Prologue
Sunset Shimmer did NOT want to leave the world that had become her home. She was content where she was, now at the point where the student body paid no more attention to her than anyone else and more importantly she now had five really good and forgiving friends. But as she had learned the hard way what she wanted mattered very little in the face of matters such as right or wrong. About a week ago she found something that turned her new world upside down…herself.
Fluttershy was bringing some puppies and kittens to a hospital to cheer up patients and possibly find the critters a good home when she found her. This world’s Sunset was a frail sickly girl but she wasn’t always that way, she started getting worse a few years back with no apparent explanation. After meeting the native Sunset and getting the story from her Sunset Shimmer came to an unavoidable conclusion, the poor girl had started getting sick shortly after she first came through the portal and even worse the closer the two got together the worse she became.
When it opened again Sunset went through to Equestria and explained the situation to Princess Twilight. After staying for a day both she and the princess went back and had learned that this world’s Sunset was improving. It was painful and she didn’t want to leave her friends behind but she couldn’t live with herself if the other Sunset got so bad that…she didn’t even want to think about it. She set her affairs in order and now she was ready to leave with the princess, for what was probably the last time.
“This stinks!” said Rainbow as she gave an annoyed growl. “Can’t you two figure out some way to keep her from getting sick?”
“The relationship between worlds is more complicated than I first thought,” said Twilight as she put a reassuring hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Locking the passage between ours to lunar cycles keeps them from becoming too similar, but we never considered what the long term effects of an outsider staying for prolonged periods could do. I’m starting to worry about my counterpart.”
“Well you can still visit us when for short periods of time right sugarcube?” said Applejack looking at both Equestrians.
Twilight smiled. “Whenever I can.”
“I’d rather not risk it,” said Sunset with tears in her eyes. Thunder rumbled in the cloudy skies not too far away. “Between what I did when I first came here and what I put you and your family through…”
The other sunset, in a wheelchair, grasped her hand. “You had no idea about this,” she said. “I want you come back when you can. Tell me all about Equestria and your adventures there, and I promise I’ll look after your friends.”
The Sunset who had lived this girl’s life for so long gave her counterpart a hug. “They are your friends now too. I won’t make any promises. I just plan to find some quiet corner of Equestria, make some new friends and just stay out of the way.”
“Silly,” said Pinkie Pie joining in the hug. “Even if you aren’t here it doesn’t mean we’ll ever stop being friends.”
“We’ll always be right here,” said Fluttershy while putting her hand over Sunset’s heart. “I mean if it wasn’t for you we never would have found out what the Dazzlings were up to.”
“We all know you’ll do us proud in whatever you choose to do,” said Rarity. “And we all hope you will change your mind about coming back.”
“Thanks,” Sunset said as she broke the hug. “But I tried to have a special life that wasn’t my destiny once, I going to make sure it never happens again. I know you all would say for me to do my best at whatever I do, but I don’t think I’m there yet.”
“Sunset we better get going,” said Twilight. “The portal’s not going to close for another couple of hours but I don’t want to keep them out in the storm.”
Sunset turned to the girls. “Well… this is it. I’ll never forget any of you. …Goodbye.”
Twilight went through first and then Sunset turned around and took a long last look at her friends. They were all waving goodbye with tears in their eyes. With tears in her eyes Sunset stepped though…
At the very instant a bolt of lightning struck the portal!
~~~
Princess Twilight waited for over a minute on the Equestrian side of the portal.
“Something’s wrong,” she said. “It shouldn’t take her this long to come back. I’m going through to see what’s keeping her.”
“But Princess!” said her recently appointed head of the guard Flash Sentry. “It will be sealed for thirty moons in a couple of hours!”
“I’m just popping over for a few minutes and coming straight back.”
A moment later Twilight came out of the statue at Canterlot High. The storm was starting to pick up in intensity.
“Twilight, is Sunset ok?” asked Fluttershy.
“She didn’t come through I was wondering what the holdup was.”
“Sunset she…” said Rainbow Dash. “She was right behind you and was going through when a bolt of lightning hit the portal at the same time!”
Twilight saw another bolt strike a tree. “Oh no, I’ll have to go back, see what Princess Celestia has to say about this! You guys get into shelter!”
“Well you better hurry,” said Applejack. “Just in case lightning strikes the portal again!”
“Don’t worry! I’ll find her, I promise!” Twilight jumped back through the portal again, the storm raging around the school mirror the torment in the princess’s heart.
~~~
Back her castle Twilight had looked through every book and scroll she could find on travel between worlds after Princess Celestia got no response from her journal, mostly stuff she was borrowing from Star Swirl’s old laboratory. When nothing but thoeries turned up she spent the next day at the Canterlot Archives and only found a single reference. Now it was late at night in library at the Castle of the Two Sisters, Twilight was looking at an old reference book. After reaching the end of a chapter Twilight groaned loudly and threw the book on top of a quickly growing pile.
“Spike, could you hand me ‘The Astute and the Arcane’?”
“Here you go” she heard as another book landed on the table.
“Thanks Princess Celestia,” Twilight did a double take. “PRINCESS CELESTIA!”
Celestia chuckled. “I forgive the formalness considering my sudden appearance.”
Twilight respectively stood. “What are you doing here?”
Celestia started walking with Twilight keeping up. “Spike sent me a letter; he says that both he and your friends are worried about how far you are burying yourself in this research.”
“I know, but I promised the girls in that world I’d find her and if I don’t then I’ve…” Twilight was unable to finish the sentence.”
“Then you’ve what?” Celestia said with concern.
“Then I would have failed to get Sunset truly accept friendship! I know she’s not the same pony she was but she was still letting guilt from what she’s done hold her back from really opening up her heart to those around her. She learned what friendship was supposed to be but she only really watched how they were friends, she told me she didn’t deserve friendship after what she did.”
“Friendship isn’t earned or deserved it must simply be offered and accepted.”
“I know it’s just…”
“You feel that if you brought her back yourself the first time she would have learned that lesson and be with us now.”
Twilight sighed. “I just saw so much of myself in her, if she had even only studied for the sake of studying, you’d be talking to her instead right now. I’m supposed to be the Princess of Friendship but I lost the one pony I felt I needed to teach friendship the most.”
Celestia draped her wing over Twilight. “Not at all Twilight, you couldn’t have controlled what had happened to her. And even if she had made friends when I told her to she couldn’t have your destiny. My hopes for her were simply for her to use her magic to help other ponies, nothing more or less. When I was a filly I was taught that each of us has a destiny only we can fulfill, when I first saw you at that exam all those years ago I knew yours was become an Alicorn and spread the magic of friendship.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “And Sunset’s was just to be a good unicorn.”
“Actually I only wanted her to be a good unicorn because I couldn’t see what her destiny was. Yours was so unique it was obvious to me but for most other ponies it is almost impossible to know what their true destiny is. Keep trying to find her but don’t let it overshadow what you were born to do.”
“I’m sorry, even after all this time I was just afraid I’d disappoint you.”
Celestia laughed. “I understand that feeling completely, you read me and my sister’s journal I was a lot like you back in the day.”
“So who were you afraid of disappointing?”
Celestia looked out as if to try to find something past her field of vision. “My mother.”
“You know I don’t think you or Luna ever mentioned your parents, even in the journal.”
“Our parents died while we still babies, all we ever knew was they sacrificed themselves in order to save the lands that would become Equestria and the two of us in the process. We only really knew them from stories the alicorns that raised us told. About our mother in particular they had all sorts of stories, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to measure up. But after Luna and I had ruled for a while I realized she’d have been proud of us no matter what.”
“It’s hard for me to think of you getting nervous,” Twilight looked into the forest from a window. “I’m not giving up on Sunset, but I’m not going to let it run me into the ground either.”
“Good night my faithful student,” Celestia said as she flew out the window.
After tidying up the library Twilight had started to leave the castle. She took a sharp breath of crisp night air when she felt a small pull on her horn. It’s wasn’t strong but it was enough to get her attention. Twilight followed the pull; letting it guide her rather forcing her to whatever destination it had in mind. Soon she found herself being lead to a now familiar cave, and seconds later was once again standing before the Tree of Harmony the pull stopping at the base not far from where the chest appeared that held the rainbow power that now was within herself and her friends.
Twilight dug a few inches when there in the trees’ crystalline roots was a tightly wrapped tome. Twilight was excited at what new secrets of magic or friendship could potentially be held within. She took off the magic preserved canvas wrapping the book; it turned out to be the very same journal Sunset had. Shocked she turned where she remembered Sunset having put down the last entry.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
Twilight almost dropped the book but made a swift save.
“This is impossible!”
Twilight continued reading.
If you are reading this and my calculations are correct then you would have found this journal shortly after I disappeared. First let me assure you that I survived the journey through the portal, the lightning strike had sent back to the same world but at an earlier point in time. My intentions when I started writing was for you to find a point in time where you could safely bring me back but now it serves a more important purpose. Read my words with great care for history has a way of repeating itself. I must ask that you DO NOT make any attempt to return me to the present, for it will cause irreparable harm to all that we know. Even if I am successful in what is increasingly looking like what is going to be my final task it will only be a reprieve, I have learned that you Twilight Sparkle and the other bearers must be the ones to end my tale. The fate of not only Equestria but of our entire world depends on you acting on the knowledge in this book. I only ask two things of you; first do not let anycreature other than the bearers know about my involvement in these events until after the threat has been resolved. Second should you triumph give Princess Celestia and Princess Luna my love.
After all this time your friend,
Sunset Shimmer
Twilight wrapped the tome back up and carried it back to her castle. She made a mental note to get her friends together first thing in the morning so they could read Sunset’s journal.
“Sunset, if we can I will find a way to get you back without damaging history. And even if we can’t whatever this new threat to Equestria is we’ll show it what the power of friendship can really do!”