//------------------------------//
// A disagreement between sisters 
// Story: Sunset's Second Round of Childhood 
// by fmriver 
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As they walked towards the ambassadorial suites near the top of the crystal castle, Luna listened as the larger alicorn quietly asked her student leading questions about what she saw on the other side of the mirror, meandering into a lesson on the minotaur homeland and beyond. She was gently distracting the little filly, while gaining hints on precisely what she actually remembered. Soon enough the little pony seemed to have dozed off.

Luna did notice, however, how her sister was acting out of sorts. This was affecting her a great deal more than anticipated. Before seeing them together, she had thought that her Sunset had been just another student, closer to her sister in some manners, but kept at a bit of a distance. By the way she spoke, this one had been much closer to Tia’s heart, the tone almost seemed filial at times. Princess Celestia did seem distracted once they got closer to the top of the tower, likely planning something.

Luna followed her sister into the royal guest suites provided by Princess Cadance. Her sister quietly continued past the sitting room, and into one of the bedrooms, until she was beside a large princess sized bed. Celestia looked behind her shoulder then nodded towards the bed, while carefully lifting the dozing orange filly from her back. Luna went ahead and pulled back the comforter and sheets as Celestia laid the foal down. After tucking her in and brushing her forehead with the tip of a wing to move her mane from her eyes, Celestia seemed content to sit by the bed. Luna could understand her sister's sentiment a bit, however there were things to discuss, and after a minute she nudged her larger sibling, then motioned back towards the sitting room.





Once they were both out, and had closed the door to the bedroom, Luna put on an awkward smile and said, "So... my sister, it seems you are happy to see your former student alive and well."

Celestia finally looked away from the door. "Hmm? Oh yes, it-it feels like a wish come true, Luna. My dear Sunset is back. I had forgotten how cute she was at this age," she said with a wistful giggle. "I should have taken more pictures during the years she was with me the first time."

Luna was beginning to think this may be a complicated conversation, where she would need to ground her sister from her current flight of fancy. "Well, we should have somepony take those pictures on the morrow! Otherwise we may not have another chance before either Twilight fixes her or this transformation wears off, eh?"

Celestia frowned. "...Yes... I suppose so..." Then she shook her head a tiny bit, as if flicking off a fly, before smiling gently back at her sister. "In any case, I believe we will need to send a missive to Canterlot so the staff have a chance to clean Sunset's old room before we return. As she is now, yesterday she was still living at the Canterlot palace. I wonder if Inkwell remembers how her room used to look like when she was this young last time..."

Luna frowned in consternation. "Tia... no matter her age, Sunset Shimmer is intelligent, from what I could see. We can't just redecorate some rooms and hope she doesn't notice! You know she will see all the things that have changed, that she has been gone longer than a day. My goodness! Even just the palace has changed drastically since my return. My heraldry and flags fly all around, the staff she knew will all be years older, and even then those that knew her will react differently than she expects since they'll remember her growing up to being an arrogant, deceitful, rude young mare."

"Don't, Luna. I know better than you how Sunset Shimmer acted by the end of her time with me as my-well, as my student," Celestia replied before looking away. "To be honest, many mistakes were made the last few years of her time with me, quite a few on my end, to my regret. And yes, I could be foolishly selfish and convince myself to trick her, as if nothing has changed. However, even at the end she was always my darling Sunset, and it hurts that she has lost years of memories of our time together, the good along with the the bad," Celestia continued, with watery eyes. "Can't you agree it would be cruel to tell a child that adores you that she grew up to become the villain?

“Especially since we don't know if the changes can be safely reverted. Can't we let her keep her innocence for a little while longer, at least until we know for sure what will happen?"

Luna took a deep breath and looked at her sister. She stepped forward and nuzzled her cheek, hoping the physical affection would take a bit of the sting from the words she needed to say. "Tia, there's no escaping this. Even if we do not need to tell her all the details that she has forgotten, or that she was transformed and made to forget with a powerful artifact, it will be obvious that she's been gone for more than a day. Ponies will be older, even the staff in the palace must have changed some since then. You must see that there's no hiding this from her, Sister."

Celestia raised her head and her serene mask came down on her features. It was clear that she had decided on a course of action. "Luna, I will carefully inform Sunset that more time has passed than she is aware of. I wish for you and the others to respectfully keep the specifics, or the fact that she has lost years worth of memories to yourselves, much less the fact that she stranded herself on another world for those same years. Until we know if the changes are permanent or not, she is Sunset Shimmer, a gifted 7 year old unicorn under my care, nothing more or less."

Luna could see in her eyes how resolute her sister felt. "As you wish, Sister, this is your wayward student after all. If you'll excuse me I need to go safeguard the dreams of our ponies." She could tell that no good would come from continuing this discussion, and Luna was couldn't fault her logic, though her instincts told her they may be making a mistake. Perhaps something will come to her mind by tomorrow.





Celestia watched as her sister walked out into the hallway. She knew where Luna was coming from, however there were things she still hadn't shared with her that made this so much more difficult. In the time after Sunset left through the portal, Celestia had spent many an evening reflecting about how they'd ended up so estranged. The more time that passed, the more she came to accept that she was responsible as the adult with Sunset being a young mare. Apparently those were known for rebelliousness against authority figures, irrational emotional outbursts, and making rash decisions.

She had taught many students throughout her long life, but Sunset was the first and only one she had taken on to raise.