Sunset took in a deep breath, the crisp mountain air freezing the moisture in her nose.

“Yahoo!” Pinkie Pie shrieked, scooping her arms into the fresh powdery snow and throwing it into the air, dancing around as the flakes fell around her.

Fluttershy walked up to stand beside Sunset, her breath steaming in the air as she rubbed her mittens together. “It's so beautiful up here…”

“No kidding,” Sunset said, turning to Fluttershy and smiling. She noticed Rainbow Dash sneaking up behind Fluttershy, a pile of snow in her hands.

Rainbow Dash caught Sunset's eye and motioned for her to be quiet.

Sunset took a moment to wonder if she should warn Fluttershy or not—only for the answer to be decided for her when a hefty snowball smashed into Rainbow Dash’s face.

“Yeehaw!” Applejack shouted, pumping her fist into the air and quickly gathering her own snowball. “Ain't gonna be that easy!”

Sunset and Fluttershy glanced at each other, then started giggling as the impromptu snowball fight began in earnest.

Twilight and Rarity brought up the rear, dragging the luggage behind them through the snow.

“Honestly,” Rarity grunted, setting a suitcase down and hunching over, panting. “I get that we’re on a vacation and all, but can we at least save the fun and games until we get everything inside?”

“Aww come on, Rar,” Applejack said, sliding over and throwing an arm around Rarity’s shoulder. She gestured grandly to the steep slopes looming over them and the vast pine forests stretching to the horizon. “Ain’t this one of the durned prettiest things you ever seen?”

Rarity wilted. “Well, yes, but—”

Whatever protests she had were cut off as Applejack ducked behind her, using Rarity as a shield to block Rainbow Dash’s snowball.

“Oh that is it!” Rarity shrieked, clenching her fists, her eyes full of fire. “I’m not going to forgive you for that, Applejack! Get back here!”

Sunset ducked under a stray snowball, then grabbed some of the luggage Twilight was carrying. “Here, let me get that for you.” She turned to make her way towards the lodge where they would be staying. “Lively bunch, aren’t they?”

Twilight beamed up at her. “No kidding.” She reached up to adjust her glasses, the fog from her breath clearly causing her problems. “But it’s nice. I think we’re going to have a lot of fun here.”

“Do you know how to ski at all?”

“Umm…” Twilight frowned and wrung her hands together. “My Dad took us on a skiing trip when I was like ten. He tried to teach me, but I was never very athletic, and just wanted to stay inside and read books where it was nice and warm. There was something about french fries and pizza? I dunno. Not really. Can you ski, Sunset?”

“Yeah, actually,” Sunset said, rubbing at the back of her head. “When I was studying under Princess Celestia, she’d send me on missions to faraway parts of Equestria, and that meant crossing a lot of snowy mountains. Of course, skiing as a quadruped is an entirely different game, but there was also a school field trip up here during my sophomore year. I picked up the basics pretty easily, and actually managed to win a race.”

“Hey, don’t leave out the part where the only reason you won was because you cheated by messing with the track,” Rainbow Dash shouted as she ran past, still pelting snowballs at the others.

Sunset grimaced and lowered her head. “Yeah, well, I was gonna get to that part. At least nobody got hurt?”

It sounded lame even to her, and Sunset let out a sigh.

“Well, even if you were a cheater once, I’d still love it if you could teach me,” Twilight mumbled, twirling a finger through her hair.

Sunset shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I could give it a shot. You might be better off asking Rainbow Dash, though.” She glanced back at Rainbow Dash getting teamed up on by Pinkie Pie and Applejack, then shook her head. “Scratch that. Rainbow Dash is a great athlete, but a lousy teacher. I’ll do my best. I think Rarity’s pretty good at figure skating too, if you wanted to learn that. And Fluttershy’s also new to skiing, so you can both learn together.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Sunset let out a long sigh as Twilight and Fluttershy got their skis caught together for the hundredth time. “There’s plenty of space out there, you two! Just keep to your own side of the practice slope!

Rarity skidded to a stop near Sunset and raised her ski goggles. She smiled through heavy breaths. “Hey. How’s the training going?”

“I think they’re about ready to try the beginner slopes,” Sunset said, crossing her arms. “There’s one a ways over which is nice and gentle, and it ends right around the same place as one of the intermediate slopes. We’ve got, what, an hour or two of daylight left? We could all meet up there, then head back for dinner.”

“As astute a planner as always, Sunset,” Rarity said, flashing her a grin. “And it sounds good to me. I’ll go tell the others.”

Sunset nodded, then launched off to go join up with Twilight and Fluttershy. “Alright, you girls ready for the real thing?”

Twilight was hunched over, panting, but held up a weak thumbs up.

“Hah! I win again! Take that!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she sped into the clearing, narrowly ahead of Applejack.

Sunset raised an eyebrow where she was leaning against a tree. “Come on, what took you two so long? We’ve all been waiting for you forever.”

Applejack growled, jabbing her thumb over at Rainbow Dash. “Idgit here decided she wanted to take our race off course a little because she saw a ‘sweet jump.’ Damn near broke her leg.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “It’s fine, and you should’ve seen the flip I pulled off. Not my fault Applejack is a wuss and slow.”

“Enough,” Sunset snapped. “Come on, it’s getting late, and I don’t like the look of those clouds. We should get back to the lodge.”

“Um,” Fluttershy mumbled, shivering. “Which way is the lodge again?”

“Should be over in that direction, I think.” Sunset raised her hand to point, but frowned. She looked around at the clearing of trees. She’d been down this slope a dozen times or so in the past, and even tested it herself earlier today, but for some reason she didn’t recognize this spot exactly. “I’m pretty sure…” she mumbled, a lot less confident than she was a few seconds ago.

Twilight fidgeted around, looking worried for a moment, but then her eyes lit up, and she fished around in her pockets for her phone. It was one of those fancy ones with a satellite link, meant for wilderness use. “Give me a second here…” Twilight said, taking her gloves off to use the touchscreen. “You’re a little off, Sunset. Should be be a few more degrees south, that way.”

“Alright then. I don’t know about you girls, but I’m starving,” Sunset said, stretching and getting ready to move.

“Woohoo!” Pinkie Pie shouted, jumping up into the air with her fist held high. “How about the last one to the lodge has to buy everyone dinner!”

Before anyone had a chance to respond, a low rumble echoed in the distance, the dark clouds moved closer, and a heavy frozen wind whipped past them, chilling them all to the bone.

“On second thought,” Pinkie Pie muttered, her hair deflating. “Maybe we should all stick close?”

There were few things more terrifying than the full force of Mother Nature, and right now this blizzard seemed dead set on killing the seven of them.

Icy winds howled past them, the air so thick with snow it was impossible to see more than a few feet in front of them. They trudged through the snow in a line, everyone holding onto each other’s hands. Sunset led the way, since Twilight’s high powered phone had stopped working.

Sunset cursed this world’s lack of weather control. Something like this would have never happened with pegasi running the show. She had absolutely no idea where they were going. Any step could take her right off a cliff, and she would never know until it was too late. But she had to keep moving anyway. Falling to her death somehow seemed preferable to freezing to death in a snowbank.

The hand holding onto her own felt feeble and weak, and Sunset felt it squeeze her hand. She heard a voice, but couldn’t make it out over the wind.

“What was that?” Sunset shouted, turning her head backwards.

“I said I’m scared!” Twilight shouted. Sunset suspected she would be crying if it weren't so cold.

Sunset didn’t have any words to offer in reassurance, so she just squeezed back and kept moving forward.

“It can’t be that much farther!” Pinkie Pie shouted. Her hair looked like it was made of snow by this point. “Don’t worry, girls, I know we’ll make it through this!”

Sunset cursed her lack of magic. Were she a unicorn, she could have built everyone a shelter, then kept them all warm using magic. If she had had to keep that up all night it would have taken a lot out of her, but it still would’ve been preferable to this.

She had to keep moving forward. She wasn’t going to let things end like this.

To her considerable surprise, Sunset felt her body shift, her ears changing and her hair growing longer as the magic of friendship born from her determination filled her, giving her extra strength. She felt renewed, rejuvenated, and ready to push forward once more.

But she knew she wouldn’t be able to force the same transformation in her friends, and everyone was reaching their limit. It was all up to her.

Her pony ears picked up more sounds, and her vision seemed sharper. Peering through the relentless storm, Sunset finally spotted a glimmer of hope. “I think I see a light!”

Everyone perked up at that, and they pressed forward. The closer she walked, the clearer it got, a soft illumination serving as a distant beacon to guide their way. Whatever it ended up being, it had to be their salvation.

As they got closer and closer, the storm seemed to break around them, and their destination loomed ever closer.

It was a house—or maybe ‘mansion’ might have been a better word. Rich, fancy, huge, and emanating a warm light from within that belayed all other concerns and demanded they take shelter.

“I know some of the fabulously wealthy have private homes all the way out in the mountains,” Rarity shouted, shielding her eyes and squinting up at the house. “Goodness—what I wouldn’t give to live in a place like this!”

“And get snowed on like this on a regular basis?” Rainbow Dash shouted. “No thanks!”

“Do you think they’ll let us in?” Fluttershy asked, her teeth chattering.

“I don’t care if they do or don’t,” Sunset growled, steeling her resolve as they walked across the grounds towards the shelter of the main entrance. “This is clearly an emergency, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you girls safe.”

“I’m too damn cold to argue with you right now, Sug,” Applejack spat, “but try not to go provoking nobody, okay?”

In just a minute more, they finally made it on the front porch, and everyone collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily. There wasn’t a doorbell in sight, so Sunset pounded on the front door, shouting “Hello? Is anybody there?”

“I can’t see anything through the windows,” Twilight muttered, rubbing at her glasses. “But there’s a lot of lights on. Somebody's probably home, right?”

“Please, please please please let us in!” Pinkie Pie shouted. “I know a really awesome cake recipe and I’d be happy to make it for you and teach you how to make it yourself! Well, I mean, I don’t have the ingredients on me, but this place probably has a well stocked kitchen, right?”

Sunset continued banging on the door for a full minute with no response, and as everyone huddled together for warmth, she took a deep breath, and tried the handle. The door swung open, light and warmth pouring out from within.

The interior opened into a large and extravagant entrance hall, double wide stairs leading up to a second floor, the kind of opulence you always saw in movies. There wasn’t anyone to be seen, but Sunset called out, “Hello? Is anyone there? I’m sorry if we’re trespassing, but I don’t want to freeze to death, so we’re coming in, okay?”

The ragged group of teenagers poured inside and pushed the door closed behind them, the elements finally shut outside where they couldn’t do them any harm. Everyone sunk to the floor in relief and exhaustion save for Sunset, her magical boost keeping her alert and wary. “Hello?” she called again.

After maybe five minutes of shouting and peeking around the mansion, though she never left sight of her friends, Sunset was confident that no crazy redneck with a shotgun was going to sneak up on them for trespassing. For whatever reason, the heating and lights were on in what appeared to be an empty mansion. Finally, she sat down on the stairs and felt her transformation slip away.

“Guess this place is safe,” Sunset said with a yawn. “I don’t know about you girls, but I’m ready to count this one as a miracle. We—”

A wave of exhaustion suddenly hit Sunset hard, and her vision swam with darkness.

Guess transforming like that took more out of her than she thought.

Sunset floated alone, her consciousness muddled as strange colors swirled and shifted around her.

“Hello?” She called out, her voice feeble.

There was a strange buzzing sound, like a shrill electronic screech that made her want to cover her ears.

The world pulsed, shifting and scintillating colors flashing across the entire spectrum and beyond, in ways she couldn’t process.

“Sunset?” A clear and familiar voice pierced through the noise, a beacon of normalcy in this nightmare.

“Suuuuunseeeeet,” came the buzzing again, the voice sounding like a bad speech synthesizer run through a wood chipper.

Sunset opened her mouth to speak, but no words could escape from her mouth.

“Sunset? Hey!”

Sunset’s eyes snapped open. She blinked, and found herself staring at herself reflected in Twilight’s glasses. “Huh? What?”

Twilight smiled, then pulled back and adjusted her glasses. “Good, you’re awake. You feeling okay?”

“Yeah, I think…” Sunset mumbled, trying to get her bearings. She was lying on the floor of the entrance hall to the mansion, and something heavy was draped over her. A blanket, it seemed like. She was warm, and a jacket was bundled up underneath her head, propping it up.

“What happened?” Sunset asked, sitting up and stretching. The blanket slipped from her shoulders, and she realized that someone had stripped off her clothes down to her underwear. She looked down to see Twilight was in a similar state of undress.

Twilight blushed and covered her chest with her arms. Sunset could see her cutie mark sticking up from the hem of her underwear. “All our clothes were wet. We’re letting them dry. Rarity’s searching upstairs for clothes that will fit us.”

Sunset shrugged. She came from a place where clothes weren’t the norm anyway. “I guess I passed out back there. What’s the situation? Did you find the owners?”

“No, the others searched the whole place. Nobody’s here.” Twilight said, holding up her phone. “I still can’t get a signal though.”

“You girls explored a spooky abandoned mansion all by yourselves? How daring of you,” Sunset said with a grin, standing up and stretching.

Twilight bit her lip and twirled her finger through her bangs.. “It’s probably a traveler’s lodge or someone’s private home, nothing weird. We’ll figure it out once the storm is over, and reimburse whomever owns this place.”

Sunset frowned. She had been joking, but that nightmare she was woken up from had her a little on edge. Still, this place looked normal enough. “Where are the others, anyway?”

“Well, I’m right here,” Rarity said as she poked her head over the top of the stairs. She was carrying a bundle of large t-shirts, and tossed one to Sunset and Twilight. “Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy are making some food for us all in the kitchen. Applejack and Rainbow Dash are checking the outside of the mansion to see if they can find any info about what this place is. Hopefully they can find a garage or something where we could get flashlights and any other tools we might need, just in case.”

“Jeez,” Sunset said, yawning and scratching at her nose. “You girls really know how to get things done when I’m out, huh?” Sunset threw on the proffered t-shirt and wandered around the room. She spotted what appeared to be an old rotary phone on the desk, but when she picked it up there was no dial tone.

“You were really amazing out there, Sunset,” Twilight mumbled, wringing her hands together. “I don’t think we could have made it here without you.”

Rarity giggled and clapped Sunset on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, darling, you’re still quite the stalwart leader.”

The front doors burst open and Applejack and Rainbow Dash trudged inside, cardboard boxes in their arms. They were fully bundled in their winter gear, and made for a comical sight as they waddled about. Sunset shivered at the cold wind that blew inside before the door was shut again.

“Ugh,” Rainbow Dash grunted, slamming her box on the floor. “There, we got the stuff. I am not going back out there again, okay?”

“Found ourselves a nice haul,” Applejack said, taking off her goggles and her gloves, blowing on her hands. “Flashlights, portable battery packs, even a ham radio. We should be set all night, or longer depending on how rough this storm is.”

“And there’s so much to eat!” Pinkie Pie shouted, riding on a serving cart stacked with food. “Seriously, this kitchen is amazing!”

Fluttershy followed behind with a similar cart stacked full of drinks. “I really hope it’s okay that we’re using all this…”

Sunset grabbed a soda from the cart, cracked it open, and took a long swig. “Ah, that’s the stuff. Look, I dunno whose house this is, and I feel a bit bad, but for now, let’s have some fun. We’ll ask forgiveness later.”

Twilight giggled and grabbed a drink of her own. “I mean, we were already planning to have a big sleepover party back at the lodge, right? Here we don’t even have to worry about bothering the other guests.”

Applejack chuckled, shaking her head. “A part of me doesn’t think it feels right… but on the other hand, I’m hungrier than an ox in spring. Let’s eat!”

“Goodnight,” Sunset called out as she stepped into her room and closed the door behind her.

The mansion conveniently had seven bedrooms on the second floor, each one across the hallway from each other. It would be handy if anyone needed anything in the middle of the night.

Sunset flopped down onto the bed, burying her face into the pillow and letting out a long sigh. Exhaustion pulled her deep into the realm of dreams once more.

It had turned out to be a fun evening, which was surprising, considering they had all nearly frozen to death in a blizzard earlier. Pinkie Pie and Applejack had cooked them a wonderful meal, and they followed it up by just sitting around, joking, playing card games, and telling each other ghost stories—the kinds of fun that seemed appropriate when you were trapped in a mysterious mansion.

As she drifted off to sleep, Sunset once again found herself floating through a void, colors swirling around her, and once more faced the screech of buzzing electronics.

“Ssssuuuuunnnnssseeeeeet,” the voice crackled, popping like a bad speaker.

“What do you want?” Sunset mumbled, her mind muddled and out of focus.

“Ssuuunsseet,” the voice spoke again, gaining clarity with each repetition.

“Yes, that’s my name,” Sunset managed to say with a flicker of annoyance.

“Sunset.”

Sunset’s eyes snapped open. Someone was in her room, a dark form crawling onto her bed.

With a strangled yelp Sunset lunged for the bedside table, and she managed to grab her phone. It was useless to call anyone with, but as a light…

Twilight stared up at her from across the bed, her eyes wide and watery, the lithe girl wearing little more than an oversized t-shirt.

“Twilight?” Sunset asked, tilting her head. “What are you doing here? What time is it?”

Twilight crawled forward til Sunset could feel her breath. “I, uh… this place. It scares me, Sunset. Can I sleep here with you?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow, and folded her arms over her chest. “Twilight, you’re my friend and all, but you’re also practically an adult. I don’t really like sharing a bed. If you really can’t handle it, I’m sure Pinkie Pie would be happy to share.”

“That’s not,” Twilight bit her lip and moved even closer. “I don’t want to sleep with Pinkie Pie, Sunset. I want…” Twilight took Sunset’s hand and placed it on her thigh.

Oh.

“Hold on a second, Twilight, if that’s how you feel, shouldn’t we maybe talk about this first,” Sunset stammered, her face suddenly bright red. “I, uh…” Her eyes traced down Twilight’s form, the younger girl’s skin was pale in the soft light of the phone.

Twilight dragged Sunset’s hand across her thighs, towards…

Sunset’s blood suddenly ran cold in her veins.

Of all the things she hated about this world, Sunset had always been exceptionally glad that the humans here still had cutie marks. Because of their stupid nudity taboo, they kept them hidden under their clothes most of the time, instead opting to get patches or symbols sewn into their outfits somewhere, but knowing they were there provided some small comfort.

That was why, when Sunset saw Twilight’s completely bare thigh, free of any adornments whatsoever, she knew something was wrong.

Sunset sucked in a deep breath, shoving Twilight away from her. The smaller girl tumbled off the bed with a crash, and Sunset immediately leapt to her feet. “What the hell are you?”

Twilight looked up at her, her eyes wide and glistening with tears. “I… how could you say something like that, Sunset?”

“Don’t you ‘Sunset’, me,” Sunset growled, searching around for something to use as a weapon and coming up short. “I—hey!”

Twilight turned and bolted from the door, her form quickly shadowed when she stepped out of the weak light of the phone.

Cursing under her breath, Sunset chased after her, reaching her bedroom door and throwing it open with a tremendously loud crash.

Far louder than the crash of a single door, really. Sunset found herself staring into Rarity’s eyes from the door across the hall.

Rarity blinked, opening her mouth to say something, then frowned, glancing to her left and right.

Sunset did the same, and found the same look on the faces of all six of her friends.

“Did we all just…?” Twilight started, her voice echoing in the silence of the hall.

“Chase after someone and slam our doors open at the same time?” Pinkie Pie finished, her voice lacking any of its usual excitement.

Sunset swallowed, then rubbed at her arm. “I saw…” she turned to Twilight, her own cheeks still burning.

Twilight met her gaze, then immediately looked away, seeming even more embarrassed than Sunset.

Sunset saw Applejack and Rarity share similar looks, as well as Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie seemed to be staring at her own feet.

“Okay,” Rainbow Dash growled. “What the heck just happened?”

“I’m scared,” Fluttershy whimpered, folding her arms over her stomach.

“Everyone take a deep breath,” Sunset commanded, standing up straight. “I don’t know what just happened, but I know we’re all here together, and I’m sure we’re not in immediate danger. Maybe it was some kind of, I don’t know. Shared hallucination?”

“There isn’t any way something like that would be possible,” Twilight muttered, still refusing to look at Sunset. “Even with some sort of crazy new drug, there’s no way someone could time something like that so perfectly.”

“Maybe this mansion really is haunted!” Pinkie Pie shouted, her teeth chattering.

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Come on, Sug, you know there’s no such thing as ghosts.”

Rarity scoffed. “Really now. Like there’s no such thing as sirens, or horse wizards?”

Rainbow Dash blinked. “Are there ghosts in Equestria?”

Sunset frowned, rubbing at her chin. “Depends on how you define ghosts, I guess. Not so much the wandering spirits of dead ponies, but there are incorporeal magical entities that are similar. Still, regardless of the specifics, I think it's safe to say we’re dealing with something that is in some way a magical phenomenon.”

“Could someone please get the lights?” Fluttershy said, her voice a bare whisper.

Rarity walked over to the hallway light switch, then flipped it up and down several times to no effect. “Great. It seems the power is out, too.”

Applejack nodded, then ducked into her room. They heard the sound of rustling, and soon she reemerged, her arms full of some of the flashlights they had found earlier. She handed them out, and the hallway was soon bathed in a weak but comforting illumination.

“Alright, so,” Rainbow Dash said, shining the flashlight across the hall, “we’ve woken up in our very own horror movie. What do we do about it?”

“Ain’t it usually the dumb jock that dies first?” Applejack said, grinning.

“Sometimes it’s the dumb hick!” Rainbow Dash countered, clenching her fists.

“Enough!” Sunset snapped. “Nobody is dying, okay?” Sunset rubbed at her temples, then shone her light towards the stairs. “Look, let’s head downstairs. I want to check something out.”

Everyone nodded, and they huddled together, Sunset once more leading the group through a dangerous situation.

“Nobody split up,” Twilight murmured.

When they reached the entrance hall, Sunset tried a couple of the lights just in case, to no avail.

Then she tried the front door. The handle didn’t even turn.

“Does anyone else hear that?” Sunset asked, turning towards the rest of the group.

Pinkie blinked, tilting her head. “Hear what?”

“Exactly.” Sunset shone her light out the window. The flashlight beam shone only on darkness. “There’s no storm.”

Rarity got close to the window, pressing her face against the glass. “I can’t see a single thing out there. Not even the ground.”

“Have we been transported to another reality?” Twilight asked out loud, rubbing at her chin. “Ugh, I wish I had brought some more of my devices. I bet I could get some fantastic readings.”

“Forget the science, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said. She wandered around until she found an end table, then brushed off its contents and hefted it above her head. “I say we bust out of here.”

Sunset grabbed Rainbow Dash’s arm and made her set the table down. “Let’s not do anything drastic just yet, at least until we’ve explored some other options. Applejack, try and get that ham radio working.”

“Roger,” Applejack said with a salute, then ran over towards where she had stashed the radio from earlier. Luckily, it was battery powered.

After about a minute of tinkering, the low sound of static echoed through the entrance hall, and Applejack began fiddling with the dials.

The radio channel suddenly erupted with a harsh screeching, an electronic buzz that raised the hairs on the back of Sunset’s neck. It was the same noise from her dreams.

“Ugh, that sounds like a dial up modem,” Twilight shouted, covering her ears. “Turn it off!”

“A dial up modem?” Sunset asked, rubbing at her eyes once Applejack had turned the radio off and it was blissfully silent once more.

“Old piece of technology, dearie,” Rarity said. “Glad we’ve moved past that one.”

“Hmm.” Sunset crossed her arms over her chest, and tapped her foot as she tried to think things through. “Before the, uh, incident, upstairs, I was hearing a noise like that in my dreams. Did anyone else hear something similar?”

Everyone else looked at each other confused, then shook their heads. “Nope! I sure didn’t!” Pinkie Pie said.

So it was just her? Definitely odd. If only she could…

Sunset snapped her fingers, her eyes lighting up. “Hold on, I have to get something, I’ll be right back!” Sunset dashed off up the stairs.

“Wait!” Twilight called out from behind her. “I said we shouldn’t split up!”

Sunset dashed into her room, found her pack, rooted through it, and pulled out her diary. Perfect. If she could get ahold of Princess Twilight…

It was a quick trip back downstairs, and she found everyone lying around, looking bored.

“Oh thank goodness,” Rarity said, letting out a relieved sigh.

Twilight threw her arms around Sunset’s waist in a hug that was practically a tackle. “What the heck is wrong with you! I told you we shouldn’t split up! I was so worried...”

“Uh…”

Applejack got up where she was leaning against the bannister, a scowl painting her face. “Five more minutes and we would’ve come looking for you. Just what were you thinking?”

Sunset blinked, staring at the worried faces of all of her friends. “What’s the big deal? I was gone for maybe a minute, tops.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “A minute? Try twenty.”

“That’s impossible.” Sunset pulled out her phone. “Yeah, like, barely any time at all.”

Applejack looked down at Sunset’s phone, frowned, and then pulled out her own. Applejack’s was twenty minutes ahead.

Twilight shivered as she compared the two screens. “I think there might be some sort of time dilation going on in different parts of the mansion. From now on we all absolutely have to stick together, okay?”

Sunset stared down at the time difference. Well, it could have been a lot worse, she guessed. “In any case, I’ve got what I needed.” She pulled out the diary, a pen, and began scrawling her message.

“Dear Princess Twilight,

If you are receiving this message, then”

Before she had even finished writing the second sentence, the cover of the book flashed red. Sunset blinked, flipping it closed to stare at it. She knew that the color meant the message couldn’t be sent, though until now she’d never encountered anything that could stop a book that was already powerful enough to traverse dimensions.

“Well crap,” Sunset muttered, flipping the diary open and sighing. “Guess I worried you all for nothing.”

“What did that light mean?” Fluttershy asked, leaning over Sunset’s shoulder. “Can Twilight—eep!”

Sunset stared as the words on the page slowly began to vanish, as if they were absorbed into the paper. “What in the…”

She turned the page, moving backwards, and saw that all the words in the book were being eaten. Every conversation she’d had with Princess Twilight, and even before that from her time as Princess Celestia’s student.

“Hey! Stop that!” Sunset shouted, shaking the book as if that would accomplish anything. “Some of those are very important memories!”

Her protests fell on deaf ears, and in just a few moments, her entire diary was gone, full of nothing but blank pages.

Sunset could do nothing but stare at the empty first page, her mouth hanging open in shock.

After staring for several minutes, nobody saying a word, Sunset finally stood up, and slumped against the bannister. “Maybe we should all head to the kitchen and have some more food. I get the feeling none of us should be sleeping tonight, and we’re going to need more energy.”

There were murmurs of agreement all around, until Pinkie Pie shouted, “Hey, Sunset, it’s asking for you!”

“Huh?” Sunset saw Pinkie Pie leaning over the diary, then rushed over. There, in the familiar script of Princess Celestia, several words were scrawled out.

“Dear Sunset Shimmer,

Hello!”

Sunset stared at the words for a long time, then grabbed her pen once more.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“No you’re not.”

“I’m Princess Celestia.”

“Still wrong.”

“I’m a Princess!”

The words weren’t written on the page so much as they appeared. She recognized Twilight’s, Celestia’s, and her own handwriting, and it was as if whatever was making these words appear was just pasting them in from stuff that had previously been written.

“What do you want?” Sunset wrote.

“I’m a Princess!”

“Perhaps this is the entity that is keeping us here,” Twilight said, adjusting her glasses. “And who or what it was we saw in the uh… incident upstairs.”

Sunset turned to her, frowning. “So it’s using the diary to communicate with us. Seems like a bit of an awkward approach, and I’m not sure it understands the words it's using.”

Twilight tapped her chin, furrowing her brow. “What we heard on the radio earlier, and you said you heard in your dreams. Maybe it’s an attempt to communicate that we can’t parse.”

“Could be. When I heard that noise in my dreams, it also felt like it was trying to sound out my name, and it sounded like it was coming from some pretty awful speakers. I don’t know why I was singled out in particular, but it may have something to do with my Equestrian origins.”

“Hmm.”

Sunset nodded, then turned back to the diary, picking up the pen once more. “Do you have a name?”

“Sunset Shimmer!”

“That’s my name. What’s yours?”

“You… Sunset Shimmer?”

“Do you not have a name?”

“Name…”

“It kind of feels like I’m talking to a child,” Sunset mumbled, cracking her knuckles. All six girls were hovering close, watching her write. In any other context, Sunset would have been rather annoyed.

“Or maybe an alien,” Twilight said. “I’ve read a lot of sci-fi about first contact and overcoming language barriers and stuff. Maybe we could try math? It’s a pretty universal language.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “It already knows English, it’s just bad at it.”

Applejack frowned, then stood up and stomped her foot on the floor a few times. “I wonder if it’s like, the house itself, or somethin’ spooky like that.”

Rarity shuddered, glancing all around the entrance hall, which somehow seemed a little less open and vast than it had a moment ago. “I’m not sure I really appreciate that imagery, darling.”

“The big spoooky house is going to eat ussss!” Pinkie Pie wailed menacingly, holding the flashlight under her chin and waggling her fingers.

Fluttershy furrowed her brow and glared at Pinkie. “This is not the time.”

“Quiet,” Sunset snapped. “I’m trying to think.” She tapped her pen against her chin a few times, then wrote, “Why are you keeping us here?”

“You. Sunset.”

“Yes, that’s my name. Why are you keeping us here?”

“You. Sunset.”

“Because of me? Why?”

“Darkness. Then light.”

“That’s... “ Sunset bit her lip, furrowing her brow. She thought back to how they had made it here in the first place. They had been trudging through the storm, Sunset had transformed out of sheer determination, and then… she had seen a mysterious house in the blizzard.

“My magic woke you up, didn’t it?”

“Light. Bright. Very strange.”

“Why are you keeping us here?”

“Empty otherwise.”

Sunset shivered, then got up and walked away from the book, her arms crossed over her stomach. The shelter had saved them all, certainly, but Sunset was a beacon of light to something that had only known darkness. It didn’t want to let them go. Pinkie’s comment about being eaten was probably more true than she realized.

Perhaps she could resolve this diplomatically. If all it wanted was Sunset, it was a small price to pay for the safety of her friends. Alternatively, they could all try to brute force their way out with the power of friendship, but if they lost, they’d all fall together.

Sunset gritted her teeth, her nails digging into her arm. There had to be something she was missing here. Something that—

“Hey, I won!” Pinkie Pie shouted, pumping her fist into the air.

Sunset blinked, then turned to stare at Pinkie Pie.

While Sunset had been musing, Pinkie Pie had written out the rules to Tic-tac-toe, won a game, and was already halfway through another.

“You’re… playing games with it?” Sunset asked, tilting her head.

“Sure, why not?” Pinkie Pie asked, resting on her elbows as she won for a second time. “I mean, ancient house spirits or whatever still want to play games with people too, right?”

Sunset stared at Pinkie Pie blankly for a moments, then let out a shriek of joy and pulled Pinkie Pie into a tight hug. “Pinkie Pie, you’re a genius! I could kiss you.”

Pinkie Pie blushed, coughing and wriggling out of Sunset’s grasp. “Eheh, woah nelly! It’s nothing special. I mean, Tic-tac-toe is simple, right?”

Sunset couldn’t help but smile. They didn’t need the friendship-laser variety of magic. They just needed the friendship part.

“Here, let me see that,” Rarity said, taking the diary from Pinkie Pie. “Tic-tac-toe is simple enough, but let’s try something a little more elegant. Lines and Boxes, perhaps?”

Despite the originally spooky atmosphere, the girls quickly found themselves having fun once more. Whoever was on the other end was an adept opponent, and it quickly took to whatever new game they tried.

After Lines and Boxes, Applejack taught it a word game where you have to come up with a word that starts with the last letter of the previous word. Rainbow Dash taught it Hangman. Fluttershy just drew cute pictures of animals, which the book seemed to enjoy very much, and Twilight capped off the evening by teaching it the entire rules of chess, which they simulated by making an actual chess set and arranging things as the entity called out moves.

The night really was magical.

Sunset’s eyes fluttered opened, and she stretched, yawning. She had no idea how late they had all stayed up, but at some point they had all passed out in a huddle in the entrance room floor.

The house was gone, and they were all piled together on a bare patch of earth, a perfect clearing in the otherwise snow covered wilderness. The ground was warm, like there was a natural hot spring or something below it.

Sunset carefully stood up and stretched. The sun warmed her face, and the sounds of birds chirping filled the air. It was a bit chilly, sure, but even as underdressed as she was, it wasn’t too much of a bother. She heard a beep from her pocket, and saw that her phone had bars once more.

Sunset cracked her neck, then picked up the diary. She found that all of their game playing in the diary had been erased, and it only contained one phrase.

“Thank you.”

Author's Notes:

Thanks to Kalan and Dubs Rewatcher for editing.

This story idea was actually blatantly plagiarized inspired by one of the short stories from the Haruhi Suzumiya novels.

More Sunset coming Soon™.