Flurry glanced back at the mirror. Or, at least, what was supposed to be the mirror. All she saw was a block of white stone. Craning her head up, she saw something like the Saddle Arabian pony who came to talk to Mom and Dad last year. She reached out a foreleg and prodded the rock just in case. It was cold, rough, and definitely didn't lead back to Equestria.
"Sorry, Flurry," said Miss Sunset. "Wouldn't be much of a punishment if you could just go back right away." Flurry turned back to see her hold up a book with the same design as the one Mom had had on the train. "Part of what Cadence and I were arranging, just like making sure I'd be here to help you when you arrived. No one wants you all alone in a strange world."
Flurry crossed her arms and pouted, trying to ignore the itch in her eyes. "Ganging up on me isn't..." She trailed off as she took in the building behind Miss Sunset. It wasn't a proper crystal building, but even for a blocky, brown thing, it was still pretty impressive. It definitely towered taller than most houses she'd ever seen. "Is that a castle?"
Miss Sunset followed her gaze and smiled. "Not exactly. Used to be a school, but they moved that across the street." She pointed behind Flurry, who looked back behind the statue and saw a really weird building on the other side of a black path. The front would've fit in in Ponyville, with bright walls and heart-shaped windows. But it had parts coming out of it that looked a lot like the not-a-castle. "After the first... incident, we decided it would be easier to have the embassy next to the portal instead of forcing Equestrians to cross the street moments after they came to this world."
Something like a metal train car without a track picked that moment to speed across the black path like Aunt Rainbow running from Aunt Applejack. Flurry looked at it, looked at her weird, skinny body, and imagined one hitting the other. "Oh."
"Yeah. Good thing Prince Rutherford laughed it off. Though we did have to talk him out of returning the favor on the other side of the portal."
"So, you're an..." Flurry's mind raced. She had some idea of what an embassy was—she still wasn't allowed near the Griffonstone embassy in the Empire for something she barely remembered doing, and the scones turned out tastier anyway—but she wasn't sure about the right words. "An embasser?"
"Close. Ambassador. I handle a lot of the same diplomacy stuff your parents do, and that's where I work. Even if it weren't a weekend, the place and I have enough of a reputation that no one would be concerned by me standing next to a kid screaming her head off." Miss Sunset frowned. "That says a lot about how I've led my life."
Flurry focused on the part she most understood. "I'm not a goat."
"Sorry, local terminology."
“Oh.” Flurry was pretty sure she knew what that meant.
“Haven’t been back in Equestria since…" Miss Sunset trailed off. Flurry was still getting used to human faces, but she could guess what a wince like that meant. "Well, I try to make it to Twilight's Hearth's Warming party, but I didn't manage it last year... or the year before that... Let's just say it's been too long.”
Back in Equestria. Flurry gasped as the pieces came together in her mind. “Are you a princess too?”
“Wh-what?” She definitely knew what Miss Sunset's widened eyes and gasp meant. Flurry had been caught out like that many times herself.
“Everypony said I was in time-out, ‘cause naughty princesses get banished," Flurry reasoned. "If you’re from Equestria, but you’re here…” She trailed off like Aunt Twilight, using the same encouraging grin. She had to admit, it was pretty fun to let somepony else finish the thought.
Miss Sunset sighed and shook her head. "Shouldn't be that surprised by Twilight's niece," she muttered. "I'm not exactly a princess. It's complicated."
Flurry knew what that meant. "You'll tell me when I'm older?" she grumbled.
"More like I'll tell you when it won't bore you to sleep. Better?"
After a few moments of consideration, Flurry gave a reluctant nod. "Better."
"Thought so." Miss Sunset looked back at the embassy. "I'd give you the tour but, you know, same story. Most field trips of ki— of foals your age look bored out of their skulls by the time they got to my office."
Flurry grasped and clapped her hands against the sides of her head. "That can't actually happen to me now, can it?" She was so worried, she barely noticed how weird her ears felt.
Miss Sunset put a hand in front of her mouth, so both of them could pretend she didn't laugh at that. "No, humans may look flimsy, but they're pretty well put together. Mostly." She shook her head. "But we're not here just to talk about the locals, Flurry. We do still need to talk about why you're in trouble."
That dumb chill managed to make itself known even in a different body. "But I just did that with everypony!" For a moment, Flurry thought about making a break for it, but she was barely keeping her balance in her current body. Galloping wouldn't end well.
Also, Miss Sunset had much longer legs than she did. Another sign she really was a princess, no matter what she said.
"Yeah, but now we're on the next part of the argument."
"Huh?" Flurry blinked as her attention went back to the weirdest lecture she'd ever been through. "What do you mean?"
Miss Sunset flipped through the book. "Cadence has been keeping me updated, including your counterargument on the way to Ponyville." She found her page, then raised an eyebrow as she read. "I can see why she sent you to me; you're making the exact same mistake I did. You just got caught earlier."
"What mistake?"
"Think about it this way: You don't have a horn, wings, magic, or anyone who recognizes your title." Miss Sunset held up a mini-hoof with each thing Flurry had lost. Each one made the loss sting again, and the itch in her eyes that much worse. A flat stare down at her capped it off. "How important are you now?"
Flurry turned away and wiped at her eyes with a sleeve. She wasn't crying. She was just tired of seeing Miss Sunset's dumb, flat face. And if she felt she could gallop without falling on her own dumb, flat face, she would have. Instead, she just slumped down until she sat and mumbled, "You're mean."
Legs wrapped around Flurry from behind, making her flinch. She wasn't sure if she wanted the hug or not.
"I'm sorry."
That was enough. Flurry didn't need magic to feel the sincerity in Miss Sunset's voice. She twisted around and returned the hug as best she could.
She also might have gotten just a little snot on Miss Sunset's suit jacket. It was only fair.
“Great work, Sunset," the older mare muttered. Flurry might not have heard it if it weren't right next to her ear. "Let’s treat the seven year-old like a Griffonstone ambassador. That’ll go outstandingly. Celestia, I suck with kids…” After a deep breath, she stood back up. “You’re right.”
Flurry blinked back the last of her tears. “Huh?”
“I am mean. Some days it's my job to be mean. And I used to be a lot meaner, back when I thought I was more important than everypony else."
"When you made the same mistake as me?"
"Right. Follow me, Flurry." With Miss Sunset holding her hand, Flurry felt confident enough to totter on half as many legs as any reasonable pony would. While she was finding a rhythm, Miss Sunset continued. "I used to be Prin— your Grauntie Celestia’s personal student, back before your Aunt Twilight. Back when Celestia was the only alicorn most ponies knew about.”
Flurry stared up at her in awe. “You’re that old?”
Miss Sunset shot her a grumpy look, though it didn't last once Flurry giggled. “You’re lucky you’re cute. And the portal does weird things with time. The point is I made a lot of mistakes and made a lot of people miserable, including me." She heaved a sigh. "All because I thought I was better than everyone else. Because I deserved better.”
“Did you?”
That got a shake of the head. “I had it backwards the whole time. It was something Celestia tried to teach me, that Twilight tried to teach me, but I had to figure it out for myself in the end. It’s okay to be strong, be smart, be powerful. What’s wrong is using that to hurt people just because you can. If you have that kind of ability, you should use it to help people, not hurt them. With great power comes…” Miss Sunset trailed off as they stopped in front of a bright red trackless train car.
“Comes?” Flurry prompted.
Eventually, Miss Sunset ground out, “Great responsibility." She sighed as she pulled a handle on the train car, opening a door and helping Flurry into the seat inside. "Now I owe Twilight thirty bucks," she said as she pulled some kind of belt over Flurry. "I told her I could get through this talk without using that line.”
Flurry paused in looking around the inside of the machine. There were all kinds of dials and lights, but Miss Sunset was still more interesting. “What do deer have to do with anything?”
That got a snort as Miss Sunset shut the door and walked around to the other side. “Really need to get back to Equestria soon," she said once she sat and belted herself. Dials jumped as something started rumbling in front of them and Miss Sunset grabbed a steering wheel like an airship's. "Brush up on the current slang if nothing else. The deer aren’t the point, Flurry. Do you understand what I mean?”
Flurry had jerked up and was watching as the embassy slid away from them.
"Flurry?"
She shook her head and shut her eyes. That way she could shut out everything else and focus on the question. “I know being a bully is wrong. But Mom and Dad tell ponies what to do, and Aunt Twilight spends all day telling all of Equestria what to do!" Flurry crossed her arms, opening her eyes so she could put in a proper glare at the ground. "I’m a princess. I have all the great power. When do I get to say what’s what?”
A bit of motion in the corner of her eye got her to look up. “Yeah, I’ve been there," Miss Sunset said after she nodded. "Flurry, you’re seven.”
“Seven and a half.”
“Seven and a half, sure. The point is that you don’t need to worry about that kind of thing yet.”
Flurry thought about that for a moment. “Worry?”
“I called it responsibility for a reason," said Miss Sunset. "When you’re the one telling everypony what to do, that means that if they mess up, it’s your fault.”
That had a simple solution. “Well, I’ll just tell them not to mess up!”
“Ever tried to tell yourself not to mess up?”
Despite Flurry's best efforts, memories of trying to bring Mom and Dad breakfast in bed on their last anniversary came to mind. “I mean, I got startled.”
Miss Sunset grinned. “Sure. But I think you see the problem.”
“Maybe,” Flurry allowed.
Miss Sunset had nothing to say to that, and so Flurry let herself watch wonders pass by. It wasn't like the Crystal Express. Or it was, but like trying to drive it right through the middle of Ponyville. So many strange things, and people, and people doing things. Here and there she'd spot something familiar, like someone walking their dog or reading a book, but most of it was a complete mystery.
"Someone's having fun. Feel free to ask me about anything," said Miss Sunset. "Though it may take a while to explain all of it."
"I..." Flurry shook her head. "I don't know where to start."
"Fair enough. We have time to help you sort it out." Miss Sunset turned onto a very short stretch of black road next to a small house, squat and square like a tiny version of the not-palace. She pressed a button, and the train machine turned off.
Flurry got her own belt off once she saw how Miss Sunset did it. “Where are we?”
“This is my home.”
“There you are!” a familiar voice cried, followed by an almost familiar body coming out of the house.
Flurry took her in while Miss Sunset went around the machine to open her door. The glasses and the general shape weren't right, but the color, the voice, the gentle smile... “Aunt Twilight?”
“Kind of," said the human Aunt Twilight. She turned to Miss Sunset. "Have you explained the parallel worlds yet?”
Miss Sunset shook her head. “Still trying to cover the whole power and responsibility thing.”
“Did you—”
That got an eye roll. “Yes, I said the line. I’ll pay up after Flurry gets back home.”
“Miss Sunset sucks with kids,” added Flurry.
Both mares stared at her in surprise for a moment. Then Not-Aunt Twilight burst into laughter while Miss Sunset blushed and covered her face in all her mini-hooves.
“Yes, well, Miss Sunset is good at many other things." Not-Aunt Twilight gave her a kiss on the cheek. Flurry filed that away; Mom would definitely want to hear about that. "How about we come in and discuss this between the three of us? I made pudding.”
Flurry’s eyes went wide. She was in a strange world, escorted by a strange creature, trapped in a strange body. But Aunt Twilight’s pudding could forgive a lot. “Okay… but I get three bowls.”
“One bowl.”
It was a familiar bit of aunt-niece haggling. Flurry went for her usual counteroffer. “Two and I won’t perch on anything.”
Both mares stared at her until she remembered she didn't have wings right now.
“Okay," she grumbled as they led her inside, "one bowl’s fine.”