> What A Long Strange Trip
>  by milesprower06
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Orientation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

'One more year in these halls, then... Then who knows?'

Sunset Shimmer walked through the rapidly-emptying main hall of Canterlot High School's east wing, as the student body filtered out of the exits in all directions in search of lunch after the first half-day of the new school year. The last four hours had consisted of orientations and syllabi for the classes students had selected for the first semester. Her stomach also felt the call of lunch, as her toaster pastries this morning were starting to wear off by now, but Principal Celestia had summoned her to her office just before the last bell had rung. She told her six friends to not wait up, and that she'd see them tomorrow, as she wasn't entirely sure what this was about.

The senior made a quick check of herself with her reflection in the trophy case, making sure the collar of her studded leather jacket was even, then approached the closed door of the principal's office, knocking softly to announce her presence.

"Come in." She heard from the other side. Turning the knob, she pushed the door open, and stepped through the doorway.

"You wanted to see me, Principal Celestia?" Sunset asked, gently closing the door behind her.

"Indeed I did, Sunset. Please, have a seat." The headmaster replied, motioning to the cushioned chair that had been placed at the front of the oak desk. Sunset slid her backpack off of her right shoulder and set it beside the chair before taking a seat. Celestia's office hadn't gone through too many changes since she had first seen it as a freshman. The two bookshelves were still on the north and south corners of the room, her credentials were on the back wall directly behind the desk, and to the left of that was the flag and emblem of the Canterlot High Wondercolts.

"What can I do for you?"

"I'll be honest, Sunset. A conversation like this would normally take place between you and your guidance counselor, but you are undoubtedly a special case, even more so than your friends. I'm wondering if you have any aspirations, long-term plans, or if you've been thinking ahead to the future. This is your final year at Canterlot High, after all, and things have certainly quieted down here, in a magical sense. At least for now."

Principal Celestia was correct there. The last time the portal in the base of the Wondercolt statue had been utilized was when they had come through with around three dozen shipwreck survivors. Luckily, the school's financials had absolutely nothing to do with the insurance payout for the complete loss of the cruise ship. When summer had come around, the only magical mishap had been an Equestrian artifact that had turned a weekend music festival into a twenty-four day affair for Sunset.

"You think we'll be lucky enough for things to stay quiet?" Sunset asked her.

"That remains to be seen. But while I have periodically thought about offering you something of a 'magical advisor' role once you graduate, part of me would rather not act on the assumption that you want to stand on guard for this school for the foreseeable future. I'm sure you've thought about returning to, well, to wherever it is you came from. Equestria, was it?"

Sunset nodded softly.

"Honestly, Principal Celestia... I've been homesick for quite awhile. At first, I was determined to stick around and protect this school and its students from any magical threats because I had believed that I was the reason that magic came to this world. But ever since the trip to Camp Everfree, it's become quite clear that I'm not. I remember who I used to be when I first came to this school, when I first came through that portal... Snide, cruel, too ambitious for my own good. My friends turned me into an infinitely better person, and while part of me can't imagine my life without them... Yeah, a part of me still misses home."

"What is home like?" The Principal asked, leaning forward in her chair.

"I wish it were easier to put into words... I mean, if anyone else were to tell you that there's an alternate dimension where another version of you controls the sun in the sky, you'd probably have them committed. People, err, I mean, ponies, become independent much, much faster than people over here do. The magic that we deal with from time to time on this side... It's abundant over there. It's a way of life. And for the past two years, yeah, it's something I've sometimes longed to return to, even if it means leaving my friends here behind. Paths diverge sooner or later, right? I'd miss them terribly, but in the grand scale of things, I'm... I'm not sure if I really belong here for the rest of my life."

Principal Celestia nodded understandably.

"I'm glad we're having this conversation, because I knew it was important that I give you as much of a heads-up as I can, so you can do as much reflection and preparation as you feel you need to. When it comes to this school, I have to move forward assuming that the seven of you are going to go off and follow the paths your lives take you on, magical or otherwise. Vice Principal Luna and I have begun to draft construction plans to build a... A sarcophagus of sorts, around the remaining base of the Wondercolt statue. We believe that would effectively seal off the portal, and keep the school safe once you and your friends graduate. But that means that you would have to decide where you ultimately want to go, if you want to remain here, or return home."

Sunset's eyes widened at the realization.

"I know it's not a decision you can make quickly or lightly, so I wanted to let you know as early as I could. Construction won't start until after the school year ends, and that's assuming things stay as quiet as they have been, so you've got almost a full year to figure some things out."

Sunset took a deep, quiet breath, and slowly nodded at the headmaster.

"Thank you, Principal Celestia. I do have some things to think about."

"Have a good rest of your day, Sunset. Thank you."

Sunset got up, grabbed her bag, and left Celestia's office without another word. At the front and center of her mind, a timer had just started ticking down. She knew better than to assume that nine months was a long way off. If she let that assumption take hold, that time would pass without a second thought. So as she made her way to the front exit, as her appetite began to slip away for the time being, she made one single conscious decision; take things one day at a time.

Because in about two hundred and seventy of them, it would perhaps, finally, be time to go home.
> Piece By Piece
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset sat on the steps of the front entrance to Canterlot High, her gaze slowly going from the limestone base of the Wondercolt Statue, to the small gold and ruby pendant she held between her thumb and fingers, watching as her cutie mark emblem gleamed in the early afternoon sun. It was nearly 1PM, and she was still waiting for her appetite to come back.

'That's assuming things stay as quiet as they have been.' Principal Celestia's words echoed in her mind. Canterlot High had had its fair share of quiet spells before, and the last direct threat to the school itself was more than a year ago during the Friendship Games, when in her magic-fueled drive for more, Twilight destroyed the top half of the Wondercolt statue.

Her gaze returning to her pendant, looking over the sun on the ruby base, Sunset's mind fell back to the lesson Princess Celestia had given her on cutie mark magic, and what cutie marks meant. She knew that so many people on this side would do unspeakable things to be able to have that sense of destiny. But it wasn't always as simple as deciphering whatever had appeared on your flanks. For some, it was that easy, but for others, their cutie marks had much deeper, sometimes unfathomable meanings.

So what about hers? She remembered her entrance exam at Celestia's school shortly after getting it; Canterlot's ruler was so impressed with her abilities that she had been ushered to the front of the line, and was offered the position of the Princess' personal protege, something that, likewise, countless unicorns on the other side would do unspeakable things for.

A sun with contrasting fiery colors didn't immediately scream 'magical' to her, so she had put herself into the 'not so easy' crowd. 

Once she had resumed correspondence with her former teacher, Princess Celestia had suggested that her mark, and her name, might symbolize the last rays of light standing against the darkness, and even that was mystifying to her. The sun never stopped setting. The darkness always came.

But then after that darkness, a new day always dawned.

Was there a new day waiting for her in Equestria? Would her friends here be alright if and when magical trouble inevitably appeared again? Would they be in for darkness without her here?

She remembered the darkness in the closing hours of the Fall Formal, and how the five of them had been the only rays of light to help her to find her way out. She slowly turned her head around and looked at the far right end of the front entrance, remembering where she had been almost two years ago...





Sunset found herself awkwardly fiddling with the masonry trowel as she attempted to get the first line of bricks laid in the left corner of the main entrance of Canterlot High. To her left was a pyramid stack of a couple dozen bricks, and to her right was a sheet of plywood with a pile of pre-mixed mortar.

She had seen Princess Twilight return home through the portal, moments before it closed about a half hour ago. So here she had been, clumsily and awkwardly getting the first layer of mortar laid out, and had managed to lay a grand total of three bricks in ten minutes. She glanced over at Snips and Snails on the other side, and it was apparent that they weren't having any better luck.

Back a considerable distance, Vice Principal Luna observed the trio and their questionable efforts. With most of the student body having already departed from school grounds after the Fall Formal had concluded, she glanced towards the sound of approaching footsteps, to see the sophomore Applejack come up to her.

"It's pretty clear none of those three have any experience in masonry. You actually expect anything they do to be up to code?" The student whispered to avoid the attention of the three.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. If it is not up to code, we can always contract the work out. I just saw the manual labor as appropriate and immediate punishment. A suitable lesson to be learned." The vice principal explained.

"Well then, Vice Principal, I hope you don't mind if I add one more lesson." Applejack told her, before beginning to walk towards the girl kneeling on the floor between the mortar pile and bricks.

"You'll be here all night at that rate, and believe me, I think Vice Principal Luna is set on keeping you here until she has to legally send you home. Here, let me give you some pointers. I'd roll up my sleeves, but, heh, don't have any to roll up." Applejack said as she came up next to her. Sunset looked up at her.

"Th-That's alright, Applejack. I'm sure you don't want to get any of this stuff on your dress."

"Don't worry about that. I was absolutely adamant to Rarity that this thing had to be able to handle some scrubbing to get out a stain or two. After all, never know when a wall might need to be repaired. Now, your mortar mix looks good, so the next thing you want to do is give a light mix every now and then. It makes it a lot easier to work with." Applejack explained, kneeling down next to her, taking her wrist holding the trowel in her hand and guided it over to the mortar, showing her how to give it a quick mix, then got the flat blade full of it.

"Now, don't worry about using too much. Whatever is pushed off when you lay the brick can just be scraped up and be used to butter the sides of your next brick." The farmer guided Sunset's trowel-holding hand over the first trio of bricks she had laid, and flicked it in a downward motion.

"Spreading it takes practice, but the basics are to line up your trowel with the wall, then turn it 45 degrees, and drag it back in a zig-zag motion like this."

Sunset was silent as she received her first and likely only bricklaying lesson. Once the mortar had been spread, Applejack gave her back control of her wrist, and observed as she grabbed a brick, covered one of the sides with additional mortar, before setting it down on the spread, and pressed down gently. As Applejack said would happen, the excess drooped out of the bottom, and she took the trowel, angled the tip, and scraped the excess away. Applejack picked up another brick and offered it to her. She took it in her other hand, and spread the excess on both ends, before placing it next to the first one of the second row, then repeating scraping off what had began to droop down.

It looked... Halfway decent.

"So you clearly have some experience with things like this." Sunset finally commented as she grabbed a third brick.

"Yeah, a bit. I laid the perimeter for my Granny Smith's backyard garden a couple years back. Workin' on your hands and knees is good for the soul, she always said. Well, looks like I should go over there and help those two as well. You look like you've got the basics now." Applejack replied, getting up and walking across the concourse.

"Hey Applejack?" Sunset called. The farmer stopped and turned.

"Thanks." Sunset told her, giving the first sincere smile of gratitude she could remember. Applejack smiled back.

"Don't mention it. I'll hang around for a bit, and give you a ride home. It's pretty chilly out tonight."





Sunset saw the bricks she had laid; Vice Principal Luna hadn't made her do more than six or seven rows, but found the work sufficient enough for contractors to come in, finish the work, and install new doors. It had been her first step forward.

Feeling her appetite start to return, she reached into her backpack, and came out with her enchanted journal that she used to communicate with the other side. She opened it up, flipped past a few pages to the next blank one, and dug out her pen, and pressed it to the page.

Dear Princess Twilight,

Well, we're starting our last year here at Canterlot High. I'm sure you're pretty busy yourself getting ready for another incoming class at the School of Friendship. How's that been going?

I've got some news. Canterlot High's administration has made the decision to seal off the portal in the statue base if things stay as quiet as they have been lately. They've told me it won't be done until after graduation, but it does mean that I will have to figure out if I'm staying here or returning to Equestria when the school year is up.

It's been a decision I've continued to put off, and the magical distractions that stave off my homesickness haven't been present as frequently. Figuring out what to do after school is hard enough, but it's even worse when those choices are even more spread out on an interdimensional scale.

I just figured I should let you know. I've clearly got some things to think about in the next nine months.

Your friend,
Sunset Shimmer
> Sleep
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset Shimmer shivered as she walked down the sidewalk. Her jacket and shirt did next to nothing against the fall evening, as the cold wind at her back entered through the two tears where her wings had sprouted during her transformation hours before.

She traced her path home through the overhead street lamps. A half mile down the road, she saw a glimmer of green among the dots of amber as the traffic light went from yellow to red. No doubt the nightlife in downtown Canterlot was just getting started, but out here in the suburbs, traffic was light, and in a couple hours, would probably be non-existent. But she was a block from the school, and had two more miles to go. She brought her arms up to her chest to try and stave off the cold of the night a little longer.

She heard an approaching engine behind her as her shadow on the walk in front of her became elongated from the headlights closing in. But they didn't pass as quickly as they others had on her walk so far, and sure enough, a moment later, the vehicle let out a pair of short honks as it continued to slow and came to a stop as it pulled off into the emergency lane. With the glare of the headlights no longer obstructing her vision, she saw Applejack lean out of the farm truck's driver side window.

"Hey there Sunset. Sorry I missed you at the school. Hop in, I'll take you the rest of the way."

Sunset looked to her left and right, confirmed there was no other traffic nearby, and crossed the street, walking around the rear of the truck, came over to the passenger side door, and climbed inside.

"Sorry I took so long. Took a bit longer than I thought for the limo to get everybody home."

"Applejack... You don't have to keep apologizing, it's more than I deserve, which is like, nothing." Sunset said, feeling a small weight in her stomach as she closed the door, noticing how much more comfortable it was in here compared to outside.

"I just didn't want you to think I deliberately left you there is all. Where are we headed?" Applejack asked.

"Just straight down a few more blocks. My complex is on the corner of Edgewater Street." Sunset answered.

Applejack grabbed the gear stick and put the truck back into drive, checking her side mirror to make sure the road was clear before pulling back out into the right lane.

"Speaking of apologizing, I do think some of the other girls are expecting an apology of some sort. For everything that happened last year. Just... Well, just saying that you might want to start thinking about that."

"Clearly I've got quite a bit to think about right now. I'm just trying to take things one hour at a time right now."

"Well, at least you've got the weekend to get some things sorted in your head. We all gave you our phone numbers, so let us know if you need anything."

She had no idea what she needed right now, other than sleep. As she was content to sit in the warm interior of the truck, she dug her phone out of her pocket and confirmed that all five of them had sent their contact info to her phone, which brought her Contacts list total to nine. Before those five, it was just Snips, Snails, Flash, and her apartment's management office.

They caught the next light green, so the drive up to the corner of Edgewater just took three minutes, a walk that would have taken at least another ten minutes. Applejack made a left at the next light, and the entrance to the Edgewater Meadows apartment complex was almost immediately after that.

"Nice enough place." Applejack commented. "Which building?"

"Building C. I'm all the way at the top."

Applejack saw that each building was three stories tall. Must have been quite the ordeal with groceries, but she probably couldn't argue with the view all the way on the third floor. She watched for the letters above each front door, and came to a stop outside C.

"Alright. Have a good night, Sunset. We'll see you on Monday?"

"Yep, thanks again, Applejack." Sunset answered, opening the door and stepping out into the chilly night air. She closed the door and walked around behind the truck as Applejack drove on and turned back out at the other end of the lot. Sunset walked through the front door into C building's main hall, and began her trek up the stairs, some of them creaking underneath the carpet as she stepped up and up. Finishing her climb, she walked down the short hallway to the door at the end, digging her key out of her left pocket, slid it into the doorknob, and turned, pushing the door open. Stepping into her small studio apartment, she closed the door and dropped her keys on the table. The street lamps down in the parking lot provided just enough ambient illumination that she didn't have to turn the lights on as she let her torn leather jacket slide off of her back and drop to the floor. She came to her bed in the back left corner, sat down, pulled her boots off, and slid out of her skirt, letting it fall to the floor.

Her upper back felt like a sunburn that hadn't started to peel, so she opted to sleep with her shirt on, rather than risk the friction that the sheets might bring through the night. She hadn't said anything to Applejack, or the others, but the prospect of Monday terrified her, and she had two days to figure out how to deal with it. She fell over onto her side, curling up as her head sunk into her pillow. She reached behind her and pulled the blanket up and over her, wishing for the longest weekend ever as she went to sleep.
> Tearing Down
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The shrill buzzer of the digital alarm clock pierced Sunset's ears for what had to be the fifth time. Without removing her face from her pillow, an arm erupted from underneath the purple comforter, slammed down on the clock, and when her hand didn't find the snooze button immediately, she opted to grab it, and without looking, tossed it as far away from her nightstand as possible. The buzzing warbled as the clock tumbled end over end in midair, before colliding with the front door of her third floor studio. The battery compartment cover popped off and the buzzing stopped after the pair of batteries were knocked out as the clock hit the wooden floor, followed by metallic clanks and rolling as they moved down the floor. With a muffled groan, the arm returned to under the covers.

Sunset Shimmer wasn't ready to deal with Friday.

The covers blocked out the rising sunlight, but the morning silence didn't last long as her phone on the nightstand began to vibrate on the hardwood with an incoming text alert. This finally brought her head off of her pillow and out from under the blanket as she reached for her phone and unlocked the screen, looking at the alert.



Fluttershy:
Sunset? Everything okay?



She resisted the urge to make her phone join her alarm clock down on the floor, as it would take her almost a year's worth of what spare basic income she could get together to buy another one. The last week at school had not been pleasant, but the last thing she wanted to do was lash out at the very rare things that made it the slightest bit tolerable; her five new friends. She looked up at the top corner of the screen and saw that she was already a half hour late for school. No doubt Vice Principal Luna would be waiting at the front steps of the school with a tardy slip.

She slid her finger across the alert and the digital keypad popped up to await an input for reply.



'Sorry, on my way.'



Not the most detailed answer, but succinct enough where they would likely leave her alone while she got ready. She set her phone back down on the nightstand and flipped the covers off of her, swinging her legs off the side of the bed. She took a glance around her room before she got to her feet. It was mostly clean, but only because she hadn't been spending a lot of time in here recently. Next to the single two-pane window, leaning against the wall was a sunburst orange v-body six string electric guitar. She remembered she had bought it and took a few weeks of lessons when she had been trying to impress Flash during her freshmen year. It had worked like a charm, and she only had to take half the lessons she was intending to before he took over and continued showing her more advanced techniques.

She hadn't touched it in months, even before their breakup. She could see the layers of dust that had accumulated on it through the rays of the rising sun.

She winced as a brief sting came from the upper left area of her back. The burning and tingling of her shoulder blades had been reduced to a dull throbbing and occasional soreness every now and then, but it was absolutely still noticeable. She stood up on the floor, stretched, and rolled her shoulders in an attempt to ebb away the soreness from her shoulder blades.

She remembered what she had screamed at Celestia the night she had been caught in the restricted Dark Magic section of the Canterlot Archives.

'How dare you keep this kind of magic from me! You know I'm ready for this!'

The way Twilight's crown had forced the darkness and hatred that had spent years growing underneath to the surface had undoubtedly taken their physical toll on her body. She shuddered to think of how much worse it would have been if she had been allowed to hold that transformation for more than the three or four minutes she had.

Maybe those three or four minutes would have been worse anyway, if it hadn't been for what had defeated her; the magic of friendship. She suspected that the prismatic beam had done a bit more than strip away her demonic transformation; it had tempered her ambition, sparked her conscience, and made her realize how cold and manipulative she had been to everyone at Canterlot High.

In short, it had humbled her, and made her realize that she was the farthest from ready for volatile dark magic. It was behind locked doors for very good reasons.

Since that night, it had been the longest week of her life. She had spent most of the following weekend eating or sleeping, regaining the energy that the transformation and subsequent battle had sapped from her. When Monday came, put it off as she might have liked to, she returned to Canterlot High and instantly felt that it had turned from her domain into a personal prison. The student body shunned her wherever she went; every hall and every classroom. Every single word she spoke was unwelcome or unreturned, save for when it was towards a teacher, and even then, some of them occasionally couldn't hide their disdain for the young woman. The worst part of all, was that there was nowhere to go to get away from it.

For the past week, Twilight's five friends were pretty much the only reason she showed up at all, and on mornings like today, even that wasn't enough, it seemed. She wasn't sure what had to change, but something did have to change, because now it was taking concerned texts from her fledgling friends to get her out of bed.

With how late she was, there was absolutely no time for a shower. She pulled off her pajamas, and turned her back to the full length mirror, checking to see if the redness on her shoulder blades had faded any further. She tugged on a clean shirt and jeans, followed by socks and boots before pocketing her wallet, keys, and phone. With an exasperated sigh, she grabbed her torn leather jacket, and slipped it on before grabbing her backpack. She walked to the front door and used the tip of her shoe to lightly kick her disabled alarm clock out of the way before opening the door and stepping out into the hall. She hurried down the stairs, out the front door, and was surprised to see Applejack in her farm's truck.

"Mornin' Sunset. Hop in," the country girl greeted.

Sunset felt another pang of guilt build in her chest as she came up to the truck, simply astounded that Principal Celestia or Vice Principal Luna would allow Applejack out of school to come and get her. Even if it was less than a five minute drive away. She assumed that Applejack had convinced them that she could have her in school that much sooner if she didn't have to spend more than twenty minutes walking down the street.

Applejack saw how disheveled her new friend looked, so decided to ask her if everything was alright; obviously not. The rest of the student body hadn't really made any kind of effort to hide how they had shunned Sunset for the past week, and it was clearly affecting her.

They caught both lights green, so she had pulled into the student lot in a record time of three and a half minutes. As much as she didn't want to, Sunset kept her pace brisk to keep up with Applejack as they made their way around the side of the school to the front entrance where the Wondercolt statue was.

Sunset's heart climbed up to her throat when she saw that the two school administrators were standing with her other four friends. They had allowed all five of them out of class. They saw Applejack and her come up around the statue and immediately came up to them, concerned voices overlapping. Sunset felt a shudder come up her whole body as she tried desperately to keep it together. But it was only a matter of time.

"I... I'm... I'm so sorry. For everything..." She said, tears falling from her eyes. Applejack was the first to hug her, quickly followed by the rest as they formed a group hug around her. 

"Sunset?" She heard her name called down the walk. She opened her eyes and saw Principal Celestia standing at the steps waiting. Vice Principal Luna had already turned to go inside, perhaps convinced to skip the tardy slip this time around. The main entrance had already been repaired, as Luna had brought in a construction team over last weekend, who had completed the work on the wall, replaced the glass doors, and even filled in the crater where she had been defeated. Snips and Snails were of course elated, but part of her was aggravated that she hadn't been allowed to finish what she had started. But there was no way she would have been able to. She was easily able to tell what bricks she had laid and what had been placed by professionals, and it wasn't realistic to expect the main foyer of the school to be exposed to the elements for any considerable length of time.

Sunset took a deep breath, slowly broke the group embrace, and wiped her eyes, getting herself under control as she walked up to the head administrator, the heels of her boots clicking on the newly laid concrete walk. Principal Celestia had motioned for the other five to stay back. She saw how the young woman was completely unkempt, save for her clean clothes.

"Sunset, I'm trying to sympathize with what you're going through, but what do you want me to do?" Principal Celestia asked.

Sunset knew she had a point. The looks of anger, indifference, and shunning the student body gave her every day couldn't technically be considered bullying, as nothing in the past week had ever gotten anywhere close to a physical altercation, and it was certainly understandable considering everything she had done last year. Furthermore, she knew if Celestia or Luna made any kind of school-wide announcement, it would only make things worse.

Her five friends were her ports in this storm, and that would have to suffice for now.

Sunset looked up, meeting Principal Celestia's gaze, and something to the left caught her eye. She turned slightly, and saw one of the display areas just inside the entrance.

For the first time all week, two pieces of her broken social life came together, and she felt her determination solidify. She raised her left arm, pointed inside to a trio of framed pictures, and returned her gaze to Principal Celestia.

"Let me take those down, right now, and throw them out. I've had to walk past them every single day. My friends can only do so much if I and everyone else is constantly reminded of what I was like. Please."

Celestia looked back at what Sunset was pointing at, looked back at her, and took a moment to consider her request.

"I suppose that's fair enough, Sunset. Fine. Have at them," Principal Celestia told her, motioning with her right arm to go up the stairs.

Taking another breath, Sunset ascended the stairs two at a time, and pulled the two center doors open with both hands, walking into the main foyer, Principal Celestia and her five friends following a few moments later. She stepped up to the trio of picture frames; all three were portraits of her up on stage. Each with a crown on top of her head, with a gold plaque at the bottom of each.


2010 FALL FORMAL PRINCESS
SUNSET SHIMMER

2011 WINTER WALTZ PRINCESS
SUNSET SHIMMER

2011 SPRING FLING PRINCESS
SUNSET SHIMMER


Each photo as it moved to the right looked less humble, less endearing, and showed more of the pure, blind ambition that she had kept in her heart since coming through the portal. She briefly ran her hand across the leftmost one, before taking hold of it, and lifted it off of the wall. She tucked it under her arm and grabbed the center one, and then the one on the right. Together, all three weight about fifteen pounds, but she had no trouble holding all three in both hands, and turned to find one of the large trash bins the janitors used during class and after school. She walked over to it, raised them above her head, and slammed them down into the bin with gritted teeth.

Sunset exhaled slowly, not realizing she had been holding her breath. Applejack and Fluttershy came up and put their hands on her shoulders as a show of support.

"I suppose we can forget the tardy slip this time, Sunset," Principal Celestia began. "But I want you to be on time from now on. Now, all of you get back to class."

The six of them walked through the hall as a group, peeling off one by one as they entered into their assigned first period classes. Eventually, it was just Sunset alone again, heading towards her Grammar class, taking another deep breath, and feeling just a little bit better.
> Upheaval
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset sat in the Sweet Shoppe, sipping at her milkshake, her empty salad plate in front of her as she scrolled through her phone. She couldn't yet figure out how to get that internal timer out of her mind, hoping that perhaps going to sleep tonight would get the end out of her thoughts, once the routine of the school year got started tomorrow now that orientation and stuff were wrapping up.

Band practice would certainly help, too. She still remembered how music had helped her immensely in the opening weeks after the Fall Formal in her sophomore year.

Her thoughts of months and years past were interrupted when she felt a vibrating in her backpack next to her. She unzipped the top flap, and reached inside. Pulling out the vibrating, glowing book, she quickly flipped it open to avoid drawing any attention, and pulled the bookmark to turn the remaining pages, and saw a sparkling on the next blank page as the ink from the other side began to materialize on the page.



Dear Sunset,

Well, it certainly sounds like I'm not the only one dealing with some considerable upheaval. I suppose I can share my big news as well.

Princesses Celestia and Luna are retiring. From a decision-making point of view, my friends and I are taking over. It's a moment that I've spent the last several months dreading, and now I suppose I can dread a few more months, because we've decided to postpone the coronation until repairs can be made to Canterlot Castle after a hostile attack on the city. 

I know how the intensity of your homesickness has varied the last year, Sunset. If you feel that you're truly ready to come home, I will do everything I possibly can to make the transition as absolutely as smooth as I can. I might even be able to get you a spot in my court, if you feel that you're up for it. I know magic has always been very important to you, and you'll certainly have more of it over here. I could never assume how hard it will be to say goodbye to your friends, but I can certainly help you with ways to keep in touch with them, if you like.

So here's to the next few months for both of us. Let me know if you need absolutely anything. I'm here if you need me, Sunset.

Your friend,
Twilight Sparkle



Sunset let out a quiet breath. A part of her was afraid that she'd go through the portal and end up on the other side and wondering where her place would be all over again. But working with Twilight, or at the very least being involved in her court would probably be one of the best possibilities she could imagine right now.

Not that she could even come close to currently wrapping her mind around the idea of Canterlot without Princess Celestia.

After returning the book to her backpack, she grabbed the cherry in her milkshake, the bottom full of whipped cream, and bit it off of the stem, tossing the remnant of the stem down onto the napkin the glass sat on. She decided to take her time with the second half of the milkshake, because she had to figure out one very important thing:

How to tell her friends about what she was told about the portal today.





Sunset walked into the cafeteria, and immediately went to the line when she looked across the room and saw Pinkie Pie and Applejack already seated. Rather than try and spot the other three in line, she opted to keep her gaze on the approaching stack of trays, and avoid eye contact with the dozens and dozens of other occupants of the large dining area. It would be the same looks of disdain that she had been getting all week anyways. When she reached the trays, she grabbed one, and was content to stare at the empty tray. First came a small apple pecan salad, then a bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, biscuit, and last but certainly not least, a bowl of chocolate pudding, and a half pint of milk. After paying at the register at the end, her usual route of going right down the center had now been replaced of making her way around the outer edges of the room down to one of the outermost tables where Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy had chosen once that group had gotten back together.

She had often wondered if the five of them had gotten any different treatment from the rest of the school now that it was all too apparent that they had befriended her. After all, high schoolers loved to find guilt by association. But if they were, they never showed it. For the time being, the student body of CHS were happy to silently judge and shun her and her alone, and as much as she wanted to change that, she honestly couldn't blame them. Playing nice up until she got what she wanted had been her M.O. much of last year. She had dug this hole, and even with the five of them to help, digging out of it was going to take some time.

By the time she reached their table, the other three had taken their seats as well, and she took the open chair between Rarity and Pinkie.

"So, feeling better after your stunt this morning?" Applejack asked.

"A little bit. I don't have to look at those pictures anymore, and neither does anyone else," Sunset replied, taking a bite of salad.

"I'm sure it'll get better day by day. After all, you have us, darling," Rarity encouraged.

"Oh, I'm sure it'll end up being longer than I'd like," the fiery-haired girl quipped, mixing her corn and potatoes together. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar blue-haired teenager sit down at the adjacent table. Again, Sunset felt something inside come together and solidify; an opportunity. She glanced down to her backpack that she had set down next to her chair, and reached inside, coming out with a small plastic pack.

"Be right back, girls," Sunset said, pushing her chair out, and got to her feet, walking past Rarity and crossed the way over to where Flash was starting to dig into his salad. He saw the shadow cover half of his tray, and looked up at the origin.

"Hey," He greeted. More than anyone else had said to her all week. Ever the gentleman.

"Hey, Flash, so... I just wanted to come over and say... How sorry I am. For everything. I know nothing I say will ever be enough, and neither will this, but I figured I'd at least offer something more than words."

Saying nothing more, she gently set the package of four carbon fiber guitar picks next to his tray.

"I made a stop last night on the way home. I've been thinking about taking up playing again, but I figure you'll get a lot more use out of these than I will."

Flash looked down at the pack, and immediately knew that they were his preferred style of pick, and that they were some of the highest quality that the downtown music shop offered. He gave the slightest of smirks, then took the clamshell package in his hands, popped it open, grabbed one of the four, and tossed it over to her.

"Thanks, but far be it from me to keep you from playing again, if you think it'll help."

Sunset gave him a sincere smile, pocketed the pick, and turned to go back to her seat as he continued into his lunch. Her five friends were also smiling, having witnessed the exchange. Small, friendly steps like that were the best way forward.





Sunset wasn't sure if the afternoons were slowly improving, or if she was getting better at ignoring her classmates like they were ignoring her. But she had walked home, entered her apartment, and didn't feel totally drained and ready to collapse on her bed. She walked over to her bed, dropped her backpack, and felt the guitar pick in her pocket, which shifted her gaze over to the corner, where her sunburst v-body guitar leaned against the wall. Getting up to grab the cleanest looking cloth in the pile of towels outside the bathroom, she grabbed the neck of the guitar and carried it over to her bed.

Sitting down, she laid it gently in her lap and began to wipe the dust off of it. It had been quite a few months since she had played, and wondered if it was like riding a bike. She remembered enjoying it, and wondered why she had stopped, only to be instantly reminded of the answer.

Because playing had served its purpose. After that, it didn't matter anymore back then.

She ran the cloth up the neck and down the strings, making sure the strings were tight, noting that they probably needed a tune after sitting for all this time.

Seemingly satisfied, she walked back over and sat down in the wooden chair next to her small amplifier, weak enough to be well within acceptable volume levels for an apartment during this time of day. She plugged the cord into the jack on the bottom of the guitar body, and grabbed the small tuner that rested on the amplifier. She turned it on and found that the batteries were still good. Digging the pick out of her pocket, she strummed each string individually and made the appropriate adjustments to the tuning knobs on top of the neck. She picked up a notebook on the ground next to the amp, and flipped to the next blank page, digging out a pen from her backpack. Taking a breath, she began to strum the strings of the freshly tuned instrument, thinking back to some of the chord progressions Flash had taught her, moving her left hand up and down the frets on the neck. Once she had found the chords and key that she wanted, she repeated them over and over, as words began to come to her mind.

"Power... Was all I desired~"
> Big News
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset was in school 45 minutes early the next morning, as Tuesday and Thursday mornings were quick practice sessions for the Rainbooms. She wasn't sure how much practice they were going to get today, because after sleeping on it, she decided that the best way to break the news about the portal was to just tell them, and once she did, and made clear the choice that she had ahead, she wasn't sure there was going to be a lot of time for playing.

Applejack was the first one in, along with Pinkie Pie who had hitched a ride along this morning. 

"Mornin' Sunset. Didn't think you'd be the first one in," Applejack greeted, setting down the case her bass guitar was in.

"I got an early start. Bit of a restless night," Sunset replied.

"Got something on your mind?" Pinkie asked as she sat down at the drumset, spinning around several times in succession to adjust the chair's height; every other drummer Sunset knew did this before they sat down in it.

"You could say that, I've got some pretty big news, and I'd prefer to wait until everyone is here."

The two other Rainbooms knew that whatever was on Sunset's mind had to be pretty significant, because she hadn't opened  the guitar case that she had come in with.

But they knew the bus schedule by heart, and five minutes later, Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow came in, with Fluttershy two minutes later.

"Well, that makes six. So come on, Sunset. Spill the beans. What's going on?" Applejack asked her again, bringing all attention to the Rainboom's rhythm guitarist.

"Principal Celestia called me to her office after class yesterday. She told me that if things stay as quiet as they are, that... They're planning on sealing up the portal after this school year." Sunset told them.

No one said anything for a few moments.

"Well... That's good, right? I mean, it's been pretty quiet here so far, and what we have had to deal with hasn't been involved with the school at all; it's been in the middle of the ocean and at music festivals nearly an entire county away," Fluttershy said.

"Well... I know that without us here, leaving the portal as it is would be somewhat irresponsible on the administration's part... But it's also my only surefire way home."

Now the penny dropped for the rest of the group.

"So the last opportunity for a guaranteed way home for you, is after we graduate," Twilight spoke for everyone who was thinking it.

Sunset nodded.

No one said anything further for over a minute, letting the silence hang over the practice room.

"So... Are you going home?" Rainbow Dash finally spoke up as she started to dig her guitar out of the case.

"I haven't even gotten anywhere close to making a decision yet. And if I dwell on it every single day, this will be one distracted and miserable school year. I just wanted to get it out there and let you all know."

"Well, Sugarcube, we know how homesick you've been every now and then, especially when it became obvious that you weren't the only cause of magic coming over here to this side. So, if you just wanted to let us know of this impending choice you need to make, then..." Applejack paused, wanting to say this the right way. "We just need to let you know, that we wouldn't hold whatever choice you make against you."

Sunset got six nods in return, a bit varied in their confidence, but five nonetheless.

"Well, if you don't want to dwell on it now, then let's get to playing!" Rainbow encouraged as best she could.

Sunset gave her a smile, and finally unbuckled her guitar case, and took out her instrument.

"You're right, let's jam, girls!"
> Playback
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The last dismissal tone of the day sounded from the speakers scattered throughout the halls of Canterlot High, and Flash Sentry found himself heading towards the music hall after tossing the books he didn't need into his locker and grabbing his backpack and guitar case, remembering to grab the case of picks that Sunset had given him a few days ago. 

His hands full, he continued down to the practice rooms, which were sparsely populated in the middle of the week. But there were some who always took advantage of the practice space that CHS made available six days a week, 3-6pm on school days. He went to one of the largest rooms, where he was supposed to meet his two bandmates for an hour or so of jamming, and heard a muffled guitar in the back corner, in one of the smaller, isolated practice rooms. Leaning his guitar case against the closest empty chair, he walked quietly over to the closed door, and took a peek in the window.

There sat Sunset Shimmer, tapping her foot and strumming a series of ascending and descending chords. Her guitar was hooked up to a splitter, which went to both the small amp in the corner, and the laptop that currently sitting on top of it. He instantly recognized the interfaces on the screen as the open source recording software that most novice musicians used to record their music. He stood there silently, watching the young woman strum the chords as they went up and down, leading to a definitive conclusion instead of a fade-out, and she reached over to pause the recording and let the software begin to compile everything she had just input. She turned and saw Flash through the window, and waved him in.

"Afternoon, Flash. I'm just about done in here, you need the room?" She asked.

"Nah, I'm here to practice a bit with Brawly and Ringo, they should be here in a few minutes. Just came over here to see who was playing. It's sounding pretty good, you probably haven't lost a step."

"Thanks. I still have a bit to go, though."

"You writing a song or something?"

"Yeah, or trying to at least. Rainbow Dash has been talking about getting a band together, and while I'm not anywhere close to asking her to join, playing again has been a great way to, well, de-stress from everything that I've been dealing with."

"Well, it's sounding like it's coming along great."

"Well I'm coming up to an impasse. I've got the guitar down, but coming up with the lyrics is a bit slower, and that's not even considering anything else like drums or bass. I figured if I got far enough along, I could see about buying a cheap loop or two off the net."

Flash scratched the back of his head as he considered the next thought that came to mind.

"Well, do you mind if I take a listen to what you've got so far? I could give you some pointers, you know, let you know what loops to buy or something."

Sunset looked up at him.

"I wouldn't want to waste your time, Flash."

"Nonsense. Waste what time? I didn't have anything else planned after practice this afternoon, and like I said, you sound like you've barely missed a step in the months you stopped playing, so what's the harm in helping you along a bit farther? I know those picks weren't cheap, so think of it as just paying you back."

Sunset mulled it over, glancing back to her laptop as the recording finished compiling and was loaded over to the USB drive that was plugged into the side of the laptop. She unplugged it and held it in her fist for a moment.

"Well, if you insist," Sunset said, tossing the drive to the blue-haired guitarist as she unplugged from the laptop and the amp. "I guess I don't have to bother Rainbow then. She's pretty occupied with Pinkie trying to find a drummer, anyway."

"Anytime. I'll let you know what I come up with as soon as I can."

"Thanks again. I'll get out of your hair, I've got some homework to take care of when I get back to my apartment."

With that, she set her guitar back into it's case, quickly latching it up, and closed up the laptop, slid it into her backpack, and coiled up the cords and set them neatly on the amp, ready for the next person to come in ready to record. By the time she was out of the recording booth and headed out towards the hallway, Ringo and Brawly had come in, and she regarded them with a curt nod as she left silently.





As another school week had come and gone, Sunset found her nights at home a bit more relaxing. Playing her guitar again did wonders for her stress levels, and her nights had become much less sleepless as well. She found herself getting up in the morning well rested more nights than not now. The rest of the student body hadn't come close to letting her forget her past actions, so far Flash was the only one beyond Twilight's friends that had said more than two words to her.

She had just sat down at her desk with a heated prepackaged microwave meal, and was just about to make sure that all of her assignments that were due tomorrow were ready to turn in. Rainbow's band recruitment was going well, and didn't quite go as far as she was expecting; the line-up was all of their closest friends. Pinkie on drums, Rarity on piano and keyboard, Applejack on bass, Fluttershy on tambourine, and Rainbow herself on lead guitar and vocals. Sunset wasn't sure that her skill was up to be a part of the Rainbooms, so for now she was content to attend their first rehearsals to listen to them, and continue practicing and improving on her own time.

A chime tone emitted from her speakers, and an email notification popped up in the bottom right corner of her screen.

Subject: A Little Surprise
From: flashsentry@chs.edu

Intrigued, she clicked the corner notification, and it took her to her email inbox, opening up the email in question, where there was a body of text along with a couple attachments.



Hey Sunset,

Sorry it took me almost all week to get back to you. I was able to call in a favor from Vinyl. I'm a bit rusty at bass, but I'm hoping it's not too forward of me. Listen for yourself.

Best of luck, have a good weekend, and keep up the practice.

-Flash



Sunset saw that the attachment was an audio file, titled 'SunsetsSongV2.mp3'. She clicked on it to quickly download it to her PC, and opened it.

Her desktop's media player launched, and her eyes widened when it wasn't just her guitar opening the song, but a bass drum and synth notes from a keyboard. At ten seconds in, her guitar chords were muffled, but still noticeable; perfect for pairing with the opening vocals... When she figured them out. Over the next fourteen seconds, it slowly returned in clarity, and a crash cymbal, snare, more keyboard, and a bass guitar joined in at the first bridge.

The first chorus was around the forty-second mark, with synth backing the other instruments. The guitar, bass, and drums stayed clear for the second verse and bridge.

Sunset felt a lump grow in her throat as she realized that Flash's 'favor' he had called in had resulted in her song being nearly finished. Everything sounded perfect, and all she needed were the lyrics. When the last guitar chord faded and closed the song a little after two-and-a-quarter minutes, she immediately restarted it, and jumped out of her chair to run over and up to her bedside to grab her notebook she had been writing in, quickly returning to her desk, grabbing a pen, fighting back tears as she put it to the paper.

'When I began to fall,
and lost the path ahead
That's when your friendship found me
And it lifted me instead'

She also took a second to look at the second attachment, another audio file, but with the guitar part isolated and removed; it was the perfect way to practice along with the other parts.





Flash leaned against the wall of lockers in B hallway, earbuds letting him tune out the morning hustle and bustle around him. He figured Sunset would be by sooner than later, and he'd rather hand off the USB drive now before he forgot about it later.

He spotted her come around the corner from C hall, and pulled out his earbuds with a light yank. He noticed that she bit her lip and averted her gaze upon coming up to him.

"Hey," He began, digging into his jeans pocket. "Just wanted to get this to you before it slipped my mind."

Flash's right hand came out with the USB drive she had tossed to him a week ago, and reached out to offer it to her. Sunset's right hand let go of her left forearm to take it.

"I... I got your email, and... I don't even know what to say, Flash. You have no idea what that means to me."

"Yeah, I know a gift is a gift, but I wanted to thank you for those guitar picks, and I figured you could use some help, what with all the hours you've been putting in in the practice rooms."

"I'm not just talking about the song, you know. I mean... This. A regular conversation with another person. My friends are amazing and all, but they are the same five people every day, you know?"

Flash smiled at her.

"I know you're doing what you can, Sunset. I think you're doing the right thing by just concentrating on your new friendships, your music, and letting everyone else be. You probably wouldn't do much good if you try to force things or be overbearing. But if it's worth anything, I've noticed the changes in you, and even if they're not ready to act on it, or change their minds, I know some others have too."

Sunset gave him a small smile in return, knowing all to well that any hesitation in with the student body was because of last year; because of how she played nice right up until she got what she wanted. That was not going to be an easy memory to overcome.

"Thanks again, Flash. For everything."
> Thankful
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset walked through her apartment door, a small book in her hands. She dropped her backpack next to her desk before sitting down in her chair, pushing the keyboard and mouse up and out of the way as she set the book down, opening the cover, revealing that the first page, along with the rest of the pages, as blank, ready for ink.

'If you're finding yourself particularly thoughtful, it never hurts to write your thoughts down. Going back to reflect on past thoughts, and who you used to be, weeks, months, or even years later, can really show you how you change and grow as a pony, show you how far you've come, and give you new perspectives that you may not have in the here and now.'

Princess Celestia had told her that when she had presented her with the magical book that allowed them to instantly communicate over great distances, but also encouraged her to keep other, more private journals should she wish to. She had a long four-day weekend ahead for Harvest Day, so she decided she was going to try just that. But as she grabbed a pen out of the mug in the corner of the desk, she wasn't quite sure how to start out. A sudden vibrating in her pocket further distracted her mind from the journal's first blank page.

She reached down into the left pocket of her jeans, and came out with her phone. Pressing the power button, the screen turned on, and she saw the incoming text message.



Applejack
Harvest Day plans?



Sunset picked up the phone, glancing back to her fridge before entering a reply.



Nothing special, really. Figured I'd put together a simple salad or something.



Sunset hadn't even set the phone down before the three periods moved across the left side of the screen, signifying a message in-progress.



Applejack:
No, that won't do at all. There's always a seat open at our table. What do you say?



Sunset's heart skipped a beat. It had been just about a month and a half since the Fall Formal, and these friendly invitations had never ceased to bring her pause. She hadn't been able to imagine school without these five for weeks now, and part of her didn't feel quite right because she hadn't yet figured out a way to show her appreciation for all of this kindness she had been shown.

In a moment of clarity, she tried to imagine what Princess Celestia would say to her if she were to ask her such a question.

'Probably something along the lines of, just go along for the ride. Go along with whatever they invite you to.' She thought to herself.

It wasn't like she had been craving any alone time. She had plenty after school and usually one day of the weekend. She had plenty of time to practice as well as listen to the five of them in their new band. When it came to her song she had been working on, it was coming along slowly but surely. Some of the lyrics needed work, but small progress was made nearly every time she sat down with her guitar, though there were times she could do nothing else but attempt to sleep on it.

Harvest Day was one of the observed holidays over on this side that didn't have an equivalent in Equestria. Being thankful for what you have, appreciating the harvest... That seemed to be bundled in to celebrating friendships and the founding of Equestria that the Hearth's Warming holiday represented. There was usually nothing before that and after Nightmare Night, which was one of the dances that she decided not to attend a few weeks back. She figured she wouldn't be quite welcome, along with her friends or not.

She also wondered momentarily if she would be entirely welcome in Applejack's home. She knew the farmer would do everything she could to make her feel so, but she was also aware that the farmer's younger sister Apple Bloom was also among the countless students that were still avoiding her at school.

She had a feeling AJ wouldn't have asked if that hadn't already come to mind. She pressed a button, calling up the keybad on her screen, and typed in a reply.



Sure thing. When should I be ready tomorrow?


> Guest
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day, just before one o'clock in the afternoon, Sunset once again found herself in the passenger seat of Applejack's farm truck, as the duo was headed to the far east side of town on this chilly Harvest Day. She had eaten a light breakfast, and now her stomach was nearly growling. She had made herself presentable, opting for a white turtleneck and a dark brown suede jacket with a wool lining on the inside, and brown khakis; decent attire to ward off the chilly fall weather.

"So what's the book for?" Applejack asked, glancing down at the item that her friend held in her lap.

"Oh, it's a journal I got yesterday. Princess Celestia told me that it's good to write your thoughts down so you can reflect on them later.  I haven't figured out a good way to start things out yet," Sunset replied.

"Well, maybe you'll think better on a full stomach. Things were just about done when I left to come get you, so we won't have to wait long at all before we're eating."  Applejack told her.

The Apple family owned and operated Sweet Apple Acres, a farm just inside Everfree County's eastern limits. Canterlot High was already on the east part of town, a few miles from downtown Canterlot, so the farm was only a few miles more. Applejack made a right turn, and the pavement became a gravel road. The farmhouse was in the middle of the property, and the bright red barn was to the right of it. There was an older, smaller shed off to the left, with the noticeable tire tracks suggesting that it was where they parked the truck. Sure enough, Applejack turned off to the dirt path on the left towards the shed, and slowly came to a stop just outside the entrance, putting it into park.

"Alright, let's go meet the family."

Sunset unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door with a creak, as AJ did the same. She stepped out onto the dirt road,blank journal tucked under her arm, and waited for Applejack to come around and followed her up towards the farmhouse. While the gravel road curved off to the right towards the barn, AJ and Sunset walked onto a stepping stone walkway, which led up to the house. It was two steps up to the porch, and AJ opened the front door and ushered Sunset inside. The moment she stepped through the doorway, the inviting aroma wafting out from the kitchen reached her nose.

"Certainly smells great." Sunset commented as she began to remove her coat. Applejack motioned over to the coat rack to their left.

"You have no idea. There's always plenty to go around, and is absolutely going to be ten times better than whatever you were planning on pulling out of your freezer."

The two girls made their way to the dining room, where Big Mac and Apple Bloom were already seated, as Granny Smith was bringing out the last bowl of greens to the table. Sunset was nearly salivating at the spread.

"Looks like we got here just in time." Applejack said. She figured there was no need to introduce her guest, as everyone in the dining room either attended or worked at Canterlot High. Sunset gave a short bow and a smile.

"Thank you for having me for dinner." She said, taking a seat next to Applejack, across from Apple Bloom, with Granny Smith and Big Mac on either side of her.

"It's always nice having a new guest over for Harvest Day. Especially someone who's been putting so much work into turning over a new leaf." Granny Smith replied.

"Likely story." Apple Bloom said, causing the girl to avert her gaze down to her plate.

"Now, Apple Bloom, I know I used to come home and complain about her behavior last year before you got to Canterlot High, but I promise, she's changing for the better." Applejack replied, smiling over at Sunset.

"And it's thanks to your sister and her friends, Apple Bloom."

"Alright, enough sappiness. Let's eat." Granny Smith announced, dipping a ladle into one of the large pots at the center of the table. Sunset watched as she lowered it, pouring a steaming serving of carrots and halved red potatoes.

"This smells amazing." Sunset said, grabbing a spoon.

"Well, I sure hope so. These carrots and potatoes have been slow-boiling in this broth since six o'clock this morning. By far the most popular dish at this table every Harvest Day." Granny Smith replied, getting nods from the three Apple siblings in return. Once all five bowls were served, they wasted no time in digging in. Sunset tried a red potato first, and immediately went back for a carrot, which had been cut into quarters for easier eating with spoons. She brought it up to her lips and took a bite, and it nearly melted in her mouth. This blew any carrot dog back in Equestria out of the water.

"Mmm... This is divine." She complimented, smacking her lips together.

"Like I said, we've got plenty. If we don't go through all of it, you're more than welcome to take some home. Just be sure to save room for pumpkin pie." Granny Smith told her.

As she already had her heart set on leftovers, Sunset decided to not overindulge on the one dish, and began making herself a salad of mixed greens, carrot shavings, apple chunks, and roasted pecans, then gave everything on the plate a drizzling of vinaigrette dressing.





Sunset rolled back and forth in the rocking chair, sitting next to the crackling fireplace, hearing the clanking of dishes and the sloshing of water as Big Mac and Apple Bloom worked to clear the table. She had offered to help, but they wouldn't have a guest doing any of the work. The plate on the end table next to her contained only a fork and a scattering of crumbs, the slice of fresh homemade pumpkin pie making her quite full. But instead of feeling satisfied and warm next to the fire, unfortunately for Sunset, guilt had set in again.

All of last year, she had constantly taunted and belittled AJ for being 'country'. Simple. Stupid.

But the farmer's granddaughter had perhaps been there for her the most in all these weeks following the Fall Formal. She had never felt more at home than she did right now. The meal she had just eaten had been some of the best food she had ever had in her life. Right now she was anticipating having another good cry when she got home, but was determined to keep it together until Applejack was ready to take her home.

"Hey Sunset, you ready to go?"

Sunset looked over her shoulder at AJ, who was carrying a cloth tote bag full of leftovers. She'd be eating great for a week, easy. She glanced down at the journal in her lap, open to the very first page, where a single sentence had been written after she had finished the slice of pie.

'I'm thankful for second chances.'

She closed the book, and got up. 

"Yeah, I am." Sunset replied. She picked up the plate, and traded it to AJ for the tote bag. The girl quickly took it to the kitchen before coming back out to the den, grabbing the truck keys out of her pocket as Sunset grabbed her jacket from the coat rack.

"And AJ? Thank you. For everything."
> Hearth's Warming
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The winter in Everfree County had been somewhat mild this year, and Sunset figured it would either stay this way for most of the season, or the area would be hammered with snow early in the new year. But as it was right now, it was nearly 50 degrees this Hearth's Warming Eve, so she, Fluttershy, and Rarity had piled into the bed of Applejack's farm pickup, with Rainbow sitting in the cab with her as they drove towards Pinkie's house for a Hearth's Warming slumber party.

It would be Sunset's first, and the other four couldn't stop raving about how fun Pinkie's sleepovers were. Each of them had bought an armful of wrapped gifts which had been piled in the bed along with the increasing amount of occupants sitting around them.

Sunset had to admit, aside from the change in form, the most jarring change between dimensions was most definitely the weather. Back home, the forecast was as dependable as a memorized spell. But here, sometimes, predicting the weather might as well have been professional guesswork. Hearth's Warming Eve in Canterlot? Everything but the pathways would have had a nice coating of snow with near constant snowfall.

But the snowless Hearth's Warming get-together also had its perks as well. Because of the mild weather, they were all able to ride back here out in the open, with light jackets or hoodies being the only thing needed to stave off the breeze.

Pinkie lived in downtown Canterlot, in the apartment above Sweet Shoppe. Luckily, residing above a downtown business meant that parking anywhere on the block was free of charge with the proper parking permit, which she promptly gave to Applejack upon parking to hang on the farm truck's rear view mirror. Then, each of them handling one or two wrapped gift boxes, made their way into the narrow stairway next to the main entrance of the Sweet Shoppe. Pinkie opened the door at the top of the stairs, and kicked her shoes off on the mat right on the inside to the left.

"Alright, who wants hot cocoa?" Pinkie sing-songed as the other five filed in behind her taking the gifts and making a semi-organized pile in front of the tree.





Sunset was so busy watching everyone else showing each other their gifts and thanking each other that she hadn't noticed Rarity quietly get up, and instead slowly sipped at the last of her hot cocoa. When she set it on the night stand she was sitting next to, she felt a box being set down into her crossed legs, and looked from the night stand to the gift-wrapped rectangular box that Rarity had given her.

"You didn't think we were going to invite you here and have you watch all of us do a gift swap without you, did you?" The fashionista teased, smiling down at her. Sunset smiled back, and took the box in her hands, getting her fingers underneath where the wrapping had been folded and taped. She began to tear into the wrapping, and revealed the light white cardboard box that nearly all clothing gifts came in. Getting the wrapping paper out of the way, she slid a nail underneath the strip of tape holding the lid to the box, sliced through it, and slowly lifted the lid off.

The first article of clothing was a pair of dark purple fleece pajama bottoms. Lifting them out of the box, she saw that a top had come with it, and her cutie mark had been expertly embroidered on the chest.

"Thanks, Rarity. They look super comfy." Sunset told her friend, smiling up at her.

"Oh, but there's more, darling. Keep digging." Rarity replied, nodding back down to the box.

Yes, the box still did have a little bit of weight to it, and there was three sheets of tissue paper effectively obscuring whatever was underneath. Piece by piece, she pulled the layers away, and she was unable to keep her mouth closed when she saw the last item at the bottom of the box. She slowly reached in, pulled out and unfurled a perfectly folded leather jacket.

When Rarity had discovered that Sunset had continued to wear her torn and damaged jacket from the night of the Fall Formal, she had immediately insisted on repairing it. Not even a week later, she had it sewn up. One could still tell that it had been worn in, but chilly winds through the tears would no longer be a problem.

But this, this was something else. This was brand new. Sunset knew quality synthetic leather when she saw it, and clearly so did Rarity. But there were no tags or anything on it; this had been completely custom-tailored for her. She bit her lip and a lump grew in her throat as she continued to inspect the gift. It was a bit shorter than her older one, and the collar was far less pronounced. Shining zipper teeth went up the middle, as well as both front pockets. The last thing that caught her eye was the harvest gold chevrons that had been embroidered into each upper sleeve.

"I know I fixed up your old one, but variation is one of the many spices of fashion." Rarity told her.

"It's beautiful, Rarity. Thank you so much."

Sunset set the box on the floor next to her and got to her feet, and walked over to the full length mirror on the back of Pinkie's bedroom door, jacket in her hands. She took the collar in her left hand, and slipped her right arm through the sleeve, swinging it around, and putting her left arm in, and did a quick adjustment before looking at herself in the mirror. She gave the reflection a genuine smile before turning and embracing Rarity, who was standing right behind her, watching her friend admire the gift.

"I love it." Sunset told her, getting a hug in return.





Sunset sat in her sleeping bag, her back leaning against her pillow, pressed between her and the nightstand. She held her journal in her hands, a few pages full in the month that she had had it. With all the lights off and everybody else sleeping, her sole light source was the moonlight coming in from the window directly above the nightstand. Her new pajamas were snug and absolutely comfortable. She was anticipating quite a comfortable night of sleep, but she did want to get a journal entry written first before the yawning became too frequent.

'I'm still not used to this. I really wonder if I ever will be. I've been recalling as many of Princess Celestia's lessons that I can, but there were a few weeks there right at the end where I was overly obsessed with the magic mirror that brought me here, and I'm afraid that that was probably when she was trying to impress upon me the importance of patience and humility.

'Words fade, activities blur, but ponies will always remember how you made them feel.' I remember her saying that to me, and I think that's why I'm still not looking forward to going back to school at the end of winter break. I'm so lucky to have these five, and even Flash has been super helpful with my music, but I just know there's so much of an uphill battle to go.

So I guess there's more to climb tomorrow.'
> Sign-ups
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

For once, Sunset was the first to get seated at her regular table in the CHS cafeteria. For today's lunch, she had selected a romaine salad with pecans and strawberries with a sweet tea. She lightly poked at it while waiting for the others to get through the lines.

"Hey there, Sunset. How was your Sunday?" Applejack asked, coming up to the table and sat down across from her, with Twilight coming up right behind her, sitting to the right of her.

"Good. Pretty much just stayed at home and practiced some more." She answered. She had remembered how her guitar practice had helped her through the first few weeks after the Fall Formal, and outside of practice with the Rainbooms, it was now how she was managing to keep her mind off of the end of the year, which was still nearly nine months away. School had only entered its third week.

Thirty more to go.

"Hey girls. Saturday's practice was awesome, and it's made me wonder if he want to step up rehearsals to get ready for the Fall Formal." Rainbow said, sitting on the left side of AJ.

"Honestly, Rainbow, we play and practice year-round. I don't think we need to step anything up because of a school event." Twilight countered.

"Yeah, unless you're insinuating that our practice on Saturday left something to be desired." Applejack added, nudging her with an elbow as she started into her veggie burger.

"No no, girls. Everything was fine. I just thought we'd get things down to a tee." The lead guitarist defended herself.

"We've had things down to a tee for months, Rainbow," Pinkie said, coming up and sitting on Sunset's left side. "I mean, Sunset and I played on stage with another group completely on a whim. I think we've got things down."

"If you girls want to practice more, I don't have any objections. More time to make sure my new fall outfits match up and everything." Rarity said, coming to the table with Fluttershy.

"Well, you might have to make one more dress, if Sunset decides to sign up!" Pinkie said, pulling a pen and clipboard from her hair.

"Sign up for what?" Sunset asked, as Pinkie slid the clipboard over to her tray. She picked it up, and looked at the piece of paper currently clipped to it.




PRINCESS OF THE FALL FORMAL
SIGN-UP SHEET
______________          _____________
______________          _____________
______________          _____________
______________          _____________




Unpleasant memories came flashing back, where she made absolutely sure that someone putting their signature on any of those lines would realize what a colossal error they had made. Since that fateful night where she was shown the error of her ways, she had stayed far away from any sort of popularity contest if it didn't have to do with the Rainbooms. She had attended nearly all of the follow up events as part of the band.

"You want me to sign up for Princess of the Fall Formal?" Sunset asked, staring down at the blank spots for signatures. No one else had done so yet.

"I figured it could be, you know, some kind of last hurrah. But this time it'd be for all the right reasons. To show the school how far you've come. Ooh, we could do another song here in the cafeteria! ~We can work together helping Sunset win the crown!" Pinkie sing-songed.

Sunset lightly giggled as she looked down at the blank sign-up sheet, before sliding it along the table back to Pinkie.

"Let me think about it."

"Fair enough, it'll be on the bulletin board next to the main gymnasium entrance if you decide to sign up." Pinkie replied, returning the clipboard to her hair before starting into her lunch.





Sunset had spent the rest of the school day thinking about Pinkie's idea. Her second Fall Formal at Canterlot High had been the spark; the beginning of her road to redemption. Her third had placed her up on stage as part of the Rainbooms' lineup. But her first...

Memories of how she used to be still lingered. The rumors and lies she spread, how flat out nasty she was to girls that dared to challenge her dominance of what essentially amounted to simple popularity contests. The smug satisfaction she got from winning those crowns during her first year here now seemed so meaningless. Ever since she had thrown those picture frames into the trash, she had never considered signing up for another Fall Formal, Winter Waltz, or Spring Fling again save for being a part of the music.

So what exactly did she have to prove to anyone, to herself, by entering into one of these things one last time?

But maybe Pinkie had a point. Maybe it would be nice to have one last hurrah, so she could let the school vote for her and put that crown on her head for all the right reasons.

Cafeteria musical performance withstanding, of course.

So after one last stop at her locker, she slung her backpack over her shoulder, and headed towards the northeast section of Canterlot High, which housed the gymnasium, pools, locker rooms, as well as the other arenas and practice courts for the school's various athletic teams. She walked up to the cork bulletin board that hung between the main double doors to the gym and the trophy case, with the marquee 'EVENT SIGNUPS' mounted above it. Currently, there were two sheets of paper pinned to the board, one for entrants for Fall Formal Princess, and the other for musical acts for the dance itself. That one was considerably full. A couple more bands, and groups would likely have to start trimming their setlists in order to make time for everyone.

Sunset dropped her backpack to the tile floor, and knelt down to dig through one of the front pockets. Coming out with a ballpoint pen, she clicked the cam with her thumb to expose the tip, got up to bring it to the Fall Formal Princess signup sheet...

...and paused at the last moment, looking at the single signature that was there already.

Wallflower Blush
> Tour
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset made her way down A Hallway towards Principal Celestia's office. The winter this year had stayed mild, and now temperatures were ever so slowly climbing higher as spring activities began getting into swing at Canterlot High. For the Rainbooms, that meant getting ready for the Musical Showcase, a concert of all the student-formed musical acts, with all the proceeds going towards further funding the school's extracurricular activities.

She had attended all of their rehearsals, and helped perform sound checks for each practice. But she still felt like asking to join would be a little too forward, so she had kept her guitar practice to herself. Flash had periodically asked how her song was coming along, and she was happy to say that she had nearly finished it. She was hoping that the Musical Showcase would bring about the last bit of inspiration she needed to finish her lyrics off. If she was honest with herself, she had gotten a little sidetracked with helping Fluttershy start to write a song of her own. The tambourine player's song was titled 'The Music of Our Friendship', and the meolody seemed simple enough. But Rainbow was in charge of the setlist for the Showcase, and she wanted the band to practice the songs they were already familiar with, so sadly the song hadn't been performed yet.

Today was the first day she hadn't worn her new leather jacket to school. It made her feel like a newer person. She liked the way she looked in her old one, but it was also a reminder of the bully she used to be. She hadn't made the time to change the rest of her daily outfit, but she had given it some thought.

Right now, all the participants that had signed up for the showcase were in the gym, working on their individual band banners. She was hoping to join the other five shortly, but Celestia and Luna wanted to see her first. Stepping up to the closed office door, she knocked, announcing her presence.

"Come in." She heard from the other side. She turned the knob, and pushed the door open, seeing Principal Celestia sitting at her desk, going over the contents of a file folder with Vice Principal Luna, who was standing beside her.

"You wanted to see me, Principal Celestia?" Sunset asked, standing behind the chairs on her side of the desk.

"Yes, Sunset. Don't worry, this won't take long. We were wondering if you'd like to show some new students transferring from upstate around the school, get them familiar with the basic layout. I figured it would be a good opportunity for you to show new students the new leaf you've been turning over." Celestia told her.

Sunset smiled, grateful that at least the school's headmasters had indeed noticed her ongoing efforts. She nodded, almost immediately.

"Yes, I'd love to. When are they arriving?" She asked.

"Their names are Adagio, Aria, and Sonata, and they're scheduled to arrive later this morning. We'll alert you over the intercom when they get here, seeing as how classes are on a half-day schedule due to the banner projects and rehearsals." Vice Principal Luna told her.

"I'll be ready at any time. Thank you so much." Sunset said, before turning to leave.

With how slow most of the student body was coming around, having three new faces to show this new side of herself to would be for the best. She wasn't sure if the current students would go out of their way to tell them about how she used to be, but honestly, she wasn't sure she'd put that past some of them.

Softly shutting the door to Celestia's office, she turned to head towards the gym. She couldn't wait to see how the Rainbooms banner was coming along...
> Pity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset exited the school's west entrance, and began crossing the parking lot, heading towards the CHS community gardens. She couldn't imagine Wallflower doing any gardening now that fall was more or less underway, but if she was anywhere on school grounds after hours, it'd be there.

Stepping off the pavement onto the dirt path, Sunset made her way into the trees. Past the first line of brush, sure enough, there Wallflower was, next to a wheelbarrow, pulling weeds. It also looked like small trenches had been dug where last season's plants had been planted.

"Hey there, Wallflower. Still gardening this late into the year? What are you planting?" Sunset asked, announcing her presence to the president and founder of the school's Gardening Club. Wallflower turned and greeted her with a smile.

"Nothing. Just getting things ready for next spring," the gardener answered, resuming her task of pulling up weeds that had cropped up during the growing season and tossing them in the wheelbarrow. "Clearing weeds and burying what's left from this season gives the soil a little head start through the winter, and makes it easier to get things going come spring. This'll be my last garden before I graduate and hand the reins of the Gardening Club to someone else, so I want to be one of my best yet."

"I'm sure it'll look fantastic."  Sunset told her.

"So, I doubt you're here to look at the garden club's winter preparations, so what can I do for you?"

"Well, I saw you signed up on the Fall Formal Princess competition. Just... Wanted to wish you good luck with that."

"Oh? Thanks. It was kinda a spur of the moment thing, ya know? I have to go looking for a dress this evening when I'm finished up here today. So, are you signing up too?" Wallflower asked.

"Huh?"

"I mean, how else would you know I signed up? I did just sign it like, an hour ago."

The gardener had her there.

"Well, I wasn't really thinking about it, until Pinkie brought it up at lunch. I haven't really signed up for anything like this since sophomore year. She thought it'd be a good way to put an end to my time here. I guess I kind of agreed with her."

"So you signed up too?"

"Well, no. Not yet."

"Why not? It sounds like you have a good reason."

It only took a few moments for Wallflower to put the pieces together.

"You were going to sign up, and then you saw my name on there first, so you decided not to? Why?" She asked.

"I just think if you really want it, I don't want to stand in your way."

"And do you think that I want to win because you, or someone else, didn't enter out of pity?"

Sunset averted her gaze and rubbed her arms.

"Sunset, it's not a competition if others don't enter. So I hope you respect me enough to meet me equally in competition."

"What competition, Wallflower? It's a popularity contest, nothing more! Ugh, why did I listen to Pinkie. She told me it would be a great way to show the school how far I've come, but really, do I need to? Everyone knows how far I've come already. It's... It's just a stupid crown."

"Do you want it? One last time?" The green-haired girl asked her simply.

"...Yeah, I guess I do."

Wallflower gave her a determined smile.

"Then turn around, go back in there, sign up, and I'll see you up there on that stage."

Sunset returned the smile, gave a small nod, and turned to go back down the dirt path to the parking lot. She still felt that signing up would more or less seal Wallflower's defeat, but the gardener did have a point; not signing up due to pity would give her nothing more than a hollow victory. As she returned up the walk to the west entrance, she wondered if it was a mistake going out there to talk with her in the first place.

Returning to the bulletin board outside the gym, she once again set her backpack down and dug out her pen, clicking it open, and put the point to the sheet of paper, right below Wallflower's signature.

Sunset Shimmer
> Sunset's Redemption
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset looked up in horror at the green mist rising up through the stage's false floor from her arguing friends, as the pieces of the puzzle came together.

"Stop! You have to stop!" She shouted, getting the Rainbooms to cease their bickering. "This is what they've been after all along! They're feeding off of the magic inside you!"

"How can they be using our magic? It's the magic of friendship." Applejack asked.

"Ever since you started this band, you've been letting little things get  to you. I never said anything, 'cause I didn't feel like it was my place.  Not when I was so new to this whole 'friendship' thing. I still have a  lot to learn. But I do know that if you don't work out even the  smallest problems right at the start, the magic of friendship can be  turned into something else." Sunset told them.

"I can't believe all this tension was happening right under my nose and I didn't realize it. I'm supposed to be the one with all the answers. And all I've done since I got here is let you down." Twilight added.

"I don't think anyone's supposed to have all the answers. But you can count on your friends to help you find them."

"I think you already have. Come on, we need to get out of here!"

One by one, they all gathered up and put all their weight into the locked trap room door. Twilight was first, then Sunset, then Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, and finally Rainbow. Twilight, with the force of her six friends against her, suddenly found it difficult to breath, and instinctually pushed off of the door, sending everyone but Fluttershy to the floor as she caught her breath. A moment later, a knock sounded on the door, before being seemingly effortlessly pushed open by none other than a familiar purple dog.

"Spike!" Twilight exclaimed, reaching forward and pulling him into a hug.

"Sorry I took so long. I had to find somebody who wasn't under the sirens' spell to help me get you out."

They looked to the doorway, to see the school's resident disc jockey, Vinyl Scratch, peek around.

"Why isn't she under their spell?" Twilight asked.

"Never takes off her headphones."

The musician gave a smirk and a thumbs up.

"Come on, y'all! Time to prove we've still got the magic of friendship inside us!" Applejack said, getting to her feet.

"And there's only one way to do it!" Twilight stated.

"We're getting the band back together?" Pinkie asked excitedly.

"We're getting our band back together!"

"Whee!"

"Ooh, which version of the counter spell are we going to play?" Rarity asked.

"I don't think it matters what song we play, as long as we play it together as friends." Twilight answered.

"I know just the song." Rainbow confidently said, causing some light looks of concerns from the others.

"Fluttershy's written a really great one."

The tambourine player nearly melted in response.

"We're about to save the world here. Personally, I think we should do it style." AJ commented. "Rarity?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" The fashionista replied, pulling over a rack of outfits.

In record time, the Rainbooms changed outfits and grabbed their instruments, running out towards one of the amphitheater's side exits. They'd need an elevated position to reach the entire crowd, and it also had to be far enough away from the competing speakers.

"Back there!" Rainbow said, pointing to the highest hill behind the crowd, between the amphitheater and the neighborhood. Sunset helped Pinkie push the cart her drum kit was stacked on, noticing Vinyl split off from the group and run to the parking lot, as the chorals coming from the stage overtook everything else in the area...

Maybe they'd pull this off... Somehow.





Sunset stood uneasily as the three draconic apparitions circled in the reddening dusk sky overhead. The heavy guitar riffs blasted from the amphitheater's speaker system, as the teenage crowd below swayed in tranced motions. The six Rainbooms watched worriedly for any sign of the flying monstrosities closing in.

Twilight was the first to notice them group up to the east and begin to swoop down. Vinyl saw it second, and the band heard her crank her station's speakers. Pinkie began with a short interlude, getting the rest of the group in sync, and Vinyl's speakers let loose a surge of magical energy towards the swooping sirens, who broke off their dive and split off. Charged diamonds erupted from Rarity's synthesizer, halting the charge of the purple siren. Glowing butterflies began to gather around Fluttershy's tambourine, and as she outstretched her arms, they bolted forward, causing the turquoise siren to rear up defensively.

"~Oh-oh, oh-whoa-oh!" Twilight's falsetto surged towards the yellow siren, but instead of being deterred, the creature answered with her own, higher falsetto, with such force that it began to physically push Twilight back. The other two regrouped on both sides of Adagio, and let loose another harmonized falsetto, nearly shoving Twilight into Pinkie's drum set. Their voices became louder and more forceful, and every member of the Rainbooms was knocked off of their feet. Twilight couldn't hold on to the microphone as she fell, and it flew out of her hand, colliding with Pinkie's right crash cymbal.

As the attack wasn't focused in her area, Sunset had managed to stay on her feet, along with Spike. As the waves passed over her and subsided, she felt something hit one of her boots, looking down and seeing Twilight's mic. She bent down to pick it up, and as she held it, she wondered if this was the closet she would get to being in the Rainbooms.

"Sunset Shimmer, we need you!" Twilight shouted.

Not believing what she just heard, she took a moment to swallow her fears and uncertainty, taking a deep breath as she stepped up in front of the others. Fluttershy turned to Vinyl and gave her a hand signal to skip to her song's bridge. Sunset removed her jacket, as a gust of wind caught it and carried it a few feet before it fell to the grass. Vinyl spun up the disc, and the bridge to 'The Music of Our Friendship's final verse began. Sunset took another breath as she brought the microphone up. She had one shot at this.

"~You're never gonna bring me down
You're never gonna break this part of me
My friends are here to bring me 'round
Not sing just for popularity," she sang as she helped Twilight to her feet, who was immediately ready to continue.

"~We're here to let you know, that we won't let it go
Our music is a bomb and it's about to blow
And you can try to fight, but we have got the light
Of friendship on our side!"

As the chorus approached, the rest of the Rainbooms had recovered and were on their feet playing, and Sunset's confidence only grew as she stood next to Twilight singing, watching fearlessly as the trio of draconic sirens dove towards them again.

"~Got the music in our hearts! We're here to blow this thing apart!"

Sunset saw a wide rainbow explode outward from the group, flinging the apparitions away, washing over the crowd, and still she kept singing.

"~And together, we will never, be afraid of the dark!"

She was prepared to keep singing with the final chorus, but she felt herself go weightless as a warm energy enveloped her entire body. She felt as if she was being carried as she let her arms leave her side and closed her eyes. Her ears tingled as she heard the Rainbooms continue to sing.

"~Here to sing our song out loud
Get you dancing with the crowd
As the music of our friendship
Survives, survives!"

She opened her eyes, felt her incredibly long ponytail, the pony ears on the top of her head, and saw that the others had joined her in midair.

She had never felt magic like this before in her life. What she had felt at the end of the Fall Formal had been humbling. But this... this was empowering. She watched as the prismatic beam rose from the group, and wondered what it was going to be like for the trio about to be on the receiving end of it. Would it do to them what it did to her?

She heard the crowd below join in on the final repeat of the chorus as the glowing holographic alicorn that had formed from their magic rise to meet the siren's apparitions. A brilliant beam of magical energy shot out from the tip of its horn, disintegrating the siren's draconic forms and continued down to their human forms on stage. She couldn't even begin to make them out in the beam, but as she was again blinded by a flash of white and their song came to an end, she knew they had triumphed.

She felt the grass under her boots again as she heard... Booing from the crowd below? Indeed, as she reached down to grab her discarded leather jacket, she saw the Dazzlings retreat from their place on stage, dodging food projectiles as they went. Then, as the trio made for the parking lot, the crowd, nearly as one, turned towards the back hill the Rainbooms stood on, and began to cheer uproariously.

"We did it!" Twilight exclaimed, nearly tackling Sunset in a hug just after she got her jacket back on.

Sunset's lips trembled in a smile as she returned Twilight's hug as she looked down on the student body applauding and cheering up at her and her friends.

"Yeah, we really did."
> The Last Formal
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"~Shake your tail, shake your tail! Shake your tail 'cause we're gonna have a party tonight!"

The dancing crowd down on the gymnasium floor gave cheers and applause as the Rainbooms' last song of their set came to a close. After they gave bows and waves, the band exited stage right, and began to return their instruments to their cases and bags. On the other far side, Trixie and the Illusions were getting ready to take  the stage for their set. The crowning of the Fall Formal Princess was about halfway through the event, and it was scheduled to happen after Trixie's performance.

She and Wallflower weren't the only ones on the ballot, this year, there were four; Junior Diamond Tiara and fellow senior Trixie had also joined them on the ballot. Since putting her signature on the sheet, Sunset went on with the next two weeks as ordinarily as she could, not trying to stand out at all. But no matter how ordinary she tried to appear, word very quickly spread through the student body that Sunset Shimmer was back on the ballot for the first time in two years.

She wasn't sure what she was worried about more; losing, or getting more votes than her friends. But now that she was off the stage, the performance high was rapidly wearing off, and dread was beginning to set in. She nodded, smiled, and thanked her fellow students as they complimented the Rainbooms' performance as she made her way to the refreshments table, pouring herself a glass of punch, downing half of it in a couple gulps.

"You sounded great up there." Came a familiar voice behind her as she lowered her glass from her lips. She turned and saw Wallflower smiling at her. She wore a simple, light yellow dress. Sunset had chosen her dark green dress that she had last worn during their charity performance at Camp Everfree. It had orange flame accents, and just a hint of rocker appeal with the golden studs on the shoulders.

"Thanks. You look great, by the way." Sunset told her, taking another sip of punch.

"You think so? You look better." Wallflower replied, and Sunset smiled in response.

"Listen, Wallflower. If this goes one way, and not the other..."

"No, don't. Don't do that. Don't apologize in advance. Rule number one of friendly competition: give it your best, and whatever happens, happens. I've had a great time tonight so far, and it looks like you have too."

Sunset nodded at her.

"Alright, fair enough Wallflower. Want to go watch Trixie's set with us?"

"Sure. Might as well be close to the stage, I think the results are going to be announced when Trixie and the Illusions are done.

Together, the two girls walked through the dancing crowds up to the front, where the Rainbooms were currently enjoying the final group's second number. Their third and final song was their best known song, 'Tricks Up My Sleeve', which a fair bit of the crowd sang along to, just like they had to all of the Rainbooms' songs. As the last song continued, Sunset continued to wonder if she had signed up because she wanted to, because Pinkie reminded her of it, or because Wallflower wanted her to. She thought herself beyond these popularity contests. She had given a smile and a nod to Wallflower, but really, the only sense in which this was a competition was 'who does the school like the best?' Who was the most popular?

Sunset was so lost in her thoughts that the only thing to let her know that Trixie's set was over was the applauding of students as they came forward and took a bow, before Principal Celestia came forward and took the mic at center stage, with Vice Principal Luna holding the hinged box with the Fall Formal Crown in it.

"Let's have one more round of applause for all of our musical groups tonight!" Celestia began, encouraging another period of cheering. "And now, for the moment a lot of us have been waiting for, it's time to crown our Fall Formal Princess."

Principal Celestia reached into her pocket, taking out the sealed envelope that contained the winner.

"This year's Fall Formal Princess is..." The headmaster paused, lifting the flap, and taking out the single notecard inside.

"Sunset Shimmer!"

Cheers erupted from behind her as all of her bandmates rushed in and encased her in a group hug. As soon as they released her, Wallflower came in for a hug.

"Congratulations!" She told her over the cheering around them. The green-haired girl released her from the embrace then smiled at her when Sunset gave her a look of hesitancy.

"Hey, none of that. Now get up there and get that crown!" She said, taking her by the shoulders and nearly pushing her past the cheering students towards the stairs. Sunset ascended them, and walked towards Principal Celestia, who was removing the crown from the box Luna held. Swallowing the lump in her throat and fighting back tears, she came to the center of the stage, and slowly dropped to one knee when Celestia turned to her with the crown in her hands, and gently set it down on her head. Returning to both feet, she managed a smile as she turned and waved to the cheering student body.





It was too familiar. That was the problem.

After making a few more appearances with the crown on her head, Sunset had grabbed her jacket and slipped out of the Fall Formal before things had finished winding down, and now walked down the dimly lit sidewalk towards her apartment, guitar case in her left hand and the Fall Formal crown in her right.

This hadn't been a good idea.

She should have just looked at Wallflower's name on the list, and walked away without saying a damned thing, and that would have been that. There was no magic, no broken wall to fix this time, but she felt nearly as bad, just because of the unpleasant memories that winning had unearthed, and it had turned what she thought would be a wholesome view of how far she had come into a hollow victory that made her wonder why she had wanted it in the first place.

She turned the corner into her apartment complex, and walked down the lot to her building. Stepping into the lobby, she dug her key out of her jacket pocket as she climbed the stairs to the third floor. She came to the top, slid her key in the door, and pushed the door open, setting her guitar case down just inside the door, and set the crown down on the computer desk. She was still wired after the party, so while she wasn't ready for bed, she was ready to get out of this dress. Going over to her closet, she stripped down to her undergarments, hung up the dress, and slipped into her pajamas.

Now much more comfortable, she walked back over to her computer desk and slumped down in her chair. Letting her gaze slide to the left, she saw the plaque that she had mounted above her center PC monitor. She reached up and took it off of the wall, running her fingers across it, and discovering a layer of dust. She grabbed the nearest discarded t-shirt, and gave it a wipe down.


Presented to
Shimmercode
For passing 500,000 subscribers.


Now there was something she grew to be proud of after her redemption. When not dealing with magic, or practicing guitar, she had, at Rainbow's suggestion, taken her hobby of gaming and started livestreaming online for an ever-increasing audience. One of her most popular videos was when she brought Fluttershy over for some nice easy gaming, and got absolutely destroyed with a retro acorn-collecting game.

Deciding that she wanted to spend the rest of the night getting her mind off of the Formal, she switched on all of her monitors and quickly sent out a tweet.



Impromptu after-party stream starting in a minute! New game!



She dug into her backpack, and pulled out an older game that Rainbow had given her in case she needed something new to stream.

She quickly booted up her casting software, and turned on her webcam.

"Evening, Coders! Bit of a late start tonight, but I thought I'd unwind with an older game I've never played before that a good friend gave to me. It's called Sonic Adventure 2, let's see how it is."
> Performance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset was roused from sleep by the incessant beeping and vibrating of her phone on the nightstand. She reached up to grab it, sliding her thumb across the screen to unlock it.



New Message
Applejack
Happy birthday, sugarcube. Meet me out front in 30 with your guitar. Got a little surprise for you.
-AJ



She double-checked the time that was sent, and realized that she had about 25 minutes left to get ready. She threw the covers off of herself and swung her legs around to the floor, and headed down the short flight of stairs to the bathroom, turning on the shower as she got out of her purple pajamas.

She wasn't intending on doing anything outrageous for her birthday, and she figured that AJ and the others had planned on a cake or something. After a quick five minute shower, she hopped out, wrapped a towel around her chest, and quickly dried and styled her hair. By the time that was done, the rest of her barely needed any toweling off, and she was ready to get dressed. Throwing on one of her usual outfits, she took her guitar from the stand next to her amp and put it in its case, making sure everything was latched before picking it up and taking it down the stairs.

Heading out into the hall, she locked her door and headed down the three flights of stairs down to the front walk, getting outside just as Applejack was pulling up in the farm truck.

"Morning, Sunset. Put your guitar in the back and we can be on our way." AJ greeted.

Sunset did just that, setting her guitar case next to AJ's case containing her bass in the bed before opening the door and sitting in the passenger seat, buckling up.

"Alright, you don't get motion sick easily, do you?" Applejack asked, digging into a cloth bag between the two of them.

"Not terribly, why?" Sunset answered.

In response, AJ came out with a simple black blindfold.

""We just want to keep it a surprise, that's all." Applejack answered, leaning over and tying the cloth over her eyes and around her head. With that done, she put the truck into drive, and they were off.

Sunset tried her best to deduce where they were going from the direction Applejack had turned, but what she couldn't get a good handle on was how fast they were going. They had made a right out of her complex, so they were definitely heading south, towards the school. But AJ had to have been doing a little under the speed limit. Because what was normally a 3-5 minute drive was now approaching the seven minute mark.

Applejack knew how clever Sunset was, especially for something as simple as the four-minute drive to school. So she was indeed going five under the posted limit, as well as taken a few side streets through some neighborhoods to throw her off. Ten minutes later, they pulled into the lot, and Appleack opened the driver side door. Sunset began to reach up for her blindfold.

"Not just yet, Sunset. We're not quite there yet." AJ told her. The farm girl came around to the passenger side door, opened it, and took Sunset's hand, helping her out of the truck. She carefully handed the guitar case to the blindfolded girl before grabbing her own bass, and took her hand and lead her down the walk.

Sunset could tell they were headed down a very gradual downhill, but couldn't hear much of anything outside of the passing traffic out on the main road, and that was becoming quieter as they walked away from wherever they had parked. Then, they slowed, and AJ let her know that stairs were coming. Sunset raised up her next step, and found the stairs. Wooden stairs. She stepped up four of them, and her guitar case was gently removed from her grasp before continuing on the flat wooden platform. She heard her guitar case being opened, then twenty seconds later, she felt the weight of the strap of it on her left shoulder before hearing it get plugged in.

"Alright, Sunset..." She heard Applejack say, as the knot holding the blindfold on was loosened, and the cloth fell away. "Happy birthday."

Sunset found herself standing front and center on the stage of Canterlot High's amphitheater. She looked around, and saw that the rest of her friends had their instruments and were up on stage with her. Down in the front row, sat Flash and the members of his band, along with VInyl.

"Hey guys, what's going on here?" She asked.

"Well, you know the rehearsals that we've been canceling the last two weeks?" Rainbow asked. "Well, we haven't been canceling anything. Flash told us that you've been working on a song of your own, and we thought we'd surprise you by letting you perform it live, with everything, for the first time."

Sunset's eyes widened.

"You've actually been practicing my song...?" She asked, her heart skipping a beat.

"Every Wednesday and Friday for the last two weeks!" Pinkie chimed in excitedly.

"No lead vocals though," Rainbow added. "We're leaving that to you. So what do you say?"

Sunset turned towards the seats, and Flash gave her a smile and a thumbs up, as Pinkie began to tap out her song's tempo on the bass drum and high hat. Sunset swallowed the lump in her throat, and slowly took two steps up to the microphone, getting her left hand positioned on the neck of her guitar, for 'My Past Is Not Today's opening riffs.

Then she heard Pinkie's drumsticks give off the count, and she began strumming, with Rarity's keyboard joining in at the same moment.

"~Power...
Was all I desired
But all that grew inside me
Was the darkness I acquired."

Flash sat with his bandmates, listening and watching with a smile, never taking his eyes off of Sunset as she sang out to the nearly empty amphitheater, which did not deter her in the slightest. He figured she could be singing on the roof of the school and it would sound exactly the same in this moment.

"When I began to fall
And I lost the path ahead
That's when your friendship found me
And it lifted me instead.

Like a phoenix burning bright
In the sky
I'll show there's another side to me
You can't deny

I may not know what the future holds
But hear me when I say
That my past does not define me
'Cause my past is not today."

Flash glanced over at Vinyl, who just gave him a thumbs up as she rocked along to the beat.

"Ambition
Is what I believed
Would be the only way
To set me free

But when it disappeared
And I found myself alone
That's when you came and got me
And it felt like I was home

Like a phoenix burning bright
In the sky
I'll show there's another side to me
You can't deny

I may not know what the future holds
But hear me when I say
That my past does not define me
'Cause my past is not today!"

All five members of Flash Drive along with Vinyl stood and applauded as the final chords were played and the Rainbooms went silent. Setting their instruments down, they all came around for a group hug around Sunset, praising her on her vocals. When they all parted, Sunset wiped her eyes and came to the front of the stage and hopped down to the front row, coming up to Flash.

"Quite a terrific song you got there, Sunset." Flash complimented.

"Thanks to you. If you ever need any more guitar picks, you know where to find me." Sunset told him, offering her hand out, which Flash shook with a smile.

"Anytime, Sunset. Anytime."
> Search
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh come on! The indicator is red! It's supposed to be right here! Why isn't it right here?!"

Rainbow Dash laughed as she looked down at her phone, re-watching the recording from Sunset's last stream she had done of Sonic Adventure 2.

"That's the reason you lent me that game, isn't it?" Sunset asked, giving her friend a half-annoyed glance as she walked next to her down B hallway.

"No, just one of the perks. I lent it to you because it's one of the best games in the franchise. And yeah, I knew you raging at the emerald hunts would get you some more hits. You have to admit, after that stream with Fluttershy, flipping out is one of your quirks." Rainbow replied.

Rainbow did have a point. Her session with Fluttershy and the squirrel acorn-collecting game had become one of her most popular videos on her channel, and ever since her playthrough of Sonic Adventure 2 over the course of a week just after the Fall Formal, that cluster of videos had been rapidly gaining popularity as well.

"True. Apart from those missions, the game was awesome. Especially that theme song. I've been listening to Crush 40 for a month now." Sunset told her.

"Yeah, those guys are awesome. So, are you riding over with AJ and me to Pinkie's Halloween party?" Rainbow asked.

"Actually, I've got something to take care of in the library, so I'll be a little behind. Don't wait on me." Sunset told her.

"Got it. Catch you in a few, Sunset." Rainbow told her with a friendly slug on the shoulder. The pair of girls split off, with Rainbow heading towards the student parking lot, and Sunset heading towards the library.

As the school year marched onward, Sunset found herself coming back around to whether or not she was going to stay or go at the end of the school year. To their credit, her friends hadn't been reminding her or bugging her about it, instead spending all the spare time they had together in band practice or other hobbies. But she didn't want to put off this decision for so long that she had no time to really think about it. So she was going to take it in small increments, tackle the situation one area, and one question at a time.

When she had first arrived, it hadn't taken her long to deduce that this was an alternate dimension to Equestria, and that every pony that existed over there had a counterpart over here in this world,  at one point or another. After a few days of searching, she was quite certain that if she had a counterpart in this world, that she was nowhere close by.

But as time went on, as she turned herself around and fought off the increasing homesickness, she began to wonder just how long she was supposed to be here. She had remembered what her parents and Princess Celestia had written to her.



while we'd like nothing more than to see you again, we can't help but feel that you're there for a reason.





please don't underestimate the potential importance of where you are right now.



Had the reason come and gone? Was she no longer needed here? Those were questions that burned in her mind, and would probably drive her insane if left to what she only currently knew. So she needed the help of the internet.

Stepping into the library and going straight for the computer lab, she set her backpack down and sat down at one of the available computers, logging on with her student credentials, and opened a web browser.



co.everfree.gov



Going to the county's official government website, she scrolled down the sidebar to find the page she wanted.



Everfree County Department of Records



She clicked on the link and loaded into the next page, quickly finding what she was looking for.



Birth Certificate Request



She looked at the required fields, and thought back to how ludicrously easy it was to get enrolled here at the school with little to no paperwork as to who she actually was and where she came from. Now she was paying for it.

She typed in her name and date of birth, and with that being the only two pieces of information she was able to provide, the "Expanded Search" button was the only one available to click at the bottom of the page. Clicking on it, a notification popped up.



NOTICE: Expanded searches are for queries with limited information available, and will take considerably longer to process through the system. A return time of greater than eight weeks is generally common. Do you wish to proceed?



Sunset clicked 'Yes.' and sent the request through.

"Well..." She said to herself, logging off and pushing the chair away from the desk. "I guess that's the end of step one."
> In Her Shoes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset ran the cool washcloth over her face a final time, getting the last of the smeared dirt off of her face, before wringing it out and tossing it in the laundry hamper. Going out into the main room again of her top floor flat, she found Canterlot High's newest transfer, Twilight Sparkle, sitting on her couch, watching her television, which currently had a news blurb about the light show tonight that their battle had caused, and had undoubtedly been seen from the city.

The girl was in a pair of purple pajamas that Sunset had lent her, after tossing her school uniform into the washer downstairs, and letting her grab a shower. Her dog Spike was curled up on her lap, relaxing.

"Try not to worry about it too much, Twilight. It'll blow over."

Twilight turned to her, her glasses slipping down the bridge of her nose, before she pushed them back up. Sunset saw the look of distress on her face, and was reminded of how she felt the night of the Fall Formal. It was honestly the main reason she had invited her to an impromptu sleepover. She didn't want Twilight to repeat the sickening feeling of loneliness that she had felt in the days afterward.

"I wish I could believe that." Twilight said, rubbing her stomach to try and stave off the mild nausea. Sunset saw her discomfort and went over to the fridge and pulled out a pair of lemon lime soda cans from the bottom shelf, coming back over to the couch, and sat down on the other side, handing one to her.

"Here. If that doesn't help your stomach any, I've got some antacids in the bathroom." Sunset said, popping the cap on hers and immediately took a sip. "I don't know if there are bigger things in the city, or if Celestia and Luna pull some impressive strings to keep the media away from the school and the students, but seriously, it'll be alright." She tried again to reassure her.

"You don't know that. You told me on the walk here how the magic from your transformation led some sirens or something here. What if something else came here because of what I did? I only ripped like half a dozen interdimensional holes open." Twilight said, wrapping her hair around a finger, one of her nervous habits.

"Twilight, I get it. You messed up. So did I. But I wanted you to come over here so I could get the point across that you won't be alone through this. I was awful my first year here, and I still made five of the most amazing friends I have ever known. We're going to help you through anything magical that you think you need help with."

Those words appeared to finally get through to Twilight, and she physically loosened up from her curled position on the couch, as she popped open the tab on her soda and likewise took a sip. Sunset grabbed the remote on the coffee table and switched the channel to the input, before grabbing the two game controllers that had been sitting next to it, pressing and holding the center button on one of them, turning on the game console that sat below the screen.

"You much of a gamer?" She asked as she offered the second wireless controller to her after turning it on.

"Not since I was a little kid, but how hard can it be?" Twilight asked as she quickly got a feel for the twin-stick gamepad.

"I think I have one that's right up your alley. It's called Portal 2."

After the loading splash screens, Sunset selected the co-op mode. This would be a first for her too, having only played the single-player campaign...





The two girls were very fortunate that there was no school tomorrow, because they were halfway through the campaign bu the time Sunset offered to order pizza for the two of them, and promptly called up one of the city's pizzerias that had late-night hours. Thirty minutes later, they had a large supreme veggie pizza on the coffee table between them, and two more cans of soda.

As the final puzzle was solved, Twilight set her controller down, and let out another laugh, the latest of many over the past two hours, before letting out a yawn.

"You're right, that was right up my alley. I loved how she tried to cover up the security code by yelling 'blah blah blah'!"

"Yeah, this took a bunch of awards when it came out a couple years ago. I'm wondering if I should start livestreaming in my spare time."

Twilight looked over at the clock on the wall and saw that it was well past midnight.

"Wow, I seriously just played a game for two hours. I usually only lose myself in class projects," Twilight admitted, before turning back to look her new friend in the eyes. "Thanks Sunset, for this. It really took my mind off of everything for awhile, and now I'm ready for hopefully a good night's sleep."

Sunset smiled back at her, taking the controllers, getting up, and placed them on the charging station next to the console.

"Yeah, it's certainly a fantastic way to unwind after stressful days, that's for sure. I'll take a look at what else I have, or if you want, I'm certainly up to watching you play through the solo campaign tomorrow. If you thought the co-op dialogue was a hoot, you are in for quite the surprise. I'm actually kinda curious about how quickly you can make it through it; you picked that up pretty quickly." Sunset admitted.

"Well, what can I say? You were right, this was right up my alley. I loved the absolutely hilarious approach to science."

"Well, then it's settled. You can play through the campaign tomorrow while we finish off what's left of this pizza." Sunset said, as she shut the TV off and went over to the small linen closet, pulling out a pillow and blanket, bringing them back over to the couch and setting them down next to Twilight.

"I'll set my alarm for 9 in the morning, I'll be just up there if you need me," Sunset said, nodding up to the loft where her bed and nightstand were. "Have a good night, and I'll see you in the morning."

Twilight got up an gave her new friend a hug, before turning to the couch and spreading out the blanket, and getting the pillow fluffed on one arm of the couch before laying down. She was settled by the time Sunset had climbed up to the loft, laid down in her own bed, and shut off the light, leaving the moonlight entering the window as the only illumination in the flat.
> Bloom
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset walked towards CHS's library, backpack slung over her shoulder. Students filed down the corridor in both directions, as they either headed out to the practice fields, to other extracurricular activities, or to the buses to head home for the two-week Winter Break, which had started with the final bell five minutes ago. She didn't have any major plans beyond Pinkie's annual Hearth's Warming party next week, and while she was very much looking forward to that, today, she had something different on her agenda.

Whether it was the start of break or not, she was betting the person she was after was hard at work in the library, as she started to prepare for next year's projects.

Stepping into the library, she found it nearly empty, as final exams were yesterday and no long-term assignments would be handed out until after break. But sure enough, following the sounds of muffled keyboard clacking, she opened the door to the computer lab and found Wallflower Blush tapping away at the keys.

"Hey there, Wallflower. Looking forward to break?" She asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Honestly, looking forward to spring more. Just wanted to get some seed orders in before I headed out to the bus," Wallflower replied, greeting her friend.

"Well, I could give you a ride home, and I was wondering if you're up for a little shopping," Sunset told her.

"Shopping?"

"Yeah, consider it an early Hearth's Warming present. Come on. Shopping and dinner are on me," Sunset offered.

Wallflower smiled. Not willing to turn down an offer like that, she finalized her seed order, and shut down the computer, pushing the keyboard tray back under the desk, and pushed her chair back at the same time, giving her room to get up.

"Can't exactly say no to that, now can I?"

"Well, you certainly can if you've got plans, I don't want to intrude or anything," Sunset told her.

Wallflower shook her head.

"No plans for the evening, or tomorrow morning for that matter. Just garden planning for spring, really, and that can be come anytime."

"In that case, let's paint Canterlot red!" Sunset exclaimed.

Wallflower grabbed her jacket and hat from the back of the chair, and followed her friend out of the library. Going out into the light snowfall, they carefully walked through the student parking lot, coming over to where Rarity was waiting in her car.

"Girls night out?" Wallflower asked, as Sunset opened the passenger side door and pulled the front seat forward to allow her to get inside.

"Trust me, we're going to need her help," Sunset told her as Wallflower climbed into the back seat, and buckled up as the seat was returned to its upright position, and Sunset climbed in, doing the same. As soon as the door was closed and Rarity confirmed that both of them were buckled, she put her car into reverse and backed out of her space.

Wallflower removed her hat as the car's heater began to warm her up from the short walk across the lot. Within the next two minutes, they were out of the Canterlot High's lot proper, and on the highway towards downtown Canterlot.

If Sunset had a surprise in mind, Wallflower figured it wouldn't be any use asking questions about where they were going, and was content to sit here and warm up as they made their way into town. It was a short, ten minute drive until they parallel parked outside a small, ritzy-looking boutique on the corner of the main market square. They filed in through the single front door, where they hung up their coats and scarves on a polished oak coat rack.

Immediately, Wallflower felt very out of her element.

"Um, Sunset... This all looks very expensive, I don't want you to spend—"

"Nonsense, darling," Rarity interrupted. "It's the middle of winter, and I know the owner. We'll be paying a fraction of what we would if we waited until Spring, and Sunset was quite adamant."

Wallflower turned to Sunset, and raised her eyebrow.

"I thought I could help you get ready for the Spring Fling a little early. Rarity told me that these winter clearance sales are pretty much unbeatable," Sunset told her.

"You want to compete again?" Wallflower asked her.

"No. I want to help you win, if you want to. Walking home from the Fall Formal with that crown... Felt pretty empty. My initial reservations were right. It was a popularity contest that I no longer wanted. Even if it was a good measure of how far I've come... It wasn't worth competing against you for."

Wallflower wasn't sure what to say to that, other than "It was good fun, Sunset. I don't want you to feel bad for beating me."

"Well, I do want to help you for next Spring's dance. It's when flowers bloom and show their colors. So what do you say?" Sunset asked.

Wallflower began to look around at what she could see from the boutique's entryway.

"Well, I guess I'll leave it up to the expert here," Wallflower said, motioning to Rarity. "My favorite color is blue."
> Test Lap
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset gave a short stretch as she reclined in one of the chairs in the farmhouse den of Sweet Apple Acres, reading through some of the early pages of the journal she had began writing when her redemption had first started. It still amazed her how far she had come.

Through completely unknown means, Applejack managed to convince Pinkie Pie to let her host Hearth's Warming dinner this year, and so she and Granny Smith were hard at work in the kitchen, Rainbow and Fluttershy were gaming in AJ's room, and Twilight and Rarity were playing horseshoes in the backyard.

"Hey there Sunset, you busy?" Applejack asked, coming into the den from the hallway.

"Not terribly," Sunset replied, taking a sip of cider from the mug sitting on the end table against the wall.

"Well, finish that cider and grab your coat. I want to show you something," the farmer told her as she grabbed her own coat from the rack by the front door.

Her interest piqued, Sunset finished the mug of cider in two more gulps, then closed her journal and set it into her bag that leaned against the recliner, getting up and grabbing her leather coat off of the rack, following Applejack out onto the front porch, the afternoon sun moving overhead. After stepping off the porch, Applejack led Sunset down the path to the right, towards the barn.

"Bet you've been wondering what I've been up to this fall when the Rainboom's aren't practicing," Applejack said as they approached the large red wooden building.

"You have seemed awfully busy the past three months. Putting your new farm truck through its paces?" Sunset asked.

"Nope..." AJ began, as she pulled the large door open, revealing anything but a regular farm truck. "Having fun with the old one."

Sunset's eyes widened as she looked at the pickup that had very clearly had work done on it.

The paint was the same industrial green, but that was likely the only thing that had not changed about it. The most noticeable change was the suspension, which had been raised several inches, and larger tires with deeper treads had been placed on the wheels. A chrome grill guard had been added to the front, as well as running boards on both sides to compensate for the added height. That was all that Sunset could see, and she was assuming that so much more work had been done under the hood.

"Well, you have been busy," Sunset commented.

"Yup. Haven't made the time to paint her yet, but as soon as we got the new one at the end of the summer, Granny gave me this one as a senior gift. Been turning her into an offroading truck for the past few months," Applejack replied.

"So when's the first test drive?" Sunset asked.

She saw AJ take a key out of her pocket.

"Right now. Hop in."

"You sure? We won't be missed?" Sunset asked.

"Nope. Not as far as I can tell. Everyone else is busy, an dinner isn't ready for at least another two hours. Come on, let's try her out."

Applejack opened the driver's side door, and Sunset went over to the passenger side. She noticed that the seats had been re-upholstered since she had taken her driving test, and found that the seat belts had been replaced with four-point harnesses.

"Nice," Sunset commented, as Applejack helped her fasten the harness, before clicking her own together.

"Yeah, these are highly recommended for the kind of driving I'd like to do with this," the farmer told her.

With that, she slid the key into the ignition, gave it a turn, the engine roared to life, and it sent a shiver of anticipation down her spine.

"Whoa..." Sunset commented.

"Right?" Applejack replied, unable to keep the smile from spreading across her face. She pressed down on the clutch and brake, put the vehicle into first gear, and slowly let up on both to begin to idle out of the barn. She made an immediate right and went down one of the dirt roads that went around the outer edge of the property along the fence.

"Is Granny really going to let you tear one of the fields up?" Sunset asked.

"Offroading isn't about high speeds or tearing fields up, Sunset. It's about slow to moderate speed, and traction," Applejack explained, as she made for one of the more swampy areas towards the very back of the Acres, away from the orchards. Sunset lurched in her seat as they hit the first puddle, but the harness kept her upright and fairly steady.

"Whoo!" She exclaimed as the spray of water splashed up onto the hood and windshield. Applejack gave it a little more gas, and game up out of the other side of the puddle.

"Don't want to get too deep into this area just yet, I don't have the engine snorkel installed yet," she commented.

The next half-hour was a bumpy, noisy tour of some of Sweet Apple Acres' most wild, undeveloped territory, and it was quite a ride. It was only possible in a vehicle like this. If you were to go on foot, you'd need knee-high swamp boots and considerable leg muscles to pull your feet out of the muck with each and every step. But Applejack was taming these swampy hills fairly easily, and Sunset was hoping that she'd be able to make enough modifications to tackle the deeper, wetter areas before the school year ended.

"Alright, you wanted speed?" Applejack asked as she had come out the other side of the Acres' wetlands and back onto the dirt road. With a smirk, she floored the accelerator and Sunset was pushed back into her seat as the engine roared and the truck surged forward. Without a doubt, everyone back around and in the farmhouse could hear the fun they were having all the way out here.

Applejack slowed off the gas as they approached the rearmost orchards, and they returned to a much more reasonable speed as they made their way through the trees and came back around to the barn, where AJ backed it in through the doors to where it had been parked earlier.

"Whoo! Well, that was quite the successful test lap. Want to help me hose her down?" Applejack asked as she helped Sunset unbuckle her harness.

"After that ride? Absolutely."
> Spring Fling
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm awesome! Take caution! Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be!"

Rainbow Dash, standing on stage with the rest of the Rainbooms, turned from the microphone to Sunset Shimmer, and the two guitarists leaned back and let their instruments do the talking as they dueled through the solo of Rainbow's song. The dancing crowd below chanted "Hey! Hey!" along with the rest of the band as Rainbow's and Sunset's fingers flew over their guitar frets.

"Step aside now, you're just gettin' in my way!
I got sick chops you could never hope to play.
When it comes to making music, I'm the ruler.
You wish you could be twenty percent cooler!"

They went into the final chorus and outro, and when they hit the final chord, the crowd erupted into applause as they took their final bow. With the Rainbooms being the final musical performance of the night, something that had become more and more common after the first Battle of the Bands, the stage lights dimmed as they made their exit.

"Whoo! That was awesome!" Rainbow exclaimed, fist-bumping Sunset as they both put their guitars away.

"Think that was our last performance?" Sunset asked as she closed and latched her case.

"Nothing official. We might get asked to perform a set for prom, but if not, that was certainly a great way to go out," Rainbow answered.

"Well, I'm gonna go mingle before they announce the Princess," Sunset told everyone.

"Tell Wallflower good luck for us!" Fluttershy called as Sunset headed out onto the gymnasium floor.

A bit parched from their performance, Sunset headed for the refreshments table to pour herself a glass of punch, and didn't have to look too far for Wallflower, who was also getting a drink.

"You look beautiful, Wallflower," Sunset complimented, raising her glass as she gazed at the girl's dark blue evening gown, what she had picked out for her Hearth's Warming present a few months ago.

The Gardening Club president smiled.

"Thanks to you," she replied, clinking their glasses together and then sipped at her punch.

"So, word through the grapevine is that you're thinking about going back home after graduation. Back to Equestria," Wallflower told her.

Sunset sipped at her punch. She knew it was only a matter of time before word eventually got out about the portal, and how the administration was planning on sealing it.

"I've tried not to think about it too much. I didn't want to dread having to decide, and instead just try my best to enjoy my senior year," Sunset admitted.

"I couldn't imagine making that decision. Heck, I can't even imagine living there. In a place with so much magic. I had a small piece of it, and look what happened," Wallflower replied.

"To be fair, the Memory Stone was considered dangerous even by Equestrian standards. Yeah, my world has a lot of magic, but the stuff we deal with over here is usually of a powerful enough nature to break through in the first place."

"Any aspirations if you do go?" Wallflower asked, continuing into her drink.

"Yeah, I suppose you could say I've got a job offer lined up."

"And what offer is that?"

"A Princess' Court Wizard," Sunset replied.

"Oh. Well, that's certainly not something you hear every day," Wallflower admitted.

"I haven't made up my mind yet. My friends turned me into the person I am today. It... It feels wrong to turn and leave them after all we've been through."

"Well... I don't want to tell you to do anything, but it is April. You might want to start thinking about it. This isn't one of those decisions you make on a whim, and you don't want to save it for the last moment."

Sunset knew Wallflower had a point; it was probably the time to start seriously making preparations to either stay or go.

But it was going to have to wait until at least tomorrow as the gym lights dimmed and the stage lights lit back up, and Vice Principal Luna took the stage, and stepped up to the microphone.

"I'd like to once again thank all the bands that have given their time and talents to our Spring Fling this year. And now, the moment we've all been waiting for, we will now reveal who is the Princess of the Spring Fling," Luna announced, holding an envelope.

'That's odd,' Sunset thought. 'Isn't Celestia usually present for these things as well?'

Luna tore the envelope open, end pulled out the single cue card within.

"The Princess of the Spring Fling is..." Luna began, opening up the card. "Wallflower Blush!"

Wallflower had to do a double take as the gymnasium erupted into cheers. The girl covered her mouth as her eyes widened. The students populating the dance floor turned to her and Sunset as more realized where she was standing.

"Whoo!! Congratulations!" Sunset screamed over the cheers, embracing her for a moment, before gently shoving her forward towards the crowd and stage to go accept the crown. The girl fought back tears as the applauding crowd parted, giving her a path towards the stage. She ascended the steps to the stage, and walked up to Vice Principal Luna, who looked down curiously at the girl's hands. Wallflower looked down, and had to have a laugh when she saw she was still holding her half-full glass of punch.

Fellow student Muffins came out from behind the curtains with a polished wooden box, which Vice Principal Luna turned to open, coming out with the Spring Fling crown. She turned back to Wallflower, who bowed her head slightly, still softly giggling at the fact that she forgot to put her punch down. Luna stepped forward and placed the emerald-studded crown onto her head, before the students down on the gym floor began cheering again. Wallflower couldn't stop the tears now, which only prolonged the applause. She saw Sunset raise her glass again towards her from all the way in back at the refreshments table. With another laugh, Wallflower gave a wave, and raised her own punch glass, taking a sip as she made her way back to the stairs back down to the gym floor, as the cheers began to die down.

"Sunset Shimmer, please report to the principal's office. Sunset Shimmer, to the principal's office," she heard Celestia's voice come over the intercom. As she got a few friendly, teasing 'oohs' from the closest students, Sunset downed the rest of her punch and deposited her cup into the dish bin, making her way to the exit to the hall.

Celestia making an announcement at this time of night? Calling someone to the office at 8:45 pm? Something must have come up. She made her way down the hall at a brisk pace, making her way down A Hall towards administration. She walked up to the closed door of Celestia's office, and knocked, announcing her presence.

"Come in," she heard Principal Celestia reply. She took hold of the door knob, turned it, and pushed it open, stepping into the room. She saw a woman already sitting in front of Celestia's desk, wearing an orange t-shirt and brown jacket, and as the red-and-yellow-haired female turned to face the new visitor, Sunset began to feel as if she was outside her body, as her steps into the office were brought to an abrupt halt as her mouth slowly and silently dropped open in shock, her eyes widening in silence.

Celestia took a moment to clear her throat, before speaking.

"Sunset Shimmer, allow me to introduce, Sunset Shimmer."
> Counterpart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, you certainly weren't kidding, Miss Celestia. She could be my twin sister," the woman said as she stood up from her chair and turned to Sunset. "Sorry if I don't seem terribly surprised; your principal here has explained the situation quite clearly and professionally. Nice to meet you."

As the woman offered Sunset her hand, the CHS senior was still fighting through her stupor, as she took her hand and shook it.

"I honestly thought she was you for a moment, until she showed me her ID and proved that she lives 300 miles away," Celestia told them. "Apparently someone requested a copy of her birth certificate from one of our library computers."

"Y-Yeah, that was me. I wanted to confirm whether or not I had a counterpart in this dimension. I'm so sorry to make you come so far," Sunset apologized.

"Don't be sorry, it's certainly been worth the trip so far. I'm sure you could tell me quite the story," her counterpart replied, crossing her arms.

Sunset nodded, figuring her counterpart absolutely deserved to know what had been going on.

"Principal Celestia, is there someplace we could have some privacy?" Sunset asked.

The headmaster nodded.

"Certainly. I can unlock the library, although we may want to take the long way around to avoid the crowds coming out of the gym," Celestia told them. That much was true; the  Spring Fling attendees didn't need to see double.

Sunset and her counterpart followed Principal Celestia all the way down to D Hallway, taking the long way around to the library, where she slid the key into the door and unlocked it. She flipped the lights on, and stepped aside.

"The doors will lock automatically on your way out. Take as much time as you need," Celestia told them, watching as they went over to the first studying table past the first row of shelves, adjacent to the checkout counter, before exiting to return to her office.

The counterpart sat down, but Sunset went down to the end of the bookshelf, and picked one out, coming over to the table and sitting across from her twin, taking a deep breath.

"Well, I guess the cat is out of the bag. I'm from a mirror dimension," Sunset began, opening the yearbook and slid it across the table to her counterpart, who looked down at the photographs of musical groups on the current page, settling on the band of seven that Sunset's finger rested above, and she read the text below it.

'The Rainbooms'

"You're not 18, are you?" the counterpart asked, looking up from the yearbook to her twin.

"I... Suppose not. Not by this world's calendar, anyway. I think I'm more along the lines of mid-to-late twenties... Gods that sounds weird," Sunset began, slowly shaking her head. "But these girls have absolutely changed me for the better. When I first got here I was self-centered, egotistical, power hungry... Just all in all, not in a good place..."

The counterpart was able to read her body language, and knew her words were sincere.

"What about you? I mean, since you're here, I might as well be curious about what this world's version of me does," Sunset asked her.

"I own a sightseeing company one state over. Seriously, it's just called 'The Sightseeing Company'. It's usually just taking amateur photographers around to various vistas and spots where they can shoot wildlife. It's an exciting enough gig. What about you? I mean, before this; what did you do in this 'mirror dimension'?" her counterpart asked.

"Well, back home I take on a somewhat... Different form," Sunset began, twiddling her fingers a bit. "I'm a unicorn," Sunset told her.

"A unicorn? You mean...?" Her counterpart trailed off, pointing to her forehead.

"Yup. Horn. Magic. Whole nine yards. I was the protege of a princess," Sunset said.

"Wow. I have to imagine this is quite the downgrade."

"No. I was horrible. Too power-hungry to see how good I had it. I wasn't the slightest bit interested in making friends, no matter how patient she was with me. I needed something like this to help me open my eyes and become a better... Pony, person, whatever."

Her counterpart smiled at her.

"So, now what?" She asked.

Sunset shifted in her chair.

"At the start of school this year, Principal Celestia told me they were going to seal the portal back to my world after graduation. As that is my only surefire way home, I need to make a decision whether I'm staying or going. I searched for a birth certificate because I wanted to know if I had a counterpart here. I'm not sure why I thought I wouldn't; everyone else I've met does. My mentor told me that if we're aware of each other, both of us in the same world could result in... Balance issues, so..." Sunset trailed off, her gaze falling to the table as she pulled the yearbook back to her side of the table, lightly running her fingers across the Rainbooms photo, as tears began to prick the corners of her eyelids.

"I'm sorry..." Her counterpart told her, hearing the weight of her twin's words.

Sunset took a quiet breath as she continued staring at the picture.

"No," she started, looking back up at her counterpart. "Don't be sorry. I've been avoiding and dancing around this decision for the past eight months, and probably would have continued doing so if you hadn't shown up. So, thank you for that. Truly. It's going to hurt like hell, but now I know what I have to do. I have to get ready to say goodbye to them."

Sunset took another deep breath.

"It's time. It's time for me to go home."

Nothing more was said as the two women got up from the table and made their way to the exit. As the library doors shut behind them, they stood together in the empty hallway.

"Well, if what you said about 'balance' is true, I should probably make myself scarce. I'll make my way out to my car alone. You deserve to enjoy these last few weeks with your friends. For what it's worth, I'm glad to have met you, 'Sunset'. It's so wild that there's another version of me out there with a completely different set of circumstances. So, best of luck wherever you go in life," her counterpart said, offering her hand.

Sunset smiled at her, and accepted the handshake.

"Best of luck to you too, Sunset."

Sunset watched her counterpart turn and head towards the student parking lot, and she silently turned the other way to make her way towards Celestia's office, feeling a lump slowly grow in her throat. A couple minutes later, she arrived back at the principal's office, and knocked gently.

"Come in," Celestia announced.

Sunset opened the door, sniffling, and saw that the school's headmaster was putting on her coat, as the Spring Fling was wrapped up and it was time for the remaining administration to head home.

"Is everything alright?" She asked her student.

Sunset fought against the pressure in her chest to keep herself composed, and she slowly nodded.

"I've made my decision, Principal Celestia. I'm returning home after graduation."
> Breaking The News
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset sat in the corner booth in the back left section of Sugar Cube Corner, sipping at an iced coffee as she stared at her open journal that she used to communicate with Twilight. A pen waited next to the book on the table, but she hadn't written anything yet. Not quite ready to head home for the night, she hailed a cab downtown, and texted her friends to meet her here if they could once the Spring Fling wrapped up.

This situation had been something she had been dreading, and yet, also a bit liberating, because she now knew what she needed to do. It was just a matter of taking things one step at a time and going about doing it.

The bell above the front door rang, and Sugar Cube Corner got six more late evening visitors.

"There ya are, Sunset. You left sorta early," Applejack commented. "Did you hear? Wallflower won Spring Fling Princess."

"Yeah, I was there for that. I was called away right after," Sunset replied. "Listen girls, something has come up."

"Is this about what Celestia called you to the office for?" Twilight asked.

Sunset nodded, scooting over to make room for the six of them on both sides of her in the corner booth.

"Yeah, you could say that," Sunset said, beginning to slowly rotate the pen she was holding in her fingers. "I'm going home after graduation. Back to Equestria, and it's not because I absolutely want to."

She glanced at the faces of her friends, getting some widening eyes and expressions of surprise.

"What happened?" Applejack asked.

"A few months ago, I requested the birth certificate of Sunset Shimmer. If I was going to stay, I had to be absolutely sure that there wasn't another version of me already here. Well... She showed up tonight after the Department of Records told her that her certificate was requested from one of the school computers. She was nice, and understanding enough about it, and Principal Celestia likely explained things better than I would have been able to. She runs her own business a few counties over. Now that we're aware of each other, I'm afraid staying here isn't an option. I'm told that could result in some... Instability issues," Sunset explained.

"Like what? Holes ripped in the fabric of reality?" Pinkie asked, and Twilight blushed in embarrassment for a moment.

"I don't know. Even with everything I do know, I'm not sure what could and couldn't happen, but I don't think it's something we want to experiment with and see what happens. So..." Sunset paused, taking a breath as she struggled to keep the tears from spilling over. "So I just wanted to let you guys know what was happening..."

"Sugarcube," Applejack began softly, bringing her hand over and placed it on top of Sunset's. "We all know how homesick you've been. Even the best of friends can't take that feeling away completely. It's been absolutely amazing watching you change and grow from the person you used to be. You've done amazing things for this school, and this world. If it's time for you to go do amazing things for Equestria, we promise we don't want to hold you back. We'll miss you, of course, but please don't think that would ever overshadow how proud we'll be of you, and how happy we are for you taking this next step in your life."

Sunset wiped her eyes as her friends smiled and nodded at her, confirming their agreement with Applejack's words, some of their eyes tearing up, and some of them remaining strong.

"Darling, I've been struggling with how to say this," Rarity began. "But Applejack is right. We've all noticed how you've longed for home, and whether or not you believe you'd be tempting fate by remaining here, I don't think any of us would appreciate you denying yourself your home for our sake."

Twilight cleared her throat, and was the next to speak up.

"I'm not going to lie. I'll miss you terribly, Sunset, but I'd rather miss you and know you're happy back in Equestria than have you stay here and wonder what you're missing."

Carrot Cake came over and brought everyone their usual orders, as this was their usual hangout after events to wind down before they all headed home. True to herself, Twilight immediately helped Sunset start on a list of tasks to complete before graduation to make her interdimensional move as seamless as possible.

"Well, since your apartment came furnished when you moved in, that immediately makes things a bit easier. Moving furniture has always been one of the hardest parts. So when it comes to your personal belongings, prioritize what you absolutely want to take with you, and we'll help you with the rest; either by taking them as hand-me-downs, or helping donate it."

"Ray and my guitar are the very first things that come to mind," Sunset told her, as her friend quickly jotted those things down.

"Alright," Sunset began, taking another breath after finishing her beverage. "Thanks, girls. You've all been amazing to me. We've all had a long day, and I don't want to keep you any longer. I know we'll make these last few weeks the absolute best we can make them."

The seven of them got up, and they shared a group hug. All of them but Sunset turned and filed out the front door, while she sat back down at the booth in front of her correspondence book, picking up her pen, and finally touched the tip to the blank page.



Dear Princess Twilight,

Something happened tonight, and it's with a somewhat heavy but excited heart that I can confirm that I'm coming home after graduation in a few weeks.

Its not going to be easy to say goodbye to my friends here, and I can't promise myself that it's not going to be awkward getting to know them all over again in Equestria, but I believe I will take you up on whatever internship or career or court position you can offer me.

Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Your friend,
Sunset Shimmer


> Packing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset Shimmer was ready to admit to herself that she had never had to experience the stresses of moving before, and this time would also be no exception. At least when it came to logistics.

When she was a filly, and was taken as Princess Celestia's protege, her bedroom suite was fully furnished with everything a bright young mind could possibly need. Then when she came over here, and got this apartment, it was also furnished. So there was no buying a pile of boxes and three rolls of packing tape. She just had to figure out which belongings she wanted to take back with her to Equestria.

The first two choices were clearly obvious; her pet gecko Ray, and her guitar. Both had brought her so much joy during her time living here. She had told Twilight she'd likely be bringing a box or two with her through the portal, but Ray and her guitar were the certain luggage. The Princess of Friendship had told her that she'd make a trip to the store for a pack of gecko food, but to also prepare for the possibility that her pet might transform into something else upon going through the portal.

That thought had sent Sunset's mind racing. What could her little guy change into? It wouldn't even have to be even remotely related to the same genus, seeing as how Spike went from a dragon to a dog when he crossed over. An even more pressing question was, would he be able to talk? That would be absolutely incredible, to be able to talk with her pet.

A knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts, and she got up from her PC chair to go answer it. She opened the door, and there stood Rainbow.

"Hey there, Sunset. Got your text, and I came to help," Rainbow said, as Sunset stepped aside to welcome her inside. "So what can I do for you?"

"Well," Sunset began, walking them back towards her PC setup. "I've already ruled out taking back any electronic devices, save for my guitar. So when I'm done with my final farewell stream at the end of this month, I figured I'd let you have first crack at this," Sunset told her, waving a hand across her entire streaming and gaming setup.

Rainbow's eyes widened. She had been primarily a console gamer, and while she did some streaming on the side, she had nowhere near the audience that Sunset did. Heck, she was a guest on Sunset's channel more than she broadcast on her own channel.

"Are you serious?" The girl asked, stunned.

"Well, I figured out of everyone, you'd get the most use out of it. I figure I could either pass my channel onto you, or you could keep growing your channel with this equipment. PC gaming is another beast, Rainbow, and you'll love it, once you get used to mouse and keyboard."

"Y-Yeah, I've heard how PC players have modded Skyrim to insane levels. But, taking over your channel? I don't know. That is an audience that you earned. It wouldn't feel right just taking it." Rainbow replied.

"Well, it wouldn't be just 'taking it'. You've been my most frequent co-op guest an partner on my channel, and it's either that, or it dies completely. I'd rather it continue in the hands of someone like you," Sunset countered.

"Well, when you put it that way, yeah, you make a pretty good point. Alright, if you and I do a stream where you can say goodbye to everyone and pass it over to me, we can do that. But one thing..." Rainbow said, walking over to the front of the desk. She reached up, and took Sunset's 500,000 Subscriber plaque off of the wall, and turned back to her friend.

"Take this with you. You spent a long time building up the following that you have gotten. You're funny, entertaining, and pretty skilled at games you stick with. Might as well, take something to show for it."

Rainbow held out the golden award to its owner, and Sunset took it into her hands, seeing that it needed another dusting. She smiled when she saw her reflection in the metal, and turned and put it on top of her guitar case, which served as her 'Going' pile, compared to everything else which would have to go.

"Deal," Sunset told her. "So if we're partnering up for my last stream, what do we play?"

"Halo on Legendary? Or we could really screw with each other and do Guitar Hero," Rainbow joked.

Sunset laughed, shuddering. Nothing compared to the real thing.

"Halo it is."
> Stream A Little Stream
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright, well that only took an entire hour," Sunset said, glancing at the webcam after she and Rainbow had beaten Halo 2's prophet boss. "Alright, so Rainbow and I are about halfway through our Legendary run, and while we take a little break before the next level, I think it's time for an announcement," Sunset said to her audience of thousands.

Knowing they had rehearsed this, Rainbow got up from her place and sat down next to Sunset on the couch.

"So, I'm graduating next month. These four years at Canterlot High have been absolutely amazing, and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. As it turns out, I've gotten an unbeatable job offer that is pretty much starting right after my time at CHS is done, and sadly, it will take me to a place where streaming and maintaining my channel will be absolutely impossible. I cannot begin to express how much fun I have had creating content for all of you on ShimmerCode these past few years. So, rather than let the channel fade and die, I'd like to announce that I will be officially and legally passing ownership of ShimmerCode to Rainbow Dash, who has been a fantastic partner in gaming, and an even better friend. I can't imagine leaving my channel, and all of you, in better hands." Sunset said, turning to Rainbow and giving her the floor.

"Longtime fans of ours know that I'm not all that familiar with PC gaming, but thanks to Sunset, that's going to change in the coming weeks and months. You all know how competitive I am, so I'm hoping that eventually, I can work my way up to perhaps competing in professional tournaments around the region, and maybe even beyond. Sunset is leaving behind a legacy of years of creative content, and I am honored to carry it on for her."

Sunset smiled as she picked up her controller.

"Alright Dashinator, let's not get too sappy here. We've got a Legendary campaign to beat."
> We'll Always Be Wondercolts Forever
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was still so surreal to Sunset that the day had finally come. Here she stood, in her graduation gown, at the end of a very long line of senior students who were patiently waiting their turn to cross that stage and receive their diploma. In just a little bit, it would be done. She would be back home in Equestria; a place she longed to escape from, then conquer, then long for. Now she wondered how long it would take for her to think of it as home again, and how long it would be before she longed for this place again.

It's not like she wouldn't have anything to show for it. The belongings she had elected to take with her were currently waiting by the main entrance of the school, being watched over by underclassmen volunteers. A backpack, a suitcase, her guitar case, and Ray were all waiting to take the trip along with her. Everything else had been either given to her friends, or donated. She had turned in her apartment keys to her landlord and officially cancelled her phone service. She had already written to Princess Twilight to expect her at some point later tonight, and the Princess had assured her that everypony was looking forward to seeing her. The night might be running a bit long, as it sounded like Princess Twilight was planning something of a welcome home party for her.

"Hey, you okay?" Twilight asked her, as they moved up another two feet of the queue. "You look a little out of it."

"Yeah. Just getting jitters, and, well... Part of me has been dreading this night all year. I don't know if I'm ready to say goodbye to you all," Sunset admitted, turning to her friend.

"Live in the moment, darling. If you spend all evening dreading it, you'll miss out on what really matters," Rarity told her, who was standing on her other side.

Rarity did have a point. If she spent the rest of the evening dreading going home, she'd miss these last precious moments with all of her friends.

"Wallflower Blush," they heard Vice Principal Luna call from up at the microphone. The green-haired girl ahead of them walked up the stairs to the stage, strolled across it, and took her diploma from Principal Celestia.

"Now, reaching the end of this alphabetical list would normally be the end of these ceremonies," Luna began. "However, we decided to do something special for a part of our graduating class this year. You've all become familiar with these girls, what they have done for this school, and we couldn't imagine a better way for them to end their journey here at Canterlot High than to bring them up on stage together. So, congratulations to Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Sunset Shimmer, and Twilight Sparkle."

As the seven of them filed up the stairs, the cheers grew to the loudest they had been all evening. They came up and stood next to the podium, holding hands down the line until Celestia came up with the stack of leather-bound diplomas, handing each of them to their respective student. Nearly all of them had to fight back tears as their graduating classmates cheered for them in the filled seats below.

Being up here together just felt right. There really was no better way to end it. Sunset wasn't sure how long the applause went on for, thirty seconds, maybe a minute, but Twilight and Applejack got it in their heads to bring it to a close by getting each of them to lock hands again, and together they all took a bow, before making their way down to the other end of the stage.

"And with that, please make your way to the exits in an orderly fashion, and enjoy the rest of your evening," Vice Principal Luna announced from the podium. Avoiding the rush of students and parents, the seven friends stayed back as the crowd began to empty out of the auditorium and thin out a bit.

It's not like she was in any kind of hurry.

"So, do you like, start your wizard thing tomorrow morning?" Twilight asked as they made their way down the hall towards the main entrance.

"I certainly hope not," Sunset answered. "I need some kind of vacation too, even if it is in another dimension."

The walk wasn't as long as she would have liked, but when they came to the main entrance, with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo watching her things, Sunset noticed that the celebration wasn't quite over yet. The underclassmen helped carry her belongings out to the statue. Next to the walk on the grass, some of their closer friends waited by a refreshments table, where a barrel of the Apple Family Cider had been set up, next to Wallflower and Flash

The marble 'sarcophagus' around the portal had nearly been completed. The statue mascot had been replaced, and the layer of stone around the sides was done, save for the front, where the actual portal was, currently shimmering. The underclassmen put Sunset's belongings next to the portal, and then went over to get cider. Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna also made their way out of the main entrance. Celestia was carrying a small latched chest, which she set on the refreshments table where there was spare room.

"While you guys enjoy some last drinks together, I thought I'd reveal a surprise of my own. First of all, Sunset, the yearbook team has been doing a little something behind your back these past few months, and they wanted to wait until tonight to give it to you," Celestia told her, unlatching the chest, and waving Wallflower over. Wallflower looked into the chest to confirm, and pulled out a book, turned to Sunset, and presented her with it. Sunset took it, and gazed down at it.

It was a leather-bound yearbook, with a golden version of her cutie mark etched front and center on the front cover. She opened the cover, and on the inside, was the print:




Presented To
Sunset Shimmer

For her service to and journey at
Canterlot High School




"We've gone through the past four years of photos, and have crafted something that we hope you'll treasure for the rest of your days," Wallflower told her with a smile.

Sunset smiled back with teary eyes, and embraced Wallflower, holding the yearbook to her chest.

"Secondly," Celestia continued as the two women parted from the embrace. "Sunset, you're not the only one who has figured out a way to communicate with the other side. In a brief correspondence with Princess Twilight Sparkle, we both agreed that you should absolutely have a way to keep in touch with your friends over here. So for each of you, we've got three blank enchanted journals for you to write to Sunset on an interdimensional scale, compliments of Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria," Celestia said as she began to stack the blank books on the table next to the chest.

This got Sunset's waterworks going. The fact that she was going to be able to keep in touch with everyone, including Flash and Wallflower, washed over her in a wave of relief. This wasn't goodbye in every single sense. She walked over to her backpack by the portal, and tucked the yearbook into the back pocket, sniffling and wiping her eyes as she got to her feet and walked over to the table, where she poured herself a cup of cider.

Flash came up next to her, his cup half empty.

"Good to know that we'll all be able to keep in touch with you when you cross back over," he said, offering his mug up for a toast.

"You have absolutely no idea," Sunset said, clinking her cup to his, still getting her tears under control. "And for what it's worth, Flash..." she paused, taking a gulp of cider. "I have never forgotten the strides you helped me make when I was first turning things around. Part of me wishes that things could have been different between us," she admitted, her cheeks tinting slightly.

"Honestly, same here," Flash admitted, "but long distance relationships aren't really my thing, and I don't know if I could adapt to that... Form, over there," he said, remembering his brief moments as a winged equine pegasus as their class made the shortcut through Equestria to the portal in front of the school.

By now, Applejack and the others had come to the table and also got their cups full of fizzy cider.

"Well, gang, here's to our pasts, our presents, and our futures. What a long strange trip it has been," Applejack said, raising her glass.

"Blegh, that is the most cliched yearbook quote ever. Of all time," Rainbow complained playfully as they all joined their cups in a toast.

"To Sunset Shimmer, may her future in Equestria be as bright and interesting as she made the last four years for us," Rainbow said.

"Much better," Pinkie chimed in, already on her second glass.

"I can't wait to tell you all about it, but I won't try to go nuts; there's not unlimited room in those books, and I don't know when we'll get a chance to resupply you. I figure three each is good for at least a year, longer if I keep it to only the most significant stuff," Sunset told them.

"We'll try to do the same, but I don't think it's going to be too long before we start to miss you terribly," Fluttershy replied.

Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna came up to the group.

"Principal Celestia, I don't know how to thank you. Being able to keep in touch with them after tonight is going to make this so much less painful than I was afraid of," Sunset told the headmaster.

Celestia gave her a respectful nod.

"It was the least I could do, Sunset. The seven of you have helped this school navigate situations we would have been otherwise quite ill-prepared for. You've protected CHS and my students, and for that, we thank you, and hope you have an exciting and prosperous future ahead of you. The sun may be setting for you over here, but I'd wager it is only beginning to rise in Equestria."

Sunset smiled back, and finished off what was remaining in her cup, before setting it on the table.

"Well I don't think there's going to be any smooth way to go about this..." Sunset said. With that, she pulled Twilight into a hug, and squeezed, shuddering as the other five came around and formed a group hug, as the headmasters, Flash, Wallflower, and the underclassmen looked on, smiling.

"Goodbye, Sunset, and good luck," Twilight said, her shoulders beginning to heave, as the others also whispered their goodbyes all around her.

Sunset parted from the embrace, and they let her out of the center. She slowly stepped towards the portal, and began to pick up her things. First her backpack, then her suitcase, then her guitar case, and finally, she unlatched Ray's carrying case, and let him crawl onto her hand.

"Ready for the journey of a lifetime, little guy?" she asked him.

The gecko crawled up her arm up to her shoulder, where he stood and waited.

"Thank you for everything, everyone."

Tears running down her face, she stepped towards the portal, raised her hand up to it, and reached through...
> Ending 1: Wizardess
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been too long since Sunset had experienced this sensation; the few seconds between worlds where she was not a human, or unicorn, but ethereal. In barely a moment, she knew her backpack would become a saddlebag, but she wasn't sure about her suitcase or guitar case. As soon as her vision adjusted to the psychedelic effects of the portal, she saw the end, the glowing white oval that she was rapidly closing in on. As she took in her next breath, she felt her entire body tingle, and gravity slowly took effect again. She opened her eyes, and found herself standing on her hind legs, wobbling for a moment before regaining her balance, and softly dropped onto all fours.

She gasped with an open-mouth smile when she saw what was in front of her.

"SURPRISE!" The occupants of the Canterlot Castle dining hall. A half-dozen confetti-loaded party cannons fired brightly colored paper bits into the air, showering Sunset and the other occupants of the hall.

She looked at all the familiar and almost-familiar faces.

Twilight, Celestia, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Starlight Glimmer, Sunburst, and her parents, Stellar and Sunspot.

Her eyes began to tear up immediately, before her vision was obscured by her graduation cap's mortarboard as a weight on the front pushed it down in front of her eyes. As she raised a hoof to push it back up, something leathery crawled down onto her hoof. She resisted squealing at the last minute as she laid her eyes on the 2-foot long, bright yellow, black-spotted draco lizard.

"...Ray?" She asked, and the lizard flicked her foreleg with his tongue in response. "Wow, talk about a growth spurt."

As her welcoming party began to gather around, she set Ray down on the prone guitar case as she confirmed that everything else had come through with her; and indeed they have; her suitcase had turned into a chest, and her saddlebags were secure around her barrel.

Twilight was the first one to come up and wrap her hooves around her in an eager hug, and Sunset immediately returned it.

"Welcome home, Sunset," she greeted. When they parted, Celestia was next up to lean down and pull her into a hug.

"Welcome back, my student," Celestia told her, and Sunset couldn't stop the tears any longer.

"Th-thank you so much, Princess. For helping me keep in touch with them," Sunset wept.

"It wouldn't be right for you to vanish forever, not when we could do something to prolong correspondence for all of you," Celestia replied.

Sunset squeezed affectionately one more time, then move on down the line to her family.

"Hey there, lil' bro. How's life treating you?" Sunset asked, embracing Sunburst.

"Can't complain. The School of Friendship is keeping me plenty busy. You should swing by over the summer."

"You can count on that."

Next, Sunset threw her hooves around her mom and dad.

"We're so proud of you, Sunset," Stellar Flare told her. Afterwards, she turned to Starlight, who welcomed her with open hooves, before she turned to Twilight's other friends.

"Hello, everypony. I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you, all over again," Sunset told them with a polite bow.

Princess Twilight then came forward with a gift box, topped with a red bow.

"A little graduation gift. Your brother insisted on the color coordination and the accents," Twilight said.

"Way to throw me under the carriage!" Sunburst shot at her playfully as Sunset took the box in her magic's grasp, and slowly lifted the lid up off of the box, followed by the layers of tissue paper. Her eyes widened as she pulled out a dark teal hooded mage's cloak.

"I figured my new Court Wizardess needed to look the part," Twilight told her with a smile.

Sunset unfurled the cloak, draping it over her back and fastening it around her neck with the included metallic clip, fashioned after her cutie mark.

"Thank you so much, it's beautiful," Sunset said, hugging her mentor again.

"Well, I wouldn't keep that on for now, because we've got some party foods to go through!" Pinkie said, as she rolled out a cart piled on all levels with platters of hors d'oeuvres. Sunset's mouth began to water, and reminded herself to not go nuts, as Equestrians had almost triple the amount of taste buds that her other form did.

But if she did go nuts, oh well. After all, you only lived once, and the night was still young...





"Ugh... I think I must have put on five pounds last night," Sunset groaned as she followed Twilight down Canterlot Castle's main hall the next morning.

"Well, I don't want to tell you how to spend your summer break, I just wanted to show you one last thing before you're officially on leave for eight weeks," Twilight replied.

Sunset figured right after Twilight showed her whatever she had on her mind, she's go back to her temporary quarters for a couple more hours of sleep before catching a train down to Ponyville to see what kind of career her brother had been up to. The pair of ponies passed the throne room door and went down to the next door on the right.

"And here we are," Twilight said, unlocking the set of double doors and opened them up, revealing a rather ornate office.

"Welcome to the quarters of the Court Wizardess!" Twilight announced, stepping aside and letting Sunset take in her surroundings.

Front and center was a half-circle desk with a tall oak chair. The left and right sides of the room were lined with shelves, each absolutely chock full of magical texts and references.

On the back wall was a potion mixing station, an arcane enchanter, and half-pillars with various devices and artifacts integral to a Court Wizard's day-to-day.

"Feel free to rearrange this room absolutely however you see fit. This is your space," Twilight told her.

Sunset stared at the quarters with wide eyes, envisioning all the possibilities.

You know, maybe a couple more hours of sleep could wait while she started to make this room hers. She could always nap on the train...
> Ending 2: Sunrise
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been so long since Sunset had gone between worlds that she wondered if she remembered what it felt like. It usually felt like air was rushing past her as her form changed from human, to ethereal, to equine. If she recalled the transition was somewhat psychedelic, but right now it felt somewhat...  Muted. The intensity of this journey that only took a few moments was considerably dulled from what she remembered it being. Her last trip had been more than a year and a half ago, twice in quick succession as she looked for the solution to a storm that had threatened their school's Spring Break cruise trip, and the second one was hours later when she brought her entire class through to save on rescue expenses... To say nothing of the ship itself, which had been insured, thankfully.

Ever so slowly, she saw the point of light that served as the point of contact for the other side, and shielded her eyes as it rapidly got closer. She shut her eyes as the blinding light enveloped her, and her heart jumped when the next thing she heard was the sound of glass shattering. Feeling gravity take over her body once again, she lowered herself to all fours, and opened her eyes, to complete darkness.

She concentrated, and began casting an illumination spell from the tip of her horn, lighting up her immediate surroundings in a bright blue hue, and her heart dropped when she saw the floor surrounding her.

Shards of reflective glass were scattered all around her, and she looked behind her to see the magical mirror completely shattered, as if it had exploded outwards as she passed through. Her belongings were there on the floor next to her, and Ray, now a much larger bright yellow and black-spotted draco lizard was standing on her back.

"I guess that was a one-way trip, but what's going on here? Why is everything so dark?" She asked herself, looking around.

In fact, the darkness wasn't the only thing contributing to the overall eeriness; it was also the fact that the now-shattered mirror was the only thing in this room, which looked like it was the basement of Twilight's castle in Ponyville. She was sure she would have the mirror moved to Canterlot when she went up there to take Celestia's place.

She stacked her saddlebags, guitar case, and suitcase, now a chest, in a neat pile next to the mirror, and carefully sidestepped all the shattered mirror pieces, then ascended the stairs up to the main floor.

Her worry and concern only climbed higher when she stepped out into the main hall, and saw the same dark, downright abandoned hallways.

"Twilight?" She called out, her only answer being her voice echoing off the walls. She immediately turned towards the front doors, where the smallest amount of light was entering into the hall, and it looked like the right door had been damaged. She walked to the doors, and she nearly stumbled out onto the front stairs as her breath was taken away at what she saw before her.

Ponyville was nowhere to be seen. The stairs were covered in thick roots, and the castle itself was surrounded by thick forestation.

"Wh...Wh-what?!" Sunset exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock.

This got the attention of two nearby armored pegasi who were sitting next to a campfire a short distance away from the bottom of the stairs.

"Gah!" Screamed the mint green stallion, clearly startled by the sudden appearance of somepony coming out of the castle.

"Hey! How did you get in there? That's an off-limits historical site!" The other pegasus sternly announced as she got to her hooves. She was sky blue, and had an identical helmet and chest piece.

"What's going on here? Where's Princess Twilight? Where's Ponyville?!" Sunset asked incredulously, her horn beginning to spark in anxiety, and this put the two guards visibly on edge.

"Did you bring the shield?" Zoom asked her partner.

"We, uh, we only had the one..." Thunder answered.

Zoom rolled her eyes, and turned back to the unicorn.

"I'm Sergeant Zoom Zephyrwing of the Zephyr Heights Royal Guard, and you're trespassing on protected historical property. You're going to need to come with us to answer some ques—"

Sunset wasn't having any of it, and took the magic sparking on the tip of her horn, and squeezed.

Zoom and Thunder took an instinctual step back as there was a flash of light where the unicorn was standing. She was there one moment, and gone the next, a  small plume of smoke where she had been standing. Zoom's ears twitched when she heard galloping distantly behind them. She turned and saw the unicorn heading away towards the road.

"Hey! Stop!" She shouted as she gave chase with Thunder.

Sunset reached the dirt path, where there was a sufficient enough clearing in the canopy that she could see the city built into the mountain top.

"Canterlot..."

She saw the two guards behind her giving chase, and fired up her horn again. She had to keep them on the back hooves until she got some answers to her surroundings.

"She's headed up the mountain! Call Starscout, see if they're back yet, maybe she knows something about this!" Zoom shouted back to her partner.

To keep his speed up, Thunder hopped up into the air and went into a coasting hover as he dug out his phone from his saddle bag, dialing the number for Sunny Starscout. As far as he was aware, Princesses Pipp and Zephyrina had gone abroad with her, and may have been unreachable.

Indeed, the phone rang five times, then went to voicemail.

"Miss Starscout! Something came out of the castle!" Thunder said frantically once the recording had started. "A unicorn. We asked why she was trespassing in the castle, and  she took off. She's headed up towards Zephyr Heights! She's  transporting all over the place, we're having trouble keeping track of her, please tell me you're getting this!"

With the voicemail done, Thunder decided to take advantage of the signal he was getting down here on the road, and texted Queen Haven and her captain of the guard.

'Come on, we can keep up with her if we head straight up!" Zoom told him, taking to the sky.

He sent one last text, then pocketed his phone, joining his partner higher in the air, going straight up the face of the mountain, as the unicorn barely stayed ahead of them winking all over as she rapidly ascended the ascending road. As they came to the south gates of Zephyr Heights, the unicorn ceased teleporting, and instead started weaving her way through the crowds. Now that they were in range of other guards, Zoom gave a long blow of her whistle.

"Follow that unicorn!" She commanded, pointing to the amber pony galloping her way towards the castle.

Sunset's initial plan was to hide among Canterlot's other unicorns while she made her way to the castle, but the main hitch in that plan was that the crowds in the streets were almost entirely made up of pegasi. That, and the city streets and buildings looked a lot different. A lot more, well, modern, when compared to how it looked when she was here last. Had something happened when she had gone through the portal? She had a feeling something about her return journey felt off.

The castle was in nearly the same place as it had been this whole time, but again, more modernized, like it would probably look like back through the mirror. She saw the doors of the elevator close, and the unit begin to move up through the glass tube towards the castle. She lit up her horn again, concentrated, and then vanished into thin air again.

Zoom skidded to a halt, looking around frantically.

"Look, up there!" Thunder pointed a hoof skyward. There stood the unicorn, standing on top of the elevator as it rose to the approach to the castle. Now, Zoom got her phone out, knowing she'd be impossible to catch by the time the elevator came back down.

"The unicorn is on the elevator, intercept at the front. I repeat, she's on top of the elevator heading up to the castle."

Sunset saw the top coming up, and momentarily turned to look out at the cityscape, as well as the forest below the mountains. That was so much bigger than what she remembered, and that kind of growth was absolutely not possible in the entire time she had been gone.

She felt the elevator come to a halt, and she lit her horn up one more time, winking all the way over to the large double doors, and pushed them open.

She was promptly met with a dozen spears that were instantly brought to bear, inches from her coat and face.

"Not another step!" An authoritative voice shouted, behind the large group of guards that had instantly surrounded her. She looked behind her, and saw six more guards behind her.

She tried lighting up her horn again, but it just fizzled, as her magical reserves now needed time to recharge from all the miles she had traveled in just a matter of minutes. She felt Ray skittering around on her back nervously, and she didn't want to accidentally misfire a spell that would leave him behind.

"Captain, the Queen and throne room are secure!" Another guard announced as she came around the corner.

"Take her to the dungeon. We'll get to the bottom of this."

As she was escorted by six armed guards down to the basement, she took note that every single one of the guards that she had seen was a pegasus. Something had happened, and perhaps going along with this was the best way to find out what.

The 'dungeon' they had spoken of, was anything but. It was more like a salon with bars in front of it. She was ushered in, and the bars slid down into place with the push of a button.

Sunset let out a sigh, and looked at her surroundings, and the first thing to catch her eye was a fruit bowl.

"Well, you hungry little guy? Or, not so little anymore, eh?" She asked Ray, letting him crawl onto her hoof and over to the fruit bowl, where she set him down and let him inspect the offerings. After sniffing past several, he began to bite into a strawberry. Grabbing a banana for herself, she unpeeled it and started into it. She was barely halfway done when she heard hoofsteps coming down the hallway.

She was an older mare with a pale pink coat, dark purple wings. The crown atop her head was all Sunset needed to see to figure that this was the 'queen' that had been secured in the throne room.

"And just what is the meaning of this? I am Queen Haven, and I want to know how you got into that castle, and why you ran from my guards watching over it, as well as why you felt it was necessary to barge into this castle unbidden?"

Sunset took a deep breath, and approached the bars.

"I don't care what you have to do, Queen Haven, but I won't talk to anypony other than Princess Celestia, Princess Twilight, or somepony who can tell me what happened to them."

With that, she turned away from this 'Queen', and walked back to the fruit bowl, where Ray was continuing into a second strawberry.

"I'll see what I can do," was all Queen Haven said before turning back down the hallway. She came to her Captain of the Guard, who had escorted her down here.

"She stays here until we can get a hold of Sunny Starscout or my daughters. They were supposed to be back today, let me know the minute they get back in touch."





It was clear that Canterlot was, for whatever reason, a pegasus city now. She had no idea what had happened, but she knew that Twilight and her friends dealt with much more magic than she and her friends had on a much more regular basis, so it could have been anything. There had to be an explanation for this, and to be fair, her accommodations could be much less comfortable. The fruit was good, the chair was good enough to take a short nap in, and the view was stunning, which is what she was doing right now.

It had been several hours, and she had been brought a couple slices of hot pineapple pizza for lunch, and all shee could think of while she ate the delicious food was how Rainbow would have called her out for the sacrilege of having such a thing on her pizza.

"Excuse me, miss?" Queen Haven announced her presence once again. "This is the mare I've been saying could help you." The Queen motioned to an apricot earth pony with magenta and purple mane and tail, as  the earth mare took a step towards the bars, as two other pegasi looked on.

"I was quite clear; I wanted to talk to  Princess Twilight or Princess Celestia," Sunset said after taking a breath, walking towards the bars towards her visitors. Her expression softened  considerably when she saw the six-pointed star on the earth pony's wooden pendant  around her neck. "But I'll make an exception for that."

The earth pony glanced down at her pendant when Sunset pointed at it. "So where  are Princesses Twilight and Celestia? Why is Canterlot full of pegasi?  Why does the city look so different?" The unicorn asked. Her tone could  be construed as accusatory.

The earth pony took a deep breath, and looked the unicorn directly in the eyes.

"Alright... There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just be as direct as I can. To  the few of us who know those names... They're ancient history. They're  long gone, and I'm afraid I can't tell you how much time has passed,  because I honestly don't know."

Sunset's eyes widened as she drew in a shaky breath. Of all the possibilities she had considered, this was the one she didn't want to hear; that she had inexplicably jumped forward in time. But, so far forward that they were ancient history?

"They  said you came out of the castle," the pony continued. "Did... Did you come out of the mirror we found in there? The portal?"

"How could you possibly know about that?" Sunset asked, amazed. So this mare knew what she was talking about.

The earth pony dug into her saddlebags, and pulled out a book. She flipped almost halfway through the pages before  coming to what she was looking for, then turned it towards Sunset, showing her a picture of Twilight's castle in pristine condition.

"My  name is Sunny Starscout. My father and I have devoted our lives to  learning as much as we can about Ancient Equestria, and about Princess  Twilight and her friends."

Sunset's breaths started to become  shorter as she took a single step back before collapsing into a sitting  position. The earth pony saw her eyes tear up, and she motioned for one of the pegasi to hit  the door release. The white pegasus got a nod of permission from the queen, and tapped  the release, and the bars slid into their retracted states. The earth mare slowly  and calmly stepped into the cell as Sunset began to softly weep.

Twilight, Celestia, her mom, dad, her brother... All gone...

"Sunny. That's my name. Sunny Starscout. What's yours?" The earth mare asked her as calmly  as she could.

Sunset took a deep breath, made no move to get up, but wiped her eyes, looking into Sunny's emerald green eyes.

"Sunset. Sunset Shimmer."

Sunny smiled softly at her, and offered her a hoof.

"Sunset Shimmer, I have a feeling there is so much we can learn from each other."