Twilight's Home For Reformed Unicorns

Chapters

Two New Arrivals
Getting Acquainted
This Castle Doesn't Run Itself
Teachers and Their Students
Bath Time Fun Time
Forgiveness

Two New Arrivals

For Sunset Shimmer, the feeling of being spun around in a vacuum was a familiar one. Combined with the flashing and changing bright colors, she could only best describe the feeling as being at a dance club, only less defined. The last time she had made that fateful jump into the vortex of movement and color, it had been in the hopes of taking the first steps towards fulfilling her destiny. She believed she would eventually make this journey, and glory would be awaiting her on the other side.

This time as the rapid spinning ceased and a floor sprang up from underneath, she found only a room filled with various artifacts. She also found standing on two legs to be suddenly beyond her. As she fell back onto four legs and looked down to see her familiar-yet-unfamiliar hooves, she decided to use her fallen saddle bag as a test subject.

Sunset turned towards the bag and began to focus all her thoughts on bringing it over to her, but she didn’t make any effort to approach the bag. Immediately the bag reacted to her will, and it floated up off the ground and over towards her, surrounded by a teal sort of cloud that only she could see.

“I must say I’m impressed by how you can adjust between bodies so seamlessly,” came a relaxed voice from the supposedly empty room.

Sunset quickly turned in the direction of the voice, her mind now focused on ridding herself of whatever planned to threaten her. Before she could think any further, a pale teal glow flooded the room. It came from another pony, though this pony was much taller than Sunset was. She had a pink coat and a mane of several colors, though her most noticeable feature was that she had both wings and a horn. Sunset knew this was a pony not to be trifled with.

“So one of the Equestrian princesses is here to greet me. I suppose you’re here to detain me or something,” she told the other pony, backing away a few steps to put some distance between them.

The other mare stood up, her body language was relaxed and infinitely less paranoid than Sunset’s. She politely asked, “Well that depends. Is there an army of brainwashed teenagers waiting to enter through that mirror?”

“No,” Sunset replied.

“How about brainwashed adults then?” the pony asked.

“No,” Sunset repeated.

“Dogs? Cats? Bears? Dragons? Wait, are there dragons in that world?” The princess asked again.

“No, no, no, and sadly no, but that would have been a good idea. Of course that’s not important since I’m no longer into that. Sorry, but my days of being an evil queen wannabe are behind me,” she told her interrogator. Sunset hoped the princess would believe her. Sunset really had very little interest in sparring with an alicorn princess just moments after getting her pony body back.

To her surprise the pony’s face turned into a smile, although it was almost off putting. “Well that takes care of that then.” The princess sat back down and began looking over several charts, graphs, and books that were strewn across the floor. Sunset had not noticed them at first.

Confused, she asked the princess, “That’s it?”

Without even looking up the princess replied, “Uh-huh.”

“But...but last time I was here I stole a royal trinket, and an ancient magical one at that. Oh and it happened to be one of the Elements of Harmony. You know, one of the most powerful artifacts in this world, possibly all worlds. Critical to the protection of Equestria from whatever various evils would threaten it.”

The princess turned away from one her charts, which Sunset noticed were various pictures of ponies connected by different colored threads of yarn. She then said, “My name is Princess Cadance. As appointed ruler of the Crystal Empire, I was asked to wait here in the event you would come back through the mirror. If your intentions were hostile, then I was to detain you. If not, then I’m to let you go on your way.”

At the princess’ introduction, memories of a pink alicorn that she saw on occasion at the palace in Canterlot flooded back, though Sunset had taken very little interest in most other ponies during that time. Still, she remained on edge despite Cadance’s outward politeness and gentility.

“So that’s why Celestia had the mirror moved away from Canterlot, then?” she asked.

“Oh no, it was originally given to me because Princess Celestia believed out of all of us, I would be most suitable for dealing with you. That was until Twilight became a princess.”

Sunset grew only more tense with each mention of Princess Celestia, her former teacher from before she chose to pursue power her own way. “So did Celestia know I would try and steal the crown thirty moons ago? Is that why she planned to have her princess summit conveniently coincide with the alignment?”

Cadance merely gave that smile Sunset had quickly grown to dislike. “Why ask questions to which you already know the answer?”

The thought had always crossed Sunset’s mind, but she of course never had the chance to ever confirm it. Princess Celestia was many things: a wise teacher, a caring leader, and a connoisseur of cakes. She was also a master tactician and a ruler who had managed to maintain her position for centuries, a feat accomplished only through cunning and foresight.

That she would send her most accomplished student into an entirely foreign realm blind, with nothing but a goal in mind, and yet still achieve victory might have seemed crazy to most, but for Celestia it was always a part of some plan. Blueprints that only seemed to make sense to her whenever she looked at them.

Sunset could only let out a small laugh, realizing just how small her own schemes had been. However, this was not her reason for coming back. No, she had more important things to attend to.

She looked Cadance in the eye and mimicked her polite demeanor from earlier as she asked, “So am I free to go?”

“Of course, so long as you avoid turning into a monster or anything like that,” the princess replied without looking up. Her attention was now fully devoted back to her own project scattered across the floor.

Sunset strapped on her saddlebag and then walked past Cadance, carefully avoiding disturbing any of her graphs or folders. As she approached the door that led out, Cadance called back to her, “Oh you might also want this, courtesy of the Royal Equestrian Government.”

Sunset levitated the slip of paper Cadance waved at her and brought to her face to read. It was a train ticket for the Friendship Line. “I hear Ponyville is lovely this time of year. Thanks to Princess Twilight the town’s most recent Winter Wrap Up was a huge success. If you like a pretty view you might want to check it out,” she told Sunset, her voicing overflowing with innocence.

As Sunset glared at her she merely responded, “You know….you remind me a lot of her. Celestia I mean.”

“Hmm, I get that a lot actually. We also like to tease Twilight and Luna for being twins a thousand years apart. The joke among the scholars and the elite is when are Twilight and I going to have our own epic sister war. Of course, if marrying her beloved B.B.B.F.F. didn’t push her over the edge, then I don’t think anything will,” Cadance said.

“The thing is, I love Twilight. Sometimes I forget we’re not really sisters, at least not biologically, but I still want what’s best for her. I also know she’s a smart mare, so I don’t need to hold her hoof when it comes to things like royal duties, public projects, or of course suitors,” she said as she looked over to Sunset, again giving a look.

However, her snake-like smirk was immediately replaced with a different smile, a warm one that radiated true care and affection, “So all I can do is hope that the right choices find her, and if they don’t and I need to step in and be her big sister, then I’ll do that. For now I think I’m just gonna sit here and try to decide which of the royal guards I think my husband likes best...for research purposes, of course,” Cadance was quick to add.

Sunset stifled her first real laugh, and then walked out the door, leaving the princess to her project. As she left, she heard Cadance listing off names, and she nearly fell over when the name Flash Sentry came up.

…

Ponyville town hall was a jumble of ponies and paperwork. With the slow, relaxed days of winter now behind them, all the local sectors of government were in full swing. Mayor Mare was taking what little free time she had in the morning to partake in her daily ritual of drinking a hot cup of tea.

As she drank the nectar of the gods, she looked over at the clock on the wall and saw that it was two minutes until ten. This meant that it was one minute and fifty seconds until her weekly meeting with the princess would begin. Despite any burdens brought on by her majesty’s incessant punctuality and attention to minute detail, it at least meant there wouldn’t be any unwanted surprises.

Just a she took her last sip of tea, her door opened and Quick Write, her newest assistant, announced, “Madam mayor, Princess Twilight Sparkle is here for your weekly meeting.”

“Very well, send her in,” the mayor replied. Quick Write nodded and opened the door as Princess Twilight Sparkle entered. The mayor stood up and gave a polite bow. “Good morning, your highness.”

“Please mayor, you know I don’t like you calling me that,” Twilight interjected as took her crown from her head and placed it on the desk.

“Ah yes, just observing the minimum standards of propriety,” she responded.

Twilight then took a seat as she turned to the mayor, “Well for these meetings, let’s set the minimum standards even lower shall we? We are discussing politics, after all.”

Both mares shared a small laugh at the joke before the mayor took her seat and pulled out several folders filled with paperwork. She then looked to her princess and said, “I must admit you coming here is perhaps one of the best things that’s ever happened to this town.”

“Really?” the princess responded, sounding surprised.

“Why of course. We’ve had a one hundred percent Winter Wrap Up efficiency rate four years running thanks to you, and tourism is up thanks to the Princess Twilight Educational Enrichment Tours,” the mayor said happily, looking over reports.

“I did decide to make educating ponies my number one priority as Princess. I can’t believe that the first year anniversary of my educational initiative is only a week away,” Twilight replied.

“From what I hear, Pinkie is planning quite the event to commemorate it.”

Twilight giggled and replied, “We all know Pinkie. There’s a party for everything.”

“Oh yes. Over half the zoning, building, fire safety, food preparation, and noise violation codes for the town were a direct result of a party thrown by Pinkie Pie,” the mayor replied, and she and Twilight both laughed.

Without warning, the door to her office flew open and Quick Write ran in, winded from presumably running. “Madam Mayor, your highness, I’m sorry for interrupting your meeting, but there’s a situation,” she said, breathing heavy and taking a break after each word.

The mayor’s eyebrow raised in confusion as she looked to her princess, who merely responded by shrugging her shoulders. She asked, “What kind of situation?”

With her breathing back to normal, Quick Write answered, “She’s back.”

...

The air in the train station was thick, between all the exhausts from the various trains and the noise of ponies coming and going. Sunset Shimmer crinkled her nose at the medley hot air coming from both pony and machine.

“Excuse me miss, but would you be interested in making a charitable donation to the Ponyville Home for Wayward Foals?” A voice somehow cut through all the surrounding commotion, and Sunset turned to see a tan mare with a tiny teal filly by her side. She carried a saddlebag half filled with bits and a stack of fliers. A familiar image of a girl with animals in her backpack standing outside a high school with a statue of a stallion entered her mind.

Sunset would normally turn her nose to people like this, combined with a snarky comment and maybe some high pitched laugh as she walked away.

No,all that is behind you now.You came here for a reason.

Sunset reached into her own saddle bag and pulled out a few bits. She was happy the currency exchange office gave her a good rate on those gold earrings she had brought with her from the other world. The world where she had learned much and nearly lost everything.

“Here, it’s not much,” she told the mare as she put the small coins into the bag.

Sunset was not prepared for what occurred next. The filly ran up and hugged her, and the mare chuckled and told her, “Oh, it’s more than enough miss. Thank you so much; this means more than you know.”

“Thank you nice lady!” The filly said with high pitched glee as she turned to walk with her caretaker, leaving a shocked Sunset standing awkwardly.

“Huh,” was all she could say, filled with an abnormal feeling of satisfaction. This did not last long, as Sunset was snapped her out of that daze by being run over by a passing trolley. She then made her way for the exit, her reason for being there now back on her mind.

Today would certainly be an interesting one in Ponyville.

…

“Booooo! Get out of here!”

“Leave!”

“We don’t want you here!”

Twilight and the Mayor were led to the marketplace on the main road of Ponyville by Quick Write. Twilight did not think it was necessary, since she could have just followed the sound of heckling. She saw that a sizeable crowd of ponies were encircling somepony, and they were clearly not happy with whoever that was.

As they drew even closer, Twilight could make out another voice that stuck out amongst the chorus of heckling. “Why I never. Can you not see that the Modest and Apologetic Trixie is here to make amends?” said the familiar voice.

“Everypony, what is going on here?” the Mayor asked, though most of the crowd was too caught up in the heat of the moment to notice she and Twilight were even there.

“Yeah, well the first time you came around an Ursa Major nearly ate us all!” One random voice shouted, followed by a series of agreeing rumblings.

“Okay, I would just like to point out that was the work of two foolish colts. I had nothing to do with it,” Trixie rebuttled, though the crowd seemed hardly swayed.

“Oh yeah, well what about the time you used some freaky magic amulet to enslave us all?” asked another voice followed by a wave of support. The voice surprised Twilight, as she immediately zoned in on it to see a familiar blue pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane floating above the crowd.

“Rainbow Dash! What are you doing?” she called out to her friend over the crowd, who little by little began to notice that a princess was among them.

Once Dash noticed she flew over to Twilight, a sour look upon her face. “Well we’re trying to get Trixie to leave before, you know, she tries to take over again,” Dash answered flatly. Several of the other ponies voiced their agreements.

While Trixie’s signature bravado had seemed to disappear at the crowd’s accusations, Twilight noticed Trixie seemed to have perked up at her arrival. Twilight made her way over to the showmare, the crowd parting to let her through. She stopped and then calmly asked, “Trixie, why have you come here today?”

“Twilight Sparkle…”

“That’s Princess Twilight Sparkle to you,” Rainbow Dash interjected, before Twilight turned and delivered a glare that quieted her and the rest of the crowd.

“I’m sorry, your highness,” Trixie corrected herself as she made a hastily bow.

Twilight however, put her hoof on the unicorn and nodded her head, signaling her to rise. “Don’t worry about that Trixie. I just want you to answer my question,”she told her in a calm, yet stern, voice.

“Oh, yes, well it has been several years since I was last in Ponyville, and I know that the last time I was here it wasn’t an entirely pleasant visit.” This statement was met with grunting and rumbling throughout the crowd, though Twilight paid them no attention. “I have traveled since then, and had a lot of time to reflect on things, and well, I just want….to make amends. Properly this time. I know I apologized to you, Princess, but I feel I still owe the town something in return.”

“And what do you think you can give us?” one nameless stallion cried out.

Trixie then spoke over the crowd to answer, “I will be putting on a performance, completely free of charge. It will be the likes of which you have never seen before. I have been advertising it across Equestria, and I know for a fact ponies of all kinds from all over Equestria will be coming here. Just two weeks from now I will astound and amaze them all, and you all as well!” Trixie told the crowd, her voice and confidence gradually rising as she carried on.

However, no pony in the crowd returned her enthusiasm. Instead, they mostly all glared at her. Rainbow Dash finally spoke up, “Really? That’s your big apology? A magic show...starring you?”

There was a mixture of more grumbling and some laughter throughout the crowd as Trixie attempting to work damage control. “I was planning on taking up donations during the show, only it wouldn’t be for me. I plan to donate all the proceeds to the town to use for whatever is necessary. Also, I can assure you that there will be ponies and many others pouring in from all over Equestria. These ponies of course will need food, lodging, and places to shop. Why, this could potentially become a huge opportunity for Ponyville.”

Some in the crowd had pondering looks on their faces, some seemed conflicted by it, but still a majority seemed unfazed by Trixie’s sales pitch. “I remember what happened the last time some unicorns said we had opportunity,” one stallion whispered to his friend, unaware Twilight had heard.

Twilight merely cleared her throat, and miraculously the crowd was silenced. The princess looked to the mayor and said, “Madam Mayor, I am aware that many of our citizens have… concerns about Trixie being back here in Ponyville, many of them justified. However, given that it has been sometime since the… uh… incident, I believe we should allow her the chance to make amends. Also, I agree that there is an excellent chance for us to make a sound investment in generating revenue for the town.”

The mayor wore a furtive expression. After a few moments of silent pondering she finally looked to Trixie and Twilight and said, “I will allow Trixie to go through with her planned performance. She will have two weeks to put it together, but if this turns out to be some sort of scam then I’m afraid I will have to turn her over to the proper authorities.”

“Thank you, madam mayor,” Twilight replied, as she delivered a small polite bow. She then poked Trixie in the side and gestured for her to do the same, which Trixie obliged.

With the mess settled, most of the crowd started to disperse, Rainbow Dash left to fly back to whatever cloud she was going to nap on next. Soon the only ponies left standing in the street were Trixie, Twilight, and the mayor.

“Thanks again, mayor,” said Twilight.

“Now Twilight, I know I agreed to this, but I know most of the citizens won’t be happy about it, and that makes for unhappy voters. I’m really sticking my neck out on this one.”

“I understand,” Twilight replied.

“Good, because that means you’ll understand why I have to insist you be wholly responsible for Trixie while she’s here in Ponyville. You must keep an eye on her, and help make sure this plan of her’s actually works,” said the mayor.

A small frown made its way to Twilight’s face as she sighed and said, “Oh, well I suppose that is fair. I guess that means you’ll be staying with me while you’re here, Trixie.”

While Twilight had not expected the mayor’s stipulation, Trixie’s reaction was even more surprising. Trixie was blushing, and she seemed determined to look anywhere but at Twilight.

“Well I suppose that will have to do. The Great and Powerful Trixie will surely make the most of it,” she said in her typical haughty manner.

The mayor nodded and turned to head back to her office, leaving only Twilight and Trixie alone. Before Twilight could speak,Trixie said, “Umm, I wanted to thank you Twilight Sparkle, er Princess Twilight.”

“Please just Twilight, Trixie,” she interjected.

“Oh yes, well, I wanted to thank you for sticking up for me back there. Not many ponies have done that for me before,” she said, still not looking directly at Twilight.

“It’s fine, Celestia knows you’re not the first pony I’ve encountered that had made a mistake and needed to make up for it. I just hope you’re up for the task,” she told Trixie as she began her trek back home, forsaking flying.Trixie mounted her cart and began to walk with the Princess.

After a just a few minutes, the two had made it back to Golden Oaks Library. “Wait, so you mean to tell me that a princess is living in a library?” Trixie asked, a hint of disappointment in her voice slightly noticeable.

Twilight merely gave a small laugh before answering, “Well, not exactly, but you’ll see once we’re inside. Twilight then opened the front door and walked in, Trixie right behind her.

Twilight had expected the place to be empty, with Spike out with some friends of his, but instead a pony stood by the round table in the middle of the room. She was a unicorn with a tan coat and a mane of both bright yellow and scarlet. The last time Twilight had seen this pony, she had stolen her crown and jumped through a mirror to another world.

“Hello Twilight, it’s been a while,” Sunset Shimmer said.

Getting Acquainted

Twilight stood frozen, dumbstruck by the sight in front of her. Sunset Shimmer, was in Ponyville, and as a unicorn. Instinctively, Twilight took a step back from her, only to bump into Trixie. “Oh sorry Trixie, but Sunset Shimmer? What… what are you doing here?” She asked, coming across more harshly than she had meant.

Sunset Shimmer was quick to notice Twilight’s body language. The backing away, the stiff posture, the jumpiness, the hastened speech and jumbled stammering. She had seen so many others behave that way before. Finally she answered, “Well it’s been thirty moons since, well you know, the formal. With the portal open, I figured I haven’t been in Equestria for a while, so I decided to visit, and who better to visit than the hottest new thing around?”

Being friends with Applejack over the years helped Twilight spot an obvious lie, Sunset was not lacking her signature arrogance, but it was different this time, it was as if she were hiding something. Whatever plan Sunset had in mind, Twilight was not worried about her crown, because she had put a protection spell on it long ago that prevented any magic from levitating it or teleporting it away. Still, Sunset was dangerous because of what she was capable of without magic. Twilight was not sure how much being back in Equestria would change things.

After moments of silence that seemed to drag on, Sunset’s false bravado was beginning to wear. I expected this. I know she has no reason to believe me, or want anything to do with me.Sunset thought.

Sunset was surprised, however, when Twilight spoke up, “Well, while you’re here you should know that Ponyville is my protectorate. Anything you do to anypony here is the same as doing it to me,” she told her, putting on her official princess tone. Twilight was still confused about her being in Ponyville, but Sunset seemed unyielding in keeping that private.

Sunset remembered how to breathe, and wiped the sweat that had formed on her brow. “Thanks princess, and don’t worry I promise to behave myself. Before you ask, no I didn’t bring a zombie army with me,” Sunset said, her words overflowing with snark.

“Well that’s good at least, I kind of have a full plate as it is,” Twilight shot back with an equal amount of sarcasm. This surprised Sunset, yet the small smile on her face suggested she was pleased with this side of the princess. A rather noticeable cough quickly tore the two away from their internal contest of wills and sarcasm.

Trixie looked at Sunset Shimmer dead on, her glare boring holes in the her. “So Twilight, are you not going to introduce me to your friend here?” she asked in her best attempt at sounding cordial.

“Well I wouldn’t say that we were friends exactly, see Sunset and I are…” Twilight thought, struggling to find the word that best described her relation to Sunset Shimmer.

Before she could find it, the other unicorn intervened, “I was a former student of Princess Celestia, but when I didn’t get my way I left through a magic mirror into a parallel world populated by hairless apes. I attempted to steal Twilight’s Element of Magic, use its power to build an army of brainwashed teenagers, and then invade Equestria.”

Trixie stood quietly, no doubt taking in all the information Sunset had dumped, before saying, “That… is the single most ludicrous idea Trixie has ever heard of!”

Trixie fell to the ground, laughing so hard she had trouble breathing. Twilight was left unsure what to do, but looked at Sunset and saw she was blushing so hard her coat had taken on the same color as parts of her mane.

Finally Sunset shot back, “Well it sounded like a good plan in my head. Besides who are you? Some sort of maid or servant filly?”

That immediately silenced Trixie’s laughter who then closed the gap between her and Sunset Shimmer, her voice picking up in volume, “What!? Trixie is no servant filly, she is the greatest magician in all of Equestria!”

Sunset, however, seemed unimpressed and her faced shifted from confusion to a knowing grin. “Wait a second. Trixie? As in the ‘Great and Powerful’ Trixie?” she asked, her odd hoof gestures left Trixie confused, but Twilight knew all too well was the result of Sunset still adjusting to her hooves.

Trixie puffed her chest out and proudly said, “Why, yes! It does seem even uninformed riff raff such as yourself knows of the magnificence of Trixie.”

“Oh yeah I know who you are, you’re that weirdo in the wizard cosplay with the card tricks and cheap sparklers,” Sunset replied flatly.

“How dare you mock Trixie?” asked Trixie, her horn now glowing magenta.

“It’s pretty easy when you give me so much material to work with. The world I visited had almost no magic in it, and I bet the Trixie there has more skill than you,” Sunset harped back, her own horn now glowed a bright teal.

“Is that a challenge?” Trixie asked.

“Like you’d be a challenge,” Sunset called back.

“Enough!” yelled Twilight, and both mares found themselves encased in bubbles of purple light, unable to break them. The two unicorns turned to the source of the barriers and saw Twilight, her face a blank slate, but between the flared out wings and posture, her presence dwarfed both Trixie and Sunset’s.

“Now listen you two, I have one week to prepare for the first anniversary of my Pony Educational Enrichment Program, and the two of you starting a magic duel in my library is the last thing I need,” she told them bluntly.

“Trixie, you were just saying you returned here to make up for all the trouble you caused last time. What is everypony going to think about you starting fights immediately afterwards?” Trixie lowered her head, and scuffled her hoof across the floor. Twilight then turned to Sunset, “As for you Sunset Shimmer, I know your whole ‘just thought I’d drop by’ story is a total lie, but since you’re unwilling to tell me the truth I see no reason in bothering with trying to get it.”

Sunset looked like she was going to try and explain, but Twilight cut her off, “No I don’t care right now, I just want to make one thing clear to you, Ponyville is under my protection. Which means if you’re here to try something, I will stop you.”

Sunset stared blankly back at Twilight, then simply replied, “Duly noted.”

Twilight decided to ignore Sunset’s smart remark and instead lowered the barriers around the two unicorns, hoping her display at magic was enough to discourage them from trying to reignite their animosity.

“Well Sunset Shimmer…”

“Oh please just call me Sunset. There’s no need to be so formal with me,” Sunset corrected her.

“Well Sunset, I’m going to guess you don’t have a place to stay while you’re here for the next couple of days until the portal closes. So I guess you can stay with me as well, in fact it’s probably for the best,” she told the unicorn.

Sunset showed no sign of enthusiasm as she asked the princess, “Sounds fine to me. Are you sure this place is big enough for me and miss Great and Powerful’s ego?” Sunset asked, pointing to Trixie.

Trixie did not take Sunset’s bait that time and merely stuck her nose up and ignored the other unicorn. Twilight just turned away, rolling her eyes before speaking. “No, because I don’t live in the library, not anymore anyway.”

“Wait, you don’t? Then why are we here?” asked Trixie, she and Sunset both looked confused.

Twilight motioned for both of them to follow her, which they obliged, as she answered, “No, like I was about to tell you before we walked in: I don’t live in the library, but it acts as the quickest route to where I live now. Unless I fly there. But I’m not sure I could carry you both.”

“Especially her,” Sunset managed to sneak in, her volume just loud enough for Trixie to catch and Twilight to miss.

The princess led her two charges towards the a door on the other side of the room. Twilight opened it, leading them into yet another room lined with bookshelves. However, there was one other item, a mirror, that stood alone in the center. As the three ponies approached it, Trixie felt a strange sensation emanating off of the mirror.

“So Trixie must ask, what exactly is this?”

“Why it’s a…”

“It’s a transition gate. The mirror is simply the catalyst for a permanent teleportation charm,” Sunset interjected. She then looked to see both Twilight and Trixie’s mouths agape.

“What?” She asked.

“Well, it’s just that you’re right,” Twilight told her, genuine surprise was heavy in her voice.

“Hey, I was once the hot new thing at Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns too you know,” Sunset responded, pointing her nose up in the air as she walked over to where the mirror stood. “Besides it’s the same basic principle as the mirror that connects Equestria to the other world.”

“Huh, I never really thought about it before. But you’re right,” Twilight pondered aloud, as her horn began to faintly glow, and the mirror itself began to shine.

Both Sunset and Twilight seemed unfazed by this development, but Trixie was stepping back from the light. However, she soon felt the ground beneath her disappear, followed by a feeling of floating, only to immediately fall back onto the floor. As Trixie stood up and recovered from the ride, she realized she was in a completely new room.

Like the one in the library, this room was covered in bookshelves. However, the ceiling was much higher, the walls and floor were now stone instead of wood, and a magnificent chandelier hung in the middle of the room.

“Woah… I mean, Trixie is impressed. She has never seen magic quite like that,” the unicorn recovered, playing off how amazed she really was.

“Oh please, it’s not that impressive, any unicorn past their second year knows how to set up a transit link,” Sunset replied flippantly.

Trixie’s face blushed, but before another argument could begin, Twilight spoke, “Now girls if you’d please follow me this way.” The two unicorns followed the princess over to a door. Twilight opened it, and then the two mouths of the other ponies dropped.

The door opened up to a grand hallway, with a ceiling that stretched up higher than any of the buildings in Ponyville. The entire room was open, airy, and gave a sense of class.

After noticing their gawking, Twilight finally spoke up, “So… it isn’t too much, is it?” She asked her guests nervously.

Trixie was the first to speak up, “Well it is certainly something.”

“Yeah something,” Sunset echoed, who was still far too busy taking it all in.

“Well I can admit it sometimes feels like a bit much, but I inherited it so I felt obligated to accept it. Plus with the mirror it’s almost like I’m still living in Ponyville.”

“So where exactly are we?” Sunset finally asked.

“Well, we’re in the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, which is kind of in the middle of… the Everfree Forest,” Twilight responded reluctantly.

After only a second of sinking in, Trixie’s eyes opened wider and she turned frantically to Twilight and yelled, “The Everfree Forest!? Why are you living in the middle of the Everfree Forest? There’s things like that Ursa Major living in here, and remember when the forest went wild a couple of years ago?”

“Yes Trixie, I remember. I was kind of involved in that incident,” Twilight said as she blushed herself.

“Big surprise,” both unicorns replied simultaneously.

Twilight ignored them and continued, “But, that is all in the past. The Everfree Forest isn’t entirely that bad, and after some sprucing up, I was able to move into this castle. Besides this place is a treasure trove of historical information; I figured I might as well stake my claim on it.”

“You would pick your castle based on its historical relevancy,” Sunset deadpanned.

Twilight however was quick on the draw, “Actually it was mostly because the castle was a gift. From Celestia,” she emphasized.

Without any inflection Sunset replied, “Oh, how nice of her.”

“Yes, very nice indeed. Trixie believes this palace is quite exquisite, it will serve as a perfectly suitable place for her to stay while in Ponyville, why she just might consider staying here, umm long-term.”

“Uh-huh, well don’t forget we have an entire town to convince that you’re not a megalomaniac back for revenge,” Twilight said, snapping Trixie out of her starstruck haze. She then turned to her other new houseguest, “As for you, you need to convince me that you’re not one either, but for now I have to go meet my friends. Naturally, I would bring you both along, but I have a feeling they would be a little less… understanding.”

Trixie and Sunset actually looked to one another and both nodded in agreement. Twilight spoke again, “Now the only problem is, there isn’t anyone else here.”

Both Sunset and Trixie looked at Twilight, confused looks donning their faces.

“Well...I can’t just leave you two here alone. Knowing you two, I’d come back to find the place in an even bigger mess than when I first found it,” Twilight explained.

“Hmm, yeah I could see that,” Sunset replied flatly.

Trixie’s look only grew more offended, “Why I never. The Great and Restrained Trixie would never stoop to such means.” Twilight and Sunset merely stared, unconvinced of Trixie’s assertions. Finally Trixie added, “Well, okay fine, not anymore.”

Suddenly a familiar light shined through the cracks of the door that led to the mirror room. The door swung open and entered a dragon. Sunset’s first thought was to back away. Though she had been living in a world without dragons for over ten years, it was still ingrained in her to run from the first sight of a dragon. However, Twilight and Trixie seemed unfazed.

“Oh, hello Spike, didn’t expect you home so early,” Twilight said as she walked up and hugged the purple drake.

“Yeah, well Belle has a performance this weekend, so it’s all practice, and she needs to keep rested,” Spike replied as he made his towards the kitchen, only to see his path blocked by the new house guests.

“Uh, Twi.”

“Yes, Spike?”

“Why are Trixie and Sunset Shimmer in our place?” He asked calmly, as if the question had been about weather.

“Oh, well Trixie’s here to make amends and Sunset’s here for some reason she won’t tell me. So in order to ensure neither destroy Ponyville, I’ve taken up the task of keeping an eye on them,” Twilight replied with equal casualness.

Trixie delivered a meek wave and an awkward smile to Spike, while Sunset actually approached the dragon closer to inspect him. After circling him several times, which conjured up in Spike’s mind images of a shark encircling its prey, she finally turned to Twilight.

“Wait… is this that dog you had with you?” She asked, her disbelief hung heavy on her words.

Twilight only nodded her head affirmatively, as Sunset turned to see Spike had lowered himself to her level, and was looking right at her.

“Sup?” he asked.

The mare jumped, and fell over. While Twilight was able to restrain her laughter to a small snicker, Trixie was guffawing. Spike merely stood up and smirked, and turned away from Sunset. Twilight offered the unicorn a hoof up.

Sunset then dusted herself off before speaking. “Well, I can certainly see you’ve grown up,” she told the dragon.

“Yeah, you seem a lot… smaller since the last time I saw you. You know, when you had your goons kidnap me and then use me as a bargaining chip.”

“Hey, I had no intention of hurting you. I’m not a monster,” Sunset spoke in an effort to defend herself.

“Could’ve fooled me given what happened immediately afterwards,” Spike shot back.

This time the dragon hit his mark, as Sunset slouched, no doubt the memories of her finest hour flooded back. Realizing that he had perhaps hit a little lower than he meant, and with an invisible cue from Twilight, he walked over to Sunset. Kneeling down, he placed a claw on her shoulders, which tore her from pretending to be fascinated in the tile floor, despite it’s impeccably clean grout.

Spike struggled to find something nice he could say to Sunset Shimmer before he finally told her, “Hey, well… it’s all in the past, and well I doubt you’re crazy enough to pick a fight with Twilight here when you weren’t even able to defeat her in a place you supposedly had years to learn about and grow accustomed to.”

“Spike!” Twilight interjected.

“But, yeah so anyway. Glad to have you here, and uh...you too, Trixie,” he said, giving Trixie a thumbs up, though her smile suggested she was still enjoying all the humor to be had at Sunset Shimmer’s expense.

Twilight then nodded for Spike to come and speak with her in the hallway that lead from the main room to the study. Once the two were out of earshot of their guests, Twilight said, “Spike, I have a favor to ask you.”

Immediately Spike could see the writing on the wall, “You can’t really expect me to foalsit those two, do you?”

Twilight answered, “Well, yes. I’m supposed to be meeting the others about the anniversary party next week. I just really don’t think bringing those along, especially Trixie, is a good idea.”

“Hmm, this is true,” Spike added.

“So Spike, can you please stay here and keep an eye on them,” Twilight asked.

Putting a claw to his chin, Spike thought for a brief moment, before finally saying, “Okay fine, but I want something out of you.”

Twilight was at first surprised, but then replied, “Umm, okay I guess that’s fair. What did you have mind?”

“Well, Belle’s a bit of a fan of the band the Hay Yeahs, and they’re performing next week. Tickets have been sold out for months, but I’m fairly certain an alicorn princess could probably swing it.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, but she had to admit to herself that Spike’s concern for his special somepony was cute in a way. “Alright fine, as a princess it should be my duty to oversee the well being of all my subjects. Sure normally the aiding of young love falls under Cadance’s territory, but I feel just as strongly on the matter as she does.”

“Alright then, so we have ourselves a deal your majesty. I’ll watch over the terrible twosome…”

“Spike!” Twilight again interjected.

“Alright, alright, I’ll play nice,” he amended.

“Good, now if you’ll excuse me,” Twilight said, as she walked over to Sunset and Trixie.

“Now girls I’m heading out for just a bit, but Spike’s here if you need anything. You have free reign over the castle, any of the basic areas are unlocked. Just relax and I should be back shortly.”

“Trixie will certainly relax,” the blue unicorn responded with relaxation already heavy in her voice.

“Yes mom, I’ll behave,” replied Sunset, her voice laden with sarcasm.

Twilight simply ignored Sunset’s sarcasm, scrunched her face, and in an instant, she was gone in bright flash of light, leaving Spike with the two unicorns.

Spike awkwardly shuffled his feet and looked all around the room, before finally saying, “So do you guys want me to break out any kind of board games or something? We have Monopony.”

…

The world rebuilt itself as quickly as it had vanished, and Twilight was back in her library in Ponyville. Long gone were the scorch marks and the faint smell of singed mane that usually followed teleportation spell, which Twilight was perfectly happy with. She then looked at the clock on the wall, and was relieved to see she still had five minutes to hoof it to Sugarcube Corner for her meetup with the others.

Minutes later Twilight had arrived to Sugarcube Corner, ready to break the news of her new roommates to her friends. “Hello girls, sorry I was late,” Twilight said as she entered, noting they had been sampling tea and pastries, most likely new creations being tested by Pinkie Pie.

In a move that surprised Twilight, Fluttershy was the first to respond, “Oh hello Twilight, it’s no worry, we were just… talking.”

Twilight noticed Fluttershy’s hesitation, and asked casually, “Oh about what?”

“About...things,” Fluttershy answered, again with hesitation.

“Things?” the princess repeated.

“Uh huh, yes, things,” Fluttershy stammered out, the desperation in her voice growing.

Luckily, Rarity finally stepped in to refocus the discussion, “Oh darling, I’m so glad you’re here. Now we can discuss your big event next week. Now I know you said this will be a toned down, serious event. So I think I’m going to go a bit back in time for this one, and base your gown off the dress you wore to our first Grand Galloping Gala together.”

“That’s very nice Rarity, but I have something important I need to tell you all first,” Twilight interjected.

“What? That you’re taking in crazy unicorns when you should be locking ‘em up,” Applejack said, as she took her dainty tea cup and downed all its contents in one gulp.

“So Rainbow Dash told you,” Twilight replied.

“Of course I told them, this is the kind of thing you usually tell your friends. ‘Hey guys, so remember that pony that came to town, kicked me out, and then put the rest of you to work making sculptures of herself? Yeah I decided it’s cool for her to come back, and she’s shacking up with me’,” Rainbow Dash said in her best attempt at mimicking Twilight.

Applejack however, was not amused, and instead she only continued to stare down Twilight. Finally, she said, “Now Twi, sugar, I know you think anypony can be given a second chance.”

“Yes, I do,” Twilight interrupted.

“But, you and I both know there are just some ponies that can’t be reasoned with. It’s like I told Apple Bloom the time that Diamond Tiara had pushed her and her friends around one too far. I told her that there are just ponies in our lives that are bad, and we need to shut them out, for our own well being. Only Trixie once tried to take this place over so that’s an even worse case.”

Twilight stood her ground and said, “Yes, but AJ we all thought Discord couldn’t be reformed, and then look what happened. Fluttershy made us all look pretty foolish that day for doubting her.”

Applejack glanced over to the pegasus, who had ducked under the table when the conversation shifted back to her. “Yeah, well Fluttershy’s a bit of a saint so that’s a special case, and turns out Discord liked having fun and playing pranks more than anything. So I can see why he’d choose to behave a little so long as it meant he didn’t have to be a garden gnome all day.”

At this point Dash joined, “Yeah, but Trixie... all she’s interested in is herself, and everypony thinking she’s the greatest thing ever. I mean can you believe a pony like that, so showboating and obnoxious.”

“I can think of some that come to mind,” Twilight deadpanned, glaring at Dash so the pegasus got the point. Rainbow Dash, however, completely ignored the barb. “Look, I know what she did was bad, and why she’s come back now of all times is beyond me. But, none of you were with me when she came up and apologized to me for what happened all those years ago.”

“You mean right before she fled, so she couldn’t be punished for what she did?” Applejack asked.

Twilight reluctantly answered, “Yes, but she has a plan to make amends, I mean she came back here for a reason. Plus I think her idea could work. If she puts on a big magic performance, and if it attracts as many tourists as she thinks it can, then his could potentially be big for the town.”

Twilight tried to search for any signs of changing opinions in her friends. Rarity and Fluttershy seemed at least mildly interested, Dash was unyielding, Applejack was incredibly unyielding, and Pinkie was eating some cake.

Twilight hoped she may have found her opening, “Pinkie Pie, I was wondering could you make my ‘Happy One Year of Learning’ party into a ‘Happy Year of Learning and Water Over the Bridge Magic Show’ party?”

The ponies could have sworn an explosion of confetti and sugar went off, only to find Pinkie Pie, still with a the fork in her mouth, standing on the table right in Twilight’s face. “I totally can do that, that sounds like the most fun party ever.”

“Really?” Twilight asked, genuine excitement creeping in on her voice.

“Totally, buuuut on just one condition,” Pinkie added, which caused Twilight’s excitement to deflate a little. “See when Trixie was last here, she was a meanie, and not just normal one, no. She had the glowing eyes and everything, she even made my mouth go ‘poof’. I couldn’t eat sweets for an entire day, do you know how horrible that was? But, for some reason even though I couldn’t even eat regular food….or breathe, I turned out fine. Yeah, that part confuses me a bit. I have a theory, but it involves the largest mirror in Equestria, and a whole ton of vanilla pudding. Anyway, if Trixie is serious about being nice and being our friend, great! Because a pony could always use more friends. Though if she wants to be friends, she has to prove it to me, by showing me what’s she’s got.”

Realizing Pinkie had reached a break, Twilight hesitantly asked, “What are you suggesting?”

“Silly, that she show me her act of course. If it’s fun and I enjoy it, then I’ll totally help out with planning her event alongside yours. If not well… there’s always the corrections circuit,” Pinkie said in an attempt to spin it as a positive.

Twilight sighed, “Well thank you for this chance Pinkie, it’s more than I had before. I’ll let Trixie know, and again thanks."

“No problem,” Pinkie said, along with a bright smile.

“Alright, now if we’re done talking about criminals, maybe we can get this shindig planned out,” Applejack said.

“Yes, but there’s just one more thing I have to tell you all,” replied Twilight, knowing well that it was best to get this over quickly.

“Oh geez, what is it now. let me guess, another evil unicorn is staying with you for the week?” Rainbow asked sarcastically.

“Trixie’s not evil, and neither is this unicorn. They’re both just… lost, and it won’t be for a week, just three days,” Twilight explained. The looks on her friend’s faces only grew more confused. Twilight knew she had quite a bit of explaining on her hooves.

…

“Ah yeah, you just landed on my Friendship Express, and since I own all the railways, that’ll be two thousand bits,” Spike cheered, holding out his claw for payment.

“Oh come on! This game is a farce!” shouted Sunset Shimmer, as she handed over her last bits to Spike.

“Trixie just thinks somepony’s jealous she’s loses,” Trixie commented. The joy in her voice was impossible to mask.

“You know what forget this game, I’m sitting on nothing but Trottingham Way, and you own all the railways,” Sunset yelled, her hoof pointed at Spike. Though she turned her attention to Trixie, “And you, don’t think I haven’t noticed you sneaking bits from the bank this entire game.”

“Who? Moi?” Trixie asked, as she feigned innocence.

“You know what I’m through, if somepony needs me, I’ll be off getting lost in this place!” she said as she exited the room.

Spike shrugged his shoulders, and began the daunting task of putting the entire game up. Trixie though, decided to go check up on her. Besides it got her out helping put all the pieces up.

“Trixie has decided she will take a walk as well,” she declared, as she headed for the door.

Spike seemed uninterested, he simply shrugged his shoulders and said, “Yeah sure, just don’t try and fight each other if you cross paths, I already have this mess to clean up.”

Trixie ignored the dragon and proceeded to wander the halls of the castle. After minutes of going through the upper floor, Trixie made her way back to the main room she had seen when she first got there. Having not run into Sunset in any of the upstairs rooms, Trixie was not surprised to see the other mare was already in the main room. As she walked she realized what Sunset was doing, she was staring at something hanging on the wall.

It was a picture, a simple one by comparison to all the national and academic accolades that adorned the walls. It was a picture of Twilight Sparkle, only it was an old one since Twilight was still a unicorn in the photo. She was also much smaller, which was only exaggerated by the size of the pony she was standing next to. It was none other than Princess Celestia, the princess most well known throughout Equestria. The two of them looked happy together, and with the banner behind the reading ‘Annual Canterlot Magic Fair’, Trixie surmised it was from Twilight’s school days.

“They look like they're having fun,” Trixie finally commented. Sunset did not respond.

“So, I guess you’re like Twilight then. A prodigy, studied under Princess Celestia. The world in your hooves,” Trixie said, her voice laced with contempt. “I guess you two have a lot in common. I wonder what it would have been like if you had gotten that crown.”

“Look if you have something you want to say then say it,” Sunset snapped back, her patience finally worn out.

Trixie took a step back, but she was hardly in retreat. She glared and Sunset and spoke, “Okay fine, what I want to know is why are you here? Trixie came to make amends, but instead I’m playing Monopony with a dragon and some snarky mare keeping secrets.”

“Oh well I’m so sorry your highness, I deeply apologize for not scheduling time around your life. If I had just gotten that memo I could have slowed down the moon long enough for you to have your time with Twilight uninterrupted,” Sunset replied mockingly.

Trixie, realizing now how ridiculous her complaints sounded, relaxed her aggressive stance. “Okay, maybe Trixie is just a little bit jealous.”

“Trust me, you have nothing to be jealous of,” Sunset replied, her voice soft and wistful, as she stared absentmindedly at the picture of Twilight with Celestia.

“Well… how about Twilight. I mean she has incredible magic.”

“Friends,” Sunset added.

“A castle,” Trixie included.

“A magical degree,” Sunset replied.

“Ponies who admire and look up to her,” the two unicorns spoke near simultaneously.

The two turned and faced one another, before Trixie spoke first, “Look, I’m sure we each had an idea of how our plans would work out, and neither of us expected...well this.”

“Yeah, I never would have guessed. Twilight just seems to have a natural proficiency at attracting power-hungry unicorns. I just assumed I was special.”

Trixie fought to not laugh at Sunset’s snark, which she found could be a little funny when it wasn’t being directed at her. “Okay, look, neither of us are exactly good at making friends, or being nice to each. However, I think we could at least try to make these couple of days you’re here bearable.”

“Uh yeah, about that,” Sunset attempted to explain, but then the air next to them seemed to crack, followed by a bright light.

“I’m home!” declared Twilight Sparkle, as her teleportation fazed out, though she remembered hearing screaming as she warped into the room. She turned to see that Trixie and Sunset had been standing right next to the spot she usually teleported to. Well, at least Twilight guessed they had been standing, but now she just saw both of them on the ground hugging each other, with shocked looks on their faces.

Twilight tried to not laugh at their position, a battle that she ultimately lost. As the princess laughed, Trixie and Sunset both realized the position they were in. Trixie quickly let go of Sunset and got up to dust herself off, “Umm, welcome home Twilight Sparkle. I know what that may have looked like, but I can assure you it wasn’t… at all.”

“Oh, you don’t have to explain anything, I was hoping you two would have some bonding, but I never expected things to go this well.”

Trixie seemed miffed by Twilight’s teasing, while Sunset seemed apathetic to it. After a minute, Twilight finally cleared her throat and said, “So I went and talked to my friends, and Trixie I have some good news. Pinkie Pie has decided to give you a chance at impressing her. If you can then she’ll help you plan out your event, we’re even thinking about having it coincide with my banquet next week.”

Trixie seemed to perk up at this news, “Oh thank you Twilight, I’ll be sure to put together something I just know will wow her.”

“Good to hear it, now I have a pretty busy day tomorrow, but before I head off to bed, I guess we need to finally address both of your sleeping arrangements,” Twilight added as she began to ponder where best to put her guests.

“Wait, before we get to that I have something I need to tell you,” Sunset declared. Once she knew she had Twilight’s full attention, Sunset took a deep breathe and then said, “I know I haven’t been upfront and honest with you since I got here, and truth is you really have no reason to trust or believe me. I also know that I cannot say why I’m here, not yet anyway, but I can at least tell you the truth about this.”

Twilight’s look suggested concern, and Trixie’s awkward glances back and forth made it seem like she wanted to be anywhere else. “See the thing is, I don’t have three days to stay here, because I went through the mirror on the third day, and that was last night.”

At first Twilight seemed confused, but it only took moments for a look of understanding to don her face. “So, what you’re telling me is…”

“Yes, by now the gate has closed, and I’m now stuck on this side,” Sunset finished Twilight’s statement.

“But, why?” was all the alicorn could ask.

“I have my reasons, but I’ve decided to return to Equestria, so it’s looks like I’m going to be staying here full-time.”

What Twilight had hoped would just be a couple days worth of enduring now had a much longer time frame placed on it. There was one thing she knew for certain.

She was in for quite a ride.

This Castle Doesn't Run Itself

As the polite roar of the audience washed over the Canterlot Performance Hall, Trixie’s magical special effects died down and in one last puff of smoke she appeared in the stage’s center. In a display of confidence, Trixie declared to the audience, “Welcome and be amazed, be astounded, by the magical feats of the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

“Now witness as she levitates without the use of her horn,” she told the crowd.

“Oh please,” one voice shot through the sea of ponies.

This skepticism broke Trixie’s concentration, and she dropped the heavy glass orb she was about to use. It fell and shattered on stage. As Trixie teleported the remains away quickly she reached for her sorcerer’s hat, “Oh well, watch as Trixie pulls from this simple hat life itself. Be amazed as she brings forth something out of nothing!”

“That’s easy, you use a teleportation spell,” another voice cried out, followed by rounds of mocking laughter from the sea of ponies.

Trixie began to step back from the growing blob of jeering and laughter, as she tried desperately to think of a way to save her performance. “Oh well watch as Trixie recounts one of previous exploits, be enraptured by the riveting tales of the Great and Powerful…”

“Oh please not another light show,” a voice cut her off.

“Yeah we already saw the sparklers, now make with the cool magic. Like make a tornado or a fireball or something,” one voice demanded.

“Or better yet, do something really amazing and make yourself disappear,” one voice said cruelly as the other voices laughed.

Trixie continued to desperately put distance between her and the encroaching crowd of ponies. Though now the crowd felt more a shapeless mass than ponies. Trixie finally hit what she assumed was the back wall, as she was unable to back away any further.

However, instead of swallowing her whole, the black mass that had once been the audience divided, and there stood in the middle of the parted ponies was a single pony, a purple alicorn. Seeing that it was Twilight Sparkle, Trixie suddenly felt relieved. She stood and approached the princess, but found herself unable to move, as she looked down to see her hooves in chains that kept her bound.

“Huh, but why?” the showmare asked, as she realized Twilight was wearing a smile that did not look right on the usually friendly pony.

Twilight simply turned away from, whose struggles against the chains were increasingly becoming more desperate. Trixie attempted to call out to Twilight, but found her voice had vanished, leaving only small rasps and squeaks to escape her, though Twilight made no indication she heard them. Suddenly the dark mass surrounding Trixie encircled her completely.

As she desperately called out for Twilight’s help, the mass engulfed her. Then there was nothing.

“Twilight please help me!” Trixie shouted, though now she could finally hear her own voice. She was also shocked to find herself in her bed, the performance hall, the audience, and Twilight were no where to be seen.

A dream, oh good it was just a dream.

As Trixie’s accelerated breathing slowed, she looked around the room that Twilight had let her sleep in for the night. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkened surroundings. She could see from out her window, that the sun was barely peeking over the hills that surrounded the castle.

Trixie got out of her bed, and exited her room. As she took a short walk down the corridor, she arrived at her destination: the bathroom. After letting the faucet warm up, Trixie splashed some water on her face. She stared intently at her reflection in the mirror. She saw a unicorn who, despite spending a night in castle of royalty, still did not look well-rested.

Trixie then turned and turned the shower. “Maybe I’ll feel more powerful and amazing after a shower,” she spoke aloud to herself.

However, just as she was about to set her first hoof into the cascading liquid warmth, the door opened. In entered an earth pony stallion with a stack of towels balanced on top of his head, completely unaware of the room’s occupant. This changed when he saw the shower was running. Though his face was frozen in shock more at the sight of a unicorn mare he had never before seen, about to get into the shower. Trixie only stood there, her mouth agape. After what seemed an eternity of silence, noise finally made its way back into the room.

It consisted mostly of screaming and accusations of nefarious deeds.

…

Sunset Shimmer was having a spectacular morning. At least, her satisfied moans gave off as much. Nothing remained of her omelet, which had all of her favorite ingredients like mushrooms, spinach, and daisies. Twilight Sparkle could only stare in awe at the sight of the unicorn’s hunger, her own breakfast remained mostly intact.

“Wow, I know I had my doubts, but I guess dragons can cook,” Sunset said as she put the plate on top of the ever-growing stack.

A small laugh came from behind the counter that separated the kitchen proper from the sitting area. Spike was standing over the stove, wearing a blue apron with the words ‘Kiss the Drake’ embroidered on them. He was hard at work preparing more omelets. “Yeah, well coming from you Sunny, I guess that’s the best I can hope for, far as complements go.”

“Well, to be honest I haven’t eaten real Equestrian cuisine in over fifteen years, so maybe it’s just desperation on my part,” the mare replied, a subtle smirk crept up her face as she examined her last bit of omelette on her fork. Her twirling it in her magical grasp reminded Spike of a cat with playing with its prey.

Twilight finally took time away from watching Spike and Sunset try to maul each other with their glares, and went back to chipping away at her grapefruit. At first none of the three in the room noticed a light flood the hallway outside the kitchen, but the sound of hooves on the hardwood floors gained Sunset’s attention.

When a dark grey unicorn with a white mane entered the kitchen, Sunset’s face shifted to one of confusion, though neither Spike or Twilight seemed to notice her. The unicorn, a mare who wore red glasses and carried a clipboard already in tow, looked at Sunset, then to Twilight. She cleared her throat to make her presence known, which worked as Twilight looked at her for the first time.

“Oh Prim, I didn’t see you there. I was just reading through my daily planner, seems we have…”

“A lot to do today, yes. I’m sorry I was not able to attend your weekly visit with the Ponyville mayor yesterday. I hope you’ll forgive my absence,” the mare named Prim spoke.

“Oh, of course Prim. I know you actually have a life besides assisting me. I just hope everything went well,” Twilight smiled and offered an empty seat at the table.

Prim took the offered chair, and sat down, her eyes still fixed on Sunset Shimmer, who was equally focused on the new arrival. Twilight sensed the playful tension was replaced with actual tension, decided to clear up the confusion. “Sunset Shimmer, this is Prim Proper, shes my assistant. Prim, this is Sunset Shimmer, she’s my…”

“You need not say anymore, I understand Twilight. Now as I’ve told you before in these situations, we must make sure that during her departure, no stray paparazzi gets sight of her,” Prim interjected as she took to her clipboard and began jotting down various things.

This did nothing to alleviate Sunset’s confusion. She raised an eyebrow, and turned to Twilight, hoping for an answer. Sadly, the answer did not come, as Twilight merely shrugged her shoulders in response. “Umm, Prim what do you mean ‘these situations’?”

“Well, for a princess to have a flights of passion with a commoner is nothing new. Goodness knows your sister-in-law is well known for her...insatiable appetite,” Prim got up from her seat and walked over to the kitchen window, which overlooked a field of grass that sloped over a cliff. “But, you’ve never had any such experiences before. You’ve cultured an image of a solitary princess, disinterested in the affairs of the body. We just have to make sure some noble doesn’t catch wind of this and try to spin it to their advantage.”

Sunset’s mouth had fallen so far, she could have fit an entire omelette in it at once, and Twilight’s could only blush, her coat taking on a bright red. Prim noticed their reactions and turned to ask Twilight, “So where did you meet her? Bookstore, marketplace, charity event, the Ponyville Historical Society?”

“No, Prim you don’t understand. Sunset isn’t…” Twilight attempted to interjected.

“I must say though, I’m surprised you’d go with a mare soooo lanky, you always struck me as being into ponies with a...stockier build, like your friend Applejack.”

“Alright then, I think we just need to clear up a few misconceptions here. First of all Sunset and I aren’t…..well, we’re not doing what you think we’re doing,” Twilight stammered, as she flailed her hooves around excitedly.

Sunset decided to get involved in the conversation as well, “Also I’m not lanky, and even if I were… with Twilight, what’s the big deal, am I not good enough?” Sunset asked, not taking effort to hide that she was clearly insulted.

Prim walked up to Sunset and began walking around her in a circle, which gave Sunset a far too familiar feeling, though now it was from a different perspective. After moments of uncomfortable inspection, Prim finally adjusted her half-moon glasses and addressed Sunset, “Hmm, well, with a little sprucing up, I suppose we could make ponies believe you’re Twilight’s newest suitor, goodness know Miss Mare Magazine has been asking for any details on that front for ages.”

“Ummm…” a small voice broke through Prim’s fussing over Sunset. The two then turned to see Twilight giving a sheepish look before she spoke again, “Prim, Sunset and I aren’t dating.”

“Well, no of course not. That’s the issue here,” Prim interjected.

“AND, we’re not doing what you think we’re doing either,” Twilight shot back.

After a moment of reflection, Prim looked to Twilight, and then at Sunset, before going back to Twilight. “Oh,” was all she said. Prim’s face began to shift to a shade of pink that almost mirrored the streak in Twilight’s mane, though she never dropped her guard. She merely backed away a bit from Sunset Shimmer, and gave a polite bow, “My apologies, your highness, your highness’ not -concubine…”

“That’s Sunset Shimmer, if you don’t mind,” Sunset interjected, a look of enjoyment on her face at the sight of a pony bowing to her.

Twilight broke Sunset from her bliss with a small cough, as Prim rose up and brought her clipboard over to look over it. “Well now that that matter is all settled, when can go over your agenda for today. First up, you have an appearance to make with the Ponyville Hay Board, and then you…”

“PERVERT!” Yelled a voice, breaking Prim’s train of conversation.

“Ugh, your highness I can assure you whatever thoughts I had about you and miss Shimmer were purely innocent,” the mare said.

“Umm that wasn’t me Prim,” Twilight replied as she walked towards the door that led out into the hallway.

The silence was broken again by another scream, “You pervert, stop running and accept your fate!”

Soon everyone in the kitchen could hear the growing sound of hoofsteps, then Twilight peeked outside the room just in time to see a pony round the corner. In an instant, the pony crashed into her before she could step out of the way. This was followed by a loud commotion and the sound of two ponies falling to the ground, Sunset rising out of her chair, and Spike dropping his most recent omelet on the floor.

Twilight became reacquainted with the world, only to realize that a pony was on top of her, or at least that was her best guess since she could only see a large pair of blue eyes encompassing her entire view.

“Clean Sweep,” Twilight said while she attempted to hide her annoyance.

“Yes ma'am,” the pony answered back.

“Why is my house guest chasing you around the castle calling you a pervert?” she asked while giving Clean Sweep a subtle indication that would like it very much for him to get off of her.

Fortunately, Clean Sweep stood up and offered his hoof to the princess, which she took.

Finally he gave a small laugh and replied, “Well, there’s a funny story about that. Bit of a tiny misunderstanding.”

However, before he could get any further, the growing sound of another set of hoofsteps ended, as Trixie skidded into the already crowded kitchen. She stopped when she saw the stallion she had been chasing standing on top of Twilight.

“You barbaric fiend, does your sick depravity know no bound?. Also was the Great and Alluring Trixie not enough for you?” she quickly added as her horn lit up as she prepared a spell to use on the now cowering stallion.

However, three separate colored auras engulfed her and prevented her from doing anything further. She looked to see Twilight, Sunset, and a third unicorn mare she had never seen before, all barricading her.

The unicorn in the glasses was actually the first to speak, “I would really appreciate it Miss….Alluring was it?”

“Trixie, my name is the Great and Powerful…”

Prim quickly carried on, “Yes, well I’m going to assume you also are not one of her majesty’s concubines. A shame really. Since the prospect of our princess’ first outing into the adult world being a ménage à trois was certainly exciting.”

At this point Sunset’s face had taken on the same color as the crimson streaks in her mane, and Twilight could only let out tiny whining noises that sounded like she had lost all ability to ever speak again.

Trixie on the other hand simply looked shocked, though her own coat, as blue as it was, soon matched Sunset’s mane as well. A smile snuck up on Prim’s face, most likely pleased at how well her attempt to derail the tension had went. She walked over to where Twilight was still underneath the terrified stallion, and cleared her throat. The stallion snapped back to reality, and quickly got off of Twilight, and helped the alicorn back up, apologizing the entire time.

“It’s okay Sweep, I know it was an accident,” Twilight replied, as she gave a warm smile to the the stammering stallion. Though she immediately switched to a more serious look and gave a small cough. Whether an alicorn’s ability to instinctively command the attention and respect of ponies was natural or learned would be a mystery to plague scholars for several more centuries, but in that kitchen it was in full effect.

“Now, I just want to know what happened, and I’m going to ask one pony at a time, starting with Trixie,” the princess said calmly as she turned to face the showmare.

“Well Trixie had just awoken from a most awful dream, and so I decided to try and take a relaxing shower. That’s when this… stallion just trots in like he owns the place,” Trixie spat out as she swung her hoof at the accused stallion.

Prim groaned and covered her face with a hoof, “Ugh, again Sweep? How many times do we have to tell you to be more aware of your surroundings?” she asked.

“Also to always knock before entering a room,” Twilight added.

“Yeah, knocking, that too. Besides you know you shouldn’t be making the moves on royal claims,” Prim continued as began giving Trixie the same inspection she gave Sunset.

Unlike before, Twilight was no longer flustered by Prim’s potentially off-color remarks, and was the opposite of amused with them. “Prim, for the final time, I have no ‘royal claim’ on these two mares. Trixie tried to banish me from Ponyville after a magic duel and Sunset stole my crown for some ridiculous plan she cooked up to take over Equestria.”

“Hey, whatever sort of excitement you need, that’s entirely up to…”

Prim did not get to finish her thought, as the magical pressure Twilight exuded told her she was finished with her teasing. Twilight then carried out her investigation, “So Sweep you accidentally walked in on Trixie as she was about to shower? Like Prim said you should be more aware of your actions.”

“Yes ma’am, so sorry,” Clean Sweep quickly spoke.

“It’s okay, you didn’t know,” Twilight replied. “Now Trixie, I understand you were scared, and I will not fault you for your actions. So we know the truth now, I trust you won’t be trying to vaporize him anymore. He’s quite the accomplished housekeeper, and I would really hate to lose him and have to go through the nightmare of finding another.”

Sunset finally chimed in, “Huh, so the one with the overactive imagination and too much free time is your secretary.”

“Personal management specialist I prefer,” Prim interjected.

“Whatever, and the unluckiest stallion in the world here is your butler.”

“Actually, I just provide basic upkeep for the castle...at the princess’ insistence that I do no more, even though I have offered to,” Clean Sweep also amended.

“So, before we go any further. Are there any other ponies in the place we should have introduce themselves?” Sunset asked.

She had not expected her sarcasm to met by Twilight and her staff with genuine sincerity, as they each gave a pained look, suggesting she may have hit her mark a little too well.

Before Sunset could ask, all the ponies and dragon in the kitchen heard an approaching storm. At least that’s what it sounded like, and it was approaching far quicker than Trixie and Clean Sweep had. In the span of a few moments two blurs entered the room. Sunset and Trixie both could only guess that they were ponies. Twilight was their target as the two ponies tackled her to the ground. “PRINCESS TWILIGHT!” two different, yet oddly similar voices rang out.

Sunset now saw that the blurs were in fact ponies, both fillies. One was a teal unicorn with a chocolate brown mane, and the other was a pegasus with her mane and coat colors reversed of the other.

Twilight once again found herself laying on her kitchen floor, only now two ponies, two very energetic ponies, were on top of her.

“Princess, princess are you okay? We heard somepony yelling, and running, so we came down here to see what was the matter,” the unicorn said as she clung to Twilight’s neck.

The pegasus, who had her hooves wrapped tightly around Twilight’s barrel, nodded in agreement. She then chimed in, “Uh huh, we knew the castle had guests, but we figured surely they wouldn’t be bad ponies since they obviously know you, and you’re just such an excellent judge of character princess.”

“But I’m not so sure of her judge of help,” Trixie whispered under her breath so that only Sunset could hear.

Once the two ponies calmed down after realizing she was okay, Twilight was again helped up by Clean Sweep. As she began to dust herself, the two fillies instead began doing the task for her. “Okay introduction time… again.”

“Allow me, Twilight,” Prim offered, which Twilight nodded in agreement. Prim pointed to the pegasus, “This bundle of excitement's name is Peridot,” then she gestured to the unicorn, “and her unfortunate duplicate's is Zephyr.”

Sunset and Trixie both gave confused looks to the two fillies, who they guessed were twins, or the end result of some horrid magical experiment gone wrong.

Zephyr addressed the two new ponies, “So are you here to serve Princess Twilight as well?” The response she got were raised eyebrows from the two unicorns. “Well, we had heard that two new guests had arrived, my sister and I were both overjoyed at the thought of meeting two new ponies just like us.”

“Just like you?” Trixie replied, her confused look still plastered on her face.

“Yes, we’re quite devoted to Princess Twilight. We service her in a variety of ways,” Peridot responded as she eagerly walked up to the two to look into their eyes, seemingly oblivious to their discomfort.

“Yes, we fetch books and academic journals whenever she needs them for research,” Zephyr said as she pulled a sizeable tome out of her saddlebag with her magic.

Trixie seemed to let out a small breath at this revelation, which did not go unnoticed by Prim as she pretended to be occupied with adjusting her glasses.

Peridot nodded and added, “Uh huh, we also help Spike in the kitchen.”

“Help, yeah, sure we’ll call it that,” the dragon replied from behind the counter as he stacked another omelette.

“And we help Clean Sweep… well clean,” Zephyr included.

“Oh and let’s not forget removing any unwanted photographers when Princess Twilight and Prim go out,” Peridot reminded her sister.

“And we wash and change her bedsheets daily,” replied Zephyr.

And draw her bathwater and offer to bathe her,” Peridot chimed in.

“Yes, but she usually refuses that one. Also she didn’t want us brushing her teeth for her that one time,” Zephyr reminded her sister.

Peridot shook her head wistfully, “Tragic.”

Sunset and Trixie thought the morning could not have gotten any weirder, until the twins showed up. All they could do was turn to Twilight, who could only give a nervous smile and a small laugh before walking up and placing a hoof on the shoulder of each filly. “Girls, you know I appreciate all your efforts in assisting me. Now these two are Sunset Shimmer and Trixie. They’re… friends.”

“Friends?” Both fillies asked in unison, though both had hints of curiosity in their tones.

“Yes, they’re going to be staying with us for a bit, but I would like it if you two could show some restraint when around them, for me.”

Peridot and Zephyr both looked at the two, and then back at Twilight, and then at each other before nodding their heads. “Of course,” they both replied.

Just then Spike walked into the dining area with a large platter filled with food. “Okay now that Sunset and Trixie were conveniently run through the gauntlet of your staff in order of ascending weirdness, I feel now it’s time to eat these before they get cold,” he explained as he put the collection of omelets on the table. All the ponies seemed to agree as they sat down around the table and ate the hearty breakfast.

Once most of the food had been eaten, Twilight got everyone’s attention, “So now that breakfast is out of the way, everyone knows what to do today.”

Spike, Clean Sweep, Zephyr, and Peridot all nodded as Prim stood up and began jotting notes down on her clipboard, and then showed them to Twilight. Trixie and Sunset however, gave the princess confused glances, although Twilight was quick to address them. “Now Trixie, today will be your first day of preparation for your magic act. Pinkie will no doubt put you through the ringer.”

“So which one is Pinkie Pie?” Trixie asked.

“The one whose mouth you removed magically the last time you were in Ponyville,” Twilight answered curtly.

“Oh, well yes, I shall be sure to thank her for her assistance, though getting help for a magic act from an earth pony seems… unorthodox.”

“Trust me, no better term could ever describe Pinkie,” Twilight replied back, as every other pony seemed to unknowingly agree

Zephyr seemed to perk up at the mention of Trixie’s magic show. “Oh, oh, oh, Miss Trixie you’re a magician?” She asked.

Trixie nodded, which only caused the young unicorn to become more excited. Again she inquired, “Oh what sort of tricks can you do? Like make rabbits multiply? Or saw your lovely assistant in half? Or are you in need of a lovely assistant? Because I could probably volunteer… oh or how about somepony really lovely, like Princess Twilight.”

“Oh that would be a great idea, and we could even have her wear a cute magician’s assistant uniform, like a sparkly leotard,” Peridot chimed in.

Trixie was now trying desperately to avoid thinking about Twilight in a form fitting costume, and choked awkwardly on her orange juice when the attempt ended in vain. Before Twilight could tell the girls to cease their fantasizing, Prim gave a small cough, but it was more than enough to bring quiet to the two rambunctious ponies.

“Girls, I know how you two can get swept up in things, but I think it’s time you both left to go do your chores.”

The two ponies sighed, and in unison gave an unenthusiastic, “Yes Miss Prim.” They then took all the used dishes to the kitchen, each then gave a polite bow, and left the older ponies and Spike.

“Okay, now with those two preoccupied, we can begin our day your majesty,” Prim said as she went back to managing all the notes on her clipboard.

Twilight, then looked back at Trixie, “So Trixie, all you need to do is go through the mirror, and Pinkie should be waiting for you in the library. If I know Pinkie Pie she’s probably already been there for quite some time.”

“Well, then I suppose I shouldn’t keep her waiting,” Trixie said as she got up from the table, and exited the room.

Sunset was now the only one left at the table as Spike and Clean Sweep left to go do their daily activities of their own. Twilight then spoke to her, “So Sunset, ready to go?”

“Go? Go where?” Sunset asked.

“Well, unless you want to help Clean Sweep with tidying the entire castle, or spend time with Zephyr and Peridot as they do their chores and schoolwork, then the only thing left is for you to come with me and Prim for the day.”

Sunset seemed very disinterested in either of the first two options, she had already gotten her fill of the twins from before. She finally nodded, hesitantly, before telling the princess, “Fine, so what’s first up on our docket? A royal tea party? Ribbon cutting ceremony?”

Twilight gave Sunset a sly smile, “Oh I have a feeling it might be something a little… more your speed.”

…

As Trixie came out the mirror, she took a few moments to readjust herself from the post-teleporting nausea. However, just as she was regaining her balance, an ear-splitting whistle made her cover her ears and fall on the ground.

The sight that greeted her though was just as jarring.

A pink earth pony stood before her, she could only assume this was Pinkie Pie. Only thing that was out of the ordinary was the giant Equestrian flag standing up, almost as if it had been the wallpaper or the library. Then the pink pony, decked out in an olive colored uniform complete with riding crop and helmet, marched up to her and said, “So you think you have what it takes to entertain the ponies of Ponyville?”

Before Trixie could answer, Pinkie continued on, “Well I don’t think you could party your way out of a wet paper bag, mostly because I’ve yet to meet a paper bag large enough for even the littlest of ponies to fit it. All I know is, it takes a special kind of pony to bring smiles to other ponies, whether it be with a party, or a magic show, or a cake, or a magic show party where cake is to be served. I’m looking for the best of the best of the best of the best. Do you think you could be that?”

“Umm...well maybe,” Trixie answered with uncharacteristic shyness.

Pinkie merely sighed, and then said, “Well maggot….hmm that seems a little too demeaning and a little gross. Okay… scalawag, welcome to Pinkie Pie’s Performance and Party Preparation Program, where I’ll take you in as a pony, and make you into a pony that will make other ponies smile. You game?”

Trixie had to take a moment for all the weirdness of her day to make any sense. After several moments passed, Trixie accepted that none of it would ever make sense, and instead answered simply, “Yes, I’m game.”

I think.

Teachers and Their Students

Trixie stared at the banner, it’s words “Pinkie Pie’s Pre-Performance Preparation Program for Potential Professional Party Ponies” scrawled in sloppy pink paint. Trixie wondered where Pinkie had gotten a banner long enough to fit the entire thing.

However, she could not let it distract her from her task. “So without further ado, I now present to you the big finale,” the showmare declared, though there was no audience, save for one pink pony. With a look of apprehension, she reached into her signature sorcerer's hat and with a look of pure disgust pulled out a plate with a mushy mess, covered in what looked like blue frosting.

“Ta da,” she said with zero enthusiasm, as she held the pitiful confectionery remains on the plate, the rest of the cake was in her hat.

Her finale was met with a single applause, and despite its enthusiasm, Trixie could hardly call it welcomed. “That was great Trixie! Much better than last time. This time you actually managed to keep some of the cake on the plate this time.”

Yes, the previous attempts at pulling a cake out of her hat had ended exactly as Trixie had expected them to. What she was left with was a sugar frosting nightmare and no guarantee it could be solved with some enchanted laundry detergent.

“Now I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry, I have the perfect solution. We’ll just tape the cake to the plate so it doesn’t fall over,” Pinkie said as she walked up on the impromptu stage that had been put up in the Ponyville Library. Pinkie had used a bunch of empty crates from Sugar Cube corner, and of course her incredibly large banner.

Trixie could only sigh heavily at the strange mare’s proposals, “I don’t know if birthday cake is the best fit with a magic show.”

Pinkie gasped and stepped back as if Trixie had said something truly offensive, “There is never not a place where birthday cake is the best fit.”

Pinkie then pulled out a roll of tape, from where Trixie could only imagine since she had no pockets or bags with her. As she wrapped the fresh piece of cake that also seemed to appear out of nowhere onto the plate, Pinkie Pie continued her losson, “Remember Trixie, ponies love to smile, and we, as party performers, must do what we can to make them smile. So we give them what they want, and what pony doesn’t want cake?”

Trixie decided not to risk stepping on another pitfall, and merely nodded her head slowly in agreement, “Well I suppose that’s true.”

“Now the next thing I think we really need to work on are balloon animals,” Pinkie said in her normal bright and happy tone as she put the taped cake mess back into her hat.

Trixie however, did not seem to share in Pinkie’s enthusiasm, and had a feeling her day had only just begun.

…

All was quiet throughout the former castle of the royal ponies sisters. Despite being in the middle of the Everfree Forest, which teemed with wildlife, the entire area had a calm, serene grace to it. This was shattered as a loud explosion echoed throughout the old castle and out into the surrounding woods.

Sunset Shimmer took off the ear muffs she had been wearing, and looked out a nearby window to see some birds flying away, no doubt frightened by the commotion.

The room she was in was now filled with smoke, another by product from the spell that had just went off. Luckily, the obstructing smoke was cleared away in an instant thanks to Twilight. Twilight removed her own ear muffs and goggles and gave a small cough before turning to Prim.

“Well, seems subject #1127 is indeed a Class A hazard, we need to make sure it is locked away in one of Canterlot’s forbidden wings,” Twilight dictated.

Prim copied down the princess’ words, “Yes, an explosion that size makes this a rather dangerous spell. I swear our ancestors were such barbarians sometimes.”

Twilight then took the book containing the spell she had just tested and placed it in a box. The box was then bound and placed in a small pile of about half a dozen other boxes. Sunset remembered how the last book she put over there had generated a massive tornado out of thin air, more powerful than even the most dangerous ones produced in Cloudsdale’s weather factories.

Twilight took the grabbed the next book off a larger pile of untested spell, “Now Prim I think we must not be so harsh on our predecessors, they lived in a different world, and their knowledge of magic wasn’t nearly as acute as ours so naturally their spells lack… finesse.

“I just can’t believe Celestia used to keep such powerful spellbooks, or that she would just leave them behind,” Sunset replied, trying hard not to sound too in awe.

Twilight gave a small laugh, “Yes, well she kept all the dangerous ones locked away to avoid any ponies finding them and abusing them. Got to say her hiding place was good since I didn’t find them until we had nearly finished renovations.”

Twilight skimmed through the book before giving a look of revelation as a small smile crept up on her face. She turned to Sunset and asked, “Hey, maybe you’d like to try this one Sunset. I know you haven’t exactly had a lot of chances to practice magic over the years.”

Sunset was taken aback at Twilight’s suggestion. It’s not that Sunset didn’t think she could pull it off, given her last visit when the barrier weakened between Equestria and the world she had fled to, Twilight was well aware of the skills Sunset still possessed. For the first time in forever, Sunset felt a nervous jolt of excitement creep into her. The prospect of trying out ancient magic was apparently strong, so she took the offered book in her magical grasp.

As she looked over the first spell, Twilight walked over and placed a simple piece of firewood on a stool that now sat in the middle of the room. After a few moments looking it over, Sunset began to replicate the thoughts and mental patterns it outlined. Soon the feeling of energy surrounding her and building up at the point on her head was both welcomed and slightly uncomfortable. When the small pressure began to build more, Sunset just released the energy specifically like how the book described.

The pressure vanished and she looked up to see that nothing but the stool remained. She and Twilight walked over and then Sunset realized that the firewood was actually still there, it was now merely flat. The log now looked like a picture that had been perfectly cut out of a book.

“Huh?” Was all that came out of Sunset’s mouth.

“A spatial readjustment spell, turns three dimensional objects into two dimensional objects. Pretty elementary stuff, but the fact such a spell exists in a book this old is fascinating. The earliest records of such magic are almost three centuries younger than this tome.”

“Oh yeah, I was just about to begin learning spatial magic, you know before…” Sunset began, but then she felt oddly uncomfortable.

Twilight now found herself also unable to say anything, but then coughed into her hoof and picked up the now flat log. “Well, the important thing is now you can learn all that you’d like.”

Sunset turned to face Twilight, a look of surprise plastered on her face. “Really? But why Twilight, the last time you and I saw each other I tried to kill you and your friends, and then use your own crown to conquer Equestria. So why are you being so naive? First you let me stay behind, and now you’re cool with me just crashing at your place?”

A silence descended on the two ponies, before it was immediately broken by a small cough from “Oh well, the levels of awkward were fine before, but now they’ve exceeded even my limits of snooping. Twilight I’m gonna go see how Sweep is doing with the cleanup on floor two, and then see if Spike has lunch made for us.”

Twilight did not respond, but Prim was smart enough to let herself out. After taking a moment to let Sunset’s questions stew, Twilight finally took a few steps back and answered, “ Because you remind me of somepony. She was smart, some would say brilliant. All she cared about was magic and studying, so much so that she cut nearly every other pony out of her life.”

Sunset could not believe what she was hearing, that little miss alicorn of friendship, Celestia’s all time best pupil, had been just like her. “Of course I never resorted to thievery, blackmail, intimidation, and attempted conquest. So I guess we’re not exactly alike…”

Okay maybe not the same, Sunset corrected.

“However, I look at you, and the choices you made, and I can easily see how I could have been just like you. Ever since Celestia sent me to Ponyville to learn about the magic of friendship I’ve learned many lessons, sometimes more than once. But of all of them, the most important I think is forgiveness. I gave you another chance because I was given another chance, and I must admit I was worried and there were times I questioned whether I had made the right choice, but since you’re here it seems I made the right one.”

Twilight then looked up at Sunset for the first time, but what she saw was not what she had expected. Sunset was trying hard, and was incredibly failing, at suppressing some heavy laughter. Finally, the unicorn could not help herself and let loose. Twilight could only blush and puff her cheeks out in frustration.

“I’m sorry Twilight, I really am, but that was just so cheesy,” Sunset finally managed to say through her jovial laughter.

“I’m afraid I must agree with Ms. Shimmer,” came another voice, as Prim entered back into the room.

“Oh Prim, what perfect timing you have,” Twilight deadpanned.

“Well, you know me. I always like to practice punctuality, because I know how important it is to you your highness. Also crashing your intimate interactions is my other duty as outlined by your brother…”

“No romance going on here Prim,” Twilight quickly interjected.

Prim adjusted her glasses, though Sunset was starting to think this was more of a nervous reaction of Prim’s rather than a necessity, “Hmm, yes quite right. Still I’ve also come to let you know Spike has nearly finished lunch. Also the twins are desperate for you, your majesty. Though I’m sure it’s just for your tutelage since they’ve finished all the primary schoolwork.”

Twilight heaved a sigh, though there was no annoyance in it, just anticipation for her enthusiastic admirers. “Well Sunset, shall we?”

Sunset replied with a shrug, “Yeah I could go for a bite, though I would like to try out so more magic afterwards.”

“But of course, our day has only started,” Twilight responded.

As the two made their way out of the room, Prim held her hoof out to hold Sunset back without Twilight taking notice. Once the princess was far enough out of earshot, she spoke to the other pony, “Ms. Shimmer, we both know that Twilight can be… a bit on the naive side. However, it is that naivety that brought everyone who lives at this castle here. Each one of us would lay down our lives for her is what I’m trying to get across.”

Sunset quickly felt a familiar sensation overtake her, although previously she had always been on the delivering end. “I get the message, and I know you believe it about as much as I do, but I’m not here to cause harm to Twilight. I wouldn’t have waited to come here after my one escape route closed if I wanted to cause trouble.”

“Then why are you here?” Prim sharply shot back.

“Wish I knew,” Sunset quickly answered nonchalantly.

Prim, probably exhausted with her grilling going nowhere, turned away and followed Twilight’s path. Sunset followed quickly behind her towards the kitchen.

…

Twilight entered the kitchen to the welcomed smell of melting cheese and fresh vegetables, which told her Spike had made his famous Panini sandwiches for everyone. Before Twilight made it to the table though, two familiar blurs came to her and blocked her path.

“Oh Princess, you’re done practicing ancient magic already?” Zephyr asked.

“We knew some outdated spells would be no match for you Princess,” Peridot added.

Twilight was used to the twins flattery, and merely kept walking towards the table while giving a polite affirmative nod. As she sat down, still taking in the aroma of melting cheese and fresh vegetables.

“So I see neither you or Prim were brainwashed, castle’s no more wrecked than usual, so I guess magic testing with Sunset Shimmer went better than I expected,” Spike said from the kitchen as he flipped another sandwich, which Twilight could tell was hers from the darkened bread, as she liked her sandwich toasted extra brown.

“Real funny Spike, but yes I think she actually enjoyed herself. She even managed to pull off a basic-level spatial spell. That’s impressive considering she said she’d never made it to that part of her teaching,” Twilight recounted as Spike walked over carrying a plate in each hand, and a third one balanced on his tail. As he gave Zephyr and Peridot their plates and then Twilight hers, the three ponies thanked the dragon for their meals and began to eat.

The small sounds of gratitude filled the kitchen, little noises of glee and satisfaction, but they were broken as one energetic filly finally asked a question that had been hanging off her tongue. “Umm, princess…” Zephyr

“Dear, you know I’ve told you and Peridot not to be so formal with me,” Twilight interjected.

“Two hundred and seventy two times,” Peridot answered.

“Yes, so you know you two can start taking my advice at heart,” Twilight deadpanned.

Zephyr seemed to take in what Twilight was saying and shook her head and continued, “Okay… Twilight.” The young filly seemed to shudder at bit, like the lack of honorifics seemed to cause her physical discomfort. Still she carried on, “Well, I was wondering, I’ve been keeping up with my chores, and I have been doing all the preparatory work you laid out…”

“She does that non-stop, makes it hard for a filly to get any sleep,” Peridot added.

Zephyr ignored her sister and carried on, “Well, I was just wondering when you’ll begin to teach me magic?”

Her question was immediately met with grimaced faces from Spike and Peridot, the second she noticed was that Twilight had stopped eating. For a few brief moments in time there was silence, followed by noise and movement. Twilight was no longer seated at the table, and instead had already left the kitchen entirely. As if anticipating some disaster, Peridot had ducked under the kitchen table while Spike chose behind the counter, Prim did not move from her spot. Sunset seemed unsure what to do, while Zephyr’s enthusiasm had not waned.

Just then, Sunset heard a familiar pop, and Twilight was suddenly standing on the table, along with a pile of books and scrolls. Before Twilight could fall from her unexpected destination, she hovered in the air instead, her wings’ beatings caused some of the scrolls to fly off all over the room.

Before Sunset could ask what had just occurred, Twilight was already flipping frantically though one of the books she brought, and then began speaking to Zephyr.

“Well, since you’re a beginner, I suggest of course the first five chapters of Dr. Hoofweel’s Guide to Your First Levitation,” she told the filly as she placed the book in front of her. “Of course I also highly recommend Madam Bridlestar's Your Key To Manipulating the Universe, she can get a little too...dramatic for my taste sometimes, but her theory is top-notch.”

As Twilight listed off books, papers, and academic journals for the eager filly to read, Sunset suddenly felt a great weight come upon her. It came with this sense of deja vu, and she quickly realized what it was. An eager young student, her eyes filled with hope, excitement, and even a desperation to learn. A teacher, all too willing to pursue this course, though Twilight differed from the alicorn in Sunset’s memories, as her excitement was as outwardly visible as her young student’s.

“So once you’ve read all those, you can bring me your notes, and then we can get started,” Twilight finished.

“Really!?” Zephyr asked her soon-to-be personal mentor.

“Yes, I think you’ve more than proven yourself responsible these last couple of months. So I feel you're truly ready to begin, after you’ve learned the basics. Remember the old saying, a castle is in more danger from a poor foundation than any army.”

“Or dragon,” Spike interjected from behind the counter.

Twilight gave a small laugh, “Yes, well I think we can all study soundly, knowing the only dragon in our lives cooks meals, not villages.”

Somehow Zephyr found a way to seem more excited and gasped before asking, "Oh, do you think one day I’ll become strong enough to take down a dragon?”

“Pfft, unlikely. Twilight’s spent more of her time running away from dragons than fighting them. It wasn’t until after she became an alicorn that she was able to go hoof to hoof with one by herself,” Spike replied teasingly as he came up from the safety of the kitchen counter.

Twilight ignored her former assistant's teasing and turned back to the filly unicorn, “Now Zephyr, you need to realize that genuine magic training is hard work. From this point on it’ll be lots of studying and practice.”

Unfortunately, Twilight’s advice seemed to fall on deaf ears, as Zephyr was too busy staring off into space, mumbling to herself. A blatantly loud cough from the alicorn snapped the filly from her daydream, and she took on a more serious tone, hoping it would get through to her student.

“Zephyr, tomorrow I’ll have Sunset take you to meet with a certain pony, okay?” Twilight asked kindly.

“Sure, but who is it?” The filly responded.

“Oh just another pony I helped teach magic to, and I’m sure she’d love to help in the development of other young minds.”

“Wow, that’s so cool! I promise I won’t disappoint you princess,” said the excited filly as she got up from the table, gave a polite little bow and ran off, thanking Spike for lunch after she was already halfway down the corridor.

Peridot, who had continued eating after the storm caused by her sister’s excitement died down, also finished, and mirrored Zephyr’s bow, “Thank you Spike for the meal, and thank you princess for teaching my sister and I.”

“Oh Peri, you know I love teaching, and you two make excellent students,” Twilight replied.

Peridot then gave a polite nod and left, presumably to find her sister. This left Spike, Twilight, Sunset, and Prim in an uncharacteristic peace. This calm was broken by a small cough from Prim, as she spoke once she had the princess’ attention.

“Your highness, assuming no more bundles of sweetness and headaches arrive seeking your infinite wisdom, I have some business to attend to before we continue with your afternoon itinerary.”

“Of course Prim, Sunset and I can wait for you. Right Sunset?” Twilight turned and asked the unicorn.

Sunset, whose mind had been preoccupied with other times, was caught off guard by Twilight’s question, “Oh, umm yeah, definitely.”

Prim then gave a polite nod and left the kitchen, as Spike stood up, gathered all the plates and walked back over to the kitchen, leaving the two mares.

Twilight, seemingly waiting until they were alone, then asked, “Sunset, are you okay?”

With the dragon and the demon in the glasses now gone, Sunset replied, “Well, it’s just… how is it? Being a teacher I mean?”

Twilight seemed taken aback by this question, but she quickly answered, “Well, it’s different than being a student. A bit surreal really, sometimes I’m not sure how Celestia has done it for so long and with so many students.”

“Are the students that bad?” Sunset asked nervously.

Twilight giggled and responded, “Oh no, it’s not that. It’s just that, you take these ponies under your wing, and you make a sort of an unspoken promise to each other. They agree to follow your rules and use your instructions in the hope that they’ll grow as ponies. But, you have to be able to provide them with the means to do that. I knew of the pressures of being a student, but I never really thought much about the pressures of being a teacher. All this admiration and authority comes at a price, and I just hope I don’t let them down.”

Sunset had also never considered any of the things Twilight was talking about. That a student’s failures could potentially hurt their mentor more. For the briefest of moments Sunset let her mind ponder an idea. She looked out a random window, and through the forest canopy outside she could see the the smallest glimpse of a city hanging off the side of a distant mountain, where she wondered if there was another teacher who worried about if she had failed any of her students.

“So Sunset, while we wait for Prim to get back, what do you want to do?” Twilight asked, which brought Sunset out of thinking.

“Oh, well, I’m not sure,” she answered.

Before Twilight could make any suggestions of her own, the quietness of the castle was broken by a familiar sound coming from the mirror room, but then it was completely and utterly shattered by yelling coming from the same room.

“That mare is crazy!” shrieked a familiar voice.

Not wasting any time, Twilight and Sunset ran over to the room, and opened the door to find Trixie. Or who they assumed was Trixie, it was a little difficult to tell who it was underneath all that cake batter.

Indeed, Trixie, traditional wizarding hat and all, stood in the middle of the room, her coat, mane, and cape all caked in pink frosting and a brown mushy substance that Twilight was able to identify as chocolate batter after years of experience.

“I….I don’t think I can do it anymore, she’s a lunatic. She’s absolutely mad!”Trixie shouted as she continued her tirade.

Sunset made little effort of hiding her amusement at the sight, but Twilight showed at least a modest amount of restraint as she spoke, “Well, I guess bath duty can be added to the schedule.”

Bath Time Fun Time

The air was thick and humid, and the steam gave off the impression of a sauna. However, this was not technically a sauna, but the bath hall of the castle belonging to Princess Twilight Sparkle. Fortunately, these baths were in a large, open room, which prevented it from feeling stifling. Sunset was reminded of other bath halls she had seen in pictures from the previous world. To be honest she felt a little bit uncomfortable being in the bath with other people, except she was quickly reminded they were ponies, and that public bathing was a little different in a society where nudity was the norm.

“Everything okay Sunset,” asked a familiar princess.

“Oh huh?” She stammered out, broken from her trance.

“You certainly seem to daze off quite a bit,” said Trixie, the thick masses of pink frosting still caked in parts of her mane looked like the end result of a filly’s first mane dye job. Sunset could only laugh.

“And what’s so funny?” Trixie asked, annoyance being replaced by anger.

“Oh nothing, it’s just that you look so delectable, one could almost eat you,” Sunset responded with a playful, yet still condescending tone.

Both mares brought their faces in close together, both glaring at one another, neither willing to budge lest it be seen as a sign of weakness. This display was broken by cough that cut through the mists followed by a familiar voice, “Umm girls, where’d you go? It’s kind of hard to tell where you are.”

With both ponies brought back to reality, they each stammered out a response and groped through the haze until they found the princess standing next to the largest bathing pool in the entire hall. Sunset and Trixie’s jaws dropped at its splendor, its crystal clear waters shimmered from the light that shone in through all the windows, as wisps of steam rose from its surface. Sunset placed her hoof in and at first she worried she couldn’t feel anything, only to remember to stick her hoof in further. The water was, by some miracle, perfect.

Almost as if she could read minds, which Sunset was sure she could, Twilight responded, “Yeah magical temperature calibrations can be quite useful from time to time.”

Not wanting to look foolish, Sunset stammered out, “Oh, well of course, yeah temperature calibrations.”

Trixie let out a suppressed laugh, which earned her a glare of death from Sunset as Twilight was too busy checking the water and gathering bath supplies. As the alicorn entered the water, Trixie and Sunset made very little effort to hide their enthrallment with her. She took the water and once it was too deep for her hooves to reach the bottom she paddled. While Trixie continued to admire the princess, Sunset was stifling a laugh, which earned her yet another glare from the showmare.

“What’s so funny now?” She asked caustically.

This time Twilight decided to chime in, “Yes Sunset, I’m curious. Surely my swimming isn’t that bad.”

“Oh no….it’s just that you look like… well, you look like a duck with your bottom half under water,” the pony got out before another round of laughter.

Trixie, however, did not join in the laughter, and instead walked up to Sunset and asked, “And just who do you think you are?”

“Sunset Shimmer,” the mare replied without missing a beat.

“And you think you can just make jokes about royalty do you?” The showmare asked, pressing her forehead against Sunset’s, their horns connected like the blades of two duelists.

“Well, I was trained by one so I think I’m in a pretty elite club, one of the privileges being a right to poke some fun at royalty,” Sunset responded, with no attempt to hide the superior tone in her voice.

“You mean former student, who left before she even finished,” Trixie amended, which earned an unusually impassioned reaction from Sunset, and it was not a pleased one.

Just as the two unicorns were in each other’s faces again with no end to their bickering in sight, a large wave of water erupted from the pool. Both ponies were not expecting this as neither was able to escape it, leaving them both quite soaked. Sunset tried to get her mane out of her eyes, while Trixie simply used her magic to move it out of the way. The only sound that could be heard was the laughing coming from the pool, where Twilight was just standing there laughing at the two mares.

With her mane finally out of her eyes, Sunset looked over to Trixie, who simply replied with a small smile and a nodding of her head. Both mares then turned and simultaneously jumped into the pool, which created another great wave. Sunset looked so hopefully see a soaked to the bone Twilight Sparkle. However, no such sight was there.

“I’ll admit girls it’s nice to see you two showing you’re at least capable of working as a team,” Twilight told them both in a mockingly confident, but playful, manner.

While the other two ponies could only roll their eyes, before Trixie added in an equally mocking tone, “Oh yes, your great and glorious highness.”

The joke however soon ended when the showmare was hoisted in a purple aura, and brought over to the alicorn princess. “Well before we go any further in your training, I think it’s time we finally gave you a proper bath,” Twilight told the mare.

Before any protest could be made, Trixie was playfully tossed back into the water, again getting her and Sunset Shimmer thoroughly soaked, as Twilight teleported back into the pool with them. “Now to do this I’m gonna need some help,” she said as she turned towards Sunset.

The mare only returned a small, cunning smile, and responded, “With pleasure... your highness.”

…

Far away from the adult shenanigans playing out in the baths, the castle’s chief mischief makers were uncharacteristically hard at work. Zephyr was pouring over her scrolls while Peridot was looking over a stack of flight pattern charts that Princess Twilight’s Wonderbolt friend had sent her. As the room was filled with the scratching noises of the two fillies jotting down notes, Peridot gave an exasperated sigh.

“What is it Peri?” Zephyr asked her sister.

“This is just so boring, all I seem to do is memorize these dumb formations and flight patterns. I want to get out there and really learn how to tear it up in the sky,” the filly responded, getting up from her desk to gaze out over the forest outside her window.

“But her highness got her own flying instructor to come and give you lessons, and if that involves learning charts and graphs then you should do them,” Zephyr said, her voice taking on a more lecturing tone.

Peridot’s response was merely slumped shoulders and a heavy sigh before returning to her desk. She picked up the charts again and started to pour over them, leaving Zephyr to return to her own studies. The twins carried on with their studies in silence, though it was only after a couple of minutes that this was broken as Peridot turned to her sister and asked nonchalantly, “So what do you think the princess is doing in the baths with those two?”

The silence was further broken by a loud crash as Zephyr fell from her chair, which were then followed by a mixture of Zephyr yelling and Peridot laughing. “How could you suggest something so lewd about the princess!?”

“Well it’s not really a suggestion. Princess Twilight did offer to let Trixie use her private baths, and Sunset offered to help clean her as well. Though it’s pretty obvious Sunset doesn’t trust Trixie being alone with Princess Twilight in the baths together because… well, you know,” replied Peridot, as she raised her eyebrow at her sister, who seemed to only get more flustered.

“They’re only there to get all the cake frosting off of Trixie!” Zephyr shouted, far louder than she had meant to, since she immediately closed the door of the room with her magic.

“Oh please, Twilight could easily clean all that frosting off with magic. Clearly, she was looking for some quality bonding time...in the bath...with two other ponies from her past.” Peridot then put on a devious smile before turning toward her sister and asking, “You know, we could check in on them, if you’re worried that is.”

Zephyr’s face went through about six different transitions, taking on several different contortions until it finally found that perfect look of confusion, embarrassment, anger, and hesitant interest. “Well… I suppose it would be best to make sure the princess is alright. I mean both of those ponies have tried to destroy in the past,” Zephyr replied, finally finding the justification she needed.

“Excellent!” Shouted an excited Peridot, as she trotted over to their joint closet, and started to dig through all the junk that had found its home at the bottom during their time at the castle. “Eureka!” exclaimed the filly as she tumbled out of the closet, holding a rolled up parchment in her wing.

“What it is Peri?” Her sister asked, as she put away her magic texts.

“Oh nothing much, just those copies of the castle’s blueprints we swiped a while ago,” the pegasus answered, her trademark smirk plastering her face.

Zephyr knew that face foretold an immediate future of pain, scolding, chores, and on occasion being covered in syrup. “Umm, Peri I’m not so sure we should still have those. Prim took them away from us remember?” The unicorn asked her sister, her voice slightly shaking.

“Yes, and I was able to… re-procure them,” Peridot replied, clearly ignoring the audible hesitance in her sister’s voice. Finally, she turned and spoke with heavy bravado, “Oh come on Zeph, you and I have been followers of Princess Twilight longer than anypony. Then all of a sudden these two random mares show up and think they can just steal her away from us? I don’t think so. There are two ponies most deserving of her time and attention, and do you know who those ponies are?”

Peridot looked her sister dead in the eyes awaiting her answer. “Umm… is it us?” the unicorn asked meekly, shrinking away from her sister who had now found a spot to stand on her desk, striking a dramatic pose reminiscent of the heroes from one of her Power Ponies books.

Peridot looked down at her sister, and once again that same smile found its way home, “Silly, of course it’s us.”

…

Things in the bath had taken a turn for the worst for Trixie. On the one hoof, Twilight had taken up the task of bathing Trixie, freeing from her frosting-encased prison. The princess’ hooves were soft and gentle, as they washed away the caked-on confectionary. Sadly, on the other hoof, Sunset Shimmer was also helping. The nosey unicorn was nowhere near as gentle as Twilight was, and several times she pulled Trixie’s mane too roughly. This led to the showmare making audible grunts in hopes of making her displeasure known, which unfortunately Sunset seemed to conveniently miss.

Sunset did however ask her fellow unicorn, “So what happened? Did Pinkie Pie try to bake you in a cake or something?” Twilight merely gave a small laugh as she finished up washing the last bits of batter from Trixie’s mane.

“Hmmph, foolish mare, a magician never reveals her secrets, but if you must know the Great and Powerful Trixie has enlisted the help of the local performer to create a feat of magical prowess the likes of which Equestria has never seen before!” Trixie replied, her signature bravado returning, undeterred by her being both soaked and still covered in a good amount of pink mush.

Sunset merely rolled her eyes at the unicorn while Twilight merely laughed a little more and then poured one final pitcher of water over the unicorn, cleaning away the last bits of cake. Trixie moved her mane from her eyes, and looked at her reflection in the bath. She looked like a drowned rat, and she hated the thought of being seen like by Twilight, and Sunset Shimmer, but mostly Twilight. The alicorn princess began attending to her own hygienic needs now that Trixie was suitably taken care of. As she began applying shampoo to her own mane, she asked continued the conversation, “Well Trixie I’m sure whatever you and Pinkie have planned will go over well with the crowd, and I’ll be proud either way.”

Trixie perked up at that, “Oh… well… th-thank you Twi- I mean your majesty.”

“Twilight,” the princess interjected.

“Yes, Twilight. Thank you for the vote of confidence,” Trixie added.

“Umm I hate to interrupt the romantic scene,” Sunset Shimmer said, breaking Trixie’s laser focus on Twilight.

“Oh, I’m sure,” Trixie interjected.

“But we have guests,” Sunset continued, ignoring the other unicorn as she pointed up.

Twilight and Trixie looked up, but Trixie saw nothing. The alicorn however knew exactly what Sunset was talking about. While no ponies were visible, there was a thin layer of magic, a basic invisibility spell, that the princess could see the magic residue. She gave off a simple disabling spell and the veil disappeared, revealing the perpetrators. Shocked to have their cover blown, Peridot dropped her sister, who fell into the pool, generating a far bigger splash than expected from the filly.

Twilight, Trixie, and Sunset all parted their manes from their eyes and looked at the filly. The princess was the first to address, “Zephyr, tomorrow I would like to have a conversation with you.” Almost immediately she added, “You AND your sister,” looking up at the pegasus filly as she tried to escape back through the open panel in the glass roof.

...

After the eventful end to their bath, all the ponies retired to their rooms for the evening. But for one pony, she could only lay in bed, unable to fall asleep. Sunset Shimmer knew that she could not delay any longer. Evenings like the one she just had with Twilight were nice, and she hoped more would be in her future. However, she knew she had business to take care of, and that business awaited her in Canterlot. She got out of bed and walked over to her window, which happened to face the city on the mountain, where her destined meeting with another princess, albeit a less cute one, awaited.

Forgiveness

Sunset Shimmer had always wanted a castle. Castles were often seen as displays of power, and belonged to only the greatest of ponies, which Sunset had always considered herself one of. Unfortunately, Sunset’s history with castles consisted of being either kicked out or sneaking in. After sneaking around enough of them to satisfy the recruitment requirements of even the most secret order of thieves, Sunset Shimmer once again found herself sneaking in another castle. The only difference this time was she was trying to sneak out.

“You know, the fact that you were able to get past Cadance’s guards has me really worried about her security,” said a voice that cut through the darkness, causing Sunset to panic and trip over her cloak. After struggling to escape from her cloak, a magic aura pulled it off of her. She then looked up to see the absolutely last pony she wanted to see.

“So are you gonna be honest in telling me why you’re trying to leave under the cover of darkness, or should I get ready to hear a riveting tale involving the fate of Equestria?” Princess Twilight asked.

Sunset Shimmer was cornered, the thought of teleporting out of the palace crossed her mind, but instead she answered, “Look, I know this seems suspicious.”

“Very, I was afraid you were trying to make off with my crown again, but it was still on my night stand when I woke up,” Twilight remarked, wearing a smirk Sunset was not used to seeing on the princess’ face.

“No, instead I just have some things I need to take care of and well… I just didn’t want to talk about it,” Sunset said, as she turned to look out the window. It allowed her to take another look at the ever-looming palace that clung to the side of the mountain in the distance, but also prevented her from having to look at Twilight.

“In Canterlot, do you have an overdue library book?” Twilight asked, stifling a small laugh.

“Never took you as one to crack jokes, especially about books,” Sunset replied, now noticeably more at ease.

“Well when you’ve been friends with Pinkie for so long you just learn to be more relaxed,” the princess responded as she walked over to window Sunset had been looking out of. She opened it, allowing a cooling breeze to seep into the hallway. She leaned out the window and overlooked the Everfree Forest, which seemed peaceful in the early morning darkness.

Sunset was hesitant to break this peace, but she went ahead and said, “Twilight, I know this seems suspicious, but I promise this is something I just need to take care of and then I’ll be back… hopefully.”

Twilight turned to face the unicorn, a small smile upon her face. “Good, cause we have a magic show to go to together, and you and I were just starting to get to the really fun spells in the library,” she said.

Sunset was glad it was still dark and that her coat helped hide whenever she blushed. She then stammered out, “Y-yes… looking forward to it.”

Sunset then turned and walked away towards the room holding the portal back to Ponyville. As she was about to exit the hallway, Twilight called back to her, “Don’t worry I’ll tell the others you had some family stuff to take care of.” Sunset smiled and without turning back she headed towards the portal room.

…

Peridot had grown tired of sitting still, at least that’s what Zephyr guessed from the way she fidgeting in her chair. The two fillies were sitting in the room that had been converted into Twilight’s office, which served as the place of choice for Twilight to scold them on whatever mischief they had just gotten into. This time though something felt different to Peridot. Zephyr had not spoken to her all day. So finally she broke the silence, “So what’s got you so ticked?”

Zephyr did not look at or acknowledge her sister. However, just as Peridot was afraid her sister had gone deaf, she replied, “You know, it’s all your fault we’re in here.”

“My fault?” Peridot asked, confusion apparent in her voice. “Last time I checked, you were right along with me. In fact it was you who fell in the water giving away our position.”

“Because you dropped me!” Zephyr interjected.

“Details sister, details,” Peridot continued on.

“Yes Peri, vital details. You were the one who planned this, you talked me into it. Then you got us caught AND dropped me,” Zephyr listed, no longer sitting but was standing right in her sister’s face.

Silence followed Zephyr’s rant, until Peridot added, “Okay Zeph let’s do a recap. You agreed to go along with my plan, you were the one who came up with the idea to use the glass roof as an entrance, you chose to use an invisibility spell, and it was this faulty invisibility spell that got us caught. Now don’t put all the blame on me just because you’re afraid the princess won’t love you anymore because you messed up.”

“What!?” Was all that the unicorn could say.

“Yeah, you heard me. You think your little crush is a secret? You think that now you’re precious princess won’t think of you as her perfect little student anymore is that it?” Peridot was now standing up as well, with her face just inches from her sister’s.

Just when tensions were about to boil over, a small cough broke through. The twins turned to see Princess Twilight standing in the doorway, an awkward smile on her face. Both of the fillies’ bravado instantly deflated, and they both could only stare dumbfounded at the princess.

Finally, Twilight spoke, “Umm I hate to interrupt this tender moment between sisters, but if you two could take your seats.”

They girls both sat down, avoiding looking at both Twilight and each other. Zephyr merely focused on Twilight’s diploma she received from graduating magic academy. Once Twilight sat down she gave another small cough to get the girls’ attentions.

"Now girls you know what we're here to talk about," Twilight said casually as she brought her hooves together. Neither of the girls were willing to confirm Twilight's claim and instead went back to looking all around the room.

Twilight spoke again, though with greater annoyance in her voice, "You know what I'm talking about girls, the night when you crashed into the bath hall while Trixie, Sunset, and I were bathing. Peridot you were dressed as a ninja."

"Well ninjas are known for being stealthy, so I figured it was the perfect outfit," Peridot if interjected.

"The appropriateness of your outfit choices is not the issue here. Rather I want to know why you two decided sneaking on top of the roof, endangering both your lives, just to spy on me was ever a good idea in the first place," Twilight asked, as she put her hooves together and awaited an answer.

Sadly no answer came, as the girls could not find a way to give her one. At least not without revealing Zephyr’s motives for going along with the plan. Peridot could only look at her sister, and see the beads of sweat start to run down her forehead. She also noticed her sister shuffling her hooves, something she only did when overcome with nerves.

Finally, Peridot gave a noticeable sigh and said, "Princess it was my fault. I roped Zeph into it, and I was the one who orchestrated the entire thing."

Zephyr could only stare slack jawed at her sister, she had never covered for her like this before. "Zephyr is this true?" Twilight asked.

The question broke Zephyr’s concentration on her sister. "Oh huh?" Was all she respond with.

"Is what your sister said true?" Twilight asked again.

This was it, she thought, her way out. Peridot had given her a lifeline. All she had to do was say yes.

"No," was all she replied.

Zephyr almost couldn't believe what she said, and judging by the shock look on her face Peridot couldn't believe it either.

Twilight merely look confused before she replied, "Sooo you came up with the plan then?"

"Well no Peri did come up with that part, but I went along with it. Also I'm the one who suggested I use an invisibility spell so we could use the roof," Zephyr carried on.

"Which was incredibly dangerous," Twilight interjected.

"Yes it was, and I'm sorry," Zephyr replied.

"Yes, both of us are," Peridot was quick to add.

Twilight Sparkle smiled at the two fillies, before she continued, "Alright well now that is clear. All that's left is for you to explain why you did such a thing in the first place?"

Out of the pan and into the fire, Zephyr again found herself faced with the one question she wasn't willing to answer. She looked to her sister for any sign of a strategy. Unfortunately, she was only met with a shrugging Peridot.

"Honestly, it's because I don't think they're deserving of you princess," Zephyr said. That answer seemed to surprise Twilight and Peridot, given both their mouths were left hanging open.

Fighting the growing blush, Twilight tried to get some clarity. "Uh, I'm sorry but what do you mean 'not deserving' ?" She asked.

Bolstered with a new wealth of confidence, she replied, "Princess it's obvious why those two are here. They're just like all the others, they only want to get close to you because you're royalty."

Peridot jaw could not hang any lower. Her usually timid sister was speaking up, and to Twilight of all ponies. Usually, Zephyr could do good to stammer out a greeting or accept a compliment from their alicorn caretaker.

Twilight did not immediately respond. Instead she looked as though she were weighing her options. Finally, she said, "Zephyr, I first want to say that I'm flattered you care so much for me."

The unicorn failed to contain her blushing at Twilight’s complement. "However, I'm a grown mare and who I spend my time with and decision I can make for myself". Suddenly, Zephyr’s confidence deflated and she slouched in her chair, which did not go unnoticed by either her sister or Twilight.

"Girls I've taught you many things these last couple years, but what I'm about to tell you is probably one of the most important lessons I could impart on you," Twilight said as her horn glowed and projected a screen onto the wall. "I want to show you both something," she said as she performed a spell on the wall. It was a magical projection, which unicorns could use to show their memories to others.

The two sisters were shown scenes from Twilight’s past. There were magic duels, cursed amulets, stolen crowns, and trips to other worlds. Both times Twilight was tested, and both times she came out victorious. But what elements the two stories shared were that both Trixie and Sunset Shimmer asked for forgiveness, and both times Twilight granted it.

Twilight cleared her throat and said, "You see girls, when it comes to dealing with troubled ponies I do have something of a track record. Now if there's one thing I want you to take from this, its that ponies can surprise you. Sure, I've faced enemies that were downright evil. But I've also found the ponies that are the most antagonistic are sometimes the one who just need friendship the most."

Zephyr could not find the words to say. She had let her self-righteousness take over, and had even questioned Twilight’s authority. yet here where these two ponies, both of them had done some pretty awful things to Twilight, Yet she still forgave them. All she could ask was, “But why? Why did you forgive them?”

Twilight gave a small smile and walked over to her young charge and put her hoof on her shoulder. “Because my little pony, we all make mistakes, even me. This means we all deserve the chance to be forgiven for those mistakes if we’re willing to put the work in.”

“But you’d never do something as bad as they both did!” Zephyr blurted out.

Twilight could only giggle at the filly, but did so in a manner that was not condescending. “Oh how I wish you were right. However, I’m no different than any other pony Zephyr. I make mistakes, same as any other ponies. What’s important isn’t never being wrong or doing the wrong things. It’s about being humble enough to know you were wrong and seek forgiveness.”

She brushed the filly’s mane with her hoof gently. Peridot noticed her sister grew as red as a tomato from this and did her best not to laugh. Twilight then walked back behind her desk and took her seat. “So did you learn an important lesson today girls?”

“Yes,” they replied in unison.

“Then perhaps you would be willing to share it with me,” Twilight responded.

“Do you want us to write it to in a letter like usual?” Zephyr asked, Peridot could only put her face in her hooves at the question.

“Umm I don’t that would be necessary this time,” Twilight replied.

Zephyr gave a tiny pout. Twilight knew this tactic well, having fallen victim to it several times in the past. She gave a sigh and then acquiesced, “Fine.”

Zephyr wore an enthusiastic smile and started, “Dear Princess Twilight today we learned that no pony is perfect.”

“This applies especially true for some ponies,” her sister added. “But if there’s one thing that’s equally true of all ponies,” she quickly added before Twilight could give her a scolding look.

“It’s that they all deserve the chance to be forgiven,” Zephyr carried on.

“Faithful students Peridot and Zephyr,” the fillies recited together, one noticeably more enthused than the other.

“Excellent girls, now then I’m sure you’re wondering if I forgive you for your action last night. The answer is of course yes,” Twilight said. Peridot gave a triumphant pose at this, but Twilight was not finished quite yet. “However, I still want the two of you to clean the bath hall today. It will Clean Sweep and Spike a nice break today and will give the two of you an even more needed chance to reflect on today’s lesson about forgiveness,” she said while giving her best teacher’s grin.

Zephyr repeatedly promised that she would ingrain today’s lesson in her mind while Peridot’s whole demeanor took a nosedive and she could only groan loudly. Twilight sent them on their way with a wave of her hoof. Once the girls had left the room, Twilight turned in her chair to look at her back wall. Just when she was about to pick up one of her books off the shelf with her magic, a small cough broke her spacing out.

“Umm Twilight,” said Peridot. Twilight turned to see the pegasus filly still stood in her doorway.

“Yes, dear?” Twilight asked.

After a brief pause as Peridot seemed to search for the right words she finally said, “You know Twilight, Zeph she… she thinks the world of you. Thanks for not going off on her.”

Twilight gave her a smile, the smile she had been giving the girls ever since had brought them to her castle from Canterlot those years ago. The same smile she had given them after every successful assignment, and every failed attempt. “Well you’re quite welcome, and yes I know both you and your sister think highly of me.”

Peridot then leaned on the door frame, returning to her usual casual demeanor. “So how did you get so good at being a teacher anyway?”

Twilight laughed, one thing about Peridot she loved was her straightforwardness. “Well, let’s just say I had a good teacher of my own,” she answered.

…

The sun over Canterlot was as bright and warm as ever, a sign that the princess of it was in good spirits. Princess Celestia had many reasons to be in such a mood, but today had been an especially pleasant one. She and her sister Luna had a lovely breakfast earlier in the day. Since breakfast was a time the two of them were both awake they always tried to enjoy that particular meal together. Sometimes Celestia still could not help but feel surreal at the fact that her sister had returned after a thousand years and now they could even have breakfast together.

Still Celestia just felt truly blessed to have her sister back in her life. She had even taken down the murals and tapestries depicting her banishing Nightmare Moon. Since these had been put up only as a reminder to Celestia she was happy to see them go. Yes a thousand years of life had also brought her a thousand years of mistakes and guilt. Hopefully, this one reversal would be enough to get her through another thousand years.

Celestia’s deep thinking was interrupted as one of her guards announced himself entering the room, which Celestia permitted.

“Your Highness, I have urgent news that we have a situation on our hooves,” he said.

Princess Celestia was ready to assume the worst, “So who’s come back for another fight this time?” She asked in a deadpan voice.

“Actually your majesty it’s not that serious. At least I don’t think it is,” he responded, the tone in his voice only made Celestia more confused. “I've know every code in the manual, and in my twelve years serving you I’ve seen them all used but one.”

A sudden adrenaline took over the sun princess. She knew every code in her guard. The one for when Twilight’s magic had went out of control as a filly, the one for when Spike had accidentally set fire to something as a hatching, and the one when the royal tea cupboard was nearing complete bareness. But there’s was only one alert that have never been used. The one Celestia wished for and feared the most.

“So your majesty I’m here to announce we have a code Setting Sun. What would you have me do?”

“Send her in,” Celestia responded without hesitation.

The guard bowed and walked back to the door of her chamber. After a brief that seemed to last another thousand years for Celestia the guard opened the door completely.

There she stood. The second pony Celestia had never expected to see ever again, but she sorely wished she could.

Sunset Shimmer entered as the door was closed behind her. She then simply said, “Hello princess… I’m um back.”