Chapter 13: A Trip North
***
“There is snow!” Dawn exclaimed excitedly as she stood on her hind legs on the padded train bench to look out the window. Having finished moving into the castle, Twilight had decided it would be for the best to check on the portal sooner rather than later. She’d also decided that if they were going to the Crystal Empire, she might as well take the fillies along to meet Cadence and Shining Armor. They’d be missing a few days of school, but Twilight didn’t want to wait, in case something was seriously wrong with the portal.
Twilight smiled indulgently. “We’re going through the Crystal Mountains, there will probably be snow all the rest of the trip.”
“It is very pretty,” Winter agreed looking over her sister’s shoulder.
“Until I came back through the portal, I’d never been this far north before.” Sunset said looking out her own window on the bench across from them. “It is a pretty relaxing ride with nice scenery.”
Rainbow yawned sitting next to Twilight. “Yeah, but after a few dozen times, it gets kind of boring.”
Sunset snorted. “You just don’t know how to relax, do you, Rainbow.”
“Sure I do. I nap all the time! On clouds!”
“And in Applejack’s trees.” Twilight added, giving her a nudge with her wing.
“Only when there’s no clouds available.”
Sunset laughed softly. “You’re so much like the Rainbow I knew. I hope we can get in contact with them…”
“Well the mirrors we made work, it’s just a matter of finding a way to open the portal again.” Twilight said with a shrug. “And I think I can figure it out.”
“The mirrors work here; we don’t know if they’ll work through the portal or when the portal is closed.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Twilight assured her. “I just hope we can figure out why the temporal alignment is off.”
“Yeah… you told Cadence we’re coming?”
Twilight nodded. “And I did ask her not to say anything to Celestia about you being back.”
“Thanks.” Sunset said then stretched. “Got to say, I don’t know why you were complaining about them forcing you to take a private car. This is pretty nice.”
Winter looked over at Twilight with a grin. “Twilight does not like special treatment.”
“They always insist…” Twilight started but then her bracelet chimed, surprising them. Looking down, Twilight tapped the gem causing it to ping. “Twilight here.”
“Hey, princess.” Daring’s voice came through loud and clear. “Just reporting in. I’ve found another of the prisons, I’m heading in now.”
“Alright, Daring. We’re heading to the Crystal Empire at the moment, but I think we should still be in range. Just in case though, I asked Applejack to be a backup, so if you can’t contact me, just call her instead, and she should be able to reach me.”
“Got it. I’ll report back in when I have all the traps disabled.”
“I’ll be here. If I don’t hear from you in a couple hours, I’ll assume something went wrong and contact Rekaj for the failsafe.” Twilight told her.
“Understood. I doubt it will come to that, though, this one’s traps looked pretty easy.”
“I hope so.” Twilight agreed.
“Alright, Daring out.” The bracelet made two descending chimes and fell silent.
Sunset looked at Twilight raising a brow. “Daring?”
“Oh… uh, Daring Do, she’s been helping with the other alicorn prisons.” Twilight told her.
“Daring Do? From the novel series?”
“The books are totally real! And she’s just as awesome in real life!” Rainbow told her. “I went with her on the last trip.”
Sunset gave her a skeptical look. “You’re telling me those adventure novels are true stories?”
“They really are.” Twilight said with a nod. “Daring has just kept it a secret, publishing the books as ‘A.K. Yearling.’ But they’re actually just records of her adventures. She’s going to reveal the truth publicly soon since she’s helping with this alicorn prison project, but hasn’t quite yet.”
“Alicorn prison project?”
“She’s searching out all the other purge era alicorn prisons; making sure they’re still holding and disabling the traps that the mortal coalition left behind. Starswirl left scrolls in the fillies’ prison with the locations of all the alicorn prisons, the traps on them, and some information on the alicorn imprisoned inside each one. A lot of the traps were pretty deadly though, so I’m having Daring deactivate them. We’ll find some other way to keep ponies from disturbing the prisons.”
“So far all the prisons we’ve gotten into were still holding.” Rainbow put in. “The trip I went with, we found two of them and cleared out the traps, but the third, one of the trap rooms was collapsed.
Sunset looked between them a moment. “Huh, so there’s a bunch of ancient alicorns still imprisoned?”
“Nearly three dozen, and most are pretty horrible.” Twilight said shaking her head.
“Most of the alicorns of the high council were not nice ponies.” Winter said softly.
Sunset looked over at her. “That’s right, you would have known these guys, huh?”
“We did only meet a few of them, and did not know them well, but we did hear stories about many of them.” Winter told her.
“Yeah, some of what those scrolls said about them,” Rainbow said. “I almost feel like we were lucky it was Achlys that got out first; I mean, sure she was one tough cookie, but at least she didn’t go around torturing and killing ponies just for fun. I mean, in the end, wasn’t there only one pony who died?”
“Well, this time. The first time Achlys attacked Canterlot there was the battle of the Fetlock Hills.” Twilight reminded her.
“That was Achlys?” Sunset asked curiously. “I remember hearing about that battle a lot when I was a filly… there were at least four foals at the orphanage where I grew up that lost their parents in the battle.”
Twilight and Spike both winced, and both fillies looked down. “Yes… that was Achlys.” Twilight said softly.
“Dang… I heard that half the guard was wiped out in that single battle, but that Celestia won in the end.”
“It was more of a draw.” Spike said with a sigh. “Achlys escaped.” As Sunset didn’t know about his past, he didn’t mention that her escape back then was thanks to him.
“But Rainbow may be right. Some of these other alicorns, while they may not be as truly dangerous as Achlys, are much more brutal.” Twilight said to shift the conversation away from Achlys. “That’s part of why we’re checking on all the prisons; to make sure none of the others have escaped. We want to make sure there’s not another ancient alicorn lurking out there, somewhere. Once the rest of my guard comes to Ponyville, I think we’ll be sending squads out to the prisons that Daring wasn’t able to get into with a unicorn to at least check to make sure the prison is holding.”
Sunset nodded, understanding. “Yeah, sounds like a good idea.
~~~
Winter and Dawn stared up in awe as the group made their way to the crystal palace escorted by a squad of Twilight’s guard. The crystal spire was gleaming in the late afternoon sun as they reached the courtyard of the crystal heart beneath the arched legs of the palace.
“So is the crystal effect an illusion… or are the crystal ponies actually transparent?” Sunset asked softly, looking at a pair of crystal guards watching the courtyard. The fillies looked over at Twilight, clearly curious as well.
“It’s an illusion caused by the crystal heart. When it’s fully activated it causes everypony within its range to have that crystal look. But since the crystal ponies have lived under the protection of the crystal heart for generations, the illusion has basically been absorbed and become a part of their own magic. Though for them it varies by their emotions; the happier they are, the more crystal they appear.” Twilight explained as they approached the main entrance to the palace.
One of the guards stepped forward just as they reached the entrance and bowed. “Princess Twilight Sparkle; Her highness, Princess Cadence, sent word that you would be arriving. If you’d all follow me.”
Twilight smiled and nodded. “Lead the way.” The crystal pony guard gave a salute to her, then a second to Captain Feather which she returned. He then led the way into the castle, Twilight’s guards staying behind at the entrance. As a show of unity between Equestria and the Empire, they would be entrusting Twilight’s protection to the Crystal Empire Royal Guard while they were in the castle, the same as they would in Canterlot. Feather had explained it when they’d gotten off the train so that Twilight wouldn’t be caught off guard. It also gave Feather and the squad that had accompanied them some time to relax.
The Crystal guards led them through the halls of the palace not to the throne room, but instead to the royal quarters. There they found Princess Cadence and Shining Armor waiting in the royal suite’s large study, a nice fire going in the fireplace. Twilight led the group inside, smiling when she saw Cadence.
“You made it!” Cadence said happily. “No trouble I trust?”
“No it was a nice relaxing ride.” Twilight assured her. “It’s good to see you, Cadence, Shiny.”
“So these the two fillies we’ve heard so much about?” Shining asked.
Twilight nodded. “Yes, let me introduce; Winter Belle, and Dawn Melody.” She gestured to each in turn with one wing, then turned to the fillies. “Girls this is Princess Cadence, and her husband, my older brother, Shining Armor.”
“We are pleased to meet you!” The fillies gave a respectful bow.
“We are as well.” Cadence replied smiling. “I hope you’re enjoying modern Equestria, from the sound of things it must be quite an improvement over when you come from.”
“Much better!” Dawn said nodding vigorously.
“Oh good. And I hope you’ll enjoy your visit here to the Crystal Empire as well.”
“It’s very shiny!”
Cadence giggled. “It is that.”
Shining smiled as well then looked up at the one other unicorn in the room. “So, you are back, you old troublemaker.” He said with a bit of a grin to show he didn’t mean anything by it.
Sunset laughed nervously. “Uh… yeah, sorry about pranking you so much back in Canterlot. And… sorry for how I treated you back then, Princess. You definitely didn’t deserve it; I let my jealousy get the better of me.”
Cadence seemed surprised, but smiled all the same. “It is quite alright, Sunset; it’s in the past and as far as I’m concerned it can stay there. How about we just start anew.”
Sunset looked up and nodded. “I’d like that.”
“And honestly, your pranks made what would have been a rather boring post a lot more interesting,” Shining told her. “We had quite a few laughs in the barracks because of them.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, with the exception of the ones involving paint, most weren’t that bad. It actually became a bit of a routine for the squad guarding your Tower to report what pranks you played on them each night in the barracks before everypony turned in for the night. We had a lot of laughs because of it.”
“Heh… well I’m glad I provided you guys with some entertainment I guess.”
Cadence smiled a moment more then looked over at Twilight. “So, you said in your letter that you need to check on the portal?”
Twilight nodded. “Yes, it’s only been seventeen moons since I went through, the portal shouldn’t have opened again yet. But obviously it did, and Sunset says it was thirty moons on the other side. So it seems the Temporal alignment got thrown off.” Twilight explained though she had included the explanation in the letter as well. “So we need to check on that; and while we’re at it, we’d also like to try and get Sunset back in contact with her friends on the other side.”
“I see. Well, I’m glad to hear you made some friends, Sunset. I remember finding Princess Celestia pacing and worrying about you not making any friends more than once.”
“Pacing, really?”
“Pacing and mumbling to herself trying to come up with some crazy plan to get you to make some friends,” Cadence confirmed. “She does that a lot, actually, when she’s exceptionally worried about something or somepony close to her. I’ve caught her pacing and worrying about Twilight as well, and I’m sure she’s done the same for me at times.”
“Heh…”
“You have nothing to worry about, you know. Princess Celestia still cares a great deal about you; she’ll be ecstatic to see you again.”
Sunset looked down. “I… I just need some time.”
Cadence gave her a reassuring smile. “I understand; I won’t say anything about you being back, but try not to worry.”
“Thanks.” Sunset said softly, her throat suddenly feeling tight.
Twilight smiled putting a wing around Sunset in a brief embrace. “Anyway, since Sunset was able to come through the portal, we think it managed to realign itself, so it shouldn’t be dangerous, but even so I thought it would be for the best if we check on it right away, and I was hoping you, Shining and Spike could show the fillies around the Crystal Empire while we work on that.”
“We would love to.” Cadence said with a smile for the fillies. “I made sure to clear most of my schedule for today.” She glanced up at Spike. “And I’m sure the ponies of the Crystal Empire will be excited to see how much Spike the Brave and Glorious has grown,” she said with a good natured grin for the title that her subjects had given him.
“Spike the Brave and Glorious?” Winter repeated looking up at him with a raised brow.
“You haven’t told them about that yet?” Cadence asked in surprise, giving Spike a knowing look. “Well why don’t we get Twilight and Sunset started on their project, then we can tell you about how Spike the Brave and Glorious, saved the Crystal Empire while we show you around.”
~~~
Rainbow yawned, making Twilight smile.
“You know, you could have gone with the others, might have been more exciting for you.” Sunset said with a roll of her eyes while casting another scan on the portal.
“Nah, I’ve seen the empire plenty.” Rainbow said and yawned again. “Besides, I wanted to be here in case something went wrong.
“Not much that could go wrong really, we’re just doing diagnostics for the most part.” Sunset told her.
“Figure out what’s wrong yet?”
“So far it doesn’t look like anything is wrong.” Twilight told her. “The portal seems fine, even the temporal alignment seems fine. So whatever caused it to shift doesn’t seem to have done any permanent damage. I just don’t get what could have caused…” She paused for a moment then her hoof met her forehead. “I’m an idiot!”
“What?” Sunset asked. “You realize something.”
“Yeah.” Twilight said and looked over at Rainbow. “Apple Bloom.”
Rainbow looked back not understanding at first, then her eyes widened. “You think her time magic is messing with the portal?”
“Wait wait, Apple Bloom? As in Applejack’s little sister!?” Sunset asked looking confused. “She has time magic!?”
Twilight nodded. “You haven’t met him, but we’ve had another interdimensional visitor recently named Rekaj, who gave Apple Bloom access to his magic. Magic which includes some incredible time magic.”
“It’s pretty awesome.” Rainbow agreed.
“You think she’s used it enough to account for the amount the alignment is shifted.” Sunset asked.
Twilight frowned. “No; she’s used it a lot, but I don’t think it’s enough to account for over a year. My guess is that every time she’s turned back time, it’s broken the alignment; the portal then tries to realign itself but each time it’s off either an amount in some way proportional to time shift Apple Bloom caused; or possibly random amount each time. The good news is that it does seem to be pretty resilient at reestablishing the alignment, because if it is Apple Bloom’s magic doing it, it would have had the alignment broken dozens, possibly hundreds of times, and it's still managed to recover.”
“Hmm. It does sound like the most likely cause.” Sunset agreed.
Twilight nodded. “When we get the portal back to Ponyville we’ll have Apple Bloom or Rekaj help with an experiment or two to make sure, but for now I think it is the most likely cause.”
“In that case, as far as opening the portal goes, I think I found something that might help.” Sunset said then lit her horn highlighting a section of the enchantments on the mirror. “This looks like an array to gather and store magic.”
Twilight lit her own horn scanning the enchantment Sunset was highlighting. “You’re right… hmm.” She studied the enchantment for a moment and then some of the connecting enchantments. “Yes, that’s exactly what it is… and it looks like it’s almost half full again.”
“It must not take long to charge,” Sunset said.
“And only holds enough magic to keep the portal open a few days at a time,” Twilight agreed.
“But if it charges that quickly, why the thirty moons between opening?”
Twilight frowned thoughtfully. That was a good question. She continued to scan the enchantment, trying to discern what each part did. The difficult part about permanent portals like this, was that half the enchantment was on the other side. “Of course! The other side!”
Sunset looked at her curiously.
Twilight scanned the enchantment again looking specifically at the parts that were connecting to the other side. After a few moments, she found what she was looking for. “There it is! The trigger that opens the portal!” Twilight said highlighting it for Sunset. “I think its connected to another storage array on the other side that powers that side of the portal. And I bet that because that world doesn’t have nearly as much magic, it takes thirty moons for it to charge.”
“But… that would mean that that world has its own magic.”
Twilight nodded. “But it’s likely a much weaker field, so the humans never evolved to have a connection to it.”
“You think so?”
“That’s my guess. The good news is we should be able to set off the trigger and open the portal, but since that side has only had a few days to store magic, it will probably only open for a few minutes.”
“That’s not much time.”
Twilight nodded. “I know, but it should be long enough for us to send the mirror through… and then… maybe,” she thought for a moment trying to fit together the bits of magical knowledge that she knew came from Achlys. While the alicorn had had nothing to do with the portal, there were parts of the enchantment that were familiar, and she had worked with portals and other forms of instantaneous travel. “I think we might be able to use the connection between the mirrors to feed magic through the portal to charge the other side. Possibly even keep the portal open indefinitely if we need to.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah, but we can work on that later. For now, let’s see if this works so we can send the mirror through.”
Sunset nodded. “Alright.”
“So how do you know one of your friends will find the mirror if you’re just going to throw it through the portal?” Rainbow asked looking at the pair of mirror compacts curiously.
“I’m going to enchant it to follow the bonds of Sunset’s friendship to the nearest of her friends.” Twilight told her. “It’s actually not that hard if you’ve studied the amity arcanum.”
Sunset snorted. “That’s one field of magic I definitely don’t know much about.”
“I don’t think anypony does, other than Twilight,” Rainbow said with a smirk.
“Well… actually, Achlys knew a lot about it… she even knew some things that I didn’t.” Twilight told her.
“What!? Her, really!?” Rainbow looked at her in shock.
“She studied all forms of magic,” Twilight told her.
“Achlys, as in the ancient alicorn you were talking about; the one that attacked Canterlot?” Sunset asked.
Twilight nodded.
“How do you know what kind of magic she studied?”
“Oh… uh… Well it’s public knowledge so I suppose I might as well tell you. During the incident with Achlys, she… well, killed me.”
Sunset raised a brow. “Killed you?”
Twilight nodded. “But I was brought back by the Tree of Harmony.”
“You were brought back to life?” Sunset said not sure whether to believe it or not.
“It’s true,” Rainbow said stepping to Twilight’s side and putting a wing around her. “We were all pretty devastated. But there were these keys and a chest with six locks that the Tree gave to us, and after… after it was all over, we got the last key and opened the chest. Inside was this seed that grew into a flower and when the flower opened, there was Twilight alive again.”
“Really?”
Twilight nodded. “But what isn’t widely known, is that when the Tree brought me back, it also gave me all of Achlys’ magical knowledge.”
Sunset’s eyes widened. “All the knowledge of an ancient alicorn?”
“And not just any alicorn; Achlys spent most of her life studying magic; she knew more than any other pony that ever lived.”
“Dang… you probably don’t need my help at all for this then, huh.”
Twilight smiled. “Well this portal was made almost five hundred years after Achlys was captured and imprisoned; so while she definitely knew many of the magic principles that the portal is based on, she didn’t actually know about this kind of portal.” Twilight frowned as she recalled some related magic. “Although, she did know a few ways to create gateways from one place to another and also a method of long-range teleportation…”
“Long-range? How long of range?” Sunset asked interested.
“Theoretically almost anywhere in the world, so long as you know where you’re going. It does take some setup; it requires a physical array at the caster’s starting location, and it does still take more magic the further you go, so most unicorns probably would still have limited range; not the entire world. I’m definitely going to have to try that out though.”
“Definitely!” Sunset agreed. “I’m surprised you haven’t already!”
“Well, I didn’t know about it. I have all this knowledge, but I usually don’t know it’s there unless I specifically think about the subject. Like now that I’m thinking about teleportation and portals I’m recalling all kinds of variations and special techniques. There’s one fire portal that I’m pretty sure is the spell that the changeling queen used to capture me during the invasion a couple years back.”
Sunset looked at her sharply. “Hold on. Changelings are real!?”
Rainbow snorted. “Heck yeah, they are. The queen captured Princess Cadence and took her place. But Twilight totally figured it out.”
“Not that any of you believed me.” Twilight said raising a brow at Rainbow.
“Heh… yeah, sorry about that, Twi.”
Twilight smiled and leaned over to give her a quick kiss. “I’ve long since forgiven you and everypony else. But that doesn’t mean I won’t remind you of it from time to time.”
“I suppose we deserve that.”
“That was actually just a month or so before the Crystal Empire reappeared. And then a few months after that I became an alicorn and was crowned princess, then you came back and stole my crown… it was an eventful year.”
“Hasn’t really slowed down either.”
“No, I suppose it hasn’t.”
“Heh… maybe I should have stayed in the other world; sounds like things are just as crazy here.” Sunset said with a wry grin.
“It’s really not that bad. Anyway, should we see if we’re right about the trigger to get the portal open?”
“Yeah, let’s try it.”
Twilight nodded and lit her horn again focusing on the portal. “Let’s see, this part here definitely looks like the trigger, so if we feed a little magic into it right about here, that should activate it.”
Sunset nodded in agreement and Twilight went ahead and channeled a small flow of magic into the mirror. Almost immediately there was a flash and for a moment the surface of the mirror seemed to swirl. It was only a moment though, then it settled back into appearing as a normal mirror.
“I think that did it.” Twilight said doing a quick scan with her magic. “Yep, it’s open, but there’s no telling how long it will last, so lets send the mirror through.” Twilight took one of the mirror compacts that had a note attached to it, and cast a spell she’d worked up just a few days before. Almost immediately when the spell was cast, the compact leapt into the air and sped through the portal, disappearing with a flash.
“Nothing to do but wait I suppose. Sunset said picking up the second compact in her magic.”
“How long is it going to take?” Rainbow asked.
“It will go to the nearest of Sunset’s friends, so it really depends on how close they are to the portal. The note had instructions on how to call Sunset with it so it shouldn’t take them long to figure it out once they get it.”
“If they’re not too freaked out by a magic flying compact chasing them to read the note.” Sunset said wryly.
“I suppose there is that…” Twilight allowed.
“You really think they’ll freak out?” Rainbow asked raising a brow. “I thought they all saw a bunch of magic when you took Twilight’s crown.”
“Depends on who it is,” Sunset told her, but before she could say more the compact began to chime. Eagerly, Sunset opened it activating the communication spell. Instead of her own face a familiar blue skinned and rainbow haired girl appeared in the mirror.
“Hello?”
“Rainbow!” Sunset said smiling, glad to see her friend again, though it had only been a little over a week.
Rainbow Dash in the compact looked at her seeming to recognize her voice and her eyes widened. “Sunset!? Is that really you!?”
Sunset blushed realizing that this would be the first time they’d see her in her birth form. They all knew of course; the topic had come up often enough over last couple years. “Yeah, it’s me; the real me.”
“Hah! You really are a cute little unicorn!”
“Yeah, yeah…” Sunset said good naturedly. “So, uh. Obviously I got back to Equestria safely and found Princess Twilight. She made these mirrors so we can stay in touch. If it works with the portal closed anyway. We’re not sure about that.”
“Awesome!”
“Are any of the other girls around?” Sunset asked.
“Oh, hey yeah! I’m actually on my way to AJ’s, we’re all meeting up there!”
“Great! It…” She broke off as a flash from the portal mirror got her attention.
“The portal just closed.” Twilight said after a quick scan.
Sunset looked back at the mirror. “You still there?”
“Yeah…”
“Oh good!” Sunset said feeling a great deal of relief. “The portal just closed again so looks like the mirrors still work when it’s closed!”
“Awesome! Well hang on just a sec; I’m almost to AJ’s, looks like everyone else is here already!” The view on the mirror suddenly began moving violently as they heard the sound of Rainbow running the rest of the way, then they heard a door open, and they got a view of a large livingroom where the rest of Sunset’s friends were gathered. “Hey girls, check out what zipped up to me out of nowhere on my way here!”
“What is it, Darling?” They heard Rarity ask.
“It’s a communicator! And look who’s on the other side!” The view shifted again and this time Rainbow was in the foreground with all the friends looking curiously at them from behind her.
“Hi girls!” Sunset said smiling.
“Sunset Shimmer!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“What… Sunset, is that really you?” Applejack asked recognizing her voice.
“Yep, it’s me!” Sunset told them.
“Oh my!” Rarity started but didn’t have a chance to say more as Fluttershy suddenly moved closer.
“You look adorable!” she said, her face taking up nearly half the mirror.
Sunset laughed and levitated the mirror out a little and turning slightly so they could see all of her. “Yeah, this the real me!”
“Oh my! Darling, you’re not wearing any clothing!” Rarity said her eyes going wide.
“Of course not; we’re ponies! Most ponies don’t wear clothes unless it’s a special occasion!” Sunset said rolling her eyes. “Even the local Rarity!”
“Local Rarity?”
“Yeah, remember I told you that there seemed to be a lot of people over there that had pony counterparts here?”
“Yesserooni!” Pinkie said nodding.
“Yes, I remember.” Rarity agreed a little more calmly.
“Well Princess Twilight’s friends here are all of your counterparts.” Sunset explained.
“Heh, and the pony you is a nudist apparently.” Applejack said with a smirk.
“Don’t laugh too hard AJ, your counterpart almost never wears anything but her pa’s hat!” Sunset told her grinning having met all Twilight’s friends before the trip up.
“Ok, I did not need that image in my head.” Rainbow said.
“And her sister only wears her bow in her hair.” Sunset added with a smirk.
“Definitely did not need to hear that!” Applejack groaned.
“What’s the big deal, running around naked is super fun!” Pinkie said and grabbed for her shirt.
“PINKIE NO!”
Sunset smiled as the friends rushed to prevent their carefree friend from stripping right then and there. “I know it hasn’t been that long, but it’s good to hear from you all; I’m glad this worked.”
“We are too, darling.” Rarity agreed.
“Oh hey, Rares!” Rainbow said and held up a jar.
“Oh dear… I said it again didn’t I.”
“Twice.” Rainbow said with a smug grin as Rarity dropped two coins in the jar.
“Heh. Old habits, eh Rares?” Sunset said smiling.
“What was that about?” Twilight asked a little confused.
“We’ve been trying to break Rarity’s habit of saying “darling” all the time.” Sunset explained. “Every time she does, she has to put a quarter in the jar.
Behind her Rainbow snorted. “Maybe we should try that with our Rares…”
“Oh yeah! Look who else is here!” Sunset said and turned the mirror toward Twilight.
Twilight smiled. “Hey girls! It’s been a while, so just in case you don’t recognize me; it’s me, Princess Twilight.”
“You’re a unicorn too?” Fluttershy asked eagerly.
“Uh, no, not exactly.” Twilight said opening her wings for them to see.
“Remember, I told you girls, the princesses are alicorns.” Sunset said from the side.
“Oh right, I think you did mention that.” Rarity said thoughtfully, managing not to end with darling this time.
“It’s good to see you all again.” Twilight said with a smile. “I’m glad this worked. And I was very glad to find out that leaving Sunset with you was the right choice. That you all became such good friends.”
“Of course.”
“We love our adorable little unicorn!” Rainbow said with a smirk.
Sunset snorted, turning the mirror back toward her. “Hey, I’ll have you know that I’m considered very sexy here!” She said striking a pose with one forehoof raised.
The Rainbow in the mirror snorted clearly trying not to laugh, but Sunset grinned wickedly. “Besides; look who else is here.” With that she turned the mirror to face the local Rainbow Dash.
“Uh, hey?” Rainbow said a little surprised at suddenly being included. In the mirror, the other Rainbow’s eyes went wide seeming to recognize who she was.
“Oh my! Is that…?”
“Rainbow Dash! Fastest pegasus in all of Equestria!” Rainbow introduced herself, jumping up and hovering in the air.
“Heh, looks like you make a darn cute pony too, Rainbow.” Applejack said with a smirk for her friend.
“I’d say I’m more awesome than cute!” Pony Rainbow objected.
“I think you’re all adorable!” Fluttershy said from the other side of the mirror.
Sunset laughed, turning the mirror back to herself. “I’m so glad this worked. Maybe in time we can send you all a mirror of your own, so we can all keep in touch. Until then, I guess you’ll have to decide who will hang on to this one. Twilight made it so that it will chime when I’m trying to contact you, then you just open it to answer. To call me, you just open it and say my name. And if we’re busy on one end or the other and miss a call, it will glow and display the person who called when you open it.”
“Sweet, seems simple enough.” The human Rainbow said with a nod.
“Oh, and when we do make mirrors for all of you; you should be able to use them to contact each other too, or even do group calls.” Sunset told them.
“Well we have our phones already, but I suppose the mirrors would make a good backup.” Rarity agreed.
“Just so long as we keep them secret.” Applejack said. “Magic has gotten pretty taboo as a topic around her of late.”
“Yeah, that would probably be for the best.” Sunset agreed. “Well, I’ll let you all get back to your plans for the day. We just wanted to test out the mirrors and see if they worked with the portal closed.”
“It was great hearing from you, d… I didn’t say it!” Rarity exclaimed as Rainbow held up the jar again threateningly.
“You were going too!” Pinkie said accusingly.
Sunset smiled. “Feel free to call any time; I’m not really busy here.”
“Oh, before you go!” Twilight said stepping into view next to Sunset. “We’ve had a slight problem with the portal; we think we know what caused it, but the temporal alignment has shifted significantly.”
“What does that mean?” The human Rainbow asked.
“I know right!?” Pony Rainbow said from out of their view.
“It means that while it was apparently thirty moons over there, it’s only been about seventeen moons on this side.”
“Oh my, is it a problem?”
“Not a huge one, no, the portal seems stable now, and like I said, we think we know what caused it. But just in case, it would help if you keep track of how long it is between whenever you call Sunset; just a rough estimate would be fine. It will just help us know if it shifts again.”
“We can do that!” Applejack agreed for them.
“And if it seems like a long time since I last called, go ahead and call, in case the time shifted again,” Sunset told them.
“Will do!”
“Alright, it was great hearing from you all again, be sure to keep in touch.”
“We will!” Pinkie said enthusiastically.
Sunset smiled. “Talk to you later!”
“Later, Sunset!” They chorused from the other side.
Reluctantly, Sunset closed the mirror, ending the call.
“Yeah, that was kind of freaky,” Rainbow said after a moment.
“It was strange enough when I first met them all.” Twilight agreed. “I imagine it’s even worse seeing another you.”
“Yep, pretty freaky,” Sunset said recalling her own run-in with her counterpart.
“So… we done here?” Rainbow asked sounding a little impatient.
Twilight smiled. “Yes, let’s go find Feather and see if she can lead us to the others.”