Chapter 4, PM: You Said We’ve Been Friends Too Long
Having met the pony versions of her friends back in the human world, Sunset seemed at a loss as to why seeing a pony version of Octavia was making her brain malfunction.
“Um, excuse me?” asked Octavia, tilting her head at the stupefied mare. “Are you okay?”
“Helloooooo, Earth to Sunset,” said Twilight, waving a hoof in front of the pony’s face, ”anypony home?”
“Iiiiiiii, uhhhhhhh…” uttered Shimmer, looking like she was going to pass out. Then, she blinked repeatedly and shook her head, evidently regaining her bearings.
Octavia, opting to ignore the strange pony, instead decided to strike up conversation with the princess. “Anyway, Your Highness, it’s good to see you.”
“Likewise, Octavia, though you’ve known me long enough to call me by name.”
The earth pony giggled. “Sorry, Twilight, force of habit from dealing with one too many Canterlot nobles. You know how rare it is to have ponies amongst the gentry who don’t have swelled heads, right?”
Twilight nodded and added, “No argument there. So, what brings you to Ponyville?”
"Meeting Lyra. We were going to finish up our musical composition for the Summer Sun Celebration in two weeks. Princess Celestia has commissioned us for a musical piece, an--"
Suddenly, Sunset seemed to come to her senses and rushed over to grab Octavia by the withers, almost overcome with excitement. "TAVI!” she exclaimed, “Oh, God, do you know how great it is to see a familiar fa...wait...."
"Who are you?" asked Octavia, confusion etched on her face.
“I…I’m sorry, it’s just that you reminded me of somebody that I know.”
“Some…body? As in, not a pony?”
“Well, yes, sort of, I mean this person I know has the same hairstyle as you and…and…the same color eyes and, er…”
“So? It’s not like my manestyle is anything special, and lots of ponies have eyes of this color, though I don’t even know what a hairstyle is, and-“
Before Sunset knew it, her mouth was running a mile a second and there was nothing she could do but watch helplessly as the words poured forth. “And you also like butterscotch milkshakes and classical music and play the contrabass only it really annoys you when people think it’s a bass guitar which is a completely separate instrument that doesn’t fit your refined image at all and-”
“Okay, I don’t know who you are, but whoever told you I go by ‘Tavi’ is both mistaken and somepony who clearly doesn’t respect my cousin Octavia-“
“Whoa whoa whoa!” interrupted Twilight. “You have a cousin with the same name as you?”
“Two, actually. I don’t want to go into detail about it because-“
“Because it’s the result of some weird family feud issue involving you and your cousins being born simultaneously!” blurted Sunset.
A stunned, and slightly unnerved, Octavia looked wide eyed at the unicorn. “Honestly? Now you’re starting to freak me out a little, though you’re far from the first pony who remembers a little too much from those music journal interviews, but-“
“And that you had your appendix removed when you were eleven.“
“My what now? I have no idea what an appendix is.”
“Well, you have that scar that’s-” Sunset’s unending spiel managed to be cut just shortly after her mentioning Tavi’s appendectomy, as she was suddenly slapped with a lightning fast move from Octavia.
“H-how do you know about that!?” gasped Octavia. Sunset wasn’t sure why the gray mare was suddenly glaring furiously at her with bright red cheeks.
“Gah, Sunset, I told you to stop abusing those kinds of spells!” interrupted Twilight, having watched the two ponies go back and forth like a tennis match. Her horn was lit up, and her head moved slowly back and forth as if waving something over Sunset. “I do apologize, Octavia; my friend here has a bad habit of using an obscure kind of, uh... awareness spell to try and get to know ponies better, since she really has trouble breaking the ice.” Twilight gave her best winning smile. “Unfortunately, it tends to go over as well as what just happened here.”
“Oh, okay,” replied Octavia, though barely less shaken for her trouble. “But wouldn’t those kind of spells be illegal? It seems kind of obvious how easily they would be abused for exploitation.”
“I, uh, only do it when I’m with Twil-er, Twi,” Sunset lied, thankful Twilight was able to work her out of that hole she’d dug for herself. “Really, I know I should stop it. It’s totally my bad, Tavi.”
“Octavia, if you please. Also, as much as I hate to leave this charming discussion, I do need to meet with Lyra, so I’ll talk to you two later.” Bidding farewell, Octavia hurriedly made off on her way with a quickened pace.
Sunset just sighed in defeat. “Wow, I totally screwed the pooch on that one, didn’t I?”
Twilight just patted Sunset on the back. “Yeah, you kinda did. But you’re lucky I experienced the same thing back when I first arrived at that school.”
“But…but she jumped when I only mentioned she got her appendix removed. It’s not that big a deal…is it?”
Twilight looked at Sunset with disbelief. “Sunset…what's an appendix?"
“C'mon, they covered this in biology class! The appendix, formally known as the vermiform appendix, is a blind ended tube connected...to...the...cecum...." Sunset facehoofed as a thought suddenly came to her. "And it's a vestigial organ in humans."
Twilight nodded. “Which means in ponies, it doesn't exist. But since she said she had surgery...think about the differences between bipedal and quadrupedal body structures, Sunset.”
Sunset took a moment to process the information, realization marked with a sudden gasp and her face turning a bright red. “The scar…it’s not exactly in a place she’d want ponies to look, is it?”
“Evidently, I can’t say for certain, given that I didn’t even know she had surgery, but….”
Shimmer groaned, trying to bury her face in her raised foreleg. “What a great impression I must be making to you, Twilight. I can’t even go a day without doing something wrong.”
“Well, don’t worry about it too much, since I’m guessing that’s just like with how you told me yesterday that you and my human counterpart are living together. That is what you said, right?”
“Yeah, with you, your family and your cousin who stays over often.” Sunset immediately wished she’d taken that last part back, given what had just happened, and unfortunately, Twilight had noticed her quick gasp.
“Cousin?” asked the princess. “Now you have me curious. I don’t really have any cousins I’m especially close to. What’s their name?”
“Let me put it this way: You just met her.”
“I just-oh.” Twilight looked skeptical. “Seriously, Octavia Melody is my cousin in the human world? But, I don’t really know the Octavia from this world all that well beyond formal acquaintances. How can somepony barely within my social purview somehow end up being a close relative to my counterpart?”
Sunset nodded, thankful that pony Octavia wasn’t around anymore to hear this. “On your father’s side, which seems to be the slightly saner part of her bloodline. As for her mother’s side…well, Christmas reunions reportedly are a trial.”
Twilight blinked. “What’s a ‘Christmas reunion’?”
“Christmas, not Christmas reunion,” Sunset groaned, facehoofing as she did. “We have a lot to cover, evidently.” This might set me back a bit.
After a quick lunch back at the library, Sunset Shimmer spent the next couple of hours struggling to explain the concept of human holidays to Twilight. It was a significantly more trying task than she had anticipated. Sunset never imagined that she would ever have to explain that Jesus Christ and Santa Claus were in fact not immortal political figures, or that the President of the United States was not allowed to go around scaring people on Halloween. Sunset eventually compromised by promising to send Twilight a few books on the topic when she returned to the human world. Assuming such a thing was even possible, anyway.
“At its heart, Christmas is just like Hearth’s Warming. It’s a time when families get together, give each other gifts and just enjoy time together,” Sunset said.
Twilight had somehow managed to fill several pages of notes and was still scribbling away. “Right. I take it you exchanged gifts with the human versions of me and Octavia?” Twilight stopped writing and looked away. “I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that Octavia is my cousin in the human world! I wonder just how much about our families are different over there.”
“Well, Tavi’s family did bring me along to a museum exhibit about her famous ancestor, so I got to know a lot of her side of the family.”
Twilight’s ears perked up. “Oh, Octavia’s human counterpart has a famous ancestor too? Was she also a musician?”
“Yeah…” Sunset decided not to go into any more detail on the matter. She remembered the strange coincidences surrounding Octavia’s ancestor Musica Allegra, whose works sounded suspiciously like plagiarisms of classical Equestrian music. Sunset didn’t want to elaborate on the theory she’d formed on the matter. I have enough on my plate right now as it is.
“Sunset?” Looking up, Sunset saw Twilight had put away her notes and was looking at her with concern. It would seem the maize unicorn’s change in mood hadn’t gone unnoticed. “Is everything okay?”
Sunset’s first instinct was to answer “yes” and act like everything was okay. Smile and nod. But when she looked at the alicorn across from her, all she could see was a scared teenage girl, run ragged by nightmares. “No…” Sunset hung her head and let out a tired breath. “I never did tell you why I came back, did I?”
Twilight just looked at Sunset, silently urging her former rival to go on.
So Sunset did. “Twily’s in trouble. Back home, she’s having nightmares. And before you ask, no, they aren’t just normal nightmares. She sees ponies in them. She sees you in them!”
“Me?”
Sunset nodded. “And Octavia, and me as a pony. And then something else, something monstrous. These nightmares… they’re destroying her, Twilight! She almost killed herself because she couldn’t take it any more!” Sunset took another shaking breath, and then she realized that she herself was shaking. Twilight just sat quietly and waited patiently for Sunset to continue.
“I owe Twily so much. I owe all of them so much. Octavia, Shining, Mom, Dad, even Spike! They gave me my second chance. They gave me a home. They loved me like I was one of them, and I am so, so grateful….” Trembling, Sunset desperately tried to hold on to the fond memories she’d made with Twily and her family. But no matter how hard she tried, all she could think about was Twily waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, screaming and crying. Begging Sunset to make the nightmares stop.
Sunset forced her eyes shut, doing her damnedest to will the memories from her head, but all she saw was the girl with purple hair and magenta highlights standing in the middle of the road. The truck was bearing down on her. Sunset called out to her but she didn’t hear. The truck wasn’t stopping but the girl didn’t care. Suddenly, tears were flowing from Sunset’s eyes and she couldn’t have stopped them if she wanted to.
“I don’t even know if she’s alive right now!” Sunset sobbed. “For all I know, Twily could already be dead and I’m just wasting my time here….”
As she sat there, letting the pain and stress of the last couple of months pour down her cheeks and onto the floor, Sunset felt something soft and feathery drape itself across her back. She opened her eyes and looked up to see Princess Twilight Sparkle sitting beside her, one of her wings wrapped around her back.
Sniffling, Sunset brought a trembling hoof up to rub the tears from her eyes. “I’m s-sorry, I….”
“It’s okay,” Twilight said, giving Sunset an encouraging smile. “Sunset, if I’d known it was this bad I wouldn’t have wasted your time with so many inane questions.”
Despite herself, Sunset couldn’t help but smile back, if only briefly. The next few minutes were spent in silence, with Twilight wordlessly comforting her former enemy. If a year ago, Sunset had been told she’d be sharing such a vulnerable moment with her hated rival, she would have laughed. Now, she was just glad for the sanctuary that was offered.
“It’s Raspberry….” Sunset said, finally breaking the silence.
Twilight looked over at her. “Hmm?”
“Raspberry Beryl. She’s doing this. She’s hurting Twily from this side of the mirror.”
Twilight removed her wing from Sunset’s back and gave her a quizzical look. “But, Raspberry’s my-”
“Friend, I know!” Sunset exclaimed. “But I know what Twily told me. The thing attacking her in her dreams is a dead ringer for Raspberry! She uses dark magic, Twilight!”
“And she’s a good pony!” Twilight shouted back. She then closed her eyes took a breath, gently placing a hoof on Sunset’s shoulder. “Look, I promise you we’ll get to the bottom of this, okay? Just, please trust me, alright? I’m on your side this time.”
It’s not you I’m worried about, Princess, Sunset thought, but she held her tongue. The rest of the afternoon passed relatively quietly. The former rivals spent their time doing research on anything they could find in the library pertaining to the mirror, dark magic, and nightmares. Something felt different now than it had when Sunset previously spoke with Twilight. Sunset felt more… loose somehow. Like she had spent her previous conversations with Twilight compressed into a tight ball, and now she was allowed to stretch out.
Sunset allowed Twilight to ask more questions about the human world while they worked. It helped to keep her mind off of the grim possibilities of what was going on back home. Still, they didn’t keep Sunset from brooding about her enigmatic twin.
Suddenly, Sunset remembered something Celestia had said when they discussed the same issue. “Hey Twilight, can I ask you a question?”
Twilight grinned. “You mean apart from that one?”
“What happened in Lonesome Dove?”
Twilight’s grin vanished. “That’s… not really my place to say.”
“It had to do with her, didn’t it?”
Twilight nodded. “Razz and I went there a couple of months ago. It was the town she grew up in, and she wanted to… look, I probably said too much already. But you should talk to her about it. Who knows? Maybe getting to know Razz might help put your fears about her to rest.”
“Yeah. Maybe….” Sunset said, though her heart wasn’t into it. In truth, a direct confrontation with this pony was not something she wanted to pursue. Dark magic could be used in many ways, not the least of which was on a person’s mind. Sunset had learned first hand what that was like. A conversation with Raspberry Beryl could end with Sunset suffering the same fate as Twily, or worse. No, Sunset would have to wait until she had more information on the mare before attempting to face her.
But one look at the clock and a yawn told Sunset another story. It wasn’t especially late, truth be told, but between waking up earlier than she was accustomed to, helping the Cakes at Sugarcube Corner, and pouring out her heart and soul in front of her former rival, Sunset was spent. Still, the day wasn’t a total loss. She had learned a bit more about the pony that was haunting Twily’s dreams, and suspected she was on the right track. Still, Sunset wasn’t sure how well she’d sleep tonight with so much still weighing on her mind.
So after bidding Twilight a good night, Sunset made to leave the library and return to her cozy guest bed at Sugarcube Corner. But as she turned to close the front door behind her, Twilight stopped her.
“Hey… your sister’s fine, okay?”
“What makes you so sure?” Sunset asked.
Twilight smiled. “Because if she’s anything like me, she’s a lot stronger than she looks.”
“That I know, Twi,” Sunset said with a weary smile. “That I know.” But as she walked away from the treehouse, the unicorn mentally added, And now it’s time for me to be strong for her.
To Sunset’s surprise, when she got back to the Corner and climbed into bed, she slept like a log.