A week has passed since the battle of the bands, and life for Sunset was improving beyond her imagination. The whole school stopped their torment on the fiery-haired girl. She was on friendly terms with everyone, except for a few, but they kept it civil. Trixie would always be Trixie, and Lightning Dust, always had a chip on her shoulder, so it wasn't a surprise when they were always aggressive to her and others. The result of meeting Fluttershy's parents went well. Thus Sunset found herself meeting with Fluttershy at her home and vice versa more frequently. Despite everything going well for Sunset, she found herself thinking back on certain events. Sunset wasn't too sure as to what that place was, but she knew it contained the Tree of Harmony. Sadly, she didn't get a chance to investigate the last time she visited it, which was only during the Battle of Bands. Unfortunately, she didn't know what to do about it as she was unsure if she should tell anyone about the incident. That what lead to her current position. Sunset was sitting at her desk as she brainstormed. At the moment, no one knew anything about her astral journey, not her mom, her sister, her friends, or Luna. She told no one, not even Twilight. She brought up her right hand and looked at it.
'Why did you give me this?' She asked no one in particular. She focused her mind, and suddenly, a flicker of fire appeared on her palm. The flame danced beautifully and lit up her face as it curled in on itself, shifting between the colors of orange, yellow, and a bright red.
After talking with Twilight about what Princess Celestia felt, Sunset deduced that the Tree of Harmony gifted her some of her magical talents, primarily her mastery over flames. Her cutie mark represented her affinity for Pyrokinesis, which explained a lot about her current situation. She couldn't help but feel as though she could use more spells like teleportation and telekinesis when she pony-upped during her practices with the girls.
Deep in thought, Sunset unconsciously tried to increase the flame in her palm but stopped herself quickly. 'No, don't. I have no idea why the tree gave me this, but let's not try anything for right now. I need to understand these powers more before I begin to experiment inside my room with something that can burn down the house. That's the last thing I need right now.' She then heard a knock at her door. Sunset quickly swatted the flame from her hand and it disappeared in a whisp of light.
"Sunset, are you ready?" She heard her mom say, opening up the door.
"Yep, everything's packed up," Sunset said as she breathed out a silent sigh of relief that the flame vanished.
"Good, get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," She said.
"I'll head to bed in a few minutes. I just need to order a few things for that project I have planned. I need to get the pictures saved to a flash drive and get the few that haven't been sent to me yet. Once that's done, I'll be dream walking."
Celestia giggled a little as she walked forward to kiss Sunset on the forehead, "Don't stay up too late. If you're going to be sleepwalking, make sure to stay out of the cookie jar, okay?"
Sunset giggled at the misunderstanding before cheekily saying, "I promise nothing it might happen now that you mentioned it."
"Darn, alright, my little night owl. I'm going to sleep. Don't stay up too late," Celestia said in her "serious" voice. "Good night, I'll see you bright and early tomorrow."
"'Kay, G'night."
Sunset smiled and looked at the traveling bag at the foot of her bed. They were going to meet Celestia and Luna's parents tomorrow, now her's and Snowdrop's grandparents. She was excited to meet them but almost overwhelmingly nervous too. She couldn't find a word for it, bu- *ping* Sunset brought up her phone and looked at the massage. It was from Pinkie, and it read,
"Nervousited? What the?" Sunset said in confusion.
*Ping*
*Ping*
*Ping*
Looking at the messages showed it was Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow with the requested pictures smiling she began the work on getting the project ready so she could work on it when they got back. It would be at least two weeks until she was finished, but she knew it would be worth it. She looked at her nightstand with a picture of everyone important in her life. It was taken the day after the battle of the bands, and her heart swelled every time she looked at it.
*Ping*
Another text from Pinkie:
"I love you too, Sunny!"
She laughed at that, Pinkie will always be Pinkie.
*Ping*
"You know it, girl!"
The next day came quickly, and Sunset found herself in the back seat of Celestia's SUV with Snowdrop drowsily leaning against her. Luna was in the front with Celestia, deciding to join them in Celestia's car rather than using her own. It was Friday, and Celestia left the school in Cheerilee's and Cranky Doodle's hand for the day, and they were going to stay at Celestia and Luna's parent's home for two days, leaving late Sunday. The ride took roughly six hours. Which Sunset either spent listening to Rainboom demos to point out changes they could make until she lulled to sleep listening to a song Fluttershy wrote. Celestia parked the car in front of a simple-looking house. The house was painted a soft brown with white trims. It gave off a modern feel but held a nostalgic feel that had Celestia and Luna smiling when they saw it. Celestia looked in the back seat and shook the two sleeping beauties awake while Luna got out of the car.
"Hey, you two, we are here," She said, nudging Sunset. Sunset jolted awake, and Snowdrop flinched at the sudden movement, causing her hand to smack Sunset in her bottom jaw. This caused Sunset to hit her head against the door window and whine at the sudden state she found herself in. Sunset groaned as she stretched a bit as she got her bearing in order. Celestia just watched with amusement as she tried to contain her laughter. Luna just laughed at the two zombies trying to use their brains despite being half asleep. Sunset got out before walking around the car before helping Snowdrop get off the car. She and Luna carried the luggage while Celestia led Snowdrop up the driveway. The house wasn't that big compared to Celestia's home. It was a single-story house with a black roof and a silver chimney pipe. The house's front had a green lawn with fire dragon grass near the front porch with orange mums between them. The group walked over to the front door, and Celestia knocked at the door as Snowdrop reached out to Sunset, who moved Snowdrop next to her as Luna moved beside her sister. Celestia finished knocking, but before she could take back her hand, the door flew open, and an elderly woman flung herself into the two women hugging them tightly. The woman had peach color skin and curly orange hair that faded into purple at the end. She wore a white dress and looked about forty despite Sunset knowing she was in her late fifties.
"Oh, Celestia, Luna, I missed you so much. I knew I heard Luna's laugh, your father didn't believe me, but between us, he can barely hear over his own voice sometimes," She said with an elderly chortle, as she laughed at her own joke. She then looked up and saw the two girls standing behind.
"We missed you too, mom-" Celestia got cut off as the older woman moved before jumping up and down.
"Ohhhh! You two are so cute. I can't believe I'm finally seeing my little granddaughters," She yelled in joy before she devolved into excited laughter. "You two are the sweetest things I've ever seen. Come, come. Let's go meet that grump of a grandpa!"
She led the group inside as Celestia guided Snowdrop over the steps. The house looked bigger inside compared to the outside. It was simple, with family pictures on the wall, and had a welcoming feeling.
"You must be hungry. Dinner will be done in just a few moments. Luna, would you be a dear and get your dad? He's in the garage tinkering with his old baby."
"Sure thing, mom," Luna said before making her way to the garage.
Sunset looked around the house to get herself accustomed to the house as she placed the bag next to the bag Luna dropped. Snowdrop stayed in the same places as she listened to get a feeling of the house.
"So, what do you think?" Celestia asked Sunset.
"It's… cozy. It's nice, though I think I like our big house better. Kinda small, in my opinion," Sunset said carefully.
"Small? It feels like it's big to me," Snowdrop said.
"Yes, it may be a little small on the outside, but much of the ground floor is open. Mine and Luna's rooms are downstairs in the basement. Your rooms are next to ours. It may not be as big as our home, but you should have plenty of room for the both of you," Celestia said. "Come on, I'll show you to the rooms," She said before taking the bags and walking down the stairs as Sunset and Snowdrop followed her.
They decided that Sunset and Snowdrop would take one and Celestia and Luna will take the other. After leaving the bags in the rooms, Snowdrop and Sunset got the room that used to be Luna's, while Celestia and Luna would have Celestia's old room. As they reached the living room, they saw Luna with an elderly man, who, much like his wife, looked younger despite him being in his mid-sixties. He had wavy dark purple hair with graying sidelines and a stubbled beard. He wore a black shirt that looked like it had seen better days and painted and smeared jeans. He had thick black oil staining his forearms to his fingers that covered his night blue skin.
"Welcome, I see you got yourself situated and have made yourself at home," He said, looking over the two girls. "Sorry I didn't meet you with Solar, I was working on my girl, and I simply lost track of time," He explained while Celestia and Luna left to meet up with their mom.
"It's okay, sir," Sunset said respectfully.
"Now see here there's none of that sir business we are family, call us grandpa and ma, understand?" He said sternly.
"O-of course, sir- I mean grandpa," Sunset quickly said, correcting herself.
"Good, 'sir' is only used when you in trouble or I feel like you're in danger. Now, I'm going back to work on my girl until dinner," He said before leaving the girls.
"Uh… girl?" Snowdrop asked, confused.
"His car, I think," Sunset said as she guided Snowdrop around so she could get the layout of the house.
Before long, Celestia's mother, Solar Wind, called everyone to the dining table. She made a feast for the occasion, and Sunset found herself drooling at the sight of it all.
"Where's Snowdrop?" Celestia's dad, Crescent Moon, asked.
"I'm here," Snowdrop called as she walked up the staircase.
"Oh, careful, you'll fall," Solar Wind practically ran at her and safely guided her upstairs. "Where's your walking stick?"
"It's in my room," She said.
"Why did you leave it?"
"I don't normally use it after I get familiar with my surroundings. Your house is much easier to memorize than mom's house. I was walking around with a walking stick for three days. The place is huge," She said.
"But-"
"It's okay, mom. Snowdrop is more capable than she looks. She surprises all of us sometimes. She knows where she's going," Celestia said.
"Yeah, our little snowflake can hear the stars. It's the most amazing thing you've seen," Luna said.
"What?"
"We have a lot to explain of mom. First, let's finish the dinner, then we can talk about them," Celestia said, looking at Sunset.
Sunset gulped nervously. She'd need to talk with Celestia before the scheduled talk to know how much to tell and what they would leave out. While she was fine letting her friends, and by extension, their families, along with her mom and aunt, know about her origins. She was concerned about how the older couple would respond to some of the things she was going to claim when she talked about herself. She didn't want to put any strain on Celestia and Luna between their parents. It was obvious they all loved each other, and it would kill her inside to know that she damaged that relationship. She just hoped that the conversation went well.