Sunset Shimmer in the Land of Enchantment

by Darkstarling

Alien Nation

Twilight produced new itineraries with a worrying efficiency that suggested to Sunset that she had been planning for exactly this scenario. Tourist destinations were replaced with supermarkets and sporting centers, while Twilight personally hit electronics stores in what could only be described as a series of targeted raids.

Rarity and Sunset were left at the hotel. Their job was to identify the most likely site for aliens, inventory their supplies, and pack. And going by the radio, some helpful conspiracy websites, and an intense bout of rumor-mongering by Rarity, they had agreed the place for Operation Scorpion Tent was Caldera Valley National Park. It didn't allow cars, but that was no obstacle to packing. Sunset had no idea what Twilight had originally been intending to haul with the BigMule she'd stuck on the roof of the van. But she wasn't about to complain. The quadruped bot would save all their backs.

The inventory, on the other hand, made her want to beat her head against the wall. Let alone the constant texts from Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy as they dithered and argued and debated over what they needed. And running herd on Twilight to keep her in something resembling a budget, in weight if nothing else, was...challenging. Which made Rarity's interruptions that much more irritating.

"Do you suppose we can bring some pillows? Perhaps a blanket or three?" Rarity asked, grimacing at the map.

"Really don't think so" Sunset replied. "Those are all bulky. We're going to be needing as much space on the mule as we can get for the telescope and electronics. I think Twilight is planning an improved magic detector, and it won't be small."

"But DARLING..." Rarity whined, "you know I have a delicate constitution. If I'm going to be covered in sand, stung by scorpions, and abandoned in the wilderness to die, I would at least hope my bleached bones will get their proper beauty sleep."

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Your melodrama get away from you there?"

Rarity fidgeted. "Well...yes. But still, there's only so much I can be expected to overcome in the name of adventure. I'm sure we can fit at least one or two, and perhaps my backup makeup kit."

"This was your idea you know" Sunset retorted grumpily. "I would have been fine staying here another night, you didn't have to make a big production out of it."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I merely suggested we investigate. We have an obligation, as experts in the paranormal. I certainly didn't..."

"Rarity, you said you were already planning to suggest it" Sunset cut her off. "The others might have gotten distracted, but I notice these things." Her face softened as she saw Rarity wilt. Great job Sunset, she said to herself. She does you a favor and you yell at her for it. Way to not be your old bitchy self. "I'm sorry. That was mean of me. I know you wanted to help, and I really do appreciate the thought. But you don't need to try so hard okay?"

Rarity looked down, arms crossed in front of her, and Sunset felt even more like a jerk. "Yes, well. I suppose I may have been overcompensating a bit. I'm sorry if I have offended you."

Sunset put an arm around her. "It's okay, I shouldn't have snapped at you, this is all just stressing me out. But overcompensating for what? Because yeah, you've kind of been doing it alot lately, now I think about it. Hotel rooms aren't cheap."

"Nothing worth talking about" Rarity said. She leaned in to Sunset, but held herself even smaller. "And I understand your irritation. I made my bed, so to speak, and now I must lie in it. Sand and all."

"Hey, it doesn't have to be that bad. Maybe you don't even need to go out with us? I bet we could find a use for someone coordinating from back in the city. And you can come rescue us when we all get captured or something."

"You do have knack for making a metaphor literal. And I appreciate the offer. But no, I meant it when I said we have an obligation. And we're strongest together. Besides," she added quietly, "I wouldn't want you to go into danger without me. Not if I can help it."

Sunset smiled and held Rarity closer. "I know. And I wouldn't want to leave you behind. I'll feel much safer knowing you've got our back. But you really don't want to talk about it?"

"No. I really don't."

Sunset nodded. She wished she could help Rarity more, something was clearly really bothering her. But her experience with getting someone to open up was mostly with Twilight and...her face heated. Nope. Kisses are not the appropriate response. And mind-reading without permission was not a line she was going to cross today. There were times when she really envied Fluttershy's natural comforting presence, and this was one of them.

"Well if you're sure" she said finally. "Just remember that I'll be here if you change your mind okay? Most of the time keeping things bottled up just makes it worse."

"Most of the time, yes. But in this particular case, to do otherwise would be selfish. I will be alright in time."

"Selfish?" Sunset's heart thudded. That could not mean what Sunset thought it did. "Rares, what do you..."

"Hey girls!" The door to the room slammed open and Pinkie Pie burst in, Applejack and Rainbow Dash following behind. Rarity quickly pulled away from Sunset and stood, brushing herself off in an effort to regain her composure.

Dammit Pinkie...Sunset thought, standing as well. "You've got everything then?" she said aloud.

"Yeppers! And check it out, I've got something perfect if things get crazy!" She thrust an explosively packaged cereal box in Sunset's face.

"...Emergency snacks?"

"NO, silly! Look at the name, Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs! They're perfect!"

"Do I want to know why there's a cereal so sweet your powers can make it explode?"

"Probably not! And it's not just the sugar either." She leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially "They've got caffeine. Even chocolate covered coffee beans have nothing on these babies. I think the name makes a difference. Remember when we tried Warheads? Phew, that was a big boom for the buck!"

"You do know we can't save anyone from themselves if we blow them up first right?" said Sunset. "But yeah, not a bad idea. Did you get the plastic bags? Maybe we can make you a bandoleer or something."

Darn timing, she thought to herself. Rarity, I am going to finish that conversation with you. But now it's time to get to work, and distract myself from the fact that my best friend probably has a crush on me. And exactly what I think about that.

Yep, potential magical and/or alien invaders were far preferable.

---

The drive to the park was surprisingly short, once Fluttershy had returned and they had pried Twilight away from the last tech shop. An hour in the rattling van took them well out of the city and into the wilderness. It really wasn't what Sunset had expected, to be honest. She'd seen the landscape as she'd driven in, she knew Desert Flower's paintings, but somehow on hearing it was arid she'd gotten a landscape of mesas and endless sand locked into her head. Like Appleoosa, or the San Palomino. Instead it was rolling grassland and suddenly rising mountains of red stone. Even forests in places. It was far more beautiful than she had imagined.

Dropping off the van and arranging a camp site had caused few problems. Loading up the robot with their supplies had gotten them a few looks, though, as well as some concern before Twilight had demonstrated that it had a working solar charger. They were also hardly the only ones there clearly interested in the aliens. Many other paranormal tourists were swirling around. According to their bumper stickers, the vast majority of them Wanted To Believe. Sunset was sure they left a lot of them with the impression that they were with the Men in Black as they hiked off, the robot following obediently behind them.

Of course, there was a possibility of all the other amateur investigators tripping them up. But fortunately, there wasn't much change of anyone else getting to anything unusual first. They didn't have Twilight and her telescopes, or the array of antennas she'd strung across their base camp. If anything magical happened within a twenty miles they would be able to track it down. And Fluttershy had been busily making friends with the local animals. It wasn't helpful as it might have been, since most of the ones she could find were diurnal and couldn't tell one light in the sky from another. They were honestly much more interested in a new community that had been started at the edge of the park, and the opportunities for food there. But still, her animal friends would be very useful navigating in the dark. The others were napping, on the logic that they'd likely get no sleep tonight, while Sunset and Twilight were fiddling with a device to turn Rarity's shields into a tent without overpowering their magic. All in all it was a lovely afternoon, until another flash of psychic static cut across Sunset's brain.

"Are you alright?" said Twilight.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Measurements! Measurements!" Twilight jumped and rushed to her instruments, while Sunset tried to focus on the mysterious signal. It felt much closer this time, she was sure they were on the right track, but homing in on it was like trying to grab water with your bare hands. And there was something different this time, a chattery signal that felt like a response. But before she could really get a feel for it, were gone again.

She looked over at Twilight, who shook her head. "I couldn't narrow it down. I'm sure it's close, but there was some kind of interference. I couldn't get a lock."

"This time there was a response. The second signal probably threw it off."

Twilight slapped her forehead. "Of course! I didn't account for distinguishing multiple sources, so it threw off the triangulation. But I can fix that, we'll be able to do it next time. Help me out?"

"Sure, that'll be a break from working on this darn amulet. I can't figure out the grounding yet, and the last thing we need is our powers going haywire in a crisis."

"You mean like every other crisis we've faced?" Twilight replied, and gave her a kiss. She smelled like solder, and the familiar aroma made Sunset smile. "I know it's frustrating, but going by our track record something is going to go dramatically wrong and we'll have no idea how to handle it. But we'll pull through at the last minute. We always do."

"Yeah...magical and emotional messes do go hand in hand don't they." She hugged Twilight and settled down to work on the thaumoscope. "Hey, Twilight, speaking of..." her stomach knotted. How was talking about relationships so much scarier than anything else about this? "I think there's something we need to talk about."

"What is it?" Twilight looked up nervously, and then dug into a tangle of wires in a show of casualness. That was fine with Sunset, she was staring fixedly at the output of a test cycle and trying to calibrate it. They both had a hard time talking at times, and having something to do with their hands helped. They'd worked through some of their most serious relationship problems up to their elbows in engine grease.

"It's about Rarity." Feedback, too far. Maybe tweak the phase discriminator. "Don't be mad okay? She hasn't done anything wrong. But I think she's got a crush on me."

"Oh." There was a flare of sparks from Twilight's panel. "Ouch!" Sunset looked up to find her sucking on her finger where it had been burned. Sunset passed her the bandaids, which she took with a thankful smile before her face became determinedly casual again. "Thanks. What makes you say that? Did she tell you?"

"No, but something's really bothering her and she wouldn't say what it was. She said she was being selfish. And with everything she's been doing for us lately, I think she's feeling guilty."

"Oh." That word again. Sunset looked up to try to gauge her reaction. She really didn't want this to cause problems. But Twilight's face was unreadable.

"You know you don't have anything to worry about right?" Sunset asked when the silence became too much for her. Dammit this feedback was going crazy, and re calibrating wasn't helping. "I love you, she couldn't steal me from you even if she wanted to. And she doesn't, she's been doing the exact opposite."

"Oh I know!" Twilight said quickly and loudly, then looked over quickly to check that the others had slept through her outburst. Reassured, to began to reconnect a set of cables in a new configuration. "I know. I'm not worried about that. I'm just not sure what to think, that's all."

"Yeah, that's how I've been since I figured it out." Aha, it wasn't the phase discriminator. It was the bandpass filter. That was looking alot better. She tweaked the seating of the quartz crystal with her pliers. "It's a bit weird, you know? Like getting a big 'might-have-been' thrown in your face."

"I know what you mean" Twilight replied. "Did you know that I really thought about asking out Rarity before we became closer?"

"...No, I didn't." Sunset's heart was beating faster again. Why was she getting so nervous again when the conversation was going well?

"Mm. I had convinced myself that I only was interested in you because of the whole savior thing" she snorted at her past self and Sunset chuckled. That was one issue they'd talked out already more than once, in both directions. "Oh Harmony I was such an idiot. But I really wasn't trusting my judgement at the time. I'd just broken up with Timber, and it took me months dating him to realize I didn't even like boys. I'm really lucky he took it so well, considering what a mess I made of that."

"Yeah, that...could have gone better. But at least it turned out well in the end right?"

Twilight smiled and nodded. "Yes. I was lucky I had you all there. And he really was understanding once I finally explained myself. But anyway, I'd convinced myself I shouldn't act on my interest in you. And so there was Rarity, you know how she's..." Twilight stopped and blushed, looking at Sunset to make sure she wasn't jealous.

"Beautiful, giving, witty, and protective?" Sunset supplied with a smile. "Not to mention sharp as a tack. We're dating, Twilight. That doesn't make you blind."

"Yes. That." She coughed. "So...you noticed too then."

"Yeah" said Sunset, her throat tight. She made a final adjustment to the crystal, and the readings stabilized with a hum. "Like I said. Might-have-beens right? It's confusing."

"...We should probably talk to her about this shouldn't we? Sometime when this is over, when we've had some time to process. Let her know she doesn't need to feel guilty for anything."

"Yeah." Butterflies swirled through her, she felt like she was falling as she continued. "Maybe..." she said hesitantly "maybe over dinner some time? All three of us?"

Words couldn't describe her relief when Twilight smiled in answer, and bent over the device to kiss her on the lips.

---

Even with the long summer days, night came soon after the day they had had. The sky opened, and the stars shone down on six magical girls asleep in a geodesic dome of force panes. The interior was lit only by the occasional spark by the generator, and outside the sounds of the night and the wind were a soothing susurrus.

Sunset was outside, on watch, peering into the telescope. Even after all this time, the stars never failed to astound her. Worlds without end, constellations traced by no mortal hand. Such a profound difference between Equestria and her home, even when they seemed so superficially similar.

A beeping from the sensor array interrupted her musings. She dashed over to the sensors and reached out with her empathy, but there was no message this time. But there was a clear signal, their improvements in the afternoon giving an instant target lock. Unknown magic, rapidly tracking north from Santa Tabitha. Directly towards a second set of signals, rapidly building in strength. She ran over to the dome and kicked, making it ring like a bell.

"We've got it, we're tracking them!"

For once Sunset was glad of Twilight's early rising, as she was up in a flash and fiddling with the controls while the others were still looking around bleary eyed.

"Sunset, whazzit?" Applejack mumbled.

"There's something out there, moving fast. You don't want to miss proving you were right do you? Get up!"

"Sunset, I'm showing a dimensional waveform!" Twilight shouted. "I think we might have a portal!"

"That's not all, I'm hearing something now." Sunset thought she was getting better at distinguishing the signals, there was much less static and more clarity this time, though it was still gibberish. "Back and forth, and...I think it's between the two sites."

"Whoa nelly!"

Applejack's exclamation was well warranted. Over the horizon a tendril of energy had appeared, slowly reaching to the sky like a tornado upside down. And they all stared as a brilliant orange light shot across the sky directly towards it.

"That's them, that's what's signaling."

"And the magic sources. Definitely a portal, it's opening!"

"Not to mention a dang flyin' saucer!"

The energy tendril suddenly leaped to the sky and collapsed into a bolt of green lightning, igniting the sky into a blazing unearthly aurora. They all stared, astounded, their faces lit by the glow.

"...What color is that?" asked Rarity in awe.

"Octarine" said Sunset in the same tone. "An octarine aura and the most intense bifrost radiation I've ever seen. I never thought I'd see it in this world."

"Multiple new contacts" said Twilight, somehow still monitoring her station while staring at the sky. "They're rapidly fading out, I think the aurora is jamming me."

The flying fireball shot into the distance, crossed the horizon into the arcing pillar of energy, and both were gone. All that was left was were the impossible colors dancing between the stars.

---

Packing up the camp site at four in the morning had not been fun. Hiking back to the van, even with the robot's help, was worse. Without the guidance of a friendly owl and a few snakes they met along the way they would have become hopelessly lost. But at last they were on their way, heading as directly as they could towards the newly discovered dimensional rip.

At least they had learned something. From Twilight's observations, the rift was probably intentional but far more chaotic and unstable than the portal at CHS. In fact, the exact words she used were "sloppy, brute force hamhanded reckless stupidity." Which, in Sunset's private opinion, said a great deal considering the source. Midnight might have torn the dimensional barriers to shreds, but apparently she'd at least been elegant about it.

On the other hand Twilight was also pretty sure she could replicate it with 200 meters of aluminum foil, some complex geometry, and either a stadium concert or a solid lightning strike. So there was that.

The rest of the trip had been given over to wild speculation or, in Rarity's case, desperate attempts to capture the feel of octarine in conventional colors. Sunset couldn't blame her, it was spectacular. She was personally surprised any of them could see it at all, it was normally only visible to the most powerful unicorns. Clearly their attunement to the magic of this world went deeper than they had suspected.

Still, while the guesswork was interesting, they just didn't have enough to go on to draw new conclusions. And she stopped paying attention entirely when she realized Rainbow was just recounting the plot of My School is a Flying Saucer. Nothing truly notable occurred until they stopped for gas around dawn.

Sunset had just paid at the counter and was heading for the door when she felt the familiar scratchy chatter play in her thoughts. And, unlike before, she could see exactly where it was coming from. A man behind her buying six containers of motor oil. He was tall, with greyish-yellow skin and faded blue hair, dressed in a simple white robe.

Sunset quickly waved to the others out the window and texted them to stay in the car, and then snuck up to observe him from behind the snack aisle. There was something strange about the way he moved, all starts and stops. No fluid motions at all. Not clumsy, not uncoordinated, but all wrong. More than anything, it reminded her of bad animation.

And then he turned his head, a quick darting motion, and stared at her. The chattering again filled her head, and she awkwardly waved and turned to leave. Only to jump as an answering signal came from a man entering the door. Another white robed man, with the same faded tones, this time blue skinned and yellow haired. He smiled at her with a blandly friendly expression, and Sunset fought the urge to shiver.

"Hi!" Sunset managed to muster.

"Hello." His face didn't change expression. Sunset wondered if it would have changed if she'd kicked him in the shins. Or if he'd pulled a knife.

"So...you live around here? Those robes, haven't seen them before. But then I'm just passing through myself..." Sunset was backing away slowly. The other one was coming up as well. She could tell without looking, the chatter between them was constant now.

"Yes. I am Zeb. This is Bez. We are brothers." He gestured to his companion, who took up a position beside him. Well, Sunset thought, at least they aren't trying to flank me. They're just blocking the exit. Oh Harmony I hope there aren't more of them.

"So the robes...religious then?" To heck with subtly, she thought. These guys are so uncanny valley I bet they couldn't even tell it's rude.

"Yes. We are brothers."

"Oh, right, like monks brothers. Heh, explains alot. Where do you stay then? You have a monastery?"

"Yes. It is our town" said Zed.

"Our town is very pleasant" Bez added.

"You should visit sometime" they finished in unison.

"Well, maybe," said Sunset, backing away rather faster now. She wondered if she could reach her pepper spray in time. "What's it called, so we can find it?"

"It is our town" they said, still in sync.

"Yeah, but the name of the town."

"Oh. It does not have one" said Zed.

"But that is alright" Bez agreed.

"We know what it is, and that is what matters" they said in conclusion.

"Right...well it's been fun but I really have to go. It was nice meeting you. Bye!"

"Goodbye Arachnea" said Bez, politely stepping aside to let her use the door.

Well, that was easy, she thought, and then froze. "What did you say?"

"Goodbye Arachnea" Bez repeated.

"What the heck did you call me?"

"Ah! It is a test" said Zeb.

"You did not fool us, we know" said Bez.

"Do not worry. All proceeds as ordered" they answered together, and, still smiling, walked out to their car together and drove away.

Sunset continued to stare from the doorway for a moment. And then she shook herself and dashed to the van, pounding on the door to be let in.

"Okay, so those guys were aliens right?" said Rainbow Dash from the driver's seat.

"They were so aliens. Come on, follow them! Go go go!"

"Right!" Dash put the peddle to the floor, rattling all their teeth, and the van tore after them. Good grief, Sunset thought, staring at the car in front of them, the tail lights are even the same color orange. They might as well have 'Take me to your leader' tattooed on their foreheads.

But what they lacked in subtly they apparently made up for in speed. Their car raced eighty, ninety, one hundred miles an hour along the deserted highway, and the Rainboom's van just couldn't keep up. And then they vanished over a hill, and when the van crested it they were simply gone.

The aliens vanishing into thin air was frustrating. That they apparently stopped for gas was just weird.

Having to pay for gas twice was insult to injury.

---

"Okay, let me just make sure I have this straight here" said Dash, peering over the hilltop with binoculars. "We find a weird little town, of weird little buildings, that is visible on neither the maps nor the latest satellite photos."

Sunset nodded. The town, 'our town' apparently, was a pile of organically shaped adobe buildings all piled together in a jumble. They were painted a stark black and white color scheme, geometric designs that somehow suggested a spider's web.

"A town where we know for a fact there is a hidden dimensional portal, full of creepy monks. Who are probably aliens. And who have a giant super-fancy equals sign burned into that grassy parking lot over there, like landing lights."

Sunset nodded again. Complex designs in two long parallel lines cut between a motley collection of antique looking cars. But that didn't mean anything, for all she knew the cars could fly.

"Kay, glad I'm with you so far. And I'm going to go a bit further and say we've either found our world's version of changelings, Starlight Glimmer, or somehow both. Right again?"

"Yes Dash. What's your point?"

"Ah think what's she's buildin' up to, sugarcube, is that walkin' right in and asking questions sounds like a good way to get locked in a basement and never seen again" Applejack answered for Rainbow, with her usual tact.

"Ugh, look we've been over this. Yes, it's risky. But for all they were creepy, they seemed pretty non-confrontational. I think we can do this. They obviously don't know much about this world if that's their idea of inconspicuous, and they don't know about our magic. Even if it is Starlight Glimmer fronting for a ufo cult, they probably can't stand up to our rainbow power right?"

"Ah hope you're right Sunset. This is just givin' me a bad feeling is all."

Sunset sighed. "Yeah, me too. And hey, maybe this will turn out to be a big misunderstanding. There's a chance right?"

The others looked at her with flat expressions.

"Yeah, I don't think so either" she admitted. "This has pod people written all over it. But we have to check."

---

The town looked even stranger up close. The eerie buildings loomed ahead, and the stark contrast of their designs made the shadows odd in the morning light. But what was even stranger was the rocks. Sunset noticed them right away. Some were stacked in improbable piles that seemed to defy gravity. Some were arranged on the ground in mandalas. And as they got closer to the village more and more appeared, until the entire area seemed a crazed obsessive rock garden. They had just reached the edge of the village and were trying to decide which way to go, when a sudden psychic commotion broke out from all directions. This was the place alright.

"Guys, they're coming!" she warned them. Dozens of people, all dull despite their varied combinations, poured from the buildings in robes. They arrayed themselves impressively, and Sunset saw her friends get into a fighting stance. Pinkie hefted a bag of Sugar Bombs with worrying glee.

And then, as one, they all bowed to Sunset.

"Hail Arachnea! The Queen has returned!"

Comments

[Harmony light]

Well damm, this story has me on the edge of my seat, can’t wait for the next chapter

[Reese]

"us when all get captured or something"
"us when we all get captured or something"?

"You do have knack for making a metaphor literal"
"You do have a knack for making a metaphor literal"?

"wasn't much change of anyone else getting"
"wasn't much chance of anyone else getting"?

"It wasn't helpful as it might have been"
"It wasn't as helpful as it might have been"?

"She said she was being selfish."
Didn't she say she'd be being selfish if she did say what it was?

"Reassured, to began to reconnect a set of cables"
"Reassured, she began to reconnect a set of cables"?

"and the Rainboom's van just couldn't"
"and the Rainbooms' van just couldn't"?

"The next chapter was, sadly, several hours late."
Ah, sorry about that.

[Darkstarling]

9164492
Sunset was summarizing. Thanks again!

[Wydril]

Every time I see Santa Tabitha in this story, I mentally replace it with Rarity's VA. I don't know if the similarity was intentional or not, if it had any significance beyond being the name of a city, but I Want To Believe!

[Darkstarling]

9590072
If I need a saint named city like Santa Fe or San Francisco I pick a voice actor, and I started with Tabitha because she has San Germain right in her name.

[FanOfMostEverything]

The sky opened, and the stars shone down on six magical girls asleep in a geodesic dome of force panes.

This, of course, only further convinced the other campers that they were MIB spooks.

On the other hand Twilight was also pretty sure she could replicate it with 200 meters of aluminum foil, some complex geometry, and either a stadium concert or a solid lightning strike.

Or a couple cubic meters of obsidian and a pocket lighter.

Yes. I am Zeb. This is Bez. We are brothers.

"We are from Prance."