The Crystal Palace was an even more beautiful sight from up close. The grand arches and sleek supports made for a one of a kind building. And the centerpiece was the slowly rotating magical artifact known as the Crystal Heart. From what Sunset had heard from gossip and Shining, it was incredibly powerful and immeasurably important to the safety and wellbeing of the Empire.
She felt a little itch in the back of her mind as she watched it, an unseen breeze combing through her fur. It made her uncomfortable, she looked back to where Shining was chatting with some crystal townsfolk and guards. He seemed well-liked and well known around here, no surprise given that he worked closely with the Princess and had a hoof in the liberation.
The crystal ponies themselves looked sculpted from pieces of crystal, each with their own luster and sheen. And they were all earth ponies, she made a note to research that later.
The townsponies bid him goodbye and the guards each gave a quick salute before returning to their posts. She raised an eyebrow as he trotted back to her.
“What was that about?” She asked, not remembering the nobles of Canterlot getting saluted.
“Just a thing they like to do. Come on, the Palace awaits.”
“Don’t I need to get clearance or something to go inside?”
“Nah, I can vouch for you.”
The inside was just as spectacular as the outside. It was enough to make any Equestrian architect weep. And with the sun shining through and reflecting off of every facet and cut, it created a light show that made stained glass windows look like crayon drawings.
She followed closely at his side, noticing all of the palace staff giving him short bows as they passed. Even though he was an important noble, they still seemed slightly off. Sunset couldn’t quite put her hoof on why.
If the architecture was anything like Canterlot Castle, they must be nearing the Great Hall and the Throne Room. Her guess was proved correct when they exited a corridor into a grand chamber, extending to a large set of doors that undoubtedly lead to the Throne Room.
Near the center of the chamber was a young mare, barely into her teens, who was conversing with a small group of the palace staff. The elegant pink-ish curls looked familiar…
Shining stopped at the entrance to converse with another guard, but Sunset’s eye’s stayed glued to the beautiful young unicorn, unable to quite remember who they were.
When the mare turned her head to look at the new arrivals, mane bouncing, the name flew unbidden to the front of Sunset’s mind.
“Flurry Heart?”
Her ears perked and swiveled in Sunset’s direction, followed by the rest of her head.
“Auntie Sunset?”
Memories sprang forth from her time back in the human world. Princess Twilight had visited often. Several times she had brought a young girl with her, who she introduced as her niece.
Young Flurry Heart.
The two had gotten along great from the start, the little girl was as outgoing as Pinkie Pie and almost unbearably cheery.
The last time Sunset had seen her she was just starting grade-school, and that was already several years ago. So it would make sense that she would be about this age now. But what was she doing here?
“Oh my gosh, it is you!” Sunset found herself nearly bowled over by the enthusiastic teen, and tightly returned the hug.
“Heya kiddo, fancy seeing you here.”
“Me? I live here. You’re the odd one around here, firecracker.”
Firecracker, the nickname that her and Twilight came up with and teased her with to no end.
“So you do. And what a place to live, it's amazing!”
“It sure is! The only downside is trying to sleep in when not even the curtains or bed-sheets can block out the light.”
“What? Really? Your bed is crystal too??” Sunset was starting to regret coming to the city where everything was made out of translucent crystals.
Her panic was interrupted by a bout of giggles and a playful boop on her nose.
“No, silly! We have normal beds like everypony else.”
Sunset scrunched her muzzle and made to fire back a quick reply, but was interrupted as Shining came trotting forward.
“Am I interrupting anything?”
Flurry’s eye’s lit up with boundless joy as she whipped around at a gallop toward him, screaming and spreading her wings as she launched herself into a flying tackle at Shining Armor.
“Daddy!”
DADDY?!?
Sunset’s eye’s shrank to the size of quill-tips as the two rolled to a stop on the immaculate floor.
While the conscious part of her mind stalled in surprise, the unconscious and analytical parts of her mind worked overtime to make sense of the unfolding events.
Twilight introduced Flurry as her niece. Human Twilight only has one sibling, her brother Shining Armor. Therefore Pony Twilight would also only have a single sibling. So that niece had to be the offspring of said sibling, one Shining Armor.
In conclusion, Flurry was his daughter, which means he was probably married.
Her chest clenched, like somepony punched her hard in the ribs.
He really was too good to be true, moisture started to gather in the corners of her eyes.
But before the despair and depression could truly take hold, she noticed one more important detail.
Flurry had wings. Flurry had a horn. Flurry was an alicorn. Unless she ascended very early in life, earlier than Twilight, than she must have been born that way. So Shining must have married an alicorn.
Both Celestia and Luna were out, as was Twilight for obvious reasons. That only left one…
“As much as I missed him too, I can wait until they’re finished before I welcome him back myself.”
That voice...
A chunk of ice dropped hard enough into her gut that her knees almost bent from the impact. She had not noticed the great doors behind her open and a single pony walked out, crystal hinges not being known to squeak like metals ones did.
Sunset now knew why those curls seemed so familiar. It wasn’t just because of Flurry. After all, she got them from her mother.
“Hello Sunset, it’s been a long time.”
She slowly turned toward the one pony in all of the world that she wanted to see the least.
Princess Cadence, princess of love and who she now realized was the reagent of the Crystal Empire.
Father and daughter faded into the background, as did the rest of the large room. She could only stare in growing terror at the princess in front of her. Before being exiled, Sunset remembered how she acted. She wasn’t a pleasant mare to be around, and that was doubly so for the young love princess.
Celestia brought Cadence to the castle near the end of Sunset’s time there, and Sunset immediately took to disliking her. That dislike quickly evolved into hate. She hated everything about the pink alicorn. Her annoying personality, her lack of magic control, her ignorance, how she wormed her way so easily into the hearts of the castle staff and nobility. Everypony loved Cadence, everypony but Sunset.
And Sunset remembered bullying her, almost torture. She was terrible to the mare, despite never getting any of it in return. That used to just make her more angry.
And now here that mare stood, now a fully realized royal and in charge of her own city-state.
To say Sunset was terrified would be a gross understatement.
Cadence’s expression was undecipherable. Was she angry? Did she hate her? Was she seconds away from being thrown in the dungeon?
A thousand scenarios played over in her head, but none of them compared to the reality of what actually happened.
“Sunset Shimmer…” Cadence started, Sunset took an instinctive step back.
Cadence took a step forward, extending her leg, and bowed deeply to her. Her head was inclined and her wings fanned out on either her.
“...I’m sorry.”
“What?” Sunset was struck with shock and disbelief. What in the wide world of Equestria was Cadence apologising for?
“I said, I’m sorry. I didn’t try hard enough. There’s so much I could have done and didn’t. I gave up. And in the end it drove you to exile and a very dark path. So from the bottom of my heart, I am truly sorry.”
Sunset backpedaled, confusion and panic warring in her head.
“You don’t have to… you didn’t…” she stuttered, her escape attempt halted by the wall of muscle that was Shining Armor standing in her path. Even if she turned and ran, how far did she think she would get? In the heart of the empire, in the center of the palace. Would they go after her? None of this made sense. Why was she apologising??
“I do. I did not understand then, but I do now. I get it, why you acted how you did. Why you treated me that way. I understand.”
Sunset tried to argue, tried to talk some sense into the alicorn.
“Cadence, I was a jerk to you because I didn't like you. You were ignorant and unable to use your magic right. It was not anything special, I was the bully and you were the new girl. If anyone has something to apologise for, it’s me!”
Cadence stood up, “Sunset, we both know that’s not right.” and the weight in Sunset’s stomach doubled in size.
“I don’t know what y-you mean.”
She calmly approached, and by the time she was within touching range Sunset was trembling from hoof to horn. More gentle than she deserved, Cadence placed a hoof on her shoulder.
“You didn’t hate me, Sunset. You hated that I was taking Celestia away from you.”
She shook her head rapidly, eyes darting about everywhere but back into Cadence's own. Her heart hammered in her chest and her ears rang. It felt like a physical force was crushing in on her from all sides.
“I was a stranger. I came in out of practically nowhere and proceeded to monopolize her time. The staff all liked me, Celestia enjoyed my company, everypony was nice to me. Everypony but you. Could I blame you? She was essentially your mother, and I was taking her away from you. I was everything you worked for, and I got it all handed to me on a platter with none of the work.”
Sunset couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Cadence thought that was the reason she hated her? It couldn’t be that… could it?
“N-no! You earned that horn, that title. They liked you because you were friendly and kind! I was working toward the wrong thing! It was my mistake, all of it was! N-none of it was your fault!”
“No Sunset,” another hoof came to rest on her other shoulder, ”I got this horn by accident. I solved a problem and it was thrust upon me. The staff may have liked me, but they didn’t know me, not really. Only a long while after you were gone did they actually come to know me. They just liked the new pretty little princess.”
She said the words with such.. disgust.
“They wanted to get in my good graces, and Celestia’s.”
One of her hooves caressed gently under her chin, lifting it to look in her eyes.
“You were never working to become an alicorn, Sunset. You wanted to become her daughter. Ascending was the last thing you could think of doing to achieve it, after spending over half of your life trying other ways. So when I came in out of the blue and she called me her family?”
She brushed away a tear Sunset didn’t even know she had shed, with the most compassion and tenderness she had ever felt.
“It broke your heart. And when I realized that, I didn’t do enough to help you. I could have objected more firmly to her calling me her niece. I could have tried harder to be friendly and amicable with you. And my worst mistake of all…”
The intensity and sincerity in her eyes was enough to burn a hole right through to Sunset’s soul.
“...I gave up.”
Tears dripped to the floor in increasingly rapid amounts, but neither Shining, Cadence, or Flurry were crying. Sunset couldn’t fathom where they were coming from.
“I stopped trying, just took the abuse silently and tried to ignore your heartache. And for that, I am sorry.”
“I…” she swallowed a blob of saliva that felt like it was the size of an apple. “...I... I forgive you.”
Cadence smiled and it was like the sun rose a second time. She leaned forward and rested her forehead against Sunset’s, her long pink horn poking through the fiery curls.
“And I forgive you too.”
And Sunset sobbed.
She collapsed into the pink alicorn’s embrace, blubbering and bawling. A thousand apologies, a thousand forgivenesses. She buried her head under the larger pony’s chin and wrapped her hooves around her. The top of her head felt wet as Cadence’s own tears flowed unbidden.
A strong presence at her back told her that Shining had completed the pony sandwich, trapping Sunset in between himself and his wife. And then a feather-light hoof stroked softly through her mane, the only explanation being that young Flurry had joined the mix.
In all of her years, this was the first time that crying had ever felt so good. There was no place in Equestria she’d rather be than held in their hooves.
At last, as the scar she had been carrying longer than any other began to heal, the crystal heart reached out to her. She earned her crystal coat.