Ill Met By Sunset

by Norm De Plume

Rating: everyone
Tags: Drama, Trixie, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Starlight Glimmer, Equestria Girls, Sunburst, Moondancer, Sunset Shimmer
Length: 15128

When Sunset Shimmer jumped to the human word, she missed her appointed date with death in Equestria. That simply won't do.

Starlight Glimmer must save her very much alive friend from being hauled away to the Promised Pastures. After all, Sunset Shimmer is not bereft of life, she is not pushing up the daisies, and she is not ringing down the curtain and joining the bleedin' choir invisible.

As a former student of Princess Twilight, Starlight's first instinct is to open a book.

Her second is to reach out for help.

Things get a bit complicated after that.

Entry for A Most Delightful Ponidex contest.

Published 2020-10-18 22:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-10-18 22:10:01 UTC

The Ivory Gates Await

Author's Note

Blame Aragon's ~~latest~~ second-latest comic for this. The frantic Sci-Twi scream of "I'M GOING TO DIE A HORSE" led to the question: 'which afterlife would be responsible for a human-turned-pony?'.

This Fic Includes:

Uni-Con Bonus

Librarian Challenge Coins Bonus

Raid All The Reading Rooms Bonus

Talking To Yourself Bonus (x4)

Impossible Magical Technology Bonus

Her Journal Is A Good Data Plan If It Still Has Pages Bonus

The Ivory Gates Await

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Something went fzzt.

Sunset Shimmer dropped to the castle floor, hooves covering her head.

“Wasn't me!” A purple tail shot with pink swished in agitation from behind an ornate mirror. Then the unicorn's head popped out from the other side, and she adjusted her glasses. “There's no electricity here, Sunset.” Twilight Sparkle frowned as she considered. “There is lightning, but I don't think a kite string and key are the best way to power this.” She ducked out of sight again and resumed conversation with the owners of the two other tails poking out.

“She hasn't heard the crackle of unrestrained magic as often as we have.” Grumbling, Sunset heaved herself onto all four hooves and moved away from the metal and wood machinery surrounding the mirror.

“Shouldn't you be back there too?” Starlight Glimmer asked, discreetly nudging Trixie away from the brunch remains so Sunset could levitate herself a sandwich. “You brought the human technology over. Don't you know how it works?”

“I know the bare basics. The rest I leave to tech support when my streaming speed turns to junk and I can't rake in the viewers on Hooftube.” Taking a bite of her cucumber, avocado and tomato, Sunset glanced aside at both Starlight and Trixie. “How much of that made sense?” she mumbled.

Starlight waggled her hoof. “I've seen you stream, so .... yeah.”

“I still don't believe you can be seen by millions of ponies at the same time.” Trixie perked her powder-blue ears. “How soon can I try it?”

Sunset chuckled as she set down her sandwich. “We won't be doing any of that here. Equestria doesn't have the infrastructure, for one thing. This is just putting a window beside the door we already have to another world.”

“Trixie is confused.”

Starlight Glimmer and Sunset Shimmer shared a knowing look over her head. Both had extensive Trixie experience.

“I know you two are looking at each other behind my back.” Flicking her ears and scowling, Trixie glanced from one side to the other. “Just because I didn't get a fancy education from a Princess doesn't mean I'm simple.”

“Trixie, you're not simple. You're an important part of the conference this weekend.” Starlight gestured at the two dozen unicorns milling around the room. Some talked in small groups, while more swapped books and worked on various papers. She knew a few of them through Pinkie Pie and Princess Twilight, like Twinkleshine and Minuette, while Lyra and Sunburst were her own friends. Other invitees, such as Fancy Pants and Tempest Shadow, had been unable to attend the inaugural PUMICE (Ponyville's Unicorn Magic Inter-City Educational) conference.

In hindsight, perhaps she shouldn't have asked Maud for input on the title.

After Princess Twilight's coronation as ruler of Equestria, she had moved out of the Castle of Friendship and taken most of her life to Canterlot. The Crystal Map still remained, and in addition to her headmare duties, Starlight Glimmer also kept an eye on the harmony of the realm. Missions had been sparse the last few months, which was fine. It gave her a chance to design some educational pamphlets on What To Do If Your Cutie Mark Glows for the general population, just in case somepony new received a call.

With just her and Trixie in such a large castle, Starlight had missed Twilight's friends always coming around to pitch in with projects. So she had organized a weekend project of her own and reached out along her friendship networks to recruit unicorn researchers from various fields of study.

After two days of talks, demonstrations, and small evening events, the conference looked to be a success. Soon she would see about expanding the concept to include the other Equestrian tribes and species. Unicorns were her practice run, since untested magical spells could cause more damage than even a rogue tornado. Her books on magical theory disasters and own personal experience supported that hypothesis.

“Trixie already lived here when you began assigning rooms,” her friend pointed out. “You wouldn't have left me out because of sheer guilt. But we both know this conference would be so much duller without my experience in designing awe-inspiring shows.”

“Plus I couldn't handle half the responsibilities without you pitching in,” admitted Starlight. “Maybe in the future, we should consider the castle an official School conference space.”

“Are we hiring somepony else to run that? Because if we have to raise tuition again on some of our students, especially the international ones . . .”

Before Trixie could wind up for another passionate defence of 'her students', a small cheer from the Crystal Mirror corner made everypony look over.

“We have a signal!” Twilight Sparkle called, sliding around to the front and propping herself up on her hind legs to examine the small router screwed to the wooden frame of Princess Twilight's original modifications. Both Minuette (mare of all trades) and Lyra (specialist in string theory) scurried out to join her with a roll of cable and crimpers in their respective telekinetic fields.

Curious unicorns gathered by a pane of the library's crystal wall as indecipherable data scrolled across it.

Sunset Shimmer finished her sandwich and nodded at Sunburst. “When you asked me if we could hook up some of our world's technology here, I didn't think we'd be able to power a computer screen. Elegant solution, though.”

He removed the spectacles on his muzzle for a vigorous cleaning with the collar of his cloak. “The Crystal Empire has the most amazing refractory magic. Marrying that with some aspects of your technology took some time, but if we're right, the crystal walls of the castle will now accept and reflect the signal. And at a much better quality than the screens in the local movie house. If this works, you could quite possibly transmit an incoming video message to any room in the building!”

“Any room except the bathroom, hopefully.” Starlight grunted, then grinned. “We are such nerds.”

Not that it was a bad thing.

“Ohh, that's hardly a bad thing, dearie.” Rarity validated Starlight's train of thought as she trotted past. “Your enthusiasm this weekend has certainly kept us all going,” she added over her shoulder. “Sunset, you should be at the front of the group. They're your friends and you should be the first pony they see.”

“Sure! I can be the buffer for Fluttershy's rapture of delight when she sees so many cute ponies in one place.” Sunset tossed her mane. “Get ready to lock the portal down if she bolts off-screen, is all I'm saying.” She joined Sunburst and Trixie as they all pushed their way through the herd.

Rarity plucked a strawberry from the buffet table and raised an eyebrow at Starlight Glimmer. “Quite the weekend. My congratulations.”

“Thanks, Rarity. I know there was almost nothing in your area of expertise here, so I hope you weren't too bored.” Starlight waved the small conference booklet in her telekinetic glow.

“Yes, well, Canterlot academics may not be at the forefront of fashion, but they do know what their students find trendy,” said Rarity as she preened. “And I did make some contribution to the Equestrian History talks, as one of the eight ponies who rediscovered Ponehenge and spent days in the presence of Mistmane herself.”

“Now you'll be one of the unicorns present at the first official meeting between worlds.” Starlight said, graciously glossing over the many unofficial crossings she, Sunset, and Twilight had done over the past few years. She almost wished she had a smartphone of her own to record this, but the mirror portal had already interpreted Sunset's internet router into something much more analog. No telling what it would do to a phone.

Rarity glanced over at the doors to the conference room, frowning briefly. Then her expression smoothed out and her curly tail flicked placidly as she turned back to watch the flickering crystal pane. “Mmm. Oh yes, quite.”

Finding that odd, Starlight turned in the direction of the propped-open doors. Ponies had come and gone all weekend, as some lived in-town and needed to duck out for occasional errands if they weren't in a session. Anypony could come in the main hallway of the castle, even if they didn't have a lanyard around their neck with a conference pass. Past that, though, magical wards hanging over the entrances to rooms would read the pass and clear the owner for entrance to lectures and events.

So when Starlight saw a very green unicorn gazing up at the top of the doorframe, she thought nothing of it. It wasn't somepony she recognized straight away, even with the distinctive emerald-green mane swept around the mare's neck. Ponies had friends coming to pick them up after the brunch, and no doubt someone would notice said friend waiting for them.

Smiling contentedly, Starlight turned away and flicked her tail as the code on the wall faded away and a slab of crystal turned bright blue. “'No Input'?” she read.

“Ugh. Hold on.” Sunset Shimmer pressed the tip of her hoof to the back of a box camera mounted on a tripod. Something clicked inside, and the wall display blinked to a mirror image of the conference room. “There we are, and if I move this lever down here to bring them in . . .”

The picture changed to a much different room, with five somewhat familiar humans huddled close together.

Sunset snorted in satisfaction. “Crystal clear.” Her expression went fuzzy as her own words sunk in. “I suppose, for obvious reasons.” She stepped around in front of the camera to wave at her own friends. “Can you hear me at your end?”

A few seconds ticked past and Starlight glanced at Twilight Sparkle, who just raised a hoof, then rolled her eyes in seeming remembrance of no longer having fingers. “Dimensional delay at the start,” she said, “It will synchronize shortly, not a pr-”

“Oh, yes. Yes, we can!” came Rarity's voice through the mirror, the glass rippling as if somepony had dropped a pebble in a pond. “We see and hear you, Sunset. My, you do look striking as a pony.”

“Ohh, goodness! Look at how adorably tiny they all are!”

Sunset adjusted the camera to cover both the front row of ponies and the small podium set up by the mirror. “I'm pretty sure that's the first time a prestigious gathering of academics from Celestia's School Of Magic has ever been called 'Adorably Tiny',” she said, as the rest of the room chuckled over Fluttershy's heartfelt gasp of joy. “Now that we have our long distance guests with us, let me welcome everyone to the final lecture of the conference.”

Stepping behind the podium, she looked out over the herd. “My name is Sunset Shimmer, and for the past few years, I've been living in a world much different from our own. Let me tell you how I got there, and what my actions led to in terms of magical contamination . . .”

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

After the final session, most of the Canterlot unicorns had to catch their train back home. They stayed long enough for the group photograph, then made their exit. Some of the Ponyville unicorns remained behind to trade addresses and names for future projects, and while they did that, Twilight, Rarity and Lyra chatted with the humans on the wall screen.

Giddy at having pulled off her host duties, Starlight pranced over to join them. “I know we wanted Princess Twilight here, but she's still learning how to rule all of Equestria,” she told her friends on the wall. “She did come down for the opening keynote, though. We wouldn't let her play with the router, just in case she broke it before we got it installed.”

“Sunset brought two and gave the Princess one before she left,” said Sunburst, smirking. “She's probably sitting on her throne right now, poking at it with a screwdriver.”

“Let's hope she puts it away before her meeting with the minotaur ambassador.” Rarity looked up from her sketchbook. Her human counterpart had dressed her little group to impress, and Rarity's design pens had barely stopped moving even during Sunset's lecture. “Otherwise he might also show an interest, and trade will take a backseat to tinkering as the two of them spend the entire session dismantling it.”

Lyra snorted. “Lemon Hearts would say that's how trade really gets done. Forget the meetings with all your advisors and carefully scheduled negotiations. The deals get made when the two leaders sneak down to the kitchens late at night and get into the cake room.” She glanced back, frowned, then hopped down from the small platform while flicking her tail nonchalantly. “I've got to get home to Bon-Bon before she comes to find me and sees all this tech instead. Thanks for the fun weekend, Starlight. Are we going to do it again?”

“Once the fall session picks up at the School, Sunburst and I won't have a lot of spare time,” said Starlight. “We might try one with some of the higher-level students later on, so we'll send out a notice.” She bumped hooves with the mint-green unicorn and watched her trot out of the room, past the darker green mare still standing there and chatting with Sunset Shimmer.

Shrugging, Starlight turned away and gave her tail a flick. She needed to tidy up the organizer's table and make sure to empty the feedback form box for later review.

Two steps towards the back of the room, she froze as something occurred to her. Fumbling for a fading memory, she fought to wrap the trailing edge of it around her hoof. “Somepony,” she started, keeping her voice steady. “Anyone. Look over at the door, but don't be obvious about it. Do it discreetly.”

Sunburst and Twilight appeared startled, but obeyed. Rarity delicately craned her neck and peered askance across the room. A few seconds later, all three of them looked back at Starlight, somewhat confused.

Three tails flicked in near unison.

Looking at her friends on the crystal display, Starlight held a hoof out in appeal. “You all saw that, right?”

“What's it mean?” Human Applejack asked. “And who's the unicorn Sunset's talkin' to?”

“To answer your second question first: I don't know.” Starlight Glimmer squared her shoulders. “First question, though, somepony's trying awfully hard not to draw any attention to herself. Our gazes just slide right off her and we forget she's there. The tail flick occupies our brain so we don't lay the memory down.” Memory spells existed for that sort of thing, along with camouflage spells, but this wasn't a mare hiding from view. This was a pony hiding in plain sight.

Except Sunset Shimmer was talking directly to her and not swishing her tail at all.

As Starlight moved across the room, the mare produced a plain white envelope from somewhere. Her emerald magical glow held it up between them, allowing Sunset's own field to take it from her. Then her gaze came up and widened as Starlight homed in on the both of them.

“I'm so sorry to keep ponies out of the meeting rooms,” Starlight apologized, forcing the words through a wide, insincere smile, “but now that the conference is over, feel free to come in and join us, Ms. ...?” She held a hoof out just shy of the doorframe.

“Evergreen,” came the reply, as she stepped into the room. Her gaze flicked towards the ceiling again. “I must say, that's an ingenious little ward you have. So many interesting bits and pieces here.” Her next glance fell on the mirror briefly, then switched back to Sunset and Starlight. “Fortunately, I arrived just in time for your explanation of where you've been for so long, Miss Shimmer. I'm grateful, as it saved me from asking you myself.”

Both ponies backed up a step, Sunset raising a foreleg defensively. For her part, Starlight Glimmer lowered her head and her horn glowed brightly. Several spells came to mind, but she refrained from casting. “Who are you?” She sensed the other unicorns gathering in behind her and briefly wondered who to send to fetch Princess Twilight.

“My name really is Evergreen,” the mare said as she straightened up, “Evergreen the Eternal. I bring a message from the Promised Pastures.”

The silence stretched after her announcement, and Starlight looked around at the wide eyes and open mouths of her friends as her magic flickered out.

“That ... doesn't seem possible,” Sunburst finally said.

“The what?” asked Rainbow Dash's scratchy voice from behind everypony, and Starlight turned further to see her human friends looking just as confused as she felt.

Sunburst raised his hoof to answer. “It's the Equestrian afterlife, or so most of us were once told,” he said. “However, it's never been proven to actually exist. Nopony's ever come back from there.”

“Or been seen leaving for it,” Rarity chimed in. “When a pony's time on Equestria is done, it's either the Pastures or the Wayward Fields, and no one knows which until they're standing at the fences.”

Starlight's father used to tell her about the Pastures. He had hoped she would shake off her gloom of losing Sunburst by giving her a glimpse of something greater. The laughter of the hills, the love of the ponies she'd meet there, the promises of joy finally kept. Not once had Firelight ever said the Wayward Fields were her destiny if she didn't behave, yet she'd gone and forged her own wayward path. It had started at a small village in the mountains, and ended on a dusty plain with only a crystal table, a dragon, and a young alicorn to witness her failure.

She'd often wondered if that wasteland had been the last fence before the Wayward Fields, one last warning before she reached the point of no return.

“Aww, even the pony version of Death is cute!” Pinkie Pie squealed.

Evergreen shook her head. “I am not Death itself, but merely a librarian in the Ageless Archives. During a reorganization several years ago, we came across a record which had not been filed in its proper place. It was for a pony that no one could locate anywhere in Equestria, until recently.”

“Me?” Sunset asked, glancing at the envelope in her field. “Is this my file?” She started to open it with a flare of her magic.

“No, but please read it before I continue. It explains things much more clearly than I could.”

Everypony waited as Sunset pulled a letter out and unfolded it. “Dear Sunset Shimmer. First, let us welcome you back from wherever your life journey took you. We have missed you for many years and are pleased to find you still with us. The reason you remain among the living is because you failed to keep your appointment with us in the autumn of 1100 AC. You were not on board the passenger coach when it went over that cliff, and we could not locate you anywhere in Equestria. We are unclear as to how such an error occurred, but we regret the mistake and assure you that your spot still awaits in the hereafter, no matter your final destination. Since you obviously cannot remain among the living in your soul's current state of suspension, we recommend you settle your remaining Equestrian affairs and report to the Ivory Gates at your earliest convenience. We look forward to seeing you, since regardless of our different paths in life, we all meet at the same end of the final rainbow. Sincerely, the Ageless Archives.”

Sunset looked up from the letter with a flabbergasted expression. “What.”

“Ah.” Evergreen nodded. “Well, it's fairly simple. You missed your death date. Nopony's done that before. Your soul should have come to us many years ago.” She gestured. “From reading your file, it seems you were on quite the precarious path, possibly leading to the Wayward Fields. But taking into account the presentation you just gave, I'm sure we can update your records to give you immediate access to the Promised Pastures. Which is an excellent outcome! You'll find them so comforting, you'll forget all about the mortal realm.”

Silence greeted her explanation and she looked around. “You don't seem pleased by this good news.”

“Good news?” both Rarities yelped in the exact same pitch. They both began to talk over each other like an echo bouncing off the far wall, only to stumble to a confused halt a few words in.

Sunburst moved forward. “May I?” he asked, tilting his head towards Sunset's letter. When she transferred it to him, he squinted at the elegant writing and murmured to himself. Then he looked up at Evergreen. “I don't see anything here that gives you or anypony else a claim on the soul of Sunset Shimmer. She's signed no contract, entered no bargain, nor has she surrendered it. I've never heard of the Ageless Archives either, and until we see some credentials she is not going anywhere.”

“You want proof. If you insist.” Evergreen cocked her head to the side, pointing her hoof to count the ponies still in the room. Her horn glowed and a sheaf of index cards appeared in a fan in front of her. “Pick a card.”

“I know this routine,” Trixie drawled, swaggering closer. She had reacquired her hat and cloak, and she swept them around theatrically. “There are no sleights of hoof you may perform that the Great And Powerful Trixie cannot catch! Do you dare me to expose you for a fraud?”

Evergreen peeked over the top of the fan. “These are from the Archives' catalogue, and each is tied to a pony in this castle. If you wish to know the date of their death, by all means, choose one. It might even be yours.” She thrust them at Trixie, only for the showmare to recoil suddenly. “No? Anypony?”

The unicorns exchanged uneasy glances. Starlight couldn't blame them. Knowledge like that was dangerous magic and something not even villains dared search for. Stumbling over your own expiry date left a mark on you.

“If nopony picks one, then you accept this as proof of my position,” Evergreen said. She let the cards whirl into a brief figure-eight, waiting for somepony to step forward.

“That's a paradox,” Human Twilight objected. She shouldered past Trixie and marched up to the Archivist. “If I choose a card, does that mean I reject your credentials?”

Evergreen tucked them back into nothingness. “I could provide a token from the Archives instead, if you find that less intimidating.”

“Like a challenge coin?” Undoing the clasp of his cloak, Sunburst flipped it around to show a crystal coin. “This is from the Library up in the Crystal Empire. Your token would have to be quite extraordinary to top it.”

She floated a horn-rimmed ivory token over to him. “Please, see for yourself.”

Sunburst pressed them together. A flash of magic surrounded both, then her coin rose up over his. “It's much older,” he said, peering at it and the spell matrix that surrounded both tokens, “and rarer.”

“Crafted from debris the last time the Ivory Gates saw repairs,” she said. “Is that adequate proof?”

He returned her token. “I believe so, yes.”

She tucked it away. “Very good. As for Sunset Shimmer's soul, all ponies have a life to lead and a place waiting for them at the end. Their life is that contract; that end is the agreement, for good or for bad. This has never been questioned.”

“Really?” he asked. “What about ponies who don't believe in an afterlife?”

Evergreen smiled. “We quite enjoy the looks on their faces when they arrive at the Ivory Gates. Oh, we've seen it all: Denial, bargaining, anger . . . some ponies won't cross the first fence out of fear for where they'll end up, but they're still inside our realm and belong there. Just like Sunset Shimmer does.”

Disquiet crawled down Starlight Glimmer's spine and she could hear the distressed noises from Fluttershy from the screen behind her. She wished she could cut the signal to this tableau, but she didn't dare. It had to be horrible for them, far away from their friend as she faced down this situation, but to not know what was happening would be even worse.

“All right.” She found her voice, almost ashamed that both Sunburst and Trixie had stepped up to help before she could break out of her own immobility. “You've made your case, and your letter says Sunset has time to put her life in order. How much time?”

The green mare shrugged. “We've been quite patient, but only because we couldn't find a trace of Miss Shimmer in Equestria until now. The longer she lives on borrowed time, the more it affects the disposition of other souls. Right now, she's borrowing mere seconds and minutes from others, but that could grow to become days, or even months.” She looked around the room. “I know you have a lot of friends, and possibly a great deal of life to assess. I can give you a couple of days before we expect you at the Ivory Gates.”

Another card appeared from thin air and she held it out to Sunset. “If you find yourself settled early, or have any other questions, enact the spell you'll find on this card. I or another Archivist will stop by.”

“Uh, thanks,” Sunset said warily. “I'll make a list.”

Evergreen smiled. “I'm sorry if I've scared you, all of you. It's very unusual for us to seek out the souls who should be home again. They come to us, not the other way around. I expect to see some of you in the future.” As she turned to leave, she paused and glanced at Twilight Sparkle. “Oh, when things are settled with Sunset Shimmer, I have questions for you, Miss Sparkle. You did great things for several years as a unicorn, but I see your file is no longer updating. I hope we can remedy that and keep you on a solid path to the Pastures.”

The green unicorn walked through the doorway into nothingness and vanished.

Starlight broke the silence first. “Okay. Everypony listen. Sunset and Twilight, go back home and stay there.” As both ponified humans started to object, she cut them off with a wave of her hoof. “Whatever's going on, we know one thing for sure: they can't touch you once you're across the mirror. Go be with everyone you love and do everything you have to do.”

She pointed at Sunburst. “You and I have reading to do. I want books on the Promised Pastures, any mention of the Ageless Archives, the Ivory Gates, or anything else dealing with the afterlife that has capital letters. We'll need Princess Twilight's help to get into the Canterlot Archives, but she'll grant access to that without question.” She looked at Rarity. “I know you're on the Council of Friendship and all, Rarity, but I can teleport to Canterlot in a blink, and I've kept you away from the Boutique all weekend as it is. We'll let you know if there's anything you can do, though. Maybe start with informing the other Council members?”

Looking shaken, Rarity nodded and left to gather her things.

Finally, Starlight turned to the crystal screen on the wall. “Everyone, I'm sorry about this, but once I send Sunset and Twilight back to you, I'm removing the book from the mirror and closing the portal temporarily. Sunset's safer if nopony can come after her there. Okay?”

She waited for their nods, knowing they would still worry. “You can still write to me or the Princess using either book, but if you don't hear back from me after a day, assume I've destroyed my copy to keep the mirror closed. Princess Twilight will confirm if I've done that. Hers is much more secure.”

“You aren't going to let them just take Sunset, right?” asked Applejack. “We can't lose her!”

“We won't,” Starlight said, sounding more sure of that than she felt. “There's a way out of this and we'll find it.” She took a breath, knowing that she was about to ask something big of them. “Still, you can do one thing to help at your end. Find the other me.”

The pause on the other end stretched enough to make her wonder if the delay had kicked in. “Why?” Rainbow Dash finally said.

“Sunburst and I are only two ponies, and there are a lot of books to search through. Nopony knows more about narrowing searches than I do.” Starlight tried to put some of her headmare strength into her voice, as if she were assigning homework to her students. “You have ways of linking nearly everyone in the world together with the internet there. Start in Sire's Hollow. If you look for someone railing against perceived injustice, you'll find the other me.” She grimaced. “I might be angry or alone, upset at losing a friend. If you find another Sunburst, he'll be the key. And if you happen across another Moondancer, hang the expense. She won't be happy, but dangle a research project in front of her nose and she'll play ball.”

Stepping away from the camera, Starlight watched Sunset strap her saddlebags on. “We've got your back,” she said softly. “Go where they can't catch you.”

Sunset made a face. “If what she said is true, about me living on borrowed time from other ponies, then I can't stay away forever. It's just shortening their lives.”

“You have to stay alive,” Starlight pointed out. “If you don't, magic will overrun that world without you to stop it.”

“I notice you didn't tell them to find another me.” Sunset pawed the ground awkwardly. “I don't know if there even is another me in that world. I've looked once or twice, but nothing's ever come up.”

Starlight wrapped her friend up in a hug. “Don't worry about it. We aren't going to sacrifice you for another Sunset Shimmer. Now go. And leave me that letter. I want to analyze it.” She waved at everyone else. “Good luck, everyone. We'll talk soon by book.”

The instant the portal stopped shimmering behind Twilight Sparkle's tail, Starlight counted to ten, then lifted the book off its stand. The machinery around the mirror ground slowly to a halt and the small square of crystal faded from blue to a dull purple.

She tucked Sunset's letter into the book and clutched both of them to her chest. “I'm going to go fill Princess Twilight in. She may want to consult Celestia and Luna in Silver Shoals, so it might be a while before I get back. Sunburst, start by checking the School Library catalogue and here.” His books from the Crystal Empire had all migrated to her own library in the castle. “Trixie, keep things calm. I'm just visiting the Princess and nopony should panic.” Oh, she'd dearly like to panic, but Sunset needed all of them.

“Trixie will be the calmest pony in the history of being calm,” her friend assured her. “And she'll keep Sunburst from panicking.”

“Since when do I panic?” he asked, following her out of the room. “I tried once to find a spell while the Pony of Shadows threatened us at Ponehenge and I didn't panic.”

“Trixie didn't panic even in the middle of a hive full of changelings,” came her response.

Finally alone in an empty room for the first time in three days, Starlight breathed out deeply. “So much for enjoying the small victories,” she murmured. First she had to go to Canterlot and interrupt whatever Princess Twilight was currently doing. She wasn't certain if the Royal Guards would stop her, or if she would luck out and run into Spike first, but this would be deeply personal for the Princess. Starlight wouldn't keep it from her.

Every resource now was precious.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

“Of course, I'll do everything I can do to help.” Princess Twilight crossed through the archway between her quarters and her balcony, where Starlight sat fretting. “I know I didn't leave much of a library behind in Ponyville, but I can have ponies send information from the Canterlot Archives and the Library of Magic.” She looked down at the palace grounds and pointed out a particular white marble tower. “My old study tower might have references to the Pastures or the Ageless Archives. Moondancer has the key.”

“She left the conference before everything happened,” said Starlight, “and it would be great to have her help.” She turned a hoof against the floor of the balcony, weighing her next words. “You should know I asked your Canterlot High friends to find that world's Moondancer, as well as another me. I need all the brainpower I can get right now, even if that mind is an unhappy one. They won't be as emotionally involved as I am in this.”

Twilight frowned. “I understand, but you should still be careful. Showing a jaded and bitter person that magic exists isn't always a good idea.”

“It's never a good idea,” Starlight admitted, “but if I'm going to keep Sunset in the land of the living, I need someone focused on the problem. When Sunburst found Starswirl's last journal, you had eight ponies cross-referencing for days, and the biggest issue we ran across was Starswirl's sloppy horn-writing.” She sighed. “Even if I roped Trixie into things, it's just the three of us. You're a Princess with endless responsibilities, the Council is meant for bigger things, and our friends can't take time out of their lives to search endless shelves of books.”

“At the very least, I'll keep my journal close,” promised Twilight. “If the girls contact me, I'll pass the message along to you.”

Breathing a bit easier, Starlight fished out Sunset's letter from her book and levitated it over to Twilight. “Can you copy this to Celestia and Luna? I don't want to say they're old, but after centuries on the throne, one of them must know something. Ponies who found a way out, perhaps, or even a way in for the living?”

“I'll send it to them right away. Anything else?”

“Yeah.” Starlight cocked her head. “She didn't know you, not as a Princess. She told the other you that your file hadn't updated in years. It seems like when you became an alicorn, that didn't get noted.”

Twilight flattened out the letter in her magic, smoothing the creases so she could use one of the copying spells she and Starlight had modified. “Let's keep that in our spare saddlebag for now. It could be a useful bit of information.” Her magic field highlighted the text and began transferring it to blank sheets of paper. “I'm making one for each Princess, including Cadance. She can order a search of the Crystal Empire Library for similar topics. Spike will send them as soon as they're ready.”

“Can you make one for Starswirl as well?” She rarely reached out to the older wizard, given their first few conversations. It still felt somewhat awkward, even though Starswirl's position on redemption had long since changed. “He spent a thousand years in limbo. Maybe he's also on their list as a pony living on borrowed time.”

“Yes, a good thought, Starlight.” Twilight caught her former student's eye and the two of them giggled briefly at the memory of Starswirl's offhand compliment.

Starlight stretched and propped her forehooves on the table to retrieve the original letter, tucking it back away in her journal. “You didn't have to say it just like he did.”

“I wanted to. It helps me remember that I was so busy admiring my idol, I nearly lost sight of doing the right thing.” Twilight wrote down a quick summary of the events for all the recipients and made sure she addressed each one individually. “You're trying to help a friend, but be careful that you don't go so far that you can't undo what you've started.”

Rolling each scroll, she sealed them with ribbons and wrote the name on the outside. “There. Now, a quick note to Spike for him to send these all out.” With that done, she cast a spell that vanished the whole pile of paperwork. “I can forward the replies to you if you'd rather return to Ponyville.”

Starlight would rather return to Ponyville. Solving her friend's sudden case of life overdraft was her first priority. Still, she had some questions she wasn't sure she would be given answers to back home. “Is there another Sunset Shimmer out there? Our Sunset said she looked, but she never said why.”

“I don't know,” Twilight answered. “She might have searched to see if she was intruding on a well-known life, or to see just how far away the human version of herself lived. Distance would have helped her original plan.” She shrugged, ruffling her wings. “And not every pony has a counterpart. I met students at Canterlot High that I've never seen here or in Ponyville, and we both know ponies who weren't there across the mirror.”

“It's not like I bumped into myself over there, either.” Starlight debated asking her next question, but she figured her mentor would forgive any insult. “Do you like your other self?”

Twilight raised a foreleg. For her, it was more an expression of surprise. If she were defensive, she would have turned her head to the side as well. “Are you worried about liking yourself if our friends find her?”

Starlight nodded. “I know what I was like growing up. If there is a human me, I worry that she'll be as angry and manipulative as I turned out.” When she had finally met the other version of her friends, Starlight had noticed that their personalities matched even across dimensions. “If I hate the pony I was, how can I not hate myself if I'm the same way as a person?”

“I don't believe you hate yourself,” said Twilight. “I think you regret your actions, and knowing what you're capable of will help you deal with your other self's anger.” She smiled. “Wait and see. You might like yourself more than you think.”

“You didn't answer my question about you,” Starlight pointed out.

“Yes, I enjoy her company, but that's because we're not identical.” Twilight began to walk back into her chambers and Starlight followed. “I'm a magical researcher with practical applications. She's very much an inventor with a frighteningly brilliant mind and less impulse control. If both of us were the same, we would definitely irritate each other.” She stopped at the door to the rest of the castle. “I have another meeting, unfortunately. If you want, I can give you access to the Castle Archives while you wait for replies. Some of the librarians might grumble, but you're every bit as qualified as they are.”

Starlight shook her head. “Thanks, but if you can just have them send on anything they find, I need to get back to Ponyville.” She stepped forward into a hug with Twilight. “Thanks again, Princess. I couldn't do half of what I do without your help.”

“Go on, then, find a way to save our friend.” Twilight slipped out, turning back into the ruler of Equestria once again.

Looking down from the Princess's private balcony, Starlight sighed and cast herself back towards home.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

When she re-entered her library at the Castle of Friendship, things had progressed on the research side. Stacks of books sat beside plates and glasses, and Sunburst had broken out the bookmarks.

“We figured a working dinner was the best option,” he said. “You're back quicker than I thought. Couldn't you see Princess Celestia?”

Starlight shrugged. “Twilight's passing on messages. Once I talked with her, all I wanted to do was get back here again.” She set her still-silent journal down in the middle of the table and inspected the books already set aside with slips in them. “Anything so far?”

“I searched through the School's folklore and myth section and pulled anything that looked like it dealt with the Pastures. We can go more in-depth later.” His magic slipped another bookmark in at the start of a chapter and he added it to the pile. “Trixie's in the kitchen, although I don't know if she's actually cooking anything. She might just be staring at all the leftovers from the conference.” Sunburst looked up from the next book, furrowing his brow. “You might want to check on her.”

Nodding, Starlight went back out and down a narrow hallway to the tucked-away kitchen. She was never sure if the Tree of Harmony understood the needs of ponies when it came to food, or bathrooms. Room layout was not its strong suit. Then again, it was a tree. “Trixie?” She poked her head in and saw the covered trays sitting on the big island in the middle of the room, but no blue unicorn. “Are you in here?”

The far door opened and Trixie peered out, a teapot in her magic field. The kettle was already on the stove and heating up. “I promise, I wasn't adding to the current tea set.” She set the teapot on the counter and sidled out of the pantry. “You're back early. No luck?”

Starlight shrugged again, much like she had with Sunburst. “You know how it goes. You ask a question, which takes no time at all, but the answer takes forever.”

“Ah.” Trixie nodded knowingly. “Are you doing okay?”

“Somewhat.” Starlight began lifting lids and peering beneath them to remind herself of just what hadn't been eaten. “And it had been such a good weekend, too.”

Trixie set the teapot down gently. “I find that's how Ponyville works. Once you start feeling good about yourself, it sets its sights on you.” She lifted the lid off and peered into it, as if checking for hidden treasure or forgotten magic notes. “It lets you up eventually, but takes a piece of you with it.”

“Isn't that true for all of our adventures?” Starlight put together a platter for all three of them.

“Some more than others.” Trixie put the lid back on. “Is there any word from the Princess?”

“Twilight only sent out the letters a couple of hours ago. We might not hear back from anyone until at least tomorrow morning.” Starlight transferred the other trays to the refrigerator so they wouldn't go stale. “I'm struggling, too. I want answers now and it's hard to wait. We can't just go charging off to the end of the world like we used to.”

Trixie sighed. “I suppose being older, more responsible mares has some drawbacks.”

It struck Starlight that both Sunburst and Trixie were treating her as if she were fragile, as if she were grieving, and that was probably true. Where was she on the Cobbler Moss scale right now? Possibly still somewhere in denial, if all this rushing around to overturn death wasn't a good enough indicator.

When the kettle finally began whistling, Trixie poured the water into the pot to steep the tea and Starlight hefted the tray in her magic. They wended their way back to the library to join Sunburst and the three unicorns settled down to food and their respective book stacks.

“It's not about finding the Promised Pastures,” Starlight said later, closing one useless book and setting it aside. “It's figuring out what argument will be enough to get them to see Sunset already has a life elsewhere.” Starlight blew out a breath and canted her head to the side.

“It's like when the Fillydelphia licensing bureau insisted a unicorn had died,” said Trixie. “There he was, with his cutie mark and birth records, telling them he was alive, and all the stallion behind the counter could say was 'Sorry, the system says you're dead, so you are'.” She nickered and gave a snort of annoyance. “Maybe we need someone who can change the system.”

“Also an option,” Starlight conceded. Trixie's grounding was in illusions and sleight-of-hoof, not in esoteric magics. She was excellent at being a sounding board, though, and advising through the emotion of a problem. It was why Starlight had made her the school's student counselor, after all.

The pile of discarded books was just beginning to exceed the ones that still needed investigating when Starlight's journal buzzed and glowed in the middle of the table. She tossed her bluebell and bleeding heart sandwich away with an alacrity and Trixie barely ducked. Snatching the book up, Starlight flung it open and hurriedly flipped to the end to see the hornwriting.

“Is it Celestia?” Sunburst asked.

“Or Twilight?” Trixie brushed stray flower stems out of her mane.

“It's Sunset.” Closing the book, Starlight levitated it over to its stand above the mirror, and she trotted over to the camera. As the magic rolled through the coils and fired up the portal to a bright pink glow, the square of wall crystal lit up. Seconds later, Sunset Shimmer appeared in what looked like her bedroom. “Are you okay?”

“For being the walking dead, sure.” Sunset rested her chin on her cupped hands as she lay on her bed. “Is there anything at your end?”

Starlight shook her head. “Nothing yet. Everypony's still getting caught up. I'm waiting to hear from them while we're looking through old myths and legends. So far, most of them are about ponies who tried to find the Pastures to rescue their loved ones from the afterlife.”

“Figures,” said Sunset. “That's about all the school library has here.” She glanced off-screen. “We looked through social media like you suggested, and we've found a Moondancer here in Canterlot. She's a Crystal Prep student, though, so Rarity's reaching out to some friends to see if she'll talk to us.”

Sunburst's head came up at the mention of the word Crystal, but Starlight waved it off. “Not that kind of Crystal,” she said to him over her shoulder. “Sorry, Sunset. Around here, Crystal means the Crystal Empire.”

“Right,” Sunset agreed. “Twilight mentioned her sister-in-law ruled there. Here Cadance is just principal of the school.” She considered that briefly. “Now I'm wondering what happens if Principal Celestia ever decides to retire. It's not like my Twilight will sudden get promoted to principal in her place.”

“Don't think about it too hard,” Starlight said. “We're not exact worlds.”

“I'm glad you said that,” said Sunset, glancing off-screen again. “Because we also found you, just where you told us to look. But, uh, she's not quite what you expected.”

Starlight's heart fell. “Oh, no. Is she upset? Please tell me you didn't drag her all the way back to Canterlot on a whim.”

“As a matter of fact, I'm in Sire's Hollow.”

Narrowing her eyes, Starlight peered at the wall. “Wait, is that my headboard? What are you doing on my old bed?”

Another human leaned into frame, pulling her purple and aqua-streaked hair into twin tails. She had kohl-rimmed eyes, pale pink skin, and wore a black knit sweater. “Yanno, that's great animation, but how did you get my voice?” She gasped and clapped her hands to her mouth before whispering through them. “Have you been secretly recording me? Is this some kind of stalking thing?”

Sunset flipped a hand in her direction. “Starlight Glimmer, meet Starlight Glimmer. I got invited to stay for dinner by her father. He said he was glad to see his daughter making friends with other girls.”

Starlight could feel both Trixie's and Sunburst's stares of disbelief. She didn't even have to look over her shoulder to know they had both stopped eating to take in the sight of herself as a perky goth. “It's Sunburst, isn't it?” she moaned. “Since he left you, you haven't made any new friends.”

The human Starlight blinked. “Wait. What about my Sunnybun? He just texted me an hour ago!” She lunged out of sight. “Where's my phone?”

Sunset's expression conveyed an unspoken story as an avalanche of ripped black leggings landed on her head. “As you can see, she's quite jaded and angry,” she explained. Turning to one side, she stretched an arm out and pulled it back with a picture frame in her hand. She held it up to the camera on her laptop so the ponies could see the human Starlight cheerfully embracing a human Sunburst. The shock of orange hair and the matching goatee were unmistakable. “Also, they're sickeningly cute with each other. They're each other's only friend.”

“Not true,” the other Starlight objected, popping back into view. “We're best friends!” She looked down at her phone and did that swiping move that unicorn Starlight recognized as 'scrolling'. “Sunburst is fine! He's just got a lot of homework. It's hard for him, getting ready for law school.”

“Law school?” Sunburst echoed from the dinner table. Starlight recognized that higher note in his voice as slight hysteria from the trauma of flunking magic school.

Frowning, human Starlight peered at the screen. “Ohmigosh, you even got a little unicorn version of Sunny! Wow, like, how long have you been working on this webtoon?” She tilted her head. “And who's the blue one supposed to be?”

“That's the great and powerful Trixie,” Sunset explained, her casual voice not imbuing Trixie's attributes with the proper Capital Letters. “She's that world's Starlight's best friend.”

Trixie swelled up with both indignation and pride. At any other time, seeing which one would make Trixie explode first would amuse Starlight, but the cares of the day had worsened her mood. “Hi! Other dimensional pony-self here. Sorry, but we've got an injustice happening, and I'm sure you're totally down with helping us stop it. It's a passion of yours, right?”

“Oh sure!” human Starlight agreed. “Like, it really is on us to make the world just.” She turned to Sunset Shimmer. “It's got a wicked smart interaction. How much runtime do you have so far? Because we'd need to modify it for classroom schedules.”

“It's not really —” began Sunset, only for a voice to interrupt her from one side of the screen.

“Come on, pumpky-wumpkin. Dinner's ready and I want to meet your new friend!”

Human Starlight rolled her eyes and smirked. “Daddy, just because you promised no more pumpky-wumpkins after graduation doesn't mean you get to cram in twice as many of them in my last year. I'm a serious student with a plan!”

“No, Sunburst is the one with the plan,” came the reply. “You're just following his plan because you two are inseparable. You're a smart girl, honey-bun, you should think more for yourself!”

Sunset looked back and forth, hunching her shoulders. “Soooo, I'll just log this off and I'll be right down with you, shall I?” She waited until human Starlight flounced off and made an apologetic face at the monitor. “Uh, okay. She thinks you're all some kind of cute teaching game for kids. Sorry, I'll get things straightened out over dinner. People usually get hit with rogue magic first and they want an explanation. It's hard to bring up otherwise.”

Starlight Glimmer shook her head in disbelief. “We are such different people, aren't we?”

Sunset waggled her hand back and forth. “Her Sunburst hasn't left yet. He'll have to go to law school in Canterlot or somewhere away from home, so she's latched onto him while she can. She even thinks she'll go to school in the same city so they can stay together more. Trust me, you've got the healthier relationship right now.” She reached for her journal that lay beside her on the bed, wires trailing out of the spine. “I'll figure out how to reach her and we'll be back in touch, okay?”

“Okay.” Starlight reached up to the wall to press the tip of her hoof against the crystal. “You did good. I hope we'll have good news for you soon, too. Twilight's digging deep into the Archives.”

“Deeper than you know,” Sunset agreed. “Thanks, everypony.”

She cut the connection.

“How did Sunset know all that?” asked Trixie.

“Probably read the other Starlight's mind if she touched her hand.” A Starlight still at home, with her father, with Sunburst close by. No wonder she had yet to grow up. Life hadn't yet sunk its teeth into that Starlight Glimmer and broken her heart into a pile of sharp little shards. “She won't be any help. We'll have to keep going on our own.”

Both Sunburst and Trixie stared at her. “What makes you think that?” he asked.

“The hurt of losing you drove me to study hard and learn everything I could.” Starlight pointed at the blank wall. “She doesn't have that drive! You heard my — her father. She's brilliant, but she's tied her fortunes to her friend and will go where he goes instead of finding her own path that will lead to greater things.”

Trixie sighed. “Difficult things, too.”

“But great!” Starlight insisted, riding the surge of irrational anger. “That's the Starlight we need right now, not Daddy's Girl.”

“Starlight —”

Fuming, Starlight had already flung open her journal to the last entry and picked up a quill with her magic. We can't use her. Forget about it, Sunset. Sorry to put you through this.

She slammed the book shut again, ignoring the concerned looks from both of her friends. She'd been in denial long enough. Anger felt better. “Okay. We'll be drowning in Princess messages by tomorrow morning, along with whatever books Twilight can find for us. Let's get through this mess before that happens.”

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

One by one, the messages arrived in the same way: A burst of dragon fire overhead, followed by a scroll falling to the table. One of the three unicorns would catch it in their magic before it landed on a plate or in a dollop of salad dressing.

Princess Cadance empathized with everypony's shock and distress, and promised she would put her librarians to work searching the Crystal Empire's library for any information. If necessary, she would bring them herself on the Crystal Express.

Princess Luna expressed her dismay at the travesty of justice, but also urged caution. Her scroll warned that the denizens of both Pastures and Fields had good reason for their rules and that exceptions were rarely granted to those seeking an indulgence for their deaths. However, she would leave Silver Shoals immediately to seek an audience with the Archives on Sunset Shimmer's behalf, if their friend so wished.

Princess Celestia's own warnings were even more specific. One did not cheat the Ageless Archives, she wrote, lest a pony find themselves in the Wayward Fields with a dozen fences between them and the Promised Pastures. She agreed that an intercession could be made and Luna was the proper choice for that, but it would come down to the need for a soul to step in and stop the drain of time from others.

Princess Twilight had read her fellow royals' scrolls before sending them on and Starlight could see the fury in her mentor's hornwriting. Twilight had hoped for more, obviously, and wasn't pleased with the status quo. For her own efforts, she had roped Moondancer into the research and ransacked several locations for books. Both research and researcher would arrive tomorrow in Ponyville.

~~Princess~~ Starswirl the Bearded apologized that he hadn't met an Archivist yet, although he thanked Starlight for the valuable warning. He also offered to come stand with her and her friend Sunset in their “hour of need”, for which Starlight found herself oddly grateful.

All the while, they continued to flip through volume after volume of various mythological writings. Mentions of the Promised Pastures were rare, though. Many writers acknowledged that the afterlife existed, but their knowledge all seemed to stop short of the Ivory Gates themselves. Anything beyond lay shrouded in the fog of mere speculation.

“Alicorns should have written more books,” Sunburst muttered, exasperated as he plunked another one on the reject pile. “It would be helpful to have a record for all those things ordinary ponies can't remember.”

Trixie gazed up sleepily from the book where she half-heartedly traced the tip of her hoof along lines of text. “Everypony expects the extraordinary ponies record their adventures, but they often ended up at the Gates before they could write anything down. Just because they were so extraordinary.” She yawned. “The Great . . . and Powerful mmph Trixie does not plan on taking that journey any time soon.” Then she glanced over at Starlight. “Although, if you go there for answers, Trixie will most certainly come along. If that walking beard with a hat comes with you, your best friend should, too.”

Starlight glanced at the pink hat lying nearby. “You can't outdo his hat, Trixie. It's got bells on it.”

“Then Trixie will find something better than bells.” She sighed and rested her chin on the last book in her stack.

Finding the clock, Starlight winced at the time. They had been at this for hours and all of them had already had an early morning with the end of the conference. Plus they were nearly out of books. “Okay, it's pretty clear we aren't going to get anywhere with the School's books or my home library. We should wait for help tomorrow.”

“By which you mean, 'Trixie, go to bed, Sunburst and I will stay up all night flipping through more pages in a futile effort to solve this'?”

Starlight tried a winning smile. “Yes?”

“No. Trixie's seen you try to pull all-nighters before.” She snorted. “You fall asleep on a book before midnight, wake up hours later with a numb hind leg, and spend half the morning limping around until it wears off.”

Sunburst nodded. “That's pretty much how it goes.”

“Fine!” Starlight shoved the useless book she was reading aside and instead focused on the now-empty tray, stacking the cups and teapot on it. “You can take this back to the kitchen. I'll tidy up here and we'll start again in the morning.”

Sunburst picked it up in his magic. “I've got it. See you both tomorrow.”

He left quickly, leaving the two mares staring at each other.

“You should go to sleep, Trixie,” Starlight said, more gently than she'd snapped just seconds ago. “You helped me all weekend, you stayed up late to entertain everypony on Saturday night, and you've been staring at badly-written books all evening. You need a break.”

“I need a break?” Trixie echoed. “You need —” She groped for another word. “— more than a break!”

Starlight gave her a look. “Persuasive,” she said. Reaching out, she pressed her hoof to her friend's. “I know, and I will. I just need to shut everything down here first. We'll reshelve the books after we find the answer.”

“We'll have to make some aisles to walk through by the time we find the answer,” Trixie muttered. She yawned again. “Trixie will go to bed, but she does so reluctantly. Goodniiiiight.”

As she trudged out, Starlight watched her go, then busied herself with sorting out the School's books from her own. Chasing them away wasn't smart, but the frustration of failed research always annoyed her, just as it had Twilight.

Still, Starlight knew when to stop and sleep on things. Twilight always summoned more and more books, even if they weren't relevant.

She dropped a pile of her own books on a nearby table so she could reshelve them in the library at her leisure. As she turned to do the same with the School's books, a buzz from her journal interrupted her.

We should talk, me to me.

Dropping the book back on its wooden stand, Starlight pulled up a cushion and sat down in front of the wall. She curled her tail around the front of her hooves and waited for the signal to pick up.

Human Starlight Glimmer appeared on-screen, one leg pulled up in her seat so pony Starlight could see the blown knee in her leggings. She still had her black sweater, although she had switched to a single side-ponytail to make allowance for the one-earmuff headset she now wore. Beside her sat a half-asleep Sunset Shimmer with a blanket pulled up to her neck. When she saw Starlight, she raised her eyebrows. “So, I'm no use to you, huh?”

Starlight shrugged. “I'd say 'no offense', but it's really an overused phrase around here.” She cocked her head as she saw other people sitting behind the two of them. “Where are you?”

“On a train to Canterlot,” human Starlight said. “It's got great WiFi. So either you guys are the greatest Alternate Reality Game I've ever played, or you really are a pony version of me.” She glanced over at the dozing Sunset. “She's one, too?”

“Yes.”

“And she's in trouble?”

“Yes.”

The human her considered that. “Why another me? What can I do that you can't?”

“I had hoped you would be more objective than I'm being,” admitted Starlight. “I get, well, irrational when things happen to my friends. For example, I got upset at the idea that you had all these fun extra years with Sunburst and our — your dad.” She sighed and hung her head. “Sorry.”

“Aww. What happened with you and Sunny?” the other Starlight asked. “He didn't dump you, did he?”

“Oh, no. No! What? No, we're not even —” Starlight gave up on the sentence and told herself the abridged version of events that had led her from Sire's Hollow to the headmare of a School for dozens of magical creatures. “So, when I heard you talking with Dad so easily, after I spent years putting up with all those ridiculous pet names . . .”

“Your PTSD got crossed up with your anger issues,” her human self agreed. Something on Starlight's face made her scoff. “Hey, you saw the end of your world. If you didn't have trauma before, you sure did after that.” She looked over her shoulder, then lifted up in her seat enough to peer over the seats in front. Sitting back down, she cupped the headset mic and brought it closer. “Look, I'm not all sunshine and flowers, either. Dad's kind of right about me following Sunburst, but what else am I going to do? I don't want him to go off without me.”

Starlight frowned. “With all the technology you humans have, you don't have to miss him. You two could talk whenever, right?”

“Eh. Not quite the same.” Human Starlight made a familiar waggling motion with her hand. “Still, just because I've got it good at home doesn't mean I'm not smart. You need my help, you've got it. What else do you have?”

“I'll have a pile of books and more researchers tomorrow,” Starlight said. “We'll combine our efforts and figure this out, or we all accompany Sunset to the Ivory Gates and give her one last hug.”

“Joy,” conceded the human. “Dad's so happy to see me with another girl that he wouldn't care if she was kidnapping me to another world, so I've got a couple of days.” She cocked an eyebrow. “You still have your Dad. Has it always been you two?”

“Yep. I kind of made life hard for him when I was a teenager. Always brooding, collecting old skulls and crystals, and reading sketchy magic books.”

Human Starlight chuckled. “Aside from the magic stuff, we sound pretty much alike. I started dressing like this to see if I could get Dad to take me more seriously, but over time I got into it. Sunburst calls it my cheerful angst.” She flicked her fingers through her side-ponytail. “And yeah, I've got plenty of crystals.”

“Any . . . kites?” Starlight asked warily.

“Oh, sure. I take Sunny flying when he needs a study break. It helps him process stuff.” Human Starlight's eyes widened and she clapped a hand to her mouth in a giggle. “No way! You fly them too?”

She nodded.

“Cool. We'll have to do that together once this is all over.” Human Starlight peeked over at Sunset, whose head nearly rested on her shoulder. “We kind of overfed her. Dad went all out.”

“I'll bet she hasn't eaten much today.” Starlight said. “We're all worried. It's hard knowing what to do in a case like hers. I've gotten letters from Princesses and wizards, and I'm gathering duplicates of the smartest ponies I know.”

The mirror hummed louder and a jolt of pink sparks flared at the top of the machinery as the journal's magic surged.

Both Starlights stared.

“What is that?”

“Company.” Starlight Glimmer took a cautious step towards the portal. Maybe Rarity had already recruited Moondancer and decided to send her on through without warning.

A powder-blue blur shot through the glass and skidded to a breathless stop on all four hooves. She inhaled sharply and shuddered, her platinum blonde mane falling over her face. “Trixie . . . regrets doing that.”

“That's your world's Trixie,” Starlight informed herself. “I guess she's just as blindly impulsive as mine.” She approached the panting unicorn. “Trixie, what were you thinking?”

With eyes still squeezed shut, Trixie appeared to be on sensory overload from her trip through the portal. “You won't take Sunset Shimmer from us so easily.” She finally cracked one eye open and it rolled with vertigo as her knees quivered. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will not allow it!”

“Yes, but the Great and Powerful Trixie should probably sit down for a second.” Starlight sighed. “And welcome to Equestria. Don't shout so loud or your other self will wake up.”

“Cool,” human Starlight commented. “So I'm going to turn into you when I get there?”

“Most likely.”

Trixie flopped down and rolled over onto her back with a groan, all four legs stuck into the air.

“Am I going to react like her?”

Starlight shrugged. “It's a little weird at first, but I'm sure you'll be fine.”

“Sunset said the plan is to meet up with a Moondancer tomorrow morning and get organized before we come to see you.” Human Starlight lifted her shoulder slightly to bring the sleeping Sunset's head into frame. “I'll wake her when we pull into Canterlot and go from there. Should be fun, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Starlight Glimmer nudged Trixie with her hoof. “I'm going to get this Trixie to a bed, then warn my Trixie that there's another her nearby. Might have to lock one of them in.” She looked up at herself. “Sorry about saying you weren't needed.”

“No biggie. I get underestimated a lot.” A chime from overhead made the other Starlight look up. “Whoa, WiFi's getting turned off, so we're on the last turn before the station. See you soon.”

She logged off and the wall turned opaque once again.

Starlight shook her head as she coaxed Trixie onto unsteady hooves. “I still can't figure out how Twilight got that thing working,” she muttered. She shored Trixie up with one shoulder and picked up her journal with her magic. “Come on, Great and Powerful. Let's see how you like an Equestrian bed for the night.”

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Starlight Glimmer stood by herself as they both contemplated the brainstorming chalkboard.

“Right, so, what's a Discord?” her other self asked.

“Spirit of Chaos,” Starlight said. “Can bend reality to his whim. But he doesn't know everything, and I think the afterlife has protection from him interfering. I expelled his body once from the School, but his spirit still roamed around.” She grimaced. “That was messy.”

“Would he help?”

“Fluttershy asked. He said he can't interfere with a pony's destiny. That includes making a copy of Sunset Shimmer to pop into the Pastures when nopony's looking and pretending she's been there all along.”

The Human Starlight shrugged. “Could he give you more time? Bending reality must mean stretching out an hour to last a day or something.”

“If you're willing to trust that chaos magic wouldn't have any side-effects.” Starlight Glimmer crossed out the name. “It's best not to rely on ambivalent entities.”

“Okaaaay then.” Her counterpart moved down the list. “What's a Changeling?”

A sudden yelp and thump made them both spin around.

Moondancer stood in the doorway to the library with a glower on her face and a crate of books askew at her hooves. The focus of her ire appeared to be the other Moondancer examining Sunset's letter while consulting a textbook. Either that or the two Trixies. “What?” she snarled. “Are you just going to have a horde of Changelings imitate Sunset Shimmer and hope that Death can't figure out the real one?”

“She thinks we're Changelings,” Starlight said to her other self. “They can look like just about anyone or anything they want. But I don't think we'd be able to get away with that, either. Their soul would still be that of a Changeling, and that's the part the Archives weighs its decisions on. Plus, asking one to spend forever in the Promised Pastures might not be an easy sell.”

Sunburst popped his head over the book fort he'd constructed to keep the other Starlight Glimmer at a comfortable distance. “Actually, given the legends that the Pasture is filled with love and light, it might be the best place for one of them.” He caught an incredulous stare from both Trixies. “Of course, it would be traumatizing to be separated from the hive forever and ever, so . . . no. No.”

Starlight approached Moondancer. “Sorry for the scare. We aren't Changelings. I recruited some help from the other side of the mirror.”

“Including myself,” she said, still scowling and her ears flattened. “Princess Twilight didn't mention that part.”

“What, got a problem with yourself?” the other Moondancer asked, her onyx glasses glimmering. She had arrived in a whirl of self-importance, having watched the recording of Sunset's presentation to the PUMICE conference before crossing over. It was Starlight's first exposure to a student from Crystal Prep, and she found Moondancer scarily efficient at closing off fruitless avenues of research.

“I did, once,” came the reply. The crate of books thumped down onto the table in front of her. “But I got better.”

Ignoring the books, the human Moondancer cocked her head. “Then you're ahead of a lot of people at my school. Good for you.”

Starlight Glimmer intervened. “Sorry to just drag you right back after the conference,” she said to Moondancer, “but thanks for bringing all these books. I know we'll find a solution somewhere.”

“I wanted to write a paper or two about some of this weekend's topics,” Moondancer admitted. “But then Princess Twilight threw all these rare books at me and said Sunset needed our help.” She scooped the first few out of the box. “I looked through them on the train and I've never seen any of these volumes in the Canterlot Library of Magic!”

“Yeah,” Sunset Shimmer said from the wallscreen. “They would be from the Restricted Section.” A pause ensued as three or four heads swung in her direction. Sunset looked flustered. “Uh, you didn't hear that from me. Regular ponies aren't supposed to have access.”

“Well, it's a good thing we aren't regular ponies.”

Sunset pointed at the Trixie who said that. “You also shouldn't have barged into Equestria on my behalf, Trixie. I need to be there with all of you, not sitting here in my pyjamas. Death isn't going to come early for me.”

“It's not coming for you at all!” declared the other Trixie.

The human Starlight Glimmer shook her head. “It's like some horsey version of Barley's Angels,” she said. “How can she even tell the two of them apart?”

“Body language,” Starlight said. “You're all still getting used to having four legs.”

“And I am so taking a picture of us to show Sunnybun how adorable I am as a unicorn.” Human Starlight glared at the oversized rotary-dial phone sitting beside the saddlebag that used to be her purse. “I'm sure Sunset can do a screen capture. Okay, let's research or whatever.”

All seven unicorns divided up the books and set to work on the marked pages.

“I admire your Twilight's thoroughness,” the other Moondancer said eventually, “but this is like digging through piles of old yearbooks.” She dropped her current volume off the table and onto the stack of books she'd combed through.

“Were you yearbook staff too?” Sunset Shimmer asked.

“No, the drama department switched storage space with the yearbook office a couple months ago, so we volunteered to clear out the old stuff before moving the props in.”

The pony version of Moondancer eyed her counterpart. “So you're in theatre?”

Human Moondancer nodded. “Sure. It lets me look for old versions of plays no one's seen in ages, or come across vintage stuff for props. I like coming up with new characters to play, too. Not that I've used any onstage, but I like pretending to be someone else.”

The other Starlight Glimmer turned to squint at the blackboard. “That's all we've got up here,” she said sourly, “and on here.” She tapped the books with a hoof. “Pretending someone else is Sunset Shimmer. We need to stop the process, not cheat it.”

“How do we stop it?” Sunburst asked. “If we do, Sunset's still living on borrowed time.”

Starlight pricked her ears. “We stop that. We figure out how to stop Sunset from borrowing time.”

“For that, she'd have to cross the Ivory Gates.”

“Would she, though?” asked the other Starlight. ”Or that just the easiest solution? They said they've had this problem for years. Maybe they figured there wasn't another way, because it would be too difficult or strange. You know how bureaucracy gets.”

She looked at Sunburst. “Your mother's named Stellar Flare here too, right?” When he nodded, she smiled. “My Stellar Flare is on several committees and advisory councils. Know what their big slogan usually is? 'It's been broken for years, and the other guy didn't fix it!'. Well, you didn't bring us here just to research. You brought us here to help you fix this. And that's what we're going to do.” She looked at the other two humans-turned-ponies. “Let's put our heads together. Mind the horns.”

Starlight went over to Sunburst's book fort and whispered to him, “What do they think they're doing?”

“What you asked them to,” Trixie said, sidling closer from the other side. She looked at the other cluster of unicorns. “Should we trust them, though?”

Sunburst glanced sidelong at her. “Don't you trust yourself?”

“When it comes to Sunset Shimmer, I would trust the other Trixie,” Starlight said. “Would you trust the other me?”

Trixie frowned. “You said you wanted somepony objective. I don't think you got her, though.”

“What, why?”

Moondancer poked her head into their circle. “Because you went and got someone whose realm will run wild with magic if she doesn't keep Sunset Shimmer there. She's biased towards Sunset in her world's favour.” She snorted softly. “That Moondancer, though, I'd be careful of her.”

“She would find the magic in her world interesting, but if she let anything happen to Sunset or that world's Twilight, the other Shadowbolts wouldn't forgive her,” Starlight pointed out. “She'd be ostracized with no friends.”

“Been there, didn't like it,” Moondancer decided, “And that was after I did it to myself. Okay, we let them take a shot at this. But what do we do?”

All four of them looked up to see Human Starlight coming their way. “You can start by teaching us how to be more like you,” she said.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

“What's their plan?” Sunset Shimmer asked, plugging the cable into her laptop that would project the small screen onto a larger monitor. A piece of paper covered her webcam and she made sure to mute her microphone.

“They said not to ask,” said Starlight, curled into the corner of the couch with her arms wrapped around her knees. “The other me said the less I know, the less I'll panic.” She admired their surroundings. “Nice rec room, Fluttershy.”

The other Fluttershy nodded, nestled comfortably against the frame of a window seat. She sat posted to watch the school and the still-broken statue from the back of her house, in case anyone else came through. Both the human Twilight and pony Moondancer lurked nearby as well, ready to leap through at a signal from Sunset.

Starlight Glimmer could only wonder what those two were discussing. They had none of the baggage that either human or pony versions would with each other.

She looked back at the screen that showed the inside of her castle's library. Their counterparts had moved the camera right up beside the mirror portal to face the whole room, and she could see both herself and the other Moondancer waiting. The human Trixie sat with Sunburst, who had stayed behind as the lone pony in the castle for this confrontation to cast the proper spell on the Archivist's card

Her Trixie tripped down the stairs, holding onto the handrail as she almost lost her balance. “Are they ready?”

“Almost.” Sunset looked at her and smirked as Trixie adjusted her hair barrette. “Are you okay?”

“Sorry,” Fluttershy said, “Dad hasn't fixed that step yet. It's tricky. Zephyr's always getting caught by it.”

Sunset Shimmer hurtled back onto the couch, making Starlight grab onto the armrest. “There she is.”

Another pony had appeared onscreen. Evergreen the Eternal stood framed in the library's doorway, just as she had a day earlier. Her gaze fastened on the mirror portal, looking straight into the camera, and Starlight felt it almost pierce her. The Archivist hadn't recognized the difference between Twilight Sparkle and Princess Twilight, and now all of them counted on that.

“You have questions?” she asked. “Or has Sunset Shimmer made her final arrangements?”

“She won't need them.” The other Starlight Glimmer stepped around the table, pushing a book aside. She had restyled her mane to mimic her pony version, thanks to some quick help from Rarity. “You can't have her.”

Evergreen cocked her head. “I made it clear the longer she stays on this side of the Ivory Gates, the more ponies have time shaved off their lives.”

“Seconds,” Human Starlight said with a gentle scoff. “Minutes, at most. You mean, you haven't solved this problem? You've had several years to work on it.” She glanced at Sunburst and Trixie, raising her eyebrows. “Typical.”

“I see why they didn't discuss the plan. Annoying an immortal would panic me too,” said Sunset.

Onscreen, Evergreen moved forward to meet the other Starlight. “The correct solution was finding Sunset Shimmer. She cannot deny her destiny.”

“According to you, that is,” the other Moondancer countered. “She has a destiny beyond this world now and that takes precedence.”

“Ah, yes. Saving that other world from unrestrained magic.” It was Evergreen's turn to scoff. “You neglected to note that she manufactured that destiny herself. If she had simply died when she was meant to, magic would not have infected that world in the first place. Her rogue soul caused that predicament, and while I appreciate her dedication to cleaning it up, she is not where she should be!” She stamped a hoof, her calm beginning to dissipate.

“Oh, none of us are where we should be,” the other Starlight said lazily, turning her back on the annoyed Archivist. “But she still has to contain and repair the damage. If a mortal unicorn can do that, I'm certain beings like you can do the same with problems at your end.” She waltzed towards the mirror. “Wouldn't it be something, getting the credit for finding a better solution?”

Evergreen frowned, watching her. “The solution is simple. Her soul crosses the first fence. What else would you have us do?”

“See?” Human Starlight said. “If you're so worried about ponies losing time off their lives, fix that yourself. Sunset Shimmer will come home when destiny calls her back. Not until then.”

Starlight Glimmer hugged her knees tighter and hoped her other self could hold the line.

“You know, this sounds less like a solution and more of an obsession,” the other Starlight continued, stopping at the plinth to the portal. She tapped her hoof against her chin. “Did your professional pride get hurt when something eluded you? Everything comes through the Ivory Gates . . . except Sunset Shimmer. You can't stand that, can you? Because that means your system still needs work. Do you even know if her absence is responsible for this 'borrowed time', or did you assume one caused the other?”

“Her time has expired!” Evergreen snapped.

“Then reset your clock, Archivist.”

“Perhaps I should ask for extradition.” She swerved her angle of attack. “We do have some dealings with other afterlives. What would they say behind those Pearl Gates?”

Sunset exchanged an anguished look with both Starlight Glimmer and Fluttershy. Had they even thought about that?

“What would they say?” the other Starlight echoed, tossing her mane. “They would ask why a pony afterlife wants a human who's still alive. How would that affect their records?”

“Oh.”

Every gaze in both the library and Fluttershy's rec room found the human Moondancer.

“Yes?” Evergreen said. “You have something?”

“How would that work?” the other Moondancer asked. Something in the tone of her voice had changed. “If you asked for her soul and they obliged, would it come to you as a pony or a human?”

The Eternal Archivist stared at her. “That doesn't matter. Her soul will adapt to its surroundings. What does matter is that Sunset Shimmer comes to us, and we would give her such glory for her selflessness.”

Human Moondancer cocked her head and she looked down at Sunset's letter, reading it again. No one in the rec room could see her face, but could tell some fast thinking was happening on the screen. Then she moved in front of the mirror portal. “File for your extradition, then. Tell our afterlife you want Sunset Shimmer, and hash it out with them. I'm sure if an Archivist in your position can't convince them, somepony higher up the chain will. In the meantime, she stays with us.”

“What?” Sunset leaned forward, wide-eyed. “What is this?”

“A reprieve,” Starlight said softly. “They're pushing back to give us room.”

“One condition, though,” the other Moondancer added. “If she is sent to you, you also fix the borrowing of time. Stop putting it off. No human or pony crossing over between worlds should end up in this position again.”

Evergreen paced away from the camera, ears twitching. She half-turned, raising a foreleg briefly before setting it down again. “That may take many a moon,” she said. “I do hope Miss Shimmer feels good about the extra time she has selfishly wrung from this.”

“One day, you can ask her that.” The human Starlight joined the other Moondancer, both now blocking the portal with their bodies. “But until she decides to see you face to face, you won't understand what she's doing for us.”

“Very well,” the Archivist said dryly. “I suppose this is goodbye, then, until one of you arrives at the Ivory Gates. Let us hope you all stay on your paths so that your journey ends in the Promised Pastures.” Abruptly whirling on a front hoof, she walked off and vanished through the open doorway as if a curtain pulled shut behind her.

Human Starlight held up a foreleg. She stayed stock still, either waiting for something else to happen or to make sure Evergreen had truly left. Then she looked around. “Okay. That went well. We're all still here, right?”

Tentatively, Sunset removed the Post-It Note from her webcam. She un-muted her microphone and sighed. “What happened?” she asked.

Moondancer turned around to look into the camera. “I remembered something important. While you all come back here, I can go home and pick it up. Let myself know I'm coming through so she can get out of my way.”

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

A full herd awaited the human Moondancer's return in the Castle library: Sunset Shimmer, both Starlights, both Trixies, Moondancer, Sunburst, and the human Twilight Sparkle.

Starlight Glimmer had begun a letter to Princess Twilight, but was holding off on the ending until the other Moondancer returned. “That was quite the bluff,” she told her human self. “Do you know what she remembered?”

The other Starlight shook her head. “While we waited, she said she did a lot of improv and if she veered off into something, to just go with it and support her. So I went with it.” She looked worried. “Did I do okay? I'm not used to facing down ancient ponies like you are.”

“You did fine for your first time,” said Starlight. “It gets easier the more you do it.”

The human Starlight laughed and rolled her eyes. “I'd rather go back home and snuggle Sunburst.” She looked around at everything. “This is your life all the time, huh?”

Starlight waved a hoof dismissively. “Most of the time I'm just a school principal. The staring down of powerful horrors and alternate realities happens maybe every few months.”

“I bet your father's proud of you,” the other Starlight said, pawing the floor and looking down. “This isn't something I could tell him, is it?”

“Probably not,” Starlight admitted, “but you know that you've done it, and that's a part of you now.”

The mirror rippled and a hoof extended from it, followed by the rest of the other Moondancer. She clutched a couple of books in her foreleg and looked wide-eyed from the trip. “That doesn't get more comfortable the more you do it.”

“It never does,” both Twilight and Sunset chorused.

Human Moondancer cast a look over her glasses at Twilight Sparkle. “Younger me is jealous of you, Twilight. You've been hoarding the adorable pony dimension all to yourself.” She dropped one book on the table in the midst of everypony.

A Crystal Prep yearbook.

“How old is that?” Twilight blurted. “Because Shiny's got some freaky ancient yearbooks.”

“Not that old. Your brother graduated a couple years before this one. It's my sister's.” Moondancer glanced up at her horn and scowled. “Could one of you with the magic turn it to page seventeen?”

“I've got it.” Sunset's horn lit up and the pages flickered over.

A few ponies gasped as the last page turned.

A colour picture of a younger Sunset Shimmer sat on its own page, across from several other student photos. At first glance, it wasn't very much like her, with the outdated hairstyle and skin tones, but it was very much her name above the photograph. In Memory of Sunset Shimmer, Crystal Prep Sophomore.

“Well,” Sunset said faintly, “I guess that's one reason I couldn't find anything on me.”

“You won't find much on yourself in either book,” said the other Moondancer, giving her the previous year's volume. “She wasn't in any school clubs while she was a freshman, and school had barely started when she died in a car accident. My sister said the family moved away right after the funeral and people, y'know, just kind of forgot about her.”

Twilight frowned at Sunset. “Memory Stone, maybe?”

Sunset shrugged. “That was just last year. I doubt it.”

“Why didn't Principal Cinch recognize Sunset?” Twilight asked. “She's been at Crystal Prep forever.”

“Yeah, since Celestia was still attending Canterlot High. Doesn't mean she pays attention to those students who don't stand out.” The human Moondancer grunted. “Glad she's out of there. Principal Cadance makes school activities worthwhile.”

“So, if the Ageless Archives reaches out to the afterlife in your world . . .” Sunburst trailed off.

“Then they'll probably find her before they find your Sunset Shimmer,” said the other Moondancer. “When Starlight mentioned a human Sunset still being alive, I remembered seeing that memorial. We were shelving all the old yearbooks and just flipping through to look at pictures. It didn't stand out at the time because we'd never met, but then I checked your letter again.” She nodded at Sunset Shimmer. “It mentioned the cart accident, too. The same time happened in both worlds.”

“Oh,” Sunset said, her eyes widening. "Yikes."

Human Moondancer pushed the yearbooks over to her. “Keep them as long as you like. My sister won't mind. It might help you learn more about you.”

Starlight Glimmer looked down at her letter to the Princess. “Okay! Well, I guess inter-dimensional teamwork saves the day once again?”

“Just be grateful Twilight doesn't require any friendship lessons from these things,” Trixie commented.

Sunset Shimmer held up a hoof. “Actually, could you add something to that? See if Luna will make sure about the other Sunset. I don't want her forced into taking my place, but if she does join the Pastures . . .” She rubbed one foreleg against the other. “. . . could you ask them if I can come over and meet her at the Gates, just once?”

Starlight obligingly wrote that down, then glanced up at the humans-turned-ponies on the other side of the table. “You're all welcome to stay for a while longer.”

“Nope, going home,” her counterpart said. “I'm missing my Sunnybun snuggles.” With a wink at Sunburst, she slipped her saddlebag onto her back. “But hey, if you're ever in Sire's Hollow, feel free to stop in.”

The other Moondancer nodded. “It's been strange. I'll tell Sugarcoat that it all worked out, though.” She locked eyes with her pony self. “Come hit the stage sometime with me. We'll wow the audience together.” Turning, she followed her Starlight to the mirror.

“Come on, Trixie,” Sunset Shimmer wrapped a foreleg around her Trixie. “Let's let everyone know we're safe.”

“You sure you got the right one?” the other Trixie asked cheerfully.

Sunset didn't even turn around. “Yup.”

The portal rippled as all four of them filtered through, then the last wrinkle smoothed out of the mirror and it turned once more to glass.

Both Starlight and Sunburst turned to the remaining Trixie.

“ . . . Oh, she's good.”

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-