Will this paperwork ever cease? Heh. I've asked myself that same question every day for a millennium now.
Celestia sat on her throne with a massive pile of stacked papers floating in front of her. The papers contained all the usual items and petitions that were now a daily occurrence. The common ponies wanted this. The noble ponies wanted that. Ponyville wanted to contact her instead of contacting the local government there. Nothing of importance, nothing of urgency, nothing that required an ounce of care from her.
"This will take me all day," she uttered aloud, attracting the attention of one young white earth pony with a dark brown mane.
"Is everything alright, Your Highness? Can I assist you in some way?" the mare earth pony asked.
"Nothing is wrong, my dear Raven," Celestia kindly answered. "All it is is this mundane and truly boring paperwork. Every year, these requests become more selfish and more repetitive. All this valuable parchment and ink wasted on trivial matters..."
"Well, as your secretary, I am here to help with such paperwork," Raven smiled.
"Perhaps I do need help," Celestia then paused and lowered her voice. "You do know of the palace's new resident, right?"
"Of course!" the mare beamed. "The maids told me. I have not seen this thief, but she sounds like a firecracker."
"More like a cannon blast..."
"You want to have more time with her, don't you, Your Highness?"
Celestia nodded. "It's been five days since she broke in here. After that first day, I've hardly had time to see her. One party this, one invitation that, paperwork, paperwork, and then all the hearings. I don't want my work to interfere with me teaching my new pupil. So far, however, it seems that I have no choice."
"The maids say she sits in front of the vault. They say she just watches it for hours some time," Raven stated in a worried whisper.
"It's true. I've caught her standing in front of it more than once. It puts me and the guards on edge. I feel that she believes her mission of stealing my artifacts is still possible. She should realize that the vault is sealed so heavily for a reason. There are items in that vault that are locked away from pony eyes and manipulation."
"Your Highness, is it wise that you keep a criminal on palace grounds? She could hurt somepony," Raven gulped.
"My dear Raven, she's not a complete menace. She is young and reckless, but I believe it's easy to remain on neutral terms with her. She's simply misguided and we should not shy away from her because of that. Isolation does not work; relationships do."
"I understand. I know I shouldn't question your judgement, but I really want to," Raven admitted.
"Do not be afraid to question me. I understand your concern. I wish the very best for my staff."
"Um, do you need help?"
"Why yes, I do! Thank you for volunteering, my lovely Raven. Here," Celestia cast the stack of papers in front of the secretary. "Take the stamp with my signature and reject or accept as many as you can. It is the day that I should read all of them, but today shall not be that day! Take care! I need to check up on my student really, really quick."
Raven blinked in confusion as the princess ran off in a hurry, leaving her with the stack of papers that was taller than herself. As secretary to the princess, she knew this was her job, but that did not mean she looked forward to it. With a long sigh, she grabbed a red and a green stamp and prepared to press Celestia's fake signature on as many insignificant and petty petitions as possible.
"Better just reject them all so that I don't do something stupid," she said to herself. "Naw, that be boring. Here's goes nothing!"
Sunset sat in her room, absently spinning a pencil round in a circle on her small desk table. She did not have the anti-magic device on her horn, but there were two Royal Guards armed with spears guarded the doorway. They stood placidly, not being bothered by her at all. She would look at them from time to time, but they never returned her hateful glares.
So she watched the pencil spin. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow. With the slight glow from her horn, the pencil was at a constant fast rotation, only slowing down when her mind greatly wandered, which was quite often.
Her room was not like the princess's chambers in the slightest. It was comprised of two levels with all the walls acting as bookshelves that reached the high flat ceiling. She had no balcony, as it was in one of the middle floors of the palace, but one side of the room was almost one giant window separated into four tall rectangles. The desk was on the higher floor that was next to one of the elaborately decorated windows. The bed was on the lower floor, almost underneath the flight of stairs that connected the levels. It was some sort of small library that was roughly converted to a guest bedroom at some time. The white floors and odd decorative pony statues all suggested this was a public location, but in this case, it was Sunset's new mostly private study.
"Spending days here, losing time," she muttered lowly to herself. "You had to get caught, didn't you? You little imbecile! Should have planned my escape route better. Should have just ran for it!"
The pencil burst into flames, leaving a pile of ash that did not hurt the desk at all. The thief rolled her eyes and took another pencil from a jar that had several of them. Just like the last one, she started to spin it with her magic. Her cheeks sat on her hooves and she watched the pencil keep spinning.
The doors to her room opened up. The Princess of the Sun marched in proudly and looked to the two guards who flanked the entrance. After whispering something in their ears, they bowed and exited the room, leaving the two alone. Sunset did not directly look at the princess, but she felt her presence immediately. She groaned annoyingly and the spinning pencil, like the last one, burst into a flame more intense than the last one.
"Hello!" Celestia called out from the bottom of the steps. "How have you been doing this day?"
"Much better without you..."
The princess smiled. "As expected."
"So what menial task are you gonna make me do now? I've already scrubbed your stalls, swept the kitchen, and read that dumb book on historic unicorns," she droned as the princess walked up to her.
"You're not some slave," Celestia rolled her eyes. "You tried to escape last night and knocked over the flour in the kitchen, so you had to clean it up, the servants needed help with the bathroom stalls, and you did not read the book."
Sunset turned her head to the princess. "What makes you think I didn't read the book?" she demanded rudely.
"Well, because it's right over there in a pile of ash," Celestia pointed at a thick half-burned book that was tossed in a dark corner of the room. Some puffs of smoke still floated above it, showing that there were still some embers smoldering on the ruined pages. Sunset looked over at the object in question and shrugged.
"It had nothing useful," was her comment.
"Is that a reason to destroy my book?"
"Is that a reason for me to care?"
"I take it you simply like burning things up? You steal for sport. You destroy for keen enjoyment too?"
"Let's just say I like burning things."
She is not lying there. "That you do..."
"Looky, Your Royal Painess, simply locking me up in this room and making me read a bunch of books is not gonna turn me into a little angel for you to like. You want something out of me, then make me do something legit. Let's fight in the basement. Magic versus magic. That's a start right there."
Celestia sat her rear down and cocked her head. "I'm not sure that would be appropiate little-"
"What did I say about calling me 'little?'"
"Alright, young one. Do not worry, I shall set you out there. Now, one reason I've come to you is because I finally arranged a time for us to meet with the my school's counsel members to evaluate your magical prowess. If you pass, which is most probable, you shall be officially enrolled into my school. There you can meet other unicorns with magical skills and perhaps even make friends. You should look forward to it. We shall practice how you should behave in front of these important ponies tomorrow. I do not have much time with you here today, so we cannot start immediately."
"I'll show them what I'm made of," Sunset chuckled and actually smiled. "I bet you money I could beat all of the staff members with my magic."
"I would not bet against you. However, treat them with respect. Like myself, they are your elders. They have seen plenty of unicorns fail and plenty succeed."
"Celly, I don't need this school. If you want me to learn, that's fine, but I already know what they teach at your little school for gifted brats."
"Then perhaps you should teach at my school. I would not be surprised if that is your true calling."
"My true calling is being out there," Sunset gestured at the window. "I belong on the streets, not in a palace."
"Why is that? Is somepony waiting for you out there?"
Sunset then sighed and looked at the desk. Her sudden silence made the princess uneasy. Celestia waited for an answer, too afraid to break the silence and interrupt the thoughts of the thief. When it was certain she was done talking, Celestia simply shut her lips tightly and stood up.
"Well then, I hope you can find some enjoyment in the many books here. A magic user has to research before being able to perform spells, so I know that you do enjoy reading and studying, even if you dare not admit it. Take care Sunset Shimmer."
The thief turned her head to the window and remained as silent as ever. The princess waited a single moment before turning and walking out of the room. When the doors shut, Sunset released a breath she was seemingly holding in until the ruler left. Her eyes still wandered beyond the glass to the high spires and white stone structures of the city that stretched out into the far distance. That was her home, not this ancient palace where nothing happened.
"I'll be with you again, I promise," she uttered to the nothingness.
Her magic enveloped a large orange book and she levitated it to her desk. Her precise magic opened it to reveal pages full of illustrations and lengthy words. It was a perfect book, void of any mishaps, spotless, appearing unused, and unharmed from any damage. Her eyes glanced at the pages, reading the words in a ridiculous speed. The words made sense, the pictures were brilliant. It was a truly immaculate piece of informative literature teaching the ways of high level magic. Even though her mind was elsewhere, she read the words with a quickness and she still retained their messages.
"I've read this one before," she muttered.
That did not stop her from reading on or inspecting each page like it foretold an ancient prophecy. The words were read aloud in her head by a sweet and kind voice not all to different from hers. Each syllable was pronounced like it was crucial part of a heroic story of knights and dragons. The pictures, still dull in their portrayal, seemed to move with the ecstasy of the imaginary narrator. A narrator that was long lost to its listener. A narrator only in mind that could never take corporeal shape again.
And upon these perfect pages a tear drop landed and left a ruining wet mark on the book forever.