Sunset woke the next morning with a crane in her neck and sore hips. In the several years she spent as a human, she'd grown accustomed to sleeping on her back with her head lolled to the side. Unfortunately, that wasn't the most ergonomic position for a pony to spend hours in.
It was with effort and a great deal of groaning that she lifted herself from the pillow-top mattress. After all, the bed was divine. It was not at fault, and she had no qualms with the object. She was sure that she would come running to find its pillowy embrace again in the evening. As far as she was concerned, the restless night meant that they had unfinished business.
It had been too dark to take in details of the room when she stumbled in late at night, but she noted with great curiosity that the blankets she'd emerged from were a bright white with four purple jewels embroidered into the surface. Something about it seemed so familiar, but she decided to brush it off for now. Surely, the stitching pattern on a borrowed blanket was of little importance in the grand scheme of things. Even still she glanced at it once more as she retreated into the restroom conjoining hers and the empty room next door.
With only minimal mess and just a bit of effort, Sunset eventually completed the task of using her horn to brush her teeth. Showering, as she hadn't had the chance to do so for two days, had been a completely different story. Try as she might, her horn just no longer granted the finesse needed to properly adjust a shower faucet. She spent the entire shower attempting to fine tune the infernal device.
Even by the end of the shower, she couldn't quite get the water to run over the entire length of her body, and as a result, she spent the entire shower turning in circles as well. Once out though, it took the use of seven towels before she finally felt dry. She glowered at the mangled mess of her mane in the mirror and sighed loudly. "This is going to be a lo-o-o-ong day, Sunny..."
Sunset poured into the book before her, soaking up the recycled information like a sponge. She was surprised just how much of the basic magical theories she'd forgotten. The way she'd been wrapped up in manipulating humans to do her bidding, the then irrelevant knowledge of how to levitate a brush through her mane using a horn had been easily dismissed. It astounded her that she'd even been capable of teleportation upon her first visit to Equestria.
"There you are!" a voice sounded from the doorway.
"GAAAH!" Sunset dropped the book she'd been holding in her magical grasp and fell back in her chair. Her teeth clenched tightly as her head hit the crystal floor. She glared vehemently at the alicorn head poking around the doorway.
As Twilight made her way into the library, she seemed unaware of the expression and instead just helped Sunset to her feet. "I've been looking for you for hours! Have you been here the whole time?"
Sunset shook her head and removed the small reading glasses from her muzzle. With much more control than she demonstrated to herself previously, she replaced them in their case and tucked it into her saddle bags. "Yes, Twilight," she said, rolling her eyes as if the answer should have been obvious. "I needed to study up on basic magical theory and levitation."
"Well I'd say you have it down by now; wouldn't you, darling?" Another voice called from the entrance.
"R-Rarity?" Sunset stammered, confused as she laid eyes upon the radiant mare.
"Why yes, dear." Rarity cantered over to the unicorn and used a hoof to raise her chin. With a wink she added, "You really shouldn't gawk, darling. It's unbecoming of a lady." Sunset stammered again, causing Twilight to raise a questioning eyebrow, but before either of them could say a word, Rarity was circling Sunset like a lion circling its prey.
"So this is Sunset Shimmer, hm?"
"Rarity..."
"My, my. Such features!"
"Rarity...!"
"Yes a bit of black here, some purple there; you really must model for me someti-"
"Rarity!!" Sunset snapped, startling the unicorn into a sitting position before her. After a couple seconds, her expression softened to one of emotional pain. "Y-you don't remember me?" Rarity simply shook her head in response. "B-but...we were so close. You were...my best friend."
Twilight laid a comforting hoof on her shoulder, but it was Rarity who spoke next. "Darling, I'm fully aware I have a counterpart in the other world, but I assure you I am not the same Rarity you knew." The frown on Sunset's face only grew darker, so Rarity thought to add, "However, I've been told we are very similar. Perhaps we could become friends?"
Sunset gasped and grinned. To her, Rarity almost seemed a stabilizer, a dash of normalcy in a crazy world. However, her expression had an adverse effect she had not foreseen. "Excellent!" Rarity exclaimed. "Come, come! It's time for fashion!" Before she had time to think, Sunset was being dragged away to her certain doom. Just as she was exiting the library, she looked back to Twilight with an expression that read, "Help me!"
Twilight just shrugged back with an expression that, clear as day, read, "Well, you asked for it!" She was sure she heard a defeated whimper as Sunset was dragged down the hall and out of the castle.
The room had been Rarity's. Each of the elements had a wing in the castle. It all made sense now. Sunset felt like she could see many things a might clearer, like the fact that Rarity was currently at work trying to kill her as Rainbow Dash sat in the corner laughing at her misfortune. Sunset would have feared her last words would be a string of swears in the pegasus' direction if she could breath enough to make a sound as Rarity tightened her saddle. She instead settled with a glare.
Why was she wearing a saddle, anyway? There were no humans in Equestria...
"Dammit Rarity!" Sunset yelled with a fierce blush. "I said no lingerie, and you went straight for kinky!"
As Rarity sewed, she gave Sunset a sly grin that quickly turned into a pout as she felt the hot glare burning into her skull. "Oh alright," she conceded. "I'll take it off you just as soon as I-"
The door burst open, and Applejack walked in, a large smile spread across her muzzle. "Howdy, ya'll!" It dropped as she took in the sight before her.
"What in tarnation?" she ask confusedly.
Sunset galloped toward her, ripping the saddle off as she ran. "AJ! Get me out of here, and I'll pay for a keg of cider in advance for the next five seasons!" she pleaded frantically.
"Deal!" And with that, AJ dragged Sunset fast and far way from the Carousel Boutique. When they reached a safe distance, the pair slowed to a stop. AJ looked dead in Sunset's eyes. "Now I know y'all were fibbin' 'bout the cider, but that's alright."
"A-alright?" Sunset stammered, a bit cautious of her friend's equine counterpart.
"Eeyup!," Applejack gave her a smug look, "'Cause now y'all owe me one, and I got just the task."