Getting to Know You
At Rarity's insistence, they rode off into the night.
It wasn't like Mirage couldn't see the point. Her own experiences in battle in GGO had involved attacking areas where the action was heavy, and although she had put down most of the flames, there had been plenty of fire lighting up the night earlier. No one had come over yet, but it was only a matter of time before search parties arrived, or even scavengers. Not really trusting her senses right then, and fighting the mental exhaustion from the earlier efforts, she had not put much of a fight when the bombshell that was the Rarity of this world had dictated that they go camping somewhere less crowded.
Although decidedly less hostile, Rarity was nevertheless very reserved on the road, refusing to make small conversation and keeping her eyes forward up until they had both dismounted Ophelia. Mirage had attempted two more times to speak to her, but the curt responses convinced her that it was in everypony's best interest to let her seethe for now.
Instead, Mirage had somewhat guiltily enjoyed the ride, taking in the sights for the first time since arriving. There was something calming about the way Ophelia the Dust Devil moved across the plains, decidedly smoother in motion than that of a horse. Once they were far enough from the brightness of the flames, the night sky shone above them in all its starry glory.
The silence also gave her time to think and study the other mare, thinking a bit more strategically. While Gun Gale Online was very realistic – so much so that it was used by the military to train – it was still just a video game. It didn't cover everything a true wandering gunslinger in the Old West would know, and it took by her count another two hours of travel before Rarity deemed them far away enough to safely camp for the night.
Once they had stopped, Rarity had set up the campfire – with a big log she kept in one of the saddlebags, oddly enough – while Mirage had produced her two-person tent, and sat down to observe the other gunslinger, who had taken care of her lizard before also sitting on the other side of the fire.
"I'll be honest," Mirage said after gathering her thoughts for a moment, "I don't know how to even start this conversation. I guess…" She took a deep breath. "I should apologize. My being here was unplanned, and as you saw I'm not… fully in control of my temper. I really didn't intend for the airship to go down as it did, or to hurt you."
When Rarity didn't deign to answer, Mirage found herself trying to fill in the silence. She licked her lips and shook her head. "I just… I-I tried to, I mean, I made sure none of my plasma beams hit anypony, and I just… I don't think it's safe for me to be here. I'm afraid I'm going to keep hurting ponies or reacting with excessive force. It's just what I'm used to, you know?"
Rarity frowned. It was the kind of frown that hurt, because you knew it meant you’d messed up somehow. At last, the mare spoke. “You are a very mysterious pony, Sunset Shimmer. I’ve come to question many things, including whether you even are Sunset. Ignore the wings. You’re taller. And you look older. And I can’t imagine what would make you want to dress like… Well, whatever you’re dressed like. Doesn’t that armor get hot?”
Mirage blinked, then looked down at her armor, poking it with her finger. "It's space-grade ceramic-based armor, so it won't get too hot, and the clothes are less heavy than you might think. Then again, when I'm like this I don't feel as warm as I normally would, I suppose."
Rarity stared at her as if she’d just suggested the sky was green and water was actually oil. She worked her lips silently before finally asking, with strained confusion, “You wear… space… pottery… armor?”
Mirage stared her right in the eye. "Yes." She grinned.
With a heavy sigh, Rarity pressed her face in her hands and rubbed her eyes. “I am far too tired for this, yet I can’t just let it go or I’ll be awake all night anyway. Let’s forget the armor for now and focus on something that makes sense, please?”
Mirage gave her an apologetic look, then decided to drop her GGO persona, going back to regular Sunset Shimmer. Well. Anthro Sunset Shimmer. She needed to take a selfie for Luna. "Is this a bit better?"
The mare risked a glance at Sunset, then made a sound somewhere between a groan and a shout. “No, it’s not! Now you can change your looks at the drop of a fashionable hat? Being an alicorn is so unfair and I am officially envious. Why can’t I just magic away my age in a flash of a horn?”
Sunset scoffed. "Please, if you were any hotter you'd have your own— You know, let's forget that."
“If you think this is hot, you clearly have never been to the Scorched Plains.” Heaving yet another sigh – Rarity seemed to be doing that a lot – she said, “Alright. So I’m assuming you’re not the Sunset Shimmer I know. But you are a Sunset Shimmer, at the very least. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to try explaining this, or am I doomed to be confused forever?”
Sunset nodded, smiling and secretly glad that Rarity seemed to have glossed over her slip. "You sound so much like my Rarity, but yes, you are correct, I'm a Sunset Shimmer. I wasn't planning on being here and arrived in your world by accident." She clasped her hands together and stared at the fire for a moment, before leaning down to pick a branch and started poking at it. "At first it wasn't too bad, but when I realized that I was somewhere unintended, I started planning to go back home as soon as I could. I was at a saloon, and that reminded me of this other place where I could probably get a ride home if I asked nicely. But when I took out my card to make sure I had it, a brawl started and that, uh, kirin? Stole it when I was being attacked."
Rarity considered this for a while, long enough for Sunset to wonder if she intended to speak at all. At last, she did. “Might I ask, exactly what kind of ‘card’ are we talking about here?”
"You know." Sunset dropped the branch and made a small rectangle with her fingers. "Silver business card for a bar called Sunset's Isekai. It has my cutie mark on a cocktail glass on the top right corner. I don't suppose you saw it on her when you talked to her?"
Another one of those long stares. Sunset was starting to get really uncomfortable with them, because this Rarity was good at making her feel like she was being peeled apart. Then, abruptly, the unicorn started laughing. Sunset couldn’t help giggling a little herself, if only to release some of the pent up nerves.
“I never thought I’d live to see the day!” Rarity reached into her vest. “To think, I’m sitting here talking to somepony else who happens to know about the Isekai. The odds of that have to be… Well, I can’t say, but I’m sure they’d be astronomical. Fortunately for you, I—” A beat. Rarity blinked, began to dig through her assorted pockets. “Wait.” And again. And a third time. “Oh, by Celestia’s burning sun, you have got to be kidding me.”
"Wait." Sunset gasped. "Of course! I remember now, Sunset had a picture of you and her at the bar! You designed her cowgirl getup, right? This is awesome! I mean, she'll probably be annoyed that I lost my card, but I can go home!"
“Perhaps you could, if I could find my card.” Rarity had at this point gone through all her pockets a half-dozen times, even taking off her jacket to look at it in much the same way Sunset’s Rarity might look at someone who had betrayed her fashion sensibilities. “I can’t imagine where it could be. Maybe I… Hold on.” She peered at Sunset. “Did you say ‘the kirin’ stole your card?”
Sunset nodded with a dawning look of comprehension. "You can't seriously be telling me…" she trailed off, staring at Rarity. "She got you too?!"
“But when would she have gotten the opportunity?” Rarity tapped her chin and glared at the fire. “I never got near her. The only opportunity would have been—” Her expression turned cold. “When the ship was going down. That conniving, opportunistic cretin. I was trying to save her life and she took advantage.” Then the cold turned into something far hotter. Rarity’s horn even gave out a few threatening sparks. “I let a pony take advantage of me. Of me. What in Tartarus does a damn mare have to do to get ponies to keep their damn hands to their damn selves?!”
Sunset crossed her arms. "Yeah. Yeah, they should do that." She cleared her throat. "But, she's a thief, and apparently an experienced one. Both times it was her taking the opportunity when it presented itself, at moments where a lesser thief would not have dared attempt anything. Particularly in your case. I was in a brawl, not much of a risk to her when two stallions are trying to tackle me." She frowned. "But why the cards? It's not like she'd know what to do with them, right?"
Rarity had stood and begun pacing, her boots stomping in the grass. Her hand was rubbing at something under her shirt, just at the heart. The mare’s tail flicked with agitation and her nostrils flared. “I don’t know. I don’t care. I want that card back, and I want Autumn Blaze to pay for this insult. I didn’t wade through dark caves and blood and watch ponies I loved die to let little weasels like her do something so… so cheap to me.” She spun around to glare at Sunset. “Which means you and I are going to Manehattan.”
"Autumn Blaze? Huh. I wonder if they're related…" Sunset shook her head and turned to follow the pacing mare with her eyes. "I'm assuming you have a lead?"
Rarity nodded. She was still rubbing whatever was under her shirt. “Autumn Blaze works for the chancellor. The chancellor is a politician in Manehattan. We want answers, we go to the source. He won’t be given an option to refuse us, that much I can assure you.”
"Yeah, Father Feather mentioned the chancellor." Sunset smirked. "Paying him a visit sounds both fun and somehow gratifying." She cleared her throat. "Also, I apologize if I'm being insensitive here but, if you have, you know, a rash of some sort on your chest, I'm sure I have an ointment in my item bag for that."
“What?” Rarity looked down at her hand, then quickly removed it. “Oh, that. No, it’s just… a habit of mine. Helps to calm me down.” A smile slipped on her lips, one that looked predatory. “They don’t call me the Bulletproof Heart for nothing. Something I’ll be sure to remind our dear chancellor about when we see him.” After a moment’s consideration, she said, “I think we should get some food and some sleep. Tomorrow we’ll head out to deal with this problem.”
Sunset nodded, turning back into Mirage – and not noticing the twitch in Rarity’s eye – as she pulled down the menu in her HUD. Items scrolled by as she motioned with her hand until she found what she was looking for. Prepared food she had bought in Glocken. Usually they were items she'd used in raids and such to gain buffs, but she was in a real world… Shouldn't they taste good?
She pulled two dinners out, having them materialize in her hands. "Glocken Reuben with fries, or Veggie Chop Suey?" she asked, offering both to Rarity.
Rarity stared at the two meals as if they’d materialized out of thin air. Which, technically, they had. Only now did Mirage realize how that might have looked. After a moment of blankness, Rarity at last answered with an uncertain, “I… don’t know what ‘chop sue-E is’, so, uh, the reuben?” She accepted it from Mirage, but then only stared at it in her hands like she wasn’t sure what to do with it.
Mirage nodded, giving her a thumbs up. "Good choice, Glocken might be super advanced tech, but their corned beef sandwiches are legendary." She looked down at the chop suey. "Hm, I don't have chopsticks. I guess I'll commit an international crime and use a fork—"
She was interrupted by the sound of the reuben pack falling to the ground. Looking up revealed a thoroughly alarmed and somewhat green Rarity. “Beef? You mean somepony murdered a poor cow for food?”
"Well, murder is a strong word. These cows are grown in vats, they never see the light of day and are force-fed corn through a tube. That's why it's not murder. It's mercy."
“Sunset Shimmer,” Rarity huffed between deep breaths. “You are not helping.”
Mirage shook her head. "Sorry, sorry. They're not really grown like that, but… they're also not sentient there, which I now realize I took for granted here, and probably made me look like a maniac." She stood up and picked up the food pack, sending it away, and replacing it with another, which she offered to the other mare. "This is a tofu burger. Tofu is made of beans, contains no meat at all."
Rarity eyed the container carefully, looking as though she expected it to attack her. At last, she took it. “I will try this in the name of diplomacy. I’m half-tempted to just eat out of my own supplies, but I suppose free food is free food.” She went back to her side of the fire and sat… staring at the box. “Okay. So it’s a box. How do you prepare it?”
"Simple, you see the red spot on the side? Press it and wait until steam comes out after a minute or two, that means it's fully cooked." Sunset sat cross legged on the ground and followed her own instructions.
After a moment’s hesitation, Rarity did as told. Her perplexed frown didn’t change when nothing happened. “Shouldn’t it, I don’t know, make a sound? Give off a magical aura? Something?”
“Just wait,” Sunset told her with a patient smile.
Wait Rarity did, until at last steam did indeed begin to rise from the box. Rarity promptly lifted the box away from herself with her magic, as though expecting it to burn her. Then she saw Sunset open her meal and tentatively did the same. She appeared genuinely startled to find a fully cooked burger inside, complete with fries and ketchup. “My word. What kind of magic is this?”
"Not magic! Something much worse and esoteric: Video Game Technology," Sunset said, already poking her food with her fork. "The idea is based on MRE packs, but because it's 'the future', the food is supposedly freeze-dried into pellets that are then put in the container that has a device inside that uses steam to hydrate and cook the food at the same time, resulting in a fully realized meal out of the box."
Still eyeing her meal, Rarity replied with a dry, “I am an expert in two things: fashion and gunplay. All of that nonsense you just spoke? It is neither of those things.” She lifted the tofu burger in both hands as though worried she’d get crumbs or something on her fingers, then took a dainty bite. After a few seconds of chewing, she gave a small nod. “Curious. Nothing like the hayburgers I’ve had in the past. The flavor is so very queer.” A second, bigger bite. “I could get used to it.”
Mirage smiled. "Glad you like it!"
Rarity studied the burger, taking a firmer grip on it now that she seemed less uncertain of it. “I will admit that I didn’t understand anything about your explanation. It sounds like something beyond the fathoming of…” She paused, perhaps considering her word choice. “Of this world. That being said, I don’t suppose there is any chance you could teach me how to get these, could you? It would make keeping supplies for long journeys phenomenally easier.”
"Sorry, Rares," Mirage said. "Unfortunately these are items that exist in yet another world. I can use them due to really crazy circumstances. The actual storage and science behind it is plausible though, if you know a unicorn that's really good with magic, like say… Twilight Sparkle? Maybe they could figure out how to do it? Magic for me doesn't work exactly like it seems to work here, or I'd offer to try and teach you the basics of each part of it."
Rarity raised an eyebrow at the mention of Twilight, looking as if she wanted to say something. Then she apparently thought better of it, for she shook her head and said, “I only know of two ponies who would qualify as magically inclined. One is a very long ways away and the other isn’t well versed. Talented, but still learning.” She shrugged and took another bite, as always taking her time to swallow before continuing. “I suppose there would be some sort of cosmic rules against dimensions sharing technologies and magic anyway. I’m sure Sunset would say so.” A beat. “Isekai’s Sunset, I mean.”
"Maybe," Mirage said, then paused and yawned, barely managing to cover her mouth. "Sorry, I didn't realize I was this tired."
“Until you have spent several days straight without sleep while avoiding a band of murderous bounty hunters, do not speak to me of ‘tired’.” Rarity let out a yawn, herself. “Still, the point is made. I do wish I’d unpacked my tent already.”
Mirage kept her face straight. "If you don't mind sharing, my tent is big enough for the two of us."
“That’s quite generous, thank you. Just make sure to keep your hands to yourself. I’ve had enough of grabby ponies today.”
A long, awkward pause. Well, awkward for Sunset. Rarity hardly seemed to notice how hot she’d suddenly become.
“That was supposed to be a joke.”
"Good one!" Mirage chuckled somewhat nervously, then her smile became more honest. "I wouldn't try anything anyway, I'm already spoken for."
“Good to know.” Rarity opened her mouth for another bite, but paused, seeming to realize her tone. “Oh, I mean, that’s wonderful to hear, dear. I didn’t mean to sound disinterested. Lots on my mind, you see.” Then, after taking that bite, she added, “No need to keep watch. My sweet Ophelia has learned to handle that role all on her own. She’s got quite sensitive hearing for a creature with no ears.”
Mirage shrugged. "Don't worry about it. It's way too late for that conversation anyway, and ponies in this world seem to get anxious when I mention my girlfriend. Anyway, come on, let's sleep. We have a long day tomorrow." Putting words into action, she transformed back into Sunset Shimmer – twitch went the Rarity – so that they'd have enough space in the tent, and crawled in.
Rarity, still only half finished with her meal, called, “I’ll see you in the morning, then. Goodnight, Miss Shimmer.”
"Good night, Rarity."
Rarity found it mildly awkward, having Sunset ride at the back of the saddle as she was. It was mostly because Sunset was bigger than her. Logic would dictate they should reverse places. But to let somepony else hold Ophelia’s reins when she was still in perfectly good condition to do so? One must not be absurd.
“This saddle is not designed for two ponies,” Sunset muttered.
“My apologies,” Rarity sincerely offered over her shoulder. “When we get to the next town we can purchase you your own lizard.”
“I can fly.”
“We already discussed why that wasn’t feasible, I do believe. Come now, Sunset, no need to be stubborn.”
Sunset shuckled. “You’re one to talk.”
Rarity saw no need to respond to that. The uncomfortable saddle digging into the mare’s flanks would do the job well enough.
Things were quiet for a little while after. Sunset was leaning backwards, had been for much of the ride. It was almost as though she were wary of touching Rarity too much, though she couldn’t fathom why.
“Wish I’d come in winter,” Sunset noted sourly.
Rarity quirked an eyebrow, as was appropriate for quirky statements. “I’m not sure what this ‘winter’ is.”
“You don’t have winter here?” Sunset made it sound like a terrible concept. “You know. Winter. When it gets cold. When there’s snow. When the days grow shorter?”
Snow? Rarity had heard of it. Supposedly it was frozen water that fell from the sky. They said it was quite common in the far north. She shrugged and replied, “I’ve never experienced what might be deemed ‘cold’. As for the ‘shorter days’ thing, that sounds like a season. We call that period the Warm Season, since it’s not… you know, the Burning Season. We’re in the Rising Heat season now, so it’s only going to get hotter in the next few weeks.”
“It gets hotter?” Sunset groaned. “I don’t want to stay here any longer than I have to. But if it’s so hot, why isn’t it all, y’know, desert?”
If there was any sure sign that this Sunset was not from this world, there it was. “Most of it is. Consider yourself lucky you arrived in the Eastline, which is relatively cooler than most of Equestria.”
Sunset dragged a hand down her face. "This is just… insufferable. Maybe I'll just start casting snowstorms along our way." She glanced up, glaring at the sun. "I think I can still do that. I could do it back when I was a filly." She sighed. "Although considering we're riding a lizard, that might not be a great idea."
Rarity shrugged noncommittal. “You’ll get used to it, I’m sure. Although I must admit that experiencing a colder world might be… nice.” After a moment’s consideration, she added, “If you really want to end it, find the princesses. I think everypony in Equestria would consider you a hero. Not that you’d have any chance.”
"They're gone?" Sunset asked.
Right. Not from this world. Rarity wondered just how detailed she should get. Then again, they had plenty of time on their hands. Manehattan was still a couple weeks away at best. “Indeed, yes. Celestia got… Well, it’s not really clear. The Church claims that Discord teleported her without a destination in mind, so theoretically she could be anywhere. Wherever she is, it’s too far away to maintain the sun, so Luna tried to take it over before it could fall and turn the world into one giant fireball.”
"Wait, Discord did that? This place doesn't seem to be… well, magically versed enough for that kind of thing. How did he manage that? Didn't Celestia and Luna have the Elements of Harmony to stop him? No Fluttershy to keep him in place?"
Rarity wasn’t sure what she meant by ‘magically versed’, and decided not to press the topic. “Don’t ask me for details, this all happened a thousand years ago. As for the Elements of Harmony, they did make an attempt to use them. The first time they went, Discord teleported the sisters away and to separate places before they could. Celestia made it back first, and that’s when Discord sent her away from the world. Luna got there, realized what he did, and promptly tried to use the Elements all on her own. Since Discord didn’t believe she could, he let her have a go at it. It didn’t work out well for him.”
Sunset grimaced. "How bad? Is he trapped in stone? Or… did he die?"
With a shrug, Rarity replied, “If you believe the Church, which most ponies do, then he was sealed in stone and then buried in Tartarus for good measure. I’m not even sure Tartarus is a real place though, seeing as I’ve traveled the length and breadth of the continent and not seen any evidence it does.” She cast a glance towards the sun. “Afterwards, Princess Luna found it too difficult to control the sun and moon and run a government at the same time. She was giving it everything she had just to keep the sun from getting any closer. So she gave up her role as ruler and fled from public life, fearing what might transpire should something happen to her before her sister found a way back to Equestria. Neither of them have been seen since.”
"Well, there goes having tea with Discord again." Sunset sighed, glancing up at the sky and tilting her hat for some shade. "Figures things would get pretty bad if he did something so dumb. As for Tartarus… well, I guess it's better if you don't find out." She grinned. "That way, when you curse someone to Tartarus, you can rest easy in the illusion that it's made up and they're not truly suffering a fate worse than death."
A fate worse than death? Ponies in Sunset’s world must have a dark impression of what Tartarus was. Rarity had never delved on the subject, though the Church probably had described it at some point. “Yes, well, it’s all ancient history. Nopony speaks of the idea of the princesses coming back with any expectation that they’ll actually do so. So unless you have some special way of locating them with all that fancy alicorn magic of yours, you’ll just have to deal with the heat.”
"Like this one?"
An object was brought forward in Sunset’s magic, prompting Rarity to pluck it out of the air. Her first thought was to question what the odd metallic device was – something thin with a clear surface like a window – but then she saw the image. It was some sort of pony, white, but not quite right anatomically. The mane was… strange, and her muzzle was covered in what appeared to be crumbs and maybe some icing. Rarity stared at the image for some time, trying to make heads or tails of it. “Is… Is that supposed to be Celestia?”
"That's definitely her. You can't see her mane waving and the rest of her because it's a picture, but we recorded her during the celebration of Luna's return. Put your finger straight on the surface, and flick right. Luna should be there as well. Just a warning: she hadn't had coffee."
Flick? Rarity wasn’t sure what Sunset meant, but after a few experimental tries she got the image to change. She found a dark blue alicorn with a starry mane who looked as though she were prepared to murder the first pony who so much as squeaked in her general direction. This was supposed to be Princess Luna?
Rarity considered the image, switching between the two again and again. How should she feel about this? The little pony was hyperventilating at the very idea that the princesses were out there and readily meetable. On the other, these weren’t her princesses. They were… different. Anatomically. They couldn’t be her princesses. In which case… She offered the strange metal device back. “I strongly advise against showing that to ponies you don’t know. It’s liable to get you in a lot of trouble.”
"Heh, I know. But then again, I'm an alicorn. What are they going to say, that I'm not… divine?"
Pursing her lips, Rarity muttered, “You don’t have much respect for religion or culture, do you?”
Sunset’s voice grew quiet. “I’m overstepping, aren’t I?”
“You haven’t insulted me yet, but you are making things clear,” Rarity replied with grim firmness. “Your world must be so very pleasant. It’s not hot year-round. You can talk to the princesses whenever you want. Your supplies can be conjured out of thin air. Your meals practically make themselves. When you shoot somepony, it’s considered sport.” She grew a little more tense with every sentence.
“But in this world, it is always hot. There are no princesses to pose for pictures. Supplies have to be laboriously managed for space and weight. Food has to be carefully considered and cared for to ensure it doesn’t spoil over the course of a journey. When we shoot somepony, they die.” Then, with a final bit of bitterness, “And when you go galavanting around making light of the fact that you’re an alicorn in a place where they’re considered sacred, you risk a continent-wide social wildfire that might cost untold lives.
“You don’t intend to be here for very long, Sunset, but this is my home, and here there are consequences to your actions. I would appreciate it if you treated that fact with the seriousness it warrants.”
Sunset sighed. "I know, I'm sorry." She paused, seeming to organize her thoughts. "I'm nervous. And… a little scared. I'm not trying to make light of the situation, or mock your world or you, but I don't really know what I'm doing. Even when I left home so long ago and I was alone in a different world with nopony I knew to help me, I wasn't… I didn't have anything to lose. Or at least I thought that."
She let out a sigh. "I feel like I'm about to burst. That if I don't do something to keep myself together, I'll snap. I'm holding all of this power within me, and I have seen what I can do if I let loose and that… I could level a city. I could kill countless innocents if I let this get to my head. I love magic but I'm terrified of what I have done in the past with it, and what I could do in the future."
She gulped, looking down away. "I'm sorry if it's childish, and I promise I would never do that around ponies I don't know or trust. It's just… I'm not Isekai Sunset. I don't have thousands of years of knowledge and patience. And I feel like everything here is something I'll break unless I'm very careful."
Rarity’s ears folded back against her hat as she considered the mare’s tone. She certainly didn’t feel guilty for setting Sunset straight, but she did have to consider where she was coming from. She’d never thought about what the power an alicorn possessed might mean for a pony who seemed as normal as Sunset did. “Well, I can appreciate the desire for brevity to lighten the load. All I ask is that you keep your audience in mind in the future. It sounds like you know as well as I do how bad things can get just from a little tomfoolery.” She smiled as a thought struck her. “For what it’s worth, I was not intimidated when we… ‘met’.”
"Well, you're made of sterner stuff than others," Sunset responded with a smirk. "I can respect that."
Rarity scoffed, placing a hand to her collarbone in mock offense. “I should hope so! One would think facing off against an alicorn who just shot down an airship would earn a pony some respect at the very least.”
"Just let me know if crashing the moon on the camp of this Neighsay is enough to intimidate you when it happens." Sunset said, raising her arm and patting her biceps. "I might not be able to move them around the sky, but crashing them? Easy!"
Rarity chuckled at the very thought. “I’d ask you to prove it, but I have friends in Manehattan who might not approve of having the moon smashing their neighborhoods. We’ll have to go at Neighsay the old fashioned way, I’m afraid.”
"I have explosives."
“I was thinking more along the lines of bullets, but explosives can work, I suppose. Just make sure there’s enough of him left to answer questions afterwards.”
"Spoilsport."
Night two of their journey together, and Rarity was just finishing up the last touches of getting a tent up. Sunset had offered to use her big one again, but Rarity feared the idea of getting spoiled on such luxuries. She knew herself well enough not to take the risk.
As Sunset set her own hammer down, she wiped the sweat from her brow and examined the tent. “It’s, uh, smaller than mine.”
“I have others,” Rarity noted, already headed for Ophelia. She gave the lizard a pleasant muzzle-rub before approaching the panniers. “Or you can just use your own. There’s no reason not to.”
"Nah," Sunset said, "It's good practice. The less I pull out crazy stuff now, the less chance I do it later on again."
Nodding, Rarity opened one of the smaller bags and pulled out her chronometer, sextant, and map book. “I’ll let you get to that, then, while I mark our place.”
"Hold on!" Sunset said, abandoning her tent for the moment as she approached. "I haven't seen anypony use a sextant and a map together in years, mind if I watch?"
That wasn’t at all the response Rarity expected. She looked down at her map, then at Sunset. “I don’t see why not. Come, let’s get it done before the sun falls below the horizon.”
Sunset eagerly came over. "Thanks! I was a filly the last time I used one of these. I kinda miss it." She leaned over, obviously trying not to get in the way. "Wow. You've… really been all over the place. Where did you even start?"
Peering along the tool at the horizon, Rarity asked, “Do you mean when I started tracking my progress, or when I started traveling?” She set the sextant aside to make a note of her findings. “I suppose the story is the same either way. I left my hometown to become a clothier, only to lose everything in a bandit attack and get stuck in a small town called Spurhoof. After living there for many years, a certain group of blackhearts decided to target my assistant and myself. I retaliated, which put a bounty on my head. Been wandering ever since.” She took a moment to glance at the map and point out the tiny dot that was Spurhoof. “There. That’s the little place I made my home before things truly went crazy for me.” The sextant was back in her hands a moment later.
Sunset nodded along as she listened, her eyes eagerly studying the map. "Who knew such a small place would be the starting point of a legend?"
Rarity felt her eyelid twitch and did her level best to ignore the traitorous thing. “I’m not that big a deal.”
"Says the mare that, I quote, 'was not intimidated' by an alicorn destroying an airship."
Rarity sighed and jotted down her findings. “True enough. And to think, all I ever wanted to do was make clothes for appreciative ponies. Had that idiot horndog not shown up and tried to… Well. My life would have been much simpler had that little disaster not transpired.”
"Maybe," Sunset agreed, getting up to work on her tent. "And I guess if I hadn't left Celestia I would have grown up in a palace. But I wouldn't be a better person, and I'm willing to bet this world would be having a harder time without the Bulletproof Heart here."
Rarity flicked her mane and forced a smile. “Really, Sunset. I appreciate it when a pony tries to assist in my ego, really I do, but I can hardly boast to have changed the world. I’m on the run and every once in a while I help ponies who I feel need it. And maybe put down a pony or two. Or more…” This conversation was going bad places so very quickly. She grabbed her pencil and notebook and began doing the math. “I’m not that special. Special ponies don’t do the things I’ve done. But I promised to Papa’s grave not to dwell on such things, so I’d appreciate a change in topic.”
"Alright, it's getting late, but let me just tell you what someone very wise once said. He said: 'Some believe it is great power that can hold evil in check. But that is not what I have found. I have found that it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.'" She shrugged. "Maybe what little you do helps. Just a thought."
Rarity stared at the numbers, not really registering them. Her mind was casting back to dark days, days of fury and bloodshed and just wanting to make ponies hurt. She took a slow, shuddering breath. “It will take a great many acts of kindness and love to earn forgiveness for some ponies' sins. I am trying. But I don’t expect those scales to be balanced any time soon.” Her eyes closed. She took a deep breath. Then, with the aid of her little pony, she swept all those terrible images into a broom closet and shut the door. Not a slam, but certainly firmly. When her eyes opened again, she was able to focus on her work properly once more. “Let me finish this, and then we’ll set up your tent.”
"Nah, I got it. I think… Okay, I'll wait."
The second week of travel, roughly halfway to Manehattan, saw rain. To Sunset, this was not a big surprise, although she was glad that it started when she was already sleeping in her tent. What did shock her was when she took a look outside to find Rarity Belle, Miss Primadonna herself, entirely nude and giving Ophelia a bath, complete with soap.
“What are you doing?” she cried, only to duck right back into the tent with cheeks burning before the mare could turn to face her.
“Ah, good morning, Sunset,” Rarity answered, her voice slightly muffled by the tent fabric between them. “I recommend you come out and join me. Baths are hard to come by on the road, and I for one am tired of smelling like a corpse.”
“You smell fine,” Sunset shouted back, still not daring to look out the tent lest she once again see things that might make her second-guess her commitment to her marefriend. “What if somebody sees you?”
Rarity responded with an indignant scoff. “I’ve come to learn that the moment your nose stops detecting the rank is the moment you’ve been about a week too long without soap. We’re not near any of the usual trade routes. The odds of anypony seeing me like this are practically zero.”
Sunset’s mind was in a bit of a tizzy, as Fluttershy might have put it. Just the thought of Rarity – Rarity – being willing to go nude in an open, public space was enough to send her mind reeling. A particularly naughty part of her considered grabbing her phone for a quick and not-so-innocent photo. She tried to ignore the heat in her cheeks. “I think I’ll wait for Manehattan, if it’s alright by you.”
“Honestly, darling, I don’t know what you’re all upset about. It’s not like neither of us have seen a naked mare before.”
Sunset barely stopped herself from pointing out that seeing hot mares changed the equation drastically. The image of that perfect derriere, partially covered by a wet tail, left her cringing. When she got back to her own world, she was going to spend a whole weekend doing nothing but hanging onto Luna, which might be enough to shake the image away.
Rarity called once more. “You could at least give me your clothes for washing.”
Now she was asking Sunset to strip? Okay, so suggesting a ‘bath’ in the rain amounted to the same thing, but somehow this felt even worse. Sunset half feared the heat radiating off her cheeks would catch the tent on fire. “I’m fine.”
“You hardly sound fine. Are you worried I’ll judge your body?”
Sunset chuckled, a weak thing born of anxiety alone. “No, it’s definitely not that.” It wasn’t as though she could compare in the first place, no matter how much Luna tried to flatter her.
“I suppose even for an immortal alicorn, my radiance is just too much to gaze upon.”
“I’m not immortal!” A beat later, the exact nature of Rarity’s taunt hit her, and a real, proper laugh escaped her this time. “Now that’s more like the Rarity I know.”
Things went quiet for a while, save for the steady beating of the rain on the canvas over her head. Occasionally Rarity would coo to Ophelia, the sounds reminding her of how the Rarity she knew sometimes got all sweet on Opalescence. It made her wonder where Opal was in this world. It also made her miss her own Rarity a little.
When Rarity spoke again, it sounded like she was just outside the tent. “Am I really so different from the Rarity you know?”
What was with that tone? Glancing in the direction the voice had come from, she said, “My Rarity would never walk around in the nude. But then, my Rarity’s also never shown even the faintest interest in firing a gun.”
“Does she make clothes?”
The query came quickly. Too quickly to be mere idle conversation. Sunset sat close to the edge of the tent, staring towards where she thought the mare might be. “Dresses. She’s a fashion designer. Or at least, she wants to be. I’d say she’s well on her way; her designs are amazing.” A time passed without any response, prompting her to add an uncertain, “Rarity?”
“My apologies,” Rarity replied, quiet and subdued. “I’m merely reflecting on what could have been. A passing fancy, as it were.”
Biting her lip, wondering if she shouldn’t hold back, Sunset eventually ground out the nerve necessary. “I, uh, was wondering. About you and clothes. I know you made the other me, the one at the Isekai, an outfit. It looked amazing. But… You don’t do that anymore, do you?”
Rarity’s sigh was just audible through the fabric. Sunset had an image in her head of the mare sitting on a rock just beyond the tent. “I tried. Fate had other plans. But I must admit, if I thought I could go back to that, I would.”
Sunset cocked her head curiously. “So why don’t you?”
“Because if I stop moving, or even slow down, ponies will find me. Before it was because of a bounty on my head. Today it is because I’m the Bulletproof Heart. Being famous has perks, but it also has downsides, and one of those downsides is the many ponies who seek to kill you just for the recognition.”
To a certain degree, Sunset understood. When she played Gun Gale Online, people noticed, and challenges weren’t uncommon. But Gun Gale Online was a game. Even if the consequences were serious for Sunset, they weren’t for everyone else. Rarity didn’t even have that luxury. Upon realizing that, the comforting words died on Sunset’s lips. How could she even try to relate?
“You mentioned Fluttershy before.”
Caught off guard by the abrupt change in topic, Sunset offered an uncertain, “Yeah?”
“Is she happy?”
Where did this come from? “Yeah, I suppose so. I haven’t talked to her in a little while, but she seemed fine last time I did.”
Rarity’s tone was tense, dripping with concern. “Does she have friends?”
To that Sunset couldn’t help but smile. “You mean aside from all the animals? Yeah. She’s got friends. Good friends.”
“Good.” Sunset could feel the regret in Rarity’s voice like a physical blow. “That’s very good.”
“Rarity?”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to wash your clothes?” The attempt at a cheerful tone utterly failed to mask the strain hidden beneath. “If you insist, you can stay in the tent for the duration.”
Somehow, Sunset knew she’d never get the mare to open up about whatever that had been about.
In one week, they would be in Manehattan. For Rarity, this meant little. She was long accustomed to spending weeks on Ophelia’s back, days stretching on while absolutely nothing of interest happened. This was her life now.
Sunset, on the other hand, had become gradually more restless as the days melted together. Today she was flying amongst the scattered cloud cover, leaving her bright yellow Dust Devil, Ray Jr., to be led by Ophelia. Rarity couldn’t blame her. It was something different, and she claimed to not normally have wings in her own world. Rarity wasn’t even going to try to guess as to how that made sense.
So accustomed was she to Sunset’s growing anxiety that she paid the sound of approaching wingbeats no mind. She turned just in time to see the mare land hard in Ray Jr.’s saddle, grunting with eyes popping wide open and hands clenching. Repressing a wince, Rarity offered a sympathetic, “Still haven’t quite figured out the landing?”
After a couple sharp hisses through her teeth and some careful repositioning, Sunset took hold of the reins while Rarity untied Ray Jr. from Ophelia’s saddle. “At least I managed to stay on this time.”
True, she was definitely getting better at it. She’d been practicing for the past three days. Rarity could only encourage her; rapidly getting in and out of the saddle was a valuable skill even without the wings. “Will you be trying again?”
“Not today,” the mare grunted, using the stirrups to stiffly stand above the saddle. “Give my thighs some time to recover. That last one really stung.”
Things grew quiet, and Rarity was intent to leave things that way. She was so used to long, quiet journeys and she wasn’t sure what to talk about anyway. Even so, she kept casting glances at Sunset – or Mirage, she supposed – who was now riding alongside her. The armored mare was simply horrendous when it came to hiding her emotions. She kept drifting through repeated stages of melancholy, worry, frustration, and fear. There was no need to press yet. They had a week. Hopefully Mirage would open up about whatever had been tormenting her thoughts.
Rarity’s patience was rewarded when, just as the sun was hovering over the distant Eerie Cliffs in the west, Mirage spoke up. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
Not missing a beat, Rarity replied, “Of course, although I feel obligated to point out that you’ve already admitted to being in a relationship.”
Fire bloomed across her partner’s cheeks. “I-I wasn’t going to ask anything like that!”
“No?” Feigning hurt, Rarity pressed a hand to her necklace and gave her best pout. “Am I not pretty enough? Do you prefer dirty girls? Is that why you wouldn’t join me in the rain?”
The glow in her cheeks unabated, Sunset shot her a sour look. “You’re screwing with me.”
“Hmmph. You wish.” Then Rarity grinned and batted her eyelashes. “But yes, I am.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re evil?”
“Evil? Moi?” Rarity giggled at Sunset’s scowl. “Hasn’t anypony told you, dear? The Bulletproof Heart is the paragon of virtue.”
“And humble, too,” Sunset grumbled.
“Yes, that as well.” Deciding she’d had her fun, Rarity turned her attention forward once more. The grin wouldn’t go away, though. “Well, if you’re not hopelessly infatuated by my ravishing beauty – for which not a soul would blame you – what did you intend to ask me?”
It took the alicorn a moment to reply. Either she was trying to recover from Rarity’s impeccable wit or the attempt to make it easier for her via teasing had failed. Eventually, Sunset asked, “Have you killed many ponies?”
Closing her eyes brought visions. Memories. A stallion falling off his saddle in a splash of red. Braeburn sitting against a bloodstained wall. Sitting atop a struggling stallion and punching until her fist was raw. She didn’t shiver. Somehow. “More than I could possibly recount.”
Her eyes opened just in time to catch Sunset’s subdued nod. “And that’s just the way of things in this world. Right? No alternatives.”
“I am always open to alternatives,” Rarity admitted, watching her partner’s downcast expression carefully. “But I’ve learned that sometimes the only thing you can do is open fire before the other pony does.”
Another thoughtful nod. Sunset’s eyes met hers for just an instant, uncertain and wary. “What if they weren’t reaching for their gun? What if they weren’t going to shoot?”
To that Rarity could only shrug. “You’re asking for logical, careful consideration in a situation where a blink can be lethal. That’s not reasonable. If you feel a pony is going to attack, your first responsibility is to protect yourself.”
At last, the alicorn looked directly at Rarity, her expression pained. “You sound like you don’t care.”
Something cold ran through Rarity. She pursed her lips and looked down her muzzle at her accuser. “Were it up to me, not a single pony would die in their encounters with me, but in many situations the luxury of choice doesn’t exist. I don’t like killing, Sunset Shimmer, but I am not going to apologize for doing what is necessary to live.”
Sunset seemed to shrink on herself, hunched over in the saddle and unable to look at Rarity anymore. “S-sorry,” she muttered. “Forget I said anything.”
The feeble posture irked Rarity. It reminded her far too much of the Sunset she knew from Little Longhorn. Even so, she held her tongue for long enough to get her emotions under control. This wasn’t the same situation, and she would have to mind how she approached this if she wanted to be of any help. Once she felt a little more sure of herself, she carefully asked, “What brought this up?”
If anything, Sunset seemed even more anxious now. “I said forget it.”
“No.” Nudging Ophelia a little closer to Ray Jr., Rarity tried to mix firm and kind into her words. “In one week we’re supposed to enter a potentially dangerous situation. If you don’t want to go, we should establish that now.”
“I need that card back,” Sunset replied, a little of her usual confidence coming back at the assertion. “And I can’t let you face the chancellor alone.”
“And I can't let you go in there without being prepared.” Reaching out, Rarity placed a hand on her companion’s shoulder. “Was the airship crash the first time you killed anypony?”
Sunset recoiled as if Rarity’s hand were made of flame. “I told you, I didn’t intend for that to happen!”
Ah, so that was it. Rarity sighed and moved Ophelia a touch further away to give the mare some space. She thought back to another time more than a year ago, when she was lost in so many ways. More than anything, she recalled laying in a cramped tent, sobbing in the warm arms of a kindly mare who knew exactly what she needed when the nightmares became too much. Perhaps it was her turn to take on that role.
“Sunset,” she replied, putting as much seriousness and sincerity in her words as she could muster, “you need to face this.”
The alicorn’s hands tightened around the reins as she glared straight ahead. “It can wait until I’m home.”
Oh, how familiar that sounded. “Yes, I remember that attitude. I remembered telling myself I’d be fine for a while. I remember shoving the guilt and anger and frustration aside again and again, because I could always deal with it tomorrow, later, after the job was done.” Rarity leaned a little closer, but Sunset wouldn’t meet her gaze. “And you know how that ended?”
Sunset responded with a growl. “I get the feeling you’re going to tell me.”
Oh, no, she wasn’t going to play the childish one this time. Using her magic, Rarity grabbed the mare’s head and forcefully turned it to face her. Sunset was so surprised by the act that she didn’t even try to fight as Rarity thrust her face directly into hers. “It ended with three days and nights without sleep, actively hunting down and murdering ponies.”
The air was still as those wide, teal eyes gawked at her. Rarity didn’t let up in her glare, wanting to ensure the mare knew just how serious she was.
At last, Sunset blinked out of her stupor. “You’re exaggerating.” Yet the words were stiff, highlighting her doubt.
“It’s no exaggeration,” Rarity fired back, at last pulling Ophelia away. “All it took was one bad night and I went insane. Some ponies say my legend was born when I flew with griffons. Others when I helped a small town solve a mystery. The few in the know think it was when I defended my virginity that first night. But for me, personally, I believe that the Bulletproof Heart’s true legacy began the night she snapped and went on a killing spree outside of Hoofington. That was when Equestria learned how dangerous I can be when at my wits’ end.” She held her fist before her face, so tight it stung. “I killed one stallion with my bare hands. It wasn’t quick. It wasn’t simple. I was desperate, I was furious, and I wanted to lash out. To hurt the world in the same way it had hurt me.”
The fist gradually lowered. She stared at Ophelia’s frills, folded back as though the lizard could sense her rider’s mood, and began to rub the necklace beneath her shirt. “I still have nightmares about that pony. Sometimes.” Whether she meant Tom Tom or that vengeful, violent version of herself, she couldn’t say for sure.
Everything was quiet for a while. Eventually, Rarity realized that they’d stopped moving. Sucking in a slow breath, she urged Ophelia on. Sunset didn’t follow at first. Rarity couldn’t blame her. But now that she knew the story, perhaps…
Ray Jr. appeared at Ophelia’s side yet again. “I wouldn’t do that,” Sunset declared, though the statement lacked conviction.
With a sigh, Rarity replied, “Everypony thinks they’re a saint until they realize they’re a devil.”
That one made Sunset wince, her face contorting in shame. For whatever reason, Rarity had hit a mark. “You’re not a devil.”
“I was. Once.” Glancing out the corner of her eye, Rarity finished up with, “You will be too, if you don’t figure this out. I know how painful it is when you first kill somepony. Facing it is… difficult. Take it from a mare who has made the worst decisions already; if you can’t find a way to make peace with the act, you probably should stop doing it.”
Sunset pointedly asked, “And have you made peace with it?”
“Yes.” Then, as an afterthought, “Or as much as a pony can, I suppose.”
To this, Sunset offered no answer. Rarity was willing to let the alicorn brood on the topic for a while.
She’d be there for her when the time came.
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Definitely the most "Bulletproof Heart" chapter so far.
Enough so that I can't help but put some music alongside their conversation about killing. Listen or ignore at your leisure: You Need to Face This
Susnet what you need to know what BH Rarity knows. The choice isn't alwqys good v evil. Many times its two evils. You have to figire out whoch is the lesser evil.
Ah, so it's after Rarity visited the Isekai. Well that simplifies things except for the unfortunate fact that she got her card yoinked too.
And there's the underlying trauma. I liked how this conversation was handled.