And so Sunset spent her summer vacation how she spent every summer vacation, working tirelessly to hone her abilities.
At least things were noticeably improving after a month.
Sunset stood down by the beach, at a lonely section where other students rarely ever came this time of year. She still saw the odd random student now and then, but for the most part, it was just Sunset... and occasionally her 'elven' teachers. The group she normally hung around with - Twilight, Dash and the others - were still off in the woods somewhere, and she had hardly seen them in person since then.
She stood deep enough into the ocean that the waves should occasionally go over her head, were she not forcibly splitting them. The water was parted in a line leading from the beach to about ten feet ahead of Sunset. A wall of water was on either side of her.
Another wave came and Sunset struggled to break it apart. She managed to part it once again and the water went off to either side, the walls of water rising until they were over her head yet again.
Moving so much water this frequently took an enormous amount of strength, and was an excellent exercise for training her magically frail human body. The deeper into the ocean you went the more difficult this became, meaning Sunset could measure her progress by how many yards into the ocean she could walk without getting wet. So far, she’d doubled her distance in about a month.
Sunset carefully took another step forward and split another wave. Her watch vibrated, letting her know that she got a text on her non-waterproof phone back on the shore. She glanced at it long enough to see it was from Pinkie, but that was all the concentration she could spare. Sunset took another step into the ocean, reaching her limit.
Then her watch vibrated again, more this time. Pinkie was trying to call her now? At that same time, an abnormally large wave swept in. It was the perfect storm. Sunset slipped and the water came crashing in on her from all around.
She got completely dunked in the flood, being thrown forward at first, then getting pulled back out before she managed to get her head above water. She was a strong enough swimmer to get back to shore easily enough, but now she was magically exhausted and completely drenched.
It was a good thing she was wearing a bathing suit. Though she still didn’t get why everyone had a problem with her coming simply naked.
Sunset trudged back to shore, only bothering to dry off her hands, before opening the phone. Pinkie had better have a good reason for texting her.
“Sunset! I’m coming over soon! I have something cool to show you!” Read the first. “It’s gonna be spooky fae stuff so get ready!”
“Actually, I decided to just be right behind you.” Read the second.“Actually, I decided to just be right behind you.” Read the second.
Sunset let out a long breath, inhaled, counted to ten, and exhaled. She was a lot better at not getting angry these days. She also knew just enough about the fae to know she had time to dry off her hair and put her phone down where it was safe. Then she turned around to be greeted by a torrent of pure darkness that flowed in a pillar, but by some strange optical illusion, Sunset couldn’t tell if the column flowed up or down.
When it was gone, Celestia and Pinkie were there, but so too was a stranger. Sunset knew at once this was another fae, and one of the ‘large’ ones at that, both from her immense size, and the way her hair flowed like Celestia’s. Only where Celestia’s hair was like a rainbow, this new one's was like the night sky.
Sunset had a better idea of human heights now. Sunset and her friends were all a few inches over five while Celestia was easily seven feet. The new fae was the same height as Celestia but the armor she wore made her look even larger.
The armor was silver and black, set before a cloak of the darkest blue behind her. At her side was a sword of a length and size Sunset doubted she could have wielded herself. It was sheathed within a scabbard that seemed to reflect the night sky. Sunset glanced at it briefly and felt like her heart stopped beating. Looking away made her feel fine again, but she understood now that the sword was too dangerous to even look at.
Still, she spent most of her life in the company of a giant already, so such a thing hardly unnerved her. Yet seeing a fae clad in magic armor was something to be just a little wary of. There was no way to know if she always wore that.
Sunset had zero confidence she’d be able to fight this person, as they looked down upon Sunset with a serious look. Thankfully, Pinkie was there to make the new fae appear less intimidating, by tugging on her cloak like a child as she happily waved to Sunset.
“See? I told you she was there! But you thought she already was!” Pinkie laughed.
“Yes. Most impressive,” said the stranger.
Sunset’s mind reeled a moment longer before it finally clicked. She was almost certain she knew who this was now, though it still seemed strange for her to be here.
“Wait!” Sunset pointed at her. “Is she - are you Princess Luna?”
“Yes,” said Celestia. “This is my beloved sister Luna. She came only to admire you, you’ve nothing to fear from her.”
Beloved? That sounded wrong.
“Luna is my super best friend.” Pinkie leaned against Luna affectionately. “She taught me how to not think and use alternative logic.”
“We were told that you were where you are before,” said Luna.
“Can you speak in human?” Sunset recognized when someone was talking ‘fairy speak’ now.
Luna closed her eyes like Sunset had just done something embarrassing.
“Very well. If you need us before.” Luna put her hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Our sister has said a great many things about you, about a brilliant gem that washed ashore and is in her possession for now. I wanted badly to see you, but I can only come here when things are so. Can you understand this much, child?”
“I think so?”
Luna stepped forward to get a better look at Sunset.
At first, Sunset thought that the armor was freezing cold. The air around her made Sunset shiver when Luna first knelt down. When you first approached it the air felt chilly like the armor was sucking the heat out of you. Yet the closer you got to the armor itself the warmer it became until touching it had a cozy warmth to it. When Luna put just one of her fingers, wrapped in a leather glove, to Sunset’s cheek that sense of cold vanished entirely.
The warmth that went through Sunset put her in a slight daze for a moment while Luna looked her over. Luna tilted her head from side to side and opened Sunset’s mouth to look at her teeth.
“Ah yes, what exquisite beauty.” Luna continued to look Sunset over. “Your potential is so vast yet understated. Such a dull, dream-like salt bringing out the potential. Yet there is still the smell of a lingering, far more powerful dream. Someone else’s, not yours, but it still lingers about you as though you’ve spent too much time in a smokehouse. An excellent addition to my sister’s collection and a great benefit to us. I must compliment you, sister, on your luck for finding such a thing.”
Sunset slowly recovered from her daze. Only just now Sunset realized she was being carefully examined like a collector’s item; Luna raising one of her arms then looking over her hand.
“Hey, can you not treat me like I’m some mounted hunting trophy?” Sunset stepped back, out of Luna’s grasp. “And I don’t belong to Celestia, okay? I’m not in her collection or anything of the sort.”
“You’re being very rude.” Luna took her hand off of Sunset’s face. “Be glad I’ve learned to tolerate your kind.”
“I’m being rude?” Sunset asked. “What? Am I supposed to grovel before you or something?”
“I can show you what I mean.” Luna held out her hand for Sunset to grasp.
Before Sunset could decide whether to take the offer, Pinkie decided for her. She ran between the two of them, shaking her head at Sunset, then Luna in turn.
“Oh, yes.” Luna retracted her hand. “I forgot. Of course.”
“Yes.” Sunset took another cautious step back, unsure if she had nearly just died there. “Of course. Are you two sure she knows enough that it’s safe to be around her?”
“Yes, you will not die or suffer immense pain,” said Luna. “I do not understand you well enough to take care of you, but I can promise your mind and body will not be destroyed today.”
“That doesn’t reassure me much,” said Sunset.
“Nonsense. I wouldn’t damage something so valuable to my sister. Here. Would you like a treat?” Luna reached into her cloak. “You deserve one for being in such perfect condition.”
Sunset was about to complain that she wasn’t a dog but from some unseen pocket, Luna produced a golden apple that made her forget all possible complaints. For a moment nothing existed but that apple and Sunset could do nothing but stare at it intently, and admire its beauty.
When Luna held it out to Sunset, Sunset grabbed onto it like it was a passing branch as she fell off a cliff. Without even a single thought she bit into the apple. She couldn’t even describe the flavor - it tasted like pure pleasure that radiated through her whole body.
As Sunset devoured the apple with wild abandon, Luna slowly stroked the back of her head, smiling softly. Before long, Sunset had eaten the entire apple, eating even the core and swallowing the stem itself before she could regain control.
That was amazing!
“Do you have more of those?” Sunset looked up at Luna desperately, then at Celestia. At that moment she felt as though she’d give them her potential just for more of those. “Have you had those the whole time?!”
“Yes,” said Luna. “But it’s not a good idea for you to have more than one every few decades or you might change in a terrible manner.”
Sunset had half a mood to not even care about that, but it was wearing off quickly. It was a little frightening now just how badly she’d lost control in that moment.
“I am a little surprised you haven’t tried using one of those to get me to submit to you yet,” said Sunset.
“Do you still trust me so little?” Celestia asked.
Sunset didn’t answer. It was true Celestia hadn’t been as ruthless or deceptive as Sunset first expected. After months of searching for lies still nothing. Either Celestia wasn’t trying to trick her or she was so smart that her lies might as well be the truth.
“I guess it wouldn’t make a difference since the effects don’t last long enough,” said Sunset.
“I seem to remember you trying that approach when we were younger,” Luna teasingly reminded her.
“Yes. Though I wonder which of us could bring up the more embarrassing story about the other,” said Celestia.
And they both laughed. Sunset was surprised to see the two of them being so friendly.
“You two get along?” Sunset asked. “I assumed you’d be enemies.”
“Our father didn’t want us to compete as he and his brother did,” Celestia explained. “So, he took something from each of us. From me, it was the ability to change and from Luna, it was the ability to create or destroy. We seek entirely different humans to take what we lack from, and thus to complete ourselves. For that reason, we have no need to fight. The fae are united now and humanity has been spared the chaotic magic that ruled in ancient times.”
“Yes, there are humans that will offer me their dreams in exchange for favors,” said Luna. “I need only understand you enough to make those favors tempting. The only humans I deal with are those capable of destroying for me. Great warriors with a love of destruction and chaos, such as this one. They alone may join my armies.”
Luna gestured to Pinkie Pie, who stuck her tongue out.
“Pinkie Pie?” Sunset looked at her skeptically. “I thought she was a farmer or something! You're saying she's a great warrior of chaos and destruction?"
“Well not anymore.” Pinkie shrugged. “But I used to be vicious! Rawr!”
Pinkie made adorable little claws with her hands.
“How much do you remember about your old life, exactly?” Sunset asked, still hoping for another unique response.
“I remember it, but it doesn’t make any sense.” Pinkie tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Like I think I was on a boat this one time, but then what was I on before I was on the boat, huh? Isn’t that impossible?”
She learned not to press a response like that by now.
“I am curious what made you think we would hate one another,” said Celestia.
“The Celestia I knew wanted to kill her sister,” said Sunset. “It’s the only reason she took me in.”
“Did she say that’s what she wanted?” Luna asked.
“I guess I didn’t discuss this with her in too much detail,” Sunset admitted. “I got angry. But the elements of harmony are a weapon. What else would I have done with them?”
“No.” Luna shook her head. “That is not the dream that lingers about you, the one that must be from another Celestia. It is a dream of longing, like the dream you have.”
“Longing for what?” Sunset asked.
“I cannot say. I can tell that both she and you long for something real rather than something fanciful. I have no desire for dreams like that, they are unappetizing to me. Those who dream of wild, unattainable fantasies and those who have dreams of creation or destruction are the ones that interest me. But you, and she, only wish to grasp something you don’t have. You should stay with my sister, in my opinion. We never seek the same humans.”
Was it possible Sunset misinterpreted anything from back then? It was true that she hadn’t stayed around very long after learning the truth, hadn’t had a real conversation with Celestia about anything.
No! Celestia refused to answer her questions, even the ones Sunset absolutely had the right to know. It was the princess’s fault. She owed Sunset an explanation back then, and if she refused to give it, then that was her fault.
“But what about joining your army?” Sunset asked. “You said that you allowed great warriors into it, right? Is my magic not powerful enough? I can burn stuff! I want to know what my options are.”
Luna frowned at the idea.
“There.” Luna pointed down to a small stone on the beach. “If you can not lift that rock then I will consider you worthy. If not, you would be better off in my sister’s collection.”
Don’t lift the rock? Sunset knelt in front of it and watched it carefully.
“I want to say I’m already not lifting the rock,” said Sunset. “But I’m also a hundred percent certain this is some kind of riddle, isn’t it?”
“You are the one speaking in riddles.” Luna shook her head.
“Oh!” Pinkie raised her hand. “Can I show her?”
“No. If she cannot think straight, she has no business in my realm.”
Sunset couldn’t help but wrack her brain thinking about this. Did she have to not lift it for a year? Or unlift it by removing it from the pocket dimension? The real answer likely made no sense in her current state of mind.
“Well, I’ve seen all I’ve needed to.” Luna turned to leave. “Come, Pinkie. We shall take you back with us.”
“Wait!” Sunset ran over to Luna’s side. “You’re leaving? Can’t you take me out with you?”
“I’m afraid it’s not that easy,” said Luna. “Pinkie came here on an invitation, remember. It will be easier for you to leave yourself than with my help.”
Luna put her hand on Pinkie’s head and that same torrent of darkness that went both up and down consumed them. Then they were gone.
Trying to live with elves other than Celestia was one other option that Sunset could think of. Living with the humans on Earth was out of the question. But with elves? They might be more acceptable if she ‘went crazy’ as Pinkie said.
But trying to assimilate into their society would be incredibly dangerous, and who could say if any of them would be better to live with than Celestia? Who could say if any dimension would be better than hers?
Sunset really did doubt she could be happier anywhere else than here. The real question, like the others always asked, was whether she wanted anything more than happiness.
“What are you thinking about?” Celestia asked her.
“I’m not sure what I want to do anymore.” Sunset sat down on the beach, putting her staff across her lap. “I’ve been so focused on the portal and, well, finding dirt on you, that I haven’t thought about what happens afterwards. I don't know if I want to get revenge on the other Celestia anymore, but I don't know what to do if not that."
Principal Celestia said nothing but sat down next to Sunset.
Sunset closed her eyes and imagined forcing Celestia to the ground with Luna’s enchanted sword, overpowering her, humiliating her. Those fantasies used to be so satisfying but now they felt empty.
“Do you think I’m going to leave?” Sunset asked. “Or will I decide to stay here?”
“I think you will escape,” said Celestia. “Eventually. When that happens this other Celestia and I will both offer you what you want. Whoever makes the better offer will get to keep you. I’m confident that will be me, but I can’t be certain.”
Perhaps the biggest difference between the two Celestia's was that this one was willing to answer all of her questions without hesitation. Not once had Principal Celestia told Sunset she wasn't ready to know something or forbid her from reading some book. She had schemes and wanted to use Sunset but she was upfront about it all.
"I do appreciate that you're more honest than the Celestia I knew," Sunset admitted. "Or at least more open."
Sunset grabbed some sand with her fingers and let it slide through her fingers.
"But you still don't trust me," Celestia said, noting it more than asking.
Sunset remembered that vision she had when she first looked into the mirror. She saw herself as an alicorn surrounded by fire and magic - the greatest alicorn in history. Why couldn't her Celestia have just answered her questions back then?
"No." Sunset closed her eyes as the last of the sand left her hand. "I don't think I ever told you about my vision, did I? I saw myself as - as like a god. I asked the other Celestia about it for weeks and weeks and she just kept telling me I wasn't ready. I finally went out and got the answers myself and... well that was all part of her plan like I said. I felt like she'd been telling me I didn't have the right to know what I was getting into that whole time."
And how could you think someone like that cared about you?
"Why didn't she tell me the truth?" Sunset asked.
"I think lying comes from a place of weakness, from needing to," said Celestia, "so perhaps you're right to assume the worst. Yet, it's also possible she could have been worried you'd do something foolish and hurt yourself if you'd known. The answer can be anything in between. You'd have to ask her."
Ask?
It seemed absurd. After all, her entire problem was that Princess Celestia refused to answer her for weeks. Would Princess Celestia turn her nose up at Sunset asking again?
But then it did seem Sunset might have been partially wrong about her intentions with Luna...
"I really wish I had your confidence." Sunset smiled.
“You have a long time before making your decision.” Celestia crossed her legs to sit Indian style as well. “You and I have both made rash decisions we’ve regretted. Let’s practice meditating so that you can be in control when it comes time to make that decision.”
Celestia closed her eyes.
Yeah. Sunset had certainly learned her lesson about making hasty decisions when she was overwhelmed with emotions.
Sunset sat on the beach with her hands on her staff and her staff on her lap. She closed her eyes and listened to the waves, counting them, and thinking of nothing else. After a few minutes, her mind was clear enough to not even notice the waves.
She took to this quickly, like she did everything.
At that moment, while she was calm, she decided that she would confront Princess Celestia one more time before deciding anything. She’d give her one more chance to explain things.