When Two Sunsets Meet
Sunset sighs as she takes a break from cleaning up the mess made from her and Flash's fight with Starlight Glimmer. That evil unicorn almost got away with the Forbidden Book of Spells, but luckily, she is stopped. But who knows what she will do next?
Sunset sighs and looks through some spells. She wondered if her other self, the Equestrian version, has trouble these days. As the mare goes through, she picks a familiar spell up.
"Hmmm, the Mirror Communication Spell." Sunset said thoughtfully as she glances at the spell in question. "Yeah, perhaps I can talk to my Equestrian self. See how she deal with stuff like this."
Sunset holds the spell up via magic then prepares to use it to speak to the Human Realm. But she frowns and saw it isn't working.
"The Human Realm must be inaccessible at the moment." Sunset said with a sigh while shaking her head. "All right, I will try another universe then."
Sunset focuses harder and soon a mirror appears. Soon she saw herself...or in this case, another version of herself as an Alicorn, crown and all. The other version turns and saw herself.
"Hello there." Sunset said, waving a hoof to herself.
"Greetings. I take it you're your universe's version of me?" Princess Sunset ask, arching an eyebrow at the mar.
"Yes and no."
"Yes and no?"
Sunset sighs. She knows this will be complicated to explain. The mare continues, "Yeah. This universe's native Sunset switched places with me some time ago. It's a story longer than I have time for."
"Okay. Enough said." Princess Sunset insists as she holds a hoof up. The less she knows, the better!
"So, you're an Alicorn in your world?"
"Yeah. Have been for a couple of years. I ascended after my friends and I thwarted Starlight Glimmer's scheme to amplify her magic enough to force equality on all of Equestria. As YOU said, it's a longer story than I have time for."
"So, the biggest difference between this universe and mine is that, in your universe, Celestia succeeded in getting through to you BEFORE you left Equestria?" Sunset ask herself in amazement. So, her Celestia has indeed did the impossible and got through to her.
"It's not the ONLY difference, but, yes, it IS one of the biggest. Of course, it doesn't erase the fact that I was a terrible bully before Celestia set me straight." Princess Sunset admits, lowering her ears in sadness and shame. "For a long time after I reformed, pretty much the only ponies willing to give me a fair chance were Celestia herself and Flash Sentry, the latter of whom was both my bodyguard AND my coltfriend. Actually my HUSBAND now, but I digress."
"And what about Twilight?"
"I didn't meet her until I moved to Ponyville. She enrolled in Celestia's school as an "average" gifted unicorn because she felt it wouldn't be right to be rewarded for a near-disaster. She actually moved to Ponyville about six months before *I* did."
"So who are the Element Bearers in your universe?" Sunset ask Princess Sunset curiously. She suspects that the Element Bearers must be different than it is here in Equestria Prime.
"In this case, I'm Magic/Friendship, Flash is Loyalty and Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rarity are Honesty, Kindness, Laughter and Generosity respectively." Princes Sunset explains who the element bearers are. Besides herself and Flash, the last four elements remain the same.
"Well, the last four are the same as in this universe."
"Well, that IS an extremely interesting coincidence. Twilight and Rainbow both got too badly injured during Nightmare Moon's attack on Ponyville to help us out. Otherwise THEY might have ended up being Magic/Friendship and Loyalty respectively. As it is, they are STILL very good friends and frequent allies of the group."
The conversation between the two continues onward especially when it was mentioned how Lightning Dust, another Pegasus, went along with the others to help fight Nightmare Moon...until she'd decided to turn treacherous.
"So Lightning Dust initially went with you, but ended up accepting Nightmare Moon's offer for increased power and membership in the Shadowbolts?" Sunset ask Princess Sunset in disbelief. The mare should've known that Lightning Dust would end up being a bad guy. She did when she helped in conquering the Crystal Empire, even though she changed her mind at the last minute!
"Yes. Fortunately, Flash was (at great personal risk) able to distract Lightning long enough for me and Pinkie to subdue the super-charged Lightning with our combined best attacks, which secured him the Element of Loyalty." Princess Sunset said, explaining what happened that led her love to being the new Element of Loyalty in her world.
"Yeah. That makes sense."
"Needless to say, Lightning got both fired AND arrested after Nightmare Moon was defeated (fired by Rainbow and arrested by the Royal Guards)."
"Yeah. That ALSO makes a lot of sense. Well, serves Lightning right for giving in to both greed and jealousy." Sunset remains with a frown. Lightning Dust should've stick to her own path and not on the path to evil! "So, you and your friends must've gotten adventures in friendship after that?"
"Correct. Princess Celestia allowed me to stay in Ponyville to learn about Friendship and right after we restored Luna back to herself. We deal with a few problems, one thing at a time." Princess Sunset explains to the Formerly Human Sunset with a nod. "Almost a month after I arrived in Ponyville, I helped Pinkie and Rainbow set a griffon straight, much like my Celestia set ME straight so long ago."
"Let me guess; this griffon was named Gilda and was an old friend of Rainbow's."
"Yeah. How did you know?"
"Lucky guess. That, and I remember the stories Rainbow and Pinkie have told me about this universe's Gilda." Sunset remarks, recalling the stories her friends told her about, concerning Gilda. "Though the fact you helped rehabilitate Gilda a few years earlier DID manage to catch me by surprise."
"Well, that makes sense. Anyway, I used to be even worse than Gilda and managed to turn things around. So I figured I could help her. I turned out to be right." Princess Sunset said, explaining as to how turning Gilda was like how she used to be.
"Yeah, that actually makes sense."
"Then, just a week after that, one of my former bullying victims arrived in Ponyville to try to settle the score with me. A professional stage magician named -"
"Let me guess - Trixie?" Sunset interrupts, knowing who the victim is.
Princess Sunset nodded as she spoke onward, "Well, yeah. You are correct again. Anyway, it wasn't easy, but I WAS able to convince Trixie I wasn't like that anymore. And we were able to part on reasonably good terms."
"So, no mess with an Ursa Minor to cause her career to be in shambles? Or No mess with the Alicorn Amulet two years later?"
"Err, no. None of that. Yeah, Trixie put on a good show and got me with some clever pranks, but nothing harmful to either one of us."
"Well, that's a relief." Sunset remarks with a sigh, smiling a bit.
The two versions continuing their conversations, with Princess Sunset reveals stories of herself, Flash and their friends, which are the same, especially when it comes to Discord who still changed thanks to her world's Fluttershy. It's amazing that no matter how much things change, some things remain the same.
Except for one which Princess Sunset blushes as she adds, "Flash actually proposed to me at the first Grand Galloping Gala my friends and I went to."
"I'll bet that was one of the few good things to come out of that Gala." Sunset chuckles, recalling the stories that Twilight and her friends told her about their first Gala. Not pretty, one would say.
"Yeah, it was. We were married at the exact same time as Shining Armor and Cadance."
"Which means you've been married for somewhat more than three years."
"Yeah. Of course, Flash and Cadance were both foalnapped about two months before the wedding and replaced by changelings (particularly the queen and her most loyal suitor)." Princess Sunset remarks, groaning as she recalled that incident not too fondly. "Shining and I were gradually brainwashed so we wouldn't see through the disguises until it was too late. Fortunately, Twilight, Rainbow and the others; with some discreet investigation; managed to find out the truth - and find the REAL Cadance and Flash - about six weeks before the wedding, BEFORE the Changelings soaked up enough power to actually beat Celestia and Luna."
"I guess the good thing about it being a DOUBLE wedding (with you and Flash being one of the brides and grooms respectively) was that your friends found out about the wedding LONG before the actual ceremony, which allowed them to be more on the alert and find things out much faster." Sunset said in concern, recalling what happened to Twilight in this world and how it didn't end well for her.
"Well, I suppose so. I'll take your word for it. But Chrysalis was rather steamed by her scheme being exposed prematurely. So, about a few weeks after the wedding, JUST after Flash and I got back from our honeymoon, she foalnapped this group of fillies fairly close to our friends -"
"Let me guess, she was trying to lure you, the other Element Bearers AND Twilight into a trap so she could steal your combined power and use it to get revenge on Celestia and Luna."
"Good guess." Princess Sunset laughs in amusement. She somehow knew how the Human version knew about this.
The stories resumes, with most stuff, like King Sombra. Of course, there are some changes. Like when Starlight Glimmer breaking into the Forbidden Library in Canterlot to try to find spells in which boost her magical power enough to make ALL of Equestria forced equals. One of the spells she uncovers is an unfinished spell by Starswirl the Bearded which ends up switching around the Cutie Marks of all six of the Element Bearers (including Sunset herself). With some help from Twilight, Rainbow and Spike, all six of the Element Bearers manage to get themselves back to normal, but there is still the matter of catching the one who switched the marks in the first place. Unfortunately, ANOTHER one of the spells Starlight uncovered allows her to travel into other universes which resulted in Sunset being an Alicorn. Working together, they stop the Dazzlings before they become a major threat there.
Princess Sunset then moves on to the next part of the story, explaining, "So the first trip the Cutie Map sent us on involved this place called 'Our Town' and my old enemy Starlight Glimmer."
"Old enemy?" Sunset ask confused until she remembers. "Oh, right. I forgot. Starlight was the one who cast the unfinished Star Swirl spell that you had to fix. AND you had to chase her into another universe to recover the spell SO you could fix it."
"Exactly. Anyway, because of my previous experience with her, my friends and I were well-enough prepared to handle it."
"And I suppose the second time involving the Cutie Map involved you, Pinkie and Rainbow travelling to Griffonstone to help Gilda recover a lost treasure."
"Yes. It wasn't easy, but the four of us managed to succeed." Princess Sunset admits with a light chuckle. "I take it your friends went through something fairly similar on your own world."
"Yeah. I mean, I had to get the story from Rainbow and Pinkie, though. And I guess the third trip involved Applejack and Rarity helping a friend in Manehattan and the last and most recent trip involved you and Fluttershy having to help settle a long-standing feud between two families." Sunset said, recalling the other stories she is involved with.
"Well, almost. The Cutie Mark actually send Twilight, Fluttershy and Flash being sent to deal with that. It was frustration, me not going, but I recovered a few seconds later."
"So you had no problem with Twilight and Fluttershy being sent along with Flash?"
"Heck no. I mean, Twilight is my friend. And I trust Flash. I mean, it would be pretty out of character for the bearer of the Element of Loyalty to cheat on his own wife - especially with his best friend's girl or one of his wife's best friends." Princess Sunset explains with a chuckle, assuring herself that she can trust Flash to be with somepony else and not get romantically involved.
"Yeah, and I suppose Fluttershy would hardly be the type to make a play for another mare's stallion." Sunset said, suspecting that she's right on that.
"Indeed not. Actually, it would take a lot to get Fluttershy to make a play for ANY stallion, but that's neither here nor there."
"Yeah. I get that your friends are largely the same in your universe as they are in this universe."
Princess Sunset smiles, nodding as she said, "Yeah; that is the case."
Formerly Human Sunset ask, "Why were Rainbow and Twilight summoned by the Cutie Map when they aren't Element bearers in your own world?"
Princess Sunset answer, "As I said before, Twilight and Rainbow might not be Element Bearers in my world, but they ARE still close enough friends and frequent enough allies to get their own seats in the Council of Friendship."
"And Twilight? Did you help her with any problems?"
"Well, I did helped her patch things up with her old friends back in Canterlot (all of whom also happened to be ponies Sunset bullied a lot before Celestia set her straight). It wasn't easy, but it helps."
"Sunset!" Princess Sunset's husband Flash is heard. "We got to get going."
"Oh right. Sorry, I got to cut this short. I am expected to be a guest speaker at the Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns tonight." Princess Sunset said with a smile to herself. "We can talk later if you want."
"Yeah, good luck." Sunset said with a smile to herself. "I hope you do well."
With thus, Sunset breaks off communications with Princess Sunset, making the mirror disappear. Hearing how her other self gone through makes the Human version feel a bit better. At least now, she will move on, knowing that her life may not be like Princess Sunset's...
But it's her life and Human Sunset will live it.
The End
Author's Note
Cast list
Rebecca Shoichet: Sunset Shimmer, Princess Sunset
Vincent Tong: Prince Flash Sentry
Well, another fic done. I hope you all like it. I sure did. And now, for the next fic...
"A Riff between the Family (set after "When Two Sunsets Meet" but before "The Mane Attraction"): Diamond tries to be on her best behavior when Riff's family comes over supposedly for business reasons. Unfortunately, Riff has been hired by Spoiled to make as much trouble as possible in order to make Diamond pay for humiliating her. Can Diamond expose her mother and Riff without getting in trouble with either her dad or Riff's family?
Villains: Spoiled Rich, Riff Tannen and his gang."
Another Diamond Tiara story. Hope to get to this ASAP. Enjoy! Read, review and enjoy!
