Severed Ties

by Carol Heart

Chapter 11

It was Saturday, and Twilight had woken up early to work on her project. It was nothing unusual for the studious girl. Weekends were often filled with research and extra credit she had to complete. Spike curled up on her bed was a bit of an oddity as the fluffy pup had his own bed on the floor of her room, though he often guilted her into letting him join her in the big bed. A feat made all the easier now that he could talk and inform Twilight just how lonely he got when not cuddled up next to her.

The pup’s normal spot was occupied by the even stranger oddity than the talking dog, that being the still sleeping unicorn. The bizarreness of the situation wasn’t the fact that Twilight had awoken to find that the mythical creature did in fact exist and that the events from yesterday had actually happened. It was not even the fact that said creature was still in its reduced, and all the more adorable size.

The thing disconcerting Twilight the most this morning was the contorted form the unicorn made as she splayed out on the dog bed. The jumbled mass of limbs that was the tiny pony had one foreleg tucked under her head as a makeshift pillow, while her other was tucked back next to her body. Her rear legs were tucked under her, causing her sun adorned flank to stick up in the air. The unicorn’s feathered mane was now a fiery mess that seemed to defy gravity as it stuck straight up into the air.

Checking the clock, Twilight calculated the amount of time it might take the little unicorn to get ready for the day and compared that against what time she knew her brother would be home from work. She didn’t want to risk him seeing her mythical guest and she didn’t want to run the risk of him going to sleep before she could convince him to give her a ride to CHS, so she needed to get Sunset up and moving. Slipping out of her chair, Twilight knelt down on the floor next to the sleeping pony.

“Hey, um, Sunset,” the scientist called tentatively. “It’s time to get up.”

There was a mumbled, incoherent response from the tiny pony as one foreleg absently swatted for, what Twilight assumed was an alarm clock. Not finding one, Sunset gave up flopping over on the bed this time face up with her rear hooves dangling off the bed and her forelegs stretched flat above it. Her mane now sticking straight out to the side.

Trying again, Twilight called a bit more confidently, “Sunset, if you want breakfast, you’re going to have to get up now.”

“Listen, Princess,” the pony snarked, “unless you plan on blasting me out of bed with another Friendship rainbow laser, I will get up when I’m ready. Just tell Spike to make me some haycakes and I’ll be down in a few.” Sunset let out a grunt and threw a forehoof up to cover her eyes, making Twilight wonder just how dexterous the unicorn was with her hooves as compared to normal equines.

The scientist turned to the pup who stared at her a second before tucking himself back into the ball he’d been dozing in. “Don’t look at me,” he said, “I’m not getting her anything, not even one of those nasty teeth cleaning treats your mom keeps trying to give me.”

Turning back to the half-asleep pony, the teen saw Sunset was feeling around the bed, searching for something. Though still covered, she could see the unicorn’s face scrunch in confusion. Finally, Sunset let out a grunt of annoyance at not being able to locate whatever she was trying to find and her horn lit in a scarlet aura. It did not, however, have the intended results as the glow quickly sparked and fizzled out, eliciting a pained yelp from the pony. Sitting up, Sunset began to carefully massage her temples with her hooves.

“Sunset,” ventured the young scientist, “are you alright?”

Turning toward the voice, the unicorn slowly cracked a teal orb and spotted the worried teen. Closing it again quickly, she groaned, “Sweet Celestia, it wasn’t a dream.”

“I’m sorry to wake you, but I don’t know what sort of morning ablutions a being such as yourself might need to undergo to start your day, and I know you said you wanted haycakes, but I don’t think we have the necessary ingredients nor suitable substitutes needed to make such a thing, but maybe if you give me…” Twilight’s nervous ramble was cut off abruptly. Looking down, and causing her glasses to slip a bit, she found an amber hoof covering her mouth. Glancing back up, she met the frowning visage of the tiny pony.

“Twilight, just stop.”

Blushing and looking away, the teen pushed her thick frames back into place. “Sorry, I just…”

“Look, it’s fine,” Sunset said, as she relaxed a bit, and broke her gaze. “I just need to go. I don’t want to stick around this world any more than I have to.”

“Oh, okay,” Twilight said, still a bit nervous around the fiery pony. “My brother should be home in a little bit. I can ask him to drop us off at Canterlot High.”

“Alright, that works,” the unicorn sighed. As she went up to rub her head her hoof brushed her still frazzled mane. Trying and failing to return it to some state of order, Sunset finally relented, turning to the teen and asking, “Any chance I could borrow a brush?”

***

One tamed mane later, Twilight and Sunset entered the kitchen in awkward silence. Twilight, having never had a magical equine to breakfast was unsure of the proper etiquette for the situation. Also, she wasn’t sure where to have her sit, or what to offer her for food. The young scientist was completely out of her depth. She hadn’t had anyone over for breakfast ever, let alone a talking unicorn. As her mind began to race with all the possible worst-case scenarios, her breathing quickened and became shallower.

Before her worry could devolve into a full-blown panic attack, a voice broke through the blurring images of the world. “Twilight, relax. It’s just breakfast.” Focusing on the source of the comment, the teen watched the tiny pony push out a chair from the table and hop up. Looking around the kitchen, she finally asked, “So, what do you have to eat around here?”

“Wait,” Twilight her brain finally calming down enough to register the comments, “how did you know that’s what I was worried about?” With a sharp intake of breath, the scientist lowered her voice nervously, “C-can you read minds with your magic.”

“Pffft, please, the last thing anypony needs is me with telepathy,” the unicorn chuckled. “Nah, it was just a hunch. You’re just a lot like my friend. Sometimes she gets stressed out over the tiniest things and she’s so smart she can visualize countless ways for things to go badly in a short time and it just kind of overwhelms her. She doesn’t get it as much as she used to from what I hear, but I’ve seen it once or twice.”

Searching the cabinets for what to offer, Twilight turned back to her guest. “That sounds like me.” Pausing, she then added, “You said she doesn’t get it as much as she used to. Do you know if there was a treatment or technique she utilizes?”

“Not really,” the pony replied, “but if you asked her she’d probably say it had something to do with making friends. Honestly, most of her solutions to problems involve friendship, though, given her track record, I suppose she’s probably right.”

“Oh,” the teen mumbled, “that sounds less like me. Anyway, I don’t think that’ll work in my case.” Trying to lead the conversation away from her lack of companionship, Twilight continued, “So, about breakfast…”

“Hey,” Spike called from the floor. “How come she gets to eat at the table and I’m stuck eating down here?”

“Because,” the teen started, but then froze, her mind warring with itself as every argument she could voice was then quickly countered with a glance at the unicorn. Sunset was little help and just shrugged. After a few more seconds of indecision, the unicorn thought to end the debate for her. Lighting her horn, Spike’s food bowl was encompassed in the same glowing red aura they had seen before. It floated to the air toward the table. Just as she went to set the bowl down, the magic flickered and died, causing the food dish to land hard on the table and scatter some of its contents. Glancing at the pony, Twilight saw she was tired and out of breath. Her face bore a small frown.

“Sunset, are you okay?”

“Is she okay,” Spike huffed, “Just look what she did to my breakfast.”

“Spike!” the teen admonished causing the puppy’s ears to droop.

“It’s fine,” Sunset said interrupting, “I’m fine.” Despite the words, the observant teen caught the look of worry in the unicorn’s eye and wondered if the comment was to reassure them or herself. Taking a deep breath, Sunset said, “Let’s just eat and get to the portal. I should be fine once I’m back in Equestria.”

Not being much of a chef, Twilight settled on toast for breakfast and as Sunset offered no objection she buttered a couple of slices for the both of them. “Equestria?” Twilight questioned going back to what Sunset had said. “Is that the world you come from? What can you tell me about it? Is it populated entirely by unicorns like yourself or are their variations in the population?” Before she could continue too far with her tirade she caught the tired look of the pony at the table, and sheepishly mumbled, “Sorry.”

Twilight placed the buttered slices in front of the still tiny pony, wondering why Sunset hadn’t returned herself to her normal size considering the small size was forcing her to have to practically stand on the chair with her hooves on the table to see her food.

After a few minutes of Twilight munching quietly on her toast while Sunset just frowned at the food in front of her, the nervous teen attempted to restart the conversation. “Um, maybe, since we still have time before Shining gets home, you’d like to take a look at my research. It might be helpful to have your input for my project since you have a background in…uh, magical studies?”

Twilight’s hopeful expression soon fell when she saw the serious look the tiny pony was leveling at her.

“Twilight, you can’t reveal anything you’ve discovered. Magic, the portal, me, none of it. Once I get back through the portal, you have to delete your research and destroy that device. Nothing about any of this can get out.”

“But, my project, what am I supposed to present for my Everton entrance project if I can’t use…” Twilight began only to be cut off.

“None of it, Twilight.” Sunset stressed fixing the girl with a hard stare. “Magic doesn’t belong in this world. It causes nothing but trouble here and in the end, someone always gets hurt.” Sunset dropped her gaze and continued on a bit softer, “Trust me, you don’t want to be the one to unleash that on the world. It’s not something you want on your conscience.”

“O-okay,” Twilight mumbled out sadly. The unicorn’s words striking her hard. She knew it was her research into magic that had caused all this trouble for Sunset, and though she wouldn’t admit it, there was definitely something wrong with the tiny pony that she didn’t want to talk about. Not wanting to think about what her project might have done to hurt the littlle unicorn, Twilight went back to eating.

With a frustrated grunt, Sunset picked up the slices from the table in one hoof and hopped ungracefully off the table. “I’ll be up in your room. Wouldn’t want your brother spotting me when he gets home,” she said and awkwardly walked out the door on three legs.

Hearing the hoof-steps disappear upstairs, Twilight turned back to her unfinished breakfast, suddenly not hungry for even the small amount of food. She didn’t have long to wallow in her worry though as the sounds of a car pulling in the driveway stirred her from her thoughts. A few minutes later, Shining Armor entered from the back door.

Taking in the scene he asked, “Twily, why is Spike eating at the table?”

Comments

[Argentyros]

Figures Sunset would try and convince her to do that. Maybe not an entirely fair assessment as she's just going by her own personal experiences, which are all colored by hardship, but that's to be expected really.

[Teraunce]

Uh-oh!

[Freethinker037]

10402662
To be fair, considering Government paranoia that exists all over, Revealing magic would flip the whole world on it's head. Look at twilight's device. One little gadget caused so much trouble, both here and in the actual EQG movie. Imagine what would happen when you got people with MORE money and MORE resources trying to WEAPONIZE it. They'll claim patriotism or public safety, but in reality, it's all just a power play, no matter who gets a hold of it.

[Hobbestc]

Answerf Shining Spike!! Just do it!!!

[Spiritus Arcane]

10402662
Dude, if the CHS world's government is anything like ours, Sunset would be lucky if they just killed and dissected her. To say nothing of what the f-ups in charge might try to do with magic. And god forbid they get access to Equestria itself.

[sunset-starlight]

“Pffft, please, the last thing anypony needs is me with telepathy.”

Well then...

[MSie95]

Huh, have Sunset explained what happend with the woman in the portal?

[Carol Heart]

10493674
It was an illusion created by Sunset (hence why it looked like Principal Celestia). I moved the description around a few times so it might have become unclear. It's been edited for clarity now though. Thanks

[Killjoy1221]

“Hey,” Spike called from the floor. “How come she gets to eat at the table and I’m stuck eating down here?”

Because you can't properly hold a fork.