Gunsmoke

by Wanderer D

Chapter 24: Rush

Dear Princess Twilight, It's weird to write a report in lose printer paper instead of the diary, but I need to get this out of my chest. I'm scared. I'm scared that I will never be myself. I'm scared that if I go back to GGO I'll fade away into nothing. I'm scared that Sunset Shimmer will awaken and I'll find out I'm... nothing. A figment of my/her imagination. I'm scared that I've brought doom to this place—again—due to our experiments. I don't know who or what is causing this. A "who or what" would be less scary—it would mean that there's someone or something else to blame for all of this; that it wasn't me. That it wasn't Science Twilight. That we didn't break reality. But what if we did? I might not look like a monster this time, but that doesn't mean I'll cause less damage to this world. Maybe I should leave. Maybe this world is better off without magic. Maybe it should rest safe in its limited spectrum of explainable concepts. Who are we to bring another set of rules, from another universe, here? I might be the only one from Equestria on this side of the mirror, but we're still invading in a way. We're breaking through with magic. Unwittingly we're reopening channels long dormant here. What if the cycle of this world was to leave magic behind? Science is almost as limitless, and it's accessible to all. Perhaps there's a reason for magic to have faded to almost nothing world-wide. And in the center of this maelstrom of universal dissonance is me. Canterlot High... the girls, both from there and Crystal Prep, Luna... maybe I'm a danger to them. But I can't just go back to Equestria either... another Princess? Princess of what? Maybe I should just fade away but I'm afraid. Maybe this is nonsense, but as time passes and I'm away from my real body... anyway, I should go. Your unworthy student, Sunset Shimmer Desert Mirage

Luna shook her head when she felt the car stop. Yawning, she rubbed her eyes and blinked, turning to stare around her.

They were in the parking lot for Sunset's apartment. "Whu?"

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Celestia said. "You spaced out on the way here, sister."

"I just have so many things in mind," Luna said, sighing and wiping her mouth with a paper towel. She pulled out the clasp from her purse. "I hope that Princess Luna can help Sunset, but I'm worried that she can't... and then there's all those monsters suddenly appearing. What if Sunset being here in this world is the cause of all of this? What if... what if she has to leave?"

Celestia shook her head, patting her sister's shoulder. "I think you're worrying too much, sister."

Luna sighed once more and nodded, opening the car door. "I'm just worried about what these new problems mean."

"The only thing we can do when things involving our loved ones go south," Celestia said, "is to be there for them."

Luna smiled. "Very true."

The pair made their way to Sunset's apartment, and knocked on the door. It wasn't long before Mirage let them in and led them to the dinner table.

"We had to deal with a lot of questions today," Celestia said, nodding in thanks as Sunset set down a cup of tea for her. "The staff was understandably worried. They're going to talk to their class about gun control tomorrow, as well as some emergency procedures in case of future attacks."

Mirage sighed, massaging her forehead. "I'm sorry I brought this on you. If Twilight and I hadn—"

"Really, Sunset," Celestia spoke up, arching an eyebrow. "The blame game has been going on long enough. You and Twilight did not bring these monsters here. For all we know, they could have appeared even if you hadn't performed your experiments. Maybe another ancient enemy of Equestria was sent here long ago and recently awakened. Or maybe someone took advantage of your research. Either way, blaming yourself constantly does no good to anyone." She took a sip of her tea and her eyes widened. "This is delicious!"

Mirage chuckled, passing Celestia a tightly wrapped package. "That's Princess Celestia's favorite tea. I figured I'd get you some while I was visiting."

"Hmm," Celestia hummed contentedly. "Luna, when are you two getting married?"

Mirage's eyes went wide, but Luna merely rolled her eyes. "All in due time, sister. Let us not forget what we are here for." She fished the clasp from her purse and passed it to Mirage, who had to shake her head before she could focus on the item.

Mirage studied the clasp carefully, nodding to herself. "Yes, this should help me talk to Princess Luna, provided she's concentrating on it and I'm asleep."

Luna sipped her tea and nodded as well. "Indeed. When she and I met, it was made clear that only in the realm of dreams should we speak."

"Was there any other requirement?" Mirage asked. "Does it need to be placed facing East? Does it need the light of a full moon, unobstructed? Or will it simply do to have it close at night?"

"I'm afraid that's all I know," Luna replied. "It was more of an impression as it is, rather than an actual spelled-out set of instructions."

"Hm." Mirage tapped her chin. "I think that should be enough then, although I only knew her for about a day, Luna didn't strike me as the type to over-complicate things."

"Let's hope so," Celestia said. "We can't afford to wait long, especially since you told us Twilight would attempt to send you back into GGO tomorrow. The more information we have, the better our chances of doing things right."

Mirage raised her teacup at Celestia. "I hear you."

Celestia smiled, finishing the last of her tea. "I should go, there is much to prepare for tomorrow." She looked at her sister. "I assume you're staying, Luna?"

Mirage blinked. "Um, you don't have to, Luna, if you have a lot of stuff do get ready for tomorrow morning—"

"As a wise woman once told me, 'The only thing we can do when things involving our loved ones go south is to be there for them.'," she quoted, sharing a smile with Celestia, before placing her hand on top of Mirage's. "If you'll have me, I'd like to stay over."

Mirage smiled, turning her hand so she could grasp Luna's. "I would love that."

"Very well then," Celestia said, standing up. "Please do deliver my sister to work early enough in the morning, Sunset."

"Um, yes, ma'am!" Mirage stammered, walking her to the door.

"You both try and get some rest," Celestia added as she stepped outside. "And keep the love-bites to the minimum, it's a bit warm to wear a scarf, and we don't need the faculty and student body talking about it."

Celestia smirked at Mirage's look and closed the door behind her.

Luna floated in a sea of stars. She enjoyed the feeling of weightlessness for a few seconds before a glow nearby drew her eyes to it.

Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes widened. In front of Luna, standing as tall as she was, was a magnificent creature. Much like Princess Luna, this alicorn stood almost as tall as her, but this one had a warm, orange coat with a mane made of fire. The wings had pinions of deep red and orange, rippling with energy. This pony also had an armor of sort, deep purple-tinted, almost black, and for some reason was wearing a cloak and had a pair of guns strapped to her withers.

Luna blinked. "Mirage?"

"So this is what I would look like as a pony?" Mirage asked rhetorically. She smiled. "I like it."

"'Tis an odd shape," a third voice said. "And were your behavior not as usual, We might have assumed thee to be a Nightmare."

Both Luna and Mirage turned to face Princess Luna, who was frowning at the pair. "Whilst you joining Luna in this oniric meeting is a welcome sight, We hesitate to call your current appearance a projection... it seems tied with your current physical form... which is not Sunset Shimmer's. This is most vexing."

"Well... things have gone a little crazy on Earth," Mirage said.

"Tell me," Luna ordered.

After a brief explanation, a much calmer Princess Luna hummed, deep in thought. "The connection to your true self is very strong if your original body still lives... but I fear that this situation will have turned your bond even deeper." She leveled a look at Mirage. "Sunset Shimmer, if you were to suffer any wounds, it might cause irreparable damage to your real body. There is no reason to believe you would simply 'respawn'."

Mirage nodded, gulping. "Twilight will have everything set up to send me back into GGO tomorrow and Dean Cadance will be watching my body in case any medical issues are needed."

"I pray that will be enough," Princess Luna stated, smiling. "While this form suits your inner strength, Sunset, I do look forward to seeing you as you truly are."

"Thank you, Princess." Mirage bowed.

"The other concern, however..." Princess Luna hesitated. "At least I can tell you that ley lines have nothing to do with it." She raised her hoof to cover her mouth.

"Yeah, yeah," Mirage growled, rolling her eyes. "I know it was a long shot."

"Of course," Princess Luna agreed all too quickly. "However while I know not if the statue lies in a convenient crosspoint for magical energies..."

"I was joking!"

"...I do sense a will imposing itself against us," Luna continued, closing her eyes. "My influence in Earth Realm is very tenuous, and available only through the use of the clasp I presented my dear counterpart. The dreams and power of others outside its range of influence is... delicate at best. I'm afraid I cannot be of much assistance at this time, but... I will channel my intent and will into the clasp tomorrow, even during day time, to assist as much as I can."

"Thank you, Princess," Mirage said, smiling.

"But now, another pressing matter awaits," Princess Luna said, walking up to her human counterpart and smirking victoriously. "I see that you and Sunset have stepped beyond the 'friendship' stage."

Luna smirked back and poked Luna's muzzle. "Yes we have."

"I am very happy for you, my friend," Princess Luna said, tilting her head. "It's good to see your confidence back as well. We shall speak more about this at a later date, for now, both of you rest. Your dreams will be pleasant."

As Princess Luna faded into the stars, Mirage looked at Luna. "Wait, so you two get together to talk about dating me?"

Luna gave her a peck on the cheek. "Of course. What else is there to talk about?"

The next morning, after dropping Luna off at Canterlot High, Mirage dedicated herself to reorganizing the room where her body was to make sure it had enough space for the equipment they would need.

Soon enough she heard a knock on the door and found Twilight, Lemon Zest and Dean Cadance waiting outside.

"Hey girls, I thought you'd be here later today," Mirage said, stepping to the side to allow them in.

"I talked it over with Cadance and we decided that it'd be better to have more time to set up the equipment, set up the joint accounts, get your original body ready to be connected and go over the details," Twilight explained. "We brought some of the upgrades for your PC, but the rest of the equipment is in Cadance's car."

"I'll go get it," Mirage said.

"While you do that, I'll check on your body," Cadance said. "I'm sure you've taken care of yourself, Mirage, but I want to make sure we go over all the exercises again. After all, you're very likely to be jumping back in there and we don't want you cramped and in pain, do we?"

"We definitely don't," Mirage replied.

"I'll go help you with the stuff in the car," Lemon Zest offered, putting down the cardboard box on the table.

"And I'll get started on the upgrades," Twilight added. She smiled and held Mirage by the arm. "You'll be back to being yourself in no time, Mirage. I promise."

Mirage nodded, heading down with Lemon Zest to the car.

"She's really worried, you know," Zest spoke up as they started piling stuff up. "She stayed up all night going over calculations and theories."

"I can imagine," Mirage replied with a sigh. "Whatever happens, you need to make sure that she knows I don't blame her for this," she added, looking at Lemon Zest straight in the eye. "She didn't do anything wrong, and it's clear someone else is manipulating things or monsters wouldn't be appearing in the real world right now."

Lemon Zest nodded, thoughtful. "Do you know what you're going to tell your friends when you see them again?"

Mirage chuckled. "I already PMd Surgeon an—"

"I mean your real life friends," Zest interrupted, looking up at Mirage, who had lost the smile. "Look... I'm not trying to be pushy, and I'm sorry if I'm coming across as such... it's just that I consider you a friend... and the one that taught me, Indigo Zap, Sour Sweet, Sugarcoat and Sunny Flare what true friendship is about. We all love being your friends, but we don't want to lose your other friends. They stood by you during the Friendship Games and before that during the thing with the Dazzlings."

"There's a lot going on with Rainbow Dash an—"

"Hey." Zest smiled. "I remember. Just... think about it."

Mirage forced herself to smile. "I will."

By the time they had set everything up, upgraded Sunset's computer and had just about done everything but plugging in the unconscious Sunset into GGO, it was noon and Mirage's phone started ringing.

She smiled and answered it. "Hello, Luna." She listened for a little, before nodding. "Sure, I would love to, but Twilight and the others are already here and..."

"Oh, don't mind us," Cadance spoke up. "Go have lunch with Luna, we'll be here."

"You guys sure?" Mirage asked. Twilight and Zest just exchanged glances and smiled at her, nodding.

"Okay then, I'll see you there!" Mirage said. She hung up the phone and looked at the others. "I guess I'll be back in an hour or so."

"We'll be here," Twilight said. "Enjoy your lunch date!"

They met in a small cafe and deli a couple of blocks away from Canterlot High. Luna was already there when Mirage arrived, taking a seat across from her.

"This day feels so rushed," Mirage said after a moment, taking a sip of water while perusing the menu. "It's been non-stop, building computers, setting up a work space, troubleshooting connections and driver settings, clearing up space for the bed where I'll be plugged in, coaching Twilight on portal-opening theory... ugh."

Luna chuckled, shaking her head. "You have to take it a bit slower, even if it seems frustrating, Mirage. This is your chance to go back and fix everything."

"Well, almost everything," Mirage sighed. She waved the waitress over and ordered a BLT sandwich and some coffee, waiting until she was out of earshot before speaking up again, "I still have to figure what happened to the book. I haven't been able to pinpoint its location in this world, so my only other option is GGO."

Luna nodded, stirring her tea. "Well, I hope you're able to find it there... could the book have something to do with opening the portals?"

They paused as the waitress brought their order.

Mirage shrugged as soon as she had left. "I don't think so. The only reason it worked for us was because it was channeling Twilight's power. By itself, the book's only power is to communicate to Equestria."

"I see." Luna sighed. She smiled when Mirage started to eat her sandwich. "Hungry?"

"Nervous," Mirage confessed, taking a deep drink of her coffee before decimating the rest of her sandwich. "It's a big day."

"I'm sure it'll be—"

Luna's words were interrupted by her phone ringing and a distant explosion. She quickly answered her phone, turning around to face the direction of Canterlot High, where she could see a large dome forming above the buildings. "Celestia?"

Luna paled, glancing at Mirage. "It's a monster..."

It took a couple of minutes for Mirage and Luna to get back to Canterlot High, where they both stopped and stared at the creature that had appeared.

It was huge!

Almost half as tall as Canterlot High itself; it had an armored back, like an armadillo, six massive elephantine legs on its lower body, the upper body extended upwards into a massive, muscular chest covered in thick scales, and four arms emerging from its torso, holding maces and daggers.

Its face had ape-like qualities, but rather than the natural teeth and enlarged canines, its mouth contained piranha-like fangs and wouldn't close completely, giving it a twisted, perpetual smile. Four red eyes glowed in anger as it pummeled a prismatic shield that surrounded Canterlot High, spit acid at its walls and threw fireballs at it.

"It seems the girls managed to cast a shield around the building!" Mirage said in awe. "That's amazing."

"But perhaps not enough," Luna pointed out.

Mirage nodded, seeing what Luna had noticed: with each attack pieces of magic flew into the air, and Mirage knew, without her own magic, the shield would collapse soon. She felt a shiver run down her spine. This wasn't like her previous opponents. This was a boss-type monster probably higher than her own level. One she had never fought before. Her guns might not even do anything to it. Although thankfully, they were not her only recourse.

Gulping, she took a step forth, but found she couldn't move and something had gotten a hold of her arm.

"M-Mirage... Sunset..." Luna stammered, grabbing her left arm tightly. "You can't. That thing will kill you."

"The shield won't last long, Luna," Mirage said, gently taking Luna's hand in her own and making her release her arm. "And there's no one else that can help. They're on their own if I don't act... and I'm on my own if I do."

"But—" Luna was interrupted by a roar that shook the very ground they were standing on as the monster increased the speed of its attacks.

"I have to go," Mirage whispered, leaning up to Luna and kissing her forehead. "I love you."

Luna could just stare as Mirage sped up towards the monster, pulling out her guns and starting to fire into the area shield, breaking through and jumping in before it closed behind her.

Luna stared in growing horror at what was happening. She clenched and unclenched her hands and could feel her heart beating faster and faster.

What could she do?

She gulped.

Mirage was going to die.

She closed her eyes tight and felt a growl emerging from deep within. She clenched her hands into fists one last time before she started running.

Cadance watched as Twilight tapped her arm in frustration and glanced at the clock. "Where is Mirage? We should be getting ready!"

"Give them a little more time, Twilight." Cadance chuckled. "They went out to have lunch, and you know better than to interrupt loving couples."

Twilight rolled her eyes and went to check the computers. "I just want to do some preliminary tests," she muttered, walking up to the computer and starting to fiddle around with it.

"Twilight!"

Turning around, she stared in horror as Sunset's body suddenly convulsed and spat blood.

"Help me hold her down!" Cadance ordered Lemon Zest, who rushed to the other side of the bed and held onto Sunset's body, trying to keep her in place. "Try keep her arms steady!"

"What's happening?!" Lemon Zest cried.

Twilight gasped, turning to the monitor, scanning it for something that might give her some answers. "I don't know! She's not plugged in!"

When Twilight's phone rang, she ignored it. With Sunset's convulsions, she knew she had to act fast, so she couldn't be distracted. Her phone rang a couple more times, then stopped.

Immediately after, Cadance's started ringing.

"Hello? Aunt Luna? What's—sure, she's right here!" Cadance looked up. "Twilight! Aunt Luna needs to talk to you, she says it's urgent!"

Twilight raced over and picked up the phone. "Vice Principal? What's going on? Sunset's body just started convulsing an—" Her eyes widened. "But... there's no way she can... I—" She cringed. "I can't, that wou—I know! I know! I don't want her to die either, but I might make things worse if I do that!"

Twilight listened in silence while Cadance gave her concerned looks in between checking on Sunset, who was not convulsing any more. The comatose girl was still sweating, and her breathing was becoming ragged.

Cadance checked Sunset's pulse and frowned, not happy with what she was feeling. She glanced at Twilight when she put down the phone. "Well, Twiley?"

Twilight was staring into space, but another groan and convulsion from Sunset seemed to snap her out of it. "There's... something I need to do. Please take care of Sunset."

Cadance could only nod and glance down at the unconscious teen with worry, hoping that whatever Twilight was planning on doing would actually help.