The Loss of Sunsetby SquiggelSquirrelChaptersThe unexpected huggingThe quiet talkBummerThe planThe unexpected huggingFor a complete stranger to run up and hug you unexpectedly, is more common in Equestria, than in the human world Sunset Shimmer now called home. Still, even among the ever-friendly ponies of her birth-land, there were certain rules of etiquette. A professional party-pony could tell you that no such a hug should last more than two seconds, tops, and that one's hooves should come to rest on (neither above nor below) the hug-ee's withers — roughly equivalent to the upper back, or shoulders, of a human. One should not, in general, pull the other pony's head down into one's breast (the importance of this rule was a matter of some "scholarly" debate, its application to humans fraught with additional complexity), and if, by chance, one happened to know the name of the pony (or human) being hugged (yet were still considered a stranger to them, by virtue of them not knowing your name), it was generally considered a bad idea to reveal this during the hug — having a complete stranger speak your name aloud as they hug you without warning is widely considered to be “just creepy”. Especially if the pony (or human) administering the hug is sobbing at the time, repeating your name over and over with no additional context. Four girls stared with astonishment, as Sunset Shimmer partially disappeared into the arms of a clearly distraught older woman, whom none of them recognised. There were, in fact, six girls present in the immediate vicinity, but Pinkie Pie's reaction to any such display of intimate contact was to grin widely, spread her arms wider, and attempt to join in. Fortunately, Applejack's reaction was to anticipate Pinkie's reaction, and to stop her with a gentle, yet firm, hand applied to her shoulder. The last thing this situation needed was even more unsolicited hugging. This left Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle (the bespectacled one, who had grown up as a human, not her pony princess counterpart who visited on occasion) wondering what in the world was going on, and whether or not they should intervene. School had just finished for the week, and the seven girls had been walking together — enjoying the winter evening air, each other's company, and a conversation about the latest movie they planned on seeing this coming weekend (The Return of Snowfall Frost). Then this woman, who apparently was either a very close personal acquaintance of Sunset's, or a random complete lunatic, had run up (quite without warning), cried out Sunset's name, and practically forced the stunned girl's face straight into her bosom. It was dawning on all four girls that, what with Sunset being from another world and everything, she was unlikely to have any such close, personal, acquaintance here in this world, bar them. Certainly, they would rather expect to be familiar with anyone Sunset felt this close to. This rather seemed to leave only one, rather disturbing, alternative. Mere moments before Rarity and Rainbow Dash would have forcibly dragged the apparent madwoman from their friend (while Twilight Sparkle would have phoned the police), the embrace ended, or at least parted sufficiently for Sunset to get a clear look at the face of her… assailant? The woman was short, only slightly taller than Sunset, slightly rounder, and looked to be middle-aged. Her skin was a pale, minty green colour (not so uncommon in this world), and her eyes a dark magenta. Her hair, though, was the oddest addition to the scene — it was an eerily close match for Sunset's own, both in it's shape, and the way two colours ran in stripes through it. Both shared the same vibrant yellow, but in place of Sunset's bold red, this woman had hazel brown. There was also something about the shape of her face — a certain resemblance to Sunset's own. “Sunset… Oh Sunset, I've been so worried. I was so scared, I thought something had happened to you,” the woman babbled. Tears glistened on her cheeks, and her lips trembled. She held one hand on Sunset's shoulder, and with the other, stroked Sunset's hair. “I'm so glad you're safe, I've been looking everywhere, I… I'm so sorry, Sunset. I didn't mean it, the things I said, I'm sorry, please, won't you come home, please?” The girls stared. Sunset also stared, but her expression wasn't what one would expect, from a girl so intimately accosted by a random stranger. She was shocked, shaken, perhaps even terrified, but there was undeniably the gleam of recognition in her eyes, and she was making no effort to end the embrace. Indeed, her hands hovered uncertainly around the other woman's elbows, as if torn with indecision over whether to run the gesture. Sunset's mouth opened and closed silently. Words that tried to form, died in her throat. The eventually woman fell silent, waiting for Sunset to find her voice. The other girls stared on, silently, breath held as if to stretch the moment. It seemed to them even as if the whole world was frozen in watchfulness, silently awaiting Sunset's next utterance. When a single word finally came from Sunset's mouth, it was spoken with the weak hesitation of a child. Quiet, uncertain, it nonetheless carried through the cold evening air like the unstoppable blade of fate, carving the shape of the world onto a new path. “Mommy?” The quiet talk“Mommy?” The word was spoken in a manner that suggested quietness, but it was in fact loud enough for the other girls to hear clearly, and followed by a silence long enough for them to absorb it. Indeed, Sunset's voice had taken on an almost child-like quality. She had never really spoken to her human friends about her family back in Equestria, except to note that she was “not close” to them, the one time the subject had arisen. There had been no mention of exactly what kind of family she by implication had, that she could be not close to. The events now unfolding seemed to imply that there had been more to it. From the way this woman was acting, it seemed as if perhaps they'd had some sort of terrible fight shortly before Sunset had left — or more accurately, run away from Equestria — or at least, her repeated apologies and please for forgiveness indicated something of that nature. The girls looked at each other, from one to another, confusion abounding among them. Had Sunset's mother really travelled all the way from Equestria, through the portal, to try and make reparations? If so, why now? More importantly, why unannounced? To the best of their knowledge, she couldn't have made the journey without Princess Twilight Sparkle's help, yet the pony princess hadn't written to Sunset in advance? The woman was smiling, in the stretched-out way that people smile when they have too many emotions to express. “Sunset, darling, I… I know I said some horrible things, but you were right, you were right about everything. Please, please let me be part of your life again. I promise things will be different, please…” “Mommy…” Sunset's voice was a whimper. “You… you want me to come home? I can come home, with you? We can be a family again?” “Yes, yes please darling, please come home, my beautiful Sunny-set.” “Yes,” Sunset gasped, “yes, I-” She was cut off when Applejack put a hand on her shoulder, pulling the two of them apart. The farm-girl's expression was stern, and when she spoke, her voice was low. “Sunset?” The woman identified as Sunset's mother looked Applejack up and down, a concerned expression forming as she read the body language between the two girls. She stepped in, placing herself part-way between them and turning mostly towards Applejack. “Sunset,” she asked calmly yet with definite serious undertones, “is this girl a friend of yours?” Sunset stepped aside, to loosen some tension from their formation. “Oh, yes. Mom, this is Applejack, a-and these girls are Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle.” Sunset reeled off her friends names in a slightly hurried manner, bouncing her pointing finger from one to the next. The girls who weren't Applejack smiled and waved uncertainly (or in Pinkie Pie's case, enthusiastically) when their names were called, but Sunset's terse introduction gave them little time to interject words of their own. At this point, moreover, none of them had deduced why Applejack was suddenly acting so hostile towards Sunset. “Everyone, this is m-my mother, Honey Swirl.” Sunset was hard to read. Her eyes were moist, she seemed ready to cry. Her voice and expression were both cheerful, but seemed a little… forced. Her eyes darted around, seemingly unwilling to let any of those present out of her sight (despite the impossibility of keeping them all within her vision, from where she was standing), yet not making eye contact with any of them. Honey Swirl smiled. Twilight Sparkle stepped forward, lifting a hand. “It's a plea-” “I know we had plans,” lied Sunset, immediately talking over her timid friend, “but I'm gonna have to give it a rain-check. You girls go on without me, and I'll, ah, I'll see you later.” With this, Sunset stepped away from the group, and raised a hand to Honey's arm. Applejack blocked her way. Her arms were folded and she was glaring. “Sunset, we need to talk.” “I-” “Now.” Honey Swirl stepped forward to once again place herself between them, squaring up to Applejack despite the obvious difference in height and build. “Excuse me,” she interjected, “but my daughter does not have to talk to you right now, if she doesn't want to.” “It's okay, mom.” Sunset reassured Honey, “You just, uh, you wait right here.” Then to the other girls: “You girls go on ahead, Applejack will catch up.” With that, she took Applejack's arm, and pulled her across the courtyard and around the corner, glancing back to where her other friends, and Honey Swirl, stood waiting. The other girls, contrary to instruction, did not go on ahead, but waited expectantly for the situation to begin making more sense. Once around the corner, Sunset smiled. “Okay,” she exclaimed jovially, “what did you want to talk about?” Applejack continued to glare. When she spoke, her voice was low and a tad hoarse. “Sunset, are you about to tell me that that woman,” she jerked her head back in Honey's direction, “is really a pony who travelled all the way here from Equestria, without telling us first?” Sunset stared at the sidewalk, and wrung her hands together. She chuckled nervously. “H-who else would she be?” “Sunset,” Applejack's voice was outright menacing, “look at me.” Sunset did as instructed, though it seemed to take her some effort. “You wouldn't lie to me, would you?” Sunset continued to squirm, but said nothing, long enough for Applejack to determine that no spoken answer was forthcoming. “Because I seem to recall” Applejack then continued, “Princess Twilight telling us that everybody in our world had a magical twin over in Equestria — and it occurs to me that if you're the Sunset Shimmer from there, there might just be a Sunset Shimmer from here. A Sunset Shimmer who might maybe have had a falling out with her mother, who would be this world's version of your mother.” Sunset stood motionless, looking wretched. Tears trickled down her cheeks. She continued to say nothing. “Which,” Applejack concluded, “would make her not your mother at all.” Sunset once again said nothing audible, but nodded, gaze fixed on her own feet. Applejack sighed, then continued in a more resigned tone. “Alright. Well, no use fretting over what's been done; I guess we just have to tell her it was all a mix-up or something.” She didn't seem to comfortable with the notion, but turned to head back. As Applejack made to pass her, Sunset leapt forward, grabbing the other girl's arm and stopping her. Applejack stepped back, their positions now reversed. Sunset hesitated, clearly not having planned this far ahead. Applejack raised an eyebrow. She did that sometimes. “M-maybe we don't?” stammered Sunset. “Maybe we could just… pretend?” A hiss escaped from between Applejack's teeth. A moment of outrage flashed across her face; She swatted Sunset's hand aside and grabbed both the other girl's upper arms. “Sunset, what the hay's gotten into you? This woman is looking for her daughter — her real daughter — you can't just… If you want to see your family so back, go back to Equestria! You can always come and go, you…” “No, I can't.” “But you…” “But what if this world's Sunset isn't… what if she's never coming back?” “Sunset, do you know something about…?” “No, but, but what if… what if something did happen to her? We don't know? Isn't it kinder… we could be a family!” “No, you couldn't! Why can't you see that?” “Of all people, why don't you understand?” “What do you mean, of all…” “Wouldn't you!?” Applejack froze, horrified realisation spreading across her face. Sunset continued. “If it meant you could see them again? If it meant all the things you never got to say, never got to hear, never got to tell her?” Sunset's face was soaked, tears streaming in full flow. “If it was you, if you were me, if you had another chance, wouldn't you?” Applejack's jaw worked soundlessly, her arms fell to her sides and she stumbled back, limp and horrified, against the wall. “Sunset?” Honey Swirl's concerned voice carried across the courtyard. Applejack and Sunset's eyes met. A wide smile broke out across Sunset's face. To Applejack, it looked very much like a grin of insanity. “Coming, mommy!” Sunset turned and ran back to her “mother”, before Applejack could regather herself. For a moment Applejack almost ran after her. Instead, defeated, she fell back and slid down the wall. BummerThe girls were confused. Moreso, when Sunset returned from her talk with Applejack, and Applejack did not. Sunset's face did not alleviate their uncertainty in the slightest. It looked like she had been crying, heavily, yet her expression now was almost deliriously happy, as she bounced across the flagstones and back to her mother's side. When Sunset reached them, both Twilight and Rarity had time to open with a ubiquitous “Um…?” before Sunset preemptively interrupted them all. “Okay girls we'll catch up on Monday enjoy your weekends see you all later I'm going now bye!” she rushed, taking her mother by the hand and leading her away. “It was nice meeting you all…” offered Honey Swirl, slightly less dazed than Sunset's friends, as the two departed towards the car across the street. The girls murmured a collective reciprocation but stayed rooted to the spot, watching them go. Only when the car pulled away with the pair inside did the group left behind begin processing recent events. Their gazes turned back towards the corner around which Applejack had lead Sunset, and from around which Applejack was yet to return. Lacking any other obvious direction or impulse, they began walking in that direction. Though not one of them could yet put it into words, each carried an unsettled feeling within them that now began blossoming into worry and panic, driving them to pick up the pace from a walk to a jog and then a sprint, dread and certainty that some as yet unknown misfortune was even now befalling them and their friends allowing no slower approach. Except Pinkie Pie. She didn't know what was going on either, but was happily prepared to keep up with the running and find out later. After all, wouldn't it be silly to get all worried and panicky before you even know if there's anything to get all worried and panicky about? Rounding the corner, they found Applejack. She was sat, slumped against the wall, staring vacantly through the pavement some distance beyond her boots. Her hat had fallen, and she had made no effort to retrieve it. Absently, she was nursing her left hand in her right, both resting on her lap. She gave no acknowledgement of their presence until Rarity, kneeling beside her, placed one hand on Applejack's shoulder and the other on Applejack's cheek, gently bringing the other girl's face around to her own. “Applejack, darling,” Rarity began softly, once the farmgirl's eyes met her own, “what happened? Are you alright? What— what do you need us to do?” Applejack blinked, and shifted her legs slightly, turning her head so that Rarity dropped her hand away. She looked around at the faces of the other girls, all looking at her with concern. “She…” Applejack hesitated. “She's gone?” “You mean Sunset?” Rarity prompted. “Yeah… Sunset. Did she… did she leave, with that woman?” “You mean her mother?” “I'm still a little confused about that,” interjected Twilight, one finger raised hesitantly. “She… that was… that was Sunset's mother, right? That we just met?” “Well who else would it be!?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Ooh!” exclaimed Pinkie, “Maybe it was the other Sunset's mother! I mean, just like Twilight has another Twilight and Spike has another Spike, maybe Sunset Shimmer has another Sunset Shimmer who has another Sunset Shimmer's mother!?” “Pinkie,” chided Rarity “I'm certain Sunset would be able to tell the difference between her real mother and… someone else. Right?” “But… what if…” worry had finally gained a tenuous foothold on Pinkie's mind, and by extension both her face and voice, “what if she could tell the difference, but she decided she liked this other mother so much that she wanted to go with her anyway?” “Sunset wouldn't—” began Twilight, “I mean, Sunset wouldn't do that, would she?” “She would and did,” announced Applejack flatly. No-one spoke. Five faces turned, horror-struck, towards Applejack. When all five began talking at once, it was Rainbow Dash who eventually won out, by twin virtues of volume and persistence. “…she even do that?” Rainbow continued, when he voice was no longer drowned out. “Why didn't you stop her!?” Applejack looked up at Rainbow Dash, and sighed. “I guess I just couldn't find the right words.” ”The right words!?” Rainbow shouted. “Rainbow, darling,” Rarity interrupted, waving Rainbow to be quiet, “whatever happened, I'm sure yelling about it isn't going to help.” She turned back to Applejack. “Applejack, dear, there's something else, isn't there?” Applejack picked her hat up, and looked at it. “Yeah…” she muttered, before returning it to her head. She reached out her right hand to Rarity, who uncertainly mirrored the gesture — Applejack then gripped Rarity's wrist and hauled herself up, Rarity providing a steady hand-hold more than any actual lifting. Once standing, Applejack looked around the other girls again, inattentive to Rainbow Dash's impatient glowering. She took a deep breath, and answered Rarity's question glumly. “Seems I've more in common with Sunset than I knew. But I'm guessing she never told any of y'all about that, either…” Rarity squeaked and clapped a hand to her mouth. Rainbow Dash looked taken aback, apprehensive but still enquiring. The other girls' expressions did not change much at the revelation; Pinkie Pie's face was still oddly blank and uncertain, Fluttershy had been wearing a mix of fear and despair since seeing Applejack's despondent state, her expression could hardly deepen at this point. Twilight still radiated polite confusion tinged with only a hint of worry. “Y-you…” stammered Rainbow “you don't mean…?” “Both orphans, I guess,” shrugged Applejack, lifting her left hand gingerly into her right. Rainbow was stunned, slightly shaking, glancing back and forth between Applejack, and the road that had recently carried Sunset away. Twilight was clearly horrified, and Rarity was actually crying a little. Applejack just looked annoyed, increasingly so with each passing moment. “I should've stopped her,” she said, “I just… she caught me off guard, is all. Asking what I'd do in her place. Didn't have an honest answer ready.” Rarity placed a hand on Applejack's shoulder. “Y'all reckon we should chase after her?” Applejack asked. “Y-yeah,” Rainbow Dash croaked, “I mean, yeah, of course we do, right?” “What do we even say to her?” thought Twight aloud. “Well, whatever we say, I might need to see the doctor first,” Applejack said. “Y'all could go on without me, maybe.” The girls stared at her. Fluttershy spoke first. “Doctor?” “Ah, it's nothing big,” Applejack grimaced slightly. “I just punched the wall a bit earlier and I reckon I mighta slightly… broken my hand again, a little.” “Broken?” “A little!?” “Again?” “Oh, Applejack, darling!” Rarity swooped in, immediately descending on the damaged appendage for closer inspection, carefully hoisting Applejack's arm for a clearer view. “Oh dear, it's already started swelling. We simply must get you seen to right away.” She frowned at Applejack. “Darling you really should have said something sooner. Now come on — it will be quicker to walk, from here.” Rarity lead the way without another moment's pause, and Applejack followed behind. “But…” called Twilight, chasing after Applejack, “what did you say? If we know how the conversation went, it might give us some ideas of what to say when we catch up to her…” With Twilight chasing after Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy followed, continuing to discuss their next course of action. Pinkie Pie remained standing a short while, staring at the ground where Applejack had sat. Her face was creased with worry, her hair seemed to hang heavier than usual. “Bummer,” she remarked, before sighing, spinning on one heel, and chasing after the other girls. The plan“Well,” said Rarity, pocketing her phone, later that same evening, “she is officially ‘not answering’. So much for that idea.” “That might actually be fortunate,” said Twilight, “since we still don’t know what to say.” The girls were standing outside a local walk-in clinic “Maybe Sunset was right,” said Pinkie Pie. “If it makes them both happy, what’s the point in trying to stop them?” “Because it’s a lie.” Applejack glared a little, nursing a now bandaged hand. “It won’t make either of them happy in the end.” “Isn’t that Sunset’s decision, though?” wondered Rainbow Dash aloud. “I’m certain Sunset Shimmer would intervene if one of us was taking such a dangerously selfish path.” Rarity said. “And sooner or later the real daughter’s bound to show up.” Applejack sighed. “That’s not going to end well.” “It might be the sooner the better,” said Twilight. “The longer this goes on, the worse it’s going to be.” Pinkie Pie gasped dramatically. “That’s it! Girls, we just need a holiday miracle!” The collective dubious stares passed between her and each other. “It’s… not like they hand those out on demand, darling.” “Nono, we just have to make our own! All we have to do is find other Sunset Shimmer, and then Honey Swirl will be so happy to have her real daughter back, she’ll be all ‘even though you aren’t from this world, you’re like a second daughter to me’, and Sunset will have a twin sister and everyone will be happy and tell the truth. It’s such a perfect ending, it just has to work.” “Well… it’s not the worst idea we’ve got.” “Actually I think it’s the only idea we’ve got. Well, at the very least the other Sunset might be able to convince our Sunset… but how would we even begin to look for her?” There was a pause. “I could try and sniff her out,” volunteered Spike, “if we knew somewhere she’d been recently for me to pick up the scent.” “How would you even know what she smells like?” asked Twilight. “I mean, she’d smell like a different Sunset Shimmer, right? Like the other Twilight smells like a different version of you. It’s like… I don’t know if there’s a word for it. Like a song you’ve heard before, but someone else is singing it?” Twilight looked thoughtful. “We could split up,” suggested Rainbow Dash. “Some of use look for the other Sunset, and some of us go try and talk to her mom.” “I'm not sure talking to Honey Swirl is a good idea,” Rarity said, “at least until we know what to say. If we make an enemy of her before we have proof, she might not listen to use even when we do have something she would believe.” “So, we just split up and search for the other Sunset? Start handing out fliers and hope?” “That's it!” Twilight suddenly exclaimed. “Spike, you're a genius!” “Okay?” responded Spike. “If I just convert the overlapping frequencies into a Fourier space, I should be able to establish a baseline harmonic and apply an offset vector to establish the translated signature EM wavelengths. There should be some resonance to work off… if only I'd thought of this sooner, I… well, I'm not sure what the other practical applications would be, but I'm sure there must be a use for mapping the pattern offsets.” Applejack was the first to respond to this proclamation. “Twilight?” “Yes?” “What in the name of all sanity are you talking about?” “Well, it's… um. Okay, d'you girls remember the, uh,” she held her hands up chest-high in front of her, thumbs and forefingers making a horizontal ring as if holding something circular up in front of her, “device?” She winced slightly. “You mean, the one that turned you into a crazy she-demon?” “Uh… yeah. But before that, it was meant to track and sample a specific set of what I thought were peculiar EM frequencies, but which turned out to be, well, Equestrian magic. And before that, I had another device that was just a tracker, with none of the sample collection functionality.” “With you so far, I think.” “In theory, I mean, this is just based on my current working hypothesis, but I might be able to create a modified version of that tracker and use a sample from our Sunset — I already have some of her hair in my room — to track down this world's Sunset, assuming… well, quite a few things, but I think it's worth a shot.” The other girls exchanged glances. Applejack shrugged. “How long do you think that will take?” “Hmm… a few hours, maybe. I think I could have it ready this evening.” “So…” Applejack looked around at the other girls, “is this our only plan? Don't get me wrong,” she added, turning back to Twilight, “I think this sounds worth doing, I'm just wondering if there's anything else we should be doing.” Pinkie Pie put a hand on Applejack's shoulder. “Just accept the plot device, Applejack. There's clearly no other way.” “Um, ” Fluttershy offered, “I could research some old newspapers, maybe find out something about the other Sunset.” “I could phone around,” said Rainbow Dash, “someone else has got to know something.” “Ooh! I'll help with that!” offered Pinkie Pie. “Do you need any help with your doohickey, Twilight?” asked Applejack. “Hmm… someone to help with to soldering while I write the code could help." Applejack flexed the thumb and forefinger of her bandaged hand. “Yup, I reckon I can help with that.” “I'll set what I can do online,” said Rarity, “social networking might be more help than boots on the sidewalk here.” “Okay, we'll meet back at Twilight's house in the morning, unless someone finds something sooner.” The girls nodded, and parted ways. Applejack stayed with Twilight a moment after. “It's going to be okay, sugarcube,” she reassured Twilight, “with all of us working together, there's nothing we can't figure out.” Twilight smiled. “Thanks Applejack.” Applejack hadn't seen Twilight's "laboratory" before. The piles of half-dismantled appliances, the wall of conspiracy-theorist red strings, the seemingly decorative Jacob's ladder and lava lamps all gave the impression that she'd stepped into a movie set of a mad scientist's lab. On arrival, Twilight strode across the room, hitting the power button to start up her computer as she passed, and pulled open a desk draw. After digging out a circuit board, a notebook, something that appeared to have one been a hair drier, and a box of latex gloves, she straightened up with something reminiscent of a multimeter held triumphantly aloft. Applejack navigated her way across to what appeared to be a work bench, with various tools piled up towards the back, and gingerly removed a tray of papers from the adjacent stool. There were shards of broken red crystal held in Petri dishes on top of the papers; Applejack frowned at recognising fragments of The Dazzlngs' shattered pendants. Twilight, meanwhile, had somehow acquired a labcoat and a pair of goggles in the moments Applejack had looked away. She now sat in front of the computer, fingers clattering across the keyboard as reams of code and diagrams danced around the screen. “Just a few tests to run before we start the wiring…” Twilight barely turned her head in Applejack's direction as she muttered aloud. Applejack waited. The Jacob's ladder buzzed. The lava lamp blooped, which Applejack suspected wasn't meant to happen. A printer whirred and ground itself into readiness behind her, which made her jump. Paper began to feed through, with some fairly intricate circuit diagrams coming out. Twilight spun on her chair and jumped to her feet, striding across the room once more to snatch the papers up. “Okay, so uh, would you be able to wire this up while I code up the controller circuit?” She presented the multimeter-esque device and the printed diagrams to Applejack. “Uh, sure, I guess.” “Great! Oh, and you'll need the display board, hold on…” She practically sprinted across the room to fetch another lump of unidentifiable electronics off a nearby shelf. It was circular, glassy, and had four wires dangling off it. She presented it to Applejack and indicated how it fit in to the diagram, grinning a little wildly for Applejack's liking. “Got it?” “I… reckon I sure have,” Applejack forced a small laugh. “Also great! I'll just be right over here if you need me.” Twilight gestured to the chair barely two meters away from where Applejack was sat, before darting back over and spinning herself back down onto the chair to resume coding. It took Applejack the better part of two hours to re-assemble the device according to Twilight's specifications, including a brief break to fetch drinks for them both, since Twilight seemed completely absorbed in her work. Twilight was… different. Maybe it was the weird green light coming off whatever the thing next to her computer screen was, or the strange half smile that seemed to settle on her face as she worked, or the small giggles every time she made progress, but Applejack found herself unpleasantly reminded of the insane demon who had tried to rip apart the fabric of two realities after Twilight overdosed on wild magic. She gently nudged Spike, who was currently curled up on a dog bed in one corner of the lab. “She always get like this?” Applejack murmured to Spike. “Mmm? Oh. Yeah, sometimes…” Spike yawned. “She'll sleep it off when she's done, usually.” Despite Applejack's concerns, the pair continued to work late into the night, until finally the device was assembled. “It… ” Twilight yawned, “it will need to run through the calibration routines, that will take a few hours. We should probably get some sleep.” Applejack looked down at the finished device. It consisted simply of a ring of LEDs that could indicate direction, a handle, and a small box in the centre to hold a "sample". Wires connected it to Twilight's computer, where a stream of text was scrolling up across the screen. “Sure…” she muttered. ”Sleep.” When Applejack awoke the next morning, the other girls had already arrived. They sat around the kitchen table, discussing the results of their endeavours so far, as Applejack and Twilight ate breakfast. The general mood was heavy. “So basically,” concluded Rainbow Dash, towards the end of breakfast, “zilch. We got nothing. If Twilight's machine doesn't work —” “Pfft, silly,” interrupted Pinkie Pie, “of course it'll work, this is Twilight Sparkle.” “Speaking of which,” said Twilight, “why don't you girls head over to the lab? I'll go fetch Sunset's hair sample and meet you there.” “Yes actually, darling,” said Rarity, “I've been meaning to ask, but why do you have a lock of Sunset Shimmer's hair in your boudoir?” “Oh.” Twilight froze mid-step. “Um, you know… for… research… purposes. Scientific research. Into, um, magic. Equestrian magic, and whether there are any anatomical, I mean, biological — cellular differences between humans from this world, and ponies who've been transformed by the mirror portal. On a cellular level. With a microscope. I just… happened to have a sample left over, from that research. Into science.” The more Twilight spoke, the pinker her face became. “Oh,” dead-panned Rarity. “Very well, dear. We'll head over to your laboratory while you retrieve your… scientific research materials.” “Mmm,” Twilight affirmed, before quickly marching out of the room. Once the girls were assembled in Twilight's lab, Twilight opened a small hatch on the tracking device, and inserted the coiled lock of red hair. She closed the hatch, pressed a button, and held up the device so all could see. Lights blinked around the outside a few times, then settled into a single throbbing light pointing in one direction. Twilight rotated the device experimentally, and the light moved around like the needle of a compass, continuing to point the same way regardless of how the machine was oriented. “Girls,” Twilight grinned, “I think it's working!”
The unexpected huggingFor a complete stranger to run up and hug you unexpectedly, is more common in Equestria, than in the human world Sunset Shimmer now called home. Still, even among the ever-friendly ponies of her birth-land, there were certain rules of etiquette. A professional party-pony could tell you that no such a hug should last more than two seconds, tops, and that one's hooves should come to rest on (neither above nor below) the hug-ee's withers — roughly equivalent to the upper back, or shoulders, of a human. One should not, in general, pull the other pony's head down into one's breast (the importance of this rule was a matter of some "scholarly" debate, its application to humans fraught with additional complexity), and if, by chance, one happened to know the name of the pony (or human) being hugged (yet were still considered a stranger to them, by virtue of them not knowing your name), it was generally considered a bad idea to reveal this during the hug — having a complete stranger speak your name aloud as they hug you without warning is widely considered to be “just creepy”. Especially if the pony (or human) administering the hug is sobbing at the time, repeating your name over and over with no additional context. Four girls stared with astonishment, as Sunset Shimmer partially disappeared into the arms of a clearly distraught older woman, whom none of them recognised. There were, in fact, six girls present in the immediate vicinity, but Pinkie Pie's reaction to any such display of intimate contact was to grin widely, spread her arms wider, and attempt to join in. Fortunately, Applejack's reaction was to anticipate Pinkie's reaction, and to stop her with a gentle, yet firm, hand applied to her shoulder. The last thing this situation needed was even more unsolicited hugging. This left Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle (the bespectacled one, who had grown up as a human, not her pony princess counterpart who visited on occasion) wondering what in the world was going on, and whether or not they should intervene. School had just finished for the week, and the seven girls had been walking together — enjoying the winter evening air, each other's company, and a conversation about the latest movie they planned on seeing this coming weekend (The Return of Snowfall Frost). Then this woman, who apparently was either a very close personal acquaintance of Sunset's, or a random complete lunatic, had run up (quite without warning), cried out Sunset's name, and practically forced the stunned girl's face straight into her bosom. It was dawning on all four girls that, what with Sunset being from another world and everything, she was unlikely to have any such close, personal, acquaintance here in this world, bar them. Certainly, they would rather expect to be familiar with anyone Sunset felt this close to. This rather seemed to leave only one, rather disturbing, alternative. Mere moments before Rarity and Rainbow Dash would have forcibly dragged the apparent madwoman from their friend (while Twilight Sparkle would have phoned the police), the embrace ended, or at least parted sufficiently for Sunset to get a clear look at the face of her… assailant? The woman was short, only slightly taller than Sunset, slightly rounder, and looked to be middle-aged. Her skin was a pale, minty green colour (not so uncommon in this world), and her eyes a dark magenta. Her hair, though, was the oddest addition to the scene — it was an eerily close match for Sunset's own, both in it's shape, and the way two colours ran in stripes through it. Both shared the same vibrant yellow, but in place of Sunset's bold red, this woman had hazel brown. There was also something about the shape of her face — a certain resemblance to Sunset's own. “Sunset… Oh Sunset, I've been so worried. I was so scared, I thought something had happened to you,” the woman babbled. Tears glistened on her cheeks, and her lips trembled. She held one hand on Sunset's shoulder, and with the other, stroked Sunset's hair. “I'm so glad you're safe, I've been looking everywhere, I… I'm so sorry, Sunset. I didn't mean it, the things I said, I'm sorry, please, won't you come home, please?” The girls stared. Sunset also stared, but her expression wasn't what one would expect, from a girl so intimately accosted by a random stranger. She was shocked, shaken, perhaps even terrified, but there was undeniably the gleam of recognition in her eyes, and she was making no effort to end the embrace. Indeed, her hands hovered uncertainly around the other woman's elbows, as if torn with indecision over whether to run the gesture. Sunset's mouth opened and closed silently. Words that tried to form, died in her throat. The eventually woman fell silent, waiting for Sunset to find her voice. The other girls stared on, silently, breath held as if to stretch the moment. It seemed to them even as if the whole world was frozen in watchfulness, silently awaiting Sunset's next utterance. When a single word finally came from Sunset's mouth, it was spoken with the weak hesitation of a child. Quiet, uncertain, it nonetheless carried through the cold evening air like the unstoppable blade of fate, carving the shape of the world onto a new path. “Mommy?”
The quiet talk“Mommy?” The word was spoken in a manner that suggested quietness, but it was in fact loud enough for the other girls to hear clearly, and followed by a silence long enough for them to absorb it. Indeed, Sunset's voice had taken on an almost child-like quality. She had never really spoken to her human friends about her family back in Equestria, except to note that she was “not close” to them, the one time the subject had arisen. There had been no mention of exactly what kind of family she by implication had, that she could be not close to. The events now unfolding seemed to imply that there had been more to it. From the way this woman was acting, it seemed as if perhaps they'd had some sort of terrible fight shortly before Sunset had left — or more accurately, run away from Equestria — or at least, her repeated apologies and please for forgiveness indicated something of that nature. The girls looked at each other, from one to another, confusion abounding among them. Had Sunset's mother really travelled all the way from Equestria, through the portal, to try and make reparations? If so, why now? More importantly, why unannounced? To the best of their knowledge, she couldn't have made the journey without Princess Twilight Sparkle's help, yet the pony princess hadn't written to Sunset in advance? The woman was smiling, in the stretched-out way that people smile when they have too many emotions to express. “Sunset, darling, I… I know I said some horrible things, but you were right, you were right about everything. Please, please let me be part of your life again. I promise things will be different, please…” “Mommy…” Sunset's voice was a whimper. “You… you want me to come home? I can come home, with you? We can be a family again?” “Yes, yes please darling, please come home, my beautiful Sunny-set.” “Yes,” Sunset gasped, “yes, I-” She was cut off when Applejack put a hand on her shoulder, pulling the two of them apart. The farm-girl's expression was stern, and when she spoke, her voice was low. “Sunset?” The woman identified as Sunset's mother looked Applejack up and down, a concerned expression forming as she read the body language between the two girls. She stepped in, placing herself part-way between them and turning mostly towards Applejack. “Sunset,” she asked calmly yet with definite serious undertones, “is this girl a friend of yours?” Sunset stepped aside, to loosen some tension from their formation. “Oh, yes. Mom, this is Applejack, a-and these girls are Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle.” Sunset reeled off her friends names in a slightly hurried manner, bouncing her pointing finger from one to the next. The girls who weren't Applejack smiled and waved uncertainly (or in Pinkie Pie's case, enthusiastically) when their names were called, but Sunset's terse introduction gave them little time to interject words of their own. At this point, moreover, none of them had deduced why Applejack was suddenly acting so hostile towards Sunset. “Everyone, this is m-my mother, Honey Swirl.” Sunset was hard to read. Her eyes were moist, she seemed ready to cry. Her voice and expression were both cheerful, but seemed a little… forced. Her eyes darted around, seemingly unwilling to let any of those present out of her sight (despite the impossibility of keeping them all within her vision, from where she was standing), yet not making eye contact with any of them. Honey Swirl smiled. Twilight Sparkle stepped forward, lifting a hand. “It's a plea-” “I know we had plans,” lied Sunset, immediately talking over her timid friend, “but I'm gonna have to give it a rain-check. You girls go on without me, and I'll, ah, I'll see you later.” With this, Sunset stepped away from the group, and raised a hand to Honey's arm. Applejack blocked her way. Her arms were folded and she was glaring. “Sunset, we need to talk.” “I-” “Now.” Honey Swirl stepped forward to once again place herself between them, squaring up to Applejack despite the obvious difference in height and build. “Excuse me,” she interjected, “but my daughter does not have to talk to you right now, if she doesn't want to.” “It's okay, mom.” Sunset reassured Honey, “You just, uh, you wait right here.” Then to the other girls: “You girls go on ahead, Applejack will catch up.” With that, she took Applejack's arm, and pulled her across the courtyard and around the corner, glancing back to where her other friends, and Honey Swirl, stood waiting. The other girls, contrary to instruction, did not go on ahead, but waited expectantly for the situation to begin making more sense. Once around the corner, Sunset smiled. “Okay,” she exclaimed jovially, “what did you want to talk about?” Applejack continued to glare. When she spoke, her voice was low and a tad hoarse. “Sunset, are you about to tell me that that woman,” she jerked her head back in Honey's direction, “is really a pony who travelled all the way here from Equestria, without telling us first?” Sunset stared at the sidewalk, and wrung her hands together. She chuckled nervously. “H-who else would she be?” “Sunset,” Applejack's voice was outright menacing, “look at me.” Sunset did as instructed, though it seemed to take her some effort. “You wouldn't lie to me, would you?” Sunset continued to squirm, but said nothing, long enough for Applejack to determine that no spoken answer was forthcoming. “Because I seem to recall” Applejack then continued, “Princess Twilight telling us that everybody in our world had a magical twin over in Equestria — and it occurs to me that if you're the Sunset Shimmer from there, there might just be a Sunset Shimmer from here. A Sunset Shimmer who might maybe have had a falling out with her mother, who would be this world's version of your mother.” Sunset stood motionless, looking wretched. Tears trickled down her cheeks. She continued to say nothing. “Which,” Applejack concluded, “would make her not your mother at all.” Sunset once again said nothing audible, but nodded, gaze fixed on her own feet. Applejack sighed, then continued in a more resigned tone. “Alright. Well, no use fretting over what's been done; I guess we just have to tell her it was all a mix-up or something.” She didn't seem to comfortable with the notion, but turned to head back. As Applejack made to pass her, Sunset leapt forward, grabbing the other girl's arm and stopping her. Applejack stepped back, their positions now reversed. Sunset hesitated, clearly not having planned this far ahead. Applejack raised an eyebrow. She did that sometimes. “M-maybe we don't?” stammered Sunset. “Maybe we could just… pretend?” A hiss escaped from between Applejack's teeth. A moment of outrage flashed across her face; She swatted Sunset's hand aside and grabbed both the other girl's upper arms. “Sunset, what the hay's gotten into you? This woman is looking for her daughter — her real daughter — you can't just… If you want to see your family so back, go back to Equestria! You can always come and go, you…” “No, I can't.” “But you…” “But what if this world's Sunset isn't… what if she's never coming back?” “Sunset, do you know something about…?” “No, but, but what if… what if something did happen to her? We don't know? Isn't it kinder… we could be a family!” “No, you couldn't! Why can't you see that?” “Of all people, why don't you understand?” “What do you mean, of all…” “Wouldn't you!?” Applejack froze, horrified realisation spreading across her face. Sunset continued. “If it meant you could see them again? If it meant all the things you never got to say, never got to hear, never got to tell her?” Sunset's face was soaked, tears streaming in full flow. “If it was you, if you were me, if you had another chance, wouldn't you?” Applejack's jaw worked soundlessly, her arms fell to her sides and she stumbled back, limp and horrified, against the wall. “Sunset?” Honey Swirl's concerned voice carried across the courtyard. Applejack and Sunset's eyes met. A wide smile broke out across Sunset's face. To Applejack, it looked very much like a grin of insanity. “Coming, mommy!” Sunset turned and ran back to her “mother”, before Applejack could regather herself. For a moment Applejack almost ran after her. Instead, defeated, she fell back and slid down the wall.
BummerThe girls were confused. Moreso, when Sunset returned from her talk with Applejack, and Applejack did not. Sunset's face did not alleviate their uncertainty in the slightest. It looked like she had been crying, heavily, yet her expression now was almost deliriously happy, as she bounced across the flagstones and back to her mother's side. When Sunset reached them, both Twilight and Rarity had time to open with a ubiquitous “Um…?” before Sunset preemptively interrupted them all. “Okay girls we'll catch up on Monday enjoy your weekends see you all later I'm going now bye!” she rushed, taking her mother by the hand and leading her away. “It was nice meeting you all…” offered Honey Swirl, slightly less dazed than Sunset's friends, as the two departed towards the car across the street. The girls murmured a collective reciprocation but stayed rooted to the spot, watching them go. Only when the car pulled away with the pair inside did the group left behind begin processing recent events. Their gazes turned back towards the corner around which Applejack had lead Sunset, and from around which Applejack was yet to return. Lacking any other obvious direction or impulse, they began walking in that direction. Though not one of them could yet put it into words, each carried an unsettled feeling within them that now began blossoming into worry and panic, driving them to pick up the pace from a walk to a jog and then a sprint, dread and certainty that some as yet unknown misfortune was even now befalling them and their friends allowing no slower approach. Except Pinkie Pie. She didn't know what was going on either, but was happily prepared to keep up with the running and find out later. After all, wouldn't it be silly to get all worried and panicky before you even know if there's anything to get all worried and panicky about? Rounding the corner, they found Applejack. She was sat, slumped against the wall, staring vacantly through the pavement some distance beyond her boots. Her hat had fallen, and she had made no effort to retrieve it. Absently, she was nursing her left hand in her right, both resting on her lap. She gave no acknowledgement of their presence until Rarity, kneeling beside her, placed one hand on Applejack's shoulder and the other on Applejack's cheek, gently bringing the other girl's face around to her own. “Applejack, darling,” Rarity began softly, once the farmgirl's eyes met her own, “what happened? Are you alright? What— what do you need us to do?” Applejack blinked, and shifted her legs slightly, turning her head so that Rarity dropped her hand away. She looked around at the faces of the other girls, all looking at her with concern. “She…” Applejack hesitated. “She's gone?” “You mean Sunset?” Rarity prompted. “Yeah… Sunset. Did she… did she leave, with that woman?” “You mean her mother?” “I'm still a little confused about that,” interjected Twilight, one finger raised hesitantly. “She… that was… that was Sunset's mother, right? That we just met?” “Well who else would it be!?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Ooh!” exclaimed Pinkie, “Maybe it was the other Sunset's mother! I mean, just like Twilight has another Twilight and Spike has another Spike, maybe Sunset Shimmer has another Sunset Shimmer who has another Sunset Shimmer's mother!?” “Pinkie,” chided Rarity “I'm certain Sunset would be able to tell the difference between her real mother and… someone else. Right?” “But… what if…” worry had finally gained a tenuous foothold on Pinkie's mind, and by extension both her face and voice, “what if she could tell the difference, but she decided she liked this other mother so much that she wanted to go with her anyway?” “Sunset wouldn't—” began Twilight, “I mean, Sunset wouldn't do that, would she?” “She would and did,” announced Applejack flatly. No-one spoke. Five faces turned, horror-struck, towards Applejack. When all five began talking at once, it was Rainbow Dash who eventually won out, by twin virtues of volume and persistence. “…she even do that?” Rainbow continued, when he voice was no longer drowned out. “Why didn't you stop her!?” Applejack looked up at Rainbow Dash, and sighed. “I guess I just couldn't find the right words.” ”The right words!?” Rainbow shouted. “Rainbow, darling,” Rarity interrupted, waving Rainbow to be quiet, “whatever happened, I'm sure yelling about it isn't going to help.” She turned back to Applejack. “Applejack, dear, there's something else, isn't there?” Applejack picked her hat up, and looked at it. “Yeah…” she muttered, before returning it to her head. She reached out her right hand to Rarity, who uncertainly mirrored the gesture — Applejack then gripped Rarity's wrist and hauled herself up, Rarity providing a steady hand-hold more than any actual lifting. Once standing, Applejack looked around the other girls again, inattentive to Rainbow Dash's impatient glowering. She took a deep breath, and answered Rarity's question glumly. “Seems I've more in common with Sunset than I knew. But I'm guessing she never told any of y'all about that, either…” Rarity squeaked and clapped a hand to her mouth. Rainbow Dash looked taken aback, apprehensive but still enquiring. The other girls' expressions did not change much at the revelation; Pinkie Pie's face was still oddly blank and uncertain, Fluttershy had been wearing a mix of fear and despair since seeing Applejack's despondent state, her expression could hardly deepen at this point. Twilight still radiated polite confusion tinged with only a hint of worry. “Y-you…” stammered Rainbow “you don't mean…?” “Both orphans, I guess,” shrugged Applejack, lifting her left hand gingerly into her right. Rainbow was stunned, slightly shaking, glancing back and forth between Applejack, and the road that had recently carried Sunset away. Twilight was clearly horrified, and Rarity was actually crying a little. Applejack just looked annoyed, increasingly so with each passing moment. “I should've stopped her,” she said, “I just… she caught me off guard, is all. Asking what I'd do in her place. Didn't have an honest answer ready.” Rarity placed a hand on Applejack's shoulder. “Y'all reckon we should chase after her?” Applejack asked. “Y-yeah,” Rainbow Dash croaked, “I mean, yeah, of course we do, right?” “What do we even say to her?” thought Twight aloud. “Well, whatever we say, I might need to see the doctor first,” Applejack said. “Y'all could go on without me, maybe.” The girls stared at her. Fluttershy spoke first. “Doctor?” “Ah, it's nothing big,” Applejack grimaced slightly. “I just punched the wall a bit earlier and I reckon I mighta slightly… broken my hand again, a little.” “Broken?” “A little!?” “Again?” “Oh, Applejack, darling!” Rarity swooped in, immediately descending on the damaged appendage for closer inspection, carefully hoisting Applejack's arm for a clearer view. “Oh dear, it's already started swelling. We simply must get you seen to right away.” She frowned at Applejack. “Darling you really should have said something sooner. Now come on — it will be quicker to walk, from here.” Rarity lead the way without another moment's pause, and Applejack followed behind. “But…” called Twilight, chasing after Applejack, “what did you say? If we know how the conversation went, it might give us some ideas of what to say when we catch up to her…” With Twilight chasing after Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy followed, continuing to discuss their next course of action. Pinkie Pie remained standing a short while, staring at the ground where Applejack had sat. Her face was creased with worry, her hair seemed to hang heavier than usual. “Bummer,” she remarked, before sighing, spinning on one heel, and chasing after the other girls.
The plan“Well,” said Rarity, pocketing her phone, later that same evening, “she is officially ‘not answering’. So much for that idea.” “That might actually be fortunate,” said Twilight, “since we still don’t know what to say.” The girls were standing outside a local walk-in clinic “Maybe Sunset was right,” said Pinkie Pie. “If it makes them both happy, what’s the point in trying to stop them?” “Because it’s a lie.” Applejack glared a little, nursing a now bandaged hand. “It won’t make either of them happy in the end.” “Isn’t that Sunset’s decision, though?” wondered Rainbow Dash aloud. “I’m certain Sunset Shimmer would intervene if one of us was taking such a dangerously selfish path.” Rarity said. “And sooner or later the real daughter’s bound to show up.” Applejack sighed. “That’s not going to end well.” “It might be the sooner the better,” said Twilight. “The longer this goes on, the worse it’s going to be.” Pinkie Pie gasped dramatically. “That’s it! Girls, we just need a holiday miracle!” The collective dubious stares passed between her and each other. “It’s… not like they hand those out on demand, darling.” “Nono, we just have to make our own! All we have to do is find other Sunset Shimmer, and then Honey Swirl will be so happy to have her real daughter back, she’ll be all ‘even though you aren’t from this world, you’re like a second daughter to me’, and Sunset will have a twin sister and everyone will be happy and tell the truth. It’s such a perfect ending, it just has to work.” “Well… it’s not the worst idea we’ve got.” “Actually I think it’s the only idea we’ve got. Well, at the very least the other Sunset might be able to convince our Sunset… but how would we even begin to look for her?” There was a pause. “I could try and sniff her out,” volunteered Spike, “if we knew somewhere she’d been recently for me to pick up the scent.” “How would you even know what she smells like?” asked Twilight. “I mean, she’d smell like a different Sunset Shimmer, right? Like the other Twilight smells like a different version of you. It’s like… I don’t know if there’s a word for it. Like a song you’ve heard before, but someone else is singing it?” Twilight looked thoughtful. “We could split up,” suggested Rainbow Dash. “Some of use look for the other Sunset, and some of us go try and talk to her mom.” “I'm not sure talking to Honey Swirl is a good idea,” Rarity said, “at least until we know what to say. If we make an enemy of her before we have proof, she might not listen to use even when we do have something she would believe.” “So, we just split up and search for the other Sunset? Start handing out fliers and hope?” “That's it!” Twilight suddenly exclaimed. “Spike, you're a genius!” “Okay?” responded Spike. “If I just convert the overlapping frequencies into a Fourier space, I should be able to establish a baseline harmonic and apply an offset vector to establish the translated signature EM wavelengths. There should be some resonance to work off… if only I'd thought of this sooner, I… well, I'm not sure what the other practical applications would be, but I'm sure there must be a use for mapping the pattern offsets.” Applejack was the first to respond to this proclamation. “Twilight?” “Yes?” “What in the name of all sanity are you talking about?” “Well, it's… um. Okay, d'you girls remember the, uh,” she held her hands up chest-high in front of her, thumbs and forefingers making a horizontal ring as if holding something circular up in front of her, “device?” She winced slightly. “You mean, the one that turned you into a crazy she-demon?” “Uh… yeah. But before that, it was meant to track and sample a specific set of what I thought were peculiar EM frequencies, but which turned out to be, well, Equestrian magic. And before that, I had another device that was just a tracker, with none of the sample collection functionality.” “With you so far, I think.” “In theory, I mean, this is just based on my current working hypothesis, but I might be able to create a modified version of that tracker and use a sample from our Sunset — I already have some of her hair in my room — to track down this world's Sunset, assuming… well, quite a few things, but I think it's worth a shot.” The other girls exchanged glances. Applejack shrugged. “How long do you think that will take?” “Hmm… a few hours, maybe. I think I could have it ready this evening.” “So…” Applejack looked around at the other girls, “is this our only plan? Don't get me wrong,” she added, turning back to Twilight, “I think this sounds worth doing, I'm just wondering if there's anything else we should be doing.” Pinkie Pie put a hand on Applejack's shoulder. “Just accept the plot device, Applejack. There's clearly no other way.” “Um, ” Fluttershy offered, “I could research some old newspapers, maybe find out something about the other Sunset.” “I could phone around,” said Rainbow Dash, “someone else has got to know something.” “Ooh! I'll help with that!” offered Pinkie Pie. “Do you need any help with your doohickey, Twilight?” asked Applejack. “Hmm… someone to help with to soldering while I write the code could help." Applejack flexed the thumb and forefinger of her bandaged hand. “Yup, I reckon I can help with that.” “I'll set what I can do online,” said Rarity, “social networking might be more help than boots on the sidewalk here.” “Okay, we'll meet back at Twilight's house in the morning, unless someone finds something sooner.” The girls nodded, and parted ways. Applejack stayed with Twilight a moment after. “It's going to be okay, sugarcube,” she reassured Twilight, “with all of us working together, there's nothing we can't figure out.” Twilight smiled. “Thanks Applejack.” Applejack hadn't seen Twilight's "laboratory" before. The piles of half-dismantled appliances, the wall of conspiracy-theorist red strings, the seemingly decorative Jacob's ladder and lava lamps all gave the impression that she'd stepped into a movie set of a mad scientist's lab. On arrival, Twilight strode across the room, hitting the power button to start up her computer as she passed, and pulled open a desk draw. After digging out a circuit board, a notebook, something that appeared to have one been a hair drier, and a box of latex gloves, she straightened up with something reminiscent of a multimeter held triumphantly aloft. Applejack navigated her way across to what appeared to be a work bench, with various tools piled up towards the back, and gingerly removed a tray of papers from the adjacent stool. There were shards of broken red crystal held in Petri dishes on top of the papers; Applejack frowned at recognising fragments of The Dazzlngs' shattered pendants. Twilight, meanwhile, had somehow acquired a labcoat and a pair of goggles in the moments Applejack had looked away. She now sat in front of the computer, fingers clattering across the keyboard as reams of code and diagrams danced around the screen. “Just a few tests to run before we start the wiring…” Twilight barely turned her head in Applejack's direction as she muttered aloud. Applejack waited. The Jacob's ladder buzzed. The lava lamp blooped, which Applejack suspected wasn't meant to happen. A printer whirred and ground itself into readiness behind her, which made her jump. Paper began to feed through, with some fairly intricate circuit diagrams coming out. Twilight spun on her chair and jumped to her feet, striding across the room once more to snatch the papers up. “Okay, so uh, would you be able to wire this up while I code up the controller circuit?” She presented the multimeter-esque device and the printed diagrams to Applejack. “Uh, sure, I guess.” “Great! Oh, and you'll need the display board, hold on…” She practically sprinted across the room to fetch another lump of unidentifiable electronics off a nearby shelf. It was circular, glassy, and had four wires dangling off it. She presented it to Applejack and indicated how it fit in to the diagram, grinning a little wildly for Applejack's liking. “Got it?” “I… reckon I sure have,” Applejack forced a small laugh. “Also great! I'll just be right over here if you need me.” Twilight gestured to the chair barely two meters away from where Applejack was sat, before darting back over and spinning herself back down onto the chair to resume coding. It took Applejack the better part of two hours to re-assemble the device according to Twilight's specifications, including a brief break to fetch drinks for them both, since Twilight seemed completely absorbed in her work. Twilight was… different. Maybe it was the weird green light coming off whatever the thing next to her computer screen was, or the strange half smile that seemed to settle on her face as she worked, or the small giggles every time she made progress, but Applejack found herself unpleasantly reminded of the insane demon who had tried to rip apart the fabric of two realities after Twilight overdosed on wild magic. She gently nudged Spike, who was currently curled up on a dog bed in one corner of the lab. “She always get like this?” Applejack murmured to Spike. “Mmm? Oh. Yeah, sometimes…” Spike yawned. “She'll sleep it off when she's done, usually.” Despite Applejack's concerns, the pair continued to work late into the night, until finally the device was assembled. “It… ” Twilight yawned, “it will need to run through the calibration routines, that will take a few hours. We should probably get some sleep.” Applejack looked down at the finished device. It consisted simply of a ring of LEDs that could indicate direction, a handle, and a small box in the centre to hold a "sample". Wires connected it to Twilight's computer, where a stream of text was scrolling up across the screen. “Sure…” she muttered. ”Sleep.” When Applejack awoke the next morning, the other girls had already arrived. They sat around the kitchen table, discussing the results of their endeavours so far, as Applejack and Twilight ate breakfast. The general mood was heavy. “So basically,” concluded Rainbow Dash, towards the end of breakfast, “zilch. We got nothing. If Twilight's machine doesn't work —” “Pfft, silly,” interrupted Pinkie Pie, “of course it'll work, this is Twilight Sparkle.” “Speaking of which,” said Twilight, “why don't you girls head over to the lab? I'll go fetch Sunset's hair sample and meet you there.” “Yes actually, darling,” said Rarity, “I've been meaning to ask, but why do you have a lock of Sunset Shimmer's hair in your boudoir?” “Oh.” Twilight froze mid-step. “Um, you know… for… research… purposes. Scientific research. Into, um, magic. Equestrian magic, and whether there are any anatomical, I mean, biological — cellular differences between humans from this world, and ponies who've been transformed by the mirror portal. On a cellular level. With a microscope. I just… happened to have a sample left over, from that research. Into science.” The more Twilight spoke, the pinker her face became. “Oh,” dead-panned Rarity. “Very well, dear. We'll head over to your laboratory while you retrieve your… scientific research materials.” “Mmm,” Twilight affirmed, before quickly marching out of the room. Once the girls were assembled in Twilight's lab, Twilight opened a small hatch on the tracking device, and inserted the coiled lock of red hair. She closed the hatch, pressed a button, and held up the device so all could see. Lights blinked around the outside a few times, then settled into a single throbbing light pointing in one direction. Twilight rotated the device experimentally, and the light moved around like the needle of a compass, continuing to point the same way regardless of how the machine was oriented. “Girls,” Twilight grinned, “I think it's working!”
