My Past Is Complicated

“What happened here?” Vinyl asked as she used her magic to push her glasses on top of her head. We stood in front of a half destroyed tree. I didn’t mean to come this way but it was the fastest way to sugarcube corner.

“This used to be Twilight’s house,” I answered. “It got destroyed in her fight with Tirek.” She had asked me to walk around with Spike for a bit when I came here before the others and he showed me it. In all honesty, he might be more of a friend than Twilight in a way. Sure, she’s one of my best friend but Spike had been on my side the whole time during the Battle of the Bands. Hell, he even bit Rainbow Dash after she was rude to me. A dark part of me enjoyed watching that.

“Must have been a crazy fight,” Lyra commented as she looked around. “Never saw Twilight as the fighting type.”

“Her house had just gotten destroyed and more than of Equestria had their magic drained from them. I’d be fighting too,” I replied as I sighed.

“Howdy yall,” Applejack trotted up and froze. Her eyes flicked to the wreckage and she looked away.

“Hey AJ,” I greeted back with a smile. We quickly exchanged a hug. “How are you?”

“Good how about yall?” She glanced around at my group and approached Mom. “Heard a lot about yuh. Crazy to see another Cheerilee runnin around the place.”

“I bet,” Mom chuckled. “It’s weird to see doubles of my students running around but grown up with houses and jobs.”

“Ah bet,” Applejack smirked as she focused on the wreckage. “Had a lot of good memories here, ya know? This is the first place we threw Twilight’s welcome to Ponyville party, where she became an alicorn, our first sleepover and more. Hate to see it like this.” She pressed her Stetson to her chest and sighed.

“Are you good, AJ?” I asked. She shrugged and tossed her hat back on.

“Yeah ahm good. Ah heard yuh asked for work around here from Twi. If yuh ever wanna come by the orchard and help out, ah could use the help. Busy harvest this year,” Applejack patted me on the shoulder. “Ah gotta get back now. It’s nice to see ya again Sunset.”

“See you around Applejack,” I waved with a hoof. She tipped her hat to the others as she trotted off with a filly next to her.

“That was....interesting to say the least,” Bon Bon stated. She struggled to unwrap a piece of candy Pinkie had given her and I sighed. I quickly took it and unwrapped it with my magic.

“Open,” I instructed. She opened her mouth and I placed the candy on her tongue.

“Thanks,” she smiled.

“It’s so cool to see you use your magic. What else you can do?” Lyra asked eagerly as she leaned forward.

“Teleport as you all have seen, I create copies of myself, I can use my magic to fly around and more. Most of my magic is battle magic related so it’s mainly defensive and offensive spells I know,” I answered. “I was the princesses students so I know practically every spell in the book. Plus illegal spells when I stole books from the library.” Mom gave me a disapproving look at that.

“Teach me. Pleaseeeeee!” Lyra dropped to my hooves and grabbed them.

“Okay, but don’t expect to it get it first try. Spells take time to learn,” I warned her.

“Okay!”

“What do you wanna learn first?” I asked. Lyra and I were in a large field on the edge of town. It was the place furthest from town where no one could get injured. Twilight had taken the others to look around town so me and Lyra could practice one on one.

“I guess we can start small. What do you know that are starter spells?” Lyra asked me as she sat on her legs. I rubbed my hoof against my chin in thought.

“Let’s start with teleportation,” I suggested. “Think of somewhere you’ve already been in this world. I recommend you and Bon Bons bedroom in the castle. You have a strong connection to that room because you sleeping there.”

“Just like you and Derpy are connected?” Lyra asked with a smile.

“What the hay does that mean?” I demanded. Lyra raised an eyebrow.

“Hay? Just say hell Sunset. Your mom isn’t here,” Lyra scoffed.

“Okay good point. Now what the hell does that mean?” I gave her a pointed look.

“God help me,” Lyra muttered. “I’m not at liberty to discuss that.” Her horn flashed and she disappeared. While I was proud she figured out how to teleport, she didn’t answer my question. I sighed and teleported myself. It was kinda nice being a unicorn. Fellow unicorns give off a magical signature. Makes it easier to follow them around. All ponies give off a signature actually but it’s mainly unicorns because of our horns. I stared in shock at the snow covered field we were in. How the hell did she end up here?

“Lyra!” I called out, looking around worriedly. If she got trapped in a snow bank, I’d never find her. “Lyra!”

“Here!” Lyra stuck a green hoof out of a snow bank. “I’m just chilling. See what I did there?” I rolled my eyes and levitated her out.

“Let’s get you back home and warm you up. You still need some work but considering I don’t even know where the fuck we are, you did good,” I admitted. “Probably the edge of Mount Neighalaya or something.”

“F-funny name,” Lyra shivered as her coat started turning a light shade of blue. A ponies coat is decent against weather but not for long periods of time like this. I sighed and teleported us to the only place I could think of that sold hot beverages: Sugarcube Corner.

“H-hey guys,” Lyra stammered out.

“Lyra!” Bon Bon stood up and stared at us. “What happened?”

“I tried teaching her teleportation. We ended up in a snowbank,” I explained as Pinkie bounced over with two cups of hot chocolate balanced on her back.

“Here ya go!” She chirped excitedly. “On the house!”

“Thanks Pinks.”

“Can I help?” Derpy asked as she stood up. I looked over and grinned.

“Perfect. A pegasus’ body is naturally insulated against the cold for flying in the cold weather and high altitudes. Just wrap a wing around her like you did with me this morning and it’ll help a lot,” I maintained my grin as Derpy shrugged and did as I said.

“I feel a bit better. Thanks Derpy,” Lyra nuzzled her friend. Ever since I explained the meaning to them all, my group had been doing it to all of us whenever they got the chance.

“You’re welcome.”