Sunset Shimmer opened her teal eyes slowly, the sclera slightly bloodshot. She did not want to be awake. Not now, not today. However, despite having no windows in her Canterlot Castle apartment she knew it was morning. Sure, it was not early morning. Sunset Shimmer did not do early mornings unless it was necessary and there was a cup of coffee awaiting her. Otherwise, bad things happened. Most of the staff knew that. Most.
Sunset shifted about a bit, stretching her body across the large bed easily big enough for two adult ponies… three if you were really close, but in this case it was for two. An alicorn and a unicorn to be precise. However, sadly, she was alone on soft satin sheets. Her hoof extended to the side of the bed which lay mostly undisturbed. She had the whole bed to herself and had for a year, but could not bring herself to take it all. Perhaps if the sheets smelled like her that would be different, but they didn't.
Sunset's eyes fell upon the outstretched hoof again, polished to a shine and the same color as her goldenrod coat. A hoof. Not a hand. In her mind she could still imagine her fingers, five independent digits that she could only explain as ‘like claws or talons’ to other ponies who asked what hands were. She had mastered a spell that allowed her to create telekinetic fingers but they mostly just freaked other ponies out when she showed them. Whatever
Her horn took on a red glow as she summoned a necklace with a ring on it from her night stand to land next to her hoof. Sunset stared at the aerospace titanium ring, still well polished despite a few scuffs and sporting a small ruby tension setting between a cut face to indicate the front. The ring belonged on her finger. When she had fingers it was always on her left ring finger and never came off except if there was a risk for damage from working on a project. But she had not had real fingers in a year.
One year.
Twelve lunar cycles.
One year since she had returned to Equestria and let the Lunar Lock portal mirror between Earth and Equuis close behind her. One year since she had last kissed her wife, Twilight Sparkle, goodbye and left her behind. One year to the day. With many more lunar cycles, a year and a half to go until she could see her wife again.
Sunset missed Twi terribly. Sure, she was not alone, but none of the other, not even the alicorn pony Princess Twilight Sparkle, were the same. Close, sometimes painfully close, but not the same.
Just lying there in bed while staring at the ring brought memory after memory to the forefront of Sunset’s mind. Kisses, holding hands, quiet dinners, intellectual arguments, screaming, passionate love making. Sunset could close her eyes and imagine her wife lying next to her, indigo and magenta hair tossed about in an absolute bed head mess, glasses off and resting on the night stand, maybe a small trail of drool on the pillow as she snored lightly. Gorgeous, amethyst eyes closed and waiting to flutter open and look up at her followed by a cute, thin smile that was only for her. Sweet Celestia, did she miss that smile.
Sunset brought the ring to her lips at the end of her pony muzzle and kissed the cold metal. It held no taste or scent of Twi, but it still helped. Quietly, slightly above a whimper, Sunset cried. She was alone. She did not have to put on a brave face for anyone or pony so she cried in the hopes that she might feel better after the day was over.
A knocking on the living room apartment door jolted Sunset from her funk. It caught her by surprise, but was not entirely unexpected. She had hoped the others would realize what today was and leave her alone. Apparently, that was too much to hope for. Should have put up a damn do not disturb sign.
Sunset wiped her eyes and placed the necklace back where it belonged around her neck. She stumbled her way to the door just as whoever had been sent for her had started to knock again. When Sunset pulled the door open she glared ferociously down at the solar guard pony who had been sent to die at her doorstep. Or, that was probably how the young stallion felt as he flinched and took a sizable step back. At least he rolled with it well and quickly pretended he had not almost soiled himself by snapping to attention and saluting.
“G, Good morning, Lady Sunset Shimmer.” Sunset blinked, took in every detail of the guard and blinked again. It was obvious he had not brought coffee. His sergeant really HAD sent him to die. How rude. “Um, yes. I have been instructed to tell you that P-”
“Who is your platoon sergeant?”
“Uhh, Sergeant Auburn Hill, ma’am. I was sent to t-”
“Why does your sergeant hate you? What did you do to get on his or her bad side?”
“I was not aware my sergeant hated me, ma'am.”
Sunset slow blinked again at the guard private who was more than a whole head shorter than her. Sure, I’m tall as a human, but at least I don’t tower over the majority of the population. Why did I want to be an alicorn so badly again? Oh, right. Power. *Brrrroooowl*
“Private…”
“Tin Star, ma’am,” the guard offered.
“Private Tin Star, I am NOT a morning pony. If your sergeant has even half a brain and can read a report about me they would know that. Your company lieutenant likely knows that, I know for a fact Captain Fury knows that. As well as Princess Twilight and of course, naturally, my mother, the Goddess of the Sun, Celestia knows that. Yet, your sergeant sent you here to summon me for some damn reason, which, no offense to you, is not reason enough and did so without telling you to bring a cup of coffee as a peace offering. So, I want you to go back to your sergeant right now, sit down with them and have a little talk on why they hate you.”
“I, I have not delivered my m-”
Sunset’s wings snapped open and sent a hot burst of flame through the doorway and her horn took on an angry red glow. All the while her eyes, which the private noted started to glow bright teal, never blinked or diverted from staring at him the same way a hydra stares at its next meal. The private flashed a sloppy salute and ran down the hall as fast as his armored covered body could travel. With a final sigh and a hoof down her face, Sunset gently closed the door and relocked it.
However, she only made it halfway back to her bedroom when a knocking came from said door again. Louder, heavier hoof falls. Sunset sighed, groaned, and weighed heavily just shooting a kinetic bolt at the door as a warning shot, but refrained. She had a feeling who it was. Instead, she turned around and walked up to the door and this time when Sunset opened it, she did not have to look down at the pony standing before her. She had to look up.
“Hi, Mom.”
----------
“You do realize you probably scarred that guard for the rest of his career,” said Celestia from Sunset’s living room, sitting patiently while the coffee brewed and her daughter finished freshening up from the shower. “That is also assuming he doesn’t just quit and go find a job working as a night guard at the docks in Vanhoover.”
Sunset stuck her head out of the bathroom, mane still wrapped in a purple towel. “So, it’s MY fault his sergeant is an asshole for making him come wake me up unprepared?”
“No, little sun. It IS however, your fault for fulfilling the rumor and stereotype that you are secretly an angry little dragon wearing an alicorn bodysuit.”
“Seriously? That’s a real rumor?”
“That is actually one of the nicer ones,” Celestia replied, levitating the steaming cup over to the sitting area table. She next set about making a cup of tea for herself. “If you came out of your room or the lab and socialized more often without having to be dragged you might be able to squash at least a few of said rumors."
Celestia chuckled a bit after she finished steeping the tea leaves. "In a twisted sort of way this is all quite nostalgic for me. I had to deal with similar problems such as these when you were a filly.”
Sunset shrugged, stretching out on her love seat next to the coffee table. With great care she lifted the scalding black liquid to her lips and took a sip. Those few drops instantly shooting life into her body. “Pffft. Now, just as then, I don’t care what others say or think of me. Of course, in the past I just bottled up my anger and, unfortunately, directed most of it towards you or Kibitz... sometimes Cadence." Sunset grimaced at that last one, the one who truly did not deserve her young, fiery scorn. "Truthfully, I stopped worrying about my self image not long after Aurora was born and I had real problems to deal with. Besides, you know what today is.”
“Twelve lunar cycles. One year since you arrived. Yes, my beloved daughter, I can count. I understand you had your reasons, but you should by now understand, for better or worse, that the world does not revolve around Sunset Shimmer. One of the luxuries of not wearing a crown, I suppose.
"As far as the rest of Canterlot, I try to quell the nasty rumors they think I do not overhear, but I am afraid that you still get spoken about quite often at all the high society dinners and events that the nobles and prominent merchant guild members attend. Luna and Twilight try to help as well, but the nobility speak more carefully when either of them are in the room.” Celestia tapped her chin and flashed a quirky smile. “I wonder what that says about me and my status when they are less afraid *I* will hear them.”
Sunset snorted, careful to not spill her precious coffee. “You’ve gone down in the world, Mom. Jooooin me in the gutter. The rent is cheap!”
Celestia giggled as she carried her tea over to join her daughter, blowing on the steam with the same grace and poise as if she were having a drink with a visiting dignitary. Somethings were just so ingrained they were automatic. “To tell you the truth, I find it freeing in a way. They are not as afraid of me now when in reality they should be more. Before, I always had to worry about what would be printed in the papers the next day or tabloid trash. So, naturally I always had to bite my tongue or word my displeasure eloquently. Now, I can walk right up to said fool, spin them around forcefully and say, ‘that is my daughter you are talking about’ or something to that degree. Like you said, unconcerned about my self image or what they think.”
“Still nicer than I would have been. Trust me. There was a reason I was banned from PTA meetings and fundraisers when my girls were in high school.”
Celestia set her tea down and gestured for Sunset to continue.
“What? Did I never tell you about the nacho cheese incident?”
“Refresh me. Reading about it in the journal is not the same as when you tell it. Plus, I love listening to you tell stories.”
“Oh, boy,” Sunset rolled her eyes, but smiled at the memories from long ago. Just thinking about Twi, Aurora, or Sunna brought a little smile to Sunset’s face. “Well, I guess I should start with I didn’t start it.”
----------
Isabella Windsong loved her job. She really did… most of the time.
She was good at paperwork. More than that, she enjoyed it! She had an excellent sense of time management skills and she was not intimidated by nobles or dignitaries or ambassadors of any sort be they pony, yak, or dragon. She was a griffon, after all, and proud of it! She had been complimented on her well kept feathers and stylish, modern attire taste. More than that she was Princess Twilight Sparkle's personal assistant. It would be undignified to flinch in the face of others much like a warrior on the battlefield.
That being said, there was one pony… correction, one alicorn, that managed to ruffle her feathers and send a twitch through Isabella’s eye faster than any other creature in the known world. Sunset Shimmer. There were just sooooo many things about the unusual mare than bothered her. She was Celestia’s daughter, sure, okay. That was straight from the goddess's mouth and was ironclad acceptable. However, who was the father? Did Celestia birth her? Was she adopted? Where was the paperwork?!
When not in Canterlot where does she go? Isabella recalled Twilight saying something about a secret magic mirror and that Sunset lived ‘far away,’ but that was hardly a destination one could point to on a map. The unknowns bothered her immensely, but even those details paled in comparison to her behavior. She was crass, sarcastic to every creature regardless of rank or station often intentionally at the worse possible times, and just oooooozzed an intelligent overconfidence that was not humbled nearly enough given her station in Isabella’s opinion.
In the past, Isabella had just rolled her eyes and reminded herself that the mystery alicorn would be gone in a day or two. But for some reason Sunset Shimmer had extended her stay and now she had had to endure an entire year of Sunset. That had been difficult beyond previous measure, but when Celestia was either encouraging Sunset’s rogue attitude or worse, helped participate in it… Isabella had started to suspect the goldenrod alicorn was in fact the fabled draconequus, Discord, in disguise. Chaos. That was what Sunset Shimmer was, chaos in alicorn form.
When Isabella heard the mother and daughter pair coming around the corner laughing raucously she had the faintest hope that maybe they were not coming to the dining room where Twilight was currently eating her lunch. It was a fool’s hope, she concluded as the voices grew louder.
Isabella sighed and squeezed her eyes shut while she massaged the top of her beak hoping the throbbing in her head would not worsen. Of course, she thought, they just HAD to come to lunch today when I needed to review the quarterly budget reports with Her Majesty. WHY couldn’t they have gone on a picnic or something?
Celestia smiled and waved at Isabella who thought about slamming the door in their faces and locking it, but knew in reality that it would not actually slow them down and would be rather insulting. Plus, Twilight would see it and scold her. Benefits of keeping the peace versus consequences of her actions. The internal debate was about three times longer than it should have been before Isabella bowed respectfully and gestured to the extra chairs. The wait staff immediately began plating for the new guests.
“What’s up, Twilight? Anything fun happening worth mentioning?”
Twilight smirked and rolled her eyes. “I suppose that would depend on one’s definition of fun, Sunset. However, I can safely say that at the moment, there are no evil invasions, dangerous soul sucking artifacts, and nothing is on fire. Thank you for not starting any.”
Sunset laugh dryly. “Touché.” Celestia’s laugh was more genuine and warmed both her former students’ hearts causing them both to giggle as well. Isabella simply sighed, praying the headache would go away.
“Truthfully, I’m glad things are going smoothly. I need to get as much local work done as possible before the current royal session ends. I will be attending a HUGE summit of all the surrounding nations in the Crystal Empire on Monday. I have been looking forward to this event for months!”
“I assume every country will be sending a representative?” asked Celestia while arranging her plate, which included a large slice of cake. Sunset made a coughing sound and pointed to the wall while simultaneously slicing the cake portion in half. When Celestia noticed what had transpired she narrowed her eyes at Sunset. “Well played.”
“Absolutely!” Twilight replied, politely ignoring the cake war. “And, from what I understand none declined. Cadence and her staff are truly going to have their hooves full for the entire week. Another reason why I want to be there to help her out and of course spend time with my sister-in-law.”
Sunset tried to fight down her grimace, she really did, but knew it still flashed across her face even if only briefly. “It hasn’t been that long. She and Flurry Heart were here for Hearth’s Warming this last winter.”
“True, but only for a few days. It’s really hard for her to get away from the empire at all. But like I said, the summit runs all week. This will be a great opportunity to have some sister time.” Twilight paused, thinking back to the holiday and how Sunset had spent most of the season either keeping herself busy away from the castle or hiding in her room. She was, even after all this time, still not one hundred percent sure what had transpired between the two of them, but judging by Sunset’s face it was something the goldenrod mare was still not proud of.
“You know, you could come with me, if you wanted to. I’m sure Cadence would appreciate the extra hooves.”
Isabella coughed politely. “Your Highness, we already have made numerous, unchangeable plans. With all due respect, I recommend against alterations to what we have now. Another alicorn, even an uncrowned one, could come off as… intimidating to the surrounding leadership.” Twilight set her drink down, preparing to launch into her rebuttal when Sunset met Twilight’s eyes and shook her head.
“No, it’s cool. Isabella is right. Me, in a confined space surrounded by politicians all trying to shamooze you or I… then throw the Princess of Love in there and well… yeah, disaster scenario. And that would be before Flurry Heart tries to show off some of her latest moves I'm sure.”
Twilight’s eyes dimmed a bit, while she stared at a spot on the table cloth. “Flurry will not be there actually. She and Cadence had another fight about a moon ago. We… asked Luna to take her on an excursion southwest near the Badlands or Kirin territory. The two are supposed to be coming up with a plan for the week. Either way, it’s another reason I want to be there for Cadence.”
Sunset grimace again and set her food down. “Damn. They sure do fight a lot.”
“Yes.”
The singular statement hung in the air to the point it was becoming uncomfortable. Finally, Celestia rescued them all by clearing her throat. “Well, I’m sure it will work itself out in the end. In the meantime, Sunset, maybe you and I should go on our own small vacation away from Canterlot since everypony else will be busy.”
Sunset was about to counter the statement, citing her work on the crystal project plus a few unfinished art projects she had lying about. But there was something hopeful in her mother’s words. A longing and reminder that none of them were getting any younger and she had promised to spend more time with Celestia when she had first returned.
One year ago… Twelve lunar cycles. Eighteen more cycles to go until…
Sunset closed her eyes and sighed. She then turned to her mother fully and smiled genuine. “You’re right. A getaway break from all this sounds good. Besides, the main reason I came for an extended stay was to spend time with you and we haven’t gone anywhere really that did not also include guards, petitioners, or some secret plan to hook me up for the evening for charity.”
“That was one time! And like you said it was for charity!”
Sunset flashed a cheeky grin. “Relax, I get it.”
Twilight Sparkle smiled warmly at the pair. It warmed her heart greatly to see mother and daughter getting along with just a small pain of longing. Remembering her own mother and the fleeting time they had shared. Time. Relentless, unforgiving, indiscriminate time. After rubbing her eye that must have had a piece of dust in it Twilight nodded and said, “I think that’s an excellent idea.”
“I concur!” Isabella added a bit too enthusiastically. After a moment, the griffon coughed into her claw and recomposed herself.
“Okay, well if that’s decided, where are we going?”
Celestia tapped her chin a moment. “Is there any place in the world you have always longed to see?”
For most that was an obvious question to ask. There were of course all the big touristy places one could list. The “bucket list” places to go and things to experience. However, Sunset Shimmer was already more than a century old and had spent the last many decades traveling abroad on Earth. There was little in the way of “the usual spots” that would interest her even in Equestria. Sure, there were still once in a lifetime opportunities, but nothing that came immediately to mind.
“Well, like I said, I’ve been racking my brain and burning through tons of coffee on this crystal communication project with Twilight. Some nights I think all I dream about are math, geology, and power runes. I think what I really need is just to get away from it all then come back with clear eyes and a fresh, relaxed perspective. How about a week or two off in the middle of nowhere?”
Celestia smirked, magenta eyes shining with pleasure and excitement. “An island beach far away from the usual crowds perhaps?”
“Ohhh, that sounds heavenly. I love squishing my to- er, hooves in a white sandy beach. Clear water, hardly any city lights to really take in the night sky. Maybe a big girl drink or two?” My soulmate at my side to kiss and hold, but… no, don’t ruin the moment. Mom is smiling.
Celestia was beaming in fact. “I think this is an excellent idea! There are a number of more remote islands I have read about that receive less hoof traffic, but are absolutely stunning in their own way. We should go consult the latest navigational travel maps for research and choose one neither of us has visited.”
“Well, that’s easy, I don’t think I’ve visited any of the lesser known ones between the east coast and Zebrica.” Mother and daughter both turned to Twilight who was letting out a soft whimper sound while pouting her bottom lip out. “You okay over there, Twilight?”
“You… research… compare and contrast… lists… without me. I… I need a…”
“Your Highness,” Isabella pipped, “if it would help, we do need to review the budget reports and council correspondence. There are plenty of notes to be had.”
“Sure, thank you, Isa… I guess that will have to do.”
Sunset smirked at her mother, a familiar mischievous glint in her teal eyes that Celestia recognized immediately. She should have said something, maybe just simply teleported the two of them away, but… well, where was the fun in that?
“Hey, Twilight?”
“Hmm?”
“Wanna help us research some islands?”
“NO!” screamed Isabella.
“YES!” screamed Twilight Sparkle.
“ARRRGH!!!!”