//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Sins of the Daughter // Story: Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety-jig // by Justice3442 //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer regarded the large golden gates to Canterlot Castle with a sense of nostalgia mixed with dread. They were less imposing now, given she was substantially taller, though the shift in physical perspective did little to stem the tide of emotions seeing them brought. Still, Sunset likely had a friend that would blast them to pieces if she asked. Sunset wouldn’t even have to be nice about it. Starlight Glimmer would likely comply if it was a request, an order, or even if the unicorn caught a whiff that the gates themselves filled Sunset with unease. Speaking of unease, knowing that’s how Starlight might react wasn’t all that comforting… Still, having any sort of friendly back-up, especially one that would use actions to help instead a bunch of empty platitudes lifted out of the greeting card aisle was comforting. More comfort than Sunset could expect from most her friends… at least without having to prod them a little. In that regards at least, Starlight was an ideal companion. Starlight herself also seemed somewhat intimidated by the idea that she was responsible for fixing a mess past those golden gates, and that in itself was also a bit if a relief to Sunset. Sunset took a deep breath and recited a mantra that had just recently sprung to her mind as she made this harrowing journey to her ‘home’. Or at least a place that still had the lion’s share of her most treasured memories… and the moments she most regretted. How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart you begin to understand... there is no going back? There are some things that time cannot mend. Some hurts that go too deep, that have taken hold. As true as the lines she recited to herself were, Sunset had stolen them from a movie, which in turn, lifted them straight from the book series the movie was based on which she might shamefully admit she couldn’t get all the way through. Look, it wasn’t HER fault the movies had already been out when she jumped dimensions and that they were so freakin’ good she’d forgo a balanced diet, sleep, and basic hygiene for an entire day to marathon the entire extended trilogy!  And, hey! Books were great, but was it her fault she wasn’t born Twilight ‘perfect friend and best bookworm’ Sparkle?! Sunset had had dance popularity contests to win and a high school to rule over! Sunset frowned heavily. It was amazing what a perspective change brought on by a few world-threatening events could do to make one reflect on several years spent wasted on frivolous pursuits. The high school stuff, that is. Not marathoning movies. It’d be a below-absolute zero day in HELL before she’d regret any of that. Anyhow, the mantra had one flaw in that it didn’t offer any advice. On examination of the source material, apparently, the answer was ‘Leave now and never come back!’ Well, Sunset had left, and now she was back. She wasn’t about to back down now. “Uh, Sunset?” Starlight interjected. “Are you alright? You’re kinda just glaring at the castle and spacing out…” “YOU ARE A STUDENT OF TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” Sunset unexpectedly yelled at the top of her lungs. “NO MATTER WHAT COMES OUT OF THAT GATE, YOU WILL STAND YOUR GROUND!” Okay, yeah… Maybe it worked in a book or in a movie, but that just sounded stupid otherwise. Starlight put on a determined smile and stood ready as if the devil himself might throw open the gates and attack. “Okay!” she replied as if the thing Sunset had just said was completely natural and not insane at all. No wait! I take it back. Cool. Totally cool! I’m being cool now and not an overwhelmed dork who isn’t prepared for this at all! Sunset put on her game face and prepared for the worst. Her wings weren’t for show, after-all. Facing a reality tearing high-schooler who was possessed by a demon of gluttony by utilizing the combined powers of your friend’s most positive traits had to count for something when you had to deal with your past emotional baggage! …Right? And then the gates to the castle opened. And there stood a lone pony. A pale, off-white unicorn stallion balancing small spectacles on his muzzle and wearing a dignified red jacket and blue-grey ascot. He looked across the way to Sunset with his soft-brown eyes and she suddenly understood what it must be like to have one’s soul set ablaze via ‘penance stare.’ Any illusion that Sunset previously held that she had ‘got this’ shattered. A new set of guards ready to escort Sunset to her unavoidable fate? Sure. Princess Celestia herself? Been there, done that. A horde of Orcs that charged at her and Starlight after the mighty battering ram Grond destroys the gates themselves? Bring it. But Kibitz, the closest thing Sunset Shimmer ever had to a father? Nope. There just wasn’t enough time to work out the epic mental obstacle course of the ways that might go down.   While it was relatively well known in Canterlot amongst those ponies with longer memories than most that once upon a time Celestia had adopted a poor little orphan filly and said filly had turned out to be a bit of a hellion, what wasn’t well documented was the castle staff that put up with her. Out of the servants that came and went, some likely directly because of Sunset, Kibitz had been a fixture of Sunset’s life since the moment she first stepped hoof in the castle. This was somewhat unavoidable with Kibitz being the royal scheduling aid and majordomo for Celestia herself. As of such, he became sort of an unwilling babysitter, at least in Sunset’s eyes. Then one day Sunset thought she accidentally killed her mother, and this unicorn came across the scene. Towering over Sunset, he looked down at the small filly in judgment. But instead of condemning or even rebuking Sunset when she was at her absolute lowest, he opened his heart to her and told her that everything would be alright. In that moment he became the second pony ever to really let her know she deserved to be loved. Though, regarding the ‘tragic death of her mother’, Sunset was admittedly being a tad melodramatic at the time. in her defense, she was just a recently adopted orphan who didn’t have a frame of reference for how much damage a large hardcover book could do when lobbed at a pony's head. Still, even if Sunset learned to reciprocate all the love Kibitz had shown her by making sure she was always taken care of and even occasionally spent time with the little filly on one of the many occasions when her mother was too busy, it didn’t mean she magically became better behaved. As the years went on this poor pony had dealt with a great deal of Sunset’s tantrums, especially since he was so much quicker to put his foot down than Celestia. Through it all, never once did he ever give the slightest indication that he’d be anywhere but there to help Sunset when she needed it. And instead of ever thanking him for that, she ran away from home. Whatever disagreements she may have had with her mother, Kibitz wasn’t part of them, and still… Sunset was able to cut him from her life the same she did to Celestia. And she didn’t have clue one as to how a pony could even begin to apologize for that. So, Sunset stood there like a deer in the headlights of a multi-ton, multi-trailer rocket truck and let out a silent prayer that her heart wasn’t about to be ripped out and shown to her. Starlight, to her credit, did indeed stand her ground as if Kibitz, of all ponies, might be Celestia’s trained assassin. Though the mare did it with some degree of confusion. Stone-faced as ever, Kibitz took a step, and then another. Then another… In fact, he strode forward as if he was greeting any other royal dignitary as the caretaker of Canterlot castle and not approaching the adult version of a filly whose tantrums he had weathered for many a year. Nor did he look upon Sunset with the eyes she’d expect from a pony who refused to sit at make-believe tea parties but would instead schedule real tea parties with himself and Sunset in attendance. Sunset searched desperately for the hints of the pony who’d soothe her when she’d accidentally break an ancient vase while playing where she shouldn’t, or part of her mother’s regalia on one of the occasions where she was pretending to be a real princess. Each time followed by discreetly having the item repaired without a word to Celestia. She looked long and hard for a reminder, any reminder, of the love Kibitz had shown when he would read her bedtimes stories when Princess Celestia was still busy with one of her endless royal duties. Sunset focused all her attention on the pony trotting towards her and practically attempted will into existence that spark of light that showed that her absence had been marked. That she was indeed still loved. She. Just. Couldn’t. Find. It. Quickly, silently, Kibitz arrived within a foreleg length of Sunset. And there was a gulf of silence as Starlight kept an eye on Kibitz’s horn as if it might be used to blast Sunset at a moment’s notice. As comforting as that might be, a terrified Sunset Shimmer kept an eye on his perfect poker face. Waiting for it to break into anger and tell Sunset that she had gone too far. That she had finally crossed a line and there was no going back. That this time… this time she really did lose the love of somepony whose feelings meant the world to her. Out of all the ponies that Sunset had wronged time and time again, no pony had shown Sunset more patience or dealt with her often times miserable behavior with more grace and dignity than the pony walking up to her now. If ever there was a pony who had a right to return to Sunset all the pain and stress she had caused over the years as a filly in one single, brutal moment, it was Kibitz. Sunset had a bag… no, an entire armory of return-fire ammunition to deal with her Mom if it came to defending herself and her old, insufferable ways. The mental bag of comebacks and tit-for-tats she had for Kibitz? It was a big fat load of air that read ‘you done bucked up’ when turned inside out. And then Kibitz took a couple steps forward. He wrapped a foreleg around Sunset’s neck and rested his head on her shoulder. He murmured, “Oh, child… Why did you ever leave your home? I missed you terribly.” Sunset’s geode suddenly flashed red, and a tsunami of regret and longing from the pony holding her hit her in an instant. Then Sunset recognized that her heart had been ripped out and shown to her. As tears poured forth and the paper-thin walls that held her emotions at bay were obliterated by this wave of emotion, she rejoiced.