A pair of bright sapphire eyes peered through a set of sharp red spectacles. The sheer intensity that they exuded would’ve made anyone worth their salt feeling self-conscious. Sadly, the gaze’s target did not have the capacity for such things. Mainly because it was fabric.
“Dumb fabric…” the girl behind the red spectacles grumbled out drearily. This was the third piece of fabric she had accidentally torn tonight, and she was starting to run out of that particular bolt of it.
‘Perhaps it’s time for a break.’ she had been thinking that particular thought for some time now, but her professionalism would not let her. These dresses needed to be done before Friday, and she was going to see that they were. Her sleep schedule would have to deal with it.
A flash caught her eye, drawing them to her phone that sat a few feet away at her workstation. Who could be contacting her this late at night? Most of her friends should already be asleep. So out of sheer curiosity, and maybe an obsessive need to check her phone, she picked the device up and unlocked it.
[Are you awake?]
It was a text message, and from Sunset Shimmer no less. Rarity didn’t even have to look at the name of the sender to tell who it was. Sunset insisted on using proper words and punctuation in her text messages, just as Rarity did.
[Yes. What’s wrong?]
Sunset was one of those people who liked to message people when she couldn’t sleep. Seeing as how Rarity was also quite a night owl, the two of them had developed a bit of a rapport over the past few weeks. Sunset would message, Rarity would respond, and it would all end in a phone call until Sunset could go back to sleep.
[Can I come over?]
Now that was an something strange and new. This question had never been asked before, and that set Rarity a bit on edge. Sunset was the kind to seek conversation, but not the kind to impose like this. It had to be something important for Sunset to ask that question.
[Of course.]
[Please come in through the back.]
Rarity thought it best to throw that in there. If Sunset thought to knock at the front door, it would most definitely wake up Rarity’s parents, and that would be another mess to deal with entirely. So the rear entrance to the home, the one that opened right into Rarity’s basement workshop, would have to do.
[Okay.]
Rarity wished that Sunset had at least put when she expected to arrive. As of right now, there was still doubt as to whether or not Rarity had time to clean up even a little. There were bolts of fabric strewn about and loose fabric covering several chairs and mannequins. A certified mess if there ever was one. Before she could get around to that, though. She needed a pick-me-up.
Luckily for the ivory seamstress, she had her own coffee maker down here. It had taken some serious convincing to allow it, but her parents ultimately saw things her way. What a rare feat that was.
Rarity strode over to the coffee maker and did the necessary preparations to have it start dripping out the dark nectar. As that was being done, she went around the room and started gathering up all of the loose fabric and storing it in color coordinated bins. She was at least going to try and make her area look presentable, as anyone seeing it in it’s current state would be mortifying.
A few minutes later and there was a very soft knock at the door. Rarity stopped what she was doing and went over to it and turned the locks. As she opened the door, she saw a truly heartbreaking sight.
Sunset was standing there, eyes puffy and red. A long time crying had left stains down her cheeks, and she keeping her eyes to the ground. This was a broken girl.
“Sunset, darling, what’s wrong?” Without hesitation, Rarity pulled her friend inside and into a warm embrace. This was not like Sunset to be so publicly broken up about something, or privately for that matter. To see her in such a distressed state was troubling.
“I just-I’ve had a bad night…” Sunset did not reciprocate the embrace. Instead the golden girl kept her arms crossed around her midsection, giving off a feeling of imposed isolation. After the short hug relented, Rarity kept her hands on her friend’s shoulders.
“Come along, dear. We’ll sit and you can tell me all about it.” Rarity guided her friend over to her sofa, or what her friends referred to as her ‘fainting couch’, and sat her down on the end with the high back.
“Thank you, Rarity…” Sunset spoke softly as she rubbed her eyes of any errant tears. “I-I don’t mean to inconvenience you.” Sunset looked truly upset at the implication of imposing on Rarity, but the seamstress would have none of that.
“Nonsense, Darling.” Rarity placed a hand on Sunset’s back. “I was just trying to finish up a few dresses for the weekend, and I needed a break anyways.” Rarity tried to give the best smile she could to her friend, the warmest and most welcoming one. It did nothing to pierce the veil of melancholy that the former-pony seemed to exude, though. “Would-would you care for a beverage, dear? I just put on a fresh pot of coffee.” Perhaps a change of conversation could do wonders.
“I didn’t know you drank coffee.” Ah, there it was. A hint of liveliness, a bit of curiosity. Rarity should have guessed that’s what would spur Sunset into being more open. If there’s one thing that seemed to drive both Twilight and Sunset, it was an insatiable curiosity.
“Well I try not to.” Rarity stood up and strode over to the coffee pot. “It’s a terrible addiction, and bad for the teeth as well.” She poured the dark nectar into her own personal ivory mug, steam gently rising from the contents. “When I’m working late, it certainly helps to keep me going.” Rarity blew on the freshly poured beverage and then took a sip. It was bitter and dark, just the way she liked it. “Please, do not tell anyone though. If anyone knew I drank coffee, and black coffee no less, they might think me to be some kind of brute!” Rarity played up the dramatics, putting a hand to her chest in feigned disgust.
“Your secret’s safe with me, Rarity.” Sunset let small smile slip across her features. But that did nothing to light up her appearance, the cloud of sadness was still hanging there. The pervasive cloud then took the smile down with it, leaving a frown in it’s place once more. “And yeah, I would like some coffee I guess. Not like I’m going to bed anytime soon…” The last part was grumbled out, just barely audible.
Abiding by her friend’s wishes, Rarity got her spare mug and filled it with the heavenly drink. Not only that, she went above and beyond by adding some cream and sugar to the mix. Rarity knew Sunset Shimmer well enough to know just the right amount of each.
“Here you are, Darling. Do be careful, it is hot.” Rarity handed her friend the mug and took a seat beside her. At this point, she wasn’t going to push Sunset into speaking. Sunset had already come to her, so she wanted to get something off of her chest. It was better to let Sunset do that on her own time and not rush her.
“Thank you.” Sunset took a sip, closing her eyes to savor the beverage. After the first drink, a long heavy sigh was released from Sunset. It did nothing except seemingly deflate the leather-jacket clad girl and put even more weight upon her shoulder. “I-I was driving home from Fluttershy’s today, we were doing a project, and I just started thinking…”
There was a pause, it was heavy and exuded an ominous aura.
“...do you guys hate me?”
“What?” Rarity put her mug on a nearby table and once again embraced her friend once more. “Of course not, Sunset! How could you ever think that? We are your friends. I-I am your friend.” Rarity was shocked by the question. Not since before the battle of the bands had Sunset ever asked a question like that. Rarity assumed that all of the doubt and insecurities about Sunset’s previous transgressions were suppressed, if not gone entirely.
“I just...I just keep thinking that I’m not good enough.” A soft sob wracked Sunset’s body, causing Rarity to take the coffee mug from her friend and set it down and then embrace her friend even more. “I just keep thinking about Twilight….about how I was never good enough for Equestria, about how I’m not good enough for here.”
“Sunset, darling, what has got you thinking these things?” Rarity was genuinely concerned. Such things just didn’t ‘come up’ right? Something had to trigger these thoughts in some way.
“Can-can you keep a secret?” That was the last thing that Rarity expected to hear. Sure, she could keep a secret, but what secret could it possibly be? At this point Rarity thought that Sunset had laid it all bare.
“Of course, Darling.” Rarity pulled back and looked into her friend’s bloodshot cyan eyes. Rarity put a hand on Sunset’s cheek and brushed away a tear that was rolling down it. “You can tell me anything, you know that.”
“A few weeks ago was my dad’s birthday…” That coincided with when Sunset had started texting Rarity in the middle of the night. On another note, Sunset’s father. Rarity had never seen nor met the man, nor had he ever been mentioned. Rarity had even been over to Sunset’s house and never laid eyes upon her father. Seeing the confusion on Rarity’s features, Sunset clarified. “He di-” Sunset fought back a small sob. “died a few years ago…”
“I'm so sorry, I didn’t know.” Rarity wanted to hug Sunset again, but thought it best to hold back. She didn’t want to get too huggy with the reformed antagonist. It might seem like she was coming on strong.
“It-it’s okay. It’s just been on my mind a lot. Then with my radio being stolen and everything, I’ve just been dwelling on a lot of things I shouldn’t be.” Rarity could definitely tell. Over the past few weeks there had been almost a weight upon Sunset’s shoulders. Rarity, nor any of the others, had wanted to address it. “I-I have something I really need to get off of my chest.” Now Sunset was wringing her hands nervously and averting her gaze to anything other than the only other person in the room.
“Go ahead, Sunset.” Rarity said encouragingly.
“I-” Sunset took a deep breath. “-I’ve met myself. The Sunset Shimmer from this world, I mean.” Tears once again started to well in Sunset’s eyes. “I-I didn’t mean to, Rarity...I never meant to…”
Sunset had just come through the portal. She had successfully gotten away from Celestia and discovered the secrets that the crystal mirror held! The only problem was that it wasn’t anything she was expecting.
It was easily the coldest weather she had ever experienced in her short life. The wind was blowing the already settled snow across the landscape and even more snow was coming from the sky at a rapid pace. All of this was happening and she had no magic to help her, and no clothes designed for this kind of weather.
On the other side of the portal there had been some kind of building, it was locked of course. There was no shelter in that immediate area, so Sunset had decided to walk for a bit to see if she could find anything. The only thing she had found was numb fingers and chattering teeth, though.
Something caught her attention as she was walking. Lights lit up the road in front of her and were approaching at a rapid pace. It was another one of those motorized carriages she had seen earlier, they spewed acrid fumes and were louder than a hurricane, but the creatures inside seemed relatively at ease.
So Sunset did what she had been doing to the past few carriages, she turned towards it and waved her hands as much as her frozen limbs would let her. The last few had gone harmlessly by, the creatures inside giving her pitied looks as they passed.
This one was different, though. This one slowed to a crawl and pulled over to the side of the road. The fogged over window facing Sunset was rolled down and a cream colored man with bright crimson hair looked at her with his eyes wide. If Sunset didn’t know any better, she would say that it looked like her father back in Equestria.
“What in the hell…” The man started off, his voice full of shock. “I-Are you okay, little lady?” His voice levelled out and was replaced with concern, his cyan eyes softened. He even sounded like her father.
“I-I-I’m r-really c-cold.” Sunset answered through chattering teeth.
“I-I’m not sure what’s going on here, but I can’t leave you in the cold all alone...not when you look like that.” The man leaned over and popped the door open. He waved Sunset in and patted the seat. “C’mon, it’s warm.”
Sunset wasted no time getting in the vehicle. For now she was going to ignore the eerie similarities between this man and her own pony father, considering her own father had left their family sometime ago. It was impossible for him to be here.
Sunset closed the door behind her, and the window seemed to go up all it’s own. In a healthy non-frozen state she might’ve questioned that, but she had no energy to do so at the moment. Once that was done the warm air from two slatted ports in front of her cascaded across her cold flesh. It felt like heaven.
“What’s...uh, what’s your name?” The man asked, not yet making the vehicle pull forward. He mumbled something else, but Sunset was too busy basking in the warmth to worry about that. This was some form of magic that she had to learn.
“S-Sunset Shimmer…” She answered, the heat making her chattering teeth more bearable
“I was afraid you were gonna say that…” The man answered as he looked to the back seat. Sunset followed his gaze to another one of the creatures. It was a girl who was laying down across the entirety of the back seat. Her crimson hair with golden streaks sprawled around her head. Her clothes though, they looked exactly like Sunset’s own. “That’s her name too.”
Sunset’s head started to spin. What? That was this other girl's name? She had the same hair? Sunset looked forward and grabbed the mirror that hung from just above the large windshield at the front of the vehicle. This was no coincidence. That was her in the backseat!
“W-what? What’s going on?” Sunset did a double take. The portal hadn’t just transported her to another world, it had brought her to an alternate one! That was her, the other her! That man...it was her father.
That thought filled her with no small amount of burning rage. Her pony father had left their family when she was young. Just abandoned them like it was nothing! Now here was this...other him escorting his Sunset around.
“You tell me.” The man kept his voice low, as to not wake the girl in the back. “Far as I know, Sunny doesn’t have a twin. So you better explain why you look exactly like her.” What was she supposed to tell him? That she came from another world where everyone was ponies? How well would that go over.
“I-I don’t know…” Sunset opted to go the ignorance route. If she acted like she didn’t know anything, then he might believe her. The truth might just leave her out in the cold once again. “I just...I appeared here. I don’t know how.”
“Well…”The man leaned back in his seat and ran his fingers through his fiery red mane. He took a deep breath and released it in a long, exasperated sigh. “Satin is never going to believe this…” The man let out a short, pained chuckle. “I don’t think I believe it.”
“A-are you going to make me go back outside?” That was Sunset’s main concern at the moment. If she were to go back out there, she wasn’t sure she would survive the night. Sunset was not going to let this end in her demise, she had to prove to Princess Celestia that she knew what she was doing.
“No. Don’t think my heart would let me even if I wanted to.” The man put his hand on her back, as if to see if she were tangible. “Good, you’re real. I was afraid I was going crazy.” he shook his head. “I’m Midnight Shine.”
She had to give Midnight some credit. He was taking this well for someone who had just found an exact copy of his daughter. Must be that exact clarity and level headedness that made him leave his family in the pony world. Sunset knew that this wasn’t the same father she knew, just as she wasn’t the girl in the backseat. The hatred for him was still there, the old flame of parental betrayal.
“Th-thank you so much for helping me.” Sunset was not going to let the hatred affect her manners, though. This man had helped her in a time of need and she wouldn’t forget that. “I-I thought I was going to freeze.” Sunset could feel all of her extremities now, but there was still a chill that pervaded her very being.
“Don’t mention it.” Midnight turned towards the front of the vehicle and it started to move forward once again. Sunset was watching his hands and feet to see if she could deduce how it worked, but her thawing brain could not make sense of it. “We gotta get you home and into something warm. Then we’ll figure all of this nonsense out.” He gave her one more uneasy look before focusing on the road in front of them.
There was silence for a duration of the drive. She was too cold and frightened to ask anything of the man, and he was too uneasy to say anything to her. Sunset simply watched as streetlights and homes passed, trying to figure out exactly where she was.
If this world was an alternate version of her own, then they were in Canterlot. Seeing as how it was alternate, the names of the cities could be one of the differences. Like the species divide, and her father still being around, it seemed this world had a lot of differences.
“The bridge looks beautiful tonight.” The man said quietly, ducking his head a bit to look out of the windshield.
Sunset followed his gaze and saw a bridge bigger than any other. It towered above them, lights that topped the spires were the highest parts visible through the blizzard outside. It looked as though phantoms were holding lanterns over the bridge, guiding travellers across. Icicles hung from the suspension wires, giant ones that could impale a buffalo. They stayed there, though. Stalwart against the twin spectres of wind and snow.There was a sort of weird comfort in it all.
“Wow…”
“Y’know.” Midnight began, turning towards Sunset. “don’t think I’ve ever been out here in a snowstorm like this before. It’s all kinda-”
A loud, earth shattering crash interrupted him. Something had slammed into the vehicle they were in. It caved in the driver’s side door in an instant and sent cracks across the windshield. There was a scream from behind them, but Sunset didn’t look back. She was hyper-focused on the edge of the bridge that they were rapidly approaching.
Sunset looked back towards Midnight and saw a thick red ooze covering his stomach. His face was expressionless and unmoving. She didn’t need to see this. She didn’t want to see this.
“Dad!” The cry punctuated the crash into the railing that was between them and the long drop into the water below. Within a second after impact the railing gave way and the car went over the edge.
Sunset had never flown before, nor had she experienced a freefall before. If it was anything like she was currently experiencing, she wasn’t sure she ever wanted to. It lifted her stomach up, seemingly into her throat, and pushed her against the ceiling of the car.
` She couldn’t even scream like the other her was doing in the backseat. The ringing in her head wouldn’t allow her to. It was telling her to do nothing, to keep quiet and still. But she wanted to scream! She wanted to cry! Why wouldn’t her brain let her?!
An impact. This one into the river. The force shattered the windshield, flooding the interior of the vehicle with the freezing water. Once the subzero temperatures hit, it caused her to inhale. The water filling her lungs seemed to snap her out of the stupor she was in.
Without thinking, she pulled herself out through the now dissipated windshield and started swimming in the direction she thought was up. The water was too dark to see any lights above, so she was going off of pure instinct at the moment. So she followed her gut and kicked up.
Then something grabbed her leg. An icy specter of death had come to drag her to the watery depths for good! Without a thought she used her other leg to kick back at whatever it was. Her foot hit something solid, then the grip relinquished from her appendage.
When she finally breached the surface, it felt like paradise. Even through all of the snow and wind, it was warmer than the water around her. Sunset gasped and coughed up any errant water that remained in her lungs.
Above her there was a figure on the bridge. He stood by a car that was hanging precariously over the edge where the cart Sunset had been in careened over. She looked on as he waved.
She dragged herself to shore and flopped unceremoniously into the cold mud. Thoughts were racing through her mind. Who had that been that she kicked? Her father? The other Sunset? A strange sobering thought crossed her mind, if it had been her father...did she care? Did she care either way? She, the only Sunset that mattered, had survived.
Rarity sat in shock at the story. She had heard of the incident, of course. Everyone at Canterlot High had at one point. They were the ones that went to the hospital to leave flowers and cards for their comatose classmate for days to come. Never had anyone known the true story, it seemed. Only the version Sunset had told.
“Th-they never found her body, Rarity.” Sunset was still crying and shaking violently, all while telling the story. “Everyone still thinks I’m her…” Rarity did the only thing she could think of, she hugged her friend. “I-I’m so sorry…” For the first time tonight, Sunset hugged back.
“It’s not your fault, Sunset.” Rarity was crying now, she just couldn’t help it. Everything about this was heartbreaking. Rarity had lost a friend she never knew, or one she thought she knew all along.
Rarity and Sunset just held each other. Both of them wept into each other's arms. There was nothing else to do. No words would come, no actions were separating them. They just wallowed in the combined sorrow of the moment.
They were like that for quite sometime until they parted.They both wiped away the tears that had accumulated in their eyes and sat back. What would Rarity say to this? Could she say anything?
“I never felt sorry for it...not until Twilight.” Sunset spoke, quietly. “I saw it as a necessity, like that they needed to die just so I could be here.” Sunset lowered her head. “I’m a monster…” Disgust and venom filled those words, true self-loathing.
Rarity didn’t know if she could argue with that. Could she ever look at Sunset the same way again?
Author's Note
Not one-hundred percent happy with the ending, but I'm going to continue this little plotline in another story.