Chapter 15
Three months had gone by now! It was getting close to summer vacation.
There was a spring dance next week and Rarity was very keen on the idea of making all of them outfits for it. Today, Sunset and Pinkie were both visiting Rarity on the upper floors of the school where the sewing machines were. Sunset was being measured while Pinkie was eagerly trying hers on.
Sunset really was wasting too much time these days, going to stuff like this with her friends.
Sunset really hadn’t hung out with Rarity much before this, but it was like this weird friendship chain connected them now. Sunset was friends with Twilight who was friends with Dash who was friends with Rarity. Their meeting was inevitable now.
While Dash wanted badly to be Sunset’s friend despite Sunset admittedly being a jerk to her on several occasions, Rarity was still wary of the newcomer. She wondered silently how long it would take to get Rarity’s trust in a world like this. Generally, it seemed like all the bad drama went away each Friday but any positive feelings you built up remained.
All paths were one way and they all led to friendship.
As Rarity measured Sunset’s arm, Pinkie came jumping out of the changing room. She was wearing a pink and blue dress with a big yellow ribbon tied in the front. Sunset knew nothing about human fashion, but she thought it looked nice.
“I know I say this every year, but this is the best one I remember!” Pinkie spun around, trying to look at her own back.
“If you’ve been here for centuries you must have made a lot of dresses,” said Sunset to Rarity. “Given that you do this every year.”
“Hm?” Rarity paused for a moment as if the idea only just now occurred to her. “Yes, I suppose it must have been a great many by now. Thousands, no doubt.”
“Is there some vault that you put them all in?” Sunset asked. “You could have a whole museum room filled with them.”
“Well, that would be interesting to see!” Rarity smiled at the idea. “But no. They get tossed out at the end of the season. No sense in keeping dated fashion around.”
Sunset looked over at Pinkie. Rarity and Pinkie must have known each other the longest out of the group. If Rarity made a dress for her every year, then was it a different one every time, or did Rarity just make the same dress year after year with Pinkie being genuinely impressed every time? It had to loop around eventually. There could only be so many outfits that looked good on her, right?
“How long have you been here anyway, Pinkie?” Sunset asked.
“How long haven’t I been here?” Pinkie asked. “The answer is 6.5 billion years! But seriously, that question is hard mode for me.”
“Everyone else seems to know,” said Sunset.
“Yeah, but they never lived in an elf city,” said Pinkie. “If they had they wouldn’t be able to say either. Cause like, time is an illusion because you can’t see entropy, but once you do see entropy you don’t see the illusion anymore! Like, uh, like a Ferris wheel! Oh, wait.”
Pinkie suddenly went deep in through, realizing that analogy made no sense.
“And were you glad to get out of there?” Sunset asked. “The elf city, I mean.”
Sunset asked her about where the elves lived at least once a week. She rarely got anything she understood out of it, let alone anything useful. But it was still information and you never knew what information would be important later.
“Oh, no! I loved it there! They got things that go both ways!” Pinkie pointed in both directions at once. “And oh man! The food is so good it can literally kill you instantly! And I got to play with all the other elves before I even met them!”
“Okay. Well, if you liked it there why did you come here?” Sunset asked.
“Cause my brain got used up!” Pinkie gave her head a knock. “Brains don’t last forever, silly. Not unless you loop them around. This is like retirement for me. I don’t actually have any potential left. Celestia just keeps me around cause Luna owes me.”
From her past few conversations on the matter, Sunset already knew Pinkie had worked for Celestia’s sister at one point.
Pinkie tried to explain what exactly she used to do for Luna, but never had much success. What she could glean made her think Pinkie was either in the army or a farmer. Pinkie talked about ‘burning Luna’s garden for her own good’ with a laser sword ‘just like Luke Skywalker did with his farm’. Watching ‘Star Wars’ only made her more confused about that statement.
Pinkie also talked about ‘farming rocks’ by ‘going at them before they were ready’ and ‘smashing bugs before they existed’. The bugs, she assured Sunset, were really gross so it was okay to erase them.
But the part about Pinkie ‘retiring’ to Celestia’s school was new. Sunset always assumed the two didn’t get along for obvious reasons and that Celestia had sniped Pinkie away from Luna or some such thing.
It surprised her in two ways, that Celestia would do such a favor for Luna and that Celestia would keep someone around who wasn’t particularly useful to her.
“I was dead in the same sense that a battery gets dead.” Pinkie jumped up and sat on one of the desks. “Luna gave me three options. The first one made no sense at all, the second one was a swift death, and the third one was to come here! I said ‘high school? Don’t you mean high school?’”
Pinkie laughed hysterically, kicking her legs at what must have been a joke. Sunset looked at Rarity who, to her relief, shrugged rather than laughed.
“Well elves would find that joke really funny,” Pinkie assured them. Pinkie fell onto her back. “But I think I remember that we used to have to wear school uniforms. Do you remember that, Rarity? Or am I just being crazy? Cause if you remember it too we can triangulate how long I’ve been here.”
“I’m fairly certain Celestia would have allowed me to forget such a thing,” said Rarity. “It’d be a lot easier to just ask Celestia if you’re curious.”
Sunset realized something just then. The school had a lot of modern technology that wasn’t invented until relatively recently. It had to have been noticeably different in the past.
“Actually, weren’t you born in your planet’s version of the middle ages?” Sunset asked. “What was it like back then?”
“Can we please keep the conversation polite?” Rarity gave Sunset a look that let her know she was on short notice. “I don’t want to talk about back then.”
“I’m not talking about the outside world,” Sunset pointed out. “I’m asking about the school from way back when. It had to have been more medieval when you first got here, right?”
Rarity gave her a skeptical look, but one that didn’t last long before it was overtaken by her own curiosity.
“I suppose you’re right,” Rarity finally admitted. “What was it like back then?”
Rarity had to try to remember. She paced about, tapping her chin for a minute or so before snapping her fingers as she finally overcame her mind fog.
“Ah, yes! It’s blurry, but I do remember a little of when it was just Celestia, Sweetie Belle, and myself. The school was a such small little castle. We had a courtyard but there was nothing outside the walls but endless grass.” Rarity walked over to the window to look at the school’s current courtyard. “I remember it being such a tiny place. We all slept in the same room with Celestia for a long time. Actually, we all slept in the same bed. That does seem a bit odd, thinking back.”
“I heard beds were super rare in the middle times,” said Pinkie, “so everyone had no choice but to snuggle! Even foreign dignitaries. That’s how elves do it today, but they sleep outside and then inside instead of trying to do both at the same time. It’s way more fun that way! We should all sleep in the same room sometime!”
“We’ve had plenty of slumber parties already, Pinkie,” said Rarity. “But that is interesting. I suppose it explains why I didn’t have a problem with it back then.”
So, Rarity had completely forgotten the culture she’d come from.
“I remember there weren’t any electric lights back then, but Celestia used magic to keep it bright. We also didn’t have these.” Rarity took out her cell phone. “You know, I don’t remember when cell phones first came to this school. Why, every time I turn it on it feels like such a wondrous, new treasure. How can I be expected to remember the actual first time? But at the same time, I feel like I’ve always had it.”
Rarity gave her phone a hug. Pinkie nodded. At least she understood the feeling. Sunset was a bit more concerned that they all slowly conformed to this place.
“Are you worried Celestia might be selectively eating your memories to get you to submit to her ideology?” Sunset asked. “She could easily use this to make you think just about anything. You might not even have anything of your original mindset left.”
“You’d think an outsider would be reassured about such a thing. Do you really expect me to be the same person after four hundred years?” Rarity asked.
“You’re closer to a thousand,” Sunset reminded her.
“Tch! Accusing a lady of lying about her age!”
“But do you not see how easy it would be for her to just completely brainwash you?” Sunset asked. “To completely remake all of your opinions? To reshape your personality to be more convenient for her?”
“If you’re so paranoid about Celestia then just don’t accept her gracious offer and go back to wherever you came from,” said Rarity. “I’ve seen your kind come and go. I’ll at least give you credit for not holding your breath and sitting on an island until you die, but I won’t stand for having Celestia’s name besmirched.”
“Look, this isn’t just about me,” said Sunset.
“It’s not?” Pinkie leaned forward from her desk, shocked.
Sunset sighed but admitted she deserved that kind of reaction. She really hadn’t thought much of the other students here at first.
“Is it wrong for me to be concerned about the rest of you?” Sunset asked. “I’m asking all this because I want to be sure she’s not taking advantage of you all. It’d be so easy for her to trick you, given the power she wields. I’m starting to feel like I can’t just ditch you all.”
“Daww!” Pinkie jumped off her desk and nearly tackled Sunset to the ground with a hug. “You’re so sweet. Trying to look out for me!”
“I suppose it’s hard to be angry at you for wanting to help me,” said Rarity. “But I really don’t need help. I’m as happy as I could ever be. If you want us to question our lives, then you have to do the same. Have you seriously considered if it would be better for you to stay here?”
The suggestion gave her a chill. Sunset hadn’t seriously considered the option to stay here. It was scary to just ask the question.
“Alright,” said Sunset. “I can do that if you let me ask you harder questions. Go ahead and make your case or whatever.”
“Well, Principal Celestia always says the true question is whether you want happiness or to accomplish some goal,” Rarity stated, as though it were a simple a fact as geography. “If you want to be happy, you’ll have trouble finding a better place than this. So, the question is if you have something you want to accomplish.”
That certainly was a common refrain. Everyone here accepted that exact philosophy, perhaps because Celestia slowly nudged them towards it. But it did seem like an increasingly fair question.
Something Sunset wanted to accomplish? Revenge against Princess Celestia?
“Not really.” Sunset stopped by the window, looking out. So much of her anger was gone. “But maybe I’ll think of something.”
After four months, Sunset made it entirely through the spring. Now, on the first day of summer, the rain was pouring down. From what she could gather, it rained a lot this time of year.
Today was also the first day of summer vacation, which meant no more school for a while. The other students were a little disappointed with the idea of not going to school for two months and Sunset was inclined to agree with them, albeit for an entirely different reason.
She was getting good at creating directed portals, good enough to make one from the school to the beach with maybe an 80% success rate, and only missing her mark by a hundred feet or so. She understood interdimensional travel and pocket dimensions a lot better now. She knew the type of portals that Starswirl made centuries ago, and understood why the outpoint of that type of portal would end up being magnetically drawn to this pocket dimension.
Heck, she could even stir the mirror just a little now.
As exciting as that should have been, she more fully understood how much easier it was to get in here rather than out. It was like she got two steps closer only to realize that her destination was three steps further than she thought.
Now her threat was having to go two months without classes and potentially backsliding. She didn’t want summer vacation devouring bits of all that knowledge any more than she wanted Celestia to.
She’d have to practice every day on her own to keep moving forward. Celestia would be around occasionally, but she would be asleep for most of it. From what Sunset heard, elves like Celestia didn't sleep every night but instead went into a sort of hibernation like this.
Of course, with Celestia mostly asleep, it’d be the best time to go snooping around. Sunset was less convinced now that there was something more to this place than what she already knew, but she wasn’t going to stop looking yet.
With her umbrella out, Sunset walked through the rain and down the street towards the local library. She intended to spend her first day planning out the best training regime for herself.
The streets were lonelier today, and not because of the rain.
Most of the students didn’t stick around the same part of Canterlot during the summer. They’d go to the warmer parts of the mountains to the north, off to one of the islands to the west, or camping in one of the nature reserves scattered through the city itself.
Sunset’s friends were doing that last one. It’d be a while until she saw them again.
Or so she thought.
Sunset heard a larger vehicle pulling up behind her. She turned to see a familiar-looking RV coming up from behind. The RV stopped right next to Sunset and the door opened. Rainbow Dash was the one driving.
“Yo! There you are!” Dash jumped out of the RV, splashing in a puddle without a care.
Twilight came out soon after.
“You’re still here?” Sunset asked.
“We thought we’d swing by and give you one last chance to change your mind,” said Dash.
“Sunset!” Pinkie stuck her head out of the window. “Are you a hundred percent sure you don’t want to go camping with us?”
“Yes.”
“But are you a thousand percent sure?”
“Yes.”
“A million?”
“Yes.”
“A Billion?!”
“Pinkie–“
“I don’t see what the big deal is,” said Dash. “It’s not like taking a break for a month is gonna kill you, or like you got a time limit before you explode. Just chill for a little bit.”
“Please?” Twilight put her hands together pleadingly. “It’d be so much more fun if you came.”
“Hm.” Sunset closed her eyes, tapping the umbrella with a finger.
Truth be told, Sunset did wish she could just go on a nice camping trip with her friends. It was something she never really done before because she’d never really had friends before. If only this could have been a more normal dimension.
Yet going on summer vacation felt like a dangerous idea. Sunset was already getting too cozy in this place, knowing that the longer she stayed and more comfortable she got the harder it would be to leave. If Celestia did have some kind of scheme, then it was nothing more than getting Sunset as comfortable as possible here.
The more comfortable the bed was, the harder it became to get back up.
“Well?” Dash asked. “You coming or not?”
“I’d better not.” Sunset shook her head.
“Aw! But why?” Twilight looked genuinely upset by it.
“I have to keep practicing magic,” said Sunset. “You know that. Besides, it’s not like it’ll actually matter. You’ll forget everything that happens during your trip eventually anyway.”
“Yeah, but it’ll still be two months without my best friend,” said Twilight.
Best friend?
Sunset blushed, but quickly pushed Twilight away.
“We have magic communication devices.” Sunset looked in the other direction. “We can talk every day.”
“They’re not magic, but okay.” Twilight lowered her head a little.
Sunset was getting way too attached. Even this much made her feel bad now.
Twilight waved to her one last time before getting into the RV. The RV sped down the road, leaving Sunset alone in the rain.
She stood there, letting the rain hit her umbrella, thinking for a moment longer. She felt like she’d been left behind again, even though it was her leaving the others by her own choice. It was a familiar, lonely feeling.
Principal Celestia came out of the rain from behind and stood next to Sunset, watching them leave. It was hardly creepy at this point. Celestia could appear anywhere at any time. You got used to it.
Celestia never seemed concerned about the weather. Rain, cold, wind, and heat were all simply ignored by the fairy princess. She simply stood out in the pouring rain and the water seemed to bounce off of her, unable to affect her hair or clothes.
“I think I decided that there is something I want to accomplish,” said Sunset.
“Oh?” Celestia didn’t show any concern for that statement, despite Sunset carefully watching for any.
“I want to keep Twilight safe,” said Sunset. “I want to help my friends.”
“And if she’s already safe? If they don’t need you?”
Sunset tapped the shaft of her umbrella with a finger. She wanted to protect Twilight but wasn’t sure if anything she could do was protection. Twilight was already so happy here that Sunset wasn’t sure if letting her out of the cage was a good thing.
“I don’t know.”
Sunset didn’t have much hope Twilight would actually change her mind about this place after seeing Equestria.
One thing she learned fast was that Principal Celestia was hardly ever wrong about anything. Sunset couldn’t think of a single example of such. If she was confident Twilight would stay, it was most likely because Twilight would.
But even if it was doomed to fail, Sunset decided she should at least try.
“Are you hoping that if I make friends with the people here, I’ll want to stay?” Sunset asked.
“I think ‘hope’ would be the best word, yes,” said Celestia. “But I don’t see it as a duplicitous scheme, personally. Ultimately, you’re the one who decided to befriend them. And it’s hardly like this is the only place you could ever make friends. I’ve shown you this frictionless, idealized friendship. Surely you’re already familiar with rougher relationships. I won’t stop you from picking either.”
The only part of that Sunset would have objected to was being familiar with a ‘real’ friendship, one without the rough edges broken off by a potential-eating Fae. Sunset wasn’t convinced she had ever had any friendships before coming here, certainly not since she was very young - and none even nearly as strong as the ones she had now with the girls.
But it was hardly like she was going to say that out loud.
“So what about you?” Sunset asked her. “Do you want to accomplish something?”
“I do. Growing larger and more powerful is a goal in itself for me. I don’t care if it makes me happy or sad,” said Celestia. “And you? When I asked you that question the first time, you said that was the case for you as well.”
“I don’t know,” said Sunset. She put a hand over her chest. “I feel so much calmer since I came here.”
Celestia remained silent for a moment like she always did when you finished speaking. Sunset listened to the rain.
“You know, I used to have these crazy power fantasies.” Sunset clutched her hand into a fist. When she got angry or scared, she used to imagine herself overpowering the other Celestia and forcing the princess to kneel to her, or beating up random ponies, or even burning down the whole castle. Sunset opened her hand back up. “But I haven’t done that in a while. It's just not satisfying anymore.”
Sunset closed her eyes and tried to imagine herself returning to Equestria with overwhelming magical force and beating Celestia into the ground. It didn't feel the same anymore. It didn't make her feel any better.
Principal Celestia didn’t respond right away, listening with a slight smile. Sunset got the impression she knew the answer but wasn’t saying it. That was always something that pissed her off.
“Why did I calm down so much?” Sunset asked. “Because everything here is so calm? Because I’m meditating now? Or did you do something to me?”
“If you want me to 'psychoanalyze' you," said Celestia, "I think it’s simply because you have friends now. You don’t need to force anyone to respect you. You don't need revenge to feel valid if you already do. Do you think I’m right?”
Did Sunset feel valid back in Equestria? Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, when Princess Celestia kept her close she did feel loved. She’d always wanted that more than anything, she knew, she just wanted Princess Celestia to acknowledge her. Not too unlike Principal Celestia and Sunset’s new friends did.
“That’s a stupid answer.” Sunset turned and walked away, off into the rain.
Did sunset have what she wanted now? She hoped not.
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Is it wrong I hope Celestia gets the girls to chant “One of us, one of us”. Sunset is not going to want to leave soon.
Low-key wishing she'll go on the trip after all
Ah, an update! And a delightful one.
I'm glad my guess about where this arc was going was on-target. Eager to see the resolution.
Something that strikes me is how Sunset is changing - not because of any arcane force or control - but simply due to the fact her pain is being massively reduced. I generally reason that much of the evil which people are capable of is the result of suffering. Remove the suffering, give a person a safe and calm place to come to terms with themselves and what has been driving them, and, provided they are not broken in some deeper, psychotic way, they will generally become much better people. Some people are just 'broken', no two ways about it. But other people can act terribly, but their malfunction is not in their brain - it is in their environment. It is in being overwhelmed, overpressured, and being fed false data.
Sunset has benefited from being away from the source of her sorrows. As a result, she has been able to decompress, it seems. Able to gain perspective, able to reexamine her own issues and outlook. And, fairly, Principal Celestia has been supportive without adding any additional pressure. Principal Celestia has, if anything, acted as a useful counselor and therapist. Sunset is healing on her own.
Which is, I think clearly, Principal Celestia's Incredible Secret Covert Scheme. To provide a safe and calm space for Sunset to unpack her crap and sort through it. Principal Celestia, I would argue, is betting that a rational actor would always choose an eternity of happy and fun contentment over a brief and brutal span of miserable, and always temporary, accomplishment. Also, the need for revenge in the first place is never rational. Sunset is smart, she has just been too angry and hurt to think straight. Even smart people can be driven to do dumb things.
I like this about this story. I like that the technique of convincing Sunset to 'emigrate' (to use Optimalverse language) is one of simply allowing Sunset to become rational - with the implication that a rational actor will always choose according to their own best interests. That, perhaps, is my very favorite fantasy of all.
10625108 In a good way.
I think she meant to say, best friend forever.
I suppose that statement makes a certain amount of sense, understanding what we do about elves, and how they perceive time. If Luke's aunt and uncle hadn't been killed, he wouldn't have been able to leave Tatooine behind so easily. If you already understand the outcome of events, then setting your own destiny in motion is a perfectly logical move.
It doesn't really answer what Pinkie did for Luna, but it would seem to be along those lines.
I am...concerned by what she means by this.
"Bugs" could be anything, from literal vermin, to human beings cast as "impure" and later slaughtered.
10626004
It's probable they've already done something like this.
In high school, you will hear this chant inevitably.
10626192
I think psychological problems are a combination of both biological (how the chemicals in your brain interact) and environmental (how the world treats you) factors.
Joaquin Phoenix's Joker is the best illustration of this. He has mental problems, but the reason he goes crazy is because those problems are exacerbated by abuse, neglect, the loss of medical help, and simply the stress of living in a dingy city.
I don't know if Sunset has genuine mental problems. But being the student of a princess has probably given Sunset enormous stress, and she sees vengeance as an outlet.
But living in EG world, she's in an environment without that kind of stress. Although the jury is still out on whether Celestia's world of no-growth is a scam or not.
It does seem like the rational choice.
It could explain why so many people have chosen to live in Celestia's mentally stagnant society: if Rarity had to choose between the hardscrabble life of slavery and a world without stress, that's a pretty obvious choice.
It is obvious the human world these guys came from wasn't all that nice, so fleeing to a world without those horrors seems rational too.
And that, as they say, is how they get you. By the time Sunset has the capacity to leave, she may lack the will. Not because of succumbing to Celestia's all-you-can-eat lotus buffet, but because of her attachment to those who have.
The second biggest question when the time comes is whether Sunset will have the confidence to believe she can make comparable friendships when she's no longer in Easy Mode. Or if she'll have the strength to tear herself away from the ones she already has. We'll see soon enough.
The biggest question is whether settling down would really be a bad thing.
10626975
"Bugs" might even be meant in a programming sense, resolving the errors and paradoxes of Faerie's acausal existence before they can tear it apart.
10627703
I am still somewhat wary of Fae!Celestia. I still suspect her of being far more sinister than she appears.
But the basic logic of the place would actually be beneficial to Sunset: a place where one can forget their worries would actually be nice for a short while. At the very least, it has helped Sunset appreciate friends, even if the bonds she has with them are the doing of a brain-sucking being.
That could be another use for bugs....but again, you have to be wary of the fae.
What they think bugs are could be very different from your own definition.
10626192
True. And the difference is, Sunset has a potential for agelessness in her future. She claimed to have rejected the offer to ascend, whether or not that is true, the capacity to do so still exists. She is the exception of a general rule. So the plan can proceed as planned, and backfire unexpectedly without being disrupted.
Oh I get this one. Luke getting the lightsaber was part of the chain of events that led to the farm burning. Luke blamed himself for it even though his role was incidental at best, so what Pinkie said is true... from a certain point of view.
10626893
Ah, someone else had the same idea.
...Well then the obvious question is, can she let the water soak her if she wants to? Or does she just never bathe? If the former, does it require a conscious effort? And would it be the same with 'real world' water or is it only because said water is technically part of her body to begin with?
...And the elephant in the room. What happens when Celestia dies? Since she is not eternal and unchanging it is at least a possibility to be considered. Or looked at another way, what's the end game? If there's nothing left to absorb at some theoretical point in time (...well, plane in time from the sound of it but the principle is the same), what then? I suppose it's possible a sufficiently powerful fae could reverse entropy, of course, but if that's the case she can't logically be there yet, I don't think.
I'm like 62.3, repeating of course, % sure the fae talk from Pinkie is mostly ice cream koans, but there's just enough method in'it that I'm unsure.
...Stringing 3 weird references together in one sentence! Not quite a personal best but not bad.
so true
love that response
agh that just raises further questions!
oof, love this idea of exploring how the power of friendship might be seen as negative. in this case, entangling Sunset into accepting this world. agh, so many real-life analogies that could possibly be drawn here!