Chapter 9 - Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to be both organized AND laid-back
For most ponies, it had been a day just like any other. For most ponies, the trip aboard the Canterlot-bound Northwest Express was simply a way to get from point A to point B. It was comfortable and —for those who didn’t travel often— there was a certain novelty to it, but to most ponies, the trip had been neither emotionally charged, nor especially significant.
However, most ponies were not Sunset Shimmer.
“Oh! Em! Gee! You are just the cutest thing there ever was,” yelled the fire-maned mare as she lifted her niece into the air. Flurry Heart babbled happily at the praise and affection her newest aunt was heaping on her. “And just look at your gigantic wings! I bet you could carry Spike!”
Cadance giggled as Flurry Heart flared out her wings proudly. “Oh, she can carry much more than just Spike. At her Crystalling, she spent about half-an-hour flying around the castle with Pinkie Pie in tow.”
Sunset looked at Cadance with an expression of sheer disbelief. “Two things. First, REALLY!? I mean, this wingspan is incredible. But how does such a small body generate the force needed to haul a full-grown mare around? Second, what’s a Crystalling?”
When Cadance opened her mouth to reply, Flurry Heart teleported out of Sunset’s hooves with a small ‘POP!’ and reappeared on top of her head, giggling.
“…Third,” Sunset amended, looking up at her new alicorn hat. “SHE CAN TELEPORT ALREADY!?” She reached up to grab the baby, only for Flurry to vanish with another ‘POP!’ and reappear on her left.
“Come here, Flurry,” the unicorn called, reaching for her once more. Just before Sunset’s hooves reached her, Flurry vanished with a ‘POP!’, this time reappearing on Sunset’s right. The unicorn’s brow furrowed as she turned to face her niece, “Flurry, come here,” she sternly commanded. Another lunge, another ‘POP!’, and now the baby was back on top of Sunset’s head.
“Here!”, ‘POP!’, Left.
“Here!”, ‘POP!’, Right.
“Here!”, ‘POP!’, Head.
“Here!”, ‘POP!’, Left.
“Here!”, ‘POP!’, Right.
“Flurry!”, ‘POP!’, Head.
“Come!”, ‘POP!’, Left.
“Over!”, ‘POP!’, Right.
“Here!”, ‘POP!’, Head.
While Flurry’s abilities were amazing, Sunset was not about to be bested by an infant. So, she began lunging faster and faster, determined to catch the disappearing baby. But no matter how fast she lunged, Flurry would always vanish and reappear just before she got ahold of her. Soon Flurry was only appearing for a split second at a time before teleporting to the next location in the cycle and Sunset looked like she was playing a high-intensity game of whack-a-mole.
Just when Cadance was starting to wonder how long this could continue, Sunset suddenly reversed direction and Flurry Heart teleported right into her hooves.
“GOTCHA!” She yelled triumphantly as the baby shrieked with surprise. “NOW YOU MUST PAY!”
The victorious mare took a deep breath and loudly blew raspberries on Flurry’s stomach, causing her to squeal with delight.
Cadance’s heart felt like it was about to burst as she watched Sunset and Flurry play. It was more than she’d ever dared hope for. With a laugh, she reached out and pulled the two of them into a warm embrace.
Still holding Flurry, Sunset smiled and leaned back into her sister. “This is so unreal. I can’t believe you’re a mom, Cadance.”
Cadance chuckled in response. “I can’t believe you’re an aunt.”
Sunset blinked and stared off into the distance. “I’m…an aunt,” she repeated, as though she couldn’t believe it herself. She glanced down at the baby in her hooves. Flurry Heart had calmed down, folded her wings, and was now snuggled up against Sunset, looking very sleepy.
Sunset smiled and closed her eyes as they started to mist over. “You know,” she began. “All that time at the orphanage? Meeting with ponies, working to impress them, and never getting adopted? I thought it taught me something. When I came to Canterlot, I was certain that a family was something you had to earn. Even after we became sisters, I still thought that. …Even when I ran away, I still thought that. But now…now I have a niece. Just like that! And I still have you, even after all I’ve done! I just…I don’t get it. I’ve done nothing to earn either of you.”
Cadance smiled and tightened her hold on Sunset. “Believe it or not, I pretty much used to think the same thing. Honestly, it’s not all that surprising, given how we grew up. Neither of us had a family, and no pony ever seemed to want us. It’s no wonder that we felt like we had to work to prove ourselves, to ‘earn’ a family. But…a family isn’t something you earn, Sunset; it’s something you find. Like how I found Shining, like how Aunt Celestia found me, and like how we found each other.”
Sunset squeezed her eyes tighter as the pressure behind them started to increase. “I never should have left,” she croaked. “I’m so sorry, Cadance. That night, I just—”
“Shhhhh.” Cadance shushed Sunset, nuzzling her affectionately. “We’ll talk about that another time, okay? Let's not wake Flurry. For now, the only thing that matters is that you’re here.”
Still sniffling, Sunset nodded weakly.
Then, after a moment, she hesitantly leaned over and returned the nuzzle.
“I love you, Cadance.”
“I love you too, Sunset.”
It was an idyllic winter day in the city of Canterlot; one of those days where the temperature, snow, and wind were all just right. The city was abuzz with activity, as the population worked to get ready for the upcoming festivities. While still over a week away, a holiday like Hearth’s Warming takes a great deal of preparation. There were decorations to be put up; lights to be untangled; presents to be bought; dinners to be planned and plays to be rehearsed, (…though not the songs, for some reason). Unsurprisingly, the nightmarish logistics of the holiday season were responsible for more than a few meltdowns each year. Fortunately, some ponies excel at organization.
The front doors of the Pegasus Pantry slid open automatically as an azure unicorn stallion left the store. Stepping out into the chilly winter air, he made his way through the crowd and began heading down the street of the Canterlot Commercial District.
He had a short, wavy, dark-blue mane; his cutie mark was a crescent moon inside a larger crescent moon, and he had a beautiful set of warm, amber eyes. Slung across his back were two large saddlebags and he wore an off-white scarf and hat to stay warm. ‘Alright, I think I managed to get everything we need,’ he mused while trotting down the sidewalk.
As he rounded the bend, his eyes fell upon the nearby clock tower. ‘Oh-ho, and it looks like I’m ahead of schedule.’ He paused mid-step and his smile turned slightly mischievous. ‘Weeell, since I have a few minutes’ —his horn lit up with a light-blue aura— ‘I suppose there’s no harm in taking a quick inventory!’
All at once, the items in his bags shot into the air and arranged themselves before him. He excitedly pulled out a quill and a scroll that was labeled ‘Grocery List’ then set to work. One by one, each item was located, checked off, and placed back into the bags. In less than three minutes, everything had been accounted for.
With the last item stored, he paused to admire the newly re-checked checklist. While some ponies may consider this type of thing boring —or even unnecessary— he always found a certain satisfaction in making a list, and seeing it checked twice.
With a final nod, he rolled up the parchment and put it away. Enjoyable as it was, he knew that there was more to life than just grocery checklists.
He pulled out another scroll.
For example, there were checklists for the checklists!
‘Complete Grocery Checklist…check! The next checklist to do is—’
“By Celestia’s gilded hoof, Night! What have I told you about checking your lists in the middle of the sidewalk!? Get in here! You’re blocking the flow of traffic!” Night Light jumped at the shout that ripped him from the serenity of his task. With a glance around, he realized that he was creating quite the roadblock and there were a lot of ponies having trouble shuffling around him.
“Oops! Sorry folks,” he chuckled, without a hint of embarrassment. “Let me just get out of your way.” Stowing his list, Night Light made a beeline for the nearby bookstore.
The inside of said store was fairly small, only four rows wide, but the shelves were absolutely packed with books. The floor, furnishings, and ceiling were all made of a rich polished wood that gave the shop an older aesthetic style. To add to the atmosphere, a number of oil lamps hanging from the ceiling bathed the store in the flickering warmth of firelight. At the store’s front end, there was a massive display window to let in light and show off the newest featured books. The front door was located to the left of this window and to the right was the counter, behind which sat a scowling pegasus mare with a yellow coat and an auburn mane.
“Are you like this at home?” She demanded, pointing an accusatory wing at him.
“Like what?” Night Light replied, sounding genuinely curious.
“Like, do you just randomly stop in the middle of a room to check a list and force everypony to walk around you?”
Night Light laughed and shook his head with amusement. “Oh Hard Back, don’t be silly. Of course, I don’t stop in the middle of the room. Each room in the house has a set of guidelines that provide details about the use, and maintenance of that room: what cleaning the room needs, how the furniture is to be arranged, what activities can be done in the room, that sort of thing. These guides are all framed and hung in locations specifically chosen to ensure that anypony reviewing them would not be in the way of anypony else. I stop in front of those.”
Hard Back glared at Night Light and slowly narrowed her eyes. “…You’re messing with me, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Yes, I am,” he confirmed with a good-natured laugh.
With an exasperated groan, she fell back into her chair. “How does Velvet put up with you?”
Night Light shrugged. “Vel says that she finds my organizational tendencies to be —and I quote— ‘reassuring and adorable’.”
“UGH!” Hard Back slumped forward and slammed her head onto the counter. “Just when am I going to find a pony willing to lie that hard about MY most annoying traits?”
“Have you considered dating somepony blind… and deaf… and a pathological liar?”
The pegasus angrily sat up, grabbed a small stack of books off the counter, and chucked them across the room at the unicorn!
Without missing a beat, Night Light caught the books in his magic, glanced at their titles, and whisked them away to their proper locations in the store. “One of these days, you’re going to throw a book at me and I’m not going to sort it for you,” he warned.
Hard Back raised an eyebrow, picked up another book with her wing, and hurled it directly at the unicorn’s face. Once more, Night Light caught the book and checked the title. The pegasus gave a smug grin as the book was sent zooming down one of the aisles. “Oh, I think we both know that’s not going to happen.”
“Okay, maybe not,” he admitted. “But as much as I enjoy providing you with free labor, I can’t stay today. Shining and Cadance will be arriving soon and I need to get these groceries home.”
“Hold up! That reminds me. I did have a real reason for calling you in here.” She hopped off her chair and began rummaging around beneath the counter.
“Hm? Oh! Do you have a new release for me?”
“Ya-huh.” Hard Back emerged from behind the counter with yet another book and tossed it to the unicorn.
Excitedly, Night Light caught it, checked the title, and let out a laugh. “Aha! The new Friends of Twilight Sparkle book!”
“Yep, it just came out today. I knew that you and Velvet would want one, so I set that copy aside for you. It was a good thing I did, too. They sold out in like an hour! It wouldn’t surprise me if that’s the last unsold copy in the entire city.”
Night Light whistled. “I didn’t know the series has gotten that popular.”
Hard Back shrugged and moved over to the register. “It’s probably because this one is mainly about Princess Cadance. Most ponies will kill for a peek into the lives of celebrities. Makes them feel as if they know them, ya know?” Hard Back snorted and shook her head. “Honestly, I’ve always found it to be kinda pathetic.”
“Doesn’t seem to stop you from selling these books, though. Does it?” Night Light snarked as the pegasus rang up the purchase.
The mare brought a wing up to her mouth with a thoughtful expression. “Hmmm, I’m trying to remember, do I ring this book up for the cover price of 29 bits, or should I adjust for supply and demand, which would bring its price up to about… 340 bits? What do you think?”
“I think it’s inspiring that you set aside your own feelings about the content of a book, in order to provide your customers with the product they desire.”
With a smirk, Hard Back rang the book up for its cover price.
Across the city, there was a ‘hiss’ and a great cloud of steam as the Northwest Express pulled into the Canterlot Train Station, finally completing its 24-hour long circuit across a quarter of Equestria. Before the train had even come to a complete stop, half a dozen porter ponies jumped into the baggage car and began working rapidly to unload the luggage of those who were about to disembark.
Meanwhile, the conductors had the unenviable task of dealing with the far-less compliant passengers, most of whom had to be convinced to disembark, so that the new passengers could be allowed to board. However, not everypony was unprepared for the train’s on-time arrival at Canterlot.
The moment the doors slid open, Twilight Sparkle stepped off the train and onto the platform. The Canterlot stop was, by far, the busiest one on the route, and Twilight was soon lost in a sea of ponies. There were ponies waiting to board, ponies rushing off to catch a connecting train, ponies heading into the city, and annoying ponies who just stood around getting in the way. Undeterred, Twilight threw herself into the crowd and eventually made her way out of the station.
Unlike the Crystal Empire, the city of Canterlot was in full winter mode. The air was chilly, the wind was blowing, and there was a seasonally-appropriate amount of snow everywhere. Naturally, Twilight was dressed properly for such weather. On her hooves were four yellow mitts with red and white trim; cast about her neck was a similarly-styled scarf; and topping her head was a pair of red earmuffs with a golden band. According to her book, Winter Weather Wear and You, she was wearing the perfect combination of garments for a ‘mild’ to ‘moderate’ winter.
Catching movement in the corner of her eye, Twilight turned just in time to see Sunset exit the station and trot up beside her. The amber mare’s winter wardrobe was composed exclusively of a lime-green scarf that she had borrowed from Spike before they left Ponyville. While the scarf was nice, it clashed so badly with Sunset’s mane and coat that Twilight was certain just the sight of the combination would give Rarity a stroke.
Sunset, however, didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she was positively beaming. “Oh, it’s so good to be home,” she announced after taking a deep breath of air. “The towering stone architecture, the masses of ponies rushing about to who-knows-where, the smell of greasy street food! What should we do first?”
Before Twilight could respond, a third party spoke up. “Well, that’s certainly the question, isn’t it?”
Twilight and Sunset turned to see Cadance and Shining Armor escape the chaos of the station and make their way over to them with Flurry Heart in hoof.
Cadance was wearing a light-blue scarf that had yellow trim and a pair of earmuffs with the same color scheme. Shining Armor simply had a large, purple scarf wrapped around his neck. And Flurry Heart was wearing a thick, light-blue, star-shaped winter coat.
“I know you’re going to the exhibit tonight, but what else did you two have planned?” Cadance asked.
“I’m… not really sure,” Twilight admitted with a blush. “I mean, there is an errand we need to run, but as for everything else, I was planning on hammering out the details on the train ride down. But then…”
Sunset gave a sheepish laugh and rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, things… kinda came up.”
‘Understatement of the year,’ Twilight thought, with no small amount of irritation.
Mercifully, Cadance had a suggestion. “Well, I’ve also got some errands I need to run, so how about I join you? We can spend some more time together and figure things out as we go.”
Twilight turned to Sunset, who gave a nod of approval. “That works for me.”
“In the meantime,” Shining Armor announced. “I’m going to take Flurry and head to Mom and Dad’s. That’s where we’ll be staying this weekend. And if you’d like, I can take your bags, for now, so you don’t have to haul them around. You can just swing by and pick them up later.”
The three mares gratefully took him up on his offer and handed their saddlebags over to him. Then, after a short goodbye, the group split up. Shining Armor took Flurry Heart and headed off to the residential district, while Twilight, Sunset, and Cadance made their way up the busy streets.
Welcome everyone to the first chapter of the Canterlot Arc section of our story! 
I know it's been a while, but there was quite a bit of background info I needed to work out before moving forward with this arc. 
That and getting emotionally beaten down by an unappreciative minimum-wage grocery store job during a pandemic isn't exactly conducive to what you would call good writing. 
BUT! That is neither here nor there. The important thing is we are moving forward again!
Please let me know what you think below.
And, as always, thank you for reading. 
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Ouch! But nice chapter and I'm glad this isn't dead!
10482645
Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.
Great chapter as always!
The wait was worth it!
Good chapter. I'm amazed that this story doesn't have more upvotes.
Awww, Sunset baby shenanigans, and that family insight.
Looks like Twilight legitimately inherited her tendencies.
Good guy Shining to the rescue, onwards to the city proper.
Great chapter
And i totally understand the job thing, same for me
And Dad gets stuck with the kid while the ladies go out! Travesty! That's okay, he can pull a hand(hoof)off to Grandma. Enjoyable.
Great chapter as always
Yay an update! I really enjoyed this.
If Cadance and Sunset are sisters and Twilight and Cadance are sisters in law, then by association Twilight and Sunset are sisters in law. And similarly Shining armor is Sunset's Brother in Law and Nightlight and Twilight Velvet are her parents in law. And Spike is considered Shining ad Twilight's brother so he is Sunset's Brother in Law. Looking for family Sunset? You suddenly have a decent amount.
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Don't forget that Cadance is Celestia's niece so that means Sunset would also be her niece(that is if Celestia hadn't adopted Sunset yet) and then there's Luna also which Sunset has the same relation with her as with Celestia.
It just occurred to me that this could be a serious issue onboard a moving conveyance.