Somepony to learn from

by adorablesmiles

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life
Length: 2759

Sunset Shimmer didn't believe in Friendship. But when she takes a secret trip back to Equestria, she might get confronted by a certain purple pony looking for answers.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2015-12-14 15:57:18 UTC

Chapter 1

"Um... Excuse me." I said, as I tried to make my way through the seemingly endless crowd of ponies.

It was the strangest thing, but it seemed like every pony in Equestria was in Canterlot. And as far as I knew, there wasn't any big events scheduled for the next few days.

I may not have known what all these other ponies were doing here, but I knew what I was doing here.

That is, of course, until I got sidetracked.

I had no idea what it was, but even though I was in a crowd, I felt like I was being watched. It felt like there was something lurking in the shadows. I didn't know if it was a pony or something evil, but I didn't like the feeling it gave me.

All I could do was sink down further into the darkness. I was hiding behind a building, and Celestia's little prodigy almost saw me. The last thing that I need is for her to see me.

I know somepony who didn't understand the situation that I was going through would probably say that it's my fault that I left Celestia in the first place. But, in reality, she's the one to blame. She didn't give me what I was ready for. I know that she said that I wasn't ready, but she was dead wrong. I know that I was ready to be a princess. In fact, I still am. And I'm still more than ready. And what did Celestia do when I left Equestria? She forgot about me. I know she did. And the worst part is that she didn't even make an effort to find me.

I scoffed to myself. "I shouldn't be blaming myself for what happened. If anything, it's her fault that I left." I said, not caring if anyone caught me now or not. Odds are, Twilight was probably long gone by now.

But despite that, I knew that I was right about this. She was the one that crossed me, not the other way around. I couldn't have crossed her if I didn't do anything wrong.

I was going to think some more, but that was when I heard the very familiar sound of hooves stepping on the ground, and they were coming closer and closer to me.

Oh great, look what you've done Sunset. You got yourself caught. Why did you have do mess up like this?

I didn't say anything. I slowed my breathing down as much as possible, but even after I did that, my heart was pounding hard against my chest. It was doing it so hard to the point where it hurt.

But I don't think that it was beating near loud enough to the point where someone could actually hear it. All I knew was that I was extremely nervous to see what was coming. Mainly because I had my eyes closed.

"Who's there?" I heard.

I didn't recognize that voice. But obviously the pony sees me or they wouldn't even be here.

"Please don't hurt me! I'm innocent!" I didn't even know that would come out of my mouth until I said it. Whoever it is in front of you right now is never going to believe that. But then again, they probably don't even know who you are just like you don't know them... Maybe you can use this to your advantage.

"I didn't say that I was going to hurt you, silly filly!" The voice changed from stern and scary to warm and comforting.

"You- you're not going to hurt me?" I asked. I definitely didn't want to take chances now.

"Nope. I wouldn't hurt anypony."

Now, if I had stayed in Equestria, and Celestia had taken up Twilight as a student even though I was still around, which I seriously doubt, then I probably would've known who I was talking to right now. But seeing as I spent all my time in that other world, I wasn't any wiser. I didn't even know what Twilight looked like. But I seriously doubted that this would be the same pony. The chances that I would run into the very pony that was brought in to replace me first thing were very low.

"Are you hungry? I was just heading to the cafe to get something to eat." The pony said. My stomach growled immediately after she said that.

So I nodded. "Sure."

Chapter 2

I was walking to the cafe, along with the pony that I found hiding away behind a building. I couldn't begin to comprehend why she would've been doing that. To me, she seemed completely innocent.

I suppose I could always ask her.

It felt like forever before we got there, but eventually we did.

"Thank Celestia. My hooves are killing me."

That sparked my curiosity even more. "I'm kinda curious about that. Why were you hiding behind that building when I found you?"

The orange mare that was sitting in front of me grew quiet. She looked like I had struck a nerve.

"Um. Never mind." I said.

The conversation was pretty much cut short after that. We were both looking through the menu to decide what we each wanted. And then there was the awkward silence before the waiter came.

But eventually the lack of speaking became unbearable. "So... how long have you lived in Canterlot?" I asked.

She shrugged. "All my life, I guess. And then I moved, and now I'm back for a visit." It was strange, but she didn't sound like she wanted to talk about her life very much. In fact, she sounded like she was pretty uncomfortable.

"Well, I-"

I was about to change the subject, but that was when the waiter finally came with our food. And it was just in time, because I was more hungry than I thought I was.

"This place has really good food." I said. I was trying my hardest not to be rude.

"It does. I forgot about how good it was when I moved."

"Yeah." I started. "Moving to a new place can be rough on a pony."

And then, just when it seemed like this pony was warming up to me, she clammed up.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No... it's just that... they don't really refer to me, or anyone else for that matter, as a pony. It's a lot different."

"This place you moved to must be really far away." I said.

I could see little beads of sweat on her face. "It is, but it isn't."

I was starting to get confused. "What does that mean?"

"Um.... Nothing! Nothing whatsoever!" I could hear the panic in her voice. And she looked like I was interrogating her.

"Are... are you alright?" I asked. I wasn't quite sure how to handle this.

She sat there, nervously rubbing her hooves together a little while longer. "I... I can't handle all these questions. I have to go." She said, as she ran off.

I ran fast and I ran hard. Even though I knew that I had barely had a chance to rest my hooves, I also knew that I had to escape. I just had to. That pony was asking too many questions.

And on top of that, I had to make sure that I didn't hide in the same place that I was in before, because she would be sure to find me there. And that was the last thing I wanted to happen.

When I finally got behind another building, I sat myself down and tried to relax. But I already knew that wasn't going to be easy. I was too on edge now because I didn't want to risk blowing my cover. I wanted that pony to think I was innocent. But now I seriously doubted that she would believe that now.

Even so, I knew now that I had to be more careful with the information I gave about myself. Especially since that was a total stranger I was talking to just now. It could have just as easily been Twilight. The very pony that I wanted to avoid. Especially since she'd probably turn me in to Celestia or something like that. I couldn't tell if Celestia had already filled her in about the pony who was around before she was, and the same one that "wasn't ready."

I probably would have thought about this more, but I realized that I was fuming.

Calm down, Sunset. You're getting worked up over nothing. And also, if you're going to do it, can you please fume a little quieter?

I did as I wanted myself to. And the fuming slowed down so much that it stopped completely.

Although, I probably wouldn't have been fuming in the first place if it hadn't been for Celestia not seeing my potential. I knew that it was in me. It still was. I was sure of it. But if I had stuck around, she would probably still be holding me back. She wasn't able to see what was inside of me. The greatness.

I got startled when I heard laughing coming from in front of the building. I didn't know who it was, but I didn't want to know, either.

Basically, all I did was listen to the conversation. It was pretty boring at first, but then a familiar voice from earlier joined in.

"Um... I don't mean to be rude, but by any chance, did either of you see an orange pony run by here? Her hair was red and yellow."

"Sorry, dearie. We haven't seen anypony like that around here. But if I do see one like that, and I see you again afterwards, I'll be sure to get the word to you."

"Okay, thanks a lot."

That would be where the conversation ended. But I didn't bother looking around the corner just yet. It probably wasn't safe now. And considering the way that I almost blew it earlier, I didn't want to stretch my luck any further than I already had.

So I sat there for... I don't know how much longer. But I knew that I wanted to make sure that I was safe before I did anything drastic.

I probably could have stayed there forever, if only my hind leg hadn't fallen asleep. If it hadn't been for that, then I probably would have slept there for the night.

So that's when I gently poked my head around the corner. Sure enough, there wasn't a single pony out there.

Now's my chance.

Chapter 3

It's safe to say that I had a really rough night last night. I spent most of it worrying about what happened last night. I know that it doesn't  make any sense for me to worry about a total stranger like this, but I guess that's just my friendly caring nature.

I don't think that Celestia would know anything about a random Unicorn that I found on the street. Or, to be more precise, hiding behind a building.

But that reminded me of the curiosity that I had felt just last night.

Why did she not feel like telling me about herself? Why was she so nervous when I was asking her questions? And why did she run off in such a hurry?

There was a lot of questions running through my brain. But I knew that I couldn't spend all day worrying about a pony that I probably wouldn't see ever again.

Relax Twilight. You don't have to worry about this anymore.

Ughhh... Why did I have to sleep on the cold ground? I thought.

Right now, my back was aching from sleeping on the hard land. But now it was just occurring to me that I would have been much better off if I had asked someone if they had a spare bedroom or something and if they would be nice enough to let me stay there. Surely there had to be a nice pony somewhere that would take me in and also just so happened to live in Canterlot.

I admit that I would have gone to live with my parents. But then again, I had completely forgotten where they lived by now. And besides, I had no idea how they felt about me. And I didn't know what would happen if I showed up after... I don't know how many moons. It would be pretty sad if I returned to them shunning me.

But I refused to feel bad about myself. I didn't have to. And it didn't even matter to me if they didn't want me to live with them anymore. It's they're loss! Just like it was Celestia's loss when she denied me. And the only reason that I came back to Equestria was so I could get revenge. That seemed like it was going to be the only way to get me what I wanted.

And I had full confidence in my plan, as long as that purple pony didn't find me again. Because if she did, I had a feeling that would be nothing but trouble. I had no idea if this seemingly nice pony was friends with Twilight or not.

I'm getting the feeling that this plan of mine is too risky. I was getting the impression that it would be much easier if I gave up now.

I slapped myself with my hoof. Don't be silly Sunset. Your doing the right thing, and don't you dare think that it's wrong because it isn't.

And then I finally decided to get up. I was getting uncomfortable. And a little bit hungry too. Either way, I didn't plan on staying here all day. I was sure that I could get a clear shot to escape with. I was still pretty confident in myself there atleast.

So I slowly walked out into the open, while still being very cautious.

And sure enough, there was lots of other ponies around, just like it was yesterday. So far, today felt like déjà vu in that sense. But I would be lucky if I was the only one that was here again. I could only hope.

Don't get so comfortable with yourself, Sunset. Just keep your eyes peeled, and you'll be fine.

I kept looking around as I continued to walk around.

But apparently I wasn't paying as much attention as I thought I was, because I ran right into a door. And of course, that knocked me down.

"Oh! Are you okay?!" I heard.

I wasn't aware of who I was talking to right now. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." I said.

"That's good. Hey... you kinda look familiar."

I still wasn't with it yet. "I... do?"

The pony in front of me nodded. "Yeah, somepony was asking about you just the other day. And you look like the description she gave. But I haven't seen her today. Do you want me to tell her that I saw you?"

And then it finally hit me. "Um... no. I don't think that's a good idea. Nopony knows I'm here, and I would like to keep it that way."

"Could I ask why?"

And then I started sweating again, just like yesterday. I hated random ponies asking me all these questions about why I was here.

"That's a little bit personal, don't you think?" I asked.

"Um... are you sure you're okay like you said?"

I nodded. "Yeah. It's just... I mean... I'm just... Is it hot out here all of a sudden?"

The pony looked confused. "No... It's not even Summer right now."

Hearing that didn't reassure me very much. And the sweating issue only got worse the longer I stood here.

"I think you need to get to a doctor. You are sweating really hard."

I shook my head. "No ma'am. I'm fine on my own." It probably seemed odd that I was completely rejecting any help right now, but if I was thinking straight, I knew that if I did accept this help, then that pony from yesterday was sure to find me.

"Why don't you stay?" The pony insisted. I was slowly starting to get angry because she wasn't giving up on getting me help.

I turned to face her, but I did get a little bit dizzy after doing so.

"I don't know what you're name is, but I can assure you, I'm fine."

That was the last thing that I remember saying, because then everything went dark.