A lonely unicorn mare walked the long halls of the royal palace, her face was set into and angry scowl. Her march was uninterrupted for every guard and servant knew who she was and knew not to get in her way.

The angry mare did her way into the royal library and soon used her magic to light the candles of the now empty magic section, it was too late for anyone in their right mind to be here at this hour looking for magic and occult tomes that only the Canterlot royal library could have.

Maybe not at all, according to Princess Celestia her newest apprentice was so studious that she could literally eat books. That purple plot wannabe had somehow enchant HER mentor and taken HER place as her favorite pupil, even if the princess herself would denied, the way she spoke about Twister Scramble or wherever was her name is like she spoke of a daughter and that hurt the filly mare more that the fact that she was been cast aside.

So, if she didn't have a place in this world maybe she could find one in another. Thus the reason why the mare was here. She had heard from the Princess one time that this very room had an artifact that connected Equestria with another world were mysterious hairless two legged creatures lived, and that they used a different kind of magic from the one here.

If the mare could get her hooves in that knowledge she could easily surpass the purple invader and take back her place as Celestia's protege and maybe even been ascended to royalty.

Reaching the door beyond the magic section the mare found the path obstructed by a barrier, the barrier had been cast by Celestia herself but it was not impregnable, all you needed to do was cast a key spell with the specific frequency as the original caster. Luckily for the mare, years of tutelage under Celestia did this task easy.

After waving the last of the spell the door started to move with a loud grinding noise, like it hasn't been use in centuries and knowing of Celestia immortality that couldn't be to far off the case. As the door opened the unicorn mare used her horn magic to light up the room, it was dusty and smelled of moist and abandonment.

The mare pressed deeper into the room and almost scared herself to tartarus when a set of cyan eyes caught her. Quickly she prepared a spell to knock the other pony out, however something in the eyes of the other pony looked familiar. Trying her luck she moved closer to the other pony and as she got closer she could make out the physical appearance of the intruder, her eyes were cyan colored and her fur was a light yellow with a mane of the same color mixed with crimson. Sunset Shimmer was staring at herself.

Sunset was seeing her reflection, it was a mirror, a big dusty old mirror. Sunset inspected the rest of the room but she couldn't find nothing else of interest, only the mirror. It was located right in the center of the room, with nothing on the back or the sides. The only curious feature was the ornament in the top of its frame.

The ornament was shaped like a circle with most of its face covered by black, the only part not covered by the darkness shone with a golden light, as Sunset took a closer look she could see the golden light fading away, she could not understand the meaning behind it with just a look and there was no time to study the relic.

Sunset tried to get a sense of the magic in the mirror but her probing prove fruitless, at the end Sunset decided to go for an good old touch and see experiment. The frame and the back give a negative so it was time to touch the glass of the mirror.

After taking a few calming breaths she poked the surface of the mirror with the tip of her hoof and as soon as it did contact the surface changed to a liquid form, Sunset retrieved her hoof fast and inspected it but everything looked fine, feeling more confidence she repeated the act and got the same result with the solid surface turning liquid once more but now Sunset watched how her hoof looked inside the mirror and what she saw shocked her.

Her hoof transformed into a stump with small appendices coming out of it, five in total all of them lacking any fur, when Sunset pulled back again her hoof came like normal. She repeated the experiment with her other hoof and also both hooves at the same time and the result was the same. Was this mirror the gateway for the other world or something else entirely, she couldn't tell for sure yet and there was not much time left, soon Celestia would notice that somepony had meddled with one of her spells and would send the guards to check. Taking her decision Sunset when back to her room and collected what she could fit in her saddle bag, including bits, a few clothes and a few hey sandwiches just in case. Back in the room with the mirror Sunset walked to it's front and got ready, this was it,the moment to prove to Equestria that Sunset Shimmer was irreplaceable and that no pony could take her place next to the princess.

As Sunset got her hoof back in the mirror the door to the library was abruptly opened and the voice of the guards could be hear
"Is this the room that her majesty told you?".

"Yes, she told me to immediately inspect the place for one of her barriers had been broken, we have to catch the culprit". Hearing the guards approach with the intention of arresting her Sunset panicked and in her frightened state she didn't noticed how close she got to the mirror tripping with the frame. The guards hear a female yelp and moved inside the room with the mirror only to find it empty, at the same time the last of the golden light was dissipated by the dark and the magic that connected the two worlds ceased.

HUMAN WORLD, CANTERLOT HIGH SCHOOL.
With a groan and some discomfort a girl found herself in front of the statue of the Canterlot High School, with effort the girl managed to achieve a seating position in the floor." ugh, my head, what happen, where... am I?". She turned her head around trying to get a bearing of her location but to her shock everything was different, no longer was she in the Royal castle but in what looked like a park, a really strange park, she saw a long statue of a pony in front of her and the base of the statue shone with dim gold light that started to turn dark, she saw her reflection on it and she screamed. The creature that stared back at her was completely hairless except for her mane that looked like her own, her eyes were the same color but instance of been in top of a muzzle there was only a small pointy thing with holes, her ears were now at the side of her big head rather that the top and what scare her the most was the fact that her horn was gone completely.

As Sunset inspected the rest of her body she found it changed completely as well , her hooves were gone replaced with the long limbs and stump she saw before, her fetlocks were replaced with the same expect they were covered with a set of boots, now that she realized most of her body was covered in cloths that fit her weird new body, she tried to stand in all four to look for a place to hide while her panic ceased, luckily some bushes provide her with some privacy and she moved there.

Once hidden Sunset continued Inspecting her surroundings as well as her new body, so far as she could tell she wasn't hallucinating this weird situation, it was real, this was the world that Princess Celestia told her about and she has turned into one of those creatures, from her hidden spot she could see more of those beings walking around, she could distinguish male from female, young from old and even some sense of flow, they were gathering in mass inside the building in front of the statue.

Many of them carried banners and flags with a symbol similar to the statue with the letters CHS or Wondercolts on it. Sunset then realize something... She could read those symbols, she understood them. That discovery give her a sense of self control,
when she understood thing they became easy for her.

Only after calming herself did she realise something else, it was cold. Not bone chilling cold but skin with out fur was not ideal for this weather, she was only wearing a short skirt and a sleeveless blouse making things worse, she started rubbing her arms with her hands trying to keep them warm but her movements were clumsy at best due to not fully learn to control her new extremities. Remembering her saddle bag she opened to find that the stuff she brought with her had been affected by the portal as well, the few clothes that Sunset had have taking the shape to accommodate her new form, still non of them worked for this weather, the bits have turned into different kind of money with some papers mixed amongst them, her hey sandwiches looked almost the same but she couldn't be sure.

Sunset spied on the beings once more and saw all of them walking with their fetlocks in a bipedal position, if she was going to move around without looking suspicious she needed to walk like them, so she tried and tried and tried until she walked like a drunk pony trying to kiss a street lamp, still it was as best as she could do it for now, but now came the moment to decide what to do, go back and receive her punishment or try and find some of that knowledge that this world could offer.

Sunset pondered at the options while continuing her walk training, her shoulders were getting colder while she thought but then an idea clicked in her mind, she could choose both, first learning what she could from this world and then go back, also there was the chance that if Sunset found something really important she could take that knowledge to Celestia and say that it was for the sake of research, she could be forgiven and maybe she could even be promoted to be Celestia's protege in place of that purple flank.

Yes, that was the best plan, but first she needed to go back to the portal and explain things to the Princess so she'll have her blessing, better now that later when she could be angrier.

Breathing deep Sunset walked out of the bushes and stood in the open for a minute, the passing creatures did turn to her but not for long, she then did her way back to the statue trying to walk like the others, once in front Sunset kneel in front of the monument, waiting until no one could see her and pushed with her hands, her hands touched only cold stone, she tried again only to have the same result, again she tried with desperation now turning into horror " No, no no no no, it can't be, am I trap here,no... NO!."

Her fear was escalating, with shaky steps make worst by the cold in her legs Sunset walked away from the statue, tears just about to appear in her eyes when a voice from behind call her. "Sugarcube, are you alright?". Sunset almost jumped when the creature called her, she turned to see an old female with white hair tied in a bun. The old lady watched Sunset with concern written in her face and Sunset could barely keep her composure.

"Excuse me?" Sunset asked trying not to sound more freak out that she really was.

"I'm asking if you are ok missy? You look kinda lost, if yur here for the game sorry to tell you that it almost finish." The old lady informed Sunset.

"Game?, no no I'm not here for a game I'm... I'm looking for..."
Sunset didn't know what to say, not like this lady would tell her about other secret portal that could take her back to her world.

"Ah, you must be looking for Principal Celestia aren't ya?."

"Pri-principal Celestia?, you mean Princess Celestia is here?"

"Weeell, I don know about no Princess but if Celestia is who yur looking for she's watching the game in the teacher's booth."

"She is? Where, where can I find this game you speak of." Sunset asked more animated now, if the princess was here maybe she was looking for her and came to take her back.

"You just go through that door over there and keep goin straight until you reach the outside then you'll see the game field, I'm in my way there, my grandson is playing too." the old lady said with pride. Before Sunset could hear more from the old lady she run in the direction pointed to her. Granny Smith saw the girl slam herself against the door like she expected the door to open automatically and after that she managed to open the door she disappeared inside the school. "What's with yung ones this days?, always in a hurry,hmm forgot to ask the girl why wasn't she wearing a coat or something, gonna catch a cold like that."

Sunset walked as fast as her new limbs would allow her, if the old lady was right then she will find the Princess watching this 'game', now that she remember she saw many of the creatures carrying banners and flags and if the name of the school she was in was any indication that means that Celestia was the honor guest.

Soon Sunset found the last door and with a push open it, the first thing that welcome her was the roaring sound of cheers and yells of the creatures, the second was that blasted cold that force her to hug herself, she could see the field now and then she saw what was taking place.

Two groups of creatures were fighting one another,fighting for control over a oval object, a ball. Sunset didn't pay much attention but from a few glances she could tell that most of the people here were cheering for the blue and white group, it make sense since it was the local team apparently. Not only that but they were dominating the game, as Sunset tried to catch a glimpse of the Princess she continued half watching the duel, it started to look lest that a game and more of a brawl when the two teams connected for the ball, it reminded Sunset of the hoofball game that was played in Equestria and wondered if someone brought that game over here or was the other way around.

The cold weather started to take a toll on the girl as she started sneezing and feeling lightheaded making her situation more difficult, then she hear it, it was dim and mixed with the voices of dozens of people but Sunset was sure she heard the Princess.

Sunset tried to focus in the voice and pinpoint the origin, "...on team go Macin... an do it". There, she hear her again, looking over the people Sunset found the Princess inside a booth along another person cheering, Sunset did her way toward them but as she was getting closer the game ended, as if they were a tidal wave the creatures descended from the bleachers and Sunset couldn't fight the avalanche of bodies that crashed down on her.

With as much strength as she could muster with her body Sunset managed to dislocated herself from the mass but she lost sight of her target in the process, then she got a glimpse of her multicolored hair and charged forward again, Sunset lost count of how many times she was elbowed and pushed but little by little she did her way through, finally she saw her entering back at the school and Sunset followed, as she got closer she now could feel the begining of a fever coming down on her but she will it aside .

Abruptly Sunset opened the door of the school and tried to catch sight of Celestia once more, she saw a door ajar and quickly went that way, in her weak state Sunset opened the door too fast with little control hitting the person behind it." HEY! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA, YOU MAKE ME SPILL MY DRINK ALL OVER!".

Sunset rised her eyes to find three male creatures with angry looks on their faces, the one yelling at her looking menacingly. "Im... I'm sorry but I'm... I'm in a hurry, I have to find someone."

"You think a simple sorry it gonna cut it, you know how much this shirt cost bitch". The male grabbed Sunset's wrist while continuing his banter.

"Ple-please I don't have time for this I... I need to go." Sunset tried desperately to shake her attacker off but her desperation had reached it's limit and Sunset was openly crying now "Please, let me go."

"I don't think so, until you pay me for my shirt you aren't going anywhere, let see what you have in that bag." the creature took hold of Sunset's saddle bag but Sunset tried to fight him only for him to push her off.

"Noooo" Sunset screamed with the last of her energy but her words where meaningless, or so she thought.

Suddenly the door from where Sunset entered burst open and forth came one of the creatures that took part in the game, to Sunset he looked like a guard of the royal castle with his helmet and armor, "What's going on here fellas?" asked the newcomer.

Sunset could only say a word and point to her bag, "Help". The white player didn't need any more explanations, seen the girl crying and the three bullies there with their hand in her belongings was more that enough to understand the implication.

Like a wild stallion The player took the bag from the offender with one hand and lift him up with the other while commanding the other with his sight. "If any of you as much as touch this girl I'll end you here and now, you don come to this school to cause problems ever again or ya'll find me here waiting for ya". The player let go of the offender and he and his companions left in a hurry without turning back, then he turned back in time to see the girl he just saved almost collapsing, managing to catch her he quickly noticed the high temperature in her body. " Miss, yur burning, a have to take you to the nurse office".

Sunset tried to protest but found herself lifted completely by her savior. "nno prin... cesss Celes... tia, talk to her... need... going back, Eques... tri..a". The young man didn't understood what the girl was talking about but he was sure she mentioned the Principal. Not stopping for anything he took the feverish girl to the nurse office making mental note of calling either Celestia or Luna to come and see the girl.

THREE HOURS LATER
NURSE ROOM, CHS.
18 year old Macintosh Apple watched not for the first time his watch, it had been almost three hours since the game ended and he was still waiting outside the Nurse room, waiting for news about the girl he saved and brought here, he only moved one time to call his family and change from his uniform. He didn't even went to celebrate with his team the victory over his rivals, he was just worried, the look the girl had in her face when he met her was very similar at her sister Applejack when the medics told the family that their parents passed, fear, uncertainty, desperation, and maybe remorse, he wasn't sure about that last one.

From his seated position Mac saw a pair of smooth legs appear in front of him and he looked up to see his Math teacher Luna with an scowl on her face. "Nothing?" asked Mac.

"Nothing, I looked up but her face doesn't show up in the middle school roster or the one from Crystal Prep, plus she didn't have any ID with her, not even a cellphone! Could you believe it, a teen without a phone". Mac give her a 'really?' look "yeah I forgot you don't use one either". Luna took the seat next to Mac and continued." There's no report of missing girls or any person by that matter. What I did saw was the security cameras and had to say you looked really cool saving the girl, you'll make me jealous". This time Mac face turned to one of annoyance and disbelieve which did make Luna cringe. "Sorry sorry, dick move". Luna felt bad for tease the young man who not too long ago declared his crush for her, a crush that she broke before it could bloom into something else." Anyway, I'll give the video to the police just in case those bandits ever come back but I doubt they have the balls for it".

Mac listened with only half his attention, he was tired and hungry but most of all, he was curious about the well being of the girl. Just as he was thinking about asking again the door got open and out walked Principal Celestia, she looked concern and tired as well. Both Mac and Luna stood up as she approached." The nurse is still checking her out, most of the fever is gone but she seem a little bit delirious, she keep calling me 'princess' and something about ponies and mirrors, she even seem confused by little things like phones and such, any luck with her identity?". Celestia asked her sister.

"Not whatsoever the police will start checking tomorrow but until then they say to keep her here just in case someone come looking for her". Luna didn't seem all too pleased with the prospect of staying longer.

"I guess I'll sta..". Celestia was about to take the role when she was interrupted by the student besides them.

"Wait miss Principal, if yur not against it I would like to keep an eye on her." Mac proposed to the two adults. "Tomorrow yur gonna have yur hands full with paperwork and provably need some shut eye so let me stay." Celestia considered the option but couldn't accepted completely.

"I don't know Big Mac, I know you found her and brought her here but you just played a game in a bad weather, the last thing I want is Granny getting mad at me if you get sick too".

Luna saw the dejected face Mac did after her sister answer and intervened. "I think Mac should stay tonight sis, like you said he found her and he defended her from those guys, when the police come tomorrow to do the report they'll probably ask to speak with him anyway so it will save some time if he's here from the begining".

Celestia thought about argue but Luna did have a point and as far as she knew Macintosh was one of the healthiest students she had ever have so at the end she caved in." Very well, the nurse will stay as well anyway so if you need something speak to her, just call Granny and let her know you are staying and after everything is done go home and rest". Celestia moved in front of Mac and patted him in the shoulder." I didn't get the chance to congratulate you before but thanks for the hard work and good game, you're parents would have been proud Big Mac."

"Tia is right Mac, you did good kid, feel proud of yourself". Luna told him too.

"Thank y'all, it mean a lot coming from you two". Mac thank them and walk them to their car, as he came back Mac found the nurse awaiting him." Something the matter ma'am?."

"Ah yes , I need to make a report for the school, would you mind watching over the patient for a moment?."

"Not at all ma'am, I can take care of it". The nurse nodded and left for another office, Mac then opened the door and walked in. Inside he found the room in silent except for some small noises coming from the machines in there. Mac hesitated a little but decided to take a closer look at the girl in the bed, he removed the curtains but to his surprise he found the girl awake and trying to remove the UV needle in her arm, as she saw him she scooped deeper in the bed away from him while saying indistinguishable words." Calm down missy, I'm not gonna hurt ya I'm... I'm just watching over you".

The girl stopped for a moment but she still looked scared holding the sheets as a shield against him. Mac considered how to approach the girl without scaring her more and decided to go for safe." My... My name is Macintosh Apple, I brought you here so that the nurse could help ya get better, would you mind tell me yur name missy?"

The girl looked skeptical to answer but seen no sight of the princess she decided to talk." My name is Sunset Shimmer, where is the princess?."

"If yur talking about the Principal Celestia? She's gone and won't come back till tomorrow, miss Shimmer, right now yur in the school nurse room and the nurse will be back in a little bit."

The girl, Sunset Shimmer didn't seem to take the news too well and soon she started sobbing and tearing up." So that's it? Am I trap here forever? What am I going to do?"

Sunset started shaking from the hard emotions pilling up, her head buried behind her knees, she then stopped when she felt a hand touching her back, she looked up to find the older boy patting her " There there, I know it may look bad now but I can tell from earlier that yur a strong gal and no matter what there's good people here that can help ya if you need anything, just ask"

Sunset saw the guy's face and she couldn't understand why but she felt relived like she wasn't alone. "You... You'll help me?, a stranger?"

Mac smiled to her and nodded " Eeyep, matter of fact we can start with ma jacket, you were awfully cold earlier so with it you wont have that problem".

"Jacket?" Sunset asked and then felt over her shoulder something that wasn't there before, she removed the sheet to realise that a black leather jacket was resting on her shoulders, she was sure that the jacket wasn't part of her original outfit which mean that the tall blonde boy had give it to her. The smell of fresh apples soon started assaulting her nostrils and the guy started talking but Sunset found herself falling sleep, however unlike the first time she felt good and calm, like she was back to normal. Her mind telling her that maybe this new world wasn't so scary anymore.

SUNSET'S APARTMENT
PRESENT.
startled Sunset Shimmer woke up, in her surprise she felt from the bed bumping the nightstand next to her bed which in turn woke the little reptile sleeping in its cage.

"Ugh, that hurt" Sunset lift herself up from the floor. "Sorry Ray for waking you up". She reached for the cage but stopped when she saw her hand, it was glowing with magic, but unlike her normal yellow glow this time it was a soft pink with red glimmers. She inspected the rest of her body and saw the same magical aura covering her. Then like a tsunami the whole memory of the dream she just experienced came back to her.

All of it at once. Her arrival, her mad search for who she thought that was the princess and her collapse, she was surprised to remember everything at once like if the dream was a video recording.

She always thought about that day but the memories were always fussy, she started to forget because of the shame she felt after Princess Twilight reform her but now remembering everything she saw that not everything was bad.

"Mac! I met Mac that day, he... he saved me!, he watched over me!... He give me his jacket!" Sunset went to her closet where she kept some of her old stuff, she opened the box that had her old clothes from her first year of high school, with trembling hands Sunset digged out her old jacket, it was an old black leather jacket with military yellow arrows in the sleeves, it was one of her favorites pieces of clothing but she had to stop using it when her bust grow too big for it, slowly she turned the jacket inside out and gasped when she saw something she never once noticed, in the back right under the patch with the size sticker was there was a seam, two actually, engraved were the initials M.A.

Sunset felt fresh tears forming, she didn't understood why has she remembered this right now but she was glad he was there, that only did make her love him even more taking the jacket with her Sunset returned to bed and tried to sleep once more, her mind still hiding more memories and answer but for the time being she was more that happy with her new or old addition as she rested she took a tentative sniff of the jacket and to her surprise, it still smelled of fresh apples.

Author's Notes:

Chapter 3 friends, trying keeping up with the writing but the my job is pilling up, I'll try to move ahead during the holidays.

Anyway, is a little hard writing the Apples southern accent, i only managed so far because I live in Houston and some folks still talk like that but hearing is one thing, writing is way harder.

Finally happy birthday to my daughter who turned 4 a few days ago. Like always hope you like this chapter, until next time