Welcome to the SunLight Sliders II Project Thread! Here is where you will post your chapters for all to see! Just post them in the comments on the thread when it’s your turn!

Prologue by RadiantBeam & Novel-Idea - 6263484
Chapter 1 by Novel-Idea - 6265066
Chapter 2 by Crystal Wishes - 6270423
Chapter 3 by Fuzzyfurvert - 6274440
Chapter 4 by Heartshine - 6278344
Chapter 5 by Deathscar - 6282291
Chapter 6 by Below_Depth - 6286184
Chapter 7 by Kuairu - 6291398
Chapter 8 by Shakespearicles - 6291971
Chapter 9 by RadiantBeam - 6297425
Chapter 10 by Ebon Quill - 6305869
Chapter 11 by FanOfMostEverything - 6308888
Chapter 12 by Tchernobog - 6310893
Chapter 13 by Little-Tweenframes (Adge) - 6314818
Chapter 14 by JayMan155 - 6321898
Chapter 15 by DrakeyC - 6326091
Chapter 16 by Fangren - 6327934
Chapter 17 by Cyrano - 6335904
Chapter 18 by Dubs Rewatcher - 6340584
Chapter 19 by Cynewulf - 6347548
Chapter 20 by Allykitty - 6351718
Chapter 21 by Marwile - 6355265
Chapter 22 by Masterweaver - 6355884
Chapter 23 by Undome Tinwe - 6358040
Chapter 24 by Cold Bolt - 6366846
Chapter 25 by Oroboro - 6372716
Chapter 26 by Idsertian - 6376365
Chapter 27 by Corejo - 6379269
Chapter 28 by Overlord Neon - 6384896
Chapter 29 by Aragon - 6388130
Chapter 30 by The Albinocorn - 6392902
Chapter 31 by AcreuBall - 6397020
Chapter 32 by Posh - 6407872

SunLight Sliders II is a collaborative romantic adventure starring Sci-Twi and Sunset Shimmer as they jump between parallel dimensions of both Equestria and the Equestria Girls version of Earth.

The original SunLight Sliders ended with the human Twilight Sparkle sitting in her room, only to be interrupted by an unstable portal erupting into existence and a bloody and bruised Sunset Shimmer stumbling out with a damaged Talisman/TPT. Sunset gasps for help before she falls unconscious. Twilight catches her as she collapses.

SunLight Sliders II picks up immediately after this event and features this couple.

• SunLight Sliders II will kick off on January 1, 2018.
• Each author will have 3 days (72 hours) to write their chapter to the ongoing story.
• Each chapter must be 1,000-1,500 words, with a maximum of 2,000 words.
• The first and last chapters have a maximum of 3,000 words.
• All chapters must be posted in this thread by 11:59 PM Pacific Time on their due date (3 days/72 hours after your start date).

• Keep the story T-rated or lower.
• Avoid gore, horror or dark themes. Remember, this is supposed to be a shippy adventure comedy!
• No crossovers with other shows/animes/books/etc except for the MLP comics (of course). In addition, no "normal humans."
• Please avoid meme and other, similar types of humor in the story. Strive to come up with original or inspired-by-the show/movie/comics content.

• Do not try to influence the current writer with ideas either through forum posts or PMs. Chatting about ideas (especially if they spawn new stories) is great. Telling authors to do specific things isn't.
• Treat one another with respect and kindness. Do not nitpick or tear apart another author’s chapter. Mods will take action if this rule is not followed.

• It is up to each author how they want to present their part of the story, although they should make an attempt to make it flow smoothly.
• Plot threads and continuity established by other authors must be respected.
• Authors must follow the previous chapter’s story before continuing. Don’t jump scenes without a transition between the previous one.
• Authors may not reuse any character, universe or organization described in the original SunLight Sliders. (No Accord, dimension-spanning Tirek, going back to a universe established in the first novel, etc.).
• Authors should try to not require the next author to stay in the current world.
• When possible, make it easy for the next author to jump into a new universe. This will vary chapter-by-chapter.
• Try to keep the style to third-person limited. The difference between third person limited and omniscient can be found here.
• There is no outline! Part of the fun is making things up as you go (just remember to keep it within the theme).

At 12:01 AM Pacific on your start date OR after the previous author has finished their chapter and posted it.

Say it's your turn, and you have 3 days to submit your chapter. You can, if you want, submit your chapter on Day 1. That means that the next person gets the two days you didn't spend to work on their chapter. If you however also take just a day, then two more days added to the next, etc.

Basically, even if people before you are faster, your due date won't change. If your chapter needs to be submitted by, say, the 21st of January, you'll stay on that day.

Reservists are "on-call." If we get ahead enough, we may add a reservist as a standard author. We may also call on them if an author has to leave or is a no-call, no show (hey, life happens sometimes). We'll do our best to give them as much advance warning as possible.

While not required, if you want to use the SLS Chapter Header or Section Break, you can find them below

• Chapter Header: [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/TWeNrOb.png[/img][/center]
• Section Break: [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/YgvAq5I.png[/img][/center]
• Chapter Header Text: [center][size=1.5em]Chapter # - <Author Name>[/size][/center]
• "Gray Box" Story: [quote] <TEXT> [/quote]

Princess Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer sauntered toward Sunset’s apartment.  Both were holding hands. Both were blushing furiously. Both were grinning like idiots. And both were more than happy to put the chaos of jumping between the vastness of the multiverse behind them.

The journey was finally over and they could at long last… relax.

After all, despite the lives they led, this wasn’t the sort of thing that happened all that often.

Twilight Sparkle adjusted her glasses and sighed, noticing that she was almost near the end of the book she had been reading. She couldn’t reach over and adjust her lamp; she’d done that earlier, and the light was perfect. Her parents were out on a date night, and Shining was working a late shift at work, so she had the house all to herself save Spike. There was nothing for her to do, except enjoy the rest of her night in some other way after finishing her book.

Which she would be finishing. Soon.

She grimaced, then bookmarked her place and set aside the story with a deep sigh, rubbing her eyes. She was bored. She’d had nothing worthwhile to do since Princess Twilight Sparkle and Sunset had taken the amulet, and they wouldn’t even let her help with whatever they had in mind. Which was totally fine! It was! After all, that thing had stolen the magic of everyone around her before ripping holes in the universe. Oh yeah, and there was the whole turning into a demon intent on sundering the boundaries between worlds to get at all that wonderful magic in Equestria.

She didn’t want anything to do with that thing ever again! It’s not like she wanted to help with whatever insane experiment Princess Twilight had in mind.

She just kind of wished they’d needed her help so she wouldn’t be like this: at home in her room with nothing to do but finish a book she’d read a million times.

Well. She had some school assignments she needed to get ahead on anyway. She could get started on that at least, make a good impression on her new teachers at Canterlot High.

Mind made up, Twilight nodded to herself and climbed out of bed, invigorated and eager for the task ahead of her—and then the portal tore its way into her room. This wasn’t a gentle parting of air to form a stable gate between worlds; the blast of energy knocked the girl back against her dresser with a yelp, her glasses crashing to the ground. Bright light blinded her, and as the portal closed as abruptly as it had opened Twilight briefly saw white, blinking several times to try and clear her vision. She groaned, patting around until she found her glasses, and shakily put them on.

And then, she stared at the girl who had appeared in her bedroom.

Blood dripped from shaking fingers, stained through clothes on the right side of her body; she’d pressed her hand against the wound to try and stem the bleeding, but it clearly wasn’t helping much. She staggered on her feet, the pendant around her neck appearing to be the twin to the one Twilight had designed herself—if she could ignore the cracks that webbed their way along deep into the object, occasionally sending off small sparks of wild magic.

But what truly made Twilight stare was that beyond the wound, beyond the unstable pendant and the different clothes, beyond even the fact that this girl’s hair was a pixie cut and not long enough to fall down her back like it did in this world—what made Twilight stare was that the girl was Sunset Shimmer.

Teal eyes met violet. For a moment, the entire world seemed to stand still.

“Help,” the other Sunset gasped, and the spell was broken.

That single pained word spurred the purple girl forward, and she surged up to catch the redhead as she passed out from blood loss and collapsed into her arms. Twilight swore violently, gingerly setting her down on her bedroom floor and ripping a sheet off of her bed to try and stem the bleeding before she tore out of her room, yelling for Spike to find the first aid kit.

And so a new story, and a new chance to shine sunlight into darkness, began.

Author's Note:
And so, it begins.

So we're starting this off with a bang, huh?

I'm soooo down.

Twilight Sparkle levitated over a washcloth, dabbed the last bit of grime from Sunset Shimmer’s face and tried to figure out what in the world was going on. After all, it wasn’t every day a wounded girl fell into Twilight’s bedroom from a rip in time and space.

It was a bit outside of her comfort zone. And by a bit, she meant about twelve parsecs away from said zone.

Her eyes darted to the cracked and sparking amulet, now sitting in a small mixing bowl near her backpack. Twilight could feel the magic radiating from the device. It felt familiar. Too familiar.

But why would Sunset Shimmer get a haircut, get wounded and then return with that stupid amulet—the one she definitely never wanted to see again—without Princess Twilight?

She bit her lip and brushed back a lock of Sunset’s hair.

Sunset’s teal eyes snapped open. A fist came out of nowhere and cracked Twilight across the jaw.

“Ow!” Twilight cried as she toppled against the side of her bed. “What the—”

Sunset had already leapt to her feet, her eyes wild and a little crazed. “Get the hell away from me Steel! I swear, I’ll… I’ll…”

 Sunset blinked a few times. She took her in her surroundings, then she looked down at herself. She blinked again.

“These aren’t my clothes.”

Twilight rubbed her jaw. “They’re mine, thank you very much.”

Sunset looked up from studying Twilight’s clothes—which admittedly didn’t fit Sunset very well in… certain areas. Her brain seemed to be catching up to current events. She winced. “I just decked you, didn’t I?”  

“Yeah.” Twilight glared at her. “What was that for, Sunset?”

Sunset groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Not this again. Look, you’re Twilight Sparkle, right?”

“Uh… yes?”

“I’m assuming you know a Sunset Shimmer?”

“Uh… yes?”

“Are you two enemies, friends, dating, in love or married?”

Twilight stared at her friend. Then it occurred to her that this might not be her friend. “Uh… we’re… friends?”

“Good.” Sunset nodded. “That should make this less awkward. Number one: I’m Sunset Shimmer. Number two: I’m not your Sunset Shimmer. Got that?”

“Then… who are you?”

“A different Sunset Shimmer. At this point, that’s all you need to know.” Sunset reached down as if to grab something around her neck. A look of panic crossed her face. “Where is it? Where’s the Talisman?”

“The… what?”

Sunset ignored her, her head jerking this way and that until she saw it. With a gasp of relief, she lunged forward and snatched it from the bowl. She yelped as a bit of magical energy scorched her hand.

“Thank Harmony,” Sunset muttered. “It’s still intact… mostly. I’m going to deck Tarnished the next time I see her.”

“Okay, I think I’ve been patient enough,” Twilight said, getting to her feet. “What is going on here? Who are you?”

“Already answered that,” Sunset replied distractedly as she fiddled with a small dial on the amulet. “Pay attention, Sparky.”

“Sparky?”

“Okay, not one of those universes, good to know.”

Twilight growled under her breath. She had been bored only about an hour ago, but after spending said hour trying to nurse this individual back to health and running Spike so ragged he had passed out on the living room couch, Twilight felt she deserved answers. She put a hand on the geode around her neck, focused and yanked the ‘Talisman’ out of Sunset’s hands.

“Hey! Don’t!” Sunset cried as she snatched for it. “You don’t know what you’re doing!”

Twilight glared at Sunset over her glasses. The modified amulet floated beside her. “Look, for someone who teleported into my room before collapsing due to blood loss, you’re acting pretty high and mighty. I’d like some answers.”

“Give it back, now!” Sunset snarled, hands curled into fists.

“Not until you start telling me what’s going on here!”

“At least stop using your magic on it!” Sunset shouted as she lunged forward.

Twilight dodged out of the way, frowning. “Why?”

“Because you don’t want it to—”

The Talisman began to hum. Twilight’s eyes slowly turned toward the device and realized that the cracks in the surface were a lot brighter than they had been seconds ago. It started spitting sparks of brilliant amber and violet magic.

“Oh boy,” Twilight said as she dropped her magic and backed away.

The Talisman didn’t fall to the ground. It hovered in midair, glowing brighter with each passing second.

“Twilights are nothing but trouble,” Sunset groaned.

There was a brilliant flash of light, then the world imploded.

Twilight crashed down into a cold, whirring metal floor. She moaned and blinked her eyes, trying to see through the spots of light dancing before her eyes. She lifted her right hand up to adjust them.

Then she realized she didn’t have a right hand.

She looked down and saw what could only have been a lavender hoof. She stared at the appendage for a few long seconds. Then she looked at what should have been her left hand. That was a hoof as well.

She swallowed. Hard.

Now, Twilight had heard the story of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s initial arrival at CHS. The Equestrian Spike had made sure not to spare a single detail—much to Princess Twilight’s chagrin.

Twilight handled herself much better than Princess Twilight. After all, she just whimpered and curled into a ball, as opposed to screaming in terror like a lunatic.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Sunset said from Twilight’s left.

The amber-coated unicorn who had to be Sunset Shimmer sat on her haunches staring at the dark and inert Talisman floating in a field of red magic. To Twilight’s annoyance, Sunset ignored the existential and morphological quandaries currently racing through Twilight’s mind. However, those quandaries were derailed when she realized Sunset no longer had a pixie cut. She had long curling locks of red and gold that went halfway to the floor.

   Why in the world would any sort of transportation or transformation device alter one’s hair—mane?—style? Twilight wondered. It proved a helpful distraction from the whole ‘oh-my-goodness-I’m-a-pony’ thing.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Sunset snarled, turning to face Twilight. “Any clue?”

Twilight blinked at her.

“Look around!” Sunset snapped. “Tell me what you see!”

Twilight glanced around and blinked a few more times. It was only then when she registered they were on some sort of high-tech observation deck. A glittering translucent shield of energy coated the window, sparkling in the setting sun. That, lay a vast high-tech city of impossible dimensions. Towering skyscrapers of gleaming metal and glass stretched as far as the eye could see. Flying vehicles of every size darted this way and that. In the distance, Twilight caught sight of what could only be an orbital tether, stretching up into the infinity above them.

Then Twilight saw her reflection. She looked… like herself. Even had the same mane style. Just… as a pony. A unicorn, to be precise. Idly, she wondered why she didn’t have wings. After all, she had them when she ‘ponied up’ back on Earth.

 She shoved that aside and focused on more immediate concerns.

“Where are we?”

“We’re back where I just came from!” Sunset rubbed her temples with her hooves. “This is Tarnished Steel’s personal observa—”

A door behind them hissed. Twilight spun to see two burly female unicorn ponies trotting into the room. One wore gleaming armor the color of brass, while the other had armor the color of iron. Both had helmets covering most of their faces and a retractable monocle.

Twilight desperately tried to remember everything she’d ever heard about Equestria… though this didn’t seem at all like the Equestria described to her by Princess Twilight or ‘her’ Sunset.

“Well, well,” the brass armored pony said with a smirk. “I didn’t expect you when I saw the alert. Our little sneakthief’s come home. Here to beg for some mercy from Steel?”

Sunset Shimmer hauled herself to her fee—hooves and slipped the dead amulet around her neck. “You know me better than that, Iron Tack.”

“Ain’t that the truth.” Iron Tack said. “You got some nerve coming back to the Manehattan Tower. Boss ain’t happy about you swiping the Archmage’s TPT, scrub. Why don’t you make this easy and come quietly?”

“Ain’t happening, Tack,” Sunset growled. “Get up, Twilight.”

“I-I don’t know what’s going—”

Tack noticed Twilight for the first time and laughed. “And what good is another Twilight Sparkle for you, huh? Doing the Highlord Hustle? Maybe the Princess’s Pawn?”

Twilight got to her hooves and wobbled a bit, but found the quadrupedal stance surprisingly comfortable. This unsettled her, but she decided she could have a freakout about it later.

“No hustle.” Sunset shrugged. “All been done.”

A moment later, gleaming metal pistols hovered beside Tack and her guard. “Don’t try anything clever, scrub. You’re on the two hundredth and eighty-seventh floor of the Tower. Even better, that TPT is dead. Ain’t got nowhere to run.”

“See, that’s the problem with people like you, Tack,” Sunset said casually. “You’ve got no imagination.”

Tack opened her mouth to reply, but Sunset was already moving. Twilight gasped as Sunset cleared the space between her and Tack in less than a second and shoved Tack hard into her companion. Both unicorns went sprawling to the floor.

With a growl, Sunset kicked Tack across the muzzle. The armored mare took the blow with a grunt, then leapt back to her hooves. With a swipe of her hoof, Sunset managed to knock both pistols away from the armored mares. One went flying off into the corner. The other spun to a stop a few inches from Twilight.

Tack spat on the ground and wiped her muzzle. “Damn, you kick like a mule, scrub.”

“Thanks.” Sunset bucked again, only for Tack to dodge and swipe Sunset’s legs out from under her. Sunset rolled away from Tack’s attempt to pound her to floor with her armored hooves. Sunset came back up swinging and Tack went on the defensive.

Tack’s companion got to her hooves and prepared to into the fray.

“Watch out!” Twilight shouted.

“Take care of that Sparkle, Red!” Tack shouted. “I’ll deal with the scrub!”

Red turned toward Twilight. Without thinking, Twilight yanked the pistol off the floor and pointed it at the enormous mare.

“Ain’t a good idea, kid,” Red rumbled. “You ever use a crystalflash pistol before?

It was only then when Twilight realized she’d picked the pistol up in her magic. It felt the same as her using her levitation back on Earth!

I’m using magic as a unicorn… because I’ve been using magic as human!

 “D-don’t make me use this!” The pistol hummed ominously.

“Shoot her, Twilight!” Sunset shouted.

“Sorry, kid.” Red charged.

Twilight closed her eyes and squeezed the trigger. The pistol cracked with a sound effect straight out of a bad science fiction movie. Someone yelped in surprise.

When Twilight opened her eyes, Red glared at Twilight from inside a pink crystal. The mare looked completely unhurt, just locked in a crystal prison.

Sunset bellowed and slammed Tack into the railing. The mare crumpled. Sunset levitated the other pistol from the corner of the room and trained it on the burly pony.

“Where do you think you’ll go, huh?” Tack demanded as she clutched her side. “You’ve got the Archmage’s TPT. You ain’t smart enough to get that thing to do what you want it to.”

“I’m warning you.” Sunset’s voice trembled. “Don’t you try to come after us.”

“You kidding?” Tack let out a wheezing laugh. “You ain’t worth that. You ain’t gonna have anyone jumping dimensions after you, scrub. Ain’t gonna change the fact that you’re alone.”

“Shut it, Tack.”

Tack’s visible eye glittered. “That Twilight over there ain’t the one who got fed up with you. You’re a thief and a coward, scrub. You screwed over your thiefmaster—a freaking Celestia—then got greedy, ran off your mare then stole the TPT of the greatest archmage High Equus has ever known?”

“Tack…”

“You're damaged goods, scrub.” Tack shook her head. “Take that one home. She ain’t gonna want you. No way you gonna find what—”

Sunset’s pistol cracked. Seconds later, the mare sat frozen inside a pink crystal.

Tack rolled her eyes and stared balefully at Sunset.

“You always did talk too much.” Sunset sneered.

“Are they—” Twilight began.

“They’re fine. Localized crystal prison spell. It’ll wear off after a few hours. Now, we need to move.”

“Wait a minute!” Twilight shouted. “I didn’t sign up for this! Take me home!”

Sunset rolled her eyes and marched toward the doorway, shoving the crystal-locked Red aside.

“I mean it!”

“Give it a rest, Sparky. Shut up and get moving.”

Twilight was not about to go anywhere with this crazy pony! Not after what she’d just seen! But she didn’t have a lot of options. In fact, she could only think of one.

Twilight pointed her weapon at Sunset. The pistol started to hum. At the sound, Sunset froze and turned.

“You really want to do that?” Sunset asked quietly. She didn’t lift her pistol. “Without me, you’ll really be stuck here.”

“Take me home now.”

Their gazes locked and several tense seconds ticked by.

To Twilight’s surprise, Sunset blinked first. “You’d actually do it, wouldn’t you?”

“Is what she said true?” Twilight demanded. “Are you a thief?”

“Yeah!” Sunset lifted her head defiantly. “What of it? I’m the best damn thief Steel ever had. Not like I had anything else to do at home. But when I found out about the Talisman, I decided I wanted a better life. Steel didn’t take too kindly to that.”

“What is that thing?” Twilight nodded toward the amulet around Sunset’s neck.

“Experimental Transdimensional Portal Talisman.” Sunset sounded bored. “Allows two people to jump between alternate realities. And considering you’re wearing glasses, yes, it’s based the thing you once used to steal a bunch of magic.”

“How does it work?” Twilight asked despite herself.

“This one? Not very well. It’s supposed to create a portal on demand after a magic recharge—the length of which depends on local ambient magic—but if exposed to too much magic, it’ll just fire off. It’s got a few other—” Suddenly, a sly expression spread over her face. “You want to know all about it, huh?”

Twilight bit her lip, but she didn’t lower her weapon.

“I’ll make you a deal,” Sunset said. “I’m looking for something. Help me find it and I’ll show you the multiverse. I’ve been around a little bit. Seen a few things here and there. It isn’t every day you get a pre-packed vacation tour to infinity. You’ll learn more about magic and technology in a few days than you could learn in a few lifetimes back home.”

At that moment, the absurdity washed over Twilight. She was a unicorn, standing in a room with two ponies locked in pink crystal prisons, pointing a magic gun at an alternate version of Sunset Shimmer, who just offered to show her the multiverse.

And here I thought magic geodes were the ultimate weirdness.

Despite herself, Twilight knew her answer.

“Fine. But after this is done, you take me home.”

“You have my word.”

Twilight didn’t really trust her, but right now, she didn’t have much choice. She lowered the weapon.

“You have to help repair this thing, though,” Sunset said. “I know the portal tech, but not the underlying magic transfer tech.”

“I can probably handle that. After all, I designed it… sorta?”

“That’s the spirit, Sparky.”

“Don’t call me Sparky.”

Sunset grinned.

It was only then when Twilight realized that Sunset Shimmer made a rather cute unicorn.

Focus, Twilight. Focus.

It had taken an hour of dodging guards and two hours in a dusty workshop, but the TPT had been repaired. Sunset continued to call it a ‘Talisman,’ but Twilight refused to use such imprecise terminology for something this fantastic.

“I think we’re set,” Twilight said.

Of course, that was when the wall exploded. When the dust cleared, an enormous white mare in chrome armor stood there with fifteen armored ponies.

“Oh… hey, Tarnished.” Sunset said weakly.

“Hello, Sunset, darling.”

“Wait. That voice…” Twilight started..

“Not the time, Sparky!” Sunset grabbed Twilight’s hoof and yanked her toward the door.

“Get them, now!”

Sunset bolted out into a hallway running along the outside of the immense Manehattan Tower with Twilight close on her heels.

“Nowhere to run, Sunny!” Tarnished Steel cried behind them. “Give it up!”

Sunset poured on the speed and tossed the TPT to Twilight. “Get ready to activate it!”

“It’s not charged enough!” Twilight shouted back.

“It will be!” Sunset shouted back. “Manehattan Tower produces a magical field that powers half the city!”

“Then why can’t we use it now?”

“The interior is shielded!”

Twilight realized where they were running: right for the observation platform.

“Sunset!” Twilight screamed. “You can’t be serious!”

Sunset did something to her pistol and flung it toward the window. A few seconds later, the pistol exploded and tore a massive hole out of the building.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Tarnished Steel’s minions opened fire. Blue bolts filled the air around them.

This is turning into a very strange day.

“Go!”

Sunset leapt out the window, two hundred stories above the massive city of Manehattan. Twilight screamed and jumped after her. She felt a strange prickle across her coat as they passed through the magic field. The TPT lit up like a beacon.

Sunset teleported to Twilight’s side. “Now!”

Trying to ignore the oncoming ground, Twilight pushed the button.

A rip in reality erupted in front of them.

Then, they were gone.

They landed hard in a forest and tumbled through moss and leaves for several feet before rolling to a stop. All around them, they could hear the voices shouting in alarm. Twilight blinked and adjusted her glasses, groaning as she looked over herself.

Then she stopped and looked again.

She wasn’t human. But she wasn’t a pony either. Yet, she had used magic to adjust her glasses. Magic coming from glowing crystal hooves and weird swirling patterns on her thin forelegs.

She looked over to Sunset. She didn’t have a horn, but she did have similar crystal hooves. Sunset’s mane had transformed again, now a curtain of red and gold that hung around her face vaguely like Fluttershy’s. Her tail was little more than a tuft of fur.

Why does her mane seem to change with every new world, while mine stays the same?

Sunset groaned. “Ugh. It’s been a while since I’ve had to deal with being a deer.”

Twilight looked up to see dozens of figures approaching from all sides. Some had wings. Some had crystal hooves. Some had normal hooves. All the males had antlers, but none of the females did.

A doe with an amber coat and a teal and purple mane leaned down to peer at them curiously, then smirked for some reason.

“Uh… hello there?” said a quiet voice behind them. They turned to see a yellow doe with a pink mane and two wings watching them curiously. “Can… can we help you?”

“Fluttershy?” Sunset and Twilight said together.

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy squeaked.

Well, at least I’m not bored anymore, Twilight thought.

Author's Note:
Honestly, I could have easily added another couple thousand words to this. Hell, I might do a spinoff for this. Still, we're off! A bit of talk about how the TPT works, a bit of history on this Sunset Shimmer, a bit of insanity with two worlds and some adorable deer ponies! Plus, set up the strange fact that Sunset's mane/hair seems to change style with every jump. Let the insanity commence!

And here...we...go!

Thiefs, crystal pistols and deers. Now that‘s a start. And I already spy two potential running gags
And is it coincidence that they always seem to meet Fluttershy at the beginning?

6265118
When I saw the chance, I decided, "What the hell, go for it!"

I always love it when Sunset starts out as a jerk. Makes the eventual thawing out even more enjoyable to see.

Time to get the party started!

"Wait." Twilight held up a—hoof? Did it still count as a hoof? She held up her crystalline hoof of dainty proportions. "Did you just make a deer pun?"

Fluttershy ducked her head and flashed a bashful smile, but Sunset spoke first with a slight derision in her tone. "Come on, Sparky, keep up. Ponies make pony puns. Deer make deer puns. It's the natural order of things, for some reason."

"Right. Sure, okay, yes." Twilight's eyes flicked back and forth to take in all the cervine faces around them. "I sort of remember that being a thing with Princess Twilight."

Sunset's brow raised. "'Princess Twilight'? What—"

"Excuse me," Fluttershy's little voice interrupted like a little bell, "but could we, well, could this conversation maybe take place later? When we're safe?"

Twilight felt her heart jump to her throat. "Safe?" Flashes of what she'd just experienced leapt to the forefront of her mind—the pistol, the chase, the jump. Adrenaline coursed through her veins again and she could hear her own heavy breathing. "Why aren't we safe?"

"Good question. Which deer world is this?" Sunset angled her head to look up at the trees that towered above them, each with the white-and-grey speckled bark of a birch but leaves of candy-colored hues. "Doetopia? Deeria? Buckiter?"

Irritation bubbled up from the war of fight-or-flight within Twilight and she snapped, "Now is not the time for deer puns, Sunset!"

"Please, does, please." Fluttershy stepped forward to put herself between them. "There's no need to fight amongst ourselves. Let's just return to the Hart of Feybriar, okay?"

Sunset's ears snapped forward. Twilight caught the slight widening of her eyes and asked, "Why are you making that face? What does Feybriar mean?"

Fluttershy looked up, her wings giving a small flutter that lifted her off the ground. "Oh, you don't know what Feybriar is? You poor things! Come, we must take you home!"

The pegasus... deer... pegadeer? The winged doe that shared the name of one of Twilight's friends turned to lead the way, and all the other deer followed her.

Twilight looked at Sunset, lowering her voice to privately ask, "What is Feybriar, and why do you look like you want to run?"

"Ugh." Sunset's eyes darted between the overgrown trees all around them. "We can talk about it later. The trees are listening."

Twilight's expression fell flat. "The trees are listening. Seriously? Is that pony for 'the walls have ears'?"

The look Sunset gave her suggested it most certainly was not. "No, literally, the trees are listening." She sighed and moved close enough to Twilight that their shoulders brushed together. "Feybriar is an enchanted forest. Each tree has a fey living in it, and these deer"—She nodded her head toward the entourage ahead of them—"are their caretakers."

With a rush of wonder and curiosity, Twilight tilted her head back to look up at the trees that towered over them. The air hummed with the sound of leaf-litter crunching under hooves and the deer talking amongst themselves. Leaves of seafoam green, cotton candy pink, and canary yellow served as a colorful canopy overhead, with bits of a deep blue sky peeking through the gaps.

It was easy to forget that she had wanted to go home, back to her boring life with the same old books. In a short span of time, she'd hopped through literal dimensions to arrive here—wherever 'here' exactly was, anyway.

Something shifted in her peripheral vision and her eyes flicked to catch a glimmer fade behind a dark patch of the speckled bark. She squinted and gasped when she saw the light return, a shimmering thing that somehow felt like it was looking back at her.

Her gaze darted all around the forest, and she gasped again, louder this time. It was like staring at the ground for a while only to realize it was covered in a whole colony of ants. Now that she had seen one, she could see them all: each and every tree had a bright something hovering within the trunk.

"Sunset," she managed to say, her voice high and tight, "there are things inside the trees."

Sunset rolled her eyes, but before she could reply, an unfamiliar voice chimed in.

"Those would be the Fey of Feybriar, miss."

Twilight looked ahead to see one of the deer had slowed down to walk with them. Her brow furrowed as she said, "Oh, you."

The amber-coated doe laughed in a musical sort of way. "My name is Amblejoy, but I guess 'you' will work." Her eyes crinkled as she smiled. "Neither of you are from around here, huh?"

"No, we're not," Twilight replied just as Sunset blurted out, "Of course we are."

Amblejoy's eyes flicked between them before she tossed her head back and laughed. At the mirthful sound, a few deer ahead of them looked back, and she hurriedly fell quiet.

"Listen, doeface," Sunset said, pushing herself physically between Amblejoy and Twilight. "We're not looking for trouble, okay?"

Amblejoy looked at her with a raised brow, then wiggled her ears. "Somehow, I have a hard time believing that with you." She inclined her head to look past Sunset at Twilight and winked. "You, I believe."

A deer had just winked at her. Literally winked.

Yep, Twilight definitely wasn't home anymore.

The trees grew more sparse until they stepped into a serene grove of trickling water and deep green moss, of beams of sunlight filtered through the candy-colored canopy above.

"Welcome," Fluttershy said, her wings spreading wide as she turned to face Twilight and Sunset with a bright smile, "to the Hart of Feybriar."

In the center of the grove was a tree of pure white bark that rose up in gnarled twists and turns, and each deer found a place among its thick branches to nestle in. Its leaves were a deep ruby red that glistened in the stray beams of light, and the spirit that hovered within its trunk moved in a slow, lazy circle.

Fluttershy's forehooves moved to cover her little muzzle as she giggled. "Oh, yes, of course. Please let me introduce you to our Guardian, Angel."

The tree's light... fey, Twilight reminded herself. The fey of the giant tree bounced about before settling against a low knot. Fluttershy put her cloven hoof against it, and the swirling marks along her legs began to glow as she sang,

Rest tired eyes a while

Sweet is thy gentle smile,

Angel is guarding

And he watch o'er thee.

Twilight watched in amazement as the bark of every tree glimmered and a low, melodic hum filled the air. She looked up to see that each deer's marks were glowing like Fluttershy's, and they joined in all together,

The birdeens sing a fluting song

They sing to thee the whole day long,

Wee fairies dance within each Feybriar tree

For very love of thee.

At Twilight's side, Sunset stuck out her tongue. "This is why I hate Feybriar."

"What?" Twilight gawked at her. "You hate the singing?"

Sunset just rolled her eyes. Fluttershy lowered her head, mane falling into her face—classic Fluttershy, Twilight mused absently.

"Oh," Fluttershy mumbled, "You don't like it here?"

Before Sunset could say anything, Twilight hurriedly intercepted, "It's not that! It's beautiful here, really, it's just." She chewed on her lower lip, glancing between all the faces looking at them. "It's just, this isn't our home, and we have to get back there."

"Speak for yourself," Sunset muttered.

Fluttershy furrowed her brow, gaze drifting over Twilight from head to hooves before she gave a weak smile. "I don't understand, but you look like you mean it. But I'm afraid if you're not going to care for the fey, then you can't stay here in Feybriar."

"And when you say 'care for the fey'—?" Twilight asked, glancing at the nearest tree.

"Singing, of course!" Fluttershy blinked a few times. "Do you really not know?"

Sunset groaned and angled her head to stare at Twilight askew. "Song gives the fey strength. The fey protect these woods from danger. It's like straight out of a book you'd read, Sparky."

"I don't read—" Twilight stopped herself, instead breathing in and out to find her calm.

Her gaze travelled their surroundings, taking in the colorful deer and foliage, the trunks that held little balls of light in them, and the peace and serenity of the grove.

"I'd like to stay here for a bit," Twilight finally said, her gaze falling on Sunset, who looked about ready to die. "Oh, come on. We've sung together bef—I mean, well, my Sunset sings."

Sunset's ears pinned back and she looked away from Twilight, off somewhere into the woods. "I'm not your Sunset, though."

"Wait," a voice called from the tree, and they looked up to see a horned buck frowning at them. "Did you say 'Sunset'?"

A murmur ran through the crowd, and all attention became hyper focused on Sunset. She shrank back under the weight of all the gazes, glanced at Twilight, then offered a lopsided grin.

"So, there may be one other detail I forgot to mention." Sunset swallowed, her grin turning nervous.

Twilight felt her stomach drop, and the grove went completely silent.

6270423
Honestly, I full expected the next author to jump right away from the deer. The last thing in the world I saw coming was to get a full CHAPTER filled with deer goodness! It's everything I dreamed of and more!

The first rule of collabs like this is that it never goes the way you mentally think it will. You took numerous details I had written and spun them in a totally different direction. For example, I had originally intended to show that Twilight, Sunset and the one who became Amblejoy were the deer equivalent of unicorns, while also establishing that there were winged deer, too. (Basically, there are at least two analogues to the pony races) Instead, you took it in the direction of everydeer having the crystal hooves and the magic swirling pattern! And I loved it!

Freaking Fae/Fey living in the trees, cared for by the deer? EEEE. Fluttershy's tree of COURSE being Angel... EEEE.

I'm still fangirling over this twelve hours later. I love it! Thank you so much!

Well, now I wonder what history Sunset has with this world.

6270423

crystalline hoof of dainty proportions

we must be wed

6272611
Doesn't sound like anything good, but... who really knows?

6272793
I suspect our next author may have a few ideas!

I was meaning to wait longer to let this pick up a few chapters before starting in on it...but delaying gratification, especially for no real reason, is not a skill I exercise often.

6265066
That first world looked kinda interesting. For a bit there reading the prologue, I thought you were just going to drop a couple of names, "Tarnished" and "Steel", and then pass it off to the next person just to see what they did with them. XD

And why did I just know you were going to use your chapter to throw the evening duo into deerritory.

6270423
Not gonna lie. The fact that Angel is the fey with the biggest tree is...moderately concerning. Hopefully he's nicer here, tho.

6272897

And why did I justknowyou were going to use your chapter to throw the evening duo into deerritory.

I have no idea.

“Let me guess,” Twilight stage whispered out of the side of her mouth, “you stole something from this guy?”

The buck in question walked out from the boughs and massive gnarled roots of the great white tree, moving toward the two of them.  With each graceful leap, Sunset shrank back visibly beside her, looking more and more nervous.

“Maybe?”  Sunset stage whispered back, glancing around them at the other silent deer.  “I’ve stolen a lot of stuff from a lot of different people.  It gets hard to keep track of at times.”

“That’s...disturbing.”

“That’s my life, Sparky.  You try getting by on worlds not your own with cultures you don’t understand with no one to help you and let’s see what level you sink to.”  Sunset sighed tiredly.  “Thankfully, deer worlds are dripping in ambient magic.  The talisman should be ready to go in a moment.”

“Do you always run away from your problems?”  Twilight raised an eyebrow.  “My Sunset tends to face her problems head on.”

“Again, not your Sunset.”  Sunset looked down at the amulet around her throat.  The seams of the device were already glowing faintly.  She glanced back up at the approaching deer.  “You heard Iron Tack, I’m a little sneakthief, not some reckless hero type.”

“That pony...Tack...also called you a ‘scrub.’”  Twilight’s other eyebrow lifted itself.  “That kind of implies that you aren’t even very good at being a sneakthief.”

“Tack’s just jealous.”  Sunset smirked, some of the characteristic bravado and confidence Twilight knew from her Sunset peeking through.  “I’m the best there is, Sparky.”

The buck was just about on top of them when Twilight felt Sunset throw a hoof over her shoulders. Twilight stared wide eyed at the TPT as it floated in front of them in Sunset’s magic.  The buck opened his mouth, but any noise he made was lost in the eruption of a new portal opening up under her and Sunset.  Twilight managed a yelp before passing the portal’s event horizon and the world once again turned itself inside out.

The next thing Twilight found herself aware of was solid, grass covered ground under her feet.  She glanced down at herself.  Shoes.  She wiggled her toes, making her Mary Janes wriggle.  She was human again and so was Sunset—who she noted sported a new hairstyle that was about shoulder length and looked like something popular from when her grandparents were young.  Around them, familiar suburbia stretched in every direction, with rows of houses and little fenced off yards.  Distantly, she could hear the sounds of traffic and sirens.  Familiar city sounds.

“Where are we now?”  Twilight adjusted her glasses and looked around.  “Is this...my world?  I think this is my neighborhood.”  She turned around and squinted at the house they were standing in front of.  It looked vaguely familiar.  Luckily no one seemed to be around to notice their sudden arrival.  As she was thinking about it, Sunset passed her and walked up onto the porch and took a seat in the empty swing seat there.

“Who knows if this is your world, Sparky.  It’s not like I’ve been steering us from world to world.”  Sunset held up the amulet, letting it spin around lazily on the cord.  “The Talismans are pretty much set to random.  My old Twilight could run rings around anyone or anything with one of these, but I’m...let’s say less skilled at that particular aspect of interdimensional sliding.”

Twilight tilted her head.  “‘Sliding?’  That’s what this is called?  Going from world to world?  And what, stealing whatever you can get your hands on?”

Sunset sighed and started rocking the swing chair back and forth gently.  “The stealing is more of a me thing, but yeah.  Twilights and Sunsets slide all over the multiverse.  It’s...a thing.”

Twilight nodded absently, letting that information sink into her.  Twilights, plural, but from Sunset’s tone more likely multiples bordering on infinite.  Countless versions of herself on countless worlds that were all different, but with overlapping similarities.  The theory was one she was fairly knowledgeable about, but being confronted with the reality of...well...reality was stunning.  However, pushing the idea of infinite options aside for a moment, there were some more pressing matters she needed to figure out first.

I need to get my...er...not mine, but some Archmage’s amulet away from this Sunset.  Letting myself get dragged along without any leverage of control is just asking for trouble.  Twilight forced herself to smile and start walking toward the porch and the swing.  She’s not my Sunset.  She hit me, she bled all over my bedroom floor, and she sounds like a career criminal.  If I can figure out how to do this sliding thing, I can get us back to my world and let my Sunset and Princess Twilight know about this.  They can handle this stuff far better than I ever could.

Twilight stopped at the edge of the swing.  Sunset stopped without being asked, letting her take a seat next to Sunset.  “So...let’s just talk...okay?”

“Sure, Sparky.”

“Please stop calling me that.”

“No.”

Twilight frowned, watching Sunset’s profile.  The girl hadn’t even looked her way since sitting down, Sunset’s gaze locked on nothing in particular.  “Erm...okay.  You know what, Sunset?  Go ahead and call me that if it makes you feel better.  Maybe, to better differentiate you from the Sunset I know, I could call you, Shimsham.”

“Please don’t.”  Sunset finally turned to regard Twilight for a moment, her face half way between a grin and a grimace.  “It’s highly unprofessional.”

“Speaking of professions,” Twilight smirked, “how did you end up a thief, anyway?  My Sunset only ever stole Princess Twilight’s crown.”

“You do what you have to to survive.”  Sunset relaxed and pushed with her feet to get them swinging again.  “I’ve stolen a lot more than a crown thingie.  Plenty of jewelry.  Artifacts.  Weapons.”  She smiled and snorted with laughter.

“What is it?”

Sunset leaned toward Twilight, the amulet hanging low and loose from her neck.  “I think I remembered what I stole from that deer dude.  His heart.”  Sunset turned thoughtful, looking up at the porch ceiling.  “Or maybe his first kiss?  I seem to recall doing that.”

Twilight paused, her hand midway out toward the TPT, and sputtered.  “You...you stole his first kiss?  How?  WHY?  Do you do that often?”

Sunset grinned and leaned back , putting her arms out over the back of the chair swing.  “I wouldn’t call it often, but yeah, I’ve had to steal a few hearts in my line of work.  Even punched a V-card or seven.”  She flashed a smug smile at Twilight.

Twilight gaped at Sunset.  This girl was nothing like her friend and she was feeling really warm and somewhat queasy.  Or was that nervous?  She wasn’t sure, to be honest.  Twilight shook her head.  “Sunset…my Sunset is nothing like you at all!  How is that even possible?”

“You’re smart, Sparky, do the math.  Across an infinite number of dimensions, infinite numbers of variations are possible.  All the other Sunsets out there...all the Twilight’s too...we’re all slightly different from each other.  I’ve seen some charts of it on the more advanced worlds.  We all fall on some great bell curve of standard deviation.  But that means some of us fall pretty far off to one side or the other.”  Sunset faded out, looking off into the sky again.  She licked her lips before continuing.  “It also means that some of us...rarely...don’t fall on the bell curve.  Some of us are Wild Tangents.”

Sunset sighed.  “Sometimes...some of us...are just off.  We—”  Sunset looked down, feeling pressure on her chest, at the purple hand on the talisman.  “What?”

Twilight yanked upward, pulling the talisman up and off Sunset’s neck, the cord around her head and jumped up from the swing.  She backed up, holding the amulet to herself.  “Sorry, Sunset, but I just don’t feel comfortable with this in your hands.  Nothing personal, really!  I just want to go home.  The other Sunset and Princess Twilight...they can help you with whatever it is you need.”

“Give that back!”  Sunset surged to her feet, spinning on her toes to face Twilight.  “We’re doing just fine!  You’re basically an Uninitiated Twilight, you’re going to get yourself hurt, or worse.  Give the talisman back to me, Sparky.”  Sunset held up one hand, palm up while the other swung to her hip to grab reflexively at empty air.

“N-no,” Twilight stammered, taking another step back away from Sunset, “I helped you fix it back at the Manehattan Tower place.  I understand how it works.  I could probably figure out how to steer it too, if you’ll let me.  I made one from scratch not too long ago!”

“I’m not letting another Twilight dump me on some backwater universe again, Sparky!”  Sunset growled, her open hand clenching into a fist.  “I slugged you once, I’ll do it again if you make me.”

“That’ll just increase the likelihood of getting left behind!”  Twilight huffed angrily.  That temper is probably why I’m not her first Twilight.  She backed up to the edge of the porch.  “I was bored when you showed up at my home, but since then I’ve had to run from armed ponies and walk around a fey infested forest with talking deer!  That’s neat and all, but I’m not the adventurous Twilight!  I’m the nerd that screws things up!”

“You got that right!”  Sunset dropped into a low, wide stance, her arms out.  Then she launched herself at Twilight, covering the porch in a red blur.  Sunset slammed into Twilight like a truck, throwing both of them into the grassy yard and sending them rolling.  Sunset grabbed at the talisman, but Twilight held it tight, scrambling on her backside away from Sunset.  A moment later, Sunset yelled out, pinning Twilight and straddling the girl.  “You screwed this up too, Sparky!  Let’s see how you like getting left on a world that isn’t your own away by someone that you loved!”

“What?”  Twilight coughed, sucking in air between her teeth.  “What...what are you talking about?”

Sunset blinked tears away from her eyes, her voice ragged and soft at the same time.  “You’re smart, Sparky, you figure it out.”  She grabbed Twilight’s hands that were still holding the talisman in a death grip.  She pulled at it halfheartedly.  “Trust me, you have no idea what it’s like out here.  I’ve been doing this for too long...but I can’t keep doing this alone, Sparky.  I...I need a Twilight.  A Normal Distribution Twilight.”

Twilight swallowed and glanced at Sunset’s hands on her own.  She didn’t know if she could trust a word this Sunset said.  But if she was honest with herself, she did know that this person seemed to know more than a little about the wider reality of the multiverse.  She still wanted to get home, but who knew how long it might take to find without a full understanding of how sliding worked.  Slowly she let go of the amulet.  “I want to go home, Sun—gah!”  Twilight recoiled, flinching when Sunset’s fist slammed into the ground next to her head.

“Never pull a stupid stunt like that again, Sparky...Twilight.  Please.”  Sunset growled again, shaking flecks of dirt from her fingers and slipping the amulet back around her throat.  “I’ll get you home, but it might take a few jumps to get rehomed in on your world, okay?”

“You promise?”

“Yeah, Twilight...I promise.”  Sunset grinned lopsidedly down at Twilight and seemed about to say more when the entire neighborhood started to shake, the ground rumbling like a series of earthquakes hitting at once and the distant sirens got a lot louder.

Wild Tangents...interesting, veeeeeery interesting.

Lots of seeds sowed, I hope they get used. Great chapter!

6274440
Ooooooooh. Sunny's got way more of a past than I knew! While we had a fast jump, thanks for giving at least an idea of why everydeer was so ticked! Plus we get a bunch of new terminology? EEE!

...though seriously, I thought they were done with the fighting thing. Ow. That looked like it hurt.

6274440
That... that's not how tangents work... or normal distributions for that matter... Although the distribution stuff could at least be workable, the tangent thing seems way off for the term any advanced society would use to describe such a phenomenon. I think you mean outlier instead? Or something more in that vein, anyway.

Also, the pacing of the fighting seems a bit... wonky, to me. Like I get why it came about, but the resolution feels off. Rushed, perhaps? I'm not certain. I also think Sunset's behavior feels pretty... Red Flag-y. It's obvious why the previous Twilight ditched her, or at least was probably right to run away. We're gonna have to keep this in mind going forward.

6274705
Yes, I DID mean outlier. I could not, for the life of me, recall the right term and my Google-fu at 5 a.m. failed me.

6274750
Ahh, I see, I see. Well, I guess that's a testament about not pushing yourself to write at 5 am, if nothing else.

6274881
Ain't that the truth.

6274705
Remember, it's fine to comment on the chapter, but we must not influence how future chapters go, even with an innocent comment. Not admonishing, just saying to keep in mind

6275656
Oh! My apologies, then.

6275896
No worries, as I said, it's just a reminder. It's very easy to forget, or not realize how a comment can influence future chapters. I know this might feel like stamping down on comments, but I'm not trying to do that. I just don't want to see undue influencing, even accidental!

Twilight and Sunset exchanged glances as the ground started to shake.  The swing on the porch chattered violently on its chain as the earth moved enough to knock Sunset onto her back.  This caused two simultaneous effects.  One, it moved Sunset farther away from Twilight than she was really comfortable admitting, despite their rather serious conversation, and two, it gave her a completely unobstructed view of the sky.

Which allowed Twilight to draw the safe conclusion that they were not in her home universe, as she was fairly certain she’d remember the moon being what looked to be at about half the typical mean orbital distance that was typical for home.  She was also fairly certain that she remembered her moon being whole, and utterly lacking the massive rent that split the cratered spheroid roughly in half.  The small, flaming meteors which streaked into the atmosphere solidified her hypothesis that this was not home, and also not where she and Sunset wanted to be.

Rolling to her knees, she scrambled over to Sunset, and grabbed the other girl’s hand.  “We need to go!”  She shouted as the sirens and the rumbling got worse.

“It’s not recharged yet!”  Sunset shouted back as her fingers closed around Twilight’s.  “What’s going on.”  Twilight pointed straight up, and the fiery young woman’s face paled.  “Oh.  That’s… not good.”

“No, no it isn’t!”  Twilight managed without letting her voice slip into a shriek.  “We need to go!  Do you know what happens when one of those meteors becomes a meteorite?”

Sunset shook her head.  “Oddly enough, this situation is kind of new for me as well, but given how frazzled you look right now, I’m going to guess not good things.”  She said, rapidly pressing the amulet’s button as if it would help the device recharge faster.  “Argh!  This world doesn’t have a lot of ambient magic!”

“What do you normally do when the world you slide to doesn’t have a lot of magic?”  Twilight asked, curling her legs around Sunset as the vibrations got worse.  A quiet part of her mind noted that, in human form, Sunset had very well toned legs

Sunset stared down at her, making Twilight blush.  “Well, normally, I’d just wait it out, find someplace to sleep, and steal a meal.  This does not seem like a good idea right now!”

Twilight pushed up her glasses a moment and bit her lip.  Think, Twilight, think.  The meteor shower overhead intensified as it hit her.  “I’m such an idiot!  This is why you wanted another Twilight!”  She said, grabbing the geode at her throat.  “Hold on tight to the amulet!”

Sunset stared at her a moment before gripping the amulet with one hand.  The other slipped behind Twilight’s back.

Twilight concentrated on trying to levitate the amulet to her.  Instantly, the amulet glowed, and the bright cracks on the amulet began to glow.

“Twilight, I take it back, you’re a genius!  The other Twilights never had something like that on them!”  Sunset cheered as the event horizon of the portal opened, and the pair fell through.  Which was a good thing, Twilight reflected, as a rather sizeable chunk of the moon had been heading toward them at an alarming-

“Oof!”

Twilight landed on something soft and warm.  And slightly itchy.

“Twilight.  Get.  Off!”  Sunset said shortly from beneath her.

Twilight tried to scramble to her feet, only to quickly realize that, yet again, she had hooves.  Which made the scramble a little bit more of an ordeal than maybe it should have been.

Sunset sat up and looked around.  Yet again, her mane had changed, this time into a pair of ponytails that were similar to what Applejack wore when she was working around the farm.

“Where are we?”

Twilight looked around what appeared to be a haymow.  “Um… a farm?”  She offered helpfully.  “Why do ponies have haymows if you already eat a lot of hay?”  She asked.

Sunset got to her hooves, and stared.  “We just dodged the moon falling to earth, and you’re asking why ponies have haymows?”  She asked, giving Twilight a bemused smirk.

“Ahah…”  Twilight laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of her neck as she tried to pull some of the hay from her hair - mane - was it mane?  “Well, we didn’t just die as the moon fell on us, so now I’m on to the next mystery!”  She explained.  She and Sunset locked eyes a moment, and the yellow unicorn appeared to be silently counting.

Then it hit her.  “Oh my gosh we almost died!”  Twilight shrieked.  “What happened to the… the us that lived there?!  What happened to that world?!  What if we end up sliding back?!”

Sunset shrugged, and lay down on one of the barrels of hay.  “Well, I know that I wouldn’t want to be the me from that world,”  She said quietly.  “As for what happened, I don’t know.  Magic and thievery is more my speed.  You’re the dork that’s into all the science and stuff right?”

Twilight really didn’t want to think on the world ending consequences of the moon impacting the earth.  “Ok, well, that’s… horrible.  So what happens if we slide back there?”

Sunset let out a sigh, then pulled up a long strand of hay with her magic.  “I think that the amulet has something built into it that prevents that from happening,”  She said, slowly chewing on the end of the hay before making a face and spitting it out.  “Ok.  Still too wet.  Anyways, I ended up sliding to a world where there were a bunch of volcanoes going off.  Don’t ask me what happened, I didn’t do it!  But the moment I took a breath, I started choking.  Probably some sort of toxic gas in the air.  But the amulet flared up immediately and sent me to another world.  This one with some nice ponies who had this gorgeous golden-”  Sunset paused.  “The point is, I don’t think it’s going to send us back there.”

Twilight wasn’t sure how that worked.  Did the amulet scan a multiverse for safety?  That would be a very useful mechanism.  Or was it something else?

Below them, the barn door cracked open and a pale orange earth pony mare with a curly mane trotted in.  Sunset and Twilight froze as she looked up at them in surprise.

“Oh, Twilight!  I didn’t know you were here!”  She said brightly, her voice soft and melodic as she drawled slightly.  “Does Applejack know you wanted to see her?  Who’s your friend?”

Sunset and Twilight exchanged glances.  ‘I don’t know who she is.’  Sunset mouthed to Twilight, who felt equally baffled.

“Um, no, ma’am,”  Twilight called back.  “And this is Sunset Shimmer, a um, filly friend of mine that I wanted Applejack to meet.  I figured that AJ was busy with chores, so we’d wait until she wandered in.”

The mare chuckled brightly.  “Twilight, how many times do I have to tell ya?  Just because I’m Applejack’s mom doesn’t mean you need to call me ma’am.  Miss Butter’ll do just fine.”

Twilight stared wide eyed down at the mare.  Applejack’s mom?  But didn’t Applejack say that her mom was…?

Sunset let out a surprised snort from beside Twilight.  “Well, that’s new.”

Ooooh, Pear Butter. Nifteh!

That's great, but it would be amazing if, in all the infinite possibilities of the multiverse, there wasn't a reality where Applejack's parents weren't dead.

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Oh. My. God. THAT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME.

I also choose to believe the sirens were automated and since we never saw anyone, THAT Earth had been evacuated. Seriously, I wondered if you had just thrown time travel into the loop... then realized you did something MUCH better. Great job!

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The swing on the porch chattered violently on its chain as the earth moved enough to knock Sunlight onto her back.

Sunlight?

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May not have been strictly necessary, but it is a smart way to conserve words.

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XD Whoops! Fix'd!

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BEST. ERROR. EVER.

Totally not a Freudian slip. From the therapist writer.

Well! That sure was an unexpected twist. But anything can happen in the infinite reaches of the multiverse, and I'm interested to see what comes of this.

Also, RIP Majora's Mask world.

Oh, now we're getting into alternate universes of canon. This should be fun.

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Your avatar's expression makes your comment 20% better.

yo heartshine, I really like the interplay between Sunset and Twilight in your chapter; the back-and-forth between them is great

will you make me sushi

Sunset and Twilight wandered into the homestead with cautious steps. After all the worlds that the Talisman…

TPT. Twilight corrected herself.

TPT brought them to, she thought it would be wise to treat every world as a death trap until proven otherwise. Yet, even if she did want to be careful, she found the smell of freshly baked pie impossible to not crave. With all the adventuring she had done, she never had the time to really take in just how hungry she was. Now, it was all that was on her mind.

“Applejack, Twilight’s here to see you!” Buttercup shouted up the stairs, still maintaining her warm demeanor.

“Twilight?” A rustic southern accent echoed from above.

“Just hang around here for a beat, you two. AJ’ll be down in a moment.”

“Thank you, Miss Butter,” Twilight said with a small dip of her head.

“Ain’t no trouble!” Buttercup headed into the kitchen, but not before speaking once more. “And I love the glasses, Twilight! Makes you look real nice!”

“Oh! I…” Twilight raised her hoof, ready to rebut that she had always worn them. But just as swiftly lowered it and gave a soft cough. “Thanks.”

“Twilight?” When Twilight turned to the source of the voice, she spotted Applejack, wearing her signature stetson hat. Around her neck hung a small metal ring, which glittered under the sunlight peeking through the windows. But Applejack wasn’t regarding her with the friendly, welcoming stare she expected. Instead, she was staring at her like she had just seen a ghost. “What’re you— I mean…”

However, the moment her eyes drifted to Sunset, she fell immediately silent. Her perplexed eyes grew five times their size and she froze. Her jaw quivered, as if she was trying to speak, but the only thing that managed to eek out was silence.

Sunset stared back at Applejack with an equally confused stare. “W-why’re you looking at me like that?”

Before any of them could continue the conversation, the sound of the doorbell echoed through the room.

“Could you get that, AJ?” Buttercup asked from the kitchen.

Applejack descended the steps with her eyes locked squarely onto the two of them. Twilight didn’t dare move a muscle, and it seemed neither did Sunset. Though while her own eyes were noticeably filled with fear, Sunset’s gaze was much more hostile. It was almost as if she was ready to pounce at the slightest movement. And Applejack looked ready to do the same.

Once she reached the main doors, Applejack cracked the doorknob and swung it open. Just behind the doorway stood a unicorn with a dark blue coat. Braided locks of teal and green fell across her back and down to her shoulder. As she took a few steps in, she kept her cyan eyes locked onto Applejack.

“You will not believe how bad the Dawn Star was today, Applejack,” she spoke in a slightly raspy voice. And immediately, Twilight knew something was wrong. She had never seen this mare before, but something about her seemed… familiar. Hauntingly so.  “Lavender was going on and on about her day…” The mare continued to ramble for a few seconds, seemingly oblivious to the gaze Applejack was casting at her. “And don’t even get me started on the Dust Engines! They—” Finally, the mare tore her eyes away from Applejack and, upon noticing Twilight and Sunset, fell deathly silent.

The air remained completely devoid of sound for several tense seconds. Even the ticking of the nearby grandfather clock and creak of the wooden furniture seemed to be muted in the moment. Twilight could understand why they were silent, They were probably afraid of the imposters of the friends they knew. Yet, she didn’t understand why Sunset wasn’t speaking. In her mind, this Sunset should be sprouting off questions, and then answers to those questions in an endless barrage of words. But here she stood, as if she had lost her voice.

“Skylark! Back from work already?” Buttercup asked in her usual pleasant tone, oblivious to the scene that was playing out in front her. The mare waved back with a smile. And once more, that same unsettling feeling rose up in her heart. The expression on Skylark’s face sent a nagging instinct that she knew this pony. Though she had little time to ponder, as Applejack swiftly trotted forth and snatched her hoof.

“Twilight, ya must be hungry travellin’ all this way,” Applejack spat out her words in a flurry. “I’ll bet you’d be up for some apple pie!”

“Hey!” Twilight attempted to tear her hoof away, but as soon as she tried, Applejack shot an intense stare at her. She didn’t need Sunset’s empathetic powers to know what she was trying to say. It was the same ‘follow my lead’ stare as the Applejack back at CHS would give. And the thought of pie certainly was a tempting offer. “R-right, I’ll… get some apple pie.”

“Sounds great! Skylark? Want any?” Buttercup asked in a cheerful tone.

“Maybe later, Buttercup.”

Buttercup gave a nod before retreating into the kitchen with Twilight and Applejack.

Skylark and Sunset stared at each other. Unblinking. Unwavering. Neither said a word. Neither needed to. For Sunset could see through her like an open window. After all…

She was basically staring at a mirror.

Through the fancy mane, different colored coat and even higher-pitched voice, Sunset could make out the pony behind those cyan eyes. The exact same shade she would see staring back at her every morning back in her world.

Skylark raised her head, giving a knowing smile.

Sunset didn’t return the gesture.

“You and I need to talk,” Skylark spoke, trotting out of the back door.

Sunset didn’t turn to follow her. Not immediately. Instead, her mind raced through a million questions in a second. Most important of them all was whether she could trust Skylark. However, her rational mind soon kicked in. She had survived countless dimensions, survived situations no one could even dream of. If Skylark were to make a wrong move...

She’ll only have herself to blame.

With that worry out of the way, Sunset headed past the kitchen where Twilight now sat. Soft laughter resonated from within. Noise that caused Sunset to give an irritated growl before swiftly shutting it out from her mind. We could be stuck here forever, and you’re still laughing. She shook her head in disgust. As immature as the rest of you, I see.

Soft wind soared past Sunset’s face, throwing her mane into her eyes. With an angered grunt and a swing of her hoof, she swung it away.

Skylark had led her to the edge of the wheat fields, overlooking an almost endless expense of fresh golden crops and, in the distance, countless apple trees.

“I know you probably have a lot of questions for me, so feel free to ask away,” Skylark said, hopping onto a nearby fence.

“Let’s start with the most obvious, who are you?”

Skylark snickered, stoking the flame of impatience in Sunset. “You already know the answer to that.”

“I want to hear you say it.”

Skylark’s mouth rose into a smirk. “I’d rather you see it.” Suddenly, a small, bright red orb appeared at the edge of her horn. Bit by bit, the color from her coat melted away, revealing the amber fur Sunset expected to see. Her mane soon followed, with the interwoven teal and green locks giving way to crimson and yellow respectively. Once the transformation was fully complete, Skylark stared back at Sunset with a soft smile. “There.”

Sunset scanned her eyes up and down Skylark’s form. “Do you always wear the disguise?”

“To be honest, I’ve worn it for so long that this…” Skylark gestured to her sun-shaped cutie mark. “Feels like the disguise instead.”

“Why wear it at all? Aren’t you proud to be a Sunset?”

“...Are you?”

A small gust rustled the wheat, keeping Sunset’s silence company.

“I don’t do this because I have a choice, you know. Things happened and…” Skylark rubbed her hooves softly together. “And I couldn’t be Sunset any longer. I couldn’t wake up every morning and see that face staring back at me without…” She lowered her head and drew a breath. “Nevermind. I won’t go into that.”

“Does Applejack know?”

Skylark nodded. “She knows everything.” Lifting her hoof, she tapped the ring around her neck. “More than everything. I think she might know me better than I know me.” She giggled. Though it wasn’t filled with mirth or joy; each laugh was heavy with pain.

“You know, for a pony that is speaking to herself, you’re unusually calm.”

“Well, you stop being confused after the… fifth time?” Skylark shot Sunset a smile. “Can I ask you a few questions, Sunset?”

“Can I say no?”

“Of course. You wouldn’t be the first.”

Sunset didn’t reply.

“Where are you going? What’s your goal right now?”

“Nothing,” Sunset answered, quick.

“That’s a lie,” Skylark rebutted, quicker.

Of course the only pony who can be faster than me is myself. Sunset scoffed at the irony. She sighed and gazed out at the golden green vistas in front of her. “Find a Twilight that won’t abandon me on a place to die? That’d be a great start.”

“That Twilight with you. Who is she?”

“Someone I met on accident. Activated the Talisman and sent us through space and time.”

“Heh,” Skylark grinned. “There’s always a Twilight. There’s always a Sunset. There’s always a Talisman.”

“At least it starts out that way,” Sunset muttered with a shattered tone. Memories of the past started to flood her mind. She could hear the shouting, the pleading. The tears on her face and the sand beneath her feet. Before the scene could manifest any clearer, she slammed them back into the deep recesses of her mind where they belonged.

“Can I see it?”

“What?”

“The Talisman.”

Sunset didn’t budge. She tightened her grip on the device and met Skylark’s soft gaze with a daggered one of her own.

“Please.”

“Don’t try anything stupid,” warned Sunset in a grave tone. She lifted the device and placed it softly into Skylark’s hoof.

Almost immediately, Skylark started to giggle. She traced its form with her hoof, occasionally flipping it open and then close with surprising dexterity. “It’s been so long…”

Suddenly, Sunset eyes popped open in realization. “Skylark, where’s your Twilight?”

Skylark clasped the Talisman closed and didn’t speak.

“...Don’t tell me she—”

“She’s fine,” Skylark answered in the most dismissive tone Sunset had heard her speak in yet. Placing the device squarely on her hoof, she covered it with the other and brought it close to her chest. “We had a falling out. She and I… let’s just say we’re not in each other’s lives anymore.”

“Wait, but Sunsets and Twilights are supposed to be friends. Or lovers. Or partners.”

“Or in this case, enemies.” Skylark passed the device back to Sunset, who swiftly snatched it from her hoof and was about to put it away, when suddenly, it started to radiate a brilliant purple light.

“W-what?” remarked Sunset in stunned disbelief. She lifted it in front of her eyes to ensure it wasn’t a trick of the eye. “It’s… charged?”

Skylark shot her a wide smile. “You’re welcome. And before you leave, Sunset. Word of advice: Don’t go down this path.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Sunset turned away from Skylark and prepared to rush off to retrieve Twilight.

Skylark continued staring off into the distance. “What then?”

“What?”

“When she finds out you can’t control the Talisman. That you can’t guarantee you can get her home. What then?”

“How did you know tha—”

“Answer me.”

For the first time, Sunset didn’t have an answer. But she didn’t care. She didn’t need to give one. She galloped towards the house, barely managing to hear Skylark’s voice call out once more.

“And be sure to grab some apple pie before you leave.”

“Where are you going? What’s your goal right now?”

“Nothing,” Sunset answered, quick.

“That’s a lie,” Skylark rebutted, quicker.

Of course the only pony who can be faster than me is myself. Sunset scoffed at the irony.

EDIT: I actually like the lore-expandin' part quite a bit. I haven't read the original story yet, so I'm not sure if "There's Always A Sunset and a Twilight and they are ALWAYS LOVERS" is a callback, but either way, it's a mystery that I'd like to see explored in future chapters.

I hope someone brings Skylark into the mix in a future chapter, too. Somehow.

Oooh, intrigue...

Man, this is amazing. I'm so glad to be a part of it! And everything so far really contributes to what I have in mind! Excellent work so far, everyone! So many emotions~

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Ohh, interesting, interesting! Definitely not the path I expected this chapter would take, but I like it.

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Seriously, the continuity we're getting out of SLS2 is several orders of magnitude more epic than we ever had in SLS1! It was much wilder and wackier first time around, but I think I like this a bit better. Then again, as I can't seem to write less than a 30K word fic, there might be a reason for that.

I was expecting to explore AJ's world with her parents still alive and while that would have been nice, seeing stuff from Sunny's perspective was an amazing gift I never saw coming. Not only did we get a better picture as to who this Sunset is--and what she really wants--but we also got to see who Sunset could be. And the price of failure.

The more this goes on, the more I wonder if these two will end up together or not! And that makes things all the more interesting! Great job with Skylark. Great job with Sunset! Great job with Twilight. Great job with it all!

I'm really liking this growth on Sunset in this story, the implications of her existence, and I'm really curious to see where this is all going. We never did go into the idea of Twilight and Sunset ending up as potential enemies for life in the first story, so it's fun to see the option being explored here in full.

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Never got to do this not because I totally forgot 6 times but thank you all so so much for all the kind words on my chapter :D I'm glad you all enjoyed it and I can't wait to see how this story turns out!