Twiset Shimarkle

by 20thCentury Brony

Sparkles

Scene Nine: Welcome to Canterlot

Sunset only felt like opening her eyes once again when she felt the swirling magic finally settling. And she, too, could see that the first test was a complete success. The Equestria Girls were in Equestria!

The seven of them were transformed into ponies. And six of them seemed pretty excited to be that way again. Rainbow, ever the adrenaline pony, immediately shot herself to the sky, whooping at her highest voice, Rarity dazzled at her mane and tail, Pinkie was... Pinkie about being a pony, just being plain happy, Fluttershy had strongly mixed feelings being scared of her form while smiling of her still intact and healthy, Applejack was only struggling for a few moments until she got used to her pony legs, and Twilight was reacting more calmly than the first time she visited Equestria as she levitated a few rocks to get accustomed to her Unicorn magic. Sunset was just cool about it all. Why not? She was born a unicorn. But with Twilight’s news, she was anything but happy.

Then, looking around, she noticed a difference from a nearby pond: she looked to be in a mid-40’s mare wearing a black leather jacket with a satchel and the others looked just like sixteen years younger. Underneath her eyes were bags and her mane was messed up. She then simply concluded that it was due to her being early-20’s when she first crossed over and the rest were teenagers when they met.

Twilight trotted over to Sunset, who levitated the box back into her satchel. “And you girls were worried.” Twilight gloated, a cocky smirk growing before turning to her quizzically. “So, where exactly in Equestria are we?”

Her question was answered when BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, shattered the peace, causing the seven mares to look up to see fireworks going off high into the darkened night on the other side of the huge white wall behind them. The fireworks formed the face of an azure pony with a silvery moon mane and a purple wizard hat, reminding the girls-turned-mares of a certain boasting magician back home.

“Canterlot,” Sunset monotoned.

Surrounding herself, Applejack and Twilight in magic, Sunset levitated them to the top of the wall to get a view of the other side while Rainbow and Fluttershy followed with Pinkie and Rarity, respectively. All were in awe at what they saw.

Princess Twilight wasn’t fooling in her invitation. They found Canterlot engulfed in a crowd of ponies and creatures beyond Equestria. Dragons, griffons, hippogriffs, and changelings flew alongside the Pegasi, kirins displayed feats of magic next to Unicorns, and yaks and buffalos socialized and worked hard with the Earth Ponies. Everything within the city was alight with fun and laughter. The Equestria Girls were used to seeing everybo-, everypony having a Tartarus of a time. But the real crown jewel of the castle was the Canterlot Castle that outshined all. None of them had ever seen Canterlot and its beauty this up close before, since during their last visit, they only saw it from Ponyville. However, Sunset felt indifferent since this Day of Unity was the very first celebration that she had seen in pony ever since she left Equestria for the human world and was not expecting to talk to Princess Twilight over an emotional matter.

“So, this is Equestria over a decade later,” she spoke flatly, looking a little saddened.

“I must say that the castle is simply gorgeous!” Rarity squealed in delight, always having an eye for such majestic things.

“Touché, sugarcube,” Applejack agreed. Pinkie and RD laughed at AJ’s usage of “fancy words”, as the farmer would’ve called such words, causing the orange Earth Pony to give them questioning glances.

“And the location!” Pinkie bubbled. “Anybo-, ur I mean, anypony would kill for a view like this, given the size.”

“So what are we waiting around for?” Rainbow Dash inquired. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” And with a cheer from Pinkie, the athlete dashed over the wall, …

... only to be dragged back by the tail in magic.

“Hey!” Rainbow complained.

Sunset held onto Rainbow's tail even as the seven of them came down. Once the mares reached solid ground, Rainbow scowled at her leader.

“What’d you do that for?” Rainbow barked.

“We can just go through the gate this time,” Sunset informed with half-lid eyes. “No need for discretion.” She directed a hoof to the kingdom’s entrance where multiple creatures came pouring into, all eager for the Day of Unity.

“Oh,” Rainbow simply uttered before giving a blushing smile.

The seven mares then made for the entrance, cutting their way through the ever-extending line of guests. And, minus Sunset, they were all pretty excited. Trotting right next to them was another Earth mare. The closet to her, Applejack gave a quick side-glance before her eyes darted back to her in surprise, taking a concentrated look at her features. She was a light aquamarine gray mare with a dark indigo tail, a pair of baggy teal eyes, and mane with some moderate opal highlights and a cutie mark of a yellow star with music notes colored in the rainbow. Clicking the details together, a general idea clicked into her head.

“Countess Coloratura?” she absently exclaimed aloud. Not enough for everypony a mile away to hear, but enough for the titular pony to hear her own name. Turning to the voice’s direction, the former countess’ face lit up upon seeing her fillyhood country friend.

“AJ?!” the pop singer exclaimed before giving the country mare a big hug, a moment passing before she returned it. The rest of the Humane stopped to see the two mares interacting. Rarity, seeing this, was taken aback for a moment and feeling a tad green. Finally, Rara and Applejack let go. “It’s been years! How’s life as a Councilmare of Friendship and the farm? More importantly, how’s Rarity?” With her last question, Rara gave a sultry eye gaze. She broke out of it as she observed the orange mare carefully and found her rather… younger. She then turned to see the rest, unaware of her talking with very different ponies. While RD, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity were no trouble remembering, Sunset and Sci-Twi were. “Sidenote, did you all go to a cosmetic surgeon? You look like you haven’t aged at all since the coronation. Well, your bacon-haired friend and the pony with glasses I’ve never seen before. What are they, kids of the princess? I’m asking cause one of them is her with glasses.” That last question made both alleged mares to blush and the rest to giggle quietly.

“Listen, Coloratura,” AJ stated, holding back her own giggles, “We’re kinda late far a very important matter and we all should get going, but Ah promise ta explain later. Ah bet y’all find it funny when Ah tell.” She then trotted down the bridge, pushing Rarity, who slid on the ground effortless, straight for the gate. The rest followed, leaving Coloratura mystified at the recent events.

“Phew, that was close,” Fluttershy pipped as she trotted close to her rainbow-maned mare. “Now it should be smooth sailing here… for us to enjoy the festival and for you to talk to Princess Twilight.”

“Oh yeah, we’ll talk,” her fiery-maned friend murmured as she moved past several ponies and yaks and kirins before crossing the threshold guarded by a kirin and yak guard. “Right after I give her a piece of my mind!” That last part didn’t go unnoticed by the guards, who simply looked blankly at the unicorn’s stronghearted accusation as she trotted past them. Her friends looked at her surprised at her hotheaded approach as they trotted onward.

Once past the guards, the Humane 6 were in awe at what they found inside the castle. Their invite was in no deceptive. Canterlot was more alive than they could have imagined. Everywhere they looked, they found any creature either playing games, socializing, preparing to eating treats, or just any other way, having a heck of a good time. So much to do and not much to do together.

“So is everybo- er, everypony clear on the plan?” Twilight asked her friends.

“You mean other than enjoying this magnificent festival that my pony self must have had a fun time setting up? NOPE!” Pinkie rapidly cheered as she jumped high and dash off to do whatever Pinkie Pie could do, whooping and laughing all the way.

Fluttershy walked up to the rest with three maps in her wing before passing two to Rarijack and Sci-Twi. “Just in case we’re lost and know where to meet.” She advised before gushing excitedly on a location on the map. “I’ll be off exploring the tiny zoo with all of the adorable baby animals!” She giggled adorably as Rainbow soon followed after her.

“And after that, we can do something I’d like, won’t we?” she asked her animal-lover.

“Of course, Dashie.”

As Flutterdash made their way to their own thing, Rarity let out an excited sequel as she looked over her map. “Canterlot Carousel Fashion Show?! I can’t! Darlings, I’m sure you two’ll not mind me running off to it, will you?” Applejack and Twilight both shook their heads “no,” leaving Rarity to again sequel in delight as she ran to her Equine self’s boutique.

“Why aren’t Ah surprised?” Applejack sighed, giving off an amused deadpan expression. “And then there were two. What do ya like ta do, Twi?”

“I’m not sure exactly.” the bookworm simply answered as she analyzed her map up and down. “There’s a lotta things we can do in short time.”

“Then why don’t we just walk around and see what we like?”

“Sounds like a good start.”

And so the pair of them walked off on their own to enjoy the day…

… unaware they, along with the rest of the Rainbooms, were observed by a pink hippogriff, an orange dragon, a light-blue changeling, a brown yak, and a light-green Earth pony. And all of them were looking rather spooked.

“Uh, did we just see our professors some years younger?” Silverstream bewildered over.

“And why Headmare Twilight with glasses and no wings?” Yona asked.

“Maybe they were changelings,” Ocellus theorized.

“Or time travelers.” Sandbar chipped in.

“It’s the cider,” Smolder simply concluded as she tossed her mug of cider aside.

*

Trotting down through the streets of Canterlot, Sunset played it out in her head how she was going to talk to her crush. She was undoubtingly angry at getting such big news of being crowned ruler of Equestria sixteen years after their last conversation, but she wanted to play it calm and collected and civilized. She had to approach the ruler of Equestria with managed anger, slow and effective. She had to be-.

Her internal rehearsal was interrupted by the sudden interruption of another body in her path. She shook her head and blinked her eyes to refocus her senses. Once done so, she look ahead to see her obstruction. It was a grey feathered griffon leaning against a ledge and she was staring straight at her.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, miss.” she quickly apologized as she walked past him. Before leaving home, she read up on the griffon’s history and their mannerisms and mentally noted to avoid their nasty tempers. As the griffon continued to follow her, she braced herself for an outburst.

“It’s okay,” she surprisingly claimed. “Hype of the party is all. I’m Gabrielle.”

While taken aback by the griffon’s approach, Sunset quickly averted her attention from her back to the castle but stopped a few feet when she caught sight of Canterlot’s sculpture garden.

She remembered going down there often back when she was Celestia’s student. But it was never to admire the symbolism behind the statues; it was instead for any assignment the princess offered her. Now, years later, she was finally admiring the symbols of Equestria, such as love, music, victory, and friendship. But she did a double take when she caught a glimpse of a sculpture that featured no ponies at all. Instead, it featured one of three different species, all seemingly frozen in fear and rage.

“Uh, excuse me,” she asked Gabby next to her. “I’ve seen nearly every sculpture in that garden down there, except for the one with the three different creatures right there.” She then pointed a hoof to the aforementioned statue, Gabby following her. Once she saw what kind of statue she referred to, she giggled uncontrollably.

“You must be new to not know about the Day of Unity’s purpose,” the cheerful griffon openly thought. “You see, those three are Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow, and they all tried to divide Equestria through fear sixteen years ago until everypony and creature alike joined Princess Twilight and her friends to stop them. Then she placed them among the garden to represent disharmony for the children to learn about.”

Sunset’s eyes shot wide at the griffon’s explanation. Yet another thing the princess herself failed to tell her in the years apart.

“Well, I thank you for your explanation, sir,” she expressed her gratitude in a flatly sarcastic tone before she trotted away.

“Well, you’re welcome,” Gabby cheerily replied, not picking up the sarcasm.

Finally, after some more trotting, Sunset faced the castle right in front of her with just a large crowd of ponies and creatures in her way. It’d be a tight fit for her to get pass them, but Twilight dominated her mind and so made her way. Bracing herself, she advanced forward, squeezing herself through and pardoning herself as she bumped into multiple civilians just to make it to the castle. As she pushed through the crowd, she was caught by a trio hanging by Big Mac’s cider stand.

“...and so, Twilight should be expecting her anytime soon.” Starlight Glimmer finished stating before sipping her cider. The other two were her best friend Trixie Lulamoon and the Lord of Chaos himself, Discord. Meeting up with the two, Starlight thought of telling them about Twilight’s latest issue. The ex-cons were both intrigued and amused when Starlight brought up the “other side”, Discord soon losing interest when he heard of its lack of him.

“So Twilight is crushing over an ex-student of Celestia and wants her to come to Equestria where she hopes to confess her feelings, right?” Discord summarized in a bored tone.

“I’m sure that’s it,” Trixie simply stated. “And you had to gang it up out of her?”

“After all these years, I thought she’d be ready to share anything with us,” Starlight solemnly confirmed before giving off a small smile. “Still, it’ll be nice to see Sunset again.” As Starlight spoke, her friends’ eyes were locked on the aforementioned mare squeezing through the large gathering of creatures, exchanging glances and grins.

“Well, you’ll won't have to wait long.” Trixie assured the Headmare. Discord then gestured Starlight to turn around, just in time to see Sunset escape their field of vision.

“Where is she-?” Starlight wondered.

Before Starlight could finish, Discord spoke up.

“No time to discuss! On to the next scene!” SNAP!

Scene Ten: Awkward Reunion

Celestia and Luna had arrived midway through the day, later than they wanted due to dealing with an angry Ursa Major looking for her child in Silver Shoals. They were able deal with it, but they stayed to rebuild the town afterwards. Seventeen minutes later, they’d arrived at the castle’s balcony, greeting Twilight and Flurry with a group hug. The four princesses spent the time discussing their lives, drinking tea, eating cake, and catching up on current events, Twilight being the quietest. The Princess of Friendship wanted to tell Celestia and Luna about Sunset but was timid to ask without thinking it through. True, Celestia and Sunset buried the hatchet long ago, but that is a romantic situation. Luna would probably understand, but she wouldn’t be help since she was still banished back then. As much she wanted to, Flurry was told to keep quiet about the whole thing, so all the Crystal Princess could do was wait in anticipation for Twilight to confess. Something that looked to take forever. However, the former rulers weren’t in the dark for long, as Luna asked a very awkward question.

“So, Twilight,” Luna began, clearing her throat, “How is your love life going?”

That question was a walking definition of awkward, so awkward that it caused Twilight to nearly choke on her tea and Flurry to spit hers out and back to her cup. Regaining composure, Twilight was shocked to hear such a question from Luna of all ponies. More shocked to see Celestia and Flurry laugh.

When her laughter died out, Flurry looked at Twilight with an eager look. “Well, Auntie Twily,” she acted mischievously as if she knew nothing, “have you made any strides?”

“What…I don’t…Where did…You…” Twilight was so off-guard she couldn’t complete a sentence. Celestia had never seen her best student act in such a way over a question over her love life, and she never had since romance wasn’t any of Twilight’s concerns back then. Still, she’d taken an interest in Luna’s question.

“Is that anything you’d like to tell us, Twilight?” Celestia asked putting a hoof under her chin. Twilight didn’t know what to say. Her former mentors knew her blues as well, and they’ve only been here in less than a half hour. She looked around the table to find all eyes on her, piercing her where she stood. There was nothing she could do to trot her rump out of this mess. Out of options, Twilight finally found her voice.

“Well, no progress in that area,” Twilight began, her voice trailing off. “But, you see, Sunset Shimmer- “

Twilight was unable to finish her sentence because Celestia suddenly shot out of her seat and joyously pranced around, squealing like a schoolfilly who just got the colt she wanted, much to everypony else surprise. For the record, they all saw her act that way before, but this was a matter of crushes. After a couple of seconds, the oldest princess stopped and cleared her throat, returning to her seat.

“My apologies, Twilight,” she breathed, “but I was just happy for you finally going for her.” The three other princesses shot up with looks of shock, Twilight the most.

“What…I don’t…Where did…You…” Twilight once again stammered, off-guard at Celestia’s accuracy at her situation. She stopped abruptly, breathed in and out and regain composure. “I didn’t exactly go for her,” Twilight clarified, “all I did was invite her and company today, no more after that.”

“Oh, come on! Truly, you can do more than just invite- “

“With the intention of telling her how I really feel, and if she feels the same way, then we’ll make it work and we can get on with our lives; if she doesn’t, I‘ll try to live with the heartbreak and we’ll just go about our lives.” Twilight finished that sentence with some tears from just thinking of Sunset’s rejection. Twilight was certain she loved her, but nothing else could support it. Quickly seeing the others’ faces, she dried up the tears and spat out: “Nonetheless, it’ll feel good to get all this emotional weight off my wings.”

“I see,” Celestia spoke evenly. Getting out of her seat once again, she trotted to the door, causing Twilight to worry if she peeved her off. Before reaching the door, Celestia turned her head, looked at Twilight, and gestured the ruler to follow her. Sparkle looked around to see if she was referring to Luna or Flurry, but both of them gave knowing and gestured her to go with Celestia. Uneasy but not outwardly scared, she joined her mentor made for them and were soon behind closed doors.

Standing before the other, both princesses stared in the eyes. Their relationship was always healthy, both parties being open, honest, and loyal. Celestia always gave Twilight meaningful lessons when necessary and Twilight often returned the favor. But those days have long pass, and now they were both on equal footing and discussing Twilight’s love life.

The former ruler finally broke the uncomfortable silence.

“How long have you been carrying this torch?” Celestia asked straightforwardly.

“Like, when I first met her or-?” Twilight asked.

Celestia gave a furrowed look.

Twilight sighed. “Ever since the Siren incident. We’ve going back and forth like you and me, but…she…we soon got a lot more personal with each other. I told her about my family, my achievements, how much I wish she were here. Then she told me more about her life in Equestria, like how she went behind your back, what happened to her family, how much she loved me for saving her from herself. But I never told her how much I really care about her.”

“Because you thought it better to tell her in pony?”

“In a sense, yes. But now I know I was caught in ruling Equestria that I…might have…lost her.”

“Why think something of that, Twilight?”

“Well, remember Flash Sentry?”

“The guitarist who asked you to that Fall dance, and you once had a thing for?”

Twilight blush lightly and bit her lip. “Well, I didn’t mention his history with Sunset.”

Celestia gave an understanding look. “So you think…”

“Yeah,” Twilight simply answered. “I mean, I don’t want to make things weird. I just thought if I tell her how I really feel, and it turns out she’s Mrs. Sentry…”

Twilight turned from her mentor, hoping to fight back her emotions. The Princess of Day only placed a hood on Twilight’s back. That, to Sparkle, meant she was gonna get another reassuring speech.

“Twilight,” Celestia started off with, “I may not have been much for love- “

“What?” Twilight interjected. “What about you and Sombra from the reflection world?”

Celestia let down her head. Twilight saw just how much that incident had still crushed her former mentor and tried to apologize before Celestia spoke up: “That…was long ago.” After a few seconds, she continued on. “Anyway, be open to Sunset the whole time. She deserves that much. You love her that much to not tell her a single lie to her, right?”

“I’d give my life for her,” Twilight admitted. Celestia gave Twilight a look hearing the answer, taking in the lengths her ex-student’d take for a crush. It wasn’t missed by Twilight, who looked down. “Right, excessive.”

“Bottomline, speak from your heart.” Celestia finished, brushing off the brief silence.

And with that, Twilight looked up to her mentor’s face and gave her a smile before going in for a hug, who happily returned it.

“Thank you, Celestia,” Twilight whispered.

“I’m always here for you, Twilight. I’m always here.”

After a moment of more hug, the two rulers returned to the room, where everyone else was waiting for them.

“So, how’d it go?”

Closing the door in magic, Twilight and Celestia were welcomed by Luna beaming with curiosity. Exchanging looks, the older mare answered.

“Well,” Celestia trailed, “I told Twilight to be open with Sunset when she gets here.”

“Ohhh, how open?” Flurry inquired sultry.

“Flurry.” trailed Twilight embarrassed before stating, “The point is that I’m speaking from my heart.”

Suddenly, the doors behind them swung open.

“I’ve got a bone to pick with you, Your Highness! How could you not tell me that you became Equestria’s newest ruler sixteen years ago!? Aren’t I your friend, for Celestia’s sake?!” a voice vehemently and near incoherently declared as it trotted in the room.

The princesses and captains all jumped at the noise, and they all turned to face the door to a yellow-coated and fiery-mane mare wearing a black leather jacket and with a satchel angrily trot towards them. Without a second thought, Tempest and Gallus charged her broken horn and raised his fisted claws, respectively. Before they could get further, Twilight and Flurry both eased their captains before facing the yellow Unicorn. A smile instantly overtook the Princess of Friendship’s lower face as the mare trotted closer, a similar feature creeping onto Celestia’s own.

“Sunset Shimmer!” She exclaimed joyously and ran past the others towards her crush.

Ever quick on the draw, Twilight scooped her up like a filly, twirled and gave her crush the biggest hug she could possibly manage. Sunset returned the hug reluctantly. She would’ve managed “hi” by now if Twilight was practically squeezing the life out of her. Letting out some coughs, she struggled to speak before Twilight, taking notice, let her go.

Taking in several deep breaths, Sunset looked up at Twilight. Jaw agape, she was taking in her first full view of her crush as the ruler of Equestria. In her eyes, she was majestic, stunning, truly the brightest star in her universe. Astronomy was her favorite part of science, and she thought of all the ways to describe Twilight now. Her mane and tail wavered and gleamed like comet tails, her cutie mark shimmered as the brightest stars in the night sky, and her eyes…her beautiful, sparkling, violet eyes; Sunset would feel herself floating within them.

Twilight, too, was lost in her fantasies. Looking down on Sunset, the princess was fawning over her multiple features as a Unicorn. Age made no difference to her. Her cutie mark glowed with the majestic beauty of a sun, her mane and hair shimmered with lovely grace, and the teal eyes filling her sockets were to her like the sky at high noon.

The two mares were lost in each other’s eyes…

…until Flurry broke the moment up.

“Hhhheeelllllllooooooo!” Flurry Heart announced, waving a hoof between the mares, breaking the silence between them. They turned to Flurry. “Sorry to break the moment, but aren’t we to get a proper introduction?”

“Right,” Twilight agreed as she composed herself out of her daydreaming thoughts. “Sunset, my niece Flurry Heart. Flurry, my friend Sunset Shimmer.”

“Your Highness.” the teacher stated bowing.

“Miss Shimmer.” Flurry returned.

Twilight giggled to herself hearing that. The Two Sisters walked up to Sunset and the latter embraced the two in a hug.

“It’s a pleasure to meet again, Sunset Shimmer,” Luna proclaimed as they pulled away.

“We’re so glad that you and your friends could come for today.” Celestia added.

“Thank you two.” Sunset approved.

But as much as she wanted things to be crystal, she quickly remembered why she came home, not just for the party. Still, she had to play it cool.

*

Sunlight was, again, lost in their eyes.

After the pleasantries, Celestia invited Sunset to join for tea and cake, to which she pleasantly accepted (thought she was “shocked” to find Celestia “just like us”). During these quiet times, Both Twilight and Sunset shared with each other the happily ever afters of their friends. Twilight shared how she feared of losing her best friends, so she established the Council of Friendship, meeting once a moon. In between them, Applejack took over Sweet Apple Acres and married Rarity as she ran Carousel Boutiques Across Equestria, Pinkie’s still in the party business and married Cheese Sandwich and had a son, Fluttershy continues to run her animal sanctuary and wedded Discord (much to Sunset’s surprise since she only heard about his misdeeds), Rainbow had moved to be a Wonderbolt captain/trainer and married one named Blurrin’ Pride, Spike’s still Twilight’s Royal Advisor and was dating Gabby the Griffon, and Starlight’s still running the School of Friendship. Once she processed all of that information, Sunset then shared her own friends’ futures, from AJ and Rarity’s and RD and Flutters’ functioning relationships, Pinkie and Sci-Twi’s marriages with Cheese and Timber Spruce respectively, and Spike’s extended life due to Equestrian magic, which Sci-Twi used to apply to everyday life in Canterlot City.

Throughout the whole time, Celestia, Luna, and Flurry were simply conversing and watching as the two mares continually make eye contact side-by-side without one side noticing, no talk. Whenever they noticed, they’d simply turn their attention away from the other. From the peanut gallery, the princesses kept all comments about the cuteness between the two former students private.

Eventually, the two became entranced into each other, staring across from one another and straight into each other’s eyes, Twilight practically all drooling over her food. Sunset wished that she could think the same, but she still had weight to throw out, thought she was rather swimming in Twilight’s eyes at the moment.

She finally spoke.

“So… how’s life in Equestria for you, Twi?”

Twilight broke out of her daydreams to answer.

“Oh, well, uh,” Twilight began, only stop and think of what to tell, “along with becoming Equestria’s ruler, I even took control of Celestia’s School.” She then turned to Celestia to back her up, who replied with a “keep going” hoof gesture.

Both mares, blushes darkening, looked at the three princesses and took hint of them solely bring the peanut gallery solely. An awkward moment passed before Twilight continued.

“Well, uh, I…uh, have a prized pupil named Luster Dawn who’s like us.”

Sunset gave off a knowing look. “Like us?”

“Uh, yeah, you see, Luster’s hard-working, responsible, and isn’t much for friendship, so I’m deciding…”

“To teach her the values of friendship by taking her to Ponyville and showing her how much better you are with them?” the latter finished expertly, causing the former to giggle.

“Well, uh, as Applejack would say: ‘The apple don’t fall far from the tree.’ Ain’t that right?” Twilight quoted with a Southern drawl between giggles.

The two mares shared a laugh with the princesses just giving silent giggles. Celestia was slightly tearing seeing her “little filly” growing up, Luna gave a small nod at the progress being made between the fillies, clearly proud of the mares, and Flurry was clearly Princess Candance’s daughter as she was beaming with joy at seeing her aunt with a match.

The princess continued after the giggles died down: “But uh, was there something you wanted to tell me when you came in?”

“What do you mean?” the teacher blankly asked, not knowing the trajectory.

“I mean, you sounded rather…” Twilight stopped, trying to think of a proper way to finish before producing something, “…like you wanted to rip me a new one.”

Sunset gave off a furious blush, now knowing what Twilight was asking. She quickly pursed her lips and, seeing Twilight’s face, the rogue student didn’t think of what to say. She looked back at Twi as she slightly wilted, thinking Celestia’s first student was mad with her. Celestia-dang you, Sunset, she cursed herself. What was the matter with her? Where has her common sense gone? Why was she suddenly losing herself at this? Recollecting herself, she breathed in and calmly responded: “I’m sorry, Twilight. I was… mad at you for a moment.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Sunset,” the princess apologized, rubbing her foreleg with some shame.

Looking around the table, Sunset saw all three princess’ eyes on the two. She was cursing them for just watching her soap opera. When locking with Luna, something lit up. Speak from your heart, let everybody know how you feel, and be true to both yourself and everyone. Remembering Principal Luna, the teacher choked her fears, looked at her crush dead in the eyes with confidence, and found her words.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria,” she began with formality, “I came here not just to visit for the party, but also to come clean with something. If I was mad for that one moment, it was because I was angry that you didn’t tell me of your ascension to the throne. But right now, I am here to tell you that I-.”

Her words were interrupted not just by Twilight’s sparkling and shining eyes as she heeded the gravity of her visitor’s words, but also by her blinking horn. After wiping the water out of her eyes, Twilight then noticed her own horn blinking and looked in confusion before facing Sunset again.

“Uh, Sunset,” she asked wearily. “Did you and your friends all go through the Crystal Mirror together or did you just go first before the rest?”

“No, we had another means of getting here.” Explained the worried teacher before looking back the princess’ worried expression. “Why?”

Meanwhile in the Human World

Outside Canterlot High School, Grogar stands before the Wondercolt statue, a look of sinister glee upon his face. He hasn’t stirred an inch towards or away, clearly waiting. Suddenly, his Bell vibrated. Grasping it, he’d answered.

“Hello.” He simply responded.

“We’ve collected all of Tartarus and we’re in position.” Adagio reported within it.

“Excellent. Come forth when you see the smoke.”

“Yes, sir.”

Staring at the portal to home, Grogar sadistically uttered: “At long last. Today, Equestria falls.” And with no hesitation, he slowly advanced forward to the portal.

Scene Eleven: It Begins

Ride like the wind, Sunset, the older mare thought as she rushed through the castle halls to catch up with Twilight.

After explaining to the princess how she and her friends got to Equestria, Twilight rushed out of the throne room and was practically sprinting at Rainbow Dash speed to the library where she had Gallus set up the Crystal Mirror. Sunset was trying her dangest to keep up, the princess not far behind the pair. While away for many years, Shimmer was familiar with the castle halls, feeling nostalgia rushing through every inch of her body at the memories. Finally, the five mares have reached the castle library…

… just in time to see the Crystal Mirror opening.

The ex-students stood in wonder of what’s coming, joined shortly by the other princesses. Sunset thought to herself that if a human were to stumble upon a world of ponies, that’d be another problem.

And she was right. Only it wasn’t just an ordinary human, not even pony at all, but a silvery-white maned and cornflower-blue furred ram with a crude bell on his harness.

All hearts presented stopped, bloods turned ice, and faces were horrified.

Celestia and Luna had only heard tales of his conquest and defeat, but they’d never thought to see the very creature himself alive. Flurry only thought of him as a campfire story from what her father Shining Armor told her about him and seeing him coat and blood was but a nightmare turning true. While Twilight only heard of his defeat and Discord’s usage of him, she’d thought him a villain long dead. Sunset’s fears were amplified to a point of having a heart attack upon seeing him personally. They all wished it to just be a dream, but it was all too real.

They were face-to-face with the Father of Monsters himself, the First Scourge of Equestria, the Ram of Nightmares: Grogar.

“Equestria’s first emperor has returned.” spoke the First Scourge.

And with that, he unleashed a shockwave from the bell that shattered the Crystal Mirror and engulfed the mares.