22 – Through the Looking Glass
Chapter Twenty-Two
Through the Looking Glass
⠀
⠀
No one was really excited for school to start. All through New Horizons, groans could be heard as kids were roused from sleep. It was the last week of regular classes before finals, and that meant one thing: studying.
All of the students were dreading the coming day. Except for one.
There was a knock on the door, although it wasn’t necessary. “Sunset? It’s time –”
“I’m up,” Sunset said before answering the door. A very pleased Rose Petal was on the other side. “Good morning, Ms. Rose.”
“Good morning, Sunset. Glad to see that there’s at least one person we won’t need to convince to get up today.”
Sunset laughed. “Yeah, well, it’s not like I have any reason to worry about finals.” Of course, that was because she had no plans on taking them.
“I’m sure, but you can never be too prepared.”
“I know.” Sunset was already dressed, and had chosen a loose fitting sundress. It was exactly the type of thing that maternal figures like Rose thought she should wear, which would hopefully mean it was perfect for Sunset’s purposes. She gestured to her backpack, which was sitting by her bed, ready to go. “Trust me, there’s nothing to worry about with me. I’m ready to take on the day.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” Rose was beaming, but she took a step away from the door. “But I had best get back to waking up the others, and you ought to get some food in you. You’re not really prepared for school unless you’ve had a good breakfast.”
Sunset just smiled as she followed Rose Petal out of the room. “Of course, Ms. Rose.”
While everyone else was insistent on looking as miserable as possible, Sunset couldn’t help but keep smiling. It was going to be one hell of a day.
She was far too excited to be hungry, but she still got a bowl of cereal. If she didn’t eat something, Rose would be on her case about it. On most days that wouldn’t really bother her, but Sunset was far too happy to spoil it by bickering about breakfast.
Although Rose being up was also strange. When she finished waking teenagers and entered the dining room, Sunset decided to ask her about it. “You’re up early today, Ms. Rose.”
“At my age, sleeping through the night can be a challenge.” Rose looked over Sunset’s breakfast choice. “Just a bowl of cereal?”
Sunset shrugged. “Who wants to eat this early? I’ll eat a granola bar on the bus or something.”
Rose shook her head, but she was smiling as well. “I suppose it’ll have to do.”
As Rose turned her attention to the other kids and was getting them to eat, Sunset realized that she was actually happy by the turn of events. Rose Petal had been the first person to welcome her to New Horizons. And while it would be overly gracious to say Sunset’s feelings towards the orphanage itself were mixed, Rose had always tried her best to make Sunset feel at home. Once or twice, she almost even succeeded.
And this would be the last time Sunset ever saw her. It’s not like that hadn’t occurred to Sunset before, but she had been too preoccupied to give it any real thought. It was an odd sensation, and it left her wondering at all the other last times she was about to experience, and how many had passed her by without her so much as noticing them.
Sunset didn’t say anything to Rose. She thought about saying something, something meaningful about the time they spent together. No words came to mind, however, so she just watched. Rose doted on every child at the table, offering encouragement about their classes, trying to get them to be a little more active and alert. She asked them about the day-to-day events of their lives, and referenced things about their individual interests. Sunset had never thought much of that before, but Rose knew every single child that came through New Horizons, while Sunset couldn’t even remember all of their names.
It had to be challenging, keeping up with everyone. But by the end of the day, there would be one less person for her to keep up with.
“I think it’s about time for one young lady to get going to her bus stop,” Rose said after a while. She smiled at Sunset. “Have a good day, dearie.”
Sunset nodded and stood up. “Thank you, Ms. Rose.”
In the end, that was all there really was to say.
After a quick trip back to her room to grab her backpack, Sunset left New Horizons. She didn’t say goodbye to anyone on the way out.
Even Sunset’s bus stop was a bit of a walk. There were only a few CHS students who lived as far away from the school as Sunset did, after all, so the stop had to service a fairly wide area. She didn’t mind, though. It would also be the last time she walked to it, and the last time she’d be in complete solitude before her life changed forever.
Or rather, before she got her life back. That was a better way of looking at things, she decided. And it was a glorious thing to think about. It was with great restraint that she managed to calmly walk to her bus stop. But running wouldn’t make the bus arrive any sooner, so she kept her pace to a brisk walk.
Technically speaking, Sunset had no idea if the portal would actually be open. Both Equestria and Earth used a twenty-four-hour cycle for the length of their days, so figuring out when the portal would open was theoretically just a matter of counting from the date of her arrival. But it was impossible to know if the time really synced up. The flow of time could easily be different between the worlds; one second in Equestria was not necessarily one second on Earth.
Sunset reminded herself of this, if only to fight off the crushing disappointment if it wasn’t the right day. But her working theory was that time did sync up between the worlds. If they were completely separate worlds, then that would be exceedingly unlikely. But while these worlds were clearly separated and held many distinctions, they were also connected. The most obvious being the doubles of various ponies as humans, but there were other significant similarities. Scientifically speaking, the two worlds were alike in far more ways than they were different.
And assuming her theory of a perfect time sync was correct, the portal would already be open. It would have been for several hours, long enough that Sunset had been tempted to just walk to the school in the night. But she had waited far too long to suffer some nefarious fate on the eve of her return. So she played it safe, waiting until the morning to do things properly.
That wait was excruciating. She had been up all night long, having given up on sleep after rolling around her bed for a few hours. And the closer she came to the wondrous moment that she could leave this world behind, the harder the wait became. Her pace was quick enough that she found the walk to be much shorter than usual, but that just meant the wait for the bus was much longer than usual.
While she was waiting, she wondered for the first time what would happen without her. It had almost certainly been seeing Rose interact with the others that put the idea in her mind, as that was the first place her mind went to. Rose would be distraught to have lost one of her charges. She was used to saying goodbye to the children she cared for, but not so suddenly.
Violet would probably lead the charge to find her. There would be an obvious trail; Sunset had left for the bus stop, and someone on the bus would remember seeing her on it. The bus driver would verify that every student arrived at school safely, but her first-period teacher would inform them that she never made it to class. They’d search and search, but they’d never find her.
Perhaps Sunset should have left a note. Not saying that she was leaving to another dimension, of course, but something to give an actual explanation. Say that she was running away or something along those lines.
But it was too late. She had passed the chance to do anything like that, so there was no point in dwelling on it. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder what everyone would assume. Flash would be the first to notice, of course. The poor sap was probably going to be looking for her all summer long, and still be hopeful that she’d just show up on the first day of school after summer break.
And there was Applejack. Would she even notice Sunset was missing? Of course she would. The school would make an announcement in case any of the students knew where she was. Applejack would be there, right alongside Flash and Violet while they looked for her. Not because they had a history together or anything like that. No, Applejack would be out there looking for her because that was just who Applejack was.
Sunset wondered if she should try to find Applejack before going through the portal. But what would she say? Hey, AJ, just to let you know, I’m a fucking magical horse and I’m going back to my horseland? That’d go over well. She couldn’t even make up a believable alibi, since that would just lead to Applejack trying to stop her.
Even still, a large part of Sunset wanted to find her before she left. To at least see her one last time before leaving forever. Even if they didn’t speak, Sunset could still say her own personal goodbyes to the only person she’d ever wanted to be close to.
But no. Even disregarding the fact that Sunset had no idea where Applejack would be, it wouldn’t do her any good. She needed to move on from this world, and that included Applejack. By the end of the day, she would only be a memory. The time Sunset spent in the human world was filled with regrets more than anything else. What was one more added to the pile?
Although the wait was torturous, the bus arrived all the same. Sunset hardly paid attention to the kids around her as she found her seat, letting their talk of finals and summer plans pass over her. She chose an empty seat at random, and stared out the window.
The bus went on its way while the world outside rolled past, but Sunset wasn’t paying it any attention. She was watching her transparent reflection as it watched her. Sunset had spent a lot of time in that body, but in the end, that was just another thing to put behind her.
What would happen on the other side of the mirror? What would Celestia say when she saw Sunset again? What would Sunset say? These were the thoughts that passed through her head, just as they had passed through it for months. She had no answers, but she had faith. Faith in Celestia.
Sunset would apologize. That much was certain. She would admit her mistakes, that she hadn’t really understood anything about the mirror when Celestia had warned her away from it. She knew better now. Now she would listen to every word Celestia said, obey every order. All if there was even so much as a chance that she might get to be her gifted student again.
And she would be. Sunset knew it would be hard, she knew that Celestia had every reason to turn her away, but she would prove herself again. Whatever it took, anything at all, Sunset would do it.
They would pick up where they left off, and Sunset would be a better student this time, and Celestia would understand, and they would both finally be happy.
And so her thoughts continued throughout the bus ride. A hundred scenarios played through her mind, of all the different ways the meeting might go. Sometimes Celestia was relieved to see her. Sometimes she was angry. In all of them, the ending was the same. They would reconcile their differences, and Sunset would be her student, and Celestia would understand, and they would both be happy.
When the bus reached the school, Sunset remained staring at her reflection for a moment. Other kids were up and moving to the exit, but Sunset was trying to calm her breathing. It was time. She was going home.
She was the last to leave the bus, and she did so with her legs shaking. She felt like they might give out under her weight. For all the rush she had been in, she now found it difficult to move at all. But one shaky step after another, she made her way across the school.
There was no more thinking about anything else. Sunset wasn’t even thinking about Equestria anymore. Just the portal, and making her way to it. If anyone tried to get her attention, she didn’t notice. As far as Sunset was aware, there were no other people around her. There was just the portal, herself, and the distance between the two.
Until there wasn’t even that anymore. Sunset stood before the statue, staring at her reflection in the polished surface. It was just the same as it had been the day before, and yet, it was very different. It was a feeling. Was it the magic making her lightheaded, or her inability to breathe?
Sunset reached out her hand, but stopped just before touching it. It wasn’t too late to turn back. She could wait, and the dream of a perfect world would remain untouched.
But it was too late. Sunset could already hear it calling to her, drawing her in. She closed her eyes and let herself fall forward. It was time. Sunset was going home.
The sensation was awful. It felt like she was being pulled in every direction, with no control of what was happening. Her perception was so consumed by the feeling that it didn’t even occur to her what it meant.
And then it stopped, just as soon as it started. Sunset found herself lying on the ground with her eyes closed, and everything felt strange. Her body felt sore all over, and for a moment, she just lay still.
She opened her eyes and blinked at her surroundings. There was no school. There weren’t teenagers wandering around. Sunset was in a small room, and the only lighting was natural sunlight coming in through the windows.
It worked. It had actually worked. The portal had taken her away from the hell she had gotten herself stuck in, and there was no doubt about where it had taken her.
Sunset tried to move, but only fell back down to the floor. She turned to look at her body and found all she could see was a no-longer-fitting dress covering it. She laughed at the unexpected obstruction and worked on freeing herself from it.
Or she tried to, anyway. When she attempted to grab the dress, she realized she was unable to. He hooves just slipped right off. Forgetting the dress completely, Sunset held her hooves up to her face and laughed giddily. It had really worked! She was really a pony!
Unable to bring herself to do anything else, Sunset just lay on her back, staring at her hooves and laughing. She pressed them against her cheeks. She had forgotten they were so hard, had forgotten everything it meant to be a pony.
More so driven by the desire to see herself than anything else, Sunset eventually saw fit to do something about the dress. It wasn’t easy, but at least she wasn’t wearing pants. Little by little, she managed to shimmy out of the dress. It tore in several places as she did, but she certainly couldn’t manage to care about that.
Once she was no longer tangled up in human clothing, Sunset paused to look at herself. She was still awestruck when she noticed the mirror out of the corner of her eye and quickly turned to it.
She saw a unicorn, because that was what she was. An amber-colored coat with a red and yellow mane and tail. A picture of a red and yellow sun adorned her thigh. And, despite the tears in her eyes, she was smiling.
There was no telling how long she just sat and stared at her reflection, but it was the dress that got her to turn away. She surveyed the remains. Even if it had fit her, it certainly wouldn’t any longer. Which was kind of a shame. She had wanted to wear something nice for her meeting with Celestia.
Celestia! Sunset still had to see her! It was what she wanted more than anything, after all. She was going to get her old life back, and Sunset would be her student, and Celestia would understand, and they would both be happy.
But first, she had to learn how to walk again. Even standing felt awkward, but distributing her weight over four hooves certainly made that easier. Walking proved a bit more tricky, but she was in no hurry. As much as she was dying to meet with Celestia, the simple pleasure of being a pony again was immeasurable, and she found the clip-clop of her hooves against the stone floor was practically hypnotic.
Before she dared step hoof out of the room, Sunset wanted a glimpse of Equestria. Thankfully, there were windows scattered around the room. She walked over to one and took a look outside, and the view stole her breath away.
She was high up in what she knew was Celestia’s castle, with the city stretched out below her. Although they were small, dozens of ponies could be seen on the ground, all going about their business. They were talking among themselves, they were walking to and fro, they were doing their jobs around the castle grounds, and above all else, they simply were.
An entire world full of ponies, and Sunset was once again part of it.
So it was time to be part of it, then. She walked to the door, and was relieved to find it opened easily at her push. She found herself in a long hallway, although her memory failed to tell her which part of the castle she was actually in. Considering she had been completely familiar with it before her departure, that had to be a result of spending so much time away. Oh well. She’d have plenty of time to relearn the castle’s layout once she was Celestia’s student once more.
In the meanwhile, she had absolutely no complaints about walking the castle hallways aimlessly. Sooner or later she’d either realize where she was, or she’d run into a guard that could direct her. But for now, observing and remembering was enough. She couldn’t pick out specific details, but she definitely recognized the castle’s signature architecture.
The marble floor was a checkerboard pattern, with white pillars reaching to the vaulted ceiling that lined the walkway. There were elegant decorations all around, from the ornate carpet underhoof, to the flowers that decorated the walls.
But the most eye-catching thing was, of course, the stained glass windows. Sunset took her time to admire them as she walked, for they showed a rich history that she had almost let herself forget. Each one was unique, and she was sure that she’d see one she remembered before too long, and the realization of where she was within the castle would follow.
It turned out, she needn’t have bothered. As she walked along her leisurely pace, a door opened in front of her. Sunset stopped in place, her heart beating fast at the realization that somepony was about to walk out of it.
The steady clip-clop of hooves came into the hallway first, but that was soon followed up by the appearance of a unicorn. Although Sunset was no longer used to seeing ponies, she guessed that the mare in front of her was younger than herself. She had a light purple coat with a darker purple mane and tail, both of which had a pink stripe running through them. She held a book in front of her with a magic aura, which she seemed to be devoting all of her attention to.
So much so, in fact, that she walked right past Sunset with neither one saying a word.
Sunset watched her as she walked along the hallway, too stunned to speak. It was only when the other mare was almost past the point of easy earshot that Sunset realized she was about to let a golden opportunity walk past her.
“Uhm, excuse me,” Sunset said. It was the first time she had spoken since arriving in Equestria, and she noted her voice sounded a little deeper.
The other mare’s ears swiveled back first, with her head following a moment later. Ears moving independently from the rest of the head was a natural equine movement, and something Sunset had forgotten all about. There was so much to relearn, but she was ready.
“Oh, hello there,” the mare said with a smile. “Can I help you with something?”
Sunset opened her mouth. There was just so much. She was talking to an actual, real live pony. Not some horse in a barn, but a genuine unicorn of Equestria!
But she needed to focus. There was still something she needed to do. “I’m… looking for Princess Celestia. Do you know where I can find her?”
The mare’s smile faltered. “I’m sorry, but the princess isn’t taking visitors at the moment.”
The news only made Sunset smile more. She was talking to an actual pony about Princess Celestia! “It’s… it’s okay. She’ll make an exception for me.” Sunset desperately hoped that was true.
“Maybe there’s somepony else who can help you?” the mare suggested. “I can direct you to one of her aides, or her secretary. Even the captain of the guard, if it’s an emergency.”
“No!” Sunset said too forcefully. She tried to return to a casual tone, but she was suddenly having trouble breathing. “It has to be Princess Celestia!”
The mare chuckled nervously. “Well then, could you at least tell me what’s so important?”
Could she? There was a part – a large part – of Sunset that wanted to do just that. To tell somepony, anypony about everything that had happened to her. But that wouldn’t be fair. She needed to talk with Celestia first. The mirror’s purpose had been secret even from herself, the princess’s personal student. If she was going to prove that she could be better, that she would be better, she’d need to start by respecting Celestia’s wishes.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t. I just really need to speak with her.”
The younger mare sighed. “Here’s the thing… The princess isn’t exactly feeling well today. I don’t know exactly what’s wrong, but she even cancelled my afternoon lessons!”
Sunset felt like she had been ripped through the portal again. Her breathing was becoming ragged and her ears started filling with a buzzing sound. “Your… lessons?”
The mare brightened up with that topic. “Oh, yes. I’m guessing you’re not from around here? I’m Twilight Sparkle, the princess’s personal student.”
Sunset took a step back. “You’re her…”
“Are you okay? You seem a little… out of sorts.”
Replaced. Sunset had been replaced. While she had been struggling, spending every waking moment longing to return to Celestia’s side, she had been replaced. Just like that.
“Miss, uh…”
“Never mind.” Sunset’s tone came out oddly level, although the rest of her world crumbled around her. It shouldn’t be so surprising. Why would Celestia want her, a failed pupil? She had said it herself.
“Sunset Shimmer, I am removing you from the position of my pupil.”
“Are you sure you’re –”
“Yes.” Sunset stared into her replacement’s eyes. “I’m fine.”
“Well… okay then. I hope the rest of your stay at Canterlot Castle works out better for you!”
Sunset said nothing as she walked away. There was nothing to say.
She stood in the hallway for far too long. She didn’t know what else to do.
“You didn’t really think it would be so simple, did you?”
Sunset wheeled around. She had heard Celestia’s voice, but there was no one there.
“That I would ever want you back?”
Sunset spun all the way around, looking everywhere in the hall, but she saw no sign of the princess, or of anypony else.
“But don’t worry. Twilight’s a much better student than you ever were.”
“Twilight would never disobey me.”
“I don’t need you anymore.”
“Equestria doesn’t need you anymore.”
“You thought you were going home?”
“You don’t have a home. You don’t deserve a home.”
“You have nothing. You are nothing. You will only ever be nothing.”
It became hard to focus, and Sunset fell to the ground. Celestia’s voice surrounded her. The princess spoke over herself, an endless barrage of Sunset’s idol all talking at once.
“I’m better off without you.”
“Everyone is better off without you.”
“Just leave us alone, you’d be doing everyone a favor.”
“You should just run back through the mirror.”
“You never should have come in the first place.”
“You shouldn’t be allowed to exist in this, or any other world.”
“You will never be my student.”
“You will never be understood.”
“And you will never be happy.”
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What does the distorted text say?
8227033
I dont know but I think it broke my fimfiction.
8227033
It's not meant to be legible
8227036
I'm sorry about that, it didn't have any negative effects on any of the devices I or my prereaders tested it on aside from some minor slow down when scrolling on my very old and very cheap laptop. Much as I like the effect, I certainly don't mean for it to cause problems...
It caused Fimfiction to crash for you?
8227043
I have a mac, so maybe I just can't see it?? Theres lots of boxes.
Welp, there goes my hope for Sunset to actually make it through this without magical friendship lazors.
Feels kind of like a waste for such a good story, but i guess thats the price you have to pay to confirm to the canon of your own continuity
8227043
Not exactly crash but my mac really reacted weird to it, don't know why but I blame Shim Sham Pony.
Well that's a unique way to end a chapter if I've ever seen one.
I know the hidden text. Your Zalgo has no power over me.
8227052
It's more about the journey than the destination here.
This story was never meant to be an AU
8227053
I was afraid it'd have some adverse effects, but I hope it wasn't too bad
8227054
I honestly wish I could do a bit more playing around with the text of this story. Tie into the surrealistic parts and what not. Alas, the limitations of virtual publication
8227047
Ah, I know what you mean. That means that the characters used to distort the text aren't on your computer (idk if it's the actual computer or your web browser). By this point the surprise of the effect is long gone, but it should look something like this:
img04.deviantart.net/0272/i/2017/162/5/e/distortion_by_krickis-dbcezt2.png
8227063
Ha! I knew someone would be able to figure it out
DuE F###.
8227080
I hope that didnt sound rude. 
(Before continuing let me just say I love the story so far) I kinda agree with Tungal that there were several places where it could have been its own story, AU to be sure but its own story. For example her staying a child and about her slowly loosing her memory but still wanting to cling to it, maybe getting adopted, maybe even by celestia etc. or even here where she actually is able to talk to Celestia and apologize and stuff. I can't stress enough that it is your story and i like it how it is, I'm just showing that were options for other stories to be told.
8227086
Haha blame my love of experimentation and surrealism
8227091
Edit: Ideas from this were folded into things elsewhere, so I’m spoiler tagging it. I strongly recommend that readers who haven’t read the later chapters of this story yet avoid reading this.
lol no worries, homie, I literally share your opinion here. The main reason this story isn't an AU is because it's not just a prequel to Equestria Girls, it's a prequel to my Who We Become series. Since I've already established in my other stories that EqG is canon to them, this also had to play by those rules. If this were a completely standalone story, I would've definitely done it differently.
I've actually got a whole alternate second half of this story in my head. The first half would be the same as it is, keeping up with everything that happens up to and including Sunset's fight with AJ on the ice. But it would deviate from there, with the conversation in Sunset's bedroom happening very differently. Basically, in this alternate version of the story, Sunset would be unable to keep up her frozen attitude and wind up on friendlier terms with AJ after the fight, with AJ continuing to motivate Sunset to be a better person. Sunset would still be dealing with poor mental health (hallucinations and such), but she'd eventually open up about her experiences to Applejack, who would be there to help her through it. By the time this chapter takes place in the alternate story, Sunset would even be mentally well enough to not completely loose it, so we'd actually get that meeting with Celestia. It would still be a roller coaster of a story, with Sunset easily falling back on old ways, but it would basically be a story about Sunset's recovery rather than just her downfall.
...but unfortunately, in the version of the story that I'm actually writing, we're heading straight for the rainbow laser solution
Ah, I had a feeling you would play this out in such a manner. Now I'm interested in how she plans for her big plan for revenge. How does she find out about the elements... And hang on... Unless twighlight is far older then I interpreted her to be from the lines... She only has three years to become a princess. It seems she's a bit to young to line up right
8227150
There is something going on with the age thing that probably caused some confusion. I couldn't figure out a way to work it in better, so I'll just go ahead and clarify here (under a spoiler tag, in case people would rather try and figure it out on their own, although I don't think it's shown all that well). Sunset is so fixated on resuming her life exactly where she left it off that she doesn't realize she herself has grown. She was seventeen when she went through the portal, but she's still fifteen as a human. To her, it still feels like time hasn't caught up with what she lost, so she should be able to just resume where she was. So instead of being the seventeen-year-old she expects, she's twenty-seven here. She sees Twilight as young because she hasn't accounted for her own growth, but Twilight is actually eighteen here. This chapter is only about three weeks before the series premiere (although there is zero information here to hint at that, I only just realized myself while checking my document with dates and such)
Curious how old you thought she was, though.
8227160
Ah I see. Well I had assumed sunset was as she was in the movie looking no different than any other mare. So for someone to look younger to someone who hasn't seen their species in so long, I was assuming we were dealing with a pre teen twilight or younger.
8227166
So that's my bad, and something I really ought to have given more thought 
Ah yeah, that's very true. And probably something I should've tried to figure out how to show better. I'm so used to my other stories, where I've established that I've thrown out the 'one size fits all' show proportions in favor of giving canon characters unique body types, that I kinda forgot that since LG is a prequel, many of its readers don't know that I do that
Your Zalgo is futile against me, despair! For I have cracked it! mwahahaha! Seriously it's a huge mess.
8227168
I'm not entirely sure why, but my fimfiction crashed 5 times while I read this chapter. And the format looks pretty different. Like I can scroll endlessly in any direction for some reason. Maybe it's partly me because I've been having internet issues lately
Even though it pains me to see Sunset this way I really enjoyed this chapter. Since we are about to see Sunset go down an even darker path I better prepare my pony Kleenex.
I'm not trying to sound nitpicky here but I found some errors.
I can't remember where the rest were but I'll let you know if I see them.
Nice chapter! I like how you try to portray Sunset's descend into her revenge scheme what leads to the first movie.
I'm really intersted where this ends. Do you plan to go only for Equestria Girls 1? Because if not, I REALLY hope you go for the route where Sunset desires to reconnect with Princess Celestia at one point. Many people -what I personally don't like, but meh. Personal opinion and all that- always go for the path where Sunset Shimmer decides for whatever reason to completely stay in the human world. Instead of actually going back as a, well, actual human-turned Unicorn Pony. So it doesn't make sense for me if she abandons her homeworld completely.
Or worse, where authors send Sunset down the "She-will-and-can-never-go-back-to-Equestria-because-of-an-enormous-level-of-guilt/terror/fear-in-relation-to-Equestria-and-what-Princess-Celestia-would/could-do" path.
On a side-note. THIS last bit where Sunset meets Twilight could have lead to a whole own story. I know it's your story (and I like it very much) and you want to show the readers Sunset's path, but she could have confronted Celestia or talk with Twilight or do whatever else. The possibilities were endless at this point with keeping the question "What next step will Sunset take now in her life?" in mind. Just saying!
8227117 Well, i think i speak for a lot of your readers here, when is say that you should totally write all of that down and publish it as an alternate ending
8227203
Got me wishing I wrote something more interesting there.
I just knew that some people would crack it
8227205
I did test this out on a number of devices and found it only caused some slight delay in scrolling on one old and cheap laptop, but I can't imagine it being anything else giving you trouble. Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter 
Probably the zalgo text
And no need to apologize, I'd rather know mistakes like that are there so I can fix them
8227223
(note, not suggesting that you go ahead and read further; that would obviously mean tons of spoilers)
Looking Glass itself won't go past EqG1, but the series as a whole will. LG is the earliest part of my Who We Become series, and the best place to start reading, but there's quite a lot of post-graduation stuff written already. As far as Sunset's life and future relationship with Celestia, I won't elaborate on that here, but it's covered elsewhere
As for your comment about the various ways that meeting could've gone, you're absolutely right. I actually talked about a possible alternate version of the story here 8227117
8227233
lol that would be like a whole other fic, honestly. At least another sixteen chapters to match the Act III and IV that it would be replacing. I'd be interested in it, but the amount of time it would take to write wouldn't be worthwhile, since I really want to move this series forward.
Sunset Shimmer has encountered an error and has shut down. Would you like to report this error to Princess Celest- oh wait, never mind, she ran away.
What..................................................................... that got blurry or static.
Edit -
Ok you basically just added your author note along with the last line to really fill in those gaps haha - I somehow accidentally decoded it by pasting it in the URL box then it and search on google, its clears and shows the text under it.8227285
Fuck, I'm no good with troubleshooting. Uh, Ctrl+alt+delete? Try turning her off then back on? Does she need more RAM?
addons.opera.com/media/CACHE/images/themes/55/102755/1.0-rev1/images/271b936f-1e03-436b-8ff8-dce673fdffab/3b9a37d960ddaaf757f7f57c9480da01.jpg
8227291
Blame my love for surrealism
Oh I see. Welp, let me tell you that your weird formatting completely broke Fimfiction for me on my ipad. I thought it was the site and waited a while, and tried again. It broke again. So I came here to the comments below the story itself, and finally saw it was intentional. Nothing personal, or against you, but I don't like when people try this kind of thing: weird formatting, changing the size of the text constantly, too many links, stuff like that. No one thinks of the people using really old or weird devices to read stories, I am lucky to have this old ipad. In the past I had to use a Nintendo 3DS to read stories, you wouldn't imagine all I had to do to make it work. Again nothing personal, it is your story, and there is nothing wrong. I just learned to like writing for the writing, and just don't like when writers feel the need to use gimmicks.
Other than that, good chapter as usual.
I actually could predict this whole chapter; what I can't wait for, is how she learned everything about the Elements.
Up in the comments someone mentions the weird stuff is how the chapter ends, and I think I understand where it was going before it completely freezes, but, did you wrote any Author's Notes? Cause I can't get to that part of the page.
8227309
Sorry about that. I did test the chapter on as many devices as I had available, although it seems that wasn't sufficient. While I intend to leave this chapter as is, I also have a solution that I hope will work. I'll make a version without the formatting and put a link to it at the top of the page with a note for people who can't see the chapter properly to follow said link. Obviously this doesn't help you now, but it certainly wasn't my intention to make this story a challenge to read.
Incidentally, if you or anything else reading this ever have any sort of problem reading something of mine, please don't hesitate to let me know. Comment or PM, whichever. I'm pretty much willing to do whatever to fix a problem, but I can't unless I know that the problem exists
As for the choice to use the formatting in the first place, I don't really feel the need to use gimmicks at all. I've honestly got one hell of an ego, and I do completely feel that the strength of my writing is more than enough carry my stories. I chose to use the formatting because writing is an art form, and art should be as free from limitations as possible. So it's not that I'm relying on gimmicks, it's that I'm an obnoxious artist type who thinks far too highly of themself
8227300
Haha - hope you read this as it gets even harder to read in the thicker areas but its just you putting the authors note there. Not the best way to decode it as it was accidental.
https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=“̹͜I̵̞̲̭̲͇̙̟̳’̢̱͈̙̦͕ͅm̯̩̹̳̹̝+̻̬̻̖̤̝̟b̻̰̞͙́͜ͅe̵̢̤͓̦͉͖̗̘̱t̷̢͇̬t͚͈̘͓̰̭̞̝͟e̜͔̜̦̦̟̱r̷̥̝̙̦̭͠+̗͉ͅo̳f̭͓̦f҉̶͓͔+̪̞͝w̛̪̼͈͍ͅị̹́ͅţ̭̲h̳͙o̶̥͍̬͢͝u̩̜̥̬̣̙̰̼͘͜t͍̞̟̭̗̦̬+̤͡͠y̶̥͕͈ò̸͉̝͖͉̗͇ų̟͈.͚̮́͟+̧̨̞̱E͉͉̥̺͎̖̮͇v̦͔̘̰͎͈͘e̮̪̟̩̘̜͟r̼̫̝̤͍͇̩̙͠y̜̫o͞͏̡̫̰͖̭ͅͅn̵̳̭̠͇̺͇e̷̼̙̫͉̮+̷̙͙͙͔̪͚̺̕i̢̭s͢͏̭̼̦̭̳̱̰ͅ+͏̰̝b͕͕͕̙é̴͔̮͙ț̸̛͓̘̺̳͚̙͓ͅt̡̮̬̜̖͉͖e̴̠̤͍̫̯̕ͅr͔̘̖̮̪̪͜+̷̱͕͉̟͍o͎̼̜̤̹̤f̪̥̀f̮̣̀͝+̨̘́͢w̸̵͍̪̙͉͉̦̤̦̜͢i̶̳͎̭̦̗̼̬̞t̴̴̝̝̝͙͟h̴̵̨̘̱͇̝͓ǫ̖̹͈͎̝͎̺ư̩̘͔̖̠̫t̨̺̮̜̻̬̘͎̰͜͝+̺̝͢y̪̣̼̻͙͠ͅo̡̗͕͎̙̟̥͇u̸̧̺̱̜͎ͅ.̻̜̗+҉̧̼͎̭̩͝J̢͈̺̬̖̲͚̠͜u̵̧̗͖̭̬͜s̷̨̤t̶̘̤̲̗͜͜+̵̻̱̮͝l̗̟̟̯͘e̵̘̥͔̻̼̰̦͜͢a̤̰̻͉͓v̸̼̬͍̤̮͜e͈̟̯+̙̗̺u҉͙͖̰̙̪̥̥̭͢ş̟̝̞̤͎̘̫͔͡+̣͍̭a̭͍̥̮͢͢l̸̦͞ͅo̡̢͚̠͚̭n̗̮̕͞e̲͓̤̮͓̙̤͟%2C̵̶͎̳̼+̷̷̥̩͍͍͓̠͝y͇̘͍̮̭̳̖̟̼ǫ̷̟u̗͖͝’҉̴̝̻̜d̡͎͍͈̭+̶҉̸̜͙͙͎̩̦̳b̛͓̥͡ͅe̵̷̘̗+̣͈̺̘̠̯͓̟d̢̡͍̦̭̹͕̝̹͠ó̫̪̩̦i̢̡̘͖̬͖̗̞̩̣n̷͏͔̳̰̝̦͈g̨͚̣
8227332
Thank you, I will always let you know if something like this happens. I understand, as I said, there is nothing wrong with the creativity that the internet can bring. It's just that, when you have limited internet or RAM, and you just want to read, because you know videos and multimedia just won't run in your device, and then that fails; it is frustrating and sad.
8227336
Kinda love the fact that people are figuring out their own ways of reading it. Makes me wish I hid something worthwhile in there lol
Ah clever
Hey Sunset you can open a club with Twilight.
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Although I don't quite think Sunset's in the mood to do much of anything with Twilight at the moment 
Haha, I forgot how much I love that scene
And now I'm caught up. Interesting so far
8227418
Glad you're enjoying it 
Awesome
8227412 They have to get back to the future first
8227428
Nah, that's Pinkie's thing
i.ytimg.com/vi/liEwm0stjOM/maxresdefault.jpg
Aw, and it went so well for her
Also, this page makes it kind of trivial to read the Zalgo text
8227343
you could always ask starlight or twily for a time traveling spell
8227423
Do you know whats next in this timeline, Im kind of interested in knowing the romance thing between EG Fluttershy and Sunset.
8227437
Ah! So there is an unzalgo thing out there. I looked around a bit for one, but didn't stumble across anything.
8227451
Those have historically not worked out that well for them
8227469
That is the story that I'll be doing after Looking Glass
Would you mind editing your comment to add spoiler tags to it? Readers who haven't read my other stories still don't know that's a thing yet
8227480
Edited sorry about htat.
8227480
Do you want any more proofreaders too?
8227489
Ah, actually Fimfiction has spoiler tags that will completely cover the text until someone hovers over it, that way no one can possibly see anything on accident. Looks like this. You can highlight the text you want to spoiler and then click the button that looks like a black box and says Sp on it.
And thank you for the offer, but I'm good on proofreaders right now
8227512
Should be fixed
8227536
Is the text inside the spoiler tags? There should be a tag on either side of the text, like this
It's still not showing up
[spoiler]Your text has to go in between the two tags like this, or else it doesn't work[/spoiler]In case anyone is curious about what the illegible text says but doesn't want to fry their potato of a computer to copy and paste the text onto somewhere else to read it, here is the text:
“I don’t need you anymore.”
“Equestria doesn’t ned you anymore.”
“You thought you were going home?”
“You don’t have a home. You don’t deserve a home.”
“You have nothing. You are nothing. You will only every be nothing.”
"I’m better off without you. Everyone is better off without you. Just leave us alone. You’d be doing everyone a favor. You should just run back through the mirror. You should never have come in the first place. You shouldn’t be allowed to exist in this or any other world. You will never be welcome back here. You could die and no one would care. It would be all that you deserve. You think that I didn’t know where you were the whole time? I’ve left you there as punishment for your sins.
By this point I’m just hoping there’s absolutely no one who could possibly read this. If you’re somehow reading this then let me know how you did it lol, I’m genuinely curious. I need a lot of text to fill this section so I’ll just rant a bit. I’m good at that. Basically, what I really want to do here I can’t do I want to just have words over words over words - like Sunset’s just has so much going on in her head, that it’s all too much for her to hear any individual thing. But like that’s not feasible with Fimfiction so I hope this has a similarity cool effect. Unfortunately, the zalgo text thing is kind of a meme so I worry that it’ll come across as humorous. But we’ll see. I’m just gonna copy-pasta this until I think there’s enough lol. [this paragraph repeats for a total of 4 times]
Sunset would never be her student. Celestia would never forgive her and she could never be happy
8227555
Okay now it should work.