//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: The Sun Sets at Twilight // Story: Sunset Reset // by LordBrony2040 //------------------------------// The world returned in a flash of light, and Celestia found herself standing at the foot of a mountain that she would have rather avoided. The place reeked of sulfur, and even that was nothing compared to the vileness that permeated the area. She knew it was all in her head of course. But still... It had been nearly thirty years since the changelings last appeared Equestria and brought with them another era of fear and suspicion. Although not as big a threat as they had been upon their discovery, Celestia still found the harmony of her lands disrupted every few centuries when a group of them that hadn’t been captured during the siege of the great walled city of Trot cropped up here and there. While their methods always differed, one thing remained the same. The changeling cells would always attempt to free their queen in the end, whom Celestia had locked away over eight-hundred years ago inside the volcano where she now stood. Whenever such problems reared up, Celestia could eventually ferret out the creatures behind it by coming to their leader’s prison. Either they would already be working to free her from the lonely mountain, or she could leave a spell to summon her when a horde did approach en mass. It wasn’t their military strength that Celestia feared, and even the results of their indirect action were minor in the grand scheme of things. It was the damage that came about in the interim of their activities that Celestia hated the most. Every time something like the changelings would crop up to threaten Equestria in the past, paranoia and fear ran rampant. Ponies turned on each other over the smallest of oddities, such as a friend drinking something different for breakfast, taking a different route to work, or taking interest in a new hobby. Anything that was out of the ordinary was a reason for suspicion to fester. And the methods for ‘proving the innocence’ of a pony during those times were equally as terrible as the disease. With their magic of deception, powerful changelings were impossible to tell from the original by simple observation, and their blood was close enough to a pony’s that simply drawing it from the imposter produced no evidence either way. At first, mane follicles and feather samples were taken to test a pony’s identity, but changeling magic evolved over the centuries to create perfect replicas of a pony’s body that could have its feathers, hair, and coat removed without effect on the faux pony parts for several days. And the very nature of their magic made it impossible to tell from a normal pony’s. So as the threats continued to crop up over the years, larger genetic samples were taken to insure a pony’s identity. But when ponies started resisting having their ears clipped, their hooves shaved to the flesh, magical markings placed on their faces, and far more invasive procedures, hundreds of ponies were interred under the suspicion of being not what they were while a better solution was sought after. Equestria had never felt the loss of Luna as greatly as it had during those dark periods. It would have been simple for her to enter the mind of another pony and ferret out the truth. Celestia’s attempts to try and fill her sister’s horseshoes proved futile. The only test she had been able to devise for Equestria on her own was a physical one, and was based of the fact that a changeling couldn’t hold its form when subjected to extreme amounts of disruptive magical energies, the kind that would severely harm a pony’s magical pathways as well if the test came back negative. In truth, she almost preferred the old days when the changelings had acted as one gigantic army. But that was no longer the case. After the loss of Timbucktu, Celestia had acted faster than safety demanded when the changelings were attacking Trot, and confronted Chrylysis herself before any of her guard could ready themselves for battle. The resulting fight had left the changeling queen a broken remnant of her former self, and Celestia had locked the creature away inside a fiery mountain. The same volcano that she looked upon now. Celestia steeled herself and took to the air. Erring on the side of caution, she took a moment to examine the area around the base of the volcano, using her magic to search for any traps or hidden passage that the changelings might have dug to escape despite the fact that Celestia’s wards to prevent such things from happening were still in place. So she climbed higher, breaking through the cloud bank that surrounded the volcano’s top. The sight made her nearly drop from the sky in shock. Somehow, the cap on the volcano's top had been removed. “No,” Celestia mumbled as she approached the edge of the volcano's mouth. “That’s impossible.” Chrysalis had no source of love to feed off of, and I made sure that this volcano could never erupt again! So how could she have gotten free? And...just how long ago had she gotten out? With all of her other duties, Celestia only afforded time to check on the changelings when it was time to renew the seals on their prison every ten years, give or take two or three. She couldn’t trust the job to other ponies, guards stationed nearby had proven a foolish gesture in the past when other members of the hive came to try and free their queen. A tiny disruption of the rocks near the mouth of the volcano drew Celestia’s attention. Not a second later, the alicorn dived down to land and look around. Her horn ignited, and she banished the smoke around her so she could search for the source of whatever it was she had seen easier. After a few seconds of finding nothing, Celestia frowned at her foolishness. Of course there’s nothing here. If Chrysalis had escaped, leaving anything behind would be just plain foolish. Although, a second after she finished her though, Celestia saw the ground in front of her shift, and a second later, it erupted in a spew of green goo as a changeling cocoon hidden beneath a floor of dirt burst from its confines to gasp for air. A second later, the creature looked up at her. “Hey! You’re here a lot earlier than the Queen thought you’d be.” The strange voice sent a jolt of ice up Celestia’s spine, and she leaped up into the air to fire a disabling spell at the source of the voice without even thinking. When the alicorn’s conscious mind caught up with her actions, she frowned at the lone changeling floating helplessly in her magic. The kneejerk demands on the tip of Celestia’s tongue were pushed down. Instead, she stood to her full height, and slowly walked up to the bug-pony frozen in mid-air. “How long ago did Chrysalis escape?” If one of her drones had lagged behind, then there was a good chance that Celestia would be able to catch the monster queen before she could find a place to hide in the populace. The last thing Equestria needed was another panic over changelings. “Umm...I’m not sure...maybe...four or...five...seasons?” the drone replied. “I uh...kinda lost count. It’s hard to keep track when you need to keep going into hibernation to keep from eating. So it could probably be longer ” Celestia stood motionless for several moments as her rational mind wrestled with the improbability of the drone’s news. “What? No, that’s impossible! Chrysalis would have struck at Equestria if she had been free for that long! And even if she has been gone for as long as you say, THEN WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?” The drone blinked it’s odd eyes. “Oh, right!” it exclaimed in far too happy a tone for the alicorn’s liking. “She left me behind to give you a message if you checked on her ahead of schedule this decade.” “Go on,” Celestia growled as she forced herself not to bring her hoof fown on the monster. After taking a deep breath, the changeling drone cleared its throat. “Princess Celestia, if you’re talking to this drone, then that means you’ve learned I got out of that little sauna you put me in.” Celestia blinked at the change in drone’s voice. Instead of hearing the same one that all of the bug-ponies used, it was Chrysalis’s, it even had her tone and pitch mimicked perfectly. “Don’t worry, I have no intention to attack Equestria any time soon,” it went on. “Instead, I’m going to spend the next few years biding my time, just waiting for the right moment. Because you see, I really didn’t like that beating you gave me, and this awful place you trapped me in was worse than being turned to stone. You will pay for what I suffered through. “So I will hurt you for this. A day will come when you think you are safe and happy, and you will watch your joy turn to ashes in your mouth. And you will know the debt is paid.” The alicorn’s eyes widened at the threat, and the changeling threw it’s head back to laugh. At least until Celestia’s vision turned red, and she raised her hoof to crush the creature’s skull. Shining Armor held his little sister close as he did his best to let his reassuring presence keep the little unicorn pressed up against him calm despite the fact that one of the Princess of Equestria had just suddenly collapsed in front of them. Behind him, he saw Gaffer and the others looking at the unconscious alicorn with worried expressions. “Uh Twilight...where’s Princess Cadance?” Eight-Bit asked nervously. The little unicorn slowly looked over to the pegasus. “In the bathroom,” she said. “I snuck away while she was busy.” Gaffer stepped forward and looked down at Sunset’s body. “Okay, that means we’ve got a good twenty minutes to bury the evidence, tell Princess Cadance Princess Sunset just went home when she comes out, and then put together some fake IDs before we hop the train to Griffinstone so we can avoid the regicide charges and start our new lives under some new identities. Just to let you all know, I call the name Drunken Disorderly. It’ll make the tough griffins think twice before messing with me.” A tense silence fell over the group at the announcement, and Shining Armor looked down at the princess with a worried expression. He bent down further to get a closer look, and frowned. “You know, my dad always said that the ultimate test of friendship was when it came time to help hide a body you didn’t make,” Poindexter added. “I never really understood what he meant until now.” Shining Armor groaned as he saw the alicorn’s chest rise and fall. “It’s fine you idiots, she just fainted,” he deadpanned before looking down at his terrified little sister. When he saw that Twilight had started to calm down, he looked back at them with a scowl. “You’re scaring Twily. So stop talking like that and help me get Sunset on the couch.” Sunset Shimmer was in heaven. A white, fluffy heaven that had her wrapped in a pair of forelegs and two angelic white wings as a larger alicorn nuzzled her gently. “I’m so proud of you Sunset.” Her mother’s words made Sunset swell with pride, and she felt tears of joy form on her face. This was...what she had always wanted. A second later, the world around her changed. Instead of being held by her mom, Sunset found herself standing next to Celestia as they stood in a hallway filled with important ponies, dressed in a gown of red and black with a bit of dark green. A crown appeared on her head, adorned with rubies. “Announcing my daughter, Princess Sunset Shimmer!” All the ponies around Sunset cheered as she walked down the red carpet that had been unrolled before her. Confetti and streamers fell all around her as she reached the double doors of Celestia’s throne room and she opened them. Inside, a new throne stood next to Celestia’s golden one, decorated with Sunset’s cutie mark. It was everything she had ever wanted, the life she was supposed to have. Sunset took a step into the-no, into her throne room. Her’s, and her mother’s. They would rule Equestria side by side. “But what about me?” The amber alicorn stopped in the middle of her second step, and looked back behind her. There was nothing there. No floor, ceiling, or walls. Except for the tiny purple unicorn looking up at her with sad eyes. The dream was torn apart as Sunset bolted upright in a gasp. She sucked in as much air as she could and...looked around in confusion at her surroundings. A small picture on the mantle of the fireplace depicting a family of unicorns made her pause. “T-Twilight?” she whispered as her mind focused on the little purple unicorn depicted in the center of the family. “I’m sorry!” a squeaky little voice called out from below Sunset, making her look down to see the little purple unicorn in the picture staring up at her with a worried expression from her place between the couch and the coffee table. “Please don’t banish me Princess! Or throw me in a dungeon, or throw me in a dungeon to wherever you banish me to!” Despite the confusion over the situation and the little purple filly’s ramblings, Sunset managed to plow through it all when she saw the panic on the child’s face and roll onto her stomach in an attempt to sit up. “Twilight Sparkle?” The little unicorn flinched at the name, as if Sunset was going to bring down a hammer on top of her head. But after a few seconds, she tilted her head up and opened one eye. “Y-Yes?” Although she didn’t understand what was going on, Sunset remembered the last time she had seen Twilight frazzled to such a degree. They had been trapped underneath a stage with no way out, and the princess had been curled up into a ball over near the wall. Seeing that level of panic in a filly made Sunset throw away all the questions about what was going on to the side and search for the fastest possible way to calm her down. She could deal with her own problems and the mounting confusion later. Right now, Twilight needed help. “Oh, did I faint again?” Sunset asked softly before she reached down and took the purple unicorn in her hooves to lift her up. Then she pushed herself around into a more human sitting position, and laid Twilight down next to her pony style. “I’m sorry for scaring you so much Twilight. Celestia’s been telling me I haven’t been eating enough, and...like an idiot, I haven’t been listening to her.” As the little filly started to calm down, Sunset fought to keep her face frozen in an imitation of her mother’s usual caring looks. However, her thoughts were anything but. WHAT THE HELL? Twilight Sparkle. HOW IN THE HELL IS TWILIGHT SPARKLE SITTING IN FRONT OF ME RIGHT NOW? The tingling in the back of her mind told Sunset that the little filly in front of her wasn’t some strange look alike or magical construct/clone. The Twilight sitting in front of her was the same one that she had met from before. She was real. Which meant that everything that happened on the other side of the mirror was real. But...HOW? Sunset mentally screamed. How could she be real? How could she be here? How could she be so...young? Even if she was real, Twilight Sparkle should have been two, maybe three years younger than Sunset was. Not some pre-school filly with baby fat still on her cheeks! Sunset closed her eyes and performed a calming technique that Celestia had shown her many years ago when she was just a filly. The alicorn took all the questions in her mind, all the screaming thoughts and everything weighing her down, and pushed them away. They would come back eventually, but at the moment, Sunset could focus on what was really important. Once she was calmed down, Sunset looked back to the little unicorn. “Are you okay? You looked pretty worried when I woke up.” “I...I thought I...did something wrong?” Twilight mumbled, looking away from the alicorn as she did. Sunset did her best to copy her mother’s laugh. “Well I’m sorry to tell you, but you’re wrong. Being overly adorable is not a crime,” she said, making Twilight blink at her in confusion before a thought occurred to Sunset. “And uh...where’s Shining Armor?” With Twilight as panic stricken as she was, Sunset wonder what the hell that idiot was thinking, living the poor girl alone with an unconscious alicorn. Hell, leaving her alone at all seemed like a crime in and of itself! “Well...um...I’m not really sure,” Twilight said hesitantly. “Princess Cadance started calling for me to get my brother while she was in the bathroom and-” “Nevermind,” Sunset cut her off before the amount of coincidence could build up to the point of mind boggling. The stallion she had met apparently being Twilight’s OLDER BROTHER was bad enough. Which made Sunset’s thought’s shift back to wondering how Twilight could be so young. She had seen the princess as an adult, and it hadn’t been some hallucination. Otherwise, the power sleeping within the alicorn wouldn’t have done what it did, or even exist in all likelihood. The Magic of Friendship that had laid dormant since her arrival had reacted to the filly. Ugh, I’m going to start chasing my tail if this keeps up, Sunset told herself. Thankfully, the sound of a door opening and hooves racing down the stairs to her right stopped any further thoughts. “Sunset! Sunset are you alright? Shining Armor said-” Cadance yelled as she ran into the room in a panic, a worried expression on her face. She stopped when she came into the room, and let out a loud sigh of relief. As much as Sunset would have loved to blame her fainting spell on Cadance’s tampering with the magical object Shining’s friends had used, she needed to keep up the story she made up to stop Twilight’s panic attack. So, the amber alicorn just sighed at the pink one’s worry before speaking. “I’m fine Cadance, I just...haven’t been eating enough, apparently.” “You’ve been skipping meals?” Cadance asked a second before the worry on her face turned to a frown. “Sunset! You know what Princess Celestia said! An alicorn needs nearly three times the food a regular pony does!” Despite the fact that her mother had been hovering around Sunset and practically shoving food down her throat at lunchtime, the amber alicorn managed to keep from snarking Cadance’s concern into its proper place. It took a great deal of biting the inside of her cheek to keep her mouth from opening, but Sunset forced herself to stay silent in front of the little unicorn. The last thing she wanted was to blow up and scare Twilight again. The poor little filly had been frightened enough for one day. Once she had herself under control, Sunset took in a deep breath and glanced at the clock on the wall to see that it was a few minutes before eleven. “So let’s go get something to eat,” she said before looking around and noticed the missing ponies that weren’t just out of her field of vision. Shining was at the top of the stairs, but all the others were just gone. “Uh, what happened to the rest of the nerd herd?” As Shining Armor made his way downstairs, Twilight answered the question. “Shiny’s friends ran away as fast as they could when you fainted because they thought that you had died and didn’t want to get in trouble.” Sunset looked over to her stallion and...blinked as she remembered him outside her cell, hopelessly outmatched but still willing to attempt a rescue. Then came the feel of his body in her pony-arms, and...the kiss. While Sunset had definitely experienced better kissers in her life, kissing Shining Armor was...different, somehow. More enjoyable. He had turned to putty in her hooves, and it had felt wonderful. But, Sunset wasn’t about to let herself become one of those… “Flash Sentry was asking about me?!” Twilight said with far too much enthusiasm for a pony turned human asking about naturally-born naked ape. After a quick glance to the child laying next to her, Sunset moved her focus back to Shining Armor and masked her attraction with a deadpan expression. “Real loyal bunch of friends you got there Shiny.” Abandoning friends when the going gets tough was looking to be a habit of high schoolers, no matter their world. “Yeah...sorry about that,” he apologized for them with a lowered head. “I even had to put you on the couch by myself.” “From the way he was straining, you’re a lot heavier than you look,” Twilight added. Behind the stallion, Cadance smirked and looked over to Twilight. “It’s all that hidden muscle of hers.” Sunset winced. She hadn’t meant to make Shining feel bad! Which probably meant...she was going to have to just brush off those three running out on her like it was no big deal. Which...she supposed it wasn’t. It wasn’t as if the three of them were any friends of hers. Although, it did piss her off that they left Shining to clean up the mess. The poor guy really needed someone with some backbone to look after him. The fact that Sunset fit that role perfectly was just a bonus to top off his personality and attractiveness. A giggle escaped from Cadance’s mouth. “Well, as somepony who’s been on the wrong end of Sunset having a bad day, I can sympathize them wanting to get the heck of out Dodge Junction,” she said before looking around. “So um...are we eating lunch here? Twilight Velvet and Night Light said I only had to look after Twilight until you guys were done downstairs, and that was only supposed to be until twelve-thirty. One at the latest.But you’re done now, so...” Sunset rolled her eyes and glanced at Twilight for a second, wondering how in the hell had someone thought the pink princess was qualified to look after someone as important as the purple unicorn. Cadance was a nice friend, but...Sunset wasn’t about to trust her with the future of Equestria. “Shiny, where are your parents anyway?” she asked. It wasn’t what Sunset would call usual for adults to just up and leave in the middle of the day. “Astronomer’s guild meeting. They work at night, so all the paperwork has to be done when the sun’s up,” the white unicorn said before he looked around at the three mares. “But, uh...Mom did give me some money to get some food for Twily.” The unspoken question made Sunset snort and roll her eyes. She wasn’t about to let some guy pay for her food like a human girl. “Oh please, as if you could afford the bill Cadance and I would run up,” she said with a smirk. “Now come on, we’ll take you guys to lunch.” It took all of Cadance’s self control not to grin as she observed Shining Armor walking down the street a pace ahead of her, and a foot behind the other alicorn as Sunset carried the little purple filly on her back while the two of them talked about an obvious topic in hushed whispers. As for the male under Cadance’s observation, Shining Armor hadn’t been able to take his eyes off Sunset’s plot since she and Twilight moved in front of them. Not that Cadance could blame the stallion. Sunset did have a nice rear. While not the perfect match of plumpness and muscle, it definitely got the job done in the looks department. And the way she seemed to be waving it around subconsciously drew the attention of anypony behind her. As long as that pony was into bigger mares. Luckily for Sunset, it seemed Shining Armor was one of those ponies. Not only that, he had the proper amount of submissiveness to accept Sunset as the pony holding the reigns in the relationship. The position that Sunset’s dominating personality would demand she have for any relationship to work. Cadance just hoped that her little stunt had also proven to Sunset that Shining Armor wasn’t some doormat, and made the alicorn respect the smaller unicorn a little bit more. If it had managed to do that, then her little ploy would have at least accomplished something in the ballpark of what she had intended. But it wouldn’t matter much if Shining Armor didn’t seize on the opportunity in a few days. Not at the moment though, Cadance didn’t want to ruin Twilight’s endorsement of her older brother to Sunset. Which she hoped the little filly would get around to after she stopped fangasming over what Sunset had done. Something Cadance had to admit, was pretty impressive considering the spell would have made everything be like the real world. And that kiss afterwards had been… Cadance kicked that train of thought off the tracks before it could go anywhere. The last thing she needed was to have her wings pop out in the middle of the street. Even if Shining had looked so adorable in Sunset’s forelegs that any mare would have squealed with delight… Even if Sunset had been the perfect picture of a strong, heroic princess that would make anypony desire her... Cadance blinked, and shook her head to try and get the image of Sunset shoving Shining to the ground before she moved in to kiss the stallion and… Cadance closed her eyes, and took a breath. She needed to focus on something else before her thoughts got too wild. “Math tutoring,” the pink princess said. She could come to Shiny's house under the guise of needing to be tutored, and coach him for the next phase of wooing Sunset Shimmer. When no response came, she looked over to Shining Armor, and frowned just a little. His eyes were still stuck on Sunset’s swaying tail. So, since that seemed to be the only thing on his mind at the moment… “She’s got a nice plot, huh?” Cadance asked as she did her best to keep her mind on task. Shining Armor nodded absently. “Yeah.” With no other response, Cadance decided she needed to up the dosage on the socially unacceptable part of the discussion. “Bet you just want to bury your hooves between those cheeks, or grab into it with your hooves until you can feel it in your frog.” “Mmmmhmm,” the dazed stallion replied. “I don’t really think it’s a cushy as it seems tough,” Cadance told him. “I mean, just look at the rest of her. Big wings, thick legs, long horn. So there’s probably a good deal of muscle in her haunches, with a thin layer of fat that’s just enough to cover it up and make it seem like her rear could be a pillow. Not like mine, perfect mix of what a pony needs in her rump, right here.” Finally, something seemed to get through to the stallion. He actually turned away from Sunset’s plot. “Well that’s just your opin-” Shining said when he turned to see just whom he was talking to, and froze. Cadance stopped as well, and smiled. “Relax Shiny, I’m well aware of the fact that physical beauty and lust are part of the whole ‘falling in love’ thing,” she assured the stallion. “And I’m well aware you have more on your mind than my best friend’s plot. Why do you think I worked so hard to set the two of you up?” “Um...t-thanks,” he said before looking down at the street with a face that was quickly pinking. Once again, Cadance had to stop herself from squealing. Shining Armor really was just too cute sometimes. After taking a second to see that Sunset and Twilight were getting further ahead, she decided to get a little bit more relationship advice in. “Okay so, bad news is, the O&O plan didn’t quite go off without a hitch,” she told him. “Although...it wasn’t a complete failure either. Sunset likes you, and she knows you’re willing to at least try to be heroic for her. And a guy willing to bite off more than he can chew for his girl, that’s pretty fall-forable.” “Uh, is that even a word?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. Cadence gave the stallion a half-lidded look. “It is if a princess says it is.” The less-than-patient tone did its work, and Shining Armor nodded. “Good point.” “Now,” Cadance went on. “It’s a bit early, but it looks like we’re going to be moving onto the second phase of my three-trot program: the endorsement.” Shining Armor blinked in confusion. “Uh...so now I have to advertise something?” Once she had restrained the urge to both slap Shining Armor and daww at the stallion’s adorable cluelessness, Cadance took a deep breath. “No. This is about somepony endorsing you. And since your three friends are...less than reliable sources of girl talk, that is your only hope,” she said before pointing to said hope. “Um-” “I’m pointing at your sister,” Cadence told him before Shining Armor could make some other clueless-yet-cute comment about how her hoof was in the general direction of Sunset’s posterior. “Baby siblings know everything about their older brothers, and they will not shut up about them given half the chance. So just shut up and let her talk.” Shining Armor looked back to his little sister with worry. “But uh...what if she says something embarrassing and makes me look stupid?” A deep seeded anger buried miles within the depths of Cadance’s soul crawled its way to the surface and made itself known on the Alicorn of Love’s face when Shining Armor spoke his worries. “Shining, so you remember our little talk the day we started this little journey together?” Despite some of the odd looks she was getting from the other ponies as Sunset walked down the street with the filly on her back, Twilight was enjoying herself immensely. The amber princess was everything that the purple filly had expected from royalty. Smart and funny, gentle and kind, powerful and strong, and yet she didn’t seem to be as intimidating as anypony in such a position should have been. She was nice! Really nice. She didn’t just half-way listen to Twilight the way most adults who weren’t her parents tended to, and actually talked back to her directly. Not to mention she was a powerful magic user that easily fit within the ninth circle of magic, the outermost level a pony could achieve! It was almost like having another Shining Armor, only...a mare...who actually knew magic. “So you want to go to Celestia’s school, huh?” Sunset asked as they continued down the street while Twilight looked over the alicorn's shoulder. The little unicorn nodded vigorously at the mention of her dream, another things Sunset apparently took seriously instead of just patting Twilight on the head and saying such an ideal was cute. “Yes,” she said before the reality of the situation came crashing down on her and the impossibility of it all made Twilight sad. “But...I don't think that I'll get in.” All of a sudden, the easy ride she had been experiencing came to an abrupt end. The whole world seemed to lurch as Sunset stopped her smooth trotting in an instant and halfway spun around to face Twilight with wide eyes. “SAY WHAT?” Twilight winced from Sunset shouting in her ears. “W-Well, I heard it’s really hard to get into, and even if I could, there’s also a big tuition and I don't know if Mom and Dad would be able to afford it!” They might have been well-off, but that was a long way from the level of rich the Canterlot elite were. Although she didn’t knew the exact numbers, Twilight’s investigation into Celestia’s School had shown that only a few non-Canterlot unicorns were allowed in thanks to a special level of talent with magic. And although Shining said Twilight was coming into her magic a lot earlier than most fillies, that didn’t mean she was good enough attend the most prestigious school in Equestria. Fast didn’t necessarily mean better after all. “Which Celestia would have taken care of,” Sunset mumbled for some reason Twilight didn't understand. The little unicorn blinked when she felt an aura of magic surround her and Twilight floated around until she was face to face with the alicorn. It looked like Sunset was trying to figure something out as she studied Twilight like the unicorn was some kind of laboratory specimen. Then, her face evened out as Sunset came to a decision. “You don't need to be worrying about stuff like that,” the princess told her. As Sunset put her on the ground, after saying exactly what Twilight's parents always did, the purple unicorn sighed and hung her head as the alicorn turned to walk away. “I know that means I'm not going to get in and there's nothing I can do about it.” Once again, Sunset looked back at Twilight and seemed to weigh a really important decision for about three seconds before replying. “Because there’s nothing for you to worry about,” she said. “Even if, by some freakish anti-miracle, Celestia doesn't take you as her student, then...I’ll pay for you to get in.” The world seemed to stop for a second. Twilight’s mouth dropped at hearing the news. Even as young as she was, Twilight knew that the amount of bits Sunset was talking about was astronomical! But, she was willing to just hoof them over, just like that. Then, Sunset’s mouth curved upwards into a little smile. “Of course, that means you're going to have to pass the entrance exam.” With that, Twilight’s dreams of academia came crashing down. The entrance exam! She had been so caught up in getting over the first hurdle to her dreams that she had completely forgotten about the second one! How was she supposed to get past that? Even if Sunset paid for everything, it wouldn't matter if Twilight couldn’t get in! “What's wrong now?” Sunset asked in an irritated tone that made Twilight tense up. Then, the lavender unicorn sighed and hung her head. “Thankyou for the offer Princess Sunset, but it looks like you won't need to waste your bits on me,” Twilight said. “Even if you did, I don't think I could get in. It probably takes a special type of unicorn to pass the exam.” Sunset gave Twilight a half-lidded expression. “You know Twilight, there really is some as being too modest,” she said before sighing and reaching up to rub the space between her eyes with a hoof. “But if you're going to freak out over that stupid test...I suppose I can tutor you or something.” The offer from the generous alicorn had Twilight gazing up at her in awe. “You’d do that for me?” Sunset shrugged and looked back to where Shiny and Princess Cadance were still walking up to where the two mares were waiting for them. “Well, you wouldn't be the worst pony I've tutored.” “Why’re you looking at me like that?” Cadance asked as she approached the pair of magical geniuses. Five minutes after she had made the offer to tutor Twilight, the amber alicorn was starting to wonder if that had been the smartest decision. Sunset still had no idea what the hell was going on, or how fix it. If there was even anything broken, that is. Which of course there had to be! Twilight was just a filly for crying out loud! How could there not be anything wrong if a basic fact of the universe was so messed up? By being her tutor Sunset would have an excuse to be near the purple unicorn and figure out what was going on. Not that stopping the poor kid from crying hadn't been her main motivation for making the offer to Twilight. Sunset hated the fact that foals could make her rationality just get up and walk away so easily. “Uh, are you sure this is the right place?” Shining Armor’s question killed Sunset’s introspection, and made her look up to see that they had arrived at the intended destination. Although, she supposed that the colt’s nervousness was understandable. The place did look pretty impressive from the outside with its top-notch architecture. The Gilded Truffle was the premiere restaurant in Canterlot. So exclusive that it actually boasted about refusing to seat Prince Blueblood some odd number of years ago. Unfortunately, the way Sunset had learned about it was when the brat had come to complain to Celestia and demand that all of the staff be tried and banished for high treason. Ever since then, she had wanted to try it out. But the life of a deity’s student was hard, and she never really found the time. “Wait a second, I know this place,” Cadance spoke up. “Sunset, we don't have a reservation.” The amber alicorn looked away from the marble building with its golden dome of a roof, designed in the classic pegasi style and made with the most white marble around. “So?” After the pink alicorn give her a raised eyebrow, Sunset rolled her eyes and headed to the doors. “Just follow my lead.” She walked past the bushes guarding the walkway up to the entrance and went through the golden doors to where the host was standing behind his stand with the book showing which seats were taken. Most of which Sunset knew were empty. The Gilded Truffle took pride in the fact that they never had a full house and could still afford to turn customers away. “I’d like a table for four please.” He was a light brown stallion with a slick black mane. “Name of the reservation?” the pony asked with one of those snooty accents that also said ‘I’m better than you’. Not Canterlot, something from Prance...maybe. Sunset took a moment to look at the purple filly standing next to her left hand leg, and smirked before she turned her attention back to the stallion. “Oh! I’m afraid I don't have a reservation,” she said in a slightly distressed voice. “Then you do not have a table,” the stallion replied without even looking up at her. Sunset cleared her throat. “Sir,” she said again to make the stallion look up at her. When he did, the alicorn dropped the fake sweetness in her voice and spread her wings out quickly enough to make a short-lived, wind whipping breeze that ruined the stallion’s combed mane. “Do you have a table for us now?” Two minutes later, Sunset followed the stallion through the main dining area, towards the small table in the center of it all along with her party. From the corner of her eye, Sunset watched the other ponies of Canterlot’s social elite look at her with a bit of surprise, and her ears picked up whispers of ‘are those the new princesses I’ve heard about?’ and the like. As soon as they sat down, Cadance gave the other alicorn a glare from the seat across from her. “I’m pretty sure that this constitutes an abuse of power.” “Are you kidding me?” Sunset replied with a deadpan expression. She looked over to the rest of the ponies at her table. “I’m just trying to get us a meal at a nice restaurant. Shiny, Twily, what do you two think? Back me up here.” After he stopped glancing around at everypony else in the room, dressed in some of the finest clothes Canterlot had to offer, Shining Armor looked back to Sunset. “I think we’re a little underdressed.” The comment had Sunset glancing all around at all the ponies looking at her out of the corner of their eyes while trying to go unnoticed. Even though there wasn’t a dress code for the restaurant, because Sunset doubted ponies had ever heard of such a thing, each and every mare had on a fancy dress or gown of some sort, while the miles wore a tie at the very least. In contrast, her entire group was butt naked. Yeah well...one of the greatest ways to show political power is by flaunting the fact that you don’t have to follow the same rules as everybody else, Sunset told herself. And the upper crust of Canterlot did need to see for themselves there was a new alicorn in town. Just walking around on the street wouldn’t really do that. So, it was a win all around as far as Sunset was concerned. Twilight looked down at the extremely thick menu in front of her, flipping through a chapter's worth of pages. “I think we should have gone somewhere that had food I can pronounce without having to resort to my phonetic lessons.” With her support quickly diminishing, Sunset found herself in a sour mood. She rolled her eyes at the whole thing and let out a breath of aggravated air to keep from exploding at the deserters. “Try to do something nice, and this is the thanks I get.” “Don't you mean try to show off?” Cadence asked with a little smile that the old Sunset would have removed with a fireball. One that the pink alicorn would have been able to duck at least. Sunset snorted. “Says the girl that probably scared Shining Armor half to death.” The stallion in question looked up from his menu. “Actually, I was too worried about you to be scared for myself.” A second later, Sunset felt her cheeks heat up and she grabbed the menu in her magic to hide her blush. It didn't help that her mind betrayed her and called up the memory of her lips locking with Shining Armor’s again, the taste of his mouth, the feel of his tongue rubbing against hers, how she had held him in her forelegs. Oh how she wanted to experience all of that again, and take it much further. Even though Sunset knew her increased attraction to Shining had a lot more to do with the fact that the adrenaline rush to her body mixed with the fear for her friend and stress it produced to create an increased short-term attraction than anything else, the alicorn still couldn’t deny the fact that she wanted the unicorn now more than ever. Although, it hadn’t hurt that he had been willing to risk life and limb for her. If anything, those two things combined just made Sunset sure that her desires for Shining Armor weren’t just the product of a lonely alicorn that had lost all of her friends and was finally about to get some nookie the way her species had originally been intended to bang. Really need to stop thinking about this crap before I start wishing I had worn some pants, Sunset thought as she shifted her plot around on the little pillow that served as a chair. Following her own advice, the amber alicorn began to read through the menu and see what she wanted to eat. The pages in front of her were a mishmash of multicultural cuisine. Thanks to keeping and freshness spells, any restaurant that could hire a unicorn skilled in such things allowed them to keep any number of exotic foods without the worry that their taste would degrade thanks to prolonged storage in a freezer. Because of that, the Gilded Truffle could boast the ability to serve any food no matter how exotic, and do so without serving meals that suffered from severe freezer burn and loss of taste. So, Sunset wasn't worried about the fact the menu in front of her was nearly equal in size to a human phonebook. Although, finding a pony substitute to some of the things she had gotten used to eating over the past three years turned out to be harder than she had originally intended. It seemed Equestria was completely without steak, or any kind of steak stand-in. Once she had gotten used to the idea of eating meat thanks to the fact it had been the cheapest thing on most menus for the amount of nutritional value it provided, Sunset had found she rather enjoyed it. Oat burgers were close, but...they just didn’t have the same amount of fatty goodness. But, sitting around with the filly version of her best friend was not the time to get all weepy about the loss of her omnivore status. She needed to do the nerd thing and observe the unknown. “Hey Twilight, what looks good to you?” the amber alicorn asked as she looked up from the food dictionary. The little unicorn replied without tearing her attention away from the menu. “After a brief study of the ingredients, prices, and visual aids...I think I’m going to try the quesadilla,” she said. Sunset raised an eyebrow at the odd choice, but decided not to say anything before going back to her menu to find something she liked to eat these days. After a week, the alicorn was finding out that primates and ponies had some very different taste buds, and nothing tasted like it should. Which was something she should have expected after three years of getting contaminated data from a primate tongue, but that still didn’t mean Sunset couldn’t be sore about how some of the foods that were the same on both worlds were now unappealing to her when she had gobbled them down before. Then came the pink alicorn’s order. “I’ll have the fettuccini alfredo, a cooked potato, two garden salads, an order of steamed carrots, and maybe a chocolate mousse for desert,” Cadance said after considering things for a bit. When Shining Armor looked over to Cadence with wide eyes, Sunset let out a sigh before taking a look at the page Twilight was reading on her menu. No need to let Shining think Cadance was the only pony at the table with an impossible appetite. “Hmm, think I’ll have the bean salad, a hay wrap, a quesadilla of my own, an order of fried okra on the side, and….oh, the bread pudding sounds good,” she said before leaning over to Twilight. “We can share if you want.” After Twilight smiled back at her, Sunset glanced back at Cadance to see the other alicorn was giving her an odd look. It was the kind of look that a pony gave to something they couldn’t quite figure out, and was going to explode at any moment. “I thought you didn’t do foals.” The question brought an embarrassed blush to Sunset’s face, and she quickly looked over in Twilight’s direction for a fraction of a second before turning her attention back to Cadance. “Yeah...well, I guess Twilight’s just special.” “Sunset said she’d tutor me in magic Shiny!” Twilight suddenly announced, making the other unicorn look up from his menu. “W-What?” The expression on Cadance’s face grew from a smile to a knowing-grin. “Oh, so you’ll be going over to Shining’s house to tutor his sister, huh?” Easily reading what the pink alicorn was really saying with that comment, Sunset groaned and frowned just a bit at Shining Armor. “Hurry up and pick out your order! The waiter is coming.” A minute later, the waiter came and left with their drink orders and a long list of food filling his ticket. Shining Armor ended up ordering some rice dish with fruit on top. As the lull that came with needing to wait for their food, Cadance actually struck up a conversation with Twilight about her brother for some stupid reason that Sunset couldn’t figure out. Although she only followed it halfheartedly, the amber alicorn was glad to know that Twilight practically idolized Shining Armor. If she hadn’t...well...it would have been a real shame if Sunset had needed to leave him laying in a ditch somewhere. Capable of crawling out on his own of course. Eventually. Even if it would have been a crime to mess up his cute face with its adorable smile. The sound of Cadance and Twilight sharing a laugh as the purple unicorn finished some silly story made Sunset look over at the two. But instead of comment on it, Sunset found her thoughts slowly drifting back to the need to make sense of the situation. So she quickly crammed them back down and looked over to Shining Armor. “Hey Shiny, here’s something I don’t get. How come you didn’t apply for entry into Celestia’s school?” Shining took a second to look over at Twilight, and then back to the princess-to-be. “Not enough money,” he told her when his little sister went back to talking with Cadance. “But, my parents have been saving up and a friend of my Mom’s hired her as an editor for some books she’s getting published, so Twilight will be fine.” “Fine about what?” the little unicorn asked, making Shining Armor freeze in his seat. Fortunately for the stallion, their waiter chose that moment to arrive with their food. All of their food. Getting salad with the main course may have been normal for Equestrians, but Sunset found it just another one of the quirks she was having to adjust to. Not nearly as bad as the fact nearly every male on the planet went about with their junk almost on display, or how a stiff breeze could remind Sunset of her own nudity, but it was still something that the past three years of her life said were wrong. And it was my life, Sunset told herself as she fixed her gaze on Twilight. The purple pony proved what the alicorn had experienced really happened. After their plates were levitated in front of them, with the winged ponies orders taking up most of the table, Sunset looked back up to Cadance with a little smile. She was already planning to stiff the pink alicorn with the check since her own royal expense account would only come into being after she actually became royalty, but her best friend still deserved a little bit of revenge for the way she scared Shining Armor like she did at the start of this whole mess. “Okay Cadance, remember. No hooves or wings when eating.” Cadance frowned at Sunset for a second, but rolled her eyes and picked up a fork with her magic before she dug into her salad and began shoveling the greens into her mouth. The other alicorn’s technique was a little iffy, but she was improving. The utensil only shook with as much force as a 7.0 earthquake would have caused. Once she had taken a bite of her own salad, something Sunset was happy to find tasted much better as a pony than as a human, the amber alicorn looked over to Twilight and found her glaring at the cheesy thing on her plate. Her whole body looked tense, and Sunset found herself dreading the announcement that Twilight had pulled something. “Do you need some help, Twilight?” Sunset asked cautiously. If the purple unicorn was anything like Cadance, the fact she was having problems moving things with her horn was probably a massive embarrassment. Twilight’s whole body shook, and a tiny spark made its way out of her horn. “N-No. I’ve almost...GOT IT!” As she spoke, a purple glow surrounded Twilight’s food, and sent the quesadilla flying off her plate to collide with the little unicorn a second later. The resulting impact knocked Twilight off of her pillow, and sent her rolling around on the floor in a panic. “EEEEK! SHINY HELP! IT’S TRYING TO EAT ME!” The walk back to the palace was made in silence for the most part. Although Cadance tried to start a few conversations with the other alicorn, Sunset’s mind was too busy with trying to understand what was going on. So, comments that her friend made involving Twilight’s level of adorableness or Shiny’s attractiveness were only halfway listened to. After all that time spent with her, the only thing Sunset was sure of was that the purple unicorn was Twilight Sparkle. She was bright. She was overly critical of herself. She was a genuinely good pony. Even though her age was different than what it should have been, and she had a few odd quirks thanks to that, every cell in Sunset’s body along with the Magic of Friendship that had once again resumed full  dormancy told her that the little filly was indeed her best friend. As for how such a thing could have been possible, Sunset had to admit her preliminary theories were...lacking.  Her first idea to explain the discrepancy in Twilight’s age was that Sunset’s trip through the mirror must have been one through time as well. A two second trip that ended up taking nearly ten years to finish. But...there were just too many holes in that theory as well. If going from the pony world to the human one ended up taking ten years, then why hadn't Sunset arrived much too late for the Fall Formal when she came through with Twilight's crown? Why didn't Twilight? Then there was the journal. Her correspondence with Twilight aside, Sunset remembered Celestia writing to her for days after crossing over, and the amber alicorn didn't think that even her mother would have done that for ten years straight. Then there was the real problem with the whole mess Sunset had found herself in. The why was just a distraction that ate up her concentration. It didn't matter much compared to the implications of Twilight being the age she was. Those, Sunset had started thinking of on the walk home, and they were terrifying. “What about me?” Sunset didn’t even try to push the memory of her dream-turned-nightmare out of her head. Just what would happen to Twilight’s future if the amber alicorn was around? Would she receive the attention she needed from Celestia? Would having Sunset around hurt her in some way? Sunset knew she was hardly the best role model. Damn it all, why in the hell does this have to be so complicated? Sunset asked herself. Life in Equestria was supposed to be simple! And then there was the other world… Sunset gulped as she thought about that place, and the obvious solution to Twilight’s problems came to mind. If Sunset left, then all of the obstacles to the future Twilight was supposed to have would disappear. “Sunset Shimmer, you are to accompany us to the Day Court at once,” a gruff voice announced, ending the alicorn’s thoughts. “Princess Cadance, excuse us and wait in your quarters until summoned by Princess Celestia.” The amber alicorn looked up and blinked in confusion at what she saw standing in the palace gates just behind the drawbridge to the palace. Four pegasi guards in golden armor with bright white coats surrounded a dark blue unicorn with a square-cut brown beard. While the four flying guards liked much the same as the rest of the useless equines that stood around in the hallways, Sunset recognized the odd pony out as somepony of moderate importance. Hard Line was the captain of the guard. A lifetime military man from a family of proud military men in the lower ranks of the nobility. He was barely important when it came to the social ladder in Canterlot, but he still did his best to act like a big stallion when it came to interacting with his lessers. Sunset had rubbed the him the wrong way more than once over the fact that she had come from a pair of nobodies and had Princess Celestia’s ear. The fact that she had also become an alicorn a week ago must have really given the old bastard a fit. Which was probably why she hadn’t seen him around the palace since her transformation. He didn’t want to kiss her hoof like a good little toy soldier that he was. But it wasn’t as if Sunset had any less contempt for the old stallion, or any of his ilk. Born to privilege with only a modicum of talent, the unicorn had managed to waltz his way into the most useless position of prestige available to him. As if Celestia had ever actually needed other ponies to protect her. The whole existence of an Equestrian Princess was based on the alicorns guarding the lives of the other ponies, not the other way around. At best, he was a glorified door opener, alarm sounder, and cannon fodder. “Can I help you, Captain Line?” Sunset asked as sweetly as she could. Years at CHS had taught her that the best way to piss an authority figure off was to act as innocently as possible when they wanted nothing more than to put her in detention. From what she could tell, he was the same type of creature. Just with four legs instead of two. “You heard me monster!” Hard Line spat. “In the middle of our circle, NOW!” Sunset stumbled backwards from the venomous tone the stallion spat at her. Literally spat! The shock of such an act combined with the spittle that flew through the air made the amber alicorn completely lose her train of thought and list thinly veiled insults she had been working on since the conversation had begun. Cadance was quick to come to Sunset’s defense. She stomped up to the group of ponies and glared at them. “How dare you speak that way to her!” “Stallions,” Hard Line called out to the gate guards standing at the entrance to the palace, near the drawbridge cranks. “Escort the pink pony back to her room and hold her there until told otherwise by myself, or the Princess Herself! You, come with me. Now.” The glower Sunset gave the other pony was just a bit short of setting his coat and mane of fire. Although her memories of the nobody were certainly foggy, the idiot had never been so brazen with his dislike of her before. “I hope you enjoyed your cushy job private,” the alicorn spat as she fell in line. “Because after I do meet with my Mother, you can expect to be reassigned to the frozen north to watch water freeze!” Hard Line gave a disgusted snort at Sunset’s threat. “After today, I’ll be given a raise.” On the way to Celestia’s throne room, Sunset had to fight no to stomp cracks in the ground as she was pushed from behind all the way through the hallways by the guard behind her. But it wasn’t to hurry her, any attempt to increase her speed was met by another bump to her front as Hard Line demanded she slow down. Just keep calm Sunset. After this, you can have them all dishonorably discharged, the future princess told herself. Even though Sunset knew it was mostly a vindictive thought, she didn’t care. Anypony that treated another pony in such a way didn’t deserve to wear the uniform of a guard. And the fact that Shining Armor wanted to join the ranks of such...bullies, made Sunset clench her teeth. The poor colt deserved so much better than to spend the rest of his life as a member of the loser patrol. Although...the idea of him having to do anything she told him to was certainly appealing to Sunset. “Warm my sheets soldier,” Sunset mentally ordered as she saw herself back in her bed with Shining Armor standing beside her. “And then, you can earn that title of first class private.” Another bump to her butt killed the fantasy before it could get steamy, and Sunset forced herself to once again focus on something that wasn’t trying to push itself into her rear. She looked around for some of the palace staff, or perhaps even the maid who cleaned her own rooms to give a friendly wave to. Only, while looking at the ponies she passed, Sunset noticed it wasn’t just the guards that were acting oddly. Maids would freeze upon seeing the procession, and quickly scamper away. Sunset had to wonder what was going on with that until she took a little time to examine a few of the later ones faces, and saw them fill with fear. That bit of information only left her confused. “What’s going on?” she asked in genuine concern. Hard Line spun around, and Sunset was almost certain she saw one of his hooves twitch as he put conscious effort into stopping it from doing something even he knew was a very stupid idea. “I said quiet! Open your mouth one more time and I’ll shove a bridle on it so tight your teeth will hurt!” After restraining her urge to break the stallion’s face, Sunset lowered her ears in a show of submission. For the rest of the walk, the alicorn kept her mouth shut. It was a lot harder when the doors to the throne room opened and her jaw wanted to fall open. Inside, nearly fifty ponies from several sections of Canterlot's governing classes were assembled. As Sunset walked down the carpet to where her mom was sitting on her throne with a tight expression, she noticed that it wasn’t just nobles that were in attendance either. Elected officials and several of the more outspoken ponies when it came to certain things in government. There were also a great deal more guards than there should have been stationed between her and the crowd. On top of which, over two dozen pegasi hoved in the air above her head and perhaps just as many unicorns lined the carpet she walked on up to Celestia’s throne. Each and every one of them looked at her with either fear, or outright hostility, and Sunset found herself having flashbacks to what happened at CHS both after the Fall Formal, and when the school had turned on her during the incident involving what happened on MyStable. The oddity of the situation made the unicorn look up to her mother with worry. “What’s going on?” Although being summoned to stand before Celestia wasn’t something new for Sunset, it was never so public as what she stood in now. “Sunset Shimmer, evidence has been presented to me that you are in fact a changeling spy,” Princess Celestia announced loudly enough for all the room to hear. “As such, you are to offer irrefutable proof of your identity, or measures will be taken to ensure the threat you pose to Equestria is neutralized. As per the edicts enacted after the third changeling war, you are hereby given five minutes to offer proof of your identity, or tell us where the real Sunset Shimmer is in exchange for leniency. Starting now." In the middle of the throne room, surrounded by guards and over fifty important ponies, Sunset found herself frozen in shock. "W-What?"