//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: Twilight Falls, Sunset Dawns // by DrakeyC //------------------------------// Twilight Falls, Sunset Dawns Chapter 13 Sunset stared into the mirror. Twilight stared back at her. She blinked, and Sunset followed suit.   "So, what are we going to do today?"   "I don’t know. I doubt anything will make me feel better."   "That’s a cynical way to look at things."   "That’s the truthful way to look at things."   Sunset turned away. Twilight lived an ordinary day-to-day life. I’ve never had that, have I? I’ve always had something I need to achieve, something to strive for. What kind of activities could Twilight have to fill her day with? Judging from the journal, magic research and spending time with her friends. Those won’t work for me. I’ll just be digging myself deeper. Take up a hobby? Like what? "Try something that would make you happy." Sunset looked up to see Twilight giving her a soft smile. "Just a thought."   "I don’t know."   "Everypony knows what makes them happy."   "I thought I did. Now I’m not so sure." I don’t even remember the last time I was happy for more than a few moments. The spa, flying, arriving at the castle. They didn’t last. Before that, in the other world… Sunset shook her head. No, I wasn’t happy there. I was content, but I wasn’t happy. And before that… Sunset re-read the alchemy textbook carefully, the entry listing the ingredients she would need. She looked up at the jars of powdered ingredients in front of her and lived a spoon into one. She heaped a spoonful of red powder into the mortar in front of her, then a second. She dipped the spoon back into the jar for a third. "No, Sunset. Two spoons, not three." Sunset looked behind her at Rosen Cross. "But the recipe says three."   "Yes, but that recipe is for a full-grown pony. For a foal like you it would be quite unpleasant to overdo it. You'd sleep through tomorrow's lesson." "Oh. What are we studying tomorrow?" "I thought perhaps we would take some time away from this lab. The School for Gifted Unicorns has a demonstration on teleportation tomorrow. I have arranged a private viewing for us with the tutor that will be visiting." Sunset gaped. "You said teleportation was too advanced a spell for me to learn yet!" "I did, some time ago. But you have advanced since then, have you not?" Rosen approached her and patted a hoof on her back. "Of course, we will be out all day, so you will need your rest. Best finish the sleeping potion quickly then, hm?" "O-Of course! Thank you, Rosen!" Sunset hugged him tightly. When she stepped back, she thought she saw the hint of a smile on his face. "Do not thank me, Sunset. Thank yourself. You are performing admirably on my practical tests. As long as you continue to do so, it will continue to be my privilege to give you more opportunities for such." Rosen… Sunset looked up, half-expecting the visage of her old mentor to be standing before her, but there was nothing. Yes. I was happy with him, for what it was. I felt like I was doing something important, something that pleased him and Celestia. When he wasn’t preaching history to me, when it was on something I cared about, he actually wasn’t a bad teacher. Then I started ignoring his corrections. And he stopped giving them.   "You were happy back then." Sunset looked beside her to see Twilight looking at her. "You were happy with Celestia and Rosen. Before you got caught up in the idea of being a princess."   Sunset stared at her for several seconds. Then she narrowed her eyes.   "No."   Twilight blinked. "What?"   "When Celestia told me, I was happier than I’d ever been before. It wasn’t the idea of being a princess that changed me… you did." Sunset turned towards Twilight, her eyes dark. "I was just fine until you arrived. You were better than me and you kept being better than me. Nothing I ever did for her was enough because I had to try to measure up to you. Before you, Celestia and I were a family. Then you ruined it."   "I’ve never done anything to harm you," Twilight replied.   "You didn’t have to. You just have to be. Be everything I can’t, be the shining beacon of friendship and harmony I’m not. Even if I hadn’t left, you still would have unlocked the Element of Magic. Celestia’s choice was obvious the moment you entered her life. Anything I did was irrelevant because you were outdoing me without ever trying." Sunset leered. I’d almost forgotten what anger is like. Feels good. Better than self-pity, anyway. "You think being angry at me justifies what you did to me?" Twilight said, her voice rising. Sunset’s eye twitched. "No. I did something terrible to you, something beyond forgiveness. But it’s too late to cry about it now, isn’t it? I spent years hating you for what you did to me, and it never helped. Why would pity and sorrow be any different? I may have stolen this life, but it’s mine now. And I’m going to enjoy it, for what little it’s worth." Sunset smiled wryly. "I’m Twilight Sparkle, now. Sunset Shimmer is gone."   Twin pairs of purple eyes glared at each other as Twilight’s face twisted into a mirror of Sunset’s. "No. You’re still Sunset. A psychotic, self-hating wretch who spits in the face of everypony that tries to help her. Go ahead, keep feeling sorry for yourself and blaming everypony else for your lot in life. Do you think I have any pity left to spend on you at this point?"   "It doesn’t matter at this point. As far as the rest of the world knows, I’m you now. I don’t need pity. I have friends who love me now. They may not be real, but they’re still more real than you are."   Sunset stepped forward. She passed through the spectre of Twilight, and then looked behind her. The bedroom was empty. She smiled and turned forward. "Think it’s that easy to absolve yourself?"   Sunset’s eyes widened. An orange unicorn with a red and yellow mane was smiling at her. Sunset stepped back. "Who are you?"   The unicorn smiled. "That is the riddle here, isn’t it?"   "Which of the you’s do you mean?" Sunset looked behind her. The lavender alicorn was back. "The you that is you or the you that’s one of us?"   "Maybe I’m you and you’re her. Do you even know anymore?"   "Maybe none of us are the you’s you think we are. Or perhaps we’re all the real you and you’re the illusion."   "Who’s really bothering to keep track anymore? Who could?"   "Which you is real?" A different voice, twisted. Sunset whipped her head to stare at the crimson alicorn leering at her from the mirror. The demon snickered. "Oh, all of us know the answer to that one, don’t we?"   Sunset’s nostrils flared. "Shut up!" She grabbed her crown from her head and flung it through the air. The golden band hit the mirror near the top and shattered it. Cracks wove down it to the edges like a spider’s web, the fragments remaining held in the frame. Sunset ran up to it and stared, her eyes darting between the broken pieces. Dozens of ponies stared back at her from them.   "Now what was the point of that?" From one shard, her own face shook her head in amusement.   "Seven years bad luck, you know." Twilight from another shard.   "Maybe you can ask for time served." Twilight again. Wait, no. The face was Twilight’s, but that was Sunset. Wasn’t it?   "A perfectly good mirror, gone. What a waste." Sunset? No, Twilight.   "Now it’s all cracked and broken." The red alicorn again.   "Just like you. A broken waste, a hundred shards telling their own story in turn."   "Which fragment shall we put on display today?"   "The scorned daughter, the spiteful exile, the lonely princess?"   "Or shall we rip them all down and see what lies behind them?"   Sunset held her head in her hooves and fell back from the dresser. What is this? What’s happening to me? I stopped using the dream magic. I choked down Zecora’s potion. Why is this still happening? Flashes of purple and orange light went off behind her eyelids. The voices were all clamoring to be heard and Sunset lost her own thoughts in the confusion. Then—   "Twilight?"   The voices stopped and Sunset opened her eyes. Spike stood at the top of the stairs, watching her. "Are you okay?"   Sunset stood up and looked at the dresser. A complete mirror displayed the image of a purple and lavender alicorn princess, a golden crown on her head. Sunset reached up to confirm the crown was real and when she felt it she pulled her hoof back like it had been burned.   "Spike…" Sunset looked at him. "Is this mirror broken?"   Spike made a face and walked up beside her. He held up a claw and watched his reflection mimic the motion. "Looks fine to me. You having another bad day?"   Sunset groaned and clenched her eyes. "I’m having a lot of those. What do you want?"   "Applejack is downstairs. Says she wants to talk to you." Applejack paced in the seating room inside the castle entrance. She stopped and took a deep breath. O-okay, just like Twilight said. The cover story doesn’t need to be good, as long as it gets rid of her for a couple of hours. That’ll give Twi the time she needs to find that stone. Applejack heard steps in the hallway and left the room.   "Good morning, Applejack." Sunset stopped before her and bowed her head.   "Morning… uh, Twilight." Applejack removed her hat and returned the gesture. "Ah need your help with somethin’, if ya don’t mind."   "Oh?"   "Yeah. Ah’m a little behind on mah apple buckin’, and could use an extra set of hooves." Applejack smiled widely.   "Can’t somepony else help?" Sunset asked.   "Er, well…"Applejack thought back to the barn. Twilight had coached her on things Sunset might ask. "They’re all busy with other things. Rarity’s playin’ with some dress or somethin’, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are up in Cloudsdale, and, well, you know how Pinkie is. Ah need reliability."   Sunset looked at her for a minute. Then, she shrugged. "All right. I’m free for a bit."   "Great!" Applejack chuckled and patted Sunset on the back as she moved past her. "Thanks for this, Ah appreciate it."   "Of all the ponies you could have asked, why me?" Sunset asked.   "Er, well, you know," Applejack replied. "You’ve got all that fancy magic of yours so you can do it a lot faster than anypony else."   "Hm, right." Sunset shrugged. She pushed open the doors to the castle and headed outside. "Let’s get to it, then."   Crouched behind a hedge peaking through the leaves, Twilight watched as Applejack and Sunset walked by in the main street. Applejack stood a bit behind Sunset and she shot a glance at the hedge as they passed it. Twilight winked at her from her peephole and Applejack looked forward again. Twilight stepped back and ducked down in case Sunset turned her way.   So far, so good. She counted to ten to give them time to get away, then began walking to the castle. She glanced back only once, but Sunset and Applejack were nowhere in sight. Twilight ran to the doors, flung them open and slipped inside.   Familiar purple and blue crystalline walls spread out in front of her, and Twilight let out a long sigh. I’m home… it feels like I haven't been here in months. She felt like running through the halls whooping for joy, but reminded herself she had a purpose. Spike. She began walking to the stairs to the second floor when she heard noises from a side room. The kitchen. She approached the door and knocked.   "Huh? Who’s there?" Spike’s muffled voice came from the other side. Twilight heard his footsteps and held the door shut.   "Spike, it’s Twilight. I’m going to open this door and you have to promise you will let me explain what you’re going to see."   "Uh, sure. Go ahead."   Twilight stepped back and pushed the door open. Spike looked up at her and cried out. He didn’t even get to take a step before a teal aura of magic lifted him into the air. Twilight took a breath and began. "Spike, I know what this looks like, but I’m not Sunset Shimmer. I’m Twilight. When I went away to Canterlot she used a spell stone to switch bodies with me. The last week the pony you’ve been seeing is actually her in my body. I need your help to find the stone so I can put us back."   Spike turned to her in the air. "Oh. Okay then."   Twilight recoiled and made a face. "Really? That’s it, you believe me?"   Spike shrugged. "Well, it’s a bit of a story, but after the way she’s been acting the last week, it makes a lot of sense."   Twilight’s eyes shifted from side to side. "Okay then. Right. I can put you down now?"   "If you don’t mind."   Twilight lowered Spike to the ground and he came forward and hugged her hoof. "Besides, if you were really Sunset Shimmer, you probably would have attacked me instead of letting me know you were here."   "Good point." Twilight laughed softly. "And here I was ready to prove who I was by telling the story of when you hoarded a bunch of gemstones and grew a hundred hooves tall."   Spike pulled back and glared at her. "I thought we agreed not to mention that ever again."   Twilight giggled again. Then her face turned serious. "All right, we need to find that stone. It’s a white stone with black triangular stones around it and swirls of energy in the middle."   Spike shrugged. "Sorry, doesn’t ring a bell. But she’s had a full week to hide it somewhere. Assuming she kept it."   "We have to, Spike. If she still has it, she would keep it in the castle, somewhere where nopony else will find it. If she doesn’t have it, well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, you search the ground floor and I’ll head to the library to look up some information. Leave nothing unturned. The stone isn’t very big so it could be hidden anywhere."   "Roger!" Spike returned to the kitchen and began pulling open cupboards. Twilight closed her eyes and teleported. She reappeared on the second floor in the hallway and approached the main library. She stepped into the doorway and froze. Her jaw dropped and her eyes went wide. She looked between the stacks of books in the middle of the floor and the shelves half-empty with books falling over. Oh sweet mercy… she really is ruining my life!   Twilight ran up to the shelves and looked between the books. "No, no no no no! She tried to alphabetize them?" She grunted in frustration. "I had everything sorted according to genre of study with date of publication as a secondary marker! How am I supposed to find anything in this mess? Alphabetizing is an overly simplified and inherently flawed system, especially when applied to a library covering such a diverse range of materials. She could at least—"   Twilight slapped herself across her face. "Not the time. Prioritize. Find the stone, get my body back. I’ll lecture her on proper library organization afterwards." And for her sake, she better not have mixed up books from the secondary library with this one.   Sunset raised her hind hooves and kicked. The tree shook and a shower of apples rained down around her. She heard a sparking of magic as one hit the barrier she had raised over her head and bounced off.   "I don’t know how you do this without proper magic," she said, lifting the apples and dropping them into a bucket. Not far away, Applejack was moving the apples around by hoof one at a time. "It must take forever to transport them, not to mention how many must hit you on the head."   "Well, the first bit is part o’ the work," Applejack said, hefting the two buckets on her back. "And the second bit, heh, that’s why Ah keep this on." She nudged her hat with a hoof and headed towards the large wooden tub among the trees. Sunset followed her and the two unloaded the apples into it.   "It’s a lot easier with magic." Sunset looked at the trees around them and focused. The apples lit up pink and pulled themselves off the branches, funneling down into the tub. "I could probably clear this orchard myself inside of ten minutes, if you’d carry the tubs around."   Applejack laughed nervously. "Well, see now, that really isn’t the point, Twi. The point is to get a good workout and stretch yer legs."   "I thought the point of applebucking was to harvest apples." Sunset looked at the barn where a stack of empty tubs sat. "Besides, you asked for my help in the first place because you said my magic was faster."   "Ah did, but, um…" Applejack gulped as Sunset looked her way. "Ah was thinkin’ you could use a bit of a workout. Ya know?"   Sunset stared. "You’re acting strange." "Me? Nah, shucks, sugarcube, Ah’m fine." Applejack laughed. "Ah just… well, you know." Oh no, oh ponyfeathers, Twilight’s gonna find me lyin’ under the rubble of mah own barn... "No, I don’t know." Sunset approached her. "Explain it, please." "Well, Ah was thinking… um…" Applejack backed away. "Well… after what happened with Rainbow Dash and Rarity, and then Pinkie’s party, maybe, um…" Think, Applejack, come on! Excuse! "Yes?" "Well, Ah figur’d it was our chance to spend some time together." Sunset stopped. "Oh." She smiled and came even closer to pat a hoof on Applejack’s neck. "You could have just said so, you know." "Heh. Right." Applejack smiled. "Well, yeah, would have made sense. Oops! Who’s a silly pony?" She forced a laugh. Sunset rolled her eyes, but returned the smile. "Not you, that’s for sure. You’ve been very supportive and understanding the last week." "Well, Ah do mah best." Applejack nodded at her. "So, apple buckin’?" "Certainly." Sunset headed back to the trees and took an apple in her magic. "Doing it one at a time will allow me to develop my concentration." "Great." Applejack walked up to another tree and positioned the buckets near it to catch the apples. Too close, way too close. But she’s stayin’ now, so as long as Ah don’t say anything wrong... Sunset turned her head back towards her. "I meant it, by the way." "Beg pardon?" "Being supportive. I know I haven’t been easy to get along with the while, but you’ve been there for me all through it. It means a lot to me that you care so much." "Sure. No problem." Is she playin’ me? Sunset ain’t this nice. But if she was just actin’, why would she say it when we had just dropped it?   Spike crested the stairs to the second floor and entered the library. "Twilight, there’s nothing… um…" He stopped and stared. Books were flying around the room, slotting themselves into shelves.   "Spike!" He stepped back into the hall and turned his head. Twilight emerged from the alchemy lab down the passage and came closer. "I haven’t had any luck. Did you find anything?"   "No. And, what’s this?" Spike jerked his head at the library.   Twilight came closer and peeked her head in. "Oh, don’t worry. I set it to take care of itself while I looked around. I tore apart the alchemy lab, the bathing room, and the secondary library, but there’s nothing. She’s done a good job hiding her tracks." "Yeah, same problem here. My room, the guest room, kitchen, dining room, visitor’s room. Nothing." "Well, don’t worry. Even if we can’t find the stone, I can make progress, once my spell finishes. I crafted it back when we first got the castle and I got the library set just how I wanted it. It’ll put all the books back on the shelf in the precise proper order I had them before." She looked at Spike and smiled. He responded with a blank stare. "What?"   "Well, I’m not surprised you have a spell to reorganize the library. I'd be more surprised if you didn't. But is that really a priority right now?"   "Yes, it is." Twilight turned serious. "My original organization system structures the books into genres, and then publication dates. I don’t know where Sunset got that stone, but clearly it was from a point in Equestrian history before body swapping magic was outlawed here." The books finished moving into place and Twilight moved to a shelf. "I’ll find out what period the stone comes from and I can cross-reference that with cultural and magical materials to find out what it is. At least I should find out what it’s called."   There was a muffled thump, then a voice. "Spike!" Twilight’s eyes went wide, and she and Spike stared at each other in horror.   "Stall her!" Spike spun and dashed towards the stairs faster than Twilight had ever seen him move. She looked up at the shelf and groaned. "Think, Twilight, think! Equestrian-Zebra magic treaty… was it fourth or fifth century? Oh, darn…" Her eyes darted between two history books and she grabbed both of them, throwing them to the table. Both flipped open and Twilight scanned the indexes. "Where is it… fifth." She pushed the fourth century book aside and turned to another page in the other book. "There! The first treaty, signed 430 LS, amendments followed over the next several years."   She ran to another shelf and pulled down a third book. She stayed in place and let it float in front of her as she rapidly flipped the pages. "Okay, treaty signed in fifth century… body-swapping was discovered in the late third century. That’s not even two hundred years to look through." She glanced at the stairwell and heard distant voices. The book went back on the shelf and Twilight pulled down another book. "Third and fourth century LS, History of Zebra Culture…"   "Spike, I don’t read comics. Can’t you show me some other time?" Twilight looked at the stairs. A shadow was stretching up the wall. She threw the book back on the shelf and teleported.   "But, Twilight, it’s…" Spike ran up the stairs and looked at the library. "Really… um…"   "What?" Spike jumped as Sunset walked past him into the library.   "It’s really rare, and cool!" Spike laughed. "But, if you aren't interested, okay then! Uh, how about we do something else?" Sunset rolled her eyes.   Safe in her room, Twilight carefully tiptoed behind the bed and crouched down.   "I’m going to take a nap and maybe do some reading." Twilight heard steps and waited.   "Sure, sure! But, uh, hang on!" Spike’s voice, closer. She leaned her head out and saw him come into view. She shot him a pointed look and pulled back. "What is it?" Sunset’s voice asked. "Eh, I forgot to feed Owlowiscious while you were out! He gets noisy when he’s hungry, let’s wait, hm?"   "Hoo."   "See? You just go relax on the balcony and I’ll feed him! Just, five minutes, okay?"   Twilight heard Sunset sigh. "Fine. Hurry it up." The steps went back down and Twilight cautiously stepped out.   "I can’t risk going back down to the libraries." She bit her lip. "Maybe if I can… hm, no."   "Hoo."   Twilight looked up over the edge of the bed. In the cage by the desk, Owlowiscious was looking at her. She smiled and came closer. "Hi, Owlowiscious."   "Hoo."   "You probably don’t recognize me either, huh? It’s me, Twilight. The Twilight you've seen the last week is somepony else in my body."   "Hoo."   Twilight shrugged. "Well, don’t worry. Once I find the spell stone she used to do this, I’m going to switch us right back." She looked around the room. "I haven’t checked this room yet, but I'm low on time. Maybe if Spike helps me we can do a quick sweep."   "Hoo! Hoo!"   Twilight looked back. Owlowiscious was fluttering in his cage, biting the bars and hooting louder and more often than before. "What’s going on?"   "Hoo!"   Twilight heard steps and dashed behind the bed.   "Twilight?"   At Spike’s voice she came out of hiding. "Where is she?"   "On the balcony. You gotta go, now, she teleports a lot to get around the castle and she could show up any minute."   "Hoo! Hoo!"   "What has gotten into you?" Twilight looked up at Owlowiscious, who was still acting up.   "Maybe he overheard I was gonna feed him." Spike pulled open a drawer on the desk and pulled out a sack of bird feed. He adjusted the knobs on the stand for the cage and lowered it so he could reach the door. "Okay, okay, hang on." He unhinged the latch, and Owlowiscious burst from the cage. Spike and Twilight ducked as he flew over their heads and landed on the bookshelf beside the desk.   "Owlowiscious!" Twilight scowled and looked up at him. "Settle down, Spike is… huh?" Above her, Owlowiscious was pecking at a specific book repeatedly, trying to grab the spine in his beak. Twilight frowned and took the book in her magic. "What are you doing?" She floated the book down to her and she and Spike looked at it.   "It’s just a blank journal," Spike said, giving Owlowiscious a glare.   "No…" Twilight shook her head. "The weight is wrong."   Spike rolled his eyes as Twilight opened the book. "Only you would know the weight of a WHOA!" Spike cried out and Twilight gasped. Inside the book, resting in an alcove burned into the stacked pages, was a familiar white and black stone.   "She hid it up here… Owlowiscious!" Twilight jumped into the air and grabbed the owl in her hooves, falling back down and hugging him tightly. "Thank you, thank you thank you thank you! We could have torn the castle apart and never found it without you!"   "Hoo."   "Spike!" The three looked at the stairs. "Is he fed yet?"   Twilight slipped the stone into her saddlebag. "Quick!" Spike took a pile of feed from the sack and dumped it in the holder in the birdcage. Owlowiscious flew back in, Spike shutting the door and latching it. Twilight put the empty book back on the shelf and teleported. Spike looked back at the stairs and saw Sunset Shimmer come into view.   "Yup!" Spike saluted. "All fed and well-behaved. Right, Owlowiscious?"   "Hoo."   Applejack paced back and forth in the barn, her eyes on the ground. She looked up as Twilight came inside. "Twi! Ah’m sorry, really! I kept her busy, but we ran out of apples to buck an’ she said she was tired an’ then Big Mac started talkin’ to me—" "It’s fine, Applejack." Twilight cut her off. "She didn’t find me, I got out safely. And with a prize, too." Twilight lifted the spell stone from her saddlebag. "Great!" Applejack nodded. "Now we can get this taken care of and put you back in yer body!"   "Not quite yet." Twilight replied. "I have to make sure I know what I’m getting into, and there’s one last component to make sure it’s ready. But, I can take care of it tonight."   "So, tomorrow, then?" Applejack asked.   Twilight nodded. "Tonight, we’ll sit tight and I’ll get some rest for the confrontation. In the meantime." She walked over to the hay bales she had slept on the previous night and pulled a black stone on a chain from a bucket nearby. "I have to make a visit to someone very important."   Zecora hummed to herself as she ground the dried leaves in her mortar into a fine powder. She dumped it into another bowl and reached for a jar of herbs. Then, the door to her hut swung open so hard it hit the wall and she spun around.   "Zecora!" Twilight took a breath. "I know I look like Sunset Shimmer, but I’m not her, I’m Twilight Sparkle. She switched bodies with me, it’s more than likely some sort of zebra magic, and I need your help to put me back where I belong. Okay?" Twilight caught her breath and waited. Zecora frowned.   "Who is Sunset Shimmer?"   Twilight blinked. Then she laughed nervously. "Right, right… long story, I’ll tell it some other time. Point is, I’m not who I look like, I’m actually your friend Twilight and current victim of body swapping."   "That much I understood before. Now if you’d please, tell me more." Zecora came closer. Twilight turned her head and withdrew the spell stone from her saddle bag.   "I need to know what you know about this."   Zecora saw the stone and her expression darkened.   "Ancient magics most unstable, lifted from a child’s fable."   "So you know what it is?" Twilight let Zecora take hold of the stone and examine it.   "Not for centuries has this relic been used, so long their origin had been diffused. In ancient tribes for the sick and dying, these Waljiru Stones we would be trying."   Twilight tilted her head. "Waljiru Stones?"