A Sunset Long Gone
The three girls and Spike sat in Sunset's living room. "Nice place you got here," Spike said.
"Thanks." Sunset set out drinks for herself and the two Twilights, then put down a bowl of water for Spike. "So, umm...where do we even start?"
Princess Twilight frowned. "Do you have that picture I sent from Equestria?" she asked. "That might make this easier."
Sunset smacked her forehead. "Duh! Of course." She walked over to her bookcase and pulled out a photo album, which she laid on the table.
Twilight leaned in with interest as Sunset flipped through it, stopping at a page with only one photograph. She stared blankly. "It...looks like something out of a storybook for little girls," she said. "Horses don't come in colors like that. Unicorns don't exist. Neither do pegasi. Why do three of them have horns and wings? There's...a dragon?" She shook her head. "What does this have to do with anything?"
"Look closer," Princess Twilight said. She tapped a finger against one particular pony in the picture. "Look very close. Open your mind. Think."
Twilight frowned and took another look, adjusting her glasses. The pony Princess Twilight had her finger on looked...
"This is me," Princess Twilight said.
Twilight blinked. "What?!"
"Equestria is another world, parallel to this one," Princess Twilight said. "Inhabited by ponies, not humans. Practically every person in this world has a counterpart in my world." She pointed at each of the ponies in turn, rattling off names. Some of the names—especially Celestia, Luna, and the names of the Rainbooms—were familiar to Twilight. "And that dragon is Spike," Princess Twilight finished.
"Spike?" Twilight asked, looking uncertainly at the little purple dog.
"Yeah, I'm a dragon back home," Spike said. Twilight shuddered.
"This...this is crazy. This isn't possible! You are not possible."
Princess Twilight giggled. "Boy, does that sound familiar..." She sighed. "Look...Twilight...everything I'm telling you is the truth. I'm you from another world. A world where I'm a pony princess. Sunset Shimmer is also from Equestria."
Twilight looked up sharply; both Princess Twilight and Sunset could see the gears turning in her head. "That's why you look exactly like that dead girl..."
Princess Twilight frowned. "Dead girl?"
Sunset sighed. "This world's Sunset Shimmer died a long time ago," she said. "As soon as I realized what this world was and how it worked, I went searching for my counterpart." She wrapped her arms around herself. "She...she had almost the same accident I had when I was three."
"Accident?" Princess Twilight asked, eyes wide.
Sunset looked down. "I was born in Baltimare," she said. "When I was three years old, my parents decided to take a trip to Canterlot. We took the train...we were almost to Canterlot. We were in the Foal Mountains...there was a rockslide."
Princess Twilight gasped.
Sunset's eyes brimmed with tears. "My parents used their magic to protect me...they weren't worried about themselves...the train was knocked off the tracks. The cars were being...crushed by the rocks. We were very close to Canterlot...the Royal Guard was on the scene in minutes. By the time they got there, my parents were...already dead.
"I was barely alive. If we hadn't been so close to Canterlot, I would have died. The guards almost didn't get me to the healers in time." Sunset shuddered. "I was in the hospital for two whole months. After that..." She shook her head.
"Sunset Shimmer..." Princess Twilight said, tears spilling from her eyes. She wrapped her arms around Sunset and held her.
Sunset sniffled. "The Sunset Shimmer in this world...her family took the same trip, only by car instead of by train. The brakes failed...they went off a cliff. They all died."
"That's...that's terrible," Princess Twilight whispered.
"Yeah..."
"Do the two of you seriously expect me to believe there's some alternate universe where everyone is a horse and magic is real?" Twilight asked.
"I know it's...hard to understand," Princess Twilight said. "But it's the truth. We're from another world. We're ponies."
"And what, you turn human when you come to this world?" Twilight asked.
"Pretty much," Sunset said. "Never did figure that one out."
Princess Twilight sighed. "I understand your skepticism," she said. "After all, I'm you. I'm a skeptic too. I've been in a lot of situations where things would've been a lot less complicated if I'd just taken some things on faith. But...I also know myself well enough to know that's not going to work here." She sipped her drink. "So...there's only one way we're going to prove everything we're saying is true."
Sunset stared at her. "You're not serious."
"Can you think of a better way?" Princess Twilight asked.
Sunset frowned. "I..." She sighed. "Well...you'd know yourself better than I would."
"Stop saying you know me!" Twilight snapped. "You're not me! You don't know anything about me! I don't even know who you are!"
Princess Twilight flinched. "I'm sorry," she said. "You're right. You're not me. You're you. We haven't had the same lives, the same experiences...the same friends." She tilted her head. "Do you have friends, Twilight? Other than Spike? Shining Armor doesn't count."
Twilight frowned, looking at her lap.
Princess Twilight sighed. "So this is how I'd have turned out if Celestia had never sent me to Ponyville..." Her eyes were moist with unshed tears. "I feel so sorry for you..." She stood and held out her hand. "Come with me, Twilight. I know...I know you don't trust me. Or Sunset Shimmer. But...please, just...let me show you something, alright?"
Twilight looked up at Princess Twilight, face unreadable. Finally, hesitantly, she stood. "I'll...I'll go along with you for now," she said. "I do still want answers. Whatever it is you want to show me...I'll figure out what's really happening. You can count on that."
"Wow, she's worse than you on a bad day," Spike commented.
"You know, you're lucky your Spike doesn't talk," Princess Twilight quipped, throwing Spike a sour glance.
The sheer absurdity of the comment made Twilight giggle.
* * * * *
Twilight found herself standing in front of the horse statue in the courtyard of Canterlot High School for the second time that day. The sun was low in the sky. She frowned. "Okay, so...what are we doing back here, exactly?"
"We're doing this," Spike said. Without fanfare, he walked straight into the base of the statue, which rippled and shimmered as he disappeared right into it.
Twilight crossed her arms. "You know...the vanishing cabinet trick doesn't impress me, even if you're using a pretty advanced hologram generator to dress it up. There's a trap door or an elevator inside that statue that goes someplace else."
"Wow, you're a tough sell," Sunset said. "So, got an explanation for the talking dog?"
"Still working on it."
Princess Twilight facepalmed. "I really hate running into annoyingly stubborn alternate versions of me."
Sunset raised an eyebrow. "You say that like it happens often."
"Well...no, actually this is the second time," Princess Twilight admitted. "Which is still two more times than it happens to most ponies."
"True enough," Sunset nodded.
Princess Twilight tilted her head, looking at Sunset. "Umm...I think maybe...you should come with us," she said.
Sunset blinked. "Back...to Equestria?" She looked down. "I...I don't know..."
"Just for a few hours," Princess Twilight said. "Or maybe like, a day. You haven't been back in a while. Trying to steal my crown doesn't count. Wouldn't...wouldn't you like to...just for a little while?"
Sunset's brow furrowed thoughtfully. "Hmm..." She smiled. "Yeah. Yeah...I think a little trip back to Equestria might...might be nice." She frowned. "Oh, but...maybe I'd better call the girls first. So...so they don't worry about me."
Princess Twilight nodded.
Sunset pulled out her phone and called Rainbow Dash. "Hey, Rainbow? Yeah. Look, I...something's come up. I'm uhh...I'm going to Equestria for a little bit. I might...I might miss school tomorrow. Tell the others, okay? Don't worry, it's nothing like...it's not a big crisis or anything. It's just a little...yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I will. No no, I'm sure she'll still be coming here for a visit later. There's just a thing here we've gotta take care of real quick. Yeah. I'll tell her. Okay, bye." She put her phone away and looked up. "Okay, let's do this."
Princess Twilight nodded. "Sunset, why don't you and Twilight go through together? I'll be right behind you."
"Right." Sunset grabbed Twilight by the elbow. "Come on, let's go." She guided Twilight to the statue and, with only the slightest hesitation, stepped into the base.
Twilight's world turned into a blinding kaleidoscope of shifting color. A strange sensation of stretching and twisting overtook her. She tried to cry out, but couldn't.
And then, just like that, she was on a cold, glassy floor. She tried to stand up, but her legs felt wrong. She tried to push herself off the floor, but her hands felt...
She looked down the length of her arms. Instead of the sleeves of her jacket and the slim purple hands she'd always had, she saw bare, hairy limbs that ended in bright purple hooves.
"Wh...what?!"
She heard a soft clopping noise, and bright orange hooves stepped into view in front of her. She looked up...and saw a light orange pony in a black leather jacket, with teal eyes and a huge, wavy copper-and-gold mane.
"Welcome to Equestria," Sunset said. Her horn glowed, and Twilight felt herself lifted off the ground, her hooves arranging themselves beneath her, allowing her to stand on the crystal floor.
There was a bright flash of light; Twilight instinctively turned around and nearly ended up flat on her face again.
A tall lavender pony with a long, tapered horn and broad, feathery wings stepped out of a mirror.
Twilight stared at Princess Twilight. Princess Twilight smiled at her.
"Are you ready to believe now?" Princess Twilight asked.
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About time someone put this idea into words.
I like it!
5304585 Uhh...they're not swear words, and they've been used in cartoons for years.
5304609 ...how exactly do you figure that? Seriously, you're not making one bit of sense here. In any event, it was approved at Everyone, so...yeah.
5304613 If they are, I haven't heard of them. And that period comment alone should've warranted a Teen rating. That is definitely NOT something that a little kids cartoon would talk about. I mean, there was an episode of Dexter's Lab that was pulled because had swearing censored with the traditional censor bleeps.
5304633 You're honestly overreacting to this. "Everyone" does not equal "Y-rated". It equals "G-rated". And there's a rather broad definition of what's acceptable for that rating. A mention of periods is not going too far...hell, periods have been topics in books for young readers for decades.
I do understand your concerns, but you're frankly overreacting to...basically everything. If there was a need for the Teen rating, I'd have put it at Teen. In fact, I bumped it DOWN from Teen because the mention of periods, which was a one-off thing, is the strongest thing that's going to be in this story.
Also, once again, this passed moderation at the Everyone rating exactly as it is.
Anyhoobles, this story looks fun, Mythril! AHMMA READIT!
5304604
5304664 Thanks!
Is it wrong that I keep on expecting Human!Twilight to suddenly start skipping about in a circle, gleefully chanting "I'm a pony princess" over and over? Or for Pinkie Pie to show up, gasp, immediately figure out what's going on, and throw an impromptu "Double Twilight" party?
Regardless, this story is watched.
Well, this is going to be fun!
Is it weird I have this sudden mental image of Shining Armor showing up to visit Princess Twilight, and tackling Twilight while shouting "Changeling!"?
Also looking forward to what will happen when everyone else meets Twilight. Also, loved that line, "Shining Armor doesn't count."
Twilight, hey Twilight!
mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/rsz/mlfw2085_medium.jpg
Moar!
Plez?
5304679 Ooh, does this mean she can throw a Double Rainbow party later, too?
It really is the only way. Sad to say, Twilight just isn't a very good scientist when it comes to phenomena outside of her comfort zone. She basically needs to have the evidence slammed into her face at least once.
In any case, definitely looking forward to more on this one.
Future Twilight reference, YES!
Very nice story so far. Looking forward to more.
Also
5304703 LOL you have great timing I read your comment and that image just after that scene played on the TV here.
Dun dun DUNNNN!!
5304943 You and I both!
5304990 I'll only say this: one episode of Dexter's Laboratory had a substitute PE teacher say, "What's this crap?" IIRC.
5305107 What's with all the wannabe content police today?
I'm liking this. Please continue.
5304674
Is Twilight's pony form a unicorn? Because, it really wouldn't make sense for her to be an Alicorn.
5304722
Hey, if Pinkie Pie can find an excuse, she'll throw whatever party she wants.
5305155 Yeah, EG!Twilight is a unicorn. It'll be revealed in the next chapter that she looks exactly like Twilight did at the beginning of the series.
5305107
girls are all taught that stuff generally between eight and ten years of age. Talking about periods doesn't warrant a teen rating, even if Pinkie's a bit creepy about keeping track of her friends' time of the month
Now Tracking. Looks like it's going to be a good read.
5305199 Hey, keeping track of that falls right in line with Pinkie's entire purpose in life. Think about it!
Well, well well. I almost didn't read this, then I realized Mythril wrote it, and the premise seemed solid. I dove in to find a story I want to see updated, as usual. As always, great work, Mythril!
5305295
true...
This story has caught my attention
I can just imagine Human Twilight (turned pony) Suffering from a mental BSOD (Blue Screen of Death)
... But humans do apparently.
Judge a book by its cover much? Seriously, they're taking their first impression of human Twilight and extrapolating it to fit her whole personality as if being hostile when being confronted by the unbelievable is not a reasonable reaction. People fear and lash out at what they don't understand; people who may be perfectly kind and reasonable in other situations. Even if this Twilight does turn out to be a stick in the mud, it doesn't change the fact that her reactions to the current situation are reasonable; for all she knows, the princess and Sunset Shimmer could be evil doppelgangers bent on replacing the originals. Heck, I'd probably be wondering if Sunset was responsible for her counterparts death at this point and if I was going to be next.
Also, if I found out the other me was living in the lap of luxury while I lived a mediocre life, I'd be liable to kill them and take their place. And I definitely would be pissed if they said they felt sorry for me. Sorry for what? That you had everything given to you on a silver platter and I didn't? F-You! A quote, "She was born lucky; I was lucky to be born."
Also, about Pinkie keeping track of her friends periods; perfectly logical thing to do. I keep track of the cycles of all the girls in my life; helps me know when to avoid them.
5305135
Did you read my earlier comments:
5304990
5305029
I have no idea what Mr./Mrs. Wannabe Content Police was doing, but I wasn't part of it.
5305432 Sorry, my bad. Just a little annoyed at all that.
5305135 I have to agree with Mythril, it's getting a bit absurd here.
It's just a story, we should really just relax.
5305423
Princess Twilight isn't "Judging a book by its cover". She IS the book. I think her assumption that Human Twilight is a loner is a pretty good one, since she lived that life herself. She also knows that the Human counterparts have the same personalities as the ponies, so she knows how Human Twilight would act.
Also, Human Twilight seems reasonably smart. She wouldn't think Sunset Shimmer killed Human Sunset because she was three years old at the time. Three year olds don't usually murder people to take their place. Also, they haven't done anything else evil, and Princess Twilight hasn't killed Human Twilight to take her place, so that assumption would be ridiculous for Human Twilight to make.
This is a decent setup to a potentially interesting tale. Here's hoping there is plenty of world-hopping hijinks.
I see some are quibling over the rating and some of the lines. I don't think any of the content or references is too "strong" for an E rating, personally. The period joke was in my opinion very apt for human!Pinkie.
Oh it is in poor taste and anyone younger would miss the relevance but it's not like kids should be ever allowed on this site anyway.
Makes me wonder how Cadance fits into EqG. Is she the Principal of Twilight's school?
It sounds more like Celestia never took twilight on as a student at all, rather then never going to Ponyville. Aside from Spike that is.
It's about time someone made a decent story about this. Keep up the good work.
Use the force Twilight.
T
Hmmm.
Other than the plot being ridiculously predictable, you write pretty words.
I wonder where you'll take this story. :)
Oh... Oh, Sunset!
...And cue either extreme, child-like glee or existential horror. Can't wait for more!
Such shock has never been recorded... Now what?
What exactly do Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna know about all this exactly? The fact that they mysteriously accepted both Sunset Shimmer (who by all rights should be dead) and Twilight Sparkle (who doesn't even go to CHS, and who doesn't have a home in that world) into the school with no fanfare at all as if they'd always been there is a more than a mite suspicious.
Also,not-Princess Twilight Sparkle should probably do something to make herself less recognizable.
Sunset crying over parents that died when she was barely able to retain memories is a little unusual.
And Princess saying "I'm so sorry for you" to Twilight is just a wee bit condescending.
But sure. Okay. Let's roll with it for a bit.
5307554
I totally agree with you on the condescending part
On the part about Sunset, it could be what she learned afterwards and that she still feels sad from realizing her loss, or maybe because ponies in Equestria don't grow up like us human (I'll just point out the baby Cakes who at one month old can already cast spells, fly, and said their first words..).
Twilight under-rates the difference between their lives. This is a Twilight who never even had a Celestia for a mentor. At best, she once had a good babysitter.
Let's hope Equestria's side of the mirror doesn't take the presence of two Twilights too badly!
Got friendship?
5308753 I'm expecting Pinkie to jump through the portal as soon as she finds out Twilight took her double across dimentions.
5307554 You telling me you wouldn't feel sad or want to cry sometimes knowing your own parents died protecting you? That as a family you were so close to a safe location only for heartbreak to happen at the last moment?
I know I'd definitely feel sad about that from time to time
The baby Sunset thing almost made me cry.
5308753
Yeah. I wonder if human Twilight is a unicorn or an alicorn. Since human Twilight didn't discover friendship, I assume unicorn, but I honestly don't know. But 'Tia's gonna freak.
Wait... according to human Pinkie Pie, Sunset Shimmer's period is in eight days.
...
Um, I can't believe I'm asking this but... is this story's events going to extend to take place over that amount of time?