Prologue: An Unexpected Party
“This is going to be the AWESOMEST PARTIEST BABY PONY SHOWER PARTY EVER!” Pinkie Pie strung up yet another streamer around the music room stage. Honestly, the way she was going about it, it’d soon be impossible to move without tripping...
“Yes, yes, dear.” Rarity said, distractedly, her brows furrowed as she tried to read another passage from Martineau’s Types of Ethical Theory - why did she pick that book, again?
Of the two antithetic terms in the Greek philosophy one only-
“Omigosh omigosh omigosh we’re finally gonna see Sunny again!”
Twitch.
-was real and self-subsisting; and that one was Ideal Thought as opposed to that which it has to penetrate and-
“Have you got the right pressies? Because I have the right pressies! Of course there’s no right or wrong pressies as long as it’s from the heart! Unless they are dangerous for the baby, in which case it is a very wrong pressie. Or foals. Are foals allergic to anything? Applejack!”
A lady did not shout, much less at her friends.
-mould. The other, corresponding to our Nature, was in itself phenomenal, unreal, without any permanent footing, having no-
“I don’t rightly know, Pinks, ponies sure ain’t nothin’ like horses, but I reckon if’n you-.”
“BUT WHAT IF THE BABY HATES THIS TEDDY AND BLASTS A HOLE IN THE CASTLE IN A TANTRUM? OR DESTROY SOME INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT BUT INCREDIBLY POORLY GUARDED ARTIFACT THAT ALL OF EQUESTRIA’S FATE HANGS ON?”
A lady maintained her grace and composure at all times.
-predicates that held true for two moments together; in short, redeemed from negation only by-
Applejack was turning a curious shade of blue as she was grabbed on both collars by Pinkie, who screamed into her face, “AND ALL BECAUSE FOALS DON’T LIKE TEDDIES AND REALLY WHY SHOULD THEY LIKE TEDDIES TEDDIES ARE BEARS AND BEARS EATS HORSES DO THEY-”
“PINKIE PIE, WILL YOU SHUT UP!?”
Dead silence as everyone in the room turned to look at her. Rarity covers her mouth with a hand, did she -
“Jeeze Rarity, ease up will ya? It’s like you’ve just met Pinkie.” Everyone except Rainbow Dash, who was relaxing with her hands behind her head, leaning her chair dangerously far back, and staring up at the ceiling. Somehow, she managed to balance the chair on two legs.
“I don’t know what came over me, darling. I am sorry, Pinkie Pie.” Rarity felt a little shamefaced at her own outburst. Whatever brought it on? Today was a happy day, after all.
“Oh, it’s okay, Rarity.” Pinkie said as she hung upside down from a ceiling light, putting up a banner with some sort of fiery-maned… four-legged… thing and in big letters, “WELCOME HOME SUNSET SHIMMER!”
“Pinkie, dear, you do realise-”
“Less talk, more balloons!” Pinkie made good on her threat and started blowing up a clutch of balloons and pinning them around the room seemingly at random. One breath. One balloon. It was impressive, really.
Funny. Rarity could have sworn Sunset wasn’t a big fan of balloons.
“Moooore streamers!” Pinkie Pie was now stringing streamers between streamers.
Rarity blinked, sighed, and shut her book. It was obvious she wasn’t going to get any reading done today. She glanced around the room. Rainbow Dash was apparently trying to nap while balancing her chair on two legs, her legs swung back and forth and she had stolen Applejack’s Stetson to cover her face.
Applejack was glaring at her napping friend, but then caught Rarity’s gaze and walked over offering a small smile. “Hey Rares, what’s eatin’ ya?”
“Oh, nothing, dear, it’s just nearly impossible to concentrate with-”
“PARTY CANNON!”
“-that going on.” Rarity finished with as much dignity as she was able to muster, covered in confetti fired from something that surely broke at least a dozen State and Federal laws. She daintily brushed the offending articles off her, and made a face, “Pinkie Pie, did you cover those-”
“Cupcake-scented!” Pinkie Pie grinned. It was almost impossible to stay mad at the pink-haired girl. Rarity didn’t even try to work up the indignation, and instead turned to Applejack again. Applejack was still looking at her. “That ain’t what I meant.”
Rarity paused. Well, what was bothering her? Certainly, they hadn’t heard from Sunset for a few weeks, but she was under a great deal of stress, and… she was not quite as robust as she used to be. She needed rest. And Rarity could hardly think of a better place for that than in Sunset’s native Equestria, in a castle under the care of Princess Twilight Sparkle and Spike. Surely she would have the best care money can’t buy - servants, doctors, nurses.
The message they did get was a little… terse, of course. Princess Twilight didn’t even bother signing it, though Rarity recognised the handwriting easily enough, since it was identical to…
Rarity found herself glancing over at Twilight. Unlike Rarity, ‘their’ Twilight was able to concentrate, in spite of Pinkie Pie’s storm of activity. She was reading from a small tablet, clean lines, good colour contrast - Rarity appreciated good design in whatever form - lips moving and silently reading, her finger flicking with regularity. If her articles were anything like what Rarity had on her own tablet, Twilight was reading very quickly indeed.
The human Twilight - ‘their’ Twilight - tended to be rather quiet and reserved even when among her friends. Way back at the end of that Friendship Games, Twilight had started opening up - she was still shy and withdrawn, of course, but there were signs, and Rarity had been determined to help bring the girl out of her shell.
Sunset’s… sabbatical had changed that. Twilight still hung out with the girls, of course, but it wasn’t quite the same. Despite their best efforts, she remained in the background, walking behind everybody in the group and standing quietly out of sight when they performed.
Now that Rarity thought about it, it reminded her a little of how Sunset was like after the Fall Formal… unpleasantness. But Sunset had been broken, her entire worldview, her future, everything she had ever strove for, laid bare in front of her and shown to be wanting. Surely Twilight couldn’t have felt the same?
“Uh, Rares?”
“So sorry, Applejack, darling.” Rarity looked back at Applejack with an apologetic smile.
The farm girl had pulled up a chair and sat down next to her while Rarity had let her mind wander, “Sugarcube, you were woolgatherin’ again. Any more of that and there’ll be enough for one of your frou-frou dresses.”
“Tis a lie!” Rarity said in mock indignation, “...I won’t make a dress out of wool!”
Applejack raised an eyebrow.
Rarity laughed, weakly, “not going to work?”
“Eenope.” Applejack said, a hint of a smile dancing on her lips. “Look, Rares… ain’t nothin’ wrong with Sunset. She’s a strong gal. Ain’t nobody stronger, I say that, and I am an Apple.”
That at least was true, Sunset Shimmer was far stronger than she looked, and she didn’t exactly look like a shrinking flower to start with. It was an artifact of the portal’s magical transformation, Sunset had once postulated during one of their sleepovers - Rarity studiously tried not to think about that particular one, the one right before the Anon-A-Miss incident - when she and Rarity had found themselves seeking a late night… reapplication of makeup, that’s right, and the two of them had chatted in the kitchen about biology of all things. She had gone into some details about the comparative physiological peculiarities of ponies and humans and then ranted in considerably more detail about the deplorable lack of direct data comparison of the two worlds. At the time Rarity was getting so desperate to get away that she had agreed to let Sunset test her magic.
That was a mistake, but mostly for Sunset. Anyway, now that they’ve all been infused with Equestrian magic, each of them were stronger than before, why, Rarity herself carried the weight of two students, holding on with only one arm-
“Rares?”
Rarity blinked again. “So sorry, Applejack, darling.” She frowned, she already said that. A glance at Applejack’s direction told Rarity that the same thought had also occurred to the farm girl.
“It’s just that - well.” She glanced at the heavy, leather-bound journal sitting in the middle of the room, Sunset Shimmer’s two-faced Sun sigil emblazoned proudly on it.
Applejack followed Rarity’s gaze, and then chuckled. “Princess Twilight just asked us to come at once and get ready to travel. I reckon she didn’t want Sunset to know we’re comin’. Want it to be a surprise.”
Rarity smiled, that had to be it, of course. Pinkie Pie was right, it’s only been a little over ten months, the timing was exactly right for a nice baby shower. The last they talked to Sunset she was tired and depressed, surely Sunset could use the cheer of all her best friends visiting her - a surprise party. Unbidden, she felt a twinge of jealousy at her own Equestrian counterpart, she got to be there for her friend.
“It’s not fair, WE are her friends.” Rarity pouted.
“Shucks, Rares, give Sunset some credit will ya? I am sure she won’t forget us just ‘cause she’s got perfect pony copies of us who can be there with her…” Applejack began to frown. Rarity grinned.
“Tsk. There’s no way a cutesy-wootsie flying pony is gonna be as awesome as me!” The two girls turned to look at the rainbow-haired menace to society, who was still in her napping pose, chair delicately balanced. She turned her head at the duo, picked up the Stetson and threw it at Applejack. Applejack lowered her head slightly, and the Stetson landed perfectly on her head. Applejack grinned at Rainbow, “Thank you kindly, pardner.”
Rainbow Dash gave Applejack a thumbs up and a huge grin. She jerked forward and jumped up, landing nimbly on the balls of her feet. She stalked over to the journal, picked it up, and opened it and read, “‘Gather the girls, pack for travel, somebody will collect you after mid-day tomorrow.’ I am sure if it was anything really bad Princess Twilight would have sent that somebody to get us right away. She’s a princess, it shouldn’t be hard to find some errand-boy. Anyway, Sunset’s gonna have her baby soon, so what else could it be?” They’d all learnt entirely too much about horse pregnancies in the past ten months.
“Oh, I can’t wait to see Sunset again.” Applejack couldn’t help but grin as well, “never thought I’d say it, but I sure do miss our own she-demon.”
Twilight’s wince did not go unnoticed by Rarity.
She walked over, carefully stepping over the storm of streamers and minefield of balloons, and ducking under a Pinkie who swung overhead to… do something. Honestly, this was too much even by Pinkie’s unique standards! Having navigated the obstacle course, Rarity gently lay a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. Twilight looked up after a while, and offered a small, grateful smile.
“...race ya in pony form, I bet I could outrun ya even if you got them fancy wings…”
“HA! You wish! I’ll give you a headstart AND tie my wings up!”
Rarity rolled her eyes, and Twilight’s smile widened. To be fair to the pair, though, even Rarity was a little excited - the inspiration she could get from a whole new world! But she doubt she’d be as excited as Fluttershy…
...Fluttershy. Rarity frowned and looked around again. Unless she was buried somewhere under that mountain of streamers and confetti, which, Rarity had to allow, was a distinct probability - the aspiring veterinarian was not here. “You don’t happen to have seen Fluttershy, have you, dear?”
Twilight frowned and pushed her glasses up with one thumb, “She may be in the library. I was messaging her when we got the news from Equestria.” She did not say the Princess’ name. Twilight Sparkle had only met the Princess a few times, and Rarity had the distinct feeling that there existed a distinct sort of coolness between them. Rarity could understand, really, fancy meeting yourself who was a princess, richer, more accomplished, and in general just... better.
They actually got off on the right foot, too. The two Twilights were surprised, but they hit it off immediately. Of course, that conviviality hardly lasted, as they soon realised that Sunset was missing… Maybe that was why? To have your first meeting overshadowed by something like that… Rarity winced internally, but managed a grateful smile, “Thank you, darling. The school library? She should be here any minute, then.”
“No, actually, she was in the Veterinary College’s library down at Everton.” Twilight was plainly in her element now, “we actually meet up at Everton every week, I have some elective classes there, and Fluttershy is a student intern.” Aha, so that’s where she was interning at.
“Hard-worker, our Fluttershy.” Rarity said fondly. It was hard not to like the pink-haired girl.
“WOOHOO!”
...both of the pink-haired girls.
“She is! I see her there almost every day when I go pick up Shining Armor! She must really want to be a vet.”
“Oh, she does, darling.” For some reason, something made Rarity feel uneasy. Every day? Fluttershy was always a tireless volunteer worker, but she had never been this bookish, not this way. And if she really wanted to get into a veterinary science degree, browsing at a college library wouldn’t help, what she needed was great grades at school… Some sort of personal project? Fluttershy did have a veritable zoo of pets… But then what could she learn there that she couldn’t from a visit to a vet?
She wasn’t keeping anything exotic again, was she?
“Though I wouldn’t have thought she’d be into horses, I thought she’d be more a bunny person. Or cat. Or dog.” Twilight said.
“Whatever do you mean, darling?”
“She had a whole pile of books on them - Everton’s veterinary science programme has a lot of connection with the local ranching industry, so they do do a lot of research on other domesticated animals…”
“Well, I hardly think that Fluttershy was hiding horses in her bedroom.” A pause, “this time.” The two girls looked at each other, and then exploded into laughter, all the tension and apprehension gone.
“Maybe a pony.” Twilight said, wiping a tear from her eye. And the two of them descended into giggle-fits again.
“Glad to see you girls are feelin’ better.” Applejack says, walking over with Rainbow Dash.
“I still say we shoulda got her back here though. I bet our hospitals are better… do they even have computers there?” Rainbow Dash groused, obviously from an earlier conversation with Applejack.
“No, but I suppose they have magic to make up for it.” Rarity said. Twilight didn’t look too happy at that, and little wonder, her experience with magic had not exactly been… uniformly positive. And she apparently tried to experiment on magic again and had a huge correspondence with Sunset about it. Sunset had directed Twilight to her old notes.
Twilight was frazzled for days.
“What was it about ponies?” Rainbow asked, obviously wanting to change the subject. This had come up before, and it never ended well. Rainbow always wanted to get Sunset back here, to Canterlot. Nevermind that without identity papers it would have been problematic… or that Sunset didn’t want to risk the baby with transformative magic… Rainbow acquiesced in the end, but she was none too happy about it.
“Just talking about what’s the latest pet Fluttershy is trying to hide in her bedroom.”
“Oh, that’s easy, an alligator.”
“What?!” Exclamations all around.
“...joking, joking! Sheesh, no, I bet it was a pony.”
“Them critters may look cute and cuddly but they sure do pack a mean punch. Ever tried movin’ a stubborn pony if’n they don’t want to be moved?”
“...I don’t think our kind of ponies are as cute and cuddly as Sunset’s kind.” Twilight said, and then blushed and looked down at her tablet, busying herself searching for something.
Twilight was right, of course, Sunset had sketched some ponies from her home world to show the girls, and insisted that the cuddly quadrupeds with impossibly large eyes were actually exactly what Equestrian ponies looked like.
“Jus’ as ornery, though.” Applejack said with a grin. “Our Betsie done jus’ foaled, and you can't hardly get close to her in a month of Sundays, no siree, meaner than a wolverine with its tail on fire, she is.”
Rarity automatically tuned out Applejack’s news bulletin on Sweet Apple Acres, and glanced around. Pinkie was still decorating. Where did she get all the supplies? And on such short notice? And why wasn’t she joining in? Surely even Pinkie must know that they’d be leaving for Equestria and therefore would not have had time for a party with Princess Twilight - or whoever she intended to send. It's almost as if she was trying to keep herself busy.
“...took as long as Bluebelle did, maybe that what made her so ornery, she was plumped tuckered out after that.”
Hmm, Bluebelle was Applejack’s favourite riding mare, and just foaled last year after almost a full year of pregnancy. Applejack was worried sick. The things you picked up even against your will when you hung out with Applejack…
Wait. “Took as long? What took as long?” Rarity said, a sudden nameless urgency seizing her.
Applejack blinked, obviously not used to Rarity showing an interest in Sweet Apple Acres, “uh, Betsie didn’t foal until 'bout a year, got the poor girl all tuckered out, too. Ponies don’t take that long. Smaller critters don't take so long to cub or foal. Why, it didn't hardly take Winona's mama two months."
Ponies. Little ponies. Shorter pregnancy.
Suddenly, Rarity felt a chill down her spine.
But surely she can’t be right - they had no real idea what was the size differential between their world and Equestria, God knows both Sunset and Princess Twilight tried but it was apparently impossible to be sure that anything they send through would maintain their size, or even relative sizes - one set of identical rulers Princess Twilight sent through, memorably, became a pair of callipers in Canterlot High…
But if ponies really were smaller… or human-sized… then Sunset wasn’t due for baby shower, she was due to give birth. And that would explain why Princess Twilight didn’t come and fetch them personally - normally, the Princess Twilight they knew would have jumped at the chance. She would never put on airs and send a subordinate-
No, Rarity, stop right there. There was nothing to this. Just baseless, senseless worrying. Your new year’s resolution was to cut down on the drama and hysterics.
She saw a vision of Fluttershy frantically looking over anatomical charts of horses and calculating the possible mass of ponies from their physiological make-up.
No. NO. Stop! Nothing was wrong! What if Sunset was going to give birth? She'd be fine. She had the best doctors. A powerful magical princess by her side. She'd be-
The door to the Music Room flew open. A girl they had never met before, light pink skin, purple hair with aquamarine highlights pulled into a severe ponytail, stood there, her hands still gripping on to the door, knuckles white. She was panting heavily and wobbling slightly on her feet, and she scanned the room with one practised sweep. Spike dancing about at the girl’s feet, frantic. “Are you… the Rainbooms? Come with me!” There was a note of hysteria in her voice.
Rarity knew then. She was right.
And she had never hated being right more than that moment.
Author's Note
To all my readers, welcome (yes, all three of you)! To those of you who haven't read Mr Fislewait's excellent The Sun Never Sets, this is going to seem a bit confusing. I have tried to make it so that you don't absolutely need to have read TSNS to understand the story (though you really ought to), but there are bound to be references which would not be immediately clear to the reader.
To those of you who have read TSNS, this may be slightly confusing. While False Dawn mostly follow the canon of TSNS's Sunset Shimmer portions, there are some slight variations which ought to become clear in context as the story progresses. The most obvious of which is that Sci-Twi is present here - Sunset didn't fall into Starlight Glimmer's temporal recursive loop until after the events depicted in Friendship Games.
Chapter 1: Score of Years
Absorption peaks. Blackbody background... Simple enough to find.
"Professor!"
Model borrowed too heavily from plasma confinement experiments - fusion. Not getting anywhere fast with that.
"Professor Sparkle! Wait up, please!"
That's where she came in. Condensed matter physics - promising - more than statistical mechanics anyway. Avenue worth exploring.
"Professor Twilight Sparkle!"
"Yes?" Twilight turned around and looked the source of the incessant buzzing. Female. 20-22 range. Student, or TA from the pile of paper carried. Not from the Physics Department - Twilight did not forget faces. A little chubby. Face red from exertion, panting, presumably from catching up with Twilight’s brisk walk - out of shape.
“Hi, I'm Open Book, I TA at J&M.”
J&M - Journalism and Media Studies. Twilight prepared to resume her pace, “You can find my office hours on the school app.” Not that anybody uses that these days.
“Wait, I want to interview you-” Open Book was showing early signs of a panic attack, her palid face even more flushed, and with her dark red hair in a ponytail, she gave the impression of a distressed lobster. The thought put a small smile on Twilight’s face, which Open Book mistook for friendliness, she was about to continue when Twilight interrupted her.
“I will be happy to answer any questions related to experimental condensed matter physics that you may have, or any classes which I teach or have taught in the previous 5 years. Those are Electronic Structure of Solid Surfaces, Chemical Dynamics, Particle Physics II, Effective Field Theory, Many-Body Theory for Condensed Matter Systems, Statistical Physics I and II, and of course Relativistic Quantum Field Theory II.” Twilight’s smile turned into a small smirk at the sight of Open Book’s defocusing eyes and slightly open mouth, and decided that she had had enough fun, “or anything else which might interest you, provided that there’s any time left after dealing with my students’ problems.”
Open Book nodded, dazed, and then shook her head vigourously, “It’s about Dr Pie.”
That got Twilight’s attention. She knew two Dr Pies, both of whom belonged to the same family, but she doubted she’d be asked any questions about Maud Pie. Twilight decided to let the girl continue.
“Dr Diane Pie. Pinkie Pie.” Open said, and tried to adjust the pile of paper she was carrying to rest her tablet on top of it comfortably.
“1500 hours to 1700 hours today, Ms Book.” Twilight said, a littler terser than she intended, “I wouldn’t come any earlier than 1630 hours. From the past semester’s average the chances of me being free before that is a little under 10%.”
A small pause, and Twilight added by way of clarification, “3% confidence interval.”
Open Book was still swiping at her old fashioned tablet while using her chin, knee and elbows to try and steady her pile of paper. Twilight sighed and reached out to help Open Book steady her pile. “Tell them that electronic assignment submissions has a later deadline to account for server delays. That’ll cut down paper submissions.” It worked for Twilight too, and using LaTeX for physics assignment was actually difficult, she couldn’t imagine why J&M would still use paper submissions.
Open Book smiled gratefully at the help, and then blinked, “huh…” She shook her head again - this was beginning to look like something of a habit for the poor girl, “I-”
Twilight had delayed her progress by almost a minute, and she started to walk towards her office again, though this time at a slightly slower pace to accommodate her interlocutor, “walk with me. And you are of course aware that Dr Pie works at the Canterlot University Hospital, I hear they have excellent teleconference facilities.”
Open Books stopped to stare for a moment, then scrambled to catch up. “It’s about the Friendship Games.”
Twilight caught herself before she stumbled.
“Tuesday, 3rd of April 2035, 5.48 pm” Open Book fidgeted at the other side of Twilight’s desk, and murmured to herself, probably a recording. Twilight never quite got used to seeing other people use their beads like that, although she made extensive use of such electronic devices. Back when she was a girl, she would probably have had to use a phone - probably held it up to her face to make sure the recording was crisp. Nowadays one simply wears an ear bead. How time flies.
“Interviewer, Open Books, Department of Journalism and Media Studies, Everton University. I am sitting in Room L315, the room of Twilight Sparkle, Professor of Physics.” She had set down her pile of assignments on the desk. Twilight felt a twitch of irritation as her perfectly organised desk was invaded.
Adjunct with the Department of Chemistry, Twilight corrected her in her mind, but said nothing.
“Head of the Experimental Condensed Matter Physics Laboratory, Everton Institute of Science and Engineering, Everton University.” Open Book looked up at her expectantly, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, reminding Twilight of nobody so much as Spike when he was just a puppy. The thought of her life-long friend and number one companion sent a sharp jab of pain through her heart.
Open Book probably noticed something. She glanced down at her tablet, uncertain, before looking back up again. “I am a Canterlot girl.” She said, by way of conversation. Twilight raised an eyebrow a fraction of an inch. “We didn’t go to the same school, I went to CHS…”
“I went to CHS for a year.” Twilight offered, more to keep the conversation off dangerous grounds than anything.
Open Book blinked, “CHS? But I thought you - Friendship Games - Crystal Prep?”
Twilight kept her face impassive. Stuttering. Didn’t perform basic research. Probability balance clearing. “I did go to Crystal Prep. For three years.” Enough rope.
“Why would you go on to CHS if you completed your studies at Crystal Prep? Surely - I mean somebody like you…” Open Book was looking positively frazzled.
“You wanted to talk about Dr. Diane Pie.” Twilight interrupted Open Book. Keep them off balance. Keep them guessing. Never let them know exactly how much you know. She could almost hear the mantra she taught Twilight so many years ago, on how to deal with her aggressive peers. Twilight paused. Where did that come from? CHS brought up too many memories.
“Oh, yes. Yes, of course.” Open Books took a deep breath, curled a lock of hair in her left index finger. Fascinating. “Do you know Dr Diane Pie?”
Twilight stood up. “The door is behind you. Please shut it when you leave.” She said and indicated the door.
“Now, hold on a minute, hear me out!” Open Book half-stood, glancing frantically between Twilight and the door, eyes wide, “t-t-the Friendship Games, you don’t understand - the Friendship Games of 2014-”
“If you wish to continue this interview, you will please stop this childish charade.” Twilight said, voice even.
Open Book looked at Twilight, a small smile on her lips, and strangely calm, “that obvious, huh?”
So the girl knew when the battle was lost. A point in favour. Twilight permitted herself a small smile. A lifetime ago she would have been taken in, before she took her under her wings. I learnt from the best.
“What was it? I could have thought I put up a pretty convincing show.” Open Book said, sitting back down, and shook her hair loose from the messy ponytail, and ostentatiously powered off her tablet.
Twilight inclined her head slightly. She had no obligation to help perfect Open Book’s little act.
“Fair enough.” Open Book murmured, and pulled out an old-fashioned paper notebook, dog-eared and obviously well-thumbed, and a pencil.
Twilight pointed at her earrings. Open Book sighed and took them off. Twilight raised an eyebrow a quarter-inch. Open Book raised both arms in surrender, and pulled out a card from the breast pocket on her vest. Twilight spotted the lotus logo on it - a Lotus card-phone.
“That will do for now.” Twilight said. Quite aware that Open Book likely still had some sort of recording device hidden on her person, but decided not to push the issue.
“I was a Canterlot girl.” Open Book said. “That part at least is true. Growing up, you hear stories about Canterlot High. I never thought much of it, I figured, hey, most cities in the country probably had their own set of urban legends, right?” She paused, as if gathering her thoughts.
Lost her nervousness and fidgeting. No more stutters. Twilight glanced at the pile of paper Open Book had set down, and was gratified to note that it seemed to be divided into several messy stacks, with an old coffee stain on the side. Who knew how long this girl carried this around for her adorkable clumsy TA impression? Twilight waved her left hand in a small circle to indicate that the girl should continue.
“Anyway, I didn’t think much of it, until I came here.”
More lies? Twilight thought she had disabused the girl of the notion that her pack of lies was doing her any favours. No matter. She could afford another fifteen minutes of this charade.
“My master’s thesis was on the statistical analysis of viral media phenomenon in the early days of the social networking era. How and why some floated and others sunk. I worked with the Manehattan Data Centre - big data types - and tracked a particularly small subset of viral media - the ‘found media’ craze that was popular the mid ‘10s.”
Found media. Twilight felt her heart tighten, an old, familiar pain she hadn’t expected to feel in years.
“You can probably see where I am going with this now.” Open Book powered up her tablet with a tap, and with a few practiced finger motions, a short video began to play, but all Twilight saw was that fiery mane.
“As far as I can tell, that was the first, it spawned thousands of imitations around the country and the world. We had vampires, superheroes, ghosts, but the dark angel and demon theme was pretty popular, usually paired up with Source Studio type special effects and amateur garage band music.”
Open Book’s words barely registered. Twilight's head was pounding, a dull thud that made thought nearly impossible. “You have somewhere to stay in town.” She said. Damn. She hadn’t intended to let on how much she guessed…
Open Book glanced at Twilight sharply, “until the end of the week.”
“See me here, at 1800 hours tomorrow. Bring only your notebook.” Twilight stood with a masterful effort, and was almost steady on her feet.
Open Book stood up and left without another word, shutting the door behind her gently. Twilight slowly exhaled, and collapsed back onto her seat. She took off her glasses, folded them carefully and set them in their usual place in the stationery holder, and leaned forwards, burying her face in her palms.
Twenty years. She had almost forgotten… She had convinced herself that she had.
It wasn't fair.
It wasn't fair.
It wasn't fair...
Rainbow Dash was uncharacteristically quiet. Her back turned to Twilight, shoulders slightly slumped and head bowed. Twilight still remembered Rainbow’s usually vibrant shock of multicolour hair looking… limp and lifeless as they looked around the place Sunset called home. Perhaps it was a trick of the dim lighting… or just the memory.
“Not a lot of stuff, huh?” Twilight heard herself say, and still felt the urge to hit her head on some nearby convenient surface.
Was I really that bad?
Yes. Yes I was. If it weren’t for-
Rainbow Dash said nothing. Twilight looked around to take stock at Sunset's meagre belongings in the room, so neatly organised it could have been Twilight’s… Clothes folded and stacked inside an apple crate, cables neatly coiled and connected to form some sort of ersatz power outlet. A few blouses and a jacket on coat hangers hanging on a string pulled taut between the shelf and the windowsill, and probably doubled as a drying line. Books and papers on a makeshift shelf. A small camp-stove, a large water cooler bottle half-filled with water. A threadbare sheet on the hard, cold floor.
Rainbow kneeled down and opened the trolley case the two of them manhandled up to the attic at the condemned building. It wasn’t easy finding the place, but in the end they managed, through a combination of Rarity’s detective skills and Rainbow Dash picking Sunset’s locker padlock. None of them liked invading Sunset’s privacy like that, but Princess Twilight had charged them to collect Sunset’s personal effects, especially her journal. What a week that was. They were all elated to find out that Sunset, who had vanished eight days seven hours and twelve minutes prior, was alive and we… was alive in Equestria. Then they learnt that she was not coming home.
And now, they found out what home was. Twilight glanced around, at the single bare bulb wired to the power outlet, the peeling wallpaper mouldy with damp, the creaky unvarnished floorboards. She could smell it - and she could definitely hear it… vermin.
Rainbow Dash began emptying the contents of the crates into the trolley case, slowly at first, and then with increasing violence.
“Rainbow…” Twilight said, and put a hand on the rainbow-haired girl’s shoulder.
“Get the book.” Rainbow said, voice dull and thick.
The journal. On the low coffee table was the large, leather-bound volume, opened to a blank page, with a ballpoint pen resting between two leaves.
It was like Sunset just walked off. Never left. Never disappeared.
That night, Twilight went up to the loft. Spike looked at her, concern evident behind milky, cataract-ridden eyes, but had decided to say nothing.
She had purchased a dear old house on the outskirts of Everton, then freshly renovated, with a large loft that was converted by the previous owners into a home office and living area, with full wiring and lighting. She had in mind some sort of comforting little space for herself, to be filled with her old trophies and books. But she had underestimated her own bibliophilic tendencies. Even in the age of cloud media, she had managed to fill up the place inside of two years. The loft had become so cluttered it was nearly impossible to navigate the maze of boxes, shelves, chests and piles of paper and books. At least the lighting of the place was more than adequate, despite the strange shadows cast by the haphazard arrangements of boxes and books in the loft.
And buried deep, deep at the furthest end was a trolley case.
She heard the sound of Spike’s claws on the pull-down ladder. Slow and steady, as if each step was a considerable effort.
She felt Spike’s paw resting gently on her calf, “What’s that all about, Twi?”
Twilight turned around and saw Spike looking up at her - and at the trolley case - and then back at her. He gently nuzzled her calf again.
Twilight suppressed a sigh, and reach down to pick up the frail old dog, feeling how light and bony he was. “Some hotshot tracked us down - don’t worry about it, Spike, it wasn’t the first time and probably won’t be the last. I am just…”
Just what? Spike didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. There was no reason why she had to dig this up.
Feeling defiant, Twilight opened the case anyway.
And -
No.
Oh no.
“Twi? Talk to me!” Twilight ignored Spike, and with trembling fingers, she swiped the light's remote control dial on her phone, the light brightened before dimming on the third try.
There was no mistaking it. Sunset’s journal was glowing faintly.
Heart pounding with nameless dread, Twilight took the journal, but fumbled.
The journal fell on the floor and opened. And there, a glowing message, in her own unmistakable handwriting…
"Please help Sunset."
Author's Note
The hardest part in this chapter wasn't the time-jumps. It wasn't the girl-genius stuff (that was the easy part!). It was portraying what the world is likely to be like in 2035, without getting too obtrusive about it. After all, the little things are by defintion little, and won't really consciously register with us. Striking the balance between a believable future world in a suitably understated fashion...
Well, tell me what you think. If you don't mind, that is... 
