Scars of the Sun

by EchoWing

Chapter Three - Always Worth It To Try

There were many words to describe Principal Fairweather. Later in her life, after Sunrunner had gained a measure of experience and a chance to expand her vocabulary, she’d learn quite a few of them.

“Oh my my my, aren’t we the little troublemaker?”

None of them would be particularly pleasant. The stallion seated before them behind a large, imposing desk was portly and rotund, with a thinning mane and a muzzle more suggestive of a pig’s snout than anything else. The tiny round glasses he wore did little to discourage this image, nor did the cheery-looking expression upon his face as he regarded the filly before him.

The mare and stallion seated on either side of Sunrunner had their gazes locked upon the stallion before them in turn, their target either unaware or uncaring of their state. While Blue Streak merely looked displeased, Solar Flare was glaring daggers at the piggish stallion before her. “Somepony in this room is.” She cast a side-long glare at the filly seated by herself at the opposite side of the desk, the little unicorn the picture of innocence with wide, frightened eyes.

“Now now, Miss Flare, you don’t want to set a bad example for…” The door to his office creaked open, and the piggish stallion beamed pleasantly. “Ah, Mister Mayor!”

“Principal Fairweather.” At the surprise of the other parents present strode in a tall, middle-aged unicorn stallion with the bearing of somepony who was accustomed to holding authority and power. He closed the door behind him with his magic and turned his attention to the lone filly. “Hello my dear.”

Primrose sobbed and wiped away a crocodile tear. “Hi Daddy.”

Crimson Thorn offered his daughter a smile before he turned his attention to her principal. “Now then, may I inquire as to why I’ve been summoned from City Hall?”

The principal’s answer was so oily, it was practically dripping. “I do apologize for the inconvenience sir, but I’m afraid that your daughter is the victim of a terrible attack from this horrid little delinquent.”

“Delinquent?!” The daggers had graduated to rapiers as Solar Flare turned her attention to the mayor. “Sir, your daughter and two of her friends dragged our daughter into a bathroom, tossed her books and papers into a toilet, assaulted her, sheared her mane off, and then left her in there with the door jammed!” She turned her attention back to the piggish principal and noted, “And not only did her teacher absolutely fail to notice that one of her students was missing, it was a half-hour after classes resumed before anyone even noticed what had happened to her! And that’s ignoring the fact that her teacher marked her tardy!”

“Well, she was late for afternoon class…”

“She was trapped in the damn bathroom!” Solar Flare’s attention was back on the piggish principal as she roared, “And she’d still be there if a janitor hadn’t been able to get the door open!”

“At which point your daughter rushed back to her classroom and attacked Miss Thorn. The only reason she isn’t even more injured is because her teacher managed to stop this delinquent in time.”

The mayor’s eyes went wide as he looked to his daughter. “Is this true?!”

Primrose took that as her cue to bawl her little eyes out, not even bothering to hide her false tears. “She was so me-ee-ee-ean to meeeee! All I *sob* wanted to do *sob* was be her friend!”

Sunrunner turned to the filly and almost spat a response, but a hoof to her shoulder from her father stopped her. Blue Streak then turned to the mayor and noted, “Sir, please, consider my daughter’s current condition. She’s bruised. Her mane has been shorn and torn away, in places down to the scalp. And that’s ignoring the fact that the door was jammed shut from the outside. Since when could a pegasus bend metal to seal a wooden door from within the room they’re sealing? And why would they do so, if the result was them being sealed inside? It defies all logic.”

To his credit, the mayor at least seemed to consider this argument, but whatever sense of him being a reasonable figure of authority faded as he turned to the principal and noted, “Fairweather, I believe you’ve implemented your zero tolerance policy, yes?”

Fairweather’s grin was painful to see. “Why yes, though I fear some parents simply cannot recognize the need for it. One mother came in just yesterday morning, for example, protesting her son’s…”

“Yes yes, but why haven’t you implemented it here?!” He moved in close and wrapped a protective limb around his daughter as he protested, “Not only has this miscreant attacked my precious daughter, but she’s spreading these slanderous allegations about her! This must be stopped, at once!”

“I quite agree, sir!”

“Our daughter is the victim here!” Solar Flare’s protests, alas, fell on deaf ears as she continued, “She was assaulted!”

“And we only have her word to go on for the perpetrators of said assault, Miss Flare. And regardless, ours is a nation founded on the principles of harmony, and one does not achieve harmony through violence towards one’s peers. As such, your daughter shall be suspended from classes for the remainder of this week, and that’s my final word.” The grin never left his muzzle as Fairweather turned to the mayor and noted, “Is this satisfactory to you, Mister Mayor?”

“Indeed it is. Now if you’ll excuse me, my daughter has been traumatized enough today, and we will be leaving immediately.”

“Of course, sir. Do have a pleasant day.” Sunrunner and her family could only watch in shock as father and daughter Thorn departed the office, the latter turning back to shoot her victim a triumphant sneer before the door closed behind her and the principal turned his attention back to them. “Now then, as for your daughter, she is not permitted on school grounds until her suspension is completed. Do see her out, and have a pleasant day.”

Solar Flare seethed at the piggish stallion before her, before she got to her hooves. “Runnie, I’m afraid we need to make a couple stops on the way home. To a hospital, for starters.”

Sunrunner kept quiet as her mother led her out, her father following close behind. The three exited the school and strode down the street and was only once they were a block away from the school grounds that she finally broke her silence. “I’m sorry, Mommy.”

Solar Flare paused, then turned to face her daughter. “Oh Runnie…” She then took her daughter into the tightest hug she could manage. “I’m the one who should be sorry, that you have to deal with all of this.”

“But I’m the one being punished.”

“For doing the right thing, for fighting back against a bully.” As her husband joined her, she noted, “And there’s no shame in doing the right thing.”

Blue Streak smiled and hugged his daughter close. “Your mom’s right, Runnie. You did good, even if you got in trouble for it.”

“Yeah, but Primrose got away with it! She got away with being mean to Quiver, and now…!”

“And now your daddy the journalist is going to go home and write an op-ed piece for the Star explaining just what happened to his little girl and how a corrupt principal is letting a corrupt mayor’s daughter get away with being a bully. Your school’s namesake would approve.” He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Never let the bastards win, Runnie. They don’t deserve it.”

“And after that, we can see about getting you to a different school.” Solar Flare scowled as she looked back at the building they’d just departed. “If that pig Fairweather is so corrupt, then…”

“Mommy, no.” As her mother looked at her in alarm, Sunrunner stood tall and said, “If I leave, who’s going to be there to look after everypony else that Primrose bullies? Like Quiver? I told you about that story he wrote and how everypony reacted to it. What do you think’s gonna happen if he stays here?” Both adults considered that grim possibility as their daughter turned back to the school and declared, “Somepony’s gotta be there for him. To help him. To protect him and give him a shoulder to cry on. Somepony’s gotta be his friend, and it’s gonna be me. The bastards don’t deserve to win, and he doesn’t deserve to lose.”

Sunrunner felt a tingle at her hips, then heard her father give a small chuckle. “Seems we’re gonna have to add planning your cute-ceañera to the to-do list.”

The filly looked at her father in confusion, then to her flanks to find something new present – a red discus shield with a four-pointed star upon it. She gasped and jumped into the air, then flew about in a circle as she ecstatically exclaimed, “I got my cutie mark! I got my cutie mark!” She punched the air and shouted, “Take that, Primrose!” She then came in for a landing and asked, “Can we invite Quiver, and Muriel? And maybe write to Shims and…?”

“Easy there, silly filly! One thing at a time!” Solar Flare drew her daughter in with a proud smile. “First hospital, then barbershop, then ice cream on the way home. We’ll figure things out from there.” She grinned and added, “But yes, we can invite your friends.”

Sunrunner beamed all the way to the hospital, not caring that hospitals were scary places. She had something no bully could take away from her, and she was gonna do all that she could to help a pony who needed a friend to see exactly the same thing.

-

Whether or not she’d managed to do that was something that she’d wondered about for a long time. As Sunrunner exited the school, a mess of thoughts were in her head, the notion that she’d wasted her time once more being at the forefront of her mind. She glanced around, and her sights found themselves on the nearby Shake ‘n Bake. She’d never been one for alcohol, but she could definitely go for a milkshake.

A chain of restaurants that was common throughout the Indianapoloosa region, Shake ‘n Bake was known for several things. First, for offering twenty-four service for whatever meal one could ask for (barring products with meat in them, much to the consternation of the griffon population), chief among them baked goods, milkshakes and smoothies. Second, for having good service and generally being family friendly. Third, for being reasonably inexpensive. She wasn’t dirt poor, but on her paygrade, the mare wasn’t eager to spend too much for comfort food.

She entered to find the place was relatively quiet, with only a few ponies seated and eating their meals while the staff took a few quiet moments to themselves. To their credit, however, they were quick to notice the presence of a new customer, a jenny turning around to greet her. “Welcome to Shake ‘n Bake, would you like a booth or…” Wide-eyed surprise was on both of their faces as the donkey broke out in a smile. “Runnie!”

“Muriel!” Sunrunner laughed in surprise as she recognized her old friend. Despite her best efforts to keep in touch, they’d lost track shortly after the mare had moved to Canterlot. Another bit of bad luck, but at least this one had come to an end. “Sweet Celestia, what are you doing here?”

“Believe it or not, keeping all the ponies who work here on their hooves and off their lazy plots. Come here, we got plenty of space at the bar.” Sunrunner complied and claimed a stool for herself as her old friend asked, “So you here for that reunion they’ve got going on?”

“I was, despite not even graduating with the rest of them.” A sad expression crossed her face as she admitted, “With one exception, they were all jerks.”

“Mare, I can believe that easy. What can I get you?”

“Large chocolate milkshake.”

Muriel complied, and personally set to work on the confection. “Got a job here out of school, right at the bottom, and saw more than my fair share of the students and faculty. You ever meet an old crab named Persimmon?”

“Had her as my teacher after I transferred in. Calling her a crab is an insult to the crabs.”

A smirk crossed the jenny’s muzzle. “Depends on what kind of crab you’re talking about, honey.” The completed milkshake was placed in front of Sunrunner complete with whipped cream, cherry, straw and spoon. “First one’s on the house for cops and active duty military. Company policy.” At her friend’s surprise, she explained, “Caught an article about you in the Star from after the changeling invasion. Uniform looks sharp on you, mare.”

A smile crossed the pegasus’s face as she stuck her straw into her treat. “Thanks.”

“Bet that coltfriend of yours tells you that all the time, though.” The smirk on Muriel’s face faded as she noted her friend’s rueful look. “What happened?”

“You remember that cousin of mine in Canterlot?” A nod. “She vanished. Dropped off the face of the earth. The family moved out there in case she ever came back, and I lost touch with Quiver in the bargain. Left him at the tender mercy of our classmates for the last couple trimesters before graduation.” She bowed her head. “Felt terrible ever since.”

A bell chimed behind her, and Digit Count’s voice called out, “Sunrunner?” She looked up to see him and Bit Stream reflected in a mirror. “May we join you?”

Muriel regarded them uneasily for a few brief seconds, before Sunrunner gave her a quiet nod. The jenny then looked up and asked, “What can I get you two gentlecolts?”

The two stallions didn’t miss the chill in her voice as they claimed stools on Sunrunner’s right. “We’ll have what she’s having.”

Muriel set to work on their milkshakes as Sunrunner idly sipped hers. She finally opted to speak. “I’m not about to give you or anypony else in there an apology.”

“We weren’t here looking for one.” Digit seemed genuinely contrite as he kept his hooves off the bar. “We just wanted to talk is all.” At her raised eyebrow, he admitted, “You’re right, what Primrose and Hot Trail and Roxy did to you was wrong. We shouldn’t have laughed at it. But it was so strange seeing you like that, and we were young and…”

“And that doesn’t sound like an apology.”

The stallion bowed his head. “It was trying to be.”

Sunrunner scowled. “You don’t try anything. You do it, or you fail. That’s the first thing a good drill instructor teaches you in the Guard, and it goes for everything. Digging trenches, issuing orders, cooking a meal, being a friend, whatever.” The scowl softened as she admitted, “Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try in the first place, but the fact remains that all the two of you and everypony else in our class ever succeeded in doing was being a pain in mine and Quiver’s hindquarters.”

“Okay, hang on, I get the frustration over you, but Quiver?” Bit glared at her as he continued, “Seriously, you act like he’s the only pony to ever get a raw deal! Like he’s the only one who’s ever gotten knocked around! Look at me, I’ve had a sh…” He caught Muriel’s glare and nudge towards a family with young foals, and censored himself, “…shimply poor time of it too.”

Digit rolled his eyes. “You’re engaged to Kandi Sugar.”

Sunrunner looked at the orange stallion in shock. “The model? She’s your fiancée?”

Muriel let out a low whistle. “Stallion, if you think getting engaged to a mare that gets compared to Fleur Dis Lee in the looks department is something to complain about, then you need something a lot stronger than what we sell here. And I’m not talking alcohol.”

Bit bowed his head and admitted, “I’m not complaining about being engaged to her. Kandi’s amazing, and she’s a lot smarter than she lets on. But…” He groaned. “She could’ve been engaged to a wealthy genius instead of a stupid failure.” His milkshake arrived just in time as he took hold of it in his magic. “I got my cutie mark for my engineering prowess. Building stuff. I remember that trebuchet that you and Quiver put together for class that one time, and that got me inspired and…” He shook his head. “Not important. Anyway, last year I got this idea for a machine, powered by unicorn magic. Self-propelled transport that didn’t rely on rails, just a well-kept road. You could use it for transport, hauling cargo from one place to another. And, obviously, you could steer it, like a paddle boat or a go-cart.”

Now Sunrunner let out a low whistle. “That would’ve netted you a fortune. Especially if you could work out a power source that didn’t rely on unicorn magic.” She could already imagine more than a few ponies in the Equestrian military who’d approve of something like that adapted into an armored troop carrier, to say nothing of the civilian applications.

“Yeah, but that wasn’t the only idea I had. I thought about magic-powered devices that could pick fruit en masse, sort them, squeeze juice out of them. And I thought I’d put them all together into a proof-of-concept vehicle, before splitting them into three or four separate machines and selling those for individual purposes. I had plans, a working prototype, and Digit was helping me with a business plan.” He sighed. “And then I went and met this pony at a poker game and got conned out of the thing wholesale. Blueprints, prototype, the whole lot.” He grumbled even more. “And if Primrose ever found out…”

Muriel gave Sunrunner a curious expression, to which the mare explained, “Primrose Thorn. The Mayor’s daughter, massive Queen Bee.”

“The mare who almost scalped you?” At her friend’s nod, the jenny scowled. “Yep, that sounds like the sort of thing a mare like her would use to put someone down.”

“And get everyone to join in on.” The pegasus scowled as she looked to the orange unicorn and noted, “I’m sorry that you went through that, Bit Stream. You didn’t deserve it.”

“Thank you.”

“But it’s a terrible shame it didn’t teach you anything.” Before he could protest, she continued, “You think others don’t put as much work into what they do as you did with that fancy machine? That I didn’t put as much work into my classes at Wing Point or defending Canterlot from the changelings? My medals aren’t participation awards, and there are plenty of ponies who’ve earned more than I did, and made far greater sacrifices.” She idly rubbed her hoof on the glass holding her milkshake and noted, “And Quiver certainly put a lot of work into that story he wrote. Enough to earn a cutie mark.”

The two stallions considered that for a moment before Bit asked, “Okay, fine, but what made him so special? He’s no better than anypony else.”

“He’s no worse than anypony else either. No different, no more or less special, except that he wrote and recited a story that I liked, and he was mocked for it.”

Digit turned defensive. “Hey, Primrose was the only one who ragged on him about it.”

“To his face. The rest of you just laughed and mocked, and you were so caught up in what you thought was wrong with the story that you never considered the story itself. What happened in it.”

Bit scoffed. “Some whiny little foal meets Nightmare Moon and gets her to not bring about night eternal. Like that’d actually happen in real life.”

“Forgot that the whiny little foal asked Nightmare Moon to straight up give him a mercy kill, didn’t you?” She frowned as she added, “Little kid gets confronted by the scariest thing in Equestrian folklore since the Windigoes, gets told that she’s gonna bring about an apocalypse, and what does he do? Scream and run away for her to catch and gobble him up? Nope. He stands there, resigned to his fate, and asks her to kill him. Because he’d probably die anyway, and because nopony would miss him if he was gone. Some might call that a way to get attention, but me? I wondered if it was a cry for help.” She turned away from them and admitted, “They say that authors put a little bit of themselves into every character they write. With that in mind, how could Quiver sound?”

Digit looked ashamed as he answered with the first thing that came to mind. “Suicidal.”

Bit Stream gave them an odd look. “Isn’t that a bit much? It’s just a story.”

“Who was Primrose’s favorite target? Who was the butt of every joke, the one who’d get knocked around and tripped and shoved?” The blue stallion frowned as he admitted, “I remember him getting to school early every morning after a while, and just as the door would open to let anypony in, wham.” He swung a hoof down through the air for emphasis. “Primrose would shove him into the door frame, just so she could beat him inside.”

“And until I came along, nopony did anything about it. Not Persimmon, not Fairweather, not a single student in the class.” She frowned as she added, “And what he got at home probably wasn’t much better. He’d always come in exhausted, browbeaten, worn down and run out. And when he’d leave for the day with his father, no matter how he felt, he’d go quiet immediately. Like he was scared of something.” She bowed her head and admitted, “Years later, I tried to get back in touch with him. Found one of the old school directories, went by his address. I was greeted at the door by his father, and tried to explain myself, but got yelled at for my trouble. The third time, the old stallion threatened to get the police. Ponies can do terrible things when they’re scared, to others and to themselves, and if you spent all your time around somepony like that, you’d get scared easy, and you’d want an escape. Especially if one wasn’t coming anywhere else.”

Bit looked at her incredulously. “And that’s why you were nice to him? Pity?”

“I was nice to him because he needed a friend.” She turned to the stallion and said, “How many times could tragedy and pain have been avoided if somepony had just sat up and done something? It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture, or some big production, just something small. An act of random kindness, and the entire world can be changed for the better. I got my cutie mark thanks to him, and being a light in the dark for him was the least I could do.” She smiled fondly as she recounted, “And he was a great friend. Shy, awkward, but sweet. Good for a warm hug on a lousy day, and good at ideas and stories.” She grinned as she admitted, “He came up with the trebuchet idea.”

Now Bit Stream turned awkward, which prompted a smirk from Muriel.

Sunrunner’s grin turned back to a smile as she continued, “And he was always willing to try new things with a little encouragement. Taking up the saxophone, learning to sing, all that. Writing might’ve been his passion, but he enjoyed all the arts.” The grin faded as she noted, “It’s just a shame that I was the only one who supported him.”

Now Muriel’s smirk turned to her old friend. “That’s more than friendship, filly.”

A sad expression crossed her face. “For both of us.”

Bit turned confused. “Seriously? I thought he was a colt-cuddler.”

Digit looked mortified. “Bit!” He lowered his voice to a whisper and hissed, “Don’t call homosexual stallions that!”

Bit’s answered in a hiss of his own. “Why not? Some of them call themselves that!”

“And most of them don’t like the idea of being called anything that sounds remotely like ‘child predator’!”

Bit opened his mouth to respond, but quickly closed it before returning to his normal tone of voice. “Okay, fair point, but what made you so certain?”

“Quiver always told me that he hated writing poems. Meter and rhyme was always a pain for him to work out, ensure good flow on. With prose fiction, a short story or something, he could work out a groove, but poetry was lots of work and lots of trouble for him.” She smiled as she recounted, “So him writing that poem for me to admit how he felt made it all the more meaningful.”

The two looked at her in surprise. “He fell for you?”

Sunrunner rolled her eyes. “Don’t be surprised. I’m not exactly Kandi Sugar, but I’m not ugly either. Besides, I was the only mare in that class who treated him like he mattered. And who are you more likely to fall for – somepony who’s nice to you, or somepony who treats you like dirt?” Bit conceded that point with a nod as she continued, “Anyway, I never got the chance to answer him. He wasn’t in class that day I found the note in my locker.”

“Yeah, he was out with the flu.” The realization hit Digit as he realized, “And you left that week for Canterlot. But he never asked anypony what happened to you…”

“Probably because he didn’t think anypony would give him an honest answer.” She gave the two stallions a hard stare and added, “Like I said, I was the only pony in that school who treated him with anything even remotely resembling basic decency. The rest of you treated him like a joke, or bullied him. Persimmon would’ve rolled her eyes at a student dropping dead in front of her, and Fairweather was a boot-licking toady. And the world being the way it is, both of them are in even higher positions of power now, and might even get higher than that.”

Digit gave her a surprised look. “How did you know all that? I mean, you didn’t go in where you could’ve seen Persimmon’s portrait as principal…”

“My father’s still got friends over at the Star. When they told him Fairweather had been appointed superintendant of Indy’s public school system, he told my mother. You’d think a bomb had gone off in our house, the way she reacted.” She huffed and noted, “Doesn’t surprise me he promoted his cronies when he got the chance.” A sigh, and she noted, “What happened to me, Muriel? I used to be so sunny and cheerful.”

“Your cousin used your offer of friendship for birdcage liner, you got transferred to a school run by an opportunistic jerk and put in a class run by an apathetic teacher, the local Queen Bee assaulted you and got away with it, and you got torn away from a stallion that you’d not only fallen for, but fell hard for you.” She smirked and added, “Compared to that, the changeling invasion was a cakewalk.”

Sunrunner laughed. “No kidding.” The levity left her voice as she admitted, “Well, Quiver wouldn’t have come to the reunion anyway. I wouldn’t have been worth it. I want to think he hasn’t forgotten me, but I tried to keep in touch, only he never wrote back. Even if I knew where to look for him…”

“Ponyville.” At Sunrunner’s curious expression, Bit Stream explained, “He moved to Ponyville earlier this summer. First invite we tried to mail out, the post office failed to realize he’d changed his address and sent it to his parents’ place. Some old stallion came, yelled at us over the screw-up, and gave us the new address.” He pulled a napkin to him with his magic and produced a pen, then wrote the address down before passing it over to the pegasus. “Assuming that was his dad, you were right. Guy’s a jerk. He might even be responsible for Quiver never getting any of your letters.”

Sunrunner’s eyes went wide with surprise. “Ponyville?” She read over the address. “He’s living there?” She laughed, finished the last of her milkshake and then produced some bits and laid them down on the counter. “Muriel, great seeing you again! Next time I’m in town, I’m stopping here! Keep the change!”

She dashed out as Digit looked over the money in confusion. “I thought this place had a policy of giving a free drink to active duty military.”

“It does.” The jenny smirked and noted, “She just paid for your drinks.” She then turned her attention back to the door, and hoped to herself that her friend would reunite with the stallion in question. They both needed a reason to smile again, and it would be good for her to reunite with someone that she’d lost.

Especially considering the chances of reuniting with that cousin of hers were slim to none.

-

“What do you mean, she’s gone?”

It felt like the throne room had gone into an arctic chill at Solar Flare’s words as she narrowed her gaze at Princess Celestia. Meanwhile, none of the guards, miraculously, had done anything beyond maintain an alert posture and keep their eyes on the angered pegasus before them, but that was merely because they hadn’t gotten a reason to do otherwise. That was little comfort to her husband and daughter, however, who both looked worried for her safety should she go too far.

Celestia, meanwhile, had maintained some silence, likely due to her considering her next words carefully. “What I mean, Solar Flare, is that your niece is gone.”

“With all due respect, your Highness, I’m not the sort of mare who enjoys going around in circles, or in playing ‘Twenty Questions’. Now please explain to me what the rut has happened to Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunrunner could see the guards tense at her word choice, but they restrained themselves as the princess nodded. “Of course, but before we proceed, could I ask that your daughter step outside?”

Solar Flare frowned, then turned to her daughter. “Runnie, please do as the princess asks. Your father and I will tell you everything when we’re done. Just don’t wander too far.”

The younger mare nodded at her mother’s request, and one of the guards escorted her out of the throne room. The halls outside, thankfully, were lined with the odd bench here and there, possibly for the use of the odd royal petitioner but in this instance allowing Sunrunner the chance to sit down and rest. As much as she didn’t want to be left out on what was going on inside, she also didn’t want to be in the blast radius of her mother’s rage.

“Miss?” She looked up at the guard as he asked, “Would you like anything? Some water perhaps?”

She nodded. “Yes, thank you.”

The guard went to fetch a member of the castle staff, one approaching not too far away, while hoofsteps sounded from the opposite end of the hall. Their pace quickened before they came to an abrupt stop as a young, pleasant voice asked, “Excuse me? Would you by any chance happen to be named Sunrunner?”

“Yes, why…?” She looked up to find herself looking into a very familiar pair of light purple eyes, belonging to a mare only slightly older than herself that she couldn’t help but recognize. She shot to her hooves in alarm. “Excuse me! My apologies, your Highness, I…!”

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza smiled gently upon her. “It’s alright, and you don’t need to be that formal. You’re not much older than I am, after all. Call me ‘Cadance’ if you like.”

Sunrunner relaxed. “Okay, Cadance.” She flashed a nervous smile and noted, “I guess I wasn’t too hard to recognize.”

“No. Aunt Celestia’s mentioned you from time to time.” Cadance tilted her head slightly, and thus caused her ponytail to tip to one side as she smiled. “You and Sunset Shimmer look so much alike, you’d think you were sisters.”

The younger mare bowed her head. “I always thought of her as one, even if she didn’t reciprocate. Were you and Sunset friends?”

A sad frown formed on the alicorn’s face. “No. My aunt, for whatever reason, kept me and her separate whenever possible. Even those times where I saw her since coming to live in Canterlot a few months ago, she hardly acknowledged me. I just passed it off as her being busy with her studies and carried on. I had plenty on my plate regardless. Still, I hoped that she at least had some kind of relationship with her family.”

“I wish that’d been the case.” The guard who’d escorted her out of the throne room earlier returned with one of the palace staff and two glasses of water in tow. “How…?”

“Duty of a Guardspony to be observant, miss.” The stallion turned to the princess and asked, “Some water for you too, ma’am, or would you like something else?”

“Water’s fine, Sergeant.” Cadance took one glass up with a wing, then after Sunrunner did likewise, invited her to sit with her. “Anyway, I’m sorry this has happened. Do you know anything about what’s going on?”

“No. Do you?”

The alicorn shook her head. “Like I said, my aunt tends to keep things to herself, for a number of reasons. I have to wonder if that’s always a good thing.” She then sighed and asked, “Anyway, I hope whatever’s going on doesn’t stop you from getting back home soon. You look like you left somepony behind.”

A half-smile formed on Sunrunner’s face as she swallowed her first bit of water. “How could you tell?”

Cadance returned the half-smile and noted, “I’m the Princess of Love, or so the papers say. I can tell when somepony’s feeling that special something.” She put a hoof to her mouth and awkwardly remarked, “I’m sorry, I…”

The pegasus mare giggled. “It’s alright, I know what you meant.” Her mood lightened, she admitted, “But yeah, I’ve got a colt waiting for me back home. I know how he feels about me, and I feel the same way about him, but…”

“But he doesn’t know yet.”

“Haven’t gotten the chance to say anything.” She smiled dreamily and noted, “He’s smart, and silly, and kind of a dork, but he’s got a big heart.”

Cadance smirked. “The best stallions always do.”

“But he’s been hurt so bad. Bullies and jerks and everypony putting him down like he’s nothing.”

“Then it’s a good thing he has you to lift him up.” The princess gave an encouraging smile. “You’ll see him again, Sunrunner. And something tells me he won’t forget a mare like you anytime soon.”

The young mare flashed a hopeful smile as the doors to the throne room opened. She finished her drink and rose to her hooves as her parents emerged. “Mom? Dad? What’s going on?”

Her mother’s expression was foul, her father’s regretful as he answered, “Runnie, I’m afraid we might not be seeing Sunset again for a long time. She was expelled from Princess Celestia’s tutelage, something about breaking into the restricted section of the castle library, but she ran off before she could be given the chance to pack or we could be contacted. The princess doesn’t know when, or if, she’ll return.”

She looked between her two parents uneasily. “Then, we might never see her again?” At her father’s nod, she frowned. “What will we do?”

“We stand vigil and hope.” Solar Flare straightened up and explained, “Ownership of your aunt’s house here in Canterlot passed to me after she and your uncle passed away. We’ll sell the house in Indianapoloosa, and move out here.” At her daughter’s shocked expression, she frowned regretfully and said, “I’m sorry, Runnie, but think of the bright side. You won’t have to deal with any of the bullies you faced back there anymore, or anypony who let them get away with treating you like garbage. You’ve already applied to Wing Point, so you won’t have too far to go if you get accepted if you live here.”

“Still, I…” Sunrunner caught the look in her mother’s eye and opted against arguing further. “Can I at least write a letter home sometime? Keep in touch with my friends?”

“Of course.” Solar Flare then turned her attention to the young princess among them and curtly noted, “Excuse us, your Highness, we’ve business to attend to.”

The three pegasi then started to make their way out of the palace, with Sunrunner taking up the rear. She turned back to find Cadance flashing her a hopeful smile, even as Celestia joined her with a broken, apologetic look on her face. She tried to smile back, but barely managed it before she found her attention on the way ahead. She had much to do, after all, and optimism could only get her so far.

Besides, there was something wrong with seeing the Princess of the Sun look as though a shadow had fallen over her. But then again, hadn’t one fallen on all of them?

Author's Note:

I hope no one objects to the bookends for this story. I just thought there'd be some elegance to the idea of Sunrunner starting it meeting Princess Luna in the present day, and ending it meeting Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance in the past.

Kandi Sugar is a character that I bought on DeviantArt. Details on her are available here.

Comments

[Scholarly-Cimmerian]

There's some good stuff here.

For one, I really gotta hand it to you. From the very first spoken dialogue of the character, I really hated Fairweather. I talked about Persimmon last time, but wow, this guy takes the cake. (And he'd eat it too, the fat glutton.)

I also really appreciated the diner scene, especially because I did not expect to see Muriel come back there. That was a really nice touch, and I quite liked her and Sunrunner's dialogue with the two classmates.

And finally, that last flashback with the Princesses was nice too. I didn't expect Cadence to make an appearance and that was a good idea. Also, the closing of this chapter was quite elegant, I thought. Yes, a shadow has fallen over everyone, on that day...

I look forward to getting to the finish. Probably do that tonight.

[Comickook]

Sorry I took a few days to get around to reviewing this, but I have to say you did a GREAT job on this chapter. Not only were the exchanges, characterizations and future story set-up in the flashbacks all wonderfully done, but I adored Cadance's appearance too. I'm glad those jerks are going to get their just deserts in a future story.

Anyway, on to the final chapter.

[EchoWing]

9147430
And the sooner I'm able to get that future story done, the better. Glad that you enjoyed this one.