//------------------------------// // A Season of Generosity // Story: Magic Mirror On The Wall, Who Is Mightiest Of Them All? // by Snakeskin Ducttape //------------------------------// Sunset woke up with a dry mouth, sore lower back, cold feet, cramping toes, and numb arm, which was strange because the only thing she expected to wake up with was a headache. She yawned, and stretched, before looking around to see that she was in the hospital wing, which was a location she was getting familiar with. Someone had changed her into her pyjamas and tucked her into a hospital bed, or at least tried to before Sunset had tossed around too much. It was probably Madam Pomfrey, who Sunset could see moving around in her office. Sunset felt that her academic pursuits were really getting needlessly delayed by all the visits to this place, and figured that perhaps she could pull a trick similar to what she pulled with Professor Snape, but figured that at least this was more comfortable than the dungeon. She did dismiss the notion of beating a retreat, however, when she looked to the little table to her side and noticed the bandage on a metal tray. It had silver blood on it. Sunset’s eyes shot open, and she quickly reached for it. It made no sense. She had checked that she had red blood, just like humans, and not the type she was used to as a unicorn. Quickly scanning around and making sure that there were no other bloodstained articles around, she settled down to inspect it. A magical inspection comparing herself, and the stain on the bandage, showed that she was under magical effects that the stain was not. “Oh,” Sunset said, as she formed a likely sounding hypothesis. She reached with a finger beneath the fresh bandage on her forehead, and pulled it back with a small glob red blood on it. She placed it on the tray, and pointed her finger on it, sending a moderate amount of raw magic power through it. It quickly turned into a silver color. <> Sunset said, looking around for something to make notes with, and not finding anything. She grunted in frustration, before wiping up the glob of silver blood with the old bandage, and teleporting it away to the roof. It was just in time, as Madam Pomfrey came marching out of her office. “What are you doing up, and awake?” she demanded. “Uuh… I’m showing signs of dehydration, and I’m trying to rectify it?” Sunset offered. “Are you now?” Madam Pomfrey said, not sounding at all impressed by the notion that people could take care of their problems themselves. “Uh… yes, my foot is cramping up.” “Very well,” Madam Pomfrey said, and pulled out her wand, with which she conjured up a glass of water and offered it to Sunset, who gratefully took a sip out of it. “Thanks. Say, can I get out of here now?” “No,” Madam Pomfrey said, and looked around, suspiciously. “What happened to your old bandage?” “Oh, uh… the… seagulls took it,” Sunset said, hoping the audacity might help Madam Pomfrey simply stared at Sunset for a moment, then grabbed a chart and quill from the foot of the bed.. “... Patient... shows… signs... of... delirium,” she said, writing as she walked up and forced Sunset down into a lying position. “What? No, that was a joke!” “How is your sense of humor?” Pomfrey asked, one eyebrow raised “Uh… good?” “Patient’s... judgement... greatly... impaired. Recommended... further... stay.” “Oh come on!” “You were sent through a closed door by a mountain troll. I’m not taking any chances,” Pomfrey said, looking at Sunset with a strict expression for a moment, before it slowly softened. “You’re lucky to be alive.” She looked down at the chart again, jotting something down and shaking her head. “I’m not sure how, honestly.” Sunset also took a moment to calm down, and settled back into the bed. “Well… thank you.” “That’s alright. Oh, that reminds me, you have some visitors that are eager to meet you if you’re well enough.” Sunset blinked at Pomfrey. “I have? Who? Uh, sure, I guess I am.” “Very well.” Pomfrey walked over to open the door leading out of the hospital wing, and said, “You can come in now, but keep it down,” before turning around and walking back towards her office. Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger, nervously but eagerly poked their heads around the corner, to see Sunset lying in the hospital bed, looking at them, confused. “Uhm, hi,” Hermione said, as they walked up to her. “How are you feeling?” “Fine, I guess,” Sunset shrugged. “How are you even still here?” Ron asked, his eyes wide. “I’dunno. By not leaving?” Sunset offered. Ron and Harry looked at each other, with impressed and slightly disturbed expressions. “But that thing hit you on the head with its club!” Harry protested. “It wasn’t that bad,” Sunset said. “How did you even get into the girls’ bathroom?” Hermione whispered. “I didn’t see you in there.” “No, you were in the great hall,” Ron said. “I saw you, and so did everyone else.” “Well, yeah, but…” Sunset said, playing for time. “After Professor Squirrel mentioned the troll I…” Sunset stopped. This conversation was heading towards revealing that her capabilities dwarfed those of her fellow students, and from what she could tell, most or even all of the staff, which was something Sunset didn’t feel ready for just yet. “I… started looking for you, Hermione. I think it was Parvati who said you were in a bathroom, so I went over to the bathroom and then… I don’t remember much.” That was technically true, since there were only a few moments before McGonagall and the others had found her and she decided to take a nap. “We were worried,” Harry said, a little cautiously. Sunset opened her mouth, and then closed it again. In response to those words, she wanted to laugh off what a strange situation she had gotten herself into, but that didn’t quite feel right. Sunset smiled equally cautiously at Harry. “Well, it turned out okay it seems.” “Thank you,” Hermione suddenly said. “What for?” “For… trying to help me.” Sunset scoffed lightly. “Yeah, trying. Oh well, at least no one got hurt. Badly that is.” Harry and Ron chuckled a little nervously, but Hermione was giving Sunset a steady look. “... None of us saw you come into the bathroom.” On the inside, Sunset squirmed uncomfortably. “Uh… I don’t know. I ran through the corridors, something something, then the stench, and then knocked on the head.” Hermione opened her mouth, then closed it again, making Sunset whoop in victory internally. Hermione probably didn’t feel comfortable pressing her in this situation. “So what happened after the knock to the head?” Sunset suddenly asked. “You all seem okay.” “We actually knocked it’s head!” Ron said, excitedly, before Hermione shushed him, reminding him that he was in the hospital wing. “How?” “Ron cast a levitation spell on the troll’s club, and then let it fall right on top of his head,” Harry said, sharing a grin with Ron. “Only after you rushed forward like a madman with your wand,” Ron insisted. “It was a really well cast spell,” Hermione said, approvingly. Sunset, however, silently filed this for her re-evaluation of Harry. He had somehow killed a really powerful wizard when he was a baby. Was yesterday’s troll battle another indication of great power, a sound tactical mind, forcefulness translating into raw force, or simply great fortune? All of these hinted that Harry was not someone to be trifled with- even the last option. Especially the last option. One should not lightly make enemies with Fortune’s pets. “Well done,” Sunset said, and had to admit she meant it. “What do other people say?” “About the spell?” Ron asked. “About you beating the troll.” “Uuh, I don’t know,” Ron said. “We came to see your first thing in the morning,” Harry supplied. “We… didn’t think you’d be up by now,” Hermione said, then continued, in a much more quiet voice. “We were afraid you’d never get up.” Sunset looked at the trio, a little nervously, and decided to not inform them on how she almost blew up her tower, and a chunk of the castle, when she was a little filly. “It… wasn’t that bad,” Sunset insisted, a little weakly. Thankfully, she was saved by Madam Pomfrey, who came marching out of her office. “Alright, that’s enough. Patients need rest, and they’re not getting any while you’re hovering about.” “Wait, can you get my books from Gryffindor tower?” Sunset asked them before they were ushered out. “You are going to be resting, not working,” Pomfrey ordered. “It’s just reading,” Sunset insisted. “Oh alright. Just books, no brooms or anything.” — Hermione was able to retrieve Sunset’s bag from the girls’ dormitory, and luckily didn’t peek inside it, or she might’ve gotten curious about how the inside of it looked. “I don’t know how you walk around with this all day!” Ron had grunted, as he dumped the bag onto Sunset’s bed, not knowing that he was carrying around almost an entire shelf of books with a spell to partially lessen the weight on it. Sunset’s swift recovery didn’t convince Madam Pomfrey that she was actually fit to leave the hospital wing. Of anything, it made her more suspicious. Sunset suspected that it might be because Pomfrey was unfamiliar with that, and it made her suspicious. She decided to keep her mouth shut though, and keep to the story she gave her classmates: that it simply looked worse than it was. Which was, in a sense, the truth. Neville had come by too, to awkwardly offer his well-wishes. From what Sunset could tell, it was genuine, rather than just because he missed her advice during class. After that, it wasn’t long before Sunset was restless. She was well aware of how the body requires some light exercise to focus the mind, but luckily, she was Sunset Shimmer, a unicorn with a mind like a razor, and an iron will. … She let the third volume of the standard book of spells fall down on her lap with a thump. “Still no wand waving I hope,” Pomfrey remarked, as she guided a feather duster with her own wand, cleaning off the flower vases in the window. “No,” Sunset said, and leaned back and tried listening to the coming and goings in the corridors, but all was silent, until she picked up on some distant cheering. “What’s that noise?” “Quidditch,” Madam Pomfrey said. “Oh.” Pomfrey paused, and regarded Sunset as she stared up into the ceiling listlessly. “... If you promise to keep out of trouble, I’ll discharge you this afternoon.” Sunset stared at the medical matron for a moment, before nodding. “I… always try my best,” she said, leaving her to wonder just how much of a lie that was. “Do better,” Pomfrey said, and walked back into her office. The idea of getting out of the hospital wing did cheer Sunset up somewhat, partially because she figured that the longer she stayed in there, the more serious her now non-existent injuries would seem and the more attention would be aimed towards her. So it was to her relief when Pomfrey said that she was free to go, some hours later and a lot of distant cheering later. As Pomfrey walked back into her office, Sunset thanked her, and slipped out of her pyjamas, and started pulling on her school uniform which lay, folded and cleaned, beside the bed. Before she was halfway through though, she noticed Draco Malfoy standing in the doorway, eyes wide. Sunset glanced around for what could be so alarming to the strange boy, but didn’t spot anything, and slowly continued dressing. “Uuh… hello,” she said. “H-h-h-h-h-hiii,” Draco said. Sunset figured that perhaps he was doing an impersonation of Professor Quirrel, which might have been in poor taste, but he was pretty good at it. She slipped her top over her head, and briskly stood up. “There we go. Madam Pomfrey is in her office if you need to see her. You look like you have a fever.” Malfoy went from impersonating Quirrel to impersonating a drowning fish. “Uh, n-no, I’m… good.” Sunset nodded, and slung her bag over her shoulder. “And so am I, I’ve been told, so I’m out,” she said, glad to finally be up and about again, and walked towards the door. To her mild surprise, Draco followed her. “Were you looking for someone in there?” she asked, as she walked down the corridor. “Uh, y-yeah. You.” “Me?” “I uh… heard you were there, and wanted to see how you were doing.” “Oh, that’s sweet. Thank you.” Draco suppressed a small gasp and looked absolutely feverish, making Sunset wonder if he was perhaps scared of being seen as sickly around others, and that’s why he claimed to not wanting to see Madam Pomfrey. “So uhm… that’s why you couldn’t come to the Slytherin stands?” Draco ventured. Sunset glanced at him. “Slytherin stands?” “During the… the game. The quidditch game.” Now it was Sunset’s turn to stammer. “The quidd… oh! Uh, yeah, exactly. Couldn’t leave. Doctor’s orders.” “Oh. Uhm, how did you end up in there anyway? Some idiots from Hufflepuff said that you and that Harry Potter fought a troll during Hallowe’en.” “That’s not true,” Sunset said, making Malfoy nod in satisfying vindication before she continued. “I just got hit over the head. Harry and Ron were the ones who knocked it out.” Malfoy slowed down, and gaped at Sunset for a moment, before catching up, his face contorted in rage, grumbling something incoherent. “So he was the one who got you in trouble?” Draco hissed. Sunset recoiled a little. “I wouldn’t say that. Actually, I guess he got me out of trouble. I hate to think what would have happened if Harry and Ron hadn’t been there, with me…” Sunset grimaced at her… thinking back, rather embarrassing display that night. “... out of commission, and a troll who clearly didn’t like me right there.” Draco’s breathing slowed down to a more normal pace, but Sunset could still smell some pretty strong emotions emanating from him. “... What do you even see in him?” he eventually asked. “See in him?” Sunset repeated. Draco’s eyes shot wide open. “Uh, I mean, uhm, why are you friends with him?” “Friends? I don’t know, I…” She stopped in the middle of the corridor, staring straight ahead for a long moment, before her gaze shifted out towards the clear blue sky. Sunset had been friends with others back in Equestria, but… she wasn’t blind to the fact that there were far more people who simply put up with her than wanted to be her friend. She didn’t care either. Celestia had been all the company Sunset needed. And Kibitz of course, he could be interesting as well at times. It was clear that Celestia hadn’t been entirely happy with the state of things, and had tried to change Sunset’s number of friends. Most notably with Cadence. Sunset hadn’t acknowledged Cadence as her friend, but she hadn’t acknowledged her as not her friend either. Sunset tried not to acknowledge Cadence at all. But… Harry and Ron had… saved Sunset’s life. And Sunset… didn’t find that nearly as humiliating as she thought she would. “... I… don’t know,” she finished, lamely. “I think it would be better if you weren’t,” Draco said. Sunset was too lost in thoughts to pick up on the forcefulness in Draco’s voice, and just kept walking, though slowly. What did she have to gain from tying herself to others? For that matter, what did she have to lose? Well, time for one thing. Being friends with someone demanded time, which she could spend on other things, most notably finding out how to become an alicorn. And they’d probably drag you into their conflicts, which would be another distraction. Sunset didn’t know if Harry had any conflicts, nor Ron, Hermione, or Neville for that matter, but the risk that they’d get into them eventually was very high. And what would the benefits be? That Harry, or anyone else, would help Sunset out when she needed it? Irrelevant. Sunset doubted that a single student in this school knew more about the relevant subjects than she did, and she doubted she’d get into any violent exchanges. This society had been in a state of outright war from internal enemies a mere decade ago, and she hadn’t seen, or even heard of, any violence during all her months here, and that’s ignoring her relative power. “... Maybe,” Sunset finally muttered. But something about that felt strange, and she simply could not figure out why. About that time, she realized that they were at the intersection east of the great hall, where Gryffindor students and Slytherin students would go in different directions, which reminded Sunset to scout out the lower levels of the castle more thoroughly when she got the time. “Well uh… thanks for coming to see me,” she ventured. That seemed to cheer Draco up, and he tried, and partially succeeded, at smirking confidently at her. “Yeah, I’ll… see you around then?” “Most likely,” Sunset said, and walked on towards her common room. — Sunset climbed into the Gryffindor common room to see some sort of celebration going on, and it smelled like it as well.  It felt like she was intruding on something though, as several students nudged others and pointed at Sunset, earning her several curious looks. She scanned the room, before spotting the other first years lounging around in some sofas and armchairs, and cautiously approached them. “Uh, hello, Sunset. How are you?” Lavender asked, smelling a little nervous. “I’m uh, fine.” “You’re out already?” Dean asked. “Yeah. Madam Pomfrey said it wasn’t that bad. Must have been lucky,” Sunset shrugged, and let her bag fall down on an empty seat on the couch, where it sank into the cushion. The scent of nervousness evaporated, they all looked at each other. Dean and Seamus nodded at each other, impressed. “Tough,” they nodded. Suddenly, Fred, or George, lightly bumped into her from the side. “Hey, sleepyhead. You done with your monster wrangling? Have a drink.” Sunset, confused, took a bottle of pumpkin juice, furiously combing her brain for what the occasion might be, before it came to her. “The game went well then, I take it?” “Yeah. No studying for anyone tonight,” George, or Fred, said, from Sunset’s other side. “Youngest seeker in a hundred years, winning the game on his first match.” “It was incredible,” Neville piped in. “He caught the snitch without using his hands.” Harry, for his part, smiled that awkward smile of one who isn’t used to so much praise, but who isn’t entirely willing to unabashedly bask in the glory, nervous of what might happen if he did. “Well done. Too bad I couldn’t see it,” Sunset said, thinking it was a reasonably nice thing to say. “Thanks.” “It was really impressive,” Hermione said, nodding in agreement. Sunset scanned the room, noting the lively and relaxed conversations all around, and how no one was currently studying. Instead, the common room was filled with a sense of camaraderie, with laughter and cheering. Cautiously, she lifted her bag out of the couch again, and turned to the stairs. “You’re not staying?” Ron asked. “I just… need to get rid of this,” she said. At the foot of the stairs, Sunset cast a quick perception spell to make her classmates not think about her, before walking up and collapsing in her bed, levitating her books and notebooks in front of her. Sunset knew that anyone else would have wanted to stay down by the celebrations, and join in the festivities, but a part of Sunset had felt very uncomfortable by the idea. Repulsed even. Relations. What a waste of time. Still, for some reason, as Sunset lay in her bed, for some reason, she wished for a sleeping draught. … All the more reason to study potions in her downtime. — The next morning, Sunset was heading towards the exit out of the Gryffindor common room to have breakfast, walking between Hermione behind her, and Lavender and Parvati ahead of her, who, for some reason, were gossiping- something Sunset had never seen them do before, except all the time. “Oh, Sunset,” Percy said, as he walked past them, looking important. “McGonagall put up a list for people who want to stay at the school during the holidays. If you want to stay, you need to put your name on it.” Sunset didn’t have time to thank him, which was just as well because she suspected she couldn’t muster the energy to sound anything other than snarky in response to his tone, and instead just shrugged, and walked over to the notice board and scribbled her name on the roll of paper before continuing towards breakfast. “You’re staying over the holidays?” Hermione asked, conversationally. “What? Oh. Yeah.” “Don’t want to go home to your family?” Hermione asked. It was clear that Parvati and Lavender were listening in, thanks to the sudden absence of whispering and giggling. Sunset felt like pointing that out to them, but figured that it might be easier in the future if they didn’t know how they gave themselves away. “No, they, uh…” Sunset searched her brains frantically, and disguised her thinking by taking a big spoonful of porridge, chewing it very slowly. They’re dead? Sunset groaned at the thought of sympathetic coos she’d receive, like Harry sometimes got. It’s all the same to them? Technically true, but it sounded too much like a call for attention. They’re on vacation? Lies like that have a tendency to catch up with you in highly awkward ways. Eventually, Sunset swallowed, and just shook her head and shrugged. “I’m just staying.” Sunset’s expression was calm, but her mind raced. That was too little. It wasn’t satisfactory- on the contrary, it was intriguing! Emergency! Emergency! “Uhm… how about you?” “Oh, I’m going home for a bit. I can’t wait to tell my parents all that I’ve learned,” Hermione said, enthusiastically. “It’s just a shame I’m not allowed to show them yet.” “Mhmm,” Sunset nodded in sympathy, while internally, she breathed out a sigh of relief. — Sunset could tell that Snape was in a foul mood, and had decided that she didn’t need to get his attention, so resorted to shrouding herself in a magical perception filter every potions class. It didn’t make her imperceptible, she figured that if no one could tell she came to class she might get into trouble, but it did deflect the attention of anyone who didn’t have sufficient reason to focus on her, and with the distraction of two houses of first year students, was the case every time. … Until it became time to work in pairs. Everyone shuffled over to their preferred working partner, except Crabbe, who ended up looking around himself awkwardly, as the rest of the class settled in to work on their projects. Sunset stopped grinding her herbs, when she noticed that Snape was looking back and forth, scowling, between Crabbe, the list of students, and the classroom at large. Suddenly, he looked at Sunset, his eyes narrowing even more, as he studied her for several moments. “Shimmer, you will work with Crabbe,” he said, in a strangely reserved voice. Just like that, the effect was broken, and the rest of the class glanced at her, not quite knowing why they were surprised at noticing her. Sunset sighed, and collected her cauldron and supplies, before walking over to Crabbe and sitting down next to him. “Hello,” she said, in a polite, if cool, tone of voice. Crabbe nervously looked back and forth between Sunset and Draco, who was giving him a stern look for some reason, before giving an uncertain grunt in response. “... I concur,” Sunset said, and nodded gravely, and looked at their collective reagents laid out before them. “Are you good at cutting slugs?” “Uh…” “Alright, I’ll do it, you measure up the powdered roots,” Sunset said, as she brought up a slug and a knife, and started cutting, occasionally making a stirring motion with her finger in the direction of her mortar and pestle, making them move magically. As she finished, she looked up to see that Crabbe hadn’t moved at all. Sunset raised her eyebrow at him. “Having trouble there?” Then she saw where he was looking; at the mortar and pestle moving by themselves at her occasional encouragement. Sunset sighed to herself, and simply took the powder and measuring instruments, and Crabbe’s work for him, not having the energy to worry about her, in this world, unusual capabilities. It helped a lot that she had finished up the entire first year book of potions in her spare time, and had just started on the second year’s book. One phase in the making of the potion was to stir in a particular pattern, as one alternated mixing in the three separate ingredients, divided in very small packages, in different intervals. Hence, why this was a potion to be worked on in pairs. Of course, that was child’s play for someone with Sunset’s level of arcanokinetic control, but she felt she should at least offer him to contribute some. “Alright, I’ll stir, and you be ready with the nettles and root, and I’ll put in the slug parts,” she said. “Uhm… alright,” Crabbe offered, which Sunset thought was the first time he had heard him actually say words. Sunset stirred in the rhythmic manner that the book described, and tossed in the slug parts in the right order, having to stop Crabbe from tossing the ingredients in too early. “Stop,” she simply ordered, as Crabbe’s hand suddenly was unable to move, until Sunset released it a few seconds later. “Proceed.” Snape threw an occasional glance in their direction, but wasn’t as nasty as other times. Sunset figured that he was either preoccupied with other matters, or the fact that she had been forced to work with Crabbe made it so that he couldn’t sabotage her efforts without dragging one from his own house down as well. Sunset couldn’t care less about the grades, but it was nice to be able to do some school work without constant interference for a change. Of course, it also meant working with Crabbe, which was not ideal, his big, meaty hands making a mess of everything, forcing Sunset to hurry up and do as much of the work as possible to keep it from being ruined. So it was to her mild surprise when their potion was finished half an hour before everyone else. “... I guess we’re done for today?” Sunset noted to Crabbe. “... Ook?” That was probably Sunset unconsciously perceiving him as an ape rather than the more human sounds he probably made. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, as Snape came over to inspect their work. He stirred the potion slightly, looking at it critically for a moment. “... Acceptable,” he said, emotionless. “You may leave.” Sunset silently packed her bags and left. She didn’t feel like fighting with Snape today, and apparently the feeling was mutual. She walked up to the Gryffindor common room, which was practically empty as classes were still going on, and slouched into an armchair in front of the fireplace, a troubled scowl on her face. Just like his friend, Goyle, Crabbe was tough. Crabbe was quiet and stoic. Crabbe exuded, or tried to exude, an air of confidence and danger. The mildest of scowls from Celestia could send rich and powerful ponies into a state of abject terror. Crabbe just came across as stupid. Sunset felt like she learned something that day. — When the holidays started, Sunset woke up to find her dormitory abandoned, save for herself. The areas surrounding Parvati and Lavender’s beds were missing only a few articles, including the girls themselves, but were otherwise as messy as they were before. This was in contrast to the skeleton of Hermione’s organized chaos, with all her reading and studying material being gone along with her, and left only some scattered quills and a bag of potions supplies. This was more like it, or so Sunset felt. She magically floated into the air, and flicked her hands across her body, pulling her pyjamas off and sending it into a neatly folded pile on her bed, which also made itself, before making a reverse gesture, aimed at her normal clothes, which similarly zoomed up and put themselves on her. She snapped her fingers to summon up a small ball of magic power, and whirled her finger at it, forming it into an armchair, which she floated into, and sat down. Months of cooping up her arcane prowess had made her magic feel outright antsy, and she finally had more than a brief window to let loose. She languidly stretched, the armchair leaning its backrest back to accommodate her, before it floated over to the window, allowing her a good view of the castle ground and the surrounding woods and hills. Sunset liked staring at landscapes from high altitudes, a part of her felt she belonged in the air. After a few moments, she magically turned the armchair around, and floated out of her dorm, and down the stairs, a content smile on her face. It wasn’t until she was halfway across the common room when she heard voices behind her, coming from the stairs to the boys’ dormitory. <> She floated the chair down onto the floor with a thud and jumped out of it, just as Ron and Harry were coming around the corner, looking around for what made the noise. “Mmmornin, Sunset,” Harry said. “Uh, good morning.” “Yeah, mornin’. What’re you up to?” Ron asked. “Uhm… practicing how to make my winter cape billow the way I want it to.” “Ah, roight.” That seemed to be a perfectly adequate explanation for the two, and they continued after Sunset, down towards the great hall to get breakfast. “Anyway, you gotta see some of Doctor Fillibuster’s fireworks,” Ron gushed at Harry. “Fred and George traded some from Lee Jordan, his dad got his hands on a whole crate once.” Harry looked dreamily up into the ceiling. “Yeah… I’ve only seen fireworks a few times, from the windows.” “Why?” Ron asked. “Eh… the muggles always buy the biggest pieces they can, but they tell me to go inside as soon as Dudley notices I’m out as well.” “Why?” This time it was Sunset’s turn to ask, as she looked back at them. Harry shrugged. “They don’t like me.” The books had mentioned that Harry’s parents were killed by the Dark Lord, so it made sense if he lived with more distant relatives. She felt a twinge of familiarity with Harry, and remembered the frustratingly stifling orphanage, and its one, single, battered novice-level spellbook - although she was lucky it was there - as it had led to getting the attention of royalty. Sunset gave Harry a scrutinizing look. If the muggles were the reason he was so short and scrawny, the ponies back home would be very upset with them, with his looks being a constant reminder of mistreatment. Harry filled half the criteria for a timeless handsomeness. Canterlot was the heart of Equestrian fashion, and while the styles changed seemingly every season, a big and strong colt or stallion with wind-swept mane was a constant when it came to good looks. Sunset walked into the great hall, where only a few scatterings of students were present. A few older Hufflepuffs were lazily giggling at the shapes they were making with their oatmeal, and a second year Ravenclaw looked like she had caught a cold. It was strangely nice, a calm contrast to the life and energy that was normally felt during breakfast. She sat with her chin in her hand, lazily chewing her breakfast as collected her additional findings about potions in her potions book, scribbling little notes in the margins, cataloguing the ways she had found to optimise the processes. After finishing her meal, Sunset walked the corridors, not deep in thought, as she kept hitting shallow loops while trying to think. How does one become an alicorn? Doing what Celestia did. What did Celestia do? All kinds of things, learning all manners of magic being among them. Is that the wisest course of action, or is that just what Sunset was biased towards because she liked learning magic? What else did she do? Defeat evil tyrant… after becoming an alicorn. Good thing too, because this world’s evil tyrant was already dead. Celestia… has a sweet tooth? Unlikely to be related to immortality. Celestia… taught students? Less unlikely than sugar but… still not good enough. Celestia was nice and fair? No she wasn’t, not when it didn’t suit her. Sunset sighed in frustration, and stared out the window towards the snow-covered grounds, the mountains in the distance, and the forbidden forest. Some people preferred people knowing when they broke the rules, and chuckled to herself when she thought of what Fred and George might be getting up to now, during winter, not having classes to distract them and far fewer eyes on them. Sunset however, preferred breaking rules on the quiet, when no one saw her enter, and no one saw her leave. She pulled her black winter cloak out of her bag and fastened it around her shoulders, before waving her hand at the breastplate of an armor next to her, instantly polishing it to a mirror sheen for her to inspect herself in. The armor moved its helmet to look down at Sunset a little indignantly. “Yeah, suck it up,” she said, satisfied with the way it billowed around her, and walked out towards the ground, waving her hands under her cloak once again, this time at her feet. She walked out into the light snowfall, her soles pressing down on the surface as if she was made of feathers, and made her way towards the forest. The grey brightening effect of the snow in the middle of the day helped light up the interior of the forest as well, but Sunset could see how the effect lessened further in. Gryphons and other races could have strange perceptions of ponies. One had to travel a bit into the land to find Equestrian cities, so the gryphons living near the border saw mostly rural, practical ponies, and how they had so effectively tamed and befriended the land, working with the forests to keep them healthy as it provided them with forage and wicker and various other commodities. Others might see the ponies as highly urbanized, as Sunset was. Living in cities that could stretch out into the horizon, but even so, the land remained befriended, rather than controlled. Having a love of nature was simply part of being a pony. Even city-raised unicorns, like Sunset, who would often be considered among the least in-tune with nature, felt a friendship with the land, which was certainly reflected in Canterlot, with it’s frequent dots of parklands, big and small. It was often unclear where the royal gardens ended and the actual palace began, as the honeysuckles and rose bushes cheerfully crept up to greet the ponies walking through the marble walkways. Sunset felt a comfortable sense of excitement as she walked deeper into the dark, half-wild forest. The coniferous woods were interrupted here and there by snowy clearings and other large trees like oaks, and some quaint burrows and downs. Eventually, the snow started to make way for soft moss, and the climate started shifting from winter and becoming autumnal. Sunset stopped, and a small, excited smirk grew on her face. Something lived here that was capable of manipulating the weather, and it looked like they had not felt like introducing winter just yet. She crouched low, and quickly leapt from cover to cover, in a merry game against an unseen quarry. Deeper and deeper she went, an unreserved smile always on her face in the dark woods, so deep that not even winter had penetrated it. From bushed to ravines, to rocky outcroppings she scurried, eager to see some of her kin. She stopped in the cover of a large tree, and crouched down when she saw a hoofprint in the moss next to her boot. They seemed to breed them large around here, like that officer cadet in the royal guard, Shining something. Sunset let out a playful roar in her mind, and stood up to sniff the air. There was magic, there was life, and there were hoofprints. This felt promising. Movement in the distance made her want to angle her ear towards the direction it had come from, and she took a step to the side to see what had made the sound. When she walked out from behind the tree, what she saw made her blood freeze, and her smile melted away in an instant, before she threw herself behind the trunk next to her and carefully peered out from behind it. In the distance, in an opening in the trees, were indeed hoofed creatures. Two of them, moving slowly and deliberately, eyes scanning back and forth around them, bows at the ready, and chests made up with crude, profane markings. Centaurs. Sunset couldn’t help but hiss under her breath, as they caused her mood to fall far and hard. “What are they doing here?” They looked suspiciously in her direction, and Sunset carefully slid back behind the tree, leaning her back against it. Suddenly, the forest didn’t look as inviting and full of opportunities, and Sunset’s chest heaved from the disappointed, heavy breathing. As the soft sound of sneaking hooves approached, she melted away into the forest, heading back the way she came, her cloak held tightly around her. Closer to the school, the terrain became much more even, and with some light magic on her cloak, she quickly made her way out of the forest, where he stopped outside of the treeline, and turned to face the forest, a look of deep disappointment on her face. She let out a sad sigh, and walked on top of the snow back up to the castle. She had taken several steps into the castle, crestfallen, when she felt a hand grab her by her collar and yank her face to face with Argus Filch. “Out for a stroll in the Forbidden Forest are we?” he hissed in her face. Sunset let out another sigh, this time a frustrated one. She did not feel up for this at the moment. “Ugh, I don’t know. Are you?” she asked, trying to lean away from his breath. “You’d best behave, little girl, I’ve seen you come out of the woods I have, just now.” Sunset thought for a second, then calmly said, “then there should be a trail in the snow.” Filch looked out through the open doors, and spied futilely across the pristine, white snow in confusion. He was about to bark something else accusatory at Sunset, when Professor Snape suddenly spoke from their side. “Ah, another Gryffindor who thinks that rules do not apply to them I see. What has she done this time, Argus?” “She’s been out in the forest, she has,” Filch said, grinning at the professor. Sunset grunted to herself, and put her hands behind her back under her cloak, flexing her fingers as, unseen to the teachers, magic swirled around them. “Caught her coming back,” Filch continued. “Bet she’s stolen some… some…” But Filch’s expression faltered, becoming confused and unfocused, as Sunset seemed to want to slip out of his mind, and the surrounding excitement lost their context without her. He let go of Sunset’s collar, who carefully took a few steps back, while Snape looked at Filch impatiently. “Stolen some what, man?” he demanded. “I… don’t know…” Sunset kept waving her fingers behind her back, encouraging the two men to lose interest in her, to ignore her. Even Snape seemed to falter for a moment, but there were so few distractions, and the situation drew attention to her, that his eyes darted around the entrance for a moment, before finally focusing on Sunset again, as she felt the half-formed tapestry of illusions shatter. <> Snape looked at Sunset, his otherwise neutral expression having just a hint of distress, before it hardened into its default sneer. “To the headmaster’s office, Shimmer,” he barked, and just like Filch, grabbed her collar to push her in front of him, although he found himself equally dragging himself behind her. “Could you people stop abusing my cloak?” Sunset protested, and threw it to rest behind her back. “I only have one.” Snape prodded her between shoulder blades, and she marched on with a dejected sigh. It had been a bad day, full of disappointments, and now, for wanting some freedom and time for herself, Sunset was being harassed by a vindictive clown, who tried his best to threaten her, even though they both knew that he wasn’t allowed to hurt her, and she knew she could crush him in an instant. It was a bit like being threatened by small children. It seems funny at first, but eventually it’ll just be frustrating. They quickly made their way up to Dumbledore’s office, where the gargoyle in front of the stairs stepped out of the way, and Snape calmly knocked on the door. The door opened, revealing Albus Dumbledore on the other side, a relaxed smile on his face, as Rubeus Hagrid looked up at the door, a bowl of mint candies in one hand, with one of them halfway to his mouth. “Ah, Severus, and Miss Shimmer. Do come in. The holidays are treating you well, I hope?” Before Snape could speak, Sunset said, “pretty good, thank you, professor, and likewise. Hello, Mister Hagrid.” “‘Ello there,” Hagrid said, smiling politely, and put the bowl back on Dumbledore’s desk. “So, can any of us be of service?” Dumbledore pleasantly asked. “I have caught this young student casting spells on me,” Snape said, coldly. “A very serious overstepping of Hogwarts rules, and which demands swift and harsh punishment.” Sunset scoffed. Her tolerance for this was running thin. Dumbledore’s smile became patient, and he leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers and nodding at Snape. “Very well, Severus, describe the event.” “Miss Shimmer was entering the great hall, when Argus Filch caught her, having seen her exit the Forbidden Forest–” Sunset scoffed to herself “– and when I inquired about the situation, I felt a clear effect of mind-affecting magic, much like a confundus charm, which leads me to ask where such a young student learned such magic, and why she felt it appropriate to use it on a teacher.” Sunset said nothing, but prepared an evaluation of Dumbledore in her head. “Miss Shimmer, would you like to say anything regarding this?” Dumbledore asked, invitingly, passing the first hurdle. Sunset folded her arms, and looked out the window. “It’s a lie,” she said, simply. Snape’s hard expression shifted ever so slightly to become far more threatening. “Impertinent. There are ways to find out what spells a wand has cast.” “Knock yourself out,” Sunset said, pulling out her wand and flicking it at Snape, offering the handle part to him. “Ah, but Miss Shimmer,” Dumbledore said. “You have shown to have a great aptitude when it comes to wandless magic. I think another approach will be needed.” “I’m all ears if it gets me out of here.” “There is the potion answer to the question,” Snape said, in a sickly sweet voice. “Oh? Do share,” Sunset said, spinning around and facing Snape. Snape smiled predatorically, and pulled out a small vial of clear liquid from within his robes. “This… is veritaserum. One drop of this will be enough to make anyone tell their deepest secrets.” Hagrid looked shocked. “Now ‘old on ‘ere.” Dumbledore placatingly held up his hand. “Severus–” “Accepted,” Sunset declared, loudly, putting emphasis on every syllable, and walked over to a cupboard, waving her hands as she did, and opened it to reveal a pitcher of water and two empty glasses, which she brought over to the headmaster’s desk. Dumbledore looked taken aback, but only for a second, not enough for anyone to notice, before Sunset put the glasses on his desk, and filled them both halfway up, before pulling out a scrap of paper from her robes, and a muggle pen, and scribbled one sentence on it. “Potion,” she ordered, holding out the glasses in front of Snape. “Pour one for yourself, if you dare.” Snape continued to stare coldly at Sunset, before he poured a drop into one glass. Sunset scoffed, and said, “figures,” before walking up to Hagrid and handing him the note. Then she emptied the glass with the truth potion in it in one gulp. “Read the note,” she ordered, before anyone else could say anything. Hagrid looked at Sunset for a second, his mouth hanging open, before he managed to rally. “Oh, ahem. Ah, have yer, Sunset Shimma, ever cast aner margic on Professah Sev’rus Snape?” Sunset could practically feel how the synapses in her brain fired without her approval, and slid past several steps to skip straight to speaking. “No.” She had, after all, only used illusory magic on herself. She scoffed at the room at large, and before anyone could say anything else, she turned to the door. “We’re done here,” she said, and stormed out of the room. She quickly walked down the stairs and rounded two corners, before she stepped inside an empty classroom, and vanished with a small flash, reappearing in her dormitory. She unfastened her cloak, and hung it on one of the posters of her bed, before collapsing into the mattress. Sunset could feel herself calming down, but that didn’t completely help. Something beside her high temper was a problem. She puffed up a pillow, and rolled over to the side, where her eyes came to focus on her bag, lying half-open, with an old, familiar book inside it. A reminder of better times. The best of times in fact. She carefully sat up, and pulled the book into her lap, before carefully opening it and turning to the latest page written on it. What she saw made her heartbeat pick up and ache in her chest. Rows and rows of writing. The first ones were shakely, panickely written, then calmer ones, and finally ones with big splotches from tears smearing the ink.  Sunset where are you? Sunset please answer me! Please are you okay!? Sunset I’m worried Please answer Come back. Please. Sunset. I’m sorry. Please come back. I beg you. I understand if you’re Sunset, I take back everything I said. Please come back, so we can talk. I’m sorry, I was wrong. You don’t have to tell me anything, but please, I just want to know you’re okay. I’m sorry, Sunset. I’m so sorry. Please answer. I miss you. I’m still here. I hope you’re okay, and I hope you’ll answer soon, even though I don’t deserve it. I miss you so much. Just one word. Please. I love you. Sunset only managed to stare at the text for a few seconds, before she automatically reached for the pen in her robes, and brought it to the page. She tried protesting, but it felt as if her hand moved on its own. I’m in a magic school on another world as a student. I’m not okay. I’m not hurt, but I miss you, I miss everything. I’m so angry with you but I still miss you so much. I wish I could come back, but I can’t. I want to talk too, and I was wrong as well. Sunset tried shaking her head, but her hand just kept moving. I love you too. Sunset stared down at the page, trying to shake her head, or voice any sort of protest, as her vision blurred. She blinked a tear from her eyes, which fell down on the page, smearing a spot of ink, just like Celestia had. She punched her fist into her thigh, again and again, getting weaker every time, as she bent over the book, the tears flowing freely from her eyes. When she next opened them, she saw what she both feared and longed for most in her life. Sunset? Yes. Celestia wrote Sunset’s name, then paused, shakily continuing as she searched for words. Sunset I am sorry. I’m sorry for what I said, and I hope you’ll forgive me. If not now, then some time. Why are you not okay? Is there any way I can help? Can you come back? Sunset managed to take a deep breath, but then her hand moved again, writing quickly and steady, and Sunset didn’t know if she liked the idea of coming across as cold with her firm writing or not. I think I forgive you, but I don’t know. I regret leaving, I miss the castle, and Canterlot, and Equestria, and I miss you. I’m under the effect of a truth potion, and I don’t think you can help. I don’t know how to get back. I don’t know how I got here. The book was still for a moment, before Celestia continued. I’m sorry. It’s not right of me to ask questions of you then. Why have you taken a truth potion? The potions teacher over here. He accused me of casting spells on him, and he suggested using a truth potion to make me admit it, and I got fed up with his attitude and accepted. I hadn’t used any magic on him by the way. Oh my little Sunset. You need to be nicer to your teachers. You’ll give them ulcers. He’s earned it. Celestia paused once again, and her writing started coming across more steadily. Sunset, will you be okay? Tell me if there is anything I can do to help. I’ll be fine. I just miss you, and I’m happy we got to talk. I hope we can do it again. I think that will help. Of course, my little Sunset. I’m here for you. Sunset. I’m sorry about the rea why you I’m sorry, but I can’t actually make you an alicorn. I can’t make anypony an alicorn. I was hoping to guide you to finding the path yourself, just as I did. Sunset sat in silence for a moment, before nodding to herself, heavily. I think I always knew that, deep down. I still have to try though. I don’t know if I can not try. Of course. Sunset, when I took you in, it wasn’t just because you had more power than half my faculty put together. I saw more in you than that. I can try and help you, but in the end, it’s you who will find the path to becoming an alicorn. I’m convinced you can do it, but whether you do it or not, please know that I’m proud of you. Thank you, princess. And now, I feel a little bad about asking you all these questions when you can’t refrain from answering. Please, be safe. And if you need my help, tell me. Sunset chuckled to herself. I’m Sunset Shimmer, remember? You certainly are. One last thing, Sunset. Are you making any friends? Sunset paused. I don’t know. Maybe. I think so. Good. Everypony needs friends, Sunset. And Sunset. Happy Hearth’s Warming. Happy Hearth’s Warming. Sunset gently closed the book, then opened it again, staring at Celestia’s words until the sun started setting, reading them over and over, a small, relieved smile on her face. Finally, she leaned back, curled up and resting her head on her pillow, resting a hand on her book and making sure it was always there. It was the most restful sleep she had had in a long time. — Twilight Sparkle carefully walked through the halls of Canterlot Castle, towards Celestia’s personal suite, a book hovering in front of her. She hesitated when she saw the stone-faced guard in front of the door, staring straight ahead, but then he turned his eyes towards Twilight, and gave her a kind, encouraging smile. Even if the royal guards hadn’t found the princess’ new student so endearing, they’d still treat her with the utmost respect. Shining Armor, her brother, was noble and kind, but had an absolutely fearsome side. Twilight smiled too, in relief, and nervously entered Celetia’s quarters. “Uhm… princess? Where are you?” she asked, as she closed the door. “I’m in here, Twilight,” Celestia answered from another room. Twilight walked up to the dimly lit room, and let out a gasp at what she saw, and started backing away again. The princess was crying. She didn’t get far though, as Celestia looked up and smiled at Twilight through her tearful eyes. “It’s alright, Twilight,” she said, and held out a hoof invitingly. Twilight walked up and let herself be embraced by her teacher. “What’s wrong, princess?” she asked. Celestia just closed her eyes as she lay a wing over her young student. “Nothing is wrong, Twilight. Nothing at all.” She opened her eyes, and looked at what Twilight had brought with her. “Have you found an interesting book?” “Uhm, yes. I wanted some help to understand it but… uhm… I don’t want to bother you,” she said, fiddling her hooves nervously. “You don’t bother me, Twilight,” Celestia said. “Quite the opposite.” Twilight smiled, bashfully. “Uhm, okay. Princess, why were you crying if nothing’s wrong?” Celestia chuckled, interrupted by a single sob. “Because I’m happy.” Twilight looked up at Celestia in amazement. “Really? Why?” Celestia’s embrace tightened for a moment. “We can start with your book if you’d like, or I can tell you about another student of mine.”