The Canterlot Mall is currently bustling of people doing various things such chatting with friends, shopping with friends, window shopping with friends, walking around with friends and for the staffs of the Canterlot Mall, working with friends.
However, one worker isn't having the best time of her life.
Juniper Montage, now wearing an usher uniform, is seen walking around with an annoyed expression and further infuriating her, she would often come across several television screens showing the music video of the Rainbooms and the Shadowbolts dancing.
"Those girls!" Juniper yelled in anger, "Ugh! Ahh!" she screamed in annoyance, "First, they get me kicked off the Daring Do set... now..." she growled while walking backward before bumping onto a poster stand of the Daring Do movie with the Rainbooms alongside Jaune Arc, Wesley Bryans, Brent Dark and Marshmello featured on the lower part of the poster "Ooh!" she scoffed while grabbing her head, "They're everywhere!" she shouted as everyone looks at her with weird looks, "I bet they'll be at the premiere tonight, I bet I'll be the lucky one ushering them to their seats..." she said in frustration, "Ugh!" she groaned before slapping the poster stand several times, grabbing and shaking it, and then dropping it on the floor.
Suddenly, she heard a buzzing noise, "Juniper, where are you?" a male voice spoke as Juniper pulls out a walkie-talkie with an annoyed look, "We need you back at the popcorn popper stat!" he advised.
"Kerrr!" Juniper made a sound between her gritted teeth, "What was that... boss?" she asked sarcastically, "Can't hear you!" she said with an annoyed look, "Losing you!" she said before walking off towards a sunglasses kiosk, "If those girls hadn't shown up, I would have played Daring Do!" she said, "Tonight would have been about me, I would have been a star!" she exclaimed while putting on a red framed, star-shaped shades over her eyes. The male clerk looks up and gave her a disapproving shake of his head as Juniper grabs a hand mirror and took a good look at herself, "You're right." she said in agreement taking the shades off, "They are a bit much." she admitted before setting it back down. As Juniper checking on another pair of glasses, she didn't notice two sparkling white lights coming down from the complex's glass dome which then merges with the hand mirror on the counter with it gaining a crystal-like appearance and the other light on her but the girl didn't noticed. Juniper then picks up the mirror and quickly looks at her reflection when suddenly the mirror showed a different reflection of her, "WAH!" she shrieked in surprise while dropping the mirror onto the floor, she looks around before speaking, "What was that?" she asked in shock before poking the mirror with her finger as it's let's out a shock of magic, "AH!" she screamed once again in shock. She looks around once more before picking up the mirror, looking at it again and the mirror shows a beautiful reflection of her giving her a kiss as she gasped in amazement, "Incredible!" she exclaimed before tossing some bills on the counter, "Keep the change..." she said before walking off while looking at her reflection, "Something tells me this thing's worth it..." she mused.
The clerk watches Juniper walks away when Kenny Rogers approaches him, "Did that girl just bought a hand mirror... in this kiosk that sells sunglasses?'' he asked in disbelief with the clerk sharing the same sentiment.
Bzzzttt...
Meanwhile at the food court somewhere in the mall, we see Sunset Shimmer sitting at one table writing on her journals.
"Dear Princess Twilight, all my friends are really excited, and I should be, too, except… I can't seem to keep my mind on anything other than our new powers and the rogue magic that's loose in this world and how scary but exhilarating it all is! How does it work? How can we be prepared for it? When will it show up again? Well, you see the problem with the weight of all Equestria on your shoulders sometimes, you must have some advice on how to—" Sunset spoke through her thoughts while writing on her journal, expressing various faces while at it when she noticed something, "Oh, no!" she yelled before letting out a sigh, "Shoot." she uttered in frustration.
Pinkie Pie then arrives with a tray of hamburgers in hand, "What's the matter, Sunset Shimmer?" she asked while sitting next to the bacon-haired girl.
"Oh, I just ran out of pages in my journal." Sunset replied anxiously, "That's all." she claimed with a sad look.
Then Rainbow Dash walks past behind her, "Chillax, SunShim..." she advised with a wink before sitting on a table with Twilight Sparkle while Fluttershy sat on one table alongside Applejack and Rarity Belle.
Eddy Skipper McGee, Duncan Nelson, Rex Salazar and Jake Long are also there eating lunch at another table.
"Um, who's 'SunShim'?" Fluttershy asked.
"That's Sunset Shimmer's new movie star name." Rainbow replied while taking a sip of her drink, "I just made it up!" she said with a grin as Twilight rolls her eyes,
"For sweet apples' sake, we only have bit parts in this flick." Applejack explained, "We're not movie stars." she pointed out with a shake of her head.
"Yet, darling." Rarity corrected, "Yet." she repeated with a smile of excitement.
Rex then spoke, "Congratulations on getting a part on the movie.'' he complimented, "You only got minor roles but it's still a big accomplishment if you ask me.'' he stated with a smile.
"Why thank you, darling." Rarity replied in gratitude.
"I just still can't believe that Jaune, Brent, Wesley and Marshmello, of all people, also got a minor roles in that movie?!" Eddy exclaimed in disbelief.
Applejack took a sip of her drink, "They were with us at that time, sugarcube, so it kinda happened." she replied.
"Where are those guys anyway?'' Rainbow asked.
"Celebrating their new found fame somewhere." Jake replied with a blank look.
"Seriously?!" Rainbow exclaimed in disbelief.
Twilight then turns to Sunset, "There's more bothering you than just journal pages, isn't there, Sunset?" she pointed out in concern.
"Um... Heh..." Sunset uttered nervously.
Pinkie then suddenly leans up against Sunset, "C'mon!" she chimed in, "Share your troubles," she advised, "It might help soothe your stressed nerves." she pointed out while rubbing Sunset's cheeks before letting it go.
"Uh, I don't wanna take any of the fun out of our big night..." Sunset tried to reason.
Suddenly, Pinkie got onto Sunset's face, "I said spill it, SunShim!" she demanded much to Sunset and everyone's surprise.
"You better do what she says, bacon hair... or she'll murder you.'' Duncan advised while Eddy is seen cowering under the table.
Sunset gently pushes Pinkie away with her left hand, "She's not that type of person, Duncan." she scolded.
"Wanna bet?'' Duncan challenged with a grin.
Sunset rolled her eyes, "Okay, okay...'' she reassured Pinkie who sat back down, "It's just that things have been calm around here, magic-wise.'' she stated.
"And that's bad how, precisely?" Rarity asked.
"It's not." Sunset replied, "It's just that instead of enjoying the fact that things are calm, I'm constantly thinking about things going wrong, even when they aren't." she explained.
"Ooh, like... like what things?" Fluttershy asked nervously.
Sunset shook her head, "I don't know..." she admitted, "I shouldn't even be thinking about any of this stuff right now..." she said, "And neither should any of you." she advised with a cracked smile.
Eddy then spoke, "Ah, lighten-up, bacon hair!" he reassured, "It's only natural for you to feel that way... I mean look at us! We're heroes and we still had time to enjoy while being ready at the same time, in case of an emergency.'' he explained with a proud grin.
"I'm pretty sure that we weren't ready when got called to do another mission... five hours after we finished the last one." Jake pointed out with a blank look.
Eddy shrugged his shoulders, "My point still stands." he said.
"Thanks Eddy but the situation here is different from what you think." Sunset replied when suddenly her journal began to glow a bright pink, surprising her.
Pinkie then grabs the book, "Look! Twilight's writing you back!" she exclaimed, "Hey, everybody!" she called out while holding the book up high in her hands, "Sunset's getting an Equestritext!" she announced while standing up.
Sunset stood up, "Pinkie! Give that back!" she demanded while reaching out for the book.
When suddenly an extreme blue & yellow blur went past them, much to everyone's surprise especially Pinkie who accidentally threw the book in the air but Sunset managed to catch before giving the party girl a look whom responded by giving her a sheepish grin.
Eddy turns on his seat, "Hey, Flash! Watch where you running?!" he demanded.
The blue & yellow blur stops on it's track before revealing it to be Flash Sentry, "Sorry guys!" he apologized, "Muffins and I are busy with deliveries and we got no time to waste! See ya later!" he explained before charging himself with powerful energy particles and then zooming away in a blast.
Applejack then spoke, "Huh? Is it me or Flash is getting a lot better with his Gift?'' she pointed out.
"Yeah... Flash has gotten a lot faster... way more faster than Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy commented.
Rainbow raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? I see that as a challenge." she declared with a grin.
Everyone rolled their eyes as Sunset checks her journal, "So, what's it say?'' Applejack asked.
Sunset then sported a shock expression, "Princess Twilight wants me to come to... Equestria..." she announce which made the boys gasped.
"And how is that bad?'' Eddy mused with a grin as the boys let's out an evil laughter while the girls looks at them in disapproval.
Meanwhile back at the movie theater, Juniper has become obsessed with her new mirror, basking in the fame and attention that her reflected self is receiving. When her boss tells her to clean up a mess of popcorn, Juniper absentmindedly wishes the popcorn to clean itself up. The mirror magically vacuums all the popcorn off the floor, much to Juniper's surprise.
Later that day at the CHS, we see Sunset making her way towards the school's statue podium where the portal to Equestria is while sporting a nervous look on her face.
Upon reaching the school statue, Sunset took notice of Marcus "The Kane" McGee sitting on top of it, much to her surprise, "Marcus? What are you doing?'' she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm working." Marcus replied without looking back at her. Sunset raised an eyebrow but ultimately decided to leave him alone, she let out a sigh before entering the portal to the other world. Marcus then pulls out a small device, "All right... that Blessed could be around here somewhere...'' he muttered with narrowed eyes.
Bzzzttt...
Meanwhile in the world of Equestria, we go inside a library in a castle located in Ponyville. Inside the library, we see a mirror with various contraptions attached to it when suddenly, the mirror began to glow as a reddish-pink energy began to swirl around before Sunset, in her pony form, flew out from it whilst screaming and landed into a pile of books.
"Oof!" Sunset grunted in pain with her eyes spinning, she shook her head before taking notice of a blurry figure before her, "Princess Twilight?" she uttered in daze, "Is that you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
Her vision then clears and realized that the figure in front of her is not the person she's talking about, "Nope!" a female pony spoke, "Starlight Glimmer." she introduced herself.
Twilight Sparkle's Student
Starlight Glimmer
Starlight has a pale, light grayish heliotrope mane, a curly moderate purple mane with lighter purple and pale light, grayish aquamarine highlights, and has moderate persian blue eyes. Her cutie mark is of a purple and white star with two blue glimmering streams.
"Uh, heh, heh..." Sunset let's out a nervous laugh, "Oops..." she uttered sheepishly before standing up on two hooves, "Whoa... Whoa!" she yelped stumbling forward before coming to a stop soon, "Phew..." she breathed out in relief while Starlights looks at her in bewilderment, Sunset turns and noticed the look she's getting before realization hits her, "Whoa..." she said before going down onto all fours, "That feels a little weird after all this time." she admitted in embarrassment while rubbing her front right hoof on the floor, "Starlight Glimmer...'' she uttered the name of the mare in front of her, "You're Twilight's student, right?" she pointed out while trotting towards her.
"Uh-huh..." Starlight confirmed as her horn glows, "She wanted me to give you this." she said while levitating a book with a sun-like symbol on the cover.
The book then floated towards Sunset as she tried to reach it out with her hoof only for it to fall on the floor. The two looks at each other as Sunset let's out a grin, she then tried to pick up several times with her hoof but to no avail which frustrates her, Starlight then pointed a hoof on her own, getting Sunset the idea before using her magic to levitate the book all over her, much to the bacon-haired pony's amusement.
"She wanted to give that to you herself but then she and her friends were called away to solve a friendship problem." she explained with a sad expression, "That happens a lot around here." she noted.
Sunset turns to her, "That must be stressful, huh?" she pointed out, "Never knowing when you might be called on to save the day..." she said while swinging her front left hoof, "Dropping everything at a moment's notice..." she added, "How does she do it?" she asked.
"Sorry." Starlight apologized, "She just told me to give you the journal." she explained.
"Heh-heh..." Sunset chuckled nervously, "So, are you sure she won't be back anytime soon?" she asked.
"Pretty sure." Starlight affirmed.
"O-Okay... I guess we'll be going now..." Sunset said before standing up on two hooves, stumbling once more before going back down to all fours, she gave Starlight a smile before walking forward.
Starlight then spoke, "What's it like back there?" she asked with a curious look.
"It's pretty different..." Sunset replied, "And not so different at the same time." she added with asmiling, "It's kinda hard to explain." she admitted.
"Heh..." Starlight chuckled while rubbing her own hoof against the floor, "Guess you kinda have to go there to really get it, huh?" she asked nervously, "I, uh, don't suppose..." she suggesting while glancing at the side.
"You really think Princess Twilight would be okay with that?" Sunset asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't know for sure that she wouldn't be okay with it." Starlight replied with a smug look.
"That's not a particularly compelling argument." Sunset pointed out.
Starlight then trotted towards her, "She wants me to learn as much as I can about friendship and I'm not learning a whole lot just hanging out here in her castle." she stated in frustration while glancing around the library.
Sunset then thought about it, "Well, I haven't ever seen you in that world..." she stated while rubbing her chin, "So chances are you aren't gonna run into yourself..." she pointed out.
"... is something you don't hear every day..." Starlight commented.
"So, just lay low." Sunset advised, "Don't draw too much attention to your—" she tried to say but was interrupted.
"Pssh!" Starlight scoffed, "You'll barely even notice I'm there!" she mused.
"Introducing you to our friends could be a nice distraction." Sunset mentioned.
Starlight then zips next to her, "But you'll also totally notice I'm there!" she noted, "... and it will keep your mind off of other things that might be bothering you!" she said with sparkling eyes, "So? What do you think?" she asked "Can I go back with you?!" she begged while hopping up and down with glee.
Sunset thought about with a grin while staring at the portal behind her.
A/N: Inspired from someonestupED, damnlastwords, Hope the Victor and Ace Neptune. All OCs and concepts not created by moi were given permission for me to use by it's respected creators.