Princess Cadance's pupil

Yawn. Another, weary yawn– One more of boredom, than actual exhaustion. The sun had just risen, and Cadance insisted that they were up early, much to her annoyance.

If this had been regular training, sure, that would have been fine– Magic, spells, physical training, even etiquette training– any of those would have been a delight, even at an early hour. She was no stranger to overachieving.

But this was not that kind of training… Not in the usual sense. This was, in fact, the Princess of Love’s favorite part of having a pupil.

Matchmaking.

And her new and most involved part of it. The love board.

She folded her wings close, looking pensively at it– In it there was a lot of data on her pupil. Strong suits, likes, dislikes, past experiences with love, and the most harrowing, most troubling section: Match possibilities; Which lied empty.

“Hm, hmm… Perhaps we are approaching this the wrong way…” She muttered to herself.

Laying on the couch, resting her eyes, but near-falling asleep, Sunset Shimmer suppressed a yawn. “Perhaps we are approaching it at all– And that’s the problem?” She joked, imitating Cadance’s voice, letting out a snicker.

She had only made that love board officially a couple of months before– and already, it was a frustrating experience for her pupil. And naturally, even before it, Cadance had already tried matchmaking with her, unsuccessfully.

“Now, now, Sunset–” The Princess let out a sly smile, shaking her head. “You don’t get to escape the love board. This is a key part of your training! And it’s very important for the party to come–”

“--How in the HELL Is finding me ponies to date helping me in training?! And also the gala is in two months!?” Her voice rose in complaint, as she waved a hoof.

“Shhh!!” Cadance brought a hoof to her lips, shushing her. “Flurry’s sleeping! Shhh!”

“Shoot, sorry!” She leaned back on the couch, being genuinely sorry, taking a glance at the crib where the Alicorn foal slept soundly, but still, despite speaking quieter, remained annoyed. “Seriously Cadance, after all these years you MUST have realized by now that this part of ‘training’ is worthless. Like c’mon. Hasn’t worked once.”

“It only needs to work once, too, dear pupil.” She spoke, unshaken, with all the confidence in the world. “And Love has an immense value to your training!”

Scoffing, Sunset rolled her eyes. She simply stretched out on the couch and let the Princess talk herself out.

At least the couch was comfortable– another wonderful luxury of living in the crystal empire, in the royal castle, no less. Her gaze landed in one of the windows, seeing the faraway horizon, where a sun was rising.

She closed her eyes, and thought of Celestia, and her pupil, considering how better they were doing, how better that curriculum could be. Certainly, Princess Celestia wasn’t trying to get Twilight Sparkle to go on dates. …Though a curriculum of friendship didn’t sound great either, all the while Sunset was stuck with the Princess of Love and her ‘definition’ of training.

Then she shook those thoughts away. She wanted to be here, after all. Better than facing Celestia again. …And the Princess, too.

…And Cadance kept talking. “Love is more than just an accessory you wear, my pupil. It is something that can motivate you to get out of bed– Something that can quite literally make you want to be your best self! Something that can bring out new sides of the smitten ponies affected by it– And not just that, it can be life changing! Alter the course of your entire life’s purpose!”

That last comment made her pupil snicker. “Oh yeah, for sure, I bet that in another life, me falling in love would have made me shredded. Super buff. Being in love would have made me not steal Twilight's crown, I bet. Too busy macking on somepony to be a piece of shit.” The comments were all sarcastic, and the Princess could tell.

“Self-deprecation will not get you out of this, Sunset.” Cadance shook her head, continuing to pensively look at the board. “Hmm…”

Her gaze moved to early information, and she recited it, to consider what her next course of action was. “Hmm… Longest relationship was with a guard named Flash Sentry, average yet unfulfilling dating life in teenage years and childhood due to lone wolf nature… Had her bisexual awakening when she first met Celestia as a foal and gained her cutie mark…”

Gritting her teeth, Sunset flustered slightly at her cringe worthy childhood. “Can you please take that last one down. Why did I ever tell you that…”

“It is all relevant information, my pupil! All of it is pieces of a puzzle that makes you you! Now we just need to find out with whom your pieces will fit…” She hovered over the ‘Potential matches’ Area, considering it strongly.

That ‘wisdom’ bounced off of Sunset, with her shield of sarcasm and mockery. “Has it ever occurred to you that I don’t have a destined romance, or a soul mate, or whatever– And that I am perfectly content with dying alone?! Cause I’ll tell ya– I’m CHIPPER!”

Cadance let out a giggle, ignoring her pupil’s nihilism. “Flurryheart didn’t like the color of mint ice cream, she cried when me and Shiny first showed it to her. But when she tasted it, she loved it!”

“What does that even mean…?”

“It means, dear pupil, ‘don't knock it till you try it’. Just because you haven’t truly had a fulfilling relationship before, doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be wonderful for you, and that you wouldn’t love it. On the contraire, delayed catharsis increases the joy tenfold!” Her wisdom once again bounced off her pupil.

Blowing raspberries, the Unicorn shook her head. “Yeah. Great. Wonderful. You’re forgetting one crucial problem. I’m Sunset Shimmer. Princess of fuck ups, and that’s not about to change. You’ve heard of the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ thing, right? Well guess what. It’s me. And hey, lemme know when you tire yourself from matchmaking, then we can go do some actual training.” She closed her eyes, pretending to try to sleep.

“Again, self-deprecation will get you nowhere, my pupil. Once you are at your best, ponies won’t help but be attracted to you! All part of the training!”

“Uh-Huh. Give me another makeover. I’m sure the mares and stallions will come swooning.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“No. Sorry. Please don’t.” Sunset shuddered, remembering the many moments where the Princess of love had bedazzled her. Even now, her hair had jewels on it, certainly a more usual look, in the crystal empire.

“That’s what I thought.” Letting out a snicker, the Princess of Love smiled deviously, considering the many times that she had dressed up and given appearance advice to her pupil, with questionable efficiency.

“Look. You’re stressing over this for so much, and for what– The option of me having a plus one at the gala? It’s optional! I’ve already got my ticket!! And I honestly don’t even care about going!” She was only half lying. Being in the Grand galloping gala was a big event, it mattered to show face– Not to mention, as a pupil of a Princess, appearances were everything. But to her, after being humbled so monumentally, showing her face anywhere in events like those was a great source of pain.

“The Grand galloping gala is one of the most beautiful and important yearly events in all of Equestria, and most importantly of all– Romantic!! And as my pupil, you’re going, missy. I will not allow you to skip it this year too!! You’re going and you’re bringing a date, and we are finding you the best date possible, for the most important night of your life!!”

“Which is also two months from now, by the way!” The unicorn scoffed, angrily, questioning the night’s importance.

The Princess ignored that statement completely. The room was quiet for a moment.

Pensively pointing at one of the notes on the board, the princess thought out loud. “You know, your lone wolf nature isn’t necessarily a wrench in your love life. A lot of ponies find that sort of demeanor quite alluring, especially with your whole punk getup. The ‘bad girl’ archetype. Who would like that, hmm...”

“I’m pretending to sleep and not listening to you.” She covered her face with a pillow.

A few moments of silence passed, until Sunset side eyed the board, ignoring its contents, thinking about its purpose. “Do you have boards like these for all young ponies you know, or am I the only lucky bastard in Equestria that you’re stuck matchmaking?”

“Oh, no, I have dozens of these. Most are more intricate, too– You should see the one of my sister-in-law, it’s huge– She deeeeeeesperately needs to get laid.”

Sunset saw the chance to change the subject, and she took it. “That’s fucking hilarious. Can we talk about that instead?”

“No.” As much as it would entertain her, she refused to give Sunset the reprieve of escaping her own love life.

She regarded the board pensively, returning to the ‘past relationships’ section.

“Hm, Flash Sentry…”

Sunset’s eyes widened in annoyance. “Nuh uh, don’t even think about it, we’re on decent terms, but on the rare occasion I see the guy, all I can think of is of how much of an asshole I was to him– besides, he’s dating somepony, I think. We’re through.”

“That’s not what I was thinking of, Sunset… I was wondering… What did you see in him?”

At first, the unicorn wanted to say a blank statement, but with an exhale, she spoke in more detail. “It was kind of a popularity thing. Being a pupil of Celestia at the time already made me popular, but having favor with the royal guards helped. It was also a stress reliever. I didn’t really… Care about him.”

“And yet, you chose him, not any other guard. Why’s that?”

“Just lucky I guess.”

“Sunset.” She gave the unicorn a piercing glance, raising an eyebrow, knowing there was more to it.

Blowing raspberries, she reminisced. “Well… I don't know. He was weirdly nice to me, even before we started dating. I wasn’t a good girlfriend a lot of the time, but… He forgave me a lot. Even when I didn’t deserve it. He had this… Sincerity, I guess? Almost an innocence. Like he believed I could do better– Which, wow, It’s almost like I took that as a challenge to disprove, sheesh…”

“Go on…”

“We played guitar together sometimes… Which was nice. He wrote a song or two for me. It was embarrassing… But it was kind of cute. Unexpected, for a pony to do that sort of… gesture? I guess? I didn’t even like the songs themselves, I just found it cute that he made them.”

“Hmm, hmm, very interesting…” The Princess had an idea, quickly levitating a pen with magic, and adding little notes to the board.

Sunset was justifiably concerned that progress was being made. “...What are you writing in there.”

“Your type, Sunset. Although you have denied having a preference, I think I finally located it… Your type… Is cute.”

Grimacing, she rolled her eyes, not buying it. “What? That doesn’t sound like me at all.”

“You enjoy the feeling of power– Even if that is something you’ve outgrown, ambition wise– But it is also something that makes you feel good. Being strong, being seen as strong, being revered, or being seen as revered– And that translates quite peculiarly… To loving ‘cute.’”

“You lost me.”

“Because in the end, what you want is to be surprised. You were surprised that he forgave you, time and time again, even when you didn’t deserve it. You were surprised that he made heartfelt gestures. You were surprised that he was nice to you, even when you thought you didn’t deserve it– All of that, coming from a place of almost innocence from him– Henceforth, cute.”

“T-that— what? He was a jock! That isn’t cute at all?!”

“Nuh-uh, no pony is a simple label, my pupil. Many archetypes and ideas can coexist. An aggressive party girl can be cute. An intellectual, highly intelligent teacher can be cute. A goth pony can be cute. Somepony who is a klutz and bad at most things can be cute. And of course, a devoted guard can be cute! Perhaps I should say he was a ‘himbo’? Kind of like my Shining Armor!”

“Perhaps you should never say that ever again!” Gritting her teeth in second-hand embarrassment, Sunset refused to entertain those thoughts.

“Think about it, Shimmer. With all your strength, all you’ve learned. If you had a cute little somepony to protect with it, innocent or otherwise, who looked past your flaws even when you didn’t deserve it– That would be precisely the kind of pony you would want to be with, correct?”

“I don’t know?!! Hey!! I wouldn’t want to be with somepony that’s just a cute dummy, okay?! Like. I don’t need somepony sucking up to me and not get me. Hell, the fact that Flash was kind of dumb was something that endlessly frustrated me in our relationship. That wouldn't work.”

“Indeed! Intellect! That is quite important isn't it? It makes sense, you were the overachieving first pupil of Celestia, after all!”

“Aren’t those two things mutually exclusive? Being a cute dummy and an intellectual dweeb?”

“Not at all. Like I said, archetypes mix and match, so do personalities and appearances. After all, you yourself, are a punk hard-headed, aggressive mare– But you are also profoundly intelligent, and fiercely loyal, when it counts. What was it Celestia said…?”

“...Please don’t say it.”

“You have a kind heart.” She said, with a smile, mimicking her aunt’s way of speech near perfectly.

“Ughhhhhhhhhhhh” She groaned in frustration. “Are we done? Please tell me we’re done. If your goal was to embarrass me, you’ve done so, with flying colors.”

“That was only a side objective.” She joked, amused. “We’re nearly there.”

The Princess, with a fire in her eyes, scribbled several notes onto the board, enthusiastically and with a grin. “Okay. now this is progress.”

Begrudgingly, Sunset stood, walked over, and observed the new additions to the board.

“Sunset Shimmers tastes/desires in a special somepony: Cute (Not necessarily beautiful or handsome), intelligent (be it academically or emotionally), shares passions, shares interests (Like playing an instrument!) and most of all, believes in her. (Loyal to the idealization of Sunset. The idea that she can be better.)”

Narrowing her eyes, Sunset blew air from her nostrils. “This doesn’t seem right at all. What the hell does all of this mean?”

“It means, dear pupil, that what you desire is not necessarily an equal, meaning another hard headed tough pony to be with, but in fact, you desire somepony different from you, but that you can relate with. Somepony who is sweet and caring, but not stupid nor naive– somepony that you could protect, but also respect, somepony that would challenge you, and most importantly of all, you want somepony that believes in you.” She placed her pen down triumphantly, nodding with glee.

Rolling her eyes, Sunset walked back on the couch, doubting the verity of all of this. “This is dumb. Also it sounds more like marriage stuff than a date, if you ask me.”

“Soulmates, marriage, whatever you’d prefer, what’s important is that we know what you want! Or rather, what would be best for you!” She gleefully backed away from the board, observing it in full.

“Whatever...” The unicorn mumbled, face growing only slightly red, shaking her head, ignoring the princess.

“It is quite an interesting outcome, I will say! It may be another case of ‘opposites attract’-- One of my favorite demonstrations of love! Oh, it reminds me of Twilight’s friends, Applejack and Rarity!”

“Who?” Grimacing, Sunset realized she hadn’t memorized the names of any of the ponies that Celestia’s pupil was friends with.

“Oh, just another match I’m trying to make, Sunset. An Earth Pony Farmer, and high-class Seamstress– A quite wonderful clash of worlds!”

“Uh-huh. Good luck with that. I’m sure it’ll work great.” Sunset shook her head sarcastically, at least glad that the spotlight wasn't on her anymore.

Fidgeting, the Princess of love squinted at the board, thinking in overdrive. “Okay now. Who would be an intellectual cute and loyal pony for you to date………… Think, Cadance, think…! I wonder if Twilight’s friend Moondancer likes galas…”

A flash.

Lucky for Sunset, they were interrupted, with the Princess of Valor appearing out of thin air and softly thudding against the couch.

“UGH finally a soft landing. Sheesh—” She quickly glanced at her surroundings, in concern, and was relieved, but also surprised. “Woah, Cadance and me…? Weird universe…!” She glanced around the room, a particularly fancy looking suite on the castle of the Crystal empire, one that it seemed that had her own touch– A guitar laying about said it all.

Nearly Leaping with surprise, Sunset looked at the newcomer with immense confusion. “What the fuck are you?!?!!”

“...What’s up with your mane? Is it a crystal empire thing?” The Valkyrie inspected her, tilting her head– her other self was with a pretty lovely side swept hairdo, adorned with jewels, a look that clashed with the leather jacket she was wearing.

Cadance, however, had a different response to shock. After the initial surprise, she sniffed the air, her eyes widened and glowed, and she rushed forward. “Y-you!! You are just OVERFLOWING with boundless, devoted, deeply fulfilled love!!”

“AN ALICORN CLONE OF ME JUST POPS OUT OF THIN AIR COVERED IN BLOOD AND THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT?!” Her pupil asked in absolute disbelief.

Which in itself made the Valkyrie realize she very much needed a shower– Her mane and coat was stained with dried blood, and it didn’t help that she also had fresh scars. “Oh, yeah. I murdered Sombra a few universes back– Still haven't gotten to shower. Sorry.”

The pupil looked at her with a grimace of confusion, while Cadance’s eyes were widened, as she scanned this other Sunset Shimmer thoroughly with her love magic. She made natural humming sounds, as her horn sparkled with pink.

“S-sunset!!” She poked her pupil emphatically. “T-this is you, from an universe where you are incredibly fulfilled in love!!!”

“I was more concerned about the fact that she’s an Alicorn, Cadance!!” Her pupil stated in disbelief. Waving a hoof at the newcomer.

The Valkyrie exhaled, suppressing a chuckle. “Yep. Cadance will be Cadance.” The Princess of Love seemed to be this abrasive in every universe, and she didn’t mind.

Leaning forward, the Princess of Valor touched her other self. “Hang on, let me get caught up.”

I am Sunset Shimmer. I stole Twilight’s crown, and I regretted it nearly instantly, becoming a monster.

She saved me. She offered me a second chance. Celestia did, too.

And I accepted it… But I couldn’t face them. I couldn't.

I wanted to continue my training, but I couldn’t be near them. I didn’t deserve to. So Celestia saw this as the chance to give her niece some teaching lessons– I’m the guinea pig.

…And I’m content. This is the best my life could have gone.

…But why the fuck does she have to try to match make me?! Sunset Shimmer will die alone. That much, I’m sure of. I’m content alone. I always have been. I’m okay.

...I’m okay...

Recoiling, the Valkyrie couldn’t help but chuckle, at the bizarreness of this universe. “Wow, well… You ran away from Twilight, but at least you like… Didn’t ’run away’ run away. I’ve seen an universe where I hid in the dragonlands no less, just to get away from Twi and Celestia… But mostly myself.” She finished that with an exhale of disappointment. “So many fucking universes like that…”

The Pupil shook herself off, weirding out the entire experience, narrowing the eyes at her other self, doubting her origin. “Okay. Time out. Who are you, and why are you here?! Are you a changeling playing a prank on us or something…?!”

Nearly shooing her away with a dismissive hoof wave, Cadance turned to the Valkyrie. “Don’t mind my pupil, she’s always pragmatic. Now, to more important matters: Who are you married with? Have you considered having foals yet?! This devoted union– Why are you here, instead of with her!!?”

The Princess of Valor had already experienced being hounded by the Princess of Love before, so she remained quiet for a bit, knowing that she would keep talking, and she did. With a further love scan of the newcomer, Cadance came to stark realization, as she looked through Sunset’s heart. “O-oh no! You were separated!! No!!! Your love is true and full, but alas, star crossed–” Her eyes began to tear up as she dramatically waved her wings about.

The tears weren’t hers. Much like Sunset, she could feel the pain of others, when it came to love.

Sunset turned to her other self, ignoring the Cadance, who started sobbing genuine tears. “I’m you from another universe. I was cursed to travel the multiverse, I’ll be out of you mane in an hour, don’t worry about it. I’m glad you’re… I’m glad you’re doing good, other me.” The tone trailed off, in the realization of how many universes she had seen recently where she was miserable, or just doing bad.

It was a lot to digest, but Sunset only had one question. “Are… Are there more universes where I'm an alicorn…?”

“No… I don’t think so… Well, I at least haven’t seen any. Sorry. Just me…” The Valkyrie shook her head slowly. The disappointment was indeed immeasurable. There were so many worlds where she had failed, where she didn’t matter.

“...Fuck.” Her other self threw her head back in the couch, closing her eyes

“...Yeah. You said it.”

Meanwhile, the Princess of Love was nearly having a breakdown. “B-but you feel so fulfilled! So full! Your love is– It's a promise that will last more than a thousand years, isn’t it?! But you are lost!! You are lost, and who knows if she’ll ever find you!!!!” Genuine tears streamed down her face. Her power was similar to Sunset, in a sense, it wasn’t direct empathy, but she could feel how her love felt, and it felt a lot.

“Cadance, it’s okay, it’s… It’s only been two days. She’ll find me.” Sunset muttered, with a bit of unease.

“B-but w-what if she doesn’t?! What if she’s not f-fast enough?? How will you live without each other?!?!!?” She squeezed her not-pupil’s cheeks desperately, reminiscing on all the worst possibilities.

Lightly shoving her aside, Sunset muttered weak words she did not want to say. “If that happens, she’ll be okay. She’s… Strong. She doesn’t need me to rule Equestria…”

“Wait, rule Equestria?!” Her other self tilted her head in surprise. Then she just rested back on the couch– She was taking this as a break from Cadance’s deranged matchmaking.

The Valkyrie’s ears twitched, as through the sound of Cadance’s sobbing, she heard a… A baby?

From her crib, where she was before sleeping, Flurryheart was awoken by the commotion, and started making a few babbling noises.

“Woah, you guys have a baby here…?!” She quickly left the couch in curiosity, moving forward. Inspecting the crib made her even more surprised.

After all, it was a baby Alicorn. Adorably sucking on a hoof, and delighted to see Sunset looking at her. “A-an Alicorn?! Whose baby is this? What?!”

Giddily, peppy, even, the little foal poked Sunset’s snout with a hoof a couple of times, making noises. “Bumbet! Bumbet Bimmer!” She garbled, laughing.

Eyes widened, the princess of Valor felt feelings she had not felt before. From the couch, her other self spoke, a bit disinterested. “She probably thinks you’re me. She’s Cadance’s daughter.”

“What the– The Cadance in my universe doesn’t have a daughter…!” Sunset’s eyes were bright, filled with wonder, at the adorable little Alicorn foal that was fidgeting with her muzzle.

“You probably shouldn’t let her touch you when you’re full of dried blood on your face, man.” her other self stated, still disinterested.

Gazing down with wonder at the little foal, she ruminated through those feelings.

After all, a thousand years was a long time. Some day, she and Twilight would have to train a new generation to take the mantle…

But she stopped, flinching, as she noticed the Princess of Love right next to her, staring directly at her in the eyes, with a small smile, which looked deranged, considering that her face was still stained with tears. She pointed at Flurryheart, while looking at Sunset still. “You’re thinking about having your own, aren’t you.”

“W-what?! Oh my god you’re just like my Cadance.” Blowing raspberries, the Valkyrie rolled her eyes. “And no. I wasn’t.” She lied.

This was her first exposure to the daughter of a Princess, and it shocked her. It shocked her because it made her think of it, clear as day.

“Oh, yes you were. You’ve even thought of names, haven't you?” She inched closer, with that grin widening even more.

“N-no I haven’t!!” She lied again.

And of course, the Princess of Love wasn’t convinced, as she nudged the Valkyrie to spill the beans, which she did not. “The Cadance and the Shining armor of my universe broke up, and she never had a baby– Can we focus on that?”

Giggling and Shrugging, the Princess didn’t care. “Oh, I get why. I’m a free bird, after all. Shining is wonderful, but I don’t fault another me from trying something different! After all, I sure did.” She smiled mischievously, and the Princess of Valor didn’t yet understand what she meant by it, but she soon would. “Either way, have you seen any fun other me’s on your weird multiversal travels?”

Oh yeah, she definitely had. “Well, I did see a universe where you were the nightmare version of yourself. Like, evil and stuff. Called yourself ‘Heartbreaker.’ But you weren’t actually evil, you just had a love cult where you did…” Sunset eyed the baby, then back at her. “...Things I shouldn't mention in front of a baby.”

Giggling mischievously, Cadance nodded. “Oh yeah, that sounds like me.”

Sunset began walking away back to the couch, with resting intent, but the Princess teleported in front of her, with manic interest. “WAIT!! You haven’t told me the name of your love!! I must know!! For research!!” She aggressively pointed at the love board.

With a smirk, Sunset eyed her other self, then the Princess of Love. “Heh, you know what? I’ll just show you.” She offered a hoof, and Cadance accepted it, unsure of what would happen.

We talked about this, once.

About fleeting love.

Even if it was temporary.

Even if it was fleeting.

Even if it ended in heartbreak.

Even if there was a countdown until it all ended.

Even if I remain lost, and never see her again…

I would have still cherished loving Twilight Sparkle, even if only for a moment.

And I was more than ready to do it for a thousand years, too.

Tears streamed down the face of the Princess of Love once more, as she observed this other, strange, incredibly more fulfilled version of her pupil.

“T-Twilight…!” She muttered.

Nodding slowly, Sunset let out an exhale. “Yeah…”

“A-and…” She looked down, with tears still streaming down her cheeks. “Y-you might never see her again…!?”

“...Yeah.”

The eyes of the other Sunset widened as her ears twitched in confusion. “Wait, what? Who?”

After letting out a sigh, the Valkyrie approached with a grin, and a raise of an eyebrow. “Hey. Other me. I’m married to Twilight Sparkle.”

“W-wHAT?!!??!!” Her jaw dropped, her face reddened, and she got really quiet.

A brief moment of silence in the room, intercut only with the sounds of Cadance sniffling, and Flurryheart babbling.

Until somebody else entered the room, somebody the Valkyrie wasn’t expecting to see here, in a million years.

With a smile, and a yawn, Queen Chrysalis entered the room. “Good morning, heart! You too, Sunset! The royal pantry has been raided empty of all its snacks. By me.”

With her eyes widened, the Valkyrie’s adrenaline spiked. She raised her wings, lit her horn, and leapt forward. “CHRYSALIS!!!” She shouted with rage.

Blinking in confusion, the Queen of Vermin observed her, tilting her head. “Good morning, Sunset. Did you get a new haircut? And grow wings? And, uh, fell on a vat of…” She sniffed the air in curiosity. “Blood?!” She grimaced in confusion.

“Prepare to burn, vermin.” The Valkyrie snarled, and moments before the Queen was incinerated, Cadance teleported in between them, shielding her. “WAITWAITWAIT!! She’s with us! She’s with us!!”

With a look of complete, flabbergasted confusion, the Valkyrie diminished the light from her horn, but didn’t erase it. “What? What?!”

Cadance got even closer to Chrysalis, rubbing her mane on her neck affectionately. “Me and Shining are with her! Romantically.”

“Woah, Heart, have you been crying?” The queen tilted her head, observing the Princess with affection and concern.

Widening her eyes, her jaw slacking in confusion, the Valkyrie asked the burning question. “What the fuck? What? Explain yourselves.”

From the couch behind her, Sunset warned her, but disinterested. “You’re gonna regret that.”

Giggling, Cadance placed a hoof on the chest of the insect queen that towered over her. “Well, we discovered that she doesn’t need to feed on love if she’s actively loved, and she started falling for us when she tried taking over Canterlot disguised as me, long story short, her changelings don’t feed on love anymore, they love instead! And she’s not a queen anymore, they elected somepony else! Who was it again, dear?”

Snickering, amused, the queen nuzzled her back. “Some little guy with a baby face. ‘Thorax’, I think?”

That certainly made sense to Sunset, but everything else didn’t. The queen turned back to her, and the tone she spoke on was light– A tone that Sunset had never heard Chrysalis speak in. “So who are you? One of my old subjects playing a prank on me or something? They do that.” She chuckled in amusement.

Stepping forward with a smile, Cadance waved a wing at the newcomer, “Chrysie, this is Sunset!-- From another universe, that is. She’s only visiting for a moment!”

Raising a confused eyebrow, the queen decided to just shake it off. “Oh well, okay. Nice to meet you! And it’s nice to see there’s an universe where Sunset is an Alicorn! I know how much she wanted that, it’s like a biiiig underlying issue she refuses to emotionally address, heheh.”

Nuzzling her affectionately, the Princess of Love was delighted to see her love speaking in all these technical terms.

An audible groan was heard from the couch behind them, belonging to none other than the other Sunset.

“Where’s the stud, by the way?” The Queen asked the Princess. “Captaining about?”

“Oh yes, you know he’s an early riser! Oh, we should invite him up here! Shining would love to meet this other Sunset!” Cadance gleefully giggled.

Narrowing her eyes in confusion and slight disgust, Sunset presumed that she would not want to see Twilight’s brother and how he fit with the overgrown bug.

Chrysalis extended a hoof for the Valkyrie to shake, one which she did, while glaring at her the entire time. “I’m Chrysalis! Ex-Queen of Vermin! It’s delightful to meet you.”

“Sunset Shimmer. Princess of Valor. I killed you in another universe yesterday.”

The room went quiet.

It was a bit awkward.

Gluttony.

If there was one word to describe the Queen of Vermin in this universe, that was it.

Canterlot, and all of the valleys surrounding it, were completely transformed. The hive was built inside and out of the castle, expanding into the skies in a crooked manner.

She had all the love she could eat and more.

And she never stopped eating.

Much like an insect queen, she couldn’t leave the hive anymore. Her body was twisted, morphed, overgrown, nearly fused with her throne, her wings enormous, but torn, unable to fly. She sat there, unamused, nearly pensively, as she hovered a pod containing none other than a comatose Twilight Sparkle near her.

It was like chewing on a piece of gum for hours, but in this case, years. The taste became stale. Plenty of her subjects skittered about, and they were also a captive audience to conversation.

“You know what I never understood about this little idiot?” She swerved the pod around, with an annoyed grimace. “She had all of this ‘love of friendship’ with her, but at the same time, was Super single. The little idiot was meant to become the ‘Princess of Friendship’ and whatever– But wow, she was actually loveless! No romantic partners!”

Snickering deviously, one of her soldiers agreed. “Love of Friendship just doesn’t have the same flavor, does it, my queen?”

“That’s what I’m saying!!” She cackled in response, while swerving the pod, indulging herself on watching Twilight spin.

“Oh, and you know what else?!” She reached for another pod above her, a considerably large one, that contained none other than Celestia. “The same applied to the Princess of the Sun!! She had no romantic prospects!! Pathetic!”

The few soldiers in the room laughed like they were at a standup show. Chrysalis really hammed it in. “What was the deal with the royalty of Equestria?! Even Luna!! They had no game!”

Cackles echoed in the room, with all of them delighting themselves.

But they were interrupted with a tremor.

More specifically, an explosion.

Chrysalis’s antenas quivered in confusion as she stood incredibly still.

One of her soldiers spoke in confusion and fear. “W-what was that?! Did it come from inside the hive?!”

“Impossible!” Another added. “No pony could ever infiltrate our defenses without being seen!!”

The Queen shuddered– Like she could feel the expanse of her hive as a part of her body, and she felt like a body part of her was on fire.

The fearful buzzing of their fellow changelings echoed throughout the hive, and it sent shivers through her.

“D-don’t just stand there, fools, seek and destroy the threat!!” She bellowed in anger.

The drones were about to move, but a hole was blown on a part of the roof– and fire spewed out of it.

The Princess of Valor was here.

She was already covered in the viscera of the vermin she had slaughtered moments before, and she left a trail of fire in her wake, with her wings raised menacingly.

And levitating behind her, she dragged a pod of her other self, a comatose Sunset, cocooned like all the other ponies in this hive.

Plenty of the soldiers skittered and scattered in fear, as the flames of the room spread, and Chrysalis naturally couldn't run away in her state.

With a mix of anger, fear and surprise, she yelled out to the Valkyrie. “H-how did you get in here?! And WHO IN THE HELL ARE YOU?!”

“Pest control.” The Valkyrie snarled, as the flames around her increased exponentially, spreading viciously to the few changelings that tried attacking her, and the light she emanated blinded all in the room.

The Queen of Vermin was burned to a crisp before she could even react.

The most difficult part of the hour spent on this universe was freeing an uncountable number of ponies from their cocoons.

“...Well that hurts my feelings…!” Chrysalis said to the Valkyrie, with a genuine tone.

Still narrowing her eyes, Sunset tried sounding less antagonistic, but had questionable results. “This is the first universe I’ve ever seen where you’re not a bastard.”

“...That also hurts my feelings.” The Queen of Vermin exhaled, still very confused at the situation.

“I also haven’t killed you in my universe yet, because you keep running away from me. But I’ll get to it.” Sunset reminisced on how the Queen of Vermin she knew was a horrible monster that had nearly given up on conquering Equestria since Sunset became an Alicorn. After all, a battle hardened Princess of flames and a bug queen don’t mix. Bad match.

“Okay, are you just in this universe to hurt my feelings?” The queen tilted her head in confusion.

Placing a consoling hoof on her chest, Cadance beheld her with adoration. “Don’t worry, Chrysie. What matters is who you are here, and we love you!”

Smiling flirtatiously, Chrysalis leaned down. “Gimme some sugar, mi amore.”

What proceeded was, to Sunset, one of the most disgusting displays of affection she had ever witnessed, she was unaware of how a changeling’s mouth would bend and open when they kissed, much less how much their tongues slobbered. She nearly vomited.

From behind her, her other self commented, averting her eyes. “Yep. You never get used to it.”

The Valkyrie’s face was widened in a grimace of disgust, she barely successfully muttered the words she wanted to say. “I’ve seen multiple universes where I was dead, and my remains were in random places in Equestria, forgotten by anybody that ever knew me. This is worse.”

Giggling, the Queen moved further into the room, towards the crib of Flurryheart, who still babbled. “Aaaaanyways, how’s the little goober?”

She hovered over the crib, and the little foal giggled when she saw her. The queen proceeded to open her jaws and extend her tongue and shook her face. “Booga booga booga!!” She made horrifying garbles and faces that would frighten any young child.

…Flurryheart was not any young child. She giggled in amusement, poking the queen on her snout. “Bissali!!! Bissali!!” She joyfully proclaimed, with her horn unleashing little sparks.

“That's right, little goober!! You’ll get it right someday!!” The Queen snickered with glee.

Sunset watched the whole thing in very, very confused disgust. Then she came to a startling realization, as she turned to Cadance, who was coming closer to the changeling. “Wait. Wait, don’t t-tell me?!–” She pointed at Flurryheart, then to the Queen, and then the Princess. “I-Is s-she?!!?”

The two regarded each other, and then the Valkyrie, then giggled. The princess fluttered her wings in amusement. “Nooo! No, don’t worry. She’s Shining Armor’s and me’s daughter! I don’t think ponies and changelings can have foals together?”

“It doesn’t mean we shouldn't try.” The queen grinned at her flirtatiously with a growl, as she leaned closer.

What resulted was another display of affection that disgusted the Princess of Valor, as those two kissed with their very incompatible mouths.

“Okay, that’s it.” she shook her head, and headed towards a window. “I’m done with this universe. Good luck other me, you’ll never see me again, bye–” And proceeded to jump out of the room near desperately, without any clear direction other than away from here.

“W-wait!!” The Princess raised a hoof. “D-don’t you want to shower?! We have facilities–”

“Next universe! Bye!” Sunset yelled out from afar, getting distance at great speeds, cruising out of there.

The residents remained alone for a moment, in confusion.

Chrysalis was the first to speak, tilting her head. “Well that was odd. Did she just come to this universe to judge us or something? I’m hurt!”

“Oh don’t worry Chrysie, she was just here to help me progress Sunset’s training!” The Princess giddily moved back to the board, with adding intent.

This immediately garnered the attention of her Pupil, whose brows furrowed in confusion. “W-what? What do you mean?”

Cadance remained staring at her pupil the entire time, with a mischievous grin. She reached into a binder with her magic, pulling a picture out of it, hovering a picture in the air.

It was a picture of her sister in law. Twilight Sparkle.

“O-oh no” Sunset’s air left her lungs.

“Oh yes.” The princess raised her muzzle smugly.

The Picture hovered closer to the love board. Sunset got a bit desperate. “Nuh uh, don’t do it! Don’t you do it!”

Princess Cadance, with a manic, delighted smile, placed the photo of Twilight Sparkle directly on the ‘matches’ section of Sunset’s love board.

Sunset let out an audible, flustered groan that echoed in the room.

With a shocked look at the board, and then a delighted cackle, Chrysalis amused herself at the expense of her lover’s pupil. “Oooohohohoh, Shining’s sister?! The little pony that kicked my ass back in the day?! With Sunset?! That is endlessly amusing!!”

Frantically, the Princess connected the dots on the board, with enthusiasm. “This is perfect. She is your Equal! After all, you both studied under Celestia, you have SO much common ground– And yet, her different approach to the subject would be endlessly educational and helpful to you! She is immensely sweet and caring, and incredibly intelligent. She will challenge your world views, while also respecting and admiring your strength!! Not just that, but she is adorable– Something you’ll find irresistible– And she will absolutely find your punk-ass hot.”

Sunset’s face grew redder with every word, even if she looked angry.

“And most importantly of all…” Cadance beheld her pupil with a warm smile. “She believes in you.”

That did affect her pupil, who looked at the ground quietly. After all, Twilight already believed in her. She had saved her, after all. And not just that, but she was more than okay with Sunset’s role as her sister in law’s pupil.

And the Princess, still incredibly smug, continued her love rant. “Don’t you see, Sunset?! It’s perfect! Twilight is not only single, but she deeeeeesperately needs some romance in her life– And sure, you were a fixer upper– But I see it so clearly now!! The cute nerd who changed your life for the better, who saved you– She is so stressed, everyday, exhausted with her duties as the Princess of Friendship– and then comes Sunset Shimmer! The hot dashing punk girlfriend who will relieve her of all her troubles, support her through it all, treating her like a Princess!! and then take her worthy, rightfully earned place beside her as a ruler of Equestria– Your second chance! The inheritors of night and day!”

Her pupil remained silent, her face as red as a tomato, as she was inadvertently forced to imagine those ideas vividly.

Her new chance at becoming an Alicorn. At reconnecting with her old life, but this time, doing it right.

Was Cadance’s training worth something after all?

Nodding, Chrysalis agreed emphatically. “Wow, heart. That’s good. Like. Some destiny kind of romance. Shining’s gonna love this! It's wonderful!”

“Isn’t it?!” Cadance clapped her hooves with excitement and joy. “Sunset! I’ve decided. You’re going with Twilight to the gala!! Heck. I’m getting you to go on a date with herthis week!! She desperately needs to get laid–”

“Wha–” Sunset’s head shot up in surprise and annoyance. “A-are you just trying to get me to bang your sister in law?!”

“YEAH!!!! Chop chop!!”

Author's Note

SUNSET SHIMMER VS QUEEN CHRYSALIS.

INFO: Sunset has fought Chrysalis before, and not just that-- She has complete mastery over one of bugs's many weaknesses, fire. She is relentlessly agressive, and no matter how powerful Chrysalis might have been in that universe, she was also entirely complacent, entirely laid back, at that point.

VERDICT: Chrysalis couldn't run away. A butchering from the Princess of Valor.

This entire chapter is just Cadance going like this. It was so fun to write

I have once again endulged on writing Cadance to be unhinged, and I am not sorry. This chapter was just an excuse for me to find as many ways to joke around as I could-- Just a fun comedic chapter, heheheh! I just love writing the Princess of Love to have actual character and go NUTS. And she's right, Twilight DOES need to get laid fr

This is more for the deeply into timeline crowds, but I have an apology. Flurryheart, at this point, wouldn't be a baby anymore, she would at the very least be a toddler, but i couldn't resist writing her like a baby... Too cute, and whats more, it gets Sunset to introspect on her never-before-touched desire to maybe be a mama.

On that note, I did consider writing it so that the baby names she had thought of were "Luster Dawn" or "Sunny Starscout" But I figured that would be too on-the-nose, as well as references to aspects of the canon that just wouldn't match with this lmao. My canon is very separate from that far in.

Pictured above, a Sunset that has inhabited the Crystal Empire for a while, as well as the redeemed Chrysalis, with her little goober heheheh.

Writing Chrysalis at her absolute best while also writing her at her absolute worst is one of the many benefits of writing a multiverse fic, heheh. Very enjoyable! I've loved doing this kind of shit.

Also I do think that the polycule of the crystal empire ship is good and funny-- But specially because like. Can you imagine how many of the characters would be completely utterly disgusted by them lmao.

Either way. Cadance's pupil. A better Sunset for sure, but one that resisted positive change in her life nonetheless, like many others.

Also. Also. I'm so fucking excited. I've waited so long for this. The next chapter? Is my second favorite of all the ones I have planned (which, by the way, is almost like. thirty.) This shit will be SO fun to write. i will spoil nothing, tease nothing, you'll understand pretty much everything the moment you see the title. See you then, heheh.