A State of Unrest

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7

Chapter 1

Moonlight streamed in through the curtains of the bedroom in the small apartment. The bed sheets rose and fell at a rhythmic speed by the breathing of its occupant. Dirty clothes laid in small piles across the floor of the room. An oak desk stood against the wall opposite to the window. A single book bound by a leather cover with a sun emblem on the front sat in the center of the desk surrounded by papers.

The scene remained tranquil, until the rhythm of the breathing from beneath the bedding quickened its pace. The sheets rustled as the girl tossed and turned recklessly upon them.

“No,” the girl mumbled, “no, stop!”

She bolted upright, breathing loud and rushed. Sweat grasped her purple pajamas, causing them to cling uncomfortably to her skin. Her yellow-crimson hair disheveled from the unrest.

The teen sighed, pinching the brim of her nose. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, and carefully dodging the discarded clothing, she entered the bathroom. She flipped the light switch on, and allowed her eyes to adjust before observing herself in the mirror. She squeaked the sink on, cold water ran over her light amber fingers. She rubbed her face with newly moistened hands.

Vision still blurred from sleep, she felt around the counter for a hair tie, and pulled her hair into a loose pony tail. Returning to her bedside, she retrieved her phone. Turning it on, the girl found it to be nearly five in the morning.

She sighed. “I can’t believe this is happening again,” she said. “Sunset Shimmer, former unicorn resident of Equestria, ex-student of Princess Celestia, defeater of several magical power crazed beings, and I can’t even get sleep because of nightmares.”

She shook her head, nearly hysterical from insomnia. She entered her kitchen, grabbing a can of orange soda from the refrigerator and cracking it open.

“No use in trying to go back to sleep now,” Sunset thought, “It’ll be time for school in a little while. Still, I’m kinda freaked out about these nightmares, I don’t think I could get to sleep even if I wanted to.”

She leaned against the kitchen counter, occasionally taking sips of the fizzy beverage. Her brow furrowed as she recalled the reoccurring nightmare.

“It seems like every night more of the dream is revealed,” her hand drew to a fist, “But I can’t for the life of me figure it out.”

The nightmare replayed in her mind—shrouded in darkness, burning green eyes stared at her while earsplitting laughter surrounded her entirety. Then, the eyes began moving closer to her, as a twisted, hole-filled horn emerged from atop them. In this night’s revelation, after the figure appeared before her, the laughter grew louder, Sunset covered her ears, and screamed to drown it out, but her attempts failed miserably. Her attention was drawn to the source of the laughter, thousands of fanged beasts materialized from the shadows. Their beating insect-like wings only added to the noise. Sunset Shimmer sank to the floor, which she found to be more of a mirror. Hands over ears, she looked down to find her reflection not of herself, but that of a monster. A monster, with tattered wings, skin bright red, and eyes surrounded by black. It was the monster she had once become, the one she swore never to become again.

“I just don’t understand,” Sunset said unto the empty apartment, “I don’t even know who that was or they were. And then there’s the whole she-demon thing. Everyone else has forgiven me, and I thought I had even moved past it, but I guess my unconscious mind can’t help but to rehash the whole ordeal. Everyone would think I was going crazy if I told them.”

She sighed, checking her phone once again for the time.

“School starts in an hour, better start getting ready,” she concluded.

She revisited her bedroom, picking out clean clothes that lie amongst the dirty ones and changing into them. She released her hair from its hanging position, grabbing a hairbrush from the bathroom, she attempted to tame its unruliness. Still half asleep, she gazed at herself in the mirror, bags under bloodshot eyes.

“No hiding it this time, I guess,” she supposed.

Buzzing suddenly drew her attention away from the mirror and to her phone. She picked it up as a named flashed upon it, Rainbow Dash.

“Hey Dash, what’s up?” she faked a lively tone.

“Hey, just calling to make sure you were up,” Rainbow greeted.

“Oh, boy am I,” Sunset mumbled.

“Okay, well, I’ll be there in a few,” the athletic girl informed.

“Got it. I’ll meet you in the lobby,” she concluded.

“’Kay,” Dash hung up the phone.

She collected her things from her bedroom. Throwing her backpack over one shoulder, she grabbed the leather tome from her desk, placing it carefully in the bag.

“Just in case,” she thought aloud.

With that, she exited the apartment door and rode the elevator down to the lobby where her friend awaited.

Chapter 2

Rainbow Dash leaned against a wall in the lobby. She brushed a few stray multi colored hairs away from her face as she waited for Sunset Shimmer. The impatient athlete tapped her fingers against the wall behind her, unable to sit still. Her head turned at every entrance to the floor. The ding of the elevator doors caused her to glance hopefully towards it again. Fortunately, this time, it was her friend.

“Good morning, ready to walk?” Rainbow Dash said, already energetic despite the morning’s earliness.

“’Morning, ready as I’ll ever be,” Sunset managed a smile.

Noticing her friend’s drowsiness Dash asked, “Everything alright?”

“Yeah, I just didn’t sleep very well last night,” She replied.

They exited the apartment building and walked over the cracked sidewalk towards CHS.

Eager to change the subject, Sunset asked, “So, did you have a good weekend?”

“Yeah it was pretty awesome. Scootaloo and I went to this skate park and hung out there for a while,” she replied.

“That sounds like fun. I’m sure Scootaloo loved it,” Sunset Shimmer said.

“She did. How was your weekend?” Rainbow questioned.

Sunset thought back, the only thing worth noting were the nightmares, but she didn’t want to share that. Bringing it up would only frustrate her and cause her friend to worry.

“Nothing really, just homework,” She lied.

Rainbow Dash observed her friend skeptically, “If you say so.”

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck nervously. The last thing she felt like talking about were the awful dreams that had been keeping her from sleeping for the past three nights. Internally, her brain argued with itself.

“What am I going to do?” she thought, “These nightmares don’t show any signs of stopping, but I don’t know who to talk to about them. The principals are out of the question. I trust my friends, but I just don’t think they would understand. That leaves Princess Twilight, but I just don’t want to bother her if it’s just my unconscious imagination messing with me.”

She shoved her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket. They were beginning to grow cold in the early winter weather. A chill inducing gust of wind blew on her face. She noticed that the grass that grew between the cracks in the concrete was now dead from the cold. As she shuffled her feet down the sidewalk, she continued to contemplate her course of action.

“I could write her about them in the book. Though, I don’t know how well I’ll be able to explain them in writing. Maybe she can visit just long enough for me to explain them in person, but she’s nearly always busy. I’d like to believe these nightmares are just my mind but something feels off. It feels almost like a warning,” she thought.

A waving cyan hand then interrupted her thoughts, “Uh, Sunset, you still with me?”

“Oh, sorry Rainbow, I was just deep in thought,” she admitted.

“Well, we’re almost there,” Rainbow Dash pointed at the newly visible high school. “Are you sure you’re alright?” Dash questioned.

“I’m fine,” she fibbed yet again.

As Canterlot high school came closer into view, the duo noticed the rest of their band of friends standing at their usual spot near the wondercolt statue. They approached the group.

Everyone greeted one another and sat in the grass in front of the statue.

Sunset couldn’t help herself as her eyes were drawn to the statue’s base, the portal to Equestria.

“Whatcha thinking about?” Pinkie Pie asked seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

Sunset jumped backwards a few inches in shock, “Ah! Oh, nothing in particular, Pinkie.”

The pink, curly haired teen squinted her eyes at her friend, then her usual bright smile returned to her face.

“Heard anything from Twilight lately?” Pinkie Pie inquired.

“I’m over here,” the Twilight Sparkle from their world said.

“Not you silly,” Pinkie Pie poked Twilight’s nose, “Princess Twilight.”

“Oh, sorry, it gets a little confusing sometimes, with the whole alternate world thing,” the lavender girl admitted sheepishly as a blush formed on her face.

“I know what you mean,” Sunset agreed, “and no I haven’t. But you know Twilight, she’s probably busy with her royal duties.”

“That, or she’s got her nose too far in a book to remember to write us,” Rainbow Dash added, nudging a now blushing Twilight Sparkle.

“That’s a possibility,” Twilight said.

“More like ‘ah probability,” Apple Jack added.

Sunset Shimmer laughed at her friends, “Yeah, I’m sure we’ll hear from her sometime soon.”

“I can’t wait for her to visit again,” Fluttershy said.

“I agree,” Rarity added, “I believe we are all beginning to miss her terribly.”

The group made sounds of concurrence.

The bell then rang, interrupting the group’s conversation. They broke apart, Rarity approached Sunset.

“Would you like to walk together to first period?” Rarity proposed.

“Actually,” Sunset confessed, “I need to get a few things from my locker first. I think I’ll just meet you there if that’s okay.”

“That’s quite alright, dear. See you in class,” Rarity said understandingly.

Sunset let out an internal sigh of relief. She didn’t believe that she could hide the truth from Rarity. Though she was very generous, she was also very stubborn and very good at discovering the truth.

“Besides,” she thought, “I’d rather be alone to think right now anyways.”

Sunset weaved her way through the crowded halls to her locker. She spun the lock to the last number of the combination. Pulling her pack off her shoulders, she exchanged the text and notebooks inside for the ones she needed on the locker shelf. Her eyes then found the leather bound book with the sun emblem, the book she used to communicate with Princess Twilight. Shaking her head, she zipped the book bag closed and made her way to class.

Sunset Shimmer managed to dissuade her friends concerns during lunch, but only by the skin of her teeth. She found herself eager to get back to her apartment not only in attempts to catch up on much needed sleep, but also to avoid her friends calculating stares.

“They can tell something is wrong, but I’m just not ready to tell them about everything yet. At least not until I talk to Twilight about it first,” she told herself.

Seemingly endless classes went by, but finally it was the last class of the day. However, it was Sunset Shimmer’s least favorite class, biology. Somewhere in the middle of the theory of evolution, her eyes began to droop. Despite her efforts to stay awake, the lack of sleep took hold as Sunset sat in the middle of Biology.

Once again, glowing green eyes greeted her in the darkness. Taking on the shape of upside down crescents as the shrieking laughter started. Sunset hated it, she willed with every fiber of her being for it to stop. She slapped her hands over her ears once more as the laughing grew too much to bear. The screams that emitted were lost in the swarm of noise. She sank to her knees, pressing her forehead against the cold, solid mirror-like floor, refusing to open her eyes. Her ears felt as if they had gone numb from all the noise. Yet, a single loud yell reached her deadened ears.

“Miss Shimmer!” it yelled.

Sunset’s face turned to one of confusion at this. Never in the retellings of these nightmares had this happened.

“Miss Shimmer!” the protruding yell repeated yet again.

Something then stung at the base of her neck as she snapped back to reality. The biology teacher, Mrs. Harshwhinny appeared before her, looking quite displeased.

“Miss Shimmer, is my teaching interrupting you nap time?” the teacher interrogated sarcastically.

“I’m very sorry, Mrs. Harshwhinny. It won’t happen again, I promise,” Sunset apologized.

“Indeed it won’t, because I assure you that if it does you will find yourself in after-school detention,” Mrs. Harshwhinny threatened.

The teacher then returned to her lesson. Sunset rubbed her eyes. She then remembered what initially woke her, a stinging sensation from behind. She searched around for the culprit, a small purple eraser laid on the floor beside her chair.

She craned her neck searching for the eraser’s source. In the row next to her’s two seats back, Twilight adjusted her glasses and gave a small guilty wave. Sunset returned a small smile of appreciation.

“I guess even in this world Twilight is saving my butt,” she thought.

Sunset did her best to pay attention to the rest of the biology lesson, but even she couldn’t stifle a sigh of relief when the final bell rang.

She gathered her belongings and exited the classroom hastily, heading to her locker. A hand reached out, grabbing her shoulder and startling her. She quickly turned to face its owner to find Twilight, her Biology savior.

“Sunset,” Twilight’s voice carried an earnest, concerned tone, “what happened back there?”

Sunset searched her brain for an excuse, “I just fell asleep, haven’t been getting much lately and I guess it decided to catch up with me in class.”

The lavender girl’s eyes narrowed behind her black framed glasses, “I’m worried about you, you’ve never fallen asleep in class before. If I had not have thrown that eraser, I’m not sure you would have ever woken up, even with Mrs. Harshwhinny’s yelling.”

“Thanks for that and your concern, really, but I’ll be fine. I’m going to go home and get some rest before school tomorrow. I’ll be as good as new, you’ll see,” Sunset rushed to get away from her suspicious friend.

She finally reached her locker, unloading miscellaneous items into it before letting her eyes drift to the leather book.

“I’ll go to the library to write the letter to the princess and wait for her to reply before going back home. At least that way I can avoid rising anymore suspicion out of the girls,” Sunset formulated a plan.

She made her way down the halls to the CHS library. Picking out a seat far enough out of anyone’s view, Sunset began writing the letter.

Dear Princess Twilight,

Haven’t heard from you in a while. The girls and I were hoping you have been doing okay, though I’m sure you’re wings deep in royal responsibilities. We’re starting to miss you again. I, in particular, have been hoping you would come back for a visit soon. In fact, I’m beginning to wonder if it might be necessary. You see, I’ve been having these dreams, well nightmares rather, lately and I have no idea what to make of them. I’m hoping you might be able to help me figure out why they keep returning and how to stop them. I’d be really grateful if you could write back as soon as you can.

Love,

Sunset Shimmer

Sunset sighed, happy to be finished with the letter.

“Now all there is to do is wait,” she thought.

She felt a pang of relief, as if half of the battle was already over. It felt good to let someone else know of the nightmares that had been troubling her in the recent nights, especially someone who might have an idea as to how to solve the problem.

Yawning, Sunset stretched her arms leaning back in the wooden chair. Her aqua eyes scanned the library’s contents.

Only a few other student’s occupied the room. None of which would question her for answers as to her drowsy behavior lately, she thankfully noted. Her mind swarmed from the lack of sleep.

She waited a few moments more before searching her backpack for her phone. Finally locating it, she frowned. Two missed calls, both from Apple Jack.

“Probably calling because Twilight must have told the girls by now,” she thought. “I’ll call her back later, and tell her I didn’t answer because I was taking a nap.”

Sunset didn’t enjoy lying to her friends, but she didn’t want to share anything with them until she had heard back from Twilight. Yawning once again, she wished she wasn’t actually lying when she would tell AJ she had taken a nap.

She used her phone to check the time. She had been in the library for two hours now, and was getting restless.

Glancing at the tome yet again, it showed no signs of a reply. In a split moment of clarity, Sunset grabbed the book and threw her backpack onto one shoulder, leaving the library.

“I think I can afford a coffee to keep me going,” she thought.

Exiting the school building, Sunset walked down the sidewalk to Sugarcube café.

Chapter 3

The café greeted her with the jingle of a bell as Sunset Shimmer entered. Advancing to the line in front of the counter, her eyes flitted over the menu.

“Definitely caffeinated, and I guess some extra sugar couldn’t hurt either,” she thought aloud in a whisper.

“Ya know, I’ve heard the white chocolate cappuccino is pretty delicious,” a voice said smoothly from behind her.

Turning around, Sunset found it to be none other than Flash Century. His face held it’s usual confident yet friendly smirk.

“Thanks for the suggestion, but I was thinking more espresso,” Sunset replied.

“That’s a lot of caffeine this late in the day,” he winked.

“Yeah, well, it doesn’t seem to matter either way. I doubt I’ll be getting any sleep,” she said as she moved forward in the line.

“I heard Mrs. Harshwhinny caught you snoozing in class. I didn’t think you did stuff like that anymore,” Flash said.

Sunset winced at his comment. She had, for the most part, gotten used to the topic of the way she had acted before. The way she saw it, the person she was before was a completely different entity from who she was now, but with the previous nights’ revelations it was a bit of a tender subject.

“I didn’t mean to. I haven’t really been getting much sleep lately and it just so happened that my body decided that then was the right time to try and catch up,” Sunset replied.

“Totally understandable. Even so, Mrs. Harshwhinny can be, well for lack of a better word, harsh,” his attention was then directed to the book Sunset held in her arms, “You haven’t by any chance talked to Twilight lately have you?”

A warm grin formed on her face, “Not recently, but I’m hoping to hear from her soon. Don’t worry,” she winked, “If she says anything about coming for a visit I’ll let you know.”

A blush warmed his cheeks, “Thanks, Sunset. Looks like your next in line,” he pointed.

“Oh,” she focused her attention on Mrs. Cupcake who looked back at her expectantly, “Can I get a white chocolate cappuccino with a shot of espresso, please?”

“Absolutely,” the pink haired lady replied.

“Excellent choice,” Flash boasted.

She laughed as Mrs. Cupcake returned, handing her the coffee she ordered. After paying and exchanging a friendly farewell to Flash Century, Sunset found a seat in the corner of the café.

She sat, placing her backpack on the floor beside her and the leather book on the small table in front of her. It still showed no signs of a response from her friend. Silently, Sunset drank her cappuccino and waited.

After some time, she had finished her coffee and grown more than bored when a buzz caught her attention. Her eyes quickly darted to the book, but only disappointment met her expectations. It was merely a phone call.

“AJ again,” she thought, “guess I should answer her this time.”

“Hello,” she answered.

“Hey Sun, everything alright?” Apple Jack questioned.

“Yeah, sorry AJ. I was taking a nap and just woke up a little bit ago,” Sunset fibbed.

“Well that’s great sugarcube. We were all worried ‘bout you with the whole fallin asleep in class thing,” the country girl sounded relieved. “But how come ya didn’t meet up with us after school?”

“I had some homework to catch up on so I went to the library. I hope you guys didn’t wait up for me,” she replied.

“Only for a bit, then Twi told us ya seemed like you were busy,” AJ informed.

“Good, you can let the girls know I’m alright. I’ll see you tomorrow at school,” she said.

“Okay, see ya,” Apple Jack hung up.

Sunset let out a relieved breath, yet her chest remained tight. Twilight had not yet answered her letter, and she was beginning to grow repentant about lying to her friends. Shoving the book into her back pack rather forcefully, she left the café.

As soon as she stepped foot out of the heated building, every wisp of warmth that surrounded her was stripped away. The sun was setting and streetlights began to light the sidewalk’s path.

Shivering, sunset zipped her leather jacket up and hugged herself to keep whatever heat that remained close. She willed the trek to her apartment building to grow shorter as she trudged down the sidewalk.

After what seemed like hours, she finally entered the lobby of the building. She welcomed the warmth that the heating system brought. Her hands felt dry and had taken on a slightly red shade from the brutal chilly winds.

She rode the elevator to the third floor and walked down the fluorescent lit hallway, stopping at her apartment door. Placing her back pack on the carpeted floor, she searched through it for her keys. An almost hum-like noise grabbed her attention.

“Must be another phone call,” she thought glumly as she retrieved her phone from her pocket.

However, the cell phone showed no signs of life while the buzzing noise continued. A flash of hope sprang over her face.

“Yes!” she exclaimed fairly loud.

She quickly inserted her keys into the lock with still brittle fingers. Quickly closing the door, Sunset jerked the leather tome out of it’s place in her backpack. Her fingers flipped through the pages rapidly in search of the reply. A sudden bout of nervousness crept into her mind.

“What if there’s nothing she can do? Or what if I really am losing it?” she questioned herself. “No, I’m sure there has to be some significance to the nightmares. And in that case, Twilight will be completely willing to help.”

With newfound self-assurance, Sunset eyed the page that held Twilights response.

Dear Sunset,

I’m really sorry I haven’t been able to write you sooner. I have been missing you girls too and considering another visit soon. You were exactly right about the whole royal duties thing, it’s been kind of hectic here lately with Princess Cadence’s soon to arrive foal. I’m sorry to hear about these nightmares you’ve been having. What exactly has been happening in them? I’d be more than happy to help any way I can and I promise to write back as soon as I possibly can.

Love,

Twilight Sparkle

Sunset chewed at her lip. She was overjoyed that Twilight had finally replied, however it was a bit of a disappointment that her royal friend had said nothing of a precise time for a visit.

Placing the book on the coffee table in the center of her small living room, Sunset flopped onto the couch. The caffeine had worn off and she felt even more exhausted than before.

“I guess I’ll just write her what happened,” she thought.

She tried to figure out the best way to explain everything, without sounding totally out of it. Finally, she settled on writing whatever came to her mind first.

Dear Twilight,

Thanks for getting back to me. I have been having these nightmares for the past few days and because of them, I’ve been getting little to no sleep. In fact, even when I accidentally fell asleep in class today the same nightmare occurred. I thought for a while that it was just me, but now I’m beginning to think they are something more, maybe even a warning.

It always begins with this figure, a figure I’ve never seen before in real life. The figure seems to be more pony than human, but I use the term pony loosely. It has what resembles a horn, but with holes bored into it and burning green eyes. Throughout the whole nightmare the pony laughs and then there are hundreds of them. They have tattered wings and fangs. They surround me and the shrills of laughter are so overbearing I sink to the floor. The floor is mirror-like and when I see my reflection, I look like the she-demon that I became when I tried to take over the school.

Every night, more of the dream uncovers itself and I don’t think they will stop anytime soon. I really hope you have some idea on how I should proceed.

Thanks,

Sunset Shimmer

Sunset closed the book’s cover and switched on the tv. Out of the corner of her eye, a digital clock showed that it was growing very late. She sighed, and rolled onto her side, eyelids drooping. The glowing light from the television and background noise lulled her to sleep. Her mind let her have a few moments of proper sleep before sucking her into the night’s newly revised version of the reoccurring nightmare.

The same figure appeared before her, drilling pain inducing laughter into her skull. The many other fanged beasts surrounded her and added more noise causing her to sink to the floor once again. Her she-demon form greeted her once more, it’s unnaturally sharp teeth formed a wicked grin and began to laugh as well.

Sunset pounded her fists against the floor in anguish. She wished for all of the noise to stop. Frustrated at it’s continuance, she struck the floor harder, until cracks began to form. Finally, she mirrored floor shattered and Sunset fell. She fell until her body hit the floor and her sleeping eyes shot open.

Her eyes shot around the dark living room. A humming noise still rang through her ears. She laid upon the carpeted floor and grabbed at her side.

“Must’ve fallen off the couch,” she thought.

Pain streamed through the side onto which she had fallen. She winced and made an attempt to rise off of the floor. She grabbed for her phone in the darkness, finally finding it lying on the coffee table beside the leather bound book.

“One in the morning,” she groaned.

She felt stiff having never changed into pajamas or taken a shower. She peeled her jacket off and threw it onto the couch. Staggering into the bathroom, she took a much needed shower and changed into more comfortable clothes. Ringing the water out of her now dampened hair, rushed and loud knocking caused her to jump.

“Who would be here this early?” she thought as she walked towards the door.

She looked through the peephole and saw a hooded figure in the shadowy hallway. She scanned the room for something to defend herself with, only finding a broom. She wielded the broom like a sword and cracked open the door.

“Can I help you?” she asked trying to sound intimidating.

“Sunset?” the figure asked.

“Yeah, who are you?” she asked.

“It’s Princess Twilight. Can I come inside?”

“Twilight?! Of course, come in,” Sunset stammered.

The lavender girl quickly stepped inside and lowered her hood. Spike trotted in behind her. Sunset shut the door behind her new guests and turned to them with a confused facial expression.

“What are you doing here?” Sunset questioned.

“I think the better question is what where you planning on doing with that?” Spike motioned toward the broom that Sunset still held.

“Oh, right,” she returned the makeshift weapon to it’s original place.

“I came as soon as I read your response,” Twilight said. “You were right it’s definitely urgent.”

Sunset gulped, suddenly afraid of what might be going on.

“I’ve never heard of anything like this. I mean there was that one time with the Tantabus but that was because of Princess Luna and the principal Luna of this world doesn’t have magic,” the princess rambled.

“Uh, Twilight,” Spike interrupted.

“Yes?” she looked at him questioningly.

“You might wanna explain everything to Sunset a little slower,” he suggested.

“Right, well to start I’m sorry we’re intruding,” Twilight said earnestly.

“It’s fine. I’m so glad to see you,” she hugged her friend.

“I’m glad to see you too. I think I know who the figure is in your nightmares, but what I don’t know is why she’s haunting you,” a crease formed between Twilight’s brows.

“Who do you think it is?” she asked.

“Queen Chrysalis and the changelings. They attacked Canterlot during my brother’s wedding and almost succeeded in taking over all of Equestria,” Twilight informed.

“But why would she be in my dreams? I’ve never even heard of her before,” Sunset commented.

“I don’t know. Shining Armor and Princess Cadence’s combined magic forced Queen Chrysalis and the changelings out of Canterlot. Nopony has heard anything about them until now, but I think I know how to find out more about these nightmares,” the lavender girl said confidently.

“Really!? How!?” Sunset grew excited.

The pony princess rubbed the back of her neck nervously.

“Well, Princess Luna could enter your dreams once you’ve fallen asleep, she’s done it before with us, but it would require you to return to Equestria for a little while,” Twilight said.

Sunset hugged herself. The thought of returning to her former home had crossed her mind before, but she had never actually taken steps to do so. She let the idea permeate her brain.

“I haven’t been there since I stole your crown. What about Princess Celestia? I haven’t talked to her in ages,” her head hurt at the thought of having to deal with so many past fears.

“It will be okay Sunset, I promise,” Twilight consoled her friend.

Sunset Shimmer took a deep, shaky breath and nodded her head.

“Okay, I’ll do it. If you think Princess Luna can help figure out what these dreams mean, I’ll go,” Sunset agreed.

“Great, we should probably leave as soon as we can. If you’re right about this being a warning, we don’t have time to waste,” she replied.

“A-alright,” Sunset moved to gather her things.

She grabbed her keys and cell phone, shoving them into her jacket pockets as she zipped it up on her torso. Quickly yanking on shoes, she followed Twilight out of the door of her apartment.

Chapter 4

The two teen girls exited the brick apartment building and entered the darkened streets. A cold chill saturated the air as they made their way towards Canterlot High School. Sunset shivered and Twilight held Spike closely whether for his benefit or hers, neither knew. Her dampened hair felt almost frozen.

“So how’ve the girls been?” Twilight managed through chattering teeth.

“They’ve been great, though we’ve all been missing you. How have things been back…” home, or can I even call it that? She cleared her throat and tried to clear her thoughts, “in Equestria.”

Noticing her friend’s discomfort, Twilight gave a small smile and said, “Other than the constant royal responsibilities it’s been fun. I’ve actually taken on my first student, but that’s a story for another time. Not to pry or anything, but have you told anyone else about the nightmares?”

Sunset shook her head, “No. I didn’t want to say anything to anyone until I had talked to you about them.”

Sunset looked as far as her limited line of vision would allow. Beyond the crest of the next cement covered hill lay their destination. She mentally sighed from relief.

Some shudder filled strides later, the two girls had arrived at the base of the Canterlot High wondercolt statue. Placing Spike back onto the ground, Twilight observed her obviously nervous friend.

“Are you ready, Sunset?” Twilight Sparkle tried.

Sunset thought it over for a few moments, her already numb extremities buzzing with uneasy energy. A huge knot had formed deep in her stomach and she felt ready to turn and run back to the safety of her apartment, but she knew that if she did, the nightmares would never stop and time may run out for her friends and herself.

She grit her teeth and tried to convince herself that she was making the right decision.

“I would have to return eventually. I couldn’t let it weigh on my conscious that I could have prevented some disaster but didn’t because I was too scared to go back to Equestria,” she argued internally.

Tightening her hands into fists inside her jacket pockets, Sunset concluded, “I’m ready.”

Twilight gave her a small reassuring smile and started into the portal. Spike also gave her a look of sympathy and followed behind the princess.

Sunset Shimmer closed her eyes tightly and released a short breath into the chill filled air. Taking a final look at the high school that stood behind her, she entered the portal. She was swallowed into the base of the statue, and within seconds the presence of two teens was unapparent.

The light amber girl’s eyes burst open as her body was sucked into a multicolored twisting channel. Her previously chill ridden face warmed. She felt her body alter, a feeling she had only experienced a few times before. The space around her appeared infinite, but a tight sensation covered her entire existence. This strange occurrence continued until she felt the tension around her snap. Her body was shoved out of the exit of the portal, the entrance to Equestria, her former home.

Sunset lifted her head that now rested on a crystal floor to asses her condition. Her vision was still a bit blurred and all of the reflective surfaces that surrounded her only made it harder to determine her location.

“We moved the mirror to the, er, my castle. I still haven’t gotten used to saying that,” a voice Sunset made out to be Twilight’s said.

Her body felt heavier yet it was almost like learning to ride a bike, it was something you never forgot. She quickly pulled herself up onto all four hooves. She noticed that the mirror now had a few upgrades, machines connected by wires. The leather jacket she pulled on in her apartment still clang to her now sweating torso. Her face grew red at the sudden and extreme change in temperature. Testing out her regained magic, an aqua glow surrounded the zipper as she removed the jacket.

“I can put that away for you,” Twilight offered.

“T-thanks,” Sunset struggled to form words. She lifted the clothing item in her magic’s grasp towards her friend. Twilight carefully transferred it into her aura and the jacket abruptly vanished followed by a whoosh sound.

Spike’s clawed foot tapped against the floor at a tedious pace. Sunset observed the small green and purple dragon, his expression no less than bored.

Sunset said nothing, dreading leaving the security of the small machine filled room provided. However, she knew time was a sensitive matter, and no amount of fear was going to keep her from protecting her friends.

“Where to now?” Sunset managed.

“Well, we should make our way to the Canterlot Palace. I guess traveling by carriage would be the quickest way to get both of us there,” Princess Twilight contemplated.

“Both of us? What did she mean by that?” Sunset thought to herself before noting Twilight’s lavender pair of wings.

A pang of regret echoed through Sunset’s mind as she saw them, “That could’ve been me,” she couldn’t help but think to herself. Sunset quickly shook the thought out of her brain “No, now is not the time for that.”

“Okay,” she finally replied.

The three then left the small room and walked through several corridors before coming to a stop in a room that held a table and several chairs, each displaying a different cutie mark at its head.

“You two stay here, I’ll go speak some of the guards and get them to prepare the carriage,” Twilight said.

Nodding her head, Sunset sank into one of the chairs. Exhaustion along with anxiety numbed her mind. She felt like a pile of mush, only held together by her body’s limitations. Her aqua eyes scanned the room in attempts to distract herself. The reoccurring theme of blue crystal in various shades was preserved in this room as well.

The opening of the large doors grasped Sunset’s attention. Twilight poked her head through and motioned for Sunset to follow behind her. Sunset did so, trailing behind the alicorn to the final set of doors between the inner walls of the castle and the outside land of Equestria. She gulped, and tailed Twilight through the grand exit.

The dim light of dawn greeted the two ponies. Two stoic looking guard ponies were attached to a golden chariot with large wings protruding from its sides. Spike quickly hoped onto the cushioned seat beside the already seated Princess of Friendship. Sunset reluctantly sat and the armored guard ponies started off.

For the light amber unicorn, the entire ride to Canterlot was a blur of colors. Her sleep deprived mind performed poorly at processing information. It took all of the willpower she could muster to keep from dozing off. She currently gazed out at the slowly rising sun, remembering her previous mentor who was undoubtedly responsible for its ascent. A question suddenly popped into her head, and she graciously accepted the distraction.

“So am I right in assuming that Princess Luna already knows that we’re coming?” she questioned Twilight.

“Absolutely!” the lavender alicorn suddenly adopted a defensive tone, “I actually had Spike send the princesses a letter to let them know before leaving to see you.”

“You’re telling me you knew that I would agree to come with you before you had even asked me about it?” Sunset raised an eyebrow.

The princess of friendship smirked and straightened her posture. At this, Sunset couldn’t help but notice how wise and mature the alicorn appeared, a look that she had only seen before in Princess Celestia.

“How?” Sunset asked.

“How what?” Twilight replied.

“How did you know that I would say yes? After all, the chances that somepony with my past would return to what could be considered the scene of the crime are very slim.”

Twilight smiled yet again, “I knew because it’s you we’re talking about. Sunset Shimmer would never run away from saving her friends, even if it meant she had to face her own dreads.”

Sunset did not reply, not knowing how to do so. She let the words her friend had just uttered sink in.

“How is it possible that she has so much confidence in me when I don’t even have that much confidence in myself? Is she right? I would do anything to keep them safe, and I guess that includes this absolutely insane thing that I’m doing right now,” she thought.

Her half-opened eyes trailed to see the Canterlot Castle rising into view. A nervous shiver ran down her spine, partially awakening her.

“There it is,” she whispered just as Spike said the same thing at a louder volume.

Their descent was quick, and the golden chariot landed before the guarded drawbridge entrance. Sunset drank in the scenery, having been years since she had seen it last. She exited the cart, and attempted to swallow the large knot that had formed in her throat at their arrival. Her stomach did somersaults as she inched towards the home she once knew.

Smile warm, with a graceful gait, Princess Twilight approached the bowing guards and relayed to them their reason for arrival. With a stern nod of approval, the three entered the castle walls.

Sunset hesitantly brushed away her thoughts of making a break for it as they crossed over the grassy courtyard. She attempted to subside her nervous sleep deprived ideas by replacing them with calming ones.

“Princess Luna will fix this. She’ll fix this and everything will be fine again. I will go back through the portal and rejoin the girls at CHS and all will be right in the world. After all, that’s where I belong, not here in Equestria, but there with my best friends. Maybe all of this crazy stuff had to happen for me to figure out where I was meant to be,” she guessed in her thoughts.

They entered a set of doors to a long, ornately decorated hallway. Expensive, silk curtains draped across the tall glass windowpanes. These decorations were engraved in Sunset’s memory. They arrived at a set of doors, ones that she remembered to be the ones in which would allow you to enter the throne room, a room Sunset was extremely hesitant to pass into.

“Sunset,” Twilight turned to face her unicorn friend, “I just wanted to tell you before we do this, that I believe in you. I know that you may not believe in yourself right now, and that this is most likely going to be very difficult for you, but I have complete faith that Princess Celestia will see that you are a completely different pony, or human, I guess, than before. And I know that this probably didn’t help you too much but I just felt like I had to tell you”

Twilight’s speech was cut short as Sunset hugged her royal friend yet again. She knew that such a display of affection could be considered improper in a public place like they were in, but she had no cares as to what any other pony thought at that moment. Finally, the two ponies released their grips from around each other’s necks and faced the entryway to the throne room.

“Let’s do this,” Spike proclaimed as he shoved the heavily decorated doors open.

Sunset swallowed hard, and followed closely after Twilight Sparkle and Spike. She dared to look toward the throne and, to her already formed assumption, was confirmed of her former mentor and Princess of Equestria, Celestia’s presence sitting atop the stairs in a lush looking throne. The guards once again bowed to her friend, the Princess of friendship who led her towards where Princess Celestia sat.

A genuine smile formed on the face of Princess Celestia, “Good morning, Princess Twilight sparkle, Spike, and,” Sunset could have sworn she heard a small catch in the royal alicorn’s voice “Sunset Shimmer. It’s so wonderful to see you all.”

For no apparent reason at all, tears brimmed in Sunset’s eyes and she struggled to hold them there.

Chapter 5

Uncomfortable, Painful, Awkward, any of these adjectives could be used to describe the silence that held firm in the throne room of the Canterlot castle. Or at least that is the way Sunset Shimmer would describe it to anyone who felt the need to ask.

It seemed that nopony knew how to react now that they were facing one another. A whole other flood of emotions crashed over Sunset when her past mentor spoke. Among these emotions were fear, regret, and despair that churned into a giant stew inside of her, threatening to boil over. The tears burned against her eyelids and blurred her vision.

Twilight Sparkle cleared her throat, “Good morning to you too. We tried to get here as soon as we could.”

“And I am glad you did. It’s been … quite a while since I have seen you all and this seems to be an urgent matter,” Princess Celestia replied.

“I’m afraid it is,” Twilight affirmed, “I only hope we can figure all of this out before something bad happens.”

“As do I. I’ll escort you three to my sister at once,” Celestia told them.

The royal alicorn ascended down the stairs swiftly and led them back into the corridor they arrived from. Sunset silently followed behind the group, chewing the inside of her cheek. Her eyes dared not to rise above the floor as they traced the intricate designs on the castle carpets. Sunset’s foggy mind drifted made putting her hooves in front of one another difficult.

She felt as if she were trudging through peanut butter and her vision fuzzed in and out of focus. She experienced a sharp pain at the base of her skull and everything went white.

Everypony’s attention was drawn to the crashing sound behind the rest of the group and laid eyes on Sunset Shimmer who now lie in a crumpled pile on the corridor floor. Twilight rushed by her side, followed by the others.

“Sunset!” she tried to wake her friend.

. . .

Rainbow Dash ran as fast as her legs would possibly go. Her breathing loud and rushed as she pulled her phone from her pocket once again. She pushed Sunset’s phone number into the screen again no to avail. She left what would be her third voice mail.

“Hey, I don’t know why you’re not answering but you’d better not be sleeping in! I’m on my way there right now and you better be ready by the time I get there!” she threatened.

In the back of her mind, Rainbow couldn’t help but to worry for her friend. Never before had Sunset not responded to so many calls, especially right before school.

“Even if she’s sick,” the athlete thought, “she would’ve texted or called to let one of us know.”

Her sneakered feet padded against the cracked sidewalk. Sunset’s apartment building rose into view and Rainbow dash quickened her pace even more. The ice cold air pricked in her lungs with every breath. She soon arrived at the front doors of the brick establishment and took a second to compose herself before entering.

Against her wishes, there was no Sunset Shimmer to greet her with some explanation as to why she neglected to respond to her contacts. Rainbow Dash shook her head and entered the elevator. The rainbow haired girl jammed a finger on the button that read “3” and tapped her foot impatiently. After an eternity in Rainbow’s mind passed, the elevator door dinged open and she jogged down the hallway to her friend’s apartment.

She lifted her cyan hand to the door and knocked. No response came and she tried once again to the same result. Rainbow grabbed her phone and dialed Apple Jack.

“Hello?” the country girl answered.

“Hey AJ, have you talked to Sunset at all today?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Naw can’t say I have. Why d’ya ask?”

“She hasn’t answered her phone all morning. I’m at her apartment right now but it doesn’t sound like anyone is inside. Are you with any of the other girls?”

“Yeah,” her voice trailed away from the phone for a moment, “none of them’ve heard from her either.”

“Well she’s obviously not here and not answering her phone. Where else could she be?” Rainbow grew even more worried.

“I don’t know, Sugarcube. Ya don’t think she left do you?”

“You mean crossed through the portal? I don’t think she would without at least telling us first.”

“I don’t think she would either, but you should probably head on over here without her or you’ll be late.”

Rainbow sighed, “Alright, I’m on my way there now, but I have a bad feeling about this, AJ.”

“I can’t say I feel good about it either.”

The two friends exchanged farewells and Rainbow Dash left the apartment building with a head full of concerns.

The girls spent the entire school day questioning their friend’s sudden disappearance. At their lunch table, there was nearly silence, every girl too deep in thought to hold a conversation. After the final bell rang, the group met at their usual place outside the front entrance in front of the Wondercolt statue.

“So, I’ve come to the conclusion that there has to be some connection between Sunset’s behavior recently and her disappearance,” Twilight finally broke the dead silence.

Slowly, the girls all nodded in agreement.

“But, why would she leave without telling anyone?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes, and just what exactly is the connection between these two things?” Rarity added.

The girls foreheads creased out of concentration and their eyes grew steely.

“What should we do?” Pinkie Pie asked.

The usually cheerful party girl was obviously upset and worried for Sunset. This revelation only made the others all the more concerned.

“Maybe we should search her apartment. She could’ve left something there to clue us in to where she went or even why,” Rainbow Dash offered.

With no better ideas, they agreed and traveled to Sunset’s home. Once there, they searched for a way to enter the locked apartment. The six girls examined every corner of the third floor hallway to no reward.

“Now what?” Apple Jack asked.

“Now, my dear, we get the spare key from the lobby manager,” Rarity stated confidently.

“I seriously doubt they will hand the spare key to just anyone,” Twilight Sparkle informed.

“Hm, you may be right. Then we shall have to finesse the key away,” Rarity winked.

“Uh, finesse?” Apple Jack looked at her friend with a confused expression painted across her face.

Rainbow Dash smirked and clarified, “Finesse as in steal.”

“Not steal, per say. We are merely barrowing the key for the time being, and may I remind you that it is for a completely understandable reason,” Rarity clarified.

“Okay so here’s the plan, I will distract the manager while you,” Rarity pointed at Rainbow Dash, “sneak behind him and find the key.”

“U-Um I don’t know that I feel comfortable with being around this,” Fluttershy peeped up.

“That’s quite alright, Fluttershy. You, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight will stay here while we,” she gestured toward herself and the two remaining girls, “take care of this.”

“Awww,” Pinkie Pie groaned, “I wanna be a part of the action!”

“It’s probably best that you stay up here. Not to be mean, but you aren’t exactly the best at being secretive,” Twilight tried to help.

“Point taken,” the curly haired girl concluded.

“What about me?” Apple Jack asked.

“You are needed as back up. If the plan goes wrong, you can finish the job,” Rarity put simply.

“And if things get rough, you and me can take care of ‘em,” Rainbow Dash added, earning a sour look from Rarity.

They all giggled and split ways.

Arriving at the lobby, Apple Jack started to lose her nerve. This went against everything she stood for, lying was something she just could not make herself do. Her two friends tried to comfort her, repeatedly telling her that they for a perfectly good reason for going through with this plan.

“This plan to lie and steal,” she thought spitefully.

She pulled her stetson down, covering her eyes while she tried to act casual. She peeked an eye from under its brim at her friends.

Rarity was speaking to an older man in a burgundy uniform who stood behind a wooden wrap around desk. Apple Jack frowned as she watched her purple haired friend bat her eyes and flirt with the oblivious man. She shifted her focus to Rainbow Dash who vaulted across the counter behind the man silently landing on the other side. The cyan girl searched through several drawers before flashing a key and thumbs up at her.

Apple Jack shook her head and once again watched Rarity. To her surprise, Rarity looked back at her with a panicked expression. The manager was no longer occupied by her friend’s conversation.

“She must’ve ran outta stuff to say,” she guessed.

Rarity waved her hands frantically, “Do something!” she mouthed.

Apple Jack hastily eyed Rainbow Dash who now shared the same panicked expression. She still remained behind the desk frozen like a deer in headlights.

The farm girl searched her mind quickly for the right thing to do. Flustered, she did the first thing that came to mind. Waving her hands madly in the air above her head, she mouthed to Rainbow Dash

“Throw it!”

A look of recognition briefly crossed the athlete’s face before she did as told and tossed the key to her friend. Apple Jack stretched and caught it, the hard metal stinging her hands. Relief washed over her, but quickly shrank away when the lobby manager lashed out.

“What are you doing back here?” he questioned Rainbow Dash.

“Uh, I kinda dropped my hair bow behind the desk and just came in here to get it,” she swiftly formed a lie.

The coated man eyed her suspiciously and finally said, “Please do not come behind the desk ma’am. If you drop anything else let me know and I will be glad to retrieve it for you.”

He said the line as if he had rehearsed it many times before and lifted the small hatch to let her back out. Rainbow Dash smiled sheepishly and quickly accepted the escape.

“Absolutely. Sorry about that,” she offered.

The man gave her an uninterested look and continued on with his business as if nothing had just occurred in the first place.

The three girls simultaneously released bated breath and joined together in the elevator. Only then did Apple Jack dangle the keys in front of Rarity who generously accepted them.

“Phew,” the fashionista said, “That could have been a nightmare!”

“Could’ve been? It was a nightmare! We’d be kicked out on the street right now if it weren’t for AJ’s quick thinking!” Rainbow Dash argued.

“Be that as it may, we still got the key, and that puts us one step closer to finding Sunset,” Rarity smiled warmly.

The two other girls agreed and calmed their nerves as the elevator arrived on the floor they sought. Pinkie Pie instantly bombarded her friends.

“How’d it go?! Did you get the key?! Did you get caught?! Are the police on their way here now?!” the party girl interrogated.

With no idea how to answer so many questions at once, the three girls stared at her with wide eyes.

“I didn’t hear a no, which is practically a yes! Don’t worry everybody, I know a guy. He’ll have us fake IDs and a ticket to a safe house in no time!” she announced as she furiously typed something on her phone.

Twilight hurriedly stopped Pinkie Pie from any further incrimination by grabbing her arms and ordering, “Slow down, Pinkie. Let them tell us what happened.”

Rarity proudly showed her friends the key and explained its miraculous retrieval. The group then laughed and backtracked to Sunset’s apartment door. Hopeful, Rarity turned the placed the key in the knob and turned it. Much to their relief, the door opened smoothly.

The six girls filed into the now unlocked apartment and observed their surroundings. It was as ordinary as any of them could have expected. Somewhat messy, it very much resembled their own rooms at their own homes.

“Nobody move,” Pinkie Pie’s voice interrupted the silence, “detective Pie is on the case.”

She seemingly pulled a detective’s cap and looking glass from thin air. Her eye bulged almost out of its socket as she ‘thoroughly’ searched the contents of the room. Fluttershy’s eyes scanned across the room once, before she pointed at the leather bound book that remained on the table where Sunset had left it hours ago.

“Um, what about this book?” she asked.

“Good eye Flutters, maybe there’s something in here that can help us,” Rainbow Dash picked the tome up and flipped through the pages.

Her magenta eyes skimmed the book’s contents and brightened when she noticed something interesting.

“Guys look!” she pointed to the letters that Sunset and Princess Twilight had conversed through recently.

“Nightmares?” Twilight Sparkle looked baffled, “Has she told any of you about this?”

Every girl shook their head solemnly.

“Why wouldn’t she tell us?” Rainbow Dash looked distraught, “It explains why she’s been so tired lately.”

“Yes, but this seems disastrous. Perhaps she didn’t want to frighten us,” Rarity suggested.

“Rarity’s right. I don’t think she’d keep somethin’ like this from us if she thought we could handle it,” Apple Jack agreed.

“I guess,” Rainbow Dash said hesitantly, “but this stuff,” she gestured toward the sentences in which Sunset explained her nightmares, “sounds dangerous. Sunset shouldn’t have to deal with this alone.”

Twilight’s eyes were focused behind her rimmed glasses. It was the same look anyone would see her making while taking a math test, completely concentrated. This book was her test and these letters were her equations and precisely as she always did in Math class, she intended on acing it.

Evenly, Twilight traced Sunset and her royal Equestrian counterpart’s conversation with a lavender finger. Her eyebrows knit together as she silently mouthed the words she read. She ignored her friends’ conversation around her, a trick she had perfected over her years at Crystal Prep. Moments passed until she finally lifted her hands from the book and faced her friends.

“Girls, something terrible is headed this way, and from what it sounds like in here,” she pointed to the book she studied diligently a few minutes ago, “it’s not like anything any of you have dealt with before. This thing that Sunset has been experiencing involves some kind of monsters that have found a way to project themselves in her dreams. Now, I can’t be sure, considering I haven’t had many chances to study Equestrian magic, but if these monsters can access Sunset’s dreams from Equestria, I’m not sure that they can’t use that power to arrive here in the flesh.”

The five girls processed what Twilight stated with a range of facial expressions varying from horrified to angry. No one moved an inch or spoke, causing an eerie silence to roll into the apartment like a thick fog. Rainbow Dash tightened her fist and was the first to break the stillness. In a few short strides, the athlete had exited Sunset’s apartment and shut its door behind her with a solid thud.

The remaining friends stood around the apartment’s living room and gave each other questioning looks. Fluttershy gathered her courage and quickly followed after the rainbow haired girl. However, she closed the door softly instead.

The pale yellow girl jogged to catch Rainbow Dash before she entered the elevator, slipping between the closing doors at the last second.

“Fluttershy, why are you following me?” Rainbow crossed her arms and didn’t look at her friend as the elevator descended toward the lobby.

The animal-loving girl ignored her friend’s tone and replied, “You shouldn’t be alone when you’re upset.”

Rainbow Dash sighed and turned to face the elevator’s only other occupant, “And why is that?”

Fluttershy took on a defiant pitch, one that she only ever showed in front of her close friends, and replied, “You and I grew up together, and all throughout those years you never let me be upset by myself. You were always there for me, and I won’t let the opportunity to pay you back slip away.”

Needless to say, this response left the athlete shocked. The only thing she could manage to do was exit into the lobby with Fluttershy not far behind her. Rainbow Dash walked through the room quickly so to not be recognized by the manager in case he had noticed the missing key.

Still as persistent as ever, Fluttershy tailed her out of the apartment building and onto the sidewalk. Upon exiting into the freezing air, Rainbow thanked her mind’s earlier premonition to wear thick attire. She tucked her cold hands into her Wondercolt sweatshirt’s front pocket and allowed her eyes to peek at her friend who shivered beside her.

“Ugh, Fluttershy, why didn’t you just stay inside? I’ll be fine, just go back with the others,” Rainbow Dash urged.

“Fine,” the timid girl said, causing Rainbow Dash to stop dead in her tracks.

She hadn’t actually expected her friend to agree, not so easily anyway, and it triggered a twinge of regret to pass through her body.

“But,” Fluttershy added, “only after you tell me why you left.”

The cyan girl thought it over for a moment, but still had no answer.

“I guess,” she struggled, “I guess I just had to get away from there. There’s too much going on right now, Sunset is missing, monsters are planning on attacking us again, and Sunset didn’t trust me or any of us enough to tell us.”

She grit her teeth, growing aggravated with having to explain her behavior.

“And running away is going to fix all of that?” Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow Dash groaned and wondered why it was that Fluttershy was always harsher with her than with the other girls.

“No, but,” Rainbow didn’t know what to say.

“But, you like to run away when things aren’t going right. Rainbow, you can’t just leave us, if anything this is when we need you the most.”

Rainbow Dash grew furious, though she wouldn’t admit it, over how right Fluttershy really was, and stomped angrily down the cracked concrete. Fluttershy still followed after her.

After a few more moments of chill filled silence, Rainbow Dash asked, “I thought I told you to go back!”

The usually shy girl planted her feet solidly on the ground, face growing red, and yelled, “No! I’m not going to leave. We’re going to figure this out together Rainbow Dash. Whether you like it or not, this is what is happening, you are going back with me to join the girls, we’re all going to find somewhere warm, and figure out what to do next. Okay?!”

In all reality, Fluttershy was terrifying when she was angry, not to mention as stubborn as a mule; therefore, Rainbow Dash swallowed her pride and agreed.

“Fine,” she said begrudgingly, “we’ll go to Sugarcube Café and call the girls to meet up.”

Fluttershy wore a victorious smile and pursued her friend to the café.

Rolling her eyes, Rainbow Dash asked the question she had previously asked herself, “How come you’re only ever frank with me?”

Her friend leaned her head back, thinking over her answer carefully before saying, “I’ve known you since I was a little girl and even back then I was never confident. You’ve always been there to help me build up my confidence whether I wanted to or not, because I needed you. This time, it’s you who needs me to be the one to make you do something you don’t want to. I said what you needed to hear to help you feel better.”

Shaking her head, Rainbow Dash continued to walk to her destination. Fluttershy, having gotten everything off her chest now calmly strode beside her friend, finding it easier now to ignore the frosty weather surrounding her.

Chapter 6

Sunset’s vision faded in and out of focus once again. With every heartbeat, her brain jolted against her skull. Loud voices echoed through her mind, however they sounded distant in her brain’s scrambled state. Her eyelids felt like bricks laid upon her face, and she struggled to slit them open.

Various blurred colors where all she managed to distinguish. Her body felt heavy, as if a wet quilt rested atop her, constricting her like a snake. Her lungs grasped at any air it could find.

“What’s going on?” she thought.

The voices grew clearer and she could sense the panic that surrounded her. A single voice yelled now, finding its way to Sunset Shimmer’s ears.

“We have to hurry!” it said.

Sunset tried her voice, “Wh-what?’

“Sunset!” the voice replied.

She forced her eyes further open, pupils searching frantically around. The purple mass she made out to be Twilight stood over her.

“Twilight?” Sunset strained.

“Yes, Sunset, can you hear me?”

“Yeah, I can hear you,” she said.

“Oh thank goodness, are you okay?”

Sunset’s vision grew more defined, yet still remained blurry. The pounding in her brain began to recede, and the ringing in her ears had ceased. Her body tingled drowsily with life, only just enough to let her know it was still there.

She nodded slowly and attempted to lift herself off of the carpeted ground, only to experience another bout of dizziness and collapsing to the floor once more.

“Sunset!” Twilight shouted, “Don’t try to move.”

“Sunset,” another voice called out to her, “we are going to get you to Luna right away. Just hold on and be still for now.”

She tilted her head to find the voice’s source. Celestia’s concerned eyes met hers, and she received a look she hadn’t in years.

Sunset felt the tingle of magic cover her entirety.

“I am going to teleport all of us to Luna’s chambers,” Princess Celestia informed.

Brightness flashed in the unicorn’s vision, and a change in scenery was felt. Celestia gently laid her former prodigy on a set of midnight blue cushions.

“Sister,” her voice was strong with a hint of urgency, “Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle have arrived.”

“Hey, what about,” Spike hardly managed to get out before the princess of friendship shoved him. “Ow, what did I do?”

“Quiet, Spike!” she breathed at a harsh, low level.

Sunset would have chuckled at them if she had the energy to do so. Head still swimming with exhaustion, she turned to face Princess Celestia and her sister of which Sunset had never had the chance to meet.

The sisters conversed at a whisper. Sunset took in the sight of Princess Luna. Her dark blue coat was accompanied by her partially translucent sapphire blue mane that sparkled and waved in constant motion just as her sister’s did. While the two seemed as a pair, Sunset found it obvious that they were as different as, for lack of a better analogy, night and day. Standing side by side, Luna proved to be inches shorter than her older sister, something that, for some reason or another, interested the amber unicorn.

In her scattered brain, she imagined Princess Luna to be very similar to her former mentor, however it turned out to be quite the contrary. Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed the very princess she had been examining looking at her expectantly.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Sunset asked sheepishly.

“I am Princess Luna. I’m afraid we have yet to meet one another,” her voice was regal, even more so than that of Princess Celestia’s.

Princess Luna approached Sunset, towering over her as she lay awkwardly on the cushioned ground. The unicorn shifted uncomfortably and responded.

“I’m Sunset Shimmer. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for agreeing to help me.”

The alicorn smiled warmly and said, “I will do my best to help you figure out what has been going on, and hopefully between all of us, “ she gestured to the others, “we can prevent any force that threatens our world, and the world on the other side of the mirror.”

“Sister,” Celestia interrupted, “it will likely be for the best if we start immediately.”

“Very well, Sunset Shimmer,” the princess’s eyes were somber, “I need you to sleep now. I will enter your dreams and help you recognize the invader.”

Sunset nodded in understanding. She took a final look at those around her before resting her head against the fluffy cushion. Within a few seconds of doing so, her blurred mind drifted into a peaceful rest. But peacefulness can only last so long.

. . .

Rarity twirled a plastic straw between her slim, carefully manicured fingers. The once firm whipped cream that floated atop her coffee was now melted and thoroughly mixed into the drink which now held a lukewarm temperature. The fashionista sighed dramatically and pushed the drink towards the center of the table. Gracefully and rehearsed she laid a hand palm facing up against her forehead and leaned back in her chair.

“I simply cannot indulge in such pleasures knowing that our friend could be in danger!” Rarity amplified.

Pinkie Pie with arms crossed blew a raspberry curl that laid on her forehead upward. Her beverage also laid untouched in front of her. In fact, the only one of the girls that had laid her lips upon her straw was Twilight Sparkle. She sat quietly, but, unlike Pinkie Pie, she sat in thought rather than stewing.

She had been running different options through her mind since they left Sunset’s apartment. She finally stated out loud what they all knew to be true.

“We can’t do a single thing,” she dared not take her eyes off of her drink.

Fluttershy opened her mouth as if to protest, but quickly shut it once again. Looking around at the others, she noticed their equally frustrated and intense expressions.

“What if we followed her, ya know, across the portal?” Apple Jack dared to suggest.

“That sounds dangerous,” Fluttershy spoke at almost a whisper.

“Fluttershy’s right,” Twilight agreed, “Sunset hasn’t shared much about Equestria, but from what I have heard it’s very different from this world. There’s magic and monsters. If we were to cross through that portal, who knows what kind of danger we could get ourselves into.”

The gloomy presence around the girls’ table could be felt throughout the entire café. It hung over them like a flashing ‘keep out’ sign. All of the other customers avoided traveling near their table like the plague.

Eventually, Rainbow Dash spoke up, “Well I’ve made up my mind.”

The cyan girl took a swig of her warm drink and stretched back in her chair. Her face displayed a determined look.

“As have I,” Rarity added matter-of-factly.

Twilight adjusted her glasses on the brim of her nose and prepared to question the girls.

“And?” she asked hesitantly.

Rainbow waited a moment to respond. She adjusted herself in the seat, facing the girl head on before saying, “She would do it for us.”

“Just what I was thinking,” the fashionista agreed.

With that, the group came to a consensus.

“She never told us not to follow her,” Pinkie Pie gained back some of her charisma.

Fluttershy smiled warmly, “I’m sure it’s nothing we can’t handle.”

“So it’s decided then, huh?” Apple Jack guessed.

“It seems so. The question is when we should leave,” Twilight Sparkle stated.

“Tonight,” Rainbow said hurriedly, “Let’s all meet in our normal spot outside the school at ten.”

Twilight’s eyebrows raised, “Is everyone alright with that?”

Tentatively, the girls nodded.

. . .

The Princess of Friendship paced nervously through a Canterlot Castle hallway. If continued for much longer, her hooves very well may have etched away a trail into the floor. The lavender alicorn mumbled sentences to herself, completely ignoring the presence of her assistant, Spike, and Princess of Equestria, Celestia.

The two witnessed her incoherent fidgeting from across the hallway. They had managed to get her out of Princess Luna’s bedchambers, but still had yet to fully calm her down.

“Twilight,” Celestia quickly thought of a way to ease the fellow princess’s mind, “how about we have breakfast together, like we did when you were my pupil?”

Twilight Sparkle stopped in her tracks. The worries that occupied her brain subsided as a genuine smile spread across her face.

“That sounds,” her lavender cheeks warmed, “like a great idea.”

“I’m with Twilight,” Spike spoke up, “my stomach has been growling since we left Ponyville!”

The princesses shared at laugh over the young dragon’s proclamation. The trio journeyed to the princesses’ personal dining room. The elegant room brought back many memories for the three.

During Twilight’s time as Princess Celestia’s student, she spent many mornings in this room eating meals with her mentor. The two would have intimate conversations about an array of topics. Often times, these conversations would start from young Twilight’s many questions, most of which Celestia had an answer for.

One of Twilight Sparkle’s fondest memories from her time as the Princess’s personal student occurred in this room.

“Princess Celestia,” she decided to question the alicorn about the event, “do you remember some of the questions that I asked you in this room many years ago?”

“I would like to think I remember most of them, but there were so very many,” the Princess teased.

Twilight chuckled, “There was one question in particular that I was wondering if you can recall.”

“Which one is that?” Celestia questioned as she sat down at the small table.

“I once asked why your mane looked like it did,” Twilight spoke through a cheek-splitting grin.

Celestia adopted her own smile and replied, “Ah, yes. I remember that one very well. Most of the time your inquiries were easy to answer, but that one in particular required some imagination.”

“What did she say back? I want to know too!” Spike demanded.

“I told Twilight that whenever somepony eats too much dessert that their hair would look like mine, and that if she ate too much dessert her mane would look like mine does as well,” the Princess of Equestria winked at Twilight, “Days after I told her that, Twilight complained of a stomach ache. She had been sneaking extra dessert to her room after dinner. I should have known that my most prized pupil would take my answers too seriously.”

Twilight blushed and giggled from the opposite side of the table, “When I finally confessed how I had gotten the stomach ache, Princess Celestia couldn’t respond she was laughing so hard.”

Spike chortled from his seat as the servers entered the room. He licked his lips as a smorgasbord of breakfast foods were placed before him. Without waiting for permission, the dragon dug into the meal, receiving a glare from Twilight and a smile from Princess Celestia.

Between mouthfuls, Spike asked, “So, Princess Celestia, what do you think of Sunset?”

“Spike!” Twilight scolded.

“It’s perfectly fine Twilight. He has a right to be curious,” Celestia wiped her mouth elegantly with a cloth napkin surrounded in her magical grasp, “Sunset Shimmer was once my pupil just as you were. I should be as open to discussion about her as I am about you.”

She turned to face Spike before answering, “She has grown to be quite the young mare. I can tell that the Sunset that entered this castle today is much different than the one that broke into this castle some time ago. From what you two have told me about her, she has changed for the better.”

Spike responded only with a nod as he gulped down yet another mouthful.

“She was nervous,” Twilight said as she carefully cut a pancake into bite-size pieces by use of magic, “about seeing you. She was worried that you weren’t ready to forgive her yet. Of course, I told her that there was no way the Princess Celestia I know would turn her back on somepony.”

The light gray Alicorn nodded and continued to eat her breakfast in silence. Though anypony who had not spent much time with the princess would not notice it, Twilight saw the subtle pain in Celestia’s eyes. She could tell that the co-ruler of Equestria still cared deeply about her once-pupil, Sunset Shimmer, and that her leaving still caused her great sorrow.

Suddenly, the breakfast that the princess of friendship chewed felt difficult to swallow. The worries that had taken a backseat to spending quality time with her former mentor, began to resurface. All that the lavender alicorn could manage was to push the contents of her plate around in circles and fret over her friend that lay asleep somewhere else in the castle.

Chapter 7

Alone. Sunset Shimmer felt terribly alone. Darkness completely surrounded her. It almost felt as if she were blind from the darkness. Fear crept up her spine at the silence. It was then that the all too familiar figure rose before her. The same eyes that had haunted her for so many nights appeared once again. Tears beaded in her own eyes, as helplessness filled her mind. The nightmare unfolded just as it always had, the dreadful shrills of laughter, the noise that consumed her, the floor’s reflection of her horrid form, and this night’s twist, betrayal.

After Sunset had accepted defeat and curled into an almost lifeless ball on the mirrored floor, the laughter stopped abruptly. Though she dared not rise from her curled position, the voices reached her. It was the horrified voices of her friends.

“What have you become?” the easily recognized voices wailed.

“How could you?” they taunted.

“You are a monster.”

The voices grew into a chorus of misery. Sunset wished for it all to stop, for her mind to regain control. She willed for it to cease, for someone to step in and end the nightmare.

“Princess Luna,” her thoughts sprang together.

Her battered voice yelled out for the Princess of the night. Soon, however, she grew tired and gave up. She curled tighter, and did her best to block the awful noise that haunted her.

It seemed that the princess had no intention of rescuing her, and that she would be forced to undergo the torture until she woke herself through her own terror. Just as she was beginning to think that the pain would never end, a voice called out to her. The regal voice was loud in her mind, so much so that it caught her attention even through the array of voices surrounding her.

“Sunset,” it called out, “Just hang on.”

The now transformed scarlet girl peeked up from her spot on the flooring, searching for the Princess that she expected to find nearby.

“I am here,” she said.

On que, the dark blue alicorn manifested before her eyes. The princess of the night towered over Sunset, yet she felt calmer at her arrival. The regal pony’s eyes were caring, giving Sunset Shimmer a new sense of hope.

A small, weary smile spread across her lips as she shakily rose to stand beside Princess Luna. The outcries of hatred still carrying through her ears. Tears still streamed down her face, but she wiped them away with the back of her arm. It felt rough against her face, and she refused to look at herself in the mirrored floor beneath her.

Her eyes timidly glanced back up to the princess that stood beside her.

“It’s alright, Sunset. Now that we know who the enemy is, I can deal with them accordingly.”

She could not respond. The words caught in her throat as a new wave of doubt entered her mind.

“How could she possibly fix this? Even if she is a princess, Twilight herself said that Celestia had been defeated by what sounds like the same force,” thoughts rushed in Sunset’s head.

Her attention was once more drawn to the Princess as a blue glow was emitted from her long horn. Her powerful magic went to work, as the figures around her began to disintegrate just as fast as they had appeared.

A fresh batch of tears streamed down her cheeks, but these were tears of disbelief. She had trouble believing what she was seeing before her own eyes. The horrors that had manifested themselves in her subconscious mind were disappearing, all thanks to Princess Luna of whom she barely knew.

Soon, the only beings left in her dream were the princess and herself. The only remnant of the previous nightmare was her transformed appearance. The she-demon form that she had once taken over was once again upon her body. She felt ashamed to face the princess who saved her.

“Sunset,” Luna called out to her, “there is something I think you need to hear.”

The former citizen of Equestria still dared not look directly at the face of the princess, but stared in the general direction of Luna. Sunset’s voice remained buried under shame and disbelief.

“Every dream, even nightmares, branch off from the dreamer’s emotions. This invader took advantages of your fear in particular. I can prevent the intruders from appearing again, but I cannot erase the fears behind the nightmares that they took advantage of.”

The princess let her words sink into Sunset Shimmer’s mind before continuing on, “Sunset.”

Luna attempted to lay a comforting hoof on the girl’s shoulder only to receive an unexpected wince in response. Solemnly, the princess of the night removed her hoof.

“I know what you are feeling. The regret, the sadness, the fear that you will again transform into the evil being that you once took form of. Of all ponies, I should know.”

Sunset thought of the tales she was told as a young unicorn. Among them, was the legend of Nightmare Moon. She remembered the pained look in the eyes of her mentor, Princess Celestia, as she explained small parts of the story to the curious filly.

The amber girl suddenly felt closer to the princess that she had very little knowledge of. But just as she began to open up, a shriek emitted from her lips. A splitting pain shot through her skull as she cried out.

Through eyes blurred with tears, Sunset saw what she feared to be true. The hideous figure with glowing green eyes laughed hysterically before her. The sound became a horrid melody in the unicorn’s head, one that made her disgusted with herself for becoming so familiar with it.

The princess was completely baffled at the reappearance of the intruder. “How?” she yelled.

“How,” the intruder continued to laugh, “Shouldn’t you know, Little Princess?”

“You shall not refer to me as such!” Luna’s words were dripping with anger, “I am Princess Luna of the night, and you are not welcome here!”

The alicorn blasted a magical beam out of her horn, striking the grotesque figure. Though it was a direct hit, the target remained.

The piercing laughter rang out once again. Sunset was convinced the noise would cause her ears to bleed.

“How sad,” it taunted, “the poor little princess can’t help the lost unicorn girl.”

Luna moved closer to Sunset, in attempts to shield her from the figure’s harsh insults.

“What do you want from me!?” Sunset screamed.

All of the frustration that boiled inside of her was released all at once. Her voice was something she didn’t recognize. She was desperate for it to end. This was supposed to be over. Luna said she could fix it.

The unicorn resembled a broken toy on the mirrored floor of her own nightmare.

“From you?” the tone was still amused, “You are merely a means of transportation. You, the poor little has been, are an open door to my future. Our future.”

The drilling sound of beating wings returned. Dozens of smaller figures appeared, screeching seemingly in agreement.

“We may have failed once in this world, but we will not fail again. Your world will soon become ours. So sleep well, Sunset Shimmer.”

The dream dematerialized around them. Sunset hardly noticed that she had been yanked from subconscious state back into the palace bedroom. She refused to open her eyes.

“Sunset,” Luna called, “are you alright?”

The amber unicorn barely managed to shake her head in response. Tears steadily flowed from her shut eyes.
The princess felt an enormous amount of pity for her sister’s former pupil. Silently, she left the room to inform her sister of the news. The changlings would soon attack the world through the mirror.

. . .

Rarity clutched her hands tightly together in the pocket of her hoodie. She wouldn’t be caught dead at school with such a simple outfit on.

Yet here I am. Rainbow Dash better have a better reason than “just do it” when I get there.

She felt a chill run down the length of her spine upon seeing her friends waiting beside her school’s familiar statue. Even from a distance, she could tell each of her friends apart. Pinkie Pie, for instance, couldn’t hide her wild raspberry curls under her hood.

They each even had a different stance, Rainbow Dash stood, fists on her hips looking in Rarities direction. She vaguely her the girl’s harsh whisper, “Hurry it up will you.”

Apple Jack shifted her weight on each leg, obviously uneasy, “We should hurry ‘fore somebody catches us out here.”

“AJ is right,” Twilight spoke up, “Is everyone ready?” Not sure of her own answer to the question.

Each of the girls nodded, just as they heard a yell.

“Hey, who’s out here!?” a figure turned a flashlight on and pointed it in their direction.

“Quick, go go go!” Rainbow Dash yelled as each of the friends sprinted into the base of the statue, one after the other.

The security guard ran to the scene where he could have sworn he saw several figures standing. Yet, he scratched his head, as he shined the flashlight around the empty courtyard where no figures were to be found.

. . .

The princess of friendship sat, stomach full but churning as she pretended to listen to Spike’s story at the table. More than an hour had passed, and there had been no news about her friend. She began to wonder if she should excuse herself to go check on them, when the doors to the room flew open.

The room’s three occupants quickly turned to see Princess Luna entering.

“Sister, I am afraid it is worse than we previously expected. I was able to temporarily rid the intruders from Sunset’s mind, but they returned. I was unable to get much information from the leader.”

Celestia’s posture changed abruptly to one a leader, rather than somepony chatting with friends, “It is them, then. The changlings and Queen Chrysalis?”

“Without a doubt,” Luna affirmed. “The false queen has quite blatantly proclaimed war against the world on the other side of the mirror.”

“Something still isn’t clear, though,” Twilight spoke up. “How do they plan on crossing over? We must be missing . . .” her voice trailed off as an idea suddenly struck her.

“What is it, Twilight?” Celestia questioned her former pupil.

“There is only one way to get to the alternate world,” the lavender alicorn’s words were hushed, “the mirror. They knew I would take Sunset here, to Luna. They knew that I would leave the castle unattended.”

The princesses each looked at one another in mutual understanding.

“We must go, now,” Celestia said.