Sunset woke up the next morning, feeling a little refreshed after staying up the night before to make sure she had all that she would need. After Sunset got dressed, she double checked her bags for anything that she might be missing. After checking her two traveling bags, she was ready to head to school. As Sunset grabbed both her school bag and her traveling bag, the message from within her book kept tugging at her mind. What exactly did Princess Luna want to talk to her about? Sighing, Sunset propped her school bag on her back, and, grabbing her other bag, she began walking to school.
Walking into the school Sunset decided to take her bags to Principal Celestia’s office, seeing as she wouldn't have any room in her locker for them. After dropping her bags off and explaining to Principal Celestia why she wanted to leave her bags in her office, Sunset went to her locker to begin her day.
“Yes, Pinkie, I’ll be leaving after school, that is, if nothing comes up and stops me,” Sunset said pessimistically.
“Ah, no need to worry about something stopping you. So how long are you going to be gone? Ohh, will Twilight come back with you to visit?”
“Firstly, I don't know if Twilight will have the free time to come and visit, but I'll see if she can. And secondly, I don't actually know how long, but I guess it can't be no more than a day or two,” Sunset said, closing her locker and turning around to meet Pinkie’s smiling face.
“Come on, let's get to class. Last thing I need is to add another tardy to my attendance again.” Sunset said as she and Pinkie headed off to their first period class before the bell rang.
The beginning of the school day went by normally, yet Sunset had a hard time focusing on her school work. All through the morning, Sunset had been going through her mind, wondering if Luna had mentioned anything about this. Try as she might, Sunset only had faint ideas, none of which was likely to be the answer. During lunch, Sunset was writing to Twilight for any detail of information. Twilight said she knew about as much as Sunset did, maybe even less on the matter. But Twilight was able to get a confirmed stay from Princess Luna, telling Sunset how long she would be expected to stay in Equestria.
Now that Sunset knew she would be in Equestria for 3 days, maybe longer depending on how Princess Luna’s plan goes. Sunset wondered if there was some lesson Luna had missed from the first time she was there. The rest of the day went by smoothly with little problem from distraction. After Sunset’s last class had ended and she retrieved her bags from Principal Celestia's office, Sunset decided to spend a hour and hang out with her friends before she left for Equestria.
After spending time with her friends and letting Twilight know to open the portal, Sunset made her way to the mirror Statue. Just before going through the mirror, Sunset stopped for a moment and looked back at her friends as they waved her off. Sunset realized that even though she would be in Equestria for no more than 3 days, she wanted a way to relay messages back to her friends while she was gone.
Sunset went back over to the girls, who all looked at her, confused as to why she didn't go through. Taking out her friendship journal, she went and told her friends what she wanted to do. After some chatter about who was the most responsible person to get and hold onto the book, it came down between Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack, and since both Rarity's and Applejack's little sisters were a bit nosey when it came to things that aren't theirs, it was decided that Fluttershy would be the one who would hold onto it. With that settled, Sunset said her goodbyes and proceeded through the portal.
Stepping through, Sunset was greeted by Twilight.
“Welcome back, Sunset,” Twilight greeted Sunset when she stumbled through the portal on her hind legs, nearly dropping all her bags on the way through. Twilight was able to catch all of the bags in her magical grasp.
“Thanks,” Sunset said as she got back down on all four hooves, taking her bags back from Twilight.
The first thing Sunset noticed was that she was in a different room. The room was still the same magenta crystal that the castle was made out of, but as she took in the surrounding sight, she noted that the room she was in was a bedroom.
Is this one of Twilight’s guestrooms or one of her friends’? Sunset thought as her eyes continued to wander around.
As Sunset looked around more closely, she could tell the bedroom was also like that of a study room. There were shelves with books on them, a table with an ink and quill, a magical study research area, and various diagrams from stars to pony races.
“As you can see, I moved the mirror to this room,” Twilight said, presenting the room to Sunset.
“I can see that… but why?” Sunset asked, dropping her luggage and her school bag, which had now turned into a saddlebag.
“Well, I was thinking, since it seems you’ll be coming and going at random times throughout your studies with Princess Luna, you may need a place to stay while you're here. So I converted one of my guest rooms into your own personal room and moved the mirror in here for you,” Twilight said, quite pleased with herself.
“Really? All this just for me?” Sunset was touched that Twilight would go through the trouble just for her, yet part of her felt as though she didn't deserve this sort of kindness. “I-I don't know what to say or how to thank you for this.”
“You don’t need to say anything, it’s what friends do,” Twilight said, giving Sunset a warm smile, before shifting her eyes to Sunset’s two large suitcases, “Sunset, you seem to have a lot of luggage for just a three day stay.”
“Oh, this,” said Sunset as she picked up one of her bags in her magical grasp, “They’re souvenirs that the Princesses wanted.”
“Oh, they are?” Twilight said, surprised.
"And as one of the Princesses, this is for you," Sunset said with a smirk, levitating Twilight a bag fill with books, “I got you some extra books. There are some fiction, non-fiction, science fiction, biology... umm, I guess you get the point.”
Twilight opened the bag and levitated the books out in front of her. She scanned the cover and back of each book as a smile crept onto her face.
“Thank you, Sunset, I can’t wait to get started on them!” Twilight hopped with joy. “Feel free to make yourself at home and redecorate the room as you please. I'm going to go put these books in my room for some reading tonight,” Twilight said, trotting happily out the room.
Sunset watched as Twilight left the room, then her eyes caught sight of some words on the door. Trotting up to the door, Sunset saw that it was her own name on it, with a image of her cutie mark surrounding it. Sunset was oddly happy to see this, as a smile was imprinted on her face. Sunset looked back to the room, her room, that she would be using during her stay. In truth, Sunset felt that there were some things she wanted to add to the room, but for now this would do, and she didn't mind.
Trotting back over to her bags, Sunset levitated her saddlebag off the ground and onto the bed. She didn't have much with her: she had her toothbrush, her school work, her phone, a battery charger for her phone, batteries, and a picture of her leather jacket, as she was hoping she might get the Rarity of this world to make one for her. Sunset had grown accustomed to her jacket over the years and she felt odd without it. Leaving all the items in her saddlebag on her bed, Sunset levitated her other bag that held the items the Princesses wanted. Trotting out of her room with the bag in tow, Sunset stopped a few feet out of the door as a realization dawned on her.
Where exactly am I? Sunset thought, looking left and right, The last thing I need is to get lost here.
Sunset only stayed with Twilight for a few days, but she hadn't gotten the full layout of the castle yet. She knew she was in the guest part of the castle, but she didn't know which part of the castle it was in. Thinking back, Sunset remembered that Twilight had taken a left when she had left her room. Going with that, Sunset began trotting down the left hall. It didn't take long before Sunset ended up in the main dining hall. From here she knew where she was at, and so she headed to the throne room to wait for Twilight. As Sunset walked in, she saw Spike carrying a large stack of books that covered his vision.
“Umm, hi Spike,” Sunset said, watching him stumble as he walked.
“Oh, hey Sunset,” Spike said, leaning his head over past the books.
“Do you want some help with that?” Sunset offered.
“Na, I got it.” Spike stumbled as he walked to one of the thrones. “I’m used to this kind of heavy lifting when helping Twilight out,” he said, placing the large stack on the floor.
“I see,” Sunset said.
Must be nice to have a reliable assistant to help out at all times, Sunset thought.
“So, do you need anything?” Spike asked, looking at the bag in her levitation.
“No, I’m just waiting for Twilight,” Sunset said, placing her bag on the floor by her as she sat down.
“Okay then. Well, if you need anything, let me know,” Spike said as he left the room.
Sunset didn't know when she would be leaving to meet Luna, but she guessed it wasn't until later or Twilight would have told her by now. With nothing better to do for the moment, Sunset walked over to the stack of books to see what would be good to read. While searching through the book stack, Sunset heard Twilight walking in.
“Oh, Sunset, there you are. I was wondering where you went,” Twilight said, walking towards Sunset, “I wanted to tell you that Luna won't be able to meet you ‘till tonight around 9:30.”
“Really? Why so late at night?” Sunset asked, but she knew the answer she would get in return.
“Don't know, she didn't say why,” Twilight answered, just as Sunset thought she would.
“Well, I guess that leaves the rest of the day to me then.”
“Is there anything you want to do then?”
Sunset thought for a moment.
“Well, after I put my bag back into my room, I was hoping to stop by Rarity’s Boutique," Sunset said, picking her bag back up.
“I think Rarity should have some free time today. Was there something you wanted from her?”
“Yeah, I was hoping she could make me a new leather jacket for when I stay here,” Sunset said, trotting back to her room.
“Your black leather one?” Twilight asked, following Sunset.
“Yeah, I’ve grown so used to wearing it that it feels odd not having it on now.”
“Well, I’m sure Rarity would be delighted to make you a new one,” Twilight said as they stopped into the room.
I hope so, Sunset thought as she walked over to her bed.
As Sunset placed her bag on the bed, she levitated the picture of her jacket to her. Folding the picture, she placed it behind her ear.
“Okay, next stop, Rarity’s Boutique,” Sunset said, giving a slight smile.