Celestia didn't miss Sunset's reaction, or how she backed away from the automaton, a haunted look in her eyes. "Sunset? Do you know what this thing is?"

Sunset nodded, doing her best looking in the Pluma's eye. "Yeah. I know what it is. Way more than I ever wanted to." She bit her lip as her head bowed. "How many?"

Celestia blinked. "How many, what?"

Sunset shook her head. "How many died? How many did it kill before you could stop it?"

Celestia was taken aback. "Sunset. What are you-"

"Don't patronize me, princess!" Sunset shouted. "How many did it kill?! I've nearly been killed so many times by one of these! You want to know what this is? It's a machine with only one purpose in mind. To kill. And this is just a drone. One of who knows how many from a single source. You haven't seen the mother unit."

Celestia's ears wilted. "Fifty. And dozens more critically injured. Our best magic barely slowed it down. It finally seemed to shut down on its own for some reason. We have kept it here ever since."

Sunset's ears fell. That was still too many. But it also confirmed a long-held fear. "It went outside the command radius of its parent mobile armor. That's why it shut down. It fell back on a pre-programmed pattern to kill anything it came across. Not the first time either."

Celestia's brows rose. "I see you know something of where this thing came from?" Sunset nodded. "I see. I feel there is a story to be told there, Sunset. Will you humor me?"

Sunset bit her lip. This was not how she imagined this to go. But the look in the princess's eyes said far more than what was said. And a small part of her was still that Faithful Student from all of those years ago. "Yeah. I guess I got time for that. But not here."

Celestia nodded, as she led the pair back the way they had come.

Celestia listened with mounting horror and dread as Sunset told her story. From the time she first came to the other world, to the fall of Earth, and finally, to the possible hope and salvation offered by the Gundam Frames. It was much to take in. "If this came from anypony else, I would call them a liar."

Sunset snorted, taking a drink of her tea. "And I'd kick them where it hurts the most for calling me a liar. I have enough memories and nightmares to last a lifetime. All of us do."

Celestia nodded gravely. She was proud of her student for having found friends worth fighting for. If only it hadn't been in such circumstances. "Then come home, Sunset. This is not your war. I have seen too many lost in in this way. Don't be another. Please."

Sunset growled. "With all due respect, princess, you haven't seen anything like I have, or lived through what I have. When was the last time you fought someone who was out to exterminate you and your entire race? One you couldn't talk to or parley with? This isn't war. This is genocide. If Mars falls, then the Outer Sphere will fall soon after. Mankind is on its last legs." She sniffed. "I won't abandon my friends! If you don't like it? Too bad! You can't take your idea and shove it up your fat flank!"

Sunset panted heavily for a minute, while Celestia said nothing. After a moment, though, the princess smiled that motherly smile that always tugged at Sunset's heart. "And I could not be more proud of you for that, Sunset. Of everything that you have done."

Sunset blinked, her rage cooling. "Wait. You're not going to try and stop me?"

Celestia shook her head. "Now, Sunset. You should know me better than that. You have found something worth fighting for. I could not stop you now even if I wanted to."

Sunset pounded her head on the table. "Oh, I hate it when you do that, Sunbutt!"

Celestia only giggled. Before she could respond, though, another voice broke in. "Hey! Nopony talks to Princess Celestia like that!"

Sunset blinked and looked around to find a lavender unicorn giving her the stink eye. Except for the lack of glasses, she was a perfect copy of Twilight Sparkle. She smirked. "I can talk to her like that all I want. Comes with being the Personal Student to the princess."

Twilight frowned. "But you're not her student. I am. I've never seen you before either."

Sunset shrugged. "Former student then." She stood and stretched. "And as much as I want to stay longer, someone's bound to notice me missing sooner or later, and there's no way I can explain all of this to the girls."

Celestia nodded as she too stood, and swiftly pulled Sunset into a hug, one that Sunset found herself returning for all it was worth. "Then you come back, Sunset Shimmer. Come back, and I am sure you will have more stories to tell. Better ones I hope."

Sunset nodded, before turning to look at Twilight, who was visibly confused at what was going on. It made her smile only grow more as she threw a hoof around her fellow unicorn. "So you're Princess Celestia's new student, huh? What did you do to get her attention like that?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "I hatched the dragon egg at the School For Gifted Unicorns."

Sunset's jaw dropped. "You gave her that test?!"

Celestia shook her head. "I did not. The examiners did without my knowing of it until it was too late. But so much good has come from it, that I have overlooked going over my head as they did."

Sunset could only shake her head in disbelief. "Well then, here's some advice. From one Personal Student to the other. Don't make the same mistakes I did, Twilight. Hold onto everything you have while you still can. I didn't, and I've been paying for it ever since."

Twilight blinked in surprise, wondering what in Equestria that meant, as Sunset pulled away and headed for the door.

Stopping before it, though, Sunset sighed. "If you want my advice, Princess Celestia? Get rid of the Pluma. Bury it as deep as you can if you can't think of anything else. No good will ever come from it. Trust me."

Celestia didn't respond, but the thought had crossed her mind as she had listened to Sunset's story. And as Sunset left, the thought would not leave her alone.

Twilight, though, had another question. "How did she know my name? I never told her, and we just met."

Princess Celestia only smiled enigmatically.

Sunset would never admit to all but skipping back to the portal. But she felt far more energized than she had when she had first returned to Equestria. Maybe she and Princess Celestia weren't totally reconciled. But they were now back close to what they had once been. It was a good start at least.

As turned a corner and saw the portal shimmering before her, the mare turned to look at the single door. She still didn't know who it belonged to, but there was a faint whiff of powerful magic beyond. Whoever it was, she was not one to be taken lightly. Luckily, it seemed nopony knew about the portal.

Which was just perfect for Sunset as came up to it. It had been several hours now. Unless her sense of time wasn't as good as she hoped, she still had a few hours before she needed to be awake. Plenty of time to get back to her bed and catch some sleep. And maybe do something about this damn itch on her back.

Shaking her head, Sunset stepped through, her stomach doing flip flops as she did. Landing on her feet, she took a moment to reorient herself to being human again. She didn't think she would ever get used to the transition. Looking back, she watched in surprise as the portal shimmered before vanishing.

She sighed as began the trek back to her room. "Guess I'm not going back that way then. Just my luck."

"Or just our luck then," a voice said, making Sunset jump. In horror, she watched as all of her friends were revealed behind the now-vanished portal. They were all giving her heated looks, but it was Twilight who spoke first. "So, Sunset. Do you mind telling us what all that was about?"

Sunset had only one thing to say, as her heart sank. "Oh. Horseapples!"

Author's Note

Alright. So I equated Unicorn magic to beam weaponry for this universe. Nanolaminate Armor is designed to repel beam weapons. Hence why magic had little effect on it. Earth ponies could try and smash it. But good luck with that.

For those wondering, chapters 1 and 2 of this arc have been combined into one chapter. Hence why this is part 2. You're not going crazy.