Sunshippedby MasterweaverChapters"I-YOU-BU-WHA--WHO THE HAY ARE YOU?!?!""Sunset?! What--What are you DOING here?!""You didn't tell me you LIVED in the castle! I thought you just worked there!""I don't see why you're making such a big issue out of this.""But I thought Sunset was a self-aware opposite sex construct Sunburst made of himself!""I-YOU-BU-WHA--WHO THE HAY ARE YOU?!?!""Name's Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer. But on to more important questions--" "What gives you any right to ask about my romantic life?!" Starlight Glimmer sputtered. "Or about Sunburst?! AND HOW DID YOU EVEN GET IN TWILIGHT'S PALACE ANYWAY?!" Sunset tapped her chin. "You know, technically I could answer all those questions with 'Magic' and be a hundred percent accurate. But I'll be fair: You're a highly-powerful unicorn, which means everybody's going to be watching you for powerful foals; I have close ties to Sunburst, which means I have a very good reason to look out for his future; and a mirror." "I---you--mirror?!" "Granted, it's a magic mirror. So, again, why aren't you tongue tangoing the tasty treat that is your childhood friend?" Starlight Glimmer opened her mouth, incomprehensible syllables pouring out as her face went from merely arguably pink to definitely pink. Sunset stood with a patient smile, waiting for a coherent response. "I-I just--you just--this is--what?! WHAT?! You don't just open with--with, and you, and me, and Sunburst, and what?! WHAT?! WHAT?!" "None of this is answering my question." "I'm not going to answer your question!" Starlight shouted. "It's a ridiculous question that I shouldn't have to--!" "Hold on, are you gay or asexual or something?" Sunset asked. "I mean, it's totally cool if you are." "...what." "Look, if you're not going to answer, I'm just going to guess." The yellow mare leaned against a wall. "I mean, you could be saving yourself for marriage, I guess--which kinda seems weird, since kissing isn't actual sex, but if that's how you roll--" "I have too much going on in my life to worry about something like love!" Sunset grinned. "There, you see? Was that so hard?" Starlight opened her mouth, paused, and narrowed her eyes. "You are a manipulative, conniving little pony." "Mmmm. Yeah. Yeah, that's pretty much me in a nutshell." The yellow mare pushed herself off the wall, holding out her hoof to Starlight. "Still, that doesn't mean we can't be friends." "I... guess not?" Starlight cautiously shook her hoof, keeping her eye on the pony. "I mean, I've done a lot worse." The other unicorn nodded. "Yeah, heard about your equality cult." "Y-You did?!" Starlight flinched, pulling her hoof back. "I mean, I don't do that anymore, and--how do you know about that anyway?!" "Me and Twilight chat every now and again. You know, talk about our lives and stuff. You came up a while ago." Sunset shrugged. "It's no big deal to me, I did something similar a while ago." "...What?" "Hypnotized a bunch of teenage apes, planned to use them to conquer Equestria. Twilight slapped some sense into me. Hey, maybe we could start a club or something." Sunset wrapped a leg around Starlight's shoulders, pointing at nothing. "Reformed Unicorns' Group! Actually, no, I don't know that many reformed unicorns. I mean I know this one girl who isn't a unicorn." "There's this pony called Trixie who--wait, no, hold on!" Starlight moved out from under Sunset's foreleg. "I don't even know anything about you and you just come out of nowhere to ask me about--about my romantic life!" "Why are you still focused on that?" Sunset asked, tilting her head. "I mean we got that straightened out like forty five seconds ago." "Who even are you?! And I don't mean your name and stuff, it's... you're walking up like you know me already and... and casually asking me about my personal life, but I don't know anything about you!" Sunset blinked, processing the words. "...Huh. You know what? You have a point... Wow. I went about this the entirely wrong way. Let's start over." She held out her hoof. "Hi. I'm Sunset Shimmer. I dated Sunburst once." Starlight stared at her in disbelief. "Really, you just think... okay. Fine." With a melodramatic toss of her mane, Starlight lifted her own hoof and bumped Sunset's. "Hi, I'm Starlight Glimmer. I was friends with Sunburst when we were kids." "Good to know. So, you want to..." Sunset paused, looking around. "Actually, it's been a while since I've been in Equestria. What is it that ponies do for casual get togethers again?" "Uh.... hum." Starlight rubbed her chin. "You know, I... never really was good at the casual get together thing. Almost all my interactions with other ponies were either to convince them to join my equality cult or, after that, to redeem myself for forming an equality cult. So... What do you want to do?" "Good question... I don't know, maybe some kind of board game or something?" Starlight shrugged. "Yeah, sure, that... that seems like a good idea." She paused. "Are you... going to keep pestering me about Sunburst?" "Weeeeeeeeeeell," Sunset hedged, "I do want what's best for him, and you do seem like you'd at the very least protect him from the hordes of mares interested in his beard, sooooooo..." "Why would hordes of mares be interested in his beard?" "Um. Have you seen that beard?" "Yeah. It's just a beard." Sunset stared at Starlight, completely shocked. "...What?" Starlight shrugged. "It's true! I mean... why are you looking at me like that?!" "So you're saying... mares don't like beards." "It's a non-issue--I mean, if you like beards that's fine, but it's not universal. How did you not know this?" Sunset turned away, mumbling to herself. Starlight swore she heard something about spices. Finally, the yellowish unicorn turned back. "Let's... let's just find some game to play." "Sunset?! What--What are you DOING here?!""Obviously, I am crushing Starlight Glimmer in a game of Canterlot Crusades." "Crushing?" Starlight scoffed. "You're hanging on by a thread." "Oh I assure you, everything has gone according to my designs." The yellowish unicorn slapped down a card, moving a few pieces across the board. "Every pawn I lost was a distraction, a sacrifice for my ultimate goal. BEHOLD!" She swiped up the dice in her hoof and rolled. "With my Mist of Dark spell, my soldiers have no trouble liberating the upper district from the tyranny of Celestial forces! And now that I have control of all the gem-stores in the city--" "I don't get any new jewels, which makes it hard to pay for enchantment cards." Starlight nodded in acknowledgement. "Well played, you Lunar fiend. Still, your forces are spread thin." "Perhaps." Sunset slid a card onto the board with a smirk. "But numbers are not my only strength." Twilight Sparkle watched as Starlight grumpily removed a large number of her own troops. "No, I can see that you're playing a game now, but... why did you come here in the first place? If I had known you were coming--" "It was a spur of the moment kind of thing. Just wanted to check how Sunburst was doing, you know?" The alicorn's eyes darted from one unicorn to the other. "Oh, right! That makes sense. Sister initiative, huh?" Starlight looked up from her cards with a frown. "Sister?" "Yeah, turns out I'm Sunburst's long lost big sister," Sunset explained. "We were really surprised when we found out." "But..." Starlight's face contorted. "You said you dated him!" "Really surprised," Sunset stressed. "Apparently our dad had a fling with my mom once, and mom never told him she got pregnant, so..." She shrugged. "When I said we dated once, I was not exaggerating." "Why didn't you say something, though? I mean, the way you were grilling me, you could have said 'I'm Sunburst's sister' and that would have made a lot more sense!" Sunset hemmed a bit. "Well... it's just... we're not close, you know? I mean, sure, biosibs, and I feel for the guy, but there's not really that much... relationship between us. We met in college, then the whole weirdness with us being long-lost siblings, and... I dunno. I'm good with checking on his love life, not so much on doing his laundry, you know?" Starlight looked at Sunset as though she had grown an extra head. "...why would you do his laundry?" "Ape expression. Been living with them for a while, trying to correct my mistakes." Twilight cleared her throat. "So, if you're here to check on Sunburst... how long do you plan on staying?" "Oh, I was thinking I'd get going after we had our chat, so I'll probably be leaving later today." "You do know Sunburst lives in the Crystal Empire, right?" Sunset blinked. She looked around at the high, crystalline walls of the study room. "...Yeah? Aren't we in the palace right now?" "Actually," Twilight explained, "I had the mirror moved to my castle after I moved in. Technically we're on the outskirts of Ponyville, which is just south of Canterlot." "...You told me you lived in a tree-library!" "Yeah, that... got blown up by a power-hungry centaur." The alicorn coughed. "Did I never mention that? I swear I brought it up at some point..." "Well, that's just great," Sunset grumbled, putting her cards down. "Here I thought I'd be in and out in time for tomorrow's soaps. Now I'm going to have to buy a train ticket, which means I'm going to have to go back and get money, and--actually, the money there isn't bits, so I'm going to have to work with you to set up an exchange rate--" "Or you could just ask me to pay for a ticket," Twilight suggested. "Nah, I'm going to have to head back anyway to explain things, adjust my schedule, all that." Starlight tilted her head. "Where are you going exactly?" "It involves a magic mirror--" "Um," Twilight interjected, "I don't know if we should talk about the mirror." "Why, is it a state secret?" The alicorn flicked her wings. "Weeeeeeeell, kiiiiind of... I mean it's not officially classified, but everypony who knows about it is technically classified as a high-priority asset by the Equestria military, so you know, secrecy by association..." "Does that include Sunburst?" "...oh, actually, no. I'm going to have to look into that, now that you mention it..." Starlight Glimmer blinked. "Wait, is this the same mirror you said you got here by?" Twilight blinked. "Sunset, how much did you tell her?" "I said I got here via magic mirror. And now, I'll have to head back home and tell everyone that I'll be longer than expected." "Does this have anything to do with the horde of teenage apes you tried to make an army out of?" Starlight asked. "Yeah, they live on the other side of the mirror--" Sunset facehooved. "Oh. That's why Twilight wants to keep the mirror secret." "Are these apes xenophobic or something?" Twilight coughed. "More like they're the only known sapient species on their planet and have no natural magic but incredible technology, so we're... not exactly sure what to do with them." "Huh. And you live with these creatures?" "Live with them?" Sunset scoffed. "Starlight Glimmer, I'm one of them!" "WHAT?!" "You didn't tell me you LIVED in the castle! I thought you just worked there!""What? It's a castle! What, did you think I would just walk there every day?" "Uh, yeah? A little walk from the tree library to your palace, perfect exercise routine, plus you'd get to interact with your subjects one on one! I mean I didn't know your library was destroyed, you know?" Twilight held up a hoof, paused, and lowered it. "Okay, so I see how that assumption could be reasonable, given the circumstances. Are you sure I never mentioned losing my home, though? It was kind of a big thing." "It never came up," Sunset replied, shaking her head. "I don't know why, but... well. By the way, sorry about that. Sounds terrible." "It... was." Twilight took a breath. "I've gotten mostly over it, but... it still hurts sometimes, you know? Losing everything you've ever worked for, and having to move into a new environment. I... do you know what that's like?" The yellow unicorn shared a glance with the only other pony in the train car. Starlight rolled her eyes. "I have a pretty decent guess," Sunset deadpanned. "...Oh. R-Right." Twilight grimaced. "I forgot." "Well... still. I guess you have a castle now." Sunset nudged Twilight playfully. "You're moving up in the world! Ain't that a thing?" "I suppose." The purple alicorn shrugged. "How about you? How are things going in the human world?" "Oh, they're... going." Sunset shrugged. "I mean, I'm still legally a minor there--" "Wait what?" Starlight cried. "You're a minor?!" "Over there." "But--but you said you were Sunburst's big sister! Like, older!" "Well, the mirror does a transformy thingy, and it made me into a teenage ape for some weird reason. I think it has something to do with being near the high school, or something." "...That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever." Sunset smiled sadly. "Story of my life." Twilight, hesitantly, put a hoof on Sunset's shoulder. "Well... you're certainly... doing better now, right?" "Oh, yes, no question." She chuckled. "I try to just roll with it these days. We've got this whole summer camp thing coming up..." "Summer camp?" Twilight tilted her head. "What's that?" "You know... summer camp? A sort of outdoors retreat that you go to during the summer, with... a lot of other people?" "...Huh." Starlight frowned. "When you put it like that, it sounds obvious... why does there have to be a lot of people, though?" "Well, see, it's a big place so they need lots of attendees to pay the bills, right? So it's usually all arranged as a big group thing, like with schools or religious groups handling the organization." Sunset looked between the two of them. "Have neither of you ever been to summer camp? I'm pretty sure there's places like it in Equestria somewhere!" Twilight shrugged. "I was an introverted filly." "And I... kind of spent my childhood in a trauma-induced haze of revenge and societal alteration planning," Starlight pointed out. "Wow, now that I say that, it sounds like I was really screwed up doesn't it?" "We're all screwed up in one way or another," Sunset said philosophically. "I'm more comfortable in another world as a teenage bald ape then as the adult unicorn mare I supposedly should be. And Twilight's list-obsessed." "I am not!" Starlight and Sunset leveled flat looks at her. "...I am not!" she insisted. "It's... for efficiency's sake! Yeah!" "Sure," Sunset drawled. "Because clearly taking time to make a list for every single action you could possibly take is much more efficient then actually going around and doing the things you want to do." "It's a lot better then bungling about without any plan," Twilight pointed out harshly. "But becoming reliant on a plan reduces adaptability." "Unless you incorporate adaptability into the plan!" "At which point, you're spending more time planning then doing." Twilight gave a furious growl at Sunset's smirk. "Alright, miss not-list-checker, what would you suggest?!" "I make goals," she replied. "Simple goals." "A-ha! Goals that you can check off the list!" "Hey, I never said checklists were bad. Only that you were list-obsessed to a detrimental degree." "She has a point," Starlight said hesitantly. "I do appreciate being taken in as a friendship student and all, but your list nearly hamstrung my attempts to reconnect with Sunburst. Not everything can be reduced to mathmatical positive/negative. Some things require... more flexibility." Twilight gave her a look. "You, of all ponies, are the one saying not to reduce things to simplicity." Starlight nodded. "Look, we both know what I did was wrong, and we both know why I did it. So, yes. I can learn from my mistakes." She glanced at the floor. "If I couldn't, then... well, I wouldn't be here at all, would I?" "...okay, I guess you know what you're talking about." "Oh look! We're here!" Sunset looked out the window. "Wow. You know, I never really saw the Crystal Empire during my whole trip here. It's actually pretty impressive." "Yeah, the streets actually form an entire network for the magic to flow from the central palace out to these interflow posts." Twilight nodded at the two pillars and the three gems hovering between them. "That creates a dome which--" "I would really like to hear this, but shouldn't we get off the train first?" "Oh! Right." The three of them stepped onto the train platform, rolling their shoulders. Sunset was the first to spot her target. "Hey there, lil' bro! What's the haps?" "Oh! Hello, Sunset." Sunburst half chuckled as she walked over. "It's... been a while, hasn't it?" "Yeah, yeah. Lookie at you, wizard of the crystal empire." She tussled his mane with a grin. "You always had the brains for it." "Ah, um. I... didn't think you were... talking to me." The stallion coughed. "At all." "...Look. Sunburst." Sunset put a hoof on his shoulder. "What happened between us... it was weird and complicated and, I honestly said some things that I shouldn't have. I'm sorry. I just... want to start on a fresh start, okay?" "Oh. Well. Um. Alright." Sunburst smiled awkwardly. "In that case, I, uh, I have somebody I'd like you to meet." "Really?" "Yep." He cleared his throat, looking to the station. "You can come on out now!" Sunset blinked, turning as a black... bug pony of some sort stepped nervously out from behind the station door. "Um. Hi, miss... miss Sunset." He waved a hole-filled leg. "I... it's nice to meet you?" "...Uh, nice to meet you too, I guess." "Oh, right, you wouldn't have heard...." Sunburst chuckled. "This is Thorax, he's a changeling." "Our first changeling refugee," Twilight confirmed quickly. "Oh." Sunset nodded slowly. "Yes, I've heard of changelings. So, uh... why'd you want me to meet him, Sunburst?" "Oh, well, you see..." Sunburst chuckled awkwardly. "It's kind of recent, but... we've started dating." "I don't see why you're making such a big issue out of this.""I--A big issue?! Look, Sunburst, if were any other stallion I'd be totally fine with you being gay. But you've got to remember that I am you!" "Was." "What?" "Was. Past tense." Sunburst gestured between them. "You were me, up until you were created, at which point--" "Yes, I suffered a nervous breakdown, then I tried to define myself in increasingly competitive ways and then I spent a few years in another world before finally--" Sunset took a breath. "Look, the point is, even though we're different we're also a lot alike, right? We share, like, two thirds of our memories. Or maybe half. I can calculate the exact ratio later. What I'm saying is, remember Sassy?" Sunburst adjusted his glasses. "Sassy Saddles? The blue unicorn?" "We had such a crush on her. Like, I'm not saying what we did was right, but we were all but perving out on her in private--" "I actually ran into her during a recent trip to Canterlot. She's a Swap." It took Sunset a few moments to recollect the exact slang he was referencing. "She's... transtribal?" "No, she was born a stallion and... well." "...Huh." The mare blinked, tilting her head. "...Well, she pulls it off well, then." "That's, um. Kind of what made me consider--" "WHOA okay no, if you're saying what I THINK you're saying--" Sunset held up a hoof. "Let's just say that gender issues are a huge, major big hot-button topic on the other side of the mirror. Sassy Saddles is a mare, whatever she was before, and we reacted to her like a mare, so we shouldn't be attracted to stallions just because she was--she's not even the only mare we crushed on! This is entirely irrelevant!" "Actually, it kind of is." Sunburst cleared his throat. "I mean, I can see where you're coming from, but before I had that talk with Sassy, I was kind of... off the market for a while. I didn't really look at mares like I used to, you know?" "You mean because you're a social recluse?" "Even social recluses usually have..." Sunburst blushed. "You know. Eyes. And.... pictures. I didn't." "You used to. We used to." Sunset rolled her eyes. "Even if it was just fashion magazines instead of any real porn. Which actually explains why we had trouble talking to mares for the longest time." "Yeah, well, after you... moved in with me, it got... weird, to have those around. Especially with... you know. You. Me. It was super weird." Sunset threw up her hooves. "So I've ruined mares for you, is that what you're saying?" Sunburst opened his mouth, paused, frowned, and eventually gave an awkward hum. "Well, I mean, I might try to put it in less, um, hurtful terms, but essentially--" "Alright! Alright. Fine. I guess I can see that happening." Sunset paced back and forth for a moment or two. "Okay, I think I've been going about this the wrong way. I've been focusing on sexual attraction, instead of romantic attraction--" "Me and Thorax have not engaged in physical action." "Oh COME ON!" Sunset cried. "He's a freakin' shapeshifter! Do you know how much you could do with that?!" "Do you?" "For a species with no natural magic, humans are surprisingly creative." Sunburst blinked. "Wow. I meant that as a rhetorical retort, but you just kicked that right out there." "Shame slows you down," Sunset quipped. "One of the things you pick up quick when you're being a tyrannical wannabe." "...Fair enough, I suppose... Still, I just wanted to clarify that I have a romantic relationship with Thorax, not a sexual one." "See, that's... actually..." Sunset frowned. "Okay, I can't argue with you being bisexually romantic... biromantic? I mean, I did date Flash, even if that was part of my world domination plan, and I do have... some minor attraction to the girls..." "By which you mean the apes from another reality." "Hey, in that other reality I'm also an ape!" Sunburst gave her a flat look. "Because changing species will automatically make you attracted to members of that species." "Not how it--look, shame slows you down, I was weirded out at first yeah, but I've been there for years, I can get used to--don't make this about me! This is about you!" "No, this is about you having some freak-out over me dating a changeling!" "Wait." Sunset frowned. "Wait wait wait. Hold on, have you been getting guff over that?" "Yes!" Sunburst cried, as though it were obvious. "I needed to convince the guard, repeatedly, that I had not been brainwashed!" "Oh. Wow, okay, see, that was an angle I didn't even consider." "Didn't--you're the one that dragged me here to ask why I was dating Thorax!" "Yes, but I was weirded out cause he's a guy, not cause he's a changeling!" "And that makes any sort of difference?!" Sunset opened her mouth, paused, and sighed. "You know what, you're right. I'm sorry, I should not have reacted the way I did. Even with our... connection, we've been apart for years, and... I can't judge you for your life." Sunburst blinked. "...You know, I think that's the first time you've ever apologized to me." "Heh. Yeah, I was a bitch back in the day, wasn't I?" "Um. Well." Sunburst adjusted his glasses. "Well... Ahem. Still, it's good to see you, I suppose. You're doing well, I hope?" "Oh, very well. I--oh, crap." Sunset facehooved. "What?" "I may have subtly tried to get Starlight crushing on you again. Also, ow, I forgot how much this hurt with hooves." Sunset gave him a far-too-wide grin and backed off. "I'm going to get some headache medicine, and then I'm going to fix this." "But I thought Sunset was a self-aware opposite sex construct Sunburst made of himself!"Starlight blinked. "...Run that by me again?" "I mean, that's what Sunburst told me," Thorax explained. "I don't think he was lying. He might have been. I can't always tell when ponies are lying." With the speed of a tortoise, Twilight's hoof made its way to connect with her forehead. The journey was accompanied by Starlight's continual choked gapes. "Um." The changeling looked at the two. "Are you two okay? Is this some pony thing I don't know about?" "Why would he--why would she--how could he--what does she--?!?!" Thorax blinked at Starlight's rambling. "...I'm confused. Is this all one question?" "THERE ARE TOO MANY QUESTIONS!" "Oh. I'm not used to answering questions. Or thinking about questions. I used to just follow orders, and answer yes or no questions. I'm still figuring out when I should answer questions--" "Thorax," Twilight said, her voice resigned. "What Starlight is trying to say is that she was not aware of this and is having some trouble comprehending all the implications." "Yes! That!" The other mare pointed at her. "That is a thing that is happening!" Thorax nodded. "I suppose that... actually, I still don't know what I should do here." "Maaaaaaybe you should go find Sunset and Sunburst," Twilight suggested. "And bring them back so they can talk with Starlight." "No need to find me, I'm already here." Sunset walked around the corner. "So, Starlight, listen, I kind of made a little mistake--" "YOU'RE A CLONE?!" Sunset blinked. Then she glared at Twilight. "Seriously?!" "Wasn't me. It was Thorax." The glare shifted to the changeling. "Seriously?! Wait. How did you know?" "Um. Sunburst might have mentioned it." "Oh. Okay, but... seriously, why would you tell her that?" "She said you were his big sister, I thought I was confused!" Thorax cowered. "And now I am!" "Why didn't you tell me you were a clone?!" Starlight demanded. "Would you have believed me?" "Yes!" Sunset stared at her for a moment or two. "...Okay. Either you have issues, or your life has been far more interesting then I expected." "It's both," Starlight assured her. "But that doesn't explain why you were acting the way you were around me!" "...Basically I was being a super-interfering overprotective big sister figure, I dragged you in without thinking, and I apologize." "Oh. You're just going to straight-up admit it." "Dealing with both pony drama and teenage drama has taught me that swift action solves more problems then it causes." Starlight took a moment to process that. "...So, basically, you don't hesitate." "Not often. Not anymore." "That's not a good thing," Twilight pointed out. "If you don't think about your actions--" "I make mistakes, and I don't hesitate to apologize when I do, or to try to correct them." "But you wouldn't make so many mistakes in the first place if you tried to plan things ahead of time!" "Different strokes for different folks, Twi." "Why were you so interested in getting me and Sunburst together?" Starlight demanded. "I mean, what did he tell you about me?" Sunset blinked. Then she chuckled awkwardly. "Um. Aheh. Starlight... how much do you know about the Independent Construct Kinesis Equation?" "...Isn't that purely theoretical?" "NO. It isn't. Not anymore." "Oh. Well, given the developmental framework is usually based off the cast...er..." Starlight Glimmer trailed off, her eyes widening as she looked at Sunset. "...To be ENTIRELY fair," Sunset allowed, "I have half a decade's worth of being seperate and gaining my own experiences, so--" "Oh sweet Celestia. You--you and--that would mean--" Sunset sat down. "Hey, Twilight? Are all ponies so easy to freak out, or is it just me?" "You have to admit, you are a unique magical being," Twilight pointed out. "The only other self-directed constructs I know of were mirror pool clones, and repeated self-iteration led to monomaniacal protoforms with unstable operational matrices." "What happened to them?" "I had to dissolve their mystical format and return them to the generation engine. If I hadn't, they would have descended into potentially dangerous builderconstructs." Twilight blinked. "Not that I'd ever do that to you, of course! You've got a stable operational matrix, even if you went, uh, temporarily--" "No, I get it, so much can go wrong." Sunset waved it off. "I'm sure you did what was best at the time." "If you were--then that--and you--and--and--" Sunset turned to the gaping Starlight. "Do you still do the grass thing?" "YOU KNOW ABOUT THE GRASS THING." "Maybe you should do the grass thing." "I..." Starlight Glimmer nodded faintly, stepping off the train platform. "I'm going to do the grass thing." Twilight blinked. "What's the grass thing?" Sunset took a breath. "...Well, she's your student, you're going to find out sometime anyway..." With a cough, she pointed at where Starlight had lied down on the grass. "Don't worry, she's not in any pain." "What are you talking abouohsweetCelestia." "Huh. She's gotten more flexible. Interesting." "Ponies--ponies shouldn't--bend that way." "Yeah, apparently something about this calms her down. Scent on the skin and all that." "I can't--" Twilight turned away. "She did this as a filly?" "Yeah. It was weird, but kind of interesting, you know?" "Should I come over there?" Thorax asked. "No!" Twilight replied. "In fact, I--" "Okay, I'm good now." Starlight stood. "Alright. Um. Sunset?" "Yes?" "...We've both changed a LOT since our foalhood. I wouldn't mind reconnecting. At the moment, though, things are super weird." "Super duper weird." "So... if... you don't mind, I'm going to head back to Ponyville and, uh, do some thinking while you chat with your...." Starlight paused, frowning. "We've settled on a sibling relationship," Sunset assured her. "That much I wasn't lying about." "Right." Starlight nodded. "So... yeah. I'll see you when you get back?" Sunset nodded. "Absolutely." "Well, this all seems to be resolved," Twilight announced. "I think I'll just take Starlight home, and... yeah." With an awkward grin, she and Starlight stepped back onto the train. Sunset rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Yep. Still the same adorkable Twilight." Thorax nodded. "I have no idea what that word you just said means, but I am going to agree because I've honestly lost track of the situation." "Don't worry, it's confusing for me too. And I'm living it!" The two of them watched as the train rolled out of the station. "...So. You and Sunburst?" "Um. Yes. This is a thing." Sunset Shimmer put a warm, friendly, and above all tight foreleg around Thorax's thorax. "And what, exactly, are your intentions toward my brother?"
"I-YOU-BU-WHA--WHO THE HAY ARE YOU?!?!""Name's Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer. But on to more important questions--" "What gives you any right to ask about my romantic life?!" Starlight Glimmer sputtered. "Or about Sunburst?! AND HOW DID YOU EVEN GET IN TWILIGHT'S PALACE ANYWAY?!" Sunset tapped her chin. "You know, technically I could answer all those questions with 'Magic' and be a hundred percent accurate. But I'll be fair: You're a highly-powerful unicorn, which means everybody's going to be watching you for powerful foals; I have close ties to Sunburst, which means I have a very good reason to look out for his future; and a mirror." "I---you--mirror?!" "Granted, it's a magic mirror. So, again, why aren't you tongue tangoing the tasty treat that is your childhood friend?" Starlight Glimmer opened her mouth, incomprehensible syllables pouring out as her face went from merely arguably pink to definitely pink. Sunset stood with a patient smile, waiting for a coherent response. "I-I just--you just--this is--what?! WHAT?! You don't just open with--with, and you, and me, and Sunburst, and what?! WHAT?! WHAT?!" "None of this is answering my question." "I'm not going to answer your question!" Starlight shouted. "It's a ridiculous question that I shouldn't have to--!" "Hold on, are you gay or asexual or something?" Sunset asked. "I mean, it's totally cool if you are." "...what." "Look, if you're not going to answer, I'm just going to guess." The yellow mare leaned against a wall. "I mean, you could be saving yourself for marriage, I guess--which kinda seems weird, since kissing isn't actual sex, but if that's how you roll--" "I have too much going on in my life to worry about something like love!" Sunset grinned. "There, you see? Was that so hard?" Starlight opened her mouth, paused, and narrowed her eyes. "You are a manipulative, conniving little pony." "Mmmm. Yeah. Yeah, that's pretty much me in a nutshell." The yellow mare pushed herself off the wall, holding out her hoof to Starlight. "Still, that doesn't mean we can't be friends." "I... guess not?" Starlight cautiously shook her hoof, keeping her eye on the pony. "I mean, I've done a lot worse." The other unicorn nodded. "Yeah, heard about your equality cult." "Y-You did?!" Starlight flinched, pulling her hoof back. "I mean, I don't do that anymore, and--how do you know about that anyway?!" "Me and Twilight chat every now and again. You know, talk about our lives and stuff. You came up a while ago." Sunset shrugged. "It's no big deal to me, I did something similar a while ago." "...What?" "Hypnotized a bunch of teenage apes, planned to use them to conquer Equestria. Twilight slapped some sense into me. Hey, maybe we could start a club or something." Sunset wrapped a leg around Starlight's shoulders, pointing at nothing. "Reformed Unicorns' Group! Actually, no, I don't know that many reformed unicorns. I mean I know this one girl who isn't a unicorn." "There's this pony called Trixie who--wait, no, hold on!" Starlight moved out from under Sunset's foreleg. "I don't even know anything about you and you just come out of nowhere to ask me about--about my romantic life!" "Why are you still focused on that?" Sunset asked, tilting her head. "I mean we got that straightened out like forty five seconds ago." "Who even are you?! And I don't mean your name and stuff, it's... you're walking up like you know me already and... and casually asking me about my personal life, but I don't know anything about you!" Sunset blinked, processing the words. "...Huh. You know what? You have a point... Wow. I went about this the entirely wrong way. Let's start over." She held out her hoof. "Hi. I'm Sunset Shimmer. I dated Sunburst once." Starlight stared at her in disbelief. "Really, you just think... okay. Fine." With a melodramatic toss of her mane, Starlight lifted her own hoof and bumped Sunset's. "Hi, I'm Starlight Glimmer. I was friends with Sunburst when we were kids." "Good to know. So, you want to..." Sunset paused, looking around. "Actually, it's been a while since I've been in Equestria. What is it that ponies do for casual get togethers again?" "Uh.... hum." Starlight rubbed her chin. "You know, I... never really was good at the casual get together thing. Almost all my interactions with other ponies were either to convince them to join my equality cult or, after that, to redeem myself for forming an equality cult. So... What do you want to do?" "Good question... I don't know, maybe some kind of board game or something?" Starlight shrugged. "Yeah, sure, that... that seems like a good idea." She paused. "Are you... going to keep pestering me about Sunburst?" "Weeeeeeeeeeell," Sunset hedged, "I do want what's best for him, and you do seem like you'd at the very least protect him from the hordes of mares interested in his beard, sooooooo..." "Why would hordes of mares be interested in his beard?" "Um. Have you seen that beard?" "Yeah. It's just a beard." Sunset stared at Starlight, completely shocked. "...What?" Starlight shrugged. "It's true! I mean... why are you looking at me like that?!" "So you're saying... mares don't like beards." "It's a non-issue--I mean, if you like beards that's fine, but it's not universal. How did you not know this?" Sunset turned away, mumbling to herself. Starlight swore she heard something about spices. Finally, the yellowish unicorn turned back. "Let's... let's just find some game to play."
"Sunset?! What--What are you DOING here?!""Obviously, I am crushing Starlight Glimmer in a game of Canterlot Crusades." "Crushing?" Starlight scoffed. "You're hanging on by a thread." "Oh I assure you, everything has gone according to my designs." The yellowish unicorn slapped down a card, moving a few pieces across the board. "Every pawn I lost was a distraction, a sacrifice for my ultimate goal. BEHOLD!" She swiped up the dice in her hoof and rolled. "With my Mist of Dark spell, my soldiers have no trouble liberating the upper district from the tyranny of Celestial forces! And now that I have control of all the gem-stores in the city--" "I don't get any new jewels, which makes it hard to pay for enchantment cards." Starlight nodded in acknowledgement. "Well played, you Lunar fiend. Still, your forces are spread thin." "Perhaps." Sunset slid a card onto the board with a smirk. "But numbers are not my only strength." Twilight Sparkle watched as Starlight grumpily removed a large number of her own troops. "No, I can see that you're playing a game now, but... why did you come here in the first place? If I had known you were coming--" "It was a spur of the moment kind of thing. Just wanted to check how Sunburst was doing, you know?" The alicorn's eyes darted from one unicorn to the other. "Oh, right! That makes sense. Sister initiative, huh?" Starlight looked up from her cards with a frown. "Sister?" "Yeah, turns out I'm Sunburst's long lost big sister," Sunset explained. "We were really surprised when we found out." "But..." Starlight's face contorted. "You said you dated him!" "Really surprised," Sunset stressed. "Apparently our dad had a fling with my mom once, and mom never told him she got pregnant, so..." She shrugged. "When I said we dated once, I was not exaggerating." "Why didn't you say something, though? I mean, the way you were grilling me, you could have said 'I'm Sunburst's sister' and that would have made a lot more sense!" Sunset hemmed a bit. "Well... it's just... we're not close, you know? I mean, sure, biosibs, and I feel for the guy, but there's not really that much... relationship between us. We met in college, then the whole weirdness with us being long-lost siblings, and... I dunno. I'm good with checking on his love life, not so much on doing his laundry, you know?" Starlight looked at Sunset as though she had grown an extra head. "...why would you do his laundry?" "Ape expression. Been living with them for a while, trying to correct my mistakes." Twilight cleared her throat. "So, if you're here to check on Sunburst... how long do you plan on staying?" "Oh, I was thinking I'd get going after we had our chat, so I'll probably be leaving later today." "You do know Sunburst lives in the Crystal Empire, right?" Sunset blinked. She looked around at the high, crystalline walls of the study room. "...Yeah? Aren't we in the palace right now?" "Actually," Twilight explained, "I had the mirror moved to my castle after I moved in. Technically we're on the outskirts of Ponyville, which is just south of Canterlot." "...You told me you lived in a tree-library!" "Yeah, that... got blown up by a power-hungry centaur." The alicorn coughed. "Did I never mention that? I swear I brought it up at some point..." "Well, that's just great," Sunset grumbled, putting her cards down. "Here I thought I'd be in and out in time for tomorrow's soaps. Now I'm going to have to buy a train ticket, which means I'm going to have to go back and get money, and--actually, the money there isn't bits, so I'm going to have to work with you to set up an exchange rate--" "Or you could just ask me to pay for a ticket," Twilight suggested. "Nah, I'm going to have to head back anyway to explain things, adjust my schedule, all that." Starlight tilted her head. "Where are you going exactly?" "It involves a magic mirror--" "Um," Twilight interjected, "I don't know if we should talk about the mirror." "Why, is it a state secret?" The alicorn flicked her wings. "Weeeeeeeell, kiiiiind of... I mean it's not officially classified, but everypony who knows about it is technically classified as a high-priority asset by the Equestria military, so you know, secrecy by association..." "Does that include Sunburst?" "...oh, actually, no. I'm going to have to look into that, now that you mention it..." Starlight Glimmer blinked. "Wait, is this the same mirror you said you got here by?" Twilight blinked. "Sunset, how much did you tell her?" "I said I got here via magic mirror. And now, I'll have to head back home and tell everyone that I'll be longer than expected." "Does this have anything to do with the horde of teenage apes you tried to make an army out of?" Starlight asked. "Yeah, they live on the other side of the mirror--" Sunset facehooved. "Oh. That's why Twilight wants to keep the mirror secret." "Are these apes xenophobic or something?" Twilight coughed. "More like they're the only known sapient species on their planet and have no natural magic but incredible technology, so we're... not exactly sure what to do with them." "Huh. And you live with these creatures?" "Live with them?" Sunset scoffed. "Starlight Glimmer, I'm one of them!" "WHAT?!"
"You didn't tell me you LIVED in the castle! I thought you just worked there!""What? It's a castle! What, did you think I would just walk there every day?" "Uh, yeah? A little walk from the tree library to your palace, perfect exercise routine, plus you'd get to interact with your subjects one on one! I mean I didn't know your library was destroyed, you know?" Twilight held up a hoof, paused, and lowered it. "Okay, so I see how that assumption could be reasonable, given the circumstances. Are you sure I never mentioned losing my home, though? It was kind of a big thing." "It never came up," Sunset replied, shaking her head. "I don't know why, but... well. By the way, sorry about that. Sounds terrible." "It... was." Twilight took a breath. "I've gotten mostly over it, but... it still hurts sometimes, you know? Losing everything you've ever worked for, and having to move into a new environment. I... do you know what that's like?" The yellow unicorn shared a glance with the only other pony in the train car. Starlight rolled her eyes. "I have a pretty decent guess," Sunset deadpanned. "...Oh. R-Right." Twilight grimaced. "I forgot." "Well... still. I guess you have a castle now." Sunset nudged Twilight playfully. "You're moving up in the world! Ain't that a thing?" "I suppose." The purple alicorn shrugged. "How about you? How are things going in the human world?" "Oh, they're... going." Sunset shrugged. "I mean, I'm still legally a minor there--" "Wait what?" Starlight cried. "You're a minor?!" "Over there." "But--but you said you were Sunburst's big sister! Like, older!" "Well, the mirror does a transformy thingy, and it made me into a teenage ape for some weird reason. I think it has something to do with being near the high school, or something." "...That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever." Sunset smiled sadly. "Story of my life." Twilight, hesitantly, put a hoof on Sunset's shoulder. "Well... you're certainly... doing better now, right?" "Oh, yes, no question." She chuckled. "I try to just roll with it these days. We've got this whole summer camp thing coming up..." "Summer camp?" Twilight tilted her head. "What's that?" "You know... summer camp? A sort of outdoors retreat that you go to during the summer, with... a lot of other people?" "...Huh." Starlight frowned. "When you put it like that, it sounds obvious... why does there have to be a lot of people, though?" "Well, see, it's a big place so they need lots of attendees to pay the bills, right? So it's usually all arranged as a big group thing, like with schools or religious groups handling the organization." Sunset looked between the two of them. "Have neither of you ever been to summer camp? I'm pretty sure there's places like it in Equestria somewhere!" Twilight shrugged. "I was an introverted filly." "And I... kind of spent my childhood in a trauma-induced haze of revenge and societal alteration planning," Starlight pointed out. "Wow, now that I say that, it sounds like I was really screwed up doesn't it?" "We're all screwed up in one way or another," Sunset said philosophically. "I'm more comfortable in another world as a teenage bald ape then as the adult unicorn mare I supposedly should be. And Twilight's list-obsessed." "I am not!" Starlight and Sunset leveled flat looks at her. "...I am not!" she insisted. "It's... for efficiency's sake! Yeah!" "Sure," Sunset drawled. "Because clearly taking time to make a list for every single action you could possibly take is much more efficient then actually going around and doing the things you want to do." "It's a lot better then bungling about without any plan," Twilight pointed out harshly. "But becoming reliant on a plan reduces adaptability." "Unless you incorporate adaptability into the plan!" "At which point, you're spending more time planning then doing." Twilight gave a furious growl at Sunset's smirk. "Alright, miss not-list-checker, what would you suggest?!" "I make goals," she replied. "Simple goals." "A-ha! Goals that you can check off the list!" "Hey, I never said checklists were bad. Only that you were list-obsessed to a detrimental degree." "She has a point," Starlight said hesitantly. "I do appreciate being taken in as a friendship student and all, but your list nearly hamstrung my attempts to reconnect with Sunburst. Not everything can be reduced to mathmatical positive/negative. Some things require... more flexibility." Twilight gave her a look. "You, of all ponies, are the one saying not to reduce things to simplicity." Starlight nodded. "Look, we both know what I did was wrong, and we both know why I did it. So, yes. I can learn from my mistakes." She glanced at the floor. "If I couldn't, then... well, I wouldn't be here at all, would I?" "...okay, I guess you know what you're talking about." "Oh look! We're here!" Sunset looked out the window. "Wow. You know, I never really saw the Crystal Empire during my whole trip here. It's actually pretty impressive." "Yeah, the streets actually form an entire network for the magic to flow from the central palace out to these interflow posts." Twilight nodded at the two pillars and the three gems hovering between them. "That creates a dome which--" "I would really like to hear this, but shouldn't we get off the train first?" "Oh! Right." The three of them stepped onto the train platform, rolling their shoulders. Sunset was the first to spot her target. "Hey there, lil' bro! What's the haps?" "Oh! Hello, Sunset." Sunburst half chuckled as she walked over. "It's... been a while, hasn't it?" "Yeah, yeah. Lookie at you, wizard of the crystal empire." She tussled his mane with a grin. "You always had the brains for it." "Ah, um. I... didn't think you were... talking to me." The stallion coughed. "At all." "...Look. Sunburst." Sunset put a hoof on his shoulder. "What happened between us... it was weird and complicated and, I honestly said some things that I shouldn't have. I'm sorry. I just... want to start on a fresh start, okay?" "Oh. Well. Um. Alright." Sunburst smiled awkwardly. "In that case, I, uh, I have somebody I'd like you to meet." "Really?" "Yep." He cleared his throat, looking to the station. "You can come on out now!" Sunset blinked, turning as a black... bug pony of some sort stepped nervously out from behind the station door. "Um. Hi, miss... miss Sunset." He waved a hole-filled leg. "I... it's nice to meet you?" "...Uh, nice to meet you too, I guess." "Oh, right, you wouldn't have heard...." Sunburst chuckled. "This is Thorax, he's a changeling." "Our first changeling refugee," Twilight confirmed quickly. "Oh." Sunset nodded slowly. "Yes, I've heard of changelings. So, uh... why'd you want me to meet him, Sunburst?" "Oh, well, you see..." Sunburst chuckled awkwardly. "It's kind of recent, but... we've started dating."
"I don't see why you're making such a big issue out of this.""I--A big issue?! Look, Sunburst, if were any other stallion I'd be totally fine with you being gay. But you've got to remember that I am you!" "Was." "What?" "Was. Past tense." Sunburst gestured between them. "You were me, up until you were created, at which point--" "Yes, I suffered a nervous breakdown, then I tried to define myself in increasingly competitive ways and then I spent a few years in another world before finally--" Sunset took a breath. "Look, the point is, even though we're different we're also a lot alike, right? We share, like, two thirds of our memories. Or maybe half. I can calculate the exact ratio later. What I'm saying is, remember Sassy?" Sunburst adjusted his glasses. "Sassy Saddles? The blue unicorn?" "We had such a crush on her. Like, I'm not saying what we did was right, but we were all but perving out on her in private--" "I actually ran into her during a recent trip to Canterlot. She's a Swap." It took Sunset a few moments to recollect the exact slang he was referencing. "She's... transtribal?" "No, she was born a stallion and... well." "...Huh." The mare blinked, tilting her head. "...Well, she pulls it off well, then." "That's, um. Kind of what made me consider--" "WHOA okay no, if you're saying what I THINK you're saying--" Sunset held up a hoof. "Let's just say that gender issues are a huge, major big hot-button topic on the other side of the mirror. Sassy Saddles is a mare, whatever she was before, and we reacted to her like a mare, so we shouldn't be attracted to stallions just because she was--she's not even the only mare we crushed on! This is entirely irrelevant!" "Actually, it kind of is." Sunburst cleared his throat. "I mean, I can see where you're coming from, but before I had that talk with Sassy, I was kind of... off the market for a while. I didn't really look at mares like I used to, you know?" "You mean because you're a social recluse?" "Even social recluses usually have..." Sunburst blushed. "You know. Eyes. And.... pictures. I didn't." "You used to. We used to." Sunset rolled her eyes. "Even if it was just fashion magazines instead of any real porn. Which actually explains why we had trouble talking to mares for the longest time." "Yeah, well, after you... moved in with me, it got... weird, to have those around. Especially with... you know. You. Me. It was super weird." Sunset threw up her hooves. "So I've ruined mares for you, is that what you're saying?" Sunburst opened his mouth, paused, frowned, and eventually gave an awkward hum. "Well, I mean, I might try to put it in less, um, hurtful terms, but essentially--" "Alright! Alright. Fine. I guess I can see that happening." Sunset paced back and forth for a moment or two. "Okay, I think I've been going about this the wrong way. I've been focusing on sexual attraction, instead of romantic attraction--" "Me and Thorax have not engaged in physical action." "Oh COME ON!" Sunset cried. "He's a freakin' shapeshifter! Do you know how much you could do with that?!" "Do you?" "For a species with no natural magic, humans are surprisingly creative." Sunburst blinked. "Wow. I meant that as a rhetorical retort, but you just kicked that right out there." "Shame slows you down," Sunset quipped. "One of the things you pick up quick when you're being a tyrannical wannabe." "...Fair enough, I suppose... Still, I just wanted to clarify that I have a romantic relationship with Thorax, not a sexual one." "See, that's... actually..." Sunset frowned. "Okay, I can't argue with you being bisexually romantic... biromantic? I mean, I did date Flash, even if that was part of my world domination plan, and I do have... some minor attraction to the girls..." "By which you mean the apes from another reality." "Hey, in that other reality I'm also an ape!" Sunburst gave her a flat look. "Because changing species will automatically make you attracted to members of that species." "Not how it--look, shame slows you down, I was weirded out at first yeah, but I've been there for years, I can get used to--don't make this about me! This is about you!" "No, this is about you having some freak-out over me dating a changeling!" "Wait." Sunset frowned. "Wait wait wait. Hold on, have you been getting guff over that?" "Yes!" Sunburst cried, as though it were obvious. "I needed to convince the guard, repeatedly, that I had not been brainwashed!" "Oh. Wow, okay, see, that was an angle I didn't even consider." "Didn't--you're the one that dragged me here to ask why I was dating Thorax!" "Yes, but I was weirded out cause he's a guy, not cause he's a changeling!" "And that makes any sort of difference?!" Sunset opened her mouth, paused, and sighed. "You know what, you're right. I'm sorry, I should not have reacted the way I did. Even with our... connection, we've been apart for years, and... I can't judge you for your life." Sunburst blinked. "...You know, I think that's the first time you've ever apologized to me." "Heh. Yeah, I was a bitch back in the day, wasn't I?" "Um. Well." Sunburst adjusted his glasses. "Well... Ahem. Still, it's good to see you, I suppose. You're doing well, I hope?" "Oh, very well. I--oh, crap." Sunset facehooved. "What?" "I may have subtly tried to get Starlight crushing on you again. Also, ow, I forgot how much this hurt with hooves." Sunset gave him a far-too-wide grin and backed off. "I'm going to get some headache medicine, and then I'm going to fix this."
"But I thought Sunset was a self-aware opposite sex construct Sunburst made of himself!"Starlight blinked. "...Run that by me again?" "I mean, that's what Sunburst told me," Thorax explained. "I don't think he was lying. He might have been. I can't always tell when ponies are lying." With the speed of a tortoise, Twilight's hoof made its way to connect with her forehead. The journey was accompanied by Starlight's continual choked gapes. "Um." The changeling looked at the two. "Are you two okay? Is this some pony thing I don't know about?" "Why would he--why would she--how could he--what does she--?!?!" Thorax blinked at Starlight's rambling. "...I'm confused. Is this all one question?" "THERE ARE TOO MANY QUESTIONS!" "Oh. I'm not used to answering questions. Or thinking about questions. I used to just follow orders, and answer yes or no questions. I'm still figuring out when I should answer questions--" "Thorax," Twilight said, her voice resigned. "What Starlight is trying to say is that she was not aware of this and is having some trouble comprehending all the implications." "Yes! That!" The other mare pointed at her. "That is a thing that is happening!" Thorax nodded. "I suppose that... actually, I still don't know what I should do here." "Maaaaaaybe you should go find Sunset and Sunburst," Twilight suggested. "And bring them back so they can talk with Starlight." "No need to find me, I'm already here." Sunset walked around the corner. "So, Starlight, listen, I kind of made a little mistake--" "YOU'RE A CLONE?!" Sunset blinked. Then she glared at Twilight. "Seriously?!" "Wasn't me. It was Thorax." The glare shifted to the changeling. "Seriously?! Wait. How did you know?" "Um. Sunburst might have mentioned it." "Oh. Okay, but... seriously, why would you tell her that?" "She said you were his big sister, I thought I was confused!" Thorax cowered. "And now I am!" "Why didn't you tell me you were a clone?!" Starlight demanded. "Would you have believed me?" "Yes!" Sunset stared at her for a moment or two. "...Okay. Either you have issues, or your life has been far more interesting then I expected." "It's both," Starlight assured her. "But that doesn't explain why you were acting the way you were around me!" "...Basically I was being a super-interfering overprotective big sister figure, I dragged you in without thinking, and I apologize." "Oh. You're just going to straight-up admit it." "Dealing with both pony drama and teenage drama has taught me that swift action solves more problems then it causes." Starlight took a moment to process that. "...So, basically, you don't hesitate." "Not often. Not anymore." "That's not a good thing," Twilight pointed out. "If you don't think about your actions--" "I make mistakes, and I don't hesitate to apologize when I do, or to try to correct them." "But you wouldn't make so many mistakes in the first place if you tried to plan things ahead of time!" "Different strokes for different folks, Twi." "Why were you so interested in getting me and Sunburst together?" Starlight demanded. "I mean, what did he tell you about me?" Sunset blinked. Then she chuckled awkwardly. "Um. Aheh. Starlight... how much do you know about the Independent Construct Kinesis Equation?" "...Isn't that purely theoretical?" "NO. It isn't. Not anymore." "Oh. Well, given the developmental framework is usually based off the cast...er..." Starlight Glimmer trailed off, her eyes widening as she looked at Sunset. "...To be ENTIRELY fair," Sunset allowed, "I have half a decade's worth of being seperate and gaining my own experiences, so--" "Oh sweet Celestia. You--you and--that would mean--" Sunset sat down. "Hey, Twilight? Are all ponies so easy to freak out, or is it just me?" "You have to admit, you are a unique magical being," Twilight pointed out. "The only other self-directed constructs I know of were mirror pool clones, and repeated self-iteration led to monomaniacal protoforms with unstable operational matrices." "What happened to them?" "I had to dissolve their mystical format and return them to the generation engine. If I hadn't, they would have descended into potentially dangerous builderconstructs." Twilight blinked. "Not that I'd ever do that to you, of course! You've got a stable operational matrix, even if you went, uh, temporarily--" "No, I get it, so much can go wrong." Sunset waved it off. "I'm sure you did what was best at the time." "If you were--then that--and you--and--and--" Sunset turned to the gaping Starlight. "Do you still do the grass thing?" "YOU KNOW ABOUT THE GRASS THING." "Maybe you should do the grass thing." "I..." Starlight Glimmer nodded faintly, stepping off the train platform. "I'm going to do the grass thing." Twilight blinked. "What's the grass thing?" Sunset took a breath. "...Well, she's your student, you're going to find out sometime anyway..." With a cough, she pointed at where Starlight had lied down on the grass. "Don't worry, she's not in any pain." "What are you talking abouohsweetCelestia." "Huh. She's gotten more flexible. Interesting." "Ponies--ponies shouldn't--bend that way." "Yeah, apparently something about this calms her down. Scent on the skin and all that." "I can't--" Twilight turned away. "She did this as a filly?" "Yeah. It was weird, but kind of interesting, you know?" "Should I come over there?" Thorax asked. "No!" Twilight replied. "In fact, I--" "Okay, I'm good now." Starlight stood. "Alright. Um. Sunset?" "Yes?" "...We've both changed a LOT since our foalhood. I wouldn't mind reconnecting. At the moment, though, things are super weird." "Super duper weird." "So... if... you don't mind, I'm going to head back to Ponyville and, uh, do some thinking while you chat with your...." Starlight paused, frowning. "We've settled on a sibling relationship," Sunset assured her. "That much I wasn't lying about." "Right." Starlight nodded. "So... yeah. I'll see you when you get back?" Sunset nodded. "Absolutely." "Well, this all seems to be resolved," Twilight announced. "I think I'll just take Starlight home, and... yeah." With an awkward grin, she and Starlight stepped back onto the train. Sunset rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Yep. Still the same adorkable Twilight." Thorax nodded. "I have no idea what that word you just said means, but I am going to agree because I've honestly lost track of the situation." "Don't worry, it's confusing for me too. And I'm living it!" The two of them watched as the train rolled out of the station. "...So. You and Sunburst?" "Um. Yes. This is a thing." Sunset Shimmer put a warm, friendly, and above all tight foreleg around Thorax's thorax. "And what, exactly, are your intentions toward my brother?"
