My Past Is Complicated

I stepped through the portal with a grin and stood on my hooves, feeling the magic coursing through my horn. I hadn’t felt that in a long time since I stole Twilight’s crown. I’m home was the first thought that crossed my mind. I stepped away from the mirror in anticipation of my friends and mom and watched as the portal shot out a group of ponies.

“Who’s idea was it go through the portal in a group?” Octavia groaned out from under the pile of ponies on top of her.

“That would be Lyra,” Bon Bon replied. “I think I broke something.”

“Magic world!” Lyra cried as she struggled to get free. Vinyl pulled a hoof out from under Octavia and moaned.

“Think I’m gonna be sick,” Derpy muttered from the middle of the pile. I watched everyone freeze before frantically trying to get free.

“I love my students, but I am not in the mood to get thrown up on. Not today at least,” Mom commented as she slide out of the pile and everyone rolled away. Derpy laid on her stomach with a hoof pressed to her mouth.

“Are you okay?” I asked in concern as I trotted over to her. Derpy nodded as she glanced over at me, her eyes widened in shock.

“S-Sunset? That’s what you normally look like?” Derpy stammered. She clambered awkwardly to her hooves.

“Uh yes?” I answered in confusion. Derpy beamed at me and threw her hooves around me.

“You’re adorable as a pony!” Derpy exclaimed. Mom let out a gasp as she took in the sight of me.

“You’re so beautiful as a pony Sunny!” Mom declared as she stood on her hooves. “Just like you are as a human.”

“What am I?” Derpy asked curiously. “Am I a unicorn?” I let out a chuckle.

“Looks like your counterpart is a pegasus,” I answered. Derpy looked behind her at her slowly opening wings and grinned.

“What about me?” Lyra asked frantically, her body bouncing up and down.

“A horse with a brain tumor,” Vinyl smirked.

“What?” Lyra asked in fear. I rolled my eyes.

“You’re a unicorn,” I sighed. “So is Vinyl. Octavia, Bon Bon and Mom are earth ponies." The next question is one I should have seen coming.

“When did you get the tattoo Sunset?” Mom demanded with narrowed eyes.

“We all got them,” Bon Bon commented as she looked at her own flank.

“It’s my cutie mark. It represents one’s truth self and is only obtained once you figure out your special talent and what you’re meant to do in life,” I answered. “Mine represents my skills in magic and achieving my goals. The red represents my determination and the gold represents achieving my goals and blowing them out of the water.” Mom looked at her own flank at her four smiling flowers with a red heart behind them. Octavia had a treble clef with a paint brush next to it. Derpy had three bubbles next to a muffin. Bon Bon had three wrapped pieces of candy above a beaker, while Vinyl’s was three eighth notes. Lyra had a lyre with a playing card behind it.

“A cutie mark?” Vinyl asked unimpressed. “Kinda a lame name.” I gave a shrug.

“So we have magic too I’m assuming?” Bon Bon asked.

“No. But a earth pony is stronger than a pegasus or a unicorn,” I answered.

“How strong?” Mom asked as she looked around.

“An earth pony can survive two bolts of wild lightning and can break down boulders to small rocks in a few seconds. They’re also connected to the ground better than the other two tribes are so they mostly are farmers.” A big grin spread across Bon Bons face.

“Now that’s more like that!”

“I’d rather not test that claim dear,” Octavia sighed.

“Agreed,” Mom piped in. Octavia tried to take a step forward and faceplanted.

“Why are we naked?” Vinyl asked. I rolled my eyes as I lifted Octavia with my magic and set her on her hooves.

“Ponies don’t wear clothes often. When we do, it’s for special events. We typically just walk around,” I replied. “Speaking of walking, let’s get you all sorted out with walking.” I quickly trotted to the other side of the room. “Alright Lyra and Mom. Try walking over here.” Lyra gave a nod and shakily started walking before sliding and falling on her stomach. Mom trotted over perfectly with a little bit of shakiness in her trot.

“Great job,” I grinned and patted her with a hoof. “Keep trying Lyra. Your turn Bon Bon.” The two nodded and Lyra stood up, trotting over slowly. Bon Bon faceplanted like Octavia did earlier while Lyra snickered. I let out a sigh.

“This may take longer than I thought.”

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It had been a few hours and the others had finally gotten walking down. Vinyl and Mom were both quick learners to my surprise. Octavia had the most trouble with it. But that lead to another problem: getting Lyra and Vinyls magic under control. It was kinda important, seeing how they were sneezing and shooting off magical lasers each time.

“Dear God Lyra!” Bon Bon shouted as she dropped to her stomach to avoid a laser narrowly missing her head. She shot a glare her way. “Warning next time would be greatly appreciated, love!”

“Sorry! I can’t control when I sneeze!” Lyra shot back as she trotted in a circle. Octavia was patting Vinyl on the back.

“It should pass soon darling. I hope,” Octavia reassured her unicorn friend.

“What is going on here?” Twilight demanded as she opened the door and her eyes widened at the magic laser flying towards her face. “Sweet Celestia!” She dropped to her stomach like Bon Bon and glanced back in shock. “Hey Sunset.”

“Hey Twilight,” I replied.

“Care to explain why you and your friends are shooting holes in my house?” Twilight asked as she stood up and trotted next to me, bumping into my force field. “Magical shield. Smart.”

“These are my friends from the other world and my Mom. Was just about to start teaching Lyra and Vinyl how to control their magic without shooting lasers each time they sneezed,” I replied as I watched a laser bounce off my shield.

“That world’s Cheerilee is your mom?” Twilight giggled. “That’s so awesome! Congrats, she’s a good pony. Want help with Lyra and Vinyl?” I gave her a desperate look.

“Yes please.”

“Alright,” Twilight nodded as she levitated Lyra and Vinyl in her magic.

“What is happening?” Vinyl demanded as she looked below her. “Put me down. I like the ground!” Twilight set the two down in front of her.

“We are going to teach you how to control your magic. If not, you could kill somepony,” Twilight answered with a serious expression. “You don’t want that and I don’t want that.” Vinyl looked at me in confusion.

“That could actually happen?” She asked nervously.

“Ponies bodies are strong sure, but we can get hurt and killed just like anything else. We aren’t invincible after all,” I chuckled. “Sit down please.” The two mares complied and sat in front of me and Twilight.

“Alright. Magic is a hard thing to learn. Most fillies don’t learn spells until they’re ten or so. Close your eyes and concentrate,” Twilight instructed. “Excellent. Your magic is connected to your horn obviously. But it’s also inside of you.”

“That’s what she said,” Lyra whispered and I gave a snort of laughter. Twilight rolled her eyes and groaned.

“Focus Lyra. Dirty humor can come later,” Twilight chided. “Now really focus on your core. Your magic reserves are in there. How much you have depends on how strong you are. Considering half this room is destroyed, I’d say you two are pretty powerful unicorns.” Twilights horn flashed and the destroyed room was repaired and back to normal.

“I agree. Bon Bon almost lost her head,” I agreed.

“You two may not be as strong as me and Sunset, but you are definitely powerful and that can be dangerous if uncontrolled,” Twilight lectured. “Do you two feel your core?”

“Uh yea?” Vinyl replied with her eyes closed, while Lyra nodded her head.

“Good. Now focus on bringing the magic from it to the base of your horn,” I instructed. Based on the startled expressions on their faces, I’d say they did it. “Excellent.”

“You see that cup on the ground?” Twilight pointed with a hoof. Lyra and Vinyl opened their eyes before nodding. “Good. I want you to close your eyes and reach out with your magic. Imagine you’re reaching out with a hand and picking it up. You first Lyra.” A faint golden glow enveloped her horn and the teacup. The teacup shakily started floating in the sky and I wiped a bead of her sweat off her head.

“Excellent job Lyra,” I grinned. She dropped the teacup and it shattered.

“Oops?” Lyra offered sheepishly. Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes. Her horn flashed again and the teacup was back to how it was originally.

“It’s fine. Your turn Vinyl.” Vinyl gave a nod before a blue glow enveloped her own horn and the cup. The cup lifted in the air and exploded. We stared in shock at the unicorn and Vinyl sighed.

“Well shit.”