An unusual silence settled over the quarters of a one Sunset Shimmer as its only occupant found herself reading and re-reading over the passages of a particularly interesting magical theory book. Every now and then she'd flip a page, or write something down on a piece of parchment with her quill, but other than that there was no movement from her.
It wasn't until a while later that her stomach growled, breaking her out of the trance she had put herself into. Her eyes flitted over to the clock she kept on her desk and her eyes widened slightly as she realized that it was already half past noon. "Woops," she spoke to nopony in particular, "I guess I got caught up. I suppose I should get some lunch."
With her next course of action decided, Sunset Shimmer placed her placeholder on the page she had been reading from and closed the book. She stood up and trotted over to the door before unlocking it and pulling it open in one deft movement. She made to trot out, but paused as she spotted the guard standing in front of her door with a raised hoof.
The guard stared at her for a second and then lowered his hoof before speaking, "Lady Shimmer, Princess Celestia has sent me with a summons." Sunset Shimmer internally cursed about the bad timing
"Very well then," she said, "You may go back to your post." Upon hearing this the guard gave her a quick salute and marched off, presumably to where he was currently supposed to be stationed. "Alright," Sunset sighed as she spoke to herself, "Let's go see what she wants."
Sunset trotted out of her room and allowed her body to go autopilot as she walked through the familiar corridors of the castle. It wasn't until she trotted face first into the large double doors that she noticed she was already at the throne room. Taking a step back Sunset rubbed her now sore muzzle before turning back to look at the doors.
"Let's get this over with." she said, letting out a sigh. Sunset took a moment to regain her composure before pushing through the double doors and into the throne room. Sitting on the throne that lay at the back of the room was Princess Celestia. "Princess." Sunset greeted.
"Ah, my most faithful student." Celestia greeted her with a smile.
"So what did you call me for?" Sunset questioned, "Our lesson isn't scheduled until later."
"About that," Celestia said, "I'm afraid I'll have to cancel our lesson for the day.
"What?!" Sunset exclaimed, "Why? You never cancel a lesson! Did something happen?"
"Actually, I have something that I wish for you to do." Celestia explained, "I called you here to assign you with the task of going to Ponyville, this year's location of the Summer Sun Celebration, to check on the preparations. I know this is last minute, but I would really appreciate it." Sunset hmm'd while she thought about it. On one hoof it would probably be boring, but on the other hoof she did get out of a lesson.
"Alright Princess," she said, "I'll do it."
"Great," Celestia said, "I've already sent for your sleeping arrangements. Once you're there ask Mayor Mare about it, she'll give you the key and tell you where to go."
"One thing though." Sunset spoke.
"What is that?" Celestia questioned.
"Can I get lunch first?" Sunset asked just as her stomach let out a rumble.
--
Sunset Shimmer stood in the line leading up to the ticket booth located in front of Canterlot's train station. She let out a yawn as the line inched forwards, biding her time until she finally reached the counter. "One ticket to Ponyville." she said, setting the bits onto the counter. The cashier did a quick count of the bits before he pulled out a ticket, stamped it, and hoofed it over to Sunset.
Sunset stepped out of the line and took a quick look at her ticket before heading off to find the correct station. "Let's see," she muttered to herself as she searched, "Station number 6, now where would you- aha!" Upon spotting the large sign hanging from the ceiling Sunset trotted over to the boarding station and was greeted by a stallion standing next to the door.
"Ticket please." he told her. Sunset gave him her ticket and he eyed it for a second before handing it back to her with a, "Have a nice ride."
Sunset stuffed her ticket into her saddle bags before stepping onto the train, her eyes flitting around in search of an open seat. As much as she would have liked a seat to herself the only open spot she saw was next to a gray coated pegasus with a golden mane. Sunset trotted over and removed her saddlebags before plopping down into the seat, startling the pegasus mare.
"Oh, hello," the mare greeted, turning to face her.
"Hey." Sunset greeted back, but paused when she saw the mare's eyes, specifically the direction in which they were looking. One bright golden eye was focused on her, while the mare's right eye wandered.
"My name's Ditzy," she continued, undeterred, "What's your name?"
"Oh, uh, I'm Sunset Shimmer." she told the mare.
"Hello Sunset Shimmer, it's nice to meet you." Ditzy said, "So Ms. Sunset-"
"Please, just call me Sunset," she interjected.
"Okay Sunset," Ditzy agreed, "So what is it that you're going to Ponyville for?"
"Well I-" she started but was quickly cut off by the sound of a whistle followed by the train lurching forwards. Once she regained her senses she continued, "Well, as I was saying, I'm actually being sent to Ponyville by Princess Celestia to check on the progress of the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration."
"Oh!" Ditzy exclaimed, impressed, "So you know the Princess then?"
"Actually I'm her personal student." she explained.
"Oh, wow! That's amazing!"
"Actually it's not as great as you might think."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, I mean I get to learn a lot of stuff and sometimes I get to have tea with the Princess, but a lot of the times it's just work. Outside of lessons we don't actually talk much, and I'm starting to think that maybe she doesn't like me."
"That's nonsense, I'm sure she's just busy. After all she is a princess, I bet if you asked her that she'd take some time off to spend with you."
"You really think so?"
"Of course."
In spite of herself, Sunset could feel a smile work it's way onto her face.
"Thanks, that really cheered me up."
"No problem," Ditzy told her with a smile of her own, "I actually have a daughter in Ponyville that's a lot like you, and sometimes I have to cheer her up as well."
Sunset Shimmer's eyes bugged out as she registered what Ditzy had said.
"You have a daughter?!" Upon realizing what she had said she clamped her hooves over her mouth and looked over at Ditzy who was still smiling. "Sorry," she apologized, "I mean, it's just that you look so young. I wouldn't expect somepony like you to already have a foal."
"It's fine," Ditzy told her, a sad look now in her eyes, "A lot of ponies tell me that. You're right, I am pretty young, and I made a few stupid mistakes a while back. But even though I have to raise her myself I would never take back what I did. My little Dinky means the world to me, and I wouldn't give her up for anything."
Sunset looked away, trying to think of something to change the subject with.
"So, um, why were you in Canterlot?" she questioned. Ditzy's smile brightened again.
"Oh, I work at the postal service in Ponyville, and they needed somepony to bring up some packages to Canterlot's postal service so I volunteered."
"Well that was very generous of you."
"Not really," Ditzy said, rubbing the back of her head, "I mean I was just being nice, I'm sure anypony else would have done the same thing."
"But you're a pegasus, so why didn't you fly instead of take the train?" Sunset wanted to smack herself for such a stupid question, but Ditzy didn't seem bothered by it.
"Well I was born with a condition called strabismus, so my eyes don't quite work properly. That makes it hard for me to judge depth perception, and in turn fly."
"I'm sorry," Sunset apologized, "I wasn't thinking."
"It's fine," Ditzy reassured her, "Like I said I was born with it, so I got used to it."
"Right, well let's talk about something else."
"Agreed."
--
The rest of the train ride was pretty uneventful for Sunset Shimmer as she and Ditzy talked until the train finally reached it's destination, the two departing at the Ponyville Train Station. "Well I would love to chat with you more Sunset, but I left Dinky with a friend of mine and I have to go get her," Ditzy explained, "I hope that you'll be able to visit me sometime." With that she departed, trotting off down what Sunset Shimmer assumed to be the town's main path.
"Right, well I better get to work," she said to herself, remembering the list that Princess Celestia had given her, "Okay, first thing's first, I need to check on the catering. First stop, Sweet Apple Acres!"
