Goldie and Twilight sat across from one another in the dining car of the Friendship Express. Goldie sipped at a coffee that was on the verge of being too sweet, while Twilight enjoyed some contrastingly bitter dandelion-root tea.

"You know," began Twilight when she decided that the silence had gone on too long. "Herbal tea isn't really tea at all, since it isn't made with the Camellia Sinensis plant."

Goldilocks had no idea what that was, but she nodded politely and said: "That's interesting." It seemed to please Twilight, and that was enough.

Shortly after that their entrées arrived, delivered to them by a cute pony in a waitress uniform, and any awkwardness was forestalled for the moment.

Goldie was fascinated by the difference in their dishes. While Goldilocks had a plate of french-toast with sugar and syrup, Twilight was content with a daisy and daffodil sandwich.

Shoving some flowers between two slices of bread didn't seem like it would be appetizing, yet watching Twilight take delicate bites with sips of 'tea' in between threatened to bring back a memory.

It didn't come, unfortunately, yet she felt as though she had eaten something similar before; she just couldn't quite remember what it was and where it happened.

"Is there something on my face?" asked Twilight shyly, looking up from her teacup as she set it down, using her magic.

Goldie shook her head, feeling a warmth in her chest, and a thought unbidden leaped into her mind.

This princess is cute.

Celestia had told her that Twilight was her former apprentice, and became an alicorn once she was ready to come into her own after having learned the lessons of friendship and having wielded the Elements of Harmony. Goldie still wasn't certain what the Elements of Harmony actually were, but she would likely have time to question Twilight about them at some point during their trip.

When this is all over, will I become an alicorn too?

The thought made her giggle, which made Twilight blush.

"Oh, sorry! I wasn't laughing at you. I just thought of something funny, is all." said Goldie, her own complexion reddening as she frantically tried to save face.

The two awkwardly finished their meals in relative silence, after which Twilight summoned the nerve and offered to show Goldilocks to the observation carriage.

"We should be able to see Ponyville pretty soon." she explained excitedly as she led Goldie along the length of the train, then up the stairs toward the glass dome of the observation car.

Goldilocks was amazed by the sight of Canterlot precariously perched upon the mountainside behind them, and further along she caught a glimpse of Cloudsdale in the sky, emerging from behind a cloud.

At last, as the train crested a hill the crystalline spires of Twilight's own Castle of Friendship appeared, surrounded by the bucolic little settlement of Ponyville, which had been granted to Twilight as a condition of her coronation.

Twilight enjoyed watching Goldie's reactions to the landmarks of her homeland. There was something charming about the girl, and it wasn't just the novelty of her humanity. There was mystery and familiarity all at once, and the sense of something both innocent and wise.

When Goldilocks spoke it snapped Twilight out of deep thought and she was embarrassed to have to ask Goldie to repeat herself.

"I was just curious... Sunset was Celestia's apprentice before you, yes?"

"That's right." said Twilight, nodding her head a little too vigorously and having to fix her crown, which made Goldie smile.

"What happened to her?"

It was a fair question, the answer to which was a little complicated. Sunset had not always been a human. In fact, she started out as an ordinary unicorn, but was seduced by a vision she saw in the mirror and fled to the human world, only to become trapped on the other side.

Some of this Goldie probably already knew, but Twilight wasn't sure how much.

"Sunset left Equestria to follow a different path, which led her to stealing my crown." said Twilight. "Having never known friendship, the crown only amplified her ambition, but she was defeated when the humans of that world wielded the powers of harmony and took back the crown.

"Having nothing left, the only path forward she had ever known vanishing in the face of something new, she worked hard to redeem herself and with a little kindness has now become one of my staunchest allies." Twilight smiled in remembrance, and Goldilocks wondered if maybe this story would be of some use to Selene.

Goldie had a lot of questions, but they would have to wait as the train began to slow, preparing to pull into Ponyville Station.

Pinkie gasped, levitating slightly off the platform, then falling back down when her expression neutralized, as though nothing had happened. Not even the other ponies seemed to notice, so Goldilocks decided to treat it as something ordinary, as they evidently did.

Applejack swept her hat and bowed politely, which made Goldie giggle and prompted a curtsy in response.

"Nice to meet ya. I'm Applejack, and this here's Pinkamena, but we all just call her Pinkie Pie."

"It's good to see ya, Twilight. Sorry not every-pony could make it. Rainbow's in Cloudsdale and Rarity's in Canterlot, though I s'pose ya already knew that." said AJ.

Goldie was following along as best she could, but was distracted by Pinkie's intense gaze. It made her feel naked, which was making her nervous.

"Now that ya are here, there's actually something we could use yer help with." said Applejack. She seemed embarrassed to have to ask, but Goldie was sure Twilight would understand.

"Of course. What's the problem?" said Twilight, affirming Goldie's assessment of her character.

Pinkie Pie suddenly quit staring to chime in. "It's an Ursa! Down by Fluttershy's place. It's acting really weird."

"An Ursa? Like a bear?" asked Goldie, something tugging at her memory.

"It's like a living constellation, and very dangerous." explained Twilight.

Author's Note

Wasn’t really sure how to tackle the journey to meet Sunset Shimmer, but I didn’t just want to skip ahead… So, I procrastinated. I played a whole bunch of Dragon’s Dogma 2, and I worked on other projects until I managed to squeeze this out. Kinda excited about what happens next, though.