Thinking back, it had all begun during a slumber party about a week after resolving Fluttershy's misadventure in the park. It was the first one the girls had been able to have with both Twilights, the universe stable enough at that point to accommodate the princess as a unicorn aspect. But that didn't mean that she could spend that much time in a casual setting with her human counterpart without the two of them drowning the room in awkwardness. That was where Pinkie Pie came in; she had been able to keep the momentum going until the two Twilights grew comfortable enough around each other to relax.

Whether that was preferable to the alternative...

"And so I said," said a beaming human Twilight, "'In that frame of reference, the parhelion of Hermes would have processed in the opposite direction!'"

The princess laughed until she fell back onto Fluttershy's mattress. Sunset and Pinkie snickered. Applejack leaned in close to Rarity and whispered, "Wuzzat mean?"

"I haven't the foggiest. I do love our friends, but they can be such..." Rarity tried to find an elegant way of expressing her thoughts and, failing to do so, said, "Such nerds sometimes."

Then Rainbow Dash spoke up. "So, uh, Twilight."

"Yes?" both said, which thankfully lead to giggles rather than awkward silence this time.

Dash rolled her eyes. "Fine, P-Twilight. You're friends with our pony versions, right?"

"From her perspective," said the local Twilight, "We're her friends' human versions."

"I like to think I'm friends with all of you, regardless of species," said the princess, "and that includes you, H-Twilight. I'm even trying to extend that attitude in Equestria. I've reached out to the yaks—"

"Yeah, yeah, horse politics," Dash said with another eyeroll. "What's pony-me like?"

The others paused in their activities and looked over. "My pony self was amazing," said Fluttershy. "She was so wise and confident and beautiful... I don't know how she did it."

"P-Fluttershy loved visiting this world," the princess said with a smile. "She's not exactly the most outgoing pony back home, but she's been gushing about humans since she came back. She... honestly gets along a lot better with creatures who aren't ponies." She paused and frowned. "Which actually explains a lot about her and Discord."

Rarity brought a hand to her lips. "Oh my. How scandalous. Do go on."

"He's... so much older," Fluttershy said, flushing bright red.

"What?" The princess shook her head a moment later. "No, no, ew, no! Nothing like that. I just meant that for a while, she was just about the only creature in the world who could even tolerate him."

That got a relieved sigh. "Oh. Alright then. I did enjoy Mr. Discord's class—"

P-Twilight shuddered. "Don't think I'll ever get used to that idea."

"But romantically..." Fluttershy shook her head. "He could be my grandfather."

"Technically speaking," said H-Twilight, "he kind of is my grandfather after the wedding."

Her counterpart turned to face her so slowly, Rarity could almost hear the squeaking axles. "I'm going to have to come back to that when I'm not silently screaming in horror at the idea."

A sharp whistle brought the Twilights' attention back to Rainbow Dash. "Hey, eggheads. Still waiting on pony-me. I know she's awesome, but how awesome?"

"If she hadn't broken the sound barrier when she was a filly, the world would have been doomed."

Sunset grimaced and put a hand to her stomach. "And it technically was a few times, depending on how you count it."

The princess pouted. "Starlight's making up for that."

"Get back to me when she stops treating mind control as the first solution to her problems." Sunset directed a sharp look at Applejack. "And yes, I recognize the irony of that statement. I dropped the memetic block weeks ago, like I said I would."

Applejack just shrugged. "Wasn't gonna say nothin'." Still, Rarity could see just a hint of tension fade from her expression.

"Dashie?" Pinkie's voice made Rarity turn to her, letting her see the pink girl press her poof against a shellshocked-looking Rainbow Dash. "You okay?"

"Honestly? Kinda starstruck. I thought inspiring all our icons at that soccer game was cool, but I never broke the sound barrier." After a moment, Dash added, "Not yet, anyway."

"That does line up with the pony Rainbow's first rainboom," said P-Twilight. She saw Dash's look of building confusion and added, "The magical phenomenon, not your band. She also got us all our cutie marks in the process."

"Huh. Not a perfect parallel then, given my..." H-Twilight froze. "Wait. Which soccer game?"

"My very first one in freshman year," Dash said proudly, chin up and arms crossed.

"Oh." H-Twilight sprang up from her Sunset-cuddling spot on the floor and began to pace. "Oh my goodness."

The others shared confused looks. "Twilight?" said Sunset.

"In exchange for being his personal protege, Mr. Discord basically made me go to Crystal Prep's first soccer game that year. He called it a vaccination against school spirit. We played the Wondercolts and managed to lose."

Dash crossed her arms. "Really?"

H-Twilight kept going, showing no signs of even hearing her. "Seeing the way you all rallied together, allegedly weak components coming together in a synergistic model whose emergent properties trounced the opposition's technically superior but isolated elements..." Her eyes began to glow, and a hint of light peeked out through her pajama bottoms at her hips. "It made me fully appreciate how there are no foregone conclusions, everything has to be tested and verified and understood and appreciated as part of the whole because everything affects everything else just like how the shockwave from an ancient nova collapsed a dust cloud into our very solar system and, and, and..." The light flared to almost blinding intensity for a moment before her eyes rolled back and an aura of golden light caught her limp body.

P-Twilight watched as Sunset gently set her counterpart on the mattress next to her. "Is... is that normal in this world?"

Rarity shook her head. "Knowing I had found my icon filled me with a warmth down to my soul, but I never passed out."

"None of us did," said Dash. "Rarity's dad drove us to the temple after the game. We all just felt it was time."

"Ain't like that these days, goin' by what Apple Bloom told me, but it still ain't nowhere near that dramatic." Applejack scratched the back of her head. "I reckon that's jus' Twilight. No offense, Princess."

"Um, none taken?" P-Twilight hadn't looked away from her own passed-out face. "I'm still trying to process what just happened."

Sunset gave a lopsided grin as she stroked her girlfriend's hair. "She... kind of accidentally communed with her higher self. Instead of a bit of Magic going down, Twilight went up. Speaking from experience, it'll take a bit for her to remember where she left her physical body after she recognized that friendship epiphany for what it was." After a sigh, she added, "Have I apologized for breaking you girls up lately?"

Pinkie peeked over the edge of the bed and poked H-Twilight, who gave a dopey grin. "Well, if Huhtwilight's still blissed out on the universe, I'll say it: Quarter in the guilt jar."

"Fair."

"Guilt jar?" said P-Twilight.

Sunset rolled her eyes. "I've apologized for what I did before the Fall Formal so often that every time I do it now, I have to put a quarter in the jar."

"We haven't decided what she's saving up for," added Fluttershy, "but we'll think of something."

Applejack gave Rarity a sidelong glance. "We're also thinkin' about a darlin' jar.'"

"Correction: You are thinking about such a thing. It is a harmless verbal tic and I can avoid using it any time I wish, dar—" Rarity all but bit her tongue. "That proves nothing."

"Sure it don't."

"Bold talk from someone who maintains her own affectations after her family has lived in Califoalnia for three generations. I may as well make you start contributing to a Southernism jar."

Applejack just smirked that delightfully insouciant smirk of hers, damn her eyes. "Yer welcome t' try. 'Bout as likely t' happen as a catfish runnin' a marathon."

"You made that up on the spot."

That just made Applejack tilt her hat to an even more smug angle. "Prove it."

It took everything Rarity had not to do something terribly unladylike. She wasn't sure if it was punching or kissing that smirk off of that freckled face, but either way, she didn't want to do it in front of the present company.

As her self-control reached its limit, Pinkie piped up with "What about the other pony us-es?"

It was just the subject change Rarity needed. She flashed a brilliant smile at the princess. "Yes, what of pony Rarity? What fabulosity has she wrought upon your world?"

"Hang on, they're ponies, right?" said Applejack. "An' not like people with horse heads, but no thumbs, fur coats, walkin' on all fours ponies."

"Well, they're still people," said Sunset, "but the rest is accurate." In a golden flash she transformed into a unicorn with the proportions of a plush toy. Fluttershy scooped her up for cuddles without even seeming to register the action. "Thumbs are overrated anyway."

Applejack nodded, a hand on her chin. "Do they even usually wear clothes?"

"Of course they do! Any civilized creature would..." Rarity trailed off as she registered the nervous looks on both Equestrians. And how Sunset wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing in her pony form. "Twilight, Sunset, do you have something to add?"

The princess cleared her throat. "We, uh, don't usually wear clothes."

Rarity just stared at them for a few moments, at least until the edges of her vision went back to normal. "What."

"Well, like Applejack said, most ponies are fine in their coats." Sunset waggled her rump in what might have been an indecent display from something less cute. "Plus, cutie marks have always been right there for everyone to see. Covering your flanks is seen as being ashamed of who you are, if not deliberately hiding your identity."

"But P-Rarity is still an incredible fashionista!" added Twilight. "We certainly have clothing, it's just more of a luxury item."

"Ah." Rarity let herself breathe again. There was hope. "I see. And how is her boutique doing?"

Twilight beamed. "Oh, fantastically! She's actually opened a second one in Canterlot!"

"Nice!" said Sunset.

The others were more confused than impressed. "Aren't we in Canterlot?" said Dash, who'd been consuming a ludicrous quantity of pizza during the earlier conversation.

Sunset shook her head. "Equestria's Canterlot is the capital of the nation, atop a mountain in the center of it." Her adorable little horn lit up, and an illusion of a fairy tale castle writ large appeared in the center of the room. "Ridiculously prestigious."

"And she's scouting out a location in Manehattan as well," added Twilight.

Pinkie hopped up, fists in the air. "Woohoo! Yay Prarity!"

"Three stores... and one in Manehattan..." Rarity didn't understand why she was getting lightheaded. She was breathing. Harmony knew she was breathing.

Applejack's hand on her shoulder helped calm her down. "Easy there. Don't need more folks faintin'."

"Yeah," said Pinkie. "Who sleeps at a slumber party?"

"Gah!" H-Twilight bolted up, her eyes still sparkling with distant stars. She gave a dreamy smile, floated Sunset out of Fluttershy's lap and into her own, and burbled, "I love all of you."

"We love you too, Twi," Sunset said, smiling up at her. "Welcome back."

"Ooh! Ooh! What about me? What about me?" cried Pinkie, going nose to nose with a visibly discomforted P-Twilight.

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Pinkie, you're right there."

"Gasp!" Pinkie didn't gasp. She actually said the word. "How did you know!?"

"For one, now that I'm aware of the tangible, magical bond between my Bearers and me, I can tell there isn't one between the two of us."

"Also," said Fluttershy, "you've been wearing a shirt that says 'I'm the pony Pinkie' and a picture of yourself this whole time."

"Wait, what?" Pinkie looked down and met her own smiling, equine face. She shook her fist at the universe in general. "Laughter powers, you have betrayed me!"

Ironically, everyone laughed at that, the apparently Equestrian Pinkie included. But Rarity sank back into silence a few moments later, still contemplating her own counterpart.

The work room of the Carousel Boutique held little of the glamor of the shop floor. Not none; it was still an establishment run by a Rarity, after all. But the raw materials of fashion lay exposed like Frankenstag's creation mid-assembly.

"No. No. NO!"

And as Rarity tore out yet another unworkable concept out of her sketchpad, she found herself wishing she could exile the lot to the Arctic.

"Honestly, all I ask for in life is one idea. One halfway decent idea." She wasn't sure who she was talking to. Harmony? Sunset? The nameless gods of fashion who, given the world's track record, may well show up for fittings next week? Rarity groaned and leaned back in her chair, her spine making her all too aware of how long she'd spent hunched over her latest failure. "But no, my muse has decided that she'd rather be at the beach. Never mind that I have yet to devise any sort of flattering swimwear that doesn't address the issue of icons peaking out from underneath at the end of August!"

"Uh, Rarity?"

"WHAT!?" A moment's pause made her realize Lily Lace had fallen to her knees. Right. Rarity was the nameless god of fashion herself, wasn't she? To an extent, anyway, enough that the poor sophomores who'd been lending her a hand viewed her with an almost religious awe, especially when she was radiating enough magic to make her hair dance in an unfelt breeze. No doubt her eyes and headgem were glowing a furious amethyst as well.

After a moment to collect herself, Rarity offered a sheepish smile. "I do beg your pardon, Lily. Just a bit of a creative block." Rarity followed the other girl's gaze to see the foot-long force needle pinning the crumpled sketch to the wall. "... More than a bit if I'm being honest."

Lily got her pale pink tresses out of her eyes with hands and magic both as she got to her feet. "Yeah, we all kinda noticed? You're lit'rally shouting loud enough that everyone on the sales floor can hear you."

"Oh." A pit developed in Rarity's stomach. "When you say that, do you mean figuratively literal, or literally literal?"

"There's a diff?"

Inky Rose just poked her head into the room above Lily—"aloft on wings of darkness," as she liked to put it during her rare talkative moods—and gave Rarity a silent, chastising look that Fluttershy would be proud to call her own.

It was certainly enough to elicit a wince. "Ah. Literally literal. I do hope I haven't chased anyone off."

"The tremors didn't help," Inky droned. "Neither did Starstreak blocking the door."

"He what!?" Rarity rushed for the doorway to the storefront.

Lily stayed in her path. "Um, Rarity? Boss lady? Before we get to that, can I be, like, totally honest with you?"

"I should hope so."

"You are lit'rally going to kill someone if you don't get a vacation. Like, a real vacation. Not yelling at a sketchpad in the back room."

Rarity glanced back at the pad in question. The needle construct still hadn't faded away. "I fear you are correct. And I'm not sure how literally correct you will be if I don't take your advice."

"I'm going back out," said Inky. "Save Starstreak."

A worryingly familiar scream came from the far end of the building. Inky left before Rarity could add anything more.

"Okay, so, Rares?"

Rarity was hardly one to demand total deference from a girl scarcely a year younger than her, but there were limits. "Lily, there is only one woman who may call me that, and you are not her."

"Sorry. So, like, what's your deal? You've been kinda off for a few weeks now."

That got a sigh. Rarity had brought on the three sophomores because they were all promising designers, and that meant that sometimes they were more perceptive than she wanted. "My 'deal,' as it were, is that I heard about how much farther along my Equestrian counterpart is in making a name for herself in the fashion world, and I cannot help but compare myself to her. She's already expanded, and she's planning a third store on top of that. In Manehattan!"

And Lily, bless her heart, simply shrugged. "So, like, go see her? Get some tips from another you?"

Rarity gave an indulgent little laugh at that. "Oh, Lily, you precious thing, that..." She knew there was an obvious reason why that wouldn't work. But after a few moments, she found she couldn't actually think of it. "My word, that's brilliant."

"Hey, you're lit'rally made of good ideas." Lily beamed. "Imagine what she's like."

"Give me a bit of time and I won't need to."

Inky drifted in like a dark cloud. "We're going to need the first aid kit again."

"It's in the usual place," Rarity said off-handedly, already composing a text message to Sunset. Yes, prayer was technically an option, but it was ever so gauche, and keeping Sunset in a good mood would improve the odds of her agreeing to this.

In an increasingly frequent moment of serendipity, she vanished from the room in a burst of golden light before she could even send the text.

Rarity's first impression when she blipped back into reality was a wall of sound the likes of which she hadn't heard since the sirens hijacked the Musical Showcase; so many people trying to shout over each other that it all melded together into an incomprehensible mash of noise. Once she blinked the spots out of her eyes, she saw she was in the warm, sun icon-slathered main hall of the local Church of the Divine Bacon Horse. Indeed, she'd come in right next to the pulpit, where Sunset and Pope Ruby Rose stood glancing between her and the near-riot in the pews.

"Well,' she said as she put away her phone, having to half-shout herself to break through the background noise. "This is timely." Sunset gestured, and that noise fell to a dull murmur. "Thank you. I must say, protest signs indoors seem a bit gauche. Dare I ask what's going on?"

"Just a bit of a doctrinal dispute," said Ruby, her shaky grin belying her calm facade. "A relatively minor matter of faith, but what that the congregation feels very passionate about, as you can see."

"They're trying to decide if I'm yellow or orange," Sunset said flatly.

"Is this anything like that Saffron/Scarlet dispute a few months back?"

"No, that was about my cutie— my icon. This is about my skin tone." Sunset rolled her eyes. "Totally different. I called you in since you have the best eye for color of anyone I know and, well..." She looked at her own arm, discomfort spreading across her features. "Now that they've raised the question, I'm actually not sure."

"I see. As I said, this is actually quite fortuitous; I was about to get in touch with you. But for now, Pope Rose, may I?" Rarity nodded towards the pulpit.

Ruby nodded, looking much happier at the prospect. "It's always open to one of the First-Blessed."

"Thank you. Sunset, if you would?" The noise filter dropped and the crowd roared like an approaching tsunami. But Rarity maintained her poise. She tapped the microphone and said, "Could I have your attention, everyone?"

One or two may have glanced in her direction, but most of the horde kept shouting at one another.

Rarity scowled and clapped right next to the microphone. Even Sunset flinched after that. Still, it quieted the masses. "Thank you. Now, I understand this is all over my friend's skin tone, yes?"

A man from the left side of the room stepped forward and cried, "The Glorious Proclaimer is yellow as the light of hope!"

"Heretic!" said another fellow from the right side, who could have been the first speaker's twin. "The Wellspring of Sanity is orange as the fortifying power of forgiveness!"

"Oh, I'll show you forgiveness—"

"Yes, yes, praise Sunset," Rarity said before anyone shed blood over the girl's mercy and munificence. "I am here to tell you are both wrong."

That got quite a few confused murmurs and uncertain looks. Rarity had no doubt that if she weren't a close, personal friend of the congregation's goddess, they'd be united in calling for her blood. She didn't let them dangle for any longer than necessary. "Speaking as someone who had to craft many an outfit to complement the complexion in question, I can say with confidence that Sunset is amber. Which, for those in the group with a less intimate relationship with the color wheel, is almost perfectly between the two choices."

"Of course! Amber!" said a beaming girl. "A symbol of timeless preservation! The perfect balance between the two extremes, as She is in all things! Praise!"

"Praise!" came the response, followed by several dozen attempts at religious horse noises.

"Great," Sunset muttered. "They're back to being a background nuisance."

"I can't tell if you're being sarcastic."

"I can't tell if you're being sarcastic." Sunset took a deep breath. "You said you needed to get into Equestria?"

"'Need' might be a strong word, but my employees all feel I'm overdue for a vacation. Something to clear my head." Rarity sighed. "And ever since we had the princess over for that slumber party, I can't stop thinking about my pony self and how much further along she's gotten her fashion empire."

Sunset nodded and held out her hands. Her journal manifested in them. "I'll get in touch with her. I'll let you know when the portal opens. Tonight good for you?"

"Make it tomorrow, so I can make some arrangements. And thank you ever so."

"Hey, you've just got to ask." Sunset's smile grew lopsided. "And, you know, make sure we don't overdo it in any given time span."

"So that's a no on a mass pilgrimage to your homeland?" said a pouting Ruby.

"That is a definite no."

Travel to and through the portal was no major issue. Disorienting, yes, but not inconvenient. Rarity didn't even need to adapt to losing her fingers or having an extra pair of legs, as she was technically pony enough to come through unchanged.

She still hadn't expected to emerge in what was clearly Twilight's concept of paradise, between the copious bookshelves and potent magic thrumming against her headgem. The only element missing was a computer with a cooling system that outweighed the rest of it. "My word."

"You get used to it after a while," said Princess Twilight, who struck an admirable balance between regal, approachable, and adorable in her natural form. She sighed. "I do still miss my old place."

"The library in a living tree?" Rarity couldn't help but smile. It was taking everything she had not to scratch the ruler of a foreign nation behind the ears. "If I didn't know any better, I'd swear you stepped out of a storybook. Though I suppose it's more accurate to say I've stepped into one."

"As far as I'm concerned, you just stepped out of a thaumic fiction novel. Thanks again for helping me connect with my counterpart." Twilight's smile grew into an eager grin, a touch worrisome in its familiarity. "We have some very promising plans for technological exchanges."

Still, Rarity was hardly one to express such trifling concerns to such a gracious hostess. "Pish-tosh. That was largely the Pinkies. Thank you for humoring a girl's silly request."

"As soon as I told P-Rarity you wanted to talk to her, she insisted we make this happen as soon as possible." Twilight bit her lip as she looked over Rarity. "Though I will have to teleport you to the Boutique. We're not ready for humans to be widespread knowledge quite yet."

"I suppose I am something of an exotic visitor from foreign lands. Still, won't be the first time someone's teleported me in the last twenty-four hours. Whenever you're—" A heliotrope flash flooded Rarity's vision, leaving her blinking spots out of her eyes. "... Ready?"

"Well. I have to say," said a familiar voice, "I know I have a tendency to be beside myself, but this is a bit much."

Rarity's vision cleared. The room was largely the same as the back of her own shop, save for some details like differently shaped mannequins and a more pastel color scheme. Then she turned her attention to the speaker. Her first impression was a squeezable, horse-shaped marshmallow with an impeccably coifed mane and tail. Then she got a good look at her counterpart's eyes and saw the confident, calculating look that had been missing from her own reflection for the past several days. "Ah." She cleared her throat. "I hadn't expected Twilight to be quite that direct. I do hope I'm not intruding."

"Oh, anything but! If I had a tenth-bit for every time I wished I could go back and give my younger self advice..." The mare trailed off, then fixed her human analogue with a hard stare. Rarity felt a sudden pang of sympathy for her friends. "Saddles with tack will never be more than a fleeting trend. Don't bother with them."

A number of questions came to mind, but the most pressing one was obvious. "You... actually wear saddles?"

"Only for a few months every decade," P-Rarity muttered.

"I mean this in the least offensive sense I can, but..." Rarity cleared her throat. "Who's riding you?"

The two stared at one another in mutual incomprehension for a few moments before P-Rarity said, "I suppose I'm going to have to account for more differences between us than just age."

"Rather, yes."

The smile Rarity slapped on to cover up awkwardness looked quite similar on an equine muzzle. "So, before I embarrass myself further, what does bring you to Equestria? I fear I never asked after any of the specifics."

"Well, I heard of your bustling fashion empire."

"Oh, I'd hardly call it an empire," said P-Rarity, encouraging the girl to continue with every flutter of her lashes.

Rarity accommodated her. "Not only do you have a second shop in the capital of the country, you're scouting a location in Manehattan. If yours is anything like mine, you have unquestionably 'made it,' as they say."

"I suppose, yes." A titter broke through the facade of false modesty. "Honestly, just thinking of my personal brand being in Manehattan of all places makes me a little giddy." P-Rarity then proceeded to prance in place.

Rarity barely contained herself at the sight. It certainly helped keep her spirits up as her thoughts turned to herself. "Imagine how I feel. I'm barely holding up one store nestled between a yoga studio and a frozen yogurt shop."

Her analogue stopped and looked at her in... what was probably concern. Not every expression mapped well between their species. "Aren't you still in school?"

"I can manage the workload quite nicely, thank you." Rarity crossed her arms and gave an irritated sniff.

"Darling, I didn't doubt that for a second. It's just that I didn't open the Boutique until after graduation. I must say, you're not the only Rarity here who has reason to admire her counterpart."

That broke Rarity out of the snit as surely as an engraved apology. "You really think so?"

"Absolutely! Even putting aside your achievements in music—I've always been more partial to the guitar than the piano, myself—you're... Well..." P-Rarity's gaze turned to the floor as one hoof pawed at it.

Rarity crouched to get closer to her. "Yes? Anything I can help with?"

That coaxed out a wry grin. "I appreciate the offer, darling, but you definitely cannot. You see, I'm rather embarrassed to admit this, but you've actually had greater success than I in the field of romance."

"Really?" Rarity shifted to a sitting position. One could crouch for only so long. "What about your Applejack?"

P-Rarity hummed at that. "How long have you known yours?"

"Since kindergarten. We were inseparable for years, until Sunset..." Rarity shook her head. No need to dwell in the past. "In any case, we've forgiven her for that."

"I see. On this side of the mirror, we knew of each other for much longer than we really got to know one another. Familiarity without true knowledge bred contempt, and by the time we were forced together to prevent eternal night, our differences were..." P-Rarity hummed to herself. "Well, not irreconcilable, but certainly too much to allow for something like the two of you have. Besides, she and Rainbow Dash always seemed to have more to their rivalry in my eyes."

Rarity nodded. "I suspected the same, but after Sunset drove them apart as well... Well, none of us knew it was her at the time. I imagine it was shame as much as lingering resentment that kept them from making anything more of their relationship." She shrugged. "Or we're reading entirely too much into them."

"Maybe you are, darling," her counterpart said with a sly grin. "Still, it's amazing what little ripples can do. I have to wonder if our worlds will even remotely resemble one another in a generation's time."

"Well, if we increase traffic between them, I imagine a great deal of cultural exchange will take place. But in terms of counterparts..." After a moment of thought, Rarity had to shrug. "I honestly can't say. That sort of thing has always been Twilight and Sunset's wheelhouse, not mine."

P-Rarity nodded. "Indeed. Twilight can go on about the fabric of space and time, and here I am—"

"Wondering about the thread count."

The two shared a giggle, and Rarity felt the familiar, delightful warmth of friendship fill her soul.

A few moments later, she still felt the need to say, "But in all seriousness, how did you get where you are now? Is it really just a matter of time?"

P-Rarity shook her head. "Oh, would that it were that inevitable. If I'm being perfectly honest, I have benefited from quite a few lucky breaks. And Spike's connections in Canterlot didn't hurt either."

It took Rarity a few moments to process that enough to say "I have several questions."

"Well, you have some understanding of what Twilight Sparkle can be like before she meets us. As such, Spike was the one wheeling and dealing with the likes of Hoity Toity."

"Spike. The puppy." Rarity kept trying to picture him hobnobbing with a celebrity of Hoity Toity's magnitude and failing.

"The dragon, darling."

"Ah, yes, right. It's hard to imagine him as anything other than a cuddly little delight who balances nonhuman rights activism and chasing squirrels."

P-Rarity tittered discreetly behind a forehoof. "I really must visit your world some day. Twilight's stories can only tell me so much. Imagine, a whole world where creatures wear clothes all the time, and yet she barely notices the local fashions."

"You're always welcome." After a moment's thought, Rarity added, "Or so I assume. Best to check with Sunset first."

"Of course!" said P-Rarity. "I would never dream of barging into somepony else's universe uninvited."

Rarity opened her mouth. A sound came out. No amount of generosity, with or without the capital letter, could consider the sound words.

"Is something wrong?"

"Just reflecting on what life decisions I made that led me to hear a version of myself say that sentence."

"Ah yes." P-Rarity nodded. "I shan't lie, I have explored a number of brave new frontiers in the Equish language since Twilight came to town."

"I'm sure." Rarity shook her head and recentered herself as best she could. "Any other advice you can give me beyond networking and watching for opportunities?"

"Never take your friends for granted. I doubt you will, especially your Applejack, but they will be the foundation on which you can build an empire." P-Rarity smirked. "When they aren't driving you mad."

"Or vice versa."

That got a grin. "Well, you know how we can be. That goes without saying."

They shared another laugh, one interrupted by the familiar tinkle of the front door opening.

"Ah." P-Rarity looked to the door leading to the shop floor proper, then turned anxious eyes to her counterpart. "I do beg your pardon, darling, but I must ask you to stay in the back. Ponyville's gotten a touch more cosmopolitan since Twilight came to town, but I fear you'll still distract from the merchandise. No offense."

Rarity just tossed her hair and gave a winning smile. "I choose to interpret it as a compliment."

"Wonderful. Never lose that confidence." P-Rarity trotted out, the opening door offering Rarity a brief glance of equine fashions that made her long for uninterrupted hours of study. Everything in the back room was still in progress. The sheer quantity of gems she saw even from that brief glimpse...

She had to see more. She kept the door open a crack and peeked through, contemplating everything she could make out on the visible mannequin. (Ponnequin?)

"Hello!" said P-Rarity. "Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is chic, unique, and magnifique."

Rarity couldn't help but smile at that. "Well, she's using the same slogan. That's certainly a promising sign."

A thump from the opposite end of the room made Rarity jump. Her reflexive telekinetic jerk would've slammed the door had it had more than an inch to move. She turned around, just in time for another thump to strike near another door.

Then came a third, more intelligible sound. "Rarity!"

"Sweetie Belle?" Rarity rushed to the door. Her sister or her counterpart's, she knew that distressed tone all too well. "Sweetie, are you— Oh Harmony."

If P-Rarity had been a huggable marshmallow of pony, P-Sweetie Belle was just asking to be the star of adorable cat videos. The greenish-gray slime matting her face and mane barely detracted from the sheer adorability. "Starlight Glimmer tried to show me a spell and now my mane's full of ectoplasm!" To say nothing of how her voice squeaked in her panic, something Rarity's own Sweetie Belle hardly ever did anymore.

"Oh, this is too precious." Rarity shook her head and reminded herself that the little delight was still a thinking being, and one in peril at that. "Come in, darling," she said, stepping out of the way. "We'll see what we can do."

"Oh good, I found the boutique this time." P-Sweetie's darling little eyes might have been glued shut, but those adorable ears still twitched and pivoted like little satellite dishes as she came in. She frowned up at Rarity and said, "Wait, how come you're so high up?"

Rarity gulped. She'd been so enraptured by the little cutie that she hadn't thought of an explanation. "Er, you see..."

"Queen Chrysalis!" P-Sweetie lowered her horn in Rarity's rough direction. "You won't get away with this!"

Rarity had no issues with the Wholesome in principle, but being compared to Chrysalis still threw her off. "I beg your pardon—"

"Beg all you want! I'll show you as much mercy as you showed my sister!" The little horn glowed with a wobbling, convulsing aura.

Rarity didn't need to be Twilight or Sunset to see how that would end. "Sweetie, no!"

What followed could only be properly captured by the word "splort."

As Rarity tried to get the slime out of her eyes, she heard her own voice, the tone somewhere between resigned and impressed. "I left for five minutes."

"Sweetie Belle."

"So I see."

"Rarity?" And there was the familiar sound of a Sweetie Belle who'd realized the error of her ways far too late. "Um... shouldn't you be in a pod?"

P-Rarity sighed. Something involving her horn happened—Rarity had enough experience with sensing magic to recognize that, if not any greater specifics—and soft terrycloth dabbed at the goo covering the human's face. "I had hoped Twilight would handle this little talk."

"Mom already signed that permission slip for Miss Cheerilee."

"No, my dear, the talk about the multiverse." The first thing Rarity could see once she could open her eyes again was her counterpart giving her a wry grin. The second thing she could see made her refocus on the first so she could ignore the blast zone for a little longer. "I don't suppose yours is any better?"

"Well, she's the incarnation of the future, but that doesn't stop her from showing a startling lack of foresight at times." Rarity looked down at her blouse and immediately wished she hadn't. "Does ectoplasm stain?"

"I fear we'll find out soon enough." P-Rarity sighed. "May I offer you a new outfit as an apology?"

"Only if you allow me to return the favor some day."

"I still don't understand what's going on," said Sweetie, who had wiped off most of her own ectoplasm by this point.

"We'll get to that in good time, Sweetie. For now, measurements!" P-Rarity pranced into the shop floor and locked the front door. "Oh, this will be a delight. Though I fear I'll need your assistance, H-Rarity. I do so little work with bipeds."

Rarity smiled despite the circumstances and followed her own lead. "Naturally."

That evening, Rarity emerged from the Wondercolt plinth, Sunset smiling and waiting as though she hadn't moved for most of the day. "Well?"

"It's a lovely place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there." Rarity considered her new ensemble. "And sad to say, I may have to take a seam ripper to this lovely piece before I get mugged." She gave a twirl, appreciating the creation for what would likely be the last time. "The pony Rarity has no concept of a world where sapphires are actually worth something. Still, it's nice to see that her gilded statue in my mind still had feet of clay. Or hooves, as it were."

"Sounds like you had quite a time."

Rarity grinned at that. "That's putting mildly. Suffice to say, I went to Equestria with an idol. I left with a friend."

Sunset's smile widened. "Glad to hear it. We'll see about getting you two a pair of entangled journals. Really should've done that with all of you girls to begin with."

Months later...

It was rather unnerving to see the school late at night, or so Rarity thought. The building just didn't look right looking so... empty and void of light or electricity; that it was well after midnight and she was alone didn't help matters. She shivered as a light breeze blew by, surprisingly cool even after the heat of the day, and wrapped her jacket a bit tighter around her. She would rather have been at home, in her nice, comfortable, exquisitely designed bed, but she had something she needed to get done, and this was the only time that Sunset wouldn't notice what she was doing... hopefully.

The base of the school's statue suddenly glowed, and a figure staggered out of it.

She was a pale white unicorn aspect, with a spiky collage of hair in purple, green, and yellow, wearing what looked to be a leather jacket and a pair of shorts that were just shy of being risque. "Well, that was something." The unicorn aspect did her best to stand upright, and looked at Rarity. As the girl opened her mouth, the newcomer cut her off with, "Don't ask. It involved a mix-up with a pair of potions that I'm at least as much to blame for as anypony else."

"Oh, good," Rarity said. "I was afraid I had been seduced into a punk band."

"No, but I think I've managed to start a punk revival in Ponyville." Rarity's Equestrian counterpart chuckled a bit, reminiscing. "Anyway, we've gotten off track here." Reaching into the pocket of her jacket, she pulled out a relatively small bag and held it out. "From what you've told me, gold is more valuable in your world than in Equestria, so this should be enough of a start-up loan."

It was all Rarity could do to not snatch the bag out of her counterpart's hand, instead gently taking it, and gripping it tightly so as not to open it for a peek. "Most likely, yes."

"Good," the transformed Equestrian said with an almost maniacal smirk. "Once you've gotten things set up here, I'll start sending you a few of my designs for you to modify."

"And," Rarity said with a matching smile, "once I've turned a profit, I'll send you a few of mine as well."

"And then, the first multidimensional franchise shall be established—"

"—and the fabulosity shall last FOREVER!"

As one, both Rarities threw their heads back and burst into mad laughter. All that was missing was a flash of lightning and thunder to complete the moment.

Sunset dismissed the scrying window hanging over her bed. "Should I tell them I always keep half an eye on the portal?"

Next to her, Twilight giggled. "That depends. Should one of us tell P-Rarity that the first outfit the portal gives you seems to become your default for all future trips to this universe?"

"I think we'll let her figure that out."

Author's Notes:

Human Rainbow Dash does seem to inspire all of her friends during her first soccer game in the first EqG comic, and they did play against the Shadowbolts. They are all wearing their cutie marks in the comic... but they're also all using their current models during a story where they're supposed to be freshmen as opposed to looking younger, so you can blame Tony Fleecs for that.

The darling jar comes from the Rarity branch of "Costume Conundrum" and needs to be used in more stories.

The debate over Sunset's skin tone was inspired by real life, wherein I inadvertently created a bit of a brouhaha.

Credit for the term "thaumic fiction" goes to Estee. Likewise tenth-bits.

Much of the post-timeskip section was written by SaintAbsol in the Group Precipitation short "Spreading Trends."

Hope you enjoyed this one. There aren't nearly enough human ponidox stories on the site.