Chapter Text
Sunset was very, very sick and tired of a lot of things. Her past was certainly one of those things. She'd been a brat, then a runaway, then a bully, then a criminal, then a demon. But most of all she was sick of whatever power tugged her around all the time.
As she stared at the white ceiling of wherever she was, she realized that whatever had been doing this, didn't hate her.
No, no. It thought of her as a joke it could get different laughs out of whenever it got bored.
"Do you need help?" A voice asked and Sunset craned her head up towards it. She couldn't exactly place what kind of creature it was. But it certainly seemed intelligent. Though based on the steam coming from behind it and the robe she seemed to have interrupted its shower.
She sighed. "Not yet. I feel like if I get up now, the universe will do something else to humiliate me. So I'll just…lay here for a little longer." She explained before noticing something she hadn't seen in her human body in normal circumstances before.
She reached up and ran her hand along the horn that ran from the top of her forehead, separating her red and yellow locks of hair. "Huh. That's nice to have back."
The creature calmly moved around to a nearby kitchen and hummed "That's not normal for you then?" It seemed…overly calm honestly. A little like Celestia in a way where Sunset could swear she could already hear the gears turning in its head.
"Well…kind of. This isn't the first time I've swapped worlds. My body usually changes with it. My original form has it." She was too tired of the situation to hide information honestly.
"I'm going to guess your "original form" is that of a unicorn or unicorn adjacent then?" It said more then guessed
Sunset's eyes widened and she pushed herself up, only to find her body much heavier. She looked down and found a much larger, more horse-like version of most of her pony body attached to the bottom of her torso. "Ah. The other penny drops. Or shoe. Or horseshoe. Whatever. " She groaned as she fell back to the ground, relishing the familiar feeling of her leather jacket from the human world. At least she wasn't going to get arrested for public indecency.
She let the silence go on for a while longer before a clink came from nearby.
The creature set down a cup that smelled amazing. "Tea?" It asked.
"That sounds amazing." She admitted. With the ease instinctual movement, Sunset pushed herself from the ground and sat down. The creatures small table made grabbing the tea a little awkward suddenly from her now much higher angle but…if she had her horn back, why not her magic?
A moment later a rush of power surged through her body and it was only thanks to years of practice and her admittedly high level of skill that stopped it all from going through her horn and crushing the cup.
She spread the magic through her body and smiled as she levitated the cup and saucer up to her waiting hands. She took a sip and hummed. "Oh, that's wonderful." Another bit of levitation and she set the cup down and offered her hand. "My name is Sunset Shimmer and I'm sorry about barging into your home."
The creature' beady eyes seemed to light up for a moment when Sunset was setting her cup down but it was gone so quickly she might have sworn it never happened as it offered its paw. "Nezu"
She leaned forward and shook it with a small smile.
After the handshake, Nezu took another sip and spoke again. "Sunset Shimmer, hm? A unique name. How is it written?"
Sunset cooked her head a little "Uhm… literally?" She said before a bulb lit in her mind. "Oh… what language are we speaking?"
That light came back in Nezu's eyes again. Sunset recognized it this time. She knew it all too well from her time as a student/ researcher in Equestria. He was a smart creature with a curious new problem to solve. "Japanese."
"Ah. Fluttershy would be so jealous." She chuckled to herself before sighing. "It's a quirk of the portal. On top of giving me a body to fit in with the majority population, -most of the time apparently- it'll let me speak the language without even realizing it. My mother tongue is almost impossible to recreate with human mouths after all." She explained as she lit her horn and used levitation to bring the cup up again as three images appeared in the air. The first was a couple of images. A sun behind a horizon line and some lines meant to indicate shimmering.
The second was simply her name in English.
The third was the most literal way to write her name in Japanese. Nothing fancy. Literally sunset and Shimmer.
"These are the three languages I know now. Equish, English and Japanese apparently. Though I couldn't really tell you any nuances or anything. I can understand what I'm reading and hearing. I can read and write it but I have no deeper understanding." She explained with a shrug at the strange creature. She'd been telling a lot about herself and it was really only sinking in now that they could very well be someone dangerous. But she was the only one who understood the lengths of her power. There was no way it knew she could teleport or do almost anything else to get out of here. She wasn't a child prodigy for nothing.
"Facinating. Truly, fascinating." She could still hear the gears turning. Now though, they were probably fast enough to create friction. Sunset had the distinct feeling that underestimating Nezu would be a bad idea. "You said English? Where were you before then?"
"Ah. It was a parallel version of my own world. More focused on technology than my own and with humans." She explained with a small yawn. "It was interesting. I learned a lot there." She added with a flick of her tail. Why was she so tired suddenly?
Ah. She'd already underestimated Nezu. That's what happened. She sighed and set the tea down, taking great pains to ensure her magic aura didn't wobble.
She looked over at Nezu who wore a soft smile and shook his head. "No need to worry. It's simply a safety protocol. You'll be perfectly safe. I'll make you more tea afterwards. Are there any you're particular to?
Sunset could feel herself falling asleep. Luckily whatever Nezu used wasn't a cruel drug. She simply felt like when she was studying something she didn't care about and began to nod off. That slow unstoppable need for sleep. Just faster. "Mmm…chai."
"Understood. Sleep well Ms. Shimmer."