3: Speculation
Dear Diary,
I think Sunset Shimmer hates me.
I don’t know what I did wrong. Everything seemed fine until lunchtime. A trio of girls I didn’t recognize came up to me and told me that Sunset was bad news, and that I should stay away from her for my own good. I didn’t even get their names.
Later in class Sunset seemed really angry for some reason but didn’t say much up until I accidentally spilled the jar of glitter all over her. Someone shouted “Look at Sunset-Sparkle!” and then the whole class started laughing. She started yelling at me saying that I was just like all the others, and that I was a jerk and a bully.
It hurt a lot, and it made me cry. I guess I didn’t really stop until mom came to pick me up and take me home. She gave me a lot of hugs and some candy, but I still don’t understand what I did wrong or what I’m supposed to do about it.
☹
Twilight Sparkle
“Twily? Twily!”
Twilight groaned and slowly opened her eyes.
There was a bright light shining down on her, forcing her to squint. She could just barely make out the shadowed form of her brother looking down over her.
“Thank goodness you’re alright,” Shining Armor said, clasping her hand tightly. “When they told me you had been brought to the hospital…”
Twilight heard an unfamiliar voice sigh. “You don’t have to worry, Mister Armor. She’s perfectly fine, physically. From what you’ve told me of her medical history, all signs point to this being a mental breakdown. Perhaps a bit on the extreme side of PTSD symptoms, but not unheard of.”
“What’s going on? Where am I?” Twilight asked, sitting up and blinking tears out of her eyes.
“You’re in the hospital, sweetie,” Cadance said from the opposite side of the bed.
The hospital? Why would she be in…
Her memory returned in a flash, along with the reason she had been freaking out in the first place. All things considered, it was a pretty damned good one.
Twilight stiffened, her eyes widening, and she heard a formerly steady beeping sound in the room hasten. It had probably just been a nightmare, right? There’s no way what she had seen was actually real.
“Woah, woah, Twily, it’s okay. You’re safe, we’re here for you. Nothing bad is going to happen, okay?” Shining Armor said, as if he were trying to calm a spooked horse.
Twilight clenched her teeth together, then closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. She could handle this.
Her heart rate slowed, and she opened her eyes to glance between her brother and sister. “What happened to me, exactly?”
Shining Armor shared a look with Cadance, then squeezed Twilight’s hand once more. “Someone called 911 with a report that a girl had passed out in Sugarcube Corner. I didn’t attend the call myself, but when I found out it was you I rushed here straight away.”
“I see.” She had hoped for some sort of external validation to prove that her memories simply could not be.
“Do… you not remember what happened?” Cadance asked, her eyes concerned.
Twilight bit her lip. “I... I’m not really sure. It’s all a bit of a blur.”
“It’s a common response to triggers to not be able to process what happens slightly before and after,” the tall man in the back corner of the room said, presumably her doctor. “Of course, I’m just a medical doctor, not a therapist. I understand you’re already a patient of Doctor Two Rivers, correct?”
“...Yes, that’s correct,” Twilight said. Because that was just what she needed. More therapy.
Actually, it probably was, but she had bigger things to accomplish than wallowing in her own mental health problems for the rest of her life. Before she had started freaking out, those girls had been about to tell her something. And it had sounded important.
“Who called 911?” Twilight asked.
Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. “Like I said, I didn’t see the scene myself, but I think it was a teenage girl, a local. Part of a group of five or six others. I was planning to go follow up with them later.”
“Twilight,” Cadance said, looking her directly in the eyes. “Did they hurt you in any way?”
Twilight blinked, then shook her head. “No. I was just out trying to make some friends, like you guys are always suggesting. They were a bit weird, but nice.”
Cadance didn’t look like she entirely believed her, but she didn’t press the issue further.
“In any case,” the doctor said, grabbing a clipboard off of the wall, “we’d like to run a few more tests and keep an eye on you, just to make sure there’s nothing else going on here. It shouldn’t take too long, and you should still be able to go home tonight.”
Twilight nodded, sighing. “That’s fine, I guess. Look… can I be alone for a bit? I need to think about some things.”
Shining Armor frowned, then nodded and stood up. “Alright. I need to get back to work anyway. And I’ve already called Mom and Dad, Twily. After something like this, we’re going to have to seriously re-evaluate this plan of yours.”
Twilight clenched her teeth. “Did you get my purse?”
Cadance nodded, pointing over to the corner where her stuff sat in a pile, including the purple pony plushie from the fair. That was a good sign. Probably.
“If that’s the case, Missus Amore, I need you to come with me and fill out some paperwork.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Cadance asked, placing a hand on her forehead. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”
Twilight forced herself to smile. “Of course, Sis. Thanks for caring.”
Her brother said his goodbyes, and after a few minutes, Twilight was left on her own.
First things first, she gathered up her purse and checked her phone. In it were a few selfies that she had taken with Applejack, as well as the girl’s phone number.
That was a good sign. Between that and the plush, the events of the day hadn’t been a twisted figment of her imagination.
But she had seen Sunset Shimmer.
Not even just a ghostly reminder of the girl she once knew, but Sunset Shimmer as she would have looked as a young adult.
There’s no way such a thing was possible. Unless…
Twilight stared down at a blank piece of notepad paper, tapping a pen against her chin.
There were really only two basic possibilities here.
One: What she saw was a figment of her imagination—a waking nightmare, or a vivid hallucination.
That would mean that her mental health had deteriorated to the point where she was literally going crazy, and could no longer trust her own observations of the world around her. A death knell as sure as any for a would-be scientist. If that were the case, even now, she could still be imagining herself thinking through this, locked up in a padded cell somewhere. As far as hypotheses went, it left a lot to be desired.
Two: What she saw was in some way, shape or form, real.
Twilight stared at the page. It was a simple fork in the road. One way led to a madness she knew she would be unable to recover from. The other had the potential to shatter everything she held to be true about this world.
Had that been what Applejack was trying to warn her about? Did they all know about her somehow?
Even now, her memory was beginning to fail her. As she tried to recall exactly what she had seen, her mind was beginning to replace the face of the older Sunset with that of the child she had known and loved.
“Memory is fallible,” Twilight said out loud, scribbling the words on the page. “I know that much.”
If it was real, then how?
It was time for a brainstorming session.
Hallucinogenic drugs
- Would show up in blood tests.
- No additional side effects or symptoms caused by known drugs.
Am going insane.
- Would prefer this not to be the answer.
Elaborate smoke and mirrors / hologram set up.
- Technology isn’t quite there yet. Plus, why her, and why would a setup like that be in a pastry shop?
Ghost
ghosts aren't real stupidWhy would the ghost age, instead of staying a kid?
kids are creepier
Why would the ghost of Sunset Shimmer be haunting a pastry shop several states over?
those five girls are necromancers
Undead
VampireWas not on fire
Sparklepire- if this is one of those stories i quit
Lichchallenge rating 20, not high enough level to be an appropriate encounter.
Shapeshifter
- Why would a shapeshifter take the form of Sunset Shimmer?
Aliens
as seen on the “history” channel- Takes the form of something pulled from my memories?
Government black ops gaslighting campaign
- I don’t think I’ve done anything to piss them off.
- Would be easier to just kill me or hire me.
Evil twin from mirror-versedoes not have a goatee
fey court trickerymagicResurrection
If she came back to life, why wouldn’t she tell me?
- amnesia?
Long lost twin sister
I think her dad would have mentioned something.- if she was long lost then of course he wouldn’t have known. It’s not like I ever knew why her mom left.
- let’s leave this one as ‘plausible’
- clone
Robot duplicate
- why would someone build a robot shaped like an older Sunset Shimmer?
Time travel?
timey wimey
COMPLETELY RANDOM COINCIDENCE- Multiverse theory???
She didn’t have anything concrete to work with, of course; there simply wasn’t any evidence to work from. The simple act of charting her thoughts down, however, gave her a mental framework with which she could begin to dissect and analyze the problem, even if most of her answers were patently absurd.
Sunset Shimmer… if she, or something that looked like her existed here in Ponyville, then there would have to be a footprint somewhere. Twilight pulled out her phone and, her fingers trembling slightly, punched her name into the search engine.
The first result was an old obituary article from seven years ago, of course. It was her phone, after all; it would default to her regional searching preferences, rather than anything useful to the situation at hand.
Twilight took a deep breath, then limited the search parameters to Ponyville and the surrounding area. The name popped up in a few places. There were a few blog posts, a few results that had nothing to do with her name at all and just happened to involve the two words in her name individually, a crappy poem. Finally, she opened one that looked promising: an article about local girls involved in a bake sale.
The article itself was pretty amateur school newspaper stuff. Something about a bake sale to support an animal shelter. That quiet girl from earlier, Fluttershy’s, name came up a lot. At the end of the article, she found what she was looking for, her breath catching in her throat.
It was just a simple picture, featuring the five girls she had met today dressed in aprons and handing out baked goods.
And Sunset Shimmer was with them.
Well, that was that, then. Unless she was still hallucinating, she could strike crazy off of her list. Probably. It still felt like a dream somehow, like she was swimming through gallons of mayonnaise.
Twilight zoomed in on the picture, her vision blurry. It was completely impossible, but there it was, plain as day. The caption even referred to her by name. Had she not already seen her in person earlier today, she’d be tempted to claim it was just a really professional photoshop job.
With a shudder, Twilight turned off the phone. It was just a picture of her dead best friend seemingly come back to life, as old as she should be today. There was a no reason to get all weepy and emotional about it; she was a scientist, and she had to approach this from a rational perspective.
There were a lot of questions here, and she was going to get answers.
Sunset Shimmer sat on Pinkie’s living room couch, her legs pulled up against her chest. There was a sinking feeling of dread in her stomach, which was matched by the atmosphere of the room, her friends all sitting around in silence. One of those stupid cat clocks ticked back and forth, making everything seem just a little more oppressive.
There was a loud ding from the kitchen, and Pinkie Pie leapt up, her hair returning to its usual poof. “Ooh, cookies are done!”
As Pinkie disappeared around the corner, Sunset yawned and stretched herself out. She wasn’t really hungry, but it was as good of an icebreaker as anything.
“Do you think she’ll call us if she’s okay?” Fluttershy asked, her voice a bare whimper.
Applejack let out a long sigh. “I dunno, Fluttershy. I gave her my number when we were at the fair, but it ain’t like she knew us for all of ten minutes before, well…” Applejack glanced over towards Sunset and she winced.
“I’m sorry,” Sunset said, lowering her eyes.
“What do you have to apologize for?” Rainbow Dash asked from her position leaning against the wall. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I mean, this time. To her, anyway. Whatever this Twilight’s problem is, it’s her own.”
Sunset groaned, burying her face in her hands. “Didn’t you see the way she looked at me? Even after years of being a bully, even after literally turning into a demon, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so utterly terrified of me. If there’s another Twilight, then there’s probably another Sunset around somewhere, right? What sort of horrible things did I do to her to earn a reaction like that…?”
Rainbow Dash growled, stomping across the room and slammed her foot down on the coffee table as Sunset looked up to meet her gaze. “That. Wasn’t. You. I don’t care if this world’s Sunset literally committed genocide! You’re you, and the only person you have to answer for is yourself.”
“Rainbow Dash,” Rarity began, her voice level, “I appreciate the impassioned speech you’re trying to make and all, but please don’t go leaving footprints on the Pie Family’s coffee table. It’s quite rude.”
Sunset snorted, and almost felt herself smile, but it quickly faded. “For want of a nail, right? Thanks for having faith in me, Dash, but from where I’m sitting that nail looks pretty flimsy.”
Rainbow Dash grunted, then spun around and flopped into the armchair instead, folding her arms across her chest.
“Girl’s got a point, Shim,” Applejack said, tapping a foot on the ground. “The Twilight I met was pretty different, than, uh, Princess Twilight. I mean, she’s best friends with the pony versions of all of us, right? And I think you mentioned that she’s the personal student of Princess Celestia, who apparently got a way better deal on that side than being principal of a school. I figure a girl who grows up without any of that might be a little more on the ornery side than one who does.”
Sunset nodded. It made sense, of course. But on the other hoof, it equally applied to her. Princess Celestia had done her best with her, and she had still ended up turning into a monster. What would she be like without even that temperance?
“I think we’re rushing to conclusions, if you ask me,” Rarity said, pulling out her phone. “All we know is that there’s another Twilight, and that she had a panic attack. Rather than sitting around speculating about it, the best way to get real answers is to wait for a chance to talk with those involved. Or, to see if we can find something on the internet.”
With a growing frown, Rarity poked at her phone until she swore under her breath. “Ugh, I can never get a good signal here. Pinkie, can we borrow your laptop?”
“Sure thing, Rarity!” Pinkie cried out, zipping out from the kitchen with a plate of cookies in one hand and a laptop in the other. She set them both on the coffee table, then sat on the floor and began shoveling cookies into her mouth.
They smelled heavenly, and despite her earlier feelings, the audible growling of Sunset’s stomach betrayed her. She decided to dig in while Rarity booted up the computer.
“Eugh,” Rarity said, scrunching up her nose. “Goodness, Pinkie, you really need to learn to wash your hands before using this thing.”
Pinkie Pie giggled, then held up her fingers, covered in cookie crumbs and dabs of melted chocolate, and waggled them at Rarity.
The girls gathered around the table, and the good food and lighthearted banter was able to lift their spirits somewhat.
“Now, let’s see here,” Rarity said as she typed away. “She’s from Baltimare, yes? So we’ll start off by searching for Twilight Sparkle there.”
“Isn’t this kind of, like, stalking or something?” Rainbow Dash asked, spraying cookie crumbs through the air.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Dash,” Applejack said, rolling her eyes. “And yeah, probably. But it’s not like we mean her any harm or nothing, we’re just trying to figure some things out.”
“Alright, I’ve got a few results here. Twilight Sparkle graduates high school at the age of sixteen, local science award, local prodigy accepted into Hayvard, and so on.” Rarity simpered. “Well, it looks like she wasn’t exaggerating.”
“I wonder if she’ll become a princess, too?” Fluttershy mumbled, her eyes somewhat distant. When the others turned to look at her she blushed and added, “Oh, um, I mean I wonder if she’ll go into politics or something.”
Sunset shook her head. “I doubt it. Equestrian politics are a little, uh, different from this world’s. I don’t really feel like getting into an explanation right now, but Princess Twilight didn’t really seek out a position of rulership herself. The responsibility more sort of fell on her after she proved herself in various ways.”
“Mmmhmm. Nothing here about politics,” Rarity said.
“Figures,” Applejack said. “Speaking of Princess Twilight, why don’t we just ask her for her take on the situation? Might be a bit more insightful than some old internet articles.”
Sunset reached into her bag and pulled out her journal. “I already sent her a brief message letting her know that I needed to talk to her and it’s kind of important. She hasn’t responded yet, but that’s not too abnormal. She’s a busy mare.”
Pinkie Pie giggled, then switched to the other side of the table to lean over Rarity’s shoulder. “Ooh, search for Sunset next!”
Sunset crossed her arms over her stomach and sat back. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to know at this point. She probably should have done this sort of research on her alternate dimensional counterpart a long time ago, but when she had first arrived in this world she had been too preoccupied with trying to survive, and, since it had never come up again until now, she had never given it much thought.
“Let’s see here… Sunset… Sunset… Ah, here we are, it’s…” Rarity’s eyes widened and she grew pale. “Oh no…”
It felt like a knife twisting in Sunset’s heart as she watched Pinkie’s face fall along with Rarity’s, the girl’s hair suddenly barely standing up at all.
“What? What is it?” Rainbow Dash asked, standing up and moving over to see. The rest of the girls quickly followed suit.
Sunset got there last, and it took her a moment for her to get into a position where she could see the compact screen. When she finally saw what was on the page, she wasn’t really sure how to respond.
“I’m… she’s dead,” Sunset muttered. She felt herself wobble, and suddenly Rainbow Dash and Applejack were there, steadying her and helping her sit down.
Fluttershy’s eyes were wide and already full of tears. “It says she was only ten…” she sniffed, and then started crying in earnest. Rarity wrapped her in a hug, rocking her back and forth.
The obituary included a picture, and Sunset leaned forward, getting a better look. It was weirdly familiar, but at the same time, uncannily different. She had never known what she looked like as a human filly.
“Hiking accident, huh?” Sunset mumbled. Her voice came out hollow. “Never thought that’s what would do me in.”
Applejack put an arm around her shoulder and squeezed, pulling her in tight. The embrace was quickly joined by both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.
The warmth and magic of friendship. She had that, now, and she felt herself smile, even as her tears began to fall. But she wasn’t the one who needed it right now.
“Twilight,” Sunset said, her voice cracking slightly. “Not only did I probably bully her relentlessly and Celestia knows what else, but she saw me and thought she was looking at a literal ghost. No wonder she reacted the way she did.”
Rarity reached over and grasped her shoulder tightly. “It’s not your fault, Sunset. Just as Rainbow so eloquently articulated earlier, whatever happened between the two of them has nothing to do with you.”
Sunset leaned back and closed her eyes, and they held the embrace for some time.
Eventually, Sunset wiped at her eyes, sniffing quietly. “Alright, enough of that. What do we do about this?”
“Isn’t there some way we can help her?” Fluttershy asked, her eyes red and her nose runny. “Poor Twilight…”
Pinkie Pie smiled faintly, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Maybe we could throw her a party? I don’t know what kind of party would work, though…”
“We were planning to tell her the truth anyway, right?” Applejack said, wiping at her brow. “If she still wants to know, I think we should. Might still be able to make friends with the girl.”
Sunset pulled her knees in close. “If that’s the plan, then I should probably sit this one out. There’s no need for me to hurt her any more than I already have, right?”
“Now darling, I think we’re being a bit hasty again, and—”
The doorbell rang, interrupting Rarity. Pinkie Pie immediately dashed to the door and threw it open. “Hiya!”
Sunset couldn’t see who was at the door from where she was sitting, but she could hear a stiff male voice from just around the corner. “Excuse me, Ma'am. My name is Officer Shining Armor. I’m given to understand that you and your friends placed an emergency call earlier today involving a girl who suddenly collapsed in Sugarcube Corner. If possible, I’d like to come in and ask you a couple questions regarding the incident.”
Pinkie Pie narrowed her eyes, and her voice was thick with suspicion. “I dunno… Do you got a warrant?”
“Don’t be rude, Pinkie,” Rarity snapped, rolling her eyes. “He’s just trying to do his job.” She got up to join her at the door. “Of course you can come in, darling, and we’ll be happy to answer your questions. We just baked cookies if you’d like some. Fresh out of the oven.”
The cop laughed as he stepped into the room, a wide grin on his face. “I’m afraid I’ll have to pass, Ma’am. Wife’s been keeping me on a diet. Still, I appreciate the—”
Shining Armor froze when his eyes fell on Sunset Shimmer. She saw the same expression that she had seen from Twilight hours earlier. Recognition, then fear.
Instead of shifting to pure terror and panic, however, this time it switched to anger.
“What the hell are you?” Shining Armor growled, his hand moving down to rest on his holster.
Rarity immediately planted herself in front of him as the others all stood up in unison. “Officer, please. I assure you, there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for this, and we’ll be happy to explain it to you. I beg you, don’t do anything rash.”
Sunset wished she could curl up into a ball and disappear.
Shining Armor took a deep breath, but his eyes remained a blazing inferno. “A reasonable explanation as to why a little girl I helped bury seven years ago is apparently all grown up and sitting in your living room?”
Standing up shakily, Sunset pushed her way forward through her protective shield of friends. “It’s okay, girls.”
The girls let her pass warily, not taking their eyes off of Shining Armor.
“You’re Twilight’s older brother, right? Shining Armor?” Sunset asked, looking him right in the eye.
Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. “You say that like it’s something you don’t already know.”
Sunset shook her head. “The full explanation is long and complicated, and more than a little unbelievable. The short version is this. I’m the Sunset Shimmer from a dimension parallel to this one. I crossed over about four years ago and have been living here ever since. Up until about ten minutes ago when we looked it up online, I had no idea that the Sunset Shimmer of this world was deceased. I apologize for any grief my appearance has caused you or your family.”
Shining Armor stared at her blankly for several moments before he reached up and pinched at his nose. “That’s… as reasonable of an explanation as any, I suppose, for something so clearly impossible. You go to Canterlot High then, right? I’ve heard your name come up before at the station, but it was never documented because you’re a minor, and I always dismissed it as a coincidence.”
“I… haven’t always been a model citizen,” Sunset said, biting her lip, “but I’ve been doing my best to turn over a new leaf recently.”
The others nodded and murmured their support, but grew silent when Shining Armor looked over them, eyes hard as diamond. “Very well then. Miss Shimmer, I’d like to talk to you in private.”
“I see. Okay.” Sunset moved forward to follow him, but Rainbow Dash tugged on her sleeve, her eyes fierce. Sunset shook her head, then pulled herself free, following Shining Armor into the kitchen.
Shining Armor leaned against the far wall, tapping his foot against the floor rapidly. About a minute passed in silence, before he finally spoke up. “Alright. I don’t even want to get into what it means if what you’re telling me is true. Trying to understand that crap just isn’t me.
“It all pales in comparison to the important point in all of this anyway.” Shining Armor crossed over to where Sunset was standing in two long strides and leaned in over her, pressing his arm against the kitchen cabinet. “You need to stay the hell away from my little sister.”
Sunset felt herself tense up. She was no stranger to intimidation, and he was clearly a natural.
Shining Armor pulled back, a strained smile on his face. "I never really even liked her. Sunset, the real Sunset Shimmer, that is. She was a brat, bossy, arrogant, always telling Twilight what to do, distracting her from her studies and getting her in trouble.
“But you know what?” Shining Armor asked, running a hand through his hair. “Twilight adored her. She followed her all around like a lost puppy dog, hanging on her every word. They were BFFs when Twilight had no one before. And even as Sunset threatened to drag Twilight down with her own bad behavior, Twilight was a positive influence on her. They probably would have evened out somewhere in the middle.”
Shining Armor turned back to glare at Sunset. As angry as he was, his eyes betrayed a deep sadness behind them. “And then Sunset died, Twilight was there to see it, and it fucking destroyed her. Seven years later and she still wakes up screaming sometimes. She fakes it, a lot. She thinks we can’t tell, but we can. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen her smile or laugh and mean it.
“I… fucking shit.” Shining Armor choked, then turned around, covering his eyes with his hand. “It doesn’t take many people to carry a child sized coffin, you know. It was just me and her father. I’m not even sure why I volunteered. I was barely even an adult myself, but when I looked at my baby sister I just...”
Shining Armor shuddered, then took a deep breath. He barked a short laugh, full of bitterness. “This is getting way too maudlin. Look, you, if you are what you say you are, then it’s nothing personal. But you need to make yourself scarce. She’s been getting better slowly, and you’re the absolute worst thing that could happen to her life right now.”
Without even looking back, Shining Armor exited the kitchen, and then the front door, slamming it behind him.
Sunset Shimmer slumped to the kitchen floor, sobbing, as five faces peered in at her.
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Sorry Shining, but Twilight's not going to leave this alone. If you truly knew your sister, then you know she's going to seek the truth no matter what you do. No matter the universe, no matter the life, some things about Twilight Sparkle remain the same.
I love how level-headed everone one is in this story.
And those images are a nice addition to the story
And now we wait...
Awww. Poor Sunset.
Shining, Sunset has lived in Ponyville for 7 years. Twilight just got there. You can't force Sunset to leave because the newcomer has a problem. Be reasonable.
Well... there goes my suspicion that Sunset is actually the same Sunset from the human world, who fell into Equestria when she fell (because reasons), had amnesia, was trained by Celestia, then ran away and inadvertently returned to the world she didn't remember...
Not that I believed that was a likely outcome, but the thought was there in my brain, and if there was a body to bury then it's no longer a possibility.
Woah, man. This was certainly tense.
Ten bits saying on things not going to go his way. C'mon guys, place your bets! Right side for aye, left side for nay!
I understand why Shining acted like that, but he's a police officer. He can't just threaten people because reasons.
Otherwise, I love how Twilight crossed Magic and Twin from Mirror-verse, but stuck with resurrection.
My emotional baggage is getting worse, now. At first, it was at the level of Bruce Banner's duffle bag in the old TV show. Now it's at such a level that TSA agents are pulling me aside because it looks like I'm unsuccessfully trying to smuggle huge bombs onto a 747.
As irrational as Shiny is being, I completely understand where hes coming from. He's scared for his sister, confused about Sunset and not really sure what to do with all this info. So, as a sort of copeing mechanism, he solves the one problem he can, that being to keep Sunset away from Twilight to avoid any more panic attacks. Is it rational? No but hes not in a rational mindset right now.
Twilight shouldn't have crossed out necromancy; I wouldn't put anything past that Pinkie.
RUDE DUDE
why so rude dude dude
nice pic btw
Hmm, I'll admit the opening was a bit of a shock, I really didn't expect you to start off the fic in that way, but it's a nice set up. Gotta say, even though Shining is being his normal, over protective self, he does have a rather good reason for it. I mean, as he said, he helped bury Sunset and watched it all but destroy Twilight. Not exactly something anyone wants to watch happen again.
Poor Pony Sunset. I hope she won't take this too hard. Keep up the good work.
27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_llrwom97Cr1qkatiuo1_500.jpg
Yikes, that was tense and emotionally exhausting for everyone involved. I can't wait for Twilight to really meet Sunset, despite Shining Armor's demands that they not meet again. I can forgive his meddling this once, because honestly his response to the situation was understandable, if not very well thought out. But he better not try to get between them again! Poor Twi and Shimmy(s).
I am grateful for this early release chapter, but I must have more! Guess I'll build a time machine and skip straight to every Monday until I've finished the story.
I can't say I disagree with Shining on this one.
Or.... Pony Sunset may be Twilight's best chance for closure. It's hard to say.
The evil twin one wasn't so far... But there was a easy solution to this situation. The girls just have to play a song => pony magic=> magic is real => sunset is saying the truth
She was so close at with this one
6430298 yep in fact he could get in major trouble as he is to close to this though i think that's only for real cases (i think) not what happened in this chapter
Love the images, but Shining Armor's badge is just so... CUTE! Look at the tiny widdle badge!
The worst part (for Shining Armor, that is) is that even if Sunset follows Shining's instructions Twilight herself is going to follow Sunset because she's tracking the origin of the magic from the Fall Formal and Battle of the Bands incidents.
Quick, the Author's note is a lie, throw more love at this story and maybe we can get a second early release!
I laughed so much at Twi's list of possibilities.
Is it wrong the pictures alone make me wanna follow this? Great story, i'm hooked on it like crack... but the pictures are well done... now if only they were colored in....
Ugh this hurts, none of them deserve this pain! I just want to give them all big hugs!
I can understand Shiny's motivation, although personal and second-hand experience with grief (as well as several psych studies) show the opposite to be true. Still, good on him for doing his best to make sure his sister's alright.
God this story is brilliant.
Welp there goes my heart
Wow... People actually using the internet to solve mysteries quickly and efficiently instead of going Sherlock Holmes all over the place. You don't see that as often as you should in literature set in the modern age.
It's funny, but it seems like nobody in the human world has it as good as their pony counterparts. Shining's just a police officer where the pony was a captain and prince later. Is Cadance a principle in this like the movie? Really, you'd think the humans would start to get pretty envious if they learned the full extent of the differences between their lives and their Equestrian counter parts.
Anyway, Can't wait for Monday.
6430270 No wacky sitcom shenanigans here. *nod*
6430966
Yes, that is the power of Google-Fu. We should all hone our skills in the ancient art. Come my brethren! Let us train!
http://imgur.com/gallery/hkmIT
I hate this sort of thing. "You need to leave because my little sister who just moved to town is emotionally scarred by your appearance!" Uh, no. Other dimensional immigrant or not, Sunset was living here first. If you're so concerned about her appearance screwing with Twilight, maybe you should send her home instead of using your status as a police officer to intimidate Sunset, as I fully predict you will.
6430619
I'm not sure a real police department would actually have stopped him. From their perspective, Twilight had some kind of mental breakdown but there was no readily apparent cause. Given her history they can safely assume she was triggered by something, so they only need to speak to the other girls to check up on what set her off. There's no real reason to prevent Shining from handling this, since nobody was intentionally doing anything to harm his sister so he has no real reason (that they know of) to get overprotective.
That or he was just still wearing his uniform when he went to the hospital and he went straight to see the girls after leaving the hospital, but I imagine if he's wearing the uniform and carrying the equipment the police are going to expect him to behave accordingly.
Poor Sunset. Her first encounter with human Twilight went about as bad as it could. Then she finds out that her human counter-part died at age ten. And to top it all off (as if the universe decided to kick her while she's down), she finds out that human Twilight and human Sunset where BFF's and that human Twilight is an unstable emotional mess because she witnessed said BFF's death.
It makes me wonder how Pony Twilight (if she is even in this fic) will react to all of this.
Well, Shining's plan will probably fail at his own sister...
At least you tried shiny, twi and sunset wont get seperated again
6431028
"Leave town" was a never said, what Shining said was "Stay away from my sister". The two are very different.
Besides, how much do you want to bet Sunset doesn't have valid papers?
Shining, that's not going to work. Twilight's smarter than that, this is going to end up with her hunting Sunset down and freaking out even worse when she tries to run. That he just excepted her story like that felt like a huge cop out, but after his rant I'm getting the idea that he doesn't believe a word of it, but also doesn't care what or who she is as long as she leaves Twilight alone.
You know what would be really cool? If Sunset happened to be with Princess Twilight when human Twilight eventually hunts her down.
Why can't I like each chapter individually? Because this story deserves more than one like from me!
6431228
Why should she? As far as the average person knows, she's the native Sunset and likely won't look too deeply. Anyone who is already in the know can cover for her (her friends) or is creating a paper trail for her now (Celestia and Luna).
6430095 it depends on how long the story is though. If there's a lot of chapters, then the author could probably put one up every few days, but if there's only like ten, then the fic would be finished and done with in a few weeks. I, personally, will be waiting for this one, since it looks interesting and is well-written, and fics that fall into both of those categories are something of a rarity on this site, as sad as that is.
I get that Shining is trying to protect Twilight, but we all know Twilight is going to hunt sunset down for herself anyway, its inevitable.
I see this Twilight is a gamer.
Somewhere far away from Twilight's position, a brown earth pony with an hourglass cutiemark sneezed abruptly...
6431330 Fair enough.
Do you do the drawings yourself? they're incredibly good and also great chapter, wasnt expecting shining to drop the bomb shell
One of the more creative stories I have read. I am enjoying what you have setup so far. Your writing is a joy to read. You've got a way with words. It's one of those things I can't pinpoint. I've read more detailed or technically perfect stories. Yours is a good balance. The pacing is natural and the detail is not lacking nor is it overbearing.
Illustrated scenes make me jealous I would kill for some of those in my story. Not to mention they are wonderful to. Some of them remind me of concept art I have seen for Pixar movies.
Please keep up your work! This is awesome!
6430298 He's not really threatening her; he's saying she needs to stay away from Twilight, i.e. an informal restraining order. He probably should have asked another officer to talk to her given that he's emotionally involved, but none of his actions rise to the level of misconduct, especially since he at no point made any actual threats.
6431457 As mentioned in the description, every illustration was something I commissioned from Zorbitas. She's done a fantastic job through and through, so all praise should be directed to her.