//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: Twilight's Twinlight // by Autum Breeze //------------------------------// Chapter 11 ___________________________________________________________     Twilight gives me an apologetic smile as she blushes and I glare at her as I pull my top back on, myself red-faced for a reason other than anger. We’d just finished a game of Truth or Dare, suggested by my double, after which Dash suggested we play a slightly different version from the original, one she’d come up with herself, after having spend most of the night watching three movies, eating sweets, chips and sodas. Not knowing what I was in for, I’d agreed alongside Twilight to try it, only too late noticing the shaking heads of everyone save Dash. Dash’s version of Truth or Dare works like this, instead of someone being given the option of either truth or dare by one person, when it comes to your turn, you can either ask the whole circle or just one person in particular. This is where my grief comes in, due to it being you have to choose either truth or dare in tandem, meaning if you chose truth the first time you were asked, you had to choose dare the next time and it turns out this world’s Dash thinks along similar lines to her pony counterpart. When it was her turn she aimed at both myself and Twilight instead of the circle. And she was smart about it to get what she wanted. First time either of us was asked, we went truth, knowing Dash for her pranks back in Equestria and not willing to take any chances with her dares. That did not last the next time she aimed at us, though. She dared me to take off my top and keep it off til the end of the game. Now, that in itself isn’t such a bad thing for me to deal with. Sure, since becoming human through the portal I feel a lot more self conscious of the new additions to my chest, but it wasn’t that big of a concern to me as the only actual physical male in the room is Spike and, let’s face it, dog or dragon, he likely still isn’t all too aware of that kind of thing.   What did bring on my grief is when Dash got to Twilight again. Remember how I joked with Twilight about whether it would count as masturbating if she and I did it? Well, Dash seemed to have such a thought on her mind, because her dare to Twilight was to make out for a few minutes... with me. So, since she couldn’t refuse the dare, Twilight lend into me and, for lack of a better term, we started making out... and God is my mind fucked up right now. Since Dash’s dare to me was still in effect, nothing kept Twilight from pressing against my bare chest and holy fuck was I not ready for that. I don’t know how or why and part of me honestly never wants to find out, but I actually started getting turned on by it and it seemed so had Twilight. My only guess as to why, since I know neither of us are into the other, nor are we into that way of thinking (well, I’m not, not sure about Twilight, but she really doesn’t seem the type from what I’ve observed), but we’re both now in teenage human girls’ bodies, with the hormones during puberty and everything going at full swing. Plus, there’s the fact that I’d had someone else groping my breasts. You seriously don’t know how much that can turn you on until it happens to you. I mean, yeah, before getting into the nightwear Rarity made me, I’d gone to have a shower and, well, let’s just say I got curious about my new body and did some experimenting with it, but when it’s another person doing it to you? Holy cow, nothing really prepares you for that. When the time limit of Dash’s dare finally was up, Twilight and I, understandably, switched places in the circle so, not only were we not directly next to each other, but also not directly across from each other either, so as to avoid having to make eye contact for the rest of the game. Thankfully, none of the other girls dared anything of that level to the whole circle or either Twilight or myself separately, but AJ clearly decided to get back at Dash for putting us through that by daring Dash to go completely nude and stand in the doorway of Pinkie’s place for several minutes singing I’m a Little Teapot, motions and all. When Dash returned the red face she was sporting showed she wasn’t going to pull something like that again anytime soon. With the game over, I get up to go brush my teeth and wash off my face. When I come back, Dash apologizes for her dares to myself and my double, seeming genuine. I want to hold it against her, but, she is a teen and lord knows how raunchy my thoughts got back when I was still human. I suppose since she is this world’s Dash and knowing our Dash, I accept her apology under the strictest of conditions that she never pull a stunt like that ever again. With that out of the way, we all settle down, Pinkie turning the lights off. Turns out she’s got a clapper installed.     ___________________________________________________________       “Gotta say, I’m still stumped how much you look and sound like Twilight,” Sunset Shimmer says as the two of us walk back in the direction of where the others are. Being Saturday, we all came down here to the local Canterlot Mall Plaza. We’d recently watched a movie, one that reminded me of the Lion King that had been rereleased. Found myself singing along to some of the songs, causing the girls to look at me with surprise. Evidently, it kept slipping their minds that I came from another world of humans where I grew up with such a movie. Once the movie was over, we’d all decided to get lunch, myself and Sunset volunteering to get the food. Twilight’s was, understandably, a vegetarian meal. I, on the other hand, have taken full advantage of being able to consume meat again and, while nothing fancy, went for a triple cheese burger meal from McDonalds. Oddly enough, they have them here in this world. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t our fellow Equestrians,” a smooth voice says. Pausing, I glance around to see three girls standing nearby, two of them glaring our way. One girl has skin a shade of blue similar to Rainbow’s, if a tad whiter, but with far longer hair that is two toned blue and tied back in a ponytail and eyes maybe a bit deeper a purple than mine and Twilight’s, who is looking uncertainly from Sunset and myself to her two companions. Another of the girls has skin a shade lighter in than mine and Twilight’s and eyes the same in colour to the first girl. Her hair is ridiculously long, like the uncertain girl, but is purple with turquoise highlights, tied up in two massive pigtails. Her expression is anger, but there’s something else there that’s a lot harder for me to figure out. The final of the three, who I can’t help getting a sense of leadership from, has skin a yellow very similar to Sunset’s and, like the other two, the same eye colour. Her hair is the most outrageous of the three, orange with yellow highlights and tied back to almost look like an Afro, if that’s possible to do when tying hair back. Her expression is clear anger. All three are wearing tracksuit pants and black hooded tops. Sunset looks very surprised to see them. “The Dazzlings?” she asks, before her eyes narrow. “What’re you still doing around here?” Wait. Dazzlings? The girls mentioned them last night, as had Twilight a few times back in Equestria when I asked about the portal. They were former sirens (they’re human now, so former fits, I think), who used their singing to cause strife among ponies in Equestria and feeding off the negative energy, before that Starswirl the Bearded guy banished them to this world, where they shouldn’t have had access to their magic, but had retained enough to nearly take over after finding Equestrian Magic around Canterlot High. I smirk. “Sorry. You must be mistaking me for my sister, Twilight. Name’s Ken, wannabe bad guys.” That gets a reaction. All three looked shocked, before the lead girl steps forward. If I remember, Adagio’s her name, the purple one’s Aria and the blue one’s Sonata. “Oh, really? I find it hard to believe you aren’t Twilight Sparkle. Care to prove it?” I glance around and put the tray of food I’d been carrying down on a nearby bench, before turning to Adagio and folding my arms. “Bring it, bitch.” I honestly have to hold back laughter as the three sirens’ jaws drop at my language. Sunset looks a little shocked too. I pay that no mind, though. If these girls are the sirens, I’ve no reason to act polite if they give me no reason to. “Now, I have a question for you, sirens,” I say, lazily pointing a finger at them. “From what I’ve learned of you, you had to keep taking more and more negative energy because, along with wanting all that power, you also had to deal when an unquenchable appetite for said energy. Am I correct?” While Adagio narrows her eyes at me, I see a slight frown of confusion come over Aria’s expression, while Sonata’s eyes widen ever so slightly. “So,” I say, stepping forward and looking the head siren right in the eyes, “my question is, after Sunset, Twilight and the others, as Rainbow Dash to eloquently put it, beat down your asses with a giant rainbow Alicorn, destroying the gems you used to harness that magic and gather energy and negative emotions, how’s that hunger been bothering you since?” Adagio’s glare falters slightly in confusion, while Sonata looks with wide eyes between me, Adagio and Aria, the latter of whom has a look of annoyance that seems directed at Adagio. “S-so, we weren’t just imagining it after all?” Sonata asks nervously, her eyes flicking from Adagio to myself. “I told you, Adagio,” Aria growled slightly, folding her arms. “I told you something felt better since that day.” “But we no longer have our magic!” the yellow girl whirled around, glaring at the other girls. “How are things better without our magic?!” “If you ask me, if I had to choose between having magic and feeling like I’m always starving, or having no magic and never having to feel that, I’d take the latter option,” I retort, before pointing a thumb at Sunset. “I mean, look at Sunset. Sure, she didn’t spend nearly as much time is this world as I’m guessing you have,” since they were sent when Starswirl was still alive, that would mean they’ve been here a fairly long while as the guy’s been dead for centuries, “but she did fine without magic for the last couple years and, unlike you guys, as a unicorn, she’d use it for almost everything.” “But we are dying!” Adagio turns back to me, snarling. I blink, my eyes widening. Wait, what? Dying? What does she mean? Aria groans, sounding annoyed and bored. “For the last time, Adagio, stop being so overly dramatic.” “How are you both so calm about this?!” she return to glaring at her two I’m thinking sisters with how this is sounding. “We’ve been fine for all these centuries in this retched world, but after we got blasted by their Equestrian Magic, we’ve started aging! We’re going to die!” “In seventy to eighty years, maybe,” Aria counters, glaring back at her leader. “For crying out loud, Adagio, we should be thankful we didn’t start aging when we got sent here! Yeah, we’re aging now, but it’s slow, it’s not like our actual ages are catching up to us. We’ve still got plenty of years left.” I glance at Sunset, who’s looking at me uncertainly. This is definitely not going how either of us would’ve expected. As Aria and Adagio’s argument gets more heated, we decide it’s best to just move on. I grab my tray and we turn to leave, only to stop when Sonata steps in front of us, looking down and rubbing her hands together nervously. “Um... I know I don’t really have any rights, but... would it... would it be okay if I... chatted with you... sometime?” I glance at Sunset, who returns my look, before she gives a small smile, puts down her tray, pulls a small pad out of her jacket pocket and writes something down on it, before tearing off the sheet of paper from the pad and handing it to Sonata. “When they’ve calmed down, give me a call or come over, okay?” Sonata gives a small smile, before returning to stand near the still bickering duo. Sunset picking up her tray and we both head off to rejoin the others. Something tells me the rest of this weekend may have gotten more interesting. We spend the rest of the day hanging around the mall. Rarity tries several times to get Twilight and myself to get new outfits, but I point out to her a very key point Twilight told me about. When Twilight first went from this world back to Equestria, she’d been wearing a very fancy dress Rarity had made her for the Fall Formal, however, when Twilight next came to this world, she was wearing the clothes she had been back when she first arrived. This tells me that clothes will not transition well between the worlds, making whoever goes from Equestria to this world; even if they’d been wearing something different when they went back to Equestria, upon returning here would default to the clothes they’d been wearing prior. Either that or the portal was being a troll. Then again, Twilight had left during the natural cycle of the portal’s opening, so maybe, opening it manually had simply reset it, and since Twilight, until that third night, had only been wearing what she was first spewed out with, it chose that for then? Bah! Magic is just confusing. Thankfully, I was able to put enough doubt in Rarity’s mind to deter her from any clothes shopping for those who weren’t staying in this world regularly. We spent a bit of time at an arcade, where Dash and I had some heated gaming. AJ seemed fine with it, despite her apparently being the one who would compete so much with the rainbow haired girl. In fact, she seemed to find it amusing, more often than not likely because I would keep things neck and neck far more than Rainbow was clearly comfortable with. “Pity you aren’t going to be around for the Friendship Games,” Dash says as we finish a racing game, her holding out a fist. I bump it in return, before cocking an eyebrow. “Friendship Games, what’re those?” And that has got to be one of the childish names I’ve ever heard. What, are they games were you compete to see who’s best at making friends? She stretches as we start to head back to where the rest of the girls are waiting for us outside the arcade. “It’s a competition we have every four years against another school called Crystal Prep. Having you on the time might’ve helped us win for once.” I look to her in surprise, my puzzling over whether or not this Crystal Prep is this world’s version of the Crystal Empire being set aside by Dash’s last words. “Wait. You haven’t won them before?” Dash groans, folding her arms. “Not for a long time. And, despite the fact Crystal Prep usually beat us when it comes to pretty much anything, including the games, they gloat about it,” well, doesn’t that sound like someone and somepony I know? “and hold it over our heads like it makes them better than us.” I frown. Okay, yeah, I was joking before, but that last part is a real dick move. Treating another school likes it’s beneath yours just because you always beat it at competitive stuff? Who the hell runs that school that’s okaying this? I know it can’t be Cadance and Shining Armour. Regardless of which world, I know Cadance couldn’t be so cold as a human. Either way, it sounds like the Friendship Games are called that because they’re meant to foster friendship between the schools… though, by the sounds of it, it fails in doing that. We meet up with the others and, noticing the time, decide we’ll meet up again tomorrow at Pinkie’s. Twilight and I wave goodbye to the girls as we follow Sunset, who said we could stay over at her place tonight since we’re all ponies. As we head for the exit, getting sodas from a nearby kiosk, I happen to notice a group of five younger girls sitting at a table nearby who look oddly familiar and it takes a second for it to click and, due to an old habit of mine, end up blurting out, “Is that the CMC?” The other two pause and look where I am, before Sunset nods. “Yeah. That’s them, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.” I cock an eyebrow. “But, the CMC and other two seem to hate each other back in Equestria.” Sunset sighs, folding her arms, her expression souring a little. “Yeah, it used to be that way here too. But, that was before Diamond’s father was arrested for child abuse.” I literally do a spit-take, Twilight quickly patting my back as I cough. Once I’ve got my breathing back under control, I look to Sunset with wide eyes. What? Filthy Rich was arrested for child abuse? Huh? I’ve met Filthy Rich, or at least his pony self, and he’s the nicest business guy I’ve ever met (though, in truth I’ve never met many, but you get my point) and a clearly loving father. Yet his human counterpart has been arrested for child abuse?! “HOW?” I demand, before putting my hands over my mouth. Thankfully, the mall’s so noisy it seems no one noticed. Sunset gives Diamond a sad look, despite the pink girl laughing and smiling along with the other four girls around her. “Turns out that Filthy lived up to his first name. He was making Diamond treat others horribly and kept enforcing on her that she’d join his business, Barnyard Bargains, when she gets older, without asking if that’s what she wanted herself.” I just look from Sunset to Diamond, my mouth open. I can’t be hearing this. “Her mother did her best to shield Diamond from the worst of it, but even though she’s head of the school board, she couldn’t really do anything,” Sunset continues, shaking her head. “In the end it took some anonymous emails to the police before Filthy’s dirty deeds started coming to the surface.” I glance to Sunset, an eyebrow raised. “Anonymous emails?” Sunset nods, a frown of confusing forming. “Yeah. No one’s been able to figure out who it was. When I say it was anonymous, they did leave a name, but no one’s been able to track it down.” “Who sent the emails?” Twilight asks, also interested. Sunset shaking her head. “Someone named Screwball. But, despite all their searching, the police haven’t been able to find anyone with that name who could’ve known about everything Filthy was doing. The only Screwball around is Spoiled Rich’s twin sister, but she’s a recovering mental patient, so there’s no way she could've had the skills to get those emails without leaving a trace beyond her name. They even got skilled hackers to try and trace the emails, but it’s like they came from a server that never even existed.” I fold my arms, cocking an eyebrow. “What, like, it vanished like magic? Sunset, that sound redicu... and I just realized I’m in no position to finish that sentence due to where I live and what I am there,” I finish, scratching the back of my neck. Sunset nods, smirking. “Yeah. The three of us are in no position to deny magic could, even by the smallest chance, be involved. Regardless, after the police confronted Filthy about it, his wife filed for divorce—” Something tells me that was more her taking a chance that finally came to her in order to help keep her daughter safe more than not wanting a husband who it turned out was abusive to her child. “—and, thanks to the charges already against him and Diamond’s testimony, she was able to get full custody of Diamond, as well as a fair amount of money due to Child Support. The two moved out from his big mansion and, while not living in too big a home, moved to a house far away from him. He’s still running his business, but the police have their eye on him so he doesn’t do anything shifty. Not to mention making sure he doesn’t violate the restraining order his now ex-wife has against him that forbids him from coming within eighty yards of either her or Diamond.” Yeesh! So, while Filthy’s a really nice guy and loving father back in Equestria, over here he’s a complete and utter douche bag. Suddenly my theory about whether Cadance must be like her pony self has been put into question. With that done, we head out and walk to Sunset’s apartment. It turns out she lives in the a single building not too far from Pinkie Pie. As we reach the building, however, it’s to find someone sitting on the steps out front, her arms around her legs. It’s that Sonata girl from earlier. As we approach, she looks up and I realize her eyes are red and there are tear-streaks down her face. Without thinking, I hurry over and pull the girl into a hug, which she returns at once, holding onto me tightly. “Sonata?” Sunset asks, sounding shocked as she and Twilight catch up. “What happened? Why’re you here?” Sonata sniffles, burying her face into my shoulder, her voice muffled. “Adagio kicked me out.” Whoa, wait, WHAT?! Aren’t those three sisters? That’s the vibe I got from them with how they were bickering back at the mall, not to mention the fact all three shared the exact same eye colour. And that Adagio, I’m guessing the older sister of the three, just kicked her own flesh and blood out onto the streets?! Seriously?! “What happened?” Twilight asks, her voice full of concern. Sonata sniffles again, before pulling back and looking down at the ground. “After you girls left, Aria and Dagi’s fight got worse. Mall security kicked us out for creating a disturbance and we went home, where they just continued to argue. I tried to mention what you said, Sunset and Dagi snapped at me and, before I knew what was happening, she’d kicked me out, yelling never to come back!” she finishes by bursting into tears. I look to Twilight and Sunset, not sure what to think, let alone do. Before any of us can, there’s a pink blur from behind the two still standing and a voice shouts, “It’s okay, Sonata! You can stay with me and Maud if you want!” My eyes go wide as I register that somehow Pinkie is now hugging Sonata tightly. I... but, she... How did...? Where did...? When did...? “Don’t worry, girls,” Pinkie says, turning to look at us. “She can stay with Maud and me.” Before I really know what’s happened Pinkie and the siren are just... gone. We each look around for several moments, but they’re just gone. I look to Twilight and Sunset, my eyes wide and asking HOW? I don’t understand this at all. How did this world’s Pinkie do that? Was she following us and kept quiet the whole time? Knowing our Pinkie, that doesn’t seem possible. I... she... I put my head in my hands. “My brain hurts. Can we just go inside and go to bed before I have a melt down?” Sunset nods, still looking uncertain herself and we head inside. Her apartment isn’t much. It’s not too big or too small; there is a small combo kitchen and dining area, with another area that looks like a living area, with a large black couch with two smaller couches either side facing in a diagonal position and a flat-screen, sixty inch TV with what look like a PS3 and a PS2, with a small hallway leading to what I’d assume are the bathroom and a door leading to a bedroom with a loft. I look around, before Twilight says exactly what I’m thinking. “Sunset, how can you afford a place like this?” It’s a very valid question. Sunset’s from Equestria. Where did she get the money to pay for all this? Even if she has a part-time job, this apartment seems to nice and it’s not exactly cheap to get that kind of a screen, let alone both a PS3 and PS2 (the latter of which is better, in my personal opinion). Sunset blinks, before chuckling a little sheepishly, scratching her head. “Whilst Princess Celestia didn’t know it, when I went through the portal against her wishes, I’d returned a short while later and grabbed a ton of gems. Once I got back here, undetected by the so-called ever vigilant Royal Guard, mind you, I sold the gems here and have been using the money from them ever since.” Twilight and I just stare, blinking at her, our eyes wide. “B-but you first came to this world four years ago,” Twilight says, flustered. Sunset nods, still smiling sheepishly. I shake my head. “But... to have been living off the money from those gems for so long... just how much did you get for them, and how many did you bring?!” She shrugs. “I honestly had no idea how much the gems were worth in this world until I tried to sell them. I’ve barely used half of them.” Our jaws just hang open. And here I’d thought Sunset had struggled for a living during her time in this world. Man, was I wrong. Having eaten dinner at the mall due to how late it was, we all just take turns bathing before Twilight and I take the spare bedroom, which has two beds and we all turn in for the night. With tomorrow being our last day before heading back to Equestria, I can’t help wondering how crazy it will be. Will Pinkie bring Sontata along? And what about Sonata’s sisters? Are they worried about her? Are they out looking for her? Whatever the case, I know I can’t do anything right now, so I close my eyes and let sleep come to me. Tomorrow’s another day. Let’s see how crazy a day.