Sunset took a deep breath. She was back in her proper body. Vast, cosmic powers were once more at her disposal. The universe was safe and getting a little safer every day. All that power and self-reassurance meant nothing against the foe she now had to confront. It could, yes, but then she would become the very thing she'd dismantled the day before.
No, the only tools she could use against public opinion were her wits and the truth. And it might be enough.
"Hello, everyone," she said into the camera. "You're probably all wondering what happened yesterday. The UN certainly is." She grimaced. "I have an... interesting January ahead of me. This wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, but I'm still going to have to tell them exactly how bad that would be. Which, for the record? Real bad. We're going to need to have some serious discussion of ways to bring me down or at least ward me off in case something similar to this happens with a more malevolent entity. The problem there is most magic opposed to mine is... Well, I'm the Spirit of Harmony. Most of the forces antithetical to me are dangerous for both the user and everyone around them. We can't just throw a couple angst monsters at the next guy and hope for the best. And then there's the matter of keeping that knowledge out of the hands of those who'd try to use it on me as I am..."
She sighed and shook her head. "But that's a matter for another day. Right now, you're here for an explanation. By the time you watch this, I'll have released an official statement, but I'll summarize it here:
"Long story short? Shenanigans." Sunset let that statement hang for a few moments. A little incongruity to dislodge minds from the fears they'd clung to.
"Long story less short? I got an up close and personal demonstration of the principles of the multiverse. Like I've discussed before—link's in the description—there are a lot of worlds very similar to ours out there. A lot of Sunset Shimmers didn't have to do what I did to preserve their worlds. One of them traded places with me thanks to a incredibly powerful magic wish on her end of things, and when she woke up in my body... Well, she looked into Shimmerism and concluded that this world was so ridiculous, it had to be a dream. Let's let that sink in for a moment." Another brief stretch of contemplative silence followed.
"So. You're probably all wondering two things right now: What's going to happen to that Sunset, and how do we keep this from happening again? I'll answer those the other way around. Our friends in the Equestrian Time-Space Administration Bureau, who I also mentioned in the multiverse video, will be sending some of their best to ensure I can't get wished out of this universe again."
The ETSAB dispatch office was a fairly typical office building that wouldn't look out of place in most Equestrias' Manehattans... aside from it being in an otherwise barren and rather chilly world that had no native life. Granted, that just meant it actually felt the way most Manehattan office buildings did metaphorically.
"Ugh."
Another trait it shared with its more typical ilk was how the inhabitants reacted to obnoxious orders from further up the chain of command.
Lyra Three-Zero-Eta rolled her eyes from behind her desk. "Groaning won't make this any easier."
Lyra One-Nine-Tau just leaned back in her chair, sprawling in a way that made even her fellow double-jointed unicorn wince. "Uuuuugh!"
"Hey, look on the bright side," said 30H. "After this stunt, Princess Prudence was finally able to get us the kind of funding that lets us actually do something other than monitor other worldlines for new recruits and threats to HQ. They may even spin the Office of Parallel Timelines into its own bureau."
19T sighed as she straightened up. "Yeah, yeah, office politics actually working out for once. Woo. Rest in peace, tripartite designation system; we'll be cataloguing way too many worldlines for that to hold up much longer. But I still have to harden a world against wish magic."
"Just a few specific forms of it."
"But this is Seven-Zero-Upsilon we're talking about." 19T lifted the briefing folder with her magic and let the stack of forms three times thicker than a typical assignment drop back down with a dull thud. "The place is a Faberneigh egg, and now I need to go bolt some shock absorbers onto it without doing more damage than I'll prevent. It's going to take for-ev-errrrr." She slumped in her seat. "And it'll all be on subjective time. My anniversary's next week, and now I'm not gonna be able to enjoy it for moons! Plus Bonnie won't even be allowed to know why I'm exhausted."
30H shrugged. "Just tell her it's classified, she'll understand."
"S.M.I.L.E. doesn't exist back home!" To anyone but another Lyra, and on any topic other than her Bonbon, it would have come across as whining. "She really is just a confectioner!"
"Oh." 30H winced. "Ouch. I'm pretty sure the boss lady will let you switch out with some-Lyra who doesn't have an anniversary coming up. She still has fond memories of her Lyra, after all."
After a moment of visible struggle, 19T shook her head. "No, I'm one of our best ontologisticians and I know it. Problem is, so do the higher-ups. Still, do we really have to do this?"
30H opened the folder and tapped a seal on the top sheet with her hoof. A symbol like a stylized number 4 was embedded in the forest green wax. "Orders from the princess herself. It's not just a thank-you for opening the doors to the multiverse for us. It's also self-defense."
19T's head darted up from the forms she'd been half-heartedly flipping through. "How do you mean?" she said, professional mask back on.
"You know that one demon Sunset we've been monitoring, the one from one of Seven-Zero-Epsilon's Glimmer splinters?" said 30H.
"That's the Equestria connected to this Hearth's Warming ornament of a universe, right?"
"Right."
19T shrugged. "What about her? She's been wandering probability space at random for moons. Reports say she's been getting a spa day in installments."
"Because she abandoned her world for dead." 30H leaned over her desk. "Now imagine an even more powerful demon Sunset who wants to avenge her world and blames us for letting it die."
She could see 19T's pupils shrink to dots at the idea. The assigned agent pasted on a smile as wide as it was fake and got out of her chair. "Welp! I'm going to go on ahead to Seven-Zero-Upsilon. Get used to that unicorn-human hybrid body before we have to get to work. Sooner we start, sooner we finish, right?"
"Third-floor bathroom by the elevators just restocked its amnestics," said 30H. Even when not on missions, ETSAB agents often saw what needed to be unseen.
19T snapped off a shaky salute as she left the office. "Thank you!"
"As for what's going to happen to the other Sunset... Well, we had a talk before she went home. She explained why she did it, and we worked on finding a healthier way to fix her problem, for her and for everyone else. You have to bear in mind that we gave her over to ultimately Equestrian authorities. And she technically didn't break any laws. Legislatures here may have stepped up efforts to condemn magical mental influence, but Equestria's a lot more about forgiveness and repentance than punishment. She knows she messed up and she wants to make up for it." Sunset rolled her eyes. "The one who gave her the wish is less apologetic, but... Well, the ETSAB's also taking care of him."
"How you feeling, rookie?"
Ditzy Doo brushed back her sodden bangs, the better to glare at the Lyra who'd located and extracted her. She wasn't sure if it was her usual handler or not; they all wore those mint-green suits when human. "After shoving Sunset Shimmer back into my home universe, I landed in what I can only describe as the Elemental Demiplane of Waffles." Ditzy flicked an arm, spraying syrup and batter along the office floor. "At which point I learned that viscous, opaque fluids and neck fluff do not mix, which meant I was stuck there. How do you think I feel?"
"Hey, there are much worse demiplanes you could've landed in," said the Lyra. "Most of them were made by a Discord. For every universe made of waffles, there's one of barbed wire, or fluorine."
Ditzy held back a groan. "That's your 'we have a job for you' voice. Can I at least get a shower first?"
"Sure thing. We'll have a change of clothes ready for you when you're done." The Lyra's smile shifted to the calculated, neutral expression they adopted when they weren't officially supposed to be angry. "Just don't take too long. You helped us find another active instance of the Bearded Idiot, and I want you there while we deliver the usual spiel on what we need him to do—and, more importantly, not do—to ensure something resembling an easy-to-manage time-space continuum. Go learn the ropes so you can do it yourself next time you find one."
Ditzy considered her brief experience with that Star Swirl. "Do any of them actually listen?"
The Lyra shrugged. "Sometimes. Parts of it anyway." After a moment, she added, "Really, we do it more so we can say we told him so later. That and catharsis."
"That... actually sounds really nice right now."
The Lyra nodded. "I know it does. I've crashed into the Waffle Plane myself." She reached over as if to pat Ditzy on the shoulder, but stopped herself at the last minute. "We ship out in forty minutes; get moving."
"Getting back to that Sunset, she took me up on my suggestion for how she can find purpose in her life. Her Princess Twilight Sparkle was more than happy to help her do so. And now..." Sunset allowed herself a hint of a smirk. "Well, you might say she'll get a taste of what I have to go through on a daily basis."
Fauna Luster had seen her fair share of insanity in her time as mayor of Canterlot: Raving crackpots, Black Friday brawls, bitter election seasons... and those were just the regular occurences. Every day she thanked whatever might be listening that the local professional sports teams were so universally terrible that the odds of championship riots were slim to nil. But this?
"Magic," she said.
"Yes, ma'am," said the literal teenager on the other side of the desk.
This was new.
Fauna ran her fingers through her locks, which were only red rather than as stark white as her skin thanks to the miracle of hair dye. "Magic is real."
Sunset Shimmer nodded. "As demonstrated by my friend levitating that chair, ma'am, yes."
Fauna looked at the purple girl, Twilight Sparkle, whose necklace couldn't possibly contain a magnet that powerful. Never mind that the chair was plastic. "Evidently."
"I'd demonstrate my own," said Shimmer, "but I read minds, and I try to do so with permission when it isn't an emergency."
"I appreciate the thought." Fauna turned to the third and oldest member of the group. "And you, you're..."
"A former sovereign ruler of the nation that lies on the other side of a magical gateway between your world and mine," said Princess Luna, no last name given or apparently available. She had a faint, unplaceable lilt to her voice that could certainly work as an alien accent. It went well with her outfit, something Fauna expected from a nobleman in a Spear Shaker play, cape and laced tunic and pantaloons, all in blues and blacks that went well with the woman's complexion. It explained the fracas at the metal detectors regarding a sword. "I still retain authority enough to officially open diplomatic ties between our realms and nations."
"Uh... huh." Not for the first time, Fauna sniffed at her coffee. If they had slipped her drugs, they were very good ones. "You do realize you should go to Chopperton with this, right? Possibly Hosswell?"
"We're trying to work our way up to that, ma'am," said Shimmer. "We figure if we go through you and Governor Hassenfeld, we'll have a lot more credibility than asking to see the president directly."
"And here I was expecting a slow week after the holidays..." Fauna shook her head. At least it wasn't another campaign fundraiser dinner. "Alright, let's get this ball rolling."
Sunset smiled, partially out of satisfaction with how things had gone and partially so Twilight knew when to start the outro music when editing the video. "In the long run, I think this will work out fine for both worlds."
"Sunset?"
Sunset looked up from the latest e-mail she'd been writing to her congressman, blinking away the fuzz until Twilight came into focus. "Uhn?" She shook her head. Right, Twilight had been helping so much with this that she'd practically moved into Sunset's apartment. And Sunset didn't even need to steal someone else's near-godlike power to get the help!
She shook the cobwebs loose. "Sorry, I've been at this for..." Sunset glanced back at her laptop's clock and winced. "Too long. What's up?"
"So..." Twilight bit her lip and dipped her head down. Catching sight of the piece of paper in her hands made her straighten up and clear her throat. "In light of certain personal revelations and the refutation of previous assumptions regarding your long-term plans, I, uh, have a proposal."
Sunset quirked an eyebrow. "O... kay. And this proposal would be?"
Twilight set the paper on Sunset's desk. "I think this speaks for itself."
If it did, it wasn't in any language Sunset knew. The somewhat crumpled diagram proved deceptive in its simplicity. Just a chain of four circles connected by short lines, yet the meaning eluded her. Yes, that was her cutie mark in one of the center ones, but why was it connected to the shield and the star, and why was the star also connected to the four-pointed star bounded by... leaves? It was hard to tell given Twilight's iffy art skills.
Finally, she had to look up and ask, "What am I looking at?"
"A peroxide polycule," said a blushing, fidgeting Twilight.
Sunset looked back and forth between Twilight and the diagram a few times. "Don't you mean molecule?"
Twilight nearly turned pink. "Not necessarily."
"Huh." Sunset looked back at the diagram, gears starting to turn. "Huh."
After some more contemplation, Twilight squeaked out, "Well?"
"I..." Something stirred in Sunset's gut. She coulldn't tell if it was unease or anticipation. "I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about something like this." She held up a hand. "I'm not saying anything one way or the other. Not right now, certainly not before we can talk to Flash and Timber about it, much less hash out the embassy."
"Yes, that..." Twilight visibly slumped. "That does make sense."
Sunset got out of her chair and took Twilight's hand in hers. She smiled into the other girl's eyes. "But if it were just up to me, you could call us all ethylene dione, because I'm in favor of this double bonding."
Twilight burst out laughing, and Sunset beamed at how wonderful it felt to be responsible for that.
So yeah, that's how my day went. Initial reaction to the video seems positive, but we'll see how the people in power feel. How'd yours go?
Nowhere near as exciting, I'm afraid. Or possibly thankful. I'm imagining unexpectedly switching places with my human counterpart, or a version of me from before Nightmare Moon's return, and
You realize it wouldn't be nearly as bad because you've never been a selfish little witch?
I wasn't going to say that.
No, you just spent the better part of a minute trying to think of a different way to finish that sentence. :P
Well, maybe I should ask to get a few more mes over here anyway. I could use the help planning out that festival in Canterlot in a few moons.
The Festival of Friendship, right?
It's a working title, especially since none of our foreign allies seem able to make it.
I mean, I could send my Twilight over. If she's allowed to set foot in Canterlot again after the Electric Kettle Incident.
Funny. And if I can't get Celestia to move the sun to the angle I need her to, she definitely won't budge there.
Yeah, who'd have thought she'd be touchy about somepony else telling her how to arrange the heavens?
Point made.
How's security looking?
Security? It's a party. I was going to give the Guard the day off.
Your brother's wedding was a party too. Look at how that turned out.
You really think it'll be necessary?
Call it a hunch.
Several months, countless e-mails, numerous borderline interdimensional incidents, and one alicorn existential crisis later, the embassy stood proud, directly opposite Canterlot High. It wasn't too different from most buildings in the human Canterlot, though Equestrian influences like heart-shaped windows could be spotted here and there. (Getting the contractors to stop screaming had been one of the more frequent minor incidents.)
Now, after all the headache, heartache, and backache, the building was ready to open. Princess Twilight wasn't available for the occassion, but the retired diarchs were, along with most of the graduating class and faculty of CHS. The girls who had first brought magic to this world flanked the podium, while many of their classmates stood in the crowd amidst the press corps, local luminaries, and governmental agents of all stripes.
Mayor Luster gave a picture-perfect smile as she concluded her part of the proceedings. "And now, to cut the ribbon, I am pleased to introduce your friend and mine, Ambassador Sunset Shimmer."
The graduates' cheers were almost deafening. Two young men were particularly vocal, one of whom hadn't even attended the school.
"Thank you," Sunset said once the noise died down to something the microphone could pierce. "I am honored to be here today. For years, I thought I had to hide who and what I really was, for fear of ostracization and expulsion from this beautiful town and incredible world. Now I look out a crowd of Equestrians and Earthlings alike, and it warms my heart to know that friendship transcends even the boundaries of time and space. We stand ready to enter a new era, one of cooperation between worlds of science and magic to elevate both to undreamt-of heights."
The mayor passed her a pair of giant novelty scissors. "And so," said Sunset, "through the efforts of dozens of ponies and humans alike, I am very pleased to declare this Equestrian embassy to the Federated States of Amareica open!"
She closed the scissors. They went through the ribbon in front of the doors almost effortlessly. Cameras flashed, the crowd cheered, and her body started to glow from within.
Sunset blinked. Wait, wha—
Then she exploded.
The crowd gasped. Some screamed. Many tried to get away from the podium, threatening to crush others underfoot. The discreetly placed security personnel swooped in, which only made some people panic more.
Twilight rushed for the mike. "Everyone, please remain calm!" Naturally, this only made the crowd mill about even more. She sighed and nodded to Pinkie.
Pinkie nodded back and hurled a handful of sprinkles as high as she could. The resulting fireworks drew everyone's attention. Thankfully, Rarity didn't need to deploy any shields against any soldiers who might have mistaken the bursts for gunfire.
"As I was saying," Twilight said, "please remain calm." She looked at the scorch mark Sunset had left on the steps of the embassy and couldn't help but smile. The char formed a flawless recreation of the familiar two-tone sun emblem. "This is perfectly normal for unprecedented acts of magic and friendship."