“WHAT THE FUCK!?”

Twilight didn’t have a response. Sunset tried to yank herself away from twilight but it just caused them both more pain. Twilight looked to Sunset, and saw that there was a strand of hair in her mane which was her regular purple. She could also see that a small strand of red was dropping down in front of her own vision. Whatever had happened seemed to have done more than just joined their tails.

Sunset snarled, and lit her horn. It formed into a hot knife like projection and it looked like she was going to cut it off!

“W-WAIT! S-STOP!” Twilight cried, leaping at her. This knocked her over, but Sunset’s quick roll meant that she was now standing over Twilight.

“I don't want to be attached to somepony beneath me.” She snarled.

Twilight stared up at her. Her usual Trixie fog that clouded her brain was getting burnt away by a new sensation…

Sunset Blaze.

She couldn't remove the blush from her face as she tried to string a sentence together.

“I-if you cut your, my, OUR tail, w-we don't know what will happen! I-it might have been internal organs and stuff that g-got merged too!” she pleaded. “A-And, uhm- I… Don’t… want to accidentally… kill you or anything because that would… be bad…” she trailed off a bit.

Sunset’s eyes narrowed in understanding, using her hoof to move Twilight’s new red strand of hair out of the way of her eyes (Twilight shuddered).

“... fuck.” the fiery unicorn said shortly, and manoeuvred herself to the side to allow Twilight to stand up. The linking rope that was their tail could extend to about a metre, allowing them to stand side by side relatively comfortably. Twilight stood next to her but faced away, pretending to look around their surroundings for an indication of where they were but was in truth just trying not to look at Sunset.

Wow this had been a hectic 3 minutes hadn’t it-

After a minute or two of calm, Sunset let out a sigh.

“This really, really fucks up everything, you know?.” she said, anger dancing around the corners of her every inflection. Twilight eventually looked over at her.

“It’s… not ideal…” she said, laughing nervously. “What was… your plan?”
“Why should I tell you?” she asked. Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but she didn’t really have a good answer.

“Exactly. Now let's just get this over with. How do we get out of these woods so I can go and have to face Celestia, get un-merged and get sent to prison. Sound good to you?” she said, huffing a bit, and simply started walking.

“Why would CelestiWOAH-”

Twilight didn’t have much choice when it came to where the pair would be going; Sunset was much stronger than her. She winced a little as her tail was pulled and she quickly started walking along beside her. Her eyes looked back at their strange, merged tails. The colours and strands all seemed to fuse together… It was quite beautiful in a way.

A horrifying sort of way.

Her eye moved over and landed on her cutie mark. It was so similar to Celestias… and yet even cooler. She looked at it for longer than she meant to and was only cut off by Sunset coughing loudly.

“Will you stop staring at my ass?”

“I-I’M NOT! I-I WAS LOOKING AT YOUR C-CUTIE MARK, I PROMISE!” she squealed in embarrassment, her cheeks going ruby red once more.

“Sure.” she said, rolling her eyes. Twilight’s blush wouldn’t go away, and she once again found herself speechless.

What was this!? Why did she have such power over her! It was similar to the way that Trixie made her feel but more…

She frowned. She couldn’t quite place the feeling. But she knew she was scared of it.

“Uhm… Sunset?” she managed to pipe up eventually, speeding up to become level with her.

“What.” She said shortly.

“This… isn’t the right way.” Twilight managed to eep out.

Sunset stopped suddenly. Twilight kept on walking and was accidentally moved into her by the torsion of their tails. She scrambled as far away as their predicament would allow.

“Why didn’t you say that earlier!?” she growled.

“I… U-Uhm…”

“And WHY Do you keep blushing!?” she said, her anger rising.

“A-Allergies!” Twilight blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“To what?” asked Sunset shortly.

Twilight blinked.

Come on Twilight. Something that could be making you blush…

“... Grass.”

“Grass?”

“Y-Yeah, Grass makes me blush and itch.” she replied, before awkwardly pretending to itch her side.

Sunset turned her head to stare at her.

“But… you’re a pony. You eat grass.”

“Yes! WELL, I don’t, but others do, yes!” she said, before tilting her head. “Aren’t you… also a pony?”

“Yes.”

“... do you eat grass?”

“Not recently. Plus, if I did now, our flipped around insides might make ME allergic too. So I can’t risk it.” she said. “Now which was the way out?”

Twilight was floored. It worked!? Somehow!?

Maybe this Sunset wasn’t as smart as she had thought… Either that, or she was too arrogant to realise that somepony she viewed as beneath her would try and deceive her.

“T-This way!” she said, and started to slowly move. Sunset nodded and moved alongside her.

The pair walked in a very awkward silence for about 15 minutes. Twilight kept on trying to do small talk, but Sunset would shut her down immediately.

It had been about 20 minutes in total before Twilight realised something about Sunset.

Right now, she had a very similar expression to the one Fluttershy usually wore. That is, desperately trying to hold back tears…

Hmm…

“S-Sunset…” she asked slowly. “May I ask… why exactly are you so scared of seeing Celestia again?”

Sunset growled a little at the question.

“I…” Twilight looked away. “I understand you’re mad at her… A-And as her current student, I’d… Like to know. I have a right to know.”

“... She lied to me, that's all.” Sunset said with finality.

“A-About what?” Twilight kept on pressing.

“Do I really need to say?” she snapped. Twilight was silenced once more, only able to let out a sigh.

“... She told me I would never become an Alicorn.”

Twilight let out a little gasp, looking back at Sunset with wide eyes.

Celestia would never say something like that!

“S-She did?”

“Yeah.”

Twilight was shocked to her core.

She had always seen Celestia as this big overarching maternal figure… one who could do no wrong… Always supportive, never denying her possibilities…

For her to outright tell a former student that she wasn’t good enough?

“... I don’t believe you.” Said Twilight.

Sunset stopped again. Twilight managed to stop in time.

“I don’t care if you believe me, Twilight Sparkle.” she said, twisting her head around at an awkward angle which made her glare right into Twilight’s eyes. Their horns were almost touching, and Twilight’s face began to flush up again.

“Sooner or later, she is going to let you down when you need her most.” she said in a low voice, her mane flaring up with the ember like glow that it had done before. The pair maintained eye contact for a few moments. Twilight looked ready to pass out. Sunset just looked angry.

After what felt like an eternity, Sunset started to walk again. Twilight was soon to follow, unable to make the blush go away. As she stayed as far behind her as it was possible to go.

She thought back to their first encounter back in the mirror room with Trixie. If Celestia had told Sunset that she’d never become an Alicorn, then seeing Trixie with wings and a horn may have been a little too much for her to handle. Twilight could sympathise with that at least. Trixie becoming an Alicorn certainly had been a big shock.

But one little thing wouldn't leave her brain. Sunset had said in ‘this’ world. Was she from some sort of alternative reality? Or, at least, had returned from one? It was how she apparently knew Trixie already…

Her thought was cut off but a sudden snarling from Sunset. “Fuck…”

“W-What is it?” Asked Twilight, but it didn't take long for her to find out. Two timber wolves had appeared out of the underbrush. Twilight shuddered a little, and got herself ready. She was no Alicorn, but she was still exceptional when it came to defensive magic.

“How are we going to do this?” Asked Sunset as the two timber wolves began to circle this.

Twilight took a moment to respond.

“O-Oh! Uhm- wait, me!?”

“Spoiler Alert! Nopony else is here, “Idiot.”

Twilight heard herself shudder at the berration. On Celestia fr it was a bad time to be a bottom.

“Uhm… you… timberwolves are controlled by their head…” she said carefully.

“So take out the head, the body goes down. Got it. Cover my back.” She said, eyes narrowing as Twilight’s pupils dilated.

“Anything for you…” she said slightly dreamily.

“What!?”

Twilight had temporarily entered her “Trixie is telling me to do something” mode.

“N-nothing!!” She said’ and turned around. They were almost back to back, Sunsets mane beginning to light up.

As it did, Twilight had a strange sensation on her forehead. The single strange red and yellow hair was flaring up, similar to Sunset’s mane. She held it in her mane for a few moments, and decided to experiment. She cast a magical barrier in front of her.

“The fuck?” mumbled Sunset. The new small purple and pink strand of her mane had started to shimmer as a small bubble of protection surrounded her for a few seconds.

“O-Our magic is connected!” said Twilight excitedly. “I-It must be a byproduct of us merging together! I can only imagine what other things we now share! I could write a whole BOOK on this!”

Her ears flattened in embarrassment as she let out a little nervous giggle. “S-Sorry…”

Sunset stared at Twilight.

For a brief instant, Twilight could have sworn a smile had crossed Sunset’s face.

And a moment later, as they were both distracted, the timber wolves pounced.

Twilight felt the hard knock of timberwolf paw on the side of her head.

And felt her own body hit the floor.

Through her concussed vision, she saw tiny snippets of what happened.

The flames striking out at the wolves.

Angry yells from Sunset.

Her own hair flaring up.

Getting dragged about a bit.

A new voice.

One she recognized but couldn't place.

She tried to speak, but the sound of ringing filled her ears as she felt herself get picked up and placed on Sunset's back. It was warm and firm, like laying on top of a bed with a cosy fireplace in the corner. She smelt like a campfire on a winter night. She felt a small purr escape her lips as she drifted out of consciousness…

Twilight stood in darkness.

“H-Hello?” she called out.

“Twilight Sparkle…” an ethereal voice rang out through the dark void: a voice that made her freeze.

The visage of Sunset Shimmer appeared in front of her, smiling.

“Don't worry~” she said calmly, placing a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Nothing here can hurt you, my little pony.”

Twilight blinked twice, cheeks furiously red.

“If anything comes to hurt you… I'll be ready to protect you…” she said and placed her muzzle against hers affectionately.

“W-Wait! St-Stop! I have a-”

“A girlfriend? That pitiful excuse for an Alicorn? You don't need her. The Sunset is stronger than the Lulamoon, after all!”

“T-thats not a phrase-” the purple unicorn started to say before feeling the familiar feeling of a hoof on her lips. Sunset was smiling. Twilight became wide eyed and quiet.

“Shhh… it's not your turn to speak…” she said, as she moved in to kiss.

“N-No!” Twilight spluttered out. Sunset stopped, but the smile didn't go away.

“You can admit to yourself that this is what you want, Twilight…”

“I… I…”

“Time to wake up, sleepy head…” the Visage of Sunset faded away as it walked back. Twilight could slowly feel her senses sharpening.

“W-Wait! I don’t! I don’t THINK I…” she said slowly, as she transitioned from one state of consciousness to another…

“Hark! The unicorn wakes! It seems that she cannot catch any breaks…”

“H-Huh? S… Sunset?”

Twilight’s eyes slowly opened, but it was not Sunset looking down at her. Instead, the familiar and comforting presence of Zecora enveloped her view.

“Not quite, Twilight. Those Timber Wolves certainly met their match, when they came into contact with the mare to which you are attached…”

Twilight managed to get onto her front and looked behind her. She was on the floor of Zecora’s hut. And sure enough, Sunset was there. She was facing the other direction, head on the floor as she seemed to be sleeping.

“Is she…” Twilight said, tilting her head. Zecora nodded.

“She is unharmed, though I must say, the surrounding area is not the same way. Quick and fast I had to act, or the entire forest would no longer be intact. Her magical fire would make any quick to flee… so I must ask you…” Zecora’s tone became much graver. “Who is she?”

“I…” Twilight started, looking at the resting body of Sunset. Her ear had twitched a few times as the pair had been talking. With the knowledge she may be listening, Twilight looked back to Zecora.

“She was Celestia’s first student. She had gone through some sort of mirror portal being kept in the Crystal Empire, and she came back to do… something. Nothing g-good, I'm sure. She had a… somewhat bad reaction to seeing Trixie as an Alicorn. And… I can’t… quite describe it… but she has somewhat of an… effect on…me…” she said, trailing off at the end.

“An effect, you say? In what way?” Zecora asked curiously.

Twilight looked at Sunset, her eyes focusing on the way her mane lay on her motionless neck. It was so delicate and majestic… and those forelegs looked like they could carry her to safety through a blaze…

Twilight gulped, and looked to Zecora, her cheeks red once more.

“Ah… I see…” Zecora said, looking to Sunset. “Do not worry… your secret is safe with me…”

Twilight saw Sunset’s ear flick in the exact same way Twilight knew her own ear to twitch when she heard news that she didn’t know how to process.

Oh no.

She knew.

Trixie watched in despair as the dust settled in the mirror room, her girlfriend and mystery interloper having suddenly vanished. She managed to flood the room with an extinguishing spell as quickly as she could, putting out all traces of fire, before shakily moving towards the remains of the mirror. Magical smoke poured out of the frame, the enchanted glass left shattered on the floor.

There was no trace of Twilight, nor Sunset.

They were gone.

Trixie began to quiver.

Sunset had just taken her Twilight away from her.

That stupid horse with her stupid face and amazing hair and stunning physique had just gone and stolen her girlfriend to who knows where. And the portal to get her there was destroyed.
She thought of Twilight, sad and alone, at the whims of an evil unicorn who was probably doing unspeakable things to her at this very moment. Sure, the idea of a weak Twilight being a damsel in distress was tantalysing to Trixie.

But she was more scared of what would happen if she lost the emotional, calm and loving Twilight that she had come to cherish even more than the one of raw passion.

Now, ladies, gentlemen, and everything in between. Trixie Lulamoon was many things. An Alicorn. A lesbian. A showpony.

But one thing she was not was level headed in a handling crisis.

Her body quivering, she took a deep breath.

And simply screeched.

Her horn activated and everything in the room started moving. Books flew off the shelves, furniture was thrown into the air (shattering upon hitting the ground) and the high up windows shattered as if they had just been hit by a heavy stone.

It was a good minute of enraged screeching.

Once she was done she collapsed onto the floor in a shivering wreck.

Fortunately for Trixie, there was somepony close by to help her deal with her distress.

Unfortunately for Fluttershy, she was the pony close by to have to help Trixie deal with her distress.

Most of the other ponies were in the throne room having a meeting. Despite it being a huge and open room, Fluttershy was having trouble with how many ponies were there. This, combined with the lack of Rainbow Dash (She was busy at Wonderbolts Camp), had given her the nervous courage to ask Celestia if she could be excused. She had of course accepted.

Fluttershy had planned to just head to her bedroom and read the book that Twilight had leant her about old equestrian folklore. She looked at the cover as she moved, smiling softly. She had always been interested in learning about how Equestria was in its early years. This soft and nice plan had been interrupted by the guttural noises of discontent coming from the small library room in the castle.

Oh! Someone is upset! I need to go and help!

Fluttershy quickly fluttered up into the air and moved as fast as she could towards the source of the noise.

The sounds inside were destructive to say the least, and once they had mostly subsided, she tentatively opened the door.

“Uhm… are you… oh… oh no…”

She saw Trixie sitting in a pool of her own destruction.

She backed out of the room.

She looked both ways in the corridor behind her.

Nopony else was around.

Ok Fluttershy. You can do this! Sure! You aren’t the biggest fan of Trixie… but Twilight loves her, so she must be worth helping! Since if you didn’t help her that would make Twilight sad! And you definitely do NOT want that!

She took a deep breath, and went into the room.

“T-Trixie! Hi! Uhm… is… everything ok? Wheres-”

“SHHHEEEESSSS GOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” wailed Trixie, smashing her hooves into the floor, her wings spread out all the way on the floor. “THAT HARLOT STOLE MY GIRLFRIEND, FLUTTERSHY!”

“Uhm-” Fluttershy stood there awkwardly. She was of course concerned at the news that Twilight had been gone, but had compartmentalized that for now as she tried to figure out how to deal with Trixie in this state.

“Which harlot are you talking about?”

“SUNSET FUCKING SHIMMER! SHE TOOK HER AWAY TO HER STUPID DIMENSION OR SOMETHING! WHERE IS SHE, FLUTTERSHY!?” Trixie dramatically shot her head up, her long mane flicking up behind her. Her eyes were huge and wet.

“Uhm… I’m not sure where she is, uhm-” she shuffled her hoof along the floor. “Can you… uhm… maybe tell me what happened?”

“I w-was here making out with my awesome girlfriend…” she sobbed. Fluttershy blushed. “It was HOT and STEAMY and then suddenly! Out of that mirror-” she pointed with a wing “-Sunset Shimmer arrived! Some hot girl started shouting and attacked us! We had managed to beat her away when Twilight tried to get her to stop! Then BAM! They were both gone… just like that…” she said, going very quiet. Fluttershy shuddered. That was NOT good…

“AND NOW SHE’S GONE FOREVER AND SHE WILL NEVER KNOW HOW MUCH SHE MEANS TO ME AND HOW MUCH I GENUINELY CARE FOR HER AND AAOOUUHGHHH WHAT DO I DO FLUTTTERRSHHYYYY!!!!!!! HOLD ME!”

“Oh- uhm, what?”

“I need a HUG!”

“Oh… uhm… ok… I guess…” she said, and awkwardly shuffled up to the sobbing alicorn. She took a deep breath and carefully placed a foreleg around her back. She let out a squeak as Trixie rapidly embraced her, causing the book she was holding to fall onto the floor. Her ears flattened down as she glanced at it.

It was open on a page about something called “The prophecy of the Twin Tailed Eclipse”. Sounded fascinating, but Fluttershy had bigger horses to comfort.

“S-Sorry…” whimpered Trixie. “I… don’t know what t-to do…”

Fluttershy awkwardly patted her on the back. “I’m… n-not sure what to do either, Trixie…” she replied. “I think… Maybe going to Celestia would be a good start?”

Trixie nodded though the sniffles.

“Would you like me to take you there?” she asked slowly, secretly wanting an out so she could go panic about Twilight being missing on her own.

“... yes please.” she said, and waited to be picked up.

“... Oh, uhm, I meant, uhm, go with, go with me, not, uhm, I’m not… strong enough to…” she mumbled.

Trixie blinked.

“O-Of course…” she said, and let out a short loud forced laugh. She staggered to her hooves and wobbled out of the room. Fluttershy gave a sad little sigh as she took a few deep breaths.

Twilight was gone, apparently stolen by a unicorn called ‘Sunset Fucking Shimmer.’ She wondered why a parent pony would put a curse word in a child’s name. Strange.

She carefully stood up herself to follow, her eyes momentarily moved down to the open page of the book.

‘When the twin tailed eclipse makes its mark on Equestria, only the power of the sun, moon and stars will be able to temper the rage felt within’.

Author's Note

Hi all! Sorry for the delay!

My new plan with writing is! Write the stories in blocks :)

I'll continue writing this until I get stuck, at which point I'll swap back to 'Misty's guide to shimmer and shine'! If you want more sunset action, go check out that story! hehe

Leave a comment down below! I love reading what you all thought <3

SEE U LATER HORSES