Awkward Introductions
Preparing for a visiting head of state takes a lot of work. It involved planning a proper reception, arranging schedules, preparing food, lodgings, and a hundred other things. You wanted to put your best hoof forward when the leader of another nation came to visit, and that’s what I intended to do for the Archon of Freeport.
Shame a bunch of protestors had left a huge mess in Ponyville right before the Archon was supposed to arrive. And by ‘shame’, I meant a panic-inducing crisis. Fluttershy had objected to some of my latest policies, specifically to cutting back the Everfree Forest and how that might affect her animal friends. Arguing with my friend had been bad enough, but it had gotten a whole lot worse when she had somehow managed to pull together a whole protest almost overnight. It seemed that Fluttershy’s friend Tree Hugger knew quite a few repeat protesters, and they’d organized themselves on relatively short notice.
Thankfully, Fluttershy and I had managed to find a reasonable middle ground between us to end the protest. Granted, it was the original compromise I’d initially proposed, but dwelling on that wasn’t going to accomplish anything. Far more concerning was the mess left behind by the less-than-considerate protesters. You’d be surprised how much trash a group of people could make over even just a couple of days, especially when they hadn’t bothered to clean up after themselves.
Thus it was a scramble to clean up the approach into Ponyville. Every imaginable type of trash was to be found: empty cans, half-filled trash bags, broken objects, a discarded tent, food wrappers, and other thing whose purpose I could only guess at. With the Archon set to arrive far, far too soon, I was pitching in to make Ponyville look presentable again.
“Ugh, what a mess,” I said as I levitated some banana peels into a trash bag.
Storm tied the full trash bag as she spoke in a dry tone. “At least most of the protesters left after Cloud talked her paramour down.”
“Yeah, at least we got that,” Spike agreed as he gingerly picked up a can of peaches. “Or I’m hoping most of them are gone after the huge mess they left.”
Applejack tossed a trash bag onto a cart, adding to the not inconsiderable pile already on it. “If they were all still around, Ah’d consider puttin’ them to work an’ teachin’ ‘em to clean up after themselves like honest ponies.”
“I’d actually consider that if we weren’t on a time crunch. As it is, we don’t have time to hunt down the protestors and round them up for cleaning duty.” Not to mention that might undo all the progress I’d made with Fluttershy to end the protest in the first place. Punishing everyone with community service for littering wasn’t exactly the way to reconcile with the opposition.
I did my best to concentrate on what I could deal with right then, and magicked up my master checklist for the preparations. “Okay, we're had a few missteps, but I think we're through the worst of it.” I grimaced at the mess we had only put a dent into. “Who thought it was a good idea to let them camp on the same road the Archon’s going to use?”
“Freedom of assembly laws?” Spike hazarded as he scratched the side of his head
I sighed. “Right, the law. The thing I'm supposed to upkeep for the greater good of ponykind.”
“One you did an admirable job of, Highness,” Storm said in the level but gentle tone she used when she was trying to lift my spirits. “It took a lot of restraint to allow their protest.”
“Thank you.” I grimaced as I remembered seeing their camp from my castle. “But I'd prefer to not be protested by Fluttershy again. That was ... different.”
Spike rubbed the back of his neck. “Definitely something I never thought I'd see.”
“Those assertiveness lessons certainly took hold, to say the least.” I chuckled a little despite myself as I scooped up more trash with my magic.
Storm’s wings flicked ever so slightly. “Pity they did not do so a bit ... less.”
I frowned as I thought the matter over. I didn’t like getting into an argument with Fluttershy, but I knew what I was doing was the best for the greatest number of ponies. Pruning back the Everfree Forest would make Ponyville safer, as well as open up more farmland—something that was near and dear to the hearts of the farmers in Ponyville. Especially when that would give them the opportunity to either expand existing farms like Applejack hoped to do, or let some of the local laborers start up their own farms.
While cutting down another strip of the Everfree Forest wasn’t great for Fluttershy’s animal friends, it was something that needed to happen. I was willing to work with her to mitigate the worst effects of my plans, but they were going forward regardless. As I had come to learn, being a princess meant that I couldn’t make everypony happy. Celestia once told me that in politics, someone somewhere always loses no matter what policy you put into place. Somepony has to pay the taxes, and somepony has to lose their plot of land for a school to be built.
“I'm sure Fluttershy meant the best,” I eventually concluded. “Even if I have to disagree with her.”
Applejack cheeks bulged as she looked under the canvas of a discarded tent, and her hoof snapped to her muzzle to block the smell. “Think maybe ya can disagree in a way that don’t make a mess next time? It hardly bears thinkin’ of what Flutter’s pals would have done to our town if they’d been here longer than a couple of days.”
I narrowed my eyes at Applejack. “Yes, next time I enact a controversial policy I’ll make sure that it only ticks off the types of ponies who don’t leave behind messes.”
“You won Fluttershy over in the end,” Storm said as she assisted me with filling another bag. “Or at least, my cousin did.”
“I’ll take it if that’s what gets the protest to end.” Cloud mediating a compromise with Fluttershy had been a break. I was going to need to find a way to thank Cloud for that later. Shame there wasn’t nearly enough time to do that before the visit, especially when I realized how much still needed to be done. “I still need to check up on the concessions, make sure the band is playing Freeport’s actual national anthem now, see if the guest rooms are ready, double check decorations, double check that the weather will be fine with Rainbow Dash, make sure a dozen special arrangements have been made—Pinkie! How’s the food and decorations coming along?!”
My trust in invoking Pinkie’s name to summon her was rewarded when she suddenly popped up beside me. “It’s a disaster!” she cried. “Woe’s us! You won’t believe how the cupcakes turned out, and the cake’s not even—” She stopped when she saw Spike frantically shaking his claws and Storm shaking her head. “I meeeant, everything is going great!”
My eyes narrowed as I looked between all of them. “You’re not hiding anything from me, are you?”
Pinkie’s smile widened well beyond what was technically needed for a friendly smile. “What? Nooo. Everything is, um, great in the castle’s kitchens. Definitely not a burgeoning disaster the likes of which Ponyville has never seen before—which is saying something for Ponyville.”
I felt my teeth grinding together. “Pinkiiiiiiiiiiie...”
Pinkie’s eyes started darting around. “Sorry, gotta go and deal with a not-budding disaster!” Before I could ask her what was going on, Pinkie bolted back towards the castle.
I frowned. “I should go after her. This sounds like something I should handle.”
“Ah’m sure it’s fine, Twi,” Applejack reassured me. “Pinkie always finds a way to pull through in the end. How about you concentrate on what you really need to work on, like meeting this Archon of yours?”
“When's she supposed to get here, anyways?” Spike asked.
I glanced at a nearby clock and my eyes widened. “Soon! Way too soon! The Archon’s going to be here in an hour!” There was still a big mess around us, and a quick examination of myself confirmed I was in no way ready to meet a foreign dignitary. “I’m not going to be even close to being ready to see her in time!”
“Should we arrange a delay?” Storm asked. “We ... could perhaps try to ask her train to decelerate.”
My heart sank as a growing disaster started playing out in front of me. “But then the train would be late! Who knows what sort of chaos that could cause to the train schedules?! Not to mention that would make our train system seem less efficient to the Archon, which could lead to her having a poor impression of all of Equestria! What if that leads to a breakdown in trade relations? What if she finds out we caused the train to run slowly? That could cause an entire international incident!”
“And that would just be catastrophic,” Spike remarked.
“Exactly!” I bit my lip as I started crunching the numbers. “There’s not going to be enough time to check everything before she gets here, much less clean myself up and make myself presentable!”
Spike scratched his chin in thought, and then snapped his fingers. “I've got an idea! Storm, can you go get Rarity to help Twilight get ready?”
Storm nodded. “If you will excuse me, Highness.” She zipped off with surprising speed for a pony in heavy armor.
Before I could ask what Spike was up to, he called out to Applejack. “Hey Applejack! We need this place clear in an hour!”
“No can do, Spike!” Applejack tossed another bag onto the cart and wiped her brow. “Ah'll need another hour an' a half fer this mess.”
“Really?” Spike shrugged helplessly. “Okay, I'll see if Rainbow can help out then. She was busy with managing the weather, but I’m sure she can make time to help you finish this on time.”
Applejack’s nostrils flared. “Now sit yer tail down an' let her know Ah got this! If Twilight needs it done in an hour, Ah can get it done in an hour.” She started working double-time to shovel everything onto the cart, leaving nothing but grass and wheel tracks in her path.
Spike shot me a self-satisfied smirk. “They hate being outdone by each other—we might as well take advantage of it.”
I pursed my lips as I watched Applejack work like a mare possessed. “That's kinda terrible, but I'm afraid I’m going to have to allow it. And I can only hope it doesn't make me a bad pony.”
“Think of it as knowing how to manage ponies to maximize their performance.” Spike took the scroll I’d been holding. “For example, let me double check to make sure everything will be ready in time. I know what you want, so I can tell anypony what they need to know if something comes up.”
I bit my lip. “I don’t know. That’s a lot of responsibility.”
Spike scoffed and waved me off. “I’ve got this. You just worry about looking good for the Archon.”
As though in response, Storm returned with Rarity in her arms. She gently put her down as Rarity looked me over. “Twilight, darling, Storm said you have a fashion emergency?”
“We're due for the Archon in an hour, and Twilight’s...” Spike took a moment to search for the right thing to say as he examined me. “...more Twilight than Princess, right now.”
I flashed Rarity a smile that felt hollow even to me. My mane could use a bit of work, then some trash had gotten onto my coat—as well as some ink and other things from the other preparations for the Archon’s visit. “I could perhaps use a bit of work.”
Rarity rubbed her chin as she considered me. “Of course, of course. Well, we can fix that easily enough. Come along, Twilight. We have no time to waste if we’re going to have you ready in time.”
I looked between the ponies gathered around me. “Only if you’re sure the preparations will be okay without me.” I really didn’t like the idea of leaving everything to everypony else while I prettied up, but I couldn’t meet a foreign leader while looking like a mess either.
“I am sure everything will be fine, Highness,” Storm assured me. “You are perfectly fine for day-to-day, but this is a first meeting with a foreign leader. I suggest going with Rarity and trusting everypony else to do their jobs.”
I gave everyone the best encouraging smile I could before leaving. “Thanks everypony. I don’t know what I'd do without you.”
“Panic?” Spike suggested.
I let out a huff. “I don't always panic.”
“Of course not.” Rarity pushed me along. “Now come along, dear. We've got a lot of work to do.”
The next hour flew by as Rarity got me ready. At least one of the things that had gone right was Rarity’s dress had been made well ahead of time. I could always depend on her like that. Hopefully the same could be said about everyone else as the preparations went ahead without my direct supervision. There just never seemed to be enough time for these type of things, at least not to the degree of readiness I wanted.
Whatever I wanted, time had run out. Storm informed me that the Archon had arrived in Ponyville along with her procession, so I made my way to the castle entrance hall to greet my guest. A banner had been set up to greet our visitors, a band was ready to play the Freeport national anthem, and a hundred other details readied—hopefully with nothing overlooked. It was way too easy to miss something and have it bite you in the rear.
“You look very good, Highness,” Storm murmured as she stood by my side, probably sensing my discomfort as we waited.
“You think so?” I looked myself over, and everything seemed alright. The dress was up to Rarity’s usual high quality, and she did a good job with my mane.
Storm nodded. “Yes, for what my opinion is worth.”
“Rarity really outdid herself!” Spike said as he smiled up at me. “You look like a million bits.”
“I did the best I could.” The corner of Rarity’s mouth smirked as she primmed her mane. “I would have preferred more time to work, but we work with what we have. I just hope I didn't miss any important issues on account of lacking information. I doubt the Archon has an intense hatred of a particular color or style we were never warned about before now, so I do apologize if something comes up.”
“I doubt her views on fashion are that extreme,” Storm said.
“I have nothing to complain about,” I assured her. I magically summoned my checklist to look over, just in case. “Though maybe I could recheck my checklists to be sure that—”
Spike snatched the scroll from me. “I got this. Hhmm.... check, check, check, and check. Yup, you're good.” He quickly put the scroll away, making me suspicious about how thoroughly he reviewed everything.
I craned my head to try and look over his shoulder at the list. “Um, you sure?”
Spike rolled the list up before making it disappear in a puff of fire. “Trust me, I'm sure. I went over everything before coming here, and everything was hunky-dory.”
“Now we just have to wait for the Archon.” I swallowed, my throat feeling way too dry. “I'm sure it'll be alright. The worst thing that could happen is that we somehow offend the Archon and completely ruin the single best opportunity we’ve had to improve relations with Freeport in hundreds of years.” The smile I’d been wearing became much more strained.
“Well, at least war's totally off the table.” Spike mulled over that idea before asking, “It is off the table, right?”
“I rather doubt one of Celestia's former students would declare war on her,” Storm told him.
I nodded, trying to slow the beating of my heart as my nervousness grew. Waiting was so hard like that. All my fears of what could go wrong just grew and grew on me. “Freeport and Equestria haven't been at war with one another for a very long time.”
“Oh, good.” A frown formed on Spike’s face. “Um, when was the last time?”
“The last real war we had was four centuries ago,” I told him. “Though that was more a heightened state of hostility between Equestria and Freeport than an actual war. After the battle of Two Magnuses, Equestria started a period of aggressive pirate and slaver-hunting that lasted until Torch’s Rebellion.”
Storm nodded. “And that was before the Council was even in charge, let alone the current Archon.”
“The Council has generally avoided war,” I explained. Giving a history lecture to Spike was keeping my mind off the Archon’s arrival, so I kept talking. “Not that relations between our nations have been entirely peaceful, though. There were a number of incidents involving pirates, warlocks, privateers, and military actions over the centuries, but Freeport generally tries to avoid major conflicts with its bigger neighbors. Their existence depends on everyone remaining relatively neutral to them since they need to be able to play Equestria, Gryphonia, and the Zebrican Empire against each other.”
Spike scratched his chin as he thought that over. “Right, that’s something to do with nobody wanting anyone else to control Freeport?”
“Exactly.” I smiled as Spike remembered some of the details of his lessons. “Freeport is an archipelago sitting between everyone else. It would disrupt be balance of power if anyone else ruled Freeport. Though it also helped that Freeport was traditionally a haven for pirates and smugglers, and has had a fierce independent streak. For example, Freeport was occupied by the Zebrican Empire during the Morning Wars, and Ushabti lead a rebellion that—”
Storm gently but firmly interrupted my lecture. “I think they are coming, Highness.”
“Oh!” I stood up straight before whispering to Spike, “We’ll finish this later.”
Spike rolled his eyes and the corner of his mouth quirked. “I had a feeling that would be the case.”
We all quieted as the castle doors opened. The band started up, and I got my first look at Archon Sunset Shimmer. She wore a suit of bronze scalemail and a red magus robe. She carried herself regally, her head held high as she crossed the floor, giving a martial and business-like demeanor to her approach.
Following behind her were several officials, as well as a pair of bipedal golems about three meters tall, each armed with weapons proportional to their bearers. Along with the larger golems were several smaller constructs that came across as oversized chickens—though only vaguely at a second look, since it was more like the skeletons of some sort of avian with a long tail and unusual foot talon that reminded me of the skeleton of a dromaed I’d once seen in a museum.
At Sunset’s side was a changeling, one of the Free Minds I’d read about. The Free Minds were a group of changelings that had managed to separate from Queen Chrysalis many centuries ago. They were quite the colorful group to say the least, but what else would you expect from the City of Exiles? Freeport was well known for being extremely cosmopolitan, if rough around the edges.
Archon Sunset stopped short of me, and her followers bowed. She gave me a small smile as she formally addressed me. “Princess Sparkle. Thank you for welcoming us in your home. We are honored to be your guests.”
“It's nice to have you visiting my castle, Archon Sunset Shimmer,” I said, making myself try to get through the somewhat awkward and stiff introductions. I still didn’t have a lot of experience at this type of formal meeting between heads of states. Normally Celestia or Luna handled this stuff. Cadance too, for that matter. Though that might have been part of the point of having Archon Sunset visit me, so that I could get experience at it.
Which is why I felt the pressure of the room grow as Sunset stared at me with what came across as a slightly expectant look. After a couple of seconds passed as we stared at one another before Storm leaned in to faintly whisper to me. “She was asking for formal hospitality, Highness.”
My eyes went wide. “Oh!” I hastily worked to correct things. “I welcome you as my guest, and offer my hospitality and protection while you stay in my home.”
Sunset smiled and nodded, though her changeling companion raised an eyebrow before half-smirking in the Archon’s direction. The Archon must have prefered to use the old rules of hospitality. Maybe that was a result of being taught by Princess Celestia, or perhaps just personal preference. It probably didn’t hurt that the old rules of hospitality made certain requirements on guests and host. There were plenty of beings in the world that took those rules very seriously.
“Thank you for your kind offer, Princess Sparkle,” Sunset said. “Allow me to introduce Magus Kukri Doo, and Strumming Heartstrings.” She motioned towards the changeling accompanying her and a pegasus mare that looked a lot like Lyra, which figured when they were cousins. How she came to work for the Archon had to be quite the story that I would have to ask later. Though I had a lot of questions for all of them. Like how Sunset had gone from being Princess Celestia’s student to running Freeport. I’d been briefed about that, of course, but there was a difference between getting an intelligence briefing and hearing something from the pony herself.
“Nice to meet you,” I said to both of them. “You’re of course welcome here as well, and we’ve made room for everypony here at the castle.”
Strumming inclined her head. “Pleasure.”
Kukri bowed slightly. “This one's honored to meet you.”
I motioned to my own friends as I made introductions. “This is the captain of my guard, Captain Storm Kicker, my assistant Spike, and my friend Rarity.”
Storm politely nodded, while Spike waved eagerly. “Hiya!”
Rarity smile pleasantly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“It’s nice to get to meet all of you,” Sunset answered politely.
“If you need anything, I'm sure we can provide it,” I told them. “Just ask and we’ll do what we can.”
“I would request quarters for my staff, and storage for our possessions.” Sunset nodded to her golems.
“They shouldn’t be a problem,” I said idly as I studied the golems. They looked to be unique designs, or at least they didn’t look like any golems I’d seen in the past. Granted, there weren’t that many golems in Equestria to begin with. For one, they were extremely expensive to build, and their intelligence was a whole other can of worms. Most could only be given very specific and simple instructions which usually amounted to ‘Attack anyone that enters this room without my permission.’ Traditional golems weren’t capable of anything more complicated than that, and it was illegal in Equestria to attempt to make sapient golems outside of carefully regulated lab work that had to be approved ahead of time by the college of magi. Though not a whole lot of progress had been made in that field last I’d heard. Of course, a lot of that research was secret.
Maybe I could ask Sunset about her golems later? I smiled at the opportunity. “It's nice to get to meet another one of Princess Celestia’s students, by the way.”
“The Archon is a lot more than that.” Kukri puffed out her chest. “She's this one's teacher, and the progenitor of Freeport's budding school of magi.”
“I read about that,” I said. “Starting your own school is pretty impressive.”
“I had a lot of help,” Sunset told me. “Though I’m proud of the results.”
“You should tell me all about that later, I admit, I've wanted to start my own school someday too. I have some really fun ideas for a school, even if there is a ton of work to be done to make it happen.”
Sunset grinned knowingly. “You're not wrong about that. I hope you’re ready to bury yourself in paperwork.”
“I wouldn't mind trading notes about it sometime.” I smiled, feeling encouraged. “It wouldn’t hurt to learn from somepony who’s already gone through the process.”
“Maybe.” Kukri looked around the audience hall. “It looks like you're off to an interesting start.”
I chuckled at the mention of my castle. “Not just anypony has a castle made by the Elements of Harmony.”
Strumming nodded as she looked around too. “There’s a lotta crystals here.”
Sunset’s face became a mask as she hummed neutrally. It felt like I was losing the interest of my guest, so I decided to switch topics. “So, is there anything you would like to do while you're here?”
Sunset shrugged. “I don't really know Ponyville, so I'll defer to you.”
I recalled some things to do with Archon Sunset from my mental list. “How about I show you around the castle? That should fill up the time between now and dinner, and then tomorrow I can show you around town. Ponyville might be small, but it has a lot of character.” That much was true, though the town could have a bit too much character some days, like when a monster attacked. Hopefully we could avoid that while my distinguished guests were here.
“Sure,” Sunset said neutrally. “I'll look forward to seeing it then.”
The procession broke up into smaller groups after leaving the main hall, letting me show Archon Sunset around without having to deal with a huge group of her retainers and other hanger-ons. Though her two golems still followed us, their thumping footsteps making me worried they might crack the crystal floor. Thankfully the floor seemed to be holding up just fine. Having one of them smash right through it would have put a dent in things.
Once I was done showing Sunset around some of the basic facilities of my castle, I decided to show her my library. Archon Sunset had been polite thus far as I escorted her around, but I was worried she was growing bored. I wanted to impress her, and I hoped taking her to my library would help. As a fellow former student of Celestia’s and a magus, she must like books too.
“... and this is my library,” I said, trying to sound as confident as I could while I opened the door. “You're free to read anything while you're here. It’s all organized under the Royal Canterlot Library System, so everything should be easy to find if you need any help.”
“Thank you.” Archon Sunset stepped into the library and looked around with seeming polite interest. Her gaze swept over the shelves, but nothing seemed to be catching her interest.
My smile became strained as the seconds ticked by. “So was there anything you might want to read while you’re staying here? My books are your books.”
“Thank you, that's very kind of you, Princess.” The Archon stepped up to a bookshelf and idly looked over a few titles. “Any you're especially proud of?”
“I do have some rare books over here.” Seeing an opportunity to really wow her, I moved to a section of the bookshelves that had a protective glass cover and magical preservation wards over them. “Like this unique copy of Starswirl's spellbook, and some other first editions and rare copies.”
“Oh really?” Sunset’s eyes sparkled with interest for the first time since she’d arrived. “Granted, I was more inclined to study the likes of Sunbeam Sparkle. I imagine you probably have some of her works, considering.”
“Oooh yes, I have her full collection of magical and philosophical books.” I waved towards where I kept those particular books. “My family library even has a few of her first edition tomes, in addition to some of her private writings.” Being a longstanding noble family within Canterlot, my family had collected a lot of materials—all of which I had gone over and organized, of course.
The slightest frown crept its way to Sunset’s features. “The family library in Canterlot, right?”
I nodded. “House Sparkle has quite the collection there. Nine centuries of family writings and collections add up.”
Sunset’s frown grew. “So ... over there, not here?”
My ears wilted as I realized the social goof I’d just made. I wanted to impress her with my library right here only to go off and talk about an entirely different collection. “Um, no. There hasn't exactly been a huge reason to bring them here. They are really old after all, and I didn't want to damage them in transit.”
“Of course not.” Sunset turned away from me to return her gaze to the glassed shelf. “I wouldn't ask you to do something that unreasonable.”
“Maybe I can show you the Sparkle library later?” I offered, trying to do some kind of damage control.
“Maybe someday,” Sunset said evenly.
Great, looked like I flubbed this part of the tour. Perhaps it would be best to switch to something else. “Right then... Maybe you would like to see my lab too while you’re here?”
Sunset turned her head to look at me out of the corner of her eye. “Sure. What are you working on?”
“I'm currently working on the theoretical application of friendship magic and defensive shield matrixes within the context of Midnight's Fifth Law on Umbral Magic,” I told her, leading the way to my laboratory basement. “I think it might be possible to create a shield spell with different varying properties outside of traditionally understood applications.”
Archon Sunset pursed her lips as she followed me. “Hmm, I'm not quite seeing how that would work. Admittedly, it takes a while before any papers you publish come to Freeport, and I haven't been keeping up with your work.”
I tried not to let the fact she didn’t really read any of my academic reports visibly bother me. “That’s not a problem, I can show you the details of my current project.” I stopped in front of a chalkboard where I’d written down the forumlem theorem. “I'm still working on it. I only got to all of this last weekend, but I think the potential results are really interesting.”
Sunset’s eyes started scanning the blackboard. “Hmm. Very interesting.” She stopped at the section detailing the interaction of the central spell matrix with the regulatory flow that would allow the changing of the base spell. “Oooh, that’s a problem.”
I grimaced, trying to follow where she was looking. “What is it?”
Sunset cleared her throat and gestured to a specific part of the board—one that had a very obvious math error that I had somehow missed. One that ruined my entire formula.
“Oh.” My ears flatted to my head. “Oops. Guess I made a mistake during one of my late-night study binges.”
“We all make mistakes,” Sunset said in that carefully guarded tone she had been using the entire time. “It should be easy enough to fix.”
“Right, easy...” Impressing the Archon of Freeport was not getting off to a great start.
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A shame Strumming didn't come along for the tour. If ever there were a time to divulge an embarrassing story about Sunset's early years in Freeport...
Of course, atomizing one of the dignitaries for getting potato chip crumbs in the books often offends.
In any case, I've been looking forward to this meeting for a while. Hopefully the positives of this visit will outweigh the negatives.
Doesn't surprise me it's off to a rocky start; though we're seeing this from Twilight's point of view, Sunset's gotta be having a "what did she have that I didn't" sort of mentality going on right about now.
Oooh this looks like a good story.
Is this officially connected to the Freeport Venture series?
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It is.
Looking interesting.
At this point it feels almost weird to see Sunset and Twilight on a cover and not see a romance tag
Probably gonna have to give my shipping senses a break here since I hardly see it happening. Even without Twilight's...less than stellar first impression.
Sunset I know you master warmth and cold, but you seem to lean very heavily on the last one this visit.
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How many people would really care if Strumming were vaporized? I mean, okay, maybe Puzzle, but...
9007007
Yeah, I'd be surprised if there weren't a lot more envy.
So, Fluttershy's environmentalist friends didn't bother picking up after themselves? Typical eco-hypocrites. (Ecocrites?)
Hmm... not too much happening this chapter. Sunset seems characteristically less than pleased to see another student of Celestia as an aliciorn (as her character stands in her own series as of now). Definitely interested to see them have a more meaningful interaction, so to speak, and what exactly gets stolen from Sunset. Overall, a bit of a dry start but definitely interested to see how it picks up.
Question; how can Sunset Shimmer be here as Archon of Freeport, and ALSO on the other side of the mirror? I know there are stories dealing with EQG and she’s a character in there too!
Damn my inner TwiSet shipper. As soon as I read the description, with something of Sunsets being stolen with Twilight as the only suspect, I immediately thought "Sunset's Heart". Then I noticed there was no Romance tag :c
AUs.
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Since they are fictional characters, can't blame them: the author made them do it.
A little bit of introduction in the story description would make this a lot less WTF-inducing for people not familiar with this alternate universe, whatever it is.
"He put quickly put the scroll"
"He quickly put the scroll"?
"as well a pair of bipedal golems"
"as well as a pair of bipedal golems"?
"towards the the changeling"
"towards the changeling"?
Well, that was awkward. At least its going better than with the yaks (so far anyway). Interesting to see Sunset as Archon, well, at least in the main Winningverse (compared to the Sombra war timeline). I wonder if this is being coordinated with Northern Venture, in terms of showing Sunset's character development. Hard to tell how Sunset is, but that's what makes it fun to speculate about.
Looking forward to seeing how better (or rather worse) Sunset's visit to Ponyville will go. Twilight needs the practical experience, and was this visit partially in response to Luna's "visit" to Freeport in another story? I have a hard time keeping track with everything going on across these fics (and AUs). Twilight didn't reference it, but hard to tell how knowledgeable she is about all the politics.
9007522
Given that Winningverse and its various spinoffs are supposed to take place alongside canon, and the canon version of Sunset did go through the mirror, wouldn't that make Freeport Venture and its continuity the AU? (Having checked the tag on a few recent FV stories they're apparently tagged as such.)
And given that the Freeport Venture stories are an AU, it's really confusing as fuck when Archon Sunset Shimmer keeps showing up in the main, not-an-AU stories. My theory is that it's just Puzzle Piece, because we haven't seen him in the stories where Sunset is already the Archon and he had political ambitions of his own. It's basically the only explanation I can think of that even begins to resolve this logic knot.
More juicy story goodness! Keep up the good work Ponibius!
Spike seems much better at organising things than Twilight.
9009105
The Winningverse follows canon only up to a point. Sunset going to Freeport instead of the human world and becoming Archon is canon to the main Winningverse storyline. The Oncoming Storm series is a Winningverse AU where Sunset did go to the human world and the events of Equestria Girls played out.
Finally the thing we've been waiting for for years, is going to happen!
So the whole Fluttershy thing was inherently useless ugh. Also still not thrilled with either Sunset or Celestia Luna's visit.
The meeting we've all been waiting for. With all the build up to this point, its nice to finally see it happen. Sunset has indeed returned... but not with a set of wings as she once promised Celestia. That has to be weighing on her mind, though I have my own guesses as to why.
It will be interesting to see the comparisons as we follow this and its companion, Northern Venture.
Huh, would have thought Sunset would let herself be more casual once they were past the official side of the meeting.
9008223
Thanks for catching those.
9008243
Sunset primarily wanted to visit Equestria to improve relations between their nations, and to help push through some treaties she particuarly desires. Such as lowering the tariffs between Euqestria and Freeport. Equestria hasn't approved of many of Freeport's practices in the past, like the use of indentured servitude, and thus kept high tariffs on Freeport in protest. Which naturally resulted in Freeport also throwing up its own counter-tariffs. These tariffs have significantly limited trade between them, but Sunset's initiated several reforms that she's hoping will make Freeport more palatable to Equestrians and remove the trade barriers.
9007130
Sunset hasn't exactly mastered the calm radiance that Celestia's so good at, and thus ends up feeling cold when she's trying to be serene.
9027012
Sunset hasn't really figured out when to let her hair down for stuff like this, given she hasn't been archon for very long yet. Especially when she doesn't have that many people she feels comfortable being herself with.
I keep getting a kick out of Kukri's little raptor golems. Did you or Chengar come up with those?
9046774
Comma-Kazie was the one that came up with the idea, actually.
There are two main mysteries that has not been revealed yet.
1: Is sunset an alicorn now or not?
2: where is Puzzle?
I really don't mind that Puzzle hasn't been introduced here, it would be just his style to pose as just a minor member of Sunset's retinue or even infiltrate Ponyville. But on the other hand maybe he's not here because he is dead or not in Sunset's good graces.
That's what makes him such a great character, he is well rounded and you can't really predict what he is going to do next or what he really thinks about people. A timeskip of 20 yeara and its equally likely that he died after trying to backstab Sunset or that he is still her friend. He is my favourite character and I'm not even mad if he is dead because that story would be epic.
Also please don't spoil these two for me if they have come up in a different story. Thanks.
I see Lyra heartstrings, Rarity, etc... asking for tips, lessons, or for Sunset to do seminars on magic. And Twilight asking why they don't want her to do it. Darling...., I have. You just gave me a dozen books to read...
When did Sunset become Archon?