Ranger
Chapter 92: FMP Pt. 2
By Wanderer D
Sunset woke up, but didn't open her eyes. She kept them closed as she took stock of the situation.
She was aware of her surroundings: she was sitting on a chair; her hands were secured behind her with handcuffs... her whole body ached as if she had ran a marathon and then followed up with a two-mile swim, followed by being slammed around by a Berserker. They had taken her down with a non-lethal electric device of some sort… she was mostly isolated… there wasn't much noise, other than air conditioning, and the two people talking quietly, although not quietly enough that she could not hear them.
They were clearly not very experienced if they thought that could hold her, but she would play along for now.
"Is this really necessary, Luna?" Celestia's unmistakable voice asked.
"You saw what she was doing… what she did, Celestia," Luna retorted, "Applejack's nose was broken, Gilda dislocated her arm... Flash Sentry and Rainbow Dash were not severely injured, but they're a bit sore and Rarity's physically fine, but she was just held hostage at knifepoint by her best friend."
"What could have caused this? Rainbow Dash said Sunset fell asleep during lunch, and when she woke up…"
Worrying. Convincing, on some level. How was this happening? How did… whatever had caused this done this? Who—or what—was behind this? Sunset blocked the discussion as she considered her actions.
She had almost killed an innocent student—if this was real. Rarity… why did that name ring—oh. Sweetie Belle's sister. Rainbow Dash's friend… and she was supposed to be Sunset's best friend?
Sunset took stock. She had so far, broken a student's nose, dislocated an arm, clothes-lined another, kicked yet one more in the ribs, and possibly traumatized one for life. Worse, if she wasn't imagining this whole thing, then she had also betrayed their trust in their friend… who happened to be her. Somehow.
This didn't make sense.
Her mind rebelled at both the thought of this whole thing being real, but also at the thought of it being a lie. There were too many reasons to doubt the possibility of this actually happening… but there were too many details for any known method (magical or psychic) to function convincingly enough to fool all of her senses. There was only one thing to do.
She slowly opened her eyes.
"Awake?" Luna asked.
"For the last five minutes," Sunset replied. She narrowed her eyes. "Where am I?"
Celestia looked at her worriedly. "Canterlot High School, Sunset… don't you remember?"
"Canterlot High School doesn't exist anymore," Sunset replied. "It was destroyed at the beginning of the war. How did you do this? Where am I, really?"
"Sunset…"
Luna slammed her hand on the table. "Stop the bs. Why the hell did you flip out like that, Sunset? I'm not fond of using tasers on students."
Sunset held her gaze. "What are your demands?"
"Are you listening to me?" Luna asked, growling.
"I demand to speak with whoever's in charge."
"We are in charge!"
Sunset raised an eyebrow. "You don't behave like you are. So, how about you tell me the truth? Canterlot High was destroyed. Applejack died early in the war… if this was truly a school, why am I being held by two teachers instead of being handed over to the police?"
"Sunset, if we called the police they would look into your past and figure out you're not from here… at best you'd be imprisoned for some time, at worst you'd start an interdimensional incident with Equestria and get all of us in trouble for not reporting this to the government in the first place," Celestia said. "Please… what war are you talking about?"
They were very convincing. And worse, if it was true… she didn't want to think about that.
"You look pale, Sunset," Luna said, "maybe you're catching on that this is not a joke?"
"Please…" Celestia said, "we don't understand. Your friends are scared. The rest of the school… they can understand magical mishaps, but this…"
Luna's eyes narrowed. "What year is it?"
"What?" Celestia asked.
"Come on," Sunset said, "You can't be s—"
"The year!"
Sunset bit her lip. "Twenty thirty-five."
Luna took something out of her pocket. One of those cell phones they used before the war. She put it on the table in front of Sunset and swiped the screen. "Read the date."
"This is stupid."
"Read the goddamned date!"
Sunset licked her lips, then forced herself to look down. "T-twenty… eighteen? But how?!" she shook her head. "This is a lie!
"Luna, you must be joking," Celestia said, incredulous, "Really? Time travel?"
"The school was destroyed in twenty fifteen!" Sunset growled. "What are you playing at?"
"Has the thought occurred to you, Sunset, if that's who you really are, that this might be another magical mishap, and that it somehow messed you up?"
Sunset licked her lips. What could she do? If this was real then she was alone in a situation where she could trust no one. There had to be a way. She thought hard, trying to remember anything that might be useful. Galahad's old lessons came back to her. It was worth a risk… there was only one person she trusted anywhere, anytime, after all.
A beat.
"Let me make a call."
"I'm not taking the handcuffs off of you."
"Then dial for me."
Luna and Celestia exchanged glances, then Luna shrugged, picking up her phone. "Number?"
Sunset grimaced. "I don't know it. Call the Air Force personnel locator. Should be easy to find."
Luna frowned, but complied, searching on her phone as Celestia approached Sunset carefully. "The Air Force? Are you sure, Sunset? This could reveal your identity…"
"You want to clear this, right?"
"Yes but…"
"Operator is on the line," Luna interrupted, putting the phone down. "It's on speaker."
Sunset sighed. "This is Lieutenant Shimmer. I need to speak to an officer with Blue List access."
There was a pause. "Understood, Lieutenant, one moment."
Luna and Celestia exchanged surprised glances, but when Celestia was about to speak, Luna put her finger to her lips, shaking her head.
"Transferring call." the phone rang once, then was answered, although there was no greeting from the other side.
Sunset took a deep breath, hoping this worked. So far things were going just like Galahad described. "Vigilo Confido. I need Central."
"Is this line secure?" a man's voice asked. Sunset didn't recognize it.
"No."
The line went dead.
Celestia and Luna glanced from Sunset to the phone and back, wide-eyed.
"What…" Luna shook her head. "Who are you? Really?"
"I'm Sunset Shimmer."
"Sunset is not part of the military. She's not even h—" Celestia cut herself off.
"Human?" Sunset completed for her. "I guess I'm not. But the bottom line is: I'm Sunset Shimmer."
"So now what?" Luna asked after a moment.
"Now we wait," Sunset said.
"For what?" Celestia asked. "Sunset… you must understand, we have no idea what this is all about. Just yesterday you were hanging out with Applejack and the girls. I saw you after class, having milkshakes at the Sugarcube Corner. This morning you didn't even know who she was and you broke her nose."
Sunset looked away. "If things are… as I think they are… I'll have to apologize. But… I need to clear some things first, alright?"
The two teachers looked at each other. The extent to which they were willing to go for her was very telling. They cared a lot for Sunset Shimmer.
"Okay, we wait," Luna said. "How long?"
"I don't know, but I'm not going anywhere."
Celestia sighed, and Luna gave her a tired look. "Sister, why don't you talk to the rest of staff, I'll wait with Sunset here."
The taller woman shook her head with a small smile. "And tell them what?"
"That the situation is under control for now, and that we'll have this sorted out soon."
"Wait…" Sunset said as soon as Celestia walked towards the door. "You said I broke Applejack's nose... has it been set?"
Celestia looked down at her. "Yes."
"I-if you let me see her, I can heal it."
"I'll let her know and leave it up to her."
Each letter was like a punch to the stomach.
Twilight knew something was wrong with her, but she had assumed that it hadn't really shown that much… to the extent that the others would notice. She didn't want to hurt anyone. But she didn't know how to handle… whatever was happening to her.
Could it be as Rainbow Dash said? That she was so lost in her grief and insecurities, that she was unable to even deal with it?
The truth was that she had refused to talk to anyone about it. Laetitia, Jane… she would blow off, and unless Chrysalis ordered her to talk, she would just pretend that things were okay.
Because, really, what could she tell them? "I feel nothing?" How would that even help? Whatever was causing this, it was not something even she could understand, much less burden others with it.
She wanted to write them back. Somehow… what she had to say wasn't enough. She understood why they wanted her to write and it hurt not being able to say much… but she needed time. She just.. didn't have the words to express this frustration and she didn't want to burden them with trying to understand it.
She wanted to apologize… but she wasn't even sure about what. Her silence? She needed space… it's not that she wanted to avoid them, she just wanted some time alone… some time to think in between missions and projects.
She had intended to write and… she really wanted to… but whenever she was going to, she realized she had nothing to say. And "I don't know why I'm doing this or why I feel like this" was not a good enough answer to them.
At least by her reckoning. She felt she needed to write them something of significant intrinsic value, not just… platitudes. But… "Don't worry, I just need time" seemed honest enough… but also again, not of enough substance.
She loved them. She missed them… and Spike's letter… she gulped, feeling herself ready to burst into tears again.
She couldn't do it… she had to think. She couldn't write back yet.
And… she had things to do.
Projects.
Lots of things… she wanted to tell them about, when they were done.
A hesitant knock on the door made her look up. She cleaned up her face a little. Was it someone from the science team? Jane and the others usually were less doubtful. Maybe staff or a new team member? "One sec!"
She cleaned up and stood, hiding the diary in a drawer and opening the door. "Sorry about that I just had some th—"
"Twilight! Thank Celestia you're here!" Sunset Shimmer stammered, eyes wide and a panicky look on her face. "You've got to get us out of here! There's a giant snake and everyone's carrying guns! Even the giant snake!"
Twilight blinked. "What the fuc—"
o.0.o End Chapter 92 o.0.o
Agreed. What the fuck?
Don't worry Sunset! Seduce the snake as a distraction, and then make a break for it! It'll all make sense soon!
OH they switched places, I love it!
so they did swap places... okay now i'm really confused. seriously did I miss something. what occurred that could cause this dimensional misshap.
Ok, this is different, and not unexpected, now lets see what is the reason.
Well, this kinda came out of left field...I don't know if I like it or not yet.
BWAHAHA! Mind swap!
Newbie Sunny, you're in for one hell of a ride.
Whenever funky time problems occur with seemingly no explanations, BLAME STARLIGHT GLIMMER!!!
O......k? Uh ya....... um.........
This is an f-ing Jojo stand! This is literally D4C!
"but they's a bit sore and Rarity's physically"
"but they're a bit sore, and Rarity's physically"?
"The extent to what they were willing to go"
"The extent to which they were willing to go"?
"walked towards the door. You said I broke Applejack's"
"walked towards the door. "You said I broke Applejack's"?
"that she was unable to even deal with it. The truth"
"that she was unable to even deal with it? The truth"?
"much less burden other with it"
"much less burden others with it"?
Well. Oh dear. :D
But. This isn't a simple swap with EQG canon, or even an EQG canon-ish world... because it appears XCOM still exists there. Yet the war didn't start; the aliens don't seem to have invaded. And how many Sunset Shimmers are there? Three, now, or still just two? How many Equestrias are involved? Probably two, but... well, my, this does raise so many questions. :D
I have to wonder if this whole swap mini-arc is a result of the commissioner requesting either this specifically, or requested something so far out of left field that someone from the street threw the plot ball back.
Oh... OK. The Element of Magic is trying to "heal" both Sunset and Twi, so it did the only thing it could, it reached out to canon Sunset's element and using her power on overdrive swapped them. Because this Sunset is what Twi needs, and really, just being a kid for a few days might really be healthy for XCOM Sunset.
Going to be a crazy few days though.
...WELP.
Mind/dimension/time swap? K. Well lets see where this goes.
Does the FMP stand for Full Metal Panic, by any chance?
Okay, this is very Confusing. And Twilight almost sweared.
8928245
What happened, is the Author ran out of ideas and being stupid. Just skip every chapter with fmp-pt# in the name. It's useless filler. Like those background chapters a while ago. Just skip and save yourself the trouble.
8928354 Dude. Again, just because you don't get that it has a point, it doesn't mean it doesn't have one. Why don't you save the petty lack of understanding and save the comments to yourself? Just like you were with the "skip the filler" BS, which turned out to have a purpose. Seriously, save it.
Oh this just gets better and better. You have no idea how happy I am that this is a daily, else the suspense would kill me.
8928297 Nope, there's a point to all of this. the suddenness the mini-arc is also intentional.
Transmigration of both minds, oh this is just wonderful.
So XCOM exists on that end but now there will be rippling consequences, where it's not aliens but magical shenanigans that'll pile up on that Chrysalis' desk. That also brings to question if Sunny Prime of that dimension still lives. So now we'll have three times the Sunny D
this chapter makes me vary sad.........that I fell so far behind!!!
8928354
To each their own, I guess. Personally, I think this could be a brilliant (and needed) change of pace from the VERY heavy story we have been getting over the past few weeks. It is just a matter of how Wanderer writes it. I have every confidence in his abilities.
8928313
Except that x-com sunset has immediately moved to contact x-com, which already has a sunset... which will lead to questions...
"Oh boy...."
Well this has certainly taken a turn.....
8928399
She contacted the air force... in a world where the school didn't get blown up in 2015. This is more than time travel swapping.
8928362
"But they's a bit sore"
Assuming typo, since that's not slang I'd see Luna using. Also... sorry bout the troll. As you see by votes, you're not the only one who finds his 'advice' tiresome.
8928414
So if she heads thru the portal we will find yet another Equestria? This has the potential to get utterly confused. We're gonna need visual aids to keep track of which characters have wound up in which worlds.
Can't wait for the next chapter. This story just went EPIC!
8928423 I think what's frustrating is that it's less trolling IMO and more that they actually believe that. I don't mind if they do think that... it's the posting and misleading that annoys me. Anyway... yes, I need to fix this.
8928283 8928423 Fixed! Thank you!
8928414
whats telling though is the fact that x-com happens to exist in both timelines/parallel worlds stew on that for while and think of the potential implications🕴
8928426
Ooh... oh man I didn't even think through it that far. But yeah they said they defeated the dazzlings last chapter so I'm guessing they aren't with this timeline's xcom equivalent... whatever it may be.
Agreed, btw... gonna need a chart and possibly a hologram to walk us through this
8928434
Regrettably motive matters less than outcome. Odds are true motive, based on angry tone and the desire to get others to agree, is frustration with pacing. This reader clearly wants to reach some specific point and the story isn't going to that point quickly enough... despite updating almost daily. Response: take a couple weeks off reading, and come back and quietly skip whatever. Everyone wins.
8928437
You're welcome!
8928453
dude xcom actually exists, look up the Cuban missile crisis.
So my guess is the Equestria Girls timeline is the same one where X Comm actually won the war, as X Comm 2 technically is an alternate timeline. Very interesting stuff!
(Now mind you I have no idea how the hell this mindswap happened but still interesting!)
T
So she did mind jump. But oh boy, she contacted the army and if X-COM does exist and Human Sunset is part of it, it's gonna bring a load of problem.
Also poor prime time Sunset, she literally been thrown to hell and X-COM is now missing the mind of one of its best soldier.
Something tells me that Human Sunset has an idea on what's going on... Or maybe I'm wrong...
I wonder if this incident will give Twilight the inspiration to design the portal machine for the mirror back in Equestria.
I had a feeling something was gonna happen THIS is not one of them.....
Yes!
Wait, Celestia didn't have anything to do with it this time? Aww...
having milkshakes at
theSugarcube Corner1. Extra The.
So... Can we blame Nintendo for the Switch here?
8928245
The Element of magic and the mirror portal are not playing very nice.
Poor Angel.
8928534
The first Fraxis XCOM was also alt universe, the Micropose/Hasbro universe is the original timeline.
If declassified is also alternative universe then there are 4 cannon timelines.
8928399
I didn't even think about that. Yeah, there WOULD be a second (or third in a way) Sunset Shimmer.
I wonder if we'll get some better confirmation on why Chryssy listens to music she hates during planning.
Either way, unlike some people I'm looking forward to this.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh. So that's how deep you can fist Causality! Good to know.
8928343
I was thinking maybe Full Metal Pony