Reconciliation

by DigitalPhoenix

A Strange Tour

Sunset awoke the next morning within her guest room, which was designed much like the rest of the castle. A full-sized bed sat against one of its walls, with a small crystalline nightstand off to one side. Across the room sat a dresser with a mirror hung above it and, of course, a large bookshelf filled to the brim with some of Twilight's more 'casual' stock of literature. Opposite its entryway was a single large stained-glass lattice window, slightly ajar to allow the cool summer breeze in during the nighttime hours.

Stifling a yawn, Sunset lazily trotted over to the mirror to brush out her mane when a large bang rang throughout the castle. She swiftly galloped out of the room, following the noise to Twilight's main library. Upon opening the door, a large wave of books washed right over her. Poking her head above its surface, she found both the princess and Midnight buried under the entire library's stockpile.

"What happened in here?" Sunset asked as she pulled herself above the books, levitating several of the tomes back to the shelves.

"Oh, nothing, your marefriend just managed to knock down my entire collection trying to levitate a single book back into place," Twilight remarked, her voice dripping in playful sarcasm, much to the embarrassment of her counterpart.

"It's not entirely my fault, you know," Midnight poked her head above the sea of pages, "you need stronger foundations for your shelves."

"I'm not the one who built this place!" Twilight retorted, her face sporting an overly-incredulous look before she turned away and stated matter-of-factly, "It was a gift from the Tree of Harmony."

Sunset began to levitate more books back onto the appropriate shelves. "Sure, Twilight, blame all your problems on the ancient magical tree, that'll get you somewhere," she taunted with her usual smirk, earning herself a look of ire from the princess.

"You're not helping, you know," Twilight sighed as she returned to re-shelving her stockpile as well. "Doesn't matter anyway, Pinkie should be here any minute to give you a tour of Ponyville."

Sunset and Midnight shared a look of concern and confusion before turning back to Twilight. "Why aren't you giving us one?" Midnight inquired.

"I'm not because I have to head out to Canterlot for a royal summit in an hour. We're negotiating some new deals with the Changeling Hive." Twilight studied the bindings of some of her books before putting them off to the side for browsing later. "That, and I have an entire library to re-shelve now."

---

Pinkie arrived shortly after in her trademark manner and proceeded to gleefully drag the two visitors along for the ride. She bounced back and forth as they made their way through the rustic town, pointing out several notable locales (and some less notable), and introducing them to practically everypony they met. Midnight found herself enjoying all the sightseeing, but Sunset's mind was in another place.

Something felt off here, but she couldn't place what it was, nor could she chalk it up to imagination to assuage her paranoia. Something about everypony they came across. Sunset ran down a checklist of possibilities within her head, hoping to narrow it down to something more specific.

From what Twilight has told me, there aren't any rogue changelings left save for Queen Chrysalis, so that rules out that option, she pondered, slowly deciding it better to focus on the characteristics that caught her attention, rather than spend time trying to hypothesize. Everypony looks and sounds normal, far as I could tell. Man, it's been too long since I've been here. She idly glanced at her surroundings, taking in the natural view of her homeworld before refocusing on the task in her head.

What is throwing me off so much? Have I just been in the human world for so long that equine nature is somehow unusual to me? It was a thought she didn't want to ponder, but she had been gone for several years...

"Sunset?"

Hearing her name from her marefriend snapped Sunset out of her reverie. She glance over at Midnight to find both her and Pinkie staring at her.

"You seem to have drifted into la-la-land for a little bit there," Midnight remarked. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Sunset did her best to imitate a shrug, nearly falling forward from the attempted gesture. "Guess I've been gone a bit too long, I still seem more accustomed to my human form than this one."

"That seems... odd," Midnight remarked, deep in thought for a few seconds before we arrived at our final destination.

"And here we have Sweet Apple Acres," Pinkie decided to pause (for dramatic effect) "where we decided to host a surprise get-together for you!" Pinkie announced excitedly as the rest of our pony friends came out from the sides of the entrance. That is, until a loud confetti cannon sent them all cartwheeling back.

---

All in all, it was a rather subdued affair, despite present company. Pinkie spent most of her time encouraging each of them to dance in turn, no matter how many times she was turned down. Rainbow and Applejack spent most of their time in their little competitions, Rarity and Fluttershy took the chance to catch up on a few things, and Sunset just sat back with Midnight and enjoyed the chance to relax.

"Wish we could do this more often," Sunset commented, watching as Applejack one another horseshoe toss, much to Rainbow's chagrin. "I missed being home like this."

Midnight turned her attention away from the sickeningly sweet entourage of snacks Pinkie had brought to the event. "I wouldn't mind coming back again. There's still so much I could stand to learn here, maybe even begin to understand how magic works, both here and back home, and how-stop laughing."

Sunset could only giggle at Midnight's enthusiasm, as well as her attempts to jot down notes with her magic, when she noticed Pinkie had managed to convince Rarity and Fluttershy to partake in dancing with her, putting on a relatively lively tune that fell more into their style than her own. Sunset resigned to simply watch, but as her eyes turned to Rarity, it finally occurred to Sunset what had thrown her off during the tour.

It was the way everypony moved. Rarity had a very distinct movement pattern, and despite being in Equestria, Sunset could tell when she's strayed from it. She still couldn't pinpoint exactly what was different, but a cursory examination of both Fluttershy and Pinkie confirmed her suspicions, the subtleties much easier to notice now that she knew what to look for. Quick glances at Rainbow and Applejack continued to verify the theory, though none showed any knowledge of the change, nor any indication as to what exactly was shifting their movement.

It seemed both she and Midnight had some research to do.

Author's Note:

First, I'd like to apologize for the lack of uploads over the past few months. Between crazy hours at work, life throwing me for several loops and other projects I had to work on, I never really found enough inspiration to continue this story. I have plenty of other story ideas for down the line, so once I manage to hurdle through this, I'll have plenty to work with going forward.

Second, I would like to give a huge shout-out to Rose Quill and her Homecoming continuity of stories. These stories were my inspiration to write my own, and helped me to reignite that passion. If you haven't already, I highly recommend checking the series, it is absolutely fantastic.

Thank you for your patience, and I hope your looking forward to my future projects.

Comments

[Vaguely Demented]

Midnight already tried a Hayburger at Sunset’s House didn’t she?

[DigitalPhoenix]

9022259
I've been out of this too long

[Gidano90]

it's still alive !!! I had lost hope that you would continue this story, but now I can not wait to read the next chapters! Excellent work with this chapter!

[DigitalPhoenix]

9022603
It likely won't be updated as often as it used to, but I'm determined to continue it.

[MooseWhisker]

"Wish we could do this more often," Sunset commented, watching as Applejack one another horseshoe toss, much to Rainbow's chagrin. "I missed being home like this."

That should definitely be “won”