> The Mares of Many Hues
>  by Dusk-Spark
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue: A faint smell of citrus
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------






Each beat from her little heart hurt more and more with each passing second, her body rebelled against her, demanding that she stop, yet Twilight refused and fought against her growing exhaustion. Even as her body both burned hotter than the flames of the sun, and froze colder than the vast emptiness of the galaxy, Twilight pressed on.




"The mirror? I'm afraid my knowledge of it is limited, Twilight. Is there anything in particular you wanted to ask?"



The constant sting of hail and wind against her body threatened to knock her off course. 'Then again, it's not like I have a course in mind. I just need to get away from Ponyville, Celestia, my friends, all of Equestria,' Twilight fought back the tears once more, 'I'm such an idiot!'




"Well, nothing in particular just yet. I've been seeing a mirror in my dreams lately that looks just like it. I was a bit curious about whether or not you could tell me anything useful about it."

"Well, I don't really-- wait, did you say dreams?"

"Yeah, they're a bit hard to explain though, mostly because I can't remember any of them. It's like the secrets of my dreams are just on the tip of my memory, but trying to recall it is like trying to catch those eye dots in my peripheral vision."



'Is it getting harder to fly? I mean, flying against the current isn't easy to begin with, but why do my wings feel like they're dragging extra weight?' She looked over her shoulder at her wings, when she saw what condition they were in, all she could say was: "Oh no." As if fate had waited for that exact comedic moment to pass, Twilight's frozen wings could no longer fight against the blizzard, and in response, Twilight was taken by the wind.
She screamed as she fell out of the sky, she felt like a ragdoll at the mercy of the blizzard. 'Come on Twilight, focus! Find your balance!' A task that was easier said than done, considering Twilight's body must've made several revolutions in the short span of time since she began her descent. No, this crash was inevitable, so Twilight did the only thing she could think of: her horn flared up, casting a panicked bubble shield around herself.
Her bubble shield crashed into rocks, on the side of the mountain and obscured her vision with snow as it rolled down what she could only assume was a mountain side. Despite the bubble shield's cushioned nature, Twilight was not entirely free from harm. By the time her bubble shield had dissipated and Twilight had finally crashed, Twilight could barely move a muscle due to the sheer pain coursing through her body. She willed herself to move, but her body refused, she felt her eyes grow heavy...
"No! No sleep! Don't sleep, that's how... that's how you... die." The last thing Twilight saw were a pair of lights in her peripheral vision, before everything went black. 





All Twilight could see was black, her vision allowed no light to penetrate. She heard hoofsteps, nearby.

"You were right. Celestia was trying to replace me."

'Whose voice is that?'

"I don't understand, I've done everything she's asked, I'm the most powerful student in the Academy, heck I'm stronger than the teachers themselves. Aren't I good enough?!"

'That voice sounds familiar.'

"What? Lying to me? About what?"

'Who is she talking to?'

"Celestia... Celestia wouldn't lie about that! She knows that's all I've ever truly wanted, she wouldn't--" The speaker paused, as if thinking it over, "then again, I doubted you before, and that runt turned out to be real. Celestia wouldn't..."

Twilight heard the filly run away from whoever she was talking to. Cautiously, she peeked out of the broom closet she'd been hiding in. "Who was she talking to?" Twilight asked yet again. She scanned the room full of magical artifacts and other assorted things, yet Twilight found no living thing, she even tried actively searching behind things but all she found were cobwebs. After making a mental note of informing Celestia about the messy state of the artifact room, she gave up her search for the mysterious 2nd pony. Now that she thought of it, she hadn't heard another voice, so who was that filly talking to? 'Maybe she was talking to herself?' That seemed likely, but something about the one-sided conversation felt off to Twilight. "I should tell Celestia about this."





A sweet scent of faint citrus wafted past her nostrils, a singer's beautiful melody flowed through her ears, her eyes slowly opened, the room's light blinding her temporarily. The first thing she saw when her eyes started to readjust, was the unfamiliar high wood ceiling. She looked to her left and saw a hospital room divider obscuring her vision of what lies in that general direction. In addition, there was a little table by the bed she found herself in, what caught her eye was the time-worn radio where the singer had apparently ended their song and what seemed to be a cup of tea with a note underneath it which read: Drink this when you wake up.

"That was Rosemary singing Alchemist, to start off your morning everypony. Here we are again, broadcasting live from the Frozen North, it's gonna be a cold one today."

"Really, the Frozen North being cold? Gasp, I never would've guessed."

"My co-host, folks. Anyways, as requested by the sheer volume of your fan letters."

"It was hilarious to see him buried under a mountain of letters."

"Oh now you're just exaggerating."

" 'Help! Get me out of here, I'm running out of oxygen!' That's what you said, I believe."

"Hahaha... anyways, here's Rosemary with her latest single: Misguided, enjoy."

Twilight Sparkle let the singer's likeable voice relax her while she took the mug of sweet smelling liquid in her hooves. She took small, experimental sips from the edge of the mug, letting the sweet flavor dance on her palette for a few seconds while she formed an opinion of the taste. Then she immediately chugged the whole thing down, the contents warmed up her body significantly. She was a little sad to see it gone, maybe she could ask for more later? 
The creak of the wood caught her attention, her eyes rested on a cloaked figure stepping into the room. The black cloak and imposing size made her little heart skip a beat! 'Is that the pony reaper of death? Am I about to die?!'

They took off their hood to reveal that they were not a pony at all, the beak and the wings were a pretty good indicator of what they were (though she still wasn't entirely sure if they were the reaper GRYPHON of death). "Oh, you're finally awake!" She exclaimed, if the delicate features weren't enough, the voice was a clear indicator to the silver and brown feathered gryphon's gender. The gryphon took off their snow-stained cloak and put it on the rack by the entrance. "You've been asleep for a few days now, ma'am. Weren't sure if you were gonna wake up or not." She said while casually strolling by Twilight's side, pulling the clipboard on the front of Twilight's bed.

Twilight's muscles instinctively tensed up as the gryphon took a seat by Twilight's bed.

She laughed, "Despite what ya might've heard, gryphons don't eat ponies." She said while skimming her clipboard. "First of all, welcome to Frostglade Clinic. Ya took a pretty nasty fall hon, Xira and some other folks found ya at the foot of the mountain. I gotta say, ya must have the luck o' Hades, you were half buried in snow, suffering hypothermia, and had more than your fair share o' bruises, sprains, and fractures. According to her at least."

Twilight obviously had a lot of questions, but before that, "Well, I'll have to thank this um, Xira, was it?"

"She lives in the clinic with me, odds are you'll see her sooner or later. By the way, names Kira, try not to get our names confused, happens more often than ya might think." The gryphon, Kira, flipped the paper on her clipboard. "Right then, we're gonna go through a few exercises, if ya don't mind. Your wings had the most damage, it took a while but we managed to fix it with some TLC, some good doctorin', and a bit o' potions. So let's test the waters, I want you try flapping your wings nice an' slow for me, can ya do that?"

Twilight raised her brow in confusion, "My wings?" Twilight looked to her sides and there were indeed a pair of purple wings attached. They did not look good; misshapen, swollen, and bandaged up like that, it made her a little sad for reasons that she couldn't quite understand. Regardless, she spread out her wings to the best of her ability, no problems so far. It was only when she tried to flap her wings did she feel like someone had stabbed her spine with a burning fireplace poker. She groaned as her wings immediately clung to her body.

Kira wrote something down in her notes, "Yeah, I know the feeling." Kira added with a comforting tone. "Don't worry though, they should recover eventually. Then you'll be flyin' again in no time at all. For the time being, let's try walkin', can ya do that? Need help gettin' outta bed?"

Twilight groggily moved her limbs, her muscles felt achy, but she could still move with them. "I think I can manage." Very slowly, and very carefully, Twilight got out of bed. When the full weight of her body touched down, she staggered. "Oof." She remembered Kira mentioning how Twilight had been comatose for a few days, so it'd probably take a while for Twilight to get used to walking again.

"How do ya feel, hurting anywhere?"

"A little sore, but I'm okay so far."

"Good." Kira took several steps back towards the wall, "Now, try walkin' towards me. Slowly now."

"Okay." She looked down at her hooves, the knowledge of how to walk seemed lost to her. Like she was being pop quizzed on a subject she hadn't studied for. 'One hoof in front of the other, Twilight.' She stepped forward, so far so good. Another step, still okay. Yep, she could walk, slowly, and it ached a little, but she could walk.

"Okay, least your legs are recovering." Kira wrote on her notepad again. "That's a good sign. Now, let's try an' figure out what in the hell you were doin' out in the middle of a blizzard?"

"Oh, well I was..." Twilight trailed off, 'Wait, what was I doing out there?' She tried to think back but all she felt was a stinging pain in the back of her mind. "I don't know."

"Ya don't know?"

She couldn't remember, the harder she tried to give Kira an answer, the more her head hurt. "I mean, I don't remember. I don't remember why I was out there, I'm not even sure exactly how I got there or what I was doing before I got there."

Kira wrote something down on the clipboard with a weary sigh, "Sounds like a case of amnesia, ya might've hit your head or something. What do you remember, hon?"

The only thing Twilight Sparkle could say was, "I know my name is Twilight Sparkle, and I'm a unicorn."

"Uh, unicorn?" She raised a disbelieving brow.

Twilight looked down at her wings, "...Oh." Unicorns did not have wings, Twilight knew that. But she was certain that she was a unicorn, she had to be, she could feel something on her head and when she concentrated she could feel a strange sensation through, what she assumed to be, her horn.

"Hang on, we gotta get you a mirror." Kira disappeared down the hallway. She came back a few seconds later holding a small mirror. She showed Twilight's reflection in it, in addition to the bed hair and bandages. She was indeed a unicorn, yet she also had wings. "I'm no expert on ponies, but I'm pretty sure unicorns don't have wings. So what, some kinda spell gone awry or-"

"Alicorn." An unfamiliar voice answered from the doorway. A drowsy looking, female zebra stepped into the room, hanging her own cloak on the rack. "That's what a horned pony with wings is called, though... I also happen to know that alicorns aren't born, not anymore at least, a pony has to ascend to alicorn status."

"How's that happen?" Kira asked, passing the clipboard to, who Twilight assumed, was Xira.

"Hell if I know." Xira tilted her head at Twilight, "Am I that pretty? Or is it your first time seeing a zebra?"

Twilight blushed when she realized she'd been staring, both of those could've been true. For some odd reason, Twilight felt drawn to the zebra. She was pretty sure it wasn't because she was attracted to her or anything like that; it was more like something in her shattered memories stirred. Something deep down inside her walled off memories. The faint, distant memories of a heavily accented voice...




"But, why must I go? Ponyville is my home!"



Twilight's head hurt, she suddenly couldn't stand the sight of her reflection in the mirror.

"You okay there?" Kira asked, concern evident in her voice.

"I feel, ugghhh..."She stirred nearly toppling over before Kira leapt into action, using her own body to stop Twilight from falling.

"Whoa there, missy. Maybe you should get back into bed before ya pass out on us again." Before waiting for Twilight's response, she helped Twilight get back into bed.

Xira pulled up the stool Kira had been using to sit in and looked to the bedridden Twilight. "Never seen an alicorn before, doubt many others have either. Hm, what was the name of that alicorn princess of Equestria, you must be important to her if you're an alicorn too."

"Princess of... Equestria?"

Xira shared a concerned look with Kira when she noticed the confused expression and the way she said that sentence: as if she didn't know what those words meant. "Oh, I remember her name now! Princess Celestia, does that name ring a bell?"

'That name...' She felt something. She felt joy for just a fleeting moment, and then nothing but sadness. A deep, deep sadness that threatened to consume her. "....!" Twilight felt something drip onto her lap, she felt another something fall from her cheeks, "Huh?" she reached up with her hoof, pulling back when she felt something wet.

"Are you alright, hon?" Kira asked, adopting a tone similar to a mothers.

"I... I don't really... I don't remember anyone by that name. I... I don't know why I'm..." Twilight couldn't finish the sentence, feeling more than a little embarrassed at her body's reactions, she levitated the pillow and hid her face from view. 'Why? I don't even know who this Princess Celestia is or where Equestria is, so why am I crying? Why can't I stop crying?'


> Chapter 1: On the trail
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------







=Three Months Later=



'The new gizmo that everyone and their grandmother wanted, turned out to be nothing but a scam, undercover reporters discovered last week. Flocks of ponies flooded the streets of Fillydelphia to-'

Clack

The mare's ears twitched, '...To demand refunds to the con artists respon-'

Clack

'Responsible for the whole fiasco, and this reporter was right there with the angry mob! Unfortunately, the two brothers were seen fleeing town from the South gate at approximately-'

Clack

'OH FOR BUCK'S SAKE!' She had been trying to read up on current events, but that was easier said than done when her traveling companion and her pets continued to disrupt her concentration with their annoying antics. Ten minutes ago, it was card tricks, now her traveling companion was shuffling cups (making a very annoying clacking sound on the wooden interior of the wagon). She was this close to losing her temper and then proceeding to burn the wagon, the surrounding area, and the ENTIRE FROZEN NORTH! 'No, no, Sunset you can't do that.' She tried to calm herself down. She was a better pony now, violence was not always her go-to solution. 'But it is usually the easiest. Just count to 10, go to your happy place: Calm meadow, gentle breeze...'

"Where is it now, Belle? Where's the carrot? Do you think you can outwit the Great and Powerful Trixie?!"

The little red scarfed hamster squeaked in acknowledgement. It placed its stick against one of the cups then got on all fours to sniff at the bottom of the cups. It froze at the middle cup, sniffing around its edges very thoroughly. It nodded, picked up its stick and tapped on the overturned cup's side twice to get Trixie's attention.

A sly smirk spread across Trixie's face, "Are you sure?" The tone in Trixie's voice mocked Belle, it was obvious to Sunset that Trixie was trying to get Belle to doubt her decision.

The hamster squeaked slightly quieter, Trixie's tactic seemed to be working! It got back down on all fours and sniffed the other cups again, it still seemed unsure of itself.

Trixie's kitchen timer buzzed, "Time's up, Belle!" 

Panicked, Belle hit the stick against the left cup!

Mwirrr~

Trixie's magic slowly lifted the cup Belle had chosen to reveal... nothing! "Tough break, Belle." The cup in the middle rose to reveal the small, bite sized carroty prize that should've been Belle's. "Should've trusted your instincts." Trixie mocked, her magic's glow wrapping around the baby carrot, "but, a game's a game." She opened her mouth with the intention of eating her prize. However, she stopped just before she would've bitten down, her eyes drifting down to her adorable little companion. "What? Don't look at me like that. You lost fair and square!"

If hamsters could give puppy dog eyes...

Trixie looked to the carrot, then back to Belle. Then to the last, delicious baby carrot, and back to Belle's adorableness. "Oh alright!" Trixie conceded, unable to resist Belle's adorable expression. She floated down the baby carrot to Belle, who wasted no time in taking little nibbles on the carrot. "Don't get Trixie wrong. She just happened to notice that you're looking a little thin compared to the others. The great and powerful Trixie can't have you collapsing from hunger, can she? Don't say Trixie never looks out for her valued assistants. Just don't tell Kovu, Ser Whiskers III, or Goldie."

Sunset briefly glanced over to the other hamsters on the other side of the wagon. They appeared to be having a very heated game of cards, and the gold one appeared to be winning. At least, that's what Sunset assumed based on the amount of crackers by her side. 

Sunset merely sighed, opened last week's newspaper, and then started from the top... again!


. . . . . . .


She'd gotten about 10 seconds worth of uninterrupted reading when the commotion from the hamster card game broke her concentration! From what she could see, the big one had lost its temper and was pointing at the other two hamsters accusingly. Sunset didn't speak hamster, but she was certain it had something to do with the big one having lost all his crackers to the other two. If that weren't enough, now Trixie and Belle were playing miniature drums. 'Miniature drums! Who makes that?!' Sunset could practically feel her sparks of rage turning into an unstoppable inferno. 'Calm Sunset! Peaceful meadow! Gentle breeze! Nice and... A WILDFIRE SPREADING ACROSS THE MEADOW AND BURNING IT TILL IT'S NOTHING BUT ASH AND SMOKE! Yep, she'd officially lost her temper! "WILL YOU FIVE BE QUIET NOW?!" Sunset shrieked!

Trixie didn't seem at all intimidated (though she was clearly surprised at the outburst). Trixie's tiny little friends did not share her courage! As soon as Sunset got loud, they'd scurried up Trixie's legs and cape to take cover beneath Trixie's giant hat. "Oh, well excuse Trixie's troupe, Sunny~" Trixie taunted her.

Her eye twitched, "For the hundreth time, it's Sunset Shimmer! Say it with me now! Sun. Set. Shim. Mer!" Of course Sunset knew Trixie could give less of a crap about Sunset's name, she was just doing this to get under Sunset's skin. And it was working!
Sunset's horn sparked to life, this was going to get bad, very quickly! As a last ditch effort by the rational part of Sunset's brain; Sunset tried, with all her remaining willpower, to remember what Rarity had told her a while back in the human world...




"Breath in. Breath out. Think of pleasant thoughts. Then, just go to the palace of your mind."



Sunset sucked in a big breath, and exhaled slowly. Her mind was filled with happy thoughts: like tying Trixie to a rocket and launching it into the sun where she'd never bother Sunset again. Or maybe using Trixie as a battering ram to get into a shop full of her favorite chocolate covered desserts. Or something equally ridiculous that could find a way to cause bodily harm to Trixie.
Once that was done (and Sunset had no more desire to burn the wagon to the ground), she occupied her mind by opening up the window of Trixie's wagon. The surrounding area had been covered in a blanket of white snow, big surprise there. She could just barely see the faint traces of morning's light through the thick trees. Sunset looked a bit further ahead of the wagon, looking past Trixie's familiars pulling the carriage, her eyes fell upon, what she assumed to be, a tavern/inn along the side of the snow-covered road. "Stop the wagon." Sunset commanded..

"Say please." Trixie was really pushing her luck now.

Sunset gritted her teeth, "Please." Sunset struggled, 'I swear to god Trixie, one of these days! BOOM! Right into the goddamn sun!'

The wagon ground to a halt right outside the sturdy place of business. A name had been carved into the wooden sign hanging above the entrance, it read: The Red Axe Tavern.
'What a weird name for a tavern.' Then again, it's not like Sunset frequented places like that so often, it may have been a completely normal name for such an establishment? Sunset hopped off the wagon, her legs thanked her for finally getting free of that stuffy wagon.
Sunset grabbed her cloak off the hook by the wagon's door, checked her pockets to make sure she had some essential items. Once she was sure she had everything, she stepped out into the cold.

"Going in for a drink? Bring back Trixie a hay and daffodil sandwich, while you're in there."

Trixie had done nothing but annoy Sunset for the past few hours, and now she had the nerve to ask for food?! "Do I look like a bucking maid?" Sunset responded harshly. Trixie hadn't heard it, she'd immediately went back inside the wagon. Sunset just sighed, once again wondering why she agreed to let Trixie tag along. 'Because she had a wagon. That's it.'





The Frozen North, to call this part of the world "cold," would've been one hell of an understatement. The biting wind stung her uncovered fur, and the snow pelted her face. 'Figured the snow would start up again as soon as I stepped outside. Because of course!' She'd only been out of the wagon for maybe a few seconds, and already she was turning into a frozen ponysicle.

"Hush now
Quiet now
It's time to lay your sleepy head~"

Sunset's ears twitched, the lullaby caught Sunset completely off-guard. Instinctively, her eyes drifted to the source of the lullaby, stopping on a mother cradling her foal in the back of a wagon while the driver was preparing to leave.




"Hush now
Quiet now
It's time to go to bed~



The lullaby caused a faint, distant, long buried memory deep in Sunset's mind to stir. A warm, caring voice from her past rang in her ears as if they were right next to her, she could faintly smell the faint scent of apple pie and- 
Sunset shook her head from side to side, she needed to stay focused on the here and now. 'Just a lingering ghost from the past, no time to take a trip down memory lane.' Not delaying any longer, Sunset's hooves pushed the double doors of the tavern open, the eyes of the bar's few patrons were immediately drawn to her for just a few brief seconds. She took a seat on the stool at the front counter, then took notice of the barkeep: A small, old minotaur who may have been a great warrior in the past (if the giant 'screw-you' double-bladed axe hanging on top of the bar was genuine). Now, he was just an old bartender on the side of a road, in the middle of headbuck nowhere.

"What'll it be?" The earth toned minotaur asked, stroking his goatee as he turned to look at her.

Sunset let out a long, drawn out sigh in response. "...I've just spent the last 3 months, in a cramped wagon, with the most annoying pony in the entire known universe, I'm about five seconds from launching her through the moon, and I'm just here to relax and cool my head before I do something that she'll regret." Sunset looked to the bartender's blank expression and released a second sigh, "You have any apple juice?"

He stifled a laugh that irked Sunset just a bit, "Oh sure, let me just go get some from my vast orchard of apples outside."

Sunset was in no mood for sarcasm. "Fine, what about coffee?"

"How do you take yours?"

"Black."

The bartender took one, disbelieving look at her, "Really?" He scoffed.

Sunset rolled her eyes, "Cream and sugar?"

"Oh, coming right up milady~" He mocked in a falsetto voice that he must've thought was high class and fancy... assuming you've never been around high society ponies before.

Sunset could feel the last vestige of her patience flying out the open window and into the cloud filled skies, her patience joined a flock of other pony's patience and they all migrated South to escape the winter. 'What in the hay kind of analogy was that?' Sunset chalked up the painful analogy to her mental exhaustion, she didn't have the energy to come up with more colorful metaphors. "Okay, all joking aside. Are you gonna let me buy anything, or am I gonna have to set something on fire?"

The bartender let out a dry laugh, apparently not taking offense to Sunset's threat (or maybe she was just underestimating what she was capable of). "Got the bits for it?"

She levitated out a brown sack from her cloak pocket with... a bit of dried blood on the bottom, the untrained eye might've assumed it was paint though! However, Sunset knew exactly what it was, and she had no intention of hiding her spoils.

"The hell is this?" He asked, referring to the dried, red stain on the sack.

At his question, Sunset just smirked. "Let's just say, while my traveling companions and I were on the road, we happened to get stopped by a couple of living toll booths. Now, the biggest, loudest, and most annoying toll booth gave us something of an... ultimatum: pay them what few bits we had left, or we wouldn't be going any further." Sunset paused for dramatic effect, taking some manner of amusement in the minotaur's interest. "So, I gave them a counter offer." With her hoof, she pushed the sack of bits a little closer to the minotaur, letting a few of the small coins dip onto the countertop.

"Uh-huh..." He picked up one of the coins and carefully inspected it, probably wasn't the first time someone had tried to pass off fake bits. He shrugged and took a few coins from the sack and pushed the rest back to Sunset. "Well whatever, money's money. I'll get that coffee for ya, put some cream and sugar in it, milady. Anything else before I disappear into the back?"

"Yeah, do you know how to make a hay and daffodil sandwich?" Sunset wasn't asking about the sandwich out of the goodness of her heart, no she was asking because between keeping Trixie quiet and content over loud and annoying, she'd take the former any day.

"You're in luck, milady, I can definitely make that. Anything else?"

'If he calls me that one more time, I'm going to test the authenticity of that axe.' Now that she thought of it, there was actually something Sunset could ask, but it was such a shot in the dark. Still, it couldn't hurt, and she'd paid the minotaur so she may as well get her bits worth. "Yeah, I don't suppose you'd have seen an alicorn 'round these parts?"

"A what?"

Sunset rolled her eyes, "A winged unicorn?" Though, a horned pegasus would've also been an acceptable description. "Hang on, I've got a picture somewhere." Sunset telekinetically rummaged through the pockets of her cloak, she know she had at least one picture- "Found it!" She levitated a picture of an embarrassed purple alicorn who seemed to be trying to stop the photographer from taking the picture, to the minotaur.

He took it in his hands and examined it for several seconds before handing it back. "Hm... can't say that I have, which is a shame cause your friend sticks out like a sore thumb. Don't get too many ponies this far north."

"I can't imagine why." It was Sunset's turn to be sarcastic.

With a hearty chuckle, the bartender disappeared into the kitchen, leaving a bar maid to watch the place while he was away. 

The fragile-framed female minotaur greeted Sunset with a curt bow, but it was clear that she had no intention of talking to Sunset. That wasn't gonna stop Sunset though, she opened her mouth to ask the bovine some questions.

As if on cue, the tavern doors loudly swung open, a hearty chorus of laughter following the rush of wind.

Sunset groaned, the quiet tavern was about to get loud. She could feel it in her hooves. 'Just when I thought I could get some peace and quiet.'

"I'm telling ya, there's a, what do ya call it, alicorn up in Frostglade."

Sunset's ears perked up, she hadn't intended to eavesdrop on their conversation, but it was kind of hard when the concept of indoor voices seemed to be a myth to the group of minotaurs who just entered the tavern.

"Hold on." She heard one of them say, she could also tell that they were moving closer towards her, until they stopped abruptly. 

She closed her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her muzzle with her hoof. 'They're right behind me aren't they? She didn't even need to turn around to confirm it, she could smell their horrible odor from where she sat. 'Oh for- do these minotaurs bathe in whatever that scent is?!'

"You're in my seat, sweetheart."

Sunset took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, 'Was this really happening? Again? There's like 8 other seats at this counter, and he wants mine?!' She very slowly, turned around to face the imposingly large, muscular minotaur. She would've looked him right in the eye, but she was too distracted by the shiny nose-ring hanging from his nostrils (and she was too short), it looked so out of place. "I'm sorry, I couldn't quite hear that. Maybe you should repeat that, but if you call me sweetheart again: I'll snap your horns off, then jam 'em right in your eyes."

The nose-ringed minotaur didn't seem at all intimidated. Neither did his two buddies, both quite intimidating (though one was significantly less intimidating than his friends). "Listen, there's two ways this can go down. You get up, find another seat, or we do this the hard way. Sweetheart." He was obviously taunting her.

It took all of her self control to not make good on her threat from before, she needed this minotaur. He had seen an alicorn, it must've been her. "How about this, you tell me everything you know about this alicorn, and I'll go find another seat, I might even give you what's left of my bits." Sunset forced a smile, as if trying to appear submissive. Which was not something that she was used to, "I suggest you take that offer." She said through gritted teeth.

"No, get up." He placed one hand on the bar. "I'm gonna count to three, and if you're not up-"

Her forced smile faded as if it had never been there. 'Screw it.' If this minotaur wasn't going to play ball, then Sunset wasn't going to be nice about extracting the information, "Okay, lemme just stop you right there. See, your threats would be intimidating if you were... well intimidating to me." Sunset mocked.

The nose-ringed minotaur's eye twitched.

"So, I've heard your ultimatum," Sunset's horn flared up, "and here's my counter offer."





To pass the time, Trixie had been conversing with the local travelers. At first she was trying to trade for goods or information, but she quickly grew tired of that. Instead, she'd decided to put on a little impromptu magic performance for the foals. They seemed to enjoy it (and her adorable assistants), plus Trixie loved the attention. "Now watch and behold, as the Great and Powerful Trixie makes the Lovely and Mysterious Belle, disappear right before your very eyes!" Trixie took out a handkerchief from her cloak pocket, swishing it back and forth between Belle and the foals. Then, on the third swish, Belle was gone. "Oh, where did she go?"

The foals seemed confused, looking everywhere, but where Belle actually was.

"Oh, hold still." Trixie raised her hoof past one of the foals on the far left's ear. "Ah, here she is." She pulled her hoof back to reveal Belle, balancing on Trixie's foreleg. "Oh, but where are the Great and Powerful Trixie's other assistants?"

The three remaining hamsters poked their heads up from the heads of three random foals.

"Oh, there they are!" Trixie levitated her hat off her head, "Come on now, in you go!"

The 4 hamsters immediately hopped into the hat, but when Trixie accidentally showed the inside hat back to them, the 4 hamsters had vanished! She put her hat back on her head, ignorant of the whereabouts of her assistants. "What?" Trixie feigned ignorance at their murmurs about where the hamsters went, since they weren't in her hat anymore? "Something wrong with Trixie's hat?" Trixie lifted up her hat to look inside. "Oh, Trixie's assistants seemed to have vanished again!" She gasped, the hamsters were casually standing on her head. This got a laugh out of her audience, that gave Trixie a warm fuzzy feeling deep in her ice cold heart. "Oh, silly me." Trixie and her assistants took a bow.

The foals stamped their hooves in appreciation for Trixie's performance.

"What's that?" Belle had wandered over to Trixie's ears, making a whispering gesture. "Belle thinks the audience would like an encore?"

They cheered in response to Belle's suggestion.

"Well, if you insist-" Trixie was immediately cut off by the loud BANG and CRASH coming from inside the tavern. A large, imposing minotaur immediately flew out one of a window, tumbling down the road and imbedding himself into a tree. Trixie sighed in defeat, 'Fifteen minutes. It hasn't even, been fifteen minutes.' Trixie turned to the frightened foals and pat the closest one on the head, "Unfortunately, the Great and Powerful Trixie must attend to matters inside. Run along back to your parents, go home or, something... leave." Trixie let her hamsters back into the wagon, it was far too dangerous inside the tavern, and Trixie couldn't afford damage payments again! "Why did Trixie agree to travel with her?" A question she'd been asking herself with an alarmingly increasing frequency lately.





Sunset was on her hind legs, effortlessly weaving past the strikes from the nose-ringed minotaur's friend: A slightly smaller, one horned minotaur with tattoos overlapping his other tattoos. "I guess all that muscle means you're a little slow!" Sunset taunted tattoo.

He growled in response, his strikes become much wider, more power behind them.

'He's getting angry, good.' Sunset knew that anger in a fight is a surefire way to make mistakes, leave yourself open, and then-
Sunset saw the opening: The minotaur's right hook was too wide! Sunset used her magic to envelop the minotaur's fist, she threw off his center of balance using his momentum to her advantage. She released her grip, forcing the minotaur to stumble and slide over the counter. He hit the hardwood floor with a loud thud! 
For a while, there were no sounds. Making Sunset think the fight was over. "That's all you've got?!" Sunset could've easily ended this, but no, she had  a lot of stress to work out, and this minotaur's name may as well have been: Stress Ball, for all Sunset cared. 

He stood up, breathing heavily, his eyes deep red with uncontrollable rage. His eyes locked onto the tavern owner's axe hanging on the wall, a twisted smile forming on his face. He gripped the handle and ripped it from the wall (knocking down a shelf full of alcohol as he did). With a roar, he hopped over the counter, the axe raised over his head! The glow of Sunset's magic enveloped her. Before the axe would've cleaved her in two, she was gone, the only thing the axe hit was empty air and the hardwood floor. 

Seconds later, Sunset warped out of the teleport spell, past the crowd of patrons. She felt dizzy, 'Ugh, forgot how much I hate teleporting.' She looked over to the confused minotaur, that axe was obviously gonna be a problem. But, not if Sunset had a weapon of her own. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, remembering words from long ago... 



"Visualize what you want."

 

'Hands. Polearm.' She could feel the surrounding mana bending to her will... 




"Take the surrounding mana in the air. Like mold waiting to be shaped, give it form."

 

She pictured it in her mind, reached out as if she could feel it. A pair of hand-like light constructs formed on her forehooves, while an ornate staff materialized from the air. 'Okay Rainbow Dash, time to see if our sparring sessions paid off.' She'd learned quite a few things in the human world, and she'd gotten into enough fights these past few months to blend her pony characteristics with her human fighting skills. 
She stood on top of a nearby table, and whistled to get the minotaur's attention. Before Sunset could throw out one of her trademarked clever taunts: the minotaur charged like the mad bull it was. Sunset barely had time to cast a spell to boost the strength of her forelegs in time to leap over the minotaur's back. She saw something swiftly move past her peripherals the second she touched down on solid ground, she ducked immediately, the axe's blade slicing off several loose strands of her mane. 'No time to gawk!' She moved swiftly, thrusting the end of her staff into the minotaur's throat. That certainly dazed him but she needed to keep up the attack! She spun and violently swung her staff (with a bit of magic behind the swing) across his face with a loud crack followed by the small plink of a tooth hitting the ground. And then another swing, and a few more rapid swings after that, Sunset's moves were too quick, and in this instance, the minotaur's large size was a disadvantage!

Eventually (after several strikes to the face), the minotaur threw up his hands and knelt on the floor. Was it over? Was the meaning of his hands clasped together like that supposed to symbolize surrender? 
....Nope! He charged forward, hooking onto Sunset's instinctively raised staff with his horns! With the staff stuck to his horns, he swung it (and Sunset) around violently until Sunset's grip loosened and she flew across the tavern! The minotaur tossed the staff down and slowly advanced on Sunset, the axe's blade scraping along the ground as he closed the distance.

Sunset merely sat there, staring at the minotaur. Her staff was too far to grab, she didn't have time to make a new weapon, teleporting took too much out of her, what could she do?! She was a powerful unicorn so maybe she could-
A smile spread across the face. "HOLD IT!" She announced!

Sunset's sudden outburst gave him a moment's pause.

"I don't think you want to step forward." Sunset warned while getting to her hooves. She dusted herself off as she picked up the chair she'd knocked over during her time airborne. She then, non-chalantly took a seat at the table.

The minotaur continued his advance.

"I'm telling you, you really don't want to step forward."

And yet he did.

"Because..."

He raised his axe, ready to strike her down- and then a high pitched, drawn out squeak followed immediately after a very loud, painful noise as the staff raised swiftly to strike at a... very tender area.

"I'm a bucking unicorn!" Sunset could use telekinesis for buck's sake! With one, final, charged burst of concentrated magic, she knocked him out the same window she'd used to knock nose-ring out of. She sighed out of relief, glad it was ov...er...
She locked eyes with the one minotaur she'd forgotten all about during her fight. "And then there was one." Her horn started to burn with a bright light. She'd had her fun, but now she was growing bored, and she figured that she didn't want to be here when the tavern owner came back from the kitchen.

"No thanks." The minotaur immediately sat down, and crossed his legs, bowing his head in reverence to Sunset. "I've seen those two take on chimera's as tall as the ceiling with nothing but their bare hands, and you just tossed them out as if they were rag dolls. I'm not messing with you."

"Hm, smart. What you lack in sheer muscle mass, you appear to make up for in brains." It was true, the minotaur was rather lacking in the intimidation department, unlike his friends. "What's your name?" Sunset asked while dusting herself off from the fight.

"Worm." He answered almost immediately.

"...Worm?" Sunset briefly wondered if he'd just made up a name on the spot, though that was very unlikely. "Okay, Worm. Before I had to go beat up your friends, one of you mentioned an alicorn. Talk quickly, before I beat the answer out of you."

"Frostglade. Taurus, the one with the nose ring, was talking about how he'd been nursing a fractured arm up in the Frostglade clinic run by that gryphon and zebra, when he noticed they had a new addition. An alicorn, we thought there was only one, turns out we were wrong. I've never seen her before, but he would not shut up about her."

"Uh-huh." This was good, it was a lead, hell it was practically a gift-wrapped present! Almost seemed too good to be true. "Did he describe what she looked like?"

"Like I said, he never shut up about it. Mare, violet coat, dark blue mane and tail with a purple and pinkish streak running along it."

Sunset was about 99% sure it was exactly who she'd been looking for these past 3 months. However, before she could do a victory dance, she needed to be sure that this wasn't just an empty lead again. She took out the same picture from before and showed it to Worm. "Was it this mare?"

He stared intently at it before answering: "Yes." He then swiftly added after taking another look at the picture, "though her eyes are a different color. Taurus described her as having red eyes, this mare has purple eyes."

Sunset felt her heart sink, 'Red?' Twilight didn't have red eyes, but everything else fit. 'Whatever, it's still the best shot we've got. Maybe he's just mistaken.' Sunset had just one last question to ask: "Do you know her name?"

He stroked his blue goatee, his mind wandering. "Ah!" He remembered, "I think her name was: Twilight Sparkle."

Sunset couldn't help but laugh earning herself a couple strange looks from the patrons who didn't dare say anything lest Sunset's volatile temper be turned on them. 

When the bartender came back out his jaw dropped at the sight of the damage caused by Sunset. 

Sunset (still laughing) walked by, took her coffee and sandwich from the bartender's hands (while he was still frozen in shock), then just left the whole sack of bits from earlier into his palm. 
Laughing all the way out of the tavern, she strolled by an angry-looking Trixie, then she passed her the sandwich while kicking the tavern doors open. She just kept laughing until she got back into the wagon, taking a good, long, enjoyable sip of the coffee. If the owner cared that Sunset just took the mug with her, he didn't try to stop her (the fact that she just tossed out two minotaurs more than twice her size as if they were made of paper, may have weighed into his decision).

Trixie stepped into the wagon with her sandwich, a large bite already taken out of it. "You mind telling Trixie, what the hay was that about you angry, orange-coated, lunatic?"

Sunset was in far too good a mood to be let down by Trixie now, she looked her right in the eye and said in barely restrained joy: "We found her!"

Trixie blinked, "R-Really?" She obviously couldn't believe it either, then she started smiling too, "That's great! So where is she?!"

"In Frostglade!"

"And where is that?"

"..." Oh right, Sunset forgot about that little detail. "I'll be right back." Sunset took out the map she'd bought in the previous town from off the wall of Trixie's wagon, and then marched right back inside to the tavern. Maybe this time, she'll make it through without breaking a window.
> Chapter 2: Welcome to Frostglade
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------







Tap tap tap

Tik tok tik tok

'Were pocket watches always that loud?' For what must've been the dozenth time in the past 30 minutes alone, that one sentence ran through Trixie's head. But the pocket watch was merely a distraction, 'Focus on the letter!' Trixie's gaze was fixed on the white sheet of blank paper, the tapping of the quill and the ticking of the pocket watch were the only sounds that bounced off the walls of the wagon. It was a bit ironic; on stage, at the height of her popularity, in front of hundreds of ponies, she could perform feats of magic the likes of which few could ever hope to accomplish. Yet, here she was, utterly baffled by a blank sheet of paper. If she had been on stage, she would be (what her sisters would call) bombing.
Trixie took a deep breath, "Focus, Trixie. Get it done and over with!"

"Dear-"

And that's where Trixie decided: "This is stupid!" Then immediately crumpled up the paper, opened the window, and tossed it out on the side of the road, not giving two turds about the fact that she was littering. Immediately after the deed was done, she felt something akin to regret somewhere inside her. 'Whatever.' She had no time to sort out her mixed feelings, since a yawn from the front of the carriage carried along on the cold morning breeze. Trixie trotted over to the front of the wagon, opened the windows, and looked down at Sunset (who paid her no mind). "Aren't you tired?"

"Nope." Sunset immediately responded. For a unicorn and someone who clearly wasn't used to manual labor, she had managed to pull the wagon for quite a while without stopping. Trixie would've been impressed, but then Sunset followed up with: "If it means no more of your stupid shortcuts, I'll pull this cart to another continent." And that took away any chance of a compliment being thrown Sunset's way.

Trixie groaned. "Are you still going on about that?" Of course Sunset had to bring that up, she'd only brought it up EVERY HOUR since they got past that whole incident..

"YES!" Sunset shouted in response! "How does the Great and Powerful Trixie, not know the difference between a turtle and a tortoise?!"






Last night



"I know a shortcut to Frostglade, she said. We'll be there in no time, she said. I'd be a fool not to take it!" Sunset complained while hanging upside down, trapped in a net of rope, suspended under a bridge. The only thing that kept her from falling into the abyss, to an early grave, was the bridge troll's fingers wrapped tightly around the the net's long rope. "Oh but Sunset, why haven't you just teleported out?" Sunset asked in a mockingly dismissive voice that was clearly meant to be Trixie. "BECAUSE THE NET IS LACED WITH LEECH SEED!"

"If you're expecting an apology from the great and powerful Trixie, the frozen north will become a tropical paradise before that happens." Of course Trixie knew what Leech seed was. She'd studied it back when she attended Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, it was one of the few things worth remembering during her brief time studying at the massively overrated school of magic. Trixie shoved the memories of her time at school down into the depths of her subconsciousness, this was no time for a trip down memory lane. All Trixie needed to know was that: As long as Sunset was touching the Leech Seed laced net, her magic would be severely limited. Teleportation was out of the question for a unicorn as pathetic as Sunset Shimmer (of course, Trixie could've gotten out of it no problem).

The bridge troll, a rather scrawny, hairy, disgusting, bipedal thing, cleared his (for it was certainly a male) throat to grab Trixie's attention. "If the two ponies are done with their bickering... you, blue pony. It looks like Ugoki has caught a rather big breakfast today! Lucky him, lucky him. Not so lucky for your pony friend, crossing Ugoki's bridge, there was a non-Ugoki bridge just down the road."

The troll's butchering of language and constantly referring to himself in the 3rd person was starting to wear thin on Trixie's already stretched nerves. 'Seriously, what kind of self absorbed, egotistical, fool does that?!' Everything about this troll made Trixie want to throw them over the bridge (with or without Sunset). "Two things: One, she is no friend of Trixie's. Two, this can not possibly be your bridge!"

His eyes widened and his mouth hung agape in shock! "Oh, not your friend? Guess you don't care what happens to her then?" He released one finger, the net swayed, causing Sunset to dip to one side!

"TRIXIE!"

"Okay fine, she's my... friend." Just saying that sentence made Trixie feel like she was swallowing a spoonful of bile. She was definitely going to need to wash her mouth out with soap later.

The troll laughed in response, swinging the net around precariously as if threatening to drop it just because he felt like it. "Oh now she's your friend? Don't lie to Ugoki, he doesn't like being lied to!" At the drop of a hat, his carefree, sadistic persona did a complete 180! "And It is SO Ugoki's bridge! Look!" He pointed to a weather-worn sign by the end of the bridge closest to Trixie. The sign read: "By royal decree, the sole owner of this bridge is recognized as Trollbert of the Frozen North." And then what followed was a bunch of legalese that Trixie didn't give a crap about reading.

'Whose royal decree is that? There's no way it could be Princess Celestia's. The fool probably just made it up or-.' Trixie examined the sign once again, noticing a small detail that she'd missed earlier. "...That says Trollbert." Trixie pointed out, then a lightbulb went off in her head. "Wait, your name is Trollbert?" Trixie mocked, struggling to keep a straight face. For some reason, Trixie found the troll's real name to be absolutely hilarious.

The troll growled, apparently not liking his birth name. "That's strike one!" He released another finger.

"TRIXIE WILL YOU STOP ANTAGONIZING THE TROLL?!"

"Okay fine!" Trixie covered her mouth to hide her smile, "W-what do you want?"

"Trollber-- UGOKI, wishes to play a game you see, I want you to answer my questions three."

He was clearly ripping that phrase off from a pony who was most likely far superior in intelligence, but Trixie couldn't be bothered to remember where the line originated. "Don't you mean riddles three?"

"No, Ugoki meant strike 2." Just one finger left.

"TRIXIE I SWEAR TO FAUST, IF I DIE, I WILL SPEND ALL OF ETERNITY HAUNTING YOU!" Sunset said while clinging to the net for dear life, as if that would help at all.

It took every bit of Trixie's boundless willpower to not respond, and Trixie wouldn't be exaggerating if she called it a Hercu-ponian task. Trixie may not have been particularly fond of Sunset, but she wasn't a heartless monster! "Okay... fine. The great and powerful Trixie will answer your questions."

"Now, question 1!" He paused for dramatic effect, probably hearing a drum roll somewhere in his demented mind. "A turtle favors the land! True or false."

'What kind of question is that?' The answer was so obvious, it hurt Trixie's massive intellect! Trixie opened her mouth, this was gonna be easier than she thought!






-Present time-



"IT WAS A TRICK QUESTION! HOW DID YOU NOT KNOW THAT?!"

In Trixie's defense, she'd always thought it was a dialect thing, she didn't know they were two different animals. She wasn't a damn veterinarian, why couldn't Sunset just let it go?! "Trixie got us out, didn't she?" She proudly proclaimed.

Sunset groaned in response. "You challenged him to a rematch, picked up a rock, then knocked him out while his back was turned. Then we ran like hell, got lost, chased through the forest, and then we had to hit him in the face with a tree."

"Exactly as Trixie planned!" It totally was, and Trixie will fight any pony to the death if they dare think that the great and powerful Trixie would ever panic in any situation, and be forced to think on her hooves! Before Trixie could go on and bask in her brilliance for another few hours, she noticed a partially snow covered sign with a frame made of stone and bricks, on the side of the road. 
When Sunset ground the wagon to a halt, Trixie jumped off and took a closer look. 'Can it be...' She wiped away the snow covering the writing on the sign...


Welcome to Frostglade
10 miles north






In Trixie's youth, she had gotten quite enamored with the world of literature. Trixie could honestly say, that it was because of this fascination with the tales of great ponies, that she could play to a crowd's sense of wonder. She'd learned quite a bit from those dusty old books sitting in her 2nd eldest sister's mini-library. So, it was only natural that Trixie had several different ways to describe the Town of Frostglade: "It was a beautiful, peaceful town wrapped up in a blanket of snow." Would be her favorite way to describe the town.

It was midday when Trixie and Sunset rolled into Frostglade, they were greeted by a very kind, jade coated pony, who Trixie assumed was something akin to a welcoming committee. That was half true, the mare WAS part of a welcoming committee, but she was also part of the town's guards against whatever monsters inhabited the Frozen North and the occasional criminal type. The mare was probably one of the friendliest ponies Trixie had ever met, but she also mentioned that if they made trouble she'd knock Trixie's flank up one end of the mountain and down the other. Trixie wasn't sure if she was joking or not, but regardless, Trixie had no intention of making trouble. They were just here to drag a certain mare back to Equestria. 

Trixie got a whiff of what smelled like fresh bread straight out of an oven, the smell led her muzzle to the window of what appeared to be a bakery. She looked through the window and saw the baker merrily having a conversation with another pony who Trixie assumed was their special somepony (how Trixie knew? Mare's intuition). From the conversation of the baker and their friend, from the guard's welcoming nature, to the foals building their snow ponies and having their snow battles, Trixie couldn't help but a get a sense that the residents truly enjoyed the peace there. To Trixie, it was just a frozen wasteland far removed from the civilized society of Manehattan or Canterlot, to them it was a quiet little town where they lived. 

Trixie and Sunset asked around town for the whereabouts of Twilight Sparkle or this clinic, after a bit of walking and clearing out rats from the resident's basements; for some reason, certain ponies wouldn't tell Trixie what they knew until she did a favor for them. While it didn't take the pair long to find the clinic, it could've been a lot easier (Trixie was thinking about retaking her earlier comments on the resident's friendliness and replacing it with: lazy jerks). 
It was a sturdy looking establishment, two floors, very nice wood exterior. Trixie briefly wondered if the townsfolk were ever concerned about a possible avalanche considering how close they lived to a sky-impaling mountain? The clinic looked as though it could survive, not just an avalanche, but a megaspell explosion. Trixie had no idea what a megaspell explosion was, but she felt like it would be something really, really destructive.

"Well, here it is!" Sunset announced in a joyous tone Trixie had not heard since... well... ever. Sunset stopped just short of knocking on the door, "...If this turns out to have been a wild goose chase, I'm going to turn the Frozen North into a puddle." Sunset was probably exaggerating.
. . . . .
Then again, Sunset Shimmer was a stupid, violent, lunatic. At least Trixie's time with the psychopath was nearing its end, then they could split up and never, ever, ever have to speak to each other again.

"For once, Trixie shares your sentiments. If someone asks the Great and Powerful Trixie for another favor, she can't be held responsible for her actions!"

Sunset knocked on the door several times.

Several seconds later, "Coming." A familiar voice called to them from inside. The door slowly swung open to reveal a mulberry coated unicorn mare, with a dark blue mane and a pink and purple streak in her mane and tail. "Yes? Can I help you?"

Trixie's eye twitched. 'That's all you have to say? Trixie just trekked through this snow covered wasteland for months, and all you have to say is: "Can I help you?" Wait a second, what?' Why was that all Twilight had to say? Trixie narrowed her eyes, noting down several details about Twilight:
-The raised brow indicating confusion
-The shape of the mouth and the angle of the ears indicating discomfort
-The closed body language indicating unfamiliarity with Sunset and Trixie
It all started to click in Trixie's brilliant mind.

However, before Trixie could say anything, Sunset spoke first. "Hi there," the tone and body language was so unlike Sunset; warm and inviting rather than Sunset's usual cold and hostile exterior, "I'm Sunset Shimmer, this is Trixie Lulamoon."

"...Hello?" She greeted nervously, she raised her hoof halfway but seemed to decide against the gesture.

"And your name would be..."

"Twilight... Sparkle?" She answered hesitantly. Her body language and the way she constantly looked back into the clinic further cemented the evidence that Twilight was uncomfortable with Trixie and Sunset. "A-Are you two sick or injured?"

Sunset pulled off Trixie's hat (an action that Trixie did NOT appreciate), "Well, this hamster might have an abnormal growth hormone." She said while levitating Ser Whiskers III off of Trixie's head. "I think I might also be sick of her." Sunset points to Trixie with her hoof. "Does that count?"

Twilight nervously laughed, "Er... no. And, I don't think anyone here is a veterinarian." Twilight moved in a bit closer to look at the abnormally large... hamster. "Are you sure this is a hamster?" Twilight asked while pointing a hoof to the hamster's bushy tail.

Before that conversation could go any further, "Twilight~" A warm, motherly voice called out from floor above them. "Who's at the door?"

"Um, two unicorn mares. One's azure and the other's amber, I'm pretty sure they're from out of town, were you or Xira expecting company today?"

"Not that I'm aware of. Any o' them sick or injured?"

"Their hamster might have an abnormal growth hormone?"

"We ain't a vet, hon. Send 'em down to Jira's place."

Twilight turned back to Trixie and Sunset, "Jira's the local vet, their clinic is right down the block, and keep going down and you'll eventually find an inn to rest in." Twilight looked past them, to their wagon. "Unless... you were planning to sleep in there. It gets pretty cold up here, I wouldn't recommend it or-"

"Thank you!" Sunset interrupted, turning on her heel and then dragging Trixie by the tail before Trixie could open her mouth.





"Well that was fun." Sunset's sarcasm meter might've broken with that comment. 

The two mares retreated into Trixie's wagon, and Trixie just sat in the corner, feeding her hamsters. They looked quite cute as they nibbled on the small treats Trixie held with her telekinesis, it was all she could do to keep her mind off Twilight Sparkle.
. . . . . . .
And that was a losing battle. "She doesn't remember Trixie? How could she forgot THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE?!" For some odd reason, that even Trixie wasn't entirely aware of, she felt insulted by Twilight being unable to recognize the great and powerful Trixie! It was a feeling akin to having someone steal the wheels off Trixie's wagon (AGAIN)! 'Also, she insulted my wagon! HOW DARE SHE INSULT MY WAGON!'

"She doesn't remember me either." Sunset put her hoof up to her chin, "that means one of three things. One, She took a blow to the head and her memories are scattered. Two, we have the wrong mare. Three, she's faking it."

Trixie's memories were still fresh: if the uncanny resemblance wasn't enough, the wings and horns certainly were. 'Alicorns are not born, they are made. There's no doubt, that mare is Twilight Sparkle!' The red eyes flashed in Trixie's memories. Trixie glanced over to the picture of Twilight Sparkle on the wall. Sunset got sick of Trixie asking for one of the photos when they went out gathering information, so (against Trixie's will) they nailed one of them to the wall so they could commit her appearance to memory (the rest were either in Sunset's cloak or in a locked box that Sunset had the key for). 'Violet? But that's impossible...' Everything other than the eyes were a spot on resemblance, so why were the eyes a different color? 'Whatever.' Trixie would have to put a pin in that, and deal with it later. "Well, why not just tell her the truth?"

Sunset looked at Trixie as if she'd said the stupidest thing ever (or just anything in general), "You're a showmare, and you've called yourself a genius on more than one occasion. You tell me how anypony would respond to a pair of unicorns from out of town telling them that they're some kind of missing princess from a land far away, and that they have to go right away to fulfill their responsibilities?"

"..." When Sunset put it like that, Trixie could see her point. 'If it were me, I'd have jumped at the possibility.' Trixie thought. "Did you not bring any proof before you went on this crazy quest? Why not just use the pictures?" A picture spoke a thousand words.

"She might just say the pictures are forged, I can't rely on them completely. I did take a few things I thought might be useful, but I need to think about how I'm going to use any of it." Sunset sighed and quickened her back and  pacing, "I hate diplomacy! I wish we could just... knock her out and drag her back to Canterlot. Let them sort it all out, cause I am sick of having to fight snow monsters every other night!" 

'Knock out...' It was as if a light bulb turned on in Trixie's head. She had an idea, it wouldn't help with whatever's going on with Twilight's head, but it might help Trixie open up the door to that clinic and have some time to sit down and talk about things.
Trixie got up and walked over to her chest of props. Meanwhile, Sunset was going off on a long rant about... a plan or something, who cared! Trixie certainly didn't, she tended to tune out most of what Sunset said anyways. 'Stupid Sunbutt.' Trixie already had a plan, and it all started with something in the chest.
The fancy, mahogany chest was made by Trixie's-- someone from Trixie's past! Because of Trixie's occupation, it wasn't uncommon for travelers, to leave their wagons unattended, and then find scavengers raiding it for supplies. Trixie once traveled with a small troupe who routinely had that happen in some of the less than reputable venues. Trixie's chest of props held many magical and expensive treasures, it would be a DISASTER if any of them were to be stolen and sold to some unscrupulous shop... or a newspaper. She opened up the secret compartment inside her chest, disabling the defense mechanisms and pulling out what appeared to be a pretty blue flower with orange tipped petals. Now it was time to begin step one...
"Uh-huh, great, whatever." Trixie interrupted Sunset's rant. "Trixie has a plan, and it involves this flower." Trixie thrust the flower towards Sunset, stopping just short of hitting her in the face. "Sorry, it's rather cramped in here."

Sunset sniffed, her eye twitched at the pungent scent. Good, the chain reaction was starting up. Sunset stared at the flower, the look of confusion on her face brought joy to Trixie's heart. "You have a plan, huh?"

"Yep."

"And it starts with... whatever the hell this is?"

"Yes, it starts with a flower."

Sunset glared at her, "What," she yawned in the middle of her sentence, "What... kind of flower..." Her eyelids slowly started to droop as her sentence trailed off.

Trixie said nothing more, she just continued to hold the flower in place. "And 3, 2, 1."

Thud!

On cue, Sunset toppled over. From the steady breathing, it was clear that Sunset was out like a light.

"Works every time." Rather, it's only worked twice since Trixie set it up: once on an actual intruder, and once on Trixie herself when she came home drunk. 'I should restock when I get back to Equestria.' Trixie put the little flower back in its container in the chest. She turned to her hamsters, who casually watched the whole incident go down. She levitated her hat off her head and pointed up, "Come on troupe." Trixie let her little rodent companions climb up to her head in order for them to take their places under her hat, while Trixie hoisted Sunset's unconscious body over her back. All the while, Trixie had the biggest grin on her face. "Time for a performance."





Trixie stopped just short of knocking on the door. She cleared her throat, and took several deep breaths, she needed to get into the role, to make this convincing! There was no reason for Trixie to start getting stage fright, it was just another one of her performances. 'No reason to get nervous, Trixie, you've done this a million times. You can do this now!'




"Don't just read the lines, be the character. Under the spotlight, you are not Trixie the unicorn, you are the character you choose to be."



The words of Trixie's playwright sister rang in her ears, a piece of advice she'd learned long before her traveling magician days. While Trixie did not have the best of relationships with her family, the lessons she'd learned in her youth continued to serve her well into adulthood (though she hated to admit it).
"Show time." Trixie frantically knocked on the clinic's front door!

"Coming!" Twilight's voice urgently called from inside once again.

'Cue the scene...' Trixie contorted her face into one of desperate worry.

The door flung open to reveal Twilight Sparkle, then the expression on Twilight's face went from concerned, to neutral, to mildly confused at the sight of Trixie standing outside. "You again? Did you get lost or-"

"Doc, please! You have to help my friend, she collapsed outside!" Trixie feigned concern for Sunset. If this were one of Trixie's old Oubliettes and Ogres campaigns, she'd have rolled a natural 20 to bluff. Of course, if this were one of Trixie's campaign with her many friends (and not just playing by herself), her natural 20 would've backfired and ended up convincing TRIXIE of her own lie! Her character would then honestly believe that her friend was deathly ill and then spend the rest of her life by her bedside, waiting for her to recover. Trixie's character's whole life would pass by and they'd have squandered it, waiting for a pony who'd never wake up. It was rather tragic, really.
. . . . . . 
Good thing this wasn't one of her O&O campaigns.

Twilight took one look at the unconscious Sunset on Trixie's back, as if she was trying to roll for sense motive. "Hmmm..." She sighed in defeat and stepped aside, "Come in, we'll take a look at her." Apparently, Twilight was terrible at O&O, or maybe she just had cursed dice? 

'Enough with the O&O references!' Trixie stepped inside, desperately fighting back the urge to break out into her standard victory dance at her perfect performance. 'You nailed it, Trixie! But the show's not over yet!'

"Kira, we've got a patient! I'm taking them to room 01!" Twilight called out while leading Trixie through the foyer to room 01.

"Are they the same crazy unicorns?"

"Yes, Kira!"

"Did ya take their coats?"

"They don't have coats, Kira." Twilight watched a quartet of hamsters jumped out from under Trixie's hat and then scurried across the hardwood floor to parts unknown. "Also, the azure one brought hamsters. And I think they went into the kitchen."

".....Twilight. Don't take their coats."





They put Sunset down on one of the many empty beds in room 01. "Okay, Kira's the local physician on duty right now. She should be down in a minute to--  why are you staring at me?" 

"Shh, shh, shhhhh..." Trixie locked eyes with Twilight, staring intently into them, as if she was trying to unravel some web of lies that Twilight had made up. '...She's not lying. There's no way Sparkle can pull off a performance that could almost rival my own! She probably doesn't even play O&O, if she did there's no way she'd have put any points into bluff.' Trixie sighed. "You really don't remember the great and powerful Trixie, do you?"

"I don't." Twilight looked Trixie up and down, "It'd be hard to forget someone who... stands out like you do." Twilight's suspicious glance changed several seconds later; her eyes started to widen and she looked as though she was halfway into a gasp, as if something had finally registered in that brain of hers. "Wait, do you know who I am?"

Trixie nodded in response, "Trixie has indeed met you before in her many travels." Some little voice in Trixie's head told her that it was best to leave out the details of their meetings.

Before Twilight could say anything anything else, a patch-cloaked zebra stood in the doorway. Before she could say anything, her eyes locked onto Trixie, and then onto Sunset in the clinic bed. "Figures. I leave for 10 minutes and we get patients, who are they? They're not with those pushy sales ponies from yesterday, are they?"

Twilight's line of sight drifted to the ceiling, "I don't think so? They do have a wagon but I don't really-"

"Cause if they are, I think I was very clear about where they can stick their amazing deals."

"Trixie is no common salespony!" She shot back! "Trixie is just a wandering magician of great renown, who just happened to pick up this short-fused, violent, psychopath months ago, and we came all the way up here to-"

"Hey there! What's all the commotion about?" A gryphon, carrying a red medical bag around her neck, had entered the room. If a minotaur or Santa Hooves were to show up next, Trixie was going to assume that this was all one big dream (then she would form a bust of Trixie and then use it to beat Maybe-Sparkle's head in). The gryphon greeted Trixie with a casual, friendly wave from the doorway, "My name's Kira, I'm the resident doctor in this town. I see you've met Twilight, our new nurse. And Xira, my partner in crime."

"Oh you're the resident doctor now?" Xira quipped. "So, what's the story with her?" Xira asked while pointing to the unconscious, groaning, Sunset Shimmer. "She didn't stop by Razor's diner did she? I thought we dealt with that contaminated food issue two days ago?"

Whoever Razor was, Trixie would never figure out, nor did she really care all that much to go searching for information about a commoner who probably wasn't worth Trixie's time and energy.

"According to this mare, her friend-"

Trixie scoffed at Twilight's assumptions that Trixie and Sunset were friends. 'As if the great and powerful Trixie would be caught dead socializing with such riffraff as this.' Trixie ignored the fact that she'd been traveling with said riffraff for months now; it was totally different though!

"...Suddenly collapsed. It could be due to exhaustion or maybe she's sick? She seemed fine when I talked to her outside. Then again, I've read that some ponies don't even know they're sick until they collapse."

Kira set the red medical bag down on the table by the bed, "Uh-huh..." From inside the bag, she pulled out a small, talon-held, light. She leaned over to Sunset, and then proceeded to examine Sunset's unconscious form for several minutes. "Hm?" She seemed to notice something around Sunset's muzzle. "Well, ain't that interesting." She took out a cotton swab from a set in the bag, and then stuck it up Sunset's nose, she pulled it out after several seconds. It came back... well... not in a color that most ponies would expect of snot: It was blue and orange, in addition there were yellow spores attached to the cotton swab.

"What the hay is that?" Twilight asked, taking two steps away from Kira and the cotton swab. Trixie saw her nervously eying a square, white case nailed to the wall with a big, yellow and black bio-hazard sign printed on the front. 

"These are spores, but not just any ol' spores," she said while pulling out a sealable storage container from the bag, "these particular spores comes from a pretty lil' flower called Noxium." She carefully inserted the cotton swab into the container.

"It's a flower that causes near instant knock out. It's pretty much harmless in small doses, I hear some pharmaceuticals use it as an ingredient in sleeping pills or something. The good news: she should recover on her own in a few hours." Xira chimed in at last.

"Or ya could just give her one of your potions."

Xira raised her brow and frowned. "Oh, just because I'm a zebra, that means I'm a potions master? I suppose you'll want me to start rhyming in cryptic metaphors too?"

"So ya don't have any potions that can help us?"

"...." Xira just sighed, left the room, and then came back shortly afterwards carrying a little case (which had another bio-hazard sign printed on the front). She set it down on a different table, then pulled out a green vial with a big red warning message displayed prominently on the vial (which Trixie couldn't read from that distance). "Just pop the cap, and hold it under nose." She said while passing the potion to Twilight.

Using her telekinetic grip, Twilight popped open the cap, groaned at the foul smelling vapor coming from the vial's contents. She then did as Xira instructed and hung it under Sunset's nose.

"Careful not to drop it Twilight. I really don't want to have to section off this part of the clinic and then spend weeks decontaminating the room."

Sunset's nose twitched. Once. Twice. Three times. Then her eyes immediately shot open! "SWEET F**KING CHRIST AND FAUST IN EQUESTRIA, WHAT IN THE MANY CIRCLES OF HELL IS THAT?! IT SMELLS LIKE RANCID GARBAGE TOOK A BATH OF FECES!" Sunset was fully awake now and flailing around like a mad pony!

"Just be glad you don't have to drink it." Trixie said while Twilight put the cap back on the vial.

Xira looked to Trixie and Sunset. Then, once Sunset had finally stopped squirming, she separated her friends and the two mares she'd just met. "So, why are you two here? That plant isn't native to this part of the world. My guess would be someone must've poisoned you or-"

"I think they know me." Twilight Sparkle cut into the conversation after securing the vial back in Xira's potion kit. It was about time Twilight remembered that; they were just about to have that conversation before... they were interrupted. Still, Trixie would count this as a victory.

Kira looked as though her jaw was about to hit the floor, "Wh-what, really? That's wonderful! Wait, ya sure this ain't a scam or somethin'? Those sales ponies were pretty aggressive in their stories and they had a catchy tune, how do we know this ain't some kind of ploy to... get us to buy somethin' stupid or whatnot?"

Trixie's horn sparked to life, at once everyone other than Sunset tensed up! "Relax." Trixie could feel their tension, "Trixie is just gonna get something out of her cloak." She spoke very clearly, and very slowly as she pulled out what appeared to be a photo from one of her many interior cloak pockets. She then levitated it over to the trio...

"This is... a photo of me?" Twilight Sparkle asked in disbelief.

Sunset cleared her throat, once she got her wits about her, "Her name is Twilight Sparkle, she was born in Canterlot, she was the princess's personal apprentice, she's also the holder of the Element of Magic, she's the newest princess, and half of Equestria is trying to bring her back home."

Twilight's mouth hung open, she was left completely speechless at the sudden declaration.

Trixie sighed, realizing that this was not gonna be easy. "You might want to sit down for this." Meanwhile, Sunset dry heaved over the bed. "Will someone get her a bin before she embarrasses herself by losing her breakfast."

"Up yours, Trixie!" Then she lost it.
> Chapter 3: One piece of the puzzle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------






=Three Months Ago=


The human world. The first time Sunset had stepped out of the portal, she had a mini freakout, something she hadn't done in years. How is one supposed to react when they find themselves alone, in an entirely new world, and horribly disfigured into an ugly monster known as a human?! Of course, now, Sunset had adjusted well enough to living in the human world; all those years hiding from the law probably helped ease her into the role. As soon as Sunset's mini freakout had subsided, she finally had time to take stock of her surroundings, she was very intrigued by how equestrian society and human society eerily mirrored each other. Though, one thing she had a hard time adjusting to was human cuisine; humans also had a reliance on meat in addition to crops, something Sunset couldn't quite stomach, being an herbivore originally. Good thing the local mall she had been dragged to had at least one purely vegetarian food place.

A nice fancy outdoor food court operating out of the local mall, seemed like a bit of a juxtaposition in her opinion, but whatever, Sunset didn't have the energy to criticize the gaudy table umbrella's crap-brown and piss-yellow color scheme or how the plants hanging on the barriers between the row of tables and the pedestrian street seemed to attract its fair share of bugs, not to mention the chair she was sitting in had one leg shorter than the rest. The fanciness levels they were trying (and failing) to achieve reminded her somewhat of Canterlot restaurants. She never really liked the stuck-up attitudes those places exuded, but Celestia would take her out to them once in a while, and she got to order whatever she wanted so... win-win. This time though, it was Rarity who decided to take Sunset out to lunch, tagging along were Fluttershy and Coco Pommel, a new assistant at Carrousel Boutique.

"Sunset, are you okay?" Fluttershy's soft voice, on the other end of the table from where Sunset sat, cut through Sunset's world of silence. "You've been staring at your sandwich for a while now."

Before Sunset could wave it off as being lost in thought or something, Rarity spoke up next to Sunset, "Sunset, darling, I'm afraid that whatever you're planning to say won't work this time."

Sunset groaned. One of the downsides to having friends was that now, they knew all her tricks. Well, most of them.

Rarity put her salad fork down, then looked straight into Sunset's eyes. "I... had an ulterior motive for asking you out to lunch today."

'Of course there was a catch. But, what could she want?' She looked around to the concerned looks on the faces of her friends and Coco. A number of possibilities started swimming in her head about what kind of event this was, but the most likely seemed to be some kind of intervention... or a break up? It probably wasn't the latter for a number of reasons. "If it's about modeling for a new fashion line, I thought we agreed that was a one time thing?"

"What? N-No, that's not-- well, now that you mention it..." And just like that, Rarity was off in her own little world. Sunset thought she'd sidestepped this talk until...

"Ms. Rarity." Coco Pommel chimed in directly across from Sunset.

'Dammit.'

"What? Oh yes, thank you Coco. Sunset, I didn't ask you here to request that you model for my new line, I couldn't help but notice that you... well, dear just look at those gaudy bags under your eyes, they're a dead giveaway!"

Sunset caught her hands halfway towards her face. "Are they really that bad now?" Sunset withdrew a small mirror from her jacket pocket. When she opened it, she expected to see her usual beautiful face, instead she saw someone who looked like they were a gentle lullaby away from passing out (which wasn't an entirely inaccurate summary). "Ugh... there goes any beauty contests I would've won."

With an unconvincing, nervous smile on her face, Rarity said, "Oh, darling, it's not... that bad." Rarity lied, Sunset didn't even need to be an expert in the art of lying to know that much. "Nothing a trip to the spa won't fix."

At the mention of the spa, Sunset just rolled her eyes and groaned. 'Of course Rarity's solution would be going to the spa.' Sunset's fingers gently grazed the bags under her eyes. A small tinge of disappointment tightened around her little heart, just a bit. 'Then again, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea?'

"Um," Fluttershy started, but then stalled for several seconds before she found a wellspring of courage to complete her sentence, "Is something bothering you, Sunset?" She asked timidly.

Sunset really didn't want to talk about it, she'd never been a sharing kind of pony. Being a human didn't change that. "It's nothing to worry about-"

"I..." Coco Pommel uttered quietly, timidly at first and then there was a hint of concern in her eyes. "I've seen you sleeping in the changing rooms on more than one occasion. I never disturbed you because I thought you were just tired but... after the 4th time, I started to get concerned." She looked to Rarity, "Sorry I didn't mention it earlier."

"Um," Fluttershy raised her hand, "I also found you sleeping in the bunny enclosure two days ago."

'That would actually explain a lot.' When she came down to help out at the animal shelter, she vaguely remembered Fluttershy asking her to feed the bunnies. One minute she was holding the bag while opening the gates, everything got a little hazy after that, then she woke up covered in fluffy bunnies. It was adorable of course, even for someone with a heart as cold and uncaring as Sunset Shimmer.

"Well?" Rarity crossed her arms, adopting a bit of an older sister demeanor (or maybe a young mother scolding her child, not that Sunset would remember what that was like). "Sunset Shimmer," Rarity took hold of Sunset's hands and clasp them in her own. "We're your friends now, all that stuff from before is water under the bridge. You can talk to us if something's bothering you."

"..." Sunset really hated all this mushy, feely, girly stuff. It made her feel weird inside, and she did not like it one bit. She sighed in defeat. Like it or not, there was no way Rarity was gonna let this go. "It's nothing really, I'm just..." she subtly glanced over to Coco's direction, "a little homesick." 

Rarity and Fluttershy's caring smiles softened just a bit, hopefully they understood what Sunset was getting at. From her forest green purse, Fluttershy withdrew a couple dollars and handed them over to Coco. "I, um, I'd like something else to eat. May I have some ice-cream? The owner he, um...he scares me." Fluttershy was in full Fluttershy mode at this point. Whether it was genuine or not, no one could tell.

Coco looked over to her shoulder, the ice-cream place was back inside the mall. Coco would have to get up, walk to the other end of the food court, stand in line and then wait for the ice-cream. Considering it was the middle of Summer and that particular ice-cream place recently had a very glowing review, the line was pretty long. She'd probably be there for a while and end up missing the conversation. "Oh, um..." she glanced around the table for several seconds before nodding slowly, "okay." She was obviously a little disappointed when she pocketed Fluttershy's money (though she probably would've paid for it herself), then went inside to join the line of people waiting for their ice-cream.

'That should keep her busy for a few minutes at least.' On the list of fashions that Sunset actually gave a crap about, the straight jacket look was very, very, very low on her list. Granted, the chances of Coco turning Sunset in to a crazy house was slightly below Rarity suddenly turning into a marshmallow. But, Sunset didn't avoid the law in Equestria for as long as she did by taking chances.
Sunset leaned in close, gesturing for Fluttershy and Rarity to do the same. "Alright, I'm gonna be honest: I haven't been sleeping very well because..." Sunset trailed off, a part of her didn't want to reveal it, thinking it would show weakness. She shoved that particular part of herself down, she had to tell them. Besides the fact that they weren't gonna just let it go, Sunset trusted them to an extent. She took a deep breath. "Because I've been constantly woken up by a stream of nightmares."

"Nightmares?!" Fluttershy had to stop herself from raising her voice. As expected, Fluttershy did not handle scary things well. She tried to put on a brave face, but it was clear to Sunset that Fluttershy was already beginning to regret asking. "W-What kind of nightmares?"

"Oh you know, just the ones where I'm covered in flesh eating bugs. Or where I'm walking down a hallway but there's something behind me, I don't wanna look back because I know the second I do, it will get me but I have to keep moving forward and I slowly realize that I'm losing limbs."

Or at least, that's what Sunset wanted to say. If it were nightmares like those, then she could probably get rid of it by not watching horror movies before bed or maybe changing her diet. However, the reality was much less coherent. "I don't know." She said matter-of-factly.

"Y-You don't know?" Rarity repeated slowly. "Nothing in the slightest?"

"Nothing at all."

"Have you tried keeping a dream journal? My mother once suggested that, when I would dream up designs but forget about them, back in my younger years."

"Tried that. But it's like, when I wake up, every word that I can use to describe the nightmares have decided to take an extended vacation." It was unbelievably frustrating to wake up, drenched in sweat, feel like you've run 30 miles, and have no idea what had just occurred. "If I tried recording everything in a dream journal, I'd just end up with a single page filled with one word sentences."

"One word sentences? Whatever do you mean?"

"I mean, I can't find the right details to describe the nightmares, but I remember specific sensations." Sunset closed her eyes, "the last dream, I felt an overwhelming feeling of guilt. I felt a pain in my chest as if someone had dropped it off a cliff and it shattered into a million pieces," Sunset reopened her eyes, "and yet I can't remember a single image. But," Sunset leaned in close, "one thing I know for certain: I was a pony, in the nightmares." Which meant there was a good chance that the venue for Sunset's nightmares were somewhere in Equestria. 

Rarity was silent for several seconds, deep in thought. "That is... very strange. Do you know what may have brought this on?" 

"A few theories, but all of them turned out to be a bust. No matter what I do, the nightmares continue." It was true, Sunset had tried several experiments: from changing her diet, to weird herbal stuff, to even trying to pray to one of the human gods. However, nothing seemed to work. She'd almost considered talking to a professional, but there were a few problems with that. Two of which were:
1. She did not need someone poking around inside her head, asking tons of questions about her past.
2. Sunset would rather go through the excruciating pain of the demon transformation again than admit that she needed help.

Rarity frowned, she bit down on her knuckle with her eyes firmly fixed on her salad, it was a subconscious gesture for certain. It meant that Rarity was deep in thought, not that that was hard to figure out; the mumbling gave it away.

Sunset sighed, she picked up her sandwich and was about to take a bite when she finally remembered Fluttershy sitting there. She'd been so quiet that Sunset had completely ignored her throughout most of the conversation with Rarity. Her mouth opening and closing as if she wanted to say something but wasn't quite sure if she should. "Is there something you want to say?" Sunset guessed.

"I..." Fluttershy trailed off, her eyes locked on to her porcelain cup of herbal tea as if the tea was going to come to life and speak for Fluttershy. "I-It's nothing."

Rarity was brought out of her own little world, and now took hold of Fluttershy's hands like she had Sunset's just a little while ago. "Fluttershy, dear, if you think you might have something that can help, by all means, do tell. You are amongst good company."

"I, that is to say," Fluttershy looked to Sunset timidly, "what if your nightmares are connected to your home? You said you were a pony in your dreams so..." Fluttershy trailed off, probably realizing how dumb her theory must've sounded.

It wasn't nearly as dumb as she thought though. 'Connected to Equestria?' The thought had occurred to Sunset early on, but she'd dismissed it as improbable. Sunset had lived in the human world all this time without incident, why now would something Equestria-related happen to her?

"Yes!" Rarity exclaimed, a little too loudly. When her brief embarrassment subsided, she said; "I believe it was you who once told me that random acts of magic mean 1 of 2 things. 95% of the time it's due to an accidental spell cast or a delayed reaction to an earlier spell, something that is a simple, if not vague, example of cause and effect. However, 5% of the time, a unicorn's magic will act on its own without any provocation from the unicorn, and some unicorns believe that it doesn't happen without a reason." Rarity must've realized how crazy this sounded. "Now, bear with me here, what if your destiny or some other force is calling you back to Equestria?"

"..." Sunset just sat there in stunned silence with a blank expression. 'Really? Destiny? I could tell her how believing in magic as some kind of living force with a will of its own that was responsible for influencing the fate of Equestria, was usually not grounded in scientific fact, but that would be rude. Not to mention, there is some evidence to support the Living Magic theory, even though I'm firmly in the logical camp.' Still, the more Sunset thought about it, the more it seemed likely that destiny or magic or some other force was calling her back to Equestria...
"!" Sunset slapped herself hard across the face, she'd almost made a very stupid decision there, caused by her severely sleep deprived mind.

"S-Sunset?" Fluttershy asked, the tone of worry in her voice was clear as day.

Sunset let out a dry, monotone chuckle. "I almost made the stupidest decision of my life."

"Whatever do you mean, Sunset? Rarity asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sunset held out her wrists and made what one could assume was a rattling-chain gesture. "I'm not exactly a beloved celebrity in Equestria. It would not be a case of the prodigal daughter returning home to a loving mother offering chocolate cake. The second I step foot through that portal, I'll be arrested, tried, and if I'm lucky: Celestia will let me off easy by sending me to the dungeon for only half of my remaining lifespan."

Rarity had a response all set up. "Oh but Sunset, you've been gone for years and I'm sure Twilight has smoothed things ov-"

"No! I know what you're gonna say, and I refuse to ask the runt for help." It was true, Sunset was thankful, (as thankful as someone like Sunset could muster up). But her thankfulness extended to accepting a vary cautious, mutual acquaintance with the magic of friendship at best, she wasn't about to go all the way to Canterlot and beg her for help over a few nightmares. "Besides, she's not my friend. You five: Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and you, I actually like." 
'Tolerate, technically.' 
"Her... let's just say: at best, I'm indifferent to her presence."

"Oh Sunset." Rarity started, the sad tone in her voice kind of annoyed Sunset just a bit, it was obvious that a lecture was coming. "Don't you think you should put your past differences aside? You two aren't that different. You both have a fondness for the pursuit of knowledge, you're both kind-"

Sunset scoffed.

"Even if you don't like to admit it, there is kindness in you. You both go to great lengths to help your friends, you both have an acceptable fashion sense, you're both pretty, and of course, you studied under the same mentor. You might actually make a good pair of friends if you just give it a chance. Afterall-- what on earth is going on inside?" Rarity could take no more of it! There was a small commotion that had been going on inside the food court for quite some time now. They'd been ignoring it throughout their whole conversation but it was very clear that the chaos was moving closer to them and they could not simply ignore it anymore.

"Someone catch that dog!"

"Ewww, what is that, some kind of rat?!"

"AGH! I just felt something brush against my leg!"

"Where'd it go?!"

There were a lot of voices but from what Sunset could tell, it appeared that some kind of small animal had gotten loose and was moving towards them. "Let's go before-" Too late.

A small, purple blur had jumped out from under the table and landed squarely in Rarity's lap. "Rarity!" It exclaimed in a panicked tone, "H-Hide me, quick! They're gonna take me away!"

"I-Is this...um..." It took her several seconds to remember the name as she hadn't seen the talking purple dog in quite a long time. "Spikey-wikey?!"

Sunset looked past the crowd to see two dirty looking men in tan jump suits and carrying large nets, barreling over tables and rushing straight towards them. 'Think fast Sunset.' She could try hiding him under the table, but their desperation to find Spike made it clear that they would most likely check there if they stopped at their table. Spike was small but their purses were far too small to fit him inside, where else could she- 'Got it!' Without asking for permission she yanked Spike from Rarity, placed him against her stomach, "Sit still, and shut up." She then zipped up her jacket and waited. If she was lucky they wouldn't-

"Excuse me, miss!" Of course she wouldn't be that lucky, "did a small, purple dog run this way?" The tallier, lankier one asked through short breaths.

"It... it may have... been talking!" His portly sidekick chimed in (obviously out of breath), this sudden reveal of information earned him an elbow to ribs.

"Ignore that. Look, we're short on time, so if you... could..." His eyes locked firmly on the bulge under Sunset's jacket.

"My eyes are up here, dude." Sunset said while gesturing to her face.

"Sorry it's just that... bulge is-"

"I'm pregnant." Sunset revealed without skipping a beat. "Is that a problem?"

"I-"

"Look, I'm going through A LOT right now, and I don't need this! The stress of having a baby has wrecked my sleeping habits, I can't keep my emotions under control, and look at me! LOOK AT ME! I'm hideous!" Sunset shouted, she threw her arms around Rarity, sobbing into her shoulders. 'And the Academy Award goes to me. Suck it, Canterlot theater troupe!'

"How dare you! Do you have any idea what she's going through?!" Rarity started, perhaps putting in a bit too much emotion. "The father of her child walked out on her, and her parents kicked her out! She's been ostracized in class, and all she wanted was a little peace and quiet without having some, some DEGENERATE berate her! Five minutes of peace is all she asked for!" Leave it to Rarity to go overboard.

'Geez tone it down a little, Rarity.' She couldn't see their reactions, but she could hear them stuttering. Maybe Rarity was a bit of a drama queen, but in this instance, it worked out. Her eyes drifted to Fluttershy, and she saw the stare, in full effect. Fluttershy wasn't saying anything while Rarity continued to viciously, verbally tear into the two men. Fluttershy didn't even need to say anything, the stare was more than enough. Actually, it may have been overkill.

"Why, I have half a mind to lodge a formal complaint with your employers for all the damage you've caused to this fine establishment, and the emotional distress you've caused my lovely friend here! Rest assured, that I will not rest until I have your jobs! You'll never work in this town again!"

'Wasn't that a line from a play last week?' Sunset couldn't see them, but she knew they were shaking in their boots. Now it was time for Sunset to deliver the Coup de grâce. "N-No, no, that's okay!" Sunset sniffled, borrowing one of the napkins from Rarity's pockets. "Th-they're just doing their jobs, it's not their fault THAT I'M SUCH A USELESS BLOATED WHALE!" Sunset cried harder.

Rarity hugged Sunset tighter, gently stroking her hair with her hand. "There there, everything's okay dear." Rarity softly cooed. "Sirs, I think you owe my friend an apology!" Rarity demanded from the two men!

"We're, we're very sorry! I-If there's anything we can do-"

"DON'T YOU THINK YOU'VE DONE ENOUGH?!" Oddly enough, it was Fluttershy who was shouting, "JUST GO! Y-Y-YOU BIG, DUMB, MEANIES!"

They didn't need to be told twice, Sunset could hear them running as fast as they could, tripping over several chairs in the process.  
After what felt like an eternity she pat Rarity's back, "Are they gone?"

"Yes, darling, they've gone running with their tails tucked between their legs."

Sunset finally dropped the act. "I thought they were about to wet themselves. In fact, I'm pretty sure they did. What the heck was that, Fluttershy? And I thought Rarity was overdoing it."

Fluttershy laughed nervously.

Sunset felt a tapping against her stomach. "Oh right, you're still here." She unzipped her jacket to let Spike out. "Don't. Say. Anything. Great performance aside, we've attracted too much attention. Get back in the jacket until I say it's okay to come out."

At that exact moment, Coco finally returned with Fluttershy's ice-cream. "I'm ba-" She was stunned speechless, at the sight of the mess around them. "Um... what happened here?"





"And that's when the great and powerful Trixie-- WAKE UP, YOU ABSENT-MINDED CRETIN!" An angry shout forced Sunset out of her daydream.

A rough shove nearly knocked Sunset off the bed. Under normal circumstances, Sunset would've blasted Trixie through a wall, but this was neither the time nor the place. "What?" Sunset responded, exercising considerable patience.

"How dare you ignore the great and powerful Trixie's detailed account of her journey from Equestria to the Crystal Empire and beyond!"

"Oh I'm sorry, am I supposed to feel bad about not paying attention to something I've already experienced?" Sunset sarcastically quipped, speaking very slowly so even an idiot like Trixie could understand. "Hang on lemme try that again," Sunset cleared her throat. She slapped her cheeks with her hooves, "OH MY GOODNESS! I'M SOOOOO SORRY, GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE! Clearly, my feeble, incompetent brain just couldn't handle the articulate beauty of your story. For I am just a dirty, no-name peasant not fit to lick the dirt off your hooves, and you are clearly part of some secret master race of unicorns." Sunset mocked, in a performance that even Rarity would call: overdoing it.

"As long as you understand your place, imbecile."

Sunset felt something snap in her brain. "Oh that is it!" Sunset's horn started to spark and then--

"A'right, a'right, that's enough." Kira rushed between them, then pushed them away from each other. "Ya got your shots in, now cool off, alright?"

"Yes, please don't burn down our clinic." Xira rolled her eyes. "Anyways, listen, we get the gist of things: You two met up on the road, she knew Equestria like the tip of her tail, so you joined forces because you needed a guide. But what about before that? How did you learn that Twilight was missing? More importantly, why are you searching for her? Is she a friend or something?"

'A friend?' The word stuck in her head, a friend. Twilight Sparkle was her friend? 'No, of course not. While I did meet actual 'friends,' and I say that with HUGE air quotes, due to her influence; I don't think she's one of my friends. I don't think I'm one of her friends either. Still, there's no way I'm telling them that.' Sunset adopted a smile that only someone who has spent an enormous amount of time around Pinkie Pie could pull off. "Of course! We're old friends, I wouldn't call us the best of friends, but we did have the same mentor so... we share a pretty special bond." A truth mixed in with a lie, was the best kind of story to tell. While they did indeed both mentor under Princess Celestia, they mentored separately. Sunset hadn't even been aware of Twilight's existence until way later in her studies, before it all came crashing down.
Sunset thought back to her time in the human world, that's where the story truly began. But, there was no way Sunset was about to tell them any of that. Besides the fact that they'd never believe her in a million years, it was probably a very bad idea to start talking about a whole other world of non-ponies. Lest that information might fall into the wrong hands. "Oh sorry, trying to remember. It's been months ya know." Sunset cleared her throat. She wasn't going to tell them the whole story. Like before, she was going to mix in a bit of truth with one big lie. "So, I've been living overseas for a couple years. Extended research project, I was writing an autobiography of my experiences across the seas. I was also regularly sending reports, both personal and professional, to Princess Celestia. One day, I got a letter informing me that, Twilight had gone missing, and that I should keep an eye out for her. I never sent a response, because I hopped on the first ship going to Equestria."

When Sunset looked around the room, she could clearly see that everyone was hanging on her every word. Good, they were buying it so far. "I see," Xira began, "but what happened to Twilight before you got the letter?"

And there was the big question of the hour, one that Sunset wasn't going to answer. "Let me be crystal clear: I was not around when it happened. I don't know the full story," that part was true at least, "all I know are theories based on the accounts of witnesses who were there. According to the events I managed to dig up, Twilight showed signs of obsession over a secret project. She told no one what it was, and left no evidence of what she was doing. One day, there was an explosion near the newly formed Harmony Castle. After that, Twilight took off."

"...." Twilight hadn't said anything since she was shown that picture. She just stared, unblinkingly at it. Was she even paying attention?

"All I knew, was that Twilight took off North, and that I had a lot of ground to cover. Before you ask: 'why did I go so far?' Simple. Celestia is my mentor, and it's Celestia who asked me to do this. I'm good at tracking ponies down." A memory started to surface, but she couldn't let it interfere. She couldn't afford to break the illusion of a concerned pony looking out for a fellow student of Celesia. "And honestly, I was curious."

"Don't ya know anythin' else? No offense, but your story's a little... vague." Kira said while taking cautious glances over to the mesmerized Twilight.

Sunset sighed. Of course it couldn't be easy, luckily she had a response for that as well. "Look, I've taken one too many blows to the head on my way here."

"Trixie can vouch for that."

Sunset stared daggers at Trixie for a second or two. "So forgive me if I don't remember what I had for breakfast 4 months ago. Besides, I've told you the important bits. The only pony who would know the whole story is..." Sunset's eyes fell upon Twilight Sparkle. "Her." 

Kira placed her talon on the top of Twilight's head, a gentle pat to get her attention. "Well, what do ya think about all this?"

She put the photo down on a nearby table. "I..." Twilight started pacing around the room, "a princess, me?" Twilight repeated the words as if to somehow hammer that fact into her brain. It was obvious to Sunset that the logical side of Twilight's brain wanted to point out all the holes in Sunset's story, yet there was a clear internal struggle going on. Part of her wanted to believe it, she didn't have evidence to say otherwise. At the same time, the evidence didn't seem all that concrete. "No, no, it's too convenient. I don't think I believe your story."

'Of course you don't, because nothing is ever easy.' Sunset rolled her eyes. "Don't believe the photo?"

"I-It could've been forged, a fake!" She asserted.

"We have a lot more in the wagon." Sunset monotonously responded while pointing a hoof out the window. 

"M-Maybe they're all fake too!" She immediately retorted, her pacing becoming quicker, more frantic.

"We've got a whole box of them, you can see for yourself." Sunset explained while never taking her eyes off Twilight.

"No!" Twilight stopped in her tracks, and pointed a hoof accusingly at Sunset! "I don't believe any of this! You just show up out of nowhere, tell me I'm a princess and that I need to go with you, and all you have are... maybe forged photos? I mean, just look at this!" She practically shoved the photo in Sunset's face. "Why are her eyes different from mine?!"

'That is a damn good question.' One that Sunset didn't have an answer for. However, it didn't matter too much, everything else checked out other than that one detail. 

"...who in their right minds would believe that?!" Apparently, While Sunset had pondered about the red eyes, Twilight had been ranting about something that Sunset couldn't bother to listen to. "Furthermore, you say we used to be friends, but I don't remember you at all! When's my birthday?"

In a dry, humorless tone, Sunset responded: "December 3rd."

"What's my favorite non-fiction subject to read about?"

"Magic, History, and the History of Magic."

"How did I get my cutie mark?"

"You got it during your entrance exam to Princess Celestia's school for Gifted Unicorns." Sunset held up a hoof, "and before you ask, you hatched a baby dragon from an egg, artificially increased its size, and ended up adding in a new skylight for that building. Do you want me to tell you your favorite foods as well? How about your first crush? Or maybe something about the Elements of Harmony?"

"Twilight, is any o' this true?"

"I... I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T REMEMBER ANY OF THIS, SO FOR ALL I KNOW, SHE COULD JUST BE MAKING IT UP!" Twilight was losing her cool, her rationality was failing her. Sunset couldn't help but wonder why she was she so adamant to prove that she couldn't be who Sunset believed her to be? 

"I assure you I'm not." Prior to stealing the crown, and even back when Twilight was a student of Celestia, Sunset had done her fair share of research on Twilight Sparkle. It was a simple case of Know thy Enemy, though it wasn't much different from stalking. Besides, all of Canterlot knew about that dragon incident, it almost rivaled Sunset's overgrown plant incident. "Look, Trixie can go get the box-"

"Does Trixie look like a common maid?"

"For once in your life, can you not be difficult?" Sunset turned back to Twilight, "Trixie can go get the box-"

"No! I'd like you to leave." Twilight turned away from everyone, using her magic to open the door. With anger in her eyes, she pointed to the hallway, waiting for Sunset and Trixie to leave the clinic.

Xira looked to Twilight, then back to Sunset and Trixie. Sunset could see the uncertainty plastered on her face: she was unsure of who to believe. Sunset seemed to know what she was talking about, and the photo looked way too real to be forged. However, she was Twilight's friend, and Twilight demanded that they leave. "Twilight maybe they're telling the-"

"I said, I want them to leave!"

Sunset had had enough of this, Twilight was acting like a spoiled child, Trixie was being unhelpful, and Sunset could still smell that potion concoction, so she was already in a bad mood. She hopped off the bed and stomped her hooves down on the ground. "Okay look, I've been very patient so far, even for me. But if you just calm down, and listen to what I'm saying, then-"

Sunset noticed too late, Twilight's horn lit up, "I SAID LEAVE!" The second her distorted voice had finished shouting, everyone other than Twilight had been knocked off their respective limbs by an invisible force. A surge of magic caused by unstable emotions, that's what had caused the shock wave. When Twilight finally realized what she'd done, she fell to her flank and just stared at the ground mournfully. "I... I'm sorry! I don't know-"

Sunset lifted her head from the ground, she could still see the stars. "Amnesia is such a cliche character trait." Sunset began, "Trixie, are you dead?"

"...." No response from Trixie, who'd been flung over the end of the bed. Maybe she'd broken her neck?

The ends of Sunset's mouth started to rise, a feeling of joy started to grow within her as bright as-

"Trixie is fine!"

Aaaand her mood immediately deflated like someone had let all the air out of her balloon animal. 'Whatever, not important.' Sunset rose from the ground. "I knew it was weird. You just happened to have amnesia after you disappear?" Sunset brushed the dust from her amber coat. "I think you must've knocked something loose in my head." A piece of the puzzle Sunset hadn't considered was starting to make itself known. "Twilight Sparkle is not a stupid pony. She is also paranoid, and left to her own devices, will come up with the worst possible outcome."

"Stop dancing around the issue, what are you talking about?!" Twilight demanded to know, before immediately piping down, lest she cause another incident.

"Your amnesia did not naturally occur." At least, that was the theory that Sunset had just crafted. "What if, hypothetically, Twilight Sparkle locked her own memories away?"

Twilight Sparkle's eye twitched. "What? That doesn't make any sense! Why would I come all the way out here, only to erase my own memories?"

Sunset shrugged, "I don't care whether it makes sense or not. Twilight Sparkle is an accomplished magic user." As much as Sunset hated to admit that, it was true; Twilight was a magical prodigy, just like Sunset. "Let's assume for a second, that the explosion in Ponyville wasn't an accident. Let's assume, that you learned something horrible. Let's also assume that upon learning this truth, you immediately fled Equestria because you were on a time limit. Let's finally assume, for some reason, you locked your memories away. Why would you do that? Answer: Because the knowledge you had was so dangerous, that you couldn't afford to have it fall into the wrong hooves. So you thoroughly erased the evidence." It was inductive reasoning; a theory based on other theories, and a flimsy one at best. However, it was the one probably explanation, and the only one available to them at the moment.

"But I, I fell, and took a blow to the head. That's how I lost my memories!" She desperately looked to Xira and Kira, "That is how I lost my memories, right?"

They both exchanged curious looks for several seconds. "Well, that's one possibility, but..." Kira trailed off.

"But, if you're the pony she says you are, then her theory does seem likely." Xira stepped between Sunset and Twilight. "Let's say that we buy this theory, how do we go about proving it?"

"A few ways. We poke holes into the theory until all the air lets out. We wait until Twilight recovers naturally. Maybe a mixture of potions to bring her memories back. Or the simplest solution," Sunset pointed a hoof to Twilight's head. "The Mind Delve spell."

"The mind what now?"

Sunset opened her mouth to speak, but Trixie stopped her by holding a hoof over her mouth. "Let the great and powerful Trixie explain this in ways that any simpleton could understand. Imagine if you will, that we are all on different islands that represent our innermost thoughts. Imagine that these islands are separated by a good 300 miles. We can't see each other, but the Mind Delve spell gives us a pair of binoculars at the lowest level. At the stronger levels, it gives us a bridge to the other islands."

"I'm not gonna let you mess around inside my head!"

Trixie laughed mocking at Twilight's apprehension, "The Mind Delve spell is simply a means of viewing or experiencing we can no more influence your mind than we can influence the tides with our tails." That was a lie, Sunset remembered the books on Mind Delve spells in the castle archives. Though it was incredibly illegal, you could indeed mess with a pony's mind if you were skilled enough at it. That was why the book on Mind Delve spells were locked away in the restricted section of the library, protected by several enchantments cast by Canterlot archmages. Which made Sunset wonder how Trixie of all ponies knew about it? 

"Yeah, great, exposition over." Sunset shoved Trixie back into the background, "Okay, I'll cut you a deal. The best way I can prove my theory is if I perform the Mind Delve spell. Then, if there's a trace of a memory tampering spell anywhere in your mind, I will know. If there is no mind altering spell present, I will leave. Not just your mind, but the clinic, and Frostglade."

"What?!" Trixie exclaimed, but a quick spell of conjuring taped Trixie's mouth shut. Sunset had wanted to do that for ages, it felt a little cathartic.

"If we don't find any trace of memory tampering: we'll leave the clinic, get in our wagon and resume the search for Twilight Sparkle elsewhere. You'll probably never have to see us again, and you can continue living here until your real memories come back." Make no mistake, there was no doubt in Sunset's mind that this was Twilight Sparkle, but an unwilling subject would make an already difficult spell even more difficult, so Sunset was lying through her teeth. "So what's it gonna be?" If this didn't work, Sunset would just have to rely on the box of photos.

Twilight looked to Kira, then Xira, then all around the room as if she could just teleport to another building to get away from all this. She sighed in defeat. "Fine." She muttered dejectedly. "J-Just get it over with."

"Gladly." Sunset stepped forward, this time it was Trixie to push Sunset aside.

"When was the last time you even performed the Mind Delve spell?"

The correct answer would be: "Years ago, back when I was on the run from the law." Sunset wasn't going to say that though. "A while ago, so what?"

"So, you're a pathetic amateur at this, and Trixie has long grown weary of this back and forth between you and Sparkle, so Trixie will take it from here." Before Sunset could protest, it was Trixie who conjured tape over her mouth. Revenge for earlier, no doubt. "You there, gryphon."

"Kira."

"Whatever, the great and powerful Trixie requires certain items to make the spell work properly. Do the honor of fetching them, will you?"

Kira seemed like the kind of gryphon one could describe as: saintly. Yet, that forced smile told Sunset that if Kira wasn't a pacifist (at least, Sunset assumed as much), she would knock Trixie upside the head. However, Kira seemed to be a gentle soul, "Of course, what do you need?"








"Imagine a door, like with conjuring, manipulate the mana into the door's shape. Give it power, feel the door's textures against your hooves."



The last time Sunset had ever mind delved was years ago. She needed information, and the victim refused to give it to her. Under normal circumstances, she'd have used her considerably effective interrogation methods to pry the information from their skull, but she couldn't afford another wild goose chase and she had all the time in the world, and gained considerable practice with the spell.




"It is very important that you keep the mental image of yourself in mind. During the transit stage, there is a very real danger of losing your sense of self, and ending up scattering into the surrounding mana that permeates the world."



She'd forgotten the out of body experience that usually accompanied the act of mind delving, much as she loathed to admit it, it was a good thing Trixie was there to guide Sunset. Otherwise, she may have messed up the spell and who knew what would've been the consequences of that. 




"And now... awaken."



When her senses started to return, and she felt solid ground beneath her hooves, she opened her eyes to see the sprawling landscape around her. 'This can't be right.' A blood red sky stretching out as far as the eye could see, a bleak, empty world covered in fog. 'A mistake, there must've been a mistake, Trixie must've-' Suddenly, a great pressure weighed down on Sunset's back, threatening to either break her spine or shove her through the very ground she stood on. She couldn't speak, only struggle against the increasing weight. Sunset was confused, she didn't under-
No. She knew this feeling. She knew this presence. But from where, WHERE did she know this presence from? Within moments, she started to feel like someone had lit a furnace inside her stomach. Was she sweating, she felt like she was sweating, she could feel her little heart rapidly beating against her chest! Fear. This was fear. Sunset was afraid. Afraid of something, but what?

Whispers. Someone was whispering. Whispering dark things into her ear.





Trixie landed softly on solid ground quicker than she'd thought, upon gazing into the abyss that represented Twilight Sparkle's true self, Trixie raised a disbelieving brow. "This is Sparkle's head?" It was a lot emptier than Trixie would've imagined (though not by much). The fog around her felt so thick that she could barely see in front of her. Heck, she couldn't even see what exactly she was standing on. All she knew was that it felt solid and earthy. Sort of like she was standing on a big rock or something, that was all Trixie needed to know. "Sun butt?" Trixie called out, expecting a sharp retort, but there was nothing. Trixie groaned, Sunset had probably wandered off somewhere. "Trixie told you to do one thing, and that was not wander off!" Trixie called out once more, but again there was no response. "Sunset? Say nothing if you admit that the great and powerful Trixie is the most amazing unicorn who ever lived and you are honored to be in her presence."

"Go screw yourself with Celestia's horn, Trixie."

That would've probably been the insult Sunset had used, if she had responded to Trixie. 'Okay, now I'm concerned. Where in the name of Celestia is she?' If only the fog weren't so thick, then maybe she could-- "Oof!" Trixie's back leg caught on something sticking out, and she ended up falling face first into the ground. Trixie groaned in pain as she rubbed her tender muzzle. She turned around to see what had tripped her, but obviously she couldn't see anything. She used her foreleg to prod the thing she'd tripped over and it felt... fleshy. In fact, it moved rhythmically up and down as if it were breathing; whatever it was, it was alive. Trixie's horn glowed with a pink light, illuminating the ground ever so slightly, and she could make out Sunset Shimmer. Crouched into the fetal position and muttering incoherently to herself. "Sunset Shimmer?" Trixie had no cruel remark, no jabbing insult this time. Seeing Sunset in this state caused her heart to fall into her stomach.

Sunset didn't even acknowledge Trixie's presence, was she even aware that Trixie was standing mere inches from her?

"Sunset Shimmer?" Trixie started to grow concerned, yes Trixie liked to make Sunset the butt of her jokes, but that didn't mean Trixie wouldn't be concerned if something had happened to her. Trixie wasn't a monster after all! She leaned in closer to Sunset, trying to hear what she was muttering repeatedly.

. . . . . . . .


"What?" Did Trixie hear that right? She leaned in closer to confirm. "It's here?" That was what Sunset was repeatedly muttering to herself as if it were some kind religious chant. "What's here?" Trixie looked around but saw nothing within the fog, to the best of Trixie's knowledge they were alone. "There's nothing here! Come on, let Trixie help you up!" Trixie bent down to help a shivering Sunset back onto her haunches, she'd almost fallen again were Trixie not there to support Sunset's weight. 

Suddenly, the ground started to shake. Slowly at first, but then more violently. 

"What in the world?" Was the only response Trixie could muster up before she noticed how everything had turned dark. No, that's not right. This was a shadow, a big shadow being cast upon her. She could feel something breathing, it was right behind her. She very slowly, turned around to see-

"GET OUT!"