//------------------------------//
// From a Sunlit Dream 
// Story: Awakening 
// by Mockingbirb 
//------------------------------//

Sunset sat with her back against a block of concrete, which had been gently warmed by sunlight. To her left, Rainbow Dash tossed a ball into the air and caught it, again and again. Walking past, other teenagers chattered and laughed cheerfully.

"Hey," Sunset said. She scooted over closer to Rainbow. "We're friends, right? I mean, REAL friends?"

Above Sunset, a pink haired girl giggled from atop the concrete block. "Of course, silly!" 

"Certainly," replied a pale, violet haired beauty sitting to Sunset's right. "How can you possibly doubt it?"

"Well...I guess I fell asleep for a minute. I had a bad dream, that I'd never even met you girls."

Rainbow's nearest hand poked Sunset's side. "Feel that? We're real, just like you. And if you don't believe that I'm real, I'll just keep poking you." Dash laughed raucously.

"Ok, ok, you're real!" Sunset poked Rainbow back. "Or ARE you? Would the REAL Rainbow Dash just let people poke her like this?"

The pink haired girl leaped down from atop the concrete block. "Tickle fight! Tickle fight! Let's find all your tickle places, Sunny!"

The three girls roughhoused in a friendly and giggly way, but Rarity sat the battle out. "I'm sure you three are having lots of fun, but...I don't want to muss my hair. Or my clothes, or my mascara."

When the three tired, they lay on the grass together, resting their heads upon each other's bellies or legs. "That was fun," Sunset said. "I can't remember the last time I did something like that. I don't know if I ever have."

Pinkie's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Nope."

"But you were good at it!" Rainbow observed.

"I've always been a quick study. Ever since I was a little filly."

"Huh," Rainbow said. "Maybe you're a natural athlete."

"At tickling?" Sunset asked. "Is that even a sport?"

"Sure. I mean, if we WANT it to be. Why not?" 

Rainbow sat up. She reached over to grip Sunset's wrist, which she raised. "The champion!" she intoned dramatically. "Tickle fight boss of CHS!"

Sunset felt a chill. "Please don't say that, Dash."

"Why not? Isn't it good to be a winner, to be the best?"

"No." Sunset sat up too. "Please don't ever say those things about me."

"Why not?" Pinkie squealed. "Don't you like being our VERY BEST friend?"

Sunset winced. "It's not about being the BEST. Friendship is...about friendship. About NOT having to be the best, NOT having to beat other people."

"Ok," Pinkie said softly. "But I'm glad you're our friend anyway. Imagine if you hadn't ever come here."

Rainbow scratched herself. "Hey Sunset...how DID you come here, anyway?"

Sunset rubbed her forehead. "You know I used to be a unicorn in a land of magical ponies, right?"

"Sure," Dash agreed. "But...between that, and being here, what happened?"

Sunset sighed. "I was a student at a school for gifted unicorns."

Dash remarked, "Makes sense. You ARE really smart. But what happened next?"

"I...also had a special tutor. Princess Celestia, who ruled the land of Equestria, and was the most magically powerful pony of all, best at spells and magic of all kinds."

"Oooh!" Pinkie squealed. "Tutored by a MAGICAL PRINCESS! What spells could she do? Could she fly? Could she levitate YOU around in the air? WHEEEE!"

"Hmmm," Rarity said. "I should think a PRINCESS would be above such tomfoolery."

Sunset's expression grew wistful. "She didn't play with me that way at big formal events, of course. But when I was little...she might have floated me around the room saying WHEEE! a few times."

"Sounds fun." Dash said. "I have a couple little cousins who I sometimes hold up high and carry around the room, saying, 'I believe you can fly! I believe you can fly!' And they giggle A LOT."

"Did YOU giggle, Sunset?" Pinkie asked.

"Yes, I laughed. And I enjoyed it. But, you know..." Sunset bit her lip for a moment. "A pony gets older, and she doesn't want to be so silly anymore. And Celestia didn't have so much time for horseplay either. She had a whole country to run. A lot of responsibilities. You might say the sun and moon literally revolved around her."

"Wow," Pinkie giggled. "She had her own gravitational field. Was she REALLY REALLY BIG?"

"Well...she did like to eat a lot of cake." Sunset's mouth screwed up in a half-smile. "But she worked most of those calories off. She worked so hard."

"As you grew older, and she grew busier, did you miss spending time with her?" Rarity asked. "I mean, as much time as you used to? If you did, I can relate all too well. My parents are away from Canterlot quite often, because they both have to travel for work. It's hard on my little sister."

"Not hard on you?" Sunset smiled slightly.

"Maybe a bit hard on me too. Do you know who has to mostly take care of Sweetie Belle while they're away?"

Sunset grinned. "Sounds like you're almost a teenage mother, but without the little bit of fun at the very beginning."

Rarity grimaced. "Don't even JOKE about that. I've had people misunderstand before."

"Sorry, sorry." Sunset held up her hands placatingly. "I didn't mean it for real. I was just thinking it seems like you have a lot of responsibility."

Rarity exhaled. "Yes."

Pinkie squealed, "But we were pestering YOU for answers, Sunny! How did you end up at CHS? As a human?"

"Like I said, I grew up with Princess Celestia as a tutor and a mentor, especially when I was little. I spent a lot of time in the palace, tagging along with her. A lot of ponies got so used to me being there with her, they treated me almost like a junior princess in training myself." Sunset sighed. "Or maybe NOT almost. I mean, as a little filly, I couldn't tell the difference. But I felt that was where I belonged. And...I guess I got pretty conceited. I felt like I was better than most ponies, that I belonged above them."

Rarity said cautiously, "So...you wanted others to see you as a princess?"

"I wanted to BE a princess. I felt it was my right. I guess I became...a little bit obsessed with it." Sunset frowned. "That was the only thing Celestia and I ever seriously argued about."

"How does a pony become a princess, in Equestria?"

"SOME ponies can gain an aristocratic title by inheritance. But I was a foundling, probably an orphan. No one knew who my parents were, and the one thing we knew was, I wasn't some long lost heir. There just weren't any lost foals with the right family background and age who fit my description."

"Mm." Rarity nodded slightly.

"There is one other way, though. ANY pony who becomes an alicorn goes straight to the top. A princess, just like Celestia. If she wants to be, ruler or co-ruler of a realm."

"Ah," Rarity perked up. "And how does a pony become an alicorn?"

"What's an alicorn?" Rainbow wondered.

Sunset explained, "An alicorn is a pony who's a unicorn AND a pegasus. Horn AND wings. And technically she's an earth pony, too, but that's harder to see."

"But you were just a unicorn?" Rarity asked.

"Yes," confirmed Sunset. "Magical horn, but no wings." 

"But you never answered my question, dear. HOW does a pony become an alicorn?"

Sunset replied, "THAT is...quite a mystery. There isn't a standard spell you can learn, no instruction book you can study."

"But," Rarity noted, "you spoke as if becoming an alicorn is a thing some ponies might be able to do. Was your 'Princess Celestia' an alicorn?"

"Yes. And when I asked her how to become one myself, she never gave me so much as a hint. She just told me, 'don't try to become an alicorn. What YOU need is to make some friends. Friends are SO much more important than becoming a princess and living forever.'" Sunset laughed bitterly. "I might be exaggerating the way she said it, but that seemed to be pretty much her point."

"How interesting," Rarity said. "So what happened next?"

"Even as I grew up, Celestia would still tutor me for one hour every week or two, if she found the time. Once, at one of our sessions, she took me into a storeroom and showed me an old mirror. I looked into the mirror, and..." Sunset trailed off into silence.

"And what?" Rarity asked eagerly.

"Yeah, what happened?" said Dash's scratchy voice. "Don't just leave us in suspense!" 

"I don't remember exactly how it happened...WHAT happened, really. But somehow, I ended up here. I appeared in a world of weird alien creatures, you guys I mean, who aren't ponies. And I'M not a pony anymore either. It took me a while to find my footing in this world, but now I feel at home here. Comfortable. And now I think I understand what Princess Celestia told me. It really is wonderful to have good friends. Friends like you."

"Awwww!" Pinkie said. She hugged Sunset from behind. "We love you too, Sunset!"

The school's front door opened, and a dark-skinned woman wearing a pantsuit stepped out. With both hands, she held a pillow or cushion. On the cushion...Sunset couldn't quite make out, at this distance, what lay there.

Sunset said, "I love you too, all of you. Pinkie, Rainbow, Rarity, and my friends who aren't out here now too, like Fluttershy, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle...everyone."

The vice principal approached, still carrying the cushion. "Sunset Shimmer. I believe this is yours."

Sunset looked at the golden tiara atop the cushion. The crown's points bore small diamonds, the top surmounted by a large ruby. "That...isn't mine. It's someone else's."

Luna smiled, but with a hint of impatience. "Sunset, at the Fall Formal, you competed for and won the title of Princess. It's yours. You must accept it."

"No!" 

Luna said sternly, "Sunset Shimmer, you must accept reality. The title is yours. You are a princess."

"No, I'm not! I tried to become a tyrant, I TRIED to force Principal Celestia and the rest of the school to submit to me and make me princess, but the power of friendship defeated me! I lost! I swear I lost!" Sunset sobbed, slumping with her hands over her face. "I swear...that crown's not mine."

Luna supported the cushion with her right hand, while her left placed the tiara atop Sunset's head. 

"No..." Sunset softly whimpered.

"Somepony has to do it," Luna whispered, "or all Equestria will die."

***

Sunset awoke, a pony in a royal sized, luxurious bed, flanked by tall, bright lamps. Her bedroom walls were gleaming marble, her furniture painstakingly gilded.

"No," Sunset whispered.

Standing next to Sunset's bed, a servant said, "Good morning, Princess Sunset. Your breakfast is ready in the next room. While you eat, officials will give you the usual preliminary briefing on Equestria's latest crises."

The servant glanced at a clock. "I see it's almost time for sunrise. Let me do the countdown: ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and...MARK!"

Sunset Shimmer concentrated very hard, marshalling all her magic. Ignoring her sudden, throbbing headache, Sunset started Equestria's day by raising the sun. 



Addendum


Please see the 'Author's Note' for lots of information about inspirations (Aragon, Bad Horse, PatchworkPoltergeist, ZhuangZi, and maybe general destiny  ) and also links to related stories.