Sweet Snacks Café sat by the wall of a mall in downtown Canterlot. Right in front of a half-full parking lot, its exterior exuded everything retro it possibly could: its rail car-style making it look like it was dragged out of a train from decades ago, its flashy neon lights on the rakes shining against the dark evening, its funky color style of pink-green-blue emanating an ambience from yesteryears, and a huge vintage car on the rooftop which pretty much served as the icon of the diner. By the road, the headlights of real cars rushed in and out of view, metropolitan lights glowing from store signs and traffic signals.
Inside, customers ate and talked in the cool of conditioned air though that did not take away the mouth-watering scents of hamburgers, bacon, and garlic from the kitchen where a single chef cooked everything up in the midst of old-style doo-wop playing from vinyl records in the jukebox on the side, surrounded by black-and-white and colorized pictures of famous personalities and events from more than half a century ago.
The customers themselves, though diverse in clothes and varied in skin and hair color, had mostly two things in common: they were teenagers, and their chat was, for lack of a better word, typical for the day—How would they tackle the quiz tomorrow? Was Principal Celestia going to announce something big within the week? When will the sleepover begin? Was Vinyl Scratch about to leave her job or was it just rumors?
By the windowside sat five students munching over plates of fries, onion rings, burgers, hash, pancakes, waffles, and hotdogs.
Well, all except Fluttershy who twirled her hair, contenting herself with a green veggie burger.
“Flutters?” Rainbow asked, tapping her on the shoulder. “Honest question: What would you do if you figured out that’s actual beef?”
Fluttershy responded by dropping her smile, bulging her cheeks, and covering her mouth, ready to puke.
“Rainbow!” Rarity called out, accusing her with a pointed finger complete with a polished and painted nail.
The accused raised her shoulders and nervously laughed. “Come on! You know Pinkie won’t ever let a veggie order slip here! It’s not like she’s in any real danger.”
Fluttershy swallowed the bite in her mouth, faced Rainbow while her mouth shivered. “That’s not funny! What if Angel found out I ate meat? What if the whole shelter knew I ate meat?”
“I’m pretty sure they’ll be fine,” Rainbow reassured nonchalantly. “Twi’s got a dog,” motioning towards the only student with glasses as she chewed on her fries.
“I know that,” Fluttershy said, “but...I don’t want to betray their trust. If they found out I ate one of their kind—“ and stood up, looking down on her rainbow-haired friend, shouting, “What if you promised us you’ll never eat meat and we catch you with a steak?!”
Twilight reached her hand over the table, gesturing to her to stop. “Don’t worry.” She scrunched up her eyes at Fluttershy’s burger, examining it from afar. “It’s veggie alright; just keep eating.”
She looked at her and the other customers around in the diner. They were all staring at her with weirded out expressions, holding their food, sodas, milkshakes, and phones in mid-air.
Fluttershy sighed and sat back down on the chair.
Applejack eyed the watch on Rarity’s wrist. “When’s Sunset coming?”
“Five fifty-eight P.M.!”
All turned their heads at whoever said that.
The waiter who had shouted those words rollerskated her way down to their table and, with no spills, poured soda on Twilight’s empty glass. Fitted in her waiter’s dress complete with apron and hat, Pinkie waved at the girls, smiling. “Do you check the weather at all? The sun will set at five fifty-eight!”
Everyone chuckled at that except Fluttershy who took a dainty little bite of her veggie burger.
“You know we aren’t talking ‘bout the sun,” Applejack said, tilting her country hat back to the middle of her head.
Pinkie laughed, her high-pitched giggle filling the air. “Of course, silly! Sunset’s coming any moment now and I’m tellin’ ya’!”
Applejack looked out the window, saw that orange girl wearing her spike-studded jacket and her spike-studded headphones as she walked down the sidewalk; she was holding a journal, thumbing through it.
“Told ya’!” Pinkie said, standing by the table.
The double doors opened and in came Sunset Shimmer herself, putting her headphones inside her sling bag. Her eyes instantly met those of her friends at the windowside table. “Heya’!”
Pinkie rolled her way to the new arrival. “Glad to have you here! You want—“ scratched her chin in thought, eyes up towards the stylized metal ceiling “—half a dozen veggie burgers?”
Sunset looked surprised. “How’d you know that?”
Pinkie pointed at the bag. “Reading letters from the other Twilight! Wouldn’t feel comfortable talking to her while eating good beef!”
It was Sunset’s turn to laugh, now walking to her friends at the table. “Yeah. She’s been updating me about what’s going on lately. I heard Big Mac’s girlfriend is staying in Ponyville thrice a week.”
Then, all eyes were on the Applejack in the diner. She grunted in return, pouting. “It doesn’t mean our Sugar Belle’s staying here thrice a week.”
Sunset shook her head as she sat down, her friends scooting along and making way for her as Pinkie rollerskated her way to the counter with her waitress co-workers who had prepared a huge sundae for the curly-haired server.
Twilight adjusted her glasses, facing Sunset. “So, what did you do?”
Sunset rolled her eyes, smirking. “I’ve been busy doing nothing but talking to Twilight—uh, Princess Twilight.”
Twilight sighed, about to break out into her own laugh. “It’s still weird knowing you have another self out there, and that self is a pony princess.”
“I think it’s still weird knowing we all have our other selves out there,” Rarity quipped, looking at Sunset with interested eyes.
Applejack cleared her throat. “Uh, what else did this ‘ere Princess talk about?”
Sunset let out a diminished chuckle. “Not much really. Her school’s still running strong, she’s returning home from another friendship retreat, and she still likes the local hayburger chain at home.”
Applejack looked confused. “Uh, does she know you eat hamburgers here?”
Sunset smiled. “’Course, she does. I mean, she doesn’t mind; they have bears and crocodiles, too, so it’s not like being a carnivore’s new to them.”
Rainbow nudged Applejack on the shoulder. “Yeah, AJ. You should know.”
She groaned. “Says the one who forgot to return Sentry’s hat from practice.”
“It was an honest mistake!” Rainbow said in anxious self-defense. “Honest!”
Applejack crossed her arms. “Nice try, RD.”
Pinkie returned to the table, rolling with a tray of six juicy veggie burgers and one tall cup of softdrink all set for Sunset to enjoy.
“Thanks!” she said, waving at Pinkie who rolled away to wait on other tables.
Twilight looked back at Sunset, glancing at the bag she had put there on the table. “I don’t want to bother you, but...I can’t believe I’ve never asked you much about your old life.”
Sunset raised her brow, holding the first burger close to her mouth with both hands. “You mean before I went here?”
Rarity nodded. “Think about it, Sunset. I’ve read a couple of fantasy novels myself, and when I remember that there’s this...Equestria place that exists...not to mention their royalty….” and her eyes looked up, becoming dreamy.
Sunset smiled again, not wanting to tear Rarity out of her imagination. “Yeah...it’s strange but normal at the same time.” She turned to Twilight. “You remember what she said to you when you met each other, right?”
Twilight nodded. “Certainly!”
“And, actually,” Sunset went on, “the reason why I came here is to tell you that I’m going back to Equestria for a few hours. Starlight’s hosting a kite-flying competition and I promised weeks back I’d be one of the judges.”
“That’s OK,” Applejack replied. “When are you leavin’?”
Sunset looked at her wristwatch. “About nine. I’ll be home past one, but I have my ways of keeping awake.”
Twilight frowned, horrified at such a prospect. “You sure you don’t want to bring instant coffee with you?”
Sunset smiled and took out a few sachets from her jacket. “Like I said, I have my ways.”
As she returned the sachets and took a bite of her order, Rainbow and Applejack were looking at each other and then held their burgers to the air. “First one to finish gets a free burger,” announced Rainbow in her typical pride, “courtesy of the loser!”
Applejack narrowed her eyes at her. “Oh, you’re on!”
And they bit and chomped on their burgers, swallowing a second before the next bite.
Rarity, meanwhile, moaned in disgust as oil and ketchup splattered onto her blue dress. She took out a bottle of perfume and a clean rag. “Why must you do your silly little competitions when I’m woefully unprepared?!”
Twilight and Sunset chuckled at that, leaving Fluttershy alone with her veggie burger. She took out a piece of lettuce to feed her bunny who was hiding inside her bag.
“Kite flying at night is already spectacular enough,” commented Twilight, putting down her soda. “I myself have never seen it, but I’ve read of how they put LEDs on kites so they glow in the dark.”
“I haven’t seen it back in Equestria,” Sunset replied, “but they do fly kites there. In fact, Starlight loves kites!”
Twilight tilted her head to the side. “But...how do non-unicorn ponies hold the spool?”
Ready with an answer, Sunset smiled. “They hold it with their hooves!”
Twilight rolled her eyes, still confused. “Uh, how?”
“Trust me,” Sunset said, maintaining that smile. “They hold it with their hooves.”
Inside her little home, under the bedroom which was actually a raised platform connected to the ground floor by some stairs without railings, Sunset sat at the computer desk where the monitor was on and shining bright along with her phone which was flooded with notifications, most of them from her social media apps.
However, instead of attending to these things, she was busy writing in her journal.
...and don’t worry, Twilight. I’ll probably say one more goodbye to my friends before I go, but I won’t be late. She tapped her chin with the pencil’s eraser. Maybe five minutes late. Anyway, can’t wait to catch up on you and Starlight!
Then, her phone beeped.
Sunset sighed and looked at the phone, closing her journal and putting the pencil aside. “Ugh.” She placed her sling bag on the table. “Who is it this time?”
After getting past the lock screen, Sunset saw her messaging app with Twilight’s picture on the side—the one with the glasses. Below was the text: Are you going yet?
Sunset raised a brow. “Huh?” Tapping the buttons on her keypad, she typed off, About to.
She looked at the time on the corner of the screen. “It’s already eight-thirty?”
Sunset took her bag back and slung it around herself but kept seated.
Her phone beeped again. Have a good time! Tell your pony friends I said “Hi!”
Sunset made a mellow smile at that. Will do. Don’t worry about my sleep. I can manage.
Some seconds passed. Haha. See you soon! :)
Sunset placed her phone in her jacket and turned off her computer, nervously looking out the window where it was quite dark and the moon shone above with its stars. She could see the bright lights of the city even from here in her living room.
After shoving her journal inside another bag lying under the computer table, she approached the door, turning off the lights as she passed by each switch, plunging her house into darkness.
Then, right in front of the door, she turned the door knob and—
Beep!
Sunset took her phone out and read the message on it.
It still had Twilight’s smiling face. I know this is all sudden, but can I go with you?
Sunset froze there, eyes and mouth wide open. Read, re-read the simple request. She raised her thumbs to shoot off a reply, but she looked ahead, barely seeing the door before the phone’s glow.
A few more seconds later, she tapped off again. Sorry, but no. Not without the Princess’s permission, plus, are you sure about that?
Sunset waited. Some seconds passed, then her phone beeped again. Yes. I’m sure. I’ve given it enough thought.
Really? You’re not joking?
A longer pause than usual. I’m not. I want to see what it’s like on the other side of the mirror.
Sunset made a little moan. Then, with pursed lips, she put on a pensive face, re-reading the conversation so far. Even if I want to, I still can’t. Also, it’s late. Don’t want to see you miss your alarm out of all people.
A pause, waiting. I could bring my own coffee.
“She’s stubborn,” she whispered to herself as she fired off her next message: Even if I brought you over, I have to explain things to your other self. She has work to do and I don’t think she’d be OK having guests over without warning.
She looked at her phone, waiting. Then, seeing no reply from her yet, she added, Did you tell everyone else?
Five seconds passed. No reply. Ten seconds passed. Still no reply. Twenty seconds:
No. Just me. They’re kinda’ busy with their own stuff. I actually studied earlier than scheduled to see if you’d say yes.
Sunset placed a hand behind her head. “If she had to move her studies, she’s serious.” Then, she tapped the words: Why are you keeping this a secret? And she waited.
If they found out, they’ll want to join me, and all seven of us going through the portal would certainly be trouble waiting to happen.
Sunset sighed a breath of relief. “At least she’s using her common sense.” Alright, but it’s still a no. With that, she punched the doorknob, looked at her curled up fingers. She laughed. “Heh. I’m probably more excited than she is!”
The phone beeped again. OK, but could you send something over here as a souvenir?
Sunset moaned again. Then, she held her phone up, seeing that message and that smiling face of Twilight beside it. She turned the phone around, saw the camera on the back.
She smiled. Turned the phone back to the screen. Too dangerous to send anything back here, but I’ll bring my phone. She waited.
More seconds passed. You’ll take pictures! Please video something, too.
Sunset smiled and she placed her hand on the doorknob—
But how are you going to use a phone with hooves?
Sunset rolled her eyes. After putting the phone into her jacket, she ran through the living room, turned on some of the lights, went up the stairs without falling over the non-existent railing, entered her bed area, hurried around the bed, and pulled open a drawer. Inside along with the other random items there was a digital camera wrapped in a plastic bag. She took it out, pressed a button, and the screen on its back turned on. She quickly turned it off.
Sunset hung it around her neck. “I don’t care if they call me old-school….” She picked up her phone from her jacket and turned that one on. I’ll bring a real camera.
Some more seconds passed as Sunset went down the stairs and turned off the lights again. That’s better, but how are hooves going to work with that?
Sunset chuckled as she approached the door again, one hand turning the knob. They’ll work. I’m going now, so see you!
She stepped outside, walked down the two steps to the sidewalk, feeling the night’s chill and the rush of cars whizzing by with their glaring headlights. People with lots of different kinds of clothes walked by the lit windows of various shops and diners. Sunset looked at the end of the street and saw Sweet Shoppe, that nice diner and bakery at the corner with its umbrella-covered tables outside; she saw some diners conversing over some cakes and pies.
Her phone beeped. She pulled it out. Yeah, see you tomorrow!
Sunset smiled at the reply, seeing that beaming face of Twilight once again on her phone. She closed it, put it inside her bag, and walked down the street.
After a dozen or so minutes of walking and passing by her friends’ houses to say her goodbyes, Sunset crossed one more street and entered school grounds. There, she saw that massive brick structure of learning with its regal roofs and its stately architecture of triangles and straight lines; its surroundings were of wide open green grass which included a trimmed soccer field. Most of the windows were closed and dark, but she could see lights from inside a few rooms and the sound of deliberate conversations here and there from within.
In front of the entrance was the statue, that marble statue of a rearing horse.
She took in a deep breath. She adjusted the strap on her bag, checked her camera hanging from her neck.
Sunset took out her phone and turned the screen on to see the time.
Eight forty-seven.
“Loosen up, Sunset,” she said to herself, putting her phone back and walking her way to the statue. “Just like normal.”
As she rounded the base of the statue, she saw one of the glass doors at the front open up, revealing a blue lady in her casual uniform, her multi-blue hair flowing about in the wind.
Sunset gasped, turned to her, and waved. “Oh, uh, hi Vice Principal Luna! About to go on one of your night walks again?”
Luna nodded. “Yes, Sunset Shimmer,” she replied in a matter-of-fact tone. She raised a brow at the sight of both the student’s bag and camera. “You do know that the school is off-limits after closing time, do you not?”
Sunset nodded; she could not help but hide a grin, though. “Where do you think I’m going?”
Luna pursed her lips, put her hands on her hips as she thought about the question. Then, noticing the horse statue behind Sunset, she smiled. “Ah, returning to your home for a visit?”
“I got two homes now, so it won’t be much of a problem. Besides,” she continued, “I did promise Starlight Glimmer I’d come over for the night.”
“You mean the pink girl with the beanie?” Luna asked, still wondering.
“Yeah, her.”
Luna nodded, walking past her. “Then, I hope you have a safe time there—but, that does not excuse you from coming to classes late tomorrow morning.”
Sunset chuckled at that, inching towards the statue. “Yeah. I’ll make sure it won’t happen.”
With that, they waved each other goodbye, Luna walking out of school property and Sunset walking towards the statue.
Then, there she was, right in front of it, in front of this side of the base which looked like a mini-wall.
She placed her hand on the surface.
Felt hard at first, but she could sense the open air behind it.
She closed her eyes, took in a deep breath again.
Walked through it in a bright shine.
And she was gone. The statue was alone, the few lights in the school were still on, the air was punctuated by their conversations, and Luna was about to cross the street, standing by the corner, tapping her foot impatiently as the cars moved about.
Inside Princess Twilight’s castle, a pink unicorn was busy reading a book in the library, sitting at the wooden table by the strange contraption of wires, coils, containers, and one mirror in the middle. Reading in front of lengthy shelves of books sided by crystal walls, she flipped through the pages with her horn, the leaves glowing as they raced to the end into a slam shut.
Starlight Glimmer glanced at the mirror.
She groaned, looked at the clock on the table.
“Maybe I should’ve said something to Twilight,” Starlight said to herself. “When I said, ‘nine’, maybe she conveyed it in a way that made Sunset think the competition starts at nine.” Then, she threw that idea away with a hoof. “Eh, Twilight’s always articulate.”
Then, still looking at the mirror, she saw pink electricity glow from the top where a book laid, leaping to the top coils and then racing down through the metal horseshoe-shaped part and down the rods, bringing the energy to some pistons and the magic sped to the two lower coils which concentrated that magic together into a cloud which struck the mirror and placed in it a cloudy and twisting pink swirl.
Starlight opened her mouth, dropped her jaw as the contraption whirred.
Then, a white flash and Sunset came flying out of the mirror, hurtling towards a poor table along the way.
Starlight glowed her horn, lighting the table up in blue and floating it out of the way, giving Sunset a slightly less painful spot to crash on.
She trotted towards the new arrival, then helped the yellow unicorn up on her four hooves as Sunset dusted herself off with her hooves.
Starlight chuckled, picking up the fallen bag and giving it to her. “You want to ask Twilight to find a better exit strategy?”
Sunset chuckled back. “I get used to it.”
The pink unicorn smiled. “So, how’s your day over in no-hooves world?”
“Are you really going to call it that?” Sunset asked, giving her a glance under her wavy mane.
Starlight brushed that one off as well with a hoofwave. “But, what happened there? Anything out of the ordinary?”
“Pfft!” She raised her head. “We had a little music feud with DJ Pon-3. None of us ponied up, though, so I guess it was a pretty normal day.”
Starlight cocked her head, glancing at the mirror. “So...that’s all?”
Sunset nodded. “Yeah, that’s all.”
Starlight leaned in. “You’re absolutely sure that nothing out of the ordinary happened?”
Sunset looked at her suspiciously. “Do you want trouble to happen?”
Starlight chuckled again. “You make it sound like the dimension over there is so boring with nothing to do! I’m still amazed that an entire world could operate without magic!”
Sunset rolled her eyes. “Eh….”
Starlight looked at the clock on the table again. “Right, right...we got some kites to watch and judge!”
The two unicorns looked at the portal, still glowing. Then, Sunset took the book out of the contraption by levitating it away, turning the portal off and removing the swirl from the glass. She put the book inside one of the containers by the mirror.
Starlight smiled as she and Sunset walked to the library doors. “I was able to invite Maud and Trixie for the competition. Maud will be another judge, but I couldn’t let Trixie be up in that booth.”
“Because she’d also find her way into the competition and then make herself the winner by default?” Sunset suggested.
Starlight glowed the doors and swung them open. “Pretty much.”
And the two laughed as they left the library.