//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: ... And Then a Step to the Right // Story: One Night in Canterlot // by MrAskAPirate //------------------------------// Sunset all but stumbled out onto the sidewalk in front of Sugarcube Corner and immediately began pacing, her arms crossed and her head bowed. She slowly brought her breathing back under control, but the chaotic, impossible thoughts spinning through her mind were a completely different matter. This can’t be what it looks like. I can’t have gone back in time; magic just doesn’t work that way on this side of the portal.  She hesitated, tilting her head slightly. Or does it? I’ve only just scratched the surface of trying to understand it, and it is Equestrian magic after all... if it’s possible there, then why not here?  She had barely a moment to ponder those implications before Rarity and Twilight burst from the bakery in hot pursuit. “Sunset!” Rarity gasped. “Oh my, your face is practically as white as mine! What’s wrong? Is there anything we can do to help?” “N-no! Nothing!” Sunset put her hands up defensively, forcing a smile. “Honestly, I’m fine.” Her brow furrowed. “I’m fine?” She held up the hand she’d introduced to Flash’s chin, and flexed it. She then gave her previously sprained knee a tentative bend. No pain. “Huh, I really am fine!” She smiled, hopping up and down on her right leg to accentuate the point before the frown reclaimed its place on her features and she froze in place. “Oh, Celestia, I’m fine. Does that mean… what does that mean?!” “Oookaaay,” Twilight said, turning slightly to Rarity. “I haven’t known you girls for very long; is she usually like this?” “No, this is more akin to something out of Pinkie Pie’s repertoire, to be perfectly honest,” Rarity replied with a shake of her head. “Sunset… please, you’re starting to worry us.” Sunset looked up then, and cringed, recognizing the genuine concern etched on both her friends’ faces. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, but I…” she trailed off, shaking her head and unable to hold back a nervous laugh. “You’re gonna think I’m crazy. I think I might have just traveled back in time.” Rarity and Twilight stared at her for a moment, and the former was the first to speak up. “Traveled back in time as in… like what Princess Twilight was just telling us about?” Sunset shrugged. “More or less? I don’t know, but I literally just got done with this evening and now it’s started all over again.” Twilight and Rarity exchanged puzzled looks, and Sunset sighed in resignation. “You don’t believe me, do you?” “It’s not that, darling,” Rarity said, “but it… well, it just seems like an awfully big coincidence.” “Could it be something else?” Twilight asked “A particularly vivid dream maybe, or some kind of hallucination? A really strong sense of deja vu?” “I hope so,” Sunset admitted with a sigh, putting her hands on her hips. “To be honest, time magic is difficult enough to handle in Equestria, but here?” She shook her head. “We still barely understand anything about how magic works in this world.” Twilight bowed her head in thought and Rarity frowned, but the fashionista’s expression brightened a scant moment later. “Well! Luckily, we have an expert to help us find a solution!” she said with a smile. “I’m sure Twilight will be able to come up with some sort of explanation.” “What?!” Twilight gasped, her glasses sliding down her nose. “Me?” “Oh, terribly sorry dear! I was referring to Princess Twilight,” Rarity said. “That does get dreadfully confusing at times, doesn’t it?” Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but before she had a chance the door to Sugarcube Corner opened again. The girls all turned in time to catch the brief glower Flash Sentry shot their way before he strode off down the sidewalk in the opposite direction. Sunset sighed as her heart sank a little further. “We should go back inside… I think Princess Twilight may have her own problems to worry about right now.” The party went on a little longer than Sunset expected it to, but it eventually wound down. The last of the guests to leave outside of her immediate circle of friends had been Vinyl Scratch and Lemon Zest, the latter having stayed to help the former pack up and load her DJ equipment into that strange car of hers. That had been almost twenty minutes ago, and now everything was beginning to look familiar again. Rainbow and Pinkie were sweeping up, Fluttershy was taking down the last of the party decorations, and Applejack was no doubt giving some choice words of country wisdom to Rarity and Princess Twilight. Sunset was pleased to see her fellow Equestrian handling the entire situation with Flash much better this time, though she knew most of that had been due to her presence and some well-placed assurances that everything would work out for the best. It had been easy for her to sound confident that Flash would eventually forgive Twilight, even if she hadn’t said why she was so certain. She had even made sure Twilight remembered to eat so the poor girl wouldn’t spend her whole evening on an empty stomach, and Rarity’s suggestion of ‘comfort ice cream’ had gone over well with everyone. Sunset actually found herself licking her lips at the memory. She could’ve sworn that she’d tasted oats mixed in with the vanilla. Still, despite everything the sad frown had never left the Princess’ face for long, and the brightness in her eyes was quite subdued compared to what Sunset was used to seeing. “Are you sure you don’t want to ask her?” the other Twilight, seated next to Sunset, said softly. “Yeah,” Sunset nodded, her eyes never leaving the Princess. “I’ve been thinking about it, and maybe you were right. Maybe I was just daydreaming, or had some kind of stress-induced hallucination.” She smirked. “The past week’s been crazy enough to drive anybody nuts.” Twilight chuckled. “You’re telling me. I’m still trying to wrap my head around all the laws of physics we threw out the window during our,” she paused to clear her throat, “little altercation.” “You and me both,” Sunset agreed. “Anyway, Twilight’s going through enough right now. Even if I did jump back in time a few hours somehow, I can always ask her about it later when she isn’t so… overwhelmed.” Twilight regarded Sunset for a moment, noting that the other girl’s gaze was still focused intently on the Princess. “You really care about her, huh?” Sunset nodded again, more thoughtfully this time. “Even though we don’t spend much time together, I feel like in some ways I’m closer to her than I am to the friends I see every day. The path I was on before I met her would’ve ended in misery and suffering, even though I was too blinded by my own ambition to see it.” She put on a soft, wistful smile as she felt her emotions swell. “I’m not exaggerating when I say she saved my life, and seeing her like this…” she trailed off and sucked in a sudden breath as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Twilight quickly handed her a nearby napkin, and Sunset shook her head as she accepted it. “Sorry. It’s been kind of a rough night... both of them.” “It’s okay,” Twilight gave her a half-hearted smile before turning her gaze to her Equestrian counterpart. “Princess Twilight does seem pretty amazing. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that…” She trailed off suddenly, letting her gaze fall to the table. Sunset quirked her head to one side. “That what?” “Nothing,” Twilight answered a little too quickly. “It’s dumb.” Sunset tilted her head back the other way and raised an eyebrow, fixing Twilight with her best approximation of Applejack’s patent-pending ‘what’ve ya gone and done now’ stare. The bookish girl lasted a respectable two and a half seconds before she caved. “It’s just that… after the Friendship Games you and the others were so kind and welcoming to me, even after all the mistakes I made--and I’m really grateful for that, honest, but...” Twilight paused and bit her lip. “But in the end I was finally able to convince Starlight Glimmer that what she was doing was wrong and restore the original timeline.” Princess Twilight Sparkle paused, taking a bit of a breath as she finished the rather lengthy tale of her recent exploits in Equestria. A moment of silence and blank looks of shock from the other girls followed, though Sunset’s reaction had nothing to do with Princess Twilight’s narrative. “Good gracious!” Rarity said. “I shudder to think of what might’ve happened had you not- Sunset?” she stopped mid-sentence as Sunset slumped in her chair and groaned pitifully. “Hey, my story wasn’t that bad,” Princess Twilight gave a frown that fell somewhere between amused and annoyed. “It’s not that,” Sunset mumbled. “It just happened again.” “What did?” “For some reason I can’t even begin to understand, I’ve jumped back in time twice now,” Sunset leaned forward and rested her chin in her hands. “Every time midnight rolls around I wind up right back here just as Twilight finishes telling us about how she fixed the time traveling mess that kept her from coming to help us during the Friendship Games.” Finished, she sighed heavily. The other three girls looked to one another for a moment before they all grinned and started laughing. “Nice one, Sunset,” Twilight said as she adjusted her glasses. Rarity nodded and smiled. “It was a very convincing performance.” “Yeah, you really had me going there for a second before I realized you were kidding,” Princess Twilight giggled, but her laugh tapered off quickly as she and the others caught on to the deadpan stare Sunset was giving them. “You were kidding, right?” Sunset shook her head. “The first time I thought it was a fluke, like it had just been a hallucination, or some kind of super deja vu like Twilight said.” “I said that?” Twilight echoed as her hand rose to slowly stroke her chin. “Hm, those do sound like plausible theories.” “They were plausible,” Sunset corrected, “now that it’s happened twice I can’t think of anything else that would explain it except for some kind of time magic.” “But something as precise and complicated as time magic shouldn’t be possible here,” Princess Twilight said. “Tell me about it,” Sunset grumbled. She had just begun massaging the bridge of her nose when someone cleared their throat. “Hey girls, sorry for interrupting,” Flash Sentry said as he made his scheduled appearance. “Why, it’s no trouble at all, darling,” Rarity smiled sweetly and gestured to the empty seat between Princess Twilight and Sunset. “Would you like to-” “Actually,” Sunset cut in, “we were kind of in the middle of something, do you mind?” “Uh,” Flash raised an eyebrow. “I was just hoping to talk to Twilight for a second.” “Me?” Princess Twilight blushed. “Uh, sure.” Sunset opened her mouth to protest as Princess Twilight stood and quickly smoothed her skirt. “Hold that thought, I’ll be right back.” “But… ugh!” Sunset groaned as Princess Twilight and Flash disappeared into the kitchen. She turned back to the table, putting her elbows on it and placing her forehead in her palms. “This is bad.” “Oh don’t be silly!” Rarity chided. “Twilight and Flash have been smitten since they first laid eyes on one another.” She breathed a dreamy sigh. “It’s so romantic…” Sunset snorted. “Yeah, except that Twilight’s about to break up with the guy.” Rarity gasped as if she’d been slapped. “Utter nonsense! What could possibly make you think our Twilight would ever do such a thing?” “I’ve seen it happen!” Sunset shot back, no longer able to keep the anger from her voice. “Twice! Twilight breaks up with Flash, he takes it badly and it ends up hurting her just as much as it does him!” Rarity and Twilight could only stare as Sunset continued, her voice gaining intensity and volume with every word. “I tried to tell her that it’ll all work out for the best once he’s had some time to think, but she was miserable for the whole rest of the night anyway!” She pointed at Rarity. “Then you suggest that we all eat some comfort ice cream--which was freaking amazing by the way; I didn’t even realize they had something like vanilla oat swirl in this dimension--and then you,” this time she pointed to Twilight, “keep trying to tell me something that’s clearly bothering you, but every time I jump back you get cut off right before you say what it is, and I’m-” She stopped, suddenly and acutely aware that almost every eye in the room was now upon her save for Rainbow, Indigo, and a few of their more dedicated video game audience members. Even Vinyl had turned down the volume and was glancing at Sunset over the tops of her purple shades while Lemon Zest held her earphones in her hands, a mixed look of confusion and concern painted across both their faces. “Uh,” Sunset swallowed hard as he cheeks flushed with heat. “Sorry.” “Yes!” Rainbow Dash’s whooping victory cry and celebratory pose stole the room’s focus away at the best possible moment. “Oh yeah! Who’s awesome?” Sunset tuned out the rest of Rainbow and Indigo’s clashing egos and breathed a sigh of defeat, slumping forward onto the table with a muffled ‘thunk’ as her forehead met the surface. “Sweet Celestia, I sound like a complete madwoman, don’t I?” “Actually,” Rarity began hesitantly, “I… I confess, I’ve been craving vanilla oat swirl ice cream for the last week but I just haven’t found the proper excuse to indulge myself. It is my comfort food of choice for romance-related situations, and if Princess Twilight were upset about her relationship with Flash… well, it certainly sounds like something I’d suggest.” Sunset’s head popped up after a brief pause, giving Rarity a focused stare. “So… you’re saying you believe me?” “Well there’s obviously something bothering you,” Rarity offered, “and I must admit, after everything Canterlot High has been through this past year I find that I have very little incredulity left when it comes to so-called ‘impossible’ things. I’m certain the other girls feel the same way.” Sunset’s face brightened she and Rarity shared small smiles. She turned to Twilight. “What about you?” “What?” Twilight’s glasses fell down to the tip of her nose as she gave a start. “What do you mean what about me?” “There’s something bothering you, isn’t there?” “Um,” Twilight narrowed her eyes and readjusted her glasses. “I don’t think so.” Sunset visibly deflated a little, and Twilight put her hands up defensively. “B-but, that doesn’t mean I’m not willing to believe you!” She grinned sheepishly. “A week ago I didn’t even know magic existed, and now here I am talking to a former unicorn and hanging out with a pony princess version of myself from another dimension. Time travel?” She shrugged. “Why not?” Sunset teared up a little, gratitude welling up within her chest at the faith her friends had for her, but before she could express it Flash Sentry made his expected exit. Sunset once again found herself briefly catching his gaze as he strode past and out the door. Despite how it still twisted her stomach into knots, she couldn’t help but grin just a little at the wide eyes and open mouths of her friends. She was fairly certain Rarity’s remaining incredulity had just walked out the door along with Flash, and she could practically smell smoke as she watched the gears of Twilight’s normally agile mind grind to a halt. “That guy left in a hurry and looked really unhappy about something,” Sugarcoat deadpanned as she and Fluttershy joined them, the latter nodding. “I don’t think I’ve seen Flash look so angry since the Battle of the Bands. Is everything all right?” Twilight and Rarity looked to Sunset, who heaved a heavy sigh. “No, Fluttershy… it is definitely not.”