Lessons in Chaos

by TobiasDrake

9 - The Most Discourteous Unicorn

A coarse and grainy wind whipped across the barren wasteland. Flecks of sand bit into Twilight’s flesh and stung at her eyes. She raised a hoof to shield her eyes and used her magic to pull her cloak tighter around her.

She knew this area. She’d been here once long ago. She walked among wooden shacks long collapsed under their own weight. She watched tumbleweeds roll past, bringing memories of sweeter times. She remembered the smell of fresh-picked produce down at Cherry Hill Ranch. They’d all been so worried about Applejack then; it seemed almost a lifetime ago now.

It really does.

Twilight considered lingering a moment. There was a peaceful atmosphere in this moment that she wasn’t sure she’d find elsewhere. Equestria was long since gone, of course, with no rhyme or reason for why. She wasn’t liable to find any kind of answers here. But at least she could collect her thoughts. She could rummage for something to eat in peace. She could rest at least for a night without fear.

It’d be nice in its own way. It’d be lonely, of course, to be so far from home with nothing but pale shadows of a world she knew and her memories to comfort her.

More than you know.

But she could do it. Just one night. Yeah. That would be nice.

She smiled to herself, thinking of how nice it could be as she returned to the tracks. Her vessel stood in silent vigil, waiting for her return. What had once been the Friendship Express’s engine car had been outfitted with hydraulic regulators to help direct the flow of magic; various pipes jutted out from its sides, connecting to the Crystal Mirror in the back of the cab.

What in Equestria? This is…this is brilliant. How did you build this?

A moment’s rest was a nice fantasy, but there was still work to do. Opening the door to the cab with her magic, Twilight--

No, stop! I wasn’t finished! Keep looking at the train!

--ascended into the booth. She took one last longing glance back at the town and savored the taste of rest in her imagination. Then she threw the lever forward and pulled back on a switch, sending a charge of energy surging through the Temporal Express.

Is that Star Swirl the Bearded’s Time Travel Scroll you’re using as a power source?! That’s incredible! How did you configure the mirror to channel it?!

The train jolted forward, then stopped. After a couple seconds, it kicked forward again, then began slowly chugging forward. Twilight stared straight ahead, watching the scenery approach as the vehicle picked up speed. Bright lights began to flash around her as the Crystal Mirror began to work its magic, popping wildly about until finally--

---

With a jolt, Twilight felt her consciousness returning to the cold cell where her body rested. That was unusual; her connection had never been so forcefully disrupted before. It must have been the other Twilight’s contraption; the connection broke when she’d vanished into the timestream.

Okay. That was a new piece of information to add to her mental list. These connections, she’d determined, were glimpses into other lives she might have lived. The network of strings in her mind palace connected her to a seemingly endless labyrinth of Twilight Sparkles, each with her own life and history.

That much had already been determined, but this was an interesting new development. If time travel disrupted the connection, then that implied that the connections reached across space, not time. Each other Twilight seemed to exist simultaneously with her, moving forward through time at the same rate.

This seemed consistent with what she’d experienced at Canterlot High. Three days at Canterlot High had correlated perfectly with three days in her own reality. She hadn’t been there long enough to see another Twilight for herself, but given everything she’d seen in her time there, it seemed probable that there was one. Still, she reminded herself, one mustn’t make assumptions, especially in these conditions.

Not for the first time, she felt a pang of longing for the comfort and familiarity of parchment. Memory was much too unreliable for even moderate studies, and here she was exploring a brand new principle of magic. She feared for how much vital information she was losing with each passing second to memory decay. Worse, she had to remind herself of the dangers of assuming; over time, it was easy for memory to mistake an assumed hypothesis for a proven fact.

For instance, Twilight could hypothesize that the reason she was still able to view these connections with other realities was because the magic she was using was completely internal. The disabling spell prohibited her horn from making her magic manifest in reality, but as long as her body remained present here, there was nothing to manifest.

It seemed logical. She was looking through windows in the recesses of her mind that either had never been there before or that she’d simply never perceived, but actually following those connections physically would require her to manifest her magic. That’s where the disabling spell limited her. It made reasonable sense. However, without rigorous testing, it should never move from hypothesis to proof.

Twilight sighed. The rumbling in her stomach told her that dinner would probably be near soon. Another bowl of oatmeal and another apple was waiting for her, just like it was for every meal. She idly wondered how long it would take for the symptoms of malnutrition to set in. Of course, Fluttershy was there, so she probably had little to worry about in that regard.

For three days, this had been her routine. She meditated in her cell where nopony would bother her, exploring the connections between herself and a wide web of lives she might have led if circumstances were different.

At this point, she wasn’t even sure what she was trying to find. Was this a facet of chaos magic? Discord seemed to indicate it was, but she couldn’t see any connection between these glimpses into parallel realities and making it rain chocolate. There had to be pieces missing from her understanding.

Two staircases that each lead to nowhere. Two separate staircases leading nowhere.

That image had remained burned in her mind’s eye. Discord seemed thrilled to talk about it, but nothing he’d said had made any sense. What purpose could the staircase serve? And if there was no purpose, then why would you need two of them? And how did it relate to chaos?! What was the connection?!

Was it just there to not make sense? Was that its purpose? To confuse ponies? To trick them into wasting their time trying to figure out what kind of sense it was supposed to make when there were really better things they could be doing with their life?! Was it all an elaborate practical joke?!

Twilight grunted in frustration, standing up from the straw that Bridle Rock called a bed. She needed to take a walk or she was liable to go stir-crazy. Lights out wouldn’t come until well after dinner, so she still had plenty of time to stretch her legs. She just had to worry about who she’d run into.

She’d spent the last three days trying to avoid drawing attention. Captain Silverpride was the last pony she wanted to run into alone. She’d also been giving Sunset Shimmer a wide berth; she wasn’t certain if she could still be considered a member of Sunset’s herd after the argument they’d had, and she was in no mood to find out.

So she’d spent her days exploring the connections. Each led to another Twilight Sparkle somewhere in a distant reality. She’d seen Twilights in love, Twilights on adventures, Twilights in strange places and interacting with ponies she’d never even heard of, and more. But she was still no closer to home, and the more she thought about it, the more she realized this course wasn’t going to get her there anyway.

Even if she was able to return to the Space Between and follow one of these connections, none of them would lead her home. There was no connection to her home; the Twilight Sparkle of that reality was right here, wasting away in Bridle Rock. No matter how many pieces of a seemingly infinite spectrum of Twilights she reviewed, the one connection she’d never find was herself.

Twilight approached the massive door once more. She’d been by to visit it every day, sometimes multiple times. There was something about it that seemed to call out to her. She couldn’t explain the strange fascination she’d had with this door. It felt as if it was resonating with her, sending signals through her psyche that she’d never felt before. She could feel something beyond it, as if it was triggering a brand new sense entirely.

But the door stood firm as ever. It didn’t even seem to have a handle or latch. She’d seen doors like this before in Canterlot; Princess Celestia’s vault opened through magic. With the disabling fields keeping the unicorns from casting their spells, such a door would guarantee that the only ponies who even could open it were the unicorns in the Royal Guard.

But staring at it was getting her nowhere. It wasn’t even relevant to her objectives anyway, was it? The ultimate objective was to find a way home. To do that, she’d need to understand the magic that brought her here, which she still didn’t even have the slightest grasp on. Nothing about Discord’s magic made sense, and nothing she’d learned seemed like it had anything to do with it.

Maybe she needed to come at this from a new angle.

---

Twilight stared at the rock, daring it to move. She watched it carefully, studying its every curve and feature. Gray with a hint of bronze on its left side. Craggy. Three potentially sharp corners. Smells like grit. Tastes like grit too.

It was definitely a rock, alright. Definitely a rock.

Definitely. A. Rock.

But could it be an orange?

No. It was a rock.

But did it want to be an orange?

No. Rocks did not have feelings.

But maybe it could be an orange. Oranges had a hard peel on the outside covering a sweet and juicy center. Twilight had created oranges many times with her transmutation spells, so she was familiar with the basic principles of using unicorn magic to alter an object’s properties in such a fashion.

But this wasn’t unicorn magic. This was a rock. A rock that persisted in not being an orange.

“Change,” she ordered it.

The rock said nothing.

“Be an orange!”

Still, the rock said nothing.

“You wish to be an orange,” Twilight argued, attempting to convinced it.

“I really don’t,” the rock said in response.

Aha! Progress! Wait, no, she’d imagined that. Never mind.

“Auuuuugh,” Twilight groaned, slapping her forehead down onto the defiant stone. She immediately regretted the gesture. Now her head hurt and she still didn’t have an orange.

What was she doing wrong? “I licked a rock,” she complained into the void. “What more do you want from me?!” But the laws of physics were cruel and uncaring, so no reply was sent.

According to Discord, glimpsing the Space Between had opened her mind and made chaos magic possible or something to that effect. So, logically speaking, that meant she should be able to transmute the way he does. And yet the rock remained ever stubbornly a rock.

She had to think. What would Discord do here? If it was him in her place, how would he change the rock?

Twilight glowered. She glanced around to make sure that nopony would see her doing this. She’d come to the Greenroom some time after dinner, when most ponies were wandering towards their cells for lights out. It was the perfect time to avoid attention.

Feeling secure in her isolation, Twilight whispered to the rock, “Hey, can you peel away for a second?” She sat in silence, watching the rock eagerly, but nothing happened. “I need you to help orange the library!”

After several more seconds, she caught herself glaring daggers at the impertinent stone and its obnoxious decision to cling to physics. She stepped away for a moment and took a breath, letting the air flow through her being and relax her. Getting angry wasn’t going to do her any good.

Once she’d had her time to recover, she whirled on the stone. “Rock rock!”

In a low, whining voice, Twilight responded, “Who’s there?”

“Orange!”

“Orange who?”

“Orange you glad you don’t have to be a rock?!” Twilight beamed brightly, eyes pinned to the stone in eager anticipation. As the seconds turned to minutes, her hope dimmed and her smile faded.

She hated this rock. She hated it like she had never hated anypony before.

So there had to be more to it than just the snappy pun. What else did Discord do? Oh, that’s right! The talon snap. His dry wit was typically accompanied by a click of his talons. How could she have forgotten?

Twilight eagerly raised her hoof and….

…

…

Twilight swore a blood oath of vengeance upon this stone and all of its granular progeny.

She reared back, balancing on her hind legs and pressing her front hooves together. She ground her hooves against each other for a moment, then flicked one, casting her foreleg out with such force that it cost her balance and pulled her over. She hit the dirt, face inches away from the offending stone.

She could feel it laughing at her.

Nothing left to do but try again. She reared up again, finding her center of balance before clicking her hooves together and then slapping one away as noisily as she could muster.

No response. This was going to be a long night.

---

Calmly, Trixie explained, “So, once she finished telling bad puns to the rock, Skitter spent the rest of the evening practicing interpretive dance.”

Reclining forward on her straw bed, Sunset’s features contorted into an expression that Trixie could only define as somewhere between mortified horror and confused indignation. The only word she managed to utter was a simple, “What.”

“It could be some kind of Changeling ritual,” Trixie suggested.

“It’s not a….” Sunset stopped midsentence, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her hoof. Trixie knew the gesture well; Sunset Shimmer seemed to prefer condescending groans to actually explaining anything. She said simply, “This isn’t working. I need a new avenue.”

“Should I keep following her?” Trixie asked, but Sunset had already rolled over on her mat and put her back out. There was going to be no way to get through to her now. Trixie let out a defeated sigh and returned to her own cell block, secure in the knowledge that no matter what she did, it would be wrong.

---

Twilight reached her cell with a few minutes left before lights out. She stayed silent as the Royal Guard led by Captain Silverpride descended the hall in the opposite direction they moved each morning. The pegasi inspected each cell as they passed, ensuring its occupant was present. Then the unicorns slid the doors shut with a gesture of magic every bit as fluid as when they opened them in the morning.

With a few minutes left before lights out, Twilight picked up a small rock in her hoof. She pressed it to the wall and lowered her hoof, dragging the rock with the motion. The rock scratched a thin vertical line into the stone.

With the day marked on the wall, Twilight let the rock fall to the ground. She dropped onto her straw mat and faced the wall beside her. Engraved in rock scratches was a crude sketch of a small, bipedal dragon wearing a cowboy hat. When the magic green light faded out and darkness took the cell block, Twilight whispered, “Goodnight Spike.”

After a few seconds, she added, “Goodnight, Applejack.”

The encroaching darkness that flooded into her vision said nothing in response.

---

The next day came like each before it. Once more, Twilight ate her meal in isolation and returned to her cell. Once more she meditated on the spectrum of realities that dwelled beyond perception, intersecting endlessly through her being. Once more she found herself before the door, questioning its purpose.

She wondered how many ponies had stood here, staring at it, wondering the same questions she wondered now. Why did the door occupy so much of her calculating prowess? What secrets were calling to her from--

“Pretty impressive, isn’t it?” Sunset Shimmer said from beside her, causing Twilight to startle. “I mean, if you’re into doors.”

“Sunset Shimmer!” Twilight gave the biggest, widest fake smile she could manage. “Hi! How are you? Nice, uh…nice weather we’re having?”

“Yes, the sky’s just how I like it: chunky.”

Eyes wide with panic, Twilight laughed as loudly and obnoxiously as she could manage. “That’s so funny!” she exclaimed.

“It’s really not.” Sunset turned on Twilight, reading her features like a hawk studying its prey. “So. Skitter. You’re into doors. What’s up with that?”

“You don’t feel that?” Twilight asked. “There’s some kind of signal coming from here. I can’t trace it without my magic, but it feels like it’s calling out to me.”

“Of course, I feel it,” Sunset retorted. “Don’t be an idiot; the herd already has a Trixie. I just thought you might have found something interesting, but if that’s all you’re occupied with, then I guess you’re just another disappointment.”

Twilight’s eyes opened wide. “You know what’s through this door?”

“Skitter, everypony knows. It’s not a secret. There’s a viewing room down the hall. The guards use it to check and make sure everything’s still in order; wouldn’t want to risk letting it out.”

Enthusiastically, Twilight asked, “Can you show me?!” This could be it! The key to understanding how this strange allure was within her grasp!

“Of course,” Sunset said with a malevolent smirk. “You’re one of mine. I’d do anything for my herd.”

Sunset led Twilight down the hall away from the cafeteria. They rounded a corner and traveled the length of a dozen cells down, then took a right. She stopped at a wooden door with an ordinary handle, opening it with her hoof. “It’s right through here,” she said, grinning like a jackal.

Twilight passed through the door, looking enthusiastically for the viewing window. She found shelves worth of cleaning supplies. A handful of mops and brooms rest against a single corner just beside a large water basin.

“Wait, this is a--” Before Twilight could finish, she was forcibly shoved from behind. Her hooves skittered on the tile beneath them and she narrowly avoided her forehead colliding with the basin. She fell to the side, catching herself on a shelving unit by her right foreleg. “Did you just push me?” she demanded of Sunset.

“Wow, Look at that,” Sunset replied, stepping into the supply closet. “I guess I did. You must be really sharp to figure that out.” She lunged for Twilight again, pushing her back against the shelves.

“Stop that!” Twilight shouted, rearing back and kicking out her forelegs to drive Sunset back.

Sunset went low, feeling Twilight’s hooves kick against her back. Her shoulder landed in Twilight’s exposed stomach and she pressed forward, slamming Twilight’s back into the shelves hard enough to break the unit. Twilight collapsed into a pile, buried under rolls of paper towels and bottles of bleach.

“Why don’t you make me?” Sunset asked. “Come on, changeling.” Sunset clambered onto Twilight, driving a hoof into her side. “Turn into something big and mean and hit me!” Again, she slammed a hoof into Twilight’s gut, followed by another one. On the third hit, Twilight kicked back with her hind legs. Her strength took Sunset by surprise, throwing her up on her hind legs and jamming her spine into the basin.

Sunset muffled a cry of pain as she struck the basin. She hit the stone floor hard and coughed. Twilight rose defensively, shielding her front with her wing, eyes pinned to her assailant. “Come on. Is that all you’ve got?” Sunset taunted. She threw herself once more at Twilight, rearing up and kicking out her forelegs.

Twilight reared back and met Sunset’s approach, kicking her forelegs to drive her back. Both ponies landed, then Sunset pushed forward into Twilight, checking her with her shoulder and lifting up. Twilight raised her forelegs under Sunset’s and grappled for control of her attacker’s upper body.

Realizing what Twilight was doing, Sunset tried to pull her legs to the side. Twilight used that momentum to push her off-balance, pulling her around to the side. Twilight slammed Sunset’s back against a wall, pinning her forelegs underhoof by sheer physical strength. Sunset jerked and pulled against Twilight’s grip, but her best efforts couldn’t extricate her from the alicorn’s grip.

Sunset grunted with the exertion, twisting her body to try and free herself. “Let go of me!” Sunset spat. With a great heave, she pushed Twilight back a few inches, but Twilight pushed back and slammed her back into the wall.

“Stop fighting me,” Twilight replied, putting more of her weight against the struggling unicorn.

“I knew it!” Sunset raged. “Just as soon as I saw you, I knew you were lying.”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked.

Sunset struggled again, trying in vain to free herself from Twilight’s alicorn strength. “No changeling is this strong,” she accused.

Stunned, Twilight’s muscles relaxed. She backed off, letting Sunset drop onto her hooves. Sunset backed away slowly, never taking her eyes off Twilight. “Is that what this is about?” Twilight asked.

“How did you do it?” Sunset demanded. “Did you come through the mirror?! Is it open?”

“I’m still not sure, exactly,” Twilight admitted. “I’ve been working on that, but there’s only so much I can do here.”

“But I’m right,” Sunset said, as much a question as a statement. “You really are Twilight Sparkle. A different Twilight Sparkle, but Twilight Sparkle nonetheless.”

“I am.”

“Ha!” Sunset beamed. “This is perfect! That snot-nosed excuse for a unicorn won’t even know what hit her.”

“Wait, you’re asking me to help you?” Twilight asked. “You attacked me! We were fighting less than five minutes ago!”

“Oh, grow a thicker skin,” Sunset replied dismissively. “Sorry if I bruised your delicate feathers.” After a second, she added, “Why do you have wings, anyway? You’re not actually a dim-witted changeling who couldn’t figure out a decent disguise to save her life, so what’s the deal there? Why do you look like an alicorn?”

“…because I’m an alicorn,” Twilight answered slowly.

Sunset narrowed her eyes. “No, really. Explain the wings.”

“I am explaining them,” Twilight replied sternly. “I became an alicorn a couple moons ago.”

Sunset’s eyes widened. “Wait, it’s possible for a pony to just become an alicorn? I thought you had to be born into it.”

“I did too,” Twilight admitted. “My friends and I were all shocked when it happened.” Bitterly, she added, “Apparently some of us stayed shocked.”

Sunset Shimmer’s face lit up like a foal opening her presents on the morning of Hearth’s Warming. “This is perfect. I was thinking we could have you impersonate the Acting Princess, but this is so much better!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I don’t follow.”

“Oh, of course you don’t.” Sunset rolled her eyes. “Don’t you see? Twilight Sparkle is only the Acting Princess. She’s in charge because Princess Celestia said so, I guess, but unlike you, she isn’t a real Princess. If you can show me how to become an alicorn, she won’t be able to stop me from taking what’s mine. My right to Equestria’s throne will be indisputable!”

Twilight winced, watching Sunset get herself riled up. “I’m not sure if that’s possible,” she said diplomatically.

Sunset scoffed. “Look, if you’re worried that you’re not smart enough to teach me, don’t. I’m an excellent study.”

Twilight glowered. “That’s not what I meant,” she asserted through gritted teeth. She was already getting tired of Sunset Shimmer’s casual egotism. With a sigh, she continued. “I don’t even know if becoming an alicorn is something I can teach. When it happened for me, it was the product of lessons I had to learn on my own. Princess Celestia was only able to carry me so far.”

“Princess Celestia….” Sunset echoed distantly

“Princess Celestia didn’t just set me on my path,” Twilight explained. “She was there for me to guide me, but she also gave me space to learn new things. And she was there to help me transition through the final step. I couldn’t have done it without her. I don’t even know if it can be done without her. And in this reality, she’s….”

It was then that Twilight noticed how quiet and still Sunset Shimmer had gone. “Sunset?” Twilight asked. Letting down her guard, she approached and reached out for Sunset with a hoof. “Are you--”

“I’m fine,” Sunset snapped, jerking away from Twilight.

“No, you’re not. You’re….” Twilight hesitated. Sunset had an established history of being dangerously irrational and potentially violent. If she wasn’t careful, this could end in another fight. She knew from experience that Sunset kept a brick wall built up around her emotions and wrapped it in links of barbed wire made from anger or even hate.

This emotional response was an opening. Sunset wasn’t going to talk about her feelings, but there might be a different angle to approach from. “What happened to her?” Twilight asked. “If I may, I mean.”

Sunset scoffed. “What do you think?” she asked. She looked back to Twilight, eyes burning with hatred. “You happened, Twilight. She needed help and you weren’t there. You let her die.”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight attempted. “Did you--”

“Forget it.” Sunset said, shutting down the conversation. Her cold exterior resurfaced and the opportunity was lost. “It doesn’t matter anyway.”

Twilight sighed. So much for that. “In any case, even if I were to agree with this, it’s not going to happen in Bridle Rock.” She thought for a second and then an idea came to her. “How about I make you a deal?”

“I’m listening.”

Twilight put on her best diplomatic smile, trying to forget the insults she’d been given. “If you help me get out of here, then I promise to do everything in my power to help you become an alicorn.” It wasn’t a lie, really. She had every intention of making the effort. It wouldn’t be her fault if Sunset Shimmer was too much of a mean, heartless, violent….

Calm. Calm. She took a deep breath and centered herself. Anger wasn’t going to get her through this.

“Alright, I’m listening,” Sunset said. A knowing smirk crossed her face as she asked, “If you can’t make me an alicorn from here, then what makes you think I can get us out? After all, nobody ever leaves Bridle Rock.”

“Well, that’s not entirely true, is it?” Twilight asked. “Supplies apparently come and go all the time, so somepony has to be leaving Bridle Rock.”

“You’re suggesting we steal a supply carriage?”

“It’s just an idea.” Twilight thought for a moment, then asked, “How long have you been here?”

“Me? I was the first pony ever to set hoof in this place. Twilight built it just for me, so that she’d have somewhere to dump me. It grew from there. It’s hard to keep track of time down here, but I’d say it’s been a year and a half.”

“That’s what. You see, back in my reality, Sunset Shimmer made it back to Equestria on the first night that the mirror was open. Not only did she learn about our Princess Summit and my ascension, but she was able to plan and execute a heist to steal my crown in only a few hours. Nopony saw it coming. Not even the Princesses.”

Sunset grinned. “She sounds pretty clever.”

“So, you’ve been here for a year and a half and you expect me to believe that you don’t already have a dozen plans for how to get past the Guard? You’re too smart for that.”

Sunset seemed to glow from Twilight’s praise, but a second later, her grin faded. “Wait a minute, I see what you’re doing. You’re trying to manipulate me.”

“Yes, I am,” Twilight answered bluntly. “But I’m also right, aren’t I?”

Sunset answered with a grin. “Good to know where we stand. Okay, the first step is Fluttershy. She practically runs Bridle Rock. She has a trick for getting her cell door open so that she can make her nightly rounds. No one’s ever figured out how she’s doing it, but it’s probably got something to do with those rats she has running around. If we can get her on our side, we’re halfway to freedom.”

Twilight smiled. This would work out perfectly. Once she was free of Bridle Rock, she’d be able to resume her studies and find a way home. All she needed now was for everything to go according to plan.

---

“Oh, no, I could never!” Fluttershy exclaimed at the breakfast table. Great. Already, things were not going to plan. “I wouldn’t even dream of it! And you shouldn’t either,” she added, scolding the ponies before her.

“You’re joking, right?” Sunset asked. “Fluttershy, you of all ponies have to know how terrible this place is.”

Behind her, Pinkie Pie boomed from the viewing crystal. “So, I’m not gonna lie, things are getting p-ret-ty bad with the yak situation. They’re super angry, like, all the time and I don’t think they like us being here. But Acting Princess Twilight’s got her best ponies on it and, trust me, they’ve got it handled. We’ll have a peace treaty before you can say, ‘Mean old grumps!’”

Fluttershy held her snout up high, stating, “The Acting Princess put us here for a reason. We’re supposed to take this time to understand what we did wrong and how to never do it again. Then she’ll let us go home.”

“No, she didn’t,” Sunset replied. “She dumped us here to rot. She doesn’t care about any of us.”

“That’s not true!” Fluttershy replied desperately. She looked from Twilight to Sunset and back, then sighed. “I’m sorry, but you’re wrong. The Acting Princess cares about us. She put us here so that we can become better.”

“How is this making anyone better?” Sunset demanded. “Every morning, I wake up in a hole in the ground. They feed us garbage and propaganda that’s even worse than the garbage.”

Behind her, Pinkie Pie continued. “You know what time it is! BIRTHDAY TIME!!! Today, we’re celebrating Twist! Happy birthday, Twist! Ooh, but that’s not all, because we have a super duper double birthday today! That’s right, it’s also Fancy Pants’s birthday! Happy birthday, Fancy Pants! So make sure you come down to Birthday Plaza and let both of these super-duper ponies know how special they really are!”

Flatly, Sunset Shimmer said, “If I have to listen to another birthday announcement, Fluttershy, then I swear I’m going to eat that crystal.”

“That wouldn’t be very good for your digestion.” Fluttershy thought for a moment, then a lightbulb seemed to go off in her head. “Oh! But I do have some celery in stock that might--”

“I don’t want celery!” Sunset snapped. “If you aren’t going to help us, then fine. We’ll figure something out. But Skitter and I are leaving one way or another. Isn’t that right?”

Twilight put a hoof on the table next to Fluttershy’s. “Please, Fluttershy,” she pleaded. “We can’t do this without your help. If you come with us, then we might--”

“Oh, absolutely not!” Fluttershy pulled away from Twilight, shocked by the very suggestion. “Even if I wanted to, I could never abandon Bridle Rock. The ponies here need me to keep them in good spirits!”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Good spirits,” she muttered to herself.

“What?”

“You….” Sunset rose up, stepping her front hooves on the table to lift her up and make her larger than Fluttershy, but the words she wanted to say caught in her throat. She let out an exasperated grunt followed by, “Never mind. Come on, Skitter. This place is a trash heap and some ponies are too cowardly to actually do anything about it.”

Fluttershy reeled as though she’d been struck. Her jaw hung open as she tried to process what Sunset Shimmer had said to her. “I…I’m not….”

“Yes, you are!” Sunset rounded on Fluttershy. “If you want to stay here and play nursemaid, fine. But we have real work to do and my kingdom’s not going to fix itself no matter how many useless asparagus stalks you pass out. Come on, Skitter. We’re done here.”

As Sunset Shimmer started to walk away, Fluttershy began to cry. She turned away from Sunset, clutching her tray.

Twilight turned to Fluttershy. “I am so sorry,” she said, resting a hoof on Fluttershy’s. “She didn’t mean that--”

“Yes, she did.” Fluttershy wiped her eyes with the side of her hoof.

After a second, Twilight sighed and nodded. “Okay, she probably did. Can I--”

“Just leave me alone.”

---

“What the hoof was that?!” Twilight demanded, catching up to Sunset Shimmer. “After everything you said about respecting Fluttershy, how…how could you….”

Sunset shrugged. “We’re leaving. I don’t have to behave anymore.”

“You made her cry!” Twilight accused. “That was completely unacceptable!”

Sunset stopped. The sharp glare coming out of the corner of her eye caused the hairs on Twilight’s neck to stand on end. “Is that right?” she asked. “It’s starting to sound like you’re not fully onboard with our plan. Don’t forget who put her here in the first place.”

Twilight didn’t have an answer for that. It was difficult to defend against accusations she still didn’t fully understand.

After a few seconds of silence, Sunset continued with, “That’s what I thought. Besides, after I become an alicorn, none of this will even matter anyway.”

---

“What is she doing here?!” Trixie shrieked. “I thought we were mad at her!” She gave Twilight a panicked sneer and backed into the corner of her cell.

Ignoring her, Sunset looked to Twilight. “Trixie’s an idiot but she has her uses. She can be--”

“I’m familiar,” Twilight said quickly, trying to spare Trixie from having to hear the inevitable condescending explanation of her abilities.

Trixie hissed to Sunset, “Why is she familiar?!”

Still ignoring Trixie, Sunset explained. “She’s not going to be any use in a fight, but she’s still an able body if we need another set of hooves. But that does mean she’s leaving with us.”

“Leaving?!” Trixie exclaimed. “Nopony leaves Bridle Rock!”

“We’re about to test that theory,” Twilight replied. “Actually, I had another idea. Trixie, what would it take for you to make some of your smoke bombs?”

Sunset blinked. “She makes smoke bombs?”

Eyes wide, Trixie shot a look to Sunset, then back at Twilight. Twilight took a careful step towards her, saying, “It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. In fact, I’m not even a changeling.”

“You’re not?” Trixie asked. “…are you sure?”

“I’m reasonably sure.”

Trixie gasped. She looked quickly to Sunset Shimmer. “Secret twin,” she hissed. “I knew it! I….” She looked Twilight up and down. “…wait, if you’re not a changeling, then why do you look like an alicorn?”

“It’s complicated. The point is, we’re getting out of here and you’re coming with us, but we need your help to pull this off. Is it possible to make smoke bombs out of the supplies we have here, and can you do it without the Guard noticing?”

“That’s a tall order,” Trixie replied. “A pony doesn’t just find my handiwork in the street, you know. And it’s not like they give us much to use in the workshop. You’re asking if I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, can produce explosives in these conditions? Without any of the Guard seeing what I’m doing?”

Trixie smirked broadly. She cast a look around the corridor to make sure there were no Guardponies in the vicinity, then shuffled her hoof over her straw mat. She pulled it away from the wall, revealing a dozen small, round objects. They were balls made of black and silver powder wrapped up in white paper, each the side of a bead. “I’ve been making these since I got here,” Trixie boasted.

Twilight’s eyes widened and she stepped into Trixie’s cell to get a closer look. She’d never seen smoke bombs up close before. “This is incredible,” she complimented. Behind her, Sunset watched, uncertain of what to say.

“I would have made more, but it’s been a trial even finding this much supply. Fortunately, there are magnesium deposits to work with in the Greenroom, so that was the easy part.” She looked Twilight straight in the eyes and flatly added, “You don’t want to know what I’ve had to do to get even this much saltpeter.”

“Do you mind if I take these?” Twilight asked. “We can hide them in my wings.”

“Oooh, that’s a good idea. You know, I used to do the same thing with my cape. Ponies never saw my brilliant escapes coming.”

“Good. That’s exactly what we’re looking for.”

Trixie picked up a pair of smoke bombs in her hoof. Twilight extended her left wing, allowing Trixie to pad one between the feathers of it. She repeated with Twilight’s right wing. “There. If you run into any sort of trouble, all you have to do is slam one of these on the ground. The bomb will take care of the rest. It should be particularly potent down here due to the enclosed space.”

Twilight nodded, following along with Trixie’s logic. “Limited ventilation. It will be difficult for the smoke to disperse.”

“Exactly!”

Twilight glanced back to the cell opening. “Sunset, do you want a couple….” The space where Sunset had been now stood vacant, leaving Trixie and her alone. “Sunset?” Twilight asked, stepping back out into the corridor with the smoke bombs delicately pressed to her sides. “Sunset Shimmer!” she called out, but nopony answered.

“She’s always like this,” Trixie said flatly. “She has no patience for any conversations that aren’t about her. You get used to it.”

Of course. How could Twilight have forgotten? Everything always had to revolve around Sunset Shimmer. They were trying to put together an escape plan, but Celestia forbid any part of it not be spent celebrating how smart and cool she is.

“I better go find her.” Twilight looked back to Trixie. “Thank you, this will be a great help. I’ll update you when we have more of the plan together.”

Trixie replied with a smirk. “It’s not going to work, you know. Nopony ever leaves Bridle Rock. But it’ll be fun to try.”

---

Twilight returned to the cafeteria, keeping her head raised up to try and see Sunset Shimmer’s fiery red mane over the sea of ponies milling about. She wished she’d gotten to know the ponies of Sunset’s herd better; it’d make the search easier if she knew who to ask.

After several minutes, she gave up on the cafeteria and started down the hall to the Greenroom. She was just past the workshop when she heard a low, firm voice calling out over the crowd! “You there! The changeling! Stop!”

Twilight turned to see a pair of Royal Guardpony pegasi approaching from the direction of the cafeteria. Her first thought was panic, but when she noticed that Captain Silverpride was not among them, her fear level shrank to a tentative distrust. “Can I help you?” she asked hesitantly. She fought the urge to snidely ask if she was walking too aggressively; despite her misgivings towards their commander, these were ponies of the Royal Guard and she felt they warranted some respect.

“Come with us,” one guard commanded.

“Come with us, please?” Twilight asked. The guard responded with a stern glare. She held her head as high as she could and did her best imitation of the guard’s deep voice. “Hello, there. Could you please come with--”

The other guard, coming around behind Twilight, gave her a firm shove. “Move, changeling.”

“I’m going, I’m going.” Twilight rolled her eyes. The rudeness of the Royal Guard was just another sign of how far she was from home.

---

“So,” Flash Sentry said, seated in his chair in the guardpony break room. The Royal Guard had unceremoniously deposited Twilight into the room, then closed the door and isolated her with him. “Let’s talk about this plan of yours.”

“Plan?!” Twilight asked. Her eyes popped open and her snout contorted into the biggest smile she could make. Sweat beaded across her face and her teeth clenched together. “What plan?” she asked innocently through gritted teeth, just before her head cocked to the left.

“Have a seat,” Flash said neutrally, gesturing to the sofa.

“I’ll stand,” Twilight replied. She gripped a smoke bomb in her wing, scanning the room for possible exits. Bridle Rock being Bridle Rock, however, the only avenue of retreat was the door behind her, through which she assumed the other Guardponies lurked. “Standing’s nice, isn’t it?” she rambled. “I mean, it’s just so….” Her eyes fell to the coffee table in front of Flash Sentry. A small stick of metal rest upon it with grooves carved into the side. A ring attached to it on one end, large enough to fit a hoof through.

“What is that?” Twilight asked, despite herself. It hadn’t been here the last time Flash had brought her in.

“This is the master key,” Flash replied. “It opens the front gate. Now, you might be able to slip out of your cells and maybe you can get past the Guard. I’ll even give you credit and say you’ve figured out how to do this all in the dark. Even so, you won’t make it far without this. There’s one way in and out of Bridle Rock. Unicorns assigned to this place learn a spell to open the door, but the rest of us have to use this.”

“Why are you showing me this?” Twilight asked.

“Because you need to understand something. There’s a reason nopony leaves Bridle Rock. The front gate’s enchantment was created by Twilight Sparkle. It can’t be broken by force. Either you cast the spell or you use this key. Either way, it won’t open for any pony who isn’t a member of the Royal Guard or Twilight Sparkle herself. You could steal this key right now and vanish in a cloud of smoke, and you still won’t get anywhere.”

“Uh…obvious question coming….” Twilight warned.

“The actual Twilight Sparkle wouldn’t need a key,” Flash responded. “We’ve been at war with your kind for years. The Acting Princess thought of that too.”

“Okay.” Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because Fluttershy was in here for an hour and a half crying about what Sunset Shimmer said to her.” Twilight winced; in retrospect, she probably should have expected that.

“She told you everything?”

“She tells me everything. And now I’m telling you: you aren’t getting anywhere without this key and a member of the Royal Guard to open the front gate.” He glanced at the door, still sealed tightly. Then, lowering his voice, he added, “And I’m not going anywhere without Fluttershy.”

“You’re offering to help us?!” Twilight was floored by the suggestion.

“No, I’m asking you to help me. She doesn’t deserve what we did to her. I’ve done what I can, but now Shining Armor has it in for me and if I can’t be here to help her….”

“Bridle Rock’s about to get a lot worse,” Twilight completed his thought.

“I know it looks like we run a pretty tight ship around here,” Flash started.

“Uh…sure.”

“…but getting assigned to Bridle Rock is basically an exile. Guardponies get sent here for the same reason that regular ponies do: because the Royal Guard needs a place to dump us. So long as nopony escapes, we’re allowed to do whatever we want. Captain Silverpride runs this place like his own personal kingdom.

“Tomorrow, all of that changes. Shining Armor’s coming in for an inspection, and that means we get to spend the day pretending to be a well-disciplined machine.”

“There’s not a lot in Bridle Rock that’s up to code, is there?” Twilight asked.

“No. And we need to pretend that this facility actually keeps order. The Guard will be scrambling to keep up appearances.”

Twilight nodded along with Flash’s suggestion. “Security’s going to be tight wherever he is, but that means we’re going to see reduced Guard activity everywhere else in the facility. As long as we avoid running into him, we’ll have a straight shot.”

Twilight beamed. The plan was coming together. As long as she could keep Sunset under control--

“But remember, we’re not leaving without Fluttershy. You won’t make it to the carriage without me and I’m not leaving without her.”

“The last time I spoke to her, she was heavily opposed to the plan. Has she changed her mind?”

“No, and she doesn’t listen to me. That’s why you need to talk to her.”

“Why me?”

“Because she likes you. She says you’re nice for a changeling. From what I’ve seen, she isn’t wrong. Sunset Shimmer is a horrible pony and I’m not any good at arguing with her, but you might actually get her to see reason. All I’m asking you to do is try.”

“No, you’re not. You’re literally telling me that I need to succeed.”

“I….” Flash Sentry hesitated. After a few seconds, his features dropped. Defeated, he replied, “That is what I’m saying, isn’t it? Look, I’m just trying to help. It’s Fluttershy, she….” He paused, searching for words.

“You like her, don’t you?” Twilight asked with a wry grin.

“What kind of question is that? Everypony likes Fluttershy.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Twilight grinned. In her mind’s eye, she vividly pictured Flutterflash walking out among the pastures outside Fluttershy’s cottage, hoof in hoof. “Have you told her?” she asked eagerly, approaching the chair.

“What?!” Flash Sentry panicked. “No, of course not! And you shouldn’t either!”

“But you’d make a great couple!” Twilight practically glowed from excitement. “She’d be taking care of the local wildlife and you, you could…well, I don’t know you very well. But you’re a Guardpony! You could defend the cottage from threats coming out of the Everfree! And then at night, the two of you would retire in front of a fire and--”

“What is happening right now?” Flash asked.

“…your first foal would be named Shutter Shy,” Twilight finished quickly.

“Okay, first of all, what? Second, no, seriously, what?!”

“It’d be cute,” she said defensively.

“Third, you don’t speak a word of what I may or may not be feeling to Fluttershy. If you even hint that I might be into her, this deal’s off. She does not hear about this.”

“Why not?” Twilight asked. “She might like you too! You’ll never know if you don’t take the chance.”

“Because it’s not about me!” Flash sighed. “Right now, she’s a prisoner. Her whole distribution thing relies on me to get her the supplies she needs. The orders go through me. I do that out of respect, but it means she depends on me. This doesn’t work without me, and I don’t want her to feel like she has to….” He stopped again, searching for words. “Like she owes it to me to….”

Twilight drooped. “Oh,” she said quietly.” she said quietly. “I...I hadn’t considered that….”

Flash nodded. “Maybe some day when this is all over, I’ll talk to her. When we can be equals. But that’s not what we are right now. Right now, she needs me to be her friend.”

“You’re taking me bowling?” Twilight asked. Of all the places she’d considered her first date might go, this was a bit of a surprise.

“Y’said you wanted stuff that’s simple and familiar,” Applejack explained, coming up beside her. “Way I see it, bowlin’s somethin’ we might be inclined to do even just as friends. It don’t need to have no romantic connotation to it, so I reckoned it might be a good place for our date.”

Twilight felt a familiar warmth in her heart at the memory of her first date. Her concerns had been heard and taken into account. Applejack liked her, of course, but also tried to keep her from feeling uncomfortable. Had she not pressed the issue, Applejack would have even been okay letting the night end without a kiss. It made her feel respected and appreciated to see the concerns she’d expressed taken into account.

“Just do what you can,” Flash asked, snapping Twilight back to the present. “Please. She deserves better than this place.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Twilight said.

---

“Fluttershy?” Just as Twilight expected, Fluttershy was curled up in her cell. She’d piled up her straw mat and buried herself beneath it, tucked against a corner.

“Go away,” Fluttershy said weakly. After a few seconds, she added, “…if you don’t mind, please.”

“It’s me,” Twilight said cheerfully. “Your friend Skitter?”

“You’re her friend now,” came Fluttershy’s response.

Twilight approached the bars, staying away from the open doorway. Violating Fluttershy’s safety bubble definitely wouldn’t get her anywhere, not if she was anything like the mare that Twilight knew. “I can’t be both?” Twilight asked diplomatically.

“Not if she’s going to be like that.”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said. “I should have stopped her, but I was as surprised as you were. She doesn’t respect me or Trixie or anypony, really. But I thought, at the very least, that she’d respect you. You didn’t deserve to be treated that way.”

A tuft of pink could be seen shifting through the straw. After a few seconds, Fluttershy poked her snout out. “Do you mean that?” she asked.

“I do.”

“That’s sweet. But you’re wrong.” With that, Fluttershy returned to the safety of her straw fortress. “I am a coward, Skitter. I’m a coward and a traitor and I must have done something terribly wrong to bring so much evil into this world.” At the sound of her sobbing, Twilight pressed against the bars, trying to listen closer.

“That can’t be true,” Twilight whispered.

“You’re not from here,” Fluttershy sobbed. “You don’t understand. It’s all because of me. I try to help them, I do everything I can, but nothing makes it right.”

Twilight sat on her haunches, putting a hoof against the bars. “You’re not making sense,” she said as diplomatically as she could. “You’re right, I don’t understand. I’m trying to, because you’re my friend and I care about you. But in order to do that, I have to know. What could be so terrible?” She had to struggle to even hear the answer that came floating out.

“I’m the reason we went back to war.”

Comments

[Aatxe360]

I'd really like to hear this backstory.

[Meta Four]

Theory time!

Two staircases that each lead to nowhere. Two separate staircases leading nowhere.

That image had remained burned in her mind’s eye. Discord seemed thrilled to talk about it, but nothing he’d said had made any sense. What purpose could the staircase serve? And if there was no purpose, then why would you need two of them? And how did it relate to chaos?! What was the connection?!

The two staircases are the two Twilights. They go nowhere because Discord’s an existentialist and thinks your life only has whatever meaning you assign to it. They’re separate because Discord was trying to make the point that this universe’s Twilight is not the same as our Twilight. And as long as Twi keeps using knowledge of her friends to make assumptions about their counterparts in this universe, she’s going to get burned. Or worse, if Twi came here because she thought it would provide insight into her friends back home, then she’s on a fool’s errand.

Twilight approached the massive door once more. She’d been by to visit it every day, sometimes multiple times. There was something about it that seemed to call out to her. She couldn’t explain the strange fascination she’d had with this door. It felt as if it was resonating with her, sending signals through her psyche that she’d never felt before. She could feel something beyond it, as if it was triggering a brand new sense entirely.

It’s this universe’s Discord behind that door. Twilight’s new chaos magic senses him.

[Yami Vizzini]

I feel like I’m going about as crazy as Twilight with these chaos magic bits, so good work.

Trixie let out a defeated sigh and returned to her own cell block, secure in the knowledge that no matter what she did, it would be wrong.

Boy, can I relate.

This should be good....

[HeartfireFirebrand]

Sunset seemed to glow from Twilight’s praise, but a second later, her grin faded. “Wait a minute, I see what you’re doing. You’re trying to manipulate me.”

“Yes, I am,” Twilight answered bluntly. “But I’m also right, aren’t I?”

Sunset answered with a grin. “Good to know where we stand. Okay, the first step is Fluttershy. She practically runs Bridle Rock. She has a trick for getting her cell door open so that she can make her nightly rounds. No one’s ever figured out how she’s doing it, but it’s probably got something to do with those rats she has running around. If we can get her on our side, we’re halfway to freedom.”

Twilight smiled. This would work out perfectly. Once she was free of Bridle Rock, she’d be able to resume her studies and find a way home. All she needed now was for everything to go according to plan.

Yeah Sunset's a bitch here.