You Raise Me Up

It was incredibly bizarre to be back in her old body again.

Groaning as she got up from where she had emerged from the portal, Sunset took stock of her surroundings- stetching out her new limbs experimentally. She could already tell she was in a different castle than last time- presumably Twilight’s castle in Ponyville. The walls were made of a deep blue crystal, and the current, very large room she was in was filled to bursting with row upon row of bookshelves. She raised an eyebrow at the various Daring Do posters dotted about.

“Rainbow Dash put those up. Gives it a bit more of a personality, you know?”

Sunset looked up to see Twilight approach her. She’d only seen Twilight as a pony once before, but that had been before they were friends. Her eyes involuntarily drifted to Twilight’s wings, held against her sides. She felt the stirrings of a strange emotion in her gut that she couldn’t place.

She then processed what Twilight said, and a look of confusion overcame her. “Rainbow Dash reads Daring Do?”

Twilight raised a hoof to her mouth and giggled. “Yes, at this point she’s the series’ biggest fan. Go figure, huh?”

Sunset glanced around at the shelves, and smirked. Focusing, her horn lit up with magic- she was surprised at how naturally it still came to her. What was that human saying about bicycles?

She selected a book with her telekinesis and showed it to her purple friend. “Personally, I always preferred Pony Trek”

Twilight groaned even as she gestured for Sunset to follow her, entering the corridor outside the library. “Remind me not to introduce you to my brother, he’ll drag you to every convention under the sun.”

Trailing along, Sunset blinked. “You have a brother?” It seemed these days she was learning more about Twilight all the time.

“Yeah, Prince Shining Armour- he’s married to Princess Cadence. Don’t let that fool you though,” Twilight laughed. “We’ve still caught him playing Oubliettes and Ogres when he thinks no one’s looking.”

“So dorkiness runs in the family?” Sunset quipped cheekily.

Twilight blushed, and for some reason Sunset felt her heart skip a beat. “S-something like that.”

There was an awkward silence, then Twilight coughed and pointed to the double doors in front of them. “Well, here’s my study. Shall we?”

Nodding, Sunset followed her in.

For someone as organised as Twilight, her study was a chaotic mess. The walls were practically plastered in reports, checklists, photographs and references. Books piles created a maze of knowledge, and her desk was coated in quills, scrunched up balls of paper and empty coffee cups.

Seeing her friend’s amused expression, Twilight cringed. “Er, sorry about the mess. Believe it or not, it’s been worse.”

“It’s ok- I was a student once too.” The two shared a chuckle. “So, where shall we start? Uh, shouldn’t we have bought the mirror with us?”

Twilight shook her head. “Not just yet. First, I need you to help with these.” Focusing her magic, the alicorn opened a drawer in the desk and withdrew…a bunch of glass shards?

Something about them looked familiar as they floated in front of Sunset’s face. “What…what are these?” She asked curiously.

Twilight smirked. “The remains of the other mirror.”

Sunset nodded. “Oh, I see- wait, WHAT?” Sputtering, she looked at Twilight in shock. “There’s more than one mirror?”

Twilight looked remorseful. “There is…or rather, there was.” Sighing, she rested the shards on the desk. “Unfortunately, it was destroyed in an…incident. Unlike the mirror currently in the library, this one could lead to all sorts of worlds, not just one. A vast repository of knowledge…gone forever.”

She glanced at Sunset, who was still gobsmacked. “I doubt it can be repaired- in fact, it shouldn’t be repaired, for a number of reasons. But I’m hoping that these shards contain answers to some of your mirror’s secrets.” She gestured to one of the book piles. “These are all the notes I could find of Starswirl’s on the mirrors. Annoyingly, he only wrote stuff down about the one that was destroyed.”

Head still spinning, Sunset latched onto that tidbit of information. “…Starswirl knew about the mirrors?”

“Of course. He created them, after all.”

“…um, Twilight? Maybe you could over everything that you know, from the beginning?” Sunset asked sheepishly, feeling a little overwhelmed.

Twilight smiled. “Alright…but you might wanna sit down. It’s a rather long story. I’ll get Spike to make us some snacks.”

Minutes later, they were reclining on a much more comfortable princess-sized bed in Twilight's room (which of course, had it's fair share of bookcases as well).

Spike bought them nachos and apple juice. Sunset was a little surprised to realise he was a dragon in this world, but he seemed just as amiable as his dog form. He didn’t stick around, mentioning he had a gem cake baking that he needed to get back to.

Taking a sip of her juice, Twilight looked pensive. “Where to begin…well,” She took a breath. “It all started when we received a summons from Princess Luna…”

“…and then, the dimensional rift was sealed, forever closing off our world from the Mirror Equestria.” Twilight concluded. “Celestia was…pretty distraught for a while after that.”

“Wow…” Sunset was almost speechless. A world with an evil, tyrannical Celestia, and a good King Sombra? A King Sombra whom our Celestia fell in love with, but almost destroyed two dimensions in doing so? “Do um…these kinds of things happen fairly often? It sounds like me going demon mode, or the Sirens, is just another day at work for you by this point.” She meant it as a joke, but she was also morbidly curious as to the answer.

Twilight laughed good-naturedly. “Not quite, though it does sometimes feel like it.” She scribbled something in a notebook with a quill held in her magic. “Now that you know the backstory, that should help us when working together in our research.”

“Yeah…” After hearing that story, research was the last thing on Sunset’s mind. “Um…is Celestia…you know, ok?”

Twilight nodded. “She’s lived for a long time…as morbid as it sounds, grief is something she’s pretty used to dealing with.” Seeing Sunset wince, she hastened to explain. “W-what I mean is, um…urgh, how do I put this…”

“Princess Celestia…she’s been through so much over the centuries. Lost so much.” Sunset interrupted. Her face was downcast. “And yet she’s always calm, collected and optimistic. She’s so strong of heart…”

Twilight gazed at Sunset for a minute with an expression Sunset couldn’t place. Then, she leaned forward and nuzzled Sunset. The unicorn was surprised, but leaned into the contact.

“Bit for your thoughts?” Twilight asked softly.

Sunset sighed into her friends mane. “I just…talking about this just reminds me of how much pain I’ve probably caused her.” Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “When I left I…I said some pretty awful things to her.”

“You know she’s already forgiven that, and everything else you’ve done…right?”

“I know. And…in a way that makes me feel worse. If she was angry with me it would be easier to deal with.” At this point a few tears did fall. “If I did talk to her about this, she’d just…she’d just…”

“Look at you with that sad smile that makes you feel more and more guilty?” Sunset jerked in surprise even as Twilight giggled softly. “I may not have made the same mistakes you did…but I know what it’s like to let Celestia down.”

Twilight wrapped her hooves around Sunset in a hug, her face still nuzzled into Sunset’s neck. “I think it will be good for you to talk to her. You both need the closure.”

“I’m afraid to.” Sunset whispered, admitting it to herself as much as to Twilight.

“You don’t have to do it until you’re ready.” Twilight said quietly, hugging her a bit tighter.

“I know…thank you, Twilight.” Sunset wiped her eyes. “I needed this."

They stayed in that embrace in comfortable silence for a time, allowing Sunset to regain her composure. She become very aware of Twilight's heartbeat against her skin.

She took note of the pale moonlight coming through the window. "Heh...it's getting late, Twilight. We didn't even get any of that research done."

No response.

“Uh, Twilight?”

A soft snore greeted her. Sunset blushed, suddenly realised that she couldn't end the compromising position they were both in without waking her friend. She laughed and shook her head. “Oh Twilight…you dork.”

She rested her head on Twilight's back, closed her eyes, and let sleep take her.

She dreamed of mirrors and princesses.