Boxcars: What's Lost is Found
Rarity tapped her foot as she stood in line for her daily cup of coffee. She'd never seen the place so busy before; if they didn't hurry up, she was going to miss her manicure session! She sighed and resorted to checking her cell phone, a dreadful habit she avoided whenever possible. She would just have to peek over the top every couple of seconds to make sure the line hadn't moved while she was drawn to her screen.
"Next! Pink Sherry, your order's up!"
As Rarity stepped closer, she could start to hear a barista calling out the orders and beckoning customers forward. But her voice... Rarity thought it sounded awfully familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. She looked up, but the barista who had been speaking ducked behind the coffee grinders, and the only one she could see was the male barista at the other register. "Hmm." She returned to her phone, noting idly that she was now second in line, and it wouldn't be long now. As the man in front of her stepped up, suddenly her thoughts started to race. Did she want to get a caramel macchiato, or the pumpkin spice? She always did this, right before it was her turn to order. The caramel was her favorite, but the pumpkin spice was in season, though if she got that, she'd give off the appearance of being basic, but then again she'd only just had a caramel dessert last night, and her desire to have caramel was much lower than usual...
"Next!"
Rarity looked up from her phone, but nearly dropped it when she saw who was speaking to her. The girl had the spitting image of Sunset Shimmer. There were a few notable differences: for one, she wore a red barrette to hold back her much-longer hair, and for another, her mouth had a certain firm, no-nonsense appearance that her friend Sunset's never bore.
"Well, miss? Can I help you?"
Rarity shook off the surprise. "Why, yes, I was going to order a pumpkin spice latte, but I must ask... do you know a certain Sunset Shimmer?"
"That's my name. Why do you ask?"
Wordlessly, Rarity raised her phone and took a picture of the doppelganger in front of her. While the doppelganger made her retorts about how little she appreciated being photographed by a complete stranger, Rarity went to her text messaging app and muttered to herself, "Sunny's never going to believe this."
***
Fluttershy hurried down the street, her hair still in a tangle and her shoes half-falling off her feet. She'd been busy trying to get all of her animal friends ready for the day, and by the time they were all happy and full, the bus had already arrived and left. Now she needed to rush to get to the next stop; if it waited long enough, she might be able to get on in the nick of time.
Most of the crowd of people starting their day were moving in the opposite direction, leading Fluttershy to nearly bump into dozens of them. Nevertheless, she still said, "Sorry!" to every single one, prompting more than a few bemused looks. Hopefully they weren't too mad at her being so reckless.
She made it to a crosswalk, but the light was red. She took this time to get shoes on and smooth out her hair as well as she could. It wouldn't go straight without a hairbrush, but she knew once she met up with Rarity for their manicure session, she'd have one in her purse to pull the rest of the cowlicks out of it. (Especially the one that had been caused by Mooriel getting a taste of her bangs.) The light turned green, and she stepped out onto the crosswalk with the rest of the people on her side. As the other group crossed by, she happened to notice a figure with her head down. Just peeking out of her oversized green hoodie was a curl of orange-red hair, and the skin just underneath the cuffy of her ratty, torn-up jeans was a perfect match.
"Sunset? Is that you?"
The figure turned and looked up at Fluttershy; when she saw who was speaking to her, eyes widened, and she fled at an all-out run. The part that most concerned Fluttershy was what she'd seen for the split second Sunset had looked up: a set of three scars, like claw marks, across her cheek that had long since faded into red-brown welts. This wasn't the Sunset she knew.
"Sunset, wait! Come back!" Fluttershy turned around and hurried after the mystery girl, hoping she could catch her before she vanished.
***
Pinkie Pie giggled and put a hand on the statue in front of Canterlot High that served as the portal between the two worlds. Most of the time, the granite surface was just regular old granite, but when the Twilight on the other side used some kind of doohickey, she could re-open the sleeping portal and allow passage between the two worlds. That was super-cool, Pinkie thought, but it made it difficult to get up to shenanigans across the two worlds, if she had to wait for Princess Twilight to give the okay.
Luckily, Pinkie thought to herself, she didn't have to wait at all.
She pulled out a small container of iron filings. The last time she'd tried this, she'd used her favorite brand of sprinkles, but she'd switched to iron for two different reasons: 1) iron carried a lot more energy in one handful, and 2) those sprinkles were way too delicious and expensive to waste on this. She looked around to make sure nobody was looking, then she swung her hand full of iron filings like a pitcher ready to throw. "Batter up!" she cried out, and threw the filings at the side of the statue.
At the moment of impact, the filings activated the magic she'd put in them and exploded. But rather than flaring out in a massively painful explosion, the surface of the statue began to glow, and the energy the iron filings were about to expend got sucked in like a vacuum. Once the very last bit of energy was gone, the statue began to glow.
Now she had to hurry. The portal would only stay open for a short time. Pinkie slipped through the portal and, after a twisting and slightly painful journey, appeared on the other side in Princess Twilight's crystal palace.
She landed on four hooves, perfectly balanced. She cracked her neck and rolled her shoulders, then giggled and snorted. This was so cool! She loved coming to a world full of ponies and magic. It was just like the old binders she used to have in middle school.
After a few seconds, Spike appeared around the corner. "Hey, Pinks," he said to her. "Welcome back."
"Thank you, Spike!" she said, giving a low bow. "Where's Pinkie?"
"You just missed her," he replied. "She's off on a map mission."
"Aww, phooey!" Pinkie sighed and kicked the ground with a huff. She wanted to get up to double trouble sometime with her pony copy, but she'd have to save it for the next visit. "Where should I go today?"
"Well, the first time you toured Ponyville. You've gone up to Manehattan and Las Pegasus. Have you been up to Canterlot yet?"
"No! Sounds like fun!" She immediately pronked her way out the door, leaving Spike scratching his head.
***
Canterlot looked nothing like what it was like back home! Pinkie hopped her way through the streets, checking out all the shops and the fancy-pants unicorns strutting around. Everywhere she looked, she could see unicorns picking things up with their magic, transforming things with their magic, and creating other things with their magic. Magic, magic, magic! It made her realize that out of all her visits, she'd never tried throwing confetti to see if her magic worked here. She could kinda sense it, all the way back in her butt. Why her magic was in her butt, she had no idea, but she could feel it there!
Suddenly, she could feel her magic racing through her body. It raced around, making her ears flop, her eyes flutter, and her knee twitch. Out of some unfamiliar instinct, she stopped in her tracks, and right on time, the door of the shop in front of her swung open, right where her face would have been! Whatever that had been, it'd saved her bacon. She walked around to see the shop more clearly. Up above, the sign depicted a smiling pony face surrounded by little firework explosions. Then she looked down and beheld the shop owner, who had just opened her place for the day.
"Sunset? Hey, Sunset! Good to see you!"
The purveyor did a double take, and in that moment, Pinkie noticed something odd. The shop owner was wearing glasses, but Sunset didn't wear glasses! (Other than sunglasses, but that wasn't what she meant.) "Is there something I can help you with?" this Sunset asked.
"I didn't know you ran a fireworks shop in Canterlot!" Pinkie said. "How do you get through the portal? Ooh, do you use your magicky hands? I thought only my confetti would do it, but maybe it's all Equestrian magic, so Rainbow could zip-zap-zoop right through it, or Rarity could make a big old shield, or Fluttershy could... play the tambourine?" Pinkie shrugged. "I guess. Anyway, I just wanted to know what you were doing here? Weren't you meeting up with Applejack this morning?"
The shopkeep stared at her with uncomprehending eyes. Once Pinkie stopped talking, she said, "I have no idea what you're talking about. Who's Applejack? And what portal? If you need fireworks, that's about all I can help you with."
Pinkie gasped. A mystery! She'd have to get to the bottom of this, or her name wasn't Pinkie Pie!
***
The match was going great! Rainbow could run circles around these clueless doofs even without her magic powers. She kicked the ball over to her teammate, who drove it straight into the goal, the goalie completely missing it. While Rainbow Dash did have the best shot, and she did love to score points for the team, she knew she had to play the assist every once in a while, or else a) the other team would cotton on and defend her all the time, and b) her teammates would resent her and quit. Her teammates having a good time was much more important that stoking her (admittedly huge) ego all the time.
While the rest of the team cheered, Rainbow Dash headed over to the bench to get a quick drink of water. The coach handed her a towel, which she gratefully accepted, wiping off the excess sweat from her forehead. She took the moment to scan the crowd; since it was an away game all the way out in Whitetail County, most of the home seats were empty, save for her (utterly embarrassing) parents cheering like she'd just won the gold medal at the Olympics and a few, less passionate parents. Why they were cheering for her when she'd only made an assist, Rainbow would never understand. She sighed and looked over at the home team's side, who were much more sedate.
Made sense, considering the Whitetail Stags were getting their butts kicked, 1-3.
Suddenly, she noticed a certain someone up by the commentators' box. She jumped up and down and started to wave. "Sunset! Hey! Hey, Sunset! You're sitting on the wrong side!"
The crowd looked down at her and scowled; Rainbow quailed at their gaze. Her coach came over and clapped her on the shoulder. "What's going on, Rainbow? They're ready to start again."
Rainbow almost didn't hear her, because she'd noticed the two people sitting next to what had to be Sunset. Were those... Sunset's parents? Sunset had parents?!
"All right, all right," Rainbow said. She turned back to the game, intent on stomping the Stags one more time.
***
Once you were five points ahead, shouldn't they just call it? Why didn't soccer have a mercy rule?
Rainbow headed out with her team to the parking lot. While they were whooping and cheering, Rainbow almost felt bad about it. With her at the helm, their team was almost inevitably gonna smoke the competition. That wasn't arrogance--just solid fact. Rainbow was planning on getting a sports scholarship for college, and she'd almost certainly be going pro afterwards. She was hoping to join the Maresachussetts Blue Angels; they were the peak of athletic perfection, at least in her mind, anyway.
While they loitered by the busses, a family came up to speak to them. The girl was the one she'd seen up in the bleachers; now that she was closer, the comparison was uncanny. Other than the different hairstyle and the much more reclusive way she carried herself, anyone would confuse her for Sunset.
"Were you calling up to us, back then?" the dad asked.
"Yeah, I was. You... You're Sunset, right?"
"That's right," her mom said. "But just who are you?"
"I'm Rainbow Dash! I'm like Sunset's best friend!" Rainbow replied.
The two parents exchanged a look. The mom said slowly, "That's... great, honey! I didn't know you had friends over in Canterlot."
"I don't, mom! I've never seen this girl in my life!" Sunset protested.
While the parents shrugged and took Sunset away, Rainbow could do nothing but gape. Then... but... who? And how?!
***
"My, my! I ain't never had tea this good before in my life!"
"Told you this place was a winner," Sunset replied to Applejack. The two were at a new place, out on the opposite end of Canterlot from the school. Sunset had recommended it, and while Applejack had been skeptical, she couldn't help but admit it passed her test. Still, she didn't exactly want to trek all the way out here for tea when she could get perfectly good tea at the mall. Still, Sunset was happy, and that made Applejack happy.
"How do you think Rainbow's doing?" Applejack asked, knowing the answer before she'd even asked it.
"Oh, I have no doubt she's killing it. That girl plays a mean game of soccer!"
"Eeeyup."
"Shame we couldn't head out to watch her. Would have been fun to cheer for her."
Applejack snorted. "We watch all her home games, and all the away games that are nearby. I ain't heading that far out just to see her crush them just like she does here!"
"Fine, fine. Fair enough."
Just then, Sunset's phone began to ring. "Now who would that be?" Applejack asked. "Don't they know it's easier to text?"
Sunset checked the phone. "Ah, it's Twilight. She prefers to call."
While Sunset picked up the call, Applejack muttered, "Reckon it's more that she doesn't know how to do it."
Sunset wasn't listening. "Whoa, whoa, slow down." She listened for a few moments, then replied, "Right, the Baladi one, I remember." A bit later, "Wait, what? No way!"
"What? What's going on?" Applejack asked.
"Hold on, I'm putting you on speakerphone. Applejack wants to hear." She pressed the button and set the phone on the table, Twilight's adorkable smile on the screen.
"The Drowned Princess! She's gone!"
"My human version? Where'd she go?"
"That's the thing. The glass from the exhibit was smashed... from the inside."
"You're kidding." Sunset shook her head. "So you're saying..."
"She up and let herself out," Applejack finished.
"That's what it seems like. The only thing she left behind was one of the bandages--the curator says it's the one that was covering her head and face."
Sunset and Applejack looked at each other. "You don't think?" Applejack asked.
"It's possible," Sunset replied. "We've seen crazier things."
"But... a mummy? An honest-to-apple mummy?" Applejack shook her head. "What kind of crazy horror movie are we in now?"
"Well, it doesn't seem like she hurt anyone when she left, so... maybe she's a nice mummy?" Twilight said.
"Maybe," Sunset said. "If she's me, there's a chance she's like me now... or there's a chance she was like me before."
"Yeah." Applejack didn't want to think about that. She'd hoped she'd seen the last of the bully that had been Sunset Shimmer, but if a spoiled Baladian princess was currently skulking about Canterlot, they might be getting the comeback nobody asked for.
"I'll call you back once I get more information," Twilight said.
"Gotcha. Bye!"
"Bye, Twi!"
Sunset ended the call. "Ugh, this is all my fault. If I hadn't come here... if I hadn't brought the Element of Magic here... I'm getting a headache. AJ, you've got some ibuprofen in your purse, right?"
"Sure, sugarcube." She pulled out the bottle and passed it over. Sunset shook out a couple and popped them in her mouth, then washed it down with a swig of tea. "Anyway, you can't beat yourself up over that, sugarcube. It's all in the past now, and we're doing what we can."
"Thanks, Applejack. I really appreciate it."
They sat for a second, unsure of what to say after that, when Sunset's phone suddenly buzzed. "Now what could that be?"
Sunset looked at the screen. "Looks like Rarity. Let me just..." she reached out to slide the phone open, when she suddenly flinched and pulled her hand back.
"What's wrong, girl?" Applejack asked.
"It's my head. It's just... killing me. I can't... can you..." With her other hand, she pushed the phone towards Applejack, her right hand pushed hard against her temple.
"Okay, but if your headache gets worse, we're going to the hospital, all right?"
"Yeah." Sunset was starting to shiver as she pushed harder and harder.
Applejack read the text Rarity had sent. "...Sunset, you'll never believe this. Rarity says she just found..."
The whole table shook as Sunset's head thumped against the table. Applejack jumped up from her seat. "Sunny! How bad is it?"
She had both hands on her head now, every part of her body quaking. She mumbled something that sounded vaguely like "Eh... eh..."
"Eight? Outta ten?! I'm gonna call the hospital right now!" Applejack grabbed Sunset's phone (hers was still in her pocket) and opened the phone app. She had all the numbers in and was about to press Call when Sunset abruptly stopped shaking and sat up in a sudden lurch.
Applejack looked over at her warily. "You all right, Sunset?"
She looked at Applejack for a second, then tipped her head to the side. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just... how do you know my name?"
Applejack gave a short and humorless laugh. "That's gotta be a joke, right? I really don't appreciate it, Sunny. Pretendin' to have amnesia after somethin' like that."
"Something like what?" Sunset looked at Applejack's hand and scowled. "Hey, that's my phone! What are you doing with that? Give it back!"
"Okay, okay!" Applejack felt totally lost as she looked at the girl sitting across from her. She was so... unlike the Sunset she knew that she really did wonder whether Sunset had lost her memory. "What's the last thing you remember?" she asked.
Sunset looked at her phone, aghast. "That's... that's not possible! Why has my phone advanced three years?"
"Sunset!" Applejack barked. Alarmed, Sunset stopped what she was doing and listened. "This is really important. I'm worried something happened to your mind. Now, what's the last thing you remember?"
"I remember... I was heading out of school. It was late at night. I was just about to leave when I saw this... glow over by the statue. I got real close, and then..." She looked up at Applejack, her eyes wide. "And then nothing. And then I was sitting right here."
"You're... does that mean you're...?" Applejack shook her head. It couldn't be. Was that...? Was she...? "You're not from Equestria?"
"Equestria?" Sunset asked. "Is that like 'equestrian,' like on horseback?"
Before Applejack could reply, the phone buzzed again, and Sunset looked at it. "Wait, who is..." Sunset held out her phone; it showed Fluttershy taking a selfie with a girl who looked exactly like Sunset in a green hoodie. "What's going on?!"
"I don't know... but I'm fixin' to find it out."
