"I am so, so, ssssoooooo happy you're both here!"
The lavender alicorn shrieked gleefully, skipping ahead through the town that is Ponyville. Ponies all around stopped to look, amused upon witnessing their local princess's antics.
The weather was, to put it simply, rather pleasant that day. Perfect for a day out with friends. Three mares, two unicorns and one alicorn, had gone out to get some food to eat. But after a few hayburgers later, the amber unicorn, Sunset Shimmer, suggested a tour of the Castle of Friendship. She had only been in only a few rooms before; the one she had gone to through the magic mirror and several others during the way out of the castle to the outdoors. The suggestion was mostly to stay away and be less overwhelmed by the looks of interests and curiousity that were being shot her way by onlookers. Returning to Twilight and Starlight's castle residence, where there would be nopony else but them and Spike, felt comforting to her.
They had a good time talking and joking with each other. Spending quality time like friends do. Princess Twilight had claimed Sunset to be one of her best friends, and this confused the citizens of Ponyville, as they had never before seen or even been made aware of the existence of the unicorn. Sunset had came up with the idea that they might think she was brainwashing Twilight, which was something Twilight laughed off and brushed away. It was a ridiculous scheme to her, but to Sunset, the fear was very much real. Nevertheless, Twilight agreed on the tour and couldn't be more thrilled to get started.
Laughing, Starlight nudged the anxious unicorn.
"Looks like somepony's excited."
Raising an eyebrow, Sunset smirked.
"You kidding? Twilight practically couldn't stop bouncing and prancing all the way out and back." She said, her teal eyes wavering to keep up with her friend's constantly moving form. The two didn't say anything else and followed Twilight to her castle in comfortable silence, with Starlight pointing at a small hill where she mentioned have a great breeze for flying kites. She even explained where each of her closest friends live; Rainbow Dash in a what could be said to be a mansion made of clouds, hovering somewhere over Ponyville so that she could be near her friends. It also wasn't a part of Couldsdale. Fluttershy lived around the outskirts of Ponyville in a pleasant little cottage. Rarity has her boutique while Pinkie Pie owns a room in Sugarcube Corner where she lives with the Cakes. Applejack, of course, has her family. They own acres and acres of farmland with the barn as one of the roof over their heads.
She then told her about Maud Pie, Pinkie Pie's older sister who lives in a Gem Cave near the village, along with Trixie who travelled all over Equestria in her wagon. She talked about Sunburst, a childhood friend that maintains a permanent residence in the Crystal Empire the longest. Sunset barely got a word in, not that she wanted to say anything. She enjoyed listening to her friend talk about her friends, and have no desire to interrupt. The two didn't realize that they had already approached the bottom of the steps to Twilight's Castle until Twilight shouted out;
"We're here!"
Her friends looked up in surprise, meeting Twilight's elated grin. She laughed at their respective expressions.
"Sorry, you were having a great time. But we're not going to stay outdoors all day are we? You can continue talking while I check up with Spike, mmm?" With that, Twilight opened the door with her magic and beckoned them in. As soon as they were all inside, she shut the door and excused herself, but not before asking Starlight to take her to the guest room that Sunset would be staying in.
"I'll be back shortly." She assured them, smiling wide.
As soon as the princess disappeared from view, Sunset spoke up.
"So.., would you like to start plotting over how we're going to take over Equestria?"
Starlight's blue eyes widened, more in shock than horror. This time, it was Sunset's turn to laugh.
"Relax, I was joking. It's just that I remembered how Twilight once told me how nervous she was about you and Trixie becoming friends due to both of your... respective pasts." The amber unicorn said carefully. She took her friend's unfazed expression as an encouragement to continue. "While I don't doubt her, I couldn't help notice how much she trusts me."
Starlight couldn't help but grin at that.
"Well that's what friendship is. Undying trust." Her upturned lips immediately turned into a frown. "I think."
"I'm not sure I'd trust just about anyone - er, anypony - but I'd trust Twilight." Sunset said, winking. "I guess, when I really thought about it, the fact that she gave me the benefit of the doubt from the very beginning was still a surprise to me."
"I wish I could say the same thing. But she did take me in immediately after." Starlight had begun walking ahead, only stopping to make sure Sunset was following. "She gave me more than I deserved."
"Maybe. But your efforts had more than made up for that." Sunset pointed out, following close behind. "I mean, reforming an entire clan of Changelings? Wow."
"I had help." Starlight reminded her. "And even then, not entirely. Thorax took care of the rest that were hesitant."
"Still. Wow. Very impressive. Twilight wouldn't shut up about it when she wrote back. In fact, she was so excited that a few pages in my journal went completely black. I assumed she spilled an entire bottle of ink on the book, but she denied it."
"So that was why she asked for some of mine in such a rush." Starlight chuckled. "I thought she was sending an urgent letter to Princess Celestia and had unexpectedly ran out."
"Nope, it was just me. Trust me, I'm nopony special for such urgency."
The two mares laughed over their beloved Princess of Friendship's past bustle for about a minute. Afterwards, they were silent, passing a number of doors until they stopped next to one that held no visible significance to the rest.
"Here you are!" The pale unicorn mused, pushing the door open instead of using her magic. "Trust me, you'd want to place a tracking spell on an object here somewhere until you're familiar enough with the place to know how to get around. You do not want to walk in on Spike admiring his muscles."
"He talks to himself too, I assume?"
Starlight rolled her eyes. "More like pretend there's a captivated audience."
They shared another laugh. Sunset walked in, admiring the exterior. There was a four-poster bed in between two tall windows, with the curtains drawn back, along with a bedside table standing at the bottom of each window. Two sphere-shaped lamps were on each table, emmitting a warm, orange glow when turned on. Like two suns. The bed's covers were of different shades of blue going from dark to light in a harmonious gradient. Small stars patterened it here and there in a minimal amount. A family of teddybears lined up on the seat at the foot of the bed. A large wardrobe stood on the opposite side of the wall. A knitted picture of a sunrise behind canterlot castle on thick fabric were hung from two hooks beside it.
"Applejack had Rarity help her with that so that they both could have something to give to you." Starlight explained as Sunset moved close to examine the piece. "Rarity, of course, wanted to make some kind of dress for you, but she wasn't sure what your style is. Applejack didn't know you at all to know what kind of snack you preferred either. But since you were from canterlot, they thought it might make you feel welcome here in Ponyville. What do you think?"
"It's perfect." Sunset said quietly, touching the fabric with her hoof and watching it get pushed down softly.
"Fluttershy got you the stuffed teddies." Starlight gestured to the teddybears back at the end of the bed. Sunset merely nodded at that comment, smiling as she did so. "Oh, Rainbow Dash got you a few Daring-Do posters. Twilight wouldn't let her put it up in case it's where you may not like it. They're in the wardrobe."
At that, Sunset stepped back, allowing Starlight to open the wardrobe for her. At the sight of the rolled up posters, she squealed and levitated them gleefully.
"Oh this is so cool!" She exclaimed, unrolling them one at a time.
"I didn't know you like Daring-Do."
"I do. I'm surprised the Rainbow Dash of this world knows that. Of course, you or Twilight would know. Did you tell her?"
"She didn't know for sure - and didn't ask either me or Twilight to be certain. She just assumed that 'somepony intelligent enough to be Princess Celestia's student' couldn't possibly not like Daring-Do."
Sunset burst out laughing at that mindset. "Sounds like Rainbow Dash alright."
Starlight grinned. "Yep. Pinkie Pie baked you a welcome cake. We'll get to the dining room for that later. Come and see what Twilight got for you."
Dumping the unrolled posters onto the bed, Sunset closed the empty wardrobe and followed Starlight to a chest of drawers. Three frames of varied sizes stood on top of it, with a gorgeously engraved framed mirror hung just above. Several pictures of a much younger Sunset were slid into the frame in an irregular arrangement. There was a picture of her in a fancy turquoise dress during her first Grand Galloping Gala years ago, another of her in jousting garments that were a tad too big for her, one of her hugging Celestia and another of her and Twilight with Celestia during her first visit to Canterlot library after years of living in an alternate dimension. In the frames standing on the chest, only one held a picture, while the other two were left blank for her to fill in herself. That one picture were of a filly Sunset, smiling wide, with a nest holding a newly-hatched baby phoenix in her hooves. The bird that was her friend. One she haven't thought of in years and had abandoned. For the first time in a long time, she wondered what had happened to the phoenix.
"She really wanted you to feel at home. Even for a visit." Starlight commented, noticing how her friend had froze. Sunset nodded her head weakly, closing her eyes as tears threathened to flood her eyes.
"I asked Celestia for that one." A voice interrupted her thoughts. She opened her eyes to see Twilight standing by the doorway with a small, gentle smile gracing her features. When no one said anything, she continued. "Whenever I ask Celestia where she got Philomena, she would get upset. I learnt to never ask her that question after a few times of asking, even though it felt like such an innocent question. Celestia showed me this picture a while after I first met you, along with other pictures of you during your time as the Princess's personal student." Twilight gestured to the mirror, her smile now giving out a wistful vibe. "I wanted to know more about you since I've never heard of you being her student before, and Celestia told a few stories, including finally giving me an answer to the long awaited question about Philomena."
Starlight stayed quiet and merely nodded in corroboration.
"I wasn't sure I should tell you, and even when I wanted to, there was never a good time. Princess Celestia sent me these pictures when I asked her if she had anything to give you during your visit." Twilight paused, studying her friend's emotionless expression before continuing. "I think she still treasure those memories."
Sunset didn't say anything, and allowed a tear to flow, only to wipe both eyes with a hoof immediately after. She gave Twilight a tembling smile and nodded.
"Thanks. I just wish I haven't forgotten till now."
"I think you just forgot to remember." Twilight assured her, draping a wing over her. When she received a raised eyebrow in response for that remark, she laughed. "There's a difference."
"They seemed like nice memories." Starlight commented, smiling hopefully at Sunset.
"They were." Sunset nodded sadly.
"There's time. You can always make more. With lots more friends this time." Twilight suggested cheerfully.
Sunset smiled and nodded again. "I hope so."
"No time to dwell on the past now!" Twilight declared, rubbing her cheek against Sunset's affectionately. The unicorn stiffened for a moment, before remembering it to be a casualty among ponies. "We've got a cake to eat and some ice cream to consume! If we're late, we're going to have to drink all that ice cream. Afterwards we'll start the tour of the castle!"
"The ice cream would be from me, by the way." Starlight whispered, winking. "You got me some back when we were getting to know each other. Seemed fitting for me to gift you a whole lot more."
Sunset giggled. "Well, I would never turn down ice cream."
"Great!" Twilight exclaimed, releasing her friend from her embrace and pranced out the door, only to pop her head back in. "You two coming?"
"Yes, yes!" Starlight called out. "Come on, Sunset. Knowing our teacher, she would never start without her students."
"Start teaching or start eating?"
"With Twilight, who knows?"
Laughing amongst themselves, the unicorns walked down the halls after the Princess for the eagerly anticipated cake. Twilight slowed down to allow them to catch up, and as they neared the targeted room, Twilight turned to Sunset.
"You do realize what's coming, right?"
"A party?" Sunset guessed, not inaccurately. The Princess's smile grew wider.
"I had to get Pinkie to tone it down a bit." Twilight said. "Tone it down to just us, Spike and our five friends. When I first came to Ponyville, she invited the whole town."
"Oh wow."
"I know!" Twilight giggled. "I was so distracted by the noise I poured hot sauce into my cup instead of actual punch!"
"I'll try not to make the same mistake." Sunset commented with a snicker.
"By the way, I want you to know that I didn't purposefully brush you off when you were feeling insecure earlier. About when ponies asked about you out there." The alicorn said, her voice now serious. Starlight glanced at her, but didn't say anything. She obviously noticed it too.
"You mean when I asked to get back to the castle?"
"What you said before asking for a tour of the castle. You were afraid that they might think that you were brainwashing us."
"I was being ridiculous. That couldn't have been possible." the flame-haired mare said, visibly embarassed of her earlier notion.
"It's not about whether or not it's possible. It's about the fact that it still bothers you." Starlight pointed out. "You were not comfortable being with friends because you're worried about what strangers think. I mean sure, I get like that too, but you shouldn't let your past get to you that way."
"You're one of my best friends." Twilight assured Sunset warmly. "Out there, they were simply curious since they've never seen you around before. I'm sure if anypony took their time to get to know you, they'll see how wonderful a friend you are to have. Even if they know about your past, they have no right to judge you based on that. Besides, your past is not today."
The purple-maned unicorn nodded in agreement. At that statement, it was suddenly blantly obvious why they were both made Twilight's students.
She believed in them. More than as a teacher; as a friend.
When they reached the dining room, the door opened to reveal five strikingly familiar ponies and a purple dragon surrounding the table - a tall, layered cake with icing the color of the sun in the center of them all. A few bowls of ice cream were laid out in front of each pony, with three more in front of an equal amount of empty seats for the newcomers. They waved excitedly at the sight of their friends and the amber mare they have never properly met before but had heard so much about. Pinkie Pie jumped off her seat and let loose a rain of confetti by triggering her party canon.
"Welcome, Sunset Shimmer!" Several of the girls called out - offering friendly, welcoming smiles.
Sunset remembered what Twilight had said. There's always time. To make more memories and good friends.
Anyday's a good time as any to make today better than yesterday.
Like a phoenix, she'll start everyday anew.
Author's Note
Headcanon: During her enterance exam, Sunset Shimmer was given an egg. The egg was a phoenix egg, one she succesfully hatched out. She named it Philomena, and kept the bird close to her most of the time during her studies. When she went through the mirror, she left Philomena for Celestia to care for. Sadded by her personal student's betrayal, Celestia took Philomena in as her own pet.
Tried my hand in writing. I've barely done any in a while and I would like to share a few stories along with little pictures like this one!
Hope you enjoyed this little snippet! Thank you for your time! <3
