• Published 29th Sep 2015
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Sunset Reset - LordBrony2040



After the Friendship Games, Sunset Shimmer decided it's time to return home. It's just that she comes back a bit earlier than expected.

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Chapter 26: Friday is for Starting Finales

Sunset stormed into the throne room and down the carpeted walkway with purpose as she approached her seat on the raised dais. A crowd of ponies looked up at the big alicorn in awe of her magnificence. A head taller than Celestia had been with a powerful body and a mane that looked like a living flame flowing out behind her, Sunset Shimmer was the unquestioned ruler of all Equestria and beyond.

“Empress Sunset,” one of the nobles whispered in reverence.

Another was quick to take up the low chant. “Empress Sunset.”

With dozens more quickly following. “Empress Sunset. Empress Sunset. Empress Sunset. Empress Sunset. Empress Sunset. Empress Sunset,” the crowd of nobles and other important ponies said over and over as if they were speaking of a deity.

A strange sense of pride welled up in Sunset as she looked at all the little ponies showing their deference. Just as they always should have.

When She reached her throne, the goddess of the sun, moon and stars turned back round to watch all Her little ponies bow in submission to her perfection. After plopping Her plot down on the throne’s soft pillow, Sunset motioned for the act of deference to end. “Bring them in,” She commanded.

The doors on the far side of them room opened and a group of four guards led in a pair of ponies bound by chains with collars on their neck. Celestia, the first of the pair, looked like a pathetic shadow of her former self. The lush multicolored hair that gave off a soft light and moved on its own as if constantly guided by an ethereal breeze was a dull pink that possessed numerous split ends, and the rest of her looked like she hadn’t eaten in weeks with the way her legs were withered and her ribs were showing. The other pony of the pair was Princess Twilight Sparkle. Like Celestia, the purple pony looked half-starved to death and possessed a mane that had seen better days.

What is this? Sunset thought as the two alicorns were forced to kneel by the guards holding their collars.

The great alicorn was about to order them released and fed, but found herself unable to move. What the? Why can’t I-hey! Somepony get those things off of them!

“Now, the two of you will finally face justice for your crimes.”

Moving on its own accord, Sunset’s body looked over to Cadance. The sight of the other alicorn that was sitting on the floor next to her throne made Sunset want to blink. Although she looked mostly the same, there were some minor differences in the pink princess. The biggest being the red and yellow sun cutie mark earrings that she wore and the bridal that also proclaimed her allegiance to Sunset with the same symbol stamped in the middle of her face.

But it wasn’t just the added jewelry. Something was...off about Cadance. She seemed...darker, somehow. As if some of the light in the room never reached her coat, putting her in shadow.

Celestia looked up at the goddess on the throne. “But...what did I do?” she asked pathetically.

What the hell is going on? Somebody do something already! Sunset cried out in anger.

“You dare ask us something like that?” Cadance said in an appalled tone. “Your very ignorance of your transgression is a crime in and of itself!”

The amber goddess sneered at her mother laying on the floor. “Of course you would ask that question,” She said.

“You didn’t love Her enough!” Cadance shouted.

Celestia flinched, as if Cadance’s words were like a whip that struck her in the face. “But I-I’m sorry, I did my best.”

“Your best,” Cadance spat she said before rearing up to wrap her front legs around Sunset’s neck. “Your best was pathetic. My Goddess should have been what everything you did revolved around. She should have been the first thing you thought about in the morning, and She should have been the last thing you thought about before the end of the day. Every single action you ever took should have been to make Her life better!”

No, Sunset thought. That’s not...yes, I wanted to be the center of Celestia’s world, but that’s a position I don’t deserve! There are more important things in this world than me.

“You should have made Her an alicorn the day she arrived!” Cadance went on as she pulled herself closer to Sunset, hugging her body up against the much larger pony.

Once again, all Sunset could do was watch and not speak her objection to what was happening. That’s something I don’t deserve! Something I’ve never deserved, she tried to say. I only ever wanted the privilege and the power, but I was never worthy of either, nor the responsibility that went with it!

“But that doesn’t mean you don’t still want it,” Cadance whispered into Sunset’s ear in a voice that was almost seductive. “Or this. To be a greater ruler than Celestia ever was, to finally put Twilight Sparkle in her place for taking yours.”

No, Sunset thought. She...Twilight, she couldn’t take something that was never mine.

“Oh come now,” the pink princess continued. “If not for her, Celestia would have welcomed you back with open forelegs. She would have been so grateful for your return, she would have gone through with the adoption and granted you wings on the spot.”

No, that’s not...possible, Sunset thought to herself.

“What?” Cadance whispered. “You don’t actually believe Celestia’s crap about what would happen if you aren’t worthy, do you? We already know that’s just another lie in the long list she’s told you over the course of your life. After all, you’re already an alicorn, but all you’ve said since becoming one is how you don’t deserve it.”

But, that’s just...special circumstances, Sunset thought as she tried to defend the oddity of her wings. Celestia wouldn’t have lied to her the last night they had been together...not without good reason at least. I’m not...I don’t deserve

“All of this?” Cadance asked as she gestured to the throne room. “Come now, you know it’s what you want. To be an alicorn, more powerful and more respected than that sham of a princess. To show her that you were greater than Celestia ever was!”

For the first time since the dream began, Sunset managed to move her body, if just a bit. She looked over to Cadance. Something was...off about the pink princess. It wasn’t just the lighting. But, Sunset couldn’t tell exactly what that was.

“And you want to give her what she deserves, don’t you?” Cadance asked as her lips became a devilish smile. “You want to give them what they both deserve.”

Once again, Sunset’s body acted without her will as She looked back down to the pair of pathetic-looking alicorns. “For your crimes against Me,” the Amber Goddess spoke in a voice that made the room shake with her sheer power.

No, Sunset told herself.

I sentence you,” She went on.

Shut up, Sunset told Herself.

To death,” Empress Sunset concluded.

NO! Sunset yelled in her mind as she struggled to try and stop the vision playing out before her.

The next second had the Empress standing in front of a raised platform in the middle of a square full of the Empress’s worshipers. Both Twilight and Celestia were locked into a pair of guillotines as ponies all around them.

I never wanted this! Even at my most deranged, I would never have hurt Celestia! Sunset screamed as she continued to struggle without any effect.

She tried to move her legs as the blades were raised high. Stop it.

She tried to flap her wings as the headsmare with her black hood got into position. Stop it.

She tried to shout out an order as the ropes were cut to send the blades plummeting down. Stop it.

She focused her horn as-STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT! Sunset screamed with all her might as she demanded as she willed what was being shown in front of her to be undone and-

*CRASH*.

Sunset blinked as the world around her shattered, the faint echo of a scream echoing in her ears.

She stood in a vast nothingness, not darkness. There was no light, but she could see clearly for all around. There just wasn’t anything there to see.

“Wha-?” she mumbled before looking around, then noticing that she could look around at all. Further testing revealed that her legs, wings, and every other part of her body was free. “Hello? Anybody there?”

When nobody answered, Sunset let out a sigh and hung her head. “Really wish I knew what was going on.”

“Um, pretty sure you already know you’re having a dream.”

Sunset blinked, then looked down to where the voice had spoken. Going by the direction it had come from, she had been expecting a foal, not the white unicorn with the blue mane standing in front of her. “Shining Armor,” the amber alicorn mumbled. “Wait, why’re you so small?”

The stallion raised his hoof to point at Sunset. “Well, you’re the one in God Empress of Ponykind mode,” he corrected. “And we both know I’m not Shiny, but a representation of him that is actually an embodiment of your subconscious that you called out to for help in your dream state.”

“...right,” Sunset said after looking down at her regalia. She got on her stomach to look the other pony in the eye. “So um...you’re my...what? Sense of self-worth? My confidence?”

Shining Armor shrugged. “Hey, it’s your dream,” he said. “And if I really am the part of you that’s supposed to tell you how great you are, then...you know all that crap your dream Cadance said was just that, crap.”

The summarization had Sunset shaking her head. “No, what Cadance said was all-”

A sudden weight pressed down on Sunset’s back, and she looked behind her to see Princess Cadance had softly landed on top of her. But unlike the first Cadance, the one that just appeared had no sun emblems or oddities. “Okay, so you’re power hungry and want to be in control,” the pink princess said. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing if you use that power and authority for a good purpose. How many ponies did you help just last night with a few strokes of a pen?”

Sunset drew in on herself. “That was just...Celestia would have done better if she had to deal with the problem.”

“Maybe she would have,” Shining Armor admitted. “But would she have helped me? Uh, the real Shiny, I mean.”

Sunset rolled her eyes at the question. “No, but Cadance would have.”

On Sunset’s back, the pink pony shifted around to hug the amber alicorn’s neck. “Maybe. We can’t really speculate on that. Especially considering how Cadance didn’t even know Shining Armor existed before you came along.”

“But as far as raw magical power goes, let’s be honest, you love being as powerful as you are,” Shining Armor said. “And once again, that’s not a bad thing. Dragons, changelings, sirens, shadow monsters, eldritch abominations from the great beyond, Equestria has had no end of dangers throughout its history. The power you have now means you can protect everypony without putting any of them in danger. Sure, it may have been in a game reality dream...thingy, but time and time again you’ve proven that all the magic and strength you now possess is nothing but an asset.”

Sunset grit her teeth and closed her eyes as she tried to resist the growing sense of pride. “No. It’s not a good thing. I don’t deserve it.”

“And then, there’s us,” Cadance said before she scooted up, and ran her tongue along the edge of Sunset’s ear, getting a shiver of pleasure from the big amber alicorn.

Shining Armor’s lips touched hers a moment later. “Two ponies who love you very much, the real you. Not some bald ape popularity hound, or some miserable creature those other humans can’t even comprehend is a crippled wreck with nowhere else to go.”

“Although judging by her interest in that projection you made, I think Cadance might actually have a thing for the bipedal you,” the pink princess on Sunset’s back added before she kissed the amber alicorn’s cheek. “Now how about you and I-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”


Sunset awoke with a jerk of motion and lit up her horn before she shifted around, looking for what had spooked Cadance before the pink princess glomped onto the amber alicorn with a grip that made Sunset grunt despite her newfound durability and strength. “C-Cadance? Cadance, what is it?”

With Cadance as frightened as she was, Sunset prepared several spells that would have leveled a mountain range if cast at their full power. Although, a quick check of her wards didn’t give any clues as to just where the danger was since all of them were up and functioning. Nothing had tripped them to come into the room.

“It was horrible!” the pink pony cried.

Sunset carefully wrapped her pony-arms around the distressed alicorn and pulled her close to soothe Cadance with a comforting presence. “It’s okay, it’s okay Cadance,” she asked before cautiously looking around a few seconds. Seeing nothing, she looked back to the pink princess. “Um...what was horrible?”

“The-the boats,” she whispered.

“Uh...what?” Sunset replied in confusion.

With each breath, Cadance drew in more air and held it longer before she finally calmed down enough to speak again. “I was...having a dream,” she explained. “You, me, and Shiny, we were all sailing these boats. Yours was pink and white, and I had this gold and blue one, and Shiny was in a red and pink boat. And everything was nice, and bright, and we were all having fun until-until our ships collided!”

Sunset blinked as Cadance’s breathing began to quicken again. “Our ships collided, Sunset!”

Although she didn’t really get it, Sunset put one of her wings around the pink princess’s back as she tried to comfort her friend. “There there, it’s okay Cadance,” she told her. “You’ve got wings, remember? I don’t think you need to worry about drowning.”

She sat there for several minutes, comforting the distraught pony for some time as she used her magic to draw a bath for the two of them and called a servant to prepare some calming tea before the sun came up. Thanks to the pink princess getting them up early and freaking-out over nothing, Sunset managed to forget about her own troubles until she walked out in her apartment’s living room to see Celestia’s crown resting on the couch.

The reminder of last night’s events made Sunset’s knees buckle as the gravity of the situation reasserted itself. Celestia had given her absolute authority over Equestria.

It was...everything she ever wanted, aside from the power she already had, that is.

“So, are you going to make a new crown with magic, or just resize that one?” Cadance asked as she walked into the living room behind Sunset to stare at the ceremonial headpiece.

Both options gave Sunset an uneasy feeling in her gut. “I uh...I’m just doing this for today,” she told the pink princess. “I don’t need a crown for that.”

Cadance looked up at her with a frown. “Sunset,” she said in an extremely serious tone. “Celestia put you in charge of Equestria for the weekend. Not one day. Remember?”

“Right,” Sunset said with a flinch. If she made many more mistakes like that...well, Cadance didn’t have the brightest horn in the herd, but she would figure out that something was up if the amber alicorn kept slipping up like that. “I um...the crown can wait. We need to get to the throne room.”

Not letting Cadance give some counterpoint, Sunset quickly trotted out of her quarters, then remembered all of the proclamations that had been made the night before and returned to pick them up before taking one last look at her mother’s crown and running away from it, back into the hallway at top speed.

Cadance kept pace with her as she quickly made her way to the throne room via Celestia’s private back entrance. Once she entered the chamber that was the center of political authority for the Equestrian government, she found the familiar faces of her mother’s scheduling aide Kibitz, and the dark grey unicorn head secretary Raven waiting for her, along with a pegasus with a bright yellow coat Sunset recognized as Sunny Daze, one of Celestia’s errand girls. While the older stallion with the stopwatch cutie mark was dressed in his usual dress outfit, Raven and the pegasus were completely naked.

Actually being in the throne room made the fact really hit home for Sunset: for one day, she would be the absolute ruler of Equestria.

Although a large part of her knew she didn’t deserve to be anywhere near the throne, years upon years of watching Celestia deal with petitioners told her she couldn’t let it show. And Sunset had to admit, a part of her...a very small part, almost infinitesimal even...wanted to sit on that throne. Even if she didn’t deserve it.

She wanted to rule Equestria. She wanted to be the big pony with the crown that made all the important decisions. She wanted everyone to bow and acknowledge her superiority. She wanted to be what her dream had shown her before it had all gone so horribly wrong.

And now that she was...didn’t she have a duty to use that power and authority to its fullest for the good of everypony involved?

So, she took in a deep breath and concentrated on the task at hand. Doubts could come later. Celestia had put her trust into Sunset, and even though she didn’t want to, she would not let her mother down. And if she also showed her mother that it was in no way a good idea to leave Sunset in charge of anything ever again for as long she lived in the event that the amber alicorn returned to Equestria when she was done serving her time back on Earth without hurting anypony, all the better.

“Princess Sunset,” the stallion said before bowing. “I have your itinerary drawn up for your approval. It’s a light workday, with a brief one-hour meeting with the Canterlot Times and Equestria Daily newspapers after you have finished petitions to the Day Court. Then you’ll need to go pick up your dress and have a final fitting to ensure everything is in order before a meeting with the mane stylist for that party of yours tonight.”

Raven continued on the second Kibitz finished. “There’s also the matter of your security detail for the Formal, Your Highness. And-um,” she stopped to look at the various scrolls Sunset levitated over to her. “What’re these?”

“Just some stuff I came up with last night,” she explained. “I’ll want them copied and sent off to be made into law before noon, if you would please.” A slight frown appeared on Sunset’s face at her slip up. If she didn’t want her mother thinking she did too good a job, then Sunset would have to stop with the pleasantries and asking servants to do her bidding.

She was the boss. She needed to tell them what to do.

After looking over the documentation for a few moments, the gray unicorn nodded. “Yes, Your Highness,” she said before taking her own scrolls out and drawing up the orders as well as creating a backup copy for each scroll.

Kibitz cleared his throat. “One other thing, Princess Sunset,” he said before trotting closer to her. “I know it isn’t really my place to offer advice, but I have worked with your mother for some time and I must say...perhaps you should do something about the throne.”

The odd suggestion made Sunset look over to the aforementioned object to see it was as spotless and immaculate as ever, then back to Kibitz. “What do you mean?”

“Well, Sunset,” Kibitz began uneasily. Sunset noticed the lack of the title, but didn’t call him on it. She would only be around for a day, and the older stallion had known her for the majority of the time she had been at the palace. Dressing down the closest thing she ever had to an admonishing uncle didn’t seem right to her. “It’s just...it’s a little big for you. I know I’m just the scheduler, but I’ve worked with your mother for years, and we all know that perception is where a great deal of political power comes from. The fact you you aren’t wearing Celestia’s crown was smart, it’s too big for you, even after your growth spurt. Along those same lines, some ponies may look at the throne that you’ll be occupying and the image it will give is more akin to a foal trying to fill shoes that are much too big.”

Another glance at the throne had Sunset agreeing with the older pony. “Yeah, you got a point,” she said before focusing her magic. For a second her mind was split on what to do, but recent magical activities helped her pick out a solution.

A burst of magic was released from Sunset’s horn that struck Celestia’s throne. The golden seat with the velvet cushions contracted to a little less than three-fourths of its original size, perfect for Sunset’s posterior to fill.

Then she turned around to look at the rest of the room to continue making minor adjustments. Banners decorated with white banners Celestia’s sun cutie mark were replaced by amber ones showing Sunset’s more complex emblem. She kept the windows, but had them framed by red curtains instead of gold.

“Ummm...Sunset, what’re you doing?” Cadance asked hesitantly.

Sunset smirked. “Redecorating.”

An even expression covered Cadance’s face. “You are aware that Celestia only meant for you to be High Princess for the weekend, right?”

“Yeah, about that,” Sunset said as she skipped up the stairs to the throne to casually park her butt on the seat. It really was the most comfortable pillow in all the land. “She gave me power over Equestria, period. Not to rule in her name. Which reminds me, I really think I should change the title of the absolute authority figure. We’ve got a High Princess, and then Princesses, too confusing if you ask me.”

Cadance rolled her eyes. “You know as well as I do that’s because Celestia can be overruled by two lesser Princesses. That’s why she keeps titles the same.”

“Yeah, well we need to do something about that,” Sunset replied before making a big show of thinking before an idea popped into her head. “Oh! How about Empress?”

Sunset’s felt like kicking herself for actually saying the name, but she didn’t let it show. While Celestia kept the title of Princess because Queenies were meanies, as the old foal’s explanation went, an Empress would have made her sound even worse without actually having to do anything. It was perfect!

Even if it did make Sunset want to throw up. Just a bit.

The suggestion had Cadance drawing back on herself a bit. “You’re joking,” she said. “Wait, you are joking, right?” When the amber alicorn didn’t answer, the tiny bit of relief on Cadance’s face disappeared. “Please tell me you’re joking!”

Sunset looked over to Raven, who had finished transcribing her orders onto a new set of scrolls. “Give me back the originals and send the copies out to who needs them. Oh and Sunny, open the doors on your way out so the first petitioner can come in,” she said before turning her attention to Cadance. “You want to sit next to me?”

With a look of hesitation that made Sunset want to cringe, the pink princess made her way up the steps and plopped her plot down next to Sunset after the amber alicorn conjured a purple pillow for the pink princess to sit on. “Sunset, please say that you’re just messing with me,” she mumbled through gritted teeth as she tried to keep her mouth from moving.


When she received no assurances from Sunset that everything going on was just some sort of joke, Cadance’s worries only grew. Worries that included the possibility that everything the amber alicorn had done up until now was just a trick for Sunset to gain the throne, that she had already gone mad with power, had several delusions of grandeur, and was quickly returning to the Sunset that Cadance had known before the amber alicorn got her wings. Only as something a hundred times more powerful than before.

Although, Cadance realized that if her worse fears were coming true, there wasn’t much she could do about it until Celestia returned. If she returns, the pink princess told herself as the thoughts in her head tored towards a dark direction, with Sunset orchestrating a plot to remove Celestia from the world completely.

Wait a second, Cadance thought as she suddenly realized where her out of control thoughts were going. The pink princess reached up and rubbed the space below her horn with a hoof as her mind centered on the one moment that had been the cause of her latest fear, when Sunset had used her magic to exert her authority over that other pony the day before.

They hadn’t talked about it, and Cadance had quickly galloped back to the new routine way of treating Sunset when the amber alicorn had thrown her usual fit over Celestia’s actions. She had been quick to dismiss what happened as some one-time fluke and gone back to only thinking as Sunset as the pony she now idolized. Something she now knew was a mistake.

“Oh Celestia, not again.”

Sunset’s surprised mumbling drew Cadance out of her thoughts. She looked up and realized that the first group of petitioners had entered the throne room, with the rest filing in behind them very slowly. They were a group of earth ponies, a family of four unless Cadance missed her guess. The leader of the group was a bright tan stallion, accompanied by a golden yellow mare who had the most curly of manes, along with a bright red colt that looked around Shiny’s age, and young filly with a yellow mane and orange coat, with the exception of the tiny spots on the front of her face.

Behind them, Sunny Daze rushed to catch up after she fell behind because of her need to deliver the letters to a waiting messenger pony standing outside the throne room, then passed them as they reached the end of the carpet to take her place at the foot of the dais where Sunset and Cadance sat in case Sunset needed more things sent off.

“Greetings yer Highness,” the stallion said before bowing along with his family and taking off his stetson hat. After being given leave to rise, he quickly went into introductions. “Mah name is Bright Mac, and this is my wife, Pear Butter. And our children, Big Mac, and Applejack.”

“Of course they are,” Sunset grumbled barely loud enough for Cadance to hear. The next time she spoke, it was a bit louder than needed, and much harsher. “Bright Mac, does this look like a daycare center to you?”

The stallion went a bit rigid at the question. “Um...no, yer Highness.”

A scowl appeared on Sunset’s face. “Then what are foals doing here? Am I to be some sort of amusement for them?”

Every other pony who had brought their foals with them began to look around nervously as Pear Butter took a step forward. “Beg pardon, Your Highness. We were going to leave the little ones in the hotel under my supervision, but after we read in the papers that you would be hosting the court this morning, I thought that it would be nice for them to-”

“IT’S MY FAULT!” Applejack suddenly cried out in a panic before she rushed forward. “Ah caused a fus when Ah heard you was gonna be the princess today, er Princess Sunset. Ah’m sorry, Ah didn’t mean no disrespect, Ah just wanted ta meet ya is all.”

The other three ponies looked on in horror at Applejack, as if she was about to be vaporized on the spot for speaking to the angry alicorn out of turn.

Cadance learned in towards Sunset. “What are you doing?”

Sunset ignored Cadance as she looked down at the frightened little filly standing before her. “Come here, Applejack.”

The orange earth pony gulped before she slowly made her way up the stairs as her family watched on in terror, needing to nearly jump up each step until she came to stand before Sunset’s throne. When the amber alicorn raise a hoof as if to strike the filly down, Applejack huddled in on herself before Sunset’s foreleg came down...to scoop the tiny pony up in her grasp and hold her much akin to a newborn pegasus would have been, cradled in one arm with the parents wing offering support.

“Well, aren’t you an honest little filly,” Sunset told her in a cheerful voice before she bent down to kiss Applejack’s forehead.

Cadance led a collective sigh of relief that included every other pony in the room except for the ones sitting next to her, which got her an even look for Sunset. “You weren’t seriously thinking I was going to hurt her, were you?”

The accusation made Cadance give Sunset a nervous smile. “Well...um...you see…”

“Ugh,” Sunset groaned before she looked back to the crowd, her darker expression quickly returning. “Still, the throne room is no place for fillies and colts unless the business with the crown involves them directly. My mother allowed their presence because she considered babies adorable. I am not my mother. Foals have their place, and it is not in here. So, Raven.”

The unicorn turned to look up at the amber alicorn. “Yes, Highness?”

“Draft an order to have one of the storage chambers in the Western end of the palace converted into a daycare facility so that parents that don’t have the means to leave a foal at home can do it there,” Sunset commanded. “Princess Cadance is good with children, she can oversee the details.”

Cadance raised an eyebrow at the royal order. “Doesn’t the palace already have a daycare facility?”

“Yeah,” Sunset replied. “But that’s more for palace staff that need to leave their foals with us for the whole day with regular care. Having new ponies dropped off and picked up throughout the day would be too disruptive. This is more of a three-hour type deal. Plus, I doubt any of these kids like hanging around in line all day.”

With the matter apparently settled, Sunset looked back towards Applejack’s parents while the little foal looked on from Sunset’s forelegs. “Now, what is the business that you bring before the crown today?”

With Sunset apparently not ready to burn the two earth ponies to a crisp, Bright Mac approached the throne again. “Well yer Highness,” he said. “Ya see, my family runs the apple orchard down near Ponyville. Apples are the bumper crop of the town since mah wife’s father moved away. It’s what most of the town lives off of. But we’ve had a bad infestation of apple blight this past season. Half of our orchard needed to be cut down to save what we had left. We...need help, Yer Highness.” Going by the look on the earth pony’s face, he didn’t seem to like asking for it.

“Ponyville,” Sunset mumbled to herself before she looked over to Raven. “That’s the little village you can see from Canterlot, right? Population three-hundred-thirty-three, with lots of traffic from ponies on their way to Canterlot, and it’s labeled as a level 3 hazardous zone, correct?”

The gray unicorn nodded before she adjusted her glasses. “Yes, Your Highness,” she said. “The close proximity to the Everfree Forest causes a multitude of unplanned weather phenomena and a large number of dangerous creatures are said to call the forest home. Some of which have been known to venture outside of their boundaries. I believe the last incident occurred just last month, when a group of parasprites followed a shipment of oats being transported by cart. Luckily, the wagons had stopped at a rock farm by the time all the grain was eaten. Without any major source of food, the bugs were kept under control until a team of experts could be sent to take care of them.”

Cadance blinked at Sunset’s inexplicable knowledge of some middle of nowhere town and looked over to the bigger alicorn. “How do you know so much about Ponyville?”

“Rarity,” Sunset replied, as if that strange word explained everything. “Which reminds me, I should have some cloth shipped to her for encouragement.”

As Cadance just cocked her head in confusion, Sunset looked back down to Bright Mac. “What you're asking me is no simple thing, Bright Mac,” the amber alicorn said. “I understand that your family’s farm is in trouble as well as the food supply of Ponyville as a whole. However, the fault for this tragedy can not be laid at the hooves of the weather patrol, or any other government agency. In fact, the argument could be made that your own negligence in caring for your crop was the cause of this infection growing to the state that it has. The crown does not simply make bits out of thin air Bright Mac, we take it from other Equestrians. Should they have to pay for your mistakes?”

Bright Mac and his wife became more and more uncomfortable as Sunset went on, and the filly in her forelegs looked up at the alicorn in worry. “But on the other hoof, something can be said of the government’s duty to help those ponies who can not help themselves,” she went on. “It is not as if any of you planned on getting apple blight. Plus, you do provide the majority of food for your town. Letting other ponies go hungry through no fault of their own at all leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.”

Sunset reached up and tapped her chin for a few seconds as she considered something, then looked back to the stallion. “Tell me, Bright Mac, does your farm sell every single apple it grows?”

“Well...technically, no Yer Highness,” he said with a shake of his head. “One of our fields is infested with fruit bats. We leave them alone to eat the apples that grow there?”

Kibitz gagged. “You-You ponies are raising vampire fruit bats?” he demanded with an angry snort. “Do you have any idea how destructive those pests are? Allow them to breed and they’ll devour both your crops and the ones belonging to the next town over!”

The accusation put a look of fight on Bright Mac’s face. “What? No! No Sir,” the stallion quickly said. “These are the normal fruit bats, come in all kinds of colors. They don’t eat but the apples of the trees they live in.”

“Until they breed and slowly take over your orchard,” Sunset deadpanned before closing her eyes and letting out a long sigh. When she opened her eyes again, she gave Bright Mac a hard stare. “I will have a group of animal handling experts draw up plans to remove the creatures. The crown will then purchase the apples grown in this part of the orchard at a price ten-percent less than normal market value for a period of three years. In return, I will fund a fresh group of saplings to be sent to your farm to replace the lost trees and have granaries ship in enough food to provide for Ponyville until the next season. I take it the Apple Family’s expertise in growing the fruit they are named after can speed along their development and have the replacements ready by then?”

The stallion below nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, Yer Highness! It’ll take a lot of work and care, but we’ll sure do our best! Thank ye Highness, thank ye kindly.”

“Alright then,” Sunset said before she lifted Applejack up to kiss her on the forehead again. “Now, you be a good filly for your parents.”

As the family turned to leave, Cadance frowned internally as she went over Sunset’s deal with the Ponyville Apple Family in her head. Being raised in an earth pony village, the former pegasus knew more about agriculture than most ponies in Canterlot. While to the average pony, it sounded like Sunset had made the family pay for replacing their orchards by forcing them to sell apples at a slightly reduced price to the crown, the figures Cadance ran through her head said differently.

The usual markup for farm produce was generally fifteen-percent of its actual value once labor was factored in, with the price growing depending on shipping costs. Which, judging by how much the apples had to travel between Ponyville and Canterlot,wouldn’t be all that much if moved in bulk. So, Sunset had just locked the government into a three-year guarantee to buy apples at what would amount to a profit for the farm family that was supposed to be paying for the repairs through this deal.

Sunset wasn’t stupid. The pink princess knew that the amber alicorn had to understand basic Equestrian economics. So...had she just made a big show to anypony watching to make it look like the government would require repayment of any assistance while actually giving the Apple family more help than they asked for?

What was the point of that?

“Next!” Sunset called out, an order than was repeated by the pegasus Sunny Daze.


Being the stern ruler that nopony wanted to invite to a party but everypony could count on was a lot easier than Sunset thought it would be. Her first case had many of the ponies with foals in tow deciding that it would be better to come back on Monday. After that, there was a pony claiming that he had been hit by a guard’s chariot and the crown should pay for his medical bills and living expenses during his long road to recovery. This prompted Sunset to add the stipulation that all cases needed to be presented inside a circle of truth.

Five more petitioners that Sunset could see quickly made themselves scarce. Although, she didn’t know if they would be coming back when Celestia returned, or if they had just thought they could get one over on the less experienced princess. Sunset really hoped it was the later. She didn’t want to think that there were ponies who actually did take advantage of Celestia’s good nature.

The rest of the morning went by smoothly enough after that. A pony would come to ask for a ruling, and Sunset would go on to explain the consequences of each possible judgement from multiple viewpoints before providing a decision. Despite needing to put on an unapproachable air of strict authority, the amber alicorn helped as many ponies as she could.

There were a few simple cases, thankfully. Requests for an increased guard presence due to fears of timber wolves or other such problem were given without as much consideration as other things. Complaints against the actions of nobles or the ruling of the local magistrate had Sunset give an order for an impartial investigator to be sent in order for a complete picture to be gained, one she knew Celestia would act on when proof was put before her. And requests for mining or farming rights were given after Sunset worked out a proper share be given to the crown, with a timeframe added in the case of new farms or orchards to designate when the added crop tax would end.

Such was the way of how things went until the last two petitioners came before Sunset. The pair of nervous unicorns consisted of a pale white stallion that looked like he had a bit too much to eat over the past several years, and a yellow mare that was taller than most, but not quite at the height Sassy or Fleur possessed. Whatever treatments she had gotten had only occurred later in life when they weren’t nearly as effective.

Both of the ponies bowed low to Sunset as Sunny Daze held up a paper to read. “And our last petitioners for the day are one Sterling Silver, and Genuine Copper, Your Majesty,” she announced. “They’ve come to ask the crown for forgiveness for grievances performed against Your Highness.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow at the statement. “What grievances?” As far as Sunset could remember, she had ever even seen the two ponies in front of her.

The Silver stallion stumbled forward. “Our apologies, Princess! If we had known what our daughter planned, we would have never allowed her out of the house that day.”

“Do not worry, Your Highness, we’ve dealt with her,” the mare quickly added as she rose up a little bit to look at Sunset. “You will not have to worry about her ever troubling you again.”

The pleading ponies only seemed to annoy Sunset, as her frowned deepened. “Okay, first off, what the hay are you two idiots talking about? And just who are you two?”

Raven stepped forward. “Sterling Silver and Genuine Copper are the ponies who own the controlling interest in the Smooth as Silk conglomerate, Your Highness,” she explained. “They supply about a third of the curtains, pillows, and bed sheets to the palace, Equestrian embassies, and guard outposts.”

Which explains why they’re groveling so much, Sunset thought to herself. The amber alicorn had shown herself as a harsh ruler all morning, despite giving out aid to all the ponies she could. But just like human politics, image was everything and actual facts didn’t matter at all. “And what exactly is this grievance?”

The mare of the pair was the one that answered the question. “Our daughter, Upper Crust, Your Highness,” she said. “She told us yesterday how she attempted to drive a wedge between you and your personal dress designer.”

“Do not worry, Your Highness,” Sterling Silver told her. “We’ve already shown her the consequences for committing such acts against the crown.”

With the two of them inside the area affected by Sunset’s truth circle, she knew they couldn’t be lying, but the severity of any punishment thought up by parents who had let their daughter become such a spoiled little terror that controlled her friends, and through them the school she attended, with bribes and threats made Sunset doubt whatever they had done to Upper Crust had been anywhere near what she deserved. “And just what were those consequences?”

Sterling Silver stood up proudly after being asked the question. “We have disowned and cast her out, Your Majesty.”

“The actions of Upper Crust are in no way affiliated with ourselves, or our companies,” Genuine Copper added a second later.

Sunset looked down at the two ponies in absolute shock, her mask of frozen calm cracking as her mouth slowly opened upon hearing the news. As she continued to stare at the ponies that were apparently proud of their actions, a cold rage began to simmer from deep within. “You...cast out...your only daughter?”

The stallion nodded in response. “Yes, Princess.”

The sound of metal crying out in pain filled the room as Sunset’s hooves dug into the armrests of her throne, making all of the ponies around her wince before she pushed herself off of the golden chair and spread her wings out in a furious rage. “GUARDS!” the angry alicorn shouted in a voice that shook the room with its power as she snatched up both the unicorns in front of her with enough force that would have caused bruising to several parts of their bodies. “PUT THESE TWO IN CHAINS AND HAVE THEM THROWN INTO THE DUNGEON!”


For the first time since Sunset had become an alicorn, Cadance found herself a little afraid of the angry pony’s temper tantrum. Sunset’s eyes were alight with power, every step her big friend took as they left the throne room shook the palace, and just standing next to Sunset made Cadance’s horn hurt from the amount of magical pressure the amber alicorn was producing in her angry state. Raven and Kibitz trailed more than ten steps behind them, unable to come any closer.

But, Cadance pushed her nervousness to the back of her mind and focused on what she had to do. “Sunset,” she said as she quickly trotted to get shoulder to shoulder with the bigger pony. “You need to calm down.”

I am calm,” Cadance felt more than heard Sunset say as the words reverberated in her skull.

The pink princess winced from the pain and took in a deep breath. “Sunset-”

They threw away their daughter, Cadance,” Sunset said, making Cadance clench her teeth to keep them from rattling. “THEIR DAUGHTER!”

The room shook from Sunset’s voice alone, and stained glass windows over a thousand years old that depicted the history of Equestria shattered, spraying multicolored glass everywhere. Cadance dropped to the floor and covered her head with her wings to avoid anything getting in her eyes. When the danger had past, she looked back up to the bigger pony from her position on the ground. “Sunset, you have to stop.”

STOP?” Sunset yelled. “I haven’t even begun yet! I’ll cancel their contracts! I’ll seize their holdings! I make them wish-”

Unable to take it anymore, Cadance played her Sunset-control trump card. “SUNSET, YOU’RE HURTING ME!”

All of a sudden, the words coming from the big pony’s mouth disappeared, and Cadance watched as Sunset finally took a look at the hallway around her. The pressure in the air that had built to a point where Cadance found it hard to breathe slowly withdrew, and Sunset’s eyes went from a bright white to their normal color. “Cadance, I...I’m sorry, I-”

Cadance didn’t let Sunset finish before she got back on her hooves and reared up to wrap her friend up in a hug. “Shhh, it’s okay,” the pink princess whispered into the amber alicorn’s ear. Then, after a moment’s hesitation, she gently kissed Sunset on the cheek.”It’s over now. It’s okay.”

“I was just so angry,” Sunset whispered before Cadance gave her a little nuzzle to continue showing the amber alicorn that there were no hard feelings. “What they said, they....”

“Shhhh,” Cadance said before she nuzzled Sunset again. “I know. It was just like what happened to you, before.”

Ten seconds passed as Cadance stood there, holding the pony she loved in the deserted hallway that Sunset’s angry display had cleared out. When she felt Sunset’s breathing had become steady, telling her the amber alicorn wasn’t going to have a panic attack over her actions, Cadance took a step back and smiled up at her. “Hey, I don’t suppose you could fix the hallway with your magic, could you?”

Sunset took a look around her with heavy eyes. “Um...yeah, give me a second,” she mumbled before her horn lit up.

Thanks to the experience she had gained with magic after all the hours Sunset put her through practicing, Cadance was able to make out the dozens of spells the amber alicorn casually threw around as she filled in cracks and sent millions of glass pieces flying to rearrange them back into transparent pieces of art before making them whole again. Although the level of power Sunset displayed wasn’t anything special, the way she wove so many of them at the same time remind the pink princess one of the reasons she admired Sunset so much.

When it was finished, Cadance got Sunset’s attention again. “Now, since I know it’s going to be on your mind until you do something to take care of it, I’ll have the guards locate Upper Crust and bring her to the palace so we can take care of this. You need to go have your news meeting and show everypony that fake, I’m an evil overlord exterior.”

Cadance smirked when she saw Sunset pull into herself a bit at being seen to. “Was I that obvious?”

“Not really,” she said with a shake of her head. “Although, I have to wonder why you’re doing this whole act. Trying to get the ponies to wish Princess Celestia was back as soon as possible?”

After hesitating for a moment, Sunset shook her head. “Not really, although, I’ll admit that a small part of it now that I think about it,” she admitted before getting a bit more serious. “Cadance, you were listening right next to me. A few of the ponies that showed up had real problems, but for the most part, they just wanted a princess to wipe their plots for them!”

Cadance winced at Sunset’s words. “I don’t seem to remember anypony asking-”

Sunset gave the other alicorn a half-lidded stare. “It was a metaphor, Cadance.”

“...oh,” the pink princess replied.

“And yeah, I get that some ponies like the Apples need the help,” Sunset went on. “But if everypony starts taking from the pot that we’re all supposed to contribute to for the littlest things or because they think they deserve it, then there’s not enough to help the ponies that really need it. And Celestia’s been letting this go on since...well, apparently for a really long time, judging by how many ponies asked for stupid things.”

Cadance tapped her hoof to her chin. “Or they thought they could get one over on you because you’re new.”

The idea made Sunset let out a snort of agitation. “No. I sat with Mom enough to know those requests were pretty common. And she always at least promised to look into it,” the amber alicorn grumbled. “And even if she eventually decides the crown shouldn’t get involved, the fact ponies go to her for the smallest things in the first place sets a bad precedent! It’s like she’s the mom that never let her foals stop sucking her teats!”

“You’re not going to ever stop with that, are you?” Cadance asked with an unamused expression. Then, when Sunset gave her a sheepish grin, the pink princess rolled her eyes. “Just get going and scare all of the reporters into obeying and welcoming Celestia back with open hooves.” Then, after a moment’s pause, she frowned. “Unless you’re only doing all of this to try and show Celestia that you shouldn’t be put anywhere near a place of power ever again. Which you’re not, right?”

Sunset gave Cadance a nervous look. “Umm...bye!” she said before turning around and quickly galloping off.


Three turns after breaking away from Cadance, Sunset finally slowed down and got her bearings before heading towards the room Celestia usually met with the assembled press. While Cadance hadn’t been quite on the nose with her assessment of Sunset’s style of ruling, the amber alicorn had to admit that the pink princess had a good idea.

At least when it came to dealing with the press, the actual ruling...well...it was hard not to help ponies who really needed it!

But the ponies Sunset was fixing to talk to weren’t the kind who needed help. In fact, they were the kind who needed a good kick in the butt. She remembered some of the headlines that had appeared over the years when Celestia had made a little stumble or was caught on camera with the tiniest of frowns because she was about to sneeze. Then, because the perfect and infallible Princess Celestia, she who raised the sun and moon, disliked something, business and charities would fail overnight. Which in turn put that much more pressure on Sunset’s mother to always smile, always look happy, always be perfect in front of everypony when even a single public eye could be watching her.

Except when she was alone with her daughter.

Sunset stopped in her tracks at the sudden realization. Wait a second, she thought to herself.

All the times Celestia had scowled at her, all the eye rolls, all the snorts of displeasure and sarcastic comments Sunset had been subjected to during the last days of her previous stay in Equestria…had that all been because of them?

Because of those stupid reporters who never gave her mom a second’s peace?

Sunset was of two minds on the subject. On one hand, she actually felt a little closer to her mother because of all the negative interactions they shared the first time around. Celestia had loved Sunset enough to show the amber alicorn the real her, not the perfect princess she had to be in front of the rest of Equestria. And on the other hand, it was because her mother had to be perfect around everyone else that Sunset had received so much of her mother’s disdain, because she couldn’t show it to anyone else.

If not for that, well...Sunset had to admit that she probably would have turned out just as bad as before, but at least she wouldn’t have had as much doubt when it came to Celestia’s affections for her.

So, Sunset went to confront the ponies that had ruined her relationship with her mother.


The sun shown down on Canterlot, reflecting light off the windows and pristine buildings. The birds happily chirped from their places in the trees. The numerous citizens happily went about their business, like the earth pony with a somewhat damaged cart of cabbages trotting down the street, or the unicorn that looked much too young to be out of school receiving a stack of newspapers to hawk.

Of course, there were also ponies without anything to keep them busy.

Ponies like Shining Armor.

The white pony sighed and looked around for something to do. For some reason, the prospect of not going to school while telling his parents that he was had seemed exciting at first, dangerous even. But once he had actually gotten around to it...Shining Armor learned that doing nothing all day was actually rather boring.

“EXTRA! EXTRA! EMPRESS SUNSET INSTITUTES LAWS TO REGULATE NEWSPAPER REPORTING!” the colt across the street shouted out. “INCREASES MILITARY SPENDING FOR SOUTHERN EQUESTRIA DEFENSIVE FORTIFICATIONS!”

Shining Armor blinked at the announcement as his mind was thrown for a loop. “Wait a second,” he mumbled to himself before looking both ways to cross the street and grabbing a paper. “Let me see that!”

One bit to stop the newspony from calling the civic guard later, Shining Armor sat down on the nearby bench to read the full story. Which turned into multiple stories involving information on Sunset’s background and one per proclamation that she made. Half an hour of reading later, and Shining knew about how Sunset, after declaring herself Empress rather than High Princess like Celestia had been, made new laws that fined news sources which caused financial damage to businesses or charities due to misinformation, and put in orders to have several of Equestria’s towns on the southern border evaluated to see if they needed guard posts or any type of defensive fortification.

Halfway through the last article he was reading, the number of ponies in the street tripled, and he could barely concentrate from all the mumbling going on behind the paper. Unable to take more than a few seconds of the distracting sounds, he finally bent the paper down to see just what the hay was so important.

Seeing Empress Sunset Shimmer standing in the middle of the road not five feet away next to Princess Cadance made him blink.

“See Cadance? I told you that was Shiny, sitting there,” she said before trotting more in his direction and standing up a little taller when she reached the bench. “I’d recognize that scruffy blue mane of his anywhere.”

Shining Armor looked around at all the other ponies giving the amber empress astonished, if careful looks, and then noticed something missing: despite her increase in status, Sunset had neither royal carriage or small army of personal guards following her everywhere she went. “Um...Sun-”

AHEM!” Sunset cleared her throat loud enough that Shining Armor’s head rung. “That’s Empress Sunset. Just because I like you doesn’t mean you don’t have to adhere to the courtesies, Shiny.”

Next to the large alicorn, Princess Cadance gave her a little frown. “Still can’t believe you went through with that,” she mumbled. Then, when Sunset gave a displeased look in her direction, Cadance bowed her head. “Your Magnificent Radiance.”

Sunset brightened up at the show of submission from Cadance. “That’s better, my little princess,” she said before petting Cadance on her head like a dog. Then, she looked back to Shining Armor, whose confusion at the whole display was quickly mounting. “So, Shiny, you here to pick up your tux for the big dance tonight?”

“Um...what?” he asked.

Cadance stepped up next to Sunset. “Your clothes for the dance,” she said cheerfully before her expression became a little less happy. “Don’t tell me you planned on going naked. It’s not that I mind...but, it would be nice to see you in something fancy.”

An amused snort came from the amber empress’s mouth. “Of course he’s not going naked, Cadance,” Sunset said with a roll of her eyes. A second later, the paper in Shining Armor’s hooves was snatched away in her magic. “He just got a little distracted by my picture in the news. Honestly Shiny, you should probably wait a day or two before getting the whole story on the details surrounding my first few proclamations. By then, all those ponies that like to misrepresent the facts will be put in the Canterlot dungeons where they belong!”

“W-What?!” a brown pegasus pony wearing a hat that had a piece of paper on the side saying ‘PRESS’ said before he dropped from the air.

“YOU HEARD ME!” Sunset shouted back in an angry tone before he expression went from enraged to sweet. “At least I hope you did. Wouldn’t want any of you causing undue panic all across Equestria because you said that I said something your new supreme leader didn’t say. And remember, it’s Sunset Shimmer, two Ms. Spelling is important too. I don’t need to issue an edict that says I have to put you in jail because of a misspelling, do I?”

As several of the ponies took on panicked looks and began asking each other if Shimmer always had two Ms or if it was just Sunset’s particular spelling of it that was different, the big amber alicorn looked back to Shining Armor. “Now that we’ve taken care of those idiots,” she said before pulling Shining Armor to his hooves. “Let’s go see you in your tux.”

Looking at the terrified mob of ponies, Shining Armor thought it better not to contradict Sunset. Instead, he asked the other question on his mind. “Um...Prin-er, Empress Sunset,” he asked hesitantly. “Shouldn’t you have some guards escorting you?”

The big amber alicorn snorted and rolled her eyes. “Those idiots? Shining Armor, the royal guard is-” turning her head to look in the young stallion’s direction, Sunset hesitated for a moment. “-um, put to better use than protecting a pony that has more power than all of them put together and multiplied by a thousand.”

Once again, Cadance gave the bigger alicorn an half-lidded look of displeasure. “That’s not what you said when you left them back at the palace,” she mumbled.

Sunset leaned over to the pink princess. “Not in front of the guard-hopeful, Cadance,” she said quietly through gritted teeth.

After they got to the tailor shop’s doors, Sunset turned around. “Now, I know all of you want to take a look at Cadance and myself in our Fall Formal attire. So, wait here and give us some privacy, and we’ll give you all a few photo ops after the adjustments are made.”

With that, Sunset led Shining Armor into the tailor’s shop that had a closed sign hanging on the door, with Cadance quickly following behind. Once they were inside, the window’s suddenly became opaque, along with the glass in the door. “And that’ll keep anypony from coming in or hearing anything from outside,” she said.

“Ah Princess Cadance! Empress Sunset,” the pony from behind the counter said before he totted up to them with a mile on his face as he looked over to the white stallion. He was much older than anypony else in the room, with wrinkles covering his tan face and bald head. Except for his eyes, which were covered by a pair of thick glasses. “And this is?”

Cadance smiled back at the stallion as Sunset looked impassive. “This is Shining Armor, he’s also here to pick up his clothes for tonight.”

The stallion blinked. “Um...I’m afraid I don’t recall the name, nor the order, Highness.”

Sunset looked over to the smaller pony with a displeased expression. “Are you telling me you don’t have Shiny’s order ready, like you were supposed to?” she asked evenly.

Sweat began to appear on the stallion’s face. “Um, beg your pardon, Majesty. It’s just, with these rush orders, this have been a little hectic. I-I’m sure it’s just somewhere in the back.”

“Then go get it!” Sunset yelled, making the pony tremble for a second before he turned to take off in the direction of a door marked storage.

As soon as the door slammed shut behind the clothes maker, Sunset’s displeased frown disappeared, and she let out a little giggle. “Okay, I know scaring that poor guy was a bit too much, but I’ve got to admit, I’m kind of having fun with this.”

“It is too much,” Cadance told her with a frown. “I thought you wanted to be firm, not oppressive!”

Sunset flinched at the comment. “Well-”

“And what’s this I hear about you wanting to build a wall along our southern border?” Cadance demanded. “I may not know all of our plans for growing the nation, but I know that the south is still open to expansion!”

The amber alicorn blinked at Cadance’s complaint. “Wait they said-ugh!” she groaned. “I said I want to increase the guard’s presence in the south and put walls around the towns that border timber wolf hunting grounds. The place that needs a fence is the Everfree. Have you seen the reports on that area? A better name for it would be the Forest of Death! I swear, if that’s what the papers are saying my plans are, they really do need to be shut up for misreporting!”

“Um, Emp-” Shining Armor managed to say before the big amber alicorn looked in his direction with a little frown.

“Shiny, sweetie,” she said as her expression softened. “I may have had to be a bit rough with you out on the streets just now and shovel a load of horse crap for those idiots to hear, but please don’t take any of that to heart. I just want you call me Sunset.”

Hearing Sunset call him sweetie made Shining Armor’s cheeks heat up a bit. “Oh, well...that’s, um...okay,” he finally managed to agree as he go his voice under control. “So...wait, all that outside, it was just an act?”

“Most of it,” Cadance replied before she looked over to Sunset with a little frown. “Right?”

The Empress of Equestria snorted. “No, Cadance. I really have gone mad with power and become a big evil overlord,” she said in a sarcastic tone before she rolled her eyes. “Of course I’m putting on a show. Well, except when it comes to the newspapers. Somepony has to step in and show that there’s consequences for faulty reporting.”

With the assurances that Sunset wasn’t going to be turning into some kind of tyrant, Shining Armor let out a sigh of relief. Now, he just needed to tell them that there was no way in Equestria that the shop they were in had any clothes for him, and after riding out the disappointment the girls would feel over him taking so long to tell them, he could… Wait a second, he thought to himself. They’re with me now, which means...they know I’m not sick...oh...pony feathers.

As he tried to work up a way of getting out of going to the Formal, the door to the back room suddenly slammed open. “Good news everypony!” the old dressmaker said as he trotted into the room with a tuxedo in hi magic. “I managed to find Shining Armor’s order. It was buried in the back beneath a shipment of fabric I got just this morning!”

“What?” Shining Armor asked in surprise. They weren’t supposed to have any clothes for him! How did they have any clothes for him? Did Sunset and Cadance order something behind his back?

Sunset smiled. “That’s good to hear,” she said. “Although, I am a little upset that my friend’s merchandise has been mistreated. What with all the improper storage.”

“Um...how about a discount, then?” the stallion asked nervously. “Say...thirty percent off?”

After glancing at the nine-hundred bit pricetag on the tuxedo, Shining Armor choked. Even at that price, there was no way he or his family could possibly afford something like that.

“No need for that,” Cadance said. In Shining Armor’s mind, he could see the pink princess taking a knife to the family wallet and slicing open a hole it, causing bits that should have paid for food to feed his family disappear into the void.

“I’ll pay for it,” she went on, ending Shining Armor’s horrified daydream.

The stallion nodded. “Excellent! Now, Empress Sunset, if you would follow me to the private fitting rooms. We can make the last minute alterations that mind be needed for the dress to properly display off your...ahem, imperial countenance.”

“That better mean you’re pushing my plot up in all the right places,” Sunset replied, her air of displeased authority once again in place. “Celestia was the envy of every pony in Equestria when it came to looks, and I’ll be burned if I’m not too!”

“Of course, Your Magnificence!” the stallion quickly agreed before they vanished from sight.

As soon as Sunset and the other pony were gone, Cadance let out another snort of displeasure. “I swear, I think she’s actually enjoying being a total plot hole to everypony again.”

Shining Armor frowned and looked over to Cadance. “Um...out of curiosity, just why is Sunset...doing this?”

“Well...depends on who you ask,” Cadance replied. “Sunset says she needs to act tough to make sure ponies don’t try to take advantage of her. Me, I think she’s just being like this so that when Celestia comes back, she never leaves Sunset in charge of anything ever again.”

“Um, Cadance-”

“Hey Shiny,” the pink princess said, stopping him from talking. “Let’s go and sit down. There’s something I need to say to you.”

Shining Armor blinked, then nodded. “Okay.”

At his signal, Cadance threw a wing around Shining Armor’s back and led him over to the front corner of the shop, where a long pillow was laid out on the ground for customers to wait their turns on. When they sat down, Cadance let out a sigh. “Shiny, I need to apologize over my actions for the past week,” she said before looking down at the ground. “When Sunset mentioned that she liked you so much, I...got a little crazy, and as the Formal kept getting closer, I just got worse and worse from the pressure. I thought I had to get the two of you together because, well...as much as I hate to say it, I owed it to Sunset for not being there when I should have. I didn’t think about what you wanted to the point where you didn’t even feel comfortable talking to me in pony!”

The sudden outpouring made Shining Armor tense. “Well, no offense Princess,” he said, which caused Cadance’s ears to droop even more. Something that made Shining Armor flinch. He should have gone with just Cadance. “But, it is pretty hard to talk to you and Sunset, sometimes. Your alicorns, royalty, leaders of Equestria. You’re supposed to know what to do better than anypony! If you say something should be a certain way, then what right do I have to disagree?”

“Every right!” Cadance told him as she looked up at Shining Armor in a panic. “Shiny, please don’t ever think you ever shouldn’t tell me anything that’s on your mind! I’m sorry I yelled at you that one time over your doubts with Sunset! It was late and I was upset and I know that’s no excuse, but…” she took in a deep, calming breath. “Sorry for freaking out on you a bit there.”

Shining Armor put the tuxedo issue on the back burner for the moment in lieu of something more important. “It’s okay,” he assured her. “I...haven’t really been that accommodating either.”

“You shouldn’t have to be accommodating!” Cadance said before she pulled back a bit. “Okay, well...it does bother me a bit that you might have-wait, Sunset being an unequaled bastion of power isn’t the reason you aren’t going to the dance with her, is it?”

Instead of giving her an instant answer, Shining Armor thought about it for a bit. While what Sunset told him the other morning did bother him, Shining Armor knew that was more on his inability to deal with the reality of Sunset being a goddess than any failing the amber alicorn possessed. But instead of focusing on that, he cleared his mind of Sunset’s abilities to focus on her personality.

“Honestly?” he asked after a moment. “Both you and Sunset, the two of you, you both...well...you just kind of...snatch me up and drag me along. A lot of the stuff we do, yeah I like it, but...I just liked being asked first.”

Cadance looked back at the ground. “Oh,” she mumbled.

“Like...taking me into this place,” Shining Armor said. “The two of you brought me in here to pick up my tux. But Cadance, I never ordered one.”

The statement had Cadance picking her head up a moment later with a curious frown. “Then why did the tailor-oh! Right, evil overlord Sunset said he had one, and...buck. That’s not going to go well when she finds out. Good thing I decided to cover the cost.”

Shining Armor nodded. “Um, and along that line…” He stopped, unsure if he should continue. It was one thing for Cadance to say he could tell her anything. But telling the Princess of Love that he didn’t want to go to the Fall Formal because he couldn’t decide on which of the princesses to take wasn’t so easy. While Cadance said one thing, Shining Armor’s personal experiences with her said another.

“Yes Shiny?” Cadance asked, sounding a little bit hopeful, as if she was asking him to finally stop sounding so depressing.

Before he could say another word, the door to the fitting rooms opened up, revealing Empress Sunset in all her glory. The supreme ruler of Equestria was clothed in a dress of both light and dark greens, with swaths of gold separating the two. A set of five red rubies, with the largest in the center, were sewn into the front of the dress, while diamonds decorated the hemline at the bottom. It hugged all the right places, while giving plenty of room for the areas that would have made her look too athletic had something pressed down too much. And, Shining noticed when she turned her whole body around to talk to the tailor for a moment, the dress pushed her plot up a bit in the back while hugging all the right curves to really emphasize the sheer mass and roundness of Sunset’s rump.

To finish it all up, a web of golden metal so thin Shining Armor could barely see it had been interwoven through Sunset’s wings. From several strands of the web hung tiny decorations of red gems and gold in the shape of her cutie mark.

It was a sight that had Shining Armor’s mouth dropping. “Oh...wow,” he managed.

“Yeah,” Cadance agreed from her seat next to Shining Armor, seemingly just as impressed with the sight as she gulped down an excess of saliva.

On the other side of the room, once Sunset was done speaking to the older stallion, she looked back at her rear and sighed after giving it a shake. “Still think this is a bit much.”

“What?!” Cadance exclaimed. “No, nononono! That dress perfectly points out your plot, right Shiny?”

His eyes still trained on Sunset’s rear end, the white stallion could only get out a single word reply. “Y-Yeah.”

Sunset turned back around, a redness appearing on her cheeks as she did from the attention. “Okay Cadance, you’re up. I’ll, um...wait for you to finish. We should let those idiots outside get pictures of both of us at the same time,” she said before trotting over to the waiting area.

When Cadance got up to head into the back, Sunset took her place. She sat down next to Shining Armor. Several seconds passed, with the bigger pony shifting around ever so slightly in silence before she tentatively reached a hoof over to connect with his, intertwining fetlocks.

As they did, Shining Armor got a reminder of the difference in size and physique between the two of them. Sunset’s hoof was easily fifteen to twenty-percent bigger than his, while her leg had a hardness to it no unicorn in Equestria could ever hope to match.

Shining hated that the fact she was so much more powerful than him was the first thing he noticed. He looked up at Sunset’s cheeks and focused on the redness there. She was nervous, or maybe embarrassed about something. Although what Sunset had to be embarrassed about with a body like her’s, Shining couldn’t comprehend.

“Shiny,” the big alicorn said hesitantly. “About...the other day. When I talked to you in your room, I’m...sorry. What I said that day...it was...I said it to try and push you away from me. And I was wrong for doing it.”

The mention of that particular morning made Shining Armor tense. Of all the times Sunset had been in his bedroom, that had been the worst. But at the same time, he couldn’t really argue with the amber empresses assessment. “Well, I can’t really say that you were wrong.”

Sunset winced, tugging Shining Armor a little closer to her before she looked back at him with desperate eyes. “Yes I was!” the alicorn exclaimed in a slightly panicky fashion. The bust of emotion was short lived, and Sunset drew back into herself as she spoke. “Shiny...I...know what it’s like to be in your position, to be surrounded by the incredibly impossible and have to constantly compare yourself to it. And I know how this sounds coming from the bucking Empress of Equestria, but it’s the truth. I grew up next to Celestia, and Cadance just showed up with a horn and wings out of the blue to throw me for a complete loop.”

“I know,” Shining Armor replied as he sighed and hung his head. “The problem’s with me not being able to deal with your position, not you having it.”

A tiny growl came from Sunset as the grip she had on his foreleg tightened. “Damnit Shiny!” the Empress exclaimed before she got up on all fours and walked forward a bit before turning around to face him. “What you’re feeling isn’t a problem, and I’m not some big fat white alicorn that’s going to give you grief for not kissing the new princess’s plot! So tell me how me being here has ruined your dreams. Tell me how much it galls you that your little sister looks up to a pony she’s known for barely more than a week as much as you. Tell me that you’re only being nice to me because you’re supposed to! TELL ME THAT YOU HATE ME!”

Shining Armor didn’t think, he just reacted to the big pony that shouted at him with her eyes closed as water leaked out and her legs trembled, getting up to pull her into a hug. Sunset didn’t resist and stepped forward pushing them both back until Shining Armor was sitting back on the pillow with the crying alicorn in his forelegs. “Sunset, I don’t hate you.”

“You should!” she replied. “Look at me! I-I’m taking your sister away from you, I’m making you feel inadequate! I’m in charge of Equestria for less than a day, and I’m already bullying everypony I see! And the worst part is, I actually think I enjoy it!”

Although it had been awhile since Sunset’s last freakout turned into a total breakdown, and even longer since Twilight had experienced one, Shining Armor remembered the routine. He moved a leg up to place a fetlock on the back on her neck and slowly stroked the bigger pony’s mane at a slow pace to give her body something slow to sync up with.

As Shining Armor waited for Sunset to calm down so she would be open to listening to what he said, the white unicorn found himself thinking back to their interactions. Although Sunset had given him much the same reasons as to why she was worthless, or a bad pony before, Shining Armor found himself truly considering some of his responses.

The Twilight related response was a no brainer. Shining Armor had known that his sister would find personal heroes outside of his family more in tune with her nerdy leanings from the day she became so interested in Starswirl the Bearded. When she became enamored with Sunset Shimmer, things had only gotten better in his opinion. She helped Twilight look outside of the books she constantly kept to and gave her a real life example to follow as a fellow magical prodigy. On top of which, not once did she ever discourage the purple unicorn, and was taking steps to ensure Twilight would get to live out her young dream of going to Princess Celestia’s school.

Young dream

Shining Armor blinked as one of this thoughts jumped from one train to another.

Back before he met Sunset, before he even thought of joining the royal guard, the thing Shining Armor had wanted to be was a hero. He wanted to be the pony that broke into the tower and defeated the dragon to save the princess. Becoming a member of the guard was just an evolution of that ideal. But in the end, his dream had stayed true to its core. He wanted to join the royal guard as a way to have adventures, to get the attention of a nobel’s beautiful daughter, to stand in front of Princess Celestia and all of Canterlot as she sung his praises. In the end, he wanted to live his O&O game.

Just like when he was a foal.

“Sunset,” Shining Armor said after holding the bigger pony close enough to feel her heartbeat had slowed down enough to have a conversation for her.

The big alicorn breathed in a wet breath through her nose. “Yes, Shiny?” she replied.

“Being a princess and ruling Equestria, is that what you always wanted?” Shining Armor asked softly as he pushed her back.

Sunset moved back under her own power. “Well...when I found out...yeah,” she admitted before looking away. “I obsessed over it for years when I was on the other side of...yeah.”

“Then, why aren’t you happy?” he asked her gently. “You’re the big princess now, literally.”

The question made Sunset tense. “No, I don’t deserve to be-”

Shining Armor cut her off. “I didn’t ask if you deserved it,” he said in the same soft tone he had been using, which was still enough to keep Sunset from going on. “I asked if you had wanted to be a princess, and if you were happy because you became one.”

Finally, Sunset lowered her head. “No,” she said. “I’m not. To be honest, I have everything I ever wanted as a filly, but it just makes me miserable.”

A sigh escaped from his lips as Shining Armor learned back. “That’s what I think it is that upsets me about you, really. You’re a pony that got everything you ever wanted, but you’re still unhappy with it. Because…” He paused and took in a breath. “Because I’m starting to think that when you got your wings, you found out that they weren’t what you really wanted after all. They were just something you focused on to the exclusion of everything else.

“Like with me, wanting to be a royal guard,” he continued. “I thought I would be happy if I achieved that goal. Then you came along and showed me that even when a pony gets everything she wants, it doesn’t mean she’s going to live happily ever after. And I saw that, and I started to realize that even if I did join the guard, it didn’t mean that I would get what I wanted. And now that I see that, I try and figure out what is it that I really want out of life, and what I need to do to get it. But...well...I don’t know what it is or how to find it. I have one year of school left after this one, and I have no idea what I want to do when I get out.”

Then, before Sunset started to tense and do something stupid, like blaming herself for causing him to lose all direction, Shining Armor quickly added, “and I think that it’s better that I’m able to see that now, when I have a chance to change before I sign up for a tour of duty and get stuck in someplace the Badlands for four years.”

Sunset gave Shining Armor a worried look. “You...want to go to the Badlands?”

“Well,” Shining Armor began before he felt his embarrassment rise. “The thing is...I...kinda...want to be a hero. And...well, that’s where a lot of the action is.”

Much to the young white stallion’s dismay, Sunset gave him a little smile before a tiny laugh through her nose made Shining Armor afraid she was actually snickering at him for a second. “Well you already are one to me,” the Empress of Equestria said before she leaned in and kissed him.

Unlike Sunset’s normal kisses, the one she planted on Shining’s lips in the tailor’s shop wasn’t forceful or invasive. Her tongue ran along the edge of his lips as if to just get a taste of him before the big alicorn let out a low moan before her the hooves that had been down at her side came up to gently caress the white stallion’s flanks.

Then, she slowly pulled away, breaking the kiss that Shining Armor had been so enjoying and went up to run her tongue along the inside of his ear. “I know you want more, Shiny,” Sunset whispered. “But I do have some photographs to pose for, and we should save the best for after the Formal. But when this dance is over and I get you back to the palace, you’ll get all of me, and…” She moved the two of them back until Shining was laying on his back, fully exposed. Then, Sunset moved down his barrel, kissing as she talked. “I’ll...get...all...of...you.”

The last kiss touched Shining Armor’s exposed skin, making the young stallion’s whole body shiver with a wave of expectant pleasure. After he recovered, Shining saw Sunset looking at the space between his rear legs as if she was considering something. He barely had time to blush at Sunset’s scrutinizing of his male anatomy before she apparently made some internal decision smiled again. “All of you,” she said before licking her lips.

Shining Armor’s eyes went wide as he realized what she was saying, with the rest of his body reacting as if tonight had already come.

On the other side of the room, the door began to slowly open, and Sunset was forced to back away as Shining got back on his hooves to hide his male anatomy by laying on his stomach. His confused mind tried to make sense of what Sunset had just said in a way that didn’t involve him mounting her after the dance that he wasn’t going to ended.

Even though...if he was going with Sunset, and doing...that...later, it...didn’t seem too bad to go to the Formal with her after all...as long as Cadance wasn’t put out by it, that is.

Such were Shining Armor’s thoughts when Cadance stepped into view and gave him a sight that did nothing to help settle his anatomy down. The pink princess was dressed in a white gown with gold designs that ran along the length of the dress. Like Sunset, a collection of gems, blue ones, decorated the front of her dress and a web of decorations hung from her wings. Although, the delicate metal meshed with Cadance’s feathers was silver, and a dozen tiny crystal hearts dangled from nearly invisible chains. Unlike Sunset, Cadance managed to pull off the look with a level of gracefulness that the other alicorn lacked. Every inch of the pink princesses body was shown off with the dress.

It left both Sunset and Shining Armor stunned.

“So...what do you think?” she asked after giving them a little trot around to show off all the sides.

“Very...um...wow,” Sunset told her.

It was more than Shining Armor could manage. “Yeah, wow.”

As Cadance smiled and looked away as if she was embarrassed by the attention despite the fact her cheeks were as pink as ever, Sunset nodded to the tailor. “You do good work Stitch’n Time,” she said before looking out to the door. “And now...the vultures must be fed. Really wish I hadn’t locked my escort in that forcefield.”

“Huh?” Shining Armor blinked at the news. Sunset had done what to the guards that were supposed to protect her? He knew that Sunset was more than strong enough to take care of herself, but to just throw away the guards that accompanied Celestia just seemed like too big of a change.

The amber empress looked over to Shining Armor with a defensive expression on her face. “Well if they can’t break an energy dome that I can with a single kick, I don’t see why I need them.”

“Sunset,” Cadance cut in with a half-lidded expression. “I’m pretty sure a pony would have to be strong enough to shatter the moon to break the barrier you put them in.”

In response to Cadance’s words, Sunset’s cheeks heated. “I don’t think I’m that strong.”

Then the big pony cleared her throat. “Now, enough with the talking, got to deal with, ugh, the press. I’ll buy you a few seconds to make sure everything’s in order Cadance.” Sunset opened the door with her magic, then stepped outside to the flash of cameras before the door closed, leaving Cadance and Shining alone.

“Well, I better hurry up before Sunset does something...Sunset,” she said before trotting forward a bit, then stopped and turned back to the white stallion. “Listen, Shiny...about earlier. I know you’re nervous, but I also know things will work out.”

Then, Cadance took another step and touched her lips to his. Like Sunset’s, it was a light kiss without much behind it, promising nothing more than what he was getting. Then she stepped back and smiled. “I’ll see you later tonight for the dance, and afterwards for much, much more,” she promised with a smile before following Sunset out the door.

“-as for the young stallion who went in with us,” Sunset's voice came through the opening before Shining Armor could almost hear her give the assembled ponies a baleful stare. “You will give that colt his privacy, or I will be very displeased.”

When the door closed again, Shining Armor was left stand alone with the tailor, very confused. Had the way of the world changed in the past twenty-four hours in a way he wasn’t aware of? Both of the alicorns acted like they were going to the dance with him.

While the girls going after him themselves made Shining Armor feel a bit better about himself than when they were each trying to push him off on the other, the confusion he was feeling more than made up for it. What the hay is going on?

“Sir, are you ready for your fitting?” the old stallion asked.

One thing Shining Armor did know, he wasn’t going to be getting out of going to the Formal with a sick excuse.


As soon as they were back on palace grounds, with a wall of white ponies in golden armor between Sunset and the reporters that had followed her around Canterlot, Cadance noticed the bigger alicorn visibility relax. “Okay, maybe the guard is useful for a few things,” Sunset admitted.

Cadance smirked as the went from the courtyard to the large building itself. “So, does this mean we're done for the day? Because it looks like somepony needs a nap.”

“I’m fine,” Sunset replied.

The poor attempt to assure Cadance made the pink princess frown. “Sunset, you’ve been tense since you’ve held court this morning,” she said. “I know you don’t like acting like this, and it causing you stress. And before you say anything, I don’t care how much earth pony you have in you, you need to loosen up and relax. If anything comes up, I’ll handle it.”

Sunset stopped after turning into one of the smaller corridors from the palace’s main hallway. “Cadance, I don’t hate acting like this,” she said after coming to a stop and looking down at herself. “And that’s the problem.”

“Okay that’s…” Cadance paused, unsure of what to say next. Sunset acting like a complete plot hole and feeling fine with it was disturbing in the extreme. But with the way Sunset had gone on about her previous actions, the princess knew that she could have been okay threatening ponies all the time. “Are you sure you're not just proud of what you're doing, not how you're doing it?”

The question got a hesitant groan from Sunset. “Well…”

Cadance didn’t let her think up an argument. Ponies thinking about their emotions too much never ended well. “Look, just go do something you don’t need to interact with another pony to do. That way, you can get something done, and not feel bad about it.”

“Well, I do have to...take care of something on my own.”

Although she had a sneaking suspicion as to just what that thing was, Cadance didn’t press her on it. That would come later. She just hoped Sunset stopped at the vault’s entrance. Everything with the dress fitting said Sunset was waiting until tonight to do something stupid. Although, she told herself. Maybe I should take a precaution or two. “Good. Go, I'll take care of anything else that crops up.”

“Empress Sunset! Empress Sunset!”

Cadance looked behind her to see a pegasus pony in the uniform that identified him as a palace messenger right before he landed in front of the two alicorns. “Empress, the guard have successfully apprehended the unicorn Upper Crust, and have escorted her to the guest quarters on the third floor, where she is awaiting your convenience.”

When Cadance saw Sunset suddenly became tense again, she stepped in. “Thank you for the information, sir. The Empress is heading to her quarters to rest after a large lunch,” she said before looking back to Sunset to give an expression that said to do as she was told at an angle nopony else could see. “I’ll be going to meet with Ms Crust.”

After the stallion left, Sunset bent down to whisper to Cadance in an annoyed tone. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Don’t try that dark overlord junk on me, I know the real you,” Cadance told her before looking back at her. “This is way too emotional a subject for you to be dealing with. You threw her parents into the dungeon for pony’s sake!”

Sunset frowned back at her. “They-”

Before the other alicorn could even begin, Cadance held up a hoof. “Yes, they tossed her out. Just like Celestia did you,” she added sympathetically. “I understand this is close to your heart. But your heart has had enough stress. You go lie down, I’ll take care of this.”

Finally, the big alicorn gave way. “Okay,” Sunset sighed as she hung her head. “You probably would be better to take care of this. I need to go...relax.”

Cadance nodded, thankful that Sunset had been so agreeable. It made her a bit more suspicious, as Sunset giving up so easy on something she obviously had strong feelings about almost never happened, but she was still thankful for it. “Okay then,” the pink princess said with a nod before she headed off in the direction of the nearest flight of stairs.

After a little bit of searching and some directions, Cadance opened the door to the three room guest apartment with a view of the royal gardens. It was a space set aside for somewhat important ponies that didn’t have a small army of personal attendants. The decor was nice without being opulent, with a couch in the back of the sitting room with two pillow chairs on opposite sides of the room, a small table and chairs set off to the side, and a little bookshelf set off to the side that stood empty.

Upper Crust sat at the little table with an empty silver platter in front of her that had nothing on it but crumbs.

The yellow pony didn’t look up from the tray when the alicorn entered, so Cadance spoke up first as she closed the door behind her. “I thought it was supposed to be in style to leave some food on your plate.”

“I-” Upper Crust started before the looked up and saw the pink pony standing in the room with her. “Princess Cadance! I-um,” she said before she scrambled to try and get into a bow.

Cadance stopped her with a raise of her hoof, and the yellow pony went back to sitting, lowering her head in deference. “I didn’t have anything to eat last night, Your Highness.”

The expression of despair on Upper Crust’s face got a pang of sympathy from Cadance. “Is that when your parents cast you out?” the pink princess asked as she moved to sit across from the other young mare.

Upper Crust’s eyes began to glisten at the mention of the event. At first, she only nodded in response to the question, speech came a few seconds later. “Yes. When I told them what happened at lunch, about how how I...tried to…”

“When you lied about Sassy’s actions to try and make Sunset and me toss her aside?” Cadance asked, the feelings of sympathy she had for the mare covered by the anger over her actions.

Upper Crust’s expression took on a look of desperation at the other pony’s displeasure. “But she started it! She was trying to take Fleur away from me! I gave that filly everything that made her popular, she couldn’t just leave like that!”

Once again, Cadance found her anger rising, and a look of disgust at the fat unicorn’s world view appeared on her face. “You sound like you’re talking about possessions more than friends.”

“Well if you hate me so much, then why am I here?” she demanded.

Cadance blinked at the ferocity coming from the other pony. As for her question, that took a moment to think about. “Honestly?” she asked rhetorically after recovering and putting on a calm face. “It’s because Sunset sees something of herself in you, or the way she used to be at any rate. She pities you, and probably hopes to do something to alleviate her own guilt over past actions. There’s also the fact she made the decision to bring you here in a blind rage. While I don’t agree with the decision your parents made, I’d also say that it was theirs to make, if made a bit prematurely. And when Sunset calms down, I think you’ll be sent to an Equine Services center, where you’ll be directed to temporary housing and given assistance in finding employment both while you’re in school and afterwards.”

Upper Crust recoiled at the pink princess’s words. “What? But...you...y-you can’t do that! I can’t-I can’t get a job!”

As the pony in front of her began to internally panic, Cadance merely sat back and let the vision of how Crust’s horrible life was going to go play out, with her probably spending the rest of her life working at a coffee house. “Yes,” the pink princess told Upper Crust, making her snap back to reality. “You’ve never actually had to do anything like that for yourself, have you? You’ve always been the one that has everything right from the beginning. You’ve never had to depend on another pony for help, never needed an ounce of kindness from another to get by.

“Instead, everything was based on transactions,” Cadance went on. “You did this, and you got that. You gave somepony bits, they gave you what you wanted. You did something for another pony, and they were expected to do something for you in return. Even if that something was just stand next to you in school.”

Cadance couldn’t help but wonder if that was how Sunset had grown up under Celestia. She did good in school, she got to keep being the Princess’s student. She improved her magical abilities, she got a pat on the head. She did bad, she got scolded.

Despite the animosity that had been growing between them in the recent weeks, Cadance didn’t want to think such a thing was a possibility. She knew that the bigger alicorn had to have had some moments with Sunset that were just Celestia showing the amber filly how much she loved her without actually saying it out loud. Something that created an effect that was less than desired.

“So, I would suggest you get some rest, and think about where you want you life to go from here on out,” Cadance told her before rising to leave.

“WAIT!” Upper Crust cried out as Cadance took her first steps away from the yellow pony. Yellow forelegs wrapped around pink hind ones. “Please, Princess! I’m sorry! You’re right! I’ve been a bad pony! I’m sorry! I’ll change. I promise I will! I’ll be better! I’ll do whatever you want! Just please don’t do this to meeeeeeeeeeee!”

Cadance ignored the other pony’s wailing and shook her leg loose before continuing on. When she reached the door, the pink princess looked back to Upper Crust and frowned. “The only thing I have heard from you is that you are sorry about finally facing the consequences of your actions,” she told Upper Crust. “Something I doubt the Empress will find pitiable.”

When she left the room and closed the door behind her, Cadance let out a long breath and let the tense feeling flow out of her. Saying that to a pony in such dire straits had been hard. The truth of the matter was, Cadance sincerely doubted Sunset would take the unicorn out of the palace. She would probably even do something to get Upper Crust a minor position in the bureaucracy as she finished school.

But unless the filly actually thought something bad was going to happen to her, without a goal to focus on, then she would never really change.

With that mess out of the way, Cadance set about on something else she needed to take care of. While she hated being separated from Sunset for any length of time, it was something she needed to take care of without the amber alicorn around. Mostly because Sunset would stop her from doing what needed to be done.

Or worse, in making the attempt with Sunset around, it would drive her to do the exact thing that Cadance hoped to prevent.

So, she headed to her next location with a bit of nervousness about going down the stairs to a sub-basement that ponies were encouraged to stay away from. After all, the darkness made it the perfect place for something to that was also covered in pitch black chitin to hide in wait for the perfect opportunity to strike, something Cadance realized she probably shouldn’t have been thinking about as she took shaky step after shaky step down the stairs. Then, when she did make it to the floor in question, Cadance channeled as much energy as she could into a light spell so her horn could banish the darkness in a bright blue glow.

Shortly after which she had to reduce it to a soft glow to keep from being blinded by her own light.

From there, she went to the back of the room, and found herself frozen with apprehension when she saw that part of the wall had slid back to reveal a hidden passageway. Oh no! Nononono! Cadance thought as she galloped ahead at full speed.

If Sunset had gotten to the vault before her…

If she had already found the mirror…

If she had already left…

Cadance found herself so distracted by stopping the horrible thoughts from running through her head that she almost didn’t notice the light coming from the other end of the hallway, behind the giant door. By the time she did, it was too late to come to a dignified stop, so she dig in her hooves and threw out her wings to go into a skid.

Barely slowing down, the pink princess leaped into the room, taking the fact that there was still light inside the vault as a sign that she still had time to stop the pony she loved from disappearing forever. “SUNSET WAIT! DON’T-huh?” she got out, struck dumb by the sight she saw.

In the middle of an open area, surrounded by shelf after shelf of ancient antiquities that were covered in dust and cobwebs along with a few objects that had little pillars of their own away from everything else, Celestia sat on a large body pillow with papers full of mathematical equations and open books strewn all about while a newspaper with Empress Sunset’s picture on the front floated in her magic.

She looked up from her reading and smiled. “Oh, Cadance. I was wondering if you would locate this place,” Celestia said before she put the paper. “Tell me, did Sunset really change the title of High Princess to Empress in her first ten minutes of ruling?”

“Actually, the idea occurred to her in the first ten minutes, but she waited until there was a press conference to officially-wait a minute!” the pink princess exclaimed before she pointed a hoof at Celestia. “What’re you doing here? You’re supposed to be talking with the griffons about the distribution of the Equestrian relief funds!”

Celestia gave the other pony a little shrug. “Truthfully? That was just an excuse for me to come down here in case Sunset wanted to get to the mirror before the portal closed tonight. If she doesn’t come, I’ll head to Griffonstone tomorrow.”

Still confused, Cadance moved onto the next obvious question. “And...how did you get a paper down here?”

“Raven delivered it to me when Sunset left the palace,” Celestia explained.

“And here is?” the pink princess asked as she looked around the massive room.

Celestia took in a deep breath. “Ah that’s going to take a bit of an explanation,” she said. “As you know, the Great Frost forced the unicorn ponies to abandon the capital of Unicornia until the ice melted, but the royal family couldn’t carry the entire treasury on their backs. So, they had the court wizard construct magic spells to ward off every creature imaginable around the vault, while also taking more mundane steps to keep things safe, life an extra large door. When I had to move the capital of Equestria to Canterlot, which had been renamed since the Founding, I had the vault repurposed to house dangerous artifacts instead of treasure, then hid the entrances from public eye as well as used my magic to strike the existence of the Great Vault from all records. The same spell I used to remove mention of Luna a few days before that, in fact.”

When Cadance continued to stare, Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Surely you must have wondered why there is no mention of my sister in any of the, ahem...ancient literature that Sunset introduced you to?”

Her mind out of reactions, Cadance plopped her plot down on the cold ground as she processed everything that was going on in front of her. Celestia hadn’t left. She was still in Canterlot. She was waiting, just sitting right in front of the thing that could mean the end of Sunset Shimmer being in Equestria.

She still didn’t understand what all the magical text was about, but the scene in front of her made Cadance sigh in relief. “Oh good. You’re here to stop Sunset in case she tries to go through the portal.”

“No. I am not,” Celestia replied calmly.

Once again, Cadance’s brain took a second to process the answer, her relieved smile staying in place for a couple of seconds before shock suddenly replied it. “What?!” she asked in surprise as her wings spread out before frowning at the bigger pony. “WHY THE HAY NOT?”

Celestia sighed, then folded up the paper she was reading and put it off to the side. “Cadance, let me ask you something,” she began. “Would it be right for me to stop Sunset from making a choice on how to live her life?”

“YES!” Cadance roared in response to the unbelievably moronic question. “You’re the mare who raised her! It’s the parent’s duty to stop their foals from making stupid decisions! If you want to be Sunset’s mother, THEN DO YOUR BUCKING JOB!”

Not even seeming to notice the outright fury Cadance was displaying in front of her, Celestia shook her head. “Sunset isn’t a foal anymore Cadance,” she told the other princess. “She’s a fully grown pony, old enough to make her own decisions. I will not stand in her way of something if she truly wants it.”

Cadance snorted out some of her anger before she slowly stomped her way up to Celestia. “Are you out of your bucking mind?” she demanded as she managed to look down on the other pony sitting on her pillow of a bed. “I understand that you’re trying to show Sunset that you trust her after years of being a pathetic mother, but this is not the way to do it! She is in no way near any semblance of a mental state that would allow her to make such a decision rationally! But you’re just going to sit down on your fat plot and do nothing while she walks away from us?”

“Oh, I have no intention of doing nothing,” Celestia replied as she brought her neck up a bit to look at Cadance eye to eye. “I’m just not going to try and stop Sunset by force.”

Hope and doubt began a battle in Cadance’s mind at Celestia’s words. She wanted to believe that the white pony had a plan to stop Sunset from running away from Equestria, but Celestia was just such a bucking screw up when it came to her daughter that Cadance feared anything she did would blow up in their face to the point Sunset would jump through the mirror just to spite her mother.

“Okay,” Cadance asked hesitantly, “what’s your plan?”

Celestia took some of the starch out of her neck before she shared a glance at the paperwork with all the arcane writings on them. “I’m going to give her everything, if she wants it. I was serious about letting her rule Equestria before my death. And if she wants to stay Empress, I would happily be a simple advisor. If she wants to raise the sun, I will give it to her and reduce myself to a little mortal alicorn once again. I would even retire from politics entirely and spend the rest of my life as a maid that does nothing more than fluff her pillows if Sunset wants.”

Cadance felt her eye twitch as Celestia finished her plan. The idea of Sunset ruling Equestria, especially with the way the amber alicorn had been acting as of late was downright horrifying. Her beloved Sunset was killing herself taking on her new persona to make the improvements that she believed that she needed to make.

“You are a complete and utter moron,” Cadance said as she summed up her thought’s on Celestia’s idea before she looked back around at the room of dark and destructive artifacts, slowly trotting in the direction of the exit as if she was on her way out. If what Celestia said was true about the stuff in the room, then there had to be something that would allow Cadance to subdue the bigger pony before shattering Sunset’s means of running away again.

The item Cadance’s eyes settled on wasn’t the hammer with an inscription talking about worthiness, the crown promising mastery over ice at the cost of one’s sanity, the big blue box tucked away in the corner with the words ‘p-o-l-i-c-e’ on it, or the open bag of bits that were emblazoned with cutie marks instead of the usual designs of Celestia’s face and sun. What did made Cadance stop from looking around wasn’t what most ponies would have chosen to smash a glorified piece of glass. It was a simple thing, just floating on a pedestal. A perfect sphere of the deepest red that just drew Cadance to it. Somehow, the pink princess just knew that despite it being little more than a glass ball, it was the perfect weapon of choice for the task at hoof.

So, she reached for it and- “AHHH! DON’T TOUCH THAT!”

The sheer panic in Celestia’s voice made Cadance pause for an instant, and the next thing she knew, a good eight-hundred pounds of white pony was pinning her to the ground.


Sunset had to admit as she finished the cleaning spell that removed all traces of stains on her bed, Cadance had been right. She had needed to relax. And at the moment, Sunset was more relaxed, not to mention relieved, than she ever had been upon entering Equestria. Her muscles felt like jelly, her wings rested limp on her bed, and even her tongue threatened to just loll out of her mouth.

After letting out a long sigh of contentment, Sunset looked to the bag containing her inventions. Before her experience, she had molded them to a better approximation of Shiny’s sexual organ after her encounter earlier today. Then, once she had warded the room with magic that would absorb impacts that kept her from cracking the planet it two, Sunset began her experimentation.

Not only had all three variations of her test models survived the process, the boards holding up the bed hadn’t even cracked. It seemed that the magic empowering her didn’t react the same way during sex as it did when she was angry.

Sunset could spend one last, perfect moment with Shiny before...abandoning him completely at the drop of a hat. While she knew she had to do it for Twilight’s future, that didn’t stop her from feeling bad about it. At the very least, she could take solace in the fact that she would be properly punished for such an awful act by becoming a human again.

Plus, Shiny would be fine. With Sunset gone, Cadance would step in and take care of him. If she didn’t do it herself, then she would find someone he could be happy with. He wouldn’t suffer from her absence. If anything, Shiny would be better off for it.

Sunset’s thoughts of the future were put to a stop as she let out a yawn. She hated to admit it, but Cadance had been right about her getting worn down as well. Being an evil overlord was tiring. With several hours still to go before the homecoming game, and nothing else on her schedule, Sunset followed her drooping eyes suggestion and went to sleep.


Without knowing why, Sunset trotted down the hallways of the palace she called home. She smiled at the servants that quickly moved out of her way, nodded to the government staff that kept the wheels of Equestria turning, and looked around. Something seemed...off.

She wasn’t quite sure what it was, though.

“Sunset?”

The amber alicorn turned around to see Celestia standing a ways across from her in the hallway. A profound sense of joy filled Sunset at seeing the white pony, and she rushed to greet her. “MOM!” Sunset cried out gleefully before she leapt to wrap her pony-arms around her mother and hung onto her tightly.

There was a loud crunching sound in Sunset’s ears before Celestia went completely limp. Startled confusion overtook Sunset, and she pushed her mother away to watch Celestia’s corpse fall onto the floor. Bruising dark enough to show through her coat outlined where Sunset had embraced her mother, as well as crushed her to death.

The horrible sight caused her to yell in fright and back away at a wild pace until she hit the wall of the corridor. The second she did, the impact of Sunset’s rear made the marble stone explode away from her, a sound that was quickly followed by all the screams of ponies who had been hit from the impact’s shrapnel.

Slowly, Sunset turned to see a dozen dead ponies behind her, killed by the destruction she had wrought. The sight made her let out a scream of terror before she turned to run.

After turning around, the first step Sunset took caused the castle to shake and the floor to crumble out from underneath her. On instinct, she took to the air and flapped her wings once in a downward-back direction to get away from the hole. Impossibly strong winds that surpassed that of any hurricane picked up the broken pieces of the palace floor, adding to their already deadly speed as they crashed through several walls, spreading death and destruction in their wake.

At the same time, Sunset went flying through the third floor, the fourth and fifth before crashing through the ceiling of the sixth floor and flying through Canterlot airspace to eventually fall in the middle of the city’s busiest marketplace.

“Oh Sweet Celestia! It’s SUNSET SHIMMER!”

“Run before she kills us all!”

“I don’t want to diiiiiiie!”

Sunset watched as the crowd of ponies stampeded away from here, careless of anything in their path. As the dust settled and the amber alicorn noticed she was alone, Sunset ever so carefully moved her right hoof forward to rest it on the ground beneath her.

And the entire mountain shook from the force of the impact.

“Sunset?” Cadance’s familiar voice announced the pink princess’s presence before she glided into Sunset’s view from above. The beautiful mare gave the amber alicorn a smile before looking around in confusion. “What’s going on? Where did everypony go?”

Cadance, I-

The power behind Sunset’s voice blew the lovely pony in front of her to dust before it traveled onward to blast a trench of devastation through the busiests parts of Canterlot and hit the mountain. The Canterhorn cracked and crumbled at the impact.

However, the destruction caused by her voice that was in the process of creating an avalanche big enough to wipe out every single pony in Canterlot was a distant second in her mind to the monstrous action Sunset had just committed. She had just killed her best friend. The sight of Cadance being blasted into atoms and spread across the solar system made the amber alicorn’s mind to become overwhelmed with panic. So, Sunset closed her eyes to hide from the sight, and screamed.

It was only afterwards that she realized what such an action would have caused.

“Well, just look at what you did.”

Sunset opened her eyes to find herself standing on a small bit of stone that floated above a vast wasteland of what had been Equestria. From her vantage point, Sunset could see all the way past the ruins of Vanhoover, to the border of the unknown regions in the West, to the ruined coastline of the East. All if it was nothing but flattened ruin, broken only by fissures in the earth that had spewed forth lava when she destroyed Equestria.

Then, she looked back at the source of the voice to see Princess Twilight Sparkle glaring down at her. But, something was different about her. Her coat seemed...dimmed, and she had a look of anger on her face that Sunset had never seen the girl use before.

When Sunset opened her mouth to defend herself, Twilight sneered at her. “So now you want to kill me too?” she demanded.

Sunset flinched, then curled up in on herself before repressing the urge to apologize.

“So how does it feel to get everything you ever wanted?” Twilight went on. “All the power from the Tree of Harmony, and this is what you do with it.”

Sunset let out the tiniest of whines as she unfurled her wings before drawing them around her body for extra protection from the accusing alicorn.

“But,” Twilight went on as she trotted around Sunset in the tiny bit of extra space they had on their floating rock. “I suppose it can’t be helped. Nopony was ever supposed to have this much power, after all. It’s not like you could have stopped yourself from killing every single living creature on the planet. By the time you got to this point, I mean.”

The fact that Sunset wasn’t being berated by Twilight made the amber alicorn look from under her wing. “Hm?”

Suddenly, the mirror to Earth appeared in the middle of the air, floating just a few inches behind Twilight. The purple pony took one look at it, then turned back to Sunset with a frown on her face. “You know what you have to do, right?”

Sunset tried to draw in on herself again at the suggestion.

“What?” Twilight asked at her hesitation. “You know I’m right. Even if you did everything right, with all that power you have, this is the only outcome. So you have to go away. Go away, and never return.”

The amber alicorn looked back over to the purple princess.

“It really is the best solution,” the princess went on. “Think about it. Cadance will be free to pick up Shining Armor. Celestia will be free to teach me. Why, I bet she’ll even adopt me as her daughter this time around after you guilted her into it with all your pathetic whining and talk about how much you love her. Everypony will be better off if you just went away.”

Sunset flinched at the sarcastic words as Twilight kept going. “As if a monster like you could ever love anypony but yourself,” she said. “All you’ve ever cared about was abusing your power. Just one day in charge of Equestria, and you’re already calling yourself Empress. But even after seeing all of this, you’re still hesitating to do what you need to.”

Twilight stopped speaking as the world shook. She looked up and frowned for a moment, then turned her attention back to Sunset. “Come on now, you can-”


Sunset let out a startled yelp as she opened her eyes to be greeted by darkness. A damp darkness that surrounded her completely. She tried to move, but something restricted her movements beyond a few inches.

“No, wait. Sunset, it's me, Ca-”

Sunset struggled against her bonds and a second later, was rewarded with the sight of her room and a loud ripping sound as she...ripped apart the bedsheets that she had apparently become tangled up in while asleep before she fell off the bed.

A quick look around the room brought the pink alicorn who had spoken earlier into view, making her blink in confusion. “Cadance?”

“Sorry for just rolling you off the bed,” Cadance apologized. “But you were tossing in your sleep and covered in sweat and I couldn’t…” She frowned a little before taking a sniff of the air, then focusing on Sunset’s rear end that was uncovered by the sheets. “Um, that’s not sweat, is it?”

Sunset tensed at the question. While she had used magic to clean the bed after her tests, using cleansing magic on certain parts of the body wasn’t very comfortable, so she omitted those from her cleaning spell. “It’s not what you think!” she assured the pink princess as a blush appeared on her cheeks.

“Sunset, I’m well aware that dreams can cause both fear and arousal,” Cadance replied in a neutral tone. “In fact, Shiny’s had a few that’ve done just-”

“Can we please not talk about Shining Armor’s sexual nightmares?” Sunset deadpanned before she frowned at the other alicorn. She wanted to ask Cadance where she got off telling Shiny that such a thing was okay, but the less spent on that particular subject, the better.

So, she decided to switch to something that would hold Cadance’s interest. “The...sweat’s from a nightmare I was having. Everything is is from an...experiment,” Sunset explained.

Hesitation infused all of Cadance’s body, and she lifted a foreleg as if she was going to bolt. “Do I want to know?”

“No,” Sunset told her. “No you do not.”

With that settled, Sunset got to her hooves and fought off the remaining bedsheets that clung to her coat. “Well, good thing I didn’t take a bath beforehand. What time is it anyway?”

“Four thirty,” Cadance answered right as Sunset looked over to the clock in the room. “By the way, are we going to the homecoming game? I know we never talked about it, but-”

Sunset groaned and barely stopped herself from knocking herself out with one of her own hooves. “Okay so, need to have a messenger tell the guards to set up a light security detail and-no, I’ll just put a selective force field around the field that won't let anypony without a ticket in. Although, I suppose having a dozen or so pegasi patrol the perimeter for show would be for the best,” she said as she headed to the bathroom and turned on the water. “Then we can pop back here, get changed, magic our manes into a popular style, then pick everypony up and-oh! Upper Crust!”

The water felt absolutely heavily on Sunset’s body as she sunk into the bath. She just about fell back to sleep, and probably would have, if Cadance had spoken. “I already met with her, remember?”

“I know, I was just wondering what we were going to do when it came to her dress,” Sunset explained.

Cadance cocked her head to the side. “Her...dress?”

“For the Fall Formal,” Sunset went on. “I mean, sure, we could just break into her parents’ house and take the thing back, but I’m not sure she would want anything to do with something they had a hand in getting. Better to have a clean break so...I guess I can just use some magic to resize one of my old Gala dresses. We’re close enough in coat colors so it won’t clash, and-”

“Wait a second!” Cadance cut in as she gave Sunset a scandalized look. “You’re taking Upper Crust to the Fall Formal?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow at the other pony’s reaction. “She was just kicked out by her family and lost the most important thing in the world to her,” the amber alicorn explained, fighting to keep the anger out of her voice that threatened to come about thanks to her own experiences. “She needs something good to happen to her Cadance. By the way, how did the conversation with her go?”

“Um...well, you see…” Cadance began uneasily before she went into a brief recap of what happened between her and the other pony.

When she was done, Sunset looked down at the water and put away the scrub brush she had been using to clean her coat while Cadance had been talking. “Yeah, I tried to scare her straight more than once too,” the amber alicorn mumbled. “Hopefully now that she’s actually facing the consequences of her actions, as twisted as those consequences are, she’ll straighten herself out. Just don’t...ride her too much about it, okay?”

Cadance sighed and dropped her head. “Alright Sunset, we’ll try things your way,” she replied. “Just...don’t see too much of yourself in this mare, okay? You may have changed, but that doesn’t mean she will.”

“Okay,” Sunset agreed reluctantly. “And there’s the matter of her parents.”

The rather complicated subject had Sunset hesitating. Cadance was right, what she had done had been an overly emotional reaction because of her past with Celestia. But on the other hand, Silver and Copper had tossed out their own daughter.A daughter who wasn't even eighteen!

Something...Sunset wasn’t sure was even illegal in Equestria...or Earth, for that matter. A passing interest in the legalities of the human species that revolved around her skirting certain laws had left her with incomplete knowledge on the subject, and years of not being in Equestria had created a similar gap in the knowledge of her homeworld’s laws on child abandonment.

Something Celestia hadn’t cared much about when she threw Sunset out, of course.

“Let them rot and worry for tonight,” Sunset finally decided. Celesta could be the one to deal with them come Monday. She doubted Cadance would do anything after she...left.

Once again, Sunset pushed the unease that came up withe realization that she soon wouldn’t be in Equestria down into the bottom of her gut. She couldn’t get bogged down in fear right now. There was still too much that she needed to do.

“What’s wrong?” Cadance asked, drawing Sunset out of her thoughts as the amber alicorn made her way out of the bath. “Is it about...um...what was your nightmare about?”

Sunset tensed. Although she had spoken about such things with Cadance before, the pink princess had always taken a...less than agreeable stance when it came to the subject matter. But, not telling a friend about the problems she was dealing with didn’t seem right either. “Well,” she said after making the decision to talk about the subject. “I dreamed...that I...killed...you.”

“What?” Cadance whispered before she trotted over to Sunset’s side. “Sunset, that was just a nightmare, I know you would never hurt me.”

The reality of the situation made Cadance’s words completely worthless. “Yes I have!” Sunset exclaimed. “Just this morning! Cadance, you couldn’t even stand next to me! And in my dream, all I did was talk, and-and you-you-died!”

Sunset was barely able to finish her sentence before she felt the bile in her throat rise at the memory of her best friend being blown apart by her uncontrolled power. The world became blurry with her tears, and Sunset let out a sniffle before she felt Cadance wrap her in a hug. “Oh Sunset, no. It’s fine, I’m fine. You could never hurt me.”

“I did this morning!” Sunset told her.

She felt Cadance suddenly go stiff in her grip. “Um...about that,” Cadance replied in a higher than normal pitch. “I might have been...exaggerating a little bit. You gave me a bit of a headache, but um...that was kind of it.”

Sunset froze. She blinked away the tears and frowned before pushing the other pony back while holding the pink princess in her hooves. “Cadance!”

The accusatory tone of Sunset’s voice made Cadance wince. “I’m sorry!” she apologized. “I didn’t know you were going to have nightmares over it! I just...well, You’re hard to talk to when you’re on a rant and you did smash a lot of windows.”

“I…” Sunset sighed and let the smaller alicorn go and dropped her head. “It’s fine, and it’s not like broken glass flying around isn’t dangerous. Maybe she’s right, maybe it would have been better if I had never come back to Equestria.”

When she looked back up at Cadance, the pink princess had gone absolutely rigid. “Who told you that?”

Sunset tensed. “Well, it’s not really a pony, I um...you remember what I told you about Princess Twilight, right? She came around in my dreams and said...Equestria would be better off without me,” she said as she looked away from the pink pony, the weight of the subject brought her head down again.

It was because of that Sunset didn’t see the pink hoof until it was inches from her cheek. The blow barely phased her, but Sunset watched as Cadance winced and shook her hoof for a moment before she moved towards the pink princess. “Cadance! Are you okay?”

“OKAY?” Cadance demanded before she brought her sore hoof down and somehow managed to glare down at Sunset despite the height difference between the two. “OF COURSE I’M NOT OKAY! I have to listen to my best friend, the pony I LOVE, beat herself up again because of Princess Twilight bucking Sparkle!”

Sunset began to raise her hoof. “Cadance-”

“SHUT UP!” the pink princess roared, making Sunset back away a step and lower herself a bit until the pink alicorn really was looking down on the Empress. “I told you, I am NOT LETTING YOU DO THIS AGAIN! You think Equestria would be better off without you?

“Do you remember what I was like before we became friends?” she demanded. “I was a frightened, pathetic little pansy of a princess that Celestia didn’t even want to invest any time in! If not for you, I’d still be trying to just start levitation spells, and I sure as hay wouldn’t have learned anything about crystal magic! I had no friends. None! Do you know how pathetic that is for a Princess of Love not to have a single platonic relationship? Fleur and Sassy wouldn’t have even talked to me without you. And Shiny? I wouldn’t have even known he existed! By every single measure, my life is better because of you! Everypony you’ve come across since coming back to Equestria is better because of you.

“Everything I know says you should be proud and happy. So why? Why do you keep doing this to yourself?” Cadance demanded as tears began to form in her eyes.

Sunset couldn’t meet Cadance’s eyes as she replied to the pink princess’s question. “It’s not just what I’ve done, it’s what might happen if…” she said before realizing where this conversation was going and trailing off. If Cadance found out Sunset was leaving, she didn’t know what the pink pony would do, but it wouldn’t be good.

The silence continued for nearly a minute before Cadance let out a sigh. “Are you hung up on that nightmare?” she asked in a much more empathetic tone than before. “Oh Sunset, I’m so sorry I put that fear into your head, but look at the reality of it all. You’ve slept with me every night for awhile now and I haven’t been hurt once,” she said before smiling a little bit. “You even had a bucking wet dream about me, and all that did was keep me up for an hour before making me take a bath.

“Yes, you’re strong, and the level of magic in your horn is beyond my comprehension, and you’ve had a few minor accidents,” Cadance admitted. “But tell me, when have you ever really hurt me, or anypony? Really hurt, this morning doesn’t count.”

Sunset stopped to think for a moment. “Well…” When nopony immediately came to mind, she thought about all the other problems that had come about and would continue to crop up if she were to stay in Equestria. “It’s not just that, Cadance.”

A pink hoof came up to stop Sunset from talking. “Look, I understand that you’re nervous and you feel guilty over your past actions,” Cadance told her. “I understand that your self worth is fragile right now. And I’m sorry that I lose my temper when you put yourself down. But please, please don’t do anything foolish, Sunset. I...don’t think I could take it if you weren’t with me.”

The relief Sunset had gained from Cadance’s words vanished in an instant upon hearing the pink pony’s last statement. “Cadance you... shouldn't sell yourself short. I know you’re worried about your abilities now, but there is no doubt in my mind that you’ll be a better princess than I could ever dream of becoming.”


“Oh, thank you Empress! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Cadance barely paid any attention as Upper Crust continued to kiss Sunset’s hooves, much to the embarrassment of the amber alicorn holding the chubby unicorn’s newly resized dress in her magic. Her mind was focused on the same thing it had been since Sunset hadn’t given her any assurance that she would be there for Cadance in the future.

Sunset was leaving.

Celestia’s efforts to stop it from happening would amount to nothing. After speaking with her, Cadance understood that while Celestia had accepted her role as Sunset’s mother, she still thought of the amber alicorn as the same spoiled little brat Sunset had been a few weeks ago.

Cadance couldn’t be mad at the mare for that. She had spent years with Sunset. It would take some time for the image that had formed in her mind of her daughter’s personality to be replaced by the new Sunset. However, Cadance hadn’t spent that much time with Sunset. So it was easy to throw away the image of the old bully that she would have rather avoided and replace it with the princess she wanted to spend the rest of her life beside.

Cadance knew that Sunset had some major problems. Guilt was constantly assailing her mind to the point that the pink princess had no idea how the amber alicorn got along day by day. At least until she fell asleep, Cadance had given what little comfort her presence could offer during those times.

Originally, her plan had been to slowly bring Sunset out of the state she was in little by little. Surrounded by those she loved and was loved by, the amber alicorn would eventually be able to pull herself out of the darkness she found herself in by regaining her self-worth with the help of everypony around her.

Now, Cadance knew that she didn’t have time for that. From what Celestia had told her about the mirror’s magic, tonight was the last night it would be a portal. Although Sunset hadn’t tried to get to the mirror before now, Cadance knew that Sunset had absolutely no plans for the future after the Fall Formal. It was a very telling clue as to what she intended to do.

The thought of following Celestia’s lead occurred to her, if in a different way. Cadance knew Sunset was attracted to her, extremely attracted. She could offer herself to Sunset. Just raise her tail, kiss her hooves, suck her horn, and use everything she had to drown Sunset in pleasure.

But, such a thing wouldn’t solve Sunset’s underlying problem, wouldn’t stop her suffering. That was what Cadance needed to do. That would allow Sunset to take a look at things without some dark cloud over her head, blocking her from seeing all the good things about herself. Once Cadance did that, she knew that the amber alicorn would stay with her instead of going back to the human world for...whatever twisted reason Sunset had.

There was also the more magical option. The emotional magic of the old Crystal Empire was much more complex than the simple uncontrolled desire of the Want It Need It spell. There was magic that would make Sunset love Cadance completely, becoming nothing more than a lovestruck slave, wanting to do nothing more than what Cadance told her to. She would reverse it the next day of course, but it would mean that Sunset would have lost her chance to go through the mirror before it closed.

And then…

Cadance didn’t know what disturbed her more: how Sunset would think of her from then on out, or how Cadance would feel about herself. She had seen what it looked like when Sunset had used her magic to control the captain of the guard, the way he had struggled against her power. Was it the same for ponies under the mental domination spells?

Was it better?

Was it worse?

There was no doubt in Cadance’s mind that Sunset could have used a spell to completely strip Hard Line of his ability to resist, to make him completely subservient to her, and yet she had chosen to force him to reveal the location of Celestia’s hidden vault.

Cadance cleared her head of such questions. The fact that she was second-guessing herself before even looking into what it would take to do the deed already told Cadance that it was a bad idea.

She would just need to find another way to get Sunset to stick around.

“-think?”

Cadance gave a little jerk as Sunset’s voice pulled her back into reality. “Huh? What?” she asked before she looked around a bit. After seeing Upper Crust in the same dress Sunset had been trying to fit herself into the first day she got back, the pink princess put two and two together. “Oh! That’s...very nice, Sunset.”

“Something wrong?” Sunset asked with a cautiously raised eyebrow.

The question made Cadance back up a step. “Um…”

Sunset’s expression turned hesitant as Cadance didn’t give a real answer. After a second, she let out a sigh and shook her head. “Okay, not going to pressure you,” she said. “If you feel you need help with something, you know I’m here.”

For now, Cadance told herself with a little bit of spite.

For a moment she entertained the possibility that she was wrong. That Celestia had just allowed some irrational fears to creep in and Sunset’s irrational need to hoof Shining Armor over to Cadance was just the overgrown filly’s overblown self-loathing.

But, there was something in the back of her mind that told Cadance what was going on was more than that. She wanted to just chalk it up to Celestia’s own fears, but was unable to put the worry away.

“Um...excuse me, Princesses?” Upper Crust said as she carefully stepped forward. “But, what do you want me to do before the dance? Do you want me to go to the homecoming game?”

Sunset looked away from Cadance and over to the uncertain mare. “That’s a good question,” Sunset said. “I’m going to have to go, show the public my presence and all that. Um...do you know if your friends will be there?”

“Fleur and Sassy?” Upper Crust asked before she looked down at the ground before letting out a sad sniff through her nose. “I don’t think I can call them that, anymore. Honestly, I wonder if they were ever that to begin with.”

Instead of giving the yellow mare some sympathy, Sunset simply continued to look at the mare with an even expression. “Yeah, you were just using them to be more popular,” she told the shorter mare. “More than likely, they’re not going to want anything to do with you. But that’s their choice, and I would suggest respecting it.”

Upper Crust nodded her head. “Yes, Princess.”

“Okay so,” Sunset said as she spun around. “Now all we need to go is pick a non-dick guard officer to command the security details for the Formal and the game so we’re not mobbed by the press like last time.”


Upper Crust sat in her room, looking at a catalog of mane styles as the pony that would be doing her hair sat across from her. Although Princess Cadance and Empress Sunset wouldn’t be coming back until seven, the time restrictions on how long there was between the start of the Fall Formal and the end of the Homecoming game was less than an hour, which meant they didn’t have much time to get ready.

But it also left Upper Crust plenty of time to consider things.

Although the Empress was letting her come to the Formal, Upper Crust hadn’t heard her say anything that went against what Cadance said the future of the puggy yellow mare was going to be. The thought of where her life was going made Upper Crust shiver.

She wasn’t going to be the heiress of a major conglomerate! She wasn’t going to be able to boss around and determine the fates of hundreds of lesser ponies that slaved away in factories all across Equestria.

She wasn’t going to be rich!

The very idea of her living in some commoner hovel of a house made Upper Crust want to wretch.

She had to do something to ensure her continued life of comfort!

With her distress making her unable to concentrate on making her mane as fabulous as possible, Upper Crust’s eyes wandered around. She needed to read something to take her mind off everything that was happening to her. When her eyes fell on the newspaper sporting the Empress’s picture, Upper Crust picked it up with her magic.

“Is there something wrong, Ma’am?” the stylist asked.

Upper Crust looked over to the mare across from her. “Oh, there’s just so much time before the dance, and I don’t want to risk messing up the job you’ll do on my mane before then,” she explained before she looked over to the paper. “So just sit there and wait until I’m ready like a good little pony.”

As the hired help did as she was told, Upper Crust skimmed through the articles. Most of them involved Sunset’s actions this morning with how she announced her title change, interacted with the petitioners, and hoofed out several proclamations that were already in effect.

One in particular caught her interest, making Upper Crust read it several times. From what she understood, it would allow her to keep her lifestyle with...well, there would be some discomfort for a while, but after everything was finished, Upper Crust wouldn’t have to worry about money ever again.

All she needed to do was find an alchemist before the Formal.

“I...need to run an errand. Be back in a bit.”


Fleur fidgeted with her dress as she waited in the street for their carriage to arrive. While the clothing Sassy had made for her certainly looked wonderful, the feel of it on her body showed that the blue unicorn still needed to learn a few things if she wanted to make it in the fashion industry.

Still, it wasn’t going to ruin her night with…her date.

Just thinking of the other pony made Fleur confused.

A week ago, she would have jumped at the chance to hook up with an up and coming noble of any level in Canterlot. It was what she had spent her whole life preparing for. It was…

What if I don’t like him? Fleur asked herself.

What if he’s mean?

What if he’s like Upper Crust?

“Is something wrong?”

Sassy’s question brought Fleur out of her fearful thoughts, making her glad the blue unicorn had agreed the two of them should meet before the rest of their friends came to pick them up. “Oh...it’s just...Sassy, I’m worried.”

The blue unicorn frowned a bit. “About what?”

“About Fancy Pants!” the future-model exclaimed. “What if...well, what if he’s...mean?”

Sassy smirked at the question. “Mean, to one of-ahem, Empress Sunset Shimmer’s friends?” she asked before rolling her eyes. “Fleur, if that pony mistreats you, I’m pretty sure Sunset will having him cowering on the ground in less than half a minute.”

Although she knew she should have been reassured, Fleur didn’t know how to feel about that either. All of the doubts she had about Fancy Pants revolved around him being able to control her with his status and political power. With the horseshoe on the other hoof, Fleur didn’t know if her situation improved at all.

Any further conversation on the subject was quickly ended by the sound of several hooves coming down the street. Fleur blinked and turned her head to the left just in time to catch a dozen white earth ponies in golden armor marching down the street. Above them, six pegasi flew overhead, carrying dark purple banners with Sunset’s cutie mark on them.

“Well,” Sassy said as the group of ponies continued to approach, revealing that there was two columns of earth ponies behind the stallions on the outside of the front line, completely boxing off the street while more than a dozen pegasi flew in the skies overhead. “She certainly knows how to use a procession.”

In the center of the formation, there was a giant carriage that needed the entirety of the street to make its way through Canterlot, pulled by five of the largest earth ponies Fleur had ever seen while four unicorns sat on top of the carriage's roof. The thing was so large it could have doubled as a small house.

When the small army of ponies that had to number well over fifty stopped in front of Fleur, the procession of guards opened up and repositioned themselves to line the path towards the carriage’s front door. It opened to reveal a white unicorn stallion in a full tuxedo with a blue mane that was covered mostly by a top hat. He was a bit bigger than Shining Armor, bulkier too, although it looked like that was due more to his age than any real work on his part.

Fleur blinked at the pony, who was obviously Fancy Pants, levitated a cane out from behind him and made his way down onto the street before he trotted up to her. Then the stallion reached down with his hoof to take one of hers and kiss it. “Ah, dear Fleur De Lis, your beauty is surpassed only by your elegant taste,” he said. “And this must be your friend, Sassy Saddles. My dear, from what I can see of your work with our new Empress and your friend here, I think my family would be smart to invest in any line of clothing that you come up with, perhaps even finance a boutique of your own.”

The offer to her friend helped Fleur relax a bit. Flattery directed towards her was one thing, but offering to help Sassy with her future when it was Fleur that needed to be sucking up to him made her think that there was a chance the stallion was after more than just a sexy pony to ride and plant his seed in.

“Thank you for the compliments, Lord Fancy Pants,” Fleur with a nod of her head.

Fancy Pants gave her a little chuckle. “Now, now Ms Fleur, I’m not a lord yet,” he told her. “And in all honesty, I’m not in any hurry to gain the title, because of the unfortunate events that will necessitate it.”

Embarrassment colored Fleur’s cheeks, and she quietly took Fancy’s offer so that she could lead her back to the house on wheels with Sassy trailing behind them. As soon as she got inside, Fleur blinked at what she saw.

Both Princess Cadance and Empress Sunset were laying on a lavish couch to her right that took up the majority of the front of the carriage. What room wasn’t covered by the seating was taken up by two huge racks that held trays filled with fruits, candies, and every sort of delight Fleur knew of. In front of the shelves of food, large tubs of ice kept several different drinks in bottles cold.

Fleur was so wrapped up by the appearance of the royalty surrounded by so many delicious treats and following Fancy that she didn’t notice the other mare in the carriage that was sitting on her left until Sassy called her out. “Crust?!” the blue mare exclaimed from behind the white unicorn. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh! Um...girls...I…” she looked over to the alicorns sitting across from her. “I...just...wanted to clear the air between the three of us.”

As the fat yellow unicorn looked back over to the alicorns, Fleur took in her appearance. Although her mane was done up just like a picture Crust had shown Sassy weeks ago. However, her dress was most definitely not the one that she should have been wearing. While it was certainly nice enough to be shown at the Fall Formal, the coloring didn’t quite match her coat.

Sassy snorted. “You mean about how you tried to ruin me because I tried to get out from under your hoof? Because that’s quite clear!”

Upper Crust reeled back at Sassy’s assault, then put on a mask and cleared her throat. “Um...yes, about that,” she said. “I know any apologies will fall on deaf ears or come off as insincere because...well, let’s be honest. I was never a friend to either of you, not really.”

The declaration made Fleur blink as she took her seat, with Fancy Pants separating her from the other two mares. While they had never been all that close, Fleur had certainly thought of Crust as a friend. Not as good as Sassy, but still more than just some pony.

“I’m not...proud of that,” Crust continued after a moment. “But...look...what I’m trying to say is....I know there isn’t any salvaging what we had. But, I do want the two of you to know that it is over. Sassy, I’m not going to show up in your life again a few months from now and try and ruin whatever name you’ve made for yourself.

Sassy blinked. “Oh...well...I suppose that’s...something,” she finally said after some obvious internal debate. “Thank you.”

More silence followed as the carriage started up again. Empress Sunset finished off a batch of grapes, then looked up at the smaller mares in the moving room. “That’s it?”

“Yes, Eminence,” the yellow unicorn said as she bowed her head.

Sunset rolled her eyes at the unicorn. “Crusty, your apologies suck,” she said before looking over to Fleur. “By the way, I hope you don’t mind me picking up Fancy. I know that you had planned to meet him at the dance, but I thought it prudent to pick him up so I could…” Sunset looked over to the stallion and frowned. “Lay down some ground rules.”

Fancy gave the big alicorn a polite, if nervous, chuckle. “And what sensible rules they were, Empress.”


“A hat! Do you need a hat? What about a cane? Do stallions still carry canes to important events? I don’t know! WHY DIDN’T I RESEARCH THIS?”

Shining Armor did his best to ignore his little sister as his father trotted in to pick the filly up and comfort her. Which made him very thankful that his parents had taken the night off work to help him get ready. As it was, he was having a hard enough time with his tuxedo’s bowtie. He had asked the stallion at the dress shop for a clip-on after Sunset and Cadance had left, and the old pony had just about thrown Shining out.

Choosing to get ready for the Formal had been more a necessity than a choice after Twilight had seen the tuxedo Shining brought home before she and his mother went out shopping. Even after getting ready and deciding that he probably would end up going, there was a part of his mind that was still hesitant.

Mostly because, he still had no idea what had happened at the dress shop. Had the girls decided to try and date him like girls were supposed to? Were they just messing with him? Had they been replaced by shape-shifting insects?

Part of Shining Armor wanted to just call timeout and demanded an explanation about what was going on. But...that would probably mean the end to being kissed by alicorns, an upset Sunset, a hurt Cadance, all his friends getting angry with him for leading both of the girls on for so long, and turn the entire nation of Equestria against him for daring to refuse the affections of royalty.

“Come here Shiny,” Mom called out before she trotted over to meet him halfway. A second later, he felt her magic begin to move the cloth around his neck. “I’ve had to do this for your father so many times that it’s almost second-nature.”

The young stallion had to repress a nod of thanks, opting to go with his mouth instead. “Thanks, Mom.”

“And don’t forget your corsage,” Velvet said before the aforementioned object floated up into Shining Armor’s field of vision for him to take in his own magic. He set the thing his mother had bought during her day in the city back down on the table by the couch.

When everything was fixed, the gray mare stepped away and smiled at her son. “Oh just look at how handsome you are!” she said before her smile turned a bit less proud and more...questioning. “By the way, Shiny, which one of the girls are you going out with tonight?”

“EMPRESS SUNSET!” Twilight Sparkle cried out from the other side of the living room. “PLEASE TELL ME IT’S EMPRESS SUNSET!”

Twilight Velvet sighed at her daughter's antics. “Maybe an after dinner snack will help calm her down,” she mumbled before heading towards the kitchen.

“Nothing with sugar!” Shiny’s father said as he followed the mare.

Without any other preparations to be made, Shining Armor took a deep breath that...did absolutely nothing to calm his nerves as the front door slammed open to admit Sunset, Cadance, all of his friends, the young mares he had been eating lunch with recently, and some fancy stallion Shining had never seen before.

“Shiny!” both Cadance and Sunset called out as they walked in with the Empress leading them.

“PRINCESS!” Twilight cried before she came rushing out from the kitchen to stop in front of the alicorns. Then she looked up to Sunset and… “I mean, um…”

Cadance stepped up to the little filly. “Hello Twilight!” the pink princess said before she assumed a familiar position.

Recognition dawned on Twilight’s face a second later, and she began the song. “Sunshine! Sunshine! Ladybugs awake!” they both said before continuing on to finish the greeting ritual. “Clap your hooves and do a little shake!”

Sunset looked away from Cadance’s plot with a redness to her cheeks and turned her attention on the dark unicorn stallion moving to catch up to her daughter. “Now, Twilight. Let’s let Shiny have some time with the girls, shall we?”

“Aww but daaaaaad,” the little filly whined.

Before he could reach over to take Twilight away, the purple unicorn was lifted up in Sunset’s magic as the big alicorn sat down on the floor to free her forelegs. “I don’t mind,” Sunset said as Twilight came into her grip to be held tightly by the big pony. “Sorry I haven’t been around to teach you much as of late, Twily.”

The little unicorn nodded. “It’s okay,” she said.

A sad look appeared on the Empress’s face as she continued to hold the little filly. Behind her, Gaffer led the rest of them around the alicorns and towards the dinning area. “Knowing Shiny’s parents, they’re gonna want lots of pictures of all of us for posterity, so we’d better make enough room for a group shot.”

“I’d be happy to help you clear away some things, chap!” the fancy unicorn said as he followed Gaffer to float some of the dining chairs out of the way. The rest of the others quickly joined in and began talking among themselves about who should pose for photographs as they made room.

“Empress? Is something wrong?”

Twilight Sparkle’s confused voice brought Shining Armor’s attention back to the big alicorn as she held the little purple pony in her forelegs. The alicorn’s eyes were glistening with unshed tears. “No it’s just,” she said before breathing in through a wet nose. “Just thinking how things...might have been.”

“Will you come and teach me some magic tomorrow?” Twily asked.

Sunset gulped and sat the little filly down on the ground. “Oh, I wish I could Twilight,” she said before reaching a hoof up into her left wing. “But sometimes a Princess has to do things even though she doesn’t want to. Still, I do have something for you. Don’t open it until tomorrow morning, okay?”

All of the ponies watched as Sunset gave the little unicorn a rolled up scroll she pulled out from under her right wing. “Okay,” Twilight agreed.

Shining Armor looked over to Cadance to try and get some kind of clue as to what was going on, and wished he hadn’t when he caught sight of the horrified expression on her face as Twilight took the note from Sunset.

“Okay, enough of that!” Sunset announced as she stepped away from the purple pony. “On to happier things.”

“One second,” the older Twilight called out as she ran into the room, a bowl of something white, light and fluffy in her magic before she floated it over to Twily and set her up on the sofa. “Here’s your snack, dear.”

It wasn’t until then that he noticed the camera floating in her magic as well. “Oh! Almost forgot sweetie,” she said before removing the corsage from its case and giving it to Shining Armor, who quickly took it up in a levitation spell as his mother prepared to take a picture of him giving it to one of the mares.

Alright Shiny, the stallion told himself. This is it. Got to make a choice. You can do this. Neither one is going to freak out of you don’t pick her or anything like that. Just need to pony up and pick one.

The question was...which one?

As Shining Armor was considering which one to ask, both of the two alicorns standing to his left and right, just enough to be in his field of vision but out of the other’s, raised their hooves. “Okay Shiny, ready to take me to the Formal?” they both asked at the exact...same...time.

All of a sudden, everypony in the room except one froze.

The two alicorns blinked as one, then turned their heads to look at each other in confusion.

And Twilight continued to eat her popcorn as she sat on the couch behind Shining Armor with a full view of everything.