Ranger
Chapter 93: FMP pt. 3
By Wanderer D
"Yes, Commander, I'm sorryā¦ I'm not entirely sureā¦"
"Whatever it is, Princess, we can deal. This is less of a mission anyway, and the surprise will have to wait until Jane and the others get back. Sort whatever magical mishap you need to sort. Do you require any assistance?"
"Not at this time, Commander, thank youā¦"
"Make sure to file a report if it requires it.
"Will do, Commander."
The pad turned off and Twilight sighed. She turned around to look at her unexpected guest. Sunset was sitting on the bed, looking around in obvious awe.
"So, what's going on, Sunset?"
"I-I don't know! Don't you think it's weird that we're here? Is this a spaceship?"
Twilight's slight annoyance became slight worry. "Um. Yes." She studied Sunset. Even though she was still older than Twilight herself, she had a newness to herā¦ a bit of wonder about the place they were at that was at odds with the stoic acceptance and familiarity she'd had just a few days prior.
Sunset poked around the room, avoiding the guns, and generally being really impressed. "Wow, so you're likeā¦ the lead scientist in a spaceship?" she laughed. "No surprise there," she grinned a smile that carried with it familiarity and opennessā¦ it wasn't the guarded smiles from before, or the confident smirk of Lieutenant Shimmer.
It was jovial.
Impressed.
Admiring.
Friendly.
She could almost feel itā¦ the friendshipā¦ echoing from within Sunset's soul. Not that she didn't feel any friendship at all from Sunset before butā¦ this was different. It wasn't... jaded.
Despite herself, Twilight felt a smile worm up to her face and she flushed a little. "Wellā¦ not lead scientist."
She shook her head. "Wait. You should know that! What's going on, Sunset? Did the Blood Magic cause you an aneurysm or something?"
"B-blood magic?!" Sunset gasped, shaking her head. "Nononononoā¦ I would never do that! I mean, it was bad enough running away as I did from Celestia andā¦ if it wasn't for you, I'd probably have done much worse things, but I would never learn Blood Magic! I'm not a monster!"
That statement made Twilight sit down on her chair. She glanced at Sunset, who looked genuinely disgusted at the prospect. "Youā¦ you're not Sunset."
Sunset blinked. "Umā¦ I'm pretty sure I am? Sunset Shimmer? Former unicorn apprentice of Celestia? Ran out in a bit of spite, tried to take over the high school despite having no reason to do so and having a pretty good life all things considered? Stole your element? You and the girls blasted me with rainbows? We played in a band together? You helped us defeat the sirens?"
With every word, Twilight grew more and more pale. "Alternateā¦"
"What?"
"You're an alternate version! But how? You look exactly like her!"
"But I am Sunset! The same!"
Twilight gritted her teeth, her mind running a thousand miles an hour.
"Stand up."
Sunset did as instructed, looking nervously at Twilight, then the nervousness turned to confusion when Twilight stood up. "Waitā¦ did you get smaller?"
Twilight sighed. "Noā¦ you're an adult in this dimension."
Sunset gasped, smacking her forehead with her palm. "Oh! Stupid! How did I not realize that! Everything points to it!"
The pair stared at each other. Then Sunset snorted. Then they started laughing.
The black car slowed down in front of the school, and four people stepped out, two men and two women. She looked up at the building with mild amusement. "It's been years since I was last here. Is this where the call originated from?"
"That's correct."
"Well then come on, Central. 'Lieutenant Shimmer' awaits."
"That's not funny."
"Oh, I find it hilarious."
"Do you want us to wait here, Commander?"
"We shouldn't take too long getting the Lieutenant back, why don't you two come with me and I can show you my old stomping grounds?"
Central grumbled as the four walked up to the school entrance.
A woman was waiting by the door to the school, a pleasant smile in her face, which turned slightly worried. "Ah, Mr. Bradford, how are you today?"
Bradford nodded. "Miss Cheerilee. Is everything okay?"
"Umā¦"
"We're here to see Principal Celestia or Vice Principal Luna," Chrysalis said, smiling. Then she grinned a more mercenary smile, raising her wallet with her ID. "We're Military."
Bradford sighed.
The teacher went deathly pale. "Um. T-there's really nothing weird here happening at all!"
"Well," Chrysalis leaned in, "why don't we be the judges of that?"
"What's going on here?" a voice asked, and soon Celestia strode to the door, where she blinked in surprise. "Chrysalis?" She looked from her to Bradford. "Mr. Bradford? How did you get here so fast? We didn't call you yet."
"Yet?"
"Celestia." Chrysalis purred, "It's been a while! Let me introduce you: you already know the Sweater wearing the man," she waved at Bradford, who grumbled, but said nothing, "that's Ryan, and this lady here is Annette."
"A pleasure, I'm sure," Celestia said, "But what brings you here?"
"John here got a call fromā¦" Chrysalis snorted, "the Lieutenant, so we came to check."
Celestia's eyes widened. "Butā¦ you? Uhā¦ t-this wayā¦" The group fell in line behind her as she guided them to her and Luna's offices.
Along the way, kids were giving them odd glances, a few waving at Bradford meekly. Bradford did the best he could to smile back, but he stopped when he saw something.
"What happened to Applejack?"
Celestia sighed. "Let's get to a more private placeā¦"
"So. Celestia," Chrysalis said when they were outside of people's earshot, "what's really going on?"
"I'm not sure, I'm not the one responsible for you being here." Celestia ushered them into her office, then closed the door behind them. She hesitated. "Well, most of you. But I imagine if you brought armed guests, things are not as simple as I might think."
Chrysalis' smile faded. "The Lieutenant said couple of very, very, very secret phrases in a way that's very, very specific. The type that can cost lives and puts world security at risk."
Celestia went pale. "I'm sure she's notā"
"Well, that is something we'll figure out," Chrysalis interrupted. "I'm sorry, Celestia, but this is way outside your pay-grade."
"So why did she call?" Bradford asked. "This hardly seems like something related to the school. And why is she in there."
Celestia grimaced. "Well, Sunsetā¦ sheā¦ you asked about Applejack?"
"Really?" Chrysalis interrupted. "Sunset Shimmer?"
Celestia nodded.
Bradford growled. "That was Sunset?"
"She did far worse butā¦ I think you should talk to her."
"And we shall," Chrysalis said. "But only Bradford and I, for now."
"...and then, they made me their leader," Luna explained to a rapt Sunset just as the door opened and two people walked in.
Luna blinked in recognition, but Sunset was immediately on her feet, standing at attention. "Commanderā¦ I uh, wasn't expecting you."
Chrysalis smirked, but took a seat, along with Bradford. "At ease... Lieutenant, wasn't it?"
Sunset gulped. Maybe the plan hadn't been the best.
"Weren't you handcuffed?" Luna asked dryly.
Sunset smiled nervously, handing Luna the dismantled cuffs. "Oops?"
"Handcuffed?" Bradford asked, raising an eyebrow at Luna.
"Necessary measures, I assure you, Mr. Bradford." Luna said, taking the offered restraining devices. "For protection, although I see now I was naive."
"Vice Principal," Chrysalis spoke up, "I would like a word with Sunset, if you don't mind."
Luna looked up at Celestia, who stood by the door with two other people. After a nod from her sister, she stood up and left the room, leaving Sunset alone.
Before she could get a word in edgewise, Bradford slammed his fist on the table, making her jump.
"Alright," he said, frowning and looking at Sunset straight in the eye. "I want to know what exactly happened here today, young lady. How in the name of the seven hells did it occur to you to assault Applejack? And I want to know now how exactly did you know those code-phrases."
"Umā¦ Galahad told me whenā"
"That'd better not be a lie, Sunset, because if it is, you're grounded for far longer than I am already going to do so. In fact, far longer than you might ever consider possible."
"Umā¦ I'm not following," Sunset said, blinking in surprise at the reaction. "I called you because this world is different than I remember."
"Different how?" Chrysalis asked.
"Wellā¦" Sunset motioned with her hand at the building. "This is still in one piece. Central still wears a sweater and his scar is missingā¦ the world is not dominated by the Eldersā¦"
Bradford looked baffled for a moment, then frowned and crossed his arms. "What do you mean? Are youādid you have a vision?"
Sunset shook her head. "More likeā¦ time-space dilation that ended up in consciousness displacement across the continuum?"
"Still a nerd in the future," Chrysalis muttered under her breath. "Well, Lieutenant, how about we talk a little?" she stated more than asked. "I'm sure John here would like to know what his daughter fromā¦ what year?"
"Twenty thirty-five."
"Yes," Chrysalis nodded. "I'm sure he would like to know what you did for the next 17 years."
A pause.
"Wait, what?" Sunset blurted out, staring at Bradford.
o.0.o End Chapter 93 o.0.o
Im sorry?
Huh?
Ohboy
WUT?! SUNNY IS JOHN'S DAUTHER?!?!?!
waitwhat
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! Wait what?!
Awesome awesome awesome! I started to get a bit annoyed with how blase they were being once thye found out it was Sunset Shimmer, then BAM, it all made sense.
heheheheheheh hahahahahahahahah
Wanderer you are such a tease when it comes to cliffhangers
8930142
I applaud you for using a lesser known one, but this one fits the situation better I feel.
The clues were there in the dialogue before the meeting but to be his daughter? So this AU, EQG-Sunny is already among XCOM without either side realizing one another's existence.
That is hilarious
8930194
Ya but I already used it 2 chapters ago so? :P
8930205
This whole chain of chapters has just been one big What The Fuck, and the CLIFFHANGERS
Can't wait for Sunset to tell Bradford that he should call his daughter.
You know what this whole mess makes me think of?
except were not just dealing with alternate timelines but paralel dimensions too.
"friendship at all form Sunset before but"
"friendship at all from Sunset before but"?
"if it wasn't for you I'd probably done much"
"if it wasn't for you I'd have probably done much"?
"She at Sunset, who looked"
Missing word?
"to know what exactly what happened here today"
Extra "what"?
"to know now[/] how exactly did you"
Broken tag(s)?
...
Yes.
What?!
8930205
Ah, fair enough.
Surprise, bradford!
I'm a little disappointed that this chapter didn't mirror the last one with Sunset going "what the fuāā
8930167
I actually had a feeling that Sunny was Bradford's daughter... guess it's confirmed now!
Dude, you're an ass. Damn your cliffhangers!!!
Can barely wait for more. The amount of whathefuckery is off the charts!
FMP = Fuck Mothering Pony
Prolly not what it means but fuck it
Hmn. Makes sense, as do a fair number of other things in the rest of the story.
8930402
Well excuse me but i'm an fuck mothering pony i killed a lot of people to get this title i deserve to be called such.
Huh, Cheerilee's reaction lends itself to trying to protect Sunset's origans yet Bradford is her father?
What, she a, so far, "good" x-ray so they put her under a very watchful eye, or has she somehow gotten bening a pony past him for at lest a year?
Or is their a 3rd Sunset in this quagmire you've made for us? Because if cannon is in XCOM and XCOM is in a close but not quite cannon EQG than this one would be in EQG and not know she doesn't have a family to go home to, save for Ray.
Aaahahahhhhhhhhahahaaaahhhhh!!!!
(this is not the sound of manic laughter)
....ya know, that kind of makes sense in a twisted as fuck sort of way...
8930562
I think Bradford's daughter is Sunny One (with how he acts this is likely true for the other universe too), Sunny Two is pony Sunset in both universes.
"Dammit Al, I reconciled Sunset with the girls, warned them all about a possible delayed alien invasion, and even managed to get Sunset out of getting grounded... for the second month. You said there was a 99% chance that was it! Why haven't I leaped?"
"Sam, all Ziggy's saying is 'That's XCOM, baby!'"
Seriously, loving this plot twist... whatever the hell it is. Both sides of this switch are just too hilarious. ...Well, other than the Rarity thing... that's a bit unfortunate. ...Man, you really have it out for her, don't ya? I'd say AJ too, actually, but at least this AJ just got a broken nose. She's tough; she'll manage that.
You must construct additional Wut.
8930751 The Bureau's not canonical to XCOM... it's a little bit like Fallout: New Vegas, but less good in terms of gameplay. It does provide some interesting (if questionable) world building, which is sometimes referenced in the Firaxis games as a nod, and sometimes theorized as "true origin material" by fans. (See: "the good Ethereal is there!" instance where it only "is" if you really want it to be, or interpret certain things a certain way)
I use part of it as history because it gives XCOM a bit more depth, but I'm not taking everything in that game as "official" to Ranger.
17 years... Daughter... apparently still young enough to ground... and chrysalis... still commander...
...
Error 404: comprehension not found,
Brain has stopped working due to information overload. Would you like to Reboot?
Y/N?
:y
Well I can't wait until all these pieces are put together and things become a little clearer. Still having this hit her right after Mox's death as well... this might be a little bit of an overload for our Bloody Sunset. Can't wait to see though how this all plays out!
Sunset Shimmer, born of the sweater that walks like a man.
Looks like there's even more time-space weirdness at work than I initially realized. Though as much as I want more answers, I also really want to hear Luna's story in full, whatever it was.
Hmm you know what would be funny? If Xcom2 verse SciTwi was related to avatar project.
8930701
That doesn't work from the evidence we have seen this chapter.
He knew Aj, the principal was going to call him over Sunset getting into trouble, but that same principal was worried over Sunset's ties through the mirror.
Now it's possible that Bradford adopted pony Sunset while also being "Sunny One's" bio-dad but the back and forth between he and the Commander doesn't lend itself to Sunny One being a thing, at lest so far as XCOM is concerned, in this dimension.
Well, that explains why Bradford is known around the school. And it's certainly not in his official capacity. Also...impersonating a military officer is a pretty heavy offense, on top of the code phrases she used that she should have no knowledge of. So it makes sense that the Commander is upset and he's more than a little worried.
Both ends are seeing now how things really aren't lining up....and it's becoming pretty apparent that the EqG-verse teachers at the school are a lot more like what little I remember of the FMP-verse teachers (a good chunk of them being in on what was actually going on). If that'd been true for the X-Com 2-verse, then there probably would have been a lot more survivors at the school.
Starting to get the feeling that these two alternate realities are far further diverged than either Sunset or Twilight realize.
8930915
Yeah it's a bit of a web, I don't quite have my head around all of the relationships while trying to keep the character ages reasonable.
As for this dimension's Sunny One, either we havent reached the Temple Ship mission yet or Sunny One survives it (if you get the start right it's possible to delay the first base assault indefinately).
This universe is running on either the Micropose timeline (which had other commander names used) or more likely the Fraxis XCOM 1 timeline but with either events delayed or modified.
Okay, things have really become confusing.
This explains everything. What did it take me so long to figure this out?
Whoa whoa whoa, you're just going to leave this here? And no one else has commented on it? Or is this a reference I failed to get?
8941761
Could be a reference to the comics where Nightmare moon took over those creatures on the moon...
Or it could be a silly reference to Pirates of the Caribbean.
Or perhaps both?
8941761
sea turtles mate.
why do i get the feeling that this incident is all celestias fault
This chapter reveals to me just how cloak-and-dagger XCOM is and I love it.
Certainly consistent with what we've seen so far in this weird diversion - nicely timed reveal nonetheless - but there's still a lot of bizarre stuff going on that needs further explanation. I'm glad I'm not reading this in May!
On one end Sunset is freaking out the military ... on the other the military (aka XCOM) is freaking out Sunset ... Not sure what happened to make the story go off the rails like this ... but I'm game ...
Celestia
said a couple of very
I am sooo fucking lost...
What am i reading forrr...
Ha-HAAA!
I HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE, WHAT IS GOING ON?