It was a beautiful, warm and sunny spring day as Sunset Shimmer woke up on a non-school day. She rolled out of bed with her hair in a mess and got ready for the day. After taking a shower, getting dressed and eating breakfast, she decided to go for a bike ride since it was a sunny day in Canterlot City. She was wearing her usual black vest, an orange top and a purple skirt. The teenager put her backpack on, which had a number of items inside, including her magic journal. Leaving her apartment, she brought out her red bicycle and put on her helmet.
She rode down the sidewalk for about a block and a half before she noticed a familiar pink, curly-haired girl with a big smile and who was excitedly waving to her and shouting her name, “Sunset Shimmer!”
“Hey Pinkie,” she said as she came to a halt in front of her friend.
“You want to hang out later?” Pinkie asked. “Sure, I’ll text you later, ok?”
Sunset answered with a giggle. “Okey-dokey, see ya later!” Pinkie replied as Sunset got going again.
As she rode on, she passed through a nearby park. Her hair blew in the breeze as she went down the bike path. Sunset decided to take a break and drank from the water bottle she was carrying. That’s when she saw something that she’d never seen before, or at least hadn’t noticed until now. There appeared to be some kind of cave through the dense trees.
She stared at it for a short while before asking herself, “Is that a cave?”
It was quite well hidden with vines growing over the entrance and facing away from the trail. She entered the cave with her bag on her back and left the bike next to the mouth of the cave. Aside from her echoing footsteps, the only sound in the cave was water dripping down from the stalactites. Except for a faint sparkling glow further within the cave, it was mostly dark inside.
Being curious, Sunset got closer to inspect it and wondered out loud, “Could this be another door to Equestria like the quicksand on that deserted island during our spring break trip?”
Looking back at the cave entrance then at the thing in front of her, “Only one way to find out,” she stated.
Sunset stumbled a little after passing through the portal, but she quickly regained her balance. She knew she wasn't in Equestria right away because she hadn't transformed into her unicorn pony self and had remained a human. With the exception of her fairer skin, she had remained relatively unchanged.
“Where am I?!” The girl exclaimed.
As she opened the door in front of her, Sunset noticed that she was coming out of an "out of order" maintenance tunnel. It was still spring and the weather was warm with some clouds in the sky. She wandered through the woods until finally coming to a road. A stocky but fit man wearing a red sweatshirt and sweatpants with a headband around his brown hair had noticed Sunset and approached her.
He asked her, “Hé, qu’est-ce que tu fais ici, jeune femme?”
She stared at him. It sounded like he was speaking French. She had forgotten a lot from the only semester that she had taken of it.
He then questioned her, “Parlez-vous Français?”
“I umm.… I really don’t speak French,” she replied.
He repeated himself in English so she understood, “I said, young lady, what are you doing here? I don’t recognize you.”
Having just come into this world and not having any idea of where she was, she paused for a moment. Quickly, she decided to fake having amnesia.
She answered, “I umm.… I really don’t remember. I think I hit my head.”
The man folded his arms and sighed, saying, “Alright, then. I guess I should have you checked out at the school infirmary. Make sure you are ok.”
He started to take her to the main campus and the administrative building.
As he did so, he questioned her, “Why are you not in school?”
Sunset replied, “I have the day off,” though she was not sure if he believed her.
When they arrived, it appeared that they were in between classes. Sunset could tell by looking at the students that many of them were teenagers or younger. As a result, it appeared to be a combined middle and high school. Except for the science building and the cafeteria, the academy consisted of several buildings, most of which were connected in a capital "E" shape.
Walking into the building, the man said, “I’m Jim, PE teacher here at Kadic Academy.”
The teen girl smiled and stated, “My name is Sunset.”
Jim inquired, raising an eyebrow, “Sunset?” That’s an odd name. “You don’t sound like you’re from here.”
Sunset blushed and rubbed the back of her neck, “Oh no.… I’m an exchange student from…” Her eyes darted around before she went on to say, “I…. I’m Canadian American.”
Jim walked into the infirmary where a blonde, short-haired woman was wearing a crimson pink shirt, a short blue skirt and a white lab coat.
She smiled and said, “Hello, Jim. What can I do for you?”
“Yolanda, could you check this girl out?” he responded as he let Sunset in, “I found her near the park and she said she hit her head.”
The nurse nodded and instructed her, “Sit down please.”
Sunset sat down on the bed as Yolanda looked at her eyes with a light and then felt around her head.
“Not feeling dizzy at all?” She asked.
“Ah… no,” was the girl’s answer.
Yolanda observed, “Hmm… I’m not feeling any kind of bump. If you did hit your head, it must be very minor.”
Jim nodded his head, chiming in. “Well, it seems like you are ok, Sunset.”
She responded and smiled, “It seems so.”
Getting up from the bed, she said to the nurse, “Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied.
The red and yellow haired girl walked outside and sat on a bench. Sunset put down her bag and pulled her journal out of it. She immediately started to write to the Princess of Friendship. She had no idea if the message would get to Twilight or not, considering that this world didn’t have magic. This was the brief message she wrote to her friend:
Dear Twilight,
I wanted to inform you about an exciting new development! I found another portal like the one where I came from last time I visited you, but this one does not lead to Equestria. It took me to an entirely new parallel world! Please reply soon.
Your good friend
Sunset Shimmer
When Sunset was finished writing her letter, she looked up and noticed a group of five students talking together. There were two girls and three boys. One of whom was a girl who had pink hair. There were two boys who had blonde hair, one of whom had their hair spiked up to a point with a purple streak and the other was wearing glasses. The third boy had brown hair and the other girl had black hair. She noticed that they were staring in her direction.