//------------------------------//
// Chapter 45 - Sunset 
// Story: Second Chances, Many Changes 
// by ASGeek2012 
//------------------------------//

Lyra finally broke herself out of her stunned silence, but not to partake of more of her half-eaten meal of hayburger and fries. Instead, she drew back and stared at me in shock and perhaps a little disbelief. "Wait a minute," she said, lifting a hoof to her forehead. "You're telling me that you used to be one of these creatures?"

I couldn't help but grin as I levitated my hayburger and took a large bite. Maybe she was hanging on my words too much to want to eat, but I wasn't about to deny myself this hard-won indulgence. I admit, I had waited until the very end to drop the final bombshell just to maximize the drama. "Yeah, but to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure my people are the same as the ones you're talking about."

She recoiled slightly. "What, are you serious? You described exactly what I think they look like. Even your friend in the alley looked like them!"

I paused to pop several hayfries into my mouth with the same magical ease as I had before the whole mess with Sevfivtoo. Thanks to not using my horn at all for a week, the doctor said I had healed faster than expected. As a reward, Mom let me have this fast-food repast. As I had suspected, fast-food in Equestria was just as sinfully tasty as it had been on Earth. "Okay, just why did you start believing in them? I never read anything about them in any of the books that Twilight lent me."

The fact that the Equestrian language had no direct translation for the word "human" had made me suspicious from the start. The closest I could come was "hairless monkey," which sounded kind of silly. I wondered if Discord had previously used his world-hopping abilities to play a little trick on poor Lyra.

"Well, I admit, it's pretty obscure," said Lyra as she finally turned her attention back to her meal. "Mostly ancient legends that go back pretty far."

While one of the books Twilight had given me was about ancient myths, I had not delved into it to deeply. I munched on more of my burger before responding. "So no archaeological stuff?"

"Unfortunately, no. The legends go back to before the Diarchy was formed, even before Equestria existed. They talked about these creatures visiting from another land and befriending the ponies here. But once you told me about what you used to be, I'm thinking now that maybe what they had really meant was that they came from another world."

"I dunno what to tell you," I said. "I mean, yeah, there's lots of old stories and myths about strange lands and such in my world, but none of them quite matches Equestria."

"But your world had legends of unicorns and pegasi," said Lyra.

"Yeah, not to mention griffins and dragons."

"So could that be a connection?"

Lyra was really eager for answers, and I wished I could provide them. She had been very patient in waiting for me to be ready to talk about this. "You might be right, but I have no way to know for sure." I paused to slurp down some of my milkshake. "Sorry I couldn't be of more help."

Lyra sighed but smiled faintly as she levitated her burger. "It's okay. At least now I know that they really do exist, and I'm not just crazy. Thank you for talking to me about it."

I finished off the last of my burger and idly swirled the remaining fries in the air. "And thank you for toning it down a bit."

Her smile widened. "I should be thanking you in that regard."

I peeled off a hayfry from their impromptu flight formation and gulped it down. "Hmm?"

"When you, ah, read Bon Bon and I the riot act, you really helped us." She hesitated, glancing to the side. "We had another little spat on the day of Cranky and Matilda's wedding. It's kind of private what it was about, but we smoothed it over a lot faster than we would have if you hadn't talked to us."

I smiled. I actually did feel good that I had helped them, even if that hadn't quite been my intent at the time. I still wasn't sure if it were of the same caliber as "solving a friendship problem" as Pinkie had put it. Either way, though, it was good news for a change.

Everything had been looking up lately. No monsters to fight, no strange artifacts to decipher, no crisis to keep me on edge for days or weeks at a time. Of course, part of me believed that meant that the other horseshoe had yet to drop ...

As if on cue, Lyra grinned and leaned closer to me. "Oh, and that reminds me, I wanted to ask you something. How did you manage to replicate Bon Bon's old dress like that?"

I paused with the last of the hayfries poised before my muzzle. "Um, I didn't."

Lyra chuckled. "Oh, I see. Trade secret, huh?"

I raised an eyebrow. "How about no secret? I did what I said I had done: I patched the dress."

Lyra tilted her head and gave me a dubious look.

"Why do you think I did otherwise?"

"Because the dress is perfect!" Lyra said. "Like it was never damaged in the first place."

"Lyra, if you're trying to be nice to me, I appreciate it, but--"

"No, that's not it at all," said Lyra. "I didn't notice myself until after Bon Bon and I had a lovely dinner together and took a walk in the moonlight afterward. That's when we both noticed how wonderful it looked."

So now I had another theory. I started to suspect that their relationship went a little deeper than a friendship, and Lyra had been distracted by other emotions.

Perhaps my doubt had shown on my face, as Lyra rolled her eyes and said, "Look, talk to Bon Bon yourself if you don't believe me."

I finally finished off the last hayfry and took one last long pull at the straw of my milkshake until it gurgled. "Maybe I will." I hopped off the seat. "Sorry to eat and run, but I have to get back to the boutique."

Lyra nodded and smiled. "Thanks again for taking the time to talk to me."

I levitated a few extra bits onto the table to cover my half of the tip. "No problem. Maybe we can do it again sometime."

"I'd like that. See you around."

I flashed her one last smile before heading away. The more I thought on it, the more I wanted to see that dress for myself. I glanced at the clock on the wall just before I stepped through the doors of the restaurant. If I headed over to Bon Bon's place right away, I just might not be too late getting back to the boutique.

I turned sharply around the corner of the building, and ducked down the alleyway that ran alongside it. I rushed towards the street beyond, hoping this would be a short cut ...

... only to nearly crash into somepony while I was going full gallop.

I skidded to a halt, and only by bumping into the other pony did I manage not to fall onto my muzzle. Out the corner of my eye, something fluttered to the ground, but I ignored it. When I drew back, I was staring not at a pony, but a donkey. A balding and rather upset donkey.

"Watch where you're going!" the donkey snapped, his mouth drawn into a scowl.

"Er, sorry," I said sheepishly.

"You always go around trying to knock poor old donkeys to the ground?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Look, I said I was sorry, okay?"

"Lemme guess, you're a teenager," growled the donkey. "I always did think the ponies in this town were crazy, but teenagers even more so."

I gritted my teeth. "Yeah, okay, fine. I'm a crazy teenager, but I really need to get going."

Halfway through my sentence, the donkey rolled his eyes upward, then frowned even more and touched a hoof to his head. "Wait a minute! Where did it go?!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Where did what go?"

The donkey narrowed his eyes at me. "So that's it, huh? Not good enough to run me down, you gotta try to embarrass me, too!"

My eyes widened, and I started to back up a step. "I have no clue what you're -- huh?"

My left fore-hoof had stepped on something. I lifted it and looked down. A clump of hair sat on the ground. I stared at it for some time, glancing at his bald head before I realized what it was. "Oh."

The donkey made a growling noise.

I levitated the toupee and tried to arrange it as neatly as I could back on his head. He slapped his hoof on it. "Stop it! I'll fix it myself!"

"Yeah, sorry," I murmured. "I'll, uh, just be on my way, okay?"

The donkey raised an eyebrow. "Wait."

Now what? "Yeah?"

"You're that pony Matilda mentioned. Candy something."

"Candy Swirl. And ... er, Matilda?" I tilted my head. "Are you Cranky Doodle?"

"No, I'm Princess Celestia in disguise," Cranky deadpanned. "Who else would I be?"

Were we talking about the same Matilda? That sweet little donkey married this walking ball-o-grump?

"Matilda's been all over town looking for Princess Twilight," said Cranky. "And she roped me into helping her. You got any idea where she's at?"

"She's in Canterlot," I said. "She's helping the other princesses set up for the, uh, what did she call it, the Grand Equestrian Pony Summit."

"Figures," Cranky muttered. "All this trouble for nothing. I tried to tell her it was a darn fool idea to begin with, but when she gets something in her head--"

"Why does Matilda want to see Twilight?"

Cranky scowled. "Teenagers. Always interrupting."

I frowned. "You know what? Never mind. Next time I see Twilight after she gets back, I'll let her know Matilda wants to talk to her. See ya."

I whirled around and took off. Great, now I had zero time to stop by Bon Bon's place thanks to the most appropriately named denizen of Ponyville next to Derpy.





The incident with Cranky had left my mane in disarray, so I entered the boutique via the back entrance. I heard Mom's hoof-falls upstairs, as well as somepony wandering about the front room. I ducked into the bathroom, hastily smoothed out my mane, and headed to the front. "Welcome to the Carousel Boutique. How may I help you?"

A brown stallion turned towards me, and from the hourglass cutie mark, I recognized him immediately. He was the pony I was forced to leave high and dry the day of the wedding just after Mom had closed up the shop due to the bugbear. He had the same suit with him as he had that day. "Ah, yes, my dear, just the pony I wished to see!"

"Um ... I am?"

With a flick of his head, he tossed the suit on the counter. "While I had intended to bring this in for a simple alteration -- it's a bit too tight in the shoulders -- I discovered that it apparently fought what was likely a valiant but, sadly, losing battle in the end, leaving it wounded."

I turned the suit over. "Wounded? Oh ..."

Near the bottom hem of the suit, a ragged hole had been torn in the fabric. No, scratch that, more like chewed.

"The creature responsible for this travesty unfortunately got away, the scoundrel!" said the stallion.

"A moth, you mean?"

"Yes, indeed! And it actually laughed at me as it eluded my attempts to swat it."

"Of course it did," I deadpanned.

"I was hoping I could call upon your masterful skill at patching it."

How many ponies did Lyra and Bon Bon tell about this? "Well, I'll try, anyway." I levitated a tape measure from under the counter. "But let me take your measurements for the alteration before I write up the order."

As I took the measurements, I realized I had been right. I could have likely done the alterations for him that day if I hadn't already have other plans. At least he didn't seem upset with having to wait until now. "All right, I think I got it," I said as I levitated a pad and quill before me. "Can I have your name, please?"

"Yes, of course. It's Doctor Whooves."

I paused. "Is that H-o-o-"

"Actually, it's W-h-o-o-v-e-s. Or just 'The Doctor' if you prefer."

I paused again.

He smiled. "No worries, my dear, it's a common mistake."

So he's The Doctor. And has a time-related cutie mark.

Nope, not going there.

"I'll have this ready in two days," I said.

"Smashing!" said Doctor Whooves. "I'll be off, then."

As he left the boutique, I levitated the suit and trotted towards the work room in the back, tilting my head up as I passed the stairs. "Hey, Mom, where are you?"

"Candy! Get up here!" came her sudden cry.

I flinched, one hoof poised in mid-step, my ears flattening. Now what? "Er, be right there," I said as I rushed into the work room to place the suit upon a ponyquin and pin the order to it.

I bolted up the stairs. At the top, I found the door to my room open and heard movement within. I face-hoofed; I had "forgotten" to clean my room again. I sighed and trotted forward. "Mom, I can explain. I've been very busy lately, and I only just started using my horn again in--"

I stopped as I stepped into my room. My closet was open, and Mom had my dress in her magic. She turned to me, eyes wide. "How did you do it?! How did you do it?!"

I lifted a fore-hoof as if to take a step back. "How did I do what?"

"This dress!" Mom cried, holding it before me. "It's perfect! Did I only imagine seeing it torn??"

I frowned. "Well, no, of course not." I grabbed the dress and turned it around. "See, the patch was right ... here ...?"

I stared, turning the dress around and around. It was perfect. I found no sign that I had ever patched it, or that it had ever been damaged.

Mom stepped up to me and smiled. "Either you're holding out on me, dear, and you replaced the panel completely, or something rather extraordinary happened."

"Well, your guess is as good as mine." I let her take the dress back. "When I looked at that dress before the wedding, it still looked patched. I ... wait ..."

Mom looked at me eagerly. "What is it?"

"Well, maybe it's nothing, I haven't had a chance to look at it myself, but Lyra told me over lunch that Bon Bon's dress looked perfect, too, like they couldn't tell it was patched."

Mom gasped. "Oh, my stars, perhaps you've discovered your special talent!"

I raised an eyebrow. "What, patching dresses perfectly? Isn't that a little silly?"

"Not at all. No talent is silly."

I craned my neck and glanced at my still blank flank. "Then why don't I have a cutie mark for it?"

Mom's smile faded. "Hmm, yes."

I jabbed a hoof towards the dress. "Mom, that dress was still very obviously patched before the wedding, and so was Bon Bon's when you gave it back to her. Why only now are they like this?"

She looked thoughtful. "There were those two odd magic discharges from your horn."

"Yeah, but I wasn't even thinking about the dresses. They were the furthest thing from my mind."

"Then I would suggest you continue your patch work," said Mom as she levitated the dress carefully back into my closet. "And see where it goes from there."

"That's easy enough," I said. "I had somepony request a patch job just now."

She closed my closet door and turned to face me. "And I'm sure I can get more for you to work on."

"And here I thought you didn't like to do patch work."

Mom smiled. "Well, you see, if ponies can keep their ensembles a little longer -- at least as long as fashion trends will allow -- it will free up more of my time to pursue opening that additional boutique in Canterlot."

I smirked. "Oh, I see. I'm just part of your business model."

Mom blushed. I loved it when I could get her to do that. "That's not quite what I meant."

I giggled. "I'm teasing you. Yeah, okay, I'll just keep at it, and we'll see what happens."

"Perhaps I can hold a trade-in sale," said Mom. "That's sure to bring in enough practice dresses for you to work on. And bring in lots of business!"

I grinned. "Yep, I'm just a cog in your business machine."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, hush."





My efforts to look at Bon Bon's dress were again thwarted when I got too wrapped up in my work to notice time passing. Not until the sun had dipped low enough to shine in my eyes in my work room did I realize how late it was getting.

"Dear, if you want to leave now to head over to Bon Bon's place, feel free to do so," said Mom when I expressed my woes to her.

"Yeah, but I promised Cherry I'd visit her today," I protested. "And I want to get over there before the sun sets. Watching the sun set was something we used to love to do together."

"In that case, you go on over to see Cherry. I need to pop out briefly to the marketplace anyway, so I'll see if I can stop by Bon Bon's place along the way."

I smiled. "Thanks, Mom, you're the best."

I left the boutique and galloped over to Sweet Apple Acres. By the time I stepped up to the entrance, I was panting a bit from the exertion.

Applejack trotted up to me as I stepped onto the farm. "Heh, ya gotta get inta better shape than that, sugarcube."

I grinned faintly as I turned towards her. Sweat glistened on her coat, and mud clung to her hooves. She had likely labored the entire day and still looked like she could out-pace me. "Yeah, I'll remember that when I decide to take up farming."

Applejack chuckled. "Ya here to see Cherry?"

I squinted at the sun. It hung just above the horizon, glowing in gold pre-sunset splendor. "Yeah. Where can I find her?"

Applejack pointed with a hoof. "Jus' a little while ago, she headed fer the tall hill back behind that there orchard. Straight ahead, can't miss it."

"Thanks."

I cantered off towards the trees and found a worn path. It opened up into a large clearing, the land rising in the center, covered in grasses and flowers. At the top was a single tree, and I smiled at the familiar peach-furred form who sat beneath it, her gaze cast towards the horizon. The sun had started to descend, now blazing a gorgeous orange. It made her red mane look as if it were glowing.

I trotted up the side of the hill. Cherry turned her head at my approach and smiled. "Candy! It is good to see you."

I shared a warm hug with her. "Hey, your speech has improved already."

Cherry smiled as I sat down next to her. "Thank you. It helps that the Apple family likes to talk to me to help pass the day when I am not at Twilight's castle."

I could tell that it still took some effort on her part. Her sentences were slow and meticulous, and she had yet to master contractions. "So Twilight's been picking the changeling half of your brain?"

Cherry looked off towards the sun. "Indeed. It has been an interesting experience for both of us."

"I have to admit, I'm not sure how that even works."

Cherry hesitated as her gaze tracked a few lone clouds glowing deep gold that drifted just above the sun. Her smile faded slightly. "It is ... a bit strange for me. I can clearly remember my life back on our world, but, somehow, I remember being a drone in Chrysalis' hive."

I shivered and hoped Cherry didn't see that. I had only a glimpse of that place when Discord had "gifted" Chrysalis with the defunct artifact, but it was enough to know that was someplace I never wanted to live.

In the uneasy silence that settled over us, I gazed at the sun. The lower limb had touched the horizon, and I could see it slowly sinking as it deepened to orange-red. A few more clouds had appeared, and as I squinted, I saw pegasi pushing them, purposely setting up a beautiful sunset scene.

Cherry's smile returned fully. "Isn't this world as amazing as it is strange?"

I grinned. "Yeah, I'd say that was true."

She turned to me. "I have a full name now."

"Come again? Full name?"

Cherry giggled softly. "Little Apple Bloom was insistent that 'Cherry' was too short, so she helped me fill it out a bit."

I rolled my eyes. "You're lucky, then. Pinkie Pie named me."

"And I still think Candy Swirl is a lovely name."

I blushed. "So what did you two come up with?"

"We kept it simple. My full name now is Cherry Blossom."

I smiled. "That sounds really cute. I think it suits you."

Cherry's smile widened. Perhaps it was just the deepening sunset light reflecting from them, but her eyes looked subdued. I honestly had not come to deal with any more problems. I especially didn't want to talk about changelings anymore. From the way she had shifted the topic, maybe she had realized that.

"So how's life been with the Apple family?" I asked.

Cherry giggled. "I had said I had wanted to feel grounded again. You canst not ... er, cannot get any more grounded than them."

I chuckled. "So I've noticed."

"They even put me to work on the farm when I am not at the castle," said Cherry as she turned her gaze towards the sunset. "Applejack claims it is so I can 'stretch my new pony muscles.'" She blushed. "I quickly learned I am a horrible apple-bucker."

I laughed. "Oh, wow, they had you try that?"

"At Apple Bloom's insistence. Upon seeing my terrible performance, she muttered 'well, cross that one off the list.'"

I laughed harder, and Cherry joined me. God, this felt good. After the death of my birth mother, so much of our time together had been filled with my tears. It had been so long since we had laughed together. Maybe that was why I really didn't want to hear about the changeling bits of her mind. I feared it would somehow tarnish my image of her, make her less like the friend I knew.

I looked towards the sun. Half of it had sunk below the horizon, and it blazed a deepening red. The clouds glowed in purple, placed perfectly to frame the setting sun. Sometimes my mind still could not wrap itself around the concept that a living being at that moment was lowering the sun. Did that task ever become a chore, just a necessity for giving light and warmth to the world? Or did Princess Celestia take joy in every sunrise and sunset just for their inherent beauty? Was it a job or a calling? I supposed I needed only to remember her cutie mark to answer that.

I still had trouble with the notion that my own special talent could be patching clothing. It sounded more like a skill or a job, sort of like the alterations I did at the boutique. I mean, I liked what I did, but it was still a job and not a calling.

"Are you okay, Candy?" Cherry prompted.

"Huh? Oh, sorry," I said sheepishly. "I guess I was woolgathering a bit."

"Is something the matter?"

I rubbed a hoof through my mane. "Not really. Just still thinking about what I'll eventually do with my life here."

Cherry nodded once and turned her eyes to the sunset again. Not that there was a whole lot more to see. Only a sliver of the sun was still visible, and as I waited for her to speak, it vanished from sight. The sky sat in calm velvet twilight, clouds still faintly glowing a deep purple.

"That hath ... er, has crossed my mind as well," said Cherry.

"Maybe you can get yourself fostered, too?" I said.

"I am eighteen, Candy. That appears to be legal adult age here as well."

"Well, yeah, but you hardly know your way around. I mean, you have to have someplace to stay and all that, right?"

Cherry smiled. "I have no fears over that. There are enough kind ponies who would take me in even if I didn't stay at the farm. But I truly feel I owe this world something. It gave me life again. I want to do something to repay that debt."

So I wound up forced to bring up the subject again myself. "Well, you've got all that information about changelings in your head. Maybe you can do something with that."

Cherry nodded slowly, but her voice became as subdued as her eyes when she spoke again. "It will indeed take me a while to satisfy all of Twilight's curiosity."

"Well, there you go. And with her being the Princess of Friendship and all that, I'll bet she can find something in there to help deal with changelings better."

Cherry said nothing to this, and instead looked back at the horizon. The last of the glow of the clouds had begun to fade.

I sighed. "Cherry, what's wrong?"

She lowered her gaze, a lock of hair falling over one eye. "You do not wish to hear it."

"Yeah, I do. Look, you said our relationship had to change, right? So why can't I be the one to help you?"

Cherry shook her head. She brushed her hair from her eye with a hoof. "It's not something you can help with. It is just ... some of what I recount to Twilight makes me sad."

"Yeah, I can sorta see that. Wuntusix didn't exactly have a good time of it, did she?"

"It is more than that," said Cherry. "Life in the hive is not very good."

I snorted. "Well, yeah, with that bitch Chrysalis in charge, no wonder."

Cherry looked as if she wanted to say something else, but hoof-falls sounded behind us. "Cherry, Applejack sent me ta fetch ya," said Apple Bloom. "Dinner's about ready."

Cherry smiled faintly and stood. "Thank you."

Apple Bloom turned to me. "Hey, Candy, yer welcome ta stay fer dinner, too."

I rose to my hooves. "Thanks, but I better get home."

"Ya sure? Seems like ages since I've seen ya. Thought mebbe we could catch up."

"I'll make some time this weekend, I promise." I turned to Cherry and pulled her into a hug. "I'm really glad to see you're doing well, Cherry." I drew back and looked into her eyes. "Sometimes I worry you might, I don't know, have second thoughts about becoming a little peach pony."

Cherry giggled and lay a hoof beside my cheek. "Please, don't ever worry about that. I am as content as I can be. I will see you again soon."

I gave her one more hug before turning away.

"Seeya, Candy!" Apple Bloom called out.

I waved back before trotting down the side of the hill. As I passed through the entrance of the farm, the sky deepened to almost full night, and the moon was raised, stars sweeping into the heavens in twinkling display. That same strange sense of utter calm settled over everything, as if the glow of the moon was somehow an instinctive sign to everypony and everything to start shutting down for the night. I wondered if this were the same everywhere in Equestria or just in sleepy little towns like Ponyville.

I glanced at my flank. Was it just a simple matter of gaining my cutie mark in order to find my purpose in this world? Would it be the same for Cherry as well? I at least had a path to follow, but Cherry didn't even have that. Had I cast her adrift without so much as a compass?

Instead of letting go, as Cherry had wanted, I had instead tried to reverse our roles, and I didn't think that's what she wanted. This was going to be harder than I had realized.