Dueling Sunsets

Twilight bolted upright in bed, her new dormroom looking completely foreign to her. She got up and slipped on her pajama pants, walking out of her shared dormroom and down the hall to the shared bathrooms, making sure to shut the door to her dormroom gently. She got to the bathroom and splashed water on her face, trying to get the images out of her head. She had been having so many dreams about Sunset Shimmer, dreams that made her heart ache. Of all of them, this was the worst one so far.
It wasn't the dream where she was a vampire, that one had turned out to be pretty erotic and to be honest seemed more like one of her futuresight dreams she had been having since senior year. It was a dream of what could have happened on graduation day. The shed tears, the goodbyes, and worst of all, Sunset saying goodbye to them and leaving. Granted, it really did happen that way, but in Twilights dream it wasn't for the "finding herself" trip that Sunset was currently on. It was forever. Sunset had been gone a few months and Twilight had the journal to keep in contact with her, but Sunset hadn't been responding lately. Her imagination allowed her to think up so many scenarios.

Sunset had obviously fallen in love with the other Twilight. She had fallen for her, why not the other her? They were probably living together in Ponyville right now, having smashed the mirror and vowing to never look back. Twilight shook her head. No. Sunset was still in love with her. The way her last notes read out were proof of it. Nobody wrote love letters filled with such imagry and passion to a woman that they didn't care for or want to think about. She just needed to stay strong. Unless something happened to her. That was actually very possible.

The other Twilight had told everyone on her visits just how dangerous Equestria was getting. There was a new threat every week according to her. She had been looking to convince her friends to come to this side of the portal simply to keep them all safe. Maybe Sunset was dead somewhere and Other Twilight hadn't gotten around to writing her and telling her, or had no idea what to say. Twilight splashed more water on her face. Twilight somehow felt she would just know if Sunset was dead. She sighed and wondered what had happened.

Had the meeting Sunset had made with Celestia gone wrong? Was she imprisoned for what she did? Or was Sunset alright and she just lost the journal? It was getting to be too much. She wanted to go back to bed, but her new roommate made it so much worse. Without even trying to at that. She was a very bright girl, but she insisted that she was just there to study and not make new friends.

Of course the worst part was that she shared her Sunsets name and face. She was this worlds Sunset Shimmer and every time Twilight saw her she would remember her Sunset. As innocent a moment as when Sunset and her shared a coffee with their friends or as lewd a moment as the first time the two had been intimate. She had been caught staring at the other Sunset more times than not, and she knew the other girl was growing tired of it. Eventually this Sunset had cornered her and asked her why she kept on staring at her.

She wasn't aggressive about it or anything, but she was growing sick of it. Twilight had been forced to show her the Journal and tell her the stories about them and still this Sunset hadn't believed her. She was nice about it, but Twilight knew she was thinking of asking for another roommate. Twilight sighed and went back to her dormroom to grab her clothes. If she was up now, she would normally be up for the duration. Only her Sunset could get her to go back to sleep. She walked back in the room to find the clock reading four in the morning. She had only been asleep for six hours and her first class wasn't until ten thirty. She sighed and looked around the room. She looked at the journal and hoped against hope it would be flashing and vibrating, but it was still and dark. She opened up a page and found an old love letter that her Sunset had written her those three months ago. She smiled at it and closed the book again, putting it beside her bed on her nightstand.

"You miss her, huh?"

Twilight was startled for just a moment by the other Sunset. She was looking at her sat up in the bed. She usually got up at this time to run and work out. Twilight admired her dedication to fitness. "Yeah. I do." Sunset reached across her bed and grabbed her running shorts.

"I still don't know if I believe you about her. Another girl with my same name who looks just like me? Moves like me? Dresses like me? If I didn't know better, I would think it was your way of coming on to me."

Twilight glared at the other girl. "I'm not," She said flatly.

Sunset put her hands up in a defensive motion. "I said 'if I didn't know better'. I don't use that phrase ironically like the other bozos in this school. The way you look when you talk about her is proof enough that she is a different person from me. But like so much of the stories you tell me, I think you are exagerating. Maybe she has red hair instead of red and yellow and mine reminds you of her. Maybe she has my eyes and everything else is wrong. Maybe that so called 'magic' you claim you and your friends can use is messing with your head to make you think she looks like me. I really don't care. But I don't like seeing people with such obvious throbbing hearts so I will be happy for you when she comes back to you."

Twilight sighed, choosing to ignore the insults and listen to the message. "I have dreams where she doesn't. The kind of dream that usually turns out right."

Sunset got up and put her hand on Twilights hand. "Look, if you are telling me the truth (and that is a pretty big if), and this girl is like me in so many ways... She will come back for you. Because I never break promises. And if she is like me, she won't either." Sunset removed her hand and finished grabbing her running gear, headed to the bathrooms to change into her excersise outfit. "So my advice is to put your chin up and be happy. Because nobody wants to come home to a depressed girlfriend."

Twilight smiled and grabbed the book off of her table and her pen, feeling like writing.

Dear Sunset

It's been a while since I heard from you. I know you can't reply all of the time so I try not to bombard you with messages. I had a talk with my roommate, the other Sunset. She still doesn't believe me, but she did help to reassure me that you are coming back. I know, I worry too much about things I can't control. But I had a horrible dream. One where at the graduation party, it wasn't "I'm going on a journey, I'll see you in a few months", it was "I'm going away. I don't know if I will ever see you again. I am going to be living in Equestria for the rest of my life and I will try to visit, but I will always treasure your friendship". And I think that was what hurt the worst. Because even though I know better, my worst fear is that you only think of me as a friend. Not a lover or a girlfriend, but a friend. It's so stupid when I write it out and even stupider when I say it, but that is what I am afraid of. But I don't want to be the clingy girlfriend. I don't want to have you worry about me. I want you to have a good time and come back with all sorts of stories, so at the very least I can rub it in this worlds Sunsets face.

I want you to know that I love you more than anything else. I cherish you.

Please get back to me safely.

All of my love, Twilight Sparkle.

She closed the book and hugged it to her chest, feeling better for having gotten her emotional baggage out. She heard a knock at her door and the other Sunsets voice.
"Are you sure you don't want to come running with me? It'll help clear your mind!"

Twilight was about to reflexively answer no when she stopped. "You know what? Sure. Give me a minute to change." Twilight hurried and got her leggings on and one of her Sunsets old blue tank tops over a sports bra. She stepped outside to find the other Sunset in a blue sports bra and black yoga pants with a smartwatch on her wrist jogging in place.

"Huh. I owned a shirt like that in high school," Sunset remarked casually.

"So, what happened to not wanting friends?" Twilight asked as they started their run. Despite her bookish nature she took care of her body, though she usually ran at night.

The other Sunset scoffed. "I never said that!" She said defensively.

Twilight rolled her eyes playfully. "The very first time I met you, you walked into the dorm room and said, and I quote: 'Hey there! I'm not very social and not here for anything but school. So don't try to make friends with me and we should get along just fine.' Exactly like that. You didn't even tell me your name first!"

Suset rolled her eyes back. "And you said 'S-Sunset? is that you?' So I don't think you needed it... But to answer your question, I never really meant it. I was just... In high school I was a bit of a bitch to other people and I didn't want that reputation to follow me. I thought that the best way to guarantee that was to not make friends but... I just kinda got sick of it, sick of being alone. You seem like the type of girl to give second chances so I thought I'd invite you."

Twilight smiled at that. "Well I appreciate it."

"So..." Sunset began beating around the bush. "Are all of your friends crazy?"

Twilight playfully glared at the girl. "They aren't 'crazy'," She said, quick to come to their defense. "They are... an aquired taste. Unless you are talking about Pinkie Pie, because she is just plain nuts."

Sunset snickered while the two turned a corner. "Oh I met her. It took an hour to get confetti out of my hair. She also knew my name and thought I was your girlfriend. I had to do some odd dance thing to promise to her that I wasn't the same girl as she was talking about."

Twilight giggled at that. "Yeah, that's her variation on the Pinkie Promise," Twilight said with joy. "She made all of us do it at some point or another."

"She does know most people just hook pinkies, right?" Sunset asked with a confused look on her face.

"Yeah, she finds it too mundane," Twilight said with a shrug. "Trust me, don't ever try to analyze her. She breaks more laws of physics than black holes."

Sunsets eyes widened at that. "Can you prove that?"

Twilight nodded. "Watch her eat some time. It's almost all junk food and yet she still stays as thin as a rail. We've run tests on her and even though her diet is mostly cookies, cake and cupcakes her bloodsugar is actually perfect. No signs of diabetes or anything. She is litterally a medical miracle."

"But she excersises, right?"

"Not as much as you might think," Twilight said ruefully. "It's pretty unfair but you get used to it. And that's not even getting started on her 'Pinkie sense'."

Sunset looked at Twilight with a look that clearly said she thought the girl was making this up. "What is that, like Spider-Mans spider sense?" Twilight heard the doubt in her voice.

"Well, a bit. See, my theory is that Pinkie is naturally aware of her surroundings even when her concious mind is focusing on other things. Now, Pinkie is actually super intelligent, she just hides it from people because she likes throwing them off. That isn't a theory, it's a fact, and one I got her to admit to a few years ago. But my theory is that while she focuses on other things her uncouncious mind works with her short attention span to let her look rapidly around her surroundings. Then she gets a series of twitches which are her brain warning her of an incoming threat or suprise. She quickly interprets these and acts accordingly."

Sunset tilted her head. "So you are suggesting that rather than the famous comic book ESP she just notices odd things off about her environment and creates logical explainations as to why they are off?"

Twilight nodded. "If you know what's going on it's really obvious when you watch. She actually saved my life once. Her Pinkie Sense told her that a grand piano was going to fall and crush me and she quickly grabbed me and jumped us both out of the way half a second before the piano came crashing down. When she told me it was her Pinkie Sense I wanted a more logical explaination so I looked around. She had noticed the haphazard way the workers trying to get it to the right floor were tugging on the rope. She saw but didn't fully register the poor condition of the rope and a frayed piece of it. Her unconcious mind, however, did notice it when she glanced at it and quickly came up with the likely scenario that the rope would break due to the workers tugging too roughly and the piano would fall. As soon as her brain reached that conclusion the course of action was obvious."

"Huh," Sunset said, astonished. "It sounds so... Logical. I almost want to see it in action."

Twilight grinned at that. "Hang out with us and you will sooner or later." Sunset smiled at the invite. "So, have you met any other of my friends?"

"Oh, I met that cute girl Rarity. She thought I was your Sunset as well until she noticed what I was wearing. I take it your Sunset doesn't do casual wear very often?"

Twilight nodded, pushing herself a bit. "No, with where she grew up she wears more formal wear out of habit. A nice jacket and a decent tank top resembling the top of a ballgown. She grew up in high society being taught by a monarch."

Sunset was silent at that for a few moments. "Okay, now I know you are making that up. From what you told me before they didn't wear clothes in her world."

Twilight rolled her eyes again. "They wore clothes on formal occasions. So she is used to wearing more restrictive clothing when she needs to wear clothing. No yoga pants or thin shirts. The Princess tried to impress upon her the idea that she always needed to look her best."

Sunset did a double take. "Wait, I thought you said a monarch, not the monarchs daughter."

Twilight chuckled at that. "Apparently her nation preffered the term Princess to Queen. There are currently four ruling Princesses in her home nation."

Sunset chuckled despite herself. "You do realize how it is hard to believe you, right? A single society ruled by four Princesses?"

Twilight smirked. "Hey, I get it. I asked the same exact questions when I was first learning about these things. I had an advantage, though. I had already turned into a magically charged megalomaniac hellbent on destroying the world to get more magic." Sunset didn't even dispute that, she just shot Twilight a glare that flat out accused Twilight of lying. "Hey, if you don't believe me I can give you my former principals name and address and you can ask her."

"I may just do that, if only to get the true account of what happened."

The two jogged for an hour and a half, getting back around 5:45. They talked about the other girls Sunset had met and thier quirks and endearing qualities. When they got back Twilight held open the door for Sunset and the two walked together up to the 4th floor where their room was, both laughing about the boys that had already tried to ask them out. The two entered the dormroom to find quite the suprise waiting on Twilights bed. There, reading Twilights journal was her Sunset. Hers! Twilight practically jumped onto her Sunset and knocked her down onto the bed, kissing her heatedly. The other Sunset just stood there in shock.

"She wasn't lying. You look... exactly like me! How is this possible?"

Twilight broke their kiss and let Sunset answer. "I'm a magical pony turned human from another world. I'm basically that worlds version of you."

The other Sunset sat on her bed in shock "Huh. So she was telling the truth..."

Twilights Sunset laughed. "Yeah, she tends to do that." She turned back to her girlfriend and sat up. "Sorry I haven't written, Sparky. The journal burned up when the Princess and I were stopping a break out in Tartarus. I had to get a new journal set from Celestia. I just read your notes and I'm glad that the other me was able to help."

The other Sunset suddenly stood up. "Oh my god I'm intruding on your moment. I'm gonna go shower bye!" She rushed the last part as she hurried out of the room.

Sunset laughed at her other selfs awkwardness. "Guess she believes you now."

Twilight giggled like she was back in high school, "Yeah, I think so. Only took you finally getting back to do it! God I missed you! Before I start getting all hot and heavy on you, what did Celestia need to tell you that you wanted to tell me in person?"

Suset tensed up a little. "It's not just my news. Princess Twilight and her friends are here too. And Princess Luna. There are some things that you, her and our worlds Luna need to hash out."

"Later," Twilight said between kisses. "I'm too preocupied with my girlfriends tounge right now."

Sunset leaned backward and pulled Twilight back down in bed with her. "You're all sweaty. Kinda hot if I'm honest..."

Twilight giggled again. "You always did like seeing me wet!"

Sunset pulled her down for another kiss. "Before this gets out of hand, grab the box in my bag. It's a gift for you."

Twilight reached off of the bed slightly and pulled a small box out of the bag. It looked very suspiciously like a jewelry box. "What is this?" Twilight asked, getting suspicious as she leaned up and stradled Sunset.

"Open it and find out," Sunset responded with a hint of sexual thrill beneath her. She always did love seeing Twilight wear her clothes. In the box was a gold ring with a diamond more clear and brightly shining than Twilight had ever seen in her life. She looked down at Sunset and took it out of the box.
Sunset smiled cheekily. "Twilight Sparkle... Will you marry me?"

Twilight felt tears well up in her eyes as she looked down on her girlfriend. She put the ring on her finger and grinned. "Yes! Yes! Yes Sunset, yes!"
As Twilight said that, the other Sunset burst into the room, hand infront of her eyes, grabbed her towel she forgot and left. "I'll give you two privacy sorry!"
Sunset looked up at Twilight and chuckled. "I think she thought we were having sex."
Twilight nodded, a full blush on her face in stark contrast to the look in her eyes as she whipped her top and sports bra off. "Yeah. She's smart like that."
~~~~~