Twilight was not really a jealous sort of mare, but the way the princess immediately asked, “Where is she?” without so much as a greeting kind of ticked her off. The princess had appeared facing away from the hospital and was jerking her head back and forth, almost in a panic, looking for her student.
With a sigh, Twilight gestured with her hoof, directing Princess Celestia to the large, two-story building behind her.
“Show me to her,” Princess Celestia said.
Twilight attempted to object. “She’s—”
“Show me to her,” she insisted.
It went about as one would expect. The ponies were all flustered to have Princess Celestia there and were quick to show the two of them to a small room where Sunset Shimmer had been placed.
“She looks so… young,“ the Princess whispered, tentatively walking forward.
Twilight blinked. That sent alarm bells ringing in her head. “Princess, this isn't by any chance the first time you've seen her since the train, is it?”
Princess Celesetia was so distracted that she wasn't really concerned with what Twilight was implying. “Yes.”
“You mean to tell me…” she said, trying to wrap her head around it. “…That you pardoned and forgave Sunset Shimmer… through the mail, without ever actually talking to her face to face?”
The princess nodded. “Succinctly put.”
“Meaning that you haven't once looked her in the eye and asked if she was actually sorry,” Twilight clarified.
“Don't be ridiculous, Twilight,” the princess scoffed. “Of course she's not sorry.”
“But—err—what?” Twilight stammered, caught off-guard by that answer.
“I’m not an idiot, Twilight,” the princess bluntly asserted. “I know perfectly well that Sunset has as much intention of quietly making friends as you did when I first sent you here.
“If you’ll forgive me the trite metaphor, life is a journey, not a destination, and it is the way of such things that the road we travel shapes us far more than we shape it.
“Even from the few interactions I’ve had with her, I can tell that Sunset’s time on the other side of the mirror hasn’t done her any favors. She has, if anything, become more cunning and callous than the filly I remember. That is why, so long as she remains fixated on this relatively harmless path which keeps her in Ponyville, I am content.”
Relatively… harmless… path?
That… That… Twilight almost managed to suppress her reaction. She had just blown up on Rainbow Dash the day before, and she was better than that. Still, she couldn’t help the sharp intake of breath, her lips were pressed into a line and her only response was a stilted and flat, “I see,” followed by an equally unemotive, “Okay.”
Then, she decided to take a page out of Sunset’s book and disappeared in a flash of pink light.
Twilight still didn’t have any words when she slammed the library door open and stomped in, having appeared directly outside precisely so that she could do so.
“That… that mare! Argh!” she shouted, seething.
“Oh dear,” Rarity exclaimed from where she was sitting with a steaming cup of tea and a book with a stallion on the front. “What's gotten your dander up this time? Or should I say, ‘who?’”
“Hoo,” Owlowiscious agreed from where he was having a staring contest with Rainbow Dash.
Twilight pulled up short when she realized she wasn’t alone. “Sorry,” she said, and stopped to take a breath and calm herself down. “It’s just… Celestia.”
Rarity’s ears perked up at that. “The princess? Did you get a letter?”
“No, she actually came in person,” Twilight explained, then belatedly added, “To see Sunset, of course.”
“So, she still thinks her old student can do no wrong, huh?” Rainbow Dash guessed, not taking her eyes off of Owlowiscious.
“In a manner of speaking,” Twilight said, walking over to the table that Rarity was sitting at and seating herself, hanging her head between her hooves. She then went on to explain the very short discussion she had had with Princess Celestia. “…And she thinks that Sunset coming to Ponyville to steal my magic is just some harmless distraction. That was what she called it—harmless!”
“Well, that is unusually careless of her,” Rarity admitted. “But surely with Sunset in the hospital now, you’ll have plenty of time to finish your research ahead of her, so it should be a non-issue.”
That only made Twilight sink deeper into her hooves. “Finish?” she said. “Rarity, I’m no closer now than I was five minutes off the train. I don’t even know where to begin.”
“If you can’t do it, then what are you worried about?” Rainbow Dash said, sounding like she’d solved world hunger with a hotdog. “I mean, she’s got, what, five or six less years of learning magic than you, right? She’s got no chance!”
“It’s not like this sort of thing is in the regular curriculum, Rainbow,” Twilight said, rubbing her temples to ward off a headache. “I’ve only talked to her for a few hours, and it’s already clear that she knows more about handling raw magic than I do. Don’t forget—she managed to turn herself into a crystal pony by connecting to the Crystal Heart and she had some plan to do something with the Element of Magic, too. I wouldn’t underestimate her.”
“What about that box that you received from Princess Luna?” Rarity asked. “That was all of their notes on the Everfree, yes?”
“Years and years of logs that mostly say things like, ‘the far canyon felt moderately Everfree-y today,’” Twilight said, waving her hoof dismissively. “Look, I appreciate your confidence in me, but I’ve already gone over all this in my head enough times. I haven’t given up, but the fact is, no matter how smart I might be, all the things I know are just things that other ponies figured out.”
“My dear Twilight, you don’t give yourself enough credit,” Rarity insisted. “We all know that there is more to these things than the sum of their parts.”
“Besides,” added Rainbow Dash. “What about that whole thing when our cutie marks got mixed up? The answer to that didn’t come from a book, did it?”
If anything, Twilight’s mood only soured even more. “We’ve been over this,” she said. “Celestia made the whole ‘new magic’ thing up. She. Was. Lying.”
“Be that as it may…” Rarity said, picking up the subject. “Rainbow Dash does have a point. Just because your ‘new magic’ was in no way a unique achievement does not mean that it wasn’t ‘new magic.’”
“It was based on a broken spell to begin with,” Twilight instisted, still dismissive. Really, at that moment she was considering just asking Rarity and Rainbow Dash to leave so she could go lay down for a bit.
“Fine,” Rainbow Dash said. “Maybe it was just a magical crossword that you solved with words from the friendship dictionary. Don’t you still think it’s kind of important?”
Twilight lifted her head up off the table to look at Rainbow Dash. “Why would it be?” she asked.
“Duh!” Rainbow Dash said, tossing her arms up in frustration. “It still shot off your ascension, didn’t it? Don’t you think that a spell like that would be someplace to start when you’re trying to move magic around?”
Twilight stared blankly at Rainbow Dash.
“Oh. Kinda, yeah, I guess?”
“I can’t believe that you just left me there,” Spike grumbled as he searched the shelves for a book that wasn’t where it was supposed to be. Sometimes, the fact that her library was a public library really came back to bite her.
“And I can’t believe you’re still bringing it up,” Twilight said, not looking up from a treatise on spell modification. “I said that I was sorry.”
“What’s all this, then?” Cadance asked, announcing her presence from the stairs while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
Twilight blinked. “Wait, you’re up?” she said and glanced at the clock above the library entrance. Sure enough it was already approaching late afternoon.
“For a certain definition of the word,” Cadance dithered, finding a seat across from Twilight. “Coffee?”
“I’ll get it,” Spike volunteered, giving up on his search for the moment.
“So, what’d you do this time?” Cadance asked again.
Twilight rolled her eyes and explained, “After getting Sunset Shimmer to the hospital—you do remember that, right?”
“Mmgh,” Cadance grunted, furrowing her brow in concentration. “I remember Sunset on the floor bleeding. That wasn’t a dream?” she asked, then added, “I didn’t do that, did I?”
“No—no!” Twilight assured her, waving her hooves. “I’m pretty sure it was a timberwolf bite, though now that I mention it, I don’t think I ever got confirmation from Nurse Redheart on that.
“Anyway,” Twilight continued. “After getting Sunset to the hospital and bringing you back here to sleep off your innuendo—”
“Oh!” Cadance exclaimed. “Now I remember! I caught you staring at her—”
“Injury,” Twilight interrupted right back. “And again, after all of that, Spike and I went back to the hospital to wait for something concrete to tell Princess Celestia. Long story short—she showed up and got into a… I wouldn’t even call it an argument, but I got annoyed and teleported off.”
“And left me there to make excuses for her and take the books she brought,” Spike finished as he brought out a steaming princess-sized cup of coffee for Cadance, who didn’t even let him get halfway across the room before she took it from him with her light blue magic.
It was an awkward minute or two until Cadance stopped making obscenely appreciative sounds.
“So,” Cadance said breathily over her half-empty cup. “How is Sunset, anyway?”
“Sunset’s fine, though they’re going to keep her in the hospital for a while,” Twilight explained. “You’re not going to ask about what happened with Princess Celestia?”
“I was a teenager when I became an alicorn,” Cadance reminded Twilight. “In spite of Sunset clearly holding the gold medal for it, I did have my own disagreements with her from time to time. You’re overdue, and I won’t pry if you don’t want me to. I can guess, though.”
Twilight considered it, but shook her head. “I’ve already ranted about it to Rarity and Rainbow and it really isn’t something that takes all that much to unpack.”
“Alright,” Cadance said and took a long, blissful sip from her cup. “Now, about that letter-sending spell…”
“Actually,” Twilight said, glancing at the clock again to make sure that it wouldn’t be too late. “We should go check on Sunset again. If she’s up, she wanted to learn it, too.”
“That is the exact opposite of what I want, Twilight,” Cadance deadpanned.
“Well, given that I wasn’t sure if you wanted Princess Celestia to know that you flew all the way down here just to yell at Sunset…?”
Cadance managed to communicate her negative response with a blush and the shake of her head.
“Right,” Twilight said. “Given that, I asked for her notes on the spell on Sunset’s behalf instead.”
“Wait,” Cadance said, pulling her face away from her coffee for a moment to give Twilight an inquisitive look. “You don’t already know it?”
“No?” Twilight said, thinking that should have been obvious. “I have a Spike,” she said, gesturing at her assistant.
Somehow, that didn’t seem to appease Cadance.
The trip over to the hospital was quiet and uneventful, which was probably a good thing. Twilight very much doubted that it would have gone over well if, for instance, Rainbow Dash had decided to join them for this particular visit. Maybe later she would get her brash friend to apologize, but it would have to be much, much later.
Not that Rainbow Dash was the only one who had a bone to pick with Sunset Shimmer.
“Actually, maybe this isn’t the best idea,” Twilight said, having second thoughts as she signed her name on the hospital’s visiting list.
“Relax, Twilight,” Cadance reassured her, briefly placing a hoof on her shoulder as she took Twilight’s place and signed her own name. “I’m not going to pick a fight with an injured pony.”
And she didn’t.
Not exactly.
The first words out of Cadance’s mouth when she saw Sunset Shimmer were, “Geez, you really are just a filly, aren't you?”
Sunset's immediate response was, “Bite me.”
Cadance won that exchange with the addition of a raised eyebrow and a glance at Sunset's bandaged flank.
“…Okay, yeah, that wasn't my best,” Sunset admitted, disgruntled but accepting. “Anyway, what are you doing this far south, lovebutt?”
“Oh, you know,” Cadance said with a nonchalant shrug. “I got an interesting piece of correspondence and decided it deserved a personal response.
“Oh?” Sunset said, acting innocent. “Must have been some letter.”
“It was very enlightening,” Cadance said, approaching Sunset’s bed. “And, you know, a little enlightenment never hurt anypony.”
Sunset had to shift herself in the bed to back away from Cadance, who was getting awfully close. “Oh?” she said, still pretending not to have any idea what Cadance was talking about, but clearly getting uneasy with her status as a captive audience.
“Yep!” Leaning in, Cadance said, “The answer is, ‘no.’”
Sunset blinked. Suddenly, she didn’t need to fake her confusion. “No?”
“Yep!” Cadance said, backing off. “No, as in, ‘No, I don’t have any problem keeping warm at night,’ thank you very much.”
Sunset… blushed.
Sorry to disappoint anyone who was expecting a long, drawn-out discussion-slash-argument with Celestia. Sunset really is such a terrible role model.
"And what did she say when you asked her to clarify that statement?"
"When I asked her to what?"
On the subject of Twilight actually talking about her problems, has she dver asked Celestia for help on the whole "reclaim her magic" thing? Luna sent the notes, but Sunbutt Sr. may not even be aware of the issue. (Yes, she's not blind when it comes to Sunset, but the tunnel vision is still very much a thing.)
This is peak interaction between these two given the circumstances. Brilliant work.
We'll see where this goes from here. Hopefully Celestia takes Twilight's reaction as the warning that it is.
I'm not sure if I should feel insulted for Sunset or not. The only pony who seems to think she can "win" is Twilight herself.
I kinda want her to get the earth pony part while Twi gets the pegasus just because at this point.
10506102
I was just hoping for Sunset-Celestia talk or smth.
There ought to be a separate category for the genre "My Little Pony Except Everyone Is A Giant Bitch." It'd rival Human In Equestria.
10506178
Why don't you tell me, what explanation can allow you to call harmless giving criminal egoistical individual with violence tendencies chance to obtain alicorn magic?
10506279
The only possibility I can think of is that Celestia thinks it isn't possible for Sunset. And I'd love to hear the details.
Although i know that Twilight made to look like a greedy egoistical person, because of constant "She wants to steal my magic" and whatever, let's take into consideration fact that without it Twilight considered failed alicorn, effectively a cripple, and might stuck this way for eternity, despite having the same amount of responsibility that other princesses have. And she can't refuse this. She can't return to her previous life either. She sees utterly ridiculous way most important person of the country treats a criminal because of personal connections. She knows about potential dangers said criminal can bring if ever gets her power, and that everyone somehow ignores it.
So, she been forced into position she does not desire, suffered a major humiliation in front of entire city, finds out that she actually a cripple, has her view of few very important to her people shattered negatively, gets replaced in her motherly figure's and teacher's view by some runaway kid with criminal record who also openly trying to steal the only thing that can fix her crippled state and messy condition of her life after failed ascension, and at the same time has no progress in achieving that herself whatsoever.
Yikes.
Of, course, she also doesn't want to allow a criminal smug girl who popped up from nowhere to steal part of something that belongs to her and related to her very talent in life, and be perfectly pardoned at it no less by person she trusted the most.
Maybe she even feels that if Sunset succeeds to became a better alicorn, she would simply replace her, not only taking away what she gained, but also all other things she holds dear. Teacher, friends, social status.
If you don't agree, i would like to see you tolerating it better.
10506300
Not for eternity, just for the 80 or so years left until Sunset Shimmer hopefully dies of old age. Then Celestia will probably let Twilight have the other half of herself back. Twilight has the Unicorn and Alicorn half, and presumably the Alicorn magic is what causes the immortality.
10506361
Considering that book called "equal opportunity ascension", i am completely sure that getting even a part of alicorn magic turns you into immortal alicorn. So, no, i don't think so.
10506367
I always overthink these things, but I swear that it was established that Unicorn, Pegasus, Earth, and Alicorn magic were completely distinct from one another. When the Alicorn magic kicks into Twilight's spell, it has a lingering effect and can be maintained with almost no effort. That sounds very much like the part of the magic that would make an Alicorn immortal, as opposed to the magic that lets you stand on clouds or kick trees real good.
Maybe when all three tribe's magic exists inside of a single pony, it sparks the formation of Alicorn magic within that pony. But aside from that very specific possibility, or Celestia just periodically casting age regression spells on Sunset until her brain can no longer handle the overabundance of information and she goes completely insane... I really don't think we have to worry too much about Sunset becoming immortal and stealing Twilight's magic away forever.
The author hasn't delved too deeply into Twilight's previous life, why Celestia has any reason to believe that Twilight is indeed the reincarnation, or the mechanics of Alicornhood, but with what has been outlined so far, we shouldn't worry too much until new information comes up.
And if worse comes to worse, Alicorns can still die the normal way.
10506393
Actually, the ability to use magic/cast spells IS the unicorn part. There is no seperate Alicorn magic that is for casting spells. Otherwise that would end up making the Unicorn part essentially useless.
The whole point of an Alicorn is that it they possess all three pony magics. Pegasus, Unicorn, and Eath Pony.
Heck, that one finale ESTABLISHED that the magic spells Alicorns use is still referred to as Unicorn magic. Celestia herself says so.
10506418
Completely correct. In this story, as in canon, Twilight uses her Unicorn magic to cast spells. But then in this story, Twilight is shown to start fueling her already-cast spells with her Alicorn magic instead, and it has the effects I described. The first part of chapter 2 is dedicated to Twilight experimenting with her new, separate Alicorn magic.
Still rooting for Sunset, though not as much as I was ~10 chapters ago. Also starting to wonder when Starlight is going to make her appearance. 20 chapters seems like a long time for a story tag character to still not be in a story.
10507073
What if, this is an alternate timeline created by Starlight in the season 5 finale? Then she'd have been involved from the start, we just haven't seen her yet.
This story pleases me
Another! *Smashes cup*
I like this Sunset! Hopefully this story continues.
10506361
Considering Celestia knows little to nothing about it, probably not.
Any news on the next chapters?
Hah! This is peak older sibling oversharing.
10506183
I agree. I was also a bit sad that she got nerfed so hard by having her cutie mark give her affinity for only burning stuff. It makes her leagues weaker than Starlight Glimmer.
Speaking of, as the tags and title picture allude to Starlight Glimmer becoming an important factor here, I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that each of these three get a third of the magic. I'd even go so far as to think they might actually be three parts of the unnamed dead Alicorn soul?
Anyway, I'm strongly assuming that each of them will end up with 1/3 of the alicorn energy, and that it'll actually stabilize and stuff after some indeterminate number of years.
Also, is it REALLY Twilight's magic? I mean, it's the previous incarnation's, and Twilight needs it to be a fully functional true alicorn, but it's not hers exactly right? I guess this might be why nobody else is feeling the urgency?