The kingdom of Equestria greeted its future princess as she woke up. From edge to edge it hung above her, the first sight of the day, and that was just how she liked it.
Sunset Shimmer jumped out of her bed and stretched, letting out a big yawn. The sun was up which meant only one thing, another day to grow more powerful and another day to show her teacher that she was ready for more, much more. Her horn was sore from the feats of the day before, but from looking at her, nopony would ever guess that. Any pain she felt was masked by a smile that radiated with a contagious confidence. "I better not be late for training," she said to herself, running out the door.
Outside in the hallway, a horde of staff members and royal guards were locked in conversation with nearly all of them on the verge of jumping around like they had finally gotten their first kiss. Sunset Shimmer walked towards them since they were on her path, saying to herself, "Wonder what they're so excited about? Probably just something stupid." She walked past the crowd, trying to ignore them and just get out. That all changed as she walked past one of the foodservers, a stallion, who was talking to a maid.
"I'd think I was being played for a fool if somepony told me a filly could be that strong!" he screamed. "Seriously, imagine what she'll be like when she's older!"
The words froze Sunset Shimmer where she stood. Are they talking about me? Nopony around her made eye contact with her. In fact, they seemed so into their blabberings that she could've pushed one of them down the stairs and the others wouldn't have even noticed. No... but if it's not me...
She charged to the foodserver, on the verge of a heart attack. "What filly?! Tell me!"
"Oh, surprised you of all ponies haven't heard about her yet," the foodeserver said. "One of the fillies that took the test to get into the School for Gifted Unicorns yesterday blew everypony away with her performance. From what I heard, it was unreal!"
"W-What?!" Sunset Shimmer's eyes popped out.
"It's true," the maid said." I saw the whole thing... Truthfully, I thought she was cursed at first. She came in as weak as any other filly when the test started, but then there was some big rainbowy explosion in the sky and the next thing you know she went out of control! Scared me half to Tarturus."
Sunset Shimmer brought her face closer to the maid's. Her eyes popped out even further. "What?! What did she do that was so impressive?!"
"What didn't she do!" the maid said. "Transformation spells, an age spell..."
"And don't forget about the dragon," the foodserver said. "She turned a baby dragon giant like it was nothing!"
"Yes... and her eyes went all white, something I've only seen the Princess do! She got so out of control that Princess Celestia herself had to control her," the maid said.
Sunset Shimmer was left motionless from the idea that a filly could be that strong. The soreness in her horn spiked suddenly, further branding her with the truth of how weak she was compared to this mystery filly. "Who's her professor? What was she accepted as. A second year? Third?"
"Third?!" the foodserver laughed. "Come on, that's ridiculous. The only professor a pony like that deserves is Princess Celestia herself."
Sunset Shimmer stepped backwards, shaking her head. "No... No..." She ran away in the direction of Celesita's throne room as fast as she could. "No... No..." She galloped through the halls so fast that she was just a fiery haze to any onlookers. " This is definitely just some stupid joke. Age spell... Dragon... Cursed?! Even exaggerating's gotta have a limit." The throne room was only a few halls away, mere minutes but too long for the filly to bare. "Whoever started this is gonna be in big trouble. Just wait until I get to the Princess!"
Sunset Shimmer rammed through the doors to the throne room, ready to scream out the lies she had just been told. What she got instead was the sight of her mentor talking to another filly with a motherly smile. The same motherly smile that Celestia always gave Sunset.
Sunset Shimmer froze as her eyes popped out to their maximum and broke the scene. Celestia and the filly turned to her, but all she could do was twitch her eye and look on as another pony stood beside her mentor where she once did. The filly was a unicorn the same height as her, with a bright purple body and eyes. Her tail and mane were a darker purple and had two streaks in them, one pink and one a brighter purple. The filly stood wrapped in the warmth of Celestia's hoof, shivering and looking down at the ground like a scared puppy. There was no look of power on her, no feeling that this was a pony that could do the things she supposedly did. Nor was there any shred of confidence on her. Sunset Shimmer glared at her, jaw dropped and disgusted, and with only thought in mind. What. The. Hell!
"Princess Celestia, what is going on?!"
The authenticity of Celestia's smile blew away, turning it to one that was obviously fake. "Good morning, Sunset. I can see that you are quite surprised right now. Not that I expected anything different." The filly switched back and forth between facing the ground and the glaring pony in front of her. "This is Twilight Sparkle, and from this point forward she shall be your peer, as well as my new personal student."
Sunset Shimmer's blood pressure reached new heights as she glared at her peer with a newfound intensity. Celestia tightened her hoof around the filly beside her, saying, "Go on now. No need to be shy," and released her.
"Hi," Twilight said, looking more nervous than ever. "Like the princess said, my name's Twilight. What's yours?"
Sunset Shimmer redirected her glare to the Princess, completely ignoring the noise coming from the joke of a pony in front of her. "But I'm your apprentice!" she screamed, pointing at herself, "You can't just get another one! What, am I not good enough on my own? Do you need another one to feel proud, is that it?!"
Celestia's forced smile gave way. She glared at her student. "I can assure you that you have nothing of the sort to fear. Now if you can just-."
"And really, Princess!" Sunset Shimmer pointed at the pony meant to be her peer. "This is who you put me with!" Twilight turned away, frowning. "The castle staff told me the things she apparently did like age spells and that she had cursed white eyes, but just look at her. This is who you're picking to follow in your footsteps?! She can barely get her face out of the ground!"
"Enough!" Celestia screamed, stomping the ground. Her eyes glowed white, but returned to normal as her breathing softened and returned to its normal pace. She still glared at Sunset, saying, "I can assure you that Twilight is in fact capable of all she is credited with. She is your sister student, and any attack made on her I will treat as if it were on me. Are we clear?"
Sunset Shimmer just growled.
"Are we?!"
Sunset Shimmer growled again, but in the end forced up a smile and turned to her new sister. "So... Twilight, huh? My name's Sunset Shimmer. Where you from?"
"C-Canterlot," Twilight said, still shaking like she was in front of some invisible audience.
"Ugh... I'm not gonna bite you or anything." I'd really like to though. "What do keep on fidgeting around for?"
"Sorry, I'm just kinda nervous being here, that's all."
"What, you never been in a palace before?"
"Well, no... but it's not that. I just can't believe that I'm here... next to the Princess... in the palace. Yesterda,y I was with my parents... and now I'm all alone, being told that I have some special power or something."
"So that's what she's been telling you," Sunset Shimmer said, glaring at the Princess, who glared bac., "She told me the same thing when I first came. Guess special power isn't as rare as it used to be. What else she tell you?"
"Nothing much. She showed me around the castle and introduced me to the staff. They were nice, but I wish this place wasn't that big, especially my room."
Sunset Shimmer kept her focus on her mentor, glaring, and gave not a single shred of attention to the pony she was in conversation with. "Uh huh... yeah..."
"I wish my parents could be here with me, though..." Twilight said, getting saddened. "But they told me they couldn't come... I wish I knew why though."
"You're better off without them, trust me. I left my parents a long time ago. Second best decision I ever made." Sunset Shimmer shook her head at the Princess and felt a sting inside her worse than any mere soreness. "I'm going now... Got stuff to do. You know how it is." Not giving Twilight a second to say anything back, she gave one last dirty look to the Princess and ran out of the room, barging straight through the doors.
Now on the open hallways, Sunset Shimmer charged through them at record speed, growling with the face of a soon to be serial killer. The crowd of ponies lost in their conversations about the almighty Twilight Sparkle came once again, to which she did the obvious thing, ram through each and every one of them. Making the foodserver and maid hit the floor felt the best.
She ran through the door to her room and jumped onto the bed once she was inside, screaming with the intensity of a roar but the sound a little girl throwing a hissy fit. "How could she! I've done everything she's said for years, been to every stupid lesson, every stupid speech, and this is how she repays me! Why doesn't she just take in all of Equestria as her personal students?! You know what; she probably will!"
Sunset Shimmer got up and walked back and forth in front of a collection of framed pictures of Celestia and her set atop a dressing table. "I'm her personal student, me! What, am I not good enough, is that it? Yeah, doing everything you say and more apparently isn't good enough anymore. Silly me for thinking it was!" Her anger hardened her breathing, "I'm her personal student; I'm the next princess; nopony's gonna take this away from me. Definitely not a pony like Twilight.”
She turned to a picture, one of her as a younger filly riding atop Celestia like in a game of giddyup. The smiles on their faces were ones of pure bliss, like their company was all they wanted in the world, and all they needed. Sunset Shimmer remembered it as the first picture Celestia and her took together, though now, years later, it evoked not even the slightest glimpse of emotion. The frame was hoof-crafted by the duo, a symbol to commemorate their relationship for all time. Sunset Shimmer growled, after which she slammed the picture onto the floor, shattering it. She gave it one last look and shot a magical beam at it. What remained was just specks of burnt dust, too small to even be considered ashes.
Sunset Shimmer stood beside the specks, breathing heavily. As the seconds passed, though, her breathing began to calm and the sight of the dust began to bring out emotion from the filly. The picture had been there since the beginning, a reminder of who she once was and the pony that had taught her so much, and now it was nothing more than grains of dirt being picked up by the air, never to return again.
A tear broke out, but she fought it, trying to keep it from dripping onto her cheek. "Why do I act like this?" The dust scurried around on the ground, going every which way into corners and cracks unreachable by hoof. "Maybe this is what Princess Celestia mean? I mean I've always been… Well, that's not true either. No point in lying to myself." Sunset Shimmer gazed at the gallery of pictures that showcased her relationship with Celestia over the years. From her first days in the palace to now, the princess always stood beside her with the same motherly smile, unchanged by time. The only pony who changed was her.
Sunset ran around the room and went to every crack and pore that could've contained the dust she had made. The process took over fifteen minutes, but by the end of it she magically held a glob of dirt and other things in the air. Most of it was who knew what, but somewhere inside was the picture of Celestia and her, and so it would have to do. She softly placed the glob where the picture once stood, and charged out the room smiling like in the picture.
I got to learn to keep it cool. Twilight's just some nervous little pony who can't even be in the palace without her mommy. Nopony like that's being made princess. Sunset Shimmer ran across the halls managing to not ram anyypony in her way. But still... I don't like that 'special power' talk... But I'll just deal with that later. Gotta make up for how I acted first before it's too late. Don't want Twilight thinking I'm some bitch!
She increased her speed and headed towards the throne room. As she sped through a hall a few corridors away from her destination, though, a familiar voice caught her attention and froze her within an instant. The hall had a row of rooms on both sides, with every door shut and window covered. Only one door was opened, by an inch or two, and out of it leaked the voice of the pony Sunset Shimmer was running to see, Princess Celestia.
What? What's Princess Celestia doing in these rooms? They're not even supposed to be done yet, Sunset Shimmer thought, slowly walking towards the open door and peeking. Inside stood the Princess caressing a worried looking Twilight Sparkle. Behind them was a bed, closet, tables and other living accessories, the same as in Sunset Shimmer's room, only newer looking. What the..?
Celestia raised Twilight's head and looked at her with a smile so contagious even Sunset Shimmer couldn't resist it, saying to the worried filly, "Look, my child, I know this is all very new to you... but trust me when I say that this is for the best You are here because you are special, and you owe it to yourself to bring out your talent."
"B-But... why can't I see my parents?" Twilight said.
"Of course you can see your parents," Celestia said, caressing her. "You can see them anytime you wish. Just because you are here does not mean you cannot see them."
"B-But why can't they live here too?" Twilight pointed around the room. "This room is so big... We can have another bed right there... and... and..."
Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes and held in her laughter.
"I am sorry, Twilight," Celestia said. "But your parents cannot join you. They have their own lives to live, as you do yours... I am sure you can understand."
"I guess..." Twilight said, still facing down. "I mean I am happy to be here... This place is everything I dreamed it would be. I just need some time to get used to it is all.
Celestia tightened her embrace with the filly. "I admire your bravery, my child." Twilight looked up at her. "It takes great courage to so suddenly change your life."
I was never called brave, Sunset Shimmer thought, growing more disgusted.
"Not many can do what you have already done," Celestia said. Twilight began to smile. "Know that I will be here whenever you need me. I know you feel alone, but there is no need, my child. I will always be here. You shall never be alone." They both embraced, caught within each other's warmth. Sunset Shimmer began to growl as the seconds passed and their embrace only tightened. The bliss on their faces was unmistakable.
Celestia and her student ended their hug but still looked on with the same bliss. "There is no reason to fear," Celestia said. "You have great power, more than I have seen in any pony, and it shall be my honor to help you unlock it. Perhaps... there shall even come a time when you no longer need to address me as Princess."
That was the final sentence Sunset Shimmer could hear. She ran away from the door and to an abandoned corner several halls away, unable to erase what she had just witnessed. Her body shook with anger and her breathing reached a point where the next gasp of air was an impossible challenge. The sight of her mentor and the filly that had come out of nowhere into her life burned within her, as did the words spoken. The look of bliss on Celestia's face. The fact that another filly had come so suddenly out of the blue with such supposed power. The fact that this was all happening the day after Celestia had seemed so disappointed at her. The thought--no, the promise that Twilight would one day join Celestia as princess. Sunset Shimmer cringed as the sting of reality tore her from the inside out, leaving her all alone, with only herself as her companion.
"Alright, Celesita," Sunset Shimmer sucked in her snot, "You wanna play me like that? Fine!" The smile on her face turned cold. Any and all memory of warmth left her heart, leaving her with only the embedded image of what she was up against and the knowledge of what now had to be done. "You wanna play me for a fool, fine... You wanna throw me away like some old crown, fine... You wanna replace me with some pony who doesn't even know what she started... Fine! I should've learned my lesson last time, but oh well..."
Sunset Shimmer slammed her hoof against a nearby framed picture of the Princess. Not satisfied, she continued slamming her hoof into it until it was nothing more than ripped paper and shards of glass on the floor. "I'll be your perfect student... Don't you worry, Celestia. And as for Twilight Sparkle, just wait until I'm done with her!