Recently taking the crown of the fall formal yet again, Sunset was feeling much more confident, even though she had to threaten her opponents into not running. With a lot of training and personal discipline, Sunset had become quite formidable in a fight, and with her incredible sixth sense for reading people, she was exceptional at finding emotional weak points and digging up dirt on people to keep them from standing in her way. It all finally made sense to her, in Canterlot Celestia and the other students at the magic academy never accepted Sunset’s sheer talent. Her knack for learning quickly and mastering abilities didn’t phase them. The same was true about this place; no one was willing to accept her based solely on her talents.

Since she was a child she always recalled having a hard time fitting in. She grew up mostly in solitude, being home-schooled to excel at magic. Her tutors were for a long time the only interaction she got with other ponies aside from her parents.

Learning quickly, she assumed that the magic academy would be a cakewalk for her until Celestia started to pressure her to make friends, which she tried when her mentor wasn’t looking, but it almost never worked out. Most ponies saw her as weird, abnormal, or just plain odd and made fun of her. It only pushed her more towards solitude, but now for the first time in her life people were paying attention to her, and all it took was a few threats.

Standing in front of her locker, she looked over her appearance. For a brief moment, she wondered what she’d look like with eyeliner. She was starting to get used to human anatomy and fashion, realizing what looked good and what didn’t to other humans.

Rubbing her dry lips with a chap-stick, she blinked as she felt a shake on the locker next to her. Taking a step back from her locker and the mirror inside it, she shut it and looked to her right.

Standing there was a taller male with his hand placed upon the locker next to hers with a smile across his face. Blue hair, and a chiseled face, he had a very “cool guy” demeanor as he stood there, zipped up in a hoodie with some band that Sunset was unfamiliar with upon it.

“Hey,” he said.

She blinked and sized him up before replying quietly, “hey…”

“So, I saw you won the Fall Formal Princess again?” He inquired.

As if that wasn’t obvious.

“I did.” She nodded, unsure of what he was getting at.

“I’m Flash by the way.” He offered his hand for her to shake.

She looked down at it and took it in her own shaking it lightly. “Sunset.”

He nodded. “I like that name. It’s pretty, suits you.” He smiled.

Sunset never considered her name as pretty, or herself as pretty for that matter. Appearances were something she hadn’t really thought about back in Equestria, it wasn’t until she came here where clothing was mandatory that she began to think about what she looked like to others. Since she spent so much time not being noticed, how she came off to those around her never really came to her mind.

“Thank you… I think…” Sunset rubbed her neck, unsure of what she should say to such a compliment.

He didn’t seem to mind, as he just chuckled at her lack of understanding on how to take such a compliment.

“I was wondering if maybe you were doing something this weekend?” He asked.

“Well, I use the weekends to practice my bow skills and Tai Kwon Do,” she replied.

He laughed, clearly thinking she was joking. “Would you perhaps be willing to put that aside to maybe go catch a movie with me? What kind of movies do you like?”

Sunset blinked. “I don’t know… Truthfully I’ve never watched one, except the documentaries we’re forced to watch in class. Do those count?”

He chuckled again and smiled. “You’re weird.”

Sunset’s face quickly turned to an almost scowl at that comment, but he spoke again before she could tell him off. “I like it.”

“Y-you do?” She tilted her head in confusion. Her whole life she always knew being "weird" as a negative thing.

He nodded and offered her a piece of paper. “In case you decide you want to check out a movie, I’ll be willing to help you pick one out that sounds interesting.”

With that, he gave a wave and wandered off into the hall which was slowly filling with people. Looking down to her hands, Sunset unfolded the paper he had handed her to see what she presumed was a phone number written down with the name “Flash Sentry” written directly above it.

Did he just ask me out?

Jamming away at the buttons of an arcade machine, Rainbow Dash kept a stellar focus on the screen as she tried to surpass her old score. She had set the record on this machine before, but some kid came in and beat her score that rested as the champion for nearly three years and she wasn’t about to have that. She must have dumped at least a dozen quarters at this point trying to get back on top. Years of being out of practice meant she’d have to rebuild skill to win back her place at the top, but the competitive nature of the girl kept her going.

Sunset stood next to her leaned up against another machine as she flipped through her phone, trying to make sense of what to do.

Still keeping her eyes glued to her game, Rainbow spoke to her friend, “so you actually plan on meeting the other Sunset?”

Sunset looked up from her phone and nodded. “I have to try. Something inside of me tells me that I need to do this like I can’t just ignore it, you know?”

Rainbow nodded. “I guess that makes sense. If there was a second me in the world I’d be inclined to meet her too, but probably for totally different reasons. Imagine how awesome it would be to play against myself. That would be a match that would take decades to finish!” The girl bragged.

Sunset rolled her eyes at the athlete’s ego and looked back to her phone. She could see a message from Twilight.

Sleep over at my place?

She smiled and quickly typed up a reply.

So long as this isn’t a clever ruse for you to come onto me.

Truthfully, she expected a grossed out reply from Twilight, but it was clear that she was slowly getting used to Sunset’s jokes.

If it was, you wouldn’t be able to resist anyway, so there’s no sense in worrying about it.

Trying to contain Giggles, Sunset wrote up a response.

And what makes you so sure?

Twilight quickly sent a reply that Sunset really couldn’t think of a comeback for.

I’m a scientist. I’ve mathematically calculated the chances of you being able to say no to me if I threw my best effort at you, and scientifically speaking it’s simply not possible. Math is on my side here.

She didn’t give Twilight enough credit; she could definitely squeeze in a nice burn or two.

Rainbow caught her friend’s attention again, “hey.”

Looking over to her, Sunset put her phone away and listened.

“Meeting this other Sunset… I get that you feel you need to do it, and if that’s what you are going to do, I’ll stand by you as a friend, but do understand this could be dangerous. Not necessarily for you, but for her,” Rainbow explained.

Sunset tilted her head in confusion. “Why’s that?”

Rainbow sighed and paused her game. She looked over to Sunset with a serious expression, giving the girl her full attention now instead of half-heartedly. “Her parents were murdered. According to the police, she saw it happen too. She’s probably all kinds of unstable from that. The whole pony from another universe thing may be overwhelming to her. All I’m saying is maybe know when to back off, okay? It’s fine to try and help her, but just know when she can’t handle things. You need to not go into this assuming she’s going to be like you. She’s a different person, different background, different everything. She may come off as similar to you, but don’t get the wrong idea.”

The other teen had a point. Sunset kind of was going into this assuming that this other Sunset would be very similar to herself, and she should erase those thoughts from her head before she went into this.

She nodded and agreed. “True, I’ll try and keep that in mind.”

Rainbow smiled and nodded as well. “Besides if you think having two of you can beat me at sports you have another thing coming.”

“Who knows, maybe she’s far better at sports than me.” Sunset laughed.

“That’s not saying much.” Rainbow snickered.

Twilight’s home was fairly large, but it originally was to accommodate two children and not just one. When her elder brother left to go to college and eventually got married, his room became Twilight’s and his study was turned into a study for the budding scientist. Her old room was converted into a second guest room. Twilight’s parents were in some kind of medical professional, but Sunset couldn’t recall the name. It was something super complicated sounding and she felt foolish asking again because she couldn’t remember.

Sitting on Twilight’s bed, Sunset reached into a bag of chips and took a handful as Twilight returned to the room with soda bottles in hand. Taking one in her free hand, Sunset nodded in thanks as she chewed upon some chips with a full mouth.

Twilight looked interesting in yellow pajamas, but Sunset didn’t think much of it. She had the same old pajamas she always wore to these occasions. Owning only one pair meant she had to wear them multiple times before washing them, and occasionally just sleep in her underwear back at home.

Her friend hopped up onto the bed with her and sat next to her smiling. “Miss me?” She asked.

Sunset smirked. “Oh but of course. In the two minutes you were gone I realized that I’ve fallen deeply in love with you and that I want to marry you and have your babies!” Sunset placed her hand across her forehead in an overly dramatic pose as she spoke.

Twilight simply rolled her eyes and giggled. “I can only imagine what our children would be like…”

“Well if they are a mix of you and me, they will be smart and smart-asses.” Sunset smirked.

Twilight burst out laughing and took a moment to calm herself down. She had forgotten how funny her close friend could be sometimes without even trying. Catching her breath from the laughter she shook her head. “Oh wow…”

Sunset winked as she twisted the cap off of her soda. “What can I say, I should be a comedian.”

“You really should. I’d pay to see you,” Twilight assured.

She nudged her friend’s shoulder playfully. “You’re my friend; you’re supposed to say that.”

“I’d go see you even if we were worst enemies,” Twilight asserted.

“You’re full of it, but I’ll take your word for it.” Sunset smiled before taking a sip of her soda.

“I wish your parents didn’t only buy diet, this stuff is crap,” Sunset commented.

Twilight let out an exasperated sigh and nodded, leaning back into her bed. “My parents are weird.”

“Weird? Nah. I mean I’m pretty sure every family keeps X-rays of their daughter hung up in their living room,” Sunset teased.

Twilight shook her head and sighed. “Why can’t I come from a normal family?”

“Join the club,” Sunset remarked.

At those words, Twilight sat up and looked to Sunset with concern. “You never told me what your family is like…”

Sunset shrugged, unsure of how to answer. “Not much to tell. They were workaholics, and I went to a prestigious school where I dormed at a young age. I didn’t see them that often.”

“What about when you got older?” Twilight asked.

Getting a bit uneasy, Sunset shuffled in her seat. “They stopped visiting as much… I don’t remember seeing them at all in my last two years as Celestia’s student…”

“Do they even know you’re here?” Twilight’s voice was growing more and more concerned.

“Probably not. They must think I’m dead or something…” She shrugged.

“Sunset…” Twilight frowned and placed a hand upon her friend’s thigh.

“It’s fine. We were never really that close, Twilight.” Sunset assured her.

“Perhaps this is why you’re so interested in the other Sunset?” Twilight suggested.

Finishing her soda, Sunset set the bottle down and raised a brow, unsure of what Twilight was getting at.

“What do you mean?” She questioned.

Twilight sighed and shook her head. “You were distant from your parents. This Sunset’s parents were murdered. Perhaps you’re curious as to what it would look like to you if your parents actually died; you’re wondering if it would make a difference to you.”

“It’s possible…” Sunset admitted.

“I just don’t want you getting hurt, Sunset… You can't live vicariously through someone else after all,” Twilight said.

Sunset smiled at her friend, a bit proud of how much of a good friend Twilight had turned into with her guidance. It was like she had a student of her own that was learning quickly under her wing. It felt nice to be useful in that regard.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be careful, I promise. It's nothing like that anyway,” Sunset said.

With her head in some books, a young unicorn found herself in the library where she spent most of her time. Her eyes glued to the pages of some other book about magic, and she would practice in quiet and solitude until she was content with her abilities. Today though, she noticed a group of other students causing a ruckus on the other side of the library.

She poked her head up from her book to see where the librarian was and why she wasn’t putting a stop to this blatant violation of the noise policy. Sure enough, she could see a sign on her desk stating she stepped out for a lunch break. With a sigh, Sunset closed her book and approached the group cautiously trying to observe from afar for a brief moment before closing in.

The group was laughing and chuckling as they kicked a sack of beans back and forth to each other without letting it touch the ground. Sunset squinted as she watched from afar trying to make out why they were doing this, but ultimately determined it was some kind of game.

Straightening herself up she approached and cleared her throat before speaking in a hushed tone so as to not disturb others.

“Excuse me, this is a library, could you please keep it down?” She requested.

One of the young stallions in the group blinked and shrugged. “Sorry, we’re just here waiting for our friend to come. We got bored so we were just playing a game while we waited.”

“Yes well… I’d appreciate it if you waited in silence,” Sunset grumbled.

Another one in the group tilted his head and raised a brow. “Chill out, we said we’re sorry,” he said.

“Yes well…” Sunset paused, unsure of how to handle the situation from here. She thought for a moment and then finally added, “just… Take it outside.”

The group nodded, deciding it best not to protest further and took their leave. Sunset sighed contently before returning to her seat. She would have continued reading some more if it weren’t for a shadow casting over her from behind, causing her to turn around.

There standing over her was a majestic older looking mare. Shining astral mane flowing and a golden grown perched across her head. Her face, however, was contorted into one of concern. “Sunset… May I sit with you for a moment?”

The young pony nodded. “Of course, Princess.”

Celestia sat down directly next to Sunset and sighed as she thought of how to breach this difficult subject. She knew it was there lingering for some time now but was unsure of how to address it. Ultimately she decided to just come out with it. “Sunset… Why didn’t you ask to join those ponies?”

The student couldn’t even comprehend the question for a moment. “Join them? As in, take time away from my important studies to go and play some nonsense game with a bunch of strangers?”

“It could lead to you making some friends for a change…” Celestia suggested.

Sunset laughed lightly. “Friends? I have no need for such things. I have my studies and that’s all I need.”

Celestia sighed, knowing that the two had had this discussion before, and Sunset always found a way to cleverly avoid the subject despite how many times Celestia brought it up. The old mare just couldn’t think of a way to address the subject to get Sunset to listen.

She placed a hoof upon her student’s shoulder and smiled warmly. “Well… I’ll leave you to your studies, alright?”

Sunset smiled warmly at her mentor and nodded. “Thank you, Princess. I won’t let you down, I promise!”

Celestia nodded as she walked away. “Yes, I’m well aware.”

She couldn’t tell her the truth. It was a difficult subject for Sunset to approach or open up about, but she had tried to make friends when she first got here, she actually tried a lot when she was younger, but she was always the odd one out. She never truly fit in with any crowd and most of the foals when she was young picked on her and said she was weird for having odd interests. She would try again, but get shot down again, and as the years passed she eventually just stopped trying altogether. She had accepted being alone.

Her parents sent her to this prestigious school to study though, and she was determined to do that rather than goof off making friends. She was a star student of Celestia, an achievement that few could boast. She intended to make the most of it and maybe one day it would pay off for her.

One day.

Staring at a nearby clock, Sunset sighed as she fixed her skirt. Truthfully she detested this thing, but it was something that was appropriate for girls to wear in this world and she lacked any kind of funds to get anything else. She was living on a tight budget, and new clothing aside from what she already had simply wasn’t in the budget.

Sitting in the booth of a local pizzeria reminded her of back home for a brief moment. She recalled a pizza place down the street from her home in Canterlot. She used to go there a lot as a child and get a vanilla shake with her allowance.

Her thinking was interrupted as a familiar blue-haired young man took a seat across from her, a goofy smile plastered across his face as he met her eyes. She blinked, unsure of what to make of any of this. Prior to making it here, she had read up on the subject of dating, as she truthfully didn’t really understand it even in an Equestrian sense. As a child she didn’t really get crushes or get asked out. She recalled skipping her own school dances quite frequently in favor of more studies.

The boy yawned and stretched. “Sorry I’m late; band practice was going on forever. One of our guys kept breaking his bass string, it was pretty stupid,” he commented.

Sunset shrugged. “I’m not sure what that is,” she admitted.

He blinked and leaned in. “It’s an instrument.”

“Ah, I know very little about music truthfully…” She rubbed her neck.

“I could teach you.” He grinned with pride at the idea.

“Perhaps…” Sunset shrugged, having no strong feelings either way.

He nodded and there was silence for a brief moment. Feeling the tension, Sunset decided to try and cut through it with an ice breaker she had learned. “So um… Tell me about yourself?”

Leaning back in his seat, Flash looked up in thought, trying to figure out where to start. Deciding he smiled. “Well, as you know I’m in a band! We’re called Flash Drive. Sort of like the USB device?”

Sunset tilted her head. “USB?”

“It’s a computer thing… I take it you’re not very tech-savvy?”

Sunset shook her head. That was the understatement of the century; Sunset was still trying to figure out what all this talk about “Bluetooth” was. She had learned how to use a phone and a computer for basic things, and even search the internet, but for the most part, she didn’t understand how any of these things worked and previously assumed they were run on magic to some degree.

He nodded and smiled. “Well, it’s a little thing you plug into a computer and it stores your information… Sort of…”

Sunset took a sip of water and shrugged again, unsure of what to make of this human technological wonder. It didn't seem particularly useful in her mind.

He pointed to her with a smile. “You don’t talk much do you?”

“I don’t know what to talk about,” Sunset admitted.

“Why not start with telling me about yourself? Where you’re from? What your hobbies are?” Flash suggested.

Sunset had never been asked to tell anyone about herself. It was good he gave her some suggestions otherwise she wouldn’t even know where to begin on that subject. Though perhaps telling him where she was from wasn’t the best idea, so she decided to keep it vague.

“I come from a place really far away from here…” She grew quiet.

“I had a feeling you were from far away… You don’t really seem like you enjoy this area too much…” He frowned.

She nodded. “I really hate it here, to be honest… But I’m stuck here…”

“Parents force you to move?” He asked curiously.

Sunset shook her head. “No… I live by myself.”

“Really? Why’s that?” Flash blinked.

“My parents are pretty hands-off… They haven’t really ever been actively involved in my life. I went to boarding school when I was young and I’ve sort of been by myself since…” Sunset could feel the memories coming back. All those nights by herself as a child. At first, it hurt, but as time went on she grew used to the idea.

“Sounds rough, but at least you’re here now!” Flash attempted to cheer her up.

She smiled half-heartedly, knowing he was trying to help, but there was little he could say to make her feel much better about her worthless childhood.

“Either way… Sometimes I wish I could go home…” She sighed.

He reached across the table and placed his hand atop of hers. She blinked and looked across the table to be met with his caring and concerned eyes. “I’ll do what I can to make you feel more at home here, promise.”

She looked back to his hand then up to his eyes again. Trying to break through more awkwardness she decided to continue answering his questions. “As for hobbies… I like to read a lot I suppose… I wouldn’t call it a hobby, but I’m pretty good at camping and survival skills.”

“You didn’t strike me as a camping kind of girl,” he admitted.

She chuckled. “I’m not. My dad took us once and it was a disaster. He spent forever trying to figure out how to set up a tent. I’ve gotten better over the years on my own; I am pretty good with a bow too.”

He laughed. “Man, you are weird.”

She frowned, but like before he smiled and cheered her up with his next words, “I like that about you. You’re not afraid to be you.”

She could find herself smiling, legitimately for a change. No one had ever praised her for her abnormal nature. “Heh… Thanks… So far you’re the only one.”

“People judge books by their cover sadly. A lot of people see me and assume I’m a troublemaker,” Flash admitted playfully.

“I didn’t think that…” Sunset said.

He nodded and squeezed her hand. “I know you didn’t.”

It was strange, Celestia always stressed how she should go out and make some friends, but here was a boy who went out of his way to become friends with her, who saw past her odd mannerisms and thought well of her and she didn’t have to do anything. Maybe she could figure this friendship thing out, maybe.

Running down the hallway with a bone in his maw was a rather clumsy German Sheppard that approached his master’s study where he knew she’d be as she was most of the time when she wasn’t in the lab. The dog knew he wasn’t permitted in there, so he always waited for her to leave before he approached.

Flopping into the room, he approached an older teen sitting at her desk writing down some notes. The dog trotted up to her and placed the bone upon her lap as he sat on the floor directly in front of her.

She brushed a stray lock of her hair out of her face and looked down at the bone, then to the dog. With a smile, she picked up the bone and wiggled it in the air. The dog’s eyes followed it discretely as she did so.

“Wanted to play, did you, Moon? Okay, but only for a minute, mommy has a lot of work to do,” she explained.

Her companion responded with a bark.

She tossed the bone across the room, and the big dog jumped across the floor and gripped the bone, returning back with it in his mouth triumphantly. His master giggled as she watched him return to her, placing his head in her lap. Reaching out, she began to rub his cheeks as she looked down at the dog.

“Sometimes I think you’re the only one who gets me, Moon.” She laughed.

“I know I’ve been busy a lot, but I promise we’ll go to the courtyard soon and play.” She smiled, as the dog leaned into her petting. “And yes, I know I said that before, but mommy has been very busy for a while now. I’m getting closer to a breakthrough, I can feel it.”

Moon looked up at her with the eyes of a creature that clearly had no idea what she was talking about, but she giggled and petted his head.

“Don’t worry, when I make the discovery I’ll put you on the paper. After all, I probably couldn’t have done it without your never-ending emotional support. Don’t know why they say dogs are man’s best friend.” She laughed.

Her eyes gravitated to a photograph in a frame of the dog and herself. She remembered how long her mother spent combing her long wavy red and yellow hair that day. There standing next to her, hugging both her and the dog was an older man with thick-rimmed glasses and a scruffy beard. His tie was poorly knotted, and you could see he had a cowlick, but she always enjoyed that picture of her father.

On the other side, her mother stood, exactly as Sunset remembered her: gorgeous. Her father was always saying how her mom was a catch and that a guy like him had no business with a girl like her. She was a very pretty woman that was for sure; long legs, silky red hair, shining blue eyes, and nearly perfect skin. While she had a pale complexion far more so than Sunset, she almost looked like a doll. Her features were simply perfect.

“I miss them, Moon…” She thought out loud.

The dog grumbled and looked up to her with sad eyes, clearly detecting her feelings.

“At least I still have you, right?” She smiled and petted him.

A loud ringing sound throughout the house startled her at that moment. Composing herself, she realized it was merely the doorbell. With a grumble, she stood up, and the dog followed. It was probably more reporters or something. Approaching an intercom she sighed and pressed the button to speak with the person at the front gate.

“Hello?”

Sunset’s hands were shaking as she parked her car and inhaled then exhaled. Anxiety was starting to well up inside of her in an extreme she had never felt before. This was the most nerve-wracking experience she had ever had. While she was confident prior to coming here, she definitely was far less so as she was parked in front of the actual gate.

After a few more breaths, she calmed herself and stepped out of her car, examining the estate. Sunset came from a relatively upper-middle-class family, but that was nothing compared to this. The actual house from the entrance looked at least half a mile or so away. Through the gate, she could see a small forest area, a pond, and even a basketball court. The building she could only assume was the garage was larger than her entire apartment complex. This Sunset’s family was loaded, that much was certain. It was interesting to think that another version of her was so wealthy.

Walking up to the intercom at the gate she composed herself. She noticed that the emblem on the intercom was that of a setting sun. She surmised that the other Sunset had this placed there herself as a representation of her namesake.

Ringing the intercom, she stood tense; after a few seconds, she could hear a female voice answer, a voice that sounded very similar to her own.

“Hello?”

Sunset wiped her brow of sweat and spoke.

“Hello, is this the Shimmer residence?” Sunset asked, already knowing the answer. She had extensively researched this address for the entire night at this point to make sure it was correct.

The voice sounded sort of annoyed, Sunset guessed that many had tried to ask that before. “You know full well that it is. What do you want?”

Sunset cleared her throat. “I actually was hoping to talk to Sunset Shimmer?”

“She doesn’t do interviews, and if you haven’t been told that before, please go and tell your producer. If you have been told that before, then please stop coming here or I’m going to file a restraining order.” The intercom said.

Pressing the button to keep talking, Sunset shook her head. “I’m not with the press.”

“She doesn’t do internet bloggers either…” The voice responded.

Sunset almost laughed, but she realized that there was a good chance this was a regular problem for the poor girl who clearly just wanted to be left alone.

“No internet blog. No news team. Nothing. I’m not doing a story; I’m not interested in an interview either. I literally just want to talk to Miss Shimmer, is she home?” Sunset tried to sound as polite as she could.

There was a short pause, followed by, “What do you want?”

“Just to talk, then if you want me out of your hair, I’ll be gone, promise.” Sunset placed her hand on her heart to show she was sincere, even though she had no idea if there was a camera for the girl to see her.

“Talk about what exactly…?”

Smirking, Sunset laughed. “Trust me; you’ll want us to talk in person.”

“What makes you so sure about that?”

“Trust me. This is definitely something where you’ll need to see my face to believe it,” Sunset replied.

There was another relatively long pause followed by a click of the gate unlocking. She blinked as she looked to the intercom for insight. The voice spoke instructions for her. “Leave any cars outside. Walk to the house and I will meet you in the foyer. Any funny business and I’ll call the police, do you understand?”

Sunset touched the intercom and nodded. “Yes, I understand. I promise there won’t be any trouble!”

Stepping inside the gate, she noticed it closed and locked behind her. It was a bit ominous, but she let it pass and continued onward. She got a good chance to examine a lot of the scenery she had seen from afar up close now. It looked like a lot of the estate was tidily taken care of, so either the other Sunset took a lot of time out of her day to maintain the place, or she had help staff to do that.

The road leading up to the house seemed a lot longer when one had to walk it on foot than it did from viewing it from the gate. Sunset’s feet were already starting to hurt. She almost regretted wearing her boots over the pair of sneakers she passed up on that morning.

Almost out of breath she finally reached the steps to the door and tapped the lavish knocker to get the attention of the inhabitant.

A nearby intercom sounded off with the voice from the gate. “It’s open, please wipe your feet, I just had the foyer cleaned.”

Nodding, Sunset looked down to the welcome mat which had little paw prints upon it. She wiped her boots and after feeling satisfied pushed the heavy front door open and entered the estate.

The decor was very modern on the inside, it was clear that the Shimmer family was very into modern art as a lot of the foyer was decorated with it. She heard a bark and nearly jumped as a large German Sheppard approached her with vigor. In a panic, she put her arms in front of her trying to prevent a potential attack.

To her surprise, the dog leaped onto her and started licking her face. Trying to push him off and come to a stand, she wiped the saliva off of herself and petted the creature’s head. “Heh, hey there boy. Good to meet you too…” She laughed.

The dog barked in response.

“What’s your name, big guy?” She asked, knowing he couldn’t answer.

The creature barked again.

Sunset reached down and looked at his collar, reading the name “Moon”, upon it.

“So, Moon is your name huh? Okay, Moon… Where is your master?” She asked.

The dog barked and walked back towards the large staircase and sat down at the bottom.

Looking up to the staircase, Sunset observed as a young woman stepped down gently. She had on a very pretty black dress with large bright purple polka dots and a large blue ribbon tied around her waist. The dress only went down to her knees, and observing her legs, Sunset could see she was wearing dark black pantyhose along with black high heels.

Examining her from the waist up, she noticed that the dress was sleeveless and held on by two straps over her shoulders. She could make out pink bra straps from afar and upon her face were thick-rimmed stylish black glasses.

Her hair was pinned up in a ponytail, and sporting a spider hairpin. She was wearing mascara and what appeared to be lip gloss.

At first glance, it was clear that this girl and Sunset had a clearly different fashion sense and she obviously took better care of herself, given her more properly filled body (though Sunset’s was nothing to sneeze at) and toned muscles. It wasn’t far-fetched to assume she had her own personal gym here for staying in shape that was for sure.

However the more she stared, the more Sunset began to see similarities. Could this really be what she would look like if she performed the same routine as this girl? Was such a thing possible?

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, the girl adjusted her glasses and stared directly at Sunset. Her lips were pursed in a look of shock and bewilderment as she reached the bottom step.

With her gentle-looking nail-polished hand upon the railing, she looked like she was about to faint when she saw Sunset up close. She clearly decided to get closer before panicking so as to make sure her glasses were working correctly.

It was true though, there standing in front of her, a girl who looked almost exactly like her.

Both of them were in a moment of shock before the owner of the house finally spoke up, albeit in a broken voice.

“W-who are you?” The lookalike asked.

Hey! We're four weeks in. How's everyone doing? So these author's notes are going to talk a bit about the background information regarding the story and little fun facts and whatnot. As always big thanks to Applety for the artwork, she really does work hard to get these done on time, guys. Totally check out her page.

So for this week's fun fact, the other Sunset actually went through a few design choices before settling on the gothic inspired scientist she ended up as. One of her original designs portrayed her as a shy girl with a fondness for long sweaters. Ultimately she ended up as a girl who loves both intelligence and beauty.

But yes, the two Sunsets have finally met after four chapters of build up.