The First Equestria Girl: Ch. 4
Disoriented wouldn't even begin to describe what Sunset was experiencing. The moment her body entered the portal, up and down ceased to exist. Direction and space were meaningless. Even the integrity of her own mass was debatable.
She felt her figure stretch and contort as she spun around in a cascading spiral, like helpless debris circling a drain. She was a wayward planet caught in a black hole and being pulled into an inevitable crushing doom. Except, instead of the darkness of space, the brightest, most blinding multicolored lights filled her vision. Mocking her as she helplessly careened onward to who knows where.
Mercifully, the nightmare roller coaster ended as she was jettisoned out of the end of the portal. She skidded across the hard ground, landing on her stomach, which wasn’t exactly pleasant. However, she was thankful that ground and gravity finally existed again.
She was dizzy from the harrowing experience and it took a moment for her vision to return to normal. When the world finally stopped spinning, she surveyed the land directly in front of her. She was on, what appeared to be, a concrete path in the middle of a well trimmed grassy field. The path led straight to a castle about 30 meters in front of her.
No she thought, Not a castle.
It was a brick building. A simple, yet elegant structure. Only a few stories tall and symmetrical in shape. It was more like a school or government building. The kind that existed outside the castle grounds in the greater Canterlot city area, or in other cities and towns across Equestria. Wherever she was, it wasn't too dissimilar from home.
At least, that's what she thought.
She tried to walk towards the building, but stumbled immediately. Face planting on the ground as the bottom of her chin scraped the concrete.
Something was wrong. She couldn't move properly, and her face felt like it was bare and unprotected. She went to bring her hoof up to rub her chin, but as soon as her arm came into her vision, she froze. Her hoof wasn't a hoof at all. Her arm thinned out at her wrist and became flat, like a pressed waffle. There were five tiny tendrils sprouting out from where her flat hoof used to be. Her "hoof" was the same soft light yellow color of fur she expected, but there was no fur to speak of. It was just bare exposed skin, that was smooth and slimy. Her arms were black and dry like a crust was covering her body. Was she burnt? Did the portal damage and mangle her beyond recognition? She wanted to touch her face, but her own deformed hoof terrified her. She didn't feel any physical pain, although panic was beginning to set in and she could feel her breath shortening.
It took a few seconds for it to register to Sunset that she was screaming out loud. She didn't want to draw attention to herself before knowing if the coast was clear. She had no idea what dangers this world could hold. However, she couldn’t stop herself from emptying her lungs in the loudest manner possible.
What had the portal done to her? What else was wrong with her body? Did Celestia know this would happen? Was she laughing on the other side of the portal? Was this her comeuppance for questioning the Princess’s authority?
Her mind went blank as she reached the end of her screaming breath. She was forced to gasp for more air in order to continue her bellowing, conflicted cry. Although, before she could continue, she noticed that somepony else was screaming right next to her.
A blue haired creature sat on the ground to Sunset’s right. It looked like a lanky, gangly mess with massive legs, but tiny arms compared to the rest of its body. It was clothed from neck to toe in blue pants, massive shin high boots, and what appeared to be a yellow and white shirt or blouse.
It was difficult to discern what body parts were what compared to a normal pony. The creature’s torso was elongated and its face was pushed in. There was barely a distinguishable nose on its oversized head and no muzzle to speak of. Its fur, or rather skin, was blue and about the same texture as what Sunset noticed on herself. It also had mangled tentacle hooves just like hers.
Is that… is that what I look like? The thought horrified Sunset. Was every creature here an ungodly abomination? And why was it screaming? Was it in pain? Was it mocking Sunset? Did she unintentionally activate some sort of mating cry by shouting first? The thought of such beasts mating made Sunset shudder. She didn't even know if these beings were intelligent or could talk.
Can I even talk? I haven't tried yet. Before she could form words the creature’s eyes glanced over at Sunset and spoke first.
"Girl, you are so right. The first day of school is always just the worst."
Sunset wiggled away a little bit, out of instinct. She was still unfamiliar with how to move her atrocious body.
"Sorry if I scared you. I just saw you having a breakdown over here and thought I'd join you."
The creature shifted its weight and moved from sitting on its hind legs to sitting on its torso with its legs apart and its knees in the air.
"What's your name, new girl?" It casually asked.
Sunset felt a little bit more at ease. This creature seemed pretty harmless and somewhat kind, if not mildly eccentric. Then again, she had no reference for what was normal here at all. At least these creatures were intelligent beings. Which made sense. You'd have to have intelligence and society to be able to construct buildings.
Realizing that she had yet to reply to the other creature’s questions. Sunset opened her mouth, moving her tongue across her lips and teeth. Trying out a few grunts and moans, before attempting syllables.
“I-I-I…” She attempted to speak.
"I'm S-Sunset Sh-Shimmer." The words felt clunky coming out of her tiny mouth, and she kept re-wetting her lips with her tongue
"S-Sunset Sh-shimmer," the blue being imitated, "That's an interesting name. Very S-snakey with an elongated 'Esss.'"
She continued dragging out the "Esss" long after her sentence was done. Based on the voice and demeanor, Sunset devised that this creature was female. She chuckled nervously and was reminded of somepony she knew. But couldn't quite put her hoof on it.
"It's just Sunset Shimmer.”A smile came over her weird face for the first time in what felt like ages. "No snakes involved."
Sunset's companion held out her bizarre, multi-appendaged hoof towards her.
"My name's Tempest Dream."
Sunset’s eyes bolted wide open in shock. What this girl had just said was impossible.
She looked up and down this friendly being's body with a new context. If you ignored the abnormalities, then her hair, her expression, her speech, her demeanor… It was definitely her. It was Tempest Dream, her oldest childhood friend.
But it wasn't her? Was it? How could this be? Unless Tempest jumped through the portal right after her? However, she wasn't anywhere near the secret chamber in Celestia’s castle. So how was she here now?
"Let me help you up, silly," Tempest, new Tempest, suddenly rose up from the ground on her massive hind legs. She towered over Sunset, nearly two meters tall.
These creatures that looked helpless on the ground, were imposing giants on their hind legs. She didn't look like a pony on its hind legs. She looked, somehow, correct. Her hips were centered to the rest of her body. The abnormal body structure made more sense in this standing, upright position. Clearly these creatures were bi-pedal which is why the arms were so small and weak compared to the hind legs. The arms weren't meant for walking at all.
Sunset reached out her hoof, or whatever it was, towards Tempest’s own arm, which remained pointed invitingly at Sunset. She awkwardly grabbed it as her misplaced hoof tendrils didn't know where to grip onto Tempest. However, Tempest confidently and expertly got around this by simply wrapping her tendrils around Sunset's wrist with a firm grip. In an instant she pulled on Sunset's arm and Sunset felt her body rise up from the ground. She was suddenly flung onto her new legs, which she had no concept of how to balance on, and immediately started to fall over.
"Uh-oh I gotcha," Tempest caught Sunset in her arms and held her in a hug to keep her from falling over.
Now so high up, Sunset was terrified of hitting the concrete from here. But Tempest’s embrace was strong and comforting.
"I won't let you fall, ok?" Tempest gently smiled at her. "I guess your legs fell asleep on you. Have you been sitting out here all class period?"
Tempest slowly let go of Sunset, making sure she could stand on her own before fully letting go.
In a double shoulder width stance, Sunset was just barely able to hold her balance. She looked down at her new form, and managed to get a better view of what she looked like.
The black arms weren't burnt. They were clothed. Just like the clothes Tempest wore. However, Sunset’s clothes were a bit different. The black jacket appeared to be a type of leather or something. Underneath was a purple shirt with a yellow and red split sun symbol that was the same as her cutie mark. Did she still have a cutie mark? She couldn’t see because her flank was covered by an orange and purple skirt, separated diagonally by a pale yellow stripe between the two main colors. Her hind hooves were clad in black, shin high boots with purple accents on the tops of the shoe.
She thought about removing the outfit to see what the rest of her body looked like underneath. And to see if she sustained any injuries coming out of the portal. Unfortunately, the thought of seeing herself covered in furless, bare and oily skin wasn't very appealing. She decided the outfit looked better anyway.
Sunset touched her head to see how her mane had changed. It was still there, presumably the same colors as always. Who knew what kind of condition it was in though? She felt around behind her skirt covered flank. Definitely no tail coming out the back anymore
"Can you walk?" Tempest still had her arms out and ready in case Sunset tumbled again.
"I… I don't know. I can try." Sunset tried to lift her left leg. It felt twice as heavy as her old hind legs and was wobbling wildly.
"Here hold onto my shoulder." Tempest leaned in and Sunset rested her loose, useless limbs on Tempest's shoulder. Together with Tempest, Sunset took her first steps as a tall lanky bi-pedal creature.
Slowly, they made their way towards the front doors of the school. Just as Sunset was starting to get into a comfortable rhythm with her steps, she heard what sounded like a screeching alarm or bell.
Seconds after, the front doors burst open and scores of these upright creatures began pouring out into the open campus grounds. They walked right by Tempest and Sunset with no regard to the fact that she needed space to keep her balance. In fact, most of them ignored both girls altogether. Choosing to chat and laugh within their own small social groups. What amazed Sunset was how different everyone looked and dressed. No two were alike. She gripped Tempest's shoulder tighter to keep from falling over, frozen in place as she stared at the creatures moving all around them.
"Oh good, lunch started." Tempest calmly remarked.
"Lunch?" Sunset questioned. The thought of food made Sunset think to look back to the point in time where this adventure had started.
Sure enough, her brown satchel was sitting in front of a large white statue. She had pretty much forgotten about it since she had crossed the portal. It appeared unharmed and unchanged, unlike her new garish figure.
"Did you used to go to private school?" Tempest’s question caused Sunset’s head to turn back around to her leaning post of a new friend.
"Y-yes. How did you know?"
Sunset wondered if this was the real Tempest drawing on her memories of magic school.
"Freshman from small schools tend to be shy when they first get here. Don't worry, no one at this school bites." Tempest laughed at her own joke.
Was biting an option? How sharp are these being's teeth? Sunset found a new thought to worry about.
Before she could dwell on that, she heard someone talking behind her. Right where her bag and the statue were.
"Whose stuff is this?" A handful of creatures were standing over her bag. One of them leaned down to pick it up. Without even thinking, Sunset launched herself off of Tempest's shoulder and darted towards her bag. She didn't necessarily think that these students were going to steal it, but it was the only belongings she had left in this world. In any world for that matter. She couldn't take the risk of anything happening to it.
Knowing her wobbly and sluggish movements would prevent her from reaching her bag in time before the other students touched it, she concentrated on her aura and tried to cast a levitation spell on her bag.
Nothing happened.
She tried again, focusing much more intently, but to no avail. She must have been too flustered to cast a spell. Instead she opted to rush over there and just grab it. When she got up to the other students, she bent down and violently snatched the bag out of the grasp of the student who had started picking it up.
"Sorry that's mine," Sunset remarked curtly. She clutched the bag to her chest and hurried back over to Tempest.
"Nice burst speed. Glad to see you got your legs back."
Tempest gave Sunset an approving nod, and that's when it hit her: She had not only walked on her own, but she had sprinted twice. Looking down at her legs, her stance was only shoulder width apart now. And she felt balanced with her center of gravity. All it took was sheer panic for the concept of walking on two legs to click for her.
"You know, as the school's hall monitor, I'm supposed to get you written up for cutting class." Tempest’s grin turned crooked and sly.
Sunset remembered a time when she was the hall monitor for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. She used to relish her authority, and took pleasure in sending ponies who broke the rules to the dean's office. She had only just arrived in this new world and she was already breaking the rules. Hadn't she broken enough rules where she came from?
"I-I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to…" Sunset began to explain, but was cut off.
"Relax, sister," Tempest draped her arm around Sunset's shoulders. Just like the Tempest she knew used to do back in her magic school days.
"I'm just messing with you." Tempest rubbed the bony joint of one of her hoof tendrils on the top of Sunset's head. It didn't hurt exactly but it felt kind of annoying. Still, Sunset couldn’t help but smile in relief.
"So what classes did you skip anyway?" Tempest pulled back and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Um… actually I don't exactly have any classes at all. Yet." Sunset shrugged shyly and tapped the top two tendrils on her appendages against each other. She was beginning to get the hang of using them independently of each other. The potential utility of such fine dexterity intrigued Sunset.
"What?" Tempest threw her arms in the air in shock. Then she landed them on the top of either side of her head and grabbed her hair.
"You're not even registered yet? What are they doing at the administration office that they just hung you out to dry like that?" Tempest grabbed Sunset by the collar of her leather jacket.
"Come with me, we're going to the front office right now."
Sunset complied and scurried along with Tempest. Mostly to keep from falling down again.
"I thought you weren't gonna tell on me?" They hurried towards a giant set of double doors at the entrance of the school.
"This is different. I'm not telling on you. I'm helping you." Tempest looked over her shoulder back to Sunset.
"Do you trust me?" Tempest remarked in passing.
"I do." Sunset grinned as she did her best to keep pace through the school hallways. Tempest always was a pony Sunset knew she could count on. Why should bi-pedal Tempest be any different?
****
Sunset sat quietly in the principal's office with her arms gently folded in her lap. Her knees were locked together and her shoulders slumped slightly forward. Her expression was calm, but her heart was racing a hundred miles per hour. Due to the fact that, in front of her, stood an outrageous impossibility. It was another bi-pedal creature wearing a beige pantsuit. But this one in particular made Sunset's stomach turn.
It was Celestia.
The mare who raised her from as young as she could remember. The mare who gave her a home in Canterlot Castle and an elite education. The mare she called mother. Celestia groomed Sunset for success, but then stripped it away.
Sunset had betrayed and attacked her. No, Celestia had lied to her. The promise of royalty was palpable, but unattainable. Like she was being toyed with for Celestia's amusement; a millennium long joke that Sunset was the butt of.
And yet, here she stood. Transformed into the same strange, alien looking creature, but she had Celestia’s eyes. And right now those eyes were looking at her the way they always did: burrowing deep into her, as if she could read her mind.
But this Celestia wasn't a ruler of a great land. She was a high school principal. Still an authority. But also a common worker just doing her job. A cog in the machine like everyone else.
"So, we missed you at enrollment, did we?" Celestia remarked as she peered down at an open folder in her grasp. Her tone was distant and nearly void of interest.
"Yeah, I found her bumbling around by the statue." Tempest chirped up from behind Sunset. She had been leaning against the exit door ever since they came into the office together.
"Poor thing was lost as a lamb." Tempest stepped forward and patted the back of Sunset's shoulder.
Sunset didn't like being talked down to as if she wasn't even in the room. But she couldn’t bring herself to interject a single word. Wondering who else would pop up in this world.
Flipping a page in her folder, Celestia spoke again.
"Do you live in the area, or do you require campus housing?" Celestia looked Sunset straight in the eye as she finished her question. Her expression was friendly, yet professional, and most importantly, neutral. There was no disappointment in her gaze. No regret or let down. No tears being held back and certainly no anger for past transgressions. There was nothing.
Sunset found this oddly comforting. To this strange, bi-pedal version of Celestia, Sunset was nobody. She was just another student, a number in her records. An unsorted file that simply needed to be put into its place so that she could move on to her next task. Sunset felt no pressure to perform or behave a certain way. There was no hidden rubric she didn't understand. No unwritten criteria she was failing to meet. This Celestia was impossible to disappoint because there was no expectation.
So, with that in mind, she physically relaxed.
"I um… I don't have a uh… any housing at the moment." Sunset was embarrassed to admit that she was literally homeless in this new dimension. Which would leave her with a lot to explain if they ever found out she was from another world entirely.
"She can live with me." Tempest offered.
Sunset and Celestia both looked at Tempest with a bit of surprise.
"A senior and a freshman?" Celestia raised an eyebrow. Her biggest concern didn't seem to be with Sunset's origin, but rather the social dynamics of upper and lower classmen.
"Why not?" Tempest shrugged, "I don't have a roommate assigned to my dorm this year. I may as well keep the new girl company." She winked at Sunset.
Sunset was a bit irked at being treated like some sort of pet or fun experiment, but this was a unique opportunity to keep her from having to answer too many questions.
"Very well," Celestia replied plainly. She turned in her seat and used her dexterous appendages to tap on a row of buttons while staring into a glowing screen.
After a few long minutes of silence, a machine next to her desk whirled to life, letting out a series of beeps and hums. Pushing back her chair, Celestia walked over to the machine, and pulled out some documents that had manifested on top. Sunset assumed this device was run by Principal Celestia’s own magic.
"Here is your new schedule and a map of the campus." Celestia handed the documents to Sunset who awkwardly collected them in her unsure embrace. These bi-pedal creature's appendages were gonna take some time to get used to.
"Tempest will show you to your next class and, later, to your shared dorm. I apologize I would show you around campus myself, but we are a little busy at the front office today. Please excuse my rudeness for rushing this process, and again, I'm sorry we missed you on enrollment day." Celestia smiled gently and held out her arm. Sunset sighed and did her best to mimic shaking it.
"Oh… it's no trouble. I'm sure I'll figure it out." Sunset felt her limp wrist wobble in Celestia’s firm grip.
"Welcome to Canterlot High." Celestia called, already halfway out the back door of her office and into the administration area.
Sunset looked down at the schedule and school map she was holding.
What am I doing? She questioned herself. She had just arrived in a completely new world with strange creatures. And instead of finding danger, or new discovery, she had gotten herself enrolled in school. The last thing she wanted was more school and even less autonomy.
Sunset decided against attending her first class. The idea of going to classes in this world just did not appeal to her. She waited until Tempest waved goodbye and went on her own merry way. Then she followed the campus map straight towards the school's library. If she was gonna learn how this new world and its magic worked, it needed to be on her own terms. And at her own pace. She knew that she could read much faster than any professor could hope to teach her.
The library wasn’t nearly as impressive as the wall to wall, multiple storied wonder that was the Canterlot Royal Library, but it was certainly an impressive size for a single school.
Staring at the bookshelf, Sunset focused her gaze and tried to use her magic to levitate one of the history books off of the shelf.
Still nothing.
There were no distractions or excuses this time. It simply wasn’t working. She didn’t have a unicorn horn in this body, so perhaps conjuration required a different sort of training. Or it was possible that all Magic in this world was component based. Either way, she knew she had to get on with learning about it as soon as possible, in hopes that this trip into a parallel universe wasn’t a complete waste of time.
Sunset spent the next three days in the school’s library. She hadn’t eaten and barely slept. A few times in the early morning hours, she curled up into a ball on the floor and passed out for a few minutes at a time. She would dodge other students and teachers when they would come in and out of the library during school hours. When it was time to turn off the lights and lock up for the night, she would simply hide in the bathroom stalls until the staff had all left the building. At first she worried about them catching on and finding her, but soon realized that no one was really paying attention. Much less expecting a student to stow away in the library of all places.
The first book she dove into was a general history book, and she was instantly fascinated with the culture and background of these bi-pedal creatures. They were similar, yet very different in so many ways. These beings, humans as they were called, collectively “humanity," were more aggressive and war-like in their past than Equestria. The hundreds of years of peace brought upon by Princess Celestia's reign was remarkable by comparison.
Sunset easily lost track of time during those three days as she read all about the history, literature, science, philosophy, and language of these humans. All of it was fascinating in its own right, but there was one distinctive factor that was missing from the whole of human knowledge:
Magic.
Sunset could scarcely find a single reference to magic in any text whatsoever. There was no section dedicated to it at all. In Equestria, the magic section was the largest and most subdivided section of the library. In fact, magic was reduced to ambiguous mentions of parlor tricks or entertainment. And all other mentions of magic appeared in fiction. Stories of fantasy, meant as escape-ism, had vastly different, not to mention incredibly wrong, concepts of magic and how it was supposed to work.
For hours and hours Sunset toiled. Always believing that the secrets of human magic were somewhere just around the corner or in the next book she read. It had to be here, she was just missing something trivial and obvious. However, as the days dragged, what should have been obvious started to become clear to her.
There was no magic here. This whole world was inert and without the wonders or powers that magic could provide.
It was a depressing thought and it brought a flurry of questions to her mind. How could a civilized society even be created without magic?
The more she read, the more this magicless world slowly revealed the truth to her.
The answer was technology. Equestria had machines, electricity, and even computers, but such devices were always supplemental. It was magic that was the main drive of innovation and advancement. In this world, technology was all they had. Computers and telecommunication via electricity and programming was what progress was based on.
It made sense, in its own weird way. Without magic, humans had to create their own. It gave Sunset a sense of respect for this poor magicless, lanky-legged disastrous race. Unfortunately, Sunset wasn’t of this world. She didn’t know how to carry on without magic. Furthermore, she had no idea what her own sense of self-identity was without it.
It was the end of the 2nd day, school was over and the faculty and students had long since gone home for the day. The sun was disappearing over the horizon. A sun, she learned, that moved without the guidance of a great and powerful Alicorn princess.
For the first time in her life, Sunset felt more alone than ever before. Even when she locked herself away in a library dungeon, she took for granted the comfort of being at home in a world that she understood. The very rising and setting of the sun was a warm and cozy reminder of the benevolent ruler that watched over and guided everypony, keeping them safe.
This place was cold and barren. Nothing but steel and machines. Coded ones and zeros of an artificial manufactured world filled to the brim with technology but empty of heart.
Worst of all she missed Celestia terribly.
Sunset collapsed in a heap on the rough library carpet. She should feel relieved to be here. After all, back in Equestria, she was a criminal. A wanted scoundrel who had attacked the princess. She couldn't go back. She'd be arrested and spend countless years in prison as a traitor to Equestria. But, this world was not her own. Without magic, it lacked the power she needed. This felt like a waste of time. There was nothing for her here. She became overwhelmed with regretful thoughts.
I should have been more patient. I should have played it safe. Why didn’t I just follow orders? Why didn’t I just listen to mom...?
As soon as the word mom crossed her mind, Sunset's whole demeanor changed. Her body shook from the neck and shoulders as a tingling sensation gripped the back of her head. It wasn't from chills or fear that she shook, but something else. Her vision blurred for a few moments and her heart rate accelerated. She began breathing in and out of her mouth quickly, loudly, and deliberately.
She was furious.
No. Sunset thought, as a terrible resolve came over her. She lied to me. She lied about making me a princess. What did I work so hard for, if she was only going to take everything from me? This is her fault. Why? Why mom, why?
Once again her mood swung drastically at the word "mom." The tears came like a sudden rain storm. Celestia wasn't her mother at all. She had said so herself. Sunset didn't have a mother. She didn't have anyone in this world or Equestria to call family. She was alone.
In Equestria, when she felt alone, she could always turn to her magic for comfort. Casting a tough spell and honing her powers. She was a very gifted unicorn, and she knew it.
But, in this world, the loneliness hit harder. The emptiness she felt in the silence of the library was crushing and deafening. She had to leave. She had to get out of this place. She had to go back home - even if there wasn't really a home to go back to. It would be better to rot in prison than to be imprisoned in this inert world of no magic.
Maybe somehow, someday, she could mend her relationship with Celestia. Perhaps there was a sliver of a chance she could go back to the life she once had. Before it had been stripped from her so suddenly and unceremoniously.
Sunset slowly got up from the library carpet, leaving behind a small pool of various body fluids that had leaked from her face over the last several minutes of sobbing. She slunk away to the bathroom just outside the library to freshen herself up. As she dragged a wet paper towel over her face, she looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror over the communal sink.
She was a mess.
A mess in every way imaginable. Yes, her body was twisted and foreign to her: a mangled amalgamation of parts that barely made sense to her if at all. But, even through her alien features, she could see how stressed and distraught her expression was. Exhaustion and depression were written all over her stupid pushed-in, human face. Plus, her hair and clothes were so disheveled that she looked beyond hope.
All in all, a total mess.
As school began for the third straight day, Sunset continued to dodge students and teachers alike. She didn't want to be seen or heard. She knew that she needed to get back to the portal but didn't want to risk being seen. What if someone saw her and came back through the portal as well? Who knows what consequences that could have? There was no need to make this situation anymore complicated than it had already been.
She waited until classes were over for the day and the student body trickled out of the school and back to their homes. Some students took giant yellow busses home or were picked up in smaller vehicles. Some simply walked off of campus to wherever they were going. Probably to the dorms which were just down the block from campus according to Sunset’s map. She was going to keep all the papers that "Principal" Celestia had given her. They would be an interesting souvenir from this strange new world.
She had considered taking a book or two from the library, but wasn't feeling too keen on stealing anything at the moment. She had caused so much trouble lately that anymore crimes, no matter how small, felt just too beyond the pale for her.
Once the coast was clear she creeped over to the statue she had originally popped out of. This time finally getting a good look at the monument she had all but ignored on arrival. The statue read: "Canterlot High School. Proud home of the Wondercolts." The statue itself was a bucking horse, front hooves high into the air. The irony of the coincidence was not lost on Sunset.
Curiously, this horse looked like a pre-history early evolution of Equestrian kind. A missing link that hadn't existed for multiple millenia if not millions of years. Her time in the Canterlot High School library had shown her some of the evolutionary history of this human world. It looked like it was a similar world to Equestria, but the dominant sentient species was only humans and not the plethora of creatures that spanned her dimension. This was a world all alone with one race and no magic. How did such an evolutionary course take place?
The thought experiment was fascinating, but perhaps she would never find out. She looked at the base of the statue where the portal lay hidden. From the outside it looked like a simple stone structure. She reached out her human hand and fingers toward the opening, longing to see them transform back into a hoof as she inched closer to the entrance. Closing her eyes, she leaned forward. Ready to return to Equestria and face the music.
I'm coming home, mom.
Was her last thought before she was unexpectedly yanked backwards and nearly fell on her face all over again. She scrambled to keep herself upright as she felt a foreign set of arms wrap around her waist.
"Oh my god, there you are!" Tempest’s panicked voice cried at Sunset. "I thought you died, or fell off the face of the earth or something." Tempest pulled the unwitting Sunset into a bear hug.
Well I would have fallen off the face of the earth if you had given me another dang second! Sunset protested in her mind.
"Are you ok? What happened to you? Do you…" Tempest harshly brushed carpet dust off of the shoulder of Sunset's jacket. "You look like hell." She bluntly stated.
"Thanks." Sunset shot Tempest a perturbed look.
"Sorry, I just mean, well… exactly what I said. Have you been sleeping on the street? We have a dorm room and a nice comfy bed for you." Tempest squeezed Sunset's shoulder gently.
Sunset wanted to protest and back away from Tempest. She wanted to jump through the portal and get it all over with. But something in Tempest's compassionate expression held her in place.
"I… I just. I don't know. You can't even begin to understand what I'm…" Sunset began, but was cut off by Tempest.
"Look, sister, you're obviously going through alot right now. And I'm not gonna pretend to understand it. But I do know that no roommate of mine is gonna just fall off the edge of the earth straight into disaster. At least not on my watch." Tempest smiled her sly, conniving grin that Sunset knew all too well. Did this version of Tempest know what she was planning? The way she worded it was almost prophetic, but cryptic enough that it could have been a coincidence.
"I know what'll cheer you up. We're gonna go get double chocolate smoothies, and then head over to the magic show, and then catch the concert. Bam." Tempest snapped her fingers in an act of human dexterity Sunset had never seen before. "Instant better mood."
Delicious sweet drinks. Tempest's answer to everything. Sunset smiled as she thought.
"See you're already feeling better." Tempest noticed the mood change on Sunset's face.
An exciting realization suddenly came over Sunset. "Wait a minute, did you say magic show?"
"Yeah, apparently some wacky middle school student wants to show her 'great and powerful magic' to the world." Tempest made air quotes about the magic. "The show is over at the park this afternoon and then Flash Sentry's band is gonna play afterwards. I mostly wanna see them but, hey, who doesn't need a little magic in their life, am I right?" Tempest shrugged her shoulders.
Tempest couldn't have been any more right. Sunset knew it was probably nothing. According to her three days of research, magic almost certainly didn't exist in this world. However, if there was even the slightest chance that something was out there, something she had missed, it was at least worth checking out. Plus it was still daytime. The portal would remain open until midnight which was still hours away. She had plenty of time to look into this one last lead before she retreated back home. Giving in, she planted both of her arms onto Tempest’s shoulders, mimicking her enthusiasm.
"Show me the magic." Sunset playfully demanded. Tempest's face lit up as she grinned from ear to ear.
"Oh Sunny Bunny, I thought you'd never ask." Tempest grabbed Sunset by the arm and led her away from the Portal. Sunset kept up with her grip but turned back to look at the magical gateway one more time.
"But first we gotta stop by the dorm and get you cleaned up. You smell like a dolphin."
Sunset blushed as she lifted her arm to try and smell her pit and she stumbled along with Tempest. Her mind was racing with thoughts and questions she wanted to express but all she could think to say was,
"How do you know what a dolphin smells like?
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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Nice stuff yet again. The description of what a human looks like from an outside perspective without any prior knowledge was great. Good to see this in the updated section of the feature box where it belongs. Hope to see more soon, I can’t get enough.
How are you going to explain the time differences? And how old is Sunset in both pony and human? Twilight isn't enrolled into the school yet so it might still be years apart. As far im concerned Sunset was away from Equestria for over 10 years as Twilight hadn't her surge and thus her cutie mark yet
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If you think about the time line logically, Sunset is probably 10 years older than Twilight and gang.
However, since the series itself didn't seem to want you to think about it that way and pretended she was a peer of the other girls, I'm only having Sunset be a year older than Twilight. It doesn't make sense but it's the show's plot hole, not mine. And I don't wanna write about a 28 year old in high school dating teenagers lol
10945882
well, theres another theory, that CHS is like the Hyperbolic time chamber, 1 year in the human realm translates to several years in Equestria And it only got synchronized when Twilight uses the journals as an anchor. If you want to ignore the plot hole and say Twilight's not that much older why didn't Sunset mention the dragon growing from a tower or hell you forgot Cadence too.
In other fanfics Sunset knew Cadence and loathed her
Ouch that's gotta hurt.
Now I want to know what tempest looks like sac pony and human now but only in my mind likely.
Wow, wasn't expecting to see again but I kinda figured she might actually.
https://m.Wasn't expecting to see this tempest do this so quickly after knowing sunset for only a few minutes.
Huh seems like this tempest is older than sunset.
She's not even gonna ask for an id or papers with info on here? Odd.
Damn.
Hate to break it with you sunset but the only kind of magic earth has is in shows down by magicians.
It isn't her fault sunset, it's yours.
Seems like she's forgotten already that 3 days have passed and the portal now won't open for another 30 moons.
Seems like we'll he seeing trixie later and flash too.
I already got a feeling sunset isn't gonna like where this is going. Maybe we'll see.
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Thank you for the reaction comments! I'm glad you're enjoying the read
10958048
Yep sure can't wait to see the next chapter when it's out.
what?
Tegnology!