Sunset Shimmer walked solemnly to the statue in the dark. The night surrounded her like a cool blanket. She scanned the statue she had seen for the past few years she had been in this world.

The strong, cold stallion stood up on its powerful hind legs and raised its front hooves in a striking pose, showing off its muscular structure. Even this inanimate object had more pride than her. Sunset Shimmer looked at the cold side of the statue. This is where Twilight came through. As soon as the portal was open, as soon as she stepped onto this earth, Sunset Shimmer's life was shattered.

And she had herself to blame. It was her own greed that brought her doom. If she hadn't messed with the princess of Friendship, her life wouldn't be jacked. She had to give Twilight credit though. She sure knows how to put her enemies in their place.

Looking at where the portal was she couldn't help but wonder how Equestria was. Her days as Celestia's student seemed long ago and she missed them, despite her rebellious acts against the princess. She actually longed to make things right between them, she and Celestia. If she were to be seen as good in the eyes of her majesty, it was certain some, if not all her depression would leave and give her room to breath.

Slowly with a quivering hand, she reached out to where she knew the portal had lain. Surely the portal would be closed, but it didn't hurt to see...

She closed her eyes and extended her hand to touch the cold stone. But instead of a solid object touching her fingertips, her hand seemed to go through.

Sunset Shimmer's eyes opened immediately and she stared at her hand now going through the statue's base. A tingling sensation ran through her arm as she gasped.

How could the portal be open?

It would never be open unless Twilight was coming through...

She froze and her body tensed. There's no way...

After a while she realized that the portal couldn't be open for someone to pass through. That person would've been come through and/or discovered the hand poking out the other side. But there was a question that lingered in the air unspoken.

Could she go through?

Even if she could and returned to Equestria, she may be seen. But wouldn't she be seen regardless if she even wanted to redeem herself to Celestia? Holding her breath she looked back to the portal, wavering oddly while her hand remained inside it. It wouldn't hurt to go and try...

With nothing to lose, she stepped through.

The room she entered on the other side was...a library. It was vast and full of books that were on the shelves reaching up to the ceiling. Stacks of old maps lay strewn on the ground by the mirror. It was very dark and the only source of light was from torches on the walls. Apparently, it was night in Equestria as well.

She looked down at her feet. The light orange hooves she saw made her smile. She was a mare again. Sunset turned to examine herself in the mirror. The same red and yellow streaked mane she remembered reflected with a horn coming from the part in her hair. The same green eyes looked back at her on the gentle features of a mare, her muzzle small and round. On her flank was the sun with her iconic red and yellow colors. The mark gave her a sense of purpose.

It was her cutie mark. The bold icon symbolized her passion in life, her goal. And that was to one day be along side Celestia as she ruled. The sun itself represented the princess and the colors showed the closeness of her and the ruler...

But as of the moment the mark was depicting what was not true...

She was to be princess and help Celestia with her duties. If she hadn't been so hasty with trying to get there, none of this would've happened. And Twilight wouldn't have replaced her.

She glanced back at the huge shelves and began to move forward. The castle she was in was different from what she remembered. The last time she was there, this room was a chamber full of ancient artifacts and it was a lot smaller. Much smaller.

Things change all the time she thought.

Getting glimpses of the books and scrolls she had flashbacks of her past. She, like the girl after her, had a love for books. She'd read them all the way through, collecting and storing its contents in her mind. She loved reading about Equestrian History, Starswirl the Bearded, and the odd creatures in other worlds.

Sunset Shimmer found the exit from the library and stepped into a long hall.

The corridor was empty. No pony roamed the halls at this dark hour. Again, torches were set up to illuminate the place. She nervously walked down the corridor.

"Which way to the throne room..?"

She looked down both ends of the hall and randomly chose to walk down one way. In this foreign place she had no sense of direction.

Sunset got the feeling that this was a completely different castle. Something about the place was off. The mirror couldn't have been moved to a different castle, could it?

No. Just a different wingshe decided.

There was only this castle in Canterlot and who would bother to move a heavy mirror to the Crystal Empire?

From the corner of her eye, she saw something glint. Turning she saw it was a stain glass window. In the depiction was Twilight. Her five other friends were in the background wearing their elemental necklaces while a crown sat upon the princess' head. It was a very beautiful mural, with Twilight looking graceful yet powerful in the center. It suited her nicely.

The long, dark purple mane with a pink streak was cut in a Chinese bang above Twilight's violet eyes. The lavender coat appeared very relaxing to Sunset and reminded her of the flower with its soothing scent. Her strong pose really made the mare feel the importance of the princess in the stain glass window. Finally, the pink six point star on her flank was deliberately displayed for all to see.

The mare standing before it thought back to the setting sun and the bright star she had cried under earlier. The skies knew. It was strange though...It seemed she and the other princesses (excluding Cadence) had names to do with the sky. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Twilight, her...Everything was astronomical in a way.

Studying the mural even more, she made a sudden discovery.

Twilight, with her coat the cool shades of the night, was the exact opposite of her fiery colors of the sun. A sickening feeling set in her heart.

Celestia deliberately chose Twilight because she was the opposite of her.

Tears she thought had been all poured out sprung up in the corners of her eyes.

Princess Celestia really did hate her.

"Hey! Stop in the name of Celestia!" a gruff voice yelled.

A stallion wearing the royal armor plates stood firmly at the end of the hall. A guard! Before she could register what was going on, her feet shot down the other way. How could she not have been careful? She was a fugitive in this land. If she got caught it would be curtains for her.

No doubt would Celestia do something drastic. No doubt. Thinking that she could just talk it out with her was stupid. The realization of her and Twilight being completely different was all the proof she needed. Celestia hated her and all she had to worry about now was getting the hell out of there.

Author's Notes:

Wow! It's only the first day it's up and already about 50 people read the first chapter! Thank you all! Cover art will be coming up for this story in a little while. The cover's being done by yours truly and so it will take a while. Until it comes up, please enjoy this story and feel free to read my other stories as well.