//------------------------------// // Ch.1 Welcome to Equestria // Story: The Gaps in F r i e n d s h i p // by Arcanum -Phantasy //------------------------------// All was quite in the Castle of Friendship as Sunset strolled through its halls. The crystal walls gave the mare a sense of ease, the similarities to Canterlot Castle bringing back happy memories of her fillyhood. It also reminded her that she was in a world of magic for the first time in six years. She felt the castle's magic pulsing through the walls and coiling gently around her horn. She felt welcome, but also guilty as the accepting energies also reminded her of what led to her exile in the first place. She sighed as she thought about how stupid she was back then. What was she thinking? Demanding that her mom make her a Princess? Just how selfish could she get?! And when she was refused she tried to force a pair of wings onto herself. With forbidden magic no less! Stupid, she thought, continuing to wander aimlessly. I was such a colossal moron back then. Me? An Alicorn? HA! The last thing Equestria needed was another megalomaniac trying to take it over. Before her thoughts could get even more self-reprimanding, a call from a familiar voice down the hall caught her attention. "Are you okay?" Twilight asked slowly moving towards her. "Yeah," she smiled, meeting her halfway. "Just wanted to get some air is all." "Right," Twilight chuckled glancing back the way she came. "It got a little wild once they figured out how to walk, huh?" Sunset nodded, a little giggle slipping past her lips at the memory of her friend's first steps. To say they were graceless was like saying Celestia was a little powerful. At least Lyra was the only one who tried to use her other new abilities, though it was pretty funny seeing her get her back legs tied up by her own tail. After an hour of stumbling around like town drunks, Sunset suggested they pretend that they were walking on all fours on their knuckles and the tips of their toes. That ended up being the trick they needed to get a basic grasp on walking like a pony. Now if she could get Lightning to quit reminding them that they were all naked, things would go a lot smoother. "They're really good friends," Twilight smiled. "Yeah," Sunset sighed, gaze becoming slightly distant. "They really are. I don't know where I'd be without them." Twilight nodded, then slowly turned her gaze to the ground. As she did a frown formed on her muzzle. "Sunset...I-" Sunset put a hoof over Twilight's muzzle cutting off what she knew was coming eventually. "Stop," she said, tone even and eyes sharp as she lowered her hoof to the ground. "You don't need to say anything. What happened wasn't your fault." "But-" "No Twilight," Sunset snapped, again interrupting the lavender Princess. "I'm not going to let you beat yourself up over this. What happened happened. You could't've done anything to stop it anymore than Principal Celestia could. Hell, The only reason things got resolved the way they did is because Derpy worked herself to the bone trying to find those little monsters." "I-I know," she said, tears starting to form at the corners of her eyes as she stared at her. "B-But still! I could've done something. I should've done something! I should've gone through the portal the second I got your last message! I should've tried to talk some sense into those girls when you said they abandoned you! I should've been there for you! If I had then maybe you never would've....would've..." By the time she ran out of words tears were falling down her face in thick streams, her sadness choking her. Slowly and gently Sunset approached her crying friend and wrapped her forelegs around her. Twilight flinched from the unexpected contact, sure that to some degree Sunset hated her for abandoning her. She expected Sunset to yell at her, to blame her for everything that happened to her in the other world. The hug was both a relief and agony for the Princess of Friendship as she was happy that her inaction didn't cost her a friend, but she was not willing to be so easily forgiven. "Do you want to make it up to me?" Sunset asked as she gently stroked the Princess' back. She nodded, sniffling. "Then learn from this. Move forward and don't let what happened to me happen to anypony else." She pulled back enough to lock eyes with Twilight a small smile gracing her muzzle as she stared at her friend. "Do you think you can do that?" Twilight nodded, then wiped her tears away. "I-I'll try," she smiled. "That's all I can ask," Sunset smiled. "Now C'mon. let's head back before my friends destroy your castle." "Oh please," Twilight laughed, still wiping a few stray tears away. "I doubt they're that bad." "Lyra still wants to know how to shoot lasers," Sunset deadpanned. "Did you teach her?" Twilight asked with a raised brow. "I'm still debating whether its safer to teach her or have her figure it out herself." Twilight giggled at that as they made their way back to the throne room. Suddenly, a loud bang echoed down the hall towards them. "What the hay?" Twilight muttered as they stopped. A loud series of shouts could be heard coming from the throne room. Some of them were from Lightning Dust, while the other voice was not from Sunset's group. It was bone-chillingly familiar though. "Sunset, " Twilight said, tone shaky. "Did you tell your friends about other world counterparts yet?" "No," Sunset responded, equally stiff. "Did you tell yours about Anon-a-Miss?" "No." Both mares stared at each other for a moment, turned their heads back down the hall, then ran to the throne room doors. All the while a single thought ran through their minds. CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! *** "I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY FOLLOWED US HERE!" Lightning snarled as Bonbon and Octavia held her back. "LET ME AT HER! I'LL TEAR HER WINGS OFF AND MAKE HER EAT 'EM!!! "JUST TRY BITCH!" Rainbow roared, Applejack holding her back by her tail with her mouth. Lightning let out a growl as she tried to force herself out of her friend's grip. There was no way in hell she was going to let these girls near Sunset. Unless Sunset told her to in the flesh, that wasn't ever going to change. Especially Rainbow. The things she said in the locker room still made her blood boil. If she still had fists they'd be clenched to the point of drawing blood as that oblivious idiot's voice echoed through her head. But she had hooves, and while they couldn't make fists they could still hit hard. While the two Pegesi struggled against their bonds, the remaining ponies on Lightning's side of the room assumed the closest things to defensive stances their new bodies could manage. "What has gotten into her?" Rarity asked, taking a step back from the struggling mares. All sound came to a halt as a quiet voice sliced through the room. "Are you serious?" Cautiously, everypony present turned towards the voice's source as she slowly walked towards Rarity her eyes closed but ears pointed straight at the unnerved mare. "Even after everything you heard yesterday, you still want to pretend you don't know what you did?" Rarity backed up scared of the eerily calm and familiar bat pony walking towards her. This slowly changed as she closed in, a cold frown gracing her muzzle. "Then here. Let me make it simple. YOU ALMOST KILLED SUNSET!!!" As Fluttershy shouted that her face contorted into a look of absolute hate. That combined with the piercing glare from her now open red eyes and pointed fangs put the fear of god into all who looked at her. She saw the fear in Rarity's eyes. She saw it and did everything she could to make it grow. She didn't care that the light hurt. She only cared about the mare in front of her and making her feel the weight of her crimes. This was stopped by the one thing she never expected. "You leave her alone!" cried a yellow Pegasus as she jumped between the two mares. Fluttershy was ready to turn her hell gaze onto the newcomer, only for her rage to be replaced with shock. Standing before her was what could only be described as a more Pegasus-like version of herself. She stood with her wings out like a set of fluffy feather shields as her teal eyes locked with Fluttershy's red ones. It was a surreal experience for her to be stared down by herself, but what made her take a step back was just how pretty her equestrian counterpart was. The light bounced off of her coat and mane in such a brilliant way that she tried to endure the pain to look at her as long as she could. Then, there were her eyes. While they weren't that different from how her's were back home this version of her held a shine that her's lost weeks ago. Eventually, the pain became too much and Fluttershy had to close her eyes. At the same time her own wings burst open of their own will. "W-Who are you?" she stammered in the general direction of her counterpart. "A-And why do you look like me?" "Because she is you," Sunset said drawing everyone's attention towards her as she stepped into the room. "Well, a different version of you at least." "Huh?" both Fluttershy's said in unison as they alternated between looking (or listening in one Fluttershy's case) at each other and Sunset. "It's true," Twilight sighed as she stepped into the room. "On the other side of the portal there are alternate versions of you." As she said that she pointed at her friends then moved her hoof towards their visitors. "These are Sunset's friends from that world." "Okay," Rainbow said still glaring at Lightning. "So is it normal to jump somepony when you meet them?" "Well-" Twilight started only to get interrupted by Sunset. "Your counterparts messed up. Big time." Twilight's friend's first instinct was to ask Sunset to elaborate, but her flat glare killed the urge in all of them. "I'll...tell you all later," Twilight sighed, then smiled as she added, "But now, I think we could all use..." "A PARTY!!!" Pinkie exclaimed, showering everypony present with confetti and streamers as she pulled a small cannon from...somewhere. With a loud bang from the weapon, the room was flooded with a dense cloud of streamers and went through a drastic transformation. The ceiling and walls were decorated with looping green streamers and red ribbons that should've taken hours to arrange. The Cutie Map now held trays covered with various types of holiday themed snacks and drinks on top of a red and white table cloth. Five feet away from the map were ten large wooden barrels with the picture of an apple on the side and spigots on the front. "Your Pinkie does that too, huh?" Sunset groaned, spitting out a mouthful of confetti. "Yep," Twilight smiled as she walked further into the room. "Well, When in Roam," she muttered to herself as she followed her friend, all the while echoing a single thought. They aren't the same girls. They aren't the same girls "Hey Sunset," Lightning called, standing by one of the barrels. "Could you help me work this thing? I don't know how to use my hooves yet!" "Sure," she chuckled as she approached her friend. "But are you sure you want that? Equestrian cider is pretty strong." "It's booze?" she asked, staring at the barrel with a bit more caution. "Second thought, I'll probably go have some punch or something." Just as the light-green Pegasus was about to step away from the barrel, a harsh laugh caught her attention. "What?" Rainbow grinned, pouring herself a mug of cider form a nearby barrel. "Can't handle a bit of cider? Lame." "No," Lightning growled as she turned towards the cocky Pegasus. "I'm a minor, dumb ass." Rainbow leveled a glare at Lightning as she set her mug down on the ground. "Actually," Sunset cut in, breaking the tension before it could grow. "The legal drinking age in Equestria is sixteen." "Huh?" Lighting gawked, turning away from Rainbow. "Really?" "Yeah," Sunset smiled. "It's because Ponies reach full physical maturity by that point and don't visibly age beyond that until they turn eighty." "You're kidding." Sunset shook her head. With that Lightning turned towards Rainbow, a cocky grin forming on her muzzle. "First one down's the loser." Rainbow's glare was instantly replaced with a cocky grin of her own. "Deal!" she snickered as she poured her opponent a mug. "I'll grab ya a straw since you can't grab anything yet." "Thanks," she grumbled, tailing the much more balanced pony. Sunset's smile faded as she watched the two ponies walk away. Stop it Sunset. They aren't the same girls. "Are you okay love?" Sunset shook herself out of her thoughts as Vinyl and Octavia approached her, concern plain on their faces. "Yeah," she sighed, forcing a smile. "Just trying to readapt to things again." "I see," Octavia said, brow raised. "By that, do you mean your body or company?" "Both I guess," she groaned. "They just remind me of them, you know? It's difficult to remember that they aren't them." "Yeah, no kidding," Vinyl grumbled, staring at Applejack. "I almost jumped Applejack when I saw her. Leave it to Lightning to beat me to it. Flutters was a surprise though." "Indeed," the dark gray mare cringed. "Remind me not to cross her here. Those eyes...I think I'll be seeing those in my nightmares for the next few days." "Imagine how bad Rarity feels," Vinyl added, a shiver running down her spine. "I hope she's okay." As she said that the small group turned towards the Unicorn in question. On the surface she seemed fine, talking amiably with Twilight and Derpy about something. But Sunset could see it in her posture that she was very shook up by her interaction with the Thestral. The stiffness of her movements, the slight tremble in her smile, all of it pointed to a pony trying to bounce back from an extremely tense situation. All in all, Rarity looked like a mouse that was just pulled away from a predator at the last possible second. And now she was trying to pretend nothing happened. "I think she will be," Sunset said, a slight tremble present in her voice. "Just give her some time to catch her breath. That reminds me. Where is Fluttershy?" Octavia sighed, then said, "Apparently, Pinkie's cannon was too loud for her to handle, the poor dear. So her double decided to take her someplace a bit quieter to recover." "Oh, right," Sunset cringed. "Thestrals have super sharp senses. A loud pop for us is like a fog horn to them. I hope she's okay." "Oh believe me," Vinyl grinned. "I think she'll be just fine." *** All Fluttershy could hear was a ringing. It was all she knew. That and pain. A horrible ringing in her ears and searing pain in her eyes. She knew it would pass, but that didn't help with the fear. She was helpless with only her sense of touch and smell to guide her. Desperate to get some sort of relief she focused on those two senses. What she was able to glean from them just left her with more questions about her surroundings. Pine, pastries, alcohol, fruit, but one scent demanded her attention; the unmistakable smell of wildflowers. It steadily grew in intensity by the second as the staggered Thestral tried to make sense of everything. Eventually, the smell of wildflowers dominated her senses and when it did her fear started to weaken. It was at that point that she realized that she was laying on the ground and an eerily familiar voice was talking to her. She couldn't make out the words through the ringing, but she could tell that they held no malice. With what little nerve she could muster she tried to talk to the being. "Can't hear....can't see....help." More muffled words then Fluttershy felt someone take her foreleg and drape it over what felt like their shoulder. The sensation of hooves gripping what would normally be her arm was strange, but not unwelcome to her at this point. With unsteady steps she let whoever had her at their mercy take her away from the noise and light. The dimming light and sounds let her overloaded senses recover a bit quicker and she was finally able to open her eyes. Her surroundings were still blurry, but that was beginning to fade the farther they got from the throne room. Suddenly, something soft and yellow blocked her vision followed by a soft voice that she now could just hear over the ringing. "Not yet, it's still too bright for you. Just a little bit longer." "O...Okay," Fluttershy stuttered, closing her eyes. Soon, the ringing stopped, but all that did was allow her to hear the two sets of hoofsteps from her and her guide echo off the walls. What made her experience more bearable was the smell of wildflowers that seemed to surround her now. As they walked, she took long, deep breaths of the sweet scent. It put her heart at ease, reminding her of her mother's garden back home in the spring. "Here we are," the soft spoken guide said, stoping. "Can you stand?" "Y-Yes," Fluttershy stammered as she gently tried to pull her foreleg free. Her guide didn't resist as she freed herself. "That's good. Just don't open your eyes yet." She nodded and instead tried to see if she could hear anything that could give her a hint about her surroundings. All she could make out was that they were very far from the throne room and that her guide was very quiet. It wasn't clear to her if that was on purpose for her sake or normal for the pony, but she was grateful all the same. A soft click and the sound of a door opening in front of her caught her attention as well as the now familiar soft voice of her guide. "There we go. Now, follow the sound of my voice." Fluttershy followed her guide's orders and walked into what she presumed to be an empty room. "Wait here." With that, Fluttershy stayed put as a gentle breeze filled the room. Faintly, she heard the fluttering of wings as the light dimmed behind her eyelids. Once the room was dark enough, she slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that she was in what looked like a guest room furnished with the bare necessities one would come to expect from such a room though much more ornate than what she was use to. The second thing she saw was that the room was made of what looked like some kind of crystal structure. She assumed that the whole castle was made of this material, and now that it wasn't trying to blind her she could admit that it was very pretty looking. That all paled in comparison to the yellow Pegasus she saw descending from the top of a nearby window. Even in the dim light, Fluttershy couldn't deny that her Equestrian counterpart was beautiful. Maybe it was because of her sharper senses, but she couldn't help but take note of the mare's delicate and gentle aura. In short, she was like an angle in pony form while the human in pony form felt like a monster. "Are you okay?" Equestrian Fluttershy asked, noting her counterpart's stunned demeanor. "Y-Yes," she stammered, feeling her wings start to twitch on their own as she locked eyes with herself. "Are you sure?" she asked as she landed. "Y-Yes," Fluttershy repeated, now hiding her face behind her mane. Recognizing the gesture, Equestrian Fluttershy backed off. Even with what happened in the throne room, she didn't want her counterpart to feel uncomfortable. She knew it was a mistake and wasn't willing to hold it against her, even if she was still a little mad at her. "That's good," she sighed. "Um, it should get dark enough for you soon, so stay here until then. I'll bring you some food later. Unless you want something now of course." "Just some water would be fine," Fluttershy smiled. "I'm not very hungry right now." "Oh, okay," the Pegasus smiled. "I'll be back with your drink in a minute." With that, she walked back towards the door. But just as she was about half way through, the bat pony said something that made her pause. "I really like your perfume by the way. It's nice." "Um, thank you," she said, giving her guest a confused smile. "But I'm not wearing perfume." "Oh," Fluttershy subtly cringed. "Sorry." "It's okay," the Pegasus smiled, then left the room. The second the door closed, Fluttershy let out an irritated groan before she threw herself onto the bed in the far corner of the room. What was all that about? What the heck is wrong with me? Seriously! "Stupid nose," she pouted before burying her face into a pillow. *** The room was cold and dark. Scraps of torn paper covered the floor along with a now empty bottle of wine. The room's soul occupant laid on her bed, white skin bare and exposed to the chill of the room. Trails of mascara tainted tears running down her cheeks and luxurious purple hair reduced to a rat's nest. To say Rarity had seen better nights would've been an understatement as in one fell swoop, her heart was shattered beyond the point of repair. Betrayal. That was the hammer that broke her. Her sister. Her friend. The hammer was swung with ruthless efficiency in regards to the people she held so close for so long that she didn't know if the pieces could ever mend. It was in this moment of weakness that something decided to sample its handy work. A dark mass slithered like a twisted serpent from a dark corner of the room, silently orbiting over her like a vulture. It stared at her, hunger coursing through it. A hunger that shifted to anger as it was reminded of the prizes that slipped through its metaphorical fingers. The time it took to ripen Sunset Shimmer was an arduous process, but a worthwhile one none the less. The pain and guilt that sat in her heart was tantalizing all on its own, but with a liberal application of despair? It took all the shadow had to let her darkness grow. Once the final knife of betrayal was stabbed into her back, it was finally time to harvest. The wraith's mouth was watering as it worked its subtle magic on the broken girl's mind, guiding her towards her domain. Once she was on the bridge, it was just a matter of tugging on her subconscious to get her to jump. It was all going according to plan, only for everything to fall apart at the last second. In the span of a second, her meal was robbed from her by a magic coated bystander. Just the memories of the girl filled the wraith with rage. Her misaligned eyes. Her blond hair. Everything about her made her see red. But that was nothing compared to her most resent loss. She still had no idea how it happened. The girl named Pinkie Pie fell. That was true, but for some reason she couldn't be harvested. She couldn't even find a body! The lack of a person to blame for her missing prey drove the wraith to near hysterics that day. No matter. I will feed soon. I just need to be pAtIeNt, she thought, trailing a black tendril lovingly across Rarity's face. The wait will only make the fruit taste all the sweeter. Be patient Lily. Be PaTiEnT. With that, the specter slithered out of the room, eager to check the progress of other potential victims. *** Cold. Pain. Can't breath. Fall. Sunset. Sunset. Sunset! "SUNSET!" Pinkie exclaimed as she forced herself into a sitting position, gasping for air as water splashed around her. After hacking and coughing the water out of her lungs she took slow, deep breaths to try and make sense of her surroundings. Though blurry eyes, she noticed that she was in a bathroom with shining purple walls and expensive silver furnishings. The tub she sat in looked to be made of polished silver with the fixtures looking like they came from period movies. Her mind struggled to make sense of her situation, but as it stood the best way she could get any answers was by first getting out of the tub. A task that was easier said than done, as for some reason her body didn't want to cooperate with her. At least, not completely. Something about it felt off to her, like she was moving in ways her body wasn't normally meant to. Eventually, she managed to pull herself out of the tub filling the room with a wet slap as her red trench coat hit the ground. Dizzy and confused, she staggered towards the sink on all fours until she was able to reach for its polished marble surface. It was then that she noticed the lack of fingers on her hand. Mind still struggling to process this, she was able to force herself to her feet and look at the mirror that hung over the sink. Instead of being greeted by a waterlogged teenager she saw a drenched pink pony with blue eyes dressed in an equally soaked trench coat. "W-What?" was all Pinkie could manage before the world turned black and she knew no more.