“... and that’s where Shade and Quickfix came from, and where I’ve been for the entire day. Do you have any questions?”

A yellow hand rose up slowly.

“Anything other than our relationship status?” Sunset rolled her eyes in annoyance

Fluttershy meekly dragged her hand back down; muttering something about being Sunset being a sore loser. Speaking of which, why is Fluttershy so concerned about Sunset’s sex life? No, best not to think about it. The less Sunset knew, the better.

As Sunset repeated the question, a grey hand shot into the air with vigour.

“Well... I wasn’t expecting you to have any, but okay,” Sunset Shimmer blinked and cleared her throat “What did you wanna ask, Shade?”

“What’s with the book?” Shade asked, looking at the large brown book with yellowing pages in the middle of the table that Sunset had been writing into as she spoke “Diary or something?”

“Oh, this?” answered Sunset as she finished her last sentence before closing the book “It’s a, I can’t believe I’m saying this, phone book, in lack of better terms. Anything I write here ends up in Twilight’s copy of the book. I need to ask her in case she knows a way to fix this mess. The faster we find your Sunset Shimmer and send you guys home, the better, am I right?”

The group was sitting in the dining room, since that was the only room in the whole house that didn’t have animals scurrying around. Honestly, how does her family live with all these animals? Fluttershy must be insanely rich to actually get a permit to keep all of them and buy animal feed. Not as rich as Applejack, of course. Girl’s a god damn millionaire.

Then again, Rarity is an upcoming fashion designer who makes her own clothes, Pinkie Pie throws parties every other week like it’s her life support, and Rainbow Dash excels in every single sport she’s ever tried to the point that she’s the reserve for the national sports team. Maybe those rumours that she only made friends with them for their money really did have some truth to it.

Maybe Sunset should really rethink her life choices.

“Seems about right,” Quickfix muttered as she tinkered with Sunset’s cellphone, marvelling at all the nifty features “Wait, ye don’t have magic but ye have magic books? Ah call shenanigans!”

“It’s not from this world, it’s from Equestria,” answered Sunset for the umpteenth time. It’s not even funny how many times people have asked her about the book “And like I’ve told you, I come from a different Equestria. Of course I’ll bring some souvenirs from home! ”

If Quickfix heard her explanation, she didn’t show it. Instead, the former Unicorn continued going through app after app, trying to figure out how the phone worked and how she could make one herself. Sunset stopped bothering to take it back. One punch to the jaw was painful enough already.

“Wait, why can ye take pictures of yeself nude but ah have ta wear clothes? An’ who’s Flash Sentry?”

Fluttershy arched an eyebrow and cast Sunset a knowing gaze. Well, at least Fluttershy now knew which way she swung. In an attempt to salvage her reputation, Sunset reached a hand over to take her phone back, only to be stopped when Shade got off his chair and tackled Quickfix, wrestling her for the phone.

‘You don’t even have the same hormones!’ Sunset screamed internally as she watched Quickfix finally dominating over Shade and sit on his back

Damn Northerners and their insane strength.

“A-Anyway,” Sunset Shimmer quickly regained control of the conversation “Are you sure you haven’t seen another me around at all?”

“I’m sorry, but nobody’s seen you since last night,” the butter yellow girl sighed apologetically, trying her best to ignore the fight that had just broken out “It’s the whole reason Pinkie Pie organised that search party after all. We’ve looked everywhere, and I mean everywhere.”

“Everywhere?” Shade arched an eyebrow from his place on the ground

“Everywhere.”

Silence filled the room as the group all stared at Fluttershy.

“Pinkie was very thorough with the search route.”

“What about my place?” Sunset crossed her arms “I don’t think I’ve ever told you guys where I live.”

At the mention of this, Fluttershy took her gaze off of Sunset and suddenly found that the carpet was really interesting. Like, really, interesting. Why hasn’t she ever noticed it before? It was such a nicely made one as well! Some of the animals really liked sleeping there as well. Daww, is that kitty cat gonna go sleep on it? It is! It’s just so-

“Fluttershy…” Sunset’s voice was very calm, yet it was laced with poison

“Well, Applejack might have forced Vinyl Scratch to tell us that you were… well, living at her place… for the time being…”

“And you thought Vinyl knew because…?”

“… Pinkie Pie was very thorough with her investigations.”

Sunset Shimmer slammed her fist on the table as soon as Fluttershy shut up, making all eyes land on her. But at this point, she didn’t care anymore. Oh, she was furious all right. She didn’t know how Pinkie knew, but she was going to make sure that the pink party planner never invades her privacy ever again!

Feeling that the air in the room was starting to get really thick, Quickfix continued to scroll through the phone while humming a random melody. She had finally found Sunset’s messages and was busy reading through all of them when something caught her eye.

It was a message with, surprisingly, Rarity, and the contents were about a contest where the girls had to run around Canterlot in… bikinis? What are those? Apparently the girl wanted to know Sunset’s sizes, and if possible to also ask the same thing to… Princess Twilight Sparkle.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle?!” she screamed “Ye’r sayin’ that in yer ol’ world, Twilight’s a Princess?!”

“Y-Yeah,” Sunset answered, her previous rage already lost “She was the Element of Magic in my world and was elevated to Alicorn status just recently. Speaking of which, I never did see your world’s Twilight. What’s she like?”

The two other worlders cringed, physically shuddering as terrible memories of old pranks and manic laughter filled their memories. Prayers of protection even left Quickfix’s mouth as she hugged her knees tightly. The sight of the two former Unicorns in such terrified states left Sunset feeling guilty for asking as she glanced at Fluttershy, who had kneeled down to whisper comforting words in Shade’s ears.

“O…kay… Let’s just… change topics, okay? Now, let’s just calm down and-”

“I still hear her laughter in my nightmares...” Shade muttered under his breath, his eyes glazed and blank “So much chaos... so much chaos... so much chaos...”

Considering how much shit Shade goes through on a daily basis, this Twilight must really be terrifying. Taking her eyes off the two, she made a passing glance to the clock nailed onto the wall and clicked her tongue in annoyance. It was getting dark out already. Looks like they’ll have to leave the search for the other Sunset Shimmer tomorrow.

“Why don’t I go and cook dinner?” Fluttershy suggested as she got up “You could use the rest. I don’t want you to get tired fixing up this mess, after all. I’ll call my parents and ask if you could stay for the night.”

“Sounds like a great idea!” replied Sunset enthusiastically “Man, I haven’t had a decent meal since yesterday. Come on, Quickfix. Let’s see if you could fit into some of Fluttershy’s clothes.”

Stopping right in her tracks, Fluttershy turned to look at her friend with a disapproving gaze “Sunset, what about school?”

With a shrug of her shoulders, Sunset placed a hand around her two cowering friends and smiled “Principal Celestia will understand, I’m sure.”

“… Principal Celestia?”

Shade’s question hung on the air as Quickfix was dragged away by Sunset who was muttering something about getting a bath. As he sat there quietly, cleaning his mind of the memories of Twilight’s pranks, Shade came to a sudden realisation. He was in a house filled with girls, they were going to sleep together in the same house, and Shade is still single.

It was official. Shade had a harem.

“I have a harem…” he muttered to himself, feeling the words roll off his tongue like butter “I have a harem… I have a harem!”

With an uncharacteristic squeal, Shade jumped onto his feet and screamed in joy. Finally, after years of being single, Shade finally managed to get it on with a girl. And not just one, but three! But then again, Shade was being too optimistic. He should probably start slow first. Would the girls allow him cuddling them while they slept?

“Umm, excuse me.”

But then what if they had to go home? Then he’ll only have Quickfix as a memory that he managed to sleep with three cute girls. Sure, she looks nice and is really smart, but he doesn’t want to be in a relationship with her. Who knows what health hazards that would cause?

“Uhm, Shade was it?”

And then there’s his world’s Sunset Shimmer. Would she approve of him being in a relationship with somepony else? Wait, why is he even thinking of her? It’s not like he like likes her, right? She... She’s just a friend that he likes to tease, right? Nothing wrong with that!

“I’ll just leave your blanket out here, then,”

Wait, what?

Shade’s head darted to Fluttershy as she placed a thick yellow blanket onto the sofa and slowly walked back towards the kitchen to prepare the dinner. As Shade picked up the fluffy blanket, he finally understood the meaning of the gesture. He’s sleeping solo tonight. Again. Well, that’s what you get for getting too optimistic, Shade.

“… I miss Sunset…” he smiled and hugged the blanket, imagining it as the most beautiful mare he ever laid his eyes on. Placing it back onto the couch, Shade wandered into the kitchen. Maybe he could help Fluttershy with dinner.

Elsewhere in the house, Sunset was facing even bigger problems. Teaching Quickfix how to walk was hard enough already, but walking in a wet bathroom? It was downright murder. Luckily, the Northerner managed to leave the bathroom with only minor injuries. Strangely enough, there’s a crack on the toilet that wasn’t there when she last went in there.

After a quick hot shower, Sunset Shimmer walked out of the bathroom to see that Quickfix had gotten onto Fluttershy’s laptop. Of course, it was only a matter of time before the inventor finally came across the internet and all its glory. As she got dressed and dried her hair, Sunset took a peek at what kind of websites Quickfix had found.

Add that to the pile of things Sunset regrets.

“Quickfix, how the heck did you get to that website?!”

“It came up on its own! Ah just touched this thing and – Wow, tha’ girl can really stretch!”

“You had to literally type that in to – Hey, you’re right, she really can – Stop changing the subject!”

Somehow, either by plain curiosity or misfortune, Quickfix had gone to one of the darker recesses of the internet. Millions upon millions of places and things that she could have found, yet it all boiled down to perverted images and videos that plagued the web. Sunset didn’t know if she should be surprised or disgusted at the Northerner right now.

“Come on, Quickfix,” Sunset tried to pry Quickfix from the monitor but to no avail “We’re having a sleepover! Think of all the things we could do. Makeovers, and scary stories, even pillow fights. Do you wanna waste the chance to hang out with your new friends and just stay on the computer the whole day?”

“Shimmer,” replied Quickfix as she turned to look at the girl “Ah’m an engineer. Ah spend most of me time ‘round machines, and ah lock meself in a lab. Do ye think that ah would have chosen that life if ah didn’t know of the consequences?”

Sunset blinked.

“Wait, but you’re an Element of Harmony! That must mean that you must be good at making friends or… something. At the very least, you’re friends with the other Element Bearers, right”

Not even bothering to turn away from the screen, Quickfix continued to scroll through site after site. She paused for a moment, weighing Sunset’s question and thinking of the best way to answer it without hurting anyone’s feelings. After all, Sunset Shimmer was not a robot. At least, not that she knew of.

Quickfix never did like dealing with other ponies. Robots were easier to work with. Much less of a hassle to talk to and easier to fix, too.

“Ah welcomed Sunset into the lab because she was royalty,” she finally admitted “Joinin’ her on the quest for the Elements was mostly a grudge on mah part. Hated it when Nightmare Moon broke all of me turrets. And then ah even managed ta find a helicopter in the Everfree, so lucky me ah guess.”

“Quickfix…”

“Ah’m the Element of Inspiration, but ah’m a terrible role model, right? Parents tell their foals ta make some friends so they don’t end up like me, and me lab has a terrible reputation already. Ta be honest… Ah’m scared. Ah don’t know why yer all friends with me, even if ah don’t deserve it. Why can’t somepony else be Inspiration? Why… why did the Elements choose me…?

Tears slid down the girl’s face as she finally turned her head away from the monitor and faced Sunset. Before she could break down any further, Sunset wrapped her arms around Quickfix in a tender hug. After all, she was the one who could understand Quickfix’s feelings the most. It’s what runs through Sunset’s mind every time she meets her friends, after all.

“Please don’t question it,” Sunset whispered into Quickfix’s ear, struggling back tears of her own “Just be grateful for your friends. You are an inspiration to everyone, you know. You proved that no matter what hardships you go through, you could still make friends and have a happy life. No one hates you for being caught up in your work. In fact, I’m sure some ponies are even proud to call you their friend!” She finally let go of the girl and led her towards the door “So what do you say? Do you wanna go and hang out with some of your friends right now?”

“… Ah… Ah need a moment fer meself…” said Quickfix as she limped towards the computer “Gotta think things through, ye know?”

Nodding understandably, Sunset moved towards the door alone. Just as she was about to turn the doorknob, Sunset suddenly thought of an idea. Walking back towards Quickfix, who was back to surfing through websites, Sunset pushed her inter-dimensional friendship report diary towards the girl.

“You could read through this if you want,” she smiled “I’m sure that’s what Princess Twilight would want me to do. You know, spread my own lessons on friendship to other ponies.”

“Thank ye…”

With a nod, Sunset Shimmer walked out of the room in hopes of having a nice dinner with her friends. What she found instead was a house filled with rampaging animals as smoke came out of the kitchen. Fluttershy was coughing and sputtering outside the kitchen, and Shade was nowhere to be seen.

“Fluttershy!” Sunset called out as she ran towards the girl “What happened?!”

“AARGH!!!”

CRASH

Shade’s voice could be heard from inside the smoke filled kitchen, filling Sunset with a sense of dread. He was still new to his body! Who knows how he’s trying to put out the fire! Quickly pulling out her phone, Sunset Shimmer dialled the fire department and managed to actually tell them about the fire without breaking into a panicking mess.

As the group was still trying to figure out what to do, Quickfix burst out through Fluttershy’s bedroom door and ran into the kitchen yelling at the top of her lungs. This prompted Sunset to follow in after her. Fluttershy just sat there, hyperventilating as she tried to catch her breath.

Needless to say, it was a sleepover none of them would forget any time soon.

Canterlot was filled with many secrets. In fact, the only pony who knows all of them is Princess Celestia herself, and that’s because she was the one who made most of those secrets herself. Secret dungeons filled with cursed artefacts, mysterious rooms where Unicorns underwent insane experiments, and torture chambers for the worst of criminals are all hidden under the very hooves of the most bustling city in all of Equestria.

However, today she must unveil one of those secrets to some of her most trusted subjects. If what she was told of was true, then it is the only way for her to see her daughter again.

As she walks down the endless amount of stairs, closely being followed by five of the Elements of Harmony, her adopted son, and a few of her most loyal knights, Princess Celestia knew that this moment will change these mares’ lives forever. Things will never again be the same for them.

“Is this artefact really so powerful it had to be hidden?” Redheart inquired as she trotted up towards the goddess “Why hasn’t it been destroyed yet?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Celestia looked dead ahead into the dark chasm “The World Mirror is an extremely powerful tool created by Starswirl The Bearded that could traverse through dimensions. As for why we have not destroyed it… It is because we cannot.”

“I’m sorry?”

“The mirror absorbs power by ripping open the very essence of space and time, moulding it and shaping it into a solid surface that acts as a portal between dimensions. If we destroyed it, then we risk destroying space-time itself. This world will be in tatters and the rip that it leaves behind will be large enough that any creature will be able to enter this world and wage war on us.”

“Whooee! Now that there sounds more dangerous than ridin’ a buffalo in a rattlesnake nest!” Fiddlesticks tipped her hat off in admiration “But that don’t mean that our lil’ Sunset’s gone through that portal, Yer Highness.”

Celestia nodded. Yes, she was aware that this event had nothing to do with the mirror, but it is the only item that could access alternate universes. Right now, this was their only lead to Sunset Shimmer. Thankfully, her loyal subjects had managed to get enough information on this alternate Sunset Shimmer’s world for her to pin it down. If anything, they could at least find Quickfix and Shade if they are with her right now.

“Oh, this is all my fault!” Spike wailed, wiping a tear from his eyes “If only I reached them sooner, then we wouldn’t be in this mess!”

“It is nobody’s fault, Spike,” Celestia draped a wing over her son in an attempt to reassure him “You were kind in trying to heal your friends, and you didn’t expect the enemy to attack within your own home. However, you did the right thing in contacting me as soon as you found out about your sister. If anything, it is my fault for not being able to come immediately to your aid.”

“Bu-But Shimmer even said that she had a weird dream! What if that was really important? If only I listened to what she was going to say!”

“If it really is a premonition and not just a dream, then we will come across it as well. Just keep your hopes up, and aim for the best. Your sister will be found, and she will not be harmed.”

“We are here, Your Majesty,” a royal guard mentioned as the group dispersed, giving their lord ample space to move

Before them stood an ancient door that towered above them all. Roots and vines had covered the door, showing its age. If one wasn’t actually looking for it, they would have merely bumped into it and thought of it as nothing but a wall. Of course, anypony who had found this staircase that led to nothing but a single door must actually be aware of what they are looking for. Nopony, no matter how lucky or insane they are, can find this place with mere luck alone.

Stopping right in front of the door, the white Alicorn looked at the circular hole in the middle of the door. Inserting her long, magnificent horn into the hole, Princess Celestia fired a magic beam into the hole, lighting up the large door with ancient blue writing. The magic burnt away the foliage, revealing a glistening oak door that stood proudly before them.

Carefully, Princess Celestia opened the door with her forehoof, revealing a large chamber bathed in darkness. With a simple flick of her horn, she activated an illumination spell and walked into the room.

“That… was awesome,” Lightning Dust whistled “Maybe I could get something like this for my house door!”

“Did anypony else notice that there were exactly 777 steps to this here door?” Fiddlesticks said nonchalantly as she skipped into the room “S’like they were countin’ jus’ ta make sure they had a good number!”

“Oh, I wouldn’t put it past Starswirl The Bearded to do that,” Pizzelle giggled, following suit into the room “After all, he is one of the most intelligent and powerful Unicorns to ever exist! My, I’m sure that he has quite a perfectionist attitude to match with his otherworldly wisdom. The Unicorns must be really happy to have somepony like that as a hero!” she then let out a distraught sigh “If only Sunset and Quickfix were here. They’d love to see things like this!”

One by one, the ponies and dragon all entered the room in a single file, following closely behind each other so they don’t get lost in the darkness. Even with the Sun Goddess illuminating their way, the room was far too large to entirely light up. There was also the way that the furniture and items were placed. It was as if Starswirl wanted as little light to enter this room as possible.

Minutes pass with nothing but light from the Alicorn Princess and her Unicorn Knights, and the voices of the excitable ponies leading them on. Pizzelle had made sure to stay in the back of the group, keeping tabs on the quiet and meek Coco and making sure that she didn’t get lost in the darkness. Before Fiddlesticks could ask for the thousandth time, the group stopped.

They were at their destination.

“Whoa…” Lightning Dust was the first to speak, marvelling at the contraption that stood before them.

It was a dark purple mirror, one fitted with rare jewels that would make a Diamond Dog drool. Wires criss-crossed the machine, sending jolts of magic into it as its surface gleamed in the artificial light. Despite being kept underground for hundreds of years, it still looked clean and new. The surface of the glass rippled with energy, showcasing mysterious worlds that they had never seen before. Surely there was some powerful magic at work here.

“Oh no,”

Those simple words sent a wave of fear running down the group’s spines. Whatever could scare their great ruler was sure to be terrible news for them. Everyone stood still as Princess Celestia walked towards the mirror and stopped, staring into its mysterious glass.

“The World Mirror is active,” she said with a hint of fear “I don’t know how or who is responsible, but somepony managed to enter these chambers and activate the Mirror!”

“Then let’s go in there and stop them!” Lightning bumped her hooves together and grit her teeth, allowing her fangs to show

“If it is the only way to save our friends, then I must agree!” Redheart joined in as she stepped forward “Please, Princess. This may be the only way to rescue Sunset Shimmer!”

“I would allow you to go if you could, but at this point you cannot,” the news slammed into everyone like a sledgehammer “The Mirror is active. It is not supposed to act this way. This World Mirror is supposed to only activate for a short moment to allow entrance and exit, and deactivate as soon as no one is using it. If it’s active, then that means…”

“…Somepony is still in it…?” Coco Pommel squeaked, taking a step backwards.

As the group stood there, wondering just how they were going to rescue Sunset Shimmer now, they never noticed the heavy haze that surrounded the group. However, when they did notice, it was far too late. They all tried to fight back against the unknown mist, running away in an attempt to escape it.

“Ah, I see that more lost lambs have stumbled into my domain…”

“I-It’s that voice!” Coco hid behind Spike, trembling in fear as she tried to block the voice out of her ears

“The same one that attacked Shimmer and the others at the library!”

Spike’s rage reached its peak as he breathed out a pillar of flame at the mist, burning down whatever it was that used to be there. However, a wispy, blood-curling laugh alerted the group to the revelation that the owner was still unharmed, and that their attempts were futile. After all, how do you defeat something that cannot be touched?

“Sleep, my little lambs. Forget all of your worries, and sleep for an eternity. Why worry about your problems here in the mortal world? In your dreams, anything can be possible…”

One by one, the group all fell into a deep slumber. Soon, only Redheart was left awake and fearing for her life. Despite her ideals and virtues, the nurse knew that she was no match for this new enemy. If it can take down Princess Celestia, then who knows what it could do to her? Against her better judgement, Nurse Redheart ran towards the only place where the mist did not touch; The World Mirror.

“Please, forgive me!” she screamed, jumping into the portal as she withheld her tears.

The last thing she remembered before blacking out was milky white nothingness, squeezing against her body as it tried to crush her bones. Mysterious black figures flailed helplessly beside her, but Redheart was in no condition to reach out to them.

And then, darkness.

Author's Notes:

Sorry this chapter came out a little late. I just bought a new drawing tablet and I was trying to draw a cover image for the fic. Needless to say, I sucked. Maybe in due time, I guess.