Chapter 16
Sunset Shimmer opened her eyes and had to blink the blurriness from them. She moved her hands to rub them only to find that her hands were gone, replaced once again by hooves. Given that the portal was now destroyed that left only a few logical options of why her hands were hooves again and why she had awakened in a clearing of a lush green forest.
Sunset took a moment to examine herself and found that she was indeed a pony again, but was also still an alicorn. Her wings were folded neatly by her side, gold feathers extending at her command, bursting into flaming appendages once at full extension. They returned to feathers when she brought them back in to rest. From what Sunset could see, her horn was unbroken and longer than it had been as a unicorn, she let out a relieved sigh that masked her anxiety.
“Okay, I’m either dreaming… or I’m dead.”
“Or perhaps a little bit of both, little sun.”
Sunset turned around and had to look up at the magnificent alicorn that had trotted up and around her, having appeared from nowhere or out of the forest without a sound. If Sunset was an alicorn, even a smaller one like Twilight, then this stranger was taller and more stout than Celestia, easily the size of a full framed horse of Earth. Her coat was pearl white with black socks on each leg and ears and a black diamond marking in the middle of her forehead that traveled to the tip of her nose. Her cutie mark was… Sunset blinked a few times. The stranger’s cutie mark was half sun and half moon swirling about one another in a balance similar to Sunset’s with sunrays and stars. But what truly caught Sunset’s attention were her eyes. They were gentle, intelligent, and a teal so deep they seemed to glow in the low light.
“I’m sorry, but did you say both?”
“I did. You are new to being an alicorn, Sunset Shimmer, thus unaware of much, such as we are not restricted to such trifle concepts described as ‘dreaming’ or near death experiences. Which are becoming dangerously frequent for you. You should probably try to be more careful if you wish to see anything close to a ripe old age.”
Sunset eyed the pony carefully who continued to circle with a little smile on her face. “Do I know you? I feel like I know you.”
“We have met, but I did not properly introduce myself before. To be honest, I’m surprised you remember me at all given the battle damage you had suffered at the hooves of that creature.” The larger alicorn dipped her head and bent her knee in curtsey. “You may call me, Aine.”
“That voice,” Sunset’s horn lit as she took a defensive stance, “you were the one that tried to kick me out of my own body! You tried to kill me!”
Aine continued to smile despite the hostility. “Not exactly. The ritual Celestia completed was supposed to turn your body into a living weapon. I was simple waiting off to the side trying to save your soul and guide you to Elysium or the Celestial City. There are so many names for it. Regardless, you fought back and held on, which should have been impossible, but you did. You clung to your reforming body even through the pain of transformation and were able to beat back my magical hold on you. Once the fight was over and the dust settled, I just had to meet you more formally. It has been longer than I can even remember to meet a magnificent creature who could resist me, to challenge me.”
Sunset scowled, her wings snapping out to their full extent and catching fire once more. “So, what now? I need to fight my way through you to get back home?”
Aine bowed her head, bending her knee again. “That will not be necessary. Besides, you would not win. You caught me by surprise before, most unexpectedly, and your body is still in the Earth realm. Also, your excess magic is fading quickly. I just wanted to meet you. That is all.”
“I don’t understand. If you are not trying to collect me why am I here? In fact, where is here?”
“Ah, this is just a small pocket dimension of mine, I made it long ago and find it peaceful. You could best interpret it as my own private retreat. I thought it might make you calm and happy so we could talk, but I guess I should have known you still have that fire that burns. Such a beautiful, powerful energy. Just like your mother.”
Sunset fought the urge to lash out, instead, let out a breath and sat down, drawing her wings back in. “What do you know about my mother?”
“Everything really. Especially that you two are too similar for your own good. You both fight to maintain control of your power and your emotions. Perhaps staying in a realm with so little ambient magic really is the best thing for you.”
“Very little of anything you have said has made any sense.”
“And sadly, we are out of time. Your body calls for you and I can’t hold you here any longer without possibly causing damage.”
Sunset could hear a sadness in the other alicorn’s voice. “Will I see you again?”
Aine smiled the same way Celestia did when she knew something and did not want to say it directly. “We shall see.”
The world went white and Sunset shielded her eyes from the blinding light. When she blinked again Sunset found herself staring at a ceiling made of those ugly masonry tiles interspaced between florescent light strips. Sunset groaned and tried to sit up, but everything hurt and when she tried to exert herself the machine making that rhythmic beeping began to beep faster and louder. Suddenly, there were hands on hers and a wonderful, familiar voice in her ear.
“Hey, shhhhh, take it easy. I’m here, I’m right here.”
“Twi?” Sunset turned her head and found two beautiful purple eyes behind black rim glasses starting back at her.
“Welcome back. You scared the living crap out of me for longer than I care to recount.”
Sunset looked down at herself in a generic puke green gown and around the room. She had a few answers, but also more questions. “When did I get to the hospital?”
“Two days ago. What do you remember?” Twilight kept one hand on Sunset’s while using the other to press the page button for the nurse on call.
“I was… trapped in the space between dimensions, it was an awful place. It was Hell, Twi, in every possible description of the word. Somehow, Celestia and Discord found me. I fought… a monster in the void, he nearly killed me. Then I felt you, you and all the girls reaching out to me. I held the power of the rainbow in my hand and it called to me. It helped me find my way home. Everything else is a blur, I think I passed out not long after that.”
“Passed out is one way of putting it.” Sunset and Twilight turned find a tan skinned, middle aged man in a lab coat had entered followed by a nurse who moved to check Sunset’s vitals and readings on the machine to her right. “Another I like to go with is, ‘miracle’, considering the state you were in when you were brought to me. I have seen people pulled from multi-car pile ups with less physical trauma than you. Care to share some insight on that? Your friends and former principal were annoyingly vague.”
“I got into a fight.”
“A fight?” the doctor said with an arched eyebrow, “Miss Shimmer, you had thirty-seven stress fractures, two compound fractures, several deep lacerations requiring stitches, two major puncture wounds, severe blood loss, and various other cuts and contusions. And you… got in a fight?”
“You should have seen the other guy.”
“And where is the, ‘other guy’ if I may ask?”
Sunset frowned, squeezing Twilight’s hand. “I’d rather not say.”
The doctor pinched his nosed. “Miss Shimmer, you were clearly assaulted to the point of near death, you SHOULD be dead. And yet, somehow, not only have you survived, but you are healing faster than what should be considered humanly possible. I don’t know if you believe in God, but you are certainly making me question if a higher power was involved. Please, you have to give me something.”
Sunset sighed, glancing up at the doctor and then at the nurse. “It was my father.”
“Your father beat you within an inch of your life?!” the doctor exclaimed. Sunset nodded sadly. “You need to tell the police, they can help you.”
Sunset shook her head, fixing the doctor with a hard, unshaking gaze. “That won’t be necessary. He is never going to hurt me or anyone ever again. Do you understand?”
The doctor and nurse exchanged glances before politely excusing themselves. Once Twilight had closed the door she rushed back across the room and pressed her lips to Sunset’s who gladly returned the gesture, moaning into Twilight’s wonderful embrace.
“You really did scare a few years off my life. They made me leave more than once because they said your heart stopped. You fought back each time, they wouldn’t tell me if they used the defibrillator or not since we’re not related. In fact, they made me dance around a number of questions because of that whole next of kin requirement. Plus, the police had some questions for all of us considering how injured you were. Now that you’re awake I'm sure the doctor will contact them after what you just said. If nothing else they will probably want to take your statement.”
“They won’t get anywhere with it. Even if I tell them a partial truth. No body, no case, essentially.” Sunset grimaced, but shook her head, taking Twilight’s hand and loving the warm feeling that traveled up through her heart at the delectable sensation of touch. “I’m sorry to make you worry. As you can guess, things didn’t go quite according to plan.”
“Tell me later, once you’re out of this place,” Twilight said with a smile. She reached down into her bag and retrieved a familiar object. Sunset’s journal. “Right now, however, you have family worried about you and I have friends of ours to tell the good news of your recovery to.”
Sunset took the offered pen and opened to the last few pages to review what she had missed. Twilight returned to the nearby chair and typed on her phone, most likely to their group chat window their friends kept open.
Sunset quickly read through the message about her left by Princess Twilight, followed by exchanges between Celestia and her Twilight about Sunset’s return and subsequent stay in the hospital. They had been waiting for her recovery. Sunset let out a sigh and penned a few words to get the ball rolling.
Hello? Anypony nearby watching for this journal to glow? A few minutes passed before the journal vibrated in Sunset’s lap.
Sunset? Is that you?
Judging by the hornwriting this has to be Princess Twilight. Yes, it’s me. I’m still pretty banged up, but I’m alive and awake and on the mend. Apparently, alicorns are not only tough, but heal fast as well even in a world with almost no magic.
I’m glad to hear you are recovering. I’m in Canterlot, hold on! I’m going to go get Celestia. She has been worried about you.
Sunset waited, looking up to smile at Twilight, who gladly smiled back. “I’ve been put on hold while the princess goes and finds Mom.”
“You feel comfortable saying, ‘Mom’ now?”
Sunset smiled, looking at her hands, giving the fingers a few wiggles to test the dexterity. Sore, but should be fine over time. “Yeah, she’s earned it. She helped saved me. More than that, we talked it out and things are different now. I understand her better. Still a little petered by some of it, but not so much anger. I just… I see her world through her eyes now.”
Sunset, I’m here. How are you?
Still recovering, but alive. The doctor says I’m recovering fast, faster than I should. I guess I have you to thank for that as well. Yay, alicorn healing that I can’t explain to a medical professional!
Thank you for contacting me. I know we only have a limited amount of space so I will keep this brief for now so that I can have more time with you later. However, I must know. What happened to Sombra?
Sunset hesitated, tapping the pen on the side of the book. She remembered most of the flight through the open space between and the fight against her father. Some of the finer details became blurry due to pain and battle fatigue. How much detail did Celestia really want to hear? In the end, Sunset decided they had had too many lies between them in the past. No more lies, no more sugar coating. They were both adults and should act like.
I ran into a problem with the portal and he caught up to me. He damn near killed me, but with the help of my friends I was able to defeat him with a rainbow blast. I think... or at least it’s my hope, we were able to purify him before he passed on. I was in a lot of pain and bleeding at the time, but for just a moment, I thought I saw him smile at me before it was over. I don’t know if that’s any consolation, but it’s all I can offer. He tried to kill you, he tried to kill me, it's terrible any way you look at it. Still, I’m sorry he’s gone, I know you loved him. I can only hope his soul found some sort of rest.
Yes, I will pray for that as well and thank you for telling me. In other news, Star Swirl has given Twilight Sparkle all his remaining notes on the mirrors and she is adamant on recreating the Lunar Lock mirror. It will take many years, decades perhaps, but Twilight is confident that she can recreate the mirror eventually.
Sunset paused, tapping the pen against the book again. Tell her to take her time, no need to rush things and start the whole buildup of magic again. And speaking of prayer. I have something that may seem strange to ask you before we go. Does the name ‘Aine’ mean anything to you? While recovering I was approached by an alicorn by that name in some sort of walkabout dreamscape.
Several minutes passed before Celestia began to write again. I’m sorry, I needed a moment to recover from what you said. You must have been very close to death indeed to have been contacted by her.
So, you DO know her.
Yes, Aine was my mother’s name.
“Oh shit.”
Twilight looked up, concern plastered across her face, “What happened? Everything okay?”
“I… I apparently met my grandmother while I was bouncing in and out of near dead stasis. I think I learned something that even Celestia didn’t know about our heritage.”
What does that mean? I’m really confused by the implications of that. Did I die and cross back over? Sunset could hear her own heart speed up from the increased tempo of the heart monitor beeps. Twilight looked at the machine as well, but did not say anything as her heart rate settled.
It means you have confirmed something I have suspected for centuries. That my mother was more than what she pretended to be. More to think about in the future I suppose. Do not trouble yourself with this. Now, please, say hello to your Twilight and contact me anytime you truly need me. I will always make time for you, Princess Sunset.
Sunset groaned, but could not keep the smile off her face. Please, don’t call me that, it's just so weird. Anyhow, I will contact you again and keep you informed about major events. Thank you, Mom. I love you
I love you too, my little sun.
Sunset closed the book, taking a moment to examine how many pages were left. A little more than half, not much to work with, but certainly better than nothing. Sunset let out a small chuckle. That was almost a metaphor for her life.
“Everything okay with your mom?”
“Yeah, we’re all good. Overall, it was a success, we all made it out, the magic is completely sealed off, and will be so for a long time. No universe collapsing singularities. We won, with only me being banged up. Seems like a bargain of a price to pay really.” Sunset reached for the comforting weight of her geode, but it was missing or never made it back through the portal with her. It was then that she noticed Twilight was missing hers as well. “Uh, Twi, what happened to your geode?”
The inward turn did not last long, but even in a less lucid aware state Sunset caught it. Twilight instinctively reached for her necklace, sighed, but then smiled at Sunset. “It’s gone, all our geodes are gone. The princess warned me that it could happen. It took every bit of magic we had to help you and we would all gladly pay that price again to have you back.”
“Aw, man, I’m sorry. Rainbow is probably pissed at me,” Sunset said with a slump to her shoulders. She would have to come up with some sort of apology party or gifts for costing them all their magical powers. Silently though, Sunset had to admit to herself that it was probably for the best. Just seven extraordinary, non-magical girls again about to set off to take on the world.
Twilight smiled, taking Sunset’s hand and rubbing it against her cheek. “Sad, but not pissed. Besides, she can still beat all of us in a foot race even without magic so she’ll get over it.”
“If that’s the price we all have to pay to soothe Dash, I am okay with that.”
Twilight waggled her phone before putting it back in her pocket. “I figured as much and told her such on your behalf. Everyone is relieved you are better and will probably be here soon. In the meantime,” Twilight went back to her bag and retrieved her laptop, she gently set it down next to Sunset and opened a tab she had left in the browser window. Sunset examined the page, arching an eyebrow.
“Is this a college application website?”
“San Bernardino Community College. Just down the road from Cal Tech. If you submit your application, final grade transcripts, and documentation by the end of the week they can still squeeze you in for the fall semester.”
Sunset blinked. “But, we talked about this. I’ll never pass a background check.”
Twilight’s smile was down right mischievous. She straightened her back and adjusted her glasses in what could best be described as 'Twilight lecture mode'. “I’ve been busy, while you were unconscious. And rather than just sit around worrying about you, since I could not make you heal or wake up any faster I put my plan to work. Which, coincidentally, worked better than expected with you being in the hospital because they had to create you a profile for the database. I recovered your wallet and identification from your torn clothes before they could. This also gave me local access without having to remotely hack their server system. I thought about doing more, such as editing the bill since it was painfully easy to penetrate their system, but nope, stuck to the plan. So yes, Sunset Shimmer, you have a birth certificate in processing that will have a backdated stamp on it and a copy in the mail from the state. So, let me be the first to welcome you to your new permanent home here on Earth.”
“I, I don’t know what to say,” Sunset moved to wipe her tears when Twilight wiped them for her and kissed Sunset’s bandaged forehead.
“You don’t have to say anything and you can thank me by filling out that application. You are worth more than a sushi restaurant waitress and if you ever forget how amazing you are I will always be there to remind you.” Twilight shifted her glasses to the top of her head, closed her eyes and nuzzles Sunset who closed her eyes and returned the gesture with a smile.
“Maybe it’s presumptuous, or just fatigue from all the near death experiences, but I would feel better knowing you are nearby rather than here in Canterlot City. It’s probably selfish of me, but I want this, us, our relationship, and not just a long distance where we only see each other in the summer or on long holidays. I want you near so I can see you everyday. Plus, it’s a good community college, I did all the research. Without additional scholarships it’s a great, cost affordable place to get your feet wet and the basics out of the way,” Twilight’s face turned a distinctly darker shade of red, “Also, following this thread of the conversation… I would like your opinion on something else I did research on.”
“Oh?” Sunset could no longer keep the grin off her face, especially with how hard Twilight was now blushing.
Twilight opened another window tab. “What do you think of this apartment layout and can we afford it together?”
Stats
Page generated in 0.02 seconds
Total duration
803 users online
658,359 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Looks like the Earth has its own resident demi-goddess in residence. Its a relief that Sunny pulled through.
sequal?
10361822
Wow, thanks for the compliment that you would want more. As of right now I have some ideas, but not a solid plot yet. I'll go into this more after I post the epilogue. Thanks for reading.
So the magic is all gone? I hate it when that happens.
10379454
The girls had to sacrifice their power and geodes to save Sunset. But eventually Princess Twilight rebuilt the mirror and the connective magic subsided enough for it to re-establish the 3 day 30 moon cycle. So now Sunset can show her children Equestria. That reestablishment is needed for what comes next.
Glad to see things are great despite the loss of the geodes
There's still the Everfree portal, just how far was that island again??
11125672
Distance is irrelevant. The portal was smashed and the connection between the dimensions severed at their primal arcane level. Any portal anywhere on Earth would have closed. When Sunset sealed the gap she cross through no more power was coming through.