Comparing Notes

Chapters

Mirrored
Talking with yourself
Technically...
Outcome cloudy, try again later...
Exploration
Meanwhile, back at the Villa...
Fireworks
Across the Fence
Science!
Bonds
Enchantments
Speculation
All Good Things
That's how it could have happened prt 1: Rose Quill
That's how it could have happened, prt 2: BlackWater
Here's what Really Happened

Mirrored

We laughed as our daughters chased each other along the sandy beach of the Hello Tropics resort, the colors of their hair flashing in the sun, Midnight with starry silver and Aurora multi-hued like the atmospheric phenomenon she was named for.

“It’s like their fillies again,” Sunset said as they raced past us, their glee evident on their youthful faces.

I nodded, memories of them playing like this on both sides of the mirror flashing to mind, including some bits with their cousin Ebony along.

I stretched my arms above my head, luxuriating in the feel of the warm sun on my skin. I was clad in a comfortable swimsuit with a light cover up shirt on, the breeze wafting from the ocean ruffling the tails. While my suit’s back covered the scar on my shoulder, I was still just a touch self-conscious over it, even now.

Sunset, conversely, seemed to not have a care as she wore a two-piece very similar to the one she had on a cruise some two decades previously, though now the charm bracelet on her wrist bore four cutie marks as opposed to the two it once had.

I snuggled into Sunset, the warm sun beating down onto us as we walked across the sand. We had honeymooned here years ago, and it was remarkably unchanged in the intervening time. I heard the giggling that had been trailing us turn into a shriek followed by a splash, turning to spot Midnight Sky, our oldest daughter, holding back laughter as her sister stalked out of the surf. Laughter was mixed with embarrassment on her face as she brushed her wet hair from her eyes, looking down at the soaked sundress she was wearing.

"Rory, I'm sorry!" Midnight giggled as her sister wrung water from the hem of her dress. "I didn't realize the water was that deep when I pushed you."

"Yeah, yeah," the younger girl said. Unlike any other time her impeccable hair was mussed, she didn't complain this time. "Just watch yourself, Middy. I'll get you back before we leave.” The racing chase between them started again, Middy was faster but Aurora was the more agile.

Sunset leaned down to me, her fiery hair glinting in the sun. "Should we break that up?" she asked with a smile as she nuzzled my ear.

"Nah," I said with a contented sigh. "Let them enjoy themselves. They don't get to see each other much since Midnight went off to Baltimare for college."

"Nor have we, technically," she finished. "I'm glad we made the trip."

"I'm glad the Dean let me go this close to the fall semester," I said, adjusting my glasses a bit. "Normally department heads have to be back for in-service this time of the year."

We turned the corner and froze as we spotted the couple coming down the path to the beach. The red and gold next to purplish blue were combinations I recognized from pictures and morning time jockeying for mirror space. I felt my jaw drop as the shorter girl across the way stopped in surprise.

"Twi, honey," Sunset said. "I'm sorry for every joke I ever made about you and the Princess."

The shiny vintage sports car roared down the street leading to the side road that ran alongside the beach. There was a teenage passenger in the backseat, though, who needed a little more legroom than was available. The seats were hardly ever used since Rainbow Dash had gotten a secondary vehicle with Adagio after they had their kids. Vintage convertible sports cars did not make for the best family haulers, but they still made for great weekend getaways and loaners to friends.

Thus it was that Sunset Shimmer and not Rainbow Dash was currently driving the rainbow-flame-patterned car and shifting down into a lower gear. She had to slow down to make the turn onto the side road and park them in the proper area before switching her flats to the beach sandals. Many an anniversary had taught her that flip-flops made for poor driving shoes in a manual transmission vehicle.

“Light...” Twilight leaned back around in the passenger seat to look at their son in the back row. She had that insistent do-as-your-told tone in her voice.

“But I already put the sunscreen on,” Sunlight crossed his arms and stuck his lips out in protest.

“You did your arms only,” Twilight frowned and pushed her glasses up when a bump in the road nudged them down her nose by a millimeter. “You know how painful sunburns are, Lighty. Especially on the back of your neck.”

The teenage boy reached over to his duffel back on the empty seat next to him and got the tube of lotion out with a sigh. He struggled out of the overshirt he had put on before they left since it kept the rush of road air off his bare chest. “You’re always right, of course.”

The family of three was already in their swimwear but the open top of the convertible forced them to put on shirts since the air was too cool over a certain speed. Rainbow had shown Sunset how to put the top up and Sunset had immediately forgotten how. It hardly mattered. They’d be discarding the shirts in a minute.

Sunlight was trying to squeeze some lotion onto the back of his neck when the car took a hard turn. The lotion hit his shoulder instead. The vehicle nearly skidded sideways before roaring heartily towards the VIP access parking for Hello Tropics. Twilight gripped the door’s armrest.

“Sunset Shimmer!” the suddenly frightened and peeved woman shouted her spouse’s full name aloud.

“Hahahaha!” the fiery redhead laughed out loud with the biggest grin she had used all week. “Now that’s what I call living! Hold on, Lighty!”

“Woohoo!” the teen cheered from the back and threw up his arms into the wind.

“Sunset-” Twilight grabbed her wife’s thigh with her other hand to protest but the woman just shifted gears and yanked the wheel.

SCREEEEEECH!

The car’s rear end swung a full ninety degrees as they took the parking entrance in a slide. All three were pushed towards the one side of the vehicle as momentum worked its magic during the high-velocity turn. Sunset punched the acceleration again and they were pressed back into their seats as the enormous engine rocketed them forward at high speed.

Sunset had aimed for an open spot with plenty of space around it and due to the small size of the exclusive lot, it took only a couple seconds to reach it. She swung the heavy vintage car one more time and drifted into the open spot hard enough to yank them on the seat belts but thankfully not enough to give a rash.

“YEAH!” Sunlight shouted out with a hard exhale due to the excitement. A thin layer of smoke billowed up and away from the tires. “And that,” Sunset unbuckled and turned in her seat to look back at her son, “is why we wear seat belts.”

Twilight stared holes into her wife with tightly folded arms and a cross expression.
Sunset shrugged and popped her door open after taking the keys out of the ignition. She then proceeded to switch shoes. “We’re on vacation. Dash told me to thrash it for her since she never gets to anymore.”

“I’ve got to finish up the sunscreen,” Sunlight said as he picked up the bottle again. It had rolled to the far side of the rear seats.

Twilight had taken her glasses off for a moment to rub her nose. With a deep breath, she put them back on and got out of the vehicle after Sunset. “We’ll grab a spot,” she said in a weary tone to her son. “Meet us there when you’re done.”

The glasses-wearing girl had to power walk to catch up to Sunset, who was skipping her way towards the stony path leading down to the beach. The redhead had a duffel bag on each shoulder with their special marks on each one. Her bikini was the old one styled after Twilight’s colors, just as Twilight’s current two-piece was mostly red and orange.

Twilight gently punched her wife in the arm. “You trying to kill us?” she asked with a slightly joking attitude.

Sunset splayed her hands out as they walked, a serene aloofness on her face. “At least you know you’re alive...but now that I think of it...”

“What?” Twilight readjusted the towels under her arm.

“I guess you don’t need it so much. I mean, with what happened last night-” Sunset had switched to a sly grin of insinuation but froze herself when she realized that Twilight had stopped walking behind her and just stared ahead wide-eyed. "Um...Twily?"

Twilight failed to respond immediately. The cogs behind her mind were working hard to comprehend the couple she saw on the beach. She knew that face. That body. it was her. But it wasn't her. And that was Sunset...or rather a Sunset.

Sunset looked back to the other Twilight and couldn't help remarking to herself. "I guess I have good taste in every dimension."

Talking with yourself

I couldn’t believe it.

Across the table from me were almost perfect copies of Twilight and I. And I mean almost perfect. Not even the Princess Twilight looked as close in similarities as this one did.

But there were differences. The Twilight across the table still wore the old, heavy framed glasses that she had worn back when we had met. She also had a slightly different bearing about herself than my Twilight.

My duplicate also held some minor differences. She lacked the scars along the ribcage from the talons of an enraged harpy, for starters. She also sat a little more relaxed than I was. Twilight had remarked on how much more proper I had become since gaining my wings.

I had promptly hit her with a pillow just to dispel the illusion.

This is unreal, I heard through the bond. They are so much like us.

“It’s probably not polite to do that with them here, Sunshine,” I said to the confusion of the two sitting across from us. Middy and Rory had sat at the table next to us, their son Sunlight joining them. It didn’t take a mind reader to see that Rory was more than mildly interested in the boy.

“Do what?” the other Twilight asked, the glasses adjusting she did electing a memory.

I glanced at my wife.

“It’s a long story,” my Twilight replied. “And rather full of twists and turns.”

“Share yours and we’ll share ours,” the Sunset across from me said. “After all, how different can our stories be?”

I raised an eyebrow, hand subconciously brushing across my scars.

“You’d be surprised,” I said, seeing Sunshine’s hand drift to her shoulder.

“I’m all ears,” the other Twilight said.

“Well,” I took a breath and turned to my counterpart. “I think the first question is, are your parents still alive?”

Twilight clenched her teeth when she heard the question but tried not to show it. Her eyes darted to her wife beside her and caught the less hidden tension. It was not normally a topic that came up between them and Sunset had settled it in her heart a long time ago. However, to be confronted so directly with another version of herself who might have a very different past…

“I don’t,” Sunset began with a deep frown and conspicuous uncomfortableness. She thought for a second if she should even tell and then decided she might as well. This was herself, after all. “I don’t know. I made a decision many years ago never to go back. Not for any serious time anyways. There wasn’t anything compelling enough tying me to my old world and there was plenty tying me to this one. Twily,” she held and squeezed her wife’s hand, “and the girls too.”

The middle-aged scientist looked into her wife’s eyes deeply. Her Sunset, not the other one. She didn’t have to ask to know her spouse was asking for help. “Her parents didn’t treat her nicely when she was growing up,” she explained as Sunset’s gaze fell. “There was never any love from them. They only wanted a child to make them rich, which was why they pushed her into selfish ambition. After Princess Twilight gave her a second chance at the Fall Formal, she felt that cutting ties to her old family was essential to starting a new life.”

Sunset settled some of her own thoughts and lifted her head again. “Sometimes we disagree about what it means to ‘move on’ but I’ve never felt like I was missing closure in my life."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My parents - well, my mother at least, since I didn't really remember Dad - had been nothing but supportive and loving. It had been my own faults that had led to my ambition. How could two dimensions hold so much the same and yet be so different?

I felt Twilight's love filter through the bond, supporting me.

"My parents are both dead," I said. "Dad when I was a foal, and my mother just before we got together." I felt Twilight's hand slid across my shoulder. "It's so weird, the difference in how our parents were. Mom was always supportive and loving when I was a foal, I can't comprehend there being an uncaring bone in her body."

"I'm," Sunset started to say. The words were hard coming out. Not because she wasn't glad for her other self, but because it was so disappointing to know how her life might have been different. "I'm happy for you. There were plenty of times I wished I had the kind of experience growing up that lots of other foals seemed to have back in Equestria. At least one of me did and that's more comfort than I had before."

Technically...

My eyes lit up as I thought about the possibilities that had just been presented. Sunny and...well, Sunny, had just proposed the existence of a divergence of massive proportions, one that could very well be pertinent to the nature vs nurture argument. I saw so very many similarities, the snarky humor, the relaxed way of speaking despite the intellect simmering inside, and the look in their eyes when they looked at me or...well, me.

I looked at my counterpart, seeing her eyes lit with the same glow of simmering excitement I recognized from the mirror.

"Do you realize what this means?" I said, hearing an almost a stereo effect when the same words came out of her mouth as well. I looked at her and we both giggled. There was also the mixed groan and sigh from the Sunsets that I recognized when she realized she had triggered a theory in my mind.

"Yours, too?" my Sunny said.

The other fiery-haired woman nodded.

Undaunted, I plowed ahead.

"This proves the multiverse theory," I said, an excited rush I hadn't felt since I had first traveled to Equestria and was taught magic, seeing what was a theory brought to life. "I mean, Equestria alone shows that multiple universes exist, but this gives a second point of evidence! And the fact that you and your Sunset are still operating on regular mana levels means that you haven't been through the same paces we have." I turned to my wife, a cheeky grin spreading.

"Isn't that right, Princess?"

Sunny groaned.

"I told you not to call me that," she said grumpily. "We're on vacation, for Celestia's Sake!"

Sunset’s face paled, but only a little. Twilight’s brows raised and neither of them responded quickly to it. This Sunset was...a princess?

Eventually, Twilight spoke up. “A princess? As in, an Equestrian royal princess?” she adjusted her glasses.

The other couple nodded, this Sunset doing so a tad slower if perhaps sheepishly. She didn’t seem bothered by the knowledge per se, but having it revealed it to the other Sunset was a wild card to her.

“As in coronated in Canterlot by Princess Celestia?” Sunset winced at the thought. Not for this Sunset who would have a different relationship with the old mare, but rather for the idea of herself being in that situation

"I wasnt officially coronated," she said, fidgeting in her seat. "At least, not before the assembled ponies of Canterlot. It was pretty much just Celestia, Princess Twilight, and Starlight Glimmer. I think Spike might have been there too, but I'm not sure."

"Information kind of deseminated the way it does in a small town," I said. "Plus, wings and a horn on a pony are kind of clear giveaways."

"Twi, honey," Sunset whispered, discomfort sliding through the bond. "Could we change the subject?

Sunset decided to turn the tables rather than pretend to pout over her lack of wings as she did before. She looked sideways to her wife, who caught the look and grinned in return. They both had their guesses and synced their thoughts the way so many older couples could do with only a look.

“I gather the two of you used Equestrian magic and possibly a chemical carrier to manifest the fertilization method to facilitate the creation of your children,” Twilight adjusted her glasses with a smug grin.

The other Twilight only had a half-second of shock but then snapped her fingers in realization. Of course, if anyone else would think to look to the other side of the portal for a solution then it would be either Sunset or herself. Her other self.

“That was, of course, a possibility,” Twilight nodded in thought. “However, besides Sunny’s decision on Equestria, there was the concern of the sirens as well. Granted that was more of a lucky afterthought since we wanted a child before Dashie and Adagio got to that point. But cracking Sunny’s Equestrian DNA sequence turned out to make cracking siren DNA a snap. As you might expect, just as all living things of this world, living things from Equestria share an enormous amount of their genetic code in common. Sirens are even more genetically similar to ponies than chimpanzees are to humans,” Twilight continued only to have Sunset pick up her next words.

The slightly taller redhead crossed her somewhat muscular arms over her generous chest. “I think what my dear Watson is trying to say-”

“Hey!” Twilight turned on her wife and playfully punched her in the bicep.

Sunset’s grin only got bigger and she didn’t budge. “-is that you used magic where we used science. You may have more advanced magical abilities in certain respects, but we’ve discovered the secrets of Equestria on the biomolecular level. So there!”

Twilight was somewhat less a braggart about their accomplishment but no less proud. “Genetic splicing based on our Equestrian-Human DNA pairing algorithm has allowed complete assembly of genetic code from couples who are human-pony and even human-siren regardless of the originating sex of the parents. That’s how we had Sunlight. Not to mention Dashie and Adagio’s children!”

I grinned wildly.

"Oh, I have got to see your notes!" I cried. "We went the magic route when traditional methods didn't quite work out. The standard two-ova technique fizzled twice and genetic splicing was decades away from being a possibility. It was an..." I glanced at Sunset, who gave a quick toss of her eyes at the girls before shrugging. "Interesting experience. In many senses of the word. Even comparing it to our regular times, feeling it through the bond was just wonderful both times."

"Bond?" the other Sunset asked.

"Something happened as a side effect to her draining my magic through the portal," Sunny said. "Seems we got hooked together on the mental level somehow. It didn't flare up until the months after our experiences at Camp Everfree and the blossoming of our magic in their own new ways, but it's gotten to the point that we can speak to each other and feel what they're feeling."

I reached up to my shoulder as she spoke, feeling the scar on my shoulder just at the edge of my fingertips. "Fortunately, that didn't come until later," I whispered. Then a statement the other Twilight had said finally bubbled to the forefront of my mind.

"Wait, Dash and Adagio?" I said, sitting forward. "Who else wound up with whom?"

"Well," the more muscular Sunset hedged. "We'll fill you in on that later. What I want to know is how you managed to wind up with scars and what the devil happened at Camp Everfree."

"War," I said quietly.

"War," Sunset parroted and tapped her fingers on her thigh in thought. "It seems our universe has more times of peace to be thankful for..."

Twilight frowned, she never thought she'd be grateful for calm and safety that existed in her universe but not another. She adjusted her glasses and fidgeted. "There's a very real danger to us depending on which version of the multiverse theory is correct. If we have met from drastically divergent patches in a quilted multiverse then there may exist enough differences in our realities to guess within reasonably safe margins that the war and enemies you've faced do not exist in our world. But a quantum multiverse with a recent enough point of divergence could mean-!"

Sunset grabbed her wife's trembling hand in her own and gave her a steady reassuring look. Twilight looked back, searching Sunset's eyes deep and found the calm strength that had grown there ever since CHS. The redhead turned to the other Twilight. Perhaps their otherverse copies had some good news.

"What was the nature of this war? And what are the chances we might face the same in the future?"

"Low," I said, feeling the tinge of sorrow flow from my wife's side of the bond. "You already appear to have missed out on a threat to this world by virtue of the differing mana convergences, and with your apparent disinvestment in Equestria, you'll likely not have to deal with the second and more troubling one.." I stared into the mist of memory, the capture and mental torture I had undergone. "Due to a stopgap measure that Star Swirl the Bearded enacted on a group of chaos entities called harpies, we were all pretty badly beaten up." I saw Sunset rub her scars, catching brief glimpses of her memories of the pain it had caused.

"That's the threat that caused my Ascension," Sunny whispered. "He was draining the portal to break his children free, and I stopped him." A tear slipped from her eye. "And it almost cost me more than I could bear."

The Twilight across from me furrowed her brow. "How so?"

"She gained her wings when we brought her Element of Harmony from Equestria and brought it to a nascent Tree of Harmony here," I said. "The tree raised her to Alicorn status, but shortly after, I was captured." anger began to bubble as more memories of the time as a hostage flickered through my mind, Sunny's calm barely taking the edge off. I mastered it as I saw the pair across from us blink in concern.

"He tricked me into thinking I had been captive for months, being beset by Midnight Sparkle and having to defeat the illusions of my friends over and over. I even attacked Sunny when they did find me later that night, thinking it another trick."

"How did you beat him?" the other Sunset asked, and I saw the children watching out of the corner of my eye. Middy and Rory knew the story but loved hearing it, but Sunlight looked as though he was on the edge of his seat.

"In the course of researching the portal," Sunny said. "We came across a gem that had to do with a feature of the portal. I used it to force the Harpy back into the portal that served as his prison. It was an...explosive resolution."

"By which she means she blew up the portal for a few days," I said. "And worrying me half to death, thinking I had lost her."

The other couple gripped their hands.

"The other difficulty, and the actual war we spoke of," Sunny said. "Was when the daughter of King Sombra returned to try and retake the Crystal Empire using an army of undead ponies. She was using forbidden magics to stymie us at every turn and it was touch and go for a while there."

"That's where I got my scars," I said, feeling the puckered edge again. "In a skirmish, a blast from a Unicorn sliced my left wing off."

"Wait," Twilight said. "Your wing?"

Sunny nodded. "The Midnight Sparkle incarnation is what started her base ascension," she said. "Apparently, humans can't gain full Alicorn status due to genetics, but she was given the same mana reserves and stature that I have as a pony, though still smaller than Celestia. If you haven't already, while I'm thinking of it, you should write her. It did me a world of good to see her when I did."

"I'll..." the other Sunset whispered. "I'll think about it."

"I wasn't given wings in the traditional sense," I continued, grinning at the momentary flash of shared memory at Sunny's surprise when I had shown her. "They were manifestations of magic, my magic specifically. We never did figure out why they weren't solid, did we?"

"Starlight said that she and Princess Twilight hypothesized that it was mostly because they were mantic in origin, not physical," my wife said offhandedly. "I asked at one of the conferences."

"I thought I had gone with you on all of those, didn't I?" I asked.

"You were busy with your doctoral thesis," she replied, spreading her hands. "I didn't want to disturb you."

"That's not a real reason!" I sputtered, turning towards her.

"Remind you of anyone?" the other Twilight said.

"Not really," the other Sunset smirked, earning herself a playful punch.

Outcome cloudy, try again later...

Sunset's smile waned after the friendly jab. She leaned back in her seat. Above her was a clear sky, revealing nothing special to her. Something had started eating away at her inside and even her wife's suspicion of it did little to alleviate the growing unease she felt within.

"Perhaps we should take a walk as we talk?" Twilight offered. She knew her Sunset got uncomfortable if she wasn't up and doing something. She had always been the hands-on type, after all. Though Twilight didn't know if it was true of the other Sunset, she suspected it was at least likely. She could also sense a darkness emanating from her wife that no smile or pretend cheer could hide from a spouse of two decades.

The other Twilight politely agreed while the other Sunset shrugged and got up with them. Twilight led the way at a perfectly leisurely pace down the beach. She walked closest beside the other Twilight to ask what was on her mind next. She kept her own Sunset slightly behind but within her eyesight. They might need a private conversation either shortly or after this meeting of universes. What she intended to ask her doppelganger began instead as a statement.

"I wish it were night," the mature scientist remarked. "I might be able to see the stars then. There's more than an 89.3% probability that the differences between our similar realities would be apparent even as minor variations in the positions or movements of the stars."

"89.5%," the other Twilight pushed up her glasses and stared back insistently.

Twilight giggled and then pushed up her glasses as well. "I intentionally disregarded the potential 0.2% variation resulting from the possibly minor atmospheric distortion difference."

"Makes sense," Other Twilight pressed back her own giggle. Her twin knew exactly which variable she had in mind. It was pleasantly logical.

"So then," Twilight proceeded while trying to keep her ears on the conversation beginning with the Sunsets as well as their children. "If we're from differing segments of a multiverse, then what universe are we in right now? Is this the Hello Tropics from our world or yours? How did our universes even collide...?"

Just as she began to ask it, Twilight realized the theoretical implication of the potential collision of multiverse realms. Other Twilight beat her to voicing what they had simultaneously thought.

I froze, running multiple calculations through my head as quickly as I could, remembering every obscure piece of data I had ever read on the subject.

"I...I don't know," I said, mind still crunching numbers. "It looks just the same as it always has to me." I looked at my twin.

She glanced around. "Same," she said, nervously adjusting her glasses again. "I don't see any immediate out of place objects or differences to my memory."

I sighed as I finished my train of thought. "I thought so," I said, stooping down to draw in the sand as the Sunsets continued to pace a little further. Sunny always felt restless when she had nothing to do immediately in front of her and obviously the other Sunset did as well. I am sometimes amazed she sits still long enough to write her novels.

I couldn't help but linger on the two forms, seeing my slim and relaxed Sunset next to a more chiseled and toned one. I wonder...

Bad, Twilight, I thought immediately. No.

My Sunset glanced at me momentarily, an eyebrow quirking up for a moment. I blushed as I realised that I hadn't clamped down on the bond as tightly as I should have.

You have some explaining to do, she thought at me with a huge dose of humor.

Shut up, I responded. You're distracting me.

Me, or her? she thought before turning back to her counterpart, leading her away slightly.

"Marital problems?" my doppelganger asked, correctly hypothesizing about a mental conversation now that she knew of them.

"Your Sunny have a snarky side?"

She nodded.

"I just triggered mine and got teased for it."

"Ah," she said as she knelt down next to me as I scratched out figures in the sand.

"If my calculations are correct," I started. "The likelihood of intersection of parallel realities is unlikely if you figure harmonic resonance in." I drew a series of wavy lines. "If each reality truly begins from a single choice in the distant past, then the increasing sameness from the two means that they have very similar wavelengths to their cosmic harmonics. There may even be..."

"A sympathetic resonance!" she cried, dashing a few notes of her own. "Points that just happen to cross the quantum barrier due to the fact that it's on the same frequency of the other dimension! Like a radio picking up two stations at once!"

"Exactly!" I said. "This might be one of those places!"

I smiled as Twilight blushed and turned her back on me to talk with her twin, finger swirling in the sand as she discussed things. I turned to my doppelganger, dropping the smile and fixing what Middy had dubbed 'The Royal Look' on my face.

"What's wrong?" I asked her directly. She shifted, never meeting my eyes.

"I don't know what you mean," she said, casually looking up into the air.

"Roadapples," I said, not sparing her the tone of my voice. "Ever since my Twilight let it slip about my title you've grown increasingly distracted and moody." I toned down the glare on my face and gave a soft smile. "You know who you're talking to, right?"

“Do I?” Sunset responded after a time. She could have said that with the bitter melancholy she was feeling but instead her words were soft. Like a thought barely spoken in the wind. “You have reasons not to be happy about ascending as an alicorn but that’s because of events that happened in your timespace.”

“So what?” Other Sunset splayed her hands out with a feeling of repetition. “I already told-”

“-me that you two went through a lot along with it? Yes,” Sunset clenched her fists. The view was clear all the way out to the opening of the bay. Both opposing cliffs that formed the protected opening of the bay shielded view of the vast seas except for that spot in between. “But now I’ll always wonder.”

In some way, perhaps the closeness of their realities, the other Sunset was able to look the same way and catch the same thought. The sun shined back off of the waving water and became blinding in one corner of the bay’s relatively small opening. She felt a breeze of melancholy enter her mind as she looked hard at that spot and knew what had not yet been said.

The other Sunset gave voice to the feeling. “Wonder what it’s like to live that life you never lived. To see the world around that corner, knowing just how big it is out there. To know what's really out there.”

Sunset dropped her gaze and dragged her foot through the sand, watching how the grains moved beneath her. “You had adventures I never did. Experienced wonders I’ll never know.”

“Endured pain you never had to,” Other Sunset reminded, her own gaze shifting from the bay to her copy. Emotion began swelling up inside her. Melancholy gave way to a hundred other emotions that left her upset in a way she never thought she would be. “Yours is a life of peace and tranquility I never knew could be mine in another life!”

Sunset faced her other self fully. Her own emotions mirrored flawlessly. “You got everything I fought for when I was young! You got your wings-!”

I felt my fury cool, a cold anger coiling in my stomach as my voice lowered.

"You think I give a damn about these wings, after everything I've witnessed since I was saddled with them? In a very short span of time from when I was given those pesky appendages, I watched as Twilight recovered from being mentally tortured, witnessed an invasion of undead ponies on the Crystal Empire, was forced to not only witness the spirits of my dead parents raised to be used against me, but Applejack's as well, and in a fit of rage more fitting to how I used to be mercilessly burned a pony to death in retaliation for hurting my wife."

The anger, guilt, and regret battling within me were obvious in my eyes reflection like a storm cloud before fading. "So what if the choices made were different? Your parents pushed ambition on you, and you chose to abandon your past in favor of your brighter present and future. I may have been put to the yoke of duty by circumstances out of my control, but my real reward is that beautiful egghead and those two gorgeous girls, not the title. Things may have been different for us growing up, but regardless of that, you still have a fine life, Sunset Shimmer, a damn good one," I said. "And stars above, I don't think I need to tell you how amazing your wife is."

I looked on as the emotions still raged behind her eyes. I don't know if it was my empathic abilities or just the fact that I know myself, I could see she was still bothered by the fact that by a cosmic flip of the coin something had been denied to her. I sighed, and touched my pendant, feeling the rush of increased magic flow through me, and I ponied up, wings spreading behind me as I also grew several inches.

"What're you..."

"I get the feeling words won't convince you of everything I've said," I said, cutting her off. I drifted closer to her, my proximity forcing her own ponification by radial magic saturation.

Damn, now I'm instantly theorizing like Twilight. What was it people said about spouses as they got older?

I reached out with two fingers and touched her forehead where her horn wold have been.

"See for yourself," I whispered and opened the floodgates.

Sorla.

Acerak.

Chrysalis and the conjunction.

The Children of the Void and their master.

I fed every memory I had to her in vivid color, each twinge relived in my own mind. I felt the Harpies claws as they dug into my side, the flash of pain as the doorway crystal exploded. The horror of having to banish my parents and the sight of Applejack sobbing uncontrollably in my embrace. The confusion and panic during the conjunction Chrysalis had caused. The sight of the risen dead and the shockwave of the mantic explosion. Neighlin burning. My childhood home burning.

Just as I felt the strain on the other end, I started sending her memories of laughter with my sisters at holidays, seeing Ebony, Middy, and Rory being born, of seeing them play on both sides of the portal with Glory's daughter Wingsong. I showed her my wedding days and getting the first check from the publisher after my first novel was released, of Twilight walking across the stage to accept her doctorate in theoretical sciences. The picnics I had with the girls and their children.

While all this was occurring, I saw her life as well, her wedding, the trips to this very resort and the lives her friends had shared with her. I felt the worry over her Twilight's difficult pregnancy and the deep bond she shared with Sunlight. I also saw her proposal, their lives as a couple, including a few more private scenes that I felt momentary flashes of guilt at seeing.

I withdrew my fingers, dropping my magic as exhaustion washed through me. I stumbled a bit and saw purple arms slide under mine, supporting me.

You went a little heavy, there, Twilight thought to me with a hint of reproach. You almost pulled me and the other Twilight in with you on that exchange.

I looked at my counterpart, her eyes still gazing forward as the glow of magic faded.

She needed it, I replied, releasing my pony form as I regained my footing.

Hoping I was right.

Sunset's eyes narrowed and remained on her other self, but she was looking past her. Deeper. Images played in her mind from their connection. It felt like chains were keeping her from blinking or even breathing, so she gathered her strength. Her gaze lifted to the bright sky, encouraging her eyes to close for a moment as she took a deep breath and released it.

"I'm also the Element of Empathy, you know," Sunset's face softened into her casual grin. She felt free again. "I just never guessed I'd ever need...well, myself to show...myself."

The Other Sunset visibly relaxed. It appeared she had been concerned over her approach.

"Don't worry about it," Sunset encouraged and welcomed her wife, who came up behind her and hugged her from behind. "I can handle me," she winked. "And I did need that. For some things, words are not enough. Knowing your experiences more directly - and knowing mine - made it easier to see. The decisions I made in life led me here and made me who I am. I'd regret it more if I had made different choices and got to see this life as an outsider. We're both lucky to be who we are."

"I couldn't have said it better," Other Sunset gave a knowing look.

"Because I just did," Sunset smirked back. The pause was quickly broken by their shared giggling that helped sweep away the last of the tension. "Feels good. Not to worry, I mean."

Twilight groaned behind her wife and stuck her head around Sunset's shoulder to look at the other one. "Please don't you start too. I don't think I can take twice my Sunset."

"No worries," Other Sunset put her hands up in defense. "We're not entirely the same."

"I don't know," Sunset narrowed her eyes and leaned forward at her double. "I mean, some of those special memories I saw in your head when we connected seemed pretty familiar. Especially the steamy ones," she added with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

"Seems fair," I conceeded, feeling a blush creep up my face and hearin Sunshine let out a sound that sounded curiously like "meep". "I did kinda get front row seats to some of yours by accident."

The other Twilight let out a similar sound as she flashed red.

"As exciting as I'm sure the talk is," Midnight said in a caustic tone from behind us, adjusting her sunglasses in a motion strikingly similar to her mother. "Could we not hear you talk about that? It's doubly weird and disturbing right now."

Aurora and Sunlight stood by her, nodding in agreement.

I flashed my twin a wicked grin, seeing it mirrored perfectly.

"Sunset Shimmer," my wife warned as she picked up on my mischievousness. "Don't you do it."

"Alright," I said. "I won't share the story of how bad your estrus was when we conceived Rory."

My daughters shrieked in disgust and walked away quickly as Twilight punched me hard in the arm. The twins of my wife and I started laughing.

"Totally worth it," I said as I joined in. Then I noticed hat their son, Sunlight, had a look of confusion on his face, eyes roving back and forth as he searched his thoughts.

"What's the matter, kiddo?" I asked.

"What's estrus?"

Four faces turned bright red and Twilight grabbed my arm, leading us away.

"We'll let your parents tell you, Sunlight," she said hurredly. "We'll meet you all at the docks!"

And we fled, leaving our twins sputtering in confusion.

Exploration

Twilight stepped off the Hydro Star. She knew this tiny private dock well. So did her son for that matter. With several more years behind them, they could even boast a quarter century of visits. But it was the warm familiar atmosphere that soothed her more - even sharing it with others who apparently knew it just as much.

The sun was well filtered out of her eyes and indeed their group. They had just started down the path towards the villa, though Twilight was the last one off the small ship. The shading even covered the ship, since the jungle-like trees stretched out from their watery roots on the shore to a good thirty feet or more over the water. It almost felt like another world if not for the similar vegetation that littered the beach they came from and the undisturbed jungle environment on the far north side of the resort.

She hefted her son's duffle bag on one shoulder while the other was used for her own. "Lighty!" she called out after him and over the song of the tropical birdlife living all around them. "You forgot something!"

The teenage boy was pulled out of his own world he had become lost in while keeping up with the girls of the mirrored couple. His look of confusion as he turned to see his mother was turned to embarrassment when he realized he had just walked out without his things. He jogged back to relieve his parent of his burden while his alter-dimensional sisters waited for him.

“Sorry, mom,” he winced.

“Having too much fun, Lighty?” Twilight adjusted her glasses.

He blushed at that. “Rory was thinking we could go around the island. It’s more interesting off the paths.”

“Your mother and I were going to relax. Probably the spring, judging by the favorable temperature of the water-”

“So we can go?” Sunlight jumped a bit as he shifted the weight of his duffle bag on his shoulder.

Twilight giggled. “You know the island at least as well as we do. Just make sure the girls have permission as well.”

“Will do!” Sunlight leaned forward and hugged his mom tight before jogging back to his fellow explorers.

Twilight gave a gentle sigh and smiled as she saw her own Sunset stop ahead as well to wait for her.

I found it difficult not to laugh as my sister made the case to our parents for going and exploring the island. She may be somewhat oblivious to just how much she was smitten by our ersatz brother, but Mom and Mother could tell. I could tell, and I'm usually the dense one when it came to romances.

Mom furrowed up her face, tucking her sunglasses up in her fiery hair like a headband, glancing at Mother. I knew they were discussing things over mentally, the process being faster than talking out loud. It was kind of cool, but it had come to play against us as kids. It's hard to play one parent of the other when they are linked at the subconscious level.

"Rules," Mother said, pushing her glasses up slightly. "You and Midnight are to stay together at all times."

I blinked, startled. I loved my sister, don't get me wrong, but I had t expected to be roped into this expedition.

Mom cut off her protest before it started. "She knows the island better than you and actually paid attention when we tried to teach you navigation skills when you were little," she said, shooting me a soft smile. "Second rule, be back to villa by sundown."

"Final rule," mother said, pulling her into a hug and nuzzling her. "Have fun, but not too much fun."

Rory smiled and almost skipped out to the porch to let Sunlight know we had permission to go hiking. I stayed back a minute to look at my parents.

"Rory knows this island fairly well and I'm sure Sunlight does too," I said posting my hands on my hips. "I'm going along to play the unwitting chaperone, aren't I?"

Mom laughed and nuzzled me, a wave of joy and love flooding my senses.

"Of course not," she said. "Do you really think we're that devious?"

I smirked.

"I had to have gotten it from one of you two," I said as I settled my glasses back over my eyes before turning to follow after my sister.

Sunlight uncrossed his arms when he saw the two girls come back out of the villa their parents had gone into, where he had only dropped off his bag inside. He had some fresh lotion on but doubted it would be needed, since just about every spot on the island was heavily shaded by the close-knit tree canopy. It was hot and humid enough that he considered ditching his white open-front overshirt altogether. It had inner pockets, however, that hid a few items he wanted to bring along. They were bulky enough to be obvious since the rest of the shirt was rather thin and wavy in the breeze.

Aurora was first out to greet him with a skip in her step. He knew his parents were okay with it and was happy theirs were as well, since it might have been rather boring otherwise.

"Welcome back to nature, my little explorer," he spread his arms out to indicate the jungle crowding in towards the villa's cleared lawnspace.

Rory took the proffered arm with a sigh and I rolled my eyes. Clearly, Aunt Rarity had been the major influence on her. Neither of our parents were that dramatic about romantic gestures.

At least in public. I bit down a snicker as I remembered Sunlight's look of confusion over Mom's quip over estrus earlier. Lucky, I thought. I wish I could be oblivious of that particular bit of knowledge, but two X chromosomes denied me that bliss.

"So, Lighty," I spoke up to end the silent trek. "Got any special places on this rock you want to show us? I know one Rory and I used to go when we were kids."

The young man thought for a moment, eyes going distant beneath his two-toned hair.

He is cute, I thought as he glanced around to get his bearings. Shame he's related to us. Rory is not going to take leaving well.

Sunlight pointed off to the southeast.

"This way," he said, leading us to a small and somewhat overgrown trail. "You're going to love the view."

"Lead on, little brother," I said with a smirk.

Sunlight's step faltered slightly when he registered the comment.

"Little?'" he sputtered. "But I'm five foot eight!"

And I'm five six," I smirked at him, tying my silvery hair back. "But I'm talking age wise. You're older than Rory but younger than I am. Kinda makes you my little brother, if you ignore the minor genetic variance and quantum harmonic frequency occuring between the dimensional thresholds."

"Celestia, you sounded like Mother just then," Rory piped up.

"Mini-Mom," chimed in Sunlight, which prompted all three to laugh.

Shrugging it off with a joyful skip in his step, Sunlight pulled Aurora along. He liked the idea of having siblings since he always wondered what it would be like and he had a good impression of these two. His close friendships at CHS had him well used to joint adventures to mention nothing of Sunset's playful influence on him.

He thus quickly led them off the villa lawn and into the off-path wilderness of the island. Well, off-path might have been a stretch since something of a faint animal trail had been paved this way as a result of his countless excursions here over the years. It wouldn't take them long to get to one of his favorite spots: the stepping waterfalls.

"So that makes you my little sister?" Sunlight hopped ahead and turned to face Aurora while walking backwards. It was somewhat of a gamble but he knew the path well enough not to trip easily.

"Just don't call me the baby sister," Rory retorted with what was clearly a rehearsed toss of her hair and a grin I recognized from Mother, the one she used to project innocence when she played at mischief. I personally liked Mom's better, as it didn't bother hiding the mischief.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Sunlight said in that quiet and earnest way of his. He turned to face the trail for a moment and missed Aurora snapping a brief frustrated frown his way.

I smiled, trying to decide if I should be amused with how Sunlight was either missing or ignoring her advances or wanting to console my sister. We were blood, after all, and both had some interesting adventures of our own with Ebony and Wingsong in Equestrian.

But this was different than running with the girls. There was something...peaceful about it, familiar despite the new.

My thoughts were interrupted by the growing sound of rushing water.

The island was not terribly large. Just large enough to have a variety of interesting places. This was one of Sunlight's favorite and the fern-ridden trail opened up to one of the island's many tiny coves. This one, however, had a smaller pool than most at the bottom and a series of rocky steps on the opposite side of the cove's mossy wall. A small stream fell from the top lip of the wall, rushed down to one step, and then flowed sideways onto another. It went back and forth like this somewhat chaostically until he fed into the pool at the bottom. The waterfalls were small and gentle, not threatening at all.

Sunlight minded the drop at the end of the trail and stepped down first since it was a good foot and a half. "Careful getting down here," he told the girls he turned back to. "I think the drop gets a little worse each year."

Since Aurora had been the closest to him so far, he stretched his arms out to her to help her down.

I smiled as Aurora took his hand. That's adorable, I thought.

"Oh, come on, Rory!" I exclaimed, stepping to the side of my siblings and leapt across to the next lowest 'step' in this waterfall. "We've cleared longer jumps than this!"

"Middy!"" She sighed, turning to Sunlight. "Sorry, shes impulsive and doesn't know the meaning of restraint."

I blew a raspberry at her and hopped down tbe next step, the water splashing up and soaking the lower hem of my swimsuit coverup.

"Don't mention it," Sunlight shook his head as he helped Aurora down. "I didn't mean to imply either of you couldn't just hop dpown on your own. I was just trying to be nice. Now that I think of it, though..."

They got down to a middle part of the steps and Sunlight took off his overshirt so he could put it on the usual rock that made for an excellent clothes hook. His swim trunks he had on were as bright and cheery as the yellow and pink locks of his hair. Shapes of suns and beaches were printed on them not too unlike Hello Tropics itself.

"...you two are technically princesses, right? Since at least one of your moms is one in Equestria?"

Rory had to catch her breath before replying. Even I found his bare chest worth a second glance, though he was a bit lanky for my tastes.

"Only in the loosest sense," Rory said. "And mostly because Mom wants us to make the choice ourselves."

I nodded. "She's never been fully comfortable with it," I said, leaning back against the rock face. "Says it cost too much. But every time we visit, she's always smiling, that smile that you can't fake."

"It's just as much her home as here is," Rory said, eyeing the distance down to the next step. "The atmosphere, the sense of adventure around the bend, the magic..."

"Magic?" Sunlight said, a cloud passing over his features momentarily.

"Our pony forms are both Unicorns," I said. "Horn and all, down to the tattoo on our flanks. Those were surprises, no doubt."

"I still can't believe both parents let you get yours tattooed on your leg," Aurora said with a huff.

"Why?" I asked, pulling the cover up aside to reveal the three magenta stars on my left thigh. "We both wear them all the time when we go over, why not keep a bit of it wih us here? Or is it because yours is so complex you're afraid of the artist messing it up, or the pain perhaps?"

Rory laughed and jumped down next to me, grabbing me up in a hug.

"I prefer to make my statement in other ways," she said, her arm sliding over my shoulder in a casual way. She glanced up at the young man standing above us.

"Come on down, already," she said. "We don't bite!"

"Hard," I stage whispered, a wicked look on my face.

Rory gave me a gentle shove, laughing.

"You're impossible!" She giggled.

"Unicorns, huh?" Sunlight had an open mouth. The tattoo on Midnight's bare thigh surprised him, but he found it fitting. He jumped down a step and then clambered to the final rock before the pool of water at the bottom. "Cutie marks too...I've always wondered what I'd be and what mark I'd have if I went over."

He put his legs in the water as he watched them and enjoyed the warmth of it in spite of the equally warm and humid air.

"Still, a tattoo. Mom would kill me if I got one," he giggled and spalshed up some water on himself. "Though, I don't think I'd ever want one unless I really like my cutie mark. What's yours, Rory? Can I call you that? Oh and, for the record, I don't bite either," he added with a wink.

"Rory is what everyone calls me, unless I'm in trouble," my sister said as she slid off her sundress to reveal the surprisingly modest swimsuit underneath and climbed softly into the pool. Once she had secured her footing, she submerged for a second and pushing her hair out of the way on surfacing.

I started untying the sarong and stretched out on the warm stone.

"Her cutie mark is a flute on a music staff," I said as the warm stone eased some tension from my back. "It sort of appeared when we went through the weekend after she scored straight ones in the State Music assembly." I winked at my sister as she ducked her head with a proud smile.

Sunlight tilted his head. "Nice," he said. "What about yours?"

I closed my eyes and rolled onto my side.

"I was visiting Aunt Sparky - tbe Twilight from across the mirror, that is - and we were watching a celestial alignment of some of Princess Luna's stars when I thought I saw something. It turned out to be three shooting star that werent visible to anyone else yet." I winked a jade green eye. "Turns out that I can see better at night than most ponies outside of thestrals. My cutie mark appeared that night. And it was a weird sensation."

"Aunt Pinkie's party was fun, at least," Rory said, gliding through the water.

"Both of them " I agreed, wistfully.

Rory came to a stop near a partially submerbed stone and perched on it.

"But, as to what you'd be, Sunlight," she said as she wrung some of the water from her multicolored locks. "It's going to be hit or miss. You've got Unicorn heritage, and given that Twilight's counterpart is also a Unicorn - or was, rather - you have a better than averave chance of being one too. The tribes usually breed true, though there is an exception in, what was it?"

"I think Mom said one in five thousand or so," I said. "Nopony keeps records on it, really."

"And as far as a cutie mark, well, what are you good at?" She asked, turning her sky blue eyes on the youth.

The boy slipped carefully into the water, cautious not to let the natural rock scrape him. The pool was deep enough even though it was smaller than many of the others on the island. He swam leisurely towards Aurora, since she was the one he was replying to.

"I'm not sure," he half-shrugged in the water as he drifted along. "I mean, high school doesn't have a lot of specialized courses. At least not CHS anyways. I've always done really well in science but I haven't decided which direction I want to go in. Mom and Ma both think I would be best off taking an apprenticeship rather than university, since they both know several people who would take me on. Astrophysics and solar engineering interest me the most, so maybe one of those might be my cutie mark."

Sunlight's swimming had led him over to Aurora's partially submerbed stone. He had taken to floating on his back and glided to a slow halt next to her. That's when he finished his inner musing about his future decisions and oberved something about the girl. Perhaps it was the lack of the glaring sun or the way her wet hair had changed her look. He turned upright in the water and held onto the rock for balance.

"I just noticed," he said while leaning in closer and peering into Aurora's eyes. "Your eyes are just like mine," he gave a gentle smile while trying to contain his excitement. "I'd say they're pretty but I wouldn't want to sound like I was saying that about my own eyes. I mean, it looks really good on you."

"Oh, Luna's Moon," Aurora said, blushing and glancing coyly away. "You are too kind."

I smiled as I slid into the water as well, having sunned myself enough for one day. Compliments were the one thing Rory didn't know how to properly field, though she got them all the time.

"I mean it," Sunlight said. "They're rather lovely."

Rory fidgeted some more and I piped up.

"She doesn't think you're being too kind," I said. "She's never been good on taking compliments. I think she doesn't know how to respond to them."

"It's not that," she said softly. "I never expect them. And usually I'm always hearing about my hair and how fitting it is. It gets old."

I glanced at her hair. While the water had darkened it's hues, the orange, white, and purple variegation were reminiscent of the Aurora Borealis, just as the blue and magenta in my silver locks made one think of a nighttime sky filled with stars.

"Rory," I said with a sigh. "You're a pretty young lady. And if you two don't kiss already I'm going to think I've slipped into some bad RomCom."

The shocked look on their faces were completely undermined by the scarlet blush that swiftly spread across heir cheeks and the subtle quick glance to each other.

"Honestly!" Rory said, sounding like Aunt Rarity again.

"Stow it, Aurora," I said gently. "I'm dense as can be when it comes to relationships and even I can see you at least have a crush on him. And, consciously or not, he's been deferring to you with his speech and gaze this whole trip."

He felt flushed, which of course he was. "I-it's j-just," he stumbled and sunk lower in the water. "T-this is so new to me. I've never had siblings before and Rory's eyes just made me really think how we're related and all..."

The last part of his embarassed mumblings were muffled nearly to the point of incomprehension as he continued lowering into the water so that the surface met his lips.

"...and you're kind of scary."

Both of the girls burst out laughing.

"Aww," Sunlight pouted at the surface of the water. "C'mon..."

It was true that he found Midnight a little intimidating, but then he hadn't known her for long. She was older than him and he had no idea how to deal with someone who was essentially an older sibling. Aurora, on the other hand, reminded him enough of Cookie Frosting back at CHS - perhaps his closest friend. That and there was the matter of the girl's name.

"They named you Midnight," Sunlight fidgeted under the water. "Just like mom's magic form. I mean, when she does it these days she's still just mom to me, but Midnight used to scare me a little when I was younger."

"Fair enough," I said. "Though, truth be told, they named me that because apparently when Mother's water broke and the first contraction hit, she changed instinctively to Midnight Sparkle. The color doesnt help." I ran a hand through my hair, its bright colors standing starkly from my darker skin tone.

I smirked. "Besides, she's the one with a temper," I said, gesturing at my sister.

"I do not have a temper!" she called, splashing water in my direction.

"In comparison, you do," I said before sticking out my tongue in her direction. "Even Mom has commented on it!"

She crossed her arms and pouted for a second before reaching down and mussing Sunlights hair as Mom often did hers.

"Get up out of there," she said. "Middy may be a little fierce amd intense, but she never uses it against family. Only against bullies."

"And Diamond Dogs," I added, rubbing the back of my head as an embarassed blush creapt up my neck.

"And since you'neither," Rory continued. "I think you are quite safe from the horrible big sister." Her eyes betrayed the laughter she held back.

Sunlight pressed his lips together and forced himself to relax again. He pulled himself up and onto the rock next to Aurora before messing with the pink in his hair to get it out of his eyes. When brushed aside, he looked directly at Midnight's eyes.

"You know, when I was really young - like a toddler or something - my ma would often transform into Daydream because she could somehow stop me from crying when she did that. I don't know why but I guess it worked. The problem was that she had to transform with my mom at the same time so mom had to hide as Midnight to keep me from getting upset."

He let his gaze drop when he caught sight of a tiny colorful fish darting about in the water near them. It wandered aimlessly before hanging around the nearest waterfall.

"When I got older I started to realize that mom was staying out of sight and it made me feel bad. I got over being scared because nothing about her changed besides her looks - well, there was the whole magic thing too. She seemed really happy that I eventually wanted her to be included with whatever I was doing with ma. I guess it's just really cool to know how your Midnight has been a part of your lives," he finished by turning back to Aurora. Then a new thought came to him and his gaze returned to Midnight. "You know, there's lots of other awesome spots besides this one we could check out if you're interested. There's this huge sea turtle that lives only a couple pools over."

"She hasnt been, really," I said. "Nothings come along that's made Mother require the form. Mom hasnt even needed her Daydream form since..."

I looked at Rory, who shrugged.

"Well, at least since we were born," I said, climnbing out of the pool and rummaging in a pocket of my sarong that Au t Rarity had helped me add. I pulled my phone free and started searching pictures.

Rory recognized what I was doing and pulled Sunlight over just as I found pictures of us from Halloween when we were kids. Our parents stood behind us in their powered up forms while I was dressed as a unicorn. I cringed at the memory. Rory had gone as a princess and was wearing Mom's tiara.

"This is how we remember them," I said, smiling at the softer lines of Mothers Midnight form, none of the menace that our aunts or uncles had described from her first appearance.

Then Rory reached over and swiped a finver across the screen to reveal a picture of us in our pony forms with Ebony and Wingsong that I had taken from the hard copy.

"Hey!" I squawked in surprise.

"Whoa!" Sunlight marveled at the photo. "You two are really cute! I mean as ponies...but as humans too..."

Rather than feeling uncomfortable, Sunlight gave Midnight a hopeful if somewhat shy look. As an afterthought he wondered if she preferred being called "cool" or "strong" or something else. He wanted to get more comforable with her but was so nervous about a response that he wound up dropping his gaze back to the pool and the fish within.

"You probably wouldn't look half bad yourself," Rory said. "You should see Mom and Mother!"

I nodded, reaching over and putting an arm around his shoulders. "I wouldn't mind seeing that myself," I said, giving him a warm smile. On a whim, I leaned down and touched my forehead to his.

Rory and I had inherited a portion of the bond our parents shared. While we couldnt hear thoughts, we could do the simple emotional channel that out Aunts Dew and Glory also did, though it was harder without the horn.

I relaxed and sent a wave of contentment and some snarky mirth through the link, reaching out and taking my sisters hand as I did.

And as the emotions flowed out, I felt a resonance.

The emotional wave was less like a surge and more like a gentle push of the water upon the beach. Sunlight felt his nervousness fade and he relaxed again. It felt serene, like the many nights he stayed up and stargazed with his mother, Twilight. A red streak formed under his eyes, however, when his mind returned to the face that was so close to his. Midnight filled all of his view, her eyes seeming to sparkle.

"Do this often?" he decided to remark with a forming grin as a somewhat snarky feeling bounced back out of him.

"Quite often," I returned, feeling Aurora's hair brush my shoulder as she leaned in to share. As her unique feel joined the wash of feelings, I smiled softly and gently. "This is how we were quieted as kids. Mom and Mother can actually talk through a bond like this, but we never learned that trick."

"If we even can," Rory added. "They got that under some special circumstances."

I sighed, closing my eyes and just felt the closeness of my sister and the wave of wonder flowing from Sunlight. His emotions were interesting, less shy than Ebony, and more than a little like Rory and I, though considering tne shared parentage that was to be expected.

What wasn't expected, though, was the wash of feeling I suddenly felt as I wrapped my arms around them both.

Sunlight felt a rush when Midnight put her arms around him and Aurora. The love they shared as family ignited a flame in his heart as his own love was added in the connection along with unsettled feelings of mutual attraction. His eyes glowed and then dimmed to normal, a band of orange now across his upper face from ear to ear. A super bright glow then emanated from his forhead. Even he knew something was there because of the light, though it was above and angled away from his eyes.

Midnight leaned her forehead away from his when she saw the change in his countenance and the glow between them. This only caused Sunlight to look back and forth between Midnight and Aurora.

"What is it? What's that light?" he asked, trying to read their surprised expressions and not aware of the glowing yellow spire on his forehead. It was shorter than Daydream's but no less real or bright.

I blinked, shocked. At his question, Rory leaned back and then gasped, hand going up to cover her mouth.

"What?" Sunlight asked.

I grabbed my phone and snapped a photo, turning the device so he could see his new appearance.

"You ponied up," I said, following suit along with Rory.

Ours were slightly different from our parents and aunts, for reasons we could t explain. When we ponied up, not only did our ears and horns grow, our cutie marks manifested.

And I grew a tail as opposed to extra long hair.

And strangely, I always felt more comfortable like this than I did most other times. I kept meaning to talk to Mom about it, but things kept getting in the way.

"How do you feel?" Rory asked.

The boy waved his arms a bit. "Kind of warm, to be honest. Like there's a fire inside of me but not burning. More like a hot bath that's cool enough to get into? It's so weird..."

But then just as he cautiously reached up toward the light above his eyesight, it popped out of existense. The orange band faded from his face along with the extinguished horn. He hadn't felt any other changes and the picture showed only facial transformations. He knew what his mothers turned into and thus couldn't help wondering why he didn't have some full transformation like them. The trigger, though...had it been these girls and the special connection they shared? It couldn't have been the thick humid jungle air mixed with sea breeze.

"Awww," he pouted and then got an idea along with a big smile. "Maybe unlocking the mysteries of my magic involves special hugs!"

"That's normal," I said. "The warmth, that is. It's your body turning latent mana into observable reactions. Now that you've done it once, it will be easier next time, until you barely even think about it."

The boy mused over it as I pulled myself out of the water. I swear to Luna I didn't intentionally flick my tail against his chest as I did.

I think.

I glanced up to hide the slight blush on my cheeks.

"Looks like we still have four hours before sunset," I said casually. "That enough time to see that sea turtle?"

Sunlight nodded. "And some to spare."

Rory climbed out behind me, both of us de-ponying almost in unison.

"What are we waiting for?" She asked, pulling her sundress back on over her swimsuit.

I snuck a glance at Lighty as he climbed out as well.

What indeed?

Meanwhile, back at the Villa...

I sighed as I watched my daughters walk off into the jungle with a teenage boy. Was I sure this was a good idea?

Twilight swatted me on the arm. "They'll be fine," she said. "They're good young ladies. And I get a good feeling from Sunlight. He'll keep them out of trouble, I'm sure."

I smiled and nodded, looking around the villa we were staying in. While it maintained the same location and general design from the pony version we had honeymooned in and the one we had visited off and on over the years, it had changed since our last foray five years ago. In that time, one of the hurricanes that blew through had damaged some of the resorts buildings, villa included, despite the cove's normal protection for the island on which it sat. Oxygen Rush had mentioned some of the towns and portions of the resort not nestled in the horseshoe-shaped cove had fared much worse.

The villa had been rebuilt slightly larger with more modern conveniences; LED lighting that ran off solar panels, polarized smartglass in the windows so you could adjust the sunlight - and heat - that bled into the building. It could be controlled by several panels in each room and with motion sensors,x it would automatically disable any light in a room not occupied for more than five minutes. I was amazed at how fast the place started to feel comfortable despite its new look.

The door opened behind me to admit our alternate selves, glancing at the upgrades themselves.

"I really wouldn't be surprised if Oxy wired some of this herself," Sunset remarked with a lop-sided grin. "Practically would have been a vacation for her."

Twilight walked over to the living room sofa and put down her bag next to it. She fell upon the soft cushions with a calculated drop and sigh of rest. "At least the Hydro Star wasn't badly damaged. That thing is her baby, and I'd really feel bad for her if something happened to it."

Sunset yawned after dropping off her own bag and rummaging through the kitchen. “I guess we got to share for now...with ourselves...”

The other Sunset gave a sly look in return.

That ignited a horrible idea in the first redhead’s mind. “Soooo,” she trailed out while giving a wiggle of her brows, “you keep the wife-slaying bikini in the same spot I do? Second closet rack on the right?”

"Usually, yeah," I said, feeling my wife's combined embarrassment and muted arousal trickle across the bond. I hefted the rucksack that I had just picked back up. "It's in here at the moment though."

My twin laughed. "Of course, none of us have unpacked yet." She glanced at the villa's interior, a frown creasing her face.

"I dont remember that hallway," she murmured.

Her wife adjusted her glasses before shaking her head. "You zoned out during the trip over," she said. "Oxygen said they had expanded the villa when they repaired it. There's room enough for us, the kids, and Adagio if she decides to visit."

Twilight and I perked up at the mention of possibly seeing this reality's versionof the Siren. And hadn't they mentioned she was with Rainbow Dash?

This is going to be some vacation, I thought.

Think of what we can learn, though! Twilight returned, the hunger for knowledge burning in her eyes.

I shook my head as we went to claim one of the bedrooms

Sunset followed Twilight down the hall and into the spare bedroom for Rainbow and her wife. It was spacious and much like the primary bedrooms with the exception of facing a different edge of the villa and having more solid wall in place of glass. It was impressive nonetheless. When her wife looked to her, Sunset shrugged.

"Works for me," Sunset declared after spreading out on the soft queen mattress. The covers were as plush as she remembered the ones in the main bedroom.

"What about Lighty?" Twilight held a visage of concern. It was the particular kind she used whenever she had some concern over their son. Between the two of them, she tended to fuss over him more.

Sunset shrugged again before getting off the bed and heading for the door. "He can bunk with the girls."

Twilight's eye widened and then she huffed. "I'm being serious, Sunny!"

The redhead just giggled as she walked over to the primary bedroom, discarding her overshirt on the way. They had been in their swimsuits the whole time and Sunset was ready to use them. "What? It's not like anything is going to happen. And even if it did, we both know it'd be them and not him."

The glasses-wearing woman gave a disapproving glare but followed Sunset into the main bedroom.

The rucksacks hit the bed in one of the two master suites the villa now housed, the other being given over to our twins. The opulance had not decreased in the renovations. Rather, they may have been increased, silk sheets and satin pillowcases replaced the soft cotton bedclothes of yesteryear. I ran my hand over the ebony wood of the bedframe.

"How did we afford this place the first time?" I asked out loud.

"Wedding gift from Cadence, Luna, and Celestia," my wife replied, easing the door shut.

I turned to smile at my wife when I felt invisible hands shove me onto the bed and hold me there. Twilight took off her glasses and floated them to the side table without looking, a trick she had mastered in the last twenty -some odd years.

"I think we have a little bit of alone time," she said, slowly slipping her coverup off. "The kids will be gone for a few hours, and I can't help but feel our alternate selves may be a bit busy themselves."

I smiled and tilted my head to her, the arousal in the bond resonating and feeding off both of us. She leaned in, reaching back to untie her top...

A quick series of knocks broke us from our sensual trance.

"Hey, we're heading to the lagoon," my twin's voice carried through the wood. "Dont be too long!"

Twilight sighed and rested her head against mine. Our combined frustratuon simmered for a moment.

"Luna's Moon!" she swore softly. "It's like Rory coming home early all over again."

I leaned up and kissed her as she released her spectral grip. "Be paitient, Sunshine," I said. "It's not like this is the only time alone we'll have."

"Yeah, but being interrupted by the voice of the woman you're kissing af the moment is..." she frowned, searching for the proper word. "Disconcerting."

I nodded and brushed a stray lock of her hair to the side. She got up and went to grab her coverup and I plucked the strands of our bond, causing her to shiver before glaring at me.

"You're going to be doing that all afternoon, arent you?" She accused.

"Maybe," I drawled, hands held out as she wadded her coverup and threw it at me.

"What's the rush?" Twilight caught her breath as they reached the end of the trail that opened up to the sheltered lagoon. For the most part, it remained the same. However, Twilight could see a large stork take off from the far end of the lagoon and fly out towards the ocean just as she came around the rock and trees that had shielded her view.

Sunset ditched her sandals and dove into the deep spot she knew was safe. Her answer thus did not come until she resurfaced in the warm clear water. Her wet hair now drooped on her, losing part of the wave it had when not weighted down by liquid. "I originally planned on us being here alone for a while when Lighty went to the diving center as usual. But now we've probably only got a few minutes before the others get here. There's something I wanted to try too!"

Twilight wondered at her wife's enthusiasm even while she started to suspect what it was about. She found a more gentle entry to Sunset's spot besides the rock her wife had jumped from. In short order, she waded into the welcoming water and approached her spouse. "What's that?"

The redhead smirked and, with a single stroke, closed the remaining distance between them. She easily pulled her wife around to the rock that formed a wall on that side of the lagoon. There, she sandwhiched her while being conscious not to press her against any sharp rock that would ruin the mood. "Don't think I lost interest for a second. That bikini of yours has been driving me crazy since you put it on this morning."

"Well, it is one of your favorites," Twilight coolly explained. "And the exposure is always a nice feeling after being in those lab coats all-"

Twilight's rambling was silenced as it often was by the crush of Sunset's lips against her own. This was still their vacation and Sunset would be darned if she didn't use it. A couple of decades did nothing to cool her love for Twilight, so the sensation of this kiss and her wife's arms wrapping around her neck brought her to nirvana.

As we walked to the lagoon, I saw a stork winging it's way off to the east, spreading it's wings as it caught an updraft from the ocean.

"Wonder if we'll have time to do a little flying," I wondered out loud, squeezing my wife's hand. "We're only here for a week, and I want to spend time with the girls."

"We'll make time," Twilight said as we came into sight of the lagoon.

"That's odd," I said, bending down to stare at a pair of discarded sandals, then comparing them to the ones on my feet. "These look like mine..."

"Probably your counterpart's," my wife said, coming up besides me, glancing around. "I dont see them, maybe they're past the fall?"

I shrugged, chucking my own sandals off to the side. "Well, I'm for a swim," I said, glancing back at my love as mischief suddenly flooded the bond. "What're you..."

My wings manifested just in time for me to hit the water from my wife's shove. As I foundered to the surface, I spat water out and glared upward at my mutinous wife, who was giggling on the overhang.

Then I saw two pairs of eyes staring, and my face turned as red as my hair.

Apparently I had made a bigger splash than I realized.

The kiss, which was their second after a break for cool air, ended with a literal splash. Twilight gave an "eep" along with her flushed face when the other Sunset surfaced. She was blushing too.

"Uh..." Sunset hung her mouth open. She had honestly expected a little more time. Or perhaps she had instead lost track of time while making out with her spouse. That was, after all, a common occurrence. She regained her composure while refusing to let go of her wife. A snarky thought came to her mind as smooth as warm coconut oil. "Hey, Sunny," she addressed her other self. "Look familiar?"

"We'll be even after I catch my trecherous wife," Other Sunset growled before thrusting upwards in an attempt to fly out of the water. Unfortunately, the heavy weight of her soaked wings only allowed her to splash backwards again into the crystal water.

I surfaced again and dismissed my wings, raking soaked hair from my face.

"I'm going to get you for that, Sparkle," I called up, making sure to color the anger in the voice with laughter through the bond. "Just you wait!"

"What're you gonna do?" came the reply. "Make me help you preen your feathers again?"

My face turned redder and I sank a little lower in the water.

When did you get so snarky? I asked.

About twenty years ago.

I stood a little as I felt the redness fade and turned to the couple I had inadvertently interrupted.

"Sorry," I said, not quite looking at them. Not out of guilt, but the other Twilight was missing just a bit of coverage beyond an amber-toned hand.

"Um..."

“I’m sure it’s nothing you haven’t seen before,” Twilight looked up to the other Sunset while quickly recollecting herself. After all, the familiar face made it easy.

“Yeah,” Sunset agreed with her wife and then looked up and over to the other Twilight. “Might want to get over here quick, though. I think your wife is already missing her arm candy!”

Twilight couldn’t help blurting out a chuckle and gently punching her wife’s arm for the joke. She was still up against Sunset and, before turning about, she repositioned the straps on her top so it would not cause an immediate wardrobe malfunction during a swim.

In any case, there was indeed a difference of choice when it came to swimsuit selection. This other Sunset and Twilight did not wear the same opposing color schemes and generous angles.

I heard the rocks scrabbling along the gentle slope that led to tbe edge of the pool, and my wife slid around the corner and into the water to deny my revenge by yanking her in. She stuck her tongue out at me when she saw my glare.

She was wearing the same suit we had arrived in, front zipped with a racer back top to discretely hide her scar. The top and matching bottoms were ombre, going from dark indigo into a warm orange-red that was as close to my hair as she had been able to find. She liked the idea that our link had blended us both a little, a fact that had helped us keep our mentalities straight during the conjunction.

I had on a suit similar to the one I had worn on the cruise all those years ago, only now the halter top held all four cutie marks of our family embroidered along it's neck strap, same as the charm bracelet the girls had gotten me for Mothers Day this year. They had gotten Twilight earrings that had my sun dangling from studs that resembled her star. The suit was variegated orange, red, purple, blue, and pink, gradients slowly merging together.

I couldnt be mad, looking at her. She had loosened up in our time together and took her fun when it was available and safe. I knew she wouldn't have pushed if the drop was dangerous.

I just wish she'd let me take of my long overshirt first.

She swam over and kissed me.

"You know you loved it," she whispered, pulling me in again.

"So," Sunser remarked as Twilight finally swam away to a leisurely float in the direction of the closest waterfall. "We going to hit up those fireworks tonight? I figured we could watch them however we want since our schedule is open-"

"Our schedule has already been carefully planned," Twilight called back even as she drifted away. "We have exactly one hundred six minutes left until we have to be back at the villa for refreshments."

Sunset rolled her eyes and then grinned at the other pair. "Inside joke. I'm sure you know nothing about Twischeduling," she added a wink at the other Twilight as she said so.

Other Sunset shrugged it off while her wife turned sheepish. "Once upon a time, yeah," Other Sunset admitted. "We've both changed each other a lot over the years."

"Sure," Sunset turned her grin into a smirk as she began paddling backwards in the direction of her own wife. "Getting pregnant tends to do that. Also nightly activities. Lots of nightly activities."

"Also, we told the girls to be back by sundown for dinner," Twilight said. "Which is in about two hours, give or take a few minutes allowing for vantage points and such."

"Can still set a watch by her, though," I joked, earning a splash as we followed the mirrored couple.

"So," my wife said as we settled in. "What do the two of you do, if you don't mind us asking. I'm curious about how different the divergence affected us in adult life. I teach physics and chemistry at Canterlot University and Sunny...my Sunny, rather, is a novelist."

"I'm no Nickerson or A.K. Yearling," I said, leaning back to let some of the indirect stream from the fall trickle over my face for a moment. "But I enjoy myself, it gives me free time for when duty calls me through the mirror, and I got to spend a lot of time with the kids growing up."

"Yet somehow," Twilight said, a puzzled expression on her face. "Niether of them took after you outside of mischief."

That earned her an elbow.

"Sounds pretty relaxing," Sunset replied before dunking under the water for a moment. She liked the feeling, as it refreshed her. The lovely vew of her wife's bare legs underwater was only a side benefit. Upon resurfacing, she continued. "Advanced Systems Engineer Level Five. That's my official title. If you want to know what that means, I invent gadgets that haven't been made before and yet nobody cares about - boring things like weather pattern analyzers that can predict trends on other planets in the solar system. The International Planet and Space Agency is the organization I work in. We provide the tech for almost half the world's advanced weather stations as well as over two thirds of all space exploration instrument modules-"

"Oh dear," Twilight interrupted as she floated by in front of Sunset, drifting carefree on the surface of the water. "You got her started on the one thing that makes her ramble the most."

"Ugh!" Sunset scoffed and pushed her wife to unbalance her. "You are one person to talk, Ms. Geneteicist!"

The other Twilight took an increased interest and swam a little closer. "You're a geneticist?!"

Twilight recovered from her Sunset-induced topple underwater and rubbed the water from her glasses. "Long story short," she answered with her trademark vocal waver, "I got an early job as a lab assistant and wound up becoming the lead geneticist for the local government medical research institute. That was actually how I started to figure out the genetic splicing that gave us Lighty."

"Now I must see your notes before we leave," Twilight breathed. "Imagine what this could mean for people with genetic defects, or infertility that defies regular methods!" She trailed off, her thoughts turning dark and distant. She was remembering the failed attempts we had before turning to magic to conceive.

Moving quickly to forestall the imminent slide to sadness I knew was coming, I changed topics.

"Speaking of Lighty," I said. "Surely I wasn't the only one that noticed that Aurora couldn't take her eyes off the boy."

My twin nodded. "She wasn't subtle about it either," she said, moving a hand about in the water. "Though I doubt he noticed, honestly."

"Why's that?" my wife asked. She wasn't feeling defensive of our daughter, she was curious why a handsome boy wouldn't notice a pretty girl paying him attention, besides just being oblivious.

"I don't know how it happened," Sunset answered in turn, "but somehow he didn't catch my abundant romantic confidence."

Twilight facepalmed at her wife. "No, Sunny. He's just humble," she countered and then started backstroking gently to the next waterfall. "He doesn't assume everyone is interested in him that way."

Sunset, however, pursed her lips and pouted as she smacked the water in front of her. "I keep telling him to believe in himself and try something. I mean, he may have taken more after you, but he did get my unbelievably good looks!"

With the last words, Sunset tilted her chin up and raised her arms behind her to flip out her wet hair. It sent a sprinkle of water droplets around her that shimmered rainbow when they passed the occassional light ray beneath the heavy tree canopy leaning over their area of the lagoon. She puffed out her chest with the motion, as if she were striking a pose for a beauty commercial.

"Dramatic much?" I smirked at my twin before returning to the matter at hand. "Aurora has overplayed her hand in the past, romantically speaking. Too many bedtime stories from Rarity, I think."

"Which is why we sent Middy along," my wife chimed in. "Her presence alone will reign Rory in."

"Maybe even get her to open up herself," I added as an afterthought. "She's never exactly been open about her likes and dislikes. She went stag to her own prom, for Celestia's sake."

"So?" came the response from across the lagoon. "So did I. I hadn't started dating Miss Science here quite yet."

"You and I aren't Middy," I replied. "Remember that homesick feeling we had before the Friendship Games? That is, if you even had the Games on this side, rather. I get that same feeling from her sometimes, like she's waiting for something or someone. It's worrying sometimes."

"Maybe spending time with Lighty will help," my twin responded.

"Well," I hedged. "Twilight," I began, getting a stereo "yes" in reponse. We all giggled.

"Let me try that again," I chuckled. "Sunshine, given the variance of spatial dimensions and whatever other wibbly-wobbly stuff, how exactly would the kids be related?"

My wife fell into contemplative silence, as did her twin.

Sunset contemplated what her copy had said. She did indeed experience the Friendship Games in their universe, so she related a bit with that. She had felt an emptiness that she couldn't identify back then. Hindsight made it clear though. When the pony Twilight went back through the portal after the Battle of the Bands, a void had been left. A void of having someone she felt was an equal - someone who she not only respected but could connect to on a deeper level. Of course, that void would eventually be filled by the human Twilight.

Meanwhile, Twilight was pausing in her swim and slowly drifting back as her mind engaged her inner science once more. "Well, family relation is essentialy percentage shares of genetic material. However," she touched her glasses while being careful not to get the lenses soaked again, "if our multiverse spatial positioning is as sufficiently distant as indicated by our significant paths of divergence then I'd conclude - and I'd have to run a full genetic analysis to confirm - that our DNA has a level of variation-"

Sunset put a hand of her wife's bare shoulder after swimming up to her. "Honey," she said simply.

Twilight blushed with an apologetic giggle. "Second cousins at best," she concluded simply. "Fourth is unlikely but not impossible depending on the level that our special magic genes mutated in comparison-"

Anything more that the mature scientist has to say was cut off prematurely by a "woohoo" and a thunderous crash of water nearby them. Water poured over them in a thick spray from the fallout of the surprise cannonball. The figure responsible took a good moment to swim back up from the depth she had smartly dived into. When she surfaced, she did so with a half-leap and more gentle surface impact reminiscent of agile dolphins playing around just for fun.

The newcomer didn't take long to recognize an issue, however. She looked back and forth from one pair of swimsuit clad Shimmers to the other. "Hey," she finally complained after an awkward silence. "I thought you two agreed on no cloning!"

I smirked at the comment.

"Clones?" I said. "You've literally seen two different Twilights at the same time, rifts into other dimensions, and who knows what all else, and clones are seriously your first thought?" I turned to my counterpart. " Just what in the hay are we missing?"

Rainbow Dash blinked, but before she could respond, a voice growled down from above.

"You never listen, do you?"

The other Twilight waved cheerfully. "Hey, Adagio!" she greeted as the Siren made her way down to the lagoon.

She raised an eyebrow at the paired couples but didn't speak as she went over to Rainbow and pushed her mouth closed.

"The note said 'At lagoon, be back later', Dash," she continued gruffly. "Ever enter your mind they might have wanted alone time?"

"Never stopped her before," the other Sunset muttered, waving off my raised eyebrow.

Sunshine, however, was still puzzling over things. "Second at best," she said absently.

You ok? I asked, trying to get a feel for her mental state. All I could sense was memories of the girls, tinged with her maternal concern.

"Hello," I said. "Earth to Twilight Sparkle."

She shook out of her stupor and grinned absently.

"Sorry," she said. "Lost in thought again. Oh, hi, Dashie, when did you get here?"

Three facepalms and a groan echoed in the clearing.

Fireworks

Rainbow Dash was on the sofa and was currently playing some racing game on the living room's big screen. She had to pause it and get up to go close the curtains for the west-facing window wall. The sun was getting low but it was in a perfect spot to shine unto the TV screen and kill her victory streak. As she pulled the curtains closed, she called over to Adagio, who was in the kitchen.

"Dinner ready yet, babe? I'm starving!"

Adagio didn't even miss a beat as she seasoned the meal on the stove. "If you ask one more time, it'll be my fist instead of food in your mouth."

Sunset shook her head but smiled slightly. The dynamic between Adagio and Rainbow was as old as their marriage but just as toothless in regards to the threats. She could see Dashie grin at the remark as she sat back down to her game. The group was once again at the villa, including Rainbow and Adagio. The kitchen was not, however, cramped since it was as big as any other room in the villa. Two members were not even in it at the moment. Twilight and Rainbow had been hesitant and uninterested, respectively in that order.

"I can help," Twilight finally suggested from the other side of the kitchen counter.

"Better not, hun," Sunset gently put it. "We don't want to have to transform to fight off an evil tofu monster...again."

"It was one time!" the bespectacled woman complained.

I looked up from where I was chopping vegetables, my magic floating them into a pot as they were sliced.

"A tofu monster?" I asked. "Do I even want to know?"

"Sounds like my sister Glory's cooking," Sunny smirked, and I laughed. Morning Glory had a habit of testing new recipe ideas without considering the consequences. Not all of the ones I had been present for had been pleasant.

A shared laugh tittered around the kitchen as I looked at Dash and Adagio out of the corner of my eye. They were different from our two, and the relationship dynamic wasnt as odd now that I saw them together. Adagio's gruffness and Dash's cockyness were like looking back in time and the future all at once.

The door to the villla opened and a voice spoke into the silence.

"I smell teriyaki sauce," Midnight sang out, pushing her sunglasses up onto her forehead.

"Twilight botched a tofu recipe she wanted to try and then tried to fix it by powering into her Midnight form," Sunset responded with a chuckle at the recollection. "The burnt tofu may or may not have gained sapience and attempted to take over the silverware drawer."

Sunlight was right behind Midnight and, in turn, closely followed by Aurora. They all looked as hungry as Rainbow Dash obviously was. The boy, however, eagerly hopped to the kitchen with his usual offer of help.

"Anything I can do, ma?" he asked.

"Get some plates," Sunset ordered and then came up to Adagio to check on her veggie burger cooking on the adjacent stovetop. All done. Perfect.

I smiled and leaned into my daughters as they came up and hugged me, Middy stealing a bit of carrot from the pieces that hadn't made it into the sauce just yet.

"You all have fun?" I asked, noting the damp clothing and hair.

"I'd say so," Middy said around the carrot. "Saw a sea turtle laying some eggs in one of the smaller coves."

"I also thought I saw some sort of monkey while we were hiking back along the trail we trained on," Sunlight said as he set the table. "I didn't think there were any sort of mammals on the island."

I may have been working on a vegetable teriyaki, but I caught the nervous cough from my twin and the glance shared between Dash and Adagio.

"Hey!" the other Sunset said quickly. Too quickly, if she was anything like my Sunny. "They're setting up for the fireworks!"

Something tells me that there is a story there, I heard in my mind as my author came up behind me.

This whole trip has been an interesting story so far, and it's only the first day! I replied, checking the taste of the vegetables. Al dente, cooked enough to blend with the sauce well, but not so the nutrients were completely cooked out. I lowered the heat just in time for Adagio to pull a plate over and start to settle the veggie burgers in place on it.

"All right," she said, setting it on the counter next to the other foods, including a potato salad my Sunny had made and hand cut fries by the other one. "Serve yourselves, and Dash, let the girls go first."

"Curse you, sirenbutt," Rainbow stuck her tongue out and continued her game reluctantly in waiting.

Sunset didn't want to think of how Evil George, the monkey spawned by her wife, had managed to hitch a ride onto the island. So she got seated at the nearby dining table after grabbing her own veggie burger straight off the skillet. As the kids got their servings at the counter and the adults followed, she took to the new conversation.

"I was thinking we'd see the fireworks at the resort village," she suggested. A nod of agreement came from her wife. "Besides, I'm sure Oxy can't handle the twins forever, right?"

Adagio's brows flatlined. "They've eaten her alive by now, I'm sure."

"Hey," Rainbow defended their decision to let their kids stay with Oxygen Rush to enjoy a few diving sessions. She finally got her turn to select some fresh food. "They don't bite! Anymore..."

"Isn't DJ Pon-3 going to be playing the pre and post-show music?" Other Sunset asked after taking her spot at the table.

"Only the sickest of beats," Sunlight chuckled as he recalled one of the DJ's favorite lines.

I perked up at the mention of twins and of one of my close friends. I had helped plan the wedding reception for the dj and Octavia.

"Twins?" Sunset asked before popping a fry into her mouth.

"My own little terrors," Dash said, taking a huge bite from her burger.

Well, if nothing else, the appetite is the same. Sunset thought.

"How long untill the show? " Aurora asked. I noted that she and Middy had seated themselves to either side of the son of our doubles.

Interesting...

"Ten o' clock," Adagio answered. "They do it at the same time every year. It's always dark enough by then. It'll be best if we get there by 8:30 though, since the good spots start to go after that and they turn out the village lights for better viewing."

Sunlight was a mile ahead, however. He was well over half done and already thinking about what desserts to have at the village grounds. They would doubtless be selling all sorts of cold treats for the warm night, including snowcones, ice cream, and fruit pops. He thought of asking his companions on either side if they liked any such things, but he lost his chance since he had to chew and swallow first.

Sunset was deep into enjoying her meal, while Twilight turned her attention to the children of her opposite version. "Have you girls seen a fireworks show here before?"

Middy shook her head. "We usually come here earlier in the year," she said. "Mother normally gets called for in-service days in July."

"Cost of being assistant dean of the department," I lamented in mock sorrow. I was proud of my accomplishments.

"But we were here one Christmas," Rory spoke up. "The village was filled with lights and decorations that would have made Aunt Rarity swoon. Oh, and the food!"

"Luna's Moon, yes," Midnight moaned. "The funnel cakes, or the roasted honey coated walnuts." The girl closed her eyes with a sigh before turning to the lad sitting there.

"That reminds me," she said, glancing to my twin. "We should tell you something else that happened while we were out before we split up for the trip." She pulled her phone out.

"Or, rather," she amended. "He should tell you."

"Oh?" Twilight turned her attention to her son across the table. "Do tell, Lighty."

He swallowed properly before answering in a sheepish manner. "Well...yeah. When we were out, this thing happened. We were sort of in a group hug, I guess."

Sunset stopped her own meal and turned her eyes to her son as well. Group hug? In the swimming suits?

"I may have kind of sort of ponied up just a little like you can...just a bit..." Sunset almost squeaked it out. He knew how his mothers might react to such a thing and tried to downplay it. After all, he really did only get the horn and a facial mark. He hadn't even been able to use any magic.

"WHAT?!" Twilight stood up from her chair like lightning.

Sunset dropped her burger on her plate with wide eyes.

Midnight held up her phone so Twilight could see the picture she took.

"It was not much and I didn't get to use rainbow lasers or anything. It went away pretty fast," Sunlight held up his hands in defense while Sunset came around to see the image as well.

"Not bad," Sunset gave a much calmer response and a sly grin. His look in the picture seemed a lot like her own form as Daylight. It appeared he took after her, or at least that part of it. And she could only transform with Twilight via their powerful connection. It immediately came to mind that he likely transformed via physical contact with these girls, whom he might have some special connection to.

I looked at Midnight as she tucked her phone away and she caught my gaze, shrinking slightly.

"Midnight..." I started, only to have Sunset put her handd on my shoulder.

"They couldnt force it," she said. "They may have been the instigator, but the magic was his. Remember how I got my wings? The whole thing with the Tree?"

I sighed, remembering the seedling Tree of Harmony in the crystal cave at Camp Everfree. Until we had introduced existing magic to it, it hadnt done much. The girls attended the camp one year and we went to see the tree, finding it almost as majestic as it's Equestrian counterpart.

"The real question is'" she continued, her face taking on the 'Royal Look' as the girls caled it.

"Who did it?"

"I did," Midnight explained without reserve. "I thought I'd try connecting like I can with you two and Rory. He was nervous, so I figured that was the best way."

"Hmm," Twilight shifted her lips about and reseated herself. "I suppose it won't happen unexpectedly if it's triggered in such a manner," she thought out loud and poked at her food. "But this means so much regardless."

Sunset hugged her son from behind as she went back to her own seat to resume eating. "Proud of you," she remarked as she did so.

Sunlight rolled his eyes but knew that his transformation meant a lot to her. She always hoped he could do something with magic and he knew very well how much it tied into her unicorn origins.

"Actually," I said, setting my fork down. "Perhaps not. This is an intermingling of magics of two diverse kinds. Your magic hasnt been seen much after the Games, if I understand correctly, whereas ours has been in almost constant flux. We used to have to do something that embodied our true nature to pony up, now we can at will."

Sunny did so to emphasize the point, and I continued as her wing draped around me.

"Also, our experience at Camp Everfree exposed more powers that we were unaware of," I said, giving the condensed version of the events. "But now we barely need the geodes to access those powers." I levitated my wineglass in demonstration. "It's also why Midnight wears sunglasses as much as she does, her night sight is magically boosted, too much sunlight causes headaches."

"There's also the fact the he replicated parts of the Daydream form," Sunset said, dismissing her wings. "It means that for some reason, it holds a deep connection with him."

I saw Middy twist uncomfortably in her chair, her nervousness about having triggered this written on her face.

"But," I said, glancing at tbe clock. "We only have thirty seven minutes before we must leave. The trip can be accomplished in six and a half minutes, but I would like to sample that snow cone stand we saw when we got here before the show."

I smiled at my eldest and the closest thing I had to a son. "Celestia willing, it'll be ok."

The sun's rays were fading out as the horizon overtook them. Although the sun was setting, it would take some moments thereafter for the afterglow to die down and for the moon to take on the central stage. For now, the shops and streetlights that occupied the Hello Tropics resort village were on to provide necessary lighting to the dying sun. People were all about, getting in the last round of snacks and purchases before grabbing a spot on the beach to watch the show. A thunder of drum and bass vibrated the air as the DJ played a pre-show mix down on the beach.

Thankfully, there was still enough time so that the snow cones stands hadn't gotten their last minute rushes yet. Other Twilight had a complete selection to choose from. Every flavor imaginable was available. Even some less common flavors like mango and kiwi. Rainbow pulled on her wife's hand to drag her in front of the one next to the booth Other Twilight was inspecting.

"Look! Look, Dagi!" the rainbow-haired woman hopped on her sandaled feet. "One of the falvors is rainbow!"

Adagio groaned. "I swear, you do this every single time. They have that flavor every year!"

Ignoring the back and forth, Sunset stood in line at that booth to get a strawberry tangerine for herself. Twilight decided to try something new as well and told her wife to get her the coconut cyclone.

"Hmmm," Sunlight hummed to himself alongside the two girls. They hadn't gotten in a line yet. "I'm thinking of going for one of those real fruit popsicles..."

As he said it, a cheering roar of a crowd could be heard in the distance. Doubtless some sideshow had excited an audience. Until 8:30pm, all the shows and attractions would remain going.

Midnight and I had walked together most of the trip, and I could tell something was eating at her.

"You wanna talk about it?" I asked, pulling her back for a second.

"I can't," she replied. "I got to figure out what it is myself first."

Sunlight stepped away with a popsicle that looked to be a blend of lemon and pomegranate. Rory followed soon after wih a snowcone that matched her hair colors, a look of delight on her face as she tasted the fruity concoction.

"You and Mom ever wonder?" she asked suddenly. "Wonder which side you belonged to? Which form was the real you?"

I looked at her. Goddess, when had she gotten so tall?

"It's always on my mind," she continued. "Equestria. I swear I feel more at home there than here sometimes."

"Your mom is the same way," I said, pulling her into a hug. "She slips into those wings and the crown happily, because to her, it's home. But this is too, the house and the three of us. Anyone else would have made a choice, would believe that they had to make a decision on which side to live in. Sunny didn't. She chose to embrace both worlds, because she decided that she belonged where the ones she loved were."

"We'll always love and support you, my starry night," I said, using a nickname I hadn't in years. "No matter where you decide to stay. Or with whom."

I could tell she was turning those words over in her head as she stepped up to the snack stand.

"Let me get that one right there," she said, pointing to a yellow and pink colored wrapper.

"Badum!" shouted a young girl's voice, which was getting noticeably close to their group. "Beach shark eats you whole!"

"Gaaaah!" an equally young boy's voice responded as he ran from the girl chasing him, her teeth chomping dramatically. "Moooooom!"

Adagio turned with a sigh and instantly braced herself for her son to slam into her in hopes that she would protect him from his twin sister. Bam! Like clockwork.

A woman with a special Hello Tropics staff vest came up behind the kids in a jog. She had clearly been keeping pace with them and, if it had been anyone else, they might have been out of breath. Oxygen Rush was by no means out of shape, though. Her body matched her highly active life at the resort.

"Rar! Rar!" Trance, the female of the twins kept biting at air as Adagio's hand gripped her forehead to keep her at a distance from her terrorized brother.

"Thank you so much for looking after them for a while, Oxy," Adagio said with a heartfelt sincereity she used rarely and only when she really meant it.

"No sweat," Oxygen Rush shrugged, indeed without a bead of sweat on her. The exotic accent of her voice carried with command over the hum-drum of background crowd noise. "Slow day anyways with all the season hires dealing with the summer rush."

"Grrr," Trance growled like a tiger, clearly unconcerned with the fact that sharks did no such thing.

"Cut it out, Trance," Adagio ordered firmly, locking eyes with her daughter.

"Ugh," the girl groaned and rolled her eyes. "Fine," she relented and Adagio released her forehead.

"I win!" Prism Cloud, the male of the twins, exclaimed. He released his mother and hopped to the next dessert booth. "We get something too, right?"

Rainbow assured him with arms cross. "Desserts for everyone, bud!"

"Yeah!" both kids exclaimed in triumph.

The kids, in their obliviousness, clearly hadn't yet noticed the second pair of Shimmers.

Oxygen Rush had moved over to greet the Shimmers but found herself confused, seeing two sets of them. Since Adagio was her co-worker, she felt obliged she come back over to her and explain. At the end of it, Oxygen comically asked and was answered to her relief that there were not currently a second set of Trance and Prism Cloud running about.

Seeing the curiosity of the girls with him, Sunlight felt he might as well introuce them. "Hey, T! C!" he called them over.

Prism Cloud took a moment to pull himself from the dessert menus to come over, but Trance practically teleported to Sunlight.

"Midnight and Aurora," Sunlight began, "meet Trance and Prism Cloud. Aunt Dashie and Dagi's kids."

Without even waiting for a return introduction to know who the two girls were, Prism Cloud greeted and hugged both of them. Any self-awareness on his part was completely absent. In contrast, his sister stuck out her lips and sidled up to Sunlight.

"And who are you again? School transfers?" Trance asked cooly with arms crossed.

"We're just visiting," Rory said. "Our parents know each other so we decided to catch up while here."

That girl can spin a tale quickly, I thought.

I think she gets that from me, Sunny thought back. You know anything about Middy's mood?

I glanced once again at the strange choice in desserts Midnight had chosen.

Some. I thought. Existential stuff, wondering where she belongs, portal wise. And a few other things, but we'll talk about it later tonight.

"Well, you be careful," Trance replied firmly to Aurora. "I've got my eye on you. Both of you. Can't trust nobody 'round these parts."

"Wh-" Midnight started to speak up but Adagio called over to them, thus breaking the line of thought.

"Trance! Cloud!" Adagio shouted. "You're helping me get some things from the ship. Come on!"

Cloud gave a polite "see you later" while Trance gave a knowing look, as if there was some understanding between her and the older girls.

Sunlight felt the need to explain and took Rainbow's signal to follow down to the beach. Since they had their desserts in hand, it seemed the best option. "Sorry about Trance. She's going through this thing where she thinks she's my spyrate bodyguard or something. For a couple of third-graders they both still have a super active imagination," he ended with a giggle.

Twilight grabbed her wife's hand and walked alongside her, shoulders touching as they made a leisurely stroll down to the beach area designated for the fireworks show. They had made it in time for plenty of seating options to be available. Rainbow Dash raced around across the pale sand and between sparse residents to find what she believed to be the best vantage point. The rest of them knew she had accomplished her task when she let the heavy bags under each of her arms drop onto the sand.

The spot was plenty high enough not to get soaked by the gentle waves of the bay upon the shore, but not high enough to be against the village and provide an awkward view. Sunset and Twilight came up to the bags and helped Rainbow unpack them. Setup was easy and, in short order, they had a couple of large beach blankets stretched out along with some camp chairs. Adagio could be seen in the distance, coming back with her kids and the extra throw pillows and various supplies from the Hydro Star.

Perhaps the most important thing was the cooler Adagio was rolling behind herself. It was packed with ice cold water and a few other beverages of choice to keep them hydrated in the warm sea air. Prism Cloud, who had already finished his treat even before the fireworks started, was first to grab a water bottle from it.

Sunlight chose a comfortable spot on the first massive blanket, enjoying the plush cover it gave over the raw sand. Trance threw him a couple pillows and hoarded the rest for herself until Rainbow stole one and started a pillow fight with her daughter. The village lights were starting to dim, however, and DJ Pon-3's mix turned calmer.

I wrapped my arm around Sunset's waist and snuggled in to watch the fireworks. Whoever had rigged them sure knew their stuff, the bursts of light not just blossoming into spheres of light, but some other shapes flew into the night sky as well.

About ten minutes in, a pebble hit me on the shin, and after judging it's trajectory, I saw Aurora's madly grining face looking at me. She tossed her head to the side and I followed her gaze. It took me a moment to puzzle out what had her grinning so widely. She was sitting a little ways away from us and her sister...and Sunlight, oddly enough. Then I smiled as I looked at the two. As the lights flared and burst overhead, I couldn't help but notice that Middy had twined two of her fingers with the boy, the two leaning slightly towards each other as they watched the show.

He had been intimidated by her when they met but, ever since she had "connected" them together, the feeling had been lost. He had never felt anything like that before since even his own magical parents did not have that particular ability. It was as if his heart had been given a familiar understanding of her and thus he saw her more for who she was.
There was something else, though. She twined a few of her fingers with his and he liked the feeling. It was...peaceful. Pleasant. He leaned a bit towards her and she did the same. As the fireworks blossomed and thundered in the sky, he couldn't help but glance sideways to her face everytime an explosion began to die. The fading of the varied colors upon her face, illuminated in the darkness, was beautiful.

Author's Note

Written to fall on the Fourth of July. We got a little carried away, though. Sorry! :twilightsheepish:

Across the Fence

I rolled over and opened my eyes, then slammed them shut again as the light stabbed it's way into my skull. I fumbled around, feeling for the gift that my parents and Aunt Sparky had gotten my for graduation: glasses made with carefully treated lenses that would keep the light bearable. Ever since turning eighteen, the sensitivity of my eyes began to follow the moon's phases, being the most sensitive on full moons.

I groaned and sat up, blinking as the lenses darkened slightly, tinting the world rose without obscuring my vision. Across the room in an identical bunk lay my sister Aurora in her elegance. I smiled at the peaceful face she had before snapping a picture with my phone of her massive bed head, the stuffed parasprite she cuddled, and the small damp spot next to her mouth where drool had collected.

That'll be worth a laugh later, I thought. Oh, I'd never show it to anyone but her, but the horrified look on her face would be a good peace offering the next time she got it in her head to try and prank me. Then I sighed, remembering what she had said last night before bed.

"Took you long enough! I thought I might have to come out and say it."

Apparently, her interest in Lighty was in how perfect he would be for me, brother or not. She enjoyed the more relaxed way he acted around her, like we always had done. It didn't help that she was a natural flirt, despite her tendencies to overdo it. I should have picked up on it myself, but self-denial is a real pain.

I sighed again before deleting the photo.

"We're even," I whispered, leaning back into my bed to swing out the other side, the super long t-shirt I slept in falling to just above my knees as I wandered to the kitchen. Mother was there, waiting for the coffeepot to deliver it's nectar.

"Morining, Mother," I chirped as I took a seat at the table, wanting to wake up a bit. A hand set a steaming cup of coffee in front of me, the ring glinting in the morning light.

I froze. That wasn't Mother's engagement ring, I realized as the older woman sat down across from me..

Sunlight's mom sat there, a smile on her strangely familiar face.

"I was hoping we could talk," she said.

"This is about Sunlight, isn't it?" Midnight grimaced and then took a careful sip of the coffee. It was still very hot so she couldn't drink much. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to talk about this. It wasn't that she was against a conversation, but talking to the boy's parent was a tad...soon. "We haven't exactly been hiding it, but we haven't talked about it either."

"No," Twilgiht responded. It was a curious thing to talk to a girl who might have been her daughter. Or rather was in another universe. "I was wondering about it since we only met recently and Lighty has never warmed up like that before. Not that I'm against it, mind you. The two of you are perfectly old enough to make your own decisions and, besides, I'm glad my Lighty has someone his own age who he is so comfortable with. There's just two things I'd like to know for clarity."

"Hm?" Midnight propted as she took a longer sip of the coffee.

"Do you love him?"

It was blunt. No way around it. Midnight knew what she felt but she didn't believe in all that romancy gunk that her sister fed off of. Perhaps it sounded lame, but she felt her next words were the most honest ones."Maybe? All I have to compare it to are the stories you...er, mother told me when I was younger. But if I had to answer now...yes. If we'll be together, given the circumstances, we'd have a lot to figure out. Not a problem, though, considering both our families."

Twilight gave an understanding nod as she leaned back in her chair. Her eyes clouded over.

"And the other question?"

"Oh," Twilight seemed to snap out of some preoccupying thought. "May I have your permission to run a gene analysis on you?"

Though the girl didn't know it yet, Twilight was conflicted over her interest in this relational development regarding her son and exploring cross-universe genetic similarities to confirm or perhaps disprove her theories. Although there was an obvious relation between the two things, the latter was honestly more about her enthusiasm on multiverse theories than anything to do with her son. She loved her family to death, but science was like a fire in her heart.

"I'm not going to be dissected are I?" Midnight gave a nervous expression. Something about this alternate version of her mom left her with a more "mad scientist" feel.

"No, no," Twilight laughed. "Just a cotton swab and an easy non-intrusive swipe of your inner mouth. Less trouble than brushing your teeth."

"How bout after I actually brush my teeth?" Midnight smirked.

Twilight nodded. "Whenever you're ready."

Sunlight stretched as he stood, nabbing a clean overshirt from the closet. Padding down the hall to the bathroom, he let out another yawn as he ran a hand through his sleep touseled hair.

The door to the bathroom opened, revealing a fiery-haired woman toweling the last of her hair dry.

"Morning, kiddo," Other Sunset said, draping the towel around her neck. "How'd you sleep?"

"Pretty good, actually," he said. "Something about this island, the waves. I've always loved it here."

Sunset nodded. "I know the feeling," she said. "When you're done in there, come find me. It'd be nice to have a talk." Her face still held a smile, but the tone of voice killed the thought it was a suggestion.

He watched as she walked away, stride and posture different from his ma.

"Scary," he whispered.

***

He found them on tbe back veranda, watching the sun trickle through the canopy. He paused for a moment before stepping out where they could see him.

He really had hoped to get a chance to talk with Midnight before bringing it up to either set of parents. How did they find out so fast? It wasn't as if they had been overly obvious about it. They hadn't even fully held hands!

"We're not going to eat you," Other Sunset said as he walked out. "Middy might get cross at us."

The woman so resembling his mom smacked her hand against her wife's shoulder. "You're not funny," she whispered.

Sunlight sat down, some of his nerves settling. The back and forth was so familiar it almost felt like they were his parents, after a fashion.

"We're not going to give you a 'hurt our daughter and we hurt you' speech," Sunset said. "You seem like a good kid, and we trust our daughter. We just wanted to make sure you knew what you are getting into right now."

"As far as we know," Twilight said, adjusting her small framed glasses. "This may be the only point where our two realities intersect. If that turns out to be the case, then we want you prepared for that event. Secondly, and we're just finding this out ourselves, but Middy is trying to decide were she belongs, here or Equestria. From what we understand, your family has complety cut ties with the country."

"And then you ponied up," Sunset said, leaning back and crossing her legs casually. "Something your parents seemed surprised over."

"Well," he fidgeted. They were all good questions and he would have thought of them himself if he had been given more time. He watched one of the more colorful tropical birds land on a branch just off the rear perimeter of the villa. "I've never really had any magic before even though I'm an adult now. I mean, I think I did have it but I just never...exhibited it. Mom's going to want to run all kinds of tests on me."

The couple looked to each other, remembering their own experiences with their daughters. Even though the situations had been different, they understood the excitement over seeing one's child develop their magical abilties. Midnight's own unique ponied up form and the fact that her eyes still showed sensitivity to the extent they did had worried them somewhat at first.

"I don't know if it would be possible for Middy to enter my world or vise versa even if she decided to stay in a human one," he admitted, looking back to them. He felt like all he could say was what they already knew so far. "I wouldn't want her to make a decision that couldn't work, so I guess we have to figure out if either of us can leave this place and still be together. If she wants to be around me, that is. We haven't exactly said anything to each other about...you know. All I've got right now is a feeling."

Sunset smiled. "She is showing the signs, kiddo," she said."Subtle, but they're there. Just be good to her and I think things will be fine. As to tbe whole dimensional mish-mash..." She glanced at her wife.

Twilight pulled a small leatherbound book from behind her, setting it in her lap. When she opened it, there were combinations of mathematical equations and intricately drawn circles and mandalas.

"I haven't run all the equations yet," she started. "But at the very least we could whip up a pair of journals for you and Middy. It's a simple enough process. And for the leaving together, well, we'll tackle that when it's time to."

"How will the journals jump universes?" Sunlight asked, trying to wrap his mind around the abstract formulae he saw.

"Their magic links them," Sunset replied, frowning for a moment as she searched her mind for something. "The best way to compare it would be like a rubber band. It'll stretch quite a bit without deforming. And if Miss I-Have-Five-Degrees did her math right, your reality is only a few hertz off from ours, making the tension almost negligible."

Sunlight felt some awe at this. "Thank you," was all he could mumble out.

"Just don't prove us wrong, and we'll call it a gift," Twilight said, tucking her journal away.

The copies of his parents stood and moved to hug him, and he felt a dim echo of tbe thrumming feel he had experienced with Midnight. He thought for a moment that he felt the same warmth as before, but before he could be sure they pulled away.

"Now," Sunset said, a smile so like the one from his childhood on her face. "Go find that girl and hash things out between you. If we have to, we'll run interference for you."

Twilight winked at this, and with a smile Sunlight stood and walked out, pausing for a moment at the door.

"I never could have predicted any of this, you know. But I suppose improbability was written into my DNA all along."

I wandered down the hall after pulling on a pair of cargo shorts and a Rainboom t-shirt. It was faded and starting to get thin from multiple washes, but it was comfortable and fit perfectly. And I was on vacation, dammit!

I heard birds chirping and headed towards the sound, thinking that a few minutes of solitude would help me clear my head. As I neared the door, the lenses of my glasses darkened a touch more, going from rose to ruby in hue. I sighed, pushing them up my face a bit. I may as well get used to wearing these, no matter what anyone thinks.

Does Lighty mind glasses? I thought, then shook my head. Way to be independent, Middy. But the realization that I had referred to him the same way his folks did, the way Rory and I would use our nicknames so casually made me pause as his face came to mind. A smile and a little blush blossomed on my face.

As I stepped out onto the patio, I saw Sunlight standing there as well. I stood there for a moment before my brain could conjure words.

"H...hey," I said. Smooth, Middy.

"Oh," Sunlight exclaimed in surprise. He hadn't expected to run into her so quickly. He swung the towel he had grabbed over his shoulder. Besides the overshirt he had put on earlier, he was sporting a fresh pair of swim trunks. With the occassional exception, he always wore a pair while on the island or even the greater resort, since practically all of his favorite activities involved water.

"I was looking for you," both of them wound up saying next.

The stereo effect of their perfect timing and wording made them both pause and laugh a bit.

"How about we go to the Steps for a talk," the boy suggested and then grew a grin with an additional thought. "The others are inside or at the village, so we'd have all the privacy we need for you to scare me out of my wits."

Thankful for the transition from her unprepared greeting, Midnight took up on it easily. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something too. Just so long as you don't run away in terror," she joked back.

Starting them down the path towards the destination, Sunlight thought to comment on the glasses she seemed to often wear. "Are those special?"

I reached up and touched the side of my glasses in surprise, giving me a moment to formulate rational thought.

"Yeah," I murmured. "Remember what I said about how I got my cutie mark?"

The young man nodded, holding a swath of palm fronds out of the way as I hurried past.

"Well," I continued. "When I turned eighteen my eyes started really hurting in bright light. It came and went, but the only time they didn't was at night. We eventually figured out that the sensitivity followed the phases of the moon; normal at the new moon, highly sensitive at the full moon."

I pushed my glasses up as they slid down my face as we hopped down a small ledge, the sound of water starting to reach my ears. "Mom had the idea, Mother did the research, and Aunt Sparky did the chemistry. These were my graduation present."

I braced myself and removed them, the lenses immediately returning to clear. The daylight was blinding, the canopy barely making it tolerable. "They were attuned to me, keeping me at a comfortable light saturation," I chuckled ruefully. "Slightly better than wearing dark sunglasses all the time like I was. Half the time I forget I have them, the other half I either hate the fact I need them or think that they make me look like Mother, but in the good way."

The light was getting to be too much and we still had trail to walk, so I slid them back on, the lenses shading back to the ruby shade. I cleared my throat as the Steps came into view.

"Listen," I started hesitantly. "About last night...I'm hoping I didn't come across too strong. I've never really been close to anyone like that. I hope you don't mind...but I kind of, well, um..."

My cheeks turned bright red and I whirled away, hands to my face to hide the blush.

"Like you...a lot," I finished, as quiet as Aunt Fluttershy or Ebony.

He stood silent, and fear that I had never felt before began to spread inside my chest, heart threatening to burst free.

Sunlight felt his heart stop for a moment. Feeling it was probably true was one thing but actually hearing it was another. He bit his bottom lip in decision as his heart resumed. So he went for it. Maybe she wouldnt like it, but she liked him so surely she'd be okay with it. He stepped around her to gently grab her hands and lower them from her face.

The trickling of the water down the stepped waterfalls fell from his attention as he looked her in the eyes. The positioning of his body in relation to the sun caused the light on Midnight's face to dim and thus the glasses to clear slightly. Seeing her look back at him with hope made him smile. She might have been a bit embarrassed about admitting her feelings, but she obviously had some suspicion that he shared her thoughts.

"I like you too. A lot," he confessed straightforward. Her mouth began to open but he continued, feeling his own cheeks heat up. "I mean, what you did when we connected...I don't know how it works but I feel different around you. Comfortable but also excited. It's a good feeling. Like when I can see your eyes. They're really beautiful...like the rest of you."

I ducked my head, wishing for a moment I had left my hair down so it could hide the red burning in my face. He...he thinks I'm beautiful...

I slowly looked back up, meeting his eyes, clear blue like the sky above. I opened my mouth again to speak but again, no words came out. Instead, I smiled and released his hands, stepping forward to hug him. Feeling his arms encircle me was a great feeling, like suddenly nothing could get to me in this moment. We swayed a little as if dancing, turning in a slow circle.

"Your mom trapped me at the breakfast table," I said. "Asked me for a gene sample to analyze."

He groaned tilting his head back. "That's my mom all over. At least your folks just made sure I was aware of the quantum implications," he said, meeting my gaze again. "Even offered to make us a set of journals, like Ma used to talk to the pony Twilight Sparkle."

I smirked. "They're going to have to work with your parents to make sure they get the spatial variants right," I chuckled. "Otherwise we'll just be sending static." I slowed our turning, face turning serious.

"We don't know if we can see each other once we leave," I said, sliding my fingers through the hair at the back of his head.

"We don't know that we couldn't, " he countered, smiling softly. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

I laid my head on his shoulder. "You're a terrible liar," I joked. "You're just as worried as I am."

"Of course," he said. "Who wouldn't be?"

I giggled and gave him a gentle slap on the chest. "You need to work on your reassuring speeches, Sunlight Shimmer," I said, squaring off across from him. On instinct, I ponied up, tail swishing behind me. I felt resonance start to pulse behind my eyes, like when I held a spell ready when across the mirror.

"I'm not going to be like other girls," I said, ears folded back in nervousness. "And I'm not really sure what I'm going to do in life, or where."

"Well, like I said before," Lighty said quietly. "There's a lot in my life that isn't settled either. I had some ideas and paths but I haven't locked myself into any of them. Maybe we can figure that out together."

"You should also know that I might be spending a large amount of time in Equestria, " I continued. "Which adds another wrench in the works, unless you follow me on occasion."

At that, Sunlight giggled. "I couldn't imagine a better excuse to try out Equestria."

"Oh, and another thing,'" I said, hooking my fingers together at the back of his neck, locking my jade green eyes on his sky blue ones.

"Tell me I'm beautiful again," I whispered before pulling him down into a kiss, eyes closing as we connected.

Call me crazy, but the moment our lips touched, it felt like I was floating.

Sunlight knew this couldn't be good for his heart. All the stopping and restarting. And yet he felt how good it was too. Warming his heart and melting it all at once. Just like the softness of Midnight's lips against his. Her smooth arms around his neck and her body so close. His eyes failed to close even though her face was right there with his.

Even if the warm morning air and tropical humidity wasn't enough to boil him, then perhaps the blush on his face was. He managed to react, though. His own arms had gone around her earlier and the kiss only made him embrace her tighter, his hands resting down at the small of her back. When his mind engaged enough to convince him what to do, he returned the kiss in full. Perhaps she would have pulled back already from it, but he didn't want it to just be her action with no participation on his part.

So he pressed back into the kiss and didn't let her get pushed back, as his grip held her to him. They were kissing only with their lips but he could still begin to taste something upon her. Perhaps it was only his sense of smell tricking his sense of taste, but he could very well pick up on the flavor of hazelnut. It must have been something from earlier. Breakfast or some drink associated with it. It was enjoyable to him and, in fact, contributed to his sense of euphoria.

He had no sense of it in the moment, but he had once again begun to pony up. The marking reappeared on his face, a glow of a horn began to pulse, and even more. His ears transformed as well into their pony counterpart. Only some elongated hair or tail remained absent. All Sunlight felt was the paradise of their kiss and embrace for every second it lasted.

As he kissed me back, I felt all of my nerves light on fire as I tried to freeze every feeling and sensation into a single, indelible memory that wouldn't fade. I didn't want to, but slowly my body was demanding air and we broke apart. I was surprised by his appearance when I opened my eyes.

The colored marking across his face only accented his cheek bones, making the warmth of his cyan eyes shine that much more. Two pony ears twitched on his head and a dim glow pulsed from his horn before it died to the sun reflecting from it.

Smiling, I leaned forward and rested my forehead against his, reaching up to trail a finger across an ear ahile I flicked my tail so it twined around two of our legs.

"Not a bad look, all things considered," I said. With my head touching his, I could almost sense his emotions. It wasn't hard, since they mirrored mine: contentment, joy, and wonder.

He started to laugh, that giggling laugh one gets when they realize that so many fears were naught but smoke and shadows. He swept me up in a hug, twirling us around as I shrieked in surprise and infectious laughter.

"This is incredible!" He laughed as he set me back on my feet. He reached up and felt the horn and ears, smile never dimming.

I smirked. "Looks like we'll both be under your mom's microscope," I teased as I pulled my phone from my pocket and snapped a picture. I set the phone to the side and surreptitiously slid my sandals off. I smiled at his confused look as I pulled my tee off, revealing a swim top under it. I walked up to him as he stared and trailed a hand along his chest.

"No matter what happens'" I whispered. "My feelings wont change."

He started to stutter as I slid his shirt off, hearing tbe various things he kept inside the pockets rattle. I let it drop to the ground and tilted my head up invitingly.

My grin blossoming mere moments before I pushed him over into the pool behind us was his only warning. As his startled shout ended with a splash, I judged his likely point of emergence and dove in to miss it, holding onto my glasses as I did.

We both surfaced and regained rationality at the same time and he sputtered as he de-ponied.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"To get away from probable spies," I said, swimming over and placating him with a hand on his chin and a kiss on the cheek. "And I felt impish."

"You don't look impish," he said as he fully took my hand under the water and held it. "You look beautiful."

I sidled in next to him and sighed.

"It's going to be so much fun watching you try to walk on hooves for the first time," I breathed as the morning's sun warmed the waters of the deep pool we floated in.

Science!

Sunset opened the clear glass door and entered the veranda where the other Shimmers were. Twilight was right behind her and eager for some samples like the one she had gotten from Midnight. The fact that she did not have her lab's large DNA sequencers on her made her sigh. She would not know if her guesses had been accurate until much much later. After all, their knowledge of the multiverse realities was only speculation. Probable but not proven.

Other Sunset broke from her thoughts to look over to the newcomers, who pulled up chairs to the veranda's sole table. Other Twilight continued working on some papers, making calculations for something. The one couple sat down with the other.

"I was thinking we'd try something adventurous today," Sunset began. "But we seem to have something important going on instead, don't we?"

"Middy doesn't just fall for anyone," the other Sunset responded. "You've got one special son there."

"Of course," Twilight beamed and adjusted her glasses while doing so.

"Hmm," other Twilight hummed. "Maybe if..."

"What are you working on?" Twilight diverted her attention to her other self, leaning over her work in the process.

"Talked to him?" Sunset continued with her other.

"Of course. And you talked to Middy?"

"Of course," Sunset replied in kind. "Well, Twi did. I'm curious though...did Midnight's name ever cause any confusion? I mean, does your Twi still transform into Midnight or is it different for her?"

"We still can, but we haven't had a need to since the girls were born," I said. "We named her such because of what happened when Sunshine went into labor."

My counterpart's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

I smiled, knowing Twi was busy with calculations and was thereby distracted. She hated the way I told this story.

"When the first contraction hit, she panicked," I said, lowering my voice conspiratorially. "Went full on Midnight mode and accidentally fried the tv. Your story of the tofu kaiju reminded me of it, actually."

My double laughed, and both Twilights looked over at me.

You do realize I can feel when you're being a troublemaker, yeah? she sniped sardonically.

I stuck my tongue out at her.

"I see," Sunlight leaned back in her chair. "We've never had much of a problem with names ourselves. Even if we named him Midnight, it's not like Twi transforms much with him around. We usually only do it to make things more interesting in the-"

"Hey," Twilight interrupted her spouse with a disapproving frown.

Sunset shrugged it off with a grin and gave her other self a knowing wink. "We did call him Sunny a few times when he was a baby, but that got problematic for obvious reasons. So we went with Lighty. I'm sure I'm not the only one who fiunds it ironic that our children that developed an attraction were named after opposing things: Sunlight and Midnight."

"Not at all. And, anyways, Middy has never been the type to crush easily or openly," Other Sunset responded with a grin of agreement. "But you can be sure we've had our suspiscions about her preferences. It's hard not to know our own daughter."

"Same with Lighty," Sunset moved her hand about, wishing she had a drink to grab and then thinking to go back inside to grab one. "But this connecting ability you and your daughters have must have one heck of a wallop. Lighty would never get that forward or bold with a girl he didn't already know darn well."

Meanwhile, Twilight had inched her own chair next to her counterpart's. She looked over her other's work with a curious thought. "You think the hertz can have a relation to the physical similarities between universes or is it just a method of connection unrelated to the multiverse positioning?"

I mused on what my double had said while listening to Twilight with one ear.

"I'm not entirely sure'" she admitted. She pointed to a pair of numbers. "This is entirely theoretical, but given the sheer number of similar events and the relatively modest differences, we would have to be within several hundred hertz according to my notes."

"You have notes on alternate dimensional frequency variance?" The twin of my wife tilted her head. "Do I want to know how?"

"Oh, that's simple," my wife stated. "The mirror used to connect more than just our worlds. Princess Celestia was forced to sever the other connection, though."

"It's part of why the old mare is sad sometimes," I added. "She apparently fell for somepony there and can never see him again."

Turning back to my double, her toned arms folded in thought, I realized we were in a similar situation here.

"It shouldn't have worked," I said finally. "The bond Sunshine and I share is different from what the kids do. That's a projection of emotion using magic as a carrier wave. But normally, only Twilight and I can do it on this side. Granted, Middy has always been more in touch with her Unicorn heritage than Rory, but for her to be able to ping any sort of connection on this side of the mirror, the odds are astronomical."

"What do you mean?" I heard as my thoughts drifted back to the bond between the kids.

"Looking back, Middy was always sad when we had to come back from visits to Equestria or when she couldn't go with me to a summit," I murmured. "Even when she ponies up, she's more pony-like than we ever were. She grows a tail and her cutie mark manifests as well." I looked into the eyes across from me, seeing the wheels turn.

"It's like her magic linked with his latent magic," I said. "And in that moment, there were likely no secrets. Any attraction would have been apparent to both."

"It may also be why she never made any advances," Twilight said, closing her notebook. "She may feel a little like, well, a freak compared to her 'normal' classmates. With Sunlight, she knew nothing done or revealed would seem odd, considering. She might have done it on instinct, not knowing the reason."

"Hmm," Sunset hummed to herself. "I suppose if you believe in fate then this is all inevitable. For me, I'm not sure it matters. He's grown up. As much as I love him, I know he's reached an age where he's going to be moving on. Maybe Equestria will be a part of his life that it didn't end up being for me."

Noticing her wife's body language change, Twilight halted her preoccupation with her other self and came over to lovingly put her hands on Sunset's shoulders. "How about we meet up with Dashie at the south beach, honey? The wind should be sufficient for sailborading."

The other Sunset looked to consider the thought. Obviously her counterpart was open to it. "It won't be easy to get my egghead to put her pen down."

Twilight giggled while looking back to the busy Other Twilight, who had momentarily paused her work.

"That actually sounds like fun," I said, glancing at my bookworm. She shut the notebook and tucked the pen into her bun, which was slowly coming undone. "Finished?"

"Mostly, " she said, rising. "Can't do anything else until I get books to bind the spell into. I'm going to go see if I can find suitable ones on the mainland."

She's still concerned over Sunlight, I heard as she turned to leave. I caught her eye and nodded.

"That's a little unnerving, now that I know what it is," Twilight's twin said. "Don't you get confused?"

I shook my head. "Sunshine and I have gotten used to it over the years. It's practically second nature," I grinned. "And do you really want to hear everything we say to each other, knowing how you and your Sunset are?"

The bright flush of red was just as rewarding as when it appeared on my wife.

"Why do you call her Sunshine?" My doppelganger asked.

"That's a story I'll tell you on the way to the beach," I teased. "But first, you need to recognize something so I don't have to poke you in the head again."

I captured her gaze and held it. "Regardless of his choices made, he is still and forever your son," I said. "Just because he might move forward doesn't mean he'll leave you behind. I know that look and those words you said, I said them myself when Middy moved to Baltimare for college." I grinned. "You see how that turned out."

Sunset paused before turning back towards the villa door. "I...I know. It's just..."

"Empty nest syndrome?" Other Twilight suggested pointedly but with a knowing look.

Sunset gave a "heh" or wordless agreement while her own wife answered for her.

"There are times early on and even inbetween," Twilight verbalized as they set back through the villa to grab a few items in the living room. "Times when you just wish the parenting was all over. But then when they grow up, you miss the times when they were younger. And the thought of them not being there every morning as a part of the routine..."

Sunset grabbed one of the remote controls for the Hydro Star. "It's a little sad."

Other Sunset gently put her hand to her copy's shoulder and looked her in the eye thoughtfully. "Believe me," she admitted, "I know."

"I suppose the times and memories we will still have in the future are the best consolation," Sunset let out with a breath. "Things that are unique to having grown-up children."

"Let's get Lighty," Twilight concluded after she got the last of the drinks together.

"I think we may want to let the lad be," I said. "Since Sunshine and I spoke to him earlier, I haven't seen him or Middy."

"You think they're together?" The other Twilight adjusted her glasses.

"Likely," my twin said, grabbing a duffel with our cutie mark emblazoned on it. "They likely needed to talk to each other as much as we wanted to talk to them." She still had a nervous look on her face, one I recognized easily.

"Do you trust him?" Sunshine asked, knowing where my thoughts led.

"Of course," came the stereo response, looks of reproach on their faces.

"And we trust Midnight," I said. "Plus, after the whole 'meet the parents' morning, maybe we should let them have some time to themselves. It's not like we did anything weird, right?"

The other Twilight froze for a second, then started giggling nervously.

My twin covered her face with a hand, groaning. "You didn't. "

Her wife smiled meekly. "Just a bucal swab," she said.

"Twily," she said with exaggerated patience. "We talked about this last night. No badgering for DNA samples. It's not polite. "

"Do you want to share with the class?" My wife said in her best teacher vioce and face, matched with my Regal Look.

The scientist gulped.

Fearing for the reaction of the other pair, Twilight retreated to her long time refuge. The fortress against all external threats. Sunset "Safehouse" Shimmer. The otherwise mature woman, held onto her wife from behind, using her as a shield. "No..." she whispered out as Fluttershy used to.

Sunset giggled while her other self shook her head with a smile. Sunshine, as she was called by her own wife, made an "oh really" expression.

"I only have a speculation about the genetic disparity between converged universes. This is such an opportuniy," Twilight squeaked out timidly.

"You got a DNA sample from our daughter?" Sunshine raised a brow. "I don't suppose that lead to any discoveries...?"

"My DNA sequencer is back at the lab, unfortuinately," came the slightly less timid reply. Twilight remained behind her spouse purely for dramatic effect.

Sunset added in while leading them out the door and towards their ship. "It's a non-portable machine. You should see it. It takes up an entire room."

"So nothing conclusive while on vacation?" Other Sunset put it succinctly.

"We'll have to give you the results over a journal link or something," Sunset shrugged. She rubbed Twilight's back as she pulled her out alongside her. The woman was wearing a more relaxed tank top that did a flattering job of showing off her curves while keeping her almost as cool as a swimsuit might. Sunset was made to consider ditching the overshirt she had atop her own tank due to the humidity outside the air conditioned villa. She only put it on moments before for the thought of it being useful later on.

I kept the Look going for a few more moments, then relaxed fully.

"Well, I got to admit some curiosity myself," I chuckled. Stopping by the girl's room, I poked my head in to see if Rory wanted to tag along.

She was still out like a light, limbs everywhere and a light snore issuing from her open mouth. The plush of a parasprite that Fluttershy had made her as a child was clutched against her chest tightly.

She's worse than Dash, Sunshine said, her maternal smile matching mine as we gazed on for a moment.

Catching up with our doubles, I tapped the other Twilight on the arm after a glance at my wife to get her thoughts.

"How'd you like to get a complete set?" I asked.

The speed of her halting and turning to face us was astonishing. Her eyes gleamed with a familiar light as she clasped her hands.

"How?" she breathed.

"First, ask permission from Rory whenever she wakes up," I said. "I'm willing, and so is Miss Five-Degrees here."

"One set of sequences," Sunshine put in, elbowing me in the side for tbe nickname. "Then, conclusive or not, the samples are destroyed. You also have to help seal the books so they bind with your realities' harmonic resonance. If it works the way I've got it figured, Middy and Sunlight's cutie marks should appear merged on both covers."

The other bespectacled woman nodded her head so quickly I was sure it would fallen off.

"Mind answering a few questions while we wait on the Star ?" my twin glanced at me.

"What's on your mind?"

She chewed on her bottom lip a moment.

"First is probably common sense, but is there a reason you and the girls use Equestrian terms? It took years to get used to not swearing by Celestia's name."

"Habit'" Sunshine said. "We're there every three months or so for a summit or the Summer Sun Celebration. Hard not to get into the habit when attending."

I nodded in agreement.

"Seems fair," Sunset said, scratching her head. "Secondly, why do you call her Sunshine?"

"It got confusing with two Twilights when we went to Equestria," Other Sunset shrugged. "Sunshine was a useful distinction. As for why that name specifically, it was a nickname she got from her grandmother. She was actually the one to ask me to use it."

"Sunset was going through some bad things back then, with her mother passing away suddenly," Sunshine added in. "I wanted to be her ray of light in the darkness."

"Awww," Twilight cooed in response. "That's so sweet."

"That's you all over," Sunset turned to her wife with a grin.

The sound of lapping waves gave another background to the chirping and cawing of the nearby birds. They had arrived at the Star's dock and the ship could be seen approaching the inlet if one were to lean around the overhanging foliage to see to the ocean's opening. Sunset took the oppotunity to hold her wife up against her side. She enjoyed the soft warmth. Familiar.

"Reminds me a bit of why we named Lighty," Twilight commented while wrapping her arm around her wife in return.

"Oh?" Sunshine asked.

Her twin nodded. "We knew we wanted something that had a meaning in our family, something positive. We went through a lot of names before we combined ours."

"We laughed about it during the pregnancy," my own reflection comented. "But with as often as it came up, we figured we might as well go with it."

"Makes sense," I said with a contented sigh as a cool breeze blew some of my hair free from the kerchief I had bound it up with. "Sometimes you go with what occurs to you."

Sunshine glanced back at the villa, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Should we leave a note for the kids?" She asked.

I raised an eyebrow. "Beyond the kids being bright," I smirked. "There are these magical devices called cell phones that let you send messages across large distances. And the I have the Royal Voice, too."

"Smartass," she fired back, tongue poking out.

"You know you love it," my twin returned, elicting a soft slap on the shoulder after she said it.

"It's true," I said, giving the bond a quick pluck.

"I'm torn between curiosity and envy when I see that," the other Twilight remarked. "I wonder how it must have affected your children while in the womb, or how it might have physically affecfed the two of you. Oh, if only..."

My copy reached over and booped her wife on the nose, ending the rant.

"What do you know," I said as I grabbed my wife's hand. "Universal remote."

Two tongues were aimed at me.

Just then the gentle "whir" of the Hydro Star could be heard. It gently pushed water aside as it drifted to a lazy stop at their tiny island dock. The automatic mooring system clacked into place as it came to a full halt. The pritsine gangway lowered next before a friendly jingle played off the ship's external speakers to indicate approaching it was safe.

Sunset stepped across the gangway after her wife input the door code. Their matching pair was close behind to enter the cozy and familiar interior. Sunset took to the plush sofa in the back while Twilight grabbed a cold drink from the lounge cooler.

"Don't forget," Twilight giggled after a sip, "this is still technically on loan from my sister-in-law."

"Our sister-in-law," Other Twilight added with a wink.

The smooth motion of the ship caused no lurch. Sunset had used the remote to automate the ship to the desired docking spot on the mainland. She also made sure to open the windows so they had a beautiful view of the short voyage across the bay from King's Land to the resort village.

"WHOO-HOO!" I shouted as I crested the wave and felt the board go limp under my feet. I twisted the sail just enough to cut into the sea breeze and send the board onto a course for the calmer side of the surf. The landing was a bit rougher than I liked, but then, that was the first time I had taken to the air not under my own wing power. I glided into the shallows and stepped off in time to see Dash pull an impressive leap from the wave that ended with a full 360 spin.

"Ah, yeah!" she shouted as she coasted up next to me. "Did you see that sick air?"

"Hard to miss that hair of yours flashing in the sun, Dash," Sunshine smiled, stretched out on a towel with a book in her lap, a receipt from the bookstore being used as a bookmark. Two thick journals were tucked into the beach bag she had hauled along.

"It was impressive," I said. "Nice solid landing, too."

"Please, don't feed her ego," Adagio said from a ways off where she was sunning herself on a rock where the ocean mist kept her cool. "We already have a spare room just for it."

"Not my fault you can't stay on the board, sirenbutt," Dash giggled, going over and giving her wife a kiss. I had trouble reconciling the image, so used to Dash being with AJ or Dagi with Sandalwood.

"They'll probably dissappear soon to be alone," my twin said. "Usually do when they can dodge the twins for a few hours. I feel sorry for Oxy."

"She loves those kids," Twilight said. "Otherwise she wouldn't agree each time."

I was about to open my mouth to respond when an astonished gasp came from behind us, causing all assembled to glance back.

I blinked a few times.

"Hey, Flutters, what brings you out here?"

"Oh...my..." Fluttershy stumbled over her choice of words. She knew that seeing Sunset and Twilight at the resort was never an impossiblity, but certainly seeing twice the amount of them should be. Some activity with the beach was obviously in her plans since she was wearing a swimsuit not dissimilar to Midnight's. "Umm..."

"Didn't expect to see you here, Shy," Other Sunset continued with Fluttershy's hesitation. "Need help there?"

Fluttershy looked down to her bags she was carrying, which were full of beach supplies. She looked back up with a blush but shook her head. "No, thank you...um...Sunset?" she remained confused as she looked between both Sunsets. "I was just scouting a spot for Rarity and Melody. They're getting something cold at the stands. Would it be okay to set up next to your spot? It's very nice."

"Of course, Fluttershy," Other Twilight was quick to agree and even walk over to give the woman a friendly hug before helping her with a sun shade. She took easily to it, knowing it was the Fluttershy from her own dimension. They were hardly strangers.

Instantly, Sunset could tell this was likely not the Fluttershy she knew. Her hair was held up differently, her swimsuit choice was altered, and her very mannerisms were off. That and Rarity. The topic was inevitable and even began in haste.

"Dimensions collided," Twilight answered promptly when Flutterhy looked to her after spreading out her beach towel and getting comfortable next to her.

"Less strange things have happened to us," Fluttershy giggled while taking the idea with remarkable ease. In fact, it was hardly strange that anyone in either set of their friends would be shocked by "weird and extreme" events. They had become rather commonplace.

"I hope I don't sound rude in asking but I'm curious because of how our own version of Fluttershy is," Sunset came over and dropped down casually between her wife and Other Fluttershy. "Are you married?"

The animal lover hesitated a moment due to Sunset's suit. It was far more revealing than the ones she was used to seeing on her more familiar Sunset. For a bikini, it was generous on the skin rather than the fabric. "Oh yes...for quite some time. Rarity and I have a fifteen year old daughter: Melody."

"Oh gosh," Twilight put a hand to her mouth.

"Did I say something wrong?" Fluttershy turned worried.

"No, no," Sunset assured her. "It's just that...well, our friends hooked up a tad differently where we're from," she explained with a light-hearted chuckle. To think that Rarity had gone to Fluttershy is this other reality. "Our Shy isn't married. Single and really strong too," she continued to comment and grabbed a fresh cold drink from the minicooler next to her wife. "Though we've got some serious suspicions."

"She's been meeting with someone for a while now," Twilight explained. "She won't talk about it but we think it's a love interest."

"It's written all over her face when we try to squeeze something out of her on it," Sunset chuckled and then downed a gulp of the iced fruit drink. "She never put effort into dating when we were younger but maybe she's gotten to a point in her life where she wants that sort of thing. You certainly jumped on it earlier, huh?"

"It wasn't as easy as all that," Fluttershy whispered. Though her confidence had grown by leaps and bounds since dating - and eventually marrying - Rarity, she had never truly lost that soft spoken way, especially in unusual situations. "We had a few rough patches, but things, well..." she trailed off as a voice carried over the surf to their ears, a young woman singing wordlessly.

A figure soon followed the voice, a teen with royal purple hair hanging free around tanned shoulders, accompanied by a smiling Rarity. She skipped up and held out a cup of shaved ice to Fluttershy.

"Here, Mum," she said in a voice that held a trace of Rarity's accent. "I got your favorite!"

"Thank you, sparrow," Fluttershy said, prompting a giggle and a quick hug.

"Hi, Auntie Sunset, Auntie Twilight!" Melody said as she went to deliver hugs. "Are Rory and Middy here too?" She hadn't quite noticed the fact that there were two of us present.

"They're back on the island," Other Twilight answered her virtual niece. In her mind, she couldn't help wondering about the details of what was happening on the island - besides Aurora sleeping through the day.

"They'll join up sometime later, I'm sure," Other Sunset added. "But I'm also sure Sunlight will be interested in meeting you if you stick around long enough."

"Sunlight?" the girl asked quizzicly.

Other Twilight made a head gesture towards the other pair of Shimmers and the girl gasped in response.

"You...!" she held her hands to her chest. "Counterparts? Or is this some form of Equestrian magic?" she turned quickly to her own Twilight, though she heard the words coming from elsewhere. The same voice but a different mouth.

"Not exactly," Twilight told her from her laying spot beneath the umbrella situated beside Fluttershy's. "We ruled out both. If it involves Equestrian magic then only in the sense of connecting non-Equestrian worlds."

"Pleased to meet the daughter of one of my closest friends," Sunset remarked as she walked over to greet the girl more properly. She smiled gently to seem less intimidating, though she was certain the familiarity of her face prevented that anyways. "Even if it's a different 'version,' so to speak."

Melody brushed her hands on her sarong and extended one to the other Sunset.

"A pleasure indeed," she replied as her other parent raised a cultured eyebrow as she looked at the two additional members of her inner circle.

"Well, this is a surprise," Rarity said. "It's a little difficult, but I can tell the differences between the two of you."

"Oh really?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow. "How, exactly?"

"It's simple," Melody spoke up, reaching out and putting a hand on my duplicate's shoulder. "She's built a little different from you, and look in her eyes is a little different." She turned and pointed at the Twilight next to her mom. "And this Twilight has different glasses than Auntie Twi, and some difference in how she sits. Anyone that knows you well should be able to tell you apart."

I laughed, feeling humor in the bond as Sunshine reached over to pat the girl on the shoulder.

"Honestly," Rarty said, beaming down at her daughter. "Anyone with an eye for detail could tell. Also, our Twilight would never be comfortable enough to dress in a suit as revealing as those, despite the many times I tried to convince her as to her look. Seems I was correct in saying you would look just as attractive."

I could see the wheels in my wife's mind grind to a standstill as she tried to picture herself in one of the suits our doubles wore. Sadly, or perhaps interestingly enough, images of me in a suit very similar emerged and I grinned as I plucked the bond again, seeing her twitch and the screwed up face she made as she tried to suppress a smile.

"She has a point," Twilight said. "There are a lot of subtle differences, now that I've had time to compare. Like how the point of the chin on my Sunny is a little more narrow than on yours, or how you, Sunshine, are slightly taller than me."

"Well of course!" Sunset replied to that. "I couldn't imagine not being able to use my height advantage against Twily!"

Other Sunset smirked as Twilight stuck out her bottom lip and gently smacked her wife on the arm.

"So are you just here for a regular vacation like our counterparts?" Twilight asked Rarity next.

"Why, of course, darling," Rarity replied as she grabbed some sun lotion next to her wife and began applying it. "Of course we couldn't imagine doing any manner of wor-"

Her words were interrupted by the appearance of Sunset standing back up and straightening out the back of her bikini while eyeing the waves. Like Fluttershy, she had been momentarily derailed, but more for the sake of vindication than distraction. She turned her attention to Other Sunset and nodded to herself.

"I told you that you could be a model if you wanted," Rarity eyed her own Sunset.

The woman shrugged while her counterpart turned back to the group.

"Who's up for a round in the water?" Sunset beamed.

"I'm going to take a minute and dry out a bit first," I replied, giving Rarity the same flat look as the last time she had suggested modeling. "I didn't exactly land all of my attempts at air."

My double shrugged and ambled to the water with a slow walk that I knew was meant to entice her wife. And it worked, since the other Twilight excused herself and followed. Despite the beach being clean and clear, there were a few rocky outcroppings in the surf large enough to hide from view. Maybe they were looking for a bit of the privacy that had been disturbed earlier?

"Level with us," Fluttershy suddenly interjected, ending my reverie. "How did this happen?"

Sunshine shrugged. "We're not exactly sure ourselves," she said. "We're thinking it's a localized distortion of the space-time continuum where two harmonicaly similar realities joined at a sympathetic locus."

The other group blinked in surprise. Then Melody spoke up, looking at me.

"So," she haltingly whispered with a nervous glande at my wife. "What happened?"

As Sunshine facepalmed, I reached out and drew two squares in the sand.

"What we think happened, kiddo," I said, drawing 1 in the first square and a 1.2 in the other. "Is that the two realities were so similar that they were really close. We dont know what, but something caused them to connect here, like when your Mama sews on a sleeve."

Understanding dawned on her, and I saw her parents nod as well.

"Is there another me there, Aunt Sunset?"

I leaned over and poked her nose.

"You, kiddo," I smiled. "Are one of a kind."

She giggled before digging into her shaved ice.

"So, Sunlight," Rarity cooed. "Their child, I presume?"

Sunshine nodded. "He's a nice enough young man," she murmured. "Really connected with Middy, in fact."

Fluttershy tilted her head. "Oh?

I was about to answer when a yelp of surprise and a splash caught our attention. We turned to see a laughing Adagio help Rainbow from the shallows.

"I can see there is a lot to listen to tonight," Rarity said, a smooth smile spreading as she smoothed an errant curl on Melody's head.

My phone started ringing and I put it on speakerphone when I saw the ID.

"Well," I laughed. "Morning, my little love."

Rory's voice mumbled back.

"Where did everybody go?"

Laughter danced across the sands.

Bonds

"Mmmm," Sunlight happily hummed while hugging Midnight from behind. The pair had moved over time to the more familiar lagoon-like area that formed the pool to the rear of the villa at the end of the official path. There were only the gentlest of waves there since most of the movement was screened out by the various sandbars and rock formations sheltering the area. They were near the entrance to the half-submerged underground labyrinth.

Midnight was enjoying the feel of him embracing her from behind. Though she had been the one to kiss him first, he did not shy away from affection. His transformation returned the closer they were and, even though his horn wasn't solid, the bright light of it was easy to see as it bathed over her shoulder. A smile was on her face as he had been resting his head in the crook of her neck as he held her.

"You really like hugging, huh?" she lightly teased.

Sunlight just squeezed her in return.

After sticking out her tongue, Midnight thought to remark. "You know, Rory is going to be up and about any time now. She'll probably look here for us or the parents."

"I've got an idea," Sunlight replied and then reluctantly released her. He loved the contact so much it was hard to let go. He did, however, want to go to one particular place with her. Thinking that she wouldn't pause and lose sight of him, he dove down underwater to just the right spot where he could enter the special cavern maze. One could still surface and breath in there so he had no worries of whether or not Aunt Dagi was arround.

Just as expected, Midnight was right behind him, popping back up to the surface after they cleared the entrace. Rocky cavern walls and cieling closed around them but the air was well ventilated by shaft openings scattered about. Sun was practically non-existent, but Sunlight's glowing horn was providing illumination in abundance.

I brushed my hair from my face and looked around.

"I didn't know there was any sort of cave system here," I murmured, keeping my voice soft to reduce the echoes. "How far does it stretch?"

"Not overly far," Sunlight said from ahead of me, treading water while I got my bearings. Even with his horn glowing, the light was soft enough that the lenses of my glasses had washed back down to clear and I tucked them through the shoulder strap of my swimsuit, looping the material in a way I had practiced countless times before.

"So, is there a particular reason you brought me into an underground cave?" I asked, humor in my voice. I brought a hand up to my chest. "A secret hideaway? A little place to avoid attention while you hold me and protect me from whatever horrors might be in here?"

He gave me a look that made me smile, my reason for teasing forgotten as he smiled.

"You're going to just have to wait and see," he said, his horn more solid in the semi-darkness. He turned and stroked forward, my eyes easily following his movements in the dim warmth given off by his new appendage.

"In all seriousness, though," I said as he drew to a stop and looked around. "Rory is going to wonder and if she calls Mother, the wrong impression is going to flow out of her mind."

Sunlight tilted his head back in thought at the comment.

"If our parents are gone then I suppose it might be a problem," Sunlight thought aloud in agreement. "I just wanted to show you around the Siren's Haven, but I don't want to worry anybody. If you think Rory might think something is wrong then we should go back."

Midnight was torn in different ways. On one hand, she didn't want there to be some troublesome misunderstanding. Then again, this Siren's Haven intigued her. She had never been aware of a thing by any such name on the island. There was also the matter of being alone with him some more. She would be lying if she said she hadn't been enjoying it deeply. The soothing touch of his hand upon her arm was hardly necessary but it was quite comforting. That and his honest concern over her sister as well.

"Let's go get her up to date," Midnight conceded with a reluctance. "Besides, she hates being left out even if she does sleep half the day away."

"Aww," Sunlight pretended to pout as they readied to swim back out. "I was hoping for another kiss when we got to the Haven. Perhaps some magic candlelight."

"I guess you'll just have to get by with two girls rather than one," Midnight snarked in response, a sly grin on her face. "If you can handle it."

Sunlight giggled at that and dived down after her when she went below the surface again.

I hauled myself up onto the edge of the lagoon, pulling my soaked hair around and squeezing the water out gently. I knew my hair was thick, but I was always amazed at the sheer amount of moisture it could hold. Lighty had that smile of his on his face.

"That's a lot of water," he teased.

"Compliments of having Mom's hair," I sighed. "You and Rory lucked out, getting fine hair like Mother's. Doesn't hold in as much wet." I squeezed the end of the impromptu ponytail again, a small trickle of water dripping onto the rock I sat on.

"It looks good on you," he said, sliding out onto the shore as well. Water slid down his body and pooled at his feet as he grabbed the towels we had grabbed earlier. "Having gotten to know you now, I don't think I could picture you without the way your hair is."

I grinned at him as I took the towel he proffered. "That is probably the most awkward compliment I've ever gotten," I said, toweling my hair as dry as I cloud before looping it around his neck to pull him in close.

"Let's get going," I whispered before kissing his cheek. "I still want to see the Haven you mentioned."

He leaned down and rested his forehead on mine. I could sense his playful mood and deeper down, a warmth that was growing stronger. I didn't know why we connected like we could, but at that moment it didn't matter.

When we got back to the villa, I walked in on Rory setting her phone down.

"Who'd you get?" I asked cheerfully.

She gave me a pouty look that was absurdly cute considering the sheer amount of mussed hair she had and the purple parasprite still in her lap.

"Mom," she replied. "They're at the south beach. And apparently, Mel is here." She grinned as she delivered that news.

I blinked. "Melody's here?" I parroted. I smiled. "I haven't seen her since school let out. This is great!"

Lightly cleared his throat.

"Who's Melody?"

"One of our cousins," Rory said. "Fluttershy and Rarity's daughter."

"That'll be something if we meet up with them," he said. "My Rarity married AJ instead."

"That would be weird," I said. "I can't imagine not having Sparrow around. She's as much like a sister as Ebony is."

The lad nodded. "I know what you mean," he said. "Rarity and AJ's daughter, Apple Pastry, has been part of my extended family for a while."

Rory raked some bed head out of her face, her hair automatically going where she wanted it to.

Lucky. Mine took a brush, careful planning, and luck some mornings.

"So apparently we're having them over for dinner," she said, setting the parasprite to the side and grabbing her robe.

"Plus, I need some coffee," she said as we headed to the kitchen. "I don't know why, but I'm still sleepy."

I reached out and hugged her to my side. "You know it's past noon, right? How are you still tired?"

She reached over and gently pushed me away, a pained look on her face. I followed her gaze and saw that I had forgotten that I was still in just my swimsuit, not the coverups. In the hug, I had just pressed against her nightgown and gotten it damp, the material slowly turning translucent. I stepped away and she pulled her robe closed tightly.

I smiled sheepishly. "Oops,"

"In that case," Sunlight quickly formed a plan as he looked between the sisters, "maybe we should do something inside until Rory can handle swimming."

Although both Midnight and Sunlight had dried themselves off so as not to drip all over the well-cared-after floors, they were both still inevitably damp. Knowing his parents would likely disapprove of dampening the sofa with his swim trunks, Sunlight made for the bedroom to grab a change of clothes. Even if they wouldn't be hanging around for long, he still wanted to be able to rest a bit.

"Swimming?" Aurora looked to her sister and they shared a quick conversation. It didn't take a detective to know that both Middy and Lighty had been swimming, but the missing information did involve part of the reason behind it. "Siren's Haven?!" she practically squeaked when her sister revealed it.

Sunlight heard something about coffee again as he went down the hallway and into the bedroom. He hit the bathroom next and was changed into a simple pair of shorts and overshirt in short order. When he was nearly back to the living room, he was pounced by Midnight. The girl had also changed quickly, seemingly picking up on his idea without him having mentioned it. However, she had obviously used their bedroom to change instead, which gave her the speed to grab him on his way.

Sunlight giggled as she pulled him by the waist to the massive living room sofa. Aurora's voice overcame anything she might have been thinking to say aloud, though.

"Geez," Aurora yawned again as she waited for the coffee to brew. She observed the pair from over the kitchen counter that adjoined the living room. "You guys really hit it off. Can't you keep your hands off him for two minutes, Middy?"

"Nope!" Middy grinned with exaggerated cuteness towards her sibling.

"I offer free hugs if that's what you want, Rory," Lighty explained in good cheer.

Midnight blurted in response first. "You are so honestly sweet, I think I'm getting cavities. I don't have to share everything with Rory, though. Let her get some caffeine in her so she doesn't collapse and we'll see about a light lunch."

Before Sunlight could protest, she pulled him down with her onto the plush sofa. It was a soft rather than hard landing even though he basically fell back with her onto the cushions. She pulled him up so that she rested against the comfortable corner while holding him. He, in turn, was faced away from her and thus addressed Aurora instead.

"Will you be in bed same time tonight or do you go night owl when you sleep in this late?" Sunlight asked in an easy mood.

Soon the smell of coffee was filling the kitchen and wafted into the living room. Rory turned to serve herself some of the life sustaining nectar and spooned in some sugar and milk into the dark brew before answering.

"No," she answered simply, gesturing to the pot in offering. I shook my head as did Sunlight. "Just sometimes I crash hard, especially when I know I don't have to be up early the next day. I'm usually pretty good during the school year, but this is a vacation! Besides, the days are long enough that I can still go have some fun."

I smiled at that, knowing the slight stretching of the truth hidden in her words. Rather than pull the rug out from under her, I moved the subject along.

"So," I began, standing and flitting over to the cupboards. "When are they supposed to be here?"

"Mom said that they were going to hit the resort shops after a while, so they could be a while," she said, hands curled around the barrel of her coffee mug. "You know how Aunt Rarity gets when it comes to shopping. Everything is an inspiration."

I giggled. "I can just hear her now," I said, rummaging through the boxed goods. I lowered my pitch a little and tossed my still damp hair over my shoulder. "Idea! This would look marvelous on you, darling!"

Sunlight snickered from his spot on the sofa. "That was actually a pretty good likeness."

I smiled as I pulled out a box of pasta. "She doesn't care for it," I answered. "Says I make it too 'overly dramatic' to be accurate. Pasta salad and leftovers sound good?"

I started a pot of water boiling after getting their assent. Aurora went to get properly dressed as Light came over to help.

"If it bothers you," he said softly as he pulled some of the leftover teriyaki vegetables from the refrigerator. "I could tone down the PDA."

I reached I one ruffled his hair. "Don't you dare change for me," I said as I started mixing up the dressing. "Our folks are just as huggy as yours. The only difference is Mom never really got over the pony gestures with as often as she visits. So if I nuzzle you at some point, don't comment on it."

"I like nuzzles," he said into my ear as he came up behind and squeezed me as he reached into the cabinet next to me for a platter. "They did it when I was growing up, too. Kept calling me their little colt. Never understood until I was told everything about Ma's past."

I slowed my mixing as the words percolated through my head. I had never really given thought to the various nicknames and terms of endearment our parents had used growing up, but now that Sunlight had mentioned it, Mom did tend to fall to Equestrian terms more often than Mother did.

"Middy, you ok?" Sunlight asked as he saw my vacant look. I nodded, placing a wooden spoon over the rim of the pot with the pasta to keep it from boiling over.

"Just realizing how similar our upbringing must have been," I said, turning to lean against the counter. "I mean, with the exception of trips to Equestria, our parents don't seem overly different. Both of our mothers are scientists, yours with genetics and mine teaches. Both Mom and your Ma are creative types, though they use different mediums."

"Your mom is pretty intimidating," he said, running his hands through his hair. "She has a totally different bearing."

"That's because you're wooing one of her daughters," Rory said as she swept back into the kitchen, a simple pair of capris and a loose blouse on. She was barefoot like the rest of us. "Between that subconscious worry and her status as a part-time Princess, she can be intimidating to guys."

"You would know," I said as I poured the cooked pasta into a colander to drain. "You've brought home a few more dates than I have."

"Middy," she said, leaning against the island counter and smiling softly. "You still haven't brought a date home. Technically, at least."

As my face turned red, she smiled at Sunlight. "You're pretty much her first real boyfriend. She's a little rough around the edges," she winked at me as I huffed. "But she's the happiest I've seen her."

"Boyfriend?" Sunlight repeated with a blush.

"Well, what did you think we are?" Middy rose an aura of snarkiness despite a fierce blush. "Kissing strangers? I don't just get on like this with whoever's available."

Seeing her sister's jabbing look turn to her, Aurora rolled her eyes. "Like I said," she responded simply.

Sunlight wasn't unaware of the term applying to them since they had discussed some of that earlier. It was just pleasant to actively consider. He placed the heated vegetables with a serving spoon on the counter while Midnight sat down with the finished pasta. The pair were seated opposite as they ate, Light having retrieved the other various utensils prior.

"I just never...to think of you as my girlfriend and me as your boyfriend..." Sunlight searched for a phrase after swallowing his first bite of the food. "It's really nice."

"Enjoy it," Midnight said, indirectly referencing the limit of their stay at Hello Tropics. She took another bite herself and enjoyed the leftovers that were actually better than most.

"So I was saying," Sunlight switched rails while turning his gaze across the counter to Aurora. "There's this place down in the Maze - the part-submerged tunnels that run along one side of the island. It's an old underground dwelling you have to see to believe. When Aunt Dagi took a look...well, it's got a very interesting history behind it. You'll see what I mean when we get there. We'll have to be careful of the separate exit pool though. It's too unsafe to use without Dagi or the twins."

I tried to pay attention but found myself slipping inward, the sudden seriousness of things brought into sharp focus. Five days. That's all the time we had left. Less, maybe, since I didn't know how long he and his family had planned on staying.

Boyfriend... I thought absently. I have a boyfriend.

I felt another blush rise on my face at the thought. In school, I had been approached a few times for school dances but nothing ever serious. Aunt Fluttershy had taken to referring to me as a Tsundere, which as near as I could follow meant tough exterior or something. I don't understand a lot of Nieghponese.

But...the prospect was nice. Here was someone that could understand the unusual upbringing I had without having to explain a lot, someone that I genuinely felt a connection with. It was nice.

It scared me to my depths to think of the end of the week. Mom had said they were going to work on a pair of journals for us, but if they worked but we couldn't see each other, would I even want it? A constant reminder of something I had by could never have again?

Suddenly, I wasn't as hungry as I had been before.

A week...is that enough time to do anything, really?

Aurora seemed quite excited enough at the prospect of exploring some ancient ruin with Sunlight. On the other hand, her sister had become reflective. Sunlight was far from having missed her thoughtful mood and reduced appetite. They spent a moment longer at the villa before heading out to the lagoon in order for their food to settle, which gave him a chance to connect with her again.

Sunlight sat back at the sofa with Midnight after he finished putting up the dishes of their meal. It was intentionally that he moved to embrace her there. "Hey," he spoke softly at his contemplating companion. "Mind if I...?"

Midnight gave a lopsided and perhaps halfhearted grin in return, letting his forehead rest gently on hers once again. It gave him an opportunity to connect, causing a mild transformation on his part.

"I hear you," he agreed solemnly. "We just have to enjoy the present, right? Enjoy what we have and cross bridges when we get to them?"

Midnight let out a breath along with her bothered feelings. "I know. It's not like our parents won't figure something out. I just-"

"-really like being with you," Sunlight finished for her with a simple kiss to her lips.

The girl smiled more genuinely to that. Aurora joined them on the sofa and they passed the remaining "wait" time with conversation - sharing interests and occasional friendly jabs. When it came time to change and head out, Rory was the first to it. She even made it to the lagoon sooner and practically pulled on Sunlight to hurry them along. The boy only took time to enjoy every moment he had with his girlfriend.

"Come on! This has got to be the most exciting thing since the first time we came to this place - and I remember," Aurora insisted, swimming about eagerly.

"Follow me," the boy instructed. "It's not far but we do have to go underwater."

Midnight came up to him in the water and held him. His horn hadn't ignited earlier so she connected with him again, this time resting into his shoulder and kissing him fondly once upon the neck. He returned the grateful embrace, his glowing unicorn horn returning and able to provide ample light under the surface. Though he desired the genuine contact more than any practical light source.

It was a short trip just like last time. Again, for the better. Not being sirens, they didn't exactly have a permanant means of staying underwater. Both sisters were beside him when they went down and when they came up.

"Here we are," Sunlight breathed out, first having breathed in some fresh air. He could hold his breath well, but he was no olympian. Breaking the surface even in the underground cavern system was a welcome break. "Just a mishmash of twists and turns and we'll be at the Haven. No diving."

"So do you mind illuminating more?" Aurora giggled and flipped her soaked hair aside.

"The Haven used to be a secure sanctuary but all the years of abandonment led to one of the sidewalls of the entryway caving in. This maze now presents an alternate path in. Without it, we probably never would have discovered it," Sunlight cheerfully remarked as he swam forward at a relaxed pace. He lead them down one fork and then another in the multitude of branching paths. Light would have been more challenging if not for the glow of his horn.

I bobbed in the water as Sunlight paused go check his bearings. There was still that lingering worry, but somehow, he had made them ease. Everything was simple with him, even his view of the possibility of being separated.

We'll solve that when we get to it, he had said. And I believed him. Our parents were some of the smartest people I knew, so surely it wouldn't be a problem.

Would it?

The light dimmed again, and I dove to follow it, my eyes picking it out easily in the haze of the water. However, it was tough to match speed with him as he cut through the water. I wasn't an athlete but I wasn't a slouch, either. When we surfaced again, I called out to him.

"Are you sure you aren’t part Siren?" I asked as we bobbed there. "It's a little hard to keep up with you sometimes.

He grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head in a way that made it easy to see the bits of Mom in him. The angle of his nose, the tilt of his eyes, even that slightly off-center grin. But I also saw Mother, too. His hair, his frame, and chin.

The moment was broken by Rory.

"Yeah! I thought I was going to drown for a moment there," she gasped.

"It is a tiny bit long to get back to the surface if you don't have practice at the route. I swam a lot when I was younger because we'd always come here every year at least once and I'd drag my parents to every diving and swimming attraction when we weren't on the island. But I swam most here. Well, around the island I mean," he explained while continuing to lead them through the dark and rocky caverns. "If you think I'm part siren," he said while looking back to Rory, who was illuminated by the pale yellow light of his horn, "it's probably because I've swam a lot with my cousins - the siren twins."

"I take it they're good swimmers," Aurora suggested in a joking tone.

"Yeah," Sunlight agreed without hesitation. "In fact, if they weren't such good swimmers then they wouldn't have gotten Aunt Dagi in time to save me from the whirlpool. I almost died."

"What?!" Midnight widened her eyes at him.

Sunlight gave a nervous chuckle in return. "Don't worry. It's safe. The whirlpool is what makes the old official exit pool dangerous - only sirens can use it safely. Dagi sealed it up, though, so it's not like we can accidentally fall in."

"So your Adagio has some-" Midnight began to ask before Sunlight stopped their continuous passage through the tunnels.

"Here we are," he declared while climbing out of the water onto some rocks that looked like they fell there in a rockslide.

The cavernous ceiling stretched up higher above their heads, which allowed them to climb up like Lighty did into what appeared to be a sort of natural hallway coming up out of the water. When he was fully up, he turned carefully and reached down to help his companions.

"Careful. The rocks are slippery and you have to watch your head," he advised upon getting Rory up first and then Middy. "You were saying?"

Midnight's lip curled up pleasantly. "Adagio can swim like a siren?"

"And the twins, though they're not as powerful as their mother yet," he answered before carefully moving around Aurora in the tight space so his horn could light the way.

"Hey there, sailor," Aurora joked with a wide smile as he passed not an inch around her due to the tight space.

"Rory," Midnight smacked her palm to her forehead.

Sunlight giggled and continued once he was ahead. "Just a few rocky spots and then it's all even stone. Still got to be careful not to slip. It's pretty safe and not bad for old ruins. About Dagi though, something happened to her after she and Aunt Dashie got together. Like Ma and Mother. She got some kind of siren wings she could transform and use and she got crazy good at swimming - not that she wasn't already really good to begin with."

The non-water passageway quickly opened up to smoother surfaces like he had said. They came out of the tunnel to find a much larger underground chamber furnished with a mostly smooth stone floor and smooth rounded walls. A dome-like stone cottage occupied the chamber space to one side while the rest of the space was filled with a pair of intact pylons and some sort of washbasin before a boarded-up section of floor. Everything consisted of the same stone, which a small beam of light coming from a fissure in the ceiling helped Sunlight's horn to illuminate. Under light, it appeared more as a brilliant pearl-like material than dull gray stone.

As I looked around the revealed space, I was struck by how simple it all was. It honestly reminded me of Fluttershy's cottage across the mirror. I gently made my way to the building, feeling the smooth stone under my feet.

As I approached, I heard something faintly under the rush of water coming from the boarded up section of the cavern, a whistling sound almost. I cocked my head slightly and listened, beginning to hear a harmonizing sound to it. It sounded almost like...

"Flutes," Rory whispered, having apparently picked up on the sound as well. "Harmonizing along a chordal structure. I can pick out the thirds and seventh."

I ponied up as Sunlight began to speak.

"You're right," he said, his horn sparking brighter. "It probably started as a natural formation that was refined later, but they always sound at the change of the tide. Probably an alert of some sort."

I reached inside and brought up my magic, casting light out myself. The stone underneath us began to shine with the same lustrous sheen as mother of pearl and far to the one side of the cavern was a sparkling wall of crystalline rock.

"Quartz veins," I whispered. "They made crystal flutes out of the quartz."

An arm slid around my waist. "It may just be random, but their song is pretty at high tide," he said as I reached down and laced our fingers together. "Those are what keyed off Aunt Dagi about just what this place used to be and how old it probably was. It surprised Ma and Mother to hear about it too. After they got done scolding me for diving near a whirlpool."

"It's not like you knew it was there," I said, listening to the rising and falling tones of the flutes. "Accidents happen."

"One of the first things I was told was to always scout an area if possible," he said. "The rock edge gave way and I slid in. Prism had gone to get his mother at the time, so Trance was the only one around and she wasn't strong enough to pull me free. She had just lost her grip on me when Dagi dove in."

"Sounds like a close call," Rory said, rubbing her arms. "Is it just me, or did the temperature just drop?"

I nodded, having felt the chill just beyond the body heat radiated by my boyfriend. "If the flutes only sound at tidal shifts, then it's likely that cooler water is being forced up into the shafts, causing the ambient temperature to drop."

"Which means the surrounding water will take longer to transfer the heat from the sun," she concluded. "The rock bed will soak it up first through thermologic transfer."

"You sound like Mom again," Sunlight giggled as he playfully tapped her on the nose.

Midnight stuck her tongue out but retreated quickly due to the chill. Lighty held her and rubbed her arms to help keep her heated. Although he wouldn't deny the cool temperature that resulted from the natural processes, he felt even warmer than usual down here. Perhaps, he began to reflect, it was a result of his current state of transformation. His body did feel warmer, but not unpleasantly so. In fact, it was similar to the pleasant warmth of laying on a smooth boulder warmed in the morning by a gentle sun.

The boarded up exit pool continued to thrum in a steady but dull vibration as the quartz flutes delivered their notes. It was almost hypnotic in rhythm. Little doubt that one could even be lulled into sleep or hypnosis if one relaxed too much. There was an almost natural beauty to it.

"Just like sirens to make such a musical system," Sunlight commented as he moved along with his girlfriend to the cottage entrance.

Aurora stepped around the entrance path first and took a look at the deceptively small house. "Have the half-siren twins ever put you under a spell?"

Midnight looked to him closely in spite of her already intimate distance, interested.

Sunlight gave a "pfft" of amusement, however. "No, no. They're both pretty bad at singing so far. Though, Trance does have a knack for the ocarina. She always packs it, so you could probably get a demonstration out of her if you wanted. If Prism can play an instrument then he's never had an interest in sharing that fact. My aunts have only told me they've explored lots of musical things with them."

Rory was about to ask about Lighty's own possible musical interests until both of them got a good look of the house interior. What appeared to be a single dome-like room from the outside was really a quite spacious-looking room on the inside. Empty shelves lined the walls that curved around to the entrance. Against the opposite side from the entrance, though, was an open doorway that led downwards several steps via a short stairwell into the next room.

Sunlight nodded to them and ushered them down into the much larger room. "Mom had all sorts of theories as to what the antechamber was for. Lucky for us, Adagio hadn't lost her memory from her siren days in Equestria. Putting that aside for the moment though, this is what is really cool!"

There appeared no more doorways in this considerably larger chamber minus the passageway they came down from. It would be hard to understand why any more rooms were necessary, however. The place was massive. A good twenty feet was illuminated by Sunlight's glowing horn. The pearl-like quartz shimmered beautifully, but the other lights were even more dazzling. A series of glowing lights was set periodicaly and then somewhat randomly on the walls, ceiling, and some parts of the floor - mostly in the room's few alcoves. They were shaped like sea anemone's and glowed with a mesmerizing hue that shifted gently from purple to blue to red and back to purple.

The walls and ceiling were all etched with intricate murals that seemed to tell stories if one knew where to look for the beginning. All manner of creatures and actions were depicted, miniscule shadows of the etching grooves shifting about along with the light of the anemony lamps. Likewise, the massive statue at the center rear of the chamber cast a shimmering shadow. What it was could not possibly be mistaken. It was an enormous quartz statue of a siren. An actual half-equine half-fish siren. When Sunlight looked back to the girls from in front of it, the size was easily twice his own.

The neither angry nor joyful visage of the statue was reflected in six scooped depressions in the floor that were arrayed in a circular fashion before the statue. Each was filled with water and might have been five feet deep at their center. The boy did not cross through them and it would be hard not to notice one was getting into deeper water with the way they gradually went from a mere inch of water at the edge to a foot deep in twice that distance.

There must have been some of the anemone lights within the array of small pools because each glowed their own inviting hues, which cast in turn upon the siren statue and the boy in front of it.

"I wonder what those depressions are for," I posed aloud as I knelt down next to them. I could smell the barest hint of salinity with my heightened sense while transformed. "It's seawater."

Sunlight nodded. "Aunt Adagio said they kept fish there that was intended for supper sometimes. I'm sure you noticed the lack of fish in the inland freshwater sources."

Aurora was fixated on the statue's face, her gaze narrowed as though in dim memory. "I've seen her before," she whispered.

I glanced at her. "That's ridiculous, Rory," I said. "Adagio, Sonata, and Aria were the last of their kind in our timeline."

"I know, I know," she said, reaching up to brush some hair from her face. "But i feel like I've seen her before."

I stood and looked closely too, and recognition flickered as well. "You're right," I said, casting a light spell to illuminate the statue a little more, suffering the slight discomfort of the increased light. Something about the shape of the muzzle and forelock of the depicted image.

After a moment I shook my head. "I can't figure it out," I said, dismissing my light and rubbing my eyes. I looked at Lighty and put a hand on my hip and smiled.

"So, proof of Equestrian Sirens on this island predating Star Swirl banishing our Aunts," I said. "Do you think that this might have something to do with why these two points are connected?"

"I can't rule it out," he said, coming back over and hugging me. "I wanted to show you this to show why I was optimistic about the future."

I smiled at him. "I thought that was just your nature," I whispered, resting my forehead against his.

He giggled. "Well, that too."

"Wait," Aurora stopped herself and looked over to the lovebirds, who were fawning over each other. "If this is from this island that you know then maybe it's not from the one we are used to."

Midnight drew her gaze back to her sister with a thoughtful expression. "Maybe. We never found this, after all. It might not actually be from our King's Land - only existing on this one."

"But maybe the siren that the statue depicts is from a place you know," Sunlight spoke to Rory while reluctantly letting Midnight go to the other girl. They crouched before one of the pools.

"Hmm," Rory hummed in thought then shrugged. "Anyways, thanks for showing us here. This is beautiful!"

Sunlight joined them in front of the pool that was glowing with a mesmerizing maroon shade. It was slowly pulsing to a space-like deep blue. "I know right? My parents wouldn't let me go here alone after the whole drowning thing. But we came here together quite a bit with my aunts. The water's safe even though it's not exactly spacious to swim in. Come on."

Midnight gladly followed his weak pull into the gradually deepening water. Aurora followed while keeping her eyes fixed on the glowing anemone lights below in the pool.They reached a point in the center where the depth was just enough for them to have to swim to keep their heads above the surface comfortably without touching the bottom with their feet. A trio of the anemonies was also there on the bottom, glowing in changing shades of red, green, and blue.

"No worries," Lighty assured with a cheerful giggle. "They're harmless. My mom already researched them to death."

"They're kind of cute," Aurora smiled and came over to her sister and Sunlight. "Like this."

Midnight gave a "heh" as her sister joined their hands together. "Yeah," she agreed while looking at her boyfriend. Although his body was underwater, his face was above it and illuminated by the multiple deep hues of the lit water. Her hand tightened on his.

"Not bad at all."

Enchantments

I looked down at the two journals sitting on the table on the back veranda. We had lucked out in finding these two, decent sized and thicker than others though not as thick as the ones the Princess had made. Neither Twilight nor I were versed in the enchantment that would allow the pages to continuously renew themselves, but we didn’t need them to, if things went well in the other department. I looked over at my duplicate, sitting between Fluttershy and her Twilight.

“So,” she said. “How do we do this? We don't exactly have the same magic here that I did in Equestria.”

Sunshine picked up the leatherbound books and handed them to me before pulling a large rolled up bit of paper from under the bench we were sitting on.

“There is not much to the enchantment itself,” she said, adjusting her glasses as she unrolled the paper to reveal a simple thaumaturgic circle upon it. “In Equestria any of us could empower it, presumably. But you're right, there isn’t the same ambient magic here as there. There is a way to do it, in theory, but the method is untested so it may be a bit...squickish.”

“How so?” her counterpart asked, looking up from her notepad. She had been writing notes on everything since we had all gotten back to the villa last night and gotten her 'samples' from us. She had only refrained from asking Fluttershy and Rarity based on a stern look from my twin.

“Simply put,” she said, rubbing her elbow. “This method has three outcones. We will either succeed, fail, or massively fail.”

“Define massively fail, darling,” Rarity spoke up, a little concern in her eyes.

“Well,” Sunshine hesitated, looking at me.

“We could burn the island to a charred rock,” I said. “To pull enough magic in to power this spell we’d have to use our Midnight and Daydream forms to do it and failure could be worse than the havoc wreaked by the Crystal War.”

“I’ve studied them through the years,” Sunshine said. “In those forms we no longer just use our personal mana reserves, we also act as a conduit for any ambient mana as well. It's why when we power down from them sometimes, we're frazzled and tired. Draw too much in comparison to the amount used, and we could blow out like a fuse. If that happens, the mana would have no place to go or a will to direct it.”

I pantomimed an explosion with the accompanying ‘boom’ sound.

The faces of those around us were pale. Fluttershy and Rarity remembered whar they had seen, and my counterpart had gotten a glimpse several days ago.

"But, that doesnt make any sense," Twiliht said, putting her pencil down. "If we're a conduit, it should continue to follow the path we set." She skimmed her notes and tapped a section. "The Law of Conservation of Energy..."

"Doesn't apply to magic," Sunshine said immediately. "I know where your thoughts are going, because I went there myself a decade ago. You may have the edge in genetics, but I've spent time on both sides of the mirror exploring the differences in magic. The magic here is sporadic and wild. Even if you exclude the Sirens, us at the Games, and the events of Camp Everfree, there has still been at least three magic outbreaks of major concerns on this side alone that probably never would have happened in Equestria: Harpies, the Conjunction, and Juniper Montage. Four if we count this meeting of the minds. Not sure this is related to the Conjunction."

"Not to mention that our transformations should take longer and a lot more energy when we pony up," I put in. "The actual bodies should get smaller for those of us with wings, not to mention the pain of bones and muscles reforming to create them. And the same for the reverse, the hair should remain long and there should be some sort of visible mark from the wings if magic followed all laws of physics. You're off the edge of the map, Twilight Shimmer. Here, there be monsters."

“That’s why we woke you up early to talk about this,” I said, looking at Fluttershy and Rarity . “We want you to take the girls and Sunlight to the mainland. Keep them occupied, especially Middy. She’ll sense the build-up of mana if things start going critical. If anything happens…”

Rarity reached over. “We understand, Sunset,” she said. “Do our duty as Godparents.”

My double looked at Rainbow, who nodded after a glance to Adagio.

I heard a door slide open inside, heralding the emergence of at least one of the children of the eight of us. I looked at the journals and laid them on the enchanting circle.

“There are still some preparations to make,” Sunshine said, folding her hands. “So how about breakfast before we start? I believe it is my turn to make it.”

I nodded, seeing similar nods all around except from the other Twilight.

“What’s wrong, Twily?” her wife asked.

“Nothing important,” she grumped. “Just trying to figure out how she wound up such a good cook.

"Don't feel too bad," I said with a grin. "She approached it like chemestry when she was learning, from what I hear. First time she cooked for me, she had all these digital scales and graduated cylinders. I wasn't sure what she was doing."

"I did not have graduated cylinders," my wife huffed under her breath. "They were narrow beakers."

Twilight Shimmer waited until her wife had her back turned at the counter. Sunset had taken to talking to Adagio, who was also in the kitchen helping Other Twilight. Sunset had relinquished a bowl of pancake batter that needed the blueberries to be folded in. It should have been simple enough for even this Twilight to not go astray. However, the temptation was too strong.

Perhaps if I just transformed a little I could make these stand out more...

Sunset snapped immediately from her other conversation and grabbed her wife's wrist. It wasn't rough, but it was firm. "No. No blueberry pancake monsters."

"Aww," the woman pouted, her glasses falling a bit down the bridge of her nose as a sort of emphasis.

Meanwhile, the children in the living area were having an excited conversation about the Siren's Haven. The idea of Adagio remaining a siren in human form was thus brought into the ongoing talk in the kitchen amongst those preparing main dishes and entrees. Other Twilight moved some finished hash browns to the side and added her own curiosity to her wife's question on Adagio's remaining powers.

"It's not worth much," the mother siren downplayed. She just finished juicing some fresh oranges and began pouring into a pitcher from the juicer to set on the counter. "Before Dash, I couldn't do much at all. I lost my siren song the same as my sisters and it never came back. But when I fell in love with Dash, I eventually was able to do a partial transformation. Nothing spectacular. Just some siren ears and back fins like Dashie's pony versions."

"She can also breath underwater and swim like a dolphin," Rainbow added from her perch on the armrest of the sofa.

"I prefer shark," Adagio corrected with a toothy grin. "And get over here. We need some stuff washed before it gets caked on."

"Yes, ma'am, hot mama, sir," Rainbow saluted in a joking manner, swinging off the sofa and striding into the kitchen like she owned it. "I'll expect your number when this is all over, though."

Adagio splayed her hands out as if to say "how long have we been married like this?"

Sunset shook her head at the familiar routine and turned her attention to her alternate version. "So what else do you typically have on your vacation agenda?"

"Well, meeting an alternate version of me is low among the list," I said as I pulled jars of jams and preserves from the fridge. "Normally we come out in the winter so there's window shopping, shows, the Isle of Lights..."

"Last year's was so beautiful," my wife sighed to herself.

"Twilight going mushy over the season," I continued as though nothing had happened. "I swear she and the girls regress into single digit ages around Hearth's Warming time."

"Mom!" I heard my girls shout in unison at my jibe.

"You know it's a special time for us," Sunshine reproached, tossing a spare scrap of potato peel at me. "You proposed to me just after Christmas."

"December 28," I said as my mind flew backward for a moment, the look on her face as I asked.

"Seems that might be why we keep missing each other if these two worlds were linked for as long as you speculated," my twin mused as she plated the finished pancakes. "We tend to come in the summer."

"Seems logical," I nodded, dropping a dollop of raspberry jam on the pancakes I accepted from her. "But it's mostly just relaxing for a few days between semesters."

"And for this trip?" Twilight asked, leaning forward.

"Well, more less the same," Sunshine said. "I take over as department chair this year, so winter is going to be busy with setting up things. I have quite a bit to do over the break this might be the last time we could spend as a family for a bit."

"I've seen the checklists, Mom," Middy called in. "Four handwritten pages isn't quite a bit for you!"

"You want pancakes or not?" came my wife's return shot. I smiled. Life continued as normal for now.

"What about you?" I asked. "What did Timepiece Twilight set up for you guys?"

"Timepiece?" Twilight deadpanned.

Giggling at it, Sunset did her best to answer. "All the usual I guess. We've been here so many times that we don't really keep a strict schedule. That only happened for the first five or so times."

Twilight rolled her eyes, her copy giving a knowing smile.

"And what are the staples?" Other Sunset insisted.

Since Sunset had taken to finally eating her own small stack of pancakes, Twilight took up the question upon sitting herself down. "Relaxing at the beach, simple swimming, hot tub...we stick to the mellow activities later on in the day and do the more exhausting ones early. It just depends on what we are in the mood for - mostly Lighty, actually. We've gone through the options here several times but it's still fun and we can mix it up. Like the sailboarding we did. Oxy will let us scuba dive in more interesting and remote area as long as Dagi is with us."

"It must be really handy having her work here and have a residence on the resort," Other Sunset commented after swallowing a bit of her breakfast. She shared in her copy's love of pancakes.

"Yeah," Sunlight broke in, having walked over. "She really helped me to love swimming so much. My parents and Aunt Dashie are great and all but there's nothing as cool as swimming with a siren!"

"Don't take all the pancakes, Lighty," Twilight waved her fork at her son.

The boy blushed and put a few back so that his plate didn't resemble the Leaning Tower of Pisa. He set aside the strawberry jam so he could instead go for the blueberry one. His redhead mother quickly made hand gestures - since her mouth was full - for him to bring it over to her as well.

As Sunlight delivered the bottle, he turned his attention back to the girls around his age. "Blueberry. Yay or nay?"

“Strawberry for me, please,” Rory said as she settled her plate onto the table. “I’m allergic to blueberries.”

“I’ll take some,” Middy said around a mouthful of hash browns. I smiled. The girl never could make it to the table before taking a few test bites lately. Maybe the whole freshman fifteen rumor was true. I certainly never gained any weight my freshman year.

That’s because our freshman year if we weren’t fighting Chrysalis we were engaged in other activities. I heard spread through my mind. And don’t think I won’t get you for the Timepiece remark.

I winked at my wife as she chewed on a mouthful of pancake. You know I love you I sent back.

“May I just have some syrup?” Melody asked as she tied her long hair behind her shoulders. She had always been simple with her tastes and likes. For all of Rarity she had on the outside, she was Fluttershy’s child through and through.

“So,” I began, turning to Adagio. “Have you gotten up with your sisters since the Battle? I know our Sirens stayed together afterward and had a pretty bad go of it for a while.”

Adagio nodded, covering her mouth with her hand as she finished her mouthful. “I see Aria whenever there’s a ceremony or championship game with Dashie’s team. She’s mellowed out a little, though she’ll never admit it. Sonata...” she trailed on, as if articulating in her head what she was allowed to say. "She hasn't changed the slightest even after all these years. Sweet enough to give cavities. In fact, her more recent visits have hyped up the twins even more than usual."

Rainbow’s head snapped up. “Where are they?” she asked, looking around, concern on her face.

Adagio’s head whipped around, confused. “I’d swear they were just here,” she muttered, a familiar glower coming over her face.

Sunshine wiped her mouth on a napkin and rose. “I’ll help you look,” she offered as she pushed her chair in. “How far could they have gotten, after all?”

“You’d be surprised,” Dash said as she poked her head in the room the twins had slept in.

“Well, while you corral the twins,” I said as I popped the last forkful of hash browns into my mouth. “I’ll get the books and all ready.” I looked at my counterpart.

“Want in on some old-fashioned Unicorn research?” I asked with a grin.

"Might as well," my counterpart smiled with a thoughtful look. "Could even give me a bit of nostalgia while we're at it."

Rainbow Dash ran out to the Hydro Star, being the fastest on foot. Meanwhile Adagio walked at a slower pace out the rear door along with Sunshine and Fluttershy. The siren mother gave uncertain glances as they started back toward the lagoon.

"Trying to remind yourself that I'm not the Twilight you know?" Sunshine made an apt observation.

"That's the easy part," Adagio replied flatly. "You walk differently. It's weird."

"Walk?" Sunshine repeated with an amused giggle. "Well, so do you. The differences are at least as interesting as the similarities."

The natural sounds of the island sang as they always had. Tropical birds made themselves heard from the high canopy above them. Waves swept in and out, audible even in the small island interior. There was also the rustle of the jungle plants in the humid breeze. They continued walking the path strewn with cobblestone hardly visible below the wet soil that had crept in every time the weather encouraged it.

"What's she like?" Adagio finally had the idea to ask. She hated to give space to the thought that she wouldn't have wound up as content as she was in this realm. Alternate realities were so complicated.

"My Adagio Dazzle?" Sunshine asked for clarity. Upon seeing the nod, she continued. "Well, slimmer. That's for sure."

Adagio stopped them in their tracks. She stared straight at Sunshine with an open mouth. It stayed that way for precious seconds before she closed it with a grin. "So your Sunset rubbed off on you as well."

Fluttershy giggled at that.

"What do you think about her?" Adagio turned her attention to the animal lover.

"About my world's Adagio?"

"Yeah," the siren got them moving again, her arms crossed.

"Well," Fluttershy whispered as I adjusted my glasses. "She's not as forceful a personality as she once was. In that way, I think Sandalwood is rubbing off on her. She is a wonderful wife and mother, and the B&B she helps run is simply lovely. I'm so happy I was able to find you all after the Battle."

"What do you mean?" Adagio asked.

"When you all," I paused, blushing. "Rather, when our Sirens lost at the BOB, they wound up staying in a halfway house for lack of anywhere better to go."

"I found them just before the winter hit the year after and took a few care packages to them," Fluttershy paused to kneel by a field mouse that stuck it's head out of the undergrowth and rubbed her finger along its head. "The loss of their Song caused withdrawal symptoms. Like opioid addicts going cold turkey. It was horrible. But between their restoration of their songs and meeting their other halves, they've all been great friends. Helped save Equestria from an undead army, managed to keep us sane when the magic that Chrysalis used started going awry, and even helped Pinkie get her business started."

"Actually, Sonata helped there," I added. "At the time, you had become the manager of a nice bar and grill in Midtown. Aria had the farthest to go, sadly."

Fluttershy nodded, her gaze dropping for a moment.

"Sounds like hell," Adagio put it bluntly. "I guess we had it easier. Still, we didn't talk for the longest time. It was years before I reconnected with either of my sisters. The Battle of the Bands broke the last thing that held us together. We each learned our lesson, though."

"It does sound like you and your sisters are quite happy," Fluttershy glady remarked.

They had come to the end of the path where it met the lagoon. Adagio stopped them for a moment. Cursing, she knelt down and put her ear to the water. It prompted Sunshine to begin asking a question to which she was immediately hushed. After another moment, Adagio stood back up with a groan. "Yeah?" she let Sunshine speak up.

"You have special water-based senses?"

"I'm a siren. Just because I can't sing doesn't mean my other abilities have been destroyed. They're down there. Cloud was just following to stop his sister from galavanting in the maze. I'll get them."

"Um...do you need a swimming suit?" Fluttershy softly asked, perfectly willing to go retrieve something for the woman.

Adagio pulled her light shirt up and off of her and quickly did the same to her shorts. Fluttershy gave an "oh my" before politely averting her gaze. Sunshine was simply still in surprise.

Beneath the removed garments, Adagio's curves were sporting what could be mistaken at quick glance as a sports bra and simple-shaped panties. However, the purple and blue fabric had a texture to it that gave it away as high-performance swimwear.

"I usually wear something for situations where I need to do some unexpected swimming," Adagio explained and handed her clothes to Sunshine, who almost fumbled with them. "I've worked here too long. I'll have the kids in a moment."

Fluttershy looked back to Sunshine and then Adagio as the woman dived into the lagoon to start towards the underwater maze entrance.

"So...um...do we wait here or...or what?"

"We'll wait," I said. "We may be needed to help wrangle Trance when she catches up to her." I lifted a rock out of the undergrowth that was likely equal to the weight of either twin.

Fluttershy smiled, then furrowed her brow.

"Should we tell her about how low Aria fell?" She asked in a shadow of her old voice.

"Only if she asks," I responded. "I don't think we should let her let her hear those particular stories. The shock of her finding out who she married on our side will be enough."

My friend giggled at the thought. "No one saw that coming," she agreed. "The grump and the party animal, quite the odd couple."

I grinned. "You must admit though," I sighed, stretching my arms as I spoke. "They had quite the rocky road. But they make each other so happy."

"Who's happy?" a voice asked from the lagoon.

Turning, we saw Cloud silently drifting towards the shore, his hair clinging to his forehead.

I helped him out, smiling. "Just some friends of ours," I said, ruffling his hair. "You ok?"

He nodded and opened his mouth, but any words were interrupted by something being launched from the water, arms and legs flailing as a wail came from Trance's mouth. I caught her in my telekinetic grip and left her hanging head downwards as her mother broke the surface and swam silently forward, an angry look on her face. Her hair was raked back behind her, exposing the wing-like fins and altered ears. Her skin also held a faint iridescent shine that faded as she climbed from the water.

"And another thing, young lady," she seethed, apparently continuing a lecture begun in the Maze. "We are guests of your aunts on this island, and you will behave for once! If your mother or I catch you so much as inflating a whoopie cushion or leaving the table without permission, I'll send you to stay with Aria for a month. Am I understood?"

"But..."

"You're angling for six weeks now. Am. I. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am," the girl said, quieter than she had been the rest of the week.

"I'll get Rainbow while the rest of you head back," Adagio waved her arms about to dry them even though it was a fruitless endeavor. She may have done it more in an effort to nullify the rest of her transformation, which did disappear.

Cloud Prism came up to Fluttershy and gently took her hand while saying something to her regarding familiarity. Sunshine was about to make a suggestion of her own but a rainbow-colored blur blew by her, nearly throwing the glasses from her face and tossing her hair out of place.

"I found them!" Rainbow stopped right in front of her daughter, Trance. The child had been let back down by Sunshine's magic and just stood there looking somewhat dejected. "Case closed!"

"I found them, you idiot," Adagio grumbled and lightly bopped her wife on the head with a clenched fist.

"Maybe we should go back for towels," Fluttershy made an apt observation. The kids were still dripping wet in their swimwear and so was Adagio.

"Yes. Now that I'm all wet-" Adagio began with a sigh.

"-and sexy," Rainbow Dash wiggled her brows at her wife, who gave a look of "seriously now" in return.

"-we should go dry off," Adagio finished with a deadpan. "We may be getting wet again later but I don't find it comfortable to sit in the Star while damp."

"As we going to stop at the resort hot tubs today?" Cloud politely asked his mothers, feeling less guilty than Trance.

"Yeah," Rainbow answered that one as the group followed her beckoning towards the villa. "Even if we have to pull the fireheads from their magic act."

While the search effort took place, I led my double to my room and smiled.

“It’s not going to be exactly like the research we used to do,” I said as I pulled one of my wife’s bags out of the closet. “I am married to a scientist and a professor who happens to be an organizational neat freak.”

“You’re not the only one,” my twin smirked, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“Yes, well,” I said, opening the bag and pulling a black box out about the size of a small stereo speaker. “I doubt yours has gone this far.” I opened the box to reveal a neat line of tablets, each with a printed label against the exposed edges. I pulled one out and checked its charge before handing it to the Sunset standing opposite me.

“That’s got all the thaumaturgical information on it,” I said, pulling another tablet out whose label read “Dimensional Theory” and powered it on. “The table of contents should be on the home screen.”

“She keeps ten tablets of magical notes?” my twin asked with mild surprise.

“Celestia, no!” I laughed. “This is just what she brought to read while we were here before we bumped into you. She has terabytes of data on magical theory and notes from her practical experience at home. She may not be as precise as the Princess Twilight or even us when we were students, but she makes up for it in enthusiasm and innovation.”

“Innovation?”

“She’s made some surprising discoveries simply because she was never taught how magic is supposed to work,” I said, tapping the table of contents bookmark on the home screen of my tablet. “Not to mention she’s one of the foremost experts on magic on this side of the mirror, followed by myself and Midnight.”

Scanning her screen, my double let out a low whistle. “This reads like Twily, all right,” she said, blowing a wisp of hair from her face. “I mean, I’m fairly bright and remember most of my time in Canterlot, but what in the world is a ‘teledisplacement’ spell?”

“One of her mistakes,” I said. “When the Princess and I tried to teach her teleportation, she accidentally found a way to swap places with another Unicorn, though the release points are less precise.”

“That’s some mistake,” she said.

“Twilight is some Unicorn,” I said, rummaging in the closet for my bag and withdrawing a small case. “We’ve gotten quite an understanding of each other over the years.”

“And what manner of tool is in that?” my double asked while nodding at the case in my hand.

“One of the most essential,” I said while opening it and removing my reading glasses and placing them on my nose.

Sunset let out a giggle. Not because it looked strange but instead because she thought it looked surprisingly good. "Wow," she breathed out with a big grin, "never knew 'I' would ever wear glasses or that 'I' would look better than my wife in them."

Other Sunset ribbed her for the remark, though smiled at it. "I'm not sure if I should feel complimented by praise coming from myself."

Sunset couldn't help herself so she added on while pointing her index fingers at her copy. "Who's the best looking gal in town?"

"I am!" Other Sunset smirked with a puffed out chest full of mock pride.

"Sunny!" a third voice spoke up.

Both Sunsets turned to see Twilight standing in the doorway, currently in the final act of face-palming.

"I should have known. You still do this in the mirror at home," the glasses-wearing and ponytailed girl sighed. "We're supposed to be working on a spell."

Both Sunset's shrugged at the same time. "We are, I swear," Other Sunset insisted.

"Alright, let's see," Twilight said upon walking up to the tablet her wife was holding. She read off some entries as she scrolled through them.

"Transwarp...transteleport...transgalactic....transdimensional!"

Other Sunset was about to say something but Twilight spoke to her first, a suspicious look on her face.

"This seems a bit much even for the other me. You do provide Sunshine with adequate levels of late-night stress-reducing activities don't you?"

I raised an eyebrow while I pulled my Element pendant into view.

"I've never had complaints, and I believe it to be adequate," I smirked. "Though I could show you if you are concerned for her well being."

The Twilight across from me flushed red and waved her hands. "No, no," she said hurriedly. "I trust you."

"Fair enough," I said. "I'm sure you don't want to see the look she gets or the sounds when I caress her..."

"Oh, hey!" She sputtered. "Was that the door?" She vanished fast enough to have made Dash proud.

My twin looked at me.

"That was evil," she said with a grin. "I approve."

I shrugged and mimicked our wife's glasses habit and voice.

"Seemed the most expedient way to end the concern and lighten the mood. Besides," I said while sliding a knowing smirk onto my face. "We get plenty of late night activities without worry of being interrupted. Remind me to show you the dreamscape spell."

"Oh, I most certainly will," Sunset spoke with precise pronunciation. "But only if it can allow one or both of us to be in pony form."

Other Sunset stopped. She was going to pick up another tablet that she remembered might have something relevant, but was halted by this idea. She gave her other self a knowing smile. "You sly minx."

"I get it from you," Sunset winked.

"It's a dreamscape, so yes."

"I know what I'm doing when we get home."

"Twice daily and call me in the morning," Other Sunset added and then laughed out with her double. With nobody to check against them, the pair of Sunsets merely went rampant with their questionable jokes.

"Aww," Sunset pouted afterward as she looked over one tablet's research notes on transdimensional links. She was actually quite attuned to deciphering the scientific jargon due to her usual work. "It's more fun when I get to see Twily's reaction."

"I know," Other Sunset sighed and resumed looking for the entry she was thinking of. Sunshine came to her mind instead of the alt-dimensional Twilight. She loved to tease but only in good spirits.

"You know," Sunset said, moving so that the sun coming from the window would stop heating her left leg, "I think this will be a snap."

Speculation

As the Hydro Star faded to a small speck, I turned back to the trio behind me.

“Are we ready?” I asked. I kept a tight hold on my end of the bond to keep from sending my fears into Sunshine and making her worry more than she probably was.

My twin nodded, rubbing her eyes as she did. “As much as I stared at those logs, I should hope so.”

We walked back to the veranda, the journals and the basic circle Sunshine had drawn resting on the table still. I pulled the chairs a little further away, clearing a space of about five feet around the area we were to used in the conjury. As the other women gathered around me, closed my eyes and reached inward, collecting myself before bringing my magic to bear, ponying up. A split second later I felt a thrum in the bond I shared with Sunshine and I opened my eyes to see her finish her shift as well, the dark dove-like wings spreading slightly.

I saw the other couple looking at us with curiosity.

“Her form is different,” the other Twilight said. “The wings and horn are less severe.”

“You also have different wings,” Sunset said. “My Daydream form the wings are magic, yours are actual wings.”

I pointed at myself. “Alicorn,” I said simply.

She nodded. “Right, I keep forgetting.”

She took her wife’s hand and a few moments later, two figures from history stood before us, Midnight Sparkle and Daydream Shimmer as they had been back at the Games.

“Now remember,” I said. “The spell itself is drawn into this Thaumaturgic circle, but we have to direct it into the shapes that we need.”

“Sunny and I will direct the mana flow and bind it to the books,” Sunshine said. “But you two will have to pull it in and pass it along to us. That will tinge the magic with your harmonic vibrations and allow the books to transmit into your world.”

“How will we know if it works?” Twilight asked.

I picked up one of the tablets and pulled up a picture of my newer journal, the one Twilight had made after the Conjunction had destroyed the Mobius spell that renewed the pages and the combination of my and the princess’ cutie marks, the sharp points of her star sticking out from one edge of my two-toned sun.

“This is what mine looks like,” I said. “Yours may be similar, but it’s beside the point. If it works, then Sunlight’s cutie mark - whatever it is - will appear on the cover either next to or merged with Midnight’s mark.”

“And if it doesn’t?” my twin asked.

“Well, then either he hasn’t earned his yet, or it fizzled,” I said.

“And if it…” Twilight trailed off, then made a hand motion like an explosion.

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Sunshine said. “We’ve looked this spell over backward and forwards for the last three days.”

“And I doubt we’d feel it if it went awry anyway,” I said more to myself than anyone.

Sunshine held out her hands, and I laced my fingers with hers and reached out to take my twin’s. I felt the tingle of magic start to run along my spine, and began weaving it through the shapes I had memorized, the purpose and delicacy making me sharpen my focus as I closed my eyes.

I felt a tingle in the back of my mind, a shadow similar to Sunshine’s presence at the same time as I became aware of a dim feeling I haven’t felt for a long time. As the mana began to flow faster, I opened my eyes and looked at our counterparts.

Their forms were now wreathed in light, their appearances resembling ours from when the Tree of Harmony had restored our powers during the fight with Acerak, feathers and hair gaining additional coloring. I saw my arm and hand was also wreathed in light and was about to shut my eyes again when the other Sunset’s eyes opened, glowing white with magic and energy.

Oh, horsefeathers, I thought as mana tore through our conduit.

I had just stepped off the boat with Auntie Fluttershy when I sensed something, a pressure on the back of my mind.

“Middy?” Sunlight said, turning to face me. “Everything ok?”

I frowned and glanced back at the island.

“I don’t know,” I said. “For a second, I thought I felt…”

I was cut off when a tower of light lanced into the sky from the island, shimmering colors of blue, red, gold, indigo, and pink laced within. I stepped back, staring, the pressure in my head roaring to life as I felt the mana begin to race towards the island.

“Stars above,” I breathed.

“What is that?” Rory said, racing over to me.

“What, what do you see?” Melody asked, her eyes not revealing to her what Rory and I could see.

I felt fear begin to coil in my heart.

“It’s a mana torrent,” I said. “Wild, uncontrolled mana.”

I hadn’t felt pain like this. Recently, at least. My brain felt like it was on fire as I tried to contain the mana being dragged into us. A whimpering groan from the side and the sense through the bond showed me that my wife was also under strain.

I sensed the other two try to pull back from the raging sea, but I reached out instinctively.

Don’t, I shouted through the bond, my empathic powers flaring to life and linking all four of us. If we lose control now, the mana will rip us apart!

I felt my twin narrow her brow in determination and slowly, the two regained their grip on the mana flowing through. I directed it downward and through the circle, seeing the books in my mind's eye.

Suddenly, there was no more mana and I collapsed against the table, panting, dimly aware of the others reacting similarly exhausted. I pulled myself up and looked at the books, still glowing softly as the mana soaked into the journals. As I watched, half of a five-pointed star appeared, merged with a yellow sphere with several fan blade-like rays stretching from it.

“Well,” I said. “At least it worked.”

As happy as she was that the ordeal was safely over, Sunset couldn't help freezing at the image on the books. She recognized part of the marking from one of the daughters of their doubles, Midnight. But the other part of the mark....could it be?

"Is this Lighty's mark?" Twilight was just as wide-eyed but didn't grab the journal to get a closer look before Sunset did.

"I think it's safe to say yes," Other Sunset sighed out her own tensions from the magic.

"Or at least half of it," Sunshine added humorously. Her tired smile was as good at putting them at ease as it was at expressing her exhaustion.

Sunset and Twilight were back in their chairs and might be either in beach chairs or sofas for the rest of the day. In fact, Twilight was considering how much a hot tub would be welcome. Her wife, on the other hand, connected to an Equestrian past, looked at her son's half mark with far more passion.

"This..." she finally began with water welling up in her eyes. Her face began to contort in emotion to which Twilight turned in concern.

Other Sunset knew right away what this was about. She had gone through these moments herself with her wife, Sunshine. The moment one's child got their cutie mark was a significant and special moment. But it had a new twist of meaning for this Sunset, who hadn't known if her son would ever get one or even choose to visit Equestria on his own.

Twilight, even as tired as she was, got out of her seat and knelt in front of her wife to support her as she lowered her head. The book was placed down on her lap, two tears from Sunset's face dripping onto the combined marks as Twilight held her wife's hands.

"He does have a cutie mark..." Sunset whispered to none besides herself. "He does have one..."

Twilight kept her smile and, when she managed to divert her wife's gaze from the mark, she saw it travel to the redhead's face as well. In spite of the tears, it was a happy moment for the couple and especially the unicorn-turned-human.

"Now, as much fun as it would be to start playing 'guess the talent'," I said with a sigh as I tried to tame my hair again. "I think a nap and food will be good ideas."

"In that order, please," my wife moaned. "I'm so drained I doubt I'd be able to cook at all."

I was about to comment when my phone went off with Midnight's ringtone.

I poked the speaker button.

"Yes, we're alive and no we're not hurt," I said immediately.

"Are you all...dammit, Mom! Stop answering before I ask the questions!"

"Language, Middy," Sunshine admonished.

"Buck the niceties!" My eldest fairly well shouted into the phone. "What were you doing that pulled that much mana?"

"You'll see at dinner," my twin said, hands still caressing the cutie mark on the cover. "Your parents and us are going to rest up a bit. Enjoy your time at the resort."

"But..."

"Bye, sweetheart," I said before poking the disconnect button.

"You know there'll be hell to pay when she gets back, right?" Sunshine said as she gathered up the tablets and scorched paper scraps.

"Who's the adult in that situation?" I returned.

"So," Twilight said. "Do we need to do anything else to them?"

I shook my head. "They're made. Maybe let them sit to let the mana establish its matrices, but they're ready," I reached over and laid a hand on each of the other couples, smiling.

"All they need now is ink and reason."

Midnight looked at her phone in disbelief before shoving it back into her pocket. "She hung up on me!"

"Well..." Sunlight practically whispered from behind Midnight. "Sounds like everything's okay. How about we-"

"Mom's going to get it for this!" Midnight seethed. "I told her this was supposed to be a vacation! Everything was going fine and then they had to risk turning my one-!"

"Perhaps some refreshment is in order?" Melody sweetly offered to route Middy's anger.

Since they were standing at the Beach 6 dock, so they were hardly in the middle of nowhere. The resort's main pavilion was located behind them and a series of drink and dessert stands were lined up against a spectacular viewing platform above the beach. It required going up a series of stairs from the dock, but it was a path well known to those present. Although their group was alone on their particular dock, other docking platforms existed in an array to their western side. A fleet of small boats to medium-sized yachts were moored there, the occasional owner coming off or going in for a voyage out.

"Do we have a plan?" Aurora spoke up to add her own distraction to Melody's suggestion. Midnight's anger calmed a bit.

"Nope, but a Blue Coconut Slushie sounds perfect," Sunlight answered and put an arm around his girlfriend. "How about you? In the mood for something cold? It's pretty humid out."

"Ugh," Midnight released her frustration with a groan. "Sure. And maybe afterward, we can do something just for fun to get my mind off this."

"Adagio will have the twins at the diving bay by the time we're done. Might be an enjoyable experience - if you don't mind being showed up by a couple of kids half your age," he explained with a chuckle.

With that, the small group started off, the damp wood boards clacking beneath their sandals.

The dreamscape faded and I slowly opened my eyes. I could tell by the clock that only a few hours had passed, but I felt incredibly well-rested, considering all the exertion I had in the dream.

Sunshine stirred as well, sliding her arm across my belly as she snuggled in closer.

"That was wonderful," she purred, eyes still closed.

I smiled at her. "It's not the first time we've done that, you know," I teased.

She nodded. "But it was the first time under a waterfall," she said. "I can't believe we never used any other landscapes before."

I kissed her forehead. "The hilltop is a pretty important place to us, hon," I said as I brushed some stray hair from her face. "It just never occurred to us to change it or the clouds above."

She patted my hip and tilted her head up as she opened her eyes.

"Now, what do we do about our daughter?"

I laid my head back and sighed. "She likely saw the mana being drawn in," I thought. "It may have seemed like a mana torrent from the mainland and she may have panicked a bit. I'm sure once we give her and her boyfriend those journals she'll calm down a bit."

"Sounds odd to use that term in reference to Middy," Sunshine whispered. "We're usually referring to Aurora like that."

I nodded in agreement. "This whole trip has been unusual," I breathed. "Our eldest falling for the child of our alternate selves is a bit of a mind twister to begin with."

There was a soft knock at the door. "You guys awake?" Twilight asked from the far side.

"Yeah," I called out. "What's up?"

The door opened and she came in with a pair of small plastic dishes.

"You need to see this," she said, laying them down on the bedside table.

"While you were getting the books and on between the studying we did, I managed to make a rudimentary way of comparing the genetic codes," she said in a voice very much like my wife's lecture voice. "It's not perfect and it doesn't really use up the samples, but it's enough to show rough breakdown."

I sighed. "We're not geneticists, Twilight," I said with a smile. "Could you put this in simpler terms?"

Sunshine glanced at the small trays. "She managed to get a serum comparison," she said. "Those bands show the genetic breakdown of DNA as the simplest measure."

I glanced at the two dishes, the yellowish bands showing rather interesting in not telling me a thing."Ok," I said. "So what does this say?"

Twilight smiled. "These are a rough analysis of Midnight and Sunlight's DNA," she said with a smile. "And while there are similarities along a couple of bands that denote what I've seen before as the pony part of the DNA and the RP9 genome, the distinct differences in the banding show something interesting."

I was lost. "Can you put that in author dummy talk please?" I asked.

Sunshine swatted me on the shoulder. "No Firefly references," she said.

Twilight smiled giggled for a moment. "Simply put," she said, patting my shoulder.

"The gene variation places them as barely related. I would need my full sequencers to determine the full extent, but as far as this rudimentary test goes, they're merely from the same species."

I smiled. "Well, that's a relief."

Sunshine suddenly shot upright. "Wait," she said hurriedly. "How did you get these done? Doesn't it usually take..."

"Twilight!" came the shout from further away in the villa. "What have you done to this kitchen?"

The twin of my wife shrank a little in embarrassment.

Sunshine face-palmed. "High-temperature setting. Of course."

Twilight chuckled nervously.

Midnight darted after Sunlight as fast as she could, which wasn't much in terms of the fastest swimmers. Oh, she was a good swimmer and all but no mortal human, half-pony or not, could compare with the speed and agility of the twins. Even as Sunlight barely kept out of her reach in this underwater realm of the bay's deeper bottom, Trance and Prism Cloud shot on by - nearly creating a pressure wave against her. They practically swam like dolphins and had just as much speed, making the idea of any competition against them laughable.

Sunlight was wasting the oxygen from his scuba tank with his ceaseless laughing. His surprise tickle attack on her had caused her to drop the diving treasure she had found, which he then snatched up. They had started a game of Treasure Hunt, which was a popular game Oxygen Rush had started at the resort. Special and obvious treasure objects were placed about in the diving area and the one to collect the most would win. Sunlight's betrayal had both amused her and ignited a sense of revenge.

Separate treasures were placed for the twins, who only competed against each other. Otherwise, it simply wasn't fair. When Trance had shot by, she had waved a V with her fingers. She was confidently in the lead.

Midnight swam just a little higher to get over a series of rocks on the sandy ocean floor. She then spotted Aurora and Melody to her left. They had just added another treasure to their collection. Having seen Sunlight and Midnight's collections grow dangerously fast, they pooled their finds and worked together. The rules were loose but that was what made it even more interesting.

Just as she was about to catch her villainous romantic other, he ducked down and she wound up face to face with an aloof sea turtle. "Whoa," she exclaimed into her breathing mask and reversed her momentum as fast as she could.

I couldn't believe it. Mixing bowls and spoons were piled in the sink, the oven had some sort of baked on overflow on the coils, and even the countertop was awash in stains of various colors from partially stoppered and corked flasks or test tubes. The kitchen was a disaster, and I've seen Sugar Cube corner after a can of party string exploded.

It's not a memory I enjoy reliving.

"What have I told you about using the kitchen for science projects?" my twin asked Twilight in a long-suffering voice that held no anger, only fatigue.

"Not to if I don't clean it up," she said like a young child caught tracking muddy shoes indoors.

"Not to do it period, Twily!" I glanced over at Sunshine as they continued, link opening up instantly.

Well, this sounds like an interesting set of stories, I thought.

Quite. came the reply. Though I still have trouble trying to reconcile the fact that there is a me that can't handle such a scientific concept such as cooking but can handle the chemical end of being a geneticist.

Make a hayburger, I smirked.

That's cheating and you know it, she returned with her tongue flashing out.

As the marital spat went on across the way, I tossed my head at the mess, fingering the chain my element was on. Sunshine smiled and began preparing for cleaning by way of levitating dish towels and scrub brushes.

I walked over and filled the sink, pulling on a set of rubber gloves haphazardly left on the counter since I didn't know what chemicals were involved. Hopefully, nothing caustic or toxic, since the villa worked on a natural septic tank.

As we cleaned up, I smiled as I heard the calm discourse turn to silence. I listened for a minute for the reason and then giggled to myself.

Sunshine was whistling the theme from the Sorcerer's Apprentice.

The silence turned to a facepalm as Sunset gave up. "Magic cleaning? I think I'm just going to lay down for a bit."

Twily rose a hand to offer her help in cleaning up her own mess but then thought better of it for getting in the way of her copy's magic. After she had narrowly been stopped from using her own by her wife, she didn't think it appropriate to try again. So in a small voice, she just whispered, "I think I'll go with Sunny..."

"Oof," Sunset sounded out from the sofa as her wife climbed on top of her. She had been laying down and, though the weight of Twilight was familiar to her, she couldn't help exaggerating.

"Sorry," Twilight practically pouted with her lips stuck out.

"Apologize to the Doubles when they're done. I'm just grateful the end result wasn't sapient this time," Sunset groaned and leaned her head back again against the sofa's side cushion. She closed her eyes to rest a moment.

Twilight got comfortable over her spouse but still fidgeted as she looked at Sunset's mentally tired expression. "I just wanted to make something for my Sunny..."

"I know," Sunset calmly replied. She cracked an eye open and gently brought her arms around the other woman. "I know, Twily."

I stared at the island, my glasses tinted almost crimson in the daylight as I dangled my feet in the water of the diving lagoon. I was still upset that Mom had just hung up, but if she had the energy to joke, then everyone there was ok.

A finger poked my shoulder. I turned to find Aurora standing beside me.

"Wanna talk about it?" she asked with a smile.

I grinned in spite of my mood. "They had to be doing something risky over there for a mama torrent to form," I said. "And they made sure no one else was on the island before they did it. That's why they sent us along with Aunts Rarity and Fluttershy."

Rory nodded. "As soon as we saw the torrent, Aunt Shy told me what was happening. They were going to try a spell that had a possibility to cause a mantic backlash that would fry the island."

"They're ok though, right?" Lightly asked. "So nothing to worry about."

"Exhausted, probably, maybe headaches," I said, falling into teacher mode. "Channeling mama can be tiring. And if they don't have headaches, I'll give them one!"

I dimly caught Rarity lean to Fluttershy and whisper. "Just like her Mom," she giggled.

I huffed for a moment before being enfolded in a hug from Lighty. He kissed the top of my head before leaning back to look me in the eye.

"It's too nice a day to be upset," he said, pulling me to my feet. "We'll find out what happened at dinner, and in the meantime, well..."

I felt the push as soon as it started and latched onto his wrists, pulling him with me into the lagoon. As we surfaced, he frowned.

"How come I keep getting dunked when near deep water with you?"

I smirked. "Never try to prank a prankster," I said, softening it with a wink.

"I'll keep doing it if it means we get to have fun together," Sunlight grinned.

Midnight shoved him back in the water but smiled. She had not yet prepared herself for a dive, though Sunlight had been eager to. In fact, he was about to playfully drag her under when he was himself pulled beneath the surface. Once his eyes adjusted, he found the culprit: Trance.

He tried to ask when she had gotten there but it only came out as bubbles and a mouthful of air. The girl grinned with that shark-like expression her mother was known for. Clearly, she was impatient for diving activities, but Sunlight was pulled on once again. This time it was up. He broke the surface to find Midnight as the puller.

"I don't remember giving you permission to go off and have fun without me," she snarked.

"Would never dream of it," Sunlight played his hands out. "But the fish sure are biting today."

Midnight responded with a merry "pfft" before the boy was sucked back down, this time by both half-siren kids. She took a breath and then went under the surface just barely to see more clearly. Indeed the twins were spiriting him away to the depths as their siren heritage might imply. Well, she thought, perhaps her magic might counter their naturally adept swimming ability. Smiling devilishly, she ponied up and brought her magic to bear.

"What is this?" I asked as I picked at an orange-green glob of something on the side of the sink. "It feels like cement."

Sunshine leaned over and poked at it. "Probably some sort of binder," she said, glancing around and pulling some bottles from the cabinets. "I think I can determine what it is by seeing how it reacts to things."

"Vinegar and baking soda?" I mused. "Household chemistry, Twi?"

She held up the vinegar. "Acid," she said sweetly before alternating with the baking soda. "Base. If it reacts with either, then we can narrow down what to use to clean it up with."

"Ammonia," came a voice from behind us. Turning, I saw Twilight standing there, her head ducked down and fingers fidgeting together. "You'll want to use ammonia on anything in the sink that the regular soap didn't affect."

I turned to Sunshine, who nodded and went to the utility room. "Do you know what that is?" I asked, giving it another pick.

"A reaction between the makeshift genetic serum I made and one of the solvents I used to extract some of the material from some hair samples," she said. "Listen, I ah...I wanted to apologize for making a mess of the kitchen and you guys having to clean it up. I just..."

"Got excited and time got away from you," I said. "And then your wife walked in on the aftermath and blew a gasket." I smiled. "I've done it too...from both sides."

"I've gotten up at six to find that Sunny has stayed up writing all night," Sunshine said as she returned. "When she said she'd be to bed in an hour."

"My muse allows no rest sometimes," I said with a sad shake of my head. "And I've caught her tinkering with electronics before."

"I was fixing the DVD player!" she cried, posting her fists on her hips.

"I don't recall the DVD player turning the toaster into a radio receiver," I said, putting my finger on my chin in an exaggerated thinking pose.

A dish towel was thrown at me, though it was easily dodged.

"Anyway," I said, turning to my wife's mirror image. "We forgive you. No harm, no foul."

"No sentient creatures to fight," my wife followed up, sounding almost sad.

We shared a laugh at that.

Midnight's magic released Sunlight from the grip of the half-sirens. The boy would have laughed at the surprised faces of the twins but it would have been unwise to do underwater. He also had not yet properly put on his mask, so he had to go back up for a breath. Behind him, Midnight proceeded to use her magic to move more easily through the water, barely avoiding the twins who were up to some sort of game against her.

After a few moments, Midnight burst to the surface beside him. "Ough," she gasped in the fresh bay air. "Even magic doesn't give me the agility they have!"

"It's not just the heritage," Sunlight smiled and playfully pressed her nose. "They've pretty much lived here their whole lives. Only Adagio can beat them. They are easy to convince, though, if you know what to do."

"Such as?" Midnight rose a brow as he put on his diving mask.

"Have fun!" he answered and dove down with new enthusiasm.

Midnight shook her head and shrugged. She could go back and get her own equipment but thought again on it given she already used some of her magic underwater and it worked just fine. I'll just stick near Light, she thought. His oxygen supply could be used if something went wrong, which she doubted. On the other hand, she could always fake it to get one of those "sharing oxygen underwater through a kiss" moments. It was such a cheesy idea that Midnight couldn't help but grin...and decide she had to do it.

With her magenta aura of magic enveloping her, she dived down after her boyfriend. Since this was one of the official diving areas, the depth was considerable. She didn't swim for too long, though, before finding Sunlight attempting to hide behind a large rock at the bottom. Various ocean plants sprouted up around the rock to give it extra cover, but it was easy to spot his signature pink locks waving in the gentle current.

She snuck up behind him and then launched into a tickling attack on his sides.

"Ahhh! Hahahah!" Sunlight went from surprise scream to laughing fit that was surely not efficient on his oxygen supply.

Midnight stuck her tongue out after she finished, her mouth protected from an influx of water via her magic sphere. The twins weren't here at the moment, so she switched gears. Her control of magic was presently perfect, but she faked it flickering out.

The magenta bubble disappeared and Midnight pretended to be worried. Sunlight quickly took the necessary breaths and removed his mask. But instead of drawing her in for a romantic oxygen swap, he just gave her the mask.

Midnight's expression deadpanned.

Sunlight's face then turned confused but the twins rocketed between them before Midnight could give any indication. Trance grabbed the mask while Cloud pulled up on Sunlight, ferrying him away to the surface again. With a roll of her eyes, she followed to find the boy left there. The half-sirens had moved towards the land for refreshment, which meant that their latest abduction was merely mischievous interference.

"I thought you were giving me an opening," Midnight crossed her arms.

"For what?" he remained innocent.

"I don't know. A special moment or something?"

"Why?"

"You said to have fun," she gave a raspberry and punched him lightly in the arm.

"My bad," he chuckled in return.

She punched him again.

"So let me get this straight," Twilight said, leaning forward. "This spell creates a shared lucid dream?"

I nodded. "Yeah," I said. "It took a few years to get it to a form that others could cast since it originally came from our bond, but it's a great counseling tool."

"It's an offshoot of Princess Luna's Dreamwalking spell," Sunshine chimed in. "A strong emotional bond has to be present for the link to form and proximity is a concern."

"So how does it work?" My double asked, eagerness in her eyes.

"Well..." I started. "Do you remember conjunctive spells?" As she nodded I continued. "You basically cast the spell as you head to sleep and it pulls both your consciousnesses into the dreamscape. You both have control over your forms and surroundings while your body rests."

"Now, you do still have to sleep regularly," Sunshine said. "Your brain doesn't get the rest while using this spell, so no using it nightly. We also figured the ratio of dream time to actual time is five to one on average. So five minutes in the dreamscape is one minute in reality."

Our twins looked thoughtful. "What happens if someone disturbs you mid-dream?" Twilight asked.

"Same thing as regular dreams," I said. "You wake up, though you won't have that moment of confusion you do sometimes on waking. The only people that can enter the 'scape are those that willingly allow the spell to be cast on them."

"You'll have to cast it in your powered-up forms since you lack the same bond Sunny and I have," Sunshine said. "The mantic kind, that is."

I say back, looking at the two of them across from us. "I jotted down the basics," I said, sliding a few folded papers across. "I assume you haven't forgotten how to read Equish rune magic formulae."

The other Sunset nodded. "I remember," she said. "Though I never taught Twily or Sunlight. Never thought there'd be a need to."

"Well, don't worry there," Sunshine said. "Middy never writes on Equish unless she's very very sleepy."

"She turned in a term paper one year that was one part English, one part Equish, and one part Spanish," I laughed. "The poor teacher didn't know what was going on!"

We all shared a laugh before Twilight glanced at the clock.

"Do you think we have time to test it out?"

I nodded. "I'll cast the spell with Sunset watching," I said. "That way she gets a practical demonstration as well as the hard format directions. We'll also give you a wake-up call when the kids get back."

They nodded and I followed them to their room and stood back as they powered up.

"Sweet dreams," I said, ponying up and summoning magic to my horn. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Sunset smirked as the spell took hold and they powered down as sleep overtook them.

I felt arms slide around me from behind.

"Feel like doing a little flying around the island?" My wife asked. "We do leave the day after tomorrow, after all."

I smiled and headed for our room.

"I thought you'd never ask," I grinned.

All Good Things

I sighed as the Hydro Star drew back into the moorings at the island.

"Why the long face?" Lighty asked as he pulled me back into an embrace.

"We leave the day after tomorrow," I said, the thought making me cling to the arms around me. "And we still don't know how the dimensional rift works or how to find a crossing point."

He kissed the top of my head before resting his chin there. "Like I said, we'll tackle that challenge when we find it."

I was about to respond when I heard a rush of wings and looked up to see Mom landing on the quay, her amber wings furling behind her.

"How was the trip?" she asked, waving as Mother landed behind her, lavender wings twitching a bit before fully coming to rest.

I surged out of the boat, heading straight for my parents, ignoring the protests from my sister, boyfriend, and cousin.

"What in Tartarus were you doing?" I barked. "Do you have any idea how worried I was? I didn't know what that mana fount was, or if you had survived it. I..."

Mom laid a finger across my lips and pulled me into a rough hug.

"You sound like I was caught sneaking back into the house after curfew," she said, giving me a level look. I blushed as I realized I had more or less repeated the same speech she had given me after getting caught doing just that.

"Sorry," I murmured. "It's just..."

"I know, sweetie," she said. "I know."

"Who's hungry?" Sunshine said.

“We are!" Sunlight exclaimed and winked at his love. Her troubled face at least began to return to some minimal level of cheer as he grabbed her hand in his and followed the parents back into the villa.

"Us too!" Trance and Cloud Prism raced past into the doorway ahead of the pair.

"Better slow down or you might leave your shoes behind!" Sunlight joked with a grin.

"Pfft," Midnight blurted.

"I get the first plate. Couples go last," Aurora kidded her sister while nudging her side opposite Sunlight.

"Oh really? Maybe I'll just find you someone so you'll have to wait like the rest of us couples," Midnight returned fire as their whole group gathered around the kitchen area. The smell of fresh food was strong as it came out of the oven. Again, there was a plethora of choices for the meal. A total of three different main dishes were retrieved from the oven in the interest of serving a somewhat large number of vacation-goers.

It was after the meal that a few of the "kids" were lounging in the large soft living area sofa. Some heart-warming nature channel was playing on low volume on the television. It had been turned there by Melody, who in turn was now in a coversation with Sunlight just across the same sofa.

"I've always liked animals in general, I guess," he continued. "Probably because my world's Aunt Fluttershy was always visiting. Besides Aunt Dash, she's probably my family's closest friend."

Melody took a short sip from her small teacup before setting it back down on the coffee table. "It's so nice to know that Mum has such a positive impact no matter which dimension she's from."

Sunlight took on a sly look. "Can you even imagine a Fluttershy who was tired of being nice and quiet all of the time?"

That arose a series of laughs. The parents were currently out lounging in the "back yard," so reactions were limited. Midnight leaned against Sunlight more than usual.

"Of course, she can express all of the feelings and emotions a regular person can," Melody explained. "But I've come to understand why people see her that way. It's been different for me, of course, since she's my mother. But she does have an enormous amount of patience and love..."

"And I'd expect any daughter of Fluttershy to talk about other people - family or not - in exactly such a positive and pleasant manner as that," Sunlight said, his joking spirit set aside. Instead, he had shifted to a sincere smile worthy of flattery.

Melody blushed only to have Midnight rib her boyfriend for it.

I leaned back enough to see his sky-blue eyes.

"You already got one girl from my dimension," I said with a smile. "Trying for a harem?"

He grinned. "No, just trying to get in good with your relations," he said as he squeezed me. "I have a feeling you may be more than I can handle."

I gave him a wolfish grin. "You better believe it, buster," I purred.

Trance chose that moment to give a retching sound.

"You two are so gross," she said, giving us the evil eye.

"I think it's sweet," Melody said.

"Sickeningly so at times," Aurora added.

"You'll never catch me doing anything like that," the daughter of Rainbow Dash declared.

"You never know, Trance," Lighty said. "Maybe one day someone will come along that you just can't stop thinking about."

"Harmony have mercy on them," Adagio said as she entered the room and looked at us. "Your parents want to see the two of you."

Sunlight practically skipped onto the back patio, not fearing for anything from his parents and eager to see what had come of the earlier lightshow. He had been getting more comfortable with Midnight's parents as well and the fact that they hadn't been called in by Adagio to resuscitate anyone lead to the logical conclusion that matters were well enough in order. Midnight was more apprehensive but still curious as she followed.

"Mom!" Sunlight cheerfully greeted Twilight and hugged her first before Sunset. The multitude of little differences made it easy to know which pair was which.

"Sunlight," Sunset began as he hugged her and she returned it. "We managed to pull it off. I think you'll like this..."

Although the natural breeze had waned, none of the couples present noticed the heat of the jungle island. They had become accustomed to it both over the years and specifically during the length of their ending visit. The fact that the sounds of the native tropical wildlife would not be heard for much longer was not a pleasant thought to any. Especially the two less certain of their ongoing ability to connect.

At the same time, Sunshine was distracting her daughter. "Just a moment, Middy," she nearly giggled at the eagerness of Midnight to see what her other mother was obviously obscuring.

Other Sunset was on the opposite side of the patio table, closing the new journal while using her own body to obscure it. She gave a nod to her alternate self, who came around with her wife and Sunlight. "We have something to give the two of you," she announced. "Something that will help us keep in touch. Particularly the two of you. We all decided it would be best if the bonds formed here did not have to break, but the rest is up to you."

In an effort to present it in the group it took to create it, Sunshine came up alongside her wife while the two Sunsets held out the journal together.

I reached out and took the book from my mother, running a hand over the mark on the cover. I recognized my cutie mark, of course, even cut in half. I had it permanently marked on my left thigh, after all. But the symbol that bifurcated it on the left side was unfamiliar, somewhat reminiscent of Moms, but different in the shape of the rays.

"Is this..." Sunlight breathed. "Is that what my cutie mark looks like?"

His mother nodded, tears in her eyes as she held her arms out. As the two embraced, I saw the same misty look in my parent's eyes, knowing they were remembering when I had gotten mine almost ten years ago. They had reacted the same way.

"This is what you channeled all that mana for?" I whispered, feeling a little guilty about getting upset earlier. I was about to say something when the book in Lighty's hands began to glow and vibrate. He opened the copy of the journal he held and blinked.

I opened my book, and there on the top of the first page, in my mother's handwriting, was the address for our home in Canterlot city with a note scribbled beneath it.

Regardless of distance, you are welcome at any time - Sunset and Sunshine Shimmer

He looked up and smiled, some wetness glimmering in his eyes, reaching out and hugging my parents.

"Thank you," he said before he nabbed the pen that was sticking out of Mother's bun and jotted something in his journal, the response appearing after a minute or so in mine, an address for a neighborhood not too far from where our home was located.

"Keeping things balanced?" I teased, keeping just how touched I was hidden behind my snark. I felt like it was all I could do to not cry right now as it was, and this thoughtful, goofy, and handsome nut was doing a number on my heart.

"Well, in case you decide to come over for Thanksgiving," he smiled, taking my hand in his.

"I'd kiss you but I wouldn't want you to be embarrassed in front of your parents," Midnight replied in continuing snark.

Sunlight, however, looked back to the journal cover. Her mark he had become familiar with. Not the least bit because she had it tattooed on her and even more so for his admiring gazes he gave her - branding her image in his mind. It was the other half that amazed him. And all because it was...his.

Midnight followed his eyes and empathized. "It's surreal, isn't it? That feeling when you see it and know it embodies some deep part of you."

Sunlight's hand tightened on hers. "There's just so many things I want to know. I get the feeling I'll only be able to find out in Equestria."

"Well, no need to rush," Midnight's Sunset proclaimed with an easy-going look. "I get the feeling you will find out even more than you want to before long."

"More than I want?"

"There are some things about being in pony form that are a little different," Aurora spoke up from behind.

"A lot different to someone who's never been like that before," Midnight clarified but didn't lose her own cheer. "It'll be a while before we're there though. For now..."

"Thanks again for doing all of this," Sunlight almost got teary once more looking at the journal and then back up the parents.

"We know what it means," Twilight nodded to Sunshine before both of them looked to their wives in turn.

"I don't even know what to do now," Sunlight chuckled.

The boy's girlfriend began to open her mouth for a suggestion but a blue blur zipped upon them before she could give voice to her thought. Rainbow Dash wrapped them both in a hug from behind.

"How about an awesome celebration cake for an awesome kind-of-like-I-just-got-my-cutie-mark celebration?!" Rainbow enthused. It was almost as if Sunlight was 5 years old again and she was psyching him up for his birthday party. The mature women's form-fitting running shirt and pants spoke of an intended jog but the lack of sweat and high energy seemed to indicate she either hadn't gotten to it or found the exercise insufficient.

"You're not even from Equestria," Sunset reminded her old friend with a grin.

"But I know all about the cutie mark thing. Not like you always go on and on when I ask about why that sun thing is so important to you. Besides," Rainbow defended herself, "I have to fill in for Pinkie, right?"

"Well, you don't have to be from Equestria to understand in this group," Fluttershy remarked from the doorway, Rarity standing behind her slightly with a steaming mug. "After all, on our side, we've all been across and seen how important they are."

I blinked as a tear tried again to free itself. the sheer volume of the emotions outpouring here evident even to a non-empathic girl like me. I gasped as I was wrapped in another hug from my sister.

"This is so...awesome!" she shouted, sounding like Pinkie for a moment. "You two are getting to stay in touch no matter what. This is probably the happiest I've ever been for you!"

I smirked as I disentangled my self from her Pie-esque hug, using the motion to wipe away the tear surreptitiously. "You said that when I got my cutie mark, Rory," I giggled. "Aren't you worried about the bar getting set really high one day?"

Rory waved me off casually. "Nah," she replied. "Every few years it resets itself. Besides, this means that maybe one day I get to be Maid of Honor!"

I facepalmed. "Rory," I groaned.

Mom gave Aurora a gentle hug. "One day at a time, Rory," she said gently. "Just because your mother and I managed to get together rather quick, there were extenuating circumstances."

Mother piped up. "Which you were reminded of when you were little rather often," she said, giving my little sister a wink over the rim of her glasses.

When Rory turned beet red, Sunlight looked a little confused. I leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"She kept trying to use the 'play one parent off the other' ploy," I told him sotto voce. "She didn't have it firmly grasped that they can talk telepathically until she was nine."

"I was eight," Rory grumped for a moment, giving a decent imitation of Aunt Rarity, eliciting a laugh from my extended family except for the Aunt in question.

"I really don't sound like that," Rarity sniffed, then hesitated. "Do I?"

Fluttershy leaned back and kissed her wife on the cheek as Melody reached out and wrapped her in a hug.

"It's ok," Fluttershy said.

"We love you anyway."

"It is adorable," Other Sunset admitted as she and her fellow parents watched their offspring from the kitchen. Night had fallen and Sunshine was working along with Fluttershy and Adagio to create a pineapple pie along with a few other treats. It seemed as good a time as any to make a special dessert for the night - even though so many nights had been special on this vacation.

Twilight sighed, her head on her hands as she leaned over the counter. Her gaze was on the same person.

Sunlight and Midnight were sitting on the plush carpet before the living room coffee table. The journal was on the table between them and Midnight was trying to sketch something on a piece of paper while being given suggestion by Lighty. The boy had a few sketches on his side of the table as well. Though Midnight was sketching, her free hand never left Sunlight's.

"Like this? It's got to be symetrical," the elder girl insisted. The shapes she had sketched were that of his cutie mark from the journal's cover, except whole rather than halfed as it had been when combined with hers.

"From what you and ma have told me, that's often the case," he agreed with a thoughtful hum. He looked over the image of the sun with the outstetching rays and fin-like protrusions. "I guess we'll only find out if its one of the asymentrical ones when we go to Equestria."

"That'll be fun," Midnight openly laughed, picturing her boyfriend flailing about with four legs.

"I'll keep my distance so you don't fall on me," Aurora joined in with a nudge.

Sunlight was too occupied with the possibilities. "I could levitate, though. We're pretty sure I'll be a unicorn after all."

"Even 'simple' magic like that can take a lot of time to learn and master. Just ask Twilight," Midnight clarified.

"Mom?"

"Princess Twilight," Midnight explained further. "You'll be meeting her for sure."

"I know it won't be super soon but I'm still so excited," Sunlight enthused. He got up and fell back on the sofa, using hand motions to encourage his girlfriend to join him.

"Pie is ready," Sunshine called out as Midnight came around the coffee table.

"Well that should make this the best night ever," Middy declared and pulled Lighty back up from his spot.

The pie was delicious, but as night fell, a sense of sorrow fell over me. Our week was up, and outside of a few items of clothing, we were all packed. I felt a mild panic under the sorrow, knowing what the dawn meant. I stood on the veranda and stared up at a moon that was familiar but felt alien to me. It held none of the wonder that Luna’s did, the warmth.

“Penny for your thoughts?” I heard my sister ask.

“We’ve been over practically every inch of this island and resort, Rory,” I whispered. “Not a trace of a planar tear, or a mantic shear, or even a sign that says watch for flying pigs. Wherever the conjoined spot is, it’s not here.”

“Maybe we just missed it,” she said softly. “It is a pretty big place, after all.”

I turned to her and smiled wanly. “Oxy and Adagio gave us access to places we shouldn’t have been in otherwise. And we both know we looked everywhere. You made the checklist!”

Rory smiled weakly. “Point,” she admitted.

I turned back to the moon and sighed. “A few hours and a journal is all we’ve got right now.”

I felt her hand rub across my back before she squeezed my shoulder. I reached up and gave her hand an appreciative squeeze in return.

“You’ll figure it out,” she said as she turned to leave. “You’re too stubborn to leave things like this.”

I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped. She was right, after all.

I don’t know how long I stared at the moon, hoping that some sort of answer would come to me.

“Midnight?” called a voice. By now I could pick out the slight differences in my parents voices and those of Lighty’s. His mother came over to the rail tonlean against it with me. “A little late night astronomy?”

I shook my head silently, gaze not wavering. I could feel tears inside, but I wasn’t going to let them out.

“You’re worried,” Twilight said. “I may not be your mother, but I am still a mother. We can tell these things.”

I nodded, not trusting my voice. Every wonderful moment I had shared with her son flashed through my mind; the stepped falls, the underground cave, the sea turtle, the diving games, the times we had just sat on one of the couches or this very veranda. My first real kiss from someone that I felt something for and they felt something back.

I couldn’t hold them back any more as a few leaked out and a sob broke free.

“I’ve searched every inch of this place,” I whispered between breaths. “And I couldn’t find the joint between worlds. It’s not here, and I don’t know if I could find it if it was! I’m terrified that I’ll never get to see him again, and the journal will just keep reminding me of that fact. It’s crazy though, we’ve only known each other a few days, barely a week. Why am I so scared?”

I looked at her, attempting to smile. “You shouldn’t be listening to me blather on like this,” I said. “I’m sure you have concerns of your own. It’s just...” I pressed my hand to my chest. “Every time I think about tomorrow, it hurts and it’s scary because I’ve never felt like this before, and nothing makes sense anymore!” I covered my face in my hands and wept, not caring anymore about maintaining a strong image.

I was pulled into a hug that felt very familiar to me as Sunlight’s mom started to stroke my hair just as my parents had done in the past.

Sshhh," Twilight whispered in a soothing fashion. Even now that Sunlight was older, it was still instinctual from her days of mothering him. Then again, parenting was a trait gained but never lost. "I know..."

"Know the terror of being separated dimensionally from the first person you ever deeply loved?" Midnight sniffled, her tears running out but a sad mood remaining.

"Not by dimensions," Twilight admitted in a still soft tone. "But I have felt that tear in your heart. Sunset and I have had an amazing life together, but we've had disagreements like most couples. One or two times I even felt we wouldn't be together anymore. Of course, it was never really that bad but I couldn't help how I felt in the moment. I forgot just how much she really loved me and that she would never stop going after me even if I was the one to leave."

Midnight looked up into Twilight's eyes. She saw her own mother there but also someone else. A kind women who had as much empathy as her redheaded wife.

"Trust in yourself," Twilight encouraged with a knowing smile. "Even if the link between worlds closes, trust you would find a way. Trust in Lighty. He would never let you go. He would spend his whole life finding a way if he had to. I know him. And trust in us. Your parents, Sunny, and I. You have so many people in your life, Middy, that you can trust to help you and care for you no matter what. Not a single one of us would give less than everything for your happiness because we're family."

Midnight hugged Twilight again. A few more ears managing to come out as Twilight stroked her hair once more. After a while she whispered a few words, her voice creaky from the emotions but more assured now than ever.

"Thank you...mom."

She held me for a little while longer before she shifted a little.

“It’s late now,” she said, patting me on the arm. “Staying up all night won’t make the time slow down any.”

I nodded and shuffled to the room I shared with Aurora. The bed squeaked as I sat on it and removed my glasses.

“You ok?” Rory asked as I laid down.

“No,” I said simply. “I’m not.”

Her bed squeaked and soon I felt a presence next to me and her arms wrapped around me. It was familiar, something we had done for each other time and again through the years to comfort each other when we were feeling down.

But tonight, it wasn’t her arms I wanted around me.

“Go,” she whispered in my ear.

He shifted sleepily as I slipped into his room. His arm was thrown up over his head and one leg had slipped over the edge of the bed. I smiled at the sight and eased my way over to the side of the bed he hadn’t occupied just yet. As I slid under the blanket and up against him, he woke up.

“Middy?” he murmured sleepily. “What are you doing?”

“Shut up,” I said and crushed my head into his shoulder. “Just hold me and be quiet.”

His arms wrapped around me and I clutched him like Rory clutched her plush parasprite.

“You ok?” he asked.

I nodded.

“I am now,” I said.

Waking up in the morning with a beautiful girl who was his girlfriend from an alternate dimension was not something Sunlight would have anticiapted when he arrived here a week ago. It was real, though. He opened his eyes to see hers still closed beside him. Her body was warm in his arms. Normally not a difficult thing considering the daytime temperatures of the season, but the villa was kept at a comfortable level and so the warmth was noticeable.

He hated to leave it. "We have at least a little time left," he whispered to himself. He leaned over the tiny distance of the pillow to kiss her awake but was beaten to the punch.

Midnight did the very same in a heartbeat and then sat up in bed with a yawn.

"I thought you were still asleep," he frowned while sitting up with her. He was disappointed with the briefness of the contact and having to get out of the soft comfy bed already.

With a slow and dramatic turn and a sleepy face, Middy creaked out her words. "Do I look awake to you?"

"Hehe," he giggled. "Well in the interest of not sleeping through the rest of our time..."

The half-asleep Midnight was not left waiting for what his trailing insinuated. He rolled over onto her on the bed, making them both fall back onto the warmed sheets. She returned his embrace and they held each other much as they had throughout the night - only with their lips together a well. He kissed her for longer and she did the same, simply enjoying it and the feeling of peace and contentment that came with it.

When they broke at last for a breather, Middy could hear Lighty's stomach growl. She chuckled at that. "I guess we can try grabbing something to eat as long as we can bring it back here and resume where we left off."

"We'll probably want to grab some mints with breakfast then."

That made her chuckle again as she playfully rolled him over.

I begged the coffee maker to move a little faster. Despite the standard morning beverage for my family being hot tea, Mother had slid back into drinking coffee with her demanding college teaching schedule, though usually only at school. I, on the other hand, felt the need for the strong brew today.

It was the last day we were going to have together, and I wanted to be as alert as possible. Maybe I would see something with Lighty by my side that I missed previously.

Hope was a powerful motivator.

I felt arms slide around my shoulders, bearing an amber shade. I waited for a moment before speaking.

“Mom?”

“The one and only,” my mom said as she gave me a squeeze. I turned to face the fiery-haired woman. “I have a proposition for you.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Not something else that would require channeling mana, is it?”

She shook her head. “I know how nervous you are about leaving tomorrow and are going to want to spend every moment with Sunlight,” she said, giving me a knowing smile. “So here’s what we’re going to do: Your mother, sister, and I will head back tonight. I talked it over with your mother last night and a surprisingly early rising Aurora just now. If you’re ok, then we’ll leave after lunch and I’ll come back tomorrow to get you.”

I stared at her. “Mom, that’s a five hour drive just to get me,” I stuttered. “I can’t ask you to do that, even if it means…”

“That’s why I’m not asking,” she said with that smirk I had inherited. “Besides, there’s something I need to grab from the house to show the other me, so this makes it kind of easy, a two birds situation. Spend time with him, and his family, and don’t worry about trying to spend time with your family.”

I started at her numbly. “But…”

She laid a finger over my lips as Lighty came in from the hall. “Just do it, Midnight,” she said quietly. “And we’ll sort the rest out tomorrow.”

I watched the Hydro Star pull away, my family aboard. I felt pulled in some way I couldn’t put into words. I wanted to stay with the young man that held my hand, but I also didn’t want my family to leave just so I could have a few more obligation free hours.

“You’re worried,” Sunlight said. “I can tell, somehow.”

“It doesn’t take a genius,” I said without any sass. “I had admitted it to you anyway.”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I mean, I can almost feel the worry wafting off you. You’re feeling conflicted now, more so even than last night.”

I looked at the young man. “Are you using that amazing brain of yours, or…”

He reached up and tapped his forehead where his horn appeared when he ponied up.

“A little of both,” he said. “After last night, I can kind of sense your mood.”

I tilted my head in thought. Just how deeply were we connected? All this had started back at the stepped falls the first day we were here, when I felt a resonance when I sent him some calming emotions. I closed my eyes and focused inward, stilling my thoughts. I could feel my heartbeat, and as I listened to it, I felt it’s pulse in my body, but also…

I felt it, in time with my own pulse but just a few moments off, like the slapback echo on Mom’s guitar rig. Love, concern, determination, I could sense all of it in the small wave.

“How did I miss this?” I whispered.

“You’ve had some more pressing thoughts,” Sunlight said, turning and taking both my hands in his, the warmth starting to eat away at the worry. “By the way, your mom told me to wait till they left, but there’s something in your room for you, next to the journal.” He looked at me with a weird look. “Does she always do the surprise thing? Cause that’s got to be weird.”

I turned and sprinted to the villa, leaving Lighty on the pier blinking.

Sitting on my bed was a folder mass of black material. I lifted it up and found myself holding a leather jacket, it’s lapels studded with round rivets. It had seen better days, with scuffs and a few spots repaired with care if not finesse. A piece of paper fluttered to the ground, and I picked it up, sitting on the bed to read it.

Midnight,

Please forgive the tiny fib I told you this morning. There isn’t anything at the house that needs retrieving, but everything else was true.

This jacket was mine when I first came through the portal. I’m not sure what goes into the clothing choices the mirror gives us, but something about this coat always felt right. Even after it’s getting beat up at the Fall Formal and being given a new one by the girls, I always kept this one close by. Almost like a security blanket, or something like that. Your mother gives me all sorts of ribbing for it, but even when we pack to move or go on vacation, it’s always on her checklist.

I want you to have it, at least for a little while. Maybe some of the luck it gave me may help you.

We love you and will be researching anything we can get our hands (and hooves) on to help. Don’t give up on us, don’t give up on yourself, and trust in the other ones of us.
After all, longer odds have been beaten by our family before.

Mom

“That tricky, treacherous woman,” I said, smiling. I lifted the jacket and slid it on, finding that it fit rather well, outside of the sleeves being a touch long. I stood and went to the bathroom to see how it looked, and staring back was a confident looking young woman.

I stuck my hands in the pockets and I felt a hard bit of plastic. I pulled it out and found myself holding a guitar pick, the emblem faded but recognizable as the Rainbooms. A smile tugged at my lips as I turned to leave, and I let it blossom forth.

I felt a tiny bit of amused appreciation and I turned and saw Lighty standing at my bedroom door, a smile on his face.

"Wow," Sunlight spoke up, looking her up and down as she walked over to him. "You look...hot."

Midnight smacked his arm in good spirits. "Don't tease," she almost chuckled. "It's very special to me."

"I wasn't teasing," he defended and grabbed her around the waist. "I was serious. I do recognize it, by the way. My ma has pictures of when she wore it too. Though those ones are kind of old."

"Does she still have it?" Midnight thought to ask out of curiosity. She held him in return and began rubbing his back in a relaxed fashion.

"Probably," he shrugged as much as their position allowed him to. "They got a couple large boxes of stuff from when they were younger. Might be in there. Ma is against keeping old junk around, though, so I think whatever's in there is only stored because of magic and portal stuff."

"Portal stuff," Middy laughed at his words.

"Anyways," he rolled his eyes. "What are we going to do now that we're all alone?"

"I was just thinking about that myself," Midnight fluttered her eyes in a joking manner. "Want to guess what my idea is?"

"Take a stroll on the beach? Kiss under the moonlight?" Lighty returned her humorous mood. "Well, it's not dark enough for that. We could come back to the bedroom though and close all the curtains. It perfectly dark when you do that. Then I could use my horn to make fake moonlight."

"Such a romantic," Middy sighed, leaning in her nose to touch his. It was more a pony guesture than a human one, but he would be finding out about that eventually.

"Then maybe I can find out if you're hotter in or out of that jacket," he wiggled his brows.

That made Midnight lean back in laughter. He always did such a good job of overplaying it to the point that the absurdity was endearing. If she wanted anything for her remaining time with him then it was simply the happy and peaceful mood that he brought her.

They left the villa for a walk together, revisting the places on the island that they had enjoyed over the vacation. If Sunlight was a source of calm contentment then being on the island with him was perfection. This was a place she had grown up around as well. Having that in common with him only made her more certain of her feelings. They may not have gone into it due to the lack of proper apparel, but they stopped at a spot overlooking the lagoon.

"It's going to be fun coming back here over the years," Lighty remarked, taking notice of every nook and cranny he had explored growing up and even during this latest adventure.

"Is the word 'pessimistic' even in your dictionary?" Middy grinned at him in reply.

He turned to her and slipped his arms around her beneath the jacket.

"Maybe my name was prophetic," he jested.

"It doesn't have to be dark just for my sake, you know," she told him, referring to his plan back at the villa. She adjusted her glasses while saying so.

"You're as hot in those glasses as you are in that jacket, but it would be easier to kiss around your eyes if they were off," he smiled, leaning in.

"My lips aren't good enough?" she returned in kind.

He shrugged. "I just want to cover as much ground as I can until the next time we can be together."

"In that case, we'd better get back so we can get started," she gave him a sly wink.

As he had hoped upon waking that morning, the day did not lose cheer for their parting. Midnight's eager pulling towards the villa was just the sign of happiness he wished her to always have. And in that mood, he shared gladly.

The day passed faster than I had realized. That in and of itself was a bit sad, but in that time I had gotten to know the goofball that I had fallen for all the better. We had sat with his parents and they tried to tell stories of when he was little - to his horror - and I even partook in their regular workout.

I’m going to feel that in the morning, I’m sure. I mean, I’m no slouch, but trying to keep up with Lighty’s parents? Woof.

That night, we were sitting on the veranda staring at the moon when I suddenly gripped his arm tightly.

“You ok?” he asked, looking down at me.

I shook my head. “Just remembering that in the morning we have to say goodbye,” I said. “I should have spent some time trying to find some way for us to be together.”

He laughed and shook his head. “What do you think we’ve been doing all day?” he giggled. “Just happening to do the same thing at the same time?”

“You know what I mean!” I said.

“I do, Middy,” he said, shifting the way we sat so he was holding me. “But I think you’re missing out on what is looking for a way to make it what will be.” He gestured at the view. “I love this place, but I know I can’t stay no matter how much I want to. So I make the most of every moment I can so that I have the memories to look back on for next time.”

He looked at me, his blue eyes glittering. “Sometimes you have to take what you have and experience it to the fullest for it to mean anything.”
He kissed my forehead and I felt his calm start to permeate me. “So, I’ve been overworking myself, is that what you’re saying?”

He shook his head. “No,” he grinned. “You’re acting like Mom, getting so wrapped up with a problem that sometimes, you forget why you started looking for the answer in the first place.”

I don’t know when I drifted off to sleep, but I do remember waking up as he carried me in to my room and laid me on the bed. He turned to leave and I grabbed his hand.

“Don't" I said. “I’m not done experiencing yet.”

I woke up the second time with his arms wrapped around me, both of us still in our clothes from the day before.

Mom hefted my bag, and dropped it in the back seat of the car before shutting the door. She came up and hugged the alternate versions of herself and Mother before giving the same to Adagio and Rainbow. I hugged Lighty before sliding my hands down and slipping them into his back pockets.

“Don’t forget to write, you hear me?” I whispered.

“I wont,” he said in that earnest way of his and I knew he was making a promise.

“See you soon,” I said, giving him a wink as I turned and headed for the car.

We drove in silence for a few minutes before Mom finally broached the topic.

“You figure anything out?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “I think that somehow, everything will turn out ok.”

“Oh yeah?” she said. “How do you figure that?”

I slipped my bare feet up onto the dashboard and reached back to drag my journal from the recesses of my bag.

“I just have a feeling,” I said, setting pen to paper.

Check your pockets, I wrote.

The young man walked back into his room in the villa, a small bit of lonesomeness tugging at his heart now.

That was forgotten when he spied his journal glowing softly. He opened it and frowned.

“Check my pockets?” He slipped his hands into his pockets and from one of the back ones he pulled a guitar pick out, a bit of rawhide strung through a hole punched in it. He saw the familiar emblem of his parents old band and smiled.

As he went to set it down, he spied the strands of silvery hair weaved along the rawhide.

“Cheeky girl,” he said with a smile.

That's how it could have happened prt 1: Rose Quill

That's how it could have happened prt 1: AllyKitty

I sighed as I walked down the halls of the school, my hooves making little noise on the carpeted surface. I had just finished up my first series of classes, and I have to say that I had never imagined teaching to be as much fun as it could be. I wished that the high could have continued a little longer, but no.

As always, the depressive side rose up. It had been almost a year since that fateful day on the beach of Hello Tropics. We had tried to keep in contact, but slowly the magic of the books just depleted until they couldn't even send a single character through. And now, without some sort of signature from his home dimension, I couldn't repower them even with the help of my aunt, the Princess Twilight Sparkle. It had been silent for four months now.

I entered my room and levitated my glasses off and set them on the end table. My chambers were on the interior wall, where sunlight couldn't filter in. As I had gotten older, my affliction had changed a little, sunlight now only irritated my eyes on the bright of the moon, but it was still where I had to wear ruby glasses. I still wore the ones I had received almost three years ago since I was used to their constant shifting effect.

And there it was, on a book stand in the corner. The journal I had been given, open to a particular page, one where I could always feel better after reading his words.

No matter what happens, I have faith in you. Even without magic, you'd rip open the gates just to spite them.

You can do anything, Middy.

Light

"He always did believe, didn't he?" a voice from behind me spoke up.

I turned to see Starlight Glimmer behind me, her glasses perched just above her horn, her greying mane tied up in a loose tail.

I nodded. "Yeah," I whispered. "Yeah, he did."

She came over and gave me a brief hug. “You’ll figure it out,” she whispered.

I shrugged, my mind who knew how many miles away. “Yeah, someday maybe.”

"Well, before I forget, the headmistress wants to see you," she continued and turned to leave. "And she wants you to bring the journal."

I blinked. The journal?

"So, as I understand it," I hear my Aunt Sparky saying. "It's merely a matter of funding, of which I have no issues with. The Ponyville School for Unicorns will remain open and tuition-free for as long as I see it should be."

"I'm not saying we need to charge an outrageous tuition, Your Highness, just..."

"Diamond Tiara," Twilight spoke. "You know I hate that title."

"Sorry, Headmistress."

"Secondly, I understand that you want to expand the school," I heard hoofsteps on the floor. "But I know plenty of Unicorns that could never afford Celestia's school that would have shone brighter even than myself or Professor Glimmer. Now, I believe Professor Sky is here to see me."

I glanced at the Earth Pony as she left, the conservative clothing she wore a complete opposite to the stories I had heard from my fellow professor Sweetie Belle and her friends. I sat the journal down and sat before the desk.

"You wanted to see me, Headmistress?"

The Princess Twilight turned, her multi-hued tail floating in its own breeze, much like how Mom's did on this side of the portal. Her horn lit up and the door swung shut behind me.

"No need for titles in here, Middy," she said and walked around the desk. As opposed to Luna, Celestia, and Cadence, she didn't wear the royal regalia. She and Mom both found them rather restricting and not really their style. She had her luminescent mane up in a bun today, reminding me very much of Mother. She hugged me, her wings coming out as she leaned down for balance. Luna's Moon, she was tall.

"So, I understand the book is still out of magic?" she asked as we separated.

I nodded, tossing my horn at my journal. "But it's full of a lot of upliting memories."

She nodded, then her horn lit again. "Come with me," she said quietly.

She teleported us to the chamber that we kept the mirror in and I looked at her in confusion.

"Why are we here?" I asked.

Instead of answering, she levitated her own copy of the journal into a bracket at the top, activating the portal.

"Starlight and I have a theory," she said, horn remaining lit as she pulled a dusty key with intricate wardings from a high shelf. "This key was..."

"A final gift from Star Swirl the Bearded," I said. "Mom told me the story."

"Yes, well..." she said, a little flustered. She hated it when I interrupted her, it threw off her speeches. "In any event, I never did figure out what it's supposed to open. But, if you look closely at the shield, it's vaguely shaped like the mirror."

I eyed the end of the key, suspiciously. It did bear a passing resemblance.

"That's a bit of a stretch, Aunt Sparky."

"Bear with me," she said, taking my journal from my grip and settling it on the bracket with the journal that powered the portal. The vortex took on a slight orange hue and she nodded.

"If what I think is right, this might bear fruit," she said and stretched the key out to the portal. It touched the surface and started to glow with a multicolored light before it died to a muted pink, very similar to the streak of Lighty's hair. Star Swirl's cutie mark faded from the shield, muted light still standing there.

Twilight offered the key over to me. "Off you go, then," she said, indicating the portal.

"Do you even know where it goes now?" I asked. "I could be eaten by Timberwolves."

"Which is why you have the key and I'm going to keep the portal open for five minutes," she replied. "Either you can open another rift with the key, or you return however you wound up there. But if my hypothesis is right, the residual magic from your journal might be too weak to cross the threshold, but it might have enough for the portal to pick up the frequency..."

"Of the harmony of the other world," I finished, heart beating as I snatched the key from her aura with mine and wrapped her in a tight hug. "Thanks so much, Aunt Sparky!"

She smiled as she returned the hug. "Thank me after you figure it out. And then, the two of you have been commanded to appear for dinner by Fluttershy."

I smirked. "I doubt it's a command," I said.

"It was," my aunt said with a grave look. "She said 'Very much.' when she said that she hopes it works."

"Wow," I said. "Then I better hope we find out."

I turned and raced for the portal.

Sunlight was swapping out the blades on the lawnmower when he heard the car pull up. He was pretty good about recognizing the regular visitors to the house by engine noise, but this one was soft, almost inaudible. An electric, so that meant either Fluttershy or one of the newer cabs. Seeing as how Fluttershy was inside with his parents at the moment, that left cab. He went back to working on the blades until he heard a quiet footstep.

He looked, but all he could see was a pair of dark-washed jeans and the sort of generic boot that a lot of women wore this time of year. As he started to wriggle out from under the mower on the small lift, he started to speak.

"Can I help you?"

"I sure hope so," the voice said, causing him to freeze for a second. He scrambled out, and there she was, the smirk the same as he remembered it, and so were the tears.

"Middy?" he whispered.

The girl in front of him ponied up, tail swishing softly. "Hiya, Lighty," she whispered before she leaped forward and hugged him. The sudden sense of another mind in his triggered his own pony form, and as he held her tightly, he could only laugh through some tears of his own.

"Took you long enough," he whispered.

She slapped him gently on the arm as she pulled away a little, keeping her hands on his shoulders. "I just broke a few laws of physics, here," she said incredulously. "And the best you got is 'Took you long enough'? Give me a..."

Her words were cut off as he pulled her in and kissed her. When time resumed, she brushed a few silver locks from her face and looked at him, her cheeks bright red.

"That's...that's better," she breathed.

"So, how?" he said.

She held up a pink key. "This is for you. It will alter the destination of the portal to my dimension and from my world to yours."

Light held the key, seeing that on the shield it had his cutie mark on one side and hers on the other.

"You do have a standing dinner invitation, by the way," Midnight said, linking her arm through his. "And we got to get you used to walking on hooves."

"Sounds fun, Professor," he teased. "When's the test?"

She slapped her hand against his stomach before reaching up and taking his face in her hands.

"Just hold me, you silly, silly boy."

He laughed, pulling her into a hug.

"All day,” he said softly. “Every day."

That's how it could have happened, prt 2: BlackWater

“Well that was a trip,” Sunlight remarked as he got back on his feet. “That apparently still isn’t over,” he added with a frown upon getting his orientation. Or lack thereof.

Space. Not “outer space” but not far from it. All around him was blackness filled with glowing points that shifted slightly in shape as they drifted about. The distance was infinite. Some of the glowing points were nothing but tiny specks a million miles away and some were as large as himself, floating by no more than ten feet from his reach.

The young man opened the satchel he had brought with him through the custom portal. His parents had given him a guidebook to assist in any issues he might encounter. After all, they had to make a special portal to cross dimensions and, even though it should have been a smooth process based on existing magic, they took no chances. Good thing too.

As he was about to turn the page to the FAQ, a voice called out to him.

“Heya! What are you doing here, Lighty?” Pinkie Pie shouted as she skipped over to him through the dark not-void.

Sunlight’s brows raised. It was Pinkie Pie alright…but younger. Much younger. Gone was the slight extra pudge of over a decade of bakery work. She looked like she did in the old photos his mothers kept from high school. Her pink skirt and cropped blue overshirt were straight out of Sunset’s oldest photos of their high school group.

“Uh...Pinkie?” he asked hesitantly. Twilight warned him about interacting too much with members of a dimensional miscalibration.

“Sunlight!” she replied back with a gleeful bounce and then a strangling hug. “We’re tied! Now it’s my turn! What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in Spacetime #498. This is the portal hub, silly. You’re not supposed to stop here.”

“Wait,” Sunlight narrowed his eyes and clutched his guidebook. “What about you? Where are you from? You have to be from my or Middy’s spacetime if you know about us.”

“Oh, pffft,” Pinkie waved it off with the sound of a raspberry. “I know about all of you. Sunlight and Midnight from #498/526, #128/512, and #745/920. Though, please don’t tell anyone about the last pair. They told me not to tell,” she whispered into his ear. “Now hop on through. You’re portal is coming over. Tell Middy I said hi! No more time to talk. I’ve got a whole lot of Pinkie’s to manage!”

Sunlight noticed the floating and glowing portal that was hovering towards him. She must have meant that one. He was going to open his mouth again but two more Pinkie’s hopped on over to the one talking to him and started asking for directions. Both were older, though more one than the other. Shaking his head, he took the advice of this Pinkie and his mothers and jumped through the portal that was nearly upon him.

“I tried to ask her myself but she was really adamant about keeping it secret,” Midnight shrugged as they walked along the autumn forest trail. Dry leaves of somber colors rustled beneath their steps.

Rarity gave a “hoho” of amusement. “That is most certainly our Pinkie Pie.”

“Someone’s Pinkie Pie anyways,” Middy shook her head. “It’s just normal for me to see Princess Twilight with Fluttershy and even some of the others from Equestria with different people because I grew up with things that way. Seeing people who are from the human world but a different dimension in different relationships can make it feel so surreal. Not to mention other-dimension Equestrian counterparts. I haven’t met any yet now that I think of it. Makes me wonder-”

“I was under the impression you had become comfortable with it, darling,” Rarity insisted with a curious tilt.

“With Lighty’s world? Yeah. They’re like another family and I’d enjoy spending more time with them as well. It’s just...knowing that there’s a Pinkie managing multiple pairs of myself and Lighty makes me really worry if the next time I see him...”

“He will be the same boy you fell in love with?”

The older woman had gotten it right and could tell just by the look on the teen’s face.

“Oh, is that all?” the fashionista waved it off with a chuckle. “If I am not mistaken, your mothers whipped up a spell for that ages ago. Transdimensional identification verifiction or some such terribly dreadful name. I’ve told them – especially Twilight – that they really do need to come up with more friendly-”

Midnight stopped her aunt in the leaf-laden path. “T.I.V. was in mom’s spell notes? I’ve read through it a hundred times and I don’t-”

Rarity returned the interruption. “Well, T.I.V. is most certainly shorter but not quite elegant if you ask me. If it was not in her spell books then she might have put it in...”

Wait. Why was Rarity trailing now? Her tone and expression had turned to one of a person just remembering they were supposed to keep an embarrassing secret a secret.

“What? Where is it?” Midnight insisted, stepping closer to the woman.

“Uh, heh heh,” Rarity began a cold sweat. “Oh, do forgive me, darling. I was sworn not to tell. It was a mistake I found out in the first place. A lady is not-”

“-going to tell my parents you told me,” Midnight gained a clever smirk, quickly taking an educated guess. “It’s worth my peace of mind. You don’t want me staying up all night worrying do you?”

“But it is just so...scandalous,” Rarity averted her gaze, still sweating.

Just as Midnight began to consider her aunt’s weaknesses that she could exploit, there was the sound of crackling. It was not the soft crack of the leaves beneath them, however. It sounded as deep as thunder, prompting their heads to turn upwards. And indeed there was something in the sky. More precisely, in the air just five feet above them.

BOOM!

A chaotic bolt of purple lighting cracked in place in that one spot, tearing open a hole in the very fabric of reality. Light flashed almost too bright to continue looking – a myriad of colors inspiring both awe and fear. Midnight knew what this was. She had traveled through it before, though returned without reaching the other side.

“Aaaaaaaaah!” the scream of a certain young man became louder and louder until he appeared through the rift, which closed quickly behind him.

Midnight moved to catch him and Rarity, quick on her response, moved to support her. The three of them fell back onto the side of the path. Thankfully the dirt and leaves were soft enough to make it less painful and a sharp branch was just barely out of the way.

Sunlight Shimmer rocked back in forth in the arms of the younger and older women, trying to put his senses back in order after the dimensional portal had scrambled them. “Ugh...what cures portal sickness?” he groaned out.

“Lighty!” Midnight cried out and tightened her grip around him. Her face buried into his chest.

“Ah,” Sunlight squeaked out. He finally got his eyesight to stop spinning and recognized the person holding him. His own joy was countered by the tightness he was being squeezed with. “Love you too, Middy.”

Rarity stood up and brushed the leaves from her elegant fall dress. The oranges and yellows matched the offending material well. She muttered to herself about having to give it a special clean now before greeting the newcomer. “Hello again, Mr. Shimmer. It is good to see your energy has not left you since last we saw each other.”

“Hello Tropics,” he said to himself then nodded. It was clear the bothered tone in her voice was directed at the offending dirt and not him. “It’s good to see you again as well. You look nice. Of course, I’ll have to say my Middy looks better,” he gave his girlfriend a wink but only got squeezed tighter in return. “Agh.”

The ranch house was different for sure, but comforting nonetheless. It helped that the autumn climate was still gentle and thus no cooling or heating was needed. The open windows let in the relaxing breeze. Though the decorations and furniture were unfamiliar to him, he could tell the place had been lived in for some time and by Midnight and her family in particular.

He sat across from Midnight at the dining room table. The rectangular shape reduced the distance between them but allowed room for the dishes of their recently finished dinner. Spaghetti and hot rolls, half made by him and half by her in a joint effort. The endeavor had been quite fun and something he looked forward to doing much more in the future. Mistakes had been made, but that was part of the enjoyment.

“Apparently,” Midnight gained a mischievous grin, “mom keeps a special notebook with magic spells not in the other texts. They’re all related to special situations.”

“Like?” Sunlight prompted and leaned back in the chair, satisfied from the warm meal and relative silence of the house they had all to themselves for the time being.

“Verifying that a person is from the right dimension.”

The young man rose a brow in curiosity. “Why would you need to do that? I mean before our families ran into each other,” he clarified.

“Apparently, my parents have some things they don’t think are appropriate to share. And not for the regular reasons.”

“So that’s what you were getting out of Rarity before we left her,” he made an “aha” sound. “Side note: big shock.”

She giggled at his sarcasm. “It all worked out, though.”

“I suppose that was what you went into their bedroom for when we first got here and why I saw some light flash behind me when I was making the rolls.”

“Smart boy,” she pressed his nose with her fingertip. “I just wish it was as easy to get to your side. The dynamic dimensional portal doesn’t work right now from this end.”

“Wait,” Sunlight felt his heart freeze. “You mean that you can’t get to my side from this side?”

“Yes, but apparently it worked for you to get here. That means there’s just some recalibration that needs to be done in the spell I’ve been trying.”

“So I can’t get back?” he started to seriously worry.

“The journal works just fine and if you found a way through then I’m sure we can do the same,” Midnight crossed her arms in confidence. For once, she was the one that was carefree and assured rather than him. But having him with her in person might have boosted her spirits. Thankfully, her positivity helped settle his concerns.

“Alright,” he nodded and leaned forward. He planted his lips on hers and didn’t pull back for a good moment. When he did, he smiled. “We’ll figure it out.”

In the meantime, Midnight thought to herself, the notebook she had read for the spell had given her some other ideas. Special ideas she couldn’t wait to try out with the love of her life.

Here's what Really Happened

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