Chapter 3 - The Fool and Judgement
Sunset awoke in a bed...the unfamiliar crystal walls around her. She blinked a few times and tried to get her bearings. She was...in Twilight’s castle.
That’s right, she’d gone home. She’d gone home...she was a pony again!
Sunset gave a little kick with her back hooves.
“I have hooves!” She thought excitedly to herself.
She had gotten so caught up in catching up with mom that she hadn’t been able to enjoy being back in her body again. Her excitement over this revelation was such that she couldn’t resist rolling around under the covers like the adorable little pony she was.
Then she saw her hooves.
“Oh!” She thought unpleasantly.
She bolted up, looked around, and found a mirror. There, on her forehead, was her cutie mark. Memories of her last conversation came flooding back to her.
Unique solution. Surpass. Those words had actually come out of her Mom’s mouth.
“I JUST WANTED A BUCKING TIARA!”
Ok, you couldn’t really say ‘just a tiara’, but she grew up being groomed for it.
“Even if I did want it later...Ok, yeah, I still do.” She thought.
She had to be honest with herself. She really didn’t want it so fast. Later, after she had gotten settled in would have been preferred, but Mom just had to go and make up for lost time. It was her approach to outliving everyone; treat every moment as precious. Never rest. Never a waste moment.
She looked down at her hooves and smiled. Maybe not every moment away was glorious, but they definitely weren’t a waste.
A knock on Sunset’s door broke her reverie, which was followed by a demure voice spoke up, probably a servant twilight did mention having to get some at one point.
“Lady Sunset, Princess Twilight is requesting your presence for breakfast in her study.”
“Let me just do my mane and you can escort me there. Is that ok?” Sunset replied.
“Yes, of course ma'am.”
Sunset entered the simple well-used study. Little more than bookshelves and a large desk at the back end next to the window. While the shelves were meticulously organized, the desk itself was a mess with ignored paperwork that was piled high to one side, and dozens of books that were spread across it, all on a single topic. Behind them, a certain lavender princess sat sipping coffee.
Sunset pushed the book she was reading down with a hoof.
“Look,” she said as Twilight looked up at her surprised, “is an experiment really more important than the fact I’m here?”
Twilight smiled softly.
“No,” she replied “That’s why I was doing research last night while you were asleep; so that when you woke up I could spend time with you. We haven’t seen each other in two and a half years.”
“You have other friends.” Sunset pointed out.
“That doesn’t make not being able to see you any easier, Sunset.” Twilight said, shaking her head. “How was your talk with Princess Celestia?”
Sunset let out a soft sigh as she remembered her conversation with Celestia.
“Good. We caught up and talked about the future.” Sunset said with a sigh. “Look, let’s...not talk about that.”
“But you said it went well.” Twilight said frowning.
“That doesn’t mean it wasn’t complicated, alright?” Sunset groaned. “Look, you're my only friend here, and I just need a friend, ok?”
“Alright then.” Twilight said simply as she took a sip of coffee. “So what do you want for breakfast?”
“Daisies, and Hay.” Sunset replied as her stomach growled.
“You know I have a full kitchen…” Twilight pointed out
“You know I haven’t had either for three years?” Sunset countered as she grinned.
Twilight chucked at the comment.
“Daisies and hay it is!” She said, “And I’m guessing Chamomile?”
“Hehe, yeah, and Chamomile.” Sunset idly wondered if she’d get tired of it with the amount Mom had secured.
“Nah.”
“So what are your friends like?” Sunset asked after the food was delivered as she layed on the desk eating some hay and drinking her tea.
“Why are you on my desk?” Twilight asked gave Sunset a look.
“Your other chair is covered in paperwork.” Sunset replied grinning.
“...Fair enough.” Twilight replied smiling.
“So my other friends.” She continued, taking a moment to think. “Well, Fluttershy lives in her cottage with her animals, Applejack on her farm with her family. I guess not much to say there.”
Sunset slowly took another sip of tea.
“Pinkie Pie lives with the Cakes at their bakery, and plans pretty much every party in Ponyville.”
A slight frown crossed Sunset’s face.
“Rarity has her boutique. She’s quite well known, but doesn’t want to move out of Ponyville. She prefers the small town atmosphere for working.”
The frown on Sunset’s face turned to a look of sadness.
“Rainbow Dash is the local weather manager, and captain of the local amateur flying team. She used to want to be a Wonderbolt, but decided she was happier here. So she made her own amateur team. She’s rather insistent it doesn’t get in the way of pon-”
“IT’S NOT FAIR!” Sunset interjected with a shout.
“Wha-” Twilight said, taken aback by Sunset’s sudden outburst.
“Your friends got everything, but they didn’t need to go anywhere for it!” Sunset screamed, “They all got to stay here. Here with YOU! Why is it you keep getting everything I ever wanted? WHY!? It’s NOT fair!”
Twilight looked at Sunset, over the past two and half years she’d seen her more and more as unflappable as her Moth...Celestia, she hadn’t even thought about the fact she might be tearing open a wound she did have while she was talking. She needed to fix this, make it right.
“No, no it’s not.” Twilight said as she wrapped Sunset in a hug. “You're right, it’s not fair...Would it make you feel better if I told you things I’ve wanted and can’t have, lost and can’t get back?”
Sunset didn’t respond for a bit, letting her frustration drain from herself as she just sat there in Twilight’s embrace.
“No, Twilight.” She eventually replied as she shook her head. “No it wouldn’t. I’d be happy to listen if you needed, but it wouldn’t make it better.”
“It’s ok though.” Twilight said as she wrapped herself tighter around her friend. “You’re here now. You’re home. It’ll be better.”
They sat that way for a while. Sunset wasn’t sure if it was only for another minute, or 10 minutes, that she sat there enjoying Twilight’s embrace while the memory of her friends from Canterlot High refused to be pushed aside in her mind.
“When I was there, my home was here. Now that I’m here, it’s there.” Sunset sighed.
A few soft tears rolled down Twilight’s cheek.
“You’re here now,” She whispered, “shhhhh.”
Sunset had spent the rest of the morning with Twilight reading, talking, and laughing. Even if Twilight seemed to love theory more than application, and got a bit too wrapped up in it, it was nice to have a study buddy. None of her friends were ever really into studying.
When she broached the topic of lunch, however, Twilight had offered to take her to Sugar Cube Corner rather than take lunch in the castle. Recognizing the name, she agreed. She definitely wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to see the bakery’s counterpart.
Rather than the mundane bakery by human standards, its equestrian counterpart seemed literally made of gingerbread, cake, and chocolate. And here she thought the crystal castle was a bit jarring.
“Well to be fair” She thought to herself, “this thing does at least feel like it belongs here in town.”
As they entered the bakery and sat down, a familiar bundle of pink energy cart-wheeled up to their table.
“Hi, Twilight.” Pinkie began, “What will it be toda-”
She stopped as her eyes fell upon Sunset Shimmer. Sunset just sat there, waiting for what she knew was coming.
Without any warning, Pinkie jumped in the air, excitement etched even more on her face.
“OAAAHHHHHH,” She gasped dramatically “I DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE, AND I KNOW EVERYPONY, I MEAN EVERYPONY, IN PONYVILLE! THAT MEANS YOU MUST BE NEW HERE, YOU KNOW WHAT THAT CALLS FOR!?”
Sunset was well acquainted with Pinkie’s magic after all the time spent with her since the fall formal.
“Time to throw her for a loop for once.” She thought eagerly.
Ok, alternate her, but it was still gonna be satisfying.
“Well knowing you, I’d guess it calls for a party, right Pinkie?” Sunset said grinning back at her.
“Yep! knowing me it’d call for a pa-”
Pinkie stopped as she blinked in surprise for a bit. She didn’t stay like that for long, though.
“Heeeyyyy” She said, looking at Sunset suspiciously,“are you like from the alternate universe Twilight went to? And you know me because you know my double who’s surprisingly like me, but not quite, but enough like me to have a huge fondness for slumber parties?”
“Yep” Sunset chuckled “Never can get one over on you in any world can I, Pinkie?”
“Well, can I take your order?” Pinkie stated, returning to the topic at hand “And you are definitely getting that party since I don’t know you!” Pinkie nodded to that statement as if confirming something to herself.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world Pinkie.” Sunset said with a nod. “Anyways, two oat muffins and a hay smoothie would be wonderful.”
“Two of whatever you think is best Pinkie, and an extra large espresso.” Twilight stated quickly.
“Okie Dokie Lokie,” Pinkie replied, “Coming right up.”
Twilight politely waited for Pinkie to disappear into the back room before she turned to Sunset Shimmer.
“Well” She stated, “someone takes well to Pinkieness.”
Sunset shrugged.
“She was my friend,” She said simply, “It’s who she is. I don’t feel the need to question that.”
Twilight thought about that. The why of the world never seemed to concern Sunset.
“Sunset?”
“Hmmm? What is it Twilight?” Sunset asked
“Why don’t you ever want to know why?” Twilight asked quizzically, “Just for the sake of it, I mean.”
There was a long pause before Sunset spoke as she composed her thoughts.
“Because I could ask myself why about every little thing, and maybe I’d find the answer, maybe I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t find anything new though; just things I already knew. I might know them better, but I can’t even be sure it’d even matter if I knew why unless I could do something different with that knowledge. That’s always been true. Once it would have been about power; how knowledge is power, and power without purpose is meaningless. But nowadays, it’s about living, and if I need to know why in order to live, then more often than not I'll find out why. If I don’t, then that’s more time to live.”
Twilight bit her lip. She didn’t understand. She didn’t want to accept it.
Sunset was studious, smart, learned under the Princess, and yet just didn’t care about knowledge. Well she did just, but not her way. Knowledge was just a tool to her.
Pinkie Pie walked up next to them with their tray of their food, and placed it on the the table.
“Thanks Pinkie!” Sunset said grabbing her muffins and smoothie.
Twilight took her own, and said nothing. The meal was a quiet one.
After dinner, Sunset swayed out of the dinner chambers.
“Why does every fancy salad have so much bucking cheese.” She wondered.
She also had forgotten how tipsy salt could get a pony, and now she was feeling the effect.
“Hey, Sunset, would you, well...” Twilight hesitated for a moment “Like to sleep in my room? It’d be like a slumber party.”
“Sure, Twilight, why not? That sounds nice.” Sunset said smiling as she tipped a bit and the two walked back to Twilight’s room laughing and chatting.
When they reached the door Sunset reached for the handle, but stopped as she realized something.
“Three years of missing telekinesis, and now I’m missing fingers.” Sunset said giggling.
“You couldn’t use telekinesis when you got your magic back?” Twilight asked surprised before opening the doors with her own telekinesis.
“No.” Sunset answered. “Telekinesis is unicorn magic, not my personal magic. Turns out, applying a completely equal force over an object takes a lot of concentration. Rarity and I crushed a lot of apples trying that.”
As the two entered the room the door closed behind them, Sunset leaped onto the bed, rolling around in it playfully. Twilight simply crawled in quitely.
“I missed being a pony too.” Sunset said as she started giggling again. “It’s nice just to be back on four hooves. Feels right.”
“It’s good to have you home, Sunset Shimmer.” Twilight said. “Are you willing to talk about your conversation with your… mother yet?”
Sunset’s mood dampened a bit as that conversation was brought up.
“What is there to talk about?” Sunset groaned while she stretched.
“Well, I know she had always been grooming you for, well...” Twilight spread her wings to communicate her point. “I guess I know why now.”
“What’s there to say?” Sunset sighed. “We reminisced, we argued, we talked about...that…. Mother went on about me rushing into it before, but now I feel like she’s rushing into things and, urgh.”
“You…argued?” Twilight asked incredulously. “You argued with the Princess? HOW COULD YOU ARGUE WITH CELESTIA?”
“You never argued with your mother?” Sunset responded as rolled on her back to look at Twilight quizzically.
“Of course I have, but my mother isn’t Princess Celestia. I mean, you are so lucky.” Twilight squealed, “She must have been perfect.”
“She wasn’t.” Sunset stated bluntly.
Twilight didn’t respond.
“Get too close to the sun and you get burned, Twilight.” Sunset said.
After a few minutes of silence passed, Sunset rolled over to look at Twilight. The conflict of thoughts and emotions was clearly written on the mare’s troubled face. Twilight definitely had trouble thinking of the princess as anything but perfect.
“Maybe this isn’t the best topic.” she thought.
“You wanted to know about this?” Sunset asked, pointing to her cutie mark on her forehead.
“Oh yes.” Twilight nodded enthusiastically.
“Well I don’t know how directly it relates to your ‘Rainbow Power’ mode since I didn’t experience it, but I’m guessing it’s pretty much the same.” Sunset stated ”I’m just not actively using that power at any given moment. Celestia is pretty certain I’m basically an element of harmony; a direct living conduit to The Rainbow.”
Twilight blinked.
“Sunset,” Twilight replied confused “I got about half of that, and I’m me.”
“I’m linked to the same ultimate source of the elements,” Sunset tried to explain, “I don’t need them to do the rainbow friendship stuff.”
“The elements have a source?” Twilight asked looking at Sunset in surprise.
Then she thought about it for a moment.
The Tree had still been sick when she had battled Tirek, and yet it had provided more magic then than it ever had before, allowing them to restore all of Equestria’s magic within moments. Then there was the effects of the Elements on Earth.
Sunset had made it clear that magic had been permanently introduced there because of their actions, despite the fact that there was no Tree of Harmony there. However, the same fundamental power had always existed there, even before the world had magic in the first place. She’d TOLD Sunset Shimmer just that!
A jolt shot up Twilight’s spine.
“I get it!” Twilight shouted excitedly “And being a living element, you don’t have to worry about it being stolen!”
“But I’m going to hypothesize that it still only works when it wants, doesn’t it?” Twilight asked, she was almost certain was right but she still needed confirmation.
“You got that one on your own, unlike Celestia.” Sunset said, rolling back onto her back.
“Yeah, I can’t just Rainbow away my problems. I can contact it, but it’s still going to do what it wants.”
Before Twilight could think about this any further, a yawn forced its way slowly out of her mouth. A quick look at the clock let her know that it was late in the evening it was, and drowsiness then caught up with her.
“Anyways, Sunset,” Twilight said as she yawned again, “I’m going to sleep. And hey, now we can be jealous of each other.”
“Hmm?” Sunset mumbled as she looked at the purple alicorn.
“I keep getting your dreams, and you have a connection to Celestia that I never can have.” Twilight smiled before she curled into a ball with her head resting on her pillow.
“Hehe, yeah I guess you're right.” Sunset smiled. “You're a good friend Twilight.”
“Well I AM the Princess of Friendship, as you constantly remind me.” Twilight said softly as she went to sleep.
Sunset Shimmer awoke with a start shortly before dawn. She looked around before she saw the lavender princess on the other side of the bed. Smiling, she quietly got out of bed, and walked onto the balcony looking out over Ponyville.
“That’s odd,” Sunset thought as she stared at something at the edge of Ponyville, “A rainbow? But there wasn’t any rain scheduled to occur during the night.”
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Was that last bit the Crystal Heart rays from the Crystal Empire?
5684152 yay!
Somehow her unique state makes me, to want that Sunset start a romance with either Rarity or Rainbow Dash, because looks so different.
I am curious about the adventure part, i can´t image if there is an enemy or a great disaster.
It looks a little bit like Twilight have a little problem with the fact, that her mentally shrine of Celestia, is beginning to crumble.
I don´t really hope for the romance, but if you should do it, i hope you pace it more or less slow.
5685366
Sunset will get to interact with all of twilight's friends/her friends alternates as the story progresses. But i need to find natural points like i did for pinkie pie.
Indeed she does.
One of the keys to good writing is knowing that your work will take on a life of it's own, whether or not there will be romance or not, it is isn't one of my prescribed plot beats i have planned out, if it happens it's because of the details. But i'm not going to shy away from it if it feels like a natural extension of those details.
5685591 i think i understand, and i am happy with the reply, i just let you suprise me
There's something important about this chapter i'm surprised no one has picked up on, or at least commented on.
5684217 I don't think so. The Crystal Empire does not do its aurora thing constantly, plus it is not on the edge of Ponyville. I think this might be Sunset's power leaking out.
IT!
NEEDS!
MORE!
5690094
Most societies throughout the world have not had a conception of gods as perfect beings. Simply ones far beyond mortals.
Consider for instance buddhism and taoism as historically practiced. Both accept Chinese mythology with it's various gods and goddesses, and yet explicitly conceptualize perfected beings as very different from a god.
Ugh...it's 12:40 in the morning and we made a deal Woomod so let's make this quick, yes? I am very much liking Sunset's character here and the cliffhanger left me intrigued at what would happen next. All in all, nicely done. Now back to singing drunkenly. Have you ever been meloooowwww...