//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Blamed // by Madox //------------------------------// Sunset slowly regained consciousness with a groan. She took her time to sit up in her bed, her eyes still closed while she held her thumping head with one hand. 'That was a really weird dream,' she thought. She stretched her arms out and opened her eyes, only to blink in surprise. Her eyes wandered around the room, from the desk in the corner with a laptop on it over to the window that showed an unfamiliar locale to the room’s open door, behind which she could see a small kitchen. She could also see another, closed door. 'This isn’t my room.' "Feeling better?" Sunset froze upon hearing the voice. Gulping, she slowly turned her head in the direction of the voice. There she was: the girl she had met earlier, sitting at a small side table with a book in front of her. Sunset had somehow missed her in her observation of the room. 'It wasn't a dream! She’s real!' Sunset realized as she looked over the girl. The same face, the same voice, the same eyes, the same hair, and from what she remembered from earlier, even the same height as her own. A perfect doppelganger. "W-Who... What... Who are you?" she finally stammered, not letting the girl out of her sight while she scooted away from the doppelganger as far as possible without falling out of the bed. "And where am I?" The girl closed the book she had been reading and shifted her whole attention to Sunset. "There’s no need to be scared; I won't hurt you. You’re in my apartment. I brought you here after you passed out so Gilda wouldn’t find us. Usually I would just deal with her, but in her current state, she’s pretty unpredictable and really dangerous. And with you out cold, it was too risky." The girl sighed. "And to answer your other question, I'm Sunset Shimmer." ‘She even has the same name!’ Sunset thought frantically. "B-But how is that possible?! I’m Sunset Shimmer!" "Yes, but I am, as well. If you want, you can simply call me Shimmer to avoid confusion. It's kind of complicated and hard to believe, but I can explain everything to you if you want and answer any of your questions I have answers for," Shimmer said. "But if you don't want to stay, you can leave whenever you want. I won't stop you." Sunset stared at her doppelganger on the other side of the room in silence. Should she trust her? She did save her life from that thug Gilda earlier and even carried her to safety after she passed out. Why would she have done that if she was going to do something to her? She even offered to answer her questions, and regarding how those who attacked her these past days acted as if they knew her, it was safe to assume that Shimmer was involved in everything. Several minutes passed as Sunset thought about everything before she finally relaxed. She hadn't even noticed how tense she had been since she saw her doppelganger. "Alright, I'm going to trust you for now for saving me, but I want to know the truth of what’s going on in this goddamn town." Shimmer nodded with a smile. "I expected nothing else from you. It's what I would do, after all: seek answers. So, where should I start?" Instead of answering, Sunset stared at Shimmer with half-lidded eyes and one raised eyebrow. Blushing, Shimmer chuckled and said, "Right, the other you in front of you, of course. "Well, as I said, I'm you. Short version is I came from another world a few years ago. That world is totally different from this world, but at the same time, there are similarities between them. As an example, it seems that many, if not all, people in this world have counterparts of themselves in my home world. "So, yeah. I crossed over into this world, and now, there are two Sunset Shimmers in this world," Shimmer said. The room fell silent again as Sunset stared at Shimmer in disbelief. "Told ya it's hard to believe." "You know, it would be easier to believe that the government created a clone of me than what you told me," Sunset said in an even voice, "but let's presume for now that I believe you. How is it possible to cross between worlds?" "Magic," Shimmer said simply. Sunset rolled her eyes. "Of course. What else could it be?" "I'm not joking," Shimmer said calmly. "In my world, magic exists as a natural force, like gravity. Each living being possesses magic to some degree, and it can be used actively by some. A great wizard created a portal between our worlds long ago, but he declared it too dangerous, so it got locked away." "Why did you cross it if it was forbidden?" Sunset asked curiously, putting aside her skepticism. "It's kind of personal, to be honest,” Shimmer said solemnly, looking down at her folded hands resting in her lap. “I used to be egoistic and demanded great things not meant for me from my mentor. When she had enough of my behavior, she tossed me out, but in a last attempt to get what I wanted, I jumped through the portal, one day to return and show her that I was worthy. Upon my return years later, I did some terrible things, and after that, I felt so ashamed that I stayed here in a kind of self-imposed exile." The room fell silent for several moments while Sunset studied her doppelganger’s face and posture. It didn’t seem like she was lying, but just to be sure… "Prove it." Shimmer looked up. "Huh?" "As you said, I don't believe you. If you are telling the truth, prove it." Shimmer opened her mouth to answer, but before she could say anything, she was interrupted by a buzzing sound that penetrated the silence of room. A smile appeared on Shimmer’s face. "Now that's what I call timing. Ever wanted to chat with royalty?" Shimmer asked, smiling. Sunset watched as Shimmer stood up and moved closer to the bed. "What are you talking about?" Sunset asked, resisting the urge to back away further as Shimmer sat down on the other side of the bed. She doubted that her double would hurt her at this point, but it was nevertheless hard not to worry. Shimmer bent down and opened her bedside drawer. When she came up again, she was holding a book with a two-toned sun on the front, a symbol Sunset herself has used on several pieces of her clothing. What confused her the most was the fact that the book was vibrating and glowing. "What the..." Sunset mumbled to herself. Fascinated by the spectacle, she didn't notice that she had moved closer to Shimmer to get a better look until she was sitting right beside her double. "This book is something special," Shimmer explained as she tenderly ran her hand over the sun. "My old mentor enchanted it years ago. It’s connected with another book she kept to herself, and whatever is written in one appears in the other. "Now, though, the other book is in the possession of my friend Princess Twilight Sparkle. She’s one of the four rulers of my home country and uses it to keep in contact with me." Shimmer opened the book and flipped through several pages until she reached the last one with anything written on it. The moment they reached the page, new words appeared of their own accord. "This is so strange," Sunset whispered as she stared at the book in wide-eyed awe. Shimmer took a pen from the nightstand and began writing. "Anon-a-Miss? I think I heard that name yesterday," Sunset said as the words started glowing for a second. "I was afraid of that," Shimmer said with a sigh. "I’d like to know about what happened to you, and I’ll tell you about what’s going on. But not now; Twilight’s responding." "Leaving?" Sunset asked. "You were about to leave?" "Yeah, I was," Shimmer admitted, her gaze still on the book. "Twilight came over last Monday, and we left through the portal. At first, it was just to get away from all the accusations and hate for an afternoon, but soon, I decided to leave for good. Anon-a-Miss took everything from me that kept me in this world, so there was no reason to stay. I only returned today to get a few things I wanted to take with me and write a letter to my landlord about the apartment. It was pure luck that I walked by to save you from Gilda. "But now that you’re here, I can't just run away. Otherwise, they won't leave you alone as long as Anon-a-Miss runs free. I...” She paused, closing her eyes and lowering her head. “I don't want anyone to suffer because of me anymore." Sunset stared at Shimmer curiously. Till now, Shimmer had come across as strong and confident, as one who was in control, but now, she seemed seized with remorse and sadness. Sunset shifted closer and put a hand on Shimmer’s shoulder, who looked up, surprised at the touch, and saw Sunset smiling at her. “I may not know what’s going on yet or what you’ve gone through, but I can tell you’ve been hurt as well. Whatever’s going on with this Anon-a-Miss, I believe you that you are as much a victim as I am. Anon-a-Miss seems to be the root of everything, along with those who decided to resort to violence. They are the only ones to blame.” Shimmer bathed in the girl’s smile for a minute, the first true smile directed at her in over a week on this side of the portal. Her lower lip quivered as she said softly, “Thank you. That means a lot to me. Does that mean you believe me?” Sunset shifted her gaze to the book in Shimmer's lap. “It's... a lot to take in, but seeing you and a self-writing book right in front of me makes it hard to find arguments against it. So yes, I believe you.” “I'm glad I could convince you,” Shimmer said, relieved. “Now, we only need to figure out what to do.” Sunset pointed at the journal. “It seems the princess would like to know that as well.” Shimmer looked down at the book resting in her lap to see a response from Twilight, asking about what she was planning to do now. She remained quiet for a few minutes before she replied. “I think for now, I’ll stay here so we can think of a plan. It would be too much trouble to go through the portal all the time till we solve this mess.” Sunset nodded, unable to hide the smile on her face even if she tried. She was glad that there was now someone in this town that was willing to help her out. She was glad to not be alone any longer. “Done.” Sunset was snapped out of her thoughts by Shimmer’s proclamation. Blinking, she realized that her double had in the meantime written a response to the princess. She closed the book and put it back on the nightstand before standing up. “So, how about something to eat? I don’t have much left, but it should be enough for two. And I could tell you more about what’s going on. I promised you answers, after all.” Sunset opened her mouth to answer, but before she managed to get out a word, her stomach decided to answer for her with a loud grumble. “Sounds great,” she answered with a blush before she stood up and joined Shimmer in her kitchen. ~*~ The two girls talked with each other for several hours over dinner and the evening afterwards, getting to know each other. Shimmer explained everything regarding Anon-a-Miss to Sunset and answered most questions about herself, only leaving out a few she was not comfortable with answering or which were too private. The more they talked, the more comfortable Sunset grew around Shimmer, and she eventually reached the point where she couldn't care less about the fact that her new friend came from another world and looked exactly like her. In fact, even though they looked the same, Sunset noticed a few differences between them, such as Shimmer’s way of speech or her outlook on the world (both worlds, that is). She was more confident and strong, but at the same time, she seemed kind of vulnerable, which was no surprise after what her friends had done. Overall, she was more mature than she looked. There was a point at which Sunset grew concerned when she saw a picture of Shimmer and her friends—the same “friends” who had no problem being openly hostile to Sunset—thinking that she might be falling into some kind of trap, but a short question about the other girls in the picture led to Shimmer talking about her former friends who abandoned and blamed her for Anon-a-Miss as well. Convinced that this was not some elaborate plot against her, Sunset told Shimmer about Gilda's message from their first meeting and her meeting with the Rainbooms the day before. Shimmer was horrified upon hearing what they might have done. She really wanted to dismiss the thought that her friends were capable of doing something like that, but after everything that happened, she wasn't so sure about it anymore, especially regarding Rainbow Dash. Rainbow has always been rash, and her anger could bring out the worst of her at times, so it was possible that Gilda was telling the truth. Shimmer wasn't sure what she might do if it was the truth, but she would make sure to figure it out the next time she sees her former friends. Night had fallen by the time Shimmer realized how long they had been talking, but she enjoyed every moment of it. “So, it's pretty late,” she said, looking outside at the moonlit city. “Would you like to stay the night or go back home?” Sunset thought about it for a moment. “Well, it's not as if anyone’s waiting for me back home with my parents away.” Shimmer stiffened slightly, but Sunset didn't notice. “Your... parents are away?” she asked slowly. “Yeah. They’re in Manehattan, organizing the rest of our move. They left on Monday and will be back Sunday. That's why I was alone this whole week. I never thought anything would happen.” “Oh. For a moment I thought...” Shimmer replied, before she shook her head. “Not important. So, you’re going to stay?” Sunset smiled. “I would love to, but are you sure it's safe? Gilda mentioned the first day that she knows where I live. I thought it was weird, but now—” “She knows what?!” Shimmer exclaimed in surprise. “But how? No one knows where I live. No one but... my friends...” She slumped down on her couch when realization hit her. Would they have really done that? “This is bad,” she said, one hand running through her hair. “Maybe she was just lying, but I can't stay here and risk that she’s not. Neither of us can. She could come through the door any moment.” The room fell silent until Sunset spoke up. “You know, you could come with me to my place. She might know where you live, but not me. She doesn't even know I exist, so it’s safe.” Shimmer looked up to stare into Sunset’s eyes, before she smiled. “I would really appreciate it, but are you sure it's okay?” “Of course. It's the least I can do after you saved me earlier. And with my parents not around, there’s more than enough space. It was getting kinda lonely, anyway.” “Thanks,” Shimmer said, relieved. “Let me just grab a few things to take with me in case Gilda really comes by and does something to my stuff. That okay?” Sunset nodded in reply with a smile. “Great. It won't take long. I’ll also look to see if I can find another hoodie for you. Gilda might still be around, and our hair is a big giveaway.” Half an hour later, the two girls were ready to leave, Shimmer packed with everything necessary and her precious guitar, choosing to risk getting spotted due to the guitar over Gilda trashing it while she was away. Standing at the door frame of her apartment, she looked around for a last time before she closed the door behind her.