People are Strange, When You're a Stranger
Rarity awoke to the sound of a soft jingling and a frustrated groan.
Slowly, she opened her eyes. She was lying faceup in her sleeping bag, staring up into the ceiling of the dome tent. Time had definitely passed; the pitter-patter she’d fallen asleep to from a mild rain that night was gone. But she could tell it wasn’t exactly bright outside, either.
Without bothering to move otherwise, she threw her left arm to the side and groped blindly until she found her watch nearby, grabbing it and holding it up to her face to check. 5:35. She promptly echoed the groan from her tentmate.
“Sunset, why on earth are you up and making noise when it’s not even a quarter to 6?” Rarity hissed. “Even Applejack won’t be awake for nearly an hour!”
She sat up. Sunset was out of her bag, still in her pajamas, apparently fumbling as she tried to get a handle on the zipper. She looked back at Rarity, and her face fell.
“I’m sorry,” Sunset replied. “I wasn’t trying to wake you – I just couldn’t sleep and I wanted to get some air. It’s too tight in here.”
“You didn’t sleep at all?”
“Maybe about two hours, but not well. I just keep thinking, I can’t stop thinking… and when I did sleep, I couldn’t stop dreaming…”
Rarity sighed. She could already tell she wasn’t going back to sleep after this either. “Do you need help with the zipper, dear?”
“Please. I mean it’s just so small – how am I supposed to get a grip on it?”
“Let me.” Rarity climbed out of her bag and crawled across Sunset’s to get to the door on the other side. She pinched the zipper handle between her index finger and thumb so Sunset could see.
“You don’t use your whole hand, darling. Just your fingers. Like with silverware.” She pulled the zipper up along the arc that formed the side door as Sunset watched. “You see?”
Sunset nodded.
A thought occurred. “Is this why you always leave your jackets open?”
“Wait, that’s what those are for?”
Rarity smirked slightly. “I guess I know what my next Human Fashion 101 lesson will be about. Now come on, let’s go find someplace where we won’t disturb Applejack and Big Mac.”
Sunset tilted her head. “You’re coming with me?”
“Well, I’m certainly not going to fall back asleep knowing you’re outside, alone and stressed out, am I?”
The redhead laughed softly. “I guess not.”
“Good,” Rarity declared. “Glad we have that settled.”
A part of Rarity’s soul rebelled at the idea of leaving the tent without doing some amount of visual maintenance. But it was for her sister. Her weird, strange, not-formally-adopted-yet sister that she’d only known for a few months, who had no formal identification, the barest minimum of understanding of human concepts and an incredible story of being a unicorn magic prodigy who had been the personal student of a living deity.
The makeup and styling could wait an hour. (Though she did make sure to grab a hooded jacket to cover up the tangled mess her hair was in. She felt a twinge of jealousy as she saw the back of Sunset’s head, her hair nearly perfectly straightened out with no effort.)
The two girls stuck their feet outside the tent to put their boots on, then slipped out from under the rainfly, Rarity zipping the door back up behind her. The grass was only slightly damp from the earlier drizzle. The sun was on the verge of visibility, so they could see the campground reasonably well, though Rarity had stashed a flashlight in her jacket just in case.
“Did you have anywhere in mind?” Rarity whispered; Applejack and Big Mac’s tents were a short distance away. “Away from our hosts, that is?”
Sunset motioned to a trail to her right. “I wanted to go to that overlook we saw yesterday when we were heading in. I thought it’d be a nice place to watch the sun rise.”
Rarity smiled. “That sounds lovely.”
The two of them followed the aforementioned trail into the nearby woods, for which Rarity drew and lit her flashlight so they could stay on the path. After a short walk, they found themselves at the overlook, a scenic clearing with a small wooden fence above a ravine. There was a set of large, continuous flat rocks more than big enough to sit on; after finding a dry area, they promptly did so, watching as the sun started to emerge on the horizon.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Rarity asked.
“Yeah,” Sunset replied. Rarity detected a hint of somberness in her voice; one that had become a bit too familiar of late.
“What’s troubling you, Sunset?”
“Well… I dunno, really. A lot of things.”
Rarity scooted closer to her. “You can tell me. It’s why I’m here, after all.”
“I thought you were here just to make sure I wasn’t getting lost in the woods.”
“It’s called multitasking, darling.”
Sunset laughed and turned toward her. “Fair, I guess.” She looked back out towards the sunrise. “I used to see these all the time. When I first started my studies, Celestia – my Celestia – would always wake me up early so I could watch as she lowered the moon and raised the sun. There’d been times I saw the sun rise as a fill– as a little girl,” she corrected, her eyes moving back to Rarity for a moment before her eyes wandered off into the memory. “But I’d never witnessed her doing it, certainly not while standing next to her. It was just this incredible feeling of awe, knowing you’re watching something that takes a truly stunning amount of power.”
Sunset’s focus came back to reality, where she could see Rarity listening intently. “It really does amaze me sometimes,” she added, “the way you just seem to believe me about all this stuff.”
“I’ll admit it took some time to… acclimate to some of the ideas when you first told me your history,” Rarity noted. “But I can’t think of a reason you’d possibly want to make up such an elaborate and outlandish lie. If you are lying, somehow, you’ve certainly given the performance of a lifetime in committing to the bit this long.”
She watched as Sunset slowly nodded. “Persistence is key, I guess. Which is kinda where the story goes from there.” Her head drooped slightly.
Rarity cupped a hand around Sunset’s chin and lifted it up so their eyes met. “You never really told me this part before. I’d like to hear it.”
“In…” Sunset pulled back from Rarity’s grip, turning away towards the light again. “In a little while.”
“If you need the time.”
Sunset changed the subject. “Do you really come here every year?”
“Well, the past two years, anyway. It’s something of an Apple family tradition – well, at least Big Mac wants it to be. He came out here three years ago with Thunderlane the summer before he started at CHS, and then the next summer, he brought Applejack, the summer before her first year. I suppose Apple Bloom will join next year. But Applejack wanted to bring a friend too, so she asked me. I’m not quite sure where she got the idea I’d be up for camping, but luckily I was in the mood for some scenic inspiration for a design I had in mind. And then I came again the next year, and now… I'm here again, because I wanted to bring you.”
“How come?”
“So you could meet some of my friends, naturally! Well, you’ve met most of them briefly, except Rainbow Dash since she’s been out of town – that should be interesting when you meet her. But I thought a little bonding time might be helpful.”
Sunset nodded again. “Applejack seems pretty nice.”
Rarity laughed. “Ah yes, that was exactly what I was going for here.” She suddenly switched into an impression of the Apples’ distinctive drawl. “Well, Rarity, what’s yer new sister think of me? Well, darling, she thinks you’re pretty nice. Pretty nice, huh? Well, ain’t that somethin’. That sure is a nonspecific and vague way to start off our friendship.”
Sunset snorted, rubbing her eyes. “I’m tired, okay? I’ll think of something later.” She paused for a moment. “Y’know… just a few moons ago, if we were in Equestria and you’d tried to set me up to make a friend, I’d have just ignored you.”
Now we’re getting somewhere, Rarity thought. She didn’t reply, not wanting to interrupt whatever was going through Sunset’s mind as the other girl turned toward the horizon again, the sun now increasingly visible. Rarity moved her gaze in the same direction as she listened.
“It just wasn’t… something that was ever part of my plan. My whole idea for how my life was supposed to go – how I’d become what I wanted to be. The purpose I knew I was meant for.”
“To be a princess yourself, you mean,” Rarity said, finishing her thought. They stared at each other, and Rarity could see pain in Sunset’s eyes.
“I… I never wanted to hurt her. I just… it was what she was training me for. Why she made me her pupil, why she took such an interest in me. I’d seen it. In visions, dreams, I’d seen myself with wings, with power. Real power. It wasn’t some fantasy to me, it was my destiny. And I planned my entire life around the knowledge that I would be the princess one day.
“And then,” she continued, turning away again. “I just said it, in front of her. ‘When I’m Princess.’ And she stared at me like I’d spoken a curse worthy of Tartarus itself. Like I’d said the foulest thing imaginable. Then she looked me in the eyes and told me that I shouldn’t be thinking such things. That all I needed to be concerned about were my studies, and maybe making more friends. And she said it softly, and calmly, but I knew things had changed. She… stopped inviting me to watch the sunrise with her after that.”
Rarity placed a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “That must have hurt, I’m sure… but you must have known that was a bit… presumptuous, didn’t you? To tell the Princess you were her successor before she ever told you?”
Sunset grit her teeth, drawing away; Rarity retracted the arm. “It wasn’t to me. It was what she’d promised. She didn’t have to say it, I knew it. She knew it, whether she wants to admit it or not. It’s right there in our cutie marks, they’re practically the same. Maybe I wasn’t tactful about it, but it was true. Until she decided it wasn’t.”
She growled. “And I got angry.”
“And you left?”
“Not immediately. But no matter what she’d said, I wasn’t going to reduce myself to studies after that. It’s… funny you say you don’t think I have any reason to lie about who I am. Because I lied a lot back then. To anypony. To her. Because I needed them to leave me alone, to let me focus. To get myself back on track towards my destiny. I had everything mapped out… at least, I thought I did. But then we had another argument, right as she left for some diplomatic thing, and I got angry again and I just... ran. I ran somewhere she couldn’t follow. And got myself stuck there.”
Rarity could spy the reflection of a lone tear, sliding down Sunset’s cheek. Her sister's right hand was hanging loosely by her side; Rarity grasped it with both of her own hands, and Sunset jolted.
“Thank you for telling me this, Sunset.”
Sunset winced. “I really don’t understand how you could want me as a friend. Never mind a sister.”
Rarity didn’t budge, her hands still clasping Sunset’s. “You came to me for help, remember? You needed it. You still need it. And if you were the cold manipulative liar you’ve reduced yourself to in your own mind, there’s a thousand ways you could have simply taken advantage of my generosity and been on your merry way. But you stayed. And…”
She lifted one hand, then placed it on Sunset’s cheek.
“I think you needed that connection. Not only that – I think you wanted that connection, even if you didn’t understand it. I’ve seen it in you. You talk about yourself like you think you’re a sociopath sometimes, but you respond so strongly to emotion… you have real empathy, Sunset. I know it. I want you to know it, too.
“Whatever you’ve done in the past, Sunset, you’re here now. And I’m not going to give up on you just because you don’t think you deserve it. I’m happy to be your guide in this world, the way any good big sister should.”
Sunset giggled, slightly. “Are you even older than me?”
“Who knows, really. But I’ve certainly been in this world longer, and that’s what matters.”
“I guess you’re right.” She looked away again. “And, well, I am probably a lot better off knowing you than I would be otherwise. When I was alone, everything was just… festering. Just getting angrier and angrier. I’m still angry. If I was alone in a room with Princess Celestia, I’d still yell and scream at her and demand answers. But… I do feel a lot calmer than I did.”
“I’m glad,” Rarity replied. “Well, about the calmer part, anyway. Not the screaming.”
“I figured.” Sunset smiled.
“But do you… I hate to ask, but do you still feel like that? Like that’s your destiny, to be princess of this other world?” Rarity stopped herself from asking where she herself fit into that destiny.
Sunset sighed, her head moving downward, smile fading. “I don’t feel like I know much of anything, anymore. When the portal reopens, I have no idea what things will be like. I guess the flipside of being calmer about everything is that my, uh, vision of myself has lost some of its clarity. Except for…” She trailed off.
Something in Sunset’s voice had made Rarity tense, but she still pressed on to the necessary question. “Except for what?”
Sunset looked away, away from Rarity, away from the sunrise, her eyes fixating on the still-dark woods. “Except for the reason I can’t sleep at night.” She took a deep breath. “There was, well, another part of my vision, something that was always there, in the background, but that I never paid attention to. Something that I can’t ignore anymore.”
She shuddered before continuing. “A monster.”
“...Just a monster?” Rarity asked.
“No, there’s more. It– it’s gotten clearer since I got here, it’s the only part of the vision that has, and now there’s more to it than just the monster.” She turned towards her. “Rarity… you’re in this vision. You, Applejack and all your friends, I see them. The whole school. And the monster, this huge, hideous creature, is attacking it. Terrorizing all of you, hurting everyone… but what’s worse is I could see its face.”
Sunset swallowed, the words strangled in her throat as a chill ran down Rarity’s spine. After a moment, they finally came through.
“The monster is me.”
Without hesitation, Rarity scrambled onto her knees, leaned over and placed her hands on Sunset’s shoulders, staring her directly in the face as she saw tears start to leak from Sunset’s eyes. “Darling, listen to me. Please listen. They’re dreams, Sunset. These are dreams. They are not real. They are not you.”
“But what if… what if…”
“No buts, Sunset. I mean it.”
Sunset wasn’t listening. “But what if that’s my destiny? What if that was always my destiny… blinding myself with this delusion of princesshood while I turned myself into a monster… a horrible demon–”
“No!” Rarity stood up tall, bearing down on her sister, snapping her to attention. “Stop this at once! How you can even stand to have that thought is beyond my capability to answer, but you simply cannot look at yourself that way! That’s not fate, it’s madness!”
Sunset stared up helplessly at her, before her face crumbled into a mess of sobs. Rarity’s face fell, and she crouched back down and wrapped her arms around her.
“It’s okay if you need to let it out, dear. But at some point you have to ask yourself what good it is to let destiny have so much meaning in your life when that’s the only destiny you can see for yourself. You’re in a new world, Sunset. You’ve spent minutes on end talking about the way 'destiny' tore apart your life in Equestria. Why make the same mistake here? Why let it dominate your life when all it promises is that?”
She felt Sunset crying into her shoulder; after a moment, she pulled back and looked into her eyes. “You’ve made such strides since coming here, since meeting me. Since becoming my sister, a word I still mean with every fiber of my being. Please, don’t let that slip away. You want to avoid becoming a monster?” She learned in and wrapped her arm around her backside. “Learn to become a human.”
She watched as the moisture-covered face opposite her slowly eked out a soft smile. “I’ll try.”
“You’ll do,” Rarity replied. “You want me to tell you what I think your destiny is, if it will help?” Rarity thought for a moment. “Well… I think your destiny is to have a great time with me, Applejack, Big Mac and Thunderlane on this trip. And then you and I are going to go to high school together, where we’re going to win Princess of the Fall Formal and Belle of the Winter Ball and so forth. You’re going to be my model for my upcoming fashion designs, and you and I will both be with Sweetie Belle at our next Sister Sock Hop. You’re going to meet all of my friends in earnest and we are going to have so much fun together you’ll wonder where all the time went. And then…”
She stopped, feeling a slight pang in her heart, and a tear making its way down her own face.
“And then… when that portal opens, you’ll… you’ll make your decision. I can’t predict that or make it for you. But whatever you choose, you’ll be in a better place than you were before. That, if nothing else, I can promise you.”
She scooted forward and pulled Sunset into a full-throated hug, which was immediately reciprocated. She slid her right arm up along the back toward her own face, trying to wipe away teardrops as they formed. She could feel Sunset’s body shudder amid more heavy sobs. Eventually, as she sensed Sunset begin to finally relax, she heard a response.
“I believe you.”
They withdrew. By now the sun was fully in the sky, and they both turned to face it, taking a moment to simply bask in the glow. Rarity hoped the sight of a sun rising by itself was now just that little bit less alien to the girl sitting by her side.
“You asked earlier,” Rarity said, breaking the silence after a few minutes, “why I’d want you as a sister, not merely a friend. And I suppose that’s a rather difficult question to truly answer. Would I have known I wanted another sibling in my life if I’d never met you, or met you under different circumstances? It’s hard to say. But even after just these few months… what we have is unique, no matter what label you put in front of it. To me, it’s not really a question of want anymore, but simply what is. Maybe it’s not the exact same bond that I have with Sweetie Belle… but sister just feels right to me.”
“I…” Sunset needed a moment to find the right words, clearly. “I wish I could say the same as you about knowing what to, uh, say, but… I think I understand. I just, well, haven’t ever had a real sibling before.”
“Well, now you do.”
Rarity could see the glow radiating off Sunset. The happiest she’d appeared since the day she’d learned Rarity’s family would allow her to live with them. And Rarity beamed right back.
After a moment, Rarity had the thought to check her watch. “Goodness, Sunset, it’s after 6:30 by now. We should head back before Applejack wonders where we are. And before she can see me in such a state.”
“Agreed,” Sunset replied as the two of them stood up. “The head back part, not you looking like a mess.”
“Stop it,” Rarity scoffed, before stepping forward and giving Sunset one more, fully-standing hug. “Shall we go?”
“After you, sis.”
And the two girls darted back down the trail to enjoy a brand new day.
Author's Note
Art byHarwick
