Ser Sunset jogged through the wilderness to the nearest village with a spring in her step. She had a pack full of trinkets requested by the villagers and a head or two for the authorities’ bounties.
Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail under a stylish, or more-likely gaudy, wide-brimmed hat that seemed inappropriate to her surroundings. The rest of her attire was a mish-mash of various leathers that absolutely did not go together and her finger-less gloves seemed especially inappropriate given her class. There was a bow and a quiver on her back; a quiver with fewer arrows than she would’ve liked. She’d have to stop by the trader after getting her rewards from the quest givers.
After she made it to town, she headed to the apothecary with the potion ingredients that she’d gathered for the alchemist. She burst through the door of the small wooden shop with an abundance of energy.
“Hark, fine brewer of medicinal salves and magical drinks!” Sunset said with a smile and flourish. She loved to ham it up and the expansion of acceptable words that would get a response let her do it to no end. “I now possess your needed herbs with some optional rare ones added.”
“Welcome,” said the alchemist, an older woman that was still fairly attractive. Can’t have anyone of import minor or major to look unappealing. Things hadn’t changed much. “What may I do for you?”
Sunset’s smile faltered a bit, but she recovered quickly. She had to remember to greet first and wait for a response before moving on to what she was there for. That’d have to be worked on in the future to avoid repeating. Things would get there eventually though, she’d make sure to do it herself. Mostly to brag.
“Right, I have your herbs,” said Sunset as she handed a few pouches to the alchemist. “And I went out of the way for the optional ones too, so bonus me, lady.”
The alchemist smiled and took the pouches from her. She spoke, “I see you’re still in your cave, Darling.”
Sunset quirked a brow. The lip syncing was atrocious and dialogue totally not relevant to what was going on.
“I won’t trouble you for long,” the alchemist went on, despite her lips not moving. “I know this is how you handle some things, but you know you’ll have to be open with me eventually. I won’t push you though, I mostly wanted to tell you that preparations are finishing up and we’ll be leaving in a few days. Love you.”
Sunset felt a little tingle on her cheek and the feeling of a… presence left her.
She shook her head to gather herself and made a couple of selections to double check what the alchemist had said.
Thank you, dearie. Here is your reward.
Sunset looked down at the alchemist’s unwavering, outstretched arm with a coin pouch in her hand.
“Right,” she said. “Thank you fair dame. I must away!”
Sunset left the building and made her way to the next stop. She shook off the earlier weirdness of the encounter and made her lap around the town. She had gold and equipment to be rewarded and arrows to purchase. She stopped in place and headed back to the apothecary. The incident made her uneasy about returning, but she did still need potions.
#
Sunset had come a ways since her time at the small village and its surrounding wilderness. She was now in a massive city of mostly stone. A large castle, of which she was a frequent guest, was in the center and Sunset was currently crossing the bridge leading away from it.
She examined the nice enchanted longbow in her left hand. It was much nicer than that wooden stick, strung with what could pass as dental floss in a more hygiene conscious time, that she had at the start of her journey.
Her ensemble matched better as well. The sigils of the kingdom adorned her leather attire and her gloves were now more realistic in regards to the needs of an archer. She still had the gaudy hat despite it being much outclassed by what was in her inventory at the moment. But she liked it. She could take a few hits to accuracy for style.
Things had been a bit wonky throughout her journey. She had other encounters like that with the alchemist where the givers of her quests or even random passersby would speak to her in voices not their typical with their lips not quite syncing. And the voices were familiar too, just not ones she’d known from earlier in her adventure. Maybe she’d run into the who the voices belonged to later? It was a massive oversight and one not acceptable in her mind for what it was supposed to be, but things like that were fun little issues that were worth a laugh.
But the voices really got to her. She would sometimes feel herself on the brink of tears for some reason. And yet they also made her feel better at the same time.
"Hey there," a raspy voice had said. "Look, um, I didn't really know her that well, but if you need to talk, I can be emotional for once. Damn, that sounds awful, but I really can be there for you. I'll be more sensitive, promise."
Another voice seemed really off given her surroundings. "Ya'll don't need to hold things in, sugarcube. Ah know what it's like to lose someone, well someones, close to you. To lose family. Ah can be there for you whenever you need me."
A soft voice she could barely hear had come from a particularly huge guy. That was particularly weird. "Um, I, well I know loss, but... well not like this. But, I'll be there. You know I can be strong, and I absolutely will be for you."
Another voice felt especially weird. It felt like the voice should be ecstatic, but was soft and gloomy. "This is super duper awful. Oh, that was insensitive. I didn't mean that. I-I know I don't seem like the best person to confide in. That even after all these years, I can be... insensitive without meaning to. But I'll be there for you and I swear the wake I planned with Other Me will be completely appropriate and you can let it all out and I'll be there with a hand on your shoulder."
The final voice came from the king himself. Another woman, which seemed to be a trend. "When I lost... him. It still hurts. He lived longer than he ever should have and... and it still hurts. He was family. More so than anyone else could comprehend because of his uniqueness. You were there for me. You and the others got me through it. I'll be there for you."
It was all just strange, but she would brush it off. She had adventuring to do. Personal problems could wait.
“Good day, Ser,” said a teenage city dwelling boy.
Sunset slipped her bow on her back and looked at the boy. She didn’t recall approaching him. Radiant dialogue? She didn’t pay much attention to that and frankly found it annoying. A courier, maybe?
“What is it you wish knave?” she said. Was that the right word? She’d need to look it up to be more accurate. She liked to be accurate as possible for her fun. She was like that.
“I’m not quite good with this stuff,” the boy said in a feminine voice that like in previous encounters did not line up with the movements of his mouth.
“I’ve never experienced something like this before,” he continued. “I’m not saying that I’m not feeling it now, I’m so not saying that. I’m sad too, but I’m saying I can’t imagine what it’s like for you.”
She felt the tears welling in her eyes, but there was only a faint feeling of wetness and a hand to her face revealed that her eyes were free of excess liquid.
What was going on?
There was a pressure on her shoulder that felt as if there was a hand on it and yet that was not the case.
“I just want you to know, Mom,” said the feminine-sounding boy. “That I’m here if you need to talk. I’m not good with this emotional stuff, but I can just be someone you can confide in if you need to.”
She felt the pressure on her shoulder leave and noticed that the boy had left. That did not abate the voice.
“Mama’s worried about you.”
Sunset stood there for a while and the voice didn’t return. She rubbed her dry yet wet-feeling eyes before moving on.
The King needed something dealt with. She’d need to check her journal to remind her of what.
#
Sunset rarely went this long continuously. But she was having fun on her journey.
Wasn’t she?
The weird voice thing had subsided shortly after the incident with the boy. That one had really gotten to her. After that, she’d just gone through the motions for a while. She missed a lot of context and story because of that. Normally she’d be irked by missing things like that, but it just felt like it didn’t matter this time.
She still had the gaudy hat. It looked even worse with her glowing and enchanted leather and was starting to hold her back enough that she considered switching it for the matching headpiece in her inventory, but she held off. It wasn’t that necessary. She faced worse challenges than slightly off stats. But the perfectionist in her was twitching its eye a bit.
She was in a dark, twisted landscape. Volcanoes in the distance would occasionally spurt lava. The air was wavy with heat, but she didn’t feel it. She felt a little warm, like she was wrapped in a dirty comforter that was a bit excessive for a room’s temperature.
She’d been walking for days according to the time in the corner of her eye. Resting wasn’t quite necessary except for a few things. It broke immersion a bit, but it was an acceptable break from things. Couldn't have someone taking required breaks in between the action; it just wasn't fun. To her at least.
Sunset spotted an approaching enemy in the distance. An orc of some kind. She didn’t think they were called orcs here, but that’s basically what they were. It was alone, which was fairly rare. Probably a tough customer.
She pulled the bow from her back and held it in front of her with her left hand. She slowly pulled the string back with her right as she closed her right eye. She slowed her breathing and tracked her target with absolute focus.
And then it spoke.
“I think you need a break.”
The voice was clear despite the distance between her and it. It sounded right next to her and she could swear there was a presence to her right. A quick check showed nothing.
“You’ve missed meals with your family, you’ve snacked on that junk too much. You’re a bit too old to replace your meals with that crap. And, frankly, we've missed you.”
Then there was a ringing. The presence moved away, but she could still sense it. It was just a bit further away.
“Yes?”
The voice sounded further away too.
“Okay, I’ll let her know. We’ll be there soon.”
The presence returned just as her vision flashed red and the orc hit her with its sword. But she couldn’t move. Even as it hacked away at her, draining her health, she wouldn’t budge. She felt invisible tears flowing from her eyes and a crushing vice in her chest.
The orc finally impaled her on its sword. She felt nothing, but her vision dimmed and options appeared.
And then the world faded away.
#
Sunset looked up through blurry vision into the eyes of her wife, Rarity.
“It’s time, love,” said Rarity. She set aside the VR set that she’d pulled from Sunset’s head. She then held up a handkerchief and dabbed at Sunset’s eyes. It did little to dry as the tears just continued to flow.
Rarity sighed and halted her attempts at stopping the tears. She slipped the handkerchief somewhere Sunset didn’t notice or care about. All Sunset did was pull the comforter she was wrapped in tighter around her.
Rarity lovingly stroked Sunset’s face. “She wouldn’t want you looking like this. It’s been days, but it’s time to go and you need to get cleaned up.” Rarity kissed Sunset softly before she stood up. “You can dress comfortably. The other me will have the appropriate clothes waiting for us in Equestria.”
Sunset didn’t respond. She felt numb. Defeated. It wasn’t supposed to ever happen, but time catches up with all. Even those who’d staved it off for so long.
“She was my mom,” Sunset finally said. “And I was so horrible to her for so long.”
“I know,” said Rarity. “But you atoned and she was so proud of you.”
Rarity sat down next to her and Sunset rested her head on her wife’s shoulder.
“She’d want you to look your best,” said Rarity. “She was a princess, but more importantly she was your second mother, as you said. You need to look good for her.”
“I know,” said Sunset. “I know.”
Rarity wrapped an arm around her covered wife. “There isn’t much of a rush. The funeral isn’t until tomorrow. Take your time. I just thought we should get there early to help with anything last minute.”
Sunset nodded. “I know.”
They sat there together for a time before Sunset spoke again. “Why’d she have to die, Rare?” Her voice broke and the tears flowed even more.
Rarity winced, she had to be delicate, but sugarcoating her thoughts would be a disservice to the one she loved. She took a moment to think of her response, but she managed to find the words. “Because we all do,” she said. “Because we all need that final rest in the end, her probably more than anyone.”
Sunset took a moment before she sat up and shrugged off the comforter. She sighed before planting a kiss on Rarity's cheek.
“I’ll get ready,” she said.
She stood up and made her way out of her little woman cave; her games, computer, and television behind her, she turned back to Rarity.
“You’re right,” said Sunset. “Celestia deserves me at my best. I have to be strong.”
Rarity shook her head and stood, crossing the distance between them and wrapped Sunset in a hug.
“No, you don’t,” said Rarity. “Be as weak as you need. I’m the one who’ll be strong. For you.”
Sunset smiled through the tears. “Thank you, Rare.”
They stayed there in each other's arms and Sunset slowly calmed down. It was time for her to face reality and the voices she'd experienced during her immersion showed that she had many people who'd be there for her. Her wife, her daughter, her friends. She was lucky to have all of them and she knew that Celestia luckily had many who'd mourn her.
Sunset didn't know if she would ever understand why she'd have to lose somepony that meant so much to her. Somepony that believed in her even when she went down a path she had come to regret. Celestia had been there for her even if it was at times just in spirit.
So she'd be there for her.