Chapter 3
Twilight trotted soundlessly through her castle's large hallways, silently tucking away any and all remnants of her love. She had no time for tears as she worked, she knew she would soon have to be back at the hospital to keep an eye on the other Sunset. She found it very likely that something was very wrong with the other mare.
She grabbed one picture in her magic before hesitating. It was a picture of her and Sunset from their first date. They were both covered in mud and laughing hysterically as the rest of her friends stared at them like they had lost their minds and, in a way, they had. She smiled fondly at the memory and tucked the picture under her pillow. She had a feeling she would want to see it again very soon.
She ran swiftly to her library to repair the damage caused the night previously. She entered the room to find the remains of her library still smoking. She grit her teeth at the thought of all the books she had lost. The alicorn took further stock of the damage as she prepared spells to fix what she could. Most of her books were irreparable, however her bookshelves could easily be fixed and most of the floor simply needed the soot wiped off of them.
Whatever had exploded in her castle could not be repaired until Twilight knew more about it, however it was large and important looking enough that Twilight decided not to throw it out. With a flash of light, the bookshelves were repaired, the books were moved, and the large metal contraption was leaned against the far wall of the library.
The alicorn sighed happily as she looked about her freshly cleaned and repaired library before she noticed something out of place. A black bag that must have slid under one of her shelves. She approached the bag cautiously before grabbing it in her magic and lifting it before her face.
Twilight gently lifted the clasp off of the bag and looked inside.
"Teddy bears?" The nurse asked. Rainbow had come out of Sunset's room panting and chatting rapidly before the nurse was able to make out two words.
"It's weird." Rainbow explained. "She started panicking and then she made- I don't even know how to explain it." she said.
Nurse RedHeart blinked several times before opening the door herself.
She stared, dumbfounded, unable to comprehend the sight before her. She stood directly before a wall... made of teddy bears. "I don't understand." she said.
"Now you know how I feel." Rainbow said, after re-entering the room. "At first I thought I understood, but then I realized I was lost."
"She had a magical outburst." Nurse RedHeart said. "Normally for a unicorn her age, she would have leveled the town, but for some reason she has the magical power and mentality of a filly, so we're safe."
"Okay, Twilight mentioned that something like this could happen, but she made it sound a lot worse." Rainbow said.
"Well, when unicorns with average magical power lose control, their mind sub-consciously forms their magic to protect them in whatever way they believe is best." RedHeart explained. "When a unicorn is a filly, it's often silly. They create things, or replace things. They might replace whatever is near them with plants, or make them grown. When a unicorn is grown, like myself or Sunset, their mind usually presets to destruction and they simply allow themselves to let their magic explode."
"Whoa."
"Indeed. However, it seems that either Sunset's magic wasn't powerful enough to do that, or her mind preset to two thoughts. Protection, in the form of a wall, and comfort, in the form of teddy bears."
"Could it have been both?"
"Possibly. However, I'm sure the princess will be able to calm her down once she returns. We should just let her alone to calm down for now." Nurse RedHeart said as she turned to leave the room. "If you notice her magic power building again, let me know as fast as you can."
"Alright." Rainbow said as she watched the nurse walk away. She needed to let Twilight know what happened, but she also needed to keep an eye on Sunset. She just needed to decide which was more important. She stared at the wall for several minutes as she thought.
She sighed heavily after she came to a decision, and she curled up next to the wall. Surely, she could get a nap in and still keep watch. If anything happened while she was this close to the wall she would wake up in time to go get help.
"What is this?" Twilight asked aloud. She stared at the strange device in her hooves, studying it for any indication of what it was. As far as she could make out, it was made mainly of steel with several wires encased within it and a smaller metal box sticking out of it.
Feeling that the device might be important, Twilight stashed it away on one of her bookshelves. As her magic faded from around the contraption she heard, or rather felt, her mirror; the connection between worlds shimmered with activity. She wondered briefly as to who would attempt to enter the portal and cursed herself silently for forgetting to remove the book from its apparatus.
However, she did not have long to linger on those thoughts as an extremely tall white unicorn stepped through the portal. She was several hooves taller than the alicorn with a blazing sun emblem upon her flank. The human version of Twilight's mentor seemed to take a moment to survey her new surroundings. Behind her appeared a bright pink earth-pony who seemed to exude pure energy.
Had Twilight had time to think, she would have been hoping the non-equestrian Pinkie Pie would need a moment to take stock of herself much like Celestia. She however did not have time to think, because Pinkie being... well Pinkie, she apparently was able to take stock of everything within a blink of an eye and tackle Twilight in a hug that would have ended a lesser being.
By the time Twilight was able to regain control of her mind, and her body, Pinkie had already begun speaking so quickly the princess could not understand a word.
"Slow down, Pinkie." the unicorn Celestia said as she placed a hoof on the pink mare's shoulder. "I don't think Twilight understands."
Twilight simply blinked in surprise and rested her haunches on the cold floor of her castle library. "What are you two doing here?" she asked.
"We haven't seen you in a year, silly." Pinkie beamed happily. "We miss you and we know that you haven't felt up to coming to see us since everything happened and you probably want to be left alone and Tia told me that bothering you was a bad idea so, I wasn't going to, but then their was that thing on the news. Something about, a serious criminal being chased down and shot at and crashing their motorcycle into the schools statue and when it exploded apparently she was completely gone and so Tia told me it was okay to come and bother you now because you should probably know that somebody might have invaded Equestria. We also knew that yesterday was the anniversary of the day we lost everybody, but they are coming back except for Sunset so I thought you might want to see us and I was just glad that Tia finally let me come, but she said something about talking about it opening old wounds and so I couldn't before, but I could now."
Pinkie seemed to say everything in a single breath without giving Twilight time to process let alone respond, which was not surprising. What was surprising however, was when Pinkie grabbed her in an uncharacteristically tender hug and whisper in her ear. "We really are here for you if you're still hurting."
Twilight felt tears streaming down her face as she wrapped a hoof around her pink friend. "Thank you, Pinkie." she stated simply. "And you Principal Celestia." It was good to know at least one relationship had lasted the past year intact. Then the full impact of Pinkie's words struck her. "Criminal?"
Twilight pulled away from the hug to look between Celestia and Pinkie. What could have happened? she thought. Then again, I suppose it's not too surprising considering how I met my Sunset Shimmer...
"The police didn't release too much information, but we know that the criminal is supposed to be incredibly dangerous and a threat to our society as a whole." Celestia said before gesturing to her library. "Although from the looks of things it doesn't appear they were a problem for you."
Twilight looked around trying to figure out what exactly her mentor's double was referring to before her eyes settled on the destroyed... what did Pinkie call it, motorcycle? Were they assuming that she destroyed it? What did they honestly think of her? "I patched her up and sent her to the hospital." Twilight admitted.
"You didn't arrest her?" Celestia asked. It was so surreal an experience for Twilight to think of the pony that so resembled her mentor as just Celestia, however the lack of wings and the fact that she did not carry the same regal air as the princess of the sun made it much easier for Twilight to see her as such.
"No." Twilight said. "However, when she regains consciousness I'll have her moved here where she can be monitored."
"Well, this is your kingdom, Princess. Whatever you think is best." Celestia said with a dismissing wave of her hoof. "So, are you going to show us around pony land?" she asked with a coy smile.
"Equestria." Twilight said. "And, no. In this world you're a princess, so it would cause a scene if you were seen, especially without wings." Twilight then gestured to Pinkie and said, "and honestly, the last time we had more than one Pinkie Pie around was such a nightmare I think if I saw two of her together in the same room my post-traumatic-stress-disorder would kick in and I would zap one of them to the mirror pool."
Pinkie's face immediately brightened. "Please don't threaten my fiance, Twilight. Especially considering 'zapping her' somewhere sounds fun to her." Celestia said as she grabbed Pinkie to keep her from running out the door.
Twilight sighed as she shut the library doors and locked them. Then it hit her. "Wait, fiance?" she asked. "Since when? And aren't you a lot older than Pinkie Pie."
Celestia's face contorted into a frown as she mumbled. "I'm only twenty-seven."
"She's only thirty, Twilight." Pinkie said with a grin before Celestia cuffed her over the head. "Ow!" she whined. "What was that for?"
"Well, regardless, I'm happy for both of you." Twilight said with a small smile. "I appreciate the warning about the criminal and, rest assured, I will take care of it."
"Do you know who it is?" Celestia asked.
"Yeah, it's not important though." Twilight said. "I plan to patch her up and send her packing back to your world anyways. Whatever law enforcement you have there can deal with her."
"That doesn't sound like something the Princess of Friendship would say to me." Pinkie said with a frown.
"She's a criminal, Pinkie." Twilight explained.
"So?" Pinkie asked, the innocence in her expression almost painful to witness. "She's done something bad, but people only do bad things 'cause they have to. I think that you should be her friend and figure out why she did it so you can explain to her that it was bad and she'll say she's sorry and then she'll make more friends and she won't do bad things anymore. Besides, you really need somebody around here after what happened last year. Plus, maybe reforming her would be good for you. Maybe it would help you take your mind off of all the bad stuff that's happened to you over this past year."
"I seriously doubt that last part, Pinkie." Twilight said. "Besides, the past year has been good for the people we know in your world. Everybody is with the one they truly love. Isn't that what matters?"
"Everyone but you and Sunset Shimmer." Pinkie said quietly.
"IT DOESN'T MATTER, PINKIE!" Twilight yelled with far more venom than she intended. Pinkie's hurt expression and the way she backed away from the princess did not help Twilight's already aching heart. "I'm sorry." she whispered. "It's just... it still hurts, constantly. I don't know how to make it stop hurting. I've tried enjoying the fact that all of our other friends got what they wanted and were happier for it, but it just reminds me of what I lost... what I never even wanted in the first place..."
"Don't you say that." Celestia said, her expression and voice just as stern as the Equestrian Celestia's. "What you had... it may have disappeared, but isn't it better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all? You will love again. Just give it time."
Twilight felt a tear roll down her cheek as she sighed. "You're right." she said. "I would never trade those memories for anything."
There were several moments of silence that seemed to stretch for hours. "So..." Pinkie said cheerfully, breaking the silence. "Are we happy here?" she asked, gesturing at herself and Celestia.
"Oh, you aren't together here." Twilight said. "In fact you're both single in my world."
Pinkie gasped loudly before throwing her hooves around Celestia. "I couldn't imagine a world where I didn't have my Tia." she cried.
"You're still happy here, Pinkie." Twilight said with a chuckle. "Besides, there is a bit of an age difference here."
"Twenty! Seven!" Celestia said sternly.
"Multiply that by one hundred." Twilight said with a smile.
"Really?" Celestia asked.
"Give or take a few years." Twilight laughed. "You are an alicorn princess here, remember?"
"Hey, Twilight?" Pinkie said hesitantly.
"Yes, Pinkie?"
"I know you don't want to say who it is, so it's probably somebody we know, but I don't care if it's Trixie. Please consider what I said." Twilight blinked, surprised at Pinkie's uncharacteristically serious tone and expression. "Whoever she is, she probably needs a friend right now."
"I-I-I..." Twilight sighed. "I'll try..."
"Thank you." Pinkie all but whispered. "Seriously though," Pinkie brightened, "what is up with this castle? It looks like it's made of crystal. Did you build it with pony magic, or was it something else. Did it grow from a tree, or was it always here. Was it discovered by ancient explorers and this town was built around it or-" Twilight made a point to tune out everything after that point.
"What about Luna?" Celestia asked after a moment, apparently content to do the same.
"She's also single here." Twilight said. "She's the ruling alicorn of the night. She's also pretty old."
"I couldn't imagine her without Chrysalis." Celestia said with concern.
"She's pure evil here." Twilight explained. "I actually fought her once. She's the queen of the love-eating changelings."
"That would explain why she's so good at impressions." Celestia laughed. Twilight laughed along with her as Pinkie continued to jabber about eerily accurate theories about her castle.
Rainbow awoke to a small voice calling out, "Hello?"
She shook herself and leaned away from the wall she had been sleeping against. "Hello." she said back.
"Are you still out there?" Sunset asked.
"Yeah, Princess Twilight asked me to watch you and even though she's a friend, she is also a princess." Rainbow explained.
"Where did these teddy bears come from?" Sunset asked.
"From you. You're magic went crazy when you started panicking."
"My magic?"
"Yeah, Twilight could probably explain it better for you." Rainbow said as she tugged on a bear at the bottom of the wall. It came lose easily. Rainbow guessed her magic disappeared once she calmed down. "Can I pull these down and come talk to you?" she asked, trying her best to avoid freaking her out any more than she already had.
"Sure..."
Rainbow gently pushed a hole through the wall of teddy bears, deciding to leave it up for Sunset's sake. When she finally crawled through the wall she bit back laughter at the sight of Sunset on the ground with her face on the floor and her hoofs flailing wildly, trying desperately to push herself off the floor.
"It's not funny..." the little mare mumbled. "Just help me up."
Rainbow slid a wing under the unicorn and pushed her onto her hoofs and left it extended to help her find her way back to the bed. "What happened?" she asked.
"I had two legs where I was from, so four kinda messed me up." She explained as she slowly inched her way across the tiles to her bed. "So, you're a pony with wings?" she asked.
"Yup," Rainbow stretched her wings proudly. "I'm Rainbow Dash. The fastest flyer in Ponyville." she explained. Sunset just blinked at her in confusion.
"You mean this place is called Ponyville?" Sunset asked.
"The town is, yeah." Rainbow said. "The country is Equestria."
Sunset nodded absently as she did her best to get back in her bed. She laid her front hooves on the edge of the bed and struggled to pull herself the rest of the way up. After she managed to slip her two back legs onto the bed her flanks still hung over the edge. After a few wiggles of her rump she managed to roll herself back into a laying position in her bed.
"Sorry if I freaked you out." Rainbow said.
Sunset shook her head. "It's weird, but I'm calm now. I think I should probably be freaking out about the ponies that can fly, and the ponies that have magic, but right now I'm okay." Sunset sighed contently as Rainbow pushed the blankets back over her.
"It's probably the pain killers." Rainbow chuckled. "Trust me, I've had my fair share of visits here and they have some great medicine."
Sunset giggled slightly. "Or it could be I was expecting to wake up dead. Not in some amazing new world."
"What happened?" Rainbow asked.
Sunset seemed to debate for a moment just what to say before she spoke. "I was riding my bike towards some school. Somebody started shooting at me. They hit me once here," she gestured to her bandaged side, "and the hit my gas tank. I remember crashing into a statue, but when I opened my eyes there was this-" she laughed slightly, "I thought she was an angel at first... you said she was your friend?" Sunset asked wistfully.
Rainbow smiled, a strange small smile. "Yeah, she is."
"She must be amazing."
"Yeah, she is."
"Is there any chance she'll come back? I know you said she's a princess here, so she must be busy, but I just wanna tell her 'thanks'." Sunset said hopefully.
Rainbow sighed before sitting in the seat next to Sunset's bed. "She probably will be back soon. But," Rainbow said quickly, "don't get too excited or comfortable here. She's probably not going to want you to stay."
"Why not?" Sunset asked as she tried to lean up and ended up falling into the pegasus. "Is there something wrong with me staying here?"
"Why do you want to stay?" Rainbow asked. "You just woke up in a strange new world with none of your family or your friends around. Why would you want to stay?"
Sunset sighed and looked down at her hooves. "I don't have anything to go back to." she said quietly. "In fact, sending me back would just be giving me back to the person who shot me." Sunset looked pleading into Rainbow's eyes as tears began to gather. "Please, don't send me back, Rainbow Dash. I could die..."
Rainbow swallowed her fear and stared at Sunset for a moment. "She's not going to make you leave today or anything. In fact, I think her plan is to keep you in the castle until you're healed." she explained. "I know it's not much, but I have a feeling she'll warm up to you and let you stay." Rainbow wondered briefly at why her heart hurt when she said that. Was she hurting for her friend's sake? Knowing that it was going to kill Twilight to let this confused little unicorn live her for a few days? Or was it the other thing that had been on her mind lately?
Her stomach growled uncomfortably. "Or it's just heartburn." she whispered to herself.
"So, Rainbow Dash. Can I just call you Rainbow?" Sunset asked.
"Sure you can."
"How do you know a princess? That seems like a good story."
"Well, actually, "Rainbow said as she put a hoof to her chest proudly. "I know all of them."
"All of them?"
"Yeah, well at least all of the pony princess. You see, here in Equestria, we have four princesses right now. Celestia, our main ruler and Princess of the Sun. Luna, her little sister and Princess of the Moon. Cadance, the ruler of the Crystal Empire and Princess of Love. Then, there's my best friend, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship." Rainbow glanced at Sunset to see that she was intrigued and continued with a smile. "I knew Twilight before she was a princess. Her, me, and four other ponies formed something called the Elements of Harmony. We were basically one of the most powerful forces of defense for the kingdom."
"That sounds amazing." Sunset said. She was obviously enjoying the tale.
"Well, yeah. It is." Rainbow said with a cocky grin. "It wasn't all fun and games though. Since the day we met Twilight, we've all been fighting any evil that shows up. We've fought a nightmare that controlled Princess Luna into attacking us, we've fought the Lord of Chaos, Discord, we've fought an army of changelings, and a bunch of other stuff."
"Like what?"
"Manticores, sea-serpents, cultists, power mad unicorns, wild Ursa Minors, and at one point a guy who had the accumulated power of everypony in Equestria except the princesses. His name was Tirek, but Twilight had the most amazing fight with him."
"She seemed pretty amazing from what I've seen." Sunset said.
"You should have seen her then." Rainbow said with a laugh. "She had absorbed the power of all three of the other princesses on top of her own."
Sunset seemed to think hard before she spoke again. "Can you tell me more about her?" she asked hopefully.
Rainbow thought about it for a minute, never really realizing how amazing Twilight must seem to somepony who's never even met her. "Sure," she said.
An hour later Twilight teleported back into the hospital lobby. She cursed herself quietly, realizing that she had spent too long chatting with Pinkie and Celestia. However after a quick glance around the hospital she realized that if Sunset was awake yet, she must have stayed calm enough not to destroy anything.
Twilight noticed she was now more calm about the prospect of facing her lover's doppelganger. She supposed that was just the effect Pinkie and Celestia had on her. It was strange to think how everyone on the other side of the mirror had developed relationships with each other and here everything was the same. Except for her, everyone was just carrying on almost the same as when she had first arrived in the town.
She wondered briefly if it would always stay the same. Part of her wanted it to. Her immortality had made her realize just how little she liked change. Then she remembered the look at Celestia's face when Pinkie was around and decided that maybe not all change was bad. She walked through the halls of the hospital and briefly wondered why she did not just teleport into Sunset's room. Probably in case she was awake. It would be a shame to freak her out.
As she grew closer to the room she heard laughter and voices from within. A stab of pain to her heart, as she heard the laughter she used to love so much. However, that was nothing compared to the surprise she found within the room.
She blinked for several minutes as the two continued to talk, unaware of her presence... probably due to the massive wall made of teddy bears in the center of the room.
"She did not." the voice of the faux-Sunset laughed.
"Yeah, the entire village. I don't think I've seen Princess Celestia so mad. Funny thing is, Big Mac-"
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight yelled. "Could I speak to you in the hall, please?"
Rainbow swore quietly and ran through an unseen hole in the wall. "Twilight, you're back." she said happily.
"What is this?" Twilight asked venomously as she gestured to the wall. "Because, if this is your idea of a good prank-"
"Chill out, egghead." Rainbow said before the princess could explain her threat. "She did this." Twilight blinked. "Yeah, those magical outbursts? She had one. I've been trying to keep her calm and get her ready for this world."
"This is something a two year old filly would do in an outburst, Dash." Twilight explained.
"That's basically what the nurse said." Rainbow shrugged. "I figured I should just keep her calm." a sigh. "After all, she really needs a friend right now."
Twilight felt something within her begin to burn at the statement. "Don't get too close to your new friend, Dash." she said. "She won't be with us much longer." Twilight moved to walk into the room when Rainbow flew before her and cut her off.
"Twilight," she said, an edge to her tone, "you can't send her back. You'll be putting her in danger."
"Yes, Rainbow." Twilight said calmly. "I've just received word that she was shot for being a criminal in the other world."
"That doesn't matter." Rainbow said. "We talked to the doctor earlier. He said she was almost dead when you brought her in, and that she would have been if you hadn't saved her. Criminal or not, we don't get to judge her, and no one should have been trying to kill her."
"Dash!" Twilight barked, fighting back the sudden wetness of her eyes. "She's not one of us. She doesn't belong here." She took a deep breath and wrapped her hooves around the mare's neck. "I'm sorry." she whispered. "But, it's not up to us. This isn't her world. I'm sending her back after she heals."
"Tell me the truth, Twilight." Rainbow said. "You always know best, so I'll keep my opinion to myself, but be honest. You're sending her away, cause you can't stand to look at her, right?"
Twilight sobbed briefly and pulled the mare tighter to her as she felt hooves wrap around her. "It's too hard." she said. "I don't want anything bad to happen to her, but I can barely look at pictures of my Sunset. How do you think I'd feel after seeing her living, breathing doppelganger walking around my castle."
"You always know best, Twilight." Rainbow mumbled. "So let your head decide. Not your heart. I'll drop it for now, but she's not leaving until we talk about this again."
"I promise." Twilight said.
"It's gonna be okay, Twilight." Rainbow said happily as she pulled away and grinned at the princess. "Now, you should probably get in there."
"Why?"
"Because I think you have a new fan." Rainbow said. "You shoulda seen the way her eyes lit up whenever I talked about you. She said when she first saw you she thought you were an angel."
Twilight laughed despite herself. "What's an angel?" she asked.
"I don't know, but the way she said it, it must be something good." Rainbow laughed.
Rainbow and Twilight walked through the wall together to find a small, scared, Sunset Shimmer waiting for them.
Rainbow grinned before announcing, "Sunset Shimmer, this is Princess Twilight Sparkle."
Sunset's jaw had dropped upon seeing the Alicorn and she stammered a quick, "P-p-princess," before attempting a bow, which resulted in her face planting into the edge of her bed. She seemed unfazed. "My name is-"
"Sunset Shimmer," Twilight said, feeling the all-too familiar pain in her chest. "I know."
"Rainbow said you were the one who saved me." Sunset said as she tried to right herself, before Twilight used her magic to adjust the unicorn back into place. "Thank you, princess."
"You're most welcome, Sunset." Twilight said in her best imitation of her mentor. "Have you spoken to your doctor?"
"Yes, your highness." Sunset said, causing Rainbow to laugh. Both of the mares ignored her. "He said, I should be fit to leave tonight, but I'll need to be careful for a week or so."
"You can recover in the guest wing of my castle." Twilight said. "Then we'll see about getting you home."
"NO!" Sunset yelled in a panic, "I mean, no, please, your highness. Please, don't send me back."
"This is not your world, Sunset Shimmer." Twilight said calmly. "Why would you prefer to stay here?"
"Because, I'll die if you send me back." she pleaded, tears in her eyes. "They'll kill me. Please, Princess Twilight. Please, don't send me back."
Twilight took a deep, silent breath through her nose. "We shall see what the week holds." she explained. "I cannot, in good conscience, allow a fugitive to go free in my world."
Sunset's face fell as she grew pale. "How did you... how did you know?" she asked.
"I have my sources everywhere including your world."
"Please, Princess Twilight, you don't understand."
"No," Twilight said with a small smile. "that is why after a week of observation, I will decide whether or not you need to be sent back. Criminal or not, I cannot send you back to die either."
"Thank you, your majesty." Sunset said with a better attempt at a bow.
"There will be rules." Twilight explained. "If you break a single one of my rules, you will be sent back."
"Of course." Sunset said, sounding relieved. Rainbow grinned to herself as she ducked out of the room. "What are the rules?"
"You will not leave the castle without my permission and/or supervision." Sunset nodded. "You will preform chores around the castle to earn your keep." Another nod. "You will listen to what I say and obey my commands." That's right, Twilight. Just treat her like another subject... even if you've never treated anyone like just a subject. Another nod. "I can create new rules whenever I see fit, and you will obey them." Another nod and a hopeful smile. Twilight's heart twitched. She noticed tears beginning to gather in her eyes, so she tilted her head and squinted her eyes, attempting to pass it off as a regal look. "Finally, there is a room in my castle. The door is locked, and it is on the second floor. You may go anywhere in my castle, but that room."
Sunset smiled brightly and gave another nod. "Yes, your highness."
Twilight smiled again and leaned her head down. "One more thing." she said. "Call me Twilight."
Sunset positively beamed. "Yes, Twilight."
Even if she was already trying to push this Sunset away, Twilight was never comfortable with formalities. "Now, Sunset. I will go find your doctor and see if you are cleared to leave yet. If so, I will take you to the castle and you can choose a room."
"Thank you, Twilight." Sunset said with a spark in her eyes. "You have no idea how much this means to me."
Twilight took the other girl's hand and helped her to her feet. "I understand, Sunset." she said. "I've never had somebody special like you before. If my friends think this is okay... well I'm willing to give it a shot."
Sunset wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled. The other girl placed a hand under her chin and forced their lips to meet. Now that she was prepared, Twilight could fell everything. The soft moistness of the other girl's lips, the butterfly's in her stomach, the rapid heart-pounding of the girl in her arms that matched her own, and the warmth of the girl she knew cared for her."
"Thank you, Twilight." Sunset said, tears and a spark of warmth in her eyes. "You have no idea how much this means to me."
Twilight smiled warmly and pulled the girl into her arms. "Then show me." she whispered.
Twilight felt a quick flare of emotion contort her features into a scowl before she nodded at a confused Sunset and left the room. She had made it halfway down the hallway before Rainbow bumped into her. "You okay?" she asked as she kept place with the alicorn.
"I will be, Dash." Twilight said evenly. "I'll have to be."
Sunset watched the princess walk away. She was confused. How could a pony look beautiful? Why did she seem like she was upset the entire time she talked to Sunset? Why did she look angry when Sunset thanked her... and why did she feel sad?
Rainbow Dash had seemed nice, too. She really enjoyed talking to the brazen pegasus pony. She hoped Twilight would allow her to spend some time with her. She laid back in her bed and relaxed slightly with a content sigh.
"Those are some really good drugs." She said as she looked at her I.V. bag. She knew she should probably have freaked out a bit more, but she supposed Rainbow was right. The medicine really kept her calm and she felt nothing more than a slight soreness in her side. Her doctor had interrupted her chat with Rainbow to catch her up on her condition and she now knew she would feel a hell of a lot worse once her I.V. was removed.
Right now, however, she felt that all was right with the world. She had escaped to another dimension where her life was saved, once from a bullet, and once from an explosion. She knew she would have to work hard to prove to Twilight that she didn't need to be sent back, but she was willing to give it everything to not go back.
"Darling!" A voice called from behind them. Twilight and Rainbow stopped in their tracks to face her.
"Hi, Rarity." Twilight said with a sheepish grin. Rarity did not look happy and Twilight supposed she should have told all of her friends what was going on. "I was just on my way to see you."
Rarity's eyes narrowed. "Really? Maybe it was to pick up Spike, or maybe it was to tell me that somepony blew up half your castle." she said with venom. "Which one, Twilight?"
Note to self, keep Rarity updated. Twilight thought. "Actually neither." she said levelly. "I need spike to stay out of the castle for another week."
"So," Rarity started stomping towards the princess. "let me get this straight. Somepony blows up your library. You don't tell me anything. And when I finally find you, you ask me to watch spike for another week?!" she shrieked.
"Sorry, Rares." Dash cut in. "But, it's been a crazy morning so far."
"I'll say." Rarity said.
"The human world's Sunset is here." Dash said. "We'll fill you in on the details later, but for now just go let the others know that Twilight's okay and we'll explain everything soon."
Rarity's jaw dropped at the mention of Sunset and she looked at Twilight. For the first time this morning she really took the time to pay attention. Twilight's eyes were red and bloodshot and they looked as if they had been that way for a while. Rainbow Dash on the other hoof looked as if she hadn't slept in two days with the large bags under her eyes.
"I'm so sorry." she whispered. She wrapped her hooves around Twilight. "I'll take care of Spike, and I'll let the others know what's happening. Should I tell them to meet at your castle later today?"
"Tomorrow." Twilight said. "Let me and Dash get some sleep and let Sunset get settled."
Rarity pulled away from the hug and placed a kiss on the top of Twilight's head. "I'll take care of everything for you, dear." she said before walking away.
"Thanks, Rarity." Twilight called after her. She turned to Rainbow. "And thank you." she said with a smile. "I don't know what I would have done without your help today."
"You can thank me by letting me sleep in your castle when we get there." Rainbow yawned. "I've only had a power nap today and I don't feel like flying home."
Twilight giggled softly. "You're more than welcome to stay with me anytime, Rainbow."
"Don't tell me that, egghead." Rainbow chuckled. "You may not get rid of me."
"I may not want to." Twilight said as she playfully bumped the pegasus.
Shortly after the three mares stood in Sunset's hospital room. "Are you ready to go?" Twilight asked her.
"Yeah," Sunset answered. "the doctor was helping me practice walking. I think I've got it down now."
"Well, let's go." Rainbow said with a poorly hidden yawn. "I need some sleep."
The three mares left the room and began walking. The halls were surprisingly empty to Sunset, who was accustomed to human hospitals that were usually full everyday, all day. She noticed how close Dash seemed to walk to Twilight and how far Twilight walked from her. She wondered briefly if you had to be friends with royalty here to walk so close.
She stared out the windows, excited to see this brand new world. She couldn't help but wonder what the other ponies were like. She would have been nervous if she were still human, but in her new pony form, she wouldn't stand out at all.
The trio walked through the doors of the hospital and Sunset squinted at how bright the sun was. According to Dash, in this world the sun was raised and lowered everyday by Princess Celestia and that fact made her hope that the princess knew how to sleep in. She had always been more of a night-owl than most people in her world. She supposed that meant she would get along with Princess Luna.
She had been absolutely mystified by everything Rainbow had taught her about this world, but the most amazing thing so far had to be the mare who saved her, Twilight. She didn't know why Twilight didn't seem to like her, but it was obvious something about Sunset bothered her. Well, Sunset would just have to prove herself to the princess and show her that they could be friends too.
Then she saw it, the most beautiful building Sunset had ever laid eyes on. A large tower-like castle that seemed to be made of pure crystal. It shimmered in the morning light and cast an almost blue shadow. "Is that it?" Sunset asked in a whisper.
"Sure is." Twilight said, looking at her home and smiling. "We should be there soon."
Other ponies shared the road with the trio, but they seemed to pay no mind to Sunset. Some were pegasi, others were unicorns, however the most common one she had seen so far Rainbow had told her were called earth ponies. Several would wave and even more would smile at them as they past.
Sunset noted that none bowed or kneeled to their princess, but smiled and waved as she politely smiled and waved back. Sunset smiled as she started to realize just how friendly of a town this 'Ponyville' place truly was.
As they approached the enormous doors of the castle a lavender glow surrounded them, pushing the door open and allowing entrance to the three ponies. As they stepped inside, Sunset was shocked to discover it was actually a very cool temperature inside. She looked around at the crystal doors and hallways. She did not know why, but she had a strange thought as she took in the sight of the castle she would stay in for the next week.
Such a strange, and random thought. One that she had no buisness having, but one that brought her comfort from an unknown source.
I'm home.
Okay, so I've got a lot to say this time.
First, a huge thanks to anyone who waited patiently for the several months for this chapter. You guys seriously rock. The explanation I have for you: My laptop broke and I am a poor person who had to save money for a while to afford a replacement.
Second, to anyone who is just now picking up the story: welcome aboard. Feel free to tell me what you think.
Third, you may notice some strange things, like for some reason all of the EG except Pinkie Pie and Celestia are gone. I felt like the story would be better if I didn't give you the story in a linear way. I thought it would be more fun to explain everything in the form of flashbacks so you can still be confused and surprised in the best of ways. I will explain how everything came to be eventually so for now, please bear with me. I promise it will be worth the wait. 
Fourth, You may have noticed that this chapter is longer than the other two combined, that is for several reasons. 1: I felt like the first two chapters were just introductions into the basics of the story and now I can really spend time giving you the meat. 2: I feel like you guys have waited for way too long for just another 2-3000 words. 3: I've been writing at work during my downtime and I was able to do this entire chapter in two days, so I want to release longer chapters. 4: I'm gonna have a lot going on in this story and if I limit myself to 3000 words a chapter max, then it's gonna take way too many chapters to finish.
Thanks to all of you who continue to read my writing. As usual feel free to leave any thoughts or comments below.
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Wow this updated finally?
I'm very happy to see this continued.
Yay. An Update! Good chapter too
That was most certainly an unexpected but very wonderful surprise! Keep up the good work; maybe set an update schedule for yourself so you won't put the story off?
7333517 I never had any intentions to put it off, things just got rather crazy in my personal life and then my laptop died. I'm focusing most of my attention on this story, but to be honest a writing schedule would never get it right. Sorry, but I think I'm just gonna keep winging it and hope for the best.
It's off to a good start! I can't wait to see where this goes!
Sorry this chapter lost me. First why make human Celestia an unicorn and second her and PINKIE. Considering age difference. EEEEWWW.