//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Sunset, Portals, and Time // Story: Daughters of the Purge // by Nebula Star //------------------------------// Chapter 12: Sunset, Portals, and Time *** “It’s not my fault!” Sunset Shimmer exclaimed from where she was held pinned by two of Twilight’s royal guards. “We caught her trying to sneak into the library.” Feather said still holding a blade to her neck. “It’s alright, you can stand down; I’m sure Sunset isn’t really here to cause trouble. Are you Sunset?” Twilight told them and raised a brow, looking at the downed unicorn. “No! Of course not!” Twilight gave Feather a nod and she stepped back while the other two guards released their hold on Sunset, allowing her to stand. Twilight looked her over. She seemed a little worse for ware, even more so than the little scuffle with her guards could account for. “Come on in.” Sunset nodded. “Thank you, Princess.” “Just Twilight,” she admonished letting her into the library, Feather following close behind. “You’ve already met, but Sunset, this is Captain Feather of my royal guard. Feather, this is Sunset Shimmer.” “Heh… pleased to meet you.” Sunset said rubbing the back of her neck embarrassedly. Feather gave a respectful nod. “I am well aware of who you are, Sunset Shimmer, and I’d ask that you don’t try to bypass the guard in the future. We take our jobs very seriously in Twilight’s guard.” “I’ll uh… remember that.” With that, Feather took up position just inside the door while Twilight led Sunset to the window nook where there were still a couple cushions for them to sit and talk. “So what brings you back to Equestria? Last I recall, you were going to stay in the other world.” Twilight asked conversationally once they were both seated. “Uh, I was, and well, things were going good at first. I was getting back on my feet, trying to make amends around the school and just, trying to do better, you know. And I think I did pretty good, by the time graduation came around, I wasn’t super popular, but I think most the school had actually started to like me at least, and almost everyone had forgiven me.” “So, what happened?” Twilight asked, knowing something must have gone wrong. She sighed. “The other me moved to town.” “What?” “The other me. That world’s Sunset Shimmer. I was out of School by then, so it wasn’t an issue right away, but then I ran into her at the mall.” She grimaced at the memory. “It did not go well. There were accusations of Identity theft, and they started investigating me. Then what happened at the Fall Formal got out and pretty soon there were accusations of witchcraft… which are kind of true, technically; I mean, we were using magic.” She shrugged. “They have a very general definition of witchcraft. Anyway, before I knew it, I was on the run. Fortunately, my friends helped me hide out…” “Friends?” Twilight asked, with a bit of a smile. Sunset blushed. “You did ask them to look after me.” Twilight’s smile became a grin and Sunset smiled a bit as well. “Anyway. They helped me hide out, but when things just kept getting worse, we agreed that it would probably be for the best for me to return to Equestria. So, when the portal opened again, they helped me sneak onto the school grounds to go through.” Twilight blinked as one important detail suddenly occurred to her. “Wait a second; the portal wasn’t supposed to open again for thirty moons!” Sunset just stared at her for a moment; “What do you mean? It has been thirty moons.” “No it hasn’t, it’s only been seventeen moons since I came back.” “It was definitely thirty moons over there…” Sunset insisted. “Could the temporal alignment of the portal be off? Twilight frowned thinking. “Maybe, but if it is that’s a new occurrence; I did some research on the portal when I got back and Starswirl’s notes clearly indicated that it was thirty moons on either side between the portal opening.” “It’s really only been seventeen moons over here? What could have thrown the alignment off that much?” “I don’t know. We may need to take some time to study the portal; if something’s causing it to become unstable…” She trailed off thinking. “I hope it’s not growing unstable.” Sunset said sounding worried. “If it is, that would put their world in danger too!” Twilight frowned a moment more, then sighed. “Alright, we’ll have to figure that out later.” She said and Sunset reluctantly nodded; without the portal itself to study, they couldn’t do much more than speculate. “That aside, from the sound of things, coming back was probably the best choice. But why did you sound so panicked when I asked if you were in trouble. You didn’t think I’d blame you for all that, did you?” “No… but… well…” Sunset was rubbing the back of her neck again. Twilight raised a brow. “There something else I should know?” She asked, then her eyes narrowed. “The portal is still in the Crystal Empire’s secure storerooms. How did you get here?” “Ok… so when I came out of the portal, I had no idea where I was. I just knew it was the same castle from the first time. I had no idea what castle it was, or where. But I knew where I came out was probably restricted and I didn’t want to try to explain, so I tried to sneak out instead… I almost made it, but then out of nowhere a pair of guards came around a corner. I was already on edge and it’s been so long since I had magic… and they just startled me so bad I… I lost control.” “What happened?” Twilight asked, worried she’d accidently harmed somepony. She tapped her forehooves together. “I might have accidently, um… turned them into rabbits.” Twilight stared at her for a moment then couldn’t help it. She snorted trying to stifle a giggle, and she wasn’t alone. Over by the door they could hear Captain Feather snickering at the thought of a pair of guards being turned into rabbits by a jittery unicorn. “After that I managed to get out of the castle, and by the way, where the heck did the crystal empire come from!?” “It was banished for a thousand years by King Sombra. It reappeared a few years ago. I didn’t even know about it until it returned and Princess Celestia sent me to save it…” Twilight told her. Sunset blinked. “Okay, we’ll have to get into that later. Anyway, I asked around and managed to find out where you lived and fortunately, I still had a few bits left from when I ran away to the other world; so I bought a train ticket and came down here to Ponyville.” “Alright, well I’m sure there was no harm done, those kinds of transfiguration spells usually wear off on their own and are easy to reverse anyway, so other than a little embarrassment I’m sure they’re fine. I’ll send a letter to Princess Cadence to explain so they don’t worry too much about the security breach.” “Princess Cadence? She’s in the crystal empire?” Sunset asked, a little surprised. “Yes. She’s the ruler there.” “So princess pretty-mane finally got some real responsibility, huh?” Twilight snorted. “Princess Cadence, Sunset. And besides being my fellow princess and a close friend, she’s also my sister-in-law; so try to show some respect.” “Okay, okay… wait, she’s married? Wasn’t she dating that royal guard…?” “Shining Armor, my brother.” Twilight provided. “Shining Armor is your brother!?” “Yes, you know him?” She blushed, once again rubbing the back of her neck. “I uh… might have played a few pranks on him when he was guarding the wing of the castle I stayed in.” Twilight raised a brow. “’Ha ha’, pranks or ‘you probably need to spend a night in the dungeon’ pranks?” “Nothing that bad!” Sunset said quickly, “But… he might still be sore about a few of them.” “Well then, perhaps we’ll have to take a trip up there, so you can apologize in person.” Twilight said half in jest. “I… I guess that’s fair.” Sunset sighed. It wasn’t as if she was new to making apologies. The last couple years had been full of them for her. Twilight regarded her a few moments more, then finally smiled. “I have to say this is much more pleasant than our last meeting.” She blushed. “Yeah… not the best first impression, huh.” “Definitely not.” Twilight agreed but smiled all the same. “You seem to have learned a lot since then, though. I guess it was the right choice leaving you with my friends in that world.” Sunset sighed. “Yeah… I am going to miss them.” “Well, maybe we can do something about that.” Twilight suggested. “I wouldn’t mind getting back in touch with the girls myself.” She looked up hopefully. “You think so.” She smiled and nodded. “Plus, having contacts in that world might help us figure out what’s going on with the portal. I’ll see what I can come up with, but for now, you probably need a place to stay.” “Yeah, about that. Prin… Twilight, can you, uh, not tell Princess Celestia I’m here?” Sunset asked, nervously. Twilight raised a brow. “She’ll find out eventually, you know, you can’t avoid it forever.” “I know, I just… I just need a little more time. To prepare mentally, you know?” “Alright.” Twilight said with a gentle smile. “We’ll wait a little while before telling her, and I’ll be sure and ask Cadence not to mention it either.” “Thanks, Twilight.” Sunset breathed, relief filling her voice. “But when the time comes, you’re going in person.” She grimaced. “Ouch… and here I thought you were too soft…” Twilight just continued to smile. “For now, though, you’ll be welcome to stay in one of the guest rooms of the new Ponyville Castle.” “Ponyville Castle!?” Twilight gave a sigh. “Yeah, Celestia insisted. Said I needed a royal guard, and that meant I needed somewhere for them to stay and anywhere large enough to house a royal guard would also need a staff to run the place… It’s really more of a palace than a castle, and nowhere near the size of Canterlot, but still.” “Oh, is that what that place was on the edge of town? I saw it from the train.” “Yep, probably… it’s the largest structure in Ponyville now. We just started moving my things over.” She looked around the library with another sigh. “I’m going to miss this place.” Sunset looked around and nodded understandingly. “It does look like a pretty cozy little place. I was a little confused when I first heard that you lived in a library, but now that I’m here, it makes sense.” “I suppose I always knew I’d have to eventually move on, that I couldn’t live here forever… but still, it’s hard to let go.” “You live anywhere long enough, it doesn’t matter if it was meant to be temporary or not; it becomes home.” Sunset agreed sadly. “It’s going to be difficult adjusting back to life in Equestria. Especially in a whole new place. I’ve never been to Ponyville before.” Twilight smiled knowingly as she heard a window open upstairs. “Oh, I think you’ll find a familiar face or two…” “Hey, Twi!” Rainbow called out as she flew down from the loft. Sunset looked up in surprise at her voice and her eyes went wide seeing the rainbow maned pegasus back-wing to land next to Twilight and give her a quick kiss. “Rainbow,” Feather growled. “What?” Rainbow asked looking over at her. She just raised an eyebrow. Rainbow stared at her for a moment, before realization hit her. “Oh come on! We’re moving Twi to her new place, what does it matter if I come in the window to save some time!?” “Next time I’m tackling you again.” Rainbow groaned, as Twilight rolled her eyes. “You did say you wouldn’t do that anymore.” She reminded her marefriend. “Alright…” Rainbow sighed. “So who’s this?” she asked, nodding to Sunset. Twilight grinned at Sunset’s reaction. “Rainbow, this is Sunset Shimmer.” “What, Really!?” Her eyes narrowed, looking at Sunset. “You’re not going to cause any trouble, are you?” “Of course, she isn’t.” Twilight said scoldingly, nudging Rainbow with her wing. “Rainbow Dash…” Sunset breathed, still in a bit of shock. “Didn’t you wonder how I was able to connect with the girls over there so easily? How we were able to wield the power of the elements?” Sunset looked at Twilight. “Are they…?” “They were that world’s counterparts to my friends here.” Twilight confirmed. “I knew that there were some counterparts to ponies in Equestria; I mean, my own, obviously, and Principle Celestia; and there were a few others that I remembered seeing around Canterlot, but I hadn’t thought… are they all here in Ponyville!?” Twilight nodded. “This is where I met them.” “Really?” “Yep,” Rainbow answered. “First ran into Twilight just down the street by town hall.” “Ran into is right.” Twilight said rolling her eyes. “Rammed me right into a mud puddle.” “Heh, yeah.” “And then dumped a small cloud’s worth of rain on me.” “Not my best moment.” “And let’s not forget your ‘patented rain-blow dry.’” She blushed, giggling nervously. “Yeah… We had a good laugh about it later though.” Twilight gave her a smile then turned back to Sunset. “Most the rest of the students I saw at Canterlot High have counterparts around Ponyville as well. So, you might just feel more at home here than you expected. And like I said, I’ll work on some way for you to at least keep in touch with your friends in the other world too.” “Oh yeah, Twi told us about the other us’s over there.” Rainbow said grinning. “So did you end up becoming friends with the other me?” Sunset looked at her and nodded. “Yeah, you, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie. Best group of friends I ever had.” “We are pretty awesome.” Rainbow said, buffing a hoof against her chest. “I guess if the other me gave you a chance, I might as well, too.” “Thanks.” Sunset said with a grateful smile. “So anyway, we’re actually in the middle of moving all my things into the new castle.” Twilight told her getting to her hooves. “If you want to help us load another wagon, we can head on over and I can give you a tour. At least of the parts that are completed. There’s still some interior work to be done; Rarity is actually helping to decorate the guest rooms.” “Uh, yeah, about that, Twi; you might want to get back and reign Rarity in a bit. I think she’s going a little overboard with the guest rooms.” Rainbow said, sounding a little worried. Twilight raised a brow. “It can’t be that bad. Isn’t Spike still there?” “Your dog?” Sunset asked. Twilight looked over at her confused, then realized what she was missing. “Oh, Spike is actually a dragon here. He was the one that sounded the alarm when you stole my crown.” “Oh! I hadn’t realized… Why’d the portal turn him into a dog?” “I really have no idea.” Twilight said with a bit of a smirk. “Anyway, he was still at the castle, wasn’t he?” “He’s been helping the fillies get settled in their new room.” Rainbow told her. “Really, he’s not helping Rarity?” Twilight asked more than a little surprised. “I know right!” Sunset looked between them. “Does Spike have a thing for Rarity or something?” Twilight shrugged. “Well he did… He used to take any opportunity he could to help Rarity. But that was before… Hmm.” “Before he got big.” Rainbow finished. “You think he’s given up on Rarity.” “I would say that just yet. But I suppose it makes sense that he’d be a bit more mature about it from now on and not just fawning over her every chance he gets.” “That’s too bad. It was pretty funny to watch sometimes.” Rainbow said then grinned. “Of course it might be more entertaining to see how Rarity handles it now that he’s no longer a baby.” “He’s grown? I thought you said it’s only been seventeen moons?” “Yeah. He’s actually about the size of a large stallion now,” Twilight told her. Sunset’s eyes widened. “That’s quite a growth spurt!” “You should have seen when he went giganto with greed!” Rainbow told her. “He was using the water tower like a bucket to carry all the junk he stole.” “What, really? Then how is he…” “Greed growth is temporary, and can be reversed fortunately, otherwise he couldn’t live in Ponyville anymore.” Twilight told her. “His more recent growth is a bit more natural.” “Okay… so who’s the fillies you mentioned?” Sunset asked, curiously. “Oh, well actually why don’t we head over there; there’s a few things I should fill you in on along the way.” Twilight told her. “Then you can meet them.” “And hopefully we can stop Rarity from making the guest rooms too ridiculously fru-fru.” Rainbow added. “I don’t know… if she’s anything like the Rarity I know, it will be almost impossible to stop her once she gets started.” Sunset said with a wry grin. ~~~ Dawn smiled as she glanced back at Spike. She’d been nervous at first having him around again, but she was really starting to like the new him. He’d always protected them by their mother’s orders, but back then it had simply been his job; he’d never really cared about them. Now it was different; he was different. Instead of simply protecting them because he was ordered to, he was looking out for them like a big brother and seemed to genuinely care about her and her sister. Even Winter had noticed and was warming up to him. Her big sister didn’t seem nervous at all having him with them as they explored the completed sections of the castle. “No plans for this room either?” Winter asked as they looked into another of the empty rooms of the residence wing. “Nope, Twilight wanted a few extra rooms just in case she ended up needing additional rooms later on,” Spike told them looking around himself. The room wasn’t any different that all the other empty rooms they’d come across. The residence wing was two floors with their bedrooms, and a large living room on the second floor. Each of the bedrooms was generously sized and had their own bathroom attached as well as a closet that could be a pony’s bedroom by itself. There were several extra bedroom suites as well that Twilight had said were for family and close friends when they visited the castle. The first floor had a kitchen and dining room, as well as Twilight’s personal library and study. Otherwise most the rest of the first floor was empty rooms that didn’t currently have a purpose. Dawn nodded. “That doth make sense.” “Does.” Winter corrected. “…Does make sense.” Dawn said with a slight roll of her eyes. She knew Winter was just trying to help; but it wasn’t like her big sister didn’t slip up and use their old way of speaking just as often! “Are any of the other wings finished?” Winter asked. “As far as I know, just the main kitchen and about half of the staff quarters are done. They’re still finishing the interior work on the rest. Though the guard barracks should be done in a couple weeks.” “There’s two kitchens?” Dawn asked. They’d already seen the kitchen and dining hall in the residence wing. “There’ll be three actually; the barracks has its own kitchen as well for the guard. The main kitchen is the largest since it will be used to prepare food for any banquets or other events held at the castle.” Spike told them, then smirked, “I’m not sure if Twilight has realized she won’t have an excuse not to host that kind of stuff from now on.” “Do you think she will have to host such things often?” Winter asked. They were already going to have to get used to having a castle staff around, not to mention the rest of the guard. She was a little nervous at the thought of all kinds of other ponies they didn’t know coming to the castle for events. “Not too often.” Spike assured her. “But probably for holidays and there will probably be some kind of ball to celebrate the completion of the castle in a few months; though Twilight may just want to combine that with Hearths Warming.” Dawn looked up at him. Hearths Warming sounded familiar but she couldn’t quite remember why. “Hearths Warming? The founding of Equestria?” Winter asked, and then Dawn remembered; that was what Twilight had called the story about the founding. Spike nodded. “Nopony knows the exact date, so we celebrate the founding on the winter solstice. It’s a lot of fun, and a good way to bring a bit of cheer to the middle of winter. Plus the winter snow reminds ponies of the windigos and why it’s so important to maintain harmony.” Dawn smiled up at him. “You are a lot more talkative than you used to be.” “And a lot more informative.” Winter agreed with a little bit of a smirk. Spike groaned. “Give it a few years, living with Twilight; and see if you don’t start going into lecture mode once in a while.” Winter just gave him a grin then turned heading back out into the hall. “So, is their more of the castle finished that we can explore?” “We could go see the main kitchen, and we might be able to look into the ballroom and banquet hall, but they’re still working on those.” Spike told them. He’d been sure to get up to date on the progress of the castle since they’d found out they were moving in. “I would like to see the ballroom,” Dawn said. “Alright, well that’s just off the main entry hall.” Dawn followed Spike and Winter down the hall out of the residence wing. There was an entry room to the residence wing where the guard would be posted that was the only connection to the rest of the castle. All other entrances were from the grounds and were also guarded. The grounds surrounding the residence wing also weren't going to be open to the public. There’d be plenty of other gardens on the grounds for ponies to enjoy. The residence wing entry room connected to the main entry hall. A grand open space that was nearly as large as the ballroom itself. As the castle was still under construction there were many ponies going about their work in the entry hall, as well as several of Twilight’s royal guard keeping an eye on things. “Lemon Hearts?” Spike said sounding a little surprised and headed toward a yellow unicorn mare that was talking with one of the guards. She looked up at the name and smiled seeing him. “Spike! Is that really you! I’d heard you’d grown but wow!” He laughed softly. “Heh, yeah, quite a difference, huh. So what are you doing here!?” She grinned. “I’m Twilight’s new head of staff here at the castle!” “Really?” “Yeah, I was originally going to just be her event planner, but when I heard they were still looking for somepony for the head of staff position, I thought why not. Twilight’s castle staff isn’t going to be that many more ponies than I was already managing at Canterlot. So I went ahead and applied!” Dawn glanced over at her sister who was watching the new unicorn curiously, but without any of the suspicion she used to always have when meeting new ponies. They didn’t go unnoticed. “Oh, you must be the fillies I heard about! I’m Lemon Hearts!” “Hi! I’m Dawn Melody!” Dawn said happily. “And I am Winter Belle. Didst… did you know Spike?” Winter said and Dawn couldn’t help smirking a little at her sister’s slip. Lemon Hearts nodded. “Yep, I went to school with Twilight and she was actually raising Spike at the time. In fact, I think he was only three years old when we first met.” “Three?” Dawn looked up at Spike questioningly. He just smiled and nodded. “That’s right, Twilight hatched Spike when she got her cutie mark!” Lemon Hearts said smiling. “She loved telling that story! Getting her to talk about Spike was one of the only surefire ways we could distract Twilight from her constant studying.” “You are friends with Twilight?” Winter asked curiously. “Well I was back in school…” She shrugged. “After Twilight moved down here to Ponyville though, we kind of lost touch. She’s definitely changed a lot since I knew her. I couldn’t believe it when I heard she’d become the Princess of Friendship! Back when we were in school together she couldn’t care less about friendship! Studying was all she cared about!” “Really?” Dawn found it hard to imagine Twilight not caring about friendship. “Yep, it’s probably why we lost touch; she just didn’t really care about friends back when we were in school.” “Well, I think you can count on her wanting to renew your friendship now.” Spike assured her. “In fact, I bet she’ll want to get back in touch with the rest of the fillies as soon as she sees you and remembers her old friends.” “You think so?” Lemon Hearts asked sounding a little hopeful. Spike nodded. “Yeah Twilight’s just been so focused on other things the last couple of years. I don’t think she’s even realized that Lyra lives here.” She snorted. “Really? Oh, Twilight…” “Who is Lyra?” Winter asked. “She’s another one of our friends that went to school with Twilight and I.” Lemon Hearts told her. “She actually moved to Ponyville a couple months before Twilight did.” “You’ll probably meet her sometime,” Spike assured them. Lemon Hearts smiled. “Well, I need to check on the progress on the staff quarters to see how many rooms are available so I know what I have to work with…” Just then the main doors opened and Twilight, Rainbow Dash and another unicorn mare that Dawn didn’t know entered, followed by Captain Feather. “There she is!” Twilight spotted them and headed their way. At first she looked confused seeing the unicorn with them but then recognition crossed her face. “Lemon Hearts!? What are you doing here!?” She grinned. “I’m going to be your head of staff here at the castle, if that’s alright with you.” “What!? Of course, it’s alright! I’m just surprised!” Spike laughed. “Princess Celestia did mention it. But I think you were still in shock that the castle was going to be finished early. Hello Sunset,” he said giving the unicorn with Twilight a respectful nod.” “Spike?” Sunset said. “Wow, Twilight said you were a dragon here and that you'd grown recently, but I definitely wasn’t expecting you to be quite so big…” “Wait… Sunset Shimmer!?” Lemon Hearts exclaimed looking at the other unicorn, wide eyed. Dawn looked between them wondering who this Sunset was. Sunset seemed surprised as well. “Yes… do you know me?” Lemon Hearts nodded. “Well I know of you anyway. Everypony who went to Princess Celestia’s School knew who you were!” Twilight blushed. “Well… uh.” Rainbow snickered a bit, knowing that Twilight hadn’t ever heard of Sunset Shimmer until Celestia had told her after her crown was stolen. “Almost everpony,” Lemon Hearts amended giving the princess a smirk as well. “Why would everypony know her.” Dawn asked, wondering who this Sunset was. “Oh, right, introductions!” Twilight exclaimed. “I suppose you already met, but this is Lemon Hearts, she was a classmate of mine at Princess Celestia’s School.” “And friend,” Lemon Hearts added. Twilight grimaced. “I wasn’t a very good friend back then.” She grinned and stepped over to the princess’s side, putting a hoof around her in a brief hug. “Good friend or not, you were still our friend.” Twilight looked up at her with a grateful smile, then looked back at the fillies and gestured to the other new arrival. “And this is Sunset Shimmer. She was my predecessor as Princess Celestia’s personal student,” she said and then turned to the two unicorns. “And this is Winter Belle, Dawn Melody, and of course Rainbow Dash.” “Hello.” Dawn and her sister chorused while Rainbow just gave a wave with her wing. “I’m pleased to meet you.” Sunset said sincerely. “Twilight told me a bit about what happened to you. Sounds like you two had a rough time.” “It was difficult.” Winter agreed. “But things have turned for the better recently.” “What about you, Sunset? Where have you been?” Lemon Hearts asked curiously. “I remember when you suddenly disappeared, there were all kinds of rumors going around the school but nopony knew for sure what happened.” Sunset sighed. “I kind of got in a stupid fight with Princess Celestia and… well I ended up running away.” “You ran away? But… wouldn’t Princess Celestia have sent the guard looking for you?” Twilight frowned and glanced around the entry hall to make sure it was only members of the guard present outside of their group. “Actually, if you’re going to be the head of staff here; you probably should know since it’s likely we’ll end up moving the portal here.” “Portal?” Lemon Hearts repeated surprised. Twilight nodded. “When Sunset ran away, she went through a portal to another world that only opens every thirty moons. That’s why Princess Celestia didn’t search for her. She knew where she was, just didn’t have any way to reach her. I actually went to the other side the last time the portal opened and met Sunset then. She was going to stay there, but some complications recently forced her to come back when the portal opened again.” Dawn looked at Sunset curiously. Other than the one Apple Bloom’s dragon friend used, she hadn’t even known there were portals that went to other worlds; Sunset had really been living in another world? and Twilight had gone to that world as well? Lemon Hearts seemed just as surprised. “You’ve been living in another world?” Sunset glanced at Twilight looking a little unsure, but then nodded. “Uh, yeah.” “Wow… Most ponies thought you’d just been banished or something.” “I might have been if I had stayed… Princess Celestia was pretty mad at me.” Sunset said sadly. Lemon Hearts shivered. “I’d probably run away too if I ever made Princess Celestia mad at me… So you’re going to have this portal moved here?” She asked Twilight. “Yes, we need to do some diagnostics on it. You see it’s supposed to only open every thirty moons, but this time it opened again only seventeen moons after the last time. But Sunset tells me it was a full thirty moons on the other side.” “Oh… that’s not good; sounds like the temporal alignment is off.” Rainbow snorted. “Yeah, of course that’s what it means…” She said feigning understanding. Twilight gave her a smile. “Some of us took advanced teleportation and portal dynamics.” She said and turned back to Lemon Hearts. “But yeah, we need to see if we can figure out what’s wrong and fix it if we can. Having the portal here will definitely make that easier.” “Alright. So we’ll probably have a portal to another world in the castle. I’m assuming you’ll put it in one of the secure storage rooms?” Lemon Hearts asked. “Yes, at least once they’re finished. I may have to keep it in the residence wing at first; it shouldn’t be dangerous, the portal just acts as a kind of magic mirror when it’s closed.” Lemon Hearts nodded. “Still, it’s good to be aware of it. Alright, well I’ll let you all get back to what you were doing; I need to see how many rooms are finished in the staff quarters, so I know what I have to work with; then I’ll see about getting your castle staff up and running.” “Alright. It’s good seeing you again, Lemon Hearts… I really should get in contact with some of the other girls from Celestia’s school.” “Well Lyra should be easy. She lives just down the road from Rarity’s,” Lemon Hearts told her with a grin. Twilight’s eyes widened. “What!?” Spike laughed. “I was actually talking to Lyra just the other day.” “Wait, Lyra went to school with you too?” Rainbow asked sounding surprised. “You know Lyra!?” Twilight demanded. “Well, yeah. I mean we’ve met a few times; she actually introduced me to Lemon Hearts at a party a while back, and another mare named Minuette.” “You’ve met Minuette too!?” “Yeah, Lyra introduced them as her friends from Canterlot.” Twilight just stared at her marefriend a moment more in shock, then looked back at Lemon Hearts. “How long has Lyra lived in Ponyville!?” “Since before you moved here.” Lemon Hearts told her with a grin. “I’ll talk to you later.” With that she trotted off toward the wing that held the staff quarters. Twilight looked at Spike. “When were you going to tell me that one of my old friends lives here in Ponyville.” Spike just laughed and gave Twilight a pat on the shoulder. “Oh Twi…” Rainbow said putting a wing around her and giving her a squeeze. Sunset smirked. “I take it, the Princess of Friendship title was definitely a more recent thing then?” Twilight blushed… “I’ve learned a lot since I moved to Ponyville.” Dawn and Winter both giggled. “Anyway, we’re going to check on what Rarity’s doing, then I was going to take Sunset to pick one of the friends and family guest suites for her to stay in.” Twilight told Spike and the fillies. Looking up at Sunset curiously, Dawn couldn’t help asking. “Thou… you are going to stay here at the castle with us?” Sunset smiled and nodded. “Yeah, for now anyway.” “We might as well join you; we were just going to look in and see how the ballroom is coming, and that’s on the way to the guest suites Rarity was working on.” Spike said and gestured toward the appropriate hall. “This way.” The ballroom was a bit of a disappointment for Dawn as it was still very much a mess. There was scaffolding around most the walls and very little of the decorative work was completed. Even the stained-glass window that dominated one end of the room was still being worked on, and mostly blocked from view. They didn’t spend long there before moving on. “It’s too bad the castle’s not going to be finished in time for Nightmare Night; you could have a party for the whole town in the entry hall and ballroom alone.” Rainbow said as they made their way toward the guest suites. “What is Nightmare Night?” Winter asked. Dawn was curious as well; it sounded like a holiday, but why would ponies want to have a holiday celebrating nightmares? Rainbow looked back at them in surprise, then turned to Twilight. “You haven’t told them about Nightmare Night yet? It’s only a few weeks away!” Twilight shrugged. “It hasn’t come up.” She said continuing down the hall. “Nightmare Night is a very popular holiday. The town has a big party every year; ponies dress up in costumes and there’s all kinds of spooky decorations. It’s a lot of fun,” Twilight told them then added thoughtfully; “I wonder if Luna is going to come be Nightmare Moon again.” “Princess Luna?” “Yes… I told you the story about how she became Nightmare Moon, and how our friends, Rainbow and I saved her with the elements of Harmony?” Winter and Dawn both nodded. “Well Nightmare Night used to be the Blood Moon festival, but after Luna became Nightmare Moon, the name was changed and it became a celebration of her first defeat. She was… a little upset about that the first year after we saved her. She eventually got into the spirit of the holiday and enjoyed it, but now that she looks like Nightmare Moon again… I wonder how she’ll handle it.” “You think she’ll be coming to Ponyville again this year?” Rainbow asked curiously. “Actually I haven’t heard yet,” Twilight shrugged. “I guess I could ask. I know a lot of the local foals would love it if she did.” “You said ponies dress up in costumes. What kinds of costumes?” Dawn asked curiously. “Oh all kinds; some ponies go as monsters or other creatures, some as just other famous ponies. Some ponies even dressed up as me last year,” Twilight said with a bit of a blush. “My first year in Ponyville I actually went dressed up as Starswirl…” The fillies looked at her in surprise. “The leader of the Mortal Coalition?” Winter asked a little surprised. “He lived another thousand years after… after the purge. He’s mostly known now for the many innovations he made with magic in his later years.” Twilight told them. “Most ponies don’t even know about the purge.” Sunset nodded. “I actually studied Starswirl’s life for a bit so I found out about the purge then, and Princess Celestia told me a little about it as well. But it’s not something taught in most schools.” “Most don’t even know about Starswirl.” Spike added with a smirk. “Princess Luna was the only one who recognized her costume the entire night. Twilight was talking about holding history classes she was so annoyed…” “Not even considering his involvement in the Purge, he was still one of the most influential wizards of all time!” Sunset and the fillies grinned a little at Twilight’s frustration. “I suppose he didst try to protect us…” Dawn said recalling the message that he’d left in their prison. “So, for Nightmare Night, would we need to dress up as well?” Winter asked getting back to the holiday. “Everypony does, it’s a lot of fun,” Twilight told them. “We’ll have to talk about costume ideas later. Rarity usually helps us with making the costumes.” “You mean she takes our ideas and makes them completely herself.” Rainbow corrected. “Yeah… so we probably should come up with some ideas soon so she’ll have plenty of time. Speaking of, looks like she’s in here.” Twilight said spotting one of the guest suites that the door was open. Dawn and Winter followed Twilight into the entry room of the suite and looked around. While the guest rooms in the residence wing had been nicely furnished, this suite was much more opulent, with ornately carved wooden furniture, decorative golden light fixtures and elegant drapes hanging over the windows. “See what I mean?” Rainbow said. “This isn’t that bad, Rainbow. It actually looks a lot like the guest suites at Canterlot Castle,” Twilight told her. “That’s good to hear, darling!” Rarity said emerging from one of the suite’s bedrooms. “That’s exactly what I was going for!” “Rainbow was worried you were going overboard,” Twilight said giving her marefriend a smile. “Isn’t this a bit much!” Rainbow protested. “Rainbow, darling, you need to understand that these rooms may at times host visiting dignitaries from other nations. As such, we must put our best hoof forward,” Rarity told her. “It’s looking great, Rarity.” Twilight said still looking around. “Thank you, I thought with you being the princess of friendship, that it would be appropriate to represent all the major cities, so I tried to decorate each suite in a style reminiscent of some of the most luxurious rooms you’d find in each city. This is the Canterlot Suite.” “Oh, that’s a great idea!” “You didn’t even know!?” Rainbow exclaimed. Twilight rolled her eyes. “Rainbow, I gave this project to Rarity because I trust her with this kind of thing.” “Well you definitely got the Canterlot look down. This looks just like some of the nicer suites I remember at the castle.” Sunset said looking around. “Thank you…” Rarity said then looked again her eyes widening slightly. “Sunset Shimmer?” “Uh, yeah.” “Sunset had some trouble when she ran into the other world’s Sunset Shimmer, so she decided it would be best to come back.” Twilight explained and turned to Sunset. “Obviously you already met the other world’s version but allow me to introduce my good friend and one of Equestria’s premier designers: Rarity.” “I’m pleased to meet you.” Sunset said, trying to be polite. “Charmed, darling.” Rairty said smiling. “I do hope you’ve managed alright since that whole incident with Twilight’s crown.” “It’s been alright,” Sunset said with a shrug. “It’s actually been a full thirty moons over there, so I’ve had plenty of time to make amends and I even became friends with that world’s versions of you, Rainbow and I guess the rest of Twilight’s friends.” “Oh you did!? That’s wonderful, darling. In that case, I’m sorry you had to return and leave your friends.” Sunset smiled sadly. “Yeah, Twilight said she’d see if she can figure out a way for us to at least stay in touch; but I’m going to miss them.” “I was going to let Sunset take one of the residence wing guest suites for now.” Twilight told her. Rarity nodded. “Of course, they’re all furnished already, and I kept them more cozy and homey feeling like you asked.” “They are nice, I like them,” Dawn said with a nod. “They are not as fancy as this. But very nice,” Winter agreed. Sunset shrugged. “I’ve been living in a cheap studio apartment; pretty sure anything here will be an upgrade. Besides, even in Canterlot I had my room remodeled with simpler, more functional furnishings.” Twilight smiled. “Well, it looks like you’ve got this well in hoof, so we’ll leave you to it. We’ll just get Sunset settled in one of the guest suites and get back to work moving the rest of my things over.” “Just try not to go too crazy.” Rainbow said with a sigh. “Relax, Darling, I may not be an interior designer by trade, but I know how to match styles.” Rarity told her. “Oh, and I guess we’ll need to talk about Nightmare Night costumes sometime soon.” “Yes, preferably in the next week or so,” she agreed. “It was nice to meet you properly, Sunset, and I’d be glad to help you with a Nightmare Night costume as well if you’d like.” “I might take you up on that, thanks. It was nice meeting you as well.” Sunset said and followed the rest of the group out. Dawn found herself walking next to Sunset and they headed back toward the Residence wing. Looking over at her she grinned as a thought occurred to her. Sunset raised a brow seeing her. “I’m Dawn, and you are Sunset.” Staring at her for a moment, finally Sunset smiled. “Heh, yeah, so I guess I should go before Twilight, and you should follow after her.” “Oh, very funny!” Twilight said with a roll of her eyes while Rainbow snickered, then laughed outright as Sunset took the lead and Dawn moved to right behind the princess.