//------------------------------//
// X-Ray 
// Story: Transmission Spectrum 
// by FanOfMostEverything 
//------------------------------//

The two Sunsets held each others' gaze for a time. The one who'd been in this world all day was certainly a sight to see. Sunset's body could act as a reflection of her state of mind, but she usually kept that tamped down unless she needed to emphasize a point. Her counterpart had felt as much need for that kind of restraint as she had for any other.

The being floating before Sunset had stars sparkling on her skin as well as in her eyes, making her seem as much a living nebula as a person. Her hair billowed in an unfelt breeze, along with the lengths of strategically draped cloth that were her only clothing. She emitted a luminous aura, a faint chorus of wordlessly harmonizing voices, and the scent of burning sandalwood.

The more mundane Sunset wrinkled her nose. "Okay, I get the homage to Celestia, I understand the disdain for human nudity taboos, and I can even accept the cosmic body glitter. But don't you think the incense and backup singers are a bit much?"

"Um, Sunset?" Ditzy said as she drifted away from the spirit. "Maybe don't mock Happy Fun Goddess?"

Sunset agreed, but she didn't even glance at Ditzy. She knew herself, especially when power-mad. She knew she'd pounce on any sign of weakness. Defiance wasn't much better, but it would at least hold her interest. "I wasn't a god, I won't be a god, and currently she is not a god."

The deniably divine Sunset tapped her lip in thought. "You know, this is interesting. At first I wasn't sure what to think of you. After that comment, I thought you might be my sense of restraint. Maybe guilt or shame or humility." She turned to Ditzy, tilting her head to one side. It kept going a bit past what a human neck should've allowed. "But you. I don't know what to make of you. What does Muffins mean?"

Sunset gave a sharp whistle, getting her counterpart to look back at her. Ditzy wasn't prepared for this; Sunset needed to keep eyes on herself. "Hey! That's my head you're getting lost in, filly."

"Oh?" The spirit smiled. "What a strange thing to say. Isn't it my head too?"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Come on, I know we're smarter than this." Implicit insults to her intelligence; those would definitely keep her focus off of Ditzy. "You must know about the wider multiverse. The Twilights are living examples of how this works."

At that, the other Sunset beamed. Literally; her halo intensified as she smiled. "Of course! You're my latent anxiety about my human counterpart. Never did figure out what happened to her." She turned back to Ditzy. "I suppose that makes you my luck. Or lack thereof."

Ditzy paused halfway behind the Wondercolt statue. "I really wish I could dispute that, but it makes a terrifying amount of sense."

"Except we're real," said Sunset. She swept a hand over the area. "It's all real, Sunset. Everything you've done, everyone you've hurt, it's all actually happening. This isn't your world; it's mine."

"Even if that were true, I haven't hurt anyone."

Sunset crossed her arms. "Our friends?"

The spirit rolled her eyes. "I just wasn't in the mood for a lecture spoiling a chance to cut loose and stop worrying about if I'm backsliding every second of every day."

"At which point you started to backslide."

"Yes, because clearly I'm back to the bad old days." The spirit spread her arms, the chorus hitting a brief crescendo. "People don't fear me, they adore me. And no, I'm not just basking in it like I would've back then. I'm working to be worthy of that adoration."

Sunset's forehead started to ache from how hard she lifted one eyebrow. "By flitting around and smacking down everyone who disagrees with you?"

"Tell me how that's different from Princess Twilight." The spirit's smirk grew to a deranged smile that made Pinkie Pie look sedate. "But I've gone beyond even her. I'm not just a good person, I am goodness. I am the eternal support of the cosmos itself!"

The sheer surprise nearly made Sunset stagger. "Hold on, you've actually been maintaining the universe?"

"Of course!" It was the spirit's turn to spread her arms to encompass everything. "I can feel how broken everything is, how the right push in the wrong direction could send it all tumbling down."

"Yes!" cried Sunset. "That's why—"

"It's a dream. Of course it's full of logical inconsistencies. So I prop it up, and I get to enjoy my time here until I decide to put it down."

Silence met that, at least until Ditzy poked her head out from behind the statue and said, "Sunset? I... I think she's holding the universe hostage."

Sunset gulped and took a step forward. "Please, at least consider the consequences if you're wrong."

The spirit gave her a pitying smile. "Heh. Of course you don't want me to wake up. Relax, I won't be done for a while yet. But I can hardly have fun while you're badgering me. So..." Suddenly, the shining figure was right in front of Sunset. She held back a flinch. "You can go now."

And Sunset booped Sunset on the nose. Then pushed.

It was much like going through a portal, only while facing backwards. Endless roiling color consumed Sunset's vision. She couldn't move. She wasn't sure what she'd be moving if she could. Bits of her waved in and out of her vision: hair, hands, hooves, feathers, claws, paws, tentacles, coronal prominences, on and on. She felt herself unfold, like she'd been hunched over for hours and had finally gotten a chance to stretch.

All the while, the brightest spot in the center of her vision grew smaller and smaller.

Then something shot out of it and streaked towards her.

As it got closer, it resolved into a congery of silvery spheres shimmering in all colors, an oil slick rainbow on a trail of foam. It zipped behind her, and Sunset felt her motion gradually slow.

Oof. She really shoved you.

Sunset blinked. At least seven eyes were involved. The words had gone into her mind without even considering her ears, which was a good thing, since she wasn't sure if she had any at the moment. She projected her own thoughts back. Ditzy?

Who else? Don't worry, I have a plan.

Push me back? The bright spot may have stopped receding, but it wasn't getting any closer either.

That got the idea of a negative grunt. Won't work well. I don't know how things look to you, but you're kind of... Yeah, "nebulous" is a good word. I think you qualify as a cloud to my magic, and you know how that part of pegasus magic didn't translate well. There was... some kind of sensation behind Sunset, a mix of pushing against her and pushing into her.  Yeah, it's like trying to carry water in your hands. It'd take a long time to work, and time's screwy out here anyway.

So what's the plan?

Being gentle won't work, but a big burst should. You might call it a gust, if this place had wind. Or, well, air. But it's going to blow me backwards. Time may be screwy, but conservation of momentum still works. Not sure where I'll end up, so, you know, try not to get kicked out of the universe again.

Sunset gasped—or at least tried to—as the implications hit her. Ditzy, wait!

Already doing it!

"Gust" undersold what happened. Sunset wasn't sure about the details, but it felt more like getting shot out of a cannon, the world approaching at a ridiculous clip. A fading psychic call of Good luck! was the only sign of the consequences for Ditzy.

She can take care of herself, Shimmer, Sunset told herself. You have plenty of other people to worry about right now.

The shining world filled her vision, and she found herself staggering forward a few steps from where she'd been pushed out in the first place, which meant she stumbled right into her counterpart.

Yourself, for example.

"What... What are you... Why are you still here?" cried the other Sunset, all playfulness and serenity gone. Even most of the special effects had ended, just leaving another, sparklier version of her who was terribly underdressed for the weather. Only landing on her back and possibly her own subconscious desires prevented any further exposure. "This is a lucid dream! Lucid! I control everything here!"

"Yeah, think about that." Sunset stood back up, and as she straightened, she felt herself stretch out in other, more esoteric ways.

"You're..." Fear flashed in the other Sunset's eyes before she shook her head as she staggered to her feet. "No, you're just some... some subconscious issue that I can deal with later. Right now, I want you to go away!"  There was nothing cutesy this time. One Sunset charged the other, leading with a shoulder as she tried to tackle her out of the cosmos.

Sunset crouched, took the hit, and held onto both her counterpart and reality around her. This time, her vision briefly filled with the colors beyond space and time... and the golden radiance of a scared girl's face.

Then the world snapped back like a rubber band and sent both of them tumbling into a heap again. Sunset couldn't help but smirk. "We've got to stop meeting like this."

Her counterpart flushed with rage. "You think this is funny?"

"Kind of. Think about what just happened."

"Me literally wrestling with my issues?" deadpanned the other Sunset.

Sunset got to her feet, rolling out each shoulder. "Something not just defying you, but not immediately folding when you tried to force the issue. What does that tell you, Miss Lucid Dream?"

She could see the penny drop a moment later. "No." The other Sunset backed away from her, crawling on her back, shaking her head with every denial. Even the stars in her skin started to wink out. "No, no, that can't be it. I would... That would make me..."

"To be fair, you didn't realize it at first." Sunset offered an empathetic smile. "I can hardly blame you for looking at Shimmerism and thinking this couldn't possibly be happening. I have trouble believing it myself some days." Her expression hardened. "But when you took the bonds I made with my friends and turned them into leashes—"

"My friends!" The other Sunset pushed off the snow and hung in the air. "Yes. That's the meaning of this all."

Sunset sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Sunset, just stop."

The other didn't even seem to register her, even as the stars in her eyes went out and left a black void. "I can't beat you alone," she half-muttered, her eyes spitting out dying sparks that started fires in her hair. "I can't expect to overcome my self-doubt, my inadequacy, everything that's held me back by myself." With every item she mentioned, her skin darkened and reddened. The limp, apparently taped-on cloths writhed and coiled around her, forming into flame patterns and leather. "It's what everypony's been trying to tell me from the very beginning. But with my friends..."

Sunset took a few steps back. Even as heat and sulphur began to assault her senses, she tried to keep her tone calm and rational. "I mean, that's a very valuable lesson, but you're—"

"Shut up!" cried the other Sunset, her hair erupting into full flame as ragged bat wings burst out of her back. "Just shut up!" Sunset's friends popped into being around her, each staring blankly with eyes glowing the color of her Element. "We're going to blast you with rainbows and then I can wake up and I won't be a monster and everything will be fine!"

"You know, darling, you really are being selfish."

Both Sunsets slowly looked at Rarity, who, even in Generosity's thrall, had her hands on her hips and glared up at the demon in an unmistakably Rarity fashion. "What?" said both.

"You could definitely go about this more nicely," said Fluttershy.

"Plus you're kinda sorta causing mass panic?" Pinkie pointed at the onlookers who Sunset hadn't noticed until now, several of whom had their phones pointed at the conflict.

"Oh, that's going to be fun to explain." Even so, Sunset couldn't help but take comfort in how she assumed she'd have survivors to explain it to.

The demon looked between the three girls who'd mouthed off to her, quivering with rage. "You... You are the Elements. I am Harmony. Why aren't you listening to me?"

Applejack crossed her arms. "We may be Elements, but we ain't your Elements, now are we? This ain't who, where, or what you should be."

Rainbow Dash gave the Sunset on the ground a thumbs up. "Whoop her butt, Sunset."

That brought the demon's attention on her as well. "You," snarled the creature, pointing a claw at Sunset. "You're turning this into a nightmare. Well I won't have it!"

"I'm trying to set things right. You're the one who's giving Nightmare Moon another run for her money." Sunset gestured to all of her counterpart. "Look at yourself. You're even getting ready to swarm me with your teenage army."

The demon just glowered at her and snapped her claws. And between them appeared one more girl, heliotrope pools of light where her eyes should be.

Sunset gasped, all bravado forgotten. "Twilight..."

Twilight Sparkle said nothing. The others called out to her as well, but she showed no reaction.

"You're right," said the demon. "It is like last time. Magic doesn't judge. Magic listens to me. And with her, the others fall into line." The light in Twilight's eyes intensified, and the others' followed suit. They stiffened and returned to their initial positions.

Sunset barely noticed. "Twilight, please."

The slightest shift, and Twilight was looking at Sunset and not just in her direction. "I am prepared to do what I must."

Sunset looked into those blank eyes and nodded. "I understand."

"Good," snarled the demon. "Now go away!"

The power built slowly, fitfully. Harmony was never meant to be wielded by a single will running roughshod over so many others. It was the mistake Sunset had made at the Fall Formal, the one Celestia had made in her battle against Nightmare Moon. But the power still built, and nothing could stop the unbridled power of Harmony once it got going.

Unless...

It was stupid. It was reckless. It was the best plan Twilight could come up with and the only choice Sunset had.

She rushed towards the girls.

"What? No! Stop!" And the power of Harmony, driven by a single individual, wavered and stuttered with her split focus. The demon hesitated, eyes darting as she tried to take everything into account.

Before she could come to a decision, Sunset reached Twilight, grabbed her girlfriend in a tight embrace, and squeezed her eyes shut. She brought all of her focus on the geode still around her neck, on the way she'd dredged memories from another mind.

And then she took that spellform and turned it inside out.

Sunset felt Twilight seize up as her recent experiences played out in the other girl's mind. Even through her shut eyelids, she could tell how the prismatic radiance around her took on a more golden cast. And even if she couldn't, she could feel the magic stretch out from girl to girl, riding along the much-abused bonds between their souls.

And once it had completed the circuit of the girls on the ground, she felt the power of empathy rise up, flowing eagerly to its proper mistress.

The other Sunset's screams made her open her eyes, letting her see the demon clutch at her forehead. "It can't be true! I won't let it be true!" The demon fell from the sky, hitting the lawn hard. Snow that had melted to slush feet beneath her now flashed into steam. She staggered to her feet and locked an eye with her counterpart, the other squeezed shut. Bolts of rainbow energy cascaded about her, incredible amounts of built-up harmony magic with nowhere to go.

The demon snarled. "That's enough!" she cried, lunging forward and grabbing the still-floating necklace.

The moment she touched it, everything seemed to stop. All motion, all sound, all thought. Then the necklace flashed brighter than ever.

When the light faded, Sunset let go of the gem and returned her body to its usual state.

The other Sunset, also back where she belonged, started sobbing as she all but collapsed in Twilight's arms.

Twilight staggered from the unexpected load, faltering back a few steps until Sunset caught her in turn. "Easy. She has a lot to process right now."

"Sunset?" said Twilight, looking up at her with those beautiful eyes and the beautiful sclera and pupils she'd taken for granted until now.

Sunset smiled. "Hey, Twilight. Good to be back."

"I have numerous questions."

"Hang on. I'm answering some of my own right now." Sunset reached out to the universe, her mind flooding out where before it trickled. "She was... maintaining the place, at least. It didn't get any better, but it also didn't get any worse. I actually did more damage with the portal. I guess she didn't even think to fight her instincts as a Spirit of Harmony."

"So..." Rainbow Dash walked up to them, rubbing the back of her head. "Yeah, what happened?"

"You was actin' crazier'n a cat in a field o' nip," added Applejack.

"I wasn't." Sunset nodded at her counterpart. "She was."

The other Sunset clung tighter to Twilight, who looked incredibly uncomfortable with the situation. "Sorry. So sorry..."

Fluttershy put a hand on the other Sunset's shoulder. "Here." The sobbing girl latched onto her. Fluttershy didn't even stagger.

"We switched last night through a ludicrously powerful magical wish. I've spent all day trying to get back from her Earth." Sunset frowned. "All things considered, I made ridiculously good time."

"We helped. Mostly me."

Everyone but Fluttershy turned to look at the speaker. "Pinkie?" said Rarity.

Laughter winked, eyes still glowing blue. "Kind of."

Sunset took a moment to review her day. "Wait, is that why so much goofy stuff happened along the way?"

"I'm not the most subtle Element. But we all helped out."

"Mostly through our counterparts. We could sense something was awry and nudged causality." Wide-eyed, Twilight brought a hand to her mouth, then sighed. "I'm never going to get used to that."

"Hopefully you won't have to," said Sunset. "You should all try to keep magic use to a minimum for the next few days; we don't want you permanently bonding with your Elements on that level."

Rarity nodded. "I do appreciate that part of myself, but it's no way to run a business."

"Sunset?" said Fluttershy, who'd seated herself and the other Sunset on the thawed-out potion of the lawn. "I think she's coming around."

Sunset sat next to her counterpart. A twist of magic formed a bubble of comfortably warm air. "Hey. How you feeling?"

"I..." The other wiped her eyes, looked around, and brought a hand to her headgem. "This all really happened, didn't it?"

"It did. And on that note..." Sunset manifested numerous avatars around the world, giving a brief summary of the situation, calming down some of the more zealous Shimmerist congregations, and conferring with Agent Heartstrings.

"Uh..." said her own voice.

"Give her a moment," said Twilight. "She's multitasking."

"I can only divide my attention so much." Sunset nodded once most of the smaller fires were put out and Mr. Discord knew it was safe to return home. "Okay. So, that was your taste of supreme power. Was it everything you'd hoped it would be?"

"I'm sorry! I... I just..." The other Sunset groaned and huddled into herself. "After all this time, I'm still a horrible person."

Sunset put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, take it from yourself. We're not perfect."

That got an eye roll. "Says the literal goddess."

"Like I said, you weren't a god, I'm not a god. This universe handled Equestrian magic a lot worse than yours. I'm just gluing it back together after the fact. And in spite of everything, you did a good job holding it together while I was away."

"Yeah, I just ruined your reputation and violated your friends' free will. No big deal there."

Sunset waved that off. "Nothing I haven't dealt with before, same as you. But you never answered my question. Was it what you'd hoped it would be?"

Her counterpart didn't answer for several seconds. Eventually, she said, "No. Kind of. Maybe a little. It didn't actually help, but at least it let me blow off a little steam." She sighed and slumped. "That and find out I'm a horrible person."

"Hey, I remember all the things I've done after quicksaving in Skysedge. We do not deal well with a consequence-free environment."

That coaxed out something like a smile. "That... does tend to make for popular streams."

"You stream? I've done a few, but I figured I couldn't do regular ones without crashing Spasm."

The other Sunset just glared at her.

She winced. "Sorry. Not helping. And neither did this. You wanted your turn with unfathomable power, you got it, and... Well, what would you have done if you had known this wasn't a dream?"

"I..." The other Sunset had a look of utter befuddlement that Sunset had seen far too often in the mirror. "Honestly? I don't even know. I never expected to take someone else's place, certainly not another version of myself. I just... You stole Princess Twilight's crown, right?"

"Yeah."

"You remember how it felt seeing her that first time." Sunset felt her gut twist as she recalled those feelings, and she saw her counterpart grimace at the same memories as she kept going. "Our replacement. The one who got what we'd tried so hard to earn. Seeing her on the throne, actually ruling Equestria, was that times a thousand, and I couldn't even hate her for it. She's earned it. She's more than earned it! And meanwhile, I...

"You were in my world, but you didn't see what it's like. The only ponies in Equestria who even remember me are either busy rebuilding the country or stuck in some kelping village. I have to put down magic incursions on a monthly basis with nothing but one psychomantic trick, six girls who wouldn't know a cantrip if it bit them on the dock, and a seven-person rainbow cannon. That's it. No in-betweens, no support, no way for me to protect my friends beyond physically throwing myself in harm's way." She held up her geode. "If it weren't for Flash, we'd have all gotten killed by a toaster a few months ago because this got knocked ten feet away from me.

"On top of all of that, I have to hope that no one looks at any of the footage on EweTube and takes it seriously, because I have no other way of keeping it from getting out. Who knows what people will do if they find out magic is real on a larger basis?"

Sunset nodded. "Yeah, managing that is a tricky process. And that's coming from me."

"Exactly." The other Sunset fell back into Fluttershy's lap—Sunset silently thanked the girls for letting her vent—and moaned, "I can't keep doing this."

"Sunset—"

"No, literally, I can't keep doing this. I graduate in six months. I have no idea if I can even stay in that world after that. I have a back alley birth certificate and barely any other documentation. I haven't even applied to any colleges because I'm afraid of what will happen if someone looks past the surface, and there's still the question of my human counterpart." She brought her head up. "Any tips there?"

"She's... elusive," said Sunset. "I keep meaning to look into why, but other stuff keeps coming up."

"Great." Her counterpart huffed out a sigh. "Meanwhile, the other girls have been talking about their futures, Princess Twilight is on track to lead Equestria, her friends are essentially princesses in all but name... I guess I thought if I got wings out of all of this, if I got something special, it would..." She shook her head. "Well, I got the geode, didn't I? But that just didn't do it for me."

"Do what?"

"Make it feel like it was all worth it. That it all meant something. That I actually cleaned up my mess, not just Star Swirl's over and over. That I didn't just kick the can until something comes along that we can't deal with and destroys the world. Or it destroys the world because the others can't deal with it because I got deported.

"I don't have anything left in Equestria. In a year, I might not have anything in either world. I could disappear and for all the work I did, all the progress I made, all the lessons I learned..." The other Sunset shook and choked off a sob. "I wouldn't have mattered."

The words hung heavy in the air for a few moments. Then the proverbial lightbulb went off. "You know," said Sunset, "you may have done it in the worst way possible, but I do think you learned the lesson you needed today."

Her counterpart looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Asking my friends for help?"

Sunset nodded. "Specifically your Princess Twilight."

"Let me guess, I should ask for a pardon."

"No. For an embassy."