//------------------------------//
// A Lot to Catch Up On: Part One 
// Story: SAPR 
// by Scipio Smith 
//------------------------------//


A Lot to Catch Up On, Part One


Sunset stumbled out of the portal and fell, face-first, onto the stone of the courtyard before Canterlot  Combat School. 
“That’s the same as it was last time,” she groaned, as she rose awkwardly to her feet, her arms — the arms that she had back again, hopefully they wouldn’t take so long to get used to this time around — swaying from side to side as she got up. It was night here in Remnant, and Sunset had to blink a few times to get her eyes accustomed to the darkness. Still, she could see the hand that she was holding up in front of her face. “Fingers,” she said. She wiggled her toes inside of her boots, bumping against the hardened footwear that confined them. “Toes.” She threw back her head and ran both hands through her hair – her hair now, and not her mane; she had hair again – until they touched her equine ears. “Four ears. Again.” She held out one arm and then pumped it, making a fist with one hand as she felt around her muscles with her other hand. Hopefully coming back as an alicorn would make some difference… no, no, it hadn’t. “I was kind of hoping that with that new strength, I’d come back toned like Pyrrha,” Sunset muttered. She sighed. “Looks like I’m just like I was before. On the outside, anyway.” 
At least I’m feeling better about myself now.
“Sunset!?” Ciel yelled, making Sunset’s ears prick up with the volume. 
And with the awareness that someone had been standing behind her this whole time. 
Well, it could be worse.
Sunset turned around. It was indeed Ciel Soleil, together with a guy she didn’t know. So, yes, Ciel had heard Sunset confess that she wanted muscles like Pyrrha. 
Could be worse; could have been Rainbow Dash.
“Oh, hey, Ciel,” Sunset said, trying to sound casual. As casual as one can be when one has just stumbled out of a magical portal, in any case. The effect was somewhat ruined by a nervous laugh that escaped her throat. “So,” she said, “who’s the guy?”
Ciel — and the guy — both stared at her with wide eyes. “How?” Ciel managed to say. “Where did—?”
“It’s a long story, which I would prefer to tell only once,” Sunset replied. “So if you could let General Ironwood know that I’m here and that I’d like to make an appointment, that would be very much appreciated.”
“'General Ironwood'?” the guy asked. “But … wait a second, you’re Sunset Shimmer, aren’t you?”
Sunset folded her arms. “I will not be signing autographs at this time, thank you,” she said. She smirked.
The guy’s eyes narrowed. Ciel opened her mouth to say something.
She didn’t get the chance to say it before Sunset saw a flash of light from the portal reflected upon the faces of Ciel and the guy. 
Sunset looked around in time to see Cinder come flying out of the base of the statue, hurled eight feet across the courtyard before hitting the stone with a thump and an impact which was not hard enough to stop her from rolling another few feet, stopping pretty much at the steps that led up into the main school building.
Cinder lay there for a moment, looking up at the stars and the moon above their heads. 
“You know, I think I prefer your moon,” she declared. “Ours is … rather unsettling, when you stop and think about it.”
Sunset folded her arms. “Well, that was a full ten points,” she declared tartly. “Did you jump through?”
Cinder sat up. “Of course I jumped through; who steps calmly through a magical portal?”
“I did,” Sunset pointed out.
“And where was the fun in it?” Cinder asked. She leapt lightly up to her feet in a single fluid motion. “Now—”
“Stop right there!” Ciel cried, her voice cracking like a whip. While Sunset hadn’t been looking, she’d pulled a pistol out of her purse, and she now had it pointed at Cinder. “Get your hands where I can see them!”
“Ciel, wait!” Sunset shouted, stepping between Ciel and Cinder. “I know what this looks like—”
“It looks like Cinder Fall!” Ciel snarled.
“And it is,” Sunset allowed. “But she’s on our side now. She’s with me.”
“You will forgive me if that doesn’t inspire a great deal of confidence,” Ciel muttered. 
“Oh, come on!” Sunset snapped, her ears flattening at the implication. “That is plain out of line and you know it!”
“What is going on here?” the guy asked.
“Thunderlane, call Penny,” Ciel instructed. “Tell her to get down here right away.”
“What’s Penny doing in Canterlot?” Sunset asked. “What are you doing in Canterlot, and can you please put that gun away?”
“Step aside, Sunset,” Ciel commanded her. “Step aside, so that I can take Cinder Fall into custody.”
Sunset inhaled and exhaled through her nostrils. “I can’t let you do that.” She owed Cinder too much to let that happen. “If you will just let me explain—”
Cardin emerged from the portal, staggering a few steps before sinking to his knees, his hands upon the ground. He remained that way for a few seconds, looking down at his hands where they touched the earth in front of him, before he bowed his head and kissed the very ground on which he knelt, the stones of Canterlot courtyard. 
“Yes!” he yelled, rearing up and raising his arms into the air. “Yes! Human again! God, it feels good to have hands!”
Cardin got up, turned around, and saw what was unfolding. He groaned, putting his head in his hands. “Oh, great,” he muttered. “How long have you been back, and you’re already … this? Whatever this is?”
“I’m handling it,” Sunset said defensively.
“You’ve got a gun pointed in your face; how is that handling anything?” Cardin demanded. He walked forwards until he stood at Sunset’s side. “Hi,” he said, “my name is Cardin Winchester; I am a captain in the Valish Corps of Specialists—”
“Vale has a Corps of Specialists?” the guy asked.
“We’re very new,” Cardin admitted. “But I have my ID — good thing our clothes and gear came back, huh — on my scroll which will prove that I have a commission from the Committee of Public Safety—”
“Excuse me?” Ciel said.
“The Council has rebranded itself,” Cardin explained. “The new name tested better in focus groups. Apparently ‘Council’ seems remote and inactive or something. I don’t really understand it; anyway, the point is—” He pulled his scroll out of the breast pocket of his long, green overcoat, snapping it open and scrolling through to his ID. “Here, just like I said.”
Ciel kept her weapon trained on Sunset as she read the ID on Cardin’s scroll. “Captain Winchester,” she murmured. “Unfortunately, I remember that name.”
“Unfortunately?” Cardin asked. “What do you…” he groaned.  “You were one of Team Rosepetal, weren’t you?”
“I had that honour,” Ciel said.
“Look, I know that what I said to Blake was bad, but I’ve changed a lot since then and if you were one of Team Rosepetal then why were you about to shoot at Sunset?”
“Sunset,” Ciel declared, her voice full of asperity, “chose to put herself between me and the target I was aiming at.”
Cardin hesitated. “Ah, right, the Cinder thing. Look, I know that I wasn’t around for any of the—”
Sunset cleared her throat before Cardin could say anything indiscreet in front of the ‘the guy,’ or Thunderlane, which was apparently his name, but Sunset had kind of gotten used to thinking of him as ‘the guy’ by now, and it wasn’t as if they’d been formally introduced. 
“The point is,” Sunset explained. “Vale is desperate, and Cinder wanted to help, so … she’s helping.”
“You couldn’t have told her that in the first place?” Cardin asked. “She isn’t going to just get a pass because she’s with you.”
Ciel’s eyes narrowed, but at the same time her pistol lowered fractionally. “And you trust her?” she asked.
“With my life,” Sunset said.
“And what of our lives?” Ciel demanded. “For that matter, why should I trust you?”
“And if you’re really from Vale, then how did you come out of a statue like that?” Thunderlane cried.
“Because of a closely-guarded secret, Lieutenant, one which was not meant to be casually discovered by just anyone,” Principal Celestia said as she emerged from out of the school. Vice Principal Luna was by her side, trailing behind her ever so slightly. Principal Celestia looked at Sunset, a slight smile playing across her features. “Welcome back, Sunset Shimmer.”
Sunset bowed her head. “Ma’am.”
“It appears it was a good thing we decided to work late tonight,” Vice Principal Luna remarked. “It also appears that you have put us to some trouble.”
“And it appears that you both knew more than you ever let on to me,” Sunset replied.
Principal Celestia chuckled. “Something that we can discuss after some of the more pressing outstanding issues have been dealt with, perhaps,” she suggested. “For now, why don’t you come inside? This is hardly something that should be discussed out in the open air.”
“Indeed,” Vice Principal Luna said. “Who knows who else may randomly happen upon us otherwise? Specialist, please put down your weapon. I assure you that there is no need of it. If there is any danger from anyone here, then I am adequate to the task of dealing with it.”
“Is that so?” Cinder murmured.
If Vice Principal Luna heard it, then she did not deign to respond. 
“Penny should be here for this,” Ciel said.
“Then call her and have her come here,” Vice Principal Luna said. “Then you should all come inside.”
Ciel turned away, putting her gun back into her purse and taking out her scroll. Cardin, Cinder, and Thunderlane — the latter still with an unfortunately suspicious look on his face — began to make their way into the school, but Sunset lingered outside.
“Sunset?” Cinder asked, Daybreak resting upon her shoulder. 
“I’ll catch up,” Sunset murmured. “With Ciel.”
Principal Celestia nodded. “Luna, take the others into the staff common room, please. I’ll wait in the hall for Sunset and Specialist Soleil.”
“Very well,” Vice Principal Luna said. “Come along then, everyone.”
The others went inside. Principal Celestia also entered the building, although unlike the others, Sunset could see her lingering in the hall for when the two of them were done. 
Still, she was giving them a little privacy, at least. 
Sunset thrust her hands into her pockets as Ciel walked away from her, flicking through the contacts on her scroll with her thumb. 
She must have decided to call Penny voice only, because no image appeared on her screen, only Penny’s voice emerging from the device. “Ciel? Why are you calling me? Is everything alright?”
“Penny, I need you to come to Canterlot Combat  School immediately,” Ciel said.
“Why?”
“Just come at once,” Ciel said, her voice sounding a little sharp. She took a deep breath. “My apologies; I did not mean to snap at you. Please, come at once.”
She hung up and put the scroll back in her purse. 
“Perhaps you shouldn’t,” Sunset said, “until my actions show the proof, one way or another.”
Ciel turned around. “Excuse me?” she asked.
“You asked me how you could trust me,” Sunset explained, “and there are answers that I could give to that. I could point out that Professor Ozpin trusted me, and that even Professor Goodwitch trusted me, after a fashion, with a mission of importance. I could tell you that I’m not the same person that I was before. I could beg for your forgiveness. I could tell you that if we don’t work together, Salem will kill us all and that therefore we should put old grudges aside. I could tell you that I could have stayed at home and lived out the rest of my days in the lap of luxury as a princess in a shining palace, but I didn’t; I came back to help Penny and Rainbow and Blake and Jaune and Penny, to help all of Remnant; that’s why I’m here; there’s no reason for me to be here otherwise. 
“So many words that I could say, if I wanted to. But none of them would really convince you, and some of them I really don’t want to say; I’ve had enough of begging for people to forgive me or to trust that I’ve changed. So … don’t trust me, if you don’t want to. Watch me like a hawk. Aim a gun at my back. But while you watch, you’ll see that I’m trying to do the right thing.”
Ciel was silent for a moment. “I believe that you have always tried to do the right thing, by your lights,” she said softly. “That was the problem. And I have judged you by what you did. What else should I have judged you on?”
“What I do next?” Sunset suggested. “Or not. It doesn’t really matter, so long as you don’t actually shoot me. Or are you going to get that gun out of your purse again?”
“No,” Ciel replied. “Although Thunderlane is right, you are far from home, and would be far from home even if your coming here were more conventional.”
“All will be revealed, in time,” Sunset said. “I’d rather only explain this once, but—”
“No, you will explain to me,” Ciel declared. “And I will decide if what you have to say is worth bringing to the attention of the General.”
“You know, I’m kind of regretting that you and I never had any heart to heart time when you were at Beacon,” Sunset opined. “Of all the members of Team Rosepetal, you’re the only one I never gave any cause to like me.” She hesitated a moment, scuffing one foot back and forth across the stone. “So,” she said, “who is the guy?”
“Lieutenant Thunderlane,” Ciel said. “He’s a pilot.”
“And your boyfriend?”
Ciel hesitated for a moment. “Yes.”
“Congratulations,” Sunset said. “So what brings you and Penny to Canterlot?”
“We’re selling bonds to raise money for the military,” Ciel said.
Sunset’s eyebrows rose. “Come again?”
“Penny ‘Dragonslayer’ is a hero,” Ciel said. “We are … leveraging her fame to encourage the good and patriotic people of Atlas to invest their lien in the defence of the kingdom.”
“Isn’t this the richest kingdom in Remnant?” Sunset asked. “Why do you have to go cap in hand to ordinary folks to fund the military? What happened to all the rest of your money?”
“The Battle of Vale happened,” Ciel pointed out.
“Good point,” Sunset acknowledged. “So what’s been happening in Atlas?”
“A great many things,” Ciel said. “But perhaps it would be best for you to hear them only once.”
Sunset didn’t respond to that. She said, “So, how long do you think it will take—”
“SALUTATIONS!”
There was a copper-coloured blur on the edge of Sunset’s vision before something tackled her off her feet and bore her to the ground. 
The crash onto the stone didn’t harm her aura so much as the bone-crushing hug in which she found herself enveloped. 
Nevertheless, Sunset smiled. “Hi, Penny,” she said. “I missed you too.”
Penny’s eyes were wide and her smile was bright as she picked Sunset up and set her back upon her feet. “I can’t believe you’re here! How are you here? How did you get to Solitas? How did you get to Canterlot? Why is this the first I’m hearing about this? Is Ruby with you?”
“On the last one, no,” Sunset said. “Although I do have some big news about Ruby. On the other questions … well, if you’ll come inside with me and Ciel, then everything will be revealed.”
Penny nodded, but then her eyes flicked to the statue and the mirror set within the plinth, and her eyes seemed to grow even wider. “Did you come from Equestria?”
“'Equestria'?” Ciel repeated. “What or where is Equestria?”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Sunset promised. “Come on, Penny. Oh, and by the way, Cinder is with me, so don’t shoot her.”
“Cinder?” Penny repeated, her voice draining of a lot of its enthusiasm. “What’s she doing here?”
“Helping me,” Sunset said evenly. “I wouldn’t be here without her. Also, working for the Kingdom  of Vale, as apparently I should have brought up the first time.”
“That may be true,” Ciel admitted.
Penny was silent for a moment. “Do you trust her?”
“I do,” Sunset said. “Are you going to ask me if I can be trusted?”
Penny smiled. “I trust you, Sunset,” she said. “So, can you tell me what you’re doing here now?”
“In just a second,” Sunset replied, relieved that Penny, at least, was glad to see her. “Come inside; I’ll tell you and Ciel everything.”
Penny nodded eagerly. “Wait, what about Thunderlane?”
“He will be learning all of this as well,” Ciel said.
“Really? Is that allowed?”
“It is rather unavoidable at this stage,” Ciel muttered.
“You don’t sound very happy about it,” Penny pointed out.
“It is … somewhat less than ideal,” Ciel declared.
The three of them went inside, where Principal Celestia was waiting for them in the hall. She guided them through the dark corridors of the otherwise empty school, until they reached the teachers’ common room. It was not particularly large, but as far as rooms went, it was probably the best one that they could have chosen: it was large enough to seat everyone in reasonable comfort, and there was a coffee machine sitting on a little table against the wall. 
When Sunset walked in, Thunderlane was sitting on the other side of the room from Cinder and Cardin, regarding them — Cinder, in particular — with suspicion. Vice Principal Luna was sitting in between them, like a keeper of the peace. 
Ciel took a seat next to Thunderlane. Sunset sat down next to Cinder. Penny hesitated for a few moments, before choosing to sit next to Sunset. 
“I haven’t seen her for a while,” she explained, a tad sheepishly.
“You don’t need to explain yourself to me, Penny,” Ciel replied, sounding in a bit of a huff nevertheless. 
“I hope you’re all settled in comfortably,” Principal Celestia said as she shut the door behind them. “I have no idea how long this will take.” She pulled up a chair and sat down next to her sister. “Sunset, would you like to begin?”
The corners of Sunset’s lips pricked upwards ever so slightly. “I almost think that you might begin, ma’am, so that I can know just how much you know.”
Principal Celestia smiled back at her. “Very well, Sunset. Although I’m afraid that this will only be news to the lieutenant and to Specialist Soleil.” It was upon them that she turned her gaze and full attention. “The plinth upon which the Wondercolt statue sits is not just the support for a statue. It is, as you unfortunately saw tonight, a magical portal to another world.”
“Magic?” Thunderlane repeated. “A magical portal?”
“All of this is strictly classified, of course,” Vice Principal Luna added.
“Magic?” Thunderlane said again. “Ciel, do you believe this?”
“We did just see Sunset and the others emerge as if from out of the stone itself,” Ciel said quietly.
“I know, but … magic?” Thunderlane said.
“Would you prefer it if we said that the plinth has a semblance?” Sunset suggested, with just a touch of acid on her tongue.
Ciel growled wordlessly.
“And you … you knew about this?” Thunderlane demanded of the principal and vice principal. “You knew?”
“The high command is aware,” Vice Principal Luna said. “And so we are made aware, and one of our duties is to prevent people from stumbling through the portal and ending up marooned on the other side.”
Thunderlane opened his mouth as if he were about to say something, but then stopped. “Why are you telling me this?” he asked.
“Lieutenant?” Principal Celestia said.
“If it’s classified, you shouldn’t say anything,” Thunderlane pointed out.
“And leave your questions unaddressed?” Vice Principal Luna pointed out.
“Someone much higher than me decided that this was on a need to know basis,” Thunderlane said, “and I don’t need to know.”
“Just like that?” Sunset asked. “It’s that simple?”
Thunderlane rose to his feet. “I’m not a complicated person,” he said. “I trust the government, I trust the General, I trust that there are smart people in high-up rooms with lots of information making smart decisions. That’s how I sleep at night. I don’t need to second guess those people. I don’t need to know everything that they know. I just need to know that they know enough, and I need to know what they want me to know and what they want me to do so that I can do it to the best of my ability. If the people who are paid to know about this stuff know about it, then … then that’s all I need to know. If the people who are paid to make these decisions think that you and yours are free to walk around then … then I guess that’s fine with me as well.” He turned to Principal Celestia. “I would salute you, ma’am, but you’re not in uniform. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I should be going.”
Principal Celestia nodded. “Thank you, Lieutenant. I hope we can count on your discretion.”
“You can count on me following orders, ma’am,” Thunderlane declared. He didn’t look at Sunset or the others as he approached the common room door. He opened it, stepped halfway through, then turned to look at Ciel. “Ciel?”
Ciel looked away. “I … I have clearance,” she muttered.
Thunderlane frowned. “Then why do you sound embarrassed about it?”
Ciel blinked rapidly. “Because … because it feels as though I’m shutting you out.”
“The structure is shutting me out,” Thunderlane corrected her. “And that’s fine. That’s what it’s there for, to shut out flyboys like me and stop them bugging smart cookies like you.” He winked at her. “But I’ll still see you back at the motel, right?”
Ciel smiled. “Indeed,” she said. “And soon, I hope.”
“Take as long as you need; the future of Atlas might be at stake,” he said. He was still smiling as he closed the door behind him. 
Sunset folded her arms. “Okay, I can see why you like him.”
Ciel did not smile. “He lost both his legs in the Battle of Vale,” she said, glaring at Cinder.
“That was not my doing,” Cinder said.
“You set all of this in motion!” Ciel hissed.
Sunset held up one hand. “Before we forget ourselves, perhaps we should remember—”
“We are as aware of Salem as we are of Equestria, if that is what you were wondering, Sunset Shimmer,” Vice Principal Luna said.
Sunset stared at them both. “Oh. Okay, well I’d rather that Cinder and Ciel didn’t get into an argument, so let’s keep everyone distracted by asking the follow up question: you’re members of Professor Ozpin’s group?”
Principal Celestia nodded. “Like you, and like Team Stark, our contemporaries at Beacon, we were recruited by Professor Ozpin when we were students.”
“And as I was an Atlesian, Professor Ozpin — and General Lafayette, the Headmaster at that time — selected me to become the Winter Maiden when my predecessor fell ill,” Vice Principal Luna said, and for a moment, her blue eyes burned with cold blue flames, a burning wintry corona dancing above her skin.
Cinder smirked. “Now I see why you were so confident that you could handle me. For a moment there, I was insulted.”
The fire died around Vice Principal Luna’s eyes. “Canterlot is the traditional post of the Winter Maiden,” she went on.
“Thanks to its historic connection to the Lady of the North,” Ciel said.
“Indeed, and simply the fact that it is an out of the way sort of place, and Professor Ozpin has always been keener to keep the Maidens safe than to make use of them,” Vice Principal Luna muttered.
“Robbing the world of its light,” Sunset said softly.
“Sunset?” Principal Celestia asked.
Sunset shook her head. “An argument we had,” she said. “The Maidens were created to bring hope to the world, but Professor Ozpin’s strategy took that hope away and locked it up where no one could find it. I understand why, but I still don’t agree with it.”
“In that, Sunset Shimmer, we are one,” Vice Principal Luna remarked.
“And so, the Winter Maiden is also told about this magical portal?” Ciel asked.
“The Principal of Canterlot Combat School is told, by tradition,” Celestia said. “I shared the knowledge with my sister, as she shared the knowledge with me that she is the Winter Maiden. Together, we can share our tasks of keeping the Maiden powers out of the wrong hands, defending Canterlot, and keeping the portal secret.” She chuckled. “And teaching the children, of course.”
“Why must the portal be kept secret?” asked Ciel.
“Everything else is,” Cardin pointed out. “The answer probably has something to do with people being scared.”
“It is as good a reason as any, don’t you think?” Principal Celestia said.
“For my part, I am not sure I would want Atlas to know that there is another world that they could exploit to their hearts’ content,” Sunset admitted.
“Meaning?” Ciel demanded.
“Meaning that this is the kingdom that produced the SDC, and which squeezed Vacuo like a sponge until they’d wrung every last drop out of it and left it dry as desert,” Sunset replied. “I know that there are many good, brave people in Atlas, and I happen to count some of them among my friends; but I also know that there are a great many money-grubbing bigoted xenophobes who would sell their own mothers for a five-lien card, let alone another race. I will not have the faces of my people branded as … as some faunus have been.”
Ciel bit her lip. “Yes, well … I suppose … your people? You are a faunus … aren’t you?”
Sunset glanced at Penny. “You didn’t tell her.”
“I thought you didn’t want me too,” Penny said.
“You told Rainbow Dash,” Sunset pointed out.
“Yes, but you and Rainbow seemed to be getting on so well by then,” Penny said.
Sunset snorted. “Well, thank you for trying to respect my privacy, at least,” she said. “Okay, where to start with this again.” She ran one hand through her hair. “I tell you this because I trust you,” she said. “Even if you don’t trust me. The portal leads to another world, a magical world called Equestria. And it is my home. I came to Remnant through this portal.” She looked at Principal Celestia. “Which you were aware of the entire time.”
“Did you never wonder that you found it so easy to acquire identification and all the documents you needed to survive here?” Principal Celestia asked.
“No, I just thanked my good fortune,” Sunset admitted.
“Once we realised what you were, we kept an eye on you,” Principal Celestia said, “but we also made it possible for you to live.”
“You could have just sent me back,” Sunset pointed out.
“Without knowing why you had left?” Principal Celestia replied. “When you might have faced punishment or persecution on your return? That would have been rather cruel, don’t you think?”
“I think that you were kinder to me than I deserved,” Sunset said. “Especially after what I tried to do to Twilight and her friends.” She looked down at her knees, and then back up at Principal Celestia. “It seems that without you … even had I survived, I would never have made it to Beacon. I owe you … everything.” It seems there’s always a Celestia looking out for me. She stood up, and bowed. “Thank you, ma’am. Without your assistance, I would never have—”
“Found your place?” Principal Celestia suggested.
Sunset looked up at her. “Indeed, ma’am.”
“I hoped you would, as I told you when you were here last,” Principal Celestia said. “Something that I hope for all my students, but especially those who are so clearly lost as you were. Although I am sorry that the path ahead has not been as easy as you imagined, nevertheless, you should be proud: not all students are admitted into Professor Ozpin’s circle of knowledge.”
“I am sorry to harp on this, but it bears repeating: you are an alien?” Ciel demanded. “You are … from another world?”
“Yes,” Sunset said, sitting down once more.
“That explains your magic, at least,” Ciel murmured. She looked at Penny. “And you knew about this.”
“I’ve been there!” Penny cried. “Sunset arranged for me to go through the portal, and I’m so glad that I can finally tell you—”
“'Finally'?” Ciel repeated. “When was this?”
“Before the Vytal Festival,” Penny said. “I was feeling down after I got injured, and Sunset talked to Princess Twilight— how is she, by the way?”
“Doing very well, thank you for asking,” Sunset said. “She told me to say hi on her behalf. I’ll tell her you’re a big hero now; she’ll be very impressed.”
“Princess Twilight?” Ciel said.
“Yes,” Sunset said. “One of the … unusual features of the link between our worlds is that we all have a counterpart in the other world. So, in my world, Twilight Sparkle is a princess, and Celestia is the princess who rules over the whole kingdom, and Rainbow Dash is one of Equestria’s greatest heroes.”
“And … is there another Ciel Soleil?” Ciel asked, sounding uncertain of whether she wanted to know the answer or not.
“I don’t know for certain,” Sunset admitted, “but I don’t see why not.”
“One hardly knows whether to rejoice at the fact that she has not been so overtly more successful than I have that you could not escape her name, or to judge from the examples of Twilight and Rainbow that it is probably the case anyway,” murmured Ciel. 
“It’s not that cut and dried,” Sunset assured her. “The Ruby and Pyrrha of my world are just ordinary members of the Royal Guard, unknown and unremarked upon.”
“To be a member of the guard is to perform a task both necessary and honourable,” Ciel declared. Her brow furrowed. “If it is so, should that not mean that there was already a Sunset Shimmer here in Remnant?”
“Yes, I had the dubious pleasure of her company,” Sunset admitted. “As I will explain shortly.”
“Mmm,” Ciel murmured. Her chest rose and fell with her breathing. “I … I am somewhat…” She looked at Penny, and then looked away. “Never mind. It does not matter. It is as God and the Lady have disposed of. So, you are from another world, but you have lived in ours for these six years past, your records extend back that far, and unless you mean to say that Cinder and Cardin are also—”
“No,” Sunset said. “They’re from Remnant.”
“Then how did you all come to be emerging through a portal from the other world?”
“And what does this have to do with Ruby?” Penny asked.
Sunset wondered where to begin. “Do you two know that Professor Ozpin comes back to life?”
“Professor Ozpin comes back to life?!” Penny cried.
“Okay, that’s a no,” Sunset said. “And a yes. Professor Ozpin is—”
“Cursed by the gods to know no rest until he vanquishes Salem,” Vice Principal Luna said. “As a result, his soul reincarnates into the body of a like-minded fellow soul who serves as his next host.”
“And that is who I have been tasked to find,” Sunset said. “By Professor Goodwitch, and by the ghost of Amber, who fears for him. At first I went to Ruby, to get help in that endeavour, but while I was with her, we were both attacked by a new kind of grimm.” She looked at Principal Celestia. “I don’t suppose that either of you know anything about a grimm that speaks? Or that can use magic?”
“It spoke to you?” Principal Celestia said, aghast.
“It used magic?” Vice Principal Luna repeated.
“Yes,” Sunset said. “On the road, we encountered three such grimm, all very powerful, all with a resilience that I have never encountered in any others of their kind. Silver eyes slowed them down but did not slay them; my magic … my magic could only hurt them when it was excessively powerful. The only reason we’re alive is that they seem to prefer commanding other grimm from a safe distance, like a general might, rather than fighting themselves.”
“That is also most un-grimm-like behaviour,” Vice Principal Luna said. “And news to me.”
“And me,” Principal Celestia added. “I will consult the books that we have in the library, but … if such unique grimm were known then they would be infamous. Huntsmen would have ensured they were documented.”
“If they survived,” Cinder pointed out.
“We survived,” Sunset reminded her.
“We’re uniquely talented,” Cinder declared. “Some of us, at least.”
“Thank you, ma’am, for looking into this for us; I appreciate it,” Sunset said. “These grimm must have been sent by Salem to go after us, because they pursued Ruby and I as — along with Cinder and Cardin and Ruby’s father — we set off across Sanus. Professor Ozpin is in Anima, at the village of Shion — or he was when Amber spoke to me — but we were worried that our purpose would be discovered if we took a boat, and so we set off across Sanus, hoping to find a boat on the farther coast.”
“That area has been abandoned since the Great War,” Ciel said.
“Abandoned by the kingdoms,” Sunset corrected her. “People survive there, tribes and clans and little villages, independent of one another — or they were. When we got there, we found that someone was in the process of uniting them. That someone … turned to be my alternate from this world. She had taken over the town of Freeport as its queen and was in the process of forging a kingdom east of the mountains.” She grinned at Ciel. “And you were worried the other you might be more accomplished.”
“Another kingdom,” Vice Principal Luna mused. “That might be … I am inclined to wish them luck.”
“They will need more than luck,” Sunset said. “What happened in Freeport is … the short version is that my other self is dead, and the leaders of two of the most powerful clans invited Ruby to be their queen, and she accepted.”
Silence fell in the common room like a bomb. 
“Ruby … Ruby’s a queen?” Penny asked.
Sunset nodded. “The Rose Queen of Freeport and Estmorland.”
“That … that’s incredible!” Penny shrieked, clasping her hands together. “I’m so happy for her! What was it like? Did she wear a gown for her coronation? Was it like a fairytale?”
“She wore armour,” Sunset said, “but other than that, I suppose you could say that it was like a fairytale, what with a common country maid of no birth saving the kingdom and being invited to assume the throne of it. In two hundred years, if Beacon is rebuilt, they will probably study it in Fairytale class: the story of the Rose Queen.” 
Or else, two hundred or more years from now, some sparkly-eyed fifteen year old will read The Song of Ruby out of a crumbling old book. 
May fate decree it has a happy ending, that no older team leader or most puissant teammate need try to explain to her it isn’t meant as a guide to life. 
May fate decree that all ends well, that she grow old and grey surrounded by silver-eyed descendants as the shadow of Salem is banished from the world. 
Let me make it so, I beg of you.
“She saved the city?” Penny squeaked. “You didn’t tell me that!”
“There were a lot grimm; Ruby saved the city,” Sunset said flatly. “But now, she could use some help. That’s one of the things that I wanted to talk to General Ironwood about, to see if he could send some assistance to support Freeport and help get Estmorland on its feet. You see, besides working for Cardin, I am also an ambassador extraordinary and envoy plenipotentiary for the Kingdom of Estmorland, and I am empowered, by my queen, to negotiate mining rights for the dust deposits to be found east of the mountains.”
“With the SDC you so recently derided as exploitative,” Ciel said flatly.
“It is exploitative,” Sunset replied. “But who else has the resources to undertake such a task? Who else could Ruby turn to?”
“Ruby could mine the dust herself, like Blake’s parents,” Penny pointed out.
“What?”
“Much has happened here as well,” Ciel murmured. “As to the rest of the conversation you wished to have with the General—”
“The location of Professor Ozpin,” Sunset said. “And the question of what happens now.” She hesitated. “So, do I get to speak to him?”
Ciel was silent, looking at Sunset for a moment. “I … will make the call,” she said, getting up. “If you will excuse me.” 
She walked to the door without a word, opening it quietly and closing it behind her nearly as softly. 
Sunset looked at Penny, “So, I hear that you’re a big hero now, Penny Dragonslayer.”
Penny smiled. “It’s … is it alright if I say it’s kind of fun?”
“Do we seem like the sort of people who demand humility?” Cinder asked.
Sunset laughed. “What Cinder is trying to say is that you have a right to this. You earned your triumph in Vale, and all of the acclaim and glory that accompanies it. Take pride in it, take pleasure in it, revel in the light which shines on you like an eternal sunlight. I fear … at the risk of dampening the mood I fear it will not last forever, so best enjoy it while it lasts.”
“That does dampen the mood a little bit,” Penny admitted. “But it also sounds like good advice, so thank you. And how is everyone in Equestria? How’s Princess Twilight? How’s Princess Celestia?”
“Princess Twilight is very well,” Sunset said.
“As is Sunset’s mother,” Cinder added.
Sunset glanced at her. Cinder shrugged, but a smile played across her features nevertheless. 
Penny blinked. “Sunset’s … mother?”
Sunset laughed nervously. “Princess Celestia and I … things were said that had gone unsaid for too long.”
Penny clasped her hands together over her heart. “That sounds wonderful.”
Sunset opened her mouth, but was prevented from saying anything else by Ciel bursting back into the room. 
“General Ironwood wants to see you immediately,” she said. “Come with me, we fly at once.”