As she felt herself entering into the memory, Sunset thought she was starting to get used to the feeling. The new memory Sunset had entered was inside of a home, though she didn’t recognize it very much. Looking at the walls, she could tell it was her dad’s place, but the layout wasn’t something she remembered herself. A glance out the window showed that they were currently in Canterlot, at the very least. “Hmm, wonder what I’ll see in this one.”
The sound of tapping drew her attention to the kitchen, and looking inside, Sunset could see her mother sitting at the table. Far from the happiness of the previous memory’s start, Sunny Days had the beginnings of bags under her eyes as she tapped her hoof against the table.
Hot Air came in a moment later and looked worried. “Sunny? You’ve been in a funk all day. Something bothering you?”
There was a small flinch as Sunny turned and looked away from him. “It-- it is of little importance.”
Hot Air raised an eyebrow as he walked over and sat next to her. “Seeing as you’re talking like a noble again, I’d beg to differ.”
Sunny Days grimaced as she refused to look towards him. “I would rather not talk about it.”
Sighing, Hot Air rubbed his face with a hoof. “Sunny, you know that isn’t going to magically make your problem go away.” Looking towards her in concern, Hot tried to lean around to see her face. “Are you still having trouble adjusting?”
Irritation was beginning to bloom on Sunny’s face as she shut her eyes as her grimace deepened. “Hot Air, please, it’s been a year now. I just-- I need some time alone.”
Sitting back, Hot Air looked over at the calendar on the wall and hummed. “Oh, right. It has been a year, hasn’t it.” He perked up as an idea formed, and he smiled over to Sunny. “If it makes you feel better, this means you’re a year closer to being able to go back home!”
Sunny trembled in her seat, her grimace becoming more strained. “Hot Air, please.”
Hot Air continued, oblivious to Sunny’s rapidly dropping mood. “Imagine just how much your home might have changed. For all we know, your kingdom is thriving more than it was when you left.” He put a hoof gently onto her shoulder. “Your family might even be waiting right now for you to get back-”
There was a resounding smack as Sunny’s foreleg swung out and slapped Hot Air’s hoof away from her. Her face was contorted into a scowl, eyes boring into Hot Air even as angry tears started to trail down her face. “Maybe I don’t WANT to go back!”
Hot Air stumbled back for a moment, only to fall onto his rump. “S-Sunny?”
Watching it all unfold, Sunset could only stand stunned as her jaw threatened to fall through the floor. “W-What?”
Sunny Days got out of her seat roughly as she started pacing. “All my life, I’ve felt like I was trapped in a cage. It was always ‘Sunny be proper’ or ‘No talking to the peasants, Sunny’ or ‘Why can’t you act like a princess, Sunny.’ I was so tired of it all. Of being a princess. Of the nobles trying to worm their way into my life. Of all the godforsaken suitors constantly harassing me at my own father’s behest!” An unusually heavy stomp left a dent in the floor, and Sunny’s breathing slowly became more uneven. “Ever since I got pushed through the portal... I’ve been free for the first time in my life. I’m not just some display piece put on a pedestal and... and I don’t want to lose that.” There was a choked sob as Sunny landed on her rump, unable to keep her anger going.
“Sunny...” Hot Air hesitantly stepped closer and sat next to her. “What do you mean by pushed?”
Sunny looked down at the floor and wiped at her matting fur futilely. “The day I... came here, my sister and I had gotten into an argument. We had snuck out to talk privately in the garden, near the statues our mother loved to collect. It was there she accused me of hogging all of the attention. That I was keeping our parents focused on me instead of her.” There was a mirthless chuckle as she shook her head. “I couldn’t believe it. She wanted everything I hated and dared to say I was hoarding it like some kind of monster. I said so many hurtful things, things I wish I could take back. The last thing I remember before landing in this world was her shouting how she wished I was gone as she pushed me away.” Sunset noticed the melancholy smile that started to form on her mother’s face. “Well, she got her little wish, and strangely, I also got mine.”
The two of them sat in silence, Hot Air gently pulling Sunny closer with a wing and holding the distraught mare gently. A part of Sunset was thankful for that moment as well. She was still reeling from what she’d heard. “Mom didn’t want to leave? Did she want to stay here that much, even when they were just friends? Just what was it like for her back then?”
Hot Air sighed and rubbed his temple in thought. “I never realized being a royal could be so demanding. From what I could see as a guard, Princess Celestia handles things pretty well, but...”
Sunny Days scoffed and looked down at his hoof, and how close it was to hers. “When your ruler is immortal, succession takes little precedence. It must be so nice for her, not having to worry about any of that.”
The silence returned, but not as long as before. Hot Air, frowned before standing and moving in front of Sunny. “What if I went with you?”
Sunset and Sunny both looked to him in surprise as Sunny shot to her hooves. “What!?”
Hot Air only frowned as he looked her in the eyes. “Back to your world. What if you didn’t have to go back alone?”
Sunny only sputtered as she stepped back in shock. “Hot Air, what are you saying!?” She wildly started to wave her hoof towards the windows. “This is your home! What about your friends? Your family?!”
Stepping forward to match her, Hot Air sighed briefly before his frown shifted slightly. “I’m saying that I, I don’t want to see you go.” Walking towards the window for a moment, he looked down at his hooves. “I know you can’t stay here forever. You have a kingdom to return to. But for me? I’m just some guard. I’m completely expendable. My family’s been gone for years, and well, the guys would understand. Princess Celestia has dozens of guards that could take my place in a heartbeat,” he turned back around. Hot Air smiled with a big stupid grin, “so what’s the harm in one silly toy soldier running off? You’re one of the greatest ponies I’ve ever met, and I want to stand by your side.”
Stunned into silence, Sunny stumbled back a bit farther before she could get another word out. “You-- you would do that?”
Hot Air smiled as he offered a hoof, sincerity in his eyes. “If you would let me.”
Hooves trembling and breathing getting faster, Sunny almost took his offer, only for her hoof to drop back to the ground. “I-- I need to go.”
Confused, Hot Air frowned as she started to walk around him. “Sunny?”
“I’m sorry.” Sunny hastily went outside and trotted down the street.
Hot Air’s eyes widened a bit, and he muttered under his breath before heading outside himself. “Sunny, wait!”
Sunset made to follow but instead found herself being whisked away as the memory jumped forward. The ground below her was moving, yet she couldn’t feel the cobblestones under her hooves as she flew down the streets of Canterlot. Time sped up as she made out her father trying to catch up to her mother until it slowed back down around the edge of the city.
Hot Air was panting as he flapped his wings, and Sunny wasn’t getting any closer. For a pony who used to be human, her gallop was surprisingly fast. “Sunny, please, stop running!”
Sunny didn’t stop; if anything, she got slightly faster. “Go away!”
Hot Air banked hard around a corner and tried his best to keep up. Sunset could feel the genuine regret washing over Hot Air as he shouted. “I just want to talk!”
Sunny narrowed her eyes and glared back at him, keeping her pace going until she got to a fruit cart. “Stop following me!” With a quick buck, she sent an apple flying back that struck Hot Air right in the eye, making him fall to the ground and tumbled to a stop. She spared another glance backwards to see if he was still chasing her.
It was then, as he righted himself and shook his head, that Hot Air noticed where Sunny Days was running. Sunset noticed, too, and her hooves covered her mouth as she watched the edge of Canterlot draw ever closer. Hot Air’s eyes shrank to pinpricks as he tried to warn her. “Sunny! Look out!”
Sunny turned to look forward again but instead tripped on the curb where the road veered left. Head over hoof, she tumbled across the walking path and through ponies until she slammed against the rusted metal railing.
With a sickening snap and groan, the railing gave way.
Sunny screamed in fear as she clung to the railing, even as metal bent and swung out well past the edge of the cliff. Ponies, who had been nearby, started to panic and call for help. Unicorn nobles were even trying to keep the railing steady with whatever they could. One reached out to help her back over with a rope in his magic, but his control wasn’t good enough to get it close to her. Sunny tried to reach for it, but her hoof throbbed with a fresh bruise from the tumble, likely sprained.
Hot Air groaned as he pushed himself to his hooves, hobbling his way forward through the crowd. His wing throbbed, but he didn’t have time to focus on that. A gasp escaped him as he saw where Sunny was, and he started to hobble faster, flapping his wings to try and get airborne. The gathered nobles, however, were far from helpful, shoving Hot Air this way and that as they tried to get closer themselves, or were intentionally pushing him away. They were saying something, but the memory of their words was muffled.
Sunset watched as the world around her blurred and slowed. She was looking at the ponies around her, now nothing more than silhouettes with white eyes, before seeing how her father’s eyes were shrinking to pinpricks. Turning to where her mother was, her own breath caught in her throat.
The sound of twisting metal was all she could hear as Sunset watched the railing that her mother clung to snapped clean.
Sunset flew up into the air as her father took off, a faint echo of pain in her shoulder, and Hot Air dived down over the edge of the cliff. Her heart raced as she fell through the air, her mother flailing through the air as she screamed, and Hot Air forcing himself down faster than his wings would allow.
It all froze in place as Hot Air managed to catch one of Sunny Day’s flailing limbs, and Sunset had to cover her eyes as the world turned white once more.
As she returned from the depths of the memory, Sunset tumbled across the grass. Rather than look at her new destination, she looked up at the sky in a daze. “That... that was the day mom fell off of Canterlot. She didn’t just fall, she had a panic attack. She ran.”
A soft giggle came from somewhere behind her. “Well, when you’re having flashbacks to all the suitors you’ve been trying your best to avoid, you do tend to do that.” Sunset’s heart stopped beating before she scrambled back up to her hooves. What she saw made her eyes grow wider.
There was a small porch connected to a building that was half on the island itself, and half dismantled and floating behind in the air. On the porch, was the standard fair of a small patio swing big enough for two, side table, and silver wind-chimes. What made Sunset stop most, however, was the mare sitting in the swing, smiling with an amused raise of her eyebrows.
“Mom!?”
Sunny Days was startled a bit before her smile fell into a sad state. “Not quite.” She got out of her seat and walked off the porch as Sunset slowly walked closer. “But, I’m the closest you will get the chance to meet while here, so I guess I’ll have to do.”
When the two stood face to face for the first time, Sunset silently tried to find her words. Seeing her struggle, Sunny Days pulled her into a hug, which was quickly returned. “But, but how?”
Stepping back, Sunny waved a hoof at the many islands floating around them. “The mind is a truly amazing thing.” She put her hoof to her chest and looked down at it. “So much so, that just the memories of an individual, are enough to make it feel like they’re here.” The two sat down, and Sunny Days took Sunset’s hoof into her own. “More importantly, is that I know the real me, would be overjoyed to finally meet you, Sunset, and amazed at how much you’ve grown.”
Tears threatened to fall from Sunset’s eyes as she felt her throat go dry. “I-- I have so many questions.”
“I know.” Sunny’s smile held steady until she spotted a balloon floating in the distance, heading their way. She gasped lightly and jumped to her hooves. “But first, we need to be somewhere safe. Line Writer is still looking for me.”
Sunset quickly rose herself and started to follow her mother as she ran back to the porch. “For you? Why?”
Sunny stopped to look back as her hoof hovered by the door. “I wish I knew.” With a push, the interior revealed itself to be nowhere near as dilapidated as the debris in the air hinted.
Without any hesitation, Sunset followed the memory of her mother inside.