The Prodigal Daughter

by Sixes_And_Sevens

The Prodigal Daughter Comes Back

Canterlot High, Autumn of 2016: Sunset’s heart pounded, echoing through her body. They were still chasing her, trying to keep her from her goal. She turned down a hallway and quickly jinked into a nearby classroom. Breathing hard, she slumped against the door, eyes closed as she tried to pull herself together. “Uh, Sunset?” a familiarly raspy voice asked, “What are you doing in here?”

Her eyes snapped open to see the whole class staring at her. There was one face, though, that stood out far more than the others. “Rainbow! Great, just who I wanted to see,” she said, a lunatic grin plastered across her face. She thrust a book at the girl. “Keep this safe,” she instructed. “Whatever you do, don’t let me see it until you’re sure she can be trusted.”

“Don’t let you… huh? Wait, isn’t this the friendship journal? Sunset, what—”

“I think they’re gone for now,” the other girl interrupted, eyes flickering back towards the hallway. “I’m sorry about this.”

She threw open the door and ran as fast as she could. Down the halls, through the cafeteria, past the throngs of students crowding the atrium— “Ow!” Sunset tripped over someone’s foot and fell to the floor. Glancing up, she saw Trixie, one of the school's principal mean girls and perpetual thorn in Sunset's side, standing over her, smirking nastily as her lavender eyes glittered with smug menace. “No running in the halls, Sunny,” she sing-songed.

“Don’t have time for this,” Sunset growled, springing to her feet and taking off again, away from her would-be tormentor. That was something she’d not much miss, anyway. She pushed her way through the doors and raced over the open ground. “Come on, come on, please still work,” she muttered.

“There she is!” a familiar voice echoed. Sunset looked back for just a moment. For just a second, she saw an exact duplicate of herself was leading a ragtag band of pursuers. She saw her own face staring back at her with a mixture of fear and anger. But then she ran into the portal and knew no more.

***

Three days earlier... Principal Celestia leaned over the desk. "I'm sorry," she said. "I really-- can't express--"

"'S okay," the girl muttered, not meeting the woman's eyes.

"It isn't!" Celestia slumped back in her chair. "All this time. I never even guessed..."

"Ms. Polus--"

Celestia raised a hand. "Please, even if you can't call me 'mom', at least call me Celestia. There's not a student in the school who refers to my sister or me by our last name."

"Okay... Celestia. Really, it hasn't been as bad as all that! Foster care wasn't exactly great, but it wasn't terrible, you know? I had a pretty good childhood and... whatever!"

Celestia sighed and gave a faint grin. "Thank you for trying to make me feel better, at least. I intend to make up for lost time." She smiled at the girl wistfully. "You have your father's eyes, you know, and your mother's smile."

The girl looked away, obviously uncomfortable. Celestia nodded. "You can have a few days off school while you get settled in."

A smile flickered over Sunset's lips. "Thanks... mom."

***

Entry 1: Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Thus far, all has gone about as well as can be expected on the whole ‘redemption’ front. Principal Celestia was pretty reasonable about punishment. I'm in detention for a month, and I'm expected to help the construction workers after school for as long as it takes to get everything fixed. Better than I expected, honestly. The rest of the school, though… well, it's an uphill battle. Even your friends only just about tolerate me. I guess it's no less than I deserve for all the shit I put everyone through. Can't write more now. I’ve got work to do.

-Sunset Shimmer

***

Ponyville, Autumn of 5 BAT: “Let’s see,” Twilight Sparkle thought aloud. “What do we have to do today?”

She glanced around for her To-Do list, but she was surrounded by piles of scrolls and paper. “...Right. Okay, I think I remember ‘organizing my study’ as being pretty high-priority on that list,” she muttered. “Might need a little help with this…”

Owlowiscious fluttered down from the rafters and settled on the pile of scrolls. Twilight smiled at him. “Thanks, but I get the feeling that talons and beaks might do more harm than good for all these papers. Would you go and get Spike, please?”

“Whoo?” the owl asked, tilting his head.

“Spike. You know—” she cut herself off. “Right. Spike doesn’t live here anymore.” She sighed. Her little brother (though, ‘little’ didn’t seem to quite fit him, now that he stood easily half a head taller than Twilight herself) had moved in with Rarity a few months ago. It was sweet, and Twilight was certainly happy that they had stopped dancing around the question of romance (really, really glad. She had found the whole thing kind of irritating), but she did miss her Number One Assistant. And so soon after Starlight had gone off to further her friendship studies in Canterlot, too… This was an awfully big castle, and it felt much bigger with no one else living in it. Thank Celestia she’d found a new set of hooves to help out.

“Would you go and get our new assistant, please?” she asked Owlowiscious, who nodded and swooped off to find her.

Twilight sighed again, head low. She missed Spike dearly. She almost wished that he was still here. She shook herself.

No. Spike was happier now, and so was Rarity. She would be fine. Just fine. She almost believed that. Suddenly, however, her meditation was interrupted by a crashing sound from down the corridor. She blinked, turning toward the doorway. A lone wheel, in accordance with the universal laws of comedy, rolled by.

Cautiously, she poked her head out into the hallway. One of the doors had popped open, and several objects were lying in disarray at its threshold. Quietly, she walked on tippyhoof down to the room and peered around the doorway. Nothing here seemed too unusual— apart from being spilled across the floor.

She walked in, horn glowing with a mild offensive spell. “Hello?” she called, glancing around. “Anypony in here? I promise, you’re safe.”

A muffled shout came from underneath a tapestry that had fallen to the ground, and a figure beneath it flailed about. Twilight lifted up one side of the drapery, and was promptly struck by what seemed to be a bolt of fire. “TWILIGHT!” the fire yelled joyfully.

Twilight blinked. “...Sunset? What are you doing here?” she asked slowly.

The orange unicorn seemed not to have heard her, as she only tightened her embrace.

***

On the other side of the mirror portal, a girl with pale orange skin, a fire-colored ponytail, and a red tee-shirt professing her love of the hit BBC sci-fi drama Physician Whomst, stood, mouth agape, at the empty sidewalk. “I… what… how…” She turned around to face the cluster of students that had gathered around her. “You all saw that too, right? It wasn’t some kind of weird hallucination?”

Her teacher, Mr. Sombra, shrugged his wide, cardigan-clad shoulders, his expression somewhere between confusion and resignation. “A question I find myself asking with ever-increasing frequency, Miss Shimmer,” he said drily. “Don’t worry too terribly much. It certainly can’t be worse than the sirens. Or, well, it probably can.” He sighed. “Come along everyone. Back to class. Just another world-threatening disaster, I’m sure.”

The gloomy teacher turned and walked back down the halls, most of the class following him. The girl flapped her mouth open and shut in a manner not incomparable to a fish. Then, with a confused huff, she turned to follow everybody back to history class.

***

Mr. Cake stood at the kitchen counter, whistling slightly to himself as he waited for the cinnamon rolls in the oven to finish baking. Meanwhile, Mrs. Cake was sitting at the table, reading the paper, and Pinkie was entertaining the foals in the next room. “Anything interesting today?” he asked his wife.

She glanced back at the front page for a moment. “Mm. Says here that a new bill is being introduced to the House of Commons,” she said mildly. “Something about increased funding for the navy.”

“Mhm,” said her husband.

Mrs. Cake turned the page. “Riots up in Griffonstone,” she noted. “Some modernist group, it looks like. Protest got out of hand.”

“Hm,” said Mr. Cake. “Anything more local?”

In the next room, Pinkie gasped loudly. Cup Cake looked up at her husband. “Looks like we’re about to find out,” she said drily.

“There’s someone new in Ponyville!” Pinkie screeched.

Carrot Cake nodded. “Well, at least it isn’t parasprites again.”

“Or another sugar shortage,” his wife agreed

“Mr. Cake! Mrs. Cake!” Pinkie shouted, “Can I have the morning off?”

The two older ponies exchanged glances. Cup Cake shrugged. “It’s only Monday,” she noted. “It’ll be a slow day.”

Mr. Cake nodded. “Yes, Pinkie. Put the sugar cookies in the oven before you go, and be back for the four o'clock rush."

“Yay!” Pinkie cried. “See you all this afternoon at the party!”

Cup Cake took a sip of her coffee. “Oh, and look, the Trottingham Tigers beat the Manehattan Grey Socks,”

Mr. Cake frowned. “I forget, what do they play again?” He had never been a sports fan.

“Baseball, dear,” Mrs. Cake explained. “The one with the bat and the peanuts.”

“Oh, yes.”

They fell back into a cozy silence.

***

“Sunset!” Twilight shouted after the embrace had gone on for over two minutes. The orange unicorn blinked, and let her friend go.

“What?”

“Why are you here?” Twilight repeated, slowly and loudly.

Sunset paused. “I… What, I can’t come home every now and then? I mean, you’ve got the portal open all the time now— I’m surprised I didn’t think of it before!”

Twilight nodded. “Yes,” she agreed. “So am I. But not as surprised as I am that you suddenly thought of it just now and decided to act upon it. At top speed, no less,” she added, glancing pointedly at the trail of destruction Sunset had wrought.

“Aheh,” was the sheepish response as the other unicorn observed the mess she had made.

“The truth, Sunset,” Twilight said, with a firm look. “I promise, you won’t get in any trouble from me.”

Sunset sighed, sitting down. “Alright. You remember that time at the Friendship Games, when there was that human version of you?”

“...Why, yes. Yes, I do remember the human me that almost ripped reality at the seams,” Twilight replied drily. “Why, what did she do?”

“No, no. Twilight— the other one— she’s been great. Better than great. I just mean— Well, did you ever consider that there might be a human version of me?”

Twilight blinked. “Um. No, why?”

“Neither did I, until today, when she showed up in the middle of history,” Sunset grumbled. “She took one look at me and started screaming about doppelgangers and shapeshifters.”

The alicorn’s eyes widened. “What did you do?” she gasped.

“What could I do? I ran for it. Everyone was too shocked to come after me for a few seconds, and I made the most of it. I tried to explain things to Dash, but there really wasn’t enough time. I left her with the friendship journal, though, so…” she trailed off. “I-- I don't know if I can go back,” she whispered, glancing over her shoulder at the mirror.

Twilight moved to comfort her friend, but stopped when she heard a noise at the door. “Twilight? Is everything alright in there?”

Sunset whipped around to see the source of the voice. Her eyes went wide. “Oh, no. No. Not you.”

Twilight looked between Sunset and the mare at the door in some confusion. “...Do you two know each other?”

Sunset let out a defiant cry at the interloper, who reared back in shock. Then, with a flash of light, the orange mare vanished.

“...The Helpful and Loyal Trixie is confused,” said the newcomer.

“So am I,” Twilight agreed. “But for now, would you help me disassemble this device on the mirror? I don’t think we want anything else getting through just right now. And then maybe we could clean up in here...”

***

Pinkie burst in through the doors of the palace. “TWILIGHT!” she shouted, “THERE’S A NEW PONY IN PONYVILLE!”

She looked around. No one there. Except— “Ooh! Hi, there!” Pinkie said, bouncing over to the startled unicorn in the corner. “I’m—”

“Pinkie Pie?” the unicorn asked, surprised. Then she blinked. “Well, I suppose that makes sense.”

Pinkie frowned. “What makes sense? Me?” she grinned. “No, that’s not right, I never make sense! Well, I try not to…”

The other mare shook her head and laughed. It wasn’t really a happy laugh, Pinkie thought. “I’m Sunset,” the unicorn said, “Sunset Shimmer?”

“Oh! Twilight mentioned you!” Pinkie said, bouncing back up. Then she gasped. “So you must be the new pony in Ponyville!”

“I— well, I suppose I must, yes,” Sunset agreed cautiously.

Pinkie nodded firmly. “Right. Oh! But that means—!” She turned and galloped away as quickly as she had arrived.

Sunset watched the pink mare go. She sighed. She remembered Pinkie, her Pinkie. The Pinkie who had planned the Fall Formal, who had made the best ice cream sundaes, who had been one of her best friends. She missed the crazy, frizzy, pink girl already. She sighed heavily and trotted out of the hallway, back towards Twilight. She supposed she had to explain her actions. Meanwhile, outside, the breeze picked up and the sun seemed to shine slightly brighter for a moment. There was something new in this world, something unusual. Something chaotic.

***

“So,” Trixie said, picking up and folding the tapestry, “Feel like explaining to Trixie what just happened?”

Twilight sighed. “If I knew, I’d be glad to explain,” she said morosely. “Sunset seems a little… off-kilter today.”

Trixie’s brow furrowed in thought. “Sunset? That name seems familiar…”

“Sunset Shimmer? Princess Celestia’s former student? Turned vengeful and escaped to an alternate universe, then tried to brainwash the masses into taking over Equestria? Now reformed, and managed to save the multiverse?”

Trixie thought a little longer. “Nope, not really ringing any bells, sorry.”

Twilight sighed, but smiled a little, shaking her head. “So, what’s she doing back here?” Trixie asked.

“She ran into her alternate self, who… didn’t really take well to the idea of having a twin.”

Trixie made a noise of commiseration. “Trixie knows that feeling,” she muttered.

Twilight frowned. “Huh? What do you— Oh. Your brother. You know, I—”

There was a knock at the door jamb, and Sunset waved from the entrance, smiling weakly. “Hey. Can I come in?”

Twilight set down the stack of boxes she had been repacking. “Yes. Actually, why don’t we go to the kitchen and have a nice cup of tea? I get the general sort of feeling we all need that.”

“Coffee for me, if you’ve got any,” said Sunset.

Twilight nodded. “Right this way,” she instructed, leading the other two mares down the hall. Sunset regarded Trixie warily for a moment before following after the princess. The stage magician sat back on her hooves, frowning. What was this mare’s problem with her?

***

Pinkie bounced across the town square, hoofing out invitations left and right to everypony she met. “Party at the Castle of Friendship,” they read. “Let’s say “Howdy!” to our new friend Sunny!”

Rarity looked at her invitation with barely a batted eyelid, despite the fact that it had somehow appeared in the middle of her sandwich as her irrepressible friend zipped by. “Ah,” she observed to her dining companion. “How delightful. I wonder what ‘Sunny’ is like?”

Spike, reading over his own invitation, raised an eyebrow. “Huh. That’s a pretty good likeness she drew on here. It really looks just like her.”

“Just like who?”

“Sunny. Well, no, not Sunny. It’s Sunset Shimmer,” he said, pointing at the surprisingly accurate hoof-drawn image on the front of the card. “You remember, from the human world.”

“Oh, yes,” Rarity mused. “Goodness, it’s been awhile since you’ve gone through there, isn’t it?”

Spike shrugged. “It’s all relative, really. Literally. The mirror portal bends time, somehow. At least, that’s what Twilight thinks. Everyone over there is sort of… stuck in time? Stuck in high school, anyway, and I doubt that’s much fun. I dunno, it’s a weird place. Sunset’s alright, though, now that she’s not mad with power.”

“Mm. Such high standards,” the unicorn tutted, smiling slightly.

The dragon grinned back, taking a sip of his tea. “We should try to stop by before the party,” he said. “Might be nice for her to see some friendly faces.”

The unicorn considered this. “I’ve not got any pressing projects,” she decided, “And Sweetie’s off with the Crusaders. Why not?” She waved to the waiter. “Check, please,” she requested.

Spike raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you want any dessert?”

Rarity hesitated, considering. “I really shouldn’t…”

“They’ve got double-chocolate cake. With strawberries.”

The unicorn sighed, but smiled nevertheless. “You old tempter. Well, if you insist, I suppose I can give my diet a day off. Waiter? Never mind about the bill just yet. Would you be so kind as to fetch the dessert menu?”

***

In the kitchen of the Castle of Friendship, Twilight and Trixie waited patiently as Sunset took a deep, long drink of her coffee. “Mmm, that hit the spot,” she sighed. “Would you believe it, there really wasn’t a single decent coffee shop in that entire town?”

Twilight smiled, slightly embarrassed. “Thanks. I don’t cook much, really. Spike did most of that before he… moved out.”

Sunset blinked, and leaned forwards, concern etched into her features. “Is he okay?”

“Spike? Oh, yes. He’s just moved in with Rarity. They’ve been living together for a few months now.” She giggled. “Really, it’s adorable.”

Trixie coughed. “Trixie feels that we may be getting away from the topic at hoof?”

“Oh! Yes, thank you, Trixie,” Twilight agreed. “Sunset, what’s wrong? You’ve been acting somewhat oddly. If there’s anything I should know about…”

“Anything you should know about?” Sunset repeated in a deceptively calm tone, setting down her coffee mug on the old oak table. “Why, yes, Twilight, there is something you should know about.”

Her eyes as hot as coals, she pointed a hoof at Trixie. “That mare. She needs to leave, and never come back. She isn’t anything but trouble.”

***

Meanwhile, up in Canterlot, a very unusual mail delivery was interrupting Morning Court. “I really am terribly sorry, your Majesty,” said Kibitz, wringing his hooves, “But she simply would not wait until you were free.”

The grey pegasus shifted uncomfortably. Right now, Ditzy wasn’t sure exactly to whom she was delivering the letter— Princess Celestia (High Solar and Elder of the Diarchy), Celly (Her husband’s old friend and travelling companion), or Ms. C. Everfree, the name on the envelope she held in her hooves. “It’s got A.S.A.P. written on it,” she said wretchedly. “And Pinkie was very insistent.”

That got Celestia’s attention. “Pinkie? This is a letter from Pinkie Pie?” She turned to the court. “There will be a half-hour recess, due to a potential matter of national importance.”

She led the discomfited mailmare into her chambers. Ditzy nervously coughed. “Um… I don’t know about ‘national’ importance, exactly,” she said.

Celestia shrugged. “Well, quite. Far more likely, it’s a party invitation, or something of that nature. Still, I could do with a break. One must keep up appearances, at least for the public.” She winked. “I’m terribly sorry, where are my manners? I’ve not even offered refreshment.”

“Oh, no thank you, your Highness,” Ditzy said. “I couldn’t possibly…”

Celestia laughed, not unkindly. “Ditzy Doo, please calm down! There’s no need to stand on formality behind closed doors, call me Celestia. Won’t you at least have some lemonade? Cupcakes, perhaps?”

“That does sound nice,” Ditzy allowed. “Thank you, Prin— Cel— I’m sorry, I can’t,” she apologized. “It just seems too disrespectful.”

The alicorn’s smile faded slightly, but she nodded. “Very well. As long as you feel comfortable, call me what you will.”

Ditzy set the letter on the table as the princess levitated over a pitcher and a tray of pastries. “So,” said the princess, taking a bite out of one of the cakes, “How has life with the Doctor been treating you? Go anywhere exciting since we last spoke?”

Ditzy blinked once or twice, to get her mind wrapped around the fact that, yes, the princess did indeed talk with her mouth full. Recovering herself, she replied, “Well, we went to Timbucktoo for lunch a while ago, and wound up stopping a hive mind from avenging itself on the Doctor and then freezing the world.”

“Mhm,” said Celestia, taking a sip of lemonade. “Sounds about par for the course. Where else?”

“Oh, that’s it.”

Celestia frowned. “That’s… it? That’s all?”

“Well, it was certainly an adventure. One of the Crusaders got a cutie mark from it…”

“Yes, yes, Button Mash, I know.”

“You— what? How do you know about that?”

The princess chuckled. “Ponyville is on the edge of the Everfree. It’s home to the Elements of Harmony and the spirit of Chaos, it was the place where Nightmare Moon rose to power once more, it was the place where Tirek was stopped, and with all the catastrophes that happen there, I’m not surprised that the Doctor wound up there. They're something of a trouble magnet too, you know.”

“Yes,” said Ditzy flatly, casting her mind back over the last several months. The Doctor, rescuing Cheerilee and her class from living chalk drawings. All of Rarity’s ponniquins coming to life and attacking the town, only to be stopped by a certain Time Lord. Nopony was quite sure what happened at Sweet Apple Acres except for the Doctor and Big Mac, and neither one was talking, quite literally in the case of the latter. “I’ve noticed that. But you still haven’t explained—”

“I have a few informants in the town,” Celestia admitted. “It’s actually how I found out about your husband’s return in the first place.”

“Wait, what? You’ve got spies in Ponyville?”

“Not spies,” the alicorn corrected. “They’re normal civilians, more or less. They keep me abreast of major happenings, local news, idle gossip, things of that nature.”

“...Oh,” said Ditzy, dubiously.

“As I said, the Doctor is something of a trouble magnet. They're drawn to it, through time and space, and they hate staying still. How did you do it?”

“He’s been keeping busy. He started up a little repair shop, and as you said, Ponyville is never quiet for very long. And, of course, he’s been teaching Dinky all about Gallifrey.”

The Princess’s eyes widened in understanding. “I see…” she said.

“It’s nice. He’s showing her how to fly the TARDIS, and he tells her all these stories. He says they’re traditional Gallifreyan fables, but I’m not so sure. The name “Doctor” seems to crop up a little too often for that to be true…”

The princess laughed. “They always did have an ego,” she giggled. “Shall we see what the letter has to say?”

Ditzy hesitated once more. “I really should go…”

“I’m sure you can wait just a moment longer, can’t you?”

“I guess.”

“Thank you.” The princess levitated a letter opener over to the table and prised open the envelope. “You’re invited to a party for our new friend…” her eyes bulged and she coughed heartily as some lemonade went down the wrong way. “I was wrong,” she said. “This is a matter of national importance after all. Kibitz? Cancel all of my appointments today after noon. Actually, make that eleven. I get the feeling I’ll be needing a little time to prepare for this…”

Sensing that perhaps now would be a good time to leave, Ditzy snuck out of the back entrance of the chamber.

Comments

[karnazom]

Yes, Continue

[Sixes_And_Sevens]

9501511
Gladly

[fanreader999999]

Verses

[Coyote de La Mancha]

Her eyes as hot as coals, she pointed a hoof at Trixie. “That mare. She needs to leave, and never come back. She isn’t anything but trouble.”

Oh, Sunny, Sunny, Sunny...

[SunflowerSwirl]

On the other side of the mirror portal, a girl with pale orange skin, a fire-colored ponytail, and a red tee-shirt professing her love of the hit BBC sci-fi drama Physician Whomst , stood, mouth agape, at the empty sidewalk. “I… what… how…” She turned around to face the cluster of students that had gathered around her. “You all saw that too, right? It wasn’t some kind of weird hallucination?”

What would the Doctor say? To any of that?

[FanOfMostEverything]

Okay, I'm the first to admit I can be shameless with Bland Name Products in the EqG world, but encountering Physician Whomst was like walking facefirst into a streetlight.

[Shilic]

Looks like I'm not the only one, but...

Physician Whomst.
That wounds me. It hurts me on a phyical level. I'll take Inspector Spacetime and Doctor Zone. I'll take Time Surgeon. I'll even take the bloody Foot Doctor. But I DRAW THE LINE at Physician Whomst. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take the TARDIS back to 1962 and smack the Equestria Girls universe's equivelent of Sydney Newman several times with a rolled up newspaper until they come up with a better name. (Physician Whomst, I mean really, coulda gone for Professor What or Professor When or...*ranting fades into the distance*)

[Prince Leviathan]

Already a good start.

Poor Rose tho. Your man is married to a horse.