There's More That's Out There

by Rose Quill

More That's Out There

“Ugh, my head,” I heard a voice moan from the other room.

I looked at Dew, a smirk on my face. “Looks like Glory’s awake,” I said, lifting my teacup to my lips.

My sister smiled, shifting in her chair slightly, the glass of juice in her jade-colored aura setting down on the table. “She never was a paragon of self-control,” she said, lifting up a mug and the kettle of coffee that had been simmering on the stove.

Glory stumbled into the kitchen of the old house just in time for the coffee to settle in front of her. Her mane was a frazzled mess and deep bags shaded her eyes.

“Coffee…oh,” she slurred. The cup stirred in her lilac aura and went straight to her lips.

I raised an eyebrow. “That seems rather rehearsed,” I commented.

Dew nodded. “Glory hasn’t quite made it out of her party years yet,” she smiled in a maternal way, reminding me of Mom. “I’ve lost count the number of times she’s crashed at my place.”

“I’m right here, you know,” Glory muttered. “And could you keep your voices down?”

I leaned over and brushed some of her mane from her face, voice lowering. “You’re adorable.”

“Shut up,” she said, taking another sip of the coffee.

“Sunny, come here,” Dew said suddenly.

When I got to her side, she took my hoof and laid it against her side. I felt some movement, faint but persistent. After a moment, it stopped. I looked at Dew, my eyes wide.

“Was that…was that the foal?” I asked.

Dew beamed. “She’s been kicking for a week now,” she cooed, taking another sip of her juice. “It’s usually more annoying than that though.”

I sat back. Second thoughts were starting to trickle through my head about the plan.

“So, Sunny,” asked Glory as she refilled her mug. “Why don’t you spill the beans on where you’ve been hiding?”

I smiled and rubbed the back of my neck. “It’s a long story, Glory,” I said. “And I’m not sure how much you’ll believe.”

Dew frowned at me. “Why wouldn’t we?”

I stood.

“It’s a little out of this world,” I said. "Literally."

---

Glory and Dew stared at the mirror, awed.

“So this mirror leads to some sort of another world?” Glory asked.

“Yes," I said. “And there are a lot of similarities with this one, but significantly different.”

“Can we go see it?” Glory continued. “I mean, you’ve been staying over there for some time now, surely you have a house there or something.”

Dew looked hesitant. “I’m not sure about this, Sunny,” she said.

“Oh, come on, Dewy!” Glory said. “One last adventure before you take maternity leave.”

My sisters discussed this while I walked over to Starlight.

“Tell Twilight we can replicate these books without a lot of issues,” Starlight said. “We’ll make sure that they get a copy each.” She flashed a look at Glory. “Maybe she’ll stop pestering us.”

I smirked. “I know she’s gotten under your skin, but imagine growing up with her,” I said. “She’s just excited between seeing me and Dew being pregnant. It’ll pass.”

“So how does this work?” Glory called out.

I trotted over, levitating the book into its bracket. “I’ve let the princess and Sunshine know to expect us.” I sighed. “I’ll go through first, I’m used to the transfer. When you get ready to cross into it, rear up a little. Trust me, it helps.”

I looked at my sisters, Glory exhibiting almost Pinkie-like glee as she bounced on her hooves. Dew was hesitant but not backing away.

“Dew,” I said. “I’ll understand if you choose to back out,” I smiled comfortingly. “You’ve got two ponies to worry about.”

“I think just once will be ok,” she said. “I do want to see this place you’re obviously so fond of.”

I took a deep breath, then reared as I stepped through, appearing on the other side a few moments later. I immediately stepped to the side, figuring correctly that Glory was going to rush after me.

And she did, and apparently had forgotten my advice as she came through bent over, stumbling as she finished the transfer. I caught her arm and eased her to a seat on one of the nearby benches. I rubbed my head as the ambient magic already started giving me a headache.

Dew came through a moment later, much slower and upright. She wobbled on her feet for a moment, taking my hand for balance. I helped her to the same bench as Glory and waited for the inevitable.

“What…what is going on?” Glory asked in a panicked voice, staring at her arms, then feeling her face.

Dew was calmer about the change but was still concerned about the sudden lack of a large belly. She felt her midsection with a worried face but calmed as she compared my and Glory’s shape to hers.

“Well,” I heard a familiar voice say. “You’re early.”

I turned and saw the Twilight’s walking up, mine wearing a purple skirt that fell just below her knees, a denim coat thrown over a tank. The princess was wearing a white blouse and a flowy skirt just a shade darker than her skin tone.

“You two look nice,” I said. “Did I interrupt a date?”

They both flushed, Sunshine coming over and touching foreheads with me for a moment before turning and waving at my sisters.

“Welcome,” she said. “I think we should get you someplace a little more private and comfortable than a park bench.”

---

My sisters were talking with Princess Twilight as Sunshine and I fixed tea and some refreshments in my still woefully understocked kitchen. Boxes still sat around waiting to be unpacked.

“What were you thinking, bringing a pregnant mare through the portal?” she hissed at me as she sat saucers on a tray. “We have no idea how it would affect the baby!”

“I gave her the option to stay behind,” I replied. “Then Glory opened her mouth.”

Sunshine rolled her eyes. “You could have pressed the point, you know!”

“And how many arguments did you win with Shining Armor when you were kids?” I returned. “I’m the youngest and would have been outvoted three to one.”

“You only have two sisters,” she said with a puzzled look.

“Starlight would have done anything to get Glory gone.”

“Ah,” she rubbed the bridge of her nose, glasses riding on her fingers. “I want to do some preliminary checks to make sure she’s ok. She’s likely more than a little stressed out and that's not good for the baby!”

“I’m sure she’ll agree to that,” I said, pouring tea into the pot and setting it on the tray.

She lifted the tray and set it out on the coffee table as Twilight finished explaining the events that had led her to this world the second time, having studiously managed to avoid tales of why she came through the first time, at my request.

Sunshine knelt beside Dew. “I’m going to take a quick look to check your vital signs against the norm for a woman with a pregnancy of sixteen weeks.”

They went off to the side, Sunshine taking her pulse and jotting down notes.

Glory looked at me.

“So you’ve had some major adventures since you left, Sunny,” she said. “I almost don’t believe them.”

“I have that same issue myself.”

“And Sunshine is this world’s version of Princess Twilight?” she said, looking down at her hands and the clothes she had been dressed in by the portal. She looked like any fashion-forward young woman; skinny jeans with slightly distressed sections across the thighs, comfortable looking booties with a tassel and a loose blouse of blue. Dew had been given a loose dress and sandals.

“Do you have a double here?” she asked. She glanced at our sister. “Do we?”

“I can’t say for sure about you or Dew,” I said. “But I’ve laid eyes on my counterpart. She’s a little older than I am and seemed to be doing all right for herself.”

Sunshine and Dew came back over, both with a calm look.

“As near as I can tell, she’s suffered no ill effects from crossing through,” my fiancé said, taking a seat next to me and taking my hand in hers.

Dew smiled at me. “I see she’s wearing Mom’s ring,” she said. “Sounds like you had a surprise as well.”

“I tried to let you know through the princess, but our method of communication has been having issues,” I said. “But this is why I wanted to bring you here. We want you both to be here for the wedding.”

Glory perked up.

“My little sister is getting married!” She started squealing in excitement, eyes going wide.

Sunshine leaned into me. “Don’t let her get near Pinkie,” she stage-whispered.

On my other side, Princess Twilight nodded quickly in agreement.

---

We stood outside the portal, hugging my sisters and Twilight goodbye. The princess had a stack of hand-written notes and a few sketches.

“You’re going to get checked out as soon as you get back, right?” I asked Dew. “Just to be safe, yeah?”

She patted me on the shoulder. “I will, even if it's just to placate you.” She took the sides of her dress and spread them out slightly. “I have to admit, this is pretty comfortable. I’ll have to see about getting something similar made.”

Glory hugged Sunshine. “Don’t be a stranger, ok?” she said. “I want to throw a little celebration for the two of you sometime.”

With a few final words of love and promises of upcoming visits, they departed and my Sunshine and I headed for the car.

“I think that went rather well,” I said.

She looked at me. “You’ve watched NCIS with me, right?”

I nodded, confused.

“Then I hope you’ll forgive me for pulling a Gibbs,” she said.

And then slapped me on the back of the head.

I was walking through a dark hallway, not recognizing it at all. I wasn’t sure of why, but a feeling of dread was seeping through me.

A voice filtered through the air.

“So you’re the one that broke the lock,” it said, a stab of ice going through me.

“Who are you?” I asked, whirling around.

The voice continued to filter around me with no definitive direction.

“There are things in motion now, thanks to you,” it chuckled. “You’ve done much for this world, but your time is over. There's so much more that's out there. It's not just ponies and humans, after all.”

“Who are you?” I shouted. “Show yourself!”

A hazy face appeared in front of me, avian and angry.

“You can’t save them all this time, Seer,” it hissed before vanishing.

I sat bolt upright, feeling like I had been screaming. Twilight had her hands on my shoulders and a look of concern on her face.

“Sunset!” she said, taking my face in her hands. “Are you ok?”

I caught my breath, jumping when I heard a caw outside the window, looking up, I saw a crow just outside.

“I’m ok,” I said. “Just a bad dream.”

She looked at me with some skepticism.

“I’m fine,” I said. “Honest.”

“Ok," she drawled before pulling me back down to cuddle.

I kissed her forehead.

“Big days ahead,” she said. “Bridal shower, Spring Fling, Graduation,”

“Weddings,” I said. “I still can’t believe I’m going to be an aunt in around seven months.”

“Wasn’t Dew four months along?”

“Equine biology, Twi,” I replied. “We have a gestation period of eleven to twelve months.”

She nodded. “I wonder what effect that will have on our kids,” she mused.

I rubbed her shoulder. “I guess we’ll find out one day,” I said.

She looked up at me, then sat up slightly, braided hair trailing over her shoulder.

“A filly or a colt?” she asked.

“Come again?”

She leaned down, her breath tickling my cheek as she whispered into my ear.

“Do you want a filly,” she breathed. “Or a colt?”

I smiled as she laid a kiss just below my ear.

“I think either will be fine, one day. You?”

“I think it’d be nice to have a little girl,” she said, leaning her forehead against mine. “But you are right. One day.”

Author's Note:

And now we're officially into Chaos Theory with the end of this story!

Comments

[Wolfkin]

Just like Legend of Everfree ended . . . With another mystery!

[Hobbestc]

I also thought they were crazy for bringing the pregnant pony through the portal. I can't think of any birdy bad guys powerful enough to cause trouble, so this should be interesting in the long run.

[Fangren]

Oohoo...just the right amount of sweetness, with a pinch of things to come. Good job with this story, like always.

[B_Munro]

Nice. So who are the "birdy guys?" Something original?

(Sometimes I have amused myself by imagining the Equestria Girls world has magic of its own - but it's inaccessible to Ponies or Sirens because it's Lovecraftian Horror magic. )

[MySisterBroughtMeHere]

I was thinking of how sweet this story is, and then came the downslide into horror territory.

[Snowdrifter]

7979235

But Glorioso Daisy would have gotten away with it, if it weren't for those meddling kids and their dog.

[BenRG]

So, something is looking to exploit the nature of the connection Sunset has forged between worlds? Well, it wouldn't be MLP without some kind of Cthonic Thing out to make trouble in time for the season finale!

7979258
FWIW, my headcanon is that pregnant mares and women who go through the Portal (especially early-phase phase pregnancy) have a high probability of bearing bimorph children who tend to switch between pony and human forms when under stress.

[ClosetBrony]

Lovely story. I'm concerned about the baby/foal as well. What an unsettling ending. *Sees the tags of the Chaos Theory* Oh, no. I try to avoid that tag.

[Rose Quill]

8004121

Fortunately, Canterlot Holiday falls before Chaos theory in the timeline. You have a little time.

[Kintatsu]

Headcanon: The age-altering effect of the portal is a safety feature specifically for pregnant mares/women and their young offspring. Can't do a 1:1 age transfer between a 9-months-along pony fetus and a 9-months-along human fetus (from Equestria to human world), or between a day-old human (+9 months development in utero) and a day-old pony (+9 months development in utero) (from human world to Equestria). Otherwise, the former case results in a kid that's coming out right now, and the latter in a preemie, with everything that entails.

Further Headcanon: The older the subject going through the portal, the more the age-alteration effect butterflies.

[FanOfMostEverything]

I do love how you end the fluffy stories with such deeply intriguing sequel hooks. On to the next one!

[MixMassBasher]

Curiouser and curiouser. This other dimension creatures that will appear in Chaos Theory are Avian in nature...

[Blue_Paladin42]

The plot thickens.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

Well at least sunset's sister finally know the truth at least