able to say something about fighting off monsters as your reason for a late application,” Twilight pondered. “I didn’t think Earth had monsters,” Sunset said. “They all came from Equestria. Nopony outside Canterlot Community College knows anything about what happened here.” “Right.” Twilight slowed down a moment, looking a little discouraged.  But Principal Celestia’s office was right here, the door cracked open. That meant she hadn’t left for the day quite yet. Whatever Twilight’s insane plan, they still had a little time. “Whatever. We’ll just have to say you’re from somewhere else. There are programs for people like you, Sunset! You think you’re the only one to slip through the cracks of the system? The world’s a messy place, and it usually isn’t the fault of the people whom the world has forgotten. Schools understand that,” Twilight continued. Maybe she really was an idiot, Sunset thought. The way Twilight said it—it seemed like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Something Sunset should’ve absorbed through osmosis the way all her friends could learn it from their families. The former pony didn't have long to contemplate things however as Twilight had already dragged them into the principals office. “Oh, Twilight! Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia looked up from her desk, smiling politely. “It’s an unexpected surprise to see you both lingering on campus so late. How can I help you?” “I’m sorry about this, Principal Celestia,” Twilight began. “I know you’re not the right person to talk to this about… but it’s super urgent and I think we might need your help.” And so began some of the most awkward hours of Sunset’s life. If telling her friends had frightened her into hiding, revealing her secret to an adult she barely knew, an adult who wore the voice and mannerisms of somepony she’d known for her entire childhood… they were hardly even comparable. It was amazing Sunset managed to get through it all without coming apart at the seams.  Her old self probably would have—but now she had friends, and Twilight Sparkle in particular. It was almost sunset outside by the time they had collected their things from the yearbook room and were making their way through the parking lot. To where Timber had parked his car, and was waiting for them. “I know there’s no way to be sure…” Twilight Sparkle was saying, practically bubbling with energy. “But I’d be really surprised if we don’t hear back sometime in the next week. With test scores like yours, you should be able to get in… almost anywhere.” “Almost anywhere,” Sunset repeated, not even daring to hope. “Like any of those schools in your backpack?” But if Twilight even heard her remark, she didn’t react. “Hey, that’s Timber!” She broke away from Sunset, hurrying the next few steps. “Hold on, I’ll talk to him. I’m sure he can give you a ride on the way to the movies.” The vehicle was nothing impressive—an old, rusty pickup, with Camp Everfree iconography on one side of the thing. It looked like he had to change out a part or two every week just to keep it moving. But it was at least fully functional as well as all his, and that was more than Sunset could offer. “Yeah.” Sunset fell back a few steps, pulling out her phone and doing her act of looking busy while Twilight talked to Timber through the open passenger window. Then her phone buzzed, and the game she’d been playing fell into the background as her group text opened. It was the text her friends all used for “strictly Equestrian-related magical business.” The message was from Pinkie Pie, and contained a short video of something like a gigantic, oversized boar rampaging through a Sunglass Hut, sending screaming patrons in all directions.  “Oh my gosh there’s a huge monster thing going crazy all over the mall again . Get here right away!” Pinkie Pie shouted, facing the screen at the last second before the video ended. “Hey!” Twilight called, holding up her phone. “Did you get the…” “Yeah!” Sunset hurried over, her embarrassment over Timber’s appearance now forgotten. “What is it?” he asked, his grin placid and his expression as clueless as ever. “Magic stuff,” they answered together. Then Twilight continued. “Change of plans, Timber,” Twilight began, holding her phone towards him for a second. “Can you drive both of us to the mall? Maybe we can catch an evening show. After we get to be heroes.” We, Sunset thought. Not you, Timber. You can wait in the parking lot like a glorified chauffeur.