//------------------------------// // Mass Transit Gloria Mundi, by FoME // Story: Group Precipitation // by FanOfMostEverything //------------------------------// Sunset had learned a lot over the years since the Saturation, but she'd never quite figured out how to keep people from holding her up on a pedestal. The various sects and interpretations had calcified, a generation had been born into a new world and taught that the nice woman with the ketchup-and-mustard hair was a goddess, and all the powers of Harmony couldn't overcome sheer cultural momentum. At least, not in a way that would let Sunset live with herself afterwards. Twilight and the others helped with both the frustration and keeping Sunset grounded. If Sunset was honest with herself, even the frustration itself helped, reminding her of the disharmonious emotions that anchored her to humanity. Her very nature made such things slippery, and without them, she could all too easily slip towards the same distant dissipation as the Tree. Sunset felt very grounded at the moment, rubbing her temples and wincing at the potential wordplay. "Have I displeased you, o Brilliant One?" asked Flying Buttress, an all-too-earnest earth-aspected architect. Sunset took a deep breath. "Part of it is just nostalgia, Mr. Buttress." Seeing nothing but a cleared foundation where Canterlot High once stood did leave an ache in her heart, but it was nothing compared to the building migraine. "However—" Buttress dropped to his knees. "Speak, and I will correct the mortal flaws imposed upon your vision." She knelt, took his hand, and dragged him to his feet. Once Buttress was done marveling at his own palm, Sunset said, "Don't get me wrong, the blueprint looks amazing. It's just that this is supposed to be a transit hub." She patted the still-standing horse statue containing the portal. "It and its counterpart in Equestria are meant to make it easier for people to move from universe to another. Instead, you have designed a cathedral. It's a very nice cathedral, just not what I'd asked for." Flying Buttress looked back and forth between Sunset and the blueprint for the better part of a minute. Finally, he said, "So... you didn't mean facilitating a spiritual journey to approach your divine equinity?" Sunset took a deep breath and fought the urge to facepalm. "No. No I did not." She held up a hand before he could debase himself again. "You're forgiven; we all make mistakes, and yes, that does include me. And a lot of the design elements can stay; I had something like Pone Station in mind anyway. I just don't want the first thing my mentor sees when she visits this world to be a twenty-foot-high brass statue of me. That doesn't exactly scream that I've gotten over my megalomaniacal phase." Buttress considered this for a moment. "If I may speak freely, Highest of the High?" Sunset nodded, wondering who kept coming up with all of those honorifics. "You are the undisputed mistress of the universe." "Yes, but that doesn't mean I have to flaunt it."