Interlude V: Coronation
Sunset Shimmer was not an early riser. Even during the last few months, during the nights when she was comforting Little Twi and sleeping next to her, she refused to get up easily. Twilight had gotten used to waking her up in the morning.
But the morning of her coronation, Little Twi came to her room to find that she hadn’t slept a wink. She had bags under her eyes that were still present, despite her attendants’ best efforts to cover them.
“Nervous?”
“Nervous? Why would I be... ouch!” she said.
“If you keep fidgeting, we’ll never get your mane straightened out,” one of her hairdressers said.
Sunset sulked. She clearly wanted to be alone with her friend. Still, she sat quietly and let the makeover happen.
Spike the Dog, still walking on all fours despite getting more used to his dragon body, looked up at Sunset. “What’s up with all the add-ons? I would have thought ponies wouldn’t be as obsessed with frilly stuff.”
“Don’t knock it until you try it,” Sunset said. Then she smiled. “In fact, I’m pretty sure Princess Twilight has a tux for you.”
Spike’s eyes widened. “She wouldn’t,” Spike said in horror. He looked at his Twilight. ”You wouldn’t make me, would you?”
“Yes, Spike, I would. For this one event, you need to dress nicely.”
Spike’s eyes widened in horror. “But... you promised you’d never make me! Dogs don’t wear clothes!”
“You’re not a dog right now, you’re a dragon. And it’s only going to be for today. This is a special occasion.”
“Can’t I get out of it?”
“Little one, Princess Celestia herself is wearing a dress for this event. Do you understand what that says? The Princesses never dress up unless it’s truly important to them. Celestia didn’t wear a dress to the Grand Galloping Gala until her student ran it... not even the Royal Wedding was something she saw fit to dress up for. But the fact that she commissioned a dress for this... She must truly think it’s important.”
The manedresser hadn’t meant to make her client nervous, but Little Twi saw Sunset’s discomfort grow with every world. Without even meaning to, she had accomplished what she wanted and got her to stop fidgeting.
“Hey, Sunset, don’t worry,” Little Twi said, patting Sunset’s... shoulder? She wasn’t sure what the pony equivalent of that was. “You’re going to do great out there.”
“I should say so. After all, she was hoof-picked by a centuries-old ruler. They don’t make mistakes. And everything you’re going to accomplish as a princess? I can’t wait! Princess Luna has cleaned up the law books while she was educating herself on what had changed. Princess Cadance stopped an invasion of the Changelings and led the Crystal Empire in peace. Princess Twilight had vowed to bring an end to the discrimination of nonponies. And Princess Celestia has done so much. Fought great enemies, created democracy, brought sweeping mental health reforms. Oh, you have a lot to live up to, but I’m sure you’ll make it. Well, we’re done.” The manedresser levitated a mirror up to her face. “What do you think?”
Sunset didn’t see much in the mirror. Little Twi could see her eye twitching out of worry.
“Well, I’m sure she thinks it’s fine,” Little Twi said quickly. “Now why don’t you go help the other princesses?”
The manedressers, missing the tension they had caused, left the room. Once the doors were closed, she turned to her friend. “I know you're nervous, but…”
“I don’t belong here,” Sunset said. Well, said was not the correct word, as it implies that it was said at a decibel level that was normal for her.
It was stunning, seeing Sunset talk like this. For as long as she had known her, she had been the solid crutch she had leaned on to recover from Midnight Sparkle. She knew of her past, but had a hard time picturing it.
And yet, here she was, as vulnerable as she had been.
“I’m no leader. I barely have my own act together. What was the Princess thinking, putting me in a position of power? I need to tell her no. She’s made the wrong decision, she...”
“Sunset,” Little Twi said. The word came out softly, but it halted the alicorn’s ever frantic words very effectively. “Sunset... you’re fine. You’re going to do fine.”
Sunset had stopped breathing heavily, but she still looked nervous. “But... how...”
“Sunset... you’re a leader already. Don’t tell me you’re not. With everything I’ve seen you do over the last few months, I know you’re the leader of the Rainbooms. You were the one who helped me find myself after all that dark magic. When we all started using magic, you immediately started coming up with plans. You’re a leader already. This is just making it official.”
Sunset didn’t look convinced, but she started to calm down. She fidgeted around, looking like she’d rather be anywhere else.
“I... I don’t know,” she said.
“Well, look, you told me that when you were recovering from what the Element of Magic did to you, you took things one day at a time. Well, let’s take this one thing at a time. We’ll get through the coronation. Then you told me that your first assignment was to oversee first contact with Terra. You were going to do that anyway. And when we finish that up, we can worry about what happens next.”
“...Yeah,” Sunset said. She actually looked relieved now. “I feel a little better.”
“What’s next?”
“I have to go get my dress,” Sunset said. “And come to think of it, all of you need to get dressed. We better get moving.”
Little Twi felt relieved. Sunset was now focusing on what needed to be done. Once the coronation was over, she suspected a lot of anxiety would be back, and she promised herself that she would be there for her.
“Come on, let’s get moving,” Sunset said. “Let’s go.”
Little Twi gave her a smile. The two set off out of the room, side-by-side.
After a moment, Little Twi stuck her head back into the room. “Spike? Come on, you need to get fitted for a tux.”
Spike the Dog sighed, walking toward the door. “Do I have to?”
“Yes, Spike. It’s only one event.”
Even in his dragon body, Spike’s puppy eyes were dangerous. But Little Twi was not moved. “Just this once, Spike. I promise, we can do something fun afterward.”
Giving a growl of irritation, Spike marched out of the room.
Princess Twilight had managed to put aside her quest to discover the answer to Discord’s riddle, and was putting the finishing touches on the decorations. In just a few hours, the elite of Equestria, ambassadors from foriegn lands, and special guests, all of whom wanted to see the newest princess of Equestria.
She smiled, both feeling proud of Sunset and nervous for her at the same time. There would be suitors, manipulators, and the like. It was a relief to her that Sunset’s first assignment would be away on Terra, where politics couldn’t touch her... for a little while.
She took a deep breath. One step at a time. She remembered Dr. Hope’s instructions. When you feel overwhelmed, focus on what you have to do now. Right now, that was the coronation.
She laughed. She was probably worrying more about Sunset than Sunset was worrying about herself. She might have been Celestia’s student first, but Twilight couldn’t help but feel somewhat responsible for Sunset’s actions after the Fall Formal. She had fretted over her decision to banish Sunset instead of bringing her back to Equestria. Obviously, it had worked out. But before she had figured out a way to get back, she feared her return to Terra would be met with Sunset ruling that world with an iron fist.
Yet another worry of hers that seemed silly in hindsight.
After she made a few last-minute adjustments, she left the throne room and made her way to the dressing rooms. Captain Flash and Sugarcoat followed right behind her. For once, she didn’t object to her guards. At an event like this, there were bound to be ponies she wanted to keep away from her.
She arrived at the dressing room that was filled with two sets of ponies. One half was her Canterlot High friends, their manes dyed various different colors to stop the ponies not in the know from noticing anything strange. They were all in various states of dress, and were all chatting about the same thing: how awkward it was to dress with pony bodies.
Indeed, every Equestrian counterpart was helping their human half get dressed. Rarity was already finished, her magic giving her the advantage, and Pinkie seemed to have it down. But the others were trapped as living mannequins (or whatever the Equestrian equivalent to that word was) as their counterparts worked.
“I didn’t think anybody could work like that with their mouth,” Applejack said as her counterpart worked to tie a ribbon at her back.
“I did,” Little Dash said. “I’ve seen a human use his mouth to roll a cigarette.”
“Where'd you see that?” Little Rarity asked, seeming half-appalled and half-curious.
“A video online. Some old footage of one of those freak shows. This one guy was born with no arms and legs, but learned to use his mouth to do anything.”
“Freak shows?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking up from connecting an earring on her counterpart’s ear.
The humans now looked a bit uncomfortable. “Well, there was a time a while ago where they would... well, there are some humans that are born...”
“I think I know,” Twilight said. The group all looked at her. They hadn’t noticed that she had come in. “I’m thinking these freak shows are a lot like the Carnival of Oddities shows we used to have in Equestria.”
“Ah,” Rainbow Dash suddenly said, turning to her human self. “Figures you guys would have something like that.”
“Wait...” Little AJ said, “you guys had stuff like that?”
“Horrid affairs where ponies mocked those different from them? I’m afraid we had.something like that.”
That surprised the humans. “Really?”
“I hear it’s still happening in some places,” the pony version of Applejack said. “I heard a rumor that this carnival captured a few ponies overseas and forced them to perform.”
“That’s... a bit surprising,” Little Rarity said.
“How so?” Rarity asked.
“Don’t you guys worship friendship?” Little Dash said. “Aren’t you guys above that?”
“And you have Princess Celestia,” Little AJ said. “Wouldn’t she put a stop to things like that?”
“The Princess can’t be everywhere at once,” Twilight said. “She always had to delegate, especially during the thousand years when Princess Luna was away, and to do that she had to make compromises. She has been working toward reversing them, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.”
“So she let those kinds of things happen?”
“Oh yeah. There’s a lot that’s gone on in Equestria. Racism, bad orphanages...” Twilight trailed off.
Seeing the situation getting awkward, Applejack stepped in. “Trust me, I have a feeling that Gaia would be a wreck if we didn’t have so many immortals running things. The Creator blessed us with a good ruler.”
“Not so much the Changelings,” Rainbow Dash muttered. “Wonder who put Chrysalis in charge.”
Without even meaning to, Rainbow Dash had dug up more anxieties. Queen Chrysalis was still out there, and there was likely a human version of her leading the Changeling Mafia on Terra.
She shook her head, trying to get those thoughts out of her mind. Today was a happy occasion. She had done everything she could, and there were ponies working on the other issues at that moment.
“So where does Chrysalis come from?” Little Dash asked.
“Your guess is as good as ours,” Rarity said. “It’s strange. The Changelings seemed to come out of nowhere. We hadn’t even heard of them before the wedding.”
There was a pained expression that crossed the face of every Equestrian born in the room. The humans had already picked up on the fact that, whatever had happened, the wedding between Princess Cadance and Shining Armor had not been a completely happy memory for Twilight and her friends.
“Come on, we better get moving,” Rainbow Dash said. “We only have another thirty minutes.”
The throne room was decorated as extravagantly as it had been when Twilight had been coronated. Perhaps even more extravagantly, as Celestia this time had some idea as to how to decorate. Twilight had always been a pony that had eschewed the fancy trappings of her position, something that Celestia had found respectable, but it made it hard to set up any celebration for her.
Sunset, however, was someone who liked extravagance. Even after putting aside her selfish nature, there was a part of her that liked being the center of attention, that liked admiration and attention. Of course, her recent change in behavior caused her to seek real love and admiration as opposed to the forced worship and fear she had had as the queen of Canterlot High, which was more than enough.
The throne room was decorated with orange flowers, matching Sunset’s coat. In fact, orange and red were the colors that were most prominent.
At the head of the room stood the four Princesses of Equestria. Twilight stood to the left, looking nervous. Even after all this time, she felt out of place among royalty. Whether it was sitting high at the Equestrian Games or at any royal dinner, she found that she would rather be in her library, or with her friends.
But now wasn’t the time to worry about that. This was about Sunset. She stood tall and let her mentor speak.
“My little ponies,” Celestia said. “We are here celebrating a glorious occasion. In recent years, we have been blessed with two more alicorns. Harmony has sent more of us to guide Gaia to peace. And it seems that Harmony has seen fit to bless another one of my pupils with an ascension.
“You may remember Sunset Shimmer, the student I had before Twilight Sparkle. She left Equestria because she needed to find her own way to greatness. And I was never happier or prouder than when she returned to me with a fresh set of wings.
“And it is without any further delay that I introduce you to the newest Princess in Equestria, Princess Sunset Shimmer!”
The doors to the throne room opened, and Princess Sunset Shimmer came through. Coming behind her were four hoofmaidens and four guards, singing her praises. It gave Twilight a bit of nostalgia, remembering her own coronation.
She looked at Sunset, who was smiling warmly as she strode up to her fellow princesses. Twilight was relieved to see her look so in her element. She knew that once Sunset was in her element, she’d quit worrying.
Sunset felt like she was dying. She saw all the eyes on her, everypony watching this new princess who had been away from her kingdom for so long that she should be a stranger. She loved attention, but this wasn’t the kind that she deserved. She was sure she must be making a foal of herself somehow. Sweet Celestia, she wanted this to be over.
Every step towards the four ponies she was expected to rule alongside felt like she was pulling weights. Her heart quickened. She was trying, very hard, to put on the calm, confident air that she had perfected as the queen bee of Canterlot High, when she needed to hide how afraid she was that someone would stand up to her.
She made her way to the stage. She stood tall, but tried not to appear like she was standing stiff with fear, which she was.
“Sunset Shimmer. You have accomplished much in your time away. You have risen above great adversity, fought foes that Starswirl the Bearded feared, and brought peace to a faraway land.”
All carefully constructed to be both true and misleading. Sunset might have had a snarky response to that had she been the same pony she had been long ago.
The four ponies that stood before her looked so calm, so composed. She would be surprised to hear later that Cadance had been visibly discomforted by her baby kicking.
“It is our pleasure to welcome you among our ranks.” Princess Celestia said. She lit up her horn. Out of a box behind her came the crown. It wasn’t a fancy one, it was very simple, almost identical to Twilight’s. She placed it on Sunset’s head.
“By Harmony’s will, I crown you a princess of Equestria. The Princess of Empathy!”
There was cheering. There was stomping. The entire room... no, the entire country was cheering for her.
“And now, Sunset Shimmer will give her coronation speech.”
Sunset felt her mouth dry. She was nervous. She turned to the crowd, who were all looking at her, eager to hear her first words as princess.
In this crowd, she saw her friends. Her Canterlot High friends, their manes dyed, all looking at her with encouragement. When Princess Twilight had been crowned, her friends had been allowed to stand at her side. They were both known allies and the Bearers of the Elements, so there was nothing to hide. But for her? There needed to be secrecy, so they had been banished to the crowd.
Still, they were there, and they were supporting her, and it meant a lot to her. So, feeling a bit more brave, she opened her mouth to speak.
In the previous days, she had prepared a speech. But now, with all eyes on her, the words left her brain. Her pause was only momentary, only those that were watching closely noticed. She decided to open her mouth and started speaking.
“Citizens of Equestria,” Sunset said, looking around at the crowd. “I left Equestria for a long time because there were lessons I needed to learn that Princess Celestia couldn’t teach me. They were things that no teacher could teach me. I needed to learn them myself.
“I never knew the mare and stallion that were my parents. The Princess found me in an orphanage. Every day I was there, I worked hard, determined to make something of myself. My hard work paid off in the end, and I got the most illustrious position a student of Equestria could receive.
“But even having that, there were things I needed that I couldn’t find there. My education had to take me elsewhere. So I made the decision to leave, and in no time I found myself in a strange world.
“At first, I wasn’t sure I had made the right decision. It was a strange place, completely unlike anything I had ever seen or even read about. I was in that land for several years, and it wasn’t until a year ago, when I met Princess Twilight Sparkle, did I understand what lessons I needed to learn.
“It was from learning these lessons that Harmony deemed me worthy to ascend. It was a goal I had strived to reach, but one that I never could if I chased it with the fervor that I had been.
“When I was in that foriegn land, I learned lessons that couldn’t be taught in a mere classroom. Some of them were hard learned, but I came out of it a much wiser pony. It was enough that I was granted this ascension when I wasn’t even trying.
“I’m sure that you’re all wondering about my plans as a princess of Equestria. I have decided that I will dedicate the first few years of my reign to helping Princess Twilight Sparkle with her plan on bringing the different nations of Gaia and strengthening our connections with the other races.
“For now, I’ll be returning to this distant land to continue my work. I am hoping that Equestria can have good relations with them in the future. And I promise you that some of their inventions will revolutionize the way we live in Equestria. I have seen the value in the way they do things, and how we can help them with our magic in return.
“I promise you, I will work to strengthen our ties to other countries, and in doing so improve the lives of the common pony in Equestria.”
The speech ended up getting a lot of cheering, and a lot of hoof-stamping. But as Sunset looked over the crowd, she noticed that much of it coming from the civilians that were filling out the crowd. A few nobles and politicians were celebrating as well, but she saw them.
She saw those whose hoof stomps were half-hearted, polite things. Those that weren’t happy.
Her speech had made her a few enemies.
The coronation had turned into socializing. Ponies talked amongst themselves, trading gossip. Even without going into the crowd, Sunset knew it was all about her.
Several ponies came up to her. Prince Blueblood, who was just old enough to remember her but young enough to not have known her personally, asked what her secret was that kept her looking so young. A few more asked her what she planned to do to help fill the royal coffers. Sunset responded by looking around the large throne room, the fancy dresses, the golden armored guards, and said it looked like the coffers were plenty full. That didn’t win her many supporters.
Then Duke Privilege introduced himself.
“I’ve heard about you,” Sunset said, trying to keep the disdain out of her voice.
“And I’ve heard of you,” Duke Privilege said. “It seems that Princess Celestia has a knack for picking students. You might be the loveliest mare I’ve ever seen.”
“Really? I heard you said that to Princess Twilight shortly after her coronation. And a few times before your coronation. And I heard you were trying to cozy up to her quite a bit when you were both foals. After she became Princess Celestia’s personal student, it seems a lot of nobles were encouraging their foals to get in good with her.”
Sunset was grateful she kept her voice even. The statement annoyed her, both because it was obviously flirting and because the statement reminded her that Celestia had made a mistake with her.
“Yes, I had to follow my father’s will, and I did find Princess Twilight quite lovely, but that was before I knew true beauty.”
“Uh-huh,” Sunset said, unimpressed.
“What do you say to a nice, private dinner sometime soon?”
“Well, gee, as great as that sounds, I’m going to have to decline. I have a lot of work to do.”
“This soon in office?” Privilege asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yep. There’s a lot Princess Twilight needs to talk to me about, and I need to prepare for my excursion to a foreign land.”
“And what is this foreign land?”
“That’s a secret,” Sunset said, really hoping that he would drop the subject. During her time at Canterlot High, she had picked up all kinds of ways to keep nosy pests out of her business, but they were the less “playing politics” type and more the “dig up blackmail material or extortion or if all else fails hire the Diamond Dudes to beat them up” kind of trick.
Privilege did indeed drop the matter of what this foriegn land was, but he ended up picking a far worse topic. “So, you have a suitor as well?”
Sunset felt nervous at that, and she wasn’t sure why. The answer to that was obvious.
“No, I don’t.” And it was the truth. No one was courting her, and no one had caught her eye.
...No, for some reason, she felt that was a lie.
“Is Princess Twilight’s suitor from this foreign land?”
It took all of Sunset’s discipline not to show her worry. “What makes you think Princess Twilight has a suitor?”
“Why is she rejecting every suitor that comes to her?”
There were several snarky answers that Sunset considered before settling on the one that she thought was best. “Twilight’s books are her best suitors. Nopony can pull her away from them.” She would have much rather pointed her sarcasm at Privilege, but conflict wasn’t what she needed.
“...I suppose that’s true,” Privilege said, though he didn’t sound completely convinced. Still he changed the subject. Unfortunately, what he changed it to was something far worse.
“Anyway, back to us,” he said. “I can tell you’re no fool. You left Celestia because you know you deserve more.”
Sunset stiffened. She immediately hated herself for giving Privilege such an obvious clue, but it was too late.
“Oh yes, I know,” the Duke said to her. “Celestia did her best to cover up the real reason you left, but she couldn’t stop gossipy maids from talking about your dissatisfaction. My father heard that you were seeking your rightful place.”
He leaned in close, whispering in her ear. “Princess Twilight squanders her power worrying about people who don’t matter. She even tries dressing that little pet of hers up like he’s a pony. But you... if even Celestia was too small for your ambition, then you must have bigger plans. We can work together to make them happen.”
He pulled back with a grin, but it quickly turned to a look of fear.
Sunset looked angry. It wasn’t just annoyance, or even rage. It was a pure, white hot fury, the kind that’s extraordinarily painful just to feel the way it makes blood boil. Privilege had just enough time to make a step back before it happened.
CRACK
The sound echoed throughout the room, effectively silencing it. Every head turned into the direction of it, wondering if somepony had just slapped somepony else.
Instead, they saw that Privilege was standing there with a shocked look on his face. The newly crowned Princess Sunset had disappeared.
CRACK
Sunset appeared in her bedroom. The anger still burned in her, but it was being drowned by another feeling.
Sadness.
She lowered her head. The crown fell off, hitting the ground with a clatter and rolling away. She walked toward her bed, her slippers falling off as she did.
She hit the pillow and began to cry.
Shame filled her. Shame of what she had done. Shame at running away from Celestia, who only wanted to help her. Shame at everything she had done to the students at Canterlot High. Shame that she had been given everything she had ever wanted after proving herself unworthy of it.
And now, shame that she had probably embarrassed Celestia by teleporting away.
She didn’t know how long she had been crying before the voice broke through her thoughts. “Sunset?”
She looked up, jumping a bit in surprise. Little Twi... her Twilight Sparkle, was there, looking at her in concern.
“Twilight? You...”
“What happened? Was that pony harassing you? Celestia has him taken into custody until they figure out what’s going on. The guards say he’ll probably be released in an hour, but ponies freaked out a little...”
Twilight was cut off by something that was a bit unfamiliar. Sunset jumped at her, wrapping her forelegs around her neck and cried into her barrel.
Twilight was caught off guard. This was a position that was outside her comfort zone. In the last few months, she had been the one crying in Sunset’s arms, letting herself be vulnerable to this strong friend of hers.
Now, however, this girl that she had seen as a strong warrior, a literal angel that had pulled her from the darkness, was a sobbing wreck, clinging to her for comfort. It was surreal.
But her body acted on its own. Her forelegs wrapped around her, and for a while the two just lay there, letting Sunset cry herself out. It was a few minutes before they said something, once Sunset had quieted..
“Sunset... I know you’re upset... but maybe we better change out of these dresses. The other Rarity will probably have an aneurysm if she sees her work being wrinkled.”
Sunset actually laughed. The two removed their fancy dresses, and Twilight hung them with care. Then she returned to Sunset, wrapping her forelegs around her.
“So... do you want to talk about it?”
“...I just...” Sunset laughed again. “I’m sorry. I keep telling you that you shouldn’t hang on to your past. But here I am, still not able to escape mine.”
“What did that pony say to you?” Twilight asked.
“He said he could tell that I was a pony who knew what was important. I could tell he wanted me to go against the other princesses.”
“And that got to you?”
“Well... it reminded me of the old me... of who I used to be. And... I guess it’s surreal. A year ago I was a horrible person, planning to enslave all my classmates and conquer my birthplace. And now, here I am, being put in charge of the very ponies I had set out to hurt and being heaped with praise by the pony I turned my back on. They say Harmony doesn’t make mistakes, but I wonder if there might be a first time for everything.”
“Sunset... you realize you're talking to someone that you are literally an angel to? You pulled me out of the worst experience of my life, and you’ve been there for me every single time I’ve needed you since. I’d say you’re not the same anymore.”
“That’s what everyone keeps telling me,” Sunset said. “I don’t know why you can’t believe it.”
“Well, here’s something else to think about. You kept talking about all the things you were going to do for Equestria. Maybe Harmony made you an Alicorn because She wanted you to atone for your mistakes by helping others?”
Sunset considered that. “Maybe...”
“When I was Midnight Sparkle... when I was that monster, wrecking havoc... you still saw the good in me and pulled me out of it. Trust me, Harmony made no mistakes. She made you an Alicorn so you could keep helping people like me.”
Sunset didn’t respond to that right away. She considered her words carefully. Finally, she looked up at Twilight and opened her mouth.
Before she could get her thought out, a knock was heard at the door. “Sunset?”
Princess Celestia’s words sent jolts down both their spines. Twilight felt herself untangle from Sunset, not sure why but feeling like she had just been caught doing something inappropriate.
“Um, yes?”
The door opened and Celestia came in. She came in looking worried, causing Twilight to look nervous. She had never seen the Princess look this off balance.
“Was Privilege bothering you? He told me he was just talking to you about a possible political deal, but I don’t think you’d react so strongly over something like that.”
Sunset opened her mouth, but the words wouldn’t come out. She took a deep breath and then spoke. “He... he was trying to make a deal with me to go against Twilight... Princess Twilight,” she said, clarifying. “He kept telling me he saw... that I was...” Sunset was beginning to break up. “I’m sorry, he just kept saying things that reminded me who I used to be and... I’m sorry, I’ve embarrassed you and...”
Celestia had her wings around her an instant later. “Sunset, it’s okay. This was a mistake, but it can be fixed.” She hugged her student a moment longer. Then she broke apart and looked her in the eyes. “Sunset... you let yourself appear vulnerable in public today. That is something bad. The citizens of Equestria need to believe you’re as strong and capable as I know you are. You can’t give them any room to doubt you. But we can fix this easy. This one mistake isn’t as big as you think it is.”
Celestia’s assurances calmed her quite a bit.
Celestia took a deep breath. “Now... did Privilege say anything inappropriate to you?”
“Well... he did hit on me... made a lot of comments about my looks.”
“That’s perfect. There are already rumors flying around that he was trying to sway you. Everypony knows about his efforts to court Princess Twilight. If we release him and say it was a private disagreement between two ponies, he should keep quiet. If ponies were aware he was turned down by two princesses, it would make him a laughingstock. Rumors will fly, but they’ll fade.”
Sunset was quiet. She was calmer, but guilt still grew in her. Celestia was cleaning up another one of her messes.
Celestia hugged her again. “I need to get back. I need to finish smoothing this over, and then I have other duties tonight. But tomorrow evening, we can talk. Can I get you anything else?”
“...No,” Sunset said at last. “No, I think I’ll be okay. Can you tell the others that I’m okay, and that I’m sorry for running off? I’d go to them myself, but... I want to be alone right now.”
Celestia smiled. “Of course.” She leaned in and kissed Sunset above the horn. “You’re a strong mare, Sunset. You’re going to do me proud.”
She kissed her two more times before letting her go. She left the room, obviously anxious to get back to the coronation and smooth things over.
There was a moment of silence before Twilight got up. “If you want to be alone, I can go...”
“Wait,” Sunset said. “I just didn’t want everypony here. I don’t want a lot of people around. But... could you stay with me tonight? Please?”
“After everything you did for me? Of course.” She moved towards the bed, but stopped. “I need to make sure my Spike is calm. Let me take care of that, and I’ll be right back.”
Sunset nodded. Twilight left. Sunset climbed into bed, pulling the covers over her. She sat there, running the events of that night through her mind. She cringed every time. Why couldn’t she keep a cap on her emotions?
Thirty minutes later, Little Twi returned. She closed the door behind her, walked over to the bed, and climbed in. Her forelegs wrapped around Sunset and pulled her into a hug. Sunset snuggled in close, placing her head on Twilight’s barrel.
They didn’t say a word that night. Sunset felt better almost immediately. Within minutes, she fell asleep.
Stats
Page generated in 0.037 seconds
Total duration
625 users online
659,419 hits today, 1,822,946 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.®
Ahh, yes. So glad to see this updated.
Poor Sunset. But in many ways, this was necessary - not just for her, I think, but definitely very much so for Sci-Twi. It's good that they both can really rely on and be a source of strength to each other.
Celesta needs to have had a better eye on her nobility. These fools are sounding all the CB. They will cause issues.
Oh, is that Sunlight hints I'm seeing? Also, yay, you updated, and fuck Privilege for his insult of Spike.
It's back! Anyone else want to... give Privilage to five-faced mechanical aliens and tell them to have fun, or give them to one of their OCs to punish him?
Always nice to see a new chapter of this, though I have to ask, is Lyra on good terms with Princess Twilight after the whole incident at Bonbons/Sweetie Drops sweets store?
Cause I know I wouldn't be happy with Twilight after that.
Poor Sunset. This is a lot of stress on her, hitting her all at once. I’m sure she’ll work through everything and help make both worlds a better place though.
Privilege is pure scum though. Trying to manipulate Sunset and insulting Twilight and Spike behind their backs. Sunset was right to slap him.
All I can say is great job on this latest chapter. It took a while, but was quite well worth the wait. The exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up are quite well done in all the right places. I REALLY appreciated Sci-Twi's pep talks to Sunset as well as Princess Twi's admission of Equestria's darker side (which they ARE making progress in improving even if it is going to still take quite a while). I ALSO really enjoyed Sunset slapping that prince for those comments about her friends and Celestia's attempts to reassure Sunset.
Anyway, definitely looking forward to more of this.
YEA!
Glad to see this back. every time it updates i am always left wanting more.
10523892
No... that's entirely overkill. But, it might be interesting if at some point Privilege noticed that Sunset's friend looked a lot like Princess Twilight. And while she might not be a princess herself, might be amenable to a canter in the meadow. <ahem>
All of which might result in a hint of Midnight Sparkle. Just enough to scare him into swearing off stalking girls, and maybe enough to hint that there's always going to be that potential in Sci-Twi, even if she never chooses to intentionally harness it.
From another perspective, if words gets out eventually that this Twilight-alike is in any kind of relationship with their newest princess, it would add to Sunset's reputation if this pony had a clearly dangerous dark side.
10523892
Well, there's a bunch of folks in a nice pit who certainly look hungry.
This was well worth the wait! Great work!
10524128
10524094
Glad to see that you got who I was talking about, giving him to an OC to tor- I mean punish would be more appropriate.
As wretched as that upper class pony was, Sunset's reaction proved just how much she changed.
Thanks for the update and for another great chapter I wonder what Starlight was up to while this was going on? I do hope that in the next chapter that Twilight tells Starlight the turth and she gives Starlight what she really wants a mother. Anyway keep the great work and I hope you will be able to update soon.
Privilege has some brass balls to go with his tiny brain considering what he was proposing to Sunset was flirting with treason, and he was doing so in the same room as the other princesses with someone he didn't have on his side.
Sunset did the right thing in slapping Privilege. Hitting on her and talking shit behind Twilight and Spike's backs? He was asking for it!
I say make that fact public. It will keep Princesses safe from the likes of him.
Huh. Huh. Hadn't thought about that. Kind of a snub against Cadence. Possibly because Celestia had noticed something was off about her but didn't suspect Chrysalis.
Ahem. Yes. Perfectly infallible.
We're working from Princess Twilight's perspective here. Shouldn't she know that?
(I personally use "ponnequin.")
Think you crossed some wires there. First time that name's come up.
Thankfully, Flurry wasn't yet at the point where she was casting spells in utero.
Anyone who's an enemy after that speech you don't want as a friend.
"Time shenanigans."
"Ah. You know, that explains so much about my dear aunts."
"Well, that depends, Your Grace."
)
"Oh? Depends on what?"
"How do you feel about the amplification spell I cast on you when you started whispering to me?"
Privilege looked around the room. Much of the nobility avoided making eye contact with him at any cost. The other princesses were not. The less said about the guards, the better.
(Hey, I can dream.
In any case, we have the makings of a political power couple to be respected and feared. With Sunset and human Twilight supporting one another, worlds may tremble. But first they've got to drag Sunset out of this toxic mindset. Hopefully building bridges between the two worlds and doing other tangible good will help.
Dude insults Twi and Spike to Sunset's face? He is lucky her guilt made her run. Had he pressed a different button her anger might have had her turning him into a statue or a pile of ash.
This story and the larger narrative is already balancing so much that important story beats have been lost, do you really need to pile this on top as well?
Can't we just keep this pointless political stuff out of it?
10523932
Lyra's on good terms with her. The worse that happened was Bon Bon getting tackled and detained for a bit.
10524417
Sunset didn't slap Privilege. The crack was her teleporting.
10526347
This is a story about a race dealing with xenophobia meeting a new race. Politics are going to be a part of it. And this isn't a new plot threat. It's just showing another character's reaction to it. No thread has been lost, it's just in the background right now.
10523932
True, but she could've compromised Bonbon's identity.
Which is just as bad all things considered.
Also, I'm excited to see what kind of shenanigans will go down when Sunburst is found.
10526732
I just want this to get back on track with Cinch plotting her revenge, the revelation with young Sunburst, Sci-Twi's struggles with Midnight Sparkle and the whole involvement of the Changeling gang.
These were what started this narrative back in at the end of Aftermath of the Games, and now they seem secondary to all this PC stuff.
It doesn't feel like the same story as what it started as anymore.
I love this story so far, great world building and all. Can't wait for more chapters.
10526732
A race failing at dealing with xenophobia. A spate of being conquered and subjugated for a change would probably be good for the ponies.
10531402
Or at least show the ponies that they're outclassed in weapons and technology.