Canterlot's combination museum-observatory was quiet today, which was to be expected, given that the busy season had come and gone for them. And yet, despite this, there were nevertheless one or two people looking around an having a nice quiet time. But, among these rare visitors was none other than Sunset Shimmer, who sat quietly by herself on one of the benches in the biggest chamber of the place. With a thoughtful look upon her face, she was busy staring at the centrepiece of this room. A statue, almost high enough to reach the ceiling, depicting an old man in a rather outlandish wizard-looking costume, all while sporting a fairly large beard. Sunset eyed it carefully, looking very much like she wanted to comment on it, but, before she could, she was interrupted by the arrival of one of her friends. It was Aria, the middle Siren sister who, after joining her fellow Equestrian, offered her a smoothie, which Sunset graciously accepted with a smile.

"Thanks, Aria."

Nodding to this, Aria took her place beside Sunset, letting out a sigh before looking to her with a raised eyebrow.

"So...exactly when are we getting to the movies?"

Chuckling slightly, Sunset took a quick slurp of the drink Aria had given her before finally answering that.

"We'll go soon enough. I just needed to talk to Twilight about something."

Sighing, Aria nodded to that, then cast a rather irritated scowl at the statue Sunset had been looking at.

"You know...I'd rather not be around that thing, if it's all the same to you."

Sunset looked to her, confused.

"Oh?"

Aria's frown deepened.

"Yeah...bad memories."

However, before Sunset could enquire further, she noticed, in the corner of her eye, somebody running towards the two of them. Sure enough, it was Twilight, and the two girls smiled at each other before the young scientist finally reached them. After taking a moment to catch her breath, Twilight adjusted her spectacles before finally speaking up.

"Sorry I'm late. I just got done leading a tour group around here."

Sunset gave a quick chuckle.

"No problem."

Placing her hands on her hips, Twilight looked to her otherworldly friend.

"So...what did you want to talk about?"

A silence passed, and then, after taking a moment to get her thoughts in order, Sunset looked once more to the statue.

"I wanted to talk to you...about him."

All three girls were looking to the statue now, with Aria obviously being unhappy about it, and Twilight, looking back to Sunset, tilted her head slightly.

"Starswirl the Bearded? What about him?"

Sunset, with her eyes still on the statue, answered her friend.

"Well...there's also a Starswirl in my world, and he's...kind of a big deal."

Giggling, Twilight nodded.

"No surprise there, Sunset. We're all supposed to have differing versions of each other between our worlds, and Starswirl was pretty important here too."

Sunset nodded back.

"I know, but...I was wondering what you could tell me about him."

Twilight, clearly eager to discuss a figure of historical important, smiled widely to the request before clearing her throat slightly. Aria rolled her eyes and folded her arms, very clearly not looking forward to this, but she nevertheless remained quiet as Twilight began to speak.

"Starswirl the Bearded was a revolutionary teacher of mathematics and stargazing. Thanks to him, many were taught how to chart the stars and navigate, which led to many other breakthroughs. He's regarded as one of the greatest minds of the past, and he's pretty much synonymous with learned individuals."

Looking back to Sunset, Twilight gained some curiosity of her own.

"And you? What's he like on your side?"

Sunset opened her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by Aria, who answered in her stead.

"He was a self-righteous jerk who wouldn't let us have our fun, that’s what!"

Sunset raised an eyebrow to this, but Twilight just seemed confused, prompting the former to start explaining.

"He was a figure from Equestria's ancient past who was notable in thwarting the plans of a number of...well..."

She didn't finish, but Aria let out a long sigh, before concluding her sentence.

"He dealt with bad guys! Like me and my sisters!"

Twilight nodded, understanding.

"Ah...I see."

Looking back to the statue, Sunset continued.

"He was also famous for creating a number of important spells, many of which are still in use today. He's, for lack of a better word, a legend back home."

Twilight looked to her, then to the statue, almost awe-struck.

"That...sounds pretty impressive."

Another chuckle escaped her Equestrian friend.

"By all accounts, he was. I swear, you should hear Princess Twilight gushing about him in her messages to me. Whenever she uncovers some long-lost document about him, she just has to talk about it."

Twilight giggled.

"I can understand. Getting the chance to learn more about your idols can be pretty exciting."

But, while the two were clearly enjoying this little talk, Aria was somewhat less pleased about it all.

"Ugh! Can you two give it a rest! The guy was a major thorn in the side of my sisters and me, so could we maybe not spend our day fangirling him?"

Looking to her, Sunset raised an eyebrow, and Aria, already predicting what she was going to say, beat her to it.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, Sunset. We were bad guys, we were turning friends against each other, we deserved it, yadda yadda yadda."

She let out a long exhale.

"Doesn't mean I have to like hearing about him."

Sunset didn't say anything, but it was obvious from the way her expression softened that she was, indeed, willing to let the matter drop, much to Aria's appreciation. However, it seemed as though Twilight, in one of her clear bouts of unthinking curiosity, couldn't help but say one final thing about it.

"Still...it would be nice, getting the chance to speak to a great person like that. I mean, I know he's long dead both here and in Equestria, but..."

However, Sunset then looked to her and, with a knowing smile, started to add a particular piece of information.

"Actually, he's still alive back home."

Both girls looked to her, almost to the point of speechlessness.

"Um...what?" Aria enquired.

Looking to her, Sunset explained.

"Princess Twilight and her friends uncovered this big mystery about him a while back and, after doing a whole bunch of other stuff, they managed to free him from some magical realm along with many other figures from Equestria's past. So yeah, Starswirl's back in Equestria."

Aria stared at her, blank-faced, but Twilight, by contrast, responded to this news with utter glee.

"You...you mean...there's a chance I might one day actually be able to speak to the Starswirl the Bearded?"

Chortling briefly, Sunset shrugged her shoulders.

"Well...you could speak to a Starswirl the Bearded, since he's, you know, not the one you know."

But Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Pfft! I'm not picky, Sunset!"

The two girls once more shared a laugh, but Aria, who remained silent for some time, simply stared at the statue before her, narrowing her eyes and then letting out a long and tired-sounding sigh.

"Yep...Adagio's not gonna like hearing about that."