• 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 5: The Interference of a Pretty Pink Pony Princess

Shining Armor found himself with his face on the ground again. And just like all of the times before, it was the fault of one Buck Withers, senior class president…two years running. A position that Shining Armor felt Buck would continue to possess when Shining and his friends started their senior year at Canterlot Academy.

Despite his multiple trips around the academic block, Buck had all the mares chasing after him, was captain of three sports teams, and was part of a rich family. Hay, the guy’s dad was even a member of the Canterlot House of Commons!

Shining didn’t really know why Buck had chosen him to be the target of another year of free range torture. Although, he had heard a dozen different explanations. They ranged from jealousy, to some sadistic need to just hurt other ponies for pleasure.

Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter. The why didn’t change the fact that Buck had followed Shining through the hobby store and out the back for the sole purpose of making even Shining’s free time an open-air Tartarus.

And then…Buck was gone, planted in a nearby building by some mystery mare that also teleported him and his goons to Celestia only knew where.

An alicorn stepped into Shining’s line of vision. Her head perfectly eclipsed the sun above them both in a way that made her mane catch the light just right to let little bits of it shine through as her mane blew in the breeze, creating a shimmering effect. But it wasn’t as if she needed the help. Everything about the princess standing above Shining Armor was absolutely amazing.

She wasn’t like the lithe and sweet alicorn Shining Armor had barely been able to talk to when she was handing out fliers for her foal sitting service. In fact, Shining was pretty sure that mare hadn’t even been aware of his presence at all. There had been an awful lot of ponies trying to get a copy of her flier.

This alicorn had thicker legs and a wider barrel. Although Shining hardly considered her fat like that idiot Buck had before she had clobbered him for insulting royalty. In fact, she didn’t look fat at all. If anything, her body type looked like a shorter version of Celestia’s, a ton of physical power packed into a package so tightly that it could barely be contained. She was strong, but graceful. Built, but beautiful. Firm, but still possessing an expression that spoke of gentleness.

She was…perfection.

Then, the goddess reached down to Shining and offer him her hoof before saying in a voice that was much too high, “MOOOOOOOOOM! SHINY’S REPLACING HIS PHYSICAL REALITY WITH HIS OWN MENTAL CONSTRUCT AT THE TABLE AGAIN!”


Shining Armor’s daydream popped like a soap bubble as his chin slid off of his hoof and nearly crashed onto the table thanks to the little filly shouting in his ear. After he recovered, the stallion looked over to his little sister.

At the age of five, Twilight Sparkle was already shaping up to be a S+ class nerd. She was reading an academy level, and channeling magic through her horn when most ponies needed to be in the double digit ages before even attempting such a thing. While the maximum output of her power was only enough to turn the pages in a book, it was still quite impressive.

Their parents were even looking into a way to get Twilight enrolled in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, despite the enormous tuition costs. Thankfully, that was still a good year away.

So at the moment, Shining focused less on her genius IQ, and more on her annoying lack of common sense. He gave her a tired frown, and set the filly back down on the floor. “Twily, how many times have I told you not to yell in my ear?”

“I’m not really sure,” she said before plopping her plot down on the ground to tap her chin with a hoof. “I know it’s more than one, but less than enough.”

Shining Armor took a playful swipe at the cute little unicorn as she ran around to sit on the other side of the table right before their parents came walking in from separate rooms. Dad from behind with the morning paper, and Mom from the kitchen with four plates full of breakfast.

As Mom set the plate full of eggs, hay bacon, and toast down in front of him while taking her own seat, she gave her son one of those smiles that just screamed Shining wasn’t going to like what was going to come out. “So, what were you thinking about this time dear?”

Although not as bad as he thought it was going to be, Shining Armor found himself studying his plate, unable to meet his mother’s eyes. “Oh uh…just…this mare I met yesterday. Sunset uh…we sort of just…um…ran into each other,” he kind of lied to his parents. Telling his mom and old stallion about a bullying problem was definitely not cool. “And kind of started talking, and uh…she walked me home.”

It was only after he was done that Shining Armor realized his last four words could have been used to find out Sunset had saved him from something.

Not that there was anything wrong with that! Sunset was an alicorn and…well…freakishly strong in both hoof and horn. So…it caused almost no damage to Shining’s already mangled pride as a stallion whatsoever.

“A mare? Oh Shiny, why didn’t you bring her inside so I could meet her?” the creature that Shining Armor was going to keep as far away from the princess for as long as possible asked.

“Well it’s about time!” the other creature Shining Armor had no intention of ever leaving Sunset Shimmer alone with added. “So what’s she like, colt?”

Before Shining Armor could just give some vague mumblings about said mare, Twilight apparently decided to make it so that his parents would never leave him alone. “You mean that big amber alicorn I saw you with outside the house with yesterday?”

Shining slumped and sighed while his parents straightened up a lot at the use of the a-word. “Her name is Sunset Shimmer,” he explained in defeat. “She’s Princess Celestia’s personal student and-”

“PRINCESS CELESTIA HAS PERSONAL STUDENTS?!” the filly across the table said with an excited smile twice as big as her face.


As was fast becoming her usual routine, Princess Cadance found herself escorting her fellow alicorn through the halls of Canterlot Castle on their way to breakfast. It was something that she had found herself enjoying more than she thought she would, having Sunset Shimmer of all ponies as a friend. Although, the mare didn't seem like her usual self for some reason. So Cadance stopped on her way to the dining hall to turn and look back to the amber alicorn behind her. “Something wrong, Sunset?”

After a quick shake of her head, Sunset pulled her tail in and kept going. “Just had a weird chill run down my spine. Guess I’m still getting used to being naked all the time.”

The explanation got a smirk from Cadance. More stories about Sunset’s time as a biped had certainly been an interesting distraction while she guided the other mare through her levitation practice. The pink princess still couldn’t believe half the things she heard about that humanity race. She wondered if it would be possible to see one some day. If they really weren't figments of Sunset's imagination, that is. Cadance still hadn't been able to work out if that was the case.

Unfortunately, Sunset’s recovery was not to last. As they got closer and closer to the dining hall, the amber alicorn began to slow her pace more and more. So Cadance decided to say something before she brought them both to a complete stop. “Trying to avoid Celestia again?”

Sunset cringed. “I’m not…avoiding her.”

Really?” Cadance asked with a raised eyebrow. “So, it’s just a coincidence that you decided to have dinner in your room instead of with us last night?”

The other alicorn turned her head to look at a painting on the wall. “I just wanted some privacy.”

“And how come you didn’t come back for lunch before that?” the pink pony princess went on as she circled around Sunset. “Celestia mentioned it at dinner.”

Sunset groaned and looked away from Cadance again as the smaller mare tried to walk into her field of vision. “So I wanted to eat out for a change! I’m allowed to do that, right?”

With Sunset’s anger growing, Cadance could tell she was on the right track. And to slip past it, she put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder and gave her a concerned look while taking the least challenging stance that she could. “Sunset, please tell me what’s wrong.”

Sunset pulled away from Cadance and went back to heading for the door. “Nothing's wrong! I’m perfectly fine!” she said while storming towards the dining hall’s double doors. “Look, I’m going to eat breakfast with her right now!”

As she watched the mare stomp away in a huff, the pink alicorn lowered her hoof and shook it slowly. “Make your only friend in town even more upset,” Cadance mumbled to herself. “Good job Princess.”

After making her way to the dining hall, Cadance found Celestia waiting for them in her usual seat. The big mare watched as Sunset came in, left a few cracks in the ground from her stomping as she got to her seat, and then raised an eyebrow at Cadance when the pink alicorn sat next to Sunset rather than on the other side of the table with Celestia like usual.

“Is something wrong?” the High Princess of Equestria asked in genuine confusion and concern.

“NO!” Sunset snapped…before she apparently realized just where she was, and who she was shouting at. Then, the amber alicorn’s eyes went wide, and she looked away from the big princess. “I’m just…having one of those mornings.”

Celestia nodded. “Ah…I’m sorry to hear that Sunset,” she said before taking a sip of her coffee and giving the newest alicorn a concerned look. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Although physically impossible, it seemed as if Sunset tried to look away from Celestia even more when asked. “No…I just…need to cool down,” she said, her voice dropping as she spoke. “Sorry, Princess.”

After a few seconds of silence, Princess Celestia nodded. “Accepted, but unneeded. I understand you’re going through a hard time right now. And…there’s something I need to talk to you about this morning as well.”

Sunset didn’t prompt her, and Cadance kept mum on the subject as the chef came walking in to take their orders personally. After a few minutes of hearing what was fresh in the kitchens and descriptions of a few dishes that she had never heard of, Cadance made her order, followed by Celestia, while Sunset…

“Look, it’s scrambled eggs, cheese, fried potato cuttings, and gravy wrapped in a tortilla and cooked a second time for a few seconds to crisp the outer layer,” she instructed while using her magic to provide an example with projections of light that looked almost solid. “It’s not that hard!”

Ram See cleared his throat to hide what was probably a sound of disdain. “Yes Princess, I shall attempt to create this um…crunchy wrap as per your specifications.”

As he began to leave, the amber alicorn pointed a hoof towards the chef. “And make sure you use that cleansing spell I showed you yesterday on the kitchen before you start cooking!” she shouted before settling back down in her seat to find both Cadance and Princess Celestia giving her odd looks. “Hey! If the two of you had lived my life for the past three years, you’d be a germaphobe too!”

Celestia didn’t press the issue, and Cadance decided silence was best as they waited for their food. The quiet seemed to do Sunset good. Apparently, she actually didn’t let her anger simmer without something external to focus on, and actually calmed down a little.

After some of the palace staff brought in breakfast and left, Celestia apparently took that as a sign to start up the conversation again. “Sunset, I know you’re not feeling very good this morning, but I do need to talk to you about princess business.”

The smaller alicorn looked at her condensed breakfast, and gathered it up in her magic to take a bite as she looked away from Celestia. “Don’t see why. I’m not going to be a princess.”

“You will be once I bring you into the royal family,” Celestia told Sunset.

When the amber alicorn heard those words, she tensed. “Why?” she whispered before looking back to Celestia with a frown and increasing the volume of her voice. “Why now? Because of THESE?”

Her wings unfolded as far as they would go. “YEARS! I’ve been your student for YEARS! AND YOU NEVER SAY ANYTHING I WANTED TO HEAR!”

Tears began to form in her eyes. “And now, I’m back for one day a-and, and you’re all,” she got out before needing to take in air through a runny nose. “You say…you tell me…w-why now? Why didn’t you t-tell m-me that stuff beforeeeeee.”

Cadance was on the other mare in an instant. She hopped down from her chair and quickly pulled the bigger alicorn into a comforting embrace as best she could, wrapping her forelegs and wings around Sunset before covering her face with pink wings to hide her friend’s tears. Then, she turned and looked to Celestia.

This is my fault, Cadance thought to herself. If she hadn’t been a coward and stayed away from Sunset, it would have been easy to see the pain and terror that filled the other mare’s life after her arrival.

As for Celestia, she sat on her miniature throne of a chair with her head slowly lowering as Sunset cried herself out.

Once Sunset was finished, Celestia finally spoke. “I’ve been asking myself that since yesterday,” the old alicorn said in a voice that made Celestia sound her age. “Do you know the trick to surviving eternity Sunset? It’s not an easy thing to do.

“You make up rules for yourself. Rules that you always follow. Rules to…keep your heart safe. Don’t get too close to ponies, for example. And as time goes on, you add onto those rules. Not because you want to keep yourself safe, but because…it just becomes…natural. Like…make sure to teach your students humility. Don’t feed their egos.

“And then, when you follow those rules for so long, they become a habit. And after that, you get into a routine,” Celestia sadly went on in her tired voice. “And then you start cutting down on the routine. Tell a pony to make friends instead of showing them how. Give the same opportunities you gave to a hundred others because…well, that’s what you do. What you've always done. Always the same, from one pony to the next until…even they might as well be the same to you. A hundred ponies that might as well have been cardboard cutouts as far as I was concerned.”

Princess Celestia stopped for a second to take in a breath, and Cadance could hear that Sunset Shimmer wasn’t the only pony in the room with something in her nose. “And then, you came along,” she said with glistening eyes. “And you were different. Every other pony I had ever taught, they could go home to their parents and receive what I could never give them from others, because there was a line a teacher just didn’t cross. But you only had me. And like the stupid mare that I was, I just…followed the rules and did the routine.

“But as the years passed, and I watched you grow up…something…happened,” Celestia told her hesitantly before shaking her head. “I’m not sure when it happened, maybe it was when I saw you show me your first A-plus with that adorable grin on your face, or maybe it was when you caught that cold and I canceled my diplomatic trip to Griffonstone to get updates on your condition every ten minutes, or maybe it was that first night you spent in the palace after your parents died…when you cried yourself to sleep in my forelegs and I sang to you all night to help ward off nightmares. Whenever it was, I found myself loving you as more than just my student, Sunset.

“And…it frightened me. For the first time in hundreds of years, I cared about another little pony so much that my world revolved around her. And I didn’t know what to do, other than double down on my routine, and make sure to ignore the feelings in my heart. Because...that’s what all my useless experience said I was supposed to do.

“So I nurtured your mind, and neglected your heart because…it wasn’t in the lesson plan,” Celestia went on with a sneer directed at herself before looking back to Sunset with pain in her eyes. “And because of that, you…gave up on things that a stupid old fool like me was too blind and full of herself to see that you needed.”

Celestia paused for a moment again, and blinked away tears. “Sunset…I listen to you say what a horrible pony you are,” she said. “But...every failing you see in yourself is my failing as a teacher, and as a pony, and most importantly…as a parent.”

There was a ruffling of feathers as Sunset moved Cadance’s wing out of the way. “Princess, you…”

“I was a coward,” Celestia said in a tired voice before Sunset could go on. “And this crown and offer to be inducted into the royal family…it’s not some token admittance into the royal household with a title attached so that you share the burden of ruling Equestria. If you would give me another chance to do what I should have done the day your parents died, I am offering to officially adopt you as my daughter, and make you my heir.”

Silence permeated the room, giving Cadance time to think.

Celestia’s speech…the pink alicorn had to wondered how long the older pony had worked on it in her head. It had all the hallmarks of something that had been prepared beforehoof. But that didn’t make it a bad thing. The emotion behind it all was genuine. It was a love letter from a mother to her daughter, asking for forgiveness.

She looked back over to the biggest alicorn in the room, and blinked. Celestia’s body was slumped over, her ears were pulled back, and her wings twitched. The ruler of Equestria looked more like a nervous nelly that wanted to bolt than the immortal goddess she actually was. But it was understandable.The big pony had laid everything bare to the pony she loved most.

“I…” Sunset said after a few minutes. “I have to go.”

Cadance found herself pushed off the amber alicorn with enough force to make her stumble back before Sunset turned and galloped out of the dining hall as fast as her legs would move. Back on the other side of the table, Celestia raised a hoof as if to stop Sunset. As the other alicorn went through the door, her face lost the tiny spark of hope and excitement that had been waiting for Sunset to turn it into a blaze.

When the big pony looked back down at the table in defeat, Cadance took in a deep breath. “I’ll go talk to her,” she promised Celestia before turning and running out the door after Sunset.

Thankfully, Sunset hadn’t gotten very far. Some directions from the guards, followed by one corridor and two turns later, Cadance managed to find the amber alicorn standing next to a pillar just outside the palace’s main hallway entrance. Cadance cautiously approached as Sunset took in wild breaths that probably came more from emotional exhaustion than anything physical.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Cadance asked her as she came up behind the other alicorn.

Sunset went silent at the question. “Why?” she asked after a few seconds of getting herself under control. “You’ll just take her side. Everybody takes her side. I’m the one that’s always wrong.”

After getting front of the mare, Cadance parked her plot on the carpet. She wasn't quite sure what Sunset was getting at, but...she couldn't just stop the conversation there. “What makes you say that?”

“Because I AM the one that’s wrong!” she yelled back before her breathing sped up again. "Here Celestia is…here she is reaching out to me, telling me…telling me all that. AND ALL I WANT TO DO IS YELL AT HER!” Sunset choked back a sob and shook her head, as if trying to fling the tears from her eyes before they could fall.

Cadance nervously licked her lips. “I thought that was what you wanted.” Everything she knew about Sunset said that was what she wanted, for Celestia to finally take her place as the amber alicorn’s parent. Had her instincts been so far off the mark?

A frown appeared on Sunset’s face, and she looked away from the pink alicorn. “Maybe when I was seven, and my parents had just died, or when I was ten and all the other ponies at school were telling me how much I didn’t deserve to be Celestia’s student, or when I was thirteen, and she just had a maid come and take care of me when I had the pony pox instead of checking up on me just once! But when she didn’t do any those things, I got the message. Celestia didn’t give a damn about me! Hell, she might as well have said so herself just now!”

Content and tone was more than enough for Cadance to understand what Sunset meant with her strange human cursing. “You know that’s not true Sunset,” she told the mare sadly. After everything Celestia had just said, she had to at least know that.

“Yeah?” she demanded in anger. “Well guess what? I don’t want her to be my mom! I gave up on that stupid dream years ago! Oh, but now that she says she’s sorry, and that she loves me and-and… I’m just supposed to come running to give her a hug and dry her tears? WELL WHERE THE HELL WAS SHE WHEN I WAS THE ONE CRYING? I CRIED FOR YEARS! SO IF SHE DIDN’T COME TO ME? THEN WHY SHOULD I GO TO HER?”

Because the both of you have been hurting for some time, and I think the only way to stop it is to get it out in the open and work through it together, Cadance said in her head. But she kept silent because…it didn’t look like Sunset wanted to hear that just yet. She just needed to vent and cool down. “Okay then,” the pink pony said with a shrug. “You’re right. You don’t need to give Celestia what she wants. She’s a big pony. Buck forgiveness. Let her cry and suffer like you did for her past mistakes.”

Sunset flinched at the last bit, and looked back down the hallway that turned towards the dining room. “Um…”

“Come on,” Cadance urged as she walked up to the amber alicorn and turned around so they were both facing the same direction before she threw a wing across Sunset’s back. “You need some fresh air. Walk me to class?” The distance would do her good. Nopony could not think about Celestia in a castle that had next to nothing but white and gold decorations.

With Cadance’s wing guiding Sunset, the other alicorn reluctantly agreed, and they began trotting down the hallway again before exiting the palace.

The open air of Canterlot was chilly, despite the fact Equestria was still in the tail end of Summer. But as a former pegasus, Cadance knew that the higher somepony climbed the colder it got. And Canterlot was on a mountain. It was probably why the majority of Canterlot ponies started wearing clothes.

She took some time to admire the various ponies running to work as Sunset walked down the street beside her, the two princesses together attracting a lot of attention. Still a little uneasy with all the ponies looking at her, Cadance’s wings twitched with a need to fly like she usually did to avoid the crowds. But she managed to fight off the urge after seeing Sunset trot down the street without even batting an eye at all the attention.

For all her faults, Cadance could see that Sunset had a better public presence than the pink princess ever would.

After they had gotten halfway to the academy, Sunset slowed her pace and glanced over to the pink alicorn. “Hey Cadance…relationships are your thing. Right?”

Eager to strike up a conversation to help put the last thing they talked about in the past, Cadance nodded enthusiastically. “Yes. Although I’m really more into the romantic stuff than anything else. The platonic and familiar kinds are still great but…” She put on a mischievous smile. “The ones that make babies are my favorite.”

Sunset’s eyes went wide for a moment, making Cadance feel a little satisfied. It was nice to show the other alicorn that she wasn’t the only ‘bad girl’ around town.

“Well…I met this…uh…stallion yesterday while I was out roaming around Canterlot,” Sunset admitted very cautiously.

The smell of romance in the air sent a spark running through Cadance’s body as she heard the news and got closer to Sunset to help make the discussion a bit more private. “Really? What was he like?” she asked in excitement as Sunset backed away from her for some odd reason.

Cadance just followed the other alicorn off the street until Sunset ran out of room to retreat. Then Sunset got the tiniest of blush on her cheeks, and looked away while she cleared her throat. “The guy. He’s...um, kind of a dork, and a wimp,” she said before facing Cadance again with a little smile on her face. “But once I got him talking, I found I kind of liked him. He’s really sweet and funny. Smart too, he’s hoping to join the Royal Guard as a member of the shield corps. And well, he’s…maybe a little cute too. But, you know, it’s been three years since I saw a stallion...sort of. So…I’m not that picky when it comes to looks.”

Okay,” Cadance drawled out, unsure of where this was going. “I’m not exactly sure what you need me for though Sunset. You’re a strong, confident and beautiful mare. About the only advice I can offer you is to be yourself.”

When Sunset began to shake her head and turned to get away, Cadance quickly galloped up in front of the mare and gave her a level look. “No, seriously, be yourself,” she said again to make sure the mare got the point. “If you act like some shy little wallflower to try and make yourself look cute, or do anything that makes you seem…not who you really are, whatever you build together will fall apart in a few weeks. If you really want whatever you feel for this guy to work out in a way that makes it last, you need to show him everything that you are." She gave her friend a reassuring smile. "I’m sure he’ll love it.”

Unlike the way her usual ‘be yourself’ pep talks went, Sunset slunk away from Cadance as a worried expression crossed her face. “Yeah well…no offense to your advice about a stallion you’ve never met, but something tells me Shining Armor isn’t going to like dating the real me,” Sunset grumbled.

Shining Armor huh? Cadance didn't recognize the name, but filed it away for later and focused on her friend. “Sunset, I’m sure you're just overreacting to-”

“Okay, considering the fact that all of my dating experience happened when I was inside that mirror, don’t act like you know how I treated every guy I went out with,” she said in an angry tone before Cadance could finish. “I was the worst possible thing you could imagine. I was worse than a whore. I would spread my legs to lure guys in and take whatever I wanted from them in exchange. And when they were vulnerable, I got something else from them to hold over their heads. Then, when I didn’t need to have sex with them anymore to get what I wanted, I threw them away like trash and made sure everyone around me knew that I was the one who came out on top in the relationship by thoroughly humiliating the guy that was stupid enough to think he was the one for me.”

The look of anger on Sunset’s face, that was inches from Cadance’s own made the pink princess gulp.

But internally, she was crying out in anger. Physical intercourse was supposed to be between two ponies that loved each other more than anything! There may have been some ponies that just…banged, and while not Cadance’s cup of tea, as long as it was between two adults wanting to have fun that at least cared about each other on some level, there wasn’t anything too wrong she could find with it beyond how empty the sex was compared to what it should have been. But it sure as hay wasn’t a tool or a weapon! Hearing Sunset talk that way about what was supposed to be the ultimate act of love, it was just…abhorrent!

“Well…I’m sure…I mean…you had some pretty extenuating circumstances, and…” Try as she might, Cadance just couldn’t find the words to excuse Sunset’s actions. No matter how desperate, there were some lines that just weren’t crossed.

“And I know it all happened in that dream or in the future that hasn’t really happened, or….argh!” the amber alicorn cried out before shaking her head and sighing. When she had calmed herself back down, Sunset looked back at Cadance. “Look, whatever it was, as far as I know for the past three years of my life, I pretty much used guys like toilet paper." She sighed and lowered her head. "And I don’t want to hurt Shining Armor like that. I don't want to hurt anypony.”

Cadance nodded, taking solace in the fact that Sunset had at least acknowledge what she did, or what she thought she did, was wrong. The pink alicorn still didn’t know what to think about that whole mirror thing even with Celestia’s input. “Okay then, I’ll…give you a hoof.”

As the amber alicorn began to brighten, the pink one sucked in a sharp breath to brace for the coming impact from what Sunset would do when she added her stipulation. “If you talk to Celestia.”

The relief on Sunset’s face turned to a glower. “Cadance…I…” She unfurled her wings and snarled. “No. I don’t care what she said this morning! Celestia wouldn’t even look at me until I had these!”

Cadance shook her head and placed a hoof on Sunset’s shoulder. “Sunset, it’s not your ascension that’s making her say those things,” the pink alicorn admitted in a sympathetic tone to try and calm Sunset down before she could get going again. “It’s…me.”

Sunset’s frown lessened, becoming more curious than anything. “What?”

“Look, after you and Celestia…talked in your room the day you first woke up,” Cadance began hesitantly. “She and I had some words, and when you…avoided us last night during dinner too. Mostly, it was me yelling at her for being such a bad mother. And she is your mom, Sunset. I know you have some reservations about all of this, you should. Celestia is nowhere near the perfect pony in this, but…I can also see you’re hurting too. Please, don’t punish yourself like you’ve been doing these past few days. The two of you are the closest ponies in my life right now, and to see you both like this…it’s misery.”

When Sunset opened her mouth, Cadance held up a hoof. “I’m not saying you should just forgive her for what happened, but…don’t let it keep you from moving forward either,” she told the amber alicorn. “Don’t focus on what she did, but...try and see the mare she’s trying to be now. Like how I’m doing with you. Please?”

Much to Cadance’s relief, Sunset sighed and lowered her head rather than set the pink alicorn’s wings on fire. “Okay,” she agreed. “You got a point there.”

A moment of silence passed and Cadance started to relax, then Sunset smirked. “You know, you can play pretty dirty when you want to.”

Cadance shrugged. “Well you know what they say…all’s fair in love,” she said before her smile turned devious. “And love covers a lot of things.”

After giggling a bit, Sunset began trotting towards the street. “You know, pink really doesn’t lend itself well to trying to look vicious Cadance. Stick with the cute and innocent stuff.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she replied while catching up to the other alicorn. “So…about this Shining Armor. You said he was cute, but what does he look like, exactly?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “You really going to help me hook up with him?”

A similar expression appeared on Cadance’s face. “You going to try and work something out with your mother?”

“The things I do to get a guy,” Sunset grumbled before they turned the street that put the academy in sight. It made the amber alicorn go quiet as they approached. “Huh…you know…this place reminds me a lot of Canterlot High.”

It was easy for Cadance to detect the wistfulness in Sunset’s voice. “You sound sad.”

Sunset smirked and shook her head. “It’s weird. I hated that place. I hated everything about it for three years. But…before I left…I was…happy. I didn’t have my magic, family, or a good place to live…but…I was happy, with nothing except five friends that…weren’t even real.”

There was more to it than that, Cadance could tell. But…she just didn’t have time before classes started to get any more details beyond one little thing. “You should talk to Celestia about it Sunset. She’s probably got plenty of things to help deal with loss.”

“You mean like shutting down and not caring about anything at all?” the amber alicorn deadpanned.

Cadance winced, her wings partly extending in reflex. “Okay, good point,” she admitted before glancing up at the large clock on the front of the school’s tower. She would need to hurry things up if she didn’t want to be tardy. “So…um…getting back on track, about Shining Armor…”


“And there’s the Lord of Trottingham that-”

“Cancel it.”

“Um…very well, but there’s also the committee for the Equestria Games. They say there’s a problem with Cloudsdale being the venue for the Games this year because-”

“Well then tell them that’s too bad. I’m sure there’s a way to figure out a way around any problems that crop up.”

“But Prin-”

Princess Celestia looked up from her place on her bed and glared at the stallion standing near her door. Kibitz may have been a bit new, but even he should have known when to try and keep the High Princess of the Realm on schedule, and when not to bother her. As this was one of the later, she frowned at the young stallion and clamped his mouth shut with her magic. “Cancel everything for today! I do not have the strength to suffer any fools that think I must be there to wipe their plots every five minutes!” she ordered her aide before levitating him out of the room and slamming the door shut.

Alone again, Celestia let her head fall back onto her pillow in sorrow.

Even after Celestia’s confession and admittance of guilt for the way things were, Sunset didn’t want anything to do with her.

And why would she? The filly Celestia had known had grown up to become a strong and wonderful mare. Sunset…didn’t need her anymore. She hadn’t needed Celestia for years. The truth of it was…Celestia was the one that needed her.

Sunset was the last chance she had for a bit of happiness and love in what would be her final years. And she had messed it all up. Because…well...hay, Celestia didn’t even know anymore!

All of her rules had been to keep getting too close to other ponies because she didn’t want to be crushed under the weight of their loss when she outlived them. But Celestia wasn’t going to outlive Sunset. She wasn’t going to outlive anypony that could make it for the next few years. Come the one-thousandth Summer Sun Celebration that was due in just less than two short decades, everypony else would be the ones outliving her.

The sound of a door’s creaking hinges pulled Celestia from her introspection, and made the white pony promise herself that whichever guard was about to come inside her room was going to be put on Crystal Empire Watch duty for a few weeks for disobeying her order to be left alone. She looked up to frown at whatever foolish stallion was about to walk within her view.

Only to find an amber alicorn with a gold and red mane carefully walking through the doorway instead. “Um…Princess Celestia?” Sunset asked cautiously. “Are you…okay?”

Sunset?” Celestia asked in disbelieving surprise. “What’re you doing here?”

The smaller alicorn cautiously walked into the room, shutting the door behind her as she looked around the room full of bookshelves that held both books and other keepsakes from Celestia’s life. The most recent parts of it at any rate. The castle would have been full of junk if Celestia had held onto every memento she collected over the years for as long as she had been alive.

“It’s…I wanted to talk to you,” she said before moving up to the bed. “And…apologize about breakfast.”

Celestia rolled over on her bed until she was resting on her barrel, and reached over to put her fetlock on the back of Sunset’s neck. “Oh no my little pony,” she whispered to the uncrowned alicorn. “I’m the one that should apologize, and for much more than just a single day.”

Sunset didn’t rebuke Celestia’s confession as she moved to nuzzle the larger alicorn. “I just…you…I’ve always wanted…” she said between gasps for air.

With Sunset close enough, Celestia pulled her onto the bed with her forelegs and draped a wing across Sunset’s back to comfort her. “Yes, you had a want for so long…because of my foolishness. And I am sorry for being such stupid nag about so much for so long.”

The smaller alicorn paused, and smiled. “You know, one of the things that I learned when I was over…I mean, because of that vision the mirror gave me was that if you spend your whole life apologizing, you spend all your time thinking about your mistakes and can never move forward,” Sunset told her softly as she shuffled over to lay against Celestia. “So…let’s just say we both did bad, and go forward together, okay?”

Celestia looked down on the pony beside her with a smile. “When did you become so wise?”

Sunset gave a minute shrug. “Not sure. I mean…I wasn’t really gone for three years, but…I felt like I was. It’s just…confusing.”

“Wait,” Celestia said as she studied the pony next to her for a few seconds. After what she had just said, Sunset’s expression took a downturn. She looked…almost depressed. “You mean you agree with my theory about what happened to you now? What brought this on?” Celestia had thought she would need to fight with Sunset over it for much longer than that to get the amber alicorn to swallow her story about the portal.

The little alicorn dropped her head down on Celestia’s bed. “I didn’t find Twilight Sparkle at your school’s campus,” she replied. “It looks like you were right. She was just a figment of my imagination. Her…and everyone else I met on the other side of the mirror.”

Celestia reached around to hold Sunset with her forelegs as tightly as she could without hurting the smaller alicorn. “Oh Sunset, I don’t know what to say. I know she was important to you. Phantom or not.”

“Thanks,” she replied halfheartedly.

“But I’m also glad,” Celestia went on, making Sunset look up at her with a curious frown. “Because that means all of the things that you’re angry at yourself for…they didn’t really happen. All that guilt you’re carrying around. You can be free of it and move on into the future with a clear conscience.”

Sunset nodded, but sighed and lowered her head back down a second later, still in her funk. “Yeah…lucky me.”

As the conversation gave way to a pregnant pause, Celestia glanced back down to Sunset, unsure of how to proceed. She knew the little alicorn came here for more than just what they had just talked about, but…did she dare risk bringing up the subject that had sent her running just two hours before?

A moment of consideration had Celestia making a decision. There was no delaying the inevitable after all. “Sunset…about what I said earlier,” she began to get the amber alicorn’s attention. “About your…adoption into the royal family.”

Sunset put her head against Celestia again. “For what it’s worth. I…I think I’d like…to be your kid.”

Celestia found her heartbeat increasing as her vision blurred. The world seemed to tilt for the smallest of moments as that fact settled down in the big pony’s heart, making Celestia glad she was laying down next to Sunset. “So…what do you want to do now?”

“Well…I’ve had a pretty hectic morning,” Sunset said as she leaned back into Celestia. “Can we just…stay like this for awhile?”

Celestia smiled and rested her head on Sunset’s back in an embrace that she hoped lasted for several hours. “Of course,” she told her…daughter.

“Thanks…Mom.”


In the great brotherhood of stallions, there existed a certain code by which every member of the fraternity lived by: to brag when something impossibly awesome happens to one’s fellow brothers. Such was the case when Shining Armor arrived at Canterlot Academy to talk to his fellow male equines about the impossibility of Princess Sunset Shimmer over the course of a few morning classes.

Said number of the stallions were three. There was the pegasus with the brown coat called Eight-Bit, a white earth pony with large glasses that went by the moniker Poindexter, and a tan unicorn named Gaffer. The four of them quested together many a time…in the basement of Shining Armor’s house as they played O&O on an old table his mother left down there because it didn’t match the house decor.

As for the topic of his epic tale…

“Look, I’m telling you guys, there’s a princess that wants to come over to my house this weekend and play a session with us,” he explained for what felt like the twelfth time…even though his memory said it was only the eighth. “What’s so hard to believe about that?”

Eight-bit raised an eyebrow as they made it to their lockers. “The part where you were saved from Buck by a warrior princess with a mane that blazed like the sun?”

“Or how she wants to come over and hang out with us, not to mention even knows what O&O is?” Gaffer added while he took a moment to put his books up and get the ones he needed for his next class.

The final member of their group shook his head, and then adjusted his glasses. “I’m sorry Shining Armor, but you can’t expect us to believe that an alicorn princess just walked up and actually acted interested in you.”

Shining Armor sighed at the reactions of his friends. Weren’t his best friends supposed to believe him? The story didn’t sound that outlandish! All he did was get saved by the newest princess of the nation before walking with her around town and brought her home. What was so unbelievable about that?

“Hello? Shining Armor, right?”

The unicorn blinked and turned his head as he closed his locker to come muzzle to muzzle with...pink perfection.

She was taller than most mares, as tall as Shining was in fact. Her mane was pulled back into a ponytail, and her actual tail nearly hung down low enough to drag on the ground. Legs, barrel, neck…everything else about her was slender without being too thin. She made even the old queen of the school Fleur De Lis look normal. But then…Cadance was a princess.

“Cadance!” Shining Armor said. Thanks to his previous experience with royalty, it only came out as an awkward speak. “I mean! Princess Cadance! It’s uh…you!”

He had to wonder why she was there though. Was it something Sunset had said? Or… Oh wait, Shining realized. She probably just wanted to talk to him about the foalsitting job that Sunset said she would get Cadance to do. That made sense.

The pink alicorn smiled giggled. “Wow! Sunset was right, you are just adorable!” she said, completely demolishing Shining’s train of thought before reaching over to grab his foreleg. “Could you follow me into the gym for a minute so we can get some privacy? There’s something I really need you to help me take care of.”

“Uhhhhh…okay,” the young stallion managed to get out as Cadance dragged him off while his three friends looked on with gaping mouths.

Finally, the other unicorn of their foursome raised a trembling hoof and pointed to Shining Armor as he was whisked to a private location by the Alicorn of Love. “T-THAT’S NOT POSSIBLE!”