//------------------------------//
// Mirrored Past 
// Story: Lack Of A Reflection 
// by Sun Aura 
//------------------------------//

Sunset had expected Applejack to own a pickup truck. It was the vehicle most known for hauling, and considering the apple products they had to transport it made sense. However, a minivan with the seats down can safely carry more volume than the bed of a pickup truck and you can put the seats up to transfer passengers. 
Sunset sat next to Princess Twilight, who sat next to Scientist Twilight, who was giving Applejack directions to her brother’s apartment in between discussing ideas with her counterpart. Fluttershy was up front, holding Spike in her lap while he stuck his head out the window. Pinkie, Rarity, and Rainbow sat behind them, being slightly lost by the Twilights’ conversation. 
“What in tarnation?” Applejack said, looking at something in the review mirror. 
Before Sunset could turn to look, the something caught up with them and entered through the window. A swirl of smoke and green flame passed by Fluttershy, who let out a squeak of terror, before stopping in front of Princess Twilight. The flames condensed themselves into a sealed scroll, which she immediately opened. 
“Hey Twilight,” she read. “I wanted to see if I could send a letter through the portal instead of rewriting Shining’s response into the journal. If this gets to you, use the journal to tell me and I’ll forward his letter. From, Spike.”
“Your Spike can send letters like that?” Scientist Twilight asked.
“Yep!” she said, writing a response in the journal. “Princess Celestia taught him the letter sending spell. Of course, he’s a Dragon, so the spell uses his fire breath instead of a Unicorn’s spellcasting.  I know this world has a really easy way for sending messages in minutes, but anypony, or dragon, who doesn’t know the spell or just can’t use it have to send letters through the post office. The Pegasai working there are very fast, but a flight anything more than across town will take a while.”
“Aw man,” Spike said from up front. “Your me’s a Dragon? That’s so cool! I’d rather be a Dragon than a dog.”
Another round of flame and smoke flew through the window. This letter had a fancier seal, blue with what looked like the image of a shield pressed into the wax. Princess Twilight picked up this one, which unrolled considerably longer. 
“Dear Twilight,” she read. “Yes, I know about Sunset Shimmer’s family. I didn’t mention it back in fall because I didn’t want to force Sunset to come back, nor did I want her family blindly jumping into an alternate dimension. I didn’t want you to do it either, but Princess Celestia overruled my objections. 
“Onto your questions. Her parents are in Canterlot, and as far as I know everypony is okay, no major accidents or illnesses, but I will ask when I see them. The only major development I can think of is one Sunset Shimmer may or may not know about. When she ran away, her parents Sunset Silk and Daylight, were in the process of adopting a child. They adopted a Unicorn filly named Flare, and she’s about thirteen now.”
“I didn’t know about that,” Sunset said, sinking into her chair. “Think they ever told her about me?”
“You can ask her when you get back home,” Rarity assured her, reaching up to put a hand on her shoulder. 
“As for Gleaming Lance,” Princess Twilight continued reading, “when Cadence and I first began running the Crystal Empire, we were down a lot of Guards. Some were missing because they had been outside of the Empire when it disappeared one thousand years ago, others quit because of the PTSD brought on by King Sombra’s reign, and a few of the older members took the opportunity to retire. 
“We managed to keep Guard Captian Stormfall and a hoofful of good ponies, but most of what we had were newer recruits who need training. Princesses Celestia and Luna transferred a fair amount of Solar and Lunar guards to make up for it. Lance was a requested transfer, for being both a good friend and for being one of our best trainers. He lives in a small home here in the Empire. Flare wanted to live with him instead of with their parents, so she’s up here as well. After I send this letter I can go get him and tell him what’s going on. Please respond with a letter of when you will get back, and if you would like to meet us here, or if we should take a train to Ponyville. From, Shining Armor.”
“He’s still in the guard,” Sunset sighed. “That’s good. If you don’t mind I’ll decide later if I’d rather meet in Ponyville or go to the Empire. I might jump out of the train somewhere around Vanhoover, but I’ll try.”
“I’m getting the same feeling,” Scientist Twilight said. “I still have no idea how we’re going to convince Shining of anything right now.”
“Come on, Twi!” Rainbow exclaimed from the back seat, leaning forward to put her arms around her. “We have a talking dog and two of you! What’s not to believe?”
“He’ll at least have to think there’s something goin’ on,” Applejack added from the front seat.
“And maybe he heard about the stuff at CHS already!” Pinkie said. “I mean, Princess Twilight said he’s probably dating that cute Cadence lady from earlier, so she might have already told him everything about what happened! Though I guess you probably don’t want to tell him that you turned in a maniacal villain and almost destroyed this dimension. But with two Twilights you can figure it out! After all, you probably know exactly what to say! Unless one Shining is different from the other Shining and one Twilight doesn’t know how to talk to the other Shining? Can that happen? Are the counterparts different?  You two are different enough. I mean, down to Princess Twilight not needing glasses!”
“Pinkie, settle down dear,” Rarity said. “The glasses are probably just because there is probably a spell to fix their eyes.”
“Not unless it happened in the last six years?” Sunset said. “As far as I know, Equestrian medicine is only slightly better than Human medicine, but nothing heals instantly. Though I did know a Unicorn who used her magic to create a solid prosthetic for her missing hind leg.”
“Headmistress Ivy,” Princess Twilight nodded. “And we do still have glasses. My Rarity uses reading glasses, and those fillies Twist and Silver Spoon still have glasses. And I, well-“
“Yes?” Sunset couldn’t help but smirk. 
“I used to need glassed,” she huffed. “I didn’t wear them because of a hoofful of bullies, and then I was taking private lessons so I could go at a pace where I could sit there and decipher the blurs. Becoming an Alicorn did fix my eyes, so I don’t need them anymore.”
“That would be nice,” Scientist Twilight sighed. She glanced up toward the street. “Oh, we’re here! His apartment building is up on the left!”
She pulled out her phone and sent a text to her brother asking him to come out. Applejack parked up in front and they began piling out. As Sunset looked at the two Twilights, she couldn’t help but notice the differences between them, other than the glasses. Princess Twilight seemed much more confident, in every sense of the word. She looked taller. No, she was taller by a few inches. It suddenly hit her that if Scientist Twilight went through the portal to Equestria, she’d still be a Unicorn. 
Scientist Twilight pulled Princess Twilight over to the side of the group.
“Maybe you should stay a little hidden?” she suggested. “You know, we break it to him easy before bringing out both of us?”
“That would be better,” she agreed. “I’ll stand on the side of the van, okay? Just say when you need me.”
She ducked to the side of the van just in time for Shining Armor to come out of the building. Even though Sunset was still getting used to figuring out what humans found ‘attractive’, she could tell that he would probably be considered handsome. He wasn’t her type, but she could see why Lance would like him.
“Twily!” he greeted, jogging over to the girls. “How’d the Games go?”
“No one told you?” she asked.”
“Well, Cadence left a message while I was in the shower,” he said. “But she mostly just said that she’d talk later because she needed to finish up there. So what happened?”
“Well, you see,” she began. “The Games, were kind of a tie? If you count that last, er, let’s call it a fight, then technically Canterlot High won.”
“Now that’s funny,” he chuckled. 
“Well, you’ll find the next part hilarious,” Twilight said. “I kinda nearly destroyed the place, made a few friends, and I’m transferring to Canterlot High for the rest of the year?”
“Should I be focusing on the fact that you don’t sound like you’re joking anymore,” he asked, “or on that ‘destroying the school’ bit?”
“Not just the school,” she said, fiddling with her hands, “more like this dimension?”
“Wait,” he said, “start from the beginning.”
“The beginning,” she said. “So, remember that anomaly I was researching? I now know that those events were Canterlot High’s Fall Formal and Battle of the Bands. And it was caused by a portal to another dimension where everyone’s a talking pony, where a Unicorn and three Sirens came through and caused trouble but my dimensional counterpart who happens to be a princess came here and, to quote, ‘blasted them with an awesome rainbow of the Magic of Friendship’.
“And when I went investigating, I absorbed their magical energy throughout the Games, then during the tiebreaker event Principal Cinch found out about it and even though she already used my independent study application to blackmail me into competing, she said that I had to unleash the magic to win the games or else she wouldn’t approve the application, plus she’d make sure the entire school knew I was to blame for the loss.
“Hold on,” he tried to stop her, but she kept going. 
“At that point I was half terrified, half swept up in the idea of actually studying this magic and learning what it even was and how it worked, so I used the Magic. Then I kinda turned into this monster thing where I had wings and could open portals to the other dimension and went power mad to the point of ‘I have nothing left for me in this dimension, so I might as well destroy it to get to the other dimension’, and nearly did until Sunset stopped me by using the magic properly. And Canterlot High’s busted and everyone’s still back there helping clean up, but Cadence already agreed to have me transferred so I can be with my new friends. By the way, meet my new friends, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Sunset Shimmer. Sunset also happens to be a Unicorn from the other dimension.”
“Okay, that’s,” Shining glanced at Sunset while trying to think of a word, “hard to believe? 
“Want to start with the stuff that doesn’t involve magical dimensions?” she suggested. 
“Okay, the normal stuff,” he agreed. “You guys lost the games. Crystal Prep must have really gone downhill to lose to Canter-not.”
“Tell me he didn’t just say that,” Rarity sighed. She glanced at Rainbow before bringing her hand up to her face.
“Hey, CHS is great!” Rainbow shouted at him.
“Really?” he taunted. “I remember a rainbow-haired freshman who detention for kicking Melon Mint in the shins for losing the dodgeball competition.”
“She used an illegal move!” she yelled back. “At least Canterlot High doesn’t cheat their way to the top!”
“No, you’ll just stay in second place,” he said. 
“Shining, stop,” Twilight said. 
“What, it’s just friendly competition!” he replied. “A friendly competition where the losers try to make up lies so they don’t have to face the fact that they can’t win.”
“CHS is much more honest than a principal who blackmails her students!” Applejack joined in, straightening up to full height. 
“Come on, Twily,” he said. “Why would you ever want-“
“Shining, you’re being kind of a dick,” Spike interrupted.
They all stopped to look down at him. He just kind of looked up at them and shrugged.
“Note to self,” Twilight said, “Now that he can talk, refrain from teaching him actual swears.”
“So far the talking dog is the most believable part,” Shining groaned. 
“Are we really starting this again?” Sunset sighed. 
“Spike’s right,” Pinkie said. “You’re being a big meaniepants over nothing. If my little sister got a bunch of friends and wanted to transfer to their school to be around them more, I’d start setting up a ‘congratulations on making great friends and going to a new school’ party with cake and maybe a piñata and maybe help her impress them by using the ‘my sister’s in a band’ card and show up with my drum kit. And, you know, I wouldn’t be completely insulting them. Even with a longstanding rivalry, which is now kinda over anyway because, like, when you save someone’s life you kinda become friends, so it’s a bit pointless anyway.”
“Rivalry aside,” Shining continued. “You can understand why I have other objections to Canterlot students. I’ve heard every story of what the students do there. Destruction of property, letting animals loose on campus, illegal bake sales, scooters in hallways, taffy accidents, and that’s just the things that have happened on the grounds. There’s a long list of stuff individual students have done in town. There’s a small chance you found the only good students there, but more than likely it’ll be like last time and you’ve found a group pretending to be your friends for their own selfish reasons.”
“Shining Armor!” Twilight shouted. In half a second she was up in his face screaming. “Don’t you dare insult my friends! You have no idea what they’ve done for me! They’re generous and loyal and would never lie to me! They had no reason to even talk to me! I could have gone there and been gone in a few days, but everyone there showed genuine kindness when they could have left me alone, and they helped me when I almost screwed up everything!  No one, not even you, gets to insult them like that!”
A faint glow surrounded her, and Sunset heard her words echoing. She looked over her shoulder to see that Princess Twilight had popped out to deliver the exact speech with a stronger glow. Realizing the mistake, she jumped back behind the van.
“Shining,” Twilight said more calmly this time. “These people are still offering friendship after I nearly got them killed, and they’ve already helped Crystal Prep’s students be better people. And considering this magic they have is literally powered by friendship, I’m inclined to believe them.”
“Okay, fine,” Shining agreed, backing up. “I’ll give them… more of a chance. I’ll still be fairly cautious, and I advise the same, but I’ll give them a chance. So, what’s the deal with ‘magic’ and ‘alternate dimensions?”
“What, talking dog isn’t enough for you?” Spike asked. 
“It’s a start,” he sighed. “But you should have more when you explain all this to Mom and Dad. Especially Dad.”
“Well we do have one other thing on hand,” Twilight said. “Buy you have to promise not to freak out. Okay?”
“Well I’ve handled everything else fine,” he replied. 
“Yeah, fine,” Sunset muttered.
Twilight walked over to the side of the van and pulled her royal counterpart into the open. She sheepishly waved at Shining Armor as she was dragged forward. 
“Nope. Not freaking out at all,” he huffed. “I’m guessing that this is the ‘dimensional counterpart who happens to be a princess’?”
“Yeah, that’s me,” Princess Twilight answered. 
“And you also have a talking dog?” he asked.
“Actually, Spike’s a dragon,” she said. “I have no idea why he’s a dog here, since Dragons are a sapient race and are treated, for the most part, on the same level as other ponies, and your world’s dogs seem to be exactly the same as the normal dogs we have like Applejack’s dog Winona.”
Shining didn’t respond. He just dropped his face into his hands and began rubbing his temples. Twilight stopped her ramble for a moment.
“Yeah, that’s how my world’s Shining reacted,” she said.
“Great. There’s another me as well,” he said. “Since you’re apparently a princess, does that make him prince?”
“Yes and no?” she said. When he raised an eyebrow she elaborated. “Neither of us were born into the Royal Family, but I became Princess through a very specific set of events that has not happened in at least a few hundred years. Your counterpart just married Princess Cadence, which bumps him up to Prince.”
“Speaking of that,” the other Twilight interrupted, “when were you going to tell me about the two of you?”
“Well I-“ he tried to explain.
“I told you,” Princess Twilight said, “He’ll wait until the day before the wedding, then send an invitation in the mail!”
“I was planning on telling you this weekend,” he said. “Mostly because we have a date set up Sunday and I was planning to propose, but I swear I was going to talk to you first. I just didn’t think you’d have any objections.”
“I don’t,” Scientist Twilight said. “But I’d still like to be kept in the loop.”
“We will,” he said. “As long as you keep us in the loop with this whole ‘magical dimension’ thing. Speaking of which, you still don’t have enough to convince dad about that.”
“Ugh, scientists are really stubborn,” she groaned. No one felt like pointing out she was a scientist as well. “Other than throwing him through the portal and turning him into a… what is he?”
“A Unicorn,” Princess Twilight answered. “Mom and my Shining are Unicorns too.”
“Great. I’m a freaking Unicorn,” he muttered. He looked up at Princess Twilight. “Is he that stubborn in your universe too?”
“Pretty much,” she said. “And tossing him through the portal sounds like the easiest option.”
“If I may,” Sunset interrupted. “I have an idea of a sort of proof we have that doesn’t involve someone getting the shock of suddenly being a Unicorn.”
“Go ahead,” both Twilights said. 
“Pinkie?” Sunset asked, turning to the girl in question. “You know, usually when you get a new friend, you throw a big party for them. But you never got to throw one for Twilight. Now you have two Twilights to throw a friendship party for!”
“Oh my stars!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I totally forgot! I was going to throw one back when Twilight first came through the portal, but the Fall Formal was already happening and you can’t have two big parties that close together. Well you can but then you’re totally wiped out for the second party so it’s not nearly as much fun. But then you had to go back home because the portal was on a timer so I didn’t think we’d see you forever, so I was planning for when the portal opened next. Then the whole thing with the Sirens and the Battle of the Bands happened and you were back! But it was like, last on my list. And by the time I got around to it, you already left. And I’m not sure on ‘when is it okay to have you come over’ because so far we’ve only gotten you to come here for big disasters, so is a party acceptable even?”
“But now you’re here!” she continued, not giving a window for interruption. “And we have a second Twilight, and we won the Friendship Games, and we’re now friends with Crystal Prep’s students, and Shining Armor is attempting to be a new friend, and soon we’ll have the other Sunset and probably her family, and we can have a ginormous party when we get back! Everyone’ll love it and make even more friends and oh my stars I need to start on set ups! Do we have a place big enough for that many people? My house isn’t big enough and I can’t just rent out the school gym, and I wouldn’t want to cut people from the list because that would be super sad! So party for everyone!”
Pinkie kept talking, and it got to what Sunset expected to happen. Her body began to lift off the ground in a magical glow. Pony ears and the extended ponytail appeared as she ‘pony upped’. Sunset felt a surge of magic, sending a shiver down her spine, and she could see Princess Twilight felt it too. Shining seemed to be speechless, while Pinkie was still talking on. 
“If you show that to dad, he will be on the floor in half a second,” he said.
“You’re taking this rather well,” Scientist Twilight said. 
“Oh, don’t worry,” he assured. “As soon as you all leave I’m probably going to lock myself in my apartment and freak out for an hour. But for now I’m here for you. So that whole magical transformation thing. Who all can do that?”
“So far just us,” Sunset answered for them, “and three Sirens. We’ve had little time to fully test it out ourselves, much less see if anyone else can. But as far as we know it’s just those who either came through the portal, or those who tapped into the power through the Elements of Harmony.”
“Elements of what now?” he asked. 
“Long, convoluted story,” Princess Twilight said. “I’ll explain it later, but we are far behind schedule. We need to find someone named Gleaming Lance.”
“What do you need Lance for?” he wondered. 
“Another long convoluted story,” both Twilights chuckled, somehow not freaked out by the echo. “Sunset, you want to take this one?”
“Fine,” Sunset sighed. “We did mention that I’m originally from that other dimension, right? I want to find my counterpart in this world. While I expect she ran away from home like I did, Lance would be the best person to give us a starting place to where she is. Because My World’s Lance is my brother.”
“Now that you mention it,” Shining said, “I do see the resemblance, and Lance did mention a runaway sister. You do realize you’ll have to explain most of this to him when he gets here, right?”
“I know,” she sighed 
“We’ll handle it,” Princess Twilight said. 
He nodded, then pulled out his phone to make the call. Sunset sighed and leaned against the van. She glanced over at Pinkie, who had not yet powered down, now be talking to herself and waving her fingers through the air as if writing on a chalkboard. She seemed to be figuring out more party stuff. She wondered how long Pony Up can last when not forcibly shut down.
“He’ll be here soon,” Shining announced, clicking off his phone. “Lance has to pick Flare up from school. Appearently she’s a freshman at Canterlot High, oddly enough. I warned him about the destruction.”
Most of the group gave a nervous chuckle. 
“Oh! I wondered if it was the same Flare!” Pinkie said, oblivious to the last comment. “Flare, age thirteen, Freshman, best classes are stagecraft and art. Worst class is History. She likes the sulfur smell of matches and fireworks, and her favorite party food is strawberry cupcakes with blueberry frosting!”
Shining Armor and Scientist Twilight looked at her completely bewildered. The others just shrugged thinking “don’t question it. It’s Pinkie”.
“What was that you said earlier about how everyone at CHS sucks?” Rainbow asked, sass apparent. 
“Okay, okay! I get it!” he said, tossing his hands up in surrender. “I’m kind of a dick and shouldn’t make assumptions because of a school rivalry. I learned the lesson!”
Princess Twilight seemed to laugh at that phrase.
For the next while, they just waited. Pinkie was bouncing party planning ideas off Rainbow and Rarity. Fluttershy and Applejack had their own, quieter, conversation. Both Twilights were talking to Shining Armor, explaining more in detail the events that happened at Canterlot High, with Princess Twilight giving better explanations of the magics. Sunset spent the time trying not to bolt home. 
Luckily, very few people passed them. Princess Twilight had figured out that most of the others in this apartment building were Guards in Equestria. She and Shining had started a sort of back and forth of ‘which type of pony is this person’. He even made a few lucky guesses, like Valor Knight the Unicorn. He seemed to be doing quite well for someone who should be freaking out.
It seemed like ages, but eventually a car pulled up. It was a dark blue, and looked quite used. Shining turned the group’s attention to it while Sunset ducked behind Applejack. She tried to tell herself that it was because she wouldn’t want to freak him out by suddenly being there, but she knew better. 
When Lance stepped out of the car, he looked exactly like she expected him to. He was a pale yellow, lighter than Fluttershy, and his hair was various shades or orange, with a single streak of silver curling around his ear. Sunset took the time to look at what was different too: A small scar on his cheek, an earring. She tried to imagine those on her world’s Lance. 
He was shorter than she pictured him. No, that’s not right. She was thinking of their height difference the last time she saw Lance in Equestria. He probably hadn’t grown since she ran away, but Sunset herself had grown a lot. She estimated that Lance was about the same height as her, had she not been wearing heels. She expected they would be the same height as Unicorns. 
“Hey Shining!” he greeted. Sunset noted that his voice was the same. “Please tell me that this ‘important thing you need to tell me’ is you asking me out on a dinner date, because I really do not feel like cooking tonight!”
Before Shining could retort, a colorful blur shot out from the other side of the car. It was a girl; she was an orange-ish pink, with blue and green hair. Violet eyes gleamed up at them. Sunset had seen her once or twice around campus, but never talked to her before.
“Oh my stars, hi!” she exclaimed. 
“Hi Flare!” Pinkie waved. 
“Hey, since you’re here,” she began, “can you tell Lance how much of a butt he’s being? Because I’ve been trying to tell him about the Fall Formal and the Battle of the Bands and the Rainbooms and now I’m trying to tell him how the Twilight that goes to Crystal Prep went nuts and nearly tore the dimension apart and broke most of the school. But all I get is him saying ‘there’s no alternate dimension with magical ponies and counterparts to each person’.”
“So you’re the ones Flare’s been talking about,” Lance said. “It is a bit hard to believe, you know?”
“If Ah’ didn’t see it for myself Ah’ probably wouldn’t believe it either,” Applejack said.
“You’re kidding, right?” he asked, looking to Shining for an answer.
“It would be easier,” Shining answered. “But I’ve seen a talking dog, a girl whose only difference from my sister is a few inches of height, and the pink one floating and glowing while getting those ears. I’m inclined to believe them.”
He paused and looked between the Twilights, Spike, and Pinkie. Eventually he walked over to Pinkie, gestured for her to lower her head down, and inspected her ears. He was surprised to find only one set of ears, and that set was twitching and apparently ticklish. 
“Okay, that’s totally weird,” he agreed. 
“I have an idea!” Flare announced before running into the apartment building. 
They debated going after her, but since it was the apartment building they didn’t think much of it. She was back soon enough anyway. It was barely a minute before she came back holding a guitar.
“Here!” she said, handing the guitar to Rainbow Dash. “You can give him the full show!”
“Where’d you get that?” Lance asked.
“Ms Gale Strike!” she answered. “Her niece keeps her spare guitar in Ms Gale’s apartment.”
“Pegasus,” Princess Twilight whispered to Shining.
“Well, usually I play electric guitars,” Rainbow said. “But you’re lucky I’m awesome enough to play acoustic too!”
She began to play a song. It wasn’t as bombastic as ‘Awesome as I Want to Be’; it was slower and more simple chords. It fit an acoustic guitar better than her usual songs. As expected, she began glowing and levitating. Her ears and wings appeared. Sunset felt another surge, and shivered again. 
“That’s incredible!” Lance exclaimed as Rainbow came to a hover. 
“Yeah, it’s pretty awesome,” Rainbow said. 
“Now that I’ve proven I’m not going insane,” Flare said, “I’m going inside. I have a show coming on in a few. Great to see you!”
They all waved as she ran back into the building once more.
“So why am I really here?” he asked. “As cool as this is, Shining, I know there’s a lot of people you’d show this to before me.”
“Remember that thing Flare said a minute ago?” Princess Twilight asked. “About how everyone has a counterpart in our dimension, Equestria, and everypony has a counterpart in this dimension? We need to find this world’s Sunset Shimmer.”
“’This world’s’ Sunset?” he wondered, his smile falling. 
Sunset took a shaky breath before peeking out from behind Applejack. She saw the entire gambit of emotions register on his face. First recognition, then shock, relief, then realization and sadness.
“We already know where Equestria’s Sunset Shimmer is,” she said, attempting a reassuring grin.
Lance reacted better than she expected. He dropped to the ground, put his head between his knees and began hyperventilating. Sunset still felt guilty.
She wasn’t sure who was faster, but in what felt like half a second both Shining Armor and Fluttershy were down next to him, speaking comforting words. She didn’t think there was anyone who could match Fluttershy in speaking as soft or gentle, but Shining was doing a pretty good job. Sunset couldn’t hear what they were saying, but their voices felt calming all the same.
It was another half a second before Fluttershy began to Pony Up. Sunset felt another surge, another shiver. Fluttershy let her wing fall across Lance’s shoulders. It seemed to help, as his breathing was becoming slower, more regular. While she still couldn’t hear what they were saying, she could tell he was responding to them. 
Eventually he looked back up again. He gave a slight nod, and Sunset took it as an invitation. She walked forward and sat in front of him. She hesitantly put a hand on his arm.
“You’re not her,” Lance said, “not exactly. I can figure that out. ‘Dimensional counterparts’, right?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I know this is absolutely freaking you out.”
“Understatement of my life,” he said. “There was this half second, before everything clicked, where I saw you and thought she was back. I felt, I don’t know. Relieved maybe? But knowing you’re not her just hit me like-“
“Like a ridiculously ugly lamp?” she offered. 
“Exactly,” he laughed. “Let me guess, even Grandma’s lamp has an alternate dimension counterpart?”
They shared a laugh. And for just a moment, they both forgot. Sunset forgot this wasn’t her Lance, that they weren’t a couple of foals making jokes in their family’s living room. Lance forgot that this wasn’t his Sunset, that they weren’t two kids stifling giggles behind a wall of library books. Until it came crashing down like Grandma’s ugly lamp. 
“Why are you trying to find her?” Lance asked. 
“It’s a long story,” Sunset answered. “And I’ll tell you all the details on a different day. Basically, I screwed up. A lot. I wanted to get out of it for a long time, but I didn’t know how, and I kept making more mistakes until I literally became a power-hungry monster intent on taking over the world. Without people to help me along the way, I’d probably still be on that path. I know the other me feels the same, but right now, there’s no one to help her. That’s why I want to find her. She needs to know that there’s always another way.”
“And if she doesn’t want to come back?” he asked. “If she can’t?”
“Well, I,” she began. She knew the real question he was asking. “I don’t know. She might want to but can't, or she might be scared to. Or... If, for whatever reason, she doesn’t come back, I can at least tell you what happened to her. But firstly, we need to know where she would go. I have a few ideas, but we need to narrow down the search. Is there a place you can think of?”
“Yeah.” He answered. “Hollow Shades.”
“Hollow Shades?” Princess Twilight asked.
“Yeah,” he affirmed. “She wouldn’t go anywhere near family, but she is smart. Hollow Shades is a town where it’s easy to not be noticed. High traffic, everyone is either a tourist, or one who pays no attention to faces. And there’s a performing arts college right near it, so students who don’t live on campus will live in town. They draw attention away from anyone else.”
“Makes sense,” Sunset nodded. Equestria’s Hollow Shades was very similar, and it would have been on her list had she not run away through dimensions.
“Just, promise me you’ll come back,” he said. “Promise me you’ll tell me what happens.”
“I will,” she promised. With a glance to Pinkie, she added, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
“We’ll make sure she does!” Rarity said, lowering down to them. “Or else she’ll invoke Pinkie’s wrath!”
“Thank you,” he said, glancing up at the pink girl. He really didn’t want to imagine her wrath. “And, thanks to the rest of you, for helping.”
“Helping others is kind of our thing,” Rarity said. “Plus I can imagine how you feel. Quite a few years ago, my parents took my little sister and I to Vanhoover. Long story short, Sweetie Belle decided she wanted a nap and managed to lift Dad’s keycard and make it back to the hotel without us knowing. She made it safely back, but for those few hours until we found her, I kept thinking of every horrible thing that could happen to a four year old on her own. Those were the worst hours of my life, and you’ve been living that the last six years!”
“Yeah,” he said. “It’s not as constant anymore, but it’ll pop up at random. At this point, bad news is better than no news, you know?”
“I have an idea,” she said, before jumping up from the ground and climbing back in the van. 
“What’re you lookin’ for?” Applejack asked.
“Did none of you bring your backpacks!” she complained from the backseats. 
“There weren’t any classes because of the games,” Rainbow answered. 
“Applejack, you have to have a pen and paper in here,” she said. “Pinkie, don’t you carry emergency party invitations?”
“Wonky ankle,” Pinkie replied with a shrug. “I wasn’t going to invite anyone to a party today.”
“A single black marker,” she sighed dejectedly, climbing back out.
She stared angrily at the marker for a moment, her eyes flicking over to Lance. In the end, she gave the universal shrug of ‘screw it!’, and began tugging her top over her head. Half the group was too shocked to think anything, but the other half gave various shouts of ‘what are you doing!’.
A tank top of a similar color to her shirt was underneath, so they calmed down soon enough, but Rarity acted like she hadn’t even noticed their uproar. Instead, she used the side of the van to smooth out the fabric, and write something on it. 
“Here,” she said, handing it to Lance. “My phone number. We can keep you up to date as we go. Or if you just need someone to talk to.”
“You didn’t have to ruin your shirt,” Lance said. “Like, you could have written it on my arm or something.”
“You’re more important than a shirt I have three of,” she said, turning to Shining. “Shining Armor, I know you want to have your own silent freak out about magic existing, but first I need you to do something. Take Lance upstairs, make sure eats something semi-healthy, maybe with a warm drink, take a shower, then make him go to bed earlier than usual. Learning about magic and seeing Sunset is a lot of emotional stress. Also, I highly suggest you do the same list of things. You need to take care of yourselves in times like this. Also, I know males don’t usually do ‘spa days’ but they are very good for this sort of thing, so if you’d like, there is one downtown. If you tell Aloe or Lotus that I sent you with the code ‘at your smallest components you are indistinguishable from a forest fire’ and they’ll give you an incredible discount.”
As soon as her rant was over, she began glowing and floating as well. Sunset felt a much larger surge of magic. When Rarity stopped glowing it was easy to see why.
“That’s new,” Sunset said. 
Rarity quickly turned back around to the van, looking at her reflection in the windows. It was easy to see what was ‘new’. Originating maybe a centimeter above her hairline, was a long, spiral horn. 
“That is very new,” Rarity muttered. She seemed unsure of how to react. “Sunset, dear, do you have any ideas on why exactly a horn has been added to my transformation?”
“Honestly? I have no idea,” she answered. “I’m still lost on why you didn’t get the horn in the first place.” 
“Okay,” Rarity turned back to Lance and Shining, trying to keep everything together. “New horn aside, the two of you are still to do as I suggested.”
“Okay,” Lance agreed. “I should check on Flare anyway. I need to tell her about all this too.” 
With that, they left. As soon as they were in the door, Rarity sighed and leaned against the van. Rainbow was the first to try and distract her.
“Taking your shirt off and giving him your number?” Rainbow teased. “You could’ve just asked the guy on a date. It’s a bit more subtle.”
“Because you, of all people, should be lecturing me on ‘subtle?” Rarity responded. “Besides, I’m not exactly his ‘type’.”
“Picked up on that, did you?” Sunset asked with  grin.
Rainbow seemed confused by what they meant, but they decided it would be easier to explain in the van. It was difficult, with two pairs of wings, one horn, and a lot of extra hair, but they managed. 
“My suggestion,” Princess Twilight began once the van was in motion, “is for everyone to go home and get ready. We can leave tomorrow morning.”
“Dress warm, but comfortable,” Scientist Twilight instructed. “I’ve been to Hollow Shades a few times, and even in the middle of summer its cold. You can imagine the temperature for near-winter.”
“Speakin’ of goin’ home for the night,” Applejack said, “where am I droppin’ y’all off? Ah’ll need directions to Twilight’s house, and Ah’ have no idea where Princess Twilight needs to go.”
“You can stay at my house,” Scientist Twilight offered. “It will help convince mom and dad about what all happened, and that I can go on your roadtrip tomorrow. We can also work on a plan to get set up for the trip. Think you can, er, ‘pony up’ when you get there to convince dad?”
“I’m not sure,” she answered. “But I do have a replacement idea. I can have Spike use his message flame to send a recent family portrait. The fire and picture should be enough, I think.”
“Speaking of,” she said, “is it okay for all you to be walking around with the ears and wings and stuff? Aren’t people going to notice?”
“Well, everyone already knows,” Rainbow said. “Like, it’s kinda hard to not notice. If Crystal Prep wasn’t so intent on cutting themselves off from any contact with us, they’d’ve known too. Heck, the school board probably knows too, since they had to pay for repairs. Bonus points to Principal Celestia for that bluff.”
Sunset tuned out their conversation. Eventually she must have dozed off, because next thing she knew there were three less people in the van and Rarity was poking her awake.
“Sunset, we’re at your house,” she said. “That ‘good meal, shower, and sleep’ thing I said applies to you too.
“Sorry,” Sunset mumbled. “And I will.”
She climbed out of the van and back into her house. Though she wanted to climb onto her bed and sleep, she did try to follow Rarity’s advice. A peanut butter sandwich and tea isn’t exactly ‘healthy’, but it does have protein and takes less than five minutes to make. She thought she’d take a quick shower, but once she got in she realized how much dirt and sweat was on her from the Friendship Games. She ended up spending nearly an hour under the hot water.
When she finally flopped into her mattress, it didn’t take long for her to fall asleep. She would not recall her dreams in the morning, but they left a hopeful feeling in her chest.