A pale woman, with flowing pastel hair, and a younger girl, with a particularly fire like colouration sat across from each other in the empty shop of Sugarcube Corner, sitting in relative silence, oblivious to the snow starting to fall outside. The older looking of the pair, secretly Princess Celestia, decided to break the silence.
"This has indeed taken too long to happen, hasn't it?" Celestia took a deep breath, and looked down, almost in shame. "It's a pity what caused this to occur in the first place though."
The shorter girl, Sunset Shimmer, nodded in agreement, struggling to contain her emotions. "Certainly. Though let us try to avoid the darker parts."
"Of course." Both equestrians were trying hard to make the meeting as calm as possible. "I must ask a question though - what did you think I was going to do to you when I showed up at the house? I grant you that my reaction might've been a bit much, but..."
The girl let out an exaggerated sigh, embarrassed at her own reaction. "If anyone overreacted, it was me. I saw you, and instead of using the courage I had gathered over the past few weeks, I let all my fears go to my head. It's funny, I used to pray to Princess Luna that I wouldn't have nightmares about being punished when you finally decide to see me. Funnily enough, I never had any bad dreams about it. Then, when you come over, I instantly freakout."
"I wouldn't be too suprised if the dreams actually had something to do with my sister herself. She had mentioned she was sensing great distress from someone in another dimension, but only recently connect her descriptions with you. Hmm. That is something to think about." Celestia noticed her ex-student's head had dropped, and extended an arm to direct it upwards. "And I did act rather agressively, so both of us are to blame. Shall we leave it at that?"
"It's still-" A quick glance at the royal's face told Sunset she was not going to win this argument. "I suppose I can accept that." Not knowing where to take the conversation next, Sunset spread her arms out on the table, examining the bandages on them. She was intending to keep them on for a long time. Her scars were deep, and would most likely be noticable for the rest of her life. Due to some over exuberance on her part, her hands were also bandaged, which was more than inconvinient, now she could use them again.
"I haven't really been told much. Might I ask what happened to..."
"Can't expect you to ignore it forever..." The girl held up her fore limbs in front of her, slowly turning them over. "Long story short, I was stupid."
"Ahem."
"Right, right, long version it is. Judging by what you were doing when I found you here, I'm guessing you already know about the 'Anon-a-miss' stuff. That's at least partially sorted out, for the moment. This is where I got stupid. Now I'm ashamed to admit that I was... I was homeless. There was a blizzard. I was highly depressed, and I doubted I could last the night, only made worse when I saw my shelter collapse. I could've gone back to Equestria, but I wasn't thinking straight. So I tried to commit suicide. No real way to soften the blow there, but that's what happened. Found by Scootaloo, who you met, and brought to hospital, where I was taken in by this world version of Twilight and her family. Wish there was more to say than that, but..."
Celestia hadn't reacted the entire time. She was using a stoic perfected over centuries worth of practice, letting no hint to what she might be feeling. Even so, the immortal ruler had to steel herself from the sheer volume of emotion building up in her, unless she wanted to weep with varying feelings. "Sunset. I would be lying if I said I wasn't angry. That was a very foolish thing of you to do. However. We should not dwell on the past. You are here now, and nothing can change that. What we should worry about, is the future. And perhaps the present." While most onlookers would have thought Celestia was still acting impartial, Sunset knew better. There was a stern look in her eyes, one that automatically denied any objections, but also showed endless amounts of care.
"I- Yes, I guess that is the most sensible course of action." Sunset tried to maintain her composure, but eventually cracked under the pressure, and all but jumped over the table, hugging Celestia in the process.
They stayed like that for some time, both letting their tears flow freely down their faces, not caring for anything else. No one came into the abandoned shop, leaving the equestrians with only the howling wind as their companion. Reluctantly, Celestia gently pulled away, but kept the deep concern in her voice. "Better?"
"Y-yeah, thanks."
"Good. We really shouldn't hold onto our emotions like that. It's just not healthy." The princess settled back into her seat, getting comfortable once more. "How's your situation? I understand the basics, but not much more."
"Well, They are really nice and everything, but I'm honestly not sure how I see them. I suppose I should tell you about this..." Sunset slumped back, unwilling to keep up the formality. "They want to adopt me, and I already said yes. That's because I like them, and they like me. It's just that... I don't know if anyone considers me family, or if they're hoping adopting me will make them feel that way."
"In my opinion, they do love you. They wouldn't of done most of the things they did if they didn't. It's more the question of if you love them back."
"That's the thing I-"
"Do you?" Celestia glared at Sunset, forcing a response.
"...Yes. But I can't tell if that's only because they took me in when no one else did. I just-" The girl abruptly slammed her face down, setting it on the table. "I just don't think I'm ready now, if ever."
"Then be patient. You of all ponies should know by now that waiting for something is a suprisingly effective strategy, rather than hungrily seeking it."
"Right, right. Patience is a virtue." Sunset brought her head back up, and rubbed her forehead in thought. "I'm not waiting months though. I honestly don't have time for that. Tell you what: I'll tell them I'm happy to stay with them, but give me a week back at school to think about it."
Celestia nodded in approval. "That seems like a valid course of action. Speaking of your school, however, what are you going to be doing about that?"
"And that's the main problem. I'm not going to Crystal Prep, the only other school in the area, since it's morally corrupt. I'd rather stay here. But that brings yet another problem - so far, there are only eight people who don't completely hate me, or rather, they don't think I'm behind that blasted page. Regardless, I'm staying at CHS. And before you mention it, I might be visiting Equestria more often now, but I won't be staying there, or at least not until I've finished school here. If things get too bad here, I'm definitely going back to Equestria. Maybe permamently, may not. We'll see."
"Again, sounds reasonable."
"Yeah, but that's really all I can do anyway. Run or actually try to do something about it. Not really much of a choice. Besides, if I ran, the school would probably tear itself apart without knowing the truth."
"You're choosing the better option, you have learned from your mistakes. You're doing well not to regress back to what you were."
"I guess. I just know my first few days will be absolute Tartauraus."
"I'm not going to pretend I understand this world's culture, but if you ever need any help coming to terms with it, there are a lot of people who'll help, both this side of the mirror and the other."
"I know, and while I understand the importance of friends, everyone needs to do some things one their own to become stronger - a better friend, if you will."
"Fair enough. Just don't be too afraid to ask if it becomes too much." Celestia tapped the table with her knuckles. "Not to sound impatient, I can stay as long as I'd like, but is there anything else you wish to discuss? My sister can only stay awake for so long."
Sunset's eyes went wide, and start scrambling to her seat. "Don't let me keep you waiting! I need to talk to Twilight anyway."
Nodding, the pale woman also stood up, nodding to her ex-student. "Very well. You know how to contact me."
They gave each other one last hug, before walking back out into the snow, giving their farewells.
"Well, that was an experience." Princess Twilight had just emerged from the house of her human counterpart, and was on her way to Sugarcube Corner, where Sunset and Celestia would be. Her time with her counterpart had been filled with questions, from both sides. It seemed Spike had come over on Heath's Warming Eve, and had revealed Equestria to the family. Still, the human Twilight did seem very eager to do some tests, and also was very curious about how she might be in the future, since Princess Twilight noted how many similarities between the human and her past self.
"Hey, Twilight!" Ahead, Sunset was walking towards her.
"Hello, Sunset. Where's Celestia?"
"She's making her way back to the portal. And before you panic, she's an ancient being that controls the sun. Magic or not, she can survive on her own." The girl had correctly guessed what was going through her friends head, and prevented her from hyperventilating prematurely. "Come on, I'll walk you to the portal. I need to talk to you anyway. Mostly magic."
"That's not something I'd expect from you." Sunset was an expert when it came to magic, whether it be in Equestria or the human world. Granted, Twilight was probably more experienced at this point, but that shouldn't really matter, considering the situation..
"Sure, go ahead."
"On Christmas Eve, or rather Hearth's Warming Eve, my arms healed. I could move them, and the formation of my scars was accelerated. They were a bit slower than before, but in terms of the use of my hands and arms, they're entirely back to normal now. I suspect magic, but I'm curious why."
"Most likely as a result of your connection to magic, and how Spike reopened the connection to Equestria the same day. Still need to talk to him about that..."
"Yeah, that's what I thought, just checking. But one of the things that confused me more..." Sunset wriggled her fingers, moving them in a particularly way. "The more refined things, such as writing or guitar playing, I was told I needed to relearn due to various complications. They were right, I find it next to impossible to write with my hands, but I can write better than ever with my mouth."
"Again, probably your magic connecting to Equestria, and therefore your pony side."
"Then here's the bit I don't get. I can play the guitar perfectly well, despite the predictions. And guitars don't even exist in Equestria!"
Twilight put a hand to her chin, entering a state of deep thought. "Hmm. That is strange. In this world, magic seems to have some sort of connection to music. I don't know why, but it just does. Only explanation I can think of, at the moment. I can do some tests, if you-"
Sunset put up a bandaged hand to halt her friend. "It's fine. I was just curious. Once this whole debacle is over, maybe. If it ever does end, that is."
Soon enough, they reached the statue that contained the portal back to Equestria, its colours swirling around slightly.
"It's now or never. Come on, lets go!" A yellow girl rushed forwards, reaching into a back pocket, pulling out a short blade. Her two companions reluctantly followed her, preparing to do as they were told. The blue girl rushed up behind one of their two targets - a lavender girl, named Twilight, stood in front of a statue. With a little hesitiation, she grabbed onto the girl, holding her still, while she struggled against the sudden attack. The purple girl went to her own opponent, one Sunset Shimmer. She was swiftly pushed into the statue without any time to react, and disappeared into the base of it in a flash of colour. "Very good, girls." The yellow one approached the captured girl, waving the blade about.
All Twilight could do was gulp.