Sunset's Second Round of Childhood

by fmriver

Rating: everyone
Tags: Equestria Girls, Princess Celestia, Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Sad, Princess Luna
Length: 11316

The elements of Harmony are able to turn magical beings of unequal power to stone, exile opponents to the moon! Using one against a possessed teenager may have been overkill?

As the smoke clears away from the crater created by the Rainbow blast at the end of the Fall Formal battle, Twilight Sparkle was unpleasantly surprised by what she saw...

What if the rainbow blast reverted Sunset in age instead of just removing her demon looks? That combined with her lost memories, has given Celestia a second chance in raising her sunshine the way she deserved to be. As more than just a student.

===
I'm a really new fanfic writer, and if anyone feels like they want to borrow the concept, collaborate or do something with this feel free, just let me know so I can read whatever you make of it too!

Update - Now being edited by Emtu!

Published 2018-03-09 01:40:07 UTC
Last updated 2019-06-27 04:16:22 UTC

Path 1 - Hitting rock bottom, remembering better times

Canterlot High School at night is usually quiet and peaceful. No students, no teachers. However, tonight was different. The Fall Formal was taking place, with music and festivities celebrating the new school year. Just minutes earlier, the school was alive with folks enjoying the party in the auditorium, and the bass of the music still played loud enough to be faintly heard even by the main building entrance, not that anyone near there was paying any mind.

The facade of the front entrance lay in ruins, ripped up by magic from a terrifying being. The students crowded there were still shaking their heads as they came to, slowly recovering from having been under the influence of the corrupted magical crown. Near the Wondercolt statue was the elected Fall Formal princess, Twilight Sparkle, somehow sporting wings, along with her five friends, all sprawled on the ground. As they slowly picked themselves up from the ground they took notice of each other and the gaping crater now between them and the school, with smoke coming up from the bottom.

Everyone was quiet, slowly shuffling closer to the edge of the hole. As the smoke faded away, it was clear someone was down there. While the smoke coming up obscured any details, at least it was clear they were moving and alive.

Twilight stood up from the ground and glanced at her friends. They all looked fine, just a little shaken up by the magical connection used to defeat the transformed Sunset Shimmer. Twilight flared her wings instinctively with wariness as she approached the edge of the crater in front of her, and saw that their opponent lived, and didn't seem to have more appendages than a regular human. Twilight took a deep breath.

"You will never rule in Equestria! Tonight you've shown them who you really are, you've-"

"Twilight, look!" With a gasp, Rarity interrupted, suddenly grabbing Twilight’s hand tightly, her knuckles going even whiter than usual. Twilight turned to her friend in confusion, then looked back down, squinting her eyes a bit.

"Thi-this isn't Canterlot... Where am I? ... Princess Celestia?!" Sunset rambled, seemingly out of sorts, which was no surprise after the amount of magic that hit her.

Actually, Twilight realized as she looked more closely at Sunset’s terrified face, her silhouette looked off. If she didn't know better, she would say Sunset Shimmer looked smaller than before. Twilight suddenly understood, she must be looking at a human foal, much tinier than even Apple Bloom, that was in the process of breaking down in tears.

"Eep! Wh-what are you?! St-stay back!" As Sunset took in the odd looking monsters circling her from the edge of the hole she found herself in, the small pony-turned-human scooted backwards, tumbling over herself from her lack of coordination. With nowhere to really escape to, Sunset Shimmer ended up in curled up and hugged her knees, hiding her face from the world. Sunset seemed to finally realize her body was not currently pony shaped and this sudden distraction thankfully stopped her panic for the moment, as she raised one of her hands.

Twilight took the moment of inattention to carefully slide down the slope of the hole to get closer. As she did, she kept all her attention on the filly in front of her. She would need to clarify what humans called their young at a later date.

"Wha-what happened to me? Somepony help me!" Sunset closed her eyes and began to softly cry, before looking up at Twilight, who was standing over her. "Who-who are you?"

Twilight's thoughts were racing in her head. The jacket Sunset had on now reached her knees, and she looked like a child playing dress up with their parents' clothes. She was tiny, and terrified, and clearly had no idea what was going on. Well, she knew how to deal with fillies and colts thanks to her time as the Ponyville librarian, so she put on her gentlest smile.

"We're your friends, Sunset Shimmer. Don't worry, we'll be taking you home to Canterlot and Princess Celestia in a little bit, we just need to clear up some things here. Can you tell me the last thing you remember?" The moment Twilight dropped Princess Celestia's name, Sunset seemed to relax, taking a deep calming breath, though she still looked scared and uncertain.

"I-I was practicing my conjuration spells. I know the Princess said she didn't want me to do so without supervision, but I-I was so close to getting it right last time! But, then I think it ... blew up in my face, maybe? Is-is she mad?! I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'M SORRY!" The little girl shouted the last part, clearly beginning to fall into a panic attack. Twilight found it oddly nostalgic to see another young filly freaking out about disappointing her mentor, and she crouched down and pulled her into a gentle hug.

"Shhh shhh, come here. Let's get you out of this hole. I promise you'll be seeing the princess in a little bit. I just need to wrap a couple quick things here, and we'll be on our way." Twilight patted her on the back, letting her calm down.

"Promise?" Sunset squeaked out with a sniffle as she tried to control her hiccups and tears.

"I promise, Sunset. She's waiting for you, so take my hand." Twilight stood up from her hug, "Now up we go".

Applejack gave her a hand getting them over the top of the hole and back on solid ground. As Twilight patted her flank from the dust and grime from sliding down the side of the hole, the rest of her friends were staring at the child hiding behind her. Funnily enough, Sunset wasn't using her hands to grip her back at all, as a normal human would. Instead she had her hands folded up, with light fists, more in line with someone getting ready to do the chicken dance, while awkwardly pressing herself into Twilight's side as a barrier to hide behind. It was an ungainly pose, which called to her lack of experience with her current body and human mannerisms.

"Darling, what's going on? Is that really Sunset Shimmer?" Rarity asked, seemingly entranced by the child now hiding behind Twilight's legs. Rarity could just make out one brilliant eye peeking from behind Twilight.

"Yes, it seems so. Well, this changes our plans drastically. Girls, I'm sorry but I probably won't be able to enjoy the rest of the party, not with this little one here. Might be best if we head out sooner rather than later." Twilight looked at Rarity. "Actually, Rarity, would you mind looking after her for a moment while I speak with the rest of the girls and the principals?" she said while trying to subtly nod at Sunset, trying to communicate her desire to keep the girl in the dark for now.

"Of course, it would be my pleasure! Come here, dear. Why don't we sit on these steps for a bit while we wait, and maybe you could tell me a bit about yourself, hmm?" Rarity crouched down a bit so she was at eye level with the transformed Sunset.

Sunset looked up at Twilight, who just smiled and gently pushed her towards her friend. As Rarity gently took Sunset by the shoulder, Twilight and the rest of the girls began walking around the crater, where they were met halfway by principal Celestia.

"I believe this belongs to you." Principal Celestia gave a smile to Twilight while passing her the crown. She quickly became serious however, having seen Sunset’s latest transformation, "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Certainly, but let's go over there first? I'll try my best to explain everything, but I'm not sure about why Sunset looks-" Twilight began, before being interrupted.

"Like a 5 year old child?" Celestia said, an odd smirk on her face, a combination of slight disbelief and humor at the situation she knew was all too serious.

"Yeah that..." Twilight replied while scratching the back of her head.

Celestia put on her well practiced, benevolent smile, used for years to calm down students, and replied, "Well, tell me what you can and we can go from there."

Sunset was scared. She was surrounded by some type of weird beings that walked on two legs, like minotaurs or diamond dogs, and quite a few were glaring at her quite fiercely. She held onto Rarity's hand and tried scooting even closer to her, all while she looked at the ground, hoping they would stop staring at her. She really hoped that this Twilight was telling the truth when she said she knew how to fix her and get her back to the princess. Otherwise, Sunset had no idea what to do.

It had just been almost two years since she became the luckiest filly in the whole world, when Celestia chose her to be her student, and she moved out of the orphanage. She had wanted to surprise her mentor by demonstrating all the spells she had learned, wrapping it up by conjuring flames in the shape of Celestia's and her own cutie mark. It would have been a beautiful display of magical power and control for a filly her age, but she felt she could get it done in time. Too bad she wasn't able to practice it too much around her mentor without ruining the surprise. Well there was a surprise alright, apparently she somehow not only blew everything up, she also teleported AND became a monster! What a mess.

"So, Sunset, how old are you?" Rarity asked, trying to distract the girl a bit.

Sunset knew what she was doing, but appreciated that they were trying to put her at ease. She'd always had a knack for reading people, specially grown ups. "Well, I turned seven a couple months ago!"

"Oh really? My goodness, you don't look a day over five my dear," Rarity stated, looking a little bit shocked, having assumed the memory reversion would be in line with the physical.

"Are you calling me a baby?!" Sunset snapped, looking like a spitting kitten.

It actually made Rarity almost chuckle, easily reading that she felt comfortable enough to show some of the fire in her personality that she was known for. It meant she wasn't terrified, or at least distracted.

"Not at all, not at all, I guess pony and human ages don't translate that well," Rarity replied easily, making sure her voice kept its light hearted drawl.

"Hu-mane? Is that what you all are?" Sunset asked, cocking her head at an exaggerated angle, looking like a puppy perking its ears up.

"Well yes dear, though I suppose Twilight is like you, a pony masquerading as a humAN as she... well, as she... hmm... eh, wrapped up her mission," Rarity said delicately, trying to skirt over the details of why precisely Twilight was here for in the first place, to recover her stolen crown. That wasn't a topic she wanted to bring up with the amnesiatic Sunset at all if she could avoid it.

"Oh, right... The princess probably sent her to rescue me, that's how she knew my name. Oh no, she's going to be soo mad..." Sunset whimpered to herself.

Rarity laughed at that. This child beside her jumped from thought to thought like a hyperactive puppy. She looked five, but the girl reminded her of Sweetie Belle after another misadventure with her little friends.

"Oh don't worry! She's going to be too busy feeling relief that you're safe to be mad. You gave everyone a bit of a scare, but it'll all end well, I promise." Rarity comforted Sunset as the filly-turned-child looked down

"I guess... Hey what do you call these?" Sunset raised one if her arms and wiggled it around, her hand flapping about.

"Oh, your hands? You see these are fingers, this one is special, and we call it a thumb. This part is the palm, and it all connects to your arm via the wrist," Rarity explained while pointing to each part on her own hand.

"Ok, I think I get it. So you guys walk on two legs, like chickens and birds, and use these 'hands' on your forelegs to grab and move things, right?" Sunset asked, her eyes shining as she began to think about it more,

"I'm guessing it’s 'cause you don't have any innate magic?" Sunset asked, showing that even as a mental seven year old she was bright.

"Uh... sure dear, that sounds about right," Rarity chuckled.

"... Then when we looked down, Sunset was the age you see her now." Twilight finished catching up Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna.

"That's a lot to take in. What will happen now?" Luna asked, looking back and forth between Twilight and her sister. Celestia, on the other hand, continued to look straight at Twilight.

Twilight looked at the educators in front of her, "Well, I have no idea when or even if Sunset will go back to normal... To be honest, the problem is that we used magic from my Element of Harmony, which is extremely powerful, yet the catalyst was friendship magic in an alternate reality where the rules of magic may be different, so with all the variables... to be honest we were very lucky this is all that happened." Twilight took a deep breath. "Look, the truth is... Sunset was a runaway apprentice, and became a runaway fugitive from my world after stealing my crown. Compounding that, if she truly has no memories of this place, and has reverted in age, then she would be an Equestrian runaway minor. Even if she is lying, or regains her memories, it would be negligent for me to leave a citizen of Equestria here. She will need to come back through the portal with me when I leave tonight."

Luna and Celestia shared a worried look. Luna stepped forward to whisper, making sure no one nearby could hear. "You know that means we will have a missing teen here, don't you? What would we tell the authorities? The damage to the school will be hard enough to deal with, but the disappearance of a female student from a school sanctioned event?!" Luna exclaimed, barely keeping her voice down.

Celestia sighed and replied to her sister. "Luna, I think Twilight has the only reasonable idea. Let's be honest, we would be missing a teen in either event, or do you really think anyone would take that child to be a junior in high school? No, at this time I suppose we focus on what is best, which is to get these two home, and we will see what comes our way tomorrow."

Celestia reached out and placed her hands on Twilight's shoulders. "Twilight, thank you for letting us know, it would have been tragic if we didn't know her fate. I truly wish and hope you will be able to take care of my student... well, I guess she's my former student, since she will not be going to this school anymore. What I mean is, she wasn't the easiest child to come to this school, but she really was brilliant with a lot of potential. With her memories wiped, in a way she's gone now, but in another this is the ultimate gift. If she has to grow up again, please help her reach it and find some measure of happiness?"

Twilight looked Principal Celestia in the eyes. It truly amazed her how much this parallel world's inhabitants could mirror their counterparts from home.

"I promise she will receive utmost care, and if she truly does not recall her life, we will treat her with all the affection a child needs. Now, I do need to hurry a bit if I'm to make it back to our world before the gateway closes," Twilight stated solemnly to the principal gently gripping her shoulders, feeling the importance of her words. The principal squeezed her shoulders, nodded once, then stepped back, before turning around and heading towards the other students, to help those she could. Vice Principal Luna followed her a moment later.

Twilight turned around and walked over to her friends, gathered at the base of the statue marking the portal. It was time to say goodbye, and to bring back Equestria's wayward student to their shared mentor.

Author's Note

concept is basically an age regression fic. I was originally going to regress Sunset to right before stepping through the mirror, however after watching the Forgotten Friendships special, and Sunset's reaction after having all her memories pulled out, what struck me was that she didn't act like I expected someone arrogant or prideful would (as she was by that point), but actually calls out for Celestia to help her. While she may have only been frightened, I wondered if maybe her memories had reverted to much earlier in her apprenticeship, where she was still faithful and not yet too prideful. I thought on this some more, and then also started thinking about how tame the rainbow blast was to her when compared to what it did to other corrupted villains in the MLP series, so I thought to myself, turning a teenager to a kid is probably easier than turning a being of chaos into stone right?

Another reason is that there's a lot of debate on Sunset's age when she goes through the portal, so doing it the way I did sort of sidesteps the issue. She was on earth for x years, she was older than Twilight in Equestria while being in the same grade on earth, but that doesn't matter. All that matters is that she is in a 5 year old human body, and her memories she's 7 years old. My personal head canon takes her to have been pseudo-adopted (apprenticed) to Celestia at 5, after some undetermined feat of great magic where she received her solar cutie mark.

The rest of the story will be focusing more on Sunset and Celestia's relationship, and Equestria in general. We probably won't see earth for a good long while if ever for this one, similarly to Sunset Reset (go read that one, it's an awesome fic, that made me aware of the EQG storyline, and Sunset!)

Update 3/12/18 - Now edited by Emtu!

A teacher's worry, A mother's relief

Princess Luna sighed. The princess of the night watched as her regal sister, usually as unflappable as the mountains, paced back and forth, jittery with worry.

Celestia's face kept going through a cycle, displaying her thoughts for all to see. She cycled through a frown of regret, anger, self-recrimination, then worry. Thankfully only her sister accompanied her at the moment, but they would need to go to the mirror room soon.

As the mistress of dreams, Luna could probably write word for word her sister's thoughts. Regret for how far her wayward student has fallen, anger at the actions she took, self-recrimination on how she failed one student and endangered the other, and worry for both. She was spending more of her time looking worried the closer the deadline for the portal approached.

Luna did not share as much of her sibling's worry. Luna was certain that Twilight understood that while the loss of the crown, and therefore the use of the Elements of Harmony, would be a setback, it would pale against the loss of its bearer. Even if one were to be purely pragmatic, the newest alicorn was a much more useful tool for Equestria. It was her ability to figure out solutions, research, befriend enemies, and create lasting bonds that mattered. She had already provided so many more solutions to threats against Equestria than an overpowered magical beam of friendship did. Without the crown they would lose a weapon, but without Twilight they would lose something more.

"Tia, calm yourself. Twilight will come back, have faith. She has never failed us, and I do not foresee this occasion ending any differently," Luna gently crooned to her sister.

"Oh Luna, I try to tell myself that. I can't help it. This time she isn't fighting an old enemy though, this time she's going against somepony quite dear to my heart. The thought of either of them being hurt fills me with sorrow, yet there is no other choice." Celestia's eyes filled with tears. "I trust my faithful student, but for Twilight to succeed, my Sunset must be stricken down, harmed in some manner. I must now hope one of my students bests the other, and my heart weeps, Luna. My-my-" Celestia let out a small sob, covering her face with a foreleg.

Luna approached her sister and used her wing to hug the larger alicorn. "There, there Sister. You know Twilight would not deal any blow harder than necessary, nor does she believe in smiting her enemies like in the olden days. Perhaps it will all turn out for the better, eh? Look at me, aren't I proof enough that one may fall much farther than simple theft, and yet return to you?"

Princess Celestia looked at her younger sibling, tears in her eyes looking heartbroken. "The selfish part of me just asks, why? She had a chance to come home, why couldn't she just come h-home?"

They stayed like that for a long time, one sister giving comfort to the other.

The mirror was being attended to by the Princess of Love, the remaining element bearers, and a few guards, by the time the ancient alicorns joined them.

Rainbow Dash walked back and forth in front of the portal, while Rarity and Pinkie Pie both laid down looking despondent. Applejack and Princess Cadance were quietly speaking to each other, while Fluttershy seemed to be trying out some breathing exercises to calm herself. The decision not to let the other bearers follow Twilight into the mirror weighed heavily on each of them. There was less than an hour left for the portal to remain open.

Suddenly, the mirror began to ripple and emit a glow, before the lavender alicorn stepped through, oddly enough on her two back legs for some reason. Her friends all crowded to her.

"You're back!"

"You've got your crown!"

Rainbow Dash and Rarity exclaimed, speaking over one another.

"I knew you could do it!" Pinkie said, grinning while giving Twilight a big hug.

Applejack seemed to be wiping tears of relief from her eyes. "Oh, we were so worried".

For a moment, Twilight just enjoyed being surrounded by her friends, safe in the her sister-in-law's castle. However, she knew that she could only indulge for a moment. There was a lot to go over and precious little time to do so.

"Sunset Shimmer, is she alright?" Celestia asked, stepping forward. Twilight looked at her mentor, who looked at that moment like nothing more than a worried parent. The emotion in that question, and the fact that it was the first thing she asked, made it clear that Twilight had underestimated the closeness shared between the princess and her previous student. This was good in a way, given the current issue, though the next few moments would be difficult and awkward.

"She's um... fine? Heehee... um, actually, I don't have much time, since I left her in front of the mirror with Spike while I updated you on a couple things. She's been... affected by magic and seems to have reverted in age to foalhood, along with her memories. The last thing she remembers is being 7 years old..." Twilight finally looked away from her teacher’s watering eyes.

"She looks even younger, from what the natives on the other side told me, though that may be a function of the transformation magic on the mirror. Either way, right now she's effectively a child, and with the lack of magic on the other end it would be impossible for them to treat her if any complications arose from this transformation. We need to bring her back."

Twilight paused, waiting for her ruler's reaction. After a moment, seeing her seemingly struck numb, she turned towards the others in the room. "I wanted to make sure everyone will be able to keep their reactions to her down, okay?" She looked at everyone, getting a nod from each in turn.

Celestia seemed to be mute, her sister stepping up beside her and looking at Twilight. "We agree, please bring her back forthwith," Luna stated

"Alright, be right back!" Twilight jumped back into the portal. Less than a minute went by before it lit up once again, spitting out Twilight, Spike, and finally a little foal, looking barely old enough to have a cutie mark, walking all wobbly on her legs.

"Wow, th-that was a doozy of a trip. At least I look normal again! Miss Twilight, are we-" Sunset stopped as she looked up from studying her hooves, realizing the room in front of her was filled with strangers just staring at her. Though she only had a second to take it in, as she was suddenly yanked up in the air and engulfed in a sea of white feathers. "Blegh! I got a feather in my mouth! Princess, glad to see you too but you're squishing meeee!" she whined as Celestia nuzzled her, hugging her to her chest.

"Oh my darling little Sunset, y-you ha-had me so very worried!" A hitch in her throat made Celestia stumble on her words. Sunset blushed as looked at her face, finally recognizing the tear tracks marking her mentor’s fur, with wide eyes. Suddenly she was hugging her back as hard as she could. For some reason seeing her so distraught frightened the filly.

The rest of the ponies in the room looked on at the heartwarming scene, giving them a moment. "Sister, perhaps we can take the young filly to our rooms for a bit and allow Twilight some time with her friends?" Luna piped up once it seemed her sister and the filly had calmed down a bit.

Said filly looked up with a scrunched up face, "Sister? ... ohmygoshyou'reanalicornandtwilightisanalicornandtheresapinkalicornwhat-?!?!" Her ramblings seemed to snap Celestia out of it, and she chuckled,

"My dear little sunbeam, I'll tell you all about it in our rooms, but Luna is right, let's take this away from here. Ladies, if you don't mind, I believe we will retire for the evening. It's a bit past this one's bedtime, anyway," Celestia chuckled.

"Hey!" Sunset piped up, frowning at her princess embarrassing her in front of so many adults.

Celestia ignored Sunset's glower as she shifted her onto her back between her wings, and began trotting off to her room, Luna following behind. Later she would worry about the effects, and go over everything that happened with Twilight, but right now she was floating from the relief bursting through her heart.

Her little Sunset was home.

Author's Note

Updated 3/18/18 - spelling / grammar fixes.

Little Sunset is reunited with Celestia. At the moment they're both just feeling relief.

A disagreement between sisters

As they walked towards the ambassadorial suites near the top of the crystal castle, Luna listened as the larger alicorn quietly asked her student leading questions about what she saw on the other side of the mirror, meandering into a lesson on the minotaur homeland and beyond. She was gently distracting the little filly, while gaining hints on precisely what she actually remembered. Soon enough the little pony seemed to have dozed off.

Luna did notice, however, how her sister was acting out of sorts. This was affecting her a great deal more than anticipated. Before seeing them together, she had thought that her Sunset had been just another student, closer to her sister in some manners, but kept at a bit of a distance. By the way she spoke, this one had been much closer to Tia’s heart, the tone almost seemed filial at times. Princess Celestia did seem distracted once they got closer to the top of the tower, likely planning something.

Luna followed her sister into the royal guest suites provided by Princess Cadance. Her sister quietly continued past the sitting room, and into one of the bedrooms, until she was beside a large princess sized bed. Celestia looked behind her shoulder then nodded towards the bed, while carefully lifting the dozing orange filly from her back. Luna went ahead and pulled back the comforter and sheets as Celestia laid the foal down. After tucking her in and brushing her forehead with the tip of a wing to move her mane from her eyes, Celestia seemed content to sit by the bed. Luna could understand her sister's sentiment a bit, however there were things to discuss, and after a minute she nudged her larger sibling, then motioned back towards the sitting room.

Once they were both out, and had closed the door to the bedroom, Luna put on an awkward smile and said, "So... my sister, it seems you are happy to see your former student alive and well."

Celestia finally looked away from the door. "Hmm? Oh yes, it-it feels like a wish come true, Luna. My dear Sunset is back. I had forgotten how cute she was at this age," she said with a wistful giggle. "I should have taken more pictures during the years she was with me the first time."

Luna was beginning to think this may be a complicated conversation, where she would need to ground her sister from her current flight of fancy. "Well, we should have somepony take those pictures on the morrow! Otherwise we may not have another chance before either Twilight fixes her or this transformation wears off, eh?"

Celestia frowned. "...Yes... I suppose so..." Then she shook her head a tiny bit, as if flicking off a fly, before smiling gently back at her sister. "In any case, I believe we will need to send a missive to Canterlot so the staff have a chance to clean Sunset's old room before we return. As she is now, yesterday she was still living at the Canterlot palace. I wonder if Inkwell remembers how her room used to look like when she was this young last time..."

Luna frowned in consternation. "Tia... no matter her age, Sunset Shimmer is intelligent, from what I could see. We can't just redecorate some rooms and hope she doesn't notice! You know she will see all the things that have changed, that she has been gone longer than a day. My goodness! Even just the palace has changed drastically since my return. My heraldry and flags fly all around, the staff she knew will all be years older, and even then those that knew her will react differently than she expects since they'll remember her growing up to being an arrogant, deceitful, rude young mare."

"Don't, Luna. I know better than you how Sunset Shimmer acted by the end of her time with me as my-well, as my student," Celestia replied before looking away. "To be honest, many mistakes were made the last few years of her time with me, quite a few on my end, to my regret. And yes, I could be foolishly selfish and convince myself to trick her, as if nothing has changed. However, even at the end she was always my darling Sunset, and it hurts that she has lost years of memories of our time together, the good along with the the bad," Celestia continued, with watery eyes. "Can't you agree it would be cruel to tell a child that adores you that she grew up to become the villain?

“Especially since we don't know if the changes can be safely reverted. Can't we let her keep her innocence for a little while longer, at least until we know for sure what will happen?"

Luna took a deep breath and looked at her sister. She stepped forward and nuzzled her cheek, hoping the physical affection would take a bit of the sting from the words she needed to say. "Tia, there's no escaping this. Even if we do not need to tell her all the details that she has forgotten, or that she was transformed and made to forget with a powerful artifact, it will be obvious that she's been gone for more than a day. Ponies will be older, even the staff in the palace must have changed some since then. You must see that there's no hiding this from her, Sister."

Celestia raised her head and her serene mask came down on her features. It was clear that she had decided on a course of action. "Luna, I will carefully inform Sunset that more time has passed than she is aware of. I wish for you and the others to respectfully keep the specifics, or the fact that she has lost years worth of memories to yourselves, much less the fact that she stranded herself on another world for those same years. Until we know if the changes are permanent or not, she is Sunset Shimmer, a gifted 7 year old unicorn under my care, nothing more or less."

Luna could see in her eyes how resolute her sister felt. "As you wish, Sister, this is your wayward student after all. If you'll excuse me I need to go safeguard the dreams of our ponies." She could tell that no good would come from continuing this discussion, and Luna was couldn't fault her logic, though her instincts told her they may be making a mistake. Perhaps something will come to her mind by tomorrow.

Celestia watched as her sister walked out into the hallway. She knew where Luna was coming from, however there were things she still hadn't shared with her that made this so much more difficult. In the time after Sunset left through the portal, Celestia had spent many an evening reflecting about how they'd ended up so estranged. The more time that passed, the more she came to accept that she was responsible as the adult with Sunset being a young mare. Apparently those were known for rebelliousness against authority figures, irrational emotional outbursts, and making rash decisions.

She had taught many students throughout her long life, but Sunset was the first and only one she had taken on to raise.

Author's Note

Not too happy how this chapter came out. The tone of the conversations feel stilted, but I wanted to at least get something up here. There are many more thoughts going on behind the scenes, that I want to develop more in later chapters.

I lost my first draft of this chapter halfway through, and the second time I began writing, I kept writing and deleting what I wrote, but it still feels like I'm failing a bit in the whole "show don't tell" for this chapter.

I hope users got a sense that Celestia knows that she withheld an integral piece of affection that all children need, but since Sunset had left, she had at least recognized that she was the only one in Sunset's life that could provide it. She is still shying away from naming it however.

I had a couple ways I could have taken the final section of this chapter, and even came up with a viable reason for her to send Sunset to stay with Twilight first instead of going to Canterlot... but I believe that this first arc needs to focus on how I think interpersonal relationships would realizstically change based on the premise.

The precociousness of children

Early morning light began to illuminate the room. A small bundle underneath the comforter began to wiggle about before a little head popped out, stretching and slowly opening her eyes.

Sunset Shimmer came awake with a yawn, slowly rubbing her eyes and then carefully stepping down from the princess sized bed. She really had needed the rest. Looking around, she was alone, as expected, but she really needed to find Princess Celestia. She knew she had to hurry because there was only a two hour window every morning from sunrise till open court, and this schedule was kept to zealously by the royal secretary. It was the best chance she'd have before dinner.

As she looked around the room, she finally began noticing that it didn't look like it was part of the Canterlot Castle, and she remembered what happened last night. She had originally wondered if this was a secret area built into the crystal catacombs, but Princess Celestia had told her last night that they were in the Crystal Empire, which she had never heard of before. Now that she felt more awake, she noticed the large window and walked up to it to look outside. She climbed onto two legs to peer out, and was surprised by the view.

"Wooow... I'm definitely not in Canterlot. Pretty though! I wonder how they built everything using crystal?" She stood there for a while studying the city below, enjoying how the early morning sun reflected off the different crystal buildings, making the city look like a beautiful canvas of color. She got to see the coolest stuff as the royal student, though this was her first time outside Canterlot.

Once she was done with the view, she trotted out of the bedroom. It led to a larger sitting area of the suite, where she noticed another set of doors. Upon opening the one across from her room, she saw it was another bedroom. This one had the heavy drapes over the windows, making it seem like a dark cave. She could see somepony huge was sleeping on the bed. As she crept closer to see who it was she realized it was the big alicorn princess Celestia had called sister, the princess Luna. Sunset quietly crept back out, and closed the door again. While she'd love to talk to the mysterious princess Luna and get to know her better, she didn't want to get into trouble for walking into a princess's bedroom and waking her up. Besides, she really wanted a familiar face right now.

She used the other door, which led out to the hallway, and began to wander down. She noted how deserted it felt compared to the Canterlot Palace. Back home you couldn't go more than fifty paces without seeing a royal guard, a functionary of some sort, or even a servant going about their daily jobs. It was nice though, as no one was around to see her studying the walls, paintings and other things she came across. She wouldn't be called plebeian for being impressed by the opulence, like she would be at home around nobles at court.

She hoped she was going the right direction, because she was getting really hungry. Soon enough she came upon a pair of guards in front of a large open doorway. The one closest to her simply glanced over before continuing to stoically stand there. She looked past him into the room, which was brightly lit, with a floating heart sculpture in the center.

"Hi there, can you tell me what is that in the room?" sunset couldn't contain her curiosity. Besides, if they had the doors open so any passerby could see, it probably wasn't a secret.

The guard frowned for a moment, before replying curtly. "That's the crystal heart. It's a relic that helps protect the Crystal Empire. That's also why we are guarding it right now."

Sunset looked back at the floating heart, rotating above the pedestal. It definitely did seem to be radiating a lot of power. She did wonder, however. "Wow... How does it work?"

The guard seemed to size her up, before slowly replying, "I'm just a guard." Sunset wasn't put off by the guard's gruff reply, as she was used to guards being relatively short when on duty.

"I get it. Um, could you tell me where I may find Princess Celestia then?" Sunset asked, not wanting to push her luck with the guard that was just doing his job.

The guard looked at her again before nodding towards the end of the hallway she had been walking towards earlier, "Look, they are serving breakfast right now, just keep going in this direction until you see a larger set of double doors on the left. Those will lead you into the private dining room, where breakfast is being served for the princesses along with the rest of their companions. If you see a balcony on your right, you've gone too far."

Sunset thanked him and continued on her way, eager to meet with her mentor, and to get some food.

As Sunset reached her goal, she noticed the doors were ajar, and she could barely make out the voices on the other side. She paused at the entrance, feeling a bit shy at entering the room since it sounded like there was a lot more ponies in there than she expected.

"Girls, all I'm saying is that for now, we just try not to mention anything about what happened or what she did, okay? We just need to be careful of what we say for today, until she leaves back to Canterlot with Princess Celestia this evening alright? The princess doesn't believe she is ready to know that yet. I'm sure once we better understand if it's permanent or not, the princess will explain things to her herself." That voice, Sunset recognized it as the pony that was sent to rescue her, Twilight Sparkle. It sounded like they were talking about Sunset, but she wondered what they were trying to hide.

"So let me get this straight. You want us to lie to her? Sugarcube, I'm your friend, but you know I'm no good at deceiving folks," an accented voice replied. As Sunset peeked through the gap in the door, she saw it was a mare with a cowpony hat on. She saw that there were six mares along with a purple dragon in the room, seemingly about done with their breakfast.

"I'm not asking you to lie, Applejack, just avoid bringing it up. Look, If any of you can't handle that, then just don't speak to her for now," Twilight replied as she and her friends all stood up, heading towards the door. "Come on, why don't all of you just go and do some more sightseeing around town. Last time we were here we stressed out so much about getting the nomination for the Equestria Games."

Sunset, quickly backpedaled until it seemed like she was just now walking down the hallway as the door opened and the six grown ups came out.

Twilight spotted her almost immediately. "Oh! Uh, good morning Sunset. Looking for some food?" Twilight spoke, but her friends all seemed to be freeze up, staring at her.

"Uh... yeah. I was hoping to see Princess Celestia at breakfast, but I guess I missed her..." Sunset replied, scuffing the floor in front of her with her foreleg.

"Look, why don't you go eat, and I'll send a message to the princess for you. Spike, can you please?" Twilight motioned to the little dragon. Sunset wasn't quite sure what Spike would do since he didn't seem to be what she would pick for the quickest messenger.

"Right! Dear Princess Celestia..." Spike took out a scroll and begun mumbling to himself for a bit, until he seemed to be done. He rolled it up and then burned it with green flames, the ashes seemingly flew away before magically disappearing. "There we go, now we just wait a min-blegh!" Suddenly the dragon burped, a scroll popping out. He caught it in midair with a practiced move, before reading it out loud. "Let's see, I'll be there shortly, tell Sunset to eat breakfast please. Well then, got that squirt?"

"Thanks Spike. Well Sunset, enjoy the food. We've got... stuff! Stuff to do around town so we will see you later," the purple pony stated as she and her friends quickly left. Sunset felt a bit sad that they didn't seem to want her around, but it wasn't surprising. Adults at the palace were always busy too.

A couple minutes later, Sunset was busy stuffing herself with haycakes and daffodil salad. Oddly enough, she usually went for other breakfast fare, like fruits and honey, but she just had a craving when she saw them. She also kept peeking at the coffee carafe, wondering if she might have enough time to sneak a sip. However, just as she got the courage to try, the door opened for Princess Celestia.

"Good morning Sunset, I see you are up early. I thought I would let you sleep in, but I suppose little fillies are full of energy, aren't they?" The Sun princess gave a teasing smile, seeming to be in a playful mood.

"Princess, I always get up extra early, you know that!" Sunset burst out, blowing her cheeks up, before rubbing her muzzle thoughtfully, "Though, I guess yesterday was kind of weird... and I heard ponies get forgetful the older they are..."

The Sun princess burst into light laughter at that. Celestia had almost forgotten how funny Sunset was at this age, where she would take in comments from adults that they may not have meant for little ears. Even before her trip through the mirror, it had been a couple of years since Sunset made a habit of meeting Celestia every morning. Not since shortly after giving her one of the communication journals.

"Well Sunset, I do apologize for being a bit distracted. Now then, we will be leaving for Canterlot tomorrow afternoon. With everything that has happened, we've cancelled most of my itinerary, so my schedule is actually pretty open if say... somepony would like to explore the Crystal Empire with me?" The solar princess had a mischievous smile on her face that Sunset wasn't quite sure she had seen before.

A regal white pegasus stepped out of the shadows of the palace arches and into the central plaza. Her pink hair waved in the morning breeze, with glinting the red and yellow highlights. On her back, mostly hidden in her tucked wings, a red and yellow unicorn filly rode, swivelling her head around. They looked like nothing less than an inter-tribe mother and daughter, which while more rare in the Crystal Empire than in the rest of Equestria, was still not unusual enough to warrant more than a passing glance to acknowledge that they were clearly not locals, and that the pegasus was a prime specimen, before continuing on their business.

The grown mare took a couple glances left and right before trotting off towards the open market stalls. While originally set up for the Crystal Fair, there had been a large influx of tourism since the Crystal Heart had been found which had provided a critical injection into the thousand year-behind crystal pony economy. It also provided much needed exposure between the time displaced ponies and their contemporaries. They passed the food stalls, before slowing down around the first trinkets stall, which was selling beautiful crystal figurines that almost seemed to have been grown into shape rather than sculpted. There were ponies of all types and colors, even ones of specific famous personalities such as Spike the Brave and Glorious and Princess Cadance.

"G'morning ma'am! The name's Gem Rosecut, and I can't help but notice how much your daughter likes these figurines. They're very collectable, and much stronger than they appear, so you don't have to worry they will shatter by accident!" The vendor smiled as the filly's face looked in wonder at the little crystalline figurines. The vendor was apparently an earth pony, with a crystal egg for a cutie mark.

The white pegasus looked at the filly on her back with an inscrutable expression, before turning to reply to the salespony. "Actually she's -"

"How'd you make them?" the little filly piped up before the pegasus could say anything more.

The salespony grinned at them, feeling that she may just make a sale this morning, even though her usual clientele was older. "Well, if you pay attention in school, you'll know that earth ponies have a connection to the land. Well, my family has worked hard in learning how to grow and even shape them a bit. I finish them with these little tools over here, and I soak the different areas with these different crystal dyes to make the multi-colored ones. Each of them are made of a single piece of grown crystal."

"And how long does it take to grow one? Can a unicorn do it?" the filly asked as soon as the artisan paused.

"We-ell… these smaller ones take about a couple weeks, while the biggest ones over there can take up to 5 years just to grow the crystal… As for using unicorn magic? Not sure, but I do know there's no shortcut to learning how to work your crystal!" the salespony replied finally with a smile. Speaking once more towards the elder pony, the mare continued her pitch. "I have a yellow unicorn filly over here, as well as a stylized adult pegasus, if you'd like to come back in a couple hours, I could even have the manes dyed to match you both?"

For some reason the little filly seemed to studiously be looking away while her mother thought it over. "Can you make two sets?"

With that the sale was closed, and the pair walked on.

"Wheeeeeee!!" went the little fillies and colts on the carnival ride. A series of tea cups that orbited as well as revolved in a dizzying display. In one were two fillies, one with a red and yellow mane, the other green and pink, with their forelegs held up in the air, as they were seemingly having the most fun of all.

"Our daughters seem to be having a lot of fun together." An older earth pony mare sharing the earth pony filly's green hair stepped closer to the white pegasus focused on the twirling teacup of fun.

"Hm? Oh, yes they seem to be having a grand time, don't they?" the pegasus replied with a wistful smile on her face, though it seemed to be tinged with melancholy.

The earth pony wondered if she was reading a bit too much into her companion’s expression, but just in case... "You know, I'd noticed you two a bit earlier walking about the fairgrounds. You looked so cute together! And... well… It's none of my business what you're trying to forget with this visit… but, no matter what's going on, just remember that that little ray of sunshine adores you. As long as you remember that, it'll turn out okay, I'm sure."

The pegasus mare looked startled for an instant, before smiling widely to the green-haired parent, "Oh, there's no tragic backstory… Sorry, just feeling a little guilty for letting responsibilities distract me from spending quality time with the little one."

"Well, work can do that I suppose, but they understand as long as you make sure to remind them how much you love them, and I don't think you'll have trouble doing that!" The mother comforted her and patted her on the shoulder. In reply, the pegasus gave a wide smile, before once again focusing her attention on the fillies.

A couple hours later, Sunset was back in the sitting room of the bedroom suites, looking through her small pile of new treasures. Along with the set of crystal figurines, she had a flugelhorn, a stuffed purple dragon, a couple photographs, some books and a small bag of hard candy.

This was probably the best outing ever with her mentor. She hadn't even known that the princess could hide her identity like that, and they got to have fun without any guards or attendants around either! Sunset did feel a little guilty about interrupting Princess Celestia from correcting strangers whenever they assumed she was her mom, but in her defence they were going out incognito.

Sunset knew that Celestia would probably not bring it up, so It was pretty wonderful to pretend they were actually family. She made sure not to refer to her as such herself though, otherwise she was sure that would be one step too far. Kibitz, Inkwell, or somepony would hear of it and lecture her on appropriate boundaries and respecting the royal personage. Again.

She carefully packed up her things except for one of the books, and then sat down to read. Sunset assumed that Princess Celestia got these for her as part of her lessons, so she would show Princess Celestia how much she appreciated the outing by memorizing the whole book. An Introduction to the Crystal Empire seemed to be an interesting read anyway, and she was pretty curious about the history of the place she found herself in.

Author's Note

Sorry for being a week later than expected, but in exchange I wrote twice as much!

Thanks again to Emtu for editing this before I published it out.

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated!

All Aboard the Pony Express!

The afternoon sunlight seemed to have a vendetta against against Luna, or at least it felt that way as it glared through the windows of their private cabin. It was always a chore waking up early enough to share schedules with her sister, and it didn't help that their cabin had all the drapes open. It was a common issue with living on a night time schedule however, so she didn't do much about it beyond grumble and continue to deplete the train's supply of coffee.

The train had been moving for under an hour, but they would not be arriving in Canterlot until evening was well under way. It would have been much quicker for both sisters to simply fly the distance, however that wasn't quite feasible with a passenger as young as Sunset. That didn't mean the additional time would be wasted, quite the contrary.

Her sister was busy going through her own little mountain of papers. It seemed that their trip had given Celestia a bit of a backlog, which she seemed to be trying to bring to order before they reached the capital proper. A noble, if futile endeavor, particularly since every five minutes she would seemingly drift off and stare at the little filly trying to get her own youthful energy under control and take notes while reading a couple books. Frankly, it was a bit adorable seeing the little filly try so hard to follow her sister's example, though Luna thought foals that age would much rather look out the window or explore the train.She gave up on keeping her silence after the little scholar let out the cutest yawn.

"Young Sunset Shimmer, while I admire your scholarly discipline, perhaps it may be educational to explore the contraption we are riding in while there is still daylight out? It may help you wake up a bit as well, hmm?" Luna gently requested. Sunset quickly flickered her eyes up, before blushing a bit and straightening up.

"I'm not-I'm not tired Princess Luna! I mean- I guess I should go stretch my legs a bit. I'll- I'll walk to the caboose and back, and give you an update!" Sunset uttered before getting up and quickly leaving the royal train cabin.

Luna made sure to keep her agreeable expression on until the filly had closed the door and gone to the next train car, before turning to stare at her sister. Celestia was seemingly engrossed in whatever report she was reading, though the slightly hunched shoulders betrayed the fact that she knew that Luna was going to call her out. "So... you seem unusually distracted by whatever assignment Sunset Shimmer is working on... I'm surprised you already gave her a workload. She's been back for merely a few days."

"Well, for your information dear sister, I have not assigned her anything as such. Those books were simply for her to enjoy! Sunset has always enjoyed reading," Celestia replied with unusual formality. Luna simply stayed quiet, waiting for the older sister to finally look up from her papers and see her expression. "Fine... I didn't think she would tackle them as if it were an official assignment, however I was expecting her to read up on how the crystal ponies had been... displaced... for some time, and perhaps ask for clarification on the connotations?" Celestia sighed, before looking out at the view, "Just a few years older and she wouldn't have failed to correctly understand the hints I've been laying down."

"For the lie you mean for us to perpetrate?" Luna scoffed, turning her head away from her sister and towards the door Sunset had used. She stood up and walked towards the smaller desk with Sunset's books and notes. Luna smirked as she flipped through the notes, before reading a particular page with a list of questions. "Oh, I believe she has definitely taken the bait you've laid for her Tia, if her scribbles mean anything." She left the notebook open on the page in question, before stepping away to make room for her nosy sister.

"...Crystal empire, train route built? tourists everywhere?... Princess has secret sister? Secret alicorns?... Hoomanes?... Celestia muttered as she read some of the notes. Clearly Sunset had seen the evidence that it had been more than a single night since her disappearance, and was trying to make the pieces fit somehow.

"So she did notice, but hesitated to bring up her questions to me..." Celestia said to herself, before looking up and seeming to think aloud. "Does she seem more skittish? hmm... when was it that she got over that formality again..."

"Tia, most fillies seem skittish around us at first. You are the best one to discern that." Luna replied though the comment didn't seem directed at her. Luna then chuckled at her sister. "It seems your memories betray you. How old was she the first time she even questioned you without leave, or disagreed with you, much less disobey you?"

Celestia blew air out her mouth, before grinning. "Luna, thank you for the reminder. Well, in any case, that just means this will be a learning experience for all of us now won't it? Now, do you want to be in the room as I provide my explanation to Sunset?"

Sunset trotted back to the royal cabin with a bag of treats in her mouth. She'd seen the snack cart and gotten a bag of some pastries. If Princess Luna was anything like her sister, then Sunset was sure she'd enjoy something a little sweet. Sunset stopped before the door, and put down the bag and levitated it with her horn to free up her mouth.

"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna? I'm back." She smiled as she entered the room, levitating the bag to the desk. "I brought some treats!"

Both princesses smiled as the energetic filly pulled out three little plates with tin covers, dessert spoons, and napkins. Each one was slightly different.

"I got a slice of chocolate chocolate cake for Princess Celestia, cause she loves cake, Pineapple cheesecake for Princess Luna, cause she looks like a pineapple kind of pony, and some apple pie for me!" Sunset explained each choice as she handed them out. Luna looked a little nonplussed at the comment about pineapple, while Celestia let out a snort that went unnoticed by the filly.

"Aren't you a perceptive little one, young Sunset Shimmer. Thank you for the dessert." Luna pronounced, causing Sunset to blush a little bit, before she was distracted by her pie. They ate in comfortable silence, though soon enough Celestia was helping Sunset clean up, and setting aside the dishes for the train employees to pick up later.

"Sunset, I think it might be time for one of our lessons, don't you think? Come, let’s go sit down for a bit," Celestia murmured. The little filly smiled up at her mentor, before she seemed to get a somber face and nodded.

"I saw you reading the book on the Crystal Empire that I got you. Can you tell me what you've gleaned so far?" Celestia asked her student as they sat down together on one of the many lounging benches, rather than back by the desks, Luna quietly joining them.

"The Crystal Empire was founded in the pre Discord era, and seems to have been a center of magical and technological advancement. The ponies that live there have a special bond that lets them turn into uh... crystal ponies? um, and they protect themselves from the aggressive northern weather using an ancient artifact called the Crystal Heart.

"They were taken over by an evil pony called King Sombra, but he was defeated. However, he left a failsafe that threw the city out of time for over a thousand years... um until they appeared recently?" Sunset faithfully presented her knowledge, though she kept her gaze downwards, and her ears had begun to droop as well by the end.

"Sunset, you've hit quite a few of the high points. Do you have any questions for me?" Celestia gently prodded her student. Usually Sunset would have enthusiastically responded to a question like this from Celestia, however this time she simply took a moment. As the silence became uncomfortable, Sunset looked up then back away, and prodded the cushion she was sitting by before picking it up and hugging it tightly for comfort.

"Princess Celestia? How... how long did it take to rescue me?" Sunset finally asked, in a near whisper, her glassy eyes straining to keep any tears from falling. She seemed to get a bit of courage, and looked at her mentor in the eye. "It wasn't just a day, was it?"

"No... no it wasn't... it's been... quite a bit longer than a day," Celestia replied equally as quietly, before nuzzling her distraught student, and pulling her in for a hug as the tears finally escaped the little filly’s eyes.

Author's Note

I felt that Celestia commonly uses this method of teaching, where she gives clues, and confirms or corrects her students once they come up with a conclusion. We see it in MLP from the very first episode, with the Nightmare Moon arc so I hope it felt in character.

Welcome to Canterlot

The rest of the trip to Canterlot was quiet, and not much was spoken about after Celestia answered Sunset’s questions. The Sister’s seemed tense around each other, while the little filly moped about a bit after being told she had been missing for twice as long as she had been alive. Fifteen years was a long time, never mind for a seven year old. Celestia had let her snuggle in her fore hooves, and had pet her like a kitten while she came to terms with this.

Sunset's thoughts kept returning to the chapter she had read earlier surrounding the crystal empire time travel tragedy. She knew that it wouldn’t be that bad for her, but some of the things that those ponies went through, the loss of family outside the city limits, the fact that a lot of what they knew was gone or different. At least her mentor hadn't given up on her and gotten a replacement. Sunset focused on the fact that Celestia still wanted her, and she could handle this as long as that was true.

Her feelings of being lost were compounded by their arrival to the palace. Celestia and Luna were forced to leave Sunset with Celestia’s current secretary as they went off to perform their duties in moving the sun and moon respectively. Instead of the older mare she had known, Celestia had apparently replaced Inkwell with her niece, a Ms Feather Quill.

The changes didn’t stop there. The palace had new drapes and pennants in purples and blues, and lunar motifs dotted the palace. The stained glass windows in the main hallways had been changed. She knew that these were done to honor heroic deeds that saved Equestria, and she didn't recognize most of the ones in the entrance to the throne room. The worse was yet to come however. She followed miss Raven Inkwell towards what seemed to be her bedroom quarters, however before reaching her old room doors, Inkwell veered off until they got to a completely different room. “What happened to my old room and all my stuff?”

“This will be your quarters from today onwards little miss.” miss Raven stated as she opened the door to a well decorated, if bland, room. Sunset stood still, out in the hallway.

"Can-I want to see my old room please?" Sunset stuttered as she backed away. The secretary raised an eyebrow, before simply walking back out and leading the filly back to the older rooms. The rooms were quite close to each other, so soon enough miss Feather Quill was once again opening the doors, and once again Sunset found herself stuck in the hallway as she gathered her courage. She forced herself to walk in this time and look around.

Her old chambers seem to have been painted since she last stayed here, the cheerful murals gone, and a bland beige color everywhere. All her things were gone. Even the bed was different. It looked spartan, like any of the other empty guest rooms in the palace. She slowly inspected the room, but they had left no trace of her life in here.

These rooms had once had a beautiful mural that had started off as simple meadows, but to which she had enjoyed making additions to every year. Her bookshelf had all her souvenirs and gifts from different places that the Princess took her to. Her journal and other personal items, all gone.

It seemed as if Sunset had been erased completely. It may be silly, but Sunset felt hurt that the princess hadn't kept her room as it was. She'd explored the palace more than enough to know plenty of other rooms, left untouched for decades. It made her feel as if her mentor had given up on ever rescuing Sunset.

The only thing she found to prove she had lived here in these rooms for 2 years was her carved cutie mark in the back of the closet. Sunset's ears had drooped, and her hoof steps felt very heavy.

Raven took the young filly back to her new rooms, this time getting her full, if somber, cooperation. The secretary helped Sunset carefully set up her things from the Crystal Empire on her new shelves. She even asked Sunset what she would like changed in the new rooms, though for the most part Sunset wasn't very sure.

She almost asked if they could paint a copy of the mural that had been in her original rooms, but thought better of it. That one had been added to by Sunset and the princess, with little scenes to commemerate special occasions since Sunset was chosen.

A copy of the mural wouldn't be the same. None of the memories would be associated, and it would be a waste of time. Thinking on it a bit more, she would t mind working on a new mural however. After they had finished putting everything away, Raven looked at her notepad.

"Sunset, I know it's getting close to your bed time, but there's one last thing we need to get done before you retire for the evening. We have pediatric physician... uh... we have a doctor on premise, and they just need to give you a quick check up all right?"