Sharing Beat Up Stories

Chapters

Mirror Management
A2A, D2D: Part 2 - Dewey Decimal Demolition
Just Shy of Finding Diamonds: Part 1 - The Guests Arrive
Just Shy of Finding Diamonds: Part 2 - Differing Discussions
Canterlot Crusader Conversations
Secrets Hidden in the Starlight
Canterlot Movie Club Presents: Duel of the Twin Diamonds
Touring a Home
An Overdue Return
Squadcars at Sunset
A Question Old as Time
Epilogue: Round and Back Again
Setting up a Meeting
Apples to Apples, Dashies to Dash: Part 1 - The Exchange

Mirror Management

After their classes had ended for the day, Sunset told the girls what her plan was. Most of them were apprehensive, but agreed to at least talk about it later, and left it to their friend to sort out the remaining details. So when Sunset spent most of her Saturday at home writing with Twilight in her journal, they weren’t surprised. It was late that afternoon when they saw Sunset again, meeting at their usual hangout of Sugarcube Corner Cafe.

“Hey girls!” the fiery-haired girl sat at their usual booth, pulling up a chair from another table to sit at the end. They all had their choices of drink or deserts, ranging from simple milkshakes to Pinkie’s sugar-nuke cupcakes.

As the pink girl devoured the confection that only she could stomach, she waved back to her friend. “Hi, Sunset!” Pinkie giggled as she propped her knees against the edge of the table. “So, did you and Twilight figure out what we’re going to do?”

Nodding, Sunset put the journal on the table for all to see. “We’ve got a good idea of what to do. We came up with a few possible ways to do this. We meet our counterparts by the portal and have the meeting in the soccer field.” Rainbow pouted a bit and grumbled at the thought, making some of her friends frown in concern. “We could also cross over ourselves, and have the meeting in Twilight’s castle, or make it a case by case basis with me monitoring on this side, and Twilight on the other.”

Applejack pursed her lips as she thought it over. “If it’s all the same with you sugarcube? Ah think I’d like to talk with my counterpart over here. There may be horses on my farm, but Ah don’t think Ah’m ever gonna be ready to have hooves myself. Also helps that Ah got the day off, thanks ta Mac if’n we’re doing this tomorrow.”

Chuckling, Sunset nodded. “That’s fair. Being on all fours would probably take some time to adjust to.” She paused long enough to shrug. “Not for me, since I’m from there and all, but you know what I mean.” She hummed for a moment and leaned back. “Then again... it wasn’t too hard for me or Twilight to learn how to walk here, so maybe not? I’ll have to look into that.”

Rainbow tapped her chin as she rested her elbows on the table. “I never did get a good look at how pony me looked when she showed up. After hearing about how all of yours looked, I want to see her on this side. Maybe get an explanation for all the belts.”

Rarity shuddered at the mention, now that she wasn’t too focused on her own issues to hear it. Just what was with all those belts? The thought of how gaudy they looked when she heard of the outfit that Rainbow’s counterpart wore still made her feel uneasy. “I’m honestly afraid of that. I have a feeling it was positively atrocious. I’d feel better not seeing that.”

“Well, then I guess you pick the opposite of what Rainbow does?” Sunset shrugged.

The soccer star shrugged sat up. “Well, I want to see how the other me looks. To determine awesomeness and all that. I’ll go for here.”

Rarity nodded and smiled. “Then I guess I’ll be the first of our group to see what Sunset’s world is like.”

If any of them had been paying attention, they would have seen Pinkie snickering.

Instead, their attention was more focused on Fluttershy as she sat there with the most conflicted look on her face possible for the shy girl. On the one hand, she wanted to finally see how Sunset and her friends looked as ponies back in her friend’s homeworld now that the thought was in her head. She was entirely confident that from what Sunset had told them before about the different kinds of ponies there, that the fire-toned ex-pony would be the most adorable unicorn she would ever see if she got the chance.

On the other, there was still the matter of the possibly looming chaos god that her counterpart had apparently befriended, and was potentially able to send out like some sort of overpowered and overprotective attack dog.

The poor girl rested her head in her hands and stared at her milkshake. “I’m not sure how to feel about this. What if it isn’t such a good idea in the end?”

Pinkie gave Fluttershy a few surprisingly gentle pats on the back and nodded. “Oh don’t worry Fluttershy! I’m sure all of our pony-selves had enough time to calm down. Either way, whatever you girls pick is fine with me!”

Seeing the apprehension still on her friend’s face, Sunset smiled and put her hand out, placing it on Fluttershy’s in a totally-not-romantic way. “Fluttershy, you don’t have to worry about Discord coming over from the other side. Apparently, he took a vacation when he learned that their world’s Fluttershy actually broke the law.” Sunset frowned as she leaned to the side for a moment to reread some stuff from the journal. “Something about wondering if he actually managed to corrupt her and finding penance for making her do something out of character?”

The timid girl looked at Sunset curiously, parting her bangs with her free hand. “Really?”

Despite the small heart attack, the fire-haired girl was experiencing from the sight, she nodded as softly as she could. “Really.”

“Um, then if it’s alright with you, can I go over there with Rarity?” She blushed and scuffed her shoe against the tile, looking even more adorable, and Sunset was most certainly not blushing she swears!

Taking a look at the clock was both the fairy haired girl’s saving grace and moment of terror, as she jumped a bit in her seat. “Shoot! I’m going to be late for work!”

Applejack waved a hand and smiled. “Well go on then. Don’t let us keep ya.” The rest of the group all started to get up after Sunset. “Sides, ah should probably be headed back to the mall, so Ah'm not in the same boat.”

Packing away her journal, Sunset gave them all a quick nod. “I’ll let Twilight know how the meeting went. See you at school tomorrow morning?” With some quick hugs and farewells, the group departed, each headed their separate ways. On her walk to work, Sunset took a moment to write down how the meeting went, before doubling her speed to make up for lost time.

Meanwhile, in Ponyville, Twilight was having a similar conversation. All of her friends were seated around the Cutie Map, looks of worry as to why their friend had called them here. Their concern was only enhanced when they saw the map wasn’t blinking, despite Twilight calling it a Friendship Emergency.

Thankfully, the princess herself entered the room shortly after they did and joined them at the table, journal floating behind her. “Girls, I have something to tell you.” She placed the journal on the table and had a worried frown on her face. “I learned sometime yesterday that apparently your trip across the mirror last week had some lasting effects on your counterparts.”

Applejack winced as she adjusted her hat. “That there other me ain’t getting blamed for anything is she?”

Twilight shook her head and sighed. “I can’t really go into details, but I can say that they’ve been having a hard time because of it all.” A smile replaced her frown from earlier as she nodded. “However, Sunset and I have been working on something to help at least ease the discomforts they’re feeling.”

Rainbow sat up with a raised eyebrow. “Yeah?”

Nodding, the princess continued. “Sunset’s working on the details on their end, but sometime tomorrow, we’re all going to meet up with your counterparts and have a small get-together and talk things out between each other. Whether it’s on their side or ours, is going to be up to them.”

Fluttershy looked at the table worriedly, before turning to her friend. “Are you sure this, um... is a good idea? What if the other me doesn’t want to talk with me?”

“Sunset’s talking with them about it as we speak.” Twilight gave her friend a pat on the shoulder. “If they’re not up for it, we’re not forcing any of them. The same goes for all of you.” The lavender mare’s ears folded back as she frowned a bit inside her smile. “If you’re not willing to go through with this, I won’t force you.”

“Are you kidding?” Rainbow put her hooves on the table and looked at her friend incredulously. “I’m all for going over there! I was a complete bonehead last time and didn’t realize how much I needed to hold back. Other me deserves an apology at the least, if not an explanation.”

“Ah agree.” Applejack nodded resolutely. “Ah made a rotten apple outta myself when ah was over there. Sure, ah thought ah was in the right, but that doesn’t excuse what ah did.” She blushed a bit and rubbed the back of her head. “Sides... if’n it turns out she’s getting the blame for it, it’d only be right if ah went over to ease some of it off of her. Wouldn’t be very honest of me if Ah didn’t.”

Rarity adjusted her mane slightly as she nodded with a smile. “I do want to take a moment to apologize to my counterpart as well. Maybe while we’re there, we can bounce ideas off each other! Imagine, an entire fashion line inspired by another world entirely!” She let out a giddy laugh, much to the exasperation of the group at large. “What? A mare can dream.”

Twilight rolled her eyes before turning to the last two of the group. “And you two? What are your thoughts?”

Fluttershy looked apprehensive but nodded after a moment. “S-She deserves an apology.”

Pinkie bounced in her seat and threw confetti into the air. “Yay! I can throw a mirror-meet-and-greet party! Oh, what flavor should the cake be? Do they like the same flavors as we do if they’re another species? What kind of party should it be? A big one? Small one? I can’t decide!” The group laughed at Pinkie’s antics, just as the journal started to buzz.

The princess took notice and quickly opened it to read what Sunset had sent her. “Well girls, I’ve gotten back from Sunset. It looks like most of them are all for the meeting, though some have their doubts.” This got a small wince from the mares gathered. “But, they’ve all agreed to meet up tomorrow morning at the statue and have a small get together.” Twilight frowned a bit as she looked at each of her friends. “I expect all who are willing to go through will be on their best behavior?”

Rainbow rubbed the back of her head, looking anywhere but The lavender alicorn. “Eh, kinda deserved that. But yeah, I’ll behave.”

“Good.” Twilight had a small smirk on her face before her smile softened. “Again, I’m not forcing anypony. I know you’ve all got lives of your own and I'm not exactly being fair to any of you by asking you to drop whatever you have planned at a moments notice.”

“Well, then a few of us might be a bit late, ah suppose.” Applejack got up from her seat and nodded. “Ah’ll be spending the morning doing my share of the farm work, so Ah might be able to come over sometime around noon. No promises though.”

“I’ll be sure to let Sunset know so she can tell your counterpart.” Twilight nodded, looking to the rest of the group. “Anypony else?”

Pinkie was actually the one to raise her hoof next. “I’m babysitting for the Cakes tomorrow, but I’ll be over to throw the party after I’m done!”

The butterscotch mare was the next to speak up. “I, um, I might be needing to give Beary his monthly chiropractic exam tomorrow.”

Her pink friend raised an eyebrow in thought. “Didn’t you give him one yesterday?”

The caretaker deadpanned for a moment before sighing dejectedly into her mane. “Oh, right. Um... my mistake.”

The Wonderbolt in the room noticed it more than the others and frowned a bit at her longtime friend. “C’mon Fluttershy, we really screwed up here. We can’t really chicken out right now. It wouldn’t be right.”

Twilight shook her head and smiled as softly as she could at her soft-spoken friend. “We can spread these meetings out to be more than just tomorrow. Sunset and your counterpart--”

“No.” Fluttershy interrupted before taking a breath and calming herself. “Rainbow’s right, and I... I need to do this.” She blushed a bit and steeled her nerves. “I’ll be over as soon as I can.”

Twilight gave her a nod before they all started to get up from the table. “Alright, I’ll be sure to see if Sunset has any more information on her end, and get a better schedule set up.”

“Alright, we’ll see ya later Twilight.” Applejack and the others gave their friend a quick hug before the group started to leave. The princess couldn’t help but chuckle a bit as she could hear Fluttershy trying to keep herself motivated.

With her friends filing out of the room, Twilight took the journal and started to write, only to see Sunset sending her a message.

Hey, Twilight. Just got done talking with the girls over here. We got lucky that Applejack and Rarity both have the day off, and Pinkie never works on Sundays thanks to the Sugarcube Cafe being closed. As for who goes where Applejack and Rainbow both wanted to meet with theirs over here. Rarity and Fluttershy wanted to see theirs on your side. Pinkie wasn’t very decisive, so I guess that one will be up in the air for now. Sound good with you?

Twilight smirked for a moment, imagining how two Rarities would turn out for Spike. Little drake’s going to lose his mind. Bringing her quill to the paper, she began her response.

“That’s good to hear! Our Fluttershy was a little apprehensive of going back over, so it might actually help to have them meet over here. Our world might distract your world’s Fluttershy long enough to get them near each other. Though your Applejack and Pinkie might have a bit of a wait, since on this side Applejack’s got some farm work to do before she comes over, and Pinkie’s babysitting. Everypony else is all set as far as I know.”

Sounds good. I’ll be sure to let the girls know. It’ll at least make it so that Applejack doesn’t have to rush to get here, though I’m pretty sure she’ll still show up early. Hope she doesn’t go crazy listening to two Rainbow Dashes.

The lavender alicorn had to pause for a moment as the thought settled in. “Oh my goodness, that really is a horrifying thought. Why didn’t I think of that until now?”

Well in your defense, we were pretty busy focusing on other problems.

Giggling a bit, Twilight shook her head and blushed. “True. So, I’ll see you tomorrow morning?”

I’ll send a message as soon as we’re ready. See you tomorrow!

The journal went silent, and Twilight couldn’t help but feel a mixture of anticipation and worry about how tomorrow would go.

Author's Note

You know how inspiration comes out of nowhere sometimes and just kicks you right between the legs despite it being midnight and you're wanting to sleep? Yeah, that's how this even got finished right now. You can thank my "inspiration", or as I call the giant white mutt who jumped on my bed without warning, Silver.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need an icepack instead of Rainbow for once.

A2A, D2D: Part 2 - Dewey Decimal Demolition

The six girls sat on the bleachers, split off into three groups. Both the Rainbows were down in front, the two Applejacks were on the far right, and Sunset and Pinkie both were sitting in a just right spot between the two a few seats back, listening in to each conversation to keep the peace.

In the Rainbow Corner, the two were discussing the Equestrian counterpart’s attire.

“So, you were trying to be professional?” The soccer player asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, kinda wanted to make up for acting like a complete jerk the first time I came over, so I was psyching myself up the same way I do when I gotta talk with General Spitfire.”

“Wait, ‘General’ Spitfire?” Rainbow asked with a dropped jaw, at which her counterpart smirked and nodded. “Like holy crap, I know she’s tough on the soccer team as the leader, but dang, that’s a whole new level.”

“She’s pretty hard on new recruits, but that’s just cause she wants to make sure the best of the best are getting in.” The high flier rubbed the back of her head, a trace of modesty bleeding into the action with her smirk. The sheer amounts of ego drowned it out, unfortunately “I mean, technically I’m part of Equestria’s defense forces, but we mostly do aerial shows since we haven’t been at war in like, a thousand years.”

The prismatic soccer star leaned back a bit. “Well that explains the flight suit, I guess.” She rubbed her chin in thought, smiling. “For a second, I thought you stole one of my mom’s.”

“Mom has a bunch of flight suits? As in, our mom? Your mom? How does that work?” The Equestrian Rainbow asked as curiosity danced in her eyes.

“Yep. Mom’s a stealth jet pilot for the Air Force. It’s why Dad’s the only one home other than me right now. He doesn’t have any soccer matches until Winter’s over.”

“It’s Winter!?” Rainbow looked around the soccer field, noting the mud puddles scattered around the edges where the grass was less kept. “Where’s all the snow?”

“Snow started melting a few days ago.” Dash shrugged a bit. “We didn’t have much of a cold front this year, so it didn’t last very long. I’m just glad it lasted winter break. Christmas would have sucked if it didn’t.”

The equestrian looked uncomfortable at the thought but turned away from the mud to look at her counterpart. “Well, weird weather aside, we cool?”

Smirking, Dash held out a fist to her other. “We’re cool, as long as you can show me how to kick like you did.”

Meeting the bump, Rainbow smirked a bit herself and nodded. “Deal.”

Meanwhile, in the Applejack Corner, a similar conversation was occurring.

“Well, tan my hide.” The farmgirl chuckled as she rested her arms on her knees. “Y’all have over five hundred acres?”

Nodding with a proud smirk, Applejack adjusted her hat. “And that doesn’t even include the land from the Everfree we technically own.”

AJ smirked a bit and looked up in thought. “Shoot, we barely got two hundred. Ah wonder if our farm’s gonna get that big eventually.”

“Ah wouldn’t doubt it. Ours was about half the size it is now when I was a filly.” Applejack turned towards her counterpart; leg crossed over her knee. “Ah mean, with Granny and Mac helping ya. There ain’t no way that farm’s not taking off.”

The blonde girl winced a bit and waved a hand. “Now don’t go tempting fate on me. With all these magical shenanigans and Applebloom running around with her friends, anything could happen.”

A laugh was shared between the two. “Ya got a point there.” She paused for a moment as a thought struck her. “Say, ever heard of a Zap Apple?”

Leaning forward a bit, Applejack perked up at the thought of a new kind of apple. “Now ya got my attention.”

“Special apple that only Sweet Apple Acres can harvest once a year. The trees they grow from are found only in the Everfree Forest. They’re really tricky ta harvest cause of all the magic that goes on with ‘em, but once we got a good amount brought in, we make some of the best apple butter and jam you’ll ever taste.”

“Sounds mighty fine! When ya get some more, I expect to have some sent my way.”

The two shook hands and smiled. “Deal.”

Watching over it all from their spot, Sunset and Pinkie smiled themselves. “Well, this seems to be going smoothly.” The fiery-haired girl quipped as she looked through the journal for a moment.

Pinkie nodded, hair bouncing violently. “Yepperoni! I’m just glad that nobody decided to tempt fate or something. That’d be our luck, wouldn’t it?”

Taking a deep breath through her teeth, Sunset looked back to the two sets of two. “It sure would.”

The bouncing pink girl paused mid-jump and landed gently as she hummed. “Hey, Sunset, I just noticed something.”

“Yeah?”

“Applejack’s taller than Applejack. Same with Rainbow.”

“Huh?” Sunset turned to look at her friends and their counterparts, and sure enough, Pinkie was right. Both of the Equestrians who had jumped through were just shy of being half an inch taller than their high school counterparts. “Strange. Maybe I can ask Twilight about this later.”

“Hey, AJ!” The conversation took a turn away when all of them looked towards the Rainbows. “Me and Me were talking, and we just realized something.” Sunset held herself back from correcting Rainbow’s horrible grammar, even as it turned out to be a universal constant.

Applejack tilted her hat back and scratched the back of her head while looking at her Equestrian counterpart doing the same. “What is it, Rainbow?”

Leaning back, the Equestrian Rainbow smirked. “Neither of you have told us how your fight went.”

Both Applejacks went stock still and shared a look once more, before looking in separate directions that were anywhere but the eyes locked on them. “Ah have no idea what yer talkin’ ‘bout.”

“Are you kidding?” Rainbow stood up with her arms crossed; the soccer star was tapping her foot impatiently. “Every time I asked, you conveniently had somewhere to be.”

“And every time I asked, you had some chore to do.”

Sunset walked over to the four of them, Pinkie not far behind her. “You know, out of morbid curiosity, I kinda want to know too. I mean, Scootaloo and I only saw the aftermath. It had to have been a pretty big fight.”

Applejack started to sweat a bit as her two friends and started looming in, their sinister curiosity evident on their faces. “U-Uh, well ya see, we didn’t, uh--”

AJ put a hand on her shoulder, and the young farmer looked at her, noticing the blush on her face. “Well, we might as well share the story. Not like these three timberwolves are gonna let us go until we do.”

Rainbow, Sunset, and Rainbow all sat down in front of the two Applejacks. Joining the other three, Pinkie landed on the bench holding a bag of popcorn. “Dis gon be gud.”

“Was that even English?” Sunset looked to the party planner with a raised eyebrow.

“No Stalling! On with the story!” The Rainbow Duo cheered.

“Alright, alright.” The Equestrian Applejack waved her hands with a sigh. “Now where to start?”

“Mind if Ah start?” Applejack asked with a smirk.

“Well you can set the scene better than I can, so go right ahead.”

Applejack and Applebloom both sat at one of the tables on the far side of the library. Strewn about were books and papers alike, and both sisters looked somewhat perturbed. “Always did hate this weird new math.” The older sister sighed as she scratched the back of her head. “Why do they gotta make it all so complicated? There ain’t no reason to try and make two plus two equal five.”

Applebloom deadpanned for a moment and facepalmed. “AJ, this is algebra. Ah ain’t trying to make a four into a five, Ah’m trying to solve for X.” She slumped onto the table and groaned with a pout. “Don’t help none that Ah got twice as much thanks to my stupid ideas.”

The older apple sibling sighed and patted her sister on the back. “Now Bloom, you and Ah know that Ah’ll be the first to let you know you did a dumb. And I mean you really did a dumb last week, but that didn’t mean how you felt was a stupid way to feel.”

“How Ah handled with it was.” Applebloom sat up and rubbed her face. “Seriously, why did ah even think that was a good idea, to begin with!?”

“Well, can’t say you’re wrong there.” Applejack huffed a bit. Before either of them could say anything, the doors to the library opened up with enough force to get their attention. “What in tarnation?”

Standing in the doorway, rubbing her wrists, was a second Applejack. She was dressed in full rodeo gear that looked tough enough to stand up against a bull’s horn multiple times, and a rope was hanging from her hip. “Dagnabbit! What’s with all these doors being so light and making such a ruckus? The heck are they made of, paper mache?”

“Uh, Applejack, is that you?” Applebloom leaned over towards her sister, worry dancing across her face.

The second Applejack was the one who answered when she noticed the other two sitting and started marching over, looking just a bit angrier than they would have liked. “Bout time I found you, ya dirty snake.”

The highschooler felt the hairs on her neck bristle as she stood up and marched towards her counterpart. “Who are you callin’ a snake? What makes ya think you can just come on in here like this?”

The equestrian walked closer. “Well, sugar cube, Ah think ah have plenty a’ right to talk with my family, even if it’s on another dimension.” The extra-dimensional farmhand scowled as they met each other eye to eye in the middle of the hall.

A right hook to the face was her answer, and the high schooler glared at her counterpart as she had to take a step back. “Ah don’t care. Nobody calls my sister a snake.” Before she could move from her spot, an overbearing sense of dread washed over her.

With widening eyes, she watched as her counterpart straightened up, adjusted her hat, and popped her jaw. “Ah wasn’t talking ‘bout Applebloom. She done goofed,” the glare sent her way solidified the dread in a way Applejack couldn’t describe, “but she didn’t leave her friend behind. You did, and that ain’t the Apple family way.”

At the mentioning of the Apple Family way, a small collection of traditions that all seem to bleed into each other so much that it became a makeshift code of honor, Applejack remembered one that specifically pertained to her current situation.

Rule #82: “If your in an argument with kin and they throw the first punch, the gloves are off.”

“Oh, crap--!” Applejack barely dodged out of the way of her counterpart’s boot, the force from the kick almost knocking her hat off of her head as she leaned back. She stumbled a few steps before regaining her footing and staring down her counterpart.

Boot met ground once more as the Equestrian cracked her neck and readied herself for a fight. “Y’all know how this is gonna go.”

Applejack shook her arms as she took a breath. “Ya could‘ve picked a better time an’ place.” With her fists raised and ready to brawl, she glanced over at Applebloom. “Whatever ya do, don’t jump in.”

“R-right.” Applebloom gave a quick nod, before ducking back towards the shelves and finding a hiding spot.

The two ran forward, and the fight began in earnest.

Applejack ducked under a swinging kick, before throwing an uppercut of her own that grazed her counterpart's chin. The Equestrian weaved between the following punches, only to catch a few to the face before launching a knee forward and catching Applejack in the gut.

Winded, the farm girl didn’t notice her counterpart whip around until she grabbed her in a headlock. “Yer pretty good there.”

“Ain’t bad yourself.” Struggling against the grip of the Equestrian, Applejack looked over and saw Applebloom still watching. “BLOOM! Remember how I said not to jump in?” The younger apple nodded while Applejack felt the hold tighten against her struggle. “Forget that! Ah need ya ta jump in! Like right now!”

Jumping in surprise, Applebloom looked around frantically before grabbing the nearest things she could, a bunch of books. She ran forward, ready to chuck her makeshift weapons before she paused and realized a problem with this plan. “Ya both look the same! Which one to ah hit!?”

Applejack looked at her sister incredulously. “Hit the one who’s winning Bloom!” A book beaned against her head instead of her counterpart’s. “THE OTHER ME!”

Wincing, Applebloom grabbed a few more books from the shelf and started chucking them at the two. “Sorry!”

A smaller book beaned against her sister’s head again, catching her between the eyes. “Seriously Applebloom, we don’t even look the same! How’d ya hit me again!?”

Pausing her throwing for a moment, Applebloom crossed her arms. “What do ya mean ya don’t look the same!? You’re literally the same person!” A paperback gently whapped against her sister's counterpart's face, making her blink for a moment, but not lose her hold on Applejack.

Applejack felt her eye twitch. “Do ah look ready to jump into a rodeo to you!?”

Applebloom clenched her fists, waving one of the thicker books in the air threateningly “Yer always ready to jump into a rodeo!”

The equestrian Applejack couldn’t help but chuckle at the two as they were bickering. “Yep, that’s Applebloom alright--” She coughed when an elbow found her gut and a book slammed into her head. Dazed, she let go of her chokehold and backed into the bookshelves, knocking them over in a domino effect that took half the library.

Meanwhile, the high schooler booked it to her sister, grabbed her by the wrist, and headed towards the stairs leading up to the second floor. “Thanks for the distraction sis!” As she ran upstairs, her phone started to ring. It was pure muscle memory that found her phone in her hand, and showing that Sunset was calling. “Oh for Pete’s sake! This ain’t the time Sunset!”

Downstairs, the equestrian pushed herself out of the pile of books and looked up at the two retreating. “Ah really should have seen that coming.” Watching the two sisters run upstairs, and down the aisles, she hummed. “Going up the stairs would take too long...” Eyeing the tables, she smiled wickedly. “Perfect.”

The two siblings hid amongst the shelves, panting as they glanced from behind them. “Alright Applebloom, if we run to the banisters by the front, It’ll take her too long to go for the stairs for her to catch up. Then, we just gotta jump down and book it for Sunset or the others.”

Applebloom paled. “Jump!? We’ll break our legs!”

“Don’t worry, Ah’ll go first and catch ya when ya jump after.” The sound of running caught her attention, and she peeked out from her hiding spot. “What was--!?”

Equestrian Applejack ran full speed at one of the computer tables on the other side of the library and jumped onto one end with enough force to knock the other tables nearby over, and making the whole thing tilt up into the air. She then started running down its length and lunging off the end. She landed on some of the bookshelves, causing them to tilt and fall as she ran down the rows before one last jump gave her purchase on the banister, and she flipped herself over, pulling out her lasso.

Right where Applejack and Applebloom were planning on jumping down. “Goin’ somewhere?”

“Crap!--” Applejack and Applebloom dodged out of the way of the oncoming rope and watched it snag the book Applebloom dropped out of the air. The two ran for the far side of the aisle, dodging the makeshift flail as it slammed into the shelves and knocked books down onto them.

Sprinting through the library, Applebloom looked to her sister that wasn’t attacking them. “What do we do now!?”

Spotting the stairs to their right, Applejack gulped and made for a sharp turn, pulling her sister along with her. “Book it!”

“Oh no, ya don’t!” The Equestrian flicked her rope, sending the previously held book forward, where it soared overhead and caught Applejack’s feet as she started down the aisle, tripping the girl and sending the two siblings tumbling.

Applejack hastily brought herself and Applebloom out of their pile of limbs and started down the row again. As they got close to the end, her counterpart’s rope snapped down over her wrist and pulled her back.

What happened next would have amazed anyone if they were there to see it.

A flick and the rope snagged around Applejack’s other arm, drawing it tight with the other. Another, and it tripped up her feet while remaining loosely wrapped around one. A third and Applebloom had both her wrists caught as well, making her stumble back from her running and into her sister.

Getting their footing again, the two stared in horror as the Equestrian charged towards them, knocking them into the air over the edge of the banister. With one final rope trick, the two apples found their legs bound as well and came to rest about five feet off the ground. Finally, after all the hell that happened, the most insulting and damaging part of the fight occurred.

Applejack’s stetson fell off her head.

Face red; the high schooler glared at her counterpart as she flipped down from the second floor and landed perfectly. “What the heck do ya think you’re doin’!? This is horseapples! Let me out of these ropes right now or ah’ll--!” A bare of lye soap found itself shoved into her mouth, and Applejack gagged at the taste.

“Didn’t our mama teach ya not to talk like that!?” Applejack glared at herself, and vice versa, before a second bar was shoved into Applebloom’s mouth. “And yer’s is for jumping into the fight.” Applebloom rolled her eyes, though Applejack felt some sympathy for her sister.

After all, Rule #83; If ya help one side of the fight and lose, ya share the punishment ta match.

The Equestrian took a step back and crossed her arms, even as the doors to the library were opened behind her. “Now the both Y'all think long and hard about what ya did while yer up there.”

“And that’s about when Sunset showed up.” The Equestrian finished alongside her high school self. The two were as red as the apples they sold, which considering their standards for quality, was a shade of red to rival tomatoes.

Both of the Rainbows’ jaws were dropped as they looked at the two bashful farmers before the Equestrian of the two stood up. “No! No, I refuse to believe Applejack had a more awesome fight than I did! My fight only took one hit!”

Pinkie leaned in with a look of casual contemplation on her face. “Well yeah, that’s why her’s was cooler. One kick takes out all the fun and excitement.”

"But I!... oh darn it, you're right." Rainbow slumped in defeat and sighed. "Stupid Applejack, having stupid awesome fights."

Sunset, instead, had a look of shocked horror on her face at first, but shook her head and blinked in surprise. “Okay... now I’m questioning your family’s traditions, Applejack.”

The two raised their hands, but it was the high school Applejack that spoke. “Hey, they were made over the course of several generations. Ah didn’t exactly have much say in ‘em. Heck, it was Granny Smith who helped make the two that happened in that fight. Amongst others.”

“My questions have only grown in number.” Sunset turned to the two groups and held out her journal. “So, ready to head back?”

Standing up, the group all shared some nods. “Yeah, I kinda do have some weather to take care of. Thunderlane’s okay and all, but he keeps getting the rain clouds in the wrong spots.”

“Not the only thing he gets in the wrong spots,” Rainbow muttered as she remembered the one time they all had trusted him to clean the gym.

An eyebrow raised on Applejack’s face as she and her counterpart smirked. “Is there a story to tell there?”

Rainbow’s eyes shot open, and she turned beet red, before quickly glaring at Applejack. “Not like that! He’s just a slob when it comes to cleaning!”

The Equestrian farmer hummed in thought as she started for the portal. “Ah don’t know... Ah’ve caught our Rainbow here takin a peek at him every now and again.”

“Like hay! Why would I look at that mare-hunting idiot!?” The Equestrian flier charged after Applejack, the farmer laughing the entire time they got closer to the portal.

The high school pair weren’t much better, as Rainbow was busy punching Applejack in the arm in response to her chuckling. “Not funny.”

“Nah, it’s hilarious.” A second punch hit her arm, and Applejack laughed through the pain. “Not so fun when the tables are turned, is it?”

"Shut up."

Sunset just chuckled at the two, finishing up her message to Twilight to let her know that the meeting went okay on her side, before heading over to the two bickering Equestrians. “Alright, Twilight should know that you’re headed back. It was nice to meet you two.” She smiled uneasily and rubbed her head. “Especially in a less stressful way.”

Both Rainbow and Applejack had a small embarrassed chuckle at that. “Right, right. Well, we better get going. Twilight’s probably gonna freak out if we don’t jump through soon.”

“Yer Right. See ya, Sunset--” Applejack paused mid-stride to the portal when something caught her eye.

Sunset frowned and tilted her head a bit. “What is it?”

The farmer moved around the side of the statue and picked up a trio of backpacks. One blue, one white, and one a light green. “Did any of ya leave yer bags over here?”

Sunset and the group walked over and joined her before Applejack’s eyes widened at the sight of the last bag. “What the--!? That’s Applebloom’s bag!”

“And that one’s Scoots!” Rainbow’s eyes narrowed as she took the blue bag.

"That last one must be Sweetie's then," Sunset added, before noticing something sticking out of it. Eyebrow raised, she started going through it. “But what’s it doing here, and why does she have a bunch of apples in here?” She pulled out a flier and frowned. "And what's with this missing person poster for Starlight?"

"What?" Rainbow's counterpart grabbed the poster and looked it over with a frown. "Yeah, that's Starlight alright. But why does the day she went missing look familiar?"

Sunset and the girls all started to look at the portal, then at each other, then the portal again. The dots connected quite quickly as to the location of the two young crusaders in question. Clearing her throat, Sunset got their attention and held up her journal. “So... should I let you girls tell Twilight, or should I?”

Author's Note

Holy crap this was a long one.

But yes, as you can see, the second part of RD and AJ talking with themselves has shed light upon the fight that was missed by all. The length of this chapter should also explain why it took so long for me to write it, as getting the fight to go along with the music required me to find music that would make for a good background, and, make sure it matched up when written down. It also took up a good third of the chapter at the minimum. (I never did actually count how much that section was) As for the other details, well... that's for me to know and you to find out in the next few chapters.

As always, be sure to comment to let me know what you think.

Until the next chapter.

Just Shy of Finding Diamonds: Part 1 - The Guests Arrive

~Earlier: Equestria~

Twilight waited patiently in one of her private studies, the one with the portal in particular, along with her friends. Rarity was adjusting her makeup, Fluttershy was trying, and failing, to calm herself down. Applejack was doing a better job at helping her shy friend relax. Rainbow was busy bouncing a ball against the wall and catching it. Pinkie was humming to herself and dancing in place, cupcakes at the ready to welcome two familiar-yet-totally-different ponies to Equestria. Finally, Starlight was busy reading a book on magic; keeping the cover and contents to herself, oddly enough.

Taking a deep breath the same way Cadence had shown her all those years ago, The lavender princess looked to everyone after writing a quick message to Sunset. “Okay girls, you all ready?”

Applejack and Rainbow shared a quick nod before turning to Twilight. “Ready as we’ll ever be.” The portal whirred to life, and the group all walked over. “Ah wonder if they’ll look the same as us on this side.”

Starlight shrugged, flipping the page of her book. “I don’t see why they won’t. It’s a mirror portal after all.” She turned back to her book, muttering something under her breath.

“Well, that would be the case, were it not for how we had different outfits on from our counterparts when we were over there.” Rarity closed her compact and placed it back in her saddlebags. “For all we know, our counterparts might not even have the same coat color as we do. The other me’s mane might be a shade darker for all we know.”

Rolling her eyes, Rainbow flew over with her fore-hooves crossed. “Does it really matter? I mean they’re still going to be us.”

Fluttershy rubbed a hoof against the other and frowned in thought. “Rainbow does have a point.” She tapped her chin and looked at the portal. “Do you think the other me would like to be near my animal friends while we talk?”

A raspberry escaped Pinkie as she twirled the cupcakes around. “Of course she will, silly! You love being around your animal friends all the time!” She set the cupcakes on her head and frowned for a moment. “Shame she won’t meet Discord though. I kinda wanted to see how he’d react to seeing two of you.”

A small sigh of exasperation escaped the caretaker as she remembered one of the tea times they had shared. “Probably not as much as you think.”

Before anything else could be said, the portal started to build up energy. Starlight closed the book she had been reading and stood up from the table rather quickly. “Well, I’m going to, uh, head out for a bit. Don’t want to interrupt or anything.”

“What? But, Starlight, you wouldn’t be--.” The door closed with a slam, leaving Twilight and the group frowning. “That was weird... I wonder what’s gotten into her?” The hum of the portal reminder her that there were more pressing matters at the moment. “I’ll ask her about it later. Girls, clear the way!”

Waving the group back, Twilight cleared a path for her arriving guests, knowing full well what the portal liked to do the first time you traveled in this particular direction through it. She had her own phantom knot by her horn to let her remember how it felt. The desk in the middle of the room was moved off to the side, and a large cushion was put in its place.

Just in time as well, as no sooner did she place the oversized pillow, did a pair of blurs pop out of the mirror with a startled squeal of surprise. The two found themselves landing face first into the fabric, with a small groan coming from the newest white unicorn. During all of this, Pinkie went stock still, before narrowing her eyes in thought; hoof idly rubbing her chin.

However, there was a detail about the two that Rarity and Fluttershy noticed immediately. The two could only stare silently at their counterparts, minds trying to process what they were seeing.

Pulling herself from the soft embrace of her savior, Rarity’s human counterpart rubbed her face with a hoof. “Does the portal always do that, darling? It’s very dissorient--” She paused and blinked a bit, hoof to her throat. “Was that my voice?” She coughed a bit and staggered back, trying to stand up, only to fall on her rump. “Was that my voice?”

Next to her, the newly arrived Fluttershy pushed herself up and shook her head, only for her pink mane to fall over one of her eyes. “Oh, my.”

“Fluttershy, darling, I sound positively childish, and--!” The newest alabaster unicorn shared her counterpart’s face for a moment before shaking her head. “Fluttershy, darling, you look on par with those cute cat pictures you keep sending everyone. Although you are a tad gangly.”

While the young pegasus was blushing up a storm, Twilight gave a nod to Rainbow and Applejack, silently gesturing to the mirror before the two nodded as well and headed through themselves. Walking up to the two newcomers, she had a slightly raised eyebrow and was holding back a small chuckle. “Well, you’re not totally off the mark with the first part of that statement.”

“Twilight, whatever do you...” Rarity trailed off when she turned to speak with her friend. She had expected to be able to talk with Twilight face to face, pony or no.

Only to find herself staring at a lavender neck instead of any form of eyes.

Tilting her head up, she saw the slightly looming figure of a lavender alicorn staring down at her with an amused grin. “Twilight, is that you?”

A small laugh escaped the princess. “It’s good to see you two again.” Internally she was screaming and panicking hysterically, but her friends didn’t need to know that right now.

Fluttershy hid behind her mane a bit as she scrunched back, wings quivering. “Oh, my... I know Sunset said that Alicorns were taller than average ponies, but I could have sworn she said you were still the same height as her.” She paused for a moment before a gasp escaped her. “What if Sunset’s actually taller, and I’m the short one on this side?”

“Both actually.” The lavender alicorn turned to her friends and gave a quick nod, before Rarity and Fluttershy walked over to the group, making their human counterparts gasp again. With a quick wave of her hoof, she chuckled. “Sunset and I are both about an inch above average, but that’s not because I’m an alicorn.

Rarity blinked herself out of her stupor. “Oh, my. Did... did the portal do something to us?” The human turned unicorn looked at herself in worry, eyeing herself before freezing and covering herself with the cushion. “And why am I naked!?”

Fluttershy perked up her ears a moment, before shaking her head. “Oh, um, there’s no need to worry about that.” The larger buttermilk pegasus smiled, blushing a bit. “Most ponies don’t wear clothes unless it’s an important occasion, so you’d actually stand out more if you still did have clothes.”

“As for the portal, darlings,” Rarity tittered as she looked over the two, “It appears to have made you both the same age as you are back in your world, rather than match our own.”

“Are you to tell me that you’re all older on this side?” The younger Rarity blinked in surprise before looking at Twilight. “But darling, you all looked the same age as we did back at CHS!”

Twilight perked up in excitement. “I have a theory on that actually.” Moving away from the portal, the group started for the door. Rarity and Fluttershy had to help their counterparts with walking at first, but by the time they were in the hallway, they were walking relatively fine, if slowly.

Once everyone was following well enough to not get distracted by their own hooves, Twilight continued her explanation. “I think the portal takes into account the intent of the one passing through when they cross from one universe to another, giving them a form that is a version of themselves that matches. When I first crossed over, I wanted to get my crown back from Sunset, but without causing any trouble for anyone while I was there. As a result, the portal gave me a form that allowed me to do just that,” she blushed and scratched her cheek a bit. “even if the situation didn’t exactly end the way I expected it would.”

The smaller unicorn looked between Twilight and her own counterpart; a small frown gracing Rarity’s muzzle. “But you were still as young as we were, Twilight. If it can do that for you, why did it not make us older?”

Tapping her chin with a hum, Twilight closed her eyes. “Well, that may have been partly due to your state of mind when coming here.” Stopping their trip, the group turned to face each other. “What were your exact thoughts about what you would do?”

Rarity and Fluttershy both stood in thought for a moment, before the butterscotch pegasus looked towards the princess. “I wanted to meet my other self as me. I remembered how it gave her that dress, and um, I didn’t want to be dressed up in anything I wasn’t comfortable wearing.”

“While I think we can agree to disagree about that gown of yours, I felt the same as you, darling.” Rarity chuckled as she gave her friend a smile. “I wanted this meeting to go smoothly. No tricks, traps, or who-knows-what's.”

“Then my theory seems to be holding up so far.” Twilight nodded to her friends, and they nodded back before the group passed through the last set of doors and into the room of the Cutie map.

The two newcomers gawked at the expansive holographic display of their friend’s kingdom. Rarity’s eyes were shining like the diamonds on her flank. If one were to listen carefully to her at that moment, they would have heard the faintest of whispers saying, inspiration.

Fluttershy was pushing her mane out of her eyes to get a better view. “It’s beautiful. Do you really rule over all of this Twilight?”

A roll of the princess’s eyes was their initial answer. “Technically I only have ‘dominion’ over Ponyville, and even then, I gave most of the decision making back to Mayor Mare. Yet I still somehow manage to get piles of paperwork sent my way almost daily.” She motioned to the chairs surrounding the table. “And besides, I’m not alone in this. I may be the Princess of Friendship, but that doesn’t mean anything without my friends.” Both unicorns and pegasi shared looks with their respective friend, a feeling of thankfulness blooming in them from Twilight’s words.

The doors on the other side of the room opened up, and the two humans-turned-pony in the room couldn’t quite see past the chairs and table. The identity of their new arrival was further hidden by the cart they were pushing into the throne room. It was the almost sickeningly sweet voice that tipped the two high schoolers off about their identity being female. “Okay, where do you want the food? That you could have asked the dragon to bring up here.”

The smaller Rarity leaned over and whispered to Fluttershy. “I say, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”

Twilight either didn’t notice or was used to the tone by now, as she gave a small, yet clearly practiced, smile. “Thank you, Sour Sweet. Go ahead and leave the cart right there. I’ll take care of the rest.”

It was as Sour Sweet stepped out from behind the cart that Rarity and Fluttershy finally got a good look at her. The cream coated mare quite literally sparkled in the light, and was partially transparent. A splash of mulberry freckles was on her cheeks, and her matching mane only differed in color for a streak of a slightly brighter hue, and the second streak was moss green. Her crystal appearance just got stronger as she gave Twilight a polite smile. “Sure, no problem.” All of her colors dulled near instantly as Sour Sweet’s face dropped into an annoyed scowl. “Guess I’ll go back to staring into space all day.”

As the crystal pony left, the older Rarity tsked under her breath. “I will never understand how a crystal pony can have such a demeanor. It’s as if the mare turns her abilities off at the flip of a switch.”

Clearing her throat, Twilight got their attention again and lifted a tray of sandwiches in her magic over to the center of the table. “We can talk about my guards later. Right now, we have sandwiches to eat!”

The smaller Fluttershy shrank back into her seat. “Oh um, I would, Twilight, but I’m a little too nervous right now.”

The group all looked to each other in confusion. “Nervous?”

She nodded before pointing a hoof to the only occupant of the room who had yet to say anything. “It’s just, um, really unnerving to see Pinkie be quiet for that long.”

The pink mare suddenly lunged over the cutie map and tackled Twilight to the ground. “Twilight! I need your opinion!” Pinkie pulled the princess back up and pointed at both Rarities and Fluttershy. “If the new pony in town is technically a pony who has been living in Ponyville for years now, but the new them only just got here from another dimension, Do I still get to throw them a ‘Welcome To Ponyville’ party?” All five of the mares had to laugh by the time Pinkie finished her question, which caused the party planner to look at them all with a small frown. “What? I’m serious!”

The laughter of the group was loud enough that it echoed down the hallways, even past the study that they had all left from. With the help of the crystal hallways acting as an oversized echo chamber, it was more than enough to block out the sound of the portal turning on, and sending three fillies onto their faces, dressed as a trio of detectives.

“Okay girls, we’re in!”

“I wish the landing was a little softer.”

“Oh sweet! I got wings! Wait til Dash hears about this!”

“Ooo! I’m a unicorn!”

“Girls, focus!”

“Right. On a mission. Forgot.”

“Sorry.”

“Got everything?”

“I think we left the bags next to the statue.”

“Gosh dang it, Scoots!”

“Well, it isn’t like we can go back for ‘em. We’d probably get spotted the moment we do.”

“I have a copy of the poster!”

“Where’d you keep that?”

“I... don’t know... Oh hey, I have my phone too!”

“That’s... okay, Let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth and get a move on.”

“Aren’t we horses right now?”

“... Ah, ain’t got a response ta that.”

“On three?”

“On three.”

“Canterlot Movie Club, Mystery Solvers, GO!”

Just Shy of Finding Diamonds: Part 2 - Differing Discussions

Similar to how the meeting was going on the other side or the portal, the six mares were sitting in groups of two and talking. Both Rarities were seated in her own and Applejack’s seats, The Fluttershys were seated in their and Pinkie’s, and Pinkie and Twilight were watching from the princess’s and her dragon assistant’s seats. Of course, the young drake’s throne was proving to be a bit of a tight fit for the party planner. “Wow, Spike’s butt is really tiny.”

“I think it’s just throne, Pinkie,” Twilight remarked with a raised eyebrow and smirk. “Still, It’s good that this is going smoothly.”

“That’s good and all, but,” the party planner put a hoof to her lips, “Shhhh! I wanna hear what they’re talking about!” Pinkie whispered loudly before she leaned over the table with a rather large cone held up to her ear. This got her an eye roll from both Twilight and the Rarities the pink mare was leaning towards.

With a chuckle and a shake of her head, the younger Rarity turned back to her counterpart. “As I was saying, your dress back when you visited was absolutely gorgeous, now that I’m actually taking the time to think about it.”

“To be fair, the portal made that dress, not me. However, your attire was equally impressive for the limited resources you have. ” The older fashionista added with a smile. There was a glint in Rarity's eye as she thought back. “To remain suitable for a school environment and still be elegant is truly a magnificent feat. It makes me happy to know our skill is worthy of being in two dimensions.”

A sigh prompted the high schooler to lower her head a touch as she looked at her forelegs. “It’s a shame we let Sweetie get to us the way we did. I can’t believe I would stoop so low as to harm such a work of art.”

The equestrian unicorn’s ears splayed back as she glanced towards the window with an air of irritation. “Don’t carry all the blame. She may be cute and innocent to everypony else, but we of all ponies know just how crafty that little filly can be.”

A small laugh escaped Rarity as she looked up at her older self. “True.” Her smile returned, she thought of another topic to discuss, since her sister was brought up. “Sweetie has been getting rather skilled at making animations. I’m honestly surprised she hasn’t tried to make any with her friends yet.”

Confusion bloomed on her face as Equestrian Rarity put a hoof to her chin in thought. “Animations? Are those like the slide reels I saw the weather team using in a meeting a while ago?”

The young unicorn’s jaw fell slightly as she blinked in surprise. “Equestria still uses slide reels?” She leaned back and glanced at the crystal walls, making a note of the crystals lighting the room. “I... well I suppose if magic exists then technological development would take a different direction. To imagine a world without such grand and elegant movies...”

Rolling her eyes, Rarity shook her head at her younger counterpart. “We do have feature films, but those are of actual ponies performing for the camera.” She leaned in and had a small, yet giddy smile on her face. “Now, do pray tell. What do you mean about Sweetie Belle being a good animator?”

The high school unicorn rubbed her chin in thought as she let out a small hum. “I can try to elaborate on that I suppose.” Rarity perked up with a smile and turned to the larger unicorn. “Since you have film reels, I think I’ve found a way to explain this adequately. Imagine that instead of ponies being the ones in front of the camera for your films, pictures rapidly switch instead. And as the pictures move, someone is saying the lines that the characters shown at that moment are supposed to be saying.”

The older fashionista frowned, thoughtfully looking to her counterpart. “And that helps make a film? It sounds like it would require a terrible amount of drawings to do that.”

“It does, but that’s how Sweetie’s been spending her time when she’s at home, and apparently in detention, seeing as our parents still have her grounded from using the computer, and the school still has her and her friends going through another five and a half months of detention as punishment.” Sighing and shaking her head, Rarity could only remember the number of them she’d bought for herself, only to find each one completely filled two days later. “I can’t count the number of notepads that girl has used up.”

“How would a notepad help?” Rarity bounced in her chair as she turned to the human-turned-unicorn. “Oh! Does she draw a picture on each page and flip through them?”

A quick nod and smile were her answer. “Exactly that.” An annoyed frown grew across Rarity’s face as a specific detail bubbled to the surface of her memory. “Although recently I found out she recorded our, er, little spat from your visit.”

The older mare gasped with a hoof to her mouth. “No!”

Rarity leaned to the side with a sigh as she looked away. “Unfortunately, yes.” with a small grunt, she flopped across the cutie map and pressed her face into the crystal. “She used it to get access to the computer from me under our parent’s noses. Then she transferred her sketches onto there and started making an animated version of our fight.”

A wry smirk crossed her lips as Rarity looked at herself pouting on the table. “Clever filly.”

The small white unicorn’s pout deepened as she glared at a hologram of Carousel Boutique. “Too clever, if you ask me.”

At the same time, Twilight turned her attention to the two Fluttershy. The two pegasi were holding some small dogs, gently petting them both skillfully and clumsily, much to one of their dismay.

The corgi in the visiting Fluttershy’s hooves yelped, making her jump in her seat. “Oh, I’m sorry Mr. Wiggles. I-I’m still getting used to having hooves.”

Mr. Wiggles let out a few whines and a yip before Equestrian Fluttershy nodded with a small smile. “He says it’s okay, but please be careful with his tail. His wife got mad at him yesterday.”

The smaller Fluttershy’s ears perked up as she looked straight at her counterpart. “You can understand them? I... I usually have to infer from context.”

A small laugh escaped the caretaker’s lips as she focused on the Pomeranian in her lap. “Mostly. Sometimes I need some clues myself.” She nodded her head to the two listening in on Rarity. “Twilight, before she became a princess, helped me figure out how I was able to. It’s something about my magic field. I, um, don’t remember the specifics.”

The teenage pegasus hid behind her mane for a moment, petting Mr. Wiggles. “Do... do you think you could teach me how? A-and if not that, how to use my wings?”

Fluttershy looked nervous when her counterpart asked, making the poor pegasus start to wilt. She leaned over and waved the smaller pegasus over and spoke softly into her ear. “I’m not sure how Twilight would feel about this, but stretch out your wing towards mine.”

“O-okay?” Confused, the smaller Fluttershy concentrated on her back muscles. It took a moment, but eventually, she managed to get her right wing to extend. When she did, Fluttershy was startled by the size of the limb. “Um... are they supposed to be this big? Twilight's wings don’t seem to be this large compared to her.”

Giggling, Fluttershy extended her wings and made the younger her gawk at their size. “We’ve... always had bigger wings than other pegasi. It’s, um, one of the reasons I was getting bullied in school.” She paused and put a hoof to her chin. “And probably why Rainbow first started hanging out with me. I think she was jealous and thought by being near me her wings would grow to match.”

“That’s... startlingly similar.” The younger Fluttershy paused for a moment, recalling how much taller she was to her Rainbow when they first met. Four inches is a rather noticeable difference between six-year-olds, though that might have just been because of Rainbow being short. She frowned and looked at her new wings for a moment, before looking back to her older self. “Um, why wouldn’t Twilight be comfortable with this?”

Fluttershy blushed as she smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, I guess we got off on a bit of a tangent. It’s just that since you’re technically me, but from the other side, I figure nopony could have done this for you yet, and I’m not sure how Twilight would feel about using any magic like this.” Gracefully, Fluttershy brought her own wing over her younger self’s wing. “Close your eyes, and focus on the feeling in your wings.” There was some hesitation, and she smiled softly. “Don’t worry; Mom taught me how to do this properly.”

As the younger Fluttershy closed her eyes, she did as she was asked. At first, all she could feel from her wing was the soft down of her older counterpart's feathers. There was something else there, but it was hidden underneath the layers of the soft downy feathers. “I... can feel something?”

From in front of her, she could hear her counterpart. “Try to focus on it.”

Nodding, she focused on the feeling. It took a moment to find it underneath the downy softness, but when she did Fluttershy lost herself in it for a moment. The sensation was so calming, the human-turned-pegasus felt like she could go to sleep right then and there, yet it also made her more awake than anything she’d ever had. The most accurate description she could think of was a river flowing through her very bones.

With a shake of her head, Fluttershy opened her eyes and looked at her wing, only to see that while hers was still outstretched, her older counterpart had already retracted her own. The feeling, however, was still coursing through her wings. “Wow, this feels so, wonderful. What did you do?”

Smiling, the Equestrian nudged her counterpart’s wing closed. “I used some of my magic to help open up the paths in your wings with how narrow they were.” With a small blush, she looked at her own wings for a moment. “My mom had to do the same thing for me when I was a filly. It’s a common problem for the mana paths to be too narrow with wings that grew too fast.”

The young pegasus looked at her wings with wide eyes, giving a quick flap and almost toppling herself over. She was in awe until a thought graced its way across her mind. “But, if this was something your mom did for you, then why wouldn’t Twilight approve if it was to help?”

Fluttershy went silent. For a few seconds, she contemplated whether or not it was a good idea to delve into the topic, before sighing and looking sadly back to her young counterpart. “There... are some ponies who look down on doing this. Mana Stimulation is considered standard medical practice, but there was a school nurse that did it without proper training and,” Fluttershy looked away, hair falling over her eyes to hide the tears threatening to spill over, “it brought a bad light upon the medical community for a time. Especially anypony who knew how to do it.”

The younger Fluttershy put a hoof to her mouth, as a small surge of fear passed through her. When she could see a tear trail down the Equestrian Fluttershy’s face, she hopped out of her seat and quietly moved over to her older self. “Have you talked to Twilight about it?”

Fluttershy shook her head softly. “I’m not sure how to bring it up. Since she’s a princess now, her opinion on matters like this hold so much weight, and I don’t want to put that on her.”

Scuffing a hoof on the floor, Fluttershy pushed a lock of her hair out of her eyes and looked up at the older pegasus. “Um, it sounds like it’s really bothering you. Maybe after we finish, you can talk to her about it?”

Wiping a tear from her eye with a small smile, the older Fluttershy nodded. “I think I’ll do just that.” The two glanced at the other four, seeing both Rarities in a tizzy over something Pinkie did, and Twilight trying to defuse the situation before a small giggle escaped the two pegasi.

“It’s a good thing we’re the quiet ones.”

“Mmhm.”

As she walked down the halls of the castle, Starlight was nervous. She could have sworn she could hear someone following her, but every time she looked over her shoulder, there was nobody there. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself down and focus on the contents of the book she had read earlier while it was still fresh in her mind. “C’mon, Starlight, take it easy. None of them suspect a thing.” Peeking into the room next to her, she hummed before shutting it again. “Bathroom, which means my room is...” trotting four doors down the hall, she pushed open a different set of doors and smiled. “Ah Hah! Found ya.”

When the door closed behind her, the halls were silent. A second later, three fillies tumbled out from within one of the other entries, along with a bunch of buckets and mops. “Ow.”

“Whose bright idea was it to spy on Starlight again?” Scootaloo muttered as she pushed a mop off of her head, while still pinned under Sweetie, and on top of both, Applebloom, who had brought a pair of saddlebags with her.

Thankfully for her, Applebloom got off the top of the pile and frowned as she removed the bucket that had landed on her own head. “It was mine, and Ah’m telling you, she’s acting weird! Has been ever since she showed up in Ponyville a month ago.”

Sweetie rolled off of Scootaloo’s back and helped her friend up. “Maybe she’s just embarrassed about what happened when our sisters met her before?”

“You mean that whole equality cult thing they were talkin’ ‘bout?” At their nods, Applebloom shook her head and frowned. “Nah, it’s somethin’ else. I mean, just take a look at all the stuff she’s been doing lately.” She dug into her bags and pulled out a book. “See, just look at the title.”

Sweetie squinted and rubbed her chin as she leaned in. “Magic for Beginners: A Complete Guide for the Aspiring Foal?” She blinked a bit before sitting in confusion. “Didn’t Twilight have me reading that during Twilight Time?”

Applebloom raised the book triumphantly. “Exactly! According to AJ, she was able to pull a pony’s cutie mark off of their flanks!” She lowered the foals book back into her bag before pointing at the door to Starlight’s room. “So why would she need a book for teachin’ foals if she’s that good at magic already?”

Scootaloo rubbed the back of her head and looked up in thought. “Didn’t she get amnesia or something?”

Sweetie nodded and stood up. “Yeah, She spent days in the hospital after they found her. It was like she didn’t even know how to be a pony and kept trying to eat bushes for who knows how long.”

Applebloom started to wilt in her confidence before an idea came to her. “But what if she did it on purpose?”

Scootaloo raised a skeptical eyebrow at her friend. “Why would she almost starve on purpose?”

The farm filly pointed a hoof accusingly at the door. “To get close to our sisters and take them out when they weren’t looking!”

Shaking her own head, the rambunctious pegasus pointed at her friend. “That’s what you’re coming up with? Next, you’ll start telling me there’s two of me!”

As the two continued to bicker, Sweetie looked down the hallway and did a double take at what she saw. “Um, girls?”

“Oh please, like that would ever happen.” Applebloom paused and looked down in serious thought. “But that might be true for Starlight. What if she found some way to clone herself and left the copy here as a distraction?”

Sweetie stood up and tried to get their attention a little louder this time. “Girls?”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes and facehoofed. “Bloom, you’re sounding crazier than Time Turner did when he started running around about his latest invention for the third time this week.”

Rolling her own eyes, Sweetie took a deep breath and turned to her friends. “GIRLS!”

The two stopped arguing and turned to Sweetie to ask what was wrong when they too froze at what they saw.

Or rather, who.

Applebloom stood there, gawking at her counterpart from under her deer hunter cap and brown plaid jacket. “Wow... do ah really sound like that?”

Scootaloo nodded, nearly knocking her bowler hat off her head. “Yeah, kinda.” She scratched her shoulder some and shrugged.

Sweetie Belle had sparkles in her eyes and a broad smile, barely holding onto her phone, somehow, and biting back a squeal. “Oh my gosh, I look adorable!” The five fillies all looked at her for a moment, and she shrugged. “What? I do!”

The door they all stood before burst open, and a glowering Starlight stepped out. “What is going on out-” The moment Starlight looked down at who was outside her room, she paused at the sight of six crusaders, eyes shrinking to pinpricks. “NOPE!” With speed rivaling Rainbow, the door slammed shut, and several locks could be heard.

Both Appleblooms sighed and shook their heads, before speaking in unison. “Well, that’s just great.”

Canterlot Crusader Conversations

The two sets of crusaders both sat there staring at the door before turning back to each other. “So... do, any of you remember going to the mirror pool, or did something else cause this?” Scootaloo asked eyebrow raised.

The Sherlock impersonating Applebloom shook her head and pointed over her shoulder. “Ah don’t know about any pool, but there was a mirror back there that we fell outta after we jumped into the portal.”

Applebloom tilted her head and squinted a bit in thought. “Twilight has a portal?”

Fiddling with her phone for a moment, Sweetie stuffed it into her mane and turned to the others. “Yeah, it’s back that way. When we jumped over, our Rarity came over here with Fluttershy, and your Rainbow and Applejack went over there.”

Scootaloo’s ears perked up instantly, and her head turned to her visiting counterpart. “Wait, there are two Rainbows?”

Ignoring her, Applebloom rubbed her chin in confusion. “But why would AJ jump into some magic mirror?”

The Bowler hat wearing pegasus hissed a bit and rubbed the back of her head. “That’d be kinda our fault, in the long run.”

Two of the three local crusaders shared a glance before Sweetie spoke for both of them. “What did you do?”

The three visiting crusaders all started to look anywhere but their counterparts. Their Sweetie Belle was very interested in the floor as she cleared her throat. “We might have, sorta, kinda, made the entire school mad at Sunset Shimmer.”

Two heads tilted in confusion. “Who?”

The third leaned in closer, eyes wide and frantic. “No seriously, there’s two of Rainbow Dash?”

Ignoring her counterpart again, Scootaloo waved a hoof idly. “Sunset’s a girl that goes to CHS with our sisters, who apparently came from here, somehow got stuck there, and was the biggest bully in the whole school.”

“Then, at the Fall Formal, she stole this world’s Twilight’s crown, and became a fiery evil demon when she put it on.” Applebloom chimed in, before playing with her hat. “Only, Twilight and our sisters blasted her with a big rainbow laser and knocked some sense into her head.”

The visiting Sweetie played with her hair for a moment, having the decency to look sheepish. “After that, she worked really hard to prove she was trying to be a better person, but even after saving the whole school from a group of evil monsters from Equestria, we... sorta didn’t think she was actually a good guy.”

All three crusaders stood there dumbfounded for a moment, processing what they just heard. The first one to snap out of it was Applebloom, whose eye was starting to twitch. “She saved yer lives... and you didn’t think she was a good guy? What the heck is up with you three?”

Scootaloo hissed a bit and rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, it wasn’t our brightest moments.”

Moments after she did, however, she was tackled to the ground by her Equestrian double and was nose to nose with the pegasus filly. “Why are you not freaking out that there’s two of our big sister!?”

She blinked for a moment before Scootaloo pressed a hoof to her face and pushed the excited filly off of her. “Because the last time I met your Rainbow, she smacked me upside the head and kicked my sister into a soccer goal?”

Three jaws dropped before the orange pegasus could speak again. “Why would she do that?” Scootaloo paused, and her eyes went wide as she grabbed the visiting pegasus’s face in her hooves. “Wait a second, when did she do that!? You’ve already gotten to meet two of the best pony ever!? When can I!?”

An uneasy glance towards the filly was all Scootaloo did before she turned to her friends. “Do I always get like this when anyone brings up Rainbow?”

Four fillies deadpanned. “Yes.”

They all stared at each other for a moment before Scootaloo pushed her counterpart off of herself and stood back up. “I am so sorry.”

An exasperated sigh escaped Applebloom. “Can we please get back on topic?” The hat-wearing farm filly adjusted her attire and turned to her and her friend’s counterparts. “Look, the point we’re trying to get ta is that because we used to think she was still evil, we didn’t trust her. Then our sisters all started to cut our time together short and spent more and more of it with Sunset, which only made those thoughts seem like they were true.”

“And we came to the oh so brilliant conclusion that she was stealing our sisters because of it.” Scootaloo nodded with a roll of her eyes. “Seriously, why were we that dumb?”

Sweetie Belle stepped in, deciding it was better not to answer her friend’s question. “So to get back at her, Applebloom started to spread our sisters’ secrets around and framed Sunset for all of it. Then Scootaloo and I started to help her and... it really spiraled out of control with how many people kept sending us secrets to share. All of Sunset’s friends left her alone to fend for herself, and the school turned on itself.” A few tears started to bead at her eyes. “But mostly, they went after Sunset.”

“Ah was feeling really bad about it all, but with everyone sending in secrets, and how they were treating Sunset despite that, we were too afraid to stop,” Applebloom added with a frown. “It took seeing her desperately chasing after our sisters ta try and beg them to listen to her for us to get our heads on straight again and confess.”

The hallways were silent once more as the three visiting crusaders were stared at by their counterparts. It wasn’t until the Equestrian Scootaloo shook her head that the silence was broken. “Wow. That sounds like the Gabby Gums incident cranked up to eleven.”

Three more heads tilted in confusion. “The Gab-what-now?”

Now, it was the Equestrian half of the group’s turn to look sheepish. “Some time ago, we were working for our school newspaper under the name Gabby Gums, and Diamond was the paper’s editor.” Sweetie Belle started, rubbing her hooves together. “We kept submitting stories, but she’d reject them again and again. It wasn’t until we submitted a rather embarrassing one on some of the townsfolk that she posted an article we wrote.”

“So, we started finding as many secrets as we could from the town, invading everypony’s privacy in the process.” Scootaloo sighed and looked out the window, a bit of irritation shining in her eyes before she turned to the group. “Then she kept blackmailing us with our own embarrassing secrets us when we were getting uncomfortable with the articles and wanted to stop. The whole town wouldn’t even talk to us because of that gossip column when they figured out it was us.”

“So when we realized how much we broke our friendships all through the town, we came up with a plan,” Applebloom smirked a bit at the memory. “Diamond got caught thanks ta us confessing in an article that she hadn’t even bothered to read while she was threatening us to not be late again. It still took some time to get the rest of Ponyville to trust us as much as they used ta, but all the work it took was worth it in the end.”

Hearing all of this, the hat-wearing Applebloom sighed. “At least Y'all have that excuse. We ain’t got nothing to justify what we did, or anyone to blame. We were just a bunch of jealous idiots.”

“Not really.” They all looked at the Equestrian Scootaloo with confusion evident on their faces. Said filly scratched the back of her head and shrugged. “I mean, you said it yourself, all the students who were being mean were giving you the secrets as an excuse to get at that other girl. Laying all of the blame on yourselves isn’t really fair. If they went after you for that, then they’re the jerks, and they’re even worse for going after Sunshine.”

“Sunset.”

Rolling her eyes, Scootaloo face-hoofed. “Whatever. Point is, you screwed up, and you’re paying for it, but you’re not the only ones at fault.”

Scratching her head, the Equestrian Applebloom scrunched up her face. “What Ah don’t get is why our, er, your sisters would just leave Sunset like that. That don’t sound like AJ at all.”

The three winced again, and Scootaloo chuckled nervously. “Yeah... neither did your sisters. That’s kinda what lead to me getting smacked upside the head.”

The Equestrian Crusaders all shared a glance before Sweetie took the lead. “Did all our sisters go over?”

The white unicorn’s counterpart only nodded. “Yep, along with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.”

The three fillies all shared a brief moment of horror as that sank in, and sat squarely on their rears as Scootaloo looked fearfully over her shoulder. “Oh, sweet Celestia there’s two of her.”

Scootaloo’s counterpart waved her hooves frantically. “I know, right!? I’m surprised the school’s still standing.”

Sweetie and her counterpart looked at each other before sharing the same thought. “I’m surprised the town’s still standing.”

“So why exactly are ya girls over here and not on the other side of this portal or whatever?” The farm filly asked with a curious look in her eyes. When the others all looked at her, she waved a hoof in front of her. “Don’t get me wrong, this is really cool at all, but what’re ya doing over here?”

Applebloom ended up answering her own question, as her counterpart smiled a bit. “Well, after all that happened, we were wanting to try and get everyone to trust us again by doing something to help out and prove we’re sorry.”

Sweetie reached into her mane and pulled out a flyer. Across the front, was a picture of a pink-skinned girl with purple-ish hair and blue highlights under her loose-fitted beanie. “At first we couldn’t think of anything, then Applebloom found this missing person poster that was for someone she heard Sunset and Applejack talking about. Someone named, Starlight Glimmer.”

Scootaloo smirked a bit and puffed out her chest. “So, we figured if this world’s version of Starlight is right here, maybe she could help us figure out where her counterpart is! I mean, it’s not going to be a totally accurate, but it would at least give us an idea or something and make it super easy.” She took a hoof and rubbed it against her poofed up plumage, something that Sweetie noticed was there and made her go starry-eyed again, whispering something along the lines of ‘it’s so fluffy.’

Scootaloo’s Equestrian counterpart nodded with pursed lips. “Huh, that’s actually a pretty good idea.”

The smirk only grew on both pegasi. “We have our moments.” The two shared a hoof bump before the group turned to the doors before them as a whole. “Now we just need to get into her room and talk to her.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Starlight was pressing her ear to the crystal and listening in to the entire conversation. Silently cursing to herself, she started to look around the room. “Okay Starlight. Just... gotta find a way out of here before they catch you, and you manage to put a foot in your mouth trying to come up with a believable lie.”

Starlight started to pace about, desperately putting together a plan before she eyed the balcony and her bedding. Struggling to light her horn, she managed to rip the linen free of the frame and mattress, before tying it into a length of makeshift rope. She looked over the railing, making a note of the window below, before tying the makeshift line to the edge and flinging it off.

Next, however, was the more arduous task of actually climbing the rope.

“Dang it. I forgot how hard it is to climb with hooves.” Regardless of this lack of foresight, the pink unicorn knew it would only be a matter of time before the Crusaders would get in. Especially now that there were six of them. With the grace of a flounder, Starlight found herself dangling from the rope, as she slowly shimmied her way down; all four hooves pressed as hard as she could on the sheets.

Yes, Starlight thought to herself, I’m home free! Once I get downstairs, I can get to the portal and say sayonara! A giggle escaped her lips as she neared the lower floor. It was so tantalizingly close that she almost faltered on her grip.

Then the door opened up, and Twilight found herself staring at her friend, having a hard time understanding what was going on. “Um... Starlight? Why are you trying to break out of the castle’s third-floor window? And why is Sunset telling me there are missing posters of you on the other side of the portal?” Starlight hung there, frozen in place as she saw more ponies standing behind the princess.

Namely an amber unicorn who was looking at her with a raised eyebrow and confused eyes.

The only words that came from Starlight’s mouth were the first ones she could think of, and even then, they sounded pretty flimsy to be accepted by the princess, let alone her month old pen pal. “I can explain.”

Yeah, she was pretty screwed.

Author's Note

Hey would you look at that, I managed to crank one out rather quickly after the last one.

Secrets Hidden in the Starlight

It took only a moment for Twilight to light her horn and pull Starlight off of the rope. In a moment of being carried over to the couch in the room below, the pink unicorn found herself sitting in front of nearly everyone she was afraid of sitting in front of. Both Rarities, both Fluttershy, Princess Twilight, and worst of all, Sunset Shimmer, the one person she’d consider a friend.

A friend she’d been able to become penpals with over the past month, who was now staring at her like Starlight wasn’t the person Sunset thought she knew.

It didn’t help that all six of the Crusaders had also been rounded up and three of them were getting the lecture of a lifetime from their sisters, two of which had returned along with Sunset. It made her want to try and distract herself with the arguments, but every time she tried, Twilight turned her back to looking at them.

Clearing her throat, Twilight raised an eyebrow but still looked concerned for her friend. “Starlight, please, what is going on?”

Starlight leaned back in her seat and rested her head on her hoof, and a strained smile only served to worsen her predicament. “Going on? Nothing’s going on. Why would anything be going on? All that’s going on is that we’re all having a nice conversation, right? Right.”

Sunset trotted over and the sweat pouring down Starlight’s face got slightly worse. “I just risked coming back to Equestria, and possibly running into my former mentor, because of what Applebloom and her friends did. On top of that, despite saying you’ve never been on that side of the portal, there are posters with your name on them, and what I can only assume would be what you look like on that side.” The amber unicorn stared Starlight in the eye with a frown and shook her head. “We’ve been talking to each other for months, and I want to think of you as a friend. If you don’t know anything about it, just say so. But please, don’t lie to me.”

It was enough to make Starlight drop her head in shame. “I... I...” A tear trickled down her cheek before she sat properly and looked at her hooves. “I’m sorry.”

A hoof landed on her shoulder, and the pink unicorn looked up to see Twilight looking at her with a hint of disappointment in her eyes, but a small smile nonetheless. “It’s okay, but please, Starlight, tell the truth.”

Starlight rubbed her eyes a bit before she looked up again. “Well... I guess I should start with one part of all this first.” She rubbed at her foreleg nervously. “I... might not exactly be this world’s Starlight Glimmer.”

Twilight blinked in surprise for a moment and put a hoof to her chin in thought. “Huh, that... with everything that’s happened today, actually makes sense.”

Both Sunset and Starlight froze for a moment, looking straight at the princess. “Huh?”

Twilight turned to her desk, and levitated a copy of the missing person poster to herself, a small smile on her face that hinted at amusement. “Well, I was going over the poster when Sunset brought a copy over here, and I noticed a particular detail that struck me as odd.” The lavender princess pointed at the date with a hoof. “This poster says you went missing about a thirty-seven days ago based on the calendar that Sunset gave me from the human world. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but when I consider that we found you roughly a month ago, and you were practically starving, the facts support your claim.” She rolled up the poster and set it down again, before turning back to the two. “It would also explain why you had trouble with four legs and didn’t remember our prior interactions. You couldn’t remember them because they never happened to you specifically.” She frowned and glanced at the portal in worry. “But what I don’t understand is how you ended up here. I’ve kept this portal in my castle for months now, and I never saw you exit it.”

“That’s... part of what I need to explain.” Starlight sighed and slumped into the cushions. “I’m just not sure you’ll believe me,” or want to talk to me after, the pink unicorn added silently as she glanced to Sunset out of the corner of her eye.

Sunset sat down next to her, looking over in concern. “Well, don’t keep us waiting.”

Starlight took a deep breath and thought back to when her predicament started. “For as long as I can remember, I lived with my dad in a small suburb called Sire’s Hollow. He homeschooled me, so I didn’t have many friends, especially with how he kept babying me no matter how old I was. The only other kid I could really call one was my neighbor, Sunburst. He was homeschooled too, but then his mom sent him to a private school because I was a ‘bad influence,’ and I never really got to see him again aside from the occasional arguments between our parents, so I poured myself into my books to cope.” She glared at nothing for a moment. “It didn’t help that apparently there was someone at the school who’d caught his eye, and he wouldn’t stop going on and on to himself about how she got some secret science project approved by the school. It was like I wasn’t even there half the time.”

Sunset nudged her friend a bit and raised an eyebrow. “Starlight, I know you’re pouring your heart out to us right now, and honestly, I can understand how you felt. Being abandoned by a friend hurts a lot more than people are willing to admit, and I don’t mean to sound like a jerk right now, but what does that have to do with you being here?”

The pink unicorn sat up for a moment and turned to her hopefully-still-friend. “I’m getting to that.” She sighed and slumped back into the cushions. “For a while, it was okay, but then I got further and further into my projects and research. I was obsessed with showing up a girl I’d never even met before when I found this weird energy frequency coming from the neighboring school. It was like nothing I had ever seen before, and I managed to set up a system that would collect the ambient traces of it from the air. It wasn’t long before I started to experiment with it.” She grimaced and looked away. “One of the projects... didn’t go so well.”

Twilight and Sunset both gasped slightly and shared a glance with each other before going to hug the saddened pink unicorn. “Oh, Starlight.”

Starlight accepted it readily. “It was a small scale teleporter. Just... send an apple from here to there. That’s all I was trying to do. Only instead it ripped a hole in reality, and I found myself staring at a world full of magic.” She smiled at the memory, seeing all the vivid colors dancing through the basement as she stared into the midst of what she would soon learn was Whitetail Woods. “I couldn’t believe it. I’d been planning to make a small device to help with being exceptionally lazy with my keys, and made a gateway to another dimension instead! I was so elated! I could finally show Sunburst that I was better than that other girl, and finally, have my friend again!” Her smile died as she looked back down. “Only, instead I found myself being pulled and squished like taffy before landing in the middle of the forest as a pony after tripping on a loose cable. I was given but a moment to get my bearings and look back before seeing the portal close with a pop, along with any feelings of awe I had at that moment.”

The hug from the amber unicorn got a bit tighter around Starlight. “I’m glad you’re okay. Especially after hearing you went through that.” Sunset then slowly let go of the hug, unsure if she should leave the mare without comfort, and looked between her friend and the portal. “But, if you’ve known about the mirror portal since then, why didn’t you go through? You could have been home ages ago.”

Starlight turned to look at the portal herself, a trace of longing in her eyes. “I... I'm afraid. Afraid that it won’t take me to my home, and that when I get there, I’ll be encroaching on another me’s life. I don't want to do that.”

Twilight smiled sympathetically as she stopped her hug and left a hoof on Starlight’s shoulder. “That’s a reasonable fear, to not be sure that you’ll ever be able to get home.” The princess fell into a small frown as she sighed. “There is a problem with you being here though. Our world’s Starlight? She’s technically a wanted felon at the moment and would be guilty of some serious charges if you hadn’t shown up. On paper, I’ve pardoned her, but she’s still running around somewhere in Equestria doing who knows what.”

Starlight’s ears fell as she sighed. “I... I know. I just hope I didn’t cause anything bad to happen by being here.”

A thought came to Sunset as she rubbed her chin. “That school you mentioned. It wouldn’t happen to be Canterlot High School, would it?”

“I think? It had been a while since I actually looked into the name when I started collecting the energy from there. It... just didn’t seem very important at the time.” She blushed and went back to trying to smother herself with the couch cushions. “And now I realize how stupidly irresponsible that was.”

The amber unicorn smiled as she looked to the portal for a moment. “Well, then I think I need to check a few things. Do you remember your old address?” Starlight nodded from under the pillow. “I’m going to head back over and check it out to see if it is your home. Would there be anything notable to let me know it’s the same world?”

Starlight lit up her horn and pulled a small key from her mane. “This should let you into the basement. That’s where my lab and, um, kite collection would be.”

Sunset took the key in her magic, an act that made her unusually giddy in Twilight’s opinion and put it in her mane. “Alright, I’ll message you through the journal about what I find.”

Twilight perked up and looked at Sunset as she realized something. “The Journal! If you’re all over here, who has the journal!?”

“I left it with Pinkie.” Sunset chuckled as Twilight’s jaw dropped slightly. “Twilight, you and I both know that when it’s something this important, we can usually count on her.” She eyed the portal for a moment, picturing in her mind the Pinkest of fillies bouncing through like a giddy child. “On that note though, I should probably head back before she does get any ideas.”

Fluttershy and her counterpart both perked up as they caught the last part of the conversation before the smaller of the two flapped her wings and gently glided over. “Oh, you’re heading back already?”

“Yeah, I need to check something out really fast.” Sunset smiled and glanced at how well she was managing in the air. “And you better let me know what it’s like to suddenly have wings at your beck and call. You look like you’re having fun.”

The butterscotch filly giggled and nodded as her counterpart hovered next to her in the air. “Guilty.”

Meanwhile, A small blue filly was glaring up at her flying friend. “Stupid Fluttershy, being all tall and in the air and stuff.” She glanced at her own wings, both of which she deemed to be un-awesomely small, before letting out a grunt and smacking her head into the table she was sitting at. “I wanna be in the air already!”

Watching a younger version of her idol sulking, Scootaloo looked up at the Rainbow she’d known for years. “Wow, you weren’t kidding, you really did have smaller wings as a filly.”

“Told you.” The cerulean pegasus smirked. “You’ll grow them out eventually.”

“Cool.”

Author's Note

Holy CRAP I am on a ROLL!

That being said, it may be quite a while before I can do something like two chapters published on the same day again. It'll all depend on how often I have a day off work, and that's a pretty low number right now.

Be sure to comment below what you think, and do whatever you guys and girls do with your free time.

I don't know, I'm not psychic. Though that'd be really cool now that I'm thinking about it.

Canterlot Movie Club Presents: Duel of the Twin Diamonds

With Sunset gone, Twilight opened the journal and looked over at Starlight. “Well, seeing as Sunset just jumped through before you could give her the details...” The princess smirked a bit as the pink unicorn chuckled.

Starlight stood up and walked over, before getting the quill in her magic. “I got it.” The quill danced across the pages as Starlight tried to remember the details accurately. “There. Now she should have my address and phone number, as well as the passcode to the basement.”

Twilight tilted her head in confusion and raised an eyebrow. “Passcode?”

Blushing as she put the quill back, Starlight smiled. “I was very protective of my equipment and may have put a high-end lock on the door leading down.” At the continued stare becoming slightly more skeptical, she pouted. “They are very valuable kites, and I’d be damned if I let anyone mess with them.”

The princess smirked. “That sounds more accurate.”

“So,” Starlight looked at the ponies in the room with a small smile, “hang-out day?”

Rolling her eyes and chuckling, Twilight lead Starlight over to the group. “Come on, they won’t bite. Even if there are twice as many now.”

With everyone and everypony all talking in groups in the study, The Crusaders, their sisters, and all of their counterparts were busy sitting in a circle on the floor, or on a nearby couch in Rarity’s cases. “So, Y’all got into fights? With yourselves?” Applebloom looked at her sister with a raised eyebrow.

Applejack could only look a bit sheepish. “Well Applebloom, when ya put it like that it sounds mighty silly.”

“Yes, it was rather uncouth of us to do that in the first place.” Rarity admitted, sharing a small sheepish smile with herself.

The smaller Rainbow Dash was busy pouting, rolling her eyes. “I don’t call getting my butt kicked in one hit a fight.”

Equestrian Sweetie frowned and looked at both instances of her sister. “I still find it hard to believe Rarity would get into a fight though. That’s not like her at all” Rarity bit her tongue as she remembered a particular incident with a teenage dragon picking on Spike. After all, with her interactions with Garble, she was more than clear with her intentions.

Pulling her phone out of her mane, Sweetie perked up and leaned in towards her counterpart’s ear. “I have proof that she did if you want to see it.”

“Really!?” The young white unicorn semi-shouted, drawing the rest of the group’s attention.

Scootaloo and her counterpart looked at each other before leaning themselves. “What are you two going on about?”

Sweetie pointed at the white filly next to her, and more specifically her phone, a skeptic, yet excited, look on her face. “She said she has proof of Rarity getting into a fight!”

Both of the Rainbows perked up, looking particularly interested in that tidbit of information, before turning to look at the two fillies, shortly followed by everyone else as well. “Really?~”

Sweetie paled a bit as everyone was looking at her before she chuckled nervously and held her phone close to her chest. “I may or may not have recorded the fight?”

Instantly, both Rarities froze, but the younger of the two slowly turned to look at her friend’s counterpart. “Rainbow... Rainbow no.”

Before anyone could stop her, Rainbow flew over and swiped the phone from the young filly, much to her chagrin. A second later, the prismatic flyer and her young counterpart were huddled over the phone, along with the Crusaders from both worlds, as the young Rainbow flipped through the contents just out of either Sweetie Belle’s reach. “Rainbow yes!”

The older two white unicorns could only let out a squawk as they shouted Rainbow’s name, even as said pegasus was hitting the play button.

As the video started, both Rarities could be heard discussing their behavior. However, the camera was pointed towards Sweetie, who squinted a bit before sighing. “Stupid camera.” Her finger flicked up, and the scene switched to her shoes for a moment, before moving up and showing both Rarities talking. One was easily recognizable for half the viewers, being in her usual attire while she fiddled with a pencil in her hand, but the other was the one who stunned the group. She wore an elegant, oriental gown and high heels of stunning white color. The dress itself was inlaid with the patterns of diamonds and a single sizeable green dragon.

It was the second of the two that was able to be clearly heard first. “My point is, the way you treated Sunset was rather unbecoming of a ladylike ourselves.”

With a shake of her head and a sigh, Rarity looked her counterpart in the eye. “I agree, and I wish I had the sense at the time to realize that. But, you know what they say, hindsight is twenty-twenty.”

The camera got a touch closer, and Sweetie spoke up as it focused on the visitor of the two. “Wow Rarity, the other you’s dress is really pretty.”

A flattered smile crossed the visiting equestrian’s face as she placed a hand demurely on her chest. “Why thank you! It’s good to know somepony in this world has an eye for fashion.”

The camera backed away quick enough to see a slightly stiff Rarity staring at her counterpart. A specific smile crossed her face as she blinked a few times. Any of Rarity’s close contacts, be they family or friends, would recognize it instantly. It was a smile of ‘I'm only polite right now for the sake of not murdering you for saying that.’ “Really, what makes you say that, exactly?”

As it turned out, Rarity wasn’t good at reading her own face as she was with others’. “Well, since coming here I can’t help but feel appalled at just how drab the outfits I’ve seen have been.”

The young fashionista’s eye twitched slightly, but Rarity kept her composure. “Really now.” The venom in Rarity’s voice was subtle but still potent enough to kill. “And what makes them so, drab?” The last word spat out like it was a disease.

With a roll of her own eyes at the thought of the designs she’d seen all day, Rarity’s counterpart continued. “Every piece of attire I’ve seen since I arrived does nothing for the ones wearing them. And that’s not even mentioning the colors.”

Rarity’s grip on her pencil tightened to the point a creak could be heard. “And what exactly would be wrong there?”

Her counterpart dismissively waved a hand and shook her head. “They clash in all the wrong ways. I swear, it’s like the one responsible for designing them had no taste in fashion whatsoever.”

The pencil snapped and Rarity’s face devolved from her strained smile into a full on snarl. “Well, it’s not exactly like everyone on this side of the portal has enchanted fabrics to work with, now do we?”

Her counterpart gasped and put a hand to her chest. “E-enchanted!?” An angry frown of her own grew across Rarity’s face as she leaned into the argument. “Now see here, my works are done purely through skill and talent. To insinuate that I would bewitch my customers is insulting!”

The doors behind them started to open, students poking their heads out of the classrooms to see what the commotion was about. A couple of the guys that managed to get caught on camera looked like they were enjoying the sight of Rarity arguing with herself.

Scoffing and rolling her eyes, the high-schooler turned away for a moment while she raved. “Oh please, like you would know anything about fashion. Last I checked you rarely ever wear clothes in Equestria, seeing as ponies don’t exactly need them.” Rarity turned her nose up and shooed her hand towards her Equestrian counterpart. “Your prices are more than likely quite exuberant as well, seeing as it’s probably the only way you can afford to keep your business open at all when there is virtually no demand for your product.”

Rarity stomped, causing a rather loud clack to echo down the hallway. “My work is sought out by the highest of the elite for its quality, is still reasonably priced for anypony to afford, and can work for any occasion my clients see fit!”

Smirking a bit, Rarity lazily gestured to her counterpart’s dress. “Then I hope for your sake that you didn’t make that dress. Something so risque has no place in a school. That dress is only good for showing off some leg to a pack of hormonal young men.” Many of the young men in the crowd agreed.

Rarity scoffed as she flipped her hair. “At least my dress is not some tacky patchwork, like those rags you’re wearing.”

The air froze for a solid ten seconds, as everyone in the crowd went wide eyed. The stone still figure of Rarity stared blankly ahead, but the whole crowd started to disperse with the utmost urgency, memories of ninth grade spurring them forward.

For there were dragons in those halls.

Two very angry dragons.

Slowly turning to look at her counterpart, eyes ice cold with murder, Rarity cracked her neck. “Oh it, is, on.”

“Bring it, you uncultured trollop!” The two started to circle each other, hands brought up to stance. Rarity had her nails bared, each manicured tip taking on a new and deadier life with the girl’s intentions. Her counterpart was only slightly better, fingers brought together to make one solid point, like a knife of the most beautiful degree.

In a flash, the high-school girl darted forward, clawing at her counterpart and catching the seam of the dress collar. The tear that echoed down the hallway was loud, but the dress remained mostly intact. Her assault went for a second swipe, but was blocked by the Equestrian’s arm.

A quick jab sent Rarity back a foot before she had to dodge a palm strike to her face. Her hair clip flew off, clipped by the blow, before she landed a punch on her counterpart’s face, grabbing the back of her head and, using her free hand to grip the Equestrian’s arm, threw her down the hall. However, Rarity’s grapple was only a minor hindrance, as her counterpart elegantly flipped back to her feet, and closed the gap. Glaring, Rarity got back into stance. “You’ll need to do better than that.”

A punch for her face was blocked by the back of Rarity’s arm, making the high-schooler stumble, when a strike landed against her side, and with it, a loud tearing. Claws were drawn again, and she swung upward, catching the front of the Equestrian’s gown and pulling more threads from their needed places. She stepped back and looked at the hole in her dress before turning to see Rarity smirking. “Funny, I was about to say the same to you.”

With a near roar, the Equestrian grabbed onto the high-schooler and threw her knee into Rarity’s stomach, making her cough out the air in her lungs before grabbing her hair and slinging her down the hall. Rarity tumbled and skid across the linoleum tiles, grabbing for the edge of the halls, before finding herself with a handful of pencils that had fallen from students between classes.

Smirking, Rarity rolled mid slide to her feet and started throwing the pencils point first towards her counterpart. The Equestrian brought her hands up to protect her face, only to feel holes forming in her gown instead, the pencils scraping her sides as they tore through fabric.

The utensils were grabbed mid-air and thrown back, forcing Rarity to dodge and weave as she ran forward. When the two were close enough they caught each other with a punch to the face, eyes never leaving the other as rage blazed behind both sets.

With a quick kick of her leg, the Equestrian Rarity knocked the younger one off balance, landing a blow to her blouse, and tearing away the side. She stumbled, but the high-schooler quickly darted back into the fight and leaped. Rarity kicked with incredible speed, snapping one of the chopsticks holding her Equestrian counterpart’s hair up clean in half as she ducked. The moment she landed, her leg continued it’s trip and took the legs out from under the Equestrian before she kneed her other self in the stomach.

She was dragged along when the older fashionista grabbed her blouse and pulled her down with her. The two were forced into a rolling pile of fists, kicks, and claws. Bits of clothing were flying this way and that, all while snarls of rage echoed down the halls. Again and again, they rolled each other over, throwing cheap punches and ripping away at fabric.

The unicorn of the two got her feet underneath her counterpart mid fight and did what her equine heritage begged her to do, and bucked, sending the poor girl flying back with a thud against the floor. The two scrambled to their feet and charged again, meeting in a deadlock. They kept glaring at each other until the native Rarity got her counterpart’s leg in a lock with her own, stepping on her dress for good measure and insult.

The two exchanged blows while locked in place. A punch deflected, only for the counter to have the same returned. On and on, they kept going, arms almost tangled in their struggle. The high-schooler of the two had one advantage though, and with a grab of her counterpart’s hair, she broke the deadlock and got the upper hand. With the Equestrian at her mercy, grabbing for the hand holding her hair, Rarity slugged her in the face.

Dazed for only a moment, the Equestrian Rarity was brought back just as the second punch was thrown. She leaned back, sacrificing her scalp to a moment of pain to dodge the blow before lunging forward and biting the high school girl’s arm. With her hair free, she released her bite and brought her nails upward, slicing through the front of Rarity’s blouse and leaving barely any left to cover her.

Rarity was too focused on the fight to care that her bra was almost showing, and grabbed the sides of her counterpart’s head, bringing her in for the mother of all headbutts. As their skulls collided, a deafening crack echoed down the halls that could have been mistaken for a door slamming shut.

Keeping her hold on the Equestrian, Rarity slammed her face first into the lockers and stepped back, before rushing forward and kicking. Her kick missed and dented in the locker door as the Equestrian Rarity pushed herself away in time, and launched a kick of her own; heels digging into the sides of Rarity’s skirt and tearing off a chunk of cloth.

The two danced in and out range of each other, occasionally taking a moment to try and feint the other into a counter. Their attempts continued to be blocked or countered, until a strike managed to land on the Human Rarity, making her stumble for a moment. The Equestrian took that opportunity to strike with her heels again.

When she kicked a second time, however, the Equestrian’s leg was grabbed and she found herself flipped onto her back, and her human self readying a piledriver above her. Rolling out of the way and back up to her feet, she quickly shouted in pain as her counterpart’s elbow still found her foot. With her Equestrian counterpart stumbling back on an injured set of toes, Rarity got bearings again, before glaring back into their counterpart’s eyes.

Rarity adjusted her top, sticking the loose bits of fabric under the lining of her bra to hold them in place. “Classless Welp.”

Equestrian Rarity pulled the fabric of her dress back over her shoulder, using the piece of her fallen chopstick to hold it in place. “Uncivilized Swine.”

“Are those the best insults you’ve got?”

“Would you rather I get creative?”

A devilish smirk grew on Rarity’s face, eyes glinting in the fluorescent light. “I’m making better use of my creativity. Though I doubt you could do anything to match.”

Fingers twitched as they both stood up, and the Equestrian rolled her neck. “Why don’t I show you how creative I can get?”

“Go right ahead so I can show you how outclassed you are!” Claws drawn once more, Rarity and her counterpart started to stalk each other again, ready for round two.

Chuckling from behind the camera, Sweetie kept it focused on the two iterations of her sister for one last take. “And Scene.” She was about to press the stop button, only to hear the sound of someone running over from down the hallways. There was a beat, before a small intake of breath could be heard. “Shoot, Sunset’s coming!”

Without a sound, the video ended.

Over the course of the playback, the rest of the room had joined in on watching the recording of Rarity duking it out with herself. Their reactions ranged from awe, surprise, astonishment, and shock at just how violent the two had gotten with each other.

So it was as the video ended, the whole room turned to the visiting Rarity, who was towards the edge of the huddle, as she cleared her throat. “Sweetie Belle,” Rarity asked, eyes closed but one brow twitching, “care to tell me when you added music to the recording you took? Last I checked, that’s not exactly a necessary part of animating.”

The filly in question looked down with a blush and scuffed a hoof on the floor. “I thought it made the video better?”

Rainbow Dash was staring wide-eyed at the phone, before landing on her rear right next to her younger self. “That... That was so awesome. Too awesome. I... I don’t know how to feel about this.”

The smaller Rainbow, however, did not have that limitation. “I can’t believe it! Rarity had a more awesome fight than me!?”

Glowering from behind the group, the younger Rarity was pouting on the couch. “Rainbow Dash, if I had control over this horn right now, I’d be blowing you to Kingdom Come!”

Popping her head up for a moment, Twilight looked over the group. “Hey, I have a strict rule against blowing up my castle for the sake of winning an argument!” When they all turned to her in confusion, she blushed a bit. “You’d be surprised how often it has to be enforced.”

Rainbow Dash shared a glance with her younger self before nervously turning away from the irate white unicorn. “Aaaanyways, back to the fight. That was seriously awesome! I never thought I’d be considering going to Rarity for combat practice, but now I am!”

Adjusting her somewhat oversized hat, the younger Applejack whistled. “Honestly, same. Shucks, she even outdid our tussle from that day.”

The farmer’s older counterpart nodded in agreement. “Eeyep.” Applejack rubbed her chin as she took a closer look at Sweetie’s phone. “Gotta say though, that their little magic box is pretty handy if it can just record stuff like that.”

A bead of sweat dripped down the younger Applebloom’s cheek as she raised an eyebrow at her other older sister. “Ah’m not gonna pretend ah know all about how they work an’ what not, but Ah can guarantee it ain’t magic.”

The Equestrian Crusaders all looked at each other before Applebloom leaned in. “Really!?”

With a smirk and a nod, the visiting Applebloom turned to the three. “Eeyep.”

Scootaloo’s eyes lit up as she stared at the phone. “So cool.”

A chuckle got the older members of the group to turn to Twilight. The princess was busy trying to hide her mirth at their awestruck faces. “Now do you girls see why I was so fascinated with their world?”

“Heck yeah! If everypony has one of these, I can only imagine what more awesome stuff they can do!” The group’s Equestrian majority all started to nod in agreement with Rainbow, talking excitedly with their counterparts about some of the things they had in their world.

Except for Rarity. She was busy consoling her younger self as the small white pony was laying face first on her fainting couch. “Someone please put me out of my misery.”

“Don’t worry yourself Darling. Just remember that when your Rainbow inevitably goes to you for the same reason mine will me, we can both enjoy turning them into pretzels.”

On the other side of the portal, Sunset and Pinkie stood before a large cast iron gate. On one of the bars, a plaque was embedded into the metal, reading ‘Welcome to Sire’s hollow.’ There was an intercom to the side, right where a driver could quickly press the button if need be. The two shared a glance before Sunset took a moment to reread the message Twilight and Starlight had sent her. “Okay, here goes nothing.”

The intercom buzzed before an older woman answered rather tersely. “Welcome to Sire’s Hollow, how may I help you?”

Both girls looked a little uneasy at the tone of her voice. “Um, is Firelight in? We need to speak with him.”

A grumble came through the speakers. “And who is visiting?”

Sunset sighed a bit and tried to be as polite as possible. “My name is Sunset Shimmer, and we were hoping to talk with Firelight about something recent that--”

“You’re not on the list, have a good day.” The intercom abruptly cut off, leaving both Pinkie and Sunset to reel back in shock.

The amber girl felt a vein in her head pulse. “HEY! Don’t just hang up on me!”

At the continued silence, Sunset growled for a moment but stopped when Pinkie put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. “Don’t worry, Sunset. Leave this to your good old Aunt Pinkie.”

Sunset deadpanned at the pink party planner. “Pinkie, I’m older than you.” She paused and put a hand to her chin as she looked up. “Actually, I’m probably the oldest of our group, now that I think about it.”

Pinkie grabbed Sunset by the wrist and started pulling her down the fence line. “No time to explain! Quick,” The party planner exclaimed as she pulled out a pair of large plastic bags, “put all of your electronics in here! When we land in the pool, they’ll stay safe!”

“Wha- NO! We are not jumping into someone’s backyard!” Sunset semi-shouted as she tried to fend off her friend, who was reaching for her jacket’s pockets to ascertain their contents.

The two froze and looked over as a black Corolla pulled up next to them, and the window rolled down to reveal their Vice-Principal. The older woman looked at the two tangled teens with a raised eyebrow. “I know this is not school property, but do I need to worry about what I am seeing?”

“V-Vice Principal Luna!” Sunset shoved Pinkie off of her and quickly started waving her hands wildly. “This isn’t what it looks like!”

“We’re off school grounds; just Luna will be fine.” Their V-P smirked. “Now what exactly is this if it isn’t Ms. Pie trying to get you to join her in breaking into a private community?” At the shared uneasy laughter between the two, Luna rolled her eyes and put her car in park. “Alright. Get in.”

Hesitantly, Sunset and Pinkie both got into the back seat and looked down at their shoes. The amber teen rubbed her arm and dared a glance up to Luna. “We’re not in trouble, are we?”

What the Vice Principal had to say, stunned her. “Sunset, in the past school year, you have done nothing but try and prove to the school at large that you’ve been changing for the better, even when they stood against you and wanted to paint you as a pariah to justify their hateful actions.” Luna looked at the two through her rearview mirror, a serious glint in her eyes. “If you need to get in, I’ll help you two, but you need to tell me exactly why you need inside.”

Sunset was about to answer when Pinkie leaned forward with the biggest smile on her face. “It turns out that the Starlight Glimmer that Sunset’s been penpals with back in Equestria might actually be the Starlight Glimmer who went missing from this world and she’s super scared that she might be from a third world so then me and Sunset came here to check out her old house and see if all the stuff she remembers from a month ago is still there and if it is her house we’re going to bring her back to this world to be reunited with her overbearing but super loving dad!”

The car was silent for a moment before Sunset sighed and jabbed a thumb at her still smiling friend. “...What she said.”

“I, see.” Luna hesitantly turned back to the road before glancing back again. “And it’s Sunset and I, Ms. Pie.”

Sunset stared at the iron fence from her seat for a moment. “Not to question your help, Luna, but how are you going to get us in?”

“Simple.” Luna couldn’t help but smirk as she lowered her sunglasses off of her head and started forward again, pulling up to the intercom. “Celestia and I happen to be friends with the landlord.”

The amber teen blinked in surprise for a moment before leaning forward. “Wait, you two are friends with this landlord!?”

Pinkie raised an eyebrow. “You know oddly specific details about our principals being friends with a landlord?”

Luna looked over at the two before her smile started to turn wicked. “Oh my, you haven’t told any of them, have you?” At the paling face of Sunset, the blue woman giggled like a schoolgirl. “Oh, that’s just perfect! I’m going to have so much fun telling a certain someone~.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Sunset snapped.

“Oooh! Sunny has a secret!~” Pinkie leaned over, smiling widely as she pressed up against Sunset’s side. “C’mon! Spill the sprinkles girl!”

Grumbling, Sunset buried her face in her hand and pushed Pinkie back with the other. “I’ll... I’ll tell you and the girls later, okay? J-just not right now. We have more important things to worry about!”

“Pinkie Promise?”

Sighing at the incessant party planner’s antics, Sunset fell back into her seat and stared up. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Pinkie squeed and bounced in her seat, giddy with excitement.

After a brief talk over the intercom, Sunset and Pinkie were brought into the suburb and driven to the address they needed to arrive at. Stepping out of the vehicle, they waved to Luna. “Thank you for letting us in.”

“If anyone asks why you’re in here, which to be fair I highly doubt anyone besides Ms. Flare will, you’re with me and decided to look around.” Luna leaned over to let them see her face. “It won’t stop you from getting kicked out, but it will at least stop them from getting you arrested.”

Pinkie gave the V-P a salute and a cheesy grin. “Will do!”

Author's Note

*Gasp of exhaustion* I am going to hate writing fight scenes at this rate. They take so long to do right. Delay for next chapter, for I am the ded.

Touring a Home

Sunset couldn’t help but feel somewhat impressed with the house she and Pinkie found themselves at. With the second story and rows of windows, you wouldn’t expect only two people to be living there. “Well... if this does turn out to be Starlight’s place, we have to get her to throw a party sometime.”

“I know right!? Just look at how much space is here!” Pinkie squealed a bit before bopping herself on the head. “But this isn’t the time for party planning; it’s the time for basement searching!”

The amber teen looked at her friend with a raised eyebrow. “Did you just say what I think you did?” At the innocently smiling face of her friend, Sunset just pointed dumbly. “You, saying it’s not the time for party planning? Who are you and what have you done with Pinkie?” The two shared a laugh before Sunset frowned in thought. “Also... how are we going to do this? It’s not like we can just go up to a guy who’s been missing his daughter for over a month and ask to see his basement.”

“Hmm.” Pinkie scrunched her face in thought before grinning confidently and giving a thumbs up. “Leave everything to me Sunny! You go around back, and I’ll distract him by doing what I do best. Throwing a party!”

Sunset facepalmed and groaned a bit. “Pinkie, I just said we’re not breaking into people’s property!”

The party girl shrugged and frowned. “Well, how else are we going to look for clues that Starlight’s world is this one?” She rubbed her arm with a sigh, slowly losing some cheer. “I don’t want her to be sad, even if I’m not that much of a friend to her right now. Cause if this is her world, then when we get her back home, we can all hang out and be friends and I could throw her a ‘You traveled to another dimension and got back home’ party!”

Putting a hand on her friend’s shoulder, Sunset gave her a small smile. “I know Pinkie. Maybe we could go find the landlord?”

Pinkie beamed a bit. “That could work! Did your super secret with the principals let you know who they are?”

Sighing, Sunset walked over to the mailbox and let her head collide with it. “I don’t know. Celestia and Luna never told me what the landlord’s name was.” Glaring at nothing, Sunset turned to the sky and grumbled. “They just kept looking at each other with that knowing smirk they keep giving people when they’re up to something.”

Looking concerned, Pinkie looked at her friend and the house. “Well, then how are we going to find the landlord and get into Firelight’s basement if we don’t even know who they are?”

“I could help with that.” The two jumped at the sound of someone behind them, before turning around and spotting a man in a pinstripe suit, mismatched brown and green pants, and a wry smirk on his face. In one hand, he had a walking cane, and the other was playing with his white goatee.

Pinkie perked up and waved excitedly. “Hi, Mr. Discord! What are you doing here?”

Meanwhile, Sunset was looking at the unusually well-dressed janitor with apprehension. There were so many things that were going wrong in her mind. The potential spells and effects, the absolute chaos that would permeate the next hundred acres around them, the sheer amounts of madness this eldrich creature in the form of a man would cause just with a flick of its wrist! And she and Pinkie were in the epicenter of it all! There was no time to write a will or a memoir, or even leave an “I love you” message to anyone!

Waving his free hand about, Discord just looked around at all the houses casually. “Oh, nothing much, just strolling around, thinking of the ways I could add spice to the lives of everyone who lives here.”

Sunset just looked confused as reality caught up with her brain. The streetlamps were still streetlamps, and the road was still asphalt, so that was good. “I... what?”

Ignoring her for the moment, Discord looked past the two girls and hummed. “Visting Firelight, I see?” A wry smirk grew on his face as he twirled his cane and started heading for the house. “Just wait here for a moment and follow my lead kiddies. I’ll get you inside in no time at all.”

As Discord walked away and the two gave him a quick nod with a nervous smile from Sunset, Pinkie leaned over with a comically overexaggerated face of confusion. “Why is the janitor here?”

Breaking from the fake smile, Sunset was frantically making hand motions towards the well-dressed man; her unease splattered across her everything. “Don’t look at me; I don’t know either! And why the heck is he dressed like that?”

Pinkie just shrugged as best she could. “Beats me. Good thing Rarity isn’t here though. Those pants would set her off.”

Meanwhile, Discord was knocking on the door, out of hearing range of the two. The suited man kept glancing over his shoulder, a wry smirk as he eyed the fire-haired girl. Before he could muse on those thoughts, however, the door opened to reveal the purple skinned man who lived inside. “Evening, Firelight.”

Firelight wasn’t an impressively built man, but he wasn’t scrawny either. The bags under his eyes told a part of his story, but despite his tiredness, he recognized the man before him. “Oh, Mr. Discord, I wasn’t expecting anyone.”

Nodding apologetically, Discord gave his best smile. “Sorry to disturb you, Firelight, but I have an unusual request.” Looking over his shoulder, the unusual man pointed to where Sunset and Pinkie were talking. “Those two young ladies over there are looking into getting a place to stay, and I thought I’d show them around some of the homes in the area. You wouldn’t mind if they took a tour of yours, did you?”

Firelight stiffened and gripped the door a bit tighter. “I’m... not entirely comfortable with that idea.”

For a moment, Discord’s smile became genuine as he looked remotely to Firelight. “I know how you feel about preserving your home, Firelight. I assure you that they won’t be disturbing items from their rightful spots.” A wry smirk grew again as he glanced past Firelight and spotted his own target. “Me, on the other hand, will be looking for those brownies you love making.”

The two stared with each other for a while, no words, just trying to gauge the other. Eventually, Firelight sighed and slumped his shoulders, before stepping back a bit. “Just... don’t touch any of her things. Please.”

A hand pressed against Discord’s chest as he bowed. “That is a promise I don’t have to make, Firelight. I know how this has been for you.” Turning around, he waved to Sunset and Pinkie. “Okay girls, Mr. Firelight has agreed to let you have a tour of his home.”

Pinkie perked up with an excited smile. “Really?”

Sighing herself and smacking her face with an open palm, Sunset led her excited friend to the front door. “Don’t look it in the mouth, Pinkie. Let’s just get this over with.”

When they got up to the door, Firelight put on his best smile. In his defense, he could be forgiven for the sad look he gave them. “You can look around, but please, try not to disturb anything.”

Sunset was both amazed at the organization that Firelight put into his home, and with how calm Pinkie was after his request was made. For a girl as hyperactive as her, she was shockingly still as she moved through the home, almost as gracefully as a ghost. Discord gave them a ‘tour’ of the house, pointing out details as if he owned the place. Casually devouring a plate of brownies while doing so did nothing to help dissuade that image. Firelight, for his part, was walking along with them and watching.

What drew Sunset’s attention the most though, was the library.

Her jaw dropped at the sheer volume of books lining the room. Every square inch of the walls was covered in bookshelves, and more were placed in the center to stand on their own. The closest she could picture to the sight was her old room in Canterlot, but none of them contained the knowledge of this world. And this was a private collection, one this man put together himself. “Wow... this is...”

Firelight chuckled a bit, breaking from his melancholy for a moment. “I usually get that reaction. I mean, it’s not every day you go into a room lined with more history than any museum could hope for.”

“These are all history books!?” Sunset’s eye twitched a bit.

“Yes, and not all of them in English. I’ve been around the world collecting these, trying to obtain as much knowledge of our world’s past as I could hold.” His minor break from sorrow broke as he sighed a bit, looking to the tomes.

Discord strode past the two, doubling back with Pinkie in tow. “We’re not finished with the tour my dear, and those books are not included with the house.” He brought them back to the front of the house and started out the door and around the side. “Now, time to show them the lower floors.”

Firelight darted ahead of the group and stood in the way of the Basement doors. “W-Wait! I’d rather you not show them that.”

“But if I’m to give a full tour, they would need to see every room.” Discord insisted, motioning a hand to the double doors leading down into the earth.

The purple man shook his head regardless. “I know, but I am not comfortable with anyone going down there right now. I’d rather not risk that place being disturbed.”

Sighing, Discord waved a hand to the girls. “I understand. I guess we’ll be on our way, ladies.”

The three headed down the sidewalk a short way, Sunset and Pinkie glancing at the basement doors before Firelight went inside. The moment he was out of sight, Sunset turned to Discord and frowned. “I thought you said you could get us inside!”

“I did, technically.” The older man smirked with a snaggletooth poking from behind his lips.

Fuming, Sunset pointed at the house behind them. “Yeah, but we needed to see what’s in the basement, not just his impressive book collection!”

“Oh is that all?” Discord burst out laughing and pulled a camera out of his overcoat. “Why didn’t you just say so?” He handed the camera over and watched as she flicked through all the pictures, her jaw dropping lower and lower as she did.

Sunset’s eyes had to be lying, but at the same time, she was hoping they weren’t. Each picture was of Starlight’s equipment, all exactly where she’d described they would have been in her story. And a few even had Discord himself posing for a selfie to the side of the frame. “I.. but...what?”

Pinkie looked at the phone and blinked. “Huh, so does this mean mission accomplished?”

Sunset looked utterly flabbergasted before she shook her head and glared at Discord. “If you had these, why didn’t you give them in the first place!?”

“Don’t look at me young lady; you’re the one who said she wanted inside.” The coy smirk from Discord made Sunset fume as her face started to turn red with anger. “Now, would you like some of these forwarded to you or Pinkie? I take requests.” Screaming in frustration, Sunset threw her hands, and subsequently the camera, into the air and started storming off.

Discord casually caught the camera and pointed a thumb at the retreating Sunset. “I think she’s gone from Scared to Irritated at me.” He took in a deep breath and sighed. “Just like Celestia.”

Pinkie looked between the two for a moment before pulling out her phone and smiling. “Can I have those?”

“Certainly.” In a few moments, Discord had the pictures sent to Pinkie, and judging by the irritated scream off in the distance, Sunset, before waving the two off.

As soon as they were out of sight, he felt a poke on his cheek. “Oh come now, I didn’t forget your part in all of this.” Pulling out a roll of photographic film, he tossed it to the camera that was perched on his shoulder, sitting with its little stick figure legs crossed. The camera started slurping in the film like spaghetti as Discord chuckled. “Now, let’s go talk with Mrs. Flare. Her rent’s due in a few days.”

And with a twirl of his cane, he started off towards the other side of the street, whistling a tune.

Author's Note

No double disasters here this time. This chapters here more to help progress the story that started to grow from these little stories about ten chapters ago. And yes, that would land you in the previous story, good observation!

Also, you guys want to know a fun fact? I apparently can't write Discord unless I'm SLEEP DEPRIVED! For the past four days, I've been up until at least 4 in the morning and waking up at 8:30; the good old crack of DAWN, because my window is facing East.

Now, I'm going to go ahead and collapse into my bed, now that I'm done writing this. So, so long, adobo, and good night. Like if you like the story, fave if it's your favorite, and comment if you want to yell at me for good or bad or just to tell me to sleep already.

An Overdue Return

In Twilight’s castle, most of the group was still present as they waited for word from Sunset. The only absentees were Equestria’s CMC, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Pinkie. Of the older five, all but Pinkie had been in agreement that their counterparts needed something to take back as a souvenir, as the pink wonder wasn't even part of the conversation this time. While Twilight was hesitant, she eventually relented so long as the gifts were not something that would be highly magical, which got the CMC to join in and go with their sisters to see what they could get.

Why Pinkie left, was anyone’s guess. Knowing her though, it had something to do with parties. There wasn’t much time for Twilight to ponder this, however, when her journal buzzed.

Dear Twilight,

Can I just say, that I absolutely hate dealing with Discord? Thankfully, despite him messing with me repeatedly and ‘helping’ by giving us a tour of Firelight’s home sans the basement we needed to see, he did assist in providing us with proof that this world is Starlight’s home. We’re headed back to the portal now, so hopefully, you and the girls are ready by the time we get back. Starlight’s Dad looked pretty depressed when we met him. Just to be double sure, here are some of the details that we saw in the main house.

Her father has a stupidly massive library. Like, STUPID massive. I can’t even begin to describe how much it’s like Princess Celestia’s private collection back in Equestria. He also made a batch of brownies that Discord was willing to break us into his home just to eat. Other than that, we didn’t really see much other than her basement-lab, and the absolutely massive kite collection in the photos Discord gave us. I’m sorry if that’s not enough to convince her, but we got what we could.

Sincerely,

Sunset Shimmer

P.S. I meant it when I said I hate Discord. He is the most immature man I have ever met, and if I never deal with him again, it will be too soon.

Twilight looked over the message she’d gotten from Sunset, sighing a bit with a smirk. “Figures Discord would still mess with anyone’s head, regardless of what world.” Turning to the room, the princess smiled and walked over to her friends. “I have good news. Sunset and Pinkie just got back from their investigation.” Turning to the pink unicorn looking at her expectantly, she nodded. “It’s your home unless your dad doesn’t have an entire room dedicated to books, makes brownies that Discord would lie to get his hands on, or the secret lab you turned the basement into.” She leaned in a bit closer to whisper the last detail. “Or has a shrine for kites in the back corner.”

Blushing a bit, Starlight gave a nervous laugh. “Uh, yeah, that sounds about right.” She turned to the portal and looked hopefully at her reflection. “So... I’d just have to walk back through? That’d be it?”

“In essence, yes.” Twilight gave her friend a small hug. “So, I guess we just got to wait for the others to get back?”

Nodding, Starlight walked back with Twilight to the rest of the group to wait. “Looks like it.”

And wait they did. All of the humans turned pony, Starlight included, sat in a small group and chattered away. Their conversations went from how much more mature their other selves were physically, yet how much like themselves they still acted, despite that age difference, to how the two worlds seemed to translate with each other. Fluttershy’s time at the animal shelter and her counterpart’s sanctuary, to Rarity’s studio at home and the resident unicorn’s boutique.

It would be half an hour before the Equestrians came back. With a familiarity only one who visited the castle often would have, Applejack pushed open the door and waltzed right in. “We’re back Y’all!”

The group perked up, and Applejack adjusted her hat at her counterpart. “Well, ya sure took yer sweet time.”

The visiting Scootaloo scratched her head and looked at the others with a raised eyebrow. “So what’d you all run off for?”

Applebloom’s Equestrian counterpart beamed and pointed to the paper gift bags they’d brought in with them. “We went off to get you guys some souvenirs!”

The three visiting Crusaders all looked at each other with smiles before turning back to the Equestrians. “Really?”

Rarity’s laughter drew the fillies attention. “Well, it’s not like it’s every day one gets to travel, let alone to another dimension. We thought it would only be fair to let you take something with you.”

Rainbow popped her head over the group and looked at the gifts excitedly. “So what did you get us?” The Equestrians all shared a nod before breaking into groups of two, each one talking with their own counterpart, or in the CMC’s case, all six in one huddle.

Applejack handed over a small orange paper bag with an apple on the side, and a second slightly larger bag, adjusting her hat a bit as she set them down. “It might be a while before they grow proper, but ah think a piece of Sweet Apple Acres, for Sweet Apple Acres, is the best thing ah can offer.”

Looking inside the bag, Applejack saw several smaller plastic bags full of different seeds. Each bag labeled with a different kind of apple. In the larger bag, there was a bunch of full-grown apples, ready for eating. “Shucks, ya didn’t need to go that far.”

Smiling proudly, Applejack gave herself a wink. “Granny insisted.”

Meanwhile, the two blue pegasi had their own gift exchange. Rainbow hastily opened her own package, only to frown when she looked inside. “Books? Can’t I get something more awesome?”

Smirking, her older-self put a hoof to her chest. “Hey, Daring Do is like, the best book series I’ve ever read. And that says a lot if I think it’s awesome.”

The smaller Rainbow’s ears perked up as she looked back into the bag. “Wait, these are the Equestrian Daring Do stories!?” She got a quick nod in return and looked back down into the bag with excitement. “So, awesome!”

A tap on her shoulder drew her attention back up to her counterpart, who leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Look behind the books, but don’t say anything.” Rainbow took another peek inside, eyes going wide as she pushed the books aside. With a shared nod, the two gave each other a hoof-bump.

Next, were the two Rarities, as one gushed over the contents of her gift. From within the bag, came a few bolts of cloth, some inlaid with gems as they rolled out. “Oh my! These are simply fabulous!”

Smiling elegantly, the older Rarity nodded. “From my own personal collection. I’m sure you can find a good use for them.”

Hugging a bolt that had sapphires in it, the smaller white unicorn nodded excitedly. “Most certainly so!” Rarity could only giggle at the thought of how much her dresses would cost with fabric like this. She might even be able to afford to start her own boutique and stop working out of her room!

The two versions of Fluttershy were next and smiled in both nervousness and kindness as one gave a gift to the other. “Um, I know it doesn’t seem like much, but here.”

Opening the bag, the smaller Fluttershy gasped slightly and pulled out the charm laying within. “Oh, a dreamcatcher! These feathers are lovely.” The butter yellow pegasus idly played with the feathers, noting how they matched her hoof’s color. “Um... What bird are they from? I hope they molted them...”

“They’re um... my primaries.” Blushing, the older Fluttershy hid behind her hair a bit. “They’ll grow back. When I found my old dream catcher, I saw that the feathers had fallen off and none of my bird friends had any to spare since they’d used them to make their nests, I um, made do. I’m sorry I couldn’t get you anything more.”

The young pegasus’s eyes went wide, and she looked back to the dreamcatcher. With a few tears in her eyes, she hugged it to her chest and smiled. “It’s perfect. Thank you.” She frowned a bit and looked at her counterpart. “But... is it really okay for me to have this?” Fluttershy got a quick nod from her older-self before she began hugging her counterpart.

Next in line was all six Crusaders. Applebloom, Sweetie, and Scootaloo each had a simple-looking, matching package for their counterparts. The young farm filly held hers out and was quickly followed by her companions. “And we got Y'all these!”

Excitedly taking the gifts, the three visiting crusaders quickly opened them up. It was their farm girl that spoke up first, as she pulled the cloth from the paper. “Capes?”

Bouncing as she beamed, Sweetie Belle nodded excitedly. “Yep! Now, you’re the newest member of The Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

Matching her counterpart, Sweetie grinned as she looked over the cape, noting of the sparkly interior. “Ooh! Is that a club?”

Scootaloo puffed her chest and put a hoof over it. “And we’re the founding members!” She chuckled a bit and rubbed the back of her head as her pride deflated a touch. “We’d give you a full initiation, but we’re kinda short on time.”

Nodding in contemplation, Scootaloo looked up at the ceiling. “Makes me wonder how awesome it would be. I mean, I was involved in making it.”

The equestrian Scootaloo smirked. “Two words. Drum Solo.”

The smirk was matched by her human-turned-pony self, much to their friend’s amusement. “Sweet.” The six shared a laugh as they helped the three newest crusaders get their capes on. “Wow, this is a lot harder with hooves.”

Starlight was laughing at the sight herself, only to pause as a thought occurred when she looked at Pinkie. “So wait, what did Pinkie go with you guys for?”

It was a question; the pink pony was glad to answer herself. “Duh, to get something for the other me!” With an excited bounce, Pinkie pulled out a stack of bright pink presents and thrust it into Starlight’s face. “See? I got her a recipe book, some cupcakes, a mini-party cannon to go with her regular party cannon, and a secret ingredient for the best recipe of all time, and the best recipe of all time, so she can make them for her friends!”

A beat passed before Twilight and Starlight both shared a laugh at the scene before them. The princess turned to her friend with a somewhat sad smile, knowing what had to come next. “I’m going to miss having you over here. Even if you spent most of the time listening to me ramble on about magical theory.”

The pink unicorn jokingly gasped. “But those were the best moments you were rambling!” The two shared a laugh as Starlight hugged the purple princess. “I’m going to miss you too.”

Returning the embrace, Twilight smiled brighter. “Just remember to bug Sunset into letting you borrow the journal every now and again.”

“Will do.” Starlight broke off the hug and looked at the mirror, rubbing her foreleg. “I’d be lying to say I wasn’t still nervous.”

The purple hoof that landed on her shoulder brought a bit of comfort, and Twilight’s smile did the rest. “You’ll have Sunset and the girls there to help you. Sure, it won’t be the same ones you’ve known since coming here, but that just means you’ll have new friendships to forge.”

Rolling her eyes, Starlight snickered. “Okay Princess of Hammy Speeches, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Pouting a bit, the princess grumbled. “My speeches are accurate, and you know it.”

A smirk grew across Starlight’s face. “And full of ham.”

“Shush.” Twilight shared another laugh with Starlight before the journal vibrated. A quick peek into the book, and the princess turned to her departing friend with a sad smile. “Ready to go?”

“As I’ll ever be.” Taking a deep breath, Starlight started over to the rest of the group. As she joined the eight other members of the party leaving Equestria, she stood towards the back as they all shared a parting wave.

The Equestrian Crusaders started the vocal farewells, with Sweetie Belle unable to keep herself quiet. “It’s been fun!”

Scootaloo followed suit. “Later everypony!”

Applebloom wasn’t any better. “Y’all take care now!”

The rest of the Equestrians shared a laugh at the young fillies’ excitement before they joined in, Fluttershy taking the lead. “I hope you all stay safe!”

Pinkie shout-cheered as she exaggeratedly waved. “Don’t forget to write!”

Rarity gave a quick bow before she waved herself. “Take care Darlings!”

Rainbow pumped a hoof into the air. “Show the world how awesome you all are!”

Applejack tilted her hat and gave a nod of approval. ”Don’t be strangers now.”

One by one, all of them hopped through the portal. Before Starlight could join them, however, she took one last look back at the Equestrian friends she had made and made to wave, only to see some tears brimming in the corners of Twilight’s eyes. “You okay Twilight?”

The purple princess sniffled and nodded. “Yeah... I just... I don’t like saying goodbye. Not to friends.”

Starlight looked at the portal for a moment, before looking back to Twilight with a smile. “Then let’s settle for a see you later.”

Nodding, even as a few tears escaped her, Twilight smiled back. “Yeah. See you later.”

On the other side of the portal, Sunset and Pinkie waited for their friends to come back. “I wonder what’s keeping them.”

“They’re probably having a long series of heartfelt goodbyes that are being overlaid with a really somber piano and violin piece.” Pinkie nodded sagely, making the amber girl blink in confusion. “Just trust me.”

Hesitating as she leaned to the side, Sunset took a step away from her pink friend. “If you say so.”

A moment later, the rest of their friends stumbled out of the portal one by one. It inevitably led to them all getting stuck in a makeshift dogpile, but it was alright. The presents landed off to the side, and Applejack happened to be on the bottom of the pile. “Consarn it Rainbow, get your butt out of my face!”

“Get your face out of my butt!” Indeed, Rainbow was the picture of elegance and wit.

The only one not to fall into the pile was Starlight, who managed to catch herself when she stepped out. “Woah... that’s a trip and a half.”

“So, this is what you look like over here.” Sunset raised an eyebrow as she looked over her penpal, taking note of the beanie and jeans. “Nice hipster look.”

“Hey, I at least make it look good.” Starlight snarked back, before taking a look at herself. “I was kinda hoping I’d come back with my lab coat though. Guess it got eaten up in the first warp.”

Sunset shook her head and chuckled as she pulled out her cell. “Hey, you can probably get a new one, so it’s not exactly an emergency. Course, a missing person suddenly re-appearing at a high school does warrant a call to be made.” With a quick set of taps, she dialed and called. “CPD, this is Sunset Shimmer. I have more than information on the Starlight Glimmer disappearance. Please send a patrol car to Canterlot High School.” Sunset looked over to the pink-skinned girl and smiled. “I’m pretty sure she wants to go home.”

The ride in the patrol car was calm for the most part. Since only so many could fit inside, Sunset and Starlight both sat in the back as it drove off. The rest of the girls had wanted to join but decided to let Sunset handle this one. The police officer driving looked at them periodically through the rear-view mirror and had a smirk on his face. “Gotta say, this is probably the first time I’ve had you back there for doing something good.”

“Wait, what!?” Starlight looked at Sunset with shocked eyes.

Scratching the back of her head with an embarrassed smile, Sunset shrugged. “Yeah... I wasn’t exactly the best at being bad and sneaky at the same time. Easy in a high school, not so much on the street.”

“Still, it’s good to see you’ve gotten better.” The officer chimed in. “I was starting to worry that my bet with the others was going to cost me.”

“Wait, you made a bet on me getting better!?” Sunset semi-shouted. “Gee, thanks Shining. I thought we had something special.”

“That’s Officer Armor to you.” Armor chimed in joyfully. “And hey, I was saying you would, so that counts a little bit in my favor here.”

“I still find it worrying that you know a Police officer this well, Sunset.” Starlight added, with a frown.

“My past is not today.” Sunset chimed as the patrol car started to slow. “And grill me about it later. I think there’s someone who wants to see you, anyway.”

Starlight’s head turned to the door of the patrol car as another officer opened it up. On the far side of the drive, Firelight was standing next to another officer, jaw dropped. Slowly at first, Starlight exited the car. After a few moments of slowly moving towards each other, the two ran to the other and met in the middle of the drive with a hug that would outshine any other.

A hiccup from the pink girl preluded her sniffling speech. “I missed you.”

Tears streamed down each of their faces, and Firelight held his daughter close. “Welcome home, my baby girl.”

Author's Note

Okay, the chapter's done. I swear this didn't make me miss home, even though I've only been living in this apartment for maybe three months. And the song choice totally helped. It absolutely didn't make me feel more than I already did.

I'm not crying. YOU'RE CRYING!

Squadcars at Sunset

After Sunset got Starlight reunited with her dad, she came across a conundrum she hadn’t thought of before calling in to get her home. It was honestly something she should have thought of beforehand, but hindsight is twenty-twenty and all that. She was also facing further complications in getting out of said conundrum, due to her familiarity with one Officer Shining Armor.

Explaining how they had even found Starlight, and where she was.

“Well, uh, it’s a really complicated matter, one I’m not entirely sure I’d be able to explain. More so, it wasn’t even really me who found Starlight, but my friend’s little sisters, and even then they did it on accident.” Sunset smiled nervously as she tried to casually disarm the situation. “So instead of all that, how about we just go and drop me off at my house an--”

“Sunset, this was a missing person case that has been going for a month, and you found her within only a few miles of her home. I need details.” Shining crossed his arms and looked down at the nervous teen.

“... I think Celestia might actually be able to help with explaining this.” Sunset sighed as she slumped. “So much for keeping it secret.”

Officer Armor raised an eyebrow before tapping his foot. “And what would this secret be?”

The amber girl squirmed in place as she looked anywhere besides Shining Armor. “Can we please just go back to my place?”

Sighing, Officer Armor rubbed his face. “Sunset, I’m going out on a limb just doing this here instead of at the station, considering your record.”

Sunset’s head snapped up, and she gave a heated glare. “Hey, I needed to eat!”

Shining’s disappointed stare met her par for par. “And you should have gone to a shelter, not rob a grocery store. Repeatedly.”

Pointing a finger upward, Sunset moved to the patrol car and opened the back door. “Shelter food sucked and I had an ego the size of the city. Besides, it’s not a problem anymore.”

Stepping up to the driver door, Shining rubbed his face with a sigh. “We’re getting off topic. Where did you find Starlight Glimmer?”

“I told you, I kinda need Celestia to back up my story.” Sunset jumped into the back and crossed her arms after shutting the door. “I don’t want you to think I’m crazy longer than you need to.”

Knowing just how stubborn Sunset could get, Shining just let his arm fall to his side with a sigh. “Alright, we’ll do this your way.”

Without much fanfare, Shining put the squad car into drive and headed down the road. It wasn’t too long of a trip to get Sunset home. Within the hour, the car was already in front of a small light-tan suburban house, white picket fence, and banana yellow window sills.

Oh, and Celestia standing on the porch with her arms crossed and tapping her foot.

Wincing, Sunset stepped out of the patrol car and tried to hide behind it. “This is going to be awkward.” Forced by circumstance to move from her position, Sunset hid behind Shining Armor as the two walked over.

Not even missing a beat, Celestia’s eyes locked onto the fiery hair poking out from behind the police officer. “Sunset... why are you being escorted in a patrol car? Again?”

Sunset popped her head out from behind Officer Armor and held up her hands. “I didn’t do anything this time, I swear!”

Celestia’s eyebrow moved upward ever so slightly. “That is what you said last time.”

Smirking a bit, Shining raised his own hand and got Celestia’s attention. “Don’t worry, Celestia, this time she did a good thing.”

The school administrator’s eyebrow remained raised, but this time out of curiosity. “Really?” Her eyes drifted to Sunset, who was busy finding anything other than the two of them interesting.

Shining Armor didn’t pay her much mind. “According to her, her friend’s little sisters helped find a missing person, and get her reunited with her dad, and Sunset here was the one to inform the police and get a patrol car to the area.”

Smiling a bit, Celestia turned her gaze back to Shining for a moment. “Is that so? Then why is Sunset being brought home in a squad car?”

Shining frowned and glanced to Sunset himself. “She keeps telling me that you’ll be able to help with the ‘details’ on where they found her.”

“Well, it’s just that she was in a rather special place, and it’s kind of a secret that really shouldn’t be getting out, and if I gotta say it, I’d like someone to help confirm I’m not crazy.” Sunset gave a nervous smile as her eyes darted to Shining for a moment, silently begging Celestia for help here.

Mischief danced in Celestia’s eyes in return, and the amber teen instantly regretted her choices in life. “Sunset, if this is about that little clubhouse you built in the woods behind the school, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. It was quite impressive for someone your age.”

Sunset’s face went beet red as she jumped in place. “Wha-but-I!? I-I didn’t build one!”

A wry smile danced across Celestia’s face as she tittered into a hand. “But it was such a lovely little hut! There’s no need to be embarrassed.” Ignoring the increasingly red-faced girl, Celestia turned back to Shining Armor and pulled out her phone. “You should have seen it. She took a bunch of old branches and leaves and made a makeshift tribal hut to stay in a few years ago. I found her looking proud at a repair she had made on it one night, and it was so adorable, I took a picture before taking her in.”

Sunset buried her face in her hands and groaned. “Oh my goddess! I’m going inside!”

As the amber teen ran into the house and slammed the door, Celestia just smiled as she glanced over her shoulder. “She’s so easy to tease.”

Officer Shining Armor tilted his hat a bit, trying to hide his chuckling. “I take it she’s probably referring to said hut when she didn’t want to look crazy?”

Nodding, Celestia gave him a friendly and warm smile. “More than likely. I’ve been checking it periodically, and there was someone using it from time to time. I’d assumed it was a student from all the gardening supplies I found, though it appears I was wrong.” A few quick taps on her phone, and she brought up the photo she took all those years ago. “Here’s the photo. Isn’t she just cute?”

Shining really had to struggle not to laugh. “Oh wow, that is a lot of mud.”

Nodding as she laughed a touch herself, Celestia put the phone away. “The hut should be a few paces north from where the gardening club is supposed to be. The weather has probably done a number on it over the past few days.”

“Thank you for your help. We’ll be sending someone to investigate the hut itself later. Have a good day.” Giving Celestia a nod, Shining started back for his patrol car.

Celestia gave him a quick wave as he started getting into his seat. “You too, Officer Armor.” the pristinely white woman continued to wave for a moment, and when he was out of sight, went back inside. It took her no time at all to find Sunset. The embarrassed teenager was busy trying to smother herself with the couch cushions. “So, what actually happened?”

Sunset raised her head ever so slightly, just enough to talk, and groaned. “Starlight built a teleporter and accidentally sent herself to Equestria by fueling it with magic from the portal.” Her head landed back into the couch with a muffled thud.

Nodding, Celestia hummed. “I see. I assumed it had something to do with the portal. I really do hate lying to Shining like that, but some things are best left a secret for a good reason.”

“Speaking of,” glaring up from the pillows, Sunset frowned indignantly, “did you really have to tell him about the hut?”

Celestia smirked in return. “Did you want to go to a loony bin for being a magical unicorn?”

Sunset made to respond, only to freeze with her mouth open and hand raised. She eventually conceded defeat and sighed back into the couch. “Fair point.”

“Exactly.” Celestia lightly ran her hand through Sunset’s hair with a smile before she turned for the kitchen. “Now come on, I made a nice dinner for the three of us, and Luna is getting impatient.”

Luna could be heard from the table, much to Sunset’s amusement. “I heard that, Tia!”

“You were meant to!” Celestia shouted back before turning to Sunset with her darn gentle smile. “We made your favorite and everything~.”

Sunset instantly perked up, poking her head over the edge of the couch, eyes hiding her excitement poorly. “Sunshine Valley Salad?” At Celestia’s nod, she squeaked and darted from the sofa, much to the older woman’s amusement.

Sitting at the table, Sunset stared at the bowl of salad before her, drool almost falling from her lips. “Oh, how I’ve missed you.”

Luna, who was busy eating her own salad, along with a fish fillet, raised an eyebrow. “Sunset, you had that same salad a week ago.”

Taking a large bite, Sunset let a happy tear roll from her eye. “And I missed it.”

Celestia walked over to her plate and was laughing as she sat down. “Now both of you, manners when we’re at the table.” The three shared a small laugh and continued to eat at their own paces. Sunset was about to start digging into her own fish when Celestia caught her attention. “So, have you finally gone to your friends and told them where you’re staying?”

Luna smirked a bit and looked over at Sunset like the cat who caught the canary. “Oh don’t worry Tia, she might not have a choice anymore.”

Celestia looked a bit excited and raised an eyebrow to Sunset. “Really~?”

Sunset groaned and pouted, only slightly ruining her enjoyment of the salad she turned back to. “Luna helped Pinkie and I get into the private property Starlight’s dad lives in, and when Pinkie asked how I knew you knew a landlord, she roped me into promising that I would tell her and the girls later.”

Sighing with a shake of her head, but retaining her amused look, Celestia put her full attention on the teenager. “You’ve been living with us for years now, Sunset. It’s about time you trusted your friends with this, especially now that you have some to tell. I swear, it’s like you’re embarrassed by us.”

Blushing heatedly, Sunset angrily dug into her salad, mood ruined and started to grumble to herself. “It’s hard not to be when you act like this at home!”

Luna scoffed a bit and waggled her fork towards the amber teen. “Oh come off it Sunset, you’re just as bad when you want to be.”

“At least I don’t target a single person anymore! I spread out my targets to try to mess with my friends subtly, without using embarrassing photos of their childhood!” Sunset stuffed her mouth full of another bite of salad and was starting to calm down a touch. “I can’t tell who’s worse, you or the Princess.”

“Oh, Sunset.” Celestia laughed a touch before taking a bite of her own food. “The answer’s probably yes.”

The rest of dinner passed quietly for the three, minus the occasional verbal jabs at each other from Sunset and Luna. The amber teen volunteered to help with dishes, much to the two older women’s delight. Luna had silently slipped away from the table and back into her room, where her computer could be heard turning on, and Celestia was left alone with Sunset to clean.

As she scrubbed one of the bowls clean, Celestia couldn’t help but smile. “For the record, I’m proud of what you did today.”

A smaller blush than before danced its way onto Sunset’s cheeks. “Thanks, but it wasn’t anything too special. Starlight’s my friend too.” The two finished up the dishes in quick order before Sunset started up the stairs to go to her own room.

“Oh, and Sunset?” The amber teen turned to look at Celestia. “Don’t think I’ll let you forget that promise you made to Pinkie.”

Sighing, Sunset rubbed her face and headed to her room. “Tomorrow’s gonna suck.”

A Question Old as Time

The next day, Sunset had a bit of a break from her fate. When she got to class, all her friends were too focused on how excited they were from their gifts to pay her much mind. This was doubly so for Pinkie, who got far more than the others and seemed to be stuck in a positivity feedback loop. There was the possibility of how it might lead to a problem later, but the amber teen wasn’t going to look it in the mouth.

At least, this was the case until lunch.

Having decided to go back to the lunch room, instead of the roof, the six were idly chatting over how their trip to Equestria went. Rarity was bordering on being a bit too loud when doing so, much to the group’s worry. “Oh my goodness, Sunset, why didn’t you tell us how beautiful Twilight’s castle was!?”

Pulling her friend down into her seat, which Rarity had practically stood up from with her excitement, Sunset gave a calm smile. “Well to be fair, the last time I went through the mirror, it was in a different castle. That was the first time I’ve seen Twilight’s place myself.”

Rainbow stretched her arms and legs, before getting a forkful of their spaghetti, the choice meal of the day. “Well, I’m just glad that I’m not so short anymore. Like, for real! How did the other me stand to be so tiny!?”

Applejack adjusted her hat a bit and chuckled. “Wasn’t much of a difference between here and there, to be honest.” At the indignant squawk from Rainbow, the group shared a good-natured laugh at the athlete’s expense.

Fluttershy played with her food a bit after the laughter died down and frowned a bit. “I was surprised at how much older they were than us.”

Sunset rubbed the back of her head and smiled awkwardly. “Yeah, that was one of the weirder parts of traveling through the mirror to get here.” Her gaze moved to the windows, and the forest behind them. “One second I was pretty much the equivalent of a second-year college student being taught by the highest authority in the country, the next I was a prepubescent troglodyte, and that was more than five years ago.”

Pinkie had grabbed Sunset by the cheeks in a blur of motion too fast to track and pulled her to be face to face with the party girl. “Really!? Have I been getting the number of candles on your cake wrong this whole time!?” The twitch in the pink girl’s eye made Sunset worry.

The question her friend posed, however, did make Sunset pause and think. “Pinkie, I... honestly don’t have an answer for that.” Getting free of the pink one’s grasp, Sunset took a moment to rub her chin and look at her arm. “I’m not even sure what age my body would be considered right now.”

Rarity tapped her lips in thought, a frown gracing her face. “But, you looked about the same age as Twilight and her friends when you followed us through though.”

Sunset shrugged a bit and went back to her food. “Well, yeah, but that shouldn’t have been the case. Princess Twilight should be at least in her early-to-mid twenties right now. That would put me at almost thirty.” The table paused, Sunset included, as she blinked down at her spaghetti. “...Wow, I’m old.”

“Wait wait wait. Hold up!” Rainbow waved her arms wildly, getting the group’s attention. “Are you telling me that you’re seriously that old?”

Sunset looked to the side and idly scratched her cheek. “Uh... I think?”

The amber teen was grabbed by the shoulders, something getting a bit more common as she hung out with her friends, and Rainbow looked into her face, unable to process her thoughts. “Then how are you failing history so badly!? I’m doing better than you! I thought old people knew that kind of stuff!”

Frowning as she placed a hand on Rainbow’s face, Sunset pushed her friend back into her seat and glared. “Kinda hard to apply the history of a different dimension to my exams, Rainbow.” Huffing, she tried to go back to her food. “And my grades aren’t that bad anymore. I’ve been putting more effort into doing well.”

Realizing that she was still standing, and noticing how her outburst had drawn most of the lunchroom’s attention, Rainbow sheepishly sat back down. “Oh yeah... right. Eh heh, sorry.”

A snicker made the girls all look to Applejack, who was busy trying to hide her face. “Ah’m honestly surprised that’s the direction your brain went, Rainbow. Especially after ya tried to sneak into the Apple Cider last year.”

“Hey, just because I’m brash doesn’t mean I’m jumping at the chance to get drunk!” Rainbow scowled at the farmgirl before looking off at something in the distance. “Seriously, it’s not as great as you think.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow and leaned forward. “And how exactly would you know that?” The tension was palpable. Rainbow was glaring daggers at Applejack and Rarity, and the two were giving her looks of their own, either of amusement or judgment.

Thankfully for all, Pinkie popped her head into the center of everyone’s attention, smiling just a bit too wide. “I have the perfect topic change!”

The girls all stared at their irrepressibly excited friend, blinking dumbly. Sunset happened to be the first to get her wits back from the sudden interruption. “Uh... Yeah, pinks?”

A coy smirk grew across Pinkie’s face as she leaned over the table, head propped on her hands as she nearly laid across the surface. “Care to explain how you know so much about our Principals, Shimmy?”

Fluttershy blinked a bit in surprise, looking at her pink friend. “Sunset knows what?”

As eyes moved to Sunset, she felt a bead of sweat drip down her cheek, and her face paled ever so slightly. “Uh...”

Rainbow joined Pinkie in her smirking. “Oh, this is going to be good.”

Applejack wasn’t much better, resting an elbow on the table to lean in. “Now I’m curious.”

Frantically waving her hands, Sunset tried her best to get up from the table without making to big a deal out of her panicking. “I-It’s nothing. Really!”

A hand landed on Sunset’s shoulder, sending a wave of fear down her spine as the white digits curled towards her collarbone. “Darling.” Rarity’s words sounded normal, but the undertone of fresh, delicious gossip had brought out a side of her that was nearly unstoppable. “There is absolutely no conceivable way for you to keep gossip this juicy from me.” Gently, Sunset was pushed back into her seat, and Rarity’s second hand grabbed her other shoulder.

Seeing no possible way to escape, Sunset slumped with a sigh, head nearly landing in her food, if not for Pinkie pushing it away in time. “Fine.” She blushed a bit and started rubbing her arm. “So uh, since I’m from another world and all, I might not have had a place to stay when I first got here. So I might have been squatting in the woods outside the school.”

A small gasp from all her friends preceded the light massage Rarity gave her shoulders. “Sunset, that’s terrible!”

Nodding in agreement, Sunset sat up a bit straighter. “It was, and for a while, I was living off the streets like a rabid urchin, trying to piece together what I could and couldn't eat.” Her blush got a bit brighter, and a smile started to grace her lips. “Then, one day after I fixed up where I had been hiding out, Principal Celestia may or may not have found me.”

Now, the school could say what they wished about Rainbow Dash, but this was one of the moments in which she pieced together the implications almost instantly, and an amused smile grew across her face as she placed both hands on the table. “No... She didn’t!”

A laugh and a nod from Sunset answered her unvoiced question. “It seems both versions of Celestia have hearts made of golden suns, cause she took me in without a second thought. Even in my worse years, and after getting tested to see what grade I was ready for, she was patient with me to a point, or even asked much of me.”

Rarity’s massaging stopped, and Sunset was about to complain until she felt her friend give her a hug from behind, that was soon accompanied by her other friends joining in. “I doubt it was that smooth, darling.”

A barking laugh escaped Sunset as she shook her head. “Oh Tartarus no! There was so much tension that for years you could cut it with a knife!” The group shared in the laughter for a while before Sunset could talk properly again. “I mean, the person who took me in and is trying to be nice to me just so happens to be literally the same person I had a massive falling out with that lead me to run away in the first place. I wasn’t exactly in a mindset to cooperate willingly.”

“I’m just glad you have a home right now.” Fluttershy smiled that kind smile of hers.

“So am I.” Sunset contently sighed as she felt the group slowly stop hugging her.

Applejack paused for a moment as a thought occurred. “Okay, but there’s something else that’s been buggin’ me that kinda ties into all a’ that.” The group curiously turned to the farm girl, and she started pointing at the table in various spots as she explained. “Going by what Sunset said, and what we just went through, she should have come through the portal looking as she does now, but years ago when she first ran away, right?” The girls all looked to each other, thinking about the farmer’s words as she sat back up and scratched her head in confusion. “So why did it make her the same age as us, and not already in high school? Why make her an eighth grader?”

Rarity could only blink as the thought repeated again and again, before joining Applejack in her pondering. “You know, that’s actually a good question. Why did it do that?”

Sunset rolled her eyes and sighed, rubbing her temples as she turned to her orange friend. “Applejack, I’ve spent so long trying to figure that out, I gave up before I even tried to steal Twilight’s crown, and took it as a blessing in disguise. Sure, I got to go through puberty twice, but I’ll live for a few years longer than I would have in the end.”

The entirety of the group paled, and a shudder ran through them all. “Oh god, twice!?” Rarity nearly fainted, but instead turned to the party planner of the group and pointed. “Pinkie! We need as much chocolate as you can find!”

Getting off the table, finally, Pinkie saluted. “Aye Aye, Captain!”

Before she could run off though, Sunset managed to get a hold of her skirt and keep her at the table. “Girls, let's agree that human biology is an absolute nightmare for women and leave it at that. I really don’t want to talk about it.”

Rainbow and the others agreed before it was Rainbow’s turn for a eureka moment “Hey, you said the portal has a mind of its own when it comes to what you look like on the other side, right?” As Sunset nodded, Rainbow snickered and leaned back as much as her seat would allow. “Maybe it just made you a little kid back then cause you were acting like one.”

The silence that echoed across the table could be felt by the other occupants of the lunchroom. Several of the tables had their attention diverted from their food to the sudden unease radiating from the center of the room.

Sunset immediately stood up with a glower on her face. “Where’s my sledgehammer?”

In a moment of unified worry, the five girls all grabbed onto Sunset as she struggled to get towards the lunchroom’s door. “Sunset no!”

Slowly powering through and dragging them with her, the amber teen’s frustrations were proving to be quite the potent source of strength. “Sunset yes!”

Fluttershy was barely clinging to Sunset’s ankle as she cried from the ground. “How would Twilight get here if you smashed the portal?”

That was enough to stop the fiery-haired teen’s march of vengeance before she stood in place and grumbled. “The portal’s lucky we need it.”

With a collective sigh of relief, though annoyance would be a better word in one’s case, the girls all went back to their lunch. It was also a small show of mercy for Sunset that the rest of her day went rather smoothly, almost mimicking the start. It kinda annoyed her, but at least she did what Celestia asked in the long run.

Besides, there was that Friendship Games thing in a few weeks, right? She should probably ask the girls about that later.

Hopefully, there wouldn't be any shenanigans from with the portal during all of that.

Author's Note

So, it has come to the point where this part of the story comes to an end. As fun as it would be to keep it going, life tends to drift away from events after they happen. But worry not, there will be an epilogue to go with all this. Just be patient.

And where one story ends, another begins.

Until the next story, my lovely readers, I bid you all farewell, and thank you for taking the time to read, comment, and show your love and support.

Epilogue: Round and Back Again

To say the Friendship Games had been eventful would have been an understatement. Not only was the statue in the courtyard destroyed, but a lot of students had almost ended up falling out of their home dimension and into a world full of ponies.

Lyra probably would have jumped through one if it hadn’t been a thousand-foot drop to the nearest piece of land, but that was a different issue she was seeing a psychiatrist about.

For a group of six that had just become seven not too long ago, they were busy having a picnic in front of the plinth the Canterlot Wondercolt had formerly been standing upon. It was a modest affair, compared to their usual shenanigans, and in Sunset’s opinion, it was a nice change of pace.

Pinkie was resting on the top of the statue’s base, juice box in hand, idly counting clouds with a smile on her face. Fluttershy and Twilight were playing with Spike, much to the puppy’s delight. Rarity was messing with Rainbow’s hair, much to the soccer star’s annoyance. Applejack was calmly drinking some apple juice, watching it all in amusement. Finally, Sunset herself was busy munching on a sandwich, staring at Rainbow and Rarity with tiredness that could only be produced by a friend.

And then the portal opened, and Twilight rushed out. “I’m so sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I didn’t get your messages until now cause I got caught in this time-travel loop and honestly it was the strangest thing to ever happen to me!” The princess finished with a small gasp for air, smiling for an instant, before shaking her head and staring dumbly at the person in front of her.

Namely, herself.

The two Twilights stared at each other, occasionally blinking in surprise, with the rest of the group staring as well. Pinkie’s slurping of the remains of her juice box could be heard, even as some snickering escaped Rainbow and Applejack. Sunset herself was busy looking at the two with an amused smirk.

The lavender princess smiled nervously at her counterpart and pointed her finger at her. “Make that, second strangest.”

Before much else could be said, someone else joined in on the picnic, bringing with her a basket holding extra food. “Hey, I got the rest of the sandwich--.” Starlight’s words caught in her throat for a moment, before she shook her head and stared at the two Twilights. “Uh, hey Princess... what brings you here?”

The lavender princess beamed as she walked over and hugged her old friend. “Starlight! It’s so good to see you again!”

Twilight shook her head, eye beginning to twitch. “Wait, again!?” Turning to the Rainbooms, she pointed at her doppelganger. “I thought Sunset was the only one from the other side of the mirror.”

Sunset chuckled a bit and scratched her cheek. “It’s kind of a long story. Let’s just say that yeah, that’s this world’s Starlight Glimmer, and there were some interesting developments over the past month.”

“Well, that’s a way to put it.” Applejack laughed as she got up. “The long and short of it, Twilight, is that the girls and ah all done screwed up so badly at being Sunset’s friends at Christmas, that our counterparts from her world personally came here to smack some sense into us on principle.”

“So... that’s why I saw duplicates that day.” Twilight adjusted her glasses in thought. “I thought I was going crazy from sleep deprivation.”

Rarity tittered nervously for a moment. “Well, we did have a quick meeting with our Equestrian selves a few weeks before the Friendship Games.”

Twilight stared blankly at them for a moment, before she found her voice again. “I-I see." She had to take a deep breath before she continued. "Wow, this is a lot to take in. I mean, I’ve pretty much been forced to accept that magic exists, so it can’t be any crazier than that, right?” There was a hair popping out of place on Twilight’s head, and it was quickly being joined by a few more.

Starlight gave an uneasy grin as she rubbed the back of her head. “On top of that, I had been experimenting with some sort of energy that was radiating off of the school, and accidentally ripped a hole in reality that left me stranded in their world.” A chuckle escaped the group at Twilight’s increasingly confused face. “Though I have to say, running around on all fours wasn’t as bad as you’d think.”

The bespeckled young woman took it all as best she could, by which the information was being processed logically while her emotions took a coffee break to keep her from suffering a meltdown. There was one tidbit, however, that brought her back into focus. “Wait, you were researching the energy too!?”

Starlight blinked in surprise. “Um... yes? I even built a teleporter that ran on it.” She frowned and looked at the portal for a second. “Though, I guess calling it an interdimensional gate would be better at this point.”

Twilight’s eyes were twinkling with excitement as she walked a little bit closer to Starlight. “Can I see it?”

The group all laughed at the young lavender girl’s excitement. None more so than her counterpart. When Princess Twilight finally stopped her laughter, she had to wipe away a tear. “Oh wow, so this is how my friends felt when you all talked it out.”

Sunset chuckled along with them. “Yeah, though I would have thought that the ‘holes in reality’ part would have stuck with her more.”

Twilight’s eyebrow raised as she smiled at Sunset with a hint of confusion. “Why would that be?”

Silence caught the group as the younger of the two lavender women froze and paled a bit. “Um...”

Princess Twilight stared for a second before her gaze slowly turned to disbelief. “No.”

Twilight looked down in shame, wringing her hands. “I-I made a device that was supposed to track the energy I’d been detecting coming from the school. Only, when my old school, Crystal Prep, came here for the friendship games, it started collecting the magic instead.” She deflated slowly as she kept going. “When the other students thought the girls were actively using the magic to cheat, they pressured me to unleash what I’d collected.”

“And it turned you into something dark, didn’t it?” The princess finished somberly, as a few tears started to escape her counterpart. Getting up, Twilight walked over to her counterpart. “It’s okay. I can tell this story has a happy ending. You’re right here after all.” She gave her younger self a hug and was quickly followed by the Rainbooms. When their skin came into contact, there was a small shock between the two lavender girls. “Ow!” The two Twilights looked at each other in confusion, before snickering at each other. “I guess there was more static than I thought.”

“As for that happy ending,” Sunset added in, “After she was turned into what we’ve decided to call ‘Midnight Sparkle’, and started ripping holes in the fabric of reality to get to Equestria and learn everything there was to know about magic, I was able to help calm her down with some magic of our own.”

Starlight waved a hand and broke from the hug, slowly being followed by the others. “But seriously, enough about that. I’m already kinda peeved I missed it all.” She looked at the princess and smiled. “Now, you were saying something about a time loop? How’d that happen?”

Now it was the princess’s turn to look nervous. Letting out a laugh a little too forced, she glanced to the side and was sweating a touch. “Uh, so you know how we were wondering where your counterpart ran off to, and how we thought you were her?”

“Are you implying that your world’s version of me broke time itself?” Starlight’s eyes narrowed as she stared incredulously. “That’s just-- I don’t-- Has she never read any science fiction stories? For what conceivable reason would breaking time even look like a valid idea!? Screwing around with time is never a good idea!”

“She was going back in time to prevent Rainbow from performing a Sonic Rainboom that ultimately helped shape me and my friend’s destinies and brought us together in the first place because she wanted to destroy our friendship?” The lavender princess was doing her best to hide between her shoulders as she leaned back from the increasingly irritated young woman. “To be fair, when she realized the potential damages she was inadvertently causing after I pulled her into one of those alternate futures, Starlight stopped and explained why she didn’t like my friends or me.”

As Twilight finished, Starlight just stood there and stared ahead blankly. The group all stared at Starlight in worry. “Twilight.” The pink girl finally turned her head and stared directly into the princess’s eyes. “I completely understand why your friends ran over here after the Anon-a-Miss incident.”

The group all blinked. “What?”

Before anyone could stop her, Starlight let out a war cry and charged through the portal. Despite being across a dimensional barrier, the group could still hear her. “WHERE AM I!? I NEED TO KICK THE STUPID OUT OF MY HEAD, AND NO ONE CAN STOP ME!”

At the dropped jaws of all present, Spike finally spoke up after he rolled onto his belly. “Wow, and you all say I’m weird cause I can talk.”

Twilight, the princess one, sighed and stood up. “I better go grab her and keep her from breaking anything.” She gave Sunset a quick hug and smiled. “It’s been good to see you again, and even better to know everything worked out over here.”

“Same. Now go save Starlight from herself.” Sunset and the girls waved Twilight off, before turning back to their picnic.

The Twilight who remained shook her head and held it in her hands as she sat back down. “Just how crazy is this school?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Eh, that’s pretty much par for the course this year.”

Twiddling her fingers, Twilight looked at Sunset. “Do you think she’d like to share notes? You girls are awesome, but I kinda want to see what she accomplished with her research and if my own notes can help improve it.”

Sunset started to go back to eating her sandwich with a smile. “I’ll see what I can arrange.”

“Hey Sunset, do you think we’ll ever run into this world’s you?” Pinkie asked as she hopped back onto her place on the former statue’s plinth.

Sunset found herself frowning a bit, before shaking her head. “A topic for another day, Pinkie. I’m not sure where she is, but I’m sure she’s out there. For now, I got to figure out what to get Celestia for her birthday.”

“It’s the principal’s birthday!?” Pinkie leaned down, face hanging upturned before Sunset.

Sunset just laughed and gave a small nod. “In a few weeks.”

Pinkie flipped back down off the plinth and pulled out the mini cannon she got as a gift. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner!? Now I can test out this bad girl and see what she can do!” They all laughed at Pinkie’s antics and enjoyed their picnic as they waited for Starlight to get punted back across the portal.

Author's Note

And Boom.

Setting up a Meeting

A week had passed since Rainbow got an ultra-kick to her stomach during the Diabolical Doppelganger Disaster, and the school was functioning about as well as it usually did. Not much was of concern to many of the students, aside from figuring out the literature club’s seemingly cancerous use of alliterations in describing everything and naming events. The majority were just happy that it was a Friday and they would be free to run away from their prison of paper and assignments.

There was the bonus that The Friendship Games were supposed to be happening in about a month, however, and a handful of students were wondering if some more magical shenanigans would ensue.

Across a multitude of dimensions, people and ponies all laughed or felt sorry for the poor fools.

Neither of these was Sunset’s direct concerns, however, as she sat amongst her friends during lunch. The issue wasn’t that the food was terrible; Granny Smith did a superb job as usual for a woman with her age and experience. It also wasn’t that people were falling back into Anon-A-Miss mode and blaming her for things; granted if they did she’d probably punch someone. No, the issue was also what caused their current seating arrangements to be different from usual.

Eating on the roof of the school was not as comfortable or cute as Fluttershy’s anime collection made it out to be.

Rainbow was occasionally shooting glares down at the students walking around the sports fields between bites as she devoured her hamburger. She could see a handful of different groups snickering as they walked — namely the gaming club and the soccer team. Sunset pondered for a moment how it was relating to the ice pack the soccer star was sitting on.

Applejack was muttering to herself as she nibbled away at an apple, too focused on what was on her mind to dig in. One foot was tapping away as she leaned against the small ridge along the roof. Sunset also noted that she was avoiding the school’s library like the plague, and was being rather touchy about some subjects as of late.

Rarity had the most elaborate outfit she could be allowed to wear to school, a full dress that ended at her ankles, wide-brimmed sun hat, and over-the-top sunglasses, and was trying her best not to ruin it with her food. Ever since her counterpart had nearly torn her clothes apart in the school, she’d been getting looks from some of the boys that she would rather not, and the heated looks of their girlfriends.

Fluttershy kept sneaking glances at the door to the roof as she ate her salad. It was like she was afraid that someone was out to get her and was always on guard. Sunset even almost got slugged by the girl earlier, because she accidentally startled her. The amount of force from the punch, despite that it missed, legitimately terrified the former unicorn. She would never have expected Fluttershy of all people to have a hook like that.

Finally, Pinkie was laying down on her back with a party blower in her mouth, meal already finished, occasionally blowing it up into the air. The only thing Sunset could label the look on her face with was boredom incarnate. Sunset couldn’t blame her though, seeing as that girl’s whole life centered on parties, and Vice-Principal Luna had banned her from throwing any on school grounds until after this week had ended.

The student council's party planer really should have thought twice about putting a small sprinkle cannon in the office as a prank.

Putting her tray to the side, Sunset rubbed her face with a sigh and got all of their attention. “Okay, that’s it. I can’t take this.” She looked up at all of them and frowned. “Why are we all eating up here? There’s a perfectly good lunch table downstairs with seats that don’t eat away at my backside.”

Rarity frowned a bit and huffed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s a lovely day, and I thought that it’d be nice for all of us to spend it outside.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “On an uncomfortable rooftop?”

Applejack adjusted her hat and turned her head away, eyes darting around. “Yep. Nothing like sitting up here and eating lunch with your friends.”

Deadpanning at the two, Sunset crossed her arms. “This is about last week, isn’t it?”

Rainbow grumped as she put her hands on her knees, burger finally devoured. “How could you tell?”

“It was kinda obvious Sargent Sarcasm.” Sunset sniped back, before sighing. “Look, I get it, it’s been hard on you guys since your counterparts pulled that stunt, but it can’t be anywhere near as bad as you’re all making it out.”

“I haven’t been able to walk down the hallway without someone asking me to wear that Chinese dress they saw her in for a week. It doesn’t help that I haven’t been able to get Sweetie to help me lately. I can’t believe she recorded that entire scandal!” The over-fashioned young woman remarked, her gaze being felt even through the shades on her face. “And I swear if I get one more request from Photo Finish for a private photoshoot, I’ll rip her head off.”

Fluttershy blinked a bit before raising an eyebrow. “But don’t you want to advertise your skills as a dressmaker?”

Rarity looked over her shades at the meek animal caretaker. “Not that kind of photoshoot, darling.”

Blushes spread all around after that comment, drawing a meek “oh” from the shy girl.

The farmer of the group rubbed the back of her head, sat up, and cleared her throat. “Anyways. As for me, Ah can’t even go into the library without getting looks from the staff. Most of ‘em are amused, but there’s more than a few who are still a mite sore with Bloom and me.”

The soccer player of the group glanced at the soccer field and grumbled. “I finally get back on the field, and I keep getting soccer balls kicked at me by that jerk Lightning Dust. I wouldn’t even need another ice pack right now if it wasn’t for her!” She adjusted a pack that was under her rear before grumbling. “That, and I keep finding belts and magazines about belts in my locker. Seriously, what is with all the belts!?”

Sunset frowned and glared at the soccer field herself this time. “Shouldn’t Lightning be kicked off the team for that?”

Shaking her head, the prismatic Sportsgirl sighed. “No, it's the first offense. She got let off with a warning. She does it again though, and I’m kicking her butt with a soccer ball!”

The fiery-haired girl nodded and offered a fist. “I don’t condone the violence, but I agree with the feelings.” The two shared a quick fist bump before Sunset turned to the next in line. “And you, Fluttershy?”

“Oh um...” The shy girl hid behind her hair a bit and started fidgeting with a strand. “I haven’t been able to find the janitor anywhere, and with what my counterpart said, it’s been somewhat terrifying.”

Sunset raised a hand, before pausing and nodding her head. “Okay, considering who his counterpart is, that’s understandable.”

Rainbow looked conflicted as she glanced at the Wondercolt statue. “Seriously though, Sunset, he’s a God of Chaos on that side?”

Rarity smirked a bit and snickered. “Though, that would explain why you were so afraid of him when he got hired.”

The orange girl frowned and crossed her arms, letting her pout be known. “I may have been a jerk, but I wasn’t going to mess with chaos gods. That would just be detrimental to my continued well being and sanity, even if he only appears as a janitor right now.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow as a small frown graced her face. “Appears?”

“I’m not chancing it. Chaos gods are known for trickery, shenanigans, and driving people insane when they least expect it.” Fluttershy slowly slid herself to sit on the opposite side of Sunset from the door, getting a bit closer to the fire-haired girl then would be platonically acceptable.

Not that Sunset minded, though she would never admit to that. At least not in public. Or to herself. Was she staring off into space? Certainly not. She totally wasn’t blushing either by the way. Anyone who said otherwise was crazy.

To Sunset’s immediate rescue from the narrowing eyes growing on a smirking Rarity’s face, Pinkie bounced up from the ground and groaned. “I need to throw a party soon. All of this no party nonsense is driving me loco in the cocoa!”

Rainbow perked up and smiled as a thought came to her. “Sleepover at Sunsets?”

The former unicorn grimaced. “Dash, I don’t think my landlord would allow that.”

Applejack sighed as she stood up, getting all of their attention. “Sorry Pinkie, but ah don’t exactly feel up for a party right now. Too much on my mind.”

Rarity soon joined the farmer as she picked up what remained of her food. “I’m afraid I’m with Applejack on this one, darling. I can’t seem to focus on anything right now and wouldn’t want to ruin the night for any of you.”

Rainbow groaned and put a hand on her knee. “Oh come on! It’s not like a party would kill either of you!”

The farmer shook her head and started for the door. “Dash this ain’t something I can just let go of right now. Ah’m already having a hard enough time getting everyone’s trust back after what Bloom and her friends did, and that brawl only made it worse.”

Rainbow Dash sighed as she got up too; most of their friend group following suit if they weren’t standing already. “Yeah, yeah, I get ya there.” She picked up her ice pack and started for the door with everyone. “But it’s not like we can just ask them to come over whenever we want to talk about it. They’re probably still doing whatever Twilight punished them with.”

The butter-skinned caretaker bit her lip a bit and frowned. “I hope she’s not going too hard on them...”

Sunset put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ve been talking with Twilight about it all, and their punishments should all be served in a few days or so, if not already.” She gave her bag a quick pat as they all started down the stairs. “She didn’t give me any details, seeing as this is a bit of a legal matter over there, but I’m pretty sure that they’re all being treated fairly.”

The bell for class rang as they were halfway down the stairwell, and the group shared a quick nod before departing for their classes with some quick farewells and promises to hang out after school. Despite that, Sunset found herself focusing on one thought in particular as the day went on. It echoed in her head, repeating like a broken record.

“But it’s not like we can just ask them to come over whenever we want to talk about it.”

She frowned as she let the thought continue while she breezed through her math work. A smile slowly grew as the thought turned into an idea, and then into a plan. When her math class ended, she pulled out her journal and quickly started writing.

Hopefully, her friends were all free on Sunday.

Apples to Apples, Dashies to Dash: Part 1 - The Exchange

Sunday morning crawled it’s way into Sunset’s eyes as the sun did the same into the sky. With a few muttered curses, she sat up in bed and glared at the window, now that the light wasn’t hitting her eyelids. “Maybe this is why my mother named me Sunset. It’s the antithesis to the very occurrence I hate most first thing in the morning.” Even as she was muttering about the sun waking her up too early, she couldn’t help but feel some nostalgia at the event. It wasn’t like it was the first time the “sun” woke her up early, much to her protesting.

The sensation of nostalgia crept up on her. Those were the days; desperately trying to remain within the comfort of a mountain of plush toys, and play tug-of-war against a slightly irate princess.

A small pang of guilt hit her heart from the memory, but she shook her head and marched over to her bathroom, getting ready for the day. “No time to think on her right now, Sunset. We’ve got a big day today.” Staring herself in the mirror, she sighed and rubbed her face before continuing her morning routine. “You also really need to stop talking to yourself. People will think you’re crazy.”

With her teeth brushed, body clean, and outfit looking as sharp as ever, Sunset gave herself a once over in the mirror before her phone started to go off with a string of text messages.

Applejack: Morning girls!

Rarity: Good morning. Is everyone ready for today?

Pinkie: Abso- tootly- lutely!

Fluttershy: I hope Rainbow doesn’t sleep in too much.

Rainbow: I’m up! Geez... Sleep in on something important once, and nobody lets you live it down.

Fluttershy: Sorry, Rainbow

Chucking, Sunset picked up her phone and started leaving the apartment, remembering when they were scheduled to perform one morning, and their lead guitarist was asleep for another two hours. Adding her own texts into the mix, the fiery-haired girl started walking around to the back of her apartment.

Sunset: Morning girls.

Rarity: Good morning, Sunset! I actually had a quick question for you.

Sunset: Oh?

Rarity: Will I need to bring anything with me when I cross over? It just occurred to me that I might be mistaken for my counterpart.

Sunset thought about it for a moment as she got to her motorbike. “Hmm... that’s a good question.” She spent a minute leaning against her bike in thought, trying to figure how Twilight was planning on handling everything on her side. When she couldn’t think of anything, she decided instead to trust her royal friend. She was about to add her thoughts to the group chat when she saw that one of their friends was thinking similar.

Rainbow: I don’t think so, but I’m pretty sure Twilight has a plan or something. Egghead and all that.

Rarity: Really, Rainbow Dash? There’s no need to be like that.

Rainbow: What? She is! Like, she and Sunset keep making my head spin from half the stuff they go on about!

Applejack: She’s got ya there Rares.

Rarity: Oh hush, both of you.

Snickering at the three’s messages, Sunset tucked her phone away and started up her bike. With a roar, her ride came to life, and she tore down the road to the school.

The wind in her hair felt phenomenal, in her opinion. The high speeds were the closest she’d get to flying without leaving the ground, danger included. It brought back memories of chariot rides as a filly, and her Dad giving her tours of places only pegasi could go. A part of her wondered if he was still running that blimp service he started. Shaking her head gently, Sunset put her focus back on the road.

She had places to be.

Twilight was pacing in front of the door leading into the portal chamber/relic storage, or as Spike liked to call it, Twilight’s ”I just really like these books, and you can take them from my cold dead hooves” room. The guards customarily stationed at that door since the entire debacle involving a certain pegasus leading a makeshift crusade into another world were currently off duty at her order. To be fair, The princess had mixed feelings about Lemon Zest and Sugarcoat, as well as the rest of her new guard, but they seemed like decent enough mares. Still, it didn’t stop her from wishing her dad’s and brother’s influence as a former captain from ensuring that any stallion would never make it into the first enlistment of her branch.

She kinda wanted to see for herself what she missed out on as a filly while reading all those books. Especially after Sunset shared that certain little secret she’d kept since her time as Celestia’s student.

She wasn’t desperate. Honest. The thought of her being desperate was absolutely insane, and by no means Cadence’s fault for reminding her of how single she was.

The lavender alicorn’s immediate concerns kept interfering with that line of thought, however, as she was more worried about how the day would go. After all, planning a meeting across dimensions was a rather tall order. Twilight finally stopped her pacing and turned to her assistant, who was leaning against the wall looking bored. “Spike, is this still a good idea? What if they all fight again?” Her mane started to fray as she sat down and played with her mane. “What if it malfunctions and half of our friends are stuck as the wrong species forever!? What if the mirror closes or breaks and they’re trapped on the wrong side!? What if it shrinks them!?”

Spike, in contrast, took a deep breath and sighed. “Twilight. You have been up all night, making sure every last detail about the portal was properly maintained, clean, and was as up to date as possible. You made me go out and get a new mana coil, at midnight, just to ensure everything was working. I think everything is going to be fine.”

“But what if it isn’t Spike!? What if it--” Twilight’s lips were pinched shut by her assistant before the Royal Voice V.4 could escape any further.

“Twilight, calm.” Spike patted her on the neck for a moment before letting go of her lips.

The lavender princess took a moment to glare at the drake, before performing the same stress relief technique her sister-in-law showed her as a filly. After a few iterations, Twilight’s mane began to return to normal, along with her stress levels. “Spike, thank you. I needed that.”

The young drake smirked as he crossed his arms. “That’s what I’m here for.”

Rolling her eyes a moment, a smirk of her own grew as the lavender alicorn pulled the young dragon over for a hug. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Still somewhat smirking, Spike looked up. “Probably go insane?”

Twilight’s hug remained the same, even though she gave him a light noogie in retaliation. “Don’t ruin the moment.”

The sound of hooves from down the hall made both of them perk up and look to the hall’s end. “That must be the girls. Can you double check the portal for me?”

Giving his surrogate sister a salute, Spike headed for the door leading to the portal room. “Sure thing, Twilight.”

Alone in the hallway once more, Twilight took a final deep breath and stood tall. “Alright. Let’s do this. And I’m not saying anything else on the matter, cause I’m not going to jinx this.”

Putting her bike into park and dismounting, Sunset quickly spotted her friends at the statue. A smile graced their faces as they noticed her walk over and adjust her coat. “You know, I really should start heading out earlier. I’m almost always last to these meetings for some reason.”

“I know, right? Like, whenever it’s something important, you’re late, but if it’s anything else, you’re practically first. It’s like the world’s pulling some stupid joke on you.” Rainbow added, throwing her arms up as she leaned against the side of the statue.

The party planner of the group rolled her eyes a bit, standing a bit to the soccer star’s left. “That, or the Author was being lazy and didn’t want to write everyone showing up one at a time and instead spent at least five days reading instead of writing like they told themselves they would.”

Everyone blinked at the surprisingly judgemental tone that Pinkie just used, before shaking their heads. It was just Pinkie being Pinkie, after all. There was... no reason she was correct about that.

None at all.

Despite Pinkie glaring at something off in the distance, the girls all diverted the topic back to their plan for the day. “So, Rarity, Fluttershy, you two ready to cross over to Equestria?”

“As ready as we can ever be.” The fashionista adjusted her hair a bit and put her compact away into her tote bag. A few papers could be seen peeking out, and Sunset raised an eyebrow. Rarity blushed as they noticed them looking curiously and waved a hand. “I know you all said that we wouldn’t need anything, but I can’t help but want to bring over some of my work, even if it is just the sketches. Maybe after all the talks are over with my counterpart and I can talk about fashion. Without Sweetie adding her two cents, this time.”

The butterscotch girl nodded with a small smile. “Um, I didn’t bring anything like that, but I think it would be easier for us to talk if there were some animals nearby.”

“Well, she is technically you, so I can see that working.” Sunset tapped her chin and hummed for a moment before the journal started to buzz. Taking a peek inside, she smirked and nodded to the girls. “Well, that was Twilight. She says she’s ready for you two to come over.”

Rarity and Fluttershy shared a glance before the former scooted the latter closer to Sunset, getting a small eep out of the girl along with a panicked stare at the dressmaker. With a bashful smile, the animal caretaker turned to the former unicorn. “We’ll be back before you know it.” At Sunset’s sudden lack of vocal ability, Rainbow made a small gagging noise behind her back, unnoticed by the two who caused it.

Applejack, however, just chuckled and tipped her hat towards the shy girl and fashionista respectively. “We’ll be waiting, Sugarcube.”

“O-Okay, Um, I’ll see you later?” The butterscotch girl took a few steps back before looking at Rarity and heading for the portal. Both were hesitant for a moment but stepped through when they found their hands able to slide through the marble.

The girls remaining on this side of the portal all decided to sit down for a moment, with Applejack laying on the grass, Rainbow leaning against the statue, Sunset on the sidewalk with her legs to the side, and Pinkie on top of the monument giggling.

“So, what exactly are we gonna do once they’re here?” The soccer star asked eyebrow raised. “I mean, I get that we’re all gonna talk about what happened and all, but knowing me, my counterpart’s gonna want to do something other than talk.”

The fiery-haired girl chuckled a bit and pointed a thumb over her shoulder. “That’s why I picked the soccer field for our meeting. Once you two are done talking, you can probably have an impromptu match.”

The prismatic girl smiled widely and pumped a fist in the air. “Sweet! Maybe she can teach me how to kick like she did!”

Sunset felt a bead of sweat drip down her cheek. I doubt it, Rainbow.

Applejack tipped her hat back a moment to smile at the two. “Ah’ll probably just do some rope tricks with the other me while we’re waitin’ for Dash to finish up that match. Y’all said our counterparts were a bit older than us, so maybe she can show me a thing or two.”

Pinkie perked up. “Yeah, that’s true! How old did you say you were again, Sunny?”

Before Sunset was forced to answer such an embarrassing question, whatever divine being existed in this world saved her with the shimmering of the portal, as Rainbow and Applejack’s counterparts stumbled through, slightly off balance. The Equestrian Rainbow managed to catch herself, but her friend landed much less gracefully and pushed herself off of the ground afterward. Much to the high school girls’ surprise, the outfits of the two were different than the last time they came through.

Rainbow’s counterpart looked to be in a blue, military grade flight suit, with her trademark rainbow bolt sewn into the breast pocket, along with a few medals and a single gold, winged lighting bolt pin, and a flight helmet on her head. The prismatic soccer player had to blink at the sight, thinking that somehow her counterpart had gotten into her home somehow.

Applejack’s counterpart, on the other hand, left the farm girl feeling a bit dumbstruck. There was something about the orange n’ peach plaid shirt and the denim jeans the other her wore, like she’d seen them before, but couldn’t quite remember where or when. She recognized the belt and boots instantly, however, as they matched her own.

Sunset looked between the two new arrivals and the portal, before looking confused. “Isn’t Pinkie coming over?”

The plaid Applejack shook her head a bit and dusted off her hat, before replying. “Nope. Pinkie said that since she and your Pinkie were on good terms that it wasn’t really needed.”

The pink young girl on the statue leaned over and gave a thumbs up. “Sounds good to me!”

The soccer player got up and walked over to her counterpart, scrutinizing every detail she could see. “Weren’t you covered in belts last time?”

The flyer took off her helmet and looked at herself in a bit of confusion. “Huh, weird. This is a lot looser than the Wonderbolt suits.”

Sunset hummed in thought as she raised an eyebrow. “Does the mirror take into account one’s intentions when crossing? I wonder why I didn’t notice that before.”

The younger farmer got up off the grass and brushed off her skirt, before looking at the former unicorn. “Why don’t we save that question for another day, and get this shindig going.”

The fiery-haired girl nodded in agreement, before the six girls headed away from the statue, and towards the soccer field, ready to have some privacy so two pairs of them could talk in peace.

They were unaware of the pair of purple eyes watching them from the bushes across the street. Their owner lowered the binoculars from her glasses and stared dumbfounded at the sight, before shaking her head and looking at the time. “Wow... I have been up way too long. I saw completely impossible hallucinations.”

The young girl quickly beat a hasty retreat away from the school, determined to sleep for the rest of the day. “Until I can get my computer set to track those readings proper, no more field work.” She paused as the dog in her bag barked. “Or staying up for more than twenty-four hours on research binges. Thank you for reminding me, Spike.”