It’s been a few weeks since we’d become Princess Celestia’s students and we’d gotten used to how things went on a daily basis. Wake up, breakfast, go to the castle, have lessons with the Princess, go back home for lunch, return for another lesson, go home for dinner, personal time, bed, repeat. It was a happy routine for us. Until one day that routine was shattered.
“Excuse me, Princess, but there’s a stallion at the gates who’s insisting on being your students’ father. He says he’s here to take them home,” a guard said during our afternoon lesson with the Princess. My eyes widened before hardening as I rose with my horn lit. I quickly glanced at my sister and found her rubbing her neck with her hoof.
“Bunny, don’t hurt him,” Twilight said quietly.
“That’ll depend on him, Twily,” I muttered as I began walking towards the front gate. I heard the Princess rise, but wasn’t sure what she was doing before I was out the door and running towards the gates. I didn’t want the Princess meeting with him. She already knew enough of our former situation. This would be the nail in our proverbial coffin that would end how she’s treated us so far and I didn’t want that.
“Sunset,” I saw him when I approached the guards and he looked as grungy as ever.
“What do you want?” I asked him.
“I want you and your sister to come home,” he said with a hard edge to his voice. “You two don’t deserve to be here.”
“We don’t deserve to be here!? WE DON’T!? No! You don’t deserve to be here!” I cried, my horn glowing brighter and brighter.
“I have every right to be here to collect you two,” dad growled as he stepped closer but stopped his approach when he looked up to see something behind me. “Princess …” he breathed in horror. I froze in place and my eyes shrunk as I let my magic die. The Princess? No, anypony besides her. Please, anypony but her. She was the one pony I didn’t want to see and/or meet my ‘dad.’
“Is there a problem here?” Princess Celestia asked, confirming my fears and causing me to begin shaking.
“Um, no, no problem,” dad shook his head vehemently. Liar.
“Then why in my wonderful Kingdom were you growling at my student?” Princess Celestia inquired as she stepped up beside me.
“Because I want her to come home with me,” dad said slowly when I felt a floating piece of paper lightly jab me in the back of my neck. I grabbed the paper with my magic and examined it. “Bunny, I toll the Pwincess about dad and she sent me home with a couple of … bards? …. Ah, here it is, guards. The Pwincess sent me home with a couple of guards. Twily.” I sighed in relief knowing Twilight was safe from the monster we called dad.
“Oh? Why do you want her to go home with you when she’s living in a home I provide for my students?” the Princess asked.
“Because she deserves a home with me and her sister, Limelight,” dad said, doing his best to get me to go back to my previous dwelling.
“Is that her sister’s name? Limelight?” Princess Celestia asked.
“Oh, wrong name, heh,” dad chuckled. “ I meant Bilight.”
“No, that’s a wrong name, too. Do you want to know how I know both of your daughters’ names, Frost Bite?” Princess Celestia asked as she took a step in front of me.
“Freezer Burn, actually, and, yes, I would,” dad corrected as he stepped back from the Princess.
“Well, Freezer, I know their names because they’re both my students. They live together away from a pony who super glues a collar to them and chains them in the yard. Away from a drunkard who abuses them,” Princess Celestia said firmly, this was the closest I’d ever heard the Princess come to being angry and it shocked me.
“Who told-” dad began but froze when he realised he was admitting what the Princess already knew and his pupils shrunk to pinpricks.
“Who told me? My teachers, my guard, my student. Did you think everypony was blind to the bruises, the patchy coats, the limps, and everything else you inflicted upon your own flesh and blood?” Princess Celestia said before the pair of guards at the front gates moved to either side of dad. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He was getting his just desserts!
“May I protest?” dad asked weakly as he shrunk in between the guards.
“Go ahead, I’m a fair ruler and will hear you out,” the Princess replied. He went to open his mouth but closed it when nothing came forth.
“Nevermind,” dad muttered.
“Then I condemn you to the dungeons to await a trial of your peers,” Princess Celestia said and nodded to the guards who took dad away to the dungeons. I made sure to glare at him as he and the guards walked past me.
“You’ll pay for this,” dad told me under his breath before he went out of earshot. I bristled and swore to myself to become stronger so that he could never hurt me or Twilight ever again, no matter what I had to do. The Princess told me to go check on Twilight and that the rest of today was free time to deal with encountering our father. I ran back to our home, not wanting Twilight to worry about me too much. When I ran inside and locked the door, I was pinned to the floor by a shivering weight that hugged me tightly. I gasped at the tight grip, but returned the embrace as best I could.
“Bunny … you’re back,” Twilight murmured, her voice shaking as much as her body.
“Yeah, I’m back and he’s gone. He got sent to the dungeons by the Princess,” I told her softly. I felt my sister roll off me and managed to get her face in front of mine. I saw her eyes were wet and puffy. I wiped away what tears I could before hugging her and gently stroking her back. “I’m alright, Twily. He didn’t touch me and he won’t touch you or me again. It’s all thanks to the Princess for locking him up.” There was no answer from Twilight except for her relieved sobs. By the time Twilight had calmed down enough to not be clinging to me or shake, it was dark outside.
“I want to sleep with you tonight,” Twilight mumbled finally and looked at me with a small smile.
“Alright, there’s plenty of room for both of us,” I said softly.
“Thank you, Bunny,” Twilight said quietly and smiled a bit more before looking outside. “Oh. I guess we’d better get to bed then,” she added and glanced at the moon.
“Yeah, we probably should. Come on, we’ll sleep in your bed next to the window,” I smiled and lead Twilight up the stairs. Twilight was slow but she stuck close when got to the top and headed over to her bed. Levitating my pillow over, I hopped into her bed and got under the covers. Twilight got in after and snuggled close, holding Mister Smarty Pants in her hooves and looked out the window. “It’s a nice night, huh?”
“Mhm, a very nice night,” Twilight agreed before yawning. “Goodnight, Bunny. Goodnight, Smarty.”
“Goodnight, Twily,” I said softly and held Twilight as she fell asleep.
FIVE YEARS LATER
Ever since that day, I studied as many fire spells as I could. As many potent battle spells as I could. Fire was feared on the battlefield and that’s what I wanted from my opponents. Especially, ‘dad.’ The trial had come and his ‘peers’ reached a ‘not guilty’ verdict. He’s back at my former home and waiting for the day that he can get ahold of Twilight or me. On that day, he’ll see what my studies have taught me. What he and this city made me become.
“Sunny, you’ve been looking over that book for the past month. Shouldn’t you go on something else?” Twilight asked from the couch in the small living room.
“Says the one who goes on research binges. Besides, there’s still a couple spells in here I haven’t gotten down,” I told Twilight. The book I was studying was ‘Battlefield Application of Fire’ and it held some interesting ways of using fire on your opponent as well as your ally. One such way was cauterizing wounds for your allies.
“Which spells then?” Twilight wondered, hopping off the couch and walking over to me.
“Well, the one I’m working on now is this one,” I said and pointed out the spell. “It lets me envelope myself in flame for both offensive and defensive purposes.”
“Speaking of flames … you’ve been studying a lot on flames, and that’s coming from me,” Twilight smirked before sitting in front of the book and looking down at it with me.
“It’s the kind of spells I’m best at and the Princess knows basically all of them. So, I might as well learn from the master,” I shrugged. I couldn’t tell her that I was planning to one day confront dad and use them on him. She’d try to talk me out of it.
“Why so many spells other than, ‘it’s what I’m good at’?” Twilight inquired in an incredibly bad impression of me.
“One, that was a horrible impression of me. I don’t sound anything like that. And two, is it wrong to want to master something?” I replied.
“No, not really,” Twilight shook her head. “Just wondering.”
“Well, I’m good at them and I’d like to master them. Besides, now I can cauterize your wounds without burning anything else,” I smirked.
“Oh, cool,” Twilight blinked. “You know what kind of spells I really like other than all of them?”
“Mmm, any Princess Celestia uses or recommends,” I grinned.
“Okay, that too,” Twilight blushed. “The spells I really like doing are the ones that help Unicorns move the earth if no Earth ponies are around.”
“Sooooo, you’re a Unicorn who wants to be an Earth pony,” I replied. Twilight’s tail flicked and she looked to the side.
“N-No, nothing like that,” Twilight mumbled.
“So, you want to replace Earth ponies with Unicorns,” I said.
“I said ‘in case’, not replace,” Twilight said in shock.
“What next? Weather so you can replace the Pegasi if they go missing?” I teased. I knew what Twilight meant, but it was so fun messing with her.
“How’d you know?” Twilight squeaked, a deer in the headlights look about her.
“Oh no, you’re one of those ‘Unicorn master race’ ponies,” I said in mock horror.
“I-I-I-I-” Twilight repeated over and over, her eyes looking left and right rapidly.
“Princess, Twilight wants to replace all the ponies with Unicorns. She says that Unicorns are better than all of the other tribes,” I said dramatically to the ceiling.
“What!? No!” Twilight squawked.
“She admitted so earlier, Princess. Please, smite her with your wrath,” I said as though praying.
“Heeey! You’re teasing me,” Twilight whined in a high-pitched voice from behind me. I couldn’t hold it anymore and cracked up laughing.
“Oh no…. She’s found me out…. Help, Princess,” I got out through my laughter.
“I don’t think the Princess will help,” Twilight said after a few minutes before feeling her magic try to tickle me.
“I’m not laughing anymore and now you start tickling me? Ah, that’s low,” I said as I resisted her tickling as best I could. Curse her remembering where I’m ticklish. It was supposed to be the other way around with me tickling her.
“You’re meant to laugh!” Twilight complained when she realised her tickles were fruitless.
“Resistance is not futile,” I said as it became harder and harder not to laugh.
“Yes! She’s breaking!” Twilight cheered and I felt her magic try to tickle me even further.
“Oh no, must build… book fort… to defend myself,” I said as I began trying to build said fort around Twilight. It was my only chance she was breaking through my defenses with her tickling.
“Come on, just a little more …” Twilight encouraged herself. I couldn’t hold it anymore and succumbed to her tickling, rolling back and forth on the floor while laughing.
“Yes! I broke through! Haha!” Twilight laughed triumphantly.
“T-Two… can play… this… game,” I said through my laughter before enveloping Twilight in my magic and giving her a taste of an older sibling’s tickle techniques.
“Oh no! She’s discovered my weakness!” Twilight shrieked before a thud and loud laughter was heard.
“Now… it’s a test to… see who loses… control first,” I laughed.
“Too late … you’re better,” Twilight giggled when her hold over me went away.
“Aha! The master tickler is revealed!” I crowed as I stopped tickling Twilight and laid down beside her. Twilight continued giggling and looked up at the ceiling, currently lying on her back with her forehooves curled up on her chest. “So, are you thinking about going into farming with your Earth spells?”
“I don’t know. I just find the spells really interesting,” Twilight admitted when she had calmed down and was breathing properly once more.
“Alright, I think I’ll try to find a way to… I don’t know, cook things en masse?” I shrugged.
“It’d be something different from your usual combat spells,” Twilight admitted.
“Yeah, but there’s something… It feels like something’s missing and I don’t know what it is,” I told her. This much was true. From everything I’d learned it felt like I was missing something.
“Something … missing? This is the first I’ve heard of it,” Twilight said curiously turning onto her side to look at me.
“Mhm, I’ve learned a lot beyond combat and flame spells and it feels like something’s missing,” I replied.
“Like what?” Twilight asked, getting and walking over to one of the bookshelves. “What do you think is missing?”
“Well, I’d say a sure-kill move if I was keeping to the main theme of my studies. Otherwise, I’d say… I don’t know… friendship? Love? Some bigger purpose?” I said. I truly didn’t know, but wish I did.
“Mmm …” Twilight hummed before magicking a book over to me. “Try reading ‘Sense of Self’ by A.D. Mildred.”
“Sense of self? Alright, I’ll give it a read,” I replied as I cracked the book open. I heard Twilight move to the table before going to the door.
“I’m going to see if I can get some snacks for us. We seem to be running low,” Twilight said.
“Alright, be careful out there. Come straight back if something happens or send up a flare and I’ll come running,” I told her.
“Will do. I’ll be back in a bit, Bunny,” Twilight said with a smile and left the house. I immediately closed the book and went to the window to watch Twilight go. I knew she could handle herself now, but I couldn’t help but worry. Once she was out of sight, I went to my personal journal and wrote down how close I was to confronting dad. I didn’t outright say anything, but a clever pony would probably figure it out if they read it. When I finished, I wrote a note for her and went into the castle to search the Royal Library for more books that could advance my plans.
I guess I was in the library for a good couple of hours when I heard Twilight call my name. I shut the book I was currently browsing and looked around for her.
“Twilight!?” I called as I looked around. I heard running hooves before a purple blob skidded right past me. I blinked in surprise before following said blob. It was Twilight panting and holding a book in her magic. My heart rate rocketed up. “Twilight, what happened!?”
“Nothing … yet … according … to your … diary,” Twilight breathed and looked up at me sorrowfully. “Why are … you doing this?”
“You weren’t supposed to read that, Twilight,” I said as I took my diary from her.
“Then why leave it in the bookshelf?” Twilight retorted.
“You hide a tree in a forest, Twilight,” I answered.
“I was putting a book back when I found this. It was in the wrong place,” Twilight said. “Next time, hide it in your closet or under the bed.”
“There won’t be a next time, Twi. Now that you know, I’ve got two options. Push up the time table or stop and I won’t stop,” I said before walking away.
“Why not? He hasn’t hurt us in three years,” Twilight said walking to stop me in my tracks.
“Why should he be free to do that to other ponies? To start a new family and abuse them too?” I asked.
“We’re free of him. We’re safe! Why can’t you see that?” Twilight said, her voice breaking a bit.
“Safe? When just seeing him could send either one of us into a panic? When hearing somepony similar to him makes us jump and look about in fright?” I replied as I tried to get around her and to the exit.
“Yes. Safe. The Princess is here. The guards are here. We’re protected,” Twilight said firmly, not budging in blocking me.
“Crutches. What happens when we’re no longer the Princess’ students? When we aren’t guarded by Equestria’s military and monarch? What then, Twilight? He’ll haunt our dreams until justice is properly served!” I told her before teleporting past and running towards the front gate only to crash into Princess Celestia. “Pr-princess? I’m sorry. I didn’t see you.”
“Twilight’s told me of what you’re planning, Sunset,” she told me and my eyes shrunk as I scrabbled to get away from her.
“Why wasn’t he punished!? Why was he allowed to go free with two witnesses to testify to his cruelty and illegal acts!?” I cried as I got my hooves under me. There was only one choice now that the Princess knew. I had to head towards the only other exit there was in the castle. I moved through hallways and multiple rooms before I found the room with a single mirror inside it.
“Mom, stop!” Twilight shouted mournfully as she encased me in a purple shield when I made it to the other exit.
“M-Mom?” I stuttered and faltered as the Princess caught up to us. In my falter, I didn’t realize how close Twilight was to me before I felt a tugging and stinging sensation in the base of my tail. I turned and saw her try to tug and draw me away from the mirror. “Ow! Stop it, Twilight. Justice has to be served.”
“No! You’re beaving! I bon’t wand you doo!” Twilight’s voice was thick with desperation through the mouthful of hair. “Srew jusdice! You’re nod beaving!”
“Stop fighting you two. There’s no exit here. Just a trap,” Celestia said as she walked closer to us. I knew it would be over once she got ahold of me. So, I began fighting towards the mirror, dragging Twilight along inch by inch. I heard her scrabble for a good hoofhold only for the hum of magic to interrupt me. I immediately found a pink shield hovering between me and the mirror.
“Lower the shield, Twi. I’m not going to be stopped. Not when I’m so close to exacting a just punishment for his deeds,” I said.
“No! I wond!” Twilight said forcefully. “I don’d wand you do go!”
“Do you think the Princess is going to let me stay now that she knows of my plans? I don’t think so,” I shook my head and pressed against the shield. It held firm and barely had any give to it. I heard a sigh before I felt myself being levitated off of the floor. Crap, Celestia got me. It’s over. I felt the pain in my tail lessen until it was no more. Twilight must have let go when she realised what was happening.
“There, that’s that. Now let’s go have some tea and talk about this whole incident,” Princess Celestia said. I saw the shield disappear out of the corner of my eye; too busy currently staring at my sister’s tearful face.
“Twi, I’m not your mom. I took care of you, but the mare you should want to be like is behind you,” I said softly.
“She’s float-t-ting in the air … tr-trying to get away,” Twilight sniffled sadly, looking up at me with wide doe-like eyes after shaking her head.
“No, Twi. She’s not. Princess Celestia is the better choice. She wouldn’t put you through this or plan what I’ve planned,” I sighed and went limp in Celestia’s magical grip. There was no way she’d be weak enough to let me teleport out of her magic.
“Yes, she is,” Twilight insisted.
“Stubborn filly,” I mumbled as I felt Celestia setting me down beside her.
“This conversation can continue on the way to the garden for tea,” Celestia said and began walking out of the room. “Come along, Twilight, Sunset.” Twilight continued looking at me, not willing to move until I did. Finally, I felt the Princess’ magic release me.
“Sorry, Twi. Grow to be like Princess Celestia,” I said softly before dashing towards the mirror once more.
“No!” Twilight shouted and began running after me but was only able to grab onto my tail with her teeth. It stung quite a bit, but I continued forward and winced when I felt some of my tail’s hair rip out and I tripped through the mirror. It shimmered and shone before dying out and returning to normal looking glass. Twilight was taken aback for a couple seconds before growling and ran towards the mirror herself, with the hairs still in her mouth. The glass held firm when Twilight made contact with it and she bounced off with a ‘oof.’
“I’m so sorry, Twilight, but the portal is closed and won’t open for another thirty moons,” Celestia said softly as she walked up to the distraught filly.
“No no no no! There has to be a way to bring her back!” Twilight pleaded, keeping the tail hairs in her magic.
“There is, but it is to go through after her in thirty moons,” Celestia said quietly. Twilight took in a few breaths before crying her frustrations loudly.
My rear hurt and for more than just Twilight pulling my hairs out. When I tumbled through the mirror I hit this really hard, white ground in front of this big building that reminded me of the castle. I sat in front of it for a little bit before hesitantly heading towards it.
The doors were glass and I gasped when I saw my reflection. I wasn’t a pony anymore. I was something… something else. I don’t know what I was, but I had very strange appendages, not a whole lot of fur except on my head, and weird clothes. Shrugging off my strange new appearance, I went to open the door with my magic. Nothing happened, though. Nothing at all. I tried again and again until I was pounding my head in frustration. It was then that I looked up and noticed I didn’t have a horn. Crap, no magic and a new body. Thankfully, the door was a push door and I got inside after pressing myself against it.
The interior of the building was vast and had a lot of banners, signs, and fliers on its walls. There was a display case full of trophies and other objects I wasn’t quite sure what they were. So, I ignored most of it and wandered the place. I wanted to find a mirror to get a proper look at myself. That door didn’t give me the clearest of pictures.
I eventually found a door with what looked like my clothing on it and walked in. Thankfully, there was a big mirror I could examine myself in. Or so I thought until I got closer and could only see the top of my head in said mirror. I sighed and began trying to get up to look into it anyway I could.
“Oh, hello,” I heard somepony speak in surprise after a flushing noise. I froze and slowly turned my head to look at whoever spoke. She had dark blue furless skin, almost midnight black hair, and some sort of cloth covering her body like I did. She walked to the sink next to me and washed her hands. After drying, she looked at me and smiled softly. “There’s no need to be afraid.”
“I’m disinclined to agree with you,” I said as I slowly began back towards the exit.
“I’m not going to hurt you. My name is Luna, little one. I can help you find your parents if you got separated from them,” Luna introduced herself and did her best to sound helpful. Take me to my parents? That was the first thing Celestia would expect me to do if I could get back.
“I’d rather die than go back to that abusive stallion who got off scot free,” I told Luna in a low voice before turning and running out of the room. It was a few minutes before I heard rapid steps behind me. I turned my head to look behind me to see that Luna was running after me. Great, a chase in an unfamiliar body that couldn’t even run on four legs. “Go away, I have to plan how to spend my time until I can go back and exact justice!” I heard Luna falter a bit before I was suddenly lifted into the air by dark blue … things. I kicked and squirmed in her appendages to try to get free and away from her.
“Can you stop?” Luna grunted, holding me at arm’s length. “I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“No, you’re going to take me back before I’m ready to face him,” I grunted as I continued to struggle. How were those things so strong? They didn’t look anywhere near as strong as they felt.
“Back to your farm? I only just met you,” Luna said confusedly, obviously doing her best to restrain me.
“I don’t live on a farm and you said you’d return me to my parents earlier,” I replied before sighing in defeat and ending my futile struggle.
“Yes, because you’re a little girl who is most likely lost,” Luna sighed in relief and gently placed me back on the ground but held my weird appendage in her own. On another note, what’s a ‘girl’? I tilted my head at Luna in thought and confusion before shrugging.
“You say some strange words,” I said.
“So do you,” Luna smirked before leading me back down the corridor. “You most likely don’t want to go back to your parents. That’s fine. My sister and I will talk over on what will happen with you.”
“Firstly, it’s not parents. It’s parent. My mom’s gone and my dad’s an abusive drunk. Secondly, who’s your sister?” I wondered as we walked along.
“She is the principal of this school, and her name is Celestia,” Luna said with a soft smile. Celestia!? How’d she follow me here!? That doesn’t matter, I guess. She’s here and that means I have to run and try to run I did. Luna wasn’t ready and her grasp slipped suddenly, making me trip and fall. I gasped and grunted as I hit the floor before doing what I could to get away from Luna.
“Hey, hey hey hey, what’s the matter?” Luna asked in concern, now keeping a gentle but tight grip on me.
“Princess Celestia can’t find me. She’ll ruin everything. You, her sister, finding me is bad enough now that I know you’re her sister,” I said as I tried to pull away or at least get further in the opposite direction of where we had been going. I heard some stifled laughter before Luna let it out.
“Tia is not a princess,” Luna suddenly laughed merrily.
“You can’t fool me, Princess Luna. The only one I know by Celestia is a princess,” I replied.
“That’s … absurd!” Luna laughed, getting really into her prank.
“What’s absurd is her hiding the fact that she had as sister for all these years. Nopony knows you exist,” I told her.
“Pon- of course people know I exist,” Luna giggled. “I’m the vice principal of the school. Sure, I don’t get out much but-”
“No history book mentions you. There’s no tapestry with you on it. Nothing even hints at Princess Celestia having a sister. I assure you, I’ve read all about her,” I interrupted Luna. Maybe that would get her to drop her act.
“I don’t know what history books you read, but none of them mention Tia as a princess. Only her fantasies do that,” Luna said, finally calming down.
“Fine, have it your way, Princess Luna. I’d rather perform thaumaturgical analysis on Diamond Dogs for the next year than be in the same room as Princess Celestia,” I told her.
“You have a really, really active imagination,” Luna chuckled and managed to pull me to a lit up doorway that was at the other end of the corridor.
“No, that would be Twilight. I’m the realist of us two sisters or didn’t your sister tell you about us?” I asked before looking at the door. My eyes shrunk at the sight of Celestia’s name on the door, but ‘Principal’ was indeed before her name. That confused me as much as it made me afraid.
“Who’s that?” Luna asked confusedly and it seemed genuine when she opened the door and made me walk inside ahead of her.
“My little sister, Twilight Sparkle. Your sister’s other personal student,” I said in a small, confused, and scared voice. Luna looked at the incredibly familiar mare behind the desk, with the small addition of her multicolored mane now flowing down her back.
“Do you have personal one on one time with students, Tia?” Luna asked confusedly when she closed the door behind us. Trapped with two beings I didn’t want to be with, great. This day just gets better and better.
“No, that wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the student body,” Celestia shook her head.
“Well, this little one thinks you do,” Luna told her, gesturing to me.
“I don’t think, I know. I’m on of them,” I said as I kept as far away from Celestia as possible.
“I don’t even remember meeting you before now, young lady,” Celestia said with a raised brow.
“I found her in the little girl’s room,” Luna explained. “I didn’t think kids her age would even get in here with how high the handle is.”
“Into the school or the bathroom?” Celestia asked.
“They were both push doors. How could I not get in?” I asked. Luna sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“I think one of the final students left the door open a tad,” Luna said. “Still, her parents are nowhere to be found and she doesn’t want to go back to her farm.”
“I don’t live on a farm. I live right next to the castle,” I muttered.
“Are there any castles around here?” Luna blinked in surprise at me, while directing to Celestia.
“The only castles I’m aware of are in another country,” Celestia answered. How long were these two going to try to make a fool out of me!?
“Neither of your acts are going to get me to believe that you two don’t know exactly what I’m talking about,” I said angrily.
“This is the third time she’s said that,” Luna sighed.
“Have you found anything else out about her?” Celestia asked her sister as I silently fumed at them.
“She claims to have a sister named Twilight, whom you also apparently teach, and unless you’ve been teaching five year olds behind my back, I really don’t see it,” Luna said with a shrug and moved away from the door to sit in one of the seats in front of Celestia’s desk. I took this opportunity to try to get out of the door. I made a dash to it and began trying to reach for the knob. Frustratingly, I couldn’t get a grip on it no matter how hard I tried. Curse these stupid appendages!
“Well, I haven’t, but I think she’s probably telling the truth about her sister’s name at the very least,” Celestia said.
“Alright, we’ll take that as truth,” Luna rubbed her eyes. “She also said she had an abusive ‘father stallion’.”
“I don’t see any bruising on her,” Celestia said. “Of course, it could be beneath her clothes.”
“I think … she’s an orphan and dealing with grief,” Luna thought out loud.
“Possibly, but we can’t even ask around without a name,” Celestia replied. By this time, I’d run out of steam and gave up, sitting down against the door.
“Little one, what’s your name?” Luna asked gently, turning her gaze to me.
“Since you two insist on keeping your act up, I’ll play along,” I sighed and looked up at Luna. “My name’s Sunset Shimmer.”
“That’s a nice name,” Luna complimented with a smile.
“My mother gave it to me because my mane looks like a Sunset Rose,” I said softly and ran on of the appendages through my mane.
“Those flowers are incredibly rare,” Luna said quietly and looked at Celestia before looking back at me. “Until your parent comes looking for, and I think he will, why don’t you stay with us? They’re bound to come by the school sooner or later.”
“Is there a weapon I could use to defend myself then?” I asked. Luna was at a loss for words; shocked at me. “He chained my sister in the yard like a dog, beat me on a daily basis, and would do the same to Twilight if he found her. I won’t go back with him without a fight.”
“Um …” Luna mumbled and looked at Celestia for help.
“There are no weapons here, Sunset. Nor will there ever be. This is a gun and drug free zone. I’m not sure how much of what you’re saying is actually true, but the look on your face tells me you believe it’s all true,” Celestia said.
“It is true and he didn’t even get sentenced when he went to trial. That’s a gross injustice so I’m going to exact justice myself,” I told them before facehoofing. Crap, I just told them my plan, again!
“You’re five. That’s impossible at your age,” Luna commented.
“I’m not five. I’m fifteen,” I corrected Luna.
“This is a school for teenagers. We know what fifteen year olds look like and you definitely aren’t it,” Luna explained, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Fine, I’m five, whatever. Explain my terminology, my vocabulary then,” I replied.
“You read a lot of books to pass your time and soaked the information up. There are a few kids your age that are like that,” Luna shrugged before standing and leaning over to whisper something to Celestia. I watched Celestia nod and stand.
“We can’t leave her here,” I heard her say as she reached into a pocket and took out some keys. Luna giggled like a filly and grabbed the keys before hugging her sister. “Just try not to scare her with your driving.”
“Wha-? I don’t drive that badly,” Luna protested.
“Of course you don’t,” Celestia chuckled and grinned at her sister. I just sat there in confusion. Were we taking a chariot somewhere?
“I’m glad my sister agrees. For now, we’re taking you to our place. Unless you still want to wait for your father?” Luna asked, placing the keys somewhere on her and walked over to me.
“I didn’t want to wait for him in the first place unless I could properly defend myself or exact my justice,” I answered. Luna simply smiled and lead me out the door and towards the outside of the school. I followed her as best I could, but her strides were a lot bigger than mine. “How do you use those things so well?”
“What things?” Luna asked in surprise. “All I’m doing is walking.”
“Yes, but you opened that door like it was nothing while I couldn’t even get the knob to turn,” I replied as I trotted to keep up with Luna.
“You don’t have enough strength in your hands then,” Luna smiled.
“Hands?” I asked slowly with a tilt of my head. Luna raised it and waggled the stumps. “The not hooves with the not quite legs attached to them. Those are called hands?”
“Yes, they are,” Luna blinked as we approached the lone metal beast in the space outside the school. “Did you hit your head?” I froze in place and stared at the beast.
“Stop if you value your life and health,” I said out of the side of my mouth. Luna stopped in her tracks and looked down at me funny.
“Why?” she stage whispered.
“That metal beast looks like a predator and it’s just sitting there. Waiting for us to approach before it pounces on us,” I told her. Luna giggled and continued walking to the predator. My eyes widened at her audacity. “What are you doing? It’ll eat you.”
“Walking to the predator,” Luna grinned and took the keys out of her clothes before unlocking part of the beast and opening it up. The interior lit up and Luna waved me over. I blinked at all of this before approaching Luna.
“Are you a tamer?” I asked when I got to her.
“I wish, then I can get a boyfriend,” Luna laughed and helped me inside. She strapped a black belt around me before closing the entrance and walked around to the other side.
“What’s a boyfriend?” I asked in confusion.
“Since you’re into horses so much, I guess I can use that here. It’s more like a … coltfriend, I guess?” Luna said uncertainly, frowning slightly before sitting beside me. Once she was settled, she put the key behind the wheel and the beast roared to life. I jumped at the noise and looked around to make sure it wasn’t going to start secreting digestive enzymes.
“It’s just starting up, you’re fine,” Luna giggled and we were moving backwards before going fowards and turning.
“This is a very strange sensation,” I commented as I felt us moving, but didn’t hear the clacking of tracks, clop of hooves, or flapping of wings. “So, a colt is a boy here, okay. I haven’t had a coltfriend either.”
“You said you’re fifteen. I’m inclined to believe if you didn’t look and acted a bit like a five year old,” Luna told me. All these new surroundings made me think of Twilight, and her having a field day here. I sighed and slumped in my seat as I thought of how upset I’d made her by leaving.
“You can believe whatever you’d like,” I said softly. I didn’t hear her respond and the rest of the trip was held in an uncomfortable silence. We eventually stopped moving and Luna got out and walked around to my side to get me out. I didn’t resist and meekly let her guide me to wherever we were going. We walked up to a house and Luna let me inside first before flipping on a light switch. A hallway was illuminated, with a couple of end tables on either side and a few pictures of Luna and Celestia together upon their surface.
“For now, this is your home. I’m sorry for making you upset,” Luna said quietly, shutting the door behind us.
“It wasn’t you. I was remembering my sister and how she’d probably love it here. I left her behind and made her cry. She even called me ‘mom’,” I said, ignoring everything else about the house we were in.
“Why’d she do that?” Luna asked gently and directed me into the lounge and onto the couch, which was facing a black space on the wall.
“Our mom disappeared when she was really young. So, I raised her, protected her, and took care of her for ten years,” I answered. My emotions were starting to well up and I didn’t feel like suppressing them.
“I’ll get you some ice cream and tissues,” Luna murmured and left me with my thoughts. I sighed and looked down at my legs while thinking about Twilight and all we’d been through together. A few moments after Luna left and a couple thoughts in, I started to cry.
The two… um, I think they said they were called ‘women.’ They put me into a comfortable bed and told me to go to sleep since it was late. I could tell be the sun that it wasn’t that late, though. So, I just laid in bed trying not to think about anything besides what I had to do to get back home. It was during this that I heard muffled voices talking beyond my door. So, I snuck out and quietly approached the voices to see what they were talking about. It turned out that they were talking in the living room. Luna seemed excited about whatever it was while Celestia seemed quite calm and collected.
“Come on, this will be a great idea!” Luna said excitedly with a massive grin, having leaned back in one of the armchairs along with placing her … covered hooves? on the coffee table.
“It’s been less than a day, Luna. We can’t make such a big decision without more time to think about it,” Celestia replied with her ‘hands’ folded on top of her legs.
“So? Sunset obviously doesn’t want to go back home, otherwise she would have protested on the way here. Her words, while a bit whacky, I will admit, make me think that she’s telling the truth about her father being abusive to her. Plus, if we put her in the orphanage system, Sunset may wind back up with him or with an even worse family,” Luna told the calm Celestia.
“Luna, I’m not saying that we put her into a system that can’t provide children with proper homes every single time. I’m just saying that we should give this some time before we make the final decision,” Celestia replied patiently.
“How long has it been since you’ve been on a date?” Luna asked seriously.
“I don’t see how that has anything to do with this decision,” Celestia said with a raised brow.
“A few years, right? We’ve never been able to find someone for us. This is a perfect opportunity for us!” Luna tried to assert her opinion but it sounded like it was going the way she was planning.
“And I’m not disagreeing with you, dear sister. I just want us to think this over more before we commit to adopting Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia replied. I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. Adopt me? Do they know I’m listening and are just saying that for me benefit?
“Fine, fine, we’ll think it over,” Luna grumbled and I watched her throw her ‘hands’ in the air in defeat and stood. “For now, I’m gonna see how she’s holding up. It must be quite the jarring reaction to be in a stranger’s house,” she added before heading to the hallway I was looking out from. Crap, I can’t let her know I’d been listening in!
I raced for the room she’d put me in and dove for the bed. A moment after I’d gotten onto the bed, I heard the door slowly open with a slight squeak of the hinges.
“Sunset Shimmer? Are you still awake?” Luna asked gently after knocking on the door lightly.
“Mhm, quite,” I answered as I sat on the bed.
“You must be used to staying up late then,” Luna smiled at me softly.
“I had to, to make sure Twilight would get some sleep. Especially if she’d been reading before bed. She’d read all night and into the next day if I let her,” I told Luna.
“It sounds like you are close to this Twilight, huh?” Luna thought out loud as she walked inside the room, flipped on the light, and sat on the bed next to me.
“She’s my only real family anymore… Well, maybe she doesn’t consider me family after I left her to come here,” I said softly and brought my legs close to me before wrapping my forelegs around them.
“You ran away? Why not take Twilight with you?” Luna asked in surprise.
“She was better off with your sister back at the castle. I had to come here to keep from getting in trouble for planning to exact justice upon my father. I would’ve preferred to have stayed with Twilight, but… I could tell that your sister would be the better influence on Twilight. I wanted her to grow up to be like the Princess. Not like me,” I explained. I don’t know why I’m sharing all this with her. Maybe I just wanted to vent my emotions about this whole thing.
“Why don’t you get some sleep? You’ve had a long day today,” Luna suggested quietly, resting her hand on my shoulder.
“I can’t sleep. There’s too many thoughts going through my head. The biggest of all is how to get back in thirty moons,” I told Luna. Seriously, why am I sharing all this with her?
“Thirty moons is roughly eleven years, maybe twelve years,” Luna said thoughtfully, tilting her head at me. “Why thirty moons exactly?”
“How in Celestia’s name am I going to survive for twelve years?” I cursed and shook my head. “That’s when I can go back and execute my plan to give my father the justice that the courts didn’t give him when he went to trial.”
“You are a very strange, and adorable, little girl and I don’t know about you, but I need to head to bed,” Luna told me with a small yawn. “We can continue talking in the morning, alright?”
“As you wish, Princess,” I nodded. Luna smiled at me and gave me a small hug before getting up and walking out, shutting off the light after her and leaving the door open a crack. I sighed and got under the covers before getting comfortable. I didn’t really feel tired, but I closed my eyes and tried not to think about things while relaxing. Twelve years… this is going to be one long sleep over. After that thought crossed my mind, sleep slowly claimed me as the world faded around me.