Summer Vacation in Equestria

The girl stood at the base of the great statue in front of her school’s entrance, staring blankly into the reflection of her own eyes. She breathed, blinked and thought slowly, almost cautiously about what to do. Even her surroundings seemed to get quieter every second she stood there. It was as if even the slightest disturbance could destroy everything.

It should have been a normal afternoon, the first afternoon of summer break to be exact.  Even though it was almost time for dinner the sun still stood high in the sky, heating up the air to an almost uncomfortable degree.

The sky was as beautiful as it would get in this world, a bright blue image of endless freedom, bare of any clouds. No pegasus could have done a better job at preparing it.

The wind had died down completely, as if time itself was frozen. For the people of this world this would have been a perfect moment they could enjoy to its fullest. For Sunset this very perfection was adjacent to psychological terror.

Slight waves rippled across the portals surface, almost as if it was made of water instead of marble. But despite that noticeable unrest, her reflection stared back at her, unwavering. It felt like she was about to ask herself at any moment what she was waiting for.

Her hand slowly reached for one lock of her hair and she slightly pulled it in front of her eyes. It was red, vibrant red hair with bright yellow stripes in it, just like her mane and tale once were. She locked eyes with her reflection and shook her head vigorously. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

An irritated grunt from behind her made Sunset turn her head. “Oh come on! You stood there for like forever and now you just chicken out?” Rainbow Dash almost screamed in frustration.

Rarity cleared her throat and tried to reason. “Rainbow Darling, we really appreciate your ... effort to encourage Sunset, but would you at least reconsider your wording?”

But when Rainbow was going on a rant simple reasoning wasn’t going to stop her. “Why? She just stared at that thing for how long? An hour? Two? And now she just decides to back off. I wasted all that time to see her off and now...”

A light orange hand covered Rainbow Dash’s mouth and effectively silenced her. “You’re exaggerating, we came here about five minutes ago, not two hours. And secondly, I would really appreciate it if you just accepted that I don’t think I should go through that portal. Neither my departure from Equestria nor my last visit there went all that well, if you recall.” Sunset deadpanned.

“Ah reckon that ya should go anyway. Ya did some mighty crazy stuff around fall formal, but Twilight forgave ya. And we showed those fancy-shmancy sirens that they bit more than they could chew when they tried to do their magical music mind control thing at CHS.” Applejack had crossed her arms in front of her chest and tried to give off an aura of confidence.

“Girls, it’s just ...” Sunset heaved a heavy sigh. “Ok, I get that ‘friends tell each other embarrassing things’ part and to avoid any further discussion, let’s stick with that.” The former unicorn folded her arms around her shoulders and looked at her feet. “I’m simply afraid of what will happen. Will I be put on trial for what I did to Equestria? Will those I’ve hurt try to get some redemption? And I have no idea what Princess Luna will do with the knowledge of what I did. I’ve only heard about her, since she was still banished when I left. But if I take our vice-principal for standard, then I don’t want to end up on her bad side.”

The group was encompassed in an uncomfortable silence, when Fluttershy’s soft voice brought all attention onto her. When suddenly all eyes were locked on her, she took a few deep breaths and forced the words out. “Wouldn’t it be possible to, maybe, ask Twilight to take care of those charges? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind to help you out, you are friends with her after all. And she is a Princess.“

Sunset’s eyes darted around, processing the new idea before the corners of her mouth dropped and she shook her head. “We’re talking about assault on multiple officers of the Canterlot royal guard, violation of various royal decrees, high treason, theft against royalty and, to top it all off, attempted murder on said royalty.“

Applejack’s confidence was blown away by the short recital of Sunset’s crimes like leaves in from her apple trees in autumn. She took of her Stetson and scratched the back of her head. “Well ah think ya concerns might have something to them after all.”

Rarity looked at her friends with a serious expression and held true to her point from earlier. “It doesn’t actually matter if we think Sunset’s reasons are sound or not, as her friends we have to accept her decision. Besides, it would not be very ladylike to tie her down and throw her through the portal.” She pointed at the statue to emphasize her point and made a rather unladylike grunt to show her disapproval.

Sunset was about to thank her friends when a sudden pink blur shot past her and she felt two arms wrapping around her waist. She tried her best to shake her attacker off, but the struggle was in vain, she never stood a chance.

Pinkie’s technique was flawless, the speed with which she moved seemed beyond anything a human should be capable of and her grip was so powerful, it felt as if her arms were made of steel.

“PINKIE SUPLEX!”

Before any of the girls could even try to stop her, Pinkie started her display of an outstanding wrestling move. Fortunately, she didn’t smash Sunset head first to the ground when she bent backwards. Instead she loosened her grip around Sunset halfway through her move and hurled her helpless victim at the portal in one fluid motion.

Shortly after she let go of Sunset, Pinkie’s head connected with the ground. But instead of the crash that one would expect, there was only a light thud and the unexpected noise of a spring to be heard. The other girls just watched in awe as Pinkie’s hair seemed to simply absorb her impact and bounced her back up shortly after.

She wore a grin as wide as her face could support. “Ok, what are we doing next?” She almost bounced in excitement, her whole expression as cheerful as ever, just like nothing happened.

“Ahm, Pinkie, if ah’ve seen that right, ya just threw Sunset Shimmer into that portal. What ah don’t understand is why ya did that.” Applejack deadpanned.

Rarity shook her head and was visibly shocked, so shocked in fact that she even forgot to resort to her usual over dramatic reaction. “And I might add that you did this against her will Darling.”

“It was very, very rude to do that, even if you meant good.” Fluttershy spoke in an almost normal volume and was as close to furious as she could get, at least without dark magic tempering with her mind.

Rainbow’s face was a mixture of shock and admiration. “Fluttershy is right. I’m all for saving us time, but that was a little extreme. Even though I have to admit, that move was really sweet, you got awesome technique.” A sly smile creeped onto her face as she recalled Pinkie’s exact movements.

Pinkie just smiled and waved her friends comments of. “Oh come on girls. You all know that she wanted to go. She was just afraid. Everything will be fine. Twilight will wait for her at the other side and she will see have a welcome back party and all our pony selves will be there and Spike and ...”

“But what will ya’ll do if she gets hurt by that wrestling move of yours?” Applejack interjected with more than a slight tinge of worry in her voice.

“No need to worry, she will land on a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig trampoline.” Pinkie stretched her arms as wide as she could to emphasize her point that the trampoline was really big and a slight shadow of envy crossed her face.

Rarity raised an eyebrow and asked doubtfully. “Pinkie dear, how do you know that?”

Pinkie simply shrugged. “Just a hunch.”

Twilight stood in the room with the mirror that led to Canterlot High and stared at Pinkie Pie with her muzzle hanging open. The Pinkie had practically kicked in the door to the palace and now dragged a trampoline in as if it was the most normal thing ever. Within a few minutes she had positioned it in front of the mirror, taking short breaks from time to time before altering the position of said trampoline.

Finally, Twilight shook her head violently. “Pinkie? Why are you here and why are you bringing a trampoline?”

Pinkie only rolled her eyes. “Well duh, I bring a trampoline because we need a trampoline.”

Twilight deadpanned. “I honestly hoped for that, but for what do we need it?”

“So your friend won’t get hurt.” Pinkie simply stated as if it was obvious.

“How do you know Sunset is coming to Equestria?” Twilight had taken a step back and stared at Pinkie in shock. She hadn’t told anypony about it.

Pinkie suddenly got excited and grinned at Twilight. “Uhhh, it’s Sunset Shimmer? We already asked ourselves who you would keep secret from us. Rarity was sure it was your coltfriend.”

Twilight blushed vigorously and was almost yelling all of a sudden. “That’s not it!”

“Yeah, I was pretty sure about that, Flash isn’t popular enough to appear around here.” Pinkie shrugged and ignored Twilights the shouting.

A few deep breaths and a quick count from one to ten later, Twilight felt like she got her thoughts back on track. “Ok Pinkie, would you pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaase explain to me how much you know about her visit and why you know it?”

Pinkie sighed and turned to Twilight. “Well, first I got up this morning and then I had a really strange Pinkie Sense combo. It was all like ‘back knee twitch, left ear flop, itchy nose, eye flutter’ and, oh boy, I had to think really really really really hard to remember that this meant that I needed a one pony trampoline. Then I started to search all over Ponyville for one and got more combos and was really confused about all that. When Rarity, Fluttershy and I had lunch together I got one that said somepony new would come to town. Then I got one that said it was someone famous and Rarity got all excited and started fantasizing about who it could be. Later there was one that said it would be a really really reeeeeaaaaally powerful unicorn and finally, just a few minutes ago I got the one that said I needed to go to a mirror. So I went to a mirror, but the combo came again and again and again and so I tried all the mirrors I could find and then I got this incredible intense one that meant that I had to be at the castle. So I came here, brought my trampoline and here I am, ready to greet a new friend.”

Twilight’s left eye twitched and she had to fight the urge to once again scrutinize that Celestiadamn Pinkie Sense. Especially since all those combos that Pinkie described really set a new standard for the absurdity of her predictions. But there was nothing a few deep breaths and doing a ten count couldn’t solve. Although, in this particular case she didn’t exactly count to ten. She was at two thousand seven hundred and thirty eight when her heartbeat finally had dropped down to an acceptable level.

Pinkie Pie however had checked her trampoline while Twilight was calming her nerves and approved of her setup with a bright smile and a series of quick nods.

Twilight glanced at the clock on one of her reading tables and looked at Pinkie. “Ok, you can stay here for now, but please don’t tell the others about her visit and don’t do anything to scare her off. Sunset wasn’t all too excited when I invited her to Equestria. I want to give her a few days to calm down and make herself comfortable.”

Pinkie’s hair instantaneously deflated and she gave Twilight the most begging pair of puppydogeyes she would ever see. “But I wanted to throw her a party. She is new in Ponyville and she doesn’t have friends here and if she doesn’t have friends she will be sad and if she is sad I want to make her happy again and to make her happy I have to throw a party for her so she can make friends. But without her welcoming party she will be alone and sad and everypony else will not know her and everypony will be sad and that makes me sad and...”

Twilight shoved a hoof into Pinkie mouth and made puppydogeyes herself. “Please Pinkie, just a few days, then we can throw her the biggest party ever.”

Pinkie’s expression turned from sulky to serious in the blink of an eye. “One day.”

Twilight too dropped her begging face and stared at her friend with a steely gaze. “Three.”

“One and a half and only our closest two hundred friends.”

“Give me two and you can invite everypony you want.”

Pinkie’s hair puffed back up and, with a huge smile plastered on her face, she extended one hoof towards Twilight. “Deal!”

Twilight grinned and smashed her hoof against Pinkie’s. “Deal!”

While they had haggled over the date and size of Sunset’s welcoming party, the said girl floated through the chaotic realm between dimensions and cursed herself for not expecting something like this from Pinkie Pie. She knew her unpredictability for three years now, she should have been more cautious. Even back in the evil old days she always had to be aware of Pinkie, otherwise every plan she made was in constant danger to be ruined by her sheer randomness.

Although, was it truly randomness? Strangely enough, more often than not the random event Pinkie Pie triggered led to the best possible outcome of a certain situation. She was either a complete maniac or one of the most intelligent beings imaginable. Having said this, which of those was the scarier possibility was something Sunset simply refused to think about. Besides, if her sense of time and her memory of her last journey were on track, her crash landing in Equestria was imminent.

Fortunately, Sunset’s guess was nearly spot on and shortly after she prepared herself to pass the second mirror, she felt the familiar sensation of passing through an incredible thin, yet extremely cold, waterfall. Her hands turned into hooves, she felt her face changing its proportions and her whole body was shrinking down in size. What really blew her mind however was when suddenly her horn had reappeared and magic was simply everywhere. She could feel it inside her body, as well as all around her and she could feel the indescribable sensation of her mind being able to change the very shape of reality. For Sunset, being a unicorn again was like drowning in a sea of bliss.

But, like all good things in life this too came to an end. In Sunset’s case, the great feeling of being a pony once again simply subdued to the fact that she had no contact to the ground and was traveling at a not negligible speed. Since she would need a few minutes to bring her magic back to use, her options were rather narrow. Truth be told, she could only clench her teeth, prepare for impact and hope for the best.

A sudden noise got Twilights attention back to the mirror where she could see a flying Sunset Shimmer coming through. Before anypony could react, the orange unicorn hit the trampoline and was shot straight up, into the air. By a combination of good luck and a high ceiling Sunset didn’t crash into the roof, but seemed rather surprised by the ongoing events. She looked down and fell back towards the trampoline, bouncing of it once again.

All three ponies watched as the apexes of Sunset’s jumps grew smaller every time she bounced of the trampoline. Twilight's mouth was hanging wide open and her head bobbed up and down, following Sunset’s jumps. The only just transformed unicorn herself however, was frozen in shock and didn’t do much beside staring down at her bouncy lifesaver.

Pinkie Pie, all the while, simply grinned as broad as she could and accompanied every rise and fall of Sunset with a strangely appropriate “Woo-ooo”

All in all, it took barely twenty seconds for Sunset’s jumps to die down. When she simply stood on the trampoline, not moving a muscle, Pinkie sprang into action. From a point outside everypony’s field of view a confetti cannon unleashed its load in the air and Pinkie screamed with her typical grin. “Welcome back to Equestria Sunset. Had a nice trip?”

A blank stare was all the answer the pink party pony was going to get.

Twilight nudged Sunset and looked at her worried. “Are you ok? You aren’t hurt are you?”

Suddenly Sunset Shimmer shook her head vigorously and stared at the two ponies in front of her. “Ooh, ahh ... yes, sorry. I was just ... startled by this ... chain of events.” She pointed at Pinkie. “Let me guess, you are this world's Pinkie Pie?”

Pinkie stared shocked at Sunset. “Are you psychic?”

Sunset rolled her eyes in mild annoyance. “No, but we have a Pinkie Pie of our own at Canterlot High and you resemble her in more than just mane style and color.”

Pinkie’s face took on a look of pure horror. “There are other mes?” Her head darted around to catch Twilights gaze. “We didn’t get all the mirror pool Pinkies!”

Twilight shook her head and smiled. “Don’t be ridiculous Pinkie. Sunset lives in another world, a world filled with beings, called humans, which are, in large part, equivalents of ourselves. I may have not explained it in all the details, but these girls at Canterlot High that I told you about, they are not just friends of mine, they are very similar to you, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow and Rarity. It’s almost as if they are created in our image, just another species.”

Sunset cleared her throat. “Or we were created in their image.”

Pinkie looked at the two other ponies and cocked her head. “I think I’m going back to Sugarcube Corner, I’d like to bake some muffins.” She shrugged as she noticed that Twilight and Sunset were already ignoring her over their conversation. “And you guys are barely two minutes in one room and you are already talking sciency stuff that goes riiiiiiiight over my head.”

While Twilight and Sunset argued about the possibility that one of their worlds actually created the other, Pinkie grinned and bounced out of Twilight’s Castle.

It took Twilight a whole of fifteen minutes to register that Pinkie was gone. And when she looked at Sunset with a questioning look, the first thing she got was a giggle. “Multitasking is clearly not your thing isn’t it? Pinkie left shortly after we started to theorize about multiverses, interdimensional connections and bilateral influences of two of those on each other.”

Twilight raised one eyebrow. “You picked that up while we were discussing interdimensional physics?”

Sunset nodded and puffed out her chest. “It’s quite a useful skill to pick up multiple conversations all around you while having one of your own. Especially if you try to manipulate and control a complete school.”

To her own surprise, Twilight had to admit that Sunset was right. “That ... actually makes sense.”

Sunset giggled. “I may have been more than a little bit power-crazy, but I was no idiot. I knew exactly how to get the other students to do what I want and what skills I needed to do so.”

“Well, your plan to take over Equestria wasn’t that great. I don’t think you would be able to overpower either the princesses or the royal guard.” Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes.

Other than Twilight, Sunset got dead serious. “As strange as it sounds, I don’t exactly know what I was thinking at the Fall Formal. Especially after I put on your element. My memories of these days are a little blurred and it gets worse and worse the closer it comes to the actual Fall Formal. It almost is as if my darker emotions got more and more control over me over time until there was finally nothing else than hatred and the longing for revenge”

Twilight stopped smiling and put a hoof to her chin. “That might actually be possible. The element of magic only appears when all the other five elements are present, which would imply that it has a deep connection to the other elements and their respective virtues. If we assume that you had one or two of the opposites of the element’s virtues inside you, they might have seeped into the element of magic. When you stole the crown you might have accidentally started it’s corruption, which in turn amplified your negative emotions until there was nothing else. And when you finally placed the crown on your head, the corruption took form, which then enabled me and the others to use the magic of friendship to cleanse you and the element itself.”

Sunset rubbed the bridge of her nose. “So, you’re saying that it was a good thing that I got my hands on the crown in the end?”

“It might have been, yes. I don’t know what a corrupted element of harmony would have done to my mind with enough time.” Twilight nodded.

Sunset shrugged. “Sounds solid, but we lack the ability to test your theory. All we have are assumptions, there are no real evidence to back it up. And I’m not really keen on being a test subject again. Getting blasted with friendship-magic once is more than enough for me.” A slight smile creeped onto her lips.

Twilight waved Sunset over and snickered slightly. “Then get down from that trampoline and let’s start your vacation in Ponyville!”

After an extensive tour around Twilight’s castle, including various lectures and stories about nearly everything, Sunset and Twilight reached the throne room with the huge crystalline map of Equestria and the roots of the Golden Oaks Library in it.

Sunsets hooves ached and she silently thanked Celestia for the opportunity to sit down. It was strange to walk on four legs again and the human habit to sit down whenever you can had lead to her legs being sore after merely two hours of walking around.

Twilight on the other hoof was only getting started. When Sunset sat down on a cushion, she walked all around the room and explained her plan for the next day, emphasizing everything she had to say with her wild gesturing hooves. “First thing will be breakfast of course, I already booked a table in the trefoil, Ponyville’s best cafe. They have the best daffodil and daisy sandwiches I ever had. After that we will take a short shopping trip at the hardware store, Mr. Lugnut will surely make us some good prices and then we can ...”

Sunset raised a hoof to interject and looked puzzled. “Hey there, calm down Twilight. What do we do in a hardware store? I thought we would have some fun and have a good time together. Not exactly the first things I think of if you talk about a hardware store.”

At Sunset’s last statement Twilight giggled knowingly. “Oh believe me, you’re going to love it. We will just grab a few supplies and then we can head off to the greatest thing you’ve ever seen.” Twilight rubbed her hooves and her grin got slightly more sinister. “Ponyville lies right on the edge of the Everfree Forest, you see?”

Sunset gave Twilight a look of pure and utmost indifference. “I already knew that, besides, the Everfree isn’t exactly first choice for a picnic or something.”

Despite her friends growing confusion, Twilight giggled further. “Yeah, there are nicer places for that, but do you know what is right in the center of it?”

“Right in the center of the ...” Sunset’s jaw dropped. “No way?!”

A smile normally only spotted on Pinkie Pie’s muzzle appeared in Twilight’s. “Yes way! Yes all the way!” She yelled.

Sunset shook her head and stared at Twilight with eyes as wide as dinner plates. “We’re really going to see the castle of the two sisters? I read in a book I got from Celestia that it once stood in the midst of what is now the Everfree Forest, but at the time, nopony knew exactly where it was.”

Twilight tapped her hooves in excitement and anticipation. “We found it when Nightmare Moon returned and we searched for the Elements of Harmony. But Zecora might have already known its location back then, unfortunately nopony ever bothered talking to her at the time. Anyway, we will grab a few things from Mr. Lugnut and then head for the castle.”

Sunset had asked Twilight for an alarm and set it almost an hour before Celestia would raise the sun. She wanted to see it, for the first time in almost three years, she wanted to see Celestia raise the sun. She showered, groomed her coat and mane, made herself a peanut butter jelly sandwich and headed for the castle’s highest balcony.

She sat on her haunches and watched the moon sink in the western sky. Finally, shortly before it touched the horizon, the faint glow of the dark blue magic associated with princess Luna seized control over it and gently started to guide it to it’s rest. At this moment, Sunset turned her head to the east and waited with glistening eyes.

It took only minutes before the horizon started to turn orange, glowing brighter and brighter every second. When the first ray of sunlight hit her, Sunset’s eyes went wide.

Suddenly, time was a nonexistent concept to her, there was only Celestia’s sunrise.

On earth, the sunrise was beautiful as well, but what she saw right now was something entirely different. What she witnessed was nothing less than the manifestation of all that Celestia was admired for. Most ponies might not feel it to the same extend as Sunset did at the time, but whenever ponies looked at the sunrise, they could feel her love. This sunrise, her sunrise, was full so of care, compassion, gentleness and love. Sunset’s eyes became wet and a few stray tears rolled down her cheeks. “I didn’t know how much I missed that.”

“I thought you’d be here.” Twilight spoke softly as she stood at the entrance of the balcony, smiling at her friend.

Sunset didn’t look at her, it was like she was under a spell. All she could watch at was the most beautiful sunrise she had ever seen. “It wasn’t that hard to figure out, I mean I even asked for an alarm. But you didn’t need to come look after me, I’m fine.”

Slowly, Twilight walked up to sunset and set down next to her, also admiring the sunrise. “What exactly did you mean when you said you didn’t know how much you missed it?”

Without even blinking Sunset answered a question with a question. “Have you ever seen the sun rising when you were on earth?”

With a soft sigh, Twilight shook her head. “Not really. On my first visit I was rather busy and on the second one we had only one night. And between Pinkie’s slumber party and my all nighter I wasn’t really in the mood to be an early riser.”

Sadness overshadowed Sunset’s face. “When you come over next time, we can look at one together, I think you will understand me when you see it. But I can tell you, it feels wrong.”

Twilight was puzzled and looked to the rising sun. “How can a sunrise feel wrong?”

Sunset explained with ever growing sadness in her eyes. “It’s feels sort of cold, emotionless if you will. After I’ve seen a few of them on earth, I grabbed some books on the sun and nearly had a mental breakdown when I learned that they have no one guiding it.”

A humorless giggle escaped Twilight’s throat. “Yeah, I know how that feels. It was kind of hard to swallow when the girls told me that their Celestia and Luna didn’t guide their sun and moon.”

Sunset nodded. “Even though on earth, the sunrise is beautiful too, it feels sort of mechanical. Well, it happens sort of on its own anyway.” In the blink of an eye all the sadness seemed to vanish from Sunset’s expression and a genuine smile appeared on her muzzle. “Here however, you almost feel how much Celestia loves each and every one of us. It’s the difference between the sun warming your coat and your heart, I think.”

Twilight nodded, but didn’t say anything else. The sunrise was almost over and she wanted to let Sunset enjoy it as much as she could.

When the sun had taken its spot in the sky and Celestia’s life giving rays finally kissed all of Equestria awake. Sunset slowly rose and turned towards her friend. “Wanna grab something for breakfast?” A few tears of joy still ran down her face, but her smile shone as bright as the sun she admired a few moments ago.

Twilight and Sunset headed for the kitchen to prepare a light snack instead of a full fledged breakfast, mostly because they still had their table reserved at the trefoil cafe later on.

Sunset headed for a pot, filled it with water and started to prepare tea when she noticed that Twilight was heading for a device that looked like a mad scientist’s attempt to combine a mill and a steam engine. It even had a few wooden pistons sticking out the sides. She turned around and looked at the strange machine with a certain amount of unease. “Twilight? What is that?”

Before she turned around Twilight pushed a button and the probable doomsday device came to life. “Hmm? It’s a coffee machine. I’m pretty sure earth has them too.” Twilight seemed to blissfully ignore the rumbling sounds and clouds of steam emitted by the machine behind her.

With an audible gulp Sunset pointed at the, so called, coffee machine. “Those that exist on earth aren’t quite like that one.” The machine made a loud shrieking noise and jumped nearly one foot into the air. “And they don’t do stuff like that.”

Twilight turned her head and looked at the machine with an oblivious gaze. “It always does that.” She turned her head back towards Sunset and smiled. “You’ll get used to it.”

It wasn’t all that soothing for Sunset when a presumably immortal being with almost godlike powers was saying that they weren’t in danger. She doubted that they had the same definition of danger in the first place. But, since there was no other option, she condoned her fate and hoped her scepsis on behalf of Equestria’s technology was unfounded. Besides, she wouldn’t want to make Twilight think she didn’t trust her.

After five minutes, Twilight’s coffee and Sunset’s tea were done and the two of them settled down at the kitchen table. Sunset gave the coffee a suspicious look and couldn’t help but to address the elephant in the room. “Why coffee and not tea?”

Twilight gave first Sunset, then her cup, a puzzled look. “I simply prefer coffee to start my day. I’d like a good cup of tea to calm down, but to get my brain going in the morning coffee simply does a better job.”

Sunset’s magic enveloped her cup in a light cyan glow, levitated it slowly up to her and she took a cautious sip to not burn her tongue. “It’s just, well, I was Celestia’s student too and if I observe myself I have to notice that I adopted many of her habits.” She stated matter-of-factly as she levitated her teacup in front of her face. “Drinking tea for example.”

Twilight tilted her head and gave Sunset a slightly cocky grin. “Are you searching for familiarities between us?”

Sunset chuckled and nodded. “Who wouldn’t like to have a few things in common with a princess?”

With a deep groan and a throwaway gesture Twilight replied. “You tell me. You have no idea how many ponies seem to think that now that I’m a princess everything I do is cool and trendy and what not. I’m surprised they didn’t already make themselves look like me.” Many of Twilight’s subjects might have been offended by her snarky tone and her clear disapproval of their behavior, but Sunset simply giggled. The sight of an alicorn princess being just a little moody in the morning, like so many other ponies were, was just too funny.

She took another sip of her tea before she leaned back and sighed in content when, all of a sudden, an unexpected rumbling noise came from under the table and Twilight’s eyes grew wide. Sunset perked up her ears and looked puzzled. “Twilight? That sounded like the vibrating alert of a cell phone. You don’t have cell phones have you?”

The grinding of teeth was all that could be heard when Twilight looked down at her flank, specifically her cutie mark. To her, quite visible, dismay her cutie mark was glowing, as well as giving off slight vibrations and a corresponding sound. Twilight grabbed her coffee mug with her magic, gulped down the steaming content and rose from her seat.

Her curiosity won over her caution. “Mind to explain the sudden mood swing?” Sunset pointed a hoof at Twilight’s cutie mark. “Oh and maybe why your flank glows and vibrates.”

“I just got work.” Twilight grunted.