//------------------------------// // Have I Been Forgotten? (Adaptation) // Story: Sunset's 3rd Visit // by ThomasZoey3000 //------------------------------// The sounds of hoofsteps could be heard in a room that looked like a library, but really was partly a library, for it was also the spot of a magical mirror that connected the world of Equestria with the world of the humans. The hoofsteps belonged to Starlight Glimmer, and today, she was waiting for her new friend; Sunset Shimmer to come through the mirror for a visit. This was Starlight's way of saying thank you for Sunset's previous invite to the human world. As she waited though, a small smirk came to her face, for she also had a little surprise for the red and yellow maned pony. With a great whoosh and a bright light, a single figure came out of the mirror standing on two legs. Starlight smiled, "welcome back to Equestria Sunset," she smiled. Sunset smiled back, "thanks, it's good to be back." She wobbled a bit before falling forwards onto her front hooves, "this is only my fourth time coming back since my redemption, and yet, I still forget how to act like a pony here." "Well I'm sure it'll come to you in no time, just like I did in your world." As the two ponies began to leave the room, Sunset noticed that Starlight was counting the doors in the corridor. "Uh Starlight, what are you doing?" Sunset asked curiously. Starlight smirked, "well apart from inviting you here for a short visit, I also arranged for a small surprise for you." Sunset was about to open her mouth, but Starlight cut her off, "before you say I didn't need to do that, you're right, I didn't, but I did it anyways." She stopped by one of the doors, "your surprise is in here." With her magic, she opened the door. Sunset stared in confusion, "Brooms?" "Huh?" Starlight looked and smacked her forehead, "opps, wrong room. Must've counted wrong." She closed the door, then silently counted the doors again. The correct door was to the left of them. Using her magic, Starlight turned the door handle and opened the door, revealing a great big surprise to Sunset Shimmer. "Mom? Dad? Sunny Rays?" Indeed it was her family. All of them smiled at seeing her. Sunny Rays most of all, ran up to Sunset and wrapped her little hooves around her. Sunset smiled and in turn, hugged her little sister. "It's so good to see you guys again," she sighed happily. Moon Crest and Sunrise trotted up and embraced their oldest daughter in a hug, "it's good to see you too Sunset," her mother said kindly, "though you should write to us more often." "We do miss hearing, or seeing anything from you sweetie," added her father. "I'm sorry, it's just so much came up and...well it doesn't matter now, we're all here." She looked back to Starlight and mouthed the words thank you to her. Starlight just nodded back. With the hugs complete, the Shimmer family and Starlight began making their way through the corridors towards the front doorway. "Sweet Celestia, anypony can get lost in this place," Moon Crest commented. "How do you do it Miss Glimmer?" "Truth be told, I don't. I get lost in here a lot." Sunny Rays meanwhile was talking with Sunset, "have you been on anymore big epic adventures since the last time I saw you?" "Yeah I have, from Camp Everfree and discovering a source of magic, which by the way lets me read people's minds." Sunny Rays' eyes lit up at hearing this, "plus I've helped with a music video, got to go on a movie set and had Starlight save myself and my friends from a magical mirror." Hearing that part got their parent's attention. "I'll explain that one later." "Indeed, we have much to talk about," said Moon Crest. "But first, we do need to get our things unpacked." Sunset raised an eyebrow, "well since we are invited guests, we'll be staying at the castle for a while, at least till you're ready to go home." "But that doesn't stop you from exploring around Ponyville Sunset," added Sunrise. "Can I go with her?" Sunny Rays asked, before adding; "Pllleeeeeaaaaasssseeeee." She begged showing her adorable filly eyes. Her parents caved, "alright, you can go with Sunset and Starlight. After all, ever since we've been invited, you've been wanting nothing more than to be with her. As long as it's okay with her of course." "Of course it is, I love spending time with my little sister." And she rubbed the top of the filly's head, which made her giggle. With permission granted, Sunny Rays followed Sunset and Starlight into the town of Ponyville. Within Ponyville, there was a lot going on. Banners were going up, streamers were being put in place, fire-pits were being made, and flowers were being removed from the area. "Sorry Junebug," Spike said to one pony, "but dragons are not fans of flowers." He walked over to one of the fire-pits, "where's the fire in this one? It needs to be..." but he was cut off as a huge burst of flames hit him in the face and threw him back, "lit." "Ouch, that looks like it hurts," commented Sunset as the trio arrived. "Not really, I got thick scales, so it doesn't hurt." Princess Twilight saw the trio and flew over towards them, "hey Sunset, it's been quite a while since I last saw you, and Sunny Rays, it's always a pleasure to see you." "You as well Princess," said the sisters in unison, then laughed upon realizing what they've done. "So, what is all this about?" Sunset asked. "Dragon Lord Ember is coming to Ponyville," answered Spike. "She and many of the dragons have been having problems making friends, so she's coming here to learn from us, well mostly me. She said so in her letter." He pulled out a letter from within his scroll and showed it to the two out of town mares. "Though I don't know why she wants me to teach her, Twilight would be better at that. She's the Princess of Friendship for Celestia's sake." "Not even the Princess of Friendship is a master at friendship, I learn something new everyday." Sunset smiled, "don't we all." "I think the reason she's asking for you is because you're the first creature she became friends with," said Starlight. "She trusts you more than any other creature." Spike sighed, "perhaps, I just hope I don't let her down." "Oh you won't," smiled Twilight. She was about to say something else, when something caught her eye. Curious, Starlight and Sunset looked too. They stared for so long that Spike was getting worried, "What? What are you guys looking at? Is there something about to crash down and ruin everything we've been working on? Are we under attack?" "Wrong on both counts," answered Starlight, and she pointed her hoof to behind Spike. Sunny Rays turned her head, gasped and ran behind her big sister. Spike turned his head and gasped to see what everypony had been looking at. For it was in fact... "Thorax?!" Spike exclaimed. "What brings you here?" "You invited me over Silly," smiled King Thorax. "And you know me, when a friend invites me over, I'm there right when I'm suppose to. Hey Twilight. Hey Starlight," he waved to the two ponies. Then he noticed Sunset and Sunny Rays. "I'm sorry, but did I scare her?" "Nope, she's just a little shy around creatures she doesn't know," Sunset answered. "After an hour and a half, she'll come around." She turned her head, "it is still an hour and a half right?" "Uh-huh," Sunny Rays nodded. "Oh okay, well I hope we can have a proper meeting when she gets to know me. I'm Thorax, king of the Changeling hive." Sunset stared in amazement, "Wow, I've always wanted to meet a changeling up close..." She noticed the looks of Twilight and Starlight's stunned faces, "after hearing how nice they are now, that is, not from before." "Yeah, we weren't the greatest bunch around," Thorax sighed. "Well still, it's an honor to meet you. I'm Sunset Shimmer, and this is my baby sister; Sunny Rays Shimmer." "It's a great pleasure to meet you both." Thorax then noticed all the decorations around town, "Wow, this place looks fantastic. Did you do all this for me?" "Um...well...uh..." Spike sighed. He could've said no, and hid Ember from Thorax, but that would only create problems in Ponyville, and with his friendships with the two leaders, so he did what Applejack would do; tell the truth. "Actually Thorax, I had forgotten I had invited you here, and had invited another friend over today." Thorax looked a little surprised, but he didn't lose his smile, "it's okay Spike, we all forget things sometimes." "So you're not mad?" "Me, mad? Nah, not a chance. You told me the truth, and you know what they say..." "Honesty is the best policy," Starlight, Twilight and Sunset said in unison. "Yeah, how did you know I was going to say that?" The three ponies all rolled their eyes and said in unison; "Applejack." "Well as long as you are here," said Twilight, "you can meet Dragon Lord Ember. She's really nice, in a dragon kind of way that is, and who knows, maybe you two could learn from each other." Thorax thought about it, then agreed, "now that sounds like a great idea...say, is that a fire-pit? It's so pretty." Thorax moved towards it. Sunny Rays looked confused, but Starlight answered, "changelings are like bugs, and bugs are attracted to flames." "Ohh, now I get it." Spike walked over towards Thorax, "so Thorax, while we wait for Ember to arrive, why don't you tell me of what's wrong?" Thorax sighed, "it's not going well at my hive. While many of my changelings are embracing the new ways, there's a group of them that prefer to stick to the old ways. Not only that, but I got this nasty feeling in my stomach, not sure if it's from my diet or maybe it's stress, or maybe it's both." Before any pony could respond, they heard wing beats from above, and coming in hard like a superhero would, Dragon Lord Ember landed in front of the group. "Hey Spike, long time no see," she smiled. Her smile disappeared though as she looked in a different direction, "say Twilight, why is there another version of you?" "Where?" Sunny Rays asked in confusion and looked around for Twilight's other version. Sunset took one look and chuckled, "I think she's referring to Starlight," she whispered to Sunny Rays. "They do almost look alike." "Actually, my name is Starlight Glimmer, I'm one of Twilight's pupils. Sunset Shimmer is the first one," she said, pointing to Sunset. Sunset waved and quickly introduced her baby sister, and once again explained about her small fear. Ember smirked, "well at least I can tell Ms Shimmer apart from Twilight, no offence." "None taken," Twilight said in a deadpan voice. It wasn't really the first time somepony, or creature in this case, had said that Starlight looked a bit like her. Spike stepped forward, "Ember, today I was planning on giving you a grand welcome, but I had forgotten that I invited another leader here." "Oh?" Ember asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, and that would be him," Spike said, pointing to Thorax, "this is Thorax, the new king of the Changeling hive." "Changelings?" gasped Ember, "as in, the love stealing creatures?" Thorax sighed, "I see our old reputation spread far and wide." He then looked to Ember, "that was our old way of doing things, but after Chrysalis was dethroned, we have embraced in the ways of friendship, much like the ponies and Spike have. Though I'm having a little trouble with my hive." "Since you're both here, maybe we can chat and see if we can't help each other," suggested Spike. "You know what, that sounds like a great idea." She looked all around to see ponies watching her. Lots and lots of ponies. She gulped, "is there somewhere more private we can talk? I hate to say it, but all these ponies are starting to creep me out." "Oh that's only because they're not used to seeing other dragons, or changelings here," said Spike. "We can go to the castle, we have a nice feast all set up there, and I'm sure there's enough for our new guests too." With that confirmed, the groups of ponies, changeling and dragons made their way to Twilight's castle. In the throne room's dining room, everyone ate, though Twilight wasn't pleased as she saw Ember eating other stuff, namely her food bowl and her walls. She knew dragons loved gems, though she did admit that when Spike invited her, she had forgotten to protect them or infuse them with a re-building spell. She'd have alot of work to do later with fixing up her dining room. "Uh Ember, can you stop eating?" she asked, which got a glare from the Dragon Lord. "I don't mean to be rude, but the gems here aren't for eating, they're meant for serving other food, also to keep the ceiling from coming down." Ember stopped eating, and blushed with embarrassed, "opps sorry, I didn't know." She looked to Spike, "how do you control yourself?" "I have my ways," boasted Spike. "Well you'll definitely have to tell me later, but first..." she looked to Thorax, "what's your problem?" Thorax sighed, "well it has a lot to do with the changelings who don't want to change." "Are they still in original form?" Thorax nodded, "they look like they used to, and they act the same way as they used to. I ask them nicely, but they blow raspberries in my face. I order them to listen, but they don't follow." Ember raised an eyebrow, "show me how you give a firm order." Fearing what response would come out, Sunset covered her little sister's ears. Thorax cleared his throat and gave an order, "please listen to me," but it sounded weak. Ember burst into laughter and fell onto the floor, much like Rainbow Dash would. "You call that giving an order. Sorry Thorax, but the best way to give an order is to be firmer and louder, like this:" Ember cleared her throat and spoke, "LISTEN TO MY COMMANDS OR FACE CONSEQUENCES!" Thorax stared in surprise, while the others looked on in shock. "Too loud Sis?" Sunset asked. "What?!" she cried, "I can't hear anything." "Oh uh, sorry." And she removed her hooves from her sister's ears. "Well at least you don't have any ringing in your ears." "WHAT?!" cried Starlight. "Sorry, sometimes I forget how loud I can be," said Ember. "But you see now Thorax of what I was talking about? By being firm, you can get those changelings to listen to you." "I do see," he nodded. "And it could work." He cleared his throat to shout, to which Sunset covered Sunny Rays' ears again, but his commands were not as loud as everypony expected. Once again, Ember fell onto the floor laughing. "Well I'm sorry if I'm not the firm type!" Thorax snapped. "It's okay Thorax, there's nothing wrong with who you are," encouraged Spike. "After all, not every..." But he was interrupted by Ember getting up and wiping a tear from her eye, "I'm sorry for laughing, but it wasn't because of you, it was because it reminded me of how I was growing up. Shouting wasn't my thing, but overtime, I learned how to be strong and firm, and now no dragon doubts me, even as a leader. Maybe I could teach you." "Could you?" "Of course, though maybe we should practice elsewhere, these walls act more like an echo chamber." "Gee I don't know, I thought maybe we could..." but Spike was interrupted once again, this time by Thorax. "Sounds good, but where should we go?" "I saw a nice little lake outside of town, we can go there. There's no creature around, so we're not going to scare them. Come on," and without another word, Ember flew off. "Hey, wait for me," and Thorax followed after her. Silence filled the room, that was until Starlight broke the silence, "Well, that was...interesting to say the least." "It was also kind of rude," added Spike. Twilight put on an encouraging smile and walked over to Spike, "let them go off and learn from each other, that was the new plan right? Then they'll come back, we'll give them both a proper welcome ceremony, and we'll be able to talk with them." That cheered Spike up, "yeah, you're right Twilight, after all, they wouldn't forget the main reason they came to Ponyville in the first place, right?" Preparations resumed after that, with Starlight, Sunset and Sunny Rays helping. Though it seemed as minutes went by, neither Ember nor Thorax returned to the town square, or to the castle. "Maybe they're still busy?" suggested Sunny Rays. "Probably," nodded Sunset, "that could be it." She smiled at her little sister, "you know, I'm proud of you right now." "You are?" "Yes, you're becoming more open with other creatures. You weren't hiding behind me in the dining room, and even now, you're not hiding. I'd say you're coming out of your shell, sort to speak. This is a big step for you, and it really shows just how far you've come since the first time I met you." Sunny Rays ran up and hugged Sunset, "well it's all because I have the best big sister here, thank you." Sunset hugged her back, "anytime Little Sister." In her head though, she thought to herself; "do I really have an effect on Sunny Ray's confidence?" Minutes soon turned to hours. Spike feared the worst, "maybe they got attacked." "By what?" asked Starlight curiously. "I don't know, but they are leaders of their lands, if anything were to happen to them...their lands could be in big trouble...not to mention we would be too." "What?" "Think on it, we, well mostly I, had invited them over to Ponyville, their nations could..." but what Spike said next was lost in a bubble of silence from Twilight. "You have been spending too much time around me Spike," she said. "And I can't believe I just said that. I'm sure they're fine, but if you're really worried, we could always go look for them." Spike nodded to that idea, so the three mares, one filly and dragon ran off towards the lake. When they arrived at the lake, they found Thorax yelling at Ember. Spike was surprised, "how could this have gotten so bad?" He was about to run down when Sunset stopped him with her magic, "Hold up Spike, I don't think it's a real argument." And indeed she was right. As they made their way towards the duo, they could hear Ember laughing with joy, "now you're getting it, you even had me shaking there." "Thank you," smiled Thorax, "that actually felt good." "I know right?" "Alright, now that I've tried a firm yell, it's your turn. Try talking to me like a little dragon with a hurt knee." Ember took a deep breath, and spoke calmly, "hey now little one, it's alright, you don't need to be sad. We get hurt every now and then, I can help you get back up and be with your friends or family again." Thorax clapped, but stopped when he saw the group. "Hey everyone, what's going on?" "We came out here looking for you," answered Spike, "we thought something bad had happened to you." "Oh, but nothing bad has happened at all. In fact, Ember and I are making great progress, she's shown me some real good tricks on being firmer with the renegade changelings." "While Thorax here has been teaching me how to be nicer to others. Next, he's going to teach me all he knows about making friends. This will surely fix all the problems dragons have with making friends." "But what about the ceremony?" "Ceremony?" Ember smacked her forehead, "oh that's right, I had almost forgotten the main reason I came here in the first place. Don't worry Spike, we'll be there, we just need a few more minutes." Spike sighed, "alright then, a few more minutes it is. Come on everypony, let's get back to Town square and finish up." And that's what they did, though deep down, both Sunset and Starlight felt that those 'few minutes' may take longer than Spike believed. Sadly, they were right. Minutes went by, and soon they turned to hours, and as the hours went by, Celestia's sun went lower and lower until it had set for the entire day. "Alright, this is ridiculous," grumbled Spike, "they said a few minutes, but this is more than a few minutes." "I agree, it's time to find out what's going on," nodded Twilight. Instead of walking or running or flying, Twilight's horn lit up and teleported them all to the lake, but when they arrived, there was no sign of Ember or Thorax. "They left?" Spike asked. "Or maybe they're on their way to Ponyville." So they went back and waited a few more minutes, but neither leader turned up. Spike sighed in defeat, "so much for welcoming both leaders, clearly they were more interested in each other than this celebration." "But they came to see you," said Sunny Rays, "that's not really fair." "Life isn't always fair kid. Twilight, we'll take down the decorations tomorrow, let's go back to the castle." Twilight nodded and without saying a word, lifted the dragon onto her back and carried him back to the castle. As they left, even in the dark, the two mares and one filly saw a small tear drop from Spike's eye. "Sunset, we can't let them hurt Spike like that." "Indeed not Little Sister, something needs to be done." She looked over towards Starlight, "are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Starlight nodded, "I'll find Ember, and you go after Thorax." She was about to teleport, but stopped when she realized, Sunset had never been to the changeling hive before. She told her of where to go, then disappeared with a poof of magic. Sunset was about to use her magic too when she saw her sister look up to her. "Maybe you should go back to the castle too, you never know..." but Sunny Rays shook her head and give Sunset the most adorable face a filly could give. "ARGH! One of these days, your cute look will make me melt. Alright fine, you can come with me, but you stay close, understood?" "Yes Big Sister," Sunny Rays nodded and jumped onto Sunset's back. Sunset chuckled, "You're definitely my little sister." Her horn lit up and before anypony knew it, she and Sunny Rays were gone. As Starlight appeared in the dragon lands, she noticed her cutie mark was glowing. She rolled her eyes, "thanks Cutie Map, but I think I know what the Friendship Problem is." Outside the Changeling Hive, Sunset and Sunny Rays were surprised by two things. One was the scenery around them, and the second was Sunset's own glowing Cutie Mark. "Why is it glowing?" Sunny Rays asked curiously. "I think it's the map in Twilight's castle telling us about a Friendship Problem. She did tell me that's what happens when a pony gets called by the map." "Should we go back to Ponyville Sis?" Sunset shook her head, "nah, I know what the Friendship problem is..." she paused and pointed to the throne room of the Changeling Hive, "...and it's right up there. Come on Sis, and remember, stay close to me." Sunny Rays gulped over seeing damaged armor on the ground, "right behind you Sis!" and she scurried after Sunset. "Where do you think that armor came from?" "Probably from when Chrysalis was defeated, who knows." That seemed to be the best answer for Sunny Rays, as she didn't want to think about another scenario of how it got there. After a bit of walking, Starlight found Ember's throne, and sure enough, she was sitting right there and speaking with some dragons. By the looks of it, she was using Thorax's advice on them. It was good on one hoof, but on the other hoof, she did leave in a rude manner, and Starlight was going to help put things right. "Dragon Lord Ember!" she shouted. Ember turned her head, then smiled, "ahh Twilight Sparkle, how nice to see you again." Starlight smacked her forehead, "for the last time, it's STARLIGHT GLIMMER! I have a curl and a glimmer for a cutie mark, not stars and bangs." Ember backed up nervously, "yikes, I hit a nerve there." With the help of some of the changelings, Sunset and Sunny Rays were led up to Thorax's throne room, where he could be seen talking firmly with the changelings who hadn't changed. "Let me make this very clear, if you don't learn to except the new ways of the hive, then you will be forced out, cause if there's one thing I will not stand for is to see changelings stealing love." "But it's been our way for a long time," said one. "Perhaps, but that was back under the leadership of an evil changeling, and she's not here now. I AM! Now I will give you the night to think things over, and if you want to stay the way you are, then you can leave tomorrow. If you want to stay, meet with me and we'll talk. Do I make myself clear?!" "Yes King Thorax," they all gulped nervously. They walked away, and past Sunset and a shivering Sunny Rays, "he scares me." "Yeah well he doesn't scare me." She walked up towards him with Sunny Rays following right behind her, but still hiding behind her. "King Thorax, we need to talk." "About what?" He asked in a calm voice this time. In both the Dragon lands and in the Changeling Hive, Sunset and Starlight's words were exact, "you both spent so much time teaching each other on how to become better leaders, you've forgotten one important fact..." they paused to give them a chance to think it over. But after about ten seconds of nothing, both mares shouted; "SPIKE!" Both sets of eyes went wide as they realized the mares were right. "We forgot about Spike! What have we done?!" "Last time I invite leaders over to Ponyville," Spike sighed as he lay on the couch in the living room. Twilight walked over towards him, "I'm sorry things didn't turn out the way you wanted it to, but sometimes not everything goes according to plan. The important thing is, you didn't freak out like I did, and do on occasion." "On occasion? Twilight you freak out so often you're predictable." Twilight smirked, "now there's the Spike I know and love." "Yeah, it's good to be smiling again, but still...hey, hold on a second, where are Sunset, Sunny Rays and Starlight? Shouldn't they be here?" Twilight looked down the hallways, but couldn't see them, "oh great, now they've run off too." A small smile came to Twilight's face as she saw a glow down the hallway, "perhaps, but I think it's for a good reason. Come with me Spike." With her wings flapping, Twilight took off to the map room. Sighing, Spike climbed off the couch and followed Twilight. As he came into the throne room, he was surprised to see it wasn't just the Princess of Friendship in there, but Sunset, Sunny Rays, Starlight and the two leaders. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "Solving a Friendship problem," Starlight said, looking firmly at Ember. "Yeah, the one we created," admitted Ember. "Twi...er, Starlight here told me about what I did wrong." "And Sunset told me the same thing," added Thorax. "I'm sorry Spike, neither Ember or I meant to do this on purpose to you, it's just that we were so excited to try out what we taught each other that we forgot about you, even though we said we'd arrive for the ceremony in a few minutes." "We didn't even think about you afterword, until your friends came to tell us of what we did. Can you ever forgive us?" Spike looked at the two leaders, but said nothing. They were both worried he would yell at them and say to get out. Instead though, he smiled, "well you came back and apologized, so yeah, I can forgive you for this. After all, it's pointless to hold a grudge right?" "Indeed it is," Sunset answered for every creature with a smile on her face. "What she said." After that, Thorax and Ember, along with all of Ponyville gathered in town square for a proper welcome celebration. "We all make mistakes, we all hurt others, but it's what we do to make up for them that makes true friendships," Spike was saying to every creature there, "and tonight, I'm proud to introduce you all to Dragon Lord Ember, and Thorax, leader of the Changeling hive. May our friendships last forever." Ember shook Spike's right claw, while Thorax gave him a hoof bump. As they did this, Starlight and Sunset's cutie marks started glowing again. "That's got to be a new record," commented Twilight, "you two do make a good team, maybe you should do this more often." "Only if I'm here, and only if I'm not spending time with my family," smiled Sunset as she ruffled up her sister's mane again. "And I rather wait another six or months before another Friendship mission comes up," added Starlight, "added with my last one, it's tiring work." Twilight just rolled her eyes. As for Spike, he couldn't have been happier, cause after everything that happened, he could for sure say that Thorax and Ember were truly his friends, and they in turn could say Spike was their friend too. They were relieved he forgave them, cause they sure would miss hanging out with the dragon that helped changed their lives for the better.