//------------------------------//
// Relationships Are Hard Work 
// Story: How the Sunset Sparkles 
// by Scipio Smith 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 11

Relationships Are Hard Work


"The next station is Canterlot!" the conductor announced as the night train pulled in, the engine puffing as it slowed down. "Please make sure that you have all your belongings with you before exiting the train."

That'll be easy, Sunset thought. Since I don't have any belongings with me

That had probably been a mistake on her part, but she hadn't wanted to go back to her house and pack in case Twilight followed her. Then she'd demand answers, answers Sunset couldn't really give right now, and they might up yelling or fighting or something. That wasn't what Sunset wanted. She wanted to clear her head, not raise her blood pressure. No, she'd done the right thing. Some time away would be good for both of them. It would let Sunset sort her head out, work out just what she was feeling. 

Which was why she was on the train to Canterlot, wearing a dress that would look overly fancy anywhere that wasn't a dance, with no money and no overnight bag. 

Yeah, no doubt about it, this was an awesome plan.

Sunset scowled at her reflection in the train window as a poor substitute for scowling at the voice inside her head. She'd be okay, she hoped. Princess Celestia wouldn't see her on the street, she hoped. 

Sunset sighed, leaning forwards to let her head bump against the window. It was dark outside, though already she could see the lights of Canterlot intruding on the darkness. 

You know, life may have been wretched and miserable and not really worth living when I was a friendless supervillain whose only goal was my Saturday morning cartoon plot to take over the world, but at least it was simple. I never had to worry about all of these conflicting feelings or anything like that. 

She shook her head as she got up, joining the queue for the carriage doors as the train rattled into Canterlot station. The train clattered, bumped and jerked slowly to a complete stop, and only then did the doors open and everypony filed slowly out onto the platform. 

Sunset was one of the last out, stepping off the train and onto the cold, dark station. She made way for the last few ponies getting off the train before taking a look around. She hadn't been to Canterlot in a while, she needed a moment to match up her memories with what she could see in front of her now. 

"Miss Sunset Shimmer?"

Sunset looked around to see a royal guard - one of the day ones, a white unicorn in gilded armour - standing in one corner of the platform, looking at her expectantly. As she walked cautiously over to him, Sunset sort of recognised him from her time as Celestia's student. What was his name, Stand Fast? Or was it Hold Fast, or maybe Stand Firm?

"Is there a problem, officer?" Sunset said when she got close enough.

If the guard thought that she was mocking him he didn't show it. "Princess Celestia would like to see you. Come with me, please."

"She knows that I'm-" Sunset bit off the tail end of that question. Of course Celestia knew that she was here. Sunset swore she didn't even have to use magic to do it, it was like the princess just had a sense or something. 

Did you think the eyes of the white tower were blind? Sunset thought, a line from a book she'd glanced through in the other world coming to her from the recesses of her memory.  

"Okay, let's go," Sunset said. "I was on my way there anyway. Say, have we met before?"

The guard gave a minute frown. "We have. I was one of the guards tasked with removing you from the palace when-"

"When I chose to run for the mirror instead," Sunset finished for him. "Story of my life, there's no better runner than me. I should compete in the Equestria Games." She shook her head. "Like I said, let's go. Lead the way, or whatever."

He did lead, and Sunset found herself glad he did because - whether it was because of the darkness or because it had been a few years - she found that she didn't remember the way half as well as she thought she did. Without her guide, there were times when she would have been a little lost even though you could always see the golden spires, even at night. That didn't make it necessarily easy to get to them. 

But with her guard to lead her there she made it alright, and she was shown to the front door where the unicorn left her and a second guard - this one was a pegasus - showed her inside and through the half-remembered marble hallways. At first, Sunset though that she was being taken to the throne room for a formal audience - a thought that filled her with trepidation - but they took a right turn near an antique vase Sunset remembered as having always found ugly, and she was led instead into a modest parlour in the east wing. The room was small by palace standards, which meant it was still larger than her living room, and lit by banks of candles in sconces on the walls. The floor was white tile, the walls hung with tapestries depicting dragons of all shapes and sizes, the furniture was a simple varnished wood. Princess Celestia sat at a round table, the candlelight glinting off her royal regalia, and on the table were place a pot of tea, two china cups and a small plate of lemon cakes.

Though the Princess had no need to rise for Sunset Shimmer, she did so nonetheless. "Sunset. It's good to see you again."

"I never thought I'd hear you say that again," Sunset muttered. "I, um, it's good to see you too, Princess."

Celestia nodded to the guard. "Thank you. That will be all."

"Your Highness." The guard bowed, then exited the room. 

Celestia smiled. "Please, Sunset, sit down. Have some tea."

"Thank you, Your Highness," Sunset murmured. She sat down at the table, and Princess Celestia poured two cups out of the china teapot.

"Do you still take cream and honey?"

"I've learnt to make do with milk and sugar," Sunset replied. She gave a wry chuckle. "You've no idea how posh you have to be to even drink tea over there; if you don't come from a tiny island then it's weird."

"Would you prefer coffee?" Princess Celestia asked. "Sugar? I can have them sent for."

"No, thanks," Sunset said quickly. "I...it's nice that you remembered how I take it. Better than nice. I didn't expect you would."

"I always hoped that you would come back," Celestia said, adding two tablespoons of cream and one of honey to Sunset's cup before sliding it over to her with her magic. Sunset took a sip; it was hot enough to scald the tongue but satisfyingly sweet. Sugar wasn't quite the same. 

"Sunset," Celestia went on. "If I may ask, what are you doing here? Has something happened in Ponyville? Something between you and Twilight?"

"No," Sunset said, far too quickly and far too snappishly. At Princess Celestia's curious look, Sunset relented, her tone softening. "Well, yes, sort of. It's hard to explain, I just needed to come away for a few days. I want to talk to my sister, I want to get my head straight. I just, I couldn't be around Twilight right now."

"Has she done something?" Celestia asked.

"No," Sunset said. "It's just what she is. She makes me feel...I dunno, I've never felt this way before. When I see her... when I see those jerks flocking around her trying to take her away... how can you let them do that?"

"How am I supposed to stop them?" Celestia asked mildly.

"You're the Princess," Sunset said. "Your word is law!"

"And what law should I decree?" Celestia pressed, not angrily, but curiously. "Shall I forbid anypony from coming within a hundred yards of Twilight Sparkle without her permission? Shall I make it a crime to talk to her? Shall I make it illegal for her to marry? What law could I make that would not curtail Twilight's freedom and punish her for the acts of others?"

Sunset pouted. "You're always so logical, aren't you, Princess?"

"I don't have much choice in the matter," Celestia said. "And, to return to our earlier subject of discussion, you can stay here as long as you like."

"Thank you, Princess," Sunset said quietly. "Have you ever felt the way I do - the feeling that you don't want to share somepony?"

Celestia chuckled. "Are you asking me if I ever felt jealous?"

"Jealous," Sunset murmured. "I thought that jealousy would be more, I dunno, universal or something? Like... wanting a toy somepony has, or not wanting anypony else to have what you have. But with Twilight it's... selective or something. Like, she can hang out with her friends and it doesn't bother me. When I say her with Princess Cadance, it doesn't bother me. But when I see her with one of those guys I just wanna..." Sunset growled. "Do you know what I'm talking about? Have you ever felt that."

Celestia got up, walking away from the table to the double doors that let out onto the balcony. The doors were closed, and Sunset could see Celestia's face reflected in the glass. Sunset sipped her tea, waiting for a response.

"For a thousand years I ruled this land alone," Celestia said, her eyes closing to hide the grief that surely within them, even as her tone began to hint at melancholy, like hearing a song played slowly upon a harp. "Every pony in Equestria feels, in some way, like my child. Everypony who serves me in my guard or in the palace is, in a way, a part of my family. But I have never...jealousy, and what inspires it, are fundamentally self-centred emotions. I have never had time to be selfish. I have never allowed myself to be selfish. I...I have always been able to stop myself."

"Princess?"

Celestia closed her eyes for a moment. "When I first began to tutor Twilight, I found myself astonished by how gifted she was. So intelligent, so talented, so...loveable. Before I realised it I found myself envying her mother, resenting the fact that I had to let her go back to her parents at the end of each day." The Princess shook her head. "Foolish of me. Once I realised what I was doing I reminded myself that I was not her mother and told myself not to be so silly."

"She loves you," Sunset said.

Celestia smiled slightly. "I know. And I have learned to be content with that."

Sunset looked down. A thought occurred. "If you don't me asking, is there anypony else? A new student? Somepony you've taken in since Twilight moved to Ponyville, or since she became a princess?"

"No," Celestia said. "There is nopony else."

"Right," Sunset said. "Why not?"

Celestia turned around so that she was facing Sunset once again. "What do you mean?"

Sunset chuckled. "I suppose that what I'm asking is: was this always the endgame? I know I wasn't the first student you ever taught, but is Twilight the last? Was this whole process just so you come find somepony to bear the Element of Magic, somepony who could become a princess? Was that all you were ever looking for? This isn't about me. Well, yeah, it is, but this isn't about me being a princess. I screwed up, I didn't find my destiny, I demanded it, and I get now why that was wrong and stupid and you were right to toss me out the door. Or out the mirror. But, was that all you wanted from us? Were we all just failed experiments until you found somepony whose personal destiny was compatible with ‘big D’ Destiny?"
"I suppose, what I'm trying to ask is: did you choose us for ourselves, or because you thought we might become Twilight Sparkle?"

"Oh, Sunset." Celestia sounded weary and sad in equal measure. "It is true I thought you might be the mare to unite the Elements of Harmony, but that was purely due to your proximity to the thousand year deadline mentioned in the prophecy. It became clear to me later that Twilight might have the qualities required to ascend, but that did not become my plan for her until after she had defeated Discord. All I wanted, all I have ever wanted from any of my students, was that you learn well, hold friendship in your heart and do your best in whatever path you choose to follow."

Sunset didn't know what to say. Three years wasted in misery, loneliness and futile scheming. My bridges burned, my life destroyed. Three years living amongst aliens, plotting and manipulating them like Princess Palladium amongst the griffons. All because I thought I needed to meet some arbitrary standard that nopony but me thought was ever there at all. Three years trying to win a game that I was never playing. I thought I'd lost the race to Twilight, when the truth is I was never a competitor at all.

It was disheartening, but at the same time it sort of made Sunset feel better. She'd run Twilight a good race, considering that she was foredoomed to failure, and if she'd made mistakes - and Celestia knew - then at least she'd failed at things she wasn't meant to succeed at. She didn't have to be defined by what she could have, should have become but hadn't. She could make whatever she wanted of herself, without having to settle for her second best destiny. 

"Thank you, Princess, I'm glad you said that," Sunset said as she got to her feet. "I, I think I'm going to go to bed now, if that's all right?"

Celestia nodded. "I'll have somepony show you to your room."

"Thanks," Sunset repeated. "Princess Celestia?"

"Yes?"

Sunset hesitated. "Do I love her?"

Celestia smiled. "Only you can answer that question, Sunset Shimmer, just as only she can answer the other."

***

Twilight and Cadance sat on the library balcony, the stars glittering in the night sky above them; Twilight's telescope resting just in front of them.

Twilight had her eye pressed against the telescope lens. "You know, I've found I've been doing some more astronomy since I got back from the other side of the mirror. Because I can't help wondering: is it out there as well? Does that other world I went to exist as another planet in our world, or is it another dimension? Could I see it through my telescope, or does it only exist on the other side of the looking glass?"

"Honestly, I think it would be a little strange if that world you went to existed as a planet in our universe," Cadance replied, after a moment's thought. "I mean, I can accept that there is another version of our world where everypony walks on two legs, and we all have hands like dragons. I can accept that there is a paralell dimension filled with versions of ourselves. But to think that there is another planet, in our night sky, populated by creatures who act just like we do, that is rather bizarre to contemplate."

Twilight took her eye away from the lens. "When you put it like that, I suppose paralell universes do make more sense with regards to the doppelgangers. Although that in itself raises an enormous number of questions about predestination versus free will. The implications of so many creatures turning out so very like their counterparts here are enormous. What if there are more parallel dimensions out there, all filled with alternates of us?"

Cadance chuckled. "And you are a hero in all of them, I have no doubt."

Twilight felt her cheeks starting to burn up. "You don't mean that."

"If they are anything like you at all, then any world would be well blessed to have a Twilight Sparkle watching over it," Cadance said. "Twilight Sparkle: The Eternal Champion."

Twilight snorted. "What, those pulpy novels Shining Armour used to read? Oh, no. Although the premise seems less fanciful now." Twilight paused for a moment. "Hey, Cadance?"

"Yes?"

"In all those other universes, in the world on the other side of the mirror, do you think the other versions of you and the other versions of Shining Armour still got together?"

Cadance hummed softly to herself while she thought. A smile spread slowly across her face. "I think so."

"Really?" Twilight asked.

"Like you said, it would be incredible if people in another world, completely different from our own, turned out just like us without the intervention of some kind of destiny," Cadance said. "Shining Armour is my destiny, and I'm his; I don't need to believe that, I know it. And if that is true here, why shouldn't it be true everywhere? A love reaching across time and space!" She gestured grandly up towards the stars twinkling merrily above them.

Twilight laughed. "It's a pity I couldn't meet the other you to see for myself. I'd like it to be true though, it would mean we were friends."

"Uh huh," Cadance said with a nod. "But, Twilight, don't get too hung up on this stuff. However many Twilights there are, whatever they're like, at the end of the day you are the only you. There may be people who look like you, who even act like you, but ultimately in all these galaxies and stars, however many other worlds there are out there or wherever they are, there's only one of each of us. We're friends, Shining Armour and I are married, should anything else really matter to us?"

Twilight sighed. "I suppose you're right. Like I said to Sunset, I wouldn't want the other me to be in my shadow, so why should I put myself in hers? Huh, Sunset. Do you think she's okay?"

"I think she'll be fine," Cadance said. "You'll see her again, sooner than you think."

"Maybe," Twilight murmured. "But why did she have to just run off like that? Did I do something?"

"If you did, I don't think it's anything you could have not done," Cadance said. "Certainly it isn't your fault. Some ponies are more complicated than others. Some relationship are more complicated than others. You have to treat each one differently and appropriately, and there's no manual for it. Each one is unique. That's what makes them so hard."

Twilight shook her head. "I already miss her. Miss knowing that she's there, anyway. It doesn't feel right, not knowing where she is. Cadance...can I ask you something personal?"

Cadance frowned. "You can ask me anything, Twilight, you know that. You don't need to ask my permission. What is it?"

Twilight looked away, up towards the moon shining above them. "How did you know that Shining Armour was the one for you?"

"That? That's what you had to get permission to ask?" Cadance laughed. "You had me worried there for a moment." She considered for a moment. "We told you the story of how we got together, didn't we? We were in high school and there was that jerk and the senior prom..."

Twilight chuckled. "Yeah, it took forever for Shining to actually ask you out."

"He was very shy," Cadance said, giggling slightly. "That was one of the things I liked about him: he was sweet and shy and kind. I didn't think he was hiding who he was, trying to be somepony else to impress. And I liked what was there, too. It's no good letting somepony see the real you if the real you is a horrible person. But, Shining didn't seem like he was, so I decided to give him a chance. If I didn't like him...there had been a lot of guys who didn't seem so perfect once I got over the first impression. Honestly, at first I wasn't sure it would last. But it did. I just kept on seeing him. And it reached the point where I looked around and realised that I had completely fallen for him."

"But how?" Twilight pressed. "When?"

Cadance sighed. "I can still remember the moment it hit me. We'd been going out for about six months and Shining Armour wanted to do something special. He brought me this dress, this absolutely gorgeous dress and took me to dinner at this griffon restaurant, La Bella Avia. And we had a wonderful time but anway, after dinner, we went to this club, the Blue Oyster Club, very exclusive, I don't know who he talked to that we could get in without queuing. But we went in, and we danced, and then Shining went to the bar to get drinks and I was left on my own for a little while. So then this stallion, who I'd never seen before, comes up to me and asks me if I'd like to dance. And I looked at him, this handsome stallion, and I realised then that I didn't ever want to dance with anypony but your brother for the rest of my life. And that was the moment I knew." Cadance grinned. "I bet you're disappointed, aren't you? It isn't really a very dramatic story: no true love's kiss, no shock like a lightning bolt. Quite unworthy of the Princess of Love. But, that's how it happened. And you have no idea how awkward I felt for the rest of the night, Shining thought I'd gotten sick."

"Awkward?" Twilight asked. "Why?"

"Because that's only half the answer," Cadance explained. "It's all very well for me to realise that he is the one, but did he feel the same way? Should I tell him? What if he doesn't feel the same way? What if I say 'I love you' and he says 'ditto' or 'And I love spending time with you' or some other half-flanked excuse? Shining Armour did not ask me to marry him for another month after that and I spent that month in agony! I kept a whole layer of my freezer filled with ice cream in case he broke my heart."

Twilight laughed. "Really? Come on, you've got to be kidding."

"I am deadly serious," Cadance said, for all that she was laughing too. "There is nothing worse that being ready to give your heart to somepony and not knowing if they're willing to give you theirs."

"Shining always loved you," Twilight said. "From the moment he saw you, I think."

Cadance shook her head. "That's not love, not when you don't know somepony. It's a feeling you should take notice of, but it's where love starts, not where it ends." A sly look crept across her face. "So, Twilight, why the sudden interest?"

Twilight gave her a side-eyed glance for a moment. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You told me there wasn't anypony in your life like that."

"Because there isn't," Twilight said emphatically. "But...that doesn't mean that I can't think about what would happen if there was."

"Oh, no, you do not just get to say something cryptic and then leave it at that," Cadance said. "Details! I just told you all about my break-up ice cream stash, you owe me something!"

Twilight resolutely did not look at Cadance. For a few moments, the only was Spike snoring in the bedroom behind them. 

"It's Sunset," Twilight admitted. "I feel...that dance, and before, I've never felt that...I can feel something. When I think of her, when I didn't want her to go, when we danced. But, after what you said, I don't know if I feel that. I don't think I do. Or maybe I do but I don't realise it. Ugh, why do feelings have to be so complicated?"

"Because if love wasn't hard it wouldn't be worth having," Cadance replied.

"So it is love, what I'm feeling."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Cadance said, back-pedalling a little. "The trouble with love is that it's such a big word, and it means so much, it's easy to get scared off by it. It sounds like you like her. Do you think she's pretty?"

Twilight felt her cheeks turning red. "Yeah, a little."

"So, you like her, but you don't love her and you're not in love yet. Or, that's what it sounds like to me."

Twilight hesitated. "I, I'm glad to hear you say that. Like you said, love is just so...huge. Like is...smaller. I can handle small." She glanced towards her old foalsitter. "So, what should I do now?"

Cadance's face assumed a thoughtful aspect. "Ordinarily, I'd tell you to go for it and ask her out."

"Just like that?" Twilight squeaked.

Cadance smiled. "Faint heart never won hot ex-demonic supervillain. But, it would be quite difficult for you to get away with dating somepony, especially somepony like Sunset, while there are all these suitors camped outside that you won't look at twice. So, I think you're going to have to keep your feelings to yourself until after we've dealt with that particular problem. In that sense, Sunset's absence is a good thing, keeping temptation out of the way until you've got some peace and quiet again."

"Peace and quiet," Twilight muttered. "Who knows when I'll next get any of that?"

"Actually," Cadance said. "I might have an idea that will take care of your eligibility problem."

***

The next morning, Sunset Shimmer walked through the streets of Canterlot. It wasn't as early as she would have liked but, after a bit of thought, she had decided that surprising Eclipse too early might not be such a good move, and she didn't really want to meet the fiance. She did want to meet him eventually, if only to get the measure of him, but reconciling with her little sis was going to tough enough to begin with without some guy hanging around in the background getting in the way. 

Fortunately, Celestia had been sympathetic to her plight and had let Sunset know where Eclipse lived. The Princess did not, however, know what Eclipse did, so if she'd gone out to work then Sunset would be out of luck. 

Well, if that happens I will have to come back early tomorrow, and risk catching the fiance at the same time.

The address Sunset had been given took her Magpie Lane, a narrow and twisty street in the low part of town. Although it lacked the grandeur of Canterlot's public spaces - the high, gleaming towers of the palace, the classical elegance of Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, the shining walls and ever-present marble - or the overstated opulence of those parts of the city were the rich and famous clustered. Nevertheless the street was clean and the houses well looked after for all that they were made of common brick. The ponies that lived here may not have been rich, but they still had their pride, or at the least their self-respect and none of them wanted to live in a pigsty. 

As Sunset trotted down the lane she passed two colts playing kickball in the middle of the road, with two goals marked with piles of red and blue laundry. Sunset grinned, remembering when she and Eclipse had played out in the street like that, and shuffled to the side of the road so as not to get in their way. 

"Woah, watch out!" one of the colts called, as he kicked the ball too hard and sent it flying towards Sunset's head.

Sunset's horn flared with magic as she conjured a crimson shield just in front of her face. The ball bounced harmlessly off, and into the blue goal.

"Goal!"

"No, it's not!"

"Yes it is, the ball went in the goal."

"Only because of magic!"

"It still counts!"

"Does not!"

Sunset smiled and shook her head. The words were different but the tone was completely familiar to her, from when she and her sister would have stupid play-fights instead of stupid real fights over things that Sunset had done. Her face fell a little. Was there any point to coming here? Could she and Eclipse ever get back to that place after everything Sunset had done?

No. But maybe we can get to somewhere new, somewhere better than we are now.

Eclipse's house sat on top of a set of grey stone steps, flanked by iron bannisters. Sunset padded up the steps and stood in front of a polished brass doorknob and a number eleven on it. Sunset raised a hoof, hesitated, then took a deep breath to steady herself.

I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away. Sunset steeled herself for the inevitable anger that almost certain to come at first, then knocked on the door. 

She heard what sounded like a kid crying inside, and for a moment Sunset began to worry that she'd got the wrong house and would have to explain to some complete stranger why she'd just woken up their baby. 

But then she heard Eclipse shout, "Hold on, I'm coming!" And knew that she did have the right house, even if she didn't understand what was going on.

Has Eclipse had a baby? Am I an Aunt? She told me she was getting married but not that she had a kid?

Should I have bought a present?

The crying became quieter, and then the door opened and Eclipse stood there, her welcoming expression fading into shock before Sunset's very eyes.

Sunset stood there for a moment, realising too late that she should have planned what she was going to say in advance. "Hi," she said, waving like an idiot.

Eclipse's mouth tightened. "You."

"Yeah, me," Sunset replied. "What, did you think I was a changeling or something?"

"A changeling would be more welcome," Eclipse spat, pushing the door shut.

Sunset pushed back against the door, stopping it from closing completely. "What? That's it? You're just going to slam the door in my face?"

Eclipse opened the door enough to poke her head out of it. Her blue eyes were cold with fury, and her face started to redden beneath her dark blue complexion. "What do you expect?" she snarled. "I told you that I didn't want to talk to you, that I didn't want to see you, that I didn't want anything to do with you and now you think it's okay to just show up at my house? I don't believe you! Did you think you could just doorstop me like this and I'd appreciate it? Did you think that was acceptable?"

"I thought you hadn't left me much choice," Sunset replied, her voice rising along with her temper. "If I'd written to you, would you have replied?"

"No."

"Well, then," Sunset snapped. "Like I said: not much choice."

"You could have stayed in Ponyville and left me alone like I asked you to." Eclipse was practically shouting by now. "Go away!"

"Not until we talk," Sunset said.

"We have talked, now go," Eclipse said. She tried to slam the door again, and again Sunset got in the way. 

"I mean really talk," Sunset said. "Where you actually listen to me, and I listen to you. Look, I know that I wasn't a very good sister growing up. In fact I was terrible. But I've changed, Eclipse. I'm a better pony now than I was. I just want to prove that to you. Please, give me a chance. For family's sake?"

Eclipse stared at her suspiciously. "I don't know what you want or why you're here, but I am done listening to your excuses and I'm done believing your lies."

Excuses and lies? Is that all she thinks comes out of my mouth? Sunset would have felt it like a kick in the teeth if she hadn't been too busy trying to get inside the house. "Well I am not leaving until we have a proper conversation, so either you let me in or you can listen to me embarass you in front of all your neighbours when I stand out in the middle of the street yelling at you."

Eclipse growled, her expression becoming mulishly stubborn. Sunset growled right back at her, and tried to look every bit as stubborn if not more. 

Eclipe threw open the door. "Get in."

"Thank you," Sunset replied, nodding politely as she trotted into the hallway. Eclipse's house was nice but a little bit bland, with the walls covered in plain whitewash, the carpet an unassuming shade of blue and the open plan layout looking very much what you'd expect from an open plan layout. The furniture, however, was all made of wood and all hoof-made bespoke, at least as far as Sunset could tell. She supposed it was the work of the carpenter fiance, and had to admit it did look as though he had a bit of talent about him. And there were some unique looking ornaments sitting on the bookshelves

As Eclipse slammed the door shut, the next thing Sunset noticed was that she hadn't been wrong about hearing a kid. There wasn't a baby but there was a small pegasus filly, only a few years old and still in diapers, sitting in a playpen with a few toys strewn around her, gurgling indistinctly. 

Sunset wandered into the living room and over vaguely towards the playpen. "So, are you a foalsitter now?"

"No," Eclipse said coldly as she followed Sunset.

"Oh, so that's why you're getting married then," Sunset said cheekily.

She was hoping to get a laugh, at least a smile out of her sister, but Eclipse just rolled her eyes and said, "She's Planed's daughter from his first marriage."

Sunset's eyes widened as she looked back at the kid. "His daughter from his first - how old is this guy?"

"Hey, just because I let you in my house doesn't mean you get to talk about a pony who actually cares about me that way," Eclipse snapped.

Sunset raised one hoof in contrition. "You're right. I'm sorry. I don't have the right to say anything. I was just surprised is all."

Eclipse sighed impatiently. "Well? You wanted to talk, so talk."

"I..." Sunset trailed off. "Can we at least sit down? You're not making this very easy."

"Why should I?" Eclipse demanded. "What do you want, Sunset?"

"I want to be forgiven," Sunset said. "I want us to be friends again. I want the chance to make up for the things I did wrong, I want three wasted years back. I want my little sister back, if she'll have me."

Eclipse shook her head, her expression as sceptical as her tone of voice. "You want to be friends? You never wanted that before, why would you start now?"

"Let's just say I've come to appreciate the magic of friendship," Sunset murmured.

"No, let's not just say that," Eclipse said. "I don't have the time or the patience to pick through your words trying to figure out what you left unsaid, so why don't you just say what you mean plainly and upfront."

"I stole one of the Elements of Harmony and then had their magic turned on me," Sunset said bluntly. "Is that plain enough for you?"

Eclipse's eyes were wide. Her voice trembled as she said, "Get away from Heartwings."

Sunset said, "Heartwings? Oh is that her name?"

"Get away from her," Eclipse insisted.

"Okay, okay," Sunset said, retreating across the room until she was standing against the living room window. "What's the matter?"

"You had the Elements of Harmony used on you?"

"Yeah, sort of."

"Monsters get the Elements of Harmony," Eclipse said. "Not ponies, Sunset, monsters! What are you?"

"I'm your sister!" Sunset shouted. "Your no-good, pain-in-the-flank sister. I am a lot of things and a lot of those things aren't good but I am not a monster. If I was, what would I be doing here? Would a monster care what you think? I'm just a pony, a flawed, imperfect pony asking for another chance."

Eclipse pursed her lips. "Where did you go, Sunset? Princess Celestia said that you'd been somewhere nopony ought to go, using magic. What happened?"

"I went through a magic mirror to another world," Sunset said. "I was greedy and lazy and I wanted everything handed to me and I thought that this mirror would give it to me. I'd seen something in there: me as a princess, an alicorn. I thought that that's what I'd find on the other side."

"I'm guessing that you didn't," Eclipse said.

Sunset laughed sourly. "Oh, I became a princess. Princess of the Fall Formal and the Homecoming and the Prom."

"Seriously?"

"Yep, three years of school," Sunset said. She decided not to go into the whole 'turned into another species' bit. She didn't want to break Eclipse's brain, she just wanted to explain herself. "A school that wasn't even as fun as the one I'd run away from. I have wondered, since, if it was meant to teach me humility. If so, it didn't work. I just became even more aloof and superior than I had been before because I didn't have anypony like you or Flash holding me down."

"So you stole one of the elements?" Eclipse asked.

Sunset nodded. "I thought...I can't quite remember exactly what I thought, except that I think I was hoping for some kind of super-mode: you know, wings, long hair, enhanced abilities. What I got...well it did give me a power up, and wings, and my hair grew a bit. It just wasn't in the spirit of what I'd been hoping for. At all."

"And that's when the Elements were turned against you?"

"Not quite," Sunset said. "First, Princess Twilight followed me through the magic mirror. Then she out-thought me, out-manoeuvred me, undid three years of work in under three days, humiliated me in front of everypony and then, just in case there was anypony left in any doubt as to which of us was superior to the other in every way, she pulled the power of the Elements of Harmony out of her flank even though the other five were nowhere to be seen and hit me with it. Did that sound bitter? I think that sounded bitter."

"Just a bit," Eclipse said.

Sunset chuckled. "I actually really like Twilight, and I know that she did me a favour by doing what she did. It's just that bringing up those memories, thinking about how I felt back then...I've never liked to lose."

"Really? I had no idea," Eclipse said dryly. Softly, she asked, "What was it like?"

Sunset bowed her head, closing her eyes as the memory of that agony threatened to overwhelm her. "Torture. Like burning. Like having fire running through my veins. Like it was burning away the rotten parts of my soul to spare the bits that weren't infected yet. Burning the evil out. And it wasn't just the flames; I got the feeling that was something alive inside the fire. Like I was being judged by some supreme presence, and found wanting. I'm not a monster, little sis, but I did become one, in those few moments before Twilight fired. And that's why I don't blame her any more, because I understand that she did what she had to do for me, as much as for anypony else."

Eclipse was quiet for a few moments, the clock ticking on the wall the only sound. Then she said, "I know what you want me to say, Sunset. And I can't say it. Not right now. I need time. Because, after all that we went through; after all that you put me through, I can't just believe you when you say that you're a changed mare. I'm not saying that I'll never forgive you, I'm not saying I won't give you a chance. I'm saying that I don't know if I will. You should go, come back tomorrow. I need time to think."

Sunset nodded. "Right. I guess it was a bit optimistic to think that our relationship could change in one day wasn't it?"

"Yeah," Eclipse said. "But I'm willing to admit that maybe, just maybe, it was a bit pessimistic to think that you could never change."