[Equestria Girls], Slice of Life, Sunset Shimmer, Flash Sentry, Main 7 (EqG), OC, Other

I enrolled in this school to gain power. Now, I find myself surrounded by teenagers. But that’s okay. This is just temporary, after all.

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This story was supposed to be a sequel to What a Strange New World

None of this would’ve happened if Princess Celestia had made me an alicorn, like I deserve! I, Sunset Shimmer, should’ve been a princess!

Instead, I found myself in this pathetic school, surrounded by a bunch of teenagers. Working a low-income job and sleeping in a tiny, unheated space. How am I going to live like this?

But it’s alright. I’m just here to accumulate power and wait out my time until the portal opens again. Then, I’ll finally be able to go to Equestria and take my place as its rightful ruler!

Until then, I must learn to survive at Canterlot High School.

One - My first step

I look at the school and take a deep breath.

Canterlot High School is the perfect place for my plans. It’s a school close to the portal so I can study it. It’s not too far from my place of work and my residence. And it’s perfect practice for when I’ll rule Equestria.

I smiled and strut onto the steps. I open the double glass doors and take in the foyer.

It’s a large space. On my right is a trophy case, full of various awards and ribbons. On my left is another set of double doors. In front of me is a long corridor lined with doors and lockers. There is an upstairs floor, its railings decorated with blue-and-gold banners.

The place is okay, but it’s nothing like Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.

It’s currently empty. For the best, I think. That way, I can explore the place by myse-

Buzz!

A sharp sound rings through my ears and I look up to see this round, red object affixed to the wall vibrating. Is that the school bell?

I don’t have much time to think about it because seconds later, the hall, and foyer, are suddenly crowded with students. The sudden increase in people is disorienting and I lose myself in my surroundings.

It’s difficult to see where I’m going. I take one step at a time. There are just so many people! Honestly, how does one even navigate this scho-

Oof! I fall onto the ground. I must have bumped into someone. I rub my elbow from where it hit the cold, tiled floor.

An orange hand extends itself to me, preparing to help me up. I glare at it. No one gets to bump into me and then help me up! I look up, eyes glared.

And I freeze. It’s him.

Someone has bumped into me, and I fell on the floor. Who has dared bumped into Sunset Shimmer?! They will pay! A hand shows up in front of me, supposedly to help me stand up. I am not accepting this! This person dared humiliate me and now has the audacity to help me up? I look up, eyes narrowed, ready to give them a piece of my mind.

And I freeze. He’s a boy, and he’s quite handsome, truth be told. He has orange skin and spiked blue hair, and is dressed like a rocker. Maybe I should accept his hand after all. I rise and struggle to gain my footing. I don’t fall again, though, as he’s still firmly holding my hand. His skin is soft and warm, and I don’t want to let go. He apologizes for the incident (as he should be) and offers to pay for a drink. His voice is so smooth and appealing that I blush.

“You,” I whisper.

He takes my hands and abruptly lift me. He smiles. “I knew you looked familiar. Have we met before?”

I pull my hands away from his firm and wonderful grip. “You’re the boy from the coffee shop. The one who bumped into me then bought me a drink.”

“Oh, yeah. I remember.” He scratches the back of his head, then drops his hand. “My name is Flash Sentry, by the way.”

I nod. “Sunset Shimmer.”

“I didn’t know you went to school here.”

“I’m new. Today’s my first day.”

Flash nods. “I see. Do you want some help? You know, to get adjusted and stuff.”

I consider it. He seems helpful enough, almost to the point of naive. He could be a great asset to gaining power around here. I could get his trust and use that to climb up the social ladder.

I must have spaced out for too long, since Flash waves his hand in front of my face. “Hey, Sunset. You still here?”

“Yeah. I could really use your help.” I plaster a confused frown in my face, which isn’t hard, because I am confused.

“Great! Do you have your schedule?”

I shake my head. “Not yet. I’m actually here to enroll.”

“Then let me show you the way to the Principal’s office.” He points to the other end of the hallway and walks in that direction.

We walk in silence. I use that time to observe how the school works.

The school doesn’t have a uniform; the students wear whatever they want. CSGU didn’t have a uniform, but in Equestria, clothing is optional - here, it’s not. The hallway is lined with green lockers, secured with what appears to be a numbered padlock. Flash and I pass by several doors and I’m able to see some labels above them. Class SM02. Class JR11. Computer Lab. Woodwork Lab.

We finally arrive by a large, yellow door, and stop. Flash gestures to it. “Here it is. The Principal’s office. You’re going to love her, she’s really kind.”

I nod. “I’ll get to it, then. You may leave.”

“‘You may leave’?” Flash echoes.

I raise an eyebrow. Were you expecting me to thank you? I don’t say.

Flash gets my body language, though and changes the subject. “See you at lunch? Cafeteria’s down the hall.”

“Yeah, sure,” I reply.

With that, Flash leaves, presumably to his next class.

I fish out my papers from my backpack. The falsified documents are good enough if one doesn’t look at it too much. They’ll pass for authentic, provided this Principal, whoever she is, isn’t too observant. I close my backpack, open the door and enter the office.

And that’s when my heart skips a few beats.

It’s her. Of all people in this dimension, it has to be her. Sitting by the desk, engrossed in paperwork, is Celestia. That’s great, it’s all I needed right now!

Pony instincts well up inside, tempting me to scream, to yell at her, to berate her for everything. But the rational part of my brain overwhelms those instincts. This is Principal Celstia, not Princess Celestia. Yelling at my former teacher’s counterpart will only hurt my chances of gaining power here. So I suck up my feelings and steel my nerves.

I clear my throat. “Hello. My name is Sunset Shimmer. I’m here to enroll.”

Celestia stops writing and looks up from her work. Her amethyst eyes meet my teal ones and I feel a sharp pang of regret. Those are the same eyes who looked at me with pride whenever I mastered a new spell. The same eyes...

I shake my head. Snap out of it! Honestly, now is not the time to reminisce! Besides, the Princess denied you your destiny, didn’t she? We’re here to take it back!

Celestia notices my sudden shift in mood and leans forward. “Are you alright, Ms. Shimmer?”

A flurry of unknown emotions passes through me at the sound of that voice. I push it all away. “I’m fine, Ma’am,” I politely reply.

Celestia smiles. “If you say so, dear. Please, take a seat. You said you’re here to enroll? Do you have your papers with you?”

I nod, hand them over and teak a seat in the small chair across her. She glances through the papers, but doesn’t study them for too long. Thankfully.

She gets up from her chair and walks over to a filing cabinet. Human Celestia is professionally dressed. She’s wearing a crisp golden suit, complete with a blazer and - and what was the word? - slacks. Her left wrist sports a purple watch.

She takes out what looks like a form and sets it on the table. “I just have to fill out your enrollment form. Then I draft up your schedule and you’ll be good to go.”

I nod, forcing a smile on my face.

So I missed my first period today. That explains the bell and the students filing out of class. But now I have my second period, mathematics.

I love math. And science. This may sound surprising, but magical spells - potions, too - require an advanced understanding of numbers, formulas and equations. To perform magic, a unicorn needs to master their spell matrices. To concoct potions, a unicorn needs to grasp the reactions of various ingredients. Magic is difficult, but I am a professional.

I follow the directions on my schedule, which tell me to head to Class FM04.

I enter the classroom, pausing as soon as I step inside. Every student turns to look at me and even the teacher stops what she’s doing.

“I’m Sunset Shimmer. I’m new here. Where’s my seat?” I say as I hand the teacher my schedule.

She has light pink and dark purple hair, and is wearing a green dress patterned with sunflowers. She’s not much taller than I am. She smiles sweetly. “Welcome to Canterlot High, Ms. Shimmer! I’m Ms. Cheerilee.” She points to an empty in the far back. “You may get seated.”

I nod, make my way to my seat and take out my supplies.

“Alright, class, as I was saying, today we were going to learn about the quadratic equation. It’s a new concept, so don’t worry if you can’t grasp it on the first try.” Cheerilee turned around and wrote an equation on the blackboard. “Now the answer to this is quite simple. All you have to do is-”

I answered before I even think about. “Equate each of the coefficients of x to the quadratic equation, which is x equals negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus four times a times c, and the total divided by twice a. This’ll give you the answer of 2.5.”

“That’s... correct,” Cheerilee says.

Like I said: I love math.

The rest of the morning classes passed by in a blur. Not all classes were as interesting or exiting as math, although I did take a class called ‘workshop’, which was about woodwork. In other words: Earth pony work.

But now it’s time for lunch. I head down the hall to the cafeteria. I open the double doors and...

Wow. It’s huge.

The place is filled with rows of long tables and plastic chairs, all on the blue-and-gold color scheme associated with this school. The students are all seated with trays of food and are amicably chatting with their friends. There's an air of peace and friendliness in this place.

It makes me sick.

The food counter contains an assortment of foreign food and I can smell the sickening meat. I take a bowl of fruit salad, an apple, a glass of water and pay for the meal.

Flash Sentry sees me before I do. He stands and waves his arm around to get my attention. “Sunset Shimmer! Over here!”

I take my lunch and walk over to his table.

“Enjoying school so far?” he asks.

“My old school was better,” is my immediate answer. Great. Way to make a first impression.

Flash looks at me like a confused dog.

“What I meant was I haven’t really had a chance to get to know this school since I just got here.”

“Oh. Well, you'll get used to the place. CHS is pretty great.” He takes a bite of his hamburger. “Is that enough food for you?” he suddenly asks.

I don't exactly have enough money to buy more. “I don't eat much. Don't worry about me.”

”Are you sure?”

I slam my fist on the table. “I said, don’t worry about me.”

Flash leans back. “Okay. Got it.”

I take a bite of my salad and look around. All the tables have friends chatting mindlessly, all with bright, happy faces. But one table seems to have the brightest smiles of all.

Five girls are seated at the table. The pink one with crazy hair is waving her hand around. The yellow one is playing with her pale pink, avoiding eye contact with everyone. The blue with rainbow hair is laughing so hard she’s having trouble breathing. The orange one with blonde hair is calmly sipping her apple juice. And the white with indigo curls is staring at herself in the compact mirror.

I stop eating. “Flash,” I call out.

“Yeah?”

I point at the table. “Who are they?”

Flash turns to look at them. “The closest group of friends this school has to offer.” He points at the pink one. “That’s Pinkie Pie.” The yellow one. “Fluttershy.” The blue one. “Rainbow Dash.” The orange one. “Applejack.” The white one. “And Rarity.”

“I see.”

Flash nods. “Inseparable, those girls are. The’ve been best friends since childhood.”

I turn to look at the table. The girls’ smiles are somehow wider than before.

This world doesn’t have any magic. The only way to get power sound here is to divide and conquer. And the only way to do that is to drive everyone apart.

‘Best friends’, huh? Not for long.

Two

The Sushi Emporium is a lot more crowded today than it usually is. This means more tip money, sure, but it also means more work.

Today’s shift is gonna be long.

I head towards table 17, where a lone boy is waiting for a waiter, that is, me. “Welcome to the Sushi Emporium. What can I get for you today?” I ask with as much politeness as I can muster.

“I will take a rainbow roll and a glass of lemon soda, please.”

I note down the order. “Right away.” I then turn around and head for the counter.

Among all the businesses I’ve worked for in this dimension, the Sushi Emporium is the most tolerable. The pay is decent; not high enough for my liking, but high enough to not have to sleep in the cold streets. My boss, Salmon Rice, is a married woman with two kids. Half the staff consists of teenagers my age who are as undocumented as I am. The work itself is exhausting, since I have to stand on my feet for hours on end. But since my livelihood depends on this job, I have to suck up my feelings and bite my tongue.

Author's Note

Leave it to me to start a sequel to an unfinished story, leave it unfinished and allow it to gather dust in my unsubmitted stories section for three years.