The Phoenix Tear

by CartoonNerd12

Chapter 11

Twilight managed to get to her suite and flopped onto the bed. She started to weep when a tiny voice said.

"Are you crying, Mommy?"

She looked up to see Starling under the covers of her bed. She got up to face her daughter, "Star… I thought we talked about this last night… You can't keep using Mommy and Daddy's bed as a way to escape your worries of things that might happen to you in the middle of the night."

"I know… I'm sorry… I don't know why I feel scared all the time…"

"Not all the time, just when you're going to sleep… You are very brave, Star. You just have to stay strong and confident that you can get past this…"

"I'll try… But Mommy, why were you crying? I only cry when I'm scared or sad… Are you scared or sad?"

"Well, sweetie… you can say that I'm both scared and sad…"

"You? But you're never scared or sad."

"That's not true. Even grown-ups can get scared and sad."

"Then why are you scared and sad?"

"Well… it's about becoming queen. I'm afraid I won't do such a good job as your grandparents…"

"Why would you think that? Does it matter that you rule like them?"

"Well… I guess not, but what if I mess something up?"

"I mess up a lot of stuff, so does Fire, but you keep telling us that it's okay to make mistakes since it's the only way we're ever going to learn."

Realization hit Twilight and a smile grew on her face, "That's right… I guess that's something I forgot for a while… Thank you for reminding me that."

"You're welcome." Starling smiled too.

"Tell you what? If you can start staying in your own bed, I can start working on not worrying about what's expected for me to be queen? How's that?"

"Okay!"

Mother and daughter embraced until there was a knock and Flash walked in.

"Hey… I'm sorry that things got messed over…"

"It's fine," Twilight quickly spoke. "We all make mistakes…" she looked at their daughter, who gave a small smile.

"That's good to know, because I was really worried about you when everything finally got settled. We wondered where you were until Sunset told us you looked upset before you left."

"I was… But I'm okay now…"

"Think you're up for some company?" he moved away from the door, and in entered her sisters, plus Sunset Shimmer, standing by.

She gave a nod and the girls ran to her, hugging her and giving out apologies.

Starling went to her dad and asked, "Daddy, think you can tuck me in? In my own bed?"

Flash was shocked and looked over to Twilight, who was smiling, and he mouthed, 'How did you…?'

But Twilight just gave a wink and he could see his daughter returning it. He then shrugged and led his daughter out of the room, leaving his wife, her sisters, and her friend to themselves.

"Darling, if there's anything we can do…?" Rarity asked.

"No, no, just you being here is enough," Twilight replied.

"I'm really sorry, Twi. I discovered too late that I had hay fever and standing around in the garden made it worse." said Rainbow.

"It's not your fault, and neither was it Spike's when the fire started."

Fluttershy pointed, "And we really thought that we got all the rabbits out of the way before the party. I think Discord was right: Angel must have hidden them from us… He can be such a naughty bunny…"

That caused Twilight to release a few giggles.

Applejack grinned, "You know, I betcha in a few years, we'll be laughing over this whole fiasco."

"You're darn right, we will!" said Pinkie.

"I just feel so bad that you, Sunset, didn't get to experience what a garden party should have been." gestured Rarity.

"No way, the truth is I'm glad it was like this. Now I got some exciting stories to tell when I get back to where I came from."

"Where exactly are you from, anyway?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

"Oh, um, just from some woods. Nothing new." she nervously chuckled.

Rarity turned to Twilight, "Still, there must be some way to forget what an awful time that was."

"Hey!" motioned Pinkie. "What about the underground-" But she got muffled by Rainbow's hoof.

"What?" Sunset was confused about what Pinkie was going to say.

"Uh, just give us one moment…" Twilight gathered her sisters into a huddle as Sunset watched them intensely whispering.

"Are you sure we can trust her?" Rainbow questioned. "'Cause we've only known her for, like, a day and we still don't know that much about her."

Twilight pointed, "But she's leaving tomorrow, and guys, I feel like I can be myself around her. She is some pony I know who's good and I can tell she's had a hard life."

Pinkie repeatedly nodded her head, knowing that was true.

"I would like to give her this gift before she has to go."

Rarity said, "All right. If that's what you want, Twilight, then I have no problem with sharing our magical world."

"We've technically shared it with the boys and Cadence, anyway." said Fluttershy.

The other sisters agreed.

Twilight sat up, "Then let's do this."

They turned back to face Sunset Shimmer as she waited in anticipation of what the princesses had decided.

Twilight took hold of her hoof and said, "Come with us." She started leading Sunset out of the room with the rest of the princesses behind them.

"Where… Where exactly are you taking me?"

"You'll see!" Pinkie grinned.

Soon, they had arrived at a large bedchamber with six canopy beds, with three on each side. Sunset could see in the middle of the room was a large circle tile that she noticed had each the princesses' cutie marks engraved into.

"Watch this." Applejack pointed as Twilight went to the tile and started to step onto the tile with the butterflies, which Sunset figured out was Fluttershy's. The tile suddenly glowed and Sunset gaped, and then Twilight step onto the gems and it glowed as well. Then the apples, the rainbow lighting mark, the balloons, and finally, the cutie mark she saw in her dreams for so many years. The whole circle tile glowed and a portal started to open, revealing a circular stairway.

Sunset stood in shock, "How…? What…?"

The girls just giggled as Twilight took her hoof again and they started going down the stairs. Once they had reached the bottom, Sunset was more surprised of what laid in store. She saw a gold and silver castle on the other side of a lake. She was in awe to it and couldn't find the right words to say.

"Yup, that was pretty much our reaction when we first discovered this place." explained Rainbow Dash.

"Brace yourself, this isn't even the half of it!" exclaimed Rarity.

"Wha…?"

They giggled again and Pinkie shouted from the boat, "All aboard!"

Sunset sat by Twilight as the boat moved across the lake. She couldn't get over the fact that such place existed to begin with. As if reading her thoughts, Twilight told her.

"When we were about to have suitors, Our mother and Aunt Luna created this magical land so we could escape from our worries and to spend time together before we would have to go away from each other."

"'Course, that plan backfired when we brought our future husbands here instead." said Applejack.

"And it was the best thing we had ever done." said Fluttershy.

The girls nodded in agreement.

The boat reached its destination and when Sunset got to the castle doors, they opened wide for her and she saw before her a grand golden ballroom.

"Whoa…"

Pinkie went next to her, "I know right?! And you know what this place needs?"

Knowing exactly what was going to happen next, Rainbow sarcastically said, "No, Pinkie, tell us: what does this place need?"

"Music! Lots and lots of music!" She spoke in a loud clear voice, "I wish for all the music you got!"

Sunset was unsure as to why Pinkie would say such a thing until she saw the golden flowers nearby releasing some kind of magical dust and the dust made musical instruments appear and play on their own. She slack-jawed and Twilight gave a smirk as she helped close Sunset's mouth.

"It's a lot to take, isn't it?"

Sunset could only nod amazedly.

"Come on, guys!" Pinkie started to groove on the dance floor. "Get into the beat!"

The sisters complied and started to dance just like when they first came there.

Twilight was doing her moves and urged Sunset to join her. The red and orange mare wasn't really sure if she should, since she never learned how to dance. Twilight kept insisting and so did a few of the other princesses, mainly Pinkie. She finally gave in and joined the dance. Sunset had never felt so carefree until that moment.

When the music had signaled to a stop, it gave a chance for the mares to take a break. They sat around the floor, though Rarity had wished for a couch to sit on instead.

"This place, it's amazing." said Sunset. "Thank you for showing it to me."

"We weren't sure if we should at first, but Twilight thought it was best if we did." Rainbow said.

"We've never shown it to anyone except our husbands and cousin," said Rarity. "But it's the first time we've shown it to some pony outside of Canterlot."

"Oh, wow. This is such a huge honor… I promise not to tell any pony of this."

Pinkie beamed, "Do you Pinkie-Promise?"

"Is that the promise that you made for me?"

"Sure is! Repeat after me: cross my heart…"

"Cross my heart…"

"Hope to fly…"

"Hope to fly…"

"Stick a cupcake in my eye!"

"Stick a cup- what?!"

"Just say it."

"All right," she shrugged, "stick a cupcake in my eye."

"And you can never, never, never, never, break a Pinkie-promise!"

"Why? What happens if you do?"

"You don't want to know," the other princesses replied.

"You're probably right." That caused the group to laugh.

"So, did you enjoy your little holiday?" asked Rarity. "From what I understand from Twilight, you're leaving tomorrow?"

Sunset nodded, "I did. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. I just wish…" She stopped herself and quickly said, "Anyway, meeting all of you and your families, it was great. All of your kids are really adorable and sweet."

They randomly said thanks.

"Hey, maybe someday, we can visit you!" Rainbow nudged her, but she gave an uncertain look.

"Oh, um, that would be great, but I'm afraid I'll be busy, so… yeah…"

"We understand, sugar cube," said AJ. Pinkie gave a glance, which Sunset returned.

Twilight stood up and yawned, "Well, girls, it's getting late and I'm sure Sunset needs her rest for traveling back home."

If you can call it home… Sunset thought sadly.

"You're absolutely right!" said Rarity as she got off the couch and headed for the door. "We all need our beauty sleep, so let's get going."

As the others were heading for the boat, Pinkie quickly whispered in Sunset's ear, "Are you sure you want to go back? You could stay here with us!"

Sunset sighed, "Nothing would make me happier… but I have friends who need me. I cannot leave them all alone with something that was my idea in the first place…"

"Oh… well, good for you! Friends should stick together!"

Sunset smiled, "Thank you. That's exactly what I was hoping to hear…"

Pinkie gave her a hug and both suddenly felt a strange thing. They look at each other in bewilderment.

Pinkie asked, "Did you just get a weird, creepy, tingly feeling right about now?"

"I did! Uh, that was odd…" She thought, Especially since I felt it before with Twilight… That is so weird…

"Guess it was just the wind." Pinkie shrugged and headed to where her sisters were waiting in the boat.

As Sunset climbed in, she wasn't so sure if it was 'just the wind'.

Comments

[SageBrony07]

Man. If Sombra and Celestia where here, maybe Luna, then my suspicions would be rejected or confirmed. So frustrating. Great chapter. Good luck with the next part.

[iluvderpymuffins]

Cool

[Godslittleprincess]

Okay, I noticed that your stories tend to favor soap opera plots like lost relatives and altered memories. The lost relatives thing, I'm fine with. The repeatedly altering memories, not so much. I know parents are supposed to protect their kids, but they also have to teach them how to properly cope with things they can't protect them from. The memory altering gets in the way of that last part. For what it's worth, despite the obvious problems, your stories have been pretty good so far.

[Lyokoheros]

6690950
But what if not Celestia is this who altered memories, but Starlight?
That would make much more sense...
I'm still not sure why, or maybe to be more precise why Sunset and no other. Because why at all is quite obvious - to have personal slave... and maybe some kind of personal vengance on royal family...

[rainbow135]

OOOOOkay! I have a guess! This is OOOOObviously based on Tangled! From the lanterns to the tower, how could one not know?!