• 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 7: To Find a Pony

Sunset looked over the edge of Canterlot and to the mass of clouds below her nervously. A day of gliding practice where she spent more time on the ground than in the air did not seem like enough preparation for actual wing-flapping flight. “Uh…are you sure about this?” she asked as she turned to look at Celestia. “What about Cadance? Doesn’t she need some kind of magical training you need to do?”

From her place off to the left of the amber alicorn’s flank, Celestia looked back towards the castle with a worried expression. “I offered, but she said she had something more important to do today, and told me to help you out instead. I wonder what’s attracted that mare’s attention.”

A groan escaped from Sunset’s lips, and she barely stopped from sending herself to the hospital with a face palm. “It’s some Princess of Love thing,” she said before realizing something. “Wait…just what am I going to be the princess of anyway, Mom?”

Celestia’s eyes widened a tiny fraction, and Sunset felt the bigger alicorn begin to shove her forward. “No time to talk, the breeze is coming to a stop!” the Princess of the Sun said almost too fast for the amber alicorn to follow before the ground ran out in front of her and Sunset fell off of the cliff that was the edge of Canterlot.

She protested this action in the most logical manner: by screaming her lungs raw. “AAAAAAAAH!”

Up on the ledge, Celestia looked down and a light from her horn touched her throat. “FLAP YOUR WINGS TO MAKE YOUR OWN LIFT! YOU’VE GOT TO REALLY FLAP THEM HARD!”

Her mother’s voice, combined with the safety net of the clouds below her and a hungering vengeance for this scare gave Sunset what she needed to focus and cut through the fear. The alicorn spread her wings, and once they helped her level off, she flapped them. Just like Celestia said, she flapped them hard.

All of a sudden, Sunset understood what it was like to be Applejack at a rodeo. The alicorn’s new appendages yanked her upward while the rest of her body lurched to follow suit. The second beat of her wings didn’t make her feel any better. The third made Sunset careen around in half of an aerial back flip that misaligned her entire body for flying, but worked pretty well when it came to falling.

Panic threatened to overtake Sunset’s mind as gravity laughed at her attempts to fly. Calm down Shimmer, the clouds below will-she managed to tell herself before an impossibly strong gust of wind from an odd angle rammed into her safety net of soft, fluffy clouds, completely scattering it to the four winds.

A second later, all logical thought fled from Sunset’s mind before her wings seized up, and her mind went into panic mode. OH shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! SHIT! she thought while letting out what little air was left in her lungs.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Sunset didn’t know for how long she fell. Although, it felt like much too long as she ran out of breath and spun around in the air like a rolling barrel. Too long to keep screaming. Too long to even keep falling when there was supposed to be an alicorn up in the sky with her to prevent such things. The oddity of the situation made Sunset open her eyes.

But instead of seeing the world tinted in a golden glow like anything in Celestia’s magic should have been, all Sunset noticed was a mass of green grass before she impacted the ground hard enough to find herself belly up in a pony-sized hole.

The reality of the moment took a little bit to sink in. I’m not…dead?

Sunset! Sunset are you alright?” the panicked voice of the amber alicorn’s mother figure called to her as she saw Celestia come down from on high. “I’m sorry, I got distracted when Kibitz came up with an urgent message from Mare-”

A surge of anger-fueled strength got Sunset back on her hooves as she flipped forward to land on her front legs. “I JUST FELL FROM CANTERLOT!” she shouted at the bigger alicorn before stomping her hooves, and nearly making Celestia lose her footing thanks to the ensuing impact. “DO I LOOK ALRIGHT TO YOU?”

Celestia backed away from her daughter as Sunset forced herself to calm down. Because…as far as she could tell… “Actually,” she mumbled before looking herself over. Other than some displaced feathers and a ruined mane, she couldn’t feel anything wrong with her body. “I…am okay. I-Is that normal?”

“The magic of a pegasus increases with the speed they are flying, protecting them from impacts,” Celestia told her before letting out a long sigh. “I’m so glad you're okay.”

After hearing her mom’s explanation, Sunset couldn’t help but notice the gaping hole in it. “But…I wasn’t flying. I was just falling.”

Silence permeated the area for several seconds as the two alicorns stood there with worried looks on their faces. Despite the fact it meant her survival, Sunset was a little frightened about what coming out of her crash unharmed actually meant. Was there something wrong with her?

“We need to take you back to the doctors,” Celestia finally said.

Sunset rolled her eyes at the suggestion. “You mean despite the fact that every single one of the five physicians I’ve seen so far say I’m the picture of health?”

“THEN WE FIND SOMEPONY THAT KNOWS WHAT THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT!” Celestia shouted back. It was the terror in her mother’s eyes that kept Sunset from continuing the argument.


The rest of the week passed at an agonizingly slow pace for Sunset Shimmer.

Between the four doctors visits with the three most acomplished pony tribe doctors in Equestria, the final of which being with all of them on top of Celestia as they worked to reach a consensus about her condition, Sunset found herself incredibly bored. She practiced magical spells that her horn hadn’t used in years while waiting for Cadance to come home and get her daily magic lesson, and reviewed the books the pink princess had bought for the ‘date’ that would come on Saturday.

It seemed a little egotistical that there actually was an alicorn-ascension capable class in the game, but…Sunset rolled herself up a sorceress like Shining had suggested. She didn’t see why Cadance had told her to use a different name for her fictitious pony persona, but after a few days to craft a back-story, Princess Glorious Morning was born.

Aside from that, Sunset did her best to rediscover her pony life, and put her human one behind her.

Despite the difficulties and temptations…

For the third time in nearly a week, Sunset stood outside King Toot’s music shop, looking through the window at the electric guitar with its thousand bit price tag as it hung there, mocking her. But unlike most ponies, it wasn’t the fact that she couldn’t afford the instrument that had her down. With her wings came access to a royal expense account that no sane pony could ever empty.

Still…those bits came from somewhere. Like from the taxes of the tea shop across the street where she was supposed to meet Princess Cadance once the other mare got out of school. Picking the pockets of the working class just to see if a stupid theory worked out seemed wrong.

And what are you supposed to do after you get it? Sunset asked herself. It wasn’t as if there was anyone else she could play with. The thought of practicing music on her own was just…depressing.

So, future-Princess Sunset Shimmer turned from the music shops window to make her way across the street and sit down at what was quickly becoming known as the royal table at Cinnamon Chives Tea Shop. It was a nice little place Sunset had found while wandering around the city one day, and had become her meet up point with Cadance. While the castle probably made better tea, she needed to be seen out and about by the populace at large.

And three years of living in a high school had taught Sunset that only losers went straight home from school on a Friday. Even Cadance’s alicorn status wouldn’t protect her forever if the Academy was anything like Canterlot High. Sunset needed to start helping to cultivate a reputation for that girl.

As if on cue, the pink alicorn rounded the corner a second after Sunset’s thoughts turned to her, and she smiled as she trotted down the lane before coming to take a seat at the open air dining area. Like always, Cadance had a smile on her face as she accepted the menu from the waiter with a grateful thank you.

Several days worth of practice with her horn under Sunset’s instruction let her hold the menu in a magical glow. She was still putting way too much power into it, but the paper was no longer being crushed. It was a little progress at least.

After placing her order and dropping the menu so the waiter could take it away, Cadance looked over to Sunset. Her expression went from excited to worried. “Uh oh.”

Sunset frowned. “What?”

“You’ve got that look on your face,” she told the amber alicorn before glancing over to King Toot’s. “You’ve been punishing yourself with musical window shopping again, haven’t you?”

The fact that Cadance could guess what was going on with just one try helped agitate Sunset’s nerves. “I’m not punishing myself!” she countered. “I’m just…not sure if I want one or not. It’s a lot of money you know.” Money she never really earned.

Cadance sighed and shook her head. “I’m not getting into this again,” she said a second before their tea arrived. After taking a sip, her face brightened a bit, giving the only clue Sunset needed to tell what Cadance’s next topic was going to be. “So…are you ready for tomorrow?”

“I don’t see why you insist on calling this a date,” Sunset deadpanned. “You know there’s going to be four other guys there, right?”

The reality of the situation didn’t seem to deter Cadance’s mood in the slightest. She just smiled and said, “Oh, I’m sure they won’t be a problem for long.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Cadance, I appreciate what you’re trying to do here, but I’d really like to get to know the guy a little better first before we…you know…try anything,” she said while images of her and the young stallion began to form her mind.

In her imagination, they looked into each other’s eyes for a few seconds, and then embraced in a passionate kiss before Sunset pushed Shining Armor back on the bed behind them to-STOP THAT, Sunset ordered her libido. Bad imagination! I’m not that kind of girl anymore…and falling back on a bed as a pony is impossible without standing upright!

“Well, then maybe you should stop thinking about Shining Armor in a way that makes you blush so much,” Cadance said with a grin that was far too wide. “But since you can’t, it’s my duty as your friend to see that you take that first step. While passion cooling late in a relationship is expected, starting one when it’s already lukewarm is never a good idea. You gotta strike while the iron’s hot.”

After she managed to finally remove the mental image of her and the colt from her mind, Sunset glared at Cadance. “Let’s talk about something else.”

Visibly thinking things over for a few seconds as she tapped a hoof to her chin, Cadance’s face brightened. “Oh! What did the doctors say?” she asked. “I know it was a few days ago, but since Auntie doesn’t have that nervous look on her face anymore, I take it there was good news.”

Not seeing a reason to keep it from her, Sunset decided to tell the pink pony what was what. Although, she didn’t really think of the news as all that good. “Sort of. After being poked and prodded all over, all those MDs and Mom have some to the conclusion that I’m the perfect alicorn.”

Cadence frowned. “I thought you were supposed to be working on that ego problem.”

“Their words, not mine,” Sunset told her. “And believe me, there’s nothing all that great about it.”

When Cadance just arched an eyebrow, Sunset sighed and went on with an explanation. “Okay well…you know how unicorns have conscious control of all their magic, while pegasi and earth ponies are more subconscious in the way theirs works? Sure, pegasi have got to flap their wings to fly and all, but you don’t really need to think if you need to walk on clouds, right? Your body just goes ‘oh I don’t want to destroy this bit of floating water I’m standing on and I just want to fly instead of creating a fucking tornado when I flap my wings’ unless you will it to happen. Right?”

Uncertainty showed on Cadance’s face as she nodded. “Okay.”

“Well, that’s not the way it works with me apparently,” Sunset deadpanned. “My subconscious and conscious magic is all messed up, or well…it’s not messed up it’s actually too in synch,” the amber alicorn said. “It probably wouldn’t be a problem if I was born an earth pony or a pegasus, but since unicorns don’t have any magic that works without us willing it to…I have no idea how to regulate it.”

Cadance nodded. “Okay, but…that doesn’t sound so bad.”

Seeing that Cadance wasn’t getting it, Sunset groaned. “Cadance, how strong would you say I was as a unicorn?”

Despite not being able to read minds, that spell being on the forbidden magic list for reasons obvious to her now, Sunset could almost see the numerous times she had bulled Cadance in the past before the alicorn got her answer. “Um…well, if I had to take a guess…you were probably one of the most powerful unicorns alive.”

“And my alicorn transformation multiplied that several fold, like yours,” Sunset went on. “But while your magic is a bit stifled and more controllable because you’re more unicorn and pegasus than you are earth pony, mine flows freely, even the kind of stuff that’s supposed to be regulated subconsciously. So when I beat my wings, my pegasus magic also wants to make a hurricane, and my earth pony side wants to shatter anything I stomp my hooves on.”

It was more than a little terrifying for Sunset, knowing that she had that level of power with so little control over it. She didn’t want to hurt anyone. But her ‘perfectly harmonious’ body didn’t want to hear it. Every step wanted to cause an earthquake, every wingbeat a tornado.

As far as Sunset was concerned, she would rather be a unicorn again than hurt another pony.

Cadance shrugged. “Okay. So you just need to get a handle on it then. You’re no stranger to hard work, right? How’s your flying coming along?”

More than a dozen memories of landing face first on the ground immediately assaulted Sunset’s mind, then came reminders of all the times she hit the clouds above her…and a few ceilings, followed by a dozen more of her attempts to use pegasus magic for wind generation and other weather-related magic. “I’m still putting too much power into my wings when I flap them.” Which made hovering an impossibility, flying more like riding a raging bull, and any breeze she tried to make with her wings ended up being something akin to hurricane force winds.

“Don’t feel embarrassed. It’s like me and my horn. I’m sure you’ll figure it out with some time,” the pink alicorn said before glancing down at her tea cup. After a few seconds of staring at it, a small glow surrounded Cadance’s horn before her magic enveloped the cup. It floated up into the air, and-

Crack!

-leaked a good deal of brown liquid over the table as Cadance’s magic made it change from a single piece into many. “Oops.”

Sunset gently smiled, and gathered the bits of the shattered cup in her magic to work a mending spell on them. Then, she collected the spilt tea and teleported the drink as far away as her horn would allow. “Well, you’re getting better at least,” she said before a thought crossed her mind to sour her face. “Just uh…don’t pick up anything alive just yet.”

After the spell had done it’s work, Cadance signaled for a refill. “So…what do you think your foals will be like?”

With the conversation back on that particular track, Sunset started to give Cadance a tired glare. “I thought we agreed to talk about something other than Shining Armor and me hooking up.”

“I am. I’m not asking you about your future relationship with Shining Armor. I’m asking you your theories about the product of said relationship,” Cadance corrected her. “Completely different topic!”

Sunset groaned. “Cadance.”

Across from her, the pink pony princess sighed. “Sunset, for the past five days, I’ve come home to watch you be all…I don’t even know what to call it! Auntie Celestia says you’re reviewing old magic lessons when I’m not there, you haven’t even gotten a flight instructor to show you how to use those new wings of yours. You don’t even want to buy a cheap guitar to take up a hobby for pony’s sake! You’re just…lounging around in limbo.”

“Well excuse me for being a little wishy-washy after just changing species twice in one day!” Sunset exclaimed as her wings unfurled. “I would have thought you of all ponies would have some understanding when it comes to stuff like that!”

Cadance sighed, and nodded her head once. “Yes, the changes were confusing. But by focusing on them and everything negative, I didn’t let myself see things that should have been obvious to me. Like my fiery cousin that needed my help.”

Thanks to Cadance getting all…loving again, Sunset gave up the fight and slumped forward in her chair. A second later, she had to smirk at the absurdity of the situation. She was probably the only pony in Equestria that had a mare more concerned with how her romantic life was going than Sunset was herself. “Okay fine, you win. Date advise away.”


“Okay, there’s carrots and pretzels for snacks, honey dew to drink, table is all set up downstairs, and Mom and Dad are almost ready to get going to avoid parental embarrassment as per the specifications,” Shining Armor heard as he watched his little sister pace back and forth on the floor while she worked to keep balance on just three legs. “Wow, this checklist is really good.”

The little mare’s older brother groaned when his little sister finished scrutinizing Cadance’s instructions.

Ever since Twilight had found out that Sunset Shimmer was coming over, she had taken a disturbing interest in the amber alicorn. Unfortunately, the single conversation Shining had with Sunset over what amounted to just a friendly chat didn’t provide enough information for the filly, so she had dived into several volumes of ‘research material’.

It would have been cute if Twilight hadn’t left some of it on his bed as homework on mare interests. While he was grateful none of it had been too…risqué, Shining Armor didn’t like the fact that he now knew more about mane care products than most stallions should. And then there was the example the little purple mare had given him for a primer on mare and stallion interactions…

Shining Armor didn’t care if that book was the top rated romance novel of his generation. He just didn’t get it. How was a bat pony that snuck into a mare’s room to just stare at her while she was sleeping considered romantic?

The only way to describe it in any rational pony’s mind was creepy!

But, soon the need to humor her would be over.

“Okay Twilight,” the big brother said to his little sibling with a smile. “Thanks for the help. You’re a great assistant. Now, do you have something planned for when your sitter shows up? She should be here soon.”

A look of horror appeared on Twilight’s face, making Shining wonder what he had done wrong. “What?” she asked in a terrified voice. “I thought I was going to play with you guys. I’ve go my character ready to go and everything! What if something goes wrong? Something can’t go wrong Shiny! I NEED YOU TO MAKE THIS WORK!”

Seeing his little sister nearly break down in front of his spurred Shining Armor to action. He reached down and took her in his hooves, letting the list she was carrying drop to the floor before he put a hoof to her back for the reassuring physical contact. “Hey, whoa, calm down Twily. It’s okay. Everything’s okay,” he said gently. “Come on now, like the doctor said, nice and slow, steady breaths.”

As Twilight followed his instructions, Shining Armor smiled down at her. “And what’s up with all this panicking?” he asked. “You’re more nervous than I am.”

Twilight looked back to her big brother with a guilty expression. “Well…it’s just…Princess Sunset is my in.”

“Huh?” Shining Armor replied in the classic male vernacular.

“Princess Celestia’s school,” Twilight went on sadly. “When I heard about Princess Sunset, I looked at it a little to try and do some research about her to help you out and…what if I can’t get in? The fancy ponies and nobles that go there probably have all sorts of resources and tutors before they even started just to get past the entrance exam. I don’t have anything. What if the only way for me to attend is if I have somepony like her to help me?”

Sometimes, Shining Armor really wished Twilight wasn’t some kind of child prodigy. Although she had the intelligence to look at the world in a more in-depth way than ponies more than twice her age, she lacked the experience to deal with that information properly.

Instead of going Mom and Dad’s route of just saying she was much too young to be worrying about that sort of thing, Shining kept making sure her breathing was steady and that Twilight had reached the burn-out phase of her panic attack. “First off, you are the smartest little filly I’ve ever seen. There’s no way your brain isn’t going to get you into that school,” he assured her with a quick boop to her horn. “But if you really do want to meet her…how about when we’re all relaxing after the session, you can wander downstairs to introduce yourself, okay?”

As Twilight opened her mouth with a twinkle in her eye that said she was going to agree, there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it!” the recharged filly exclaimed before she zoomed off the couch to gallop to the front door and jump up to get the handle. “Hello Princess-huh?”

Shining Armor groaned before looking back to where the door was. In front of the stunned purple unicorn a tall pink pony with wings and a horn stood with a satchel on her left side. She smiled down at the little filly, and then couched so they were eye to eye. “You must Shining Armor’s little sister, Twily, right?”

“Uh….it’s Twilight Sparkle,” the confused pony in question replied thanks to manners their mother had drilled into her over the years.

For a fraction of a second, a tiny frown appeared on Cadance’s face when Twilight introduced herself, but it was gone so fast Shining Armor figured he had imagined it. “Well it’s a pleasure to meet you Twilight! I’m Mi Amore Cadenza,” she said with a smile. “But my friends call me Cadance. You want to be friend?”

Twilight didn’t respond, so Shining Armor rolled off the couch. “Oh Cadance, you’re here,” she said before he went to the door and looked at the clock. “I think you’re a little early though.”

The alicorn gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry, but I wanted to make sure everything was ready,” she told the two ponies in front of her before she looked over to Twilight. “Plus, hearing you go on and on about your adorable little sister all week just made it impossible for me to wait a second longer.”

Down on the floor, Twilight finally snapped back to reality and turned her attention to Shining Armor in confusion. “You…wait…princess,” she got out before taking a deep breath. “YOU KNOW ANOTHER PRINCESS?”

“Cadance and I go to the same school Twilight,” Shining Armor told her in a dull tone. “I asked if she wanted to be your sitter for today, and she agreed.”

A roll of the eyes from the alicorn said what she thought of that explanation. Although Shining wouldn’t really call them friends, she had been a bit more noticing of him recently. That was the only explanation Shining could come up with for the complete lack of interference by Buck and his crew for the past week.

Because if Cadance saw Buck make a move against him...well...Sunset had already shown the stallion what an angry princess was capable of.

Before Cadance could say anything, Shining Armor eyed the perfect thing to keep the conversation away from anything too embarrassing. “So, what’s in the bag?” he asked.

“The tablet,” Cadance told him before she walked into the house, Twilight trailing behind her as the expression on the little unicorn’s face told Shining she was trying to figure out some great mystery. “Oh, and some papers I need your parents to sign before I can watch after Twilight. It’s all a bunch of legal junk, but Auntie’s lawyers insist that if I’m going to do this, then I need documentation saying all the responsibility for the foal is mine and not the crown’s and yadda, yadda, yadda. They’ve got a notary enchantment to make everything official.”

Shining Armor watched as Cadance slid the carrying case off of her and opened it with her wings, all the while hoping Twilight didn’t ask the alicorn she was still staring at why Cadance wasn’t using her magic. He had made the mistake of doing that once and…seeing the embarrassed depression it caused in the mare wasn’t pretty.

“Sure, let me just go get my Dad. Be right back.”


Once Cadance found herself alone with the little unicorn, she found the purple pony looking over her with a quizzical eye. “You’re an alicorn too? How many of you ponies are there?”

“Four,” Cadance replied automatically before suddenly realizing her penchant for honesty towards little ones had nearly made her drop a state secret. “Well…if you count the Mare in the Moon that is. So, you’re Twilight?”

She had heard about Shining Armor’s genius little sister over the course of the week, but Cadance hadn’t expected her to be so…adorable! Her muzzle was all scrunched up in a disbelieving way as she looked up at Cadance with a pair of big purple eyes that looked cute even with a frown on her face. It was all Cadance could do not to just snatch her up right then and there to give her a hug.

“The Mare in the Moon is just an ancient legend to explain the silhouette of the pony on it’s surface,” the filly said in a way that almost sounded like she was lecturing Cadance. The fact she had sat down with her back straightened out only added weight to the comparison. “Are you one of Princess Celestia’s personal students too?”

“Well-” was all Cadance could get out before Twilight let out a horrified gasp. “Oh no! If you and Sunset are Princess Celestia’s students, does that mean she only teaches other alicorns?”

Cadance blinked. “Uh-”

“But-but that means that she’ll never teach me!” the little unicorn went on in a panic. “Everything I’ve done all week, all that research, all my plans! The path that I was supposed to take! MY LIFE IS OVER!”

As Twilight started to turn on the waterworks and make her mouth double as flood siren, Cadance quickly reached over and grabbed the filly’s tiny forelegs and forced them down, making Twilight look up at her. “Twilight, calm down and breathe,” the princess said with a frown to help get her point across. “In and out…slowly.”

When the little filly started to do as she was told, Cadance gave her a few seconds, and then began instructing her again. “Now close your eyes, and I want you to imagine all those bad thoughts in your head as a big, dark cloud.”

“But thought’s don’t have physical form. They-”

“Twilight-”

“Okay, big black cloud,” the unicorn filly went on.

Now you're going to take that nasty cloud, with all your doubts, dark thoughts and fears, and just breathe it out, and push it away,” Cadance told her. “And once they’re outside, you’re not going to let them back in.”

A second later, Cadance dropped her hooves to let Twilight do as she was told. When the purple unicorn was finished, the alicorn nodded her head. “Better?”

Twilight let out a little sound of affirmation as she nodded her head too.

“Good,” Cadance replied before she leaned down closer to Twilight. “And just between us? Princess Celestia is teaching me magic, but I’ll be done in about a year. Which means she’ll have an opening, and it isn’t just alicorns that she gives lessons to. So there’s going to be an opening and…hey, when will you be old enough to attend school?”

Twilight’s face broke into a wide, open mouthed smile as her eyes began to sparkle with a light that made Cadance giggle before the unicorn filly spoke again. “Y-You mean…Princess Celestia still might teach me personally?” she asked with a voice that was an octave several times higher than it had been a moment ago.

A deep chuckle came from above her, and Cadance looked up to see a light blue stallion with a dark blue mane and a yellow moon cutie mark make his way downstairs with Shining Armor trailing behind him. “Now Twilight, I think it’s a bit early for the Princess to make any promises,” the stallion said before looking over to the pink alicorn.

Then, the stallion that was old enough to be her father did something that put Cadance off. He bowed to her deeply. “Princess Cadance. Thank you for helping my daughter,” he said before looking up at her. “I ran out as soon as I heard Twilight having one of her episodes. Most sitters panic and run away when she starts…doing that.”

“Please stand up,” Cadance told the stallion. “I’m the one serving you today, not the other way round. Aheh, if you still want me to, I mean.”

“After what I just saw? I’m tempted to offer you a retainer,” the stallion asked with a smirk. “Although…are you sure this contract of yours is correct when it comes to payment?”

Cadance giggled. “Well, your daughter’s so adorable that I may end of taking you up on that,” she said. “And yes, it’s one bit per night. Payment due up front please.” The pink pony offered her hoof, and tucked the single coin that was placed it in under her wings a minute later.

As she took the contract in her mouth, the stallion let out a sigh. “Oh where are my manners? My name is Night Light, and it’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess.”

With the paper in her mouth, Cadance found herself unable to tell him to just use her regular name before she put it back in her sack. But by then, the stallion was gone back upstairs, leaving Cadance alone with Shining and his little sister.

“So…uh…here we are,” the young stallion said nervously.

Cadance rolled her eyes. “Oh please Shiny, it’s not like I’m going to bite your head off,” she said before reaching into her satchel with her hoof to pull out the tablet and offer it to the big colt.

A squeal erupted from the purple unicorn as she did. “Ohmygosh! Is that a LARPT? You have a LARPT! Wait…why are you giving Shiny a LARPT?”

“Live Action Role-Playing Tablet,” Shining Armor supplied when Cadance looked down at the confused filly.

Cadance patted the girl on her head. “Oh, it’s just a little something to make sure everything goes off well,” she told Twilight before turning to her brother. “The scenario’s already been written in, just activate it, and everything should go just fine on its own.”

After taking the tablet in his magic, Shining Armor looked away from it and over to Cadance with a frown. “Wait, I thought Gaffer would just run the game like normal, and it would be more realistic with the help of this thing’s magic.”

With the male subject of her perfect romantic plan being resistant, Cadance’s eyes narrowed to help get across just how dangerous trying to stop a princess from practicing her talent could be. “Gaffer can run the game after this one. But if you want Sunset to have a good intro quest and put some plot into your campaign, this is the scenario you will run. Got. It?”

“Y-Yes ma’am!” Shining Armor agreed in a oddly squeaky voice.

The threat to Sunset’s future happiness dealt with, Cadance shot the colt a smile. “Great!” she said before giving him another once-over. “And are you okay Shiny? It’s not cold, but you’re shivering.”

“I’m good!” he immediately replied before standing to his full height. “Fine! Great even! Eh-hehe!

Cadance blinked in confusion at the stallion’s odd demeanor. She had thought Shiny was over his nervousness around other mares. It might have been cute at first, but…the impediment it was being to just trying to hold normal conversations with the stallion was getting annoying.

Thankfully, Sunset hadn’t had too much exposure to it, and would probably still find Shiny’s stammering and derping as adorable as a newborn puppy.

Deciding to switch topics, Cadance turned to look at her purple charge. “So Twilight,” she said with a bright smile. “How about you show me your room?” From her experience, foals loved it when adults took an interest in their things.


It was with a great deal of trepidation that Sunset Shimmer approached the house Shining Armor called home with all the books Cadance had got for her in a pair of bags laying across her back. Memories of her time at CHS didn’t help to calm her nerves at all. Not because of the illegitimacy of her time there, but…Sunset couldn’t actually remember making any friends aside from the girls Twilight had left in charge of her.

In fact, meeting up with Shining and his group would be her first real attempt at forging an actual friendship with anybody. Although Sunset supposed she could count Cadance as her first real friend, that had been more because the other alicorn was trying to mend some fences.

“Okay, remember Sunset,” she told herself. “No stupid humanisms, keep the temper under wraps, no breaking things.” At least she had learned how to keep her wings down. Although that consolidation did bring up another point. “And no flying.”

With that, Sunset walked forward to the door to establish her first real friend in Equestria…and blinked when the door suddenly opened to reveal a light blue unicorn in a tie and combed mane. “Twilight, would you hurry up? We’re going to be late!”

The mention of her best friend’s name made Sunset’s whole body seize up. The exception of which was her heart, was missed a beat before doubling its tempo. Memories of the girl with the purple mane ran through Sunset’s mind, and Sunset half-expected to see the human step through the doorway.

“I’m coming Nighty, I’m coming,” an almost-familiar voice called out from inside the house.

Instead of what Sunset was expecting, there came a pony. A light-gray pony with a cluster of purple stars for her cutie mark and a mane that while similar, looked so different from that of the girl with the purple hair. “I‘m only one minute behind schedule dear,” she said. “Honestly, no wonder our girl is such a stickler for time tables. Picking up your bad-oh my!”

Sunset fought to keep her wings down when the unicorn turned her attention towards the alicorn and dropped her mouth. “Um, hello…Ms…” the princess-to-be said in an unsure voice.

“Princess Sunset!” the oddly-colored Twilight said before she went into a bow, quickly followed by her husband.

The action made the alicorn’s eyes widened, and she put up her hooves to wave them in a stopping motion. “What? No, no, no!” Sunset pleaded with them. “Please don’t bow. I’m not really…worth it.”

“Oh my, so modest,” the gray Twilight said before she walked over and gave Sunset a once-over. “And…big! Shining Armor was right, you really are almost like another Celestia.”

The stallion sighed and came forward to lower his head just a little. “Please forgive my wife Princess,” he said. “My name is Night Light, and this is Twilight Velvet.”

Twilight Velvet, the alicorn repeated as she fought off the remnants of the daze the mare’s appearance and reaction to Sunset had put the alicorn in. But still…just looking at the mare, Sunset couldn’t help but be reminded of the star on top of Twilight’s crown that also adorned Shining Armor’s cutie mark for some reason. But…it wasn’t as if there was something connecting both of these things to the Twilight that Sunset had seen.

She wasn’t even real.

Sunset pushed the thoughts from her mind and smiled. “Well, it’s nice to meet you both. Is Shining Armor inside?”

“With his friends,” Twilight Velvet said.

The fact she had kept the unicorn waiting made Sunset tense. Not even their first meeting, and she had already made a bad impression!

“Oh! Um…thank you Ma’am! It was a pleasure to meet you both,” she said before quickly nodding at the two ponies and rushing past them into the house. “Shining Armor? Shining? I’m sorry I’m late! Did you guys start without me?”

What would that mean? Could she even join in on the game if she came late? What about the other ponies? They probably wouldn’t like having to make concessions for a newbie.

Sunset looked around the empty living room in confusion. For a second she was actually afraid she had misheard the gray Twilight and that Shining Armor was out with his friends. But then, a door that was placed on the side of the stairs opened up to reveal the young stallion.

He was…just like she remembered him. Just as tall, with the half-combed mane, and widened eyes that made him seem just a bit more adorable. If anything, he was a little better-looking than before. But then, Sunset supposed he would have looked a little better since Shining hadn’t been on his belly in the street for Generic Old Deity knew for hold long.

“S-Sunset,” he stumbled verbally. “Um…you’re here.”

The hesitation in his voice made her wince. “I’m sorry Shining,” she apologized. “I must have misheard the time Cadance gave me. Am I very late?”

Shining Armor looked across the room to a clock, and then back to the alicorn. “No you’re a little early. It’s just…” he let out a sigh, and brought a little plastic bag up with the telltale bulge of empty soda cans. “It’s just everypony else keeps coming earlier and earlier because they don’t want to miss out on the snacks and…well, you get the idea.”

Relief flooded through her body, and Sunset couldn’t help but smile as a solution came to mind. “Maybe we should start holding these things at my place,” she said with a little smile. “I can tell the guards not to let anypony in until the right time…not that we’d run out of food.” And then Sunset realized she was bragging and throwing her crown around.

Ponies didn’t like that, right?

“Well, it sure beats my parents’ basement,” Shining Armor said with a laugh that sounded more than a bit nervous before he walked past her. “But uh, I managed to save you some crisp hay cubes, and there’s more honey dew in the fridge.”

As he walked over to the fridge in the kitchen, Sunset’s eyes followed him. But when he passed her, she wished she hadn’t. Her gazed lowered from his head to… Don’t try and look at his package, don’t try and look at his package, don’t try and look at his package, YOU ARE A GOOD GIRL NOW, AND THAT MEANS YOU DO NOT PEEK AT A PONY’S PRIVATE PARTS!

So, using a level of control that Sunset felt should have given her another set of wings, the alicorn found something else to study about Shining Armor. She focused on the way he moved. The stiff way he held himself. How he glanced at her every few seconds but quickly darted his head away when he saw she was watching, and…

“Wait a second,” Sunset deadpanned as everything began to add up for her. “Shining Armor, am I making you nervous?”

“Uh…” he replied with a six pack of honey dew in his magical grasp.

Quickly translating that as a yes, Sunset let out a sigh and found herself a place to sit on the couch. Thanks to her new control of her wings, she was even able to sit at a slouch without fear of being ejected from her seat. “I’m sorry,” she apologized before looking back up at the stallion with trepidation. “If it helps, I’m…pretty nervous too.”

“But…you’re a princess,” he said before trotting over in front of her and setting the drinks down on the little coffee table. “And…really cool.”

How that stallion could say something that made her feel so good after saying something that made Sunset want to cringe and groan made her wonder if the males of all species were equally clueless. But instead of correcting him on what her life as a princess was like, she just gave the colt a smile and found a nice empty space on the wall to look at. “Doesn’t mean I’m not terrified.”

More movement from Shining Armor made Sunset look back to his confused face. “What? But you’re-”

“A princess?” she said before he could finish. Sunset shook her head. “It’s not that simple. Sure, I’m surrounded by ponies that all look up to the cool princess, but…you’re the only pony I’ve met since I came back that wants to talk to me, you know? About the only other pony I can be friendly with is Cadance, and she’s been kind of…”

Shining gave her a nervous grin. “Terrifying? Overly interested in your romantic life?”

The semi-insult to royalty made Sunset giggle before she broke out into a smile. “I know she means well, but…she’s…”

“Way too enthusiastic?” Shining Armor asked with a cautious smile before he laid down on the remaining two-thirds of the couch. “She’s been doing nothing but bugging me to make sure I’m ready for this date we’re supposed to be on today.”

Sunset smirked as she rolled her eyes. “She’s doing it to you too, huh?” she asked before looking back over to the young stallion. “Sorry if it’s been rough.”

“Actually…” Shining Armor began hesitantly. “It’s been kind of nice. I mean, sure there’s bad moments, but…I think the past few days have been great. I think some of the more popular ponies are noticing me, and Buck hasn’t bothered me once since you uh…Sunset? Are you okay?”

Sunset realized she was frowning and then shook it off. “Fine,” she said before looking around for something to distract him. A picture on the wall of a much younger colt with blue hair behing flanked by the ponies she saw leaving with a flugel horn in his magic caught her attention. “Is that you back in the day? You look so cute!”

“Yeah,” he said before directing her attention away from the embarrassing photograph with his hoof. “The one next to it is my little sister.”

For a second Sunset thought she should just gush about how adorable the little Shiny looked in his little tie that matched his mane, but decided not to poke fun at the poor colt, and glanced over at the purple unicorn next to the family photo.

Sunset blinked. “That’s your…little…sister?”

“Well, she’s older now,” Shining Armor told her with a little annoyance creeping into his tone. “Don’t know why Mom and Dad keep that baby picture up. It’s five years old.”

A nervous dread crept over Sunset Shimmer, although she couldn’t understand why. Maybe it was the fact that she had just met a Twilight a minute ago, and now she was staring at a picture of a newborn purple unicorn in swaddling. The reminder the combination of the two separate events served to create caused a pain in Sunset’s heart.

Even a week after she had thought the matter dealt with, Sunset found herself wishing for that magical book she could use to talk to her closest friend. I miss her, the alicorn thought to herself.

Twilight Sparkle was the pony she could rely on to hear all of her thoughts and fears, and make them go away, or at least seem less. Not even Celestia could do that, and Cadance was more something to write Twilight about than use for a replacement. Sunset knew it was foolish to feel that way about some…imaginary example, but…that was the way it was.

“Sunset, are you okay?”

The question drew the alicorn out of her thoughts, and she looked over to Shining Armor. He was giving her a worried look again. “Sorry,” she apologized before smiling at him. He really was a sweet stallion to worry about her so much. Most guys she had dated would have been thinking about just coping a feel or something while Sunset was zoned out. “Okay, I think I’ve kept your friends waiting long enough. Let’s get going downstairs, shall we my knight?”

A blush appeared on Shining Armor’s cheeks as Sunset switched to a more formal tone, and the alicorn had to stop herself from smiling with glee. That colt really was adorable when he got flustered. “I’m a p-paladin.”

To avoid any more unwanted reminders of a purple alicorn, Sunset kept her eyes focused on the door Shining Armor had appeared out of and walked to it at a brisk pace, with Shining Armor quickly following after he grabbed the drinks.

Okay you know what? Sunset told herself as she got to the doorway. Fuck what Cadance said. She’d go downstairs, meet Shining’s friend, have a good time and…if he really was as fun and sweet as the time she walked him home, Sunset could take him to dinner when they were done. There was time enough in the day for that.

“Hey guys, this is Sunset Shimmer,” Shining said as he trotted past her to offer introductions.

Sunset was a little surprised by the appearance of Shining’s friends. Only one of them fit the stereotypical nerd mold, an earth pony with glasses and a polka dotted bow tie. The pegasus and the unicorn looked mostly…normal. Not cute like Shining. Just…normal. Although, Sunset was pretty sure the other unicorn had a bit of mustang in him based on his coat’s color pattern.

The reactions to her entrance were…mixed.

“It’s a g-g-g-girl!” the earth pony stuttered.

“She does exist!” the pegasus added.

The other unicorn brought up his hoof to cover his face. “Ugh! Guys, we’ve been watching Shining Armor get snatched up by Princess Cadance for the past four days at lunch. Him knowing another alicorn princess isn’t all that out of the realm of possibility anymore.”

Sunset made a mental note to ask Shiny just what him and Cadance had been doing during those lunch hours, and walked down to meet his friends. “Well, I’m not really a princess yet.”

Introductions were made, and Sunset did her best to file the three ponies’ names away in her memory before the tablet was brought out. The magic around it made Sunset blink in surprise. She had to wonder how Shining Armor’s parents could afford such a complex piece of spellcraft.

“Okay so,” the unicorn that introduced himself as Gaffer said. “We’ve got two scenarios to run today. The first is going to be Sunset’s introduction game, which shouldn’t take all that long, and then I can feed the real scenario I had planned to continue with our adventures. Sunset, you got your character sheet with you?”

The question had Sunset open her saddlebags and take it out. “Right here,” she said, levitating sheets of paper up for all to see. “It’s okay I skipped ahead in my levels, right?”

“No problem!” Gaffer said just a bit too quickly for Sunset not to get a little worried.

Just what had Cadance been saying to these boys?

The GM cleared his throat. “Okay so…Sunset. The scenario is a clasic princess rescue. You’ll start off in a tower, and we’ll come and get you out. It’s just something basic for everypony to get their hooves wet. Now, according to the instructions…everypony needs to hold their character sheets out in front of one of the gems so the magic can scan it, and then we can get started.”

As all the assembled ponies followed the instructions, several beams of light shot out from the gems on the tablets, one for each pony. But rather than be distracted by the spectacle, Sunset frowned when she detected the trace of another magical spell being activated, a spell connected to something several feet above her head. “Hey guys what’s the other spell this thing’s connected-”

FLASH!

“-to?” Sunset finished.

Although, she doubted anyone had heard the last word she said. Mostly because Sunset was standing in a room made of black marble. The furniture was barely spartan, with only a bed and a mirror available to her. Although the fact she also had access to a balcony made the alicorn wonder what was stopping her from just jumping out and gliding to safety.

“Figures, it’s another one of those stupid save the princess stores where the mare is trapped in something she could easily get out of,” Sunset mumbled before she looked at herself in the mirror and blinked.

As per Cadance’s instructions, Sun Burst the princess had a completely different description than Sunset Shimmer. When coming up for the looks for the fictitious princess, Sunset had decided to use Celestia for her example. Sun Burst was a huge pony that stood nearly six feet tall, seven counting the horn, with a well-developed body that had as much physical power as it did magical, and hair that sparkled in the sun.

That was not the pony Sunset’s reflection said was standing in front of the mirror. The pony Sunset Shimmer saw…was Sunset Shimmer.


Cadance had to wonder how a filly as young as Twilight could be so interested in math. Not only that, but she actually thought working equations was fun. It didn’t make her any less adorable in the alicorn’s opinion, but…the poor girl might have a hard time connecting with other ponies when it came time for a play date and she brought a trigonometry book to share.

All of a sudden, Cadance’s mathematical fun time was ended when she heard a chime from her bag. “Oh! They must have started,” she said before she got up to grab the satchel that was laying on the floor a foot away to pull out a yellow gem barely small enough to he held with a single hoof. “Twilight, I know you’re a little disappointed about not being able to join in on the game with your brother and the others. But…do you want to watch?”

The purple unicorn looked up from her book with a confused expression on her face. “Watch what?”

“I call this, Operation Sunshine,” she said before setting the gem on the floor and tapping the top of it with her hoof.

A second later, the picture of a vast desert wasteland was shown in the middle of the air, and Twilight trotted over, enthralled by the display. “Ohmygosh! Is that a seventh circle visual projection with audio?”

Cadance smiled at the little unicorn’s description. “Yep. I had a unicorn in Canterlot link this to the mindscape that the tablet Shining Armor is using downstairs,” she said before the image changed, centering on the pony whose name she mentioned.

“Wait a second,” Twilight mumbled as she got an adorable frown on her face. “Isn’t Shiny’s character supposed to be wearing the Golden Barding of Good with a +2 Will save bonus? And where’s everypony else?”

The questions got a knowing chuckle from Cadance. “Oh, I also had the unicorn do a little reprogramming to how the tablet works too,” she explained. “Now, let’s see if your brother really has what it takes to court Sunset Shimmer.”

All of a sudden, the picture on the screen changed to show an amber alicorn reading a piece of paper than Cadance had made sure to include in the scenario. Once she was done, Sunset crumpled the parchment up and made it disappear in a ball of fire. “So I really am supposed to just wait around here to be rescued. Well that’s just great.”

From her spot beside Cadance, Twilight blinked. “So that’s what Sunset looks like.”

The pink princess looked down at the filly. “I thought you two had already met.”

“Not really,” Twilight told Cadance. “I saw her outside my house, but it was pretty dark.”

That made a lot of sense. It was no wonder Twilight was so intent on meeting the other alicorn. She had gotten Sunset waved in front of her face, and that would have just left the poor foal with a burning desire to be introduced.

“Well as soon as they’re done, we’ll go let you see her okay?” Cadance told the filly. “I’m sure Sunset would love to meet Shining Armor’s little sister.”

Once again, the image changed to show the white stallion as he looked around in confusion. “Uh…guys? Hello? Is anypony there?” he yelled to the empty land. “Gaffer? Eight-Bit, Poindexter? WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?”

After his calls went unanswered by his friends, the winds picked up, blowing sand around and making Shining Armor have to cover his eyes. When the effect was over, a new figure stood in front of him. It was an old unicorn dressed in a blue robe and wearing a matching tall hat that marked him as one of those old-time wizards.

“User Shining Armor,” the NPC spoke in a clearly artificial voice. “An error has occurred with the tablet. The magic is not functioning within the normal parameters, and has put you at risk for serious mental injury. Please exit through the door behind you, so that the tablet may reset in ten minutes. Remaining in the tablet when deactivation occurs may result in permanent loss of mental functions.”

Seeing Twilight start to tense up, Cadance quickly leaned down to talk to her. “Don’t worry, everything’s fine. I just made that NPC say that to add a bit of realism,” she told the filly. “Shining Armor is perfectly safe.”

The unicorn looked up to Cadance with wide eyes. “But why would you do something like that?”

“You’ll see,” she said with a smile.

Back on the screen, Shining looked at the white door that appeared behind him, and then back to the unicorn wizard. “So, everypony else is already gone?”

“The only users are currently Shining Armor, and Sunset Shimmer. All others have been automatically ejected from the scenario.”

Shining Armor flinched. “WHAT? Why is Sunset still here? Didn’t you give her a door too?”

Cadance rolled her eyes. “Of course not. How would you be able to save her then?”

“Sunset Shimmer is the end point of the scenario, the emergency exit is logically placed at the start point,” the mage replied.

Shining Armor gulped. “What’ll happen if she doesn’t get out?”

“Nothing,” Cadance said.

“She will never wake up,” the NPC told him.

Shining Armor’s eyes widened. “Then we have to help her!”

“I am just the emergency warning system, I have no actual stats,” the mage told him evenly. “That said, I should also warn you that the character reader has malfunctioned. Instead of your character, the pony persona generated is equal to your normal self in every way. Also, verbal spell triggers have also been disabled, and equipment failed to be created upon entrance to the scenario. Although, the guardian NPC spawned successfully. You now have nine minutes to exit the scenario, or suffer mental damage that will leave you unconscious for the rest of your life.”

The news left Shining Armor stunned, and he looked back to the exit with a look of trepidation on his face.

From her place in Twilight’s room, Cadance crossed her forelegs and frowned. “Don’t you dare.”

“He won’t,” Twilight said, making Cadance look down at her in surprise.

The alicorn smiled at the look on the filly’s face. It was nearly emotionless, as if she was just stating a simple fact rather than clinging to some emotionally based opinion. “You have a lot of faith in your big brother, don’t you Twilight.”

“Three months ago, Shining Armor took me to the store to buy a new doll. On our way out, this mean stallion and his friends showed up, and took it from him,” she said in a sad tone. “When Shiny tried to get it back, they beat him up and started to walk away with the doll. And then he got up again to try and get it back before they could leave. And again.”

Despite her best efforts, Cadance couldn’t keep the image of a traumatized little filly watching her brother being attacked. And to hear her talk about with a voice that was so…empty, it broke Cadance’s heart. “Oh Twilight, I’m so sorry.”

When Cadance moved to give the filly a hug, Twilight pointed to a doll on the other side of the room. It was a simple thing. A plush horse with a gray coat and buttons for eyes. “That’s the Mr Smarty Pants doll,” she went on. “They left it in a trashcan after the third time, but my brother never gave up on getting it back. Just like he’s not giving up on Princess Sunset.”

The princess broke the hug and looked back on the screen, and blinked when she saw Shining Armor had crossed the bridge and was standing at the entrance to Sunset’s prison: the Tower of Misery.

But with five minutes left on the clock, Cadance knew he wouldn’t have time to run back, even with Sunset’s wings. They’d have to end the adventure the proper way.

After wasting a good ten seconds looking up at the three hundred foot tower of darkness, Shining Armor gulped, and then slowly opened the giant door with his magic just enough to slip inside.

The black dragon that was about ten times larger than a pony curled up in the middle of the floor cost him another ten seconds as he held in a startled scream.

“A dragon?” Twilight yelled in surprise.

Cadance shrugged. “Well what else is going to be defending a princess in a big spooky tower?”

Although, Cadance thought that she might have made things a bit too easy for Shining Armor. After all, the dragon was asleep.

On the screen, the unicorn took a single step forward, and winced when the sound of his hoof hitting stone echoed throughout the entire chamber. The dragon’s ears twitched, and Shining Armor looked up a spiraling staircase that led up to Sunset’s door that stood just a few feet below a large iron candelabra. A distance far too long for him to tiptoe.

Shining Armor gulped, and looked back over to the dragon, then up to the door again. “Well…buck it,” he mumbled. And then, he started to gallop up the stairs.

Five steps in, the dragon looked up from his nap.

Eight steps, and it turned its head to face Shining Armor.

Ten steps gave the dragon enough time to take a deep breath.

Twelve steps after Shining started climbing, the black dragon spit a gout of acid at the unicorn.

Thirteen steps, and Shining Armor was looked back at the melting stairs right behind him.

Shining screamed.

The dragon roared.

Sunset said, “What is going on out there?”

And Shining was racing up the stairs at a pace that was twice as fast as before. Another blast of acid landed behind him, a third made him duck to avoid getting his face melted, the fourth landed in front of him, making the stallion jump over the hole in the stairwell it created.

“I don’t think acid melts through stone that fast,” Twilight commented.

Cadance rolled her eyes at the filly’s words, and went back to watching the show as the dragon flapped its wings to begin ascending into the air.

But it didn’t catch up to the unicorn in time. He reached Sunset’s door, and began to pound on it. “Sunset! Sunset open the door! HURRY!” Shining shouted in a panic.

On the other side of the iron door, Sunset Shimmer looked through the face-sized hole with a raised eyebrow. “Huh, for a guy who takes his role-playing pretty seriously, you kind of miss some of the finer points,” she said. “Isn’t opening the door to my cell your job?”

As she finished talking, the dragon ascended to a height that its head was even with Shining Armor. Cadance knew there was no way it was going to miss at such close range. “Well, he gets an A for effort I guess,” the pink pony princess mumbled as the dragon took a deep breath. “But…so much for impressing the pony of his dreams with his heroism.”

Although, there was a certain admirable thing about knowingly biting off more than he could chew. Cadance could acknowledge that.

The dragon breathed its acid.

Shining screamed and kind of shut his eyes as he drew in on himself.

The acid…hit a pinkish barrier?

Cadance blinked. “What the?”

“A shield spell?” Twilight said. “But he hasn’t been able to do one of those in years! Not since we went on that trip to the mountains when I was just a little foal.”

Second later, Shining Armor looked up at his spell, and it flickered out of existence. Behind him, cracks began to appear in the wall, and Sunset opened her door…by ripping it out from the wall and pulling it inside her cell’s room. “Okay, WHAT IS GOING ON OUT HERE?”

Shining looked back to the alicorn. “Sunset! We need to kiss!”

The alicorn blinked, and a red coloring appeared on her cheeks. “W-What?”

“We need to kiss to end the scenario, NOW!” he screamed in a panic.

Sunset’s eyes got a little wider. “You mean like a French, or just-”

“A what?” Shining Armor said right before the dragon flew up just a little higher and struck out with his claws. It grabbed Shiny’s tail and yanked hard, pulling them both down the stairwell.

Sunset looked over the ledge as Shining screamed from what would be their impending demise, and frowned. “Okay, screw this, the princess is saving herself,” the alicorn said before she looked back up at the iron chandelier.

The alicorn without a title jumped up and grab the large iron object with both her hooves, then yanked down on it hard. At the bottom of the tower, the chain that it was attached to broke free, and Sunset rode the heavy object downward at an incredible speed, easily catching up to the winged lizard. “This is for you!” Sunset yelled before she slammed the iron chandelier on the dragon's head to serve as a collar before continuing down to slap the wrist of the dragon’s claw that was holding Shining Armor. “And he’s for me!”

Then the alicorn unfurled her wings to glide towards the chandelier’s chain and grab onto it. The action had the two ponies being pulled up as the dazed dragon continued to fall.

“Sunset, we’ve got to-”

“One second Shiny,” the alicorn said before he could finish. She flipped around so that her back was towards the ground, and carefully positioned her wings for a strong flap. “I’ll catch you in a minute.”

Shining Armor was unable to say anything as Sunset released her grip on him to grab the chain with both hooves and let loose with a beat of her wings. The resulting wind pushed Shining Armor back into the air, and sent Sunset speeding towards the ground.

The dragon was suddenly pulled upward, and Cadance winced at the resounding snap that accompanied the motion.

When Sunset crashed into the ground on her hooves a second later, she let go of the chain right as the dead dragon’s head hit the ceiling. Her horn lit up with an intense glow, and pumped out a great deal of magic to create a magic spell in the shape of a circle on the floor. “Ignition spell to get rid of the corpse,” she mumbled before standing on her hind legs with her front two outstretched to look up in the air. “Aaaaaaaaaand, boyfriend!”

Shining Armor fell into the pony’s forelegs a second later. Sunset stumbled forward a little, but managed to remain erect. “Sunset, we’ve got to-”

“Shh!” she said before turning her back on the magic circle and smiling down at the stallion in her arms. “Wait for it.”

The dragon’s unblemished corpse landed on the floor behind her, and a giant column of magic fire erupted, consuming the creature’s body. The force the spell created sent Sunset’s mane lashing about widely in the wind, and the flames lit up the whole of the black marble tower in a golden light.

Back in her room, Twilight managed to regain control of her hanging mouth. “That…is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen,” she said.

“And this is a French kiss,” the amber alicorn said before she leaned down and brought her stallion’s head up to lock lips before her eyes slowly closed. “Mphmmmm!”

Is she...putting her tongue in his mouth? Cadance’s whole body twitched as her wings unfurled behind her of their own accord.

A second later, the picture faded to black as the scenario ended.


Sunset blinked as she found herself sitting in the basement of Shining’s house, the memory of their kiss still on her lips. It had been a moment of passion caused by the anger and adrenaline of seeing her friend in trouble. Sunset had felt strong, powerful…in control of everything, with nothing out of her reach. So she took what she had wanted.

And…Sunset had to admit that she wouldn’t mind doing it with the stallion again.

Across from her, Shining Armor’s face looked redder than most of her mane. It was something that made Sunset smile before she licked her lips. The missing taste of the stallion only half-killed her buzz. A part of the alicorn wanted to just take him up in her magic and get that taste back, but…she was surrounded by his friends at the moment.

Friends that were giving them annoyed expressions.

“Uh…something wrong?” she asked when Shining Armor continued to just stand there with a goofy look on his face.

The other unicorn let out an annoyed sigh. “Other than we just had to wait around in an empty room with instructions from Princess Cadance for nearly ten minutes for you two to finish your two-pony game? No,” he said before looking over to Shining Armor. “Oh, I’m supposed to tell you that none of that warning stuff was real.”

Gaffer’s words shook Shiny out of his shock. “W-What?”

“Yeah, that ten minutes till death thing if you don’t complete the scenario?” the unicorn went on. “It was all just something Cadance set up. Neither of you were in any danger.”

Sunset frowned. “What’s he talking about?”

After taking a few seconds to get himself under control, Shining Armor explained how he had been under the impression that both of their lives had been in mortal danger for the last ten minutes. When she was done listening, Sunset had two very different thoughts about the matter.

I’m going to kill Cadance for this, she said to herself before the second thought occurred. One she had to speak aloud to confirm it. “Wait, you thought you were in danger, and you could have just walked away…but you decided to fight a dragon…for me?” Not the character he played, but Shining Armor, the high school student.

“Well…I couldn’t just leave you there,” he admitted with a blush.

Sunset got an odd feeling in her chest, and her mouth started to curl upwards on its own. At least before she stopped it. “I…I think I need to get some water,” she said before turning around to head up the stairs.

“So…was your adventure more fun than the room of nothingness that we were trapped in?” Eight-bit asked a second before Sunset heard Shining Armor follow after her.

As soon as she got to the living room, the amber alicorn closed her eye and steadied her breathing to help focus her thoughts. Oh…fuck! I do not need this right now, Sunset thought. Why in the world did she have to go and blab to the freaking Alicorn of LOVE that she thought she might be into a guy?

Sunset had a species change, some kind of…thing going on with Celestia she was afraid was too good to be true, new magic that she needed to master before she ended up hurting someone, and a friendship with Cadance that she needed to repair. She did not need to be feeling the way she was feeling about a guy on top of all of that!

Sexual attraction was one thing, Sunset knew she could deal with that. But the feeling she just felt for Shining Armor on top of it? That was NOT supposed to be happening until she had some time to sort the rest of it out!

“Sunset?” Shining Armor said as he came up from downstairs. “Do you need somepony to show you where the glasses are?”

The clueless question made her want to slap him across the face, and pull the stallion over to the couch so they could finish what Sunset had started with her kiss.

But…she knew where that would lead.

Oh please, if there is any justice in this world, please give me an out, Sunset begged in the human tradition to whatever was out there to listen to her thoughts. Or maybe just a distraction, something to buy her a little time to get her thoughts and raging emotions under control.

“Princess Sunset!” a squeaky, yet oddly familiar voice from the stairs above her. “That was amazing. That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen! That I’ve even read about even!”

Sunset looked up at the face on top of the stairs looking down at her…and froze.

The little purple unicorn quickly scampered down the stairs, her every movement being followed by the alicorn’s eyes. She reached the bottom of the stairs a few seconds later. “Did you learn how to do that from Princess Celestia’s School? Did you learn it from Princess Celestia herself? Can I learn it from you?”

Sorry it had to be this way…Princess!” Sunset’s memory of the last time she had been in Equestria said.

The pony in front of her, it had been dark, but she had been close enough to make out the dark purple mane with the stripe in her hair and lighter coat of the same color. Although age had changed her, Sunset could tell that mare was the same filly that stood before her, minus the wings.

Instead of declining from the pace action filled experience and romantic revelation that had just occurred set, Sunset felt her heart speed up as she looked down on the little filly, and tried to speak. “T…T-Twi…”

“Twilight!” Shining Armor said as he walked up to stand beside Sunset. The way she was forcing air into her lungs through her nose because her mouth refused to function didn’t help things at all with how she picked up so much of Shining’s scent. “What did we say? When we were done, then you could see her.”

The little unicorn that had the first name of Twilight looked down at the ground. “Sorry Big Brother,” she apologized.

After letting out a sigh, Shining Armor looked over to Sunset with an apologetic smile. “Sorry for making promises like that, but…I didn’t think you’d mind,” he told her. “This is my little sister, Twilight Sparkle.”

For a fraction of a second, Sunset’s mind tried to protect itself, but…

I made a shield to keep the rocks from crushing us…” Shining Armor said as she remembered him explaining how he got his cutie mark. An ‘us’ he had never fully explained.

I’m going to be the greatest, most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria when I grow up!” a little blue unicorn sitting outside the principal’s office proclaimed.

Sunset scoured her mind for an explanation as her heart rate increased along with her breathing.

A coincidence! It had to be some kind of coincidence!

There was no way that the filly standing in front of Sunset could be her!

Sunset must have seen the foal at some time somewhere around Canterlot, and the mirror had incorporated her into the mirror’s fake world. She had just come from something like that for crying out loud!

“Princess Sunset?” Twilight asked before she reached out and touched the alicorn’s foreleg.

Deep inside of her, Sunset felt something powerful take notice of the little filly’s hoof. A tiny spark of it ran through her body, making Sunset’s breathing come to an abrupt halt. The Magic of Friendship that Sunset had taken from her friends. The magic that was still inside of her.

It recognized Twilight Sparkle.

It…it’s…it really is...her… the alicorn thought before darkness came.


If there was one thing Princess Celestia absolutely loathed, it was meeting with other ponies of power in the government. The ones that had been there longer than the chairs they used to sit in anyway. The newer ones weren’t so bad…as long as they were replaced quickly enough.

But the stallion that was coming before her at this time was one of the old guard council members. Strong Withers was one of the reasons that Celestia was fearful that democratic experiment she had implemented some two-hundred years ago to allow some new ideas in government turned out to be a failure.

Although he talked a good bit about advancing the good of Equestria and increasing its prosperity, she wasn’t certain he had done anything more than shift some of the taxes around in his district so it at least looked like the ponies under him were paying less. End of the year statements would disagree with his campaign promises though.

“Councilmen Withers, to what reason do you approach me this afternoon?” Celestia asked as he walked up to the throne. She preferred to meet with such ponies out in the open for all to see. It tended to lead to fewer problems later on.

Even if it did make them all a bit long-winded.

“Your Highness, as you and all of the ponies assembled here know, I have always had the best interest of Equestria at heart,” he began, failing to mention how many times the best interest of Equestria tended to help increase his holdings as well. “As such, I come to you today on a matter of grave importance.”

Celestia nodded. It was playing to his…spectacle, but would make all of this go by quicker. “Which is?” she asked.

“Why, the safety of the realm, of course!” he went on loudly. “And over the past week, many ponies close to me have noticed an…oddity that I feel must be brought to your attention, Your Majesty.”

Her patience took a hit, as it seemed the wind bag was still going on with his introduction. “And that is?”

“Your student, Sunset Shimmer, Your Highness,” he told her.

Although she had endured much longer posturing over her long life, Celestia found her patience for the stallion in front of her gone in an instant. “In what way is my…student something you should be bringing up in this manner,” she said before frowning. “And I would like to remind all the ponies here that Sunset Shimmer has recently been revealed as one of my bloodline.” A lie, but one that Celestia had found useful over the years. “As such, she will be taken into my immediate family and be crowned a Princess of Equestria. So I would urge you to chose your words carefully when speaking of my future adopted daughter.”

There was a murmur from the crowd of ponies that had gathered to attend her court. For once, they had good reason to gossip. Although Celestia had brought in several alicorns into the royal family over the long history of Equestria, not a single one had been given such a close tie as the one Sunset had been offered.

“But…she isn’t your daughter, Your Majesty.”

Celestia had to keep from letting the magic inside of her from raging out of control at the comment. Her eyes widened a bit, and the air around her shimmered from the heat her body began to give off. “What did you just say? My little pony?”

“Please, hear me out Your Majesty,” Strong Withers begged her for a moment. “Over the past week, I’ve been hearing strange rumors surrounding your-ahm, Sunset Shimmer. The castle staff tells me that she’s been acting…oddly, and several maids have witnessed her practicing spells that are below her level. She tells the chefs to cook strange food, or even goes so far as to do it herself. She spends a great deal of time with Princess Cadance, despite everypony knowing that neither of them ever got along so well before, and…I am led to believe that she’s been displaying several other odd quirks that are…not natural for a pony.”

Seeing where this was all leading, it took everything Celestia had not to toss the stallion in front of her off of the edge of Canterlot. “If you are insinuating that there is something wrong with my daughter’s mental state Mister Withers, I think it is you that should have your head examined.”

“Princess, I beg of you to listen to me! If not, then the real Sunset Shimmer, the mare you feel so strongly for may spend the rest of her life in suffering!” the stallion exclaimed.

The oddity of the plea made Celestia stop from following through with her mental threat. “What?”

Think about it Your Highness!” the little pony pleaded. “Everypony knows how much you care for your students, her especially. Whereas before, nopony could stand to be around Sunset Shimmer, now she is full of goodwill and cheer, and the Princess of Love is her best friend! You yourself have just claimed her as your own! You love her like a mother, the strongest kind of love there is.

“And what type of creature do we know of that would be unable to resist such strong feelings of love?”

More murmurs followed, whispers of fear, of doubt and panic spread throughout the court like a wildfire.

Celestia frowned, and took in a deep breath.

“ENOUGH!”

When the crowd quieted down, she looked back to the stallion with a stern expression. “I left Chrysalis and her children broken and sealed them away in a volcano!” Celestia announced as she stood. “The changeling threat to Equestria was ended years ago, and you have nothing to fear from those creatures anymore. Such speculation only leads to disharmony, and I will hear no more of it! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?”

Every pony under Celestia’s gaze quieted down and looked to the floor. The last thing Equestria needed was another changling hunt. And the fact that idiot would dare suggest such a thing made Celestia snort with rage.

“Court is ended for the day,” she said. Not even bothering to wait for everypony to leave, Celestia channeled magic through her horn, and the world disappeared in a flash.

When she landed in her living room a moment later, the sight of a photograph caught her attention. It wasn’t one of her best, a picture taken at the Grand Galloping Gala by some reporter. She had kept it because of the little scowl on Sunset’s face that she had been wearing while standing next to her. It had looked so cute at the time.

A look Sunset hadn’t been wearing as of late.

Not as often as she should have, at any rate.

Celestia tried to shake such thoughts away, but…she couldn’t stop them from coming.

Sunset was different. She wasn’t just the kind and wondrous little filly Celestia had remembered raising. She was…better. She was everything Celestia had ever hoped for in a daughter.

Terror seized at Celestia’s heart at just the possibility that she might be wrong. That her old foe and returned, and managed to take the place of the one pony Celestia cared about more than any other.

There had been a moment when she had lost sight of her child, back when everything had begun and Sunset came rolling along the floor with a pair of wings. Had that all been a moment of planned distraction to abduct Sunset from right under Celestia’s nose?

Was she Sunset, or was she something else?

An alicorn, or an evil monster whose ego wouldn’t allow her to go for an extended period of time without the ability of flight?

“Is that really you under there Chrysalis?” the alicorn asked the picture of Sunset. “Have you just been playing me for a fool all this time? Laughing at me while my-while Sunset wastes away in one of your…feeding chambers?”

Celestia took a deep breath to try and clear her mind.

She didn’t want it to be true.

But…she couldn’t afford to see if it wasn’t, either.