Chapter Three
“Once the Sirens were defeated and you left, things actually started to calm down.”
It had been an hour since Luna left and a tour of the castle had been completed. Sunset Shimmer and Twilight sat on one of the many balconies of Twilight's castle with Spike, enjoying snacks and catching up with one another. “And you're part of the Rainbooms now, right?” Twilight asked.
Sunset nodded, finishing her tea. “Yep. Every now and then it still feels like it's Rainbow Dash's band and we're just there to make her look good, but when someone points it out to her, she's usually pretty good about reeling it in.”
“What about the whole 'ponying up' thing?” asked Spike. “Does that still happen when you play?”
“Not every time, but sometimes.” Sunset shook her head, her brows coming together. “It's strange, really. When you two were first there it was the magic of friendship that made you transform. The second time it was directly linked to the music, and the bond that was shared between everyone. Now it seems to be changing again, evolving.”
Twilight's eyes were wide. “Evolving magic? That sounds exciting! Maybe I need to take another trip back to CHS and study it for myself!”
Sunset couldn't help but laugh. “I'm sure the girls would be more than happy to see you.”
With a warm smile, Twilight floated another pastry from the tray on the table between them toward herself. “I'm so glad to hear that you all are such good friends now.”
“They've taught me a lot. All of you have, really.” Awkward, Sunset reached out and grabbed a pastry with her teeth to set on her plate, prompting an odd look from Spike she didn't seem to notice. “I've learned a lot about forgiveness this past year.”
“Did you forget you have unicorn magic here?” the baby dragon asked. The question brought a stain of color to Sunset's cheeks.
“Oh, um...yeah. Completely forgot. Guess I'm going to have to get used to that again.” Twilight and Spike shared a laugh, Sunset joining in to hide her embarrassment. She didn't want to admit her fear at using magic again, or that she was going to avoid it at all costs for fear of what had the potential to happen. She'd survived as a human for over three years without magic. Surely she could make it a few days as a pony without it, too. If it was at all possible to prove to Celestia that she'd changed, it would be better done by showing her she could control herself enough to not rely on magic.
“Twilight, can I ask you a question?”
“Of course!”
Sunset hesitated, weighing whether or not she really wanted an answer to the question that kept floating around in her head. “How much convincing did you have to do to get Princess Celestia to let me come back here? She must really hate me if she didn't even come to see me arrive.”
“She doesn't hate you,” Twilight answered quickly. “Just like the relationships you had to repair in your world, it will take time to do the same here.” The lavender alicon grimaced. “To be honest, I think there's a part of her that's really glad you wanted to come back, but when you left before-”
“How I left before...”
“That left a mark. Princess Celestia is one of the most gracious and forgiving ponies I know. She won't hold a grudge, but she's still wounded.”
Nodding, Sunset Shimmer looked down at her untouched pastry, her appetite no longer there. That was exactly what she had been afraid of. Celestia had been like a mother to her. It felt like a knife in her side to know she'd turned her back on that kind of love and encouragement, all for the want of more power. “I was a fool.”
“Maybe,” Twilight offered her a kind smile, “but everypony makes mistakes, Sunset. It's part of growing and learning. She knows that. She also knows how much you've changed from the things I've told her. Just give her a little time, and give yourself some time. The important thing is to learn from your past and to make sure you don't stray down those darker paths anymore.”
Again Sunset nodded, unable to come up with anything to say in reply. Thankfully there came a voice from inside to spare her from having to say anything at all.
“Twilight? Are you there?”
“We're out here, Luna!”
Princess Luna's shoes could be heard clicking across the polished floor inside before she poked her head out the doorway. “How do you navigate through this castle without a map?”
The other two ponies and Spike laughed, and Twilight shrugged. “I used to think the same thing about Canterlot!”
Unamused, Luna looked at Sunset Shimmer. “I have found a place for you to stay. It is not so grand as a castle, but it is right between both Ponyville and Canterlot.”
Sunset glanced at Twilight, who only shrugged once more, before returning her attention to Luna. “O-okay. Thank you.”
“Do not thank me, thank the pony you will be staying with.” Luna stepped aside and motioned somepony behind her out onto the balcony with a wave of a hoof. A pegasus with a pale blue coat and cerulean ribbons in her mane and tail of sky blue, white, and silver, walked shyly past the navy alicon and out into the light with the others. Her orange eyes cast about to take in the faces, and she bowed when her gaze found Twilight.
“Princess.”
Twilight was clearly trying to pull a name from memory and struggling with it. She looked at the cutie mark of the unfamiliar mare, an orange and red quill beside an unrolled scroll, and recognition lit her expression. “Scribes! You take notes for the princesses sometimes, right?”
“I do, though it's been a long time.” Her voice was higher pitched than the others, sweet and girlish in a way that reminded Sunset of Fluttershy. “Your castle is beautiful, by the way.”
“Thank you. My friends really helped make it that way.”
“Scribes has a cottage on the road to Canterlot,” said Luna, getting right down to business. “I asked her if she would be all right with you staying there, Sunset Shimmer.”
Sunset looked at Scribes with a reserved smile. “I wouldn't want to impose...” Really, she'd rather stay at the castle than with somepony she didn't know, no matter how nice she seemed, but Scribes gave a return smile that was warm and genuine.
“It's no imposition at all, really.”
“Only if you're sure.”
“Absolutely.”
Luna looked pleased that her arrangement would work out. “It is almost time for the sun to go down. If the two of you leave now, you will be able to make it to the cottage before it is too dark. Unless Sunset Shimmer wishes to teleport you both there.”
“That's okay!” The amber unicorn's quick reply had all eyes on her. She laughed and waved a hoof in a effort to appear casual. “I think it would be nice to walk, see a bit more of Ponyville as we go. Besides, I wouldn't really have any idea of where to teleport us to.”
“She's got a point,” said Twilight. “Teleporting without knowledge of your destination could be extremely dangerous. For all we know, you could end up in the middle of a wall, or the lake, or a tree!”
Scribes' smile seemed frozen on her face but there was uncertainty in her eyes. “Walking it is then!”
“Walking it is,” Sunset echoed. “Thank you for everything, Twilight. I mean it. You too, Spike.”
He waved a clawed hand. “All I did was get food and drinks.”
“But they were delicious food and drinks. I'll see you both soon, okay?” There were hugs all around, and Sunset felt unease creep back into the pit of her stomach. She bowed once to Luna before passing the older pony, still unhappy with the lack of expression the princess wore when addressing her. This was something she kept to herself, however, as she and Scribes walked down winding staircases and long, echoing hallways before reaching the outside once more.
Side by side as they walked, they looked like fire and ice with their differences in color. Every now and then Sunset would glance at Scribes, both hoping a conversation would be struck because she hated awkward silences, and also hoping Scribes wouldn't ask her too many questions. As it was, she already felt uncomfortable. It had been a very long time since she'd had to try and make a friend on her own. Even with the group back at CHS they had at least known her. Though she had to work on redemption with them, she was as much a stranger to herself as she was to them, and the progression into friendship had been almost natural, even if a little bumpy to begin with. Scribes was a completely unknown entity and that made Sunset nervous for some reason.
“How long are you staying?”
The question took Sunset Shimmer off guard simply because of the silence. “Oh, um...I don't really know. If I end up staying too long and you want me to find someplace else to go-”
“Of course not.” Scribes looked at Sunset with a confused smile. “I wasn't asking because of that, I was just making conversation.”
“Oh. Right.” Sunset felt a little foolish. “Sorry. I'm not used to situations like this. Where I'm from, I pretty much know everyone and they know me. Being here is such a transition in and of itself. To be dumped on someone who probably has better things to do than babysit me makes me feel even worse about the entire situation.” The bitterness in her own voice surprised her, but Scribes looked ahead as they walked, her expression thoughtful.
“I don't feel like you were dumped on me at all. Honestly, it'll be nice to have somepony around to talk to. The cottage gets lonely.” Now she looked sideways at Sunset, a brow lifting. “Has anypony ever told you that you talk weird?”
It was impossible not to at least chuckle. As soon as Scribes said “somepony” instead of “someone” Sunset Shimmer became acutely aware of the differences in pronouns. “You're definitely the first, but I'm sure you won't be the last.”
The sun was sinking quickly, and Sunset took in what she could see of Ponyville. It hadn't changed too much from what she remembered, though it had certainly grown. How strange it was to be back in a place she never thought she'd see again, much less want to see again. Some ponies she saw in the distance occasionally looked familiar, others were certainly strangers. It was an odd mixture of emotions, hoping to see someone she knew and dreading it at the same time. No doubt there were quite a few ponies whose opinions of her were no higher than Celestia's. She had done a lot of damage in her time here and in Canterlot, and it made her feel ashamed.
“This way,” Scribes urged gently, leading up a path at the back of the town. Leaving Ponyville behind them, they began a quieter walk up the well worn trail that Sunset knew eventually led to Canterlot. Behind them, they could still hear the voices of ponies when bits of conversations drifted to them on the evening breezes. Most of the noises around them, however, belonged to the birds and the bugs that were enjoying the solitude. If she squinted, Sunset could almost make out a small house far in the distance, down a road branching off from the main path.
“What made you want to live way out here?' Sunset asked.
“It used to be that I was at both Canterlot and Ponyville a lot. As Princess Twilight mentioned, I sometimes take notes for both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. It's mostly when they hold audience with a great number of ponies or animals from other lands so that they don't miss or forget anything important, but it's been awhile since they called on me. I was in Ponyville a lot before as well because I was a part-time librarian. Once Twilight came and moved into the library to be there full time, I wasn't needed much there, either. I wanted this cottage originally because it was halfway between two jobs.”
Sunset's brow wrinkled. “And then you pretty much lost both of them.”
Scribes nodded. “Yep. But I like the quiet out here still. It helps me write.”
“What do you write?”
“Everything, really, but right now I'm trying to finish my first novel.”
Sunset's eyes widened in surprise. “Really?”
“Really.” Biting her lip, Scribes looked sideways at Sunset. “Can I make a bold assumption?”
The unicorn shrugged. “Sure?”
“You said being here was a transition and you say some things a little differently. When Princess Luna mentioned teleporting you looked...well...kind of freaked out. I've overheard things in the castle, things about another world that Twilight went to with humans, and a school, and girls who turned into monsters.” Sunset flinched but didn't say anything. Lowering her voice, Scribes asked, “Are you from that world?”
Sunset looked at her hooves as they walked on, unsure of what to say. There was something hurtful about knowing she'd been called a monster. It was likely that term was used for the Sirens, too, but still. “I...was...am. Sort of.” She shook her head. “I'm originally from Equestria, but I've been in that other world for a few years now.”
“What made you come back?”
How could she explain it? She had only just met this pony and didn't exactly want to launch into her life story. That kind of trust had to be earned and while Scribes seemed nice and all, Sunset really didn't know enough about her to know whether she could be trusted or not. She weighed the options of lies to tell, but eventually decided to settle upon a very tame version of the truth. “I wanted to come back and see some old familiar faces.”
Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Scribes nodded. “Is it very different being a pony again after being a human for so long?”
She had to think about that one, too. It wasn't so long ago that she'd been a pony, only a couple of years. The night she came back to steal Twilight's crown had been a bit awkward at first, but it was, as they said in the human world, “like riding a bike” and something she fell back into fairly easily. “It is different,” she admitted. “Humans walk on two legs and wear clothes. They have fingers and toes. For the most part, no one has pony ears or tails, no wings and no magic.”
Scribes smiled widely. “I've always been fascinated with humans. They're like fairytale creatures here. Do you think maybe I could interview you about them? I want to write a book about them but don't want to get anything wrong.”
“Uh...sure.” This was quite possibly the strangest conversation she'd had in a long time. Still, there was something a bit endearing about Scribes. She seemed a little flighty but it was easy to see she was pretty harmless. The two of them were absolutely nothing alike, though, and Sunset could only hope that Luna knew what she was doing when she decided to pair them up together.
The cottage, as it turned out, was bigger than it seemed in the distance. They reached the front porch and Scribes went in first, beckoning Sunset in after her. “Gallifrey! Where are you? We have company!”
There was a loud thump overhead and Sunset looked up at the ceiling. She could hear the muted thud of feet moving across the floor above them, then come bounding down the stairs before them. A fluffy orange tiger cat with a mane of white around his neck gave a cry so high and weak that he sounded like a kitten, though he was big enough to be a full grown cat. “Gallifrey, this is Sunset Shimmer. She's going to be staying with us for awhile.”
As if able to understand Scribes, he looked over at the unicorn with bland disinterest, then gave another cry up at Scribes. “Yes, I know you're hungry. You'll just have to wait for supper.”
“Gallifrey, huh?” asked Sunset as she looked around. They had come into a sort of dining room with a small kitchen farther back and a living room off to the side. Glancing at the cat, she asked, “Where did you get a name like that?”
Scribes gave her a look of disbelief. “Seriously?”
Somehow, Sunset felt like she'd offended the pegasus. “I've never heard it before.”
“It's the home planet of Doctor Whooves. You've really never heard of it?” Sunset shook her head. “Oh my gosh, I have so much to teach you. The Doctor is wonderful. So funny, and smart, and...oh my goodness, so handsome. Anyway, his home planet is Gallifrey and it's orange and white like my kitty.”
Unsure of how to respond, Sunset let out a dry, “...cool.”
“There's a pony here who looks and sounds like him. He's even all science-y like the Doctor is, but he says his name is Time Turner – though I kind of think he might be the REAL Doctor - and he's totally out of my league.” Scribes sighed longingly, then, realizing she was gushing, blushed profusely and headed for the stairs. “Come on, I'll show you your room.”
Chuckling to herself, Sunset followed Scribes to the second floor. This was certainly going to be an interesting visit if she was going to be living with a rabid fangirl...filly.
Scribes opened a door to the left at the top of the stairs and went in, Sunset right behind. “This is the best room in the entire cottage.” The unicorn took in the standard bed, dresser, night stand, then turned around and immediately understood why. The back wall was almost entirely constructed of windows and overlooked a wide river with a small bridge over a waterfall. The trees on the other side of the river were lush and aglow in the light of the sun that was dipping low behind them.
“Wow,” Sunset breathed. “Why isn't this your room?”
“I like to sleep in total darkness and haven't been able to find curtains big enough for these windows. Besides, you're the guest. You should get the best room.” With a sweet smile, Scribes turned around and started downstairs. “How about I make us something to eat? Do you like berries and greens?”
“Love them,” Sunset called after her. She looked back out the windows and took a deep breath. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad staying here after all.
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Of course Scribes would be fangirling about The Doctor.
This is nice. Much appreciation for the "Doctor Whooves" bit.
Are you planning on touching the subject of Sunset's parents? I've seen stories where they are dead and alive, so I was just curious what you might do.
6720170 Of course! That's been part of her character since she was created.
6720300 Oh yes, definitely. That will come up a few chapters from now. Thank you for the comment!