Sunset Shimmer stepped off of the bus, slinging her bag over her shoulder as her foot hit the pavement. It was cold, and she’d been informed that the bus station didn’t have any sort of indoor waiting room for her to go warm up. That kind of really sucked. That wasn’t even considering that her old, worn out jacket wasn’t doing much to keep the wind off of her. A quick glance behind her told her that nobody else was getting off with her. A shame she’d have to walk into the city without anyone to talk to… at night. So, in a sense, it could also be considered a blessing. One never knew the kind of freaks they rode the bus with.
As she made her way away from the bus, she turned her attention towards the city she was going to be staying in: Canterlot. The sight made her heart sink. It was big… Like, really big. Or at least, it was compared to her hometown. Coming from the somewhat rural Dodge City, Sunset was considerably unsettled by the though of trying to find her way in the metropolis.
As her steps drew her closer and closer, she felt the crushing reality of the situation more and more. She had no idea what she was doing. She’d never been out of Dodge City, except for a school trip to Appleloosa and that was much the same as home. But neither of the towns had a college for her to attend, and her grades (as well as her parents) had all but demanded she find one. It had taken her a while to save up, only to find out that she actually qualified for a scholarship.
And so, Sunset Shimmer found herself trekking towards Canterlot University as she finally entered the city proper.
It was night, so she’d probably have to rent a motel room. The thought sent a chill down her spine. She’d never been inside the motel in D.C., but she’d heard that it wasn’t exactly the nicest place to stay, and she distinctly remembered hearing a lot of shouting as she’d passed by one night.
A sharp crash came from a nearby alleyway, jarring Sunset from her thoughts and making her stumble backwards. It wasn’t some drugged up attacker, as she’d expected; merely a cat looking for something to eat. She could see its piercing green eyes through the darkness. After a moment of the two staring at each other, the cat went about its business, leaving Sunset to do the same. She started off again, avoiding looking down the alleys she passed. It mostly worked, but a few noises made her stop and stare into the darkness.
As she continued on her way, the chill was beginning to bite deeper and deeper. Her coat pretty much served no purpose at that point, though she dared not discard it. Down the street, she could finally see Canterlot University, its shining white walls and purple roofs contrasting sharply with the depressing grey of the rest of the city. It was actually a really pretty building; almost resembling a castle more than a university.
“Make sure he doesn’t lose it!”
Sunset’s hand shot up to her mouth as her eyes grew wide. She hadn’t said that… but it was unmistakably her voice that she’d heard. And what was going to be lost? Sunset quickly scanned around her, looking for whoever might’ve said that.
It was then that she saw the wolf. It was big, easily the size of a tiger or something similar. It gave off some sort of strange, almost ethereal green glow. Also, it was very clearly made of wood. Sticks and branches and leaves comprised the entirety of its lupine body. As the wolf ran down the sidewalk, she spotted the bright blue bird flying above it, seemingly tailing it.
But then she saw the women. There were seven of them. All of them were dressed like soldiers, with tactical vests and pants that were tucked into their boots. They all also seemed to have a pistol strapped to their thighs, but that quickly lost any importance when she saw the two women in the air. Flying. Two of them had angel wings and were flying above the rest of the group. One of the winged women, who had pink hair and yellow skin, had several small birds flying around her.
So that was it. They were filming a movie or something. However, a quick scan of her surroundings brought forth information that rivaled that. There wasn’t anybody else watching. Outdoor movie shoots were typically observed by a myriad of fans. Furthermore, the wolf would have been done in CG once filming was done. No one used animatronics anymore, let alone ones advanced enough to run on their own.
The flying woman with pink hair pointed ahead of them and said something, pinching her throat as she spoke. It was too quiet to make out what she was saying, so she must’ve been using a radio. Regardless, another member of the group told everyone to stop and duck into another alley. She had Sunset’s voice.
Of course, one might count that as a coincidence, as many people had similar voices. Yet, one could only say that if they weren’t looking at the woman. Her hair (done up in a ponytail) was a fiery red and gold, while her skin was a distinct amber color. And even at her current distance, Sunset could see the familiar turquoise eyes shining in the night.
It couldn’t be real. She had to be dreaming. Yeah, that was it. Sunset had just fallen asleep on the bus and now she was having some kind of anxiety induced dream. And yet, she couldn’t quite convince herself of that. She’d never been anywhere nearly as cold as she was now, and one never experienced new sensations in dreams. To boot, she was fairly certain she wasn’t creative enough to come up with the idea of a wolf made of wood.
Without even realizing what she was doing, Sunset started walking forward, heading straight for the group of women. As she drew closer, the notion that what she was seeing was real began cementing itself in her mind. She could see the individual hairs in the women’s flowing locks. She could hear their labored breathing and could see the air in front of their mouths fogging up. She could even see a rather faint scar on the other Sunset’s cheek, trailing down under her collar.
Sunset’s sneaker hit something metallic like a soda can, alerting the women to her presence. All at once, the women snapped their heads in her direction, prompting her to take a step back. The Other Sunset’s eyes grew wide with what could’ve been surprise, but they quickly closed as she let loose a sigh that clouded the air in front of her.
“Okay,” Other Sunset started softly, opening her eyes and flashing a soft smile. “I know you’ve got questions, but… Wait, no! Don’t…”
Anything else Other Sunset might’ve said was cut away as the world around her quickly faded to black. She felt the sensation of something caressing her entire body, and then there was nothing else. Just darkness.
>X<
The ringing was sharp and violent. It took Sunset a few moments to realize it was actually her cell phone ringing. Her eyes snapped open as she instinctively tried to roll out of bed and grab her phone to answer. Except she quickly realized she wasn’t in bed. Nor could she even really move. The clacking sound as she pulled on her hand prompted her to look down at the black handcuffs that adorned her left wrist. Her other one had furry handcuffs on it. Furry. Handcuffs. Of course, being Sunset, the worst possible scenario came to mind, but that wasn’t likely. She was still wearing all of her clothes. Well, most of her clothes. Her coat had been removed, as had her knit cap. Her glasses were still there, though.
It suddenly dawned on her that her phone wasn’t ringing anymore. Sunset looked up to see… her. The other Sunset was standing there, chatting on her– actual Sunset’s cell phone with whoever had called it. It made her blood boil to see the imposter acting like she was the real deal. But then she listened to what Other Sunset was saying. She wasn’t impersonating her.
“Yeah, it’s fine. She’s at my place. Sorry to worry you, Lemon,” Other Sunset said sweetly. “I wish you’d told me she was coming. I could’ve prepared better. Yeah, I’ll talk to the mayor later. Alright, bye.” With that, Other Sunset pulled the phone away from her head and tapped the screen.
“So, you know Lemon Hearts,” Sunset said sharply and loudly, causing Other Sunset to gasp and glare at her. It was then that Sunset noticed her double’s state of dress. The only clothing she was wearing was an open button-up shirt and her black underwear. This left her stomach, legs, and most of her arms exposed.
As it turned out, Other Sunset was absolutely ripped. She had a well-defined six pack, toned legs, and muscular arms that almost filled out the sleeves of her shirt. Also, a considerably bigger chest. That was pretty hard to miss.
“Hey, it’s rude to stare, even if we do have the same body.” Sunset’s gaze snapped up to Other Sunset’s face, which wore a cocky smirk. “Not that I actually mind.”
Sunset sneered up at the double. “Pretty sure I don’t have a six pack like a man’s, or that nasty scar on my face.” This very quickly wiped away Other Sunset’s smirk. It was immediately replaced with a sour grimace.
“That’s uncalled for,” Other Sunset snapped, turning away. She grabbed a pair of black jeans from her sofa and unfolded them. “I mean, I’m not standing here throwing insults at you, am I?”
Sunset glared at her for a moment. She was right. That was uncalled for. And it was also not a great idea to talk back when she was the one handcuffed to a chair. “Sorry,” Sunset said quietly. “Would you mind un-cuffing me? This is kind of uncomfortable.”
“Not really sure I want to, now,” Other Sunset said sourly, turning back to face Sunset. She took a few steps forward and leaned down against the arms of the chair. She suddenly put on a wicked smirk. “I mean, you’re pretty cute. And rude. Maybe I oughtta teach you some manners…” She leaned in closer, narrowing her eyes. Sunset’s heart started racing. She was about to… Other Sunset suddenly stood up straight, crossing her arms. “Or not. That would be kind of messed up.”
“And what do you call the handcuffs?”
“Safety measures,” Other Sunset said confidently. “I had no idea if you’d be hostile when you woke up, so I made sure you wouldn’t attack me.” She uncrossed her arms and leaned forward again, this time pulling a pair of keys out of her shirt pocket. “But I don’t think you’ll do that now. Also, sorry about the furry ones, I left my other normal pair in the jeep.”
Sunset chuckled, trying to look away from Other Sunset’s chest. “Well, I definitely don’t want those arms around my neck.”
“Hey, chicks dig the muscles,” Other Sunset said casually as she finished removing the cuffs and stood back up “There you go. Free as a bird.”
“Great,” Sunset muttered. Once Other Sunset had stepped back, Sunset stood up and stretched. Her back popped, causing both of them to wince. A quick scan of her surroundings led her to several realizations. First was that Other Sunset was kind of a slob. Her apartment was a mess, with clothes strewn about everywhere and dust on pretty much every surface. The other realization was that Other Sunset wore pretty nice clothes. Specifically, her underwear. There was a pair of lacy red panties draped over a nearby sofa.
“Yeah, it’s kind of a wreck,” Other Sunset said, picking up the red panties. “I was going to straighten up once I was dressed, but Lemon called and now we’re here.”
Sunset looked over to see her double simply toss the underwear over her shoulder into another pile. She quickly stepped over and grabbed the black jeans from earlier and started pulling them on. Once they were on, she grabbed a belt and threaded that through, stopping briefly to slide a pistol holster (with the gun in it) onto it. It wasn’t a very big, probably a compact or sub-compact, but the thought still made Sunset a little uncomfortable.
Shaking her head, Sunset crossed her arms and cast what she hoped was an intimidating glare at Other Sunset. “You said you had answers,” she said sharply. Other Sunset turned towards her, in the process of fastening her shirt. She promptly offered up a sigh.
“Yes,” she said calmly, “I do have answers. But you should get a shower first. You can borrow some of my old clothes. They should fit you.”
>X<
Some time later, after Sunset had showered and changed, she rode with Other Sunset in an orange jeep to a place called Sugarcube Corner. They were meeting up with Other Sunset’s group of friends for breakfast. Sunset presumed that they were the other members of the team the night before. Along the way, Other Sunset was keeping her word and giving her any and all of the answers she wanted.
“So,” Sunset said slowly. “You’re me… from another dimension.”
“Preeeetty much.”
“And you’re a horse.”
“Pony.” There was a slight edge to her voice as Other Sunset corrected her, almost like it annoyed her when people got it wrong.
“It’s the same thing, isn’t it?”
“It’s really not…” she said, gritting her teeth.
Sunset sighed loudly. “I feel like this’ll make you mad, but what’s the difference?” she asked, looking out of her window as they came to a red light.
“Well, in this world, there’s a distinct size difference,” Other Sunset pointed out. The jeep started moving again when the light changed. “But in my world, equine kind all identify as ponies. The word ‘horse’ is a slur used by non-equine species. It’s like… calling a person a slave.”
“Oh… I’m sor–”
“It’s fine,” Other Sunset said sharply, cutting her off. “You… you didn’t know, so I’m not mad.”
They were quiet for a few minutes until Sunset asked another question. “So what was that wolf thing?”
“Timber wolf,” Other Sunset said briefly, smirking at the pun. “It’s a creature from my world. I think they were made with voodoo magic before they became feral; I’m not sure. You can’t kill them, they just put themselves back together.”
Sunset swallowed a bit of bile. “They sound dangerous.”
“They are. I’m just glad we only had a few of them to capture.”
“So how did it get into this world? Did it follow you?”
“That’s a little complicated, actually.” They pulled up to another red light. “When I entered into this world about eight years ago, the portal I used was artificial. Basically, a dimensional zipper that opens every thirty moons. For a while, we used a machine on the other side to keep it open.”
The light changed again, and they started moving. “You don’t anymore?”
“We don’t. It put too much strain on the barrier between worlds. A little more than three years ago, natural portals started opening up all over the country as a result. At that point, we stopped using the artificial portal, and started using a natural one.” Other Sunset sighed, pointing ahead at Sugarcube Corner. She took a left, away from the café. “Once the portals opened, creatures started coming through. The objective is typically to contain and return it to my world, but…” Her expression darkened as she reached up and ran her finger over her scar.
Sunset pulled her arms tight against her stomach. She’d insulted this woman when she was just protecting people. “I guess that doesn’t always work, huh?”
“No, it doesn’t. It’s rare, though.”
“So, are you guys like… Government agents or something?”
“In this world, we’re more like mercenaries working for the Mayor. My friends and I, as Task Force Harmony, take care of otherworldly conflicts. In return, the Mayor pays us and supplies the group with whatever weapons or vehicles we need. One of our members, Twilight, seals up the portals. We get a nice bonus for that. If we get spotted, I use a memory potion to erase their memory. In my world, my friends’ counterparts are practically knights.”
“So… Men in Black, but with magic?”
“Basically, yeah. Oh, and rainbows. Lots and lots of rainbows.”
Sunset looked back out the window, contemplating everything she’d just been told. Granted, it was all pretty far fetched, but everything seemed to connect pretty well. Pictures of weird creatures seeing a sudden surge on the internet… the recent rise of unexplained destruction in major cities on the news… even that weird video on MyStable a few years ago of the dark angel woman tearing open space and ranting about gaining knowledge. But there was still one thing that bothered her. “So, you don’t want to replace me and take over my life?”
Other Sunset chuckled, smiling over at Sunset. “I would think it’s obvious by now that I don’t,” she said, winking at her. “I’d have come after you way before now.”
Sunset promptly blushed, shrinking against the Jeep door. “Alright, then… I have one more question…” she said quietly, purposefully looking ahead of the car.
“Go for it,” Other Sunset said with a shrug.
“Did you really mean it when you said I was cute?”
“Naturally. I know I’m an attractive woman, and you look like me…” she said casually, looking straight ahead. At least, it was clear that she was trying to sound casual, but the slight crack in her voice gave it away.
“Be honest. You promised me answers.”
Other sunset grimaced at the road ahead, before pulling over and shutting the car off. “Fine, then. I don’t like being all muscular and stuff. Where I’m from, a strong and capable mare was an attractive one. Here, men like dainty girls that need heavy things lifted for them. I just look weird. And beyond that… I can’t, for the love of me, find the human body attractive! It’s so oddly shaped!”
“Then why do you think I’m attractive?” Sunset asked, removing turning in her seat. “If you don’t like the human body, then… Why?”
“Because I’m such a conceited woman,” Other Sunset muttered, staring at the steering wheel. “Back home, I always thought I was more attractive than others. I even had the nerve to compare myself to our Princess, who was considered the literal epitome of beauty and grace. Now that I don’t even find my own species attractive… I’m really all I’ve got.”
“So… it’s because you’re autosexual, and I look like you?” Sunset asked quietly. Other Sunset nodded weakly. She felt bad for her double. After all, she had to be so lonely. Even if she had her friends in Task Force Harmony, she wouldn’t want to be in an intimate relationship with them. If they went to bed, Other Sunset’s lack of attraction would probably hurt their feelings.
Other Sunset folded her arms up on the steering wheel and rested her forehead against them. “It’s pretty messed up, I know.”
Sunset smiled and reached over to touch Other Sunset’s Shoulder. “I think it makes perfect sense.”
Other Sunset snapped out of her funk and stared at Sunset in surprise. “Y-you’re kidding.” It wasn’t so much a question; Sunset could tell. It was a statement.
“Well, if I weren’t literally another version of you…” Sunset said slowly, piecing together her reasoning as she went. Honestly, she was just trying to comfort Other Sunset, but it actually did make sense to her. “I think it would be weird for it to be someone who wasn’t your parallel.” As Sunset spoke, her double smiled just a little wider with each word.
But her smile didn’t last. Something seemed to cross Other Sunset’s mind, and she turned her gaze to the gear shifter knob, frowning. “But,” she muttered, “are you okay with what basically equates to your twin wanting to date you?”
Sunset sighed, leaning towards Other Sunset. “It is weird, I’ll admit that,” she conceded, putting her hand on the doppelganger’s shoulder. “But, I think if you were to ask me out, I might say yes. If you’re me, then it won’t be hard to get to know each other.”
Both of them were quiet for a little while, both contemplating the next move. Eventually, Other Sunset straightened back up and scratched the back of her head. She held out her other hand, offering it to Sunset. “If that’s the case… Sunset Shimmer, do you maybe wanna grab some coffee later? Just you and me.”
Sunset smiled and took the offered hand. “That sounds nice, Sunset Shimmer.”
>X<
Six months after Sunset Shimmer went on a date with herself, she stood in her girlfriend’s living room looking out over the city with a cup of coffee in her hands. She’d just gotten out of bed, so she still wore her pajamas (if her thin nightie could be called that) as she waited for her lover to finish in the shower. It was summer now, and a lot had changed since the previous winter. She was in a fulfilling relationship with a beautiful and considerate woman, she was doing well in her college courses and she didn’t need to worry about paying rent. Yet. She’d been told almost immediately after she’d moved in that she would have to pick up some slack once she finished school.
Life was good.
But the oddness of her situation still perplexed Sunset. Why was it her? Why not Twilight, Rarity or one of her lover’s other friends? She didn’t really care, but it was an interesting topic to contemplate. To be honest, though, theoretical sciences were definitely her girlfriend’s specialty. Sunset actually preferred practical sciences. That was why she was going to school to become an engineer.
Deciding that it was too damn early in the morning to contemplate such complicated things, Sunset sipped her coffee and moved towards the sofa. The living room was noticeably cleaner now that she’d moved in. Clothes and expensive lingerie no longer littered the floor and furniture, but instead found their way into a clothes hamper. Sunset had made it abundantly clear that she wouldn’t live in a place that messy.
As she sat down, the bathroom door opened and the Other Sunset Shimmer strode out, dressed only in a button down shirt and underwear. In fact, it was the same ones she’d been wearing when they’d met.
“Good morning, Sunset,” Sunset said, smiling as her lover rolled her eyes. It was corny, yeah, but they both found it a little amusing.
“Morning, Sunset,” Other Sunset said softly, leaning down and kissing her girlfriend. “You look like you’ve been thinking.”
“Is it that obvious?” Sunset asked as her double pulled back.
Other Sunset chuckled and sat down beside her, slinging an arm over her shoulder. “Yep. You’re doing that thing you do with the eyebrows. Like, you look mad about something.”
“You do it too.”
“I know,” Other Sunset said casually. “But we’re talking about you. So what are you thinking about?”
Sunset Sighed, leaning into her girlfriend’s muscular embrace. “Us,” she said softly. “How weird what we have is. How much I love what we have. How much I love how weird what we have is.”
“You lost me, babe.”
Sunset giggled, pulling away from Other Sunset so she could put her coffee on the coffee table. She quickly turned around and sat on Other Sunset’s lap, facing her and straddling her legs. “I’m sure I did,” she said sweetly, taking her lover’s face in both hands. “What I mean is… You and me, we’re two of a kind. Because of that, what we have is one of a kind. I don’t ever want that to change.” She paused and kissed Other Sunset, eliciting a surprised grunt from her. When she pulled back, she smiled and moved her hands and knit them together behind her girlfriend’s neck. “And that, Sunset Shimmer, is because I love you.”
“I love you too, babe, but uh…” Other Sunset trailed off as she put her hands on Sunset’s hips. “You have morning breath.”
“You and I both know you don–” Sunset was cut off by a sharp ringing. She scowled. She knew what that ringing was. It was her girlfriend’s work phone. With another sigh, she leaned back so that Other Sunset could answer the phone.
After a few minutes of ‘affirmative’, ‘copy that’ and assorted grunts, Other Sunset hung up and scowled at Sunset, who still sat on her lap.
“There’s a new portal in Hoofkkaido,” Sunset said softly. “I guess it’s a good thing Rainbow Dash learned Neighponese after graduation. Twilight says it’s in the middle of a field, so nothing’s come through yet.”
“You’re leaving again…” Sunset whispered, hanging her head.
“It’s only for a few days, this time,” she said softly, using her thumb and forefinger to lift Sunset’s chin up. “I’ll be back before you know it, babe.”
Sunset hugged her lover’s neck tight, quickly receiving a hug around the waist. She’d been right, back then. The muscles were pretty nice. Adjusting her face so she could whisper in Other Sunset’s ear, she said, “I just worry. You call me as soon as you land, alright?”
“You know I will, babe,” the double whispered back. “Fortunately, we’ve got two hours before TFH ships out.” Without warning, Other Sunset lifted her hand and brought it back down on Sunset’s backside.
Sunset squeaked, but instead of pulling back and giving her girlfriend a dirty look, she merely pulled her arms tighter. “Let’s just stay like this for a bit. It’s nice, sometimes, to just… feel you against me,” she whispered.
“Okay.”
The two of them sat there for another half-hour, simply enjoying each other’s presence. After that, Other Sunset got dressed and headed out. Sunset watched her jeep disappear around a building before she drained the rest of her coffee (which had grown cold) and went to take a shower. Once she was ready, she left for school, taking her girlfriend’s old motorcycle. She waited the entire day for a phone call, and finally received one before she went to bed. They talked for hours about nothing, until it was time for Other Sunset’s mission briefing. With an ‘I love you’ and a goodnight kiss through the phone, they both hung up. That night, neither of them slept very well.
Sunset’s girlfriend returned home exactly three days later, and again, neither of them slept that night. Several moths later, Sunset took her girlfriend home to meet her parents, and explained the situation. They took it surprisingly well. After that, Other Sunset took her girlfriend home to meet her family. They took it a little better. A year later, the two Sunsets would marry, and later adopt a daughter.
Soon after the wedding, the portal crisis became so severe that the governments of the world organized a proper response group that operated under the same parameters as Task Force Harmony. Sunset was able to retire as an operator, and became the director of the new group, which came to be known as United Nations Harmony Division. She didn’t have to go on missions anymore.
Everything turned out okay, eventually. Several years later, the barrier between dimensions tore open, but the portal crisis stopped after that. The barrier was stabilized and a new era of harmony between the worlds began. Many claimed that it was Director Shimmer’s relationship with her counterpart accelerated the portal crisis, but researchers quickly disproved that. Soon, people accepted the new way of things, much like they accepted the changing of the seasons.
The worlds lived in harmony, forever after.
~The End~