Chapter 8: Starlight, Sunset
Sunset Shimmer, the prodigious student of Princess Celestia – as well as the smartest, most beautiful, and greatest pony of them all – trotted merrily along the glistening halls of Canterlot Castle. Her saddlebags – stitched by the finest craftsponies in Canterlot – swung against her sides as she moved, loudly informing everyone of her oncoming presence. The sunlight streaking through the castle's many windows seemed to dance within her mane and coat, making her look less like a pony and more like a piece of fine art brought to life by a brilliant sorcerer. The guards could barely gaze upon as she passed by, as her very presence radiated the power and superiority that was at her core.
Not too shabby for a filly about to turn eight years old.
After an eternity of walking, Sunset finally reached her target: the grand double doors leading to Princess Celestia's private library. A guard, decorated in the type of armor worn only by the most elite of Equestria's military, pushed one of the doors aside. With a grateful harrumph and properly upturned snout, Sunset crossed the threshold into one of the land's most secure and secluded places of learning. The bookshelves were packed with tomes dating back to before Equestria's founding, treatises on magic and the universe itself, the histories of countries long since lost to time – all of which were open to only two ponies.
And now that Sunset was there, both of those ponies were in that room.
Next to a gently burning fireplace stood Princess Celestia, the country's proud ruler and most powerful pony. Most importantly, however, she was Sunset's personal teacher. As Celestia greeted Sunset with a warm smile, the filly's conceited exterior cracked just a bit, allowing her to smile back less out of superiority and more out of genuine respect and admiration.
“Good morning, Sunset Shimmer,” said Princess Celestia.
“Morning,” Sunset said in response. Her horn lit up as her saddlebags flew open, a feat that was followed by a glowing stack of papers floating out and landing gracefully at Celestia's hooves. “I finished Chapter V of Galaxy's Guide to the Magic Arts. And I hope it's okay, but I went ahead and finished the drills for Chapter VI and VII, too.”
Princess Celestia smiled and nodded. “Very good, Sunset Shimmer. You are truly the most wonderful pupil I have ever taught!” Sunset puffed up with pride at her teacher's praise. “But enough about lessons for the moment.”
Sunset continued smiling as she deflated. “What?”
“I know a certain very special day is coming up for you,” said Celestia.
Sunset nodded along. “My birthday?”
“Do you remember last year?” Celestia asked. “We spent the day together, studying and reading and practicing magic.”
More nods from the Magnificent and Dynamic Sunset Shimmer. “Of course I remember! That day was perfect.” She tilted her head just a bit. “Same thing this year?”
“Actually...”
Sunset's heart skipped a beat.
“Because this is your eighth birthday, I have something special planned.”
Now two beats.
“I have had my messengers send an invitation to everypony in your classes, inviting them to a little get-together.”
“G-Get-together?” Sunset croaked. Her breathing was seizing up just a bit, and her brain was struggling to keep things running.
“Yes. A birthday party!”
Sunset's jaw dropped. Inside, a voice screamed. The world seemed to shatter like glass around her...
Sunset let out a loud gasp as she violently returned to reality. Her hands were squeezed so tightly shut that her knuckles were turning pale, and her cheeks were burning crimson. It had been so long since she remembered that day – so many years of shutting the memory away, even before her self-imposed exile – that the sudden return was far beyond unpleasant. Thankfully for her tattered dignity, she had not burst into tears or let out any wailing cries at the unwelcome thoughts, as a child might be expected to do.
Sunset closed her eyes again. Forget it. That's all in the past. Just enjoy your pancakes, and...
She opened her eyes again as she noticed something strange. She wasn't in the restaurant anymore, but instead on the cramped confines of a bus. She turned to her sides, and saw a Twilight seated on each flank. And worst of all, her pancakes were gone.
“You're awake?” asked Twilight.
Sunset simply nodded affirmatively. The bodies of the larger girls were pushed against her on all sides, which didn't help with the almost rhythmic bouncing and shaking of the bus as it slowly rolled down the street. There were maybe two dozen or so people on board besides her trio, with a number of passengers standing because of thoughtless riders refusing to carry their bags and other items in their laps, and she could feel her body heat up just from the mass of figures around her. She didn't need another uncomfortable reminder of the current height difference between the two.
“Oh, thank goodness.” Twilight rubbed her left fingers against her temple. “When we mentioned going to Canterlot High, you just...passed out.”
“Y-Yeah,” Sunset muttered. “I was just...surprised, is all. I thought I said I wasn't going back...”
“And you don't have to,” said Princess Twilight. “We were just wanting to test the effects the portal has on your body in this...well, state is the right word, I suppose.”
“But in order to do that, we have to...” Twilight bit her into knuckle. “Well, we need you to...”
Sunset let out a groan and threw her head back, just narrowly avoiding bashing her skull against the hard plastic seat. “You want me to go through the portal and back to see if whatever enchantment that hack Starswirl the Bearded put on it does anything to me. You don't have to tiptoe around this, okay?”
Twilight blushed and looked away. “S-Sorry. It's just...you told me how you felt, and...”
“And you just decided that I should risk going back into the same world where, for all we know, Celestia has an entire battalion of armed guards waiting to jump me and throw me in a dungeon?! Why didn't you ask me before setting all this up? I can't believe you'd...” Sunset paused her small tirade as she sensed the many, many eyes looking upon her. Her skin turned a cream color as she lowered her head into her hands. “I'm sorry. Just...could we talk about things before we make plans next time?”
Twilight sighed and nodded. “I'm sorry, and you're right. We didn't really take all of your feelings into consideration. But...”
That was when the two realized they had heard nothing from Princess Twilight in a short while. They looked over at the princess, only to be met with the most seething, hateful gaze since the time Fluttershy saw Rarity wearing real fur. Sunset's eyes widened as she slid closer to Twilight, burying herself into the larger girl for safety, for it was upon her that the wrathful one had fixed its attention. “T-Twilight?” Sunset squeaked.
“What...did you say...about Starswirl the Bearded?”
Sunset tried to force her jaw together with her upper lip, but willpower was no match for the grumpy look of recrimination in Princess Twilight's eyes. “Um...that Starswirl was...overrated?” She looked up at Twilight. “Y-You agree with me, right?”
“...Actually, I have no idea who this Starswirl is,” was Twilight's simple answer.
The answer was a foregone conclusion, of course. Sunset mentally kicked herself for failing to remember the differences between the two in her moment of fear. Nevertheless, the distraction seemed to cool Princess Twilight a little, as she crossed her arms and regarded the two like a teacher would their most difficult students. Sunset peeled herself off of Twilight and let out a small sigh of relief. That was when Princess Twilight spoke again.
“Very well. I'll tell you the story of Starswirl the Bearded, the greatest unicorn in Equestria's history.”
Sunset's pupils dilated into tiny dots. Cold sweat poured from seemingly every pore in her body. For alas, she knew exactly what was to come.
And that was how the passengers of Canterlot Regional Transit Route 6A came to know everything there was to know about Starswirl the Bearded.
Thankfully for Sunset, things were relatively quiet in front of Canterlot High. The first bells had already rung, signaling the students and teachers to their classes for another day of drudgery. The PE classes were all in the gym, likely trying to climb ropes or survive dodgeball. This meant that there was virtually nobody standing guard outside of the broken Canterlot High statue by the time the three arrived. Sunset's head still spun from all of the spells Princess Twilight managed to namedrop during her lecture, while Twilight beamed at the vast amount of information she had just learned about one of magic's most celebrated scholars. Still, friendship was important, and that would win over any amount of lecturing, posturing, or scatterbrained unicorns who left portals to other worlds where megalomaniacs could easily find them.
Sunset Shimmer stood at attention at the statue's base, looking more than a little terrified. A small, cheap backpack had been placed upon her, if only to provide a means of easily bringing their results back. Despite the damage to the statue, the base was as shiny and reflective as ever, meaning that Sunset got a wonderful view of the scared little girl she currently was. Needless to say, no part of that last sentence was doing wonders for her self-esteem.
Princess Twilight raised a hand towards the portal. “I hope it's okay, but I used your journal to write to Spike before we went to breakfast. He should have the portal ready by now.” She turned to her doppelganger. “So, are you ready for the experiment?”
Sunset grimaced at the word. “Experiment?”
Sadly, Twilight Sparkle was lost in the glorious world of science and discovery, which blinded her to the growing frustration of her friend. She tapped a few buttons on her phone, finally bringing up a live stream of the world around her. “Ready.”
“So, I just have to go through the portal, and...”
Princess Twilight's left eye twitched. “Excuse me, but...what are you doing?”
Twilight shrugged. “What you told me to do. I'm recording Sunset going through the portal.”
“But...where's your notebook?”
Twilight cocked an eyebrow. “My what?”
“I know you don't use scrolls on this world, but...we need this written down! We need records, charts, diagrams of the portal and Sunset's body before and after! How are you supposed to do that when you're playing with your little toy?”
A small breeze, no doubt generated from the universe groaning in abject despair, blew through the front of the school. Sunset slapped her face and let her hand slowly slide back down to lip level. Twilight looked up from the phone with the blankest of expressions, not so much by choice but rather because, in her seventeen years of life, she had never experienced a feeling like this. “Sunset...does she know how cell phone cameras work?”
Princess Twilight grumbled. “I am very familiar with them. Didn't Sunset tell you about that bit of slander she indulged in when I first came here?”
“Yes, I told her,” Sunset groaned. “I didn't want to, but Applejack convinced me it was better to be honest now than to wait for her to find out herself.” There was the additional part about how Twilight was so angry that she had dumped her milkshake on Sunset's head, followed by her tearfully apologizing the next day because she thought she had ruined their friendship over a single fight, but this was neither the time nor place for such discussions. “Now can we please hurry this up? It's bad enough we're doing this, but I don't want to be standing out here any longer than I have to.” She glanced back at the distant school. “Last thing I need is everyone seeing this.”
The two Twilights nodded in agreement. “So all we need you to do is go through the portal for a few minutes,” said Princess Twilight. “Spike is waiting at the other end to properly record the results on the Equestria side. Once that's done, you can come back through the portal. That should hopefully give us more of an idea of how the spell that affected you is influenced by the differing magic of both worlds.”
Sunset's features darkened just a bit. “And...you are absolutely certain there's no one else there?”
Princess Twilight tapped a finger against her chin before rolling it around in the air. “Well, Starlight Glimmer's at the castle right now, but she's usually studying this time of day. Applejack and Rarity are probably working, Rainbow Dash is at a training camp in Baltimare, Fluttershy has her book club today, and Pinkie Pie...” She paused, looked around for a moment, and continued. “Well, I have no idea where she is, but she's usually got a dozen or so Pinkie Promises on any given day.”
“And back here, they're all in high school,” muttered Twilight. “Maybe that should be our next research project.”
“Oh, that's just due to minor differences in interdimensional paradigms and the space-time continuum, all of which the mirror compensates for.” Princess Twilight patted Twilight on the head. “Don't worry. If you listen to your elders, you'll grow up to be big and smart, too.”
“...I'm a senior and we're the same height,” Twilight said, although what came out was rather badly distorted by her clenched teeth. Had Princess Twilight not retracted her hand at that moment, she would have no doubt reached out and attempted to snap the prissy royal's wrist. She would have failed, seeing as she had comparable upper body strength to her puppy, but the effort was what counts in such things. Raising her phone back to the best position to film the trip was the best she could do at this point.
Sunset had noticed almost none of this. The threat of an alternate universe portal far outweighed a small bit of poking between friends. She gulped down a load of air so big her face briefly resembled a frog, stretched her legs nervously, and finally took a few steps towards the portal. “S-So...I guess I'll...see you two in a few minutes,” she said.
“We'll be here!” shouted Twilight, doing her best to smile and show positivity.
“Good luck!” added Princess Twilight, if only to not be shown up by the upstart.
Sunset turned back to the statue's base. She reached her right arm out first, slowly touching the edge with her fingers. Where metal and stone should have been, she instead felt something wet and cold, like touching a waterfall. The sensation was long past familiar by this point, but Sunset could not shake the wrongness she felt whenever going through the portal. The fact that she could see the reflection of a hoof where her hand once was did not help matters.
With a final, resigned sigh, the young Sunset Shimmer pushed herself through the gateway.
It had been some time since Sunset Shimmer had last stepped through the looking glass, so she could be forgiven for having forgotten how disorienting and discombobulating the whole experience was. Her body was first twisted, then torqued, and finally spaghettified as she passed through the blinding tunnel of lights and sparks, only to be shoved back together like a sadistic baker preparing living dough. The atmosphere around her alternated between scorching heat and intense cold, and invisible torrents of air seemed to buffet her form like a punching bag.
In some ways, however, the pain was a mercy. How else could she ignore her limbs shortening and stretching, her hands and feet melting into hooves, and her snout being pulled out into a full muzzle? Thinking about such things after her transformation was already enough to make Sunset ill at ease. How much worse would it be to be fully aware of her internal organs shuffling and reshaping themselves to match an equine's? And that wasn't even getting into the pointy bit of bone that began pushing its way out through her forehead.
After the longest thirty seconds ever had passed, the sparkling lights began to dissipate, and Sunset could feel her restored rear hooves touch down on something hard. The sudden shift in her body's balance took control soon after, and her (formerly) top half touched down, allowing her to stand as a pony once more. Thankfully for Twilight's floor, her stomach was a hardy one, and she was able to reorient herself with only a bit of queasiness.
Sunset's eyes still ached from the flashing lights, but beneath the blurry haze she could make out a cavernous room of some kind. As her vision cleared, she gradually made out more details, finally cementing her location as one of the many studies in Twilight's gargantuan crystal palace. Bookshelves lined all of the walls, and even then there seemed to be far more books on the many tables lying about than on the shelves. A purple thing she couldn't quite make out was looking at her, but had yet to say anything.
Okay, Sunset thought to herself, just turn around and look in the mirror. Maybe we got lucky and the trip...reversed this somehow.
Sunset Shimmer turned to the mirror.
She saw a little filly, not quite eight years old, wearing only a cheap saddlebag, staring back at her.
“Damn it!” she cursed.
“Um...nice to see you too,” said the voice from behind. It didn't quite sound familiar, but her ears were still ringing something painful.
Sunset let out a painful sigh and turned back towards the purple blob she had noticed earlier. “I'm sorry, Spike. It's just...”
That's when she realized it wasn't Spike sitting there. Rather, it was a purple pony, her mane kept a bit like Rarity's, holding both a quill and a simple-looking cookie with unicorn-standard telekinesis. The stranger regarded Sunset for a moment before shoving the cooking into her mouth, swallowing, and flashing an obviously insecure and insincere smile. “So...you must be...Sunset Shimmer? Twilight and Spike told me all about you.”
It took a few seconds before there was a response, if only to allow Sunset time to finish analyzing the stranger. “Um...yes. And you are...?”
“Starlight Glimmer,” the pony said, a small note of panic in her voice. “I'm...Princess Twilight's personal student. I'm certain she's told you about me.”
Sunset nodded along, politely deciding not to inform her that the first time she had heard the name was just before unleashing the contents of her stomach on a public walkway. “She...may have mentioned you once or twice.”
“Oh...so, nothing specific, right?”
“Um...nooooo?” Sunset raised her hooves in preparation to pivot back towards the mirror, but her still-mostly-new moral compass prevented such actions. It was, after all, her duty to document the results of the experiment for the betterment of both worlds' study of magic, and she didn't want to risk having the Twilights force her to come back. Besides, she still needed answers. “So, where's Spike? I thought he was supposed to be taking notes.”
Starlight sighed and rolled her eyes. “He was.”
“Then where is he?”
Spike let out a triumphant harrumph as he gazed upon the contents of the table before him. “Quill and ink set just the right distance apart, scroll unfurled to just the right length, cookies in perfect view...”
Spike crossed his arms as a cocky grin worked its way across his mouth. “This is gonna be so...”
“Twilight? Spike?”
The dragon's ears perked up at the sound of Rarity's enchanting voice. The most marvelous pony to ever grace Equestria strode into the library. Spike's smile grew as he watched the light seemingly dance off her luxurious coat, which she had obviously groomed to perfection before daring to step out. “H-Hey, Rarity!” he managed to squeak out. “Twilight's doing something with Sunset Shimmer, but...is there anything I could help you with?”
Rarity flicked her head back, the strands of her mane dancing as they fell back into place. “Actually, there is. I have to design some new outfits in time for the Canterlot Garden Party, and it would seem some...muscle is needed to help carry the supplies. Do you have some time to help?”
Spike looked back at the table. “Well...Twilight did need my help with something. I can't just...”
That was the moment Starlight entered the room, levitating a pile of books. “Hey, Spike. Where do these...?”
Spike's eyes lit up like fireworks at the Summer Sun Celebration. “Starlight, would you mind helping me with something?”
“So he told me to get some notes down for Twilight and scurried off with Rarity.” Starlight groaned and rolled her eyes. “I mean, it's nice that they're letting me live here after...well, everything I've done, but it's so annoying when he just...”
Starlight's rambling ceased at the insistence of Sunset's cough. The filly slowly walked over to the table and seated herself on one of the plump cushions. “So in other words, you're running today's q-and-a session?”
“I guess so,” said Starlight.
Sunset sighed and shook her head. “Fine. Let's get this over with. What's the first...”
The passive-aggressive lamenting was suddenly upended by another sense entirely. Sunset's nostrils flared slightly as she took in a familiar, yet long-forgotten scent. Her gaze slowly moved from Starlight down to the plate of cookies sitting on the table, little brown circles with specks of lighter-brown flakes and purple things embedded within. Even from this distance, she could still feel a bit of warmth radiating from the baked dough, and the smell was...
“A-Are those hay-and-oatmeal cookies?” Sunset asked slowly.
Starlight looked down at the cookies. “Hmm? Well...yeah, I guess. Looks like some raisins, too.”
Sunset's belly, having been denied pancakes, rumbled in frustration. Her favorite cookies, a kind she could only have in Equestria thanks to the inferior human species' inability to properly digest hay, laid within arm's reach. “I-I suppose Spike wouldn't mind if I...”
“Oh please, help yourself!” Starlight said quickly. “I've never been a big raisin fan, anyway. I mostly prefer...”
Starlight's ramblings were drowned out by the moist chewing of a happy filly on a cookie.
No matter how many times Twilight repeated the video, the spectacle failed to lose its charm. The moment Sunset had touched the statue, what had once been solid stone rippled like a vertical pool of water, save for the illuminating light on the other end. The more Twilight analyzed the peculiar sight, the more bizarre it seemed. There was no change in Sunset's form as she passed through, and yet, her hand appeared to turn into a hoof inside the statue for a quick second. And as the apex of Sunset's form passed through, she could swear that there were rainbows peeking out of the edge of the light.
Princess Twilight, on the other hand, had long since stopped watching the camera footage in favor of examining the statue's structure itself. Her eyes seemed almost entranced on the small bits of debris that once marked Canterlot High's mascot. “I hope Spike's taking good notes,” she muttered. “It would be good to measure whether the damage from the Friendship Games caused any permanent disruptions in the mirror.”
Twilight could feel a pang of guilt in her heart. However, there was a time and a place for looking back at one's failings, and the middle of a trans-dimensional experiment was not it. “So...are there more portals like this one in Equestria?”
“If there are, we've only found one,” Twilight said. “It was...a prototype, I guess. It could go to any world, not just one like the one between Equestria and Canterlot High.”
“Really? There are more universes than our two?”
Princess Twilight nodded. Her hand slowly slid across the podium, just barely avoiding a few jagged cracks in the structure. “Apparently there are, although I never really got to explore the possibilities as much as I would have liked. We were on a tight schedule then and...well, the mirror was destroyed.”
“Oh, I see,” Twilight said, her voice deflating as she spoke. She took a few steps towards the podium, her gaze still locked on her phone. “So, found anything useful?”
Princess Twilight turned towards her counterpart. “I'm sorry, but no. Back in Equestria, I could feel the magic coming off something enchanted, but I can't get the same feeling here. Maybe it's the body, or this world, or...however magic is supposed to work here. We know the portal works, so there should be at least a little ambient magic radiating off this thing. How about you?”
“Just that Sunset's taking a long time to get back.” Twilight pocketed her phone and crossed her arms. “Your do...dragon shouldn't take this long to finish a report, right?”
And lo, the first shots were fired.
Princess Twilight sneered at Twilight. “My Spike happens to be my Number One Assistant. He will no doubt prepare a fabulously detailed report explaining everything that we need to know to fix this problem. And unlike your dog, he doesn't bite people.”
Twilight growled and narrowed her eyes. “Spike happens to be a very intelligent and loyal companion. He would only attack someone if he know they were up to no good.”
Princess Twilight gasped. “A-Are you accusing me? This was your idea, remember? I can't help it if Sunset wants to spend a little extra time back home?”
“This is her home!” Twilight's teeth were gritted so hard they appeared to be a single mass of bone. “And if you tried to turn an honest attempt at studying magic into some plot to...to kidnap Sunset...”
“KIDNAP?! Why, you...you-”
“'Why, you,' what?!”
Both Twilights let out a shriek as a familiar, pink-colored mass of sugar and marshmallows popped up between them, as if she had emerged from the sidewalk itself. Pinkie Pie was looking as hyped-up as ever, and her maniacal grin only magnified the terror of their situation. The tiny speckles of sugar around the edge of her lips – particularly the straight kind they sold in paper tubes that put dentists' children through college – did little to help matters.
“Um...why, you...incredibly intelligent and wonderful person!” Princess Twilight stammered.
Twilight's glasses nearly drooped off of her nose, saved only by a quick press from her index finger. Sadly, nothing could be done about the frazzled hairs at the top of her head. “Wh-What are you doing here, Pinkie? Shouldn't you be in class?”
“Welllllll, I was in the middle of Home Ec, but then I looked out the window and saw Sunset going through the portal!”
Both Twilights took a moment to mentally lambast themselves for forgetting about the engineering marvel that was glass. An explanation perhaps would have followed, but as far as Pinkie Pie was concerned, a quiet moment was merely an invitation for her to fill the empty space. “So I started thinking, 'Why would Twilight and Twilight, her two bestest friends in the whole wide world, take her back to the place where everyone is being so mean thanks to Trixie?' But then I thought, 'Hey, maybe they're testing the whirly magic thingy to see if it could make Sunset normal again!'”
Twilight smiled and nodded. “That's...actually correct, Pinkie.”
“But what are you doing out here?” asked Princess Twilight. “Don't you have class?”
Pinkie shrugged. “Just Home Ec, but I can afford to coast by now. Know what I mean?”
The Twilights, having no personal concept of “coasting” through a school course, simply nodded their heads. “So what are you doing out here?” Twilight asked.
“I needed to talk to Sunset once you girls were done,” said Pinkie. “I've been thinking things over, and I guess I've been making her feel a little bad.”
“Little” is an understatement, thought Twilight. “So, are you going to cancel the party?”
“Of course not!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Didn't you hear what I said? That's the only way she's ever going to get back to normal, I just know it! Buuuuuuut I have been keeping her out of the planning loop, I guess. I mean, she is our age, right? She should be able to make her own decisions on how the party should go.”
At this point, there were two ways the conversation could have proceeded. Princess Twilight could have reminded Pinkie about the time-space differences she had just mentioned to her counterpart, which would actually make Sunset Shimmer older than herself and far above the teenagers she currently associated with. Twilight could have instead asked Pinkie to consider her friend's feelings and drop the whole party idea. Alas, fate went with the third option, where Pinkie Pie pulled a notebook out of the thin air behind her and did not give either of the other arguments time to begin. “That's why I cobbled together all sorts of neat ideas into this book! And when she comes out of the portal, I'm going to ask her to pick the best ones, and this will be the best party EVER!”
Starlight sighed and floated the measuring tape back to the table. Sunset Shimmer did not so much as flinch, her rump having become one with the stool's cushioning. A half-eaten cookie hovered in front of the filly, its crumbly form encased in a slightly shaky yellow magic field. The plate it had once called home was now half-empty, as what remained of its brethren watched their stalwart fellow be mercilessly devoured by the furry monster. Or at least they would have if cookies were alive, which, outside of the occasional miscast spell in a cooking class or formal dinner, was not true even in Equestria.
Starlight's own magic was occupied operating a simple quill and a long piece of parchment. “Okay, so...height is normal, weight is normal, proportions are...normal, I guess?”
Sunset swallowed her latest bite of cookie. “Shouldn't you go into a little more detail?”
Starlight shrugged. “I really don't get why Twilight wants all this to begin with. You're a foal. You said you were about the same age that you were on the other side. Going through this portal-thingy didn't fix the problem.”
“But Twilight's so...meticulous in her research.” Sunset rolled her eyes as a thousand applicable memories popped into her mind, ranging from the mildly amusing to the soul-crushing. “Trust me, if she doesn't get good enough answers the first time, she'll just keep doing this again and again until she does.”
Starlight let out a groan, causing the quill to spin and flip loops before finally returning to just above the parchment. “Fine, we'll just...go to the next question. “Are you experiencing any aches or pains?”
Sunset gave a dismissive shrug. “No. In fact, I think my lower back feels better than ever like this.”
“Any issues with perception, movement, or your proportions?”
“I...guess it's a little weird to be this little again, but no. I mean, it's not like going back and forth between human and horse was ever a problem.” Thankfully for Sunset, Starlight bought that last line.
As Starlight crossed off yet another item on the checklist, she finally allowed herself a satisfied smirk. “And that brings us to the final question...”
Sunset allowed herself a mental sigh of relief. Freedom was so close, she could almost taste it.
“How does the current situation make you feel?”
And that was when Sunset's brain broke. Her jaw dropped open just enough for the trembling to make it resemble a bag of bits being tossed about, her ears drooped downwards, and her forehooves began tapping nervously against the table. Starlight noticed none of this – she was more focused on the cookie Sunset's magic was currently crushing to a mass of crumbs the size of a marble. “I...don't understand,” was all the filly managed to squeak out.
“Yeah, that's a...pretty vague question,” added Starlight. Her eyes moved down the scroll a bit more, coming to a stop just above the end of the parchment. “I guess Twilight thought so, too. She threw in a few more instructions for Spike. It says here, 'It's important to take into account both the physical and mental changes that may have resulted from crossing through the portal. Try to get Sunset to open up a bit more.' I...don't think I was supposed to read that last part out loud.”
Sunset gave her head a good shake, jostling loose the stilled connections in her brain. The crumbs she had been floating in the air tumbled to the tabletop, creating a mass of brown flakes Spike would have to clean up later. Her smug countenance slowly returned at the same time. “Well, that's easy. I feel completely fine.”
Starlight cocked an eyebrow. “You do?”
“I would prefer to be my real age, of course, but this isn't anything I can't handle.” Sunset hopped to her hooves and craned her neck back. “So if we're done here, I think I'll be going.”
Starlight looked down at the scroll. A push of her hoof revealed even more at the very, very bottom, right underneath the last roll. “'P.S: If Sunset tells you everything is fine, she's probably lying. If everything was fine, she wouldn't have asked for help the way she did.'”
Sunset's eyes narrowed. “She...actually wrote that?”
Starlight shrugged. “Like you said, she's meticulous.”
“W-Well, what else could she want to know?” Sunset's eyes turned away from Starlight as if on instinct. “I've already told everyone how humiliating this is, how everyone treats me differently just because I'm smaller, how..well...” She grit her teeth hard enough for small sparks to fly out. “How much I hate being a child. And if anyone else had gotten cursed, I would have figured out how to fix them in a manner of minutes. It's been days, and we've made no progress.”
Starlight nodded. Her quill scraped across the page.
“A-And you know what else? This whole thing is...is messing with my head in the worst way! Everything either seems farther away or too close. Everyone looks down at me like I'm an ant about to be smashed. I'm weak, I keep blowing up at people, everyone can't stop lecturing me like I'm an actual brat, and...and...”
Sunset's mouth instantly clamped shut. Starlight finished scratching down the last of her notes and floated the scroll down before returning her gaze back to the filly, who was currently biting her lip so hard her face seemed to be sucking itself inwards. “That...should be enough for Twilight. Would you like any more...?”
“I MISS EQUESTRIA!”
Sunset's voice echoed throughout the castle's crystalline halls. In the map chambers, the roots of what was once the Golden Oaks Library shuddered slightly, sending its ornaments clanging and clattering against each other like in a strong breeze. The endless series of doors that dotted the castle's impossibly-numerous hallways shook. In the royal broom closet, the mop slid over about two inches. As for the ponies at ground zero, Starlight Glimmer found herself folding her ears downward to try and block out the ringing, while Sunset settled on looking mortified at her confession.
“Um...how is that a big deal, exactly?” Starlight muttered.
Sunset, the energy drained from her following the screaming and echoing response, fell backwards onto her hindquarters. Her face was partially hidden by the bangs of her mane, but Starlight could still make out the small trembling at the bottom of her eyes. “It's just...I...ever since this happened, things keep happening. Things that...make me think about Equestria.”
There was just the briefest of pauses before Starlight followed up. “What kind of things?”
“The day after this started, I had breakfast with Twilight's family. It wasn't anything special, just some waffles, but...the way they spoke to each other. The way Twilight and Shining Armor bickered, how their parents welcomed me despite how ridiculous all this must have sounded...it reminded me of home. Of my parents. Of...her...”
“Okay, this is getting just a little too...” Starlight started to say. The dam was breaking, however, and nothing was going to stop Sunset's stream of consciousness.
“And just earlier today, when Twilight was studying about magic, I tried to read along to help her...and... Well, it had been so long since I last looked at any books on magic. I mean, there's still not much use for them back in the other world. And for just a moment, it felt just like the old days, you know? Back when I was a student. Back when...Celestia still wanted me around.”
Starlight valiantly fought back the urge to roll her eyes. “But you've been gone for years, right? This couldn't have been the first time you missed being back here.”
“I know that!” Sunset's sharp tone caught even the filly off-guard – it was several seconds before she resumed speaking. “But back then, when I first went through the mirror, I only thought about how angry I was. Celestia had thrown me out, I had been denied my destiny of being a princess...the only time I thought about Equestria, it was to plot its destruction once I got back. A-And then the whole mess with the crown happened and I...I really just stopped caring for a little while. I still missed it, but...”
Sunset took in a deep breath, wiping the small trails of water from her face as she did so. “It's different now. With everything so screwed up, I...I just want to be somewhere familiar, with people I know I can trust. And I know that my friends will be there for me, but there's that...damn filly side of me that feels like everyone's a stranger and that I need to find 'mommy and daddy' before I'm kidnapped and forced to cobble shoes for the rest of my life.”
Starlight raised an eyebrow. “Cobble...shoes?”
“My parents' version of stranger danger.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” Starlight lied.
“And...there's something else.” Sunset looked around nervously. “You see, I think I'm...I don't...”
Before the filly could finish translating her thoughts to speech, the entire chamber shook with the might of Starlight's descending hoof. If the former looked distraught, the latter more resembled a widow about to throw herself onto her dearly departed's bonfire. “I think we're just about done here.”
Sunset gulped down a mouthful of air. “But if we don't cover everything, Twilight will just...”
“Look, I'll admit that I haven't known Twilight as long as you have...and most of that time, I kind of hated her.” Starlight looked about nervously, as if making certain no one else was listening in, before continuing. “I'm grateful that she took me in, considering all I've done, and she is a wonderful and intelligent pony, but...I don't think she needs all of this information, do you?”
A look of amazement worked its way across Sunset's facial features. “You mean we...don't tell Twilight everything?”
“If I know Twilight as well as I think I do, the minute she sees this report, she's going to be trying to get in touch with every magical expert in Equestria. She's going to demand even more tests, more exams, more everything, until she's pulled you apart and found every single thing that's wrong with you. It's not that she's mean or conniving or anything, but she's absolutely thorough in her research. That's the only reason she would be so awful with that last question.”
Sunset, having no real counter to Starlight's point, nodded.
“What we have up to this point at least establishes that you're homesick. That's totally understandable given the circumstances. Twilight can take that information, mix it with whatever is going on over there, and figure out a solution to your immediate problem without trying to look for everything else.” Starlight's horn lit up, followed by the scroll floating over to the two, rolling itself closed, and landing neatly at Sunset's hooves. “Trust me, this will be enough to satisfy Twilight.”
Sunset's eyes locked onto the parchment, as if afraid it would unfurl itself and a snake would spring loose. It was several moments before she clumsily levitated the scroll into her saddlebags. “Th-Thanks,” she said, her eyes never once looking away from where the scroll had previously resided. “But why are you...?”
“Pushing you out the door?”
That was not quite what Sunset had planned to say, but the sentiment was close enough to warrant a nod.
“Well, a part of it is because I had other things I wanted to do today, at least before Spike threw all this on me, but...” Starlight paused, took a deep breath, and continued. “If Twilight's told you about me, then I'm sure she told you I did some...terrible things. And she said you did some really bad things, too.”
The first part was admittedly lost on Sunset – after all, Princess Twilight had neglected to tell her anything about her pupil other than that she existed – but the second she was all-too-familiar with. “I think 'bad things' is a bit of an understatement,” she said, her head drooping as she did so. “I was a monster.”
“And so was I,” said Starlight. “I did some...very bad things to some very good ponies. And yes, it all ended up working out after Twilight and her friends did their magical friendship hoopla, and I'm now able to face the ponies I wronged without feeling like they hate me...but I'm still not completely comfortable back there, and never will be. I've kind of...found a much happier life here in Ponyville, at least. And seeing you go through all this because Twilight is being pedantic was just a bit too much, I suppose.”
Sunset wiped her eyes dry and climbed back to her hooves. A familiar confidence seemed to work its way up her spine, causing her fur to bristle and her mane to faintly shimmer. “You're right. Equestria may have been where I started, but I've found a life worth living on the other side. And I'm not about to give that up, not until I know I've done my best to fix this.”
The filly trotted over to Starlight and gaze her a quick nuzzle to the breast. Starlight blushed and fidgeted from the mostly unwelcome physical contact, but she couldn't help but give a nervous smile as she did so. “I'm so glad that's settled. Now, I think you should be getting back to Twilight.”
Sunset turned her attention to the waiting mirror – her doorway back to what amounted to her normal life. With a look that radiated her restored sense of pride, she began marching towards the reflective surface. Her mission had been a success. Her saddlebag contained everything she needed to give to Twilight at this stage. Dignity was so close...
"THERE YOU ARE!”
Alas, she had tarried too long, for the predator had found its prey.
A mass of pink charged from the library door and pounced upon Sunset, glomping her against the ground like some sort of hideous marshmallow blob. To her horror, the filly found herself staring up at her friend Pinkie Pie's pony counterpart. She may have been an equine, but the mad look in her eyes was just as disconcerting as when she had opposable thumbs. “Hey, Sunset Shimmer!”
Starlight raced to the site of the cataclysmic crash. “Pinkie Pie, what are you doing?!”
“I'd REALLY like to know,” Sunset grunted.
Pinkie Pie turned her head upwards, took in a massive breath of air, and looked back down at the filly like a timberwolf about to devour its next meal. “I was making a new batch of cinnamon-truffle cupcakes for Rainbow Dash to give to the Wonderbolts when my Pinkie Sense started telling me that somepony I know from out of town was now in town and that they were about to have a birthday!”
Sunset's pupils dilated. “Oh, no...”
“So I thought up every pony I knew that wasn't in town normally! I thought it was Cheese Sandwich, but then I remembered his birthday was five moons ago! Then I remembered it was close to Limestone's birthday, but she wouldn't come out all the way to Ponyville unless it was business. And then I remembered that the other, weird-looking me was asking about how long ponies carry their babies and figured out that she wanted to know when you were born! Which meant it might be your birthday I was sensing!”
Cold sweat poured down Sunset's face.
A magical aura covered Pinkie's body as Starlight tried to telekinetically pull Pinkie off of her latest victim. The unicorn grunted and groaned as the pink pony struggled against her hold, but after ten agonizing seconds she was finally able to lift her friend off of Sunset. The filly, for her part, was still lying on her back, her hooves clutched close to her barrel, while she regarded the spectacle like a kitten whose owner was about to sneeze.
“Pinkie, Sunset was just leaving,” said Starlight. “I'm certain she doesn't need to hear you rambling about...” She paused and looked back at the filly. “Um...is Pinkie right about your birthday, by any chance?”
Before Sunset could mutter a denial, Pinkie Pie's voice boomed across the room. “Of course I'm right! Now, we have a lot of planning to do. Cakes to bake, tables to decorate, party games to plan....ooh, and guests! We have to invite all of your friends! You, Twilight, the other us, Princess Celestia...”
And with that, Sunset disappeared. The only evidence that she had ever been there were the streaks of flame leading to the mirror.
No sooner had the rainbow tunnel dissipated than Sunset found herself falling face-down into the sidewalk. The girl gasped and shook as her vision cleared, revealing to her the hands that once again replaced her forehooves. She could feel the backpack still strapped around her, and a small bumping sound indicated it still held the scroll. Her clothes were the same as when she had departed, as was the rest of the features she could make out without a mirror. Including, unfortunately, her height and age.
"THERE YOU ARE!”
That voice...
Sunset's heart sank into her spleen as she looked up. Standing next to the ashamed Twilight and Princess Twilight was Pinkie Pie, the human one, beaming a massive smile. And in her hands was a large, glitter-covered notebook.
A notebook entitled Sunset Shimmer's Birthday Planner.
Sunset Shimmer let out a scream. Everything went black...
...And the moment Sunset Shimmer regained consciousness, she realized she was no longer at the school. She was back in one of Twilight's parents' comfy chairs, her body having almost sank completely into the seat's surface. Sitting across from her on the couch was Princess Twilight, as was a pile of books. “You're awake!” the princess exclaimed.
“Ugh...yeah, I guess.” Sunset slowly leaned forward, stopping just short of falling out of the chair itself. She rubbed her forehead with one hand, but the pounding in her head refused to be massaged back into order. “I-I remember Pinkie Pie holding up a book...something about parties...she's been using the mirror...”
“I knew about everything but that last one. When this is over, both Pinkies and I are having a long talk. Not to mention Spike...” Princess Twilight sighed and pulled one of the books out of the pile. “You fainted right after Pinkie showed you her party planner. Thankfully, she was at least considerate enough to allow us to take you home instead of trying to drag things out further.”
The princess sighed as she opened the book. “Look, it's not my place to pry – Celestia knows I've done more than enough of that today – but this birthday party keeps popping up and...I think you'll have to confront it at some point.”
“And I will, but not until I'm back to my right age.” Sunset mumbled and propped her head up with both hands. “So, where's human you?”
Princess Twilight sighed and motioned her head in the direction of the garage. “She asked me to have you go out there when you woke up. Something about that bike she was working on.” A devilish grin crossed Princess Twilight's lips. “Orrrrr, you could stay with me and study Age Magic. Perhaps there's something here that can get you back to normal faster.”
Sunset smirked. As if there's really a choice. Bikes may be fun, but there is serious work to be...
That was the exact moment she saw the book Princess Twilight was holding. At first glance, it appeared to be no different than any other magical textbook, but there was a subtle aura of horror radiating from its pages. The cover looked to be made from some kind of genuine hide, something that was particularly frowned upon in Equestria. When Princess Twilight realized she was being watched, she allowed the book to tip downward just enough for Sunset to catch the ancient runes scrawled in what looked like blood. And then there was the blobs of white binding...the glue that Sunset, even from this distance, could recognize as coming from horses...
Somewhere in the distance, Sunset Shimmer could hear the wailing cries of the Great Old Ponies...
Twilight had just finished setting the bike down on the garage floor when Sunset appeared, seemingly materializing out of thin air. Her mouth was twisted into a forced smile as her eyes quivered with fear for her very soul. “So, bikes are cool! Let's ride bikes! Yeah, bikes bikes bikes!”
Stats
Page generated in 0.024 seconds
Total duration
999 users online
1,879,668 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Woah! So many things to talk about! Pinkie Syncs! ... Gotta go, so gonna say that ending was great!
... That Arcanus E Draconus! WOAH!
Typos:
frazzles hairs > frazzled
What kinds of things > What kind of things
The dam had become breaking, > The dam was breaking,
8316163
Fixed. Thanks.
This was quite the chapter!
8316163
Isn't that the book Luna used on Celestia in "My Little Alicorn"!
I am really liking this!
That was a great chapter can't wait for the next one
Huh. So this story is in the same continuity as mla? Or was that book just an easter egg?
Enjoyable chapter. Keep it up, man!
EIGHTY-EIGHT MILES PER HOUR!
HOLY SHIT TWILIGHT!! Where in the HELL did you get that book?! I mean I know you want to be thorough, but HOLY FUCK! Seriously, what made you think that was in any way a good idea and how did Celestia allow you to escape with it???
Yeah, I was never a fan of big parties either. I'm with ya, Sunny.
Good to see that Sunset still takes two scoops of self-esteem in her morning cereal...
Not to mention the way he dealt with the black pool of evil that birthed the changelings, according to the comic. Just leaving up a sign that read "[Probably] Evil, keep out"
Sunset: "Something about trying to ruin her life with time travel.
Starlight: "...oh..."
Sunset: "I went for trying to take over two worlds with zombified teenagers, myself."
Trixie "Trixie used a powerful magic artifact to turn Ponyville into Fascist Trixieville!"
Luna: "I went for the classic 'Night that Never Ends',."
Starlight: "...and suddenly I have some perspective."
Luna: "Verily. Also you can have a T-shirt that we've been designing for the club. You too, Sunset."
8320048
Hey, I just got here!
This has been floating on my read later list for a while; now in a bit of a drought, I finally got to it.
And it is at the same level of quality as your previous works in this vein, and is thus always a joy to read.
Regarding last chapter, as a British Person, I always find the American treatment of coffee as some near-alcoholic substance somewhere been polite amusement and bafflement; tea of course - heretics such as myself aside - has a fair bit of caffine in it too (though google tells me less than coffee) and that is pretty normal. Also, decaf is a thing...
Noting your discontent at your own writing schedule, there is at least one silver lining - you are able to weave more recent developments in a bit, which is nice!
So, great work and I will, as always, wait patiently for as/when (or if it comes down to that - we have after all, lost a fair few of the greats ovber the last year or two to lack of time or enthuiasm - if) the next chapter comes out.