Philomena 2: Lullaby for a phoenix
“Come on!”
Sunset said to herself, as a spark of magic came out of her horn, yet, being too weak, immediately faded away.
“Come on...“Yes!”
Sunset shrieked joyfully, having noticed that the first part of her spell had finally succeeded.
“Now for the finishing touch!”
She thought to herself, while focusing on the bright sunflower she was supposed to turn into an enormous, exotic plant. Closing her eyes, the young mare conjured her sorcery, releasing the energy she had accumulated in her horn. A shiny, cyan energy beam hit the sunflower, which opened it petals as widely as possible, yet that was all that happened. The moment Sunset opened her eyes, the confident smile she had put on her face suddenly disappeared, turning into an angry scowl.
“No, that's not what you were supposed to do, pony feathers!”
The young mare blew off all of her steam on the cursed flower, considering it the cause of her stress. But, after seeing that the plant would not react to her provocation, she quickly realised that it was no use.
In the meantime a certain shadowy individual was enjoying the scene, at least judging from her uncontrollable laughter. This fellow was quite odd though. She was rather small, did not have hooves or muzzle. Instead she was covered in a mantel of red and golden feathers which looked particularly beautiful. Her face seemed like that of a bird, for it had a long beak right in the middle and her eyes were of the colour of the sun. Furthermore she had spent time watching Sunset's failed attempts to cast her spell on the sunflower from her comfy spot on a tree branch.
“This isn't funny, Philomena!”
Sunset yelled, turning her head toward her feathered friend. Despite what the filly had said, the phoenix went on giggling, as if she had not heard anything.
“Since you find this so hilarious, why don't you tell me how in the hay I am supposed to pass my next exam in high-advanced transfiguration if I can't seem to be able to turn a simple sunflower into a ginger lilly? What do I do if I fail? What do I do if the Princess decides that I am not worth much after all? What do I do then? Will you give me a simple suggestion, Philomena?! ”
This time the phoenix did indeed stop laughing. In a second she raised her head, fixing her golden eyes on her pony friend. Time passed, yet not a sound came from Philomena's beak.
“Yeah, I don't know what I'd do either.” Sunset went on saying, as soon as she realised that the phoenix would not reply to her questions.
“I guess we will need to do everything in our power to prevent that. I can't stand the idea of going back home. I just can't...”
The only mentioning of the word “home” sent a shiver through Sunset's spine. The last time she had been at her parents' place had not exactly been the best of her life. Her parents' cold faces was something that Sunset did not take delight in remembering. If she was sure of one thing, it was that she would have paid any price to avoid seeing them again...And she literally meant any price.
After sending away those horrible thoughts, the young mare went back to her sunflower. She had attempted to turn it into the exotic plant which she had in mind for at least an hour now, but the final outcome had been the same every time. Sunset knew that transfiguration spells were not something to be taken lightly and that even she would need to practice before being able to perform one successfully, but this had been taking far too long for her taste.
“Oh...rats! You win this one, flower, but I'll come more prepared next time.”
After saying those things, the amber-furred mare turned her head toward the spot were her phoenix friend was resting. At the sound of her whistle, Phiomena quickly spread her large, fiery wings and took off. In second or two she reached Sunset and landed safely on her right shoulder.
“What do you say, Philomena?” The filly questioned with a cheerful smile on her face. “Wanna take a break and grab a bite to eat? It's almost lunchtime anyway.”
Sunset was right about that. The sun was already on the west side of Canterlot castle, meaning that it was past midday.
At the sound of Sunset's question, the young phoenix's stomach rumbled like that of a hungry hippo. As her friend put on a satisfied smirk, Philomena's golden cheeks became as red as the rest of her feathers.
“I will take that as a yes.” The filly went on saying, as the phoenix nodded in approval. “Come on, I am sure that one of the cooks has something ready for us to eat back at the castle.”
And with those words, she trotted to the royal palace.
“Here you go, Miss.”
The cook, a well built, blond stallion, said placing some delicious-looking oat cakes on the table for Sunset along with a bowl of triple-cleaned seeds and premium fruits for her phoenix friend. As soon as she laid her yes on the food, the young filly took a deep breath, enjoying its incredible aroma. Without wasting anytime, she assaulted the meal, devouring her oat cakes in one bite, and so did Philomena.
“I presume that you liked your lunch?”. The cook asked with a pleasant smile on his face. Having still her mouth full of oat cake, Sunset simply gave a quick nod in response. Philomena on the other hoof let out a loud shriek.
“That means she liked it, too.” Sunset explained, as soon as she had chewed and cleaned the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief.
“I think so, too.” The stallion replied, turning to the phoenix who stared at him with her wide, golden eyes.
“Great job, chef...” Sunset went on saying, complimenting the cook. “...As always.”
“Oh, pish posh, Miss Sunset.” The stallion responded, blushing at the youngster's kind comment “It is simply what I do. Being a chef is my job after all.”
“Yeah...your job...” Sunset mumbled to herself, when the stallion's words reached her ears, lowering her eyes, as if something had upset her.
“Now if you'll excuse me, Miss Shimmer, I must go back to work. Have a good afternoon. I'll do my best not to disappoint your expectations next time as well...” At that point Philomena shrieked, this time louder than before, and narrowed her sharp eyes on the stallion. “...or Philomena's of course. See you later, Miss.”
“Wait!” The young filly exclaimed, as the chief was walking back toward the kitchen door. At the sound of Sunset's voice, the blonde stallion quickly halted and turned his head to the filly.
“Yes, Miss Shimmer?”
At that moment, as the cook was staring at Sunset, waiting for her to make her request, something made the young mare's vocal cords freeze. Her eyes staring silently at the chief, her mouth still shut.
“Is there anything else I can do for you?” The stallion suddenly added, seeing that his interlocutor had mysteriously grown silent. Hearing that second question, something inside Sunset awoke, making her shake her small head in confusion.
“I wanted to ask you a question.” The filly exclaimed shyly, perhaps scared of what the stallion would answer.
“Sure.” He said gently, probably noticing the nervousness in the youngster's pupils. “Ask away.”
“I'd like to know how you managed to figure out that you belonged here.” At the sound of such an unusual question, the cook put on a confused expression on his face. The kind of expression one would make, after taking a sip of water, mixed with salt.
“What do you mean, Miss?” He said, fixing his eyes on the filly. Noticing that the chef had grown suspicious at her curiosity, Sunset bit her lower lip, realising that maybe it would have been better for her not to ask a stranger something so personal, but there was no way out of that weird situation now.
“The dice is cast.” She thought to herself, before raising her eyes toward the cook.
“I mean, after you got your cutie mark and all, how did you figure out where you should go?”
“Mmm...I suppose I just went with my gut.” The stallion answered, stroking his chin in reflection “A spot for a new chief had opened here at the palace and I was chosen among all the others.”
“So...you just seized your big opportunity, when it showed up. That's basically it, right?”
Well, yes, I suppose so.” The stallion said, while still lost in his thoughts. “But perhaps this not the answer you expected to hear, is it, Miss?”
“No, no, it's fine, really.” Sunset lied, thinking that she had asked too many questions already. “I was just curious.”
“You are her royal highness's personal pupil.” The cook went on saying, trying to reassure Sunset. “I am sure you've already got a brilliant future ahead of you.”
While the chief was walking back to the kitchen, Sunset turned her eyes toward her phoenix friend. The flaming bird was staring at her with her narrowed eyes, as if she already knew was Sunset was thinking at that moment.
I just don't know what to do after school, Philomena.” The young, amber-furred filly exclaimed to her phoenix friend.
Philomena answered, giving Sunset a long: “ AWW!”
“Yes, I know that I shouldn't be worrying about this so soon, but I just can't help it. Even if I still have to spend a long time here, school won't keep me busy forever. I need to come up with a plan for my future...Going back home isn't really an option, you see.”
As her pony friend sighed at the word home, the phoenix raised her head. It did not take an eyesight as sharp as hers to notice that Sunset was holding back her tears. Reflecting about that topic was clearly bothering poor Sunset: that was something which Philomena could not stand. All of a sudden she took off the pony's shoulder.
“What are you doing?” Sunset asked, curiously.
“AWW!!!!” Philomena shrieked loudly.
“You wanna play?!” Sunset exclaimed, apparently caught by surprise. “Right now?! Can't you see I am not in the mood?!”.
“AWW!!!!” The phoenix repeated, eager to help Sunset to get her mind off her thoughts.
“Fine, you win.” The young mare sighed, defeated, before starting chasing the excited phoenix. “Ah...Why does taking care of you have to be so hard?”
“Sunset?” Princess Celestia called out, looking for her new prize pupil. “Sunset?”
As usual, the amber-furred pony was spending time in the immense gardens, surrounding the royal palace, studying a spell book under the shadow of a tree.
“There you are!”. The alicorn princess exclaimed, as she noticed her with her eyes on the pages of a book. “I was looking for you.”
“You were?!” The unicorn asked nervously, as she stood up from the grassy ground. “I am sorry I did not hear you call for me. I was just studying.”
“I noticed.” The princess giggled, pleased with her student's effort. “I apologise for interrupting you, but I wanted to introduce to our new fried here.”
“Friend?” Sunset questioned, not seeing anypony but the white alicorn and herself around.
“Oh, she's just a bit shy.” Princess Celestia explained. “There's nothing to be afraid of. You can come out now.”
At the sound of the princess's kind, warm voice a small figure appeared from beneath her wing. It was a tiny chick, probably just a few days old. Her adorable, small body was covered in the most colourful feathers Sunset had ever seen and her golden eyes glimmered in the light of the sun.
The moment the chick placed her claws on the ground, it fell, being still unable to stand up on her thin legs.
“Be careful or you're gonna get yourself hurt.” The princess went on saying to the chick in a caring tone. “Say hello to Sunset, Philomena.”
As the baby bird raised her head, Sunset's pupils went immediately wide. Her tiny body and golden eyes were the cutest, most lovely thing the youngster had ever laid eyes on. For the first time in her life, Sunset felt her heart melting in her chest. As for Philomena, as she saw the young pony's face, her eyes sparkled in a bright light and her throat gave a cry, as loud as her fragile vocal cords allowed her. Then, as if all of her shyness had suddenly disappeared, she got up on her legs and run to the filly, singing joyfully.
“I think she likes you!” Princess Celestia smiled warmly
“Me too”. The young filly added, as the bird kept hugging her with her tiny wings. There was something odd about that act though. It was like little Phiomena had recognised an old friend.
The smile on her face conveyed a sincere sense of happiness.
As soon as the princess said that it was time for them to go back to the castle, the chick gave one desperate cry, before the white alicorn took her under her wing, taking her away from Sunset.
As for the amber-furred filly, she had to admit to herself that the sight of the bird had strangely upset her, yet that feeling, which she did not fully understand, did not last for long, as she quickly went back to her studying.
During the following days Sunset did not have the chance to see the chick, if not for a few, brief moments, when she saw her, closed her in a golden cage in the princess's room. Every time she saw the young filly through the golden bars, Philomena shrieked uncontrollably, trying desperately to find a way to escape her prison, before going back to her usual quietness, as soon as Sunset was gone.
It was one particularly hot day that Sunset started a completely new relationship with the phoenix. The youngster had been spending most of the morning in the palace gardens, studying under the shadows of her beloved tree. Suddenly she heard a familiar voice, calling out her name. Instinctively she raised her head and saw Princess Celestia, coming toward her; sitting on her shoulder rested a familiar-looking bird.
“Princess!” The amber-furred pony exclaimed, as the white alicorn stood before her.
“Where you looking for me again?” The princess shook her head in response, before indicating Philomena with her muzzle.
“She was.” The baby bird looked happy to see Sunset indeed, at least judging from the smile she had on her face.
“I do not believe I am following, Princess.” The unicorn answered, clearly confused.
“Look.” The moment the chick placed her claws on the ground, she immediately run to Sunset in order to hug her.
“She certainly is a sweetie.” The filly said, blushing. “But I still don't understand what you mean.”
“Birds don't show their affection to anyone, Sunset.” Princess Celestia said, smiling at her student's innocence. “Surely you noticed the way this phoenix acts, when you're around.” Sunset nodded in response, still not fully understanding what the alicorn's point was. “I have reason to believe that Philomena imprinted on you.”
“Im...Imprinted?” The amber-furred pony repeated.
“Yes” Celestia replied, nodding “You see, Sunset: imprinting is a natural phenomenon among birds and most animal hatchlings. It forges an instant bond between them and the first thing they see, after they hatch, usually their mum. And since you were the first thing this lady saw, as she emerged from her egg...”
“...she thinks I am her mother!” Sunset exclaimed, finishing the princess's sentence.
At that instant the young phoenix gave a loud: “AWW!!!!”, probably meaning that she agreed.
“My dearest Sunset.” princess Celestia calmly went on. “I would like you to take care of Philomena.”
That unexpected news certainly made Sunset's jaw drop. What would she have to do now? She had no experience in taking care of babies: her mother had not taught her anything, when she lived with her parents. To cut a long story short this whole thing freaked her out.
“But princess” the youngster mumbled out. “I have no idea how to do such a thing.”
“Worry not, my pupil: you are not supposed to. There is no such thing as a book to teach you what you are supposed to do to raise somepony or, in this case, some creature. Yet I know you have it in you, I can tell.”
“But this is your pet, Princess!” The unicorn said anxiously. “I can't just take her away from you.”
“She's never belonged to me, Sunset.” The white alicorn replied, comforting her agitated student. “You've helped her hatch her egg, which makes her yours in the first place.”
“But what if...” The young filly exclaimed, almost terrorised at the thought of having to handle a baby. “What if I am terrible mother?” As she spoke those words, the youngster's eyes began to weep like those of a baby; Celestia gasped, noticing that. The princess was aware that Sunset's parents had not been kind to her daughter, Sunset had told her that, but only now did she finally realise how much her parent's behaviour toward her had traumatized the filly.
Gathering all the affection she felt toward her pupil, the white alicorn took Sunset under her protective wing and held her tightly in her warm embrace. It took a few moments for Sunset to stop crying.
“You won't.” Celesta whispered at that moment in her beloved Sunset's ear.
“But...” The young filly insisted, clearly still unconvinced
“You won't.”
After Celestia had spoken those final words, Sunset went back to hugging her. The princess did not add anything, she did not have to, for that silence said more to her than a thousand words. In the meantime, having seen her mother crying, Philomena hugged the amber-furred unicorn's leg with her tiny wings as best as she could.
Sensing a pleasing sensation of warmth, the young student looked at the phoenix chick, holding tightly to her leg. That sight made her smile: Philomena clearly loved her in a pure and honest way. Even though Sunset had not done anything special for her: to the young unicorn making her egg hatch had just been part of her entrance exam to magic school, she certainly had not planned on becoming a mother. Yet Philomena loved her anyway.
Wiping her remaining tears, the amber-furred unicorn let go of the princess and gave the baby bird her most affectionate hug. “It's okay, little one.” Sunset said, as she felt the phoenix tightening her hug around her leg. “I'll take care of you, promised.”
The following morning Sunset had woken up early, probably because the obsession, caused by her failed attempts to transform the cursed sunflower in the palace gardens had kept her awake almost all night. The little filly was not too keen on getting up that morning though.
“What's the use?” She thought to herself, yawning “I'll probably fail again. It's not that I'll make any difference if I sleep in a little bit.”
However Sunset did not know that some creature had no intentions of letting her slack off for the very first time in her studying career. At the same moment she wrapped herself in the candid blankets of her mattress, Philomena shrieked in her ear, making her jump right out of bed.
“What has gotten into you?!” The youngster yelled at her phoenix friend, who was already laughing uncontrollably.
“Yeah, you are so great at finding the hilariousness in things, especially when they involve me struggling.” Sunset mumbled out, while shaking her still dizzy head. “Seriously, Philomena, your personality is getting worse by the day.”
Hearing her companion saying those things, the bird instantly ceased her laughing. For a moment she just stared at Sunset with her flaming, penetrating gaze.
“Oh, c'mon, what did you want me to do?” The young filly complained, seeing that her phoenix would not budge. “You know how hard it is to cast one of those spells successfully. Yesterday I wasn't exactly great: you saw that for yourself! What does make you think that one more day of practice will make a difference?”
Instead of giving her pony fried a verbal answer, the bird went on staring at her. Her gaze was so intimidating that sent a cold shiver through poor Sunset's spine.
“Please, Philomena, stop doing this. It feels awkward!”
As one would expect, Philomena did not obey.
“Fine, you win!”
The young unicorn exclaimed, finally giving up. A long AWW!!! was the answer Philomena gave her.
“Can we at least grab some breakfast first?”
The bird shrieked again, this time more loudly than before
“Okay, I get!” Sunset sighed, defeated. “We'll just have to do without it this time.”
Sunset spent most of the morning with her muzzle on her magic books, trying to find a passage, something that she might had forgotten and had caused her transfiguration spells to fail. She only stopped occasionally to gave a glaze to Philomena, who surveyed her like the bird of pray she was.
The phoenix might had been cheerful and playful most of the time, but, if she put her heart into it, she could become very strict and demanding. Of course Sunset's success was important enough for her to convince the bird to give up her daily playing session to make sure that her unicorn dedicated as much of her time as she needed to master her knowledge in magic.
It was around midday that Sunset gave out a long sight, collapsing on her chair.
“I'm done.” She exclaimed, rolling her eyes, before Philomena raised her head in attention.
“I'm being honest, Philomena. I have checked everything there is in my books and I could not find anything that could explain the reason why my spell failed so many times yesterday. I guess we'll have to put my skills to practice again.”
As the annoyed pony slowly walked toward the door, the phoenix briefly giggled.
“You're coming, too!”
Sunset said, turning her gaze toward the bird. Philomena rolled her head in annoyance: she clearly would prefer to do something else rather than watching Sunset all day. But deep down she knew that she had asked for this, so without protesting she took off from her branch stand and followed Sunset through the hallway.
After getting outside of the palace, Philomena gently landed on her pony friend's shoulder. It took her nothing but a brief moment to notice that there was something odd about Sunset now. The young filly stood silently with her mouth wide open and her eyes fixed on something right before her. Quickly the bird turned her head around to see for herself what was bothering her favourite unicorn so much. Then she saw it clearly.
The vast and majestic palace gardens had been invaded by an army of youngsters. There were tons and tons of foals and fillies, playing around. Truth be told, there must have been no more than twelve ponies in the gardens, yet to both Sunset and Philomena that felt like an unfair occupation of their space.
“What is the meaning of this?” The young unicorn questioned to herself, finding it hard even to blink in front of that noisy crowd of ponies.
Philomena was just as surprised as she was, so she was unable to give her any answer but a weak AWW!!!
“Oh, I see that you've noticed them already!”. A familiar, kind voice exclaimed from behind the filly's back.
“Princess?”Sunset said, recognising her mentor.“What's with all this raucous?”
“This raucous as you call it...”The alicorn giggled, finding Sunset's dumbfounded facial expression rather fun to look at. “...Is my new group of students.”
“You mean at magic school?”Sunset asked, finally realising everything.
The princess nodded in response. “Exactly. Amongst them there are fillies and colts who are about the same age as you. Why don't you go make some friends?”
“I...”
The young filly mumbled out timidly
“Come on, Sunset!”The princess encouraged her, pushing her forward. “Seize this opportunity!”
Seeing that her mentor would not let her go away, Sunset gulped in nervousness, as she stepped toward a group of three fillies.
In the meantime Philomena took off her shoulder and landed on a tree branch, since she figured that it would be best for Sunset to handle this situation on her own.
The fillies in question were shrieking like mad ponies, while playing with a ball. One of them was white, another one azure and the last one green. As she walked to them, Sunset shivered as if she had the flu, her forehead already wet with cold sweat.
As the azure filly noticed her coming, she immediately put a wide smile upon her face, right before running to her; her friends following behind.
“Hey you!”The youngster exclaimed cheerfully.
“Hey...”Sunset replied, doing her best to fake a smile.
“I'm Minuette, while these are Twinkle Shine and Lyra Heartstrings.” The azure filly said, indicating her companions.
“Hi...”
“Who are you?”
“I...well my name is...” the amber-furred unicorn replied; the corners of her mouth shaking in fear.
“...Sunset Shimmer! My name is Sunset Shimmer.” The youngster finally exclaimed.
“Hi there, Sunset!” Minuette went on saying, now that she knew her interlocutor's name. “Are you a new students at Princess Celestia's magic school for gifted unicorns, too?”
“Not exactly...”
“What do you mean?” Twinkle Shine suddenly intervened.
“ Well, I am not exactly new here since I kind of am the princess's personal pupil...” Sunset murmured shyly
“Sorry, what was that?” Lyra asked, since nopony had heard what Sunset had just said.
“I said I am the princess's personal pupil!”The amber-furred filly shouted as loudly as she could, while her cheeks turned red as tomatoes.
Hearing that, the three little fillies remained speechless. Their mouths opened so widely that they almost gave the impression that they would drop at any moment. Sunset felt awkward, thinking that she had said something inappropriate.
“Girls?” She asked worried, seeing that the others would not give sign of life. “Are you okay?”
It did not take long for the fillies to reply.
“Okay?!” Minuette shouted excitedly, while her friends jumped up and down in the air. “We are super excited! I can't believe you are actually here in front of us, speaking!”
“Really?”Sunset questioned timidly, feeling scared by the other ponies' sudden reaction, which she considered a bit too over the top. “Why is that?”
“You are the princess's personal pupil!” Twinkle Shine intervened, doing her best to suppress her girly giggles.
“It's such an honour to meet you!” Lyra added, while her legs were shaking, giving the impression that she would faint on the ground at any moment.
“We gotta become friends!” Twinkle Shine shrieked joyfully.
“Sure...That's exactly what I had in mind...”
“I've got an idea!” Minuette suddenly exclaimed.
“Why don't you show us a trick or two?”
“What?!” Sunset gasped in terror.
“If you're the princess's pupil, you're sure to know incredible magical feats. Show us some, please!”
Minuette's request made Sunset gulp. She could not step back now could she? After all she had already told those fillies who she was and it was only natural for Minuette and the others to be excited. Moreover they were right about her: Sunset certainly knew a lot about magic, but the idea of performing in front of strangers made her feel anxious. Furthermore her recent failure at performing transfiguration spells was making her feel very insecure.
Regardless, her pride made her accept the challenge. Slowly she stepped forward and kneeled before the very same sunflower that she had in vain tried to turn into an exotic plant the previos day. Closing her eyes, she channelled her energy through her horn, which illuminated in a cyan aura, and conjured her sorcery.
Perhaps Sunset had only needed the excitement of a good challenge in the first place, or perhaps it was just luck that made the spell succeed. As Sunset opened her eyes, she immediately noticed that the tiny flower had disappeared. Now in front of her stood a plant so big that it was hard to distinguish the stem from the vines.
Sunset herself remained stunned by the outcome of her spell: what she was seeing was beyond her every expectation. Instinctively she turned toward Philomena, who was still resting on her branch. The bird's expression was simply indescribable. The princess, who had been watching Sunset from behind her back, clapped her hooves both proud and excited.
“That was awesome!” Minuette shrieked uncontrollably, while the other two fillies clapped their hooves.
“Well...Thanks!” Sunset replied, while her cheeks turned red.
“You gotta come to my birthday party next week!”
At the sound of those words, the young filly suddenly froze: her moment of sincere joy and excitement had lasted nothing but a few seconds.
“Of course!” Minuette went on saying. “If you pull off a trick like that during the party, you'll be the belle of the ball!”.
“I don't...”The amber-furred filly mumbled out, trying to hide the fear in her eyes.
“Come on, Sunset! Birthdays only come around once a year; please don't disappoint me!”
“I listen, girls...”The amber-furred youngster went on saying, wiping the drops of sweat on her forehead. “I need to check my schedule, I'll give you my answer you later. Now I gotta go, bye!”
As Sunset trotted away, Philomena took off her branch to follow her back to their room. While the poor fillies in the garden and the princess remained in the gardens with their mouths wide open: they were far too shocked to say anything.
After Philomena and her got into their room in the palace tower, Sunset locked the door behind her. The intensity of her gasping gave the impression that she had just finished running a full marathon. It took at least fifteen minutes for her to calm down. During that time Philomena did not dare make a single shriek: she knew that right now what her pony friend needed the most was silence and time to reflect.
Sunset got what she wanted for an hour at the end of which she heard somepony, knocking.
“Sunset?” A familiar, kind voice asked at that moment. “Can I come in?”
Recognising her mentor's voice, the amber-furred unicorn got up from her bed to unlock the door. In front of her now stood a very disappointed Princess Celestia.
Sunset knew why the princess had come to her room. She had failed her as a student and a friend. The unicorn had expressly told her to befriend those ponies, but she had not been able to handle the pressure that had come after the first phase of the process. The youngster did not have even the courage to speak: she was aware that expulsion from magic school was waiting for her; yet she did know how to justify what she had done.
Instead of telling off Sunset though, the white alicorn gave her a motherly smile and took her in the warm embrace of her wings. The little filly remained speechless: she did not deserve compassion or affection, she was a failure. But the princess did not seem to care.
Gathering up all the strength she still had, the amber-furred filly cried out: “I am sorry!” Tears were running off her cheeks.
At first Celestia did not say anything in response, as she knew that silence spoke more than a thousand words, yet noticing that her student was clearly waiting for her reply, she spoke the words. “I know, but you needn't be.”
“Sunset” the alicorn said, after her student had calmed out. “I spoke to Minuette earlier: she apologises for making knew feel uncomfortable.”
After another moment or two she added, as her hug around Sunset became tighter. “You need to make some friends, Sunset. Give friendship a chance. Do it for me, please.”
Without uttering a single word, the amber-furred filly gave the princess a nod without breaking the embrace.
Philomena had bee staring at the whole scene. She wept like a baby, as the bond she shared with Sunset forced her to suffer every time her pony did.
But this was more than just a simply crying, this was the sobbing of a being who felt left out. In fact, after everything they had been through together, Sunset had not run to her, when she needed help but to Celestia. Abandoned, Philomena cried in her loneliness, for she felt like she could not give the one who she loved like her mother what she needed.
The night was stormy and the drops of rain quickly fell on Sunset's long dress, making it harder for the pony to move. But Sunset could not stop, not after what had happened that night.
Going to Minuette's party had clearly been a horrible choice. How in Equestria was she supposed to handle the pressure of dozens of ponies, staring at her at the same time, if she had not been able to handle that of only three little fillies?
That night, after Minuette had asked her to show her magical abilities on stage for everypony to see, not only had she failed, but she had also been humiliated, laughed at and almost hit by a
plate, thrown at her by a jerky colt.
That night she felt like her patience had reached her limit and there was no going back from the decision she had made. Her pride had been deeply hurt and her heart felt shuttered: If she couldn't be the best for Celestia, if she could not live up to her expectations, maybe she could have done so in a different world.
Some time earlier during one of their lessons, the princess had showed her a very special mirror which she had described as a portal to an unknown dimension, a dimension to which even Starswirl the Bearded, mightier of the mightiest had not dare travel.
After finally getting to her room in the palace tower, she quickly took off her wet dress and without wasting time, she packed up a few essentials in her saddle bags, including the magical journal Celestia had given to her as a gift some time ago. It was true that she did not plan to come back to Equestria any time soon, but still an interdimensional travel was no joke: something could always go wrong and, if the worst happened, she would have needed a way to communicate with the princess.
Pity that of all the things she packed, Sunset forgot the most important.
Philomena was awake, she had refused to go to sleep, until Sunset came back from the party, perhaps sensing that something was sure to go wrong. When, after hearing the sound of the door opening, she saw Sunset throwing her ruined dress away and packing, a cold shiver was sent through her spine.
The phoenix shrieked loudly at the young unicorn, yet Sunset ignored her, as if she had suddenly become deaf. After the filly opened the door to go out, the phoenix sensed that something irremediable was about to happen and quickly followed the pony through the hallway.
Normally Philomena did not have any problem catching up with Sunset, yet that night it was like the unicorn had strangely gotten quicker or she had gotten slower from the extra weight she felt in her chest.
Philomena found Sunset in the castle library, more precisely, in the restricted archive to which only her and the princess had access. As she neared her, she immediately noticed that the one, standing in front of the large mirror was not the filly who had helped her hatch her egg. Instead of her she saw a scowling pony whose heart was filled with fury and ambition.
Hearing the bird approaching, the amber-furred youngster turned around and recognised the bird. Every time Sunset had gazed upon her phoenix friend, the sight of Philomena had always calmed her down. Yet this time it was different. The moment her eyes met Sunset's, Philomena felt the blood in her veins freeze. There was something new to those eyes, which she had always loved, something indescribable that scared her so much that prevented her from emitting any shriek.
The last thing Philomena heard her pony friend say was.
“If not in this world, then in another.”
Then the amber-furred filly jumped right into the mirror-portal which closed almost instantly.
Epilogue
“AWW!!! AWW!!!” Philomena shrieked from outside Celestia's room. “AWW!!! AWW!!!”
“What is it?” The white alicorn asked, opening the door.“Philomena?!” The princess exclaimed, surprised to see the phoenix, waiting for her outside of her bedroom in the middle of the night.
“Why are you here? Did something happen to Sunset?”
Without wasting anytime, Philomena guided Celestia to the library. In the meantime the princess's heart was racing, as she was fearing the worst, however it could not help but shatter, when the phoenix stopped in front of the mirror.
“No!” Celestia exclaimed desperately; her eyes already full of tears.
“No!” She screamed until her throat began to hurt.
“Not again!”
Hearing the princess sobbing, the soldiers of the night guard quickly showed up to witness the most intimate scene of suffering they could had seen during their long service in the royal guard.
“I told you not to go, Sunset! I told you that you were not ready! Why did you not listen?! Why could not you just make friends?!”
After a few more moments, the oldest and bravest of the guards neared the crying alicorn.
“Princess?” He asked, trying to make his voice sweeter than how it actually was. “What happened?”
“I have failed...”
The princess answered in her sobbing, while Philomena landed on her shoulder in a vain attempt to comfort both of their broken hearts.
“This time I really messed everything up and ruined two lives in the process!”