Chasing Shadows

by Yukito

19 - Parting Ways

“What do you mean we can’t go back?!” Sunset shouted as she tried to push past Rainbow and Applejack, who were using all of their strength to hold her back. “You brought me back to this Country without any guarantee of returning to the US?!”

“I-It was a slight slipup,” Shield said as he took refuge behind Chrysalis. Chrysalis herself found the situation amusing and was barely containing her laughter. “I thought the lab guys would have it all worked out, and didn’t really put much thought into it…”

“You idiot!” Sunset shouted as she fired a blast of magic at Shield’s horn, causing him to yelp and jump back.

“Now now,” Chrysalis said as she approached Sunset Shimmer. “Take it easy. After you all left, I asked our boss how you would be returning. He realised our blunder, and immediately set a team to work on a way to bring you all back.”

“And?” Rarity asked. “Is there a way?”

“There is,” Chrysalis said, drawing a sigh of relief from everyone. “But it will take a few days to put it together. Once they’re ready, they will send an agent to pick us up.”

“A few days?” Sunset asked, looking over at Princess Celestia with a grim look on her face.

“That ain’t so bad,” Applejack said. “It’ll be like a vacation.”

“One where I can fly!” Rainbow Dash shouted, jumping in the air and attempting to flap her wings… only to crash to the ground. “What the hay? I could do it before…”

“And you could show us where you grew up!” Pinkie Pie suggested.

“I’d rather not,” Sunset said quietly, turning her head away and frowning. “But… I guess I could show you around Canterlot, since there’s nothing better to do.”

---

It had been three days since the day that Sombra was defeated and detained. Until the agent from the human world arrived, Sombra was placed under heavy security in Canterlot’s castle, monitored closely by two Generals at all times to ensure he did not escape.

When Twilight’s friends encountered themselves from another world, it took a long time, and one burst of magic from Princess Celestia, to settle them down and explain everything that had happened.

The group from the other world had been spending the past two days in Canterlot, and on the third day decided to visit Ponyville and enjoy some company with… well, themselves.

“This is so cool!” Twilight said as she ran around her two identical brothers. “Not just one, but two B.B.B.F.F.s! I have to run so many tests to see just how identical you are! I wonder if your hoofprints are the same? It will be the first time ever in history of two ponies sharing identical hoofprints!”

“Twilight-” Princess started.

“And two Cadances, too!” Twilight ran over to the two Cadances and before either one could say anything, began dancing. “Sunshine, sunshine!”

The Cadances sighed together, and then both joined in. “Ladybugs awake! Claps your hooves/hands-” The two looked at each other and giggled. “Hooves, and do a little shake!”

The five ponies all laughed together. Twilight had never been happier in her entire life. “Heart-warming,” their guest said from her spot on Twilight’s couch, her breathing heavy and a foreleg over her forehead. “Any chance you could get back to our original question, though?” Chrysalis asked.

Twilight took a cautious step back. Even though she had been made aware that this was not the same changeling Queen who had tried to overthrow Equestria twice already, she still didn’t feel comfortable being around someone who resembled her so much. “R-Right. You, er, said you were feeling feverish?”

“And sluggish,” Chrysalis responded. “Can barely stay awake sometimes…”

“What’s wrong with her?” Heart asked in a worried voice.

“I’m sure she’s just faking it,” Shield said. “She’s just trying to get some time off work when we get back by pretending she caught some kinda new flu from this place.”

“That’s not it,” Twilight said. “She’s a changeling, not a pony.”

“That’s right,” Heart muttered. “Captain and Princess told us about the changelings. They feed off of love…”

“They don’t just do it for pleasure though,” Twilight told them. “I mean, they do, but it’s also a necessity for their survival. What Chrysalis is experiencing is a form of changeling malnutrition, from not feeding off of any love for three full days.”

“So, she needs to feed off our love, or she’ll die?” Shield asked, his face turning pale at the thought.

“So be it,” Chrysalis said, rolling onto her side to face Shield and spreading her forelegs open. “C’mon, Shiny. Looks like we have no choice.”

A blush formed across both Shield and Captain’s faces. “W-What are you saying?!” Shield shouted.

“Let’s be professional about this,” Chrysalis said. “It’s necessary, remember?”

Twilight cleared her throat and stepped in front of her two big brothers. “When I say ‘feeding off of love’, I mean you simply absorb love as if it were energy. That’s all.”

Chrysalis rolled back onto her back. “Oh. How boring.” Shield sighed. “So? How do I do that?”

Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought. “From what I’ve read about changelings since their attack on Canterlot, little ones who can’t feed themselves consciously are fed by being exposed to so much love, it simply seeps into their systems.”

Princess nodded. “There isn’t much information on it, but one of our spies who has been watching the changelings has reported that they usually place a who group of youngling into a room and soak the room in collected love. Another method they used to do was to sneak a youngling into a honeymoon suite. Passionate lovemaking between a young couple offers the purest and richest of love, apparently.”

All eyes fell on Princess, who looked around at everypony with a confused look on her face. “What?”

“Passionate lovemaking by a young couple…” Shield muttered to himself.

Princess’ eyes widened and her face turned red. “N-Now hold on, I wasn’t suggesting anything by that.”

“But we have no choice, right?” Captain asked Shield, the slightest hint of a smirk on his face. “Your friend will die if we do nothing.”

“You’re right,” Shield said with a nod. “A true friend helps a friend in need!”

“Since when were you and her so close?” Heart asked in a deadpan tone. “Anyway, what you’re suggesting is a little…”

“Hey guys,” Spike said as he entered the room, catching everypony by surprise and causing them to jump. “Um… am I interrupting something.”

“Not at all!” Twilight said quickly, rushing over to the baby dragon. “What is it?”

“I just got this letter from the Princess,” he said. “She said that the agent from the other world has arrived, and you’re all good to go back.”

An excited look formed on everyone’s faces, save for Chrysalis, who was groaning in pain and agony, and Twilight, whose face fell at the news. “I see,” she said quietly, turning to face her two brothers and two former-foalsitters.

“Twilie?” Shield asked. “Hey, c’mon now. It’s only one of me that’s going. You’ll still have your real bro.”

“I know, but… I wrote a whole list of things the five of us could together, but now we won’t get the chance.” The four ponies shared a laugh together, each of them knowing just how seriously Twilight took checklists and how upset she got when something broke her schedule.

Twilight furrowed her brow and turned around, her face red. “Oh, forget it! I’m going to find the others and let them know!”

“I’ll go with you!” Spike said, hopping onto Twilight’s back as she walked towards the door.

“… Behave yourselves while I’m gone,” she said to the four in a flat tone. “Try to control yourselves, okay?”

The four ponies blushed, and Twilight left the library to find her friends’ counterparts and tell them the good news.

---

Rarity and Rarity both sank into the bathtub at the spa and gave long, relaxed sighs together. “This is simple marvellous,” Rarity said.

“It is indeed,” Rarity said. “Back in my world, the spa around the corner was torn down recently, so now I must relax in my own bathtub at home.”

“How simply dreadful,” Rarity said with a gasp. “Why, if anything happened to the spa here in Ponyville, it would be the WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!”

“No no, the worst possible thing would be if all baths were replaced by-“ A gasp escaped Rarity’s lips, “SHOWERS!”

The two Raritys fainted at the thought, until a familiar voice snapped them out of it. “Uh, Rarity?” The two looked up to see Twilight approaching.

---

A bunch of apples fell from the tree’s branches after a good buck from Applejack and collected into the basket below. “Now you try!”

Applejack nodded and positioned herself before the next tree. Carefully, making sure she had her balance, she raised her hind legs, and bucked. A few apples fell, but not as many as before.

“Not bad for a first-timer,” Applejack commented.

“Ah’m used ta usin’ ladders and pluckin’ the apples,” Applejack admitted, “But this is a much more fun way ta go ‘bout it.”

“Applejack!”

“Well hey Twilight,” the two Applejacks said in unison as they turned to their friend approaching them.

“Applejack, good news!”

---

“That’s it!” Rainbow Dash shouted down to her partner as she soared through the air. “Key thing to remember if you’re a beginner: don’t look down!”

“Pfft! Yeah right!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she flapped her wings harder to gain some lift. “I ain’t afraid of nothin’!”

“So how is it?” Rainbow Dash asked with a grin. “Flying’s pretty sweet, huh?”

“You bet!”

“Rainbow Dash!”

“Huh? Is that Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked as she and the other Rainbow Dash both looked down towards the ground.”

“Look out for that-” THUD! THUD! “… Tree…”

---

Fluttershy smiled as she watched the group of hedgehogs eating the food from her hoof. “Oh my, they’re so cute. You’re so lucky to have so many animals.”

“Don’t you take care of animals, too?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh, I do, but they’re at an animal shelter. Not my home. But I do have a few pets that I adopted, like my sweet little Angel Bunny, and Mr. Mumbles.”

“It sounds wonderful,” Fluttershy said. “What about… d-dragons?” she asked, her ears drooping at the thought of the titanous beasts.

“Oh. Um, no. Dragons don’t live in our world.” Fluttershy put a hoof to her chin. “At least, I don’t think they do. But there are still so many different types of animals. Literally millions. When I grow up, I want to travel the world and see them all.”

“That sounds nice,” Fluttershy said with a dreamy smile.

“Fluttershy!” Twilight shouted as she descended down towards her friends. The hedgehogs that Fluttershy was feeding jumped with a start and ran away. “Oh, I’m so sorry! But I’ve got great news!”

---

Pinkie Pie narrowed her eyes as she scanned the area around her. She could see a market stall selling bananas, Lyra, Bon Bon, a fountain with a statue of Celestia on it, Time Turner…

“Ah-hah!” Pinkie Pie hopped forward and pounced Time Turner, grabbing the zipper on his back and removing his skin. “I gotcha!”

“Wow! That was great!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she jumped out of Time Turner’s skin. “Okay, your turn to hide now!”

“Turn around,” Pinkie Pie said. The other Pinkie Pie turned around, and she zipped off down the street, leaving only a cloud of dust in her wake.

“Ready or not, here I come!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she turned around, coming face-to-face with Twilight. “Oh hey Twilight! What’s up?”

“Hi Pinkie,” Twilight said, looking around with a worried look on her face. “Uh, where’s the other Pinkie?”

“Hi Twilight!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she popped up out of the bush next to two. Twilight jumped and put a hoof to her chest, feeling like she was about to have a heart attack. “What’s up?”

Twilight regained her composure, and took a deep, calming breath. “Well…”

---

“I’M GONNA MISS YOOOOOOU!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she held onto her counterpart, streams of tears flying out of her eyes.

“I’M GONNA MISS YOU TOOOOOO!” the other Pinkie Pie cried as she too cried rivers.

“Take care now,” Applejack said. “Say hi to yer folks for me.”

“You too,” the other Applejack said. The two shared a gentle embrace, before one of them grabbed the correct Pinkie Pie by the tail and started dragging her away.

“Man, this suck!” Rainbow Dash complained. “Just when I finally got a chance to fly!”

“I must say, I am going to miss this wonderful world of yours,” Rarity said, before looking down at her hooves. “Although I can’t say I’ll miss walking around barefoot. Blech!”

“Take care Spike,” Fluttershy said, pulling Spike into a big hug whilst nuzzling the top of his head. “I wish I could have asked you more questions about dragons.”

“Okay, is everybody ready?” Blueblood asked as he approached the assembled group. “And most importantly, is everybody here the correct version?”

Everybody nodded together. Shield noticed Princess Celestia staring at Sunset Shimmer, who was in turn staring to the side. “Hey,” he whispered to her, “Don’t you think you should say something before you leave?”

“Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia called out, though that only prompted Sunset to turn her back to the Princess.

“I have nothing to say to you,” Sunset said in the most bitter tone anybody there had ever heard from her.

Celestia simply nodded, and turned her attention towards Shield. “… Take care, Captain Armor.”

“Hey, I’m not a Captain,” Shield laughed nervously. “… You all take care too.”

“Well then, I’ll activate the portal now,” Blueblood said as he pulled the tarp off of a large, strange-looking device. “It’s designed to crumble after use,” he told Celestia. “The higher-ups didn’t feel comfortable leaving this portal here whilst we no longer have any way to defend against your kind, and would only permit this rescue if the portal was a one-time use only. I hope you-”

“I understand,” Celestia said with a nod. Truthfully, she was hurt that the humans seemed to hold so little trust for their kind, but she had heard enough stories from Shield about the human world that she could see where their lack of trust for an alien race came from.

“Everybody, this will sting a bit,” Blueblood warned as he reached a hoof towards a button on the machine. He pressed it, and after a flash of light enveloped the area, they were all gone. Gone back to their own world.

Comments

[Pinklestia]

Well, and here I was thinking somepony would be left behind.

[Emperor]

Huh. So Blueblood's alternate is also a government agent.

Well, let's see what the cover story will be for the girls to have all missed so much school.