The Sunset of a Frozen Princess

by DaylightHobbyist


Chapter 6: Clash of Shimmering Hearts

The stone circle, illuminated by the midday sun, seemed to completely still, as even the breeze paused in shock of the bold declaration. Flurry Heart quickly turned back to her, this time sporting a baffled look that seemed to both wonder if she had heard what Sunset had just said right and questioned if this unicorn was completely insane.

Sunset couldn’t blame her. She was wondering the same thing. She may very well have been the most powerful unicorn in Equestria, but she was still picking a fight with an alicorn. Simply put, she was completely out of her league.

“You heard me. Let’s have a magic duel, right now. Just you and me.”

Yeah, she was crazy. Completely mental. A bout of insanity no doubt brought on by a combination of anger, stress, and roughly twenty-four hours without sleep. There was, however, a method to the madness.

Sunset still clearly remembered what she used to be like. She couldn’t forget. She would never allow herself to forget. She remembered what it felt like to think you had all the power and answers. To be so deep in your own head that you weren’t willing to listen to anypony except yourself. She had been like that until she was forced to confront the fact that the reality was otherwise. She needed to be humbled before she could grow.

Flurry Heart needed to be taken down a few pegs before she would actually be ready to hear what anypony had to say. The only problem was, there were only four ponies on the planet that could possibly discipline her. Perhaps less, if Flurry’s boasting was to be believed.

Twilight certainly would never lay a hoof on her unless she was absolutely forced to, and Sunset wasn’t willing to let it come to that. The world didn’t need another Sunset Shimmer. That left the job to her. A woefully underequipped and unprepared unicorn that may have been completely out of her mind.

“You’re kidding?” Flurry Heart scoffed out once the shock of Sunset’s brashness had passed. “You do realize who you’re talking to, right?”

Well, there was no point in backing down now. Sunset had made her bed and she was going to lie in it. “Of course. I’m talking to a self-absorbed little brat who needs to be put in her place.”

The insult did its job and ensured that there would be no turning back, as Flurry Heart scowled and left the railing to approach the unicorn. “Okay, little pony. I’ll fight you. I REALLY felt like hitting something anyway. Just be ready for when auntie has to scrape you off the castle.”

Sunset held her ground and didn’t back down as the alicorn stepped up to face her. Flurry Heart made certain to get as close as possible, ensuring she could look down on the unicorn before her.

Flurry Heart was certainly not as massive as Twilight, nor did she radiate the same amount of power and authority. Unfortunately, she still towered over Sunset by an entire head and neck. Whatever Flurry lacked in presence she made up for in menace. Twilight Sparkle was undoubtedly the most powerful pony on the planet now, but Sunset knew she would never hurt her. There was no telling what Flurry Heart was capable of at this point. All the terror she wasn’t showing on the outside, she was certainly feeling on the inside.

“Standard magic dueling rules then,” Sunset managed to get out in a thankfully even tone. “First pony to either forfeit or be incapacitated loses.”

Flurry Heart simply nodded before she began walking away to take her place on the other side of the platform.

As Sunset did the same, she quickly went over her plan in her head. Sunset may have been crazy, but she wasn’t suicidal. She never would have proposed a duel without an idea of how to win. Unfortunately, her victory relied on a few assumptions of Flurry’s history and character to work, but Sunset had always fancied herself a good judge of character.

The deck was incredibly stacked against her at the moment. During her twenty-four-hour stay in Twilight’s lab, she had been able to confirm that her abilities had indeed been enhanced by whatever changed her magic. Her already incredible power had increased, and her mana reserves were now significantly greater. She probably never would have been able to apply herself to so much lab work as long as she did otherwise. Be that as it may, she was still no alicorn. Simply smothering Flurry Heart’s magic with her own as she would have normally been able to do wasn’t an option.

From the brief seconds Sunset had felt Flurry Heart’s magic, she could tell that she’d never be able to match such raw power. Nor could she hope to physically overpower or outlast her earth pony build, obviously. Not to mention, the alicorn could freely fly without expending energy on any sort of levitation spell, giving her the movement advantage. As far as statistics go, Sunset was outmatched in every category. And to top it all off, she was going into this duel already tired.

Her only hope was the other things she had learned from her brief interaction with Flurry Heart’s magic. For all her power, the alicorn was no master of the magic arts. More than likely, a result of being able to solely rely on brute strength and spending the majority of her life in an empire comprised of crystal earth ponies. If Sunset had to guess, most of Flurry Heart’s training would have come from Cadenza, who Sunset knew from personal experience was only an average mage herself. She had found absolutely no evidence of any sort of advanced magical training in Flurry Heart’s technique.

Sunset, on the other hoof, was as close as one could get to embodying magic without literally being Twilight Sparkle.

“I’ll give you one chance to back down before I flatten you! As fun as it would be, I really don’t feel like explaining to Aunt Twilight why I had to make paste out of you!” Flurry Heart shouted from the other side of the platform once they had taken their positions.

Sunset merely ground her hooves into the floor and took a casting stance in response.

“Fine, have it your way,” Flurry Heart muttered under her breath as she began collecting magic in her horn.

Sunset cast a quick timer spell in the center of their impromptu arena, an orb of magic that would change color and burst in three seconds, signaling the start of the duel.

Sunset took a deep breath in hopes of calming whatever nerves she could.
Both mares tensed as the orb began the process of changing colors.

Three…Two…One…

The instant the light flashed out of existence; Flurry Heart unleashed a large concentrated stream of yellow concussive energy in Sunset’s direction. Sunset barely got a shield spell up before the beam washed over her, for all the good it did. The shield managed to weather the attack, but Sunset was still pushed back several feet, her hooves grinding on the stone floor, searching for traction. This unbalanced interaction made Sunset firmly resolve to only directly block Flurry’s attacks when absolutely necessary.

Flurry Heart followed this attack with a constant volley of several shorter blasts, nowhere near as long or powerful as the first, but still plenty destructive. Sunset was forced on the defensive as she rapidly teleported around the platform to avoid the incoming shots that hammered her side of the arena.

“Are you just going to run away the whole time, or do you plan on actually fighting me at some point!” Flurry Heart taunted in between her unrelenting shots.

Sunset’s moment of opportunity came when Flurry Heart ceased her assault to ready another concentrated shot of energy. The spell she now had in mind would be near alicorn level magic, but it could be the only way to break Flurry’s defenses. Sheer adrenaline forced her body past any exhaustion as she focused.

Flurry Heart readied her attack and immediately launched a large orb of magical energy in Sunset’s direction. Rather than put up a shield spell, Sunset focused her horn on the space in front of her and concentrated all of her power into it.

A hole, no bigger than a coffee table, materialized right in front of the unicorn and completely swallowed the ball of yellow energy.

“What in th-GAH!” Flurry Heart shouted in shock and pain as somehow her own attack rammed into her and knocked her back into the hard-stone rails that guarded the edge of the platform, burying her in rubble and dust.

Sunset breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that her localized portals had worked. With Flurry temporarily dazed, Sunset had only a few moments to enact the next part of her plan as she focused her horn skyward. A dome of energy briefly flashed over the platform before disappearing from sight.

Not a moment too soon, as Flurry rushed from the cloud her impact had created intent on simply running Sunset over. Physical brutality was greatly discouraged among dueling unicorns, but, as far as Sunset knew, there was no rule saying you couldn’t simply beat your opponent into submission. Flurry Heart intended to take full advantage of this loophole as she charged Sunset at full speed.

Sunset found herself to be in luck, for as devastating as any one of Flurry Heart’s attacks would have been to be struck by, they were all incredibly linear and predictable. A simple slip spell cast on the ground along with a hop to get out of the way was all it took this time to send Flurry Heart sprawling.

The alicorn ungracefully crashed onto her stomach as her chin banged onto the stone floor. Frustration was clearly beginning to set in, Flurry growling at Sunset from her position on the floor.

Good,” Sunset thought. “The angrier she gets, the more likely she is to mess up.”

Sunset was surprised at how well it was going. Her magical abilities were now back to full strength, if not better than before, and she had trained some with Twilight, but it had still been years since she had actually fought anyone with her magic.

Before Sunset could get too comfortable with her brief victories, Flurry Heart decided to take a more unorthodox approach as she slammed her hooves into the ground. The shock sent Sunset off balance long enough for Flurry to get to her hooves and deliver a quick shoulder bash to the amber mare sending her bouncing across the floor.

Sunset felt the air almost completely leave her body as she tumbled away from Flurry Heart, only coming to a stop as slid into the guard rails. Simply breathing felt difficult after such a direct hit from the large pony.

“Not so hot now, are you?” Flurry Heart taunted, enjoying having the upper hand for once. Fortunately for Sunset, this gave her the time she needed to get her bearings.

Okay, REALLY can’t afford to take any more shots like that,” Sunset Internally noted, as she quickly stumbled back into a battle-ready stance. She needed to reassert control of the fight and quickly.

For the first time since the duel started, Sunset launched an attack of her own. Flurry effortlessly blocked the small beam with her own horn, slapping it away.

“Your first actual attack and that was it? Aunt Twilight’s standards must have REALLY dropped,” Flurry Heart mocked.

Sunset couldn’t suppress the sneer that made its way onto her face at the remark. Sunset growled before firing a small ball of energy.

Flurry Heart scoffed before proceeding to block the next attack in the same manner as the first. Only this attack exploded in a flash of light when Flurry struck it with her horn.

“AGH!” Flurry Heart screamed, once more taken off guard and sent into a stumble, as she was completely blinded by the flash of light that went off right in her face. Sunset took full advantage of this moment and unleashed a giant red blast of magic at her full power, carving through the floor and totally consuming the alicorn, sending her flying all the way to the opposite side of the platform.

“Whoa,” Sunset muttered to herself, caught off guard by the amount of power she had just displayed. Sunset found herself actually worrying that she might have overdone it as she watched Flurry Heart crash ungracefully onto the floor in a manner that had to be painful. Fortunately, Flurry’s earth pony physiology was more than up to the task as the alicorn quickly began to stir with no debilitating injuries.

“Alright, you hit a lot harder than I thought, little pony!” Flurry Heart huffed out as she picked herself off the ground, now sporting a variety of scuffs and bruises. “But I hope you know It’s still going to take a lot more than that to take me down!” Flurry Heart finished as she flared her wings in a threatening manner.

Sunset prepared herself because she knew she’d only get one shot at this. She liked to practice her spells more before deploying them on the field, but there was simply no other way she’d be able to defeat the alicorn head to head. A personalized sealing spell was her best bet. Magical energy started to collect in her horn, causing it to glow bright red. This, fortunately, gave off the appearance that she was simply preparing for her next attack.

Flurry Heart had clearly had enough of trying to fight Sunset on her terms and readied her wings to take flight. Flurry knew that once she was airborne it would be next to impossible for the unicorn to force her into any more uncomfortable situations and she’d have complete control of their current arena. She had only remained grounded for as long as she had because she was convinced she could end the fight quicker that way. Seeing as that wasn’t the case, there was no point in holding back any longer.

Without any further delay, Flurry Heart launched herself directly into the air. She turned her attention back to her target as she flapped her wings to gain altitude. The princess had to admit, this unicorn had given her more of a workout than any pony or monster ever had, but it was time to end things right-

A sudden searing pain passed through the alicorn as her entire body seized up. An electric shock took hold of Flurry Heart’s body as her back touched the invisible barrier Sunset had set up at the beginning of the duel. Flurry Heart did not make a single sound as the shock left her completely immobile, even removing her ability to speak.

Sunset watched as the alicorn plummeted to the ground. Her strategy having led to this exact moment. The paralysis charm on her barrier would only last a few more seconds once Flurry hit the ground, giving her a clear shot at the alicorn’s horn. She’d have to time it just right.

Sunset saw Flurry Heart hit the stone, back first, landing in such a way that her head was facing away from her. Flurry Heart twitched, regaining her senses, and exposing her horn in the process. She had one shot.

Unfortunately, Sunset never got a chance to take it. Flurry Heart vanished in a bright flash of yellow light as her horn spontaneously sparked with power.

To say Flurry had teleported would technically be correct, but, in Sunset’s personal opinion, it was not an accurate way to describe Flurry Heart’s crude technique. Teleportation was a highly advanced magic skill that only a few unicorns could manage to perform, and even fewer could perform in quick succession. The expert control of one’s magic needed to seamlessly convert a pony’s mass into energy and shift it through space took some unicorns years to develop. What Flurry Heart had done was more akin to forcing herself through space with an indescribable amount of power. Like shoving the square block through the circle hole of a small foal’s toy.

However messy the technique, Sunset couldn’t deny that it got results. It also left her royally bucked.

Flurry Heart violently flashed into existence right before Sunset, the surprise causing the unicorn to rear back onto her hind legs. Before the energy surrounding her had even fully dispersed, Flurry Heart pounced onto Sunset, pinning her onto her back with her full weight, her forelegs held down beneath Flurry’s hooves in a spread-eagle position.

Sunset tried to use her hind legs to shove Flurry’s weight off, but her strength was simply no match for that of an alicorn’s.

Flurry Heart had her completely trapped, and the fact was not lost on the alicorn as she smiled down at her prey. “Didn’t know I could do that trick too, did you? Game over, I win.”

Sunset couldn't help but scoff at Flurry's statement. “You call that magic? I’ve seen yaks do the Pony Cotillion with more grace than you cast spells with,” Sunset mocked, grinning through the pain Flurry’s weight on her forelegs was causing. Sunset was many things, but a quitter was not one of them. She couldn’t move, but she could talk.

“What!? I have more magic in my tail than you have in your entire body!” Flurry Heart shouted down at the unicorn who had clearly touched a nerve.

“Exactly. You have all that power, and yet you have no idea how to use it. Honestly, it’s a waste,” Sunset said egging Flurry on.

Flurry Heart’s eyes filled with rage and her horn sparked with power as she forced her weight down even harder. Sunset dearly hoped her gamble paid off, or she might not live to see another day.

“What would YOU know about magic!?” Flurry Heart shouted, lowering her head down to be directly in Sunset’s face.

Checkmate,” Sunset thought as a victorious smirk made its way onto her face. “Let me show you,” Sunset said as she tilted her head up and touched her horn to Flurry Heart’s releasing the spell she had been holding in all that time. The discharge of power presenting itself in a blinding flash of white light.

When the light cleared, there was no visible change to the platform beyond the cracks and scorch marks already present from previous attacks. Sunset still laid in the same spot as before, and Flurry Heart still stood over her, completely unchanged.

Flurry Heart was the first to react, raising her head, intent on making the unicorn pay for trying to trick her. She stuck her horn downward, planning on knocking the impudent mare out cold with her most powerful blast of magic yet. Sunset recoiled, closing her eyes and bracing for the attack.

They stayed in that position for several seconds before they realized that nothing had happened.

“What’s going on?!” Flurry heart exclaimed while frantically shaking her head. “I can’t use my magic!”

Sunset felt every muscle in her body untense as she let out a massive sigh of relief. She watched in amusement as Flurry Heart strained with all her might to force magic out of her horn, the duel now completely forgotten in the face of this crisis.

Sunset was no longer a vindictive pony that took pleasure in dominating others, but nopony threw Sunset Shimmer around and got away with it. Sunset put an abrupt end to Flurry Heart’s failed attempts to call forth her magic as she seized the alicorn in her own magic and raised Flurry off her.

“You can’t use your magic anymore. Game over, I win.” Sunset smugly stated while making sure to turn and twist her captive in all the ways she had been thrown about earlier. Sunset punctuated her victory by roughly dropping Flurry Heart onto the ground in front of her.

“Y-You took my magic!?” Flurry Heart panicked as she clutched her horn in her hooves, not even bothering to pick herself off the floor as she questioned the unicorn.

Looking into the alicorn’s frightened eyes convinced Sunset that she might have taken things a bit too far. “No no, don’t worry! It’s completely temporary,” Sunset quickly assured her. “It’s just a disarming spell I came up with.”

“…You can do things like that?” Flurry Heart questioned; her panic now replaced with curiosity.

“Of course!” Sunset answered in earnest, excited to talk about her favorite subject. “Magic can do all sorts of things.”

“Like…all those tricks you did when we were fighting?” Flurry Heart asked despite most likely already knowing the answer.

Sunset nodded her head with a smile. She was quite proud of all she had done under so much pressure.

Flurry Heart paused for a second before asking, “…Can you teach me how to do things like that?”

This was a turn Sunset wasn’t expecting. “I mean, yeah I could, but Twilight could probably teach you more than I can.”

Flurry Heart glanced down in sadness. “Aunt Twilight doesn’t really have time for me. Running all of Equestria and her school makes her too busy. Especially ever since Dad died,” she finished barely above a whisper.

Sunset probably should have been glad that her plan to set Flurry Heart straight had successfully gone on to its next stage, but it was impossible to be happy when the alicorn looked so much like a lost little filly.

Sunset used her magic to pick Flurry Heart up and clean her of any dust she had taken during their battle. “There, good as new. I'll tell you what. I’ll teach you, but only if you talk to me like I wanted to begin with.”

Flurry Heart looked away. “Okay…and…I’m sorry. I just wanted to be alone. I didn’t want to hurt you. At least not badly,” Flurry Heart muttered with a shameful countenance.

Twilight’s niece really did remind Sunset of herself. First with her horrible attitude, and, now that the fragile façade had been shattered, the lost uncertainty made the resemblance even more uncanny.

“Take a seat, Flurry Heart. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”


“So, you knew my mom?” Flurry Heart asked in an astonished voice, unable to believe what she was hearing.

“In a way, we were raised together,” Sunset explained. “Princess Celestia found us both when we were young and took us in.”

“So, you and my mom were like family?” Flurry stated, believing herself to understand the picture Sunset was painting.

Sunset chuckled mirthlessly. “No, no we weren’t. I HATED your mother, Flurry. Like I’ve never hated anypony before. It sounds silly now, but back then I honestly thought she was trying to steal my entire life, right out from under me.

“I still remember the day Princess Celestia introduced me to her. I was young and I’d already been living with Princess Celestia for a few years. She was the closest thing to family I’d ever had. Then, one day this upstart pegasus from some town in the middle of nowhere grows a horn, Celestia ADOPTS her, and she starts living in the castle so she can learn how to be a princess. All in a single day,” Sunset finished with a joyless smile as she took in the setting sun over Canterlot by the edge of the platform.

Flurry Heart seemed to be at a loss for what to make of Sunset’s tale. “I-I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“Don’t be. From what I hear, your mother made a pretty great princess after all. All I was ever good for was almost starting a war until your aunt beat some sense into me.”

Flurry Heart choose to be silent, once again not sure how to respond to the unicorn’s self-depreciation.

Sunset shook her head, realizing she was getting off-topic. “Sorry, I didn’t tell you all this so you could feel sorry for me. I told you this because, well, I see a lot of myself in you, Flurry.”

“…Oh,” Flurry muttered, unsure what to make of the comparison.

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, Flurry. I wish I could take them all back, but I can’t. I don’t want you to make those same mistakes,” Sunset said in earnest.

“What do you mean?” Flurry Heart asked, her tone tense at some of the implications.

“Well, for starters, you’re pushing everypony away,” Sunset began.

“They pushed me away first!” Flurry Heart huffed out.

“See, that’s what I’m talking about. I’m pretty sure I thought the exact same thing once. You know they love you, right?” Sunset picked up.

“Yeah.”

“And, you love them too, don’t you?” Sunset continued.

“Of course!”

“Then never forget that. No matter what, make sure to hold onto the ponies you love. Trust me, Flurry, there’s nothing worse than being all alone.” Sunset finished, still looking into the beautiful orange sky.

“What if you don’t have a choice?” Flurry tentatively ventured out.

Sunset raised an eyebrow at whatever Flurry was getting at. “What do you mean?”

“I mean…my Dad died. Almost thirty years ago. I loved him more than anything, and…now he’s gone and there’s nothing I can do about it.” Flurry Heart choked out, tears building in her eyes. “I know Mom misses him too. She won’t say it or even talk about him anymore, but I can see it in everything she does. She works as much as she can, rarely leaves the castle, and the only way I can ever get to see her is by forcing her to deal with me. Aunt Twilight’s barely any better.”

Sunset knew this went deep, but actually hearing about it still left a deep pit in her stomach. “I have to admit, that’s pretty bad.”

“You’re telling me,” Flurry Heart mumbled as she slumped over.

“Still, you’re going about this the wrong way,” Sunset quickly amended. “Lashing out all the time and looking for things to bury your feelings in isn’t going to bring them any closer. And especially believe me when I say it’s not going to convince anypony to give you a kingdom. Deep down, I think you know that.”

“So, what do I do?”

Sunset couldn’t believe how small Flurry Heart looked in that moment of total vulnerability. The alicorn that physically towered over her now closely resembled a filly looking up to her for guidance.

“Well…you work it out. Maybe you’ve got the right idea by fighting your mother and Twilight all the time. You’re just fighting them the wrong way. You need them, and they need you. I know that. Make sure they know it too,”

“Where do I even start?” Flurry questioned.

“We’ll figure it out,” Sunset answered.

“We?”

Sunset smiled at the princess. “Of course, that’s the most important thing about solving these problems. Never do it alone. That’s what friends are for.”

“I…I don’t really have many friends. Not anymore at least,” Flurry Heart said staring out into space.

“Well, you have one more in me now.”

“Thank you…Sunset?” Flurry Heart stated before a look of displeasure crossed her face. “No, that doesn’t sound right. Maybe…Miss. Shimmer?”

“DOCTOR Shimmer!”

“…what?”

“Sorry, force of habit.”

Flurry Heart took a long moment of consideration, a look of contemplation etched across her face. When Flurry Heart next spoke, she appeared far shyer than Sunset had ever seen her. “So, you and my mom were raised together, right?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much right.”

Flurry Heart began to twiddle her hooves. “So…in a way, you were almost like sisters,”

“I…suppose you could say that.”

“So…would you, I don’t know, mind if…maybe I called you…Aunt Sunset?” Flurry Heart finished; the last words of the question spoken in a rush.

Sunset turned the title over in her head. As a pony with no known family, and any chance of ever finding them long gone, she had never imagined she’d be an aunt to anypony. The thought of being addressed as such by Flurry Heart didn’t feel all that unpleasant.

“Well, if you don’t mind calling somepony who is technically several decades younger than you an aunt, I guess I wouldn’t object to it,” Sunset said.

“Aunt Sunset it is then.”

The two mares stayed silent for a bit after that, content watching the sun finish sinking below the horizon, guided by a large purple alicorn.

“Aunt Sunset?”

“Yeah, Flurry?”

“Is…is it okay if I hug you?”

“Come here, kiddo.”

The two ponies scooted closer together as Flurry Heart wrapped a pastel pink wing around Sunset and Sunset placed a foreleg around Flurry’s lower back. As the sky turned to night and the future seemed uncertain, the embrace provided a moment of absolute peace that nothing could disrupt.

“WHAT IN EQUESTRIA HAPPENED HERE!?”

Almost nothing.

Sunset and Flurry Heart quickly separated in order to turn around and look at the large lavender alicorn descending onto the platform in a state of panic.

It only now occurred to the two mares that they had yet to consider the collateral damage of their heated battle. Flurry Heart noted that it was entirely possible that the blasts of magic she had been throwing around willy-nilly might have destroyed a few precious statues, and walls, and perhaps a good chunk of the railing. Sunset was forced to entertain that her ultimate blast of magic power had completely destroyed the decorative stone floor. And, to be frank, the plants didn’t stand a chance. The fact that both mares looked like they had been run over by several carriages was just icing on the cake.

“Well!? Does anypony want to tell me why I no longer have a viewing tower?” Twilight ground out.

It had been quite some time since Sunset was required to smooth talk her way out of having destroyed a section of the castle. She was definitely out of practice. Thankfully, Flurry Heart seemed more than willing to pick up the slack.

“We were just…practicing our gardening?”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed.

“REALLY aggressive gardening…with magic.”

Okay, so the kid could use some work. “Flurry and I were just getting a feel for each other’s magic, Twilight. I guess things got a little out of hoof.”

Twilight looked over both ponies, first examining Flurry Heart’s slightly singed fur, then turning to Sunset who was developing a number of pronounced bruises. “You don’t say,” Twilight remarked dryly.

“Yeah!” Flurry Heart said excitedly as she shot up, Twilight’s sarcasm completely lost on her. “Aunt Sunset even promised to teach me some super-advanced magic!”

“Aunt Sunset?” Twilight asked in visible confusion, looking past her niece to the still seated unicorn who only offered her a casual shrug for explanation.

Her unanswered question aside, Flurry Heart’s attitude had noticeably improved from before. Twilight hadn’t seen her niece so excited in some time. She supposed, one tower was a small price to pay for her family’s happiness. “Well, so long as nopony was hurt too badly, I guess we can put this mess behind us.”

Twilight was caught off guard when Flurry Heart rushed forward and hugged her, clutching onto her in a way that reminded her of when her niece was much smaller. It only took a few seconds for Twilight to return the affection, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the embrace.

“Aunt Twilight, I’m really sorry. About all those things I said to you,” Flurry Heart gently said without letting go of Twilight.

“It’s okay, Flurry,” Twilight reassured her.

“I love you, Aunt Twilight,” Flurry Heart whispered.

“I love you too, Flurry, with all my heart,” Twilight whispered back.

After a few more seconds of enjoying the moment, the two princesses separated. They took several more seconds to simply look at each other as if really seeing the pony in front of them for the first time in a while. It was a stretch to say that all their issues had been resolved, but it was a start.

“So, since Aunt Sunset is going to be teaching me magic now, you don’t mind if I swing by the castle every week or so, do you?” Flurry Heart picked up with a somewhat bashful look.

Twilight would definitely need to interrogate Sunset about what exactly she had missed that led to all these developments, but she could tell that really wasn’t important right now. “Flurry honey, you’re welcome around the castle at any time.”

Flurry Heart released a breath she had not been aware she was holding, apparently needing to hear those words. The relief was unfortunately short-lived.

“Before we get ahead of ourselves though, I believe there’s a pony who really needs to know you’re okay right now,” Twilight prompted with a knowing look.

Flurry Heart’s shoulders sagged ever so slightly at the prospect. “Ok, that’s fair, I guess.”

“For now, though, you can spend the night here. Why don’t you go clean yourself up and we can catch up in the private library,” Twilight offered.

Flurry Heart seemed to positively beam at the prospect. “You mean it? O-Okay, I’ll go wait for you.”

The alicorn nearly tripped over herself walking around Twilight trying to rush into the castle.

“Hold on!” Sunset called out, having just remembered something important as she finally got up and joined the other two mares.

Flurry Heart stopped, clearly antsy at being held up.

“I almost forgot to unblock your magic,” said Sunset as her horn lit up, casting a quick counterspell.

Flurry Heart’s horn lit up again with yellow magic, her full power instantly returned to her. “Okay, you have to teach me how to do that. I’ll see you later, Aunt Sunset,” Flurry Heart waved as she finally retreated inside.

Sunset couldn’t help but smile as she watched the alicorn rush off. “Well, she can be a bit prickly, but Spike was right, she’s a good pony.”

“Remind you of anypony?” Twilight not so subtly hinted with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

Sunset rolled her eyes and gently knocked one of her hooves against Twilight’s leg, unfortunately, unable to get anywhere near her shoulders.

“In all seriousness though, thank you Sunset. I think you really helped her, and you helped me too. This whole fiasco has helped me realize that I've been neglecting some pretty important things. I guess that shows you’ll make a pretty good teacher,” Twilight remarked.

Sunset was jolted to her senses by the statement. “Oh yeah, I guess I did kind of completely agree to that, didn’t I?”

Sunset was certainly not a pony to blow off a commitment, but such a large and unfamiliar one would take some doing. She needed to get started right away if she wanted to be ready for Flurry Heart’s first lesson. “Okay, if I get started right now, I should be able to draft up a rough course plan by Tuesday. I just need to get-”

Sunset’s pace was immediately stopped as a large purple wing extended itself to block her path. “Just where do you think you’re going?”

Sunset looked at the appendage with annoyance. “Twilight, I need to get to work.”

“You know…” Twilight began as though Sunset had not said anything, “I ran into a certain changeling earlier today. He was pretty irritated that, apparently, somepony wasn’t in her room when she should have been.”

Sunset was not a fan of the direction this conversation was headed.

“Apparently, this pony was careless enough to spend an entire day holed up in a lab. Then, instead of getting some sleep like she should have, she decided to spend the next day picking a fight with an alicorn of all things. I bet she must look just awful right now,” Twilight continued, her voice becoming stern and her eyes narrowing as they looked down on the cornered unicorn. “I don’t suppose you know this pony, do you Sunset?”

Sunset began to weigh her odds. What were the chances she could take down two alicorns in one day? Right, less than nonexistent. Perhaps a quick teleport to the lab? No, Twilight could easily follow her, and her head felt like it would explode if she tried. Playing dumb it was.

“Whoever this pony is, it sounds like you should really go find her,” Sunset started to say as she tried to slip under Twilight’s wing.

Twilight quickly placed her full body in Sunset’s path cutting off any escape as she began to advance on the beaten-down mare. “Bedtime, Sunset, now.”

Sunset began to back away from the suddenly imposing alicorn. “You can’t do this, Twilight. I have rights!”

“Not in my Equestria you don’t,” Twilight firmly stated as she picked Sunset up in her magenta magic.

“This is an abuse of power,” Sunset complained

Twilight rolled her eyes at Sunset’s childishness. “Oh, hush.”

Using her magic Twilight placed the small mare onto her back, using her wings to prevent her from either falling or escaping. Not that there was much risk of Sunset escaping. Nearly two days without sleep and a battle with an adult alicorn had clearly sapped almost all of Sunset’s strength. “You just get some sleep, and I’ll take you to your room.”

Sunset really wanted to fight against being treated like some sort of small foal, incapable of even tucking herself in, but any small resistance that she had within her left the moment she was placed upon Twilight’s back.

Apparently, Twilight was soft. Softer than she had ever imagined. Not that that was something she had ever imagined. Honest.

The soft coat of the large alicorn combined with support from her warm blanket-like wings and hair rivaled any bed Sunset had ever slept in. Was Celestia ever this soft? Sunset vaguely remembered being carried in a similar manner as a filly. Whatever the case, Sunset couldn’t imagine anything comparing to what she was feeling right now as she began to drift off and snuggled into Twilight’s back which smelled vaguely of lavender.

Realization of what she was doing snapped Sunset out of her bliss like state. She really needed to get out of here before things got weird.

Sunset’s hopes of escaping were again quickly quashed as Twilight began moving. The soft rocking of her perch being the death knell to her resistance.

A small yawn escaped Sunset’s mouth before she fell victim to sleep’s pull and cuddled into her makeshift bed.

Twilight couldn’t stop herself from thinking the entire thing was adorable.


Twilight carefully exited Sunset’s room, making absolutely certain not to make any noise as she guided the door closed. Another day down. Countless more to go. Still, they seemed to be getting more bearable lately.

All that was left was to go see Flurry Heart before bed. It really had been a while since they had last had an actual conversation. One that didn’t involve them screaming at each other. Twilight was rather looking forward to it. She could have the chefs prepare a meal for them. Maybe they could even read together, just like they used to before everything was so complicated.

“Twilight,” a voice whispered from behind her.

To the day, she was Twilight Sparkle, new age ruler of Equestria, but at night she was just Twilight, so she felt only a little shame at jumping in surprise at the voice in the dark hall.

“Spike! You scared me,” Twilight whisper shouted after she turned to the source of the voice.

“Sorry about that. I needed to talk to you,” Spike explained.

“It can’t wait until morning?” Twilight questioned, curious as to what her oldest friend could want this late.

“I just got news from Ember. A couple of old dragons longing for, ‘the old days’ are making a big fuss right now, and she needs my help calming everything down. I’m leaving first thing tomorrow, so I came to say goodbye,” Spike informed her.

Spike leaving to do his duty was almost always hard these days, but right now it was downright unbearable. “Spike, you can’t go. I need you!”

Twilight knew she was being selfish, but just once she felt she was allowed to be. Of all times, something like this had to happen now.

“Look, it’ll probably only take a few days, so I probably won’t be able to make the trip to Ponyville with you, but I’ll still be able to make it there,” Spike said in an attempt to calm an oncoming panic attack.

“Then let’s just postpone the trip until you can. You said it’ll only be a few days, right?” Twilight said suddenly looking desperate.

Spike had known Twilight for a century by now. Nopony knew her better than he did and as much as he didn’t like it, he knew that he’d have to put his foot down on this one.

“Twilight, no. It took you months to get the time off for this trip, we can’t put it off any longer. You and I both know she doesn’t have much time left.”

Twilight said nothing, merely averting her gaze so Spike wouldn’t see her glistening eyes.

It hurt Spike to say it just as much as it would hurt Twilight to hear it, but it was something she needed to hear.

“Pinkie Pie needs you, Twilight.”