The Journal (Revised 1/5)

Twilight dropped her quill onto the desk as she heaved out a sigh. Her eyes stared blankly at the letter in front of her, mind churning with too many thoughts to process. It felt like the blank page was mocking her.

Her big brother had been reassigned, he wasn’t getting enough experience just working in Canterlot according to the royal guard.

This was the last straw for little Twilight. Her parents were distant, Celestia was always busy, and Cadence was rarely even in Equestria these days. She had thought becoming Celestia’s personal student was the best day of her life, she was starting to wonder now.

She glanced at the stack of books on her desk, eyes slowly focusing as she drifted back to earlier that day. Her first classes hadn’t gone how she hoped.

Twilight walked up to a small group of foals mingling at the edge of the classroom. "Hi! My names Twilight." She said with a smile, hoping to put her best hoof forward.

A filly with a cherry red coat looked up, the others flanking behind her. "Oh, it's you. The Princesses new pet project." Twilight’s smile faltered at the dismissive tone.

No! Twilight was an adept magic user with a drive to learn. She’d gotten into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns on merit alone. Her parents would have struggled to afford the tuition fees on their own, so she was going to make the most of this chance.

Now she was going to make some friends. “It’s true, I am the Princesses student,” said Twilight with a nervous smile. “But I’m nopony special. I’m just here to learn like everypony else, and maybe… make some friends?” She asked hopefully.

The filly looked her up and down for a moment. “I don’t know how things work in whatever podunk town you come from, but the families that go to this school are well respected.” She said. “We don’t associate with the lower class, so you had better just trot along and get out of our faces.”

There were nods from the foals surrounding them. Their expressions were impassive, and they held themselves stiffly. Twilight looked out into the crowd for just one sympathetic expression. Her shoulders sagged when she realized she was alone.

She wanted to try again, but the sting of rejection was a scary thing. She could try again later right? Maybe it was because they were in a crowd, or it could just be this class that feels like that. She had tried once, she could try again. Next time would be the charm.

Only it wasn’t. Twilight tried, again, and again, and again…

She jerked back to the present as a tear rolled down her cheek. Her mouth twisted into a grimace and an angry look flashed through her eyes, but before she could do anything her shoulders sagged. The fire drained out of her eyes as she fell forward, burying her face into her hooves.

She spent a long time just sitting there, contemplating things a little filly really shouldn’t have to deal with.

She looked up suddenly. Maybe she could go visit Spike? That usually cheered her up. But no… he was probably still asleep at this hour. She would visit him later. She wasn’t old enough to take care of him yet, but she wouldn’t leave him to fend for himself.

She considered studying, but she had gone overboard preparing for the entrance exam. She had already noticed she was way ahead of the other foals in her classes. Not that it had helped her make any friends, just a few more nasty nicknames.

She didn’t have the heart to study right now anyway.

With another heartfelt sigh, she left the room. Her gaze swept over the expensive tapestries and marble pillars she passed. None of the guards or servants said a word to her, and the few nobles she saw likely couldn’t see her with muzzles held up that high.

She reached the library in record time, the royal one, not the one she slept in. She shuffled past the librarian reading at the front desk. He was a surprisingly young stallion with a light gray coat, but he didn’t bother Twilight while she read, and could find any book she cared to ask for. He could be her age and that would be perfectly fine as far as she was concerned.

Actually, that would be nice. Librarians liked books right? He probably wouldn’t mock her. She glanced in his direction, but darted off when he looked up.

She examined the shelves in the library for a while, before settling down to read a book she was look at yesterday. If there was anything that could make her feel better, it would be her precious books.

She was searching the library's storeroom. She had worked up the nerve to ask the librarian for a pass, and he obliged. He was surprisingly lax, or maybe he acknowledged her respect for the books she read?

The storeroom was where the books no longer housed in the library proper were kept. Rare and valuable tomes not meant to be taken out under any circumstances. She was alone in here, but the monitoring spells set into the room would alert ponies if anything was damaged.

She had found a particular journal that seemed to call out to her. The cover was worn with a stylized sun cutie mark emblazoned on the front. It looked like the one Celestia had given her when she started learning under her. She rarely used it as the Princess had as much time to write in her copy as she had to teach Twilight personally. That was to say, hardly any time at all.

It was a nice journal though, heavy duty, made to last in rough conditions. Her mother’s archaeologist friend had told her it was popular with explorers and adventurers. It was one of the rare days that they had both been visiting at the same time, she remembered because she had been given an interesting lecture on ancient traps. Specifically how to avoid them.

She flipped the pages idly, skimming through a few sections before reaching the end. The journal was definitely the same as the one the Princess gave her. It was even owned by an old student of Celestia’s, a pony named Sunset Shimmer.

She hemmed and hawed before curiosity got the better of her. Without thinking about it too much, she took out a quill and wrote down a quick message.

Hello? This is Twilight Sparkle, is anypony there?

She didn't have to wait long as the book started glowing almost instantly. Words began to appear below her own in real time.

How did you get a hold of this book?

Twilight paused. She hadn't really thought about what she was going to say next. She decided to be upfront in the hopes of making a friend. She used to be the Princess’s student too right? If anypony could understand, it would be her.

I found it in the royal library storeroom. It looked just like the one the Princess gave me when I was accepted as her personal student. I got curious, sorry if I wasn't supposed to write in it.

That's alright Twilight, I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to help myself either. How old are you if you don't mind me asking?

Twilight smiled, she wasn’t mad. If she was lucky she could make a friend. She probably knew lots of magic as well, maybe she could answer a few of her questions?

It turns out that Sunset was willing to answer some questions, after a few ground rules were laid down.

Celestia and I had a falling out a long time ago, so I would appreciate you not mentioning me in conversation. It's not something I'm comfortable talking about, but let's just say that we both made some mistakes. Me more so than her.

Oh, of course! I won't say anything. I understand.

Thank you, Twilight. Now, as for your question. There are a few books that I found really helpful back when I was first starting out...

They talked through most of the day, sharing little stories about magic and drifting from topic to topic. They ended on a promise to keep in touch. Sunset even walked her through how to take the journal out of the storeroom so they could keep in touch.

The enchantments were amazing, but it was easy to bypass the security when you had the password on hoof. Twilight made a note to herself to learn more about enchanting.

Sunset woke up feeling refreshed. She had really enjoyed her chat with Twilight the other day. It was nice to talk about magic so freely again, and she saw more than a little of herself in the young unicorn.

She shifted out of bed on instinct, rolling onto the floor with a groan. As refreshed as she was feeling, she really hadn’t gotten enough sleep. Most of yesterday was spent talking, and she had to rush most of the night to get her work done for the day. It wasn’t far from the first all nighter she’d pulled, but she tried to avoid them when she could.

She reflected on her conversation with Twilight as she took a well-deserved shower.

She was glad for Twilight’s timing. Sunset wasn’t exactly doing okay these days, but it was a far cry from when she first arrived in this world. Back then she would have taken advantage of the filly, filling her head with lies and half truths about her once beloved mentor. Turning her against the Princess for reasons she now found stupid.

She took a deep breath to calm herself. Her shoulders slowly stopped shaking.

She found it ironic that the Celestia on this side of the mirror would be the one to help her when it was the other Celestia that drove her away in the first place. She had so much misplaced rage she couldn’t help but shake her head at the foolishness of it all.

Celestia was more kind and forgiving that Sunset felt she deserves sometimes. Even cut off from her magic and thrust into an alien world, it didn’t give her the right to lash out like she did. She knew she had anger problems that she struggled to control even now. But Celestia, she always seemed to believe Sunset could do better. She always seemed to believe there was more to be seen under the surface.

She was a stubborn mare, and that didn’t change when she became a human. She hadn’t sacrificed her pride and gone running back through the portal, and that had gotten her stuck here. She hadn’t been happy about it back then. But now? She felt like things needed to happen this way. Fate or otherwise, she needed to change.

She just wished she hadn’t hurt so many people and ponies to get here.

Now she had a place to stay, food to eat, and new things to learn. She had made apologies and done what she could to mend things with those on this side of the mirror. It was hard, and she had struggled, but now she finally had friends, and the start of what might just be a family. Now that things were looking up, she really wasn’t surprised her past had come calling to her once again.

She brushed her teeth and slipped into the kitchen. It took quick reflexes to dodge around Luna and avoid knocking anything over. The woman was doing a decent zombie impression, stumbling to the table and reaching out for her coffee with a groan.

She really shouldn’t stay up so late playing her games. What would her students think if they could see her now?

Sunset chirped out a greeting. Luna gave off a deep groan in reply, sipping at her coffee like it was a lifeline. Her shoulders were hunched and she hovering over it like she felt it could be taken from her at any moment.

Sunset just chuckled to herself and poured herself a cup of tea. She had grown to like it, growing up under the Princess of the sun. It also helped that her counterpart was just as fond of the stuff.

As she sat down to the table a plate was placed in front of her. Celestia’s cheerful visage suddenly filling her vision as she looked up.

She was her sisters polar opposite, the very definition of a morning person. While Luna was slumped at the table with a rumpled hoodie and set of jeans, Celestia was practically bouncing on her feet an ironed suit. Nothing seemed to be able to keep her down when it was time for the sun to rise.

"Someone's looking a little down this morning," said Celestia with a concerned expression.

"Ah, that is..." Sunset stumbled over her words, looking for a way to phrase it before deciding to just go for broke. "Someone messaged me through the journal, but it wasn't the Princess." She hunched down a little, looking away from Celestia's now worried face.

"The one you used when you were her student right?" She asked, her voice matching her expression.

"Yeah, that's the one." Sunset said with a sigh.

"It was the princess's new student, and..." Sunset trailed off for a moment. "She found it in the royal libraries storeroom." Sunset looked down, slumping down into her seat.

Celestia's expression turned hard and she quickly pulled a chair over to Sunset, drawing her into a tight hug. "I'm sure it's not what you think it means, but if it is then I'll personally go over there and give her a stern talking to."

Sunset let out a choked laugh. "You'd do that for me? You know she controls the sun right?"

"I don't care what she does in her spare time." Celestia said with determination. "I'll do anything I need to to make sure you're alright."

"And I'm sure I'm not the only one," said Celestia as she nodded to Luna. "We're both here for you."

Luna gave a thumbs up without looking away from her coffee. They sat there for a time, neither saying a word as their minds focused on other things. Celestia finally hopped up and placed another two plates on the table, one for her and Luna.

Sunset turned to the omelette on her plate, taking in a deep breath before she decided to just dig in. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Luna idly prodding at her own with a fork, seemingly baffled by it's arcane function.

Sunset gave off a laugh, and returned to her meal with a smile on her face.