Spike and Sunset walked down the sunny, dirt road, Derpy flying overhead and every now and then slamming into a building. Looking up to her Sunset called, “Hey, Derpy, how about you come down here for a little bit?” Derpy looked down, smiled, and landed near Sunset. Spike frowned slightly, while Sunset smiled warmly, still trying to hide her pain. Trotting over to her, Sunset said, “You said you make a mean muffin, right, Derpy?”

“You bet I do.” Derpy hopped about with glee, giving Sunset a slight chuckle. “You want me to run home and make you some, Sunset?” Derpy wagged her tail as she shook her rear end happily while she continued, “I can make you a hundred muffins in no time flat.”

“I think I might get sick if I try to eat that many.” Sunset grinned, looking to Spike, who rolled his eyes. “Listen, Derpy. How about you take Spike here and make me eight muffins, okay?

“Sure thing, Sunset.”

Derpy flew up into the air, then crashed into a building a few feet from her, causing the pony inside to wave an angry hoof at her. Spike looked at Sunset, saying, “Now, why did you have to go and do that, Sunset? Now, I have chase her all over Ponyville to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself or somepony else.” As Spike was about to give chase, he quickly continued, “The bank's right next to the apothecary. The shop has a bright orange wood sign with a pestle and mortar.” Spike ran after Derpy, watching as she crashed into buildings and other flying pegasi alike.

Sunset sighed, muttering to herself, “Good. Now that they're gone, I can take care of what I need to do without Twilight finding out about it.”

Heading a little further down the dirt road, Sunset came to two small buildings. One had a green, thatched roof, the other had clay tiles for its roofing. Looking from left to right, Sunset entered the bank first, being greeted warmly by a stallion with money bags for his cutie mark.

“Hello, there, and welcome to Golden Hoof Bank. My name is Filthy Rich. How may I help you today?”

“My name is Sunset Shimmer. Is this bank connected to the one in Canterlot City, by any chance?”

“Why, yes, indeed it is, Ms. Shimmer. Would you like to open an account, or do you already have one with us?”

“I already have one. I need to see if my account is still open, and if it is, I need to withdraw some bits and set up a deposit for a special pony with the bits that are left.” Hearing the flat tone in her voice, Filthy raised an eyebrow at Sunset, who offered a deadpan expression in return. Filthy still smiled warmly as he escorted Sunset over to his desk. Once there, Sunset asked, “I left some paperwork and books in a safety deposit box back at the Canterlot City branch. Is there anypony around here who can retrieve them for me?”

“Yes, there is. It will take a few hours, though. Should I place them into this bank for you?”

“That's fine with me. The number to the box is seven, four, six, three, four, one.”

Checking his listing, Filthy saw that the box was already in the Ponyville branch. Looking up from his paper he said, “Well, that's convenient. That safety deposit box is already here. If you would follow me, I can take you to it.”

“Wait, what? Sunset exclaimed, her eyes wide. “But, how can that be? I'm the only pony that should have been able to gain access to that box.”

Looking back at his paper, Filthy said, “Well, according to this, both you and Princess Celestia have your names on the sign-out order key form.”

“I see,” Sunset grumbled lightly. “Did she remove anything from the box that you are aware of?”

“Not that I know of, Ms. Shimmer. Now, I need to verify that you are who say you are. I was left some instructions from the princess herself. So, if you will follow me, please?”

Sunset followed Filthy to a nearby door, then through a long, marble hallway. To the right, Sunset took notice of various paintings that hung on the walls. To the left were giant, glass windows that allowed the sun to fill the hallway with a great deal of both light and warmth. Getting to another door, Filthy opened it, saying, “Inside, you’ll find an ink pad. Place your hoofprint to the paper you’ll find next to it, then I'll check it with the one we have on record. If your hoof matches, then you’ll be given full access to the safety box.”

“Alright, I understand.”

Sunset headed into the room, finding the ink pad and paper. After placing her hoof to the ink pad and pressing her hoof to the paper, she took it and headed back out. Using her magic, she gave the paper to Filthy, who carried it with him as the two headed back to his desk. Once there, he took out a large file, opened it, and shifted through it until he came to the one he was looking for. A few moments later, he looked up, smiled, and said, “Well, Ms. Shimmer, everything looks to be in order. Now, if you will please follow me, I’ll take you to the vault and let you have your security box.”

Sunset said nothing as the two walked to another nearby door. Sunset's mind kept wandering as she worried that Celestia had removed the papers and books she had left in there two years ago. Getting into the vault, Filthy opened the door, allowing Sunset to walk past him. Metal boxes of all sizes lined both the right and left walls of the vault. The center of the back wall had only one box. Getting a closer look at it, Sunset saw it had both her and Princess Celestia’s cutie marks on it. Filthy walked up to it, took the box out of the wall, and placed it on a counter top next to the wall.

“Thank you for doing this, Filthy,” Sunset began as she watched Filthy take out from his vest pocket a roll of keys. “Can I use some paper to write a letter to somepony? It's important.”

“Of course, you may. Stay in here as long as you want. There is a quill, some ink, and paper to the left of the countertop. Now, if you’ll use your magic, I can turn the key, and you’ll have the box all to yourself.”

“What? Oh, yes, of course.”

Sunset did as instructed. Using her magic, she and Filthy both unlocked the box. Once it was open, Filthy nodded to her, then left to take care of other customers. Sunset sat alone in the vault, looking over the contents of the box. She saw that all the papers she had left there two years ago were still there. Looking at the book she left, Sunset noticed an envelope sticking out from one of the pages within the book. Not wanting to be reminded of her pain from two years ago, Sunset quickly used her magic to take the envelope out of the box. Opening it with her magic, she saw it was a letter, and it was addressed to her from Princess Celestia.

Swallowing hard as she opened the letter, Sunset began to read.

Dear Sunset,

I don’t know if you will ever read this letter or if you will ever be able to forgive me for what happened to you at Crystal Ridge. That night was the absolute worst night of my life. I lost not only my student that night but my daughter, as well. It was worse than losing my sister. I know I should have loved you as my daughter, but I--

Sunset closed her eyes tightly. Not bothering to finish the letter, she folded it back up, placing it into the box. Looking to the quill and paper, Sunset used her magic to write another letter to Applejack. Once done, she placed it into her box and sighed. With her magic still active, she lifted the entire box up and carried it out of the vault. Finding Filthy at his desk, she said to him softly, “I need some sort of bag to carry everything within this box. Does your bank provide such accommodations?”

“Yes, we do. Let me get you a saddlebag, and then, you can carry your items without worrying about some other pony trying to get ahold of your belongings.”

Filthy left his desk, returning a few moments later with a fresh, brown saddlebag in his hooves. Sunset placed everything into the bag, then said, “I need to know how much I have in my account, and then I need to withdraw some bits.” Quickly remembering her letter to Applejack, Sunset continued, “I also need a wax seal made--”

“--of your cutie mark. That is already taken care of,” Filthy interrupted. “It is in my desk. Let me get it for you.”

Sunset nodded, then took out her letter to Applejack, folded it, and waited for Filthy to take out the wax seal. Taking out the seal, Filthy noticed a slightly confused look on Sunset's face and quickly said, “Princess Celestia had two seals made up for you. She said one was given to Princess Twilight. The other was kept here in case you wanted to come back and start writing to her again.”

Sunset said nothing. Taking the seal in her magic, Filthy lit the candles and let Sunset do the rest. After a few moments, Sunset pressed the seal to the wax. Once she was sure that her cutie mark was properly placed onto the new letter to Applejack, she nodded to Filthy, who took out his record-keeping book and hoofed through it. Finding Sunset's account, he looked up to her, saying with a slightly shocked look on his face, “According to our records, Ms. Shimmer, you have a sum total of sixty-two million ten bits.”

Sunset’s eyes widened with complete shock as she all but stammered on her words. “H-H-How is that even possible? I-I only had six hundred and ten in there two years ago.”

Checking again, Filthy saw who the deposit was from. “It would seem that one of the royals is the reason you have so much so, my dear. What would you like to do with this large amount of bits?”

Rolling her eyes--"Of course it was Celestia," she thought--Sunset said, “I want to set up a security deposit for Twilight Sparkle. In the event of my death, she is to inherit the entire amount. However, I want it to be very clearly stated to her that she is to use this money only to help Ponyville out. It's not to be used for frivolous things like clothing and making her home look more outlandish that it already does.”

Filthy quirked his eyebrow to Sunset, who stared back at him coolly. Clearing his throat, he said, “Of-Of course we can do that, but you do understand that she will need to put hoof to paper as well to make it all legal. I can have her do this without you being there, if it would--”

“I don’t give a buck what you must do, Mr. Rich. Just get this done!”

Swallowing hard and wondering why Sunset turned so cold so quickly, Filthy Rich very quickly began to set out the proper paperwork for Sunset to sign. Ten minutes went by before Sunset was done placing hoof to paper. Using her newly acquired wax seal on the last piece, she said, “Is that all or is there more for me to do?”

“No, no, that is all. You don’t have to do anything else.” Looking over the paperwork once more Filthy Rich smiled, then continued, “Now, how much do you want to take out, Ms. Shimmer.”

“Forty-six bits should be enough, I think.”

“Alright, Ms. Shimmer,” Filthy replied, getting up and heading over to the teller's station, returning a few moments later with a pouch in his teeth. “Here are your bits, and I hope to see you again sometime soon.”

Taking the bits in her magic, Sunset turned without a word to Filthy and left the bank, walked next door, and entered the apothecary's shop.

Next Chapter: Visions of Betrayal (Edited and Titled by Icecreammac) Estimated time remaining: 14 Hours, 7 Minutes