//------------------------------// // In Mysterious Ways // Story: Vanishing Act // by redandready45 //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer watched as almost a dozen girls piled in to her loft, chuckling as they clamored around what little space on the floor there was in her tiny residence. "Give me some room Sour," Indigo said, trying to sit down next to her temperamental friend. "How can I?" Sour asked. "Your butt's bigger than the planet!" "Why you little!" Indigo threatened. Sunset chuckled at this. When she first came to this world, this loft wasn't anything more than a hideout. A place where she could bide her time until her triumphant return and conquest of Equestria. Bought mainly for utility and so she could save her large but limited funds. The plainness and simplicity were symbols of how she never actually planned to put down any roots in a new world. For a long time, she despised her exile, and longed instead for Princess Celestia's royal suite at Canterlot Castle, which she would take once she defeated her and ruled over all Equestria. She never anticipated having anyone over, let alone having so many girls at once. Despite the crampness, she came to see the home not merely as shelter, but a good, practical place to live. "OK everypo-body," Princess Twilight said. "We're to speculate on where my other self might be and-," "Ooh, Ooh," Pinkie Pie said, suddenly appearing next to Twilight. "I know what happened to her!" "What?" Twilight said. Pinkie Pie pulled a pink notebook out of nowhere and opened it to revealed a purple doodle. "Our Twilight as become an evil meanie supervillain," Pinkie Pie said dramatically. "She plans to rule the world and get revenge against all those who wronged her!" A bald Twilight Sparkle sat in a gaudy throne, an ugly glass eye and scar where her right eye used to be, and while wearing a black robe. She stroked a white cat in her lap while chuckling evilly in her stone lair. "Soon I will rule the world and have my revenge upon all who wronged me!" Twilight Sparkle said dramatically. Her cat purred her lap as she pushed a button, causing a large pink laser to erupt from the ground. "Yes Fuzzy Wuzzy," Twilight said. "With my Super-Duper Evil Laser, I will have the whole world in the palm of my hoof!" Her smile quirk. "Or better yet, we can instead hold the world ransom for..." she paused dramatically, putting her hoof against the corner of her mouth..."1 MILLION BITS!" "And then we'll be like," Pinkie went on, " 'Twilight, please don't be evil.' And she'll be like, 'there is no such as friendship. ONLY POWER!' And then we'll hit her with our rainbow lasers, and we'll become bestest, estest frien-," "That's not what happened to her," Lemon Zest said, pulling out her own lime-green notebook, and turning the page to her own doodles. "Our Twilight will have been lost as sea, having no memory of who she was because of a head injury. Then she'll be rescued by a bunch of pirates, who will let her join their crew. Now she is the Scourge of the Seven Seas." "Arr maties," an amnesiac Twilight said to her sailors and first mates with a sea captain voice. She wore a pink pirate hat, an eyepatch, and a parrot on her shoulder. "If you capture that ship, I'll give you each one gold doubloon." "Wrong!" Pinkie Pie said, interrupting Lemon Zest. Pinkie Pie turned to another page. "Our Twilight ended up in the middle of bleak, evil city. To survive the mean streets, she has become a crime boss, and is ruling the underworld with an iron hoof." Don Twilight sat behind her desk, dressed in a lavished business suit. She looked stoically at the desperate looking pony with a calm appearance, despite massive stab wound in her right eye. "Please," the pony said with a mixture of desperation and rage. "I beg of you to grant me revenge." "You come here on the day of my daughter's wedding," Don Twilight said with quiet dismay. "And ask me to-," "C'mon," Lemon Zest said, "that's not even-," "Wah do all of your scenarios involve the other Twilight becoming some kind of criminal," Applejack asked with an unimpressed tone. "Yeah," Sour Sweet said wistfully. "Our Twilight would never hurt a fly," Sour said kindly. "NOT THAT SHE WOULD EVER HAVE THE GUTS!" "I don't know," Sugarcoat said sadly. "I'm...worried about-," "What are you worried about Sugar?" Indigo said. "I'm worried..."Sugar began with a sigh. "What if we pushed Twilight so far, that she'll become a...school shooter." Everyone looked at Sugarcoat with more than a bit of dismay. "Sugarcoat," Juniper said. "Don't joke about that!" "I'm not joking," Sugarcoat said regretfully. "A lot of school shooters are...people who no one notices who ended up being pushed over the brink. What if...doing what we did was the final straw and she's gone on a killing spree." "Hi, Twilight Sparkle here," Twilight Sparkle said calmly. "Well, this is my last video, it has all had to come to this. Tomorrow is the day of retribution, the day in which I will have my revenge against humanity, against all of you." She paused, to a take a big gulp of her latte, and let out a refreshing sigh. "You Crystal Prep chose to hang out with idiots while rejecting me, the Supreme Gentlemare." Everyone in the room frowned at this idea. The Shadowbolts seemed especially horrified. "Sugarcoat," Sunset said reassuringly. "That world doesn't even have guns. I'm sure it won't be that bad." "Besides, I know what she's really been doing in that other world," Indigo said with a proud smile. "What?" Sugarcoat asked. "She's using her big ol' brain to bring that Pony world into the 21st century of course," Indigo said optimistically. "It is called...a computer," Pony Twilight said while wearing a lab coat, showing off her new invention to the assembled pony crowd. One brave soul approached the sleek new device, in awe. "What does it...do?" One pony in rags asked dramatically. "Talk to friends, save your data, get the news," Twilight said cheerfully. "You got mail," the computer said. "I do?" the pony in rags asked with a hopeful smile. "Huzzah, for we have found our messiah!" He boomed to the crowd. "Huzzah!" "And where is she going to find the capital for building a computer," Sugarcoat asked in a displeased tone. "Not to mention that Equestria is at...1850s level technology at best," Sunset said uneasily. "She doesn't have access to computer parts." "Aww, your no fun," Indigo said in a sad tone. "This isn't supposed to be fun," Sunset said. "Your classmate is missing, and we have to find her, not let our imaginations run wild." "You're right Sunset," Princess Twilight said. She pulled out her own notebook and pen. "Let's think about what she'll do once she gets there." "Wouldn't she like, ask for some help finding a magical portal home?" Lemon Zest asked. "Couldn't she try and find some magical pony who can get her back here." "Uh well," Princess Twilight said. "She wouldn't be able to. The princesses and I decided to keep the portal magic on a need to know basis." "Why?" Fluttershy asked Princess Twilight. "Probably because some jerks might use it to blow up their classmate to win a game," Rainbow Dash said in a snide tone. The Sugarcoats frowned while Juniper looked annoyed. "Rainbow..."Juniper said with a rebuke. "Anyways," Twilight said with a sigh, getting back on track. "The pony who developed the portal decided that the costs of opening to a new dimension were not worth the risk, and he argued the portal and all others should be closed. He tried to disable it, but the material the portal was made from was too strong for him to fully destroy. That's why up until recently, the portal opened only every 30 moons, or roughly 2.5 years." "What costs were there?" Rarity asked Twilight. "Well," Twilight began uneasily. "In some worlds, the cultures would misuse pony magic. Other cultures had advanced weaponry that could cause destruction ponykind could not imagine." "So..you read about atom bombs?" Indigo asked with a feral grin. "What was that like?" "Well, scary." Twilight said with a shudder. "I mean, a weapon so powerful, it could not only destroy a city, but contaminate it for years is so...frightening." "Yeah," Sunset said with a sheepish smile. "Up until I read about nukes, I seriously considered turning this world into my own personal domain. Becoming a queen, owning a palace, lying on a couch while a servant feeds me grapes." "Of course you would, cartoon supervillain!" Sour said. "Lame," she finished with a roll of her eyes. Sunset let out an annoyed sigh. "I thought you didn't have any magic her to do that?" Twilight "That was the other obstacle," Sunset said, rubbing her shoulder with an expression of playfulness and shame. Everyone else just laughed, while Sour looked at her with some consternation. "Anyways, the mage who built the portal felt the harm caused by opening into different worlds was not worth the risk, and so he covered up studies of portal magic, and urged the other two Princesses to do the same." "So, why didn't you do that after the Dazzlings were defeated?" Rarity asked. "Because of you guys," Twilight said proudly at the Rainbooms. "Us?" Applejack said. "You guys were able to harness the Magic of Friendship without knowing what it was," Twilight said proudly. "Not to mention you gave it to someone in a bad place," Twilight said, gesturing to Sunset. A warm smile formed on the fire-haired girl's face. "And because of that, you defeated a team of monsters who wanted to enslave the world. After that, I realized that this world had enough good people to use it properly." "And we screwed that up with what we did," Sunny said regretfully, ignoring the comforting hand Juniper placed on her shoulder. "Yes," Twilight said firmly. "But you five have also worked hard to make up for what you did, proving that anyone can become better with a second chance." "Thanks Princess," Lemon said gratefully. "Anyways, she wouldn't be able to access portal magic," Twilight said. "So without that, she'll have to build a life there." She pulled out her notebook. "Anyways," Twilight said. "The other version of me would need to find food, water, shelter, and obviously glasses, since she lost hers." "How did you manage to survive here?" Sour asked Sunset suspiciously. "DID YOU COOK METH?! ROB A BANK?! GIVE SOME DUDES-" "No," Sunset said defensively. "I had the good fortune to be carrying gold bits and jewels in my saddlebag. With them, and some stock trading, I was able to have enough money to live on." "Well our Twilight is stuck in a world that doesn't take dollar bills," Sunny said frustratingly. "How can she survive without those?" "Well Equestria does have social welfare services like yours," Twilight said. "If she ended up in a city, she'd probably end up in a shelter. If she ended up in a farming village, she would most likely be living under the Work For Hospitality ssytem." "What's that?" Fluttershy said. "A form of welfare that allows unemployed ponies to work on a farm in exchange for food and shelter," Sunset said. "That sounds a lot like indentured servitude," Rarity said suspiciously. "So wait," Rainbow Dash said, an energetic grin forming on her face. "Our Twilight could be stuck in an evil sweatshop, working for an evil manager?" An emaciated Twilight ate the last bit of her gruel, alongside the other ponies. Dressed in rags, she looked at her empty bowl with displeasure. Her belly grumbling, she walked up to the overweight beadle. "Please sir," Twilight said meekly, holding the empty bowl in her telekinesis. "I want some more." "MORE?!" "And then we'll burst in," Rainbow Dash said excitedly. "Rescue her, and-," "Rainbow Dash," Sunset interrupted. "Sweatshops don't exist in our world." "Granted," Twilight said. "There have been abuses of Work For Hospitality. But there is a level of oversight that ensures the unemployed aren't being mistreated." She wrote some more stuff down. "The program is designed to ensure that an unemployed can receive work and support until they can find a better job." "Where else could she have gone?" Lemon asked Princess Twilight. "There's also the army. She can join and get some basic food and-," "Not gonna happen," Sunny said. "Our Twilight wasn't a fighter." Twilight crossed that off the list. "What about school?" Sugarcoat asked the Princess. "Is there anyway she can receive education." "Well, education works far differently in Equestria than it does here," Sunset said. "How?" Juniper asked. "In my world, education lasts roughly from age 6 to age 14," Princess Twilight said. "What about college or trade school?" "Up until recently, that was reserved for the well-to-do," Princess Twilight says. "In Equestrian schools, you get taught basic things like math and reading. By the time you're 14, you usually get your cutie mark and-" "Cutie mark?" Juniper asked. "Cutie marks are marks that appear on ponies once they discover their special talent," Sunset said. "This mark tells you what you are and aren't supposed to do?" Indigo asked. "How does that work?" "It is more of a guide, if you will," Sunset said. "Cutie marks ensure social harmony by giving ponies a defined role. It is not simply assigning you a job, but assigning you a role you can choose to follow. Anyways once you get one, you usually join an apprenticeship for about three years, in a position related to your special talent." "Does this apprenticeship require, like, some kind of educational background," Sugarcoat asked with apprehension. "If she has no records she might not be able to find a job." "Equestrians are more interested in talent than what you put in your CV," Sunset said. "Yeah, in my world, you just go to show you can do the job you can get hired on the spot," Princess Twilight said. "You certainly don't have to do a six-week training course just to be a cashier," Twilight continued with a wry grin. "I tend to be obsessive, but I think that is plain ridiculous." "You've got a point," Sunset said. "The amount of paperwork is just ridiculous." "So would our Twilight show up and get, like, a science cutie mark," Sunny asked Princess Twilight. "And then she would go work for some...scientist?" "I actually don't know if she would just get a cutie mark," Twilight said. "If she did get a cutie mark in science, she might be able to apprentice for a science authority if she could demonstrate aptitude. I can also contact them to see. That is one of the reasons I want all of you to come to Equestria on Sunday. To see how humans adapt to the my world." "All of us?" Sunny said. "Why?" "Well," Princess Twilight said. "My friends here are connected to the Power of Harmony. I think that could affect how they interact with my world. So I need several girls who aren't connected to Harmony to see how my double would end up interacting with the world." "I still don't what you mean by Harmony," Indigo said. "What does it do?" "We all know what it does," Sour said. "It brainwashes meanies into being saints!" she bellowed, gesturing to Sunset. "I wasn't brainwashed!" Sunset said defensively. "I wish everybody would stop saying I was brainwashed." "I get accused of that too," Princess Twilight said frustratingly. "You do it once, at everypony thinks you secretly love doing it all the time." "You can brainwash people!" Sour said with horror. Everyone in the room looked at Princess Twilight with no small amount of disdain. "Look, I only did it once, and I wasn't...myself," Princess Twilight said sheepish, rubbing one of her arms, "I got obsessed with a...homework assignment, I...tried to create a problem to solve." Everyone in the room was not impressed with Twilight's remarks. "That's just great," Indigo said angrily. "Our Twilight is stuck in some world full of ponies that could use magical roofies!" "Look," Sunset Shimmer said reassuringly. "Yes we do have spells like that. And sadly, things like that can happen. But they are against the law, and unless you are a practiced mage, the spell you cast can leave evidence in the form of a magical signature. Even in that horrible scenario, it would be possible to catch the pony responsible." That did seem to satisfy everyone, except Sour who looked at Princess Twilight with a suspicious eye. "Anyways, Harmony's job is to maintain balance," Sunset said. "Whether it is giving ponies cutie marks, granting ponies powers over weather and land, giving them roles to ensure societal stability, or ensuring the balance of the sun and moon, its job is to keep our world functioning. "My friends and I back home use Harmony to defeat those who dare disrupt that balance for their own gain," Princess Twilight said. "But Harmony can have a different punishments for different creatures." "I was blasted into the ground, and forced to see how my actions hurt those around me," Sunset said. "But other times, Harmony can be downright harsh," Princess Twilight said. "Some creatures were outright obliterated, others turned to stone," everyone in the room flinched at that. "The Princess who controls the moon, when she tried to bring eternal night, was banished to the moon for 1000 years." "1000 years?!" Lemon Zest said with horror. "That is, like, beyond harsh!" "I have to agree Twilight," Sunset said uneasy. "Why would Harmony make me see how I was wrong, while it stuck somepony on the moon for 1000 years?!" "I don't really know," Princess Twilight said. "But my guess is that Harmony felt, well, betrayed by Luna." "Betrayed?" Sunny asked. "Luna wielded the elements herself, not to mention she was in charge of the moon," Princess Twilight mused. "Harmony might have felt so betrayed, it sent Luna to the moon as punishment for violating its trust." Princess Twilight saw the sad looks. "But we defeated her, and made her see the errors of her way, so it all worked out." "But why did Harmony pull our Twilight into our world?" Sugarcoat asked. "As we've observed, magic in this world responded to mood," Princess Twilight said. "But I also think that Harmony was trying to correct what it saw as disharmony." She paused to look directly at the Shadowbolts. "Mainly, the way she was being treated." The Shadowbolts flinched. "Maybe Harmony pulled your Twilight into my world to pull her out of bad situation," Princess Twilight said. "And maybe it was trying to teach you guys a lesson. Maybe all this has been a test by Harmony. A test to see if you five could learn to be better." She gestured to Juniper. "And once you five did that, and found a friend that could help you, only then could you learn about your Twilight's whereabouts and earn her forgiveness." "You mean, Harmony works in...mysterious ways?" Sunny asked pleasantly, while thumbing the rosary hidden behind her shirt. "Pretty much." "Or maybe Harmony turned our Twilight into a stone statue and placed her on the moon," Sour said in terror. "It isn't likely to happen," Princess Twilight said. "Likely?" Sunny said worriedly. "Look, I don't know for sure. No creature has really done this before. There's no telling what Harmony meant to do or not do," Princess Twilight said. She then gave everyone a serious look. "But let me clear:Harmony is not something you can wield for your own benefit. Harmony will do what it must do to maintain balance in my world. Don't think of it as something that will solve your problems. It wouldn't likely punish her, but it will not put Twilight where she would want to go, but where it felt she needed to go to learn about friendship." Everyone absorbed the lecture, taking in the implications. "Also, Princess Luna is the Matron of Dreams, observing ponies and making sure their dreams go well," Princess Twilight said. "Mass surveillance too," Juniper said. "This world is more hardcore than I thought." "Luna isn't somepony who sells secrets," Princess Twilight said. "If Harmony trusts her with the role of dreams, then she wouldn't use it to spy unless in the most dire of circumstances. I'm going to ask her if she can use her powers to find your Twilight." Princess Twilight looked at her notes. "I think this might be a good opportunity." "Well what do you mean?" Indigo Zap. "As stated before, the pony who built the portal felt that cross-dimensional exchange could be bad," Princess Twilight said. "But if your Twilight can adapt, than I can feel more confident about opening more relations with your world. "I bet she could," Sugarcoat said with more warmth than usual. "I mean, she was pretty...industrious. So it isn't wrong to assume she might actually do well there." Everyone felt warm about the idea of the sad girl finding friends. "But we still have to find her," Sugarcoat said with more than a bit of determination. "Alright, I think we've got everything we can get tooday," Princess Twilight said. "I think we should call it a night. I'll see all of you on Sunday." With that, everyone began clearing out of the room, except for Princess Twilight, who was Sunset's guest. "Maybe this won't be so bad," Sunset said happily. "Maybe the other you will be making lots of friends." "Yeah," Twilight said, turning away from Sunset abruptly. "I'm gonna head to bed." With a small goodnight, Twilight went to the guest bed, trying to stifle the worried frown forming on her face.