In all her years living in Canterlot, Sunset Shimmer was hard pressed to remember a more perfect day. The birds were gently chirping, the breeze was just the right speed, and the sun was shining directly overhead, bathing everything in a warm light.
“More tea, Sunset?” offered an angelic voice Sunset had not heard in a long time.
“oh, yes, thank you, Princess,” Sunset answered, coming back to the world before her.
The two ponies had taken the beautiful day as an opportunity to enjoy a picnic in one of the grassy fields of Canterlot…or, at least that’s what Sunset assumed they were here for. Honestly, she couldn’t really remember how she got here.
“Is everything to your liking, Sunset?”
Sunset had to pull herself back to the present for the second time, “Y-yeah, I think so.”
“Are you sure? Is it exactly how you remember it?”
Sunset raised an eyebrow and took the time to take in her surroundings. There was that old warped tree they usually ate under and she could see the buildings of Canterlot in the distance from the hill they were sitting on. There was the exam building, the old park area off to the side, and the bakery that she had gone into on a few occasions. Sunset couldn’t for the life of her remember who it was that ran the place, but she remembered thinking he was nice. It seemed to be the city she had grown up in, yet the longer she stared at it the less real it seemed to be.
“Memory is a peculiar thing, Sunset. It seems that no matter how hard we try to hold onto the past, some things will inevitably fade away,” the pony sitting across from her continued.
“I don’t understand. Where are we, Princess Celestia?” Sunset asked her old mentor as she began to really think about her current position.
“Don’t you recognize it? We’re in the place you always come to when you wish to be at peace. I believe it’s best described as your, ‘happy place’.”
Well, that was helpful. Typical Celestia.
Sunset shifted her gaze to fully look upon Celestia. It was odd. Aside from a few details that stuck out, the distant city seemed to resemble a painting almost. A vague approximation of something frozen in time, meant to be looked upon but not touched. Even the surrounding area had a hazy quality about it.
Not Celestia though. Every detail of her towering figure was defined and sharp. The white of her coat, the shape of her horn, her sparkling magenta eyes, and the majestic splendor of her mane and tail. Sunset could even make out the decorative engravings in her crown. Such a meaningless detail and yet one she could instantly recall.
“What is this? Where’s Twilight?” Sunset asked beginning to panic as the logical portion of her brain began to piece together the impossibility of her situation.
“Be at peace, Sunset Shimmer. That is what you are here for, is it not?” Celestia assured her. “We are in one of your most cherished memories.”
“So, I’m dreaming?” Sunset asked the pony that appeared to be Celestia.
“Well, yes,” Celestia chuckled.
“Then that means, none of this is real,” Sunset sighed, surprised at just how disappointed the reality made her.
“It was,” Celestia offered her.
Sunset took in the sight once more. “And now it’s all gone. I’ll never see it again.”
“That’s one way to look at it.”
“Is it strange? That I miss it? I wasn’t exactly a nice pony when I lived here. I didn’t have any friends, family, or reason to care about it beyond the fact that I lived here,” Sunset asked.
The dream Celestia gave her a gentle smile. “I don’t think so. This place is a part of you. Just as the human world is now a part of you. Good or bad, it is not easy to let go of the things that define us.”
Sunset knew it was probably meaningless to ask what was essentially a part of herself questions she didn’t know the answers to, but it was comforting. Which made sense, seeing as this was apparently her, “happy place.”
Not wanting to waste this opportunity, Sunset slowly moved in closer to Celestia. No doubt sensing her desire, the alicorn extended a wing to take the pony into her embrace.
It wasn’t real, but it was nice all the same. Being together like this again. She missed it more than she could describe.
They stayed like that for some time before Celestia broke the silence. “It seems our time is at an end once again, Sunset.”
Sunset shifted to look up at her teacher’s face.
“It’s time to wake up, Sunset.”
“Wake up.”
“Wake up!”
“WAKE UP!”
Sunset’s room shook as though an earthquake had passed through.
“GAAAHHH!” Sunset screamed as she shot out from under her sheets and unsteadily perched on the bed’s headboard, trying to put some space between her and whatever it was that blew out her ears.
“It’s about time! I was beginning to think you’d never get out of bed.” Discord said at the foot of her bed as he turned off the megaphone in his hand which was ringing with feedback.
“Discord!?” Sunset choked out, neither recovered from the abrupt awakening nor used to the Lord of Chaos just popping in for a visit.
“Well, I’m pleased to see you remembered me this time.”
“What are you doing in my room!?” Sunset shouted as she hopped down.
“Waking you up of course. Wasn’t that obvious?” Discord replied with a shrug.
Discord suddenly popped next to her wearing a doctor’s uniform. “You were such a bright filly when I last saw you. I do hope dear Flurry Heart didn’t damage that brilliant little mind of yours in the scuffle,” Discord rambled as he shined a flashlight into Sunset’s eye.
Sunset quickly turned away from the draconequus who seemed determined to render her both blind and deaf. “I MEAN, what are you doing invading my room? And how do you even know about all that stuff with Flurry Heart?”
Discord vanished once more and reappeared in the center of the room, this time reclining in a lawn chair with sunglasses and a bag of popcorn. “Why, I had front row seats to your little epic battle with the young princess. I have to admit, I wasn’t quite sure if you’d be able to pull it off, but I was TOTALLY rooting for you!” Discord finished while waving a small flag with Sunset’s cutie mark printed on it.
Sunset was finding that once you got past the parts about him being an ancient god-like being, Discord was just incredibly annoying.
“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed the show.”
Discord threw his head back and let out a full out cackle. “Enjoy the show? That little spectacle was the most spectacular display I’ve seen in years! Oh, I knew you were a riot Sunset, but you’re almost making ME feel inadequate here. Not even back in Equestria for more than a week and you go and pick a fight with a PRINCESS!” Discord choked out before falling out of his chair in a complete laughing fit.
Sunset could only pout as she wondered what sort of choices had led to her being laughed at by the lord of chaos in her own bedroom.
Eventually, Discord managed to pull himself together and stood back up, wiping a tear from his eye. “Honestly, little sunspot. I’d forgotten just how much fun you were.”
“So, are you here for any reason besides scaring me half to death and heckling me about yesterday?” Sunset asked as she was beginning to lose patience.
“Well, to be honest, I was hoping we could do lunch. An old friend taught me that nothing fosters bonds of everlasting friendship like a few cups of tea. Besides, I’d imagine you’d be rather famished after all that excitement and sleeping for, oh, let’s see…twenty hours straight,” Discord said as he looked at a pocket watch that was very clearly broken.
“You mean it’s midafternoon!?” Sunset gasped as she hopped off her bed. “I’m going to be late helping Twilight in the lab!”
Sunset rushed past Discord and quickly threw the door open with her magic in order to make a dash for the job she was currently neglecting. She ran for all of five seconds before she rammed into the foot of her bed, somehow still in her room despite running out the door.
“Now hold on just a minute, little sunspot. You didn’t even give me a chance to finish.” Discord chuckled from his new position atop the bed, looking down at the dazed unicorn on the floor. “In light of recent events, Twilight has seen fit to give you some time off. In fact, I believe she took great care to inform the castle staff that you were not to be disturbed under ANY circumstances. Fortunately, I’M not part of the castle staff.”
Sunset shook herself back to reality, positive that she now had the concussion Discord had joked about earlier. “Well, tell Twilight I’m grateful, but I can’t spend the entire day doing nothing. I need to get busy.”
“Oh, riiigghhht. You’ve decided to take young Flurry Heart under your wing. Figuratively speaking of course. Wait, is the whole, ‘no wings’ thing still a sore subject for you?” Discord rambled off, placing a hand to his chin and averting his gaze.
Sunset saw this as an opportunity to make her escape, before she incurred any more injuries from her close proximity to Discord, as she began to inch her way towards the still open door.
Before Sunset had even made it halfway, the door was slammed shut by Discord who had spontaneously materialized behind the open door.
“All the more reason for us to catch up!” Discord picked up exactly where he left off as he leaned against the door with one arm.
“Oh, don’t give me that look,” Discord waved off as he caught sight of the annoyed glare he was getting. “Trust me, you’d only be wasting your time running all the way down there. Seeing as you apparently can’t be trusted to look after yourself, Twilight took it upon herself to magically seal all the labs in the castle until she was convinced you were well rested and have read her five hundred page guide on, ‘Time management’.”
Discord snapped his fingers and materialized an unreasonably large hardcover book that landed before Sunset with the weight of a carriage full of yaks.
Putting aside any questions about whether or not Discord had exaggerated the size of the book, knowing Twilight it could sadly go either way, Sunset pushed forward. Twilight’s concern was sweet, but she would not be babied.
“I’ll just break the seals then.”
“I’m sure you could. So is Twilight, seeing as she put in her own alarm system for when you try.”
“You think I can’t find a way around it?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Still, there’s no reason breaking and entering has to be done on an empty stomach,” Discord asserted while crossing his mismatched arms in a victorious fashion.
Sunset’s retort was cut off by the unreasonably loud growling of her stomach. A light blush colored her face as she was forced to internally admit that Discord had a point. The last thing she had eaten was a measly sandwich.
“Perhaps a little louder next time, Sunset. They probably didn’t hear you in Manehattan,” Discord mocked while holding an ear horn to his head.
Sunset, of all ponies, wasn’t one to look down on a reformed creature. This wasn’t just a disgruntled student, or a fellow mean-spirited unicorn she was dealing with though. This was Discord. A creature that went down in the history books as one of the greatest threats Equestria had ever faced, and Twilight had told her all about her experiences with him. Even after his change of heart his history was checkered, to say the least.
Given his history and her experiences with him thus far, Sunset felt she had the right to be cautious of the peculiar draconequus. Still, Twilight did consider him a friend, in spite of all he had done, and she could hardly claim to understand the magic of friendship if she wasn’t at least willing to give him a chance.
“Alright, Discord. We can have lunch,” Sunset conceded.
Discord’s reaction to this was, of course, the same as anypony’s. He pulled off his larger horn and blew into it like a party horn, causing fireworks to shoot out all over her room. Fortunately, nothing seemed to catch fire.
“Oh, we’re going to have so much fun, Sunset! Tell me, what were you thinking? Fast food? Fancy cuisine? Maybe something exotic, hmm?” Discord rambled off as he snapped a dining table into the room and outfitted himself and Sunset with matching bibs.
Sunset used her magic to take off the bib before she responded. “Actually, I was thinking we’d just get something to eat in the castle.”
“UGH! Fine! If you want to be boring about it,” Discord pouted before snapping his fingers.
Before Sunset knew it, the scenery of her room had changed to the main dining hall within the castle. Rather than feeling as though they had moved to a new location, as was the case with normal teleportation, Discord’s magic seemed to make the room shift into something else around them. Sunset surmised that it must have just been how Chaos magic worked. A form of magic nopony in Equestria had the slightest understanding of.
“We need to actually order something first, Discord,” Sunset informed him, noticing he seemed to have skipped them straight to the dining table at a time where there were no meals scheduled.
“Not to worry, Sunset,” Discord assured her as he snapped his fingers once again.
A small green dragon with short horns and a long snout the size of an average mare wearing a chef’s uniform and hat flashed into the room.
Rather than panic, as most creatures would if they suddenly found themselves pulled into a completely different location at the drop of a hat, the dragon merely narrowed his eyes and started blowing smoke through his nose.
“Discord,” he growled out through gritted teeth.
Discord met the open hostility with a smile as he casually leaned back onto his chair. “Chef Sizzle! Long time, no see. I’m here dining with my friend, Sunset, and was hoping we could request your services for some of your delightful cooking.”
Sunset sheepishly waved at the dragon when he turned his gaze to her. Seeing her, fortunately, seemed to abate some of Sizzle’s ire, though he maintained an air of annoyance.
“I don’t suppose you intend to actually eat the food I prepare for you this time, do you, Discord?” the dragon asked with an impatient tap of his foot.
Discord shrugged in response. “I’ll think about it this time. My usual, please.”
Sunset couldn’t help but feel bad for the face palming dragon who had clearly been through this exact situation numerous times.
“I’ll just have whatever you think is good,” Sunset offered. She’d never been particularly picky about what sort of food she ate and the chance to flex his culinary skills usually cheered the chef up.
“Your food will be ready shortly,” the dragon sighed.
“Wonderful!” Discord celebrated before quickly snapping the dragon chef away. Hopefully to the kitchen.
“Now then, what do you say we take this opportunity to catch up on all the wonderful little details that have happened in our lives?” Discord said while leaning onto the table with both arms.
It was a bit of a personal question, but it made sense in a way. Getting to know each other is how you become friends.
“What do you want to know?”
Sunset was surprised when her view of Discord was impeded…by Discord. His head coming over the back of her chair and filling her vision as he once again completely disregarded her personal space.
“Well, you see, It’s been keeping me up at night lately, and I just HAVE to know…” Discord began in his usual jovial demeanor before his eyes narrowed and his voice took on a serious tone Sunset had never heard until now, “What’s on the other side of the mirror?”
The doors to Twilight Sparkle’s throne room flew open as several creatures filtered out, all looking quite content with themselves.
Twilight slumped into her throne, thoroughly worn out from the day’s activities.
“Please, tell me that was the last of them,” she sighed out.
“I believe so, your highness. The building permits have been dealt with, preparations for the royal Swanifying are taken care of, and all cases of civil dispute have officially been put to rest,” Twilight’s yellow furred personal unicorn secretary, Stellar Report, listed off with a small smile. “You’re done.”
Twilight only allowed herself to sink further into her chair. Her schedule was now clear for the week. An entire week without meetings, decrees, and somecreature needing her to rush to their aid the second something went wrong. She had even been able to finish early due to her postponing today’s after class lab work.
Ordinarily, she should have been happy to finally have some time to herself, and in truth she was at least happy to be finished with settling petty arguments. Unfortunately, having no more work to do also meant she was one step closer to the moment she was dreading. She’d finish packing tonight and then she’d be off to Ponyville for the week to say…
“Is something wrong your majesty?”
Twilight quickly blinked the moisture from her eyes. “I’m fine, Stellar. Just taking it in,” Twilight responded in a perfectly even tone, developed by years of ruling Equestria.
“Well, if it’s all the same to you, your majesty, I believe I’ll check out now. Have a good week,” the young mare waved as she followed the path out of the room.
Twilight didn’t bother to suppress the sigh now that she was alone. True to his word, Spike had departed just before she had raised the sun. He had always been the most devoted creature Twilight had ever had the privilege to know. It came as no surprise that he’d rush over to help his friends at a moment’s notice.
Her baby dragon was all grown up now, and Twilight couldn’t be prouder of the dragon he had become. It brought her some comfort knowing that she had managed to do right by him in the end. Having to play the role of both mother and big sister to a child of an entirely different species was complicated, to say the least, and Twilight had often worried she was failing him in how she raised the little drake.
Looking at him now, though, was all it took to assure her that he turned out just fine. He was strong, smart, kind, and had countless friends. He didn’t need her watching over him anymore.
He didn’t need her anymore.
Tired of the thoughts that seemed to plague her more and more these days, Twilight rose from her throne to go for a walk around the castle.
Twilight needed something to occupy herself. She briefly considered taking some time to tend her private garden, but quickly dismissed the idea. In her current mood, she really wasn’t up for seeing the statue she kept there.
Perhaps a trip to the royal library would provide her with some peace. Assuming she could find something new and interesting to read. After all these years she had gone through the entire royal collection. Somehow, she doubted anything of substance had been added since her last visit. The authors of modern literature weren’t bad, but they were certainly no A.K. Yearling. Perhaps that was simply her nostalgia talking though.
That really left her with only one option that was certain to lift her spirits. She could and probably should check up on Sunset.
Not for the first time did Twilight wonder if she was making a huge mistake. Things were beginning to progress past the point of no return. Perhaps they already had. After all, Twilight wasn’t sure how she’d react if, one day, Sunset came to find her place was still in the human world.
She hadn’t even been thinking clearly when she’d made the offer to Sunset in the first place. The entire ordeal still left her feeling as though she had deceived Sunset, at least in some manner. There was no point in denying it. She was one of the smartest ponies in the history of all Equestria. The simple fact that so much time had gone by in Equestria since Sunset had last been here couldn’t have just slipped her mind. Yet, Twilight had neglected to inform her of such crucial information until she had already arrived, despite having ample opportunity to do so beforehand. Why?
That, Twilight wasn’t entirely sure of, but she didn’t like the reasons she had been able to come up with so far.
One thing Twilight did know was that it had been foolish of her to think she could somehow both hold Sunset close and at arm’s length at the same time. Every day with her here had been special. She was feeling things she had rarely felt in years. Being able to honestly laugh and smile, talk with somepony that truly understood her, and didn’t look at her as some sort of divine figure that couldn’t be interacted with like everypony else.
Every day they got closer and every day ensured saying goodbye would hurt that much more.
Yes, perhaps she had made a terrible terrible mistake. Perhaps she was too greedy. Had she been stronger she could have held her tongue and Sunset would have stayed in the human world.
In the human world she would have been preserved. At least for a few centuries. Like a piece in a museum. Locked away, beyond her reach, able to be seen and known but never touched. Just like the rest of Equestria.
Every decade or so she could receive messages from her, and they could have gone on like that for generations. Best friends at a distance.
“Until the journal ran out of pages. What then?” A cold, logical, selfish part of her brain reminded her. “It probably wouldn’t even get that far. Eventually, she would have outgrown you, just like everypony else.”
Twilight paused in the middle of the hallway, closing her eyes in an attempt to shut out the voice it felt like she had been hearing more and more often these past few years.
“You know I’m right. You’re going to lose her no matter what you do. Just like you’re losing them. Why waste time trying to hold onto something you can never keep? You were right to simply take what you wanted.”
Once Twilight was sure her treacherous thoughts had passed, she continued on her aimless walk throughout the castle. Really, keeping Sunset in the human world would have just been another form of selfishness on her part, and it was naïve to think that a pony as intelligent as Sunset wouldn’t have eventually thought to return without her coercion.
Still, the logic did nothing to lessen her own doubt in regard to the purity of her intentions. How she had perhaps taken advantage of her friend’s vulnerability. Omitted truths that may have dissuaded her from coming back.
It was just, after Applejack had…well, she had just been so desperate for a friend.
Now she was here, and every day she was less sure she’d be able to let her go when the time came. Perhaps she had made a terrible mistake indeed.
Twilight looked up to find herself before the door to Sunset’s room. The princess nearly stepped back in surprise.
It seemed no matter what she did, something about the little unicorn drew the princess to her. In a way, it was nothing new. All those decades ago, chasing after her to a strange alien world. Pulling her out of that hole she had created for herself because for anypony that bothered to look it was easy to see there was so much worth loving if she was willing to open her heart.
Next to Starlight, Twilight was tempted to call Sunset her greatest success, but it wouldn’t have been true. Sunset’s redemption wasn’t her success, nor was it the success of her human friends. Sunset was the one who spent everyday striving to be a better person, a better pony. All Twilight had done was give her a push in the right direction.
It was funny. Sunset was actually quite unique among her foes turned friends. From her experience, most creatures acted out because they had never experienced friendship and were unwilling to try any way that wasn’t the one they were used to. Even after they had experienced the magic, they struggled to truly understand it. More often than not slipping up numerous times and falling back into their old ways. Discord came to her mind rather quickly when thinking of these unfortunate hiccups on the road to becoming a better creature.
Sunset, on the other hoof, started out as she herself had. Unwilling to give friendship a chance because of some narrow-minded belief that she knew a better way. The real difference, however, came when Sunset committed to studying friendship. Celestia had once told her that she shouldn’t have been surprised that Sunset had done what she always did when applying herself to a task. To be blunt, she excelled.
Perhaps it was because Sunset already had a firm understanding of social workings from her time spent manipulating people, or maybe, as Celestia said, Sunset was just naturally gifted. Whatever the case, Sunset just…got it. Honesty, generosity, loyalty, kindness, laughter, it all came so naturally to her that it had taken Twilight by surprise.
Friendship hadn’t been easy for Twilight. She still remembered that very clearly. The lessons she had learned were often painful. They had taken time and effort and she was learning new things all the time while making plenty of mistakes along the way. As the Princess of Friendship, Twilight had been convinced that it was just how friendship was.
Sunset had thrown a wrench into that notion. In less than a year, the once arrogant and prideful girl understood more than most ponies. Progress that had taken Twilight years, Sunset rivaled in just a few months. Not to mention, that was all with the added obstacles of everyone being naturally resentful and distrusting of her.
Twilight still remembered when she first realized Sunset’s understanding of friendship could rival…no, surpass her own in some areas. When the human world’s Trixie had trapped them under the stage, all she had been able to do was sulk in the corner. Sunset was the one who stepped up and brought everyone together, recognizing an issue that had blindsided her.
“Sunset? Are you in there?” Twilight called out as she rapped on the door.
No response.
Tentatively, Twilight peeked into the room to see if Sunset had risen. After going without sleep for two days, and exhausting all her magic, it was possible Sunset was still resting.
The room appeared to be completely empty, save for, bizarrely, an overturned lawn chair. Twilight would question the reasons behind that later. Sunset clearly wasn’t here.
It was good Sunset had gotten up. The unicorn certainly needed a rest, but it would probably be overdoing it by now. That unfortunately still left Twilight with no idea where Sunset was if she wanted to check up on her.
If Sunset was up and about, one of the first things she would be expected to do was head to the labs. She was nothing if not studious, and she took her promises very seriously. None of the alarms Twilight had decided to place on the entrances in case Sunset had decided to start overworking herself all over again had been tripped however. It was possible Sunset had simply found a way around them. If anypony could, it was her, but it seemed unlikely unless somepony were to tell here about the wards ahead of time.
That really only left two obvious places. The castle library, or the dining hall. Given it had been several hours since Sunset had last eaten, Twilight was willing to bet the mare she was looking for would adhere to her stomach first. Besides, Twilight was feeling somewhat peckish herself at the moment.
With a destination in mind, Twilight began her journey to the main castle dining hall. It didn’t take long for her thoughts to drift back to the pony she was in search of.
It was truly ironic. Sunset had spent years envying Celestia’s new prized pupil. A purple unicorn with more raw magical ability than the sun princess had ever seen. Envy turned to hatred when Sunset had found that Twilight had gone on to accomplish everything she had ever dreamed of. Now though, Twilight couldn’t help but feel small pangs of jealousy at the effortlessness Sunset handled the subject of friendship with. The subject she was supposed to be the princess of.
Sunset wasn’t perfect of course. She could be hot headed and impulsive, especially under stress. Her deep-seated doubts and insecurities still flared up every so often, and, as Twilight was reminded yesterday when the unicorn had elected to spy on her, Sunset’s solutions to problems weren’t always the most honest ones. Twilight had nearly busted a gut that time Sunset had told her that her first solution to getting a key out of a closed Canterlot High School in order to give children toys for the holidays was breaking and entering of all things.
In the end though, those were just her flaws. Everypony had them. Twilight certainly was in no position to judge somepony off of how often they messed up. What mattered was whether they were willing to better themselves and Sunset always was.
Twilight’s internal evaluation of her friend came to a halt as she finally approached the doors to the dining hall which would hopefully lead her to the unicorn that consumed her thoughts.
With no reason for pause Twilight used her magic to quickly swing open the doors.
“So, you’re saying the creatures on the other side of the mirror look exactly like this?”
“No, that’s too short, and they don’t have muzzles.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so?”
“Look, just let me draw it!”
“And waste my perfectly profitable art degree? Never!”
Had Twilight known she was going to run into her new assistant and the Lord of Chaos fighting over an absurdly large pencil she might have reconsidered entering the room.
“Discord, you expect me to believe you have an art degree when you can’t even draw a straight line?” Sunset said as she finally wrenched the pencil out of Discord’s grip.
Discord, who was now dressed as a stereotypical french artist, crossed his arms in a childlike pout. “Of course I can! Straight lines are just boring.”
“Just, look. The humans in the other world look something like…this!” Sunset pronounced as she drew a quick sketch of an average biped onto one of the many sheets of paper scattered around the room.
Discord had to admit, Sunset was a pretty good artist. Of course, he didn’t have to admit such a thing out loud. “Well, I think my version looked better.”
“Better!? It was completely wrong!” Sunset shouted at the petulant lord of chaos.
“Unlike your bland piece, mine had SOUL!”
“Yours looked like something that might eat my soul!”
“Well, it’d be awfully hard to consume something that doesn’t exist, now wouldn’t it?”
The heated argument was interrupted by a loud cough from an observing alicorn that had seen enough of the foalish bickering.
“Twilight!” Discord shouted in greeting. “FINALLY, somepony with taste. Quick, come here and tell us which one of these you think is better. Mine, or old Ms. know it all’s over there.”
Twilight’s view was quickly blocked by two sketches. One appeared to be a very basic but neat sketch of a featureless human. The other…well, let’s just say Twilight now owed the Bugbear an apology for thinking it was the most unnatural thing she had ever seen.
“There’s a few bits in it for you if you pick the right one,” Discord whispered conspiratorially into Twilight’s ear before nudging her twice with his elbow.
“If you’re going to bribe the ruler of all Equestria, I think you should offer something a bit more valuable than the bits you picked out of her couch cushions,” Sunset mocked, having overheard Discord’s horribly unsubtle attempt at cheating.
“Well, I was going to offer her your life savings, but I figured Twilight would appreciate having enough bits to buy a half decent lunch.” Discord coolly returned
Sunset opened her mouth to retort but was cut off by Twilight as she shoved the pictures away. “Enough you two. Can’t you get along?”
Twilight was met with matching confused faces.
“I thought we were getting along.” Discord replied while scratching the top of his head.
Now it was Twilight’s turn to be confused. “…You were?”
Discord popped next to Sunset in order to wrap an arm around her shoulders. “But of course! After an absolutly delightful lunch, me and little sunspot are thick as thieves again!”
“He’s pretty annoying, but once you get past that, he’s not so bad,” Sunset offered up.
“…okay then,” was all Twilight could really offer in response. They seemed to certainly have an abrasive friendship. Although, this had to be something of a new record. Only two meetings and already friends with Discord. Pretty Impressive.
“So, I’m assuming you came here to check up on your new pet? I assure you she’s doing just fine; I’ve taken excellent care of her,” Discord said as he condescendingly patted Sunset on the head.
Suppressing a light blush, Twilight powered through Discord’s teasing. “Uhm, well, yes. Thank you, Discord.”
Sunset was slightly peeved at Twilight’s lack of a refusal to Discord’s insinuation. It only added to the bone she had to pick with Twilight. “So, Princess. Discord here told me you’ve put foal safety locks on all the labs. What’s that about?” Sunset asked, not bothering to mask her irritation in the slightest.
Twilight had seen this coming of course. She just wished it had come later when they weren’t in a public region of the castle. Or at least not in front of Discord who had already prepared himself a bag of popcorn. “I did it for your own good, Sunset.”
“Well, thank you for your concern, Twilight, but I don’t need you foalsitting me. I’ll be more careful from now on,” Sunset responded in an even tone.
Twilight sighed, thankful Sunset was willing to be civil about this. “You’re right, Sunset. I’ll take them off. Just promise me you won’t do anything that reckless again. That includes fighting ponies that could incinerate you.”
“Alright, Twi. I promise I won’t do anything like that again unless I have to.”
“Sunseeet,” Twilight growled out, catching the loophole in Sunset’s promise almost immediately.
“Sorry, Twi. That’s the best you’re getting out of me,” Sunset stated with finality.
“…ugh, Fine.” Twilight huffed as her horn momentarily flashed, indicating the disappearance of her wards and seals.
This relatively peaceful resolution left one relatively disappointed draconequus. “What! That’s it! I hang around the castle all this time, and THIS is the show I get!? What a rip!” Discord whined as he threw his popcorn down onto the floor.
“Sorry to disappoint you, Discord,” Twilight said with an inflection that indicated she was not sorry in the least.
“Hang on. You said you wanted to, ‘catch up’. You mean you only hung out with me because you wanted to see me argue with Twilight?” Sunset asked in a tone that honestly sounded hurt.
Quickly realizing his lack of tact, Discord amended his statement. “Oh, no no no no no! I truly meant every word I said earlier. It’s just, well just look at what happened the last few times you had a dispute with a princess! All the peace and harmony Twilight and her friends have filled Equestria with over the years is nice and all, but it gets a bit boring, you see.”
Had Twilight been paying more attention, she might have noticed the mischievous smile that crossed Discord’s face as he went on with his explanation. “I suppose I was just hoping for a small dose of good chaos before Twilight left on her trip to Ponyville.”
“Her what?” Sunset asked, her attention now fully focused on this new information she was unaware of until now.
“You mean you didn’t know? Twilight is heading off to her old clopping ground, Ponyville, tomorrow afternoon. You see-”
Discord’s energetic explanation was abruptly cut off by his creative rendering of a human being getting unceremoniously crammed into his mouth by a magenta magic. He could consider it payback for the last time he popped in unannounced.
“It’s a personal matter, Sunset. I haven’t officially announced it to ANYpony,” Twilight finished while sending a glare at Discord for his bad eavesdropping habits.
“Well, I figured that it was open to discussion, seeing as we’re all friends here, and you’ve told me that you shouldn’t keep things from your friends, isn’t that right?” Discord responded without missing a beat. The sound not coming from his mouth, but rather his hand which he was moving like a mouth and somehow perfectly producing his voice with it.
Twilight was now perfectly aware Discord was playing at something. She just hadn’t a clue what it was.
Discord took a moment to completely swallow his art before continuing to talk in a more normal fashion. As normal as Discord could be in any case. “Come to think of it, I don’t believe you’ve been outside of Canterlot yet. Tell me, Sunset. Have you ever been to Ponyville before?
“Only once really. There wasn’t much time to take in the sights though. I had to keep everypony from seeing nearly identical copies of Dash and Twilight,” Sunset recounted.
“Well then, that is a story you simply must tell me another time, but I just had a BRILLIANT idea!” Discord said as a flickering lightbulb appeared over his head. “Since you won’t have much to do around the castle with Twilight gone, why don’t YOU go with her? Get a more comprehensive feel for your homeland and all that rousing excitement.”
“I don’t really think that’s my decision to make,” Sunset said, unsure about going outside of Canterlot when she had barely gotten used to the city itself.
“No. It isn’t,” Twilight affirmed harshly.
“Oh, come on. I’m certain Pinkie Pie would appreciate the chance to meet one more new face,” Discord coolly asserted against the ever-increasing glare Twilight was shooting him. “You can’t tell me you actually WANT to go all alone,” Discord finished while placing his hands upon the area where his hips were. Probably.
“Pinkie Pie!? You mean she’s still-” Sunset began before quickly silencing herself.
“Indeed, she is. Though it’s…difficult...to say for how much longer,” Discord answered the unfinished question, his tone uncharacteristically somber.
Now Discord had done it. There was no ignoring this now. Twilight had hoped that the issue would never even come up, but Discord seemed determined to drag this into the light for whatever reason. Twilight had sincerely thought he was beyond playing mean spirited games to hurt her, but she couldn’t think of any other reason he couldn’t just let her make peace with this in private.
“Twilight…I-”
“Just…leave it, Sunset. Please,” Twilight begged the unicorn who was still coming to terms with the information she had just learned.
“I…I don’t know if I can,” Sunset told Twilight at a loss for how to react. Pinkie was one of her best friends. Her best friend, really. In her heart, she knew Twilight’s Pinkie and her Pinkie weren’t the same, but it didn’t feel right to just sit here while she was…
Her train of thought was cut off by Twilight, who’s face now harbored a great number of emotions, from sadness to anger. “Alright then. If you want to come, then be ready by tomorrow afternoon. I’ll be in my room. I’m leaving with or without you.”
Twilight quickly stormed out of the room, only turning back to say, “Thanks a lot, Discord,” before slamming the doors shut on her way out leaving a cringing draconequus and a hopelessly lost unicorn in her wake.
The two creatures sat in total silence, unsure of what to do next.
“Would you believe she took that better than I thought she would?”