Sunset Shimmer – a girl unlike any other in her school. On the outside, she is your typical fifteen year old high school girl with an interest in being popular and a general dislike for hanging around other people. On the inside, she is actually a twenty-five year old unicorn with enough knowledge to graduate the United States’ highest level university with any number of degrees in multiple fields, and was once even the personal student of a pony princess named Celestia.

So how is it that now she is a student at Canterlot High in a world where she cannot use her magic, living with the school’s principal and spending her days hanging around ordinary students? Well, many things happened, which ultimately led to Sunset Shimmer being cut off from her original world. Not that she cared too much. She never did care about much other than studying and impressing her mentor. Of course, when that same mentor betrayed her, her interests shifted. Now, her desire is mostly focussed on revenge.

She had spent a long time in this world, biding her time and just waiting for the right time to strike. When the time finally came, she had made her move. She stole the Element of Magic, a power magical artefact, from Equestria. She attempted to use the Element to overthrow Princess Celestia, but the princess’ new lackey, Princess Twilight Sparkle, stopped her.

Now, Sunset Shimmer was trapped for another thirty moons at the very least. But it wasn’t all bad. She had clearly underestimated Twilight’s powers, that much was evident, but she would not make the same mistake again. Sunset Shimmer was a genius, after all. She knew that failure once did not mean you had lost. If anything, it was a valuable learning experience. From her failure, she could become more prepared for her next attempt at defeating Princess Celestia.

For example, after wielding the Element of Magic, knowledge of its origins and of its power flooded into her mind. Although it is mostly a jumbled mess, she was able to vaguely understand how the Elements of Harmony worked. From that, she was able to come up with a new plan. If stealing the Elements of Harmony was too tough, then she would simply create her own set.

“Some might call me crazy,” Sunset Shimmer mused to herself as she looked over her notes for any errors, “But it’s all a matter of thinking logically. The Elements have to have been created at some point, so why shouldn’t they be able to be created again? I just need to organise my thoughts. Write down what I know and try to piece it all together. The issue is the fact that magic was most likely used to create them, and in this world, I can’t use magic.”

Outside of her room, Sunset Shimmer heard the front door open and her legal guardian call out to her. “I’m home!”

“She’s back early?” Sunset asked with slight annoyance as she gathered up her notes, her samples, and her apparatus and hid them in the usual place – in the secret compartment at the back of her wardrobe. “Darn it. Though I suppose I was going to head out later tonight anyway…”

Sunset Shimmer grabbed her phone and her bag and opened her bedroom door, turning the light off and shutting the door behind her as she headed for the stairs. “You’re back early,” she said to Celestia as she descended the stairs.

“I finished early,” Celestia explained. “Where are you going so late at night?”

“We’re out of strawberry milk,” Sunset replied. “Your sister drank it all, so I’m going out to get more.”

“This late?” Celestia asked with a curious look.

“I can’t guarantee I’ll sleep peacefully without it,” Sunset told her.

“Well, don’t be out too late,” Celestia cautioned, holding out her hand. “And give me your wallet.”

“What? Why?” Sunset asked, but didn’t receive an answer. She knew that Celestia would not let her leave without complying, so with a defeated sigh, she reached into her bag and pulled out her wallet, handing it over to Celestia.

“Nice photograph, ‘Maria Timely’,” Celestia commented as she pulled out the ID card inside of the wallet. She then examined the wallet carefully, before opening a small, concealed pocket at the back and pulling out yet another card. “I’ll just hold onto these.”

‘Darn it! How does she keep finding those?’ Sunset Shimmer took her wallet back and put it into her bag. “Fine, you caught me. Can I go now?”

“Just remember, back before ten,” Celestia told her.

“I know, I know. Later.” Sunset Shimmer walked past Celestia and put her shoes on before leaving the house. She walked down the drive and out of the front gate, waiting until she was sure that Celestia wasn’t watching her before pulling out her phone and pushing a few buttons on the screen.

The phone rang for a few seconds before the person on the other end answered. “Hello?” Snips asked.

“Meet me at the Dollar Store by the theatre in one hour,” Sunset ordered. “Bring a new ID.”

“Your mum found out again?” Snips asked, not needing an answer. “I’m kinda busy right now. Can I meet you in two-”

“I said in one hour. If you’re not there, then you’d also better not show up in school tomorrow.”

“Okay, okay!” Snips replied in a panicked tone. “I-I’ll be there, I just need to-”

“Good. I’ll see you in one hour then.” With that, Sunset Shimmer hung up the phone and placed it back into her bag. “Honestly, it’s so hard to find good help. But at least he’s easy to use, and I don’t have to worry about him betraying me. Now, my first stop is the school.”

Taking a left turn, Sunset Shimmer waited by the side of the road until a taxi showed up, signalling for it to stop so that she could climb inside. She told the driver to go to the school and to wait for her whilst she ‘picked something up’.

Fifteen minutes later, Sunset Shimmer was at the school. The taxi driver had told her to hurry up with whatever she was doing, but she cared little for what a lovely driver had to say to her. She approached the school building, but stopped at the statue just outside of it.

The statue was her real target here. The statue that was also a portal to another world. A portal powered by magic, in a world where Sunset Shimmer, and indeed all of the human race, were unable to harness magic themselves. It existed, that much was certain from past events, but it was inaccessible to Sunset Shimmer in her current form.

“Somehow, this statue can harness magic once every thirty moons,” Sunset Shimmer said as she leaned down and stroked a hand against the base of the statue. It felt like any old marble statue. It certainly didn’t seem to have any special properties. “Why is that? Why every thirty moons? I doubt the thirtieth moon cycle holds any significance that the previous ones do not. The only explanation that I can think of is that the statue needs to build up energy first, before it can use the magic it’s been gathering from around it.”

Sunset Shimmer reached into her bag and pulled out two small tools – a hammer and a chisel. “I need a sample of this statue for study. In order to create my own Elements of Harmony to combat the ones in Equestria, I’ll need to be able to harness magic. To do that, I need a special material. The only issue is that doing this might damage the portal in some way, but theoretically, as long as I keep the fragment I take safe-and-sound, I should be able to fix it.

“In any case, I’ll get nowhere without my own weapon to counter the Elements, and chances are that Celestia will be on high alert whenever the portal is open from now on.” Positioning her chisel carefully, Sunset Shimmer bashed the end with her hammer, eventually succeeding in chipping off a piece of the statue. She placed her tools back into her bag and pulled out a small custom vacuum cleaner with a plastic bag attached to the end. She picked up the large fragment on the floor and used the vacuum to ensure she retrieved every last shard that had fallen.

Once she was certain she had it all, she removed the plastic bag, placed the larger fragment inside, and sealed it up nice and tight. “Okay, I’ve got my sample. Now to get out of here.”

Sunset Shimmer was glad to see that the driver was still waiting for her, though his patience had clearly worn thin from the attitude he gave the girl as she climbed back inside. She ordered him to drive to the theatre back in city, shutting him up with a generous tip from the money she had been saving for her important research. If it would get this angry guy with obvious family issues to stop droning on and on during the entire ride, it was worth it.

Thirty-five minutes later, Sunset Shimmer was at the Dollar Store she had arranged to meet Snips at. She was still ten minutes early, which annoyed her as it left her with nothing to do but to stand around and wait. Of course, she wasn’t going to stand around outside in the horrible cold weather. She stepped into the store and headed over to the magazine rack, deciding that she might as well pass the time by reading something. She had to admit, there sure wasn’t a shortage of interesting reading material in this world.

She passed by two people that she recognised from school. One was Derpy Hooves – an interesting name for a human, Sunset Shimmer noted – who was reading a baking magazine from the looks of the cover. She was a fairly innocent and naïve girl, who often associates herself with the neutral field in any feuds she happens to wind up in, which usually turns out to be a lot. She’s also famous for being the go-to girl whenever you have a note to pass in class or a letter to deliver anonymously. She’ll do anything for a muffin.

The other was Rainbow Dash, one of the five girls who had partnered herself up with Twilight Sparkle to foil Sunset Shimmer’s plans to defeat Princess Celestia. She was a member of the team’s Soccer Club, and biggest fan of the Canterlot Cougars, the football team of this very city. She didn’t excel at many subjects. In fact, she didn’t excel at any save for Physical Education. There was one thing in particular that Sunset Shimmer didn’t like about this girl.

“Hey! Sunset Shimmer!” Rainbow Dash called out as she noticed Sunset Shimmer in the corner of her eye. Before Sunset could turn and flee, Rainbow Dash was already hanging around her neck with that big, stupid grin that she always wore. “What’s up? I didn’t take you for a night girl.”

“I didn’t take you for a gaming girl,” Sunset countered as she noticed the gaming magazine in Rainbow’s hand.

Rainbow Dash immediately closed the magazine and turned herself away from Sunset Shimmer. “T-This isn’t what it looks like! I was getting this for a friend, got it?”

“Whatever,” Sunset said as she moved a few steps away. “I really don’t care. It’s just more material I can use against you.”

“You wouldn’t,” Rainbow Dash said. “Not to a friend.”

That was what Sunset Shimmer couldn’t stand about her. Or about any of the five girls who had joined forces with Twilight Sparkle to defeat her. “Stop saying that we’re friends,” Sunset said as she folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at Rainbow Dash.

“But we are,” Rainbow Dash told her. “I made a promise with Twilight, and I intend to keep it!”

“Oh? So you only want to be friends with me because Twilight told you to?”

Rainbow’s eyes widened and she quickly shook her head. “No no no no no! You know I didn’t mean it like that! It’s just… Ugh! Why do you have to make things so difficult?”

“It’s what I do,” Sunset answered nonchalantly. “If it bothers you, just walk away.”

“Yeah, that’s not really my style,” Rainbow Dash told her. “Well, look, I gotta go. My friend really wants me to get this mag over to him. Try to do something ‘bout that attitude of yours, ‘kay?”

Sunset simply mimicked Rainbow Dash in a quiet, silly voice as the girl walked past her and over to the counter. “Like I care,” she said to herself as she wandered through the store and towards the refrigerated items. She picked up a few cases of strawberry milk and waited, checking her watch to find that it was one minute until Snips was supposed to be there.

“Sunset Shimmer!” And now it was bang on time. Sunset turned to her right to see a worn-out boy panting to her side, holding up a small card to her as he struggled and failed to form any coherent words.

“You got here in one hour,” Sunset commented as she grabbed the card from the boy. “Good job.”

“T-Thank you,” Snips replied in an exhausted tone. “C-Can I g-go now?”

“You may,” Sunset replied. “Just make sure you’re ready to answer my summons at any time in the future.”

“Y-Yes, Sunset Shimmer…” Snips turned around as slowly walked through the store, stumbling about and knocking many items off of their shelves as he passed through the aisles.

Meanwhile, Sunset Shimmer made her way over to the cash register. She picked up a bottle of gin while she was there and placed her items on the counter, along with her ID. The clerk clearly didn’t believe that she was over eighteen – which in a way was ironic considering her true age was twenty-five – but a quick lash-out from Sunset Shimmer would soon change that.

“What?! You got a problem?” Sunset asked.

“N-No, ma’am,” the store clerk replied, starting to sweat a little bit. “It’s just that you look a little… younger than your printed age, is all.”

“I can’t believe this!” Sunset shouted, sounded absolutely shocked and appalled. “Here I am, just trying to buy some milk for my little brother and a soothing bottle of gin after a hard day’s work, and you’re trying to hit on me?!”

“N-No ma’am! I didn’t mean it like that, I-”

“I’ll have you know that my parents just suffered a terrible accident, and I am working my butt off trying to support both myself and my little brother! My boss is constantly trying to sexually harass me and my brother’s grades are dropping thanks to the trauma he’s suffered! I have enough going on in my life without some sick, perverted store clerk trying to pick me up whilst all I’m trying to do is make a simple purchase!”

“I-I’m sorry!” the clerk shouted, passing the ID back to Sunset Shimmer and ringing up her purchase. “That’ll be five dollars, ma’am.”

Sunset Shimmer slammed the money onto the counter and grabbed her items after they had been placed into a plastic bag. “Honestly, men can be such animals,” she spat as she turned to leave. As she exited the store, a pleased grin crossed her face, followed by a small chuckle from her lips. “That was fun. It feels good to make people squirm like that.”

Sunset Shimmer opened her bag and reached inside for the empty water bottle she had stored inside. She opened the cap and also took out the bottle of gin she had just purchased, pouring the contents into the plastic bottle with careful precision.

When she was done, she placed the plastic bottle back into her bag and started to walk down the street, stopping by an alleyway to throw the alcohol bottle into a glass bin before waiting for a taxi to come by.

“Thirty moons is a long time, but I can wait. I’ll bide my time, discover the secrets of the Elements of Harmony, and when the portal opens again, I’ll be ready to-”

Sunset Shimmer’s phone started to ring, interrupting her monologue. She pulled it out and found that she had received a new text. It was from Pinkie Pie.

“STUDY SESSION AT MY PLACE, TOMORROW, NINE PM! BRING JAMAS, IT’S A SLEEPOVER!”

“Why the hell should I go to a study sleepover with you dorks?!” Sunset shouted at her phone, having no regard for the people passing her by and giving her strange looks. “You guys are the reason I’m stuck here for another thirty moons! I was the princess’ prized pupil, and you guys are just ordinary students at a mediocre school! Why should I associate with the likes of you?”

Sunset Shimmer hit the button to reply and started to press letters on the keypad.

“I’m not staying the night. I’ll be there until eleven, and then I’m gone.”

She hit send. Five seconds passed as she stared at her phone, with a message confirming that the message was successfully sent. She sighed. “What the hell did I do that for?”

Mystery number one of this strange world: Sunset Shimmer hated these five girls, so why was it so hard to have nothing to do with them?