At the risk of blowing up the universe, I stepped forward. I don't know what possessed me—maybe it was a bit of morbid curiosity. Regardless, I approached myself—her—Princess Twilight—whatever.
Our eyes were locked, staring each other down in an attempt to figure everything out. If it wasn’t for the girls' entertained smiles, it would have been tense. I found myself unable to think of a thing to say.
A storm of unanswered questions flooded my mind, and from the look on the other me's face, she was probably thinking the same thing.
"Are you?" I asked—the me me asked, that is. She nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat that had also formed in mine. Then we both turned to Sunset Shimmer, who gave us both a reassuring smile.
"Is this her?" Princess Twilight asked, pointing towards me while still looking at Sunset for guidance.
"Twilight Sparkle," Sunset started, pausing just long enough to relish the moment, "meet Twilight Sparkle."
"How?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer from Sunset's vague description.
"Like I said, she's from another world."
"Right."
For some reason, it made even less sense now.
The rest of the girls held back laughs, keeping quiet—save for Pinkie Pie who obnoxiously sucked the last few drops in her box of orange juice. Still, it was better than complete silence.
Before we said anything else, we sat back on the red checkered quilt directly across from each other. No matter how much I tried, I refused to believe that I was standing right in front of another me. It just seemed like an elaborate practical joke. One eerily-convincing practical joke.
"Twilight," she called, her voice faltering. "Wow, this is weird.'
"Yeah," I agreed, biting my lip.
The pause in the conversation was interminable, absolutely unbearable. We sat in silence, none of of us knowing what to say. I decided to turn to the only one who seemed to know what was going on.
"Sunset, can we talk?" we both called, our voices harmonizing—well, to harmonize would imply that one of us has a harmonic part to the other's melody, but we were technically equals, but that was not the point. (Although resonating would be a better, more accurate term.)
"Whoa! Weird!" Pinkie cheered giddily, hopping down from the top of the shattered Wondercolt. "It must be so cool to have someone who could finish your—"
“Sentences?” the both of us answered in reverberating voices.
"Wow, you're so much better at this than I am," she giggled. "I was gonna say sandwiches because sometimes I can't finish them on my own, and it would totally be awesome to share them with myself, so they wouldn’t all go to waste."
"Well, that sure is one way to think of it," Rarity commented.
"Sunset?" we called again, this time earning no startled comments from the others.
"You first."
"No, you—Ugh."
At least our mild frustration was somewhat entertaining.
"Alright," Sunset said, holding back a laugh, "I'm thinking of a number between one and ten."
"Seven! Gah!" we both groaned in unison.
"How 'bout you rock paper scissors for it?" Rainbow suggested facetiously.
"Not helping."
"Well, it can't be too hard to find a way to decide who talks first," Applejack said, being the much needed voice of reason.
"You mean who's on first?" Rainbow cackled.
"Twilight is." Fluttershy joined in, playing along.
"Well, which Twilight?"
"Our Twilight."
"The one with magic?"
"Yes. That Twili—"
"Girls, stop!" the both of us cried, earning a round of lighthearted laughs out of the sheer ridiculousness of the situation.
"How 'bout this?" Rainbow Dash started, "Princess Twi goes off to talk with Sunset while Four-Eyed Twi sticks with us and we fill her in—sound good?"
Not wanting to say much else (even if I disagreed with the four-eyed moniker), we both nodded. Although our approving gesture was, in fact, synchronized.
•·.·´`·.·•·.·´`·.·☀·.·´`·.·•·.·´`·.·•
"So you're saying that in another world, I'm... a magical princess of friendship?"
I honestly lost count on how many times that point was relayed to me. Yet somehow it was still jarring to hear every time they told me.
"Eeyup."
"Pretty much."
"Ooh! Don't forget the part where you're a pegacorn!" Pinkie Pie said.
"I'm a what?"
"She means an alicorn, dear," Rarity clarified, gently patting her arm against my knee. "A unicorn with wings."
I laughed, pretty rudely too. I couldn't help it. They just stepped outside the realm of believability, just like… how Princess Twilight had literally stepped out of whatever realm she came from. Okay, maybe it wasn't so far-fetched.
"Surely, you can't be serious," I said skeptically. "You can't expect me to honestly believe that I'm a magic horse princess."
"Pony princess," Pinkie Pie corrected. "There's a difference."
"Sunset Shimmer is one, too—a unicorn." Rarity added.
Once again, I couldn't help but laugh at the statement. At the same time, however, there was a small part of me getting a little concerned since Rarity seemed like she was above practical jokes. I kept waiting for one of them to break, yet none of them did. Even Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be the most likely to revel in a prank like this, kept a completely straight face.
"Right. And the next thing you're gonna tell me is that I'm from a land called Equinia or something," I said, my tone both defensive and dismissive.
"Close," Fluttershy spoke up, raising her voice just enough to be heard. "It's called Equestria."
"Oh, come on!"
"We're serious," Applejack insisted. "Since when have I lied to you?"
She had a point, though I really did not want to admit it. It all just didn't make sense. Sure, alternate universes were a fun thing to think about, but an entire universe populated by ponies was just too ridiculous to even entertain.
Wanting to get a better, more truthful answer, I turned to watch the other Twilight, who seemed to have finished catching up with Sunset. They both sauntered down the CHS entrance steps. And honestly, I felt a slight pang of jealousy as Sunset seemed to have been gravitating closer to Princess Twilight.
Sunset whispered something into Princess Twilight's ear as they stopped just short of the picnic blanket.
"Am I all caught up?" Princess Twilight asked, surprisingly much more comfortable with the situation than I was.
"Sort of," I answered.
"She just can't really believe that you're an alicorn princess from Equestria." Rarity brought up. "I really can't figure out why."
Surprisingly, Princess Twilight didn't flinch but instead simply turned to Sunset. "You mean you haven't told me—her anything?"
"She knows about magic... and what happened between us at the Fall Formal. Sort of.”
The Fall Formal. My mind clicked at the sudden mention. I, as in Princess Twilight, had saved Sunset at the formal. It was another version of me who was there. It all made sense, in an odd sort of way, and it explained why Sunset, the girls, and literally everyone else at CHS already knew who I was.
"W-wait," I stammered. "Does that mean it's all true—about Equestria?"
Sunset, without missing a beat, simply nodded.
"So that means you were a..."
Oh, gosh. I'm in love with a magic horse.
You would think that would be a deal breaker, but somehow it wasn't.
"A unicorn, yes," Sunset answered, pausing just long enough for me to let it sink in. She stared at her boots and then at the sun above, squinting slightly. "Well, I think we've been out in the sun long enough. How about we go and chill at my place for a bit now that Princess Twilight is here?"
The group burst into a round of agreement before we all quickly pitched in to clean up the makeshift picnic site. After we finished picking up, Rainbow Dash ran ahead and called shotgun.
Applejack drove ahead with Pinkie, and Sunset followed behind on her bike.
I sat in the back of Rarity's car, on the hump, mostly because I didn't want to intrude. I wasn't exactly sure if the other girls had a specific seat they liked.
Sure enough, Rainbow Dash had claimed shotgun, and Fluttershy took the seat to my left, behind the driver, and arguably the safest passenger seat in the car. Although, the same argument could be made for the center seat. With only one place left to sit in the tiny car, Princess Twilight reluctantly hopped in to my right.
We grimaced, afraid that if we touched each other, the universe would fall apart.
As a result, we kept our distance, even though neither of us wanted to say anything at the risk of sounding insane. I had to uncomfortably lean against Fluttershy with no explanation to protect the entirety of space and time and possibly the (now very real) multiverse. The other me did the same, though she had the easier side of the deal as all she had to do was keep towards the window.
Then we hit a pothole, and our hands brushed against each other.
We both gasped in fear, expecting a dimensional rift to form between us. Maybe it would have engulfed us all and swallowed the planet whole, sending us into an interdimensional limbo as a karmic punishment for bending the laws of the universe.
Or maybe we would have absorbed into each other and fused into one body to compensate for there being two of the same person. For all I knew, one of us could have simply vanished into thin air.
But none of that happened, and Princess Twilight and I merely exchanged an awkward laugh before scooting in closer to each other.
The inside of Sunset's apartment was modest; she had what she needed, plus a few luxuries that looked scavenged. Although, none of it seemed to really mesh well. The TV was old and looked like it must have been extremely difficult to bring up to the apartment. The couch was a strange shade of green, and the end tables were mismatched.
How she paid for it all was beyond me, but I figured it would be rude to ask.
"Hey, Sunset, how do you pay for all this?" Rainbow Dash asked, collapsing onto a rather tight loveseat.
"Oh, a lot of this I picked up off yard sales... and I did scavenge some stuff off the side of the road," Sunset answered as her voice faltered. "Plus, a bag of Equestrian bits goes a long way."
I hung on her comment a bit longer than I should have.
"Still," Rarity said, "you've done a wonderful job with the place despite all that." Her praise, at least from what I could tell, was sincere. Even still, she couldn't hide her worries about Sunset's furnishing once she sat on a bar stool and nearly fell because of the uneven legs.
"Sorry!" Sunset cried jumping to Rarity's side. She grabbed a textbook off the table and motioned for Rarity to move before she slipped it under the chair. "Sorry, I needed it for homework."
"No worries, darling," Rarity said, brushing off the incident with a flick of the wrist. "Though I would like to suggest that you invest in new drapes. It would definitely liven the place up."
Sunset, turning to the window, answered back, "Someday, but I prefer the natural light anyway."
"As in sunlight!?" Pinkie Pie asked, nudging my shoulder right before she burst into a giggle fit.
"Uh, yeah?"
Holding back another laugh, Pinkie Pie sent a campy wink in my direction. Luckily, no one else seemed to catch on, and the conversation was dropped from there.
The lazy Saturday continued, slowly plodding along with nothing of note—aside from the second me, who kept looking in my direction. Odds were that she was thinking the same thing I was. Of course, there was only one way to find out.
"Hey, Twilight?" we both called. Without saying another word, we stood up and looked towards Sunset. "Do you mind if we talk in private?"
"Uh, go for it." Sunset answered while pointing down to a door. "There's my room."
We walked off into the next room, but not before I caught a sly, "I bet they're gonna make out," from Rainbow Dash.
Closing the door behind us, I turned to the inside of Sunset Shimmer's room. It was bare. Nothing was on the walls, and the only notable things in the room were a bookshelf, a cabinet, and an air mattress. Rarity was right about the place needing more curtains, but I simply guessed that she preferred a minimalist approach.
"Oh my," Princess Twilight said, her voice quivering in surprise.
"What?" I asked, genuinely surprised at the sudden mental disconnect.
"Nothing."
"Right," I said back. She was probably thinking about Rainbow Dash's comment. Not wanting to entertain her joke any further, I figured it was best to just move on.
"Can we talk about—"
The Fall Formal was my suggestion, and she seemed adamant about discussing what happened at the Friendship Games. Neither of us budged. If only I had brought a quarter or something. Without missing a beat, she called out "heads" and dug into her pocket, pulling out a solid gold coin. Smiling, she flipped the coin.
Sure enough, it landed on the profile of a unicorn with wings, which I had to assume was heads. Curiously, I thumbed the coin. It was heavy, cold, and the back read "Equestrian Mint" and "One Gold Bit."
Any doubts about Equestria were gone now, leaving me to accept the fact that Sunset Shimmer was an interdimensional unicorn turned human. More questions flooded my mind, but I knew I had to wait my turn.
Princess Twilight walked over to Sunset's bed and sat down. She turned to the head and grabbed a throw pillow. "To avoid confusion, this is the talking pillow."
I nodded but didn't say a word, as dictated by the one, absolute law of the talking pillow.
"Sunset told me about what happened—something about the Friendship Games. She told me that you and her... transformed." Princess Twilight gripped the pillow tighter. "I just want to know how you're holding up. I can't even imagine going through that."
She smiled warmly, but I was sure she found it just as weird to be talking to herself—myself—whatever. Princess Twilight then passed over the orange throw pillow, and I accepted it shakily.
"I'm okay," I answered truthfully. "Sunset did a lot to help afterwards—more than she knows, actually." The second half of my response was rushed. It also definitely sounded like I was harboring something, mostly because I was.
From the slight cock of her head, I figured she was catching on.
I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks. If I could, I would have buried my face in the reassuring softness of the plush talking pillow, but I had foolishly passed it over to my other self. She looked at me, smiled back, and planted her hand on my shoulder, this time with no fear of destroying the universe.
"Just know that if you ever need help with anything, just come to me or any of the girls."
I nodded, and the pillow was handed off again.
Pausing for a moment, I thought about what Princess Twilight had said. It wouldn't hurt to tell her.
Besides, if you could’t trust yourself, then who can you trust?
I waited, clutching the talking pillow against my chest as we lay in silence. Once again, my mind began to race as an influx of new questions came crashing in. What if she laughs? What if she tells someone else? Or even worse: What if she's in love with Sunset too?
I couldn’t compete with myself, especially if the other me was a literal magic princess. It wasn’t even fair.
An unshakable sense of dread formed in the pit of my stomach as a realization hit.
What if Sunset is in love with Princess Twilight? It was entirely possible since she was the one who had saved Sunset at the Formal.
Just stop thinking, Twilight. You're over complicating things. Just breathe.
"Twilight," I called, almost cringing at calling my own name out. "Can I tell you something, something personal?"
She nodded.
I looked down at the orange pillow in my hand, my grip forcing it into a deformed blob between scrunched fists.
"It's about Sunset Shimmer," I said, forcing the words out. "I think I… might have a crush on..." Freezing, I mouthed Sunset’s name, and Princess Twilight's eyes flared in surprise. And, to be honest, I recoiled a little after seeing her reaction, not expecting the sudden stuttering. Like ripping off a band-aid, I flung the pillow in her direction and hugged my knees.
"Uh, I..." the Princess stammered, "I didn't know I liked girls like that—not that I'm opposed to it or anything. It's just that the thought never entered my mind." She paused for a brief moment and offered a cheeky, yet supportive smile. "Still, I guess I can see why."
"She's wonderful," I gushed, letting my heart swell with excitement. "She's so... cool and calm and kind. Just something about her screams mellow—and yes, I know I'm contradicting myself, but she's so—"
I cut myself off before my cheeks began to heat up again.
"Talking pillow," she chided, and we both immediately giggled like schoolchildren.
Looking towards the door, our minds clicked into place again as we both spoke up. "We should head out."
"—and so Mrs. Star Crossed walks in and catches her husband just straight-up mackin' with one of their students—in her classroom, on her desk, no less! And then, after they were caught, Mr. Criss Crossed was all like, 'I thought you were at the AP review,' like it was her fault." Rainbow Dash, after finishing her story, took a deep breath.
"Oh, no, not Mrs. Crossed." Rarity groaned. "Wasn't that her third husband?"
"That's awful," Fluttershy cried, cringing at the story. "She doesn't deserve that."
"It's almost like all her relationships are doomed to fail," Rainbow Dash answered back. "Thank goodness he isn't teaching anymore. We could have gotten that creep for math this year."
"Ew," the group exclaimed collectively.
"Oh hey, Twilights!" Pinkie greeted cheerfully, immediately changing the subject to the two of us standing at the opening of the hall.
"Did'ja finish making out?" Rainbow teased, nearly spilling over the back of Sunset's tiny couch.
"Yes," we answered in unison, humoring her comment, "and it was awesome."