Two worlds colliding

Chapters

On the other side
Damage control
The first step
Two hearts colliding
New ways to help
A special gift
A new day
Meeting the Elements of Harmony
Past and Future
Lights in the night
The archives
Intermission: Twilight Sparkle
Two hearts rekindled
It's been a nice day, until...
Princess perspective

On the other side

Chapter 2: On the other side

Sunset fell hard as she stumbled out of the portal again. She shook her head and tried to stand up, but lost balance and fell over again, this time landing safely on her fore hooves though. She blinked and looked down at herself, seeing her old form again. Then she saw the glowing and pulsing portal behind her, noticing the cracks on the edges of the mirror again and remembered the promise she made to her friends.

„TWILIGHT! HELP! SOMEPONY! ANYPONY! PLEASE HELP!“

To her surprise, a door instantly opened and a young mare walked into the room. She was an tan coated earth pony and wearing the uniform of a royal maid

„Miss? How did you get in here? What's...“

„Please, we don't have time! I need to talk to Twilight Sparkle right now! We need to...“

Sunset paused in shock as the felt the floor around her rumbling and shaking. The maid also looked frightened and now behind the door Sunset could see lots of other ponies run around in panic, even some royal guards

„Oh no! Are the earthquakes getting worse? Is everyone safe?“

The earth pony blinked surprised

„Everypony is in panic. It just started a few minutes ago but not even the Princesses know where it came from or why it won't stop.“

„The Princess! I know why it won't stop, I need to tell her! Is Celestia around?“

Without waiting for an answer, Sunset went for the door and yelled out at the top of her voice „PRINCESS! PLEASE, I NEED YOUR HELP! PRINCESS CELESTIA, I...“

She stopped. What if she doesn't want to help me? I couldn't blame her, after all that... no I mustn't think that way! I need to convince her to...

„Sunset Shimmer?“

Sunset snapped back into reality and saw a purple alicorn fly along the hallway and land directly before her. Although she only saw her alicorn form briefly once, she'd recognize those eyes and that voice everywhere

„Twilight! Thank god you're here! You have to help me! The others are in great danger and so are we! The portal...“

„Stay away from the Princess, intruder!“

Two royal guards suddenly stood beside Twilight and stepped in between her and the alicorn, one of them a white pegasus and the other a gray unicorn with his horn glowing, ready to cast a spell. Sunset froze in surprise and fear, but then Twilight just passed them and put a hoof at her shoulder „Sunset, you need to tell me everything! And you!“

She turned to the guards.

„Lower your magic right now! Even if she is an intruder, such behavior is inacceptable for a member of the royal guard. Violence has the last resort.“

She glared angrily at the unicorn, then turned to the pegasus

„Go find the other Princesses and send them here as fast as you can! Hurry!“

Dismissing both guards with a brief nod, she turned to the maid

„You're Dusty, right? Please, could you make sure we're not disturbed until the Princesses arrive? I have to talk with my friend first,“

„O-of course, your Highness!“

Dusty bowed and closed the door after Twilight had pushed Sunset back into the room. The alicorn's eyes went wide as she saw the portal, the glowing energy coming from it and the cracks. Sunset almost expected her to panic right away, but she just rose a hoof to her chest and took a deep breath in, then exhaled and looked at Sunset

„What's going on?“

Sunset was in the middle of explaining as the door opened and a pink coated alicorn stepped inside, followed by a dark blue alicorn with a mane that looked like it was made of a starry sky. Sunset lost track of what she was saying, but since Twilight didn't react on the others entering she continued

„And then I was seeing what looked like a veil that separated the two worlds. It was very thin and the storm was pulling at it and tearing it apart. And through the cracks and rips, magic from Equestria was flowing into our world! But it was too much and not guided by leylines, so it caused the storm back there! And seeing things here, I guess energy from our world must be doing something similar to this world as well. And since the veil is being torn apart, it's getting worse!“

As if to confirm her words, the room shook again, more violently this time. Sunset flinched as a bookshelf on the other side of the room fell over with a loud smash.

Twilight and the other Princesses used their wings to steady themselves, then the purple alicorn adressed the other two

„Princess Luna, Cadence, we're in deep trouble here! Sunset Shimmer just came here from the other world I've been visiting frequently. There's as much chaos there as we have here.“

„Chaos, but different it seems. I haven't seen any storm outside, not that the earthquakes wouldn't cause enough destruction already“

The dark blue mare said in a regal voice and turned her attention to Sunset

„I am Luna, Princess of the night. I know you are a former student of my sister and I know you came here asking for help. Tell us, how can we help safe our world along with yours?“

„Or better, why should we help you?“

Sunset felt like she was hit in the face and turned to the third princess

„I remember you clearly, you broke into my castle and stole Twilight’s crone. And from what I've heard, you tried to use it to take over Equestria. Why should we trust you, let alone help you.“

Sunset looked at the ground, unable to give an answer to this.

„Cadence! She made a mistake, but she changed! I saw it with my own eyes and I saw her save all those she hurt before during the attack of the sirens, standing right next to me“ Twilight seemed shocked to hear such words from her fellow princess and Sunset's heart sang hearing the Princess of Friendship of all ponies stand up for her and defend her. She stood next to Twilight and looks at both Princesses.

„You don't know me, and I can't expect you to trust me. But I'm begging you to help me. Not for my own sake, but for my friends back there. They and everyone else are suffering the consequences of the barrier between the worlds breaking down. As is everypony out there right now. If we find a way to help each other, both worlds can be saved to the benefit of all. I know you don't trust me, but I promise to do everything I can to help and then leave you right away if you wish. My friends are counting on me, and I won't let them down. I promised to find a way to fix this, and I will, even without your help if I have too.“

She looked at the pink alicorn Cadence know, determination burning in her eyes despite the mess she found herself in. Twilight stood close to her for support, making her feel better immediately. Princess Luna had been listening quietly and now spoke to Cadence as well

„If Twilight trust her, so do I. My sister saw good in her as well when she taught her. And the depth of her friendship speaks clearly from her words, I believe her. Maybe she made mistakes in the past, but she's seen the error in her ways and changed for the better, otherwise she wouldn't feel so strongly for her friends. Let us give her this chance to prove herself against the past she left behind.“

Princess Cadence' expression had already softened as Sunset talked, but after Luna's speech she ended up looking at the ground. After a moment of quiet, she sighs and looked back at Sunset. The unicorn blinked as she was looking into the eyes of a completely different pony it seemed. Those formerly hard eyes now soft and warm, even misty with tears

„Sunset Shimmer, I have to deeply apologize to you. You took a great risk to not only help your friends, but give us your support as well. I too have friends and family out of my reach and worry about their well-being. My concerns clouded my perception as it seems. I hope you can someday forgive me those terrible things I said. But please, you said you knew a way to help us? If you're willing to share it with us, I give you my promise as a Princess I will do all I can to help you safe your friends and world as well,“ she pleaded with a humble voice, her eyes full of hope as she waited for an answer.

Luna nodded and Twilight gave Cadence a quick hug before she also turned her attention back to her unicorn friend.

Sunset couldn't help but stare at the words of the princess. She had expected to be thrown in the dungeons or having to fight for anypony to even listen to her. But now she'd earned the support of three alicorn princesses, one of them Princess Celestia's sister nevertheless. She couldn't fight back the smile that came to her and the relief that now she could help her friends in the human world. She nodded thankfully at each of the princesses and continued her explanation

„In the human world, Twilight used her magic to form a connection between the magic that had manifested the storm back to the portal. The unguided magic seemed to follow this path on its own and the storm started to fade. But it was simply too much magic at once for her to deal with, even with the help of the others. But if we try the same at both sides, we might be able to stop the energy from flooding in for good. Even if we can't stop it right away, slowing down the flow will at least stop the storm there and the earthquakes here.“

The princesses shared a look and nodded at her words

„This seems very plausible. Twilight, since you're the most adept in the use of magic, you should try to replicate the spell your other self performed. Princess Cadence and I will offer additional magic, should you need it“

Cadence smiled at Twilight as she nodded and turned to the portal, concentrating as she prepared her spell. Sunset sighed relieved and addressed all the alicorns again

„Princess, I can't thank you enough for...“

Her words were disturbed by another quake shaking the floor. She shrieked as she lost her balance and fell over, closing her eyes. The rumbling stopped, but she didn't hit the floor. She opened her eyes again and saw herself surrounded by an aura if light purple magic. She looked up and saw Princess Cadence using her magic to carefully set her back on her hooves. She smiled thankfully and Cadence returned it earnestly.

„Thank you... your Highness.“

Cadence shook her head gently

„There will be time for thanking each other after we took care of this. We clearly need to focus on the problems at hoof first.“

She stood to Twilight’s right side and Luna took the place to her left, closer to the door.

„Twilight, are you ready?“

The alicorn princess nodded and closed her eyes. Her horn glowed brightly as she cast her spell. This time, Sunset could clearly see everything that happened, not just vague images like in the other world. Twilight probed for the invisible energy of the other world and quickly found it. The other princesses gasped as the energy became visible as a transparent cloud of blue mist filling the entire room. Twilight carefully opened a path towards the portal and the mist eagerly took the offered direction. Twilight then took her time to strengthen the path further and make it grow to withstand the increasing masses of energy that were directed towards its origin world.
Soon, Twilight had pearls of sweat appearing on her forehead and her whole body tensed up, trying to keep her spell up. That's when Cadence's horn flared up as well, her light purple magic helping the dark purple glow to contain the energy. Both princesses together managed to steady the spell for a few minutes longer, but Sunset could see it was talking a lot out of them.
Luna was just about to join in as well when suddenly the door opened and a tall white alicorn rushed into the room.

Her eyes fixed on her sister, Princess Celestia spoke hastily „Sister it seems the earthquakes have come to an end. But we need to...“

The Princess' eyes went wide as she took in the glowing portal, the struggling alicorns and finally the yellow unicorn.

„Sunset Shimmer?“

She whimpered when she heard her former teacher say those words and all the feelings she pushed away so long threatened to boil up again. This time, it was Princess Luna who stopped her by stomping her hoof to get her sister's attention

„Sister! I will explain all to you later, but now we must hurry! Twilight and Cadrnce need our help and our magic if we want to stop this for good!“

Celestia tore her gaze away from Sunset and looked at her sister. After one look into her eyes, the tall alicorn stood behind Twilight and spread her wings, as did her sister. Dark blue and golden magic flared up and the power of four alicorn princesses now strengthened the spell. Sunset was surprised how easily Celestia pushed her questions and concerns away when her sister asked her and watched as the spell managed to direct more and more blue energy to the portal.
Other ponies had entered the room as well and watched in awe. Sunset frowned after watching for about five minutes. The spell seemed to hold for now, but Twilight was already exhausted and even Luna and Celestia began to struggle, but there was more and more blue mist appearing and bursting through the path, seemingly endless amounts of energy pouring into the room. She wasn't sure if the other ponies could see the energy as well, but they grew more and more concerned when they saw their Princesses struggle. Worried whispers and glances were exchanged and Sunset could see even more ponies standing at the door and watching and getting worried like herself. Would the Princesses be able to keep the spell up long enough?

Then suddenly, a unicorn guard stepped up and stood next to Princess Luna. He seemed very young, most likely barely finished with his training, but he lit up his magic and poured it into the spell, adding a dark green magic to the bright glowing magic of the alicorns. It seemed pointless in comparison, like trying to fix a broken dam by placing a single pebble at just the right spot. But the Princess smiled and nodded to him. Then another unicorn stepped up and offered her magic to help, a maid this time. Then two more mares lit up their horns to help. The pegasi and earth ponies exchanged glances again, but this time filled with hope and determination. You couldn't fix a dam with a single pebble, but what if you used more than just a few? Quickly, the room filled with more unicorns, trained or not in the use of magic, to offer their help and their magic. Sunset could hear someone calling in the hallways for any unicorn to come and help the Princesses as the other ponies left the room to make space. Soon there were about thirty unicorns in the room and more in the hallways, feeding the spell with more and more magic of all colors. The earth ponies and pegasi vocalized their support, giving encouraging words and calling more unicorns to help. Sunset watched in awe as the display before her. So many ponies, working together in harmony and determination, and they were doing it! The energy still didn't stop pouring through the path back to the portal and all four alicorns looked very exhausted by now, but they were holding it together to save those around them and the world they lived in. Sunset smiled as she thought of her friends and how they always stood together and fought for each other in the same way. She could feel them inside her, cheering as the ponies succeeded in not only saving their own world, but the human world as well. Sunset then felt a hoof on her shoulder and turned around to see Dusty, the earth pony maid from earlier

„Miss, please? Can you help them? They look so tired and you're a unicorn too!“

Sunset blinked, totally perplexed for a moment. Of course, she had transformed back and had her horn back. That meant...

She closed her eyes and felt inside her, and there is was. Her magic, familiar and warm, waiting for her like it's never been gone. She could feel it and easily shape it like she used to. This feeling alone would have called a big smile to her, hadn't it been for the serious situation they were all in. With determination and the power of her friends in her heart, she flared up her magic in a powerful glow and light blue magic matching her eyes poured towards Twilight’s spell. It felt like trying to pull a massive wall, trying to get it to budge, but she felt all the unicorns around her do so with all their strength so she allowed herself no doubts. She had been Celestia's most talented pupil after all, and she had the knowledge and strength to back it up, plus the strength of her friends on the other side of the portal. She took a few steps forward until she stood between Twilight and Candace with Celestia towering behind her. They nodded and smiled at the new burst of magic that now empowered the spell. She returned the nod with determination and closed her eyes to focus on the spell and the portal.

Again, the world around her faded as she slipped back into the place she saw at the vision of the veil. She gasped in shock when she saw it though, full of long deep rips now and blue energy from the human world pouring out of each. That's why the energy wasn't getting less even with the spell in place. There was far more flooding in that could flow back. They needed to close those cracks first. But how? She frowned and thought back to what happened at the end of the Friendship games. Back then, Twilight, her Twilight, had used magic to open windows to Equestria. Once the power of her friends and their Elements of Harmony helped her transform, she could easily closed them again with the strength of her friends.

Wait. That's it! I could close the portal, but with the magic from the human Elements. I wonder if I could do something similar with the human magic that came here.

She choose one of the smaller cracks and focused on the blue energy that kept pouring in from it. Trying to send it into the veil instead. However, she didn't seem to get a hold on it, it felt slippery in her mental grip. She sighed and wondered how Twillight could direct this energy so accurately. She tilted her head and out of an instinct reached for the energy that flowed through the path and found she could control it far better, almost as well as her own magic. Focusing on the crack again, she send out her magic and the blue energy together and watched the crack slowly close from the edge, until it vanished completely, not even leaving a mark in the fabric of the veil.

Sunset cheered on the inside and pulled more energy from the path, closing another crack just as easily. She heard the cheering again, but this time she felt more like came from behind her and she heard voices talking.

„What's happening?“

„It's Sunset Shimmer! I don't know what she's doing, but she's breaking through.“

„This is amazing! It seems like her connection to both worlds allows her to influence the barrier between the worlds and fix it!“

Sunset smiled, recognizing Twillight's voice. Then another familiar voice spoke

„Balance... it's all about balance. I've seen this in her since the first time we met, but I'd never imagined anypony would be able to do such a feat.“

Sunset couldn't help but smile. She always somehow managed to impress her teacher back in the days and it seemed the time spent in another world didn't change that.

She called out „I'm not doing this alone! Everypony is helping and my friends on the other side are doing their best too! Please, keep up a little longer!“

She waited, unsure if her words came through, but then she heard Twilight again

„You heard her! Everypony, let's give her our best!“

And suddenly, the power of an alicorn princess flowed through her body, Sunset gasped at the sudden rush, but put it to good use, sending the alicorn magic and a huge chunk of human energy to close one of the biggest cracks now. Three more surges and three more princesses joined in, followed by a myriad of magic sparks from the other unicorns. Sunset lost no time, fixing the veil and all its cracks one by one. The blue mist became less and less now, but as it happened Sunsets smiled went even wider.
The veil seemed to solidify with every crack she fixed, and by now it seemed less than a veil but more like an actual window made of durable glass with only a hint of violet. And behind that glass she could see them as clearly as she felt them in her heart. Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle, all 'ponied up' and cheering for her. And around them she saw all the other students as well, their friendship empowering human Twilight’s spell and sending all the traces of Equestrian magic back to Canterlot. With the magic of the alicorn princesses flowing through her, she could see the magic flowing back into the Equestrian leylines where it belonged, flowing away peacefully and spreading all over Equestria as it should.
The human energy was almost used up by now as well and only the circular hole right in front of her and human Twilight remained. The portal was still open and all the cracks had closed. Sunset could see all of her friends cheering and feel their happiness in her heart, grinning at Twilight the biggest smile she could as a unicorn.

But then, she frowned. At the edges of the portal, she could already see new cracks forming. Using the magic offered to her by the ponies again, she fixed them. Only to see them return seconds after. She turned to look at Twilight

„It's not working. The wall is solid for now but it's still starting to break again.“

Twilight stared back at her, confused and with a helpless expression. She clearly couldn't hear or understand her it seemed.

Sunset took a deep breath again. Think Sunset. You're missing something. You have the magic of the four most powerful beings in Equestria, there must be a way to finish what you started. Her eyes opened wide and in shock as realization hit her. Finish it. It's not finished as long as the portal is still open. Celestia's words echoed through her mind. It's all about balance. Her cutie mark glowed on her flank and she suddenly understood Both worlds have been heavily disturbed. They need to be separated in order for them to regain balance again. My cutie mark and the Taijitu symbol in it. It all makes sense now. She frowned and stared at Twilight and the others behind the portal.

I can't close the portal from their side without the magic of the Princesses. But I can't leave it open either She stared to cry, heavy tears running down her cheeks as she knew what had to be done.

With misty eyes she waved goodbye to Twilight, tears still running down. Twilight looked worried, but then suddenly nodded and smiled. It was a sad smile that only made Sunset want to cry more, so she did. Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity came into view as well. They all shouted something at her. They all had tears in their eyes, but the were all smiling. In her heart, she could feel and understand what they were saying, that they'd never give up on their friendship, even if this meant goodbye.

Sunset put on her bravest smile for them, then closed her eyes and poured the last bits of human energy around her at the portal, closing it down completely. No cracks reappeared, but the power of all the ponies around her still poured through her body, as did the emotions of her friends. She took a deep breath and directed every ounce of magic, friendship and strength she was offered and held within herself at the barrier. Her horn and her cutie mark flared up and glowed brightly as the wall of glass became more dense, crystallizing at the edges at first and turning into a thick wall, harder than diamond and more durable than every before. With a last cry, Sunset finished the spell and released all the magic in one powerful burst.

When the light from the flash faded, then princesses and the ponies couldn't see any trace of the portal anymore. The weird feeling of magic from another world completely gone. Some ponies started to cheer and hug each other, but the princesses remained silent and just stared.

Right in front of them, kneeling on the floor, sat the unicorn Sunset Shimmer, crying bitter tears of loss and pain. She had done what was needed, she save both worlds, but it was all meaningless. She could no longer feel the connection to her human friends.

Damage control

Chapter 4: Damage control

Luna landed on the square in front of the castle and immediately caught the attention of the ponies around. She saw ponies using tools, magic and pure strength to remove the remains of the wall that had broken in. She spread her wings and called out with a loud voice.

“Stand back!”

Then her magic rose the pieces of debris and set them aside. She allowed herself a sigh of relief when she found no ponies trapped beneath them and only empty rooms behind.

“Princess Luna! Heavens, it's good to see you.”

The princess turned around and saw a stallion in a white robe of a doctor hurrying towards her. He was about to perform a bow, but Luna simply motioned for him to remain standing

“Please, this is an inappropriate time for such things. Tell me who you are and what happened, Doctor.”

The stallion blinked surprised, but then nodded and explained

“My name is Doctor Morning Breeze, I'm the head of Canterlot Hospital. When the first quakes started, we noticed right away the building wasn't really the most secure spot to be and when the next ones came, we quickly evacuated the hospital. Luckily we don't have too many patients right now, so we managed to get everypony out it time. But as you can see,” he pointed at the destroyed rooms, “we don't have any place for our patients now. Some of our medical equipment took a heavy hit, too. So far everypony is well, considered all circumstances, but we need some place with beds so we can take care of them. Not to mention we can't do anything for the ponies who might gotten hurt from those crazy quakes.”
The doctor frowned just thinking about it, but Luna simply nodded.

“I understand your troubles and you have my full support. The hurt and sick ones need our help the most in these times. The castle turned out to be a safe place for now, and there are beds and rooms as well. I need you to gather as much of your equipment as you can and head to the castle. The guards and I will help your carry your things and transport your patients.”

She turned and addressed the pegasus guard again

“Captain, half of your ponies will stay here and help the doctor and the patients. The hospital has to be our top priority for now. The remain of your flyers should spread out in the city and help those in need. Tell everypony to come to the castle for the night.”

The pegasus guard nodded and turned around

“You heard the Princess! Groups one and two, we stay and help here. Groups three and four, spread out and get a good view. Report back to me in an hour, unless there's any form of emergency that need to be taken care of right away. And one of you return to the castle and call for backup as well as inform Princess Celestia.”

Luna nodded and smiled to the ponies who now came from all directions, most of them to offer their help as well and spreading the word to head for the castle. She addressed the Captain once more.

“There is no need to send somepony back to the castle, Captain. I intend to inform my sister myself.”

With that, she headed to the patients who had been lain down in improvised field beds. Luna closed her eyes and her horn glowed as she carefully picked up about half of them with her magic and flew towards the castle with them levitated behind her. She called out to the gathered ponies

“I'll be back as fast as I can, my friends! Keep helping each other and come to the castle!”

Luna couldn't help but smile when she heard the calls of cheer form the ponies and saw them spread out and find ways to help. No pony seemed to take care of their own first, they were all working for each other and going through this together, just like they had in the castle. It was heartwarming to see them not despair, but only push harder in this troubling situation.

Within a minute, she reached the main entrance of the castle and was greeted by her sister, along with some ponies of the royal staff. She carefully set down the ponies in her magic hold before landing by Celestia.

“Sister, these are patients from Canterlot Hospital. The building is not functional and the doctors have no way to treat anypony back there. I've told them to come here instead.”
Celestia nodded and turned to the staff ponies

“Take them to the guest wing. There should be enough rooms we can use for now. Prepare everything for the doctors to continue their work once they arrive and send all guards we can spare to help them.”
The ponies bowed and went to work while Celestia and Luna stayed behind.

“How bad is it, Tia?”

“Not as bad as we thought initially. The castle seems to be the most durable building in the whole city, no doubt thanks to the magic wards you and I placed in the building. We have broken furniture, messy rooms and some broken glass, but nothing that can't be fixed easily. And, thank heavens, except for some minor cuts and bruises, nopony in the castle got hurt.”

Both sisters sighed in relief, then turned to watch the city. The sun was beginning to set at this point, there would be only three more hours of day before Luna would rise the moon.

“How bad are things in the city?”

“I don't know all yet, Tia. The hospital needs complete rebuilding if you ask me and about a dozen buildings more are down. This town was not build to withstand earthquakes, let alone multiple ones of such power. I dare say unless checked properly, no house should be considered safe right now. I've called the ponies to the castle for the end of the day, but I might have been too hasty with that. I don't know if we can host all of town in here.”
Celestia shook her head.

“We can, Luna. We will use all the free rooms and make space in the larger halls as well: Gala rooms, meeting rooms, the throne room. It might not be the most comfortable, but it will work.”

Luna smiled and gently poked her sister's flank with her wing

“You're being brave for your subjects again sister. I told you, you don't need to pretend around me. Neither do you need to worry about your subjects. What I've seen, everypony is helping out as much as they can. There's no fights or quarrel in times like these and the news that the crises has been averted spreads quickly. The words you said to them already are repeated by every of your subjects.”
“Our subjects. They are sharing your speech as well, Lulu. It was very inspiring and those words mean a whole lot more coming from you.”

Luna fell silent for a moment. She didn't know how much of this was true. Celestia was convinced about it, but that didn't necessarily mean everypony would think the same way.

Celestia stared down at the city but Luna could tell she wasn't really looking at it. Knowing her sister a well as she did, it was not hard to guess what was on her mind.

“Tia.”

Celestia blinked and turned around to face Luna, surprised by her stern voice. When she looked at her eyes, she saw the caring gaze of her sister shining back at her

“You're the beacon of hope our ponies need in a time like this. They throw themselves into the task at hoof, but when it's done they'll need you to guide them. They'll need your wisdom and strength. But they need the real you. Not the you who's pretending and hiding away her fears for the benefit of others. Tia, you can't be the pony they need with guilt and fear clouding your heart.”

Luna gently placed a hoof at her sister's shoulder and nodded firmly

“You have to see her and talk to her.”

Celestia looked away for a moment. When she looked back at her, Luna saw a much younger Celestia before her. She saw the Tia she knew back a thousand years ago, when ruling was new and taking care of a whole nation seemed to be unthinkable. She saw a Tia she'd only recently rediscovered, after switching their roles for some time.

“But... what will I do if she still hates me? She has every right to do so. I failed her as a teacher and a friend. I should have treated her more like an equal back then, I should gone after her when she...”

Her words were quickly interrupted by Luna's hoof on her lips.

“Tia. If that happens, and I don't say it will, but if it happens, it won't be the outcome you hoped for but at least you will have closure on your guilt. You and I both know the importance of it. It is the first step of overcoming your fears and the first step of becoming the Tia all the ponies and I love: The real you.”

Celestia smiled with tears in her eyes and hugged her sister tightly. Luna returned the hug eagerly and wrapped her blue wings around her sister as well.

They held each other for a while longer, then Luna heard some voices and opened her eyes. She saw a group of ponies approach the castle, some of them carrying baskets with food and fruits, the others bringing blankets and pillows and sleeping bags. Luna smiled and released her grip on her sister, but found that Celestia wasn't willing to let her go yet. The group of ponies fell silent as the came close and saw the two Princesses like this. When they were close enough, Celestia released her hug and said loud enough for anypony to hear

“Thank you, Luna. I needed that. I promise I will take care of it right way.”

Luna blinked, but then smiled and nodded. Usually they held those personal moments behind locked doors, but if her sister didn't mind sharing, neither would she.

“I shall go back into the city then, sister. See if I can help some more.”

Celestia nodded and gave her a brief hug again

“Be safe, Luna.”
“You too, Tia.”

They both turned to see the group watching them curiously and smiling at the undeniable love the sisters shared.

Luna nodded and took flight again and Celestia welcomed the ponies and led them into the castle before she headed to a certain room herself.

The first step

Chapter 5: The first step

Sunset just lay there, sobbing. Somepony hugged her and talked soothingly to her, but it didn't matter. Was it Twilight? The voiced sounded familiar at least, but it didn't feel like it was supposed to do.

Another pony joined the hug. She felt warm tears on her coat that weren't hers. Did it mean anything to her? She asked herself but there was no answer inside her. Just emptiness.

More voices in the back. Words that didn't matter. Hooves on the floor.

Then, silence. Finally, she could think. But there was nothing to think. There was nothing at all. No voice inside her reminding her. No drive to make her stand up. Why care when she could just keep crying and not thinking.

The soft coat she pressed her muzzle in felt good. Warm. The floor didn't. Cold. Like inside her. Cold, and hard and rigid. She sobbed. Like the barrier she made. She made it and now she was cold too. She shivered.

Something covered her. Something soft and warm. She remembered that feeling. Feathers. Wings. Pegasus.

Fluttershy. She was warm, and she hugged her with soft wings once. Sunset remembered. She had been out, helping Fluttershy with some animals, bunnies perhaps. The rain started and the little critters got wet. They ran back towards the shelter. Fluttershy had been so eager to get the bunnies out the rain. Kindness came in yellow wings. She flew, Sunset kept running and fell back, then she stumbled. She remembered her face covered with mud. Fluttershy help her up and took her in. Yellow wings wrapped around her to safe her from the rain. Like she'd been a bunny as well. The wings were warm and soft.

But she wasn't. She was cold and hard. Fluttershy was gone. The wings felt warm against her but they couldn't replace how it felt. She'd never feel it again. Cold. Hard. Empty. Lonely. Lonely? Yes, she was lonely. She had been lonely before but then...

Friends. Rainbow Dash. Her lonely room, all by herself. She hadn't told anyone but Rainbow followed her. Stayed with her. All day. Laughing together, playing guitar. Blue wings of loyalty. She never touched them, but she knew they were as soft and warm. The wings around her were warm too, but they weren't Rainbow Dash. Still they felt nice.

How much time had passed? She didn't know. Nor care. Empty inside. Helpless. Unable to find a way. Applejack. She felt that helpless after the Fall Formal. Lonely and empty and afraid. She didn't know if she could ever look someone in the eyes again. How should behave? Honesty. Applejack knew and told her, showed her a way. Not the easiest one, but a way. Be honest to yourself and face what's ahead of you. Her mane had shimmered in the evening light. You can't change what you did, but you can learn from it and do better.

Sunset stirred. She curled up more under the wings and pressed into the warm flank. Thankful for the presence, even if it meant nothing. Only meaningless gestures, well intended or not. They couldn't make a difference, not now. How could they when she lost everything? Rarity. Her jacket was ripped, she threw it away. It was just clothing after all. Then the next day. Rarity had found in and fixed it. Went through all the stores to find the right things, worked all night on it. Until it had been perfect, even the cutie mark design on it. Why? It was just a piece of clothing, but it meant something to her. She did it because she knew. The smallest things could mean the world when done for a friend. Generosity, white and indigo mane spinning around her as Sunset hugged her friend. She just made it for her, to see her smile.

She'd lost any right smile. Her tears had run out, but she was still sad. So sad. She wanted to cry. To cry and never stop ever again. Everything else felt wrong. She deserved being sad, only sad. She'd lost any right smile, ever. Pinkie, bubbly, loud and silly. Talking to her loud and fast. If she didn't smile, she didn't feel happy. What kind of friend can help her friends if she's not happy? A logic she couldn't fight back then. Laughing together, curly pink mane bobbing up and down. Pink like the wing that wrapped around her and squeezed her gently.

Helping. Her friends after they helped her. Accepted her. But they were gone now. She couldn't do anything. Gone. Cold. Dark. Empty. Lonely.

Twilight had been lonely too. And hurt. And sad. And scared. So scared she saw no other way but dark magic. But Sunset knew. Understood. Related to her pain and fear. She reached out her hand and Twilight took it. The first friend she made herself. Helping her see there's more. Other ways. Better options. Difficult choices. Challenges, but never facing them alone. Friendship.

Friendship, even if it meant taking the hard way. Friendship, even if it meant sacrifices for yourself. Even sacrificing everything.

She had seen them. They were safe. Twilight had understood and would explain them. Would she have done the same? This time, an answer came from inside her. Yes, she would. Each of them would. She hadn't heard them, but those last moments. They knew it had to be done. They didn't judge her, they admired her for her courage. It had not been abandoning them. It had been saving both worlds, all friends in both worlds. Past, present and future.

Sunset slowly sat up. Crying was the easy way, they way she'd never chosen for herself. Not back then, not in Canterlot High and not now. Her friends wouldn't want her to give in. They would want her to push through. Carry on. Make the most of it. Be happy wherever she ended up. How did she know this?

Because she wanted the same for them. Without any doubt. They meant more than all the worlds to her. She wanted them to be happy and live on without her. And she would too. It was the hard way, but she'd never gone for easy ever. She could have followed Twilight back to Equestria after Fall Formal, but she stayed. Worked through and learned. It would be hard to smile again, knowing her friends were gone. But she'd do it for them. So she'd never forget and they'd never be forgotten. And for her, because it'd be what they wanted.

The voice reached her mind again and this time she turned around and looked at a face. A pony with purple coat, a pink and purple mane. And those eyes. Kind and curious and warm, but right now filled with concern, most likely about her. Twilight Sparkle, Princess Twilight from Equestria.

Then her eyes opened wide as she realized. Dear Celestia... she's their friend too. I made her loose them too. She opened her mouth to speak, but words couldn't find the words. Twilight's eyes filled with more concern and she tried to hug her again, but Sunset stopped her.

“Twilight...”

Her voice broke, rasp from all the crying.

“I... I couldn't... I had to... they're... they're...”

Twilight’s eyes filled with sadness and tears, her weak smile breaking apart.

“I know... I'm going to miss them so much...”

Sunset sobbed deeply as Twilight started crying and wrapped her hooves around the purple alicorn. They clung on each other and held each other close as their tears ran down silently. Sharing each others pain and offering what comfort they could give.

Pink wings encased both friends, just gently touching their shoulders. Sunset slightly turned her head to see Cadence. Her eyes were closed but tears ran down her cheeks as well while she tried to share their pain without pushing herself in. Cadence didn't know any of the human besides what Twilight told her maybe. Yet she was still mourning about them. And their loss.

My loss. She's concerned about me, despite what happened before.

Pink eyes opened and looked at her. Sunset forced a thankful smile to her lips, even though it felt wrong to smile. And probably would for a while. The Princess smiled back, the same caring smile she'd seen from Celestia years ago.

Sunset carefully untangled her hooves from Twilight and the purple alicorn slowly sat down, her hoof rubbing over her eyes before she looked at Sunset with a weaker version of the same smile.

Sunset looked at the cold ground. Her friends were gone and she was responsible for it. But even when they couldn't be with her, they helped her just with the memories they made together. Helped her in more ways than she had even realized. Helped her find herself again, like they did once. And even helped her find another friend perhaps.

The emptiness wasn't gone and it probably would never vanish completely. But it was not all consuming anymore as long as she kept those memories in her heart.

Sunset forced herself to her hooves and stood shakily, but determined. She refused to lie on the cold floor crying any longer. She would make this work out.

For her friends.

Author's Note

Hi everybody,

first of all thank you for reading this far and especially thank you for those who gave me some feedback as well. I really appreciate that a lot!

I know the last few chapters have become shorter, but for this one I feel like I should explain, since I kind of hyped up Sunset's drama in chapter 2.
I know from my own experience that a personal loss can not be just put aside or be dealt with in a few minutes. It takes time and you'll probably experience a lot setbacks no matter how hard you try.
Every person is different though. From what I've seen of Sunset in the movies and shorts, I've come to know her as an driving and active character. What that means is, she won't let any bad feeling hold her down for too long, but rather seek to push through. Those feelings are not got, but she won't let them hold her down for long. It's her way of dealing with them on the run, so to say.
This is not easy to do, but I my opinion Sunset always chose the difficult but in the end more rewarding way.

I hope I could express those things although it's been a short chapter.
Please let me know what you think of it! Any contribution, opinion or idea is very welcome!

Okay, I've done enough rambling now, hope you all have a good time and hope to see you back in the next chapter!

TalkingToMyself

Two hearts colliding

Chapter 6: Two hearts colliding

Sunset Shimmer remained standing for only a few seconds before her hooves just caved in under her own weight. She fell back on the floor and found herself panting and feeling dizzy.
"Wha-... What's happening?"
Twilight and Cadance were at her side ride right away as she tried to stand up again, only to find her forehooves trembling and unable to push her off the floor. She slumped back again and tried to catch her breath, she felt like she'd just run a marathon or something.

Twilight's face appeared before her and with some effort, she could focus on her
"Sunset, are you alright? Are you hurt?"
She shook her head and mumbled
"No... don't think so... feel dizzy..."
Twilight gently placed a hoof on her forehead but Cadance just shook her head
"Sunset, I think the exhaustion is catching up on you."
She turned her head towards the pink alicorn as the princess continued
"Strong emotions tend to wear down your body as well. The sadness you've experienced would bring down anypony. Add the fact that you've also channeled the magic of four alicorns and the energy from a different world through yourself, it's understandable you'd be tired."
The princess smiled softly which made Sunset suddenly imagine her as a mother
"Sunset Shimmer, you desperately need some rest. And that's what you're going to get!"
Cadance giggled and conjured a big pillow with her magic, then carefully lifted Sunset up a little to place it under the unicorn. Sunset tried to say something, but then she just sighed and sunk down on the soft pillow. She gave the princess a timid smile and mumbled 'Thank you', but Cadance just nodded
"That's what friends are for."
Sunset took a deep breath and sighed. Friends How long will it take before it hurt hearing that word?

Before she could fall back into depressing thoughts, they heard something in the hallway behind the doors, a large number of hooves passing by and the voices of concerned ponies. The princesses looked at each other and exchanged some nervous glances and stood up. Sunset frowned and buried her face in the pillow.
"You are Princesses! You should be out there fixing problems and taking care of your kingdoms and such. Instead you sit here with me and watch me being a sobbing mess. Congratulations Sunset, you found the one way you could still mess up."
Twilight frowned and shook her head
"Don't say that! We both chose to stay with you like we would with any friend in such a moment! I'm sure Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have everything under control already. I mean, they would have called if they needed help... right?"
That last question was directed to Cadance who nodded but looked just as worried as Twilight now
"Right. And besides, our kingdoms are far away, it's possible nothing even happened there... somepony would have told us if there had been anything wrong, right?"
Now it was Twilights turn to nod without any conviction
"I'm sure the Crystal Empire is safe, it's so far north the earthquakes couldn't have possibly reached that far. And I would have gotten a letter from Spike if anything went wrong in Ponyville.
Unless...," her ears flopped down at the thought, "unless something happened to him...?"
Cadance quickly shook her head
"I'm sure he's fine! He's with your friends after all, you know they can handle almost anything. Just like... Shining Armor and Flurry Heart..."
Both alicorns' heads hung low now and Sunset shook hers angry now
"Go! You have ponies to check on and things to take care of and a city to save!"
They looked at her and Twilight wanted to say something, but Sunset just looked at her with pleading eyes
"Please. I'm perfectly fine and... okay, maybe a little tired, but I can manage by myself. I promise. You don't need to worry about me."
Twilight sighed and Cadance slowly stood up
"Are you sure, Sunset Shimmer?"
She nodded
"I'll just stay here and rest as you said, then I'll see you later. Once you made sure everything's fine."
Twilight still hesitated but Cadance gave her a thankful nod. Twilight then sighed and gave her another hug
"I'll go check things in Ponyville but I promise I'll be back as soon as I can." She turned to Cadance "I'll see if I can organize help from the other cities as well."
The pink alicorn nodded
"I'll send a message to the Crystal Empire and then see what I can do to help here. We'll meet again with the others at sunset lastest."
Twilight nodded and the both shared a quick hug.
"Take care, Cadance."
"You too, Twily."
Twilight smiled and then vanished with a loud pop, leaving behind only a small cloud of purple smoke and the faint scent of ozone as she teleported away.
Cadance smiled to Sunset once more before she went for the door.
"You take care too, Sunset. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call for me."
Sunset just nodded. She heard the excited voices of ponies as the door opened, but she couldn't see anything from where she was sitting. The door closed again, and the room felt silent. Sunset sighed deeply and sunk back into the pillow, only now allowing herself to relax and rest a little as she promised.

Sunset had just closed her eyes when the door opened again. The tan earth pony from before stepped in and asked
"Miss Sunset? Do you need... dear Celestia. This room is so messy."
She blinked and looked around. The remains of Twilight's portal machine were scattered at one side of the room. Most of the floor was covered in furniture that had fallen over and several books from a large bookshelves were spread around the room. The earth pony sighed and actually started picking up a small table and what might have been a vase before, making Sunset blink again
"Um, Miss Dusty? It's okay, really. You don't have to..."
"Nonsense! I can't let any friend of the Princesses stay in such a mess!"
The earth pony cut her off with a giggle and started to pick up things at one side of the room. It was clear that she wouldn't stop until she was satisfied.
Sunset sighed and thought about helping, but she still felt too weak to get up on her hooves again. Still, there might be another way to help her. She closed her eyes and felt inside her like before. The familiar warmth of her magic greeted her instantly again, just waiting at the edge of her awareness to be called and used. This time, she allowed herself a small smile and embraced the unicorn magic inside her again. She opened her eyes and saw a heavy table which lay on its side. She focused and the table was covered in a feint red aura of her magic, then was lifted up and set straight again. Sunset smiled more and lifted up the large bookshelf again, surprised how easy it was even though she hadn't used any magic for years. She looked around the room and the red glow around her horn grew a little brighter as every scattered book was lifted up and floated towards the shelf. She saw the maids appreciative smile and concentrated a little to put each book neatly to its place.

She had just put in the last one when a voice from behind startled her
"You always had this radiance around when you used your magic. It's good to see some things stay the same despite all the change we go through."
Sunset froze in surprise and a touch of fear as well. She didn't have to turn around to recognize that voice, not did she dare at the moment. She saw the maid stop and bow down before the tall white alicorn who had just entered the room. The voice spoke again with that soft familiar tone
"Thank you, Dusty. You should try and get some rest now. I promise I'll take good care of our guest."
The maid nodded and with a shy smile to Sunset quickly left the room. The unicorn flinched a little when she heard the door close and slowly turned around. The Princess of the Sun was standing in front of her now, looking down at her former pupil. Sunset couldn't read her expression at all. She could not see the anger she expected and feared, but she looked away quickly anyways.
Princess Celestia took a deep breath and when she started talking, Sunset was completely surprised again. There was a softness in the alicorns voice she barely ever heard before.
"Sunset Shimmer... I'm so proud of you. You saved us all today, and you risked everything for the sake of two worlds. I can't even say how happy I am to see you again, even if I wished the circumstances would be less grave."
Sunset wouldn't believe her ears and slowly sat up and looked at the white alicorn. Her voice still refused to work but she let out a loud gasp when she saw tears in Princess Celestia's eyes.
"I know there was a lot of quarrel between us, especially in the weeks before you... left. And I know about the rage and frustration you must have been trough, all alone in a foreign world and nopony who understood you in your own world either.
I know I don't deserve to say this, but... I hope someday you can forgive me for all the pain and struggle I caused to you."

Sunset shook her head and looked back at the floor, feeling tears building up inside her and feelings she had pushed back for years boiling up.
"You..?"
Celestia closed her eyes as she saw Sunset turn away from her, the alicorns voice nearly breaking as she continued
"I failed you, Sunset. As a teacher and as a friend. I thought my way was the right one, the only one. I was too stubborn to see it was not the right way for you. I should have spent more time with you. I should have listened more to the things you had to say. I should have taken your words more seriously instead of just shoving them away. I thought I was trying to protect you at the time and I learned too late that I was only driving you further away.
I failed you in the most terrible way, Sunset Shimmer. You may never forgive me, but... I'm so sorry Sunset..."
Princess Celestia, the bearer of the sun, ruler of Equestria for a thousand years, bowed her head to the ground, apologizing and crying.
Sunset saw those tears and the dam inside her broke down as her own tears started to flow. Her voice was loud with anger
"Why are you saying this? You're the Princess, you know everything and you wanted to teach me but I didn't listen! I didn't listen and I didn't even try to understand! You showed me those things and I didn't care, I just wanted more and more power. You should be angry! You should hate me for what I did! I went to find a way to overthrow you and I humiliated your student just to hurt you! Why should you ever forgive ME?"
Sunset fell back on her pillow as her rage burnt out, crying openly now and her words interrupted by loud sobs.
"I didn't listen... I couldn't understand what you meant... you tried to show me but I just... and I failed to learn your lessons... I just ran away and... I did all those horrible things... I threw away all you showed me and... I was selfish and arrogant and stupid and wrong... and I just ran away and... and... and..."
Sunset sobbed and cried out the next words
"I'm so sorry Princess! I made so many mistakes and caused so much trouble and you have every right to be furious with me and hate me and... I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!"
Sunset cried and tried to get up and run away, but she gasped when she found herself being pulled into a tight hug. She was confused, she wanted to know why, how, but all she could do was burry her face against the Princess and cry as all the guilt of the past years overwhelmed her. The white alicorn only held her tighter against herself and Sunset felt Celestia's tears on her coat as well.

The princess held the sobbing unicorn in her hooves for a moment before she finally spoke again in that soft voice she used so often when she took the unicorn filly in all those years ago
"I was never angry at you, Sunset. I was angry at myself, for not being the teacher you needed. And I hate myself for running after you before the portal closed, for not trying to be there for you. I was worried about you every day. I wouldn't speak to anypony for almost a month after you left. I felt so guilty for abandoning you. I was worried about the dangers you had to face behind the mirror. I was sad I'd never found the right words for your questions. But in all those days, I never felt hatred for you even once."
Sunset sobbed again and clung on her teacher who wrapped a soft wing around her.
"I'm so sorry Princess! I wish I could just go back and turn everything right again. I'm sorry..."
Celestia sobbed as well but Sunset could hear the warmth filling her voice again
"Nopony can make things undone, as much as we wish sometimes. But you did even better, Sunset. You realized your mistakes and you learned everything by yourself, everything I couldn't teach you, and you've done so many wonderful things since then! In the end, you managed to do so on your own. I'm so proud of you Sunset, my dear student. So very, very proud."
Sunset just pressed into her teacher and felt her tears change, all the guilt and fear she had hidden and carried around for so long, forgotten within Celestia's embrace.

They held each other for a while until their tears finally stopped. Celestia took a step back and looked at Sunset, her eyes shining with care and her smile happy, but her stance still had a trace of the same insecurity Sunset failed to notice before.
The yellow unicorn smiled back and she nodded. She knew exactly how the princess felt. She felt the same relief, all those words and feelings inside her now finally out, she felt like a ton of bricks being lifted from her soul. And mixed in this was soaring happiness as all her fears had just been blown away and replaced with forgiveness she had never even dared to hope for.
Celestia looked away shyly for a moment before she spoke again
"My dear Sunset, I'm so happy to see you again. I don't think I have the right to call you my student anymore since you surpassed me in many ways already. But I hope you can accept my forgiveness, and my friendship instead."
This time Sunset was the one who went in for a hug and nodded
"You have nothing to be sorry about, Princess. But I forgive you."
Celestia returned the hug and nodded thankfully and Sunset smiled, knowing that her teacher needed to hear those words from her
"I would be honored to be considered your friend. And I'd also still love to learn from you. In the human world, it was my friends who actually taught me the most."
Sunset felt those words sting again inside her heart, but Celestia just held her close
"Then I hope you will teach me as well, Sunset Shimmer, my friend. I wish it would be on a more cheerful occasion, but... welcome home."
Home. Sunset sighed again and sat down beside the alicorn. Home is where the heart is. Princess Twilight had once told her those words during a visit. Sunset had dreamed of coming back to Equestria more than once, but shame and fear had stopped her from ever asking Twilight for taking her back with her. Now that she was here, she couldn't stop thinking about the human world. Can your heart be in two places at once? Celestia saw the expression and gently wrapped a wing around the smaller unicorn again. She didn't say anything but like Twilight and Cadance before, she shared the pain of loss silently with her friend. Sunset was thankful for that and they shared another few minutes in each others presence.

Then Celestia closed her eyes.
"My sister just raised the moon for the night. We've gathered all the ponies of Canterlot in the castle and the other Princesses and I need to tell them what happened."
She looked back at Sunset who just shook her head
"I don't even know what happened. I saw the energies invading both worlds and I saw the catastrophes they brought. But I don't know why the veil between the worlds broke down so suddenly."
Celestia had listened attentively, then nodded.
"We will find it out together, then. And we will look for a way to get in contact with the other world if possible. But for now, we should tell everypony that we're safe for now at least. And show them the hero who saved them all with her brave actions and extraordinary magic skills."
Sunset looked up at those words, then just shook her head
"I... I'm not a hero, Princess. I can't go out there and have ponies stare at me when I don't know if my friends are well in the other world. And most will still have mixed feelings about me running away and disappointing you so much. More so since I'm most likely the reason all this has happened. I mean..."
She didn't get to finish her sentence because Celestia shook her head and pulled her closer with her wing
"Don't take this burden on yourself, Sunset. You did not disappoint me, ever. And you did not cause what happened to Canterlot today."
She squeezed the unicorn gently and Sunset closed her eyes with a sigh but nodded. She wanted to believe that too, but she couldn't convince herself as easily as the princess.
"However, I understand your wish to not face any crowds today. You've been through a lot in a single day, more than some ponies need to go through in a lifetime.
I'll go and meet the other Princesses, but I hope I may return later? I would love to hear how you have been during your time behind the mirror."
Sunset blushed and nodded
"Those aren't all happy stories, but I guess I can tell you some of them. I guess I'll just wait here for now then."
The tall alicorn nodded and looked around the room, then smiled.
"I will be back as soon as I'm done talking to everypony."
She smiled and hugged Sunset once more
"I'm so glad to see you again, Sunset. And I'm very proud of the pony you've become. Whatever happens next, I'm sure we can make it through together with our friends."
Sunset looked up at the princess and nodded, then watched her leave before she lay down on the pillow, quickly losing herself in thoughts again.

Author's Note

Hello everyone,

thank you again for making it this far, and thank you for all the feedback you've given me.

I took a long time with this chapter. The first meeting between Sunset and Celestia has been worked out in a lot of fanfics already and I know there are many who did an awesome job with it.
I hope maybe I could give another view at it, from a slightly different angle than usual, and that anyone who reads this can enjoy it as such.

Hope I'll see you again in the next chapter!

TalkingToMyself

New ways to help

Chapter 7: New ways to help

Luna flew back to the hospital to find most the things already been taken care off. Some unicorns had arrived and helped get out the equipment from the broken building while other ponies gathered carts and wagons to transport everything to the castle. Luna thanked them all for their contribution and their hard work and with the promise to see them all at the castle, she flew off to the next building.

By now the royal guard had arrived and managed to get clear out the streets leading up to the Royal Castle. The smaller alleys slowly emptied as more and more ponies found their way to these streets, but still there was more than enough for an alicorn princess to do. Luna helped moving debris from buildings away, helped ponies who ended up trapped in their houses and those who got hurt. To her biggest relief, the last group of ponies was by far the smallest as the worst she'd seen was a broken wing and a pony who had been knocked out by a small piece of stone hitting his head. Considering all that happened, Luna silently gave her thanks to the sun, moon and all the stars there had been no casualties.

Of course, the earthquakes had been minor at first and only increased their strength with time which gave everypony enough time to get outside. And even when the quakes had been at full force, thanks to Sunset Shimmer's help they didn't last too long. And it was more than lucky as well that Canterlot had been the center of quakes with four alicorn princesses present for a summit who could react immediately. Luna sighed as she flew to the next gathering of ponies who needed help.
They turned out to be merchants who tried to get their supplies to the castle as a contribution. Luna nodded and quickly took hold of the baskets and kegs with her magic, taking them to the castle. As she flew off, she heard the merchants talk.
“Well, let's get to it everypony. Don't forget: There are still ponies out there who need help, all our help.”
Luna blinked as she recognized those words as her own, spoken to only a couple of ponies in the castle. Apparently they must have been spread by the guards. She was even more surprised when she flew over another group on their way to the castle and actually heard them cheering and talking about her.
“See? The Princess is working hard too, so keeping going. Remember: Keep helping each other and come to the castle!”
Luna smiled from the remain of her flight and quickly delivered the goods to the royal staff who would take them into the throne room where most ponies ended up by now.

She was about to head into town for the third time when she heard some soft sobbing. She turned around and saw a green unicorn colt, hiding behind the stairs to the main entrance and fighting back his tears. She landed softly next to him and asked in her gentle voice
“Hello, young one. What troubles you so much you're giving in to sadness?”
The colt looked up surprised and opened his eyes wide when he saw a princess standing there.
“Princess Luna! I thought you were sleeping during the day.”
Luna couldn't help but chuckle at this and smiled
“It's true that I'm a mare who works at night, young colt, but today I'm helping everypony recover from what happened. Now tell me, what's your name and what caused those tears?”
The colt sniffled as he tried to explain, he was still very young and didn't even have his cutie mark yet.
“I'm Emerald Shine... I was walking through the market with Dad when the ground started shaking and things fell down from the roofs. Everypony was running around and screamed and I lost Daddy. I walked around looking for him but then I noticed I didn't know which street I was anymore. There was more shaking and somepony pushed me and others into the open so nothing could fall on us. And a unicorn made a shield around us too. When it was all over, I went looking for Mommy and Daddy again but I couldn't see them. But then someone said everypony was going to the castle and I thought I'd see Mommy and Daddy there but now I've been waiting so long and... and... they're not coming.”
The colt broke into tears again and Luna wrapped her hooves around him.
“Shh. It's okay Emerald Shine. You're parents are most likely still in the markets looking for you. When you get lost, it's usually the best to stay where you are and wait for your parents to find you.”
The small unicorn calmed down again and looked up at Luna
“I just want to see Mommy and Daddy..”
Luna nodded and flapped her wings to fly up the stairs with the colt still in her hooves
“And you will. I give you my word as the Princess of the Night.”
She set down the colt next to the royal guard at the stairs and looked him in the eyes.
“You must wait here for now, Emerald Shine. I shall find your parents and send them here. I promise.”
The tiny colt looked up at the royal guard who winked at him, then turned back to the hovering alicorn
“Thank you Princess Luna! You're the best!”
Luna smiled and with a powerful flap of her wings sent herself higher into the air and towards the markets.

As she expected, most of the alleys were empty by now but she could still see ponies here and there, using the last hour of daylight they had today. Luna's ears perked up when she heard a call and found a light blue pegasus mare circling over the streets
“Emerald! Emerald! Where are you? Emerald!”
The princess smiled and quickly flew over to the mare
“You're looking for a colt named Emerald Shine?”
The peagus looked up surprised but her eyes shone when she heard that name.
“Yes, my son! I've been looking everywhere but I couldn't find him. Princess Luna, have you seen him?”
Luna nodded and smiled reassuringly
“He followed the ponies to the castle. He is waiting for you at the main entrance, the royal guard is watching him.”
The mare sighed in relief and even shed a few tears.
“Oh thank the stars! Princess Luna, thank you so much for finding my sun. Now I need to tell my husband, he's searching inside the destroyed buildings still and...”
“No! You go to your son right way, I shall find your husband and sent him after you. Just tell me where I can find him.”
The mare looked even more grateful and quickly gave Luna directions before flying to the castle.

Luna made her way to a destroyed house to find some ponies trying to clear out the entrance, one of them an indigo unicorn who tried to move a giant boulder with his bare hooves. The princess landed next to the ponies and they all turned towards her.
“Princess! We tried everything but we can't move that rock. There might still be ponies inside.”
Luna closed her eyes and called forth her magic once again, moving the boulder aside to reveal an empty room behind it. The indigo unicorn cried out in despair but Luna walked to him and put a hoof on his shoulder.
“You son is fine. Your wife is already on her way to him and Emerald is waiting for you at the castle.”
The stallion turned around, confused at first but ended up thanking the princess enthusiastically before heading to meet his family.
Luna turned to the remaining ponies once more
“Please, I'm sure this isn't the only foal that's gone missing. Ponies are searching for their families and friends all over the city. Make your way to the castle but don't leave anypony behind. Help each other find their loved ones and make sure nopony is missing.”
The ponies nodded and bowed to their princess before going to the castle, checking every building they passed for more ponies.

Luna was working her way through the outskirts of Canterlot when she noticed a purple alicorn flying towards her. She flew up again to meet Twilight Sparkle midway.
“Princess Luna! I've been looking for you! I just spoke the royal guard, it seems they searched all the streets by now and got everypony in their way to the castle. The throne room is full of ponies and as far as I know, the last missing ones where found by now. And just in time.”
Luna nodded and looked at the sun and knew she had to rise the moon in a few minutes
“Those are wonderful news, Twilight Sparkle. I've just passed the last group of ponies that was still looking around and sent them their way. I guess they will have to make it in the moonlight then. But tell me, how is Sunset Shimmer.”
The young alicorn frowned and sighed.
“She's still mourning. She lost the connection she shares with her human friends when she made sure the barrier between worlds was properly sealed. I don't know if she'll ever be able to return to them.”
Luna sighed as well and nodded
“Comforting her is all we may be able to do tonight. After all she did for us, the least we can do is look for a new way to this world. Only time can tell if we shall succeed.”
The Princess of Friendship nodded sadly, then she took a deep breath like Cadence taught her and focused on the troubles ahead once more
“I'll find the last group and teleport them to the castle with my magic. It's way faster and more safe than to walk through streets filled with debris at night.”
Luna nodded at this
“Very well, Twilight Sparkle. I will finish my search before I rise the moon, I shall see you in the throne room right after I did so.”
The alicorn nodded and flew done into the streets.

Luna watched her disappear between the houses, then flew up high and looped around the town one last time. She couldn't see or hear anypony, so she flew to the center of town and focused her magic. She had used it a lot today and flew around far more than she used to, she could feel the exhaustion of a long and eventful day. But raising the moon was so natural to her, she could manage it without any problems at all. With a smile watched the full moon rise from the horizon and shine its light to the silent City.

She had done everything she could to help today, though she knew it was only a small step in her atonement. She had to make up for not only her sins as Nightmare Moon, but also for neglecting her duties in the dream realm for a thousand years. She never allowed herself anything less than being there for as many ponies as possible during their darkest nightmares. While this gave her the chance for personal contact with them, most ponies barely even remembered her visits when they woke up in the morning.
She scowled at those thoughts, since she was not doing her duties for appreciation. Not anymore. Though she had to admit she was not unhappy with flying out in the daylight and letting the ponies see her as she helped. It was very different than her usual silent support she gave from the shadows of dreams, but the way she had been able to inspire her subjects in this new way to help turned out to be very satisfying in its own.
With on last look at the full moon she turned and made her way back to the castle as promised.

Luna didn't enter the Royal Castle through the main doors but instead landed on a balcony in her personal wing. This was her preferred way to get in and out without being noticed and the doors were always open. A risk perhaps, but one she was willing to take for the convenience of privacy. The passed the doors to her personal chambers and walked along the hallway towards the main castle. They were empty as usual, the only ponies around at night were a few selected guards anyways but by her order they had joined in helping the ponies so Luna wasn't surprised to find their posts abandoned.
She passed a lot of more empty rooms. Meeting rooms, offices, chambers for maids and guards, even a dining room and a ball room. Luna had little use of those since she preferred her doing her tasks at night by herself. She barely had any staff dedicated purely to her at that matter. A single maid would clean her room briefly each morning before she went to bed, when she was hungry she'd go to the kitchen herself, and political meetings or audiences were handled by her sister at day. She frowned as she passed a few doors she didn't even knew what was behind them since she never bothered to enter. Probably some more offices for the secretaries she declined to employ.
Walking in from her wings had another appeal to her as she could slip into the throne room through a side entrance this way as well. With most of the ponies looking at her sister, it allowed her to take in everything without being noticed, unless she wanted to.
Her steps were slow tonight, heavy from exhaustion. She hadn't held back during the spell of Sunset Shimmer and whatever magic was left had been burned out by her deeds in the city. She still had her night tasks ahead of her, luckily they relied on a different source of strength so she would be able to perform, even if tired. She opened the final door, hearing the ponies gathered behind it talking but also the scents of dinner. Perhaps something to eat would put her in better spirits before taking on her nightly guard.

When she stepped through the doors her eyes opened wide in surprise. Literally the whole room was filled with ponies of all tribes, blankets and improvised beds covered the floor and members of the royal staff had to move carefully to not step on anyponys tail or wings as they handed out food from big bowls. Yet that was not what surprised Luna.
Immediately all heads turned to her and she was greeted with smiling faces and cheers. She slowly walked towards the thrones where the other princesses had already gathered, meeting all the smiles towards her with an insecure smile herself and some bows of her head. It's been one thing talking to the small groups of ponies in the city but having the attention of nearly all of Canterlot at once was a very humbling experience to her. She envied her sister who not only had this nearly every day, but could also handle it far better than herself.

Those feelings didn't last too long though as a group of fillies and colts gathered around her and droned out all other cheers with their voices, asking small and apparently unimportant questions or simply staring at her and calling her name over and over.
Luna smiled and spread her wings softly as she stepped forward, smiling at each of them and listening carefully at each question, taking them as serious as she did any adult pony. She found out shortly after her reformation that the youngest of the ponies seemed to be fascinated and impressed by her a lot more than adults, and she smiled as she could see so much potential in each of them and did her best to nurture it as best as she could.

Her exchange was quickly interrupted though by a green ball of happiness who turned out to be Emerald Shine pouncing her and clinging on her neck. She chuckled as she held the colt close while his parents approached and found herself hugged twice more with matching happiness.
“Thank you so much Princess Luna! Thank you for bringing us back together!”
Luna smiled and squeezed the colt gently before setting him back into his mother's embrace, then bowed her head deeply to the three ponies
“It was my honor to help you! I'm happy I could contribute to your family's unison.”

The family bowed as well and the colts and fillies scurried of to their parents and caretakers as well, clearing a path for Luna to the three princesses. She could hear mumbles, ponies telling each other how they saw her in town all day helping where she could. Celestia had stepped down from the podium and met her sister halfway. Luna could tell from the smile on her sisters face she had talked to Sunset Shimmer and all had been well. They shared a hug, each one wrapping a hoof and a wing around the other
“Welcome back, Luna.”
“It's good to be back, sister.”
Luna's ear perked up as she heard somepony d'aww behind her but she simply smiled and follow her sister to the front of the room, taking their places between the other princesses, Cadence a her side and Twilight Sparkle next to her mentor.

Celestia nodded to them and Cadence stepped forward and spoke to the now watching crowd
“Everypony, please listen for a moment. I know you all worked very hard today and went through a lot after the earthquakes happened. I don't want to go into details before we know everything, but I want to share some good news with you:
Despite the destruction in town, there have been no casualties today. No pony went missing or was left behind, thanks to all your help.”
Relieved murmurs spread through the room and Cadence continued
“Canterlot Hospital is right now operating within the guests wing of this castle. If you have any injuries or similar, you can go there for help. Furthermore, I have been able to exchange letters with the towns of Cloudsdale, Ponyville and Manehatten, as well as the Crystal Empire. They have not witnessed any quakes or natural disasters today. As far as we know, only Ponyville noticed some rumbling, since it's the closest to Canterlot. If you have friends or family outside of town, this means you no longer have to worry, everypony is safe.”
This time the ponies were more enthusiastic and as Cadence stepped back, Celestia took her place
“My little ponies, we are all very proud of you and what you've accomplished today. During a crises you've shown respect and compassion for each other and helped each other, not thinking about tribes, social standings or profession. Today, we all worked as one towards harmony.”
Twilight stood next to Celestia and added
“And now we're all here together, united in friendship, everyone of us. Tonight, we all share our food, comfort and beds together as friends.”
Twilight and Celestia turned around and smiled at Luna who had been silent until now. She realized she was given the last words of the Princesses as the Princess of the Night.
She stepped forwards and the mumbling stopped again as everyponys attention rested on her. She smiled and picked up where Twilight had stopped
“My friends! Now you can enjoy your well deserved rest in the peacefulness of the night. May your slumbers be gentle and kind tonight and may we all not remember this night as the night of great misery, but as a night where we all spent together in friendship and harmony!”

The ponies cheered loudly and all four princesses bowed their heads before they stood together and decided how to go on from hereon.
Luna was the first to speak
“Sister! I'm glad you're feeling like yourself again. How is Sunset Shimmer?”
“It was just as you said, Luna. It was the first step and it had to be done before I could really start to move on. Sadly Sunset still doesn't feel up to leaving that room and facing anypony yet. I promised to stay with her tonight, but I'd feel better if I knew you were there as well.”
Luna nodded
“Of course! I still didn't get a chance to thank her properly for saving us.”
Twilight smiled and giggled
“I promised her the same! If you're in too Cadence, it's almost like a Princess slumber party.”
Cadence smiled as well and nodded, but with a sigh
“I'll join you as soon as I figure out a few last things. Even with all the rooms of the guest wing, there's not enough room for everypony. Some will have to sleep in the hallways or even in the gardens I'm afraid.”
Luna ears perked up at this and she addressed the Princess of the Crystal Empire
“Cadence, there are rooms I literally never use in my wings. Take the ponies there, take all the space you need.”
Cadence turned around surprised at that
“Are you sure, Princess Luna?”
Luna frowned at the mentioning of her title. Despite her being older than the pink alicorn, Cadence had spent her fair share of years in royal business, either assisting Celestia during Luna's banishment or as ruler of the Crystal Empire. Therefore, Luna always considered them as equals while Cadence still treated her like an elder.
“I insist. As much as I cherish my privacy, these ponies need a proper place to rest far more, Princess Cadence.”
The pink alicorn blushed a little and nodded
“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to doubt you, Luna. With your rooms, things we be much easier. I get them prepared and then meet with you and Sunset?”
Luna nodded, appeased by Cadence' apology and smiled again, trying to clear up the tension again
“Princess slumber party it is, then.”
Twilight looked between the two and went on with Luna's joke.
“I don't think Sunset had any dinner yet. I'll get her something and catch up to you. Can't have a sleepover without snacks after all.”
The purple alicorn gave an awkward laugh and vanished in a flash of her magic. Cadence flew over the crowd to the door Luna had come from, announcing the additional rooms and leading ponies into the hallway.

Celestia and Luna nodded to each other and stepped down from the podium again. One sister heading left, the other right, the two alicorns walked between the improvised bed and small groups of ponies, checking one last time if anypony needed help before they'd retire.
Luna was quickly surrounded by a group of fillies again who begged her for a story of what happened.
As she consoled them for the following day, she heard a voice calling out from the back of the room
“Princess! What happened to the unicorn who saved us all with her spell?”
Another voice joined in
“How is Sunset Shimmer?”
That name send excited whispers through the room again, many ponies still remembered her as a former student of Celestia. Luna turned around to look at her sister only to find her giving her benevolent smile to the ponies
“Sunset Shimmer carried the burden to save not only one, but two worlds today. And even though she performed this feat flawlessly, it took a great toll of out her. She's resting right now but be assured she's under our personal care. My sister and I will go look after her ourselves tonight.”
More mumbles went through the crowds but most ponies nodded, especially those who had seen Sunset's spell earlier. The tall alicorn smiled at Luna and she nodded affirmatively before they both slowly made their way to the main doors leaving the throne room together.

A special gift

Chapter 8:

Sunset was still slumped on the pillow when the door opened again. After her talk with Celestia, she felt a lot better, a huge burden taken away from her heart in a matter of minutes. But with her emotional turmoil slowing down, her mind began analyzing the events from earlier today, going through everything that had happened over and over again. She couldn't figure out what happened and what to do next, and so her mind kept going in loops which eventually led to two dead ends: Worrying about her friends in the human world and blaming herself for what happened.

She sighed. She had seen them seconds before she closed the portal and strengthened the wall and they had been fine, but the empty feeling inside her remained. She hadn't realized how deep she was connected to the six girls and was hit very hard by the loss. Despite the promises and consolation from the Princesses, she felt more alone now than she had during her first months in the human world. Of course back then she was mostly driven by anger and thoughts of revenge. Now all she felt was worry and guilt. And no matter how often she remembered the image of that wall she created, she couldn't find a way through. Maybe she could use the notebook to communicate with her friends, just like Twilight had with her.

Another frustrated sigh broke through. The notebook. Even if the girls found it and figured out how to use it, she wasn't sure if it would still work now that there was no hole left in the wall that separated the worlds. She didn't even know if it was a good idea to even try activating the notebook again. For all that she knew, her excessive writing to Twilight might have been what finally caused the portal to break apart. She closed her eyes and felt even more guilty. Not only had she used the notebook a lot, she also begged Twilight to come visit her for selfish reasons like needing someone to talk to who understood her pony side. Or to help her with a friendship problem. Or even mundane things like spending the weekend with her friends.

Sunset buried her face in her forehooves. Before Twilight had put together her device, the portal would only open for a short time every thirty moons. Maybe that time was actually necessary to deal with the excess energy that was needed to connect both worlds. So her constant usage of the portal threw everything out of balance. Whatever happened in Canterlot High and Equestria, it became more and more clear she was to blame for it.

When the door opened, she sat up on her pillow and turned towards it entrance. She still felt exhausted, but she was more than happy for anypony who would keep her mind away from those depressing thoughts for a while at least.
She smiled when Celestia stepped in with her sister Luna following close behind, both of them carrying a few things with their magic. She saw the kind but excited smile on Celestia's face. Sunset still couldn't believe how easily the Princess had forgiven her and now even seemed eager to pick up their relationship where they left back then and move on from there. Celestia slowed down for a moment but then gave her a reassuring nod, having guessed what Sunset was thinking and most likely feeling the same.

Princess Luna looked at both ponies and just laughed softly
"Give it some time, both of you. You can't just expect this to be cleared out in a matter of minutes."

Sunset blushed but Celestia only giggled and set down a teapot and five mugs in front of the unicorn. Luna winked at Sunset and spread out the pillows and blankets she had been carrying in her dark blue magic. She formed a loose circle big enough for some more ponies before she sat on a pillow across from Sunset. Celestia sat down next to the unicorn, close enough so Sunset could feel her comforting presence wrap around her worries like a soft blanket.
Both alicorns smiled when they saw Sunset relax a little and Celestia poured in some tea for them while Luna just watched silently. Sunset gingerly picked up the mug in front of her with her hooves and took a careful sip. She frowned and her horn glowed softly. The red magic engulfed the mug for a moment before Sunset took another sip from the now steaming beverage, smiling this time.

She then noticed both sisters watching her which made her blush again and hide her face behind the mug. They just laughed and Celestia added with a soft voice
"I forgot you liked your tea so hot it'd burn your tongue, Sunset."
"Not everypony prefers lukewarm drinks, sister. That was a very well executed heat spell, by the way."
Sunset just blushed more and mumbled into her tea
"Magic with fire and heat just works naturally for me. My cutie mark is a burning sun after all."

Luna nodded and the door opened again, this time Cadance stepped in and brought a tray with sandwiches. She sat down next to the moon Princess with a happy sigh
"We finally found everypony a place to sleep. Thanks to you, Princess-... I mean, thanks to you Luna. Your rooms made it all possible."

The dark blue mare smiled and was about to answer but found herself interrupted by Sunset
"How bad are things? In Canterlot?"
The three Princesses turned their heads to her and Sunset stared at her tea again when she saw their worried expressions. While she had been sulking and crying like a filly, the Princesses had to work hard to keep everything together. She needed to know at least how much misery she caused.

Celestia was the first to answer
"Considered all that happened, we're doing great so far. No casualties, nopony went missing. And after seeing Princess Luna personally head to town and help, everypony was inspired to help as much as they could."
Cadance nodded and smiled to Luna
"I promised at least a dozen of ponies to tell you how honored they feel to stay in your rooms tonight and even more want to thank you for what you did for them in the city. And, I might have promised a group of foals you'd tell them a story tomorrow. I hope that's okay."
Now the pink princess started to blush but Luna just laughed and put her hoof on her shoulder
"I'm looking forward to that. And I suppose everypony will have to stay in the castle for at least another night. The buildings in the city took severe damage."
She turned back to Sunset at those last words
"Luckily, my sister and Cadance were able to organize accommodation for all those ponies. In the end, the disaster only brought everypony closer together, figuratively and literally."

Sunset nodded at that but kept her gaze glued to the floor. Celestia shared a glance with the others and then softly touched her shoulder
"Sunset, you can't blame yourself for this. We still don't know what exactly happened."
Luna nodded and added
"Whatever caused the quakes, it was you who stopped them. And everypony know this as the story spreads fast through the whole castle. You saved them all, and this counts more than any mishap that happened or not."

Before Cadance could say something, there was a puff of magic and Twilight stood next to the door, carrying a few boxes with her magic.
"I'm sorry I'm late! But I had to wait for some special snacks to be prepared."
Oblivious to the gloomy mood, the purple alicorn smiled and levitated a box towards Sunset
"Donut Joe says hi and welcome back home. He'd love to talk to you again sometime."
Sunset blinked and carefully opened the box. Then her eyes went wide when she saw a baker's dozen of fresh donuts with sprinkles. Without a second thought, she picked one and took a big bite, smiling brightly and almost crying in joy
"So good~! I even dreamed about those a couple of times!"

The princesses laughed while Sunset quickly devoured her donut and Celestia watched amused
"I think I've never seen anypony enjoy pastry this much."
At that Luna laughed even harder
"Unless of course it's cake, right Tia?" she teased softly.
The white mare just smiled
"Should I have ordered some cherry pie for you, dear sister?"
Luna rolled her eyes but then looked genuinely surprised when Cadance gave out a longing sigh
"Gosh, I would trade my crown for some cherry pie right now!"
Both Luna and Celestia blinked surprised and Twilight only giggled
"As tempting as that sounds, I'll let you keep your crown for now, as long as you leave me a slice."
She set down the other boxes she brought and revealed more pastries, including a large cherry pie.

All ponies laughed again and Twilight sat down between Cadance and Sunset. Snacks and drinks were shared between the mares and they enjoyed some friendly chat while they ate. Sunset first seemed shy around the four Princesses, but she soon smiled along as Cadance shared her latest adventures with her daughter Flurry Heart. When Celestia asked her about the human world, she gave out a few facts and differences, trying to not mention her friends too much. Twilight talked about her experiences among humans as well and Sunset fell back to listening and watching the Princesses.

Celestia and Cadance seemed very interested and kept asking questions, but Luna just listened with her eyes mostly closed. Sunset suspected she might have fallen asleep when the Princess didn't move for a couple of minutes, but then her blue eyes opened and she sighed deeply. At that point, Twilight fell silent and Celestia softly brushed one of her white wings down Luna's back.
She asked with a concerned voice
"Are you alright, Luna? Is it too much?"
The Princess of the Night shook her head
"No, sister. I can handle my duties, but catastrophes like today keep ponies busy, even in their dreams. I hope I can help them forget their fears and worries, at least for the night."

Sunset blinked confused and Twilight whispered to her
"Since her return, Princess Luna has been taking care of the dream realm again, helping ponies with nightmares and such. She's the only one who can control dream magic and she takes her duties very serious."
Sunset's eyes went wide and she looked at the dark blue alicorn with new interest. She seemed so different than her sister, not only physically but also in the way she acted. Celestia was warm and open and smiling a lot, while Luna seemed distant, almost cold, even when she smiled. Then again, Sunset remembered the two sisters teasing each other over cake and Celestia being overwhelmed by emotions when they talked. Maybe this distance was just necessary when Luna entered dreams and got confronted with everypony's innermost feelings. Just as necessary as Celestia had to keep smiling most of the day during her royal meetings. Both of them were Princesses after all, and both of them had important roles to fulfill for the sake of Equestria.
"Maybe they're not so different after all..." Sunset mumbled, not realizing she said the words out loud.

Luna's ears perked up and she gave the unicorn a weird look, but she then just turned to the other alicorns
"I usually don't talk about what I see in the dreamscape, but I think you can all guess anyways. Ponies are worried about what happened and they don't understand it, not even those who were present when Sunset Shimmer performed her spell."
The Princess sighed and closed her eyes
"They trust us enough to not let their worries go overboard, but we have to tell them eventually. But to be honest, I'm not sure I understand everything myself."
The other Princesses nodded and Sunset found four pairs of alicorn eyes on her. Luna spoke again
"Sunset Shimmer, I'm sorry I have to ask this after all you've been through today. But could you please tell us what you know? How it all started?"

Sunset sighed and looked down at her mug again. She knew this was inevitable. They had all acted nice and friendly around her, but those mares were Princesses of Equestria after all. They had every right to demand answers and interrogate her. And they'd pass judgment on her if they thought she posed a threat to their subjects.
She swallowed hard and shivered, bracing herself for whatever might happen, when Twilight spoke to her again
"Sunset, this in not a royal hearing or anything. You don't have to be nervous."
She looked up again and back into those eyes on her. Twilight smiled reassuringly and gently put a hoof on her shoulder. Princess Cadance met her gazes and her eyes shined with support and concern, not for a kingdom but for her friend
"We just want to figure out how we can help you. We all promised, after all."
Princess Luna didn't look away either, but her ears flopped against her head and her wings twitched a little. Sunset realized she felt bad for being the one who asked those questions and in her blue eyes she saw the same glow of care she'd seen from the others before. She finally tilted her head up to look at Princess Celestia. The white alicorn smiled and the only word Sunset found to describe it was 'motherly'. Love and care shone in her eyes, strong and unconditional. She slipped a little closer so Sunset could feel her warm and soft flank against her own. She leaned gently into the comforting presence and started talking
"I don't know how it all started. The first thing I noticed were dark clouds that suddenly blocked out the sun..."

Sunset kept talking for more than an hour, explaining everything she saw and felt in detail, especially the veil and how she repaired it. She told them about the strange blue energy she could only use once it had been affected by Twilight's spell and the final burst that turned the veil into solid crystal. She told them about their friends and how they'd 'pony up' to get a similar spell going in the human world. She explained how it felt to have alicorn magic flow through her body and that her cutie mark started to glow once she made the decision to finally close the portal.
None of the Princesses interrupted her or asked any questions. Only Twilight started to take notes on a scroll at some point and from the expression on her friend's face she could tell there'd be questions later. But for now, the four alicorns just listened and gave her sympathetic nods, especially when she talked about her human friends.

At the end, she felt completely exhausted again. She shivered despite the warm body next to her and Celestia allowed her to lean a little more against her flank. The alicorns remained silent for a while, each one following their own thoughts.
Finally, it was Luna who broke the silence again
"This is far more complex that I expected. We know now what happened, but I'm afraid the number of questions I have only increased."
Celestia nodded and sighed
"I've spent some time with Starswirl the Bearded exploring and examining such portals. But I can't recall anything similar ever happening, nor him talking about it. I suppose our best guess would be to check if any of his books contains information that could be useful."
Twilight nodded and couldn't hide her fascination as she reread her scroll
"Well, we do know a few things that are helpful already. We know that there's supposed to be a balance between both worlds, but it got disturbed. We know that energy from both worlds can flow into the other, but it will act differently in each world. And we know that it's possible to guide the human energy with magic and that Sunset can control it instinctively. It's not much, but it's a start at least."

Sunset smiled along with the two sisters when she saw how easily Twilight could loose herself in a new science project. Cadance frowned
"I don't think we can solve this all by ourselves. I'll ask Sunburst to do some research as well, he has studied all of Starwirl's books and might know where to start looking."
Twilight nodded at that
"I'll ask Starlight for her help as well. She managed to modify that time travel spell, I'm sure she'll have some useful ideas. She should be here tomorrow, along with my other friends."
Luna looked up at that
"The Elements of Harmony will arrive tomorrow?"
Twilight blushed and nodded
"Right, I haven't told you yet! When you were in town helping, I teleported to Ponyville to see if everything was okay there. When everypony heard what happened in Canterlot, they started organizing a help team right away. They would have come tonight already, but apparently the railroads took some damage so they need to load everything in carts instead. I also contacted the Crystal Empire with the help of Spike and..."

Sunset listened as Twilight talked, but she found herself drifting off. She heard the voices of the four Princesses discuss some things, but she couldn't focus on the words anymore. She felt relieved after telling everything to them and nopony blaming her right away. She felt safe in their company and for the first time today she felt that nervous tension fade from her. She gently rested her head against Celestia's neck and closed her eyes, just for a moment she told herself. She did not notice the white and soft wing that gently wrapped around her and pulled her closer, nor did she see the four Princesses smiling as the exhausted unicorn curled up and snuggled into the familiar warmth. The alicorns watched Sunset sleep peacefully for a moment before the continued their conversation with soft voices, careful not to wake their new friend.

The hallway was dark and long, nearly endless. The steps echoed through the emptiness as she ran. The end was still not in sight but she could feel the hallway disappearing behind her. She had to get there. The walls came closer, the ceiling sunk down, she was forced to duck, then crawl, and push herself through the narrow tunnel. Suddenly she fell down as the ground vanished under her. She looked up and saw only darkness. Absolute darkness, black and all consuming. She screamed and turned her head away, and saw she was falling into an even darker hole. She screamed over and over and over as she was swallowed by the dark abyss but she couldn't stop falling. She couldn't do anything and nobody heard her. She was alone and in darkness. She was falling.

After what seemed like a decade of falling, she saw something other than black. It was only a soft glow but it burned her eyes in the darkness. She crawled towards it. It was a door but it was made of thick glass, she could see through it. She heard a mumbled voice and yelled again.
Six orbs of light appeared, each in a different color: Red, blue, purple, yellow, orange, pink. They approached her and formed into shapes. She recognized the six human girls even before she could even see their faces. She yelled more and knocked at the door, calling out their names.

They stared at her, each one surrounded by a glow. The pink haired girl in the middle raised her hand and waved and she raised her hoof to wave back. Then she froze in fear and finally desperation. From the darkness above, a flash of lightning struck down on Pinkie Pie, her smile torn into a grimace of agony and a terrible scream breaking the silence. She watches as the girl coiled in pain and then vanished into a burst of sparks. The glow vanished and the sparks faded into darkness, leaving no trace.
She screamed and threw her hooves against the door, but it didn't budge. She looked up again and winced as another lightning struck down, this time hitting the blue glow. The rainbow haired girl screamed in endless pain for another two seconds before she burst into sparks as well, only to fade out of existence. Two more strikes, two more screams, two more lights gone. Red and orange extinguished into black void. Tears now running down as she desperately tried to push the door open.
The yellow glow flickered and cried, as did the pink haired girl inside. The next lightning hit her and her screams of pain and fear echoed long after her sparks had faded. She slammed her hooves against the door and felt her heart break into a million pieces.
Only purple remained. The girl inside the glow smiled. She clenched and felt sick. The same smile Twilight had when she last saw her. The final lightning ripped her apart and the world behind the door turned dark again.
She could see her reflection in the door now, her hands pressed against it and tears running down her human face. Her hooves pressed harder and tried to touch the hands, she felt like she could almost do it. Then another lightning struck down and her reflection writhed in agony before she disappeared.
She broke down, crying and pressing her hooves against her body. She gave up and the darkness coiled up around her, ready to consume her.

Then, through the darkness, a glow of light approached her, more brilliant and bright than she had ever seen before. She gazed at it and reached out as the black coils hissed and the glow moved closer. She saw the full moon floating up towards her, the brightness chasing away the shadows but the gentle glow not blinding her at all.
Two blue wings sprouted out of the moon and with another flash, the shape of a pony stepped closer. She had a dark blue coat and her tail and mane where made of sparkly stars on a night sky, her blue wings spread out and her horn glowing softly against the bright moon behind her. Her eyes were the most impressive though. They found hers immediately and all pain faded. The were cool and soothing and healed the burns in her heart. At the same time, they glowed with warmth and compassion and she felt like a cozy blanket being wrapped around her.

The shadows hissed again but the mare just stomped her hoof once.
"Begone! You shall not hurt this filly ever again."
The moon shone brighter and the shadows simply faded, all the images and pain she'd seen grew unclear and hazy, and she realized and remembered. Where she was, who she was, and she recognized the Princess of the Night bowing down to her and gently nuzzling her.
"Fear no more, Sunset Shimmer. Those dark thoughts won't harm you any longer."

She felt the warm touch and in an sudden instinct clung on the Princess and buried her face against her coat. She felt the other mare welcome her into the embrace, the Princess just sat down on her haunches and held her close. She felt tears erupting from her eyes again, but the alicorn didn't seem to mind at all. For the umpteenth time she turned into a sobbing mess in the presence of a pony she barely knew and once again she was not rejected. Twilight had tried to calm her with words, Cadance had shared her tears with her, Celestia had pointed out her own mistakes to make her feel better.
The Princess of the Night just held her, her presence soothing her in a way she had not felt before, the soft glow of the moon keeping the darkness away. The tears kept running down her cheek but this time it felt different. She felt Princess Luna nod while she held her close
"That's it. You can let it all out."
She stopped fighting back the sadness she felt and let her tears flow out along with sobs that were muffled against the dark coat of the alicorn. She felt them cleanse her heart, washing away the fear and the guilt of failing her friends and abandoning them.

After a while, she felt like a glacier of ice had melted inside her and poured out of eyes. Slowly the cold was replaced by warmth again. The warmth called forth happier thoughts and memories of her friends but also the recent kindness she'd received from the Princesses just today.
She looked up again and the soft glow of Luna's eyes found her again. She felt like a filly again and mumbled slightly embarrassed
"I'm sorry..." but the Princess would just smiled and indicated a shake of her head
"You needed this. It was good for you and I was happy to offer my comfort. You have nothing to apologize for, nor regret."
Sunset couldn't help but giggle at the long-winded answer and nuzzled gently into warm embrace, her embarrassment fading in the genuine words of the Princess
"Thank you, Princess Luna."

The Princess held her silently for a moment longer, then looked around and sighed
"I'm bound to say, this is not a dream fitting for a selfless and brave pony such as yourself. May I?"
She didn't wait for an answer and let her horn glow brightly. The darkness was quickly replaced by a beautiful scenery:
They were suddenly sitting on a soft meadow surrounded by a few gentle wings, in the distance the shape of a forest could just barely be made out. Above her they saw a beautiful night sky like Sunset had never seen before, all stars sparkling brightly and a full moon giving out just enough light to see. The grass felt soft under her like a comfy bed and she saw beautiful flowers growing in between, white and blue and lilac and purple. She took a deep breath and inhaled a delightful scent, she could make out lavender but the other fragrances her. The only sounds she could hear was a soft breeze rustling through the grass and water running through a small steam that crossed the meadow a few feet from where she sat. She could hear the soothing swish of the water though all she would see was a soft silver mist floating where the steam had to be.

Sunset took in everything with wide eyes and ears, then only would she realize the Princess was no longer holding her in an embrace but was sitting beside her. She just stared at her, lost for words in this breathtaking place and the blue mare smiled
"This dream is one of my favorites. I come here often to think, and when I try to deal with my guilt and sorrows. I hope it will serve you as well as it does me."
Sunset's eyes opened wider, looking over the meadow again before her eyes returned to the alicorn again
"You mean... I may come here again? And see you?"
The Princess laughed and nodded
"Yes Sunset Shimmer. This place will be there for you whenever you need it. As for my presence, I'll be happy to visit your dreams more often, but I can't promise I'll be around every time."
Sunset just stared floored
"Princess Luna, I love this place and I don't want to sound ungrateful... but why are you doing this for me? You just met me a few hours ago..."
The Princess just smiled
"And it sufficed to find a liking in you, Sunset Shimmer. We have a lot in common. We both came across with my sister, we both turned to darkness for selfish reasons. But we both left it behind us and entered a new path, with the help of friends, and we both sometimes struggle to find the place we belong in our worlds. And we both found Celestia rather blaming herself than us when we returned from our darker selves."

Luna looked into Sunset's eyes and the unicorn could see she was still surprised to be forgiven by her sister, a feeling Sunset could easily relate with. She still didn't fully believe herself. The alicorn continued
"When I came back after being Nightmare Moon, I only had my sister to talk with. But there are things I couldn't tell her or that she simply couldn't understand. But you have seen both sides, Sunset Shimmer. So this is my selfish reason for giving you access to this place: I was hoping you might be willing to talk with me about the things only you and me can really know."
The mare looked away and closed her eyes. Sunset smiled softly and was reminded of the time she talked with human Twilight Sparkle. The poor girl had been so afraid to turn dark again she practically locked herself away from the worlds.
Sunset reached out and gently touched the blue hoof with hers
"I'd be happy to be here and listen. Thank you, Princess."
The Princess looked back at the yellow unicorn and smiled
"Please, call me Luna. At least in here. My title barely means anything in the dream realm."

Sunset smiled back and nodded, then turned to take in the view again. She took another deep breath and felt herself relax in the soothing environment. Luna silently sat beside her and after a few minutes Sunset felt her cheeks flush
"Um, Luna? I'm not keeping you from your duties, am I? You said you're very busy tonight and Twilight told me how important your work is."
Luna chuckled and softly shook her head
"Do not worry, Sunset Shimmer. Time works differently in your dreams."
Sunset lay down in the soft grass and rested her head on her fore hooves as the calming atmosphere got to her. She mumbled softly
"I barely know anything about the dream plane..."
Luna smiled and nodded
"I'll be happy to teach you a thing or two. But for now, rest. You deserve some peace after all that happened today."

Sunset nodded and smiled and let herself go. As she sunk down into deeper sleep, the scenery grew a little more blurry, but the moon and stars above her still glowed softly and kept away the shadows. At some point the shape of Luna faded softly away but Sunset barely even noticed. She could still feel her presence in this place and with a happy sigh, she softly slipped into gentle dreams.

Author's Note

Hello everyone,

thank you for making it this far and I hope you had some fun with it.

This will be the last update for a while, due to my job I will be traveling around some more during the next few weeks.
I hope I'll have the next chapters ready as soon as I get back home.

Until then, have a good time!

A new day

Chapter 9: A new day

Sunset stirred but kept her eyes closed. Something was missing. She wanted to stay in the soft pillow, but she started feeling cold. She peeked open a single eyes and noticed. The room was empty, and the voices were gone. She blinked a few times and sat up, then noticed the empty pillow-bed beside her. Princess Celestia was gone and with her, the warmth she had felt all night long went missing too. She sighed and stood on her hooves, relieved to feel her strength back in them. She felt inside her and smiled when the magic greeted her with a warm glow around her horn. It was still there, like a final reminder that it hadn't just been a dream altogether. Or a nightmare.

She jumped startled when she saw a motion to her left. From a pile of blankets, she saw a blue wing poke out and finally she could make out the form of Princess Luna. The alicorn turned around to avoid the rays of sun poking into her eyes through the open door.. Sunset smiled. Seems like I'm not the only one who sleeps in longer. The sun is already rising and...

Sunset opened her eyes wide in realization and rushed out of the door and towards the closest window. With a push of her red magic aura, the window opened and she poked her head into the cold morning air. She could see the gardens under her, but her attention was glued to the horizon. The sun was slowly climbing up, still mostly covered and barely more than a red glow. Sunset smiled when she noticed the sky above her taking different shades of color, from a dark blue where the night was still present over shades of greenish yellow to an bright orange halo surrounding the rising sphere of light. As it rose up, the colors changed again and the rays of the morning sun seemed to bath everything the touched in liquid gold. Sunset could see the trees and hills in the distance sparkle in the increasing light. The sun moved slowly and Sunset almost felt it was only to increase the beauty of the new day unfolding before her eyes. The golden glory shining around her and warmth covering her face, a warmth she also felt resonate deep inside her. She felt a tear in her eyes but was unwilling to blink it away and loose sight of the beautiful light.
Finally, the sun left the horizon and rose higher up, the gold turning into the usual yellow brightness that brought all colors to the world around her.

Sunset sighed deeply and smiled
"I can't believe I almost missed my first sunrise back in Equestria..."
She startled when she heard a voice next to her
"And what a glorious sunrise it is, truly. My sister must be in very good spirits to create such a display to witness."
Sunset turned away from the sun to look at Princess Luna. The mare had managed to step next to her without being noticed, since all her attention had been on Celestia's sun.
She spoke again, this time looking at Sunset
"Should you ever doubt my sister forgiving you... should you ever feel like you're not welcome in her presence... just remember this moment, Sunset Shimmer. Your return gives her hope and happiness strong enough to inspire such beauty."

Sunset found herself lost of words and just turned to watch the sun again, as did the Princess. Sunrises took a lot longer in the human world where the celestial bodies moved by their own pace, so the sun was already high up after only a few minutes.
She smiled and sighed
"I used to watch them every morning in the human world. At first, the only reminded me of my anger on Princess Celestia and each time I watched I felt more eager to get my revenge.
After meeting Princess Twilight, I didn't watch them for a long time. I just couldn't without feeling guilty. In the end, when I got closer to my friends, I started watching them again though. I still felt guilty, but also homesick. And somtimes sad. But most of the time... I was happy."
The dark alicorn nodded
"As the sun gives light to a new day, each new day gives us new chances. New challenges to face, new ways to learn. And new friends to be made. In the silence of night, we tend to reflect and contemplate. But in the light of a new day, we always find hope."

Sunset nodded and thought about these words. New chances, new friends. She'd have a lot of both during the time after the Fall Formal, more than she had in her entire time in Equestria before. After learning the error of her ways, she had to think a lot and shun the sunrise, staying up late and wondering if she'd ever be able to face the world again. Her friends had pulled her back into the light and into hope. As did her new friends here.
She smiled and looked at the sun for a moment longer, before she nodded. She would not loose hope again and she would take any chance to make the most of this new day.

When she turned from the window, she found Princess Luna watching her curiously. When she saw the determination in Sunset's eyes, she gave the unicorn an approving smile and motioned for her to follow. The trotted after the newest of her friends and blinked surprised as the dark blue mare vanished into a wall. She looked closer and noticed a well hidden passage she probably never would have found on her own. Or maybe the passageway wasn't there unless the Princess wanted it to be there? Without hesitation, she followed the Princess and after climbing up a narrow stairway, she found herself in Luna's personal chambers. It was easy to figure out with the prominent crest of the Moon on the doors and the tapestries. The room was held mostly in shades of blue and silver but Sunset almost instantly felt very comfy in here. She had been in Princess Celestia's private chambers a few times, back when she was chosen as her personal student, but when the gold regalia and bright white walls had been impressive, the more gentle colors of this room gave her a very safe feeling right away. She smiled again when she realized the room reminded her a lot of the dream Princess Luna shared with her earlier.

She stepped onto the soft carpets that dimmed all the sounds of her hooves, still taking in the atmosphere when she noticed a glow to her right. Another door was surrounded by a dark blue glow of magic and opened, revealing a spacious bathroom.
The Princess smiled
"Everypony is awake and gathering at the throne room once again, and we should get some breakfast soon as well. But before that, I figured you would like to freshen up a bit?"

Sunset blushed deep red and turned to the alicorn although her eyes were down at her hooves
"Princess Luna... first I keep you busy all night, then I wake you up so early. And now you're even offering your private bathroom to me? This is far more than I deserve..."
The Princess only laughed with mirth and smiled kindly
"I was happy you woke me and I could see Tia's wonderful sunrise. And I already shared a place far more personal with you, Sunset Shimmer. Your presence is not a bother to me, far the opposite is true. So please, feel free to use my rooms as much as you like. There's another day of challenges waiting for both of us."

With that, she motioned towards the bathroom with her wings and then stepped out to the balcony of her rooms. Sunset smiled and nodded as she went to enjoy a quick but refreshing shower. Princess Luna had been very open in her dreams, but now in the day the distance she felt when they first met had returned. As the warm water ran down her body she sighed softly. To some it might come off as cold or uncaring, but after spending most of the night in Luna's dream, she could feel the heartfelt support and compassion behind this distance. It was just her way to deal with the responsibility of being a Princess and the expectations of perfection that came along with this. Sunset remembered Twilight talking to her about the pressure of being a Princess and how it was hard for her to deal with it. Add that to the guilt Luna confessed to her in the dream realm, Sunset found it easy to accept this distance and see the pony behind it shining trough.

After the shower, Sunset's magic took hold of a towel and a brush and she worked through her coat and mane. She looked at one of the large mirrors and blinked surprised. She hadn't had any chance to see her born form fully yet and she ended up staring at herself. Her yellow and red mane was still a bit fizzy from the shower but her coated shined like it always had after brushing. She turned and saw her cutie mark on her flank and couldn't help but smile at the familiar design. She had put it on her jacket and some of her things, but seeing it there on her body just felt right. She flicked her tail which matched her mane and the colors of the burning sun mark on her coat. She reached out for her magic and quickly her mane dried as well with a simple heat spell. Pyromancy always had been her specialty and it still came easy to her. She saw her horn glow in the red magic aura.

So much was as she remembered, but she still couldn't recognize the pony in that mirror. She looked at her face and noticed her eyes. I've never had eyes like that before I went into the other world. They look so different. Nicer? Kinder? I can't even tell.

A soft knock on the door made her snap out from staring at her own reflection and she quickly returned to the main room. Princess Luna was waiting for her, with a silver tiara on her head and silver shoes on her hooves. She nodded and without a word opened the door to the hallways with her magic. She stepped down towards the main castle slowly, expecting Sunset to follow. The smaller unicorn quickly trotted up next to her and the doors closed behind her with another dark blue glow.
They walked silently, only the Princess' hooves clicking on the floor with each step. Luna seemed lost in her own thoughts so Sunset took the change to glance around. She noticed open doors and improvised beds in nearly every room, but she saw no pony as they walked.

They finally reached the end of the hallway and stood in front of a large door. Sunset could hear the voices of many ponies behind it and suddenly felt very nervous. She didn't really feel ready to face anypony yet. What would she tell them? What would they think of her? Would they remember her from the times before she ran away? Could they understand she was a different pony now? She felt the urge of just running away and hide in the bedroom again becoming stronger and stronger with each moment.

"Sunset Shimmer."
Princess Luna took a deep breath while still facing the door as the yellow unicorn looked up at her
"I know you're scared about going inside there. But you must know: No matter what the other ponies decide to think of you, we won't let you face this on your own. My sister and I will stand by you no matter what. Some ponies will not understand right away. Just like they couldn't understand when I returned.
My sister helped them realize I was not the Nightmare they feared anymore. And I promise you now, I will help them see and accept the new pony you've become. So will my sister. And so will Princess Cadance and Princess Twilight, I'm sure."

Sunset closed her eyes for a moment, remembering the display of the sunrise from earlier. She felt the worries melt away from the warmth she felt and the words of the Princess beside her.
Her eyes opened again and she nodded with the same determination. She had faced the students of Canterlot High and succeeded, even made new friends among them. She could do that again, because she had friends supporting her in both worlds now.

Princess Luna saw her nod and opened the door with her magic. The alicorn entered the room without hesitation and Sunset follow right behind her.
Just as the night before, the throne room was crowded and ponies sat together in small groups, colts and fillies running around and playing while the royal staff walked between the groups. As soon as the doors opened, the ponies had fallen silent and turned to watch the Princess enter. Some of them bowed but most ponies just stared at Sunset as she walked in. She could see several unicorns point at her and whisper to the ponies around them. The whispers grew into a constant mumbling but Sunset could see more ponies smile hopefully than frown at her presence. She even spotted Dusty, the earth pony maid, wave at her openly. She smiled back at her and glanced around the room as Luna made her way towards the empty podium.
She spotted Princess Celestia, wearing her golden crown and shoes, mirroring Luna's appearance. She was talking to a few ponies who seemed to be doctors and nurses but looked up to smile to her sister and Sunset, then made her way towards the thrones as well.
Princess Cadance was at the back of the room and giving out some instructions to some guards before she spread her wings and landed next to Celestia's throne with a few flaps and waited for the other Princesses to join her.
Finally, she saw Twilight, this time wearing her crown as well, coming from the main entrance and followed by more ponies. She smiled brightly when she saw Sunset and quickly hurried to take her place next to Luna's throne.
The twin rulers made their way with slow, regal steps across the room and their eyes met all the ponies who looked at them. Sunset was still the main focus of the ponies but more and more they all turned to face the podium with the thrones. The sisters took the last steps and stood before their respective thrones, Luna's expression was calm and neutral, Celestia wore her usual kind smile but Sunset could see from her shining eyes it was honest joy that made her smile.
She climbed up the few steps to stand beside Twilight but Celestia motioned for her to stand between Luna and herself, in the centre. Sunset tried to swallow down the lump that grew in her throat and took her place as ordered, but kept her eyes cast down when she noticed everypony staring at her as the mumbling died down once again.

When every pony was silent again, Princess Celestia spoke
"Good morning to you all, my little ponies. I hope you all had a pleasant night. Today will be full of hard work for all of us, but first, we want to tell you what we've learned so far.
As most of you already expected, the earthquakes were not natural. The were caused by a so far unknown energy that invaded Equestria. The energy's origin is a world behind a magic mirror, once crafted by none other than Starswirl the Bearded himself."

The alicorn stopped and gave the crowd a few moments to process what she had said and the mumbling started again. Of course most ponies knew who Starswirl the Bearded had been, but none had ever heard of other worlds than Equestria.

Before the mumbling grew too much, Princess Luna now took a step forward and addressed the ponies again
"The mirror was unused for centuries but had become more active since recently. Not only did the foreign energy enter our world, but also was the mirror world exposed to Equestrian magic that slipped in. This caused great danger in this world as well, as far as we know not less than what happened here in Canterlot.
Luckily though, some pony in the mirror world saw what happened and acted to prevent even greater disasters to happen. That pony was none other than Sunset Shimmer. She learned about the danger Equestria found itself in and returned to warn us.
Furthermore, she and Princess Twilight quickly developed a spell to send the energies back into their respective worlds. When Princess Twilight almost failed to perform said spell, even with the help of Princess Cadance, my sister and myself, Sunset Shimmer acted once again. She joined into the spell and was able to finish it, with the help of many more unicorns present."

Sunset kept her eyes cast down while Luna spoke, but she could hear excited and surprised gasps and calls, then she heard Twilight
"Not only did Sunset Shimmer save both worlds with that, she even was able to strengthen the barrier separating the worlds to hopefully prevent the earthquakes from happening again."

The calls and mumbling grew more cheerful and Sunset dared to look into the crowd again. She saw mostly relief, but also a lot of confusion and some anger.
Princess Celestia noticed her raising her head and took a step to the side to make sure every pony could see Sunset.
"And now we're proud to present to you this very brave and loyal pony and welcome her back home: Sunset Shimmer!"

She blushed when most of the ponies started cheering and calling her name, celebrating her like she was some kind of hero. She took a shy step forward after a gentle nudge from Princess Cadance and forced an awkward smile to her face as she looked over the crowd without really seeing anypony.

Sunset was wondering if she was supposed to say anything now, when a loud voice called over all the other noises
"Princess, but why was Sunset Shimmer in this other world in the first place?"
Sunset's gaze instantly fell back on the ground between her hooves. Of course some pony would ask those questions. She had only been gone for a few years, there had to be at least some ponies remembering her, being Princess Celestia's personal student had given her some popularity at least in Canterlot and the Royal Palace.
The white alicorn next to her stood tall and faced the pony who had spoken up
"That is a very reasonable question. Sunset Shimmer has spent a few short years in the world behind the mirror. She happened to be present the last time it reactivated and used it to..."

Sunset didn't need to see Celestia's face to recognize the tone of her voice. It was of course the same voice she used often during meetings and audiences and even during their studies, whenever she wanted to avoid talking about something unpleasant.
Sunset frowned when she realized the Princess was trying to cover up for her mistakes in the past. A few years ago she might have felt angry about that, thinking her teacher was deciding over her head again instead of letting her deal with things. A week ago, Sunset would have probably be grateful for getting this kind of help and an easy way to avoid her own guilt as well as the anger from those ponies who knew her old self.

But today, after talking with the Princesses and learning how much Celestia blamed herself, she knew the easy way wasn't right for her. She remembered the night after the Fall Formal back at Canterlot High School and feeling the same, knowing that she had to face the consequences of her actions as herself. Staying true to herself had helped her find wonderful friendships and being helpful to many other people, hopefully it would help her dealing with her pony past as well.

Celestia was still talking when Sunset took a step forward and called out clear and loud
"I was in the other world because I ran away!"
The Princess fell silent and looked at her former student, clearly surprised. Sunset gave her an apologetic look, then turned back to the crowed and explained, her voice filled with determination to not sugarcoat anything that happened
"That night when I vanished from Equestria, I had a terrible fight with Princess Celestia. I was her student and making great progress in my magic studies, but I that also made me arrogant and very impatient. I felt so much better than everypony else and when Princess Celestia refused to continue teaching me what I wanted, I didn't understand. I was too stubborn and stuck up to embrace the wisdom offered to me and instead only got angry. I was hungry for the power I thought I deserved. I ended up throwing everything I learned back into the Princess' face and ran away. The mirror was the way to a new world and I hoped I would find more power there, new ways to prove everypony how much better I really was."

She sighed deeply and tried to calm down as those old feelings rose up from inside her. The ponies stared up at her, terrified by the rage in her voice, but also angry when they learned what she did to their beloved Princess.
The Princesses themselves remained silent, not trying to interrupt her or add something to her story. Only Princess Celestia moved to stand closer the amber unicorn, showing her support. Sunset glanced up to her for a moment and found the usually calm and collected alicorn shoot angry glances at those who started shouting at Sunset.
She took another deep breath and continued
"I found myself in a very strange world, without magic at all. I felt betrayed and even more angry, and all this anger was directed to Princess Celestia. I was convinced this was her fault and that I would get my revenge, but the portal closed before I could return, so I was stuck for now.
I still found power, but that power came from bullying and intimidating everyone in this new world. I learned a lot of differences and similarities between the worlds during this time, but all I could think about was revenge.
Thirty moons later, the portal reopened and I was able to sneak back. I found that my teacher had just replaced me with none other than Princess Twilight Sparkle. I found out she had now all the power and magic I deserved so much more than everypony else. I managed to steal her crown which was also the Element of Magic, and I took it back to the mirror world. I wanted to use its magic to take over that world first and then return conquer Canterlot and Equetria."

The angry shouts grew louder and now Twilight stepped to her other side, putting her hoof on her shoulder and spreading her wings out. Like Celestia before, Twilight faced the anger from the crowd and nodded for Sunset to continue.
The unicorn sighed deeply and smiled
"As you can tell, my plans all failed. Princess Twilight came after me and stopped me, not with magic or power, but with friendship and forgiveness. She showed me the error of my ways, that all my thoughts had been poisoned by anger and fear. She forgave me what I have done and with her help, I found some friends who did as well.
That night, I felt like I was being reborn as a new pony. Today I know I only became the pony I was meant to be and the pony Princess Celestia had seen in me so long ago."

Sunset than felt a wing wrapping around her back and she looked up to see Celestia smiling at her with pride and love and tears glittering in her eyes. Twilight watched and smiled as well and gave Sunset's hoof a gentle squeeze.
The ponies in the crowd had fallen back into mumbling, most of the anger gone and replaced with sympathy. The last doubtful expressions softened up when Princess Luna took a step forward and spread her wings. She didn't say anything, but simply looking at her reminded every pony of the possibility to change yourself and become a better pony. Some ponies who had been shouting even let their heads hang low, remembering the second chances they had received themselves.

Sunset scanned the crow again and found some familiar faces: Guards, staff ponies, even a few teachers and students she'd seen in her classes back at the School for Gifted Unicorns. She gave them each a weak smile and continued explaining.

"I've spent the last few months trying to fix the damage I've caused in the mirror world and to make it up to those I've hurt. With the help of Princess Twilight I learned a lot about friendship, but also about myself.
I know some must still remember me and the way I acted during my last year in Canterlot. I know I was very mean to many of you and I didn't threat anypony with the respect you deserved. It's years too late, but... I'm sorry. For everything I did. I can't make it up to everypony, all I can do is apologize and hope that maybe someday, at least some of you can forgive me."

Sunset hung her head low and her fiery mane fell down, hiding her face as some silent tears fell down on the floor.
The ponies in the crow had mostly fallen silent by now and only a few whispered words were passed between them. Then, a single unicorn started stomping his forehooves on the ground in applause. After a moment's hesitation more ponies joined in, at first those who had seen Sunset help with the spell, then more and more.
Sunset looked up surprised and found herself staring at friendly and honest smiles. She found a few of the familiar faces and saw them nod in forgiveness. She heard the ponies call out her name again, just like they did before.

At this point, Princess Celestia exchanged a glance with the other alicorns, only to find them nodding in approval. The tall white alicorn addressed Sunset again
"Sunset Shimmer, I speak for all of us when I say we're very proud of you. You faced your greatest fears and your biggest regrets for the sake of your friends in the mirror world. But once you arrived, you fought very hard to save Equestria as well. Without your help, we wouldn't have succeeded. For your courageous and selfless actions, we are eternally grateful."
At those last words, all for Princesses bowed deeply before Sunset, Twilight and Cadance even sank down on their knees.
Sunset blushed and noticed the crowd bowing as well and her cheeks turned almost as red as the stripes in her mane
"Please don't do that! I'm not a hero or anything! I couldn't have made it back here without the help of my friends and I couldn't have done anything without the Princesses. I just did what I could do, just like all of you."

She heard laughter behind her and turned her head to see the Princesses smiling at her. Cadance who had been quiet until now walked up to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder
"Your humble words speak for themselves, Sunset. But for us and every pony who saw you do your magic, you made the difference. For us, you are indeed a hero. So you maybe should get used to that thought."
Sunset sighed in defeat but couldn't hold back a small smile when the ponies cheered again and stomped their hooves in approval. She felt another giant boulder lifted from her soul and her smile grew further
"Thank you, everypony."

Meeting the Elements of Harmony

Author's Note

Hello together,

once again, thank you for reading this far and hopefully still enjoying yourselves.
I'm sorry this chapter took so long, I actually ended up starting over a few times.

In this chapter, I reached another limitation from not having English as my native language. That's why I decided to write Applejack's dialog without the southern drawl. I hope like this it will at least make sense.
If someone would like me to 'translate' though, I'd be more than willing to accept any help I can get!

Hope to see you all in the next chapter as well!

Meeting the Elements of Harmony

Chapter 10: Meeting the Elements of Harmony

As if Sunset's last words had been a signal, the main doors opened and the ponies of the royal staff entered with large plates of breakfast, bringing with them the scents of freshly baked goods. Sunset sighed, grateful for the distraction that brought her out of the center of attention, and accepted Twilight's offer to sit with the Princesses for the meal.
When a few maids quickly approached the thrones, they found themselves sent back by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. The elder Princesses made sure that everypony else was given a meal first before they would accept any for themselves, then sat down.

Sunset sat between Twilight and Cadance, holding a cup of tea in her hooves. She glanced from one Princess to the next before she asked with a timid voice
"So, what happens now? What are you going to do with me?"
Four heads turned to her and looked surprised
"What do you mean with that? Is there something you think we should do with you?"
The amber unicorn glanced down again and tried to hide behind her cup
"I mean, I just confessed several crimes against Princess Celestia and the theft of a magical artifact and most likely attempted treason against the crown. Aren't you supposed to punish me for that?"
Twilight and Cadance just looked at each other and smiled while Celestia fell into some kind of giggle fit. Only Luna managed to remain sort of serious, though Sunset could see a caring smile on her
"I don't think we could punish you harder than you already did yourself. You stayed in exile to amend for your sins long enough and you lived in guilt and doubt far longer than was necessary. Not only that, you worked hard to change yourself and the world around you for the better. That, and considering your very honest confession and the deeds of the last day, I'd say you're fully atoned in my eyes. Please correct me if I'm wrong, dear sister."
Celestia by now had calmed down enough to nod
"Oh, I couldn't agree more with you. But if you still want to do something, I'm sure there's lots of ways you could help us. Twilight?"

The purple alicorn nodded and as horn glowed as she levitated one of her trademark checklists out from behind her
"Right! So here's a couple of things that need to be taken care of. First, the houses and buildings in and near Canterlot must be checked. We need to see if they're safe enough for ponies to return and we need to estimate how many repairs need to be done so that we can get enough materials and all to Canterlot.
Second we should take care of the train station and railway. It will be much easier to get ponies and supplies in and out of town with it working again.
Third would be to welcome the help teams from Ponyville and the Crystal Empire. We know that Cloudsdale wanted to send some pegasi as well and maybe some other towns will join in. We should organize them so help goes where it's need most and I guess we should see if we can find more places for the ponies to rest and sleep.
Last, I guess we could start our research on the barrier between the worlds and how to get back in contact with the mirror world and Sunset's friends."
She looked at Sunset with a sad expression
"I'm sorry to say this, but I think this point should wait until we have all the other things sorted out. The safety and well-being of the ponies must come first. Plus, I'd really like to have at least Starlight Glimmer and Sunburst around before we tackle this."

Sunset frowned but then nodded and looked down at her tea. Twilight's logic made sense to her and since the earthquakes had stopped in Equestria, it was most likely that Canterlot High was safe as well. She just wished she could be sure about it.
Cadance softly touched her hoof when she saw the frown, then she looked back at the list
"I think it'd be good if we cleared out the streets first. It'll make getting around way easier for everypony that way. I could take the guards and any volunteers and start with that."

Celestia thought about it for a moment, then nodded
"I think that's a good idea. I've already spoken some ponies who know about architecture and construction, I'll have them form groups and inspect the buildings. Also, the doctors told me they could use a few more hooves in helping with the patients and making the guest wings more suitable for treatments. It's pretty clear we won't be able to rely on the actual hospital anytime soon."

The Princess turned to her sister and hesitated a moment before asking
"Luna, could you take care of that? I wanted to go and see the state Canterlot is in for myself. And... maybe it'd be best if you stayed in the Palace for today and tried to get some rest. You didn't get any sleep yesterday and last night."

The dark blue alicorn frowned and looked back at Celestia's concerned expression
"I should be the last pony you're worrying about, sister. You know I can go a few days without sleep if necessary."
She sighed and closed her eyes.
"But I see the reason for your suggestions. Very well, I shall overlook the hospital and make sure we're prepared for additional visitors. Under one condition."
She opened her aquamarine eyes and looked at each one of her fellow princesses
"If there is any need of my help, you will call me immediately. I appreciate your concerns for my well-being, but I am a Princess as all of you, I don't wish to be excluded from my duties towards our subjects."

Celestia immediately shook her head and placed a hoof on Luna's shoulder
"Luna, I'm not trying to exclude you from anything. I promise I will call for your help and to keep you informed about anything that happens. But should there be any trouble that requires our intervention, I'd feel much better if you had a least a little rest."
Luna caught her sister's gaze with her own and after few moments of silent conversation nodded, visibly appeased.

While Sunset and Cadance watched the elder Princesses attentively, Twilight was already making new notes on her scroll
"Hm, seems like the train station is left to handle. I'll go there and check what can be done. That way I'll also be able to meet the ponies from Ponyville as soon as they arrive."
She turned to Sunset and smiled
"Would you like to come with me, Sunset? I'd really like to introduce you to my friends when they get here."

Sunset blinked surprised and looked back down at her tea
"Yeah, that sounds like a plan. I'll tag along."
She swallowed down a lump that formed in her throat. Twilight wanted her to meet the other bearers of the Elements, which were also the pony counterparts of her friends back at Canterlot High. Images from last night's dream flashed through her mind and her worries started to nag on her again. Could she really face those ponies without thinking about her friends all the time? How much had Twilight told them about her? Her friends back at home had given her a new chance by Twilight's request, but many those friends of her wouldn't forgive her as quickly.

Sunset looked up again when she noticed Celestia watching her and was greeted by a reassuring smile and caring eyes. Sunset smiled softly and nodded, remembering how willingly she'd been forgiven by her former teacher.
This is Equestria. Things work differently here and ponies seem very nice so far. I shouldn't worry so much, even if I don't make friends with them on the spot.

Princess Cadance was the first to finish her breakfast and stand up again. She said goodbye to Sunset and the others and then flew to the main entrance of the throne room. She quickly explained what she intended to do and then left the palace with a good number of ponies, including most of the guards.
Other ponies had finished their breakfast by now and headed to the improvised hospital as Luna asked them.
Celestia nodded to Sunset and then left as well with a smaller group of ponies and the remaining guards. Twilight stood up as well when Sunset finished her tea and together they walked through the room which was now considerably less crowded. As far as Sunset could see only a few members of the staff were present, the rest seemed to be all fillies and colts too young to be sent into the city. She looked back at Luna and couldn't help but smile as the young ponies gathered in front of the throne and asked for a story, some of them even hopping up and down excited and the pegasi fluttering their wings.
Luna looked surprised and then smiled genuinely and nodded. The foals squeed in happiness and quickly tried to get good spots in front of the throne where the could hear the Princess of the Night. But Luna only laughed and shook her head. She extended her wings and with a single flap hopped over the group of foals and young ponies. At the same time her horn glowed and the pillows and blankets that were spread around in the room lifted up and were placed in a wide circle.

The Princess sat down on one of the bigger pillows and the foals quickly took the remaining seats, now watching the Princess without having to stare up at her. Luna waited until every foal had found a spot, then smiled again and began talking in a very soft voice. Sunset recognized the voice as the one she had used in the dream realm and she smiled at the eagerness of Princess Luna to entertain her young audience. Sunset grinned even more when she realized the few staff ponies also tried to be close enough to listen while doing their work and tidying up.

Sunset heard Twilight giggle next to her and then led her friend down some stairs towards the main entrance of the castle. Sunset could of course still remember the way and she noticed barely anything had changed since she last walked through the hallways. When she stepped outside, she froze on the top of the stairs and took a heavy breath.

She saw the city of Canterlot, or at least what was left of it. She saw big holes in roofs and some buildings missing altogether, broken windows and walls, and streets mostly filled with rocks and debris instead of ponies. She sat back on her haunches and stared, her body trembling as a single thought echoed through her mind:
I caused all of this...

Twilight sighed deeply and sat down next to Sunset and gently touched her shoulder
"I know it looks pretty bad, but it's only material damage. We can fix everything in time."

Sunset shook her head and whispered
"How can they all forgive me all of this? I know I wouldn't."
At that, Twilight shook her head and put her hoof under Sunset's chin to make her look at her
"Sunset, if you hadn't been there to help, it would be far worse. The whole city could have just collapsed completely. Or the mountain could have broken apart and fallen down on everypony. You prevented all of this with your spell."

Sunset didn't dare to look away from Twilight's purple eyes but her aqua eyes filled with guilt
"If I hadn't run through that portal years ago, nothing would have happened at all."
Again, Twilight shook her head and held Sunset's gaze
"You don't know that for sure. The portal could have broken apart anyways. Besides, you only went through the portal twice when it opened on its own. If anyone is to blame it's me!"
Sunset blinked surprised at this
"Your fault? No, never! Without me you would have no reason to go through the portal at all."
Twilight now looked down and her voice sounded like she could barely hold herself from crying
"But I put together that device to open the portal whenever I want. I encouraged you to use your notebook more often. I even went through the portal multiple times just out of curiosity. Or to attend to slumber parties. I risked all of Equestria to have some fun for myself and get away from my duties! I'm the most useless Princess this world has ever seen."

Sunset didn't say anything and just clung her forehooves around her friend as she broke into tears. Knowing her friend as much as she did, Sunset realized Twilight must have pushed all her worries and doubts away so she could focus on the tasks ahead. She could feel the alicorn press her muzzle against her and shiver in sobs. Sunset just held her close and gave her the time to let all her pent up emotions out. When the sobbing started to die down, she gently straightened her friend up so she could look into her eyes
"Now you listen, Twilight. You couldn't have known! Neither of us! And it's okay for you to take some time off duty every now and then. Heck, even Celestia does it! Why shouldn't you? Just remember all the things you did since you became a Princess! You defeated Tirek, you solved all sorts of friendship problems, you found and helped Starlight Glimmer and even made her your student!"
She ran a hoof over her eyes to wipe away her own tears now
"You even saved the human world, twice. And you saved me. Without your help, I'd still be all by myself or even a she-demon. You are a great Princess! And everyone who says something else has to deal with me!"

Twilight looked up and saw Sunset winking at her with her trademark smirk, despite some leftover tears. The alicorn smiled back and hugged her friend again
"I'm really glad you're here to help me, Sunset."
She just smiled and hugged back.

The two friends shared another minute in each others embrace, then Twilight pulled back and looked into the city again. Sunset followed her gaze and noticed some ponies walking through the streets now.
"Well, it seems like Cadance and Princess Celestia are already at work. Let's get to the station. Just follow me."
With that, Sunset heard a familiar pop and when she turned her head, all that was left of Twilight was a small cloud of purple sparkles. She sighed and closed her eyes and focused on her magic. The warm tingling quickly filled her body again as her horn glowed in the red magic aura. It was easy to detect the trail of magic Twilight's teleportation left behind, but it had been years since she last tried a far distance teleport. She remembered the lessons she received from Princess Celestia herself, concentrated on the magic trail and evoked the spell.

She vanished in a red flash of magic that looked more like flame than sparkles, and within a blink, she stood next to Twilight again who smiled at her
"I knew you could do it! How does it feel to have magic again?"
Sunset just panted a little and shook her head
"It's a little more exhausting than I remembered. I guess I'm still getting used to it."
Twilight frowned
"I'm sorry. I didn't think of it that way. I do this everyday but you haven't had a chance in years, it's only normal you'd be a little out of practice."
Sunset nodded and started breathing normally again
"Let's just get to work here"

Twilight nodded and looked around
"Well, so far the station looks okay, there seems to be no damage to the station at least. We should have the hall checked by an expert though. I guess our best chance is to follow the railway out of the city for now and see if we can find any damage there."
Sunset nodded and hoped down onto the tracks
"I guess that's as good as anything. This is the one leading to Ponyville, right?"
Twilight fluttered her wings and made some altitude to check
"It is. Let's go."

The two ponies walked quietly along the track and Sunset felt some shivers running down her back. To both sides of the track all she could see where abandoned buildings in more or less good shapes. They saw a pegasus fly high above them once, but otherwise they met no other ponies on their way out of the city.
When they reached the outskirts of Canterlot, they saw something big lying on the tracks. Twilight flew up again to get a better view and Sunset ran towards what turned out to be an engine that had been thrown over by the quakes. It now lay on its side across the track and behind it Sunset saw some carriages as well. Fearing the worst, she ran faster and around the engine and called out
"Hello? Is anypony here?"

She approached the carriages when nopony answered her and saw that they were not as damaged as the engine. Only the last one of them had fallen over but from the looks of it, that one had been for luggage only. Sunset climbed up at the side of one carriage and peeked in. She saw bags and suitcases scattered around but no ponies inside. Slightly relieved, she went to check the next and was now joined by Twilight who hovered next to her
"I think this is the train the guards told me about. They got the ponies out yesterday but they couldn't clear the railway. Now I can see why, this engine must weigh a ton."
Sunset nodded and went to check the remaining cars
"I guess we could try to lift this thing up with our magic, but I'm not sure it'll be able to drive. Looks pretty broken to me. Maybe it's better if we just push it off the tracks so other trains can pass at least. If we manage to move it at all."

Sunset nodded and carefully jumped down and stood next to the engine. Twilight landed next to her and began channeling her magic. The purple aura surrounded the train and her horn glowed brightly. To Sunset's surprise, the engine actually lifted up slightly and began moving of the tracks. Sunset looked at her friend, wondering how powerful Twilight had really become, when the alicorn gave out a groan of exertion
"A little help here?"
Sunset blinked and nodded her head embarrassed
"Right, sorry..."
She closed her eyes and called out her magic again. She let the warm tingles grow to a steady burning flame inside her and directed as much as she could towards the spell Twilight had already running. She immediately felt the weight pushing her down but kept going. She wondered if her magic was even enough to help but Twilight sighed in relief and the engine now floated up and was set down on the ground next to the track guided by Twilight's spell.

The purple alicorn smiled satisfied and proceeded with the carts next. Again, Sunset fueled Twilight's magic with her own and smiled. In her days as Celestia's student she barely ever twincasted with other unicorns, mostly because she'd been convinced it was beneath her to work together with someone far less talented than herself.
Now with Twilight, she could definitely see the advantages her teachers had told her about. The two mares worked along swimmingly and it took them both far less magic than each lifting a cart on their own. It felt almost natural to combine her spells with Twilight and within a couple of minutes, Sunset felt like she'd never done anything else.

The track was free now and Sunset still felt lots of magic glow inside her. She turned to smile at Twilight, eager to get to the next task, but her smile faded quickly when she saw the frown on her friends face
"Something wrong?"
Twilight looked around and canted her head
"I'm not sure. This is far away from the palace or the city center, but these buildings are somehow more damaged than the ones we already passed. And even the train was thrown over."
Sunset looked around and saw the buildings next to her had fallen in mostly and nodded
"Okay. But why is that giving you a frown? I mean, there's lots of damage all over city."
Twilight nodded again
"Exactly. The damage is spread all over town, but it makes no sense these buildings got damaged more than the ones near the palace."
Sunset blinked and tilted her head the other way this time
"I think you lost me."
Twilight sighed and sat down on her haunches for a moment
"Earthquakes usually have an epicenter, an origin from where they spread out. But when the shockwaves spread, they loose some of their force. So the closer you get to the epicenter, the worse the damage should be."
She pointed at the buildings around her again and shook her head
"The epicenter would have been the portal in the Royal Palace. So the buildings closer to the Palace should have been hit far worse than these ones. But somehow, close to the palace there is less damage than farer away. It just makes no sense to me at all."
Sunset sat down as well and thought for a moment, then shrugged
"I don't know, Twilight. Maybe the houses near the palace are just sturdier than these ones. And it wasn't really a natural earthquake either, it was caused by some weird energy we don't understand yet."
Twilight sighed and stood up again
"Maybe you're right. But the longer I think about it, the more it all confuses me. There's just too much that won't fit together."
Sunset walked over to stand beside her friend, staring at the broken houses as well
"We'll figure it out together. As soon as we're done here."

Twilight leaned gently against Sunset for a moment without noticing the slight blush on the amber unicorn, then she jumped into the air and flapped her wings.
"Right. We still have a lot to do. I'll go check ahead and you keep following that track. We're almost out of the city as well so I hope this was the worst already."
Sunset gave her a playful salute and trotted along the track with Twilight circling above her.

Unfortunately, Twilight's hopes found an end when they saw another obstacle. Apparently one of the houses next to the tracks had broken in and most of the walls and the roof had fallen onto the tracks.
Sunset frowned and walked closer as Twilight flew down to join her in staring at the large pile of stone and debris. They looked at each other and two horns started to glow as they called forth their magic again. They tried to lift some of the debris away but as soon as they started, some rocks went loose and fell down towards them.
Sunset noticed too late and tried to jump out of the way, but as soon as she moved a purple barrier surrounded herself and Twilight. The rocks crashed against the shield spell and then fell down harmlessly. Twilight dropped her spell and helped Sunset back on her hooves
"Are you okay?"
Sunset nodded and shook some dust out of her mane
"I'm good. Thanks for the safe."
Twilight just smiled
"Don't mention it."

The two mares climbed around the huge pile of debris and worked to remove it, much more careful this time. Although they worked together as before, they only made slow progress.
Sunset just set aside another boulder when she heard a loud call from the distance
"Hey Twilight!"
She looked up just to notice a blue flash pass by and saw her alicorn friend tackled into a hug by a cyan pegasus mare. Sunset couldn't help but smile as the two hugged tightly and of course recognized the mare before Twilight even said her name
"Rainbow Dash! It's so good to see you. Did you come with the others?"

The pegasus broke the hug and threw her rainbow mane back, her wings flapping and lifting her up into hovering just above ground
"I did! They just reached the outer borders of the city but they couldn't find a way to pass through with the chariots. I was just checking out when I saw your magic sparkles all over!"
Rainbow flew up higher and grinned
"Come on, let's go see them! Fluttershy is still worried sick about you."
Twilight nodded and spread her wings, but then her gaze fell back on Sunset. The unicorn was no longer smiling and instead looked at the ground Sunset couldn't believe how similar that pegasus was to her Rainbow Dash. Their voices, the way they talked, even how they moved and that nervous energy Rainbow always radiated out.
Sunset noticed Twilight staring at her. She motioned for her to follow her friend and turned back at the pile that still blocked the railway. Twilight folded her wings back and walked over to her, then took Sunset's hoof and gently pulled her back towards the cyan pegasus
"Actually, I'd like you to meet somepony first. Rainbow Dash, this is Sunset Shimmer."
Sunset looked up at the pegasus and gave a hopefully friendly smile, but she could feel doubts entering her expression again and the cyan mare just stared at her in a leery way and slowly sunk back towards the ground until she stood before her.
"The Sunset Shimmer? The unicorn who lives in the human world?"
Sunset gulped and nodded and answered in a meek voice
"That's me. Nice too meet..."
She was quickly interrupted as Rainbow went on
"The unicorn who stole Twilight's crown and tried to kill her with its magic?"
Sunset felt like she just got slapped in the face and took a step back, her head hung down and her ears pressed flat into her mane.
Twilight was about to step in but then Rainbow grinned broadly
"The Sunset Shimmer who saved the human world three times by now? And more importantly, the friend who helps my human me be even more awesome?"
Sunset's ears perked up again and she looked up surprised at the mare who now broke into laughter. Twilight rolled her eyes and scolded
"Rainbow, that was very mean."
The pegasus just kept laughing
"But so worth it! You should see the look on your face, Sunset Shimmer."
Twilight fumed but Sunset found herself laughing as well as she replied with a grin of her own
"Your human self is so lucky she already passed that math exam last week. There'd be no way I'd help her now."
Twilight was stunned and blinked but Rainbow and Sunset just laughed on and then exchanged a hoof bump.
"Nice to meet you, Sunset. Sorry for the prank?"
"Likewise. And no harm done."

Twilight shook her head but was smiling again by now
"You two are just terrible sometimes."
Rainbow grinned and winked to Sunset who returned with her trademark smirk. It's been less than five minutes since she met the pegasus but she already felt in sync with the mare, just like at Canterlot High. Teasing human Twilight when she got too worried about grades or something was a common thing for Rainbow and Sunset there as well.
As soon as she had that thought though, a few images flashed through her mind. Rainbow screaming against the storm and struggling to not be blown away. The human girl getting hit by a lightning and bursting into blue sparks while screaming. Her smirk faded away and she shook her head, trying to push those images away.
It was just a dream! Nothing like that happened! She's okay, she's okay, she's okay...

Sunset didn't see Rainbow Dash watch her with an worried expression when her smile vanished so suddenly. The pegasus couldn't know what just happened and decided to better drop the teasing for now. She turned back to Twilight and asked
"So, what are you two doing here anyways?"
Twilight kept watching Sunset as she pointed to the pile of debris behind her
"We were trying to clear the tracks so the trains can get into the city again. But it seems this is too much for just the two of us."

Sunset barely heard any of this as she just stared at the ground and tried to get the nightmare out of her head again. She also didn't notice Twilight and Rainbow Dash approach her until they each grabbed one of her forehooves and started flapping their wings again. The amber unicorn blinked as she was lifted up and her backhooves kicked out involuntarily as she lost touch of the ground.
She looked up and saw Twilight just giggle at her surprise
"Hold still, silly."
Sunset frowned and grumbled as they flew up higher
"I can walk fine by myself, you know...."
"Yeah, but you're waaay to slow and the others are already waiting for us."
That came from Rainbow Dash who just smirked and lead on towards the borders of the city, still gaining altitude.

Sunset just blew her a raspberry at her and looked back at the ground. She smirked and with a glow of her horn and a red flash she appeared back on the ground a good distance in the direction Rainbow was headed. She laughed and began galloping as fast as she could.
The two flying ponies were stunned for a moment, then Rainbow zoomed after the unicorn. She quickly caught up and shouted down towards Sunset
"Fancy magic, but there's no way you're going to outspeed me!"
Sunset gave another smirk
"We'll see about that!"

Another flash and Sunset was way ahead again. Rainbow stretched out her forehooves and dashed after her, dodging some buildings as she caught up once again. She grinned when she saw Sunset heading into a dead end and just flew over the wall. She turned around to throw another taunt at the unicorn, but then her eyes went wide as she saw Sunset being surrounded by a red glow and simply pass through the wall and past her again
"You gotta be kidding me..."

Sunset laughed as Rainbow yelled at her again and picked up more speed while galloping. She just smiled and let her hooves find the right way for her as the air blew through her fiery mane. With four hooves she could go so much faster than with two legs and she enjoyed it, she never even realized how much she missed this, just running for running's sake. Her magic glowed inside her mind like a happy flame and she felt alive, she felt like a true pony and unicorn again for the first time since she returned to Equestria.

Rainbow went ahead again and this time, Sunset decided to let her get a little lead before she teleported in front of her once more. In the distance she could already see a group of ponies with large carts making their way towards a bridge that led into the city.
She focused for another teleportation spell when a blue blurry passed her and reached the ponies first. With a final victory loop, Rainbow Dash sunk down to land next to the group. Sunset smiled and activated her spell and appeared next to the pegasus just a few seconds after she touched the ground.

The two ponies breathed heavy and just watched each other for a few moments, then both smirked and exchanged a hoof bump.
"Okay, I admit, you're pretty good. But you still have to do better if you want to be as awesome as the newest member of the Wonderbolts!"

Before Sunset could reply, Twilight descended and landed softly next to them, her purple wings folding on her flanks
"Are you two done acting like fillies now?"
Sunset grinned and opened her mouth but was once again interrupted by a loud call
"TWILIGHT!"

Sunset smiled when a curly pink pony pounced on the alicorn and nearly threw her over in a cuddly hug. Rainbow just rolled her eyes and Twilight gently picked up Pinkie Pie with her magic and set her down next to her
"It's great to see you too, Pinkie. Let me introduce to a good friend of mine! Meet Sunset Shimmer!"
The pink earth pony had already turned her head when Twilight mentioned a friend, but at the sound of the name Pinkie gasped loud and bounced high into the air. Before her hooves touched the ground again she catapulted herself towards the unicorn and Sunset found herself in a crushing hug and twirled around while being bombarded with happy and unnaturally fast words
"OHMYGOSHyoureSunsetShimmerTwilighttoldmeallaboutyouandyourefromthehumanworldinthatmirrorandyoureourbestfriendImeannotreallyitsthefirsttimeIseeyoubutyourethebestfriendofhumanPinkieandalltheothersandnowyourehereandIfinallygettomeetyouandhearallaboutthehumanmeandIgettothrowyouthebiggestwelcomepartyonlyIleftmostofmypartysuppliesatPonyvillebutwerestillhavingthispartysinceyoureherenowandyoucantjustarriveandnothaveawelcomeparty..."
Sunset just smiled and threw her hooves around Pinkie as tight as she could
"I'm happy to see you too, Pinkie Pie... may I get some air please?"
The pink pony giggled and released her
"Silly Sunset! This is Equestria, so the air is free! You don't have to ask for it."
Sunset and the others joining into her giggling and then Twilight's name was called out once more by three new voices.

Sunset looked around and saw three more ponies approach them: A white unicorn with an indigo mane and tail, an orange earth pony with a slightly worn stetson hat on her straw blonde mane and a yellow pegasus with a long pink mane that covered half of her face.
Sunset watched as Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy walked over to each hug Twilight, then they turned back towards her. Pinkie was still standing next to her and bounced on the spot and Rainbow Dash and Twilight stood behind their friends.
Sunset gulped and felt very nervous as the three mares just stared at her intensely. Applejack's expression was wary and stern while Rarity looked her all over in a very taxing way. Fluttershy hid further behind her pink mane and Sunset couldn't tell whether this was her normal shyness or if the pegasus pony was afraid of her.

Sunset endured their stares for moment longer, then took a step forward and waved
"Um, hi... I'm Sunset Shimmer. Nice to meet you all?"
The three mares just kept staring and Applejack asked
"We as much figured. How come you're here and not at the other side of the mirror?"
Sunset frowned and took a step back again, her ears flat on her head now
"Well, you see, there was this storm and my friends and I wanted to stop it but..."
Rarity interrupted her before she could finish her sentence
"We know what happened. But we want to know why you are here now?"
Sunset flinched and her ears sunk into her mane. She forced herself to not look away from Applejack's and Rarity's glaring eyes
"My friends needed help and Equestria was the only place where I could find it."
Fluttershy now asked in a quiet but clear voice
"So you came here to save your friends?"
Sunset nodded
"I did."
The three mares exchanged a glance and ignored the huffing from Twilight behind them. They looked back at Sunset
"So you never came here before 'cause you were afraid?"
Sunset blushed but nodded again
"Yes."
"But you faced your fears to help your friends in the other world?"
"Yes."
"You even faced Princess Celestia?"
"I did. For them."
"Just for them?"
"I... no. I did it for myself as well."
"And now you're helping in Canterlot instead of heading home right away?"
"Yes."

The three mares looked at each other again, then nodded. Rainbow stood next to them and Pinkie took the other side. Sunset just glared at them now, getting more and more annoyed by the way those ponies were treating her
"Sounds to me like you're one awesome friend, Sunset Shimmer."
Sunset opened her mouth to give an angry response, then blinked
"Wait, what?"
Rainbow snickered again and Pinkie Pie smiled brightly at her. Fluttershy looked like she was about to start crying though and Rarity had the decency to look guilty at least
"We're terribly sorry, darling. But since the last time we met wasn't really that nice..."
"... and with the stories Twilight told us about you being transformed into a demon..."
"...we just wanted to be sure. Twilight told us about how much you've changed but sometimes she's too trusting for her own good. We really didn't mean to offend you, Sunset."

Now it was Sunset's turn to glare which made Rarity look even more guilty and Applejack return the glare in defiance. Fluttershy managed to slip behind the two but Sunset could hear her whisper in a meek voice
"I told you it wouldn't be a good idea."
Rarity let her hang down but Applejack just huffed
"Come on now! You can't just expect somepony to vanish for years, then return and turn into a demon and it's just all gone in one night."

Sunset's anger just vanished instantly and was replaced by a hard and cold feeling inside her guts. Her head dropped down and her legs gave in under her as she slumped back on her haunches. Applejack was right of course. How could she have been so foolish and believe every pony would forgive her, just because Twilight did?

The Princess stepped between Sunset and Applejack and glared daggers from her purple eyes at the earth pony
"I can't believe you'd say such a thing. Sunset came here to save her friends and she ended up saving Equestria as well. Yes, she made some mistakes in the past but she changed for the best! I've told you all about it. And you still can't trust her?"
Applejack shrunk down under Twilight's anger and looked down. With her hat covering most of her face, Sunset couldn't see her expression but she heard her mumble
"Trust is something you need to earn, Twi. It just doesn't come from nothing like that."

Twilight huffed again and stomped her hoof
"You're right. I'll tell you how Sunset Shimmer earned my trust. She saved the humans from the sirens by believing in her friends. She helped my human self when she was tempted by dark magic and she forgave her. And she helped her friends believe in themselves and helped them deal with their new magic. And last night, Sunset had the power of four alicorn Princesses at her hooves. She could have just walked through the mirror and have her way and we wouldn't have been able to stop her. But instead, she used that power to close the portal and she maybe gave up the only way to see her friends EVER AGAIN!"

The five friends stared at Twilight with strange expressions. Fear, worry, concern and guilt all mixed together, most of them coming from Twilight's sudden outburst of emotions.
The amber unicorn took a step towards the raging Princess who kept going on still
"Twilight..."
"Is it really so hard to believe that friendship can help a pony change?"
"Twilight!"
"I mean, you've seen Luna and Discord and even Starlight, why can't you.."
"TWILIGHT!"

Sunset took a deep breath and shook her head
"This is how I expected to be treated. I was so lucky when you and Celestia just forgave me. But I never thought any pony would trust me at all. I was expecting to be accused of something like that."
She looked up and found Applejack's eyes, still misty with tears
"I just didn't expect it to hurt so much."
Applejack flinched at those words and looked at the ground again.

Sunset turned around and started to walk back towards the city and away from the ponies. She barely made any distance though when she was called back
"Wait! Please..."
Applejack walked up to Sunset with her head hung low
"I'm sorry, Sunset Shimmer. I shouldn't have said those things. We don't know each other, but with all those stories I heard about you, it's hard not to fall into prejudices."
Sunset looked at the mare and noticed the same sincerity in her eyes she always admired in human Applejack. She found the hard lump in her guts soften up some as she smiled softly
"You know, I almost had the same talk with you back in the other world. But it took us nearly three weeks to get there."
Applejack looked up confused, but the returned the awkward smile
"I guess I'm at least getting better at apologizing then..."
Sunset smiled
"You and me both."

Applejack stretched out her hoof and blushed a little
"Let me try again: Howdy, I'm Applejack. Nice to finally meet you, Sunset Shimmer."
Sunset felt the last of the cold feeling fade away as they shook hooves. Rarity joined in quickly after and Fluttershy pulled Sunset into a quick hug.

Pinkie and Rainbow joined them again and Twilight watched them with a relieved and sincerely happy smile. While Sunset answered some questions of the human world, she saw a lavender unicorn approach the Princess and they both meet in a tight hug. They exchanged some words and walked over to Sunset. The lavender unicorn hesitated for a moment but after an encouraging nudge for Twilight she waved to Sunset
"Hi, I'm Starlight Glimmer. I'm Twilight's student."
Sunset smiled wider and offered her hoof to shake
"Oh, Twilight told me about you in the journal. She says you're a genius when it comes to magic spells."
The lavender unicorn blushed and waved the compliment off
"Well, I'm not at Twilight's level but I try to keep up. And as far as I've heard, you're pretty good as well, you were the most talented student in Celestia's school after all."
Sunset giggled and rubbed her neck
"Well, I never really graduated because I... left... a week before the finals. And Twilight nearly broke all my records anyways. And now she's teaching me."

Twilight watched her two students with a smile, then she looked around confused
"So, where's Spike? Didn't he come along?"
Rarity shook her head and explained
"He decided to stay in Ponyville. Mayor Mare is completely over her head with all that's happening and he's helping organizing things. Plus, he said he'd take care of urgent correspondence with dragon breath."
Twilight nodded and smiled with pride
"He's grown up a lot more mature than I give him credit for."
The friends nodded and Applejack turned back to the heavy carts
"As much as I like sharing stories, we need to get those things to the castle. We've been marching all night to get here in time, we can't just give up that close."

The princess and her friends nodded and quickly decided to leave the carts behind and carry their goods by hoof instead, as it would be easier to get through the demolished city that way. The ponies from Ponyville quickly formed lines and loaded as much as they could carry on their backs and into their saddlebacks.
Starlight Glimmer walked up to a cart with baskets of apples and her teal magic surrounded half of them and made them levitate over her. She then joined a grey earth pony and a light blue unicorn with a white and blue mane. They smiled and made their way over the bridge into the city.
Sunset watched impressed and reached for her magic as well. She took care of the remaining baskets but decided to carry two of them at her saddlebags and keep the others floating above her head. Applejack and Rarity were heavily loaded as well and the three ponies followed the first group down a narrow street into the centre of the city. Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rainbow followed right behind them while Twilight stayed behind to help distribute the weights with her magic.

As the street got wider again, the ponies kept walking in small groups towards the castle. Sunset caught up to Starlight Glimmer and the other two, then blinked surprised when she got a view on the blue unicorn's face for the first time
"Beatrice? Is that really you?"
The blue unicorn blushed a little and coughed
"The great and powerful Trixie prefers being called... well, Trixie. Trixie is surprised you'd recognize her after all these years, Sunset Shimmer."
Starlight looked between the unicorns and called out surprised
"Wait, you guys actually know each other?"
Sunset nodded and let her head hang down
"We were in the same class at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns for a while. But when I let my arrogance get the better of me... I wasn't really nice to my class mates. And Bea-, I mean Trixie..."
"Trixie realized her talent for show magic and decided to focus on her true calling instead being stuck in Canterlot. So Trixie went on her way to become truly great and powerful!"
The blue unicorn finished the sentence for Sunset who just closed her mouth again and nodded. Starlight didn't look too convinced but both unicorns decided to drop the topic for Trixie's sake.

Walking through the city took longer than Sunset expected and she ended up in the center of attention again and bombarded by questions about the human world

"So humans were clothes all the time?"
"Yes, it's a really big deal over there. There's malls as big as Canterlot Castle literally filled with nothing but clothes of all kinds and designs."
"Oh, how fabulous! You have to tell me more about that, Darling. I might get some inspiration for my next design line!"

"How was it, not having magic to do things?"
"It was hard at first, having to open every door with your hands and picking up things from the ground instead of just levitating them back up. But I got used to it, and having fingers is actually pretty cool, you can do so much more than with hooves."

"The animals in the human world aren't as sentient as they are here. I guess some species have a higher intelligence than others, but they can't really communicate with humans or vice versa."
"Oh, those poor little things!"
"Well, most can't. You're human counterpart is actually quite skilled in talking with critters, Fluttershy."

"So, humans eat meat a lot. Did you too?"
"Once. Accidently. I didn't know what it was and just thought it tasted strange. When someone told me, I barely made it to the restrooms before I threw up."

"Seriously Starlight? You managed to combine three spells most unicorns can't even perform one by one? That's amazing!"
"Yeah... and then I used it to more or less mind control my friends."
"Ouch. I know how that feels. Still, your hybrid magic sounds very interesting."

The ponies kept going on when a troop of pegasi approached them, led by Princess Cadance. The pink alicorn smiled and landed in front of Sunset and her friends
"Hey guys, it's great to see you all again."
The bearers of the Elements smiled and greeted the Princess like the friend she was, but most of the ponies from Ponyville started bowing down, much to Candance' dismay
"You've all been traveling all night to come help us, I should be the one bowing to you! We've cleared a path to the castle for you, you'll get there in no time at all. Just follow me!"

The Princess turned around and started walking but when she approached a tall building she was stopped by a voice next to Sunset
"You shouldn't go there."
Both Sunset and Cadance turned around and looked at the grey mare who had been silent until now. Sunset saw her neutral, almost bored expression and finally recognized Maud, Pinkie's sister. Cadance smiled nervous at Maud's lack of emotion and asked
"And why do you say that?"
Maud found a small stone and kicked it towards the building. A loud rumble could be heard and walls collapsed, a large pile of debris now in place where Cadance had just been standing.
The alicorn's eyes went wide
"How did you know?"
Maud just blinked once
"It's really obvious if you just watch the cracking in the stone close enough."
Pinkie Pie smiled and called out
"Oh yeah, that's my awesome sister Maud to you!"

Cadance tilted her head curiously
"Miss Pie...?"
"Doctor Pie, actually. But Maud is okay."
Cadance blinked and nodded
"Maud. Do you think you could say if other buildings are in danger of collapsing as well?"
"Of course."
The pink alicorn smiled
"Princess Celestia and her royal architects are having some difficulties with that, to be honest. You'd be a great help to them with your expertise."
The grey mare indicated a smile and nodded
"Okay."
Cadance bowed her head thankfully and instructed the pegasus guards to escort the ponies to the castle before she walked off with Maud.
Rarity smiled
"Oh my, it's really been a while since I saw dear Maud that excited."
Sunset and her friends giggled as she saw the Princess look back and blink confused.

The walk towards the castle continued with no further interruptions but also with less chatting, the long night's walk and heavy burden taking their toll form the ponies. Even Starlight and Sunset who used their magic could feel the strain by now.
When they finally reached the final stairs leading up to the main entrance, they were greeted by Princess Luna herself
"Greetings my dear ponies. It warms my heart to see so many of you come to our aid in times of need. Please, set down you heavy burdens and join us for a meal before you can take a well deserved rest. We welcome you all to the Royal Palace as allies and friends, dear citizens of Ponyville."

The ponies smiled and entered the castle where the royal staff took care of the goods they'd been carrying. Sunset levitated her share towards some other unicorns who took over with their magic and couldn't help but giggle when she heard a sigh of relief from Starlight as she dropped her baskets as well.
Princess Luna led the ponies into the throne room and as she opened the doors wide with her magic, Sunset's smile grew into a big grin. All the foals of Canterlot were still gathered and greeted them with happy cheers. The little fillies and colts brought bowls of food and guided the older ponies to small isles of pillows they had set up for them. Soon, and with some gentle guidance from Luna, everypony was seated enjoyed a late lunch.

Princess Luna joined the friends from Ponyville and Sunset smiled at her
"It's great to see you give the kids a chance to be helpful."
The Princess returned the smile genuinely
"Everypony's contribution is valuable, Sunset Shimmer. Just because a pony is young doesn't make their deeds less meaningful. I am, however, grateful I can provide them with opportunities to prove themselves."
The alicorn smiled more and watched the fillies and colts quickly run between the group of tired ponies
"And maybe I promised them another story if they did a good job."
The group of friends laughed and finished up their meals.

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie then went to towards the improvised hospital to offer their help while Applejack followed some staff ponies to take care of the apples they brought. Rarity decided she'd help set up sleeping accommodations for the night. Rainbow approached a guard and offered her help and was quickly sent to deliver a message to the other Princesses. The cyan pegasus gave a salute and zoomed off.

Sunset stayed behind and watched the ponies with some weird mix of happiness, guilt and confusion. During the trip through town, she felt like she knew those ponies all her life and they got along well after the rough start. She realized they didn't know her beyond what Twilight had told them, but they seemed genuinely interested in Sunset. She could really see them as close friends.

Just thinking this sent a sharp needle of guilt into her heart, remembering the friends she had to leave behind in the human world. How could she just betray them with their pony counterparts? Was she even betraying them? The seemed so similar and Sunset found herself having a hard time to distinguish them from their human selves at times. If there was any difference at all, Sunset thought of the ponies as more mature. There were no teenage girl quarrels distracting them and they seemed so focused on what to do next and how to use their talents for the best. They didn't need a principal Celestia or even a Princess telling them what to do, they just did it.

Sunset found herself envying them for their self confidence and determination even during a crisis. During the confrontation with the sirens, her friends had pulled themselves together once she reminded them of their friendship. Later at the Friendship Games and at the Camp Everfree, the girls and most of school had relied on her judgments and more or less followed her lead. She had felt good back then, needed by her friends. She hadn't fallen back into arrogance or thought her friends wouldn't get through without her. But it felt good to contribute and take charge at times, knowing her friends trusted her enough to follow her. And forgave her when she made mistakes.

Sunset didn't feel like these ponies would really need her, in the end. Maybe they had once relied on Twilight, but right now they could contribute on their own. Sunset was sure they'd accept any help she would give and be thankful for it, but she also knew in the end, her contribution wouldn't be necessary.
Sunset shook her head and scolded herself. Remember what Luna just told you. Everypony's contribution is valuable. Just because you're not leading the pack doesn't mean you can't be a great help.

Sunset found Starlight and Trixie standing next to her and watching her curiously. Sunset blushed a little and Trixie giggled, but Starlight gave her an understanding smile
"I guess it must be strange, seeing your friends but not really being with your friends."
Sunset blinked surprised but Starlight only continued
"I get that feeling sometimes. I'm new in the group and they work together so well, it's easy to just stand beside them but not be a part of it. Not all the time, but... sometimes it hurts."
Sunset nodded softly and smiled as the lavender unicorn analyzed her so quickly
"You really learned a lot about friendship from Twilight. Sometimes I wonder if I should have taken the real course instead of just the telecourse."
Starlight giggled
"You mean your journal. It's strange how we learn almost the same things but in two different worlds. Though from what you and your friends already achieved together, I'd say you're my senior by far."
Sunset put her hoof on Starlight's shoulder
"I wouldn't say so. Sometimes, I just stand next to them and can't believe they really accepted me as their friend, even after all I've done."
Starlight gave a small smile and nodded
"You and me both, sister."
Trixie stepped close and put her hoof on Starlight's other shoulder as well and gave her a confident smile
"Starlight, you just give yourself far too little credit. And don't forget, even if your friends would forget about you, you always have your amazing friend Trixie to rely on."
Starlight Glimmer looked between her two friends and hugged them, to both pony's surprise. Then Sunset and Trixie just smiled and returned the hug with one hoof each while shaking their free hooves.
Sunset and Trixie just exchanged one look to know they'd forgive their past quarrels for Starlight's friendship. Sunset felt like she was making the far better deal of it, but Trixie had her own package to carry, at least Twilight told her so.

The three friends hugged for a few more moments, then shared a slightly embarrassed giggle along with some happy smiles.

Past and Future

Chapter 11: The past and the future

Luna smiled as she watched the three unicorns hug. She was happy that Sunset Shimmer made yet another friend, the amber unicorn already in a far better state of mind after just spending a couple of hours with Twilight and the Elements. She would benefit greatly from having more ponies to help her not feel lost and lonely.
But there was also Starlight Glimmer, a pony she personally didn't know what to think of at first, but who had risen in her appreciation fast during the last few months. The unicorn had changed drastically, just like Sunset Shimmer and herself. But unlike them, her reformation had not been as flashy and magical. She had seen the error of her ways and shown regret, but it had been her own decision after hearing Twilight Sparkle's words. Sunset Shimmer made the decision to change on her own as well, of course, but prior to that decision there had been a 'rainbow blast of friendship magic'-induced epiphany. For Luna, there had even been a millennium of banishment before that.

Luna sighed and kept smiling. Starlight and Sunset would benefit greatly from each other's presence. Sunset had ambition and wouldn't let herself be pulled down by guilt for too long. Starlight Glimmer had a lot more trouble getting past her feelings of guilt and shame, to the point she either found herself locked out of live or panicking and jumping into rushed decisions. However, when she overcame the guilt, Starlight had shown far less tendencies for relapses then Sunset. Luna had seen her dreams last night and knew the girl from another world still couldn't forgive herself completely.
Together, they could balance each other out in just the right way.

The Moon Princess noticed the third unicorn make some effort to cheer her friends and her success turned into another wave of happy giggles. Luna's smile grew softer even. She had heard about Trixie, the Great and Powerful, from Twilight at first and from other ponies as well. But after guiding the stage magician through a serious of very severe nightmares in the weeks after the alicorn amulet incidence, Luna now had nothing but sympathy for the unicorn.
All the bragging and boasting and selfish antics may still fool most ponies, but Luna could see right through it. At times, the insecurity Trixie seemed to radiate out was so strong, Luna wondered how any sentient being could pass her without the urge of a comforting hug.

Luna slowly walked up to the group of unicorns, following her instincts. She knew the three ponies would benefit from more time with each other and she felt the desire to nurture their development if she could. She smiled when she noticed doing just the same thing she'd seen her sister do for Twilight Sparkle so many times. Maybe she'd end up picking a personal student soon? To her own surprise, this idea made her smile grow wider.

Starlight noticed her approach and gave a shy bow, making the two others aware of her as well.
Sunset and Trixie followed quickly after, but Luna just smiled
"Sunset Shimmer, your number of friends keeps growing by the hour. I'm happy to see this."
Sunset blushed and rubbed the back of her head with a hoof and the three unicorns giggled again. Luna allowed her smile to linger for another moment, then she closed her eyes and sighed
"But I am afraid there are still tasks ahead of you. Tasks that may test your strength as well as the strength of your friendships to their limit."
Sunset looked up into Luna's eyes and the alicorn saw determination growing inside her again. She also knew the unicorn would see right through her words and feel the concern for her friend she couldn't express in public. Not without worrying the other ponies around her.
The amber unicorn nodded once and stood tall before Luna
"I'm willing to face any task ahead, Princess."

Luna nodded in appreciation and with her magic she picked up a scroll from a stack next to the throne. She levitated in towards Sunset and the unicorn took it in her own red magic and unfolded it curiously. She read the words and then her eyes opened wide and she stared back at the Luna.
The blue alicorn nodded
"This document grants you access to all segments of the Royal Library. And yes, even the forbidden ones."
Starlight and Trixie looked surprised but Sunset's gaze fell to the floor and she whispered
"Princess, do you really think that's such a good idea? After all that happened when I last entered the forbidden wing?"

Luna knew exactly what the unicorn would feel this very moment. She knew, because she had gone through the same. She pondered for a moment about just giving some reassuring words, like her sister would, and then leave the unicorn to figure those things out by herself.
She was not her sister however.
"Sunset Shimmer."
The amber unicorn looked back up and found Luna's eyes again. The alicorn allowed her sympathy for the mare to reach her expression and she shared a glance with Starlight and Trixie to make sure they knew the next words were meant for them as well.
"When I returned to this Palace after my reformation, I refused to take back control of the moon from my sister. She worried and wanted to know why, but it the end I could not find the right words to explain to her."
The three unicorns listened closely and frowned when they noticed the sadness in her eyes. Luna chose to not conceal her emotions and continued
"I was terrified by the thought of using any form of magic again. Especially alicorn magic. I felt like it would corrupt me once more, that the power would be too great for me to handle without becoming obsessed with my night again. And that the hatred and envy I felt would soon follow. That I would become Nightmare Moon again."

The three unicorns shivered and looked away, each one lost in their own memories for a moment. Luna gave them the time they needed, the demanded their attention back by clicking her hoof softly on the ground
"It never happened, as you can see. Because I changed and my sister changed. It took some time, but I only felt whole again when I finally embraced my night again and my role as a Princess."
Luna's eyes closed before she continued
"Of course there are setbacks. The tantabus was one of mine. We are ponies and we make mistakes. Such is live. But we must learn from our mistakes and not let them bind us in fear."

Luna opened her eyes and looked at each of the ponies in front of her
"In the end, neither magic nor knowledge is evil. It's the pony wielding both who decides to use them for good or bad.
Sunset Shimmer. Starlight Glimmer. Trixie Lulamoon. The four of us have seen both sides of the coin. We have felt the temptations of power. And we suffer from the marks those temptations left on us.
But, we also received help and chances to change. In the end, we came out stronger than before, and also wiser.
To answer your question, Sunset Shimmer: I know you will not fall for those temptations again, no matter how much time you spent with those dark books."

Luna gave the ponies a minute to process her words. The three reformed unicorns still showed some concerns, mostly self doubts.
The alicorn smiled gently and gave an understanding nod
"Although we've had some similar experiences, my words still are just that: Words. Not enough to convince you entirely. But if you open your minds and hearts, you will see other signs of trust from the ponies around you, especially your friends. You will find it easier to believe in yourself with each.
For instance, Sunset Shimmer, please look at who signed your permission."

Sunset blinked and looked down at the scroll and Starlight and Trixie peeked over her shoulders
"Princess Celestia..."
Luna nodded again
"My sister trusts you without a doubt. So does Twilight Sparkle as she stood up for you even against her closest friends.
That is why I trust you with a very difficult task: To learn all you can about the magic behind the portal and the barrier between the words. It's not going to be easy, but I know you can succeed. With the right kind of help."
At this, she focused on the remaining unicorns
"Starlight Glimmer. You've shown your expertise in magic multiple times now and you have experience in handling Starswirl's old spells.
Trixie Lulamoon. Your ability to think outside the box and your unique approach on magic will prove very handy. We are dealing with an unknown form of magic, when traditional studies may not have an answer, your intuition will make the difference."

The three unicorns exchanged a glance and then nodded
"We won't let you down, Princess!"
Luna nodded in approval
"I know you won't, my friends. If you need assistance at any time, ask for it. I will send Twilight Sparkle to your aid when she returns, as well as the scholar form the Crystal Empire. I trust you still know the way, Sunset?"
The amber unicorn nodded and the three friends left the throne room.

Luna watched them vanish into the hallway and only then took a deep breath. Opening herself and her memories to help the ponies gain the confidence they needed had been harder than she expected.
She knew that the other princesses would have preferred to be asked about this decision, but Celestia had already begun with the necessary preparations so her opinion on the matter was clear. Twilight Sparkle had been the one who suggested the ponies for research, even if she didn't include Trixie. But Luna was sure the stage magician could make the difference if given the opportunity, the others would understand this as well.

That left only Cadance to be informed about the whole situation. Luna closed her eyes and sensed the presence of the Crystal Princess approaching the palace. Taking this hint of fate, she informed the staff of the next steps and then left the throne room through the main doors.

She stepped down the stairs towards the main entrance of the palace and arrived in time to greet a clearly exhausted Princess Cadance. The pink alicorn had slumped down from her usual regal pose as she passed the doors, but straightened herself up when she saw Luna halfway up the stairs.
The Moon Princess frowned inwardly when she saw that Cadance needed to correct her pose in her presence but she gave the fellow princess a smile and asked of her well-being.
Cadance gave a positive answer and Luna nodded. She then asked the mare to walk with her and led her through the halls towards her wing of the palace.

Cadance didn't refuse and followed behind Luna, although she remained silent. Luna waited for the hallway to get wide enough, then stopped for Cadance to catch up and walk beside her. The pink alicorn looked confused but matched Luna's slow trot down the hallway.
After a minute of silence she asked
"How does Canterlot fare today?"
Candance gave out a tired sigh and nodded
"The main streets are clear by now. The ponies started cleaning up the houses that had been checked by Auntie Celestia's architects and experts. The rescue teams from Ponyville and Cloudsdale have arrived already and joined the work teams. I'm still waiting for a message from the Crystal Empire though."
Luna nodded and walked slowly towards her private rooms with Cadance next to her
"I've already met the citizens of Ponyville when the arrived. And for the Crystal Empire, they were able to send another message. Their journey has been delayed by unfortunate weather. They expect to arrive about two hours past sunset today if everything goes right."
Cadance looked up and smiled
"Really? That's great! Why didn't you tell me earlier Princess Luna?"
Luna frowned and cleared her throat at the mention of her title by the fellow princess, again
"You arrived before I had the chance to send out a messenger. I received the letter moments before Ponyville arrived and I made sure they would get some rest first."
Cadance blushed and looked shyly at Luna
"I didn't mean to offend you! I'm just worried about my family, Princess."
Luna sighed defeated and nodded her head once
"Tis fine, Princess Cadance. I understand fully. I hope these news bring you some ease nevertheless."

The pink alicorn nodded and lost some of her tension and fell into a more natural pose. The two princesses met no other pony as they slowly made their way towards Luna's private chambers. Luna felt a tug on her mind at some point and stopped in her tracks. She closed her eyes and stood still for a minute. Cadance didn't notice right away and went a few steps ahead, then turned her head and watched the dark blue mare.
Luna opened her eyes again slightly before she ended her magic so Cadance would see the glow in them and understand the meaning of it
"Your daughter misses you dearly. She sends all her love to you."
Cadance blinked confused, then smiled as she processed the words, then frowned
"How can you know this?"
Luna smiled and explained
"Your daughter is napping right now, on her father's back. And she dreams of you."
Cadance' frown grew into an icy glare
"You're invading Flurry's dreams? How could you!"

Luna blinked, then glared back
"I never enter anyponys dream, unless the pony asks for help in a nightmare or invites me. Your daughter reaches out for me often, Cadance. So I pay her a visit at times."
Luna held her glare up as Cadance slowly walked up to her until they stood eye to eye
"As Flurry Heart's mother, I kindly ask you to leave my daughter's dreams to herself."
Luna felt the icy venom of those words and called out louder than she had intended
"Are you implying I would put your daughter in danger or hurt her with my visits? Do you really believe I would do such thing to an innocent filly?"

Cadance flinched and backed away again, pulling her eyes away from Luna's angry stare. The dark alicorn sighed as she watched Cadance sit down on the cold floor and try to find words to say
"I... of course not. I'm sorry... I didn't mean to. I just can't stand the thought of Flurry getting hurt... I know you never would do anything to her... I just..."
Luna frowned and sat down on her haunches as well
"You just don't know if you can trust me, even after the time we spent together. No matter how many times my sister or your sister-in-law tell you, your mind may accept the words but your heart won't."

Cadance just sat there for a moment and stared
"Did you spy on my dreams?"
Luna frowned and shook her head
"You never invited or called for me, so I never entered your dreams. Still the signs are quite clear. We never talk unless either my or your sister are present. And even then, we talk to them and rarely with each other.
You cannot relax in my presence. Even now, your pose is tense and strained.
You call my sister your aunt and Twilight Sparkle your sister. Yet you always fall back into calling me 'Princess Luna', despite me asking you not too.
I can respect that you'd chose my sister as your aunt but not me, I understand that Twilight and you are like sisters and we will never be as close. But knowing that I'm not even worthy of your trust and friendship... it hurts."

There, she said it. Luna sighed and looked down at the floor between her hooves. She had felt the tension between Cadance and her for the longest time. Also she had been mimicking her sister for the longest time and pushed away all those feelings for the sake of Equestria. But what had this lead to? Celestia crying at night, mourning about the chances she lost, the friends she couldn't comfort as she'd wanted. Losing the student she had loved like a daughter and living in constant worry, hid well behind a facade of calmness and wisdom.
Luna remembered the words she had just shared with said unicorn and two of her friends. That being true to yourself, accepting your flaws, was just as important as performing one's duties. She decided it was time to follow her own advice of being her true self.

"Where were you at my wedding? You can obviously read me like a book. You could have exposed Queen Chrysalis before she hurt Shining Armor and everypony else. You could have saved me from the prison she'd thrown me in. Where have you been?"
Luna kept her eyes fixed on the floor
"Cadance, I couldn't be there. I just couldn't. I didn't trust myself enough to be among other ponies back then."

Luna looked up again when she heard no sound from the pink alicorn. She saw the mare slumped on the floor in resignation. When she met Luna's eyes again, they glowed with anger and frustration.
Luna didn't look away, she knew she deserved it and she wouldn't run from it.
After another five minutes of silence, Cadance just asked
"Why? Why now and not a week ago? Or a year? Or all the times I tried to talk with you after your banishment?"
Luna sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, then faced Cadance again. Once more, her emotions found the way to her features and helped her find words
"I think I needed to see Sunset Shimmer. Her bravery to face her past for a greater cause reminded me of things I've forgotten for so long."

The pink alicorn sat up again. Her angry glare had softened some when she saw the sorrow in Luna's eyes. She stopped three steps before her
"And now you wish to follow Sunset's example and face your mistakes from the past as well?"
Luna nodded
"I do. Celestia forgave me my sins as Nightmare Moon as well as my failings as her sister. The ponies of Equestria seem to have forgotten the past, mostly."

Cadance shook her head
"I have never been wronged by Nightmare Moon so I can't be the one to forgive these things. I can only say that I see your sorrow and believe you."
Luna sighed, feeling more hopeful for a moment before her mood fell again
"However, that does not excuse some of the things you did as Princess Luna."
The blue alicorn nodded
"It does not. I can only ask for forgiveness."
Cadance tilted her head and waited
"That's it? Just like that."
Luna sighed and nodded again
"Every word past these would only be giving excuses or trying to justify my mistakes. Instead of giving you more things to doubt, I just want to apologize for my distant behavior and my envy."

Cadance nodded and gave a faint smile
"I think we all are envious of Auntie Celestia at times..."
"I was talking about you."
The pink alicorn blinked and shook her head
"Me? Why would you be envy of me?"
Luna sighed
"You're so young, yet you rule over an entire empire on your own. Your subjects love you. And despite all the responsibilities of a Princess, you still manage to be the best mother for Flurry Heart."
Cadance opened her eyes wide
"Luna... I don't do that all by myself. I have Shining Armor by my side. I have a team of advisors. And I have Auntie Celestia to rely on. And yet with all that, I still don't have enough time for Flurry."

Luna tilted her head in surprise when the anger in Cadance' eyes faded and was replaced by something else
"I could never rule all of Equestria all by myself like Auntie Celestia for a thousand years. I couldn't for a day! And I could never handle the nightmares of every pony every single night like you. You and your sister control the sun and the moon. Twilight is the Element of Magic. And me? I can do a love spell and I can make the Crystal Heart twirl a little faster. Compared to you, what is that? I always feel like a helpless filly next to you."
Cadance let her head hang down
"I guess that's one of the reasons I stopped trying to talk to you."

Luna made the distance to the other mare and spoke softly
"Love is a force nopony should underestimate. You out of all should know this. My sister's love is what kept me hoping when I was trapped in the moon. And kept me from going insane when I returned."
Cadance kept her gaze on the floor and Luna gently rose her chin with her blue wing
"Nopony expects you to be another Celestia. Or another Twilight Sparkle. When you are yourself, you're the most valuable, for your family, your subjects and all of Equestria. You know this, Cadance. This is a talk I expected to give Twilight Sparkle sometime, but definitely not to you."

At this, Cadance couldn't hold back a giggle
"And I expected to get a speech like this from Auntie Celestia instead of you."
Luna smiled and gave a small giggle herself
"I think my sister is starting to affect me more than I give her credit for. In fact, I just sent Sunset Shimmer on an assignment with her new friends."
Cadance laughed more
"Did you send them to Ponyville too?"
Luna laughed softly and shook her head
"Just into the library for now. Sunset, Starlight and Trixie will start to look for information about the magic behind the portal."
Cadance nodded and finally got up from the floor again, her eyes at level with Luna's
"Let's hope they find some answers soon. And, thank you Luna."

The dark alicorn tilted her head and Cadance giggled again
"For being honest with me. And for pulling me out of this low."
Luna smiled and nodded
"I want to thank you for doing the same. I apologize for entering your daughter's dreams without your permission."
Cadance just smiled
"Please visit her as much as you can. I'll feel much better knowing you're watching over her."
Luna blinked once, surprised
"Is it because I'm acting like my sister?"
Cadance laughed softly and shook her head
"No. It's because you're being yourself while helping me be myself. If this is who you are, I have no worries of you and Flurry getting closer. Or us, as it is."
Now Luna laughed and winked
"Ah, so you wish to be visited in your dreams as well?"
Cadance grinned
"If you knock before coming in."
"Always."
Both mares smiled and continued their way on the hallway, walking beside each other. They started to talk about Flurry Heart and as they reached Luna's chambers, they laughed together. A maid brought them some tea and they sat down, idly chatting and waiting for their sisters to return.

Luna smiled pleased to see Cadance relax on one of the soft blue pillows she preferred. The two princesses still had some way to go, but the first steps of a closer friendship had been made. They couldn't undo their past and the future seemed filled with worries. But Luna's smile stayed, here in the present with friends by her side and being herself.

Lights in the night

Chapter 12 Lights in the night

After about an hour of waiting, Luna opened the doors to her balcony to let Twilight Sparkle enter. The youngest of the Princesses flapped her wings for a soft landing and stepped inside, the sinking sun behind her. Luna noticed the frown buried deep into the alicorn's brow and with more concern saw the beginning panic in the purple eyes. Even though she knew Twilight leaned towards extreme emotions under stress, Luna had learned not to underestimate those signs. If something would get the Element of Magic this worried, even with the other Elements and friends around, it was certainly not pleasant.

"Twily."
Both Twilight and Luna looked at Cadance now. The pink alicorn smiled softly to her sister-in-law and took a certain pose Luna immediately recognized. Twilight did as well and her frown vanished, the fear in her eyes replaced by a smile. She mimicked Candace' pose and together, they followed their familiar song and dance

Sunshine, Sunshine,
Ladybugs awake!
Clap your hooves
and do a little shake!

Luna didn't hide her smile at the cute display and watched the two young alicorns hug and giggle a little at their own silliness. When Twilight sat down next to Luna, the panic had vanished from her eyes and only the smile remained. Cadance returned the smile and sat back on her own pillow
"Much better. Now you can tell us what got you this worked up."
The frown returned, but not as bad as before. Twilight took a deep breath
"I noticed something strange in Canterlot today. There was a strange pattern in the destruction that came over the city, and I think I know what it is now."
Both Luna and Cadance now shared a worried glance
"I'm afraid I don't understand, Twilight."

Twilight levitated a scroll to the table with her magic and unfolded a map of Canterlot
"Here, let me show you. I didn't see it at first, but from an higher altitude I finally noticed."
On the map Luna and Cadance could see strange lines that spread out straight through the city in different directions. They all had their origin at one point though: The Royal Palace in the centre of the city.
Luna looked closer and pointed at several spots at the map
"Canterlot Hospital. The eastern bridges. City hall. All the placed that have been destroyed are on those lines."
Twilight nodded
"Not only those places. Along the lines, the destruction has been considerably worse than elsewhere. Which is strange, since it's been an earthquake. The epicenter is at Canterlot Palace,"
she pointed at the centre where all lines met,
"... that actually makes a lot of sense when you think that the portal was the reason of the earthquakes. But any normal earthquake would have sent out shockwaves in all directions that loose power the farer away they get from the epicenter. In other words: Close to the Palace, the destruction should have been far worse than here."
She pointed to the spot on the eastern outskirt of the city again, where the bridges leading into Canterlot had entirely broken down.

Luna nodded but Cadance looked at the map with a skeptic expression
"But, the Palace is still in good shape. If what you say is true, it should have been hit the worst."
The blue alicorn shook her head and explained
"The Palace is protected by magic wards my sister and I have set up over the years. They are meant to protect this building against all kinds of dangers, including quakes."
Cadance nodded and looked back at the strange lines
"Okay, that does make sense. But couldn't the pattern just be explained by magic as well? The earthquake was anything but natural after all."

Twilight nodded and grinned, although it looked very forced
"That's the same thing Sunset Shimmer said. And it turns out, you're both right. Do you have a magic encyclopedia at hand, Luna?"
The older alicorn nodded and levitated a huge tome from her personal library to the table. Following a suspicion, she opened the book and set up another map of Canterlot with similar lines drawn over the city. Those lines spread out evenly over the whole city almost like a spider's web though and each line was named and had a detailed description.
Cadance tried to read but Twilight placed her own map on the tome. Luna frowned and nodded and the pink alicorn gasped
"The lines! They match almost exactly with the ones in the book. What are they?"
Both alicorns answered, Twilight with slightly more excitement than Luna but both worried nonetheless
"Ley lines."

Cadance looked between the two mares and sighed
"I'm afraid you need to explain it to me with more than just two words."
Luna tore her gaze away from the map and looked a Cadance
"Ley lines are natural paths of magic that spread over all of Equestria. They exist in various different sizes and origin from places with large amounts of natural magic. The Everfree Forest for example, but also Mount Canterlot or the Heart of the Crystal Empire."
Twilight nodded and continued
"Ley lines soak up any leftover magic from spells and such and spread that magic evenly over Equestria. Unicorns can sometimes tap into ley lines when they need additional magic for a powerful spell, but it's rather dangerous. The ley lines also provide earth ponies and pegasi with enough magic to refill their internal magic within. Crystal ponies as well, of course. That's why cross points of ley lines or origin points usually tend to attract many ponies. Manehatten, Trottingham, Fillydelphia... any city or town has at least one big ley line nearby."

Cadance nodded and returned her attention on the map
"So the destruction followed the main ley lines in Canterlot. But why?"
Twilight frowned
"I'm not entirely sure yet. My first guess would be that the energy from the portal somehow was absorbed into the ley lines and travelled some distance before it unleashed into the earthquakes. Maybe the energy is attracted by magic or something."

Luna nodded and rubbed her chin with a hoof
"That sounds plausible. But I can't shake off the feeling there's more to it than we can yet see."
She stared at the map for a little longer, then turned to the mare next to her
"Twilight Sparkle, you should bring these information to the Royal library at once. I've sent your students there to begin the search for anything related to the portal. They should benefit greatly from this knowledge."
Twilight looked up and smiled
"You mean Sunset and Starlight are doing research together? I knew they'd make an excellent team. They are both very talented when it comes to magic."
Luna giggled softly at Twilight's enthusiasm and agreed
"Indeed they are. I've sent them and their friend Trixie to the forbidden archives to gather as much information as they can."
Twilight's happy smile faded and turned into a grimace of disbelief
"You did WHAT? Princess Luna, do you have any idea what kind of pony Trixie is? Giving her access to forbidden magic is probably the worst we could do."

Luna stared at Twilight with barely hidden anger. Before any of it would unleash on the young alicorn, a gentle voice called out from behind her
"And why would you say that, my dear Twilight? Last time I remembered you've forgiven Trixie, twice in fact."
Luna anger instantly faded when she saw Twilight's expression fell apart and was replaced by shock as she now stared at her sister standing in the doorway.
The Moon Princess turned around and nodded at Celestia in greeting and poured her the last cup of tea as she took her place next to her.
Twilight still tried to compose herself but could not meet either Celestia's eyes nor Luna's
"You don't understand. She hurt my friends."
Celestia tilted her head with a gentle smile
"So did Starlight Glimmer. Yet you took her as your student and even let her stay at your home with you. And aren't Starlight and Trixie even best friends now?"

Twilight shook her head with some hesitation
"Starlight and Trixie are not the same."
Luna nodded and stomped her hoof on the floor which made the young alicorn flinch
"Most definitely not. Trixie was influenced by an artifact of dark magic and not fully in control of herself. Starlight Glimmer on the other hand was well aware of her actions when she stole your cutie mark along with those of your friends. That is a very significant difference."
The purple alicorn now stared at her in despair, until she heard the giggle next to her.
Cadance tried and failed to keep a severe face and just giggled louder when Twilight now stared at her as well. She was soon joined by Celestia and even Luna couldn't suppress her grin any longer. The two sisters used to perform all sorts of pranks when they were younger. Luna had easily spotted that Celestia was in this particular mood and followed along. It felt good that being closer to her sister again also helped her bring back some of the easygoing mannerism in Celestia.
Twilight blinked a couple of times, then sighed and dropped her head on the table in front of her in an admit of defeat, both to the prank as well as the meaning behind it.
"Okay, fine! I may just overreact a little when it comes to Trixie."

The three alicorns giggled gently and soon Twilight was smiling again.
Celestia nodded proudly at her former student
"A valuable lesson, even for the Princess of Friendship. We might not like everypony as much as our best friends, but we should still forgive them past mistakes and be sincere when we give out second chances instead of falling into doubt."
Twilight nodded and looked back at Luna
"She's trying very hard to be a good friend for Starlight. And since Starlight and you trust her, that's good enough for me."
She stood up and picked up her map with her magic
"I'll go check on them now. Will I see you three at the throne room later?"

Celestia nodded and finished her tea
"I will be there as soon as I've finished my duties for today. It is almost time, Luna."
The blue alicorn nodded
"I have not forgotten, sister. However, Cadance and I will not join you until later. We've decided to fly to the delegation of crystal ponies and make sure they reach Canterlot safely."
Celestia nodded and smiled
"That's a good idea. I'll make sure they'll receive a warm welcome. It's not everyday we get a visit from the Crystal Empire after all."
With that, she stood up and walked to the balcony, followed by her sister. Cadance and Twilight shared another hug, then the purple alicorn left for the library.
Cadance stood in the balcony door and watched amazed as a powerful golden and blue glow surrounded both horns. The sun set in the west and a full moon rose, shining bright enough to almost rival Celestia's star tonight. Celestia nodded and Luna smiled contend as the additional light would help the crystal ponies with their nightly travel.

Luna turned to her sister and like the younger alicorns, they shared a hug, each one wrapping a hoof and a wing around the other. Cadance smiled at the display and gave the sisters another minute.
Celestia finally let go and nodded to them both before she left Luna's rooms through the doors. Both Cadance and Luna noticed the spring in the white alicorn's step and the sincere smile that barely had faded since Sunset Shimmer's return.
Both smiled and exchanged a knowing glance, then two pairs of wings spread out. With practiced ease, both Princesses propelled themselves high into the night sky and flew north.

Luna closed her eyes and allowed herself a happy sigh. There were few things she enjoyed more than nightly fights, the cool air around her, the melody of the stars above and the world bathed in the soft glow of her moon. In an easy glide, she passed through the starry sky, simply enjoying this peaceful moment for a while.
When her eyes opened again, she saw Cadance enjoying the flight as well, but for different reasons. The pink alicorn had her wings stretched out wide and used powerful strokes of her wings instead of relying on the air current that carried Luna. Ever so often, she would gain or loose altitude or add in a playful twirl of her body, sometimes even a loop. Luna watched the younger Princess and former pegasus pony dance and frolic through the air, admiring how Cadance managed to do so without forfeiting her natural grace and elegance.
Cadance flew closer to Luna again, a big smile on her face
"I missed this so much! I used to fly a lot in my first year in the Empire, but with Flurry so much changed. I barely get the chance for a nice long flight anymore."
Luna smiled and nodded
"You should take Flurry Heart with you soon then, so you can share your love of flying with her."
Cadance giggled and winked
"You know what? I will! As soon as we're back in the Empire, I'll show her everything. Have you ever seen the northern aurora from close up?"
Luna looked up at the moon as she summoned up the distant memory
"Once, a very long time ago. Tia and I visited the Crystal Empire for the first time. I remember how excited I was to finally fly into the night after a long day of meetings and audiences. I was so fascinated I almost forgot to set the moon the next morning. We went back home that day, but I promised myself I'd come back to see it again. Before I had the chance though, Sombra forced his way to the throne and our relations to the Empire fell apart. And when the Empire finally returned, all my visits had been highly political. I didn't want to jeopardize them with a foalish expeditions, so I only watched the shifting colors from the ground since then."
Cadance grinned and gently poked her with a hoof
"Then it's decided! As soon as this is over, you're going to visit Flurry and me. No royal business, just a family visit. And we'll go see the aurora again."
Luna smiled and wholeheartedly agreed.

The Princesses flew for a while, when Luna pointed downwards and sunk towards the ground. The group of maybe 50 crystal ponies stood out against the dark streets and fields around them, the light of the bright moon reflecting on their crystal manes and coats.
Cadance and Luna flew down in a soft curve and landed in some distance to the group, spreading their wings as a gesture of greeting. Luna waited but Cadance quickly approached the ponies. From the front of the group, a white unicorn stallion came towards them. Cadance smile grew wider when a small white figure jumped of the stallion's back and zoomed towards the Princess. Cadance stopped and spread out her forehooves as her daughter threw herself against the pink alicorn, half flying and half using her magic. The tiny filly pressed her body against her mother who held her tightly in her hooves, close to her heart. Soft pink wings cocooned the young Princess and although Luna could not understand the words, she could feel the love of the young mother strike a cord in her own heart.

The Moon Princess smiled to Shining Armor as he joined his family and stepped towards the group to give them some private moments. The crystals ponies had bowed down as soon as the Princesses approached and now that Luna came closer, their heads sunk down towards the ground again. Luna giggled softly addressed them with a calm voice
"Welcome to Equestria and Canterlot! We're very happy to see you all, although I wish the reasons for your visit would be happy ones. I wish to express my thanks to everyone of you for coming in our time of need."
Luna waited for all the ponies to rise up again and then bowed to them, her forehead touching the ground as it had been tradition in the Crystal Empire in the times long before King Sombra's rule. She looked up and as she hoped, most of the reservations and nervous glances had passed with this familiar gesture. The group of ponies made the short distance towards the alicorn and gathered around her. Luna could see every pony was heavily loaded and looked tired
"I know you took a lot of efforts on yourselves to make it here so soon after our call for help, but I'm afraid you have to hold on a little longer. Canterlot is close, we should be able to reach it in another hour. Princess Cadance and I came to make sure the last passage will be safe"

The crystal ponies gave out a wave of sighs, some tired and some relieved, but then a pony of the crystal guard smiled and saluted
"We couldn't be safer than traveling in the light of the moon beside you, your Highness."
At this point the royal family of the Crystal Empire joined the group again. Flurry Heart now sat on her mother's back, tucked warm under a wing.
Shining Armor nodded at the words of his soldier
"I just wish we would have been here sooner. And could have brought more ponies to help."
He frowned but Luna just shook her head
"Your worries are not necessary, Shining Armor. It would be unwise to leave your own city unattended. Besides, everypony's contribution is valuable, even the smallest ones."

The crystal ponies and their royal family continued walking down the road towards Canterlot, Luna walking in the middle of the group. When they climbed a small hill, the blue alicorn had her horn glow as she sent a beam of focused moonlight up into the sky in a bright flare. The ponies around her blinked surprised but Luna just kept walking, her horn still glowing with moonlight to brighten up the path they were all walking on.
Soon one of the crystal guards called out and pointed to the sky. All ponies except Cadance and Luna stared up surprised as a large number of pegasi ponies flew towards them. Luna could make out members of the royal guard, the Wonderbolts from Cloudsdale and some pegasi she'd seen in the city the other day. They landed and greeted the travelers from the Crystal Empire with loud calls. At Cadance's order, the crystal ponies handed their luggage and cargo to the pegasi who took off again soon after to head back into the city.
Without their load, the group of tired ponies fell into an easy trot down the moonlit road, Luna still adding the magic of her horn to the natural glow of the moon. Soon they climbed up the last small hill before Canterlot, but as soon as the ponies in front reached the top, they suddenly stopped. Luna was still walking in the middle of the group and couldn't see past the hill yet, so she flapped her wings to get a better view. What she saw made her smile and let go of the magic glow on her horn so the other ponies could see as well.

In front of them lay Canterlot in the dark, but from the edges of the city a trail of small lights set up a path through the streets leading towards the Palace. Luna smiled as she remembered the first time she had been to the Crystal Empire about a millennium and five decades ago. There hadn't been a railway to the city back then and Celestia and herself had to fly for almost a week to get the city. They had arrived late night as well and where greeted by the crystal ponies with lanterns, lightening up the path into the city for them. Luna could remember the beautiful sight of the glittering city and the soft lights as if it had been just yesterday.

Apparently Celestia could remember as well and had send the ponies out for a similar greeting. Although Luna could see that the ponies of Canterlot didn't use lanterns this time. At each side of the road, ponies stood in a line and waved to the foreign visitors, every other pony was a unicorn with a ball of light and magic floating on the tip of their horns.
The crystal ponies slowed down as soon as the reached the lights but the calls of greeting and happy smiles were enough to ease their hesitation. They walked down the road between the lights and stared in awe as they approached the Palace slowly. Luna smiled happily and watched the lights of different colors of magic being reflected on the crystal ponies' shiny coats and manes. She nodded to the unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies of Canterlot and once again was pleased to see nobles standing side by side with commoners and others.

At some point, Flurry Heart had woken up from the loud cheering and poked her head out from under her mother's wing. Luna grinned as the filly's eyes grew almost comically large and she climbed on her mother's head to see more of the pretty lights.
The tiny filly looked around in all directions, then she noticed something. With a hop and a quick flap, she landed unceremoniously on Luna's back and climbed up the slightly taller alicorn, her tiny hooves grabbing the blue horn to hold herself.
Luna blinked surprised but Cadance just laughed cheerfully
"Say hi to Auntie Luna, Flurry."
The tiny filly gave a happy gurgle and Luna felt her head being hugged by the tiny filly who just babbled happily. Luna laughed and held her head up high to give her niece a better view and soon the filly was lost staring at the colorful lights again.

They reached the Palace after a few more minutes, followed by a sea of lights. As they climbed up the stairways to the main entrance, the crystal ponies started to single file. At the top of the stairs, Celestia and Twilight had taken the last spots in the line, the golden and purple lights on their horns joining in the others. Sunset and Starlight stood next to their teachers with their lights, next to them the remaining Elements of Harmony with Trixie, her horn glowing along with Rarity's.
The crystal ponies each bowed deeply before the Princesses before they stepped into the Palace and were guided to the throne room. Twilight joined Cadance and Shining Armor who were second to last to enter, followed only by Luna. She was joined by her sister who laughed wholeheartedly at Luna's new head adornment.
The white alicorn leaned down to gently nuzzle to squealing filly and now Luna found herself laughing as the young Princess clung on Celestia's muzzle to nuzzle back. Their laughter was joined by the ponies following them in. The filly giggled happily as she was surrounded by golden magic and gently placed on Luna's back. She spread out one of her blue wings and the filly nestled in under the feathery blanket. Luna smiled as she felt the tiny warm weight nuzzling into her flank and walked slowly to the throne room next to her sister.

The room was crowded once more as the Princesses made their way to the podium with Celestia's and Luna's throne. This time, Cadance addressed her subjects and the other ponies, talking about what had happened during the last two days. The other Princesses took over from time to time to add their own thoughts and to thank the crystal ponies for their assistance.
For the sake of the tired ponies, they kept their speeches short tonight and Luna once again finished by wishing them all restful sleep and pleasant dreams.

Just like the day before, after talking to the ponies the Princesses spread out again. Celestia headed towards Starlight Glimmer just as the lavender unicorn introduced the scholar of the Crystal Empire, a unicorn stallion named Sunburst, to Trixie and Sunset Shimmer. The five ponies shared a few words and then headed through the doors leading into the Sun Princess' wing.
Twilight meanwhile gathered the other Elements of Harmony around her who soon started a rather lively discussion. As soon as Twilight noticed the attention they received from the ponies around, the purple alicorn lead her friends back outside into the palace gardens.
Cadance made her way through the crowd towards the group of crystal ponies and talked with her subjects some more, so only Luna remained standing in front of her throne. Her blue eyes scanned the room but after a day of hard work, most ponies had already retired by now, only a few guards and some dedicated staff ponies still on their hooves. She already could feel more and more dreams appearing in the dream plane though none of them seemed to need her immediate attention yet.

As tiny wiggle at her flank broke her concentration and she gently lifted her wing a little to reveal a very tired alicorn filly. She smiled and leaned down to gently nuzzle Flurry Heart
"You mother missed you very much, my niece. You should be with her."
The tiny filly didn't seem to understand the words, but when she saw Cadance, her tiny horn glowed. With a soft poof, the filly vanished and reappeared next to Cadance who embraced her softly again. The pink alicorn excused herself and headed towards her rooms with her daughter while the crystal ponies finally sunk down on the improvised beds of blankets and pillows.

The room soon fell silent except for the soft breathes of sleeping ponies and the occasional snore here and there. Luna still remained sitting in front of her throne, not feeling the need to sleep after a mostly restful day. She decided to follow the other Princesses' examples and focused on her tasks. She closed her eyes and let her mind slip into the dream plane while her physical form remained in the throne room, should anypony need her assistance during the night.

The archives

Sunset Shimmer shuddered when she took in the eerily familiar surroundings of the archives. As far as she could tell, nothing had changed since the day she'd made her bad decision, probably the worst in her whole life.
Granted, the room was better lit up by mage lights from Starlight Glimmer instead of just a single candle, but even the light couldn't chase away the feeling of being watched. The three unicorns had come straight down here after receiving the task from Princess Luna and Sunset had led her friends immediately into the forbidden section. It was most likely to find answers here and, if she was honest to herself, she wasn't sure if she still had the courage later on.

Sunset easily found the book she read on the night she ran through the mirror and Starlight sunk into it right away. That left Trixie and herself to find other books that might be helpful. Sunset had found a few promising titles and was skinning through the old tomes she spread out on the table, while Trixie was still browsing through one of the larger shelves on the other side of the room.

Starlight had settled on the floor and read the book with a fascination that disturbed Sunset in a way. Not that she didn't trust her new friend, it was more the way she was sitting there and sometimes even mouthing the words of a spell, the amber unicorn couldn't help but wonder if that was how she looked like all those years ago.

Starlight looked up from the book and gave an almost longing sigh
"I know this is forbidden knowledge and there's probably a good reason for it, but I wish I could try out some of those spells. They sound simply incredible."
Sunset bit her lip so she would not immediately shout at her new friend as a huge wave of worry crashed down on her. While she was trying to find words to explain herself when a sombre voice reached them from the other side of the room
"If the spell sounds too good to be true, then that's because it really is. Trust Trixie on that one."
Trixie still had her back turned towards her friends so they could only see her shoulders tense up. It was the tone of her voice that sent shivers down their spines.
While Sunset was again unsure how to react, Starlight got up and joined her friend, touching her hoof with her own.

Trixie turned her head to Starlight and managed a smile but Sunset recognized that kind of smile. It was the same she'd given her friends lots of time to have them not worry even though her guilt was burning her up from within. Starlight leaned closer and touched Trixie's horn with her own. Sunset found herself smiling at this little sign of affection between unicorns, one of the many gestures she'd never seen anything comparable in the human world.

Trixie relaxed visibly, then smirked and some of her usual fire returned to her eyes
"Trixie could have saved herself a lot of trouble of those old books would write appropriate warnings to those spells and artifacts. What were those ponies thinking? No wonder their work is locked away down here where nopony can see them."

Starlight and Sunset both smiled but they knew what Trixie was hiding behind her gin. Starlight went back to her book, without her initial excitement though. Trixie gathered a few large tomes in her magic and brought them over to the table next to Sunset. Their gazes met and Sunset offered a sympathetic smile to Trixie. They stared at each other for a minute, then Trixie nodded and opened her first book. Sunset sighed and went back to her studies.

The three unicorns worked silently for a couple of hours and managed to find a good amount of useful books they'd decided to take a closer look at.

At some point, Twilight joined them in the archives. After a hug for Starlight and Sunset and an awkward smile to Trixie, she told them about the ley lines and what she'd found out so far, like she did with the princesses before.

Starlight and Twilight immediately started throwing ideas and theories back and forth. Sunset could see they were used to do magical research together. She tried to keep up but as hard as it was to admit, not having magic for so long had left Sunset's magical know-how more than a little rusty, not to mention there were results of magical theory research she simply hadn't heard of yet.

Trixie on the other hand trailed off nearly right after the beginning and started to skim through books again. It seemed like she couldn't focus too well though with Starlight's and Twilight's loud discussion going on, so she ended up teleporting a inkwell through the room.
Sunset watched with a smile as the inkwell disappeared and reappeared in shelves, on books and back on the table. Trixie seemed to get better at the spell and when she managed to have the inkwell appear on Twilight's head, perfectly balanced and without the alicorn even noticing, both mares couldn't help but share a giggle.

Twilight looked up slightly annoyed and the inkwell quickly reappeared on the desk. Twilight turned to Trixie, but to her surprise the unicorn offered her a passage in her book that described exactly what Twilight had just been explaining. The alicorn blushed a little but Trixie just winked with a harmless smirk, causing the others to giggle softly again.

After Twilight had filled a few scrolls with notes, Starlight dropped her head on the table and groaned
"I don't think I can come up with anything useful anymore today. How about we call it a day and get back on it tomorrow?"
Twilight nodded and stood up to stretch her back and her wings
"It's really been a long day. Let's see if we can get some dinner."
Sunset looked around the room and shuddered
"Do you think we could take the books out with us? This place gives me the creeps."
Twilight opened her mouth to protest but stopped when she saw the nervous expression on Sunset's face mimicked by Starlight and Trixie as well. With a sigh and a nod, she gathered the books in her magic and with a bright purple flash, they vanished.
"I've sent them into Princess Celestia's personal study for now. Those books are too dangerous to be lying around for everypony to see, but they should be safe there."
Sunset gave her a grateful smile and together they left the archives.

Intermission: Twilight Sparkle

Just after greeting the ponies from the Crystal Empire, Twilight and her five best friends in all of Equestria walked into a private part of the palace gardens. Usually, only the Princesses were allowed to enter these parts, but the others were more or less national heroes so none of the guards seemed to mind.

Twilight's mood wasn't the best, despite the recent progress everypony had made in repairing Canterlot. Even with all the help from outside, it would take weeks, if not months to rebuild the city. Though of course, it would all be meaningless if anything like this could just happen again.

Less than two hours. It had taken less than two hours to flatten nearly the entire capital of Equestria. And that was with four ruling princesses present. If the quakes would have hit Manehatten, for instance... the city might have been gone even before any help could arrive.

“So what are we gonna do now, Twilight? We can’t just sit here and let Sunset Shimmer take all the glory.”
“Really? That’s what’s bugging you out of everything, Rainbow Dash?”
“I still can’t get over seeing Canterlot in ruins. So much style and unique flair lost to some natural disaster, it’s dreadful.”
“I’m just glad nopony got hurt badly. Luckily all the animals got out of the city in time as well.”
“Girls, that’s beside the point now! It doesn’t matter how lucky we were if we can’t find out what caused this. We need to stop it from happening again.”
The five ponies fell silent and watched Twilight with concern when her frustration got the better of her. The young alicorn fell into a pacing trot they’d all seen from her multiple times whenever Twilight had been at the brink of panic

“Twi, you need to calm down.”
“How, Applejack? How can you expect me to calm down in a time like this? For all I know, I might have accidentally caused all of this. Princess Celeastia, Princess Luna, Cadance, even Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer, they know what to do, but I don’t. “
“Twilight, Darling. I want you to sit for a moment and listen to us.”
Twilight sighed but sat back on her haunches and turned her head to Rarity and her other friends as they stood around her in a half circle
“Did you know exactly what to do when Tirek started stealing everypony’s magic?”

Twilight frowned and was about to nod. Back then, Celestia told her what needed to be done. But did she really know exactly how to do it?
“I guess not.”
“And when Discord broke free of his statue, did you have all the answers right away?”
“Or when you accidentally switched our cutie marks around?”
“No… you know that.”
“We do, Sugarcube. But you tend to forget at times.”

Twilight took a deep breath, but whatever she thought she had to say just ended up in a long sigh as she sunk on the ground, her head coming to rest on her forelegs
“So, what you’re saying is...?”
“In the end, you always managed to save the day.”
“Because you always stay true to your heart in the end.”
“And because you don’t back away even if it gets hard.”
“Even if things get worse, you’ll always have friends to rely on.”
“Duh! Princess of Friendship, remember?”
All six of them giggled and when Twilight got on her hooves again, they shared a hug

“Thank you, girls. I needed that.”
“Anytime, Twi.”
“So, we just keep going for now? Helping where we can?”
Twilight nodded and took another deep breath
“I guess that means I’ll join in on the magic research with Starlight Glimmer and Sunset Shimmer. None of the other Princesses has spent as much time with the mirror portal as I have. Plus, it will let me keep an eye on Trixie as well.”
“What about her?”
“You don’t think she’ll do something bad, do you?”
Twilight shook her head, although with a frown
“No. At least, not intentionally. But I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

The four friends shared a worried glance but then nodded
“Okay Twi. But remember, she’s Starlight’s friend now.”
“And she’s been trying were hard to better herself.”
“She even stopped bragging all the time. And trust me, I know how hard that is.”
Twilight sighed again and her wings rustled on her flanks
“I know, I know. Princess Celestia said almost the same. But it feels to me she’s not taking this as serious as she should. She kept goofing around when I saw her earlier.”
“Maybe she just tried to cheer you all up?”

Five pairs of eyes turned to Pinkie Pie at that
“What? I’m just saying. Sunset wasn’t really in a good mood earlier, she really needed it. And Starlight’s panic attacks can be worse than yours, Twilight, and that’s saying something.”
The girls chuckled and Twilight blushed a little before she joined it
“Okay, I see your point. So I guess I should give her credit for that, right?”
“Just promise you’ll give her a chance to prove herself. Please?”

Twilight turned around and saw Starlight Glimmer standing a few feet away, her student clearly worried. When she didn’t say anything for a minute, Starlight took another step closer
“Please Twilight. I know you’ll never be as close to her as to the others. But I don’t want to have to choose between my teacher who took me into her home and my best friend in all of Equestria.”
Twilight was quick to pull Starlight into a firm hug at that
“I promise, Starlight. I’ll try my best to be open to what she has to say.”
Starlight nodded and returned the hug with a soft sigh
“I guess that’s as good as we’re going to get, right?”

Starlight searched and found her teachers eyes
“Please Twilight. She’s trying so hard. When we’re together, she’s putting so much effort into everything we do. As soon as you two are together, she hides behind her bragging and teasing and goes all ‘Great and Powerful Trixie’ on you. But when Princess Luna asked for her help, I could tell she’s serious about this.”

Twilight couldn’t hold Starlight’s gaze, but she nodded
“I trust Princess Luna’s intuition. And I trust you, Starlight. If you say Trixie is ready for this mission, I’ll see past my own doubts and trust her as well.”
Starlight smiled and pressed in for another soft hug, one that Twilight only replied half-hearted.

She stayed behind when her friends left one after another, her eyes staring blankly ahead into the dark night, unseeing the beauty of the starry sky. Only when the sun started rising, Princess Twilight Sparkle got back on her hooves and headed to the throne room.

Two hearts rekindled

Just a few hours after greeting the delegation from the Crystal Empire, Sunset was again overwhelmed by a feeling of familiarity, this time a far more pleasant one. She was sitting in a big room with high ceilings and white marble walls. Desks and bookshelves were spread out on the sides of the room and a large table filled nearly the entire centre of the room. She inhaled the familiar scent of books, ink and tea that reminded her of the first time she had been in this room as a small filly. Like back then, she found herself admiring the insignia of the sun that was embedded into the huge doors.

Barely anything had changed in Princess Celestia's study since the last time she'd been here. A pair of chalkboards has been added and some more books lay around at the desks. But everything else reminded her so much of those years she had spent nearly every day inside these rooms, it almost hurt. Even the form of Princess Celestia next to her and watching her as she studied.
She looked up at her former mentor and was rewarded with a heartfelt smile, obviously Celestia could feel the nostalgia as much as Sunset.

The others had been given rooms to retire and went straight to bed, neither Starlight nor Trixie had gotten much sleep last night and Sunburst had spent most of the day travelling south with the crystal ponies as well.
That left Sunset to check on the books they found in the archives with Celestia joining her. Now, without any other ponies watching her, Sunset noticed the slightly slumped pose of the tired princess and a barely concealed yawn. She started to giggle only to find herself yawning as well. Celestia gave her that kind and motherly smile again which made Sunset immediately blush, then she spoke in a soft voice
"It's been a very taxing day, but I have one more thing to show you tonight. I think you might be pleasantly surprised."

Sunset followed the princess out of her study and down the hallway. She remembered this one leading towards Celestia's private chambers. However, they stopped a few doors earlier at an unmarked and plain door.
Sunset blinked when Celestia motioned for her to enter first, so she opened the door with her magic and stepped inside. Something about this felt eerily familiar and as soon as the mage lights inside illuminated the room, her jaw almost dropped to the floor.

It was her old room, the room she was given by the princess all those years ago. The first room she could call her own in her whole life.
Everything was still there, in its place, exactly where she left it. The big bed with the magenta and yellow covers, her favourite colours. The shelves on the sides filled with old books and tomes she'd been studying, even her desk was still covered with scrolls and scripts.
"You kept it? All those years?"
Celestia giggled behind her and stepped into the room until she stood next to her
"Did you expect something else?"
Sunset looked around, still staring in wonder
"I thought you'd burn it down because you'd be angry with me. Or that you'd given it to Twilight when you replaced me with her as your new student."
"Never!"

Sunset looked up surprised at the sudden call from Princess Celestia. She found her magenta eyes gazing into hers, an almost desperate expression on her face
"I would never give away your room. I always hoped you would come back someday. And I never replaced you with Twilight. Not in my heart."

Sunset took a sudden breath that sounded dangerously like a sob. She was surprised by this level of emotion the Princess showed right now. With her own voice shaking, Sunset managed to speak out one of the thoughts that had been very prominent in her mind for a long time
"But Twilight did everything you asked of her, she's smarter than I am, she has stronger magic. She embraced all your lessons and passed every test, and I just raged at you. She saved Equestria and Princess Luna. You made her a princess. She has everything and I just failed at everything."

Sunset felt soft feathers brush over her cheek and realized the princess was wiping away tears. Somewhere during her rambling, she'd started crying again
"Sunset, that's enough of it already. I can see where you are going with this, but I did not choose between Twilight and you in any ways, nor will I ever do so. You are both important to me, as important as Luna or Cadance. I have seen you both grow up, I have seen you struggle in a way or another and I was proud to see you both get past it. If a mother has two daughters, she will never cherish one of them more than the other; instead she will love them both equally."

Sunset froze at those words. She'd been taken under Celestia's tutelage when she was a small filly and coming from an orphanage. It seemed only natural to start seeing more than just a teacher in the kind and benevolent mare that spent so much time with her. They'd shared secrets with each other, Celestia would always make time for her. More than once, when filly Sunset would suffer from nightmares, the princess would be there to soothe her.

At some point those events grew less and less frequent. Celestia distanced herself from her and those moments were she would act as a mother vanished altogether. Sunset grew obsessed with winning back Celestia's appreciation, proving her worth, trying to achieve greatness by proving her talents and gaining more power. She'd failed to see the lessons Celestia tried to teach her and it all climaxed in that one night were she'd run away.

And now, years later, after having changed so much and in the middle of crisis, Celestia practically called herself her mother. She blinked and noticed the white alicorn stare at her. She was visibly nervous and Sunset realized that it hadn’t just been a slip of tongue. Princess Celestia was well aware of what she had said and was waiting for her reaction. Sunset wished she knew how to react. After a minute of silence, she whispered
"How long did you know?"

Celestia sighed and understood. She started to explain
"I knew early on, but it took me far too long to fully understand. You were so young, all by yourself. It made me happy to see you smile and I loved sharing all those special moments with you. Once revelation hit me, I grew nervous. I thought of my royal duties, my little ponies all over Equestria who needed me. I thought of my sister whom I desperately wanted to save. I thought it was wrong to bind myself too close to you, so I kept my distance, like I did for almost a thousand years with everypony. I thought I was doing what was best for everypony and Equestria. You'd grown so confident by then, showed so much ambition, learned so much. I was convinced I was doing the right thing when I saw you improve so much. I noticed your struggles but I told myself you needed those to keep growing, so I did nothing. By the time I realized how much I had hurt you, it was too late. Again, my inactions had driven away a pony so close to my heart. First I lost Luna to Nightmare Moon and then I lost you to the mirror."

Sunset had been listening attentively but she felt so numb. She wanted to cry and share the pain with the Princess she once loved like a mother, but something held her back. Her eyes wandered through the room and found small differences from how she'd left it all those years ago. Her desk was tidy, all her scrolls neatly stacked on it. The bookshelves held new books, recent editions of spell books she'd owned.
She saw the candles, more than she ever had before. She'd always preferred the warm light of candles over mage lights, the flickering flames had a soothing effect on her and playing with the flames with her pyromancy always managed to distract her from her worries, at least for a while. She'd had a few dozen placed around her room when she left, but now there were easily a hundred or more candles of all sizes and colours spread around.

"Sunset?"
Celestia asked quietly, waiting for a response to her attempt of explaining her side of the past. Sunset looked back at her and waved her hoof towards the room
"You did all this?"
Celestia nodded and smiled with sadness in her eyes
"I never let anypony come in here, just me. I spent quite a few hours here, reminiscing and thinking. I ended up adding little things to your room, things I thought you might enjoy when you returned. I missed you."

Again, Sunset froze for a moment. Just three words, but they meant so much to her. She took a deep breath and gathered all her courage but even then, all she could do was whisper
"I don't know how long I'd wished for you to talk about this. I'm not the filly I was anymore. So much has changed. I have changed. You still mean a lot to me. I still love you, I really do. But I'm not sure if I can see you as my mother after all that happened."
"Sunset, I am sorry. I didn't want to put any pressure on you, all I want is to be honest with you. I am sorry I am rushing this all on you."
Sunset shook her head and this time it was her turn for a sad smile
"It's not what you said, back then or today. It's not what you did. It's about what I did, what I've been through. I know it's selfish to think like that, but I can't help it."
"It is not anymore selfish than calling myself a mother without ever having done anything to prove myself worthy of it."

Sunset blinked and nodded. She turned away from Celestia and took the few steps towards the bed. She remembered how huge it seemed when she was a filly, but it was still big enough even today. She climbed on top of it, at a very particular spot like she always used to. Celestia watched her but seemed hesitant. Sunset reached for her magic and turned out the mage lights that floated under the ceiling. For a moment, only the red glow around her horn illuminated the room. Then, all the candles started to burn at once and the room was bathed in a warm and soft glow of small flickering flames.

At that moment, Celestia understood and climbed next to Sunset onto the bed, like she had so many times when they'd talked the nights away. Sunset shivered for a moment, it felt so familiar it almost hurt, but then a soft wing wrapped around her and she felt safe.
She spoke four tiny words that meant so much to her
"I missed you too."

As the wing held her close and Celestia's watched her, Sunset started to talk. From the moment she stepped through the mirror, she told everything that had happened, important or not. Details not even Princess Twilight or the girls knew about. Celestia stayed silent, but the wing embracing her told Sunset everything she needed to know. When she talked about fear, the wing squeezed her reassuringly. As she described the pain she felt as a demon, she was pulled closer towards the comforting presence beside her. When she talked about her friends, they both smiled together.

Sunset ended up talking through the whole night, opening herself to the alicorn next to her. Celestia stayed and listened, cherishing every word Sunset shared with her. Whether they called themselves mother and daughter, student and teacher, or simply friends, they knew that their relationship would always be special to them and that they would never stop being close to each other, no matter how many worlds may come between them.

It's been a nice day, until...

Sunset ran as fast as she could towards Canterlot High. Despite just having passed noon, the streets were dark, all the light almost completely locked out by the black storm clouds that swirled over the town in an angry raging storm. The closer she got, she realized the center of the storm was in fact exactly over Canterlot high. She flinched as three massive lightning bolts hit the ground close to the school building in quick succession. She wasn't really afraid of lightnings or storms, but the feeling this particular storm gave her sent cold shivers down her body. Fear, anger, pain and, most concerning of all, magic. Equestrian magic to be exact. She knew that familiar tingle under her skin, she felt it before when being with Twilight and her friends and even more so during their eventful stay at Camp Everfree. But she never felt it as powerful and dark as today. It didn't make any sense, equestrian magic was usually based on harmony. This raging storm was anything but harmonious, it was only destructive and chaotic, at best. Sunset frowned as she followed this train of thought. And it's been a nice day, until...

Sunset had been at Lyra's home just a couple of hours earlier, working on a school project they had been asigned too. She was surprised how quickly the invitation from Lyra had come with a genuine smile from her fellow student. She'd happily agreed, smiling herself and to be honest feeling very relieved and to some part accepted. Sure, she had a couple of friends now and worked hard to leave the troubling events that dictated her past behind her. Up until the Fall Formal and her failed attempt to take over the school with magic from Equestria, she'd never spoke with any student more than was absolutely necessary, and even then it had been mostly threats or snarky remarks. Up to the Battle of the Bands and her helping defeat the sirens, only Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash talked to her. After that, the other students lost some of their hesitation to approach her, but again it was barely more than absolutely necessary. The other students slowly warmed up to her after seeing her compete and help out during the Friendship Games and even saving the human Twilight from the power rush of barely controlled magic. By the time they traveled to Camp Everfree, she was more comfortable around school as were the other students with her. She even managed to patch up some of her relationship with Flash Sentry who had been among those she hurt the most in her bullying days.

But being assigned to Lyra and seeing her classmate happy about that, without any second thoughts, that had never happened before. While they were working on their project in Lyra's room, the two girls quickly lost themselves in some friendly chatter, sharing laughs and feeling at ease. Lyra had even invited her to stay for dinner that night. Sunset smiled and was about to accept, when her phone gave of the sound of a new text message. Glancing down, she saw it had been from Rainbow Dash and only held one word: Emergency!

Sunset had rolled her eyes, since she'd gotten a few of those before: One time, Raindow needed a new string for her guitar. The other time was about a flat tyre on her bike. She would have given no more thought on it, but then the phone dinged again five times with messages from her other friends:

Rarity: Trouble at Canterlot High! Please come quick!

Applejack: Emergency! Something weird is going on at school, we need you all there!

Fluttershy: Please come to school quickly!.

Pinkie: I'll be right there! I'll bring snacks!

Twilight: I'm on my way! Please be safe!

Sunset felt a chill running down her spine and stood up. She looked at Lyra, trying to make up an excuse for leaving, but the other girl didn't even notice. She'd been looking out of the windows, frowning herself „Gee, it's suddenly all dark and gloomy. So much for a sunny weekend. Seriously, how can there be so many clouds just out of nothing?“

That's when Sunset felt it, almost sizzling in the air. Magic. Undeniably Equestrian magic, and lots of it. Concern grew to fear and quickly to panic as she just turned around and ran out of the house. She heard Lyra call after her and follow her out, but she didn't stop running down the street towards school. Something was seriously wrong and her friends needed her help!

She only turned around to quickly tell Lyra she'd be back later, but she saw her staring at the sky with her mouth hanging open. Bon-Bon, her best friend who lived just across the street, had joined her, worried about the screams she heard but now frightened as she saw the sky. Sunset couldn't blame them. Thick dark clouds had filled the sky, blocking out the sun. They were constanly moving in an angry swirl, the center hovering over Canterlot High, not too far away from their homes. There was no rain but loud thunder could be heard and lightning strikes flashed through the air, far more frequent than any normal storm could send them. That and the violent wind that shook the trees all around them, bending them in all directions and even sending smaller items flying through the air. Lyra and Bon-Bon looked at each other, then after Sunset who ran down the streets, right to the eye of the storm. She didn't see Lyra and Bonny exchange glances. With only a moment of hesitation, both girls ran after her.

Another lighting strike pulled Sunset back into the present. This one had been close, too close for comfort. A tree had been struck down, luckily there was no fire and nobody else was on the streets as the tree fell over. Sunset shivered more and ran even faster. She had felt it and was certain now: The lightning was not an ordinary one, but a bolt of magic. Coming from a storm that couldn't be natural either. By now, the wind was even stronger than before, only increasing as she got closer to school. She could see cars being blown over and windows breaking from the force. She wondered for a second how she could even manage to get forward in such a storm, but another lighting as well as a familiar cry made her push that thought aside.

She was now running towards the main entrance of Canterlot High and the statue in front of it, only that it wasn't there anymore. In its place was a strange glowing orb about the size of the former pedestal. The pedestal that had also been a portal between two similar, but completely different worlds. As Sunset had expected, the portal was in the very center of the storm and she could feel raw and uncontrolled magic pouring out of it, no spell to guide it and therefore causing a chaotic rage, manifested in this unnatural storm.

The scream she heard belonged to Rarity. She and four of her friends stood in the storm, about twenty yards away from the portal, clinging on each other to not be blown away. Like Sunset, they managed to withstand the fury of the storm, but apparently they were unable to get any closer to the portal. Sunset could see other students in the building, watching the scene with fear as constant lighting strikes illuminated the darkness and the wind sent all kinds of objects flying around, some even hitting the building and breaking down part of the roof.

Sunset hoped they would be safe inside Canterlot High for now and hurried to her friends. That's when she saw Twilight, trying to get to the other five as well. She came from another direction and was fighting for every step closer, desperately trying to not have her glasses blown away. Sunset quickly changed directions and headed straight for her. Within a few moments, she reached her friend and took her hand

„Twilight! We need to get to the others!“

The purple haired girl looked up, relieved for a moment before concern and fear returned to her features „Sunset! It's magic! It's everywhere, such much magic, more than I ever felt before!“ Twilight shuddered, clearly remembering the time she had been overwhelmed by a burst of magic before, just like Sunset had. The latter one nodded, her red and yellow hair blown in all directions by the wind

„We need to find a way to stop it!“

„Then hurry up already and get here!“

That came from Rainbow who had noticed them while holding onto the other friends.

„We can compare notes later, we need to do something now!“

Sunset nodded and made her way towards them, pulling Twilight along. To both girls' surprise, now Twilight didn't struggle anymore to get forward. Pinkie and Rainbow reached out and pulled her into the huddle, and immediately they all started glowing in a familiar way. Larger ears sprouted out at the sides of their heads and their hair elongated to full manes. Soft wings sprouted out of Fluttershy and Rainbow's back and started to flutter to withstand the wind. Twilight had her own larger pair of wings and now also a glowing horn on her forehead as the friends did what they'd call „pony up“.

Sunset watched amazed as always when this happened. The six friends represented the Elements of Harmony in this world, and when they were working together, they were capable of wielding an incredible power. She hesitated to take the last step towards her friends. She was not a wielder of an Element, but she was definitely the most adapt in Equestrian magic of them. After all, she'd visited the school of gifted unicorns back in Equestria and had even been Princess Celestia's personal student.

Before the usual turmoil of feelings those memories brought with them could take any hold of her, now Applejack and Rarity reached out to pull Sunset in as well. She felt that surge of magic pass through her body as well and soon, her own pony ears and mane manifested. The other girls smiled at her and she smiled back for a moment. Those were her friends and it did feel right to be here with them, working together to fix this mess. With a nod of determination, they turned and looked at the glowing portal orb. After her transformation, Sunset could now see the magic flooding out of the edges, ripping them open to some degree, which sent even more magic to flow out. The magic seemed to be following paths at certain points but not far enough to really make out a clear pattern. Twilight seemed to see them as well and frowned, then glanced at the sky.

„Whatever send this magic here, it's not guided in from of spell. That's why it just discharges in lighting and storm.“

Sunset nodded, having felt the same thing

„Can you try to stop it? Form a spell to guide the magic back into the portal safely?“

Rainbow nodded at that idea

„Like a lightning rod!“

Rarity looked relieved as well

„That sounds like a perfect way to get rid of this awful storm“

But Twilight shivered and looked up at the dark clouds

„I don't know. It's an awful lot of magic. I don't know if I can do that.“

„Well you ain't gonna find out unless you try, Twilight!“

That was Applejack and Pinkie nodded

„If anyone can do it, it's you Twi!“ Fluttershy joining in

„We believe in you, Twilight! And we're here to help you.“

Twilight looked to each of her friends, then back to Sunset who nodded and looked at the portal „We're in this together, Twilight!“

Twilight, now confident in her friends as well as herself, nodded and closed her eyes. The horn on her forehead began to glow and the friends were lifted up a few inches as the magic took hold of them all. Sunset could see what Twilight was doing, forming a line between the center of the storm in the sky and the portal and trying to pull the wild magic towards it, figuring that once the magic was directed it would flow back on its own. It seemed to work at first, but there was simply too much magic around them already. Twilight fought hard to keep the magic in the path she created, but with more and more magic flooding in, Sunset knew it was a fight she would eventually loose. She wished she could help more, she wished she hadn't lost the abilities to control magic and help Twilight more directly with her spell. But right now, all she could do was offer her friend all the mental support she could give, as did her other five friends.

Suddenly a bolt of magic lightning struck down at the group, into Twilight’s horn. She screamed startled, as did the other girls, and lost control of her spell. The magic flowed out without control again, but this time towards Twilight and from their joint connection, to the other girls as well. Sunset closed her eyes, expecting pain from a backlash or the headache from a failed spell. To her surprise, she only felt a wave of tingles flow through her and the magic seemed to settle peacefully inside her. She opened her eyes again to noticed the perplexed expressions on her friends' faces as well. The magic felt warm inside her, eerily familiar. She blinked and noticed a strange sensation on both sides of her hips. She blinked again and realized. That's the same spot I had my cutie mark. After thinking this, another familiar sensation passed through her body. The first time she felt it had been at Camp Everfree and just like back then, she began seeing what Twilight saw.

She saw the portal again, and the strange lines around it. Now she could clearly identify them as leylines, like the ones she learned about back in Equestria. But these ones were far smaller and shorter. The couldn't hold the vast amount of magic that flooded out of the portal, so the magic just unleashed without guidance. She focused on the portal itself again. She could see cracks and rips at the edges and as she focused more, her vision changed again. There was a veil of light purple energy now. It seemed to be not thicker a single layer of silk and was blown around heavily by the storm, just like Twilight had been. And to her shock, the veil was ripped open by it. There must have been a dozen of cracks and through those cracks, a light blue mist shot into her side of the veil. Sunset focused on the biggest of the cracks and suddenly, she could see the world behind it: Equestria! She could even tell exactly which part of Equestria as the Royal Castle of Canterlot stood out surrounded by other familiar building. The veil most have been separating both worlds but now the wall between the worlds seemed to be slowly collapsing. There was no storm in Canterlot going on, so it must be only this world who had to suffer the backlash of magic flowing between the worlds. Just as Sunset finished that thought, another crack was ripped open. And as it did, the buildings of Canterlot seemed to tremble. Sunset screamed in fear as one of them just crumbled under magic pressure and collapsed. She could almost hear the cries of terror from the ponies inside. Oh no... she thought. The portal... it's...

„THE PORTAL IS BREAKING APART“

Breaking out of her vision, Twilight and Sunset both cried out at the same time, looking at each other

„It's been used a lot more recently.“

„After laying dormant for so long, Princess Twilight visited a lot.“

„The notebook! I use it nearly every day now, it must have weakened the barrier between the worlds.“

„And the strange magic that happened in Camp Everfree! I bet it's connected to the veil weakening!“

„You saw it too! There's magic pushing through everywhere by now.“

„But why does the storm only happen here? Why is there no storm in the other world“

„I haven't seen any storm, but there was an earthquake. Maybe..“

„GIRLS! STOP!“

Both Sunset and Twilight blinked and looked at their friends

„If you keep ramblin', it ain't gonna fix that storm,“ Applejack spoke out again, taking them back into the present situation

„Twilight, your spell worked at first, can you try that again?“ Rarity asked, flinching as the lightning bolts started again to strike down around them once more.

„I... I'm not sure. It worked, but it wasn't enough. The portal and the barrier between worlds are completely out balance.“

Balance Sunset thought, and the spot where her cutie mark was supposed to be tingled again. Balance between the worlds. Cutie marks. Equestrian magic in this world. But balance works in both ways. Maybe this world's energy is getting to Equestria as well? If that's true, then...

„We need to fix this mess from both sides!“

All eyes where on her again, but only Twilight seemed to understand

„Of course! Equestrian magic causes the storm here, but over there, our energy works differently and causes earthquakes instead. But that means...“ Twillight trailed off and looked at the portal and Sunset nodded

„We need to get through, and fast! There's no time to loose. Maybe we can even get more help on the other side.“

All the other girls looked at her with a certain worry

„Sunset...“

„We tried to reach to it, but this is as far as we could get.“

„The wind is way to strong to around the portal. It keeps pushing us away.“

„We can barely hold our ground right here as it is.“

Sunset frowned at their words. She wasn't feeling any struggle standing where she was right now. Yes, the wind had been strong, but nothing she couldn't work through. Twilight made it through as well, didn't see? She looked at her friend only to notice the purple haired girl staring at her

„I'm sure Sunset could get through if she tried.“

„What? Why her but not us?“ Rainbow asked out loud what everyone else including Sunset was thinking.

Twilight explained „When I was trying to reach you, I barely made and progress. But as soon as she touched me, it was easy. In fact, it's easier standing here since she's around for you as well, am I right?“

Sunset blinked again and watched her friends nodding one by one. Now that Twilight said it, the girls weren't clinging on each other anymore like they had before. And even the pegasus wings of Fluttershy and Rainbow had slowed down to an easy flutter. Twilight looked at Sunset again

„It makes sense! You're originally from there, that's why the wind won't affect you like anyone else.“

Before Sunset could answer, all girls flinched as more lighting bolts rained down from the sky. Whatever effect Twilight’s spell had, it apparently wore off rather quickly.

Rainbow Dash, always the heads-on type, was the first to say it.

„Look we don't have time to discuss this any longer! Sunset, you're on! You're going through and work on the other side! Find pony princess Twilight and do the same thing our Twillight does here.“

Applejack nodded „As rarely as it happens, Dash's right this time. You go Sunset an' we're gonna help Twilight do that spell again.“

„What do you mean, I'm right this time?“

„No way!“ Sunset shook her head in frustration „Even if what Twilight said is true, I might be the only thing keeping you safe from the storm right now! If I leave, you might... I won't leave!“

I can't leave you guys, just like I left them before. And I can't just return and ask for help. Even if they would listen to me... I can't run away from my friends again!

„Sunset.“

She looked up and turned to Fluttershy.

„This is not letting us down. This is doing what must be done. And as much as we'd all like to have you around right now, it's not just about us! Everybody in town would suffer from this storm, every tree and every animal as well. If that's the way to help everyone, we must do it!“

Sunset sobbed suddenly

„But what if I can't? What if I fail? What if there's nothing we can do to help once I'm through?“ What if I don't make it back in time to keep you all safe?

„Darling, we're all connected! We've been through so much together, you're always here with us and we're with you, no matter which world you or we are in!“

Rarity smiled as she spoke those words and reached out to hold Sunset's hand reassuringly. Despite her worries and fears, Sunset felt herself smiling back.

„Besides, it's not like you're gone forever, right? You go do your thing and we do ours, and when you're back we're having the biggest 'Welcome back from pony world' cake you've ever seen!“ Pinkie beamed and bounced at that thought. It would have been hilarious if the storm around then hadn't been raging at full force.

Sunset felt something new, something that was bigger than any of her fears or worries. She could feel the full power and depth of their friendship right now and she knew she'd do anything for them as would they for her and nothing could ever stop them being friends.

Even if I fail, they'll still be my friends. But I won't fail! Not now, not ever! I can do anything for my friends!

Twilight watched Sunset and gave her a knowing smile. Sunset nodded and hugged all of them thightly,

„Be safe everyone! I'll be back as soon as this is fixed!“

With words of encouragement from her friends, her best friends in all the worlds, ringing in her ear Sunset quickly made the distance to the portal and dived right in.

Author's Note

Hi everyone,

first of all, thank you for reading my story.
As you can see it's my first story ever, so I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had writing. I'm really nervous about uploading my ideas and I'd appreciate any comment you might have for me.
I also want to apologize for any errors in the story, I'm not an native English speaker so it's more than likely I messed up at some point.

Thank you again for making it this far and hopefully you can enjoy the next chapter as well!

TalkingToMyself

Princess perspective

Chapter 3: Princess perspective

Princess Luna sighed in relief as the pressure from the foreign magic dimmed down more and more. Following Twilight's lead she kept sending her magic to the unicorn Sunset Shimmer. The yellow pony glowed brightly in the magic of four alicorns and many other unicorns and yet she was able to control and direct it perfectly. Luna smiled, hoping that she'd get a chance to find out more about her once this was all stood through.

Sunset Shimmer was too focused on her spell to notice the cheering of the ponies around her. Although not all of them could see the blue threatening mist return to the world it belonged, they noticed the obvious: No more quakes to shake their city and their homes.

Luna noticed the spell slowing down and taking a stop at some point, though it didn't feel finished yet. She watched Sunset Shimmer with concern in her heart and saw the confident unicorn's stance fall apart, despair filling her features and tears her eyes. She still managed to perform the spell and when she reached out for her magic again, Luna once more offered her all she could. The unicorn cried as she sealed the spell with a burst of powerful alicorn magic, and then released the leftover magic. This caused a bright flash and a shock-wave spreading out from her through the room, taking all the ponies present by surprise.

Almost all of them. Luna, thanks to her constant training, managed to catch herself with a flap of her wings before she was thrown at the closest wall. Her magic flared as she tried to catch as many ponies around her in the dark blue glow then set them down carefully again. The ponies smiled thankfully to her and she nodded, then turned her attention to her sister.

Princess Celestia hadn't been as lucky, her taller form and the little room giving her not enough time to catch herself. Like Luna though, she had spread her wings and prevented the ponies around her to hit the wall as she did. Standing up and accepting the thanks from the ponies, the tall white alicorn stepped up towards her sister.

Luna returned her gaze with concern. Not about her being hurt, she knew her sister could take a hit and be well. Luna was concerned about the feelings she knew boiled in her sister's mind right now. Fear, worry and most prominent guilt. The sisters had been good at reading each others thoughts and feelings with only looking into each others eyes before, but ever since they had switched their cutie marks for a day, the connection only became stronger. Luna knew what her sister was worried about and what caused the burning guilt. She, like Celestia, looked back at the unicorn who had just saved them all.

They had talked about Celestia taking Sunset Shimmer as a student and what the sudden break of that relationship meant to the alicorn. Luna sighed and closed her eyes. It had been one of the reasons the portal was transferred to Canterlot in the first place. One, to give Princess Twilight a chance to show them her progress in her work during the Princess Summit. But she and Luna also had intended to invite Sunset Shimmer back to Canterlot for a visit and the opportunity to talk with her former mentor. Twilight had told Luna about Sunset's worries and they both wanted to give the two ponies a chance for a start or at least sort out whatever tension was still left unsettled. They had not told Celestia about their plan, but Luna knew it would help her sister deal with the guilt she carried inside her.

She had gone through this earlier, after Luna had been returned not only from the banishment on the moon but also her reformation and the defeat of Nightmare Moon. They had spent long hours, days and nights, talking and crying or just sitting next to each other, finding comfort in their sister's presence. She had wished for Celestia to receive the same chance with her runaway student as well. After all that's been happening to herself and all the kindness she received, Luna would do all she can to give anypony who deserved it their second chances as well.

But with all this mess now, she feared she might not be capable of doing so anymore.

She looked up again when Sunset, after a minute or two of just staring ahead, broke out into sobbing and crying, heart-braking sounds filling the room. Within a blink, Twilight was at her side and knelt down beside her, carefully wrapping a wing around the unicorn. Sunset clinged almost desperately on her and buried her face against her neck. Cadence walked up and took a seat at Sunset's other side, wrapping a pink wing with purple tips around her as well and carefully leaning down to touch her shoulder with her head in a silent support as the small unicorn shivered and cried in what seemed inconsolable sobs.

Luna's first instinct was to rush at her side as well, but she only took a step forward when she realized that Twilight Sparkle's would help the unicorn more than her own right now. She promised herself to be there for her at a later point and instead focused on the other pony in the room who desperately needed help.

Her sister had taken a step forward as well but hesitated and practically radiated insecurity at this point. Luna understood why. Her sister had spent so many hours worrying, thinking of what to say, finding the right words, but now the moment was there so suddenly and she didn't feel like she could face it. Luna nodded and took a step to her sister. She needed more time right now, and there were still things to do. Turning to the other ponies who started at the crying unicorn right now, she spoke up, banishing all concerns from her voice for now.

“My little ponies! You have all been very brave today in the face of an unknown threat on our world. Each of you offered all the help you could. Let it be know that today, Equestria was not only saved by the Princesses and a very talented unicorn, but by no small regards by each and everyone of you as well!”

She smiled at bowed her head deeply at the ponies present and they all returned the bow with small smiles, but most of them faded quickly when they looked back at Sunset and the two Princesses trying to comfort her. Celestia had used Luna's speech to compose herself again and stood beside her sister, smiling and bowing to her subjects as well.

“My sister and I thank you all, from the bottom of our hearts. Not only the brave unicorns who helped with their magic, but also the ponies who supported them and us with their presence and encouragement. Harmony has never been stronger in Equestria than today!”

Again the ponies cheered but with more conviction this time. Luna smiled and knew that after a rule of thousand years by Celestia, her sister's words had a lot more impact on them than her own. She was a princess nevertheless and as such had to help them face the problems that still lay ahead of them.

“The crises has been solved, but the damage has been down. The earthquakes took their toll on our city and maybe even on all of Equestria. There are still ponies out there who need help, all our help. We still do not know the full degree of destruction.”

Luna turned to her sister and Celestia nodded for her to continue.

“My sister will check the castle for any signs of damage, but for now it seems like the safest place in Canterlot. Please help her and help anypony you find who might be injured or scared. Tell everypony you find to gather at the throne room. We will decide what to do next once we are sure everypony is safe.”

She turned to one of the pegasus guards,

“Captain, you and your pegasi will accompany me to town. There's been a lot of fear and destruction and we will make sure to support in any way we can.”

The guard saluted with her wings and turned around to gather all his best flyers. Luna turned back to her sister who gave her a thankful smile for not only giving her time to compose, but also facing the problems ahead accordingly.

Celestia turned to the ponies still watching her,

“Let's help out tired unicorn friends to get to the throne room so they can get a well earned rest. We will them check all the wings in the castle. I'm counting on your help, everypony!”

Celestia and Luna looked back at Twilight and Cadence, hopefully giving them the time they needed as well and pulling poor Sunset Shimmer out of the center of attention for now.

As all the ponies left the room, the unicorns leaning heavily on their earth pony friends, Celestia addressed one of them.

“Dusty! Would you please stay here and make sure Princess Twilight and Princess Cadence are not disturbed by anypony. Don't let anypony in before they and Sunset are ready to come out.”

“Yes, your highness.”

The tan earth pony bowed and took her place at the door again. Luna exchanged one more look with her sister, both giving the other the strength and support they needed to face the aftermath of this disaster. Then, Luna turned to the pegasi guards waiting for her and with a nod, they took flight through one of the large windows in the hallway.

Luna hovered above the castle and looked at the city of Canterlot. She could see ponies running around in every street in many levels of fear and distress. She frowned when she saw almost a dozen of buildings had fallen in from the quakes. She was especially worried about one big building in the center. With a powerful flap of her wings, she headed straight for Canterlot Hospital.