Music blared, bright lights of varied colors assaulted anyone's eyes, and people cheered and danced in a space which seemed just large enough to contain them. Notable to keen senses was an orchestra not just of sound, but one of scent as well; alcohol led this composition while different perfumes and colognes diffused among an underlying accompaniment of sweat. Sunset thought perhaps there was also a mustier, danker fragrance lurking about, but this detection was only attributable to her exposure to such aromas. When these intense stimuli harmonized, they synthesized a sensory-overloading symphony. Lights, loud noise, people surrounding her ... had Sunset wished for distraction, there was no shortage at this event her chaperones had whisked her to.
Without warning a distinct feeling of claustrophobia settled into her bones and she wanted nothing more than to escape the near crashed-together crowd. However, attempting to begin weaving through the recreators resulted in Rainbow catching her wrist; the athletic girl, who was trying to enjoy herself, refused to let Sunset escape her sights. "Where are you going?" she demanded.
Grunting and rolling her eyes before meeting the athlete's gaze, Sunset streperously screamed over the music, "This is a little much noise for me; I want to go more to the edge!" Rainbow bobbed up and down to the pervading melodies, but grimaced aloud and ceased when Sunset voiced her desire.
"I'll walk you over to Fluttershy," the athlete acquiesced. "But even if you see a chance to get away know that she'll alert me as soon as you try anything!" Moments after Sunset nodded her head to this, her escort brought and left her to the surveillance of a well-dressed, taciturn Fluttershy situated a ways from the crowd's outskirts.
Fewer people congregated so far from the crowd, and those that did sat on steps into urban residences or stood staring at phones while periodically looking up to the flashing lights. Right after arriving, the fiery-haired one plopped down onto a nearby step, making no conversation or contact with the tense-like-a-tree girl. After a time, Fluttershy relaxed, smiled, and stepped in front of her only company.
"You appreciate quieter evenings, too, is that right?" Sunset, who was pondering recent ... uncomfortable experiences, jerked back when her wandering focus was called to attention by the generally silent one; who could only be heard due to their distance from the mugient music's source. Given time to consider the question, Sunset hummed gratitude as she mulled over potential responses.
Finally, with measured conviction, she said, "I suppose I do." While standing she raised and waved a finger at nothing in particular. "I mean, with everything that happened, I can't seem to stay away from others for too much time." Abruptly she shrugged and shook her head. "I feel as though any move or interjection I make will only be met with judgement or ridicule." With a chuckle and a relaxation to her shoulders she added, "Probably sounds dumb or paranoid."
Hearing this, Fluttershy waved both hands in front of her, mimicked Sunset's head shake, and agreeably asseverated, "No, I totally understand! They don't exactly call me Fluttershy for nothing, you know?" Unwitting, Sunset nodded.
"Why do they, people I mean, call you that?"
"Well, my parents always called me Flutter, don't ask me why; the name must have stuck and it caught on with people in school." she explained with a finger to her chin. Then she brought her hands down and looked to the side. "The 'shy' part got thrown in after people started getting to know me, I guess."
Giving an, "Ah," Sunset prepared another question but soon thought of one more important to her. "Aren't you being a little ... open with me? Don't you, you know, resent me for what I've done? Wouldn't you rather be somewhere else -- talking to somebody else?" Fluttershy whipped her gaze from a nondescript location against cement sidewalks to Sunset's expecting eyes; the on-the-spot girl's mouth went agape for a moment, she was about to respond hastily, but closed soon after.
After about a minute, being given the same time to consider the quandary that she gave Sunset, she spoke up; apprehension subsumed her voice. "Yes," Sunset was prepared for the response. "You bullied me and lots of people!" In complete understanding, Sunset began nodding. "You were downright rude!" Although her nodding slowed, it did not stop. "And you demeaned others for personal gain. That's not even the tip of the iceberg either." Sunset played with her fingers, avoiding Fluttershy's face, and thought the listing was complete; she was right. However, that didn't mean Fluttershy was done. "But that's also not the important point to me."
Everything prior Sunset expected, but she was almost stunned when Fluttershy went on. "People have often told me that getting angry and ... " she began explaining what Sunset was unprepared for but paused for breath. " ... resenting is easy, but forgiveness to those who've wronged you is hard and everyone deserves the chance for it." The word 'forgiveness' rang in Sunset's ears. "How unkind would it be to deprive you of that just so I can take the easy way out?"
Stepping back to find her seat once more, Sunset deflated into it and pondered; she looked up to a light-polluted, cloudy evening sky and processed Fluttershy's words momentarily. With a single laugh she thought of the pink-haired girl's calm, pensive answer, her confident delivery therein, and quipped, "Looks like I'll start calling you 'Flutter.'" All she received in response was a grin.
Although the show being held outside meant the air was fresh, it also meant it was cold. Moving around, as by dancing, was one method to ensure warmth, but the pair of taciturn observers refused to employ that tactic. Even so, the still, brisk kiss of the coming winter was not unwelcome to either of them.
Sunset and Fluttershy enjoyed a few moments more of quiet commune, the former beginning to feel the need to do something for warmth, when two individuals stepped from the crowd and began staring at Sunset. One of them was a boy in a very casual green coat and slacks, and the other was a girl, perhaps his consort, wearing a teal skirt and matching coat. Both of them stared with abhorrence across their plain, pale faces.
When Sunset noticed them she found her heart starting to race, as their eyes reminded her of recent dreams. Instinct compelled her to stand and tense up; she was overtaken by the pervasive desire to escape their glare but could not find the words to explain her trepidation to Fluttershy. Finally, the sneering couple approached and Sunset found her feet tapping due to suddenly wracked nerves.
"I swear, that's her." the boy muttered. "Her hair's hard to forget." With a narrow glare, much like Octavia's, his partner pulled out a yellow-cased phone and snapped a picture. This act, producing an audible clicking noise, jarred Fluttershy's attention from the flashing lights ahead.
Her fright of speaking to those she was unfamiliar with invaded and she stuttered out, "Uhm," which was the first thing that came to her mind. "What are you doing?" she addressed both of them, who kept a fair distance, but the boy said nothing while the girl tapped furiously on her device.
"Just ... confirming." the boy answered after a time. Hearing, and seeing, his animosity, Sunset moved close to Fluttershy, repeated closing and opening her fists, and swallowed.
"Somehow I doubt they share your perspective on second chances," she whispered. "And something tells me I might have to run." Fluttershy nodded at this, looked at the texting girl, and decided fast to retrieve her own phone to inform her own friends of the situation. Sure enough, about two minutes later, three more girls popped out of the crowd shouting, "There she is! Get her!"
Upon their arrival Sunset sprinted; she did not take time to examine their appearances out of fear. All that urged her forward was a fight-or-flight reaction, and due to it she didn't even care how Fluttershy, Rainbow, or any of the others would respond to this escape.
The angry girls pursued her down an alley away from the crowd. There were few avenues for escape in terms of line of sight, but there were plenty of trash cans, littered garbage bits, and fragments of clay or metal with which she could obstruct the path behind her. While deploying these obstacles caused half the girls to stumble or otherwise halt, two of them managed to continue chasing. However, they were far from Sunset and losing ground.
Alas, just as the fiery-haired one found herself with plenty of breathing room, a choice presented itself. She could either continue straight, toward a main road where cars could be infrequently seen, or she could veer left down another more narrow alley. The only pro of going left was that a tall, locked off chain-link fence barred the way; she decided to climb the fence regardless of its height.
During the climb her ankle flared in soreness, but Sunset ignored the bruise's pain. The ability to move mostly efficacious and swift allowed her to scale the obstacle without suffering anything more bothersome than stinging sensations, and she decided to hide behind the first thing in sight when she made it to the other side and examined the path ahead. Regarding this case, that meant a dumpster situated to her left; a little farther down the alley's wall was a door which likely led into a residence or establishment that owned said garbage receptacle. Choosing to halt and listen soon rewarded, as the two pursuers stopping to catch their breath momentarily graced Sunset's hidden ears.
"Whatever," one of the girls grimaced. "We'll have plenty of time to catch her later." Anxiety held Sunset with these words, but it yielded to relief when her hunters' much slower footsteps faded back down the alley. Peaking around the dumpster's corner a few times verified for Sunset that the girls indeed left, and sudden thoughts of security washed over her. Without making noise, she exhaled and began walking away from the chain-link fence with a renewed sense of privacy; for the first time in too long she felt she could be alone.
Relaxation found its way into her steps through the urban corridor, but this freedom did not continue passed the first turn she came to. "There!" hailed Rainbow's persistent, vengeful voice from where the alley turned left to be parallel with the path Sunset just escaped. Part of the pursued girl wouldn't have minded just explaining the situation to her wardens and getting the night over with, but these girls made Sunset come to this show. It was their fault that she was recognized and antagonized on sight, and Sunset was angry enough at this to finally spite the parole. With grit teeth she spun to her right, away from Rainbow, and sprinted down a clear enough path.
Sunset's eyes rolled at the sound of continued pursuit and she kept sprinting until reaching a main road. Turning left onto its sidewalk revealed little save for a few benches, trees standing from concrete, and bins for garbage or recycling. Few cars passed on the parallel road to her right; most present vehicles were parked and unoccupied between the marked asphalt and the adjoined path Sunset ran upon.
Left of this sidewalk, on another note, were buildings with doors to various establishments. Some were inviting, like a glass-walled coffee shop Sunset paused -- just for a moment! -- to consider hiding in, but some had intercoms and obvious or ambiguous signs expressing desired privacy. Another gap between buildings, next to a green metal sign reading, 'Canathie Park,' borrowed Sunset's attention from the cafe, and when Rainbow's footsteps became uncomfortably loud she abandoned the notion of hiding. Escaping sight seemed like a good plan, but the coffee shop appeared only to have one exit. Meaning that if Rainbow did notice, Sunset would have nowhere to go.
Sorrowful for the jacket wearer, she would have made it to the alley into Canathie Park without Rainbow seeing her if she just refused stopping to ponder alternative exit plans. No matter, she figured, the narrow corridor she faced was clear for running; its concrete pathway was even decorated either side by weeds and mostly dead flowers which marked a desired change from urban scenery. However, most valuable to Sunset was its short distance into the park permitting plenty of time to consider the fastest route to seclusion.
Although moving down the alley granted her limited sight of Canathie's recreation grounds, it was enough to determine that the park's center was barren of anything but soil, withering flora, and neglected playground equipment. Finally Sunset felt like events would conform to her wishes, but her first reaction upon stepping out of the alley, where the concrete walkway narrowed and branched into a tree of possible roads throughout a hexagonal layout, was fight-or-flight surprise.
SMACK!
Adrenaline fired into Sunset's veins as she ran, attempting to round the alley's right-hand corner quickly as possible, head first into the forehead of another who she could not hear over the sound of her own sprinting steps. Pain smashed into the fiery-haired runner's right temple and she crashed onto the opposite side. Grunting and shaking her head from the stunning sensation, Sunset massaged the point of impact before pushing herself to her left elbow. From a less immobile position she could see an activated smart phone atop the nearby dirt; though she realized it couldn't be her's as its display read, "ARC - call ended". Not to mention her own device was well situated in her jacket pocket -- a fact which made itself known like kid's toys underneath bare feet. Once Sunset's senses were clear she snatched the phone and almost sprang to what was, to her before exiting the brick corridor, the alleyway's left-side corner so to obstruct Rainbow's line of sight. Without trying, Sunset deduced her running was unheard by the stranger due to the engagement of conversation and rotated her head to address ... herself.
Fewer than a few feet away was another Sunset raising herself from the park's thin, paved path. Both parties' features and proportions were near identical, their attire too, but there were clear differences. Sunset, who was now clutching an unfamiliar phone, bore nothing undamaged (her slippers, while only recently employed, had been bent, crushed, and scarred days after recovery); she also had rougher skin and bone structure compared to her other self. Whereas a well-maintained ensemble besmirched only by a slimmer leather jacket, dirtied due to their culpable collision's consequence, and fine black shin-high boots adorned her counterpart.
During the years she spent in this dimension, with intense perseverance, she tried to locate this world's original Sunset. Over two years she searched to no avail and finally presumed the dimension's resident Sunset acted too far to cause concern. However, on this day years after her arrival, when almost nothing else could get in her way, she crashed into the girl; it seemed like cruel humor to her. After Sunset pondered probability she concluded that the logical explanation lay within continued dreaming, but her other self remained the sole inconsistency.
Illness and uncertainty sank their teeth into the standing Sunset's neck as she stared again at her own face, but it was dissimilar to previous nausea brought about by looking into a reflection. Instead of piquant discomfort, the feeling seemed softer, slower in its onset, and not overwhelming. Although part of her felt like running and dropping the device right there, another idea became clear when her aqua eyes met those of her boot-clad other self's.
While the boot-less one retained diligence and clarity, on another note, absolute confusion ingurgitated her counterpart. No words came to the dimension's original Sunset, what occurred before her was hardly processed, and when a mirror version of herself started talking she barely listened regardless of it being the first word spoken during the encounter.
"Listen, I know this is incredibly strange for you," the fleeing Sunset guessed. "But I do not have time." Inhaling momentarily, tossing the phone back toward its owner, and pointing passed her double she plead, "Just tell the people chasing me that I went that way ... " During a pause she considered adding, "They can probably tell the difference," but decided against such divulgence. Without another word nor acknowledgement she turned and sprinted away from the indicated direction. Of course, the fleeing Sunset's strategy proved more difficult than expected when, after rounding a corner leading away from Canathie, she ended up staring at a dead end.
Four large brick walls boxed her in and only two avenues of escape from the enclosure seemed possible. One being from whence she came and the other being a gray metal door on the far wall. This dead-end entrance led into the only wall not devoid of decoration; a flat, square brick portico supported by two 15 foot tall pillars, on either corner disconnected from the wall, extended from above the gray obstacle. Situated atop this portico were various dying plants or flowers, and higher still was a window which whoever resided in the building presumably used to water the flora during dry spells.
Before stepping in front of the door she asked herself whether she dare attempt entry. Had her spite ran so deep as to disturb others who likely did not deserve it? Deliberation incomplete, curiosity urged her to turn the latch and discover the door's locked status. So much for that, she cogitated, walked from under the portico, and jumped in her skin after hearing an abrupt, echoing cry. From not far beyond the wall, right of the locked door, Rainbow reprimanded the dimension's original Sunset. Although louder bits of the unpredictable encounter could be heard by the fleeing girl, the wholeness of the conversation was lost to her.
However, her boot-clad counterpart could observe Rainbow Dash halting in front of her with a shout and irate features too well for pleasantry. "Now," the athlete's call gripped sitting Sunset's attention from frantic thoughts. "I'll say it again ... Where exactly do you-"
"Hold your horses, Dash!" Applejack interrupted after jogging to join the pair. "I don't think that's our Sunset. I mean, look at the shoes." 'Our Sunset' ran through the stunned girl's mind a few times and Rainbow held her temples while shaking her head at this recognition.
"Gah," the athlete scoffed before kneeling near Sunset. "I know this is going to sound strange, and you're going to have many questions we're happy to answer." She paused to clear her throat. "But have you seen someone who looks just like you run through here recently?" With two slow blinks Sunset snatched her phone and stood; she was unsure what she was supposed to do, or even think, about the situation. While Rainbow interrogated Sunset, who pondered possibility, her actual target was realizing a superior stratagem.
Stationed on the portico, the boot-less Sunset noted, were planting pots surrounded by flowerbeds. There was nowhere else to hide in the enclosure, save behind the pillars, so Sunset resolved to ascend. Huffing, she walked a proper distance from the pillars, sprinted toward one, and yelped due to her ankle upon attempting a wall run. Although she succeeded in performing this maneuver she failed to keep quiet, as the unexpected twinge of pain in her foot could generally be ignored.
Rainbow heard the dissipating cry as an echo and, with a step toward its source and a roll of her eyes, raised her brows saying, "Who could that be, I wonder?" Boots thudding and choice made, Sunset pursued Rainbow, caught the athlete's arm, and snapped an index finger 90 degrees counter-clockwise from where her counterpart suggested. Since the fleeing Sunset's position was compromised it made little sense to point directly away.
"That way," her voice and comprehension of the strange experience at last found her. "We ran into each other ... literally, and she went through the park," she lied. Perhaps it was a strange type of bias, but she felt that answering her questions from the source would more likely yield earnest results. However, this Sunset had almost zero experience with duplicity nor its intricacies, so when Rainbow wheeled around to make eye contact with the equivocator her heart skipped a beat and her jaw clenched. Could Rainbow ascertain that she was lying based on expression alone?
Applejack joined her friend in looking to what they did not know was their target's location, placed a hand on Dash's shoulder, and looked into the lying Sunset's face. "Alright," she assured, "I can see this whole ordeal has you a little shaken, but there's nothing to worry about." That's one way of putting it, Sunset mused and decided her astonished reaction served to raise doubt about any falsifications. Rainbow then gently pulled her arm free from the frozen Sunset's clutch before Applejack, who dreamed of a peaceful evening on her family's farm after this debacle finished, gestured with a waving hand to herself and the athlete. "We'll be back here soon as we can to answer whatever questions you have, and if you can't wait too long then go to Sugar Cube Corner on Enterprise Street. Someone there named Pinkie can put you in touch with us: Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Got it?"
Recovering still from perplexity, all Sunset mustered in response was a nod accompanied by a hum. However, when the two pursuers proceeded toward the indicated path, capability returned and she steeled herself in preparation for the next interaction. Jogging to where her perceived counterpart disappeared to, around the same brick corner, revealed nothing but an empty dead end.
There was nowhere to hide; a lone metal door stood, with a tall brick portico above it, between the bricks of a central wall and no other escape was visible. With a deep breath, the searching Sunset peaked behind the portico's supporting pillars to find air. If the person she swore to have collided with wasn't behind the pillars, she figured the last option was to go through the door. Normally Sunset would refuse to barge into an unfamiliar building, but in these puzzling circumstances she broke her ethic code and tried turning the latch. Of course, it was locked which meant one of two things: either Sunset hallucinated the incident or it actually occurred and the perpetrator simply went through and locked the door behind her.
" ... the hell ... " she muttered, sat against a wall adjacent to the door, and held her face in her hands. Maybe she was just sleep deprived. After all, she had been up almost all night preparing to arrive in the Canterlot precinct, but she could not shake the idea that her mental acuity was not responsible. "Ugh ... " she groaned frustration and threw her head back which allowed her to admire the close-together bricks of the plant-bearing portico above; had she been a little taller, and stronger, she might have been able to jump and touch the masonry. Wait a minute ...
Beckoned by a new idea, Sunset launched to her feet and stomped out from under the portico. Examining its small gardening surface, after moments of painstaking observation pacing around the three accessible sides, yielded the faintest movement: a diaphragm expanding ever so slightly. "Aha!" she proclaimed, "I can see you! You aren't going to stay up there forever, right?"
" ... " There was no answer.
Through grit teeth she clicked her tongue. How could this person refuse to acknowledge her after she did a favor for them? Such rudeness could only be addressed by ensuring the other party knew she lacked hostile intent but at the same time explaining that, should she wish to, she could do something. "Do I need to stay here until those girls get back so I can tell them where you are, or are you going to come down?" With narrowed eyes Sunset watched a near replica of herself rise from a prone position behind the pots and flowerbeds. This confirmed one of two things: either her eyes worked just fine or she was in a dream world.
"How did you even get up there?" she pondered aloud -- only to hear her own voice reply with words that weren't her own.
Sunset, who walked to the portico's edge to sit, looked to her somewhat scratched hands and then passed her counterpart before declaring, "Most humans take their fingers and feet, their ability to maneuver so well in three dimensions, for granted." Prior to hopping off the portico, with clear intent to move on, she inquired, "I see you didn't sell me out -- let me guess, they were in too much of a hurry to tell you what's going on?" When her boot-clad version heard the question she tilted her head.
"More or less, yes, but the way you say it ... Should I have sold you out?"
Puzzlement crossed the questioned, slipper-sporting Sunset's face for a second until she abruptly chuckled out, "Honestly, you probably should have, but none can blame the ignorant for not knowing about some things." She took a few steps to her counterpart and glanced at the fine, polished boots in envy.
"Some things such as?" the boots' owner demanded. "Exactly who are you, what are you doing here, and why do you look like me?" Sunset watched the dimensional interloper step back at the interrogatory onslaught and gave a slight frown with two raised hands in apology.
"All good questions but I'll make a long story short, and regardless of whether or not you believe me, I'm only saying this once, okay?" Assuring this dimension's original Sunset nodded first, the interloper delivered, "I came to this universe from a very different one; I thought I knew everything I needed to know and that others would only benefit from my ... choices. Well, as fate would have it, I was wrong. In the end all I accomplished was hurting others -- myself and you included. I slandered your name, and if you want to enjoy your life without harassment ... then get as far away from me as you can. Only the guilty deserve such treatment. Forget you ever saw me."
What? Such a bomb was challenging for the boot wearer to wrap her head around, for a figurative ton of questions arose from the flash point; questions which dazed her attention. Slippers' flopping resounded a few times before she noticed that her counterpart was walking away, as though there was nothing more to say. Instinct conquered her body and she moved to seize Sunset's wrist. "Wait!" she cried. Of course, after doing this, she expected some form of resistance, but the wrist's owner just stopped and turned to listen with patient, empty eyes.
Once a few seconds of silence passed, the halted girl looked to her captured wrist, to its captor, and raised a brow. "Yes?" she attempted to incite whatever other question this girl had so she could leave soon, and was happy to find success.
"My whole life I've been flitting from thing to thing, idea to idea, hobby to hobby, and not once have I found anything that really called me -- anything to alleviate this feeling that something's wrong." Eye contact unfaltering, and boot clacking at a step forward, Sunset continued, "I fear I will be buried with a headstone reading, 'she did a lot, but enjoyed little.'"
"It could be worse. Someone could not even bother to bury you." Sunset interjected but cleared her throat and went silent when her counterpart gave her a low frown and narrow eyes.
"Are you telling me that now, after all this time I've lived without finding anything that truly caught my interest, I should just let it go? Forget about it?" Well, when you put it like that ... Interloping Sunset considered what she'd just heard; she could easily understand where her counterpart was coming from. However, seeing that she had little desire for another person around to scorn her, she decided not to promulgate anything that would leave a trail.
Thus she yanked her arm free, jabbed an index finger toward the ground, and affirmed, "I am giving you time to make a choice, but I advise that you, if you want a happy life, let it go. Really, I'm sorry for everything -- everything I did to everyone! You don't have to give up what I did just to grasp for straws though. I promise there's something out there for you, but I also promise that all you'll find here ... is more displeasure and disinterest." Thence, with that said, the dimensional interloper ran off without a care for whether or not her other self was satisfied with their discussion.