Chapter 1: In Your House

Like A Stone

Dear Princess Twilight,

I can't believe that graduation has finally come. It's exciting but also a bit scary. I'm not sure I'm ready to move onto college, or ready for the reality of human living. I know that is odd seeing as I've been here for so long, but school has always been an outlet for me, for better or for worse. Now that outlet is about to go and it's a big leap. Maybe college will be just as much of an outlet, just maybe with less magical mishaps.

The girls are doing fine and are just as excited and scared as myself. Rainbow got into the same school as I did on a sports scholarship, and Pinkie is still considering coming with even if she's not going to study. Would be nice to have a third person helping out with rent. Fluttershy and Applejack are still dating and have said they are going to be heading out of town to do some help getting a wildlife sanctuary started or something like that, and Rarity went out and got an apprentice ship under one of the biggest fashion icons of the city. Even our Twilight has a big internship with an engineering firm here in town. Who knows, a few years down the line and our little group might be running some major things in the world.

I really hope things are going well back in Equestria. It's going to be a lot harder to visit now that we'll be away from the portal, but I hope to be able to visit at least once a year or more if I can. The human world is great, but nothing beats coming home for some r&r. I'll wrap this up because I have to get ready for the ceremony. Hope to see you soon!

Your friend,

Sunset Shimmer

I couldn't help but smile as my finger traced under each and every word, the memories flooding back as the scratch of parchment under nail seamlessly traveled up to my brain. Some part of my mind wanted to cry from it all, but the happiness and nostalgia seemed to quiet it before it even had a chance to well up.

I looked over to the large bay window at my side, the light from my small lamp reflecting back at me while dark grey skies filled my normally stunning views of the harbor a few blocks over. The lighthouse in the distance was on, and each sweep of the light illuminated the trees and sea as they rocked back and forth in the gale, an unfortunate side effect of seaside weather. The tome in my hands was becoming heavier to hold the less I focused on it and eventually I could feel the pages slip from my fingers and slam against the floor.

"Crap basket." My voice hissed out as I slowly stood from my rocker, my hands shaking as I reached down to pick the book up from the floor. The hard leather binding and metal accents had quickly grown cold from the storm cooled wooden floors beneath it, so quickly in fact I could feel the outline of my name embossed on the spine and the old phoenix feather quill in its pocket on the back.

The cover came face to face with me as I lifted it up, lightly blowing and revealing the design beneath. The deep red and yellows had long faded into bright pink and white, but it still filled me with warming comfort to look at it. My eyes wandered up from the book to the rest of my room, the raging storm outside washing most of the colors away from the furniture and decor. Flowers that filled the vases appeared wilted, and paintings of smiling people and beautiful landscapes that adorned the walls looked as if the artist's soul had been ripped from them.

"Oh come now, a little storm is nothing to get so down about." I chuckled as I scolded the paintings and flowers, turning on a few more lights to brightened the room, but no matter how many lights came on the crushing grey outside seemed to overtake it all. A roll of the eyes and a smirk is all I could give before I walked towards the double doors leading to a large stairwell. "Alright, I will leave you all to be if you aren't feeling up to the company."

As much as I loved the paintings on the brighter days, on the dreary ones they weren't pleasing at all. Their eyes seemed to follow me with a forlorn look.

I turned to close the doors behind me, stopping for a moment to look over the staircase leading down the the foyer. I ran my hand across one of the wooden posts at the top of the rails, feeling the shape of the proud unicorn that reared up to greet me.

For a reason I couldn't explain, my eyes turned down towards the book , and without much of a thought I opened to a random page.

Dear Princess Twilight,

Rarity invited us over to her mansion for the weekend. The perks of moving quickly up the ranks of the industry I suppose, but it beats sitting in the dorm and eating cup noodles all day. The place is huge, like literally it makes the old tower on the north side of Canterlot Castle look like an old shack. She went all out on it as well. Many rooms, wall to wall marble floors in the foyer and the nicest looking wood throughout. The grand staircase is a big gaudy, but she had the carpenters carve some little unicorns onto the top of each of the posts.

It's interesting to see how much she's changed since CHS. I swear I can't tell if it's her heels or if she's actually grown more but she towers over me by a good 4 inches, and she was practically a womanlet sophomore year. Now we're just here waiting for the other girls to show up, and they are taking their sweet time with it. It's been over three hours since they were supposed to get here. I'll write you later when something is actually going on.

Your friend,

Sunset Shimmer

I laughed when I read that last part. Had I known then that she had only called me up for the weekend, I might have been a bit freaked out. Admitting that I thought Rarity was stunning back in school would have gotten me incessant teasing from Rainbow for weeks. Somehow, however, being alone in a mansion with her, seeing how much of a woman she had become, made everything seem less like a teenage fling and more real.

I closed the book once more and walked along the second floor landing, slowly running my hand over the ornate carvings and moldings along the wall. In front of me stood another set of double doors. Anxiety is all I could say washed over me as I pushed them open, the expansive yet empty ballroom just as grey and dull as the den was. Walls of floor to ceiling windows and lavish wall decor were the only thing that remained in here, the tables, chairs and decorative centerpieces were long gone. Despite all this my anxiety only raised as I walked forward slowly. The blood pounding in my ears, the echo of each step and the pounding rain, I couldn't tell which was growing louder the further in I walked.

My feet came to a halt about three-quarters of the way and as I turned back towards the door a wave of fear and joy overcame me. My eyes tracked to the doors and a smile grew wider on my face. A warm current blew over me and a flush filled my face, if anyone saw me I'm sure they would have mistaken me for a tomato. A flutter of pages made my ear twitch, and in the corner of my eye I saw the pages of the journal flipping until they came to a stop.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I'm glad Twilight left the book with you while she is visiting for the wedding. I wish you could have attended as well, but I understand that running the country is more important. I'm writing this as the reception is in full swing.

The ceremony went beautifully, although Rarity's instance that we both wear dresses made the alter under that ornate overhang she wanted a bit crowded. I don't think I've ever seen Twilight cry that hard. Come to think of it I don't think I've even seen Rainbow cry that hard either, but you couldn't tell how emotional everyone got by how they are acting now.

I can't shake the feeling however that I don't deserve a woman like Rarity. I guess that's just me dwelling on the past again, but when things are at their height the past always seems to come back for reflection. Nothing back then could have convinced me that acting like a she-devil would eventual net me a life like this.

But now it's the time to be nostalgic and dwelling. I need to be out there, partying and enjoying my special night. Like I said before I really wish you would have been able to come because I miss you a lot. I'll have Twilight bring you back a piece of cake if I c

Crushing and cold is all I felt. The book felt like molten steel in my hands as I dropped it to the floor and ran for the door. I didn't even care about the pain and the creaking in my knees, no amount of aging could have stopped my sprint. I grabbed edge of my sundress as I trudged down the stairs, every single breath I took was sharp and stung horridly. The tears dripping off my cheeks fell and shattered against the floor. Everything was a blizzard around me and fuzz filled my vision and lungs. In a moment of strange calm, the cold of the stairs didn't no longer forced itself against soles, only a sinking, dizzy feeling in my stomach and head as the world flipped end over end.

A hard crack and an insane warmth pooling under my head was the only thing to return me to a stable reality. The pain wasn't registering, but the weight on my eyes was unrelenting. A blink later and the world changed.

I was no longer pressed against the icy marble, only the plush of a down comforter and silk caressing my body.

I sat up to find myself in my bed, although I don't know how. My head was splitting, and the glaring grey coming through the slats on the windows wasn't helping the situation. I sat up slowly, the pain becoming more and more bearable as i lifted up, and although my vision was still fuzzy I could the the room around me was empty, devoid of life save for the faded furniture and the book, resting between the outline of my legs on the bedspread.

"How did you get there?" I asked out loud, but I couldn't think of a good reason it shouldn't be there. As my hand reached out, the pain and confusion faded more and was replace by overwhelming cold. I hesitated for a moment, not entirely sure that I wanted to see what it had to show me this time, but before I knew it I had pulled it close to me and opened it to a page. The paper looked stained and was warped, the ink bleeding and faded in some areas, but despite all of it I could hear every word echoing in my head perfectly.

Dear Princesses,

I can't help but blame myself, no matter how much Rarity tells me otherwise. It all happened so suddenly. One moment she was there and the next she just.... wasn't.

Her funeral was this afternoon and I couldn't bring myself to look in her casket. I know that whatever smile the morticians fashioned onto her face wouldn't be anything like what Pinkie's last smile was. Even now I can still see it, though the crashing of wine glasses over and over just ringing in my ears overshadows it all. Coroner said it was from the trauma of the metal structure falling on her, still doesn't change the fact that it happened because I wanted that stupid tree. If it wasn't for that she'd still be here.

It was truly hard watching my friends there. Wasn't 6 days earlier we were all partying and having a good time. Now I'm sitting here with Fluttershy's tears soaking into my shirt, the others shoveling dirt. I truly truly hope that Pinkie back there never has to hear about this. I can't imagine what it would do to her, though the more I think about it I realize that making people happy would be the way she would have wanted to go out. Doesn't make it any harder.

In mourning,

Sunset Shimmer.

The pitter-patter of my tears soaked once more into the pages below, each breath coming on in sharp ragged bursts. I didn't care about it anymore, and as I looked up from the book to the mirror across the room from my bed my heart sank. I swear I could see her face smiling back at me, her hand pressed to the glass just beckoning me.

I bound from under the sheets, nearly falling on my face as my legs gave out. I gritted my teeth through the pain and lifted myself up to eye level with the vanity, my hand slapping against the glass, hoping to feel hers against mine.

There was nothing there, but my hand pressed to the glass and my own wrinkled, tear drenched skin reflected back at me in the dust. She was gone. I looked down at the dresser and saw the book open to the snippet of her obituary tapped to the opposite page, and something struck me as odd.

I swore that Celestia had written me something back here. Something comforting. But it wasn't there. I looked up at myself again and blinked.

I suddenly woke back in my chair, the book laying open in my lap, and the den was even more grey.

Author's Note:

This was something that I thought of late tonight and typed up. I welcome any and all feedback because I know it's not perfect by any means, but it's a start to a small 2-4 part story.

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