Redemption

Chapters

Prologue, or how everyone faced reality
Disguise, or how to (not) cloak oneself
Dawn, or how the sun inevitably always rises
Phoenix, or how to unveil the past
Light, or how much difference one girl can make

Prologue, or how everyone faced reality

Rain fell softly, producing a one-note symphony on the window of the hotel in Manehattan.

And, with longing eyes of one who wished to return to their motherland after so much time almost stranded in a different place, an amber-coated unicorn with a fiery red and yellow mane was looking outside the window, seeing the Big Apple, a city she always wanted to visit at least one time, but she never had the occasion to do so.

From her cyan eyes, a single little tear fell, mostly due to nostalgia and a little happiness. She remembered the fertile plains of Equestria, leaving space to the city in an almost natural way: forgot how beautiful her world was, even if covered in rain.

Her hoof went to touch her bag, where she basically had everything she needed: a bag of bits, a map of Manehattan bought at the station, her human cellphone, which she kept charged with magic, and, of course, her most prized possession: her diary.

That diary saw her rise to power and her downfall, her rehabilitation and her condemnation: it was full of memories. Some of them were painful, others were not, but to Sunset it didn't matter much: it was part of who she was and it constantly reminded her of what she became due to arrogance first and to friendship later.

She took the book, and started reading all her entries, starting from the first, she sent to Twilight, right after the Dazzlings' incident. Time passed until she arrived to the most recent ones, the ones regarding Anon-A-Miss: she was still sore about this. Even after the discussion with Twilight and with those backstabbers, she didn't want to hate them, or, even better, she genuinely couldn't hate them, because hating them would've turn her bitter, as she were when she runned away from Equestria.

Sunset closed the diary, she didn't want to think about them for at least a couple of days. Looking out of the window, she saw that rain was not falling anymore, so she decided to pack up her things and explore the city a bit: she had the whole afternoon, after all. But just when she was about to exit, she heard a loud knock on the door of her room.

"Room service, miss!"

After looking in the peephole and seeing the room waiter, she opened the door saying:

"I didn't order any though."

"It's a service included in the hotel fee, you get a small gift for using our facilities. Let's see, room 218… Here it is!"

The waiter gave her a small sack with some chocolates and a sample bottle of red wine, then went to the next newly occupied room.
Pleased by this surprise, Sunset tried them both: the chocolate wasn't as much sweet as the one she usually ate on the other side, but it had a pleasant round flavour, well complemented by the wine, a luxury she couldn't afford on the other side for two reasons, them being her shown age on the documents and also the price of the really good bottles.
After this little taste, Sunset left the room and the hotel, and right after the hotel exit, she took out the map she bought and tried to figure out what to visit first: the Crystaller Building and the Mare Statue were out of question, she needed to go on a more uncrowed time of the day, like early morning or the evening; in the end she decided to take a stroll through Bronclyn historical districts: Haypacking and Garments Districts.

***

Unknown to Sunset, on the roof of a nearby building, a hooded figure was watching her through a binocular.

"The bird has left the nest, I repeat, the bird has left the nest, over."

The figure said in a handheld transceiver that had clearly seen better days. In another part of Equestria, receiving the communication, another figure said:

"Do thou have to use such a silly method, over?"

"Shush, this is the most secure method if we're dealing with her, and we are, over."

The other figure groaned: certainly her partner knew what was she doing, but to go all out and play spies was a little bit over the top. Anyways, she answered again.

"Okay, you don't have to remind me all the details, just good luck, over and out."

Both transceivers went silent, as the first figure observed Sunset again through the binocular.

"She's moving, I better follow her. I don't want to search again for her magical signature, ugh."

***

"Spike, can you please just cancel everything I have to do today? I still can't get over what the human counterparts of my friends did to Sunset."

The little dragon, while carrying something like ten scrolls, rebuked her:

"Twilight, I did that too yesterday, and now look at the complaints! I know you're mad, I am kinda too, but you need to get this requests done."

While there were no actual friendship emergencies, all her friends were away from town, some for work, some for vacations, so Twilight and Spike were basically left alone at Ponyville, with nothing but chores to do. Spike put the scrolls on a table, handed the first one to Twilight, which started reading: it was a request made by Filthy Rich to buy a public terrain from Ponyville, to enlarge his house garden, and it came with a smaller scroll, signed by Mayor Mare, which explained that, due to lack of money, either Ponyville sold that terrain or had to request for further funds from the crown.

"Spike, get me a pen and some paper"

The dragon immediately provided them, and Twilight started to dictate:

"To the attention of Mayor Mare, I, Princess Twilight Sparkle, will personally apply a request for additional funds to the Crown. Please refrain to accept Mr. Rich's request, with the motivation about the public must remain public. I advise also, for the next budget review, to pay more attention about spending. Signed, Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Spike finished writing and waited for Twilight to write her signature before preparing the answer to be delivered via mail afterwards. Then he handed another scroll to Twilight, who picked it up and started to read:

"The Grrrrrrreat and Powerful, and also Humble and Penitent, Trrrrrixie demands an open space near Ponyville for her magic show!"

Spike questioned Twilight with a doubtful expression, and Twilight said:

"I mean, she literally put tons of r, I wasn't making it up. Anyway, just mail her a yes as an answer and forget about it."

Spike wrote that and waited for another signature from Twilight.

"This is going to take all the day, right? Just brew some strong coffee, Spike, please."

***

On the other side of the mirror, things were looking pretty bad. The entire school was about to become a battlefield after Sunset's revelation about Anon-A-Miss: no-one could trust anyone anymore, because while Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were the actual culprits, most of the secrets they spread were given to them by other people. Luckily, winter holidays had just started, so things calmed down just that little bit to avoid a giant brawl.

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle got the rough end of the stick: grounded, no telephone or internet unless supervised and tons of detention hours when the holidays ended. Needless to say that their big sisters and/or role models didn't even want to talk to them, and almost didn't talk to themselves.

The Rainbooms were unofficially disbanded: they were too deep in shame and self commiseration to even try to get together and play some music.

Applejack was apatethic at least. She avoided her little sister most of time, unless during meals. Big mac and Granny Smith tried to talk with her, but AJ basically closed herself to the world outside. She, the embodiment of honesty, fell for the lies woven by her own sister about one of her dearest and most helpful friends: her entire will crumbled when she realized in full what happened.

Pinkie Pie never had her hair more deflated than during this time. Her own sisters tried to understand and help her, but most of the time Pinkie was beyond help, reducing herself to a pink mass of dried tears: she cried so much she wasn't able to cry anymore.

Rarity cried too, but not in her usual dramatic way: her tears were bitter and painful, like the actions carried out by her sister. Her fashion sense was gone, and she started wearing only simple grey tracksuits, murmuring something like she wasn't worthy of creating dresses anymore.

Rainbow Dash was destroyed: her usual bravado? Gone. Her desire to compete? Gone too. Knowing that the girl who posed her as a role model did something so awful to one of her friends made her world crumble: she was probably the most loyal person alive, and yet she couldn't be loyal enough to listen to her friend.

Fluttershy was the most devastated, because she realized that Sunset was innocent, yet she didn't have the courage to speak. If she did, maybe she would've been lumped in with Sunset, but at least her equestrian friend wouldn't had gone through hell alone. She felt fear, not even the same that Sunset made her feel before the Fall Formal, but a primordial one: people were literally at eachother necks, ready to turn around and betray yet another one. And she felt a deep terror when she realized she was right, that Sunset was innocent, because by staying silent, she was an accomplice of whatever Sunset would've done as self-defense, and she thanked whatever higher being she believed in that Sunset chose to return to Equestria instead of going out for blood.

But one thought was on all their minds: would Sunset ever forgive them? Or would she remain forever back in her world?

Author's Note

AND IT'S FINALLY DONE.
THE FIRST CHAPTER.
By the way, I rewrote this thing like three times and I'm still not entirely happy with the result. While the chapter for my OC will wait a bit (next week maybe), I fully intend to keep a bi-weekly update, so to have a chapter every two weeks.
As usual, leave comments, questions or anything else and I'll try to answer them all!

Disguise, or how to (not) cloak oneself

Arriving first in the Garment district, Sunset found herself submerged by tons and tons of different stores and boutiques, a spectacle to behold for one who wasn't accostumed with such redundant abundance. To an untrained eye, most stores were the same, with the same articles and the same decorations; Sunset never really had problems regarding her clothes: when she materialized in the human world, she already was clothed, probably a side effect of the magic mirror, and while it took no small effort to keep her clothes always clean, she managed to do it. Here though, clothes were almost unnecessary, and usually used only for grand occasions or particular situations, so she didn't understand the need for so many stores.
Strolling on the sidewalk, she thought more about the difference of clothes between the two worlds, and she remembered that even she in the end had to change her attire, not to mention basic human necessities like underwear or sleepwear and that a particular person helped her renewing her metaphorical wardrobe: Rarity.
But alas, after she evoked thoughts of her purple haired so-called "friend", also the bad memories of the Anon-a-miss incident came too with abundant strenght. She still couldn't believe her "friends" left her, and she still wasn't sure if she wanted them to make amends or if she wanted to just forget about them and ignore them. Trying to dissolve her doubts and her unpleasant memories, she entered one of the stores.
The interiors were quite refined, showing the excellent taste of the owner, and well complemented the dresses and the accessories displayed through all over the store. Nothing in particular though picked Sunset's interest, but she indulged a little bit, trying to explore every inch of the store. A meek voice called for her attention though:

"I'm sorry, dear customer, are you searching for something in particular?"

Sunset turned herhead to see an earth pony with a really light coat and a light cyan mane, looking at her: judging by her question, she worked here.

"Ah, not really: I was just looking around, but everything seems too much… fancy, I guess, for me. Not really your everyday clothes, if you catch my drift."

The mare smiled and replied:

"We keep the less elaborate clothes and accessories over there. If you could follow me, I'll be glad to show you!"

Sunset followed the other mare and found herself in a much more comfortable dimension when she saw all the clothes and accessories in that part of the store. She quickly surveyed all the items there, being much more interested in something practical instead of something luxurious: plus, while she did have still a quite high sum of bits even after paying the hotel, it would've been unwise to spend it all on a single dress. Sunset did find something that picked her interest, but she felt that something lacked on those items. Turning to the other mare, she asked:

"I know it might seem a bit strange and a bit uncomfortable request, but… do you have anything in leather? Please don't freak out!"

Knowing that leather was basically cured animal skin, in Equestria wasn't really a popular material at all. The mare looked at her with a strange but not disgusted expression, and answered:

"It's quite the question, to be honest. I'm not sure if we did even use that material at some point. I'll go fetch my superior. You're lucky she's here and not at her first store in Ponyville, otherwise I would've been completely unable to help you. If you can wait a couple of minutes, I'll be back with her as soon as I am capable."

Sunset nodded while the mare excused herself. She stayed there looking at the clothes and at the accessories for everyday: while their use was obviously different compared to the ornate dresses and their trinkets, she couldn't not believe that the same pony made them, looking at how well they were made. An almost familiar voice woke her up from her considerations:

"Well darling, it seems that our customer has rather interesting tastes after all."

"So you did work with leather?"

"Oh Coco dear, of course I have. While it's not one of my favorite materials, being cured skin, it's a sure hit for griffons and such."

Sunset could not believe her ears and cursed her bad luck: of all the clothes stores in the Garment District of Bronclyn she had to come into the one owned by Rarity. While of course she knew she wasn't "her" Rarity but her equine counterpart, her heart still skipped a beat at the sound of her voice.

"Welcome to my boutique, darling, I am its owner and manager, Rarity. And you are?"

Quick thinking, Sunset! If Twilight told her friends about me, they could swarm all over me, and I don't want or need any kind of shock therapy like that!

"Summer… Sunstone, the pleasure is mine."

"Now, miss Sunstone, my dear assistant was telling me you were searching for leathercrafted items, am I correct?"

"Yes."

"Not that I would personally judge, but may I ask why you seek such…, yes, exotic, items?"

Crap, I have to get the best excuse possible now, or she will get too inquisitive!

"Well, my hometown is near the Griffon lands, and due to trade and intercultural relations, I've come to like in particular their taste for leather. I did have a leather jacket when I was a filly, but unfortunately I've grown too much for it, and between my work and my travels, I did not really had the time to found myself another one."

Rarity nodded, answering:

"I see, that explains it. Well, I do have some samples just in case I had the particular client interested in it. Let me just go fetch it, darling."

Sunset smiled while Rarity went into what Sunset imagined could be the storage room, and returned after a couple of minutes with a large box wrapped with her magic. After opening it, Rarity took out several accessories, like bracelets and chokers, but the item which caught Sunset's attention was the last: a beautiful leather jacket which resembled the first one she had on the human world.

"I take it."

"Yes, unfortunately it's a bit rough since it was my first attempt to- wait, what? Could you repeat that, darling?"

"I take it. How much does it cost?"

"Well… since it's my very first complete item in leather and given the fact that I wasn't really that proficient working with it, the result being still a bit rough for my personal tastes… I guess, covering the cost of the material included, fourty bits? I know it's a bit high for such an old item, but leather itself costs much around here."

Sunset took out her pouch, and quickly she placed on the table four gold coins of ten bits each.

"Not a problem. Also, rougher is better when talking about leather, at least by my taste. I might've spent too much time with griffons I bet."

Sunset laughed a bit at her own lie, while Rarity and her assistant smiled. The purple maned unicorn took the four coins and gave them to her assistant.

"Coco, darling, go put them into the cash register, please. As for you, miss Sunstone, I am overjoyed I was able to please your tastes. I was hoping we could see each other again to discuss about griffon tastes to broaden my horizons a bit, but I have to return to my main shop tomorrow. What a pity. Oh well, thank you for your purchase!"

That was close, Sunset!

"Thank you for accomodating my request, I know it's difficult for ponies to work with some kind of materials."

After the pleasantries, Sunset quickly put on the jacket: a perfect fit. Maybe coming to Equestria was even a better idea than planned! She walked out of the store and resumed walking. She felt strange though. While of course other ponies watched her mostly curious because of her jacket, she felt that someone was directly observing and following her. Sunset started walking faster, as did her pursuer. Seeing a narrow alley, she quickly dove into it, stealthing herself in the shadows. Her pursuer followed her, only to find an empty alley. Carefully advancing, the pursuer passed Sunset's hiding place, and then stopped, trying to sense something. Sunset saw the larger frame of this creature, and quickly came out of this place reading a spell.

"State your business, creature! Why are you following me? Answer or I'll tear you into shreds!"

The pursuer turned around to face Sunset and said:

"My dear Summer Sunstone, you think I'm gonna let you go after catching up to you?"

Sunset shuddered. Only one pony knew her framed name, because she invented it to go in incognito outside of the Royal Castle in Canterlot to take a break without anyone noticing and leaving the maids and the guards all 'she's done it AGAIN', while calling herself Summer Flare.
The only one who knew that name was the pony she grew under and later betrayed her trust by running away.

"Princess… Celestia?"

Author's Note

Damn, I'm LATE. Really, this should've gone up 10 days ago.
Blame me trying to find a job and having to spend most of the time at job interviews.
I'll try to rush out the next chapter by the end of this week but I can assure I WILL update before 9 february.

Sorry about the delay again. I wish I had a job already...

As always, any kind of criticism is accepted and I will try to answer to your comments as soon as I am able.

Dawn, or how the sun inevitably always rises

"Why hello, my dear stud-"

"Don't even try to say it!"

Sunset barked with all the air she had in her lungs. Her feelings were conflicted: a deadly mixture of fear, hate, rage and sadness overcame her as her pursuer didn't even try to deny her identity. To be honest, Sunset didn't think it was her former mentor until she called with her fake name: the mare who followed her seemed just a normal mare you'd find everywhere in a city like Manehattan. Sunset nervously watched to her left and her right, trying to find guards ready to jump on hair, but she found none.

"Where are your guards?"

"I didn't bring them, my little sun-"

"STOP IT!"

Only when she shouted she noticed that no-one on the streets were paying attention to the two mares in the alley. Then she realized:

"You. You set up a damn bubble of silence! Are you going to mock me for not being able to pop them up back in the day? I'm not going anywhere with you, I'm not even going to be sent to Tartarus! I'd rather die than be your prisoner for eternity!"

Sunset wasn't ready to face her former mentor, not even while in disguise. She knew she had to face her, but she couldn't imagine it being so soon and so out of her control If she had to have atalk with Princess Celestia, it had to be at her conditions.

"Please, Sunset, just liste-"

"Like Tartarus I'll listen to you! Are you here to say what? That I was a bad pony? That I was a stupid little filly with maniacal dreams of alicornhood? That I shouldn't be here in Equestria? It was your own damn fault when you showed me that bucking mirror! I wouldn't had to endure what I endured in the human world! I turned into a literal demon because you denied me the knowledge you flaunted in front of my eyes! You made my life a living Tartarus! And you want me to listen to you!?"

Tears were flowing out of Sunset's eyes, as all the bad memories hit her brain with the strength of a full-throttle train: the mirror, the arguing with Celestia, the escape to the human world and her reign of terror, the steal of the Element, being turned into a demon and lastly, Anon-a-Miss and the fake friendship it broke. Only then Sunset saw another two eyes crying: Celestia was sobbing. No words were said for a while, both the mares were letting their eyes talk. The Princess was the first to try again, this time decloaking herself and letting her natural body show to Sunset inside the bubble.

"No one will see me like this here, my little pony. And I'm... sorry. For everything."

Sunset was astonished by that affirmation.

"What? What do you mean?"

Celestia still saw fear in Sunset's eyes, and could sense that the young mare was scared about this confrontation. They both weren't ready for that, but Celestia made the error to follow Sunset too closely, while Sunset made the error of not being completely aware of her surroundings.

"I mean what I say, Sunset. I made an awful error showing you the mirror that time, but after so much time being basically alone, without having a single pony being able to spend time with you, wouldn't you rush things to ensure her survival? I'm immortal, Sunset, I'm basically the Sun's incarnation. I loved many ponies in the past and had to bury them all, and I couldn't bear to lose you too. I was selfish and tried to manipulate you by giving you the desire to become an alicorn. I couldn't predict that your reaction would be so explosive. I just wanted to give you a little push, and I ended up ruining everything. And I lost you like I lost everyone else."

"But you didn't know that the mirror connects to another reality. And you didn't know about my delusions of grandeur either."

"I'm the one at fault here, Sunset, and we both know it. I failed as a teacher, I failed as a friend, I failed as your moth-"

"NO!"

Celestia was taken aback by that reaction. She saw fury and no more fear in Sunset's eyes, a blazing and deep fury she came to know well in the years she spent being Sunset's mentor.

"You took me up when I was an orphan, you gave me everything. I don't even care if you took me up because I was good at magic or to fulfill whatever plan did you have, the fact is that you took me up when I was alone and gave me food, shelter and knowledge. You didn't fail, I just wasn't enough to satify your standards. So please, don't even think about saying you failed at something."

Sunset tried to continue to speak but Celestia tackled her full force into a bone-crushing hug. The two mares stayed locked in that position for quite some time, until Sunset asked:

"But... how did you find me?"

"Well... I might or might not have detected a certain magical signature when someone decided to cross the mirror again."

"Wait, you traced me?"

"I just sensed it, but I wasn't the one who traced you. I left that to a more expert pony than myself regarding ponies as single elements instead of a big crowd."

"Er... I don't think I understand... There's someone more able than you in tracking magic?"

A third mare entered the bubble of silence with apparently no effort at all. Her disguise started slowly to disappear revealing a dark blue pony with a mane resembling the night sky.

"Hello Sunset. I am-"

"IT'S THE MARE IN THE MOON, TAKE COVER!"

Sunset bolted out of Celestia's hug and through the air until she slammed into the wall provided by the bubble of silence: being casted by Celestia, it would've taken similar power to hers to get out of it.

"While I indeed was the 'Mare in the Moon', Sunset Shimmer, now I'm no more than Princess Luna. And I am really pleased to make your acquaintance."

Sunset seemed to think for a couple of seconds until she realized:

"Wait, the Mare in the Moon is actually Princess Luna, which is Princess Celestia's sister, which basically means that Celestia sealed her own sister in the moon? And here I thought my relationship with Princess Celestia was complicated."

"She had a good reason for sealing me up, Sunset Shimmer. The Nightmare possessed me, changed me into an avatar of evil, and my dear sister did what she had to do to ensure Equestria's safety, at cost of caging her own sister. I don't blame her for that, nor you should. My sister was always the perfect ruler, and every action she took was for the best. I can only speculate, but she probably thought that showing you the mirror was the best course of action."

Celestia nodded, and said:

"Well, enough of the past though. Sunset, why did you decide to return?"

"It's kind of a complicated matter, which would involve a lot of explaining, self-loathing and mild anger. Though if you really wish to hear it, Princess, may I suggest moving from this alley? I don't mean to be rude, but a bubble of silence isn't really the best of places."

Luna beamed up and replied:

"Well, I do know a place where we can go, though both me and my dear sister would need to get in disguise."

Luna and Celestia donned their disguise personas and after Celestia removed the bubble of silence, Luna started to lead the way:

"It's not far from here, follow me."

Author's Note

It didn't quite come out as I imagined it, but it will serve its purpose to get some Sunset backstory and introspection in the next chapter. Also, Luna and Celestia were meant to appear at this time of the story, and I'm just speculating, but going by my original idea, we've probably will have seven or eight more chapters in this story.

As usual, see ya in the next chapter!

Phoenix, or how to unveil the past

It wasn't really a long walk, but the silence between the three mares was deafening, and to Sunset it felt like the silence itself was prolonging the time. Few ponies were walking on the other side of the road, but she didn't really pay attention to them, though, seeing them with the corner of her eye, they seemed quite familiar.

When the three arrived at their destination, the building seemed quite anonymous: a simple concrete building with no decoration whatsoever: the only thing that could catch Sunset's eyes was the heavy steel door. Luna knocked three times, then after a short pause, other two times. An eye-level slot opened, and the figure on the other side said:

"Word."

"Poultice."

The slot closed and after a moment the door opened. The figure who opened was a brown coated, red-eyed, male earth pony, almost bald, that quickly gestured for the three to enter, and then closed the door.

"Who do I have the pleasure to bring in, today?"

"Codename Artemis, plus two guests."

"Understood. Please follow me. Ah, but before that, you two must sign this. Codenames only."

The earth pony gave two contracts to Sunset and to Celestia, which they signed after reading it; after they gave back the contracts, the earth pony read their codenamed signatures, and said:

"So, Codename Artemis, Codename Amaterasu and Codename Phoenix. I, Codename Janus, welcome you all into my humble establishment, the Imperial Eagle. While Codename Artemis is one of our most distinguished guests, so I can stay calm about you two, I'll say you the basic rules. First of all, no real names: the commoner or the noble, the merchant or the soldier, everyone is on the same status here, that's why we all use our codenames. Second: no fights. If you wish to fight another guest, you must do it only with words in a debate: this is an exclusive establishment, not your average slums bar. Third: newcomers can't bring in more guests until their fidelity. Basically, you need to pass a trial time and be evaluated before you can invite other people. Now, if you would please follow me."

Codename Janus brought the three mares through the entrance hallway to another door, which he quickly opened: when the three entered the real establishment, both Celestia and Sunset were amazed of what they saw, while Luna snickered. If the outside saw simple brutalist concrete, the inside was masterfully decorated Roam-style: statues, columns and bas-reliefs on the walls, richly painted and inlaid with precious gems.

"I told you I knew a place."

"How did you knew it?"

Celestia asked, genuinely curious.

"Long story short, after I came back from that, ehm, 'forced vacation', let's put it like that, I did travel a bit, no? Well, when I was in Roam, I met a lovely pegasus, that wanted to live in Manehattan. She did manage a huge place back in Roam, so I gave her a bit of help in choosing the right place for a similar establishment here in Manehattan. I am one of the first members. Come now, I do have a personal table."

Walking a bit to one of the most decorated tables, Luna accomodated herself and gestured to the other two to do the same. Then she waved a hoof and called:

"Codename Hebe! Here please!"

A young mare, with ice blue mane and coat and golden eyes, smiled and arrived near the table, asking:

"Codename Artemis, it's always a pleasure seeing you here! And I welcome our new guests too. I guess you'll take your usual drink?"

"You know me well, Codename Hebe. Yes, I'll take a Blue Moon. Codename Amaterasu, Codename Phoenix? What will you two take?"

Celestia and Sunset quicklysaw the cocktail list, and Celestia almost immediately said:

"A Tequila Sunrise for me, please."

Sunset added, after a couple of seconds:

"Cardinale. No ice, thanks."

The waitress nodded and went to the bartender to give him the orders. Both Luna and Celestia were surprised at what the youngest mare ordered, and the Princess of the Sun said:

"Cardinale? A bit strong without ice, no?"

"I was fine in the other world, I should be fine here too. Plus, I need this, after meeting you and 'Codename Artemis' here. And I'll probably need one more later, after we've talked."

In a couple of minutes Codename Hebe returned with the three cocktails, then went back to the other tables. Sunset started:

"Well, let's start from the beginning. In the other world, ponies are simple animals. The dominant species are a sort of highly evolved primate called 'humans'. Before the link through the mirror, magic wasn't really present, and only used by so-called 'magicians', basically glorified performers; still very weak though. They made instead huge jumps in technology: what is powered by magic in our world, in theirs is powered by electricity."

Luna asked:

"What are this humans like?"

"They have no fur, or mane, or tail. Most have hair on their heads, aside from some which are bald, plus as far as I checked, they grow hair on their armpits and near their private parts. Most males also have beards and moustaches, though some cut it. There are some hair also in other parts of the body but they're forgettable. While we use clothes only on formal occasions or while working if needed, they wear them almost all the time, in multiple layers. Lastly, they don't have hooves and walk on only two legs. Their legs end with so-called 'feet', while their arms end with 'hands'."

Sunset drinked a bit, and continued:

"So, I was suddenly there. Fortunately the language is mostly the same, at least were did I end, so I wasn't completely without resources. Having only some bits, them being made of gold, I was able to exchange them for some of the local currency. I ended up in a school, and started to make plans and schemes, basically becoming the 'queen bee', and plotting to return here. I did return to steal the crown, and that's when… er… 'Codename Friendship', let's call her like this, followed me. I did plan to invade here after dominating every student there thanks to the power of the crown. Yes, I know, stupid plan and stupid move, but I wasn't exactly mentally stable at that time. I tried to use the crown to repel Codename Friendship and the five students that didn't completely submit to my plans, but the crown turned me in a sort of demon. Then Codename Friendship was able to channel the elements into those girls and blam, I got blown out of the sky, landing in a huge crater, where I did actually reflect a bit about my actions, not only thanks to the elements."

Celestia carefully sipped her drink, and asked:

"Is that all?"

"Of course not. After that event, I tried my hardest to clean my name and to delete every plan and every scheme I made, but now magic had free access to that world. And that's where the Sirens come in."

Luna almost chocked while drinking.

"Sirens?!"

"Yes. It seems like they were banished there by Stars-'Codename Beard', and went on living for a millennia and more eating negative emotions. And of course they were near that school when the all magic mess happened. So they tried to do what I did, brainwash people to gain more power to return here. Where I used secrets and plots to bind them to me, the Sirens just used their songs. I called Codename Friendship for help, since even the five girls 'tasked' to watch over me were affected. In the end they seemed to powerful to handle for the five girls plus Codename Friendship, so I helped out, and it worked. We blasted them with a sort of huge magic beam, they got their gems shattered and ran away. Things started going better after that."

Sunset gulped the rest of her drink and asked for another showing the empty glass to a passerby waitress, which immediately advised Codename Hebe; she then provided a new drink for Sunset.

"Then the whole Anon-a-Miss fiasco. Photos and secrets started being spread, and even after I cleared my name, for everyone I was the culprit. Heck, even those five girls accused me first, since the photos were from my device. I'll explain later all the technical things if you like. So I basically shut myself off from them and did some uncovering of my own. I left them a loooong video where I did uncover who was behind all this, then came back here, trying to pick up the pieces I left."

Luna was baffled about the girl's life in the other world, while Celestia was crying, at point of hugging Sunset in a bone-crushing hug.

"Don't worry, my child. You're not alone here."

Author's Note

Yeah, I did promise regular updates, but I found work and I was absolutely destroyed after doing it 5 days a week, and I didn't have the will to write anything.
I got fired because hey, the Postal Service bought new automated machines that did my work automatically, so the company lost their contract with the Postal Service and I lost my job.

Anyway, here it is, finally! I should have more time to update, so I hope to finish the fic before the end of May: without a job I should be able to write the other chapters in much less time, I already got ideas in my head.

As usual, if you have any questions, any doubts, anything, just ask in the comments!
See ya in the next chapter!

Light, or how much difference one girl can make

After being released from Celestia's hug, Sunset gulped the rest of her drink in one go, and called a waiter to get another one: she wasn't looking to get wasted, but she needed all the liquid courage she could muster to not break down in that moment. A couple of moments later, the same waitress who brought them their cocktails, Codename Hebe, was back with the new drink for Sunset, who smiled as a form of thankfulness.
Right after that, the waitress took the empty glass and made her way back to the counter, as Sunset continued with her tale:

"And that was basically all. Now, as a more practical talk, I do believe that what's on the other side of the mirror isn't simply an alternate universe, but more like a clone universe, or mirror universe if you like."

Both princesses were intrigued by that explanation, and made gestures to make Sunset continue, which she did.

"It's just my opinion, since I did not find a copy of myself, and I did not find a copy of Codename Friendship, but I found human versions of her friends, as she told me about them, and of you two too. Though it seemed like your human versions never went on a separation like you two did, as far as I know, and I investigated a bit to, well, make schemes."

She paused to get a sip out of her second drink.

"Not proud of that, but a stranded girl gotta do what a stranded girl gotta do to survive, am I right? I did not sell myself though, I still did have some pride. Anyway, I'm rambling right now, let's get back to the topic. The two of you are not princesses, but a school principal and her vice-principal, so you are still in a position which holds some power. Any questions?"

The two sisters seemed to ponder for a moment and then Luna asked:

"Thou spoked of 'electricity' before, and how this thing does power the other world instead of magic. Could thou elaborate?"

"Sure! So, where in Equestria we have magic, be it a unicorn's magical power, a pegasus's flight ability or a earth pony's unnatural strength, in their world there are different things. Electricity is their source of power, and they have lots of methods of acquiring that: thermal processes, which uses hydrocarbons to produce electricity, seem the most popular, but it also is very burdensome for their environment. There are some natural sources, like the Sun, wind and water, but they're less effective as of today. Lastly, there is nuclear power, which seems by far the most powerful, but can lead to terrible disasters if handled badly. It is divided in fission and fusion, as far as I recall, but they seem able to control only fission, while they are researching on fusion, because it would be the most effective and clean method of getting electricity. But electricity isn't the only thing they got on them: take fights, they evolved from using melee and simple ranged weapons to use firepower, explosives and such, and most portable weapons don't use electricity."

Celestia seemed saddened by the last period on Sunset's explanation, and said, sadly:

"So it's not a peaceful world…"

"Well, Equestria isn't either, technically. But they had the last major conflict something like seventy or eighty years ago, only to be followed with some regional wars. But yes, their wars are possibly even much more brutal than ours. Studying their history, one could think that most of the scientific progress was inspired by war, which in turn always offered more opportunities for scientific research. Where we use magic spells, they developed some really terrifying weapons, like gases, nuclear bombs, shrapnel granades, tanks, planes, submarines and more. We have also to consider the context: a fire mage on the battlefield can unleash rivers of fire against his enemies, but it can be countered by other mages; a flamethrower in their world can't be countered and its fire can't be put out with water, since it's a chemical fire. Not only you lead people to an horrible death or to permanent scarring, but also you destroy the morale of your enemies."

Celestia and Luna listened with their eyes wide open to Sunset's speech, and Celestia remarked:

"That is awful, how could their rulers allow this?"

"Their rulers are precisely who allow this, technically. But most of those weapons are now banned in war, and they're used only when really awful people want to hit not the army or the soldiers, but the civilians, leading a terror warfare. And this is now making me start to think that if I was even more mentally unstable the first time I crossed the mirror, I could've done horrible things bringing an army of actual soldiers instead of teenagers. Damn, that would've been the lowest blow possible."

Sunset sipped again, her eyes saying to the two princesses something like 'can we please talk about something else, this is so f-ing weird to explain', and the two rulers seemed to understand. Celestia then proposed:

"We could tell you about what happened here, but… it would be better to do it in a more private place. You know, I still kept your room untouched in the Castle, hoping that you would return and forgive me for my mistakes."

Sunset froze.

"You're not the one who has to ask for forgiveness. I do, for being such an idiot. But it would be lovely to see my old room again."

Luna went to pay, as both Sunset and Celestia were getting ready to return to the castle. Having decided to walk while the two princesses kept their disguises, the three talked about small things; the castle was about half an hour of distance, so they arrived in the late afternoon. Luna excused herself, for she had to relax for a couple of hours before rising the moon, and left Celestia and Sunset alone.

"Follow me, Sunset. But I hope you remember the way inside of your old home."

Sunset nodded, and kept Celestia's pace.

***

On the human world, things were in motion. Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna started a mass investigation of every single student, starting from taking every phone to find which owner had which account in the Anon-A-Miss incident. The school was still shocked about what happened, and many fights between once friends had to be stopped.
The Rainbooms weren't taking this situation good: everyone of them distanced from the others, in a sort of voluntary reclusion, especially after Princess Twilight outburst.
The ones most distraught by the whole situation were the perpetrators themselves though, the Crusaders, who almost became subject to bullying, being saved by the school's administrators Draconian politics in dealing with this matter.

The three weren't allowed to see or communicate with each other, and they were separated in different classes. There was talk about sending all of them into three different schools, but that was deemed excessive by both families and the school's administrators, so they all came together in deciding that the girls weren't allowed near their phones or near computers, and had to follow different classes or different hours for the same class: everything else was at discretion of the families.

Apple Bloom was being punished by being grounded to home, and when she wasn't at school or doing homework, she had to work in the orchard twice as harder, since her sister was becoming a shadow of herself by her fault and couldn't work properly. Apple Bloom tried to reach out to her, but the only responses she got of Applejack were tears and vacuity: it was like her sister stopped working as a functional human being, and started doing things like a robot, without a sparkle of humanity, and she felt destroyed by that. She wanted to spend more time with her sister, yet now she was the cause of her breakdown.

Sweetie Belle wasn't doing any better. Grounded and forced to work in the house, she was forced to see the damage she had done to Rarity: if her sister was usually a flower in full bloom, her action turned Rarity into a withered and dry flower. Sweetie Belle witnessed Rarity tearing and ripping lots of dresses and accessories, closing all the colorful fabrics into the storage room and starting to wear tracksuits or occasionally shirts and pants who spaced between dark grey and light grey. The only thing Rarity said to her sister, after the whole incident, with a raspy and hurt tone, was that 'she stole all colors from her life'.

Scootaloo's case was different: her parents had to come home from overseas when they heard of what their daughter did. They were furious with her and mostly with themselves, being so immersed in work to care about what their daughter was doing. Rainbow Dash apologized to them a lot of times, but they seemed to understand that she wasn't at fault, as Scootaloo's involvement was because she idolized her almost as a sister and wanted to spend even more time with her. Snap and Mane could understand, but they grounded their daughter nonetheless.

With Princess Twilight out of the question, only one person could start making things right, and unfortunately, she was finding her 'forced vacation' in Equestria quite enjoyable...

Author's Note

So, first of all, I'm sorry for the long silence on my part.

To make a quick recap of why I couldn't write anything: after losing my job I tried to find another as quick as possible, while helping at home too. An offer arrived in June, and I worked from June to September (where I decided to stop the collaboration since I wasn't paid monthly but I was going to be paid at the end, and after 4 months I was starting to need the money). I quickly tried to search for another job but got some serious health problems that returned (concerning my right knee and my blood pressure), I was in hospital for a while and got home at middle November.
I started job hunting again, and I got accepted in a daily training course which started in January and had to end in February. All the class couldn't finish it because of Covid-19 (I live near Venice, so in the middle of a red zone), so we can't start working without finishing the course, and we can't finish the course.
Plus I had a sample taken for the Covid-19, but at least that was negative so I'm clear.

And after that not-quick recap, I can say that I do have refined the ideas for the next chapters, and hopefully (aka being forced to stay at home) I'll be able to write and release some more chapters in the next days.

Thanks for reading, for putting up with me and for not losing your hope.

-Zael