//------------------------------// // On the other side // Story: Two worlds colliding // by TalkingToMyself //------------------------------// Chapter 2: On the other side Sunset fell hard as she stumbled out of the portal again. She shook her head and tried to stand up, but lost balance and fell over again, this time landing safely on her fore hooves though. She blinked and looked down at herself, seeing her old form again. Then she saw the glowing and pulsing portal behind her, noticing the cracks on the edges of the mirror again and remembered the promise she made to her friends. „TWILIGHT! HELP! SOMEPONY! ANYPONY! PLEASE HELP!“ To her surprise, a door instantly opened and a young mare walked into the room. She was an tan coated earth pony and wearing the uniform of a royal maid „Miss? How did you get in here? What's...“ „Please, we don't have time! I need to talk to Twilight Sparkle right now! We need to...“ Sunset paused in shock as the felt the floor around her rumbling and shaking. The maid also looked frightened and now behind the door Sunset could see lots of other ponies run around in panic, even some royal guards „Oh no! Are the earthquakes getting worse? Is everyone safe?“ The earth pony blinked surprised „Everypony is in panic. It just started a few minutes ago but not even the Princesses know where it came from or why it won't stop.“ „The Princess! I know why it won't stop, I need to tell her! Is Celestia around?“ Without waiting for an answer, Sunset went for the door and yelled out at the top of her voice „PRINCESS! PLEASE, I NEED YOUR HELP! PRINCESS CELESTIA, I...“ She stopped. What if she doesn't want to help me? I couldn't blame her, after all that... no I mustn't think that way! I need to convince her to... „Sunset Shimmer?“ Sunset snapped back into reality and saw a purple alicorn fly along the hallway and land directly before her. Although she only saw her alicorn form briefly once, she'd recognize those eyes and that voice everywhere „Twilight! Thank god you're here! You have to help me! The others are in great danger and so are we! The portal...“ „Stay away from the Princess, intruder!“ Two royal guards suddenly stood beside Twilight and stepped in between her and the alicorn, one of them a white pegasus and the other a gray unicorn with his horn glowing, ready to cast a spell. Sunset froze in surprise and fear, but then Twilight just passed them and put a hoof at her shoulder „Sunset, you need to tell me everything! And you!“ She turned to the guards. „Lower your magic right now! Even if she is an intruder, such behavior is inacceptable for a member of the royal guard. Violence has the last resort.“ She glared angrily at the unicorn, then turned to the pegasus „Go find the other Princesses and send them here as fast as you can! Hurry!“ Dismissing both guards with a brief nod, she turned to the maid „You're Dusty, right? Please, could you make sure we're not disturbed until the Princesses arrive? I have to talk with my friend first,“ „O-of course, your Highness!“ Dusty bowed and closed the door after Twilight had pushed Sunset back into the room. The alicorn's eyes went wide as she saw the portal, the glowing energy coming from it and the cracks. Sunset almost expected her to panic right away, but she just rose a hoof to her chest and took a deep breath in, then exhaled and looked at Sunset „What's going on?“ Sunset was in the middle of explaining as the door opened and a pink coated alicorn stepped inside, followed by a dark blue alicorn with a mane that looked like it was made of a starry sky. Sunset lost track of what she was saying, but since Twilight didn't react on the others entering she continued „And then I was seeing what looked like a veil that separated the two worlds. It was very thin and the storm was pulling at it and tearing it apart. And through the cracks and rips, magic from Equestria was flowing into our world! But it was too much and not guided by leylines, so it caused the storm back there! And seeing things here, I guess energy from our world must be doing something similar to this world as well. And since the veil is being torn apart, it's getting worse!“ As if to confirm her words, the room shook again, more violently this time. Sunset flinched as a bookshelf on the other side of the room fell over with a loud smash. Twilight and the other Princesses used their wings to steady themselves, then the purple alicorn adressed the other two „Princess Luna, Cadence, we're in deep trouble here! Sunset Shimmer just came here from the other world I've been visiting frequently. There's as much chaos there as we have here.“ „Chaos, but different it seems. I haven't seen any storm outside, not that the earthquakes wouldn't cause enough destruction already“ The dark blue mare said in a regal voice and turned her attention to Sunset „I am Luna, Princess of the night. I know you are a former student of my sister and I know you came here asking for help. Tell us, how can we help safe our world along with yours?“ „Or better, why should we help you?“ Sunset felt like she was hit in the face and turned to the third princess „I remember you clearly, you broke into my castle and stole Twilight’s crone. And from what I've heard, you tried to use it to take over Equestria. Why should we trust you, let alone help you.“ Sunset looked at the ground, unable to give an answer to this. „Cadence! She made a mistake, but she changed! I saw it with my own eyes and I saw her save all those she hurt before during the attack of the sirens, standing right next to me“ Twilight seemed shocked to hear such words from her fellow princess and Sunset's heart sang hearing the Princess of Friendship of all ponies stand up for her and defend her. She stood next to Twilight and looks at both Princesses. „You don't know me, and I can't expect you to trust me. But I'm begging you to help me. Not for my own sake, but for my friends back there. They and everyone else are suffering the consequences of the barrier between the worlds breaking down. As is everypony out there right now. If we find a way to help each other, both worlds can be saved to the benefit of all. I know you don't trust me, but I promise to do everything I can to help and then leave you right away if you wish. My friends are counting on me, and I won't let them down. I promised to find a way to fix this, and I will, even without your help if I have too.“ She looked at the pink alicorn Cadence know, determination burning in her eyes despite the mess she found herself in. Twilight stood close to her for support, making her feel better immediately. Princess Luna had been listening quietly and now spoke to Cadence as well „If Twilight trust her, so do I. My sister saw good in her as well when she taught her. And the depth of her friendship speaks clearly from her words, I believe her. Maybe she made mistakes in the past, but she's seen the error in her ways and changed for the better, otherwise she wouldn't feel so strongly for her friends. Let us give her this chance to prove herself against the past she left behind.“ Princess Cadence' expression had already softened as Sunset talked, but after Luna's speech she ended up looking at the ground. After a moment of quiet, she sighs and looked back at Sunset. The unicorn blinked as she was looking into the eyes of a completely different pony it seemed. Those formerly hard eyes now soft and warm, even misty with tears „Sunset Shimmer, I have to deeply apologize to you. You took a great risk to not only help your friends, but give us your support as well. I too have friends and family out of my reach and worry about their well-being. My concerns clouded my perception as it seems. I hope you can someday forgive me those terrible things I said. But please, you said you knew a way to help us? If you're willing to share it with us, I give you my promise as a Princess I will do all I can to help you safe your friends and world as well,“ she pleaded with a humble voice, her eyes full of hope as she waited for an answer. Luna nodded and Twilight gave Cadence a quick hug before she also turned her attention back to her unicorn friend. Sunset couldn't help but stare at the words of the princess. She had expected to be thrown in the dungeons or having to fight for anypony to even listen to her. But now she'd earned the support of three alicorn princesses, one of them Princess Celestia's sister nevertheless. She couldn't fight back the smile that came to her and the relief that now she could help her friends in the human world. She nodded thankfully at each of the princesses and continued her explanation „In the human world, Twilight used her magic to form a connection between the magic that had manifested the storm back to the portal. The unguided magic seemed to follow this path on its own and the storm started to fade. But it was simply too much magic at once for her to deal with, even with the help of the others. But if we try the same at both sides, we might be able to stop the energy from flooding in for good. Even if we can't stop it right away, slowing down the flow will at least stop the storm there and the earthquakes here.“ The princesses shared a look and nodded at her words „This seems very plausible. Twilight, since you're the most adept in the use of magic, you should try to replicate the spell your other self performed. Princess Cadence and I will offer additional magic, should you need it“ Cadence smiled at Twilight as she nodded and turned to the portal, concentrating as she prepared her spell. Sunset sighed relieved and addressed all the alicorns again „Princess, I can't thank you enough for...“ Her words were disturbed by another quake shaking the floor. She shrieked as she lost her balance and fell over, closing her eyes. The rumbling stopped, but she didn't hit the floor. She opened her eyes again and saw herself surrounded by an aura if light purple magic. She looked up and saw Princess Cadence using her magic to carefully set her back on her hooves. She smiled thankfully and Cadence returned it earnestly. „Thank you... your Highness.“ Cadence shook her head gently „There will be time for thanking each other after we took care of this. We clearly need to focus on the problems at hoof first.“ She stood to Twilight’s right side and Luna took the place to her left, closer to the door. „Twilight, are you ready?“ The alicorn princess nodded and closed her eyes. Her horn glowed brightly as she cast her spell. This time, Sunset could clearly see everything that happened, not just vague images like in the other world. Twilight probed for the invisible energy of the other world and quickly found it. The other princesses gasped as the energy became visible as a transparent cloud of blue mist filling the entire room. Twilight carefully opened a path towards the portal and the mist eagerly took the offered direction. Twilight then took her time to strengthen the path further and make it grow to withstand the increasing masses of energy that were directed towards its origin world. Soon, Twilight had pearls of sweat appearing on her forehead and her whole body tensed up, trying to keep her spell up. That's when Cadence's horn flared up as well, her light purple magic helping the dark purple glow to contain the energy. Both princesses together managed to steady the spell for a few minutes longer, but Sunset could see it was talking a lot out of them. Luna was just about to join in as well when suddenly the door opened and a tall white alicorn rushed into the room. Her eyes fixed on her sister, Princess Celestia spoke hastily „Sister it seems the earthquakes have come to an end. But we need to...“ The Princess' eyes went wide as she took in the glowing portal, the struggling alicorns and finally the yellow unicorn. „Sunset Shimmer?“ She whimpered when she heard her former teacher say those words and all the feelings she pushed away so long threatened to boil up again. This time, it was Princess Luna who stopped her by stomping her hoof to get her sister's attention „Sister! I will explain all to you later, but now we must hurry! Twilight and Cadrnce need our help and our magic if we want to stop this for good!“ Celestia tore her gaze away from Sunset and looked at her sister. After one look into her eyes, the tall alicorn stood behind Twilight and spread her wings, as did her sister. Dark blue and golden magic flared up and the power of four alicorn princesses now strengthened the spell. Sunset was surprised how easily Celestia pushed her questions and concerns away when her sister asked her and watched as the spell managed to direct more and more blue energy to the portal. Other ponies had entered the room as well and watched in awe. Sunset frowned after watching for about five minutes. The spell seemed to hold for now, but Twilight was already exhausted and even Luna and Celestia began to struggle, but there was more and more blue mist appearing and bursting through the path, seemingly endless amounts of energy pouring into the room. She wasn't sure if the other ponies could see the energy as well, but they grew more and more concerned when they saw their Princesses struggle. Worried whispers and glances were exchanged and Sunset could see even more ponies standing at the door and watching and getting worried like herself. Would the Princesses be able to keep the spell up long enough? Then suddenly, a unicorn guard stepped up and stood next to Princess Luna. He seemed very young, most likely barely finished with his training, but he lit up his magic and poured it into the spell, adding a dark green magic to the bright glowing magic of the alicorns. It seemed pointless in comparison, like trying to fix a broken dam by placing a single pebble at just the right spot. But the Princess smiled and nodded to him. Then another unicorn stepped up and offered her magic to help, a maid this time. Then two more mares lit up their horns to help. The pegasi and earth ponies exchanged glances again, but this time filled with hope and determination. You couldn't fix a dam with a single pebble, but what if you used more than just a few? Quickly, the room filled with more unicorns, trained or not in the use of magic, to offer their help and their magic. Sunset could hear someone calling in the hallways for any unicorn to come and help the Princesses as the other ponies left the room to make space. Soon there were about thirty unicorns in the room and more in the hallways, feeding the spell with more and more magic of all colors. The earth ponies and pegasi vocalized their support, giving encouraging words and calling more unicorns to help. Sunset watched in awe as the display before her. So many ponies, working together in harmony and determination, and they were doing it! The energy still didn't stop pouring through the path back to the portal and all four alicorns looked very exhausted by now, but they were holding it together to save those around them and the world they lived in. Sunset smiled as she thought of her friends and how they always stood together and fought for each other in the same way. She could feel them inside her, cheering as the ponies succeeded in not only saving their own world, but the human world as well. Sunset then felt a hoof on her shoulder and turned around to see Dusty, the earth pony maid from earlier „Miss, please? Can you help them? They look so tired and you're a unicorn too!“ Sunset blinked, totally perplexed for a moment. Of course, she had transformed back and had her horn back. That meant... She closed her eyes and felt inside her, and there is was. Her magic, familiar and warm, waiting for her like it's never been gone. She could feel it and easily shape it like she used to. This feeling alone would have called a big smile to her, hadn't it been for the serious situation they were all in. With determination and the power of her friends in her heart, she flared up her magic in a powerful glow and light blue magic matching her eyes poured towards Twilight’s spell. It felt like trying to pull a massive wall, trying to get it to budge, but she felt all the unicorns around her do so with all their strength so she allowed herself no doubts. She had been Celestia's most talented pupil after all, and she had the knowledge and strength to back it up, plus the strength of her friends on the other side of the portal. She took a few steps forward until she stood between Twilight and Candace with Celestia towering behind her. They nodded and smiled at the new burst of magic that now empowered the spell. She returned the nod with determination and closed her eyes to focus on the spell and the portal. Again, the world around her faded as she slipped back into the place she saw at the vision of the veil. She gasped in shock when she saw it though, full of long deep rips now and blue energy from the human world pouring out of each. That's why the energy wasn't getting less even with the spell in place. There was far more flooding in that could flow back. They needed to close those cracks first. But how? She frowned and thought back to what happened at the end of the Friendship games. Back then, Twilight, her Twilight, had used magic to open windows to Equestria. Once the power of her friends and their Elements of Harmony helped her transform, she could easily closed them again with the strength of her friends. Wait. That's it! I could close the portal, but with the magic from the human Elements. I wonder if I could do something similar with the human magic that came here. She choose one of the smaller cracks and focused on the blue energy that kept pouring in from it. Trying to send it into the veil instead. However, she didn't seem to get a hold on it, it felt slippery in her mental grip. She sighed and wondered how Twillight could direct this energy so accurately. She tilted her head and out of an instinct reached for the energy that flowed through the path and found she could control it far better, almost as well as her own magic. Focusing on the crack again, she send out her magic and the blue energy together and watched the crack slowly close from the edge, until it vanished completely, not even leaving a mark in the fabric of the veil. Sunset cheered on the inside and pulled more energy from the path, closing another crack just as easily. She heard the cheering again, but this time she felt more like came from behind her and she heard voices talking. „What's happening?“ „It's Sunset Shimmer! I don't know what she's doing, but she's breaking through.“ „This is amazing! It seems like her connection to both worlds allows her to influence the barrier between the worlds and fix it!“ Sunset smiled, recognizing Twillight's voice. Then another familiar voice spoke „Balance... it's all about balance. I've seen this in her since the first time we met, but I'd never imagined anypony would be able to do such a feat.“ Sunset couldn't help but smile. She always somehow managed to impress her teacher back in the days and it seemed the time spent in another world didn't change that. She called out „I'm not doing this alone! Everypony is helping and my friends on the other side are doing their best too! Please, keep up a little longer!“ She waited, unsure if her words came through, but then she heard Twilight again „You heard her! Everypony, let's give her our best!“ And suddenly, the power of an alicorn princess flowed through her body, Sunset gasped at the sudden rush, but put it to good use, sending the alicorn magic and a huge chunk of human energy to close one of the biggest cracks now. Three more surges and three more princesses joined in, followed by a myriad of magic sparks from the other unicorns. Sunset lost no time, fixing the veil and all its cracks one by one. The blue mist became less and less now, but as it happened Sunsets smiled went even wider. The veil seemed to solidify with every crack she fixed, and by now it seemed less than a veil but more like an actual window made of durable glass with only a hint of violet. And behind that glass she could see them as clearly as she felt them in her heart. Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle, all 'ponied up' and cheering for her. And around them she saw all the other students as well, their friendship empowering human Twilight’s spell and sending all the traces of Equestrian magic back to Canterlot. With the magic of the alicorn princesses flowing through her, she could see the magic flowing back into the Equestrian leylines where it belonged, flowing away peacefully and spreading all over Equestria as it should. The human energy was almost used up by now as well and only the circular hole right in front of her and human Twilight remained. The portal was still open and all the cracks had closed. Sunset could see all of her friends cheering and feel their happiness in her heart, grinning at Twilight the biggest smile she could as a unicorn. But then, she frowned. At the edges of the portal, she could already see new cracks forming. Using the magic offered to her by the ponies again, she fixed them. Only to see them return seconds after. She turned to look at Twilight „It's not working. The wall is solid for now but it's still starting to break again.“ Twilight stared back at her, confused and with a helpless expression. She clearly couldn't hear or understand her it seemed. Sunset took a deep breath again. Think Sunset. You're missing something. You have the magic of the four most powerful beings in Equestria, there must be a way to finish what you started. Her eyes opened wide and in shock as realization hit her. Finish it. It's not finished as long as the portal is still open. Celestia's words echoed through her mind. It's all about balance. Her cutie mark glowed on her flank and she suddenly understood Both worlds have been heavily disturbed. They need to be separated in order for them to regain balance again. My cutie mark and the Taijitu symbol in it. It all makes sense now. She frowned and stared at Twilight and the others behind the portal. I can't close the portal from their side without the magic of the Princesses. But I can't leave it open either She stared to cry, heavy tears running down her cheeks as she knew what had to be done. With misty eyes she waved goodbye to Twilight, tears still running down. Twilight looked worried, but then suddenly nodded and smiled. It was a sad smile that only made Sunset want to cry more, so she did. Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity came into view as well. They all shouted something at her. They all had tears in their eyes, but the were all smiling. In her heart, she could feel and understand what they were saying, that they'd never give up on their friendship, even if this meant goodbye. Sunset put on her bravest smile for them, then closed her eyes and poured the last bits of human energy around her at the portal, closing it down completely. No cracks reappeared, but the power of all the ponies around her still poured through her body, as did the emotions of her friends. She took a deep breath and directed every ounce of magic, friendship and strength she was offered and held within herself at the barrier. Her horn and her cutie mark flared up and glowed brightly as the wall of glass became more dense, crystallizing at the edges at first and turning into a thick wall, harder than diamond and more durable than every before. With a last cry, Sunset finished the spell and released all the magic in one powerful burst. When the light from the flash faded, then princesses and the ponies couldn't see any trace of the portal anymore. The weird feeling of magic from another world completely gone. Some ponies started to cheer and hug each other, but the princesses remained silent and just stared. Right in front of them, kneeling on the floor, sat the unicorn Sunset Shimmer, crying bitter tears of loss and pain. She had done what was needed, she save both worlds, but it was all meaningless. She could no longer feel the connection to her human friends.