Two Truths and a Lie

The Equestrian Starlight Glimmer circled the room over and over again, desperately trying to keep herself from hyperventilating. She thought that coming through the portal would be a good thing. She thought that everything that she had been doing once she came into this world was to benefit the other Starlight Glimmer and to keep the status quo of both worlds. She thought she had been making real progress to change things, but she had no idea that she had worked so hard to do just benefited a mad man.

“Jeez, you look stressed,” the other Starlight said as she laid on her cot staring up at the ceiling. “Why don't you have some water or something? There's a fridge full of water bottles under the cot.”

“What? Why?” Sunset asked. Starlight Glimmer just shrugged.

“Are you seriously asking me if I want water?! We're trapped in some freaking bunker or something and that crazy guy is going to experiment on us. We could die! And I can't even get back home to Equestria! Princess Twilight is probably worried sick about me and our last words involved me coercing her into letting me come here by guilt tripping her. Oh dear Celestia I hate myself.” She buried her face in her hands and leaned her back up against a corner as if that would keep Starlight and Sunset from being able to see her and the guilt that she felt like she was carrying around on her back right now.

“Wow,” the other Starlight Glimmer noted, more sarcastic than serious. “You're really letting some being from another dimension get to you. Is Princess Twilight your girlfriend or something? Are you sleeping with her?”

The other Starlight slowly moved her hands away from her face and stared at her human counterpart blankly. “Why do people keep asking me that? Sure Princess Twilight and I have had sleepovers so yea we've slept next to each other. Her sleeping bag is so pretty it looks like it really has stars on it! Mine is kind of lame compared to it, but it's nice to have sleepovers with your best friends, don't you think? And because we have sleepovers together I guess that would make us girl friends since she's a girl and she's my friend and friends care about each other.”

The human Starlight sat up quickly and stared at her quietly as if she wasn't sure if the comment was meant to be serious or not. She turned to Sunset with the same questioning expression.

“Is she serious? She can't be for real... can she? Because she's supposed to be me, but she sounds like a naive idiot!”

“Equestrian terminology is far different from Earth terminology,” Sunset explained quickly. “A lot of the dirty expressions here are completely innocent there. It's a more... quaint place than it is here.”

“Sounds awful.” Starlight determined before falling back onto the cot which made loud groaning sounds upon her descent.

“Instead of arguing about this,” Starlight piped up. “Maybe we should figure out how we get out of here. I mean Sunset Shimmer, you were the original prized student of Princess Celestia and Starlight Glimmer... you and I are smart, you're a hacker apparently and I was able to create and rule an entire village; between the three of us if we put our heads together then we should be able to think of something.”

“Pfftttt”

“What now?” Starlight groaned.

“I've been down here for weeks now, I've been locked in this room and I've been allowed to roam and honestly, even when I'm allowed to roam around it's no better than being locked in here. There's no visible way out of this place. I've given up. He's right anyway, nobody cares about me and I bet nobody cares about you two either. He wouldn't do this if he didn't think he could get away with it, he's too smart for that.”

The Equestrian Starlight Glimmer's eyes widened. She wanted to argue with her and tell her that there were people who cared about her and friends that wanted to spend time with her, but she recalled a time not too long ago that she had felt the same way.

When Sunburst was sent away to Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns all the way in Canterlot, it was an event that came only a few weeks after Starlight's own parents had run off in the middle of the night. She had felt the same exact way that this Starlight felt right now. She thought that there was nobody in the world that cared about her or would ever notice if she was gone, but when she was young she had been too afraid to try to prove that theory one way or another.

She was able to test it thoroughly after Princess Twilight and her friends exposed her as a fraud and then ran her out of her own town. There was something tragically disappointing about running away from home because it's usually done out of anger and frustration, but once those feelings start to dissipate, one is just left feeling silly and alone.

Starlight had a pretty good understanding of the mountain and pass near her town, she had traveled the area enough while scouting the location for her little village, something she knew that nopony else from the village or any of the interlopers knew nothing about. Still, she thought that they would have at least attempted to come after her. She knew that she hadn't exactly been a hundred percent honest with those ponies, but she still thought that they were her friends. Not being followed even to be checked on or spoken to felt like a cut by a sharp knife in the back.

And yet, at the time she was completely used to it. She was used to ponies letting her down and disappearing from her life and not trying to contact her again. She was used to feeling alone and abandoned. It wasn't fun, but it was Starlight's normal and it was a normal she expected to understand for the rest of her life.

Princess Twilight and the rest of the Elements of Harmony and even Trixie, Sunburst, Maud, and Sunset Shimmer had taught her that was not how life had to be lived. They taught her that there are people who will come into your life and truly care about your well-being.

Her other life, the life of constantly being let down oftentimes felt like was much further in the past than it really was and she liked it that way. Even though she felt guilty about leaving Twilight in Equestria with a guilt trip in order to allow her to come through the portal for this, she still knew that her Twilight was on the other side of that portal waiting for her and doing everything she possibly could to open the portal so they could see each other again.

Because that's what real best friends do for each other.

Even on this world, she was sure that her and Sunset Shimmer's friends would always care about where they went as soon as they realized that they were missing. Maybe there would be plenty of people in the world that didn't care, maybe the police officers and Miss Care were exhausted with Starlight Glimmer and the constant frustrations that she caused so maybe they would give up on looking after a couple weeks, but that didn't mean that their friends would give up.

She only felt bad that the alternate Starlight Glimmer didn't understand that and that she honestly felt like this was the best possible situation she could be in because all of the people that cared about her were in this room.

But Starlight Glimmer realized that to vocalize that to this bitter teenage girl who had been pushed around by so many people in this world would be almost impossible.

So she did the only thing she knew how to do thanks to her friends.

She walked over to her human counterpart and pulled her into a tight hug. The other Starlight sat perfectly still and perfectly in shock all throughout the hug. Starlight slowly pulled away from the hug, but didn't get off the cot.

“I know how you feel, I used to feel that way too, but you're wrong. There are people outside of this room who care about you and are going to be worried sick when they find out that you've gone missing again. Trust me. I know you feel like there's nobody outside these walls who cares about your existence, but you have friends and you have amazing foster parents. Morning Dew and Rondache were really excited when I turned up in front of the portal the other day.”

“Puh-lease, don't try to use that against me.” Starlight Glimmer rolled her eyes. “They don't really care about me, they'll wait a few weeks and when you or I don't turn up and they'll probably find some other kid to smother with affection that is more in line with their cutesy family. They probably want a kid that will actually like the room that they have set up as opposed to me. I probably cramped their perfect style.”

“I think they cared about you... or us. They never seemed to mind when I didn't talk to them about things that were bothering me right away, they were nice about me... or... well, you disappearing for a few weeks and they never mentioned the fact that your black backpacks were out of place in their perfect room. And you have friends now! Morning Dew and Rondache switched you over to Canterlot High School since you were unceremoniously expelled from Crystal Prep and I think you'll learn that the students at CHS are unmatched and amazing people and they care about us and I know that they will come find us.”

“You are annoyingly optimistic,” Starlight groaned.

“No, she's right,” Sunset Shimmer said. “You didn't fit in at Crystal Prep and that's okay. That school, both it's curriculum and it's people, aren't for everybody, but you got a second chance at Canterlot High School and I'm not sure about you, but the other Starlight Glimmer made a splash there! You have plenty of friends at least pretty good for only three days in and you're bright so you are probably kicking ass in school. Our friends though, they are unparallelled. The absolute best people in the world and they care greatly about you, they can find the good in anyone and they have certainly found the good in you and I.”

“You are also annoyingly optimistic.”

“You don't have to be so negative about it,” the Equestrian Starlight Glimmer said softly. “You made mistakes, I mean, we have definitely read that notebook of yours. You care a lot about petty revenge, you played really mean pranks on people who didn't deserve to be hurt like that just because they did something petty to you. I made mistakes too. Back in Equestria I built a village and slowly convinced lonely travelers to give up their special talents so that they could live in my town and stay friends with myself and everybody else in the town forever.”

“Wow. That's hardcore.”

“And it's not just you,” Sunset Shimmer spoke up. “I stole a magical artifact from Equestria and brought it to Earth in hopes that I could use it to create a zombie army out of the students at CHS and use that zombie army to overtake Equestria. Our friends forgave me and they forgave Starlight and they would literally do anything for each other and we would do anything for them. So, there are people out there who care about you. I promise.”

“Wow. I'm surprised that the two of you are both able to spout that bullshit.”

Sunset and Starlight looked at each other and smiled.

“It's okay,” Sunset said. “You don't have to believe it. You'll see it soon enough.”

Starlight Glimmer rolled her yes and turned away from the two Equestrians so that she could face the wall. On the other side of that wall were her friends, the only people who ever showed her anywhere near the kind of friendship that the other two girls in the room kept going on and on about.

The door opened again and this time the strange man came into the room wordlessly with a twisted smile that sent chills down Starlight's back. She looked at Sunset as if inwardly begging her to do something even though she knew that Sunset Shimmer was just as powerless as she was. Sunset just looked down at the ground, tears bristling in her eyes as she clutched the stone of the necklace she wore around her neck. Starlight tried to reach out to her, but she was grabbed by her arm before she had a chance.

Sunset took that opportunity to try to grab hold of the man with her dominant hand while her other hand still kept a firm grasp on her necklace, but he was too quick for her and her one handed maneuver to find out the thoughts and feelings of the man holding her and her friends (and even her enemies) captive ended with her being pushed aside and tumbling to the ground.

“Sunset Shimmer!” Starlight called out with more concern in her voice than fear despite being her and the other Starlight Glimmer being held by the arms and led towards the large and intimidating machine that stood in the center of the large room.

The Equestrian Starlight Glimmer tried to break free from his grasp, she tried to stall her feet to keep from moving in hopes that sooner or later he would have to let go, but he just tightened his grasp on her and when that didn't work she decided that the best defense at this point was to twist her arm out of his hand.

It worked.

Something that surprised all four people in the room and she wasted no time in attempting to make a break for it. She ran as fast as her long, gangly, and uncoordinated legs would take her, but she had failed to take into account that he had locked the door after entering the room so it didn't matter how quickly she made it to the door, she still had no way of leaving the room. Sunset Shimmer ran to the door to join Starlight.

With the two of us trying to figure this out, I'm sure we can do this. Friendship is magic, afterall. Right? Starlight tried to reassure herself as she and Sunset practically clawed at the door and fiddled with the lock mechanism with whatever they could find near the door.

He didn't look angry though, he had practically ignored her unplanned escape and while Starlight Glimmer and Sunset Shimmer scavenged the whole area around the door, he slowly and methodically placed the Earth Starlight Glimmer into a chair next to the machine and made sure that he was able to lock in her arms and legs so that she wouldn't be able to magically escape from the chair.

Starlight Glimmer never made a sound, after being stuck in this strange place for several weeks, she just resigned herself to feeling broken and giving up. She didn't try to argue with him or push him around or even attempt to escape just like her Equestrian counterpart had just attempted to do.

Both Starlight's locked eyes from across the room. The Equestrian Starlight had tears in her eyes as she tried to motion for her to try and escape the chair, but the Earth Starlight just ignored her and tried to look in any direction that wasn't facing her twin from another world.

“Starlight! You deserve better than this! I can show you how much more you deserve!” Starlight called out. “I know you think it's too late for you, but it's not too late! It wasn't too late for me or Starlight or hundreds of other people and ponies. You just have to help us get out of here before it is too late!”

“I am literally attached to a chair right now, you purple moron! It's too late to even attempt to leave this. I am locked to the chair and the chair is bolted to the ground. Tell me, Starlight. How exactly does one get out of this and even if I did get out of this, you two haven't found a way out of here and even if you had found a way out of here, this guy is literally standing right next to me and can hear every word that we are saying. Stealth is not exactly your priority, is it?”

The Equestrian Starlight Glimmer was taken aback, but couldn't exactly say that the frustration the other Starlight had with her wasn't completely unwarranted. It was just over a year ago that she likely would have reacted the same way, in fact, she had practically bit Princess Twilight's head off just for trying to teach her a friendship lesson for the first time in her village and that was a much lower stress moment than this current situation.

Still... Starlight felt her heart drop and a large lump started to grow in her throat as she watched this girl who was literally just like her in almost every way except she was raised as a human instead of a pony, get locked to a chair that was hooked up to a machine and the girl had already given up hope on ever leaving or even wanting to leave at this point.

Sunset Shimmer grabbed took hold of Starlight by the shoulders and shook her slightly as she made direct eye contact with her in order to keep Starlight's focus on her and not her human counterpart's pain.

“Forget her, you and I need to get out of here,” Sunset Shimmer whispered harshly. “Once we get out of here we can get her the proper help that she needs. We can't do this alone. We at least need the girls, or somebody else like the police or something. Maybe if I go instead of you, they will believe me since you apparently don't exactly have a lot of clout around here.”

“I... I can't,” Starlight admitted in a quiet and wistful voice. “I came all this way for her, I would never forgive myself if something happened to her while we were able to escape. You go on ahead. Find a way out of here. Starlight Glimmer and I are the only ones here who are direct counterparts to one another. We're the perfect specimens to start experimenting with, it should be enough to give you some leeway to find some help for the Dazzlings, Starlight, and I.”

“But...”

“No, trust me. I believe in you, Sunset. Just find a way out of here,” she whispered.

Sunset Shimmer opened her mouth to respond, but Starlight Glimmer had already begun to turn away from her and instead of working with Sunset to find a way to open the door and leave the room entirely, Starlight opted to follow her counterparts footsteps. She took several slow and quiet steps towards the machine. Her captor said nothing, but smiled a large toothy grin that seemed to expand with every step she took.

“I knew you would come to your senses. You're a smart girl, Starlight Glimmer. Just like the Starlight Glimmer here on Earth.”

She didn't respond, even though she had numerous thoughts that sat at the tip of her tongue just waiting to be unleashed; without the magic or the powers to back it up, she was useless here. Honestly, she barely knew how she was walking upright without falling over. She sat down in the empty seat on the other side of the machine and tried to turn and face her counterpart as she was locked into the seat, it wasn't necessary, but she desperately craved the attention of the other Starlight. She needed the reassurance that she would always be there with her right now as she struggled against herself to be allowed to just sit in place without being able to move her arms or legs. No matter how much she tried to move her head though, the machine was just too big for her to see around. She sat back in her seat bitterly, as she tried to hold her breath to keep the heaving sobs at bay.

“So what does this machine actually do?” The other Starlight piped up.

“It just analyzes your memories and puts together what matches up. It will be important information for my department to have when we reopen the portal.”

“What are you going to do when you reopen the portal? What is going to happen to Equestria?” Starlight asked, no longer able to hold back the fears in her voice.

It is one thing to harass me and ruin my life. I probably deserve it after everything that I have done, but I at least would never truly do anything that would harm anybody or anypony. When Princess Twilight Sparkle showed me the repercussions of my actions... I had no problems going back in time to make sure that Equestria and all the living beings in Equestria were doomed to living or dying in that awful wateland. She reassured herself as she sat and attempted to pay attention to her captor who had declined to answer her questions and instead made his way to an area of the room she hadn't paid attention to earlier, a small corner of the room that seemed to have all the equipment needed to control the machine that she now sat next to.

She threw a defeated glance towards Sunset Shimmer who hadn't stopped her attempts to leave the room, but still didn't seem to be having any luck.

“Are you still focusing all your attention on her?” He spat out. “It's useless. This whole bunker was designed specifically for this project. Nobody... or, Miss Glimmer, should I say nopony is getting out of here unless I allow it.”

The way that he said “pony” physically disgusted Starlight, she winced at the sound of his harsh tone, almost as if he was mocking her and Equestria. If it had been any other person on this world, she would have just assumed that it was said that way because they didn't know any better, like Morning Dew, Rondache, Miss Care or the police officers.

But him? He specifically knew about Equestria. He knew so much about it, that he went out of his way to make sure Starlight Glimmer would leave her home in the castle and traverse through the realms just so he had the opportunity to close up the portal and use her and the other Starlight Glimmer for some sort of set of twisted experiments that she didn't quite understand.

Sunset Shimmer seemed to take his comment as a personal challenge. Her panicked face changed to one of determination as she searched more methodically in the area around the door. He didn't seem to notice, or he didn't seem to care, but Starlight noticed and she watched her friend pat the floor around the door for several more minutes as he worked on the controls in order to work on the machine.

Then, somehow she stood up quick as a whip with a tiny smile on her face and Starlight felt like that had to be a good sign. Sunset caught sight of Starlight's gaze and excitedly held up her bobby pin for her to see. She held it up for a split second and then turned her back to Starlight and the machine as she fiddled with the bobby pin in the locking mechanism. It was something that worked for Sunset in the past, so Starlight held out hope that maybe it would work this time, if only so Sunset Shimmer would be able to attempt to make her escape.

She didn't hear a click or any indication that it had worked, but she saw Sunset do a little jump of excitement and then she slowly and swiftly opened the door and slipped out of the room faster than anybody was able to process it.

Somehow she did it. In a feat that surprised both versions of Starlight Glimmer as well as their captor, and likely Sunset as well. Sunset Shimmer was able to find the bobby pin that had fallen and slip out of the room as if it hadn't even been a problem they had been worrying about for the past several hours or so. Starlight's jaw dropped and he wasted no time in stopping what he was doing and running after her, leaving both Starlight Glimmer's alone and tethered to the large machine.