//------------------------------//
// Old Homes 
// Story: Perspective 
// by Orpheon 
//------------------------------//

	Canterlot was considered by most scholars, economists, and of course its own noble population to be the crown jewel of Equestria.  A massive, bustling metropolis built into and around the face of the Canterhorn (itself one of the nation's most impressive peaks), it ringed the mountain with its spires and pennants, parapets and gates.  It recalled something out of a fairy tale in architecture, as much a fortress as a city, with heavy, dense stone walls protecting the buildings and homes within.  Even its location had been chosen as a tactical consideration; there was only one true road leading uphill to the main gates, with a commanding view of the valley below and the countryside for miles around.
Above even the towers and pinnacles of the city proper, built almost into a sheer wall in a mind-boggling feat of engineering, was the Royal Palace of the Princess.  A monumental edifice composed of multiple towers of its own, it looked out over the city and beyond to nearly the whole of the nation, its position affording it a nearly two-hundred-and-seventy degree view of the lands around the mountain.  Here dwelled the Diarchy, and it was thus the seat of political power for Equestria and, to many ponies, the soul of their nation.  It could house a contingent of staff hundreds strong, among them housekeeping, security, clerical, culinary, and many other smaller jobs besides.
A pony who lived in the castle was a pony with an exceptional quality of life, in many ways.  All one's needs seen to by servants, food prepared by the finest chefs in the land, and the entirety of the city of Canterlot just a short trip down into the city.
It was not at the castle directly, but at the train station that Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle disembarked, the former stretching her forelegs with a groan as they stepped onto the platform.
“Next time, can we please get seats that aren't literally just wooden benches with a backrest crudely nailed on?”
“Oh, come on.  The ride was short, and besides, how was I supposed to know that they were doing maintenance on the train cars today?”
Sunset grudgingly conceded the point with a nod and adjusted her saddlebags as she commented, “Well...whatever.  Judging by the sun I'd guess it's close to noon.  Your appointment isn't until three...so what do you wanna do until then?”
Twilight hummed in thought as she peeked inside her own bags, verifying that all of her notes and books were accounted for.  “I suppose we could catch lunch while we wait.  Do you have any preferences?”
Sunset considered.  The last time she'd been in Canterlot had been years prior and she was in no way acquainted with what was where anymore.  Granted, she hadn't been much for dining out even before she'd left.  Sunset did not in the least consider herself a foodie, and was usually quite content with whatever filled her stomach and didn't taste revolting.  To that end, the castle's waitstaff had been quite adequate to her needs, even if Celestia had occasionally insisted she eat something besides a generic sandwich once in a while.
“...I got nothing.  You lead, I'll follow.”
Twilight nodded an affirmative, and the pair left the platform, pushing through the throngs of ponies coming and going from the train station.
As they went, Sunset took the time to take in the city around her..  It was strange to her at this juncture to see so many ponies in one place, all of them engaged in their own business and hardly sparing a look at ponies around them.  In Ponyville, everyone seemed to know each other, and going out and about seemed to be an exercise in greetings, periodic waves and friendly smiles as one made their way through town.
Canterlot was different; there were simply too many hundreds, thousands of ponies to know them all.  Everypony here lived in their own little microcosms, making their own way through the hustle and bustle of life where you could expect to run into dozens of others at any time of the day.  The air of friendliness was gone; it was supplanted by a feeling of constantly being alone in a crowd.  All seemed to have some place to be very quickly, and there was an understated rush to the pace of all the citizens.  In a way, it was familiar to Sunset, who had spent the last four years of her life in a school in a metropolitan area.
She found she didn't miss it.
The district surrounding the train station was ultimately a commercial one.  Businesses benefited from the proximity to the offloading point of freight and the relatively short trip to get their goods on to cars and shipped to other locations in Equestria.  Restaurants were common, too; with so many tourists, travelers, and others passing through, it was a great way to get hoof traffic and eateries that could afford the high costs of rent had a much better chance of prospering than almost anywhere else in the city, perhaps excluding the sky-docks on the other side of the city.
Twilight seemed to settle on a coffee shop named 'The Daily Grind' a few blocks away from the station.  It was already quite busy between the lunch rush and the usual onslaught of comers and goers, and Sunset found herself doubting a table could be found.  “Twilight, are you sure that's--”
Her query was interrupted when the elderly stallion at the counter met the princess's eyes and grinned widely.  He spoke a few words to a youngster and swapped spots with him, abandoning his crew to the ravages of the rush as he pushed over to the pair.
“Well, my ears!  If it isn't my favorite little scholar!  What brings you back to town, Sparkle?”  Twilight raised a hoof in a cautionary gesture, a wince on her face.
“Ah, not so loud, Mister Grind.  I'm not exactly incognito, but...”
The wrinkled old stallion nodded solemnly, a bushy eyebrow going on a journey north Sunset was frankly shocked by.  “I understand you, Miss.  You needing a table, then?  I'll go clear off a spot in the VIP area.”
As the greying stallion shuffled off past the throng of customers, Sunset craned her head around in confusion.  “I don't see a VIP area...or anywhere that looks closed off.”
“Uh, you'll see.”
Sunset profoundly hated that phrase.  She was just about to say so when a younger mare (likely a college student) came before them and asked them to follow her.  Through the crowd they pushed, behind the counter and up a flight of stairs they went, and through a door they were led.
Up here, the quiet was almost deafening compared to the din of the ground floor.  A few scattered tables and chairs beneath umbrellas dotted the small space.  Sunset began to appreciate why this would be VIP space; it had none of the clutter of your average eatery.  “Oh.”
The young mare with the rosy coat turned and smiled at the two, “Strictly speaking this is a break area for us, but the Mister Grind says you're fine to be up here; enjoy yourselves, and I'll be back with a menu before too long.”  There was something familiar about her, but Sunset couldn't quite put a hoof on it.
As she trotted back to the door briskly, Sunset shook her head and decided to pick a table at random, setting her saddlebags down and sighing as she sank into the chair.
“You forget just how busy this city is after so long away from it.  The town on the other side of the mirror was crowded, but not like this...”  The unicorn glanced toward the castle, silhouetted against a small sea of comparatively minor towers.  A brief flash of irritation rose as she remembered that she and the Princess had yet to meet again in the past week.  She tried to tamp it down with logic, reasoning internally that diarch surely had a thousand demands tearing at her simultaneously.  It was easy to recall her teacher's personal study, constantly inundated in paperwork as Celestia would skim the forms before her at a speed that had boggled the young Sunset's mind while she did basic control exercises.  Despite the sensible explanation the bitterness remained, a smoldering note of discontent that managed to pull another wistful sigh from the amber mare.
“Sunset?”
The unicorn started, the concern in Twilight's voice bringing her back to reality with frightful speed.  “H-huh?  I'm sorry, you were saying?”
“I wasn't saying anything...”  The alicorn looked beyond her guest, toward the palace nestled on the mountainside.  “...thinking about the Princess?”
Sunset considered deflection, but experience told her that was pointless.  “Yeah...”  She pawed at her chair's seat with a hoof, restless as she continued.  “No word from her yet on us talking.”
“I'm sure she's--”
“Very busy.  I know.”  Sunset cut Twilight off, and grimaced as she realized how terse she'd sounded.  “S-sorry.  I know she would've contacted me as soon as she was able.  Just impatient, I guess.”  She looked back toward the castle, its parapets sparkling in the midday sun.  The treasonous voice chimed in, remarking that Twilight Sparkle would've received an audience immediately.  She ignored it as she continued, “Princess Celestia rules a nation.  She's got millions of ponies to look after in the end.  She can't put it all on hold for any one, even for me.”  Sunset frowned as she finished, “Especially for me.”
“Don't say that, Sunset.”  Twilight chided, though her tone was less admonishment and more pleading.  “She'll make time.  I know she will.”  She was cut off from further words by the return of their server, the pink coated mare placing a pair of menus and a glass of water each on their table from a tray deftly carried on her back.
“Afternoon again, ladies.  I'm Lemon Zest and I'll be your server, so nice to meetcha!”  Sunset started, examining the pegasus anew.  She had the coat, the mane...even the golden eyes.  Why hadn't Sunset recognized her?
“Uh, Miss?  I don't really get any prettier if you stare.”  The unicorn blanched, leaning away and rubbing her temple with a hoof as Lemon Zest peered at her quizzically.
“Erm...sorry.  You remind me of another pony I know.”
The server grinned, replying, “I'm gonna hope that's a positive thing.  Do you have an order?”





A decidedly easier trip down the stairs and through the lobby (and a few coins in the tip jar) later, they were back onto the cobblestone sidewalks of Canterlot proper, headed inward toward the city's center.
Now that the lunch rush had passed, the streets were less congested and there was a little less hurry to the trot of all ponies, but the air of privacy hadn't diminished in the least.  Still, fewer distractions meant Sunset could properly take in her surroundings, trying to match up her fragmented and spotty memories of what boulevards connected to which avenues, and what shops could be found on any given corner.
She wasn't surprised to find she recognized almost nothing.  Despite this, she was still rankled for some reason she couldn't quite put her hoof on.
Their destination was Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, perhaps the most well-known institution in Canterlot, maybe even Equestria on the whole.  To find herself walking down the same road, seeing those gates in the distance, was a bizarre thing for Sunset.  A terrible, onerous sense of deja-vu bore down on her as she walked.  Seeking a distraction, she turned to Twilight.
“So, to review,”  Her words were chosen perfectly.  Twilight was all about reviews, the organization fiend, and it showed in her immediate keen attention on Sunset, ready to take in every detail.  “...You're going to be giving a lecture on...friendship.  A full-blown, hours set aside and an auditorium reserved expressly for your lecture.”  At Twilight's insistent nodding, Sunset continued, “Alright, I'll bite.  I won't pretend that my grasp of the magic of friendship is at all on your level, but is it really something you can approach academically?  I tried on the other side and the results were...uh, messy.  It drove your other utterly mad when she couldn't apply the scientific method to it.”  she finished with a chuckle, remembering the bespectacled girl's uncharacteristic rage.
The alicorn laughed.  “Yes, I can see how it would have.  Magic in the human world seems to work entirely differently, and even here in Equestria friendship isn't quite like the other kinds of magic you can study.  From a practical standpoint it's based almost entirely on emotional bonds, and it's from those that their power seems to come.  The Elements of Harmony seemed to be physical expressions of the aspects of that bond, but since the actual physical items have returned to the tree...and, ah, I suppose taken up residence in me and our other friends, it's not something I can put through the usual battery of alchemic or arcane tests.”  She frowned as they walked.  “Honestly, a part of me is disappointed I didn't think to do so before we returned the elements to the Tree, but at the same time there's a part of me that's pretty sure it might not have turned out well.”
Sunset snorted.  “You think?  I tried to use the power in that tiara without understanding what it was about and it became something...malicious.”  She paused, a thought striking her.
Twilight looked at the unicorn, her voice laced with concern.  “Sunset?”
“Huh?  Sorry, sorry.  I'm fine.”  The lavender mare didn't seem convinced, but let it go as her friend composed herself.  “A-anyway, have you tried running any tests while you and the others are...uh, rainbow-ified?  Is there even a proper word for that?”
“I don't think so, and no, we haven't.  Now that I think about it, we've only had to use it once since the crisis with Tirek...”  Twilight's eyes darkened, her expression turning melancholy.
Sunset tilted her head, curious and worried simultaneously.  “W-well...that's probably a good thing, right?  It means you haven't had to deal with many large scale disasters...but what was it that took you bringing out the light show?”
Twilight looked to the unicorn with a face masked in sorrow.  Her words made a chill race up Sunset's spine:  “We made a mistake.”  The alicorn's eyes were locked to hers; a distant part of the amber mare screamed for her to tear her gaze away and hide.  A more immediate part was stricken by the abject sadness in her friend's countenance; a powerful urge to envelop the pitiful creature before her in the warmest hug she was able rose...but she restrained herself.
“I...Twilight, I'm sorry.  I didn't mean...”
“There's nothing to be sorry for.  I'll tell you what happened...when I'm ready.  Okay?”  She faced forward, away from the unicorn and took a deep breath, seemingly steadying herself.  The lavender mare turned back and motioned with a hoof for Sunset to follow, her face all smiles again.  “Come on.  We're gonna be tardy at the rate we're going.”
She hesitated as Twilight began walking again, her steps faltering at first before she hurried to catch up.





The guards at the school's entrance were polite to guests, as ever, nodding respectfully to the youngest Princess of Equestria and her friend as they opened the ostentatious wrought-iron gates for their visitors.  Sunset had managed to set aside her unease with Twilight's earlier remark, the void now filled by a strange sort of nostalgia as she realized that the school had changed very, very little since last she was on campus.  The main hall was still as austere as ever, the large oaken double-doors sitting at the top of an entirely too large staircase encircling a fountain where birds were often found bathing, bickering, and generally making a twittery ruckus.  Here and there she could see students napping, reading, eating, playing games with one another, writing, or combinations thereof (which resulted in one very impressive case of a stallion who seemed to be writing something in a book as he deflected a flying disc while apparently snoozing).  
It was...nice, Sunset reflected.  Kind of like visiting a house you'd lived in once, many years prior.  There was a kind of satisfaction in all the familiarity.  Her thoughts were interrupted as a wrinkled old stallion she recognized hobbled down the stairs toward the pair, his face largely invisible beneath his bushy eyebrows and voluminous flowing beard.  He launched into a surprisingly loud posh Canterlot accent as he spoke,
“I say, good afternoon, Miss Velvet!  A good afternoon it is.  I'm afraid I've not quite finished gathering those research files you asked me to compile for you, but I'm sure old Listy will let me into the archives soon enough, hohohoh!  Care to sit down for a late snack in the meantime, dear girl?”
Twilight laughed, responding, “Sorry, Mister Record, but you're thinking of my mother.  I'm Twilight Sparkle, remember?”
The ancient stallion finally managed to navigate down the stairs, wobbling as he came to a stop before them.  With apparent effort he managed to expose one beady brown eye, taking in Twilight.  He laughed rather uproariously for a pony with such an apparently frail body as he retorted, “Well then!  My mistake, little Miss, my mistake!  But, I daresay your mother had some nerve naming you Twilight SPARKLE, eh.  Bound to confuse others, hrm hrm.”  Sunset couldn't help but smile as she watched the elder interact with the alicorn.
Written Record had been the dean of the school's History department when she had been a student.  His energetic teaching style and relentless good cheer had grown on Sunset (like a tumor, she recalled thinking), and had more than once prompted a grudging smile from the taciturn, arrogant unicorn during her tutelage.  He always seemed to expect the best from his students, but at the same time fully believed in their ability to meet his expectations.  With shame, Sunset remembered resenting his unceasing enthusiasm and kindly nature, despite her being a condescending brat basically all the time.
It was in a way warming to see that he was still at the school, but she noted with a heavy heart that time didn't seem to be treating the old stallion well.  She didn't remember him being so...delicate.  So unsteady in his movements.  Her smile fell as he coughed twice, his body shaking violently before he steadied himself.  Twilight glanced at Sunset, pleading in her eyes.  The fiery-maned mare understood, taking up a position on the other side of the elderly unicorn.
“Prof...Mister Record.  Lean on me for a bit, if you need.”
“Oh pish-posh, girl!  I'm quite--” He was interrupted by another wheezing cough.  “...h-hoh.  Well, I suppose I could use a bit of a support.  Just a small one, of course.”
“Of course.”  Sunset humored him, a sad smile on her face.
“W-well...I have to get to the lecture hall to get set up.  I'll see you there?”  Twilight looked at Sunset significantly.  She responded with a quick nod, and the lavender alicorn grinned as she turned to the stairs.  “I'll see you another time, Mister Record!”
“Have a grand afternoon, dear girl!  Oogh, the old legs just aren't what the used to be.”  The stallion shuddered as he made for the base of the stairs to take a seat.  If he had been a human he almost certainly would've needed a cane or crutch, Sunset mused.  His right forelimb seemed ready to give out at any moment.  “Say, young Miss.  I don't believe I caught your name; my apologies.  What did you say your name was?”
“Sunset Shimmer.”  The unicorn responded automatically before clapping a hoof over her mouth in shock.
The stallion froze.  He managed to raise BOTH eyebrows (which was quite an achievement, as far as Sunset could tell), his earthy brown eyes taking in the warm colors of the young mare before him.  “....it couldn't be.”
He moved with surprising speed, crossing the gap between the two and looking closely at the mare.  Sunset recalled the soul-piercing stare Rarity had subjected her to, upon their meeting.
“...As I live and breathe...it's really you, Miss Shimmer.”  The old stallion enveloped her in a shaky hug, which Sunset found herself returning with a warmth she hadn't expected from herself.  He sat on his rump, one hoof on her shoulder as he released her, chuckling as he appraised what was perhaps his most wayward of pupils.  His laughter seemed to stop as his smile turned to confusion.  “...You haven't aged a day.”
Sunset felt her insides turn to ice, briefly.  Written Record's confusion and concern morphed back into a chuckling smile as he patted her.  “Must be good blood in you, eh Miss?  Come, sit with me for a spell!  Tell an old stallion what became of his most prickly student, hohoh!”
Sunset released a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding as she took up a seat on the stairs next to her old history professor, considering how to explain what she'd experienced during the comparatively brief time she'd been gone to a pony who was certain she'd been gone for far longer.  She couldn't give him the truth; he'd never believe it, and aside from that she was reasonably sure the facts were state secrets.
“I've been...well, I've been hiding, for lack of a better way to describe it.”
“Hiding, you say?  What from, Miss?”  The old stallion sounded incredulous.  “You were quite the firebrand, as memory serves.  Though I do admit, the old think tank seems to have a few leaks these days, hohoh.”
“Not from a creature...I mean, unless you count the Princess.  She and I...we had a falling out.  We argued about something that I misunderstood, and I ran away to be alone, I guess.  I needed time to think.”
“An old R&R, you say?  I understand; sometimes you just have to get away from it all, hm.”  Record nodded, stroking his beard thoughtfully.  “So what made you decide it was time to come back?  Why did you wait so long?”
“I...I misunderstood the lesson I was being taught.  Took the wrong things away from the facts, thought that the answers would come to me if I waited long enough.  Twilight found me and helped straighten me out.  She's been helping me ever since; convinced me it was time.”  Sunset blinked slowly.  It was true, in a sense.  Not the full truth, but it wasn't wrong, either.  “I've been staying with her, catching up on things I've missed.”
“Hm hm, I see.  Where did you go into hermitage, if you don't mind an old stallion's asking?”
“Ah...little town on the frontier.  Appleloosa.”  She dredged the first name that came to mind.
Record hummed, nodding once more.  “I see.  Did you...happen to ever run into a friend of mine there?  A young fellow, sheriff these days as memory serves, by the name of Silverstar?”
“I don't believe I did.”
“Hmm...peculiar.”  The wrinkled old pony mused.  “Very peculiar.  One would've thought you would have.”
“Er...why so?  I might've been argumentative, but I wasn't a criminal.”  Sunset felt the irony burning as she lied through her teeth.
“Well, dear girl, that's because when you vanished, Appleloosa was a single-building homestead owned by Silverstar's father, Ironstar.  I should think if you were there for ten years you'dve become quite well acquainted with everyone in that house...perhaps even in town, prickly as you were.  I never heard a whit about you in all the correspondence I had with my friend.”
The mare's stomach dropped as the elderly stallion regarded her with a measured expression, his warm gaze now calculating.  She was rooted to the spot as he turned to look out at the school grounds.  The silence became oppressive, the sounds of students and their activites becoming somehow distant and terribly dim as Sunset's heart pounded in her ears.  She braced herself for...something.  She wasn't sure what.  But something.
Written Record let the silence drag out for a minute longer before sighing loudly.  “...well, it's none of my business, Miss.  Perhaps you managed to consistently slip his mind.”  He turned back to Sunset, his eyes twinkling with mirth, though tinged with what she interpreted as regret.  “No matter what the situation, it is nice to see you alive and well.”
He stood shakily, huffing with annoyance.  “In any case, I've an afternoon meal to get to!  Time waits for nopony, so I'm afraid I'm taking my leave.  Off with you, girl.  You'll miss your friend's lecture...”  Sunset nodded and turned to the stairs.  “Oh, and Miss Shimmer?”
She glanced back as Record smiled at her.  “Welcome back to the school.”





“...and in this way, we can see that the magic of friendship is unique and valuable, unlike any other kind of magic studied here on campus.  But remember that this magic is something anyone can share in!  Just remember to keep kindness, honesty, loyalty, generosity...” Twilight Sparkle paused as she glanced at the upper back corner of the hall, noting a fiery mane and sea green eyes regarding her with a grin.  She flashed a smile back as she continued, “...laughter, and forgiveness in your hearts, and enjoy the magic that they create in your life.”
The bell rang as she finished, students instinctively thrusting books in saddlebags in an attempt to escape the classroom quickly.  Sunset seemed content to remain in her seat as the other ponies in the room cleared out, so Twilight busied herself collecting her various notes and slides and stowing them as she waited.  Before she knew it, a familiar voice cleared its throat behind her.
“Nice speech there at the end, Twilight.  List seemed a little longer than I remember it being; new data come forward?”
The alicorn regarded Sunset with a wry smile as she passed her a set of saddlebags with her magic.  “I felt it was important to include.  For as much as I've learned regarding harmony, I've also learned that just the five elements don't include a lot of things that are important to keep in a bond between friends, too.  Forgiveness is especially important...even good friends sometimes step on each others hooves, and it's essential to be able to give and accept sincere apologies.”
Sunset nodded, lips pursed.  “Fair enough.  So, what's next on your list?  Don't tell me you don't have a list for the rest of your evening.  I know you do.”
“Sunset, I don't have a list for literally everything!”
“...it's in your folder with the notes on the physical elements, isn't it?”
“Ye-NO.  No.  It's not.”  Twilight pouted as she thought about the immaculately composed and carefully checked off list she was now going to have to check out long after the fact, instead of as she did things like checklists were properly checked.  She had it memorized, of course, but it was the principle of the thing!
“Uh-huh.  Well, whatever.  What's next in your mental plans, then?  Please don't try to tell me THOSE aren't a thing.”  Sunset ribbed good-naturedly as she made for the door to the hall.  The alicorn donned her own saddlebags, carefully adjusting them for her wings as she went to follow.
“I was thinking that we could stop and see my parents before we got back on the train to Ponyville.  It's been a long time since I saw them face-to-face, and we could probably sit down for dinner and catch a late train home.  How's that sound?”
Sunset thought for a moment, and responded, “Sounds reasonable enough.  It'll be interesting to meet your folks.  Where do they live?”
“The upper city, near the mountainside.”  Twilight hesitated as Sunset fixed her with an expression of disbelief.  “...what?”
“Your parents live in the upper city?  On mountainside property?  For real?”
Twilight tilted her head.  “I mean, yes.  Why is that so shocking?”
Sunset frowned as she responded, “Because that's one of the wealthiest districts in the city, second only to the manors near the castle walls where the nobles live, unless that part of town has changed dramatically.”
“Ah, yes.  That's correct.  My family is a minor branch of the House of Stars, through my mother.  That makes my mother Lady Twilight Velvet and my father Sir Night Light.”  Twilight recited the facts tonelessly, the words and details flowing into her head naturally.  Truthfully it irritated her to have them return with such ease; she'd grown very tired very quickly of reciting her nobility qualifications to bratty bourgeoisie fillies and colts while under Celestia's tutelage.  Still, Sunset only asked because she was curious, not because she was using it to gauge a pecking order.
“Oh, well.  Wouldn't that make you Lady Sparkle, then?”  Sunset thought aloud, mouth drawn as she tried to recall the protocol on inheritances regarding titles (a terribly convoluted and maze-like system, if you asked Twilight).  The lavender mare sighed as she answered.
“Yes, yes it would.”
Sunset seemed to finally get the message and smiled apologetically.  “Sorry.  Just wanted to have my facts straight.”
“As long as you don't start calling me Lady Sparkle.  Ugh, that never stopped being creepy at banquets when you'd have grown mares and stallions trying to butter you up.  I think I spent more time hiding behind the Princess than anything during those gatherings.”  Twilight felt a measure of nausea as she recalled the constant attention of grown ponies with smiles that didn't reach their eyes and constant needling about the Princess's affairs.  “In fact, I'm reasonably sure that was why she finally stopped having me attend them.”
“Sounds about right,”  Sunset grumbled.  “It was the same way for me...but I got meaner as I got older so they started just leaving me be.”  The alicorn smiled to herself as she imagined her friend being untouchable in an entirely different way than Princess Celestia.  It was an intriguing image...but then, Sunset was just an intriguing pony no matter how Twilight looked at it.  She found herself wondering what those soirees might've been like if she and the unicorn had attended together; maybe they would've been bearable with someone to talk to who wasn't constantly angling for something.
They continued to walk in companionable silence, Twilight leading the way.  As they went the lavender pony's mind was constantly in motion.
Uncharacteristically for her, instead of spinning with knowledge, calculations or data, her brain was entirely centered on the amber mare who walked a few paces behind and beside her.  How would her parents get along with her?  How would her BBBBFF get along with her?  Sunset already noted that she hadn't interacted nicely with Cadance, but that was before she had a chance to get to know her.  She'd already sent a letter to her parents saying that they might be coming over after she was done with her lecture, but did she mention that she was bringing a friend if she did?  Would they be upset?  What if there wasn't enough food?  What if she--  Twilight paused.  She took a deep breath, bringing her hoof to her chest and exhaling as she extended her forelimb away.
“...Twilight?”
Twilight started, having forgotten about the amber unicorn's presence momentarily.  She flushed, unable to find the words she wanted to use to respond.  “Hiiii..! I was breathing stress so I heart-hoofed air and now the warm attack is all up and cleared by thoughts.”
Sunset regarded the lavender pony, her mouth set in a thin line and brows furrowed in an expression of deep concern.
Twilight remained silent, face steadily growing more red until she exhaled, turning away and trotting away at an abruptly much more robust pace.  “LET'SJUSTMOVEONTHEN.”
“...if you say so.”  Sunset gave the verbal equivalent of a shrug behind her, apparently following without a problem.  But Twilight could feel the eyes on the back of her head and restrained a groan, embarrassment mounting in her mind.
She took another bracing breath.  This was fine.  Minor slip up, nothing more.  Things would be fine when they got to her parent's place.  They'd sit down for a nice dinner, everypony would be amicable, and they'd go home.  Yes.  Everything was gonna be just fine.





EVERYTHING WAS NOT GOING TO BE FINE.  NO SIR NOT FINE.  NOT FINE IN THE LEAST.
Twilight stood before her front door, hesitating.  She looked to Sunset, who tilted her head quizzically.  “Sunset, listen.  My mother...she's...ah, she can be pretty intense.  She means well, but I don't think she really agreed with the Princess's decision to train me personally.  Try not to take what she says to heart; I don't think she really understands what we've experienced.”
Her friend nodded, though the queasy expression she wore made the alicorn even more nervous.
Twilight pulled on the knocker of her old front door.  She dimly heard, though the din of her brain struggling to inform her of the utter madness of her choices, a feminine voice say, “...I'll get it, dear!”
She had only a split-second to compose herself (and was eternally grateful that Sunset was behind her and therefore couldn't see the anxiety on her face), and she did so with aplomb, all things considered.  Why, she even had a small smile on her face as the knob turned and the door swing open, her mother, a pale-coated unicorn with a two-toned white and lavender mane, waiting on the other side with a smile of her own that only barely hid a hungry, expectant expression.
“Oh, my little Sparkle!  I'm glad you decided to come up after all.  Is this your friend?”  Twilight felt no small measure of alarm at the hesitation on the last word; what was certainly recognition played out on her mother's features.
Twilight Velvet was a writer, much like her husband Night Light.  However, where Night Light was a nonfiction specialist who tended to focus on biographical and informational work with an emphasis on astronomy and its practitioners, Velvet was a fiction writer with a background in the press.  To Twilight this had rarely been a tremendous problem, but after moving into the castle, she had started to understand why this would have been a bane to any filly or colt.  Velvet excelled at picking up on small details and context clues; it was very hard to lie to her and the act only seemed to encourage her to pry harder.  Shining Armor could attest to the futility of attempting any subterfuge with her.  It was perhaps made worse by her excellent memory and penchant for holding grudges.
Twilight Velvet, who in theory had never met Sunset Shimmer, clearly knew her name and face,  and given what Twilight knew of Sunset's history and previous behavior patterns, this was very, very bad.
“...Mom, this is--”
“Sunset Shimmer.”  The mare herself answered, stepping forward and nodding respectfully.  “I'm a friend of Twilight's, back from a long sabbatical out of town.”
“Is that so?  Well, any friend of Sparkle's is a friend of ours, I always say!”  Velvet responded in a voice that sounded entirely too saccharine to the young princess's ears, who kept a measured eye on her mother as they entered the house.
Twilight's childhood home was not humble by most measures; no abode in the second richest borough of the city was.    It was a two-story edifice with five bedrooms and four baths, an almost professionally sized kitchen and living area equipped with a fireplace most other modern amenities a relatively wealthy family could afford, almost all artfully woven into the décor to make it seem as though it had been intended to be there since the house was built a few generations back.  There was a pleasant sort of creaking to the floors as Twilight entered; she smiled as she remembered which floorboards made sounds and which didn't.
The most ostentatious part of the home was the large patio situated on the roof, accessible through a door from a flight of stairs on the second floor.  It opened to the sky facing away from the mountainside, and it was where Night Light could often be found stargazing, when he wasn't in his study furiously writing.  Twilight would've gone there first, but it seemed her father had opted to meet her midway, a grin splitting the stallion's face as he hailed her from the kitchen stairwell.
“There's my brightest star!  Welcome home, sweetie.”  The navy blue stallion punctuated his greeting with a warm hug.  Twilight held on to him for a moment, savoring the calming familiarity of her father's presence before responding.
“Thanks, Dad.  How's the book coming along?”
Night Light released her and responded enthusiastically, “Publisher's going over the final draft right now, so hopefully it's ready for the presses!  I'm ready for that one to be behind me, hoo boy.”  He chuckled as he pulled a glass from the kitchen cabinet and filled it at the sink.  “Who's your friend?”  He looked beyond her to Sunset Shimmer, who stepped into the kitchen proper with an uncomfortable demeanor.  Velvet entered behind her, all smiles even as she radiated an almost palpable aura of menace.  Twilight could see the internal sigh in her father's eyes as he noticed it.
"Dad, this is Sunset, a friend of mine.  I hope it's okay that I brought her along..."
"Of course!"  Night Light grinned.  "Anypony who's a friend to my kids is friend to me; the more the merrier, yeah?"
“Well, then!  Since we're all here, I think now's a fine time to sit down to dinner, don't you think?”  Velvet spoke, her tone making it clear that this was not in the least an optional event.
Night nodded.  “Yeah, seems good.  I'm starving.  Let's set the table, kiddos.”





Twilight had only sat down to three meals that were horribly awkward with her parents in her life.  The first was the night Shining Armor had announced his intent to join the Royal Guard.  The second was the night Princess Celestia had announced her intent to make Twilight her personal pupil, and the last was during a 'parent-teacher conference' Twilight's mother had insisted on with the Princess (and hadn't been able to repeat).  It seemed fate had decided that four was the magic number, because the atmosphere in the room was absolutely chilly.
Not for lack of effort, anyway.  Night Light was as genial as he ever was, asking Sunset about her hobbies, interests and so forth.  It wasn't until Velvet pointedly asked her what her job was that things turned very south.
“I'm currently working as an archivist for Twilight.  I'm helping to sort records, documents, and so on...”
Velvet nodded, putting her fork down in her salad bowl (scandalous, some high-class ponies might say).  “An archivist, how nice.  How did you meet my little girl?”
Sunset considered her answer carefully.  “The Princess sent her to me to help sort out a problem I was wrapped up in.  Twilight--er, Sparkle, that is--is very good at getting ponies to get along, in addition to being very knowledgeable.  If it hadn't been for her, there's no telling how long the issue might've dragged on.”
Night Light grinned at the lavender alicorn as he quipped, “That's my girl.  So you two hit it off while working together?”
The amber mare smiled.  “Yeah.  Twilight's special talent and my special talent are almost the same, so it was really nice to be able to talk to someone who really understood me.  After that, we just started corresponding regularly, and we decided it would be nice if I came to visit for awhile.  I didn't want to just leech off of her, so I volunteered for the filing work while I'm staying.”
Velvet's smile steadily shrank in warmth and grew in sharpness to it as she continued, “Oh, that's lovely.  Your talent is magic in all its forms too?  How interesting.  Why, Sparkle's talents necessitated,” she ground out the word, “the Princess taking her under her wing to help her keep it under control...she even studied at the Princess's school.  Since the Princess sent her to you, you must know or at least work for her.  Am I mistaken?”
“N-no.  I did study at the School for Gifted Unicorns;  I guess in a way Twilight was my junior.”  Sunset responded, a prickle in her neck rising.  This mare was hungry for something and if Sunset didn't know any better she'dve guessed it was her soul.
“Ah, I see.  Well, the reason I ask is I'm reasonably sure that the Princess had another personal student before my little filly caught her eye.  Ran into her once on school grounds while signing Sparkle up for the aptitude tests.  Rude thing, but stupendously powerful.  Saw the wreckage she made of the school's roof while doing an aptitude test of her own.”
Twilight felt ice form in her stomach.
“Funny thing was, she disappeared not long after Sparkle passed,” She continued to emphasize viciously certain words.  “And she hasn't been seen since, not for at least ten years.  I don't know if you know, Miss Shimmer, but we're a minor noble house, and so I've attended a few gatherings of the social elite, and the consensus was that the fiery young mare that the Princess had kept as her personal student was gone without a trace.  There were many theories, of course.”
Twilight felt a flicker of anger at her mother's toying, but she could see plainly the fury that was mounting in Sunset.  She wasn't able to react before Sunset set down her fork, staring clearly at Velvet in what could only be a challenge.
"Theories, huh?"
Velvet didn't seem to hear as she went on, “Some said she left in a huff, and departed for parts unknown.  Others mused that she had been sent as an ambassador and auxiliary to another nation, the better to propagate the kingdoms...the Princess's interests.  But the one I felt most plausible was that she had been disposed of.”
Sunset visibly bristled, her cyan eyes glaring daggers at Twilight's mother.  “You don't know what you're talking about.”
Twilight herself sat up, indignantly chipping in, “The Princess doesn't dispose of anypony, Mother!”
Velvet put up her hooves, tone conciliatory.  “Of course not.  Of course not...  I'm not implying a terrible fate befell her.  That would be just heinous and not at all in character for the Princess.  I'm just saying I find it entirely plausible that, if the Princess found somepony that was worth teaching, who she decided had more potential, that she might forget her existing students.  That they might fall by the wayside.  She's a very busy mare, after all.”
Twilight placed her hooves on the table.  “Stop.”  She hissed, anger starting to boil over.  “Don't do this tonight, Mother.”
“Her most precious student, suddenly gone!  A vacancy by her side, filled with my little girl!  So,"  She continued, her voice now strangely sad and pitying.  "Where did she send you, Sunset Shimmer?  Where did she throw you away until she sent my daughter to pick up her mess for her, again?”
Sunset narrowed her eyes and responded, her tone daring the other unicorn to press her. "You don't know what you're talking about, Mrs. Velvet."  Twilight cringed internally; her mother didn't shirk from challenges.
"Don't I?  Well, since you seem to have implied you do know, how about you tell me what happened?  How did you REALLY meet Sparkle?"  Velvet began firing off questions at high speed, each making Sunset more and more visibly upset.  "What actually happened between you and Celestia?  Why did she--"  
A loud bang shook the table as a hoof impacted, dinnerware rumbling.  All mares present jumped and looked in surprise at Night Light, who had been relatively silent until this moment.
“Velvet.  That's enough.  You know better.”  The stallion's golden eyes glinted with a soft-spoken condemnation, his disappointment clear.  “...Girls, I'll clean the table up.  Why not step outside, get some air?  The balcony's upstairs and has a great view of the city and the sky.”  His intonation, while polite, brooked no argument.  Twilight and Sunset both acquiesced, defeat on the former's face.  Velvet remained at the table as the pair ascended the stairwell, staring intensely at the amber mare as they went.





Sunset closed the door to the balcony gently as  Twilight paced to the railing, a sigh of her own escaping her.  The alicorn's head was pounding, a sick and hollow feeling of anger in her stomach.  She buried her head in her hooves as she leaned on the rail, feeling rather than seeing Sunset pace up beside her.  Tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes.  She felt a hoof pat her gingerly on the shoulder, prompting her to look up at her friend with surprise.
"...sorry.  I wasn't really sure what else to do."  Sunset admitted, sheepish.
"Shouldn't this be the other way around?  She was giving you the third degree."  Twilight joked, wiping the offending moisture from her face.
"Yeah, well."  Sunset stared up, her expression darkening.  This face Twilight had hoped not to see on the pony Sunset, this scowl of quiet, simmering anger that promised retribution to the pony that crossed her.  She opened her mouth to speak but the unicorn cut her off.  "...I get that she's worried about you, or she thinks she is.  So I can try to let it go."
The remained in silence for a minute.  Twilight's mind eventually began trying to construct a way to fix the situation, to rectify the mistakes made.  Even as she did, she knew that there was no salvaging this scenario.  You couldn't take back things you already spoke, after all.  Well, you could, but it wouldn't mean anything if you weren't sincere about it.  Velv--no, her mother-- had already made clear her position on the matter.  She inhaled, frustration clawing at her mind.  It wasn't fair.  It wasn't fair.  Not to her, not to Sunset, not to the Princess, not to anyone.
“...Sunset, I--”
“It's okay, Twilight.”  The quick response stunned the alicorn, who looking to her friend in surprise.
“'Okay'?  How can this be okay?”
The unicorn paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts.  “...Well, it's not.  Your mom really...really made me angry there for a bit.  But then,”  She chuckled humorlessly, “You did warn me she was 'intense'.  And even then...she's not necessarily wrong.  But that's the way it goes.  I shouldn't have...well.  Nothing to be done about it now.”
Twilight's heart dropped.  No, this wasn't alright in the least.  Why was she being so hard on herself?  She had come so far and it seemed like every time she was fine she dropped another line of this self-deprecation.  That couldn't be healthy, could it?  She struggled to find some way to refute Sunset.  How could just...forgive?  Comprehension dawned on her:  she'd forgotten her own lesson.  Spite wouldn't solve anything; Sunset knew that better than anypony...  But at the same time, she followed that forgiveness with this leaden weight of sorrow, cloaking her mind in chains of self-recrimination Twilight was sure she'd gotten past.  The paradox made her heart ache, and she wanted so badly to say something, anything, to bring her back to a positive state of mind.
Instead there was silence.
For a few minutes, they sat, staring at the sky.  Twilight found herself looking to Sunset every now and again, the unicorn's expression hard to read.  She seemed to be looking for something, or perhaps more accurately, trying to find something to occupy herself.  There was something that pulled at the alicorn, a distant sorrow she was unfamiliar with as she watched her friend's eyes dart back and forth, not settling or focusing on anything, unable to concentrate, to keep her thoughts from churning.  She followed the lines of her jaw, the curls in her mane, the vibrant patterns in her mane.  She wasn't conscious of the fact that she was staring, and to her surprise, the unicorn noticed her watching from the corner of her eye and turned to her.  "...what?  Something on my face?"
"Uh, no.  Sorry."  She felt an unfamiliar warmth in her cheeks, pausing to compose herself before continuing.  "...let's just go home, Sunset."  Twilight was taken aback by how tired and drained she sounded to herself.  Sunset gave her an appraising look before nodding.





They made it to the front door before Night Light met them, his expression somber.  "...you girls okay?"  At their conflicted expressions, he passed their saddlebags to them with a golden magical field that matched his eyes.  It wasn't until they had strapped them on that he said, “...I'm sorry, sweetie.  I didn't mean for this to happen.  I just wanted us to sit down for a nice dinner.  Together, like we used to.  I think Velvet did too, but...”
Twilight felt a surge of guilt for leaving her father so quickly...but at the same time, she couldn't stay near her mother tonight.  Not after that catastrophe.  “It's...it's okay, Dad.  Maybe we can get together another time.”
“...you know she loves you, right?”
Twilight hesitated at the threshold, Sunset pausing on the sidewalk to look back at her.  “...yeah.  I know.  But part of loving somepony is accepting their friends, and their choices.”  She glanced back at her father, an resigned, hollow smile on her face.  “I'll see you around, Daddy.  Say bye to Mom for me.”
Night Light nodded as she turned back to the street.  Twilight didn't see his sad expression turn into a barely contained rictus of grief as they walked away.
The trip to the station was largely uneventful.  Neither of the mares really seemed inclined to speak.  There wasn't really anything to say as they boarded the evening train, stars twinkling merrily on the canvas of the sky as though nothing of import had happened.  They instead sat quietly on the bench, Twilight studying Sunset's reflection in the train's window.