Sunset Shimmer & The Temporal Rift

by Lunaria

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Sunset Shimmer, Profanity, Princess Celestia, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Cadance
Length: 57210

Sunset Shimmer really did not expect to wake up several years in past before she left through the mirror. Now she'll have to make due with her new reality, as well as two pestering princesses that won't leave her alone.

Sunset Shimmer's life was good, she had plenty of friends and greatly enjoyed where she had eventually ended up in life. It's a shame then that reality had a different opinion on where she belonged. Now stuck in the past prior to first leaving for the human world, Sunset will have to figure out what kind of direction she wants to take in life this time around.

After all, the future she herself lived with her friends was not reachable without doing things that she now found appalling. Even so, she knows that staying in Equestria could very well doom the world to a much darker future. If she had time to draft a plan she could probably figure out something that would keep herself out of the way while also not affecting the timeline, it's a shame then that the two princesses of Canterlot would just not leave her alone!

Apparently this thing got feature mere days after publishing... somehow.

Published 2022-02-04 21:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2025-01-06 13:25:36 UTC

Chapter 1 - Sense of Distance

Chapter 1
Sense of Distance

Sunset was not a morning person; That's not to say that she couldn't go up early, after all school generally started fairly early in the morning. But if she was given the choice of sleeping in or getting up with the sun, the former one was always the one she'd pick. So with that in mind, it was not terribly surprising that this early in the morning her head shot up from the bed at the sound of very loud banging nearby.

"Aaaah!" With her eyes still trying to adjust to being awake she struggled to located where it was coming from... or even where she was. The room seemed fairly familiar to her but she could just not place it. It was a fairly small apartment like room with two doors, occupying most walls of the room were bookshelves. In one corner of the room was a working area in the form of a desk and chair, there was also the bed she was currently occupying.

The banging on what was clearly the door did, however, not relent. So Sunset did the rational thing and got up from bed to answer it... only to immediately fall over onto the floor and hit her head.

"Owwww, fuck." Landing face first on the floor hurt something fierce. "I'll be there in just a minute, okay!?" She yelled, hopefully whoever it was that needed her at this ungodly hour would give it a rest.

"Very well" Someone replied from beyond the door.

Giving out a sigh of relief Sunset took stock of situation. Head? Hurt like crap from the fall but otherwise fine. Legs? Seem to work from what she could tell, if a bit unresponsive. That was probably the reason she had fallen over, she figured. Okay, what about hands? Sunset glanced at her hands, or rather, at the lack thereof and her mind went blank. There were very obviously two hooves at the end of her front limbs.

'Okay, so I'm a pony again, this means I'm back in Equestria? I'm really not used to being back here if I forget as much when I sleep.' Knowing what was the problem she re-asserted herself and got up on all four hooves. It figures it would be easier to do that when you had a better sense of where the center of your gravity was.

Trotting over to the door she pulled it open with her hoof only to come face to face with what was clearly a castle servant of some description.

"Uh, right so, how can I help you?" She offered.

"I'm just here to wake you up at this hour as you yourself specified. Seeing as you're up and about now I'll take my leave, unless there's anything else you need?"

"Oh, um, no that would be all. Thank you."

As she watched the castle maid nod and trot off down the hallway Sunset was thoroughly confused. Looking around this was clearly Canterlot castle, not Twilight's castle in Ponyville. 'Okay, rain check, I'm back in Canterlot, and I very much do not recall going back here. Sure Celestia and I are on better terms after the whole memory stone incident, but I rarely come over for a visit.' Sunset closed the door and glanced around the room she found herself in again. 'And this is clearly my old room I had back when I was studying here under her.'

A sickening sensation was starting to settle in her stomach. But surely, Celestia only kept the room the same on account of the possibility that she might one day come back, right? She shook her entire body to get rid of the anxiety that was building up. The best way to solve any mystery was to gather more information, so that's what she would do. After all, when your room is a miniature library finding some answers shouldn't be that hard, right?

Sunset groaned, she wasn't sure how long she had been at it but the tomes that littered her room were quite unhelpful in figuring out when in time she was located. In fact, outside of the very rare novel the majority of books were on magic or magic research. The easiest way to get an answer was obviously just to ask somepony, the problem with that idea was that if the anxious idea in her head was right... there could be consequences. Still there was clearly nothing here that would be helpful...

She was interrupted from her thoughts by her door knocking again. Walking over and opening it she was once again faced with the maid from earlier. Their coat was a dark brown while their mane was gray. Their eyes were sharp and in the shade of orange.

"Yes?"

"Lady Shimmer I have come to remind you that breakfast will be served in ten minutes in the small dining hall." She took a light bow and got ready to head off.

"Ah, wait, um." The maid stopped in her movement.

"Was there something else?" That was the big question for Sunset. She could *easily* just ask what year it was, they would probably not think much of it. And yet...

"Could you have today's newspaper delivered to me?" She asked with what she hopped was a smile on her face. This was a better idea, the paper would say what printing day it was, for archiving reasons if nothing else!

"Very well." They nodded. "Which paper would you like?"

Crap, she had not thought that far ahead. "Oh um, it doesn't matter, just one of the big name ones, right?"

"I shall have it delivered to you shortly, if you have left by the time I get back here I'll have it sent to the dining hall." She nodded before heading off.

Sunset let out a sigh of relief as she closed the door. Why was social situations giving her issues? She should have gotten over this stuff already. 'I suppose that while having friends I'm used to being around is quite different from interacting with people ponies that were payed to be at your whims.' If anything she was more used to being in that position herself what with working in a restaurant.

Takings stock of her room, it was now a mess with books everywhere but cleaning that up would have to wait till after breakfast. Which, now when she thought about it, almost certainly involved seeing Celestia again. She gulped, she was absolutely not ready for this. Trotting over to the bathroom attached to her room she grabbed the brush on the sink and started to try and fix her obvious case of bedmane.

She swore a bit as she caught another knot. "Oh yeah, go back to Equestria Sunset, it will be great! Except now you have to brush your darn hair with your hooves!" She glared at the offending instrument in her right hoof. It didn't even have an easy way to grasp it! She sighed and kept at it for a bit more before eventually giving up, it would just have to do. Just as she was about to head out the door, she was once again interrupted by knocks on it. At least this time she knew what she was expecting when she opened it.

"Here's today's edition of The Daily Sun lady Shimmer." The earlier maid offered as Sunset accepted the held out newspaper.

"Thank you." Sunset said as she picked up the paper in her hooves and put it on the floor so she could turn and read it for show. 'New opera in Manehattan finally open for public? Bleh, who cares?' She turned the page with her hoof before she got the sensation that she was being watched. She looked up and sure enough the maid was still there, looking at her oddly.

"Er, is there a problem?"

"...I was considering asking you that, to be honest." They tilt their head before continuing. "Since you're not using your magic, I mean. Pardon me if I'm being rude."

Sunset's eyes widened before she promptly put her hoof to her forehead. Magic, how could she have forgotten that? She didn't come to Equestria that often these days, but she really should be more on the ball about this. Which, speaking of, she now needed an excuse, crap.

"Oh, um... I was... up late practising magic?" She got a nod in return. "So I'm a bit drained and still recovering, I don't want to over exert myself." That made sense, right? It made sense in her head anyway.

"Ah, of course. That would explain your troubled start earlier too." She offered a smiled before nodding. "Don't forget to head down for breakfast though, you're expected."

Sunset nodded back before returning to the newspaper. 'Let's see, the daily news can wait, the important part is figuring out what day today is.' Now where was the date? She folded back to the front page and looked around in the corners, eventually finding it.

It was not a number she wanted to see, not a number she wanted to see at all. Somehow she was back in time before she first left Equestria. "Crap." No wonder she didn't remember coming here. The question was, what the hell would she do now?

Celestia was having a good morning. She had awoken to a sense of calmness she rarely observed these days, and her morning duties went smoother than usual. Now all she had to do was attend breakfast and then get started with day court. Her mood lessened somewhat, it had been a good morning she reasoned. Most good mornings rarely survived breakfast these days, even less so when she had some bad news. Today was going to be more busy than she had initially planned so she would need to cancel her lesson with Cadance. The younger mare would surely understand, but they would be disappointed none-the-less.

She trotted into the dining room and took her seat at the head of the table. The small dining hall existed for her own personal use with friends and family, as such it saw no use in state official endeavours and was sized accordingly. It could seat six or so ponies with great comfort, or potentially up to ten if the need would require it. So far that need had not existed on account of her lack of a social life. Celestia groaned, no need to get herself in a tizzy before today's eventual fight started.

She glanced over to the smaller alicorn to her right, Cadance had already been seated before she arrived, but there was yet any sight of Sunset Shimmer. This, she realized, was a blessing. It meant she could solve one problem without causing another.

"So, my dear niece, how are you doing this morning?" She offered.

Cadance glanced up at her. "I'm doing fairly well, I think. There's..." She had a look on her face like she would rather not say what she was thinking.

"I don't mind whatever it is you have to say my dear, we are family now, after all."

"Well, it's just that most days are quite dull. I still get up as early as usual but there is no weather I need to manage, and most ponies I get to know here are..." Cadance's face scrunched up. "Either can't look past my new title, or only want to be around me because of my title." She groaned. "It makes it hard to socialize, you know?"

Celestia nodded. "Yes, I'm quite familiar with how hard it can be to get close to others when in our situation." When was the last time she had a friend, a real friend that wanted to spend time with her because who she was as a pony, not because of her title or position? She was honestly struggling to recall.

"At least we'll have some time together later today to practice magic, so that's something, right?" Cadance offered with a small smile trying to steer the conversation towards more positive matters.

"...about that." She sighed. "Looking over the scheduled meetings after day court it has come to my attention that I will be disposed for most of the evening."

"Meaning?" Cadance's smile was crumbling by the second.

"Meaning I'll have to cancel this weeks lesson I'm afraid. I'm sorry." She offered what she hoped was a sympathetic smile.

"I- well, I guess I understand. You have a country to run after all." Cadance had a dejected expression on her face.

Celestia groaned internally, she did not enjoy having to cancel on Cadance. Spending time with her niece and her student was some of the only fun occasions for her these days... Spending time with them each separately she mentally corrected. She should make it clear to Cadance that she was just as unhappy about this as she was.

"I do not take joy-"

That's when the door to the dining hall slammed open with a loud bang.

"Oh crap!" A voice exclaimed from the same direction.

Celestia groaned and looked over to her side. Over by the east entrance a very flustered Sunset Shimmer stood with the doors in her magical grasp. She closed them with much less force than what she had used when opening. At least she looked apologetic about it, this time.

"We can talk more about this later" She whispered to Cadance whom nodded in return. Talking about Cadance's magic education was a surefire way of setting off the amber unicorn, after all.

Glancing over to her student she looked like she was in the process of lifting a news paper from the floor and arranging it in front of her face before walking over to the dining table. She then proceeded to miss the dining table by walking into a chair.

"Aaaa" Sunset exclaimed as she almost fell over.

Celestia narrowed her eyes slightly. It would seem her student was sleep deprived once again, probably up late studying some complex spells. She let out a sigh, this was become a bit too much the norm.

"Are you doing well my student?"

Sunset glanced between Celestia and the newspaper before eventually folding it up to the front page and putting it on the table, all while having an awkward expression on her face.

"Ummm, good morning?" She offered.

Celestia tried to not sigh yet again, she failed spectacularly. Doing quick scan over Sunset confirmed her fears, she was absolutely covered in magical residue. Today's flavour seemed to be temporal, which wasn't too surprising.

"Up late studying again?" She offered in return.

"Yeah, something like that." Sunset said as she got seated at the table. Before looking between her and Cadance.

"While you do know I greatly respect that you take your magic studies quite seriously, you should also strive to take care of your body too Sunset."

At this Sunset visibly deflated. "Er, I'll try my best?" she offered weakly in return.

Celestia shook her head, same song and dance as usual it would seem. At least she hadn't exploded in her face today. She considered trying to hammer the point in harder but the waitress had come to take their order.

"I'll take my usual fare." She said, getting a nod in return from the waitress.

Sunset had gone back to reading her paper, quickly turning between pages and occasionally giving a snort at something.

"I'll have a fried egg on toast, some hay on the side, and a glass of orange juice." Cadance provided after some consideration.

Cadance had come from a rather small community with mostly earth ponies, so her taste in food reflected a more simple diet than the sophisticated circles in Canterlot held. Personally Celestia found it rather refreshing, it was hard to get away from the fancy when it came to the big city. The waitress glanced at Sunset, and when the mare offered no signs of taking note offered a polite cough. When this also did not get a response from the mare buried in her news paper she spoke up.

"Lady Shimmer, what would you like for breakfast?"

"Huh, what?" Sunset said looking up and seeing everyone looking at her expectantly.

"Oh er, can you get me two ha-" She stopped herself seemingly realizing something before continuing. "Two hay burgers, if that's possible?"

Celestia had to stop herself from giggling at the waitress's shocked expression. Though that is not to say she herself wasn't surprised. Hay burgers were hardly breakfast food to begin with, let alone something the castle staff would usually cater. Seemingly at least a bit self aware Sunset shrunk back in her seat.

"er, right um. I guess that's not possible. Just get me whatever she is getting." She said while gesturing at Cadance while going back to reading her newspaper.

Now it was her and Cadance's turn to be shocked. Sunset usually would not be caught dead being the same as Cadance or doing the same thing as her, nor having the same food as her. Sure, it was all superficial, Celestia knew that, but it was still something the two of them knew was a sticking point for the unicorn.

"So... finding anything interesting in the news my dear student?" Celestia prodded. Come to think of it, she could not remember the last time Sunset cared to read the news. And indeed, she got an expected snort in return.

"Not really, most of it is just the rumour mill as usual, followed with the occasional bit of social important information. But even then that is usually drowned in dull commentary." Sunset shook her head before folding the newspaper together and putting it away.

Cadance scuffed "Well, that's pretty par for the course for The Daily Sun if you ask me..." before scrunching up, immediately realizing her mistake of not only opening her mouth, but also attempting to have a polite discussion with the mare across from her.

"Yeah, probably." Sunset return while nodding, having a somewhat odd look on her face, as if she was about to speak but could not find the words.

This was probably a good time for Celestia to interject if she didn't want another fight to break out at breakfast.

"Sooo, what magic were you experimenting with yesterday anyway?" That was not nearly as smooth as she would have wanted, but it would have to do. Better than having Sunset yell at her niece for daring to speak up.

"er..." Sunset suddenly seemed very interested in looking anywhere but at her.

"Well?"

"...I don't remember." She eventually offered.

"You... don't remember?" Celestia prodded.

Sunset nodded in return. This was... weird to say the least. Usually Sunset could go on for quite a while about about whatever she was currently trying to learn or experiment with, especially if she thought it would impress Celestia. She was clearly deflecting to try and avoid the conversation, but why? A sudden look of realization appeared on Sunset's face and she lit her horn, running a scanning spell on herself. After which she seemed quite relieved.

"It seems... that I was doing something with, uh, temporal logistics." Sunset looked up at Celestia. "But I do not remember exactly what I was doing."

"Hmm, that is a bit disconcerting. You really do need to start taking your health more seriously." Sunset let out a groan.

'So she really can't remember? Odd.' She couldn't think of any temporal magic that would cause memory loss, at least not any that hadn't been banned and burned centuries ago. Then again, sleep deprivation could cause memory loss. When faced with the unknown, the simplest answer is usually the correct one, after all.

"Actually, could you run a magical scan on me and write down your return values, I could use some data that isn't contaminated by me doing the scan. I really need to figure out what I was messing with." She looked quite hopefully towards Celestia.

Celestia made a show of scanning her before starting to writing down the discerned numbers and figures on a loose scroll. Obviously she still recalled what she had gotten in return from earlier when she did her first scan, but it was better if Sunset didn't know of that. The staff took this opportunity to serve their breakfast and all three of them dug in. It was hard to tell who was struggling the most with levitating the utensils between the two of her companions. 'The sleep deprived sorceress or the inexperienced alicorn, truly the competition for the ages.' She thought while snickering. Finishing the complex diagrams she floated over the scroll to Sunset before taking a sip of her morning tea, Cadance decided at this time to interject.

"Isn't that dangerous and illegal?"

What was she talking about? This was pretty standard spell-fare, Celestia was about to question what she meant but she got beaten to the punch by her student.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you said temporal magic, right? From my understanding time travel and such is highly illegal." Cadance seemed to get less sure of herself now that Sunset responded.

"Oh, I see the mistake. Okay so, you're actually right in that regard. But a lot of time related magic is actually perfectly legal. In fact, one could argue that without temporal magic as a whole a lot of spell-work just would not be accessible to us."

Admittedly, at this point Celestia wasn't quite sure what to say or how to act. This was the longest conversation Sunset and Cadance have had in months, that didn't also involve either of them getting hurt or angry. Clearly, the best thing to do is just stay out of it and see how it would resolve.

"Okay, but... how?"

Admittedly, Cadance's magic education was not as far along as she would have wanted. Sunset seemed to ponder how to respond, and she didn't blame her here. Celestia knew that her student absolutely despised having to explain simple magic concepts, especially to ponies who should really be old enough to know them themselves.

"Okay so... how to put it. Temporal logistics is the sub-field of temporal magic that deals with... well, the logistics of how time moves, to put it simply."

Cadance only seemed more confused now than before, and Sunset was clearly struggling to figure out how to put it in a simple manner so the alicorn could understand her. Celestia was trying to come up with a good way to interject to explain this to Cadance, after all, this could maybe provide a bit of a magic lesson to make up for the one they would miss today. A good idea could be to start with a time piec-

"Okay so you have a clock right?" Sunset proclaimed.

"Yeah?"

"Right so most clocks are mechanical in nature, just gears moving and it will advance the arms showing the time." Sunset looked over to see if Cadance was still following. "If you want to replicate that with magic, you'll need a way to keep track of time. Temporal logistics is all about keeping track of time and when in time something is. So if you wanted to say, have an enchanted crystal that told you the time, it would require it to be enchanted with temporal magic to do so!"

"I- I think I get it?" Cadance did not seem too sure of herself.

"Well, if not there are some good books on the subject, I would recommend 'Wave Catcher's Guide to Tidal Fluxations', don't let the title fool you, it's all about temporal magic and it should be quite easy to understand."

To say that Celestia was flabbergasted would be an understatement. Not at the explanation but at the fact that one was given at all by Sunset. It was as if she had somehow woke up on the wrong side, or the right side if you will, and was doing the opposite of what she usually did. 'Maybe I should strike while the iron is hot, the question is, do I dare?'

"Cadance... why don't you ask if Sunset wants to fill in today?" Celestia offered her best possible smile as she addressed her niece. Said niece immediately grew tense as she understood what she meant.

"Fill in for what?" Sunset asked, clearly not at all interested in staying in the dark about this.

Cadance just wearily looked between the two of them while stuffing food in her mouth so she didn't have to respond. It was a pretty surefire way to tell that she was nervous and was trying to think of a way out of this, and Celestia couldn't blame her exactly. Sunset just kept staring at her expectantly however, so after swallowing she finally replied.

"So, um, official business came up so..." Cadance was sweating bullets at this point. "Celestia is too pre-occupied to teach me magic this week."

"Right, that makes sense it can get quite busy around here at times. So?"

"'So?'"

"Well, what does that have to do with me?"

'I swear, for as smart of a head that was on my student's shoulders, she could be quite dense.' Cadance looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here right now, still, this interaction would be good for the two of them even if nothing else came from it. Celestia took the opportunity to sip some more of her tea.

"...Well, what Celestia was suggesting earlier was that... you would fill in for her in teaching me?"

Sunset's face got very blank once she realised what was being asked of her, before looking at Celestia with a scared expression.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, your highness?"

Oh she was sure that this was possibly one of her worst ideas in recent times, the fact that everyone at the table could see it would not dissuade her, however. Cadance was very much behind when it came to magic and Sunset absolutely could not control herself when it came to having her face plastered to books all day. Putting the two together would in a vacuum help both, but when considering their personalities and insecurities it was a wildfire just waiting for kindling. Still, did it hurt hope that things could improve between them?

"While I know the two of you have some... difficulties getting along." She watched both of them cringe as she said this. "Cadance really needs a helping hoof with her magic education and I have come to realize I simply do not have as much time as I would want to dedicated to this." Celestia made a show of letting out a big sigh. "For what it's worth, you'd be doing me a big favour Sunset." And there, she wrapped it up by stroking Sunset's ego a bit. She was always extremely dedicated to trying to please her, however misguided that might be.

This seemed to have had the opposite effect than expected however, as Sunset looked at her aghast.

"I..." Sunset glances over at Cadance, seemingly struggling for words. "Okay, sure, I'll do it."

Cadance seemed to be at loss for words at this outcome, Celestia herself was a bit taken aback too, if she was being honest. She hadn't actually expected Sunset to accept, but rather to decline and say that she was too busy with her own studies.

"But" Sunset continued with a frown while fixating her gaze at Celestia. "Please refrain from doing things like that in the future."

She did not elaborate on what she was referring to, but it was quite clear that she had picked up on her somewhat underhoofed attempts at convincing her. She provided a nod back which seems to satisfy her student. The day just kept getting stranger and stranger. Still, she had managed to convince the two mares to spend some time together, somehow. She'd have to see this as a win, and had to hope that she hadn't just lit a spark that would set the entire castle on fire.

Author's Note

Okay so this chapter ended up being a lot more Celestia focused than initially planned, but hey, it seemed good to establish her views before moving on.

So, theses are the three main characters that we'll be following for the story, in the next chapter we'll be following Cadance for a bit as she struggles to make peace with a Sunset Shimmer that is very much different than the one from yesterday!

PS: I'm looking for pre-readers, proof-readers, as well as potentially an editor.

Chapter 2 - Practice Mode

Chapter 2
Practice Mode

Cadance was not having a good morning. She had woken up early as usual and gone on her morning flight, but it just wasn't the same. Back home—her old home now she supposed—she had been one of the few pegasi in town. As such, it was expected of her to rise early and help with the weather if it needed any management. In Canterlot however... there was just no need for that, the city had a dedicated weather team that managed it all year round.

She didn't want to admit it, but this left her somewhat restless, and flying around just to exercise simply wasn't the same. It also didn't help that the entire population of Canterlot was nothing but stuffy nobles or self centred ponies looking for the next thing to improve their own reputation. Her adopted aunt insisted that there were plenty of nice ponies living in Canterlot whom she could make friends with, but if they existed then she certainly couldn't find them.

Cadance let out an exasperated sigh. It also didn't help that Celestia had cancelled their magic lesson together. While she had mixed feelings on her new aunt, she was one of the few ponies she had to talk to that was also good company. She had really looked forwards to this, it was the high point of the week as she struggled to get used to her new life as royalty.

Of course, it wasn't just that Celestia had cancelled on her. 'Nooooo, she had to dump Sunset freaking Shimmer on her.' Celestia's prized pupil was probably the mare she liked the least in all of Equestria. Sure, she hadn't been opposed to the idea of becoming friends with her when Celestia had first introduced the two. But it was very clear from the outset that Sunset despised her for some reason. She had tried to be polite with the unicorn and give her some space, but no, Sunset had seemed set on picking fights and tormenting her at every opportunity.

Cadance glanced around her room. And now? Now she was sitting in her room waiting for the unicorn to show up to once again 'help her' with learning magic. She snarled, the last time Sunset had tried to 'help' with her magic education she had spent the entire time making fun of her inabilities or being upset that she was stuck 'foalsitting a grown mare'.

She planted her rump on the floor took a deep breath. 'Okay, no need to get worked up before she even gets here. Sure, she was acting strange at breakfast and being really talkative but that doesn't mean that she won't find a way to ruin this.' The clock on her desk showed that it was almost noon. Sunset had promised that she would show up around noon so they could get started early—as she put it anyway—and have most of the day to dedicate to her studies if needed. Maybe she should take the time to clean up a bit before Sunset showed up? Not that there was much to clean up in her room anyway, but it would give a better impression she figured.

"Okay, my room is still a mess, but it will have to do for now," Sunset told herself as she stuffed yet another tome back into it's designated spot in the bookshelf. The floor was still covered in books she had pulled out earlier in the morning to look for publication dates in. The desk also had several books lying about in piles but that must have been from before she awoke here. She had also stuffed the note from Celestia on the desk when she came back, she'd look over it later when she had more time on her hands. 'I really hope she bought that story. If she knew what was actually happening I would be in so much trouble.'

Then again, Sunset was already in trouble. She had not expected to get roped into helping Cadance, but it definitely seemed like something her former mentor would pull. 'Since I'm back in time, that means that even the slightest of things I do will affect the future. Ideally I should stay away from everything as much as possible.' Sunset let out a sigh. While a good idea on paper, it was not really possible to take herself out of reality... not outside of using the mirror anyway. Even if that was something she wanted to aim for, it would still be a few weeks left till it opened again, assuming her memory was correct. So for now, she might as well try and make this as pleasant as possible for everyone involved.

Looking over to the clock hanging on the wall, Sunset noted that it was almost noon. She really needed to be off if she didn't want to be late. Thankfully, the walk through the castle to where Cadance's suite was located was quite short, so it wasn't long before Sunset found herself in front of her door, and with great hesitance knocked. Sunset was a bit worried about the two guards standing on each side of the door, but it seemed like they were content with ignoring her, at least on a surface level.

"Oh, you're here," Cadance said as she opened the door for her.

"Why wouldn't I be? I did say noon, right?" Sunset raised one of her eyebrows.

"Yeah it's just... never mind. Why don't you come in and we can get started?" Cadance took a step to the side and gestured with her hoof for Sunset to enter.

Cadance's room was much sparse than what one would expect from royalty. This made sense to Sunset, as she hadn't been a princess for very long after all. Still, while the suite was quite a bit larger than her own, and way more lavish, it distinctly lacked many personal affects or possessions. She shook her head. She was here on a mission, not to study interior décor. Finding a good spot on the rug, Sunset sat down and got comfortable.

"Okay, so, I must admit that I'm not quite sure how we should go about doing this," Sunset said.

"Me neither if I'm being honest," Cadance replied as she herself sat down opposite of Sunset with a comfortable distance between the two.

'Well, I'm a bit rusty on most kinds of magic at this point, but teaching her shouldn't be a problem since I doubt it's any advanced stuff. I just need to figure out what level she's at.' Sunset reasoned.

"Okay so, how about we figure where a good starting point is then? Did Princess Celestia draft up a lesson plan for you or anything?"

"I don't think so? If so she certainly didn't give or show it to me," Cadance said while shaking her head.

"hmm, well, what was the last thing you worked on then? And also, what spells do you currently know?"

"Well..." Cadance looked over to her desk and grabbed a book in her magic to float over. "Celestia had me read this, and work through the material. The only things I'm really comfortable with casting right now is levitation as well as the ...umm... matchmaking spell I just cast instinctively."

Sunset looked at the cover of 'Thaumatics 101' and rolled her eyes. "Right, I guess I shouldn't be surprised." She let out a sigh as she grabbed it in her own magic field, opened it, and skimmed through the chapter list. This material was dull, oh so very dull. She vaguely remembered having read it herself many years ago. Most unicorns would already be mostly familiar with the things in it just naturally from living and using their horns, so if anything it served more as a reference manual for introductory academic studies. Sunset glanced up from the book at the pony across from her, Cadance was clearly fidgeting over something at this point.

"Okay. So this might be a strange question, but... how do you learn?" Sunset asked while closing the book and putting it on the floor. The question must have caught Cadance off guard because she was taking her time answering.

"I'm not sure if I know what you mean. I'd imagine I learn the same way as any other pony?" She eventually said.

"Well, okay. I guess I shouldn't have jumped ahead, sorry." Sunset wasn't quite sure how to best explain it. She certainly wasn't an expert on this. Why hadn't Celestia just gotten Cadance a tutor from her own school for unicorns?

"I guess an example might help, but the gist of it is this: Most people, er ponies, learn new things in different manners. For some the best way to learn something is just reading it from a book, for example." She lifted the book in front of her to emphasis. "But others learn better by having the very same thing simply explained to them by someone. Then there are others that learn better by getting their hooves dirty and doing the thing they are studying rather than just hearing about it."

"Huh, really?" Cadance said while putting a hoof to her chin.

Sunset nodded. "Yeah, everyone learns in a different way, so it's helpful to figure out what works for you. That way you can better apply yourself." Cadance let out a 'hmm' as she seemed to ponder Sunset's words.

"And, if I had to guess, absorbing with vigour from books just isn't your cup of tea, because if so you would probably already have gone through this book yourself," Sunset said as she floated Thaumatics 101 back to Cadance's desk.

Cadance nodded. "Yeah I guess I'm not like you in that regard..."

"Oh I'm not really one to absorb from just reading either."

"What? But you spend all day and night reading books?!"

"Oh sure, but that's mostly just reference material. Most more complex spell books I have are references for their given field, rather than just dull text books like that one," Sunset said while gesturing at the desk. "I'm more for the hands-on approach myself, so once I have a subject I want to try, I get the reference material, and then I jump in experimenting with it myself." Sunset smiled.

"Huh, that's... a bit different than I expected of you."

"Hey, what can you do, and if it works it works, right?" Sunset shrugged.

"I supposed," Cadance answered while pawing the floor with one of her hooves.

Cadance seemed really fidgety and off her ball to Sunset. 'I guess it shouldn't be surprising. We never really got along very well... or rather, I used to be quite awful to her back then, wasn't I?' She slumped a bit at the realization. Still, she had promised to help the alicorn, so now she had to follow through with this, even if neither of them were entirely comfortable with it.

"So, what do you think is the most ideal way for you to learn?" Sunset offered.

"...I'm not entirely sure if I'm honest," Cadance offered with trepidation.

Sunset sighed. "Okay, executive decision then!" She put on a smile and got up on her hooves.

Cadance followed her with her eyes as Sunset walked over to the door, opened it, and put her head out. The two guards were indeed still there, as expected. 'Good, one of them is an officer... let's see, what would the best way to do this be?' She did not remember Equestrian insignia markers in the slightest—assuming she ever knew them—so she would have to guess, but she would need a third pony for the idea that was forming in her mind.

"Can I have a word with you, Captain...?" Sunset prodded the guard, hoping she wasn't completely off base.

"Stout Shield, and how may I be of assistance?" He replied while turning only his eyes to face her. The guards really were as stoic as she remembered them being.

Sunset sighed from relief having been correct in her guess. Now she just needed to follow it up by convincing him.

"I'm wondering if you can spare one of your recruits to help us, that is to say Princess Cadance, with her magic training?" Sunset gave her best smile.

"Hmm, that shouldn't be a problem. Naturally they will not come to harm, correct?"

"Oh, obviously not. They might get somewhat bored though, so feel free to send someone that you don't think too highly of. They will, after all, be stuck with the two of us for the entire afternoon."

"...Right, I'll have someone sent for." He had a light frown on his face.

"Great! Oh and make sure they are a pegasus, and tell them to join us in the castle gardens say, some fifteen minutes from now?"

Not waiting for a reply, Sunset retreated from the door and closed it again, letting out another sigh. She still wasn't quite used to being authoritative again. Given how she had been before, anything that reminded of her old behaviours unnerved her. Obviously this was different and she wasn't sinister about it, but it was still not something she was very comfortable with. Leading her friends? That was one thing, ordering others around was a different matter entirely.

"Why the castle gardens?" Cadance interrupted her thoughts, making her turn to face the alicorn.

"Oh you'll see," Sunset smirked.

Cadance glanced about the gardens, she wasn't sure what to think anymore. Sunset had left for elsewhere saying she needed to 'grab a few things' as it were, so now she was just seated in the grass waiting for her supposed tutor to return. Cadance frowned, she wasn't sure what to think anymore. The mare she had interacted with was obviously Sunset, she was as brash as usual for sure, yet... Something about her was definitively different, she wasn't intentionally picking on her for once. Not only that, she seemed to actually be trying to be nice? Cadance wasn't quite sure how to think about Sunset's behavioural changes.

A cough from her right interrupted her thoughts. Turning to face the disruption she found a pegasus outfitted in the traditional royal guard armour. His coat was a saturated yellow with a two tone white and brown mane.

"Yes?" She asked while tilting her head their way.

"Private Spark Shott, reporting for duty your highness." The stallion was standing at attention, looking Cadance in the eyes.

She never really got used to how the guards acted around her. What did Celestia say she was supposed to do in regards to this again? Something about making sure the guards knew she didn't expect them to be so tense? He was still standing there staring at her with his hoof raised to his head. 'Crap, I'm supposed to say something, right?'

"Err, it's all right, no need to be so worked up?"

"Yes ma'am!" He said while finally dropping his salute.

Cadance sighed, everything about being royalty was such a pain. All the formality, everypony constantly at her hooves to do whatever she asked. No one ever treated her like a normal pony anymore, and she sorely missed that.

"Pardon me if I'm being rude, but what am I supposed to do? I didn't get much of any briefing."

"For now, we wait. Sunset Shimmer apparently had some brilliant idea for an outdoors magic lesson. I know about as much as to what we are going to do as you do Spark," Cadance replied as she looked over to the stallion, whom tilted their head slightly.

'Did I say something odd? Ugh, I bet I was too informal or something.' Cadance suppressed a groan. Thankfully she did not need to consider the matter anymore, her gaze catching an amber unicorn heading out from the castle. It seemed like Sunset was carrying something with her in her levitation field; It looked like a wide wooden bucket and a ball.

"Ah, good, looks like we are all here," Sunset said as she looked at the two others as she approached.

"You still haven't explained what we are going to do Sunset."

"Oh, that's simple. Tell me princess, how familiar are you with buckball?" Sunset smiled.

"I know next to nothing about it."

"Great! Me neither!" Sunset proclaimed with a grin.

Cadance was flabbergasted, did Sunset really intend them to play ball games? And how would any of these even help her learn more magic? This seemed inane, not to mention, this was nothing at all like the Sunset she knew. She had expected at best to be forced to sit through reading stuffy books all day, what was even going on anymore?

"...and how will this help me with magic?" Cadance asked pointedly, she might as well get her answer she figured.

"Well, I figured you're more the type to learn from doing rather than reading a stuffy old book, so this seemed like a better way to go about things."

"That doesn't explain how taking part in sports will somehow teach me how to use this thing," Cadance said while tapping her own horn.

"Well, obviously not with that attitude," Sunset said while rolling her eyes. "A buckball team generally have a unicorn on it and you will serve that role."

"And how will that teach me magic?" Cadance proclaimed with perhaps a bit more strain in her voice than needed.

Sunset sighed. "Okay, so: The book you were working through is just dull theory on how unicorn magic work. The kind you'd normally give to an earthpony or a pegasus that are trying to learn the theory of how it works. Most unicorns will innately just learn this stuff by using their magic every day."

"Right..."

"So we are going to work on your levitation skills. This will eventually teach you what you need to know about the basics of unicorn magic. Speaking of which, the next time you have a lesson with Princess Celestia, ask her for some more practical material to study instead. Like a reference manual for basic spells like using your horn as a flashlight and that sort of thing, it will help you more I'd argue."

Cadance scuffed. "My levitation is fine. Plus, you'd think Celestia would know better than you the best way to form my education." Sunset seemed to stop, as if to consider her words, for a few moments before replying.

"Hey Cadance, think fast!"

"Wha-"

She did not have any time to react as a red blur flew over and hit her straight in the face. She let out a cry in pain and took a step back. 'To tartarus with her, I knew trusting with even the most basic of social decency was a mistake!' She snarled.

"What was that for?!"

"...I guess that was sent a bit harder than I intended, sorry," Sunset said while looking apologetic.

"That does not explain why you'd hurl a ball at my face in the first place!" Cadance all but yelled.

"Well, to prove a point primarily." Sunset looked down, not meeting her eyes.

Of course it was to prove a freaking point, it was always something like that with Sunset. She was half tempted to just walk away and later tell Celestia about what just happened, it would probably cause another spat between the two. Cadance sighed and tried to calm down, she had promised Celestia to give this a try.

"Well?"

"Huh?" Sunset said looking up again, seemingly not quite sure of herself.

"What was the point that was so important as to throw a ball into my face?"

"Well... that you wouldn't catch it."

"...Pardon?"

"You said your levitation is fine, but I have seen how you perform while we dine together."

"You weren't much better this morning," Cadance reminded her, causing Sunset to blush.

"Yeah I, uh, I guess I don't really have an excuse for that. But still, my point stands!" Cadance raised an eyebrow.

"Most unicorns are so used to using their magic that it becomes second nature," Sunset continued. "As such, most would have unconsciously tried to grab an object quickly moving towards them in their magic field."

"I... suppose I see your point." Cadance let out a sigh. "That still hurt though."

"Sorry, I didn't intend for it to actually hurt." Sunset's ears lowered themselves.

"It's... fine, let's just get on with what you had in mind." Sunset nodded in response and walked off a bit to the side and started drawing out a circle in the grass using her magic.

Looking over at the other pony in the vicinity, it seemed like private Spark was trying their very best to avoid being noticed, having taken a few steps back during their spat. He visibly gulped when she looked at him, clearly being out of his element.

"Yeah, don't worry about it, this is normal for us," Cadance scuffed. Wasn't that the truth, she and Sunset would always end up arguing about the little things. She shook her head, things were... different today though. Sunset practically never apologized for anything, so it was hard to tell if she was being genuine. And this idea of magic education seemed like a farce at best, but then, what was the motive? If Sunset wanted the easy way out of having to help her, she could have just hung back in her room and offered pointers., all while Cadance herself dredged through that book. Impressing Celestia certainly couldn't be it either, if anything she would scold Sunset for playing around rather than taking her task seriously.

"So, private, do you know how to play buckball?" Sunset said as she trotted over, having finished drawing a set of two circles.

"Only a little bit lady Shimmer." Sunset nodded and floated the bucket over to Cadance.

"Okay, so, here's what we are going to do: Princess, you're gonna hold this bucket in your levitation field and your job is to catch the ball as private... uh?" Sunset stopped as she had clearly forgotten about introductions.

"Spark Shott."

"Right, you'll catch the ball that private Shott here will throw," Sunset continued.

"I prefer Spark, ma'am."

"That doesn't exactly seem too hard," Cadance decided to add.

"Well, the idea is that private Spark here won't necessarily aim for your bucket as he throws. This means you need to be both on your hooves moving around and also line up the bucket to the ball's arc."

"I assume you want me to be in the air for this lady Shimmer?"

"That is correct, also feel free to drop the lady part and just call me Sunset, it's getting a bit tiresome."

'Wait, she gets to do that?!'

"We'd need someone on the ground then lady- er, miss Sunset."

'Can I do that?!' Cadance glanced between the two of them, her pupils shrinking a bit. Could she just ask ponies to not use her title and they would accept that? Wait, step back, Sunset also found it tiresome when ponies used her title? She could have sworn that the unicorn used to revel in her standing, at least around Celestia.

"Yeah," Sunset nodded. "I'll take ground position and serve, you'll catch and then throw it to princess Cadance. Vary up how difficult your throws are to keep things interesting."

"Also I'm fairly sure this isn't how buckball is played miss Sunset."

"Yeah I'm not too worried about that," Sunset said while waving her hoof dismissively. "We're not trying to practice buckball here, after all, our goal is to help princess Cadance. And I think..." Cadance was starting to tune the others out.

But then again... Sunset never really struck her as the same flavour of stuck up as most of the aristocrats in Canterlot. Sure, she had a holier-than-thou attitude towards anyone that wasn't Celestia. But she also didn't mind getting her hooves dirty with direct insults or being snide. Most nobles would instead try to strike offence in more contrived and political manners. And while she had a superiority complex to be sure, it was likely true that she was one of the better sorceresses in Canterlot, even if she didn't have much of an achievement record yet.

"...I mean, sure, I can try and make some complex serves, it can't be much harder than football, right?"

"...I'm not sure if I know what that is miss Sunset."

"Eh, don't worry about it." Sunset got a thoughtful expression on her face. "Just don't get salty if you can't catch them." Spark Shott just groaned while Sunset snickered.

"You have to admit that was pretty funny private..."

Whatever, Sunset wasn't important here. If she could get away from just a little bit of the stuffiness that came with her title, that would be great. Having ponies just call her by name rather than by her title would certainly stop every conversation from feeling so stiff. The question was: Would Celestia even allow it? Well buck her, Cadance needed this if she wanted some sort of normality in her life again!

"...have you been listening princess?" Sunset said and started waving a hoof in front of her eyes.

"Waah!" Cadance jumped a bit. "Er, yes, definitely. Levitate bucket, catch ball, got it!" She proclaimed. Sunset did not seem convinced.

"Well, if you're sure your highness, then we can start as soon as we take our positions," Sunset said and started to trot in towards the center of the outer circle she had carved out.

"Just... just Cadance is fine, both of you." Sunset stopped and looked over to her.

"Er, are you sure? It would be seen as improper, you're a princess after all," Sunset prodded.

"I would have to agree with miss Sunset ma'am. It would be very bad form for me to address you without your title."

Cadance sighed, so she couldn't have this? No, she decided, she would not falter this easily.

"If we are going to do this I'd rather it be more casual, so yes, I insist." She looked between the other two, they seemed unsure. "...Don't force me to make it a royal decree, I'd rather this not be so... formal."

Sunset finally seemed to accept this and nodded, Spark on the other hoof seemed unsure still, but eventually offered a polite nod himself.

"Right, if that's all, let's get started!" Sunset proclaimed. "Now, we will start easy and you only have to catch the throws Cadance. But once you're a bit more comfortable with this, I want you to try and catch the ball in your field before it hits the bottom of the basket. That's obviously harder, but it will train you in catching moving objects, while also managing multiple ones at the same time."

"Sounds like a plan." Cadance walked over to her designated spot at the outer perimeter of the circle.

Strange, this half-baked idea was somehow starting to make sense in her head.

Celestia closed the door to her private chambers and let out a groan. Agricultural planning was one of the more important topics to handle in her nation, but that never made it any less of a drag. Most of the planning from the previous year could be re-used, Equestria didn't exactly shift it's boarders much, nor have it's needs grow or decline very often. But they still had to go over it all to make sure everything was in order.

She looked over at the clock in her room, it was already half past three, and she had another long meeting to attend to before dinner. She glanced over to the stack of paper sitting on her desk, taunting her with it's presence. She'd likely be up late filling it all out once she'd had dinner. Well, no matter, she wouldn't let work interrupt her break, no matter how fleeting it was.

She walked over to the small kitchen that was attached to her chambers, filled up a teapot with water and put it on the stove. Some publications over the years had joked that Equestria ran on tea, and if there ever was a shortage the top level of their government would break down. It was obviously ridiculous and written mostly to poke fun at her seeming obsession, but sometimes she wondered if there wasn't a little bit of truth to it.

After finishing with preparing her tea she poured herself a cup and walked over to the main room. The desk was out of the question, she didn't want to be further reminded of work. Sitting down in general didn't feel appealing after having just come out of a long meeting. 'Balcony it is!' She opened the glass doors and stepped outside.

There was a light breeze in the air today, so Celestia took the opportunity to just close her eyes, enjoy the wind, and of course, her tea. She let out a sigh of contentment, she needed this. She just stood there enjoying the moment for a while before deciding to gaze about. There were a few pegasi in the air in the distance, either travelling about Canterlot or moving some clouds for whatever weather was planned. There also seemed to be some commotion down in the castle gardens.

That's strange... she didn't recall any garden parties planned today, and it was not a very large group. She decided to look closer, there seemed to be some sort of small gathering in the distance that were spectating an even smaller group. Wait... Wasn't that her niece? And her student? Her tea somewhat forgotten, Celestia took to the air and flew closer, not too close of course, she'd rather not cause a commotion with her appearance.

But yes, that was indeed Princess Cadance and Sunset Shimmer, as well as what looked like one of her guards based on his armour. It seemed like they were taking part in some sort of game. They had also attracted a bit of an audience of other castle staff, they tried their best to keep their distance and remain unnoticed as they spectated. This was... strange. It almost looked like the two were having fun together, but that couldn't be the case, right?

Cadance tiredly flopped onto her chair in the dining hall. They had been at it for hours, and if it weren't for the fact that dinner would be served shortly, Cadance would have lied down on her bed after her shower instead. She didn't need to wait alone in the dining hall for very long as she saw Sunset trot in and take her seat. The unicorn had clearly just showered herself as Cadance could see the moisture in their mane.

"...this matter can wait and be handled during day court." Cadance could hear her aunt's voice in the distance. "No I don't care if his father insists, Blueblood will have to go through the process, same as every other pony."

"I'm aware of that your highness, but he has been pestering castle staff and at this point we don't know what to do." Cadance could hear Celestia sigh as she and her aid entered the dining hall.

"Look, Raven, this will have to be resolved later, I already have enough matters that I need to look over today and I'd rather not deal with work as I dine."

"Of course your majesty, I will inform them of your decision." Raven took a bow before walking out and closing the dining hall door they had entered from.

"Long day aunt?" Cadance said.

"Something like that," Celestia shook her head. "But enough about work, I'd rather take this opportunity to relax," She proclaimed as she took her seat.

Resting her head on the table, Cadance spaced out at this point, she was more tired than she had thought. Her horn was still slightly sore from the strain of being used hours on end. It wasn't until she felt a hoof on her shoulder that she realized that someone was talking to her.

"Huh?"

"I was asking how your magic studies went," Celestia said with a smirk. "But I can tell Sunset worked you hard at the very least."

She looked over to Sunset who just shrugged at her. "Yes... something like that. We were at it all day."

Celestia made a 'hmm'ing sound before leaning back in her chair. "And here I thought the two of you spent the day playing in the gardens."

Cadance stiffened, was that what they had been doing? She had assumed that Sunset knew what she was talking about, but maybe she had been deceived once again and been made a fool out of. Sunset herself didn't look worried, in fact she had grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and seemed to contemplate eating it, despite the fact that dinner was just about to be served.

Seemingly not getting an answer, Celestia turned to Sunset instead. "Though I assume you put Cadance up to this, since it was you who was put in charge of tutoring her today."

"Something like that," Sunset said while floating around the apple in her grip. "But I wouldn't call it playing, not that it doesn't hurt to have fun, but we were there with a purpose," She smirked.

"Oh? And what may that have been, my dear student?"

"Well, to put it bluntly, your teaching method sucked," Sunset said while looking up to her teacher.

"Pardon?" Celestia looked more caught off guard than Cadance could ever remember.

"Yeah, I don't think giving her stuffy academic books is the right way to go about things. I know Cadance is an adult here, but not everyone as academically oriented." Sunset turned and gave Cadance a small smile. "As such, I would in the future recommend that you assign her more practical oriented material that builds up her repertoire of spells, even if it's just basic ones."

Celestia seemed a bit too stunned to speak and merely nodded. I guess it was a bit shocking, but Sunset had been acting odd all day. She seemingly had no problem with kicking the ball with her hooves earlier, in fact, she seemed quite into it. Prior to today, Cadence really couldn't say that Sunset seemed like the type to be into physical exercise. Still, while she and her teacher often argued, it usually wasn't like this. Sunset rarely if ever talked back to Celestia, unless the topic was on making friends.

"While I can understand your reasoning Sunset," Celestia began, seemingly having gathered her wits again. "Having a good baseline understanding of magic is something I would considered mandatory. Most foals learn these things before moving on to other spells."

Sunset did not seem to be deterred, however. "While that is indeed true princess, it's a matter of how you learn it. I don't think we actually disagree here other than in method, in fact..." Sunset smirked and eyed her apple.

'Oh no.'

"Hey Cadance, think fast!" Sunset exclaimed and lobbied the apple straight at her face.

This time she had seen it coming and was ready. She grabbed it her field before it made contact with her face, barely. She scowled at Sunset, she really didn't appreciate it the first time, let alone a second time, but there was probably no point in trying to argue with the unicorn about it again.

"Would you please refrain at the dinner table at the very least?" Cadance struggled to keep the strain out of her voice as she spoke.

Sunset smiled and turned back to Celestia who looked between the two of us confused. "Most foals, as you aptly put it, learns these things before moving on to other spells. But they don't exactly learn it by reading academic texts, right? So I figured the best way to help Cadance was to have her do practical stuff using levitation to get her more used to her horn."

"I see..." Celestia said, she was clearly gathering her thoughts.

Cadance sighed, she knew this would not be the end of the matter. She really didn't want to sit through dinner with the two of them arguing about the best way to teach her magic. Thankfully she was saved, if just briefly, from the discussion raging on by the dinner being served.

"On another matter, Sunset while I know you have some doubts about princess Cadance, I still expect you to adhere to decorum and give the proper respect."

"Huh? Oh, right." Sunset had seemed confused for a moment. "Normally I would your highness, but Cadance asked me earlier to drop her title and refer to her by name only. She seemed quite insistent on it, even saying she would order me to if needed." Sunset smiled to both of us and started digging into her food.

Cadence could feel the sweat as Celestia turned to look at her questioningly.

Sunset stuffed the last of the books from her floor back in it's original place. 'Okay, that clears up today's mess...' She glanced over to the reading desk which had two books lying open, as well another stack of two books in the corner. She quickly stuffed the note on temporal magic, that she had just dumped on top of everything earlier, into one of the drawers, she'd look it over some other day.

"Let's see here..."

She closed the top book and looked at it's cover 'Citrus Twirl's Advanced Rune Inscriptions'. Huh, so a book about rune crafting. She did recall that stuff being quite fun to mess with when she tried it years ago. Equestria was full of enchanted objects with various powers and abilities, in fact, most big name magi from the past took up at least one of the enchanting fields in order to leave their mark on the world.

Absentmindedly she reached for the spot under her neck before letting out a sigh. 'I wonder if it's possible to recreate my pendant?' It might be, she reasoned, but it would be quite difficult. From what she could gather when she had studied her old one, the magic in it was quite primal. She shook her head, maybe this could be something to put her time towards while here, but it would have to be later. She lifted the book as well as the other open one, which also seemed to be on the same subject, and put them back in their shelf.

Finally with some space avalible, she sat down and pulled out a piece of parchment to write on. 'Okay, so, I'm in the past, somehow. Either that or I'm under the effect of some seriously strong mind magic, but it wouldn't be the first time Equestrian magic went completely haywire.' She rolled her eyes. 'Still, it seems most reasonable to assume I'm in the past... for a given amount of reasonable.' First things first, she needed a plan on what to do. Today had been a mess and she'd rather not have a repeat if she could avoid it.

A good start would be to consider her options. The most obvious one was to just head through the mirror as soon as it opened. That would likely be ideal in many ways, she would have the least impact on the time line... and yet. The more Sunset thought about it, the less attractive the idea seemed. If she just left out of nowhere Celestia would wonder where she went and probably be hurt. As frustrated as she was with her old mentors antics today; she really didn't want to hurt her.

Furthermore, while getting back to the human world would be easy, but then what? Redoing schooling a third time was not in the slightest attractive to her, and while she could probably befriend the girls again, it felt wrong. They'd not be the people she knew nor had fond memories of. If anything it would be people that constantly reminded her of the friends that was now lost to her. And given her own impact, they would likely grow into very different people.

She wrote the option down on the list she was making, she didn't like it, but it was something. Another option would be to throw caution to the wind and just embrace that this was her life now. It was tempting, she could be on better terms with her old mentor as well as start a new life here in Canterlot. She didn't know quite where to start with that, but she was already a sort of acknowledged sorceress, it wouldn't be that hard to carve out a life.

Sunset groaned. The problem was, of course, that things wouldn't be that simple. She had been friends with Princess Twilight, so of course the mare had told her about some of her exploits, as well as well as the many threats she had stared down. In just a decade or so, not only would Nightmare Moon return, but so would Discord as well as the mad king of the Crystal Empire.

Sunset really should have asked the good princess to clarify the stories, it likely would have made her coming years smoother. At best Sunset had been told a summery of the events, from only one perspective. And she wasn't even sure if she remembered all the details she had heard correctly either. If Sunset decided to just go on with her life here, it was practically guaranteed to affect Twilight in some manner. After all, she was taken in as Celestia's student after herself.

She let out a yawn, it was getting late. She looking at the parchment in front of her as she narrowed her eyes, so far it only had two options, neither of which she liked. Thinking harder, what other paths was there for her to take? She could still stay in Equestria but ditch Canterlot and the royalty within. In a way, this was a combination of the other two choices she reasoned; she'd get away from everything and hopefully have a smaller impact on the future. While on the same time she didn't have to give up being a unicorn nor have to deal with the awkwardness of making friends with her old friend's proto-selves.

Sunset rolled up the parchment and put it in one of her drawers, she'd have to think of more ideas later, she needed some sleep. Her eyes travelled to the small pile of books still on her desk, what else was she working on before she left? The subject matter wasn't obvious from the titles, and yet... A feeling of dread was rising within her until it clicked. 'Wait... aren't these books from the restricted section?' Her eyes widened.

"...Crap."

Author's Note

(Thanks to silvadel for helping out with some proof reading on this chapter!)

And here's our third main character whom is trying to figure out the new life that was thrust upon her. I used to not really like Cadance, admittedly, when she was first introduced back in season 2 all those years ago, she sorta felt like a betrayal to the world building. It didn't help that we basically didn't spend any time with her at all in her debut appearance, but in some ways I can excuse that because the wedding arc was actually some of the more interesting episodes.

Still, I like her better now, she had a few episodes much later in which we got to truly know her. But I think what I like the most about her is the potential chemistry with other characters. The potential for story telling featuring her and Sunset is especially alluring to me. Given what kinda of person we know Sunset used to be, the implication of the two being forced to be around each other is interesting.

Cadance and Twilight also make for very good chemistry, sadly we didn't get much of that before Twilight purchased wings from the ascension shop using her prestige currency, so a lot of it was left unexplored. There is also much potential in following how Celestia shaped Cadance, as she seemingly took in the younger alicorn on the spot.

I haven't really read the comics (hence why they are not tagged to this story), so I don't really know what is held within those and other side material. But Cadance backstory, or lack-there-of makes for plenty of space to work with.

Chapter 3 - The Silver Gauntlet

Chapter 3
The Silver Gauntlet

Sunset Shimmer once again found herself waking up to someone banging on her door. It was early, she knew it was early, why did it have to be early? Groaning she managed to roll out of the bed, landing on her hooves this time.

"I need to get a coffee machine or something if this is gonna keep happening..." she muttered.

Making her way to the door, Sunset all but flung it open. She found herself once again facing the maid from yesterday, maybe she should ask for her name?

"So, you do this every day, huh?" She instead asked, feeling snappy.

"Yes...?" The maid replied with a frown.

After letting out a yawn Sunset followed up. "How long has this been going on exactly?"

"...I have been waking you up at this hour since I took this position half a year ago lady Shimmer."

Ugh, it was probably Sunset herself that had asked to be woken at this hour every day, but she could not in the slightest remember why.

"I should probably just get an alarm clock instead or something... would save the work." She thought out loud.

"If there's nothing else, I have other duties to attend to."

Sunset nodded to the mare who then turned to leave. "Wait, I forgot, what was your name again?"

"...Cloud Thorn."

Huh, strange, that didn't really sound like the name of someone that'd work as a maid. Pony names always seemed somewhat prophetic in nature. Sure it wasn't always the case, but usually if one guessed a pony's career based on their name only, you'd have fairly good chances of being right.

"Alright, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then Cloud," Sunset gave her smile.

Cloud Thorn merely nodded before trotting off to continue her morning duties. Sunset, on the other hand, headed back inside her room and slumped down at her desk. Waking up this early every day wasn't really something she was looking forwards too. Today was especially bad though; she had a rough time falling asleep the night before. Her thoughts constantly drifting to the books from the restricted section of the archives and how to deal with them.

She vaguely recalled having snuck books from the restricted sections several times, but that was still years ago from her own perspective. She didn't even remember what most of the books had been about, but one instance in particular stood out. It was the final time she had attempted it, getting caught in the middle of the act by Celestia. In her own mind that was the pivotal act that completely soured their relationship, and eventually lead to her self imposed exile.

Sunset pulled the offending books towards her and glared at them. She needed to dispose of the offending tomes somehow, the question was, how? She could attempt to sneak into the restricted section and put them back, but that had the obvious risk of getting caught. She'd rather not sour things with Celestia unless she had to... Of course, she might not have much choice in that regard. Even if she were to confess she had the books and hand them over to her former mentor, she would still very likely not be happy with her.

What she needed, Sunset reasoned, was a distraction. If she could hand over the books to Celestia in good faith, while on the same time delay the inevitable confrontation, that would allow surface level indignation to fade. Of course, for that plan to work Sunset would need a really good excuse or reason to be elsewhere. It would also have to be something that Celestia herself would not want to get in the way of.

But then, there was something that Celestia would find more important for Sunset to do than getting chewed out, wasn't there?

Sunset took a bite out of her breakfast pancakes; they were delicious. Something Equestria had that the human world sorely lacked was really high quality fruit. As a result, jam and other such products also tasted much sweeter and fuller in flavour than their otherworldly counter-parts.

Glancing around the table, it seemed like everyone was enjoy their breakfast in peace. Seeing as she would get no better time for it, Sunset cleared her throat, getting the attention of the other two.

"So, Cadance, I couldn't help but noticed yesterday that your room was a bit... empty."

Cadance rolled her eyes. "What of it?"

"Well, I was thinking that this could be a good opportunity. Assuming you're free today?"

"I don't think I have anything I need to do today, my weeks are usually... fairly open shall we say."

"Great! So I was wondering if you wanted to head out and do some shopping in Canterlot today, you know, just the two of us?" Sunset put on her best smile.

The effect was instantaneous, Celestia started coughing up tea that she had gotten stuck in her throat. Meanwhile Cadance just sat there wide eyed and blinking, clearly not quite comprehending what she was suggesting.

Seeing as no one was saying anything, and she didn't want the mood to get awkward, Sunset proceeded to followed up: "It will be a girls day out, if you will. We can even stop for lunch!"

"Err, I'm not sure Sunset..." Cadance responded.

"Come on, you said it yourself: You got nothing better to do, and it'll get us out of the castle for a few hours! I have some things I need to pick up, and I figured it would be more fun with some company," Sunset tried once again with her best attempt at smiling towards the younger alicorn.

Cadance looked at Sunset for a few moments while prodding her own meal. "...Alright, I suppose we could do that. I have been in need of a few dresses, seeing as they are practically mandatory now." Sunset pretended to not see Cadance shooting Celestia a pointed look.

"Great! How about we meet up in front of the castle after breakfast is done with so we can get going early? I don't quite know where I'll find what I need," Sunset smiled more genuinely now.

She had never really been close to Cadance, but yesterday had given Sunset a new, fresher, perspective of the mare. Sure, the two of them were quite different, but she had more in common with Cadance than she did some of her other friends.

Sunset returned to her food, she had to time this just right. She waited until she knew Celestia was just about done and ready to leave, Cadance had already finished up, caring less about table manners. Sunset had never really been a good actor, despite what others thought, but she was good with coming up with the right thing to say.

"Oh, that's right, almost forgot," Sunset exclaimed, turning her eyes to her mentor. "Could you do me a favour Princess?"

Celestia seemed a bit taken aback, having clearly not expecting her inquiry. "Well, that depends Sunset, you know how busy I am."

Sunset gave a nod and levitated the two offending books out of her saddlebags that were situated on the floor. She carefully placed them on the table corner as to not dirty or damage them.

"Could you return these to the library for me?"

Celestia's expression quickly turned flat. "Sunset," she began before sighing. "If you don't have time to run to the library and return them yourself, you could just hand them off to a maid."

"Normally yes..." Sunset began.

Celestia levitated the top book in front of herself so she could read the title. "I recall specifically placing one at your behest so-" if Celestia's coat wasn't already quite white, Sunset imagined it would be drained of colour at this instant. "...Sunset, are these two titles from the restricted section?" Celestia posed the question carefully, but both of them knew it wasn't a question.

Sunset nodded. "Yes, which is why I can't just hand them off to a maid," she posed it perfectly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"...and how did you acquire these titles?" Celestia continued.

Sunset put on a frown. "What do you mean? I picked them up from the restricted section, obviously."

"And when was this?"

Sunset was actually taken aback by this, she didn't have an answer, at least not an accurate one. "Uh, I don't remember? It was a while back, I found them when I was cleaning my room yesterday," honesty was usually a good fallback, she figured. Even if it might sound absurd to others, if you were honest then it was harder to pick up duplicity.

Celestia just stared at her, carefully putting the book back on top of the second one. "I think... we need to have a very frank discussion Sunset, in private," Celestia's words came out chilly.

"Er, alright? Should we meet up this evening, or?"

"Now, Sunset."

Sunset put on a frown. "Don't you have day court and other formal functions now though?"

"It can wait, this is clearly more important," Celestia stated, flaring her wings.

"Right, but," Sunset said while gesturing between herself and Cadance. "We are both busy now, it makes more sense to do it this evening."

She could practically see the thoughts rolling through Celestia's head, especially when she noticed her glancing towards Cadance briefly. Celestia was not one to cancel day court for no reason, but she took the contents of the restricted section quite seriously; Sunset had first hand experience of that.

But Sunset knew she had toppled Celestia; she had not expected this revelation, if Sunset had to guess, her own casual demeanour had been disarming. While the information and material from there was dangerous, there was no current threat to speak of.

"Very well," Celestia eventually let out, folding her wings against her sides. "But we will speak of this matter! I shall send for you later this evening when I have an opening."

Sunset nodded. "Will do," she replied, while finishing up the last of her juice.

To say the mood at the table was tense was an understatement, thankfully everyone was just about done. Sunset got up shortly after Cadance and left the room, she already had her saddlebags with her as she'd prepared in advance, so she headed towards the castle's main entrance.

As the two went separate ways, Sunset briefly heard Cadance mutter to herself: "What the buck was that?"

Cadance trotted down the Canterlot road from the castle, Sunset by her side. Getting invited to do some shopping had come out of nowhere, she wasn't entirely sure what was going on. She had thought Sunsets behaviour yesterday had been odd, sure, but she had assumed it to be a matter of the unicorn just not being herself. She had fully expected her to go back to her usual grumpy self the very next day.

Glancing at the mare that was humming as she was trotting by her side, it was quite clear to Cadance that her expectations had been cleanly flung from the side of Canterlot itself. She was half wondering if she should voice her thoughts to the unicorn, but on the other hoof... It was nice, having somepony that didn't treat her like royalty.

"What's on your mind?"

Cadance almost stumbled in surprise from the sudden question. "Er, nothing, I was just thinking."

"I could tell, your head was clearly in the clouds," Sunset said with a snicker.

"Yes, well, I didn't expect us two to do be doing something like this," Cadance huffed.

Sunset got a thoughtful expression on her face as she replied. "Yeah, I suppose. I didn't really plan for this either. But it's been a while since I have been out shopping, and doing so with friends is always better."

Cadance quirked her head, since when did Sunset have friends? Or an even better question, since when were the two of them friends?

"Of course, I think the stuff we are buying will be quite different, but hey, just means more time spent together, right?" Sunset smiled.

"Since when did you think of me as a friend Sunset?"

Sunset frowned and slowed down her walking a bit. "Well, since yesterday, truth be told. I know things were... rough before then. I wasn't exactly nice to you, and I'm sorry about that. But as long as you're willing to give this a try then I am too," Sunset smiled again.

A thought occurred to Cadance. "Celestia didn't put you up to this, did she?" It was hardly the first time her aunt had attempted such a thing, though usually that just made Sunset more frustrating to be with, not less.

Sunset shook her head. "No, though I'd imagine she would have if she could. She always asked me to go make some friends..." A forlorn expression crept onto Sunset's face as she looked off in the distance.

Cadance quietly sighed, it was hard to come to terms with just how different Sunset acted. If Celestia hadn't put her up to it, then why was she acting so different? Not to mention, she still hadn't quite gotten over the exchange at breakfast.

"You should try something on too, you know?" Cadance called from halfway across the store. Sunset could only sigh.

Her eyes travelled across the store filled to the brim with dresses, many of them the height of fashion and quite stunning in their own right. But Sunset had realised as soon as she put foot inside the store that she was spoiled rotten.

Oh sure, all the works in the store were wonderful, and certainly worth their price. But none of them held a candle to a unique one of a kind dress designed specifically for her. Rarity had always offered to make them dresses for any fancy gathering, and because she knew how all her friends looked and what their personalities were, the dresses she made were not only unique, but also truly fitting for the person wearing it.

Sunset had gotten used to it, there was no other way to put it. Her hoof mindlessly trailed a wonderful white and yellow dress, it would have been a nice fit for a gala or garden party. But now? Sunset didn't even care to try it on, it's not like she minded going au natural, she was a pony now after all.

"Well, what do you think?" Cadance voice came, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Glancing over towards what could loosely be considered a changing room, Cadance stood in a beautiful teal dress. It matched her coat surprisingly well, Sunset reasoned. It helped that the alicorn wore a ribbon in both her mane and tail in a similar shade.

"You look lovely," Sunset complimented with a smile.

Cadance had clearly not expected high praise, a small blush arising on her cheeks. "Do you think I should get it?"

"Well, now that is something I can't answer for you, your highness," Sunset smirked. "I never had much of a sense for fashion, I often left that up to... someone else. But it complements your colours nicely."

Cadance put a hoof to her face, as if in deep thought. Sunset could only smile more, Cadance hardly acted how royalty was expected to, but in some ways, that was just endearing; in fact, it reminded her a bit of how Princess Twilight acted.

"I think I will then, but what about you Sunset? You haven't tried a single thing since we stepped inside this store."

"Ah, well," Sunset looked away, dragging her hoof across the ground. "I could probably use some formal wear but... nothing really stands out to me."

"Surely there has to be something? Come on, I'll help you try something on."

Some half hour later, Sunset reluctantly found herself outside the store, having picked up the white and yellow dress after all, at Cadance's behest.

Cadance stopped, she had lost Sunset. She wasn't entirely sure when, she had been too caught up in her own thoughts. Glancing back, she quickly spotted the amber mare among the crowd of ponies shuffling about the busy streets of Canterlot. It seemed like some store had caught her attention. With curiosity Cadance made her way back towards her companion, clothes really didn't seem to be Sunset's thing, so it had to be something else that had caught her eyes.

Curiosity turned into confusion as Cadance came closer and could make out the store, it was a pet shop. While keeping pets wasn't unheard of, it was still quite uncommon in Equestria outside of more rural towns. Cities were no places for animals to roam about, and most ponies didn't have the heart to keep their animal companions cooped up inside all day.

Cadance's confusion only grew more as she took note of Sunset's features, she had tears in her eyes and one hoof placed on the glass window. Cadance would not have been one to guess that the unicorn was an avid animal lover, but clearly there were more surprises to be had this day. She carefully walked close and put a hoof on Sunset's back.

"Do you want to go inside?" Cadance asked, smiling gently.

"I... no. It's probably better if I don't," Sunset removed her hoof from the window and wiped the tears from her eyes with it. "Sorry."

"Is nothing to apologize for, though I can't say I'm not a little bit surprised."

Sunset took a deep breath before turning to Cadance, a smile now on her muzzle. "Shall we continue?"

It seemed like Sunset didn't want to talk about it, and Cadance wasn't sure if she wanted to push the matter.

Cadance nodded. "Sure."

As Sunset set off down the street, Cadance glanced inside the store window. Inside and against the window was a terrarium inhabited by several lizards of some kind.

Sunset pushed the door open and walked in. It was close to noon but she had finally found it; a store that sold magic reagents and components. Sunset couldn't even remember the last time she'd been out on a trip through Canterlot's shopping district. Even back when she actually lived in this time frame, she rarely ventured outside.

Thankfully it seemed like the store had the sort of components she was looking for, and better yet, the store was practically empty. Outside of the owner the only other pony inside was a pegasus that was eyeing up some of the dried herbs.

"This might take a while, so feel free to just look around," Sunset said, not even bother to turn to see if Cadance heard her.

First thing first, Sunset headed over to the bargain bin of gemstones. Unlike the human world, Equestria was positively overflowing in gemstones. It could be hard to locate places that were dense with gems, but once you did, you could set up a mining operation for several lifetimes.

Equestria was not in dire need of gems, what it was however in dire need of was industrialisation. Finding gems was easy, getting them up was another matter entirely. Most mining operations were handled by earth ponies, which wouldn't have been a issue on it's own--it was one third of the population after all--but ponies generally only went into fields that matched their special talent.

As such, while the earth was rich of gems, they still ended up being quite pricey and a luxury item. Ponies rarely wanted them anyway, outside of high class clothing and accessories, there were few use cases. One of which, and the reason Sunset was shovelling through a bin of them, was that they were good material to enchant.

Wood molded eventually, many metals corroded. Gems by contrast tended to last, even if they were sometimes brittle and fragile. Most ponies who could afford to buy the services of an enchanter probably also wanted to show it off, so she supposed that was also a factor in their popularity.

After digging around for a while Sunset had succeeded in fishing up five jades of varying sizes. The display on the side of the bin had listed those as the cheapest, and really, she only wanted something to practice on. Admittedly, her idea was a bit crazy. She and Twilight had experimented quite a bit with their pendants, not to mention magic in general. So while a lot of questions remained as to why they worked the way they did, they had eventually figured out most of the 'how'.

Still, trying to replicate how her pendant worked using rune crafting, a field she had previously merely read a book or two about, was a crazy idea. But once having it, Sunset couldn't get it out of her head. For better or worse, her crazy ability to see other's memories had become a part of her, she had to at least try! Even if it eventually turned out to be impossible, it was still worth the attempt; at least that's how she saw it.

Sunset approached the desk at the back end of the shop, floating the gems by her side. Magic reagent shops like these were always somewhat of a joy to just lose oneself in. It had eventually grown mundane to Sunset, but now? She revealed in the nostalgia. She had gotten most of what she came for, so she could now just lose herself in shelves of wondrous items.

There were gems, of course, but also shelves filled with magical tomes. Over by one end of the room there existed pre-enchanted items, all of them were probably minor ones, of course. In one corner there were dried herbs, another filled with vials of powders and ground up metals.

Sunset had to stifle a giggle at seeing an embarrassed looking Cadance standing and reading some of the books in the foals section. But then, Sunset could vaguely remember herself rushing to those when she was a foal herself, ready to dive deep into the world of magic. Cadance might just be a year or two younger than Sunset--truth be told she didn't really know their age difference--but to magic she was as inexperienced as a foal.

Placing the gems on the desk, she turned to face the shopkeeper. She also needed a few other things, but Sunset reasoned she had to special order those.

"Five low grade gems, I assume you want them surface prepared?" the unicorn behind the desk asked.

Sunset nodded. "That's the idea, I only need a smooth finished, but preferably on at least two sides if possible."

"Right, that should be doable, anything else?"

"Yeah, these are for practice, for the real thing I want something fancier, so I'm gonna custom order it."

The mare floated over a notepad and quill, seemingly getting ready to take notes. Sunset took this as a sign to start listing what she needed.

"So, singular gem, one sized surface prepared, the opposite side engraved with my cutiemark. Shape being circular with a decent margin of thickness between sides. It needs to be amber and-"

"You do realise amber is not a mineral, right?" The mare questioned, having stopped scribbling notes.

"Err, yeah, of course. It's just I want it in that colour, and I'm not really an expert on what gem I could get that looks that way."

"Right, I'm sure we can find something that matches that shade. I take it quality or rarity in gemstone is not a huge concern then?"

Sunset shok her head lightly. "No, not really. It needs to be durable, so nothing too fragile, but other than that I'm not too picky."

"That will make things easier... anything else?"

Sunset had to ponder the question for a few seconds, having lost her train of thought. "Oh, that's right! I also need a titanium chain, long enough to reach around my neck."

This caused the unicorn to look up at Sunset. "Do you have the paperwork with you?"

Sunset just blinked. "What?"

The shopkeeper let out a sigh. "You know, your paperwork? Not only is titanium incredibly expensive, we are not allowed to sell it to unauthorized ponies. If you're a magus you should already know this stuff."

Sunset could hear her mumble something else under her breath. "Err, no, not quite. But I'm Sunset Shimmer, Princess Celestia's apprentice. Just send a missive to the castle and I'm sure it can be sorted out."

The mare rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. Look, if you forgot to bring your papers, just say so, instead of coming up with something so far fetched."

Sunset would like to say that she was shocked, but it wasn't like every single pony in Equestria were obligate to know what she looked like, in fact, that'd be kinda creepy. Still, this was not a problem she expected to have, at least there was an easy solution.

Sunset lifted her hoof and gesture at the current only other occupant in the store; Equestria's latest princess. "If you want, you can take it up with her instead."

The mare's pupils shrunk as she realised just who were in her store, even more so when Cadance wave to the two of them from the other end of the store, a smile on her face.

"T-that won't be a problem Lady Shimmer, I'll have the missive sent as soon as possible and once cleared up, which I'm sure it will be, I will start making orders."

Sunset grunted, she didn't really like pulling rank, not anymore. But she certainly wanted something sturdy to carry her pendant, assuming she succeeded.

"That's fine, I'm sure it won't be an issue. If it is, just ignore that part of the order and get me everything else."

The mare nodded. "Right, was there anything else?"

Thinking about it, Sunset was pretty sure she had everything needed for a few practice attempts, as well as what she'd need for the final thing. As she absent mindedly glanced around the store something caught her eyes.

"Actually..." She started, as she floated over an aquamarine to the counter.

"Yes, this is perfect!" Sunset exclaimed, facing one of Canterlot's many stores.

Cadance glanced up and read the store's sign aloud. "The Silver Gauntlet."

Cadance turned her gaze down and in through the window. It was a clothing store, that much was evident from the outside, yet everything inside was so alien. It took her a bit before it finally clicked.

"Sunset, I'm pretty sure this is a griffon store..." she trailed off.

"I know!" Sunset grinned at her before opening the door with her magic and barging in.

Cadance was taken back a bit, but quickly came to her senses and followed Sunset inside the store. Everywhere her eyes looked there were clothes in some dark brown or black material, and if not that, then metal. Cadance hastened her steps to catch up to her companion.

"Since when has gauntlets been fashionable anyway?" Cadance let out, while gesturing at a nearby display.

"Since about four or five hundreds years ago Cadance, though it's more of a griffon thing."

"I'm gonna be honest, I didn't expect you of all ponies to have studied the history of fashion."

Sunset looked over to Cadance and rolled her eyes. "It's not really because of fashion, it would have come up if you studied griffon history."

Cadance had to admit, Sunset had peaked her curiosity. "Oh, then how did it become a thing?"

"Well, gauntlets were, and probably still are, one of the favoured weapons of griffons. It protects their legs and claws, while on the same time offer an edge when striking."

Cadance nodded along as the two of them ventured further into the story. She wasn't sure what exactly Sunset was looking for in here, but figured that she knew where she was going.

"It was quite common for high ranking military officers to keep them on while attending formal functions. Eventually it caught on, being seen as both a statement of wealth and power, silver being the most common for those meant solely as fashionable wear."

"Why silver?" Cadance chipped in.

"Well, I'm not fully sure, admittedly. But I believe it has to do with that griffons generally value it much higher than other metals. In Equestria gold is seen as the height, probably as an influence of Princess Celestia wearing it, and it matching her colours. But it's worth considering that perceptions of value differ in different societies and cultures."

It sort of made sense to Cadance, she hadn't really considered these things before. And come to think of it: It wasn't really surprising that Sunset knew about these type of things. The unicorn was quite a bit ahead of her in knowing high society, and that probably extended to diplomatic functions to. Celestia had once told her that one of the best ways to understand others is to understand their history. It shouldn't shock her that her aunt had imparted the same wisdom to her student at some time in the past.

A whistle came from their side. "It's nice to see that at least some ponies know what's up when it comes to these sort of things," a new voice chipped in.

Glancing over to her side, Cadance took in a well statured griffon lady; at least she thought it was a lady. Cadance couldn't really tell just by looking, having not seen one before. They were predominantly black, with white wing feathers and hair.

"So, what can I help you fine mares with?" The griffon continued.

"I'm looking for a jacket," Sunset answer.

"Oh, who's the lucky bird? Or perhaps you're getting one for yourself?"

"The latter in this case, I don't think I know any griffon," Sunset smiled.

The store attendant--and potential owner--did a double take and looked Sunset over. Meanwhile, Cadance just blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.

"It's a griffon store Sunset, I'm not sure they even have anything fit for ponies."

"No, no, we do," the attendant having snapped out of her stupor. They gestured somewhere deeper within the store and set off at a decent pace.

"While it's quite rare for ponies to be into griffon fashion, plenty of the griffons who decide to settle in Equestria choose to adopt. It's lead to some mixed families and cultures, so there are a fair few of ponies who want to feel closer to their adopted parents or siblings," the attendant spoke, before turning to face Sunset.

"Though, seeing as I haven't heard or seen you before, I take it that might not be your case?"

Sunset nodded. "You're right, it's not. I just happened to like the aesthetic of leather."

Cadance could feel the colour drain from her face as she did a double take at all the clothes in the store. "You mean these things are made out of hide?"

"What, no, of course not," Sunset let out before the attendant could speak up. "Selling anything made out of real leather in Equestria is highly illegal. And given that this store operates right in the center of Canterlot... that should tell you that they couldn't possibly offer something like that."

"She is correct, your highness. Everything in our store is made out of faux leather, things made to replicate the look and feel of the real thing. Even if it wasn't a legal issue, Griffonstone's rising population would have made it all but impossible to keep up with the demand if we were to use the real thing."

Cadance let out a breath she wasn't aware she had been holding. Of course she knew griffons were carnivores, but it was hard to sometimes think through all the implications of that. She eyed the clothes more wearily, she could see the resemblance now, and frankly it made her sick. She had known some of the cows back in her old village for Celestia's sake!

"In fact, I'm not even sure I would have wanted a jacket if it was made out of the real thing," Sunset finished.

"Mmm, it's understandable. Even the fake replication is something that is a bit too much for most ponies. It's why we are upfront about serving mostly a griffon clientèle. A few similar stores in the past had the issue of unaware ponies walking in and throwing up upon realisation what they were gazing at."

"Yeah, I can see that. It took a while before I got used to it myself if I'm being honest," Sunset answered, seemingly having no issue keeping up conversation with the griffon, nor everything that surrounded the three of them.

Cadance could only stare at Sunset, she knew the unicorn to be odd and off-putting. But the last twenty four hours had been somewhat of a roller-coaster of revelations and change in behaviour. The fact that she had no issue with something that looked so close to another beings hide or coat was bad enough, but that she wanted to wear it? Revolting.

"Here we are, these jackets were made for pony proportions. If something doesn't quite fit, then we can either attempt to make some light tweaks, or we could have a new one made to your measurements. Though, keep in mind that it could take a while before we have it ready."

"I'm sure I'll find something that I both like and fits," Sunset responded, head already in the rack.

"You can't be seriously consider getting something like this Sunset," Cadance said, having decided to voice her displeasure in the notion.

Sunset just shrugged as she kept studying the awful garments. "And why couldn't I? It's what I like, and it's not as if I don't have the bits to spend."

Cadance did not manage to convince Sunset otherwise, as just short half hour later the found themselves outside of the store, Sunset happily carrying her new jacket in bag at her side.

Sunset let out a sigh at finally being able to sit down. She was quite used to being up and about these days, but it was quite clear that her body several years ago sure wasn't. She really should look into getting some form of exercise in, rather than just running magic experiments constantly for the foreseeable future; despite how tempting that notion was.

"Isn't this a bit plain?" Came Cadance's voice, as she sat down opposite to her.

The café Sunset had picked out in the commerce district of Canterlot was not remarkable in any manner. There were plenty of high class restaurants and cafés nearby, yet she held no love for such things.

Sunset couldn't help but snicker. "That's kind of the point," she brought her hoof up in a sweeping motion. "Think about it, you can have anything fancy made for you by the castle chefs whenever you want. But tell me this Cadance, when was the last time you had some honest to harmony common food?"

When the realisation hit Cadance Sunset could practically see her face lit up as she lifted the menu with great vigour. Sunset had never been big on fancy food, sure, she didn't exactly mind it; but it also wasn't something she desired. Celestia was honestly the same, at least that's what Sunset figured, she just had an image to keep up. While the castle cooks were some of the best in their profession, Celestia--when not insisting on cooking her own food--had always made it a point to have them make something lesser unless it was an event.

But lesser than the most refined Equestria had to offer was still far away from the common food most ponies ate or even craved. The noble's would probably have a field day if they knew Celestia regularly snuck out to have cake or the fact that she often just cooked her own breakfast. Frankly Sunset would probably not have suspect the regent's escapades herself... had she not been invited to join her when she was younger.

"Oh, they have coffee," Sunset proclaimed. She hadn't ever taken to it back when she lived in Equestria, too stuck in a tea mindset; as was most of Canterlot, coffee was fairly new there.

"What's coffee?" Cadance asked.

"You never heard of it even?"

"I can't say I have, but there is a lot of things ponies eat here in Canterlot that I hadn't even heard of back home."

"I'll order an extra cup and you can try some, I'm a big fan," or addict Sunset added in her mind. Having a cup every morning kinda sets up a dependency.

The two mares placed their orders with the slightly frazzled server, likely on account of serving a princess, before diving back into their conversation.

"I have a few places left I want to check out, but I think I finally have all the clothes I'll need going forwards," Cadance smiled as she finished.

Sunset couldn't help but snicker, she really didn't know what she had gotten herself into.

Cadance smile faltered. "What?"

Sunset put a hoof to her mouth. "No, it's just... If you were just any pony, you'd be absolutely right Cadance. But noble ponies change their wardrobes more often than the season, you're likely expected to wear something new and fashionable at every event."

Sunset had to stifle another laugh at Cadance's long face. "I suspect that this is why Princess Celestia attends most events in just her regalia; it simplifies things."

"That's..." Cadance closed her eyes and put her two front hooves against her forehead before letting out a groan. "I'm getting so tired of all these unspoken rules and expectations."

Sunset just chuckled at her companion before her eyes caught their server returning with their order. Sunset didn't even let them set it all down before she levitated her cup of coffee over and taking a deep sip. She would probably have drowned in the bliss of the taste if it weren't for the fact that it was scalding hot.

Cadance sighed, putting her hooves back down and focused on her meal. "That aside, were there any more stores you wanted to go to Sunset? I know I could do with picking up a few books so I have something to read that isn't a legal document or spell tome."

"There are two more things I was hoping to pick up, one being an alarm clock, the second being a coffee machine."

"A coffee machine, is that really a good idea?"

"Hmm now that you mention it, that might not fit inside my room. I don't know how big the Equestrian models are."

"That's not really what I meant..." Cadance trailed off.

Equestria had a lot of comforts thanks to magic, but when it came to technology they were quite a bit behind her previous home. She knew that most technology often started big, just to get it going. Then over time ideas would be iterated on to cut down in size and add more features.

Granted, there was no reason to think that a coffee machine upheld that principle, but she also hadn't exactly studied the history of the device. But considering what such a device did... it shouldn't be that massive; assuming she could find one at all. Worse come to wear, she'd either have to build one herself or have a servant fetch a cup from the kitchen.

"Why do you need an alarm clock anyway?"

"Oh, that's simple: if I have one then Cloud Thorn don't need to wake me up every morning."

"...Who's Cloud Thorn?"

"Oh, the, umm, maid that is assigned to the wing of the castle my room is located in... I think."

Cadance just stared at Sunset, an odd look on her face. "What?" Sunset questioned.

"Nothing," Cadance replied, taking a sip of her juice.

Sunset rolled her eyes before returning to her food. If Cadance didn't want to share whatever thought she had, then so be it. In fact, Cadance had given her odd looks all day, what was that about anyway? Sure, she could understand the faux leather creeping her out, it did for most ponies, but she had been doing it since well before they stepped foot in that store.

"Oh, that's right. There's something that's been on my mind which I was wondering if you could clear up for me Sunset?"

"Sure, don't see why not," a smile returning to her lips, she wasn't sure if that was because of Cadance or the coffee if she was being perfectly honest.

"I never really got it, but is something going on between you and Cele-" Cadance didn't get to finish saying whatever was on her mind.

"Well, well, well; if it isn't Sunset Shimmer!" A loud voice exclaimed, forcing it's way into the conversation.

Sunset turned her head and glanced to the right, on the other side of the barrier that separated the outdoor seating from the street stood a pony. She had decerned it to be a mare from voice alone, but putting a face to it helped. The mare had a light blue coat, her mane a very washed out blue, almost white, complimented with a dark blue streak.

Sunset was about to speak up, the obvious question being who this mare was; she didn't get the chance.

"Time upon time me and the girls invite you out to have some fun in Canterlot, yet we get turned down every, single, time," the mare was practically snarling. "But I suppose for the 'prestigious' Sunset Shimmer, only a princess is good enough company!"

Cadance glanced between the strange mare and Sunset. "Do you know her?"

Sunset could only sink down in her chair staring at the intruder. It was very possible that this was a pony Sunset once knew, though it was unlikely they had been close. She could still name one or two nobles as well as plenty of the teachers and lecturers from her old school. But outside of that? There were few ponies Sunset remembered the names of, even less their faces.

"Err... maybe?" Sunset finally responded, she could hear the awkwardness in her own tone.

It probably didn't help that she could not place the mare's look or cutiemark to anyone in the alternate reality.

"Don't tell me..." The strange mare continued, raising a hoof and pointed it towards Sunset. "You don't even remember me, do you?"

Sunset put on a fake smile and chuckled. "Not really?"

The mare let out a loud groan. "Figures."

Cadance returned to her own food as best as she could, glancing wearily between the two. That was smart, Sunset wish she had that option, but clearly her past self had been quite rude... again. She knew that she had turned down any and all requests to spend time with others back when she studied under Celestia, she just struggled to remember quite the extent of it all.

Sunset sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, alright. I know I'm not exactly the nicest pony around, and I have been quite focused on my studies prior to now. Truthfully, I don't remember what I said to you, but maybe we can start over?"

The mare seemed visibly shocked at her proclamation, something that reminded Sunset of just how bad her reputation here actually was. It would be a different experience from the student body of CHS after the fall formal; but potentially equally unpleasant.

"You... you apologised?"

Sunset flinched.

"Huh, I didn't think I'd see the day," the mare mumbled.

"So, aren't you going to introduce yourself?" Cadance chirped. "After all, you interrupted our lunch."

The mare had the decency to look apologetic as she meet Cadance's eyes. "Sorry your highness, it's just... I got a bit carried away I guess. My name is Minuette."

The name didn't sound familiar to Sunset, but then, she doubted it would. "To be perfectly honest, this is the first time I have gone out for any shopping in quite some time. I already had or have access to all the books I need, so it doesn't come up very often."

Sunset turned to face Cadance and gestured towards her. "Plus, Princess Cadance needed to pick up a few things as well, so it made sense to go together."

Minuette nodded. "I suppose that makes sense," she glanced between Sunset and Cadance. "I should probably go... I'd say see you at school Sunset, but you graduated early."

Sunset nodded, that sounded accurate; she had stopped going in for lectures more than half a year before departing, instead taking only lessons from Celestia.

"If you ever need me though, feel free to drop by the castle. I know I have been a pain in the flank in the past, but I'm trying to be better," Sunset said.

This seemed to shock Minuette even more, who slowly nodded in reply. "It was nice meeting you- both of you," she said, giving Cadance a polite bow before trotting off.

Sunset waved goodbye before turning to Cadance, who had gone back to eating, presumedly quite some time ago.

"So, that just happened..."

Cadance just snorted, before quickly swallowing the rest of her sandwich. "You keep weird company Sunset."

"I don't think I even know her Cadance."

"And yet you offered her to stop by whenever she pleases?"

The question hung in the air as Sunset returned to her food. She was way more out of her depth in the life she had stepped back into than she'd have thought.

The sun was already starting to set by the time the two of them returned to the castle. Cadance had ended up purchasing so much that Sunset had to eventually start carrying some of the bags for her. The guards at the gate parted for them as they trotted in.

Cadance let out a sigh. "It's going to be so nice to just take a warm bath."

Sunset snickered. "That does sound like it would be nice, being out and about all day can be tiring."

"Oh, don't tell me the great Sunset Shimmer is tired out from something as trivial as this," Cadance said while giving Sunset a nudge.

"Yeah, I'm more out of shape than I thought," Sunset smiled.

Getting back into shape would take a while, the question was if she had time to dedicate to something like that. Ideally she would figure out a way to get back to her own time. Of course... without knowing how she got here, it was very likely that there simply wasn't any way to do so.

Sunset frowned, she hadn't ever really spent much of any time researching temporal magic. There certainly existed ways to manipulate time, she was twice proof of that at this point; but that didn't mean she understood the specifics. Plus, there was no guarantee that whatever magic mishap dumped her here wasn't one way.

"Is everything okay?"

Sunset snapped out of her thoughts. "Huh?"

"It's just... I'm sorry if I insulted you about being out of shape," Cadance said with a frown of her own.

"Oh! No, I don't mind, it's kind of true. I just have other things on my mind."

"Ah, well, alright."

Cadance was shuffling about and practically biting her lips. Sunset resisted the urge to roll her eyes, she was way too worried about offending her. It kinda sucked to constantly have to deal with people reminding her of how awful she had been in the past, no matter if it was deserved or not. But at this point Sunset had grown kind of used to it; it hardly bothered her.

Cadance came to a halt in the foyer. "I was... I was wondering if you'd want to maybe join me for tea tomorrow evening?"

Sunset came to a halt and turned to look at Cadance. She hadn't exactly expected the alicorn to want to spend any more time with her than necessary, especially considering their history and what she put her through yesterday. It made Sunset feel slightly bad for talking her into joining herself out in the city earlier.

She realised she hadn't replied when Cadance started fidgeting with her front hooves. "Sure, that sounds lovely," she said with a smile.

Cadance returned the smile and continued off further into the castle. The two of them barely made it out of the foyer before a guard trotted up and stopped them.

"Lady Shimmer, Princess Celestia is expecting you in the state office at seven. I was told to inform you as soon as you returned."

Sunset stared at the guard for a second before nodding. The guard offered a quick salute to Cadance before cantering off. Glancing about for the nearest clock Sunset eyes widened; there was only a couple of minutes left till seven o'clock.

"I'll talk to you later Cadance, I gotta run!"

She took off in a gallop, without waiting for a reply she dropped Cadance's bags on the floor. She wanted to put away her own bags in her room before her talk with Celestia, so she'd have to make good time if she didn't want to be late. A few of the castle staff gave her odd looks as she dashed past, but she ignored them.

Turning the final corner Sunset barely had time to come to halt before colliding with a maid. Said maid was just about to close the door to Sunset's room, clearly on the way out. Her eyes widened from seeing Sunset almost barrelling into her.

Sunset voiced a quick out of breath apology. "Sorry."

"It's- it's alright," the shock was clear in her voice.

Sunset looked the mare over quickly, she had a bright green coat and lemon-lime mane. What had she been doing in her room anyway? Sunset opened her door with her magic and quickly dumped her saddle bags and shopping bags just inside before closing it again.

"So, um, what were doing in my room?"

The maid who had already started to trot off turned back to face her. "Oh, right, I suppose you might not know. I was checking the piping."

"The... piping?" Sunset frowned.

"Yeah, it's a routine check we do once a year. Not all at the same time, mind, but we make sure to check every suite yearly. While we of course expect guests and inhabitants to report any issues or failures, it's better to catch these things before we have a water leakage," she said with a smile.

"I guess that makes sense..."

In truth, it sounded a bit far-fetched. She half wondered if it was a cover story as to have someone search her room for more books from the restricted section. Sunset shook her head, she did not have time for this.

"I need to go," she spook briefly to the maid before taking off as fast as she could towards the other end of the castle.

The maid simply shrugged before heading down the hallway.

Celestia looked up from the papers on her desk as Sunset closed the door behind herself. She was a few minutes late and looked a bit out of breath.

"Do you need a minute?"

This wasn't going to be a pleasant meeting, she had quite a few pointed questions and strong words for the unicorn. But even so, that did not mean it had to be unpleasant in other ways.

Sunset sat down on the floor in front of her desk and shook her head. "I'm fine, I'll catch my breath eventually."

Celestia frowned, onto the subject at hoof then. "As I'm sure you're aware, the books and other items in the restricted section are there for a good reason. They were deemed for one reason or another to not be fit for public viewing," she put on a frown and leaned forwards a bit. "So perhaps then, you can explain how you managed to get your hoof on them."

Sunset licked her lips as the question hung in the air. "Well, I retrieved them from the restricted section to read in my room."

"And exactly how did you manage that, I wonder? The restricted section has quite a few wards and seals on it precisely so not just anyone can trot in."

Sunset frowned. "I... don't recall having any issue going in. Granted, it's been... some time, since I was last in there."

Celestia narrowed her eyes. "Last? You mean to say this wasn't the first time?" She had to hold back her anger, Sunset should have known better.

"It wasn't no. Like I said, I didn't have any issues coming and going. I guess I just assumed I had your permission, but given that we are sitting here, I suppose you did, in fact, not approve."

"I did not, no."

Celestia let the unicorn sit and stew as she considered her own thoughts, this was all highly irregular. She had half expected Sunset to not even show, half expected her to be angry and confrontational, and yet... the unicorn in front of her looked extremely calm.

She knew Sunset didn't feel challenged in her magical studies, so her sneaking into the forbidden section was hardly the biggest surprise. She wasn't ready for such topics of study though, not with her temper. Celestia had hoped that she would go out and get some friends, to better center her emotions and desires. Yet somehow, today had been the day that she decided to do so, curious.

She was brought out of her thinking by Sunset clearing her throat. "Yes?"

Sunset frowned lightly. "I just realised something, your highness: if I had no issue accessing the restricted section, the wards could very well be faulty or have been tampered with."

Celestia blinked. "You're right... I'll have to get somepony to look into that." Sunset smiled, seemingly happy with the response.

"I guess the matter how you got in is ultimately irrelevant, as long as you know not go in there again in the future; have I made myself clear?"

Sunset took a moment before eventually nodding. "Perfectly."

Good, she was taking this at least somewhat seriously then. "Of course, the matter of these tomes themselves are highly concerning;" Celestia continued, levitating the offending objects from her desk. "I take it you read them?"

Sunset glanced at the books, seemingly reading the titles. "I, yeah," she answered, before following up with something else under her breath.

"Perhaps then, you could enlighten me as to their contents? It would make a good lesson for why some things are not meant for all eyes. I'd also like to know what your thoughts were when you selected these volumes."

Sunset seemed to freeze up, before eventually letting out a deep sigh and looking away. "Princess, do you want a convenient lie, or the truth?" It was as if she was struggling to get the words out.

Celestia rolled her eyes and let the books come to rest on her desk again. "The truth Sunset, you're not a foal anymore; I expect you to conduct yourself properly."

Sunset sighed again, still not meeting her eyes. "I don't remember."

Celestia had to sit there for a few seconds before it registered. "What do you mean you don't remember? I thought we agreed on that honesty would be the best approach here."

Sunset scoffed before meeting her eyes again. "That's just it princess, it is the truth. It's why I asked if you wanted a convenient lie instead. I already gave you the books, and we are both acutely aware that you did not approve of me having them. It would be easier to go on a tirade about how much I deserve to have read them, or likewise, I could have spun a tale about how I'm ready for whatever contents is in those books."

Sunset closed her eyes and put her front hoof on her forehead. "It would have been so easy. Sure, I would have gotten in trouble over the former, and you would have been upset. But you can't sit there and say that wouldn't have believed me if I did," Sunset opened her eyes and meet Celestia's gaze head on.

Celestia wasn't sure how to respond, it wasn't as if Sunset didn't have a point. In many ways, the scenario she painted up was certainly something she would have believed from the unicorn at this point. Yet posing that she didn't remember? It was preposterous. Still, Sunset was clearly going somewhere with this, she'd play along and see where that was.

"You do realise how silly the notion is that you don't remember the contents of these books, right?" Celestia asked while tapping the stack with her hoof.

"Yeah, I'm fully aware of that, but it is the truth. It was... some time since I read them, at least I'm pretty sure I read them."

Celestia grunted. "And obviously you can't be disproved, it's not as I can just look at your memories to see your innocence."

Sunset froze up, before putting her hoof against her chin. "Actually... that should be possible."

Celestia could only blink in disbelief. "Sunset, you should be well aware that magic that interact with the minds of others is highly illegal."

Sunset winced. "I... yeah, you're right. I guess I just... never mind," she looked away.

Celestia was so tempted to get up from behind the desk, walk over, and put her hoof on Sunset's shoulder; but she didn't, it wasn't the kind of thing that was proper to do.

She cleared her throat. "Sunset, while I'm... touched, that you'd allow me to do something so invasive just to prove your innocence, you should know I'd never ask something like that from you."

Sunset chuckled, not meeting her eyes again. "I guess it was a silly notion."

Celestia took a breath, where to from here? Something was so, so, very wrong with all of this, yet she couldn't put her hoof on what.

"So to summarise, you have no idea as to how you managed to get into the restricted section. Not only that, you also don't remember any of the material from there that you read, is that about right?"

Sunset gave her a nod.

"What of previous incursions, which books did you take at those?"

"Ah, well-"

"Let me guess, you don't remember those either, do you?"

Sunset looked at her oddly before eventually nodding. "Yeah."

Celestia let out a tsk. If she didn't know better, she'd think her student had contracted amnesia. But no, there would be more things wrong if that was the case, not a suspiciously specific lack of memory. The most obvious answer was that Sunset was simply lying to her face, something that she wouldn't put past the unicorn.

Yet, that did not feel right either. Sunset didn't have any of her normal tells as to lying; not that her manners were anything but abnormal. Besides, it was as Sunset herself pointed out; she could very easily have crafted a much better lie that would have been more believable.

"So, uh, now what?" Sunset asked while massaging one of her front hooves over the other.

Celestia frowned. "I'm not sure, this is highly irregular..." She cleared her throat. "Know that should not go into the restricted section, and if I ever find out you have been sneaking in there again there will be sever consequences."

Sunset nodded.

"Furthermore..." She trailed off.

To be honest, Celestia didn't know exactly where she was going with this. She was going to have Sunset write a report on the dangers of the restricted magic; something that was impossible if she didn't remember any of it. Yet she couldn't simply not punish the unicorn for this.

"Yes?" Sunset asked.

"I'll have to rescind our bi-weekly lessons together, we'll keep them to one a week for the next few months."

Celestia smiled to herself, this was perfect. There were so few things Sunset cared about, but their lessons together was one of them. Maybe now she would take the time to think things over and not do something so out there as to take books from the restricted section.

Sunset let out a sigh of contentment. "Yeah, that sounds fair."

Celestia froze and stared at the unicorn. Sunset looked the pinnacle of relaxation, as if this didn't even phase her. She had been so sure that Sunset would blow a lid over this and start lashing out with her tongue.

"If that is all, I should probably get going," Sunset said while getting up on her hooves again. She got ready to leave before meeting Celestia's eyes with a smile.

"...Yes, that's alright. I don't think there was anything else unless there was something you wanted to bring up; you're excused Sunset," her brain still not being caught up to the notion that Sunset wasn't in the slightest bothered by a reduction in magic lessons.

Sunset turned around and slowly walked towards the door.

"Actually," Sunset said, stopping just a few steps towards the exit.

"Yes?" Celestia asked while blinking.

"There were a few things, now that I think about it," she turned around to face her again.

"Oh?"

"The first being... you might receive a missive some time in the near future. I was out buying some magic components earlier today and... well, it turns out titanium is quite regulated," Sunset let out an awkward chuckle.

Celestia had to once again frown, titanium had quite a few special uses, not to mention being extremely rare, which begged the question: "What do you need titanium for Sunset?"

"I don't actually need it for anything, it just happens to be really durable so I want it as necklace chain."

Celestia had to resist the urge to bring her hoof to her face. "You do realise that is an extremely wasteful use of something so rare, right? Not to mention incredibly expensive."

"Yes, well, it's not like I was doing anything with all the bits from my stipend," Sunset gestured with her hoof in the air.

"That's... well, alright, I don't think that should be a problem."

There were plenty of less experienced unicorns that could just freely buy the material, so allowing Sunset to do so shouldn't be a problem. It did sound like an excuse though, she'd have to remember to look into what Sunset actually did with it later.

"Thanks," Sunset smiled. "Next, well, it's about my studies under you."

Oh, was this it, was she finally going to snap? Maybe it had just taken her a moment or two for it all to sink in.

"I don't actually remember what we were focusing on last, but I'd like to change our lesson plans. I'm itching to give rune crafting a try."

Celestia had to take a moment to process what she said. "You want to... try your hoof at enchanting?"

Sunset nodded.

Enchanting wasn't a very popular field among unicorns. Unless a pony had a talent for or related to it, then it was unlikely they'd study much of it. There was one exception though; most powerful unicorns would pick up one or two enchanting fields as they got older. Many wanted to leave some sort of mark upon Equestria that would survive long past their time.

"Aren't you a bit too young to worry about legacy?"

Sunset frowned. "What, no? I just have an idea that I want to try, and I already have some reading material on the subject prepared in my room."

"Oh, yes, I suppose that makes more sense."

"So, can we change track?"

Celestia sighed. "Sure," she said, it wasn't as if Sunset was taking any strides in making any friends anyway. There was only so much nagging she could do to get the unicorn to engage with her fellow ponies; she had just ignored her suggestions anyway, locking herself into her room and studying.

She frowned and glanced at the tomes still sitting on the desk; it was even more problematic than she had thought. Maybe this would be for the best for now, she'd have to think of some other way to get Sunset to engage with others.

"And lastly," Sunset frowned.

Celestia turned her attention back to her student. "Yes?"

Sunset fidgeted. "Well, it's about Cadance."

Celestia groaned, she knew yesterday could potentially come back and bite her in the flank. Sunset looked at her oddly, reminding her to compose her expression again.

"It's been on my mind, so I feel like I should ask. Why are you teaching her personally anyway? She's practically a novice at magic."

This conversation, again. Her student had been acting weird lately, but if there was any doubt as to the identity of the pony before her, then this inquiry promptly disperse those.

"Cadance is an alicorn and a princess, Sunset. There are plenty of things only I can teach her; I have told you as much before, on multiple occasions even."

"Well, sure, but magic is not one of them. She's not any more advanced than a school filly when it comes to using her horn. Considering how busy you are it makes no sense as to why you'd tutor her personally, there are plenty of ponies at your school that could fill that role for her."

She could feel herself getting worked up. "Yes, perhaps I should do away with all my time wasters, no sense in teaching magic to anypony when there are plenty of experts to do so," she raised her eyebrow. She couldn't help being snippy, it was really tiresome to constantly have to have this argument.

"I..." Sunset looked away. "To be honest, I'm not sure why you take the time for me either, not when you got a country to run."

Celestia rubbed her forehead with her hoof while sighing. "It's not about the magic Sunset."

Perhaps she could get out of this by other means. "But, seeing as you brought it up Sunset. You're indeed right, there are plenty of skilled unicorns at my school that could more or less teach my niece."

"In fact, since you brought up the subject, I'll take it that you're volunteering? I seem to remember somepony graduating early and having plenty of time on her hooves," a grin spread on her muzzle as Sunset's pupils shrunk. "I'll talk to Cadance at the next opportunity and let her know about the new arrangement," she chuckled.

"I- alright," Sunset managed to get out.

She wouldn't actually force Cadance into such an arrangement, but it was a good threat she could lean on. Of course, the two of them had been on at least talking terms lately, so she'd have to at least give her niece the choice.

"If there was nothing else, I have some more paperwork to conclude Sunset, not to mention forbidden magic tomes to return."

Sunset just weakly nodded and walked out the room, closing the door behind her. Celestia meanwhile let out a breath.

It wasn't until now, a while later, that she could properly process the meeting. Sure, Sunset hadn't acted like she expected her to; but there was more to it than that. 'It was almost as if... hmm,' she couldn't help but feel that she had been out maneuvered. But that didn't make much sense, Sunset was not above lying, that much was true.

But she had quite the temperament, and using subversion was rarely, if ever, something she did. She was more likely to brashly proclaim what she felt she deserved, or directly tell ponies to their face how much she despised them. The latter had happened at multiple times at formal events, to the point where she didn't trust Sunset to attend them anymore.

Sunset was the opposite of a savvy diplomat, and yet, it was almost as if she had gotten exactly what she wanted out of their exchange. Celestia felt a rising unease from the realization; she'd have to talk to somepony about her, get a second opinion.

Sunset yawned as she finally reached her room again, the day had been too long. Getting saddled with tutoring Cadance was less than ideal, but there wasn't much she could do about it now other than grumble. At least the exchange with Celestia had gone mostly alright.

She had taken her evening meal on her lonesome, the two alicorns clearly busy with their own devices. Knowing that she'd most likely get waken up early the next morning to, she figured she'd turn in early and get some decent rest.

She pushed the door open to her room and walked in, almost tripping on her bags that she'd just dumped there. She let out a swear; she should probably have dealt with those earlier. She lifted the bags in her magic grip and stuffed them by her desk; she could unpack tomorrow. She turned to her bed and was just about to turn in when she froze.

Straight above her bed was what could best be described as a circular floating crack. It had a light purple glow to it while the inside was almost perfectly black. Walking closer and around it, it seemed no bigger than a lemon in size.

Sunset gulped, clearly she wasn't getting any sleep tonight.

Author's Note

Whew, sorry for taking so long on this one. I was struggling to get a lot of the scenes to end up where I wanted them to be, in fact, I'm still not happy with a few of them. I'll need to move on for now though, and if need be I'll go back and re-write them when I'm more experienced.

This chapter is a bit all over the place, but hopefully it's been worth the wait. I know a lot of you guys have been quite excited about this story, and I want to at least try to live up to those expectations. Though I make no promises about what direction the tale will take. :raritywink:

Not really a spoiler, but a detail in this chapter that might not have been evident from the text alone: Shouldn't Minuette be Twilight's age? Which might be food for thought.

Special thanks to Perfectly Insane for helping with pre-reading! :yay:

Chapter 4 - Dangerous Sunshine

Chapter 4
Dangerous Sunshine

Sunset groaned, even expecting it, waking up early was never a pleasant experience for her. The knocking on the door, however, would not relent; something that was expected given professional level the castle staff operated under. She shuffled about to get up on her hooves, wincing in the process. Her body being sore in several places should hardly surprise her, having spent the night basically sleeping on the floor.

She sighed as she made her way over and opened the door, stretching her neck to get the kinks out in the process.

"Morning Cloud Thorn," Sunset said while suppressing a yawn.

The mare in question just blinked and stared at Sunset.

"What?"

Cloud shook her head. "Nothing Lady Shimmer."

"Right, well. Going forwards you don't need to wake me up anymore."

Sunset levitated over her newly purchased alarm clock.

"I picked this up yesterday, which should save the headache for both of us."

"I see..." Cloud glanced at the clock. "I'll make note of it then and not wake you up in the future."

Sunset turned around and floated the clock over to her desk, she hadn't actually set it yet, predicting that she'd at least get a personal wake up call this morning as well. Her eye caught the weird floating ball of magic over her bed; it looked about the same as the day before.

She'd need to come up with a way to hide it if she couldn't figure out what it was and dispel it. The few magic scans she'd dared to run in her sleep deprived state the prior evening had revealed little. It was too complex to quickly discern what it did or its purpose... yet Sunset couldn't help but speculate that it had something to do with how she ended up in the past.

She'd need to take the day to dig up any relevant research she could possibly find, though she doubted she'd find anything substantial. Sunset hadn't exactly heard of anypony successfully time travelling outside of a closed loop... except for Starlight Glimmer that is. Even so, she never got all the details from Twilight's former student.

"If there was nothing else Lady Shimmer?"

Sunset turned to face Cloud again, she could feel a blush coming on from having completely forgotten about the maid.

"Oh, um, no; that will be all."

As the maid departed Sunset set off to get started with her day, a nice warm shower did sound lovely.

Cadance yawned as she sat down in her usual spot at the table. Yesterday had been surprisingly enjoyable, if a bit weird.

"Did Raven give you today's itinerary Cadance?"

Cadance looked up and met Celestia's eyes. "Yes, I left it in my room though."

Celestia nodded lightly. "That's fine. But just to go over it then..."

Cadance had to hold back a groan.

"We have a meeting to attend, both of us, likewise I need to have a personal meeting with you later this evening once I've taken care of my other duties... there are several things the two of us need to go over."

With a sigh she leaned against the table. "And we can't talk about any of them now?"

"I prefer to not mix my duties and spending time with those I care about."

Now that was a lie if Cadance had ever heard one.

"Very well aunt."

She wanted to make a remark about how she was the one bringing up work in the first place, but managed to restrain herself. It wasn't really Celestia's fault she was so swamped with work, running a kingdom was a lot of work... and not something Cadance was looking forward to engaging with herself.

Her eyes got drawn to a door opening and a familiar amber unicorn strolling in. Cadance almost chuckled at the bags under their eyes.

With a yawn Sunset sat down. "Morning Cadance, morning Princess."

Celestia shook her head, her lips curving slightly upwards. "Up late studying again?"

Sunset noticeably flinched at the remark. "Maybe a bit... it seemed important though."

Celestia hummed.

"In fact, I'll not be there for lunch most likely. I'll need to research a few things in the Starswirl The Bearded wing."

Celestia blinked. "I don't think Starswirl did the kind of enchanting you're trying to pick up."

Sunset smirked. "He might not, but there are works there by more authors than just him. There are a few interesting things I need to reference and look up."

Cadance wasn't sure if she should interrupt the discussion or not. She knew she'd heard the name Starswirl before, probably in her history classes, but she didn't know exactly who he was. Regardless, it was nice to see that Sunset was still her new, outgoing, self.

Instead she left the student and teacher to talk magic theory, turning her attention to a maid and ordering her breakfast. Knowing what a bore the rest of her day was likely going to be, she figure she'd treat herself.

"So, what is this meeting you wanted me to sit in on anyway?" Cadance asked the alabaster alicorn besides her, as the two of them were walking down one of the castle's many corridors.

"We are finishing up this years decisions in regards to general agriculture: You know, what food should be grown, where it should be grown, that sort of thing," Celestia smiled.

"That sounds... quite dull."

"Oh it is, don't get me wrong, I hold no joy for it. The entire process takes several days at least, all of which is spent with quibbling nobles and entrepreneurs. The best part is that when all is said and done, this year's planning will look remarkably like the one from the previous years!"

"...Great."

Celestia snickered, "That is the life of a princess, my dear niece."

"Some days I do wish I never grew this horn," Cadance grimaced. She considered poking her horn for effect, but decided against it; it was somewhat sensitive she had learned.

Cadance couldn't help but to glance at the interior décor of the halls they passed. Everything felt so over the top, to the point that it was a waste. She'd asked about it once, in which Celestia had said that it needed to be so, if only to make a statement to other nation's visiting diplomats. But she couldn't help to feel that all the priceless pottery, paintings, and silks that lined the halls were all just so passé. If she ever got the opportunity to dictate the castle's décor then she'd make it plain and easy on the eyes.

"So, what should I expect out of this meeting and what should I do?" Cadance asked, turning her head to face Celestia.

"Well, for today I just expect you to just sit in and listen. While you're a princess in title and technically you do have power, should you choose to use it, you're still new to everything relating to statecraft."

Celestia gave her an encouraging smile before continuing. "So this will mostly just be a learning experience. As for what to expect? Well, I suppose it will mostly be nobles bickering, of note is that Sir Blueblood is likely going to push something preposterous again, if rumours are to be trusted."

"Ugh," Cadance let out. "I met him a while back, his son is annoying enough to be around, and he himself seemed quite insistent on pushing us together."

Celestia frowned. "Yes, I have taken notice of that, try to ignore it as best as you can. Blueblood junior is quite the charming colt... though I suppose he's more of a stallion these days, where do the years go?"

Cadance scoffed. "Charming? I get that you're trying to see the best in all ponies aunt, but I find him insufferable."

Celestia grew quiet for a bit, her face growing more stoic. "Don't be so quick to judge those you don't know Cadance. Blueblood junior might not be the nicest pony to be around, but he's quite adept for his age. What you see at parties and events is a mask he puts on, and he would prefer not to."

"But why? If he didn't want to be a stuck up then he could just stop."

Celestia sighed. "It's not quite that simple, he's a noble. As such there are certain expectations placed upon his shoulders, especially since he's set to inherit the country's most powerful noble house one day; You're in many ways more alike to him than you might think."

Cadance almost tripped on her hooves, her and that stuck up colt, the same? That was absurd. But then, she supposed her aunt might have a point, it's not like he had chosen to be a noble, much like how she hadn't chosen to become a princess.

"Besides, he's done all he can to get away from his obligations," Celestia let out a snicker. "He sought out a private meeting with me some time ago, and we came to an agreement: He'd be trained as a diplomat, after which he'd mostly serve Equestria as a foreign diplomat. He might not be as upfront to others anymore, but I have known him since he was just a young colt, he'd rather spend his days sailing airships than bickering with nobles."

"Huh..."

Celestia looked over to her, given her one of those looks which made her feel like the older alicorn knew something she didn't. "It's likely the two of you will end up working quite a lot together in the future."

Cadance could only let out an undignified grunt at that. She knew she was going to end up being in a mostly diplomatic position once her training was finished, Celestia had been upfront about such. She could, of course, step in and do more princess duties if she wanted, but it wouldn't be expected of her to do so. And honestly? She'd rather have the extra free time to... to what?

She wasn't really sure what she wanted out of life now, if she was being honest. Sure, her eventual duties would eat up some of her time, but she didn't exactly have any plans for what to do with the rest of it. It had been easier back when she was living in a small village in the middle of nowhere, she was set for life with weather duties.

"I... know things have been difficult for you Cadance, and that this might not have been what you wanted," Celestia eventually let out with some trepidation, the two having walked in silence for a while.

"That's partially why I think you'll make a good princess, if I'm being honest. Those who desire power are seldom the ones who will use it well."

Celestia slowed down her pace, almost coming to stop. "And, it's re-assuring that you're here should the day come that I am not," Celestia wore a flat expression. "There might come a day when I'm not around, when I can't rule. At that point I'm glad that there is someone else who can take over in my stead, someone that my ponies can look up to and place their trust in."

Cadance could feel chill roll down her back as Celestia once again picked up the pace and passed her. Her, being in charge of Equestria, alone?

As if reading her thoughts Celestia spoke up again. "You don't need to fret about it Cadance, I don't plan on kicking the bucket any time soon. I just don't want Equestria to be without a leader should it happen, I care too much about what we- what I built over the years," Celestia flashed her a small smile over her shoulder.

Cadance couldn't quite put her thoughts in order on the matter, from the way Celestia talked it certainly sounded less theoretical than her assurance proclaimed. Were alicorns not immortal? Celestia had been around for many centuries, though she didn't speak of how old she actually was. It made it hard to discern the alicorn's actual age.

Was that why Cadance herself had turned into an alicorn? Was it a cyclical thing? Should one alicorn get near the end of their life, another will rise to continue? As far as Cadance was aware, the only alicorn that had ever been around was Celestia. Of course there were more in myths and legends, but actual recorded history only went so far back.

Cadance licked her dry lips. "Were there other alicorns?"

It was brief, but she could see Celestia flinch as she walked. At first Cadance didn't think she'd get a straight answer, but eventually a sigh escaped her aunt's mouth.

"...Yes, and perhaps one day I will tell you more of her."

The rest of the walk continued in silence. Cadance wanted to press further, now that she knew there had been others like her, she had this rising desire of wanting to know more. So little was actually known about alicorns, and for so long the only frame of reference had been Celestia, a mare that could turn the cycles of day and night on her own. As far as Cadance was aware, she herself didn't have such powers.

Eventually they reached the formal hall in which the discussion was to take place, as they pushed the door open and trotted in, Cadance could see the many faces of the nobles turning to face them; most of them were unicorns.

What followed was a dull period of waiting as the remaining few participants slowly trickled in and sat down in their seats. Cadance had hoped that Celestia's claims about the nature of the meeting were false, if only to make it less of a bore; she was not so lucky. She barely knew the name of any of the ponies in the room. She was certain that most, if not all of them, had introduced themselves to her at one point or another, but it was really hard to tell them apart when they all acted the same.

The meeting had barely started before several of them got into fights over minuscule differences in tax or profits, or arguments about who should be granted gains from what. As far as Cadance could tell, there weren't just nobles at the table. There were also those who were, though lacking in title, just plain wealthy. The only reason she could tell was because they acted slightly differently from the well established noble houses.

It was an hour in or so--at least that's what it felt like to Cadance--before Celestia spoke up. "Now, before we move on to finalising the notion, was there anything anypony else wanted to add or bring up for discussion?" Celestia asked, silencing the room with her voice. Cadance found it quite impressive.

At that, a pony did rise and prepared to speak. Cadance could only cringe as she realised who it was: Blueblood. While house Blueblood might be one of the oldest in the country, and certainly the most wealthy and powerful, modest, they were not. The old fart of a stallion had been extremely rude in his suggestions when they last spoke, suggesting that he'd convince Celestia that she'd marry Cadance and his son.

After that the stallion had excused himself to go and pester Celestia's prised student about something, Cadance could just smirk at that memory: Sunset had given him quite a verbal lashing. At the time she had seen it as more signs to how rude she could be, but now? Well, Blueblood probably deserved it, whatever he had said that ticked her off.

Maybe she should actually try and pay attention to what he was saying though, rather than taking part in day dreaming?

"...as such, I propose quite simply that the crown should re-acquire all currently owned private farmland. It would then evenly divide it up among noble houses so it can be properly be put to use, rather than wasting away," the stallion had a smug smirk on his face as he finished.

The entire hall was quiet after hearing the proposition, seconds turning into minutes. Cadance wasn't quite sure exactly what Blueblood had actually proposed or why it was taken this way. But it was quite clear from the rest of the room that this wasn't merely a faux pas, but something quite outrageous.

Eventually another unicorn from across the table spook up. "Sir Blueblood, while I know our two houses hardly get along, you should know quite well what it is you're proposing here."

"Of course, it's all for the benefit of the crown and the starving commoners," he replied.

Cadance rolled her eyes, Equestria hadn't had anyone starve for centuries; and even she wasn't stupid enough to think that just producing more food would even solve such a problem, should it even exist.

"Yes, and as we both know, my family owns the majority of all farm-able land in Equestria, be it currently put to use or otherwise. What you're proposing is for the crown to essentially step in and completely ruin a political rival," the mare had a snarl on her face, the disdain for the proposition was clear.

"Oh? And I'm not sure why that should be a problem, the land is clearly not put to use by your family. In fact, your family seems completely disinterested in these matters if your daughter is any indication," Blueblood smirked while pointing his hoof to the pegasus with white and purple mane that was seated next to the unicorn.

Looking them over, said pegasus had a scroll in front of her and a quill in her muzzle, clearly having spent the entire meeting taking notes or writing. Cadance hadn't realised they were a noble, so few noble families were of any tribe other than unicorn, and if a foal was born that didn't fit, they were often disowned. Cadance loathed the practice, but Celestia had claimed there was little she could do about it.

"You dare-" the unicorn started, before her daughter put a hoof in front of her muzzle.

The pegasus put down her quill and raised a hard stare against the offending unicorn across the table. "You're quite quick to judge others Sir Blueblood," her words laced with venom. "But tell me, where is your spawn? I don't see junior here taking interest in the politics of his country or family. But maybe he has more sense than you do?"

The indignation on Blueblood's face was clear to Cadance, but the pegasus didn't let him get a word in. "When I was his age I was already taking an active part in the direction this country is heading, when was the last time you could say the same for your son?"

"You dare!?" Blueblood all but yelled across the room.

"Oh yes, I do indeed dare," the pegasus raised to answer. "Just like you seemed to dare to claim the rights to that which has been in my family for centuries, that we rightfully purchased and acquired from the crown."

She slammed her hooves on the table. "What you did here today is nothing but a complete insult to not only my own house, but also every other noble at this table, who you aimed to drag into this scheme of yours!"

Cadance sighed and collapsed her head against the table as the squabbling continued. If there was one thing she was certain of, it was that Celestia had been right about these proceedings. She really, really, couldn't wait till they were over.

Cadance sighed as walked through the statue garden. She really needed a break from everything. Not only had the meeting dragged on for several hours extra, she'd been forced into more etiquette lessons shortly thereafter. Her brain felt like complete mush.

Gently she flapped her wings and took to the air. There was a mild breeze, something that she found quite refreshing. Gliding more than she was flapping she started circling around the large hedge maze.

She let out a content sigh; there was something about flying that was just relaxing on a deeper level. It let her simply take a back seat and enjoy the moment as it were, rather than worrying.

She wasn't quite sure how long she'd been at it when she finally landed; her wings having grown sore. Glancing to the horizon revealed the sun starting to hang low. She didn't feel like heading in just yet though, so she set off down the garden's gravel road. Celestia had wanted to speak with her again about something, but that wasn't until after sunset.

Her eyes travelled to the castle as she walked along, the towers and spires seemingly merging with the sky when you were so close. Sometimes she pondered why a city like Canterlot was considered a unicorn city. Sure, it was mostly populated by unicorns, both at present time and historically, but a city built on the side off a mountain just screamed pegasus.

The ability to just leap off of the side of the city and be immediately in the air, far above the ground... something about that just spoke to her on a personal level. It was probably that same type of feeling which drove the creation of cities like Cloudsdale an Las Pegasus.

She smiled as her eyes travelled back towards the garden. Clearly she wasn't the only one enjoying the evening, a mare painted like the horizon was enjoying tea in a gazebo. It was the small moments where she could just relax and be herself that made her days now. She didn't want to forget her roots as a pegasus, nor did she want to drown in the position hoisted onto her.

She closed her eyes and spread her wings, a sigh escaping her lips. They were sore, yes, but that also spoke to them having been used. She'd never really been able to explain that feeling to the other earth pony and unicorn foals as she grew up. Not that she'd been much better at understanding unicorns when they talked about their horns. She did now though, having gotten-

She froze.

She turned her head to the side and glanced behind her, eyes widening. How could she have forgotten? She set off at a trot towards the gazebo, a nervous smile working it's way across her face.

The amber mare with red and yellow mane smiled at her as she approached. "I was wondering if I should have called you over."

"Sunset," she said, chuckling awkwardly. How could she have forgotten? She was even the one who asked her to spend time with her. "I hope you haven't waited for long...?"

She just smiled and waved her off with a hoof. "No I just got here myself."

Cadance let out a sigh of relief as she took the seat opposite to the unicorn. "Sorry for being a bit late, I needed to clear my head."

Sunset nodded. "It's fine, really," she lifted the kettle and poured her a cup.

Cadance tilted her head as she accepted the drink. "I figured we'd be surrounded by servants for this."

She could see a smug smile on the unicorn's features as she chuckled. "No I dismissed her after she brought the tea, I figured between the two of us there must be at least one grown mare somewhere that can work a kettle."

It was still a bit jarring to see just how different Sunset acted. A comment like that could have just as likely been spiteful, yet there was nothing but a playful tone in her voice, and a smile on her lips.

"I'm sure we can manage," she didn't really know what else to say.

Sunset lifted her own cup and took a sip, before frowning and putting her cup down.

"You know, I used to be so enamoured by this stuff..."

She took a sip herself, recognizing it in an instance as something she'd had with her aunt at multiple occasions.

"I think I was just fooling myself," Sunset shook her head. "This tea just isn't on my flavour palette."

Cadance reached over and picked up a cookie from the plate resting at the center of the table. "Do you want us to order something else from the kitchen?"

"No, not really. I'm not a child, I can manage."

She hummed, it was true Sunset had been shockingly cordial. Some of the earlier interactions she'd seen the mare have could easily have been described as foalish anger tantrums. Though, in cases where some of the nobles were involved... it was probably justified.

"How did your research project go anyway?"

Sunset shrugged. "No progress yet I'm afraid, but I'm hopeful I'll work something out."

She tiled her head and smiled. "I'd offer to help, but I figure it'd be way out of my league."

Sunset chuckled, causing her smile to slowly morph into a frown. The unicorn slowly turned her gaze towards the setting sun and her namesake.

"To be honest Cadance, it's probably out of my league too."

Celestia was sorting her documents as she entered. Quietly she closed the door and made her way over to her aunt's desk. It didn't take long for the older alicorn to turn her attention towards her.

"Cadance," she nodded towards her. "Sorry about the late meeting, I know you've already had a busy day as is."

She nodded and sat down. "You had a few things you wanted to talk with me about?"

Celestia frowned. "I... yes."

The expression surprised her, it wasn't often her aunt appeared so troubled.

"It's about... Sunset."

"Ah," Cadance nodded.

Celestia turned her head upwards, her eyes staring off into the ceiling. "This might be a bit strange to ask but, do you think she's appeared... different?" She turned her head down and meet Cadance's eyes with her own. "...lately I mean."

Her gut reaction was to say yes, obviously Sunset had been acting strange. In many ways it was almost as if a completely different mare had come and just replaced the unicorn wholesale. Gone was the mightier-than-thou attitude and snide remarks, gone was the temper that could flare at any moment.

The hateful comments about how she didn't deserve to be a princess had also faded. She shivered, her wings ruffling as she recalled the words she used to hear when the two of them were in private; When Sunset could be certain no one else heard. Now though? It was as if a new personality had surfaced.

She was obviously the same pony though, the way she spoke with passion about magic was unchanged. The only difference there was that it wasn't used as a way to be above others. You'd never make it as far as Sunset had without some passion for the arts, it was just more plain to see now. Still...

Celestia didn't ask things without reason, she'd never ask plainly for what she wanted to know. So the question was, what was her adopted aunt after?

She let out a hum. "Maybe a bit?"

It wouldn't surprise her in the slightest if Celestia wanted to set something up between the two of them, she'd tried that before. And yet... Sunset had been the most approachable and the best company when she seemingly arranged something herself. Yesterday had been nice, as had tea been earlier in the evening.

It was with a sinking feeling that she realised that Sunset was probably the closest thing she had to a friend right now... and she didn't want to lose that.

"Anything in particular?" Celestia asked.

And if she didn't want to lose what they had... she had to convince the ruler of all of Equestria that nothing was wrong or abnormal with her student. To do otherwise would likely set the two off into another shouting match, something Sunset might blame her for.

"Well, she seems a bit more relaxed than usual?" She tried her best smile.

Celestia nodded.

"And, um, I guess she's more outgoing."

"And she wasn't before? She's never been one to shy away from social encounters," Celestia frowned.

"Ah, well... it's more that she's herself? She tend to be quite... unapproachable at parties and such?" If she was being honest, she was doing a terrible job selling the idea that Sunset was her usual self; lying had never been one of her strengths.

"I suppose that's true..." Celestia turned her head, her eyes lining up with a painting on the wall.

After not hearing anything else from the other alicorn for several minutes she had to voice her own question. "...is there, well, a reason why you're asking this?"

Celestia sighed, with a small smile she meet her eyes again. "There is, some of her recent behaviour have made me... worried."

Her mind wandered to the exchange at breakfast the previous day, were books from the restricted section really that serious? It wasn't as if Sunset wasn't a competent sorceress.

"No matter," Celestia shook her head. "I've been pondering putting Sunset in charge of your magic education."

'Ah,' there it was, what her mentor was actually after.

"Haven't we tried that before?"

Celestia let out a deep sigh. "You're right, we have. Which is why I'm asking you now if you'd be okay with giving it a try. I'm not so callous as to try setting this up again without your approval."

It certainly was something worth considering. If she'd been asked this just a few days ago she'd have screamed no; probably slammed the door too for good measure. The lesson she'd had with Sunset the other day had been unconventional, yes, but... it had also been fun?

"Sure, that sounds like fun," she smiled.

Celestia visibly recoiled, not by much, but it was there. "That's... I thought you'd be more against it."

She shrugged. "If you think she can teach me and not make fun of me again, then I'm willing to try."

She could feel her aunt's eyes boring into her. "You're more mature than I sometimes give you credit for Cadance. Not just anypony would be willing to look past the things she said to you."

It was true that grudges never really were her thing, but having Sunset as a teacher? Honestly it was more about getting away from dusty boring old books. She'd been right in her assessment of how book heavy and boring her magic classes had been, so if there was another path? She'd gladly take it.

Celestia relaxed on the other side of the table. "I'm glad that's worked out," she brought forwards a folder in her magic grip. "Because we have several more things to go over, and it's already getting late."

"You did say that..."

"Now, I don't expect you to make any decisions on this matter today, but it's been a long time coming," Celestia gestured towards the folder.

Cadance picked it up in her own magic and flipped it open, inside was a bio of a pony, complete with a mugshot.

"I don't understand?" She turned her eyes up to meet her aunt's.

"It's high time you got your own guard detail."

She almost dropped the folder from her magic grip. "Guard detail?!?"

"Yes, as you know-"

"I thought Captain Shield was in charge of that, I don't need a bunch of guards trailing after me all day!"

Celestia chuckled. "You need not worry about that dear, and you're correct, Captain Stout Shield has been in charge of that position up until now."

"Then what changed?" She raised her hoof.

Celestia shook her head, a smile on her lips. "Nothings changed Cadance, it was always meant as a temporary solution."

Not finding the words she wanted to express, she put her hoof back down on the floor again.

"Like I said, you don't need to worry, nothing will change in the near future."

"...But things will change, won't they?" They always did.

"Yes, eventually. As you grow into your role as a princess, many things will change. How involved you want to be with your personal guards will be up to you, make no mistake. But to not have a guard detail at all? That is not an option."

With a sigh Cadance turned her eyes back to the folder and started flicking through them. "You want me to pick out a few of these then?"

Celestia nodded. "Stout Shield, while a great stallion, is getting up in the years. His position as captain of your guard was always a temporary one, but it is one he'll carry out till his retirement. He'll be training his replacement, is the idea."

Cadance tilted her head. "Isn't that a bit..."

"Grim?"

She nodded.

"It's not seen that way, if anything it's seen as an honour. Both to train the next generation, but also to learn from someone so experienced. Captain Shield has seen more than most in the guard, he'll make for a great symbol to aspire to."

With a sigh she started flipping through the folder, mostly just looking at the photos. Despite the young ages, everyone looked so serious in the photo.

"What you have there," Celestia nodded towards the folder. "Is a selection of ponies from our officer school. What you are to do is select a group of ponies that you feel you'll get along with. They are novices in their role now, but you need to think ahead to where they'll be a decade or so from now. Since these are ponies you will be interacting with several times a week, it's important that you get along with them; don't be afraid to call for interviews if you feel you need to."

Cadance gulped. "This is... a lot."

Celestia smiled. "I'm aware, but it's another part of your training. I want you to focus on this task till it's done, and you've done well enough being introduced to the daily court affairs already. So until you have selected your guard detail properly, I'll not require you to attend most state related meetings."

At least there was some good news she could cling onto. She really didn't like the notion of having a bunch of guards following her around, even less so having to pick them out herself. It sent a shiver down her spine, the way Celestia talked about it. Train them with the notion of who they would be a decade from now?

"I..." She couldn't find the words she wanted.

"I know it might seem overbearing, Cadance. But you'll perform this role with excellence too, of this I have no doubt."

She weakly nodded, what else was there to say? If Celestia had already decided on it, there wasn't much room to argue. She could feel a wing draping around her back. Glancing up she registered that at some point Celestia had gotten up and walked over to take the spot beside her.

"You know I have my own guards too, do you not?"

Again, she nodded.

"It comes with the position, and it makes those around us feel more at ease. I promise it will not be as bad as you're imagining it being."

She wiggled a bit, had she appeared to be in such distress? "Sorry, I'll... I'll make sure to pick out a good set of ponies."

Celestia smiled and slowly walked back towards her side of the desk. "Of that I have no doubt, niece."

With a sigh she closed the folder and took it under her wing. She'd take a look at later when she had more of a mind to it.

"You're aware of the current guard units we have, correct?"

She frowned. "The solar guard and... um, the night guard?"

"Lunar guard," Celestia corrected. "We'll be forming a new third unit here. It currently does not have a name, but I'm leaning towards the royal guard."

"Because I'm a princess?"

"In part, yes, but it extends beyond that. Currently the solar guard exist to perform all duties related to me, as well as guarding the capital during the day. With this restructure, once it's finished, I plan on moving over a lot of mundane duties and personal over to this new unit."

She could feel the pressure building. "Doesn't that mean I'll be in charge of more of those things...?"

Celestia nodded. "By extension, yes. But in practice it will all be managed by your captain and their subordinates."

Celestia was about to continue before she closed her mouth. "I apologise, this is already much on your shoulders I suppose. You need not worry about any of these complicated matters that are still years off, for now simply focus on picking ponies you feel comfortable being around."

Slowly she nodded. "If that's all then...?"

Really, she couldn't wait to get back to her room and stuff the folder in a drawer somewhere and forget about it. Probably also followed by collapsing on her bed and the sweet embrace of sleep. All this stuff was future Cadance's problem, she decided.

"Ah, there is one thing," Celestia smiled. "Some good news, I swear," she continued after seeing what was probably a very unrefined expressing plastered on her own snout.

"I got you a position as a foal-sitter."

Her eyes widened. "Pardon?"

"Yes, I know it sounds a bit unconventional but, well, remember how you asked me for things to do a few months ago? Specifically things that didn't involve any 'snotty nobles or stuck up parties', I believe you said."

She could feel her cheeks heating up, she had said that.

"I understand living in a castle like this can be somewhat comparable to living in a gilded cage at times; especially for a pony your age. With your status as a princess I'd imagine it would be hard to find ponies your own age to relate to."

It had been, it's why she'd complained to Celestia in the first place. Ponies were either trying to get favour by interacting with her, or were too intimidated by her status. It didn't help that everypony else that she knew since before being an alicorn lived halfway across the country. And yet...

"Why a foalsitter?" She had to ask.

Celestia smiled. "A foal will not care if you're a princess or a pariah, as long as you meet their needs."

She could feel a frown settling in. "I don't know anything about taking care of a foal though, in fact I'm not sure if this is such a great idea..."

Celestia shrugged. "It may not be, I admit. But I think you should give it a try, it will give you an excuse to get out of the castle every so often."

She nodded, that was true... The question was if taking care of a foal was worth getting more free time and getting some fresh air.

"Night Light, the father, works at the royal observatory. So I'm familiar with both him and his wife, they are lovely ponies and I think you will get along well with them."

"They're not nobles, are they?"

Celestia shook her head. "No. Both of them are doing quite well for themselves with quite prestigious positions, but neither have a title."

"I'll consider it."

She pulled up her blanket with a sigh, the soft bed beneath her promising rest for the weary. Yet all her mind did was race, all the things Celestia had told her repeating in her mind. When did her life get so complicated?

There was not a shortage among the fillies that she grew up with when it came to wishes to become a princess, "just like Celestia" they'd say. Yet somehow it had been her that had been picked for the task. It was not something she'd ever choose for herself if given the choice. Her mind travelled back to that fateful day...

Her staring up the enchantress in that dank cavern that made up her basement. The only light coming from a few candles as well as that enchanted necklace resting around Prismia's neck.

She'd stood bravely against them, not because she fancied herself a hero, nor because she was a leader. No, she was there because she refused to accept that love could be turned and used for something so wicked and selfish.

Prismia's gray coat had glowed pink with the sheen from the necklace, full of absorbed love. Something she'd taken in into herself in order to stop the enchantress from stealing more. She could remember the rush of taking in so much magically charged love into herself, how her body had tingled all the way out into her feathers.

Cadance sighed and rolled over to her other side. There wasn't any reason to delve on the past. Prismia had eventually asked for forgiveness, and promised to improve herself in order to gain the affection of those around her the same way as everypony else. It had taken them a while to get there, with both firm and soft guidance from Cadance herself.

She didn't regret doing what she'd done, and she never would.

But becoming a princess? That wasn't something she wanted. In that weird plane of light and stars, beyond the love, Celestia had met her. She spoke of having made herself worthy in the eyes of harmony, fully embodying the concept of love.

The horn wasn't so bad, she could definitively get used to the horn now when she was learning how to use it.

But who thought it was a good idea to put somepony like herself on the throne?

"You don't deserve what you have."

She could still remember the words, the expression of utter despise on the face of the unicorn that uttered them, a memory that had seared itself into her subconsciousness. She could still remember the flick of their tail hitting her face as they left.

It wasn't the first remark she'd heard, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

She shivered as she lay there in her warm and excessively oversized bed. She was in the warmest and safest place in all of Equestria, yet all she could do was cry. The worst part about it all, the thing that stuck out to her the most, it was that she'd been right.

Sunset had been right.

Maybe she'd do better as a foalsitter, at least that was more in her league.

Author's Note

Oops, all Cadance!

I know a lot of you probably read this primarily for unicorn Sunset, but I needed to build up some of the other characters too. This was a good time to focus a bit on how Cadance and Celestia interact, for uh, a variety of reasons.

Next chapter we'll be back to following everyone's favourite amber unicorn.

As for this chapter itself? There were several things I wanted to focus on, but Cadance's backstory snuck in there too. I'm taking some inspiration from that chapter book, but given how brief it all is, I basically just have to expand upon it wholesale. I'll like bring it up where appropriate to flesh it out even more, but given that this isn't really Cadance's story we'll see what that amounts too.

I do want to focus on some of the notions implied by the chapter book though. Mostly because it brings to light what Cadance's personality and struggles might have been back when she was younger, before she fully grew into her role.

I'm also sorry about the delay in this chapter coming out. My new job is demanding more of my time, so I've got less available to spend on writing horse words. I still plan on seeing this story through till the end, but updates will be rather sporadic.

I'm sure this chapter has a bunch of grammar issues and similar too, but hopefully not enough to get in the way of enjoyment.

Chapter 5 - Dangerous Sunshine

Chapter 5
Dangerous Sunshine

Her eyes fluttered open as the ringing in her ears wouldn't stop. Sunset let out a loud groan while the knocking on the door continued. As she struggled to get on her hooves she winced in pain; last nights sleeping arrangement had hardly been ideal. She'd been to plenty of slumber parties as a human, but most of the time she had more than just a few pillows between her and stone floor.

Making her way over to the door she let out a sigh, she'd have to catch up on sleep later.

"Morning Cloud Thorn," she offered to the maid as she opened the door, a yawn threatening to escape her lips.

The maid almost took a step back in shock, staring at Sunset with a surprised expression.

"What?" Her brain hadn't quite caught up yet, but surely offering a good morning wasn't all that weird, was it?

Having recovered, Cloud shook her head. "Nothing, Lady Shimmer."

Something she did however remember was what she'd picked up the previous day. "Right, well," idly she tried to recall where she had put it. "Going forwards you don't need to wake me up anymore."

She grabbed the alarm clock in her hold and floated it over to show Cloud. "I picked this up yesterday, which should save both of us the headache."

And maybe let her wake up at a more reasonable hour. The crack of dawn was *not* her time of the day.

"I see..." Cloud glanced at the clock. "I'll make a note of it then and not wake you up in the future."

Sunset nodded and turned her head, intent on putting the clock on her desk. It only made it halfway across the room before she lost the grip on it and it fell to the floor. Sunset's face slowly whitened as she turned her head to stare at what she'd seen out of the corner of her eye.

Above her bed was a floating ball of magic, same as the day before... except it was many times larger. What had just been a spec was now as large as an orange. The a voice next to her snapped her back to reality, she wasn't sure how long she'd been staring.

"Lady Shimmer, are you alright?"

"-We can't talk about any..." Cadance came to a halt at what she was saying as Sunset flashed into existence at the breakfast table.

Sunset could make out that Celestia was about to say something, but didn't give her the chance. Instead she turned to the closest maid and rambled out what she hoped was a coherent breakfast order.

It wasn't until the maid had already started to trot off towards the kitchen that she remembered the most important detail. "Oh and, deliver it to the Starswirl the Bearded wing!"

She was about to teleport off to said location when someone next to her cleared their throat loudly. Glancing to her right revealed a very miffed looking Princess Celestia, a sight in which Sunset could only laugh awkwardly at.

"Sunset, I thought I had told you quite many times to not just teleport everywhere, especially not to a social function."

"Sorry, I'm in somewhat of a hurry."

"Yes," Celestia sighed. "That much is clear for us all to see. Tell me, did you get any sleep last night Sunset?"

She took a step back. "Not as much as I would have hoped, admittedly." Although, the reasons as to why were probably very different than what Celestia had in mind. She half expected to get a long lecture on her behaviour but Celestia seemed to halt herself, only letting out another sigh.

"Well, off with you then, I doubt I could talk you out of whatever your current research project is. And frankly, I've got a lot of other things I need to take care of today with Cadance."

Sunset glanced over to Cadance who was giving her a weird look before turning back to Celestia and nodding.

"Right," she answered with a nod.

She lit up her horn and teleported all the way up to the archives.

None of the material she'd found so far had been helpful in the slightest. Sunset ran a hoof through her mane before grimacing, it wasn't the same without fingers. She glanced back towards the table where she'd stacked up books, breakfast dishes long since retrieved by the staff.

She knew time travel was a scientific dead-end. Starswirl had managed to produce a spell for it over a millennia ago, yet despite attempts to expand upon it, nothing had been found. She frowned and walked away from the shelf, those were the facts, and yet...

She knew them to be false.

The time twirler was an Equestrian made artifact as far as she knew. Which meant that someone had figured out something else in regards to time travel. Starlight Glimmer had also managed to expand upon Starswirls research. Sure, that unicorn was basically a genius in her own right, but she'd done in months what others had supposedly failed at doing over the course of their whole lives.

Which meant... information suppression. The humans were more known for it, but considering the dangers of messing with time then it wouldn't be out of the question for even Celestia to employ such shady tactics.

She trotted along the wall of the large circular room that made up the Starswirl The Bearded wing. It wasn't even noon, yet she felt ready to give up, at least on this avenue. Her eyes glanced towards the desk near the center of the room, where the room's only other occupant was seated. Minuette had entered the room an hour or so after her, and had been content sitting there reading one of the room's many tomes.

It was not unusual for certain prestigious students of CSGU to get access to this archive, so it was hardly a surprise to see her there. Most of the well known material penned by the authors within had been republished in more modern books and were available elsewhere. That meant that most of the contents of the wing was miscellaneous research, a large portion of it being incomplete theories or ideas.

Her eyes trailed to the unicorn's cutiemark, a hourglass. She frowned. It would be exceedingly unlikely that they were here researching the same subject matter that she was.

Especially given that it was a mostly banned topic. If ponies had researched time travel more extensively then it was either sealed in the archive she was forbidden from entering, or in a vault of which only Celestia knew the location of.

Her eyes faced forwards as she continued trotting. A hole through time would explain how she ended up where she was... at least partially. There were some holes in it, but a theory was starting to form in her head: After she'd gone to bed that night, way later than she should have, something had happened.

Maybe it was more runaway Equestrian magic, maybe it was someone with malice, she didn't know. But regardless, a hole of some sort had sucked her into the past. The location in her bedroom in the castle made sense: that's where she woke up. However... if she was just sent back to the past, then there was an obvious flaw, something that stood out like a sore thumb; where was her past self?

It'd been a few days, even if they had been on some sort of magic research binge they would have been seen by someone by now. That left two options, neither of which were compelling: Either she'd traded place with her past self... or she'd replaced her. She didn't like either scenario, and she couldn't really confirm what had happened.

She frowned. One thing that she did know was that her body was younger. She'd not been back in Equestria much in recent times, but there were a few obvious signs. Her mane was styled shorter than she'd like... of sorts. The mane to hair transference ratio wasn't exactly even when going through the portal. She'd needed to grow out her hair to match what length she liked for her mane.

This meant she had longer mane when visiting Equestria... something she realised she didn't mind all that much, she just didn't want it shorter. She stopped, blinking a few times.

She was getting sidetracked. With a sigh she continued her trot around the room.

The portal needed a resolution. It was clearly growing, and at an alarming rate. She only really had herself to depend on when it came to fixing it. Cadance, while possibly a compelling choice, knew next to nothing about magic. Celestia had the expertise, yet getting her old mentor involved would get unpleasant... fast.

The truth about her existence in the past was something she wasn't ready to share. She hadn't yet made up her mind what she was to do about the entire situation, but she obviously couldn't just leave a magical disaster growing in her room.

That left her with shockingly little help. She'd grown used to being able to depend on her friends when she couldn't solve something on her own...

Her eyes traveled to the room's other unicorn.

She barely knew the mare, and apparently her past self had been less than kind to her. That cutiemark however... It could be nothing, but if the mare was talented in the field then she'd be crazy to not ask for their help.

Of course, any sane pony's reaction to learning about what was in her room was to run to Celestia. Could she really ask-

Her thought was interrupted as Minuette shut her book and got up. She deposited it in its shelf before making her way towards the exit.

Sunset grit her teeth, she'd just have to take a gamble! She made her way to intercept the mare.

"Minuette, wait."

The unicorn stopped and turned her face to look at her. "Oh, did you grow tired of eyeing me up?"

Her thought ran to a halt. "What?"

Minuette rolled her eyes. "You were staring at my rear, quite intently even. You're not particularly subtle Sunset."

"Oh," of course, that made sense. Even humans did that sort of thing at times. She shook her head while getting her thoughts back on track. "No, it was your cutiemark more so."

"My... cutiemark?"

Sunset nodded. "Your special talent..." she licked her lips, this was it. She desperately needed help though. "Is it in temporal magic?"

"So, this is it?" Minuette gestured to the growing vortex in her room.

It had taken a bit convincing to get Minuette to help her, even more so to not tell Celestia about any of it.

She nodded. "Yeah."

Minuette walked around it as best as she could in the space that was available. "You are aware that messing temporal magic is quite a criminal offence, right?"

She sighed. "Like I said, I don't know what caused this."

"You know, I actually believe you, for what it's worth," her horn lighting up.

Sunset blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah, this is some seriously advanced stuff, I doubt anyone who just dabbled in the field could do it."

She let the magic drop from her horn and turned to face Sunset. "Well, what can you tell me about it?"

She ran through what she knew about it in her head. "Well, I first noticed it yesterday evening, at which point it was less than half of the size it is now. It's expanding rapidly... at least overnight. It does not look any larger than it did this morning."

Minuette nodded.

"I'm also assuming it was there before I could see it, just having been too small to detect."

"That's not an unreasonable assumption," Minuette interjected.

She put her hoof to her chin. "I'm not sure there's much I can actually tell you about it though. The scans I dared try didn't reveal anything that you don't already know from your own."

Minuette stared at her intently, it was a bit unnerving. It wasn't quite a glare, yet she couldn't help but feel that the unicorn was angry.

"Nothing else?"

Sunset frowned and shook her head.

A few seconds passed before Minuette's expression softened and she sighed, her head turning to look towards the rift.

"We call these anomalies. As I'm sure you're aware, you need a special license from the crown to research anything related to time travel or similar magic."

Sunset nodded, it was quite well known, at least among CSGU graduates. Time travel wasn't the only banned field, there were a few more. Most of them you could get a special license for when it came to research, though your material was heavily scrutinized and it might never see the light of day should it be completed.

"I'm one of the few ponies that is allowed to even look at this stuff," Minuette frowned.

"So you know how it works then?"

"No," she replied evenly.

Sunset reeled back. She'd hoped with an expert in the field by her side she could figure out what it was and how to deal with it.

"What about... closing it?"

"Closing... it?" Minuette turned to glance at her.

"Well, yes?"

Minuette hummed and turned back to face the anomaly. "Anomalies... I can't tell you too much, but they are more common than ponies think. As I'm sure you know, the magic surrounding this planet isn't static, it moves, twists, and changes."

She was quite familiar with the concept of wild, or primal magic, as it was often called. It was anything that formed naturally in the environment that was heavy on magic, or magical effects that remained as of yet unexplained by science.

Minuette turned and took a few steps towards Sunset's desk. "Anomalies happen from time to time," she snorted. "Places where time twists in unexplained ways. Most of the time it's nothing, other times," she threw her hoof towards the anomaly. "We get things like this."

"You seem to know quite a bit about them."

Minuette smirked. "Kind of have to," her expression quickly flattened. "Still, because of how they are formed, they are all different."

Sunset frowned, was that really it? Some freak accident in Equestria that just happened to suck her into the past? That didn't add up. If it had happened already, she'd seen it the first time around. She supposed it was a possibility that it had happened in the human world, and what she and Minuette was staring at was just the exit point.

Sometimes, things just happen; she knew that. But it made more sense to her if there had been something that directly caused it. The human world, while proven to have magic, did not have the same magic rich atmosphere that Equuis had. The chances that this happened at all, even more so to her while she was unaware, were astronomically low.

She shook her head. "Well, regardless of the cause, we need to stop it before it gets worse," she reasoned.

Minuette grimaced while fishing up a thick notebook and pen from her bag. "Correct, the problem is information."

"Information?"

The blue mare nodded. "I know how to close, possibly seal, these sort of things," she put her pen to her lip. "Ponies with my type of talent are taught that first before anything else. In case we cause problems during a surge we need to know how to close them again."

Minuette sighed, her notebook open to a blank page. "The issue is that in order to do that, we first need to understand how it works."

Sunset paced back and forth. She and Minuette had been at it for a few hours, throwing theories and scanning spells on the anomaly. It wasn't as if they hadn't learned anything but seemingly not what they needed to in order to close it. Frankly, the way this stuff worked was well beyond her.

Sure, she was one of the strongest unicorns in Canterlot, which given that it was practically the unicorn capital of the country, said a lot. She was also quite skilled when it came to actually casting spells, or figuring out how to weave new ones. But a lot of her expertise was limited to the subjects she'd studied.

Teleportation? Child's play.

Drawing in magic from the sun? She knew a little, which said a lot given that only one other pony alive knew how to do that; at least as far as she was aware.

She also knew enough about magical wards to dismantle them with ease... or to just go around them entirely.

Granted, that last one was one she'd not learned for very good reasons... but still! She knew a lot of things most unicorns would struggle to learn over their entire lifetime. But, that didn't mean she knew everything, far from it in fact.

Minuette clearly had a much better idea for what was going on than she did. Still, it wasn't as if she was completely useless here, surely there had to be something that she'd overlooked. Her eyes traveled to the anomaly, still as big of an enigma as when she'd first seen it.

Her eyes went over to the unicorn squarely planted at her desk, she'd filled several pages of her book with notes and was currently in the process of looking them over. Beside her on the desk sat a stack of plates from their late lunch.

Minuette had mostly kept to herself and had been short with her at every opportunity. It wasn't shocking exactly, Sunset knew she hadn't been a good pony back in her younger years. It still stung a bit though, to see the result of her behaviour first hand. Especially so when she knew it wouldn't have even phased her back then.

She shook her head, she'd just have to go over what she knew again. Maybe she wouldn't be very much help, but she had to try. She'd done enough studying sessions with Twilight, the two of them didn't have the same expertise, but that didn't mean that one couldn't help each other out.

"Let's see..." she noted Minuette's ears twitch as she started. "This does not seem at all related to Starswirl's spell. That one anchors itself in the past first, as if it was cast at the travel point, rather than at the end point."

Minuette nodded. "If so we'd have a unicorn responsible."

"Right!" She continued pacing. "Even if someone were to modify it, you'd not ever get away from the fact that it sends the caster to the past, it's too fundamental to the spell."

Minuette snorted. "That spell, I know it quite well. Ponies call Starswirl a genius, but the way that spell is structured makes me question it. To bypass the limits the spell itself imposes you'd need a source of magic larger than hundreds of ponies combined."

"Right..." of course, that would be easy if you could tap into the tree of harmony itself, at least that's what Starlight had said she'd done.

With that out of the way her mind traveled to the other main time travel incident she was familiar with: The Time Twirler. She felt a shiver move throughout her body at the very thought of that incident.

Reliving a day over and over again was not fun; despite how appealing some of her friends insisted the subject was in novels and TV shows. She'd eventually gotten out of it, but she still had nightmares about waking up back there again.

...Funny how she'd gone back even further into the past this time. Sometimes she had to wonder if she wasn't a magnet for trouble. She glanced towards Minuette before shaking her head and getting back on track.

"It can't be the Time Twirler," for obvious reasons, given it was in the human world. "If so we'd not even be aware that anything was going on."

Minuette's head snapped to attention and she stared at her. "You know about the Time Twirler?!"

Sunset blinked, had she made a mistake? Well, yes, obviously; it's not like she'd ever read anything about the artifact... but Minuette didn't know that.

"Well, yeah," she put on a flat expression. "I did major in history as well as magic, you know? Of course I looked up historical artifacts, especially things Clover the Clever wrote about."

That wasn't too far of a stretch, though it had been Princess Twilight that had read up about the artifact on her behalf.

Minuette's inquisitive stare slowly morphed into a look of comprehension. "Right," she huffed. "I forgot you're the Princess's apprentice."

The blue mare glanced back at her notes. "Course you'd know about it," she mumbled under her breath.

"Right!" She'd saved that, if just barely. "But as far as I know, it wouldn't be the culprit either... which leaves me with very little else to go on."

Minuette sat there for a few moments before sighing and getting up. "I know what you're doing Sunset."

She opened her mouth to reply.

"But brainstorming isn't going to help us much," she said as she walked over slowly.

For a moment there she'd been worried they were going say something very different.

"Why not?"

"Well it's obvious, isn't it?" She walked past Sunset on the way towards the bed. "You know next to nothing about this, so I don't see how you could possibly-"

"Have you tried?" Sunset interrupted with quite a bit of force behind her words.

Minuette came to a halt. "Pardon?"

Sunset turned and stared Minuette in the eyes. "Have you actually tried it? Working with someone else rather than trying to do everything on your own?"

Minuette flinched before scowling at her. "I don't want to hear that from you of all ponies."

The thinly veiled insult rolled off her like it was nothing; she'd heard worse. "Then who do you want to hear it from Minuette? I'm not going to pretend I'm a beacon of friendship exactly," not yet anyway. "But at least I'm trying. The only reason Cadance isn't here right now is that her knowledge of magic barely surpasses a foal."

Minuette tsked. "And because she'd tell your mentor."

Sunset nodded and gave a light shrug. "Yeah, you're not wrong."

Minuette seemed at least a little bit shocked that she'd admit that so freely, something which made her smirk.

"I don't have a good track record, so Princess Celestia would absolutely get the wrong impression if she walked in on this. But you know? That didn't stop me from trying to reach out and get help," she lifted her hoof and pointed it squarely at Minuette. "After all, I asked you, despite knowing how much you seem to despise me."

For a moment she was worried Minuette was going to blow a casket, but eventually the unicorn closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

"Fine," she said as she opened her eyes. "We'll do it your way Shimmer, but I doubt it'll help much."

Score! Sunset smiled. "So what do we know?"

Minuette floated over her notes before turning to the anomaly. "Let's see..." She flicked back a few pages. "The obvious first I suppose: it's a time anomaly. What those are can vary greatly. This one does not seem to be doing anything."

Sunset frowned. "It's not... doing anything?"

Minuette nodded. "Yeah, most anomalies do something. You know all those cheap trite novels about ponies reliving the same day over and over again?"

Sunset had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. "...I've got a passing familiarity with the concept."

"Yeah, well, they are patently absurd. But there is some truth to them."

"Seriously?"

"I wouldn't be bringing it up otherwise. No, see, the core part of the premise they get wrong is that ponies are not conscious of the effect happening. Not to mention, there is a lack of scale. Anomalies generally have a small area they affect, rather than just everything"

That raised the obvious question. "And this one's?"

"It's as big as you can see," Minuette shook her head. "But the point is: Anomalies do something, otherwise they'd not exist. Time looping in on itself is fairly common, but is generally harmless. An anomaly that causes time to move faster or slower is much more devastating, though is thankfully also quite rare."

Sunset nodded along. She wasn't really sure how accurate the things Minuette were saying were, but then, it wasn't exactly like she could double check the things in any book.

"So that leaves us with the few things we do know about this one: It has several properties which makes no sense compared to anything I've seen or read up on before. Its area seems to be growing yet the inside has no time related properties. Instead the space inside seem highly malleable, any object put inside gets destroyed."

Sunset shivered as she remember what happened when Minuette had tried dropping a pencil into the anomaly. She was very glad she'd decided to sleep on the floor instead of on her bed.

"My most prominent theory so far is that this is the end point, that the actual anomaly is somewhere else entirely. Yet I can't make heads or tails of my readings, the properties on how this thing folds is gibberish despite very obviously being temporal magic."

Silence fell as Minuette wrapped up the status of her analysis so far.

Sunset frowned and stared at the object of their investigation. Was that really all there was to it? She tapped her chin. Sure, it all added up with what she knew or had guessed, yet she felt like something was missing...

"Wait..." there was one thing Minuette couldn't possibly know in regards to the anomaly. "It has dimensional properties..." it dawned on her.

Minuette snorted. "Obviously," she rolled her eyes. "Time and space are one and the same, even if most ponies don't think about it that way."

"No, that's not..." she turned to Minuette. "Dimensions as in alternate realities." It needed to have those, otherwise she couldn't possibly have ended up here from another reality.

Minuette glanced at her with a frown. "That's absurd."

Nonetheless, the unicorn turned and ran another scanning spell on the anomaly. Dual tasking, Minuette flipped to a new page in her book and started taking notes. By the point she was done her eyes were wide.

"I need to confirm something," Minuette muttered, maybe more so to herself than to Sunset.

Sunset watched as the other unicorn rushed out of her suite, floating notebook in tow. She didn't even get an opportunity to ask her where she was going. With a frown she sighed, maybe Minuette had figured out something important? It wasn't as if she knew where she'd rushed off to, and frankly Sunset wasn't sure whether or not she should attempt to follow her.

Instead she slowly walked out of her room and closed the door, it wasn't like she'd get anything done without the expert. Glancing about she noticed the guard stationed in the hallway.

"Hey," she took a few steps towards them. "I'm running a magical experiment in my room, so if anyone comes around that isn't me or Minuette, tell them that they shouldn't enter."

The guard mare raised an eyebrow. "Yes my Lady."

Sunset tapped her chin. "And... well, if Princess Celestia or anyone else comes by and really wants to go in, at least warn them that it's dangerous."

Getting a nod in return, Sunset turned and walked away with a sigh, having been at it for so may hours she really needed a break anyway.

Sunset let out yet another sigh as she slowly walked the castle halls. She needed to get her mind off of the looming magical disaster in her room, she knew that.

...and yet, doing so was hard. She had no idea where Minuette ran off to, but presumably she had some ideas as to a solution. If not, then taking a break was hardly the worst of ideas. As her eyes traveled she noticed a familiar pegasus down the hall.

"Private Spark? What are you doing here?" She'd almost walked past him without noticing.

The guard saluted her before replying. "I'm posted here currently, ma'am."

Sunset rolled her eyes at the formality. "I can see that," she caught herself and sighed. "Sorry, I'm a bit tired."

"Well..." he looked unsure of himself. "It's not really my place to say, but you could try getting some rest?"

"You don't really need to be so uptight, honestly, I don't mind. You're right though, I could use something less stressful right now."

She looked him over while thinking. She wasn't all that familiar with the stallion, all things considered, but frankly any company was better than none. "Actually... if you got the time, you could keep me company?"

Spark smirked slightly. "You do know I'm on the clock, right?"

Sunset smiled. "And you know as well as I do that nothing happens around here. Come on."

Spark held up his hooves. "Well you've convinced me," he chuckled.

Sunset set off with her new companion in tow to the next room over. The great staircase that lead down from the second level to the main entrance of the castle was always a sight; at least for those who didn't live in the castle and had to walk up and down it several times a day.

"To be honest, I'm a bit surprised," Spark admitted. "When I started here a few months ago I heard all of these rumours about you," he glanced at her. "You're very different in-pony."

Sunset let out an awkward chuckle, likely those rumors were all correct; she'd hardly been a sweetheart all those years ago. She could distinctly remember sneering and belittling anyone that got in her way. With a small sigh Sunset sat down at the edge of the stairs, glancing towards the main entrance. At least she could do better now, right?

"It's pretty hard to believe that a nice and pretty mare like you could be as mean as they say," Spark continued.

Sunset snorted, if only he knew. "Nah, I can be quite mean when I want to. It's taken a lot to get my temper under control," even after she got some friends and learned a bit of humility she had a habit of blowing up on others or things when she got frustrated.

Spark sat down beside her, the conversation falling to a rest.

"You know, I was a bit surprised the other day," Spark eventually said. "That you knew about buckball I mean. The sport is so niche, I doubt it'll ever catch on in a big way, so having a noble know about it was quite a shock."

Sunset chuckled. "Well..." her mind traveled to that time around graduation where her friends had wanted to take a trip to Equestria. Rainbow Dash had all but insisted to go and see a buckball match after her counterpart suggested it was the hottest sport around.

She'd never even heard of it before then. It'd been quite a shock to learn that Fluttershy, the local one, was one of Ponyville's ace players. The even more wild part was that that was one of the least strange things that happened during the trip.

She shivered just thinking about it. "A friend insisted I watch a match, I don't really know much about it, to be honest. Also, I don't technically have a title Spark."

"Wait, you don't?" He sounded genuinely surprised.

Sunset nodded. "Being Celestia's personal student affords me some notability among the upper echelons of society, but otherwise there's nothing special about me."

"Huh."

"In fact, one could even make the argument that it's a detriment for me," her mind traveled back to all the various functions she'd been asked to be a part of. "A lot of nobles wants to get close to me in order to get an extra ear in with Celestia."

Spark hummed. "I suppose I can see how that would be bothersome..."

Sunset snorted. "You don't need to try to be polite Spark, I know it's an easy problem to have. Plenty of ponies would give up a lot of things to get my lot in life." At least the picture of her that they had, she had to imagine that many would be less interested if she told them the full tale of her life so far.

Spark let out an awkward chuckle. "I guess you continue to surprise me. I can't really think of any other mare that would speak so frank about these things."

Sunset smirked. "That's just how it goes. I try to not hurt people's feelings anymore, but you'll not find me staying quiet for my own sake. Besides," she wiggled her rear hooves. "I can't really see myself being stuffy and super uptight, no matter how fancy of an event I go to. 'I'd rather dazzle the dance floor'," she finished while mimicking Rarity's mannerism.

Spark flashed her a smile. "Then I think Princess Cadance is lucky to have a friend like you to stick up for her."

Sunset glanced his way. "Well it's not like she's got sole claim to my time, if you want to hang out sometime just let me know."

"Wait, really?" Spark expression morphed to one of confusion.

"Yeah, why not?" Sunset shrugged.

"I didn't think you'd consider somepony like me a friend, I'm just a private."

"I mean, if I didn't care for your company, I wouldn't be sitting here right now. You seemed nice enough, and from the look of things we both needed a diversion."

"Huh..."

Sunset's ears swiveled as she could make out hoofsteps coming up behind her in the distance.

"Private, why are you not at your post?" A voice called out as the steps came to a halt behind them.

Glancing up and behind her revealed Captain Stout Shield.

"Er..." Spark started as he struggled to get on his hooves, clearly caught out.

"That would be my fault, Captain," Sunset said as she herself got up. "I needed someone to stand in while I performed a spell," she flashed him a smile.

"And you needed to abscond with one of my ponies to do so?" His flat expression suggest that he didn't believe her in the slightest.

"Naturally," she added without letting her expression fall.

"Does this have anything to do with the experiment you're running in your quarters?"

Sunset blinked. "You've heard about that?" She was a bit surprised word had traveled that fast. "But no, it does not really have anything to do with that."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I'm running an experiment in conjunction with a student from CSGU; Minuette is her name."

Stout Shield stared at her for what felt like a full minute before snorting, turning his focus to Spark. "Private, return to your post as soon as Lady Shimmer relieves you."

"Yes Sir!" Spark Saluted. He remained at attention till well after the captain had left the hall.

"He's gone," Sunset smirked.

Spark let out a sigh and collapsed. "I can't believe he bought that:"

"Oh he didn't, not in the slightest. He probably heard us well before he approached us, it's not like we were trying to be sneaky."

Spark turned to her with wide eyes. "But then... why did he just let it go?"

Sunset chuckled. "Because calling my bluff would have cost too much. You can't really have a captain of the guard eavesdropping on someone of high standing, at least not unless they are under investigation."

Spark frowned. "I mean, sure, but he was probably just passing by and overheard us, right?"

She nodded. "Sure, but that does not really matter. In high society, image is everything. Not only that, I'm specifically here to study magic. So as long as what I do is to that end and does not cause too many disruptions then I'm likely off the hook."

Spark just stared at her for a few moments. "You really are something else, huh?" He shook his head before mumbling under his breath. "I guess some of those rumors have some substance after all..."

"That being said," Sunset glanced towards the hall they had come from. "I should probably get back to my experiment. Maybe Minuette is back."

Spark righted his helmet. "And I should probably get back to my post before I get myself in more trouble than I already am."

After saying their goodbyes Sunset headed back towards her room. When she got there and pushed the door open she could see that the room was already occupied. Standing near the center of the room with a smirk on her features was Minuette, horn glowing as ethereal threads circled the anomaly.

Sunset rubbed her horn as she made her way out towards the castle gardens. She could really use some fresh air. A grumble from her stomach reminded her that she really needed some food as well. Skipping dinner had seemed like a good idea at the time... less so now.

She could always have the staff prepare something later for her though... or if they were unwilling then she'd just cook something in the kitchen herself; it wasn't as if she didn't know how to. Years in the human world where she had to take care of herself meant that cooking was something she'd picked up rather quickly.

She grunted when another throb of pain went up her horn. She hadn't really cast any spell that advanced in years, so she supposed it was only natural. Her mind traveled back to when Minuette explained to her what she needed to do to help out with the second spell. She mostly acted as a big battery for Minuette to lean into in order to do the actual casting. It made sense, she was the one with a talent for it all; but that sure didn't make it any easier on her horn.

She'd seen a nice location out in the garden when she was last out here, a place that would be perfect to sit down and relax. As she approached her destination however, she noticed that she might be out of luck. A pony was already there and was setting the table of the small gazebo.

As Sunset approached their attention turned to her and they performed a small bow. "Lady Shimmer, you're earlier than expected."

Early? Was she supposed to be somewhere? Her mind traveled back to what the obligation could possibly be. It wasn't out of the question that she'd forgotten something, she'd spent all day worrying about the time fissure in her room to do much else.

"Er, I am?"

The mare nodded in reply... actually, come to think of it, didn't she know this pony? Sunset looked her over twice before it clicked.

"Cloud Thorn? What are you doing here?" She really must be totally out of it if she didn't even recognize the pony she'd talked to that very same morning.

"I'm setting up the evening tea for you and her highness, Princess Cadenza," the maid turned back to the table and continued setting it.

Right, that made some sense, Cadance's invite likely just hadn't reached her yet. Sunset walked closer and took one of the seats, a sigh escaping her mouth as she sat down. It was a few moments after sitting down-- as Sunset watched Cloud Thorn work --that she realised something; It was actually rather strange for them to be here.

"Wait... I thought you were assigned to take care of the area castle that I live in?"

Cloud came to a halt for just a brief moment before she continued her task. "I was assigned to take care of this duty."

Sunset frowned, she might be dead tired but she could spot the attempt at evading the question from a mile away. The question was, should she push? It's not like it was any of her business. Then again, the other option was to sit there in awkward silence till Cadance showed up. When she put it in that perspective her choice became easy.

"Come on Cloud, you and me both knows there's more to it than that."

Cloud halted and sighed. "Well, if you must know, every maid was scrambling for the opportunity to handle this."

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because," Cloud gestured with a hoof off in the distance, where Sunset spotted a pink blur flying. "Princess Cadenza doesn't have her own staff yet. Being hoofpicked by a Princess would be something of high esteem if it happened to you."

That... did sort of make sense. A lot of nobles found household staff to be positions for their lesser, but some ponies simply had the talent for that kind of thing and loved it.

"Okay," Sunset nodded. "I can see that I suppose," she was about to continue but Cloud held up her hoof.

"Of course, when they learned just who her highness was going to have tea with, interest crashed. I was assigned to do this because no one else would, and I'm still new," her piercing eyes were staring straight into Sunset's.

"Right," she glanced off to the side awkwardly. That was twice now in one day that Sunset had been reminded of just how bad her reputation was among those in the castle, three times if you counted those outside its walls.

But had that stopped her before?

No, even when she had all of Canterlot High against her and practically everyone despised her, she'd risen to the occasion and tried her best. It was unlikely that some magical crisis would show up where she could save the day, but that didn't mean she couldn't slowly work on improving things.

Sunset let out a deep sigh. "Look, I'm sorry if I've ever been rude to you in the past Cloud... and I'm actually thankful that you were honest with me just now."

Cloud's eyes moved up and met hers as she finished putting down the final utensil. The mare just stared at her, before eventually closing her eyes and sighing. "Apology accepted."

A small smile graced Sunsets lips.

"To be honest Lady Shimmer-"

"Just Sunset please."

Cloud frowned. "To be honest Sunset, you were never that bad to me. Sure, the most common expression on your face was a sneer, and you were quite a bit rude. But..."

Sunset could feel her mood dropping. The fact that such behaviour was described as "not that bad" begged the question of what it was being compared to.

Cloud's eyes turned to the sky as she leaned back. "I don't know the truth of them, but there are plenty of horror stories being told about you among the staff."

They looked over towards the set table and floated over the teapot from the pull cart she'd brought with her.

"The others seem to treat them as gospel at least."

Sunset sighed. "They are probably true, the stories I mean."

Cloud's eyes widened. "Surely not all of them?"

She frowned. "I don't know, it's not like I've heard them. But they likely are."

"But..." Cloud had raised one of their hooves and held it against their chest.

"I've not been a good person Cloud," now it was Sunset's turn to not meet the eyes of the one she was talking to. "I'm trying to do better now, but that does not magically take away what I did in the past."

'But my past is not today', her mantra, echoed out in her mind. After a second she snorted, realizing the irony of it all. Her past was literally the present.

Silence fell over the two as Cloud finished her work and took up position at the side of the table.

"So, Cloud Thorn, huh?" If she wanted to start mending bridges, then getting to know them was a good start.

Cloud just looked at her expectantly.

"I know it's somewhat crass to do so, but if I'd heard your name in passing I would have assumed you to be a pegasus."

The other mare looked slightly conflicted before replying. "Well, you're not too off the mark. My parents are both pegasi, they were kind of expecting their foal to be one too."

"So they had the name ready in advance?"

Cloud shook her head. "No, not quite," she tapped her horn. "They named me after this, in part."

When the dots connected for Sunset she couldn't help letting out a snicker. "Seriously?"

Cloud smiled lightly and nodded.

"And here I thought Rainbow was the person with the most egregious name."

"Rainbow?"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Her mane is rainbow coloured."

Cloud snorted. "Sometimes I wonder what some ponies think when they name their foals."

"I know, right? If it's not based on how a pony looks, chances are it's instead some weird prophetic thing where it perfectly matches up with their special talent."

"...You know, I've never really thought about that before."

Sunset nodded. "Yeah, most ponies don't, but it's everywhere. Take Celestia, her talent? Moving a celestial body," she pointed towards the sun for effect.

Cloud's eyes dilated, clearly in thought. "...It's everywhere."

Sunset snickered. "Speaking of which, I assume your talent is why you decided to become a maid?"

They blinked a few times. "Oh, my job?" Their expression slowly morphed back into a frown. "Not really, I was actually trying to join the guard."

Sunset blinked. "Then how did you end up here?"

Cloud glanced away and sighed. "Well, it's a long story..."

Sunset looked over to the side, she could make up the pink dot in the sky flying about and seemingly not coming any closer. "We've got time."

Cloud let out a huff and sat down. "Well, I signed up for the guard in the last recruitment round and made it in."

Sunset nodded.

"Then it turns out, they had over drafted," their tone was quickly morphing into a frustrated one. "So they needed to layoff some of the latest recruits to make up for it."

Sunset winced, she could see where this was going.

"I was hardly the top of my class, so I was told to pack up my stuff and go."

"I'm sorry."

Cloud looked up at her in surprise. "It's... fine. Well, no, not really, but I can hardly blame that on you." Sunset nodded.

"Anyway, long story short, they took pity on me since I'm not doing too well. So they decided to offer me this job instead. I didn't exactly have anything else lined up so I decided to go for it," she sighed. "Then two weeks of training later and I'm assigned to you after the previous mare quit."

Sunset flinched, knowing that she probably had something to do with that.

"Been here since," Cloud finished.

"I take it you're looking for a different job instead then?"

Cloud frowned. "I'm not sure..."

Sunset blinked a few times. "You're not?"

"Well, it's like..." she frowned lightly. "I'd love to join the guard, but that seems out. But to be frank, this job is kind of cozy."

"Really, I'd have thought working as a maid would be super busy," Sunset frowned. Most of the castle staff seemed to be perpetually busy running around. Granted, she'd never really payed all that much attention to how it all worked.

Cloud nodded. "A lot of them are, but... well, I'm assigned to be your personal maid. But since you'd rather me not clean your room, and generally stay out of your way... that means that most of my days I don't really have much to do."

"Huh."

"I've been catching up on some book series my mother always recommended."

"I mean, I guess you need to do something."

Sunset wasn't sure she'd have done the same. A job with a lot of down time? Maybe some would be into that, but she herself would probably go stir crazy. Come to think of it though, it's not like she needed a maid here to serve herself and Cadance. And she highly doubted Cadance wanted someone to serve her, at least based on her interactions with the alicorn so far.

"Speaking of..." she was about to tell Cloud that she was dismissed, when an idea sparked at the back of her mind.

"Yes?"

She stared straight at Cloud. "You wanted to be in the guard, right?" It was a silly idea, but the more her mind went over it the better it seemed.

Cloud nodded.

"And they decided they didn't want you because you were, what, not performing good enough?"

"Yes," Cloud spoke through gritted teeth. "You don't need to remind me."

"Then," Sunset went on. "It's simple. We just need to make you a more attractive candidate," a smirk slowly growing on her face.

Cloud Thorn didn't seem very impressed with her idea, still, after a few moments she replied.

"What did you have in mind?"

"It's simple. I'm currently tutoring Cadance on magic once a week," her smirk morphed into a frown. "While I respect the amount of work she puts into it, the truth of the matter is that she's highly inexperienced."

"That's not too strange though, right? I heard that she was a pegasus before Princess Celestia turned her into an alicorn."

Sunset nodded. "You're correct. I hardly blame her for where she is in her studies. But a lot of what she needs to do is just practicing the basics with her horn." Her mind traveled back to some of her own experiences. "It'd be as if someone applied a completely new limb to your body; a lot of it is just getting used to how it works and building up muscle memory."

Learning to use hands and walk on only one set of legs had not been fun.

Cloud frowned. "While I'm following what you're saying, what does this have to do with me?"

Sunset smiled and pointed her hoof at her. "It's simple! I'll teach you at the same time. Cadance hardly takes up a lot of my focus, even if she'd have priority. I could totally teach you some advanced spells that'd be out of the leagues of practically any recruit!"

"That's..."

"It'd give you the edge that you might need in order to make the cut."

Cloud's eyes lowered towards the paved floor. "Sticking me in the same room to learn at the same time as a Princess? Absurd..."

Sunset rolled her eyes, ponies put the princesses on the largest of pedestals. "Well, think about it, alright? It's no trouble on my side, and Cadance is generally really chill. Honestly, if anything I think she'd enjoy the extra company."

"I'm not sure if my boss would think it's okay either."

"If anyone gives you trouble over it, just say that I ordered you to be there. Wouldn't be much they could do about it then, right?" She winked.

She could see the conflict in Cloud Thorn's expression, so rather than let her voice her concerns Sunset pushed. "Just think about it, is all I ask."

After a few moments Cloud let out a deep sight. "Alright..."

In waiting for company, she'd poured herself a cup of tea; something which she was now cradling. The taste was somewhat nostalgic to her. Rarely since she moved to the mirror world had she sat down with a cup of tea.

While taking another sip she noticed her companion for the evening slowly make their way down the garden path. Sunset had to suppress a chuckle as the pink mare looked her way and even made eye contact... only for them to face forwards and keep going.

Clearly whatever Celestia was having her do had been draining. Still, there was something comedic about watching the alicorn, not even four steps later, realize their mistake and hurry over with burning cheeks.

"I was starting to wonder if I should have given you a call," she couldn't help herself from smiling as she spoke.

"Sunset," Cadance started before chuckling, the embarrassment clear on her face. "I hope you haven't waited for long...?"

She had, of course, but that was less because of Cadance and more her own fault. "Nah," she leaned back in her seat. "I just got here myself."

Cadance let out a sigh as she took a seat. "Sorry for being a bit late, I needed to clear my head," she gestured absentmindedly to the sky with one of her hooves.

Sunset just nodded and started serving Cadance their own cup. "It's fine, really." If anything, getting a while to gather herself after her own long day helped.

Cadance glanced about before tilting her head. "Strange, I figured we'd be surrounded by servants for this."

With a chuckle she started explaining why. "No I dismissed her after she brought the tea, I figured between the two of us there must be at least one grown mare somewhere that can work a kettle."

Cadance froze for a moment before slowly opening her mouth. "I'm sure we can manage."

Welp, not every joke could be a banger, she supposed. Lifting her own cup again and taking another sip she realised something quite profound: She actually kinda hated this tea. The nostalgic first moments was great, but that was just because of all the memories she had off it.

The actual taste? Not at all great.

"You know, I used to be so enamoured by this stuff..." Mostly because Celestia really liked it, come to think of it. "I think I was just fooling myself," she shook her head. "This tea just isn't on my flavour palette."

"Do you want us to order something else from the kitchen?" Cadance asked, before stuffing an entire cookie into her mouth.

"No, not really," she shook her head. "I'm not a child, I can manage."

Cadance hummed as they lifted a few more cookies in their magical grip, only to move them onto her own plate. Either the alicorn had gotten more training in, or she was subconsciously fueling a sweet tooth. Was that an alicorn thing? Celestia was also quite big on the sweets.

"How did your research project go anyway?"

The question surprised her slightly, how quickly had word traveled? Wait, no that's right, she had mentioned something at the breakfast table.

"Well," she started, not entirely sure how much she wanted to divulge. "I think it's resolved."

Cadance frowned. "So you found what you were looking for...?"

"Something like that. Truth be told," she reached over and picked up a cookie herself. "I had to ask the help of an expert in the field, the entire thing was way out of my league."

Cadance just started at her, eyes blinking.

She huffed and rolled her eyes. "I might be good Cadance, but I'm not great at everything that has to do with magic."

"Oh," Cadance's cheeks flushed.

What kind of impression had she given the poor dear? Probably something really stuck up, come to think of it.

"Anyway, how was your day?" She asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"Oh, you have no idea," Cadance let out before launching into a long rant about what she'd been forced to sit through.

Sitting at her desk, Sunset let out a loud sigh. "One problem down," her eyes traced the drawers of her desk. "An even bigger one to go," she said while pulling out her notes.

Figuring out what to do had been at the back of her mind since she ended up in the past. She'd just been thrown from one fire into the next, never really having time to put any real thought towards a plan. Yet this was not something she could delay; she'd need to make a choice, the sooner the better.

Her window for crossing over to the other world was approaching, if she wanted to take that route then she needed to prepare for it. As her eyes scanned what she'd written on the parchment she shivered. Stick around and potentially be the one responsible for the end of Equestria, or run away again? Not particularly good choices.

She frowned and raised her quill. There had to be a better option, she just had to consider all the choices that were available to her. To start with, what were the obvious things that she could do, even if doing so might not be ideal?

She could tell someone about her predicament, naturally. She'd barely given it a thought before, but working with Minuette had reminded her: working with friends made everything easier. The question would then be: who to tell about it all? It'd have to be someone who would both believe her, but also someone who she could trust with sensitive information.

She could only think of two ponies who matched that description; both of which were alicorns.

Cadance would provide great moral support, and she could possibly have some ideas that Sunset herself hadn't even thought of. The problem, however, was that Cadance was not the deceptive type, not in the slightest. Knowing the truth about the future would be a huge burden for her, and she'd likely start to second guess her every action.

Celestia, on the other hand, was the opposite problem entirely. She had no doubt in her mind that Celestia would believe her; should she present a strong enough argument for her case. But there were reasons why she'd not been honest with her former mentor already. She'd never really been able to shake her perception of the alicorn as cold and indifferent.

And now? Well, seeing it first hand again she knew that her fears were justified. Princess Twilight had always described Celestia as loving and caring, and that was always something that had struck her as weird.

Then again... the few times Sunset had been back in Equestria and seen the alicorn again, they had been... different. She was a lot more jovial... a lot more happy. She seemed a lot closer to how her mirror image in the human world acted. Something must have happened to her in the years since her own departure, something that changed her, that was the only thing that made sense.

Sunset shook her head, she was getting sidetracked. Celestia likely would tip the odds in Equestria's favour. Her mentor had always been good at working with the 'big picture', so to speak. But things would be irrevocably different, assuming they weren't already.

Princess Twilight was also her friend, and she didn't want to put herself between their future, destiny, and friends. With a sigh she leaned her head against the desk, idly writing down the option of telling Celestia among the other choices.

Even if the alicorn did believe her tale, she'd still be locked into her choice. It would not an understatement to say that the entire nation's future rested upon her shoulders, and whatever choice she'd end up doing.

Frankly it made her deeply uncomfortable.

She'd always been a bit jealous of Princess Twilight for having had such a large impact on the world around her; she practically brought about a golden age of unity both in Equestria but also with the neighbouring nations. But now when it was up to her to make sure things turned out alright? That she could radically change the path of history with just a few choice words here and there?

It wasn't a good feeling.

And sure, everypony technically got to make those choices every day, living their lives. But no one had a guide for the future that they could lean on, or subvert, as desired.

With a shake of her head she put her focus back towards her notes. Regardless of what path she'd end up choosing, one thing was clear: She'd need to start figuring out a way to get away from Celestia. As long as she herself was still here then Celestia was unlikely to take on another student; and that, was something Sunset just couldn't allow.

As expected, her target was in the library

"Sunset, do you have a moment?" Celestia said as she approached.

Sunset blinked a few time as she raised her eyes from her book casting a glance over her shoulders. The unicorn was seated somewhat far into the library at one of the reading tables... a table which had no less than six books on it all in a semi-circle around the mare.

Really, when she hadn't found Sunset in her room then this was the safest bet among places where she could be.

"Sure," Sunset replied while placing a bookmark in the volume she was working through.

Celestia flashed a smile for her student before coming to a halt next to her.

"I got a missive today that asked for confirmation on a certain purchase of titanium, given that it was in your name it got me curious. I recall you saying it was for a necklace, but I've never taken you to be one for fashion."

Sunset nodded. "Yeah, I just want something durable that I can use to hold my future pendant."

"Something you'll be enchanting then?" Celestia asked while glancing over to the reading material on the subject that her student was making her way through. Sunset had never been shy from taking a deep dive into a given topic... assuming it was one she personally took interest in.

"Yeah. I think I've got enough of the basic theory down now to just take a stab at experimenting a bit and making something simple." Turning back to face the table again Sunset grabbed all but one book in her hold. With a flick she sent each of the volumes back to their respective shelf.

It was always a sight to see a highly skilled unicorn do so casually what had taken herself several decades to get down. Unicorns on Sunset's level didn't come often; even less so were ones that wanted to apply themselves. If only she could make Sunset move away from being so self centered and power hungry... Then maybe, just maybe, she could be the one.

"So what's your magnum opus going to be then?" She asks with a smile.

Sunset snorted before giving her their full attention. "I wouldn't say it's going to be all that big," her face taking on a thoughtful expression. "I'm trying to replicate the effect of a spell I've observed in the past. I'm not entirely sure if I can pull it off, but if I do manage I'll show you the final result," she finished while closing and fetching the final book in order to bring with her.

Sunset was ever the perfectionist, wasn't she? Often it was that she'd get frustrated if her result didn't match up with the high expectations she placed upon herself. Taking the side of the unicorn Celestia slowed her pace to match Sunset as she made her way out of the library.

"Still, I can't imagine you came all this way to ask about a missive you were already expecting, so what's up?"

Cocking her head towards her student she asked: "'What's up?'"

Sunset's face quickly growing flustered only made her more confused as to the meaning of the phrase.

"It's, ah, um," Sunset turned to face forwards. "It's modern slang for asking either what someone else wants or what they are up to. It's also quite casual, sorry."

Celestia chuckled lightly. "Ah, I see. Still. I'd think with how often we were in each other's company a little bit of levity would be warranted, wouldn't you?"

The fact that Sunset stared at her as if she'd grown a second head suggested not.

Choosing to continue in the hopes that she'd break her student's stupor. "And you're right, I was starting to get a bit worried, which is why I wanted to check in on you. You haven't been to breakfast for the last few days now. You're not sitting up all night studying again, are you?"

That seemed to have done the trick as Sunset snapped to attention again. "No, quite the opposite, really. I've been catching up on missed sleep. That being said, I'm not really a morning pony, so I might just settle in for this as the new normal."

Celestia almost stumbled in her step. Sunset, not a morning pony? Since when? As far back as she could remember the unicorn had raised with the sun, often even attempting to greet her well before breakfast.

"You're not?" She asked before schooling her thoughts.

Sunset shook her head lightly. "Nah. Whenever I need to get up early I usually just end up super grumpy," she chuckles. "Beside, you already know my tendencies of being up all night deep diving into projects," Sunset finished while flashing her smile.

Celestia could only nod. "I... suppose." She couldn't really refute that Sunset did indeed have tendencies to stay up late. But still, she had always got up early. So if she wasn't an morning pony, why would would she get up at dawn?

"You highness!"

The call from down the hallway snapped her out of her thoughts. "Yes?" She greeted to the quickly approaching aid.

Coming to a halt a pony length or two in front of where she and Sunset had stopped, they relayed their message. "Miss Inkwell requests your presence; We just received a missive from one of our embassies."

A light sigh escaped her lips, something which caused Sunset to chuckle. "Inform her I'll be there in a few moments."

With a curt nod the aid turned around and rushed off the way they came.

"'No rest for the wicked', huh?" The mirth in Sunset's voice was clear.

"It seems not," she agreed.

She supposed that if there was any pony that would dig up that old phrase it would be a history graduate. Luna had never really appreciated the depiction that she'd spread nightmares to evil doers, though she never disputed it either. Of course the more 'modern' meaning was quite a bit different, was it not?

Regardless, it was apt. She wasn't exactly looking forwards to the nightmare that was foreign politics. At least you'd eventually wake up from a nightmare, politics, it seemed, was eternal.

Shaking her head she turned to Sunset. "I must be off, it seems. I had hoped to spend the afternoon catching up with you, but it seems duty calls."

Sunset nodded and flashed her a smile. "Is alright, I've got some more reading to do anyway."

With a brief nod she took off down the hall at her quicker, more natural, gait. She'd only barely rounded the corner before her ears swiveled, having caught the sound of Sunset's voice. In a bid of curiosity she stopped briefly.

"Cloud? I didn't expect to see you around here."

"I was on my way back to the changing room, Lady Shimmer."

The second voice wasn't familiar to Celestia, though it was clearly a mare.

A sigh was barely heard. "I thought I told you that just Sunset is fine?"

"It feels too informal though."

"Yeah but I'm not exactly all that big on formality," Sunset chuckled.

"Anyway," Sunset continued. "Did you put any more thought towards my offer?"

Offer? What was her student up to this time? Rare were the times when she interacted with another pony if it wasn't for her own gains. She needed to come up with some way to impart selflessness onto her pupil, less she go down the same route many others had veered off to.

"I... I'll give it a try. But I've got my doubts, and I certainly don't want to get in the way."

"I told you, you won't, in fact she'll be happy for some more company. If nothing else you can both shit talk me when you don't think I'll hear."

The mirth in Sunsets voice at least made it clear to Celestia that she wasn't serious. With a shake of her head she continued down the hall; Whatever mysterious deal Sunset had sealed she was sure she'd be made aware of it eventually. Should she need to scold her student then she'd not hesitate.

"Okay, so, Cadance, what are the generally accepted basic principles that measure the abilities of a unicorn?" Sunset smiled as she strode up to the window and turned to face the seated alicorn.

"Umm..."

The confusion on Cadance's face was all but obvious to Sunset. She frowned, hadn't Celestia covered the basics? Then again...

"Princess Celestia did go over this with you, right?"

Cadance nodded. "Well, yes, but we mostly just used books... ones you didn't think were very good."

Sunset planted her rump on the floor to better match their height. "I guess I should have figured. You don't have a unicorn's background so it might not have come up."

Sunset nodded to herself. "But that's fine, I can just go over it quickly."

Cadance smiled, though Sunset could tell it was a bit forced; were ponies always this easy to read? Humans often had way better control of their expressions; it wasn't something she'd put much thought towards before, but the ears did a lot.

"Okay, so the simplest way to think about it, but possibly not the most accurate, is that one's capacity to use magic as a unicorn is limited by three factors," she levitated up the small chalkboard she'd managed to dig out of storage.

"They are: Draw rate, Capacity, and Ability," she wrote all three words on the board and circled them.

"Let's start with Ability, that's the easiest one to go over. You should know by now that spells usually have a distinct form," she waited for Cadance to nod before she continued. "Ability simply refers to a unicorn's ability to keep these forms in their mind when casting. This is why sometimes you hear people refer to a specific spell as a spell form."

Sunset smiled as Cadance seemed to be taking some notes. Glancing over to the other side of the room her eyes met Cloud Thorn's, who seemed to be giving her a weird look. She'd have to ask them about it later, but honestly? All of this would be way below her level so it was hardly shocking if it was boring.

Once she was sure she had Cadance's attention again she continued. "Capacity is simply how much magic your body can store at a given time. The specifics of how this works are quite complicated, but sufficient to say this is something that you can improve; you just need to frequently use your horn."

Sunset tapped a hoof to her mouth. "...It's worth noting that most unicorns have a certain level they peak at, this can be lower or higher than the average."

"So... You're one of the ones with a high capacity?" Cadance asked.

"...Probably," truth be told she didn't remember her last evaluation. She knew she was above average, but her main advantage had always been her ambition, something that drove her to learn complex spells. She shook her head, she was getting side tracked.

"Anyway, the final aspect is draw rate, which is simply how quickly or how efficiently a unicorn absorbs latent magic in the atmosphere. You could think of it as a battery and how long it would take to recharge from zero," she smiled.

Cadance glanced to Cloud before turning back to Sunset, a frown on her face. "What's a battery?"

Sunset froze, did Equestria not have batteries? She was so used to being surrounded by human technology, where practically everything ran on electricity.

A cough from the other side of the room drew her and Cadance's attention. "Your highness, batteries are considered a part of the electricity rollout. They are basically a reservoir for electricity."

"Oh!" Cadance blushed.

"Er, right," Sunset turned back to her primary student. "I guess a better metaphor would be how long it would take for rain water to fill up a glass. Even if two glasses hold the same volume, one with a wider rim would fill up faster."

"That does make sense..."

Sunset smiled. She'd worked with Twilight, the human, for quite a while, and it had honestly been a joy to teach and share magic with someone else. Cadance wasn't stupid, she just never had a need to learn these things before. It was hard to not feel slightly giddy about the prospect of teaching her.

"How..." Cadance traced a circle in the air with her hoof. "Do you determine these things about a pony?"

"Well, usually you take an endurance test, and a set of professionals will track you. There's staff at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns that do it."

Cadance nodded.

"Though... since you're an alicorn I'd assume your draw rate and capacity far outpaces most unicorns. And even if you might not match my levels today, you'll likely far exceed them in a few years."

Cadance reeled back, eyes wide.

Sunset chuckled. "You shouldn't be so surprised, as an alicorn you have the magical potential of three ponies in one. The principles I listed were mostly invented to measure unicorns, but pegasi and earth ponies are also magical creatures that take in latent magic; they just use it differently."

Sunset put down the chalkboard... which she now realised she hadn't actually written anything else on.

"That's a bit hard to take in, honestly," Cadance spoke with trepidation.

Sunset shot her an look. "Really?"

Cadance nodded. "Well, I mean I obviously knew Celestia is the most powerful pony out there, but I always just kind of assumed you'd be stronger than me..."

As Cadance trailed off, Sunset could practically fill in what was left unsaid on her own. She tried to not let it get to her, she wasn't her old self anymore.

"It is true that I'm one of the most prominent unicorns of this generation, Cadance, I won't deny that. But it's straight up biology that a unicorn could never match the innate magic of an alicorn..."

She trailed off as she briefly remembered her correspondences with Princess Twilight, and what had been said about her own student.

She coughed. "There is potential for a unicorn to match an alicorn I suppose, but that would require someone on the level of Starswirl. A unicorn like that would be a one in a million."

"I kind of always thought you were something like that," Cadance said.

Sunset couldn't help herself from cringing. "I know I've spoke up my own skills in the past Cadance, and don't get me wrong, I am very far ahead of my peers. But I'm no Starswirl, not even close. A very big part of my success is just how much I study."

"Really?" The surprise was clear in the alicorn's voice.

"Yeah, I mean, even in CSGU most ponies just pick one field that they really like; usually the one that best matches their special talent. Unless you like magic in general and want to study it broadly, there is little reason to go out of your comfort zone very often."

Cadance let out a huh as she pondered the new insight.

Sunset glanced over at her other student that she still hadn't got to yet. Thankfully Cloud Thorn did not seem completely bored out of her mind yet, though her flat expression wasn't promising.

"Anyway, let's get on with today's actual lesson! Do you have the lesson plan Celestia made you?"

Cadance just stared at her. "Um... There uh, isn't one?"

'That's right,' Sunset thought back to a few days ago. For some reason Celestia had never bothered to draft up a lesson plan for Cadance's magic studies. Or well, she most likely had, it just wasn't something that had been shared.

"Well, okay, I'll just go over what I think is a good continuation of your studies today, and then I'll draft a proper lesson plan for next time."

It was a bit embarrassing for her. She'd spent quite some time thinking over what would be good spells to teach Cloud in order to help her make the cut for the guard, that she hadn't even bothered to think about what Cadance might need.

At least she had come prepared. She fished out a quill, ink, and parchment from her saddlebag. On the surface she drew out the abstract shape of a spell that Cadance probably could handle. When she was finished she floated it over to her primary student.

"I think this should be around your level Cadance. You've seen and learned to read spell form abstracts before, right?"

If Celestia really had been having the poor mare have her head stuffed in books then she should be more than familiar. And indeed, Cadance nodded that she understood.

"This is a more advanced version of a light spell. Normally a unicorn lighting up their horn with magic causes it to glow. So a regular light spell is one of the first things many ponies learn. This one is more complicated, because it lets you move the light buildup away from your horn and float it elsewhere. Not only do you need to focus on a more complicated spell form, you also need to focus on where you want the glow to be."

Sunset lit up her horn and a teal glowing orb ignited before floating away from her horn. She slowly moved it around the room to display how it worked.

"Of course, once you get the hang of it..." She added more floating lights around the room at a rapid pace. It wasn't long before there were at least thirty of them floating everywhere. Cadance just glanced awkwardly between her assignment and Sunset.

With an awkward chuckle she released the spell, got up and walked over to Cadance. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it. If you've got any questions, and I do mean any questions, just let me know and I'll help."

Cadance nodded. "I'm not sure I can do this but..." her hesitation slowly morphed into a smile. "But I'll try, that's the important part, right?"

"Right!"

After watching for a few moments to make sure Cadance properly got started she turned and walked over to Cloud Thorn.

"Alright, so, let's get started with the future Captain of the Guard!" She flashed her a smirk. Cloud Thorn just frowned lightly.

She knew the mare wasn't sold on this idea, she'd even expected her not to be, that's why she'd planned out how to convince her in advance. If she'd been rejected before when it came to the guard, then that meant her magical capabilities were average, or lower. They wanted anyone above the curve when it came to unicorns, if possible. With the really promising ponies getting thrown into officer training.

"What's your current level when it comes to spells?" The question was a formality to Sunset, she had a pretty good idea.

"I had general studies up to level three in my schooling. I didn't really take any specialized classes," Cloud replied. Her speaking was almost machine like, as if she'd recited this piece of information before.

"Right, so, we'll start with shield spells then," Sunset continued without hesitation. She fired up her horn and a teal bubble surrounded her. "The bubble shaped shield is the most common, it's often the one most unicorns do subconsciously if they feel threatened. It protects you from all angles," she had to hold back a chuckle. "And the ball like shape is pretty good about deflecting force."

"Of course," she powered down the spell and instead put up a square shaped shield in front of her. "If you get attacked from only one direction, then a shield facing the threat directly is better since it conserves magic."

She waved the square around a bit for effected before powering down the spell. Cloud hardly looked excited, but the key part here was not only teaching her better spells, but also how to better think around how to use magic in a fight. Sunset would be lying if she said she had any clue as to what the recruiters looked for. But, she was fairly certain that any pony that was just thinking about threat assessment at all would garner interest.

Few ponies took fighting as an art, even fewer put any thoughts towards war. Equestria had been at peace for centuries, something which shaped the ponies living in the now. The EUP hardly saw much action, mostly working to keep away dangerous monsters and critters from towns and cities. Still, the ponies at the top, Celestia included, had to be prepared in case someone did have the bright idea to try and invade.

A new recruit thinking more critically about things? That'd likely be seen as officer material. At least that's something she'd be on the lookout for when scouting ponies.

"Why don't you put up a shield and I'll try to break through it to get to you?" She flashed Cloud Thorn a smile.

"...Alright."

With a flash a dark orange bubble shield surrounded the unicorn. Sunset approached it and lightly tapped her hoof against it before nodding to herself. It was clearly solid and quite a decent shield overall.

"Now, bubble shields you'd think would protect you against most things," she said while walking around the shielded mare in a circle, inspecting the spell as she went. "But there are some critical weaknesses to it."

Sunset walked back over so she was in front of Cloud, before getting another pony's length between the two. She lit up her horn and flung a regular bolt towards the shield. What wasn't defused by the shield was harmlessly deflected onto the ceiling.

To Cloud's credit, she didn't even flinch.

"A regular head on approach would require a lot of force to breach it. But..."

Cloud's eyes widened as Sunset conjured up some thirty bolts and sent them all flying at her shield at different angles. As they all collided with the shield it faltered while at the same time sending a jolt down Cloud's horn.

"Hitting one with many things at the same time and they're trivial to overwhelm."

Cloud grunted. "That hurt," she said while reaching up to rub her horn.

"Sorry," Sunset flashed her a smile. "The feedback of a spell being disrupted is never pleasant."

Cloud gave her a curt nod. "It's not the first time, though I can't say I've had it happen very often."

"Few do, anyway, put up the shield again, would you?"

With a sigh Cloud fired up her horn again.

"Now, some of the other major weaknesses of a basic bubble shield are simply a lack of scope."

With a flick of her horn she picked up Cloud Thorn in her levitation field and lifted her a couple of centimeters off the ground, something which made the mare exclaim in surprise.

"A bubble shield will protect you from things approaching. But a smart opponent could simply, if applicable, initiate their spell within your shield. Likewise, a skilled unicorn could teleport through your shield."

"That's, disconcerting," Cloud says after being sat down.

Sunset nods. "Yeah, early fighting between unicorns quickly revealed these flaws. Another major weakness of a basic bubble shield is that it does not extend through things unless you make it. So your previous bubble technically had a hole at the bottom in order to account for the floor."

Cloud's eyes dilated.

"This means that someone who wishes you harm could just attack from below. Similar things would happen if you're right up against a wall."

"I'd never thought of that..."

"Me neither," Cadance chimed in.

"It usually doesn't come up, but if you work in the guard or," she turned and flashed Cadance a grin, "you're a Princess, then knowing these things are important."

Turning back to face Cloud Thorn a grin spread across her face. "Now let's go through a few shield variants that don't have these issues."

Sunset trotted down the stairs, the stone under her hooves aged and cracked; the walls weren't in much better shape either. Celestia had asked Sunset to join her down in one of the older portions of the castle, one that existed before the modern rebuild some five hundred years ago.

The old castle had been less flashy, serving function over form. After the Everfree Forest consumed Celestia's previous castle, time had been of the essence to relocate Equestria's capital. Those days had been ones of strife and hardship, Celestia being mentally disposed after having banished her sister probably didn't help, Sunset reasoned.

She wasn't quite sure why her mentor had asked her to come all the way down here though. Celestia had all but insisted it was important, but she had also been very clear that this wasn't a magic lesson. But it certainly couldn't be a political one, the nobles were several floors up, completely ignorant as to these halls even existing. Besides, as far as Sunset recalled, Celestia had given up trying to teach her politics years before her departure. That might have had something to do with Sunset taking to nobles like water to oil, one of the few times where she didn't regret her past behaviour all that much.

Sunset reached the bottom of the staircase and continued onwards down the hallway, the teal light of her horn being the only thing lighting the way. Once upon a time there would have been torches flickering here, but few if any even knew about the existence of things below the new foundation; and even fewer ventured down to these levels.

It didn't take her long to reach her destination, any notion of being lost left her mind as she could see bright yellow light reflecting off a nearby wall. Rounding the corner, the hall Sunset found herself in was quite large, spread throughout the space were stands and tables. Many covered with old relics or trinkets, but just as many left empty of anything but cobwebs.

Sunset stepped up next to her teacher at the far end of the room, Celestia's gaze being locked to a mural of stone, hoisted up by wooden supports and protected within a case of glass. Sunset waited there in silence, she knew her teacher well enough. Maybe some of that came from getting to know her alternate reality counterpart, but she had spent not only years with the Princess, but maybe just as many without, something that lead her to reflect upon who she was.

No, Celestia would speak when she was ready, when she had figured out the best way to impart what she wanted. When she could get ponies to do exactly what she wanted with but a word; that's when she spoke. Sunset wasn't happy thinking about her teacher in such light, but the truth of it was that you don't rule a nation without knowing how to get people to do what you want.

"Sunset, I know this might seem a bit non-traditional, but I think this is important," Celestia opened with.

Sunset could only shake her head while smiling. "I wouldn't worry about it princess, I figured we'd not trek this far down and getting our hooves covered in cobwebs if it wasn't important."

Celestia returned her smile before continuing. "I'm... proud of you lately, some days it felt like all we did was fight. I'm glad you and Cadance finally made peace with one another."

Sunset had to prevent her body from taking an involuntary step back, it had been a long time since Celestia uttered such words aimed at her, even more so with how sincere they sounded.

Celestia's gaze returned to the mural in front of them. "It's why I think this is important. Tell me, Sunset, what do you see when you study this mural? There is no right or wrong answer, of course."

Sunset had learned long ago that there was always a 'wrong' answer, even if there were multiple right ones, being a human had taught her that much. Still, Celestia was probably right in this instance.

The mural in front of Sunset was old, that much was clear. She considered briefly studying it in great detail first, and then giving her evaluation. But given everything else, it was more likely that Celestia wanted her raw, unabated, perspective.

Her eyes frowned a bit as she took it in. "Well, it's old, I can say that much. I'll admit that I'm not extremely well versed in art history, despite how much history I studied," Sunset gesture in the air with her hoof. "But the style look very similar to early earth pony pieces from around the time of Equestria's founding."

Celestia nodded. "You have no need to be ill with confidence, your rough dating is quite accurate," Celestia, putting on the smile that Sunset associated with her very rare mischievous moods, continued. "But I was more curious about your opinion on the subject matter depicted."

"Right," Sunset continued. "The center depicts a white alicorn, their yellow mane and tail looking more like flickering flames than hair. From the body it looks like a mare, her eyes are closed and her mouth shapes into... I believe a smile. Behind her is the sun at the edge of the horizon, so it depicts either dawn or dusk. On the outskirt surrounding her stands many ponies, mostly earth ponies, but a few pegasi and unicorns. They are not drawn in much detail, though one unicorn seem to be wearing some blue horn accessory?"

The silence returned upon Sunset finishing her description. The two just stood there next to each other, the teal and yellow lights from their horns merging into one. If Sunset was her younger self, she would have probably been impatient at this juncture, finding Celestia's drawn out lesson a chore. And she was under no illusion, this was a lesson of some form.

"...and, what do you think it means?" Celestia finally asked, breaking the silence.

Sunset frowned. "I'm not sure, to be honest. It depicts you, that much is obvious. As for in what light... It's hard to place," Sunset eventually finished, unable to grasp at better words.

She had not found the mural remarkable upon stepping into the room and her eyes first rested upon it. But clearly there was something more to it, otherwise Celestia would not have brought them here.

"What I see," Celestia started slowly. "Is a future that terrifies me."

Sunset had to turn at that, facing her teacher with one eye half closed. "What do you mean?"

It took more waiting before Celestia once again spoke. "This mural was gifted to me and Equestria by the Crystal Empire, you're familiar with them, correct?"

Sunset nodded. "It was a kingdom in the far north that disappeared almost a millennium ago, I read a fair bit about it in my ancient history studies."

'And I have once stepped foot in that place after it's eventual return' Sunset continued in the confines of her mind.

"I don't know how they came upon it, nor how they discerned its title. But the scholars of the Crystal Empire were quite confident that this piece was called 'She Who Brings the Dawn'," Celestia said.

"That sounds a bit like a pony I know," Sunset said, the mirth clear in her tone.

Celestia smiled. "You're quite right in that aspect," she shook her head before continuing. "Equestrian scholars later came to the conclusion that what is depicted here is a prophecy."

"A prophecy?"

"Yes... and that's what has me so worried. My mane does not flicker like flames Sunset, nor is it a bright yellow. Once upon a time though, and bear with me here, I viewed this mural in a different light."

"Oh?"

Celestia gave a short nod. "I... became obsessed with it. It depicted an alicorn, someone like me and..." Celestia trailed off, a frown on her face.

"And Luna?" Sunset supplied helpfully.

She realised her mistake a moment too late, as her teacher now stared at her in shock. Celestia had never spoken to her about her sister, nor were there many in Equestria who even knew she once had one. But those who did referred to her by her fallen name, Nightmare Moon, not her original one.

Sunset was not very familiar with the alicorn embodying night, having only meet her once or twice. Fortunately though, Sunset was very familiar with her human counter part. She had also observed a fair bit of the sister's dynamic between the two humans, and it was clear they loved each other dearly, even if they were at each others throats when they thought no one could see.

"No need to act so surprised Princess, I do take my history studies quite seriously," Sunset tried to supply to cover her folly.

"I... I supposed you do. I did not expect to hear someone speak my sister's name so freely."

"Well it's about time someone does, is it not? It's a better memory to keep alive than whatever it is we do at nightmare night," Sunset followed up, her nerves spiking as she spoke.

She could see the pain traced upon the features of her mentor, the two of them falling back into silence. Eventually both of their gazes shifted back towards the mural, the reason for their gathering.

Celestia let out a polite cough. "Yes, it depicts an alicorn. Someone alike to me and my sister, yet on the same time so different. In my younger days, I thought that it might depict my mother. I went on a fruitless search trying to learn more of this fabled alicorn, hoping that I could, if not find them, then learn more of them. The only family I have ever known is that of my sister."

The notion of where Celestia and Luna had come from was not a thought that had crossed Sunset mind before. If she had known that her mentor struggled with questions as to her origin, she would have taken the time to research the family tree of the principal. Humans kept very detailed birth and death records, often with pictures; it would have been trivial to just look up the information online.

"Did you find her?"

A shake of her mentor's head was her answer. "No, I did not. Eventually my sister confronted me in my frenzy of finding this fabled alicorn. She spoke that we had duties to our ponies and that those had to come first. I asked if she did not care for finding what could be our mother. Do you know what her answer was?"

Sunset shook her head.

"She said 'You're more of a mother to me than a mare that wasn't there. For me you're worth more than some mare depicted in stone. If that stone depicts a mother of mine, then that stone depicts you, sister.' I was dumbfounded by her words at the time," Celestia raised her hoof and rested it on the glass casing. "But she was in many ways right. I was the older of us, and long ago, when we were but fillies, I took care of her. We always only had each other for support, the one cliff in the turmoil of life."

Sunset took a moment before responding. "At least you don't have to be alone anymore though, right?"

Celestia looked down upon the unicorn in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Sunset scoffed and let out a sigh. "You have Cadance now, right?" Putting on a smile as she finished.

Celestia just blinked at her, before turning her gaze back forwards again. "I suppose you're right, I do have... family again. Though I don't think she sees me that way."

"Maybe not today Princess, but one day, right?"

Celestia just nodded. The silence once again descending. Sunset struggled to not let out a deep sigh. Sometimes her mentor was more awkward than Rainbow Dash in a dress store. It was never quite clear if she was waiting for someone else to speak up, or if she was simply gathering her thoughts.

One could easily make the mistake of thinking that Celestia had her head stuck up in the clouds, some of the less smart nobles certainly did so, but that wasn't really accurate. To direct a conversation meant to be in full control of it, and sometimes that meant not speaking at all.

Right here and now though? Sunset was almost certain that Celestia was instead struggling with figuring out how to act, she had been there herself once. As far as Sunset was aware, Celestia had never had a child, yet now she had decided to adopt the young alicorn into her already broken family. Sunset could think of many reasons as to why she would have chosen to do so: It signified a more united Equestria, she could teach the younger alicorn and groom her into a competent leader.

Yet, for all of that she could picture in her mind, Sunset highly doubted that Celestia had adopted Cadance due to a desire for family. It's not as if the older alicorn didn't like the younger, that much was true, but family, at least the chosen family, was closer than any friend. For all of Celestia's preaching about the virtue of friendship, it clearly was something the older mare herself struggled with.

Eventually Sunset spoke up, voicing something that had bothered her. "So, you said it scared you now, how come?"

Celestia glanced towards her and frowned."That's correct, it's the reason why I had us come here today." Sunset was a bit surprised that her mentor would admit something like that so freely. Most of the time she was quite tight lipped about the reasons behind her lessons.

"After..." Celestia gulped. "Luna fell to darkness... this mural is something I came to see in a different light. Alicorns are ponies, just like any other, sometimes we forget that. We carry the magic and abilities of all three tribes, and while we can train to be proficient in all of them; that does not make us exceptional. Where an Alicorn rivals no other is in our special talent, taking on a much more primal and powerful force."

Celestia turned to study Sunset's face before continuing. "In the matter of the heart, we are as weak and susceptible as anypony else. But should we stray down a dark path, the consequences are magnitudes worse than if any other pony did so. That possibility exists within me as well."

Celestia gestured towards the mural with her hoof. "That, is what I believe this mural indicates; what should happen should I ever fall to such dark temptations. It's a prophecy I can never allow to come true, no matter what," the expression on her face hardening.

Sunset could feel a stiffness across her body, she had tensed up without even noticing. She was more than familiar with what happens when too much magical power gathered in one location, only for it to be turned into a corrupting evil; she had embraced it once, and again seen it happen to others.

Sunset nodded. "That future is indeed something we can not allow to happen, no matter what."

If Celestia was surprised by her conviction, she did not show it. "I know you covet becoming an alicorn, and I'd imagine that's why you had such trouble getting along with Cadance. It's why I figured this would be something important to see, because the danger of falling to darkness is a burden someone like me always has to carry."

Sunset let out a hoarse laugh while shaking her head. "The fact that you think I desire something like that shows just how little you know me, Celestia."

Celestia frowned. "You don't?"

Sunset let the question hang in the air before shaking her head. It was true that once upon a time she might have desired that. Her eyes tracing over Celestia's form as she thought back to what felt like a lifetime ago. It had never really been about being an alicorn, or becoming immortal. It had been about power, to have enough power to sit by Celestia's side as her equal.

She had been so naive back then. What made Celestia exceptional, and why ponies followed her had never been about how powerful she was. In a weird twist of irony, perhaps she had not been so different from the nobles she despised.

Celestia licked her lips. "Perhaps I should have shown you this first, maybe instead of..." She shook her head. "We'd have saved ourselves these last few weeks of grief if we had just spoken like this."

Sunset let out a laugh at that; it would have been an awful idea. Her old self would never have ceded. Not to mention that Celestia herself was not much better when it came intimacy. Yet even now, Sunset dared not be fully honest with her old mentor. Too much of the future was at stake, and Celestia was potentially the worst pony to clue in considering how large her ability to alter things were.

Sunset grinned. "Perhaps one day, when we can be honest with one another, we could plot a future together."

Sunset turned and set off at a slow pace towards the exit. "But it's clear to me that we are both currently incapable of that."

Celestia followed her, agreeing to her unstated notion that the lesson was over. "You've changed, Sunset."

This caused her to stop. "We all change princess, to not change, to not improve upon oneself, is to wallow in decay. If we all try to improve, then futures such as the one depicted there will never come to pass; we won't let it."

Celestia nodded, having stopped at her side. "A fine mindset. I know not what has sparked this change in you Sunset, but for what it's worth, I think it's a positive one," a smile resting on her face.

One question remained in Sunset's mind though. "What made everyone so certain that the mural depicted a prophecy anyway?"

"That one is simple, my student: Because when we dated it, we realised that it predates both mine and my sister's birth."

Author's Note

Whew, it's finally done. This project has been in the works since the last one came out, basically. Not only is it the chunkiest chapter so far, but it also had some large issues to it that I wasn't sure how to solve.

In the original planning this chapter had fewer scenes, but I realised after having written them that the flow was awful. Therefore I wrote a few extra scenes to make it all flow better. Likewise, a lot of scenes that I thought would be short and quick ended up being waaaaay longer.

If you're curious, the scene with Spark Shott was not planned at all. The poor stallion has really turned into an ascended extra. After introducing them in an earlier chapter I had planned on including them at a few points later in the story when convenient (and I needed a low ranking guard), but, well, here we are I guess.

For those that have been following this story since the start, and payed close attention, you might have realised that I retconned Cloud Thorn's appearance. I originally wrote her as a white coated pony with blue mane. The problem is, this idea kinda left my head not long after writing that chapter. Since then I've pictured her more in the updated colour scheme (Dark brown coat, and gray mane, with orange eyes).

It's a minor detail so don't feel bad going back and retconning it. But I figured I'd make a note of it so no one is confused about the change.

As for the future? Well, hopefully the next chapter won't be as far out. My full time job keeps me more busy than I were when I first started writing this fic, but I don't intend to kick the bucket on it any time soon. But also don't expect any future chapters to be as long as this one.

Oh and, me and my helpful pre-reader probably missed some typos and grammar issues, as is usual.

Chapter 6 - Into the Sky…

Chapter 6
Into the Sky…

Celestia hummed to herself. Sunset's report on Cadance's level when it came to magic hardly broke new ground. Her adopted niece was a novice, about as skilled as a young filly. Though while a young filly might struggle to apply themselves, someone on the brink of adulthood did not.

Flipping back to the last page revealed Sunset's lesson plan. Of course she had her own plans for the alicorn, but it was nice to see her student taking this seriously. Most of the early stuff was to be expected, mastering levitation, then the basics in most fields; nothing really noteworthy.

Sure, some of the lessons Sunset had planned were in a slightly different order than how she would have done it, but that was natural. Some of the more intermediate subjects did cause her to frown a bit. Apparently Sunset planned to teach her quite a bit when it came to both defensive and offensive magic. While she couldn't outright object to something like that-- Cadance might very well find herself in a situation when she might need such skills --they certainly weren't what she'd focus on.

Still, this plan was for years into the future, and it was unlikely that Sunset would care to tutor her for that long. Not to mention, that Cadance herself might take a liking to the art and explore magic more on her own once she got the basics down.

As her eyes trailed down the list she found herself nodding in agreement to most things. Yet... 'crystal manipulation'? Certainly, she'd considered teaching Cadance that herself. Yet as she went even further down her unease just kept growing.

'Magic of the Heart' by Evening List, 'What is Dark Magic: and how to protect yourself from it' by Strike Shield, 'Imbuing Precious Stones' by Tidy Amethyst.

The list went on further with many more books on similar subjects. None of the subjects were objectionable, in fact, many of them were titles she herself planned to bring to Cadance's attention. Yet she planned on doing so because of the young alicorn's heritage; something which they themselves were unaware of.

Was Sunset guessing based on her cutiemark, or did she know Cadance's linage?

The thought sent a shiver down her spine.

Sunset got up and stretched, letting out a sigh in the process.

"Okay, I think that's enough for today." She chuckled as Cadance let out a sigh of relief from the other end of the room. "It can't have been that bad?"

"I've tried getting this stupid thing to make a shield for over a week now," Cadance whined.

"You'll get it eventually," she smiled. "Just keep casting the other spells you've learned and follow up on the exercises and you'll get there. You're already progressing way faster than foals with your experience level."

Cadance just groaned and buried her head in a pillow.

With a smile she packed up her own reading material. Obviously her newfound interest in enchanting was the main event; but she'd also brought a book on shields so she could touch up on the subject. Then there was another book she wanted to get to but hadn't yet. It had caught her interest when she was pacing about the Starswirl Wing. From the title it sounded as if it was about musical magic, a subject close to her heart.

But then, titles could be misleading, she mused as she stepped out into the hallway.

"Sunset, wait," Cloud Thorn called out as she quickly joined her.

"What's up?"

Cloud opened her mouth, only to close it again, fidgeting in place. Which was somewhat unusual for the otherwise rather harsh mare. You kinda needed to be polite when you worked as a maid, but having gotten closer to them Sunset could tell that they preferred being direct and to the point. In that way she really would fit in better with the guards.

Which is why them acting reserved was somewhat surprising.

"I... me and a friend of mine usually go out to drink after work, once a week."

"Yeah?"

"I was... wondering if you'd want to join us this week?" It almost sounded like she was spitting needles with how hard it was for her to get the words out.

Sunset frowned. "Sure, I'm down, I guess." It'd been a while since she last went out to a bar. Despite their age, most of her friends usually didn't care much for going out, at least not to such places. Not that that ever stopped Rainbow Dash and Applejack from getting into stupid drinking contests.

Cloud Thorn nodded and made to move, only for Sunset to stop them with her hoof and look them in the eyes.

"But only if you are okay with having me there. I don't want to show up and ruin the mood."

Cloud's flat expression morphed into a small smile. "I wouldn't have suggested it otherwise."

"Then I'll happily join you," she nodded.

A light set of knocks echoed from her office door.

"Come in," Celestia replied absentmindedly, her eyes not leaving the documents before her.

She could hear the door opening and closing, as well as a set of petite hooves making their way across the room.

"Your evening tea, your highness."

She grunted. "Just put it on the desk, I'll serve myself."

Honestly, sometimes her staff treated her like she was a foal that couldn't do anything by herself. It was an image the nobles had cultivated over the years; that they were above doing the most basic of tasks themselves. Infantilizing, that's what she'd call it.

The only reason she had staff in the first place was that a large castle was well beyond what a single pony could care for all by her lonesome. Another thing she'd rather not have either if she was being honest. Really, the only part of the castle that she considered home were her personal chambers.

She flicked her ears; she'd never heard the maid leave. Putting down her quill she lifted her head. Sure enough, the mare was still standing in the room, off to the side. She was about to dismiss them before she recognized who they were. The yellow coat and light green mane was a dead give away.

"Oh, it's you," she could feel her mood souring.

The mare took a light bow. "A pleasure as always, your highness."

"Last I checked you were, in fact, not a part of my serving staff," she eyed the maid outfit that the earth pony had managed to get their hooves on.

"I took up a side gig," the mare smiled.

She just stared them straight in the eyes.

They awkwardly took a step forwards. "They let you keep the outfit even if you quit, so..."

She groaned, why was everyone in that association so eccentric? "Just tell me why you're here, please."

"Ah, right," the mare nodded. "Since I was in the area I figured I'd hoof off the report directly, saves the time." She reached into her outfit somewhere and pulled out a thick stack of papers stapled together.

"Lovely," Celestia said as the stack was unceremoniously dumped onto her desk. Wearily she pushed the front page with her hoof. She'd bet bits on someone in the association hating her, the reports were always excessively long and overly detailed. It's like they had all the time in the world to put together the most dull piece of writing possible.

She looked up and met the eyes of the mare again. "Just give me a summery Lemon, it'll save us both some time."

Lemon chuckled. "That old coot does have her way with words, doesn't she?" She pulled the report off the desk. "Let's see here if I can remember," she quickly flipped through the pages. "We had an anomaly here in Canterlot," she said as she continued flipping.

Celestia could feel a chill across her spine. "How bad are we talking?"

"Extremely localized, as far as we can tell," she stopped, seemingly having arrived at the page she was looking for.

Celestia licked her lips. "How many victims?" The number she was hoping for was zero.

"Only one, thankfully."

Celestia let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. There was a reason she didn't like the association: the only news they'd bring was bad news. It wasn't their fault, she knew that, but it still hurt to hear about her ponies getting hurt.

"How's the victim holding up?"

Lemon hummed and flipped a few pages forwards. "Based on the little interaction we did she seemed sane, but she was definitely conscious throughout the affair."

She tilted her head. "How do we know?"

Lemon lifted the current page to squint at the one behind it. "The report suggests a shift in personality."

"How drastic?"

Lemon glanced at her. "You'd have a better idea of that than I do, your highness."

She blinked. "What do you mean?"

"The victim is Sunset Shimmer, her occupation is listed as a direct student under you."

Her eyes dilated.

"You know her better than we ever could." Lemon closed the report and placed it back on her desk.

It explained so much, the weird shift in attitude her student had, the temporal magic aftereffects. How had she not connected the dots before? She'd even brushed off the entire matter as just another late night experimenting.

"What happened to her?"

Lemon just shrugged. "No idea, we sealed up the anomaly so it can't do anything, but none of us recognize it. There's some details in the report regarding what we could figure out about it, but it's rather inconclusive."

"Sealed up? You mean it's still there?"

Lemon nodded. "It shouldn't do anything anymore nor can you even see it. But we got another anomaly that showed up in Manehattan, so I'm catching the next train there."

Two in quick succession? That was a bit unusual, but hardly unheard of. Still, for Sunset of all ponies to be hit by something like that?

"She..." Celestia started, before attempting to grasp the right words. "Wasn't the cause of it, right?" She didn't really want to think her student to have been that far gone, but her attitude prior to the incident...

Lemon chuckled. "Of course not, if so we'd have gotten in touch right away. You know we take it very seriously when ponies mess with these things. No, as far as we can tell this was a natural one."

Right, she knew that. The association was nothing if not systematic in their approach. If there was a pony or creature out there that was messing with magic they didn't understand... she'd be the first to know. Mostly because she had the resources to send somepony appropriate to deal with it.

That just left her with how she should deal with this information...

"How..." she hummed, it was hard to find the right words. "What do you usually recommend for those close to the victim?"

"You mean how to approach them about it?"

She nodded.

Lemon grimaced. "To not do it at all, to be honest. For most it's a very traumatic experience, though it obviously varies. If she wants to talk about it, I'm sure she'll approach you."

She could feel her thoughts wander in every direction. What exactly had Sunset experienced? Why hadn't she said anything? No, of course it was not widely known that she had a group of ponies on her paycheck to deal with such issues... Sunset could very well have blamed herself for the whole ordeal.

Seeing as she wasn't addressed anymore, Lemon took a light bow before making her way out of the room. The sound of the door shutting finally got Celestia to snap to attention. She lifted the pot and poured herself a cup of tea, maybe that would help relax her rushing mind.

It wasn't until a good few minutes later before the thought hit her, one that chilled her greatly: Sunset claimed to not remember the contents of those books she had from the restricted section, something she didn't appear to be lying about. But if that was true... just how long had she been stuck in the anomaly?

The establishment wasn't quite what Sunset expected. She had been to a few bars on the other side of the mirror, but none of them really captured the same feeling as this place. The main room was quite spacious with only a few tables occupying it. Along the walls were booths for those who wanted a bit more of a private experience. The bar itself was front and center, it was the first thing you'd see entering the establishment, being located on the far side of the room opposite to the entrance.

Nothing about the place screamed high class, unlike other establishments of the type in Canterlot. Instead there was more casual room lighting, with landscape paintings across the walls. It felt more like you'd walked into someone's living room rather than a high class ball room. Which was also unlike how rundown some of the bars in the human world were by comparison. All in all, the place felt comfy to Sunset, which took the edge off a bit.

"So, we're meeting your friend here then?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, in fact, she's right over there," Cloud pointed at a lone pegasus mare seated at the bar.

As the two trotted over Sunset looked over the mare, she had a pink coat that was broken up with several large white dots. Her mane was a dull white and tied up in a way so two long strands of it hung down her back.

"I see you're getting comfy already;" Cloud proclaimed as she approached, a grin on her face.

"Mmmm, something like that," the mare replied as she turned her head around to face them. "So this is your new friend then?" She said while eyeing Sunset up and down with a smile on her face.

"Sunset Shimmer," Sunset said while offering out her hoof.

"Well, if the colours match!" The mare giggled as she bumped Sunset's hoof with her own. Cloud merely rolled her eyes at her friend's behaviour.

"You know, you should probably introduce yourself too," Cloud said while taking a seat next to the pink mare.

"Hehe, yeah I guess that's how it goes. Name's Ribbon Knot."

Sunset nodded to the mare and took a seat on the other side of Cloud, who was in the process of waving over the bartender.

"I figured I'd see you soon after the disaster dropped in," the bartender said as he walked over. It seemed to have been some sort of in-joke because Ribbon just laughed at the remark.

"So, who's the newbie?" He asked while eyeing Sunset. "Also I must ask, are you even old enough to take part in this establishment?"

Sunset scoffed, if only he knew. She shook her head. "I doubt that should be a cause for concern, and the name is Sunset Shimmer."

"Oh?" He glanced over towards Cloud. "I'm almost impressed that you managed to drag a noble out here. So, what will you fine mares be having?"

"Just the usual," Cloud answered.

"Ditto for me!" Ribbon followed up with before downing the rest of her existing drink.

As for Sunset, she wasn't sure. She was never really one for getting plastered. While Rarity had no problem bringing out the wine when the occasion occurred, Sunset wasn't much for it. Honestly, if it weren't for drinking being more of a social thing then she wasn't sure if she would be drinking at all.

Noticing her hesitation the bartender spoke up. "If you're unsure what's good then don't worry, I can set you up with something that's appealing for those new to drinking."

Sunset shook her head. "No, I know my way around drinks, is just a matter of deciding what I want."

"Oh? You better impress me then," the stallion said, having a slight smug look on his face.

Normally Sunset would just get what her other friends had if they were out. Of course, that wasn't a good plan currently, she had no idea if Cloud and Ribbon were heavy drinkers. In the rare cases where she'd have to come up with something herself, she'd just order something produced by Applejack's family. But that wasn't really an option here... or was it?

Sunset shrugged, might as well test the waters, right? "You don't happen to have any of Sweet Apple Acre's finest cider, do you?"

The bartender seemed a bit taken aback. "We do, actually," he replied as he went to fetch the bottles for their orders. "Gotta admit Lady Shimmer, you surprised me. Most mares and stallions your age don't know their way around beverages, and either order something they don't like just because they want to impress their friends, or they want to pose as having really refined tastes. When you've worked this long behind the counter you can tell when someone just hates their drink."

Cloud snorted and rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it."

The stallion continued as he poured their drinks. "Ponies don't really order special craft ciders or beers unless they know what they like, or they are trying something new. So, I take it you have had this before?"

Sunset nodded. "Yeah, and honestly, after having cider from Sweet Apple Acre's it's hard to settle for something else." It was an honest opinion, there really wasn't any other cider that could compare, at least not back in the other world.

"You're right, and I wish more would share that opinion. It's a small name since they don't produce much for export, few in Canterlot have even heard about 'em despite the proximity. I try to keep a few bottles around, but they mostly gather dust if I'm being honest."

Sunset hummed before taking a sip from her freshly poured drink; it tasted just as good as she remembered, if not better.

"So, are you gonna tell Sunset about it? You know, when you went out with the other recruits?" Ribbon snickered as she nudged Cloud.

"...Maybe some other time, it's not a fun story," Cloud sighed as she brought her own drink to her muzzle.

"I disagree, I think it's hilarious!" Ribbon said while clearly holding in more snickering.

"Well, I hope you fine mares enjoy your evening, I have more patrons to attend to," the bartender said, taking a light bow before walking over to other waiting guests.

"...You two come here often then? He seemed quite familiar with you," Sunset glanced at her companions.

"Yeah, we usually go here to unwind once a week at the end of it, you know, to welcome the weekend!" Ribbon grinned.

"There are other bars but, well, I prefer this one," Cloud replied. After a quick glance about she continued: "We should get a booth, it would be more comfortable," she said while getting up and gestured to one in the corner of the room.

"Sure," Sunset answered.

The three of them got up with their drinks and relocated to the booth, Ribbon sitting down next to Cloud while Sunset took the seat opposite to them.

"Honestly though Cloud, you need to relax a bit, usually you're not this stiff when we're out," Ribbon nudged Cloud again. "You're the one who wanted to bring a plus one, not me."

Cloud let out a sigh. "I know that, it's just..."

Ribbon gave Cloud a few moments to follow up before shrugging and turning to Sunset. "So, I know I was a bit brief, so let me properly introduce myself. Name's Ribbon Knot, and I run an arts & crafts store right here in Canterlot. It's called Ribbons & Scissors," she chuckled to herself. "So if you ever see yourself down east avenue, feel free to stop by."

Having finished her pitch, Ribbon put on a grin before point her hoof at Sunset. "Now it's your turn!"

Sunset couldn't help but smile, the mare's energy reminded her a bit of Pinkie Pie, their similar colour scheme doing nothing to dissuade the comparison. Surface appearances weren't everything of course, and they were likely very different, or so she'd have to assume. As for herself...

"As you know, name's Sunset Shimmer, and I study magic under Princess Celestia as her personal student."

"Aaand?"

"Err..."

"I'm sure there is more to you than that, right?"

Sunset blinked. "Well... I guess truth be told I'm not used to describing myself. For better or worse my reputation tends to precede me."

"Can only be good things then, huh? You seem like a nice mare."

Sunset snorted and shook her head. "I'm sure Cloud would disagree with that," she said as she glanced to her silent companion. "Most ponies who know of me tend to stay away because they know I'm a stuck-up."

"Aww, but you seem nice so far," Ribbon responded, twirling her glass.

Cloud placed her drink on the table. "She's right, Sunset has somewhat of a... reputation, especially among castle staff." She seemed a bit unsure of herself so Sunset gestured for her to continue; it was hardly anything she hadn't heard before.

"It's just... ugh, what happened to you Sunset? One day you're carrying yourself around with the biggest inflated ego I have ever seen. Yet the next you're suddenly more laid back than anyone inside those castle walls."

'I guess I should have expected this,' Sunset pondered. It was very unlikely that anyone who'd interacted with her often wouldn't notice a sudden personality shift. Besides, having opened up more to Cloud during the magic lessons with her... she'd have had front row seat to see just who the new Sunset Shimmer was. She grimaced, trying to put on an act of being cruel was not something she could stomach, especially not for keeping up a facade. She sighed, while she couldn't exactly tell others what was going on with her, she could provide something close to the truth.

"I guess I just... had a moment of reflection. I looked at where I was in life and decided I didn't want to be that person anymore."

"I know we talked before but, you have to admit it's rather strange. Ponies don't just change overnight, Sunset," Cloud replied.

She nodded. "You're right, they don't. It's likely going to be a long road till I'm the person I want to be. And probably further still till others see who I've become. But I decided to commit to this, and I'm nothing if not stubborn," she grinned.

"But-" Cloud started before getting interrupted.

"None of that depressing talk, we're here to relax, remember?" Ribbon interjected.

Cloud gave Ribbon a stink eye before eventually sighing. "...You're right."

"As for myself, Sunset, when I'm not tending to my store I travel Equestria."

"Oh?"

"Nothing fancy, mind, but I like to travel. So instead of paying for shipping my supplies from their producers I tend to go there myself and pick them up. I like seeing the land, especially from the sky," she flicked her wings.

"I suppose I wouldn't have expected that from a store owner. Won't that cut into the time that you can keep the store open though?"

Cloud snorted. "Of course it does, frankly she has been close to going bankrupt several times because she insists on doing things this way."

"Hey now," Ribbon proclaimed while giving Cloud a soft nudge. "It hasn't been that bad, even if I admit there have been a few close calls," Ribbon giggled.

Favouring the small talk, Sunset asked something that had been on her mind: "So how did you two meet anyway?"

"It was more our parents," Cloud answered, finally having a smile reach her muzzle. "There are few pegasus families living in Canterlot, as such they tend to stick together. That meant that me and Ribbon here often met and played with each other as foals."

"I'll let you in on a secret Sunset, she was way less grumpy as a foal," Ribbon said with a smirk.

"Maybe so, but who isn't more carefree when they are still that young?" Cloud followed up, still smiling.

"It was probably the opposite for me," Sunset said quietly, recalling how she spent all of her childhood hyper focused on her studies. She was well into her life before seeing the value in having friends.

"As for how our parents met," Cloud continued. "Well, my parents decided to move here from Cloudsdale after I was born. There's not really that much work that is easy to get as a pegasus in Canterlot, so both of them ended up joining the weather team."

"And my dad works on the weather team too!" Ribbon exclaimed.

"Yeah," Cloud nodded. "So the two of us have kinda been attached at the hip since. To be honest, I relate more to the pegasus population of this city than any unicorn."

"Mmhmm, this unicorn is one hundred percent pegasus!" Ribbon proclaimed while nodding her head and patting Cloud. "Anyway, what do your parents do Sunset?"

The colour drained a bit from Sunset's face as she mentally recoiled. Right, her parents, she should have seen this coming when the conversation went down this direction. It was an innocuous question, yet she almost wanted to just come up with some lie just to let the topic drop. But... she also didn't want to lie, and it's not like the two of them had known this was a sour topic for her.

"Well... I wouldn't know, I suppose."

"Why not? They can't be that awful that you don't talk to them, right?" Ribbon said while Cloud nudged her, having clearly noticed Sunset's drop in demeanour.

"I grew up in an orphanage, I don't even know who my parents were."

"Oh," Ribbon let out as her ears dropped.

Noticing the drop in spirit amongst her company, Sunset followed up. "Don't worry about it, you couldn't have known, and... well I came to terms with it a long time ago."

"So you never had anyone there for you then, as a parent I mean?" Ribbon asked.

Sunset shook her head. "No, not really. I mean, there was someone I sorta saw like that a long time ago, but they didn't really see it the same way," Sunset took a sip from her cider. "I guess I just grew up eventually, I figured I'm on my own so I only really have myself to rely on."

Cloud reach out and put her hoof on Sunset's, giving her a small smile. "Hey, you've got friends at least. I know we have not known each other that well for long, but if you need someone to lean on, I'll be here for you."

"...Thank you."

The conversation drifted off to happier topics after that, apparently Ribbon was considering hiring someone else to help with her store in order to extend opening hours. Sunset couldn't really remember most of the small talk if prompted, but the topic of her lack of parentage kept reverberating in her head all evening. Not that it ruined the outing for her, if anything Sunset quite liked the company of the other mares.

Yet the subject lingered, never quite escaping back into the depths of her mind.

It was two days later-- with a light overcast putting Canterlot in a gray haze --that Sunset found herself standing in front of an unassuming building near the edge of town. While the building was quite large, you'd be hard pressed to guess its purpose from looks alone. But if you happened to get near enough to hear the inhabitants, you just might.

Sunset walked through the gates and past the empty garden, it seemed like no one was out and about today. She briefly considered knocking on the door before just shaking her head and walking in.

Inside was a spacious lobby with plenty of chairs as well as a receptionist desk over yonder. On the far left corner of the room was a staircase going up to the second floor, while the sides of the room hosted several doors. The entire place was brightly lit and the walls were painted in pastel blue.

Sunset trotted over to the receptionist's desk and flashed a smile at the unicorn sitting there, she had a green mane and peach coat. Catching her attention they looked up at Sunset and put on a smile.

"Hello and welcome to High Hill, I don't believe you have an appointment, on account of us having none today, so how can I help you miss?"

"Good afternoon, I'm here to see someone..."

"Ah, I must inform you that we have a process here, but if you want I can sign you up for a first meeting?"

Sunset snickered. "No, no, you misunderstand. You don't know who I am, do you?"

The receptionist looked a bit taken aback. "Ah, no, I can't say I recognize you. I'll admit I'm fairly new at this job."

"Name's Sunset Shimmer, you should already have me on file."

"I'll take a look then," the mare said as she got up and opened a filing cabinet.

"I'm just here visiting today."

After a few minutes of shifting through the files the mare glanced at Sunset. "Are you sure you're on file? I can't seem to find one with your name among the volunteers."

Sunset chuckled. "Try checking among the other files."

The mare blinked a few times before she finally seemed to get it. "Oh, OH! I see," she closed the cabinet and opened another and started shuffling through it before finding what she was looking for.

"Ah yes, Sunset Shimmer," she put the file on desk. "Here for some reminiscing then?"

"Something like that," Sunset smiled.

The receptionist opened her file and scanned through the first page, all while Sunset waited patiently. She wasn't sure why she had decided to come back here, Sunset hadn't even thought of this place in years, not since she first went through the portal. When she had first arrived in the other world, she had practically nothing to her name. As she was seeking shelter, a home, some of her thoughts inevitably trailed back to here.

A time before her manic studies, a time before Celestia, a time before... she went astray. When things went sour with Celestia and she fled as far as she possibly could, it was perhaps not strange that she had thought of this place. She had always been studious and interested in magic, even back then. But Sunset had been a foal once, roaming these halls while carrying high hopes for tomorrow.

The lobby hadn't changed much since back then, of course it was fewer years since she'd last stepped in here compared to how long ago she remembered it being. Sunset recalled sitting in this room some days, studying ponies coming in with hopes to adopt, trying to discern what kind of ponies they were. She couldn't remember if she wanted to be adopted back then. Even if she had been though, those feelings paled in comparison what she later felt for...

Sunset shook her head, there was no point in dwelling on that now. She had put such childish notions away years ago. If anything she might get some closure coming back here, or so she hoped anyway.

"...It says that Stark Haven was the caretaker in charge of you, do you want me to get her for you? I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."

Sunset nodded. "Yeah, I'd like to meet her."

Sunset's mind wandered once again as the receptionist got up and headed up the stairs. Stark Haven... the name didn't really even sound familiar to her anymore. She could remember the faces of some of the ponies that worked here, but not much else beside.

In her mind, Haven had been a kind earth pony mare, always carrying a smile on her face. She had a light gray coat and flowing orange mane. Sunset wanted to say that the mare had been there for her, that she had encouraged her studies; but she really didn't remember enough to tell for sure.

Sunset didn't have to wait long before the receptionist returned down the staircase, giving her a smile. Shortly thereafter another mare followed, Haven was just as Sunset had pictured her. Except... as Sunset gazed upon the descending mare she was struck by just how old she looked.

"Sunset Shimmer, it's been years," Haven spoke as she continued down the stairs, a smile on her muzzle.

Sunset gulped. "Sorry it took me this long to visit... my life has been tumultuous, to say the least." Sunset couldn't stop staring. Sure, Haven had the same face and the same coat and mane as she recalled. But wrinkles spread across her face, and the glasses were new.

Haven giggled softly. "It's no worry dear, I knew after you left here that you would be very busy with your studies. But I am glad to see you again, Sunset. Would you care to join me in my office for some tea?"

Haven had stopped in front of Sunset, hoof stretched out for a shake. Sunset only pondered the gesture for but a moment before instead stepping forwards and embraced the older mare in a light hug.

"I'd love to."

Haven's office was what you'd expect out of one located in an orphanage. It contained bookshelves and filling cabinets, being clearly a space for work. Yet everywhere you looked there were signs suggesting something more childish. The walls were sky blue with clouds painted on, and all across the bookshelves were framed photos of foals.

Sunset had ended up picking up and studying one that featured herself, she didn't remember having it taken. She looked like any other foal, smiling for the camera. If she had to guess she must have been around four or five.

In one of the room's corners sat a mat, a few toys cluttered about it. In the very corner was a bin with even more toys, as well as a few plush creatures. Opposite of the entrance sat a work desk, with chairs surrounding it on all sides. Behind the desk the room had it's sole window, a sprawling one covering most of the wall. On a sunny day the room would be most welcoming.

Sunset glanced about the room, as if hoping some long lost memory would dislodge itself. Her tea cup floating in her teal magic grasp as she sat across from Haven.

"Is nice to see you again Sunset, truly. I wasn't sure if I'd get the opportunity," Haven spoke as she cradled her tea.

Sunset snapped her focus back to the mare in front of her. "How come?" Sunset blinked her eyes a few times.

The truth of it was that, before very recently, she had not had a single thought of coming back; nor towards meeting Haven again. So her words hit Sunset harder than she probably expected. She had been selfish, in many ways of course, but she hadn't put any thought towards how her old caretaker saw her. You don't just save photos of work, the foals lining the shelves were obviously the ones that Haven had personally looked after.

Haven gave a snicker. "Well, while not every foal we take care of here comes back to visit once they are adults, most do. The few that don't mostly are ones who were simply too young when they got adopted to even remember us."

Haven put down her cup and gave a wave in the air in front of her. "Truth be told though, I'm getting up in the years and I'm thinking of retiring soon. As much as I love this job, my old body isn't keeping up so well anymore," Haven chuckled and smiled at Sunset. "It's why I wasn't sure if I'd be around for when you'd drop in."

A sadness welled up inside Sunset. She wasn't sure why, by all accounts she barely knew this mare anymore.

"I... truth be told, I haven't thought about this place in a long time," Sunset looked away, unable to meet Haven's eyes. "I'm glad I got the opportunity to meet you again, even if I don't deserve it," Sunset all but whispered the last few words.

"You don't need to feel guilt about it Sunset," Haven shook her head. "Even if I admittedly expected you to feel this way."

"...You did?" Sunset turned to face them again, surprise evident on her face, yet her eyes only met a smiling face.

"Of course, I remember the last time we spoke... I recall quite clearly how you proclaimed you'd never step hoof inside these walls ever again, nor would you let someone like me hold you back."

"I'm sorry," Sunset answered in shaken voice, putting down her cup as to not accidentally drop it.

"You need not be Sunset," Haven said as she got up, walked around the desk and took a seat right next to Sunset. She put a hoof on Sunset shoulder and lightly rubbed.

"But I was cruel to you, and I don't even remember!" Sunset exclaimed, tears threatening to come out.

A moment passed, the only sound in the room coming from Haven's rhythmic rubs and Sunset's light sniveling.

Haven sighed. "That may very well be, but Sunset, you have to remember, you were but a filly. The mare I see before me now is one much older, but also one more mature. Everyone grows up eventually, you know this."

"I..." Sunset couldn't find words, and simply leaned over and hugged Haven. "I was almost too late though..."

'In fact, I was too late once, and it wasn't even something I had the mind to consider,' Sunset reflected. How many more ponies had she unintentionally brought hurt? It seemed unlikely that Haven had still been alive by the time Sunset had finally returned to Equestria. She wouldn't have had the chance to meet her, even if she had been of the mind to do so.

"...Even if you were, I wouldn't have held it against you, Sunset. I might not be the spryest anymore, but I'm not going to topple over quite yet either. So I don't think we would have missed out on our reunion, even if you had taken another year or two to drop in. I do live in Canterlot you know, so distance isn't a concern."

"How... how long do you think you have?" She cringed as soon as the words had left her. Somehow mortality wasn't something she'd ever reflect much upon. For herself it had always been more of a 'problem to solve' rather than anything concrete.

Haven sighed. "Nopony can know that, but I would hope a while longer," Haven put on a calming smile again. "But- Some day, we will all fade into the sky Sunset, you need not shed tears for me," Haven said while nuzzling Sunset lightly.

Sunset swallowed and gave a nod, before returning the nuzzle. Minutes passed as the two of them just sat there in silence, it let Sunset gather her thoughts and emotions. She'd not questioned mortality much in her life, after all, she knew not her lineage. She had also never really lost anyone she loved or cared for.

Sure, Sunset was among the first to rush into danger to save her friends or do what she thought was right; and there had been a fair few close calls over the years. But she hadn't thought about what the consequences might be, not really. The fact that she or one of her friends might die never crossed her mind.

"Well, I can't say I expected the subject to turn so dour. But perhaps there are happier subjects we can pursue?"

Sunset nodded, she needed to get ahold of herself. Taking in a deep breath she answered: "Yeah, almost certainly."

"What spurred you on to come visit anyway?"

Sunset pondered for a moment, why had she come here? "A friend reminded me of... where I came from I suppose. I'm still not quite sure why I decided to come here, maybe some primal desire? I don't regret doing so though."

Haven smirked slightly. "Well, if you've got time on your hooves, perhaps I might have a suggestion?"

"Sure," Sunset nodded.

"You could join me and meet the foals; they always love seeing a new face. If you're up for it, maybe you could even play with them or read them a story?"

"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves, we don't even know if they'll like me," Sunset said while a smile reached her face. Something which Haven returned.

"I wouldn't worry too much about that."

As the two mares continued to re-connect, Sunset felt a weight she hadn't known she was carrying slowly fade away. Their cups of tea sat on the desk cold, long since forgotten.

"-and as such the core principle that dictates stability of flow is shape, not area, as one might expect," Celestia continued.

"Mmhmm," came the disinterested reply from the amber mare across from her.

"Material used also dictates how much magic can be taken in and be stored, of course, but also how fast the process is. So a too advanced shape might very well outpace the material one works with, which can lead to the destruction of what is enchanted."

"Uh huh."

Celestia frowned, glancing over at her student. Something was clearly taking up her attention, and it certainly wasn't the material they were going over. Sunset was neither looking at her, nor the book between her hooves as she lied on the floor. Instead her eyes were trained on the window, though it was clear that she wasn't really paying attention to that either.

The two of them had settled down on the floor as they usually did these days, with whatever material they were covering between their front hooves. Some might find it odd, but it's the way they had done things since Sunset first became her student; old habits die hard, after all.

"So, as I was saying, the best way to perfect your rune work is to batter the surface with cake mix before bringing down your etching tool."

"Uh huh."

Celestia rolled her eyes and sighed. It was clear to her at this point that continuing this lesson as is would be futile. She made a show of closing her book rather forcefully, the sound startling Sunset enough to get her attention.

"I figured you'd be more interested in the subject matter at hand my student. After all, you were the one who suggested to delve into it." Sunset at least had the decency to look apologetic about her behaviour.

"I- yeah, you're right. I'm sorry."

Celestia shook her head. "I'm not mad Sunset, but perhaps you can tell me what's on your mind, we're clearly not making any headway with this anyway," she said while gesturing towards the book in front of herself.

Sunset grew quiet at that, as if contemplating how she would answer. Celestia couldn't really think of very many subject matters in which Sunset wasn't confident in expressing herself. If the amber mare had an issue, she was often quick to voice it; even if doing so was a detriment to herself or others.

But then, hadn't she fooled herself into such a simple mindset some time ago? Sunset was clearly more socially adept than she let on, when and from where she had picked up such skills, Celestia did not know. But this wasn't really the same either, was it? When she'd confronted Sunset about the books she was definitely confident, even if she hadn't let on that fact. As much was clear from how she had effortlessly been able to direct the conversation.

The mare in front of her now did anything but radiate confidence. Celestia did not remember the last time she had seen Sunset let herself be vulnerable. Few of the aristocrats in Canterlot did, of course; image was everything. Not that Sunset had ever seen to care much about her own.

"I... I visited High Hill the other day," Sunset finally let out.

High Hill? Wasn't that the orphanage on the outskirts of Canterlot? 'Oh, that's right, that's where Sunset grew up,' she had to remind herself. At least now the connection between action and mood was starting to clear. As far as she could recall, Sunset had never gone back there after she was emancipated. So why now then? She gestured for her student to continue.

"It was... an experience. It was quite emotional, at least at the start. But Stark Haven was very happy to see me again, and we spent quite a few hours talking-- when we weren't stuck playing with the foals that is," Sunset added with a snicker.

"I see."

"You know, it's funny, I hadn't thought about the orphanage-- my old home --in years. Yet when it was brought up, I couldn't get the thought out of my head," Sunset sighed. "...and yet, I still can't seem to think clearly, even now..." Sunset trailed off.

Celestia supposed this was inevitable: Everyone growing up in Sunset's situation would one day come to ponder whom their parents were. Celestia met her student's eyes, and was about to speak. Yet the way Sunset looked at her unnerved Celestia, there was something left unspoken; and there were clearly tears in her eyes.

"For example, in all of my time there, no one took interest in adopting me. At least that's what Haven claimed, but I don't see why she would lie to me, not about something like that."

Tears were starting to form and run down Sunset's chin, yet despite it all she had a smile on her lips. She was obviously trying to put on an image, Celestia reasoned, despite the sadness that gripped her. What was she to do in a situation like this?

"Not that I mind, I never cared about that," Sunset grit her teeth and turned away.

Stuffy nobles were easy, it was all posturing, she just needed to say the right words, lead the conversation the right way. It was all so simple. Except here and now, Celestia's mind screamed at her to do something, anything, yet her mind kept drawing a blank.

"She showed me my records when I asked, no one knows who my mother is, and my supposed father is a pony that has been missing for well over a decade," the tears were streaming down Sunset's face at this point.

She was compelled to move over to the mare across from her, drape her wing over them, and whisper soothing words. But she couldn't will herself to take the steps to do it; she remembered all too well the details of the unicorn's parentage. The parts she herself was asked to do to leave to rest a dying mare's worries.

Piercing tear ridden eyes turned and stared into her own, she flinched.

Why couldn't she come up with anything she could do or say, any words that could be spoken to lessen their pain? The pony in front of her was clearly in distress and spiraling further. What were she to do in a situation like this? Her mind ran at high speed, yet nothing she could think of seemed sufficient, or right. She was Sunset's teacher, breaching that role was unthinkable.

The tears were staining the book in front of Sunset at this point, the mare turning her eyes away once again to stare out the window.

"I don't want to feel like this again, I don't want to have failed everyone around me," Sunset whimpered. What Sunset meant by those words were lost on her. More curses from the place beyond time that only she had seen, perhaps.

In the end, Celestia did nothing, paralyzed by inaction she sat and watched her student cry herself dry. Eventually the two left the room, with no other words spoken. Later, in the comfort of her own room, Celestia reflected that her inability to be there for her student probably hurt them even more. Even so, she could not come up with what she should have done.

Yet one question echoed in her mind: When was the last time she had allowed herself to be vulnerable?

From her own room, Sunset sat and stared out through her window. Watching the sun once again set and fade into the horizon.

Author's Note

Sorry about the long wait for this chapter. Till I had some time off from work I didn't have the energy to go through and finish up the editing; this is despite my main proof reader for this chapter having finished up this one.... well, a good while ago. (And then an extra scene needing to be written)

Hopefully the next one won't be as long!

So, some of you might not know this, but I tend to write a very short draft (just a few hundred words) about my entire story before getting going. Just so that it's planned out. A lot of this chapter wasn't actually part of that planning draft. That's kind of how it goes though, things change as the story evolves.

I hadn't originally planned to get into Sunset's parentage, or lack thereof in this case, in this story. But it felt somewhat incomplete without it, and these scenes just kinda grew from that. There's plenty of people that have their own headcanons as to Sunset's origins and all that. And truth be told, I'm honestly very glad that EqG never decided to provide a proper answer; cause I don't think any answer could really be good enough to tie up all of her backstory.

Still, I do imagine that Sunset, just like Twilight, sort of looks up/looked up to Celestia as a sort of second mother. What with being such a big part of their lives in their formative years. But Sunset is obviously older now, but old scars don't really heal unless you confront them.

And wow, uh, Ribbon was a character that I just kinda made on the fly for this chapter. I know there will be people who'll think Pinkie Pie knock off, but that's always the risk when you introduce a minor character that don't get much development. Originally the bar scene was just gonna be Sunset and Cloud getting closer. But I kinda realised that they had shit chemistry so I needed an ice breaker.

Extra bonus points for the bar scene being written long before the previous chapter.

Anyone who tells you that writing is a linear path from A to be B is lying. I regularly write scenes out of order if I happened to get really good inspiration for them.

Anyway, the plot is slowing down a bit to cook. Expect things to be a bit fluffier and less adventure for a few chapters; as should be evident by the (short) time skip.