Sunset Reset

by LordBrony2040


Chapter 23: Tuesday is for Talking Sex

“...up...come….up…”

“Sun...ke….”

“SUNSET! WAKE UP!”

Hearing an alarm blasting in her ears, the amber alicorn leapt out of bed and flung together a quick trio of fireballs that circled her head, ready for a quick deployment as she looked around the blurry room for whatever danger threatened Cadance.With nothing in her field of vision, Sunset spun around...and barely avoid tripping over herself as she looked for something that wasn’t there.

As the room came into focus and Sunset wiped the drool from her mouth with a wing, she noticed that there was no eldritch abomination to threaten the pink princess’s life. Which had the amber alicorn glaring at Cadance a moment later with eyes that wanted to pull the shutters completely down. “You had better have a good reason for getting me out of bed this early,” she grumbled.

“Sunset, this the same time we always get up,” Cadance replied as she pointed out the window. “If anything, you’re behind schedule. See? Sun was up a good thirty minutes ago. I’ve already had my bath and fixed my mane. Now, you need to get ready.”

After taking a moment to very carefully wipe some of the sleepiness from a single eye with her hoof, Sunset summoned up her magic, intent on shoving the wicked sun back down beneath the horizon and smacking it around a bit to teach the thing a lesson. She even had the fantastic line of “not if I say it isn’t” in her head, ready to be used. But then she realized the foolishness of such an action just in time to stop herself and jumped back on the bed to wrap herself in the covers for protection against the day. “Goodnight.”

A few more hours of sleep, and she could take care of some things that still needed to be done before making her exit from Equestria. The top of the list being: FINDING THE FUCKING EXIT!

Sunset hadn’t been too worried to find the mirror gone, after her initial panic attack that is. Although Celestia hadn’t put it back in storage when everything happened before, it also hadn’t done the alarming thing of spitting out an alicorn. So, it made sense that she would have locked it back up in the palace vault where she kept all of her mystical crap. Only, when Sunset had checked the place out the other day under the pretense of giving her friends an all access tour of the castle, it wasn’t there either. Which meant that either one of two things had happened…

A. Princess Celestia had meant to have it moved into the enchanted artifact repository, but with most of the palace staff being total morons that Celestia probably only kept around because she was too nice a pony to kick any of them out unless they did something as unforgivable as THROWING A FUCKING BOOK AT HER...the mirror was probably in some out of the way storage closet.

B. Princess Celestia had the mirror moved out of the castle.

Sunset was really hoping for the first possibility, as the second would mean hours of searching through numerous documents under the false pretense of looking for a lost packing that got delivered to the wrong pony...or something. She hadn’t really gotten that far into it.

Before she made any real plans, Sunset needed sleep.

The fact that the mirror problem was just the latest in a long list of things that still needed to be done before Friday night was not lost on Sunset. She still needed to talk Celestia or Cadance into approving Spangled Star’s belated education program, find a tutor for Twilight, and make sure Cadance would at least console Shiny after the amber alicorn left.

There was also the matter of her journal, which was still missing. However, Sunset had decided to give up on looking for the damn thing. Talking with her mom after running away again would be much too painful. And there was always the possibility that Celestia could use the mystical connection of the books to force the portal open with proper motivation. Sunset knew that this Celestia wouldn’t just throw the thing away even if she came to think the amber alicorn had died on the other side of the portal. So, the journal was better off lost.

“Sunset, you need to get up,” the intrusive but sexy pink monster told her as Cadance yanked on the sheets.

In response to the lecturing tone coming from the hot pink pony, Sunset let out a extremely agitated groan, then picked up her head and glared at the offender. “Sunset no function sleep well without.”

“Huh?”

Sunset groaned and poked her head out from her blanket-shell, taking a second to remind herself that she was talking to her very good friend Cadance, who didn’t deserve to spend the rest of her life as a cockroach for trying the amber alicorn’s very short patience. “Look, I’m sorry I was so late getting back from Manehattan, missed your magic lessons, and left you alone for most of the night. But I need my sleep. No sleep means cranky Sunset. Cranky Sunset bad.”

“Okay first off, you’ve got nothing to be sorry for. Celestia took care of my training and I even managed to learn a few minor passive defensive spells that’ll keep me from being knocked out. But you need to go have breakfast with Princess Celestia,” Cadance told her firmly.

Sunset raised an eyebrow at the command. “Why?”

“Because she’s your loving mother who wants to see you as much as possible so she can tell you how much she loves you,” Cadance told her.

The explanation made Sunset blink...and then frown. “That’s just about the stupidest-wait a second,” she said as her brain began to clear as it detected an oddity.

The pink pony tilted her head to the side in confusion. “Yes?”

With the sudden realization of the danger she was in, Sunset’s mind threw off the last bit of sleepiness, putting her at optimal processing speed before the amber alicorn lashed out with a three-pronged spell. The first part of her attack created a shield around the room that would prevent anything from escaping while the second turned half of the carpet into an adhesive and the third grabbed the creature in front of Sunset in a crushing telekinetic hold before she was slammed into the floor belly up, pinning its wings to the ground as well.

“S-Sunset!” the not-Cadance cried out in fear. “What’re you DOING?”

“SHUT UP!” Sunset shouted at the not-Cadance. She jumped off the bed and stormed up to the trapped creature, actually glad that her hoofsteps made the whole castle shake with her anger. “You know, I thought Cadance’s fears were just her being stupid. But I let her in because, she was the only creature I've ever known that gave me a second chance, no strings attached, and no constant reminders of my past. Because she had faith in me." The thought put a distracting flutter in Sunset's heart that she quickly shook away. "And...I'll admit it, I actually liked cuddling with her. Not because I never really thought she was any real danger.

“But then I’m gone for a day, don’t renew the protection wards and what happens?” Sunset asked as she reached the pinned quadruped to get right in her frightened face. “SHE GETS KIDNAPPED BY CHANGELINGS!”

The eyes of the changeling that looked like Cadance widened in fear. “W-What? Sunset, I'm not a changeling!”

Sunset glared down at the lying changeling. “I’ll admit, you’ve got her mannerisms down pretty good. But you made one mistake,” she growled. “One of my biggest fuckups since I came back is that I’m driving a wedge between her and Celestia. There’s no way that the real Cadance would talk like that when my mom was the topic. NOW WHERE IS SHE?”

“Okay, okay,” the changeling said. “You’re right. I was forcing myself to sound happier than I was feeling.”

The lack of a proper answer made Sunset growl. “That’s not a location.”

The changeling gulped. “Sunset, wait!” it pleaded. “Princess Celestia, s-she’s got a magic potion that can reveal a changeling. G-Go get it, and it’ll prove that I’m not a changeling.”

Sunset frowned. “How do you know about that?”

“Because I’m Cadance!” it replied desperately.

“Or…” Sunset began to reason aloud. “You’ve already found out about it and developed a counter. Hell, the fact that you’re the one suggesting I go get it practically proves you’ve already have a way to bypass the detection potion!”

Not-Cadance gave Sunset a disbelieving look. “Seriously?”

As the changeling’s attitude became more relaxed, Sunset’s anger exploded. “You know what? Fuck this! I know you’re a changeling and know you bastards took Cadance,” she said before she reached forward and touched her hoof to the imposter’s leg. “So, I'm going to ask you six more times, and every time you don’t tell me, I'm going to rip off a limb.”

Judging by the wide eyes and way the pink creature froze solid, Sunset guessed that not-Cadance had begun realizing just how fucked she was.

“Now,” Sunset said as she clamped down on a pink leg and grit her teeth. “Where. Is. Cadance?”

“Y-You spent the past three years in another dimension where you were transformed into a hairless bipedal creature called a human!” the captured pony shouted in a panic. “Even though you love your mother dearly, you can’t get past the fact she abandoned you for three years in another timeline! A-AND YOU HAD A WET DREAM ABOUT ME A FEW NIGHTS AGO WHERE I WAS WORSHIPING YOUR SUN!”

Sunset blinked before staring at Cadance with wide eyes.

The real Cadance.

The Cadance that Sunset had just threatened.

A dozen thoughts ran through her mind as Sunset stepped away from Cadance. Although there was a brief moment of shame was quickly overshadowed by the embarrassment of Cadance finding out about her secret. “W-What? You...how do you know that?” the embarrassed mobile alicorn asked as she felt her cheeks heat up.

“Oh please. I’ve known you’ve wanted me physically for-oh, you mean how do I know the specifics of your dream? Well...you talk in your sleep, Sunset. Among other things,” Cadance replied gently. “And don’t be so embarrassed. Fetishes are a natural part of a pony’s sexual individuality. Although...I am kind of curious why you like it when a pony-”

“I’ve never actually done it!” Sunset said before Cadance could finish. Embarrassed in the extreme, Sunset felt her cheeks heat up until her face was redder than her mane. Then, she looked down at the ground, hoping her mane was hiding her blush.

Despite all the hair in her way, Sunset could still see Cadance give the amber alicorn a questioning look. “Okay then, how did you...um...get the idea for-”

Sunset let out a groan. She couldn’t believe that Cadance actually wanted to talk about...that!

But, the amber alicorn had just pinned her to the floor and threatened to rip off her legs and wings, so…she owed it to the pink pony to do whatever Cadance wanted her to do.

“Well, w-when I got to be, you know...that age, the one where you’re old enough to notice a unicorn stallion’s...um...lower horn, I did what any super intelligent filly without enough life experience did. I researched it on my own,” Sunset started. “But I didn’t want just theoretical stuff. So I, um...looked through the palace library for um...factual accounts of...you know. I-I wanted to make sure I, um...got it right on the first try.”

Cadance looked like she tried to nod, but the adhesive stopped her from doing too much. “Well, that’s...mostly normal,” she said. “I’ve recommended plenty of books to ponies that had sexual questions, and even gave some advice to those who weren’t too squeamish to talk about it.”

For some reason, that did make Sunset feel a little more at ease. “Well, um...so...there weren’t any real…you know, step by step studies done of ponies having sex. But there were um...stories based on factual events with illustrations that I read over. And the mare of the pair, she liked to...you know.”

“Okay,” Cadance replied before a sudden frown appeared on her face. “Wait a second. Sunset, I’m pretty into romantic history, but I’ve never heard of a graphic love story involving-”

Sunset went back to blushing. “They were ancient stories! Really ancient. The palace is probably the only place in Equestria that has them anymore thanks to the spells protecting the books from damage due to age,” she said before looking away from Cadance. “And... I um...don’t think the Princess wanted more than one copy floating around.”

“Why’s that?” Cadance asked.

“Because...the main characters were…Commander Hurricane and...Princess Celestia.”

A silence followed Sunset’s declaration, making the amber alicorn look back in time to see Cadance blink in confusion. “Wait a second,” the pink princess mumbled. “You mean to tell me that the main example of romantic interaction you had during your formative years was a porno involving Commander Hurricane and your MOM?”


Cadance stormed down the hallway with a frown on her face and a meek Sunset in tow, much to her displeasure. Of course with the matter of Sunset’s lack of upbringing by Celestia that had a pre-teen filly turn to graphic romance novels put on hold until Cadance could look over said material and see what she was dealing with, Sunset had become an overly-apologetic wreck since she had done the exact bucking thing Celestia had pulled several days earlier!

It really had her wondering if there wasn’t some truth to the story of all the ponies that became alicorns were descended from Celestia in some way. Celestia and Sunset were just too much alike for there to be any other explanation!

“Cadance,” Sunset spoke up in a fearful tone, making the pink princess stop and silently dread what was coming next.

Still, she put on a little smile when it came time to turn her head and look at the pony she loved. “Yes, Sunset?”

Said pony gulped and looked towards Cadance in the way some ponies did when they refused to meet her eyes but didn’t want to insult a princess by not looking directly at her. “D-Do we have to tell Celestia about what happened?” Sunset asked as she slumped down a little more while her wings trembled.

Seeing Sunset cower in fear made Cadance just stare at the pony for several seconds as her mind worked to process the sight. She wanted to rush over and wrap her hooves around the bigger mare to assure her there was nothing to worry about. She wanted to kick Celestia, as the terrified reaction had to be the fault of the white pony since she was the only authority figure in Sunset’s life. She wanted to stand up and outright tell Sunset there was nothing for her to be worried about and she was proud of her friend for doing exactly what she should have done, even if the whole dismemberment threat might have been a little over the top.

Instead, she decided the safe route to let Sunset get her fears under control for the moment. So, Cadance stepped forward and put her hoof on Sunset’s shoulder. “Of course, Sunset. Whatever you want.”

Since assuring to hide Sunset’s quick thinking and commendable heroics seemed to calm the amber alicorn down, Cadance focused her attention to the plan she had concocted the night before. “So, Celestia told me some stories while she was teaching me magic the other day.”

Sunset winced as if she had been struck, making the pink princess hide a frown at the reaction. “W-What about?”

Cadance gave her a fake, if amused, smile. “Well, because I'm trying to learn more combat oriented magic, she told me a few of your mishaps with the stuff,” she explained. “Like the time you cast a dragon’s breath spell and it came out the wrong end.”

A disgruntled moan came from the bigger pony. “It took me a week to regrow my tail. Even with magic,” Sunset replied before looking back at the appendage.

Since reminding her of near-failures was probably a bad idea, Cadance went for one of the more adorable stories. “Then there was the time you turned a guard into a bird and wanted to keep him as a pet,” she said. “Princess Celestia said you looked so adorable when you asked her she almost said yes.”

Sunset sighed and hung her head. “Yep, that was me. Didn’t care about that pony’s job or anything else like his wife and foals. I just wanted a bird as a pet because Princess Celestia had one.”

A thousand warning sirens went off in Cadance’s mind, telling her that it probably wasn’t such a good idea to remind Sunset of her more interesting magical training sessions if she would look at them as failures. Thankfully, the conversation did unearth a topic that Cadance could show a genuine interest in. “Princess Celestia has a pet?”

“Yeah,” Sunset replied in a depressed tone. “Philomena. She’s a phoenix. You probably won’t see her until next year. If I remember correctly, this is the year phoenix look for mates and nest. It happens about once a decade.”

Cadance’s eyes widened. “A phoenix! Really? That must be a sight. I’ve never seen one myself.”

“They are pretty rare,” Sunset told her. “A lot of other more magical creatures like to hunt them. So it’s hard to keep their population up.”

Thankful she could end their conversation on a relatively good note, Cadance quickened her pace for the final leg of the trot to the dining room and opened the door with her magic. As usual, Celestia was already seated and drinking her tea. She looked up from the cup and smiled. “Good morning girls,” the white pony said before she looked over to Sunset. “Did you have a nice trip with your friend yesterday?”

Sunset kept her gaze on the table as she nodded while looking down at the furniture. “Yes. Sassy got all the materials that she needed.”

As Celestia’s eyes widened a bit after hearing Sunset’s tone, Cadance gave the white pony a pleading look and slowly shook her head. Please don’t ask what’s wrong. Please don’t ask what’s wrong. Please don’t ask what’s wrong. If they got into that, any attempts to have Sunset and Celestia taking another step on the path to relationship recovery would be a loss.

“Although,” Celestia went on after giving Cadance a worried look that lingered while she slowly turned her attention back to Sunset. “I can’t exactly say I’m happy about you pulling another student out of classes. Even if you don’t need the-”

Sunset didn’t let Celestia finish. “I’M SORRY! OKAY?” she yelled in a desperate tone as she looked up at Celestia, panic written all over her face. “I know, I screwed up. Sassy could have just told me what to buy. And-and now she’s behind in her classes, and there’s already a ton of work she still has to do this week just for the dresses. All because I wanted a stupid memento! Great job Sunset! Everypony else has to suffer because you wanted something cute and pretty.”

Cadance blanched. “Um-”

“And why not?” the amber alicorn went on as she sat up and threw her hooves in the air. “That’s the kind of pony I am, right?”

Across the table, Celestia went from giving Cadance a little frown to focusing her attention on the amber alicorn. “Sunset, that’s-”

Exactly the type of pony I am!” Sunset cried out. “The type of pony I've always been. Make everyone else suffer just to make myself feel better!”

Celestia gave Cadance a pleading look that screamed at her to fix this mess, and the pink princess reached over to Sunset...only to have her hoof knocked away when the amber alicorn raised her hooves back. “Okay, okay,” she said between panting breaths. “No need to tell me how much I've screwed up, I can fix this. I just need to cancel the dress, and talk to Sassy’s teachers. They’ll give her more time to turn things in in a princess asks them for it. Right?”

Since it didn’t seem like countering her self deprecating rant would do any good, Cadance tried a different approach. “Shouldn’t you have your breakfast first?” After she got a little food in her, was kept away from the coffee, and had some time to calm down, Cadance could pull Sunset out of her downward spiral and set her back on the proper path towards reconciliation with her mother.

“I don’t deserve breakfast!” Sunset replied as her horn lit up.

Cadance’s eyes widened as Sunset started to cast a spell that even the pink princess could recognize despite her inexperience. “No wait!” She managed to say before Sunset disappeared in a flash.

After Cadance’s vision cleared, Celestia let out a sigh. “So tell me. Did your plan to get Sunset talking with me again involve guilting her about her past mistakes so she goes back to the state she was in when she first got here?” she asked with a frown on her face.

The pink princess gulped. “Well, there was an...incident this morning,” she said. But, before Celestia could ask about what happened, Cadance moved onto something she needed to talk about. “It involved...well, Princess Celestia, have you heard of a romance novel called, To Worship the Sun?”


If there was one thing that Shining Armor loved about his parents’ night job, aside from the fact they were home all day, was that both of them wide awake for him to talk to them before school started. So, after waking up a little earlier than usual, he came downstairs in time so see his father come in from picking up the newspaper.

“Dad?” Shining Armor said as the older stallion sat down in his chair.

Night Light looked up at his son. “Yes, boy?”

Shining Armor took in a deep breath. “I...have a problem.”

“Go on.”

“Well, you see…” Shining Armor said as he tried to think of how best to explain things. “The Fall Formal is coming up, and...um...both Princess Sunset and Princess Cadance are going, or have plans to go, and-”

Night Light cleared his throat. “Son,” he said, stopping Shining Armor from speaking any more. “Are you actually going to complain to me that two beautiful ponies that can give both you and Twilight a better future are throwing themselves at you?”

“Umm...well...” he replied.

The older stallion sighed. “Son, have I ever told you how hard it was for me just to get your mother’s attention?” He asked before continuing on immediately after he asked his question. “I tried to use a spell to rearrange the stars in the sky.”

Shining Armor stopped himself from rolling his eyes. He had heard the story so many times before, he could recite it in his sleep. “Nearly blew your horn out trying.”

“Nearly blew my horn out trying to move them!” Night Light went on. “Had to spend a week in the hospital recovering! I was just lucky your mother had a Nightingale complex and felt guilty enough over the whole thing that she visited me every day while I was recovering.”

When Night Light paused to take a breath, Shining Armor managed to get a word in. “I know Dad. You tell me that story every time I tell you I don’t have a date for the weekend.”

The older stallion snorted. “Now, you’ve got a pair, a pair of princesses just throwing themselves at you, and you’re actually complaining about it?” he asked before his horn lit up and the newspaper floated up into the air. “Son, your mother always stopped me from guiding you with a firm hoof, but in this case, I’ve got to take drastic measures.”

Shining Armor blinked as his father rolled up the newspaper in has magic, then clipped the young stallion on the ear. “Ow!”

“Bad pony! Bad pony!” Night Light said as he smacked his son upside the head twice. “Stop. Complaining. About. Having. Too. Much. Royal. Attention!”

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Okay! Okay!” Shining Armor said before he fled his father’s wrath by galloping i to the kitchen as his mother was cutting the fruit for breakfast. “Mom-”

Velvet looked back at the taller pony. “I heard dear,” she said. “But before I give you a hoof, let me ask you something. Do you want to be with one of them?”

The question made Shining Armor blink at the obvious answer. “Well, yeah. I just...don’t know which one. Yet...anyway.”

“Then perhaps you should go tell them that before they get too invested in this dance,” Velvet said. “Princess Celestia did say we could come back anytime we wanted and the guards would let us in.”

“...right,” Shining Armor replied uneasily as he remembered his meeting with the Princess. She had not been what he expected at all.

Velvet raised an eyebrow at the young stallion. “Well?”

“What?”

“Shouldn’t you get going? It’s a bit of a walk to the place, and I’d hate for you to miss breakfast,” she told him. “Which you can ask one of the royals for when you get there.”

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. “You want me to go now?”

The light gray mare let out a sigh. “Shiny, I love you dearly, but I know if you don’t do it now, you’ll come up with a dozen reasons to procrastinate, and by the time school has started you’ll of talked yourself out of it,” Velvet told him. “So do it now. And I’ll be sure to ask Princess Sunset about it later today when she comes to see your sister.”

So, Shining Armor found himself leaving his house just as Celestia brought the sun up into the sky. The trip to the Celestial palace didn’t take as long as it usually did thanks to the streets being nearly empty. However, when he got to the palace and found a crowd standing outside the main gate.

Nearly a dozen pegasi in armor circled the crowd overhead. Occasionally, one or two would call out the time or tell a pony to get back in a line that Shining Armor couldn’t make out. To him, the group of ponies standing, sitting, or even laying around looked more like a half-asleep mob than anything else.

“What's all this?” Shiny asked the nearest pony, an earth mare with a county dress on that had an apple motif that was looking at something on the other side of her Shining Armor couldn’t see.

The pony turned her head towards Shining Armor. “What're ya askin’ a fool question like that? This here’s the line to talk to Princess Celestia!”

Shining Armor looked at the assemblage of various ponies. Most looked to be dressed in their absolute best, which ranged in style wildly from pony to pony. Although, there were a few similarities. Most wore predominantly white clothes, with a little pink, light blue, sunny yellow, or outright gold thrown in. It didn’t take long for Shining Armor to realize they were the colors of Celestia's coat, mane, or regalia.

“Now what’re ya just standin’ there fer?” the earth pony mare asked as she became a little more ‘ornery’ as she would probably put it. “You ain’t one of them cutters, is ya?”

Shining Armor blinked. “What? No, I’m here to see a different princess.”

“Likely story!” the earth pony before she gave Shining Armor a measuring frown. “You...yer tryin’ ta skip the line, ain’t cha?”

What?” Shining Armor asked the mare he was starting to think was a few apples short of a bushel.

“That is what cher doin’!” she exclaimed before looking up into the sky. “Guards! Guards! We got ourselves a line cutter! Heeeeelp!”

Shining Armor quickly backed away from the crazy old mare. “What? No! That’s not-” A shadow falling across his vision made Shining Armor look up to see half a dozen pegasi coming down towards him at speeds too fast for his comfort.

“This is what we trained for boys!”

“Dive dive dive!”

“If you don't spill his guts, you get no glory!”

A scream escaped Shining Armor’s mouth before the mass of feathered ponies crashed into him, and then...darkness.


“So, we spent the rest of the day cantering back to Manehattan!” Sassy went on as she trotted next to her best friend. “If not for the guards she had fly us home, I'd probably still be on the train.”

Fleur gave her friend a sympathetic look as they continued to go down the street on their way to school.

However, the third member of their trio wasn’t very concerned with Sassy’s discomfort. Upper Crust just let out a loud whine. “I can’t believe you're whining about having to spend time with a princess!” she herself complained. “I wasn’t even invited to the castle. I mean, honestly! If any of us should have been introduced to Princess Celestia, it should have been me! How could that nopony Cheerilee rate an audience while I got nothing?”

“Well,” Fleur began as she tried to think of something to say to try and console her yellow friend.

“Because Princess Sunset doesn’t like you,” Sassy said with a deadpan expression.

Crusty flinched as if struck. “Well, that’s just-”

“Because you yelled at Cheery the other day?”

Both Fleur and Crust gave the third unicorn a measuring look. “Cheery?” the taller pony asked. “Since when are the two of you on a nickname basis?”

Sassy snorted. “Since I’ve been going to my house to get help with my homework,” the blue unicorn told her. “With Cinch gone, nopony’s going to have our grades adjusted, and I intend on graduating this year.”

Fleur raised an eyebrow at the comment. As far as she knew, Cheerilee was a freshmare. So how could she help Sassy with homework?

“Ah!” Crust replied as her expression changed to one of understanding. “So you’re just using her to do your homework. That makes sense. You had me worried for a second Sassy. I thought you were actually becoming friends with that mud-”

The expression on Sassy’s already annoyed face became a frown. “You don’t want to finish that sentence,” Sassy warned Crust before she stepped forward to glare down at the short pudgy unicorn. “You know, I've had to swallow a lot of my objections whenever I wanted to disagree with you because out of the three of us. Your family had the most money, the most influence. I had to put up with you because I knew you were petty enough to sabotage any chances of ever making here in Canterlot.

“But now, things are different,” Sassy went on. “We’ve attracted the attention of princesses, ponies that could topple entire corporate empires with a word...and one of them doesn’t like you all that much.”

The remainder made Crusty gulp.

“And just in case you’re too dull to figure out what that means,” Sassy said before she got muzzle to muzzle with Crusty. “We don’t need you anymore.”

With that, Sassy turned around and began to trot away from the other two unicorns, making Fleur chase after her for a moment. “Sassy, where are you GOING?”

“I’m heading to Cheerilee’s apartment so I can walk to school with her,” she replied. “If you ever feel the need for some pleasant conversation, you’re welcome to join us.”

Fleur almost called back to Sassy to wait, sure that she could talk the other unicorn into staying. But...she could deny the urge to go with her. Upper Crust had always been abrasive, but Fluer and Sassy had always been able to ride out the storms.

“That…” Fleur heard Upper Crust say from behind her. “That...horse! After everything I’ve done for her! Can you believe what she said to me? Me! I…I made that mare! How can-”

Fleur tuned Crusty out as they continued their journey to the school, nodding her head in all the right places whenever Upper Crust made a comment that needed a reply, or mentioned how her parents had introduced Fleur's mother to Fancy Pants’s father.

The last was something that still had Fleur nervous as hay. Although she had seen the older stallion around Canterlot the year before, he had graduated and took his post-secondary education abroad. Now, their parents had decided the two of them were a good match, and she was set to meet him in less than a week. His family had position, while she had... looks and good breeding.

It was a match that promised a roaming eye once Fancy had put a foal in her and Fleur put on some pregnancy pudge.

When they got to the school, Fleur’s worries turned to another matter. Just like every time she came to the academy’s entrance, the white unicorn found herself looking out the corner of her eyes at the other students. They weren’t quite staring at her, but she could see what they thought of her and Crusty.

Although they weren’t feared in the same way Buck and his lackeys were, the female majority gave the two of them a wide berth. It was something Fleur found herself...uneasy about.

While she had never been the most friendly of ponies, Fleur de Lis had never considered herself the type of mare other ponies wanted to avoid. Sociable skills were a requirement for a rich stallion’s horn candy after all. And while she controlled the social circles at Canterlot Academy, it wasn’t because other ponies wanted her to do it like with Princess Cadance.

For some reason Fleur couldn’t quite understand, that bothered her.

“So, we’re agreed then?” Upper Crust asked.

Fleur stopped herself mid-nod, and looked over to the shorter unicorn. “We’re...agreed?”

“Excellent,” the yellow mare replied with a smile that Fleur didn’t like very much. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything. Just back me up, and everything will be fine.”

An uneasy feeling made its way up the back of the taller unicorn’s spine. “Crusty, maybe you should think about-” Fleur said right as the bell rang, cutting her off.

When it was over, Upper Crust talked before Fleur de Lis could get another word in. “I’ll see you at lunch! Just give me your notes for second period!”

And like that, she darted around the nearby corner, disappearing into the quickly-forming sea of ponies before Fleur could stop her.

For the rest of the morning, Fleur’s mind was a mess of worry. She was unable to focus on any of her classes, but managed to get promises from some of the other students to let her borrow and copy their notes later on. Some did it with a fearful edge to their tone while others were hopeful and even went so far as to mention the princesses. Both left a bad taste in the young mare’s mouth that she hoped lunch would fix.

When she came to the table, Sunset and and Cadance were already sitting in their usual spots with veritable twin feats in front of them and a place for Shining Armor empty between them for when the colt came along. Fleur would never say it where the alicorns could overhear for fear of what both of them might do to her, but she liked the young stallion. He was honest, funny, and sweet in his own way that made him kind of cute.

Not enough for her to try anything though. Nothing looked that good. Fleur liked having her horn unbroken and an unobstructed rectum. Something she had a feeling either Sunset or Cadance would change if they caught Fleur making a move on Shiny.

“Your Majesties,” she said before inclining her head towards the pair of royalty before taking her seat. Since they were in public, neither of the girls got angry at the use of their titles. Which in turn had Fleur looking to the piles of food in front of each princess.

While she would never say anything out loud, Fleur was a little put off by how much Sunset and Cadance ate. Both by the fact that they practically gorged themselves at every meal and how neither seemed to gain a single… Fleur’s thought’s stopped as she noticed something.

Several somethings. For starters, Princess Sunset seemed much more subdued in the way she moved than normal. Then, there was something else. Fleur couldn’t quite put her horn on it, but…something was just...different about the amber alicorn.

Not wanting to be rude if Her Highness didn’t want to talk about it, Fleur used the classic way to open discussions on physical appearances. “Princess Sunset?” she asked. “Did you...do something different with your mane?”

Sunset looked up and blinked at Fleur’s question. “Huh?”

Next to the amber alicorn, Cadance finished one of her four milks and turned her attention to the pony with the pink mane. “Alicorns have random growth spurts shortly after ascension that happens across the board based on their magical reserves,” she explained. “Which means you’re probably not going to see much from me for awhile, but Sunset...well, you can already tell the difference.”

Princess Sunset looked over to Cadance with an expression Fleur would have called fearful on another pony. From what she had seen, Princess Sunset didn’t have that emotion. “What are you two talking about?”

“You’re taller Sunset,” the pink princess replied. “Twily noticed it the other day at Shiny’s house. It’s not much, but you’ve definitely gained an inch or two. If you want a better explanation, talk to your mom.”

Any conversation Princess Sunset was going to make on the issue was cut short when Shining Armor’s friends trotted over and took their seats. This was soon followed by Cheerilee, who had apparently added Sassy Saddles to her little group on top of that pink-maned mare. Upper Crust’s absence made Fleur worried as well.

Both of the alicorns immediately took notice of the empty seat between them and looked over to Gaffer. “Where’s Shiny?” Princess Sunset asked.

“He didn’t show up for class today,” Eight-Bit replied after the unicorn next to him shrugged helplessly.

Princess Cadance’s expression became concerned. “Oh. I knew he looked ill yesterday.”

An uncharacteristic level of worry appeared on Princess Sunset’s face. “He’s sick?” she asked before her eyes darted about a bit, showing that she was working something out in her head. “Well, I can mix up a potion after school to boost his immune response and bring it to his house when it’s time to tutor Twilight.

“And that reminds me,” she said before looking over to Sassy. “You’ll need to come too if you want to work out the details of those dresses. Which, I um...also need to talk to you about. I’ll help you with your homework too if you want.”

Feeling a bit left out, Fleur cut in. “Can I come as well, Princess?” she asked before the topic could change. “Sassy and I help each other out with our homework sometimes. And if you’re going to be busy with her and Princess Cadance, I could walk Shining Armor through his assignments.”

Sunset shrugged. “Okay. But if Shiny’s parents want you gone, that’s that,” she told them. “We’ll be there to work, not party, and make sure Shining Armor is okay.”

Just as everypony agreed to the conditions, a yellow unicorn came over with her usual boxed lunch. “Hello everypony,” Upper Crust said before she sat down. “Sorry I’m late. My idiot butler took forever to deliver my lunch today. Did I miss anything?”

Fleur raised an eyebrow at the lie. She knew for a fact Crusty had brought her lunch like always. But, rather than pointing that out and cause a scene in front of the Princesses, she simply ate her lunch as Sunset waved the question away with a nothing answer.


Shining Armor felt miserable.

After getting tackled and turned into the bottom of a pegasus pile, the guards had been rather rough during their brief on the spot interrogation that involved Shining Armor being shouted at, then having his hindquarters raised while the rest of him was kept prone so they could examine his cutie mark in front of everypony in the crowd. And after that, as if being held up by his tail and put on display wasn’t bad enough, one of the guards had the bright idea that his cutie mark might be faked. So, they took a brush and gave him a harsh scrubbing it ended up tearing out and messing up several hairs, turning the star that had been the center of his cutie mark into a rough blob. Then, even after learning he was on the immediate entry list to see the Princess, the guards shoved Shining Armor into a large side room with gigantic furniture that made him feel like five years old again before saying the Princess would be with him as soon as she was able and locking the door with magic that was much too complex for him to hope to undo.

So, Shining Armor sat on the pillow provided in front of the large table, and waited. For four hours, despite the pain in his empty stomach and his aching muscles, Shining Armor waited for Princess Cadance. Even after Cadance should have left for school, Shining Armor waited.

Although admittedly, the last part was because the door was locked.

So, hours later, long after his body was saying he needed medical attention, food, and the ruination of his attendance for the day, Shining Armor heard the door open behind him. “Where in the buck have you-!”

“Hello my little pony, what is it you-” the big white pony with the golden crown atop her flowing multicolored mane said before blinking in surprise. “Shining Armor?”

“P-Princess…Celestia?” Shining Armor squeaked out as he realized just whom he had yelled at. Even worse, who he had cursed at! There had to be some kind of law against cursing in front of a princess. Much less at one.

The Princess blinked several times. “What are you doing here?” she asked before giving him a little frown that was more questioning than angry. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”

“I... I...I…” Shining Armor said as his mouth refused to form any more words.

Then, to make a bad situation even worse, Shining Armor's stomach rumbled. It was a loud rumble, one big enough to seemingly echo throughout the monstrous room. It also made Shining Armor start talking again. “I’m sorry! I haven’t had breakfast! And I needed to talk to Cadance-Princess Cadance! And when I got to the palace some guards attacked me and even after they heard I was on the entry list they-they-they,” he repeated over and over so fast he barely had time to take a breath.

All of a sudden, a furry wall of white appeared in front of him. Two huge forelegs reached down to pull the young stallion forward and lift him off the ground a bit before completely enveloping him in a warm blanket of white.

“Shhhhhh,” a gentle voice that glided on the breeze into his ear said. “It’s okay, my little pony. Everything will be alright. Calm yourself and relax. One breath after another. That’s it. It’s okay, I’m here, everything will be alright now.”

Despite the odd fact Princess Celestia was holding him like a foal, Shining Armor found himself calming down considerably. While part of him was confused at the fact the leader of Equestria had him in a hug, Shining Armor didn’t care. Being held by the Princess felt...good, like when he was just a little colt and his mother comforted him after a bad day.

Then, as his mind cleared, Princess Celestia pulled away and looked down at Shining Armor. “Now what was that about-” she said before Shining Armor’s stomach rumbled again, forcing her to stop. “Hmm, perhaps it would be best if we had lunch brought to us first. Then, you can tell me why you’re here, alright?”


Centuries of experience and the help of the salad she was chewing on masked Celestia's growing fury as Shining Armor finished his story about how he was practically thrown out of his own house, accosted by the guards, then confined to the private audience chamber while Celestia finished hearing cases in the morning court. Such was her anger that she had to adjust the air conditioning enchantment on the room twice to keep the little stallion from noticing the rise in temperature.

“And then, I um…”

Since it looked like the calming potion Celestia had snuck in the colt’s tea was showing its limits, she decided to take over and have some fun at the same time. It would be a good way to settle herself after the horrific morning with Sunset, followed by the tale of Shining Armor’s troubles. “Yelled at me.”

As the colt tensed, Celestia fought the urge to loosen Shining up a bit, and focused on a much more pressing​ concern she had after hearing his story. “Shining, are your parents pressuring you into a relationship with Sunset?”

“No,” he replied after thinking on it for a moment. “My dad’s just...well, being Dad.”

Celestia nodded. “I see.” According to the books on parenting she had been looking over recently, the deal with it yourself approach to parenting might have seemed a bit harsh, but it did tend to produce more independent ponies that were used to adversity. “And as to your question, why you were brought here instead of being told about Sunset’s departure,” she said before pausing to push down the pain the fresh memory of her daughter becoming a panicky mess brought up. “I’m afraid that’s my fault. I was the one to give you instant access to the palace. So when you showed up needing to see the Princess, the guards probably assumed you meant me.”

The mention of the guards got a sour reaction from the colt as he looked down at the bowl of fruit next to his mineral cubes. “Right, the guards.”

“Yes,” Celestia said, matching her tone to his. “I know that being in Canterlot makes them far too exuberant when it comes time to actually do something, but their treatment of you is inexcusable. I will have them dealt with. Perhaps reassignment to someplace even more dull without any of the comforts Canterlot can offer, like the frozen wastes of the North, will teach them that.”

As Shining Armor's face became more uncomfortable at the declaration, Celestia found her curiosity rising. “You do not approve?” she asked calmly as to invite Shining Armor's honest opinion. “While I do think that punishment in the effort to correct behavior is best saved for foals, I have been meaning to send more ponies up north.”

With the Crystal Empire due to return within the decade, Celestia needed to make sure that Equestria was ready for the other thing that was likely to come with it.

Although, there was a tiny bit of getting back at them as well. “But, the post is pretty useless, which I’m sure they’ll realize as well. And you know what they say, there’s nothing more pathetic than a useless pony.”

“It’s...not that...Your Highness,” Shining Armor replied before looking back at his food.

When it seemed that was all he was going to talk about on the subject, Celestia gave him a smirk and leaned over the table a bit so they were closer to being eye to eye. “Insult me.”

“P-Princess?” Shining Armor asked, clearly both surprised and confused by the request.

Since the colt didn’t do as instructed, Celestia sat back up to her full height and amended her plan a bit. Since she couldn’t get him to get rid of one nervous subject, she would need to focus his attention on something else that would be equally distressing, and then calm him down from there. “Or better yet... What was it you said when we first met, Shining Armor?” She asked, making the colt freeze up again. But before the poor boy could start stammering an apology for something that wasn’t his fault, she kept talking. “Oh that’s right. She really does have the biggest plot in all of Canterlot.”

As the colt began to sweat again, which had nothing to do with the temperature since Celestia had long since cooled off, the white pony went on. “I take it you know the song then?”

Shining Armor sunk into his cushion with a whine while Celestia cleared her throat. “Now how does it go again?” She asked before pausing for a moment and pretending to think. “Ah yes.”

She’s got the biggest plot in Canterlot
It jiggles around with every trot.
Now everypony join in the fun
Let’s all go and worship the sun

By the time Celestia finished, Shining Armor was gaping at her, which got a laugh from the white pony. “I know I shortened it quite a bit, but if I took the time to sing every single verse that tune has gained in the two-thousand years it has been around, we’d be here until your next birthday.”

“P-Princess I-um, I-”

“Shining Armor,” she said before the little colt could give himself an aneurysm. “I am well aware that after hundreds of years of being the ponification of​ physical beauty, the vast majority of Equestria has at least one or two magazines with magically altered pictures of me with my tail raised, or with some stallion on my back. Why, the richer colts can even afford to have themselves ​altered in.”

The way Shining Armor looked down at the table in an attempt to hide his blush told Celestia he had at least a few of the cheaper ones back home. Which also gave the big alicorn another opening to put him even more off balance. “You should probably let your friends take possession of them by the way. While I’m sure Sunset would understand you having a few of them during your sexual awakening, I don’t think she’d react well to you getting relief using lewd pictures of her mother.”

Although, after the conversation Celestia and Cadance had after Sunset fled, the amber alicorn might be more understanding than most. The memory of which probably guided her to guide the conversation to where it was now. It was both an annoyance and a relief that Celestia had never seen the book Sunset had become acquainted with herself. Something she would have fix before tonight.

She just hoped it wasn’t too...factual.

Shining Armor let out another squeak and bent down to eat some more of his breakfast while Celestia finished off her tea. Then, once the colt had gotten some time to finish his food, Celestia moved on to the heart of the matter. “Now, what can I help you with today my little colt?”

“Y-You, Princess?” he stuttered.

The continued reluctant made Celestia roll her eyes. “I think after our little discussion involving your earlier activities of my likeness shows that I am more than comfortable in handling even the most awkward relationship conversations involving your relationship with my daughter,” Celestia told him. “Which is why you wanted to speak with Cadance in the first place, correct?”

Shining Armor gulped, but eventually nodded. “Yes, Princess.”

When didn’t immediately continue, Princess Celestia thought she would need to do something to get him going, but after taking in a deep breath, Shining Armor started talking again. “Well, you see Princess…I had these dreams last night…”

The big alicorn listened attentively as Shining Armor went on about his nightmares the night before, letting him take his time as he explained the visions in detail. There were several parts that made Celestia want to laugh, but with the little colt being so uncomfortable already, she held herself back until the very end.

By that point, she couldn’t resist. “So, you want Sunset to stick your whole body in her pus-”

“WHAT?” Shining Armor shrieked, obviously horrified at the impossible idea. “N-No!”

Celestia faked a gasp of surprise. “Her plot hole, then?” She said before grinning and leaning down to smile at the embarrassed stallion. “Oh you dirty little pony. Although, I suppose I’m not one to judge. During my first hundred years I loved to-”

As Shining Armor let out another whine and lowered his head onto the table, Celestia stopped talking. “Hmmm, perhaps that was a bit much,” she said before giving him an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry Shining Armor. You being Sunset’s first coltfriend, I'm not sure when to stop with my parental needling. Now, I take it you have an idea of the deeper meaning of these dreams and the fears that gave rise to them?”

Shining Armor nodded. “Yes. Cadance...she wants this impossibly perfect pony that, well...only you can be.”

“My little pony,” Celestia told him, pushing down the conflicting thoughts on his feelings for the pink princess after hearing Shining Armor say her name. But then, she remembered who she was talking to. The pony in front of her wasn’t Sunset or Cadance, she couldn’t get too familiar with him. “Nopony expects you to be me.”

“And um, as far as Sunset goes…” A blush appeared on his face again and he looked back down at the table. “Am I...well, does Sunset...she... I'm afraid...if we, um hook-up, will I just be there to...have sex with her?”

Celestia blinked. It seemed that her earlier topic to shake Shining Armor up had been a good pick after all. If not for her ribbing, it would have taken him an hour to get as far as he just did. “What makes you ask me something like that?”

“I want to be in the royal guard,” Shining Armor told her as he turned his eyes up towards Celestia again. “Even with everything that’s happened today. But Sunset…” Instead of talking about how the amber alicorn was likely to protect him to the point of putting the colt in a box, Shining Armor went an unexpected route. “She doesn’t need a guard! She doesn’t even need an army! Any monster, or griffon, or anything else that tries to attack Equestria, she’ll clobber it in seconds!”

“So, you’re afraid that Sunset’s existence makes your life’s ambition moot,” Celestia said as she found the earlier joviality fading at the unexpected problem. The way Shining Armor had been talking before, Celestia had been expecting him to ask if Sunset respected him. As it was, she was a bit lost when it came to words that would reassure the colt. “Well, I can’t say that your worries are completely unjustified. Just...misdirected.

“Canterlot isn’t the place for guards to distinguish themselves. Just last month, the lack of accolades had me pinning a medal on a guard’s chest for saving a cat from a tree,” Celestia told him. “During the last time the city was truly under threat sixty years ago, I was the pony that dealt with it while a group of unicorns maintained the shield I erected.”

For some reason, Shining Armor brightened up a bit at Celestia’s words as she considered very carefully what to say next. Because she knew her next words could either make or break Sunset’s relationship with the colt. And Celestia had to decide just which path she wanted that relationship to take.

Sunset was never supposed to have a coltfriend. She was supposed to replace Celestia and rule Equestria from atop Canterlot by herself. Cadance would be there to help her in the beginning, but she would eventually fade once Sunset had grown enough to carry the weight by herself. All alone. Forever isolated by her power and position. Time might bring another worthy to raise the moon and rule beside her, but Celestia knew that would be several years after her own life ended. If...ever.

Celestia found the idea of her master plan for Sunset leaving a bad feeling in her gut. It was an oddity, considering how long such thoughts had been in her mind over the decades without a problem. But now, with Sunset finally showing herself worthy to replace Celestia in her duties, the Solar Princess found herself having second thoughts.

But if Sunset became too emotionally invested in another pony that was destined to leave her hurt and alone, not even considering the possibility that the colt in front of her would fail or betray Sunset before then, it would be better to make sure that never had a chance to happen.

“Shining Armor,” Celestia finally said. “I’m afraid you’ve been living under a misconception. Although ponies work to protect Equestria as part of the guard, the truth of things is that aside from law enforcement duties of the civil division that are too numerous for me to deal with personally, the EUP is little more than an early warning system that tells me of any real threats to Equestria and slows them down before I make the time to take care of the problem.”

As the colt’s ears drooped a bit upon hearing the news, Celestia did her best to put a positive light on the situation. “I do not tell you this to be cruel,” she said. “In truth, many ponies enter the guard hoping to make a name for themselves or become heroes of some sort, only to become dismayed and bitter with the reality of their job. So I believe it is best of you know just what you’re getting into before you take that first step.”

Shining Armor was silent as he mulled over Celestia’s words while the big alicorn continued to consider how to handle the colt.

“But, that was before Sunset and Cadance came along,” Celestia went on as a little thought popped into her head. “With three alicorns around, I doubt the EUP will be of any real use at all.”


When school ended, Sunset teleported everypony to Sassy’s apartment to let the unicorn gather her things. After she and Cadance had to sit through being gushed over by the blue unicorns parents, Sunset brought them all back to the room she and Cadance shared in the castle before having one of the maids fetch some snacks for the girls and take their orders for dinner since it would take a little time for the healing potions to brew. Then came the part that made her nervous.

Sunset headed to her mother’s quarters.

Although turning Celestia’s attention in Shiny’s general direction had her worried, Sunset wasn’t confident in her own alchemical skills with them being so out of practice. She would have loved to solve everything with her horn, but natural unicorn magic was only good for healing unnatural damage. Disease was another creature entirely.

A golden glow surrounded the double doors with the sun emblem before they opened to reveal the only pony in Canterlot taller than Sunset. “Sunset,” Celestia said before worry appeared in her eyes. “Are you alright?”

The question made Sunset remember how they had parted, which sent a fresh wave of guilt through the amber alicorn. She had just ran off. Considering the mess she had been at the time, Celestia must have been worried half to death. “I’m sorry!” she blurted out in a rush before looking down at the ground. Sunset took a second to compose herself, but didn’t look up towards her mother. “I shouldn’t have taken off like I did...this morning. You must have been so worried. I should have popped back at lunch or come home early to tell you everything was okay.”

Celestia reached out to place a leg on Sunset’s back before guiding her into the royal apartment with a hoof. Then, a pair of lips touched Sunset’s cheek, and the amber alicorn looked up as her mother began speaking. “Sunset,” she said gently. “I’ve found ever since I had some sense knocked into me that a parent will always worry about her foal. So there is no reason for you to feel bad about this morning. All I care about is if you are feeling better.”

Her words didn’t make Sunset feel any less guilty. Forgiveness didn’t change what she did.

“Now, since I doubt you’ve come just to spend time with me,” Celestia said as she walked around to lay on her couch before looking back to the amber alicorn. “How can I help you, Sunset?”

Even though Sunset knew Celestia hadn’t meant to add a few more miles to her guilt trip, Sunset felt even more awful after hearing her mother’s words. “I-I’m sorry. I really haven’t been spending much time with you lately, have I?”

Celestia let out a mystical laugh. “Hehehe. Oh Sunset! With all the friends you have now, if you spent all your time with an old mare like me then I would worry,” she said before smiling at her daughter. “In fact, seeing you spend time with them instead of me happier than I have been in centuries. Now, let me ask you again, how can I help you? And are you feeling better?”

“Well, I'm a bit tired,” Sunset said before she took in a breath to calm herself. As she waited for her body to get back under control, the amber alicorn took a moment to look around Celestia’s living room. It was a bit cleaner than last time she had seen it, but there were still plans for the coronation she wouldn't be attending sitting on the center table, along with a book on parenting Sunset hadn’t seen before.

The sight of the book made Sunset’s ears droop. Celestia was trying so hard to be what Sunset had needed for so long despite the fact it was the one thing she had no experience with, and Sunset wasn’t making it easy for her.

After blinking a few times to stop herself from crying, Sunset dove into what she needed to do before her mask broke. “One of my friends didn’t come to school today. I think me might be sick. So, I wanted to make him a curative potion, but...it’s been awhile since I did alchemy. Could you...help me, help him?”

Celestia gave Sunset a bright smile. “Of course!”


It didn’t take Celestia long to deduce that the friend Sunset was speaking about was Shining Armor. The question that was on her mind as she and Sunset cantered to the lab was, what to do about it?

There was also Sunset’s physical state to consider. Cadance had mentioned that Sunset had come in late the night before after Sunset had her episode over breakfast. Celestia knew the amber alicorn could get awfully cranky when she didn’t get a full night’s sleep. Judging by how Sunset had reacted to her simply finding out the colt existed, learning that Celestia had spoken to him about his relationship with both the girls wouldn’t go over well. So keeping it secret would be best best action for now.

But once Sunset found out Celestia had been seeing Shining Armor behind her back...she couldn’t get the image of a Sunset erupting with anger out of her head. While she didn’t really fear Sunset’s anger, the fact that when the truth came out it would burn down whatever bridges they made did scare her.

So, she could take the fallout of her actions now, or kick it down the road and face even worse consequences later. But by then, her relationship with Sunset might improve to the point where the blow wouldn’t affect it as much.

Oh...what should I do? Celestia asked herself.

The problem was, she had never faced such a problem with Sunset before! The only thing that even came close was that story Sunset told her about how everything had gone wrong between them after becoming an alicorn…

I was just so angry,” the Sunset from inside Celestia’s memory said as the solar alicorn thought back to when her daughter came back. “From the moment we met, you’d been keeping things from me. I know now it was for the best, that it was for my benefit, but...even now, it still hurts, just a little.”

The unease Celestia felt tripled as she finished going over what Sunset had said to her that day. “Oh dear.”

“Mom?” Sunset said as they came to the palace’s alchemical laboratory. “Something wrong?”

Thinking it would be better to talk about this in private, Celestia opened the door to the lab and led Sunset inside. After her fiery daughter followed her in, the bigger alicorn shut the door and placed a muffling enchantment around the room to ensure any shouting that ensued. Once she was sure nopony would hear them, Celestia looked back to her daughter. “Sunset, this colt that you’re worried about. Is it Shining Armor?”

The question made Sunset’s wing fidget ever so slightly. But other than that, she showed no sign of unease. “Yeah,” she confessed tensely.

Well, so much for hoping it was some other pony she was helping, Celestia told herself. At least then, she would have had an excuse to back out of telling Sunset at the last second and guide events to ensure that when she did find out, her reaction would be much more controlled.

“In that case, I can assure you that there is nothing to worry about,” Celestia told her daughter as her muscles tensed and an uncomfortable pressure built up in the back of her mind. Then, she opened her mouth and…

Tell her, Celestia ordered herself. Just tell her and get everything over with! She took an a deep breath and used every ounce of willpower to keep her voice from coming out in a panicked rush.“Because Shining Armor was with me for most of the day,” she finished.

Sunset’s reaction was...much less loud than Celestia expected. A lot less animated too. The amber alicorn simply stood there, still as a statue for several seconds. Although she wasn’t using any magic, the bigger pony could practically see Sunset’s mind working it’s way through the situation. Then, after several tense seconds, she spoke. “You talked to...Shiny?”

Sunset’s reaction hadn’t been what Celestia expected. There was no fury, or any other emotion for that matter. She looked like a pony who was just waiting for the other horseshoe to drop. “He...waited to see you in court?”

“No,” Celestia replied before taking a second to brace herself. “I had him put on the list for direct access to the royalty.”

After another second of silence followed as Sunset looked down at the ground. “Oh, that makes sense, I guess.”

While Sunset continued to stare at the nothing on the ground, Celestia found herself considering her options. I could stop right now, she thought. Sunset had obviously formed her own deductions as to why Celestia had given the colt access. She didn’t have to tell Sunset about the earlier meetings.

But...hiding the whole truth from her daughter after Celestia had revealed some of it felt just as bad. “I gave him permission a few days ago, while you were escorting that griffon to Cloudsdale. You see, I called Shining Armor to the palace to speak with him concerning the relationship between the three of you.”

Sunset went tense. “You...that was the reason you sent me away,” she grumbled. Her wings twitched for a few seconds, but the outburst Celestia had been expecting didn’t come. Instead, the amber alicorn mulled something over for a second, before looking Celestia in the eyes. “Just...Shiny?”

“Well, he did bring some of his family along that I had a quick word with,” Celestia admitted. “But I mostly spoke with him, not Twilight-”

“Urk!”

“-Velvet,” Celestia finished before noticing Sunset had become rigid. “Is something wrong?”

The question got a jump out of Sunset before she shook off whatever had been bothering her and gave a nervous laugh. “What? Wrong? Why would anything be wrong? You’re just going behind my back and doing the one thing I really didn’t want you doing! Yep! Nothing wrong there!” she said in an overly happy tone.

Seeing her daughter’s forced reaction got a frown from Celestia. “Sunset, I know you’re upset about this, but I will remind you that while we are now equals in the area of politics, you are still my daughter. Even if I do trust your judgment, you can’t honestly expect me not to wonder about the colt you’re kissing.”

Once again, Sunset went through all the outward signs of an internal struggle. It was obvious that she wanted to shout something, but managed to hold it in. “It’s not like you were ever interested in my personal life before,” she grumbled.

As if you had one to be interested in, Celestia thought. “I recall telling you to make friends several times,” she said aloud before quickly adding, “although, I must admit that my methods were not very good. But Sunset, I can see this is upsetting you so…” Celestia took a deep breath to steel herself. “Lay it on me.”

Sunset gave her a confused frown. “Say what?”

“Sunset,” Celestia said before pausing for a second. “I know you hate me keeping things from you. I can see you’re upset with me. I should have told you about Shining Armor the day after it happened. So, let me have it.”

The amber alicorn’s face became a disbelieving frown. “You actually want me to yell at you?”

“Better that than bottling up your feelings on the subject,” Celestia replied.

After a few seconds of silence that was filled with the two alicorns holding each others’s gazes, Sunset let out a long sigh and slunk down a bit. “Okay, yeah. I’m mad at you for being all sneaky. But...well... I don’t know! What you’re doing...it’s what a mom is supposed to do! And-and as weird as it sounds, I'm actually happy you’re doing mom stuff!”

There was another brief silence before Sunset spoke again, albeit hesitantly. “Um...what did you talk about?”

The tension slowly faded from Celestia began speaking. A smirk even found it way to her face halfway through. “You, mostly. And the two of you kissing.”

Sunset put on a perturbed look as her cheeks puffed up a bit. “Oh please. I’ve gone a lot farther with other guys plenty of times.”

“While you were...in the mirror?” Just thinking about that stupid thing made Celestia’s heart ache. It also made Celestia think of her own forays into the world of romance. None of which ended well.

A groan came from the amber alicorn. “You’re not going to ride me about that, are you?”

Celestia thought about it for a second before shaking her head. “I hardly think that I’m a pony that can give advice on relationships when it comes to princesses,” she said. Then, after a second of internal debate, she added, “after all, you’ve read what happened between Hurricane and myself.”

There was a blush that appeared on Sunset’s cheeks a second later. “Yeah, but...well, it’s not like you really-”

“Sat on another pony's face and made them kiss my plot?” Celestia asked evenly before letting her shoulders slump a bit. She sat down before continuing. “Much to my shame, yes. I did.”

Sunset blinked. Slowly. “Say what?”

Seeing Sunset’s dumbfounded expression just made Celestia feel worse. “From the parts I skimmed over, mostly the beginning and end of the chapters, the book you fond, which Cadance told me about by the way, is very accurate,” she admitted.

“Mom that’s,” Sunset said as her face slowly became one of disgust. “You were a total bitch!”

Despite not knowing the word, Celestia could guess what Sunset was saying from her tone and felt the need to speak up in her defense. “Well, it wasn’t the best time for me you know. I had just started raising the sun. The influx of magical energies triggered a second puberty with an exaggerated growth spurt and Hurricane was very brazen. Somepony needed to knock his ego down a bit. I’m not saying this is an excuse, but alicorn puberty is…hard,” Celestia said as she prepared to speak her preconcocted lie. Although the idea of keeping things from Sunset still perturbed her a bit, Sunset needed this lie. “Something you will find out for yourself soon, I’m afraid.”

Sunset gave Celestia an even look. “Mom, I'm twenty-one years old.”

The number threw Celestia off for a second, but she quickly righted herself and continued on. Arguing about Sunset’s actual age when it wasn’t an issue would just cause trouble. “Nevertheless, your change will bring about a second puberty. I’m sure you’ve already noticed some changes.”

“Pretty sure I’m not going to be abusing my old friends,” Sunset deadpanned.

Celestia found herself taken aback by Sunset’s summarization of her relationship with Hurricane. “It was a different time back then Sunset,” she said. “Hurricane, our relationship was built off of competition. But, when I started getting bigger and stronger than him until he could no longer satisfy me in the traditional way, I...found other forms to get pleasure from him.” It didn’t help that pegasi weren’t generally known for their size.

“Ugh, I didn’t need to hear that,” Sunset grumbled before her look of discomfort became one of curiosity. “Hey, Mom...did you actually, love him?”

The question made Celestia pause and think for a moment. She looked up at the ceiling to keep herself from getting distracted as she thought back to her past. Although the solar alicorn had an excellent memory, she only truly held onto things she made an effort to if the memories were more than a century old. So, while the most embarrassing and precious moments of Luna’s foalhood were as clear as day, memories of her first ex were half-forgotten things that only still existed because of scholars asking her basic questions and stories she read in books regarding the founding.

She remembered how they used to race and wrestle, which turned to more passionate activities in the heat of the moment. She remembered how they argued over everything. She remembered how he had tried to keep his tribe segregated from the others by encouraging them to always live in cloud cities. She remembered how stubborn he was, how unapologetic, how unaccommodating.

In fact, now that it was several years after he had passed on, Celestia couldn’t remember anything pleasant about his personality at all.

That told her all she needed to know.

“No,” she replied unable to keep the sadness from her voice. “Honestly, the only reason I think I even stuck with him for as long as I did was because it made me more popular.”

The odd look Sunset gave her made Celestia feel even more uncomfortable than the memories of Hurricane. She found herself looking away from the other pony. “I know...it wasn’t the right thing to do. There was no real love between us….”

Celestia raised an eyebrow as the amber alicorn’s mouth twitched. “Sunset?”

“Hehe.”

The tiny bit of laughter that came from her daughter made Celestia tense. “What?”

“Hahaha.”

Celestia took a step back from the amber alicorn. “Sunset? What’s so funny?”

“Ah-HAHAHAHA!” Sunset continued before she stepped forward and reared up to wrap her forelegs and Celestia and pull her into a hug. Like every time Sunset displayed her strength, Celestia found herself a little disturbed by just how physically powerful the amber alicorn was. Then, Sunset moved her cheek in close to nuzzle Celestia. “I love you, Mom.”

If there had been a mirror in the room, Celestia was pretty sure she would have seen question marks dancing over her head. “Huh?”

“What?” Sunset asked as she stepped back and smiled up at her, clearly in much higher spirits than she had been a moment ago. It wasn’t a fake happiness put on just for show either, Celestia could tell. “Can’t I say I love you anymore?”

Celestia blinked. “No, it’s not that. It’s,” she paused to gather herself. “You aren’t mad about me seeing your colfriend behind your back?”

“Well,” Sunset drawled out hesitantly for a second. “I thought you meeting him would have been worse than it was. Not that, you know, Shiny actually is my coltfriend.”

Yet, Celestia found herself thinking, but managing to hold back. The reality of the situation began to assert itself, reminding her that anypony Sunset grew close to would eventually leave her one way or another. But that was a worry for another time. So she pushed such thoughts away and focused on her daughter’s happy, if slightly tired smile.

Sunset let out a tiny laugh. “And anyway, isn’t the parent’s job to get angry over the foal keeping secrets instead of the other way around?”

The question nearly killed Celestia’s good mood. “Sunset, I think you’re more than mature enough to judge my actions,” she said as her crown’s position kept her ears from drooping. “And I haven’t been what you’ve needed me to be.”

Sunset’s smile became strained. “Mom that’s...can we just talk about something else, please?”

“Alright,” Celestia agreed. It was obvious from Sunset's reaction that trying to take the blame for her upbringing would only cause the frayed alicorn distress, so she tried a different tactic. “But let me just say that you have become a wonderful mare and I can not wait to see what type of amazing princess you will grow to become.”

After a few seconds of blushing from the praise, she frown a little and looked back up to Celestia. “Uh...yeah, about that,” Sunset said. “Just how big am I going to get?”

Celestia looked her daughter up and down. She had to admit, Sunset’s ascended body was definitely an oddity. The norm was for alicorn’s to slim down as they adjusted to their new forms, resembling something akin to how Luna chose to look. Sunset still looked like a normal pony, only bigger. “Well, it’s hard to say,” she admitted. “An alicorn’s size is mostly determined by the amount of power flowing through her body, followed by her magic potential and personality.” A smirk appeared on Celestia’s face at an image forming in her mind. “By the time you’re finished growing, I may be the one looking up at you.”

Sunset balanced. “What? No, Princess Celestia, I’m not like that anymore!”

“What?” Celestia asked as she saw her daughter’s attitude quickly deteriorated without warning. She didn’t miss the lack of motherly title either. “Sunset, what’re you talking about?”

“I’m a good pony now! A humble one, right?” she asked desperately.

Sunset’s tone sent a wave of panic through Celestia. “Of course you are!” she assured her daughter quickly before calming down a bit. “Sunset, what in the world brought that on?”

The other alicorn hesitated for a second,p before looking down at the floor. “Well, you said that personality determines height, and so I was thinking about my ego.”

“I was talking about your ability,” Celestia told her before she reached down and lifted her daughter’s face back up to meet her eyes. “An ability that should make you proud. I have never seen a unicorn harness her potential as well as you.” Most of which Celestia couldn't take credit for. When Sunset wanted to learn something Celestia was slow in teaching her, she usually looked into it on her own and mastered the subject too quickly for Celestia to learn what she was up to.

Sunset went back to blushing and looked away from Celestia. “I’m nowhere near as good as you.”

The comparison had Celestia smirking. “Sunset, if you were to go back in time and meet me when I was your age, I can guarantee you that I would be green with envy over your talents,” she said before bending down to nuzzle the amber alicorn for a few seconds. “Now, since we don’t need to brew any potions for your friend before you gallop off to meet him, what do you say we go get something to eat? The last thing you want to ge is tired and hungry when you go to visit your coltfriend.”

Sunset groaned. “Mom! Shiny’s not my-wait,” she suddenly said. “What you said earlier has me wondering. Other than Hurricane, did you ever have a real special somepony?”

A bit of pain ran through Celestia’s heart at the memories. “Two,” she replied. “I was separated by the first very early into our relationship due to complications. The other…I met shortly afterwards.”

“Rebound huh?” Sunset asked. “Did that one...end well?”

Celestia sucked in a breath to steady herself. “Eventually, I had to say goodbye to her. But, for the time we were together, we were happy. Unlike Hurricane, she knew her place.”

The amber alicorn turned her head to give Celestia an odd look out of the corner of her eye as they left the alchemical lab and continued down the hall in silence.


Dinner turned out to be a somewhat reserved affair. Aside from her mother’s rather...disturbing comment on her third romance, Fleur and Sassy getting to eat with Celestia again made the dining hall a little tense.

On the plus side, Sunset managed to down enough coffee to guarantee she wouldn’t nod off in the middle of a lesson and just collapse on top of Twilight.

Just thinking of the little purple pony sent a wave of relief flooding through Sunset’s body. She had thought Shiny meeting Celestia would have started off a chain of events that would have completely destroyed the time-space continuum, but the fact Twily wasn’t having tea with the big alicorn meant everything was safe for another day.

Plus, hearing Celestia talk about her time with Hurricane...well, if a pony that spent her young forcing a stallion into her bed and then making him little more than a servant all for the sake of her image could grow up to become Princess Celestia, then maybe there was hope for Sunset as well.

She just needed...a few hundred years to get that way.

It was a realization that quickly extinguished Sunset’s hopes of ever being able to cast off the specter of her past. The amber alicorn would never be able to work her way to the point where she was in a hundred miles of Princess Celestia when it came to her worth as a pony. In fact, Sunset would be lucky to equal the worst scum at the bottom of society if she were to live to one-hundred after all the things she had done.

After dinner, the four friends headed to their new destination via carriage, which Cadance sent back to the palace after it dropped them off.

“So, this is...Shiny’s place,” Sunset said to the assembled mares, which made her a little worried. Not only had she not asked for permission to bring Sassy and Fleur along, but the two ponies in front of her were some of the most judgemental in school. Sure, Shining Armor’s friendship with them would protect him from their outright distaste, but Sunset knew ponies like them would look down on him after seeing his place.

Which made the looks of shock and confusion a little out of place on the two unicorn mares.

“I didn’t know Shining Armor’s family was rich,” Fleur commented, which completely blanked Sunset’s mind. “Hmm, pity. If I had known he was loaded, I would have made a play for him.”

The amber alicorn blinked. “But...he’s-wait,” Sunset said as she completely registered what Fleur just said. A second later, she was standing less than a foot from the thin unicorn and glared down at her. “YOU WANNA POACH MY SHINY?”

For once, Sunset wasn’t put off when Fleur became covered in sweat and began to cower. “What?! No! No, Princess! I said would have. Would have! I would never dream of stealing the pony you have your eyes set on! And my parents have already arranged my future husband,” she told Sunset before giving her a nervous smile. As Sunset calmed down, Fleur thought of another reason such a relationship wasn't going to be. “And besides Princess, even if I tried, I don’t think I have the figure to take Shining Armor’s eyes off yours.”

Despite the admittance of Fleur’s inability to steal Shining Armor from her, the way she said it left Sunset feeling more confused than relieved. “What’s that supposed to mean?” the amber alicorn asked with a raised eyebrow.

A blush appeared on Fleur’s face. “Well, um...Princess...it’s just, I um...noticed that Shining Armor...um, likes...well…your royal...ahem…”

Cadance let a giggle. “What our prim and proper friend is trying to say is that Shiny can’t take his eyes off that big bouncy butt of yours.”

As Sunset’s eyes went wide and a tiny blush appeared on her cheeks, Fleur looked over to Cadance. “Butt?”

“It’s what griffons call a plot,” the pink princess lied with a level of ease that almost seemed eerie to Sunset. “Princess Celestia hosted the ambassador last weekend, and I picked up a few things in the spirit of learning about other cultures.”

The explanation finished, Fleur looked back to Sunset. “Well, yes Princess. Judging by the way Shining Armor watches you whenever you go to get seconds during lunch or passes you in the hallway, he seems to be one of those colts completely enamored by a mare’s...ahem, butt. So, the only pony in Equestria that you have to worry about competing with you for his attention is your mother.”

Sunset looked back to her rear and frowned. While it looked a little more round than the one she had as a unicorn, her ass wasn’t that big. “I-I do not have a big butt!” the amber alicorn protested with a blush before pointing a hoof at the two unicorns in front of her. “You two are just scrawny!”

“Actually Princess Sunset,” Sassy said. “You're the oddity. When a pony usually gains height outside of the harmonious norm, there is a loss in balance between height and weight in favor of height over weight. Making both Fleur and myself tall, but slim. Of course, alicorns such as yourself and Princess Cadance seem to be the exception, as she’s more filled out than either of us, and you...well Princess, your height-to-weight proportions seem to have remained constant.”

Much to Sunset’s embarrassment, Cadance just had to cut in. “Actually, even taking in the mass increase, Sunset’s butt has gotten a bit bigger since her ascension. By about twenty-percent, I’d say.”

The memory of when she examined her own rear in the mirror shortly after waking up ran through Sunset’s mind, coloring her cheeks an even deeper red. Still didn’t think it looked that big.

“There’s no need to be embarrassed Princess Sunset,” Fleur said with a smile before she looked to her own rear for a second and sighed. “Truthfully, I wish my plot had half as much volume as yours.”

Sassy nodded. “Yes. As they say Highness, the more jiggle in the trot, the better the plot.”

Sunset groaned at the age-old rhyme. “I do not have a plump plot! The two of you are terrible judges of size,” she said before pointing to the building behind them. “Case in point, that is not a big house!”

Sassy looked away from Shiny’s house and over towards Sunset. “Princess, Shining Armor’s mansion is almost as big as Crust’s.”

Even more confused after the explanation, Sunset tilted her head to the side. “Huh?”

“Shiny’s family dates back to the settling of Canterlot,” Cadance suddenly explained. “The dam of the family, a Twilight Twinkle brought her husband and foals to Canterlot when it was first established. Housing was cheaper back then. More room.”

At Sunset’s questioning look, Cadance rolled her eyes. “Yes, I did some research into Shiny’s family history. I know that you don’t give a buck about pedigree now, but it was perfectly logical for me to look something like that up the day after you said you wanted him as your coltfriend.”

“Yeah but,” Sunset said as she looked back to the small home. “Guys, it’s not that impressive.”

Sassy snorted. “Says the pony that’s lived in the palace her whole life and attended parties at noble houses.”

The snide comment had Fleur's eyes widen before she looked over to the other unicorn. “Sassy! You can’t speak that way to a princess!

“Fine, whatever,” Sunset said before opening the door to put this whole ‘oh you’ve led such a sheltered life Sunset’ crap behind her before it could start. So what if she didn’t know anything about the Canterlot real estate market? It’s not that big a deal.

Any further consideration on the matter ended a little purple blur came zooming down the stairs. “PRINCESS!”

Sunset smiled a bit and prepared to be glomped, only to blink in confusion when Twily slightly altered her course to stop in front of Cadance, who in turned hopped back a few inches before they both assumed a pouncing position.

“Sunshine! Sunshine! Ladybugs awake!” Twilight sang along with Cadance before they both sat up and knocked their hooves together, singing their actions as they did.

“Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” They declared before both spinning around to stick their asses in the air to wave them around without a care.

It was something that had Sunset blushing furiously, because thanks to Twilight forcing Cadance back a few steps with her sudden appearance, the amber alicorn got a perfect view of the pink princess’s private parts with the way she was waving her butt around hard enough to displace her tail.

Sunset gulped and tried to keep her mind on task. The last she she needed to be thinking about was Cadance’s sex, which would lead to thinking about sex with Cadance. Like that dream where a very aware facsimile of Cadance touched, tweaked, and kissed every inch of Sunset’s body before letting the amber alicorn indulge in all her dark desires of the sexual kind.

The dream, as it turned out, Cadance knew about.

Although feelings of shame for her actions presented themselves in her mind, what Sunset found herself thinking of was the feeling of the pink pony in her forelegs. Cadance’s coat was perfectly soft and so smooth it put silk to shame. Not a single feather on her wings were out of place, and her multicolored mane smelled of such sweet strawberries that Sunset could have breathed it in for the rest of her life and never been unhappy.

“Princess Sunset?”

The alicorn in question found herself ripped out of the forelegs of her dream mare and back to reality. “Huh? Wha-oh!” Sunset said before she looked down at the little lavender unicorn that had spoken. “Yes, Twilight?”

“What’re you going to teach me tonight, Princess?” she asked before looking to Sassy and Fleur. “And who’re they? More students?”

“Buttons and bodkins!” Sassy exclaimed before she zoomed over to pick Twilight up in her forelegs. “You never said Shining Armor’s sister was this adorable!”

A little more reserved, although still on the edge of squeeeing herself, Fleur trotted over to where Sassy was holding Twilight. “We’re friends of your brother’s,” she explained with a smile. “We got a little worried when he didn’t show up for school today, and came to check on him. Is he here?”

Confusion blossomed of Twilight's face at the explanation as Sassy sat her down. “Yes,” she replied. “He’s upstairs.”

“And...your parents?” Sassy asked as she looked around with a little frown.

“They’re at work,” Twilight explained simply.

When it seemed a full explanation wasn’t going to come from the filly, Sunset volunteered one. “Twilight’s parents study the stars,” she explained. “So they’re gone most of the night.”

Fleur gave Sunset an uneasy look. “Hmmm, I’m not sure how comfortable I feel being here without permission.”

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Cadance told her before a bit of hesitation crossed her face. “Well, as long as we don’t make a mess.” A look over to Sassy’s saddlebags that were full of sewing materials and measuring tools told everyone what she was thinking.

Sunset’s growing unease that appeared after Fleur's words came from a different source. She looked around at the nearly empty room, then down to the tiny unicorn, and finally the two strangers that the unicorn had run to. “Um...Twilight...do you usually answer the door when your parents are gone?”

“Now I do,” she said before standing up straight and proud. “Thanks to your teaching, Princess Sunset, I can unlock and open our door all on my own. Not that, um... I need to with you, of course.”

Fear like she had never known before rand down Sunset’s spine like an agonizing lightning bolt. In her mind she saw the little purple pony proudly opening the door for a dark, shadowy figure that wore a black hood and had glowing eyes. He snatched the little filly up in his forelegs, and Twilight was never seen again.

“Never do that again!”

Twilight jumped away from Sunset, her face a mix of shock, confusion, and fear. “H-Huh? What? Wh-What did I-”

After a less primal level of fear made itself known to Sunset at the sight of Twilight’s forming tears at the edge of her eyes, the amber alicorn quickly stepped forward and gently put a hoof on Twilight’s mouth before lifting the unicorn’s head up to look Sunset in the eye so she could see the terror that resided there. “Twilight, listen to me. I don’t want you ever opening the door to anypony when you’re alone, understood? It’s okay when your parents are around. But from now on, get Shining Armor when it’s just the two of you, okay?”

Clearly confused, Twilight nodded her head. “Um, okay.”

“Twilight,” Sunset went on. “This is serious. I want you to promise me. You will not open the door to anypony unless your parents are in the house and nearby, understand?”

The little unicorn nodded again. “Yes, Princess,” Twilight agreed before becoming somewhat hesitant. “Do you want me to take an oath like Cadance and I did?”

For a moment, Sunset felt like snorting​ at the ridiculousness of the idea. However, if it helped Twilight understand just how important it was…

“Hmmm, that’s not a bad idea. Twilight repeat after me,” she said. “I promise to never let another pony in my house without my parents being home to give me permission. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

When Twilight finished making her promise, Sunset felt a little better, but…the fear still lingered in the back of her mind like a dark cloud promising trouble in the near future.


Stone soup.

Stone. Another word for rock.

Maud liked rocks.

She ate with a spoon carved from rocks.

She ate out of a bowl made from a rock.

Although, the soup was misnamed.

It had rocks in it, but was mostly comprised of water that had absorbed the nutrients from the numerous vegetables and other things that had been put into the pot along with the minerals from several rocks.

Still, Maud ate it without complaint.

“There it goes again.”

Maud looked up from her .0314159% stone soup and over to her little sister. “What?”

Pinkamena didn’t look away from the window as she answered the question. “I got that weird feeling again.”

“Eat your food Pinkie.”

Maud’s little sister went back to eating her food.


As it turned out, Shining Armor wasn’t sick, he just had something to take care of that was urgent enough for him to miss school over. Which was good, as Sunset seemed to have forgotten to bring the potions from the palace. It didn’t seem as if he wanted to talk about it, so Cadance didn’t push him on the subject and kept Sunset from asking about it as well.

Instead, the amber alicorn was put to work getting everything organized. Since they had brought Fleur along and she was a grade ahead of Shiny, the slender unicorn was able to help the young stallion with his homework with minimal aid from Sunset. Which kept her free to coach Twilight through some levitation exercises while she had Cadance craft more and more intricate crystal constructs before dissipating them between hesitant glances to a sketchbook Sassy had given her that displayed several styles of dresses. All the while, Sassy fussed over the notebook in front her between asking questions to the two princesses and taking some basic measurements that weren’t too intrusive.

Throughout it all, Cadance kept her eyes on the young stallion. Although he watched Sunset a bit closer than normal, there was a tenseness about him that the pink princess slightly nervous. The way Shiny’s eyes followed Sunset didn’t have the usual enamored quality he had most of the time, and Cadance saw his eyes jerk away from her plot more than once when they should have lingered for several seconds.

Especially when she was helping his little sister. The position Sunset had to take to help Twilight out had the amber alicorn lowering her front half ever so slightly, leaving her rear facing Shiny’s front as it stuck up into the air.

“Tell me, Highness,” Sassy said as she jotted down some figures on her notepad. “Do you need there to be a lot of room for the bounce in your step? Or would you prefer something that has some hug and lift?”

The amber alicorn looked up from where she had Twilight doing exercise that involved rolling a pair of dice with her magic and coming up with a predetermined number. Apparently, fixing dice rolls was excellent control practice. “Say what now?”

“The back of your dress,” Sassy said. “Would you like it to be loose enough to allow your plot to move freely, or do you want me to put in a little support for your rear so that it sticks out a bit better?”

Sunset blushed as Sassy continued to give attention to her butt. “Um...that’s…” She looked back to the male in the room. “W-What do you think, Shiny?”

“What?” Shining Armor asked. There was a slight edge to his voice that had Cadance frowning a second later. Shining Armor not following Sunset’s rear was a pretty telling red flag, but the way he just replied was another.

The amber alicorn developed a slight blush. “My dress. Do you think I should go with a tight rear, or a loose one.”

After a few seconds, a frown appeared on Shining Armor’s face. “Why’re you asking me? It’s your dress. It’s not like we're together or anything.”

Red alarms sounded in Cadance’s mind as she watched both Fleur and Sasdy give the colt looks of dissatisfaction. For her part, Sunset looked more surprised and confused than anything. “Shiny?”

“Well girls!” Cadance said as she stood up and let the crystal she was constructing fall apart and turn to dust. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a break! Twilight, could you show Sassy and Fleur where the bathrooms are in case they need to use them.”

The confused little unicorn looked away from Sunset and Shining Armor. “Huh? But they know where they are. We told them when they came in.”

“Princess, I don't need-” Fleur said before Cadance gave both of the mares a look that screamed 'GET THE BUCK OUT!’. “Oh!” Fleur exclaimed as she took the hint. “Um, yes! I do feel the need to use the facilities! Come along Sassy.”

A second later, Cadance grabbed her cup of juice with a hoof and downed threw its contents down her throat before she looked over to Sunset. “Sunset. We need more to drink." Which would get rid of Sunset, but as for the room's other occupant...Cadance didn't even try to think of a good excuse. "And it's dangerous to go alone,” the pink princess said before picking Twilight up and handing her to the amber alicorn. “Take this.”

Taking the hint, Sunset grabbed Twilight in her magic and headed out the door. As soon as she was gone, Cadance spun around to face Shining Armor. Not wanting to get too emotional, she took a deep, calming breath...and then glared at the colt. “What the buck is up with you?”


“Are we good?”

The nervous question hung in the air for several seconds as Sassy stared back at her best friend after exiting the downstairs bathroom. “What?”

Fleur didn’t try to hide how upset she was as the other unicorn made her way into Shining Armor’s living room where Fleur was waiting. “Look, I didn’t get to talk to you at lunch today because of the commotion with Shining Armor's absence, and then Crust came along. But, um..after this morning with Upper Crust... I just wanted to ask, are we good?”

“Is that why you really came here?” Sassy asked before she pressed her lips together in her usual sign of exasperation. “To ask if we’re good?”

The way the question was posed had Fleur pulling in on herself. “Well, school work really isn’t my thing. You know my grades aren't the best, Sassy. I’m lucky I remember enough to even point Shiny in the right direction. And you're upset with Crusty, and I just-”

“Oh, I’m not upset with her,” Sassy said in a heated tone. “Upset implies that she’s let me down in some way. What I am is fed up with her.”

Fleur sucked in a breath at her friend’s sharp tone. “Sassy.”

“Don’t try to defend her Fleur!” the dress designer said. “She has always been petty and over the past three years, she’s taken every chance to remind us that she could end any hope we have of a future in Canterlot so that she can hang with the popular girls. Plus, she’s a tribalist, not just the kind that thinks unicorns are just more special than earth ponies or pegasi. This is Canterlot, that’s to be expected. But there is a difference between thinking that and what is running through her mind!”

Fleur drooped her head. She couldn't argue with what Sassy said. But, at the same time, getting mad at Upper Crust over it seemed wrong as well. The yellow unicorn came from the upper business class of Canterlot. Although such ponies had influence, they lacked a noble name to give them certain protections that existed in society since before Celestia was a princess. The yellow unicorn had to be ruthless if she expected to survive.

“Look, Fleur,” Sassy said. “I’m not mad at you, and...if you don’t want to choose between us, I’m not going to force you to.”

For some reason, that just made the white unicorn feel worse.

“Is she really that bad?”

A bolt of sheer terror ran down Fleur’s spine as her ears picked Princess Sunset’s voice. She turned to see the amber alicorn coming down the stairs with Twily riding her back, clinging to the amber alicorn with a blissful smile. The purple pony’s adorableness did little to deter Fleur’s fear. “P-Princess Sunset! Um...how much did you hear?”

Twily broke her cheek contact with Sunset’s neck to look at the mare. “Well, I heard the part starting with, I’m not upset with her,” she said before becoming thoughtful. “But Princess Sunset’s an alicorn, which means she’s also got a pegasus’s enhanced senses like sight and hearing. Which means she probably heard more.”

Then, the little unicorn perked up a bit more. “Oh! Unless her hearing is abnormally high, like with her earth pony strength. Then, she must hear everything said by everypony in Canterlot!”

The horror of such a possibly had Fleur gulping nervously. After all, she hadn’t been very accepting of some of Sunset’s friends when they first met.

Sunset winced. “No, my hearing’s just normal pegasus level. I don’t think I’d be able to sleep if I heard everything everywhere,” she said before trotting over to the couch and sitting down after levitating Twilight into the air. Then Princess Sunset brought the purple pony back down to sit in her lap, and held the filly close to her barrel with her forelegs. “So...friendship problem, huh?”

Hearing their predicament phrased in such a way made both Fleur and Sassy blink, but the white pony with the pink mane nodded her head a few seconds later. Part of Fleur wanted to tell Princess Sunset that she didn’t need to burden herself with their issues, but...Sunset had asked. “Yes, Highness.”

Sunset sighed and lowered her head towards Twily for a moment, who was nuzzling up to the big alicorn with a look of absolute bliss, then turned her attention back to the older unicorns. “So she’s still being...her, huh?”

Feeling a little uneasy about the conversation, Fleur didn’t make eye contact with the alicorn as she replied. “Yes, Princess.”

“How did you guys get to be friends, anyway?” the Princess asked. “I mean, you're all a little snooty, but Upper Crust takes it to the extreme.”

Fleur smiled at the memory. “Sassy and I used to live in the same apartment complex,” she said. “Next door to each other. She liked clothes and I dreamed of being a high society model before I even got my cutie mark.”

“That’s sweet,” Sunset replied with a smile before it wavered a bit. “And Crust?”

“The second half of our Freshmare year,” Fleur replied. “We ate lunch together after her butler brought too much one day and she shared it with me. She was new to Canterlot back then, so to thank her I took her shopping and pointed out all the best restaurants and places to buy clothes, where she got the three of us matching dresses. Looking back, I know she was buying our friendship, but-”

“Your friendship,” Sassy suddenly cut in, making Fleur look over to her. “Fleur, you’ve been the most popular filly in our class since day one. The only reason she paid me any attention at all was because of you.”

Fleur felt a spike of guilty displeasure run through her mind. “Sassy-”

“It’s been like that with her from the start, Fleur. She helped pay for your alchemical height treatments when you turned fifteen only after we started going to those parties her parents were invited to with ponies like Glamor Shot and her daughter Photo Finish, who told you tall ponies were going to be not just the new thing, but the only thing in a few years. And remember how she was like afterwards? Saying how once you hit it big, you could model and endorse some of the stuff her parents sell. We’re not friends to Crust, we’re investments!”

The white unicorn’s eyes narrowed a bit as she frowned at the hypocrisy staring at her. “That sounds very funny coming from a pony that’s gone on and on about how she’s going to make it in the fashion world with me clothed in her dresses.”

Sassy’s eyes widened a bit and a hurt look crossed her face before she pushed it down with a frown and stomped her hoof. “That’s different, and you know it! Both Princess Sunset and Princess Cadance want me to make them dresses for the Formal. I could dress them in rags, and ponies would hail me as a genius designer. So basically, I don’t need you anymore!” the blue unicorn exclaimed. “But here I am, trying to get through this with you. I have always talked about the two of us working together, not out of some mutual interest, but because you’re my best friend that I love like a sister. We grew up together and I never want that to ever change! I want to spend the rest of my life by your side Fleur. But if you stick with Crust, she’s going to make you like HER!”

Fleur blinked at Sassy’s final shriek of a word, then watched as she slunk down. “You’re a good pony Fleur. Don’t...please, don’t throw that away because Crust gave you a few fancy presents.”

With her friend finally done, Fleur found herself unable to speak. Because, she knew what Sassy said was right. Back when they had just entered the Academy, Fleur had become the proverbial princess of her class not because of her looks, but because she was open and friendly despite how much every colt in class wanted to be with her. Everypony had been her friend back then and the elitist air she had about her these days had only come about over the years of Crust saying things like how their study groups should only be unicorns because the other tribes didn’t have magic practice before she also reasoned more and more ponies away by saying how she didn’t want anypony else feeling bad that Crust only bought her best friends expensive things.

In fact, Fleur suspected that Sassy wouldn’t have been allowed to stick around if not for the fact she and Fleur were so close. But, the yellow unicorn had been with her for so long, being without her seemed...wrong, somehow.

Lost on what action needed to be taken, Fleur looked over to the amber alicorn. “Princess? What do you think I should do?”

Princess Sunset stared at the floor for a few moments before looking back to Fleur. Her expression seemed...heavy. “I’m afraid that decision is yours to make Fleur, not mine,” she said before taking in a deep breath to let it out a second later. “What I can do is offer you some perspective. You see, I knew a pony who was a lot like Crust. She had everything she ever wanted given to her on a silver platter. Although she wasn’t lazy, the ease in which she achieved everything made her conceded and uncaring of others. The one mare she looked up to tried to help her, but the filly never really listened to her for various reasons. Then, one day, the mare that had guided the filly through life got fed up and threw her out, taking away the things the filly thought were most precious to her. On her own, the filly thrived, but not in a good way. She became even more conceded and hateful, and went from not caring about other ponies to actually taking joy in their suffering.”

When Princess Sunset paused for a moment, Twily looked up at the bigger pony. “Then what happened, Princess?”

The amber alicorn smiled and looked down at the purple filly in her forelegs. “Well Twilight. After having so much success despite doing things a different way than how she was told, the filly went home to show the mare how wrong the older pony was, and demand her proper place back. Instead, she found another filly had taken the place she thought was rightfully hers. So, they fought, and the filly that had been kicked out was forced to see the error of her ways and that she should have listened to the mare and tried to be a better pony from then on.”

Then, Princess Sunset looked back up to Fleur, a dark frown on her face. “But, she never forgot how she had been thrown away, either.”

As Princess Sunset finished her story, Fleur thought about it for a good minute before she looked back to the alicorn. “So what you’re saying is, we shouldn’t give up on her.”

“No,” Sunset replied with a shake of her head. “I’m not telling you guys to do anything. Your choices are yours to make. What I’m saying is, be aware of what might happen before you decide anything. Maybe Crust does need to see her friends leaving her to right her ship, or maybe doing that to her will sever the last ties to the only good ponies she knows and let her drift down a much darker path. I can’t say if what she needs is the two of you to give her some time, or a good kick in the rear. But if you do decide to go through with casting her out, there is no taking it back.”

The seriousness in Princess Sunset’s tone put a weight on Fleur’s back that made her tense in response. “I understand, Princess.”

For her part, the amber alicorn let out another long sigh before brightening a bit. “By the way Sassy,” Princess Sunset said as she looked to the blue unicorn. “I want to talk to you about my dress.”


Shining Armor pulled his head back after hearing the harsh question that threw him for a bit of a loop. “Princess Cadance?”

The pink pony took in another deep breath and let it out as she pushed her hoof away from her chest. “Sorry, just a bit mad at you.”

“What for?” Shiny asked cautiously.

Once again, Cadance went through her calming exercise. “This is so much easier when I'm not emotionally involved,” she mumbled before addressing Shining Armor. “Ever since we got here tonight, the looks you’ve been giving Sunset have been more resentful than lustful even though she hasn’t done anything to deserve it. And while I ignore the lustful looks you give her plot, I’m not ignoring this. Not to mention how you nearly exploded just because Sunset asked if you thought her dress should accent her backside. So,what’s going on?”

Shining Armor stared at Cadance for a few seconds, the frustration he had been feeling mulling around in his head. Like the pink princess, Shining Armor took a second to let it out before talking. “It just, seeing Sunset doing...everything, I just...it’s annoying! Okay?”

“Shiny?” Cadance asked as she put on a concerned frown.

Seeing that the royal pony he had nearly yelled at was avoiding her own outburst, Shining Armor put his ears back as he laid back down on his bed. “Sorry,” he groaned. “It just...well, it started last night when I had these dreams…”

Once again, Shining Armor told a princess about his dreams involving the two alicorns.

When he was finished, Cadance hmmmed for a few seconds, then shook her head. “Well Shiny, I’m sorry to say that I'm not going to be able to play out your horse trainer fantasy. I don’t really have anything against domination, but the idea of smacking another pony with a riding crop turns me off, not on.”

Shining Armor groaned. “Princess that’s not-”

“But Princess Sunset might be willing to indulge your other fantasy!” she said with a happy smile.

Cadance’s words made Shining Armor jump to his hooves in fear despite the fact she was still sitting on his bed. “W-What?”

Completely missing the emotion in his voice, Cadence went on with a smile. “Well, maybe not a full insertion, that might actually be dangerous. But considering Sunset’s own sexual kinks and her being a dominant sexual partner, she might be up for something very close to what you want.”

“THAT’S NOT WHAT I WANT AT ALL!” Shining Armor shrieked before she could go on.

Cadance blinked. “Really?” she asked with a cocked head. A second later, she righted her head. “That’s odd, actually. I know big mares turn you on, and you are pretty obsessed with Sunset’s plot. Being with a mare big enough to put you between her cheeks isn’t that much of a leap in-”

Hearing that for the second time today pushed Shining Armor over the edge. “I don't want to do anything like that!” he said before snorting angrily. “What is with you princesses and thinking that way?”

Cadance raised an eyebrow. “Wait, you’ve already talked to Sunset about this?”

“Celestia...actually,” Shining Armor replied as what they had talked about ran through his head for the millionth time that day. After Celestia took him home and sent another pony to the school so his absence would be excused, Shining Armor had to spend most of the day thinking about what the Princess had said on his own. He couldn’t tell his parents about it. With how his father had reacted this morning, both of them would tell him to just suck it up and carry on.

A second later, Cadance’s expression became an half-lidded stare. “Shiny, please tell me you didn’t go to Celestia for relationship advice,” she said before becoming mildly annoyed. “The only things that mare has under her tail are ghosts and cobwebs!”

The rather...odd picture Cadnce’s statement put in Shining’s head made him blink. Then, he fiercely shook his head to clear it and looked back to the pink princess. “This isn’t about sex! This is...look, my whole life, I've wanted to be in the Royal Guard, of being a hero! But that’s never going to happen with you and Sunset around! It’s just not fair!” Shining Armor went on. “I spent my whole life wanting, dreaming, planning to be in the Royal Guard and then Sunset shows up and makes the whole thing useless!”

And then, he just kept going. “And your dresses! I said I wanted time to think about thing, and the two of of you are already planning to go to the Fall Formal! With me! Both of you!”He didn't even understand how that was supposed to work!

The rather poor attempt to garner sympathy failed and Cadance gave him an even look. “Shiny, just because we’re going to the formal doesn’t mean either of us is going to be escorted there. You wanted some non-romantic time, and that’s what we’re giving you,” she told him. “And as for the guard thing…” The pink princess paused as she drew a blank on what to say about that. “What the hay are you talking about?”

“Sunset!” Shining Armor exclaimed. “She so...her! She does everything so bucking perfectly​! What’s the point of having a royal guard around at all if she's going to be a princess?”

The explanation had Cadance dumbfounded for a moment. She stared at Shining Armor with a mouth that refused to close all the way as her mind worked to process the reasoning at the core of his anger. Then, several seconds later, the pink princess finally spoke. “That’s...it?”

Shining Armor frowned at her, more in confusion than anger. “What’s it?”

“That’s what’s at the center of all of this?” Cadance asked as pressed her lips together ever so slightly and frowned. “That’s why you’re so angry? That’s why you nearly blew up on Sunset when she’s barely holding herself together tonight? You’re just jealous?”

Seeing the angry princess in front of him unfurl her wings again before a blast of wind whipped around the room, Shining Armor gulped and backed up a step. “Cadance-”

“Shiny, the Royal Guard is a bunch of useless and inept ponies that couldn’t get a job anywhere else! I'm surprised they even have cutie marks. The most important thing they do is open the door for Celestia when she’s on her way to the bathroom!”

Shining Armor found himself blinking when Cadance went on. “Oh! Except for their captain,” she said before letting out a loud snort. “A classist pig that only got his position because his father and his father’s father had the position before him.” The mare sighed and shook her head. “Why Celestia keeps him around, I will never know."

“But, um...point is, you're better than them!” Cadance told him. “And even if Sunset just disappeared one day, them being worse than the dung won’t change!”

The Princess's words didn’t make Shining Armor feel much better. “Great,” he mumbled before sighing. “My life’s ambition that I’ve spent every day striving towards is just a big joke.”

Cadance sighed and drooped her wings along with her ears. “Sorry. I really should have been more tactful,” she said. “But what I said, I meant. I understand that after years of playing the hero in a game, you want to help ponies the same way in real life. It’s admirable, but there are just so many better things a pony like you could be than a pony in fancy armor who stands around all day to look important.”

With the second princess that day telling him that that being a royal guard was nothing but a waste of his time and talent, Shining Armor’s anger fizzled back into the depression he had been fighting since seeing Princess Celestia. “Look,” he said before groaning. “I know Sunset didn’t do anything wrong. But...it’s just...every time I look at her tonight, all I can think about is how much her being around makes me useless!”

“Then maybe you should try talking to her,” Cadance told Shining Armor evenly before heading to the door. “Now, since it’s almost Twilight’s bedtime, I'm going to go take her to bed, then have Sunset read her some overly complex magical textbook before I say goodbye to the girls. That should give you enough time to calm down and think about what you want to say to her.”

Shining Armor frowned at the confusing command. “You want me to talk to Sunset, tonight?”

“Shiny,” Cadance replied in a tired tone. “Shiny, trust me on this, letting something like this fester will only make it worse. Talk to her, shout if you need to, but get it out there in the open.”


“And so, that’s how Starswirl proved Lord Barlycorn’s third theory of reverse-flying apple dynamics was in fact just an extension of Newt Ton’s fourth law of land attraction,” Sunset finished before looking up to see Twilight fast asleep. A state she herself was close to after reading that mess. Not that she didn't deserve it for forgetting to bring Twilight a real bedtime story.

A quick spell confirmed the little unicorn was really out, so Sunset decided to indulge herself and bent forward to kiss Twilight on the top of her head. However, the pleasantness of the moment died quickly when the reality of the situation returned to the forefront of her mind, followed by the guilt that her actions caused.

“Sunset?” Cadance asked as she opened the door. “The girls are gone. You ready to head out?”

The amber alicorn put the book back on Twilight’s shelf with her magic, then turned to Cadance and gave her a little smile. “Yeah. Just...tired.”

After taking a second to put a dome of silence to keep Twilight from being awoken when her parents came home, Sunset look around the room to see if there was anything else she could do for the filly. Her eyes settled on the crystal statue on Twilight’s nightstand for a moment. She didn’t know when Cadance had made the statue for the filly, but it’s presence was like a knife in Sunset’s gut.

It wasn’t right that Twilight was looking up to her, the reversal was what should have been going on. It wasn’t right that Sunset took joy from impressing her either. The real Twilight wouldn’t feel that way about actions, she knew how pathetic and disgusting Sunset really was. She knew Sunset deserved to be crippled and homeless for the rest of her life, having to beg others for the scraps needed just to survive.

“Yeah, I've been around you long enough to know when you’re talking bullshit,” Cadance replied. “So, do you want to talk about it now, or later?”

Sunset drew in on herself. “Cadance I...I’m sorry.”

A frown crossed the pink princess’s face. “About what? This morning?” Cadance asked before her expression evened out and she stole a glance at the sleeping Twilight. “Sunset, that’s...I already said that you did exactly what you were supposed to do!”

Cadance’s words only made her feel worse. Sunset knew she didn’t deserve forgiveness. Not from Cadance, not for how horrible Sunset had been to her. “And I’m sorry f-for...for…”

She couldn’t even say it before the images of Cadance laying on their bed came to her head. Unlike all the other times, the real times, the one in Sunset’s head was of the pink mare with her tail raised, presenting herself for Sunset’s hunger. Her wings fidgeted, and she trotted towards the door without speaking.

“I...know what you’re thinking,” the Princess of Love said in an uneasy tone.

Fear and unease turned to panic and shame as Sunset made a break for it. She galloped out the door and...found Shining Armor standing in the middle of the hallway. “Hey Sunset, can we-”

The hallway that was too small for a big fat pony like herself to get past him, and much too short for her to stop in time.

The two ponies collided with a collective scream before they tumbled forward and down the stairs. It was more instinct than anything else that had Sunset wrap herself around the smaller pony. The pegasus magic in her absorbed all of the damage from the impact as the ball she and Shiny made rolled down step after step until it went into the living room.

“Mmmmmummmph!”

Sunset’s lips curved up into a little smile at the oddly pleasant feeling of something rubbing up against her butt. Then her eyes widened in realization, and she quickly scrambled off of the young stallion and helped him up with her magic. “Shiny! I didn’t I-I-”

“It’s okay, I’m just a little shaken up,” Shining Armor told her.

A second later, Sunset heard Cadance's clopping comming down the stairs. “Are you two okay?”

While Shining assured her he was fine, Sunset found herself looking back on everything for the past few weeks. Every accident, every mistake and every disaster she had caused. “I…”

Sunset quickly took in a breath as she thought of the ways things should be. “I…”

The fact that Twilight was looking up to her. “I…”

That Cadance, Shining Armor, and the rest of her friends even knew each other at all!

How Fleur and Sassy were considering abandoning Upper Crust.

All because of her!

All because she just stupidly trotted around, being so weak-willed that she couldn’t yell at Cadance like she used to, acted like a snot in front of her mot-in front of Celestia, because she just had to gallop in and save Shining Armor!

Because she was such a weak, stupid, egotistical piece of crap that just had to shove her nose into everyone’s business!

“S-Sunset?” Cadance asked as she came a little closer to the amber alicorn.

“DO I LOOK OKAY?” Sunset shouted back at her as she threw out the wings, sending a powerful wind throughout the room that knocked down pictures, sent old newspapers flying. “Look! Look at me! I’m an alicorn. I don’t deserve to be an alicorn!”

Cadance sighed and got within a foot of the amber alicorn. “Sunset, we’ve been over this-”

“And you!” Sunset went on. “Y-You should hate me!”

“No, Sunset. I never-”

“You shouldn’t even be talking to me!” Sunset said before Cadance could finish. “You should be barely one step away from cowering under a table whenever I pass you in the hallway.”

Cadance sighed and gave Sunset a half lidded stare. “So, we’re going that route, huh?”

The third pony in the room carefully stepped forward. “Um, Princess-”

With the reminder of Shiny’s presence, Sunset conjured up a million more bits of proof of her horribleness. “And Shiny! Look at all the horrible things I’ve done to him!”

Cadance rolled her eyes. “Yes, because stopping Buck from putting him in the hospital was so awful.”

“Yes!” Sunset exclaimed as anger at her actions began to give way to panic over what she had done. “I shouldn’t have done anything! How is he supposed to become Captain of the Royal Guard and whip those idiots into shape if some big fat stupid alicorn is always fighting his battles for him?"

The world blurred a bit as tears began to form in Sunset’s eyes. “A-And now,” she said before taking a quick breath through the liquid threatening to pour out her nose. “And now he… Shiny, he…” Sunset remembered the way Shining Armor had frowned at her earlier, the way he had looked at her, and...how awful she really had to be if a wonderful pony like Shining Armor was angry with her. “He’s mad at me, and I...I don’t even know what I did to screw that up!”

“Umm, Sunset,” Shining Armor said. “That’s not-”

Sunset didn’t let him finish. “Even when I try to be a good pony, I just end up making everything, worse! And-”

“OH, WOULD YOU SHUT UP!?” Cadance screamed in Sunset’s face, causing the amber alicorn to freeze. Before she could continue, the pink princess just went on. “Day after day, I hear you say this bucking nonsense! I try to pick you up, but you just want to lay right back down into the muck for the stupidest of reasons! Well I’m tired of it! SO JUST STOP IT ALREADY YOU STUPID IDIOT!”

Sunset slunk down under Cadance’s glare. “Wha-” she stuttered helplessly. “I...I...I’m sorrrrrrryyyyy!” she wailed.

“What? Nonononono! You’re not supposed to-”

Shining Armor trotted around Sunset as she continued to cry and glared at the pink princess. “Cadance! You never yell at somepony that’s in that mindset!”

“No! She was supposed to shout back at me, not…” Cadance’s ears fell back down and she looked over to Sunset.

For his part, Shining Armor gave Sunset a gentle smile. “I’m not mad at you, Princess,” he said uneasily. “I just...had a bad day, I’m sorry.”

Sunset sucked in a breath through her clogged nose. “But-but, I’m being stupid, and showing off, and making you feel inferior, and-”

“Shhh,” Shining Armor said before he pulled Sunset in for a hug. The offer made Sunset rear up on two legs, making Shining Armor follow suit to catch her in an embrace. After steadying her with a grunt of effort, he patted the much heavier pony on the back and offered soothing words. “It’s okay. Uh, Cadance isn’t going to bully you anymore.”

Cadance gasped. “Bully? I’m not a bully! I was just trying to make Sunset get angry and defend herself,” she said. “It’s assertive tough love!”

The pink princess’s words made Sunset blink away some of her tears as several of her interactions with Cadance over the past several weeks replayed in her mind. When Sunset had first become an alicorn, Cadance had been almost shy and extremely non-confrontational, but since the pink princess had started hanging out with Sunset… “I... I turned Cadance into a bully! I...I’M A HORRIBLE PONY!”

“What?” Cadance squawked, her expression lost somewhere between revulsion and confusion. Then, when Sunset broke out into another crying fit, she turned her attention back to the amber alicorn. “No, no! Sunset, I wasn’t really mad. It’s okay, you’re a great pony.”

When Cadance put a hoof on Sunset, the bigger alicorn pulled her into the hug she already had Shining trapped in. “I’m sorry!” the amber alicorn said before crying into Cadance’s coat.

“Shiny, what do we do here?” Cadance asked as Sunset clung to both of them for dear life.

“Never seen her this bad before.”

“Um, she...had a rough morning, and almost no sleep, and...um...c-can we get to the couch? All this earth pony is pretty heavy.”

Sunset felt herself pulled forward. Only, when they moved from the entryway where the stairs came down near the door to the carpeted part of the living room, she was so stupid and clumsy she tripped and pushed both of the ponies trying to help her to the ground and landed on top of them with her big fat body.

When they landed, Sunset gasped and pushed herself up to look them both in the face. “Sorry!” she apologized. “I’m sorry! I-”

“Shhhh,” Cadance said before one of her wings reached up and guided Sunset back into a hug. “It’s okay Sunset.”

New tears appeared in Sunset’s eyes at the comforting words. She didn’t deserve any kindness from Cadance, not after everything she had done to the real princess. She had ruined Cadance. Corrupted her. Planted a seed of evil inside of her that threatened to destroy everything good that she was supposed to do!

The fresh wave of guilt broke the dam once again, and Sunset sobbed into the pink pony’s shoulder.

“S-Sunset, what...Shiny, what do we do?” the amber alicorn heard on the edge of her awareness.

“Why’re you asking me?”

“Because between the two of us, you’re the expert!”

“Oh. Well, just um...hold her and go…there there,” Sunset heard Shining Armor say before a hoof patted her back.


After what seemed an hour of Sunset sobbing non-stop, the noise and water abated to give way to gentle snoring. Unfortunately, when Shining Armor attempted to move the amber alicorn off of him, the mare’s grip tightened to firmly hold him in place.

“Huh, she literally cried herself to sleep,” Cadance said before she let out a grunt, followed by a sigh. “Great.”

Shining Armor looked over to Princess Cadance. “What?”

“It’s Sunset. Usually, she relaxes her grip after falling asleep, but every now and then she gets this death grip snuggle that there’s no breaking out of,” she explained. “Which it appears to be what we’re in now.”

The rather simple problem confused Shining Armor. “Umm, why not wake her up then?”

Cadance gave Shining Armor an even glare. “After the day Sunset's had, she needs at least an hour’s nap before we go home.”

With him needing to sacrifice so little to give Sunset some comfort, Shining Armor looked back up at the ceiling. Ten seconds later, which he took the time to count out in his head, the white unicorn looked back over to Cadance. “Princess, if you don’t mind me asking,” he began before giving Cadance a second to say yes or no. “I know Sunset has...problems, but she’s usually more together than this. Did something happen?”

“No,” Cadance replied. “I mean, yes. Well...it’s complicated.”

Shining Armor looked back over to Cadance. “Come again?”

There was several seconds of silence as Cadance visibly thought over her answer. “I think you’re wrong when you say that Sunset’s usually more together. There are days when she spends the whole day smiling, only to cry in her sleep all night. The truth is, I think she’s always feeling like this, she’s just very good at ignoring these feelings until something reminds her, or she becomes too tired to fake a smile.”

“Princess,” Shining Armor said before he stopped to think. He knew from various talks by his parents over Twilight’s condition that there was never a single cause of such behavior. Still, he couldn’t help but ask. “I know we’ve talked about this stuff before, but...do you know why Princess Sunset is like this?

“I know it’s not just one thing,” he went on. “With Twilight, nothing really bad has ever happened to her. So it’s not the memory of an event that makes her panic. But she’s too smart for her own good and gets into things that she can’t really deal with because she doesn’t have enough personal experience. But Sunset’s too old for that to be the case for her.”

A dark frown appeared on Cadance’s face for a few seconds before she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. “Can we talk about something else?”

Shining Armor blinked. “Like what?”

“Well, I want to give Sunset at least an hour to rest before we go home so…” Cadance paused for a second, then let out an excited gasp. “Oh! You know a lot about Solar Battles, right? Was So Low always a smuggler? What did he do before getting the Eon Hawk?”

“Umm...well…” The surprise over the question had Shining Armor quiet for a second. “Well, there are books that mention he was part of the Imperium’s army.”

Cadance brightened up a bit and continued to talk, getting more and more answers out of Shining Armor. Although the distraction lasted longer than the hour Cadance said Sunset needed to nap, but with it being the first time a mare had shown interest in anything he liked, not counting when Sunset and he talked about O&O, Shining Armor quickly found himself getting lost in the conversation.

So, nearly two hours of discussing the background of So Low and getting into how the Republic had stolen power from Queen Faust, Cadance let out a loud yawn despite her involvement in the subject matter. “Oh, is that the time?” the pink princess asked before she looked away from the clock and to the stallion pinned on the floor next to her. “Hey Shiny. I need to get going.”

“Oh,” Shining Armor replied, his excitement quickly dying after hearing of Princess Cadance’s impending departure. When she wasn’t going on about relationships or putting off enough sexiness to lure Shining Armor into making out with her, Cadance was fun to hang out with. “Okay, so umm...how do you usually wake Sunset up?”

Cadance let out a yawn and nuzzled deeper into the couch cushion they had brought down to give them a little comfort. “I just...need to...rest my eyes for a minute before we leave.”

A minute later, Shining Armor was resting his eyes too.