Chaos Theory

by Rose Quill

Chapter Fourteen - Homecoming

I watched as Twilight moved various pieces over to the mirror, making delicate connections. I was itching with impatience, despite having heard back from Sunshine about everyone being ok. I fought down the blush as I remembered how she had closed it out.

Keep your promise, Come back to me.

“There,” Twilight said, stepping back from the mirror. “That’s all I can do for now.”

“What do you mean, ‘for now’?” I stood, the bandage around my midsection protesting the motion.

Twilight patted the air with a hoof. “Relax, Sunset,” she said. “I’m waiting for a piece from Canterlot. One of the components had fused and we had to buck it off to disconnect the portal.”

I fidgeted in place. “How long?”

“Starlight should be back before dark,” she said. Her horn lit up and brought out a scroll. “This is all that remains to deal with.”

I recognized the scroll that had somehow exited the portal with me after sealing the Gates. “What’s it say?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “It’s sealed with a locking spell. The sigil is your cutie mark, though, so…”

I took it in my magic grip, and as soon as the teal aura covered it, the seal lit up and the scroll opened. There were just a few glyphs inside.

“Well, that was anti-climatic,” I said.

Then the glyphs blazed with light, and a ghostly image of Star Swirl appeared.

“To the ponies that hear this,” he intoned. “I am Star Swirl the Bearded. Reports of my death were somewhat premature. But then, my body did pass away, I suppose, so it's natural for you to think I had died. I hope I had a good funeral. Hopefully, Celie and Lu didn’t cry too much. I hate it when they cry.”

“Was he really that scatterbrained?” Twilight asked as the recorded image rambled for a bit about funeral hopes.

“Looks like,” I replied. “Hero worship sucks, don’t it?”

She nodded, a slightly glum look on her face.

Star Swirl shook his head. “That’s beside the point,” he said, standing straight again.

“In my research of the Gates, I discovered that I lacked the needed power to permanently seal the Harpies behind them. Part of that was my age, and part was my nature. I was too calm and too disconnected from their depredations to be able to effectively counter their magic. After sealing them into the rift that became the trans-dimensional portal matrix, I realized it wouldn’t hold them indefinitely. I knew from texts that Sirens could neutralize their abilities, but the only remaining ones were mere children and were set on wreaking their own havoc.

“It was then that I set about to prepare the final locks. I began by banishing the Sirens beyond the portal, hoping that eventually they would stop feeding on negative energy and return to their roots. I also sealed the book of the portal magic away with the Tree, trusting it would hold it until needed. I then sealed my spirit into the matrix to hold the balance and to recharge the Siren’s magic when they came to understand their purpose.”

He smiled. “So if you’re seeing this, then I finally got to go on to rest and the Harpies are sealed beyond the gate. Thank you, whoever it happened to be.” The recording faded and ended, the scroll burning away with a slow glow of blue fire, revealing a key with Star Swirl’s cutie mark on the shield.

Twilight eyed the key, a look of hunger that I recognized. “Have at, Twi,” I said. “I’m done with magic and mysteries for a time.”

“Then I presume you are not too busy for an audience,” a voice came from behind Twilight and I.

I turned and saw Princess Celestia standing in the doorway, her hair drifting slowly in the dim light. I immediately bowed, but her trilling laugh made me look up.

“We’re now equals, Sunset,” she said. “And in private, so the bowing is not needed.”

I grinned sheepishly. “Sorry,” I said. “Habits I thought I had lost.”

The ruler of Equestria nodded. “We have not finished discussing the issue of your ascendance,” she said, a serious look crossing her face.

“If you’re here to take the wings, feel free,” I said, feeling a small tinge of regret that I forced down. “I’m ready.”

Celestia smiled. “I’m not here to remove the wings, my darling student,” she said softly. “I’m here to ask if you wish it to be confirmed through a coronation.”

I blinked. “A coronation?” I parroted numbly.

“You have earned the right to wear the crown of a princess by the self-sacrifice you were willing to make,” she said. She tilted her head towards Twilight. "I have discussed it with the other princesses, and we are in agreement.”

I looked at Twilight, who was studiously avoiding my eyes. “You are, are you?” I said wryly.

Celestia giggled slightly. “Yes,” she said. “We know that you will not remain here, but we have agreed to give you the title, rights, and authorities as Princess Sunset Shimmer, Princess of Compassion.”

I felt tears in my eyes.

“And I charge you to defend the other world, as it is given unto your care,” she said, her smile turning into the maternal look she had held during my tutelage. “With the advent of magic blossoming there, someone has to keep an eye on it, my little pony.”

She levitated a small tiara out and set it upon my head. It fit perfectly, but for some reason, it felt uncomfortable. Twilight seemed to sense my discomfort.

“You get used to it, eventually,” she said, walking over and hugging me. “It just takes some time.”

“Looks like I missed the coronation,” Starlight said as she walked in, a set of tubing hovering behind her in her telekinesis. “Congratulations, Princess.”

I flushed at hearing someone refer to me like that. “I’m still Sunset to you, got it?”

She smiled and shot me a wink.

I stepped through the portal, seeing the devastation left in the aftermath of my fight with Acerak. I wondered briefly if the shattered windows had come from the gem exploding. I started to reach into my pack to pull out the scroll Twilight had given me when suddenly I was bowled over by an enthusiastic young girl.

“You came back,” Twilight sobbed, kissing me repeatedly.

“Promised you, didn’t I” I said, smiling and laughing past the pain in my abdomen.

She helped me to my feet, and I looked at the damage. “I made a mess of the place, though,” I said self-deprecatingly. “Didn’t I?”

She twiddled her fingers. “The glass was my fault,” she said softly.

“You?”

She turned a bright red and nodded.

I laughed. “No worries, Sunshine,” I said. “Twilight and Starlight loaned me a scroll that has a repair spell on it. Should take care of it in no time.”

She looked at the scroll as I unrolled it and then ponied up, spreading my wings and lifting myself high enough to see the entirety of the destruction. I channeled magic into the scroll, and the shards of glass began to lift themselves back into their frames, windows reforming. The scorched gouges in the football field filled in and regrew green, and the statue of the Wondercolt slowly floated back onto the pedestal. When the spell finished, I lowered myself to the ground and closed my eyes for a moment.

I sensed no extra magic from the portal, and through the bond, I could feel Twilight’s exuberance radiating out, filled with love and relief.

“Let’s go home,” I said, releasing my pony form and smiling at my fiancé. “I’m beat.”

She slid her arm around my waist.

“Whatever you say, Princess,” she whispered in my ear before kissing my neck.

I looked at her.

“Who told?”

Author's Note:

And the circle comes closed. I have an epilog planned that takes us forward to the graduation, but the vast majority of Chaos Theory is now finished. So sit back and enjoy the epilog as the Rainbooms play at graduation, and the adorable afterparty with double the pony goodness.

Comments

[MySisterBroughtMeHere]

My heart is healed

[Pinkra5]

I have an *epilog planned that takes us forward to the graduation,
So sit back and enjoy the *Epilog as the Rainbooms play at graduation,

Why is there a capital letter on one of them instead of both of them?

[Rose Quill]

8030783

Sloppy writing.

[Fangren]

That's all I have to say. (Though I do wish there was a Sunset emoticon to add to it...)

[livinthelife]

8030845
Get in line. We've been supplicating knighty for a Luna emote for five years now.

[Fetch]

allykitty has saved themselves from an angry mob, just barely.
;)

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

Celestia giggled slightly. “Yes,” she said. “We know that you will not remain here, but we have agreed to give you the title, rights, and authorities as Princess Sunset Shimmer, Princess of Compassion.”

She deserves it, she earned it.