Shimmer was fascinated. She listened to Twilight explain every point on the conspiracy web with great detail. She couldn't believe that any of that had really happened. But here there was. Proof. And it was right there in front of her on the web. She watched Twilight's hands point to pictures and notes and graphs. All of it... it was so much to take in! Twilight had many theories. Her most factually backed up yet most outrageous theory was that there was magic in this world. When the nerdy girl finished telling her everything, Shimmer just sat there stunned.
"...Magic?"
"Yes."
"But...that can't be. Magic isn't real."
"But all that I've shown to you contradicts that statement of yours, Shimmer."
"I know, but...couldn't this all be a strange phenomenon that occurred due to a solar flare? Or an aurora?"
Twilight rubbed her chin. Solar flares happen often enough for that to be an answer. But what solar flare caused a laser to appear out of nowhere and mess up the cloud pattern? Besides, it was night when this all happened. Auroras occurred when charged particles from solar winds interact with earth's atmosphere. Auroras generally take place around earth's magnetic poles so it wasn't very likely to happen in Canterlot. Twilight explained as much to Shimmer and she blushed. Science wasn't her strong suit.
"So...what could be causing this?" Shimmer asked.
"Magic!" Twilight exclaimed.
Shimmer facepalmed. She didn't really want to believe this was true but at the same time, it was the only possible answer as of the moment...Much like how she just had to accept that this other girl, Sunset, was her...Words that had been said to her but had been 'lost in translation' came back to her. She looked down at her hands and whispered it.
"You'd be surprised at what you think to be absolute; the only solution or explanation. What you find logical can be altered and completely shattered, becoming the illogical. What makes sense to you here can be complete and utter nonsense in another dimension. What you believe to be myths and old legends are what reality consists of in the multiverse..."
Shimmer sighed. She finally understood the meaning of it now. Shimmer would have to expect the unexpected. Even if magic defied her own logic and understanding, it was still a possibility. Twilight glanced at her with a look of interest.
"Whoa...that's deep. Where did you read that from?"
Shimmer looked up and blinked.
"...Oh. It was something Sunset had said to me before she vanished."
"Sunset? Your double??" Twilight repeated.
She frowned and squinted at the floor in deep thought. She pushed up her glasses and they sat in silence for a while. It was a comfortable silence, but Shimmer was curious as to what she was thinking. After about seven minutes, Twilight smiled.
"I'm absolutely certain that your double attends Canterlot High. There's no where else. It's got to be that school!"
"Why are you so sure?"
"It's because of what she said. That quote about illogic and myths and dimensions. No ordinary person would just say that nevertheless even think to say that. She's got to be a student at that school! She knows about all the weird events that have gone down there!"
Twilight smiled widely and became a bit jumpy as she chattered excitedly about Sunset and her awareness of Canterlot High's odd events.
"She must know the cause of it all, too! I mean, if it's true that she's a version of you then that could mean--GASP! She could be the reason why all that happened! Her arrival here must have created an imbalance in this world's equivalency. You know, since two of the same people cannot exist, so says a theory! But going by what she said, her existence is possible! However, there must be consequences due to the duplication of one person...which is why that crazy laser light phenomenon happened! She set off the world's natural balance!"
Shimmer said absolutely nothing. She couldn't quite follow what her excited friend was saying. Twilight jumped up and down, grinning like a maniac. She ran to her conspiracy web and pointed to pictures and graphs and notes.
"Yes! That must be it! What this means is..."
Twilight placed a finger on the picture that had a shadowy figure within the cyan light she had seen months before.
"Sunset must have arrived here on the night of the Fall Formal! Thus explaining why there was a person-looking shadow in the beam of light!"
She then traced the red yarn that was pinned to the picture to a seismograph reading. She jabbed at it and squealed.
"That's when the earthquakes happened! They were so subtle, yet they were bigger than the earthquakes that happen everyday..."
Twilight pointed to the school.
"And the source of the trembling quakes came from this school!"
The nerdy girl screamed with delight at her theory and got down on her knees. She crawled halfway under the bed and rummaged around. Shimmer glanced down and frowned. She really wasn't sure what Twilight was thinking. Whatever it was, it must be crazy. Shimmer felt the bed bump up as an audible thud! sounded from underneath. She heard Twilight groan and the girl quickly climbed back out from under the bed. Before the fiery-headed girl knew what was happening a bright flash blinded her and she shrieked.
"Hey!"
Shimmer rubbed her eyes and glared at Twilight, who held a camera in one hand and rubbed her sore head (from having hit it against the bed) with her other hand. The camera slowly spit out a photo and Twilight snatched it. Gradually the picture turned from black to an image of Shimmer looking wide-eyed. With lots of energy, she tapped the fresh photo onto the conspiracy web and threaded the yarn so that it made a path from it to the school.
"There!" Twilight cried triumphantly. "The latest addition to the web!"
"A picture of my face..." Shimmer mumbled. "...Ok?"
"It's not supposed to be you! It's supposed to be Sunset!" Twilight explained.
"But that's my face," Shimmer told her.
"What does it matter. You both look the same."
Twilight plopped down on the bed and sighed.
"Now the only thing to do is prove my theory!"
Shimmer sighed with her.
"In order to prove...whatever your theory is, you have to go to the school. That's the best way."
"True. But I can't just walk onto the school property. Neither of us go to that school. Also, we have to go to school the same hours of the day that they have to and skipping isn't exactly what I think we should do. We could get in trouble..."
Shimmer listened to her think aloud with a raised eyebrow. Twilight's happy mood seemed to be dwindling. Her smile faded slightly and sparkle in her eye dulled.
"And weekends don't help. Because none of the students will be there to interview and the building will be closed then...And now that I think about it, even going on to the school grounds is considered trespassing and that could result in unfortunate consequences. They could accuse us of trying to attempt vandalism or seeking out a student to beat them up! Or trying to sneak somebody out of the school! Or bringing in drugs and weapons!"
Twilight sighed gloomily and slouched. She fell back onto the bed and looked up at the ceiling feeling put out. Her glasses slipped down her nose lopsidedly and her messy hair fanned out around her face. Shimmer propped herself up on her elbows and shook her head.
"How are we going to prove it...?" Twilight whispered sadly.
The two of them were silent for a while. Twilight stared up at the white ceiling, waiting for some suggestions. But when she got none, she turned her head in annoyance. She really didn't want to be the only one doing the thinking here. After all, Shimmer came to her with the problem! It wasn't hers to begin with but it just so happened to catch her attention...Oh wait. No, Twilight came to Shimmer...
Regardless, Twilight felt she needed to contribute something!
"Shimmer, at least--"
To her surprise, Shimmer's face was red and her mouth turned upward in a smile. The girl was clutching her stomach and had rolled over on her side. Shimmer's mouth was open but no sound came out. She was laughing. She was laughing so hard that it was inaudible. Twilight blinked. She sat up and said, "What...Hey!"
She jabbed Shimmer in the shoulder and the girl gasped for air. A loud burst of laughter erupted from Shimmer and the girl grabbed her sides. Twilight pushed her glasses up and stared at her.
"What's so funny??"
The fiery-headed girl snorted and kept laughing away. She kicked at the air and squirmed on the bed.
"I...I gotta PEEEEEEE!!!!!" she shrieked and hurried to the bathroom.
Twilight sat there feeling very confused. what had gotten her so silly? Surely it was nothing she said, right? Or maybe it was her clothes? Twilight looked down at her slacks and white blouse. Nothing seemed to be wrong with her in that aspect...About five minutes later, Shimmer came back smiling. Her face was flushed a bit and her breath was short and uneven from the exhausting activity. Twilight looked up at her expectantly.
"What were you laughing about, Shimmer? Did I miss something?"
The girl nodded.
"Yeah...You see, when you started talking about all the ways that your plan to go to the school wouldn't work, your face kind of fell. All that energy you had seemed to drain right out of you! It was a bit funny. But that wasn't what I was laughing at."
She sighed and chuckled to herself.
"The reason was that while you listed everything that would have made it difficult to prove your theory, you didn't mention the one thing that would give you the perfect opportunity to."
"What is that?" Twilight asked, feeling her heart skip a bit as she bit her lip.
"Oh well, you know that time of year everybody waits for? That time that comes after the winter festivities?"
"Summer vacation."
"No, not quite. If it were summer vacation it wouldn't work to our advantage. It's an event closer to now than that."
"Valentines Day."
"Valentines Day already passed, silly!"
"...Oh yeah..."
"It's got something to do with spring..."
"Spring Cleaning."
Shimmer stared at her for a little bit before facepalming.
"Twilight, I'm talking about the Spring Fling! The Spring Fling would be the perfect time to test your theory out! Both of the schools dances happen on the same day and we could go as visitors and they won't kick us out or anything! Pretty much everyone at that school will be there, I'm sure! And you can question them all you like."
It took a moment before the girl became excited.
"Oh my Faust, you're a genius! Of course! Why hadn't I thought of this before!"
Twilight embraced her in a tight hug and Shimmer rolled her eyes while hugging her back. Twilight quickly broke the hug and grabbed Shimmer by the wrist.
"You! Me! We're going to talk to my brother! You and I have to go shopping. Shopping for the perfect dresses to wear to the Spring Fling!"
With Shimmer in tow, Twilight dragged her downstairs eagerly to talk with her brother about her new found plans for next weekend.