The trip down the mountain had been entirely slower than it had been going up, and it gave Sunset the time to take in the sprawling forest below.
"So, where are we headed after we swing by the castle?" She asked, having pocketed her new phone into her saddlebags once the signal started to go as they descended.
"We were on the way back to Maretime Bay, Sunny's hometown, with all the artifacts we've spent the past week gathering up in the Crystal Empire."
"You made it all the way up there? Can't imagine much is left, just like Ponyville down there..." the unicorn remarked.
"The climate has actually done a fairly decent job at keeping things preserved," Pipp commented. "We've got a suit of armor, not to mention hundreds upon hundreds of readable books, and we've barely made a dent in the library."
"Yeah, a return trip is probably 'in the books', maybe with a trailer to hold even more," Zipp added.
"Did you ever make it up there?" Sunny asked, glancing back at their new friend.
"Once. It... It wasn't for very long," Sunset answered, recalling memories of how she had stealthily made her way through the Crystal Castle, evading the night patrols in search of Twilight Sparkle's crown.
That felt like so long ago.
They rounded a bend that continued down the west face of the mountain, and they began to hear a waterfall.
"We're getting close," Sunny commented, as the dirt road began to get trees on the sides.
"Ah, there it is," Sunny said, pointing down to a large, eight-wheeled vehicle. They went around the final bend and came to the base of the waterfall where the truck was parked. A few ponies inside saw them approach and opened the passenger side door.
"Hey there, we were getting worried," a lilac unicorn said, smiling down at them. "Who's this? New friend?"
The unicorn hopped out onto the riverbank, followed by an amber earth stallion and a red earth stallion.
"Everyone, this is Sunset Shimmer. Sunset, this is Izzy Moonbow, Hitch Trailblazer, and Sprout Cloverleaf," Sunny introduced the rest of her circle.
"I'm pleased to meet all of you. I hope you'll forgive how out-of-place I feel right now," Sunset replied, giving a short bow.
"Sprout, lets get this thing turned around and headed back the way we came. We have to stop at Princess Twilight's castle to pick up what Sunset brought with her."
"No problem. But, you do know that this detour is gonna put us into Maretime Bay pretty late, right?"
"Yeah. I know we were all hoping for a hot, home-cooked meal after a week's worth of pre-packed stuff. I'll make it up to you, promise. Lunch is on me tomorrow," Sunny said.
Sunset was currently trying not to stare at Izzy's horn, which appeared to be purely bone-white, instead of matching the rest of her lilac coat.
"Alright, let's get going, we're about to lose the rest of our light," Hitch commented before climbing back into the cab, followed by Sprout and Izzy. Zipp and Pipp went up to the bed in the back, among stacks of crates. Sunny climbed up, then gave Sunset a hoof up as Sprout climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine up. Hitch closed the passenger door, and as soon as everyone was buckled up, he carefully performed a J-turn and headed back down the river.
"Ooh, who is this little guy?" Izzy asked, eying the yellow and black-spotted winged lizard sitting on Sunset's lap.
"This is Ray. He, well, he was a gecko, but the mirror has had an effect on his form, too."
It was a short, five minute drive down the river, and it reminded Sunset of riding in Applejack's modified farm truck.
"Right here at this bend, Sprout," Hitch told him. The red stallion pressed on the brake, came to a stop, then applied the parking brake.
"Come on, Sunset. It's not far," Sunny said, unbuckling her belt.
The amber unicorn followed suit, unbuckling herself from her seat, and placed Ray on her back once she was down on her hooves, climbing out of the passenger side once Hitch had moved out of the way.
"We'll be quick," Sunny reassured them, leading Sunset through the trees. A couple minutes later, they came to a small campfire, with the pair of guards Sunset had encountered hours earlier. The sky blue mare was on her hooves the instant she saw the pair approach.
"Who goes there? Oh, Miss Starscout. Welcome back. And..."
"Sunset Shimmer. Sorry about the chase earlier..." Sunset told her.
"Staff Sergeant Zoom Zephyrwing, and, well, if you're with her, I'm guessing things have been cleared up. And honestly, no hard feelings. About time we got some excitement around here. Not the most lively posting down here."
"We're just here to pick up some things, and we'll be on our way," Sunny told her. Zoom nodded and went back to the fire with Thunder while the earth pony and unicorn passed them to the large front doors. The hinges of the left door had been repaired, and the door opened with a considerable shove. Sunny put on her LED headband, while Sunset lit up her horn, the tip giving off a warm orange glow as they stepped into the dark foyer.
"So, you really don't know how long it's been?" Sunset asked as they walked down the hall towards the stairs.
Sunny shook her head.
"Nothing definitive, I can only make semi-educated guesses. I know the Everfree Forest can grow at supernatural speeds, so estimating the passage of time using the surrounding forest is pretty much impossible. With the things I've collected, I want to say, and this is a very, very rough estimate, that it's been 500 years at the very least, maybe even a millennium or more. It's hard to tell at this point."
They went around the stairs to a door on the right, coming to a set of stairs that spiraled downward along the outer wall. When they hit the basement floor, Sunset concentrated, and narrowed the aura of light on the tip of her horn into a beam, shining it down on scattered shards of glass.
"What? What happened?" Sunny asked, seeing the mirror case near the back wall.
"I think it shattered when I came through. It was the first thing I heard when I crossed over," Sunset said, using her magic to carefully shove the mirror shards towards the back of the room to clear more of the floor. She came to her belongings, the chest, saddlebags, and guitar case. "I really hope I'm where I belong..."
Sunset gingerly placed a hoof on her guitar case, as she looked to the remains of the standing mirror, then to Sunny.
"Because this was quite clearly a one-way trip."
Does Sunset still have that journal to keep in touch with her friends in the human world? How much time has already passed there?
Well, given how long she was in stasis, it's likely that the other side would be similarly unrecognizable. She'd be a relic from a distant age there too.
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Man I really hope my readers don't start arguing, lol.
The instant I finished watching 'It's About Time', I knew bronies were going to start having fights about time travel paradoxes.
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Ehh, I'm here for the story but if a fight breaks out, I've got popcorn.
Looks like the only way to know for sure is to check star positions, if Sunset can remember where they were when she left.
Oh hey her little gecko friend I almost forgot about him nice to see him again
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Depending on your headcanon, Luna may well have manipulated the stars nightly, so using star positions as a reference point would likely be impossible. And if Twilight continued that nightly 'duty' until she allegedly disappeared, it'd be even moreso.
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Soda's on me.
Gasp sunset you destroyed the mirror and that's the only way to the portal back to the human world I guess you decided once you graduate from school you decided to come back home wow I hope you said good-bye to them at least
Wow that was something so it looks like they finally made it to the vehicle and meeting up with the other ponies who are waiting and now they're heading for the everfree forest to get Sunset stuff and she even bought her gecko named Ray and surprisingly she destroyed the portal this time she is staying and Equestria but she wasn't expecting her world change I wonder what's going to happen next
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She did.
I did an entire story on her senior year.
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Ohh that's sounds cool I'll check it out soon
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What A Long Strange Trip
i didn't mention in the first chapter, but when i saw you post the new story, i had put it on my fav/watch list before even reading the first chapter
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Nice thanks 😊
Poor Sunny, all alone in a strange world, and she can't even go back to what was familiar to her...
VERY good job on this latest chapter. Definitely liked the work that went into the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up. Certainly appreciated Sunset meeting the rest of Sunny's friends and Sunset swinging by the castle ruins to pick up the rest of her belongings. Also liked Sunset's probably rather accurate guess on how long it has been in Equestria since the last time she was there.
Maybe one of the later scenes could include Sunset trying the magic journal (if it was one of the belongings she DID think to pack for her return to Equestria) one last time just to see if the human world Twilight is still around to receive her messages with the other journal. And, of course, Sunset reflecting on the accomplishments of her friends in the human world before admitting that, while she DOES, at least, hope that they are still around, she has no way of knowing for absolutely certain. Another scene could have Sunset and Izzy teaching each other about magic (Izzy helping Sunset getting used to it again, Sunset helping Izzy learn a few of the more major uses). Also, a possibility of Sunset detecting surprisingly strong magic from Sunny and Sunny admitting that she was ground zero when magic returned and temporarily gained wings and a horn, still not knowing if she can activate that magic again with enough concentration (though she has no way of knowing how much concentration is required), if it's something that only comes to the surface when she REALLY needs it (like a super mode) or if it was just a one-time-only deal.
But, anyway, very certainly looking forward to more of this.
New theory (one that you could tinker with if you wanted) is that during the trip, something goes awry in the two’s magical transformation and Sunset’s (as well as Ray’s) physical forms accidentally get duplicated. She’s not a clone, but the exact same pony, and so one part of her goes back to her normal time and the other past is ricocheted into a separate time portal, which causes the mirror in that time to break. It’s the same timeline, but Sunset now exists in both.
This might make for an intriguing twist down the line for everypony
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May I know the full timeline from the beginning till the present day of... Forgottenverse... I guess? List of stories set in this universe if any?
I've been wondering about this for a while, but should the directions; North, South, East, and West be capitalized? I know sometimes they don't need to be, but I can't help but think there were times throughout these stories where they should've been, like here.
Is it just a coincidence that the picture in the AN happens to be the featured image on Derpibooru right now, despite being uploaded close to 2 years ago?
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Forgotten
Forgotten: The Frozen North
Forgotten: Sunrise
Ah man, one way trip for Sunset, wonder what excitement and thrills are set for her, awesome chapter and keep up the great work, loving it
What made Sunset come back in the first place?
Bruh, this Forgotten story collection is the first FIMfic ive read in months
Well, that makes things both more interesting and more tragic for Sunset. Unless she finds about way back, she's lost touch with all her friends.
Its not that the mirror can't be fixed,but repair would take YEARS to accomplish, so no going back anytime soon.
On a positive note Sunset is a godsend for the Unicorns, as she knows how to read magic books and create spell matrixes, they literally have a magic expert to help them figure out complex magic again. Much less unintended explosions from experiments now.
Just finished reading the series up to this point and got to say I'm really enjoying it! I haven't been super into G5, but I feel like I'm open to it a bit more after this.
That’s assuming there are no other working portals. Probably not worth searching.
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Really so this isn't just a sequel but also a convergence? I have to read that one too then.
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Pretty much.
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I mean, including Sunset Shimmer stories
Nvm i can back track them
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Sunset's Overdue Paper
The Last Rays of Light
Sunset and the Sun
What A Long Strange Trip
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Thank you
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Hope it's not an overwhelming amount.
Well there goes a return trip! A shame she just lost her friends that way on the other side. But I have a feeling Sunset could fix the mirror if she put her mind to doing so.
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I don't understand how a horse would be able to operate a human car. Cars are designed to be used by someone with hands and feet, not an equine with hooves.
Suffice it to say, you could plonk a unicorn in a driver's seat and they could use magic, but that seems a bit of a cop-out.
They'd have to design a specific set of mechanisms that would allow the vehicle to be operated with hooves and mouths for an earth pony. It would be almost pointless for a pegasus to drive since they can fly. A unicorn would have an easier time by far.
The one thing that irks me after the fact is I don't think there's been much info on the design of Sprout's truck and how a pony would be competant enough to drive it. It's one thing to "drive a truck" as Sunny and co. have been doing, but that's about as much info we've been given.
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“Lieutenant W. Thomas Riker, may I introduce Commander William T. Riker. Commander William T. Riker, may I introduce Lieutenant W. Thomas Riker. Congratulations, Lieutenant — do you believe in ’Second Chances’?”
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That is a PERFECT example! Same can go with Voyager and the fusion of Tuvix.
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So get this, todays new episode of Star Trek Prodigy just had a temporal flux occur and the crew all exists in different times in separate parts of the protostar. What unusual timing for me to have posted that theory.
Hmm, Oscillating wave
This is the magic of good cover art for a story. I gave you an up-vote before reading the story. I feel you earned it, whether I subsequently read the story though or not. (You get bonus points for the title design. Nice.)
ouch
Water under the bridge sunset.
Apart of my now kinda wonders if this might actually happen once that new G5 tv show starts later this year. 🤔
Wow, quite the shocker!
That's some nice artwork.
Poor Sunset
After reading the previous story I sort of hope that either Sunset can go back through the portal or finds a time travel spell or something by the end of the story, it's really depressing that she decided to leave her friends behind and didn't even get to go where she wanted to go but I suppose that's what makes it compelling.
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Oooh, what if the mirror glitched and spat Sunset out twice?
So past-Sunset did become a court wizard, and now future-Sunset turns out to be a copy?!
That would be the saddest...
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I would hate that, honestly, it’d be too happy of an ending. I want Sunset to at least come to terms that the Equestria she’s now in isn’t the Equestria she once knew, and learns to accept it, and make it as good of a home as she can, much like when she went to the human world for the first time.
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Yeah it is a pity that whatever happened between her Celestia wasn't really worked out though. Sunset believes that she was bad but Celestia could have played a role in what happened but Celestia never actually says sorry or admits that she messed up. She avoid it as much as possible.
I'm enjoying this story so much I'm so Happy Sunset Shimmer is in this one. She was my favorite character from the My Little Pony Equestria Girls Movies and video series.
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Word