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// Two hearts rekindled 
// Story: Two worlds colliding 
// by TalkingToMyself 
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Just a few hours after greeting the delegation from the Crystal Empire, Sunset was again overwhelmed by a feeling of familiarity, this time a far more pleasant one. She was sitting in a big room with high ceilings and white marble walls. Desks and bookshelves were spread out on the sides of the room and a large table filled nearly the entire centre of the room. She inhaled the familiar scent of books, ink and tea that reminded her of the first time she had been in this room as a small filly. Like back then, she found herself admiring the insignia of the sun that was embedded into the huge doors.

Barely anything had changed in Princess Celestia's study since the last time she'd been here. A pair of chalkboards has been added and some more books lay around at the desks. But everything else reminded her so much of those years she had spent nearly every day inside these rooms, it almost hurt. Even the form of Princess Celestia next to her and watching her as she studied.  
She looked up at her former mentor and was rewarded with a heartfelt smile, obviously Celestia could feel the nostalgia as much as Sunset.

The others had been given rooms to retire and went straight to bed, neither Starlight nor Trixie had gotten much sleep last night and Sunburst had spent most of the day travelling south with the crystal ponies as well.
That left Sunset to check on the books they found in the archives with Celestia joining her. Now, without any other ponies watching her, Sunset noticed the slightly slumped pose of the tired princess and a barely concealed yawn. She started to giggle only to find herself yawning as well. Celestia gave her that kind and motherly smile again which made Sunset immediately blush, then she spoke in a soft voice
"It's been a very taxing day, but I have one more thing to show you tonight. I think you might be pleasantly surprised."

Sunset followed the princess out of her study and down the hallway. She remembered this one leading towards Celestia's private chambers. However, they stopped a few doors earlier at an unmarked and plain door.
Sunset blinked when Celestia motioned for her to enter first, so she opened the door with her magic and stepped inside. Something about this felt eerily familiar and as soon as the mage lights inside illuminated the room, her jaw almost dropped to the floor.

It was her old room, the room she was given by the princess all those years ago. The first room she could call her own in her whole life.
Everything was still there, in its place, exactly where she left it. The big bed with the magenta and yellow covers, her favourite colours. The shelves on the sides filled with old books and tomes she'd been studying, even her desk was still covered with scrolls and scripts.
"You kept it? All those years?"
Celestia giggled behind her and stepped into the room until she stood next to her
"Did you expect something else?"
Sunset looked around, still staring in wonder
"I thought you'd burn it down because you'd be angry with me. Or that you'd given it to Twilight when you replaced me with her as your new student."
"Never!"

Sunset looked up surprised at the sudden call from Princess Celestia. She found her magenta eyes gazing into hers, an almost desperate expression on her face
"I would never give away your room. I always hoped you would come back someday. And I never replaced you with Twilight. Not in my heart."

Sunset took a sudden breath that sounded dangerously like a sob. She was surprised by this level of emotion the Princess showed right now. With her own voice shaking, Sunset managed to speak out one of the thoughts that had been very prominent in her mind for a long time
"But Twilight did everything you asked of her, she's smarter than I am, she has stronger magic. She embraced all your lessons and passed every test, and I just raged at you. She saved Equestria and Princess Luna. You made her a princess. She has everything and I just failed at everything."

Sunset felt soft feathers brush over her cheek and realized the princess was wiping away tears. Somewhere during her rambling, she'd started crying again
"Sunset, that's enough of it already. I can see where you are going with this, but I did not choose between Twilight and you in any ways, nor will I ever do so. You are both important to me, as important as Luna or Cadance. I have seen you both grow up, I have seen you struggle in a way or another and I was proud to see you both get past it. If a mother has two daughters, she will never cherish one of them more than the other; instead she will love them both equally."

Sunset froze at those words. She'd been taken under Celestia's tutelage when she was a small filly and coming from an orphanage. It seemed only natural to start seeing more than just a teacher in the kind and benevolent mare that spent so much time with her. They'd shared secrets with each other, Celestia would always make time for her. More than once, when filly Sunset would suffer from nightmares, the princess would be there to soothe her.

At some point those events grew less and less frequent. Celestia distanced herself from her and those moments were she would act as a mother vanished altogether. Sunset grew obsessed with winning back Celestia's appreciation, proving her worth, trying to achieve greatness by proving her talents and gaining more power. She'd failed to see the lessons Celestia tried to teach her and it all climaxed in that one night were she'd run away.

And now, years later, after having changed so much and in the middle of crisis, Celestia practically called herself her mother. She blinked and noticed the white alicorn stare at her. She was visibly nervous and Sunset realized that it hadn’t just been a slip of tongue. Princess Celestia was well aware of what she had said and was waiting for her reaction. Sunset wished she knew how to react. After a minute of silence, she whispered
"How long did you know?"

Celestia sighed and understood. She started to explain
"I knew early on, but it took me far too long to fully understand. You were so young, all by yourself. It made me happy to see you smile and I loved sharing all those special moments with you. Once revelation hit me, I grew nervous. I thought of my royal duties, my little ponies all over Equestria who needed me. I thought of my sister whom I desperately wanted to save. I thought it was wrong to bind myself too close to you, so I kept my distance, like I did for almost a thousand years with everypony. I thought I was doing what was best for everypony and Equestria. You'd grown so confident by then, showed so much ambition, learned so much. I was convinced I was doing the right thing when I saw you improve so much. I noticed your struggles but I told myself you needed those to keep growing, so I did nothing. By the time I realized how much I had hurt you, it was too late. Again, my inactions had driven away a pony so close to my heart. First I lost Luna to Nightmare Moon and then I lost you to the mirror."

Sunset had been listening attentively but she felt so numb. She wanted to cry and share the pain with the Princess she once loved like a mother, but something held her back. Her eyes wandered through the room and found small differences from how she'd left it all those years ago. Her desk was tidy, all her scrolls neatly stacked on it. The bookshelves held new books, recent editions of spell books she'd owned.
She saw the candles, more than she ever had before. She'd always preferred the warm light of candles over mage lights, the flickering flames had a soothing effect on her and playing with the flames with her pyromancy always managed to distract her from her worries, at least for a while. She'd had a few dozen placed around her room when she left, but now there were easily a hundred or more candles of all sizes and colours spread around.

"Sunset?"
Celestia asked quietly, waiting for a response to her attempt of explaining her side of the past. Sunset looked back at her and waved her hoof towards the room
"You did all this?"
Celestia nodded and smiled with sadness in her eyes
"I never let anypony come in here, just me. I spent quite a few hours here, reminiscing and thinking. I ended up adding little things to your room, things I thought you might enjoy when you returned. I missed you."

Again, Sunset froze for a moment. Just three words, but they meant so much to her. She took a deep breath and gathered all her courage but even then, all she could do was whisper
"I don't know how long I'd wished for you to talk about this. I'm not the filly I was anymore. So much has changed. I have changed. You still mean a lot to me. I still love you, I really do. But I'm not sure if I can see you as my mother after all that happened."
"Sunset, I am sorry. I didn't want to put any pressure on you, all I want is to be honest with you. I am sorry I am rushing this all on you."
Sunset shook her head and this time it was her turn for a sad smile
"It's not what you said, back then or today. It's not what you did. It's about what I did, what I've been through. I know it's selfish to think like that, but I can't help it."
"It is not anymore selfish than calling myself a mother without ever having done anything to prove myself worthy of it."

Sunset blinked and nodded. She turned away from Celestia and took the few steps towards the bed. She remembered how huge it seemed when she was a filly, but it was still big enough even today. She climbed on top of it, at a very particular spot like she always used to. Celestia watched her but seemed hesitant. Sunset reached for her magic and turned out the mage lights that floated under the ceiling. For a moment, only the red glow around her horn illuminated the room. Then, all the candles started to burn at once and the room was bathed in a warm and soft glow of small flickering flames.

At that moment, Celestia understood and climbed next to Sunset onto the bed, like she had so many times when they'd talked the nights away. Sunset shivered for a moment, it felt so familiar it almost hurt, but then a soft wing wrapped around her and she felt safe.
She spoke four tiny words that meant so much to her
"I missed you too."

As the wing held her close and Celestia's watched her, Sunset started to talk. From the moment she stepped through the mirror, she told everything that had happened, important or not. Details not even Princess Twilight or the girls knew about. Celestia stayed silent, but the wing embracing her told Sunset everything she needed to know. When she talked about fear, the wing squeezed her reassuringly. As she described the pain she felt as a demon, she was pulled closer towards the comforting presence beside her. When she talked about her friends, they both smiled together.

Sunset ended up talking through the whole night, opening herself to the alicorn next to her. Celestia stayed and listened, cherishing every word Sunset shared with her. Whether they called themselves mother and daughter, student and teacher, or simply friends, they knew that their relationship would always be special to them and that they would never stop being close to each other, no matter how many worlds may come between them.