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Original Description:
Human Sunset continued down the street casually, unsure of who she could even ask for answers. She decided that at the same time, it was likely best to lay low, just as she used to do during that final week before her disappearance, assuming the police were still looking for her as a wanted fugitive. Other than this, she still genuinely missed her mother, Solstice, hoping that her deceased mother would not look down on her in a bad light if she somehow ended up in jail. She might’ve still been loved by her mother, even as a school dropout, but Solstice would most likely feel a lot differently if her daughter ended up being convicted of theft and vandalism for the rest of her life. Having a criminal record would’ve certainly made finding a job ten times more difficult, never mind the restraints from never finishing high school. By this point, since Human Sunset felt she had already finished business by committing those crimes against those people who had once wronged her, there was no need to feel vengeful toward anybody else.
While on her stroll, Human Sunset began slowly approaching the apartment rented by her pony counterpart, and Pinkie spotted what looked like her friend right outside the window. Happy to see Sunset again, but remembering that her good friend reminded her of the possibility of returning home early for any reason, Pinkie began approaching the front door to open it, ready to greet ‘Sunset Shimmer’. Although Pony Pinkie had already confessed to the shenanigans she had done with secretly switching worlds with her human counterpart from time to time, due to how capable either Pinkie was at blending in, there was still unfortunately one crucial difference between the two. Human Pinkie lacked Pinkie Sense, making it so she was unable to immediately decipher whether somebody was a being from Equestria, or the actual native human counterpart.
This line of thinking was why she had instantly theorized Princess Twilight was possibly a twin sister of the Human Twilight, along with having a similar-looking pet dog. Although ‘Pinkie’ was able to pick out why the Human Twilight was the native counterpart to Princess Twilight during the Friendship Games, due to that Twilight wearing glasses and attending Crystal Prep Academy, it was actually the Pony Pinkie who pointed that out. Pony Pinkie decided to switch places with her human counterpart out of boredom, especially after figuring out how to keep the mirror open without waiting every 30 moons. She had secretly gone through the mirror in her own time, completely unaware that during this little visit, Twilight and Starlight had been fighting a seemingly never-ending battle through time traveling spells. Pony Pinkie spent most of her time accompanying Sunset and her human friends during the CHS pep rallies, shortly before the Crystal Prep students arrived.
It was unknown to anybody at the time, but after the Human Twilight unintentionally used her device to capture Pony Pinkie’s magic, making her feel party pooped, that was when she decided to return to Equestria to switch back, letting her human self take over during the roller-skating competition. Knowing Pony Sunset for a while, Human Pinkie also understood that Sunset never brought up the possibility of having a twin sister, as she had already told all her human friends long ago that she was never really close with her actual family in Equestria. As a result of all these factors combined, Human Pinkie went outside the apartment to greet her friend, completely unaware that this was not the Sunset Shimmer she knew.
“Hi there, Sunset!” Pinkie called out, happily. “I guess that vacation of yours went smoothly? Or maybe it didn’t, since it looks like you’re already back in only the middle of the week?”
“Wha…?” Human Sunset stuttered, completely confused at this random pink-haired girl addressing her by name. “Who the heck are you, and how do you know my name!?”
“Oh, you’re so funny, Sunset!” Pinkie giggled. “By the way, I like the new look you’ve done with your hair and face! That eyeshadow makes you look really pretty!”
“I’m serious now!” Human Sunset spat. “Who are you, and how do you already know my name even though I’ve been gone for so long!?”
“I’m your friend, Pinkie Pie.” Pinkie replied, somewhat unamused. “Come on, now. It’s not funny anymore when you let the punchline overstay its welcome. And according to my watch, you haven’t been gone for that long, it’s only been about three days since you left. You were on vacation, remember?”
Human Sunset had become much more confused than she already was, especially knowing with certainty that she never had any friends. How did this random girl she’s never even met before somehow know her actual name, let alone the fact she’s been gone for quite some time? This Pinkie girl even figured out that this was a more recent look she gave herself after reinventing her appearance, making Human Sunset wonder if she was going delusional or had met some psychic person. She instinctively pinched her own arm to see if she was dreaming or not.
“Ouch!” Human Sunset flinched slightly at her own pinch. “Well, I’m certainly not dreaming right now. Alright… Pinkie. I’m going to ask you right now, where was I approximately three days ago?”
“Well, you paid me to watch your apartment, I made sure to do everything you asked while hanging out with my new friend, Cheese Sandwich.” Pinkie replied. “I watered your plants, fed Ray, and found something in the mailbox addressed to you. I think you’ll be very excited, it’s from Canterlot University.”
Pinkie handed Human Sunset an envelope, and she opened it out of curiosity, as it was addressed to ‘Sunset Shimmer’, matching who she actually was. Inside was a letter from the university board saying that ‘Sunset’ had gotten in, and would be accepted as a new student next year. This came as an absolute surprise to Human Sunset, knowing how she never even finished high school thanks to dropping out, but she decided to pry further.
“And… why were you watching um… my apartment?” Human Sunset questioned, trying to figure everything out.
“Oh, I see how it is.” Pinkie put her hand on her own chin. “You want to recall every little memory we made together before graduation day at CHS, so that we’ll always remember each other no matter how busy life pulls us apart, gotcha. Well in that case, you only mentioned that you were leaving town for a few days, so I have no idea where you actually went. But if my hunch was anything to go by, you probably went back to that Equestria place through the portal on the CHS horse statue pedestal. That place looked pretty nifty the first time you brought me and the rest of our spring break cruisers to that alternate dimension. I’ll never forget how we all turned into ponies and got mixed up with the Storm King’s terrible magic.”
“Are you… feeling okay, or just crazy?” Human Sunset stated bluntly, feeling as if this girl was spouting utter nonsense. “Better yet, are you trying to convince me that you belong in a mental institution or something?”
“Hey, Sunset!” Pinkie said with disapproval. “You don’t have to be so mean…”
“I feel as if you’re just making stuff up to mess with me now!” Human Sunset continued. “Look, I don’t know how you know my name, or how you found out I was gone for quite some time, but I’m almost certain at this point that you’re just making up all this nonsense like a knucklehead! Can you just get out of here!?”
“Ouch…” Pinkie started showing a hurt expression. “Okay, I’m sorry if I wasn’t playing along correctly, and I’ll give you your house key back since you’ve returned early, but… we’re still going to be standing next to each other when they take the graduation photo, right? It’s nice how we’ve both survived everything that high school’s been throwing at us, and now we’ll finally graduate together as good friends.”
Hearing this particular statement from Pinkie, Human Sunset’s eye simply twitched. Was this girl now mocking her too, poking fun at the fact that she never got the opportunity to finish freshman year of high school, let alone enjoy the luxury of graduation? It didn’t even feel like a question at that point, but rather an insensitive insult that drove Human Sunset over the edge, making her anger flare up and snap at Pinkie viciously.
“I never even finished freshman year, and you go as far as to mock me by claiming that I’ll be graduating with you!?” Human Sunset roared. “Get out of my face right now, you ANNOYING PIECE OF GARBAGE!!! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!!!!!!”
Pinkie simply lowered her head in sadness before handing Human Sunset the key to Pony Sunset’s apartment. Feeling a sudden sense of abandonment from her bestie, Pinkie became conflicted as she slowly made her way down the sidewalk before looking back one last time. She was so hurt and confused as to why her friend would act so cold and blunt, never mind pretending that she wasn’t going to graduate CHS when she was already one of the top students there. In a final attempt to check and see whether ‘Sunset’ was serious or not, Pinkie turned around and asked with the smallest sliver of hope that her friend was simply messing with her.
“Sunset, if this is just a really sick joke, you have to tell me right now…” Pinkie moped. “If not, are you… ditching me at graduation too?”
“You’re the sick joke here!” Human Sunset emphasized her bluntness before pointing a finger to make Pinkie leave. “And you know what, yeah, sure! I am ditching your non-existent graduation fantasy, so BEAT IT!”
Pinkie ran away crying, feeling betrayed and abandoned, just like the Pony Pinkie would’ve felt during that alternate timeline where Pony Sunset purposefully avoided and abandoned her in favor of having the perfect Postcrush experience. Human Sunset meanwhile, had no care in the world, given how she had no idea who that delusional girl even was, and took great offense at the mere thought of herself actually graduating high school, let alone moving on to college. Thinking the college acceptance letter was nothing more than a cruel joke meant to mock her, she simply ripped the letter to pieces and stomped on it with fury. Still though, the fact that this random girl seemed to know a few arbitrary facts about her without ever getting properly acquainted, it gave Human Sunset the idea to at least investigate this apartment that was claimed to have been her home.
This wasn’t right, the last place Human Sunset lived was Solstice’s old home in the residential area of Canterlot City, she knew this with certainty. Given how poor her family was, renting a luxurious looking apartment like this was certainly out of the question. On top of that, as Human Sunset opened the door and walked into the apartment, she could see how nice the place truly was. Computers, guitars on the wall, a gaming console with a 75’’ HD monitor, a full fridge with fresh sushi laying around, and a wide collection of furniture that any ordinary person would envy. According to that girl who ‘housesat’ for her, all of these nice things supposedly belonged to herself? Processing this further, Human Sunset had no idea if she was going delusional, having some kind of hallucination where she somehow stumbled into another alternate life and reality where she had become successful and was on top of the world to afford all these nice things.
It felt like a cruel joke, that she went from a poor and broken school dropout, to this seemingly successful millionaire with the nicest home in the city. Even though she already knew it was an apartment, Human Sunset believed she was in the middle of a mansion, owned by somebody who had to have worked hard to afford everything. Then she remembered that she herself most certainly worked hard at Crystal Prep Academy, only to now end up in this unfortunate life. Was this… all meant to be a vision to symbolize what she could’ve gotten, had she decided to stay in school? Taking one last look at her surroundings, Human Sunset believed that this would’ve been exactly the kind of luxurious home she wanted to one day give to her parents if she got into the best school and made top dollars. But there was no way she could’ve done all this herself, assuming she was in a coma for at least several years.
Upon further inspection, Human Sunset took notice of a photo album, as well as a personal diary separate from Pony Sunset’s magical journal. Her first instinct was to take a look at the photos, trying to understand who truly owned this home and all these nice belongings. Whilst skimming the photos, there weren’t any pictures that Pony Sunset had taken of herself, as these were mostly part of a collection she had worked on for photography class. However, one particular photo near the end of the album had caught Human Sunset’s attention. The setting took place at that slumber party at Pinkie’s house, where Pony Sunset and Princess Twilight had joined the rest of the Rainbooms in figuring out ways to defeat the Dazzlings. Looking at the photo, it originated from when Rarity was attempting to take a selfie with herself, Pony Sunset, and Fluttershy, only for Spike to photobomb it at the last minute. Human Sunset simply stared at Pony Sunset’s face in the photo, completely bewildered on when this could’ve been taken.
“Did I… actually experience this at some point before I got into that coma?” Human Sunset asked herself, still scratching her head. “I don’t recognize those two other girls, nor that dog. And for that matter, I certainly don’t remember ever smiling like that, my previous life before the coma was straight up miserable. Driving myself to the brink of insanity to satisfy dad, losing mom, and not to mention that awful experience at Crystal Prep Academy, when was I ever this happy?”
Moving past this, Human Sunset set the photo down, and realized that it felt logical to now get an understanding of how long of a period she had been in a coma, as it certainly didn’t seem likely that she was only out cold for around three days, according to that Pinkie girl. Checking a nearby calendar, Human Sunset was shocked to see that several solid years had already passed since the year she had dropped out and had the misfortune of seeing her own mother pass away. She then realized that this meant there was truly something more fishy going on, and noticed that the computer by the front door was still plugged in. Taking a seat and starting up the PC, Human Sunset opened a browser and searched up the name, ‘Sunset Shimmer’ in the search engine. To her shock, many results came up, including older news articles documenting the many times the Pony Sunset and her human friends had saved the world by using their magic for the greater good. Another result that came up was a gaming channel named ‘ShimmerCode’, where Pony Sunset played all sorts of video games and had just reached 10 million subscribers. Clicking on this, Human Sunset could see that the channel was already logged in, and there were notifications from the website admins that ‘Sunset’ had earned a new revenue of $15,000 a month for her quality content.
This made Human Sunset more furious than ever before. How could anyone make such large digits of money by rotting their brain from playing video games? Meanwhile, she herself had been studying day and night on many tough subjects that were difficult to master, only to one day drop out all because of bullying. She had absolutely nothing to show for her hard work, yet this ‘Sunset’ person was able to live the high life by just playing mindless games. As she was incredibly curious by this point, yet also afraid that she might uncover a terrible truth, Human Sunset clicked on the channel’s ‘videos’ section, then took a quick peak at the most recent video titled ‘A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT’, which was uploaded by the Pony Sunset a few weeks ago. Human Sunset noticed that the person in the thumbnail looked just like that person in the photo. In other words, this Sunset person looked practically identical to herself, except she didn’t have any makeup on, and had an overall lighter hair tone. Clicking on the video, it was time to finally learn what was happening.
“Hey there, ShimmerCode army.” Pony Sunset addressed her fanbase. “I’m glad to see you all enjoyed my most recent livestreams of Super Cosmic Galaxy 3, Fetchtroid, and Splatter Town. I do my best to keep you all entertained whenever you aren’t having the sunniest of days, after all. I wanted to make a special video today to address something particularly important. Firstly, as you might’ve noticed, I just cracked 10 million subs, so I’m absolutely thankful for the support. Secondly, I just wanted to share that I’m happy to be open with my personal life outside of being a gamer for you all.”
While watching, Human Sunset simply raised an eyebrow at this. Who was this person who looked and sounded just like her, and why was she making videos centered around gaming? Better yet, was this who that Pinkie girl was talking about, the ‘Sunset’ who had asked her to housesit and was almost ready for graduation? Human Sunset began coming up with many potential theories to give her the slightest bit of comprehension as to how this was possible. Her father Sunspot did hint at the possibility of having more children after he divorced Solstice, so was this the result of that? She dismissed the idea almost immediately after realizing that she had only been in a coma for a few years, and this other ‘Sunset’ person looked just as old as herself. Then she considered the possibility of her having a secret twin sister, and that her parents somehow kept this twin from her all these years. Human Sunset wanted to believe this was the only logical explanation she was seeing all this now, but felt that deep down, Solstice would’ve never had the heart to keep something like this from her, especially as she was dying in her hospital bed. With no idea what to make of it, Human Sunset continued listening on in the video, trying to gather any further clues.
“…but I’m afraid that I might need to take an… indefinite hiatus soon.” Pony Sunset continued on in the video. “I’m so sorry to any of you who are disappointed by this news, but it’s just a matter of life and moving forward. Basically, I’ve enjoyed my time in Canterlot City and all, but let’s just say that I’ve lately been feeling a little homesick, to the point where I’d want to head back to my old hometown and start a new life. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that… I’ve lately been feeling more and more motivated to go back, perhaps reuniting with my old friends and family there. I’ll soon be graduating from Canterlot High in a few weeks, and I’d say that sets the mood rather well as far as things coming to an end.
Upon hearing this, the context finally made sense as to why Human Sunset was told that ‘she’ was graduating soon, though it was at Canterlot High, one of the schools she chose to forget about in favor of Crystal Prep Academy. Realizing that this video was now revealing more crucial information, she continued watching the video, hoping to get more answers.
“My closest friends at CHS will also most likely be moving away after graduation, and let’s just say it might be a possibility with myself too.” Pony Sunset addressed her main human friends on video. “And if any of them are somehow watching this video right now, Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity? I just wanted to let you know personally that you’ve always been the greatest friends any girl could ask for, especially given how rough the past has been for us all. As for the rest of the ShimmerCode fans, I wanted to make this potential ‘final’ video end with a valuable message a good friend once taught me. When your friends are like family, be sure to cherish and make the most out of your time with them, even if life begins to pull you apart. I’d be completely lost without my friends, and I genuinely hope I’ll never have to leave them behind. Thank you all for listening and understanding, and until I’ve finalized my decisions after graduation, this might be the very last time you’ll see me pick up a controller. ShimmerCode out!”
The video ended, as Human Sunset got up from the chair, pacing back and forth to decipher this mystery further. It made sense now as to why that Pinkie girl had considered her a friend, but things still weren’t adding up. As far as she was aware, Human Sunset stood by her belief that she was never famous to the point of starting a popular gaming channel, let alone being a proclaimed hero. She went back over to the photo album and finally turned her attention to the personal diary, which was locked, as expected. Just like she had done with Indigo’s moneybox all those years ago, she snapped the lock in half with her bare fists and opened the diary up, hoping to now learn of these hidden secrets. A majority of the entries appeared to be brief daily logs that Pony Sunset had summarized about her casual life, and like with the photos, Human Sunset didn’t pay too much mind and continued skimming. Nothing really stood out, until she eventually turned to the front and saw a more informative log that supposedly gave context as to why this Sunset person was here now.
[i]Dear Diary,
It’s only been about a week since the Battle of the Bands at CHS, and nearly a whole year since I’ve set foot in this new world. I felt like opening up about something far more personal. I really love my new friends like family, I really do. But I’ve still been having this lingering feeling of guilt ever since I abandoned Equestria and Princess Celestia. Now that I know the portal back to Equestria on the CHS horse statue pedestal will always be open without having to wait every 30 moons, I have an opportunity to go back, but… I’m still unsure of wanting to go back now, since I finally have a life of happiness here. My new friends and I have already been through so much together, I wouldn’t want to abandon them, especially on the chance that the portal for one reason or another begins to malfunction. I know that I’ll inevitably have to deal with this roadblock in choosing between my friends and Equestria one day, but for the time being, I hope I’ll never have to make a strict decision between the two.[/i]
The log continued on further, but if everything written so far was true, it would’ve meant that everything that Pinkie girl had said earlier wasn’t utter nonsense after all. The mention of a portal, different worlds, and the CHS horse statue pedestal, things were beginning to come together. Was it possible that this other Sunset person had actually come here from another world, thereby replacing her? But if this was the case, why did this happen, and presumably only to her? Much like the Human Twilight, Human Sunset now began to feel intrigued by this concept, though her feelings of anxiety remained intact, at how another version of herself from another world had somehow managed to steal her entire life and identity from her. As Human Sunset continued finishing up the read, there appeared to be something important attached to the page with a paperclip, along with an explanation as to why it was there.
[i]When I do get around to taking an extended stay in Equestria once more, I might also consider seeing if anypony would be able to translate this piece of scroll that I found at the library of Dark Magic in Canterlot, way back when I was Princess Celestia’s pupil. I completely forgot that I held on to this scroll piece, shortly before I first made my way into this world. It appears to be written in an ancient Equestrian language, meaning that there might be some overall difficulty in deciphering what it says. Regardless, I’ll be keeping this tucked away safely in this diary, and I’ll consider bringing it back to Equestria one day to translate it. Until then, I hope I can enjoy my new life and friendships in this world for the next few years, and I’m eternally grateful that I’m now living a life of happiness.[/i]
Taking the piece of scroll off of the page, Human Sunset certainly had no idea what the words were saying either, as it was written in a language that didn’t seem to exist in the human world at all. But if she were to make her way to this Equestria place in order to find someone to help her translate it, this would most likely give her a further clue as to what was happening, especially given how this other Sunset claimed that she had found this scroll shortly before she came into this world. As it appeared that there was nothing else of importance to bring her attention toward, Human Sunset placed the scroll piece into her pocket and was ready to exit the apartment, but not before noticing a few other letters placed at the front desk, presumably by Pinkie, when she was fetching the mail.
Most envelopes seemed to contain junk mail, but there were two addressed from Canterlot High. One was congratulating ‘Sunset’ for having the second highest GPA of 3.9 in the entire school, only bested by Twilight Sparkle, who had the full 4.0. It stirred unpleasant memories once again for Human Sunset, furthering her desire to head to this Equestria place to seek answers for this perplexing mystery. The other envelope contained an invitation to the graduation ceremony and after-party, both featuring the Dazzlings providing their own music and voices as singers. This invitation also made it particularly clear that they were barely able to book the Dazzlings in time for the event, encouraging the students to give them the best gratitude and appreciation for their services, even after what had transpired during the Battle of the Bands.
The graduation invitation didn’t seem to matter much to Human Sunset at first, until she realized that there might potentially be opportunities to find further answers, if she went there herself and everybody mistook her for this other Sunset, like Pinkie did. Human Sunset didn’t feel particularly bad that she’d be impersonating, since it was already clear from the evidence she had gathered thus far, that there was an imposter who had already taken her life and identity for several solid years. Since this graduation was still two days away, she understood that she now had time to check out this Equestria place, both to get answers for what was happening, and to possibly even translate the piece of scroll from the other Sunset’s diary.
Although Pony Sunset had originally intended to take the scroll piece back with her to this extended stay in Equestria, it had unfortunately slipped her mind, given how her concerns of abandoning her human friends was the more crucial matter on her mind at the time. To recap, when Pony Sunset snuck into Canterlot’s library of Dark Magic, she snooped around until she found a brief excerpt regarding the mirror, within a book that was titled, ‘Canterlot Castle, A History, Vol. II.’. Although she had read a vague summary at how a crystal mirror’s portal would supposedly open every 30 moons, the book never actually stated anything explicit regarding the dangers and a sudden inbalance effect. However, one thing that Princess Celestia and her royal guards had missed shortly before catching Sunset in the act, was that Sunset had also discovered this piece of scroll hidden away on the same page that briefly alluded to the mirror.
It wasn’t clear at the time, but Pony Sunset had taken the scroll piece and tucked it away into her mane secretly, as she was curious if the piece could potentially give her further answers, since the history book didn’t say much beyond the existence of the portal, as well as the time span of it opening. She had kept it with her the whole time, even after entering the human world, but only remembered of its existence after going through the contents of her saddlebag, shortly following the Dazzlings’ defeat after the Battle of the Bands. After remembering she had secretly taken this from that library back then, Pony Sunset intended to one day return it to Equestria, though her guilt of betraying Princess Celestia long ago had kept her mind occupied, preventing her from going back and making amends with her former teacher. As a result of primarily focusing on her friendships in the human world, as well as a pure vacation, Pony Sunset letting the scroll piece slip her mind had now resulted in it falling into the hands of her human world counterpart, for better or for worse.
As Human Sunset had finally exited the apartment, still in shock after discovering this entire new revelation, she was still a little bit unsure of what she was going to do now, moving forward. Piecing together everything she already knew, she understood that this seeming imposter was about to graduate from Canterlot High, and that she happened to originate from some place named Equestria. Given how much Human Sunset was capable of delivering scientific explanations to baffling phenomenons during her school days, she wanted to believe everything was all still nothing more than an incredibly elaborate hoax, but something at the back of her mind kept telling her otherwise. The unusual void trapping her and putting her in a coma for years, another version of herself taking away her life and identity, and somehow escaping that burning pizzeria before the flames had engulfed her. None of these occurrences seemed possible under scientifically normal circumstances, making her believe for a second that magic had to have been involved somewhere, but where?
Remembering the detail described by both Pinkie and the other Sunset, there supposedly was a portal on the Canterlot High School horse statue pedestal, which was always open, according to Pony Sunset’s diary log. And supposedly, if Human Sunset were to go through this portal, she would also need to find the library of Dark Magic, located in an area called Canterlot. This was a little confusing, given it meant she’d need to go to Canterlot High before she could even reach Canterlot itself. Regardless, by this point, Human Sunset didn’t really have any motivation to do anything else, since she was still nothing more than a high school dropout who wasn’t able to find any employment. She thought to herself that she was still becoming crazy by even considering the idea of attempting to find some portal at a disclosed location, but it appeared to be the only explanation now, given how everything she had already been through was incredibly cryptic to figure out from a scientific perspective. Human Sunset was adamant on finding further answers as to why she seemingly woke up from a coma, only to now live out an eternal nightmare she couldn’t even wake up from.
Solstice was still long gone, so Human Sunset couldn’t even go back to her mother for any comfort or guidance. As the thought of her mother popped into her head, she also contemplated how her parents would’ve reacted to the presence of this imposter who supposedly took over her life and identity by coming here. Had both of her parents still stuck by her side even after dropping out, would they have suddenly taken this new Sunset as their daughter, thereby having her replaced? The mere thought of being replaced by an imposter who had a seemingly perfect life by contrast, made Human Sunset’s resentment toward this fake Sunset grow immensely. Why was it that this other Sunset got to live the high life and would eventually experience the luxury of graduation, while the Sunset native to this world had lost everything she once cherished and worked hard toward?
Human Sunset’s first goal was attempting to locate this supposed portal at Canterlot High, so she continued down the streets. Even if she was technically gone for quite some time, she was still familiar with the road and area, as this was once her own hometown, after all. After pinpointing her location, she surmised that traveling several more blocks away would bring her to the destination, as she recalled often seeing Canterlot High along the way, when her father Sunspot had given her rides to and from Crystal Prep Academy. On the subject of her father, Human Sunset started growing a fierce resentment toward him as well, especially for how he once treated his own daughter. The psychological trauma over Sunspot also straight-up abandoning the family didn’t help matters either, making her believe that if she ever somehow ran into her father again, she would do everything she could to put him in his place. Solstice’s words in the hospital always resonated in her, even after this long absence, letting her understand that Sunspot also contributed to her daughter ending up in this wreck of a life she now had, as well as his wife overworking herself to the point of death.
As these thoughts flooded her mind while finding Canterlot High, Human Sunset slowly began approaching a dark alleyway. Due to being distracted by these thoughts, she wasn’t able to react in time to sudden footsteps approaching behind her, before a large plank of wood had been broken over her head, knocking her unconscious temporarily. As a result, she realized that the noises pointing to a person that had been following her was no coincidence at all, but rather a warning sign that she foolishly ignored. Completely knocked out cold, the shadowy figure from the alleyway had smiled at her handiwork at successfully targeting this girl she had a definite personal vendetta toward. Coming out of the darkness, it was that girl the Pony Sunset had fought to protect Lily Pad, whom even after getting stopped by raccoons, had sworn vengeance in cold blood. Gilda stood over the unconscious body, ready to exact her revenge.
“Haha, I told you that this wasn’t over, punk!” Gilda taunted ‘Sunset’, as if she could hear her speaking. “The rest of my buddies gave me a good thrashing after I failed to bring back money, so now it looks like I’m finally ready to return the favor!”
Gilda began dragging the unconscious body toward another alleyway across several streets from their current location, where a few other gang members were waiting anxiously to exact vengeance against this Sunset girl too. Not only for getting into an altercation with Gilda, but for also meddling in their top dollar business in mugging people blind. It was unknown to anybody else outside the gang, but Gilda had been waiting in the alleyways for several days now, anticipating whenever the Sunset girl would make her way down the streets, and being ready to knock her out when she least expected it. This plan wasn’t as effective when Pony Sunset had already gone back to Equestria this whole time, but now, Gilda and her crew were unknowingly about to punish the wrong girl at their hideout…
Original Description:
Human Sunset continued down the street casually, unsure of who she could even ask for answers. She decided that at the same time, it was likely best to lay low, just as she used to do during that final week before her disappearance, assuming the police were still looking for her as a wanted fugitive. Other than this, she still genuinely missed her mother, Solstice, hoping that her deceased mother would not look down on her in a bad light if she somehow ended up in jail. She might’ve still been loved by her mother, even as a school dropout, but Solstice would most likely feel a lot differently if her daughter ended up being convicted of theft and vandalism for the rest of her life. Having a criminal record would’ve certainly made finding a job ten times more difficult, never mind the restraints from never finishing high school. By this point, since Human Sunset felt she had already finished business by committing those crimes against those people who had once wronged her, there was no need to feel vengeful toward anybody else.
While on her stroll, Human Sunset began slowly approaching the apartment rented by her pony counterpart, and Pinkie spotted what looked like her friend right outside the window. Happy to see Sunset again, but remembering that her good friend reminded her of the possibility of returning home early for any reason, Pinkie began approaching the front door to open it, ready to greet ‘Sunset Shimmer’. Although Pony Pinkie had already confessed to the shenanigans she had done with secretly switching worlds with her human counterpart from time to time, due to how capable either Pinkie was at blending in, there was still unfortunately one crucial difference between the two. Human Pinkie lacked Pinkie Sense, making it so she was unable to immediately decipher whether somebody was a being from Equestria, or the actual native human counterpart.
This line of thinking was why she had instantly theorized Princess Twilight was possibly a twin sister of the Human Twilight, along with having a similar-looking pet dog. Although ‘Pinkie’ was able to pick out why the Human Twilight was the native counterpart to Princess Twilight during the Friendship Games, due to that Twilight wearing glasses and attending Crystal Prep Academy, it was actually the Pony Pinkie who pointed that out. Pony Pinkie decided to switch places with her human counterpart out of boredom, especially after figuring out how to keep the mirror open without waiting every 30 moons. She had secretly gone through the mirror in her own time, completely unaware that during this little visit, Twilight and Starlight had been fighting a seemingly never-ending battle through time traveling spells. Pony Pinkie spent most of her time accompanying Sunset and her human friends during the CHS pep rallies, shortly before the Crystal Prep students arrived.
It was unknown to anybody at the time, but after the Human Twilight unintentionally used her device to capture Pony Pinkie’s magic, making her feel party pooped, that was when she decided to return to Equestria to switch back, letting her human self take over during the roller-skating competition. Knowing Pony Sunset for a while, Human Pinkie also understood that Sunset never brought up the possibility of having a twin sister, as she had already told all her human friends long ago that she was never really close with her actual family in Equestria. As a result of all these factors combined, Human Pinkie went outside the apartment to greet her friend, completely unaware that this was not the Sunset Shimmer she knew.
“Hi there, Sunset!” Pinkie called out, happily. “I guess that vacation of yours went smoothly? Or maybe it didn’t, since it looks like you’re already back in only the middle of the week?”
“Wha…?” Human Sunset stuttered, completely confused at this random pink-haired girl addressing her by name. “Who the heck are you, and how do you know my name!?”
“Oh, you’re so funny, Sunset!” Pinkie giggled. “By the way, I like the new look you’ve done with your hair and face! That eyeshadow makes you look really pretty!”
“I’m serious now!” Human Sunset spat. “Who are you, and how do you already know my name even though I’ve been gone for so long!?”
“I’m your friend, Pinkie Pie.” Pinkie replied, somewhat unamused. “Come on, now. It’s not funny anymore when you let the punchline overstay its welcome. And according to my watch, you haven’t been gone for that long, it’s only been about three days since you left. You were on vacation, remember?”
Human Sunset had become much more confused than she already was, especially knowing with certainty that she never had any friends. How did this random girl she’s never even met before somehow know her actual name, let alone the fact she’s been gone for quite some time? This Pinkie girl even figured out that this was a more recent look she gave herself after reinventing her appearance, making Human Sunset wonder if she was going delusional or had met some psychic person. She instinctively pinched her own arm to see if she was dreaming or not.
“Ouch!” Human Sunset flinched slightly at her own pinch. “Well, I’m certainly not dreaming right now. Alright… Pinkie. I’m going to ask you right now, where was I approximately three days ago?”
“Well, you paid me to watch your apartment, I made sure to do everything you asked while hanging out with my new friend, Cheese Sandwich.” Pinkie replied. “I watered your plants, fed Ray, and found something in the mailbox addressed to you. I think you’ll be very excited, it’s from Canterlot University.”
Pinkie handed Human Sunset an envelope, and she opened it out of curiosity, as it was addressed to ‘Sunset Shimmer’, matching who she actually was. Inside was a letter from the university board saying that ‘Sunset’ had gotten in, and would be accepted as a new student next year. This came as an absolute surprise to Human Sunset, knowing how she never even finished high school thanks to dropping out, but she decided to pry further.
“And… why were you watching um… my apartment?” Human Sunset questioned, trying to figure everything out.
“Oh, I see how it is.” Pinkie put her hand on her own chin. “You want to recall every little memory we made together before graduation day at CHS, so that we’ll always remember each other no matter how busy life pulls us apart, gotcha. Well in that case, you only mentioned that you were leaving town for a few days, so I have no idea where you actually went. But if my hunch was anything to go by, you probably went back to that Equestria place through the portal on the CHS horse statue pedestal. That place looked pretty nifty the first time you brought me and the rest of our spring break cruisers to that alternate dimension. I’ll never forget how we all turned into ponies and got mixed up with the Storm King’s terrible magic.”
“Are you… feeling okay, or just crazy?” Human Sunset stated bluntly, feeling as if this girl was spouting utter nonsense. “Better yet, are you trying to convince me that you belong in a mental institution or something?”
“Hey, Sunset!” Pinkie said with disapproval. “You don’t have to be so mean…”
“I feel as if you’re just making stuff up to mess with me now!” Human Sunset continued. “Look, I don’t know how you know my name, or how you found out I was gone for quite some time, but I’m almost certain at this point that you’re just making up all this nonsense like a knucklehead! Can you just get out of here!?”
“Ouch…” Pinkie started showing a hurt expression. “Okay, I’m sorry if I wasn’t playing along correctly, and I’ll give you your house key back since you’ve returned early, but… we’re still going to be standing next to each other when they take the graduation photo, right? It’s nice how we’ve both survived everything that high school’s been throwing at us, and now we’ll finally graduate together as good friends.”
Hearing this particular statement from Pinkie, Human Sunset’s eye simply twitched. Was this girl now mocking her too, poking fun at the fact that she never got the opportunity to finish freshman year of high school, let alone enjoy the luxury of graduation? It didn’t even feel like a question at that point, but rather an insensitive insult that drove Human Sunset over the edge, making her anger flare up and snap at Pinkie viciously.
“I never even finished freshman year, and you go as far as to mock me by claiming that I’ll be graduating with you!?” Human Sunset roared. “Get out of my face right now, you ANNOYING PIECE OF GARBAGE!!! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!!!!!!”
Pinkie simply lowered her head in sadness before handing Human Sunset the key to Pony Sunset’s apartment. Feeling a sudden sense of abandonment from her bestie, Pinkie became conflicted as she slowly made her way down the sidewalk before looking back one last time. She was so hurt and confused as to why her friend would act so cold and blunt, never mind pretending that she wasn’t going to graduate CHS when she was already one of the top students there. In a final attempt to check and see whether ‘Sunset’ was serious or not, Pinkie turned around and asked with the smallest sliver of hope that her friend was simply messing with her.
“Sunset, if this is just a really sick joke, you have to tell me right now…” Pinkie moped. “If not, are you… ditching me at graduation too?”
“You’re the sick joke here!” Human Sunset emphasized her bluntness before pointing a finger to make Pinkie leave. “And you know what, yeah, sure! I am ditching your non-existent graduation fantasy, so BEAT IT!”
Pinkie ran away crying, feeling betrayed and abandoned, just like the Pony Pinkie would’ve felt during that alternate timeline where Pony Sunset purposefully avoided and abandoned her in favor of having the perfect Postcrush experience. Human Sunset meanwhile, had no care in the world, given how she had no idea who that delusional girl even was, and took great offense at the mere thought of herself actually graduating high school, let alone moving on to college. Thinking the college acceptance letter was nothing more than a cruel joke meant to mock her, she simply ripped the letter to pieces and stomped on it with fury. Still though, the fact that this random girl seemed to know a few arbitrary facts about her without ever getting properly acquainted, it gave Human Sunset the idea to at least investigate this apartment that was claimed to have been her home.
This wasn’t right, the last place Human Sunset lived was Solstice’s old home in the residential area of Canterlot City, she knew this with certainty. Given how poor her family was, renting a luxurious looking apartment like this was certainly out of the question. On top of that, as Human Sunset opened the door and walked into the apartment, she could see how nice the place truly was. Computers, guitars on the wall, a gaming console with a 75’’ HD monitor, a full fridge with fresh sushi laying around, and a wide collection of furniture that any ordinary person would envy. According to that girl who ‘housesat’ for her, all of these nice things supposedly belonged to herself? Processing this further, Human Sunset had no idea if she was going delusional, having some kind of hallucination where she somehow stumbled into another alternate life and reality where she had become successful and was on top of the world to afford all these nice things.
It felt like a cruel joke, that she went from a poor and broken school dropout, to this seemingly successful millionaire with the nicest home in the city. Even though she already knew it was an apartment, Human Sunset believed she was in the middle of a mansion, owned by somebody who had to have worked hard to afford everything. Then she remembered that she herself most certainly worked hard at Crystal Prep Academy, only to now end up in this unfortunate life. Was this… all meant to be a vision to symbolize what she could’ve gotten, had she decided to stay in school? Taking one last look at her surroundings, Human Sunset believed that this would’ve been exactly the kind of luxurious home she wanted to one day give to her parents if she got into the best school and made top dollars. But there was no way she could’ve done all this herself, assuming she was in a coma for at least several years.
Upon further inspection, Human Sunset took notice of a photo album, as well as a personal diary separate from Pony Sunset’s magical journal. Her first instinct was to take a look at the photos, trying to understand who truly owned this home and all these nice belongings. Whilst skimming the photos, there weren’t any pictures that Pony Sunset had taken of herself, as these were mostly part of a collection she had worked on for photography class. However, one particular photo near the end of the album had caught Human Sunset’s attention. The setting took place at that slumber party at Pinkie’s house, where Pony Sunset and Princess Twilight had joined the rest of the Rainbooms in figuring out ways to defeat the Dazzlings. Looking at the photo, it originated from when Rarity was attempting to take a selfie with herself, Pony Sunset, and Fluttershy, only for Spike to photobomb it at the last minute. Human Sunset simply stared at Pony Sunset’s face in the photo, completely bewildered on when this could’ve been taken.
“Did I… actually experience this at some point before I got into that coma?” Human Sunset asked herself, still scratching her head. “I don’t recognize those two other girls, nor that dog. And for that matter, I certainly don’t remember ever smiling like that, my previous life before the coma was straight up miserable. Driving myself to the brink of insanity to satisfy dad, losing mom, and not to mention that awful experience at Crystal Prep Academy, when was I ever this happy?”
Moving past this, Human Sunset set the photo down, and realized that it felt logical to now get an understanding of how long of a period she had been in a coma, as it certainly didn’t seem likely that she was only out cold for around three days, according to that Pinkie girl. Checking a nearby calendar, Human Sunset was shocked to see that several solid years had already passed since the year she had dropped out and had the misfortune of seeing her own mother pass away. She then realized that this meant there was truly something more fishy going on, and noticed that the computer by the front door was still plugged in. Taking a seat and starting up the PC, Human Sunset opened a browser and searched up the name, ‘Sunset Shimmer’ in the search engine. To her shock, many results came up, including older news articles documenting the many times the Pony Sunset and her human friends had saved the world by using their magic for the greater good. Another result that came up was a gaming channel named ‘ShimmerCode’, where Pony Sunset played all sorts of video games and had just reached 10 million subscribers. Clicking on this, Human Sunset could see that the channel was already logged in, and there were notifications from the website admins that ‘Sunset’ had earned a new revenue of $15,000 a month for her quality content.
This made Human Sunset more furious than ever before. How could anyone make such large digits of money by rotting their brain from playing video games? Meanwhile, she herself had been studying day and night on many tough subjects that were difficult to master, only to one day drop out all because of bullying. She had absolutely nothing to show for her hard work, yet this ‘Sunset’ person was able to live the high life by just playing mindless games. As she was incredibly curious by this point, yet also afraid that she might uncover a terrible truth, Human Sunset clicked on the channel’s ‘videos’ section, then took a quick peak at the most recent video titled ‘A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT’, which was uploaded by the Pony Sunset a few weeks ago. Human Sunset noticed that the person in the thumbnail looked just like that person in the photo. In other words, this Sunset person looked practically identical to herself, except she didn’t have any makeup on, and had an overall lighter hair tone. Clicking on the video, it was time to finally learn what was happening.
“Hey there, ShimmerCode army.” Pony Sunset addressed her fanbase. “I’m glad to see you all enjoyed my most recent livestreams of Super Cosmic Galaxy 3, Fetchtroid, and Splatter Town. I do my best to keep you all entertained whenever you aren’t having the sunniest of days, after all. I wanted to make a special video today to address something particularly important. Firstly, as you might’ve noticed, I just cracked 10 million subs, so I’m absolutely thankful for the support. Secondly, I just wanted to share that I’m happy to be open with my personal life outside of being a gamer for you all.”
While watching, Human Sunset simply raised an eyebrow at this. Who was this person who looked and sounded just like her, and why was she making videos centered around gaming? Better yet, was this who that Pinkie girl was talking about, the ‘Sunset’ who had asked her to housesit and was almost ready for graduation? Human Sunset began coming up with many potential theories to give her the slightest bit of comprehension as to how this was possible. Her father Sunspot did hint at the possibility of having more children after he divorced Solstice, so was this the result of that? She dismissed the idea almost immediately after realizing that she had only been in a coma for a few years, and this other ‘Sunset’ person looked just as old as herself. Then she considered the possibility of her having a secret twin sister, and that her parents somehow kept this twin from her all these years. Human Sunset wanted to believe this was the only logical explanation she was seeing all this now, but felt that deep down, Solstice would’ve never had the heart to keep something like this from her, especially as she was dying in her hospital bed. With no idea what to make of it, Human Sunset continued listening on in the video, trying to gather any further clues.
“…but I’m afraid that I might need to take an… indefinite hiatus soon.” Pony Sunset continued on in the video. “I’m so sorry to any of you who are disappointed by this news, but it’s just a matter of life and moving forward. Basically, I’ve enjoyed my time in Canterlot City and all, but let’s just say that I’ve lately been feeling a little homesick, to the point where I’d want to head back to my old hometown and start a new life. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that… I’ve lately been feeling more and more motivated to go back, perhaps reuniting with my old friends and family there. I’ll soon be graduating from Canterlot High in a few weeks, and I’d say that sets the mood rather well as far as things coming to an end.
Upon hearing this, the context finally made sense as to why Human Sunset was told that ‘she’ was graduating soon, though it was at Canterlot High, one of the schools she chose to forget about in favor of Crystal Prep Academy. Realizing that this video was now revealing more crucial information, she continued watching the video, hoping to get more answers.
“My closest friends at CHS will also most likely be moving away after graduation, and let’s just say it might be a possibility with myself too.” Pony Sunset addressed her main human friends on video. “And if any of them are somehow watching this video right now, Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity? I just wanted to let you know personally that you’ve always been the greatest friends any girl could ask for, especially given how rough the past has been for us all. As for the rest of the ShimmerCode fans, I wanted to make this potential ‘final’ video end with a valuable message a good friend once taught me. When your friends are like family, be sure to cherish and make the most out of your time with them, even if life begins to pull you apart. I’d be completely lost without my friends, and I genuinely hope I’ll never have to leave them behind. Thank you all for listening and understanding, and until I’ve finalized my decisions after graduation, this might be the very last time you’ll see me pick up a controller. ShimmerCode out!”
The video ended, as Human Sunset got up from the chair, pacing back and forth to decipher this mystery further. It made sense now as to why that Pinkie girl had considered her a friend, but things still weren’t adding up. As far as she was aware, Human Sunset stood by her belief that she was never famous to the point of starting a popular gaming channel, let alone being a proclaimed hero. She went back over to the photo album and finally turned her attention to the personal diary, which was locked, as expected. Just like she had done with Indigo’s moneybox all those years ago, she snapped the lock in half with her bare fists and opened the diary up, hoping to now learn of these hidden secrets. A majority of the entries appeared to be brief daily logs that Pony Sunset had summarized about her casual life, and like with the photos, Human Sunset didn’t pay too much mind and continued skimming. Nothing really stood out, until she eventually turned to the front and saw a more informative log that supposedly gave context as to why this Sunset person was here now.
[i]Dear Diary,
It’s only been about a week since the Battle of the Bands at CHS, and nearly a whole year since I’ve set foot in this new world. I felt like opening up about something far more personal. I really love my new friends like family, I really do. But I’ve still been having this lingering feeling of guilt ever since I abandoned Equestria and Princess Celestia. Now that I know the portal back to Equestria on the CHS horse statue pedestal will always be open without having to wait every 30 moons, I have an opportunity to go back, but… I’m still unsure of wanting to go back now, since I finally have a life of happiness here. My new friends and I have already been through so much together, I wouldn’t want to abandon them, especially on the chance that the portal for one reason or another begins to malfunction. I know that I’ll inevitably have to deal with this roadblock in choosing between my friends and Equestria one day, but for the time being, I hope I’ll never have to make a strict decision between the two.[/i]
The log continued on further, but if everything written so far was true, it would’ve meant that everything that Pinkie girl had said earlier wasn’t utter nonsense after all. The mention of a portal, different worlds, and the CHS horse statue pedestal, things were beginning to come together. Was it possible that this other Sunset person had actually come here from another world, thereby replacing her? But if this was the case, why did this happen, and presumably only to her? Much like the Human Twilight, Human Sunset now began to feel intrigued by this concept, though her feelings of anxiety remained intact, at how another version of herself from another world had somehow managed to steal her entire life and identity from her. As Human Sunset continued finishing up the read, there appeared to be something important attached to the page with a paperclip, along with an explanation as to why it was there.
[i]When I do get around to taking an extended stay in Equestria once more, I might also consider seeing if anypony would be able to translate this piece of scroll that I found at the library of Dark Magic in Canterlot, way back when I was Princess Celestia’s pupil. I completely forgot that I held on to this scroll piece, shortly before I first made my way into this world. It appears to be written in an ancient Equestrian language, meaning that there might be some overall difficulty in deciphering what it says. Regardless, I’ll be keeping this tucked away safely in this diary, and I’ll consider bringing it back to Equestria one day to translate it. Until then, I hope I can enjoy my new life and friendships in this world for the next few years, and I’m eternally grateful that I’m now living a life of happiness.[/i]
Taking the piece of scroll off of the page, Human Sunset certainly had no idea what the words were saying either, as it was written in a language that didn’t seem to exist in the human world at all. But if she were to make her way to this Equestria place in order to find someone to help her translate it, this would most likely give her a further clue as to what was happening, especially given how this other Sunset claimed that she had found this scroll shortly before she came into this world. As it appeared that there was nothing else of importance to bring her attention toward, Human Sunset placed the scroll piece into her pocket and was ready to exit the apartment, but not before noticing a few other letters placed at the front desk, presumably by Pinkie, when she was fetching the mail.
Most envelopes seemed to contain junk mail, but there were two addressed from Canterlot High. One was congratulating ‘Sunset’ for having the second highest GPA of 3.9 in the entire school, only bested by Twilight Sparkle, who had the full 4.0. It stirred unpleasant memories once again for Human Sunset, furthering her desire to head to this Equestria place to seek answers for this perplexing mystery. The other envelope contained an invitation to the graduation ceremony and after-party, both featuring the Dazzlings providing their own music and voices as singers. This invitation also made it particularly clear that they were barely able to book the Dazzlings in time for the event, encouraging the students to give them the best gratitude and appreciation for their services, even after what had transpired during the Battle of the Bands.
The graduation invitation didn’t seem to matter much to Human Sunset at first, until she realized that there might potentially be opportunities to find further answers, if she went there herself and everybody mistook her for this other Sunset, like Pinkie did. Human Sunset didn’t feel particularly bad that she’d be impersonating, since it was already clear from the evidence she had gathered thus far, that there was an imposter who had already taken her life and identity for several solid years. Since this graduation was still two days away, she understood that she now had time to check out this Equestria place, both to get answers for what was happening, and to possibly even translate the piece of scroll from the other Sunset’s diary.
Although Pony Sunset had originally intended to take the scroll piece back with her to this extended stay in Equestria, it had unfortunately slipped her mind, given how her concerns of abandoning her human friends was the more crucial matter on her mind at the time. To recap, when Pony Sunset snuck into Canterlot’s library of Dark Magic, she snooped around until she found a brief excerpt regarding the mirror, within a book that was titled, ‘Canterlot Castle, A History, Vol. II.’. Although she had read a vague summary at how a crystal mirror’s portal would supposedly open every 30 moons, the book never actually stated anything explicit regarding the dangers and a sudden inbalance effect. However, one thing that Princess Celestia and her royal guards had missed shortly before catching Sunset in the act, was that Sunset had also discovered this piece of scroll hidden away on the same page that briefly alluded to the mirror.
It wasn’t clear at the time, but Pony Sunset had taken the scroll piece and tucked it away into her mane secretly, as she was curious if the piece could potentially give her further answers, since the history book didn’t say much beyond the existence of the portal, as well as the time span of it opening. She had kept it with her the whole time, even after entering the human world, but only remembered of its existence after going through the contents of her saddlebag, shortly following the Dazzlings’ defeat after the Battle of the Bands. After remembering she had secretly taken this from that library back then, Pony Sunset intended to one day return it to Equestria, though her guilt of betraying Princess Celestia long ago had kept her mind occupied, preventing her from going back and making amends with her former teacher. As a result of primarily focusing on her friendships in the human world, as well as a pure vacation, Pony Sunset letting the scroll piece slip her mind had now resulted in it falling into the hands of her human world counterpart, for better or for worse.
As Human Sunset had finally exited the apartment, still in shock after discovering this entire new revelation, she was still a little bit unsure of what she was going to do now, moving forward. Piecing together everything she already knew, she understood that this seeming imposter was about to graduate from Canterlot High, and that she happened to originate from some place named Equestria. Given how much Human Sunset was capable of delivering scientific explanations to baffling phenomenons during her school days, she wanted to believe everything was all still nothing more than an incredibly elaborate hoax, but something at the back of her mind kept telling her otherwise. The unusual void trapping her and putting her in a coma for years, another version of herself taking away her life and identity, and somehow escaping that burning pizzeria before the flames had engulfed her. None of these occurrences seemed possible under scientifically normal circumstances, making her believe for a second that magic had to have been involved somewhere, but where?
Remembering the detail described by both Pinkie and the other Sunset, there supposedly was a portal on the Canterlot High School horse statue pedestal, which was always open, according to Pony Sunset’s diary log. And supposedly, if Human Sunset were to go through this portal, she would also need to find the library of Dark Magic, located in an area called Canterlot. This was a little confusing, given it meant she’d need to go to Canterlot High before she could even reach Canterlot itself. Regardless, by this point, Human Sunset didn’t really have any motivation to do anything else, since she was still nothing more than a high school dropout who wasn’t able to find any employment. She thought to herself that she was still becoming crazy by even considering the idea of attempting to find some portal at a disclosed location, but it appeared to be the only explanation now, given how everything she had already been through was incredibly cryptic to figure out from a scientific perspective. Human Sunset was adamant on finding further answers as to why she seemingly woke up from a coma, only to now live out an eternal nightmare she couldn’t even wake up from.
Solstice was still long gone, so Human Sunset couldn’t even go back to her mother for any comfort or guidance. As the thought of her mother popped into her head, she also contemplated how her parents would’ve reacted to the presence of this imposter who supposedly took over her life and identity by coming here. Had both of her parents still stuck by her side even after dropping out, would they have suddenly taken this new Sunset as their daughter, thereby having her replaced? The mere thought of being replaced by an imposter who had a seemingly perfect life by contrast, made Human Sunset’s resentment toward this fake Sunset grow immensely. Why was it that this other Sunset got to live the high life and would eventually experience the luxury of graduation, while the Sunset native to this world had lost everything she once cherished and worked hard toward?
Human Sunset’s first goal was attempting to locate this supposed portal at Canterlot High, so she continued down the streets. Even if she was technically gone for quite some time, she was still familiar with the road and area, as this was once her own hometown, after all. After pinpointing her location, she surmised that traveling several more blocks away would bring her to the destination, as she recalled often seeing Canterlot High along the way, when her father Sunspot had given her rides to and from Crystal Prep Academy. On the subject of her father, Human Sunset started growing a fierce resentment toward him as well, especially for how he once treated his own daughter. The psychological trauma over Sunspot also straight-up abandoning the family didn’t help matters either, making her believe that if she ever somehow ran into her father again, she would do everything she could to put him in his place. Solstice’s words in the hospital always resonated in her, even after this long absence, letting her understand that Sunspot also contributed to her daughter ending up in this wreck of a life she now had, as well as his wife overworking herself to the point of death.
As these thoughts flooded her mind while finding Canterlot High, Human Sunset slowly began approaching a dark alleyway. Due to being distracted by these thoughts, she wasn’t able to react in time to sudden footsteps approaching behind her, before a large plank of wood had been broken over her head, knocking her unconscious temporarily. As a result, she realized that the noises pointing to a person that had been following her was no coincidence at all, but rather a warning sign that she foolishly ignored. Completely knocked out cold, the shadowy figure from the alleyway had smiled at her handiwork at successfully targeting this girl she had a definite personal vendetta toward. Coming out of the darkness, it was that girl the Pony Sunset had fought to protect Lily Pad, whom even after getting stopped by raccoons, had sworn vengeance in cold blood. Gilda stood over the unconscious body, ready to exact her revenge.
“Haha, I told you that this wasn’t over, punk!” Gilda taunted ‘Sunset’, as if she could hear her speaking. “The rest of my buddies gave me a good thrashing after I failed to bring back money, so now it looks like I’m finally ready to return the favor!”
Gilda began dragging the unconscious body toward another alleyway across several streets from their current location, where a few other gang members were waiting anxiously to exact vengeance against this Sunset girl too. Not only for getting into an altercation with Gilda, but for also meddling in their top dollar business in mugging people blind. It was unknown to anybody else outside the gang, but Gilda had been waiting in the alleyways for several days now, anticipating whenever the Sunset girl would make her way down the streets, and being ready to knock her out when she least expected it. This plan wasn’t as effective when Pony Sunset had already gone back to Equestria this whole time, but now, Gilda and her crew were unknowingly about to punish the wrong girl at their hideout…
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