Something poked Sunset in her side, stirring her. "Five more minutes.", she groaned.
Whoever poked her was giggling. "Twilight, I think she forgot where she was!"
Sunset's eyes shot open. She recognized that voice! But how??
She finally looked up to see a pink, curly-maned pony staring at her. "Pinkie Pie!?"
The pony in question gasped and started talking very fast, but Sunset caught half of her gibberish. "Oh my god, you know my name!...Oh wait, Twilight told me how there was another me where you were! Still, it was surprising to see you say my name since I don't know you...although I guess I do since there's another me!..." The rest was incomprehensible.
A new, familiar voice interrupted Pinkie from her rambling. "Pinkie, I think I should take care of Sunset. Why don't you tell the others she's here?"
"Okie-dokie-lokie!" With that, Pinkie hopped out of the room.
"I'm sorry if Pinkie was a little too much for you, Sunset."
Getting to her hooves, Sunset replied, "It's okay, Twilight. She's like the Pinkie back in the human world."
It was only then that she noticed that Twilight was looking at her funny. "What? Why are you looking at me weird?"
Walking up to Sunset, the alicorn gestured with her hoof and said,"I'm looking at you weird because you have wings!"
Sunset looked at her flanks to realize that it was true! Other than the bags she had brought with her, two feathered wings were folded at her sides. 'What!? How did this happen?' she thought bewilderedly.
"It's okay, Sunset", Twilight said as she placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "I felt the same way when I first got my wings too."
Sunset was still trying to understand how in the name of Celestia she, Sunset Shimmer, had gained wings and become an alicorn. She looked into a mirror on the far side of the room, which was a library, and spread her wings. 'I shouldn't have these wings. I don't deserve them! I'm not a worthy alicorn! Not when I when went against Celestia and stole Twilight's crown!'
"I don't deserve it!" Sunset said dejectedly.
"Of course you do", Twilight reassured her. "What I'm concerned about is why do you have wings after coming through the portal? As far as I'm concerned, becoming an alicorn is earned, not just when you walk into another dimension. It doesn't make sense!"
By now, Twilight was pacing the floor. Suddenly, her senses came back to her and she scolded herself for not being a better host. "We'll discuss this later. How about I show you your room?"
Sunset was glad to get the topic out of her head. "Sure."
************
Sunset gaped at the massive room before her. She never expected her bedroom to be this big! She knew Twilight must have put a lot of effort into making Sunset feel welcome since the crystals that made the room were the colors of her mane and cutie mark. The door itself had her cutie mark on it. She felt tears of joy rising and she quickly brushed them away with her hoof.
"So, how do you like it?" Twilight asked, turning to Sunset. "It was all Rarity's idea. She said that your room should reflect you. It was a lot of hard work too. It's not easy to find a spell that could change a crystal's color!"
"It's perfect, Twilight."
Gazing around the room again, she noticed a full length mirror in the corner and a desk as well. She used her magic, however hard it was, to move her bags over to the desk and walked over to the mirror. She stared at her newly gained wings and sighed. She wasn't as confused as she was before about the wings, but she still had questions.
Twilight noticed Sunset's demeanor and said, "How about I introduce you to the rest of my friends and then we can have Spike send a message to Princess Celestia about your new...development?"
"Sure, why not? I do want answers about this." Sunset said as she gestured to her wings.
************
"Wow, you sure have a large castle" Sunset said as Twilight led the way.
"I don't think I've even seen all of the rooms!" Twilight joked. "Here we are. This is the map room as we call it. It's also the throne room."
Sunset expected Twilight's throne room to be similar to Princess Celestia's throne room. She was in for a surprise. Twilight's throne room wasn't even half the size of Princess Celestia's, and in the middle of the room, there were six thrones, seven if you count the small one, in a circle with a glowing projection of Equestria in the center. Each one of Twilight's friends were in a throne with their cutie mark at the thrones' peak. Even Spike had a throne!
"Everyone, this is Sunset Shimmer. Sunset, these are my friends", Twilight introduced.
The first to speak up was Applejack."Well, howdy there Sunset. Name's Applejack. And any friend of Twilight's is a friend of mine."
Rainbow Dash spoke up next, of course with the same ego human RD had. "Nice to meet ya, Sunset! Name's Rainbow Dash. Also known as the fastest flier in Ponyville!"
She was followed up with Rarity. "Hello dear. My name is Rarity. Sunset, darling, we heard so much about you from Twilight. It's fabulous that we could finally meet you in person."
Fluttershy, staying true to her name, murmured a few words of welcome. "Hi Sunset. My name's Fluttershy. It's nice to meet you."
Pinkie Pie, of course, happily welcomed Sunset. "Hiya Sunset! I'm Pinkie Pie, but of course you already know that! We already met and you were like..."
Twilight interrupted Pinkie's long introduction by clearing her throat. "I'm glad that everyone has met Sunset and she'll be staying here for about two days."
Pinkie gasped and said, "Two days! I need more time if I'm gonna host a 'Welcome Back to Equestria' party!" With those words, she practically leapt over everyone and hurried out the door.
"Is she normally like that?" Sunset asked.
Everyone in the room nodded their heads. Twilight then broke the silence by telling them of Sunset's new wings, which everyone in the room gawked at. 'How did they not see them before?' Sunset wondered. Twilight then instructed Spike to write a letter to the Princess concerning when their meeting with the Princess would be and that she had some questions about 'something new that came up', obviously talking about Sunset's wings. Spike sent the letter and a few moments came and went before Princess Celestia replied.
"Dear Twilight,
Sunset, you, and I will have our meeting tomorrow. For today, I want you to show Sunset around Ponyville and for you two to catch up with one another. Concerning your questions with what came up, I would like to hear that when we have our meeting.
From,
Princess Celestia"
Twilight finished reading the letter and noticed that Sunset was looking rather nervous. She knew Sunset had to be worried about her wings and how she could appear in public with them. She used her magic to create an illusion spell that hid Sunset's wings.
"Thanks, Twilight. I don't know what I would've done if I had gone out in public with wings." Sunset said in a rather relieved voice. Then, her voice quickly changed to a more annoyed tone. "You could've told me first before casting that spell, y'know."
"You're welcome. It was no problem. Do you want to see Ponyville now?"
"Hey, why not? It has been years since I saw Equestria."
Applejack left for Sweet Apple Acres, Rarity left for Carousel Boutique, Fluttershy left for her cottage, and Rainbow left for her cloud mansion. Twilight and Sunset travelled around Ponyville, meeting different ponies. While they went around the quaint little town, each shared their most recent adventures. Neither of them spoke of Sunset's new status as an alicorn and the illusion never faltered all day.
************
The sun was readying to set when the two alicorns returned to Twilight's castle. The two alicorns admired the sunset before going inside. Oddly enough, none of the lights were on.
"Huh. That's odd. There's usually at least one light on. Where's Spike? Spike!" Twilight wondered aloud.
"Don't worry. I think I saw a light-switch somewhere," Sunset said as she fumbled around.
Suddenly, the lights flashed on. Sunset and Twilight were blinded momentarily by the sudden light.
"Surprise!" A chorus of voices cheered.
Sunset's eyes adjusted to the light and she realized at least half of Ponyville was in Twilight's castle! She noticed all of the party decorations and realized Pinkie must've put together that 'Welcome Back to Equestria' party she mentioned earlier.
Pinkie bounced up to Sunset and excitingly asked,"Were you surprised? Were you? You must've been surprised since you looked so surprised when we said 'Surprise'!
"Yes Pinkie, I was surprised. I didn't expect you to throw a party today," Sunset answered.
A confetti cannon shot another round of confetti, causing Sunset to jump and spread her new wings. The illusion spell broke. Luckily for her, no pony noticed. Sunset backed away from the crowd, making sure she didn't draw undue attention to herself. Once she was on an empty hallway, she galloped down the corridor, trying to reach her room. 'Horse apples! Where is my room?!' she thought to herself.
************
By sheer luck, she found her way to her room and quickly slammed the door behind her. She looked into the mirror. Her wings were no longer concealed. She was glad no pony had seen her wings. She had enough worries about her relationship with Princess Celestia. She didn't need another problem.
"That was perfectly normal. No need to worry. No one saw you and that's what's important. Right?" Sunset muttered as she climbed into bed. Hopefully, no one would go and try to find her in her room. Sunset fell into a nightmare filled sleep for the second time. This time, however, it was about her new alicorn status. 'This is natural. You're an alicorn, big deal. It has nothing to do with your past. Stop worrying!'
She tried to convince herself of this all night through her nightmares, but she failed every time. What had started as a dreaded meeting with Princess Celestia was turning into a web of nightmares for Sunset Shimmer. And no one could stop it, except her.