“We’re almost there,” Sombra said, as he drove up the road leading to the farm
Sunset looked out her backseat window, watching as a two-story house was revealed. During the drive, she had been quietly reflecting on the past two weeks since meeting the Kings. The first week was spent healing, which was sped up thanks to the potions. The day after her bones had heal, she met Celestia’s sister and her husband
(Flashback)
“Hello, Sunset.”
Sunset looked up from the Daring Do book she was reading to see Celestia smiling down at her, she hadn’t heard her come in.
“Hi.” Sunset greeted, placing the book on the bedside table.
“How are you feeling?” Celestia inquired
“Good. I can use my hand now that it’s healed up.” Sunset replied, showing her hand, that was now cast free.
“That’s wonderful news. Now, I was wondering if you are up for some visitors?” Celestia asked
“I guess,” Sunset shrugged
Celestia nodded and walked over to the door, poking her head out and motioning to someone to come in. The first to walk in was a lady with green eyes and two-toned blue hair, who was quickly followed by a man with red eyes, black hair with a stripe of white on each side, and a white goatee.
“Sunset, I want to introduce my sister, Luna and her husband Discord. Luna, Discord, this is Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia introduced the couple
“Hi,” Sunset said, waving shyly.
“Why, hello, Miss Shimmer, Discord Chaos, at your service,” Discord chuckled, giving an over dramatic bow, prompting a small giggle from Sunset
“Hello, Sunset. You can call me Luna,” Luna simply said, giving a small smile
“Now, we know you only have one more week to go here in hospital,” Discord started, pulling something out of his pocket. “But reading books can only fend off boredom for so long, so Luna and I pitched in to get you this, your first phone.” Showing Sunset, a flat rectangle object. She had seen Celestia using something similar, only this one had a red cover
“Here,” Luna said, taking the phone from Discord and handing it to Sunset, before sitting in a chair near the bed. “Let us show you how to use it. We’ve already downloaded some games for you to play.”
Sunset listened as Luna and Discord explained how to use the phone, along with the games. They stayed for another 2 hours, before leaving, but she enjoyed her time with them.
(End Flashback)
Sunset had spent the next two days playing on her new phone. Her main favourite games were two merge games and a colour by numbers app.
The second week involved the soul leech removal ritual and observations. The ritual had some interesting results…
(Flashback)
Sombra and Celestia watch through the window as Sunset slept in her hospital bed, hours after the leech removal. They turned when they heard a throat clearing and footsteps heading towards them. It was Doctor Greymare, Canterlot’s best doctor and cursebreaker, carrying a file. He motioned to them to follow him to his office.
Once everyone was seated, Greymare started, “I would like to first say that the ritual was a success, all of the leech has been removed and destroyed completely.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Celestia breathed, Sombra pulling her in for a one-armed hug
“Now, as you have probably heard, we used a specialised camera and monitor to see the magic core, or in this case cores, to insure no damage to them when removing leeches,” He explained, as he turned his computer around, where they could see an image of two cores, one red, and one gold, both flashing like a heartbeat. On the red core was a black mass, almost cloud-like, looking like it was eating at the core.
“As you could probably guess, the black mass is the leech. We have deduced the red core to be her original core, and the other to be, what we’ve being calling it, her ‘portal’ core,” he pointed at the cores. “After the removal, something incredible, for lack of a better word, happened. And, well, just watch…”
The image fast forward to just after the leech was removed. They watched in amazement as a thread seemed to leak out of each core and connect with each other in the middle. The cores were than pulled closer and closer together, until there was a flash of bright light, so bright the Kings turned away for a second. When they looked back, there was now only one core, but it was bigger than the first two, and it was flashing gently. It was a mix of reds, oranges and golds, it was like looking at a mini sun.
“I… I have no words,” Sombra stuttered, trying to gather his thoughts after seeing that
“Yes, remarkable isn’t it,” Greymare agreed. “And the merging has changed Miss Shimmer’s magical signature completely, it seems to be a mix of her original and portal signatures. The magic itself is nothing we’ve ever seen before, it’s a brand-new type of magic. After talking with some of my colleagues, and reviewing the footage, we’ve decided that since this new fire-like magic and core was born from old ones, it shall be called ‘Phoenix’ magic.”
“Phoenix magic, eh? Yes, it does seem appropriate,” Celestia thought out loud. “Will you be explaining this to Sunset? She deserves to know that she has a new core and magic.”
“Don’t worry we will.”
(End Flashback)
Sunset was jolted out of her thoughts as the car came to a stop. As she got out of the car, she noticed another house next door, with a family of six standing near the fence separating the houses.
Sombra also noticed the family, “Oh, looks like you’ve got a bit of a welcoming committee,” he commented, before motioning to Sunset to follow him. “Come on, I’ll introduce you.”
Sunset followed him over to the fence, becoming slightly nervous as the family came closer
“G’day, Mac,” Sombra greeted the red headed man with green eyes
“Howdy, Sombra, heard you had a new family member, and thought we’d introduce ourselves,” the now identified Mac nodded, before turning to Sunset. “Howdy, little lady, and what might your name be?”
“Um, Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset said timidly, looking down at the ground
“It’s nice to meet you, Sunset. I’m Bright Macintosh Apple, but you can just call me Mac,” Mac tipped his hat, before motioning to the rest of the family, starting with the elderly woman and curly haired woman on either side of him. “This is my mother, Maria Smith Apple, and my wife Pear Butter.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs Apple and, well, Mrs Apple,” Sunset nodded to the two women
“Now none of that ‘Mrs’ stuff, just Granny is fine,” Granny said with a big smile
“And I go by my nickname Buttercup,” Buttercup agreed, before presenting a pie. “Here’s a welcoming apple pie, made from our best apples.”
“Oh, OK, well then, it’s nice to meet you Granny and Buttercup, and thanks,” Sunset repeated her greeting. Before turning to the blonde freckled girl who look to be around the same age as her
“Howdy, Sunset, I’m Applejack, this here is Big Mac and Apple Bloom”, Applejack said, pointing to her older and younger siblings, both giving a wave of greeting. “Welcome to Canterlot City. I can’t wait to introduce to my friends, if you want that is.”
Sunset smiled a little bigger this time, before nodding, “Thank you and, yeah, I’d be happy to meet them.”
“Well, as much as it was nice to see you all, I think it’s time to be heading inside for dinner, and a tour of the house,” Sombra said, gently pushing Sunset towards the house
“Of course, and don’t forget, if you need anything, you just let us know,” Buttercup said, ushering her own family towards their house. “It was nice meeting you Sunset.”
“Likewise,” Sunset smiled, before walking with Sombra to the front door
“Well, Sunset, let me officially welcome you to Crystal Farm and Winery,” Sombra bowed as he opened the door, letting a delicious smell waft towards them, “Mmm, looks like Celestia’s got dinner ready, I suggest we have dinner before I give you the grand tour.”
“Sounds, and smells, good,” Sunset agreed, as her stomach growled, following Sombra to the dining room
After a delicious roast dinner, the Apple family pie, and a tour of the house, it was time for bed. However, Sunset wasn’t too sure she wanted to sleep, because of the dreams she had been having for the last couple of weeks. The dreams were always the same, she would be in a dark void with the occasional flash of light. After the flashes of light, she would be bombarded with different emotions both positive and negative. It was all confusing and frightening, especially when it was mainly the negative emotions that were the strongest.
“Can’t sleep?”
Sunset jumped and looked up to see Sombra standing in the door with a book tucked under his arm. After processing the question, she simply nodded and looked down
“Still having those dreams?”
Again, she simply nodded. Sombra walked over to the bed and sat next to her, placing the book next to him. Sunset glanced at it see the title, “The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses” by A B (Banjo) Paterson. She looked up at Sombra questioningly
“I thought a good story from my homeland would help,” Sombra explained, rubbing his neck. “Hopefully it should help chase those dreams away for a bit. We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“No,” Sunset shook her head. “A story sounds nice.”
“Well, it’s more a story in the form of a poem,” he explained, as he opened the book, after getting a bit more comfortable. “But most children in Australia grew up with the Man from Snowy River story. Let’s get started…”
As Sombra read the story of a horse chase across bushland, and a man’s courage against the odds, Sunset slowly became sleepier. She was almost asleep as Sombra came to the end of the story…
“And down by Kosciusko, where the pine-clad ridges raise
Their torn and rugged battlements on high,
Where the air is clear as crystal, and the white stars fairly blaze
At midnight in the cold and frosty sky,
And where around the Overflow the reedbeds sweep and sway
To the breezes, and the rolling plains are wide,
The man from Snowy River is a household word today,
And the stockmen tell the story of his ride”
After closing and placing the book on the table, he smiled down at Sunset sleeping, before lowering her down and tucking her in. He brushed her hair out of her face as he uttered “Good night, Sunset”
As he was closing the door, he heard her mumble, “G’night, Dad.”
Sombra stood on the landing for a couple of minutes, processing what he heard. Even though he knew it was her sleepiness talking, he still did a small, quiet dance, “She called me dad!” He went down stair with a huge smile on his face to tell his wife what he heard.