After being alive for well over a thousand years, Princess Celestia had a long list of mistakes and regrets, many of which could never be rectified, as the ponies she had wronged had died or disappeared before she could seek redemption. Nearly all of the mistakes and regrets were the unintentional consequences of holistic intentions. Showing Sunset Shimmer – her star pupil – a magical portal that led to different dimensions was merely the most recent addition to that list. Sunset had glimpsed an image of herself as a powerful alicorn princess, and had become obsessed with not only attaining that apparent destiny, but had begun shunning other ponies in order to get it.

“Princess Celestia!” Celestia’s attention was drawn to a purple unicorn mare with a gray mane who had just run into the throne room. Two pegasus guards moved to block her path, but Celestia held up a hoof and they let the mare continue.

“What is it, Novella?”

“Sunset Shimmer is in the dark magic section of the library and has already read several books!”

Celestia stood up and started walking through the throne room, addressing the others in the throne room. “My apologies, everypony. This could be an emergency.”

Within minutes, Princess Celestia, Novella, and two guards arrived at the library’s restricted section.

“The Crystal Mirror,” they heard Sunset say. “Every thirty moons, a portal will open to... another world?”

“That’s not really for you to know, now is it?” Princess Celestia stated, causing Sunset to jump in surprise. She quickly regained her composure and turned to face her mentor.

“How dare you keep this kind of magic from me!” the young orange mare with a bright red and yellow mane said angrily. “You know that I’m ready for this, that I can be great!”

“You could be great,” Celestia replied. I thought I saw compassion and sincerity in you, but it was nothing but ambition. You’re being selfish. You need to step back and reflect –”

“I’m selfish?” Sunset threw the book at her mentor, who easily cast a shield to deflect it. “That book right there says I could become as powerful as an alicorn princess. I could rule here. It’s selfish of you to keep me from my rightful place!” Celestia thought she saw Sunset’s eyes glisten with wetness. Was it a tear of sorrow, or of frustration? “I deserve to stand beside you and be your equal, if not your better.” The glisten disappeared, replaced with a look of determination. “Make me a princess.”

“No,” Celestia simply replied. “Being a princess must be earned. I have been trying to teach you everything you need to know, but you’ve turned from it. Every time you say you ‘deserve’ to get something without effort just proves to me that you are not ready.”

Celestia took a breath and continued.

“Sunset Shimmer,” Princess Celestia declared, “I am removing you from the position of my pupil. If we cannot get past this, your studies end here. You are welcome to stay in Canterlot, but you are no longer welcome in the castle.”

Sunset became more and more visibly angry as she listened to her mentor become her former mentor. “We’ll never get past this because you aren’t seeing how great I deserve to be. Is that really all you have to say to me?”

“No. The guards will escort you out.”

“This is the biggest mistake you’ll make in your entire life,” Sunset declared the two royal guards escorted Sunset Shimmer out of the library. Celestia looked at a nearby silk and velvet tapestry depicting her defeat of Nightmare Moon, magically sending her younger sister to the moon almost a thousand years earlier, and hanged her head in shame.

“One of many,” she muttered to herself.

Celestia’s head remained lowered as she walked down the red-carpeted halls back to the throne room. Despite her reverie, her ear turned toward the sound of a groan coming through a nearby open door. Celestia looked up and her eyes widened. This door belonged to the room where she kept the Crystal Mirror. Hurrying inside, Princess Celestia saw both guards on the ground near the mirror, groaning and dazed; Sunset Shimmer had overpowered them with a surprise attack and escaped through the portal.

“Oh, Sunset Shimmer... no...” She moved to help the guards up.

“She took us by surprise and just... just... jumped in the mirror. I don’t know.”

“Shh, it’s fine.”

Celestia looked at the mirror. The surface shimmered despite facing away from the window behind it, and she knew it had closed. Sunset Shimmer wouldn’t be able to return for another thirty moons, and Princess Celestia wanted to keep a close eye on the mirror if her pupil were to ever return.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunset Shimmer stumbled through the other side of the portal in the night, a marble pedestal for a statue of a horse, and landed on her hands and knees. She groaned and sat back against the marble pedestal she’d just passed through. After a second Sunset’s eyes opened wide and she turned around, pushing her hands against the cold stone.

“No... no!”

Sunset sighed and leaned her head against the cold stone, and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath, reminding herself that all she had to do was wait for thirty moons until it opened again, but she had no idea if time in this world passed the same as it had in Equestria. She’d have to pay attention to the moon cycles in this world.

When she opened her eyes, she looked at the changes that had happened to her body while she traveled through the portal’s vortex. Her front hooves had transformed into hands with fingers, and she could feel similar smaller appendages in her boots. Her muzzle had shortened, but the most significant change, in her opinion, was the sudden lack of a horn. Sunset Shimmer could no longer cast spells and use magic, but mor importantly, there was no way she could become an alicorn princess if she didn’t have a horn!

“You lied to me,” she muttered to the disabled portal. “When I looked in you that time, I saw myself as an alicorn princess, not this... this thing that I’ve become.”

After some time, Sunset sat on the ground with a sigh, her back against the pedestal, and did what she could to tend to her scrapes. It wasn’t long before she heard some noise nearby, and she moved over, peeking her head out from the side of the pedestal to see what was going on.

She saw two girls at a nearby street corner, and it looked like they were arguing. The taller one had pale hair and was wearing a brown jacket with a furry collar, and the shorter one had dyed streaks of every color in her long blonde hair, tied back into a ponytail. The taller one pushed the other, who held up a finger, as if telling her to stop. The taller one pushed her again, and got punched in the face as a result.

Sunset tried to stand and walk over, but she was too unfamiliar with her new body to do much other than lean against the pedestal and watch. If she couldn’t go over to join the fight, she might as well watch and learn how to fight in this new bipedal body.

Though the taller one seemed to throw stronger punches, the multi-haired girl was more agile, dodging and blocking the other’s attacks more often than getting hit by them. Suddenly, the girl with the ponytail dodged another attack and sprinted around her, pausing only to turn around and make a flying kick against her opponent. The taller girl, who had started to turn around to continue the fight, caught the full brunt of the attack on her chest, knocking her to the ground. Sunset expected her to get back up, but to her surprise, she stayed on the ground. Sunset guessed that her new body was weaker than her pony body, as a kick to the torso on another pony would hurt but not end a fight. She remembered the guards she had overpowered just before jumping through the portal.

Well, most of the time, anyway, she mused.

The girl with the multi-colored hair started walking toward where Sunset was leaning against the pedestal, and their eyes met. The mystery girl glanced behind her and started jogging toward her. Sunset’s heart started pumping faster with adrenaline, unsure if she was going to fight her as well. Given what she had just seen and her unfamiliarity with her new body, she knew she’d lose.

“Uhh, how much of that did you see?” the girls asked, slowing down before reaching Sunset, whose pulse did not slow down as quickly.

“Pretty much all of it,” Sunset replied. “You’re quite a fighter.”

“Thanks! I am pretty awesome. I like your hair.”

Sunset held a lock of her hair in her hand, seeing she’d retained the colors of her mane through the portal, though no longer as bright as it had been. Her hair was now auburn with streaks of blonde all throughout.

“Thanks. It’s natural.”

“Man, I wish my hair was naturally multicolored. That’d be awesome.”

“What’s your name? I’ve been calling you ‘the girl with the multi-colored hair’ in my head, but that’s quite a mouthful.”

The girl with the multi-colored hair thought for a moment, as if wondering whether or not she could trust the auburn and blonde-haired girl, then replied, “Arianna. My friends call me something else, but we’re not exactly friends yet. We just met, and I don’t know if you can even be trusted.”

Hayseeds, there’s no way she could’ve known what I did in Equestria, is there?

“My name’s Sunset Shimmer.”

Arianna burst out laughing. “Okay, you’ve gotta be pulling my leg with that one. A name like that has got to be a nickname.”

“Nope, that’s my real name. I’m...” Sunset paused a moment to consider whether or not she should tell Arianna where she’d come from. She didn’t exactly have a way to prove it now that the portal was closed. “I’m not from around here.”

“No kidding. Listen, most people around here don’t treat new people all that well. Gilda’s a prime example of that.” Arianna gestured behind her where Gilda was finally getting up, holding her chest. Sunset thought she might come running after Arianna for another round, so she grabbed her hand and pulled her around the pedestal so Gilda couldn’t see them.

“Hey, what was that for?”

“I saw her standing up and thought that if she saw you she’d want to keep fighting. Or worse, she’ll see me as an easier target and fight me, and I know she’d win that. You gave her a hard enough time, and I’m pretty sure you could kick my flank.”

“What’s a flank?”

“Your rear end. You’ve never heard that term before?”

“Nah. You really aren’t from around here, huh?” Sunset shook her head. “Where are you from, anyway?”

“You probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try me!”

“You didn’t believe me when I told you my name just now.”

“Hmm, good point. Speaking of which, you’re gonna have to go by a different name if you don’t want people to make fun of you for it.”

“Like what?”

“Dunno. We’ll figure it out later. Do you have anywhere to stay tonight? It’s pitch black, and even Gilda shouldn’t be out this late, and she’s a year older than me.”

Sunset looked at Arianna, guessing that they were about the same age. “How old are you?”

“I just turned eleven...” she counted on her fingers, “exactly four weeks ago. Come on, let’s go to my place. It’s too cold to be outside in November.”

They start walking, etc.

“So, what started the fight with Gilda?”

Arianna crossed her arms, and Sunset had a feeling it had more to do with what had happened with Gilda than with the cold night air. “We wanted to start a street gang together but we have different ideas on how to run it. She says” she wants to work together, but she keeps shooting down my ideas.”

“Why not start your own gang then?” Sunset asked. “If she’s not going to give you what you were promised, find your own way to your destiny.”

“That sounds tricky,” Arianna replied. “I’m still officially part of Gilda’s gang, and I’d have to get out without getting my ass kicked too bad.”

“Couldn’t you beat her again like you did earlier?”

Arianna shook her head. “My win had some luck involved. She wasn’t expecting me to fight back.”

“Then I’ll figure out how you can leave without getting hurt. I’m not much of a fighter, but I was always the smartest student at school.”

Arianna smiled and put her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “You know what? I will start my own gang, and you’re gonna be my second-in-command. If you’re as smart as you say you are, we could be unstoppable!”

Arianna brought Sunset to her house, sneaking them both through the back door past a babysitter sitting on the sofa and watching TV, facing away from them. Arianna held a finger to her lips and led Sunset to her room, closing the door behind them.

“My parents are out tonight and got a babysitter to watch me. I snuck out while she was watching TV.”

“She’s not very observant, is she?”

“That’s why she’s my favorite!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arianna and Sunset spent the next few days gathering information and developing a plan for getting Arianna safely out of Gilda’s gang. They compiled a list of Arianna’s friends and classmates who might be useful members of their own gang. Soon, it was time for Arianna to act.

After school let out that Friday, Arianna took the school bus back to her house to get Sunset before walking through a forested park toward Gilda’s house.

“Now or never, Sofia,” Arianna said, using the new name they’d come up with for her. “After I do this, there’s no going back.”

“Look on the bright side, Dash,” Sunset replied, using Arianna’s nickname. “You’ve got backup this time.”

Arianna nodded, and the two girls continued in silence until they arrived at Gilda’s house. Arianna walked up to the door and knocked. Soon the door was opened by Gilda, having just gotten home from school herself.

“Dash? What are you doing here? And who’s this?”

“Sofia’s a new friend,” Arianna replied. “As for what I’m doing here, well...” She glanced over to Sunset, who nodded. “I don’t wanna be in your gang anymore. It was supposed to belong to both of us, but you keep ignoring my ideas. So I’m leaving, and creating my own.”

Gilda scoffed and pointed at Sunset. “With who? This weak-ass bitch?”

“Physical strength isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Sunset said. “I thought for sure you’d learned that lesson earlier this week when Dash knocked you on your ass near the high school.”

“Ah, shit. You saw that?”

“I have my ways.” No reason she needs to know it was pure coincidence.

Gilda’s eyes widened slightly, almost undetectable to anyone not looking for nervous tics. Sunset kept a straight face but smiled inwardly, having noticed the change.

“With my help – oh, and Phillip’s and Diane’s help, as well as some others we’ve already started recruiting – Dash could develop a very powerful street gang. Better than yours ever could be, unless you find someone as smart as me.” Sunset stepped forward and put her hand on Gilda’s shoulder, giving a big, fake smile. “Good luck with that.”

“Later, Gilda,” said Arianna, and both Arianna and Sunset turned away and walked back toward the forested park, giving no heed to anything Gilda might shout. Sunset held up a small mirror she’d brought with them in case Gilda threw something at them. Fortunately she didn’t, and Sunset put the mirror away when they got deeper into the trees.

“As I hoped, she’s too shocked to react right away, but I would bet she’s coming to her senses soon. We should probably go faster in case she decides to follow us.”

“We should definitely run,” Arianna replied. “She knows where I live.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luckily for Arianna and Sunset, Gilda chose not to follow them. After some time standing in the doorway watching them leave, she turned and went back inside, letting the door slam behind her as she made her way up the stairs to her room and laid on her bed.

Phillip and Diane were two of Arianna’s classmates she and Gilda had decided to recruit into their gang, and now Arianna was taking them back. Phillip was smart and strong, and Diane was, as far as Gilda could understand, a physical manifestation of chaos who often seemed to be really lucky. They had been the only two other members of their four-person gang so far, but now that dream of a street gang had died.

Gilda spent the rest of the afternoon laying in her bed, wondering what she could do, when her stomach growled. She sat up on the edge of the bed, then stood up to go down to the kitchen to get some food when her eye caught glimpse of something she’d forgotten she had: a business card for the Melodia crime family.

Several months ago, Gilda was walking down the street when she saw a young girl with long black hair walking across the street. She had also noticed a car coming down the road too fast, and with a high chance the car would hit the girl. She called out to the girl to watch out, and thankfully the girl ran the rest of the way across the road as the car zoomed past where she had been standing seconds before.

“Thank you,” the girl said, catching her breath.

“No sweat,” Gilda replied, and started walking away until she heard the girl’s voice again.

“Wait one moment, please.” Gilda turned back toward the girl. “My name is Octavia Melodia, daughter of Lorenzo Melodia. He asked me to give one of these to people who did me a favor, so that he could return the favor someday.” Octavia held out a business card for Gilda to take.

Gilda picked up the card from her dresser and looked at it. Perhaps if she couldn’t build her own street gang, she could join a more experienced group and develop her training.

It was time to call in that favor.

Author's Note

The chapter title translates to "risk nothing, gain nothing."

Before writing this, I'd never watched the Godfather series or Goodfellas. All I knew about them was "make him an offer he can't refuse", the horse head in the bed, and Joe Pesci's "funny guy" scene, as well as parodies like Family Guy and Zootopia. Any other similarities throughout the course of this fic are unintentional.