//------------------------------// // 8 - Confrontations // Story: A Third Chance to Find a Family // by kitkataddel //------------------------------// "You're the Spike from the other universe aren't you?" The human Twilight Sparkle had her head cocked to the side, not unlike her pet. "Yeah, yeah it's me. Unlike yesterday, where I came to comfort Sunset and instead spilled alot of secrets, I'm here for more... official reasons." "But what do you mean 'accept her'?" Spike wasn't even sure who said that, just that he knew it was coming, and he knew exactly what to say. "She's still a living being. An intelligent one at that. One with a strange past, and an even stranger family. A being that may have a bad life recently, and needs others to get back on track, but is getting there, slowly but surely. And most importantly, she deserves a good life. She has been through things no other being can imagine. Everyone is unique, just she is more than others." It was perfect. Spike said it just how he rehearsed, and the reaction was... different. Mainly, by the time he had finished, they had noticed Sunset was coming down with the mysterious woman, and they weren't fighting either, so none of them were giving their full attention to Spike, much to his frustration. "HEY! Look, I know my inspirational thingy wasn't that good, but there is actually quite a serious point to all this!" At this, the entire family turned to him, slowly, with a raised eyebrow, their curiousity taken. 'Ooookay...that's creepy...' "Whaddya mean what did we do?" Applejack was certainly not expecting this surprise entrance by her other worldly friend. Instead of the usual nerd dressed in the plain attire the portal gives Twilight Sparkle, the trio of friends was confronted by an extremely angry looking Princess Twilight Sparkle, who appeared in a much more regal attire, consisting of a purple wrapped robe, her crown, and scattered pieces of armour, which gave off a multicoloured glint The portal had evidently decided she was here for much more serious reasons, and not to help a group of friends. Perhaps even more intimidating was the two dozen men behind her, who were all clad in golden armour. All had a mohawk sticking though their helmet, which changed colour depending on their skin colour, creating a very uniform look. To add to the threatening look, each of them grasped a gleaming spear, all planted on the floor, ready to charge, if the need arose. "Do I really have to explain the situation? Alright, one moment." Turning to the armoured unit behind her, the princess of friendship sternly gave out orders. "Find and locate Princess Celestia. Do not approach her, she is likely to be rather volatile. When you do find her, use the communicators to signal your location, where everyone shall converge. Try to avoid attention, but Celestia takes priority. Am I understood?" Getting a chorus of 'Yes, Princess', Princess Twilight gave a satistfied nod and allowed the soldiers to disperse in various directions. Rarity was the first to speak out, leaving Applejack and Pinkie in a slight daze. "Not that we don't appreciate you visiting, but who were those people? And, as Applejack did ask, what did we do?" "Those soldiers were part of the elite royal guard, trained to protect the princesses in any situation, including other dimensions. As for what's going on..." Twilight gave out a very long sigh, pinching her nose, venting some of her frustration. "Okay, right. Not fifteen minutes ago, Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria, rushed into the portal on the edge of furious tears, in response to letter I sent to her concerning Sunset's situation. I immediately alerted the royal guard, who sent this unit to assist the princess in a potentially hostile enviroment. From what I learned from Spike, you three plus Rainbow Dash and possibly Fluttershy are responsible for Sunset being hurt, and as a result this entire mess. Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for my questions, and then I shall leave." Twilight never broke her stance, utilising her position as a princess to assert her power. "Twilight!" Spike dashed in, panting furiously, just like a... well, dog. "What is it Spike?" "I just came from where Sunset and Celestia is. Come on, we need to go!" Spike immediately sprinted back out of the cafe, waiting for Twilight to follow. Twilight started to march out a some speed, but not before she had pulled a blue crystal from an almost invisible pocket, and touched it in such a way it started to glow, allowing it to float in her palm, focusing on it. All the while, Twilight fixed the trio with a glare that said 'I'll deal with you later.' "Guards, this is Princess Twilight Sparkle, home in on my location, I'm currently on my way to the Princess." Twilight put the gem back in the pouch, as it ceased to glow. Seeing that the trio was about to stand, Twilight paused at the door, glancing back at them will a cold stare. "Do not follow me." The three friends stood in shock, ashamed at themselves, as it dawned on them something was, or rather is, very, very wrong. "I'm sorry, Princess..." "We both are, Sunset, we both are..." The two equestrians embraced in the back yard of the house, while the rest of the family simply stood in awe in the sight - both of them were glowing intensely, melting the snow around them, but no one of them noticed that there was a slight bit of music emmiting from the guess room... "There they are!" Yet another yell at the front of the house roused them from their trance - where perhaps an either stranger scene was playing out - a girl, dressed not that dissimilar to Celestia, led a large group of armoured men to the front of the house. Night Light was the first to scream in panic. "Who are they? Are they going to arrest us?" All of which was quickly followed up by Velvet, who had the common sense to assure him that they were here for the Princess, he was absolutely fine, and someone should go answer the door before they knocked it down. Shining, putting on his 'policeman' stance, obliged, with a suprisingly calm and expecting tone. "Let me guess, you're from Equestria and are here for the two people glowing fire in the back? There's a side gate to the left, it's unlocked." Normally, anyone would be shocked by the way Shining turned around after instructing the burly men just to use 'the side entrance', but the Royal Guards were too duty bound to care. Princess Twilight, who was more suprised by the appearance of her brother in this world, instructed the soldiers to remain here, out of sight of anyone who might happen to pass by. Obeying their orders, the guard took various positions around the house, carefully remaining out of sight of the princess of the sun. However, one remained, one different from the rest of the squad - and not only because he was heavily panting for breath. Instead of the polished gold that made up the rest of the unit, this man wore a lavender armour, bordered by a dull gold, and instead of just the spear the others had, this man also carried a purple shield, which contained are pink star in the middle. He was also pacing on all fours, for some reason. Taking the sign of the open door as a sign of being allowed in, the two remaining people at the front of the house went in, but not before the girl had helped the armoured 'idiot' to a standing position, informing him that hands are not used for standing. Once inside the house, the girl confronted the family, who were previously cowering behind the table, near terrified of the armoured man, despite him still attemtping to recover his breath. "So. Can I assume you know of Equestria?" Only getting nervous nods from three of the family, the robed girl decided to introduce herself, only to trail off, as she slowly started to recognise who she was talking to. "I am Princess.... oh. Oh." "Yeah, yeah, Twilight meet Twilight, Shining meet Shining, Spike already met Spike, we're all happy, can we get on with this please? It's Hearth's Warming and I want my rubies!" The impatient voice turned out to be Spike the Dragon, who had been pacing around the house ever since he got back from fetching Twilight, claiming he got help, which no one really believed. The next few minutes consisted of the two Shinings staring at each other, the Twilights rapidly asking questions, all the while avoiding proper answers, and Spike the Dragon attempting to prevent his counterpart from sniffing... him, while complaining that he had to go to another dimension on a holiday. They were only interrupted when Sunset and Celestia finally came inside. "Right. This is confusing." Sunset was the first to speak her opinion. "Okay, wait before anyone asks anyone anything, I don't know. This is moving too fast for me. So I'm just gonna pass out now." And she did, leaving the rest to stare in shock. Once everyone had calmed down, and after the fire made by the wings on the unconcious Sunset was extinguished, Celestia revived Sunset, who woke up mumbling something about Luna's powers. Seeing the strange situation that she had been placed in, Sunset decided to try and sort out everything herself, giving her a tiny level of control. "Right. So. Princess Twilight Sparkle, Prince-Consort Shining Armour, Princess Celestia, Spike, meet Twilight Velvet, Twilight Sparkle, Night Light, Sergeant Shining Armor, Cadance and Spike." All the mentioned names merely nodded in acknowledgement, still too stunned to react properly, excluding Celestia, who Sunset turned to remorsefully. "Princess, I know we sorted out out difference back there, and we forgave each other but you never told me - what are you doing here? It's Hearth's Warming, I'd thought you would be busy with that." "That's... complicated, Sunset." Celestia clearly showed strain as a result of their conflict, showing Sunset that she may have fought harder than she intended. "Well, I think... I think I'd rather let Princess Twilight explain, if that's alright." Celestia turned to Twilight, only to reliese it was the human one, before rotating further to Princess Twilight, who did indeed open her mouth to speak, only to be cut off by her brother. "I hate to interrupt, your highness, but the only reason the rest of us are here is to fetch you. you weren't exactly... subtle in how you got to the portal and that caused quite a bit of disturbance, and now rumours are flying round that there's some new disaster. We'd need to dispel these before there's some sort of riot, and it seems they'll only listen to you." "Then go back throught the portal. I shall join you soon enough. And do take the guards there, I know they were sent here too, and I am more than able to fend for myself, thank you very mu-" "Captain!" A guard had appeared in the doorway, while Prince Shining wobbly stood up, only just balancing against the wall behind him, before motioning to the solider to continue. "We caught three girls. They recognised you and the Princesses. They also recognised us as Royal Guards." "Then bring them in, Private." The guard turned to do so, swiftly returning with three girls that were easily recognisable thanks to the plastic looking necklaces that contained very poorly repaired gems. "OWOWOW! Let go! Hey is that-?" Deadpanning, Sunset spoke up. "Oh look, it's the sirens. Come for more magic have you?" Sunset flared her wings for effect. "No that's not what we-" The purple one was quick to defend herself, carefully clamping the blue one's mouth shut, which failed as she got cut off. "We needed magic to fully repair our gems so we could try again and we saw the magic releases and-" "Ahem. Yes, we wanted to repair our gems, but we didn't realise it came off of the ruler of Equestria herself, along with two of her pets." The third one, who was yellow, attempted to justify herself, unsuccessfully. "Guard, get them out of here, and ensure they don't come back." Sunset did not want to deal with this at all. Today, she had found she possessed powerful magic in this world, met up with her old teacher, then fought her, then silently settle their differences, and then she may have to deal with some old enemies. 'Avoiding the last one would be nice.' Looking for the Princess for approval, she nodded, before the solider did a small bow, pulling the intruders out of the room. A series of small thuds could be heard outides, followed by a variety of equestrian curses. "Princess, it's nice to see you and all, but would it be better if you came back tomorrow? It's a holiday in both universes, and Equestria needs you more than me." Celestia was about to object, but stopped when Sunset put up a bandaged hand. "Look, if we can meet up tomorrow, I'll explain everything that has happened. Lets just enjoy our Christmas or Hearth's Warming, and we can work everything out tomorrow." Sunset prepared to stop Celestia again, expecting her to make some statement about how she is much more important, but instead the princess simply nodded. "If that's what you want. You mean a lot to me, maybe more than Equestria, but I shall respect your wishes." With that Celestia simply nodded her farewells, motioning for the rest to follow her, which they did. Celestia gave one last look at Sunset, who was just staring into her lap, before reluctantly leaving, creating one big anticlimax.