Equestria Girls: Two Sunsets

by moviefan-92

Chapter 6: Morning Meetings

Author's Note:

Last time, we had the human Sunset meet with her counterpart and the other girls for the first time. She took it pretty well all things considering, and she got a lot of her questions answered, before she panicked and ran away that is. We got some of our questions about her answered as well, but this also provided more questions. What was the magic she encountered that set her on this search? And once she finds the magic, what is she planning to do with it? And lets not forget those feelings of envy and jealousy she's feeling towards her counterpart. You know that's going to go somewhere. But now that she's had some time to process things, we'll see what her next move is. And lets not forget about the others. They too have some decisions to make. So, lets see how things go. I'm not overly fond of this chapter title, but it works for what happens during it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Equestria Girls and other human world residents: …Normal Font…

Mane Six, human Sunset Shimmer, and other Equestria residents: …Italicized Font…

Chapter 6: Morning Meetings

"Well, today was certainly an interesting day," said Applejack as she and her friends settled in for the night.

Rarity scoffed. "Hardly. We barely got any shopping done. I was the only one to get a new outfit."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "First of all, you got five new outfits. Second, I think she was referring to meeting SunShim."

Rarity blinked before an embarrassed blush stained her cheeks. "Oh, yes, of course. I was talking about things we needed to get done."

"I think it's great!" said Pinkie Pie as she hugged her stuffed alligator, Gummy, and rested her head against the bag full of marshmallows that was serving as her pillow. "A brand new friend. It's too bad she couldn't come to our sleepover though."

Rainbow Dash just waved this off. "Relax. I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to get to know her."

"I just think it's funny how we ended up meeting her the day after we discussed whether or not there even was another Sunset," said Fluttershy.

Pinkie Pie sat up, gasping loudly. "Freaky-deaky!"

"Maybe it wasn't a coincidence," said Twilight. "Maybe there was some magic at work that was mentally preparing us for her arrival."

A horrible thought occurred to Fluttershy at her friend's words. "Oh dear, you don't think that means that there's going to be trouble, do you?"

"I certainly hope not," said Rarity. "But you never know with Equestrian magic."

Sunset bit her bottom lip nervously as Fluttershy and Rarity's concerns brought forth her own series of bad thoughts, just as they had when she had met her counterpart earlier that day. She didn't want to think them, but they assaulted her nevertheless. And, like it or not, her worries had some legitimacy. She really hoped her fears were wrong and she was just being paranoid, but she felt obligated to voice them. She was just trying to figure out the best way to put it into words without sounding like she thought badly of her counterpart.

Ever the honest one, Applejack took note of her forlorn expression and addressed it. "Something wrong, Sunset? You're looking a little down."

Sunset's frown deepened at being put on the spot before she had completely collected her thoughts, but she figured that now may have been a good a time as any to let her friends in on her thoughts. "It's just… what Fluttershy said about there being trouble. What if… what if the trouble is actually SunShim?"

Rarity proper herself up from her grand oversized-bed fit for a princess. "What do you mean, darling?"

An exasperated sigh escaped Sunset. "I really don't want to think badly of her, especially since we just met, but you all remember what I used to be like. What if SunShim is the same way?"

The others were silent as they took in her words. Mild concern appeared on everyone's faces except for Twilight, who had only ever heard stories of how bad Sunset had been in her darker days.

"Gosh," said Applejack, "I guess I hadn't thought of that. Do you think it's possible?"

Sunset shrugged. "Maybe. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, but there's still a chance."

Rarity looked reluctant to say what was on her mind. "I hate to say it, but we have to consider the possibility. She did say she came here to investigate magic."

Sunset nodded in acknowledgement. "That was my concern too. I was greedy and power hungry once, she could be too."

Not having the same experience as the others, Twilight was more hesitant to think the worst. "She seemed so nice though."

"I knew how to play nice when I needed to," Sunset pointed out. "She could have been putting on an act to get what she wanted."

Rainbow Dash groaned. "Great. And we just went and told her practically everything we know about magic."

"Now hold on, ya'll," Applejack said sternly. "I won't say it's not possible, but maybe we're jumping to conclusions a bit. The circumstances are different surrounding the two. For one thing, SunShim never studied under Princess Celestia, so maybe she never obtained that desire for power and went down that path that made Sunset go bad. No offense, sugar cube."

Sunset resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "None taken." Sighing, she crossed her arms and lowered her eyes. "I know she's not actually me, and I really hope I'm worried for nothing, but if she does have bad intentions, I don't want to ignore it until it's too late."

Twilight adjusted her glasses. "Then the solution is simple. We just have to make sure she doesn't go down that path. I think Sunset only went bad because she didn't have any friends that were there for her, and her ambitions to get stronger were the only thing did she have. I wasn't too different with my studies after all. So if we befriend SunShim and show her there's more to life than power, then maybe if she does have bad intentions, she'll abandon her desires for power, if she even has any."

"That's a fabulous idea, darling," Rarity agreed. "I say we get on it right away."

Sunset smiled hopefully. "And I'll write to Princess Twilight too and see what she thinks about this. I should really let her know about this anyway, just in case."

"Sounds like a plan," said Rainbow Dash. She stretched and yawned loudly. "Now lets hit the hay. It's been a busy day, and we've got more band practice tomorrow."

"And more studying," Twilight added.

Rainbow Dash groaned. "Yeah, and that."

They bid each other goodnight and crawled into their sleeping bags, except for Rarity who snuggled deeper into her luxurious bed. But as the lights were turned off, Sunset slipped completely into her sleeping bag, taking a flashlight, a pencil, and a certain magical journal with her. It was with this journal that she kept in contact with Princess Twilight, the messages she wrote on its pages appearing in the identical one in Equestria, and vice versa.

Turning to a blank page, Sunset tapped her pencil against her chin as she thought about what to write. She had learned not to depend on Twilight so much over time, but it was nice to know that she could always count on her in a time of need. Hopefully, she would be able to offer some sound advice. And even more hopefully, her fears were unfounded, and SunShimreally was just an ordinary girl curious about the rumors of magic she'd heard. Sadly though, something was telling Sunset that that just wasn't the case, no matter how much she wanted to believe otherwise.

Dear Princess Twilight. I hope everything is going well for you. Things have been pretty quiet around here since the whole thing with Vignette Valencia, but I think that whole incident just brought us all closer together.

So guess what. Our school is having a talent show. Naturally, the Rainbooms are entering, and we're even going to use a new song I wrote. It was actually inspired by the song the girls and you used in the cafeteria to help you get elected as the Princess of the Fall Formal. So even though you're not actually here, just know that you are in spirit.

She stopped writing as she considered what she should say about SunShim, and how to word it and her concern. There really was no simply way of putting it, so she decided that she might as well just come right out and say it.

Something really unexpected happened today though. We met the Sunset Shimmer of this world. It was pretty surprising. I guess I always knew it was a possibility, but I didn't know if it would ever happen. Guess the world is a much smaller place than I thought.

She seemed nice for the most part, but was a little more reserved than I was expecting. Although I guess meeting another version of yourself can do that to you. By the way, we decided to call her SunShim to avoid confusion. The girls and I tried befriending her, but I think we may have come on a little too strongly in light of the circumstances, because she kind of ran away from us.

To be perfectly honest though, something about her is worrying me. She said that she came here after hearing rumors about magic at Canterlot High. That raised a bit of a red flag. I'm sure you remember what I used to be like before I was friends with you and the girls. I'm afraid SunShim might be that way too, selfish and power hungry, or that she might end up that way later. I know that sounds terrible, and I feel horrible for thinking that way, but she and I are technically one and the same, so it's possible that she has that side to her too.

I really hope I'm wrong in this, but I don't want to risk anything bad happening if I can prevent it. The girls and I are going to do our best to try and be friends with her and dissuade her from that path if it comes to it, but if you have any advice on what we should do, it would be greatly appreciated.

Hope everything is going well for you. Say hi to everyone for me. I'll be sure to keep you updated. Your friend, Sunset Shimmer.

She read over what she wrote before nodding in satisfaction. She closed the book, and it glowed in her hands as her message was sent to its twin in Equestria. There was nothing left to do but wait for a response.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Sunset stared at Canterlot High with new eyes. The students as well now that she knew what was going on. A few of them greeted her, most likely assuming that she was the other Sunset, but at least now she knew why.

Her gaze turned to the Canterlot mascot statue, and she cautiously approached it. From what she now understood, this was the source of the magic, having slipped through from Equestria. So exactly how did she get access to it?

Her fingers touched her choker, waiting to see if there would be reaction. And there was. The gems began glowing, as did the surface of the statue. She stared at it in amazement, the light shining in her eyes.

"Whoa," she whispered in awe.

She continued to look at the shining surface. Slowly, her hand came up. She hesitated, glancing at her hand, before hesitantly reaching for the statue again.

When she touched the glowing surface, her hand slipped through it, almost as if it were the surface of water. She quickly pulled her hand back and checked it over to make sure it was intact. A small laugh of relief escaped her when she saw that it was.

She looked back at the statue before reaching for it again, this time with deliberate intent. Her hand once again slipped through the surface, but this time she pushed further, going all the way up to her elbow. A funny tingling sensation ran up her arm to where it was in the portal. It felt funny, but not unpleasant, and another snicker escaped her.

She briefly wondered if she should go through, but quickly dismissed the thought. She didn't know what would be waiting for her on the other side. A magical pony world, yes, but she still didn't really know. She was curious though, very curious, but didn't want to risk it. And wouldn't she turn into a pony too, just like how her counterpart turned into a human when she came to this world? As interesting as that sounded, she wasn't sure she wanted to risk that just yet.

"Morning, Sunset."

Jumping slightly, she pulled her arm out of the portal and turned to find most of the girls from the mall. She immediately recognized her counterpart and the girl who had dragged her to meet her friends, Pinkie Pie her name was.

She tried to remember the other girls' names. The one with the lavender skin, dark violet hair, and glasses was Twilight Sparkle, and today she had a lavender dog poking its head out of her backpack. The pale yellow-skinned, light pink-haired one she thought was called Shutterfly or Fluttershy; that one had been pretty reserved. Then there was Applejack, the blonde-haired, olive-skinned farm girl with the freckles. Lastly, there was Rarity, the one who looked like a supermodel with her flawless silvery-alabaster skin and purple hair. She noticed that one of them was missing, the one with the rainbow-colored hair and periwinkle blue skin, Rainbow Dasher she believed her name was.

Feeling like a little kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar, she waved to them awkwardly. "Oh, morning, girls. Um, what's going on?"

Her counterpart gave her a smile. "Not much. But it's still early."

Sunset forced a chuckle. "Yeah, still early… right."

Spike cocked his head to the side in interest. "So this is the other Sunset."

Sunset recoiled in surprise. "Ah! Dog! Talking!"

A snicker escaped him. "You think that's strange? Just keep hanging with this group, you'll probably see some much weirder things."

Moving in for a closer look, Sunset studied him carefully. "This is amazing. Are you from Equestria?"

"Nope," Spike replied with a shake of his head. "Just got blasted with some Equestrian magic, which gave me the ability to talk and made me a lot smarter."

Applejack pointed to the statue. "Speaking of Equestria, why did you have your hand in its portal?"

Embarrassment caused Sunset's cheeks to heat up. "Oh, um, just curious. I wasn't going to go through it or anything. Um… so where's Rainbow Dasher?"

"That's Rainbow Dash, darling," Rarity corrected kindly.

Sunset felt her cheeks heat up some more. "Right, her."

"Probably running late," Fluttershy replied, no longer feeling intimidated by Sunset's presence. "I hope she gets here in time."

Sunset smirked. "Don't worry. Her top speed was clocked at 7,610 miles per hour. So even of it's just seconds before the bell rings, she'll probably make it in time."

As if on cue, a streak of rainbow shot over to them, and their missing friend arrived. "Hey, sorry I'm late. What'd I miss?"

"Not much," Sunset replied, not missing a beat. "We were just about to head in." She turned to her counterpart. "You want to come with us? I'm sure Principal Celestia won't mind."

Sunset's eyes widened and she took a step back, shaking her head. "Oh, no, I can't."

"Course you can," Applejack insisted. "We can introduce you to our other friends and show you how great public school is."

Pinkie Pie was bouncing up and down in excitement. "Yeah, you can't just spend your whole school life behind a computer screen. You'll miss out on everything."

Again, Sunset shook her head. "No, really, I'm good. I'll just go and…"

"And what, darling?" Rarity asked when Sunset didn't finish her sentence.

Biting her lower lip, she looked from one girl to another. A part of her did indeed want to join them. It brought forth a secret longing that she had repeatedly stomped down over the years. She refused to give into it this time though. Besides, she had things that she needed to investigate.

Then again, maybe it would be beneficial to spend some time with these girls. They had magic of their own, and knew a lot more about it than she did. Maybe she could find what she needed from them faster than she could on her own.

Sighing deeply, she gave them a reluctant smile. "Well, I guess it couldn't hurt."

"Great!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "I'm going to introduce you to everyone!" Pulling out a wallet, she opened it, and an incredibly long trail of inserts with pictures in them fell to the ground, and Pinkie Pie immediately began pointing to the different pictures. Snapshots of the Equestria Girls were at the top, which she ran a finger down. "Ok, so you already know everyone here." She moved on to the pictures beneath them. "Now, this is Vinyl Scratch, and Octavia Melody, and Photo Finish, and Flash Sentry, and Trixie Lulamoon, and Derpy Hooves, and Bulk Biceps, and Wallflower Blush, and Sour Sweet, and-"

Applejack placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. "Um, Pinkie, maybe it would be better to introduce her to the actual people."

Pinkie Pie blinked, then grinned and folded up her wallet. "Yes, that's a great idea!"

She grabbed Sunset's hand and began dragging her in a manner much like the day they had met. Sunset stumbled about as she was dragged along, already regretting having agreed to go along with this. "W-Wait! Maybe we should be a little more discreet."

"Don't fight it," said Rainbow Dash as she easily caught up. "When it comes to Pinkie Pie, it's usually best to just go with the flow."

That wasn't very reassuring to Sunset, but she decided to take the multi-colored haired girl's advice. Soon she found herself being half-led, half-dragged through the halls by her hyperactive tour guide.

"And that's a classroom, and these are stairs, and these are lockers, and over there is the cafeteria-"

"I've actually been here before," Sunset interrupted. "I came by to investigate a few days ago; that's when we met, remember?"

Overhearing this, something suddenly clicked in Sunset's head, and she suddenly understood. "Oh, so that's why Flash was confused about my hair and clothes that day. Lyra and Sweetie Drops too. They must have met you and thought you were me."

Sunset recognized the first name. "Oh, yeah, that Flash guy. Yeah, I met him. These other two guys too, Sandalwood and Micro Chips. I don't know who Lyra and Sweetie Drops are though."

"Maybe you know Sweetie Drops by her nickname Bon Bon instead?" Pinkie Pie asked enthusiastically. Then she lowered her voice and leaned in close. "Personally, I think she's actually a secret agent, and Bon Bon is really just her undercover name."

Sunset just blinked in bewilderment before shaking her head. "Um, no, still don't know her; as a secret agent or otherwise." Then she remembered as she looked at the bespectacled girl. "Oh, so you're the Twilight Sparkle they were talking about who scored higher than Micro Chips."

Twilight blushed slightly. "Yeah, that's me."

A smirk crept up Sunset's face. "Well, just be on your guard. He plans on regaining his title, so to speak."

"Please," said Applejack dismissively, "there ain't no one around smarter than our Twilight."

The bespectacled girl looked embarrassed. "Well, I don't know about that. Micro Chips is pretty smart. And Sunset here ranked just below him and me."

"Don't be modest, darling," Rarity told her. "You worked hard for your grades." She threw up her arms. "Now bask in your glory!"

"How about a celebration?" Pinkie Pie proposed. She reached into her hair and pulled out a cupcake. "With cupcakes!"

Sunset found herself smiling. This wasn't so bad. She supposed she could get used to this. It was a little nerve-wracking, but it was a lot better than that empty, lonely feeling she had gotten used to. Maybe she could be friends with these girls after all.

The moment the thought entered her head, she slammed on her mental brakes. She couldn't get distracted. Hanging out with these girls was just a means to an end. Besides, they didn't need her, they had the other Sunset Shimmer.

Things began to take a somewhat awkward turn when the other students began to realize that there were two of the same person in the school. Some stopped to stare, but most just seemed to shrug it off and go on their way. Sunset found this to be particularly strange, and began to wonder if the students had just seen so many unusual things in this school that they had simply become numb to such events.

"So, you're the other Sunset," a familiar bored, monotone voice stated.

The girls all turned around, and Sunset saw the strange emotionless girl with the pet rock she had run into when sneaking out of the vice principal's office. Worry gripped her as she feared that she would say something about it.

Her fears were unfounded though as Pinkie Pie bounced over the gray-skinned, lavender-haired girl. "Hey, Maud. This is SunShim. She's our new friend. SunShim, this is my big sister, Maudileena Daisy Pie, but we all call her Maud."

Deciding to play innocent, Sunset forced a smile on her face and raised her hand in greeting. "Um, yeah, hello there. Nice to…" She trailed off as what Pinkie Pie said sank in. "Wait, you said that she's your sister? As in your actual sister?"

Pinkie Pie nodded. "Yeah! We're BSFFs. Best sister friends forever!"

Sunset stared. "And you're saying she's your blood-related sister?"

"Yup!"

"And you're not sisters through marriage or adoption?"

"Nope!"

"So you were both born from the same parents?"

"Yup!"

Completely baffled as to how two completely different people could actually be siblings, Sunset looked at the other Equestria Girls and motioned to the sisters with a bewildered expression that they couldn't help but relate to.

"It's still hard for even us to believe," said Rainbow Dash, confirming what Pinkie Pie was saying.

"Sometimes family members can be very different from each other," Applejack added. She glanced at Pinkie Pie and Maud. "Or a lot different."

Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared next to the farm girl. "Speaking of family, SunShim, did you know that Applejack and I might be related? It's true! I had to do this project in class where we had to trace our ancestry, and I found out that Applejack and I might be fourth cousins twice removed by a fifth cousin. That discovery was better than cotton candy on top of a fountain of chocolate. I was already super duper happy as a Pie, but to find out that I might be an Apple too is the most amazing thing ever! I'm an Apple, and a Pie. I'm an Apple-Pie!"

She emphasized this by somehow pulling out an apple pie and holding it out to her supposed cousin. Applejack looked amused as she gently pushed the apple pie away from her. "Yeah, it's true, we might be related through my Auntie Applesauce. Even the Apple family historian, Goldie Delicious, said that it's possible."

Pinkie Pie handed the apple pie off to Rainbow Dash, who gave her a very forced grin of thanks before grimacing at the pie when she looked away. She then quickly and discretely shoved it into a random passerby's hands, much to their bewilderment.

Not noticing that Rainbow Dash had given away the pie she handed her, Pinkie Pie began spilling into rapid speech once more. "We say that we only might be related because when we checked the records, there may or may not have been a mistake made, and even Goldie Delicious' records had a smudge on them, so we're not entirely sure, but I definitely think we're family, because I feel like we're family, just like I feel like I'm family with all of you." She inhaled deeply, as if suddenly realizing something. "Maybe we're all related from way, way, way, waaaaay back! That would be super awesome and the most greatest thing out of all the greatest things in all of ever! I'd have to make up a new word for how happy that would make me. How about rooftastic? As in, I want to go up to the roof and shout about how fantastic it is!"

Sunset stared, having barely caught a word that was said in Pinkie Pie's rambling. Her head was still reeling with the fact that the energetic girl and the seemingly devoid of all emotions Maud was were actual blood-related sisters. It was almost easier to believe that she had a counterpart from a magical pony world.

"By the way," said Maud in a dull voice, "I tried looking up those gems on your choker, but I still haven't been able to identify them. It's really quite vexing. Did you show them to Rarity yet?"

This caught the purple-hired girl's attention. "Gems? What gems?" That's when she noticed the sparkle coming from Sunset's choker, which was mostly obscured by her hoodie. "Oh, how splendid! How did I not see them before? Are they rubies?"

Sunset's hand subconsciously came up to touch her choker. "I… uh… I don't know."

"Oh? Might I see them then?"

She reached out, and Sunset recoiled from her hand. "No!" she exclaimed, much more aggressively than she meant to. The Equestria Girls stared at her, surprised by her outburst, and her face heated with embarrassment as she began backing away. "Sorry. This choker is just very important to me, so I-"

She jumped as she accidentally bumped into someone. Turning around, she saw that it was a beautiful older woman with skin of the lightest magenta and long multi-colored hair, though not as colorful as Rainbow Dash's. She recognized the woman from the pictures in the principal and vice principal's office, and realized she must be one of the two.

Not yet noticing that there were two Sunsets, Principal Celestia smiled down at her. "Oh, good morning, Sunset. Watch your step."

Sunset gulped nervously. "S-Sorry."

Still smiling, the principal continued on her way, walking right past the Equestria Girls, including Sunset. "Good morning, girls."

"Morning, Principal Celestia," they chorused.

Unable to resist, Sunset deliberately waited for her friends to speak before providing her own greeting. "Good morning, Principal Celestia."

"And a very good morning to you, Sun…" She froze as she finally took notice. "Sunset… and…" she looked back at the other one, "Sunset…?"

Pinkie Pie reached out and wrapped an arm around each of the girls in question. "Look, Principal Celestia, we found this world's Sunset."

The principal continued to look from one to the other. "This world's… Yes, yes, I see that."

"She's here visiting," said Applejack, deciding to provide the simplified version, "but since she's usually homeschooled, we thought we'd show her what a good time public school can be."

"You don't mind, do you?" Twilight asked, putting on a pleading grin.

"Well…" Principal Celestia considered it for a few moments, still looking back and forth between the two Sunsets before putting on a smile. "No, I don't mind. We'll just consider her a guest student. Just be sure not to cause any disruptions."

"It's a Pinkie promise!" Pinkie Pie declared. "Cross our hearts, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in our eye!"

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Um… yes, well, you girls have a good day. Welcome to our school, Sunset."

"We call her SunShim," Pinkie Pie told the principal.

"Just to avoid confusion," Fluttershy added quietly.

Celestia nodded in understanding. "Yes, well then, enjoy your stay, SunShim."

Feeling drained, even though the school day was just beginning, she headed for her office as she tried to remember the days where things at Canterlot High were once normal. Although, she admitted with a smile, things were far more interesting now than they were back then.

Comments

[RisingBluePhoenix]

I love your story! This was a good chapter.

[moviefan-92]

9688579
Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

[twience]

Hm, Important choker huh? Can't wait for more! c:

<3

[Blood Rarity]