XVII - A Whole New World
It wasn’t the first time that Sunset Shimmer had stormed off after an argument with her mentor. But usually their arguments resulted in something as simple as running away for a day or a bowl of jelly on top of the princess’ head. When the words ‘expelled’ reached Sunset’s ears from the princess’ mouth, she had no course of action left but to run farther than she ever had done before. Not just fleeing the city, nor even just the country itself. The voice in the mirror had called Sunset Shimmer out of her own world, and into a whole new one.
“Well, well. What have we here?” Sunset asked as she stepped forward and looked around her surroundings. It was then that she noticed that she was standing on just her hind legs and quickly righted herself. As she did so, she noticed the unusual boots on her hind legs. And the strange clothing all over her body. And the strange digits on her forelegs. “W-What happened to my body? Are these hands?!”
A cold wind blew by and Sunset Shimmer shivered. Ahead of her was a building. Deciding to put the questions of her body aside for the moment, Sunset galloped over to the building with haste. When she reached the door she stopped to open it with her magic… only to find that she couldn’t do so.
Reaching a hand to her forehead, Sunset felt around for her horn. She gasped as she found it missing, confirming it with her own eyes as her image was reflected in the glass door before her. “No! M-My horn! How could- Where-” Sunset whipped her head around and stared towards the statue behind her. She stared for several moments, sweat dripping down her face as her hand hovered above her bare forehead.
As the sound of Princess Celestia’s voice echoed through the air, Sunset huffed and turned back to the door. She looked down to examine her new hands, flexing her fingers one-at-a-time and then clenching all of her digits into a fist. She then looked back up to the door and stretched her hand out to grip the handle. As she pulled, the door refused to budge. “Locked?” Sunset then tried pushing the door and succeeded in opening it. “… Oh.”
The inside of the building was just as dark as the outside was. Sunset tried to cast a spell to summon some light, but was reminded her of her cruel fate. “I had better find a light switch…” Sunset trotted across the floor cautiously, raising an eyebrow as she noticed how high the ceiling seemed to be.
“What do the creatures here do? Stand on their hind legs?” Sunset joked, before seriously considering it. It was then that she realised that her tail was missing as well as her horn. “I guess not. It would be kind of hard to keep my balance…”
As she neared a wall, Sunset raised a hand to feel around for a light switch. She was startled when the lights suddenly came on all by themselves, allowing her to see everything in the room clearly. Including the tall figure approaching from down a long corridor. Sunset ducked around a corner before the figure could get close and peeked her head out to see what she was faced with.
“I’ve got to stop these late nights,” the figure said, her voice feminine and very familiar to Sunset Shimmer. The creature was reading a small, purple book as she walked quickly into the room on her two hind legs. As the creature left the building, the lights turned off once more and a clicking sound echoed throughout the empty room.
Sunset slowly came out from her hiding place, peering outside of the glass doors to find the tall creature walking away. She looked down at her own body and began to rise to her two hind legs, hesitating when her knees began to straighten. As she rose higher and higher, she found that it actually wasn’t as hard as she thought it would have been to keep her balance, and soon she was standing on just her two hind legs.
Sunset grabbed the door’s handle again and tried to open it, only to find that it had been locked by that creature. “Guess I’m stuck in here now. The light switch must be nearby…” Sunset Shimmer felt around the doorway, eventually finding a switch to the left of the door and pressing it in. The lights came on suddenly, allowing Sunset to clearly see her surroundings.
“What a strange world,” Sunset mused as she walked forward into the centre of the large room, looking around at the photographs of the same type of two-legged creature she had seen moments ago. Her eyes landed on a plaque that read: ‘Canterlot Public High School’. “Canterlot? I thought this was another world.”
Walking forward some more, Sunset Shimmer found a glass case full of trophies, medals, and more photographs. There were also some name engraved on a plaque at the back of the case. “‘Spitfire’, ‘Soarin’, ‘Fleetfoot’… Those are the newest members of the Wonderbolts. ‘Firefly’? As in General Firefly?”
Sunset Shimmer walked to her right, finding photographs lined up along a wall under a plaque that read ‘Staff’. She gasped as she found a black-and-white photograph of an old, wrinkly creature in a strange outfit labelled ‘Discord’. “W-What’s going on? The Discord? The one trapped in stone in Princess Celestia’s garden?” Another photograph caught her attention. This one was of an even older-looking creature with a long, white beard and a cane in his hand. It was labelled ‘Professor Starswirl’.
“Starswirl the Bearded. He’s here, too?” Sunset looked below the name label, and found another label that read: ‘Retiring’. She gave a relieved sigh. If there was anypony that runaway didn’t want to see at that point, it was a good friend of Princess Celestia’s.
“In any case, I should find out where I am, and more importantly, what I am.” Sunset turned around and looked down the various corridors around her, wondering which way to go. She found what appeared to be a map attached to a wall and walked closer to it. “There’s a library if I go down the eastern corridor. A library and… ‘com-put-er room’? What’s a ‘computter’?”
“Is someone there?” a voice called out, making Sunset jump. The voice had come from the corridor behind her, and so Sunset wasted no time in running down the eastern corridor immediately to her right.
Sunset huffed and puffed as she ran, occasionally slowing down as she almost tripped over her legs many times. She recalled how many doors it was to reach the library and counted how many she had passed along the way. “There… it… is…”
To Sunset’s good fortune, the door was unlocked, and the light switch was to the left of the door upon entry. As the room became illuminated, Sunset Shimmer could only stare in awe at the vast collection of knowledge standing before her. It made the library she had access to in Canterlot look like a third-rate bookstore. Bookshelves stretching higher than she could see, and stretching farther than she dared measure.
“Perfect,” she said quietly. “With all these books, there must be something about this world I’m in.”
Sunset Shimmer walked down the ends of each lane of books, reading the plaques that described each genre along the way. ‘Fiction’, ‘Non-fiction’, ‘Drama’, ‘Science’, ‘Mystery’… She stopped upon reaching ‘History’. “This looks promising.”
Of course, finding the selection of books on history was only the first step. There were still so many books to choose from, and there was no telling how much time Sunset had before another one of those creatures would show up. She had to judge each book by its cover in order to find one that would tell her everything that she would need to know about this new world.
Sunsets eyes landed on a book titled: ‘History of our World’. “Sounds like what I need,” Sunset muttered to herself as she took the large book out of the bookshelf and opened it up. She scanned many pages, only finding pointless origin stories of creatures she didn’t recognise, until she finally she reached an entry on so-called ‘humans’. “This looks like what I look like. Is that what these creatures are called?”
Returning to the contents page of the book, Sunset Shimmer found an entire section on ‘The History of Humanity’. Turning to the first relevant page, Sunset Shimmer began reading. It was clearly an abridged version of the full story, but it was a very fascinating read. From ‘caveman’ tribes to villages of the ‘dark ages’ that were highly religious and hunted witches for practicing magic, to great wars involving countries across the entire world, all leading up to modern civilisation, with a human population of… “S-Seven billion?!” Sunset Shimmer couldn’t even comprehend such a figure. Equestria’s population had barely hit a million itself.
“Gotcha!”
Sunset shrieked as a gloved hand grabbed her wrist, causing her to drop the heavy book onto her foot. “OW! Hey, what do you think you’re doing?!”
“That’s my line, young lady!” the old man grabbing Sunset’s wrist scolded, pulling her away from the bookshelves and into the moonlight peeking in through a window. “Breaking into school at night. What is with youngsters these days? So? Who are you and what’s your parents’ phone number?”
Sunset Shimmer didn’t answer. Part of the reason was because she didn’t want to give away the fact that she was from another world to just anybody. There was also the fact that she didn’t know what a ‘phone number’ was.
“Not gonna say anything? That’s fine. You just wait right here while I call the police.”
“The what now?” Sunset asked, trying to pry her hand free but failing. The old man’s grip was strong enough to cut off her blood flow, so there was no chance of her slipping away.
“Too late, you had your chance.” The old man pulled a small, black object from his jacket’s pocket and pushed a few buttons. He put the object to the side of his head as Sunset continued to fight his hold. “I wanna report a break-in at Canterlot Public High School. Yeah, that’s right. Darn teenagers breaking in at night and messing the place up! Who, me? I’m the janitor! … Don’t you worry, I’m not lettin’ her go anywhere ‘til you get here. Just hurry up so I can get back to moppin’ up the floors!”
As Sunset watched the old man put the strange object away, she decided to try kicking her way to freedom. She reared up a leg and swung it at the old man’s knee, but it seemed to have no effect. “What?!”
“You youngsters are always usin’ violence whenever you get into trouble! That’s why I always wear my shin protectors to work!”
Sunset huffed. It seemed that she really wasn’t going anywhere until the ‘police’ would arrive. The old man certainly didn’t seem to mind standing around, doing nothing for what seemed like hours as he stared silently at Sunset Shimmer. A loud, high-pitched sound drew Sunset’s attention to a nearby window, where she saw flashing red-and-blue lights suddenly filling the room.
“C’mon, let’s go,” the old man said as he tugged Sunset Shimmer along forcefully. She had no choice but to follow him back to the entrance of the building. Outside, there was a large, black-and-white beast sitting behind a large man in what seemed to be a cowpony outfit, altered to better fit these ‘humans’.
“This the one you caught breakin’ in?” the cowpony asked.
“This’s her, Sheriff. She’s your problem now, just make sure she knows not to break into my school ever again!”
“I’ll take her down to the station and ask her a few questions,” the sheriff assured the old man, tipping his hat before laying a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “C’mon, into the car, young lady.”
“‘Car’?” The sheriff led Sunset towards the purring beast, which seemed to be made of metal upon closer inspection, where another man was sitting inside, wearing a white shirt and a black tie. Sunset ducked her head and sat down in the back of the ‘car’ without another word.
The sheriff closed the door and the entered the front. As he heard the sound of the door’s handle behind him being pulled, he shook his head and sighed. “Door don’t open from the inside. Now buckle up.”
Sunset Shimmer raised an eyebrow and turned back to the sheriff. She watched him pull something from one side down to the other, clicking it into a small black box. Looking to her left, Sunset found the same device and copied his action. It seemed to be some kind of restraint, only it wasn’t very restraining at all.
“Rookie, whenever you’re ready,” the sheriff said suddenly, turning to the man to his left.
“Oh, sorry, sir,” the man replied. “She’s kinda cute, isn’t she, Sheriff Silverstar?”
“… Just drive, rookie.”
Sunset wondered what was going to happen next, when suddenly, the room started to move forward on its own. Sunset looked outside of the window and, before she knew it, the world around her was passing by faster than in any chariot she had ever been in.
“Is this a train?” she asked out loud, awestruck by the lights and the sheer volume of humans that she saw passing by outside. It was so much that she was seeing in just a short amount of time. Then suddenly, her stomach began to churn. Her face turning green, Sunset quickly clasped her hands over her mouth and looked around the back of the car frantically.
Sheriff Silverstar, hearing the muffled whines behind himself, turned around and gasped. “H-Hey! Don’t you dare do that in my car!”
Sunset held out as long as she could, but it only took one bump in the road for her to break the policeman’s order.
After being given a new set of clothes at the station – a plain white shirt that was an entire size too large for the girl and a pair of blue trousers referred to by the younger policeman as ‘jeans’, Sunset was escorted to a small room for questioning.
The younger policeman left her clothes in a bag beside the table before leaving the room. Sheriff Silverstar offered the girl a glass of water, which she refused, before starting his questioning.
“So,” he began, “Why don’t you start with your name and your age?”
“…”
“… Look, if you wanna go home tonight, you’ll have to cooperate. Need I remind you that refusing to cooperate is a felony, and will only make your current situation a whole lot worse?”
‘I get it. They’re like the Royal Guard,’ Sunset concluded, before smiling and answering, “Sunset Shimmer. I’m thirteen years old.”
Sheriff Silverstar raised an eyebrow. “Thirteen?”
“That’s right.”
“… Okay, I’ll bite. You’re thirteen years old. Now, next question: why did you break into the school?”
Sunset shook her head. “I didn’t break in. The door was unlocked.”
The sheriff eyed the girl suspiciously. “It was just unlocked?” Sunset Shimmer nodded, resulting in a sigh from Sheriff Silverstar. “Alright, fine. Then why did you enter the school building after hours?”
“I was lost,” Sunset answered quickly. “I was looking for someone to give me directions.” It wasn’t completely a lie. She was lost, but she had expected to see ponies on the other side, until she saw her own appearance in a reflected surface.
“In a school?” the sheriff asked. “Why would you think there’d be anyone to even ask in a school at night?”
“Well, the door was unlocked,” Sunset pointed out.
The sheriff remained silent for several seconds as he stared solidly into Sunset’s eyes. The girl didn’t so much as twitch or flinch the entire time. The sheriff then reached for a sheet of paper to his side and glanced over it. “We questioned the janitor while you were changing.”
Sunset tilted her head quizzically and asked, “How? He didn’t come with us.”
The sheriff lowered his sheet and gave the girl a disbelieving look. “Uh, over the phone?”
“…” Sunset closed her mouth before she could ask her next question. She could only assume that there was some means of communicating that didn’t exist in Equestria, and she’d only draw attention to herself if she questioned what was possibly an obvious concept.
“Anyway, the janitor said he caught you readin’ a book in the library. Tell me, why were you in the library, Miss Shimmer? Were you hoping the books could give you directions?”
Sunset bit her lip and gave no answer. She hadn’t considered that they had questioned the old janitor, so she wasn’t prepared with a response.
After a long pause between the two, Sheriff Silverstar sighed and leaned backwards in his chair. “Look, I don’t wanna be stuck here this late any more than you do, but if you don’t cooperate, it’s gonna be a long night for both of us.”
“I already told you, I was looking for directions,” Sunset repeated, a little more insistence in her tone than before.
“An’ I don’t buy it. Y’know why? The janitor unlocked the doors when we got there, meaning they weren’t unlocked.”
“They were! They were locked when that other-” Sunset silenced herself quickly, but it was too late.
“That other what?” Sheriff Silverstar asked. “Did you happen to see anyone, by any chance?”
“… T-There was… a female there… She locked the door as she left.”
“Ah yes, the principal,” Sheriff Silverstar said. “The janitor mentioned that she was there. But then, if you saw her, why didn’t you stop her to ask for directions, hm?”
“…”
“Frankly, your story has too many holes in it, Miss Shimmer. I don’t know what you were up to in there, but you’re only digging yourself deeper by lying about it.”
Sunset Shimmer took a deep, calming breath, and then slowly leaned forwards, both of her hands on the table in front of her, and gave the sheriff and long, hard glare. “I’m telling you, I was lost.”
“… Finally, you’re tellin’ the truth,” the sheriff responded. “But you’re not tellin’ me the whole truth. There’s more to it, isn’t there?”
“No, there isn’t.”
“Then why did you go into the school building? Remember, I’ve already proven that you didn’t go in to ask for directions.”
Sunset Shimmer gritted her teeth together. “… I was cold, okay?” she answered after thinking over several possible scenarios through her mind, deciding that the simplest answer would be the best. “I just wanted some shelter for the night and thought nopony- nobody, would check there.”
Another heavy silence fell between the two as Sheriff Silverstar tried to pry any further information out of the girl through intimidation, but she didn’t so much as shake the entire time that she was under his gaze. Finally, he climbed out of his seat and nodded his head. “Fine, we’ll go with that. Since you’re so… young, apparently… I’ll let you off with a warning this time. But I will have to inform your parents.”
Sunset’s blood froze as the sheriff pulled out a notepad and a pen from his pocket. “M-My parents?” she asked, her voice quivering.
“That’s right. Now, what’s their number?” The sheriff waited, but received no answer. As he looked up from his notepad, he found Sunset trembling in her seat. Her hands were clutching onto her jeans and her mouth hung open, as though she had fallen into a state of shock. “Look, I know you don’t want me to contact them, but it’s my job, so-”
“I… don’t have any parents,” Sunset answered in a quiet voice that echoed very loudly through her own mind. ‘My parents… are back in Equestria…’ Closing her eyes and sweating, Sunset added, “They’re dead. I don’t… have any parents, anymore.”
“… Ah.” Sheriff Silverstar stood still in an awkward silence, his heart racing as he chose his next words carefully. “I’m… sorry to hear that… Then, your current guardians, or carers?”
Sunset shook her head. “There’s no one… I’m all alone now…” Sunset’s eyes widened. “All… alone… Oh Celestia, I’m all alone,” she whispered.
Taking in a deep breath, and then exhaling, Sheriff Silverstar put away his notepad and pen and walked slowly back towards his seat. ‘Guess I’m gonna be headin’ home late tonight,’ he thought to himself as he sat back down. “… Are you okay, Miss?” he asked, noticing tears in Sunset’s eyes and her chest heaving from heavy breathing. “Hey, rookie! Bring in some water and a paper bag!”
“I’m fine,” Sunset insisted, though her voice was low and scratchy. “I-I just want to go home, please.”
“I thought you didn’t have a home to go back to.”
Sunset’s breathing stopped for a moment as her breath caught in her throat. “T-That’s right. I don’t… but, I want to… leave, please… I just want to…”
“Miss Shimmer… I don’t know what kinda tragedy could’ve happened to ya, but know that you don’t have to go it alone anymore,” Sheriff Silverstar said, reaching a hand out but then pulling it back when Sunset jerked away from him. He scratched the back of his head and shifted his eyes away as he added, “I wanna help.”
“How?” she asked – almost demanded – as her breathing started to steady.
“I wanna take you to the orphanage down in Buckfield. They’ll be able to give you a new home, maybe even a new family.”
“A new home? A new family?” Sunset’s breathing began to pick up again. ‘No. You can’t… My family isn’t dead. They’re alive. I can’t leave them.’
“It’s a bit of a trip, so we can leave in the morning. I can’t just leave you out there on your own like that.”
“No,” Sunset said suddenly. “No. You can’t… You can’t take me away from here.”
The door to the interrogation room opened as the sheriff’s partner entered with a tray containing two glasses of water and a small, brown paper bag. “Please, Miss Shimmer. I only want to give you your best chance.”
“NO!” Sunset shouted. She sprang out of her seat, sweeping her right leg to knock the rookie off of his feet and grabbed the metal tray before throwing it at the sheriff. Whilst he was recovering, Sunset jumped over the downed policeman and ran through the station, dodging one more policeman as she made her escape from the reception area.
“Stop her!” she heard the sheriff yell from behind. She didn’t stop running. She ran and ran until her legs felt heavy, but she never once stopped. The streets were dark and the rain was pouring down hard, but she never once stopped. She had to duck into alleys to avoid the ‘cars’ pursuing her and she stumbled over garbage a few times, but she never once stopped.
Whether it was a miracle or the work of fate, Sunset Shimmer found her way back to the very school building, back to the very statue, that she first saw upon her arrival in that world. “I can’t stay here,” she panted as she pushed herself the extra mile to reach the statue. “My parents don’t know where I am. They’re probably worried sick about me. I don’t belong in this world, without magic, without my own kind!”
Sunset reached the statue and stopped for a moment to catch her breath. “I… I can’t do it. I thought I could… escape from her… and stay in this world, but I just can’t.” Sunset wiped the tears from her eyes and made her way slowly around the statue, finding the front where a large, shining surface met her gaze. “… Princess Celestia… you’ve beaten me…”
With that, Sunset shimmer walked forwards into the portal. When her foot hit the metal, she stopped, as did her heart. As did the sound of the rain, and all sense of time around the young girl as she slowly looked down, only to discover that her foot was not going through the portal at all.
“No.” Sunset reached a hand forward, but it met with the same fate as her foot. “No, please.” Sunset pulled her hand back and thrust it forward. It hit the statue and Sunset jumped back with a start, grasping her hand and falling to her knees as broke down into tears in the rain. “Please, don’t do this to me. You can’t do this to me.” Sunset curled up as she felt her body’s temperature dropping quickly. “Please let me back in. I’m sorry. I’m sorry! Just, please… I’m scared…”
The sound of the rain grew louder as Sunset’s hands met her face, but then grew quieter again as her vision became dark. The last thing that Sunset saw before she was met with complete darkness was a silhouette standing above her and kneeling down.
Sunset Shimmer stirred and rolled as she tried to get comfortable. The warm blanket wrapped around her body was starting to slip off so she grabbed it and pulled it up. Once she was snug in her bed again, Sunset clenched her hand into a fist and sank deeper into her pillow.
‘… Wait.’ Sunset opened and then closed her hand again. “I have hands?” Sunset opened her eyes and took in her surroundings for a bit, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the light. “This isn’t my room… Ah!” Sunset sat up suddenly, remembering everything that had happened to her last night.
“Oh, are you awake?” a voice called out from another room. Sunset looked around, trying to pinpoint where the voice had come from. “I’m making breakfast. Would you like anything to drink?”
“I-I’m fine,” Sunset responded, though her voice was a little hoarse. She stood up, taking a moment to steady her wobbling legs and spreading her arms to help keep her balance, before walking around the room to try to deduce where she was. With all the furniture, the photographs and the dining table at the far end of the room, it seemed to just be somepony’s house. Only, she knew that it wasn’t a pony that lived there.
She stopped at one photograph in particular that showed two young girls in bathing suits hugging and smiling at the camera. One had dark-blue skin and a moon pattern across her swimsuit and swim cap, and the slightly taller one had white skin and long, rainbow-coloured hair with a sun pattern across her swimsuit. For some reason, the taller one seemed familiar to her.
“That’s a picture of me and my sister, back when we were young,” a voice said behind Sunset Shimmer. Sunset jumped and turned around with a start, finding a tall, white-skinned woman standing behind her with the same rainbow-coloured hair as the girl in the photograph. The woman was wearing a yellow blazer and purple trousers, and was carrying a tray with two bowls of cereal on it and two glasses of what appeared to be orange juice. “I know you said you were fine, but you sounded like you could do with something to drink.”
“W-Who are you?” Sunset asked, her heart pounding as the familiar figure placed the tray down onto a small table beside the couch that Sunset had woken up on. “What am I doing here? Last thing I remember I was…”
“I found you passed out outside of my school,” the woman explained, sitting down on the couch and patting beside herself. Sunset walked forward and sat down next to her. “I went back because I forgot some papers, and I’m glad that I did. It was becoming a real storm out there, and if I hadn’t have found you… Well, I’m just glad you seem to be okay.”
“You brought me back here? To your home?”
The woman nodded. “At first, I had considered calling the police, but you woke up and asked me not to. It seemed that something was troubling you, so I waited for you to wake up first.”
“The ‘police’?” Sunset gasped as she recalled Sheriff Silverstar, and how he had wanted to send her away. “No! I can’t go there! If I do, they’ll send me someplace far away!”
Sunset Shimmer shook and stared at the floor, clutching the blanket draped around her body. The woman noticed this, and leaned forward to scoop up some of the cereal in the bowl closer to Sunset, offering her the spoon. “For now, eat up. You must be hungry.” Sunset’s stomach growled in response, confirming her theory. “You can tell me all about it after you’re finished. I promise I’ll listen to your every word.”
Eating didn’t take too long for the hungry pony-turned-human, who hadn’t eaten much back in Equestria to begin with, being too involved with her studies, let alone since she had come to this new world. After she was done, she set down her bowl and chugged the orange juice. It did wonders for her throat, and she soon felt ready to talk. The woman was sitting quietly and patiently.
“… I have no home to go back to,” Sunset started. She didn’t reveal everything to the familiar stranger. She didn’t reveal that she was a pony, or that she was from another world. She said the same lie that she had told the policeman the previous night: that her parents had died, and that she had no family to turn to. She told the woman how the sheriff had wanted to take her away to an orphanage, far away from Canterlot, and how she had ran away because she didn’t want to leave. She left her reasons for wanting to stay a secret, but insisted that she absolutely had to stay.
When she was finished, the woman spoke up, after having remained silent through Sunset Shimmer’s entire story. “So you’re an orphan.” Sunset nodded. “And you were running from the police because you were scared… is that about it?”
“I wasn’t… scared… I just don’t want to go away.”
Sunset felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to meet the woman’s gaze. “It’s okay to be scared, Sunset. Especially when you feel alone in the world and don’t know who you can trust. I know it can’t be easy, but you don’t have to be all alone out there. There are people you can rely on, and the sheriff was only trying to give you your best chance.”
Sunset Shimmer tensed up. She could tell where this conversation was going. “But I… I just want to go back to how things were.”
“I’m sorry, dear, but that just isn’t possible.” The woman pulled Sunset Shimmer in for a gentle hug. She felt the young girl easing up in her hold. “I know, it isn’t fair. Sometimes, life is hard, and all we can do is fight with those we care about at our sides. Sheriff Silverstar cares, otherwise he wouldn’t be trying to help you find a home.”
“…”
“You know that I’m right, don’t you?”
“… Are you… going to turn me in?”
“… I’m sorry, Sunset, but I’m afraid I have no choice. Not only would keeping you here be illegal, it would be wrong. Your best chance is out there, with a family that will love you and care for you.” The woman released Sunset Shimmer and rose to her feet. “Please understand. I’m doing this to help you.”
Sunset could only nod slowly, before the woman began to walk away. Tears started to well in her eyes and Sunset thought about all that she had lost in just a single night. She was no longer Princess Celestia’s star pupil. She had lost any chance of ascending to the throne. She would never see her professors again, or hear their praises. She would never play with her foalsitter, or practice magic, or visit the spa with her pet falcon – the closest thing she could get to a phoenix. She would never see her parents again, eat dinner with them, or see their looks of pride as she returned home with a gold star on her report card.
“Hello, Sheriff Silverstar?” the woman said from another room. Sunset’s eyes drifted lazily towards the open doorway. She had contemplated running, but couldn’t find the energy to do so. Every fibre in her being was telling her to just give it up and accept her defeat. She had lost everything, and might as well just get used to her new life in this new world. “Yes, this is Celestia.”
Sunset’s eyes snapped open. Suddenly, it all came flooding into her. The face, the hair, the voice. It all seemed so familiar to her because it was all Celestia, the princess who had taken her in, taught her so much, cared for her like a mother… and then tossed her away without a second thought. The same Celestia who had betrayed her, and was responsible for her current situation. Sunset Shimmer clenched her fist and furrowed her brows as she got up and slowly walked forwards.
“It’s about the girl that you talked to last night, Sunset Shimmer. I-”
“You…” Celestia stopped talking and turned around. She found Sunset Shimmer standing in the open doorway, staring daggers into her as she took a small step forward. “Because of you… All because of you…”
“Sunset, please,” Celestia said, covering the device in her hands. “I have to do this. I have to let him know that you’re here.”
“You’re going to… send me away… again…” Sunset gasped. She took another step forward, reaching a hand out as she began to feel light-headed and dizzy. Her vision was fuzzy, and her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest. “No… No, you can’t!” she shouted, grabbing onto Celestia’s shirt with such force that one of the buttons tore off. “You can’t send me away again! You can’t!”
“P-Please, calm down!” Celestia pleaded, taking a step back and placing the device down onto a nearby stand. She saw that Sunset was crying and froze on the spot. “S-Sunset…”
“Please, don’t do it,” Sunset pleaded, falling to her knees but refusing to let go of Celestia’s shirt. “I can’t… I can’t stand to go through that again. I can’t go through that pain, of being betrayed by the one pony I thought would always have my back.”
“But you need a home. A family.” Sunset shook her head violently and tightened her grip as she felt Celestia attempting to pry her fingers open. “I can’t be that, Sunset. I can’t be a mother.”
“Yes you can,” Sunset whispered. “… I’m begging you. Don’t send me away again. If you do, I… I don’t know what I’d do…”
The only sounds filling the room as Celestia and Sunset Shimmer froze in time came from the choked sobs of the girl kneeling on the floor, and muffled shouts from the device sitting beside Celestia. After several long moments, that seemed like an eternity to Sunset Shimmer, Celestia reached for the device beside her and held it to her head. She didn’t say anything at first, but after looking down at the crying girl one final time, she opened her mouth and said, “Sheriff, about that girl, Sunset Shimmer… what would be the procedure for adopting her?”
As Rarity soaked in the hot, soothing waters of the spa bath and listened to Sunset’s story, she couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the girl, even despite the terrible acts that followed regarding herself and her friends.
“I see,” she said as Sunset finished her story. “So that’s why you live with Principal Celestia, and why you want to buy her the perfect present for Christmas.”
“Don’t misunderstand,” Sunset retorted quickly. “I don’t like living with her or anything. I just have nowhere else to go that’s near the portal. And I’m only buying her a present because I owe her my life.”
“Are you sure,” Rarity asked with a frown. “And despite owing her your life, you still want to go back and fight with your old princess?”
Sunset Shimmer turned her head away and replied, “I owe Principal Celestia my life, but I will never forgive Princess Celestia.”
“But you have a life here, with friends who care for you and a caring home to go to every night. Why do you still seek violence?”
“… I had a home there once, too,” Sunset answered. “I don’t belong here. I can never belong here, and nothing you say could ever change that.”
“Sunset-”
“My mind is set,” Sunset said as she stood up, water dripping down her body as she climbed out of the bath and grabbed a nearby towel to wrap around herself. “Ever since Principal Celestia took me in… No, even before then, since I had arrived in this world, the only thing I’ve ever worked for is revenge.” Sunset turned around to face Rarity, a frown on her face. “I’m… sorry I tried to drive you and your friends apart, and that I tried to use the other students for my goals. I was bitter, and… a little jealous.”
“I told you, dear, you’re already forgiven,” Rarity said with a gentle smile.
“But I won’t stop. I will get my revenge on the princess. It’s just a matter of time.”
As Sunset began to walk away, Rarity contemplated whether to follow after her friend or give Sunset some space. “Sunset,” she called out. The other girl stopped. “… We’re you’re friends. You can come to us at any time if something is bothering you, however small, or however deep.”
Sunset hesitated before saying, “Thank you. Then, as my… friend… can you promise not to tell anyone what we discussed here today?”
“… My lips are sealed,” Rarity assured, miming the action of locking her lips and throwing away the key. Rarity watched Sunset leave the bathing room before sinking down into the tub with a deep sigh. “Oh, who am I fooling? I’m no friendship expert. Now if she wanted to challenge the princess to a fashion contest, I’d be able to give her some pointers…”
“You’re home.” Celestia looked over towards the front door, to where Sunset Shimmer was carrying a bag in her hands as she removed her shoes. “You went shopping?”
“It’s your present. No peeking,” Sunset said with a glare. “That goes for your paranoid sister, too.”
“I’ve told Luna to respect your boundaries better. I’ll have another word with her when she next comes to visit.” Celestia rose to her feet and approached Sunset Shimmer. “You know you don’t have to get me a present each year.”
“It’s tradition, right?” Sunset turned her head away as she stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “Besides, I need to repay you somehow for letting me stay here.”
Celestia stopped and gazed at Sunset Shimmer for a couple of seconds. She took a step closer, and Sunset took a step away in response. “… If you really want to repay me… you don’t need to buy me any presents. There’s only one thing I want.”
“And what’s that?”
“Tell me… how you feel about me.”
The sudden request shocked Sunset Shimmer and ran through the girl’s mind several times before she was finally able to process it. After she did so, she slowly turned her head to meet Celestia’s eyes and asked, “What?”
“For a while now, you’ve been… ‘repaying’ me for letting you live here, with gifts and help around the house. You also asked me not to send you away.” Celestia closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. “But every time I talk to you, I’m met with an…”
“What?” Sunset repeated.
“An attitude, and general avoidance.” Celestia clenched her hand into a fist and asked, “It’s been bothering me, and I just have to know: what do you think of me?”
Celestia was met with a long, silent stare as Sunset’s eyes shook and her teeth grinded together. “… You sure you want to know?” Sunset Shimmer asked, receiving a resolute nod in return. “Fine. I’ll tell you.” Celestia braced herself. “I… want to hate you.”
Celestia’s fist tightened. “You want to hate me?”
“Yes. Whenever I look at your face, or hear your voice, I want to hate you with every fibre of my being.”
“… And… do you?”
Sunset Shimmer once again gave a lengthy pause before delivering her answer. “I wouldn’t be staying here if I couldn’t stand your guts.” With that, Sunset stormed up the stairs with her day’s shopping, leaving a semi-relieved Celestia down in the hallway.
“I suppose not…” Celestia turned around and walked slowly back into the living room, towards the stack of forms sitting on the dining table. With a gulp, Celestia picked the forms up and glanced over the front page, staring at the word ‘Adoption’ at the top. “… I may not be cut out to be a mother after all… but maybe I should give it one final chance.” Celestia walked over to her desk in the corner of the room, cluttered with papers and stationary, and put the papers into the top drawer, locking it and placing the key into her pocket.
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That would be an interesting shipping. Loving the story so far. I keep thinking of celestia (the pony) interacting with the human celestia, whether one or the other goes through the portal either to follow sunset on her quest for revenge or to try and bring her back to equestria.
10 Elements of Harmony. Of course she has 10 Elements of Harmony. *tracking*
Yes! More shipping please.
Also, feel really bad for Human Celestia right now.
Don't care about Princess Celestia. She sucks.
The last part confuses me. Sunset's been living with Celestia for a few years at this point right? So has Celestia adopted her already or what?
And now I'm caught up. Very nice, Author. I expect so much more! :D
Wow, that was an intense chapter. I like the idea of Sunset Shimmer being scared when she first crossed through...it shows vulnerability, makes her a little less of a total bitch.
5884381 You mean like the XREP? Tasers don't work that way either. They cause muscle spasms, not unconsciousness.
5884758 That depends on just how much power you've got behind it, and the person's pain tolerance. Still not a perfect justification for the story, but at least plausible.
5883896
Don't test her. She does cavity searches.
5884841
How's this for justification? Half of the fic revolves around a talking pony that travelled through a magic gate into a world much like our own, but inhabited by smarties-coloured humanoids with names only a toy company would come up with
5886320 Not a justification for the whole story, but a justification for the part where Chrysalis knocks a guy unconscious instantly with a ranged weapon. IRL that doesn't happen, but I was trying to find a way that it might be possible.
5884841 If you increase the power, then you risk killing the person. And I'm not sure if you have any significant chance of causing unconsciousness. That's not what tasers are for.
Intense chapter, here. Not hating Principal Celestia... is not the 'worst' situation. Not the best, but not the worst either.
Man, this was a really weird chapter to me for some reason. It gave valuable backstory information, but the confrontation between Sunset and Celestia felt . . . off somehow. I can't explain it.
I'm really thinking at this point Sunset should rope Human!Celestia into performing a coup. Those two can rule together as mother and daughter in Equestria! </evil>
I wonder how much Principal Celestia thinks Sunset is acting by typical teenager behavior and how much of it is actual megalomania.
Hold on here! Last time we left This Sunset she had left them mall came home to no celestia and put the presents under her bed. Then magiced with glass in her arm. This chapter starts with her back at the spa with rarity. She tells rarity her story goes home. Celestia is there. shows her the bag with her gifts. that were put away last chapter. You have some serious issues here that need to be fixed.