Twilight's eyes slowly began to open as the sunlight from the rising sun shown through the window of the room that she was currently sleeping in. Twilight having fallen asleep for the second straight night in the loving embrace of her colt friend Zulu. Her becoming more assumed to having his strong arms around her body. Twilight eagerly awaiting when they go back home and what it would be like in his loving embrace of his holed hooves.
Twilight let a yawn past by her lips as she began to shake off the remains of her sleep. Twilight's purple eyes falling on the white fur of Theta. Most of Theta's fur having returned to its original snow-white coloration with only a few patches near where the cone that still wrapped around his neck. The white husky was sleeping peacefully on a makeshift bed of blankets. The dog looking to be having a pleasant dream as Twilight could see what looked like a happy smile on Theta's muzzle as he continued to sleep peacefully. A sight that brought a warm smile to Twilight's face. Spike having fallen asleep at the base of the bed. Spike having told Twilight She then shifted her head upward to see the still sleeping body of Zulu wrapping his strong arms around her body.
"Zulu... Zulu... it's time to wake up." Twilight whispered to her colt friend in a manner to wake him up.
"Five more minutes." Zulu mumbled still half-asleep his grip around Twilight's waist tightening. Twilight could tell that Zulu was just playing with her and she was willing to play along with him. Man, how she had changed since she met Zulu.
"Come on, it's time to wake up. We a lot of things to do today if we have a chance to returning to Equestria before the portal closes." Twilight said as she moved one of her arms out of Zulu's embrace and placed her opened hand on Zulu's cheek. The cheek being warm as the rising sun continued to shine on it.
The soft touch of Twilight's hand on his cheek making Zulu slowly begin to open his eyes. "Fine, I'll get up.
"Did you sleep well?" Twilight asked as sat up on the bed. Twilight leaning up against Zulu's chest.
"Yeah, I'd say so." Zulu said with a yawn as he stretched his arms. "What about you?" Zulu asked as he cupped his right hand under Twilight's cheek and moved in for an early morning kiss.
"It was perfect." Twilight said as the couple interchanged short kisses on each other lips. Their kissing coming to a quick end when there was a knock on the door of the room that Zulu and Twilight shared. The knocking waking Spike from his slumber while Theta just continued to sleep on.
"Twilight, I'll be leaving for school in the next few minutes. Are you up and ready to go?" The voice of Fluttershy asked from behind the door.
"Almost, I'll be out in a few minutes." Twilight said to Fluttershy.
"Ok, I'll be in the living room when you're done." Fluttershy said from behind the door. Her words being quickly followed by the sounds of her walking away.
"I guess that's our cue." Zulu said as he walked over to the closet of the room and took his leather jacket off from a metal hanger and put it on. "How do I look?" Zulu asked Twilight after he put his jacket on.
"Sexy." Twilight while biting her lower lip. Spike only rolling his eyes at Twilight's words. "I'm fine with this. I'm fine with this." Spike repeated in his head as he walked over to the closed door and sat impatiently in front of it.
Twilight noticing Spike's movements and covering her mouth to suppress a small giggle. "Calm down Spike,
"Then do it." Spike said a little bit more bluntly than he had intended. Twilight, nor Zulu, didn't take any offence from the purple dog's words. Twilight walking over to where Theta was sleeping and kneeling down to his eye level.
"Theta, it's time to wake up." Twilight whispered to the sleeping husky. The white dog's green eyes slowly opening and a yawn coming out his mouth. Theta slowly stood to his full height, a blanket that lay on top of him when he slept falling off his body. Theta then doing his early morning stretches with the joints in his hind legs popping in and out of place as he stretched them.
"What time is it?" Theta asked as he moved his head back and forth in a manner to pop it.
"Just past 6:30." Zulu said looking at a watch that was on his right wrist.
"Alright, let's get this over with." Theta said as he walked over toward the closed door and took a seat next to spike.
"Alright, let's go." Zulu said as he opened the door to his room. Spike quickly walking out of the room and up the stairs that lead to the living room that was on the mane floor of Fluttershy's house.
"Princesses of Equestria first." Zulu said as he held the door open for Twilight.
"Such a great gentle colt helping the needing Princess." Twilight said to Zulu her eyes filled with love.
"I guess that would make me your knight in Shining Armor, princess." Zulu said sarcastically as he continued to hold the door open for his marefriend.
"No, that's my brother." Twilight said playing along with Zulu previous state with a small laugh. Twilight's purple eyes filled with love and happiness as she stared directly into the green eyes of Zulu. Twilight seeing them as the prettiest eyes that she had ever seen. "You are more the huntsman that was originally sent to kill that but only ends up falling for her."
A small laugh came from Zulu as moved in for another kiss. "I don't think that's how that story goes." Zulu said as he embraced Twilight in a small hug, the two of them staring directly into each other's eyes.
"I don't care. I'll be your Princess as long you stay my huntsman." Twilight said as the couple's lips were only a few inches from each other.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Zulu said as he and Twilight's lips interlocked. A muffled moan coming the two as they made out.
"I guess that would make me your noble steed or something." Theta said sarcastically as he walked past them and out the door. A shiver going up his body as his padded paws made contact with the cold tile floor.
"Don't be like that Theta, I'm sure that you will find a mare some day." Zulu called out to Theta as the white husky walked out the door and Theta's movements stopped. Theta snapping his body back around to face Twilight and Zulu and he went off at them. Theta knew that Zulu was just trying to cheer him up with some early morning humor, but Theta wasn't in the mood. He wanted to go home and Twilight and Zulu's random make out wasn't going to keep him from returning to a form that didn't break so easily.
"That's not why I'm angry!" Theta shouted back at the two humans. Twilight and Zulu's eyes both widening at the husky's outburst. The white dog's eyes flashing red as stared the two of them down.
"Theta, are you alright?" Twilight cautiously asked the enraged husky.
"No Twi, I'm not!" Theta continued to shout. He didn't care anyone else heard him. This was the last day that the portal would open and he needed to remind Twilight and Zulu of it.
"Theta, what's wrong? Why are you so mad?" Twilight cautiously asked Theta.
"Because I want to go home Twilight! You know back to the Empire, where I'm a bucking dragon! Not one these useless bodies that this world has made me become!" Theta shouted back at Twilight. Theta's shouting catching the attention of Fluttershy, who was waiting for Twilight and Zulu in the living room of her house.
"Twilight, is everything alright down there?" Fluttershy asked Twilight from the living room of her house.
"Yeah, everything alright. We'll be up in a second."
"Ok, I'll be waiting for guys." Fluttershy said back to Twilight. Fluttershy returning to whatever she was doing on the floor above. Once Twilight was sure that this world's Fluttershy had lost interest she returned her attention back to Theta.
"Theta, you need to calm down. You're going to blow our cover." Twilight scolded the white husky. Twilight's words only fueling Theta's increasing anger. He wasn't her pet he was royalty just as much as the rest of them, and he deserved to be treated as such.
"No Twilight, I don't." Theta said as he continued to stare the purple-skinned human down. "In fact, I'm sick and tired of wearing this stupid thing." Theta said as he sat on his rump as began to try and remove the cone from his head.
"Theta, what are you doing?" Twilight asked Theta with concern in her voice.
"I'm getting this damn thing off." Theta said back to Twilight as he struggled to reach behind his neck and detach the cone. He remembered how the vet put it on and he would just need to find the part of the cone that held it together.
"Theta, I understand that you are angry but this is no excuse for doing anything drastic.
"No Twilight, I am perfectly fine. Or, at least, I would be if I was back home." Theta said back to Twilight as the claws on his hind legs made contact with part of the cone that held it together. Now he just needed to find out how to... snap.
"About damn time!" Theta exclaimed a sigh of relief as he released the straps that held his cone together. The plastic cone breaking into two pieces and falling to the tile floor with a small crash. "Ugh! That's so much better." Theta said as he was finally able to see what was to the direct left and right of him. Him moving his head back and forth in a motion similar to someone shaking their head no.
"Theta, what are you doing?" Twilight asked Theta beginning to become irritated at the white husky's actions.
"I'm proving a point Twilight." Theta snapped back at Twilight. The love that she has for Zulu leaving her and being replaced by anger being directed straight at Theta.
"And what point would that be?" Twilight spat back at Theta. Zulu putting his forearm in front of Twilight. Zulu having to physically distance his marefriend from Theta.
"Twilight, calm down." Zulu whispered to Twilight.
"I am calm." Twilight angrily spat at Zulu while sending a death glare his way, inadvertently directing the anger that she had for Theta at her beloved. "Theta, on the other... hand. I'm not so sure." Twilight spat at Theta. Theta snorting back in disgust and anger. But his anger seemed to leave him quickly. Theta needed to remind Twilight and Zulu of their true mission and he was going to be able of doing that by yelling at them.
"I am calm Twilight. I'm just frustrated." Theta said to both Zulu and Twilight. His words more calm and collected than they had been before.
"Why's that?" Zulu asked Theta taking the initiative of the conservation while putting a calming hand on Twilight's shoulder.
"Why haven't you guys told Fluttershy, or any other your 'friends' for that matter, why you really want to take down Sunset?" Theta asked both Zulu and Twilight while more directly his question in the direction of Twilight.
"Well... I didn't even think if it was necessary. If we beat Sunset without any problems then why should we bother with telling them that we are from a world of magical flying horses." Twilight said to Theta, the dragon turned husky's scowl only increasing at Twilight's words. Was he truly the only one that was taking this 'mission' seriously.
"What did plan on doing if you failed and Sunset got your Element of Harmony and used its power for her own twisted means. What then, Twilight?" Twilight spat back at Twilight. His question leaving Twilight absolutely speechless.
"Um..." Twilight tried to come up with an answer but couldn't find one.
"That's what I thought, you have to tell them. You can't risk everything going to shit if you don't. Plus, them knowing what this is really about and what is at stakes if we fail should be able to give them some more motivation to take Sunset down." Theta said to Twilight in a calming voice. He might have been angry but he still needed to get Twilight on his side and that wasn't going to happen if he continued to yell at her. Theta seeming to work as Twilight's angry snarl began to warp into a regretful frown.
Twilight let out a sigh of defeat. Theta was right, all of her friends deserved to know her true reasons for wanting to take down Sunset Shimmer. Plus, like Theta said, if they knew what was truly at stake if they failed then just maybe it would that final push for all of them to take sunset down.
"You're right, Theta." Twilight said to the white husky.
"Twilight is everything alright down there. You're taking a long time." The voice of Fluttershy sounded from above.
"Well, now's your chance." Theta said to Twilight as he heard Fluttershy walking the stairs.
"What's been taking so long, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked as she walked down the stairs. "And why isn't Theta wearing his cone anymore?!" Fluttershy asked Twilight noticing that Theta wasn't wearing his protective cone around his head anymore, the alicorn turned human looked down at Theta. The white sending a look back at her that said 'if you don't tell her, then I will', a look that Twilight knew that Theta would go through with. Dragons were known to be very subtle creatures in the first place.
Twilight let out a sigh as she turned her head to look at Zulu. "She needs to know." Twilight whispered to Zulu while keeping her words loud enough for both Theta and Fluttershy to hear.
"I know." Twilight whispered back.
"I need to know what?" Fluttershy asked Twilight and Zulu.
"Fluttershy..." Twilight began to say before pausing, her trying to come up with the best way to tell Fluttershy that she was really a pony princess from an alternate dimension.
"Yes." Fluttershy urged Twilight to continue.
"You see..." Twilight said looking away from Fluttershy in shame. "I haven't been completely truthful with you." Twilight said to Fluttershy, the pink-haired girl's eyes shrinking at Twilight's words.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Fluttershy angrily asked Twilight as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"It's nothing like that." Twilight said waving her hands back and forth. "You see, I haven't told you the real reason that I'm here." Twilight said still trying to find the best way to tell Fluttershy without her flipping out or just thinking that she was insane.
"I thought both of your parents were out of town and just needed a place to stay." Fluttershy to Twilight and Zulu, mentioning the lie that Zulu and told to convince Fluttershy to crash at her place while they were in the human world.
Twilight and Zulu both shared a brief look before she responded. "That's not exactly true. You see, none of our parents are really on a business trip, and we weren't really locked out of our places without a place to stay." Twilight said to Fluttershy, the pink-haired rarely shown anger beginning to boil to the surface.
"What are you saying, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked Twilight, her words more forceful and filled with anger as she spoke them.
"For Alpha's sake!" Theta exclaimed not being able to put up with pony bullshit anymore. The sudden speaking by Theta taking Fluttershy by surprise, as would anyone from this world hearing a dog speak perfect English would be. "Twilight's a pony princess from an alternate dimension." Theta said to Fluttershy pointing his white paw at Twilight. Fluttershy remaining silent "Zulu is a creature that is called a changeling, a creature that literally feeds off the love the others." Theta said
Once Theta had finished there were a few moments of awkward silence before Fluttershy slowly turned her head to face Twilight and spoke to her. Fluttershy's voice being shaking and filled with shock. "Hum... Twilight why can your dog talk?"
"It's a long story." Twilight said with a small laugh. "A story that I was going to tell you." Twilight spat at Theta, the husky not taking her words happily.
"What? She deserved to know and you were taking forever." Theta said with a snug of his shoulders.
Twilight let out a sigh before she spoke to Fluttershy, her new friend still in a state of understandable shock. "Fluttershy, don't worry I'll explain everything. But it might be best with we group up with the rest of the girls beforehand." Twilight said to Fluttershy.
"Ok, but if I hear that dog talking about magical flying horses again, then I'm gonna scream." Fluttershy said in agreement to Twilight.
"Just wait until you learn what Spike and I really are then you'll be really freak out." Theta said to Fluttershy as they all walked upstairs and walked out of Fluttershy's house as if nothing had happened. Them all being quickly joined by Spike, him taking note of Fluttershy's jumping behavior. But he didn't question in further. Fluttershy driving them all to CHS. Fluttershy having more questions flying around her head than she could even count.
Back in the past of Canterlot, Sunset had just finished 'helping' Princess Cadence with her magic. Sunset quickly becoming to regret agreeing to help Cadence with her magic.
Sunset letting out a sigh of relief as she trotted back to her room. She was joined by Celestia again, her assuming that her mother was just making sure that she made it back to her room safely. Celestia making random small talk as the mother and daughter slowly trotted back to Sunset room on that far west wing of the castle. Sunset had asked her mother if she could move her room closer to Celestia but always gave her the excuse that it would either rise to much attention and risk blowing Sunset's cover as Celestia's heir the throne of Equestria.
"I'm happy that you agreed to help me with Cadence's magic lessons." Celestia said to Sunset with a warm smile on her face.
"Yeah, whatever you say, Princess." Sunset said disinterestedly, she having stopped paying attention to what her mother was saying about half way through trotting back to her room.
"Sunset, are you even listening to me?" Celestia asked Sunset, her tone of voice becoming more direct.
"I'm sorry, I guessed I'm just tired from all of the stuff that has happened today and just need a good night's rest." Sunset said to her mother as she let a yawn pass her lips. Celestia having lowered the sun and raised the moon part way through Cadence's magic lessons. The soft moonlight from a crescent moon shining through the stained glass windows of the castle. Sunset had never seen herself as a night pony, probably something she got from her mother, but she had to admit that the castle the night sky look absolutely beautiful. The image of the bright moon with the Mare in the Moon being a beacon to her in a blanket of darkness. Sunset not afraid to argue that it made the night look even more beautiful than the daytime.
"I understand." Celestia said to Sunset as the two turned down the hallway that led to where Sunset's room was. "Today has been a trial for us all and maybe it is for the best to just recharge with a good night's rest." Celestia said to Sunset, her believing that she was making some great progress in bringing her daughter back to the side and harmony.
"Yeah... maybe for the best." Sunset said in a slight defeatist tone. Sunset's words bring a saddened frown to Celestia's muzzle.
"Hey Sunset, are you alright?" Celestia asked her daughter, stepping in front of her and blocking her path.
Sunset let out a sigh, she was growing tired of her mother's antics (both literally and figuratively) and all she wanted was a good night's sleep. She understood her mother's concern but she really wasn't in the right mental state to deal with her mother's insecurities right now.
Sunset did a quick check to make sure that there was no pony else within earshot before she answered her mother's question. "I'm fine mom, trust me." Sunset answered at a whisper level, they might have still been along but you never know. "I'm just tired." Sunset said to Celestia with a small yawn, the amber filly's teal eyes beginning to droop as fatigue set in.
"Alright, just don't hesitate to tell me anything that bothers you. Your happiness is my top priority." Celestia to Sunset. The amber filly doing a double take at Celestia's words.
"Do you really mean that?" Sunset asked Celestia. Sunset hoping that her words didn't come off as insulting. She trusted her mother with her life, but what that voice had told her. She had to be sure, just in case.
Celestia let out an internal sigh as she looked down at her daughter. Sunset might have even realized it, but Celestia could see it. She could see in Sunset's eyes. The same thing that she saw in her little sister over a millennium earlier. A sight that she had first ignored and it only lead to pain. Pain not just for her, but also for her sister, and for the rest of Equestria. She didn't want this same thing to tear her family apart again, not this time.
What Celestia saw was doubt. Doubt in your love ones. Doubt that they wouldn't be there for you when you needed them the most. It was the same doubt that Celestia had seen in her little sister not long after the defeat of Discord. Doubt that if left unchecked and unaltered could leave to her little Sunset falling into the same darkness that she was trying to fight her from.
She needed to kill the doubt that was in Sunset eyes, heart, mind, and soul. And she knew the best, simplest, and easiest way to do it. She needed to show Sunset that she cared about her and that no matter what happens she would always be the number one in Celestia's world.
A small warm smile spread across Celestia's muzzle as she kneeled down to Sunset eye level and spoke to her in a soft whisper. "Yes, I really mean that." Celestia said down to Sunset, small tears beginning to form in the corners of her pink eyes.
"Most might just see me as a princess and you my student, but we are so much more than that." Celestia said peacefully to her daughter as she interlocked her hooves with her daughter's. Sunset reeled back at the contact but quickly relax once her eyes met with her mother's and all of her doubt that had, either she recognized it or not, faded away. Sunset saw the tears in her mother's eyes. Tears that she rarely saw her mother shed tears. Even with her seeing her mother come out of her mother come out of her shell has the seemingly perfect princess more and more lately. The sight was still difficult and strange to see.
Her mother had always been seen has an ideal that ponies strive to become. She was almost god-like in the eyes of my most ponies. But now, with interlocked hooves, with tearing eyes she was nothing like that. Celestia wasn't perfect, no pony was. Right now Celestia wasn't the incorruptible beacon of light that some many others saw her as. No, she was a scared mother that didn't want to stand by as she watched her only daughter fall into the darkness.
The sight in front of Sunset brought tears to her eyes. But Celestia wasn't done with her speech of both apology and gratitude.
"I know that you don't believe that I really care about you." Celestia said to Sunset, the amber filly shaking her shaking her head no in denial.
"I never said that I didn't believe you... I just... I just..." Sunset pleaded with her mother. Her mind was clouded with emotions and she couldn't think straight. She loved her mother, and she knew that she loved her.
"It's ok, it's ok. I understand." Celestia said to Sunset as she embraced her only daughter in a tight hug.
"But... but..." Sunset lightly protested.
"Shh... shh... Mommy's here, everything is going to be alright." Celestia smoothed her daughter as she ran her hoof through Sunset's fiery mane to calm her down.
"You promise?" Sunset asked her mommy in desperation.
A small smile spread across Celestia's face as she tightened her hug around Sunset and answered in a calm, soothing, and happy.
"Yes, as long as I'm here nothing bad will happen to you." Celestia said to Sunset.
"Thank you, mommy." Sunset said in gratitude, a small sniffle coming from her as she fought back tears. She knew that her mother cared for her, but she had never known the true extent of her love until now. Her mother's words of kind wisdom and love contradicted with everything that the voice had told her. Was all of this words genuine or was it just her mother's attempts to stop her from gaining all of the power that she craved. She needed answers and she knew exactly where to find them. She just needed to get back to her room and hope that the answers that she sought were still there.
"You're welcome, honey." Celestia said as she pulled out of the hug and used her white hoof to wipe away the small tears that had flowed down Sunset's cheeks before wiping her own away.
"There! All better." Celestia exclaimed as she rose to her full height again. Sunset letting out another yawn as her body and brain continued to fight for dominance. So far her body was winning.
"You also look like some pony that needs to get some shut eye." Celestia said down to her daughter as Sunset rubbed her eyes with her right hoof. Sunset nodding dumbly in agreement. Sunset's brain wanted to get more answers to her questions but her body was denying her the opportunity to do so.
"I can get my answers tomorrow." Sunset thought as she left out another yawn. "Ok, mommy." Sunset said as stood up to her full height and continued to flow her mother back to her room.
The trot back to Sunset's room was filled the same amount of silence as before. But, this time, it was different. The silence was the same, neither of them spoke, aside from some quiet humming by Celestia. The night sky as just as dark as before, but now it seemed welcoming. Sunset still saw the night sky as beautiful before, but now it was for a different reason. Before she loved the blanket of black that was the black sky and the image of the Mare in the Moon staring down at her. But now, it was different. Now she didn't focus on the dark, but the light. Not the blanket of darkness, but the shattered patterns of bright stars.
Sunset felt a warm smile spread across her face as she stared up at the stars. Sunset's body, either consciously or unconsciously, trotting closer to her mother and leaning up against her leg.
Sunset reluctantly pulled away from her mother's leg and trotted over to the door to her room. Sunset's small horn glowing dimly with her teal magic.
Sunset opened the door to her room with her magic and slowly trotted over to her bed and hopped onto the mattress. Sunset collapsing onto her comfy pillows in a splash of soft fabric.
"Do you want me to... tuck you in?" Celestia asked Sunset from the doorway. Celestia doing her best to sound like a real mother to Sunset. Sunset half-mildly shaking her head no.
"No, I'll be fine. But thank you anyway." Sunset said back to Celestia.
"Ok, well good night." Celestia said to Sunset in a peaceful tone that warmed Sunset's heart.
"Good night." Sunset said back with a yawn. Sunset laying her head down on her comfy pillow and beginning to drift off into the land of dreams. Sunset only to open her eyes when a thought came to her mind, a question that needed to be answered.
Celestia began to slowly close the door to Sunset's room, only to stop when her daughter called out to her.
"Mom, wait!" Sunset called out to Celestia, the white alicorn's movements coming to a stop.
"Yes, Sunset?" Celestia said to Sunset, turning to face her daughter. Sunset sitting up on her bed with her with her lower body still covered by the .
"Um..." Sunset looked away from her mother as she bit her lip. Did she really want to ask her mother this question? What if she got mad at her? Maybe she should just pretend like she just forgot and went back to sleep.
Sunset's thoughts were interrupted when she felt the light touch of a hoof on her shoulder. Sunset jumped at the sudden contact but quickly relax when she saw the pink eyes her same warm smile staring back at her. Sunset felt peace and she quickly made up her decision.
"What is it, my little Sunset?" Celestia asked a soft whisper that brought warm to Sunset's body. Sunset felt peace and she quickly made up her decision.
Sunset looked away from the gaze of her mother again and instead decided to look down at her forehooves. "Um..." Sunset stammered as she bit her lower lip again.
"Yes." Celestia urged her daughter to continue. Celestia sitting down at the each of Sunset's bed and placing her forehooves of the mattress.
Sunset let out a heavy sigh before she turned her head to stare directly into her mother's eyes and spoke. "Mom, can you tell me the story of Nightmare Moon?" Sunset asked her mother. Celestia's muscles tightening up and her eyes widening.
"I-I thought you knew the story of Nightmare Moon?" Celestia asked her daughter with a shaky voice.
"I do, but I want to know more." Sunset said to Celesta.
"What do you mean?" Celestia asked Sunset her body beginning to shift uncomfortably at the continued mentioning of her greatest failure.
"I want to know how she became Nightmare Moon. I want to know what happened to Princess Luna to drive her into the darkness." Sunset said to Celestia, her body might have been fighting her to fall asleep but if she was going to get one answer this night then this was going to be one.
"Are you sure, honey?" Celestia asked her daughter, internally hoping that she would not have to relive the memory of her greatest embarrassment.
"Mom, I want to know what happened to her. What happened to Princess Luna? What happened to my aunt?" Sunset pressed her mother, wanting an answer. Any kind of answer. Even if neither of them was going to like it.
Celestia let out a heavy sigh before she spoke to Sunset. "Ok, I'll tell you." Celestia said to Sunset, the amber filly's face lighting up at her mother's words. "But..." Celestia said with a stern look on her face and holding up her right hoof with authority. Sunset's happy movements coming to a stop and her staring intently at Celestia. "I must warn you the story is not one for the faint of heart." Celestia cautioned Sunset, the amber filly remained silent and simply nodded her head in understanding.
"It is also a story that I am not every proud of." Celestia said more to herself as she looked away from Sunset in shame.
"I understand, Mommy." Sunset said comfortingly to her mother as she gently touched her white hooves. Celestia's body slightly jumping at the sudden contract with her daughter's smaller hooves. "It's ok, you can tell me." Sunset said in a soft and reassuring voice to Celestia, urging her to tell secrets of the past.
"Ok, it all happened long ago. Long before you were born, long before anypony that is still today was born." Celestia began her story, she was speaking slowly and filled with somber. Sunset sat up on her bed as she listened intently. She made sure not to look too eager when listening. This was a painful memory that Celestia was sharing, a memory that Sunset wouldn't have been surprised to learn fi Celestia had never shared with anypony before.
Sunset sat and listened as Celestia told her story, a story that would change both Sunset's and Celestia's lives forever.
Back in the present of the mirror portal world. The car ride to the high school was a long and awkward one. Twilight, like usual, seating in the front passenger seat across from Fluttershy with Spike sitting in her lap. With Zulu and Theta both sitting in the back of the car. The car filled with continuous silence from all of the passengers. The only sounds coming from the car's radio that was currently on a radio station that seemed to specialize in pop songs. Pop songs that Theta wasn't very fond of.
Spike had gathered at Fluttershy knew that Theta was able to speak as the white husky had spoken once during the trip and Fluttershy didn't seem to be too shocked, relatively speaking, by a dog being to talk. He still didn't speak but was able to gather that Twilight was soon going to spell the secret of her true reasons of being in this world. Spike also found it odd that Theta was no longer wearing the cone that wrapped around his head, but again he didn't question it further. He was sure that there was a good reason as to why and he was sure that he would quickly come to learn the reason for it. So he didn't really see any benefits of asking.
The awkward car ride finally came to an end when Fluttershy pulled her car into the parking lot of the high school and they all climbed out of the vehicle. The awkward silence continued as Fluttershy started to walk away from her car and toward the high school.
"You have to go after her." Zulu whispered to Twilight as the two watched Fluttershy silently walk away.
"You're right." Twilight said to Zulu as she broke off from Zulu's side and started chasing after Fluttershy. Spike following after Twilight, leaving Zulu and Theta alone in the parking lot near Fluttershy's yellow four-door sedan.
"Fluttershy wait!" The voice of Twilight called out to Fluttershy as Zulu shifted his attention down to Theta. Zulu sending a disappointed frown the husky's way.
"You had to speak, didn't you." Zulu said to Theta disappointedly. Theta snorting in disgust at Zulu's words. Theta didn't see anything wrong with what he did.
"I'm not having this discussion with you, Zulu. Fluttershy deserved to know and you were both taking forever at telling her." Theta said up to Zulu, this being a time that Theta really wished that he was a dragon. While not having the cone wrapping around his head made him look not a weak. He was still nothing more than a dog and Zulu his master in this world.
"I know that, but you should've at least handled the situation more tacitly, or subtlety." Zulu countered down to Theta. The white husky letting out a small laugh at Zulu's words.
"Zulu, I don't know if you realize this but... um... Dragons. Aren't. Subtle!" Theta barked at Zulu as stormed off from the changeling turned human.
"Whatever you say, Theta." Zulu said to himself as he followed the white husky to regrouped with Twilight and the others.
At the same time, Twilight was trying to explain the situation to Fluttershy. "Fluttershy wait!" Twilight called out to her friend. Fluttershy's movements coming to a halt and her breathing out a heavy sigh.
"What is it, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked Twilight, turning around to face her friend directly.
"I wanted to explain everything to you." Twilight said to Fluttershy, the pink-haired girl not taking her words likely.
"Save it, Twilight. You lied to me and nothing you can say can change that." Fluttershy said to Twilight with a huff.
"I didn't lie to you Fluttershy..." Twilight said back to Fluttershy. "That was Zulu." Twilight mumbled underneath her breath. Her words weren't loud but they were loud enough for Fluttershy to hear. Twilight's words only building to Fluttershy's anger.
"And that makes it better!?" Fluttershy shouted at Twilight in frustration.
"No, no, of course not." Twilight said to Fluttershy quietly. Twilight knowing that she had to change strategies if she was going to be able to keep Fluttershy as a friend. "But aren't even a little curious as to why Theta can talk?" Twilight asked Fluttershy shifting tactics.
"Fine, humor me Twilight. Why can Theta talk?" Fluttershy asked Twilight angrily and without much interest. Twilight was hurt by her friend's words, but she wasn't surprised. She did lie to Fluttershy, and to the rest of her friends for that matter. She needed to make this right.
"Fluttershy..." Twilight began catching Fluttershy's attention. "What Theta said is true, all of it." Twilight said to Fluttershy, the pink-haired girl raising one of her eyebrows in disbelief.
"Really, you expect me to believe that you are a pony princess from an alternate dimension and that your two dogs are dragons from the same world?" Fluttershy asked Twilight sarcastically with a wave of her arms in an 'I'm done' matter.
"No, I guess not." Twilight gave a heavy sigh. "But what I am saying is the truth." Twilight said back to Fluttershy still trying to strong in front of her friend.
"Then prove it, Twilight." Fluttershy said to Twilight harshly. Twilight had rarely seen Fluttershy angry, even less than Pinkie Pie. She didn't know which one was scarier or heart wrenching to see, but they both hurt her to watch.
Twilight breathed out a heavy sigh as she looked down at Spike and started talking to the purple dog. "Ok, Spike do you're thing." Twilight said down to the purple dog, a smug look appearing on Spike's muzzle as he stared up at Twilight.
"What do you mean, Twilight?" Spike said up to Twilight, him speaking in front of someone other than Twilight, Zulu, or Theta for the first time.
"Ok, so you have two dogs that can talk, so what?" Fluttershy said to Twilight crossing her arms.
"Fluttershy, I would like to explain everything to you, but I just can't." Twilight said to Fluttershy.
"Why not, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked Twilight.
"Because you are not the only one that I have to explain myself to." Twilight said to Fluttershy, looking past her and seeing the rest of her friends sitting on the front lawn waiting for them.
Fluttershy turned her head around to see what Twilight was looking and saw the rest of her friends waiting for them. Rainbow was sitting on top of the Wondercolt Statue playing on her phone, Rarity sitting on the grass of the front lawn sewing her latest dress, Applejack sitting next to Rarity and was picking some of the strands of grass out of the lawn to stop herself from getting completely bored, and Pinkie... well she was being Pinkie.
"Alright, but this better be good." Fluttershy said to Twilight as she turned around and started walking over to where the rest of her friends were. Twilight just remained standing as she watched Fluttershy take a seat in the grass next to Rarity and Applejack. Twilight's body jumping when she heard a familiar voice speak to her, it was Zulu.
"So... that went well." Zulu said as he wrapped his arms around Twilight's shoulders in a small hug.
"You can say that again. I just hope that this doesn't ruin all of the things that we had work hard for the last few days." Twilight said to Zulu. The couple walking over toward where the rest of Twilight's friends were with
"Let's get this over with." Theta thought as he followed after Twilight and Zulu.
"About time you guys showed up. School is almost about to start and this is the last day that we have to finally take down Sunset Shimmer." Rainbow said as she saw Twilight and Zulu. Rainbow than jumping off the pedestal that horse statue was standing on and landing on the high school's front lawn.
"You don't need to remind me Rainbow, trust me." Theta thought, him just barely stopping himself from saying his thoughts out loud. He might not have been showing it the best but he did trust Twilight being able to explain to the rest of her friends. She just needed the right push, to begin with, that's all.
"What took you guys so long anyway?" Applejack asked as she continued to lean up against the side of the large pedestal of the horse statue.
"It's a long story." Twilight said to Applejack. "But that's not what's important." Twilight said to her friends, trying to find the best way to bring up that she was a pony Princess from Equestria.
"What do you mean, dearly?" Rarity asked Twilight, taking her focus away from the new dress that she was making and redirecting it toward Twilight.
"You see, I haven't been entirely truthful with you guys when it comes to why I really have to take down Sunset Shimmer." Twilight said to her friends. All of them, excluding Fluttershy, all sharing a look of concern.
"What do you mean, Twilight?" Rarity asked Twilight, her question more out of curiosity than out of malice.
"Yeah, aren't you running against Sunset in order to take back the high school and show that she can't rule us like a dicator.?" Rainbow added.
"That's part of it. but... there's something else . Something that I didn't tell you guys when I first met you all." Twilight said to her friends.
"What you talking about, Twi?" Applejack asked Twilight.
"You see..." Twilight began to say, her only to be cut off by Pinkie.
"You're from an alternate world and you're a pony princess there and the crown actually has a magical element embedded in it that helps power up other magical elements, and without it, they don't work anymore, and you need them all to help protect your magical world, and if you don't get the crown tonight, you'll be stuck in this world and you won't be able to get back for, like, a really, really long time!" Pinkie said in one long sentence that left Twilight, Zulu, Theta, and Spike's mouths opened in a state of shock.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that isn't the reason." rainbow said matter-of-factly and with a roll of her eyes.
"Nope, she pretty much spot on." Theta and Spike both said at the same. The two dragon turned dogs words taking all of Twilight's friends, excluding Fluttershy, by surprise.
"Your dogs can talk!" Rarity exclaimed wide eyed and putting her hands at the side of her head.
"That's not all." Spike said walking forward, him making most out of being able to freely speak for the first time in the last few days. "Oh, yeah! And back where I come from, I'm not even a dog! I'm a ferocious, fire-breathing dragon!" Spike said to Twilight's friends.
"How did you know all that?" Twilight asked Pinkie.
"Just a hunch." Pinkie said with a shrug of her shoulders that only she could've pulled off.
"It's Pinkie Pie, don't question it." Theta thought as eagerly awaited how Twilight's friends would accept the news of Twilight being a princess from a land filled with magical flying ponies and dragons.
"Wait a minute! Lemme get this straight. You're a pony?" Applejack asked Twilight.
"You're a princess?" Rarity added in a state realized shock.
"And you're from another world?" Applejack added.
"Mm-hmm..." Twilight hummed as she awkwardly scratched the back of her head.
"That... is... awesome!" Rainbow exclaimed as Twilight's friends embraced her in a big group hug. The only one, not the join in on the group hug being, understandably, Fluttershy.
Twilight, while still in the group hug, looked over in Theta direction to see a look of 'I told you so' on his muzzle.
Twilight reluctantly pulled out of the hug and spoke to her friends. "There is still more that I to tell you." Twilight said to her friends, them all nodding in understanding. "But that can wait until later. Right now we need to worry about getting enough people to vote against Sunset so that I can get my crown back." Twilight said to her friends, Rainbow and Rarity scratching their lower chins in thought.
"Alright Twi, and I hope that you have found a way to doing that in the last twenty-four hours?" Rainbow asked Twilight as they all began to start walking toward the front doors of the high school.
"I have, and I will tell you girls all about it once we get inside the school." Twilight said to her friends, they all give her a single firm head nod.
"Alright, we'll meet back up in the library in a few minutes to talk about this later. Sound good?" Rarity said as she climbed the steps that led to the front doors of the high school.
"Sounds good." Twilight said in response.
"Alright, we'll all meet back up in a few minutes." Rarity said as Twilight's friends, excluding Fluttershy, broke off. Them all heading toward the library of the school. Twilight and Zulu was about start looking for the school's library, only to stop when a familiar voice quietly called out to Twilight.
"Um... Twilight, can I talk to you?" Fluttershy sheepishly asked Twilight. Twilight and Zulu, him having never really left her side, both sharing a look. "In private." Fluttershy quickly added when she saw Zulu following after his marefriend.
Twilight and Zulu both shared another look and began to whisper to each other.
"I'll be fine, you take Theta and Spike and meet up with the rest. I shouldn't be long." Twilight whispered to Zulu. the changeling turned human giving her a single firm head nod in response.
"Whatever you say, Twi." Zulu whispered back at Twilight as he shifted his attention over to the bodies of Theta and Spike. "You heard Twilight, let's go." Zulu said to Theta and Spike. The two dogs both giving a single head back up to Zulu.
"Copy that, Zulu." Theta said to Zulu as the two dogs followed Zulu into the high school. The three of them following after Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Applejack.
"So... um... is everything that you told me true?" Fluttershy sheepishly asked Twilight once they were alone.
"Yes Fluttershy, everything that I have told you today has been the honest truth." Twilight said to Fluttershy holding up her right hand as if she was swearing to an unknown higher power, probably Princess Celestia herself.
"I see..." Fluttershy said quietly, even more so than usual, as she realized her mistake.
"Hey, it's ok Fluttershy." Twilight said lightly nudging Fluttershy in the shoulder. "I would've acted the same way if I was in your situation. So, don't beat yourself up about it." Twilight said to Fluttershy, a small smile spreading across Fluttershy's face as she continued to speak. "In fact, I will make it my mission that as long as I am still in this world I will make sure that I will tell all of you girls exactly what is going on between me and Sunset Shimmer." Twilight said to Fluttershy, holding up her right hand in the a similar manner as before.
"Ok, I believe you Twilight. You are truly a great friend." Fluttershy in gratitude to Twilight as she walked passed her and through the front door of the high school.
"I try to be." Twilight said happily to herself as she watched Fluttershy disappear inside the confines of the high school. Twilight simply standing still in triumph for a few seconds before she began walking toward the front doors of the school. Twilight quickly climbing the steps that led to the front doors and entering the school not long afterward. Her ready to fight another battle, a battle that she wasn't expecting to be on the losing side of.
Twilight unaware that she was, in fact, being watched. Twilight being watched by a person that had made it her mission to watch Twilight go down in a ball of flames. The person watching Twilight being Sunset, and she having been watching her for the last few minutes from the safety of the bushes that were located on the school's front lawn.
"What are you doing, Sunset?" Someone asked from behind Sunset, the teenager jumping and turning around in flash of red, orange, and yellow hair. Sunset dropping into a defense stance as turned around to face whoever was talking to her.
"Sweet Celestia!" Sunset breathed a sigh of relief when she realized it was only her minion Snails. "Damnit! Do I have to put a bell around your neck, Snails?" Sunset sarcastically asked Snails with a groan.
"Well... it might help." Snails said to Sunset, him not understanding that the question that he asked hadn't been expecting an answer.
"That was rhetorical, you idiot." Sunset groaned as she rubbed her eyes. "Why do I continued to torture myself with these idiots." Sunset internally groaned as she felt a solid year of her life being shaved off just by talking to this idiot.
"Oh, but my question still stands." Snails pressed Sunset. The fiery-haired teen letting out a heavy groan/sigh.
"What does it look like I'm doing!" Sunset shouted in frustration at Snails. Her faithful minion taking a small step backward in both fright and feeling hurt by her words. Sunset was never practically nice, to him but if this was too much. Even for her.
"Sunset, are you alright?" Snails asked Sunset. The exiled pony turned teenaged dictator covering her face in her hands and letting out a single loud, yet muffled, groan.
Sunset wanted to say that she was fine, or just being frustrated and on edge because of the Fall Formal. But that wasn't true. She wasn't fine. Her mind and heart have been fighting for dominance for the longest time and the possibility to return to Equestria were just making it worse. Every time her mind would defeat her heart and she would continue onward with her mission to defeat Twilight Sparkle and take over Equestria. But she didn't know how long that would last. And even if her heart was able to defeat her mind. Would she been happy or sad? Would it be a good thing for her or a bad? She didn't know and she needed an answer. An answer that as sure as Tartarus wasn't going to get from Snails.
Eventually, Sunset just gave up and said to Snails. "No Snails. No, I'm not." Sunset said to Snails, the weight of thousands of tons feeling like it had just been lifted off of her shoulders.
"D-Do you want to talk about it?" Snails asked and Sunset was put into deep thought. Did she want to talk about what she was going through? She would leave out all of the things that included Equestria and... her mother. But would that even be enough? She was under so much stress lately, she needed someone to talk to. Even if that person was Snails.
At least, that what her heart was telling her. Her mind, on the other hand, that was a different story entirely. Sunset's brain pounding with the same voice that had been inside of her since she was just a foal. The voice angry shouting inside her head. Sunset dropping to her knees and grabbing at the sides of her head. Her grip around her head so hard that she began to feel pain. But the small on the side of her head was nothing compared to the pain that was going on the inside.
"Sunset, are you alright?" Snails asked cautiously and out of concern as he took a step back from the fiery-headed teen that was currently going through an internal war with herself.
Sunset tried to respond but her trying to do so only increased the internal insult that was currently going on inside of her. Sunset closing her eyes and letting out a high pitched scream as the voice inside her fought for the dominance that it had demanded for so long.
Her heart was trying was trying to fight back, it was trying to win. But when something spends the last decade or so losing small battles. It was only a matter of time when it finally lost the war.
The voice inside Sunset's head silence and Sunset removed her hands from her head and opened her eyes. Her rising her head off of the ground and she began to speak to Snails. "Snails call Snips, I want you to send him a message for me." Sunset said to Snails as he raised to her full height. The girl's head of fire being matted from sweat and tangled, but she didn't care. She had bigger issues to deal than what her hair looked right now.
"Ok, what do you want me to tell him?" Snails asked Sunset, still, a little shaken by what he had just witnessed. And Sunset seemingly speeding recovering was helping him in that department.
"I want you to tell him that neither of your services are no longer required." Sunset said to Snails, her former minion's eyes widening at her words. "You both are required to halt all activities and return to whatever in Tartarus you idiots did before I made you my slaves." Sunset said in an almost robotic-like voice.
"A-Are you sure Sunset?" Snails cautiously asked Sunset. The girl that he was talking whipping her head around and staring back at him with daggers for eyes. Sunset's teal eyes seeming to look straight into his soul.
"What. Do. You. Think." Sunset spoke slowly and firmly to Snails. Her voice was deep and almost robotic in delivery. Sunset didn't sound like herself anymore, no this wasn't Sunset this was something else.
"Of course Sunset, right away Sunset." Snails quickly said to Sunset as he pulled out his phone out of his pocket and quickly speed-dialed Snips before running off. Him wanting to be as far away from Sunset as possible.
"Excellent." Sunset said to herself as she watched Snails quickly run away in fright. A sight that brought a devilish smile to her face.
"You are doing well my pet, soon this world will be nothing more than rubble underneath our boots. Rubble that will quickly be followed by the Fall of Equestria. And you will finally get all of that power I promised that you will get all those years." The voice said to Sunset, her being a nothing more than a shell of her former self.
"Of course, my master. I will do whatever you wish of me." Sunset said to the voice in a tone of voice that made her sound more like a robot, rather than an actual person.
"I know you will my pet. Now go forth and do my bidding." The voice said to Sunset, it having complete control over the body that was once known as Sunset Shimmer.
"Of course, my master. I will do whatever you wish of me." Sunset repeated in the same robotic tone of voice as before. Sunset's body beginning to move in an efficient and never changing manner toward the front doors of the high school. Each footsteps being the same as the next. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. The more she continued walking, the more and more she became more like a robot. Nothing than a puppet on a string and the voice her puppeteer.
"I know, my slave. And my slave you shall stay." The voice said as a devilish smirk spread across Sunset's face as she entered the confines of the high school.
"Yes, my master. I will do whatever you wish of me." Sunset said to the voice as her teal eyes changed to form two small vertical slits where her pupils used to be. No, not Sunset. This wasn't Sunset, Sunset was gone. And was replaced by...
Nightmare!