A young girl, no older than eighteen adjusted her flared jeans before reaching down to tie a pair of stylish converses she was wearing. Anyone who was a shoe collector knew they were a limited edition pair, expensive and difficult to acquire. With a tight tug, the knot was tied, and the girl stood up tall observing the rest of her attire. A simple black t-shirt with a thin cardigan draping over her shoulders, her long extravagant hair tied back in a ponytail. She glanced over at a collection of hairpins trying to decide if she wanted to accessorize today. Deciding to roll with it, she grabbed a clip that resembled a spider with a turquoise stone in the center and snapped it into her thick hair. Frowning she realized she wasn’t satisfied with one accessory, so she quickly grabbed a bright pink ribbon and tied a bow around her neck and made a makeshift choker that also added some color to her mostly black, gray and dark-colored ensemble (which was commonplace for her). She felt herself smiling briefly. While she would have preferred to go a bit more stylish, she knew it was probably more ideal to go simple today. What she wouldn't have given to wear a lavish dress with a pair of the fun stockings and shoes that she had to match with it, however, she wanted to give the appearance of a "normal" girl today; given the circumstances.

As she peered back into a mirror, she leaned in closer to check for blemishes or pimples. She was fortunate that she lacked any and usually was blessed with relatively clear skin, so it should have come as no surprise. Ever since she reached her teenage years she feared being covered in acne, but her genetics seemed to play out in her favor. Anxiety often could cause breakouts, and to say she was experiencing anxiety would be an understatement. She could feel her entire body want to lock up and begged her to call this whole thing off. However she knew it was too late for that, she had to see this through.

Looking to her iPhone, she sighed as she flicked through the reminders, only trying to distract herself for a moment before forcing herself to look back into the mirror, gazing at her own teal eyes that seemed to light up the room as always; people were right, she had a powerful stare. Her mother used to joke about how it would make boys stutter when she got older.

She took her glasses off and tried to see how she felt about herself without them. After peering for a moment she decided she could never imagine trying to switch to contacts, her glasses simply completed her appearance. She had had them for as long as she could remember. She started wearing them around age six if she recalled correctly.

With a deep stressed breath, she nodded as she spoke to motivate herself, “you can do this,” she said out loud.

Leaning in, the girl checked her eyeliner to make sure it was up to par before looking down at her smartwatch to check the time again. The screen turned on and informed her she had a good five minutes before she would have to head out.

Taking another deep breath she looked back into the mirror and tried to assure herself once again.

“You can do this.”

Sunset found herself in an odd setting. Gazing around her she could see the silhouettes of dark figures she didn’t recognize. Two of them stood in the distance, and she could see their mouths moving, unable to make out a word they were saying. Looking down, she could see nothing but blackness, a never-ending void of nothingness that seemed to go one for eons. She stood seemingly on top of the nothing, floating in an empty abyss. Above her was
the same nothingness, below her, was endless emptiness, and no matter how much she squinted she couldn’t find anything resembling solid land, structures or virtually anything in the distance.

The girl noticed her wardrobe was odd as well. A fashionable sweater draped over her that was a size too large and she was wearing gold and silver bangles upon her wrists. There was even a watch on her wrist that she didn’t recognize. Curling her fingers she saw pink nail polish decorating her nails, clearly done with expertise. Sunset normally just kept her nails clipped.

This entire wardrobe felt out of character for her, and definitely out of her price range. The watch alone looked more expensive than her car and possibly her monthly rent for her apartment, combined.

She felt odd, like herself, but not like herself. There was a strange sensation of feeling out of place, out of her element. Something she couldn’t quite pinpoint but was nagging at the back of her head.

Looking back to the figures in the distance she tried again to make out what was being said. Their mouths moved, but the audio was too low to hear a single word. Finally, she called out to them.

“What?”

They moved their mouths again, but it was no use, hearing anything they said was just not possible.

Sunset spoke up, trying to see if it would encourage them to do the same. Her decibel level far exceeding what one would call an inside voice.

“WHAT!?”

No luck. The figures mouthed words in the same level of silence. No matter what Sunset did, or how much she tried to tune out any potential interference in her mind, the sounds coming from the mouths of the figures in the distance didn’t become clear speech to her.

Finally, the girl took a step forward to see if getting closer would help. The two figures turned into smoke and evaporated into the air almost instantly and before Sunset knew it the invisible floor of the endless abyss she stood upon disappeared and allowed her to fall into oblivion.

Falling she felt like she was picking up speed far faster than anyone actually would. The void seemed endless, and no collision was happening anytime soon, but nonetheless, her heart was racing in fear as she fell faster and faster, rapidly anticipating the approach of a bottom she feared colliding into.

In the distance she could hear a voice echo, just barely making out the words of a young-sounding girl.

"Nothing can make this right…"

The voice sounded so eerily familiar, like she had heard it before, but she couldn’t place her finger on where. Before she had a chance to make sense of it though, she could hear the sound of her phone ringing.

A dreadful dream filled Sunset’s head as she stirred in her bed. A dream interrupted by a familiar ringtone of “Call Me Maybe” coming from her phone. It was an old song at this point, but she wasn’t quite skilled enough to know how to replace her ringtones without help. Twilight helped her set it months ago and she couldn’t be bothered to try and change it. Sunset was about as technologically advanced as a hamster when it came to these kinds of things; she hadn’t the slightest clue what she was doing. One of the best parts of being friends with Twilight was having someone assist her with her technology illiteracy that wouldn’t bust her chops for it (much like her friend Rainbow who let no opportunity pass to give her a hard time about virtually anything).

The girl lifted herself up and placed her hands upon her own body, checking everything to make sure she was intact. Her dream had felt so real, and she could remember it so vividly. She had to make sure she was still intact. How did such a dream happen though? She had never truly dreamed of falling before, not like that. So much felt off and yet so familiar at the same time.

The girl wasn’t exactly educated on dreams in this universe, but she knew that in Equestria they can have far deeper meanings and connotations. It was hard to simply dismiss it as nothing. However, she composed herself and tried to calm down.

Finally grabbing her phone she didn’t even check who was calling before answering. She already had a pretty good idea regardless. “Ugh… Hello?” She grumbled.

“Are you still asleep? We’re supposed to be at the bowling alley at one,” Twilight’s voice rang in her ear.

Sunset groaned and complained, but her complaint came out mostly as an incoherent grumble as she lifted her phone away from her ear to see the time was 8:00 AM. Putting it back to her ear, she managed to form coherent sentences. “It’s only eight. I got plenty of time… I was planning on waking up at 11:15…” Sunset explained.

Twilight knew Sunset wasn’t a morning person, or at least she should have figured it out by now if she hadn’t yet. Any time an event was scheduled in the morning, Sunset was always late or would arrive half asleep with messy hair.

“You can put on your makeup, shower and be presentable in only a few minutes?” Twilight was almost astounded sounding.

With a chuckle, Sunset replied with, “well I was probably going to slum it, truthfully…”

“Well get yourself cleaned up, and let’s get moving. I wanted us to get lunch together before meeting with the others. I still owe you from the last time you bought me lunch,” Twilight responded.

Thinking back, Sunset had to dig through her memories to figure out what she was talking about. When her memory locked onto the specifics she rolled her eyes as she finally pushed the comforter off of herself and sat up. “Twilight that was like two months ago…”

Twilight sounded almost legitimately concerned, “I know, and I’ve had to live worrying about repaying you for all this time. You know how stressful it is to owe someone for so long?”

“Only you would stress over something so small…” Sunset replied.

With her phone still to her ear, Sunset made her way to the bathroom and began stripping off most of her clothing. Turning the shower on, she placed her hand in to check the temperature. Far too cold. For another thirty seconds or so, she fiddled with the settings to get it just right. Satisfied with it, she nodded as she looked into the mirror, phone still against her ear as she unhooked her bra.

“You know, most people would be ecstatic to have a friend who is so honest about making sure she pays her friends back.” Twilight huffed.

Sunset found herself laughing at Twilight’s odd behavior. “You’re right. Though next time, when I say I’ve got it, just let it happen.”

“I make no promises,” Twilight responded.

Sunset rolled her eyes, despite Twilight not being able to see her. “You know, part of this friendship thing is that you’re supposed to accept nice gestures from me without feeling guilty.”

“I guess I still have a lot to learn…” Twilight responded.

“That you do; alright, well I have to hop in the shower which I’ve just started, so meet you soon?” Sunset said.

There was a brief pause followed by Twilight speaking quietly in a very creeped out voice, “are you naked while talking to me?”

“You mean you’re not?” Sunset said jokingly.

“Ugh, you are such a dirty pervert!” Twilight grunted.

“You bring out the best in me, what can I say? That’s one of the true virtues of friendship,” Sunset teased.

“Didn’t anyone tell you to put some clothes on when you’re on the phone with someone!?” Twilight groaned.

“In my defense where I come from clothes are completely optional, and phones don’t exist.” Sunset decided it was more fun to be a smart aleck about it.

“No offense, but your home sounds like a weird place…” Twilight sighed over the phone.

Sunset nodded, even though the girl couldn’t see her. “It’s a one of a kind place, that’s for sure. Anyways, I’ll get dressed and meet up with you, okay?”

“Alright.”

Finally ending the call, she placed her phone on the bathroom counter and stepped into the steaming shower. Warm water ran down her fair skin and her mind began to clear of all thoughts, all except one, the dream she had just had.

Adjusting her summer dress strap, Sunset managed to get herself out of her old car that she parked in front of a familiar diner. She had chosen to go with something lightweight and simply chose to wear thin leggings underneath it, along with sandals. Her signature biker jacket left in her car. She always opted to wear leggings or pants if she could, simply because she felt awkward for some reason leaving her legs exposed. She never quite trusted dresses or skirts to fully shield her from exposure. Part of her missed just having a fur coat to keep warm, though admittedly in the summer like it was now, they were less than ideal.

Her eyes fixated on the window, seeing Twilight sitting at a booth waving to her. She had decided to wear a summer dress as well. It was a light lilac color, with the straps held up by what appeared to be pins that resembled Twilight’s hairpin she wore commonly. She must have had a ton of outfits to match those emblems. Interestingly enough she chose to wear her hair down today, which was odd for her. For as long as Sunset had known Twilight, she had only seen her hair down maybe twice.

Even stranger was that she was sporting earrings, which she actually seldom wore. Twilight had her accessories such as her hair clips, and hair bands, but earrings and other jewelry were rather rare for her.

Sunset stepped inside and instantly her nostrils were filled with the scent of cooking hamburgers and bacon. The mornings in this place were always filled with people ordering bacon. She noticed that was a thing for humans, an almost compulsive obsession with bacon, much to her disgust. Once Rainbow even joked that Sunset's hair resembled bacon.

Sitting down across from Twilight, Sunset gave her friend a bright smile which was returned to her with equal delight. “Well someone is looking good,” Sunset commented and added a whistle for effect.

Twilight blushed and brushed a strand of her hair awkwardly. “T-thank you…” she replied.

“And the hair down? I don’t think I’ve seen you with your hair down on purpose before, what’s the occasion? Hoping to sweet talk me into taking you to the prom?” Sunset quizzed with a snicker, knowing her jokes would annoy Twilight as they always had.

With a grunt of disgust, Twilight rolled her eyes and leaned in. “Okay, seriously… The more we talk the more I question your sexuality…”

Sunset let out a hearty laugh and found herself in a helpless fit of giggles at Twilight’s reaction to her joke. Wiping her eyes she snorted and shook her head. “Wow… I wasn’t expecting that as a comeback. To answer that question… Relax I’m being facetious… Or am I? but we’ll leave the conversation of my sexual orientation for another day."

Twilight blinked, a bit more surprised by Sunset’s answer than she expected, “well now I am more curious.”

“Guess you’ll have to keep guessing,” Sunset teased.

Twilight rolled her eyes, realizing that if she pressed it, Sunset would just keep running in circles over and over much like she always did when she wanted to wind Twilight up, which was a good chunk of the time. Predictably, Twilight always fell into the trap as well.

“So what is the occasion for you being all dressed up?” Sunset asked again.

Twilight’s blush from before returned tenfold and she looked away bashfully. “Timber offered to take me out to dinner after our get together tonight.”

Sunset whistled and nodded. “Nice, you like him?”

She nodded. “I do… Shy of you guys teasing me that is.”

“It’s all in good fun, but I’ll stop if that makes you feel any better,” Sunset replied.

“It’s fine,” Twilight dismissed, “shall we order?”

With a nod, Sunset picked up a menu and skimmed it over. Twilight did the same, and they were not looking at it for longer than a few minutes before the waitress arrived. The young girl smiled as she offered to take their order. Sunset could detect a hint of an orange-scented perfume on the young waitress whom when she looked up at her seemed to have a very peppy expression.

“Anything I can get you?”

“I’ll have a coke, and I’ll take the eggs and sausage combo,” Twilight said, handing her menu to the waitress. The waitress accepted it and looked over to Sunset with expecting eyes.

“Toast and a fruit parfait are fine,” Sunset said as she too handed the waitress the menu, “Oh and coffee.” Sunset admittedly was a coffee addict, drinking several cups a day, which to her good fortune wasn’t frowned upon in this universe either. Though the coffee in Equestria tasted slightly different.

The waitress nodded and wandered off to go and retrieve their orders. Twilight smirked at her order. “You always order that, any reason? Is it really good?”

“More like everything else is really bad,” Sunset grumbled.

“Oh? How so?” Twilight raised a brow.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “I’m mostly vegan.”

“Oh… Right… Sometimes I forget you’re a pony… Unicorn thing from another dimension.” Twilight rubbed her neck nervously.

Sunset leaned back in her seat and threw her head back as she let out a laugh. “Gee, you make me sound so normal when you say it like that.”

Twilight awkwardly shuffled in her seat and regretted the comment, feeling she may have actually offended Sunset. Was it racist to make jokes like that with a species from another world? It was difficult to keep up with differences in customs and Sunset never really shared a lot of her customs with her, or any of their friends for that matter.

Sunset quickly detected that Twilight was feeling uneasy by watching her face contort to a look of discomfort. She offered her a genuine smile to calm her down, which proved effective as she could see Twilight visibly become less tense in her seat. Sunset threw in an “It’s fine”, for good measure though, after all, Twilight was a little ball of stress sometimes it seemed. She knew Twilight to be the kind of person who stressed herself out before she knew all the details, and being kept on edge never did any good for her.

Trying to break through the awkward air, Twilight decided to expand upon the conversation, “I take it your culture doesn’t allow for meat-eating or animal products?”

“I said mostly vegan,” Sunset responded as she took a cup of coffee offered to her by their waitress. Pointing to Twilight with a spoon she was about to utilize to mix sugar into her coffee she added, “not too observant today.”

“Really? So do you drink milk?” Twilight asked with genuine interest.

“Sometimes, kind of hard not to when the cafeteria serves it every day. I don’t eat eggs though along with meat, so I guess that makes me more vegan leaning, I guess?” Sunset explained, not sure if she was making much sense.

“Don’t like the idea of eating unborn chickens?” Twilight raised a brow trying to make sense of it.

“More like they are just gross. I’ll eat them mixed into stuff like cookies or something, but eggs on their own are disgusting…” Sunset grimaced and shuddered just at the idea of the food.

“Sorry I ordered them now…” Twilight admitted.

Sunset gave her friend a dismissive hand gesture as she stirred her coffee; she wasn't the type of person to make others stop partaking in what they liked to appease her.

Taking a gentle sip of her coffee, she had gotten the mixture perfectly. “So, how are you doing, by the way? I know Camp Everfree was a whole thing for all of us, and you have been adjusting to this new school.”

Twilight placed a hand on her chest as she smiled. “Well, it’s a lot easier when you’re looking out for me.”

“Well, that’s good then…” Sunset replied rather quietly.

Twilight squinted and leaned in a bit. “Something wrong?”

Sunset sighed and placed her hand into her hair as she leaned her head into it and placed her elbow on the table to keep herself propped up. “It’s nothing really… Well, nothing I can really explain too well anyways…”

“Try anyway,” Twilight suggested.

Looking up at her friend she sighed. “Like… I feel like… I don’t know, that I’m missing something, you know? Like I’ve forgotten something, or that I am overlooking something. It’s strange because I know that I haven’t…”

“Déjà vu maybe?” Twilight raised a brow.

“I don’t know… Maybe… It’s a really strange feeling like I feel it and I feel… Sad for some reason…” Sunset frowned.

“Sad?” Twilight was definitely more confused than she was prior.

“I had a dream the other night where I was in a room all alone. Like… There were no windows or doors, it was just a tiny room no bigger than a shower stall and I was trapped there. I couldn’t get out, I couldn’t get anyone to come and help, and no one heard me no matter how loud I yelled…” Sunset explained before taking a long sip of her dark beverage.

Twilight leaned back in thought. Her hand went to her chin as she contemplated the dream before giving her best-educated guess as to what would be on Sunset's mind., “Are you feeling lonely perchance?”

Sunset shook her head. “I don’t think so. I have all of you guys and that’s more than enough for me.”

“Maybe lonely in… Another sense…” Twilight suggested as she adjusted her glasses and blushed awkwardly.

Sunset laughed at the proposal. “I think the last thing my life needs is romance. I can only imagine how much drama that would be. Especially the part where I drop on them that I’m actually from another universe. That’ll be television worthy, no doubt.”

“People get lonely, Sunset.” Twilight shrugged.

Sunset sighed and nodded. “True, but I’m pretty sure it’s not like that… I don’t feel it in me, you know? I have all of you guys to keep me company.”

“Sometimes that’s not enough, Sunset. Sometimes people need more,” Twilight offered.

Sunset shrugged. “Maybe, but I’m pretty sure it’s not that. Trust me, even if I am not from this universe I know what it means to be… Err… Repressed…” The girl blushed as she attempted to clean up that statement as much as possible.

With an awkward cough, Twilight shrugged again. “What else could it be?”

“Dunno, but it’s driving me crazy…” Sunset answered. She took a long sip of her drink and decided it was wise to tell her friend about the dream she had this morning as well. “I had a dream this morning as well… A strange one… I was floating in this never-ending blackness… In the distance, there were these two people trying to tell me something, but I couldn’t hear them no matter how hard I tried. When I tried to get closer to hear the two of them, I fell and I was just falling. It was… Kind of chilling…” Sunset admitted as she shrunk into her seat lazily.

Twilight nodded. “Sounds pretty scary.”

“Definitely shook me up, that’s for sure,” Sunset admitted.

“I’m sure it’ll come to you, Sunset. You’re smart; I know you can figure this out if you try. Chances are you’re just stressing about something else,” Twilight reassured.

Sunset took another long sip of her coffee and smiled as the sensation overtook her. She enjoyed coffee back home, so she was thankful that it was here in the human world as well. The ability to enjoy some of her former luxuries was always nice. Looking back to her friend, she shot her the same smile to give her the message that she was alright.

“Nonetheless, I wrote a message to the princess about it. Maybe she has the answer,” Sunset informed.

Twilight blinked and leaned in more curious than ever, her inner scientist peeking out. “I still find it fascinating that there is another Twilight in another universe that is a princess. Not exactly a role that I’d imagine myself doing…”

Sunset chuckled. “Yeah, the two of you are relatively different, but you share a lot of similarities. I’d say that Princess Twilight is far ditsier than you at least.”

“Hey!” Twilight huffed in what almost appeared as a false protest, however, it was difficult to tell for Sunset.

Snickering, Sunset rolled her eyes. “It was a compliment; you’re less ditsy than her.”

“I’m not ditsy…” Twilight pouted.

“Kind of are,” Sunset insisted.

“Name one time,” Twilight grumbled as she crossed her arms in protest.

“The other week you accidentally tripped over Spike’s toy and landed face-first in his dog bowl.” Sunset rolled her eyes.

“That was… Well…” Twilight wanted to find a way to object but found herself just blushing with embarrassment instead. Sunset had a pretty good memory when it was essential to busting her chops.

With a sigh, Twilight shook her head. “Okay, granted I can be a bit clumsy…”

“A little?” Sunset snickered.

“I’m not admitting more than that.” Twilight pouted.

Sunset nodded and decided to leave that subject alone for now. “Anyways, I am hoping the princess can figure this out.”

“You’ve got nothing to worry about, she sounds very capable,” Twilight responded with a glass in her hand.

Their food had just arrived, and as Sunset took her plate she smiled at her friend. “Yeah… You’re probably right…”

Princess Twilight usually was her best bet at figuring stuff like this out, so there was a good possibility that Twilight was correct. Even if the problem sounded like it might be out of the princess’ expertise, there was always a possibility that she could offer some kind of meaningful insight; at least that’s what Sunset hoped for.

With a powerful flick of her wrist and a coordinated throw, Applejack sent a bowling ball directly down the center lane. Within a matter of a second, the ball knocked down all ten pins with ease. She turned and smirked at Rainbow Dash who was already rolling her eyes at the potential bragging. Applejack dusted her knuckles playfully as she stepped next to her friend and patted her shoulder gently, a smirk creeping up on her face as she began taunting. “No worries, I’m sure you can throw a third strike in a row like I did.” Applejack teased.

Rainbow groaned and swatted Applejack’s hand away. “Yeah no fair, you have super strength, remember?”

“Strength had nothing to do with it,” Applejack insisted.

“Whatever,” Rainbow replied as she tossed her ball, with a bit of luck and effort, she managed to match Applejack’s strike, much to Applejack’s annoyance.

“You two are far too competitive, you know that?” Rarity called out from behind the scoring seat.

Sunset walked back into the room after returning from the bathroom, just catching the tail end of that conversation, deciding to add her commentary, “seriously, just kiss and get it over with," she teased.

Rainbow and Applejack both turned a shade of crimson at the suggestion, acting dumbfounded. “W-wha?” Rainbow managed to get out. Applejack’s entire face lit up to the point where it was clear she was paralyzed for a moment. Her mind for a brief moment imagined her and Rainbow actually kissing, and embarrassment overtook her.

Rarity kicked her feet excitedly as her body contorted together in a manner that suggested she was having a “moment”. She cooed and spoke in a higher-pitched voice of pure excitement, “Ooooooh that would be so cute! I could see it now! Hmmmm, which one of you would wear the tuxedo?” Rarity paused as she placed a finger under her chin in thought.

Applejack shook her head finally snapping back to reality. She gave a scornful look at Sunset. “See what y’all did? Now she’s plannin' our weddin'.”

Applejack wasn’t far off, as Rarity’s mind was already racing with what kind of wedding the two would have. Would it be a spring wedding or a winter one? What kind of dishes would be served?

Sunset found herself snickering. “Sorry… Though not entirely…”

Applejack sighed and stepped over to Rarity and snapped her fingers in front of the girl to try and break her out of her wedding planning trance. “Earth to Rarity. Wake up.” Rarity blinked and looked directly at the cowgirl. “Rainbow an' I ain’t getting married. We’re just friends.”

“Keep telling yourselves that…” Sunset antagonized.

Rarity pouted and frowned as her wedding plans were shut down.

Rainbow finally spoke up, “Don’t encourage her. Once she got the impression that I liked Soarin so she came over to my house with like seventy dresses for me to try on to impress him. She wouldn’t listen when I told her it wasn’t like that.”

“In my defense, you looked fabulous in many of those…” Rarity huffed.

“I’d like to see that…” Sunset giggled.

Rarity leaned in to speak in a more hushed tone to her friend, Sunset, “I have pictures…”

“I CAN HEAR YOU! DON’T YOU DARE! I SWEAR TO GOD RARITY I WILL END YOU!” Rainbow’s face turned red with fury.

Rarity gave a dismissive hand gesture to her friend.

Returning from the kitchen area, Fluttershy and Pinkie carried a set of trays with drinks for the entire group. Fluttershy began to pass them out, remembering to give the only diet to Rarity. No one in the group had the heart to tell her that diet soda isn’t really dietary, though they had the suspicion that Rarity knew this and just liked fooling herself.

Sipping her drink, Applejack spoke up, “so Sunset, Twilight says you wrote to the princess recently?”

Sunset nodded at the inquiry. “Yeah, I’ve just been feeling a bit off lately. Like something is bothering me, but I can’t quite figure out what. Strange dreams, déjà vu all the time, I don’t know. Maybe I’m just going crazy, but I’m hoping that the princess has the answers.”

“Knowing you? Crazy sounds like a good bet,” Rainbow teased.

Sunset merely rolled her eyes.

“Could it have anything to do with that?” Fluttershy asked as she pointed into the distance.

Sunset peered in the direction that her friend was pointing to find herself locked onto a television hanging next to the scoreboard. It usually reported the local news, and today was no exception. Sunset’s eyes lit up as she saw a girl with red and yellow hair appear for a brief second. Her head turned to Rarity at the controls. “Turn it up!” Sunset requested.

With a nod, Rarity raised the volume so the girls could hear the report; all of them fell silent as they listened, almost in a trance as they paid close attention.

An attractive anchorwoman spoke to the audience in a serious tone. The girls had started watching in the middle of the broadcast so they had missed some of what she had said, but they paid attention nonetheless.

“Five years ago, the Shimmer family as many will remember were involved in a terrible tragedy that to this day remains unsolved. Channel 4 here was the first on the story those five years ago.” The anchorwoman seemed to enjoy tooting her channel’s horn.

“Dusky Shimmer, owner of the Canterlot Institute, a wealthy millionaire many times over along with his wife Spark Shimmer both found dead in their Canterlot home those five years ago. A brutal murder leaving their only child, Sunset as the sole survivor. Many may remember this story when we covered it. To this day very little is known regarding the murder and the police will not comment on the case.” The Television showed a photo of what appeared to be a twelve-year-old Sunset on the screen. The group took notice of her glasses which Sunset never considered what she’d look like with. To say her interest was peaked was an understatement.

“For the next five years, she fought her remaining relatives for her vast inheritance. By the age of fourteen she was declared legally emancipated and for these five long years lived in solitude, refusing to speak to the press and has declined any and all interviews. That five-year-long silence though ends today, as we are about to go live to a speech that Ms. Shimmer is going to deliver at the Canterlot Institute.” The anchorwoman placed her hand over her ear before speaking again, “I have just received word that we are going live to the speech right now.”

The scene flipped to a camera zooming into a podium in front of hundreds of students and teachers. There, taking the podium was a young-looking girl with her long red and yellow hair locked up in a large ponytail. Stylish glasses perched upon her nose, and a very lavish and attractive cardigan draped over her. The group was in awe just watching her.

Clearing her throat, the girl spoke with a voice very familiar to the Sunset they all knew.

“Hello and thank you for attending this event. As many of you know, the new school semester begins in a few weeks and we have many new faces, which I am thrilled to greet. For those of you attending your first semester here at Caterlot Institute in September, I say welcome and thank you for being here. My father founded this school as a place of prestige and higher learning. To all of you attending, let me extend not only my thank you for making this school what it is today, but my congratulations for making it here. Canterlot Institute prides itself on being the best of the best, and you all have proven that, and you’re the reason why we’re the best of the best. You have all achieved greatness simply by stepping onto this campus and proving you are worthy of being here.” The girl paused and shuffled through some notes.

“I apologize for my absence from the scene for these many years. I have come here today though to announce that the Shimmer family will be donating three million dollars to the school out of our personal fortune to expand the school’s facilities and open up new scholarships to assist students in paying for their education here. My father believed heavily in the forwarding of education, and I intend to carry on that ideal through his school. That is why I am also opening up the Dusky Shimmer scholarship fund as well to reach out to poor areas and help fund those living in poor neighborhoods a chance to receive an education here in honor of my father.” The girl was forced to pause as the entire crowd went into a positive uproar at the revelation. Cheers were spread throughout the area as Sunset waved to the crowd, trying to get them to settle down for a brief moment. Finally achieving silence, she leaned into the microphone again. The girl could already hear reporters barraging her with questions in the front row. She looked down at them and then spoke. One of them yelled loud enough for all to hear a question, “Miss Shimmer, do you intend to attend Canterlot Institute yourself now that you are reaching that age?”

“No further comment.” She said as she stepped away from the podium. The reporters were frenzying trying to get some kind of reaction out of her, but it was a pointless effort. The camera zoomed in on her leaving the area and quickly switched to a shot of her getting into an expensive car and pulling out before flipping back to the anchorwoman.

“And there you have it, Sunset Shimmer, heir to the Shimmer fortune, breaks her five-year silence after the murder of her family. Unfortunately, we were unable to secure an interview with her, however, we did get the following statement from a representative of hers from the school; 'Miss Shimmer is a very busy person. While she appreciates the media’s interest in her story, she cannot comment at this time and has no statements regarding the school or personal affairs. We ask that all respect her privacy.'” The woman on the television adjusted the papers on her desk.

Fluttershy looked over at her friends, worry, and concern in her eyes. They all looked at each other and then back at Sunset who was standing there with her jaw hanging open in total disbelief. Her friend Twilight stepped towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her. “Well… I guess this explains a lot?”

She was frozen in place for a few seconds, her mind having a difficult time processing this information. Her entire brain turned to mush for a brief moment before snapping back to reality and forcing herself to digest it.

Sunset nodded and found herself taking a seat, trying to take all of this in, but finding it exceedingly difficult. “Yeah… there’s… another Sunset here…”

So again special thanks to Applety for the artwork. She's awesome, you guys should go check her out and send her lots of RariJack.

Also noticed art from the story instantly went up on Derpibooru last week when the first chapter came out. I actually wasn't expecting that, but it's very appreciated. Thanks especially for linking back to the story and crediting Applety as the artist. Means a lot to both of us!

Also love you guys for supporting this project. I'm glad people are enjoying it so far.