The next morning, the girls again stood beside the Wondercolt Statue. With school out for the weekend, it had taken quite a bit of persuasion to let Vice Principle Luna let them be on school grounds at all.

"Okay. The portal is open now Spike says. I'll go through first and make sure everything is set up for you girls. Princess Celestia said she wanted to be there when you came through," Princess Twilight explained.

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Great. No time to prepare."

Twilight rolled her eyes as well. "Sorry Sunset, she insisted. And you've been avoiding this for too long as it is. My Pinkie Pie will probably throw you two a party when she's had time to prepare one."

Before she could say more though, she caught movement off to the side. Looking over, she watched as five heads ducked quickly behind a nearby bush.

Rainbow rolled her eyes as she saw it too. "Yeah. The Shadowbolts have been sneaking around the statue ever since the Friendship Games. Don't know why though."

Twilight didn't like the sound of that. "I thought you guys were friends?"

The girls shared a look. "It's a work in progress with them. They are much better than they used to be for sure. But some habits die hard I guess," Rarity replied.

Sci Twilight pinched her nose. "And Dean Cadance said that Principle Cinch is making them stick around the portal. She obsessed with magic, and she wants it all for Crystal Prep."

Twilight frowned. "I don't mean to judge, but how is she still a principle after what she did?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "The school board does know about the blackmailing and the bullying, but they still haven't made a decision yet. So she's still there."

Sunset nodded. "From what I hear though, she is on the way out. It's not confirmed yet, the man who came before Cinch is even asking for her to get out."

Sci Twi nodded. "And from what Shining's told me, not many say no to Principle Sombra."

Twilight hid her shock well at that name. Something must have shown though for Sunset gave her a look that said she needed to explain it at some point. For now, though, she had to worry about the Shadowbolts. "Great. One more headache," she grumbled as she thought of how this would work.

After a moment, she had an idea as she smiled at her friends. "Can you guys make sure they don't do anything? I can vouch for everyone here in Equestria. But I don't them."

Pinkie smiled widely. "You can count on us. Pinkie Promise. Right girls?"

The rest of the Rainbooms rolled their eyes but went through the motions anyway. Twilight grinned. "I know how this works, so I know we're in good hands."

She placed a hand on the portal, which rippled as it passed through. "Give me a few minutes, then you two can come on through," she said as she stepped through.

***

Several minutes went by with no response from Princess Twilight. The girls were getting bored at this rate. Applejack and Rainbow Dash couldn't even find something to compete over for once.

The Shadowbolts kept out sight, except for the occasional rustle of their bush or a hushed voice saying one thing or another. From what the girls could hear, they didn't sound any less bored.

And if they remembered the voices right, it sounded like Indigo Zap and Sunny Flare were at it about doing nothing while they had a chance to do something.

Just as Sunset was about to walk over and see what was going on, she felt her journal vibrate with an incoming message. Opening to the last unused page, she and Twilight found this.

"You girls are clear now. Com on through."

Sunset smirked and turned to Twilight. "Ready?"

Twilight nodded, trying to look confident. "As I'll ever be."

Sunset's smirk widened as she saw through the mask as she walked over to the portal. "See you on the other side. Oh, and watch that first step. It's a doozy," before she stepped through.

Twilight tried to steady herself as she turned to her friends. All were smiling in a way that put her nerves to rest quite a bit as she returned the smile. "See you, girls, whenever we get back."

With one last look up to the statue base, Twilight stepped through the portal and into the unknown.

***

When she was asked later what it felt like jumping between worlds, all Twilight could remember was a swirling rainbow of colors and the feeling of her body being stretched and twisted.

Followed by a sudden jolt and stop as it all ended. Her eyes had closed as she neared what she thought was the end, so when she finally opened them, she didn't know what to expect to see.

She was now in a room that seemed to be made entirely of crystal. It put her in mind of Crystal Prep if she was being honest with her self. But while her old school had the air of a fortress, the room around her carried an air of calm.

And around the edge of the room where shelf upon shelf of books. The sight of so many books made her grin widely and what some might even call dopey. "So. Many. Books!" She squeed, before taking a step toward the nearest shelf.

Or at least she tried too before she fell flat on her face with a thud. "Ow," she groaned as she rubbed her snout with a hoof. Wait. Hoof? Snout?

Twilight heard someone snicker off to the side as someone came up to her. "Here's your first lesson on being a pony. We walk on all four hooves here."

Looking up, Twilight saw a sunset-colored unicorn grinning down at her. Her multi-colored mane was one Twilight knew. "Sunset?" She asked.

Sunset's grin grew. "Yeah. This is the real me," she said as she helped Twilight to her hooves. This would take some getting used to for sure. Sunset's horn glowed green as a mirror appeared next to her before she showed it to Twilight. "And this is you. Or your new body at least."

Twilight took a moment to take her new look in. Her coat was a nice shade of lavender. Her mane was done up in the same bun as she'd had at Canterlot High. Her tale had the same colors as her mane but hung loose. A horn protruded from her forehead.

But what really held Twilight's attention were tucked at her side. Wings. She had wings. She tried to flap them experimentally, and with not a little bit of awe, she watched as they responded. She wouldn't be flying anytime soon, but she could feel her wings all the same.

She turned to Sunset. Only now did she see that her companion only had a horn and no wings. That didn't make any sense. Did it? "Why do I have wings and a horn?" She finally asked.

Sunset was shocked to be sure. She hadn't really expected this to be honest. "You're an alicorn. Part unicorn, part Pegasus, and part earth pony. I didn't think this was going to happen."

Twilight pushed her glasses up her snout. "Why?"

Sunset shook her head. "Because there were only four known alicorns. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, and your native self."

Twilight thought about that for a moment. "Maybe because we are each other's counterparts? I'm not in trouble, am I?"

Sunset shook her head quickly and threw a hoof around Twilight's neck. "You're fine. And I seriously doubt you're in trouble with anypony. They'll be shocked for sure I bet."

Twilight smiled a bit at that as she looked back at the portal. Here it was a mirror she saw. Weird. But maybe this was normal? "So now what?"

Sunset grinned as she reached out with her magic and took down a book from the top of the mirror. With a hum, the mirror shut down. "That'll keep anyone from following us." With a burst of magic, she summoned a pen and wrote a quick message in the book. "I just told the girls we're fine and we made it. Now they don't have to worry about us."

Twilight nodded again, her own smile growing. "Where do we go from here?"

Sunset chuckled "Now? We go find the others. The Throne Room is close by from what Princess Twilight told me."

Author's Note

So I made Sunset much better with magic than she was in Mirror Magic. Since the special never happens here, I felt it would work.

How she and Starlight Glimmer get along, I'm still working on. They'll be friends for sure. But how that works I still don't know yet.