Eventide, Evenfall

by Former Unicorn

The Boy With the Thorn in His Side

Sunset sat in a field at night. The starscape above her was breathtaking and magnificent, like nothing she’d ever seen before. But it was also because she’d never seen anything like that before. It was not the sky she was familiar with, and chances were it wasn’t like anything on Earth, either—not with the very unfamiliar moon in the center of it.

Earth’s moon, Luna, had distinctive dark spots that had over the centuries earned those markings the nickname of “The Man in the Moon” or “The Rabbit on the Moon”, depending on the culture. However, the moon above had an image closer to that of … a unicorn’s head?

{And I am watching you,} a voice sounded in her mind. {And soon, you won’t have that problem any further!}

Sunset suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest and looked down to see a black, furry spike sticking out from where her heart had been. Slick with her own blood, something had just impaled her, without warning.

She made to scream, but a torrent of blood rushed from her mouth, preventing her from crying out. She suddenly felt weak and small, as if reduced to nothing. Her body began to feel cold and numb, and the stars above that had seemed warm and inviting a second ago began to feel like harsh, frigid pinpricks.

And as she lay dying, she swore that the strange feature on the moon was now laughing at her plight.

---

“Sunny?”

She looked around and found herself sitting back by the pond in the middle of the back 40 on the farm. This part of the farm wasn’t really used, so they let it grow more as a personal garden. Her family had made sure that it was for recreation and between the winters where the family used it for ice skating; and the summers, where both her father and uncle stocked it with trout so they could go fishing, it was part of her life.

“Sunny?”

And yet it feels so wrong. Like it’s the last line on a page in a story, and when the page is changed, everything will be ripped away, and I won’t understand anything that’s going on.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a pair of lips were on hers. She was surprised at first, but then sank into them, letting her own lips and desires respond. The two pairs, intertwined, traded loving blows for a few minutes before breaking away, out of breath but no less exhilarated.

Sunset blushed. “Not that I mind, but what caused that?”

Seated next to her, Warren flashed her a charming smile. “You were spacing out. You sure you’re okay?”

She shook her head; pushing aside the strange thoughts in her head. “Yeah … just haven’t been sleeping well the past few nights.”

He smiled. “Nervous about tonight? Or did Rise act up again?”

She giggled. “Six of one, half-dozen of the other? I already told you about what happened with Rise at school today.”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “That sister of yours is a handful.”

She gave him a coquettish smile. “What, I’m not a handful?” she mock-pouted.

Now it was his turn to laugh. “You might be one as well, but at least you’re my handful.”

She laughed and kissed him again. Warren, she decided, was very good at making her cares go away.

---

In her room, Sunrise frowned over what she was going to wear tonight. Really didn’t matter, since her beau wasn’t going to be there, and if he wasn’t going to be there, there was no need to dress to impress.

Really, she was tempted to flirt with Warren. Just to needle her sister a little. She didn’t like Warren in that way—well, not much—but he knew that as much as he loved her sister, he also kinda had a thing for her. And why not? She was the hotter sister after all. Sunset just didn’t have the same taste in clothes as she did, leaning more towards the “sexy librarian” style … sans the sexy part. Her sister was, unfortunately, just too much of a goody two-shoes.

It wasn’t that she hated Sunset or anything; Sunrise loved her sister dearly and if nothing else, was grateful that the older of the twins knew how to schmooze and talk their way out of things. Chances were, when she grew up, Sunset was going to probably be a politician—a good one, which from what Sunrise understood, was a rarity.

That being said, Sunrise knew she wasn’t made for that kind of life. There wasn’t much she’d leave off the table, but one of them was hurting her family. She wasn’t above teasing her sister mercilessly, but there was a difference between annoying Sunset by flirting with her boyfriend and stealing said boyfriend—and no way was she going to do that.

Besides, Warren wasn’t really her type.

Well, not much.

---

A water-logged body crawled out of the Missouri River. She had no idea where she was or what the situation foretold. From long years of training, she could tell that it was nearly dusk, though she couldn’t feel anything around her—no ambient magic field, which meant that all she really had was her own power and the ensorcelled crystals she brought as a backup.

As she waded to shore, she realized her clothing was waterlogged; she was already not comfortable with the attire she had on, but from what little research was done of this place, it was part of the local culture. Looking around, she saw some of the other strange things that she’d found out about this reality while researching it.

Somewhere … somewhere out there was ….

She bit her lip in anxiety. Would she make it in time? What would happen when she …?

Looking around to make sure she wasn’t seen—she couldn’t be too careful, given the circumstances—she cast a drying spell on herself, then the disguise spell she’d need. She hoped that her use of magic wouldn’t set off any alarms or warn any potential scouts looking out for her; she had no idea if she was in time or not.

She then reached into a pocket and pulled out tiny folded-paper birds and threw them into the air. As one they all rocketed off towards all points of the compass, all designed to do one thing and to report back to her upon success.

She heard a voice behind her speak and turned to see three more figures, also waterlogged, depart the water.

“Are you three okay?” the woman asked.

The lead of the trio nodded. “Yes, my lady. We’re made of sterner stuff than this.”

“Even if this is the … most unique … situation we’ve ever found ourselves in, I suppose.” She looked around and saw one of the strange metal objects that were used in lieu of wagons in this world. Her research didn’t explain how it worked in entirety, but she would probably be able to—if she studied one up close—magically replicate one in order to get the four of them towards their destination.

She just hoped that it wasn’t too late … and given the circumstances, it was probably very much so.

---

Due to the way the Manzanas and Shimmer farmsteads were laid out, the farmhouses were practically only feet away, with the land spread out behind each home. As a result, there wasn’t really a proper border fence between the two properties and the land between the two was used as a sort of parking lot for the families, the farmhands and the farm equipment.

It also made it easy to set up the tents for situations such as this. And right now, stepping outside in a beautiful and simple baby blue shoulderless shirt and floral pattern skirt, Sunset looked at the moon as it rose into the night.

“Going for the Lana Del Rey look, sis?” Sunrise asked her. Standing there, she wore a black top that was strategically held in place by two buttons, a silver spangle neck choker and a split ruffled skirt that was just as skimpy as the top.

Without looking at her sister, a calm smile came over Sunset’s face. “Rise, if you hit on Warren again, I’ll kill you.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Like you did last month when you borrowed my clothing and went to try to kiss him? He knew it was you, not me.”

“Bullshit—we’re twins, and I tried really hard to act like I was you.”

Sunset pointed at her ears. “Except I don’t have my ears pierced, unlike you.”

“Well, that’s because you cried up a storm when Mom went to take us to—” Sunrise paused. “Wait—he noticed that?”

Sunset smirked. “Isn’t it great to have a boyfriend that notices something besides your chest?”

Sunrise pouted, then lightly slugged her sister in the shoulder. “Sunny, Todd doesn’t like me just for my chest!”

“Yeah, I know. He also stares at your ass a lot, too.”

The sudden blush on the younger sister’s face was well worth Sunset’s laughing fit.

Finally, dropped off by parents, her friends began to filter onto the grounds. Looking into the sky, Rayne was the first to notice. “Looks like it’s going to storm tonight,” she commented.

“I hope it waits until at least the party’s over,” Sabrina moaned. “I’d really hate to get my outfit ruined by the rain and mud.”

“Yeah, that’d be all of us,” Wren agreed.

“What’s wrong with the rain?” Yu and Taz said as one. The twins then looked at each other before Yu continued. “I mean, with the climate issues right now, you’d think that you’d want rain around so that things don’t get worse.”

“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean I want to get soaked,” Maggie chimed in.

“Hey, girls!” Coming over to them, Jamie had a grin on her face. “So, are we getting this party started, or what?”

“Hey, sounds great to me!” Rayne commented. “Besides, this’ll be the best way for us to plan our summer vacation. Are we still planning on going camping the first week we’re out of school?”

“If you weren’t all my friends, I’d pass,” Sabrina admitted, waving a hand in disgust. “All those … flies, and bugs and nature!”

“You’ll live,” Wren assured her.

“Unless we pick a campsite with scorpions,” Sunrise commented off-handedly and Sabrina nearly passed out from hearing that.

“Rise, don’t be a bitch,” Wren told the redhead.

“What? It’s true. I got stung by one when I was eight. We were camping for 4^th of July and I ended up spending the rest of the month in the hospital.” She narrowed her eyes. “I hate those little fuckers.”

“Well, I think we should be okay, given that the campground we’re going to gets used often. Shouldn’t be anything, uh, ‘buggy’ around there that you have to worry about,” Taz told Sabrina.

“I certainly hope not!”

---

In the wheat fields, several figures watched and a pair of vicious eyes settled on the merrymakers in the distance.

“Your orders, lady?” a gruff voice asked.

“We wait until the Harrowing Hour,” came the reply. “That is when our powers will be at our strongest, and despite any advantages they may have, we are sure to win. This realm is apparently magicless and though we will need to take care not to expend our magical reserves, we have been here long enough to realize they have neither arts nor weapons; indeed, they do not seem to know what they are!”

A third voice laughed. “Perhaps my lady should request that she send additional forces to conquer these lands. You could capture them in her name and rule as a duchess.”

A cruel smile came over a pair of lips. “One thing at a time, my loyal knight, one thing at a time. But first we must kill the final hope the rebels have of wresting the throne back from our queen. After that we can see to empire building and legacy forging. We have all the time in the world …

“… while they have none.”

---

As the night wore down and the clock struck midnight, Jenny came out of her house to look at the charges. “Look, I know you’re having the time of your life, girls, but tomorrow’s a school night, so we’re going to have to wrap it u—where’s Sunset?”

“Probably playing tonsil hockey with Warren by the gazebo,” Sunrise answered her aunt. “Don’t worry, she’s the nice one, so she’s not likely to do more than that.”

“That doesn’t reassure me, Sunrise,” Jenny replied. “Tell your sister—discreetly—that she needs to wrap it up—” Sunrise started laughing and Jenny facepalmed; she realized she’d made a terrible statement in front of the one person who would take it the wrong way. “You know what I mean, Rise!”

“I do. And assuming she hasn’t already ‘wrapped it up’, I’ll tell her to keep her clothes on and to tell Warren goodbye.” With that, she headed towards the pond.

The woman shook her head. “That girl’s going to be the death of me someday, I swear,” she muttered.

“Mom, you know that Rise was going to look to take that in the worst way possible,” Jamie called from the table, where she and the others were starting to break down the picnic table and take the stuff indoors.

“Yeah, well, when has Rise ever done things the easy way?” Maggie joked.

“Well,” Yu said with a smile, “she is our friend. But, speaking objectively, she needs to learn how to stay on the side of the angels like her sister does. You know Sunny would never bring trouble our way, especially not like Rise does.”

---

“As Antony said to Cleopatra
As he opened a crate of ale,
‘Oh, I say ….’”

The night was perfect.

The dark blue above was littered with glistening lights, all twinkling down on Sunset and her boyfriend. In the distance, the moon shone with a beautiful white light, illuminating the small pond and its environs as though it had all been staged just for this moment. The only thing remotely jarring was that at the moment, Warren had some old song—“Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others” by the Smiths—playing on his phone via Spotify. Sunset briefly wondered who would name their band the Smiths but chalked it up as another part of the “uniqueness” of the time period that Warren found so interesting.

Besides, there were more interesting things to be had now. And right now, as she snuggled into his shoulder, sighing in contentment as they sat in the gazebo with one another, she felt nothing could be more perfect than this.

“I wish things could be like this forever,” she said to no one in particular.

“How so?”

“Just … this,” she said, gesturing with a hand to everything. “My mom used to tell me about how she and my Dad used to sit here in this old gazebo all the time and do nothing but gaze at the stars and think about the idylls of life and whatever that means. And I can see us doing that, too.”

“Well, your dad eventually married your mom. Is that what you’re hinting at?”

She looked at him and giggled. “Not that I think I’d mind, but we’re too young, Warren. I just applied to some colleges and I know you did, too. I want to get to see the world and enjoy it before I even think that far ahead in my future.” She sat up and looked at the moon in contemplation. “I just … I know I feel like I’m destined for greater things in life.”

“Oh?”

She nodded. “I’m not like Rise. I think my sister will probably inherit the farm and stay here. She’s not exactly the farming type, but I’ve never seen her as one that wants to expand her horizons. But I want to travel: London, Paris, Sydney, all the places in the world. Maybe I can go into politics and work for the State Department or something.”

Warren smiled. “I can see that, especially since your mom’s a state senator and all that.”

“Yeah, and Mom’s probably going to get on your case for playing tongue twisting and shit,” Sunrise said as she approached. “Midnight, folks. Time for you to get going, Warren. School night and all that shit and our aunt’s laying down the law.”

Sunset sighed. “Great timing, sis.”

Sunrise grinned. “Now I get to get back at you for all those times you interrupted me and Todd.”

“Yes, but I have my shirt still on,” Sunset shot back, and Sunrise blushed.

Laughing, Warren stretched. “Well, as much as I would like to hear you two bicker, I guess I need to get home. See you two at school tomorrow?”

“Yeah, though I’m sure Old Man Brookstone’s going to get my ass again,” Sunrise groaned.

“Look, Rise, if you were a straight arrow, he probably wouldn’t do that,” Warren told her.

“You wouldn’t know what a straight arrow is if one fucking hit you,” Sunrise snapped back.

A second later, she regretted those words as without warning, a dozen sounds like flies went past her ear and she waved her hand. “Goddamn flies!” she spat.

She then heard a scream and she looked in the direction of her sister. Surrounding Sunset were a dozen arrows, and not like the ones their uncle Travis usually went hunting with. A dozen of them, all made from wood, with feathers that looked like … feathers.

And then she saw the bleeding cut on Sunset’s face where apparently one had scraped her. The look on Sunset’s face was one of shock, and as Sunrise’s eyes traveled, she saw why.

Warren, slumped on the bench, with three arrows stuck in him. He was bleeding profusely.

Sunset screamed again, and Sunrise froze, not sure of what to do.

“So there’s two of you,” a voice announced. “I wonder: are you princess and shade, or were there always two of you?”

Both girls turned to look towards the speaker and to Sunrise’s horror, she recognized the woman standing in front of them: the girl from earlier, now wearing what looked like golden armor as though she was a character in some anime; her surcoat was a dark gray and had a purple musical note and golden gem embroidered on it. Even stranger, she had long, curly auburn hair with golden streaks, similar to the twins.

However, the sword she carried was very real—and very much pointed at the trio.

“It matters not to me,” the woman said, a callous smile on her face. “Once I kill you, Equestria’s last hope dies, and with it that whore’s rebellion.”

Comments

[Shinzakura]

Okay, this shit is getting wild.

[Former Unicorn]

10925532
Huh?