Chapter 25 - In knots
Oops! 
So so sorry I forgot to post this yesterday! 
Anyway, enjoy please! 
Isn’t friendship supposed to make me feel good? Mystic thought.
She was in the castle corridors, having to get out of the room. The internal struggle of past memories being fresh on her mind. Mystic felt her horn again, but there was no indication of her dark magic making an appearance.
But her mind went to another subject. The difference between friendship and the Liberators.
I know I’m close to an answer, Mystic thought, But I feel like I’m being blocked by myself...
Her stomach knotted and her muscles felt as if they were going to cramp out of frustration. Mystic hit herself. “Dang it! Why is this so difficult?!”
“Walking down a hall isn’t difficult!” a cheerful voice called.
Mystic screamed, whirling around to see a trio of ponies close by.
“You know not to startle poor ponies like that!” the yellow unicorn mare scolded.
The blue unicorn shrugged, “I was just stating a fact. I didn’t mean to startle her.”
“I don’t suppose I can know who you three are?” Mystic asked.
The blue mare giggled. “Silly filly! My name is Minuette! And this is Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts!”
“Hi,” said Twinkleshine.
“Hello,” said Lemon Hearts.
“Nice to meet all of you,” replied Mystic, shaking off her uneasiness. “I’m Mystic.”
“That’s a nice name,” said Lemon Hearts.
“Are you friends with Princess Twilight Sparkle?” the one known as Minuette asked.
“Yes.”
“Ooh, that’s awesome!” Minuette leaped into the air, “We were her friends ever since magic kindergarten!”
“But don’t tell the story about me getting stuck in the beaker!” Lemon spoke hastily.
“I think you just told me,” said Mystic.
Lemon Hearts opened her mouth, but just turned around with a huff, her friends giggled at her expense.
“It’s certainly interesting to meet old friends of Twilight’s,” said Mystic. “I wonder what other interesting stories I could hear?”
“We got a million of them!” Minuette laughed. “Soo, are you ready for the Convocation? We are!”
“You’re going to be there?” Mystic asked, surprised.
“Yes, we are,” said Twinkleshine.
“And we are just coming from a little experiment our friend Moon Dancer has been working on for a while!” said Minuette.
“What?” Mystic asked, curious.
“Minuette, I don’t know if we should tell her,” said Lemon Hearts.
“Aww, she’s a friend of Twilight!” Minuette waved her off, “Any friend of hers is a friend of mine!”
“I still think...”
“I think I ought to know,” Mystic cut in.
“All right,” said Twinkleshine.
“Moon Dancer has been researching and trying out new magic!” Minuette chirped. “We’ve been her test subjects from time to time.”
Mystic’s eyes widened. “Test subjects?”
“Yep!”
“What kind of magic studying is she doing?”
“Well, since it’s out now, we should let you know now,” said Lemon Hearts.
“You know the changelings and how they can transform?” Minuette asked.
“Vaguely,” Mystic replied with a hint of sarcasm.
“Well, Moon Dancer has been experimenting with magic that would give ponies the abilities to disguise as other ponies or creatures!”
“Wow, really?” Mystic lightly gasped.
“Yeah!” Minuette’s smile grew. “It’s mostly contained and monitored by Twilight and Celestia, but it’s been fun!”
“Why would they need such spells?” Mystic asked.
“To come in handy if things go wrong or to help the princesses escape while the disguised pony leads potential invaders away,” Lemon Hearts explained.
“And to try and keep ponies from spilling the beans about the project,” said Twilight. The three friends and Mystic looked down the corridor to see her standing with a disappointed look on her face.
“Hey, Twilight!” Minuette greeted.
“Hi girls,” Twilight smiled a little. “I know you told Mystic about the project but...” She frowned. “You should’ve kept it between my friends, the princesses, and I.”
“Wait what?” Twinkleshine asked.
“I thought Mystic here was a guest and she was okay to share the topic with,” said Minuette, gaining a look of confusion.
“She is considered a friend, but she’s also a guest, and part of a rehabilitation program,” said Twilight, walking over.
The three ponies frowned and bowed their heads. “We’re sorry, Twilight.”
“It’s okay,” Twilight turned to Mystic. “You won’t speak of this to anypony will you?”
“My lips are sealed,” Mystic assured her.
Twilight nodded. “Excellent. Well, for now, I need to take Mystic to get ready for the Convocation.”
“Oh, okay!” said Minuette, smiling as brightly as ever again. “We’ll see you there!”
“I can’t wait to see you either,” Twilight smiled back.
The three mares said their goodbyes and left Twilight and Mystic.
“Shall we?” Twilight asked, motioning Mystic to follow her.
“We shall,” replied Mystic, following Twilight. “But what that Moon Dancer’s researching sounds very interesting.”
Twilight playfully rolled her eyes, “It might be useful one of these days.”
Suddenly, a pegasus soldier flew down from the sky, landing a few feet from the ponies.
“Princess Twilight,” he said, holding out a roll of paper, “There’s something that needs your attention.”
“Is it some additional changes?” Twilight asked.
“I’m not at liberty to say what it is, but that you need to read it. Preferably alone,” said the soldier.
Mystic arched a curious eyebrow as Twilight gently took the letter from the soldier, who bowed and walked off.
Sunset sat on a couch in a very familiar tower.
This place doesn’t look much different since Twilight took my place... she thought, looking around at the various bookshelves and the large window that gave her a clear view of Canterlot’s towers nearly finished from their reconstruction.
Being in this place gave her so much nostalgia. Both the good and the bad memories. But... mostly the recent bad memories. But she knows she needs to confront her past head-on and figured this might be the best place to do it.
But even so, waiting for Twilight to show up was hard. How was she going to word this to one of her best friends? Let alone her friends back in her world?
This is another fine mess I got myself into... Sunset thought, letting out a dry chuckle. I’m kind of used to it...
Her insides knotted, almost making her want to throw up. But she didn’t have much time to think when the door downstairs opened.
Sunset shivered as the coldness pierced to her bones, sweat pouring down her face. “Keep it together.” She heard hoofsteps ascending the stairwell, and Twilight eventually showed up with a soft smile on her face.
“Hey Twilight,” said Sunset.
“Hi Sunset,” said Twilight, coming over to a chair and sitting across from her friend.
“I called you here because...” Sunset sighed, “It’s a matter of great importance.”
“Okay,” Twilight said softly, “What do you need, Sunset?”
“It’s... a very complicated situation I’m in...” Sunset squeezed her eyes shut. Say it! Say it, Sunset! She opened her eyes. “Twilight... I’m Mystic’s mother...” Sunset winced when Twilight loudly gasped.
Sunset looked away from Twilight’s wide eyes, her ears are flat against her head as she scrunched up on the floor.
Even though she knows deep down Twilight isn’t one to judge, she felt as if she were standing before Celestia giving a trial and she was about to be condemned.
She’s your friend! She’s your friend! Sunset tried to assure herself but couldn’t bring her mind to resolve that, and she hated it.
“But... but how?! How do you know she is your daughter?” Twilight asked.
Sunset squinted her eyes shut and let out an involuntary whimper.
She heard nothing from the alicorn for what seemed like an eternity. All she could do was just lay there on the floor and hope for the best.
Then, she heard Twilight’s horn light up and felt the tingling of magic surrounding her. She opened her eyes to see Twilight had levitated her off the ground and then sat her on the couch.
“I... need a moment...” Sunset squeaked out.
“Of course,” replied Twilight.
Sunset got up from her seat and walked over to the window overlooking the city. She looked down with a remorseful look. A small choke escaped her throat. Parts of her felt selfish for not mentioning this to Twilight or her Canterlot High friends back home. She felt guilty and ashamed for not doing more than what she probably could have back then.
Memories of running through the snow under an ominous red sky and snarls coming from beasts echoed in her mind. She held her head, almost seeing the bundle of blankets encased in her once aqua magic. Sunset turned back towards the couch, not looking at Twilight.
I have to do this, I need to do this, she thought, climbing back onto the couch. She turned back to her alicorn friend and nodded.
“I went to see Princess Celestia this morning to see if she had or hadn’t destroyed the evidence of my daughter’s existence,” Sunset began, “She didn’t.” She smiled, scoffing at herself, “I should’ve known she wouldn’t have been able to do it.” She ran a hoof through her mane, “I... went to the Canterlot archives to find out if she was my daughter, and if she had a certain mark underneath her left armpit.”
“A mark?” Twilight asked.
“A birthmark,” said Sunset, “Like this one.” She lifted her foreleg to reveal her sun-patterned birthmark. Twilight’s eyes widened and her pupils shrank a bit. Sunset blinked back the tears, “I saw it when she was reaching up for a book I claimed I needed, and I saw it in the same picture as her birth record.”
Twilight just sat there, unblinking. Sunset knew she was taking everything in.
“I...”
“You don’t have to say anything, Twilight,” said Sunset, “This was and still is a scar from my past I thought had long faded over time.”
“You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to...” said Twilight. She was always so caring.
Sunset shook her head. “No. I must deal with this like I’ve done with my past before...” She looked Twilight in the eye. “I need to tell you how it all happened.”
The alicorn sighed. “Very well.”
“It was about eighteen years ago,” Sunset began, shuffling deeper into the couch. “But the real mistake happened a year later. I thought Mystic’s age was a coincidence but I see it as more than that now.” She cleared her throat, “Well, I before I became a jerk and stuck up, I was actually a lot humbler and modest. But I was... anti-social because of how good my grades were and I hadn’t had any real friends other than my...” She paused, feeling a bile rise in her chest, “My parents.” She nervously looked at Twilight who was just sitting there not saying a word. “But one day, I was encouraged by both Dusty Pages and Princess Celestia to make some friends. I eventually did.”
“Who were they?” Twilight asked.
“His name was Copper Bronze...” replied Sunset. “He was a student like I was.” She did her best not to think about the good times they once had, as they were nothing but painful reminders. “We did just about everything together. His family was nice and I felt as if I had true friends.” She looked down at her belly. “But... one night...” She sniffed. “Oh, Twilight... I was such a fool!”
“I’m here,” Twilight whispered.
“I...” Sunset couldn’t stop the tears from rolling, “One impulsive move and I was in the bed with him. I had promised myself and others I wouldn’t do that until I had gotten married.” She sniffed, “I found out I was pregnant a few weeks later.”
“What... of Copper?” Twilight asked hesitantly.
“Twilight, he and I didn’t speak for a long time,” Sunset whispered as the memory of her parents emerged. No, no... I won’t speak about my parents... She could see their furious expressions after finding out about her pregnancy. “I tried to get him to be there for me and the baby...” Sunset sniffed. “But he abandoned me...”
Twilight lightly gasped, holding her hooves over her lips in horror.
Sunset nodded and wiped some tears away. “So much for him being a real stallion...” She wasn’t surprised when Twilight got up from her seat and hovered over to her, wrapping her in a hug. Sunset felt more tears roll down her cheeks, but she returned the hug. Eventually, they broke and Sunset continued, “But after that... Celestia arranged for me to head to a private village and continue my studies there and have the baby.”
“What was the village like?” Twilight asked.
“Oh, it was wonderful,” Sunset smiled a little. “Chilly most of the time, but wonderful. The ponies were nice, the village was cozy and had a lot of music and food there.”
Twilight said nothing as she nodded.
“I had a host, too,” said Sunset, “Her name was Emerald Shine.” She remembered the green mare’s kind and hospitable attitude. “We became friends pretty quickly and she helped me with whatever I needed.” She giggled, remembering the fun times they had, “You would’ve loved her, Twilight. She was a great historian and knew of some magic you might not have known about.”
“She must’ve been a very powerful unicorn,” said Twilight, smiling a bit.
“No, she wasn’t.”
“Huh?” Twilight inclined her head.
“She was a pegasus,” Sunset smiled.
“What?!”
“Thanks to ponies she knew, Emerald knew of some special, exceedingly rare magic that earth ponies could use to probably lift and bend the earth to the pony’s will,” Sunset explained, causing Twilight’s jaw to drop, “Her friends that she knew couldn’t do it, but she had known somepony long ago from a particular bloodline that could master it.” Twilight’s jaw had yet to return to a proper position. Sunset lit her horn and closed it shut with her magic. “Anyway, I’m getting off topic.”
“I ended up having the baby, and despite Copper’s attempts to resolve things, it turned out it was all for himself,” said Sunset, feeling bitter. “He just wanted to justify himself. But the baby was beautiful.” She smiled. “It was the best feeling I had ever had when I saw her blue eyes. Her name was Starry Sun.” Twilight gently smiled, pulling Sunset in for another side hug. More tears rolled down Sunset’s cheeks as she choked again. “The night before me and the baby were going to leave...” She sobbed. Memories of ponies screaming, fire everywhere and black creatures tearing them apart merged in her mind.
“Take your time,” Twilight whispered in a soothing tone like a loving mother. Sunset let out a few more sobs before she composed herself as best as she could.
“The village was attacked...” Sunset breathed out. Twilight visibly tensed. “We don’t know who they were... but they tore everypony apart... including Emerald.” Twilight gasped; her lower lip trembled. “I tried to run off with my baby as fast as I could but they were going to catch up to me.” She wiped her cheeks again, “I tried hiding my baby in a stump to lure them away and double back... but I ended up slipping and falling unconscious.”
“Oh no...”
Sunset decided to push through her sadness, “I woke up the next day and I found out my baby was gone.” Twilight immediately brought her in for another hug. “I was devastated. Nopony in the search party could find her! I didn’t know if she was alive! I didn’t want to accept she was dead!” She pulled back from Twilight, her vision blurry, “My newborn! My baby! Taken from me by cruel fate!” She resumed weeping, hugging the alicorn for the umpteenth time.
Sunset was thankful for Twilight’s seemingly never-ending patience with her. A small selfish part of her wanted to just end the conversation now and forget all of this ever happened. She didn’t know how long she had cried, but it felt like hours. She eventually composed herself, knowing her eyes were likely red and puffy.
“I’ll spare you the details,” Sunset croaked, “But that event hardened me. I became the pony you knew I was before you came along.” She looked down at her hooves, “I thought friendship made me move past this.” She wondered if she was selfish about going back on something about her past, but she believed she had said enough.
“Sunset, I don’t know exactly how to handle this,” said Twilight, “I need time to take this in.
“I understand,” said Sunset, “I’m telling you because I want you to know I trust you and that you helped me become a better pony, Twilight. I also want you to do your best to help me and Mystic with whatever we need.”
“Of course.”
Sunset felt a weight roll off her back, knowing she has her friends to rely on. But there were so many left to roll off.
“I’m worried about her...” said Sunset, “With that General on her case... I don’t know what to do...”
Twilight said nothing in response. Sunset wanted her to assure things will be all right and that it will work out in the end, but all she got was silence.
She must be feeling about the same way I am... Sunset thought, thinking of the situation with the school. How selfish of me to only think of myself... She knew Twilight would say that she understood but Sunset didn’t think that it was okay.
“Sunset, I will be there for you,” said Twilight, “So will Celestia and the rest of your friends. But only when you’re ready.”
“Sure.”
“Is that all?” Twilight asked softly.
No, Sunset thought, almost saying it aloud. A huge sense of hypocrisy and selfishness washed over her. She left out one huge detail.
Sunset originally didn’t want to have the baby when she had found out she was going to have one.
And if Mystic knew of that detail... Sunset shook her head.
“Okay,” said Twilight, causing Sunset to hate herself.
“I don’t know when I’ll tell her...” replied Sunset, “I need to do it right and wait for the right moment.” She looked at Twilight again, “But I don’t feel comfortable doing before or right after the Convocation.”
“I understand,” said Twilight. “If you need anypony to talk to.”
Sunset nodded. “Thank you, Twilight.”
A little while later in her suite for a small break from the preparations, Twilight continued to process what she had heard from Sunset. She would do anything for her friends, but at the same time, she was plagued with awful reports of Mystic’s past, the alleged use of dark magic, and murdering innocent ponies, she was doubting herself and grew more uncertain of the situation surrounding the young mare.
Did Mystic use some dark magic in the Everfree the other day? Twilight thought, shuffling in her seat, We did detect some as did Discord. She remembered how Mystic said the artifacts were reacting on their own, and Mystic insisted on her story.
But what Hong told her as well as some recently arrived citizens from Imperial City caused her to think more about the evidence she had been given.
I don’t want to believe it... but everything does seem to be pointing to Mystic being... bad... Twilight thought, and knew Sunset would hate her point of view. She felt selfish and hypocritical but she was not one to ignore the evidence. I need to see more if I’m going to determine if what I’ve heard is true...
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That's okay. And this new chapter is going great, I enjoy it!
Is Best Gift Ever not a Season 8 episode?
I'm not sure if mystic will take this seriously.
11332095
I always thought of it as taking place between Seasons 8 and 9.
Hey, it's no problem! Better late than never!
So Mystic officially met Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts. Cool!
But what kind of "project" was Minuette talking about involving changeling? And why does Twilight wanted to keep that a secret from Mystic?
And Sunset finally told Twilight the truth (for the most part) about being a mother to Mystic.
While I'm glad that Twilight is supportive to Sunset, but I'm worried that she thinks Mystic is a bad pony due to Hong's influence.
I seriously hope that Twilight won't make a terrible mistake with Mystic.
Anyway, great chapter!
Oh boy this is getting more complicated by the second