“Probably should’ve thought about where she could be first before just leaving like that.” Sunset rolled her eyes at herself as she marked off an area on a map of Equestria with a cross. She did consider contacting Luna when she first set off, but she had no idea where to find her, especially since Canterlot Castle didn’t even exist in this world. She sighed as she looked over the cross-filled map again, scanning for any areas she might have missed out. “Just where can one pony hide in all of Equestria and not be seen by anypony else? It’s got to be in some place where nopony would go...” Her eyes travelled to a location on the map as she muttered to herself. “A place hidden and obscured enough that nopony would find it… A place familiar to her, but not to others.” She frowned as she circled a location that fit her descriptions on the map. It was a place she had skipped over after the Nightmare Moon incident, seeing as how Nightmare Moon already went there. But what if she returned after sensing Luna’s return? A little voice in the back of her head asked. Just…what if she had gone back, hoping to catch even a glimpse of the sister she hadn’t seen in a thousand moons? Sunset sighed. “Well, nothing to lose. It’s my only lead for now.”
“She’s not here.” Sunset frowned as she stood in the middle of the Castle of Two Sisters. “But where else could she be then?” She let out a groan of frustration as she looked up to the sun through the hole in the ceiling caused by Nightmare Moon.
I sensed that you have returned but you have yet to come and see me. I don’t blame you. You have every right to be angry at me. I won’t even hope for your forgiveness. I don’t deserve it, after what I did. But if you do ever come, Luna, even if it’s to enact your revenge, I will be waiting here, in this place that only you and I know of…
Sunset shook her head as the empathy flash faded away. As soon as she regained her bearings, she face-hoofed with a deep sigh. A place where nopony else knows of. Of course. How could I forget that place existed? She sighed again as she stood up and made her way down the destroyed hallway.
“And… Boom.” She stared, deadpanned, as the secret passage revealed itself. “Yup, looks exactly like the one in Canterlot.” She commented as she walked down the stairs until she finally reached a door. Her horn lit up with a red glow as the doors swung open, and her breath instantly hitched at the sight of the white alicorn sitting in the middle of the room. The alicorn stirred when she heard the sound and lifted her head slightly.
“…Luna?”
“Do I look like a dark blue alicorn who can raise the moon to you?” Sunset said as she revealed herself from the shadows. Celestia stood up fully and her wings flared out.
“Who are you?” She narrowed her eyes. “And how do you know this place? The only ponies who knows this place exists are Luna and I!” Sunset rolled her eyes.
“You have the exact replica of this place in Canterlot Castle. Guess not even a new castle could separate you from your beloved secret cake stash.” Celestia fought off the blush she felt was coming out of embarrassment.
“That doesn’t answer my question of who you are. What do you want from me?”
“Long story. First of all, my name is Sunset Shimmer. I came from another world.” Celestia’s expression turned into confusion at that as she folded her wings.
“Another world?” Sunset nodded.
“Yes, another Equestria, much like this one. In my world, Alicorns are not just some myths and Princess Celestia rules over all the ponies, raising the sun and the moon each day and night. Under her rule, the kingdom flourished, and she taught the ponies to treasure their bonds. She was a pony well beloved by all, and everypony looked to her whenever they had problems.” Celestia looked away.
“No. That’s impossible. I’m not fit to rule.” Her eyes watered. “I couldn’t even save my own sister. How can I be expected to protect my subjects?” Sunset let out a loud sigh as she planted her rump down next to Celestia. Her friends were right. Celestia really was the same as her.
“Trust me, if anypony could understand what you’re going through now, it’d be me. I wasn’t a good pony back in my world.” She confessed. “Yet, when I came to this world, I suddenly find myself having to fix problems everywhere. At first, I didn’t think I’d be able to do it. After all, in my world, I was a pony who caused problems, and here, they expect me to fix them? Hah! Yeah, right, fat chance.” She scoffed before her gaze softened. “And yet, believe it or not, I did. Though it wasn’t on my own. My friends helped me out. They seemed to think that I did majority of the work though, even though I kept telling them that I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.” She crossed her hooves with a harrumph.
“You are a lucky pony to have such good friends.” Celestia smiled softly. “Perhaps, if I had friends of my own as well, I might’ve been able to save my sister.”
“That sounds weird, considering in my world, it was you who was constantly urging me to go make friends.” Sunset said. “But I guess I can understand why. Must’ve been hard for a princess to make a friend who would be able to look past her title and see her for who she really is.” Celestia chuckled softly.
“That’s very accurate.” She looked up at the ceiling, a faraway gaze in her eyes as memories from the past surfaced. “Everypony who tried to befriend us were only after the benefits that come with being a friend of a princess. We turned them all away. After many of such cases, we eventually stopped looking for friends. Friends would only hold us back. We decided we didn’t need such burdens. We were fine on our own.”
“Oh horseapples.” Sunset muttered a curse under her breath. “That’s like, almost exactly what I said when I was still a selfish stuck up pony in my world.”
“Is that so? You and I certainly share more similarities than I thought we would have, for being two strangers.” Sunset grinned.
“Tell me about it.” Celestia offered a small smile before the faraway look returned to her eyes.
“And yet, after centuries of being on our own, Luna began to seek relationships again. She yearned for the love and respect of her subjects, and she often wondered if she would be able to find a pony who would see her as a friend and not a princess. I didn’t have any faith that would happen. I was simply content to rule, for our relationships with other ponies to remain strictly professional.” She looked down in shame. “I was so intent on loving all of our subjects equally that I failed to realise that I was neglecting my own sister. I didn’t even realise that our subjects didn’t give her the same respect and love they gave me. She felt all alone in the world, and abandoned by the one pony who should’ve been by her side. It was my fault she gave in to her hatred and became Nightmare Moon. As Nightmare Moon, she had no restraints about her true feelings. She bore her heart to me, and even then, I turned her away. I could only think about stupid things like duty and responsibility, rather than my own sister. It was only after she was gone that I finally saw how wrong I was and how alone I really was.”
“That’s similar to the Celestia from my world.” Celestia looked down to meet Sunset’s eyes. “Even when you were fighting Nightmare Moon and your life was at risk, you put the kingdom above all else. You made your choices based on what’s best for the kingdom. As a princess, I’d say you’re more than fit to rule. But as far as personal relationships go, you can’t manage them to save your life.” Sunset’s words were blunt, but Celestia could find no fault in them. She was merely speaking the truth. “Let me tell you about my world.”