"Disliked As Two Pleas In A Pod"

Meanwhile, in the castle, Twilight began to stir and awaken, having fallen asleep upon finishing the fourth chapter of A Wrinkle In Time. She yawned, stretched, smacked her lips, and looked outside. It was still nighttime, four hours after the... Oh, yeah. That's right. Her somewhat good mood had now steeped down into a rather dour aesthetic. She remembered exactly why she was here tonight. Princess Celestia... My former mentor... The Elements of Harmony... My former friends... Shining Armor... My former brother... Equestria's poor excuse of a defenders... All of them are... It doesn't matter... It's not like I can do anything about it, anyway...

Suddenly, the room was lightened up by a faint glow of moonlight, causing Twilight's head to perk up from her thoughts and face the direction from where the light was coming from. Pulling down the cover atop the light, it revealed a crystal mirror. It was a crystal mirror with a horseshoe-shaped rim lined with pink gems, a horseshoe-lined standing base, and a smaller window with an interior pony depiction attached to the top. The glowing intensified, prompting Twilight to back away and shield her eyes. The mirror itself began to shake all around, until...

"WHOA!"

Twilight caught wind of the voice in distress and opened up her eyes to found a unicorn laying on the ground before her. She had a brilliant amber coat, a brilliant amaranth/light-apple-green-striped mane, and [when she came to] moderate cyan eyes. Her cutie mark was that of a red-and-yellow shimmering sun, partially blocked by the presence of a brown leather satchel. This particular unicorn intrigued her. She had never seen her before, partially because she came out of a mirror.

Sunset was more or less the same. The unicorn before her had a pale light grayish mulberry coat, a dark sapphire blue/moderate purple/brilliant raspberry mane, and moderate violet eyes. There was something on her back leg that resembled a brand mark in the form of a six-pointed sparkling star.

"Ugh... What...what happened?" Sunset did expect the portal to work, but she didn't expect it to be this tad of a dizzy. Twilight seemed to agree, as she made her way over to tend to the poor thing.

"Are you okay, ma'am? You took a hard hit."

"... Do I look like a ma'am to you?" Sunset asked the walking, talking unicorn before her...before realizing what it was that she was asking to. "WHOA! Whoa, whoa! Walking, talking pony at twelve o'clock!"

Twilight was both confused and concerned for this visitor, but mostly the former for now. "Well, yes. I am a walking, talking pony...much like you are."

Sunset was taken aback by the unicorn's statement until she fully comprehended it. Glancing down, she gasped upon her hands replaced with...hooves. Turning around to face the mirror she came out of, she took a deep breath...and screamed. Before clamping her mouth shut with said hooves. She gazed at her reflection for a couple of minutes, taking in every single detail of her new form. She smiled too. For the first time in two weeks...she smiled.

"Are you alright?"

Sunset forgot all about the walking-talking pony she made her acquaintance with. She turned around and smiled at Twilight, "Yeah...sure. Let's go with that. So...where am I?"

"Well, you're in my tower, which also functions as a library as you can see ‒ "

"No, no. I mean... Where am I in general? What city am I in?" Sunset needed to reword her questions a little more better.

"What city? Well, you're in Canterlot ‒ the capital of Equestria and the hometown of the two Princesses: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."

Canterlot. Okay, that's a start. Canterlot: A portmanteau of "canter," a three-beat horse gait, and Camelot, a British kingdom from Arthurian legends. Wait... Princess Celestia? Princess Luna?

"Yep. And the third one..." Twilight's chirpy tone soon soured and reverted to one of contempt, "...is, unfortunately, Princess Cadance. Short for Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, of course."

... Okay, so this pony can read thoughts... My former principal and vice principal are both princesses here... And I now have the unfortunate distinction of being the first human in a possibly pony-infested land named "Canterlot"... I'm obviously dreaming. What other explanation is there?

"You're not dreaming?"

Sunset turned to face a nervous-smiling Twilight, flashing a nervous smile in return. "Okay, seriously. How are you doing that? Are you a mind-reader?"

"Nope, but I can read expressions. That counts."

"Sure it doesn't." Sunset glanced around and sighed to herself. "So...anything exciting happen around here? I'm not trying to be noisy, but starting a conversation isn't exactly my strong suit."

"Oh, no. I understand," Twilight nodded her head in understanding and sighed as well, "So far... My brother is having a wedding with Princess Cadance."

"I take it you don't think fond of her?"

"In a sense, yes. You see, I was happy for him at first. That was, of course, until I actually reunited with my dearly beloved foalsitter."

"... Maybe we can talk about it. You know, we can get something to eat and know each other a little better." Sunset walked forward and held out a hand‒err, hoof‒to formally introduce herself, "My name's Sam...but my friends call me Sunset Shimmer."

Twilight smiled back at Sunset and introduced herself in return, "My friends call me Twilight Sparkle."

The wagon slowed to a stop just before it collided with a nearby tree. The door opened, revealing a dizzy Starlight and Trixie as they stumbled out whilst using each other as support. Once their vision become coherent again, they shook and rubbed their heads.

"Thanks for that." Starlight continued to rub her head.

"Don't mention it...ever." Trixie stumbled forward, struggling to find her footing. Starlight helped her along as they both broke into a sprint towards the castle. The castle in which the wedding would be held that was currently being under vigorous vigil and triple the Royal Guards.

Starlight and Trixie watched as they strictly guarded each and every section of the wedding hall. "You think they know?" Starlight inquired with Trixie, "Do they know about the..."

Trixie could only shake her head in uncertainty, "I...don't know. But I do remember that a threat was made against Canterlot just a few weeks ago."

"You think they were the threat they were talking about?"

"Maybe. Even so..." Trixie began to hyperventilate, something Starlight caught notice of. "I couldn't possibly take on all of them at once! I'm just a performer, a street magician! I wasn't born for princess-level stuff like this!"

Starlight felt sorry for Trixie, even though they had met just a few hours ago. "Well, don't worry. At least I'll be right there beside you."

Strangely enough, Starlight's promise brought comfort to Trixie, even though they had met just a few hours ago. She hugged her out of thanks. "Thanks."

"... You're welcome." With a smile, Starlight returned Trixie's hug before both returned to their incognito eavesdropping.

"So, let me get this straight: you found out that a weird bug-like creature impersonated your former foalsitter and managed to turn your entire family and friends against you? And your own brother revoked your position as the Best Mare and the wedding all together?"

Twilight and Sunset had long since left the castle in order to fulfilled the latter's suggestion to the former. Indeed, they had gotten something to eat and more acquainted with each other, the primary basis being their troubled pasts. Twilight and Sunset were both bullied and undermined by fellow peers who doubted their existence in the reality before them. Twilight and Sunset were never giving up and strove forward in the reality before them. Twilight and Sunset were both taken in by their versions of Celestia just as things were looking up in the reality before them.

And then they were stabbed in the back and left to die.

"Yes, Sunset. I'm still having trouble figuring out whether the Cadance imposter had them under their control or they acted on their own terms."

"... Wow! That's just fucked up, Twilight."

A pair of ponies who happened to be parents to young foals stopped dead in their tracks before shooting glares at the two mares, specifically Sunset. The red-and-yellow unicorn herself sheepishly grinned and mouthed a Sorry! at them before speed walking away as quick as possible. Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes in amusement as she caught up with her,

"Well, for lack of a better term... Yes. Yes, it is."

"Well... Have you tried do something about it after the wedding rehearsal?"

"Come to think of it... No. No, I haven't. All I did was head back to a tower for a good read. I needed to relax after all that stress."

"... I can't blame you there. All I did was head to the shooting range."

"Oh my gosh! You have bows and arrows in your world?"

"..." Sunset struggled to find an answer as she was befuddled by Twilight's question. Do they not have guns in this world? Wow... "Yeah, in a way."

Twilight and Sunset continued walking for a while as they got more and more acquainted with each other. The duo eventually reached the exterior of Pony Princess Wedding Castle, where the wedding was being held. The amount of security had tripled by this point and spread to every corner of the building. They both frowned in intrigue as they both backed away slowly, wishing not to be seen and still see what exactly they were doing. At the same time, a pair of polychromatic ponies watched as not only the guards doing their daily business, but another pair of prismatic ponies slowly backing up to where their conveniently placed, conveniently large bush stood.

"Who's that?" Starlight turned to Trixie. The magician in question could only grimace and growl in grievance.

"Twilight Sparkle..." Trixie gritted her teeth and took a stance, waiting... And waiting... And waiting until...

"YAH!"

Twilight was caught off guard when she was pulled from behind and tackled into a scuffle. Sunset was shocked into silence, but not enough to deter her from leaping into the bush after her newfound friend. Starlight too was shocked into silence, but unlike Sunset, she opted to stay out of the fight that ensued. Trixie was front and center at the ensuing fight, a given considering she was the one who wanted to be starting something. The one thing everypony could share?

Nothing.

When Twilight finally caught a glimpse of her attacker, to say she was bewildered would an understatement. "Trixie?!"

"You're damn right it's Trixie, bitch! You ruined my life!" Trixie was snarling and foaming from the mouth like a rabid dog would. Concerning for the showpony, Sunset kept her posture (and guard) up as she marched over to her.

"Hi...Trixie, was it? My name is Sam Summers, but my friends call me Sunset. You wouldn't mind me asking what happened between you and Twilight, would you?"

Trixie blinked straight ahead and decided on, "Well, since you asked nicely..." A random drum roll with smoke bombs thrown down for good measure accompanied her rather pompous backstory: "I am the Great and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon, the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria and the daughter of the legendary Lulamoons! I was once defeated an ursa major with my own bare hooves! I arrived in Ponyville to challenge Twilight Sparkle to a magic duel to see if she was all that!"

"And was she all that?" Sunset tilted her head.

"...Yes." Trixie had dropped her hamtastic declaiming in favor of a more subtler tone. "That's why I'm here. To... To..."

"To apologize?" Twilight was surprised by what she was hearing by the same unicorn who previously tried to one-up her approximately two years ago and kill her approximately two minutes ago. However, she did feel quite the amount of sympathy for the amateur magician. In spite of the hostile feelings towards her friends and family, she still found it in her heart to forgive any adversary she had made, accidental or otherwise. "Trixie, you shouldn't - "

"Yes, I should. I nearly put all of Ponyville in danger because of my arrogance and ignorance. My pride was put before the safety of the town, and anypony could've been hurt or killed as a result of my own selfish doing. I deserved to be ridiculed and shamed." Trixie was never going to let this go, and her solemn speech was a tried-and-true testament to that. The three unicorns undoubtedly showed and felt pity for her, Starlight in particular stepping forward to place a hoof on her shoulder.

"Trixie... Unless you pulled off an incredibly unforgivable crime, there is no such thing as an anypony beyond redemption."
Okay, that wasn't entirely true... Yes indeed, like Trixie before her, Starlight had difficulty going through her own revenge plan against Celestia:

"So you basically enslaved your entire village and stole their cutie marks out of petty revenge and the assumption that they ruined friendships?"

"I know. Pretty crazy, right?"

"Actually, it's just straight-up scary. I mean, that's like...a false utopia, a cult, and the Red Scare all rolled into one."

"It's that bad, isn't it?"

"Yeah, sorry, Starlight. I might forgive you, but others might not."

"... You would forgive me? Why?"

"... Let's just say that ponies would judge me by my past whenever they got the chance."

Starlight wasn't alone. She had Trixie, a new friend, to stand by. She certainly felt the same way. "Thank you, Starlight." They both hugged again as Twilight and Sunset looked on. A special kind of warmth seemed to fill them up as they watched. The former stepped away from the latter as she approached Trixie while she broke away from her hug with Starlight.

"Trixie... Maybe now is the time you can redeem yourself."

"... How?"

Before an answer could be made out of her question, a loud boom echoed throughout the kingdom, heard only by the four mares themselves. All four glancing up, they were all horrified to find the very black mass they were all looking for. The only difference? It had drastically increased in size and structure, taking the form of a colossal thundercloud. From it emitted a small squadron of winged insect-like creatures who hissed and snarled in their attempts to break through the dark pink dome that served as its protective shield.

It's too late... It's here... You have no chance...

At the same time, a certain Pegasus with metallic wings watched from afar as the creatures dubbed "Changelings" attempted to break through the force field. She couldn't but sneer. Pathetic... What chance do poor excuses for insect soldiers have against me?

Author's Note:

Chapter 2 Summary: While Starlight and Trixie are continuing their spy session, Twilight and Sunset meet for the first time. They bond over their dark and troubled pasts before they bump into Starlight and Trixie; They bond over their dark and troubled pasts before they bump into Twilight and Sunset. The four mares united, they find the protective shield attempting to be broken by the same black mass they were all chasing after...the key word being "attempting". All the while, Lightning Dust watches this from afar, confidently commenting that she could take them all on...

The chapter titles "Midnight Mass Hysteria" / "Black Mass Hysteria" are a play on the phrase "mass hysteria", seeing how this chapter's events take place at midnight and involve a black mass of Changelings; "Disliked As Two Pleas In A Pod" is a play on the phrase "Alike as two peas in a pod", as Twilight and Sunset / Starlight and Trixie are alike due to their guilty until proven innocent situations.

Later chapters will involve the Mane 6, Princess Celestia, Shining Armor, The Rainbooms, and the rest of Canterlot High realizing their mistake: "Why should I care? I'm not the one who stabbed their friend in the back and left her to die. I've cared less if I did the same thing to you..."

Up Next: The threat arrives, the invasion begins, the hope leaves, and the harmony ends...

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The Elements of Harmony - MarcellusMiro66

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