Equestria Girls: Reimagined

by Candle Light

Prologue

Equestria Girls: Reimagined
Prologue
by Candle light
based on a story by Meghan McCarthy

There was a glowing, thrashing cluster of bubbles in the depth of the sheet of glass, and little Sunset Shimmer just couldn’t look away.

She had done this? The sense of pride was indescribable; this was magic nopony had ever attempted before, magic most ponies thought belonged in fiction. But she had done it. Of course she had done it; she was the most amazing unicorn to ever have stood beside the great Princess of the Sun! Now, finally, it was time to show her mentor the results of her labor, but how to best go about it? She wanted to show it off right away, but maybe she ought to wait until tomorrow; it would be the Princess’ birthday, after all, and—

“Sunset Shimmer?” The voice behind her made her jump, and as a consequence, lose her concentration. The magic enveloping her horn vanished in a flash, and so did the bubbles inside the glass. She turned to face Princess Celestia, who was looking at her with an expression in-between shock and awe. “What in Equestria were you doing?”

“It’s a…” So taken off guard, she needed a few moments to collect herself, in which time Celestia approached the glass. “It’s a portal, Princess. To another world!” The words simply rolled off her tongue, the excitement impossible to contain. “I know you said I shouldn’t mess with it, but I was so enthralled by this whole Cosmic Veil concept that I had to try some experiments, and you won’t believe what I’ve discovered! There's like a dozen different worlds out there! It’s like they’re attached to our own by some invisible chains. And get this: I was able to get create my own connection to one of the—!”

Celestia put her hoof on her young student’s shoulder, and to her immense delight, she gave her a smile. “You truly are a wonder child, Sunset Shimmer. To not only have discovered the secret, which even most unicorns of the Arcanum are unaware, but to create a pathway to it… remarkable.”

Some of the excitement washed away. “You… you knew about it?”

“It is a close-guarded secret amongst the top mages of the court, but yes, I knew. You, on the other hoof, are the first to discover it on your own in over four hundred years. Do you remember what I told you about the three Arch Spells, created by the legendary Star Swirl the Bearded?”

Sunset Shimmer’s excitement came back with vigor. She liked where this was going. “Of course!”

“What you have just witnessed with your own eyes, the magical creation of worlds, was discovered to be the fourth Arch Spell, previously lost to the ages.”

She couldn’t hold back a squeal. She was practically jumping up and down. “For real?”

“Very real. Little is known about these worlds, but the Arch Mages have been able to sense life from within them. Life that is ever changing, evolving in a fashion remarkably similar to that of Equestria itself.”

“But now we can explore them!” exclaimed Sunset happily.

“No.” The tone of finality in that simple word made her lips fall like a rock to the ground. “I want you to listen to me, Sunset Shimmer, because this is of utmost importance. What we are dealing with is a whole other worlds created entirely by magic, tethered to Equestria. The simple reason these worlds were sealed off was because the energy contained within them is so unfathomable, the slightest amount leaking into our world could have catastrophic consequences.”

“B-but what if we’re really careful!” Sunset protested. “If we had like all the Arch Mages help us, we could make it sturdier—”

“Star Swirl the Bearded said similar things,” Celestia interrupted. “Or so the story goes. But even he, eventually, came to realize that the dangers were too great. Listen,” her voice grew softer, “I understand it must be frustrating, to discover something so grand, only to have it taken away from you, but it’s for the safety of all of Equestria. Even I couldn’t attempt such a thing without invoking the wrath of the Arcanum.”

“Can… can I at least study it?” asked Sunset, her face drooping. “I won’t interfere with the magic, I swear, but just looking at it wouldn’t hurt… would it?”

“I’m sorry, but the answer remains no. The simplest of scanning spell could topple the balance over time, and knowing you,” she gave her a look, “I’m not so sure you would resist keeping it at just scanning spells for long.”

There might as well have been a hole in Sunset’s heart. Unbeknownst to her mentor, she had been working on this project for over ten months in secret. In all that time, she had played the big reveal in her head over and over, and not once had she considered that it might end with a big fat ‘no.’

“Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia spoke, in a tone that made it seem as though she knew exactly what was going through her head. “Regardless of what the rules may say, I want you to know that your display of immense magical knowledge has impressed tremendously this day. It shows a potential of greatness rarely seen, even among my own students. I’ll tell you what; I’ll talk to the Arch Mages, so that your creation might be placed in the Hall of Magical Wonders, as a reminder of your triumph.”

Warmth returned to Sunset, as she stared back into her master’s eyes. “I… thank you.” She swallowed, mentally preparing for the next part; maybe today could still be salvaged. “Does… does this mean you will elevate me to the advanced classes?”

“It certainly hasn’t hurt,” Celestia said. “In due time, my dear. One day soon.”

“Always ‘one day soon’,” her student muttered. “You said that a year ago, and I felt ready then!”

“Two years is a short time to master all the intermediate skills of magic,” Celestia reminded her. “Your time will come, but first you must allow me time to ascertain that you are ready.”

“I… okay.”

It was with mixed feelings that Sunset Shimmer watched Princess Celestia envelop the mirror in her magic, creating a protective barrier around it. She didn’t take the words of praise from the Princess lightly—a higher honor, she could hardly imagine—but she had expected more. To blow her teacher’s mind with a new magic discovery, to get to explore this new venue by her side. To be remembered by historians as one of the greatest magic users in the world.

Her time would come. Celestia kept assuring her of this. Maybe Sunset was a bit rash sometimes, but what was she supposed to do, when Celestia refused to see how much she had grown? Sunset Shimmer was capable of so much more than she knew.

So much more.

Comments

[Scholarly-Cimmerian]

Ooh, this looks like a good start. I like the way you've written the young Sunset here, and her conversation with Celestia. Nice alternate origin for the mirror portal too!

[Alex Warlorn]

" the magical creation of worlds, "

This reminds me of Myst where it's said that the portal books opened gateways, rather than creating worlds, but the most egotistical book makers couldn't tell the difference.

The IDW comics are interesting, because its revealed that the prototype mirror was actually built with no limits to the phases of the moon, and could connect to any world. Enabling Celly and Starswirl to bring back technology that didn't exist in Equestria (explaining where all the http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SchizoTech out of place technology in Equestria came from). And Celly began an affair with the GOOD version of King Sombra before even meeting his evil incarnation in her world (IE, the one Celly loved, and would never find that kind of love again, as the show creators have said).

But Celly found that the more she traveled to a world, the MORE parallel they became! Basically, the worlds would begin to 'synchronize' instead of staying independent timelines. (This resulted in Mirror world Princess Luna turning traitor as soon as Nightmare Moon was cured an eon later). But Celly was willing to risk it and try to figure out a solution, while Starswirl knew things were getting out of hand.

The mane six visiting the mirror world caused the mirror mane six to come into existence... who were selfish and shallow underachievers who were basically considered a minor nuisance who didn't even factor into the story. (Lots of readers felt cheated.)

I'm sincerely stunned and confused at why people keep writing stories where Equestria Girls Earth is 'less real' than MLP Equestria, being treated as a cheap copy rather than a parallel universes.

I'll never understand people who think ignorance is the best way to keep something hidden.

[AdmiralSakai]

Interesting start. I like this fleshed-out background of young Sunset and her ambitions, as well as the mention of a wider community of magical scholarship and institutions in Equestria. This is such a small and effective scene that I am kind of wondering why the actual Equestria Girls didn't have something like it, for instance as a flashback when Celestia is briefing Twilight.

I do agree with the poster above that Starswirl actually creating the Equestria Girls world strains credulity, but then again -as in Myst- it's hard to tell if that's actually how it worked.