“Gah!”
Twilight Sparkle sat bolt upright, the edges of her tangled bedsheets clutched tight in her hands. Her breaths were quick and rapid, and she was covered in a cold sweat.
She sat there, staring straight forward as her heart rate slowly calmed. The low light of the aquarium she kept across from her bed cast long, hazy shadows across her walls; she focused on that and tried to control her breathing. In, out. In, out. Just like Cadance had taught her.
She’d had the nightmare again.
“Twilight?” said a small, half-awake voice at the end of her bed. “You okay?”
“I’m fine, Spike,” she said. “You can go back to sleep.”
“If you say so…”
He was out again like a light. Twilight glanced over at her clock. The red numbers on the display read 4:00.
Groaning internally, she laid back down, drew the covers up to her neck, and hoped against hope she’d be able to fall back asleep this time.
Starlight Glimmer opened her eyes. Early morning light streamed through the high windows of the gym. She glanced at her wristwatch. Weird, that coming through the portal had given her one of those, but handy.
7:28. Time to get up.
Groaning, she slid out of her sleeping bag and stretched her arms out, suppressing a yawn. She glanced around. Most of the others were still asleep, it looked like.
Starlight grabbed the little plastic baggie that held her toothbrush and other toiletries—her only real possessions in this world, donated the same as her sleeping bag—got to her feet, and headed towards the door to the locker rooms.
The locker room was cold, as it always seemed to be in the mornings. It was also empty; thank Celestia for small blessings. Starlight cracked a little smile at that.
She set her toiletries down on one of the benches and began to undress, leaving her clothes in a neat pile next to the bag. Then, she turned to the showers.
There were three stalls, each covered by a plastic curtain. Starlight took the first one. The faucet squealed as she twisted it. She waited only a moment before stepping inside.
Warm water from the showerhead ran down her skin. She stood there a few moments, eyes closed, letting it wash over her face.
She couldn’t wait too long, though. There wouldn’t be enough hot water to go around if she did.
She began to scrub.
When Starlight left the shower, towel wrapped around her hair, she was not alone; two of the other showers were running, and Roseluck was undressing herself. Starlight nodded to her, then went to retrieve her own clothes.
Apparently in this world it was taboo to be seen without clothes on, probably because humans didn’t have natural coats. Well, whatever; that was a human problem. They were all ponies here.
She pulled her shirt on, then her pants. She’d discarded the beanie the portal had given her a few days after arriving; it wasn’t the right weather for hats.
The gym proper was a little brighter when she reemerged. Ponies were starting to get up, stretch out. For the most part, they’d all become accustomed to two legs now. After all, they’d had two weeks to practice.
The mood seemed a little better today, and Starlight found herself smiling a little at that.
She put her stuff back by her sleeping bag, and headed for the tent.
“Hey,” Starlight said, as she stepped into the tent, momentarily brightening the inside. “You’re here early.”
“Yes,” Twilight replied, swapping the soldering iron she’d been using for a screwdriver. “I wanted to get a head-start on the equipment for tomorrow.”
“Uh-huh,” Starlight said. She looked at Twilight dubiously. “You weren’t here all night, were you?”
The screwdriver paused.
“What? Why would you ask that?”
“Princess Twilight used to pull all-nighters all the time. I wondered if you were doing the same, since I get up pretty early and this is the third time this week you’ve been in the tent when I got here.”
The screwdriver resumed its work.
“I don’t put much stock in all-nighters,” Twilight said. “There’s plenty of research that shows that healthy sleeping patterns improve average intelligence, concentration, efficiency, and memory. If I did spend all night on something, I wouldn’t trust it to work the next morning.” She set the screwdriver down. “So no, I haven’t been here all night. Pass me those wire strippers?”
“Huh,” Starlight said. She reached over and grabbed the aforementioned tool off the workbench. “I guess you two aren’t as similar as I thought.”
Twilight bit her lip.
“I guess.”
Starlight took her seat across the tent, and Twilight went back to work. What she was putting together was a new Black Box—or, rather, she was replacing some of the components in the old one with new sensors. They’d collected plenty of data off some of the instruments the day before, rendering them superfluous.
She was so absorbed in her work that she didn’t notice Sunset coming in until she was right behind her.
“What are you working on?”
Twilight started, nearly dropping the small screwdriver she was using. Sunset caught it before it rolled off the desk.
“Sorry,” she said, handing the screwdriver back.
“It’s okay.”
“So,” Sunset said, “what are you working on?”
Twilight explained about the Black Box.
“Gotcha,” Sunset said, once she’d finished. “Anything I can help with?”
“Nothing for now,” Twilight replied.
“Roger. Are we going to use the Can Opener today?”
“We can,” Twilight said, “but it might be better to wait until tomorrow. It’ll need another night to charge up fully, but at full charge, we should be able to hold the portal open for a bit over two hours. I figure we need the extra time.”
Sunset nodded. “Tomorrow it is.”
A day passed.
Sunset stood in her protective suit, facing the cracked stone face of the pedestal. On her back sat the Black Box, outfitted with a new set of sensors and antennae.
“Everybody ready?” Twilight asked.
“Ready!” Starlight said.
Sunset nodded. “Ready.”
“Alright! Discharging capacitors… now!”
The sound of a key being pressed, and then the machinery surrounding the pedestal crackled to life. The lights in the tent dimmed as the capacitors discharged, sending blue lightning crackling across the pedestal’s surface. The arcs seemed to take hold at the center of the stone, sinking in and pooling around it. A hole appeared, ringed with energy; it began to grow, pulled open by the Can-Opener’s power until it was large enough to step through.
“Dilation at 100%!” Starlight called out. “We’re holding steady!”
Sunset took a step towards the pedestal. Then another, and another, until she was right in front of it. She swallowed.
She lifted one foot, and she put it down in Equestria.
Her skin prickled as it crossed over the threshold. Under her suit, she was sure the hair on her arms was standing on end. She closed her eyes as her face passed through. When she opened them again, they fell on a door set into a wall of crystal.
Her back leg crossed the barrier, passing smoothly through the mirror which made up this half of the connection between their worlds. She staggered for a moment, then caught herself. The sound of it echoed off the smooth walls.
She let out the breath she’d been holding.
“Alright,” she said, mostly to herself, then: “Twilight, can you hear me?”
“Loud and… well, clear enough.”
“Great.”
The silence returned.
Sunset took a step forwards, the cable trailing behind her and through the portal. She could feel its weight behind her.
“We won’t be able to go much further if I’m stuck on a cable,” she said.
“Sorry,” Twilight apologized. “I should have something better ready before your next trip. In the meantime, we have about fifty meters of cable on this spool. You can at least explore the castle a bit.”
“Roger.”
She decided first to take a look around the room she was in. It was a library; judging from the view of the balcony, it had to be about halfway up the castle.
Most of the room was filled with shelves, and most of those shelves were filled with books, though many of them had been removed and discarded. Sunset could imagine Twilight, running around frantically, looking through her books for anything, anything that could stop… whatever had happened.
Or maybe that was only in her imagination.
And then there was the portal, crackling softly behind her. It was surrounded on this side by an odd assortment of Equestrian machinery. Sunset assumed that was the device this world’s Twilight had created to keep the portal open. Glass shards littered the floor in front of the mirror; they crunched under her boots as she walked over them.
She cast a glance to the top of the mirror, where a conspicuously lectern-shaped piece of the machine sat empty.
There seemed to be nothing else of interest in the room, so she began to make her way to the door—but something stopped her.
Her eyes had fallen on a book, abandoned face-down on one of the reading tables. It was bound in brown.
Her stomach sank. Slowly, she made her way over to the table.
She flipped the book over.
The cover was blank.
She let out a sigh of relief.
“Everything okay over there?” came Twilight’s voice through the earpiece.
“Yep,” Sunset said, leaving the library—and the book—behind her. “Just fine.”
Sunset’s footsteps echoed off the smooth, crystalline walls of Twilight’s castle. The cable dragged behind her, leaving a trail in the dust.
The crystal that made up the walls of the castle seemed… dull. Sunset had never been in the castle before, of course, but even she could feel that something was off.
And still, it was quiet. So pervasively quiet.
She needed to break the silence.
“So,” she said, peering into yet another empty room. “Starlight, did you live in the castle, or…”
“I did,” Starlight replied through the earpiece. “On the third floor.”
“What floor is the portal on?”
“The second.”
Silence for a few moments. Sunset continued on her mission.
“Where do you live, Sunset?” Starlight asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Oh, I have an apartment on main street,” Sunset replied.
“Really?” Twilight chimed in. “I’m on 43rd.”
“Oh, yeah?” Sunset said. This next room was a bathroom. It had seen better days. The towels had little stars embroidered on them. She moved on. “You’re close by, then.”
“I wonder why we never ran into each other?” Twilight said.
“Bad luck, I guess,” Sunset said. “So, where did you live before you lived in the castle, Starlight?”
“Oh, uh… eheh… just a little village in northeast Equestria.”
“Were you born there?”
“No,” Starlight said. “I was born in Hockstead. What about you?”
“Canterlot unicorn, born and raised. You could see most of Equestria from my backyard.”
“You have a Canterlot, too?” Twilight asked.
“It’s the capital in Equestria,” Starlight explained. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna live there.”
The next room had a balcony, facing the opposite direction from the one Sunset had first found. She went over to it. Her eyes settled on the biggest shadow on the horizon.
“Speaking of,” she said, “I think I can see the Canterhorn. Or, at least, its shadow.”
“The Canterhorn?” Twilight asked.
“It’s the mountain that Canterlot was built on.”
“It’s also the tallest mountain in Equestria,” Starlight added.
“Huh. We don’t have one in this world. I wonder why?”
“Not everything has a parallel to Equestria,” Sunset replied. “At least, I don’t. Believe me, I’ve looked.”
She moved on, back to the hallway.
“Sunset, can I ask a question?” It was Twilight speaking.
“Of course.”
“How long have you been in the human world?”
Sunset thought for a moment. “Almost five years, I think.”
“What made you leave?”
Sunset opened her mouth… closed it. She swallowed. A bitter taste filled her mouth.
“I, um…” she began. “I… had a bit of a… disagreement. With Princess Celestia.”
“You knew Princess Celestia?” Starlight asked.
Sunset nodded, then remembered they couldn’t see her. “Yeah. I was her student.”
“Like Twilight,” Starlight said. “Er… Equestrian Twilight.”
“Yeah. We never ran into each other back then, though. She was younger than me.”
“Younger than you?” Twilight remarked. “But she looked the same age as you when we met.”
“Yeah,” Sunset said. “The portal’s weird like that… was weird like that.”
They fell silent.
“So, how old are—”
“Sorry to interrupt,” Starlight interrupted. “But you’re running out of cable.”
“Already?” Sunset said, turning around and looking behind her. The cable trailed off back down the hallway.
“Yeah.”
Sunset bit her lip. She wanted to keep going, but...
“Alright,” She said. “I guess that’s enough for today. I’ll head back.”
Sunset was about halfway back to the portal when the earpiece crackled back to life.
“Hey, Sunset?”
“Yeah?”
“We’ve, uh… we’ve got visitors.”
Sunset arched an eyebrow and frowned, even though there was no one around to see it.
“Who?”
“Applejack and Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said. “The, um, pony versions. They want to talk to you.”
“Alright,” Sunset said. “I’ll be back at the portal in a few minutes. Can they wait until then?
There was a moment’s pause.
“They say that’s fine.”
“Alright, Sunset said. “I’m on my way.”
The tent that had become their base of operations was not very large. Between the pedestal, the racks of equipment and the two main workstations, it could fit three well enough, but many more than that would be a squeeze.
When Sunset returned through the portal, she brought the total up to five.
“Give her some room,” Starlight said. “It can be a bit disorienting, coming back through.”
“It’s fine,” Sunset said. She staggered a little, but caught herself before anyone else had to. “I’m getting used to it.”
She pulled the respirator mask off of her face and dropped it onto one of the tables, then grabbed a bottle of water and took two hearty gulps.
“Hah! Alright,” she said, sitting down in one of the folding chairs. “What’s up?”
Applejack was the one to answer. “Rainbow and I want to help. And the other girls, too.”
Sunset looked at them curiously. “Help how?”
“Well, it’s just you goin’ by yourself now, right?” Applejack said. “We figure you’ll need more ponies—uh, people—if you want to check out Ponyville.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow said. “And we know Ponyville like the back of our hooves.”
“Right,” Applejack continued. “We figure you could use a few of us Ponyville ponies on your team.”
“Er, no offense, Starlight,” Rainbow added, quickly. Starlight raised a hand.
“None taken. I was only living there for a few months.”
Applejack nodded. “Right. So that’s our proposal, and I bet we could get more ponies on board, too. We’re all itchin’ to do something other than wait in the gym all day while you’re working your butt off out here.”
“And,” Rainbow added, “We think it’s a good idea for us to be there, in case you find Twilight. I mean, she’s probably out there kicking the butt of whatever did this, right?”
“I think that depends on whether or not what caused it has a butt to kick,” Sunset said.
“Well, metaphorically then. Look, point is, she’s probably out there doing something, right?” Rainbow said. “Spike too. So she might need our help.”
Sunset took another drink of water. Her throat was parched.
“No objections here,” she said, “but let’s keep it a small group for now. You said you and the other girls?”
“Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie.”
“So a group of six, counting me,” Sunset said. She nodded again. “That sounds good.”
She turned to Twilight.
“Twilight, we’re going to need five more Black Boxes. How long will that take?”
“If I just stick to the essentials, maybe… a week?”
Sunset nodded. “We’ll have to ask Rarity for more hazmat suits, too. And we’ll need respirator masks, but we can just buy more of those, right?”
“Yes.”
“Great,” Sunset said. She plotted out a schedule in her thoughts.
“Okay,” she said. “We can open the portal for about an hour every two days. We’d probably need more than that for a proper sweep of Ponyville, even with six of us, so let’s say we charge the capacitors for three days ahead of that. I’d like to check out Ponyville myself, first, just to make sure everything’s alright, so that’s another two days, and we need to finish exploring the castle, which is another two days, so… Yeah. About a week, then. That sound good to you two?”
Applejack and Rainbow looked at one another, then back at Sunset.
“Sounds great.”
Moonlight streamed in through the thin windows just below the gym’s metal roof, giving off just enough light to see. A girl tiptoed across the gym floor, taking great care not to step on anypony.
“Starlight?”
Starlight froze. A hand brushed against her ankle. She looked down.
It was Pinkie Pie—her Pinkie Pie, not this world’s. Her head just peeked out of her sleeping bag, zipped all the way up to her neck like a cocoon, and she looked up at her with half-awake eyes.
“Where are you going?” she asked, voice low.
Starlight swallowed. “Just… running to the bathroom.” She put on her most reassuring smile. “Get some rest.”
“Okay, be careful…”
The hand slipped away from her ankle, withdrawing back into the mauve sleeping bag. Starlight continued towards the exit.
Her footfalls were quiet on the cold tile. Most of the lights were off, this time of night, but there was still enough to see by. She didn’t mind.
As she walked, the smile she’d been holding for most of the day slipped from her face. Her hands began to shake. Her breaths began to quicken.
Eyes darting left and right, she spotted a sign she’d had to become familiar with quickly: that of the ladies’ room. She pushed the door open, letting it close before she switched the lights on. Her eyes scanned the stalls, just in case. All empty. Good.
Starlight Glimmer clamped her hands around the cold, porcelain edge of the sink, flicked the water on, and stared intently as it streamed from the tap and circled down the drain.
Breathe in. One. Two. Breathe out. One. Two.
She looked up, into the mirror. A girl with matted hair and hollow eyes stared back.
Breathe in. One. Two. Try not to throw up. One. Two.
Steam rose from the basin. She brought one hand over, cupped it under the running water. She winced, then relaxed as the heat sank into her hand. Its sister joined it, forming a basin which quickly filled to overflowing.
Bracing herself, Starlight brought the water up and splashed it over her face. Rivulets ran down her cheeks, dripping off her chin into the sink below.
She repeated the gesture, once, twice, a third time, rubbing the water down her face, through her hair, into her eyes.
Slowly, the knot in her chest began to loosen. Her breaths became shallower.
She let her hands rest back on the edges of the sink. She kept her eyes closed, letting the sound of rushing water fill her ears. The steam warmed her skin.
Starlight opened her eyes. The mirror had fogged, slightly; she rubbed it clean with a sleeve.
The girl in the mirror, though soaking wet, was smiling. It was the sort of smile that said this: “Everything, no matter how bad it seems, is going to be okay.”
Starlight hoped she could believe it.