One day Sunset Shimmer finds a new portal, but instead of leading to Equestria, it leads to another human world with a virtual world.
It has been only a short time since Sunset Shimmer and her friends discovered the second portal to Equestria on their spring break cruise trip. It now seems that there is a third portal that leads to a new world with a super computer that contains a virtual world.
It was a beautiful, warm and sunny spring day as Sunset Shimmer woke up on a non-school day. She rolled out of bed with her hair in a mess and got ready for the day. After taking a shower, getting dressed and eating breakfast, she decided to go for a bike ride since it was a sunny day in Canterlot City. She was wearing her usual black vest, an orange top and a purple skirt. The teenager put her backpack on, which had a number of items inside, including her magic journal. Leaving her apartment, she brought out her red bicycle and put on her helmet.
She rode down the sidewalk for about a block and a half before she noticed a familiar pink, curly-haired girl with a big smile and who was excitedly waving to her and shouting her name, “Sunset Shimmer!”
“Hey Pinkie,” she said as she came to a halt in front of her friend.
“You want to hang out later?” Pinkie asked. “Sure, I’ll text you later, ok?”
Sunset answered with a giggle. “Okey-dokey, see ya later!” Pinkie replied as Sunset got going again.
As she rode on, she passed through a nearby park. Her hair blew in the breeze as she went down the bike path. Sunset decided to take a break and drank from the water bottle she was carrying. That’s when she saw something that she’d never seen before, or at least hadn’t noticed until now. There appeared to be some kind of cave through the dense trees.
She stared at it for a short while before asking herself, “Is that a cave?”
It was quite well hidden with vines growing over the entrance and facing away from the trail. She entered the cave with her bag on her back and left the bike next to the mouth of the cave. Aside from her echoing footsteps, the only sound in the cave was water dripping down from the stalactites. Except for a faint sparkling glow further within the cave, it was mostly dark inside.
Being curious, Sunset got closer to inspect it and wondered out loud, “Could this be another door to Equestria like the quicksand on that deserted island during our spring break trip?”
Looking back at the cave entrance then at the thing in front of her, “Only one way to find out,” she stated.
Sunset stumbled a little after passing through the portal, but she quickly regained her balance. She knew she wasn't in Equestria right away because she hadn't transformed into her unicorn pony self and had remained a human. With the exception of her fairer skin, she had remained relatively unchanged.
“Where am I?!” The girl exclaimed.
As she opened the door in front of her, Sunset noticed that she was coming out of an "out of order" maintenance tunnel. It was still spring and the weather was warm with some clouds in the sky. She wandered through the woods until finally coming to a road. A stocky but fit man wearing a red sweatshirt and sweatpants with a headband around his brown hair had noticed Sunset and approached her.
He asked her, “Hé, qu’est-ce que tu fais ici, jeune femme?”
She stared at him. It sounded like he was speaking French. She had forgotten a lot from the only semester that she had taken of it.
He then questioned her, “Parlez-vous Français?”
“I umm.… I really don’t speak French,” she replied.
He repeated himself in English so she understood, “I said, young lady, what are you doing here? I don’t recognize you.”
Having just come into this world and not having any idea of where she was, she paused for a moment. Quickly, she decided to fake having amnesia.
She answered, “I umm.… I really don’t remember. I think I hit my head.”
The man folded his arms and sighed, saying, “Alright, then. I guess I should have you checked out at the school infirmary. Make sure you are ok.”
He started to take her to the main campus and the administrative building.
As he did so, he questioned her, “Why are you not in school?”
Sunset replied, “I have the day off,” though she was not sure if he believed her.
When they arrived, it appeared that they were in between classes. Sunset could tell by looking at the students that many of them were teenagers or younger. As a result, it appeared to be a combined middle and high school. Except for the science building and the cafeteria, the academy consisted of several buildings, most of which were connected in a capital "E" shape.
Walking into the building, the man said, “I’m Jim, PE teacher here at Kadic Academy.”
The teen girl smiled and stated, “My name is Sunset.”
Jim inquired, raising an eyebrow, “Sunset?” That’s an odd name. “You don’t sound like you’re from here.”
Sunset blushed and rubbed the back of her neck, “Oh no.… I’m an exchange student from…” Her eyes darted around before she went on to say, “I…. I’m Canadian American.”
Jim walked into the infirmary where a blonde, short-haired woman was wearing a crimson pink shirt, a short blue skirt and a white lab coat.
She smiled and said, “Hello, Jim. What can I do for you?”
“Yolanda, could you check this girl out?” he responded as he let Sunset in, “I found her near the park and she said she hit her head.”
The nurse nodded and instructed her, “Sit down please.”
Sunset sat down on the bed as Yolanda looked at her eyes with a light and then felt around her head.
“Not feeling dizzy at all?” She asked.
“Ah… no,” was the girl’s answer.
Yolanda observed, “Hmm… I’m not feeling any kind of bump. If you did hit your head, it must be very minor.”
Jim nodded his head, chiming in. “Well, it seems like you are ok, Sunset.”
She responded and smiled, “It seems so.”
Getting up from the bed, she said to the nurse, “Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied.
The red and yellow haired girl walked outside and sat on a bench. Sunset put down her bag and pulled her journal out of it. She immediately started to write to the Princess of Friendship. She had no idea if the message would get to Twilight or not, considering that this world didn’t have magic. This was the brief message she wrote to her friend:
Dear Twilight,
I wanted to inform you about an exciting new development! I found another portal like the one where I came from last time I visited you, but this one does not lead to Equestria. It took me to an entirely new parallel world! Please reply soon.
Your good friend
Sunset Shimmer
When Sunset was finished writing her letter, she looked up and noticed a group of five students talking together. There were two girls and three boys. One of whom was a girl who had pink hair. There were two boys who had blonde hair, one of whom had their hair spiked up to a point with a purple streak and the other was wearing glasses. The third boy had brown hair and the other girl had black hair. She noticed that they were staring in her direction.
Jeremy, Odd, Yumi, Aelita and Ulrich had just finished up their afternoon classes as they were hanging out in the courtyard on a bench. Odd was in a purple long sleeve shirt over a magenta shirt with purple pants. Yumi was wearing all black long sleeve sweater and pants. Jeremy had on a blue long-sleeved shirt with brown pants. Ulrich was wearing a green vest with a shirt and cargo pants. Aelita had on a light pink hooded shirt under a dark pink jumper dress. Yumi noticed Sunset Shimmer as she came out of the administration building, sat down and began to write in a book.
“Who is that girl over there?” Yumi wondered aloud as she watched Sunset.
“I’m not sure. I don’t recognize her,” responded Odd.
“She appears to be slightly older than Yumi,” Ulrich commented.
“I think she is pretty,” Odd remarked.
"Cool it, Casanova," remarked Ulrich.
Jeremy checked his laptop and said, “The super scan isn’t coming up with anything, so she isn’t XANA. She is just a regular girl.”
“I’m going to say hi to her,” Aelita stated.
Shimmer noticed the pink-haired ninth grader walking up to her and closed the journal.
“Bonjour,” Aelita greeted her.
“Oh, Bonjour,” said Sunset. “My French isn’t the best.”
The younger girl giggled, “My name is Aelita. What’s yours?”
The older girl answered back, “Sunset.”
The other girl said, “Interesting name.”
She noticed the red necklace with a golden sun that Sunset was wearing.
“That is a pretty necklace,” she commented, and then asked, “Where are you from?”
Sunset responded, “Thanks.” She blushed and rubbed the back of her head, answering, “Oh… I am Canadian American.”
There was a sudden vibrating sound coming from her backpack. She knew it was Twilight getting back to her.
“Sorry about this, it's my parents,” Sunset told her.
“It’s ok. It was nice to meet you. Au revoir, replied Aelita.
She pulled out both her journal as well as her phone as a cover as the other girl walked away.
“It was nice meeting you too,” she said as she opened the journal to read Twilight's response and placed her cellphone to her ear. She was surprised that she had received a response and that the magic journal worked.
The journal entry read:
Sunset,
What?! Oh my gosh! This is amazing! I can’t believe it! What is it like? Is it different from the other human world?! Tell me everything!
Sincerely, Twilight
Sunset giggled and sighed to herself; her friend reacted just the way she thought she would. “Oh, Twilight. Never change,” she uttered to herself.
As she headed back towards her group of friends, Aelita noticed Sunset’s cellphone in her hand.
"Well, how’d it go?” Ulrich inquired about her.
"She seems nice. Her name is Sunset and she is an exchange student from America,” she explained and went on, “Though the cellphone she has is nothing like I’ve ever seen before. It doesn’t have any keypad buttons on it.”
Jeremy fixed his glasses and said, “Hmm… that is interesting. The only time I’ve seen anything like that is in movies.”
Yumi stroked her chin, declared, “I don’t know. I feel she is still hiding something. I don’t fully trust her yet.” She then glanced at her phone and went on to say, “We should get going.” The group then left the area to attend their next classes.
It was now early evening as the sky and clouds were turning to shades of orange and pink in color. Sunset was busy drawing the sky and school buildings in her sketchbook.
Jim walked up to her, looked at her drawing and said, “Ah, so you are an artist, Sunset.”
She smiled, replying, “Yes, I am. I’m also in a band with friends back home.”
Jim chuckled responding, “I was in a band when I was young like you….” But before she could speak, he went on to say, “….and I’d rather not talk about it.”
She noticed students going to the cafeteria for dinner. She could go out into town to get something to eat since she had money, but she had a good feeling that it wouldn’t be accepted. Yumi was saying good night to her friends.
”Oh, I’m hungry,” Della Robbia said as his stomach growled.
Aelita spotted Sunset and stated, “It looks like she might not have anywhere to go. Maybe we should ask her.”
She went up to the older girl and asked her, “Hey, do you have any place to stay?”
Sunset looked at her and admitted, “Oh…. Well, no, I don’t.”
“Yumi, would it be okay if she spent the night at your place?” Aelita inquired.
“Well, I mean…. I’ll have to check with my parents to see if they are okay with it.” Yumi stated, folding her arms then continued, “Do you know how to use chopsticks?”
Sunset grinned, “Yeah, I do. I also work at the local sushi restaurant at the mall back home.”
Yumi sighed as she got on her mobile and walked away. She was on the phone call for a while before returning.
“Well, they said you can stay. But if they ask any questions, we are studying for a history test,” she said.
Sunset nodded her head, “Right, got it. Thanks.” The two of them walked toward the campus’s main entrance.
Yumi told Sunset as they approached the Ishiyama residence, “Just because I’m doing this doesn’t mean I trust you.”
“I understand,” she said as she averted her gaze from her.
When they arrived at Yumi’s house, she announced, “I’m home!” as she opened the door.
The two girls removed their shoes at the entrance. Leaving the hallway, they entered the sunken living room where a man sat in a chair reading the newspaper and a younger boy was playing on a Game Boy.
“This is my father and younger brother, Hiroki,” she said.
“Kon'nichiwa, thank you for having me in your home,” Sunset said as she bowed slightly.
Her mother was working in the kitchen, “It is a pleasure to meet you.”
As Sunset put her stuff down in Yumi’s room, she heard her mother say, “She seems well-mannered.” Sunset then joined the family for dinner.
After eating, the two of them went upstairs to Yumi’s room. As she began to work on her homework, she mentioned, “Was it true what you said to my parents? You haven’t seen your parents in a while.”
Sunset nodded her head and said, “Yeah, it has.” Sunset commented, “I know what it’s like to not be trusted. It took some time for others at school to believe that I’d changed my ways since being the school bully.”
Yumi replied, “I’m just protective of my friends.”
“I understand,” she replied as she nodded her head.
Yumi attempted to lighten the mood by admitting, “I think my friend Odd has a bit of a crush on you.”
Sunset’s cheeks flushed as she spoke, “Oh… Ohhh…. I see.”
She looked to the side, “How old is he?”
Ishiyama replied, “Ah, Fourteen.”
“I’m sixteen going on seventeen. He’s a little young for me.” Shimmer said and then thought to herself, “In Equestria, I’m in my twenties.”
The two girls worked for the rest of the night. Sunset was glad she had packed extra clothes in her backpack. She changed into a pair of gym shorts and a top. She then went to sleep on a rolled-out mattress.
Sunset awoke quickly the next morning. She rubbed her eyes, unable to remember whether or not the previous day had been a dream. Quickly looking at her surroundings and not recognizing anything, she knew it wasn’t a dream as Yumi walked in.
As she saw the bewildered look on her face, she asked, “Are you ok?”
“Yeah, I guess I’m just feeling homesick,” she responded. Sunset changed into her clothes.
Yumi and Sunset made the short trip to Kadic from her house. Upon seeing her friends, she waved and went over to them. “Well, I think a formal introduction is needed,” Aelita stated. “This is Jeremy, Ulrich, Odd and you’ve met Yumi now.”
Sunset replied with a smile, “It’s nice to meet all of you.”
“You have very attractive green eyes,” Odd complimented her.
Her face reddened as she remarked, “That’s sweet of you to say. But… I’m not looking for a boyfriend.”
Della Robbia muttered, frowning, “Oh… I understand.”
“Wait, Odd,” Sunset said with a sigh.
She gently grabbed Odd’s arm, her eyes flashed white and she had a sudden a burst of images. Her eyes returned to normal after a few seconds.
Stern questioned, “What was that?!”
“Where are you actually from?” Belpois asked.
Sunset answered, “If I told you where I was really from, you’d probably think I’m crazy.”
Aelita responded, “Oh, trust me. It will take a lot for that to happen.”
The older teenager said, “Ok…” She sighed and explained, “I’m actually from a parallel human world and that’s how I ended up here through a magic portal, but I’m originally a yellow unicorn pony from a world of magical colorful ponies. As for what just happened, I can sometimes see others memories with a magic power I have.”
“Talking colorful ponies? So you are a horse?” Odd said, scratching his head.
Aelita giggled and spoke, “Oh, I think I might have had a few colorful ponies as toys when I was younger.”
“I find it highly unlikely,” Jeremy expressed his skepticism.
Sunset grabbed her phone, “Here’s all the proof you need.” She showed photos of her friends. They all had brightly colored hair and pastel skin.
“Why didn’t you tell us from the beginning?” Yumi asked.
“Because I thought anyone would think I was making it up or crazy,” Sunset answered.
“I also didn’t want everyone to know that there was a portal to a parallel world that anyone could enter.” Sunset blushed in embarrassment as she explained, “I kind of got into trouble with my friend Twilight the last time I went to Equestria and brought people with me.”
“But I think the pony world sounds cute,” Aelita interjected.
“I think you’d make a good pony, Aelita,” Sunset commented, which made the other girl giggle.
On the rooftop of a towering skyscraper in the city, there were sudden, vivid blue and purple electrical sparks that came from the wires near a satellite dish. A sinister black specter slowly emerged from the dish and then flew through the sky and into the clouds. The puffy, white clouds had grown larger and darkened into gray storm clouds. Off the French coast, the storm clouds began to grow and slowly spin in a clockwise rotation.
