//------------------------------// // Interlude: An Invitation // Story: The Many Destinies of Sunset Shimmer // by ratedoni //------------------------------// Interlude: An invitation The last door on the long hall was finally closed leaving the red and gold haired woman with more questions than answers; since arriving to this bizarre place and its bizarre owner. With one last look to the doors she started to walk behind him full of questions without answer. “So what did you thought?” the man asked her taking her out of her ruminations. “It was weird how much she was enjoying the idea of having to shoot other creatures” he had to admit it was a valid thought. “Well, she was never touched by the magic of friendship so she has a different perspective, much more militaristic; remember that in her own way she is a hero, just not very conventional” “I’ll take your word for it” she said sitting down at the lounge chair while looking at the window. No matter how many times she looked through it she was always fascinated by the view outside, after all, how many times you could say you had a perfect view to outer space. It was out of both worlds Sunset had ever lived in, and that was saying something considering her adventures; lounge chairs, tea table filled with nibble cakes, macaroons, madeleine biscuits and butter cookies brought by a girl identical to Pinkie Pie but had none of the exuberance, but just the great taste for snacks and service that the pink menace back home had achieved through experience and hard work. Taking one sniff Sunset completely relaxed at noticing the fragrance of chamomile perfectly brewed and showing the manners of a perfect host, The Observer carefully filled a cup for her before doing the same for his own, it was indeed a bizarre experience, taking tea in the middle of a house floating in outer space, but weird seemed to be her life’s destiny. “Now that we are a little bit more comfortable why don’t you tell me about the doors my dear?” he said crossing a leg over the other and interlacing his hands, his small smile present creating the picture of a perfect gentleman, it reminded Sunset of several teachers she had back in Equestria, the ones that had seen everything and were guiding you to the answer instead of giving it to you. “The doors are… well, doors to another universe, places where the portal didn’t take me to the universe I live in, at least most of them but also where things didn’t go exactly the same” “And what happened in those dimensions? Please tell me the details you remember” he said taking a careful sip of his tea. “In the first one I was some kind of knight” “Ah yes, the Saints of Athena, truly a worthy story to tell, so much sacrifice from those boys and their goddess, but it seems that the you from that world has a great responsibility in her life now that she is out of the Fury’s control” he said pushing the plate of butter cookies in Sunset’s direction while she took one, enjoying the smooth flavor and the way it practically melted on her mouth. “She was under her control all that time, she acted like me but she was a prisoner but I don’t have that excuse” “Oh come on my dear, do not open healed injuries, your situations were different but both of you grew from them, besides, you cannot blame yourself in that way, it is also the responsibility of the teacher to guide the student and if the student fails it is also the teacher’s failure” “How is that so?” “For what I understand of your life, and my apologies if I seem a little impertinent in my opinion, is that Celestia was always fighting your ego and arrogance but in the wrong way, after all she was simply pushing her ideas down your throat without even attacking the source of your arrogance… pain, the pain that you felt when Celestia found out your cutie mark was not the one that was found in the Tree of Harmony” he said in a soft voice softening the blow to Sunset. The young woman looked at the content of her tea cup remembering the day she gained her cutie mark, how happy she have felt, thinking of how proud her teacher would be once she found out the cutie mark so similar to her teacher, but instead she found only disappointment because the cutie mark branded her as one pony who was not destined to greatness, because she wasn’t Twilight Sparkle. “That is one sin that Celestia keeps on remembering even to this day, not that I don’t think she shouldn’t, after all it is one thing to tell a child the truth and work through the disappointment in a healthy way, but another is to hide the truth from the child and make her believe that if she only worked harder she would be able to become a princess too. No, the pain she put you through is her own making; besides, the one you were responsible for you already paid for it so forget that melancholy, keep telling me about the worlds you saw” he said with that same smile making Sunset relax while remembering the next world she saw. “That other me… she was in a Japanese high school for monsters and she was able to transform into the she-demon, how?” “Well, one has to remember that the place was built with monsters in mind, with the multitude of protective shields and old magic spells found inside is no wonder that the energy the Sunset of that world absorbed brought that side; but at least you can take some comfort in the fact that she was capable of retaining her mind” “I suppose that is good and… what’s that?” Sunset asked hearing the sound of the elevator at the end of the hall signaling the arrival of someone, then the doors opened and a woman wearing a very beautiful but very professional suit with skirt combination walked in their direction and she couldn’t believe what she was looking at “Rainbow Dash?” she asked to the multicolor haired girl in front of her. “So you are the Sunset Shimmer the boss brought here right? Well, guess I won’t have to introduce myself, either way, you got a letter” she said presenting a sealed square paper to the suited man before returning to the elevator much to the confusion of Sunset. “I suppose if you have a Pinkie Pie as maid why not Rainbow Dash as secretary?” Sunset finally said letting it go, after all, she was dealing with someone that could get access to other dimensions, what could be crazier than that? “If there is one thing that I love about parallel dimensions is the irony they can produce sometimes” The Observer said adjusting his think black rimmed glasses before opening the letter and quickly scanning the contents “well, seems like we have been invited to a tea party, how exciting” “How can a tea party be exciting? And how did you get the letter anyway?” “All in good time my dear, and about that tea party, well, I doubt it will go like one of Celestia’s parties, more like a certain red wedding” he said grabbing his umbrella that had been hanging from a chair before walking in the direction of the elevator. “Wait, red wedding? Isn’t that from Game of Thrones? What kind of people you know?” “The most striking and enchanting after all, although, if you find someone called Madeline Hatter don’t get close to her tea” he said hitting a button closing the elevator doors sending both himself and Sunset to what would be a tea party of epicness never seen before.