Tell Us That You Want Us

by Summer Knight


Back to Equestria

As Twilight and the others neared the front doors of the school, the princess turned to Sonata.
“I hate to do this,” Twilight said, “but I can’t risk Aria and Adagio learning where the portal is from you. Could you cover your eyes for a few minutes?”
Sonata nodded and grinned. “I love secrets!” She placed her hands over her eyes and promptly walked straight into the doorframe. “Ow!”
Sunset covered her mouth with one hand to muffle her laughter, and used the other to guide Sonata safely outside. She was glad of the distraction, because the butterflies in her stomach had grown into a full swarm. The three of them reached the Wondercolt statue without further incident.
Sunset stared at the blank stone panel as if she could already see through to Equestria, and wasn’t sure she liked what she was seeing. The place that had consumed her thoughts for so long was only a step away. This time she’d be there this time as a welcomed guest, rather than an intruder and a criminal. There was nothing to be afraid of. It was only a step away, and yet her legs seemed to have locked up.
“Why don’t you go through first,” Twilight suggested to her. “We’ll be right behind you.”
“I…” She just had to take a single step, and she couldn’t do it.
“Come on, Sunset!” Spike unexpectedly jumped up and grabbed hold of her hand. Despite his sharp teeth and evident enthusiasm, his grip was gentle. Sunset allowed him to pull her forward more out of surprise than anything.
One step was all it took. One step, and Sunset felt her body being warped and twisted by the portal’s magic. It didn’t hurt, exactly, but it was extraordinarily strange to feel her bones and muscles reshaping themselves to an equine form. She’d experienced it several times before, of course, but she didn’t think she would ever get used to the feeling.
As abruptly as it had started, it was over. Sunset teetered on her hind legs for a moment before catching her balance and falling forward to all fours. All fours. I have four legs again. She tapped against the crystal floor and listened excitedly to the sharp clicking noise it produced. Hooves! She looked herself over, admiring her orange coat and her red-and-gold mane and tail. She paused a moment as she caught sight of her cutie mark, the sun that looked so much like… like her teacher’s.
Hesitantly, as though unsure whether she should, Sunset reached up and felt for her horn. It was there, of course, the leylines all exactly as she remembered them, fairly begging for the chance to channel her magic again. Before she had the chance, however, the portal began rippling again. It quickly occurred to Sunset that she should probably get out of the way, and she skipped to the side just as two more equine forms fell through, landing in an undignified pile on the floor.
Twilight quickly extricated herself from Sonata, who had apparently clung on to her as they went through. Twilight shook her head and stretched out her wings, reveling as Sunset had in being back to her pony self.
“Sonata?” Twilight called out to the pony still on the floor. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Sonata replied, a bit muffled by the floor. “One sec.” She began to push herself up to her hooves, but she was clearly unfamiliar with her front legs and they gave out under her, causing her to bang her muzzle against the ground. “Ouch! Who’s the wise guy who made the floor out of crystal, anyway?” She continued muttering inaudibly as she got her hooves beneath her and stood up, with a few words like slippery and stupid leaking through.
Sunset and Twilight took little notice of her antics, being too preoccupied with seeing her equine self for the first time. They had both seen the pictures in Twilight’s books, and of course they’d seen the sirens’ odd merpony-like forms at the Battle, but this was different. She looked, for the most part, like an ordinary pony. Her coat was a dusky blue, and her mane and tail bore the same blue and purple streaks she’d had in the human world. She even had a cutie mark, a heart overlaid with a jagged musical note. On her sides, however, right where a pegasus’s wings would be, were two pale pink, fin-like appendages unlike anything on any normal pony. As she stood up she stretched the fins out, and Sunset and Twilight saw that they were nearly translucent, the veins within somewhat visible.
Sonata turned around, her habitual smile back in place. Sunset and Twilight both bit back screams of horror.
“What?” Sonata asked in her usual oblivious manner. “What is it?”
Unable to form the words, Twilight simply pointed. Right in the center of Sonata’s chest was a hole the exact size and shape of her pendant. Thankfully nothing was visible through the hole, it simply looked black inside, but nonetheless Sonata stood in front of them with what amounted to a gaping wound in her chest.
“Oh,” Sonata said, looking down at herself. “That’s where my heart should be.”
Sunset, one hoof clapped over her mouth, nodded shakily. After a moment, once she trusted herself to speak, she added, “I figured as much.”
Spike, back in his baby dragon form, came toddling around to stand next to Twilight. “What are you guys looking ahh!” he cried out in alarm, pointing to Sonata with a trembling claw. “W…w-w-what is that?!”
“It’s me, silly Spikey!” Sonata said blithely. “Don’t tell me you don’t recognize your favorite siren?”
“No, I know who you are, but—”
At a look from Twilight, he swallowed whatever he’d been about to say about the ugly hole in her chest and replaced it with, “Um, doesn’t that hurt?”
“Not really,” Sonata said, poking at it experimentally. “It doesn’t feel like anything. Makes sense, since it isn’t anything.” She became momentarily fascinated with the fact that she could fit almost an entire hoof inside the hollow. She only stopped because Twilight, looking distinctly green under her purple coat, caught hold of her foreleg and set it back down.
“Wait a minute,” Sunset said as she looked around. Granted, it was rather hard to tell one crystal palace from another, but she didn’t think that this was the same place. “Where are we?”
“This is my castle, on the outskirts of Ponyville.” Twilight said. The idea that she had her own castle was still a bit strange, but she was coming to terms with it. “I had the mirror moved here.”
Sunset looked around the vast, mostly empty room. Overall it had the look of someplace that the owner hadn’t quite settled into yet. The only thing of note in this room was the mirror itself, and the insane array of apparatus around it. Her eyes widened as she saw what sat at the top of it. “Is that…?”
“It’s your book," Twilight confirmed. "Well, Princess Celestia’s copy of it. The magic in those books is what lets me open the portal.”
If seeing her own cutie mark had been jarring, seeing Celestia’s emblazoned on the cover of that book was all but paralyzing. Sunset tore her eyes away. “So,” she said with a failed attempt at her normal tone, “what’s the plan?”
If Twilight noticed her reaction to the book, she didn’t mention it. Sunset was grateful for that. “Somepony should go to Canterlot and check the library there,” she said. “I’ve got a pretty good collection here, but it’s still nothing compared to what they have in the royal palace. For obvious reasons, I think I should be the one to go.”
Sunset nodded her agreement. Sonata had become distracted with poking at the portal.
“You and Sonata stay here and see what you can find. I’ll show you the library before I go. I’ll take the book with me so that we can keep in touch.” Suiting actions to words, she lifted the journal up in a magical field and tucked it safely in a saddlebag.
“Won’t that close the portal?” Sunset asked. Indeed, almost as soon as Twilight had taken the book, the magical energy in the archway had become unstable and dissipated.
Twilight nodded. “Yes, but as long as I have that book I can open it at any time.”
Sunset noticed a major flaw in Twilight’s system: if anything happened to the book while she was in the other world, the portal would close. She’d be trapped there until the next time it opened on its own. Sunset made a mental note to discuss it with Twilight once things weren’t so desperate.
“Hey,” Sonata said, suddenly quiet and unsure of herself. “Do you think maybe we could… get started?” She was trying to be respectful, but there was a note of desperation hidden beneath her words that the others couldn’t ignore.
“Of course,” Twilight said. “The sooner the better. Let me show you where the library is, and then I’ll teleport myself over to Canterlot.” She started trotting away, leaving Sonata and Sunset to follow.
Sunset hurried to catch up. “Did you just say that you would teleport yourself to Canterlot?”
“Yeah.” Twilight at least had the grace to look sheepish about it. “I’ve always had a lot of magical energy, and ever since I became an alicorn it’s just been increasing. Teleporting that far is tiring, but I can do it.”
Sunset’s jaw dropped. “That’s incredible. I can’t imagine how much power that must take.”
Actually, she could: a standard teleport moved the caster about ten feet. It took roughly double the magic to move a hundred feet as it did to move ten, with the magical strain increasing exponentially from there. So, given the distance from Ponyville to Canterlot, it would require… Sunset bounced a few numbers around in her head and concluded that it was way more magic than any unicorn had ever had. “Wow.”
Twilight laughed nervously. “Oh, that’s nothing. You should have seen me when the other princesses all gave me their magic, back when Tirek escaped from Tartarus and attacked us. I tried to teleport from one rock to another and wound up in Manehattan.” She blushed and rubbed the back of her head.
Sunset blinked, and her mouth worked silently for a second. She could practically hear her brain breaking and leaking out her ears. “I don’t even know which part of that is the most impossible,” she finally managed.
“Obviously none of it, since it all happened,” Sonata giggled. “I mean, that was all true, right?”
“Yeah.” Twilight appeared to regret choosing that topic, for she quickly ended the conversation by pointing to a stairway leading down. “Anyway, the library is down there. It’s got everything we were able to recover from my treehouse, plus the contents of the library from the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. There must be something we can work with.” Twilight glanced out the window and noted that the sun near its peak. “I’ll be back by sundown,” she said. “Hopefully we’ll have figured something out by then.”
“Right.” Sunset reached out and gave Twilight a quick hug goodbye. “Good luck.”
“You too.”
“Me three!” Sonata joined their hug uninvited.
Twilight took a step back. “You might want to cover your eyes,” she warned them. Her horn began to glow purple. She strained visibly, and the magic acquired a white overglow. Finally, with sweat starting to bead on her forehead, she vanished in an impossibly bright flash. Sunset swore that she could briefly see the bones of the foreleg she’d thrown in front of her eyes.
“Wow.” Sonata’s jaw was practically on the floor.
“You said it.” Sunset stood blinking at where Twilight had been before finally coming back to herself. “Come on,” she said, “we’ve got a lot to do.”
Sunset and Sonata descended the stairs into a dimly lit room. Sunset caught herself looking for a light switch before remembering that she was back in Equestria, and her stomach did yet another backflip at the realization that she truly was back in Equestria. Twilight would never allow torches in a library, Sunset reasoned, so there would have to be… there!
Sunset reached out with her magic. As she’d discovered during her last time in Equestria, one never really forgot how to use magic any more than one forgot how to move a limb. Even so, it truly did feel like she’d regrown a long-lost appendage. She reveled in the gentle warmth of her magic flowing through the leylines of her horn and beyond, exerting her will on the world around her. It was only a simple glowball, but using her magic to light it filled her with a kind of glee that she hadn’t felt since she was a filly. The orb took and held a tiny amount of her magic, filling the room with a gentle white glow.
The two continued into the room, their hoofsteps echoing around the cavernous space. Sunset marveled again at how empty this magnificent building was. She idly wondered what she would do with a castle of her own, and her mind filled with enticing visions: rare artworks and treasures adorning every surface, scores of petitioners kissing her hooves and seeking her favor, a handsome stallion or three to liven up the space… Sunset felt an intense heat rising in her face and quickly banished the images. On second thought, maybe it’s better that I don’t have my own castle.
Sunset cleared her throat. “Well,” she said, just a little too brightly, “let’s get to work.”
The two went in among the bookshelves and began doing research in their own distinct ways. Sunset Shimmer already had a short but growing mental checklist of topics she wanted to look into. As was to be expected, Twilight had her library meticulously organized, and finding the books she sought was quite easy.
Sonata wandered around pulling down books seemingly at random. Without any magic to spare, she was reduced to climbing shelves physically and using her mouth to get the books. She often read no more than a few words before putting one book back and taking another, or abandoning a section of the library entirely. Spike tried to help out as he could, but the subject matter quickly went beyond his limited experience and attention span.
They’d been at it for a few hours when something in Sunset Shimmer’s backpack—saddlebag, she reminded herself—started buzzing like a cell phone. She used her magic to open the bag and pull out her book. Inside was a single line from Twilight:
Find anything?
Sunset instinctively reached for her pocket to get a pen before remembering that she was in Equestria. Her pockets, and indeed her pants, were a thing of the other world. She had to root around in her bags again to find a spare.
Sort of, Sunset answered. There’s some promising stuff in this book on geomancy, but it’s all pretty advanced. I’m also looking into changeling magic. If all else fails, I’m hoping we can find another way for the sirens to feed.
Good thinking, came the reply, I’m looking into golems and other types of animated stone. If this doesn’t get me anywhere, maybe I’ll look into centaurs. I might be able to find a way for them to physically eat magic like Tirek did.
Sunset nodded to herself and put the book away again. She would have to ask Twilight about this Tirek character when they weren’t in crisis mode anymore. She turned back to her book, but no sooner had she found her place again than her train of thought was interrupted by hoofsteps coming down the crystal staircase.
Sunset’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. Someone was coming! With Twilight miles away in Canterlot, explaining her own presence here would be awkward enough. How in the world would she explain Sonata? Her mind racing, Sunset galloped across the room to where Sonata was idly flicking through a book on Starswirl the Bearded. “Sonata,” she hissed, “you need to hide!”
“Twilight?” An unexpectedly familiar voice floated down the staircase, accompanied by a glow of light blue magic. “Twilight, darling, are you back already? I thought I saw the light from the portal again."
Sonata squeaked and scrambled for cover behind a bookcase, catching on that they would both have a lot of uncomfortable explanations to give if she were seen.
A white unicorn with a painstakingly coiffed mane and tail came into view. If her accent and hairstyle hadn’t been a dead giveaway, the three-diamond cutie mark certainly was. “Oh,” she said, catching sight of Sunset, “terribly sorry, I was looking for Princess Twilight. Might I ask what you’re doing here?” Her voice held a small thread of suspicion.
“Hi Rarity,” Sunset answered. “Twilight had to go to Canterlot for the day, but she said I could use the library to do some research.”
“Ah, I suppose that explains it then.” Rarity tilted her head slightly. “I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage. Do I know you?”
Oh, of course! It had taken Sunset a moment to adjust to the idea that this unicorn was obviously Equestria’s Rarity, and not her friend from the other world. “Well," she answered, "no, not really. I’m Sunset Shimmer.”
“Goodness!” Rarity exclaimed, “The Sunset Shimmer?”
“Oh.” Sunset averted her eyes uncomfortably and scuffed a hoof. “I guess you’ve heard of me, then?”
“I’ve heard, er, some things, yes,” Rarity answered delicately. She apparently realized that this was not the best thing to say, and quickly backpedaled. “Oh, not all bad things, to be sure. Why, the last time Twilight returned from that other world she had positively glowing things to say about you!”
And the time before that? Sunset grimaced. “Well," she returned to the original topic, "Princess Twilight said she’d be back by sundown, so I guess you could try back around then. Sorry about that.”
“Not at all, darling." Rarity was silent for a moment, then nodded to herself. "Well, once Twilight gets back, I insist that you both come by the Boutique for tea. I’d love to get to know the real Sunset Shimmer.”
Sunset rubbed her mane. “It’s really not a great time, but I’ll see what I can do. Thank you for the invitation.”
“But of course, it’s no trouble at all. Well, I’ll be off then. I hope to see you later, Miss Shimmer.”
“Please, just Sunset is fine,” she answered. “See you later, Rarity.”
As Rarity trotted back up the stairs, Sunset’s ear twitched. She’d heard a tiny gasp from behind her where Sonata was hiding. Rarity turned the corner and disappeared from view just as Sonata came out with one hoof pressed to her nose and her muzzle scrunched up in discomfort.
“It’s really d- ahh, dusty back… acheew!” Sonata sneezed, which sounded rather like a kitten being startled.
“Gesundheit,” Rarity called back behind her.
“Thank you!” Sunset answered hastily, shoving a hoof in Sonata’s mouth before the ditzy siren could give herself away. Once Sunset could no longer hear Rarity’s hoofsteps, she removed it.
Sonata immediately sneezed again and started rubbing her itchy muzzle with a hoof. “Hey Suddy,” she said, her voice comically nasal, “take a look at this.” She used her unoccupied foreleg to slide the book she’d been reading over to Sunset.
“What is it?” Sunset quickly glanced over the open pages, then did a double-take. She picked the book up in her magic and carefully reread the words. “Although Starswirl the Bearded is best known for inventing the amniomorphic spell,” Sunset read aloud, “he made groundbreaking discoveries in many varieties of shaping magics.” That statement was followed by a short list of examples, of which three immediately stuck out for Sunset.
“Geomorphic, the magic of shaping earth and stone,” she read, making sure that she was seeing it right. “Biomorphic, the magic of shaping living things. Metamagic, the magic of shaping leylines and magic itself. Sonata, this is incredible!” she exclaimed.
Acheew!” Sonata agreed.
“Here.” Sunset pulled a handkerchief from her bag and gave it to Sonata, then took out the book that bore her cutie mark.
I think we’re on to something, she wrote hastily. Starswirl the Bearded worked on a lot of different kinds of magic, and I think some of them can help us here. We’re going to try looking for information on his geomorphic, biomorphic, and metamagic spells.
With her message sent, Sunset returned the book to its place in her saddlebag. “How did you find this?” she asked Sonata in amazement.
“Well,” Sonata explained, “since Starswirl the Bearded was the one who banished us, it made sense that he had to know a lot about us. You can’t just send things to other dimensions, you know? You need to know, like, what they’re made of and how they work, or else you can't do it right and they’ll disintegrate on the way over. Well, unless you’re using something with built-in safeguards like that mirror. Anyway, I found some old books about magical research from back in Starswirl’s time, and they eventually led me to that one!” She smiled proudly.
Sunset’s jaw was hanging again. “I… that’s…”
“Hehe.” Sonata reached over and physically closed Sunset’s mouth. “You’re gonna catch flies, Sunny.”
Sunset quickly reevaluated her opinion of this siren. Sonata was clearly a whole lot smarter than she let on, which meant that she could be much more dangerous than they’d given her credit for. “Anyway,” she said, “this is great stuff. Let’s keep going.”
“Mhm!” Sonata nodded, and the two of them dove back into the stacks.