Out of This World

by Mouse-Deer

I'm a Fool to Want You

Sunset and Twilight stood in front of the entrance to the Canterlot City Mall, trying their hardest not to stand out. The busy Saturday crowd heeded no attention to them, luckily. Sunset did not prefer the bustling groups of people, but it was actually going to help them for the day’s mission.

“Wow . . . malls in Equestria are way smaller!” Twilight exclaimed. They entered and began walking through the halls, Sunset leading Twilight down to the party supplies store.

“Yeah, malls are crazy here. Especially on Saturdays,” Sunset remarked. “It’s a hotspot for most highschoolers, too.”

Twilight glanced at her. “Is that why you’re wearing that?”

Sunset looked down at her outfit: a pair of normal jeans and a long-sleeved dark green shirt were far from what she usually wore, and wrapping her hair underneath an old black baseball cap was hopefully enough to avoid recognition from any other students. “The last thing we want today is for somebody to see me running around in two places at once.”

Twilight nodded her head. “You don’t think the Changelings would try anything in public, do you?”

Sunset shrugged. “I’m not sure. I would say no, but we don’t know if they really understand the customs of this society. Everything I ever read about Changelings said that they were extremely reclusive. We’ll have to keep our guard up.”

They stepped on the escalators to the second floor and Twilight’s eyes widened. “This is amazing!” She wobbled slightly, but Sunset grabbed her back before she could fall.

“Careful,” she said. “Try not to cause a scene.”

Twilight gave a sheepish grin and straightened herself out. “This is such an interesting contraption, though. This could be a theme park ride in Equestria!”

They reached the end of the escalator and stepped off. “Imagine what theme parks are like here. It’s the closest feeling the average person can get to flying. Barring airplanes, of course.”

Twilight stared at her. “One: I need to see these theme parks. Two: airplanes? Have those advanced beyond the basic models in Equestria?”

“There’s essentially no magic here,” Sunset explained. “So this world developed industrially, using technology to achieve some of the things ponies can do naturally. Airplanes are our way of flight, however instead of carrying one pony like a pegasus’s wings, they can carry lots at one time. They are also a lot more complicated than the old wooden planes you might be familiar with in Equestria.”

“Ah, I see. So it’s like the cars you mentioned earlier . . . humans have adapted to overcome the obstacles that ponies never faced. Do you know how much research potential there is here? Oh, I’m gonna explode from all of this knowledge!” She squealed.

“Keep it down. We’re almost there.”

As they approached the store, a sickening aura overcame them. “Do you feel that?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah,” Sunset said. “A weak mind-control field maybe? Just enough to keep anyone from walking into the store,” Sunset glanced around. “If we get any closer, they’ll know that it’s us.”

Twilight looked nervously at Sunset. “What do we do, then?”

Sunset checked her surroundings. Benches lined the center of the mall’s hallways as medians between people walking in two different directions. Sunset walked over to an old wooden one and sat down.

“Sunset, this bench isn’t even facing the store. How do you expect us to watch Chrysalis?”

Sunset grinned. “Easy,” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a compact circular face mirror, and flipped it open. “This bench is the perfect angle to look directly into the party store,” She raised the mirror and shifted it back and forth, showing the front of the shop in perfect clarity. “See?”

Twilight sat down next to her. “Why do you have that?”

A blank expression crossed Sunset’s face. “Surely you know what makeup is, right? Even that’s in Equestria.”

“Oh!” Twilight said, recognition flashing across her face. “Yeah, heh, I haven’t spent much time studying cosmetology yet,” she rubbed the back of her head, “that was always more Rarity’s thing.”

“Please, don’t remind me of her.” Sunset and Twilight sat together on the bench, both mainly focused on watching the store. Although they had managed a way to spy without being suspicious, there was not much to actually see in the storefront. The bored cashier twiddled his thumbs up front and there were a few interesting party supplies in the front aisles, but there was no sign of any Changelings.

“So, do we just wait, or . . . ?” Twilight asked.

“Yes. You said you would let me do things my way, right? Well, sometimes things don’t happen right away. The goal is to get a general profile on Chrysalis, not discover any of her secrets.”

“Okay, I’ll wait,” Twilight said.

About ten minutes or so passed, the two huddled up on a bench, waiting for something to appear. The mall was quite busy downstairs, but on the upper level very few people got near the two girls. Sunset was starting to get annoyed by how touchy Twilight was, gripping her arm to get a better view of the storefront.

“Do you know what personal space is?” Sunset asked.

“What? This is perfectly normal for a pony.” Twilight’s eyes never left the mirror.

“Yeah, well, if you haven’t noticed yet, we’re not—”

“Look!” Twilight pointed at the mirror.

On the inside of the store appeared a pink teenage girl pushing a shopping cart full of supplies. Her hair seemed to bounce as she strolled through the front aisles, grabbing everything she could see.

“That’s Pinkie Pie, Sunset! She’s my friend!” Twilight exclaimed.

Sunset sighed. I figured this would happen eventually. ”No, she’s not. That’s a Changeling.”

“But . . . she acts just like her too! You saw how poorly that Changeling impersonated you!”

“Yeah, but that was seconds after meeting me. Pinkie over there has had a couple of days by now. And, Twilight, even if it was Pinkie Pie, would she really be your friend? The people of this world are loosely related to their counterparts at best. Some are wildly different,” Sunset explained.

Twilight’s eyes sunk away from Pinkie and she stared at the ground, trying to fight her quivering lip. ”Okay, Sunset. I understand. Still, I didn’t think Chrysalis would go after my friends so quickly.”

“You said they were element bearers, right? They were probably one of the first on her list," Sunset patted Twilight’s shoulder. “Chin up. We don’t have time to mope right now.”

Twilight looked back up and offered a weak smile to Sunset. “You’re right. They’re not even my friends. No point in getting too attached right now, you know?”

Sunset grinned. “That’s the spirit! Just brush it off and stay focused on why we’re here.”

They continued to look through the mirror, glancing at the people inside. A few more familiar faces showed up: Twilight’s friend Rarity, the school DJ, and even Flash Sentry appeared. Although they looked different, they all followed the exact same movement pattern, browsing up the first aisle and down the next, sometimes grabbing the exact same item as the previous one. It was only around noon when the real subject of interest appeared.

“Sunset, it’s . . . you!” Twilight pointed into the mirror at the reflection of Sunset’s doppelganger. The other Sunset was wearing her typical garb; a blue skirt with the leather jacket underneath, and some high boots to match. She held herself with the same haughty arrogance that Sunset usually used for intimidation at school. Since when did I think of myself as arrogant?

“This is probably our girl. I bet it’s Chrysalis too, even.”

“Look at her movements,” Twilight said. The other Sunset was strolling through the aisles, picking up various supplies. “She’s walking in the opposite direction to all the others. My bet is that it’s Chrysalis.” Twilight continued to focus on the other Sunset in the mirror.

Sunset looked at Twilight, confusion flashing across her face. “Didn’t I just say that?”

“She can’t here you,” a voice said in front of them.

Sunset’s head shot up and she found herself face to face with another version of herself. This is getting a bit too familiar. She turned to Twilight only to find the girl was still watching the Changeling Sunset through the portable mirror, eyes clouded over with a green tint. The real Sunset turned to her second imposter with a glare.

“What did you do to her?” She demanded. The Sunset in front of her laughed, and snapped her fingers in front of Twilight's face.

“It’s the power of suggestion, Sunset,” she waved her hand in front of Twilight’s face but Twilight made no motion of recognition. “All Twilight was thinking about was finding you in the mirror. I showed got one of my Changelings to show her just that, only to pounce when her guard was down. I gave her what she was looking for.”

Sunset glanced at her doppelganger in the mirror. Her eyes were glowing a mystical green and she had slowed down to a halt, simply browsing one aisle. Sunset turned back to Chrysalis in front of her, trying to conceal any fear that flashed across her face.

“What do you want, Chrysalis?” Sunset stood up from the bench and walked over to the railing, glancing down at the first floor. Chrysalis slid up next to her.

“I should ask you the same thing. Not everyone gets out of my mind control that easily.” Chrysalis ran some of her hair—although it was actually Sunset’s, in a sense—through her fingers, idly watching Sunset and the crowd below.

“Not everyone here is a pushover, you know. I’m stronger than you think,” Sunset prayed Chrysalis would not call her bluff. She turned her head away, trying to muster up some confidence.

“So it seems,” Chrysalis said. “You’re not like an average pony, or the average person, for that matter. Look at them down there, Sunset,” Chrysalis pointed at the crowds of teenagers below, “Acting like fools. Wasting their money on trash barely worth a single bit. They can choose what store they want to go to, what color of shirt they want to buy, but it doesn’t make them any more than a mindless drone at the end of the day. They’ll all fall in line when I show up. It’s that false sense of free will that annoys me the most about humans and ponies. At least ponies know that there is something greater than themselves. Humans won’t even resist if we make them think that they still have a choice in the matter. They can't resist.”

Chrysalis sighed as Sunset turned to look at her. “Why are you telling me this?”

“I don’t just want to take over the world for selfish reasons, Sunset. I give humans this over ponies: they will understand once I show them how much better my vision is. You may not think it right now, Sunset, but I’m not doing this out of pure evil. Sometimes it just seems like there has to be a villain; I’m sure you’ve felt that feeling all too well yourself.”

Chrysalis tried to put a hand on Sunset’s shoulder, but she ripped it away with a scowl. “Bullshit. What are you trying to do, Chrysalis? You could have already taken Twilight and I out by now.”

Chrysalis’s mouth turned up in a smirk. “Ah well, reaching out with emotions was never my strong suit. Yesterday you wanted to work for me, right? Well, a few things have come up. I ran into a couple friends last night that led me to believe that there is more to this world than I first imagined. Now, I managed to deal with them on my own, but I have suspicions they may not be the last problem that’s going to appear in my path to victory. I’ll cut to the chase: I will permit you to join the Changelings.”

Sunset looked back at Chrysalis and furrowed her brow. “Why?”

Chrysalis pointed at Sunset’s head. “You broke out of the trance. I don’t know how, but that means you aren’t weak, at the very least. I guess you could say that things have lined up nicely in your favor.”

Sunset swallowed as she thought about the proposition. I just agreed to help Twilight, but the odds are already stacked against us. She glanced over at Twilight, still stuck in place, focused completely on the mirror. If I joined Chrysalis, Twilight would lose completely. I can guarantee myself a nice spot when this is all over. She glanced back at Chrysalis. Chrysalis is untrustworthy though. She might throw me out the second she doesn’t need me.

Chrysalis watched as Sunset struggled to make a decision. “Alright, Sunset,” she said with a smirk. “Never say that I’m not generous. I’ll give you two days; if you don’t have an answer for me, then I’m moving on without you, and the Changelings will show you no mercy.”

Sunset clenched her teeth. “How do I show you I want in, then?”

Chrysalis grinned devilishly. “Simple. Bring me Twilight,” she growled. “The wench almost ruined my plans before they even took off. If you want to join me, then give me Twilight as proof of your loyalty. This shows how serious I am, Sunset. I could take her away this instant, but I’m putting my trust in the fact that you will make the smart decision.”

Sunset leaned against the railing. A part of her just wanted to hand Twilight over right now, not having to deal with the ache of betrayal. Since when did I care about betraying someone?

“Okay, Chrysalis,” Sunset said, “I’ll . . . think about it. I promise you I will have an answer by Monday.”

Chrysalis smiled, but no matter how much she tried to copy Sunset, it felt tainted, like Sunset’s face was rejecting the very essence of Chrysalis’s character. Sunset felt that her own body was going to be infected by Chrysalis's aura just by sharing the same face. “I will see you and Twilight soon then. Don’t let me down.”

Chrysalis flashed green and with a flit of her wings sped back into the party store. The green glow in Twilight’s eyes faded out and she shook her head.

“Sunset? What’s going on? Why are you off the bench?” She rapidly flipped her head back and forth, checking for anyone nearby. I can’t tell her.

“It’s nothing, Twilight,” Sunset said. “I think we’re done for today.”

Twilight stood up, confused. “But we barely saw Chrysalis. Is that really enough to get a good profile?”

“Yes, it should be,” Sunset quickly turned away. “Now, let’s get out of here. The food court is open; maybe you should try some mall food.”

Twilight stepped next to Sunset, suspicion crossing her face. “Sure, I’d love to try some.”

Sunset tried to block out the previous conversation as the two girls made their way down to the food court. They arrived, and after Sunset sat Twilight down and answered all of her questions, they began to look around. Soon enough they came face to face with a myriad of options to choose from. Sunset tried at first to explain what the food was, but eventually decided to let Twilight find something on her own.

After Twilight finally got her food, they sat down at an empty table, Twilight placing her tray in front of her. “Are you sure you don’t want anything?”

Sunset shook her head. “No, I’m not hungry.” I don’t think I could stomach anything even if I wanted to eat with you right now.

“Okay then,” Twilight said as she took a bite into her bacon cheeseburger. “Wow, this is delicious!”

Sunset chuckled. “I’ll tell you what it’s made of after you’re done eating.”

“What?” Twilight asked with a mouthful of burger. “I didn’t catch that.”

Sunset grinned. “Oh, nothing.”

The food court was quite busy at that time of day, so the two did not have to worry about being caught off guard. Despite her recent conversation with Chrysalis, Sunset began to relax. There was something about Twilight that almost calmed her down. She always wore her heart on her sleeve and never had any ill intent toward anyone. She truly is a pony. I get why Celestia chose her, even if I don’t like it.

Part of her couldn’t help but notice that being like this in the food court was similar to some of her time spent with Flash, except Twilight was in his place. She could feel that there was a similarity between the two, but Twilight felt . . . different, in a way. Despite acting like—and looking like—a teenager, Sunset knew that there was an adult underneath it all who had experienced a great amount of pain in the past few weeks. She chose to put on a happy face not as denial to her true situation, but as motivation to get out of it. Somehow, Twilight knew how to break through some of Sunset’s barriers that Flash had been failing at for a year. She would never admit it to Twilight, but she was starting to think that she was not the worst company Sunset could have gotten stuck with.

As Twilight finished up her food, Sunset began to glance around the court, checking to see if any Changeling students were watching her. In the corner of the court near the exit was a figure that caught her eye.

Sunset sat up and looked over at the figure. “Hey Twilight,” Sunset said. “Is that who I think it is?”

Twilight peered at the woman. “Hey, I met her when I first arrived! She said she was Celestia, but not the Princess.”

“Yeah,” Sunset said, standing up. “Let’s go have a chat with her.”

As the two made their way over to Celestia, it became apparent that she was not in high spirits. She was slumped against the table, one hand holding up her head while she used the other to nurse on a cup of coffee. Sunset pulled out a chair and sat down, startling the woman.

“Oh, hello, Sunset,” she said. “Are you all almost done with getting the supplies?”

Sunset frowned. “Come on, Principal. It’s the real me, not the fake one upstairs.”

Celestia sat up and began glancing around. “W-What are you talking about, Sunset? I don’t understand.”

Twilight spoke up. “Hi there! Remember me?”

Principal Celestia stared at the girl, aghast. “You were the one that ran away to look for . . . Sunset,” she said. “I guess you found her,” She turned to Sunset. “Please, tell me what is going on.”

Sunset leaned forward. “There are creatures known as Changelings that are currently invading this world. They impersonate their victims in order to feed off of the love that is sent the victim’s way, while they stick the victim in a pod which feeds off of the love they send out. Their portal to our world is right in front of the school, so we’re their first contact.”

Celestia stared at her, a shocked expression across her face. “How can I believe all this? How do you know all this?”

“I have a history with the other world. And I think you’ve seen enough now to believe it.” Sunset’s expression softened slightly. “It’s tearing you up inside, isn’t it?’

Celestia rubbed her hands through her hair. “When they all went into the store, I . . . I couldn’t bear to stay and chaperone them. It was like my throat was filled with bile, and the only way to breathe again was to get as far away as possible. I know that they wanted me to go too, but I just . . . ugh.”

Sunset frowned. “It’s not their first time interacting with you today, though, is it? Did they try to attack you?”

Tears began to dot Celestia’s eyes. “They did, but I managed to hold one off. Luna . . . she hasn’t been home since Thursday.”

Twilight walked over to Celestia and gave her a short hug. “I’m so sorry. I know how hard it is to see your friends and family fall to them.”

Celestia wiped her eyes. “I know I should be handling this better, but I have just been so blindsided by this. What should we do to stop them?”

“You should do nothing. The more you stay out of this, the better. You already know too much. Submit to their requests and you’ll probably be okay. You brought my jacket home, right?”

The Principal nodded her head. “Yes, it’s in my house. I haven’t done anything with it.”

“Good. I may need some of it's contents if things get worse.” Or if Chrysalis needs more ammunition. Sunset shook her head. “Just don’t cause a scene right now. If you feel like you will be safer, get some pepper spray, or a small taser, maybe. I don’t know what works against Changelings, but it doesn’t hurt to have a backup.”

“I know fire is effective,” Celestia said. “That isn’t very practical, though. I’ll get something when the committee is done today.”

Twilight stepped closer and brought her voice down to a whisper. “We should have a codeword or something, in case we run into each other again.”

Sunset turned to her. “What do you suggest?”

“Something inconspicuous, like a specific question and answer set.”

“Are you excited for the Formal?” Celestia said.

“What?” Sunset asked.

“No, I mean, that should be the question. Are you excited for the Formal?” Celestia took a sip of coffee. “We just need a unique answer.”

“I have no idea,” Twilight said.

“What?” Sunset asked again.

Twilight sighed. “Come on, Sunset. That should be the answer. If the answer is some variation of yes or no, there could be a chance of somepony accidentally getting it right. But everypony has made their minds up by now, so claiming ignorance is our safest bet.”

“Everypony . . . ?” Celestia asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sunset said. “Alright, that’s our question and answer. If one of us goes out of sight, the next time we see them we must ask it. If they don’t answer correctly than we know it’s not actually us.”

Celestia sighed and sunk back down onto the table. “I can’t believe this is happening to me.”

“You’re an adult, Celestia. Act like one,” Sunset commented.

“Sunset!” Twilight exclaimed. “Principal Celestia, I’m sorry that you’ve gotten caught in this mess, and I hope it doesn’t get any worse for you than you already have. I don’t know how similar your Luna is to the one I know, but I can almost certainly claim she doesn’t want you to get this distressed while she’s away. Try and stay strong for her, okay?”

Celestia mustered a wan smile. “I didn’t understand some of that, but thank you anyways, Twilight.”

“You’re welcome.” She turned to Sunset and whispered in her ear. “This is really weird, she sounds just like the Princess.”

“Tell me about it,” Sunset murmured.

Suddenly, Celestia shot up and looked behind the girls. “They’re back,” she said.

Sunset flipped her head around to see the other Sunset and her entourage making their way into the cafeteria. “We need to go now, Twilight,” Sunset said as she shot out of her chair.

Twilight kept pace behind her. “Goodbye Celestia, and good luck.”

“The same to you two as well,” Celestia said. She stepped away and began to walk over to her group.

Sunset and Twilight raced out the doors. Fortunately, it seemed like Chrysalis had not noticed them. They hopped on the sidewalk and got on their way back to Sunset’s house.

“What do we do now, Sunset?” Twilight asked.

“We’ll make a few assessments on how to best take them out, and then see if we can form a plan. It’s all we really can do." She tried to cover up how nervous she was feeling. You would feel less dirty if you told her about your conversation. Sunset ignored the voice in her head and continued on.

“Let’s get to it then,” Twilight said. “Also, you never told me what that burger was made out of.”

Sunset gave a nervous chuckle. “Well . . .”

---

Across town, in the front of Canterlot High School, stood a statue that was also secretly a portal to another world. Very few ponies knew this fact, and even fewer people knew as well. Even those that were aware of the portal’s existence did not truly understand how it functioned; there were only about two in existence who held a semblance of an idea of how to control it.

With a bright flash, a figure popped out of the front of the statue and fell onto the ground. She sat up, wiped her face, and took in her surroundings.

No one was around.

“The book . . .” She got up on two legs with a distant familiarity and closed her eyes, feeling the air surround her. “It must be still here. She would never get rid of it. Where could it be . . .” She listened closely: the birds chirping, a bell pealing from the school, an insect buzzing from some distance away.

Her head turned a sharp left. “There.”

The woman ran off down the street, leaving Canterlot High in the dust.

Author's Note:

Just to be clear, there were three Sunsets in the beginning portion of the chapter: Sunset on the bench, the Changeling-Sunset in the store, and Chrysalis-Sunset in front of our two heroines. Gosh, imposters and duplicates and alternate universe selves make everything so funky! Thanks for reading.

Comments

[Secundum]

Guessing that was either Celestia or Cadence at the end?

[The Voice in the Water]

Oho, a new player has entered the game? Who could it be? Well, guess we'll have to wait and find out.

And the devil has offered our dear Sunset a deal. Hopefully our dear Sunny knows enough not to take it.

[Revel Montaro]

They need some more allies, otherwise, running to the darkest corner and trying to out run the storm may be too appealing.