Scootaloo opened her eyes when she heard the sound of feet against the floor outside her room. There was a soft knock at the door and she sat up in her bed.
"Who is it?" She asked.
"Its Sunset, can I come in?" The voice of Sunset Shimmer asked from the other side of the door.
Scootaloo smiled a little, of all the kids that lived in the home, Sunset was the one that she had become closest to since she had arrived. The older girl had helped her a lot after her parents had died, Sunset was like the big sister she had never had before.
"Come in."
"Hey Scootaloo," Sunset said as she came into the room and took a seat on the bed next to the younger girl. "How are you doing?"
"Okay I guess, I just really don't want to have to go to school today," Scootaloo said with a shrug, Sunset was starting school at Canterlot High School and it would be the first year they didn't go to the same school.
"Scootaloo, its going to be okay," Sunset said as she gave the younger girl a hug. "I know its not going to be easy but you're going to make lots of friends at your new school. And I'll be here when you get home."
"Promise?" Scootaloo asked as she looked up at the older girl.
"I promise, I wouldn't leave my little sister hanging," Sunset said with a smile. "You're going to be just fine, I promise!"
Scootaloo smiled at that and hugged her back, she was happy she had met Sunset, the older girl always seemed to know just how to help her. She just wished that things weren't going to be so hard.
"Do you really think I'll be able to make friends there?" She asked.
"Hey, you're a good kid, I'm sure you'll make lots of friends," Sunset said and then reached into her pocket. "Here, I have something for you."
"Oh, what is it?" Scootaloo asked curiously as Sunset took out a necklace and gave it to her, it was gold with an inscription on it that Scootaloo read out loud. "SS and S, Sisters forever. You got this made for me?"
"Yep, I have one just like it," Sunset said as she showed Scootaloo her own identical pendant. "Don't worry Scootaloo, you'll be just fine. As long as you have that with you, I'll always be with you."
Scootaloo smiled and hugged the older girl again. They held the embrace for awhile before breaking it, it was time to get ready to go to school.
Little did either of them know it was the last time they'd see each other.
00000
"Welcome new students, I'm Mrs. Chalk and I'll be your homeroom teacher for this year," the teacher said as she wrote her name on the board. "Now since its just the first day, I thought it would be good for us to take the time to get to know one another."
Scootaloo yawned a little, she never found these get to know you activities very exciting. She was sitting towards the back of the class and was more interested in looking out the window than paying attention to what the teacher was talking about.
The door to the classroom opened up and a girl's voice was heard. "Sorry ma'am, I got lost."
"Its okay, just don't make a habit of it," the teacher said as she scanned the room. "There's a seat right next to Scootaloo, if you don't mind sitting there for now we can always re-seat you later."
"Okay," the girl said before walking back to the desk and taking a seat.
Scootaloo glanced over out of curiosity and was surprised to see a girl about her age with pale white skin and a mix of pink and purple hair held back by a hairband sitting there. She gave Scootaloo a smile as she took out some paper and a pencil.
Scootaloo just blushed a little and looked back out the window, trying not to think about the cute girl that had sat down next to her.
"Alright then, lets start by introducing ourselves and telling the class something about ourselves," Mrs. Chalk said and pointed at a girl at the front of the first row. "Lets start with you."
Scootaloo didn't pay much attention to the names, she was off in her own world thinking about what she'd do once school was over for the day. She had planned to head to the skate part before heading home and she was focused more on what kind of tricks she'd practice that afternoon when she heard the girl next to her talk.
"Well, I'm Sweetie Belle, and I love to sing," the girl said with a cheerful smile as Scootaloo looked over at her again. "I've been practicing my singing since I was just a little girl."
She seemed nice at least, maybe they could become friends, but Scootaloo wasn't sure if Sweetie would want to be friends with her if she knew the truth. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
When Scootaloo's turn finally came around she tried to say she liked scooters and tricks, but she got all tongue tied and couldn't form a coherent sentence. Most of the class laughed at her, but Sweetie Belle just gave her a reassuring smile.
"Its okay, you're doing fine," she said and reached over and put her hand on Scootaloo's reassuringly. That gave Scootaloo the surge of confidence she needed.
"My name is Scootaloo and I like skating and doing tricks on my scooter," she said with a smile and gave Sweetie a nod.
"That's wonderful, we have such a variety of talents and interests in this class," Mrs. Chalk said as she gave Scootaloo a nod.
When the last student had finished Mrs. Chalk let the class have the rest of the period free. Scootaloo sighed a little, she hadn't exactly made a good first impression on the other students, the school year wasn't off to a great start.
"Hey, are you okay?" Sweetie Belle asked, Scootaloo looked over to the pale skinned girl and smiled a little.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just not very good at talking in front of crowds," she said sheepishly as she brushed a strand of purple hair out of her eyes. "Thank you for that."
"You're welcome, my big sister always says you should never be afraid to help someone out when she needs it," Sweetie said with a smile.
"You have a big sister too?"
"Yeah, her name is Rarity, we just moved to Canterlot over the summer with our parents," Sweetie said. "What about you?"
"Well, I kinda have a big sister, I mean we're not really related but we're close enough that we're kind of sisters," Scootaloo said playing with her hair a little. "She goes to the High School so, I'm still kind of getting used to not having her around."
"Hey its fine, I get that," Sweetie said. "Not everything is going to be easy but you'll do just fine, I'm sure."
Scootaloo smiled, Sweetie Belle seemed like a nice girl, did this mean she might have a friend? It was weird but she had never thought about it before, what was she supposed to do, just ask her? Well, it wouldn't hurt.
"Hey Sweetie, I was wondering, do you want to be friends?" Scootaloo asked, which surprised the other girl a little. "I mean, if its okay."
"Are you kidding? I'd love to be friends!" Sweetie said with a smile that brightened up the room so much Scootaloo couldn't help but smile back.
As the two girls continued to talk the conversation inevitably went back to their families. Scootaloo still felt a little nervous about telling her new friend about her home life so Sweetie went first.
"Yeah, we moved here from Fillydelphia a few months back, my Dad got a job as the head of IT at Rich Industries," Sweetie said with a nod. "We're still kind of getting settled in and I haven't met any other kids my age, well except for the CEO's daughter and she's kind of annoying."
"Oh, geez, well I'm still trying to meet people really," Scootaloo admitted with a sigh. "I actually used to go to a different school across town but I had to be transferred here last year when I moved."
"Oh, why did you have to move?" Sweetie asked with a slight tilt of her head.
This was the moment of truth, should she tell Sweetie Belle the truth? What would the girl say? She had never really been sure about telling other people the truth about where she came from because they usually treated her either as a charity case or a pariah.
Though Sweetie seemed different, she didn't really know why, but she got that feeling from the other girl. Like she could confide in her whatever she needed to.
"I'm, an orphan," Scootaloo finally admitted to Sweetie which got a surprised look from her. "When I was little my parents were killed in a car accident by a drunk driver. I was home sick at the time with the babysitter and after that I was kind of sent to different Foster Homes."
"Oh... I see..." Sweetie said and placed her hand on Scootaloo's gently.
"Yeah, my sister that I mentioned, Sunset Shimmer? She lived at the last Foster Home with me and we started to become close," Scootaloo continued. "But the family we lived with couldn't take care of us anymore so we were moved again and thankfully wound up in the same home together."
"That can't be easy for you," Sweetie said. "I can't imagine losing my parents like that..."
"Its not really, but I've managed to cope with it, Sunset's been a great help but sometimes, sometimes its hard to go on every day," Scootaloo said sadly. "My foster mom's okay I guess, she's not mean to us or anything and is pretty nice but its not really the same."
Sweetie didn't say anything for a moment, instead she leaned over and gave Scootaloo a hug which surprised the purple haired girl. She smiled softly and hugged her back, that's what she really needed right now.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome Scootaloo, that's what friends are for after all," Sweetie said with a smile as the bell rang. "Darn it, class is over, see you at lunch?"
"See you then!" Scootaloo said with a smile as she and Sweetie left the room together and parted ways to go to their next classes.
00000
The two met up again at lunch and met another girl around their age named Apple Bloom, Scootaloo couldn't be happier that she had made not one but two friends on her first day and she couldn't want to get back home to tell Sunset.
She waved good-bye to her new friends before climbing on her scooter and heading back towards the foster home. She could always go to the skate park later, right now she just wanted to get home.
When she got home she found the woman running the Foster Home Dizzy Twister waiting for her looking worried.
"Oh thank goodness you're here," Dizzy Twister said as she wiped her forehead.
"What's going on, what's wrong?" Scootaloo asked as she looked around, this was the second time in her life people had acted like this. "Where's Sunset?"
"Scootaloo... Sunset vanished from school today," Dizzy Twister said nervously. "I heard from Principal Celestia, she went to go eat her lunch outside and she never showed up for her other classes."
Scootaloo was devastated, Sunset Shimmer was missing? Where could she have gone? Why did she leave? If she had run away then why wouldn't she have said anything to her?
She couldn't think about it any more, she just ran up to her room crying.
00000
A few days passed, Scootaloo still went to school but she barely talked to anyone. When Sweetie and Apple Bloom tried to see what was wrong she just ignored them, it felt like she had lost her family all over again and that hurt her more than anything.
The police had been called of course but they couldn't find any leads, it was almost like Sunset had vanished into thin air. So Scootaloo had no real answers, just lots of questions as to what was going on.
Finally four days after Sunset vanished Scootaloo was leaving the foster home when she saw a familiar face walking up the street. She froze when she realized it was Sunset, though she was dressed differently, wearing a leather jacket over her usual outfit, she didn't care, she dropped what she was doing and ran over to the older girl and hugged her.
"Oh thank goodness you're okay!" Scootaloo said through her tears as she held the surprised girl for a long moment.
"Uh, who are you?" Sunset asked as she looked down at the strange girl.
"What are you talking about? You've known me since I came to the home..." Scootaloo said confused. "Right? Sisters forever?"
"Look, I don't know who you are kid, but I've never seen you before in my life so leave me alone," Sunset said as she pushed Scootaloo away and kept walking down the street, leaving Scootaloo confused and heartbroken.
Scootaloo sighed as she got out of bed and looked down at her feet. It had been awhile since Sunset Shimmer had vanished and come back different... no, she had to correct herself, she had learned since then that it wasn't the same Sunset she had known and grown close to, she was from some strange other world or something.
That at least explained why Sunset hadn't recognized her before, but it didn't make it hurt any less. Scootaloo was now a student at Canterlot High and she usually avoided Sunset, except when it was impossible to like when she wanted to hang out with Rainbow Dash.
She had never told Rainbow the truth about the Sunset she had known before, or anyone at school really. Most people didn't think there was any difference, but Scootaloo knew it and she was afraid that something terrible may have happened to the Sunset she knew.
"Scootaloo, are you okay?" Dizzy Twister asked as she slowly opened the door to look at the teenage girl. "You've been kind of out of it lately, your friends are worried about you."
"Its nothing," Scootaloo said with a shake of her head. "Honestly I'm just, trying to figure some stuff out, about what happened with Sunset before. I really don't know what to do, I know its not the same Sunset but every time I see her I can't help but think about her."
"Its okay, she didn't know about that," Dizzy said as she sat down next to the girl. "Have you ever tried talking to her about it?"
"Not really, what am I supposed to say? 'Hey, I used to know a girl that looked exactly like you, do you know what happened to her?' Yeah, I don't think that would go over that well," Scootaloo said with a shake of her head. "I still really wish I knew what happened to her, you know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I know," Dizzy said with a sigh. "When the other one showed up that kind of ended any investigation into the matter, but maybe I could call a friend or two and have them look into it, would that help?"
"A little," Scootaloo said with a shrug. "I mean, I'd like to know, and after that I honestly don't know anymore."
"Okay, I'll see what I can do, but you need to get to school," Dizzy said and Scootaloo nodded and left the room in order to get ready for the day.
Dizzy sighed a little and watched her go, she honestly had no idea what to tell her. She was still getting used to the idea of a second Sunset having appeared from another world herself, that was something that didn't exactly sit well with her, especially considering how it had affected Scootaloo.
She left the room and took out her cell phone and dialed a number, after a moment a woman's voice on the other end answered.
"This is Principal Celestia, can I help you?"
"Yes, this is Dizzy Twister, I'm the foster mother of one of your students," Dizzy said.
"Oh yes, Scootaloo's foster mother right?" Celestia asked and Dizzy answered yes. "What can I do to help you?"
"I'd like to talk about one of your other Students, Sunset Shimmer," Dizzy said.
00000
A few hours later Sunset Shimmer was on her way to meet up with her friends for lunch at the cafeteria. It was weird to think that it had only been a few months since the whole thing at Camp Everfree, but at least things were settling down a bit around the school.
She sighed a little, she was a bit nervous about everything that was going on with the risk of Equestrian magic coming into the Human World again. But at least everything seemed to be normal recently, nothing had ever really come up since the movie premiere.
"Sunset, can I talk to you about something?" A calm voice asked from the door to the Principal's office, she turned to see Principal Celestia standing there and looking at her.
"Uh, sure, what's going on?" Sunset asked as she came to a stop, why did the Principal want to talk to her all of a sudden. "Is there something wrong?"
Celestia looked uneasy for a moment, she wasn't sure exactly how to put this into words. "Come into my office please Sunset, this is something that needs to be discussed in private."
Sunset nodded and followed her into the office, she took a seat in the chair in front of the Principal's desk and looked at her. Was she in some sort of trouble? She hadn't really done anything that would warrant that lately, why would the Principal want to talk to her otherwise though?
"Sunset, I received a call from the guardian of one of the students here at school today," Celestia finally said. "I'm sorry for bringing this up, but there's been some questions raised about, well, you. Or more specifically, the you that was going to this school before you arrived."
"Wait, what?" Sunset asked, this was the first she had even heard about this, while it was true that she had wondered on occasion about her counterpart given that everypony else in Equestria seemed to have one.
"Yes, its kind of an odd thing really, before you arrived there was a Sunset Shimmer going to this school," Celestia admitted with a sigh. "The thing is though, she went missing not long after the school year started. Then you showed up a couple of days later, so the question of course has come up about what happened to the other Sunset."
Sunset's mind was reeling, that did explain some of the weird reactions people gave her when she first arrived, but she wasn't really sure what to think about all this.
"Honestly Principal Celestia, I have no idea, this is the first I've really heard of this," Sunset finally said. "I know its hard to believe, but I never even met the me from this world. I guess I never really thought about it when I first arrived, I'm sorry I can't help."
"Its alright, I figured I might as well at least try and see if you knew anything," Celestia said with a sigh. "Its a matter that's going to have to be explored and you're going to be asked a lot of questions. Are you sure there's not anything else you can tell me?"
Sunset paused for a long moment, she remembered running into Scootaloo briefly one day before they had gone to the same school together. She seemed to know her before they really met, now that made a lot more sense, was it possible that Scootaloo knew the other version of her?
That might explain a lot actually, even when they were both with Rainbow Dash Scootaloo seemed, distant at times like she didn't want to be there with Sunset. She had never given it much thought, but things were starting to make a lot more sense now.
"I'm sorry I can't tell you more," Sunset said with a sigh. "If I can ever think of anything I'll talk to you about it, but I doubt I'll be able to."
"Alright, thank you anyway, you may go to lunch now," Celestia said with a nod and Sunset headed out of the office, the conversation had left both of them with more questions than answers.
00000
"Hey Sunset, is everything okay?" Twilight asked as Sunset took a seat next to her at their lunch table. "You're usually not this late."
"Yeah, I'm sorry, Principal Celestia wanted to talk to me about something," Sunset said as she started to eat. "She said something about my counterpart from this world having come to this school briefly before vanishing a couple of days before I arrived."
"Oh, yeah, I remember hearing about that, I guess I never put two and two together," Rainbow said with a shrug. "No one really knew the girl since she was a new student, it was more or less just a rumor."
"Huh, I guess I never really noticed," Sunset said with a shrug.
"Who knows, maybe she accidentally accessed the portal to Equestria or something," Pinkie suggested with a shrug.
"I think somepony would've noticed that there were two of me running around Canterlot," Sunset pointed out with a light chuckle. "I don't know what happened to he really... Rainbow can I ask you something?"
"Sure, anything," Rainbow said as she took a long drink of her milk.
"Do you know anything about Scootaloo's family or home life?" Sunset asked and Rainbow Dash paused a moment as she looked at the fire haired girl. "I mean, you two are close so..."
"Yeah, I know, I just wasn't expecting you to ask me that," Rainbow said with a shrug as she set her drink down again. "Honestly Sunset, I don't know a whole lot about her family, she's always kind of kept to herself. I think she lives with a foster family though, that's about the closest I've ever gotten to something resembling an answer."
"I see," Sunset said as she sighed a little, a lot of this still didn't make sense to her. "Has she mentioned anything else?"
"Well, umm, she has that necklace she always wears," Fluttershy said nervously. "I asked her about it once, she said it was given to her by her family."
Sunset looked thoughtful for a long moment, she still wasn't sure exactly what was going on but she had some answers at least. It was pretty clear that Scootaloo knew her counterpart, they had probably even been close, but what had happened to her?
If Scootaloo had really been close to this world's Sunset, then how come she had vanished without telling her? Something about this still felt weird to her, like there were pieces to a puzzle that she didn't have a picture for, and she didn't like it.
"Well, thanks for your help anyway," Sunset said with a sigh as she poked at her food a little.
"Is everythin' okay?" Applejack asked as she looked over at Sunset. "Yah seem ta be actin' mighty weird about this whole thing."
"Yeah, everything is fine, I was just thinking is all," Sunset said with a shrug as the bell rang signaling the end of lunch.
As they walked out of the cafeteria they went past the Crusaders who were on their way in for their own lunch period. For a brief moment Scootaloo and Sunset exchanged a look, for a moment Sunset wanted to say something to the girl but she had no idea what to say so she kept walking.
She'd have to talk to her again later.
00000
"Is everythin' okay Scootaloo, yah seem a bit distracted today," Apple Bloom asked as Scootaloo poked at her lunch a little with her fork. "Is somethin' botherin' yah?"
"Its nothing, I'm just thinking about something is all," Scootaloo said with a sigh as she looked at her friends. "You know, about family and stuff, its hard to focus right now is all."
"Its okay, don't worry about it," Sweetie said with a smile as she wrapped her arm around Scootaloo gently, which made the girl blush a little. "What are you thinking about."
"About Sunset mostly," Scootaloo said with a sigh. "Its still kind of weird for me with everything that's going on. Its not easy, given she looks so much like... well you know."
"Yeah, I understand," Sweetie said with a nod, Scootaloo had barely talked about the other Sunset to her friends over the past few years, but that's not the kind of thing you forget easily. "So, why don't you talk to her about it?"
"Yeah, that'll go real well, even if she's nicer now, she'd probably just pass it off," Scootaloo said with a shake of her head. "Besides, its not the same thing as having her here, it feels more like I'd just be replacing her."
"Scoots, Ah kinda know how yah feel, when Ah lost mah parents it wasn't easy ta get used ta either," Apple Bloom said with a nod as she reached over and squeezed her friend's hand. "Ah mean, Ah didn't have alternate versions of them from another world showin' up, but Ah can imagine what yer goin' through."
"Its not like she's dead or anything, that we know of at least," Scootaloo said with a sigh. "She's just, gone, and I don't know if she'll ever be back. Its that not knowing part that's really hard, I really just don't know what to do."
"I think you should talk to her," Sweetie said. "I know its not quite the same as the one you knew before, but it might do you a lot of good. You've been hanging onto this since we first met you Scootaloo, she'll never replace your sister in your heart, but it may at least help you heal. Right Apple Bloom?"
"Its at least worth a try," Apple Bloom said with a nod.
"I don't know, I'll think about it I guess," Scootaloo said with a sigh as she finished eating. "Do you really think I should talk to her?"
"Yeah, it can't hurt at least," Apple Bloom said with a nod.
"I'll, think about it," Scootaloo said and got up and walked off to put her tray away.
"What are we going to do about this?" Sweetie asked as she looked at Apple Bloom. "I'm worried about her, we don't know how much of an effect this'll have on her if she keeps going on like this."
"Ah don't know, maybe we should try talkin' ta our sisters, they might be able ta help think of somethin'," Apple Bloom said and Sweetie nodded. "If nothin' else, it'll at least help, Ah don't know really."
"Yeah, we'll think of something, I hope," Sweetie said as she finished eating. "I just hope that everything will be okay, I don't want anything to happen to her."
"Me neither," Apple Bloom said and then gave her friend a teasing smile. "So when are ya'll gonna stop hidin' yer feelings and admit how yah feel about each other already?"
Sweetie facepalmed, she couldn't believe Apple Bloom would say something like that right now. "This isn't the time for that, lets just think about what we can do to help Scootaloo, okay?"
"Fine, yer no fun," Apple Bloom said with a chuckle as the two girls got up to meet with their friend.
