Chapter 9: Now what?

Twilight groaned, not in a good way.

On the one hand (hoof?) she wasn't tied up, which was better than the last two times she'd been suddenly, inexplicably teleported. On the other hoof (hand?), there was … everything else. Twilight rubbed at her eyes, and took stock of her surroundings. To judge by the sunrise-reddened clouds, it was morning. Twilight laid on a dew-damp stretch of grass-- a clearing in the center of a lush green forest. Songbirds chirped faintly in the distance, lending everything a pleasant, pastoral air.

“You're awake, good.” Sunset said from beside Twilight. The redheaded unicorn was stretched out on the grass like some classical goddess, hair and coat blazing proudly in the first rays of morning sunshine. Twilight's gaze traveled up the curve of a rounded hip, past the peaks of upturned breasts, and to the sweetly smiling face of Sunset Shimmer.

“Where are we?” Twilight didn't let herself get (very) distracted by the lovely sight before her.

“I don't know.” Sunset Shimmer pushed a lock of red hair out of her eyes.

“How do you not know? It was your teleport spell!”

“I know!” Sunset beamed. “I left our destination open, entirely random. If there's no endpoint resonance in the trace magic we leave behind, there's no way anyone can track us!”

“You teleported us at random? Are you insane? What if you teleported us into an active volcano or something?”

“Psssh. Volcanoes. Do you know how statistically unlikely that is?”

“So you're saying it is possible?”

“Oh, come on.” Sunset rolled her eyes, even though she kept smiling. “Don't pretend you haven't meddled with the fabric of space-time before.”

“That's … that's beside the point.” Twilight said.

“So what is the point?”

“The point?” Twilight bounded up to her feet, and glared down at Sunset Shimmer. “The point is, we're lost and alone and I helped you break out of jail which makes me a criminal too!”

“I know.” Sunset purred as she rolled to all fours. She curled herself around Twilight's leg, and planted a delicate, adoring kiss on her knee. “Isn't it great?”

“No!” Twilight yanked her foot free from Sunset's grasp, and staggered backwards a few paces. She flapped her wings a few times by instinct, managing to keep her footing (if barely). “It's not! I just wanted to help you!”

“And you did.” Sunset nodded. “If it weren't for you, I'd still be locked up in that dungeon.”

“I wanted to help you by being your friend, not your accomplice! All I wanted to do was talk things out so you didn't feel so lonely and scared and then everyone could figure out a way we could all be friends and then maybe we'd sing a song about it!”

“Sing?” Sunset furrowed her brow, confused.

“Why not?” Twilight said, suddenly self conscious (which, considering her state of undress, really was saying something). “Haven't you ever had so much emotion swelling up inside of you that you just had to randomly burst into song?”

“Um. No?” Sunset's hair swayed a little as she tilted her head to the side. “Is that … something that happens regularly in your dimension?”

“Sometimes?” Twilight said.

“Weird.”

“Not as weird as a dimension where people grope each other as soon as they'd say hello.” Twilight crossed her arms across her chest. “And that's before you get into the weirdo equine-sapien anatomy.” She held one hand in front of her face and wiggled her fingers. “I mean, the opposable thumbs are pretty much required for a tool using species, but how could primate-like fingers evolve alongside, well, hooves?” She peered down at her own hooved feet, which looked particularly alien against the dewy grass. “And you'd better not make a 'let's have an anatomy lesson' joke because Pinkie Pie used the same line when I was still in Ponyville.”

“Did it work?” Sunset said.

“No.”

“Aw.” Sunset Shimmer stood up-- a simple, everyday motion somehow made far more alluring by the drape of her cloak. “But … don't you think you have better things to worry about than evolutionary biology right now?”

“Yes! I do! But I'm just trying to distract myself from everything else!” She sniffled a little, feeling tears well up in the corners of her eyes. “I … I just want to go home.” She hugged herself and turned away, looking off into the treeline.

“And conquer it?” Sunset blurted.

“NO!” Twilight wheeled around and jabbed an accusatory finger at Sunset. “No conquering! No overthrowing! No dominating! I mean that both in the 'practical' and 'weird and kinky and maybe kind of sexy' definitions! I just want to go home and ... and ... “

“And what?”

“And be normal! Or, uh, as normal as someone who occasionally dabbles in magic can really be, but still! What I did back in my dimension was one thing, and this ... this is different.”

“How?”

“I got to wear pants, for one.”

“Pants?” Sunset Shimmer blinked. “What are those?”

“Trust me, they're important.” Twilight pushed her legs a little tighter together. Despite herself, she let out a nervous laugh. She rubbed at the bridge of her nose, briefly noticing the lack of little marks where her glasses would rest if she were back in her normal body.

“Alright then.” Sunset Shimmer brushed a few blades of grass from the backs of her thighs. “I can see this is very important to you, so I'm going to help you get home.”

“You are?” Twilight blurted, and then took on a more suspicious tone. “Why would you do that? I just told you I'm not going to take over the world or anything. And I'm not going to let you take over the world, either. Any world. Yours or mine.”

Sunset Shimmer attempted an innocent look without much success, and put a delicate hand over her chest. “No megalomania until you get home. I promise.”

“Can I trust you? I mean, uh. You're ... kind of a supervillain.”

“Of course! You helped me, Twilight-- whether you meant to or not. If it were up to Sentry, I'd be rotting in a magic-warded dungeon for the rest of my life. I owe you my freedom. It's only fair that I get you yours. Besides--” Sunset Shimmer pushed a lock of hair behind one of her pointed ears, and grinned roguishly. “Putting together the kind of magic to send you to your home dimension and not some other random timeline is the kind of thing that will prove I'm the most brilliant and powerful sorceress in all of Equestria.” Her smile grew wider, and her eyes gleamed with enthusiasm. “Just, uh, without conquering it. I promise.”

“I ... guess that's progress?” Twilight said. She shook her head, and then looked around the idyllic, dew-frosted clearing. “But we're still lost. And alone. And kind of fugitives.”

“I wouldn't worry about that.” Sunset Shimmer said, and started walking off towards the treeline. Her cloak floated lightly behind her, but the occasional swish of Sunset's tail hiked the fabric upwards. Despite herself, Twilight stole more than a few glances at Sunset's lovely, tightly-formed derriere. “I mean, I've been staying ahead of Flash and his flat-hooved goons for years. If I'd wound up kidnapping the real Twilight, they never would have caught me. And as for alone, well ... “ Sunset Shimmer looked back at Twilight, and let her cloak slip just enough to reveal a curved line of her shoulder. “There are worse ponies to be alone with, wouldn't you say?”

“Uh.” Twilight blushed, even though she'd seen all of Sunset already. “We're still lost.”

“Maybe not as lost as you think. Look.” Sunset reached out and pushed a leafy tree branch out of the way, revealing the cleared land and tall mountains on the other side of the copse. A few farmhouses and other small buildings dotted the landscape, and a serpentine railway twisted this way and that between the fields and hills. Twilight scooted in beside Sunset, close enough to feel the warmth coming from her (which was entirely coincidental, Twilight told herself) and peered out, following Sunset's pointing finger to the white palace that clung impossibly to the side of a mountain.

“That's not where we came from.” Twilight said, brow furrowed. “The Crystal Palace was ... sparklier.”

“That's right. It's not the Crystal Palace. It's Canterlot. Capital of Equestria, seat of Princess Celestia's throne ... and the location of the biggest magical library in the world. If there's anyplace where we can find a way to send you back home, it's there.”

“But ... won't they recognize us?” Twilight blurted.

“We'll go in disguise.” Sunset said.

“I'm like one of three pony-people in this whole dimension who has wings and a horn. And I'm apparently a celebrity. How are we going to hide that?”

“Easy. I'll get you a hat.”

“That'll never work.”

“Sure it will! Everypony's gonna be looking at your tits anyway.”

“Sunset!” Twilight covered herself by reflex, however pointless it might've been.

“No, seriously. You're gorgeous. Plus, a lot of pegasi tend to be a little bit more ... streamlined, you know, with all the flying and all, so if people think you're just a pegasus it kind of makes you sexier. Not to mention more approachable.” Sunset made no effort to hide how her eyes traveled up and down Twilight's body.

“Uh.” Twilight bit the inside of her cheek. “What if I don't want to be approachable? I mean, uh. It's flattering, but ... we don't want to get, um, distracted while we're on our secret but not-world-dominating mission, right?”

“Good point.” Sunset Shimmer said, and slid a gentle hand up the length of Twilight's back. The contact alone was enough to make Twilight shiver, and the gentle scratch of fingers to a spot between her wings made her melt. Sunset just smiled, and leaned in to touch her nose to Twilight's. “So I guess we better work out any ... pent up frustration before we start. Don't you think that's a good idea?”

“No.” Twilight marveled at the feel of Sunset's fine coat underneath her fingers, and wondered at which point she'd started touching the other woman. “But I wouldn't mind giving it a shot anyway.”

Author's Note

Oh hey, this is still a thing! The writing bug struck me again, I guess.

Funnily enough, while I could easily write up another gratuitous sex scene for the end of this chapter, I think it kinda works well without it. That, and I kind of want to keep moving the story along to an actual conclusion.

Though if I'm feeling ambitious and/or writer's blocked, I guess I could go back and update the chapter with some more lady-kissing and butt-touches. What do you think?