Prologue - Novel-Idea & RadiantBeam

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Princess Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer sauntered toward Sunset’s apartment. Both were holding hands. Both were blushing furiously. Both were grinning like idiots. And both were more than happy to put the chaos of jumping between the vastness of the multiverse behind them.

The journey was finally over and they could at long last… relax.

After all, despite the lives they led, this wasn’t the sort of thing that happened all that often.

Twilight Sparkle adjusted her glasses and sighed, noticing that she was almost near the end of the book she had been reading. She couldn’t reach over and adjust her lamp; she’d done that earlier, and the light was perfect. Her parents were out on a date night, and Shining was working a late shift at work, so she had the house all to herself save Spike. There was nothing for her to do, except enjoy the rest of her night in some other way after finishing her book.

Which she would be finishing. Soon.

She grimaced, then bookmarked her place and set aside the story with a deep sigh, rubbing her eyes. She was bored. She’d had nothing worthwhile to do since Princess Twilight Sparkle and Sunset had taken the amulet, and they wouldn’t even let her help with whatever they had in mind. Which was totally fine! It was! After all, that thing had stolen the magic of everyone around her before ripping holes in the universe. Oh yeah, and there was the whole turning into a demon intent on sundering the boundaries between worlds to get at all that wonderful magic in Equestria.

She didn’t want anything to do with that thing ever again! It’s not like she wanted to help with whatever insane experiment Princess Twilight had in mind.

She just kind of wished they’d needed her help so she wouldn’t be like this: at home in her room with nothing to do but finish a book she’d read a million times.

Well. She had some school assignments she needed to get ahead on anyway. She could get started on that at least, make a good impression on her new teachers at Canterlot High.

Mind made up, Twilight nodded to herself and climbed out of bed, invigorated and eager for the task ahead of her—and then the portal tore its way into her room. This wasn’t a gentle parting of air to form a stable gate between worlds; the blast of energy knocked the girl back against her dresser with a yelp, her glasses crashing to the ground. Bright light blinded her, and as the portal closed as abruptly as it had opened Twilight briefly saw white, blinking several times to try and clear her vision. She groaned, patting around until she found her glasses, and shakily put them on.

And then, she stared at the girl who had appeared in her bedroom.

Blood dripped from shaking fingers, stained through clothes on the right side of her body; she’d pressed her hand against the wound to try and stem the bleeding, but it clearly wasn’t helping much. She staggered on her feet, the pendant around her neck appearing to be the twin to the one Twilight had designed herself—if she could ignore the cracks that webbed their way along deep into the object, occasionally sending off small sparks of wild magic.

But what truly made Twilight stare was that beyond the wound, beyond the unstable pendant and the different clothes, beyond even the fact that this girl’s hair was a pixie cut and not long enough to fall down her back like it did in this world—what made Twilight stare was that the girl was Sunset Shimmer.

Teal eyes met violet. For a moment, the entire world seemed to stand still.

“Help,” the other Sunset gasped, and the spell was broken.

That single pained word spurred the purple girl forward, and she surged up to catch the redhead as she passed out from blood loss and collapsed into her arms. Twilight swore violently, gingerly setting her down on her bedroom floor and ripping a sheet off of her bed to try and stem the bleeding before she tore out of her room, yelling for Spike to find the first aid kit.

And so a new story, and a new chance to shine sunlight into darkness, began.

Chapter 1 - Novel-Idea

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Twilight Sparkle levitated over a washcloth, dabbed the last bit of grime from Sunset Shimmer’s face and tried to figure out what in the world was going on. After all, it wasn’t every day a wounded girl fell into Twilight’s bedroom from a rip in time and space.

It was a bit outside of her comfort zone. And by a bit, she meant about twelve parsecs away from said zone.

Her eyes darted to the cracked and sparking amulet, now sitting in a small mixing bowl near her backpack. Twilight could feel the magic radiating from the device. It felt familiar. Too familiar.

But why would Sunset Shimmer get a haircut, get wounded and then return with that stupid amulet—the one she definitely never wanted to see again—without Princess Twilight?

She bit her lip and brushed back a lock of Sunset’s hair.

Sunset’s teal eyes snapped open. A fist came out of nowhere and cracked Twilight across the jaw.

“Ow!” Twilight cried as she toppled against the side of her bed. “What the—”

Sunset had already leapt to her feet, her eyes wild and a little crazed. “Get the hell away from me Steel! I swear, I’ll… I’ll…”

Sunset blinked a few times. She took her in her surroundings, then she looked down at herself. She blinked again.

“These aren’t my clothes.”

Twilight rubbed her jaw. “They’re mine, thank you very much.”

Sunset looked up from studying Twilight’s clothes—which admittedly didn’t fit Sunset very well in… certain areas. Her brain seemed to be catching up to current events. She winced. “I just decked you, didn’t I?”

“Yeah.” Twilight glared at her. “What was that for, Sunset?”

Sunset groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Not this again. Look, you’re Twilight Sparkle, right?”

“Uh… yes?”

“I’m assuming you know a Sunset Shimmer?”

“Uh… yes?”

“Are you two enemies, friends, dating, in love or married?”

Twilight stared at her friend. Then it occurred to her that this might not be her friend. “Uh… we’re… friends?”

“Good.” Sunset nodded. “That should make this less awkward. Number one: I’m Sunset Shimmer. Number two: I’m not your Sunset Shimmer. Got that?”

“Then… who are you?”

“A different Sunset Shimmer. At this point, that’s all you need to know.” Sunset reached down as if to grab something around her neck. A look of panic crossed her face. “Where is it? Where’s the Talisman?”

“The… what?”

Sunset ignored her, her head jerking this way and that until she saw it. With a gasp of relief, she lunged forward and snatched it from the bowl. She yelped as a bit of magical energy scorched her hand.

“Thank Harmony,” Sunset muttered. “It’s still intact… mostly. I’m going to deck Tarnished the next time I see her.”

“Okay, I think I’ve been patient enough,” Twilight said, getting to her feet. “What is going on here? Who are you?”

“Already answered that,” Sunset replied distractedly as she fiddled with a small dial on the amulet. “Pay attention, Sparky.”

“Sparky?”

“Okay, not one of those universes, good to know.”

Twilight growled under her breath. She had been bored only about an hour ago, but after spending said hour trying to nurse this individual back to health and running Spike so ragged he had passed out on the living room couch, Twilight felt she deserved answers. She put a hand on the geode around her neck, focused and yanked the ‘Talisman’ out of Sunset’s hands.

“Hey! Don’t!” Sunset cried as she snatched for it. “You don’t know what you’re doing!”

Twilight glared at Sunset over her glasses. The modified amulet floated beside her. “Look, for someone who teleported into my room before collapsing due to blood loss, you’re acting pretty high and mighty. I’d like some answers.”

“Give it back, now!” Sunset snarled, hands curled into fists.

“Not until you start telling me what’s going on here!”

“At least stop using your magic on it!” Sunset shouted as she lunged forward.

Twilight dodged out of the way, frowning. “Why?”

“Because you don’t want it to—”

The Talisman began to hum. Twilight’s eyes slowly turned toward the device and realized that the cracks in the surface were a lot brighter than they had been seconds ago. It started spitting sparks of brilliant amber and violet magic.

“Oh boy,” Twilight said as she dropped her magic and backed away.

The Talisman didn’t fall to the ground. It hovered in midair, glowing brighter with each passing second.

“Twilights are nothing but trouble,” Sunset groaned.

There was a brilliant flash of light, then the world imploded.

Twilight crashed down into a cold, whirring metal floor. She moaned and blinked her eyes, trying to see through the spots of light dancing before her eyes. She lifted her right hand up to adjust them.

Then she realized she didn’t have a right hand.

She looked down and saw what could only have been a lavender hoof. She stared at the appendage for a few long seconds. Then she looked at what should have been her left hand. That was a hoof as well.

She swallowed. Hard.

Now, Twilight had heard the story of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s initial arrival at CHS. The Equestrian Spike had made sure not to spare a single detail—much to Princess Twilight’s chagrin.

Twilight handled herself much better than Princess Twilight. After all, she just whimpered and curled into a ball, as opposed to screaming in terror like a lunatic.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Sunset said from Twilight’s left.

The amber-coated unicorn who had to be Sunset Shimmer sat on her haunches staring at the dark and inert Talisman floating in a field of red magic. To Twilight’s annoyance, Sunset ignored the existential and morphological quandaries currently racing through Twilight’s mind. However, those quandaries were derailed when she realized Sunset no longer had a pixie cut. She had long curling locks of red and gold that went halfway to the floor.

Why in the world would any sort of transportation or transformation device alter one’s hair—mane?—style? Twilight wondered. It proved a helpful distraction from the whole ‘oh-my-goodness-I’m-a-pony’ thing.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Sunset snarled, turning to face Twilight. “Any clue?”

Twilight blinked at her.

“Look around!” Sunset snapped. “Tell me what you see!”

Twilight glanced around and blinked a few more times. It was only then when she registered they were on some sort of high-tech observation deck. A glittering translucent shield of energy coated the window, sparkling in the setting sun. That, lay a vast high-tech city of impossible dimensions. Towering skyscrapers of gleaming metal and glass stretched as far as the eye could see. Flying vehicles of every size darted this way and that. In the distance, Twilight caught sight of what could only be an orbital tether, stretching up into the infinity above them.

Then Twilight saw her reflection. She looked… like herself. Even had the same mane style. Just… as a pony. A unicorn, to be precise. Idly, she wondered why she didn’t have wings. After all, she had them when she ‘ponied up’ back on Earth.

She shoved that aside and focused on more immediate concerns.

“Where are we?”

“We’re back where I just came from!” Sunset rubbed her temples with her hooves. “This is Tarnished Steel’s personal observa—”

A door behind them hissed. Twilight spun to see two burly female unicorn ponies trotting into the room. One wore gleaming armor the color of brass, while the other had armor the color of iron. Both had helmets covering most of their faces and a retractable monocle.

Twilight desperately tried to remember everything she’d ever heard about Equestria… though this didn’t seem at all like the Equestria described to her by Princess Twilight or ‘her’ Sunset.

“Well, well,” the brass armored pony said with a smirk. “I didn’t expect you when I saw the alert. Our little sneakthief’s come home. Here to beg for some mercy from Steel?”

Sunset Shimmer hauled herself to her fee—hooves and slipped the dead amulet around her neck. “You know me better than that, Iron Tack.”

“Ain’t that the truth.” Iron Tack said. “You got some nerve coming back to the Manehattan Tower. Boss ain’t happy about you swiping the Archmage’s TPT, scrub. Why don’t you make this easy and come quietly?”

“Ain’t happening, Tack,” Sunset growled. “Get up, Twilight.”

“I-I don’t know what’s going—”

Tack noticed Twilight for the first time and laughed. “And what good is another Twilight Sparkle for you, huh? Doing the Highlord Hustle? Maybe the Princess’s Pawn?”

Twilight got to her hooves and wobbled a bit, but found the quadrupedal stance surprisingly comfortable. This unsettled her, but she decided she could have a freakout about it later.

“No hustle.” Sunset shrugged. “All been done.”

A moment later, gleaming metal pistols hovered beside Tack and her guard. “Don’t try anything clever, scrub. You’re on the two hundredth and eighty-seventh floor of the Tower. Even better, that TPT is dead. Ain’t got nowhere to run.”

“See, that’s the problem with people like you, Tack,” Sunset said casually. “You’ve got no imagination.”

Tack opened her mouth to reply, but Sunset was already moving. Twilight gasped as Sunset cleared the space between her and Tack in less than a second and shoved Tack hard into her companion. Both unicorns went sprawling to the floor.

With a growl, Sunset kicked Tack across the muzzle. The armored mare took the blow with a grunt, then leapt back to her hooves. With a swipe of her hoof, Sunset managed to knock both pistols away from the armored mares. One went flying off into the corner. The other spun to a stop a few inches from Twilight.

Tack spat on the ground and wiped her muzzle. “Damn, you kick like a mule, scrub.”

“Thanks.” Sunset bucked again, only for Tack to dodge and swipe Sunset’s legs out from under her. Sunset rolled away from Tack’s attempt to pound her to floor with her armored hooves. Sunset came back up swinging and Tack went on the defensive.

Tack’s companion got to her hooves and prepared to into the fray.

“Watch out!” Twilight shouted.

“Take care of that Sparkle, Red!” Tack shouted. “I’ll deal with the scrub!”

Red turned toward Twilight. Without thinking, Twilight yanked the pistol off the floor and pointed it at the enormous mare.

“Ain’t a good idea, kid,” Red rumbled. “You ever use a crystalflash pistol before?

It was only then when Twilight realized she’d picked the pistol up in her magic. It felt the same as her using her levitation back on Earth!

I’m using magic as a unicorn… because I’ve been using magic as a human!

“D-don’t make me use this!” The pistol hummed ominously.

“Shoot her, Twilight!” Sunset shouted.

“Sorry, kid.” Red charged.

Twilight closed her eyes and squeezed the trigger. The pistol cracked with a sound effect straight out of a bad science fiction movie. Someone yelped in surprise.

When Twilight opened her eyes, Red glared at Twilight from inside a pink crystal. The mare looked completely unhurt, just locked in a crystal prison.

Sunset bellowed and slammed Tack into the railing. The mare crumpled. Sunset levitated the other pistol from the corner of the room and trained it on the burly pony.

“Where do you think you’ll go, huh?” Tack demanded as she clutched her side. “You’ve got the Archmage’s TPT. You ain’t smart enough to get that thing to do what you want it to.”

“I’m warning you.” Sunset’s voice trembled. “Don’t you try to come after us.”

“You kidding?” Tack let out a wheezing laugh. “You ain’t worth that. You ain’t gonna have anyone jumping dimensions after you, scrub. Ain’t gonna change the fact that you’re alone.”

“Shut it, Tack.”

Tack’s visible eye glittered. “That Twilight over there ain’t the one who got fed up with you. You’re a thief and a coward, scrub. You screwed over your thiefmaster—a freaking Celestia—then got greedy, ran off your mare then stole the TPT of the greatest archmage High Equus has ever known?”

“Tack…”

“You're damaged goods, scrub.” Tack shook her head. “Take that one home. She ain’t gonna want you. No way you gonna find what—”

Sunset’s pistol cracked. Seconds later, the mare sat frozen inside a pink crystal.

Tack rolled her eyes and stared balefully at Sunset.

“You always did talk too much.” Sunset sneered.

“Are they—” Twilight began.

“They’re fine. Localized crystal prison spell. It’ll wear off after a few hours. Now, we need to move.”

“Wait a minute!” Twilight shouted. “I didn’t sign up for this! Take me home!”

Sunset rolled her eyes and marched toward the doorway, shoving the crystal-locked Red aside.

“I mean it!”

“Give it a rest, Sparky. Shut up and get moving.”

Twilight was not about to go anywhere with this crazy pony! Not after what she’d just seen! But she didn’t have a lot of options. In fact, she could only think of one.

Twilight pointed her weapon at Sunset. The pistol started to hum. At the sound, Sunset froze and turned.

“You really want to do that?” Sunset asked quietly. She didn’t lift her pistol. “Without me, you’ll really be stuck here.”

“Take me home now.”

Their gazes locked and several tense seconds ticked by.

To Twilight’s surprise, Sunset blinked first. “You’d actually do it, wouldn’t you?”

“Is what she said true?” Twilight demanded. “Are you a thief?”

“Yeah!” Sunset lifted her head defiantly. “What of it? I’m the best damn thief Steel ever had. Not like I had anything else to do at home. But when I found out about the Talisman, I decided I wanted a better life. Steel didn’t take too kindly to that.”

“What is that thing?” Twilight nodded toward the amulet around Sunset’s neck.

“Experimental Transdimensional Portal Talisman.” Sunset sounded bored. “Allows two people to jump between alternate realities. And considering you’re wearing glasses, yes, it’s based the thing you once used to steal a bunch of magic.”

“How does it work?” Twilight asked despite herself.

“This one? Not very well. It’s supposed to create a portal on demand after a magic recharge—the length of which depends on local ambient magic—but if exposed to too much magic, it’ll just fire off. It’s got a few other—” Suddenly, a sly expression spread over her face. “You want to know all about it, huh?”

Twilight bit her lip, but she didn’t lower her weapon.

“I’ll make you a deal,” Sunset said. “I’m looking for something. Help me find it and I’ll show you the multiverse. I’ve been around a little bit. Seen a few things here and there. It isn’t every day you get a pre-packed vacation tour to infinity. You’ll learn more about magic and technology in a few days than you could learn in a few lifetimes back home.”

At that moment, the absurdity washed over Twilight. She was a unicorn, standing in a room with two ponies locked in pink crystal prisons, pointing a magic gun at an alternate version of Sunset Shimmer, who just offered to show her the multiverse.

And here I thought magic geodes were the ultimate weirdness.

Despite herself, Twilight knew her answer.

“Fine. But after this is done, you take me home.”

“You have my word.”

Twilight didn’t really trust her, but right now, she didn’t have much choice. She lowered the weapon.

“You have to help repair this thing, though,” Sunset said. “I know the portal tech, but not the underlying magic transfer tech.”

“I can probably handle that. After all, I designed it… sorta?”

“That’s the spirit, Sparky.”

“Don’t call me Sparky.”

Sunset grinned.

It was only then when Twilight realized that Sunset Shimmer made a rather cute unicorn.

Focus, Twilight. Focus.

It had taken an hour of dodging guards and two hours in a dusty workshop, but the TPT had been repaired. Sunset continued to call it a ‘Talisman,’ but Twilight refused to use such imprecise terminology for something this fantastic.

“I think we’re set,” Twilight said.

Of course, that was when the wall exploded. When the dust cleared, an enormous white mare in chrome armor stood there with fifteen armored ponies.

“Oh… hey, Tarnished.” Sunset said weakly.

“Hello, Sunset, darling.”

“Wait. That voice…” Twilight started.

“Not the time, Sparky!” Sunset grabbed Twilight’s hoof and yanked her toward the door.

“Get them, now!”

Sunset bolted out into a hallway running along the outside of the immense Manehattan Tower with Twilight close on her heels.

“Nowhere to run, Sunny!” Tarnished Steel cried behind them. “Give it up!”

Sunset poured on the speed and tossed the TPT to Twilight. “Get ready to activate it!”

“It’s not charged enough!” Twilight shouted back.

“It will be!” Sunset shouted back. “Manehattan Tower produces a magical field that powers half the city!”

“Then why can’t we use it now?”

“The interior is shielded!”

Twilight realized where they were running: right for the observation platform.

“Sunset!” Twilight screamed. “You can’t be serious!”

Sunset did something to her pistol and flung it toward the window. A few seconds later, the pistol exploded and tore a massive hole out of the building.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Tarnished Steel’s minions opened fire. Blue bolts filled the air around them.

This is turning into a very strange day.

“Go!”

Sunset leapt out the window, two hundred stories above the massive city of Manehattan. Twilight screamed and jumped after her. She felt a strange prickle across her coat as they passed through the magic field. The TPT lit up like a beacon.

Sunset teleported to Twilight’s side. “Now!”

Trying to ignore the oncoming ground, Twilight pushed the button.

A rip in reality erupted in front of them.

Then, they were gone.

They landed hard in a forest and tumbled through moss and leaves for several feet before rolling to a stop. All around them, they could hear the voices shouting in alarm. Twilight blinked and adjusted her glasses, groaning as she looked over herself.

Then she stopped and looked again.

She wasn’t human. But she wasn’t a pony either. Yet, she had used magic to adjust her glasses. Magic coming from glowing crystal hooves and weird swirling patterns on her thin forelegs.

She looked over to Sunset. She didn’t have a horn, but she did have similar crystal hooves. Sunset’s mane had transformed again, now a curtain of red and gold that hung around her face vaguely like Fluttershy’s. Her tail was little more than a tuft of fur.

Why does her mane seem to change with every new world, while mine stays the same?

Sunset groaned. “Ugh. It’s been a while since I’ve had to deal with being a deer.”

Twilight looked up to see dozens of figures approaching from all sides. Some had wings. Some had crystal hooves. Some had normal hooves. All the males had antlers, but none of the females did.

A doe with an amber coat and a teal and purple mane leaned down to peer at them curiously, then smirked for some reason.

“Uh… hello there?” said a quiet voice behind them. They turned to see a yellow doe with a pink mane and two wings watching them curiously. “Can… can we help you?”

“Fluttershy?” Sunset and Twilight said together.

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy squeaked.

Well, at least I’m not bored anymore, Twilight thought.

Chapter 2 - Crystal Wishes

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"Wait." Twilight held up a—hoof? Did it still count as a hoof? She held up her crystalline hoof of dainty proportions. "Did you just make a deer pun?"

Fluttershy ducked her head and flashed a bashful smile, but Sunset spoke first with a slight derision in her tone. "Come on, Sparky, keep up. Ponies make pony puns. Deer make deer puns. It's the natural order of things, for some reason."

"Right. Sure, okay, yes." Twilight's eyes flicked back and forth to take in all the cervine faces around them. "I sort of remember that being a thing with Princess Twilight."

Sunset's brow raised. "'Princess Twilight'? What—"

"Excuse me," Fluttershy's little voice interrupted like a little bell, "but could we, well, could this conversation maybe take place later? When we're safe?"

Twilight felt her heart jump to her throat. "Safe?" Flashes of what she'd just experienced leapt to the forefront of her mind—the pistol, the chase, the jump. Adrenaline coursed through her veins again and she could hear her own heavy breathing. "Why aren't we safe?"

"Good question. Which deer world is this?" Sunset angled her head to look up at the trees that towered above them, each with the white-and-grey speckled bark of a birch but leaves of candy-colored hues. "Doetopia? Deeria? Buckiter?"

Irritation bubbled up from the war of fight-or-flight within Twilight and she snapped, "Now is not the time for deer puns, Sunset!"

"Please, does, please." Fluttershy stepped forward to put herself between them. "There's no need to fight amongst ourselves. Let's just return to the Hart of Feybriar, okay?"

Sunset's ears snapped forward. Twilight caught the slight widening of her eyes and asked, "Why are you making that face? What does Feybriar mean?"

Fluttershy looked up, her wings giving a small flutter that lifted her off the ground. "Oh, you don't know what Feybriar is? You poor things! Come, we must take you home!"

The pegasus... deer... pegadeer? The winged doe that shared the name of one of Twilight's friends turned to lead the way, and all the other deer followed her.

Twilight looked at Sunset, lowering her voice to privately ask, "What is Feybriar, and why do you look like you want to run?"

"Ugh." Sunset's eyes darted between the overgrown trees all around them. "We can talk about it later. The trees are listening."

Twilight's expression fell flat. "The trees are listening. Seriously? Is that pony for 'the walls have ears'?"

The look Sunset gave her suggested it most certainly was not. "No, literally, the trees are listening." She sighed and moved close enough to Twilight that their shoulders brushed together. "Feybriar is an enchanted forest. Each tree has a fey living in it, and these deer"—She nodded her head toward the entourage ahead of them—"are their caretakers."

With a rush of wonder and curiosity, Twilight tilted her head back to look up at the trees that towered over them. The air hummed with the sound of leaf-litter crunching under hooves and the deer talking amongst themselves. Leaves of seafoam green, cotton candy pink, and canary yellow served as a colorful canopy overhead, with bits of a deep blue sky peeking through the gaps.

It was easy to forget that she had wanted to go home, back to her boring life with the same old books. In a short span of time, she'd hopped through literal dimensions to arrive here—wherever 'here' exactly was, anyway.

Something shifted in her peripheral vision and her eyes flicked to catch a glimmer fade behind a dark patch of the speckled bark. She squinted and gasped when she saw the light return, a shimmering thing that somehow felt like it was looking back at her.

Her gaze darted all around the forest, and she gasped again, louder this time. It was like staring at the ground for a while only to realize it was covered in a whole colony of ants. Now that she had seen one, she could see them all: each and every tree had a bright something hovering within the trunk.

"Sunset," she managed to say, her voice high and tight, "there are things inside the trees."

Sunset rolled her eyes, but before she could reply, an unfamiliar voice chimed in.

"Those would be the Fey of Feybriar, miss."

Twilight looked ahead to see one of the deer had slowed down to walk with them. Her brow furrowed as she said, "Oh, you."

The amber-coated doe laughed in a musical sort of way. "My name is Amblejoy, but I guess 'you' will work." Her eyes crinkled as she smiled. "Neither of you are from around here, huh?"

"No, we're not," Twilight replied just as Sunset blurted out, "Of course we are."

Amblejoy's eyes flicked between them before she tossed her head back and laughed. At the mirthful sound, a few deer ahead of them looked back, and she hurriedly fell quiet.

"Listen, doeface," Sunset said, pushing herself physically between Amblejoy and Twilight. "We're not looking for trouble, okay?"

Amblejoy looked at her with a raised brow, then wiggled her ears. "Somehow, I have a hard time believing that with you." She inclined her head to look past Sunset at Twilight and winked. "You, I believe."

A deer had just winked at her. Literally winked.

Yep, Twilight definitely wasn't home anymore.

The trees grew more sparse until they stepped into a serene grove of trickling water and deep green moss, of beams of sunlight filtered through the candy-colored canopy above.

"Welcome," Fluttershy said, her wings spreading wide as she turned to face Twilight and Sunset with a bright smile, "to the Hart of Feybriar."

In the center of the grove was a tree of pure white bark that rose up in gnarled twists and turns, and each deer found a place among its thick branches to nestle in. Its leaves were a deep ruby red that glistened in the stray beams of light, and the spirit that hovered within its trunk moved in a slow, lazy circle.

Fluttershy's forehooves moved to cover her little muzzle as she giggled. "Oh, yes, of course. Please let me introduce you to our Guardian, Angel."

The tree's light... fey, Twilight reminded herself. The fey of the giant tree bounced about before settling against a low knot. Fluttershy put her cloven hoof against it, and the swirling marks along her legs began to glow as she sang,

Rest tired eyes a while

Sweet is thy gentle smile,

Angel is guarding

And he watch o'er thee.

Twilight watched in amazement as the bark of every tree glimmered and a low, melodic hum filled the air. She looked up to see that each deer's marks were glowing like Fluttershy's, and they joined in all together,

The birdeens sing a fluting song

They sing to thee the whole day long,

Wee fairies dance within each Feybriar tree

For very love of thee.

At Twilight's side, Sunset stuck out her tongue. "This is why I hate Feybriar."

"What?" Twilight gawked at her. "You hate the singing?"

Sunset just rolled her eyes. Fluttershy lowered her head, mane falling into her face—classic Fluttershy, Twilight mused absently.

"Oh," Fluttershy mumbled, "You don't like it here?"

Before Sunset could say anything, Twilight hurriedly intercepted, "It's not that! It's beautiful here, really, it's just." She chewed on her lower lip, glancing between all the faces looking at them. "It's just, this isn't our home, and we have to get back there."

"Speak for yourself," Sunset muttered.

Fluttershy furrowed her brow, gaze drifting over Twilight from head to hooves before she gave a weak smile. "I don't understand, but you look like you mean it. But I'm afraid if you're not going to care for the fey, then you can't stay here in Feybriar."

"And when you say 'care for the fey'—?" Twilight asked, glancing at the nearest tree.

"Singing, of course!" Fluttershy blinked a few times. "Do you really not know?"

Sunset groaned and angled her head to stare at Twilight askew. "Song gives the fey strength. The fey protect these woods from danger. It's like straight out of a book you'd read, Sparky."

"I don't read—" Twilight stopped herself, instead breathing in and out to find her calm.

Her gaze traveled their surroundings, taking in the colorful deer and foliage, the trunks that held little balls of light in them, and the peace and serenity of the grove.

"I'd like to stay here for a bit," Twilight finally said, her gaze falling on Sunset, who looked about ready to die. "Oh, come on. We've sung together bef—I mean, well, my Sunset sings."

Sunset's ears pinned back and she looked away from Twilight, off somewhere into the woods. "I'm not yourSunset, though."

"Wait," a voice called from the tree, and they looked up to see a horned buck frowning at them. "Did you say 'Sunset'?"

A murmur ran through the crowd, and all attention became hyper-focused on Sunset. She shrank back under the weight of all the gazes, glanced at Twilight, then offered a lopsided grin.

"So, there may be one other detail I forgot to mention." Sunset swallowed, her grin turning nervous.

Twilight felt her stomach drop, and the grove went completely silent.

Chapter 3 - Fuzzyfurvert

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“Let me guess,” Twilight stage whispered out of the side of her mouth, “you stole something from this guy?”

The buck in question walked out from the boughs and massive gnarled roots of the great white tree, moving toward the two of them. With each graceful leap, Sunset shrank back visibly beside her, looking more and more nervous.

“Maybe?” Sunset stage whispered back, glancing around them at the other silent deer. “I’ve stolen a lot of stuff from a lot of different people. It gets hard to keep track of at times.”

“That’s...disturbing.”

“That’s my life, Sparky. You try getting by on worlds not your own with cultures you don’t understand with no one to help you and let’s see what level you sink to.” Sunset sighed tiredly. “Thankfully, deer worlds are dripping in ambient magic. The talisman should be ready to go in a moment.”

“Do you always run away from your problems?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “My Sunset tends to face her problems head-on.”

“Again, not your Sunset.” Sunset looked down at the amulet around her throat. The seams of the device were already glowing faintly. She glanced back up at the approaching deer. “You heard Iron Tack, I’m a little sneakthief, not some reckless hero type.”

“That pony...Tack...also called you a ‘scrub.’” Twilight’s other eyebrow lifted itself. “That kind of implies that you aren’t even very good at being a sneakthief.”

“Tack’s just jealous.” Sunset smirked, some of the characteristic bravado and confidence Twilight knew from her Sunset peeking through. “I’m the best there is, Sparky.”

The buck was just about on top of them when Twilight felt Sunset throw a hoof over her shoulders. Twilight stared wide-eyed at the TPT as it floated in front of them in Sunset’s magic. The buck opened his mouth, but any noise he made was lost in the eruption of a new portal opening up under her and Sunset. Twilight managed a yelp before passing the portal’s event horizon and the world once again turned itself inside out.

The next thing Twilight found herself aware of was solid, grass covered ground under her feet. She glanced down at herself. Shoes. She wiggled her toes, making her Mary Janes wriggle. She was human again and so was Sunset—who she noted sported a new hairstyle that was about shoulder length and looked like something popular from when her grandparents were young. Around them, familiar suburbia stretched in every direction, with rows of houses and little fenced off yards. Distantly, she could hear the sounds of traffic and sirens. Familiar city sounds.

“Where are we now?” Twilight adjusted her glasses and looked around. “Is this...my world? I think this is my neighborhood.” She turned around and squinted at the house they were standing in front of. It looked vaguely familiar. Luckily no one seemed to be around to notice their sudden arrival. As she was thinking about it, Sunset passed her and walked up onto the porch and took a seat in the empty swing seat there.

“Who knows if this is your world, Sparky. It’s not like I’ve been steering us from world to world.” Sunset held up the amulet, letting it spin around lazily on the cord. “The Talismans are pretty much set to random. My old Twilight could run rings around anyone or anything with one of these, but I’m...let’s say less skilled at that particular aspect of interdimensional sliding.”

Twilight tilted her head. “‘Sliding?’ That’s what this is called? Going from world to world? And what, stealing whatever you can get your hands on?”

Sunset sighed and started rocking the swing chair back and forth gently. “The stealing is more of a me thing, but yeah. Twilights and Sunsets slide all over the multiverse. It’s...a thing.”

Twilight nodded absently, letting that information sink into her. Twilights, plural, but from Sunset’s tone more likely multiples bordering on infinite. Countless versions of herself on countless worlds that were all different, but with overlapping similarities. The theory was one she was fairly knowledgeable about, but being confronted with the reality of... well... reality was stunning. However, pushing the idea of infinite options aside for a moment, there were some more pressing matters she needed to figure out first.

I need to get my...er...not mine, but some Archmage’s amulet away from this Sunset. Letting myself get dragged along without any leverage of control is just asking for trouble. Twilight forced herself to smile and start walking toward the porch and the swing. She’s not my Sunset. She hit me, she bled all over my bedroom floor, and she sounds like a career criminal. If I can figure out how to do this sliding thing, I can get us back to my world and let my Sunset and Princess Twilight know about this. They can handle this stuff far better than I ever could.

Twilight stopped at the edge of the swing. Sunset stopped without being asked, letting her take a seat next to Sunset. “So... let’s just talk... okay?”

“Sure, Sparky.”

“Please stop calling me that.”

“No.”

Twilight frowned, watching Sunset’s profile. The girl hadn’t even looked her way since sitting down, Sunset’s gaze locked on nothing in particular. “Erm... okay. You know what, Sunset? Go ahead and call me that if it makes you feel better. Maybe, to better differentiate you from the Sunset I know, I could call you, Shimsham.”

“Please don’t.” Sunset finally turned to regard Twilight for a moment, her face half way between a grin and a grimace. “It’s highly unprofessional.”

“Speaking of professions,” Twilight smirked, “how did you end up a thief, anyway? My Sunset only ever stole Princess Twilight’s crown.”

“You do what you have to to survive.” Sunset relaxed and pushed with her feet to get them swinging again. “I’ve stolen a lot more than a crown thingie. Plenty of jewelry. Artifacts. Weapons.” She smiled and snorted with laughter.

“What is it?”

Sunset leaned toward Twilight, the amulet hanging low and loose from her neck. “I think I remembered what I stole from that deer dude. His heart.” Sunset turned thoughtful, looking up at the porch ceiling. “Or maybe his first kiss? I seem to recall doing that.”

Twilight paused, her hand midway out toward the TPT, and sputtered. “You...you stole his first kiss? How? WHY? Do you do that often?”

Sunset grinned and leaned back, putting her arms out over the back of the chair swing. “I wouldn’t call it often, but yeah, I’ve had to steal a few hearts in my line of work. Even punched a V-card or seven.” She flashed a smug smile at Twilight.

Twilight gaped at Sunset. This girl was nothing like her friend and she was feeling really warm and somewhat queasy. Or was that nervous? She wasn’t sure, to be honest. Twilight shook her head. “Sunset…my Sunset is nothing like you at all! How is that even possible?”

“You’re smart, Sparky, do the math. Across an infinite number of dimensions, infinite numbers of variations are possible. All the other Sunsets out there...all the Twilight’s too...we’re all slightly different from each other. I’ve seen some charts of it on the more advanced worlds. We all fall on some great bell curve of standard deviation. But that means some of us fall pretty far off to one side or the other.” Sunset faded out, looking off into the sky again. She licked her lips before continuing. “It also means that some of us...rarely...don’t fall on the bell curve. Some of us are Wild Tangents.”

Sunset sighed. “Sometimes...some of us...are just off. We—” Sunset looked down, feeling pressure on her chest, at the purple hand on the talisman. “What?”

Twilight yanked upward, pulling the talisman up and off Sunset’s neck, the cord around her head and jumped up from the swing. She backed up, holding the amulet to herself. “Sorry, Sunset, but I just don’t feel comfortable with this in your hands. Nothing personal, really! I just want to go home. The other Sunset and Princess Twilight...they can help you with whatever it is you need.”

“Give that back!” Sunset surged to her feet, spinning on her toes to face Twilight. “We’re doing just fine! You’re basically an Uninitiated Twilight, you’re going to get yourself hurt, or worse. Give the talisman back to me, Sparky.” Sunset held up one hand, palm up while the other swung to her hip to grab reflexively at empty air.

“N-no,” Twilight stammered, taking another step back away from Sunset, “I helped you fix it back at the Manehattan Tower place. I understand how it works. I could probably figure out how to steer it too, if you’ll let me. I made one from scratch not too long ago!”

“I’m not letting another Twilight dump me on some backwater universe again, Sparky!” Sunset growled, her open hand clenching into a fist. “I slugged you once, I’ll do it again if you make me.”

“That’ll just increase the likelihood of getting left behind!” Twilight huffed angrily. That temper is probably why I’m not her first Twilight. She backed up to the edge of the porch. “I was bored when you showed up at my home, but since then I’ve had to run from armed ponies and walk around a fey infested forest with talking deer! That’s neat and all, but I’m not the adventurous Twilight! I’m the nerd that screws things up!”

“You got that right!” Sunset dropped into a low, wide stance, her arms out. Then she launched herself at Twilight, covering the porch in a red blur. Sunset slammed into Twilight like a truck, throwing both of them into the grassy yard and sending them rolling. Sunset grabbed at the talisman, but Twilight held it tight, scrambling on her backside away from Sunset. A moment later, Sunset yelled out, pinning Twilight and straddling the girl. “You screwed this up too, Sparky! Let’s see how you like getting left on a world that isn’t your own away by someone that you loved!”

“What?” Twilight coughed, sucking in air between her teeth. “What...what are you talking about?”

Sunset blinked tears away from her eyes, her voice ragged and soft at the same time. “You’re smart, Sparky, you figure it out.” She grabbed Twilight’s hands that were still holding the talisman in a death grip. She pulled at it halfheartedly. “Trust me, you have no idea what it’s like out here. I’ve been doing this for too long...but I can’t keep doing this alone, Sparky. I...I need a Twilight. A Normal Distribution Twilight.”

Twilight swallowed and glanced at Sunset’s hands on her own. She didn’t know if she could trust a word this Sunset said. But if she was honest with herself, she did know that this person seemed to know more than a little about the wider reality of the multiverse. She still wanted to get home, but who knew how long it might take to find without a full understanding of how sliding worked. Slowly she let go of the amulet. “I want to go home, Sun—gah!” Twilight recoiled, flinching when Sunset’s fist slammed into the ground next to her head.

“Never pull a stupid stunt like that again, Sparky...Twilight. Please.” Sunset growled again, shaking flecks of dirt from her fingers and slipping the amulet back around her throat. “I’ll get you home, but it might take a few jumps to get rehomed in on your world, okay?”

“You promise?”

“Yeah, Twilight...I promise.” Sunset grinned lopsidedly down at Twilight and seemed about to say more when the entire neighborhood started to shake, the ground rumbling like a series of earthquakes hitting at once and the distant sirens got a lot louder.

Chapter 4 - Heartshine

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Twilight and Sunset exchanged glances as the ground started to shake. The swing on the porch chattered violently on its chain as the earth moved enough to knock Sunset onto her back. This caused two simultaneous effects. One, it moved Sunset farther away from Twilight than she was really comfortable admitting, despite their rather serious conversation, and two, it gave her a completely unobstructed view of the sky.

Which allowed Twilight to draw the safe conclusion that they were not in her home universe, as she was fairly certain she’d remember the moon being what looked to be at about half the typical mean orbital distance that was typical for home. She was also fairly certain that she remembered her moon being whole, and utterly lacking the massive rent that split the cratered spheroid roughly in half. The small, flaming meteors which streaked into the atmosphere solidified her hypothesis that this was not home, and also not where she and Sunset wanted to be.

Rolling to her knees, she scrambled over to Sunset, and grabbed the other girl’s hand. “We need to go!” She shouted as the sirens and the rumbling got worse.

“It’s not recharged yet!” Sunset shouted back as her fingers closed around Twilight’s. “What’s going on.” Twilight pointed straight up, and the fiery young woman’s face paled. “Oh. That’s… not good.”

“No, no it isn’t!” Twilight managed without letting her voice slip into a shriek. “We need to go! Do you know what happens when one of those meteors becomes a meteorite?”

Sunset shook her head. “Oddly enough, this situation is kind of new for me as well, but given how frazzled you look right now, I’m going to guess not good things.” She said, rapidly pressing the amulet’s button as if it would help the device recharge faster. “Argh! This world doesn’t have a lot of ambient magic!”

“What do you normally do when the world you slide to doesn’t have a lot of magic?” Twilight asked, curling her legs around Sunset as the vibrations got worse. A quiet part of her mind noted that, in human form, Sunset had very well toned legs

Sunset stared down at her, making Twilight blush. “Well, normally, I’d just wait it out, find someplace to sleep, and steal a meal. This does not seem like a good idea right now!”

Twilight pushed up her glasses a moment and bit her lip. Think, Twilight, think. The meteor shower overhead intensified as it hit her. “I’m such an idiot! This is why you wanted another Twilight!” She said, grabbing the geode at her throat. “Hold on tight to the amulet!”

Sunset stared at her a moment before gripping the amulet with one hand. The other slipped behind Twilight’s back.

Twilight concentrated on trying to levitate the amulet to her. Instantly, the amulet glowed, and the bright cracks on the amulet began to glow.

“Twilight, I take it back, you’re a genius! The other Twilights never had something like that on them!” Sunset cheered as the event horizon of the portal opened, and the pair fell through. Which was a good thing, Twilight reflected, as a rather sizeable chunk of the moon had been heading toward them at an alarming-

“Oof!”

Twilight landed on something soft and warm. And slightly itchy.

“Twilight. Get. Off!” Sunset said shortly from beneath her.

Twilight tried to scramble to her feet, only to quickly realize that, yet again, she had hooves. Which made the scramble a little bit more of an ordeal than maybe it should have been.

Sunset sat up and looked around. Yet again, her mane had changed, this time into a pair of ponytails that were similar to what Applejack wore when she was working around the farm.

“Where are we?”

Twilight looked around what appeared to be a haymow. “Um… a farm?” She offered helpfully. “Why do ponies have haymows if you already eat a lot of hay?” She asked.

Sunset got to her hooves, and stared. “We just dodged the moon falling to earth, and you’re asking why ponies have haymows?” She asked, giving Twilight a bemused smirk.

“Ahah…” Twilight laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of her neck as she tried to pull some of the hay from her hair - mane - was it mane? “Well, we didn’t just die as the moon fell on us, so now I’m on to the next mystery!” She explained. She and Sunset locked eyes a moment, and the yellow unicorn appeared to be silently counting.

Then it hit her. “Oh my gosh we almost died!” Twilight shrieked. “What happened to the… the us that lived there?! What happened to that world?! What if we end up sliding back?!”

Sunset shrugged, and lay down on one of the barrels of hay. “Well, I know that I wouldn’t want to be the me from that world,” She said quietly. “As for what happened, I don’t know. Magic and thievery is more my speed. You’re the dork that’s into all the science and stuff right?”

Twilight really didn’t want to think on the world ending consequences of the moon impacting the earth. “Ok, well, that’s… horrible. So what happens if we slide back there?”

Sunset let out a sigh, then pulled up a long strand of hay with her magic. “I think that the amulet has something built into it that prevents that from happening,” She said, slowly chewing on the end of the hay before making a face and spitting it out. “Ok. Still too wet. Anyways, I ended up sliding to a world where there were a bunch of volcanoes going off. Don’t ask me what happened, I didn’t do it! But the moment I took a breath, I started choking. Probably some sort of toxic gas in the air. But the amulet flared up immediately and sent me to another world. This one with some nice ponies who had this gorgeous golden-” Sunset paused. “The point is, I don’t think it’s going to send us back there.”

Twilight wasn’t sure how that worked. Did the amulet scan a multiverse for safety? That would be a very useful mechanism. Or was it something else?

Below them, the barn door cracked open and a pale orange earth pony mare with a curly mane trotted in. Sunset and Twilight froze as she looked up at them in surprise.

“Oh, Twilight! I didn’t know you were here!” She said brightly, her voice soft and melodic as she drawled slightly. “Does Applejack know you wanted to see her? Who’s your friend?”

Sunset and Twilight exchanged glances. ‘I don’t know who she is.’ Sunset mouthed to Twilight, who felt equally baffled.

“Um, no, ma’am,” Twilight called back. “And this is Sunset Shimmer, a um, filly friend of mine that I wanted Applejack to meet. I figured that AJ was busy with chores, so we’d wait until she wandered in.”

The mare chuckled brightly. “Twilight, how many times do I have to tell ya? Just because I’m Applejack’s mom doesn’t mean you need to call me ma’am. Miss Butter’ll do just fine.”

Twilight stared wide-eyed down at the mare. Applejack’s mom? But didn’t Applejack say that her mom was…?

Sunset let out a surprised snort from beside Twilight. “Well, that’s new.”

Chapter 5 - Deathscar

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Sunset and Twilight wandered into the homestead with cautious steps. After all the worlds that the Talisman…

TPT. Twilight corrected herself.

TPT brought them to, she thought it would be wise to treat every world as a death trap until proven otherwise. Yet, even if she did want to be careful, she found the smell of freshly baked pie impossible to not crave. With all the adventuring she had done, she never had the time to really take in just how hungry she was. Now, it was all that was on her mind.

“Applejack, Twilight’s here to see you!” Buttercup shouted up the stairs, still maintaining her warm demeanor.

“Twilight?” A rustic southern accent echoed from above.

“Just hang around here for a beat, you two. AJ’ll be down in a moment.”

“Thank you, Miss Butter,” Twilight said with a small dip of her head.

“Ain’t no trouble!” Buttercup headed into the kitchen, but not before speaking once more. “And I love the glasses, Twilight! Makes you look real nice!”

“Oh! I…” Twilight raised her hoof, ready to rebut that she had always worn them. But just as swiftly lowered it and gave a soft cough. “Thanks.”

“Twilight?” When Twilight turned to the source of the voice, she spotted Applejack, wearing her signature stetson hat. Around her neck hung a small metal ring, which glittered under the sunlight peeking through the windows. But Applejack wasn’t regarding her with the friendly, welcoming stare she expected. Instead, she was staring at her like she had just seen a ghost. “What’re you— I mean…”

However, the moment her eyes drifted to Sunset, she fell immediately silent. Her perplexed eyes grew five times their size and she froze. Her jaw quivered, as if she was trying to speak, but the only thing that managed to eek out was silence.

Sunset stared back at Applejack with an equally confused stare. “W-why’re you looking at me like that?”

Before any of them could continue the conversation, the sound of the doorbell echoed through the room.

“Could you get that, AJ?” Buttercup asked from the kitchen.

Applejack descended the steps with her eyes locked squarely onto the two of them. Twilight didn’t dare move a muscle, and it seemed neither did Sunset. Though while her own eyes were noticeably filled with fear, Sunset’s gaze was much more hostile. It was almost as if she was ready to pounce at the slightest movement. And Applejack looked ready to do the same.

Once she reached the main doors, Applejack cracked the doorknob and swung it open. Just behind the doorway stood a unicorn with a dark blue coat. Braided locks of teal and green fell across her back and down to her shoulder. As she took a few steps in, she kept her cyan eyes locked onto Applejack.

“You will not believe how bad the Dawn Star was today, Applejack,” she spoke in a slightly raspy voice. And immediately, Twilight knew something was wrong. She had never seen this mare before, but something about her seemed… familiar. Hauntingly so. “Lavender was going on and on about her day…” The mare continued to ramble for a few seconds, seemingly oblivious to the gaze Applejack was casting at her. “And don’t even get me started on the Dust Engines! They—” Finally, the mare tore her eyes away from Applejack and, upon noticing Twilight and Sunset, fell deathly silent.

The air remained completely devoid of sound for several tense seconds. Even the ticking of the nearby grandfather clock and creak of the wooden furniture seemed to be muted in the moment. Twilight could understand why they were silent, They were probably afraid of the imposters of the friends they knew. Yet, she didn’t understand why Sunset wasn’t speaking. In her mind, this Sunset should be sprouting off questions, and then answers to those questions in an endless barrage of words. But here she stood, as if she had lost her voice.

“Skylark! Back from work already?” Buttercup asked in her usual pleasant tone, oblivious to the scene that was playing out in front her. The mare waved back with a smile. And once more, that same unsettling feeling rose up in her heart. The expression on Skylark’s face sent a nagging instinct that she knew this pony. Though she had little time to ponder, as Applejack swiftly trotted forth and snatched her hoof.

“Twilight, ya must be hungry travellin’ all this way,” Applejack spat out her words in a flurry. “I’ll bet you’d be up for some apple pie!”

“Hey!” Twilight attempted to tear her hoof away, but as soon as she tried, Applejack shot an intense stare at her. She didn’t need Sunset’s empathetic powers to know what she was trying to say. It was the same ‘follow my lead’ stare as the Applejack back at CHS would give. And the thought of pie certainly was a tempting offer. “R-right, I’ll… get some apple pie.”

“Sounds great! Skylark? Want any?” Buttercup asked in a cheerful tone.

“Maybe later, Buttercup.”

Buttercup gave a nod before retreating into the kitchen with Twilight and Applejack.

Skylark and Sunset stared at each other. Unblinking. Unwavering. Neither said a word. Neither needed to. For Sunset could see through her like an open window. After all…

She was basically staring at a mirror.

Through the fancy mane, different colored coat and even higher-pitched voice, Sunset could make out the pony behind those cyan eyes. The exact same shade she would see staring back at her every morning back in her world.

Skylark raised her head, giving a knowing smile.

Sunset didn’t return the gesture.

“You and I need to talk,” Skylark spoke, trotting out of the back door.

Sunset didn’t turn to follow her. Not immediately. Instead, her mind raced through a million questions in a second. Most important of them all was whether she could trust Skylark. However, her rational mind soon kicked in. She had survived countless dimensions, survived situations no one could even dream of. If Skylark were to make a wrong move...

She’ll only have herself to blame.

With that worry out of the way, Sunset headed past the kitchen where Twilight now sat. Soft laughter resonated from within. Noise that caused Sunset to give an irritated growl before swiftly shutting it out from her mind. We could be stuck here forever, and you’re still laughing. She shook her head in disgust. As immature as the rest of you, I see.

Soft wind soared past Sunset’s face, throwing her mane into her eyes. With an angered grunt and a swing of her hoof, she swung it away.

Skylark had led her to the edge of the wheat fields, overlooking an almost endless expense of fresh golden crops and, in the distance, countless apple trees.

“I know you probably have a lot of questions for me, so feel free to ask away,” Skylark said, hopping onto a nearby fence.

“Let’s start with the most obvious, who are you?”

Skylark snickered, stoking the flame of impatience in Sunset. “You already know the answer to that.”

“I want to hear you say it.”

Skylark’s mouth rose into a smirk. “I’d rather you see it.” Suddenly, a small, bright red orb appeared at the edge of her horn. Bit by bit, the color from her coat melted away, revealing the amber fur Sunset expected to see. Her mane soon followed, with the interwoven teal and green locks giving way to crimson and yellow respectively. Once the transformation was fully complete, Skylark stared back at Sunset with a soft smile. “There.”

Sunset scanned her eyes up and down Skylark’s form. “Do you always wear the disguise?”

“To be honest, I’ve worn it for so long that this…” Skylark gestured to her sun-shaped cutie mark. “Feels like the disguise instead.”

“Why wear it at all? Aren’t you proud to be a Sunset?”

“...Are you?”

A small gust rustled the wheat, keeping Sunset’s silence company.

“I don’t do this because I have a choice, you know. Things happened and…” Skylark rubbed her hooves softly together. “And I couldn’t be Sunset any longer. I couldn’t wake up every morning and see that face staring back at me without…” She lowered her head and drew a breath. “Nevermind. I won’t go into that.”

“Does Applejack know?”

Skylark nodded. “She knows everything.” Lifting her hoof, she tapped the ring around her neck. “More than everything. I think she might know me better than I know me.” She giggled. Though it wasn’t filled with mirth or joy; each laugh was heavy with pain.

“You know, for a pony that is speaking to herself, you’re unusually calm.”

“Well, you stop being confused after the… fifth time?” Skylark shot Sunset a smile. “Can I ask you a few questions, Sunset?”

“Can I say no?”

“Of course. You wouldn’t be the first.”

Sunset didn’t reply.

“Where are you going? What’s your goal right now?”

“Nothing,” Sunset answered, quick.

“That’s a lie,” Skylark rebutted, quicker.

Of course the only pony who can be faster than me is myself. Sunset scoffed at the irony. She sighed and gazed out at the golden green vistas in front of her. “Find a Twilight that won’t abandon me on a place to die? That’d be a great start.”

“That Twilight with you. Who is she?”

“Someone I met on accident. Activated the Talisman and sent us through space and time.”

“Heh,” Skylark grinned. “There’s always a Twilight. There’s always a Sunset. There’s always a Talisman.”

“At least it starts out that way,” Sunset muttered with a shattered tone. Memories of the past started to flood her mind. She could hear the shouting, the pleading. The tears on her face and the sand beneath her feet. Before the scene could manifest any clearer, she slammed them back into the deep recesses of her mind where they belonged.

“Can I see it?”

“What?”

“The Talisman.”

Sunset didn’t budge. She tightened her grip on the device and met Skylark’s soft gaze with a daggered one of her own.

“Please.”

“Don’t try anything stupid,” warned Sunset in a grave tone. She lifted the device and placed it softly into Skylark’s hoof.

Almost immediately, Skylark started to giggle. She traced its form with her hoof, occasionally flipping it open and then close with surprising dexterity. “It’s been so long…”

Suddenly, Sunset eyes popped open in realization. “Skylark, where’s your Twilight?”

Skylark clasped the Talisman closed and didn’t speak.

“...Don’t tell me she—”

“She’s fine,” Skylark answered in the most dismissive tone Sunset had heard her speak in yet. Placing the device squarely on her hoof, she covered it with the other and brought it close to her chest. “We had a falling out. She and I… let’s just say we’re not in each other’s lives anymore.”

“Wait, but Sunsets and Twilights are supposed to be friends. Or lovers. Or partners.”

“Or in this case, enemies.” Skylark passed the device back to Sunset, who swiftly snatched it from her hoof and was about to put it away, when suddenly, it started to radiate a brilliant purple light.

“W-what?” remarked Sunset in stunned disbelief. She lifted it in front of her eyes to ensure it wasn’t a trick of the eye. “It’s… charged?”

Skylark shot her a wide smile. “You’re welcome. And before you leave, Sunset. Word of advice: Don’t go down this path.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Sunset turned away from Skylark and prepared to rush off to retrieve Twilight.

Skylark continued staring off into the distance. “What then?”

“What?”

“When she finds out you can’t control the Talisman. That you can’t guarantee you can get her home. What then?”

“How did you know tha—”

“Answer me.”

For the first time, Sunset didn’t have an answer. But she didn’t care. She didn’t need to give one. She galloped towards the house, barely managing to hear Skylark’s voice call out once more.

“And be sure to grab some apple pie before you leave.”

Chapter 6 - Below_Depth

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Chapter 7 - Kuairu

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The first thing Twilight felt was nothing.

Then she crashed hard into deep water.

Twilight flailed her arms and legs, all thoughts stopping as memories played in repeat, her body struggling instinctively to get air. Flashbacks to a memory of her floaties popping when she played in the neighbor’s pool when she was five years old merged with the memory of getting caught under a massive float on a lake as a ten-year-old. The desperate prayer that someone, anyone would save her.

No one did at first.

The water was too much. She couldn’t find the surface and her lungs were burning from lack of oxygen. As she slipped deeper, she wondered where Sunset had ended up...

Two hands grabbed her moments before she slipped into darkness.

Sunset brought Twilight over her shoulder as she breached the surface, making sure the lavender-haired voyager had her head out into air.

Sunset looked around and noticed a nearby ship. It looked bigger and taller than she expected from the surface of the water. It reminded her vaguely of a griffon trawler, but with no fishing nets.

Sunset glared at the letters stenciled on the side of the ship.

“Sunlight’s Dawn,” Sunset muttered. “Now there’s a name…”

Sunset shook her head, took Twilight in tow and slowly worked her way to the side.

After a few tries, Sunset managed to get a grip on the side of the boat. Still clutching Twilight, she pulled herself over the railing. She pushed with her legs against the boat, but failing to account for gravity, Sunset fell on her back. Twilight landed right on top of her.

The strangely familiar feeling of a wet and warm body against her own made Sunset space out for a few seconds.

Shaking her head, Sunset pushed Twilight off her and checked the other girl’s breathing. Her heart stopped when she didn’t hear even a gurgle, much less a struggled breath.

“Okay Sunset, you’ve got this…” Sunset muttered, trying not to panic as she kneeled down next to Twilight. While she knew a couple tricks, she’d never actually performed CPR.

Twilight always knew that stuff. Her Twilight.

Putting two hoo—hands on Twilight’s chest, just as she’s seen others do, she began to pump her arms down. She pushed against Twilight’s chest a few times, but nothing happened.

In any other situation, she may hesitate or even blush at the prospect of connecting Twilight’s mouth with her own. She wasn’t kissing her, but it was the same motions. However, Sunset pushed such thoughts away as quickly as they came and focused on saving her companion. She could deal to think about the circumstances later. Not sure of how long she should breathe into Twilight, Sunset settled on two seconds for two breaths each.

Still no response. Sunset grew even more worried and desperate. Her heart pounded in her ears as Sunset breathed quickly for a few moments, before calming her lungs and readying her hands.

“C’mon Twilight, don’t die on me yet!” Sunset yelled. She began to pump her arms on Twilight’s chest again. After pumping again, she moved to breathe for Twilight again.

On the last breath, Sunset opened her eyes and found Twilight blinking up at her. Time stopped., as seeing those beautiful lavender irises finally alive brought sudden hope to Sunset’s heart. She slowly lifted her mouth away from Twilight’s.

In that second… everything was beautiful.

This isn’t my Twilight, she forced herself to remember.

And then Twilight threw up a stream of water in Sunset’s face.

“AAARGH!” Sunset screamed, wiping off the offending liquids at the top of her eyebrows as Twilight rolled over and heaved, coughing and sputtering onto the deck.

Once Twilight coughed up most of the water out of her lungs, she laid there on the deck, sucking in air.

“Well that didn’t look pleasant,” a voice said. Sunset and Twilight turned at the sound of the voice and gasped.

At the back of the boat, a purple dog with a green underside and green puffy ears stood on stairs leading up to a captain’s lookout. Something had left the furry crest around his head patchy, and his right foreleg was replaced with a metal limb that had a hand instead of a paw.

Sunset stared and gaped at the animal.

“Spike!” Twilight yelled, crawling quickly over to the creature. Sunset watched, amazed at Twilight cuddling a small—and oddly augmented—dog after coughing up half her organs.

“Hey, finally, I get a hugger Twilight,” Spike laughed, nuzzling into the girl’s sopping wet arms.

“Not that I mind if Sparky goes around hugging random one-handed dogs, but who are you?” Sunset asked, walking up to the duo at the steps.

Spike hopped up to the top of the stairs. He used his hand to pull himself all the way up. “Twilight just said it! It’s Spike! At least… that’s what my Twilight called me.” Twilight opened her mouth but Spike stopped her with a wave of his… hand.

“Hey, if I wasn’t used to interdimensional guests, don’t you think I’d be freaking out a little more right now?” Spike winked at her. “It’s not like I get a lot of other visitors these days.”

Twilight looked around and Sunset followed her gaze. Nothing but water lay beyond the odd little ship. Not a speck of land in sight... “Why did the Talisman drop us in the middle of the ocean? Is there any land nearby?”

“Wow, a bunch of newbies, looks like.” Spike whistled, then laughed. “Yeah. There’s land. Down there.”

He pointed straight down.

“Oh.” Sunset blinked. For once, she couldn’t find anything to say.

“All the Twilight’s want to know the story. About forty years ago—long before Twilight or I were around—something happened. Flooded the whole world.”

Spike padded to the side of the boat and looked down, prompting Twilight to do the same. She repressed a shiver.

“There lies the ruins of the Old Ones. Houses, vehicles, and entire civilizations…” He shook his head. “As myTwilight would say, now hollow shells of their former selves. Hate whenever I have to go down there to collect mithril crystals…”

Twilight stared into the void of the sea, fighting back the panic trying to overwhelm her. If she squinted just hard enough… she could see the top of what might be a skyscraper, growing from the bottom of an unseen abyss.

“So, how come you’re on this boat? What happened to your world’s version of Twilight or Sunset?” Sunset asked.

Twilight glanced back at her ‘companion.’ Something that looked suspiciously like greed glinted in her eyes as she stared into the depths.

“Well, see, we used to be stuck on the few islands humanity still has. Twilight always said those used to be mountains, believe it or not. Then Twilight figured out the strange things we called ‘mithril crystals’ were actually condensed shards of magic. Even learned how to harness them. Pretty important since most ambient magic is gone now.”

“What?!” Sunset exclaimed. She grabbed the TPT and stared at the readout.

“What? What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

Sunset turned the TPT and showed Twilight.

Twilight’s heart skipped a beat. The charge meter was barely moving.

“Whoa whoa whoa, relax.” Spike rolled his eyes and raised his metal limb in a calming gesture. “If you use a mithril crystal in it, it’ll recharge no problem. At least, it always did with other Voyagers.”

“What did they figure out with the crystals?” Twilight asked.

“Well, Twilight developed three prototypes to test their capabilities. I was the first project. She gave me a voice, plus this awesome metal limb to replace one I lost to a shark.”

Twilight swallowed hard. Sharks were not something she wanted to think about right now.

“The other two projects? They were Twilight trying to save the world,” he grinned. “She developed a device capable of using the crystals as an energy source. The other was a transdimensional portal talisman to travel to a different universe. She hoped to find a new safe place for her family and friends, and possibly the whole Appleloosan island inhabitants. But…”

Spike sighed and stared out over the water, his expression too old to be on a dog’s face. “The first test run they did, Twilight and her assistant, Sunset, vanished. I had to teach myself about the crystals, and create the energy converter from her schematics. It’s used on a good number of ships, especially combined with MOPS.”

“Mops?” Twilight asked. “Why would it help for cleaning floors?”

Spike chuckled and shook his head. “Musically Operated Power System. You play music, the boats go forward. Man the rudder, and you can go anywhere. Provided you have enough crystals, of course. That design was all me.”

He pointed toward the front of the ship and Twilight spotted an old guitar and a bunch of drums at the bow of the boat.

Sunset shook her head again. “Listen. We were sent here because a… someone told us that a ‘brilliant engineer’ could help us with our Talisman, to get us back home quicker. Looks like you’re it, Spike, even if I don’t know if we should trust a dog with an interdimensional transportation device—”

“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence there, Bacon.”

“—but I guess we got no choice but to…” Sunset paused and her eyes narrowed on the dog. “What did you just call me?”

“Heh, you’re touchy about that nickname too. Anyways, yeah, I can probably help with your TPT, but we need to get back to my workshop, and I still need to find more—”

A deafening horn cut Spike off. Instantly, he was on his paws—and hand—his eyes wide and his ears twitching. Then he scampered to the rear of the ship, behind the captain’s lookout. Twilight shared a confused look with Sunset before they followed him.

Twilight gasped. Three small dark ships tore through the ocean on a direct heading for Spike’s ship. The menacing riffs of their guitar players pounded their ears in painful bursts.

“It’s pirates! Bloody Crystalheads, they're after my mithrils! Man the MOPS! Quickly!” Spike ordered. He raced up to the captain’s lookout. “I’ll get the battery and the weapons working, but you two need to get us moving!”

Panic overriding questions, Twilight ran to the front of the ship, Sunset right behind her. Sunset grabbed the guitar with the confidence of an expert. “Get the drums! I’ll get the guitar!”

“You know how to play it?” Twilight asked, staring at the drums and desperately trying to find the sticks.

“You learn a few things when you’re bored and caught,” Sunset shrugged. “You know how to play the drums?”

“No! I played recorder in grade school. But that’s it!” Twilight pulled at her hair, still trying to find those drum sticks. “I don’t even know what to play!”

“Play war drums!” Spike yelled out, a low whirring emanating from his lookout.

“War drums. Okay, war drums…” Twilight found the sticks—they’d been hiding under the seat—and sat herself down at tried a few whacks at the drums, mumbling sounds that she thought might sound like drums. “War drums… war… waaaaaaaar…”

“C’mon Sparky, we don’t have all day!” Sunset yelled as she settled herself into position.

“I’m sorry! I’m not a soldier! I don’t know what war drums are! I’ve only gotten violent twice in my life! Once at Canterlot High against… err…” Twilight coughed and didn’t meet Sunset’s eyes.“Sunset, and that one time on Black Friday!”

“Wait.” Sunset looked dumbfounded. “You have Black Fridays in your world too?”

That’s what she asks? Not about Sunset but about Black Friday?

Suddenly, a large projectile crashed into the ocean just beyond the front of the boat, sending a plume of water into the air. Twilight shrieked and almost threw her drumsticks overboard.

“While we’re young and alive, girls!” Spike shouted from his lookout.

Guitar riffs and drums echoed over the waves. Twilight wondered how close they were and how come their hearing wasn’t already impaired. Twilight took a breath and focused on the drums. She pounded her drumsticks against the drums, trying to put her terror into the ‘music’. Another splash on their right sent a wave of freezing ocean right on Twilight’s head, which made her start hyperventilating.

“SPARKY, JUST POUND IT HARD!”

Twilight threw sanity to the wind and just started screaming and pounding even harder. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

And thus, the drums of war began.

Chapter 8 - Shakespearicles

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Sunset played the guitar with focused fury, powering the ship's engines. Twilight played the drums like she was having a seizure, charging the weapons and she cried havoc.

"Let slip the dog of war!" Spike growled. Sunset's sick guitar licks sent energy throughout the ship. The control panel lit up with power and the ship lurched forward with unnatural speed. Spike took up the controls that he had specially modified for his canine form, save for his human-robotic arm.

Though the Sunlight's Dawn was larger, and armored, the pirate vessels were smaller, faster and more maneuverable. One came along the ship's broadside, and opened fire. The small arms fire wasn't enough to damage the ship, but that wasn't the objective. It was fatal to anyone on board. Once the crew was incapacitated, they would board and loot the ship, or more likely, keep the vessel for themselves. Spike brought the forward gun online and locked onto one of the pirates' ships. He looked back at Twilight.

"I need more cowbell!" Spike yelled. Twilight couldn't hear him over the incoming fire, Sunset's guitar, and her own cacophony on the drums. Spike grabbed the PA microphone. "Cowbell, Twilight!"

Twilight realized that she hadn't opened her eyes since she had started screaming and swinging her drum sticks at the set. She looked at the drums and finally spotted the small affixed cowbell tucked safely out of the way of being struck. Twilight smacked the cowbell. The forward cannon fired into the broadside of the pirate ship, causing it to burst into flames. The wreckage drifted away like dust in the wind.

"Just a drop of water in the endless sea," Spike said as he steered the ship toward the second ship. Spike picked up the microphone again. "Shimmer, this is your big solo!" Sunset played even faster. Her fingers were a blur on the frets as she went from note to hammer-on to power chord. The front of the ship lifted up was the entire ship lurched forward in a burst of speed.

The armored bow of the Sunlight Dawn slammed into the pirate ship with a dragon force, splitting it in twain and causing it to burst into a fireball. They sailed through the fire and flames until all that was left was smoke on the water. The last of the three ships came around behind them. Even with Sunset playing at five-star speed, Spike simply couldn't move the ship fast enough to get away. The pirate ship fired a grappling hook at them and reeled itself in. One of the pirates boarded, landing next to Twilight.

"Oh, yeah, sure, just come sail away with me," Spike muttered while Twilight turned and tried to beat the confused pirate with her drum sticks. Spike aimed the aft gun around at the attached pirate boat. "I gotta have more cowbell!" Spike yelled. The gun was charged. "Twilight!" He looked back at Twilight at the aft deck, futilely fighting the attacking pirate.

Spike jumped out of his captain's chair and ran to her. He closed the distance and leaped. Jaws met jewels and the pirate shrieked. He let go just long enough to drop to the deck and give him a bionic uppercut. The engine of the Sunlight's Dawn cut out. Sunset had stopped playing guitar, and was running at full speed to them. She lifted the guitar up over her head and swung her ax like... an ax, slamming the pirate in the face and sending him falling back off the ship into the other pirates that were trying to board behind him. He knocked them back into their own boat, which was now firmly lodged against the vessel. Spike turned and looked at Twilight. "HIT IT!"

Twilight got back to the drum set and smacked the cowbell. The aft cannon blasted the ship behind them into a cloud of purple haze, showering them with wooden debris. As the last of the planks finished clattering onto the deck or splashing back into the water, the sea became calm and quiet once again.

"You saved my life again!" Twilight squealed, hugging a very surprised Sunset.

"Whoa," Sunset gasped.

"Oh, sorry," Twilight blushed.

"No, not you, that!" Sunset said, pointing at the talisman. It was glowing and ready to go. "I guess your hugs aremagical."

"Or it's this," Spike said, holding up the Mythril crystal to them. "This is what they were after."

"It's just like mine," Twilight said, touching the crystal pendant on her necklace.

"You can use them for all sorts of things," Spike said. "It what I based most of my engineering technology around. You can use it to power lights, and tools, and ships-"

"And the TPT," Sunset finished.

"That too," Spike said.

"So if you've been working with this technology for a while, do you think you would be able to improve it?" Twilight asked.

"I wouldn't be much of an engineer if I couldn't," Spike replied.

"Do you think you possess the skills to help us better navigate our way back home with this TPT?" Twilight asked.

"Let me see it," Spike said. Twilight gave him the TPT. He snapped open the cover and inspected it. He grimaced as he looked it over. "Ah, now that's just sloppy craftsmanship."

"How so?" Sunset asked.

"This is almost an exact replica of the prototype," Spike said. "By the second iteration there were already many improvements. This has none of them. In fact, it just looks like someone tried to replicate the prototype just by looking at the pictures." Spike began to disassemble the TPT. "And there's something else."

"What is it?" Twilight asked. Spike brought over a few strange-looking instruments to his workbench. He used each one in turn taking measurements and getting readings.

"There's a strange kind of energy in here that I've never seen before," Spike said.

"Oh... oh yeah?" Sunset asked nervously.

"Magic?" Twilight asked.

"Magic and energy are two sides of the same coin," Spike said, reassembling it. "But this... this is a currency I've never seen before."

"So can you make it take us home or not?" Twilight asked.

"Well, as a brilliant engineer, I could just Deus Ex Macarena this thing into a perfectly controllable dimension hopper that would take you wherever you want to go. Home, I would presume. But if I do, the magic in this thing might react poorly," Spike said.

"How poorly?" Twilight asked.

"Like, it could destroy the device entirely," Spike said.

"I don't want to take that gamble!" Sunset said, grabbing the TPT. "No offense Spike, but I don't want to be stranded here."

"But Sunset! It's a chance to get home!" Twilight said.

"Well, maybe this... mystery magic will help take us where we need to go?" Sunset said. "And besides, it's still my TPT. So it's my call." Twilight pouted. "You can come with me or stay here if you like." Sunset looked around at the smoldering bits of pirate ship strewn across the ship's deck. "But this seems like a damn dangerous place to stay."

"Can't argue with that," Twilight agreed. "Spike, you should come with us!"

"A captain never abandons his ship," Spike said. "And besides, I'm still waiting for my Sunset and Twilight to come back."

"For how long?" Sunset asked. Spike glared at her.

"How long would you wait?" he asked her. Sunset said nothing and activated the portal.

"Good luck, Spike," Twilight said.

"Now or never, Sparky," Sunset said, jumping through. Twilight quickly followed after.

They landed in a futuristic city. The streets were vacant, and quiet. But not for long. All around them red lights began to flash and alarms blared.

"Sunset alert! Sunset alert! Sector C! One Three Seven!" they heard a Twilight's voice repeating over the automated PA system. Purple flashes began appearing all around them as they became surrounded by hundreds of identical lavender unicorns.

The index magic that Void had put into the TPT caused it to tear itself loose from the necklace and self-destruct on the ground, leaving nothing but ash.

"Oh, not good!" Twilight cried.

"She's here," Sunset said, looking out into the growing crowd of Twilights. "My Twilight is here."

"But which one is her?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know," Sunset said, looking out at the sea of Twilights, realizing that trying to find hers in a city of Twilights would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. She looked at she scorched pile of dust that was once her TPT. "But something tells me we're going to have plenty of time to look. But we better find her. She has the other TPT, and our only ticket out of here!"

Chapter 9 - RadiantBeam

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In hindsight, they probably should have tried to run.

Twilight wasn’t sure what it would have accomplished, exactly; they didn’t know where they were or where to go to even attempt an escape, and they were vastly outnumbered. Even if they had run, they would have had nowhere to go with the TPT in ashes, and they needed a new one in order to continue their adventure so that she could get back home. At this point, she wasn’t even sure that Sunset was concerned about that, but Twilight definitely still was. She liked her home! She wanted to go home!

So all that considered, they hadn’t tried to run. But as an army of Twilights closed in on them and started to box them in so that escape would go from possible to impossible, Twilight found herself wishing they had tried, if only so they could see more of the city, so they could get the lay of the land and learn more about the Twilights.

On the other hand—hoof? Was it hoof now? They were ponies again, so maybe the saying was hoof, not hand—maybe this would make it easier to find the one Twilight that was Sunset’s Twilight, having them all in one place like this.

Twilight had always liked to be as optimistic as possible.

She leaned into Sunset, close enough to whisper into her ear and not be heard. “So?”

Sunset’s ear flicked, her eyes locked on the Twilights surrounding them. “So what?”

“So can you tell which one of them is your Twilight?”

Sunset didn’t turn her head to look at her—keeping her eyes on the purple unicorns that had surrounded them was her priority, particularly as she was painfully aware of the fact that they were completely encircled, and the sudden silence after being surrounded was unnerving—but the sideways glare she aimed at her purple companion was enough to make wilt a little. “No, I can’t tell,” she hissed.

Twilight’s ears flicked back. “I just thought, you know, there was some defining feature of hers that you could recognize at a glance, maybe?” she offered, her voice getting weaker and weaker as she continued.

“… You realize how bad that sounds as a plan, right, Sparky? Please tell me you realize that so I don’t have to tell you how bad of an idea that is.”

“I know, I know, I guess I was just… hoping? It would be nice if for once it was that easy, you know? I thought we could use a break.”

That made the yellow unicorn next to her snort as she shifted her gaze back to the sea of purple surrounding them, and if she hadn’t been looking at her she would have missed it; Sunset’s lips twitched upwards slightly. It was only slightly, and it was for a brief time, but it was there and it lingered for a moment or two before it passed.

It felt oddly good, to see that smile.

Sunset made a show of peering through the crowd—probably to drive her point home—before she sighed and gave Twilight another sideways look. “She doesn’t have any immediately defining features, and there’s too many of them here. Even if she was here, I can’t tell right now. She might not even be in this group.”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, even though she wasn’t even sure of what she wanted to say. As it was, it ultimately didn’t matter; before even a single word could get out, she was cut off by the whole line of Twilights in front of them stepping up. As if on cue, the Twilights on both sides of them and behind them also stepped up, closing the distance between them.

Sunset’s reaction was immediate and instinctive—her ears flattened and she stepped up as well, moving between the Twilight that was hers (for the moment, at least; she had to remind herself of that) and the small army closing in on them. “What do you all want?” she growled, painfully aware that her show of bravado was just that—a show. She could act protective all she wanted, but she couldn’t actually stop them if they wanted to hurt them or do something worse.

A moment or two of tense silence passed, before one Twilight stepped forward completely. She looked like all of the others as far as they could tell, except for her hair: a low tied ponytail slung over her neck. She cleared her throat a few times.

“Please come with us,” she said. “This is the first Sunset we’ve all seen in a long time, and it’s caused some… confusion. If we take you to our leader, I think we can get this all sorted out without any issues.”

It was a lot of information thrown at them at once, and Sunset and Twilight exchanged a quiet look. It wasn’t a decision in the end, really. They knew that they had no choice. The Twilight that had spoken to them knew this, too; it seemed her request was more for the sake of politeness, as the moment she was done speaking she turned away and began to walk. The sea of purple parted for her every step, and it soon became even more obvious that there was only one path available for the two ponies.

“… Stay close to me,” Sunset murmured as she reluctantly began to walk, making sure to keep her hooves in the same spot as the Twilight they were following. It was probably paranoid, but her paranoia had saved her life enough for her to trust it.

“Already staying close,” Twilight murmured back, pressing against her companion’s side. She cast one last glance at the small pile of ashes that had been their TPT, and then the ocean of Twilights closed up behind them as they walked and she couldn’t see it anymore.

They didn’t speak again for the rest of the walk. Twilight kept her eyes on Sunset, and Sunset kept her eyes ahead of them. In time, they seemed to enter what appeared to be the center of the city: a large circular clearing with a garden at the edges, and a massive old tree at its center, tall and strong. Twilight couldn’t tell from a glance what kind of tree it was, but she could certainly admit that it was a very good looking tree. As the Twilights before them continued to step aside, a closer look revealed that at some point in the past—or perhaps even recently, it was hard to tell—a throne of sorts had been carved into the bark of the tree, and flowers had been planted in the small bit of grass around it.

Twilight would have tried to enjoy the growing view more, except that in front of her Sunset abruptly stopped; the purple unicorn nearly walked into her, she was so taken in by the sight of the throne and the tree. “What was that for?” she whispered, stepping around her companion.

Sunset didn’t reply. She simply stared, her mouth opening and closing at the sight before her. Swallowing hard, Twilight followed the other unicorn’s eyes.

In that moment, she understood why Sunset had been struck silent.

Twilight had only heard stories of the alicorn princess Celestia from her Sunset, and descriptions had always been vague due to the redhead’s complicated relationship with her former mentor. Nothing she had ever described could have prepared the purple unicorn for the figure she saw sitting on the throne in front of her. Her coat was a dark purple, almost black, and her mane was a flowing mix of blues, purples, reds, and a faint hint of yellow. She was tall enough that all of the ponies had to tilt their heads back slightly just to look at her, and the Cutie Mark she bore on her flank was no doubt the one that belonged to a Twilight Sparkle.

Dangling from a silver chain around her neck was a perfectly intact TPT. Dark eyes widened slightly when she saw Sunset, then narrowed as she slowly drew herself up to her full height and stood, glaring down at the unicorn that had undoubtedly come from her world.

It wasn’t the warm welcome that Twilight had been hoping she would witness, considering they needed this Twilight to help her get home.

After a moment of silence that seemed to last for both an eternity and a second, the alicorn Twilight Sparkle finally spoke. As if to go along with her size difference from the other Twilights, her voice seemed lower and huskier than her pony counterparts.

“Sunset Shimmer.” Every word she spoke was as cold as ice, and Twilight watched her companion slowly shrink. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t kill you where you stand.”

Dark purple eyes shifted to Twilight; she squeaked. The alicorn Twilight softened.

“And you,” she said gently. “Let’s get you home.”

Chapter 10 - Ebon Quill

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Something's wrong.

Twilight glanced around, watching as the host of otherTwis mirrored their mistress's movements. The same malice as they glared at Sunset. The same warmth as they looked at her.

Sunset squeaked a little as the glare of the alicorn turned back to her.

Twilight knew tongue-lock when she saw it. You could be as prepared as possible for a debate, but when it actually came time to present…

She cleared her throat. “Thank you for, uh…”

She trailed off as the myriad eyes focused on her all at once. She felt her throat dry up.

“Thank you for the offer,” she continued, swallowing against her nerves. “I would first like to ask, to whom am I speaking?”

The alicorn smiled, and for a brief moment Twilight glimpsed a glittering hunger lurking just behind her eyes.

She'd seen it before. She was quite accustomed to it, in fact. Her… colleagues back at Crystal Prep wore the same look, every time they'd talked to her. The same false front hiding a predatory grin.

“You address the Gloaming Gleam at the Dusk of Time. The Herald of the End. The Twilight of All Things. The Sparkle of the Last Dying Star.

“I am you,” she said, spearing Twilight with a glance.

“I am them.” She swept her hoof over the gathered otherTwis, who cheered.

She locked eyes with Twilight and stood to her full height, towering over the rest.

“I am Lady Twilight Sparkle, Goddess of the Stars and Sole Inheritor of the Spheres.”

And there was a tickle at the base of Twilight's neck. She suppressed it as if it were an inappropriate sneeze.

“Thank you, Lady Sparkle. As one of… you? May I ask a question?”

“Of course, my child,” Lady Sparkle purred. “Anything for me.”

“What has my travelling companion done to warrant such a harsh greeting? There had been some talk of constants…”

Lady Sparkle sighed, and it was almost delicate. Not quite dismissive. “Sunsets are distractions. They are sweet promises, but are as fleeting as their namesake. Only the stars are eternal.”

“Then why kill her?”

A trace of irritation crossed Lady Sparkle’s imperious features. “Sunsets bring trouble. Sunsets bring chaos. They disrupt the Harmony of the Spheres. This cannot be allowed.”

“But—!” Sunset started.

A thousand hisses of derision and scorn echoed around them.

“Be silent, interloper,” Lady Sparkle said, her voice dripping with venom. “I tolerate you only as a lesson for my new daughter.”

“Isn't that right?” Lady Sparkle turned and met Twilight's eyes again.

The tickle at the back of her neck struck again. The world tilted as a pressure settled on the bridge of Twilight's nose.

Muzzle.

Whatever.

Twilight shook it off again.

Sunset looked like she wished she could hide in the intricate twist of her current manestyle.

Why is she so cowed? Cinch was worse than this so-called ‘Herald.’

She glanced around the amphitheater at the otherTwis around the wooden throne. A sea of violet eyes, all focused on her.

All except one pair of rubies. That Twilight had a swirl of ashes in her magic, and was steadily extracting a dark, oozing muck out of them. She saw Twilight looking, and urgently pointed back to the Lady with her horn.

Twilight blinked and turned back to the Lady. She crossed to a point where she could see both the Lady and the strange red-eyed Twilight at the same time.

“Then I er, beseech you, Lady Sparkle, why kill her?”

“Nightingales do not flock with skylarks. The Spheres are not meant to be shared. But if you are attached to this little magpie, I will allow you until the Rising of the Moon to say your farewells. Unless she has something to say in her defense?”

Sunset shrank into Twilight's shadow, bullets of sweat pouring off of her. A thrum ran down Twilight’s spine, as if she was just a hair’s-breadth away from a Tesla coil.

“No? Pity. It seems even a magpie may have her voice stolen by the majesty of the Stars.”

Lady Sparkle spread her massive wings, blotting out the sun.

“Daughters!”

The otherTwis called back in response.

“Welcome your new sister. Allow her to grieve as this Sunset fades. Share with her your hearts, so she can finally be welcomed home.”

Cheers and stamping hooves all around. Hosts of Twilights took to the sky. Some few others trotted out of the amphitheater and ambled about. Some approached her with warm welcomes or hushed commiserations. Some just watched her.

The ruby-eyed Twilight had disappeared.

It took a few moments for Twilight to push through the sea of otherTwis, each one asking what they could do to help, and being gently rebuffed again and again. Eventually, she’d asked for some time to mourn Sunset, and had been directed to a small café.

A sign floated overhead: 'So Long Sunset Session in progress. Please, respect our privacy!" Below it, the otherTwis had an Earl Gray latté and lemon poppyseed muffins set aside for her. Opposite them on the small table sat a lonely mug of straight black coffee, all alone.

Sunset slunk over to it and blew on it gently.

“You alright?”

Sunset nodded.

“Gosh. This is really weird. I don't even have to order, I just—”

An otherTwi dashed out of the café, levitated a cushion behind Twilight, fluffed it, and nestled it behind her.

With a wink, she was gone.

“—do that, and…” she trailed off.

Sunset swirled her coffee in its mug, and took a swallow.

“This is weird. This is weird, right?”

Sunset nodded and set the mug back down.

“Are you alright?”

Sunset shook her head, little wisps of gold and crimson bouncing free of her twist.

“I'm supposed to be saying goodbye before they send me home, but—”

“Don't be stupid,” a smoky voice said. The smooth huskiness echoed that of the Lady, but with a more playful air.

It wasn't Twilight's at all.

Sunset bristled, leaping away from the table and lanced out with her magic.

An otherTwi floated out of an alleyway, wreathed in Sunset's teal magic, her eyes shut tight against the pain.

“Sunset! Put her—!”

Sunset shook her head furiously, dislodging her mane’s twist entirely.

The otherTwi opened one eye, and winced as she tried to speak again.

One ruby met Twilight's gaze.

“Sorr—”

Sunset snarled, and the aura around the ruby-eyed otherTwi brightened. Any other sounds were strangled out.

“Sunset!” Twilight rushed over and jostled the other unicorn.

The otherTwi whipped left and right as Sunset's horn swung wildly.

Twilight leapt in front of Sunset and took her muzzle in her hooves.

Sunset’s hot angry tears streamed down her face.

Twilight gazed into Sunset's rage-filled eyes and finally got her to see.

“Sunny. Please.”

The blazing magical aura winked out, and the otherTwi dropped in a heap, gasping.

Sunset turned away, trembling.

The otherTwi got to her hooves, gasping and shaking.

“Nice to— see you, too, Shimmer.” she wheezed. “I guess— I got under— your skin, after all.”

The otherTwi raised her head, and a cascade of golden ringlets and amber curls washed over her face. In a matter of moments, a golden-coated unicorn with a voluminous mane stood where the otherTwi had.

She still held the same ruby eyes.

“I don't— remember you wearing glasses, Princess. Nice to— see you, too.”

Twilight nibbled on the fringe of a bang nervously. “Uh. I don't… that's not me.”

The golden-tressed unicorn smirked. “Really?”

Another harsh coughing fit tore her words away.

“I didn't know you wanted to hold me so tightly, Sunset.”

Sunset rounded on her, fury etched on her face as if by a powerful laser.

The ruby-eyed unicorn flinched away. “Easy! Truce! I'm stuck here, too!”

Sunset flopped against the table, eyes rolling up towards the sky.

A light flicked on in Twilight's mind. “Why isn't she talking?”

The other unicorn raised an elegantly manicured eyebrow. “You are new, aren't you? She's been silenced. The Lady got her under her spell. Couldn't you feel her insinuating herself into your mind? I felt her trying.”

Twilight started to shake her head, but then froze. The tickling at her neck, and the pressure on her muzzle reappeared briefly.

The other unicorn hummed a song while holding eye contact. The song pressed against Twilight’s muzzle, and thrilled through her mane.

Twilight shook off the melody, and glanced away.

The curly-maned unicorn’s vulpine grin widened.

“That's right, Princess. Good work. Our little ray of sunshine let the night in, and now she's stuck dancing to her tune.”

Twilight laughed right in her smug face. “No way! Sunset’s stronger than that!”

Sunset flinched away, tears in her eyes.

The unicorn nudged the mute Sunset. “Look at her. She can’t even look at you anymore. The Lady has her tendrils in deep. Good thing you have those glasses.”

Twilight’s laughter died in her throat.

“I bet she has a pet name for you. ‘Twily?’ ‘Sparkler?’ I think I remember hearing— no! Wait!”

Her ruby eyes glittered with barely restrained laughter. Just a hint of malice.

“Sparky!”

Sunset jerked upright like she’d been slapped.

“Mm. That’s the one. And she’s been reduced to a shrinking violet, thanks to the Lady and her Twive Mind.”

Twilight adjusted her glasses, sat back on her cushion, and frowned. “So what do we do now?”

The other unicorn laughed, a throaty chuckle that seemed more at home in the halls of CPH than here at the Twilight Sparkle Theme Park they were stranded in.

“Sunny here is going to enjoy spending time with some old friends. You, my precious little Princess, are going to waltz up to the Lady and pluck that Talisman right off her neck. And I'm just dying to see her face when you do.”

“Great! But uh, I'm not her.”

“Pardon?”

“I'm not Princess Twilight.”

She saw a flash of recognition in the other unicorn's eyes. “Oh! Then allow me to introduce myself. Adagio Dazzle, at your service. My sisters and I have had dealings with your… let's say ‘counterpart.’”

“Right. Are you also sliders?”

Adagio preened. “From time to time. Why, we’ve even pulled a few jobs with Sunset. Not that wishy-washy goodie-two-shoes from your Canterlot High, either, but this adorably edgy specimen right here.”

Sunset’s lip trembled, and hoofed at the ground.

“That’s just sad, Sunshine. ‘Above all, protect your mind,’ remember?”

Twilight slammed her empty cup down. “Shut up!”

Adagio blanched, and raised her Twilight glamour.

An otherTwi dashed from out of the café and refilled it.

“Would you like anything else?”

Twilight waved her away. “I’m uh, grieving.”

The otherTwi nodded sympathetically, and left.

Adagio dropped her glamour and sighed, “You want to free her, you’ll have to disrupt the Lady’s control. She’s anchored her song into that tawdry bauble she wears.”

Sunset stiffened again.

Twilight dropped her head onto the table. “That stupid TPT. Ours broke when we got here, and that’s supposed to mean her Twilight’s here.”

“Oh, that. Well, I'm afraid I have some bad news. Her Twilight's long gone. That’s her toy the Lady’s wearing. Custom job, crafted for Sunny here.”

"Where—"

Adagio shook her head, grinning conspiratorially. She floated up a small bag of viscous black liquid, and slipped it to Twilight.

“Disrupt her control. Introduce the Spheres to the Void. Then, I’ll show you how my sisters and I smuggled Sunset's nightingale into the care of the Lady's skylark. And who knows? Maybe we'll save all creation in the process.

Chapter 11 - FanOfMostEverything

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Twilight bit her lip as she considered the bag. “So, uh, possibly dumb question, but how do I use this?”

Adagio rolled her eyes. “It couldn’t be simpler. You—“

“Okay, everypony!” chirped an otherTwi who emerged from the cafe. “The Rising of the Moon is in just a few…” She trailed off, tilting her head. ”…minutes?”

All three had scrambled when they heard the door open. Adagio threw her glamour back on, trying to look as Sparkly as possible. Sunset visibly tried to keep her composure, tears welling in her eyes. And Twilight did what she did best.

She thought fast.

Telekinetic stopper on the latte, careful positioning to obscure the bag, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze!

The Void essence had a hint of burnt molasses, but for the most part, it tasted like nothing at all. Even the last muffin crumbs stuck in her teeth lost their flavor as Twilight choked down the ooze.

“Whoa, whoa, easy!” said the otherTwi, approaching slow enough that Twilight could toss the empty bag under the table. “There’ll be plenty more where that came from, sister! Now come on, we don’t want to keep the Lady waiting.”

“R—“ Twilight coughed a few times to clear her throat. “Right,” she croaked out. “You go on ahead. I’ll catch up.”

The otherTwi giggled. “Don’t drag it out too long.” She glared at Sunset. “You’re better than that.”

Twilight just nodded, then looked at the others still at the table. Both had matching looks of utter shock, jaws slack as they stared at her. “I take it that isn’t how I was supposed to use that stuff?”

Adagio and Sunset shook their heads in eerie synchronicity.

Adagio half-watched the newbie Sparkle approach the Lady, most of her attention devoted to figuring out what the actual crap was happening.

Void essence wasn’t a toy. The stuff ate through most magic like Sonata after a three-day fast, especially the harmony magic that Sparkles loved so very much. And yet that bespectacled horse had chugged down enough to give a self-proclaimed goddess pause without even batting an eye.

“And so the fledgling nightingale returns,” cooed the Lady. “The time has come to put childish things aside, Twilight.” Power crawled across the Lady’s horn, and the heavens answered her call. Night fell across the amphitheater. “Childish comforts, childish ideas, even childish affectations.” She removed the newbie’s glasses almost tenderly. “Now, do you have anything to say to this Sunset in her final sunset?”

Adagio could feel the Lady’s mental tendrils crawl across the newbie’s skull, trying to find purchase. Once again, the newbie shuddered, scattering the probes. Then, to Adagio’s eye-widening amazement, that whimpering little mare’s psychic pressure kept pushing out.

You seem surprised.

We got rid of you at Camp Everfree!

I told you, Twilight. I’m a part of you. Your ambition. Your insatiable curiosity. Your… sensuality. You couldn’t get rid of that without lobotomizing yourself. But before you consumed that wonderful magic, all I could do was keep that mockery from controlling us. After all, I was in this brain first.

… I’m going to have to panic about this later. Could we please focus on the alicorn who’s about to kill Sunset?

Certainly.

Twilight blinked a few times, then took in the looks of shock staring at her from every angle. Her vision had gone teal around the edges, and along her peripheral vision, she could make out similar lines of light tracing the edges of wings that weren’t there.

“What…” The Lady shook her head, snarling at Twilight. The thousand otherTwis followed suit, a scant few doing so just slightly after the others. “What is this aberration!?”

“Oh, I see how it is.” Twilight strode forward, her confidence rising with every step. “I’m the aberration, just because I don’t fit in your little framework for how Twilights are supposed to work.” She looked around the arena, not seeing a single bun or pair of glasses among the audience. “You've really never met a Midnight Sparkle before, have you?”

“Midnight Sparkle?” The Lady sneered. “An unfounded rumor. The inane nattering of skylarks begging for mercy they do not deserve.”

“Firsthand evidence, right here.” Firsthoof? Twilight dismissed the matter, stopping at the foot of the Lady’s throne. “But you’re probably too wrapped up in your bird imagery to notice anything outside your narrow worldview.”

Lady Twilight narrowed her eyes and gave a very equine snort. “Believe it or not, this is not the greatest folly of youth I have witnessed. I am a merciful goddess to the deserving, Twilight. Submit to my greater wisdom and I will forgive even this.”

Twilight hadn’t realized she had an inner Sour Sweet until she started channeling it. “Wow, so generous! I have a counteroffer.” The flavor was easy to recall. Almost laughably so. The beam of void magic went through the chain like it wasn’t even there. Twilight snatched it and spun the TPT about a hoof. “Let us go and the next one won’t go through that swelled head of—“

“Enough.” A thousand horns glowed as one, and magic wrapped around Twilight so tightly that she couldn’t even blink. The TPT fell from her hoof—and how had she even been holding that thing?—the chain wrapping back around Lady Twilight’s neck. “You have exhausted my patience, child, and now—“

“Lady about to get suplexed says what?”

“Wha—?”

At first, Twilight thought she was looking at yet another otherTwi, but the missing horn and traces of green in her mane pegged her as a stranger. Also, she was pretty sure no version of herself would ever dare to deliver a Germane suplex to a physical goddess.

The spell ended once the Lady hit the ground. A familiar voice came from behind. “Get moving, Sparky!”

Twilight turned to look. “Sunset?” There she was, charging forward, the confident mare Twilight had so missed since they’d arrived in this world.

Getting the TPT away from the mockery for even that long was enough to break Sunset from her spell. You’re welcome.

“What Baconmane said,” said the suplexer, TPT in hoof. “The shock won’t last forever.”

“Key disadvantage of brainwashed masses,” said Adagio, carried by a blue pegasus as the latter glided to their position. “No initiative when the mind in charge can’t focus.”

“”Enough talk.” The earth pony grabbed the device with her teeth and leapt over everyone, touching each with a hoof.

The last thing Twilight heard as they left was her own voice, screaming with unfathomable rage.

The group materialized atop a low, grassy hill, a village visible in the distance. Probably some version of Ponyville, Sunset thought. She stumbled to her hooves as she took stock of herself. Unicorn. Current Twilight yet to get up after getting dumped in this universe. Mind free of alicorn mental magic. Mane currently in Aria-esque twintails. Sirens regrettably present.

Adagio glared at the scenery as though it had insulted her. “This isn’t the rendezvous point.”

“Sue me,” said Aria. “Some of us are more concerned about getting out alive than kicking one of the biggest hornet’s nests this side of Limbo.” She glared at the still prone Twilight. “Seems to be a lot of that kind of stupid going around these days.”

Sunset moved to face Aria. Ending up next to Twilight was purely coincidental. “Hey, it worked, didn’t it?”

“True,” said Adagio, “but even I know better than to mock someone that powerful to her face.” She sneered. “Of course, I also know better than to chug down Void essence like a smoothie.”

Sunset looked down at Twilight… who still wasn’t getting up. “Uh, Spar— Twilight? You okay there?”

“I’m sorry. Twilight isn’t available right now. You can leave a message after the kiss.”

“The wha—“

Several things happened in quick succession. Turquoise flames burst to life around Twilight’s horn and eyes. Translucent wings formed at her sides. She lunged for Sunset, lips puckered.

And Sonata Dusk eagerly clapped her hooves. “This is always my favorite part!”

Chapter 12 - Tchernobog

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In hindsight, she could have simply teleported out of the way, or even held Twilight with her magic. And she’d be the first to admit there was a bit of childish glee at seeing this Twilight ram muzzle first into the shield she’d instinctively summoned. The ensuing resonant bonk would keep her amused for far too long.

That, however, didn’t stop her from glaring at the other unicorn… with magic spectacles and wings. “What the hell, Twilight?”

“Aww.”

“Shut up, Sonata.” Sunset said, keeping her eyes firmly on her ‘companion’.

“Ow,” Twilight said, rubbing her muzzle. “Rude. Is that how you thank your savior, Sunset? At least the one on my world knows the virtue of being polite.”

Sunset blinked. “Uh. Yeah, thanks, I guess? But that doesn’t change things. What’s with… this?” She asked, waving a hoof at Twilight.

“You just waved at all of me.”

“So I have a lot of questions, okay?” Sunset said, stomping a hoof. “What the heck is a ‘Midnight Sparkle’?”

“Horohorohoro….” Twilight chuckled, sending a shiver down Sunset’s spine. She’d never heard a Twilight laugh like that.

“...was that supposed to be a laugh?”

“Shh!” Adagio hissed. “Shut up and watch, Aria!”

“I guess I’m even more unique than I thought I was.” Twilight smirked, rubbing a hoof on her chest and peering at it admiringly. An eyebrow rose as she looked back at Sunset and tapped the shield with the same hoof. “You can take this shield down, by the way. I won’t kiss you. Unless you want me to.” She said, smirking even wider.

Sunset glared, silently holding the shield for just long enough to be considered insulting. “That still doesn’t answer my question.” She said, the magic around her horn fading along with the shield. “What happened back there? What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing is ‘wrong’ with me, Sunnybuns,” Twilight said. “Let’s just say that I’m a part of Twilight. And that magic she ate was just what I needed to wake up again.”

Sunset’s eye twitched. “Sunnyb-. No. Do not call me that. Ever.” She glared at...whatever Twilight was now. “What do you want?”

“The knowledge of the multiverse, an orange smoothie, and you in a bed screaming my name.” Twilight grinned. “Not necessarily in that order.”

“Ooh, that sounds good right now.” Sonata whispered.

“What, Sunset in bed?” Aria asked.

“No! Well, yeah, but I meant the smoothie!”

Cheeks blazing, Sunset rubbed a hoof against her face. “This is not what I need right now. You three!” She barked, whirling on the sirens, who’d somehow gotten popcorn from somewhere. “Where are we?”

“Heck if I know.” Adagio shrugged. “We had a different place in mind when we jumped, but some dummy I won’t mention sent us here.”

“Hey!” Aria cried out.

“Regardless!” Adagio pressed on. “This seems like a pretty safe world. That’s Ponyville down there, isn’t it?”

“Looks like it.” Sunset nodded, staring down at the village. Her horn shone, plucking the talisman out of Aria’s hooves. Despite finally, finally holding her very own talisman, her heart sank. The device was lifeless, not even registering any ambient magic. All she could sense were the rapidly dissipating traces of that queen Twilight’s magic. “We need to go down there.”

Aria grunted. “Why? Let’s just wait until the damn thing charges.”

“Because it’s not working.” Sunset spat, holding up the device in her magic. “And I’m not trusting this Twilight with it.”

“Some offense taken, by the way.”

Sunset ignored Twilight’s jab. “We need to find this world’s Twilight. Let’s hope she’s home.”

“Y’know, it’s a lot pinker than I remember,” Sonata said, looking around as the group strode into town.

Sunset glanced at Twilight. “So let me get this straight-”

“Oh, I’m anything but.” Twilight smirked, her magic batting at Sunset’s hair like a cat.

Sunset ground her teeth, increasing the distance between herself and the other unicorn. “Twilight’s pre-portal talisman ate her friends magic, she consumed it, and out came whatever you are?”

“A short but accurate summary of my awakening, yes. I’m just the… passionate side of her, let’s say.” Twilight practically purred. “And call me Midnight Sparkle, if you really need to differentiate us.”

“...right. And Sparky’s still in there?”

“Like a bee constantly buzzing in my ear, yes.” Midnight smirked. “She thinks I’m being rude.”

“You did kinda take over her body…”

“Really, really pink. I mean, every building is pink.”

“If I didn’t know better,“ Adagio said. "I’d say it looks like Pinkie vomited paint all over town.”

“That’s because I did!” Pinkie chirped, popping up in the middle of the group, sending the mares stumbling back with a cry. “Well, I didn’t vomit it, I just threw paint over everything. Pink is the funnest color!”

“Pinkie!” Sunset said, her heart still beating furiously. “...Pinkie?” She blinked. She didn’t remember ever seeing a world with Pinkie having a horn and wings. One or the other, sure, but this?

“Yepperoonie!” Pinkie giggled. “You girls look new here. Welcome to Pinkieville!”

“Pinkieville?” Adagio asked.

“The Party Principality!”

“Horohorohoro... I like this version.” Midnight chuckled. “Also, ‘funnest’ is not a word.”

Sunset sighed, shelving her concerns about an Alicorn Pinkie Pie to deal with later. Like, never. “Ooookay. Where’s Twilight? And I don’t mean this one.”

“Silly, she’s in Twilightville. And Fluttershy is in Flutterville, Rarity in Rarityville, Dashie and Applejack are in AppleDashville-”

“Okay, okay, I get it. Where’s Twilightville? I need to talk to her.”

“Other side of the country!”

“Of course it is.” Sunset sighed. “Can you message her? Teleport us there? Or a train? Anything? We really need her help.”

“Weeeeelllll yeah, but it's a long ride. Maybe I could help too!”

“Not unless you know how to fixed advanced dimensional travel devices.”

Pinkie gasped. “Ohhh, you’re sliders! Why didn’t you say so?”

“We kinda just got here?” Sonata offered, shrugging.

“Oh, right. Hi ‘Nata!” Pinkie said, pronking over to the pegasus and nuzzling her. She turned back to Sunset, leaving a bewildered but grinning Sonata behind. “Why don’t you let Twitwi fix it?” She said, pointing at Midnight.

“Because she doesn’t trust me.” Midnight pouted. “She’s being mean.”

“I’m-” Sunset took a deep breath. “No, I’m not even gonna dignify that with a response.” She faced Pinkie. “She’s not herself right now. So, can you help?”

“Welllll I could get my Twi here but it would take a week-”

“Too long!” Sunset cried out, ignoring Sonata’s ‘I don’t mind!’.

“Or you could go through my party chute.”

“Party chute?” The assembled ponies asked simultaneously.

“Well yeah, I thought it was just a place to put all my party paraphernalia but it’s actually another world!” She giggled. “Until another Twitwi came out and asked to stop throwing stuff into her basement. Maybe she could help!”

Sunset glanced at Midnight and the remaining undesired companions. She didn’t like the sudden sense of responsibility draping over her shoulders. “What do you think?”

“Risk it,” Adagio said, Aria nodding with her. “We gotta get as far from the Twive Mind as we can.”

“Aww but I wanna stay!” Sonata whined.

“We aren’t staying just because she likes you, Sonata.”

“Boo, hiss! Boooo.”

“Not that you’ll listen to me-” Midnight started.

Sunset nodded. “You’ve got that right.”

“-but I agree with Puffball here. I could take her own alone, but not with all the backup she's got.”

“Right. Pinkie?” Sunset said.

“One party chute, coming up! Follow me, fillies!”

Two corners later, Sunset was staring at a hole in the ground. “Pinkie, that’s a garbage chute.”

“It was! I just never changed it.”

“Whatever. Let’s go.”

“Waaaaaaait!” Pinkie cried out, leaping at Sunset.

“What? What?!”

“I almost forgot! Give the other Twilight this!” Pinkie said, floating over a box in her magic. “It’s a surprise! Oh, and make sure to hold it tight, you’re human on that side.”

“Oh thank Celestia.” Sunset sighed. She levitated the box and balanced it on a hoof. “Cmon, let’s go.”

Midnight Sparkle tsk’ed as she stood up. Despite being in control, her magic seemed just out of reach in this world. She’d sort through that headache later. Meanwhile, she'd just have to stay in Sunset's good graces. Mostly.

Hey!

Speaking of headaches… Midnight thought. What do you want?

My body back, to start with!

Oh come now, my last stay was so brief. Let me have some fun.

No! It’s my body!

Our body. I’m not some thing possessing you. I’m part of you. Plus, I just saved everyone’s bacon and baconmanes. You owe me.

...Fine. But we’re getting me back in control!

No promises. Midnight thought, sending a mental smirk inwards. She took in her surroundings, a dusty basement full of boxes, and more boxes, and yet more boxes. She spied a book poking out of one of them, and chuckled. Yep, definitely one of us.

She turned back towards the rest of her group, holding back a snort as she noticed Sunset’s sizeable afro. “We all in one piece?”

“More or less.” Sunset grunted, hefting the box. “Okay, let’s find Twilight.”

The sudden slam of an opening door made everyone jump. In the middle of the doorway, a Rainbow Dash stood proud. She wore coveralls, a cowboy hat and had a pair of earrings in the shape of three red apples. But still, it was distinctly Rainbow Dash.

The girl grinned, leaning back to yell behind her. “Hey, AJ! Call Twilight! Delivery’s here!”

Chapter 13 - Little-Tweenframes

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Chapter 14 - JayMan155

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“Hey everyone! So sorry I took so long! Had to run some errands along the way. Anyway, you said there was a special delivery for…” The rest of the words were drowned out by a rush of metaphysical energy and wind that swirled around Twilight and Midnight.

Twilight shivered and panickedly looked around as the mindscape quivered and cracked. “What’s going on?!”

Midnight chuckled, waving it off, “Relax, I’m sure it’s nothing I can’t—”

She was cut off as a bang and a flash resounded throughout the mindscape, shattering it and forcing them back into the real world.

Discombobulated, Twilight tried to track the rushing shapes and muffled shouts that echoed around her.

“Sliders identified!”

“What in tarnation!”

“Sonata, get down!”

“Woah! We’re the good guys!”

“Don’t you touch her!”

“Try and stop me.”

A force like a truck slammed into Twilight and sent her flying. She crashed into something hard and she plunged into darkness.

She came back to a splitting headache. Twilight slowly opened her eyes and immediately wished she hadn't. The light of the setting sun stabbed at her eyes, making spots and colors dance in her vision. The ringing in her ears didn't help either. Finally, she managed to blink herself back into something approaching coherence.

“What… What happened?”

Twilight tried to stand up, but quickly collapsed back to the floor.

“Ugh… Midnight?” “Midnight?”

“What happened? Why am I in control again? Not that I’m complaining…”

Midnight didn’t seem the type to just up and leave.

“Ugh… Be quiet, Twilight. Our head hurts enough as it is.”

“Midnight! You’re okay!”

“Of course I am,”she snarked. Twilight’s arm reached up of its own volition and rubbed her eye.

Twilight froze, her thoughts coming to a screeching halt.

“Did… Did you do that?”

“Do what?” came the groggy reply.

Twilight lifted her arm experimentally. It moved as she expected.

The pain in her head slowly began to recede, as Midnight began to rouse herself. It was then that Twilight noticed how quiet it was.

She glanced around Applejack’s living room. Sunset and the rest of the girls were gone the furniture had been tossed around, as if a small twister had blown through.

“Hello? Where did everyone go? What happened?”

Twilight stayed silent, waiting for a response. She sat there for several minutes, waiting for something to happen.

“It’s time to grow a spine, Twilight. Midnight grumbled in their head.

Twilight’s body began to move, once again independent of Twilight’s input. She yelped and lurched backwards.

“What was that? Did you just move me?!”

Midnight hummed.“It seems that I did, must be because of our new union.” Midnight flexed their arms experimentally. “I could get used to this.”

Twilight shuddered. “We need to come to some kind of agreement, or something, this is just too weird...”

“We should do that later, unless you don’t want to find your friends. I’m fine either way of course.”

“Do you… Do you think they’re okay?” she asked hopefully.

Midnight tsked in disappointment.“Use your head Twilight. Judging by the state of the place, they probably need more help than you do.”

Twilight nodded slowly, biting her lip. Carefully, she picked herself up and moved out of the rustic dining room, using the wall for support. As Twilight walked, Midnight’s strength returned, allowing them to move with confidence and grace.

“Hello?” Twilight ventured, “Is anyone there?”

“Will you keep it down?!” a voice whisper-yelled.

Midnight brought them down to a crouch and cautiously looked around. “Who’s there?” Midnight whispered.

Whomever it was cursed under their breath. There was a quiet shuffling sound, and a girl with purple and mint-green hair stuck her head around the corner.

“Is that Aria?”

“I-I don’t know, Maybe? I can’t tell from here.Twilight paused. “I’m surprised you don’t know, aren’t you supposed to be better than me in every way?”

“No, Twilight,” Midnight sighed,“I’m just more confident than you. More willing to get what I want, and to be honest, those girls are beneath us.”

The girl rolled her eyes and waved them toward the corner before vanishing around it.

“Do we follow her?”

“If we want answers, I suppose we should.”

Staying low, Twilight crept towards the corner and peeked around it. There was no one on the other side. Nothing but an empty hallway and an open door. Twilight swallowed nervously as Midnight’s strength kept them moving forward. They slowly peered through the door.

Someone flung open the door and yanked them in. Midnight tried to mount a counterattack, bringing her elbows in and raising their arms, but Twilight panicked and flailed about. The combination of which only made a menagerie of flailing limbs that their assailant easily avoided and provided ample opportunity for their assailant to sweep their legs out from under them. Before either of them could react, the attacker pulled a length of rough rope tight around their wrists.

With a grunt of disappointment, the attacker dragged them over and tossed them into a corner like a sack of potatoes. Twilight started when she realized she’d just been attacked by one of the girls who had saved her from Lady Sparkle.

“A-Aria, what—”

She ignored Twilight and stormed out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

“Way to go Twilight.”

“What, me?! How is this my fault?”

“I had everything under control.”

After several minutes, Aria calmly walked back into the room. “The three of us operated for close to twenty years without an incident like this.” she stopped, glowering down at Twilight. “But a couple jumps after hooking up with you two…” She sighed and shook her head. “Who do really work for? What’re you trying to accomplish?”

“I work for Donut Joe at the Canterlot Mall!” Twilight yelped. “I’m trying to save up enough money to put myself through college!”

“...Wow Twilight.”

“What? I’m not gonna lie to her. What if she has some kind of weapon?!”

“...Let me handle this one.”

“Likely stor—”

Midnight lunged forward, cutting Aria off and tackling her to the ground.

The scuffle was a short one. It took approximately twenty seconds (Twilight timed it) for Aria to get the upper hand and pin them again, pressing their face into the carpet.

Midnight struggled under her weight. “You’ll regret this!”

“Not likely,” Aria sneered, pressing Midnight’s face deeper into the carpet. “Now, shut up and make this easy for me.”

Midnight continued to struggle underneath her, trying again to summon her magic.

She was rewarded with a hit to the head. “Stop that. The Guard can track when people try to use magic! That’s how they got your friends, after all.”

Twilight froze. “My friends…?” She said, slightly muffled by the carpet.

Aria picked herself up, “Mhmm, your friends, and my sisters.” She forcefully yanked Twilight to her feet. “Now you’re gonna help me get my sisters back.”

“W-Wait… Maybe I can help?”

“You are helping. Just not willingly,” she grumbled.

“I want to get them back as much as you do! We can accomplish more if we work together!”

“Oh please don’t start with your friendship magic garbage.”

Twilight bit back Midnight’s quip.

“Killjoy.”

“O-Okay… Why, uhh, why wasn’t I taken too?” Twilight paused for a moment, then added, “More importantly, who would want to capture us?”

Aria sighed, mumbling something about Twilights and questions. “I don’t know, and I honestly don’t care. You can ask Daybreaker when we get there.”

“Maybe… Maybe you don’t have to turn me in? Wouldn’t it work out better if I helped you?”

“I don’t like to work with anyone but my sisters.”

“You sound sure of yourself.” Midnight stepped in. “But can you really guarantee that your plan will work?”

Aria paused. “I’ll do whatever it takes to get them back.” She turned and shot a glare at Midnight. “And I pity the fool who gets in my way.”

Twilight swallowed nervously and nodded.

“Good, now right this way.”

Twilight scampered past Aria, through a door leading outside. Twilight found herself on a balcony, and surrounded by towers that stretched beyond the clouds.

“Wow…” Twilight breathed, as the light from the setting Sun sparkled off of the crystalline buildings.

There was a wet smacking sound, followed by a thump from behind her. Twilight whirled around and found Sunset standing over an unconscious Aria.

“It’s good to see you again, Aria.” Sunset said down to the unconscious girl, before turning her attention to Twilight.

“That’s a differentSunset. That’s not my Sunset.

“How can you tell?”

“Her hair. It’s not a big, poofy, afro.”

The Sunset stood up, showing off her maroon combat armour. She smirked, and Twilight took a step back, away from the dark mockery of Sunset’s signature smirk.

“Twilight, I’m so delighted you finally woke up.”

Chapter 15 - DrakeyC

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Twilight stepped back as the armored Sunset approached her. The Sunset stopped and looked at her carefully. “You have a Midnight Sparkle?”

“Uh...Yes?” Twilight nodded.

“Good.” The Sunset smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “But, I’m going to have to ask you to prove it. Is Middy in there now?”

“Middy?” Midnight choked out, glaring. She raised their hand and summoned an aura of pale blue magic.

“Excellent.” Sunset clapped her hands. “Bravo, well done Sirens. I told them to keep an eye out for a Twilight who could help me, but this is better than I expected from them.”

“Daybreaker.” The armored Sunset turned. Another Sunset in an identical suit of armor stepped out onto the balcony with an unconscious Sunset over her shoulder. Twilight recognized the bushy afro.

“I’ll take it from here. You make sure the others are secure. And do something about the Twilight.”

The other Sunset set the Sunset with the afro down, saluted, and turned to run off.

“Well, let’s get this party started.” The Sunset apparently called Daybreaker snapped her fingers. A wet cloth appeared over Sunset’s face and wrung itself out. Sunset sputtered and coughed, blinking awake.

“What?” Sunset looked up at Daybreaker and grimaced. “Please tell me you’re friendly.”

“Depends on how many tequilas you buy me.” Daybreaker grinned and held up a hand. “Have a seat.” She snapped her fingers again.

Suddenly they were sitting in plush wingback chairs, a round table between the three of them. Twilight leaned on the arm of the chair and held her head. She tasted copper. “How are you doing that?” she asked.

“My mentor taught me a few things.”

Sunset looked at her. “Princess Celestia?”

Daybreaker burst out laughing. “Not quite.”

“That other Sunset called you ‘Daybreaker’,” Twilight noted.

“Yup. My mentor gave me that name. Said a friend of his used it once and he liked the sound of it.”

“Enough with this. What do you want?” Midnight snapped.

Daybreaker smiled. “I want your help. I took a few hostages to get you to stay a while and listen.” She looked at Sunset and snorted. “Though I do find it more than a little funny that they bump into you in the company of a Midnight Sparkle.”

“Ha ha, yeah, hilarious,” Sunset muttered. “Why are they working for you?”

“I made an arrangement with them.” Daybreaker shrugged. “But that’s their business. Our business is something else.” She clasped her hands together and leaned forward. “I need you two to perform a very specific task for me.”

Sunset looked at Daybreaker with new suspicion. “What ‘task’ exactly?”

“I need you to kidnap a Twilight for me.”

Twilight squeaked.

Daybreaker scoffed and waved a hand. “Oh, not you! I think that’d be a little redundant at this point anyway.”

“Then who?” Sunset asked.

“My Twilight.” Daybreaker sat back. “I told the Sirens to keep an eye on any Twilights they find that might be able to help me, and they got me a Midnight Sparkle. I dunno about you two, but I feel like I just pulled a golden ticket.”

“What do you need me for?” Midnight asked.

“Hang on.” Sunset held up a hand. “You want us to kidnap your Twilight. Why?”

Daybreaker pursed her lip in thought. She looked at Twilight. “Middy, Sparky, you two share control now, right?”

“We do,” Twilight said.

“Good.” Daybreaker held her hand up, fingers poised as if to snap. “Because I really don’t wanna have to use this. But I will if you start getting uppity.”

“Bite me,” Midnight growled.

“You wish.” Daybreaker leaned forward, her joking demeanor fading. “Now, listen very, very carefully.”

Sunset and Twilight nodded.

“My Twilight is something far worse than the normal Twilights you find. And you two — you three, whatever — are going to help me rein her in before she does something multiple versions of us will regret.”

“Like what?” Sunset asked.

“Like say, turn that Twilight against you and convince her to abandon you.”

“I would not!” Twilight cut in before Sunset could. She paused for a moment and shook her head. “I wouldn’t abandon her. She’s a… friend.”

“I thought the same thing about my Twilight, once. I was wrong.” Daybreaker sat back. “We used to be like you guys. No joke intended. Voyagers. We spent years exploring the multiverse; young, adventurous, and in love. You could write a cheesy romance novel about the adventures we had.”

She gave a soft smile. “And of course we met other Twilights and Sunsets. All so similar and so different. We enjoyed it, it was fun seeing what our other selves were like. My Twilight began to catalog them, she came up with dimensional designations to differentiate them.”

Twilight nodded, ignoring a mental groan from Midnight.

“She called us the Prime ones, because we were the baseline she would measure the others against. I was Sunset Shimmer Prime, dimensional designation AAA-1.” Her expression clouded. “That filing system quickly became too limited. Too many Sunsets, too many Twilights…” She trailed off.

Daybreaker’s expression twisted to something between sadness and disgust. .

“What happened?” Sunset asked.

Daybreaker sighed. “She became obsessed. She cataloged everyone, everything. Every Rainbow Dash, every Applejack, every Celestia and Luna. Every Ponyville, Canterlot, Crystal Empire.

“Patterns emerged. We settled down and she poured over her data for days without rest. I would come in her lab in the mornings and find the floor covered in charts. She told me she was onto something. She tried to explain it to me and showed me her findings. I didn’t understand it until I took my own time to read them, but by then it was too late.”

Daybreaker spread her hands. Like projections, light shone about her, orbs showing dozens of Twilights and Sunsets interacting. She breathed deeply.

“Universal Constants.”

While the words were familiar, something about the way she said them made Twilight shiver.

“A fancy term. Really it just means that across a multiverse of infinitely chaotic possibilities, there are certainties. In fields of random data points, you can find some that are immutable… except, that’s not right, is it? How can one thing be set and others not? If there is a pattern, it is likely to be absolute. You just have to look deeper.”

Twilight swallowed heavily. Her Twilight looked deeper. “What did she see?”

“Get enough points of fixed data and you can graph a line. Graph a line and you can form equations. Form equations with reliable constants and you can solve the variables. One by one the unknowns become the knowns. Suddenly everything is a universal constant on a fundamental level. Everything is predictable, everything can be predefined. And when you have that reality staring you in the face, there is only one logical conclusion.” Daybreaker looked at Twilight evenly. She drew her hands in and the images around her vanished, and she held up her hand with fingers poised.

“My Twilight abstracted the multiverse down to its most basic reference point. She discovered the mathematical formula for destiny.”

“That’s impossible,” Sunset blurted instantly.

“I know. But she did it.” Daybreaker shook her head and shrugged. “She vanished one night when I was asleep. I looked over her notes and began to piece together what she had discovered. And when I read her diary and realized what had been going on inside her head… that was when my mentor found me. And we went into hiding.”

Daybreaker fell silent.

Twilight looked over at Sunset but her expression was unreadable, her eyes staring at nothing. Twilight turned her attention back to Daybreaker. “What happened to her?”

Daybreaker snapped her eyes up in a dark, knowing look. And Twilight knew the answer before she gave it.

“You’ve met her.”

“Lady Sparkle,” Midnight spat.

“In the Laboratory, with a Transdimensional Portal Talisman." Daybreaker chuckled. There was no humor in it.

“What does she want?” Twilight whispered.

“Freedom. To disprove the very thing she discovered, the equation that tells her that her life is not her own. Our bond, the universal constant of Sunsets and Twilights, is the keystone of her theorem. Remove either of them and the equation becomes false.” Daybreaker scowled. “She thinks that the only way for a Twilight to be free from her Sunset, or vice-versa, is to permanently separate them. Split them apart and suddenly fate leaves the building. It’s absurd, but that’s how she thinks. She’s a bit crazy, I’m sure you noticed.”

Sunsets bring trouble. Sunsets bring chaos. Nightingales do not flock with skylarks.

“She was going to kill me,” Sunset croaked.

“Really? Even for her that’s a bit much. Did you steal her Smarty Pants or something?” Daybreaker snorted. “Usually she charms Sunsets with an personalized banishment spell. Keeps them from coming too close to a Twilight. Think of it like a heavy duty restraining order. With a transdimensional taser duct taped to the fine print.”

Midnight nodded. “And she wants to do that to every single Sunset and Twilight she can find.”

“Bingo.” Daybreaker nodded. “Get it now? Between me and her, the fate of unknown thousands of Twilights and Sunsets hangs in the balance. But it’s a cold war. As long as I exist, she is bound by the equation, and I can't risk that changing. I’ve tried to fight back without directly confronting her, I rounded up as many of her exiled Sunsets as I can to help. It hasn’t worked well, her Twilights outnumber us by too much.”

Daybreaker smiled brightly. “But now things are different. You have a Midnight Sparkle, an active Midnight Sparkle. That changes everything.”

“Why?” Midnight asked.

“Twilight Sparkles are inherently logical, rational beings. Knowing what my Twilight knows, most of them would ally with her. But Midnight Sparkles are a different story. They’re more emotional, selfish, defiant. Horny, even.”

Midnight gave Sunset a wolfish grin and waggled her eyebrows. Sunset squirmed in her seat and avoided eye contact. Twilight wanted to find a hole and hide for the next few centuries.

“Midnight Sparkles are more inclined to keep their Sunsets close than your average Twilight is. The only catch is that it’s incredibly difficult to find one that’s active. Most Twilights with Midnight Sparkles suppress them, and the ones that can't tend to draw too much attention and get themselves killed or imprisoned.” Daybreaker looked Twilight over. “Whatever you two are doing, it’s different, and it’s the first time I’ve seen it. I’d prefer a dominant Midnight, but half-and-half is better than none at all. It’s a gamble I’m willing to take.”

“If you want me to be dominant, you just have to ask,” Midnight whispered.

“Stop that!” Twilight said immediately after, blushing furiously.

Daybreaker snickered. “So, that’s my offer. Come with me to meet my mentor and hear us out on what to do about my Twilight…” she held up her hand, the TPT floating over her palm, “and I’ll fix your TPT and free your friends you made in this universe. Deal?”

Sunset leaned in her chair to look at Twilight. “Are you okay?”

Twilight hesitated for several seconds, and then nodded. “I… I will be. This is hardly the first shocking revelation I’ve taken in in the past… I don’t even know how long.”

“I’m here to keep her in check, too,” Midnight said. She looked at Daybreaker. “You have a deal.”

“Goodie.” Daybreaker stood up and stretched. “Now I can introduce you to the boss. Good thing too, you need to get out of this dimension anyway."

Twilight frowned as she and Sunset stood up. “Why?”

Daybreaker jerked her thumb at the door. “Because this dimension’s Twilight works for her.”

“What?” Midnight gasped.

“Lucky for you I was able to track Aria across the dimensions and intervene before she could contact them.” Daybreaker put a finger to her mouth to wet it and then drew it down in the air. A glowing purple slit appeared in the air and she pulled it open to reveal a portal. “After you.” She stepped aside and gestured her arms to the portal.

Twilight looked at Sunset as the two stood. “I can do this,” she whispered.

Sunset nodded. “I’m sorry, Twilight. I didn’t know about any of this...”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I promise, once we help her, we’ll get you home.”

“What about you?”

“I’m not worried about myself right now.”

Twilight looked down at Sunset’s hand sliding into hers. She raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t pull away. Instead, she just nodded.

The two stepped into the portal together.

The portal closed and Sunset fell onto cold black and white tile, Twilight landing beside her. She winced and looked around, noticing she was a pony in this world. She frowned when she saw her mane, now tied in a long pair of pigtails that almost hung to her hooves. Daybreaker, also a pony, walked out beside her.

“Boss! They said yes!”

“Wonderful! Oh my darling little Daybreaker, I knew I could count on you!”

Sunset slowly looked up at the being smirking at her, applauding wildly.

Discord.

Chapter 16 - Fangren

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Discord.

Sunset knew the proper name for the Chaos Gods was 'draconequus', of course; what self-respecting dimensional traveler didn't know that? But the first one she'd met – the one from her home world, in fact – had called himself Discord, and so the name had stuck with her and remained constant in her mind even when nothing else about the race did. Appearance, motives, personality, and every other trait imaginable; no two Chaos Gods were ever exactly the same.

Granted, their names did repeat quite often – only so many chaos-related synonyms to go around, after all – and she'd met at least three wildly different 'Discords' on her travels already.

The particular specimen currently towering over her with a mirthful smirk on his pony-like face was... massive, to say the least. A whale-like body and tail supported on four pillar-like legs of what appeared to be an elephant and bear in front, badger and duck in back, tapering into a serpentine upper body with the right arm of a human – no, the digits were wrong and it was covered in coarse brown fur; a monkey – and left of something black and chitinous and insectoid with three rigid-looking hooked claws at the end of it. His head was fairly normal in comparison, gray-skinned with a curled ram's horn growing from the left and some kind of colorful fish fin from the right.

He flicked a long, forked tongue in eager anticipation, and stared down at Sunset with cat's eyes. “Well!” he said in a slick, oily voice. “Well, well, well. I imagine our two guests must be filled to the brim with questions for one as illustrious as myself. Well?” he looked at Sunset expectantly, beckoning for her and Twilight to stand up. “Get on with it! The sooner we get through this, the sooner we can talk about what you're actually here for.”

“I... I-I..,” Sunset heard Twilight try to say. She looked over to see her on her knees, legs splayed, slack-jawed and wide-eyed, raising a single trembling hand as though she were in some kind of classroom.

Guess she's never seen one of them before, Sunset thought to herself, staring more at her current companion and frowning as a thought occurred to her.

Wait, something's wrong with this picture...

Twilight's hand curled into a single finger thrust straight at 'Discord', and her sputtered words changed shape as well. “Wh... wh... who are you? What are you?”

His grin widened. “Well! I,” he drew himself up to his full height and rested a loving claw on his scaly chest, and only then did Sunset realize just how impossibly huge the room they were in was, filled with marble pillars stretching up to a ceiling she couldn't see and stained glass walls that seemed to loom up from the horizon, “am Discord, the One and Only.”

And then suddenly his neck-body was arcing down towards Sunset in a curving spiral until his head was level with her and he gave her one of the cheekiest winks she'd ever seen, saying, “Accept no substitutes!”

“Wha... that...” she heard Twilight try to stammer and Sunset looked her way just in time to see her grit her teeth, the spectral spectacles blazing around her eyes. “That answers who you are,” Midnight said, “but not what you are.” The demand in her voice went unspoken.

She was rewarded with her previously-outstretched finger becoming Discord's neck and head, bending back towards her with a smile on his face. “Why, I'm your friendly neighborhood Spirit of Chaos, of course!”

“Gah!” Midnight cried, wildly shaking her finger – Discord dissipated from it with a puff of flower petals, leaving an unharmed digit behind. Midnight regarded it with a blank face once she realized it was back to normal, then turned a scowl back towards Discord.

Sunset registered a faint snickering from next to her, and turned her head to see Daybreaker – still wearing her armor, she noted – with a hoof to her muzzle.

“I hope that answers your question?” Discord asked, now somehow behind Midnight – or had she been the one to move? – and craning his neck over her.

She growled at him and finally stood up on two legs, and that's when it finally clicked for Sunset.

“Wait, why is only she a human?” she asked, baffled.

She heard Daybreaker snicker again, and turned her head. “Took you long enough,” she told Sunset with an infuriating smirk.

“That is strange,” Twilight remarked, brow furrowed as she looked at both Sunsets. “Every world before now we've always been the same species. I thought that was just how it worked.”

Discord snorted, and popped himself behind Sunset. “Well, rules are meant to be broken, isn't that right my little thief?” he said, reaching down and tussling her pigtails to her annoyance. And then he was gone, or rather he was a pattern in the floor tiles – a mosaic of color in a sea of black and white. “In this world, everyone simply iswhat they are, or rather, what they were born as. Quite the refreshing change of pace, is it not?”

“Makes just as much sense as everything else that's happened today,” Twilight replied, deadpan.

“And isn't that just grand?” Discord said, rising out of the tilework entirely though still keeping his mosaic appearance.

“No,” Sunset said, also deadpan.

Discord pouted. “Well, no matter.” He blew into his monkey-thumb, inflating himself back to his original size and texture. “Any other questions? I happen to know quite a lot of interesting secrets, you know.”

“As interesting as that sounds,” Midnight said, practically hissing as she crossed her arms and glared up at the titan, “I'd prefer to know what you want with me so I can get it over with and go back to doing what I want to do.”

“Oh, well that's simple,” Discord answered, resting his head in his monkey's paw and his elbow on his other arm. His upper body shortened, or perhaps retracted, as he bent down to look more closely at her, and after a moment of appraisal he said “Very simple, I think. The name of the game, as I'm certain my darling little student has told you-” his paw suddenly detached itself and reappeared patting Daybreaker on the head- “is Capture the Twilight. And you, my little shadow archetype, are the only one both resistant to that aggravating alicorn's mental prowess and powerful enough to pull it off.”

It was at that point that Sunset realized that Discord's face and voice had morphed into Midnight's, and unnervingly she couldn't recall exactly when it had happened. Midnight seemed just as unnerved, but only for a moment; a smirk appeared on her lips shortly after, and she said “Good to hear. Unfortunately, I know from experience that even if I can overpower her I can't do that and take care of her groupies at the same time.”

“Well, only two ways around that,” Discord replied, visage back to normal and long upper body craning around both sides of Midnight at the same time.

“Either get on her good side and stab her in the back when she's alone,” said the Discord on Midnight's left.

“Or set up a distraction to lure her little sheep away,” said the Discord on Midnight's right. “It's your choice.”

Then both Discords were gone, and then Discord was under Midnight, rising up with her on his head. Mid – no, Twilight – yelped in fear, and Sunset glared at Daybreaker when she snickered again.

“Luckily, we have plenty of time to work out the-” he stopped abruptly and his whole body suddenly spasmed, bending and twisting at painful-looking angles- “kinks in the plan.” He snapped his fingers, and suddenly Twilight was standing next to Sunset, and Discord was in front of them.

“Well then!” he said, his tone and expression suddenly jolly. “Was that satisfactory, Miss Sparkle? Care to sort out the finer details with me? Perhaps over some nice tea?” He pulled off his ram's horn and used it to pour tea into a porcelain cup he'd produced from nothing. He offered it to Twilight, who stared into the liquid as wide as her head and grimaced.

“Umm...,” Twilight said, biting her lip uncertainly.

She'll say yes, Sunset thought. I know she will. How couldn't she? She's a Twilight. Besides, it's not like Midnight seems interested in stopping her from rushing recklessly into battle against an incredibly powerful foe that honestly isn't her responsibility to do anything about.

That's... pretty much what Twilights always end up doing. Even...

Sunset looked up; she knew Twilight – the one she was with now – had said something to Discord, was looking up at him with a resolute expression, but she couldn't work out what. All she could think about was her Twilight, what had happened back then, where she could possibly be now...

The realization struck her like lightning, and she silently cursed herself for not recalling Adagio's words sooner – clearly, Sunset was getting soft. She glanced at the Talisman hanging around Daybreaker's neck, and felt a fire reignite inside herself.

“Hey!” Sunset barked, striding forward without fear, her gaze locked on Discord. He looked back at her with an amused expression. “I just remembered! You know where my Twilight is, don't you?”

Discord grinned, and shared a look with his equally-grinning disciple. “You really aren't very quick, are you?” Daybreaker said.

Sunset glared daggers at her. “Whatever. Just take me to her, and I promise I'll do whatever it is you want.”

“Ooh, I've been waiting for this part,” Discord said with a quick and giddy clap. “And since you've been so generous as to pay up front, I think I'll take you there right away!”

He raised his paw, and snapped his fingers.

Sunset found herself – as well as Daybreaker, Midnight, and Discord – on top of a grassy hill. It was almost stereotypically scenic; cool wind, cloudless blue sky, mountains in the distance, and hints of a village in a valley to her right. Even the quaint little cottage standing in front of her, although the satellite dish sticking out of the roof was a little jarring.

At least she had a killer mohawk now, if her brief feel-around of the top of her head was any indication. Plus Midnight was a pony again.

“Oh, Twily-poo!” Discord leaned forward and practically sang at the front door. “Guess who's here to see you!”

It wasn't even a second before a unicorn appeared in front of them in the telltale puff of teleportation residue. She looked up at Discord with excitement on her muzzle, saying “Boss! It's-”

She was exactly as Sunset remembered her, from the notch in her left ear to the mane cut short so it wouldn't get caught when they were on the run. Even the angry glare she leveled when she caught sight of Sunset was familiar, as was the bitterness in her voice as she spat out, “You.”

In that moment, Twilight was all that mattered to Sunset. She didn't notice the looks that Daybreaker and Midnight were giving her, nor Discord's smile. Just the mare in front of her, the hair rising on the back of her neck, and the fire raging inside her.

“Yeah. Me,” she spat back, taking a step forward. “You've got a lot to answer for, Twilight!”

Twilight let out a short, bitter laugh. “Oh please! Don't act like you're the innocent victim here! My brother had to seal himself away because of you!”

The rage in her eyes and the pain of the memories it drug up was enough to stop Sunset cold, but the words she heard next were enough to stop time entirely.

“Twily? What's wrong?”

Five pairs of eyes whipped as one to the cottage doorway as it opened, revealing another Sunset with her mane tied back tight and an apron that read 'Cooking with Sunny' on the front. She fell silent, staring dumbfounded at the party assembled on her doorstep.

Discord was the one who spoke first, and Sunset could hear him smiling. “Well! If it isn't a double dose of universal reunions! I never would have guessed."

"Wait, really?" Daybreaker said, because Sunset was too confused to do so herself.

"Yes indeedily!" Discord replied, practically giddy. "Two thieves from one universe," he said, swirling around Sunset and her Twilight before changing course to circle around the other pair. "And two ex-humans from the other!"

Sunset looked at Midnight and the other Sunset, who were now staring at one another in open-mouthed shock.

"What."

Chapter 17 - Cyrano

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Twilight rapped her hooves nervously on the sturdy wooden table. Sitting across from her, looking about as confused and uncomfortable as she felt, was Sunset Shimmer. Her Sunset Shimmer.

“I would have thought your Sunset Shimmer was the preppy one from back home. Or maybe the broody thief.”

As much as Twilight hated to admit it, Midnight did have a point. If she’d been asked a week ago who her Sunset Shimmer was, she probably would have said that one can’t own another person, but since she only knew one Sunset Shimmer, there wasn’t much of a choice. If she’d been asked an hour ago, the answer would have been a little more tricky. Yes, she had known the Sunset Shimmer from back home longer, but she was on a life-altering multiverse adventure with this Sunset Shimmer.

But now…

“Why not all three? I wouldn’t mind having more Sunsets around, and it’s not as if there’s a shortage...”

“Cut it out,” muttered Twilight.

“I’m sorry?”

Realizing she’d spoken aloud, Twilight clapped her hooves over her mouth.

“Nothing!”

The word was little more than a muffled squeak, prompting Sunset to give her an incredulous look.

“How long is this going to take?”

Daybreaker stood by the door, keeping a careful eye on both Twilight and Sunset. Her presence had been a compromise between the other Twilight and Sunset, neither of whom trusted the other enough to put their companions alone in a room together, but whose bickering made any conversation between the two impossible. Now that they were (mostly) alone in the cottage’s rustic kitchen, there was a new problem.

“What do I say to her?”

“I have a few suggestions.”

Twilight didn’t respond.

“Well, why ask if you’re just going to ignore me?”

Sunset Shimmer cleared her throat. “So, this is kind of awkward.”

“Tell me about it,” laughed Twilight. “I thought I was getting used to meeting alternate versions of myself and my friends, but here you are: the Sunset Shimmer from my world.”

Sunset waved a hoof. “Please, just call me Sunny, everyone else does. Besides, it’s going to make this a lot less confusing.”

“Alright, Sunny, how did you meet Twilight—not me, obviously, I mean—”

“Twily,” said Sunny, cutting her off.

“What?” asked Twilight. She could practically hear Daybreaker rolling her eyes.

“Just call her Twily. Sunny and Twily. It’ll make everything—”

“Less confusing,” finished Twilight. “Right.”

“I’m starting to doubt that.”

“Anyway,” Sunny continued, “tell me if this sounds familiar: a lonesome girl shows up on your doorstep with a busted Talismen and a broken heart. She can fix the portal tech, but needs help with the—”

“Underlying magic transfer tech. But how did you…?”

Sunny smiled. “Swap those around and you have the first project Twily and I ever worked on together. Voyagers talk a lot about constants, but parallels are just as common. Twily probably thinks Sunset brought you here as some sort of trick to steal me away from her, but I knew better.” She looked at Twilight suspiciously. “I did know better, right?”

“No.”

“Yes!” Twilight wore her least conspicuous smile, doing her best to ignore Midnight’s cackling in their head. “I mean, you were pretty close; Sunset appeared in my room, not at my doorstep, and she was bleeding and… you know, now that I look back on it, it was actually pretty scary.”

“So, how long have you two been together?”

Twilight gawked at Sunny.

“Travelling together. I know time can get a bit messy, so just give me your best estimate.”

“Right,” said Twilight, feeling the blush creeping its way onto her cheeks. “Well, first we were ponies, then deer, then humans again...” Worlds mashed together as Twilight tried to construct a mental timeline of their adventures. “I did get knocked out for a while in Applejack’s living room, so… a day? Maybe two? It feels like a lot longer.”

Sunny blinked at her. “You went to four worlds in two days?”

“No, of course not!” Twilight did the math in her head. “More like eleven. Twelve if you count my world.”

“Wow,” said Sunny.

“Our world, Sorry.”

“That’s not what I… never mind. Besides, it’s not exactly my world anymore, is it?”

It was Twilight’s turn to look confused. “What do you mean?”

Sunny sighed. “It might only have been two days since you left, Twilight, but for me it’s been closer to two years. I didn’t have any friends or family back there, and the only thing I left behind was my apartment—which I was renting, by the way, so I’m pretty sure I’ve been evicted.”

“Why is she telling us all this?”

“You’re probably wondering why I’m telling you all this.” Twilight bit her lip but said nothing. “The point is, that world is no more mine than you are my Twilight. This is my world, my cottage, and out there is my Twilight, who is probably doing her best not to murder your Sunset while we talk.”

“One of my Sunsets,”quipped Midnight.

“Speaking of which,” said Twilight. “I do have a question to ask you about, you know, them.”

“Here we go,” said Daybreaker, earning her glares from both Twilight and Sunny. “What? Lots of Voyagers break up, most of them don’t air their dirty laundry across the multiverse.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed and she felt herself being pushed back into the recesses of her mind as Midnight asserted her control. “Isn’t your ex currently on an interdimensional quest to break up literally every set of Twilights and Sunsets?”

“Midnight!”

“What? It’s true!”

“She’s got you there,” said Sunny.

“Yeah,” said Daybreak, rubbing her neck with an armored hoof, “she does.”

“See?”

The interruption dealt with, Sunny turned her attention back to Twilight. “What was your question?”

“Just… what happened between them? Sunset said Twilight—sorry, Twily—dumped her on some world that wasn’t hers.”

“Dumped in more ways than one,” muttered Daybreaker, earning her another set of glares. “Okay, shutting up now.”

Sunny looked out the window kitchen window, and for a moment Twilight believed she’d lost herself in the rolling plains. “It’s not my story to tell, but if you’re going to be travelling with her, you deserve to know both sides.” She looked back at Twilight, all mirth from their interaction with Daybreaker drained from her face. “Twily did abandon Sunset, but from the way she tells it, it was more than Sunset deserved.”

Twilight opened her mouth to argue, but Sunny held up a hoof, cutting her off. “I’m not saying she did or didn’t, I’m just telling the story. It’s no secret that neither of them were angels—they were thieves, after all—but Twily held them to certain standards: never steal from their world, only steal from people and ponies who deserved it (whatever that means), and never bring anything back if they weren’t one hundred percent sure it was safe. She fancied herself the multiverse’s equivalent of Robin Hood.”

“Who?” asked Daybreaker.

“I understood,” said Twilight.

“Sunset had, well, let’s call them different standards. Things worked for a while, Sunset put up with Twily’s heroism, and Twily pretended not to know about the room in her castle where Sunset stashed the trinkets she brought back from their adventures. But then something happened.”

“What?”

“Sunset took something she shouldn’t have.”

Twilight gave her a blank look.

“Yeah, I know, they probably shouldn’t have taken most of what they did, but this was different. Whatever it was that she took, there was something inside of it. I tried getting the details out of Twilight—Twily, sorry, now I’m doing it—but she just gets a faraway look in her eyes and says this:

“Monsters can be fought, plagues cured, and curses broken, but what Sunset unleashed on our world was something far, far worse.”

“Pretty vague,” said Midnight. Twilight scolded her mentally.

“Yeah, well, it’s all I’ve got to go on. Besides, Twilight might not be able to describe it any better because she wasn’t actually there to see it.”

“What do you mean?”

“You see, whatever it was, it didn’t emerge until Sunset and Twily were visiting another universe, and without them there… well, let’s just say that castles and cities can be rebuilt. Honestly, when I first heard about the destruction that was caused, I was surprised there weren’t more casualties. In our world, in a disaster like that, they would have numbered in the thousands, but in their world there was only one.”

“Shining Armor,” said Twilight, remembering Twily’s scathing remarks to Sunset.

“Right,” said Sunny. “What they needed was Friendship Magic, but without Twily and Sunset there to help, they had to improvise. I’ve heard it said that Shining Armor has some of the most powerful protection magic in the multiverse, and Twily claims her’s was the best of the best. Using the power of an artifact called The Crystal Heart, Shining Armor did what no one else could, and erected a glowing prison in the sky strong enough to contain the entity. Unfortunately, Shining’s power makes shields, not tombs, meaning he had to be at its center.”

“But if Shining Armor was trapped in there with it, why didn’t it just kill him and escape?” asked Midnight.

“Good question. He put himself into some sort of stasis—invulnerable, but completely unaware of the outside world. He knew going in that this was a one way trip, a sacrifice that he made willingly to save countless lives, including those of his wife and child.”

“His child?”

“Now, how is your relationship with your Shining Armor?”

“He’s my brother,” said Twilight. “Sure, he can be a doofus, but I love him more than anything. How couldn’t I?”

“You’d be surprised,” said Sunny, grimly. “Anyway, now imagine that you get home from this adventure and he’s in prison—a prison where you can never see him again. You find out later that your testimony in his trial was all that stood between a conviction and going free. Could you ever forgive Sunset for taking you away?”

“I—”

“I’m not done. Now, imagine that Sunset shows absolutely no remorse for her actions, and that every time you look up into the sky you see a glowing reminder of her guilt—of your guilt—nearly the size of the moon. I ask again: could you ever forgive her?”

Twilight didn’t respond.

“So, Twily and Sunset left their world, Twily dumped Sunset, and the rest is history.” Sunny stood up from the table and approached the door, craning her neck to look back at Twilight. “Twily is healing. It’s slow, and sometimes it causes almost unbearable pain, but she is healing. I’d like to believe that Sunset is healing, too, and that coming here was a way for her to get closure and not some petty plan for revenge, but whatever this is… it has to end.

“It’s been nice meeting you, Twilight.” The corners of her mouth turned up into a barely perceptible smile. “Say goodbye to your world for me.”

The scene outside the cottage was… chaotic.

A pair of enormous earmuffs straddled the cottage, presumably (and inexplicably) soundproofing it against the argument that had been going on outside. But that was only the beginning of the madness.

To her left, Twilight observed a bouncy castle not unlike the one she’d seen at Pinkie Pie’s last birthday party, except there did not appear to be a way in or out. Inside, through the semi-translucent walls, she could see the silhouette of Sunset Shimmer (the mohawk was a dead giveaway) who wasn’t bouncing, but whose enraged breathing appeared to be making her bob slowly up and down on the inflated floor.

To Twilight’s right stood a towering statue of a mare—Fluttershy, if Twilight had to guess from the mane—made entirely of wicker. Within its chest, behind what appeared to be a row of prison bars, sat a very disgruntled looking Twily who glowered down at them from above.

Discord, who had been lounging in a massive hammock between two trees that almost certainly hadn't been there earlier, tipped up a pair of dark sunglass and regarded the trio.

“Oh dear, is it time to go already?” They nodded. In a blink of the eye, Discord was no longer in his hammock, and instead was dressed as a police officer, spinning a pair of handcuffs (hoofcuffs?) around a chitinous claw. “Alright, inmates, looks like you’re being bailed out!” He snapped the fingers on his monkey paw, freeing Sunset and Twily for their respective prisons. They stumbled, gave each other hateful looks, but as they turned to face their companions, Discord put a claw on Sunset’s shoulder.

“Now, miss Shimmer, I’ve held up my end of the bargain and I’m ready to receive payment for services rendered.” A bill appeared midair before her, bearing a poorly drawn image of a Lady Sparkle, only with jagged teeth and a pair of overly exaggerated (and angry) eyebrows.

“I get it, we’ll get you your Alicorn, just give us a minute,” said Sunset, crumpling the bill with her magic before turning to address Twilight. “I hope you got what you needed.”

“Did you?”

Sunset gave a lingering look back at Twily, sighed, and nodded.

“This chapter of my life is over. Now, let’s go write a better one.”

Chapter 18 - Dubs Rewatcher

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Now wearing the garb of a Prench military general, Discord thrust his inflatable sword into the air. “Allons-y, mademoiselles!” he cried. “Le Lady Sparkle awaits!”

How do you think he’d sound with that sword shoved down his throat?

Twilight flinched. Back home, she'd always described anxiety as like having a voice in her head, constantly dragging her down. But nothing could have prepared her for having a literal voice in her head. Twilight took a deep breath, but Midnight spoke over the whish of inhaling. Not even the clanking clatter of Daybreaker’s armor could drown out the she-demon.

Oh, you still want to drown me out? What a pity. I thought we were really bonding!

Twilight snorted and whispered, “As if I’d ever bond with you.”

She took a step, but a chill wrapped around her gut and her forehooves shot off in separate directions. She hit the ground with a dirt-mouthed grunt.

Keep up that attitude, and there’ll be more where that came from.

Twilight just grumbled and picked herself back up.

The party of four headed away from Twily and Sunny’s house, out to an empty field nearby. Discord had warned that his teleportation methods could be “explosive,” and that hopping between dimensions was no easy feat. If this plan was going to work, he needed space, fresh air, and a tall glass of lemon-tinted iced tea. “An artist’s most important tools,” he’d mused.

So the group trudged, over hills and through the valley, headed for a clear spot Daybreaker had scouted.

As they walked, Twilight kept an eye on Sunset. The mohawked mare walked like Spike after being caught chewing Mom’s shoes: head drooped, ears flat, and gaze cast down. She’d been silent for minutes now. Whatever she and Twily had talked about must have hurt. Bad.

Very poetic.

Twilight imagined herself soccer-punting Midnight into a garbage can.

The sight of Sunset moping hung heavy on Twilight. The two of them weren’t exactly best friends, sure, but adventuring through the multiverse together had at least made them allies. And if hours playing Ogres & Oubliettes through online chatrooms filled with emotionally unstable thirty-year-old men had taught her anything, it was that being a true ally meant lending an open ear.

She drew close to Sunset. “Hey. Are you alright?”

“I think you can answer that yourself,” said Sunset, voice flat.

It took a moment for Twilight to process. “You’re… sad?”

Sunset shot Twilight a slicing look. She sped up.

Twilight hurried after her. “I just want to help,” she said through a huff. “What’s wrong? What did you and Twily talk about?”

Sunset sucked on her bottom lip. Twilight recognized that tic; her own Sunset did it whenever she was nervous. “Nothing, really,” she said finally, speeding up once again. “We just caught up. She’s happy, and I’m—well, I’m fine. Everything’s fine. Now I just need to focus on getting you home.”

“Right.” Twilight paused for a moment, caught in a memory of her original universe—Goddess, how she missed her bedroom, water stains on the ceiling and all—but then ran to catch up. She didn’t need to be a social butterfly to understand that Sunset was still hiding something.

There are easier ways to make her confess.

I’m not trying to make her do anything, Twilight thought back. I’m trying to help. She raised a hoof. “Sunset, please, can we talk?”

“Sparky, how about you leave me alone for a bit?” said Sunset, raising her voice. “Twilight—Twily and I talked in private for a reason. Calm down.”

Twilight cringed back. “Oh. Okay, sorry.”

Goddess above, you’re pathetic.

A familiar chill washed over Twilight as her control slipped away. Midnight, what are you—

“Let me guess,” said Midnight, scratching her chin. “She still blames you for killing her brother?”

The entire group stopped. Daybreaker stared, and even Discord gaped. But Sunset—Sunset just stood, looking like she’d been pushed in front of a truck. “What?”

Stop, Midnight! Please!

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Midnight smirked, tapped her chin. “I suppose you didn’t kill him, per se. You merely left him to trap himself in a magic prison for all of eternity. Quite different.”

Inside, Twilight screamed.

Sunset’s gaze sharpened into a lobotomizing glare. She stomped up to Midnight, her breathing hard, violent. “You’d better shut up,” she hissed. “What happened to Shining was not my—”

“And did you return whatever it was you stole?” Midnight asked.

Sunset’s face went from pink to bloody red.

The chill disappeared, and Twilight found herself back in control of her speech and movement.

I got her to start talking. Enjoy, Little Miss Friendship!

Twilight backed up. “Oh gosh, Sunset, I swear that wasn’t—”

“I don’t care. Why don’t both of you just mind your own business?” Sunset said, jumping forward fast enough to send Twilight falling back. “I don’t know what that snake of a Sunset told you, but it’s wrong.”

Twilight tried to spit out a meek “Okay,” but couldn’t find her voice.

“I don’t need your help or your pity. Were it up to me, I would have dumped you off in some backwater universe ages ago. We’re not friends, and you don’t know anything, so leave me alone!” Sunset’s voice echoed down the valley like a cannon’s boom.

Twilight cowered in her shadow, eyes shut tight, not wanting to cry, trying not to cry, waiting for the onslaught to end.

“Oh, now you’ve got nothing to say?” said Sunset.

Twilight searched deep for a rebuttal. She found nothing of the sort. What she did find, however, was a memory—a memory that had since taken on new meaning.

As Sunset scoffed and turned away, Twilight managed to open her mouth. “You were looking.”

Sunset looked back over her shoulder. “What?”

“When we met, you told me you were looking for something.” Twilight stood on shaky legs. “What—what is it?”

Sunset’s eyes widened.

Discord popped in between the two of them. “Girls, girls, stop! Your interdimensional drama is as juicy as it comes, but could we please save it for the reunion show? We’ve got work to do!”

“He’s right,” said Daybreaker. “We need to find Lady Sparkle, and quickly.”

Twilight and Sunset kept their gazes locked for a moment more before breaking. Sunset growled and stormed away, while Twilight just picked herself up and sighed. She imagined grabbing a baseball bat and beating Midnight into pulp.

Daybreaker took a curt glance around the open field. “This should be good enough. All clear.”

“Hold on tight, ladies,” Discord said, adjusting his seatbelt. He snapped his fingers, and the world around them melted into white. “Time for the main event!”

The first thing Twilight noticed was the rain, cold and soaking deep into her coat. The second was the taste of concrete on her tongue.

She yelped and leapt to her hooves, gasping for air as consciousness returned to her. She and the others had landed on a dark, rainy street, somewhere in Lady Sparkle’s world. The scene looked like something out of one of her cyberpunk novels. Endlessly tall skyscrapers surrounded them, awash with the flickering glow of neon signs and orange streetlights.

Discord twisted himself up like a corkscrew, popping what sounded like every joint in his spine at once. “Next time we teleport, remind me not to fly coach.” Meanwhile, Daybreaker trotted to-and-fro, darting glances down the street, around corners, up at windows, like an impatient child waiting for candy.

Sunset cast a spell and shielded herself, Discord, and Daybreaker from the rain. Twilight tried to join in, but found no space under the umbrella.

“Now what?” Sunset asked. “Where do we go?”

“The Lady’s throne. Remember, this is a sneaking mission,” said Discord, donning a leopard-print leotard. “Try not to get caught.”

The ear-wrenching sound of sirens erupted from every corner of the city. Twilight shrieked and hit the deck, while Sunset and Discord tensed their legs.

A familiar army of Twilights poured onto the street, surrounding them. Their horns were lit up bright, ready to incinerate the intruders with magic at a moment’s notice. And above them all, high in the darkened sky, opened a pair of massive violet eyes.

“Greetings,” came Lady Sparkle’s voice from the clouds, drilling into Twilight’s skull. “Twilight, Sunset. And Discord—it’s been a long time. You all look well.”

“But how?” Sunset asked. “How did she know we would be right here—aaugh!”

Twilight gasped as Daybreaker bucked Sunset hard in the side. Sunset crumpled, while Daybreaker laughed and ran to the army. Everypony watched as her armor, skin, mane, dissolved. Seconds later, she was indistinguishable from any of the other Twilights.

“Daybreaker, my ‘original’ Sunset,” said Lady Sparkle. She laughed hard enough to shake the city. “As if I would leave somepony so close to me alive.”

“But—but Daybreaker!” Discord said, looking like his favorite puppy had just been revealed as an interdimensional double agent terrorist. “Our plans, our long talks over PB&J sandwiches… our sponge baths! I thought what we had was special!”

The Daybreaker-turned-Twilight blew a raspberry.

“Surrender now,” Lady Sparkle said, “and I will take care to kill you in one shot.”

Twilight could barely hold herself up. She felt Midnight raging, grabbing for control.

Sunset, teeth bared, sidled closer to Discord. “So, escape plan? Or are we ready to take them out?”

“Neither,” whispered Discord. “I need a few more minutes before I can teleport between dimensions again. And there must be close to a million Twilights in this city—not even I could take them all.”

The army of Twilights took a unified step forward.

“So what do we do?” Twilight asked, hyperventilating.

Discord stayed silent. Then he looked down at Twilight. “Combine and conquer?”

Twilight blinked. “What?”

Shrinking his insectoid arm down to the size of a paper towel tube, Discord leaned over and shoved his claw deep into Twilight’s ear. Twilight had the urge to scream, but was too stunned to even take a breath. A moment later, he grunted, twisted his claw, and pulled out a flaming blue orb.

Twilight gasped and jumped back, throwing a hoof to her head. What did he do? What is that? What did he…?

For the first time in too long, Twilight realized, Midnight had stopped talking.

Discord had ripped Midnight out of Twilight’s brain.

He held the orb up high, letting its ghostly light shine through the night. The Twilight Army stopped, scrambling backwards. Even Lady Sparkle’s eyes, huge as they already were, went wider.

What was he going to do with it?. Maybe throw it down and spark a magical explosion? Or create a portal to throw the army into another dimension? She grinned and braced herself, waiting for whatever awesome stunt Discord was about to—

“Bottoms up!” Discord said. He ate Midnight.

He ate Midnight.

Twilight and Sunset’s jaws fell loose.

The entire universe seemed to shift at that; Twilight felt a pulse of invisible energy pass over her one way then back again, like the push and pull of an ocean wave.

Discord grunted, doubled over, grasping at his stomach—then opened his eyes. They’d taken on a piercing gray-blue aura.

“Twice the power,” he said, standing up straight. He snapped a finger and was now wearing Midnight Sparkle’s outfit, exposed cleavage and miniskirt included. “Twice the sex appeal!”

Chapter 19 - Cynewulf

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Some shocks can be processed by simply locking them up in a box and reserving the panic they deserve for a more opportune moment. Some shocks come in waves, peaking in intensity like the beating of a vast malevolent heart. Some bring us to our knees, or steal our breath away. But some shocks go beyond all others. Some are simply so out there that the uninitiated have no way of even comprehending them.

So it was that Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer found themselves staring in bewilderment at the absurdity before them.

“Oh.”

That was Sunset.

“Did…?”

Sunset nodded dumbly. Which was wasted, because no one saw it. All eyes were on the abomination before them, the draconequus ascended to some stranger, slightly more unsettling form. He had always been cartoonish in his antics and form. But this was somehow so overly silly and cartoonish as to be unnerving in the same way that the strangely lit smiling figures in certain amusement park rides had about them.

Discord looked around, shrugging his shoulders and making little “Eh? Eh?” sounds as if hoping at any moment, the crowded audience would begin to applaud.

Finally, he sighed and wilted just a bit. “Really? Nothing? That had something for literally everyone. The surreal, the comedic, the surprising! I was expecting, I don’t know, a guffaw perhaps? A chortle? A cheer? Ah,” he scoffed and smoothed out Midnight’s--or, perhaps it was now his own?--dress with exaggerated huffiness.

The Twilight at the End of the World, the Final Twilight, recovered first. She manifested physically in an explosion of magic. The alicorn reared up and from all directions, the army of Twilights charged.

It was, perhaps far too literally, chaos.

Twilight, the only one not in the hands of a mad goddess, found herself pushed along as Sunset tried to move them away from the epicenter of a magical hurricane. Twilights swarmed around them both, no longer interested in them in the slightest. She felt her head swim trying to parse that, to come to terms with being unescapably several’d. Something about being in the midst of them, seeing face after face, tugged at her sanity. It was if they were blurring together literally, and...

No, it wasn’t just her. Something was horribly wrong everywhere. She had thought it a trick of the mind, but reality itself was warped. The impossibly tall skyscrapers bent as if seen through shaped glass, and flickered strangely from color to color. The street beneath their hooves sloped first one way, then another.

Something… something broke. Perhaps it had always been breaking, since the moment that Sunset had tumbled in from god knows where, bleeding and frantic. There was a certainty about things. She was, in her own way, a scientist. The world was a machine and one could shift it into gear if only the manual were studied. Things made sense.

“Sparky! Sparky, you… oh Celestia, hey, you with me?”

Sparky.

Behind her, she heard the cries of unknown numbers of Twilights. She heard herself repeating ten thousand times over a dozen battlecries as the Twilight at the End of the World battled the delightedly laughing Discord. She heard all sorts of things, but her mind latched onto that one word. Sparky.

“Sparky, are you with me? We gotta… you gotta… oh, what the hell? What the hell, this is just--”

Before she had been Sparky. That was when things made sense. When they were normal. When 2 and 2 made 4, and when Sunset Shimmer wasn’t an interdimensional thief, and there weren’t millions of her or of anyone because there was only one, and…

“That’s it! That’s it! I can’t do this any more!” Sunset backed away, lighting her horn. She pulled the TPT desperately, and started to shout something.

Twilight snapped.

She summoned every ounce of her magic she could. She called it up and willed into a furious scream. Light exploded out from her and where it touched, the constant shifting of reality stopped.

Sparky and Sunset stood in the eye of an impossible storm.

Both of them stood facing each other, panting, still trying to come to grasp with… well, everything. Even as reality obeyed its own laws, she still felt her own mind slip one way and then another. She felt off-kilter.

“How did you… No, I guess the real question,” Sunset Shimmer said, “Is what in Harmony’s name is going on here anymore?”

Twilight, trembling, shook her head. “I don’t know. Midnight is gone. She’s not in my head. I’m… I think it did something to me.” The mare took a breath, and then continued. “Right now, we have some kind of… of Discord-Midnight Sparkle thing happening. I think that’s what’s happening. A version of me that wants to break the multiverse by breaking up every pair of us ever that can exist ever in any way is fighting the Thing. The Spar...DiscNight? The…”

“Chaos Sparkle?” Sunset offered.

“I… you know what?” She laughed deliriously. “Yeah, honestly that’s a pretty great name. Chaos Sparkle and Final Twilight. Fighting. That’s… that’s happening. We can’t run. Even if we could, we have to stop this. We don’t know what… what will happen if she gets her way? What if she wins? What if that Twilight beats Chaos itself? Do you want her in charge of existence?”

Sunset growled, “Weren’t you wanting to go home? Wasn’t that your number one goal? Well, these two are going to conjure up some major magical artillery and personally, I think any chance we had of getting anything done is--”

Twilight took a step forward.

“I do want to go home. I… I don’t like this.” She gestured all around her. “Not just this, right now. All of it. I’m tired of being constantly in danger. I’m tired of not knowing what to think of you and of myself, and of the two of us!”

“Then why not?” Shimmer dug out the TPT and magicked it into the air. “Climb aboard!”

“We can’t, it’s--”

“Look! The magic in the air, the chaos? I don’t know, but look at this thing. It’s hot, Sparky. We can just slide off.”

Twilight took a deep breath, or tried to. “I… Sunset, something is wrong.”

She tried to say more. Her mind was rioting. Emotions came and then went, as if the part of her that had once sustained them hadn’t quite rebooted. Behind them, there was an explosion that she felt the heat of on the back of her neck. They couldn’t stay here. Not this close.

“Yeah, that’s wrong!” Sunset pointed frantically towards the titanic struggle. Twilight turned and saw the final alicorn and the newly minted god of chaos and apparently Twilight’s libido flying into the air, circling each other and brimming with power. They were like twinned comets locked in vicious dance. “Look. You coming?”

“I… no, I mean…”

Sunset’s brow furrowed. There was another explosion high above them.

“Come. Don’t come. I’ve got nothing either way,” she spat. “My Twilight is just… gone. As far as I’m concerned. These Twilights are… doing whatever. Who even cares? We can just bail. Keep dialing and get you home and then I can do whatever, life goes on, gotta slide. All that. Or maybe we just keep going, huh? You? Me? This thing here? Come on! Game over, Twilight.”

Another explosion. Around them, the last Twilight’s impossible city was beginning to buckle under the strain.

“Can you really get me home?” Twilight asked. She swayed a little. “If you can get me home, then let’s go. But I’m… I think Discord messed something up, and I can’t really handle parsing out the truth, so I need you to tell me. Can you really get me home? Is that something you can do?”

Sunset’s mouth opened. It closed. She worked her jaw.

Twilight began to shiver.

“Eventually,” Sunset said. “Eventually.”

“She was what you were looking for, wasn’t it? You dragged me along with you… no, you didn’t, did you?” She laughed bitterly. “I set off the TPT, didn’t I? But you would have done it anyway. You can’t get me back. You never could. I made a mistake, and now I’m stuck with you forever. And you would have done it too. I’m just another Twilight, aren’t I?”

Sunset flinched as if she’d been struck. She tried to speak, and then she clenched her teeth. She squeezed her eyes shut. “I… I didn’t… It’s not like I can’t. I can’t, like, right this second! And you aren’t just--I mean, look, all of you aren’t just exchangeable! I never meant that!”

The earth shook.

Obviously exasperated, Sunset shouted, “You can come. You can not come. I don’t care. I’m out. I’m out of all of this.”

Twilight swallowed. Her head swam. Her thoughts came in confused double-lines. She felt certain Sunset was lying. But she was just as certain that Sunset wouldn’t lie to her, not like that. Not about that. She tried to reason it out, but she couldn’t. Not now. Not with all of this. It was jump or don’t jump. Trust or not trust. Sunset or whatever was behind her.

Sunset held up the restored TPT, but she didn’t activate it. Her chest heaved. Her eyes were… pleading. She said she would leave Twilight behind, but her eyes were like prayers. That would have to do for now. Jump it was.

Twilight took a listless step forward. She squeezed her eyes shut and the light bled through them as Sunset sent them elsewhere.

Discord and the last alicorn dueled.

The city of Twilights was in ruins. The ground had swallowed it up. Jagged spires, half gone, dotted the polka dotted and taffy landscape. Fire and devastation side by side with chocolate rivers and lemon trees that bore only pumpkins that sang slightly off key. Cats and dogs living together.

More succinctly, everything was chaos.

Discord, true to their name, decided that it was absolutely wonderful. It was perfect. It was everything they had dreamed of and more. Midnight Sparkle knew what it was to be absolutely unleashed, and Discord knew what it was to be at the center of an entire world in chaos once again.

“Is that all you’ve got?” They cried aloud, in a twinned voice. “Come on, Twilight!”

The alicorn didn’t use words. They were less efficient than arcane blasts. Discord dodged them all, making sure to glance behind to see their lovely arcs wreak havoc. Below, an army of Twilights struggled in futility in now somewhat molten chocolate, which was worse yet tastier than any quicksand trap. Wonderful! Better than he had ever hoped!

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner!” They cackled with glee as they conjured up a perfectly mint-condition Challenger 2 tank, complete with a tea kettle nestled inside. They hurled it at the alicorn, who flew up at them like a missle, cutting through the armored vehicle and continuing on like Achilles.

It didn’t matter how many tanks she cut in twain, or how many armies of brainwashed Twilights she commanded. They’d let him in! And given him prime access to perhaps the greatest treasure of all: a piece of the pie. A volatile shard of universal kismet. Midnight herself. And now he and she were Chaos itself. The more she fought, the more the chaos spread, like putting out a fire with flour.

Where would it go? Why, anywhere. Everywhere.

You know I can’t last that long like this, right?

Ha! Of course not. You were never meant to be your own thing for long. You’re a part of a system. An overgrown part! A vital part! But just a part. Never a whole. You know that.

Cackling, Discord did a loop and dodged another blast. And count on the persistence of Twilight Sparkle in a rage to not notice that she was just helping the spread! This had definitely turned out better than could have been hoped for! Another blast, and another gleeful dodge.

Think of it this way! You’re not long for being awake, and I’m not exactly going to let The Fussy One remake everything in her image. Two birds with one stone, right? One last hurrah?

So: you, me, one last battle and the job’s done. You know… I kind of like it. Sounds fun. I lock this bitch down with you, I can fade away happy.

Multiverse, here they came. They’d give the final Twilight enough rope to hang on, and have fun doing it. If anyone was going to break multiverse-spanning rules of reality, it was going to be them that did it.

And a bit of chaos here and there afterward?

Oh definitely.

Chapter 20 - AllyKitty (Rose Quill)

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The portal dumped Sunset and Twilight into a darkening world, the song of crickets and other life gently wafting on the air. Groaning, she pushed herself up and glanced around.. Tall grass and reeds surrounded them, the dim haze of a forest barely visible. Warm pinks and reds spanned the sky as the sun set and the stars began to come out.

Human here, she thought with a glance down at herself. She felt something around her neck and she pulled at it, revealing a long braided length of her fiery hair, wrapped around her neck like a scarf.

“Ok.” Sunset glanced at the Talisman to check the recharge indicator. “We’re safe for now, Sparky.”

No response. She turned and blinked at her companion.

Twilight shivered on the ground, almost as if she were freezing. Her skin was pale and her eyelids were fluttering. Sunset gawked at the short horn sprouting from the bookworm’s head, but concern overrode the notice.

“Sparky!” Sunset bent down and turned the delirious girl’s head. “Sparky, you ok?” The girl's skin was burning to the touch.

Twilight’s eyes fluttered open, and Sunset gasped. What had once been a vivid purple gaze now seemed muted or washed out, as though someone had taken an eraser to the color in her eyes, but hadn't finished.

“Don’t… call me… that,” Twilight rasped, her voice quiet. “Why is it… so cold?”

Sunset thought quickly. Twilight had been reeling from Discord ripping Midnight from her head, but in her panic she hadn’t considered side effects from having a hand shoved into one’s mind. She cursed for triggering a jump like she had. She still felt the fear of the world bending under Chaos Sparkle’s magic and the sight of two powerful beings clashing.

Sunset had been the one to suggest they flee, but Twilight had agreed!

“Hold on, Twilight,” she said softly, glancing around. “We’re safe for the moment. Just take it easy for right now.” She laid the jacket she had been given over the shivering woman before going to run her hand through her hair and was stopped when it connected with a horn of her own.

“Is she all right?” asked a soft voice said from behind her.

Sunset spun, her horn flaring with light. A robed figure with furled midnight wings stood behind her. Sunset took a step between her and the prostrate Twilight.

“What do you want?” she asked as she dropped into a low crouch. She could see the flickering light of her magic shifting between red and teal on the ground around her.

Sunset had already caused enough harm to Twilight, to more than just this one behind her.

She would be damned if she let it continue.

The figure took a step forward, hands raised. “I am merely curious. It is not often you find someone out here injured.” She paused and studied Twilight. “I am somewhat versed in the healing arts. May I take a look?”

Sunset hesitated briefly. She kept her horn lit as she moved to the side to let the hooded woman come over. Still, she didn’t take her eyes off the newcomer and stayed close enough to reach out if needed. “Help her if you can. Make a wrong move, and you’ll wish I had killed you instead.”

The stranger seemed unaffected as she placed a hand on Twilight’s forehead, a fingertip to either side of her horn.

“What is her name?” the woman asked.

“What’s yours?” Sunset fired back.

“A fair point,” the woman responded, lowering her hood to reveal a short silver hair framing a youthful face, horn almost hidden in her bangs. Despite the young face, she held a calm wisdom in her posture. Something about it was familiar, something about her wavy hair and turquoise eyes pricked at her mind. What the answer was, however, remained just out of reach.

“My name is Serena.”

Sunset frowned, trying to place the name or face. She felt like she should know this woman, though she couldn't figure out why.

“Twilight,” she said finally. “Her name is Twilight.”

Serena glanced at her, then looked closely at the shivering girl. She brushed a lock of hair from Twilight’s face in an almost maternal gesture. Then Serena replaced her hand, her eyes sliding shut as her horn lit with a raspberry light tinged with red and teal.

Her eyes flew open after a moment. “This is no physical ailment,” she said, her voice grave. “There is… a hole in her mind. Her psyche is in tatters, and her personality slips away.” She locked eyes with Sunset. “What has transpired?”

“We were... attacked,” Sunset said. “There was nothing I could have done.”

Inside, a tiny voice told her just how wrong that was.

Serena looked at her for a moment before rising. “My home is not far from here,” she said. “We should make our way there where I can better tend your friend, Sunset Shimmer.”

“I never told you my name,” Sunset said, rising from her crouch with her eyes narrowed.

Serena raised her hood again. “I have met sliders before,” she said. “Any further questions would be best left until we are indoors. The nightlife here is not what you would want to see too closely.”

Sunset peered around at the clearing. A thick fog was rolling in from the distant forest and with it, a strange, unnerving silence.

“Agreed,” she said, suddenly feeling like something was watching her.

Her head was pounding, and she could barely get her bearings. She was moving, but how? Was someone carrying her? No... she was walking, she could dimly feel her feet moving... but someone was helping her? Who…

She tilted her head, causing the world to swim for a moment. To her left, her vision dim despite her glasses being perched on her nose, was Sunset with an arm around her waist. She swallowed and tried to form words.

“Sunset?” she rasped.

Sunset looked down at her, the braid wrapped around her neck shifting down slightly. “Don’t try to talk, Sparky,” she whispered. “We’re going to get you some help. Hopefully.”

“Midnight,” Twilight rasped. “She’s gone. She’s…”

“I know, Sparky,” her companion whispered. “I know.”

A wave of heat flowed through her body and Twilight felt her legs giving out. A few more staggering steps and Sunset grunted as she tried to bear her weight.

“Where are we?” Twilight mumbled, blinking at the blurry darkness all around them. “It’s so cold here.”

Sunset held her a little closer.

“How much farther?” Sunset asked as the moon peeked over the horizon. They had been walking for thirty minutes and she had long since taken to carrying Twilight. Twilight kept mouthing words, her eyes wandering and focusing on nothing.

“Not far,” Serena spoke, picking her way across a shallow brook. A mesa split the plains. As they approached, Sunset saw a tiny cottage set inside a nook of the stony tower.

As Selena held the door open, Sunset carried the rapidly weakening Twilight to a small cot just inside. Serena lit several lanterns. Earthenware pottery rested on shelves built back into the stone of the single room cottage. A small blackened wood stove watched silently as a low fire crackled within. A few sparse bits of wicker furniture dotted the interior and a low workbench and table were the only two wooden accouterments of decor. She watched as Serena knelt down and laid a hand on the trembling girl’s forehead, closing her eyes again. After a moment, she looked at Sunset with hard eyes.

“Her mind was ripped into without thought to her safety.” The woman rose and walked over to a shelf where many leather-capped jars sat and pulled two down. “I can stabilize what remains for now, but I am unable to heal this wound. Her self leaks away like water through a split basin.”

Sunset looked at her friend, biting her lip. “What can I do?”

Serena pulled several leaves from one of the jars and dropped them into a clay mortar. “If you believe in Harmony,” she said as she started grinding with a pestle.. “I would consider praying.”

“Praying?” Sunset stuttered. “What do you mean, pray?”

The robed woman plucked several leaves from the other jar and dropped them into the mortar, a sweet smell wafting out as she worked. “If she cannot regain control of her mind,” the woman said as she poured some water into the clay vessel. “Then she will become nothing more than a shell. Living yet not, and lost in the depths of her own mind. As to what has been taken it will either return on its own or she will adapt.”

Sunset looked back at the shivering Twilight. Her emotions begin to war inside, guilt railing against her cynicism.

“Is there—” Sunset began but Twilight sat up, her eyes flying open and blazing with white light.

“High above sits the crown untold,” she whispered, her voice eerily sepulchral. “And the snake is eating its own tail…”

The light faded, and she began thrashing violently on the cot.

“Sparky!” Sunset cried, then hissed as the Talisman resting against her chest began to burn. She pulled it off and threw it to the ground, the power indicator blazing with light. “What in…”

“Hold her down!” Serena cried, rushing over with the clay vessel. “She is slipping!”

Sunset dove forward and struggled to grip Twilight’s shoulders, trying to hold the thrashing girl steady so Serena could administer the concoction in the mortar. A few drips touched Twilight’s tongue and the convulsing eased. Sunset began to relax her grip when Twilight grabbed her arm tightly, her eyes glowing again.

“You left me,” she whimpered, breathing ragged. “Y-you took me apart and spread me across the sand, blue and gold and black. I can hear them coming, too much screaming…” Tears streamed down her face, twitching between fear and anger.

Sunset flinched when Twilight’s horn started to glow with a raspberry hue. Trying to calm her companion, she reached out and cupped Twilight’s face, feeling the fevered skin beneath her own.

“I never left you, Sparky!” she said firmly, almost pleadingly. “I’m right here! I promised I’d get you home, you got that? I promised you. I won’t break that promise.”

Twilight’s eyes faded back to the muted purple, even paler than before. “Liar,” she whispered, horn dying as lucidity returned. She turned her head away and faced the wall. “You can’t. You said so.”

Sunset slid back, her heart aching like she had been punched there. Selena slowly poured the rest of the liquid into Twilight’s mouth, then looked up at Sunset with hard eyes.

“You took her sliding without her consent.” It wasn’t a question.

Sunset shook her head, eyes still locked on her companion. “It was an accident when we met,” she whispered. “I never meant to drag her along.”

A single word started echoing in her mind. Liar...

Vessel empty, Serena stood and walked back to her workbench. She set the mortar on the rough stone surface and sighed. Silver hair swayed as she shook her head. “I suspect you’ve had a great many such ‘accidents’ in your life,” she said. “Sunsets are often rash and quick to anger. You seem no different.”

“You’ve met other Sunsets?”

“One or two,” Serena said, returning and resting a hand on Twilight’s forehead, her horn lighting and a cloth floating over in her multi-hued aura. She laid it on the shaking girl’s forehead and glanced up.

“My mother once told me ‘It’s a dangerous business, stepping out your door,’ ” she said, facing the redhead. “‘You step onto the road and if you don’t keep your feet…’”

“There’s no telling where you might be swept off too,” Twilight whispered slowly. “I loved that story as a girl.” Her eyelids slid closed as her breathing steadied.

Serena smiled and patted the bespectacled girl’s shoulder. “Rest,” she intoned seriously. “The elixir I gave you should help the fever and stabilize you, but unless you conserve strength, I cannot say if you will be the same or not.”

Twilight nodded weakly as the healer draped a blanket over her.

Sunset’s eyes fell upon the Talisman and she gave the device a dirty glare. It’s warm white glow mocked her.

“I hate that thing,” she muttered.

A hand touched her shoulder. “I would not despair,” Serena said. “She is stronger than one may think to have made it this long.” She glanced at the unconscious girl. “There is nothing more we can do at this moment. You should rest as well. Guilt will not resolve itself, nor will staying up for days on end do much good for you. You will be safe inside these walls and you can stay for as long as you need to.” She noticed the singed portion of the redhead’s shirt and pulled a small jar from her shelf. “Here. This should ease the sting of that burn.”

Sunset looked up and took the jar and saw something under the robes the woman wore, a round pendant with a charred edge, several torn wires peeking out. She stared at the mystic, her mind still unable to place why she knew her.

“Who are you?” Sunset asked again. “How were you able to tell what was wrong with her?”

“You have not guessed?” Serena smirked, pulling a destroyed Talisman from underneath her robes and held it out to Sunset. Attached to it was an amber gemstone with a two-toned sun image within it.

“I am the daughter of a Twilight,” she said. “And a Sunset.”

Chapter 21 - Marwile

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With Twilight in her current state, it was obvious that the duo wouldn’t go anywhere for now. Luckily Serena was more than willing to let them stay in her cottage. And with no more to do than waiting for Twilight to recover Sunset soon found herself talking with Serena. She even gave her a general rundown of the events from meeting this Twilight up to the Chaos Sparkle incident hoping it would help the silver-haired girl.

“You are taking the reveal surprisingly well.” When Serena saw the confusion on Sunset’s face, she added, “I mean in regards to my heritage.”

“It doesn’t have any effect on me personally and I’ve been to enough universes to expect just about everything. And it’s not like you’re my daughter.” (She was only 91.37% sure) “Though in retrospect I could have noticed it sooner. You have your mother’s face.”

This actually got a small chuckle out of Serena.

“But wait, does that mean a Twilight and a Sunset are here in this world? I’m usually not one to do that, but…” Sunset took a glance at Twilight. “...right now I need all the help I can get. She’s all I have left.”

“My deepest apologies, but they left this world a long time ago. They were Voyagers. Maybe even more than you. They made it their goal to solve every mystery across the multiverse and make sense of it. One night Twilight disappeared and Sunset soon followed to bring her back. That was the last time I saw my parents.” She pulled out her own Talisman again and stroked the gemstone. “And this is one of the few mementos I have left of them.”

Sunset decided not to voice her suspicion and instead said, “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Do not be. I am quite content with my simple, peaceful life in this world, helping the occasional Voyager. I also like to imagine that they are just busy helping other worlds. And if not… then I am just glad that I only have good memories of them.”

The rest of the night passed without issues. They distracted themselves with lighter topics and Serena teaching Sunset how casting magic in this world worked.

Sunset Shimmer levitated over a wet cloth, dabbed the sweat from Twilight’s face and tried to figure out what in the worlds she could do. Not every day was she faced with a girl literally losing half of her mind.

Her eyes darted to the Talisman on the table, mocking her with its glow. Sunset tried her best to suppress the voice in her head that told her to just run away again.

She bit her lip and brushed back a strand of Twilight’s messy hair.

Twilight’s violet eyes snapped open. A fist came out of nowhere and cracked Sunset across the jaw.

“Ouch!” Sunset cried as she toppled against the side of the bed. “What the hell–”

Twilight had already leapt to her feet, her eyes wild and a little crazed. “That was for abducting me. And that–”

She grabbed the dazed Sunset and gave her passionate kiss. “–is for you being your beautiful, sexy self, Shimmy.”

Sunset’s mind went into overdrive. This seemed to become a common occurrence.

She wrangled herself out of Twilight’s grip and nearly shouted, “What’s gotten into you, Twilight?”

Twilight just ignored her and instead looked down at her clothes. “Where does the jacket come from? I like it. I’ll keep it. Technically it’s mine, anyway. Hmm… But something’s still wrong.” She suddenly ripped her skirt on one side. “That thing was way too restricting.” Then she took a long piece of cloth and wrapped it around her neck like a scarf. “And this is just for style points.” She pointed at Sunset’s hair. “And we’re in partner-look now.”

Twilight got close to Sunset again. In any other situation Sunset would have enjoyed this. “And now something we two pushed back for way too long.”

To Sunset’s luck Serena came back at this moment. “What is this commotion?”

“Well, I just stole a kiss from SunSun,” Twilight answered first. “And in return I wanted to have some sweet alone-time with her, M-rated preferably. You can join in, too. Everybody knows three’s a charm. Kyeehahaha!”

Sunset used this distraction to escape Twilight again. “I promise that she’s usually not this way. And Midnight should be gone.”

“Aw, come on, notice me, Sunpai.” Twilight replied with mock dejection.

“It is possible that in order to deal with this unique trauma Twilight’s mind created a persona based on Midnight’s character,” Serena theorized.

“I’d say Arsene or Carmen.” Twilight gave Serena a wink.

“Or at least what she thinks how Midnight would act.”

“I’ve never seen someone misunderstanding themselves so much,” Sunset commented. “Twilight, what’s the last thing you remember?”

Twilight put her index fingers on her forehead in an exaggerated thinking pose. “Hmm… We went with Discord to the world filled with mes, Daybreaker betrayed us and then… nope, blank, nada.”

“She is repressing her memories.”

“And what can we do?” Sunset asked.

“Her mind is too unstable for traveling let alone sliding. We must wait until she fully recovers.”

“But I’m bored here already,” Twilight interjected. “I wanna go out, see the worlds, eat ice-cream, have adventures and build a harem of Sunsets. How about a dragon-Sunset? Or a maid-Sunset? I know, a dragon-maid-Sunset! Just imagine what she could do with her horns.”

Sunset tried her best to ignore that comment. “Twilight, you’re forcing me to be the voice of reason and both of us know I suck at that. So how about we first calm down, alright?”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Try me, bacon.”

Before the other two girls could react, Twilight grabbed the Talisman, shoved Serena to the ground and ran out of the cottage. Sunset quickly helped Serena up and dashed after her. Serena ran after them, but hesitated in the door frame for a moment and took a look back at her small home before following them.

Even with a new personality Twilight was no athlete, but she had a head start and determination. That’s why it took the other two girls nine full meters before catching up and wrestling her to the ground. But Twilight didn’t give up and fought for her freedom to the best of her limited physical abilities.

Unfortunately, during the brawl, the Talisman got accidentally activated and opened a new portal, which all three fell through.

The trio landed in an old-fashioned mansion. Sunset was the first to regain her bearings and almost out of reflex her hand went up to her hair.

Short… Horn gone… Spiky… Big spike in the middle… Holy Harmony, I’m an RPG-protagonist.

Her eyes fell on the other two girls. She felt a pang of guilt at the sight of Serena. Another girl she had taken from her home and roped into this mess.

The sound of a gun being cocked distracted Sunset from her self-misery. She turned around and faced a group of policemen pointing their guns at the trio.

“Hold! This is a restricted crime scene!”

Sunset and Serena raised their arms in compliance.

Twilight did not. Instead her eyes lit up. “Ohh! Please tell me a murder happened! I always wanted to solve a real one. Detective Twilight’s on the case!” she declared and started humming the theme of one of her favourite animes. All guns were now pointed at her.

“What’s going on here?” The policemen made place for their superior and told him what happened. Meanwhile, Sunset started contemplating if her hatred for the universe was mutual.

“You three will now tell me how you managed to sneak into Lady Cadenza’s manor without being seen by my men!” Commissioner Armor demanded.

Chapter 22 - Masterweaver

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"I wouldn't exactly call 'opening an interdimensional portal' sneaking," Sunset pointed out flatly. "I mean, yeah, there are plenty of worlds where nobody seems to care, but it's still pretty obvious."

Serena took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Sunset..."

"Ooo! Hi Shiny!" Twilight waved with a bright smile. "You look professional!"

Commissioner Armor gave them all a flat look. "Interdimensional portal. Next you'll be telling me you're all magical unicorns."

"I am. Twilight's human. Serena..." Sunset frowned, turning to the girl. "Actually, you had a horn and wings on a human frame, what--?"

"The species of my homeworld is known as the Álfar, and I specifically am Vægherálfar. Very rare, akin to the ponies' alicorns as I understand it..."

"Ooo! Ooo! Shiny! Are you dating Cadence?" Twilight asked eagerly. "How did you become a commissioner? Do you recognize me? Tell me everything!"

Sunset twitched her fingers experimentally, noting the magic flowing through them. "Look, take us into custody if you need to. But Twilight needs help. She's... she took a head injury, and she's not completely herself."

"Hahahahaha that's hilarious! I don't know why, but that--"

"I understand your disbelief," Serena said gently. "We truly do not intend harm."

Commissioner Armor looked from her, to Sunset, to the eagerly bouncing Twilight. He pinched his brow with a sigh. "Call the precinct. Tell them we have three young ladies to put into protective custody."

Sunset sighed in relief. "Thank you. It's... I know this is weird for you, but it's good to see you again, Shining."

"Suuuuuuuuuuuuuunniiiiiiiiiiiiii...."

Sunset kept her expression stoic as Twilight bent over her, dangling the glowing Talisman in front of her face.

"Come on, Sunny... It's still filled up with magic from that thing I can't remember." Twilight giggled. "We can just break free, go wild across the multiverse!"

"Leave Serena behind?"

"We can take her with us!" Twilight beamed. "I'm booooooooooooooored! I want an adventure, Sunny! Let's have fun!"

"Twilight... what about your home?"

"What about it? It's a place and it has people." Twilight shrugged. "That's pretty much anywhere anyway."

"Emotional disconnect," Serena said softly from the other side of the room. "It keeps her stable, for the moment, but if left for too long..."

Twilight rested an arm on Sunset's head. "Serena, has anyone ever told you you're a bit of a buzzkill?"

Sunset's eyes drifted to the Talisman. Its cord was still in Twilight's grasp, but the actual object now rested atop her chest. She could, if she wanted, snatch it right now. Not even to use it, but just to keep it out of the girl's hands while she was in the state she was in...

The door swung open, and Commissioner Armor stepped through. "Passed your story to the higher-ups. One of them wants to talk to you."

"Really?" Sunset shook her head. "Which one?"

"Some woman from the government. Calls herself Amblejoy."

An amber-skinned woman stepped in, sweeping her gaze over them. A sly smirk was on her face when she looked at Sunset, but it fell away when she saw Twilight, and her violet eyes went wide when they landed on Serena.

“...Thank you, Commissioner Armor. I am afraid this is above your pay grade, I will have to ask you to leave us.”

“Agent Amblejoy—”

She narrowed her eyes. “Do not force me to make that a request.”

Commissioner Armor quirked a brow. “For the record, I would be willing to help any way I can if their story is true.”

“That is much appreciated, Commissioner. I shall debrief you after I am done here.”

The man nodded. “I’ll hold you to that, Agent.” He shut the door behind him quietly.

After a moment, Amblejoy swallowed and stepped forward. “Serena... it really is you...”

Serena blinked. “I apologize, have we met? Perhaps you know an alternate universe counterpart of mine—”

“Oh, of course, I looked rather different three years ago.”

The young woman took a sharp breath.

“...mother?”

Amblejoy nodded. “And then some...”

“I’m lost here,” Sunset admitted. “Are you her Twilight or her Sunset?”

“Both. And an unrelated Starlight Glimmer, we had to merge shortly after... oh, Serena, I am so sorry we left you behind...”

“Hold on, shouldn’t you be called Moonrise Glitter?” Twilight asked. “Like, Skyfeature Lightpattern, that's how it works, isn't it?”

“It would have been too obvious. We needed to hide from Lady Sparkle.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. "And there she is again..."

Amblejoy finally tore her gaze away from her long-lost daughter. "I... I must thank you, Sunset Shimmer. I know not how, but your journey has led me to rediscover all that which I thought lost."

"Yeah, uh... reuniting daughters with their long-lost mothers who have merged into a full-time threesome is totally a thing I do regularly."

The woman hummed in amusement. "Your acerbic humor aside, the fact remains that without you, I would never have found the world I had first left." She smiled. "Speaking of which, there is someone who I believe would be very interested in meeting you again..."

"SPIKE!" Twilight proclaimed, practically pouncing on the purple pup. "Holy Heisenberg, look at you!"

The small canine ran his metal hand through his fur. "I know, I know. I'm just a rugged example of a man."

"Rugged indeed," Serena managed with a grin. "Is this the famous lab assistant I heard so much about in my youth?"

"The very same," Amblejoy confirmed with a fond smile.

Sunset rubbed her forehead in exasperation. "This is all moving so fast... what, is every random person we met on our journey just going to start crawling out of the woodwork?"

The woman fingered a necklace with twelve twinkling shapes. "Possibly. I have been following you since Feybriar, making resonance markers of the worlds you passed through."

Twilight tilted her head. "Resonance markers?"

"Every universe has a particular song, one shared by the souls born within." Serena nodded toward the necklace. "With that, and a properly crafted Talisman, you could easily return to any world you visited."

"Well, any world prior to your encounter with a draconequus," Amblejoy amended. "My magic would not mark there, and I had thought you quite lost. What good fortune it was to stumble upon you again, and with my daughter no less!"

Serena smiled. "The spheres work in a mysterious manner, though I find I cannot complain."

"Wait wait wait." Twilight put Spike down. "If every universe has a resonance, and every soul from that universe has the same resonance--"

"The version of the TPT I had when I appeared in your room wasn't equipped with a resonance tracker," Sunset explained. "By the time we got a version that was, you'd gone all Midnight, then we got caught up in Discord's thing, and... well, I don't know what he did to you, but it might be that we can't get a resonance of your homeworld now."

"Of course, I had to take your individual resonances to follow you," Amblejoy noted. "Still, Sunset is correct. Your resonance is... damaged. What occurred with the draconequus?"

"Oh, see, he..." Twilight frowned. "Sunset, what did happen?"

Sunset pursed her lips. "Well... you awakened your Midnight Sparkle, and that's what got the attention of Daybreaker, who was working for Discord. Or..." She frowned. "At least... she said she was the Sunset of Lady Sparkle's, but it turned out she was one of the Twive Mind in disguise... and apparently whatever Discord had wanted to do when we kidnapped Lady Sparkle for her wasn't going to work, so Discord took Midnight out of your head and ate her. We slid off during the battle and ended up being found by Serena."

"That would explain her ailment," Serena said warily. "Touched by a draconequus... the effects can be unpredictable at the best of times."

"You're acting like I'm falling apart," Twilight accused.

"That is an accurate description. Slowed it might be, but..."

Amblejoy held up a finger. "Hold. You say this Daybreaker... she claimed to be the Sunset of Lady Sparkle?"

"Yeah." Sunset scoffed. "Obviously she wasn't, Lady Sparkle killed her Sunset."

"...so the Archmage's deception yet works..."

Twilight's gaze snapped to her. "What?"

"In my travels after you, I encountered the mare who wore an illusion of blue coat and teal-green braids."

"Skylark--Oh, duh!" The girl facepalmed. "Lady Sparkle's thing about nightingales and skylarks, how could I have missed that?"

"Well, she didn't tell you she was a Sunset," Sunset pointed out. "Wait, hold on, if Skylark is Lady Sparkle's Sunset, then who did Lady Sparkle kill?"

"...the Sunset of High Equus." Amblejoy sighed. "Skylark revealed the truth to me--that another had taken her place, in hopes of protecting her from the growing power of that dark goddess. She also claimed that this Sunset had managed to steal something precious, and send it to the Archmage. I am versed in the ways of the soul, and my brief tarry to the world of Lady Sparkle revealed that all the members of her captive horde have lost something. The very thing that this Twilight has also lost."

I’m just the… passionate side of her, let’s say.

Twilight noticed all the eyes on her and waved. "Hey, is anybody else in the mood for coffee? I'd like coffee. So much coffee. Drown me in coffee."

"...Twilight, does the world feel..." Sunset gestured vaguely. "Gray, I guess?"

"Oh yeah! I mean, I guess I should be worried about not having Midnight, but... meh."

Amblejoy nodded. "Yes... take the passion of a Twilight, and replace it with a link to the greater mind. That is how Lady Sparkle formed her power, I believe... and why she stomps out all knowledge of the Container of Midnight."

"The container of...." Sunset blinked. "Wait, is this thing... do you know what it looks like?"

"Skylark did describe it," Amblejoy admitted. "A dodecahedron the size of a pony, emblazoned--"

"--with the images of a dark star..."

The woman tilted her head. "You have seen it, then."

"Yeah, I... stole it from the Archmage a while ago." Sunset rubbed the back of her head. "It's... sort of why I was banished from my home."

"Oh, right! Your Shining Armor put himself in a shield ball in the sky with a big monster thing." Twilight blinked. "Which, hold on, is apparently some sort of MetaMidnight?"

"High above sits the crown untold," Serena murmured.

"If a draconequus is battling Lady Sparkle with the power of a Midnight," Amblejoy mused, "then it is only a matter of time before he wins. And with the passion of a Midnight... Lady Sparkle was at least predictable in her advances. This Midnight Discord might well become a danger to all spheres."

"Hold on!" Spike hopped forward, holding up his glowing hand. "I've got a scan of Sunset's resonance. If we get the Midnights back into the Twive Mind, they'll be freed, right?"

"It is conceivable," Amblejoy mused. "And while one passion fueling a thousand souls might not be able to defeat Discord, a thousand souls with one conviction should be able to do so."

"And should he be defeated," Serena finished, "we can take that which he took from Twilight and return it to her!"

Twilight beamed. "It's perfect!"

"It's dangerous," Sunset objected. "I mean--we're talking about just us five taking the combined darkness of I don't know how many Twilights!"

"Come oooooon!" Twilight leaned forward, dangling the talisman in front of her. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Sunset took the talisman in her hand, considering its glow.

"...Sparky... you deserve better."

In a flurry of motion she reached out, her magic snapping the necklace from Amblejoy's neck as she kicked Twilight away. Before anyone could react, she had opened a portal and was gone.

Twilight blinked.

"Oh."

She fell to her knees.

"She left..."

Her hands clutched at the ground as tears clouded her vision.

"She left me... Heh... ha.... haha.... hahahahahAhahAHAHaHAHAHAha!"

Chapter 23 - Undome Tinwe

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Gray.

After Discord had ripped the passion from Twilight, the world had begun turning into nothing more than shades of gray. All her anger, her joy, her hate, had begun to fade into a muted blur. All her emotions dulled, except for one.

As she watched the portal close behind Sunset, she made herself force laughter with her body, an expression of extreme emotion generally produced as a reaction to the absurd. It was the logical response to having the vessel that held the last remnants of her the fire that burned within her run away into another world.

Twilight had tried to hold on to her… affection for this Sunset who had dragged on her on an adventure across the multiverse, using the feelings that had developed as a result of the moments they'd shared as a base to model her emotional responses. But now, with that gone, all that was left was a dull ache, an emptiness of muted emotions.

"Twilight, are you okay?"

Twilight glanced at the talking dog before her. She made her face form a smile. "I'm perfectly fine, Spike. So, what do we do now that my one companion throughout this insane trip through multiple Wonderlands is gone?"

"Our objective remains the same, regardless of Sunset's actions," Amblejoy said. "We need to retrieve the Container of Midnight and use it to free the souls bound under Lady Sparkle's thrall."

"Mother, should we not attempt to find Sunset first?" Serena asked.

Amblejoy fiddled with her TPT. "I seem to be having trouble isolating her location," she said, glaring at the device. "I suppose a Sunset as clever as she knows how not to be found."

"It doesn't matter." All eyes turned towards Twilight as she spoke. "Sunset made her choice. She ran away like a not-crazy person would." A laugh to imply that she found the situation absurdly humorous. "I should probably do that too, but since I apparently need the Container to get myself back, I guess I'm stuck here."

"But none of us have even been to her world, right?" Spike piped up from his position in Twilight's arms. "Not only was Sunset the only who knew where the Container was in her world and how to get us there, she was also the only one who knew how to plan a heist!"

Without the haze of emotion to muddle her thoughts, Twilight could see the answer as clear as day. "Sunset isn't the only one with that knowledge. Someone else helped her steal the container."

"You mean her Twilight?" Spike’s tail wagged in excitement before drooping down. "But she's in Discord's world, and that's where your resonance went kaput."

"Not entirely." Amblejoy held up her own TPT. "The signature is corrupted, but I believe we can still localize the world in question to within a few dozen possibilities."

"That's feasible for an exhaustive search." With Sunset gone, only the mission remained as a focus for her divided self. "When can we start?"

"Give me an hour to prepare a list."

As Amblejoy returned to her office, Serena looked like she was going to follow before deciding to stay with Twilight. "How do you feel, Twilight?" she asked as she sat down next to her.

"I'm fine." A grin. "Thanks for asking!"

"Truly?" Serena hovered her hand over Twilight's forehead. "Because I sense a great void in your mind, one even greater than before Sunset departed."

Twilight shook her head. "What? Nah. Let's talk about something else." Flippant misdirection. "Man, wild weather we're having, huh? At least, I think it's wild. We haven't actually gone outside here, have we?"

"I too have some experience with being left behind." Concern filled Serena's eyes as she ignored Twilight's attempts at rambling. "You would find your sorrows lessened if you spoke of it."

"What's there to talk about?" Twilight shrugged. "I knew Sunset would eventually leave me behind – it was only a question of when, not if. Ooh, we should've started a betting pool on it! I would've put five bucks on today, by the way."

Serena bowed her head sadly. "I cannot heal a mind which does not seek to be whole."

Twilight smiled, an action meant to reduce Serena's distress. "Don't worry, once we get my Midnight back everything will be a-okay again."

"We shall see. Until then, know that I always have an ear to lend to you."

"Thanks! Dunno what I'll do with an ear, but I'm sure I'll come up with some sort of experiment for it!"

The remainder of the hour passed by in silence, outside of the occasional stunted attempts by Spike to make small talk. Amblejoy returned with her TPT, and three current humans and one current dog set off to find their replacement for Sunset.

It took twenty three-jumps to reach Discord's world. Twenty-three universes, each one of them unique and odd in their own way, whether by being so close to Twilight's home but for a minor change that she would have wept with homesickness had she still been capable of feeling such a thing, or by being so wildly different and fantastic that she could feel her sense of wonder stirring within her, struggling to break free.

In one world, they met a pony Sunset who never went through the mirror and instead befriended a pony Moondancer, who had helped her to become a better person that deserved the position of Celestia's personal protege. She and her friends – including a pony librarian Twilight – had helped them charge up the TPT for their next jump.

In the next world, they found themselves caught up in the hopes and wishes of an Equestria at war with the griffons, where a dread knight fought to keep his ponies safe. They'd only managed to find the Twilight of that world, a unicorn who had generously taken the time to get them to their next jump before returning to the war effort.

On and on it went, and some small part of Twilight that hadn't faded away yet wished she could still enjoy the sights and sounds of the variety of the multiverse, and that she had her flame-haired friend by her side to share in these experiences.

On the other hand, there were times where she could appreciate her muted emotions, like when it shielded her from the horrors of a pony Cheese Sandwich wielding the Alicorn Amulet, or the devastation of a world struggling to rebuild after a costly war with the Crystal Empire that had left Cadance as the ruler of an Equestria under the Empire's control.

Throughout it all, her companions stood fast, protecting each other from danger and working together to power the next portal as they continued their search. Serena tried several more times to reach out to Twilight, to speak to her about the hole in her mind and soul, but Twilight had rebuffed her each time with her flippant disregard of her mental state.

As they waited for a Twilight who had taken time out from studying pegasus body language to help them, she had finally shut Serena down by informing her that the best way to "cure" her would be copious oral applications of Sunset Shimmer.

Finally, after jumping from a world where Sunset was a construct of Starlight Glimmer's old friend, the multiversal quartet found themselves standing in front of a familiar cottage, one that they had visited just hours before. They knocked on the door, and a familiar, universally constant pair opened it.

"Oh, it's you again," an annoyed Twilight said as she glared at them. "What do you want? And who are your friends here? And where's Sunset?"

"Sunset skipped town," Twilight said brightly. "And we're planning an epic heist to save your brother. Wanna go on an adventure?"

A multitude of emotions flashed across the other Twilight's eyes before they hardened again. "Come in."

Once inside the quaint home, Twilight had started giving a brief summary of what had transpired, but Amblejoy quickly took over when Twilight's meanderings went a little too far.

"So, we need someone with knowledge of your world to help us plan the retrieval of the Midnight Container," Amblejoy said as she finished their story. "Are you willing to help?"

Silence filled the room as the other Twilight and Sunset stared at each other, a wordless conversation passing between them. Sunset gave the other Twilight a slight nod and an encouraging smile, and the other Twilight turned towards the quartett. "Fine, I'll help you."

"Thank you," Amblejoy said. "Shall we wait outside while you prepare?"

"Everything I need is still in that world." The other Twilight walked over towards a chest of drawers and pulled out a medallion. "Besides this, that is. I've got the coordinates for my old hideout already programmed in, so we just need to make the jump. Let's go."

Before they left, the other Twilight and Sunset shared a passionate kiss, Sunset whispering "come back safe, my love" to her before letting her go. The sight stirred up something within Twilight, and this time she very deliberately prevented it from rising to the surface. It was better that way. She focused now. Calm. Cool. Collected. Ready to save the multiverse.

The other Twilight opened a portal, and the five of them jumped through.

They landed inside what looked like an alchemy lab. Rows of shelves covered in complicated-looking machinery surrounded them, with locked cabinets interspersed between them. Most of the room was covered in a thick layer of dust, with the exception of a few empty spots on the shelves.

The other Twilight immediately rushed over to one of the empty shelves. "Oh Tartarus," she growled, "Sunset must've taken it when she left."

"Actually, I just nabbed it when I got back."

Five heads turned towards the shadows on the other side of the room, where a Sunset with a mohawk had appeared. "Hey, Twilight, Sparky," she said with a nervous chuckle. "Fancy meeting you here?"

"Sunset," the other Twilight hissed. "What are you doing here? I thought you abandoned these people once they'd lost their usefulness."

"That was the plan, but, uhh, things got a bit complicated," Sunset replied with a sheepish grin, "and then I ran into a friend."

"A friend?"

From the shadows, another figure stepped out, a unicorn with a dark coat.

Sunset smirked. "Sparky, you remember Skylark, right?"

Chapter 24 - Cold Bolt

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Twilight stared.

Sunset blinked, her smile fading. "...So that's a no?"

Without a word, Twilight trotted up to Sunset and began dragging her through a nearby door by the foreleg.

"Uhhh..." Sunset glanced nervously between Twilight and the rest. "I... guess we'll be right back?"

'Twily' glared at her. "Sunset, get back here! We don't have time for... for whatever stunt you're pulling!"

Serena laid a gentle hoof on Twily's shoulder. When the mare met her gaze, she shook her head. "Let them be. They both need this."

Twily responded with an indistinct grumble, but said no more on the matter.

Once they were out of earshot behind the door to a storage closet that somehow managed to be even dustier than the rest of the lab, Twilight let go of Sunset and stared at her some more. Sunset opened her mouth to speak -

"You deserve better."

There was no venom in Twilight's voice, Sunset realized. Just a desire to understand.

"Look... I needed to do some thinking," said Sunset, glancing over her shoulder at the closed door before continuing. "And... get some sense talked into me, I guess. This whole thing is my - mostly my fault, and it's not fair that I got you caught up in it."

Twilight continued staring at Sunset with a dispassion that made her shiver and look away.

"We're going to get you your Midnight back, and then we're going to take you home. I owe you at least that much. After that..." Sunset sighed. "After that is up to you, but if you never want to see me again... then you won't. Simple as that."

Several seconds passed in silence. Sunset's stomach churned.

She finally looked at Twilight again. "Right, so, I guess that's mmmmph" She jolted as the rest of her sentence was muffled by Twilight's lips.

Even now, she had to resist the temptation to enjoy it.

Sunset shoved Twilight away and wiped her mouth. "Sparky, you seriously need to quit doing that - "

"I wanted to feel it again."

Sunset blinked. "What? Wh... feel what?"

"I don't have words for it anymore," Twilight droned. Her monotone took her words past 'freaky' so far into 'freaky deaky' territory that they had already pitched a tent for the night. "But it was there before. Now it's not. I wanted to feel it again, but now there's nothing there."

Sunset cringed. "You're getting worse..."

"I should be scared, but I'm not. There's no fear left either. I'll probably forget what that is pretty soon too. Even the laughter is gone. Ha." Her expression remained flat as ever. "See?"

"Sparky, we're gonna fix this," said Sunset. "Skylark and I have a plan. Let's get back out there so we can brief you guys. We'll deal with... the rest of this later. Okay?"

"Okay."

Sunset sighed and hung her head for a moment before turning around and opening the door. She was greeted by the surly voice of Twily.

"About time you two finished up in there."

Sunset huffed but bit her tongue. If she let herself get dragged into another argument, they could be there all day.

"Peace, Twilight," said Serena. "Now we can all catch up together."

"As I was saying, this..." Skylark waved her hoof at a hefty device topped with a large glass cylinder sitting between them all. "...is an alchemic containment device. Once released from Shining's barrier, the conglomeration of Midnights is gonna want to lay waste to everything in sight, so we need to get it inside this thing. That won't give us more than a few minutes at best, but it should at least survive the trip to Lady Sparkle's world."

"Once we're there, we have to release it from containment slowly so it doesn't go supernova on us." Sunset glanced at Skylark, who nodded. "If we let them out carefully and close to the crowd, the freed Midnights should return to their respective Twilights like cutie marks separated from their ponies. That should make them an army powerful enough to defeat Discord - Midnightcord? - and give us back our Twilight's Midnight."

"Exposition, exposition..." Twilight sang with almost imperceptible intonation in her voice.

Amblejoy nodded. "But how do we get the Container in the first place? Shining Armor's barrier is all but impenetrable."

"Every defense has a weak point," Sunset retorted. "He can't maintain the spell himself while in stasis, so he had to tie it to another power source to keep it running - a power source he knew would be well protected."

Twily gasped. "The Crystal Heart..."

Skylark nodded at Twily. "Exactly. All we have to do is disconnect the barrier from the Heart, and it should drop. We'll have our Container, and you'll be able to revive your brother."

Spike tilted his head. "So how do we do that, then?"

"With this." Skylark plopped a scroll in front of him.

Sunset stared at it. "I still can't believe you took up writing spells as a hobby..."

Skylark rolled her eyes. "Even with work, I had a lot of time to kill. Besides, it came in handy, didn't it?"

Spike unfurled the scroll and blinked at it. "Why is this just called 'Cut'?"

"Because that's what it does. It cuts," said Skylark. "Specifically it's for severing magical bonds at the source, but you could use it on saplings blocking your way or something if you wanted."

"Skylark's Spiritual Severance," droned Twilight.

"There. Whatever. So here's the plan." Skylark waved a hoof at Amblejoy and Selena. "I take one team to the Crystal Empire to cut the power connection with this spell. Meanwhile, the rest of you need to get as close as you can to Shining and the Container. The instant the barrier is down, get it contained and jump to the battle. Don't waste any time."

Twily scowled. "There are too many ways for this to go wrong, but I don't have a better plan ready and we're running out of time. I'm in."

Amblejoy's horn glowed, enveloping Sunset's talisman in magic for a moment. "That will take you to the battle with the next jump. Be careful, all of you."

Serena looked at Twilight. "We will do everything in our power to put you back to normal."

Spike tapped the containment device with his metal hand. "I'll keep an eye on this thing, don't worry!"

"Sounds like everything's squared away to me," said Skylark. "Let's roll."

Chapter 25 - Oroboro

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Sunset stared at the two teams. Skylark, Amblejoy, and Serena would deal with the Crystal Heart, while herself, Twilight, Twily, and Spike would deal with the barrier. “Any other questions?”

Spike stretched. “So we got the easy job, right? Go up to the barrier and wait for them to break it, then pop all the stuff into the container.”

“It should be easy.” Sunset’s eyes met Twily’s for a moment, then she looked away. “Well, we’ll have to climb a bunch of stairs first. The closest point is at the very top of the Crystal Palace. So I guess that part might suck.”

A nervous chuckle spread throughout the room. Twilight didn’t react at all. Sunset bit her lip, then shook her head. “Right. We can get to the Crystal Empire from here with group teleportation, no talisman required.”

Twily tapped a hoof against the ground. “Sunset, have you actually been back to the Crystal Empire recently?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “No, why?”

“Of course.” Twily let out a long sigh. “It’s changed a bit in the past couple years. Guess you’ll see when we get there."

That was ominous. Oh well. No sense stalling any longer. The horns of five unicorns lit up in concert, surrounding each of them in a swirling vortex of energy before the world vanished in a jolt.

They appeared with a pop, on the street directly in front of the Crystal Palace.

Dark, purple light bathed the streets, emanating from the massive sphere of energy floating above the city, where it had for years.

The first thing Sunset noticed was how run-down everything looked. There weren’t any other ponies around, windows were broken, and doors were hanging off their hinges.

Twily stepped forward, eyes focused above them to where her brother lay at the heart of everything. Purple light reflected in her eyes, and she grit her teeth. “The city has mostly been abandoned. Nobody wants to live in the shadow of… that. Cadance still maintains the Crystal Heart, protected in an underground bunker, with a small support staff. As for the few people that have stayed, well…”

A skitter of something clattered in the street behind them, and everyone spun to catch a tail vanishing behind a nearby building.

“They call themselves the Order of the Midnight Star.” Twily gestured vaguely. "They might give us a little bit of trouble.”

Sunset smacked herself in the face with a hoof. “Of course there’s a creepy cult.”

Spike shrugged. “Ponies who feel lost and directionless grab onto whatever they can. Certainly not the weirdest thing I’ve seen them get obsessed about.

“It’s pretty,” Twilight said, her voice flat and her eyes affixed to the Midnight Star.

A fresh pang of guilt ripped through Sunset, and she took a deep breath. “It sure is. Don’t worry, Sparky. It’ll all be better soon, I promise.”

Skylark glanced over at Twily. “We’ll be off to the Crystal Heart, then. Luckily, we told Cadance we were coming, otherwise this would be a rather awkward reunion.”

Without further dawdling, Skylark, Amblejoy, and Serena galloped off, leaving the four of them alone.

“Right.” Sunset started up the steps towards the Crystal Palace. “Let’s get this over with.”

The Midnight Star above was uncomfortably warm, and sweat trickled down Sunset’s flanks as they traversed the empty streets. Despite the lack of ponies around, she could still feel eyes on her, and catch the occasional flutter of movement.

When they finally reached the doors to the palace, they found two cloaked and hooded ponies standing guard.

Twily leaned in close. “You ready for a fight?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t it be me asking that question? You were the one who always wanted to talk first.”

“Yeah, well, these ponies are crazy. They can’t be reasoned with.”

“Mmmhmm.” Sunset rolled her eyes. “Watch me.”

Sunset stepped into the open, approaching the guards and waving a hoof. “Hi there!”

Both guards shifted to face her. They were silent for several long moments before one spoke. “What brings you to the Midnight Palace?”

Easy. Sunset glanced upwards, affecting an expression of awe and wonder. “We are but a group of humble travelers, set out on a pilgrimage to bask in the glory of the Midnight Star. May we make the climb to pay our respects?"

More silence, then the guards leaned in close, speaking to each other in harsh whispers. After a minute of deliberation, they turned back. “Very well. I will accompany you to the top. The Midnight Star will humble you.”

“Ooh, I can’t wait,” drawled Sunset. She glanced over at Twily, winked, and sauntered into the palace with the rest of them in tow.

Twily scowled at her, but otherwise said nothing.

Sunset led the way, step after aching step up the spiraling staircase. Two stories up, Spike complained about his short legs, and scrambled up onto Twilight’s back instead. Their new cultist friend followed from the rear, keeping a close eye on them.

Twiliy fell into step beside Sunset, and her horn flickered in an all too familiar pattern of blinking lights.

Nostalgia washing through her, Sunset matched the pattern, and their hoofsteps grew a little duller around them. “I’m surprised you still remember this spell,” Sunset said, her words for Twily’s ears alone.

“I still remember the combination on my bike lock from when I was four. And comparatively, I’ve used this spell way more often. Hard to forget.”

Sunset smiled, and saw Twily smiling too. For a brief moment, something passed between them. It quickly faded, and Twily’s face fell. “So what did you want to talk about?”

“Sunset…” Twily sighed, and pushed forward a little harder. “Do you really think that this will fix everything? That even if we save my brother, things will just be… okay?”

Sunset grimaced. “No. But I’m getting tired of running away. If I can actually help Shining Armor, if I can save Sparky… Then, I don’t know. At least maybe some parts of the multiverse won’t be worse thanks to my existence. At this point, if I can get things back to a nice, comfortable neutral, then I’ll take it.”

Twily glanced back at Twilight as well. “You care about her a lot, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Sunset rubbed at the back of her head, her cheeks coloring. “I care about you too, you know.”

Twily sucked in a breath through her teeth. “Sunset, we—”

“Not like that!” Sunset interrupted, waving a hoof. “I mean, yes, kind of like that. But I mean I get it. You’ve moved on. I accept that. I mean like… I care about… Twilight. As a whole. Call it universal constants or destiny or whatever. Maybe I don’t really even have a choice in the matter. But I still care. And she deserves way better than what’s happened to her. She deserves better than me.”

“I see.” Twily stared at her for a long time, before nodding. “I hope you can find happiness someday, Sunset.”

The rest of the climb continued in silence, and maybe fifteen minutes later they finally crested the top of the tower. The heat here was far more oppressive, and several cultists waited at the top.

“Brother!” One of the cultists shouted. “Who are these interlopers?”

The cultist who had led them up here stepped forward. “They are not interlopers, but pilgrims, seeking to bask in the glory of the Midnight Star!”

Sunset glanced at Twily, who nodded. “Actually, yeah, interlopers would have been a better description."

Four short blasts of paralysis magic later, and the cultists lay crumpled on the ground, twitching.

“Brutal.” Spike grinned. “By my calculations, Skylark should be reaching the Crystal Heart any minute now.”

Sunset set the container up, getting ready for the big moment, then made her way over to Twilight. “You doing alright?”

Sweat trickled down Twilight’s brow, and she fanned herself with a hoof. “Could use some water.”

Crap. She hadn’t actually packed provisions. Sunset glanced around, and saw a barrel full of water. Made sense. This close to the star, any cultists who wanted to frolic would need to stay hydrated. She pointed towards the barrel, and Twilight ambled to it.

Five minutes later, the disconnection of the Crystal Heart announced itself with a titanic boom. Everyone looked up, and the Midnight Star cracked like an egg.

Purple smoke oozed out of the star, pouring on top of them, and Sunset activated the container. A vortex quickly formed as all the contained essence swirled and was sucked into the jar.

Throughout the maelstrom, a single white light fell through the air, plummeting towards the earth.

Twily dove off the edge, her horn a brilliant light extending forth to catch her brother.

As soon as it started, the storm was over. A cloudy gray sky cast the city in normal light, and the container thrummed and pulsed with barely contained dark energy.

Not much time to waste. Sunset grabbed the container with her magic, wincing at the feedback from doing so, then wrapped her hoof around Twilight as she readied the Talisman. “Thanks for all your help, Spike. Make sure Twily’s okay, would you?”

Spike nodded. “Good luck!”

The portal opened, and they dropped in, ready to fight a superpowered manifestation of chaos itself.

Sunset wasn’t sure what to expect with Discord, but that was kind of the general idea. Extreme absurdity was at least a baseline reference.

The featureless black void they found themselves in didn’t make a lot of sense in that framework.

Had they come to the wrong world, somehow? Sunset looked around, frantic. The talisman beeped on empty, and there was almost no ambient magic to charge it with. Crap. Some sort of trap?

“Hello, girls,” Discord said from behind them, his voice raspy. “Glad you could make it.”

Sunset spun, horn ready, then froze as she saw him.

Discord lay on his back, looking small, emaciated, frail, and more importantly, completely drained of color, like a black and white photograph. “Sorry, I would have preferred to freshen up, before—” He paused, launching into a coughing fit while holding up one finger. “Before you arrived, but you caught me by surprise.”

“Where’s…” Sunset licked her lips. “Where’s Lady Sparkle? Where are all the other Twilights?”

“Gone.” Discord shrugged. “This world has been consumed by chaos, and nothing is left.”

Sunset stumbled, and felt sick to her stomach. “Then, they’re all…”

“Scattered across the multiverse, back in their homeworlds, each and every one of them.” Discord chuckled. “Though they’re all missing a certain key part of themselves, and probably won’t do very well on their own. Oh hey, look, a pile of keys!”

He reached over and tapped the container. It burst, spraying purple energy into the air above them. Discord snapped his fingers, and countless portals opened in the sky. The dark smoke split, each a tiny fragment drawn to a portal.

In moments, it was all gone, leaving the world as empty again.

Sunset chuckled nervously. “Everyone was sure you’d go full villain and we’d have to stop you.”

Discord rolled his eyes, then wheezed. “Oof, that took a bit out of me. But no. You never go full villain. Of course, you’re not supposed to go full heroic sacrifice either, and look where I am now. Ah well.”

“Right.” Sunset glanced at Twilight, who watched on impassively. “Where’s Midnight? Her Midnight. It’s a part of Sparky, and she needs it to be whole again.”

“I don’t think I really need it at all, Sunset. I’m fine,” Twilight droned.

“She’s gone too,” Discord said. He shrugged. “I’m afraid the spark that burns twice as bright lasts half as long.”

Icy fear gripped Sunset’s chest, and she stepped forward, legs shaking. “No, that can’t be…”

Discord grinned. “Well, okay. Maybe there’s still something.” He took a deep breath, then plunged his hand into his head. When he pulled it out again, a tiny green light rested on the tip of his finger, barely the size of a pinhead.

“That’s…”

“A mere spark.” Discord pressed it against Twilight’s forehead.

Twilight’s eyes shot open, and she gasped, as if plunged into icy water.

“It’s not enough to fix her,” Discord said. “But it’s enough to allow her to be fixed. A seed that can regrow into a soul. She’ll need lots of care and love and friendship to regain her former self, but it can be done.”

“Twilight…” Sunset ran over and wrapped her hooves around her, her own heart pounding in her chest. “We’ll make it okay. Everything will be okay, I promise.”

“Now then.” Discord stood up to his full height and bowed. “Since that spark was the last thing keeping me going, I must bid you adieu.” He looked up at them, grinned, and his body slowly started to dissolve, turning to dust and blowing away in a nonexistent wind.

The last thing that remained was his smile.

Chapter 26 - Idsertian

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♫

If there was one thing that could be said for the eternal nothingness of a destroyed world, it was that it gave a mare time to think. After making sure Twilight was okay from the re-introduction of Midnight’s spark, Sunset had done just that.

The first thing that had crossed her mind was the Talisman problem. Lady Twilight’s universe had apparently been some kind of pocket-dimension. The fight between her and Discord had annihilated everything; not just the planet, but the entire universe. While she conceded that the pair were powerful, Sunset highly doubted that even they could have destroyed a full-size ‘verse. The amount of power that would take would be…

Hell, she could probably ask every voyager ever and still never find the answer.

The net result was that the destruction of the mad alicorn’s fiefdom had taken every ounce of magic with it. The Talisman wasn’t charging, and neither could Sunset feel the familiar tingle of magical fields, her horn itching at their absence.

She reached up to scratch it, which was when she discovered that her mane was completely gone. After a mild panic attack over the loss of her hair, she quickly guessed that this was likely due to the lack of a universe. Settling down, Sunset turned her mind to the current predicament.

No magic meant no charge. No charge meant no way out of here. Even if “here” wasn’t anywhere, since everywhere she looked was just black… forever. Even the “ground” they sat on offered no relief, just as featureless as everything else. It grated against Sunset’s sanity to look into it, and who knew how Twilight was taking it?

She looked over at the other unicorn, something which should have been impossible without a light source, who was just staring into the nothingness, apparently lost inside herself. And who wouldn’t be after all this?

Just days ago, Sparky had been minding her own business, and then this coarse, ungrateful, violent girl had appeared in her room and dragged her across the multiverse on account of her own drama. As a result, she’d been terrorized countless times, subjected to foul magicks and literally had her mind rent asunder. If Sunset were Twilight, she’d hate her guts right now.

But that was just it, wasn’t it? Even though there probably was a Twilight out there just like Sunset, this one wasn’t. And she’d deserved none of this. She didn’t deserve to be snatched from her home, to be the center of something that didn’t involve her, to have been made a shell of her former self. She deserved to be in her own universe, in her own home, with her own friends and family.

She deserved better.

Twilight watched with dispassion as Discord pulled his hand from his head. Dimly, she was aware of words being passed between him and Sunset, but she wasn’t really listening. It didn’t matter. Nothing did. She felt the draconequus press his finger against her forehead, just under her horn.

For a split second, there was nothing, just the remnant feeling of pressure on her skin. Then, deep in the grey recesses of her ailing personality, something tiny cried out. It was a primal cry, one of anger, pain and hunger. And apparently, Twilight was the perfect source of food.

What started as the tiniest of sparks in her head exploded almost instantly into a full-blown entity, sweeping through her collapsing mind and shoring it up against further decay; consuming the empty spaces left behind for itself. As it went, the entity emanated the impression of a ravenous hunger being sated, like a beast that had been starved for weeks. Twilight gasped, the sensation not unlike jumping into a pool on a hot summer’s day.

The whole thing was over as quick as it started, leaving Twilight a little breathless but finally able to think, at least in a limited capacity. She targeted this returned ability straight at the new entity in her mind.

‘Hello?’

For a moment, there was nothing but silence in response. Then, just as she was about to try again, she got a weak response:

‘Never thought I’d be glad to hear your voice again.’

‘Midnight?! What happened? I thought you were gone forever!’ Midnight chuckled croakily.

‘So you did miss me. As for what happened, your so-called friend decided to use me for his own purposes.’

‘His own purposes? What do you mean?’

‘I mean he wanted to turn this little dimension into his own personal playground, and he was going to use me up to do it. He must’ve scraped some of you out with me, because I was going to let him, too.’ Twilight ignored the barb.

‘Are you alright?’ she asked. ‘You feel... different.’

‘I’m about as far from alright as I can be, but we have bigger problems. Lady Twilight got sent back to her home universe, and she’s going to set up again.’

‘How do you know that?’ Twilight caught the mental equivalent of a shrug.

‘It’s what I’d do. Now, I’ve been poking around your brain, and I’ve seen what happened while I was gone. I have a plan, but I need you to listen closely…’

“I don’t know if you can hear me right now, but… I’m sorry,” Sunset said, unable to look the silent Twilight in the eye. “I’m sorry I dragged you into this, Sparky. If it wasn’t for me, you’d still be at home right now.”

She sighed and held the Talisman in her hoof where it dangled from her neck. Unsurprisingly, it hadn’t charged any. Without ambient magic, it never would.

“Because of me,” Sunset continued. “You’re far from home and hurt. Lady Twilight may have created that MegaMidnight, but I’m the one that got you involved in this whole mess with my selfish actions. I stole something I shouldn’t have, and now you’re stuck in this… nothing.”

Still looking at the Talisman, Sunset cast her mind back to when the two of them first met. Stood opposite each other in that bedroom, the Talisman suspended in a glowing field…

There was no ambient magic here, but there was still magic. In Twilight. In her.

“I don’t…” Sunset started, but her words caught. She knew what she had to do, and that made what she wanted to say even harder, somehow. She finally looked over at Twilight, who remained placid.

“I don’t know if you really feel the way about me I think you do, but I hope you do. I don’t deserve it, and you deserve so much more than me, but I do care about you, even if I’m terrible at showing it sometimes.”

With a sigh, Sunset looked at the Talisman once more before looking into Twilight’s eyes. She thought she saw a glimmer of the life that had formerly been in them, but dismissed it as a trick of whatever was allowing her to see in this void.

“If you asked when I started feeling this way, I wouldn’t be able to tell you, I just know I do.” The orange unicorn gave a wry chuckle. “I mean, you’re a Twilight and I’m a Sunset, that’s how it works, right?”

Sunset felt a tear roll down her cheek. With a tug, she pulled the Talisman from round her neck, clutching it in her hoof.

“I’m stalling,” she said, emotion furring her words. “You were right, though. I can’t get you home, but I can at least get you back to some people who can.”

Leaning forward, Sunset planted a gentle kiss on Twilight’s cheek.

“Don’t forget me, Sparky, okay?” She shook her head. “Hell, maybe you should. After all, you deserve better.”

With that, Sunset powered up her horn and took the Talisman in her magic.

Slowly, the device began to glow.

‘Do you understand?’

‘I think so.’

‘That’ll have to do. We don’t really have a lot of time.’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘Mostly that Lady Twilight isn’t going to hang around and wait for us, but also because I think your little girlfriend is about to do something monumentally stupid.’

‘My what? What are you-’

Twilight was hit by a sudden rush of mental imagery, all of it of a bald Sunset sitting in front of her, talking about…

Oh. Oh no. No! She couldn’t!

As she realized Midnight must have been holding her awareness of the outside world at bay, Twilight was rocked again by the emotional backwash of what Sunset had said and was clearly planning to do. It wasn’t much emotion, but compared to the total lack of anything she’d felt since Discord had ripped Midnight out of her, it was like an ocean had crashed into her all at once.

And just like that, Twilight was looking at Sunset, instead of just thinking about her.

The other mare’s eyes were closed, her face was pale and she was sweating profusely. A guttural groan escaped from behind her clenched teeth as she poured her magic into the TPT. The fields surrounding her horn and the magical device were diffuse, the void around them sucking the energy out of both almost as fast as Sunset could pour it in. Twilight’s knowledge about magic wasn’t extensive, but from what her Sunset back home had said, magic was an essential part of life for ponies.

And this Sunset was pouring all of hers into the TPT.

“STOP!” Twilight yelled. Her own horn lit up and grabbed the TPT in her magic. Sunset’s eyes flew open at her shout, though her magic didn’t stop.

“Twilight!” she managed to gasp out. “You’re okay!”

“Yes, but you won’t be if you don’t stop!” Sunset just shook her head.

“It’s okay, Twilight. I’m going to get you out of here.”

“Not like this! I won’t let you sacrifice yourself for me!”

“It’ll be alright, Twilight, just-”

“No, it won’t! I’m no different from anyone else! I’m not worth it!”

“You are to me!” Sunset shouted back, tears running down her cheeks. Her hind legs gave out and she fell on her rump. She looked down at her hooves and repeated quietly, “You are to me…”

Twilight reached out with a hoof and gently lifted Sunset’s chin, bringing her teary, cyan eyes up to meet her own.

“I know,” she said softly. “But you’re worth the same to me, too.” With those words, Twilight leaned over to Sunset and placed her own gentle kiss, right on Sunset’s lips.

While she remembered kissing Sunset in both Serena’s cottage and Twily’s world, the feeling was dulled compared to this. Now, she felt like someone had laid a mains cable at the base of her skull and plugged it straight into her spine. Her heart thundered, her lips tingled, her cheeks burned and as intense as the feeling was, it multiplied when she felt Sunset purse her own lips in kind.

As much as she wanted to stay like that forever, Twilight knew she had to break it off. When she did, she smiled at Sunset, who returned the expression.

“Now let go,” Twilight said gently. “Let me take over. Please.”

It seemed like an eternity before Sunset nodded, but eventually she did, her horn extinguishing. With the TPT firmly in her own grasp, Twilight focussed as much of her magic into it as she could, watching as the device glowed even brighter. The feeling of pouring her own essence into the vessel made her nauseous, and sweat ran down into her eyes. Eventually, though, the TPT pulsed with energy and a portal unsteadily tore itself into existence.

Panting from the effort, Twilight stood and turned to Sunset, gesturing to the newly formed portal. Nodding, Sunset stood and leaned into her slightly. Together, they staggered their way across the threshold.

As they did so, a little voice, carrying just the hint of a smirk, spoke proudly in the back of Twilight’s mind.

‘Good girl.’

Chapter 27 - Corejo

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The portal spit them out onto a cold stone floor. Twilight sat up and rubbed her head. That was going to leave a nice goose egg.

They sat in the middle of a rundown courtyard crawling with moss and debris. Dilapidated houses huddled the distant edges of the worn flagstones, and a busted water fountain sat beside them in silent vigil.

“Glad you two could make it back.”

Amblejoy stood behind them. She assumed the best, for the grin on her face.

Sunset stood up, hissing as she rubbed her back. “Wish I could say the same after that slide. You really need to work on your portals, Sparky.”

Twilight looked between Sunset and Amblejoy. Part of her leapt for joy that everything had turned out better than expected. But part of her needed to ask.

“Where’s everyone else?”

“On the other side of the castle.” Amblejoy jerked her head over her shoulder toward the crystal spire. “I needed a moment to clear my head. And besides… it’s not my family reunion going on over there.”

Sunset wore a troubled frown and a downcast gaze. It was hard to imagine what thoughts were running through her head right now.

“Did Discord give you much trouble?” Amblejoy smiled, eager to change the subject.

“None, actually,” Sunset said. She swept a hoof through her mohawk, and Twilight watched it sproing back into place. “He didn’t go full villain and actually beat Lady Sparkle. Or, at least enough to make her jump universes. We did get all the Midnights back to their Twilights, though.”

Amblejoy nodded. “Well then I guess everything isn’t as great as I was hoping, but it’s far from the worst. However, Lady Sparkle escaping is bad. If we leave her alone, she’ll just build up from scratch again.”

“See? What’d I tell you?” Midnight said inside Twilight’s head.

“Shush, you.”

“So then how do we stop her?”

Amblejoy scratched her chin. Her eyes wandered between Twilight and Sunset. “I have an idea…”

She trotted up and lifted Twilight’s TPT in her hoof. A quick comparison with her own, and she snapped it off Twilight’s neck.

Sunset squared up with her. “What do you think you’re do—”

Amblejoy shushed her. She opened the lid of Twilight’s TPT. What looked like pink stardust churned like sand inside a shaken glass jar.

“Do you remember when I told you about resonances?”

Sunset tilted her head. “Yeah, the thing about all universes having a song or whatever, right?”

“She’s looking at the chaos magic all over that thing,” Midnight said.

“Shush.”

Amblejoy held her TPT next to Twilight’s. Her pink stardust-y stuff didn’t churn, but rather patiently swirled like a slow-motion hurricane, little bits flaking off to drift with the wind. “The same goes for magic. Your TPT is riddled with chaos magic.”

“See? What’d I tell you?”

“Would you seriously just shush?”

“How exactly did that happen?” Twilight asked.

Amblejoy smirked at her. “My guess is your little friend inside your head.”

“Who, me?” Midnight asked.

“Yes, you,” Twilight said. She blushed, realizing she said that out loud. “Err, how so?”

“Midnight Discord or whatever you called him. Their magics mingled, and I doubt your Midnight will ever be quite the same as she was.”

“But what’s that have to do with Lady Sparkle?” Sunset asked. She stepped up beside Twilight, her eyes on the TPTs.

“Chaos magic leaves a mark. A scent, if you will. Just look at my TPT’s frequency.” Already that patient swirl grew jumbled, chunks of stardust clumping together and scattering. She held it away from Sunset and Twilight, and the stardust returned to a patient swirl. “You two reek of it, and Lady Sparkle no doubt will, too, after that battle with Discord.”

“So you’re gonna use our TPT to track her? Can it really sniff her out across universes?”

Amblejoy lit her horn and focused her aura over Twilight’s TPT. She pressed down on the stardust to compress it into the device’s core. It fought back like some kind of animal backed into a corner, little pockets of stardust shooting up through Amblejoy’s aura, but she snatched them and threw them back into the device.

Twilight bit her lip. After coming so far, the TPT felt just as much a part of her as anything. Seeing Amblejoy tinker with it sent a nervous twinge through her. Still, Midnight didn’t seem worried, so she stayed quiet.

The stardust conceded defeat, allowing itself to be compressed flat into the core. Amblejoy let out a relieved laugh.

“That, Sunset, would be a yes.” Amblejoy clamped Twilight’s TPT shut. “And judging by the chaos resonance, we already have a reading.”

“Really?” Sunset sidled up beside her for a closer look. “It’s that simple?”

“Well, not quite. Lady Sparkle is on the run, as I’m sure you guessed. She’s already jumped a few times, and I don’t see her slowing down anytime soon.”

“So we just have to jump through a portal or two and nab her,” Sunset asked. “What are we waiting for? Let’s get the others.”

“Hold on. It’s not that simple, either,” Midnight said, suddenly in control.

“Well, hello, Midnight,” Amblejoy said.

“Yeah, whatever,” Midnight said.

“Don’t ‘whatever’ her!”

“I’ll ‘whatever’ whoever I want.” Midnight shook her head, throwing Twilight into the back of their mind for a moment. “We didn’t charge the TPT ambiently like you guys always do. That was my magic you used. A lot of it.”

“Okay, so?” Sunset said.

“The portal isn’t a one-off thing. It’s per person. Or pony. Or whatever’s going through it.”

Sunset sighed. “So if we’re chasing Lady Sparkle, the less that go through the portal the faster we can catch up.”

“You got it, sweet cheeks.” Twilight shook her head, again in control. Well, control of everything but her left hoof, which tried against her will to slap Sunset on the flank. Through it all, she blushed furiously and tried hiding behind her mane.

Sunset and Amblejoy shared a look, then a smile, then a nod.

“We won’t let you down,” Sunset said to Amblejoy.

“I don’t doubt it.” Amblejoy gave Twilight’s TPT to Sunset. She put her own around her neck, but paused. “Actually…”

She snapped open her TPT and twisted its core until it popped out. Carefully, she levitated it to the one around Sunset’s neck, opened it, and clicked it in place. “There. That should at least make each slide easier.”

“Wait.” Twilight stepped forward. “But that was your TPT’s core. You can’t give that to us. What about you guys? You’ll be stranded here.”

Amblejoy shrugged. “I’m sure Twily, Skylark, and I could scrap together another one if we had to. But I have faith we won’t have to worry about that.

“And besides...” She looked over her shoulder toward the crystal palace. “I have a feeling they still need some time.”

“Well, alright then!” Sunset said, stamping her hoof. She turned a grin toward Twilight. “You ready to hunt down a maniac pseudo demi-goddess and save the multiverse?”

Twilight looked her in the eye. No. No, she didn’t. She didn’t want anything to do with any of this. She just wanted to go home. She wanted to go home and reread her book for the millionth time. Something normal. Something safe.

“But that isn’t quite true, is it?” Midnight asked.

Twilight looked down. No, it wasn’t. Twilight did want to go home, but what was home to her? A place, a collection of things. Just a bunch of stuff.

This Sunset she found—or rather, that found her—she was just as much a home as any one place in any one universe. This Sunset that she followed across half the multiverse, that she would gladly follow across the other.

Twilight smiled. “Yeah.”

They slid through the portal, and Twilight fell. The wind grew to a roar in her ears. She felt the heat before she saw it.

Her body tumbled in freefall, and when the sky turned to earth, she saw a tropical island and an active volcano directly below, brewing with the anger of a mythological deity.

Sunset gripped her around the shoulders. “Twilight! Twilight! Portal! Portal!”

“I’m working on it!”

Twilight grabbed Sunset with one hoof and the TPT with the other. She pushed hers and Midnight’s magic into it, and the meter flared pink. They ripped open a portal beneath them and tumbled onto a soft patch of grass.

Sunset coughed. “Well that was a great way to start us off.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. Grassy hills rolled into all four horizons, dotted by a few trees. It was kind of peaceful.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“I think ‘how far behind’ is the better question here,” Sunset said. She adjusted her jacket with one hand, and grabbed the TPT with the other.

Twilight stood up and threw her arm around Sunset while staring at the TPT. “Well then how far behind are we?”

“You see the concentric circles?” She pointed at a red dot and a blinking ring. “We’re the middle dot. She’s the flashing ring.”

“Just two jumps away?”

“Yeah. Well, three now,” Sunset said as the flashing ring jumped outward one circle.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Twilight put her hands on the TPT.

“Me. Jeez. Can’t a girl catch a break around here?” Midnight sounded winded, like she had just sprinted a lap around the school track.

“Sorry, but we need to catch her. Can you make another jump?”

“I’ll live. Just fire it up whenever.”

Twilight nodded. She closed her eyes to focus her magic.

“Wait,” Sunset said. “She stopped moving.”

“Okay? So? Let's get her before she does move again,” Twilight said.

“Twilight, wait.”

Sunset looked at her, concerned. “No. I don't think that's a good idea. There's something fishy about this. Somepony running for their life doesn’t just stop running.”

“She’s right, Twilight. This screams trouble.”

Twilight shook her head. This was their chance. They could end this now. The more jumps, the more it hurt Midnight, and they needed all the strength they could manage.

Sunset took a step back, clutching the TPT to her breast. “Twilight…”

Twilight put her hands on Sunset’s cheeks. She planted a long kiss on her forehead, and they stayed there a while.

“Trust me,” Twilight whispered. Without taking her eyes from Sunset’s, she placed her hands on the TPT. It glowed, and Twilight closed her eyes. She poured even more of herself into it.

Before she knew what was happening, she felt them shift through space, the universes passing by and around and through them. Gravity reversed, and reality snapped to.

She hit the ground face first. What little of the world she could make out spun sickeningly on its head. Her lungs felt like they had been vacuum packed and refused to draw breath.

“Twilight! Twilight, get up!”

Twilight groaned. She tried pushing herself up onto her hands and knees, but a shooting pain rocketed up her right arm and she collapsed, screaming.

“Twilight, please! You have to get up! This is bad. This is really bad.”

She sucked in a tiny breath through clenched teeth. Breathing hurt. Everything hurt. She curled into a fetal position, face down against the cold stone.

“There’s no magic here, Twilight. This universe… I-I can’t feel my magic.”

“Oh…” cooed a venomously honeyed voice. “Don’t give up so easily, Twilight.”

Twilight wheezed in a gasp and shot her eyes open. That voice. That was her voice. She managed to crane her neck up.

Lady Sparkle grinned down at her. She held Sunset in front of her by the arm, her long fingernails digging through her leather jacket. Sunset’s long, wavy hair covered one of her eyes, but it couldn’t hide the terror in them.

“After all…” Lady Sparkle said. “That isn’t something I would do.”

And then Twilight saw the knife at Sunset’s throat.

Chapter 28 - Overlord Neon

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Chapter 29 - Aragón

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Sunset tackled the devil.

Someone screamed.

The pendant went flying.

There was a flash of light.

Sunset opened her eyes.

There was no cold hard ground under her feet, and the sky above her wasn’t black. There was no Lady Sparkle, and no devil Sunset, and no Twilight.

There was just a void. An endless void, exactly like that one where Discord had died. But, if voids could have colors—and Sunset assumed they technically couldn’t, but they did anyway—that one had been black. This one was white.

And somehow, that made this whole situation way less concerning.

So Sunset didn’t bother screaming. She didn’t bother looking for Twilight, or trying to understand what had just happened. She just did what she knew she had to do.

“Hey!” she said out loud, looking up. “I see no fire and no pitchforks! That means I’m still alive, right?”

“Sunset, we really need to start working on that self-esteem.”

And Sunset had to suppress a smirk.

The disembodied voice—a woman’s—came from behind her back. Because of course there was a disembodied voice, and of course it came from behind her back. This was an endless void with no colors, and Sunset was floating in the middle of it. There had to be some sort of wise entity who spoke in riddles. This was, what? The third time this had happened in this adventure alone?

“I've no idea, actually. I think I've genuinely lost count. So, where am I?” Sunset said this last bit out loud, as she turned around to face whoever was in there with her. “This isn’t a dream, those feel more real. What—?”

The words died in her mouth.

There was a woman behind her, all right. A woman wearing a set of white clothes that covered strictly what needed to be covered. She had two pristine angelic wings sprouting from her back. There was a brilliant halo floating above her head.

And her face…

The woman chuckled. “Too much? I'm not the best at subtlety.” She fluttered her wings, and shrugged. “But being blunt is good, sometimes, I think.”

Sunset frowned, and tried to retreat a little, give herself some space. “You…? Why are you…?”

“Like this?” The woman made a broad gesture, pointing at her attire. “Well, I don’t know. It’s just, through all this entire journey, it’s been Midnight Sparkle this, Midnight Discord that, now there’s a devil version of you out there… And that got me thinking.” The woman crossed her arms. “We keep seeing the demon on our left shoulder. But what about the angel on our right?”

Sunset blinked. She looked at her right shoulder—there was nothing there. Then again, there was nothing on her left shoulder either. Still, she sort of got it.

So she looked at the woman. “So you are my… good counterpart?”

“Kind of,” the woman said. Her face was, of course, identical to Sunset’s, but her smile was so much sweeter. “Welcome to your own mind, Sunset. You could say I’m your personal Shimmer.”

Silence.

“Also, yes, this is literally the inside of your mind. You’re introspecting. This is what introspection looks like.”

Sunset arched an eyebrow. “This is not how introspection looks like.”

“Yeah, usually. But this is not usual. You got hit in the head with a burst of chaos magic. Point-blank.” The angel shrugged. “What did you think was gonna happen?”

Sunset was unconscious.

“SUNSET!”

And Twilight was screaming.

“SUNSET! SUNSET, PLEASE!” Everything hurt. Breathing hurt, moving hurt, thinking hurt—but Twilight ignored it all, she gritted her teeth and kept going, she had to run to Sunset. Walk to Sunset, jump to Sunset, drag herself through the ground to Sunset, it didn’t matter. She had to get to her.

Midnight purred something in her mind, but Twilight shrugged it off. Sunset was breathing—she was, Twilight was sure, that was not her imagination, but she looked bad. Real bad. She had to—

“I wouldn’t really move if I were you.”

The voice made Twilight’s heart jump for a second, because it was Sunset speaking—but it hadn’t been her Sunset. It had been the devil one.

“And if I were you,” Lady Sparkle replied, “I would shut up.”

Twilight looked at them, all the while dragging herself towards Sunset. She did not like what she saw.

The TPT had fallen to the ground, and it stood there, glimmering, tantalizing, exactly between Devil Sunset and Lady Sparkle. The two villains were clearly keeping it on the corner of their eye, but mostly, they were both looking at each other.

Devil Sunset had her hands up, fingers shimmering, ready to strike. Lady Sparkle had her arms crossed, and a look of contempt in her eyes.

Both were baring their teeth.

“The moment you take a single step towards the TPT,” Devil Sunset said, and her hands shone even brighter, “you’re dust.”

Twilight stopped looking at them, and scooted over to Sunset. Inch by inch, little by little, until she was next to her. She was breathing—oh, thank the Heavens, she was breathing—but she did not wake up when Twilight nudged her.

And in the background, Lady Sparkle chuckled. “Oh, I do not think so,” she said. “I have killed more Sunset Shimmers that you could count. I am the Sparkle of the Last Dying Star. You are nothing.”

Devil Sunset scoffed. “You’re weakened. I can feel it. I can end you.”

“Oh, you could. I am weak, indeed. However.” Lady Sparkle raised two fingers. “You made two mistakes.”

Devil Sunset blinked. “What?”

“First, this is not a conversation. This is me stalling you, and now she’s close enough.” And Lady Sparkle looked to the side, at Twilight—and Twilight felt a chill down her spine, and that old familiar tickle at the base of her neck. In her mind, Midnight screamed.

“No!” Twilight hugged the unconscious Sunset, trying to cover her up with her body. “No!—!”

“Oh, yes. Second mistake, Sunset,” Lady Sparkle said, “never assume I’m working alone.” Then she grinned at Twilight. “Welcome back,my child.”

Then a flash, and the tingle became a stab, and Twilight screamed.

“Okay!” the angel said. “So, here’s a loaded question: how do you feel about Twilight?”

Sunset frowned. “Uh—”

“Yes. Exactly.” The angel nodded. “You don’t even know which one I’m talking about. Because here’s the thing, right? If we follow this?” And she pointed to her head. “This is a really big mistake. Really big.”

There was a frown in Sunset’s face. Funny—she didn’t remember putting it on. “You’re talking about me and Twilight?”

“Yes.”

“Right.”

“Because you think she deserves better,” the angel said, “and you are absolutely right.”

Sunset winced. “Ouch.”

“Yeah, I told you we had to work on that self-esteem.” The angel waved a hand. “You know you like her, but do you like her? Or do you just like the idea of a Twilight? Because the last one ditched you, and this one is definitely a rebound. Do you even know anything about her? Like, at all?”

Sunset laughed, despite herself. “She wears glasses,” she said. “And that’s all.”

The angel nodded. “Exactly.”

“So I keep thinking, she deserves better. Because maybe I don’t like her, maybe I just like Twilights, plural. And that isn’t fair for her.” Sunset looked at the angel. “Is that what you mean?”

“Yes. That’s what this,” she pointed at her head, “says. But what about…?”

And Sunset pointed at her chest. “This?”

“Hmm-hmm.”

“Well.” Sunset ran a hand through her hair. “I… I like her.”

“Go on.”

“No, that’s—there’s nowhere to go to from there. I just. I like her?” Sunset squinted. “Being near her feels good. I, I don’t know if this is just a crush, or if it’s destiny, or if it’s… I have no idea what it is. Rationally I keep telling myself that I’m going to hurt her. Because maybe I don’t like her, maybe I just like any Twilight that looks at me, maybe I just haven’t gotten over Twily yet. But then…”

“But then,” the angel said, “all that goes through the window. Because you’ve seen countless Twilights, and you didn’t care for them. But this one?” And she pointed at her chest, too. “If you follow this, this Twilight matters, and you don’t care if you don’t know why.”

Pause.

“By the way,” Sunset said, “now that you point at your chest, I’ve been meaning to ask. Why are you dressing like that?”

“Like an angel?”

“Like an exhibitionist.”

“Evil is sexy, good is sexier, and you’re really proud of your human looks.” The angel flinched. “Ah. I’m vanishing. I think you’re waking up. Here’s hoping we never see each other again, because I am less an individual and more the result of a concussion. Bye!”

“What?” Sunset blinked. The angel was, indeed, vanishing. “Wait, what? No! You didn’t help me at all! I—what if she has a life in her home dimension? What if she doesn’t want to leave that? Should I move in with her? Is that a sign that we shouldn’t be together? Is that a sign we should? Tell me something!”

“I told you all you needed. Now you and Twilight need to go and find some answers. Sit down and have a normal conversation, or something. Go on a date! Get to know each other!” The angel chuckled. “But before I go, here’s another loaded question! This one is easy:

“If devil you is the one who attacked you, how come you got hit by chaos magic?”

Twilight finished screaming. And then she opened her eyes.

There was no tickle at the back of her neck, no otherworldly presence telling her what to do. Absolutely nothing had happened.

“Oh, please, Twilight, stop clinging to Sunset Shimmer like that. She’s just talking to herself. They do that, sometimes.”

It’d been Devil Sunset talking, but her voice sounded completely different from before. So Twilight looked at the two villains—and saw that Lady Sparkle was frozen in place, her eyes were bright with fear.

By her side, Devil Sunset was slouching, all menace gone from her posture. “Well, then. I have to admit, you disappointed me.” She walked towards the frozen Lady Sparkle, moving her hips with every step, swagger overflowing. “You were so boring to fight. I hate being thorough like this. It’s so repetitive.”

Twilight was still pressing herself against Sunset, but now her fear had given way to confusion. “It can’t be,” she muttered. “No way.”

“Oh, yes way.” Devil Sunset rested her elbow on Lady Sparkle’s shoulder. “It’s all about the Twive Mind, really. Terrible thing. Did you know it leaves a seed in every Twilight it touches?” She winked at Twilight. “Including you?”

Twilight’s eyes got wide. She patted the back of her neck—

“Oh, not anymore, you silly.” Devil Sunset rolled her eyes, and then looked at her hands. “Let’s just get this over with, shall we?”

Then she snapped her fingers, and next thing Twilight knew, Devil Sunset was gone.

In her place now stood Discord.

“…No,” Twilight said. “B-but I saw you die!”

“Oh, see? That’s the problem with you Twilights.” Discord rolled his eyes. “So dreadfully empirical. You see something with your eyes, and you immediately believe it’s real. Big mistake!” He popped his head from behind Lady Sparkle—he was behind her now, apparently—and caressed her chin. “See, you can't really kill the Twive Mind. Not until eeeeevery little bit of it is gone. Eeeeevery little seed.” He winked at Twilight. "Including yours!"

“I—”

“And of course, our dear Lady's defenses were too high. Hard to get inside this little head of hers, and she would never lower her guard with me around.” Discord knocked on Lady Sparkle’s forehead. “Only way to get in is to wait until she opens it herself. Like, say, to absorb another one of you Twilights! Then you can just slip right in, take away the seed, and destroy the Twive Mind from the inside.”

He pushed Lady Sparkle, and Lady Sparkle—perfectly still, exactly like a statue—fell and crashed against the ground.

“But I’m afraid,” Discord hummed, “that was a little too much for the Sparkle of the Last Dying Star to handle. Because now, eeeeevery little bit of her is gone!” And he grinned, that terrible grin of his. "Eeeeevery little bit!"

Chapter 30 - The Albinocorn

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Sunset came around, squeezing her eyes tighter as she was dragged back into the waking world. She understood why her angel recommended they never meet again. The sensation of a drill against the front end of her brain wasn’t quite worth it. She found use of her right arm and pressed a hand to her throbbing head.

“Sunset!”

She groaned. “Please, not that loud, Sparky. I feel like I have the worst hangover in the multiverse.”

An oddly familiar chuckle reached her ears. “Be thankful that’s all you got. Even I wasn’t sure what was going to happen when I hit you. A little disappointed a headache was the worst of it.”

Sunset kept her eyes closed, unready to face the harsh light of the world she assumed they were still in. “Twilight, why am I hearing Discord?”

“Well…” Twilight said hesitantly, “it turns out he’s alive, and he beat Lady Sparkle for us.”

“... That’s a handy amount of deus ex machina. Not complaining though. What happened to demon me?”

“I was demon you!” Discord said, like it was the punchline to an elaborate joke, which at this point, Sunset thought it might have been.

Keeping a hand cupped over her eyes, Sunset opened them and stared into the anxious face of Twilight. Two feelings collided together in Sunset’s heart: longing and guilt. She had dragged this girl up and down the multiverse and nearly got her killed on a number of occasions. Above all that, she had toyed with Twilight’s feelings and in the process, left herself even more confused than Twilight probably was. Her angel had been right—they needed a long talk.

As nerve-wracking and painful as it would probably be, Sunset was looking forward to it. Something mundane and normal after the long adventure they had had.

Twilight helped Sunset into a sitting position, then gently pulled her into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

Sunset saw Discord roll his eyes, though he wore a playful grin. “You children are always so sentimental. It was just a little chaos magic. I wasn’t trying to kill her.”

By the way the drill pressed against Sunset’s skull, she thought otherwise. Still, with Twilight pressed against her, the pain already seemed to ebb away. Sunset looked away from Discord to the seemingly immobile form of Lady Sparkle. Her eyes were wide with horror and disbelief, the kind that classic villains had when they couldn’t believe they had been beaten. It was enough to make Sunset grin triumphantly, even if she had nothing to do with the victory.

Twilight pulled away from Sunset and followed her eyes to Lady Sparkle. “So… what happens to her?”

Discord dug a claw into his ear as he spoke. “You know, I’m not one-hundred percent sure. Like I said, every little bit of her is gone. It was the only way to get rid of the Twive Minds since it was so ingrained into even her.” He pulled out a wad of cotton candy from his ear canal, shrugged, and took a bite of it. “The way I see it, there’s two possibilities.

“Either I unfreeze her and she becomes a drooling corpse, or I unfreeze her and she becomes a blank slate, free of all memories, personality, everything.” Discord finished off his candy with a loud smack. “I’m fine with either, really.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes, and Midnight’s voice rose from her throat, low and scathing. “I say we just leave her. With all the shit she’s put us through, leaving her as a petrified statue is the softest punishment I’m willing to give her.” Her face broke into a malevolent grin. “Do you think she can still see and hear everything around her?”

Discord leaned over Lady Sparkle. “No. Pretty sure no one’s home.”

Midnight frowned. “Boring.” Her un-Twilightish glare softened, returning the empathetic light Sunset much preferred.

“I know she did terrible things. A lot of terrible things. But, if she really is just a blank slate, we can’t leave her here like this. Right?”

Sunset lowered her hand from her eyes and looked at the broken world around them Nothing but smoldering rubble and red haze as far as the eye could see. No magic, no people. It would be a rather fitting prison. Sunset was tempted to agree with Midnight, yet Twilight had a point. If Discord was correct, then for all intents and purposes, Lady Sparkle was dead. A second punishment seemed redundant.

On the other hand, if she couldn’t even process the world around her in her present state, what was the point in unfreezing her? They could just let her be and move on with their lives.

Sunset stared intently at Lady Sparkle. Already, she felt her heart soften. Evil or not, dead or not, this Twilight was still a Twilight. She deserved to go out with some dignity. And Skylark deserved some closure. Sunset sighed. In the end, she had a weakness for any girl who called herself Twilight Sparkle.

“Unfreeze her, Discord,” Sunset said with firm conviction. “If she’s brain dead, we’ll put her out of her misery. If there’s something there, we’ll take her back with us.”

Discord gave a slow, exasperated shake of his head. “Sentimental, every last one of you.” He snapped his tail, and a flash of light emitted from Lady Sparkle. There was more color to her face, and her eyes blinked very slowly, as if she was coming out of a long dream.

She sat up, eyes growing wider with each swivel of her head. Sunset could hear the girl’s erratic breath from across the courtyard.

Well, she’s not brain dead.

“Where… am I?” She looked over at Sunset and Twilight huddled together. “Who are you?” Her eyes found Discord, and she let out a loud yell and scrambled backwards, falling several times. “What is that thing?”

“Well, I never!” Discord said, putting his hands on his hips. “I mean, I have but I still have feelings!”

Ex-Lady Sparkle was on the verge of tears. She pressed one hand against her heart and another against her head. “What’s… I can’t remember… who… where…” Tears poured down her cheeks and she began to hiccup. “What’s go-going on? I can’t remember anything!”

Midnight grinned. “Nevermind, I’m enjoying this.”

Twilight shook her away and stood up. Gingerly, with her hands raised in a placating manner, she stepped toward the frightened former nightingale. “It’s going to be okay. I know you’re scared, but we’re here to help you.”

Sparkle didn’t look convinced, but seeing as she had backed herself against a large piece of upturned cement, she had nowhere to go. “Who are you?”

Twilight knelt in front of her. “I’m… a very close friend. Almost like a sister.”

The words seemed to resonate with Sparkle. Her frightened doe look softened just a modicum, and her tears fell at a slower pace. “You do seem… familiar?” She looked over at Sunset. “So does she. I think.”

She moved her other hand to her head and gripped the sides of her skull. “But… I can’t think. I-I can’t even remember my own name. What happened to me?”

“Don’t worry,” Twilight said reassuringly, “we can take you to someone who will help.”

While her headache persisted, Sunset found the strength to stand, wobbling at first, and using a large piece of rock to hold herself steady. When the world stopped shifting under her feet, she stumbled over and picked up the talisman, half charged.

“Hey, Discord,” she said, bringing it over to him. “Can you do us one last favor?”

Discord, lounging on an upside down loveseat, draped his head down and clicked his tooth. “I dunno. I seem to be doing a lot of favors for you lately. What do I get out of all this?”

Sunset shifted uncomfortably. “I mean, what do you want?”

Discord snatched the talisman. “Nothing a mere mortal like you could give me. Just promise me the next time you come and visit, it’s just to say hi. I’ve had enough of Sunlight brand madness to last me a lifetime. I need something else to break the monotony.”

He handed the talisman back, fully charged and thrumming with power, then bowed with dramatic flair. “Ladies, this is where I bid you adieu. I’m off to find a Celestia to bother. My world is always open, just make sure to knock!” And with a flash of light, Discord was gone.

Twilight helped Sparkle to her feet and guided her to Sunset. With the three of them gathered together, Sunset pressed the button and watched as a portal split open in front of them.

“Is… is that normal?” Sparkle asked, curiosity and fear written in her eyes.

“Relatively speaking,” Twilight said. She gestured for Sparkle to head through. With trembling shoulders, she did as told, vanishing into the soft light.

Sunset reached for Twilight’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “One more stop. Then, you’re home free.”

“Home,” Twilight repeated. She squeezed Sunset’s hand and pulled her along into the portal.

Chapter 31 - AcreuBall

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The first thing Twilight saw as the glow from the TPT around Sunset’s neck faded was Skylark, standing right in front of them.

“Oh good, you’re back. All things considered, that was actually pretty fast—”

Skylark broke off as she noticed the second Twilight they had returned with, one that bore both wings and a horn.

“This... you—” Skylark’s face contorted and her horn lit. Her magic glow snapped out and grabbed up the husk of Lady Sparkle. “What are you doing, you idiots?! She’s trapped you in her spell, too, and—!

“No!” Twilight cried out. “She’s not—there’s nothing left of her!”

The Twilight floated in the air, eyes wide in the magic aura. “What’s happening?!” She spun slowly, flailing around in the air, panicked. “Is this... magic?”

Skylark let her down, slowly, gently, but kept her horn ready. “What happened?”

Sunset relayed the events that had just occurred to Skylark as Twilight held the trembling husk of Lady Sparkle close. As Sunset spoke, the tension drained from Skylark. As Sunset finished, Skylark hung her head, her eyes closed and her breathing shallow.

Skylark looked up at her Twilight, a calm, sad smile on her face. “Well now what do I do with you?”

The darting eyes of a fearful Lady Sparkle, the Sparkle of the Last Dying Star, ruler of the Twive mind, came to rest on the pony in front of her. Her face relaxed as she met Skylark’s gaze. Lady Sparkle tilted her head. “Who are you?” She took a step closer to Skylark. “I feel... happy when I look at you.

Skylark’s smile turned pained, and she blinked rapidly. “I’m happy when I look at you, too.”

A soft light and a gentle pop broke the silence. A portal opened up near Lady Sparkle, and a black orb emerged and drifted toward her.

It’s her Midnight!

What?

From the Container of Midnight! It must be hers that she removed from herself!

Then it must have been just floating around since they were released, unable to return to its host until—

Until someone made space. This could be bad.

The spot of darkness pressed up against Lady Sparkle’s forehead, the unicorn doing nothing but watching curiously.

The orb passed into her, and she blinked. Then her eyes darted around wildly, and she sank to her knee. Skylark shot forward to wrap a foreleg around her.

“Are you alright? What’s happening?”

“I... I remember...”

Okay, I’m taking over. Time for a fight.

Just hang on! Maybe—

Nope. We gave her a chance, now she’s back. It’s blasting time.

Twilight felt her horn charge with magic.

Midnight! Hang on just a minute.

Her horn remained charged, but nothing else happened.

Midnight, please.

The magic dissipated.

Alright. I’ll trust you.

Thanks.

Twilight watched on.

Lady Sparkle closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she was looking calmly at Skylark.

“You... you’re my Sunset.” She glanced around. “There’s another Sunset here, and you’re supposed to be orange, not blue, but... I know it. I can feel it. You’re my Sunset.”

Skylark smiled. A real smile. “Yeah. I’m your Sunset.” She looked to the side. “Um, what’s the last thing you remember?”

“The last memory... it’s hazy, I’m not sure, but—I remember removing my Midnight. After that, there’s nothing distinct.”

“Okay, one question—if I say ‘Skylarks and Nightingales,’ does that mean anything to you?”

“Those are... birds, right?”

“Wonderful.”

Okay, you were right.

Thanks for saying so.

Midnight said nothing.

And Midnight?

Yeah?

I’m glad you’re back.

Yeah, me too.

Twilight felt like a part of her mind was blushing, and she smiled.

They walked back to the epicenter of what was once a giant magical shield worshiped as a god, where four figures stood and one lay.

Shining Armor was on a makeshift pallet, Twily and Serena tending to him. He looked gaunt, with hollow rings of darkness around his eyes, but he smiled at them for a moment before all eyes turned to the new arrival.

“Um, should we be—?” started Spike.

“No, she’s a friend now,” said Skylark.

“Right. Reforming villains,” said Twily. “I’m impressed—that’s usually a Twilight thing.”

“Well Sunsets can do it, too,” said Sunset, with a confidant nod.

“Technically—” began Twilight.

“Shush. Let me have this,” said Sunset.

Everyone present looked appeased save one. Amblejoy stepped forward.

“She’s a mass murderer, Skylark,” she said evenly. “You can’t just say she’s ‘reformed’ and be done with it, you know.”

“The mass-murderer part of her got absorbed by a demi-god of chaos,” replied Skylark, calmly.

“Which was, well, actually all of her, really,” said Twilight. “Anyway, we saw it happen. She’s not a threat anymore.”

You don’t know that! What are you basing that off of?

Um, the magic of friendship, the power of love, and a whole lot of optimism?

Fantastic.

Amblejoy tilted her head and said, “We can’t just ignore what she did.”

Skylark sighed. “So it seems you’re going to be pedantic about this.”

“I’m not being—she has to answer for her crimes!” She stepped forward, her horn lighting up. “We have to give her to the authorities.”

The others took a step back from the two unicorns, though the former Lady Sparkle stayed where she was, pressed timidly to Skylark’s side.

“What, put her on trial?” asked Skylark with a smirk. “Who’s going to run something like that? No way. She’s leaving with me.”

“This can’t be the first time there’s been a multidimensional megalomaniac,” said Amblejoy. “I won’t stand by and let her escape again!”

Skylark pushed Lady Sparkle behind her and leveled her horn at Amblejoy.

Twilight glanced at Sunset, who looked as tense as she did.

“We should give her a chance!” said Sunset, firmly, stepping forward. “She’s reverted back—she’s reunited with her Midnight! She’s not Lady Sparkle anymore.”

“But she’s the pony that turned into Lady Sparkle,” Amblejoy shot back. “I’m not saying anything crazy, here. I’m just saying we can’t let Skylark whisk her off somewhere to become Lady Sparkle all over again!”

Twilight chewed the inside of her lip. It was clear the others were not going to get involved. Twily was shaking her head while holding hoof to Shining Armor’s shoulder, who was trying to get up. Serena looked on, sadly. Spike paced back and forth.

“She was a monster,” said Amblejoy. “She murdered Sunsets and brainwashed a hundred Twilights. She was the biggest threat to the multiverse either of us are likely to ever see. You can’t honestly want to protect her after all this. And what about your Applejack? What about the world you were living in?”

“AJ and that world can wait. I’m going to ask the Sunset in there,” said Skylark, nodding at Amblejoy. “There’s one in there, right? Along with a Twilight and Starlight? Well.” She grinned. “If there was a chance to save her, is there anything you wouldn’t do for your Twilight?”

With a flash there were three Skylarks, all moving in different directions—one went for the TPT around Sunset’s neck, one pulled Lady Sparkle off to the side, and one charged directly at Amblejoy.

“Blasted glamour magic,” Amblejoy muttered as she sent three rays lancing out at each of the Skylarks. “But I got three minds in here. Three minds, three targets! You should have thought that one through!”

The rays passed through the Skylarks, leaving not a trace as the three illusions vanished. Then the TPT around Sunset’s neck pulled free, wreathed in a magic aura, and sailed over to a suddenly prone Lady Sparkle. Skylark reappeared on top of Twilight, her invisibility gone, TPT around her neck. “Ha, real me was invisible! Oldest trick in the book!”

Skylark tore open the TPT and flung out the core Amblejoy had put in previously, leaving only a chaos-magic-riddled device. “This thing’s going to send chaos rippling through a dozen different dimensions when I portal out of here,” she said as she fired it up. “Good luck trying to follow me.”

With a blink, Skylark and Lady Sparkle slid into the multiverse.

Amblejoy let out a sigh. “Well, this ought to keep me busy for awhile.” She inserted the core back into her TPT shell and handed it to Twilight. “Here you take this one.” She turned away. “Spike! Let’s get working on another TPT and start isolating dimensions with that chaos signature. I’m not letting those two get away.”

Twilight glanced over at Sunset, but she was looking away. Twilight followed her gaze to Shining Armor and Twily.

“You should go talk to them,” said Twilight gently.

“Yeah, I know,” said Sunset quietly. “But Shining Armor... doesn’t look so good.”

“You don’t have to do it alone.” Twilight sidled up to her and nuzzled her briefly, blushing profusely. “I-I’m right beside you. Come on.”

Sunset smiled. “Alright.”

Chapter 32 - Posh

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Shining Armor had dropped back to the ground after his brief attempt at rising. His head was pillowed in Twily's folded forehooves, and turned toward Sunset and Twilight as they approached. A brittle smile split his face as he laid eyes on the doppelganger of his sister, but it soured to a grimace when his gaze flicked toward Sunset.

Serena, standing over the siblings, politely excused herself to speak with Amblejoy and Spike, rubbing her shoulder against Sunset's as she passed.

Sunset swallowed down the urge to flee, and paused a respectful distance away. "You, uh, doing okay there?"

Shining Armor's eyes narrowed. He opened his mouth to speak. A thin, gurgling note issued forth; he winced, rubbed his throat, and slumped back into Twily's embrace.

Sunset wilted. "Guess that was a dumb question."

"You always had a knack for those." Twily ran a hoof along Shining Armor's mane. "He'll be fine, though. Long-term. We'll get him home, we'll put things right, and as soon as he sees Cadance..."

Shining's tail swished at the mention of his bride, and that brittle smile returned.

Twily leaned down and kissed the base of his horn. "See? On the mend already."

"Surprised that's the part of him that sprang to attention," Midnight remarked.

Immediately, Twilight covered her mouth with her hoof, her eyes wide open, her cheeks red-hot. "Sorry, Sunset, but I think I'll take my alter-ego and her poor verbal filter, and go harass Serena and Amblejoy awhile."

"'Harass,'" Midnight murmured as Twilight retreated, mortified. "Of all the words you could have chosen."

"Is nothing sacred to you?"

"Learn to take a joke, Twilight. I'll bet the Dazzlings would've laughed. Whatever happened to them, anyway?"

Twily watched her go, her ears flattened in embarrassment. "Is it too late to give her back to Discord?"

"You don't want that. Trust me – he does not look good in a miniskirt," Sunset said wryly. The ex-lovers shared a chuckle, as Shining Armor turned his head, burying his face in his sister's hooves.

Twily looked mutely at Sunset for a long, painful moment. Then she said, "Guess you'll be off, huh?"

"Guess so." Sunset rubbed the back of her head. "Look—"

"You don't need to say anything." Twily interrupted. "I'm not... I'm not mad at you, Sunset. I was, for a long time. But we already had it out, and after everything we've gone through since then, it's not a grudge worth holding onto anymore. So, if you're going to apologize, then let me save you the trouble."

Her eyes twinkled with an old, deep-seated affection that Sunset ached to see.

"I forgive you."

Shining Armor made a guttural sound and swished his tail again. Twily shrugged.

"He'll come around."

Sunset smiled, relieved and abashed, and flattened her ears self-consciously. "Thank you."

"Think nothing of it. Just promise me one thing, okay?"

Sunset's head quirked.

"Don't make this a forever-goodbye." Twily paused to sniffle. "Come and see us again, okay? You and... your Twilight. Come see my Sunset and I."

"I don't know if she's 'my' Twilight, exactly."

"Well, that's a talk to have with her, now, isn't it?" Twily said knowingly. "Now. Get going. And, remember – don't be a stranger."

Shining Armor growled vehemently.

"Ignore him," Twily said.

Sunset chuckled, fought back tears and sniffles of her own, and left Twily with a final nod of acknowledgment. She rejoined Twilight, who was exchanging parting words with Amblejoy, Serena, and Spike.

"You're sure that you don't mind giving this up?" Twilight said, hefting the Amblejoy's TPT around her neck for emphasis. "Those two have a head start on you as is."

Amblejoy waved her concern off. "Fabricating a new TPT might take some time. Tracking down Skylark and Lady Sparkle, that's the easy part. Once we're ready, Spike and I can calculate their destination and pick up their trail without much hassle. There won't be any multiverse-spanning road trip for this Sunset and Twilight, I guarantee."

Twilight swiveled her head, and exchanged a look of uncertainty with Sunset.

Amblejoy noticed, and sighed. "Look. Skylark's in the wrong here. What happened to you – to all those other Twilights, in all those other universes – we can't risk letting it happen again. There must be a reckoning for Lady Sparkle."

Twilight bit her lip. "You'll be... gentle... with her, won't you?"

With only the briefest hesitation, Amblejoy nodded. "You have my word."

That brought less comfort to Sunset than it should've. But she smothered her misgivings, and forced herself to be cheerful. "We'd better hit the road. Sparky's got a long overdue trip home, and I've gotta..."

Again, she trailed off – what did she have to do?

Amblejoy coughed. "About that – I'd recommend letting the TPT make a couple random jumps, before you start targeting specific universes. New core, new device, and all that – give it a chance to calibrate, get its bearings."

Sunset nudged Twilight. "What do you think? Got a couple more field trips in you, Sparky?"

Twilight tried to mirror Sunset's expression. "Y'know... what could it hurt?"

Serena stepped forward and bumped Twilight's cheek with her nose. "I'm grateful to have met you. And that we had a chance to speak, once you were whole again."

"I'm glad I met you, too. Both of you. Amblejoy, Serena, I..." Twilight's eyes were misty behind her glasses. "I'm sorry, but... there's still a part of me that isn't used to all of this. Having people who're willing to fight and sacrifice for me, after being alone for so long—"

"Please don't turn this into a long-winded friendship speech," Midnight interrupted.

Twilight facehoofed, blushing profusely.

Amblejoy smiled slyly. "I haven't decided if I'm going to miss this or not. I'm leaning toward 'yes,' though."

"You've got some Midnight in you, too, don't you?" Spike thumped Amblejoy with his mechanical arm. "I'm sure there's a way to bring her out to play, if you really think you'll miss this."

"I'm definitely not going to miss it enough for that, Spike."

A laugh rippled through the group, and carried over to Twily and Shining Armor. Despite everything, Sunset felt light – a little closer to the cheer that she was trying to project. She cherished the moment, for as long as she could...

...and then she took a step back, gently pulling Twilight with her. "Let's go, Sparky."

Twilight nodded. Her horn glowed. The TPT opened, light building within its core. The ground below gave way; Sunset and Twilight fell through the portal, and left their new friends behind.

Sunset had gotten used to collapsing on new ground in a pile of tangled limbs. To greet this world on her feet – not hooves! – was a welcome change of pace.

Twilight wasn't so lucky.

The two of them had arrived on a grassy hilltop, with a cloudless blue sky overhead. A brisk, cool wind rustled through the grass – the grass that Twilight was face-down in, her butt hiked gracelessly in the air. Sunset wanted to laugh at the sight – she wanted to stare a little, too – but there was something gnawing at her. Some disquiet, a sense of deja vu, that kept her from appreciating the comedy in the scene.

Still, after she pushed the massive braid of flower-strewn red and gold hair off her shoulder, she had the decency to take Twilight by the arm, and guide her back to her feet.

"You know what I'm not gonna miss about sliding?" Twilight muttered, adjusting her glasses.

Sunset brushed some blades of grass off of Twilight's blouse. "What's that?"

"Sliding. As in, the act of." Twilight huffed. "I've had quite enough of teleporting into random locations and landing in undignified poses for one lifetime, thank you very much."

Sunset looked past Twilight, off the hill and into the distance, and nudged her companion's shoulder. "Know what you probably will miss?"

"Hmm?"

Sunset pointed. Twilight looked out, and sucked in a shocked breath.

Below the hill, a ruined city sprawled far into the horizon. Towering structures, urban skyscrapers that looked chiseled from solid marble, jutted toward the sky. Some were half-crumbled; some stood whole and tall. All of them were covered in thick bands of moss, snaking up each tower's length, and all of them glittered where the moss didn't touch.

"You don't get views like that back home," Sunset remarked.

Minutes passed without a word between them, until Sunset broke the silence with a sigh. "Think that was enough for the TPT to calibrate? Or should we make another jump, just to be safe?"

Twilight blinked. "Uh. We probably should go an extra time, to err on the side of caution, but..."

Sunset frowned. "What is it?"

"I don't know. Just a feeling, like something's not quite..."

Twilight reached for the device, and opened it. Her face paled.

"...It's not recharging."

"What?" Sunset reached for the device, pulled it toward herself. No light, no energy radiated from the talisman. "How could it not—?!"

And then she realized what the feeling was – where she'd experienced it before. In the void left behind by Discord, the world destroyed by his battle with Lady Sparkle.

"Ambient magic." Sunset looked Twilight in the eye. "The talisman isn't charging because there's not enough magic to power it. Whatever happened to this place, the magic's just..."

Comprehension lit in Twilight's eyes. "Not quite gone," she supplied in Midnight's husky tones. "But close enough to gone that it make no difference."

Sunset sank to her knees, pressed her trembling hands to her face, and shook. Disappointment, and self-reproach, and anger welled inside of her.

How? Sunset thought to herself. It had taken two gods – or near enough as Lady Sparkle could've gotten – to create a catastrophe on this scale. Who, or what, could have done it here, How...?

"Sunset. Turn around."

Sunset turned.

And looked upon a massive, marble likeness of Twilight Sparkle.

Stony wings sprouted from her back, and a horn jutted from her forehead, as she scowled imperiously over the city in the valley. Behind the statue, a crumbling castle soared, whose spires, tipped in tarnished gold, brought to mind visions of a fallen, long-abandoned Canterlot.

Twilight swallowed, hard. "You don't think that's her, do you?"

"...I don't think so. But maybe someone like her." Sunset snorted – an ugly, humorless laugh. "It would be, too. All this time, everything we've been through, so close to the end... and who should get in the way but another megalomaniac Twilight?"

She raised her hand and uncurled her middle finger at the ersatz Lady Sparkle.

Thanks, babe.

She dropped her arm and let her finger go limp when Twilight's hand found her shoulder.

"What do we do now?" Twilight asked.

Sunset had no reply to the question. She could only cover Twilight's hand with her own and sit, in silence, as the wind whispered past them.

Then something stepped out from behind the statue.

Immediately, Sunset leaped to her feet, balling her hands into fists, as the myriad possibilities of what could have survived in a dead, magicless world shot rapidly through her mind.

A small, slat-sided, purple-coated form edged toward them on four slender legs. Its face was long, and narrow, the flesh around its right eye blackened and disfigured. Tufts of wispy green mane poked from the top of its head, and ran down the back of its neck. It approached Sunset and Twilight quickly, without fear, a curious glint in its cat-slitted eyes.

"A fawn?" Sunset relaxed, and held out her hand as the fawn drew closer. It bent to sniff her fingers, its nose rough and dry as it bumped against her palm. Sunset peered closely at the fawn, at the disfigurement around its eye. The coat on that part of its face looked torn away, revealing what lay below: black flesh, covered in a faint, hexagonal pattern.

"Synthetic skin," Sunset said. "You're not organic, are you? Not all the way, anyway. An android?"

"Technically, 'android' would suggest a synthetic human," Twilight interjected. "Since this is a deer... and a fawn, specifically... what do you think of 'fawndroid?'"

Sunset looked flatly at Twilight. "Under no circumstances."

Twilight shrugged, and bent to peer closely at the fawn. Her eyes traced over its body: its purple coat, its tufts of mane, its vertically slitted green eyes...

"Are you... Spike?"

A note of recognition sprang into the fawn's eyes at the mention of that name. It stepped back, and turned away, though it tossed an expectant look back to the befuddled voyagers.

It wants us to follow it.

Out loud, to Twilight, she said, "What do you wanna do here?"

Twilight regarded the statue of herself with a blank, pensive stare. "We should see what it... he wants. Whatever happened to this world, whatever it was like before... Spike's still Spike. I think we can – I want to trust him."

Sunset looked back at the Spike-deer, who still stood, and stared, unmoving at them. She reached out to take Twilight's fingers in her hand. "Let's go, then."

A small smile bloomed on Twilight's face, as she gave a tiny squeeze back. "One thing, though, Sunset."

"Hmm?"

"Call him a fawndroid. It's a good word."

Sunset sighed. "You're lucky you're cute, y'know."

Nature encroached upon the castle's interiors, everywhere that Twilight and Sunset went. Yet even so, flashes of the castle's former glory showed everywhere.

Suits of armor, standing watch, with rusted swords and halberds in hand. Intricate wooden carvings, miraculously intact after centuries (millennia?) of neglect. Busts of humans, some of whom resembled people from Twilight's own life. She noted a chipper Pinkie, a somber Fluttershy, a noseless face that might once have been a Celestia. More than once, she glimpsed her own face, with the same imperious look as the statue outside.

Memories of Lady Sparkle kept surfacing, making Twilight pull closer to Sunset for support as they walked. And though Sunset sent her an encouraging look, and a squeeze of her hand, every time, her feelings weren't so easily dispelled.

In her mind, Twilight wondered – what separated her from whoever, and whatever, built this kingdom? Or from Lady Sparkle? What did it take to turn someone like her into...

...what had Amblejoy called Lady Sparkle? "A multidimensional megalomaniac?" She seemed sure that the Lady hadn't been the first to threaten the multiverse. And given the infinite possibilities of reality, there had to be, logically speaking, many more maniacs waiting in the wings. Twilight could only guess at how many.

And out of all of them... how many are Twilights, too?

More than you'd expect, but fewer than you think, I'm sure.

Twilight almost scoffed out loud. That was a rhetorical question, you know.

Yeah, Midnight said smugly.But your self-reproach stinks like sweaty gym socks, and I've had as much of that as I can take from Shimmy, without you piling on as well. So, I'm gonna answer it for you.

Y'know what, I officially retract what I said before. I'm not glad you're back after all.

I'm almost hurt by that. Midnight sighed. Sparky, think about everything we've seen since Sunset whisked you off into the wild blue yonder. All the places we've been, all the Twilights we've met – and all the Twilights out there that we haven't. Now think about how many Lady Sparkles we've run into. Uno. Dos, if you want to be generous; we can say that monstrosity outside counts, if you'd like.

That doesn't mean—

Of course there might be more Lady Sparkles out there. Infinite possibilities means just that, doesn't it? But Lady Sparkle didn't just spring out of nowhere. Something happened to make her turn out the way that she did. Before that, she was just... well, you saw how she was when she was normal.

But she still became Lady Sparkle.

Doesn't mean it was inevitable. Doesn't mean it'll happen to her again. Doesn't mean it could happen to you. One Twilight in a million million Twilights might crack and go tyrant, sure. But it's all about how you get there. Something happened to make Lady Sparkle; something happened to make whoever that was outside go crazy, too. But the rest of 'em? Bunch of goodie-two-shoes squares, from sperm to worm. I guarantee it.

But...

If you're worried it's gonna happen to you – that's what all this is about, isn't it? – then let me tell you, right now: It's not. It's never going to happen to you. She said it firmly – almost seriously. But her characteristic playfulness returned immediately. You don't even have the nerve to ravish Shimmy here, let alone launch a transdimensional extermination campaign.

Twilight's face went hot. I kissed her, didn't I?

And you stopped before you could go anywhere really fun with it, didn't you? She chuckled, then asked, What are you planning to do with her, anyway? She's into you, you're into her... where do you go from there?

...

...You have no idea, do you? Midnight clicked her tongue. Figures. All that yuri fanfiction you wrote when you were fifteen, and you're—

Oh, shut up!

Hey, I'm just saying. I get this is all new to you, but, y'know. You might want to figure out a course of action here.

I'm sure you've got ideas of your own. What's stopping you from taking the wheel and making 'em happen?

Yeah... about that. Midnight's voice quavered. Don't think I'm gonna be around long enough to pull anything with your girl.

What do you—

You know as well as I do that this was never a permanent arrangement. Midnight's voice sounded a little thinner now – fading, almost. Sooner or later – or, actually, just sooner – I'm supposed to fade back into your subconscious. Y'know. Go back to just being "the Midnight in you." Get it?

...You're serious.

Discord said so himself, didn't he? The voice in Twilight's head echoed, as though through a long hallway – gradually, Midnight was receding.Look, I'm not gonna pretend that I don't want to stick around – you're much more interesting with me tagging along. But if I gotta go back into the proverbial cornfield, well. At least this feels like an appropriate time for it.

Mist clouded Twilight's eyes. Midnight?

Mm?

...I take it back. I mean, I take back me taking it back. I – I'm gonna miss you.

Midnight chuckled. Who wouldn't? But I'm sure I'll make my presence felt some other way. You ever get the impulse to goose Sunset in a crowd, you can bet it was me.

Twilight laughed out loud – wetly, tremulously.

Sunset noticed. "Are you okay?"

Twilight forced herself to smile.

Do what comes natural to you, Sparky. Just, whatever you do... don't blow it. Okay?

I'll do my best. She sniffed. Midnight?

She heard another echo in her mind – and then nothing.

"Haven't heard from Midnight since we landed," Sunset muttered. "She's being awfully quiet. Should I be worried?"

"No." Twilight shook her head. "I don't think you're not gonna hear from her again."

Sunset pursed her lips and turned away. Her hand squeezed Twilight's tightly.

They finally came to a stop before a massive stone door at the end of a long corridor. Etched on its face was Twilight's sigil – the cutie mark of her equine counterparts. Spike the fawndroid reached a petite hoof toward it, and placed it against the door. Immediately, pink light traced along the mark's outline. The door, from the top down, disintegrated into pale pink sparkles.

"So there is still magic in this world," Sunset said.

"At least enough to keep the doors working." Twilight's eyes were on the bottom of the door, watching the light travel down to consume it.

The Spike fawndroid glanced toward the chamber, but made no move to enter – Twilight intuited that he wanted them to enter without him. She did, Sunset at her side.

The chamber beyond the vanished door awed Twilight with its size. She guessed that it could fit CHS's auditorium, twice, and have room to spare. The design brought to mind a cathedral: it was a long, wide hallway, with indents in the floor where benches or pews might've been, and gaping holes in the walls for stained-glass windows. The floor was all but gone; earth and grass carpeted the hall's interior.

Halfway into the hall, lit by a narrow shaft of light, was a hill – a tiny mound of raised dirt, topped with a smooth boulder. It glinted and gleamed in the shaft of light.

Resting against the rock was a small disk that Twilight's heart leaped to see.

She raced to the boulder, dropping to her knees as soon as she reached it. The case was dinged, dusty, and rusty, and the purple color had faded, but it was, unmistakably, a TPT.

And it thrummed beneath her touch.

Twilight picked it up and turned her neck, grinning. "Sunset...!"

Sunset smiled back, though her expression was a bit more guarded. "Easy there, Sparky. Don't get overexcited."

"Overexcited? Overexcited? Sunset, just – touch it! Touch my TPT!"

Twilight swore she heard an echoing laugh in the recesses of her mind.

Sunset did touch it, though – reaching for it slowly, and covering the device with her palm. "It's carrying a charge. But the ambient magic in this world..."

"It's not all gone, remember? Whatever's left must be just enough to power the TPT." Twilight, still on her knees, swiveled her whole body to face Sunset. "Which might mean there's enough in this world to recharge our own – just very, very slowly."

"For all the good that does us. Look at this thing, Sparky – it's ancient." Sunset lifted the TPT out of Twilight's hands, and flipped it open, the hinge giving off a rusty squeak of protest. "Must've taken years for it to gather enough ambient magic to work. Or decades, or centuries..."

"Well, yeah. It might take forever for our own to recharge. But this one's got a full charge, doesn't it?" Twilight clasped her hands together. "We've got a ticket out of here, Sunset. We're not marooned after all!"

Sunset said nothing – her expression, plain and pensive, gradually morphed into a worried frown.

Twilight felt her forehead prickle with sweat. "Sunset?"

"You're right The device is carrying a charge." Sunset shut the device. "Enough for one jump. And only enough for one of us."

Twilight's face fell, and her gaze drifted to the grass, as her hopes, so quickly raised, were dashed once again.

Then Sunset pushed the ancient TPT, gently, back into her hands.

Immediately, Twilight lifted her head and narrowed her eyes at Sunset, fully cognizant of her implication. "No."

"I didn't say anything."

"But I know what you're thinking. And the answer is no."

Sunset, momentarily deterred, set her teeth before trying again. "Look. We've got two TPTs. One's dead, but the other can still get you out of here. You can use the one from this world to slide somewhere with enough ambient magic to recharge yours – or both! Then, you can come back for me."

"You're assuming I could find this universe again, once I left. That I wouldn't get lost out there without you. That I wouldn't slide into another world like this one, and maroon myself for good. That nothing would go wrong." Twilight shook her head. "I've learned too much from this little field trip to leave things like this to chance."

Sunset growled. "Sparky, think this through. Even if you couldn't come back for me, so what? You've got your own life, your own world, to get back to. So go! Forget about me – about Twilights, and Sunsets, and destiny, and all this other multiversal B.S.! Just go live your life, and—"

"Would you give it up, already?" Twilight dropped the ancient TPT and bolted to her feet. "I'm sick and tired of you pulling these little self-sacrificial stunts! This isn't about destiny, or Twilights and Sunsets, or whatever... whatever you call this thing between us!"

She gesticulated rapidly between herself and Sunset.

"If I couldn't come back for you – even if there was nothing between us – then do you seriously think that I could just go back to my life and forget all about you? That I could live, knowing I abandoned you in a world without magic? Is that your idea of nobility?! Because it isn't mine!"

Sunset clenched her jaw tightly, cringing. She stepped around Twilight, and sat on the grass, her back against the boulder. "That TPT might be the only way out of here, you know. And considering how old it is already, the odds that it'll recharge enough to let us slide out of here together, in our lifetimes, are pretty slim."

"Maybe so." Twilight sighed. She crossed back to the bolder, pressed her back against it, and slid down, until her bottom touched the grass beside Sunset. "Then again, there's still magic in this world. There might be some other way to recharge the TPT – or something else, something we haven't even thought of."

"You're speculating. Taking a lot on faith." Sunset blew a curl of gold-slashed hair out of her face. "Not like I can judge you on that. But suppose we can never find a way out of here? What do we do?"

"I don't know, Guess we stay here, explore this place. You know, when was the last time we stuck around in any of the worlds we visited? Maybe we find something else, maybe we don't." Twilight squared her shoulders, and looked at Sunset. "But we leave here together, or we don't leave here at all. Everything else? We'll figure it out as we go."

The smile Sunset gave her was small, and crooked. "We could always do like Twily and her Sunset. Make a little love nest, live in domestic bliss. The way Sunsets and Twilights are, apparently, supposed to."

Twilight's determined posture softened, and she tilted her head quizzically. "The smile says you're being earnest. Your tone says you're being ironic. Help me out here; which are you shooting for?"

"Both, I guess." Sunset looked at the TPT, still on the ground where Twilight had dropped it.

Twilight bent her knees and hugged them against her chest. "What do you mean by that, exactly?"

Sunset wrung her hands. "It's something that's been on my mind ever since we bumped into Twily again. This whole thing with Sunsets, and Twilights, how we're all supposedly destined for one another – how that's just a multiversal constant. You? You're Twilight, but you're not my Twilight. Me, I..."

She edged her hand closer to Twilights, closing the gap between them.

"I think it's pretty obvious by now that I feel something for you. But I don't know what it is, exactly. If I have feelings for you – the person who you are – or if it's just... leftover feelings for my Twilight that I'm projecting onto you. If I'm attracted to you because I'm just supposed to be, then is that real? Or is it just destiny telling me to fall in love with you, just 'cuz?"

Twilight's cheeks reddened "You're in love with me?"

"I don't know. I..." Sunset blushed, withdrew her hand, and groaned. "This is so confusing."

Twilight snickered. "If it's any consolation, I'm sure you're not the first Sunset in the multiverse who's had trouble parsing her feelings for a transdimensional doppelganger of their ex."

"That's zero consolation, Sparky."

"At least I tried." Twilight looked away, toward the entrance. The Spike fawndroid was gone. She briefly wondered where he'd gone, before dismissing the errant thought. "I don't know if we have a connection just because of destiny, though. Think about it: that hasn't been the case for all the Twilights and Sunsets we've run into. There's Skylark, and her Applejack. Me, and my Sunset."

Sunset turned her body to face Twilight, spreading out her legs and resting her weight on her hip. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I've never been attracted to my Sunset Shimmer. She's hot, sure, but I've never felt for her the way that I feel for you. So I don't think my feelings for you exist because destiny says they have to exist." Twilight shrugged. "But I also don't know what's up with my own feelings, either. If they're real, or if they're just a byproduct of Midnight, and Lady Sparkle's futzing with my brain, and all this other mishegoss that's happened to me lately."

Sunset worked her jaw in a circle and nodded thoughtfully. "You know, that... actually does make me feel a little bit better. Nice to know I'm not the only one who doesn't know what to make of all this."

They shared a quiet laugh. And, when it was over, Twilight reached her hand out. Sunset covered it with her own.

"In all fairness, we've just been going from one crisis to the next ever since we met," said Twilight softly. "Hasn't been a lot of time to just sit down and talk. Figure out if this is real."

Sunset smirked. "Well. I guess that's one advantage to our current predicament. We got all the time in the world to get to know each other."

The hour was late when they emerged from the chamber a TPT around both of their necks. Behind them, the door reformed, rematerializing from the bottom up.

Outside was Spike, standing silent and expectant. A herd of fawndroids, in a diverse palette of colors and patterns, were arrayed behind him in neat ranks. They looked at Sunset, at Twilight, and waited.

"Hey, Spike," said Twilight. "What say you show us around the place?"

Spike's lips twitched – faintly, almost imperceptibly – into what was almost a smile. The ranks of fawndroids parted, and Spike turned to lead the voyagers out of the castle.

"Hey, Sparky?" Sunset said, as she and Twilight moved to follow him.

"Hmm?"

"Suppose things between us work out – you think your world's got enough room for two Sunset Shimmers?"

"More than enough." She flashed Sunset a smile. "And, if it doesn't, I heartell there's an opening for a Sunset Shimmer in Equestria."

Sunset laughed, and laced her fingers together with Twilight's.

Together, they marched into the fading sunlight of the evening.

Epilogue - Novel-Idea

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Even after all this time, Spike couldn’t bring himself to set one paw inside her bedroom.

Yet, he couldn’t stay away either. So, he sat just outside the threshold. From there, he could see the two enormous bookcases, each packed to the brim with books on every subject. He could see the scale model of the solar system Moon Dancer had gotten her five years ago. He could see the family portrait—the nice one that had him snuggled in her arms— hanging over her work desk.

And he could see the enormous charred ring of scorched carpet that signified the last moments Twilight Sparkle had spent in this world.

He could even see scorch marks on the ceiling.

“He’s still taking it hard,” Rarity’s voice floated up from the living room below.

Spike’s ears twitched, but he didn’t move from his vigil. He should have been there. He could have helped her. Saved her.

“He’s got a right, ya know.” Applejack sounded defensive. She liked to stand up for Spike, even if he didn’t deserve it. “He got back just in time to see our Twi and that other Sunset get eaten up by a portal? Anyone’s gonna take seeing a thing like that hard.”

Cadance had come over in the last few weeks, becoming the impromptu counselor for the whole family. She’d just gotten Shining Armor to return to work three days ago. Before that, Shining would keep vigil with Spike.

Spike had liked that. Shining’s lap reminded him of Twilight’s. More or less.

As for Twilight’s parents, well, Spike had taken to spending the night with them. At least one of them cried themselves to sleep most nights. Usually, more than one.

“I can’t believe it’s taking them so long!” Rainbow shouted. Spike could hear her stomping around the living room. “Princess Twilight and Sunset should have figured something out by now! It’s been weeks! If they don’t come up with something soon, I say we snatch the TPT-thingy and find them ourselves!”

“Isn’t that… really dangerous?” Fluttershy asked. She’d sometimes sat with him, too. “They told us all about what they went through. Some of those worlds sounded… horrible.”

“We’ve got magic, too!” Rainbow shot back. “We can handle it!”

“The way I see it,” Applejack replied. “Princess Twilight’s a magical powerhouse. Them alicorn’s the most powerful type of pony over in Equestria. And Sunset? She ain’t no slouch. Those two barely survived, R.D. They’re used to magic. What chance you think we got?”

“It galls me to say it, but I must agree with Rainbow, at least in part.” Rarity sighed. “I find it horrid to do nothing while our Twilight is out there, lost and alone! But Sunset said without some way to track her… the chances of finding them are…”

Rarity trailed off. Princess Twilight and Sunset refused to give actual numbers on their odds. Spike didn’t blame them.

Spike stared at the floor and swallowed hard. He might have magic of his own, but there were some instincts he couldn’t avoid. Like the ones that told him the truth.

He slowly pushed himself up, turned tail and headed for the stairs.

“As much fun as it would be to bounce around all the different worlds, I dunno.” Pinkie had been oddly quiet since she’d found out about what happened to Twilight. That unnerved everyone. “If you think about it, there could be like… an infinite number of worlds out there. Rarity’s right. How are we supposed to find our Twilight in all that?”

It had been weeks. Maybe it was time for Spike to just… deal with it.

Spike poked his head out over the stairs and looked down at his friends. The rest of the family had tried to return to their normal lives, more or less. The girls hadn’t. Not yet.

AJ and Rarity sat on the couch. Fluttershy had the love seat and Pinkie had the recliner. Rainbow paced back and forth, looking like she wanted to beat something up.

“We don’t,” Spike said as he padded down the stairs as all eyes turned toward him. “We can’t find her in all that.”

“Spike? Whatever do you mean?” Rarity asked as stared at him. “You can’t be willing to give up on her! Not you of all… well, dogs.”

“I heard Sunset and Princess Twilight talk about it. I’ve heard everyone talk about it,” Spike growled as he padded past them all and hopped up on the ledge overlooking the front yard. “Over and over again. I just… it’s not gonna happen. Too many things could go wrong. Princess Twilight and Sunset said without some way to lock in on them. Our chances are slim… at best.”

He sighed and slumped down, his ears and tail drooping.

“Slim doesn’t mean zero!” Rainbow shot back.

Spike turned and stared at the girl, looking at her balefully. “Really?”

“I don’t like what this has done to you, Spike,” Fluttershy said from her perch on the love seat. “You’re not the same.”

Spike chuckled, his ears drooping even further. “That’s what happens when you see your best friend being swallowed by a ball of purple and orange magic fire.”

No one had a reply to that.

The silence there stretched for a while. Long enough for the first hints of dusk to come out with a darkening sky. The clouds above started to turn pink, but none of the girls left. They needed each other just as much as they knew he needed them. No one left him alone anymore.

He didn’t mind.

Rainbow, of course, eventually broke the silence. She’d plopped herself down between AJ and Rarity.

“So, we want to order pizza again or—”

A loud snap sounded from outside, followed by a pulse that made every hair on his body stand on end.

“Oh goodness, what was that?” Fluttershy asked.

AJ, Rainbow and Pinkie had jumped to their feet, while Rarity was looking around wildly.

“Is it…” Rainbow began.

“No, it felt nothing like that,” Spike answered. “But… it was sorta simil—”

There was someone waving on the sidewalk, though sadly, she wasn’t Twilight. Wrong colors, for one. Looked like an evening jogger, teal and maroon hair in a long ponytail and a pair of glasses.

“What?” Spike said as the rest of the girls crowded around him. “What is…?”

The girl was pointing at someone on the front yard. A smoldering circle of flames that had burned away the grass down to the dirt.

And there was something inside the circle.

Rainbow may have opened the door first, but Spike shot through her legs like a bolt of purple lightning.

“Everything okay?” the girl called.

“Sorry for the bother, but what did you see, miss?” Applejack asked.

“Oh, just a brief little flash and when I came down the sidewalk, that was sitting there, smoldering and smoking! Someone forget a firework?”

“Thank you, my dear… you…” Rarity hesitated. “Sorry, we’ll take care of it.”

Spike leapt through the little curtain of smoke to find a rolled up scorched piece of paper tied with an old shoelace.

“Okay then!” the girl replied. “Good luck!”

And then she continued jogging out of sight.

“I could have sworn I’ve seen her before,” Rarity muttered. “But I can’t fathom where…”

“Come on!” Rainbow snapped. “What is it, Spike?”

Spike had finally gotten the shoestring yanked off the impromptu scroll. It unrolled easily.

The bottom half had been scorched as if put through a fire, but the cramped handwriting he would know anywhere.

“Spike? What is it?” Fluttershy called.

“Come on Spike, don’t… leave…” Applejack trailed off.

Spike ignored them as his heart hammered in his chest.

He read her words, written in that shaky hand she used whenever she was nervous, scared or excited. Or all three.

Spike,
I’m sorry for what happened in my bedroom. I hope you don’t blame yourself. It was an accident. Ended up going on a trip I never expected. If my calculations on time are right, then… you’ll probably know what happened to me by now. Me and… that other Sunset.
I’m okay. More or less. So’s that other Sunset. We’ve… worked some stuff out.
I hope I can make it home. I decided it was worth the power getting you a message saying that we’re okay. I’m okay. Really.
But we’re stuck. At least for now. We’ve got some ideas on how we can get home, but it’ll take a while.
Now, this is important. Sunset says you’ll come charging after us. I’m hoping you’ll listen to reason.
Do not come after us. I know you want to. But you can’t. The things I’ve seen… the things I’ve had to do… it’s too dangerous out here.
Don’t come after us. Don’t come after me.
But please, tell everyone… I’m okay.
Thank you for always being my friend, even before you could talk. Give my family, the girls and everyone else my love.
Oh, and Sunset says she’s sorry, too.
When I get back, I’ll tell you all the wonders I’ve seen.
Hopefully soon.
-Twilight

A few tears fell upon the scroll. Only then did Spike realize all the girls were around him. They’d all read what he’d read.

Silence stretched across the group, interrupted only by the occasional car driving down the street.

“We’re not going to just leave her out there, are we?” Rainbow demanded.

“Didn’t the princess say she just needed something to help find Twilight?” Pinkie asked, a grin forming on her face.

Fluttershy nodded. “Yes, and maybe this is just that something might do it.”

“I can’t think of anything better!” Rarity said with a grin.

“So y’all good with just outright ignoring her request?” Applejack asked.

As one, they looked down to Spike, who placed a paw on the scroll, right below Twilight’s name.

“Yup,” he said. Nothing else was needed.

A resounding cheer went up among the girls. Within five minutes, they were split between Rarity’s SUV and Applejack’s truck, with Spike riding on Fluttershy’s lap. They’d check Sunset’s apartment first and if there was no one home… they’d charge right through the portal itself.

He looked up at Twilight’s window as Applejack peeled away. From here, he could just see the other scorch mark on the ceiling. He swallowed hard, then smiled grimly.

“Don’t worry, Twilight,” he whispered. “We’re coming.”

Rarity hit the gas and they were off. Spike found himself grinning.

“You going to be okay, Spike?” Fluttershy asked as she held him in Rarity’s passenger seat.

“Yup. Now, we can save Twi and find out who that other Sunset was. That letter’s something special, Fluttershy.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

Spike looked up just as the first few stars were starting to peek out. “It's hope. Real hope.”

Author's Notes:

It's been over a year and a half since I kicked off SunLight Sliders II. Why did it take me so long? Well, a lot of reasons. Many things happened during SLS2. I met folks who would become part of the Nook family. I got to see four amazing comic artists lend their talents to this project. I got to see authors I really admire do incredible things (like Crystal Wishes playing with deerpones!).

However, many not-so-great things happened behind the scenes of SLS2. A vast majority of you don't know what those things are, and I intend to keep it that way. I don't say this to tease you, I say this because a ton of people have come to me and asked "When's SLS3 gonna start?" The simple answer is that it's not, at least not by my hand.

Wrangling 32 (originally 35) authors over the course of four months is no easy feat. Trying to keep those people happy (as well as the various readers), is also no easy feat. To say it's like herding cats would be a disservice to cats everywhere. It was a massive amount of work and something I simply don't have the capacity to do again.

If SLS3 ever happens, it'll be a small, closed group of people that I (and a few others) hand-select. But with life going the way it has been lately, I doubt that day will come.

That being said, no matter what, SLS2 is a massive accomplishment for myself and every single person who contributed. While not all decisions were popular (collaboration projects like this never get 100% buy-in), nearly everyone rolled with the punches to create a story unlike any other.

It's been a wild and crazy trip for the newly reborn SLS: Infinite and for those who've reached this far, congratulations. I hope the ride was, at the very least, entertaining.

Regarding the Epilogue: I came up with the concept of the Epilogue as Posh and I nailed down some details for the ending of SLS2. Sunny and Twi are stranded on a world that's all but dead and have little hope of escaping and next to no hope of rescue. I didn't want to resolve Posh's hanging plot thread, but I did want to make the girl's fate it a little brighter.

When Rose Quill pre-read the new Epilogue, she said it felt very much like an MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) mid-credits scene after the end of the movie. You know what? I'm totally okay with that. That sums things up perfectly.

It also brings things full circle with the ending of SLS1 and the potential for a far greater adventure with Princess Twilight, EqG Spike and the EqG 7 on a quest to bring SciTwi and the "Lost" Sunset Shimmer home. While it's a story I won't be telling, it's a story that's fun to think about.

After all, as Brandon Sanderson said, "There's always another secret."

Thank you for reading SunLight Sliders: Infinite. Please remember, I am not the author of most of this story! 92% of this story was written entirely by other authors. I did a very quick editing pass (using Grammarly and Google Docs), and nothing else. If you enjoyed one of their chapters, please make sure to check out their work! You can find links to all of their FimFic pages (or art pages, as applicable) in the Author's Note of each chapter.

Until next time folks, have fun and stay safe out there in the multiverse. I hear it can be a really crazy place.

-Novel Idea