It was a beautiful sunny day.

Sunset was reclining on the couch, reading a book. To say she was doing it for her enjoyment would only be a half-truth. However, killing time was her ultimate motive, for the amber teen was waiting for someone to arrive. Someone specific and necessary to her plans for the day. Plans to let the woman who took her into her home know just how appreciative she was of her stay. And that plan required a green thumb.

So it was a good thing Fluttershy and Applejack had two to spare. They might be enough to prevent Sunset from destroying the garden by accident.

The sounds of footfalls drew her from her reading, and she glanced up to see Celestia coming down the stairs with an exasperated sigh. “Sunset, I’m headed to the store. Luna ate all the cookies again, and we’re out of flour.” The sound of retching could be heard from the stairwell, and both of them winced.

Despite her current state, Luna was still well enough to add a quip on the matter. “'Twas worth the stomach ache! Not one snickerdoodle shall remain uneaten!”

Sunset chuckled and shook her head, sitting up on the couch. “It’s been over a month, and I’m still not used to her acting like that.”

Celestia facepalmed as she did the same. “She truly is an overgrown child.” Looking at the fire-haired teen, she smiled warmly. “Can I trust you to keep the house in one piece?”

Sunset huffed and crossed her arms, and her book was left sitting on the couch as she did so. “Hey, I’m older than I look. I think I’m responsible enough to house sit.”

With a chuckle, the older woman looked back up the stairs. “It’s not you that I’m worried about.”

Shouting from the bathroom, Luna was still clutching the toilet. “You’re not much better, Tia!”

Sunset was having a hard time not laughing at the two of them arguing.

Turning to the amber teen, Celestia sighed. “You know, my offer from earlier still stands.”

“I know, and I do want to know just how long you’ve known about Equestria. I just think it’d be better to talk about it when we don’t have company coming over.” Sunset waved as she leaned against the wall. “I’ll see you when you get back.”

Celestia gave her charge a quick nod, before opening the door. She had to stop herself from walking out immediately though, as she had managed to catch Fluttershy mid-knock. “Oh, good evening, Fluttershy. Sunset said you would be coming over, but I didn’t expect you to be here so soon.”

The butterscotch girl had her backpack with her, sitting securely on her back. Giggling a bit, Fluttershy nervously brushed a lock of hair from her face. “Good evening, Principal Celestia. Is Sunset available?”

With a nod, Celestia stepped to the side and let Fluttershy in. The two teens were immediately talking with each other as the pearlescent woman grabbed her purse. “You two have fun. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Bye!” Sunset gave a quick wave as the door closed. “So, shall we get started?”

Sliding her bag off her shoulders, Fluttershy opened it up and pulled out the fertilizer she had brought with her. “Absolutely. Applejack should be here in a little bit to help.”

Thankfully for the two, they didn’t have to wait very long. It was only five minutes into their gardening that Applejack arrived and brought some more tools with her. Sunset even managed just to mangle a pair of tulip bulbs while they were at it! She didn’t even know how she managed to do that. The sight of Sunset’s section of the garden was enough to delegate the amber girl to supply duty and take away her trowel.

Secretly, they all were happy with that. A comical stream of tears could have been superimposed over Sunset’s face at that moment, and no one would have thought them out of place.

Applejack wiped a trickle of sweat from her brow, before sitting back and admiring her work. “Gotta say, Sunset, by the time Spring rolls in, this here garden will be bloomin’ faster than ya can blink!”

“I hope so.” Sunset sighed as she brought over a few more bulbs. “I really want this to look good for Celestia’s birthday.”

The orange farm girl nodded as she looked over the garden for a second. “Hey, Sunset?” The amber teen looked over, curious. “What’s it like, living with Celestia? Ah, mean, it’s gotta be a little weird, what with her being our principal and all.”

Oh, Applejack, you have no idea. Sunset’s thoughts echoed the look on her face, a mix of wincing and looking to the side, grip getting a touch tighter on the bag of tulip bulbs. “It’s... different than you’d expect.” The fact that Fluttershy was adding to the growing collection of ‘you better explain’ stares that Sunset’s been collecting from Celestia, made her smile nervously. “Well, for one, she’s a bit more laid back when she’s not at school if only a little bit. There’s also the absurd amount of time she puts into making Ruby Goldenberg machines.” Sunset frowned as another thought popped up. “Then there are the pranks she likes to pull. Never obvious, but the moment you find yourself the punchline of the joke, you realize you’ve been bamboozled.”

“Did you just say bamboozled?” Applejack snickered with a raised eyebrow.

Rolling her eyes, Sunset didn’t dignify that with a response, electing to continue instead where she left off, as a smile made its way back to her face. “More often than not though, she acts like a mom to both me and Luna, but I think that’s just because of how old I am, and how immature Luna is off the clock.” Applejack’s face tightened a touch, and she looked to the garden again.

Fluttershy placed a few more bulbs in the ground as she looked over her shoulder. “She does? Doesn’t that get on your nerves after a while?” She blushed a bit, remembering that Applejack was there. “I mean... I love my mom, but it starts to get to me when she wants to be part of everything and lets Zepher get away with half of his ideas.”

Sunset could only shrug. “A little, but... to be fair, I never really had a mom growing up, so it’s not too bad. I mean, it’s not like I have anything to compare it to.”

Now it was Applejack’s turn to wince. “Sunset, Ah’m sorry for bringing--”

The amber teen cut her friend off with a wave of her hand. “It’s alright.” Sunset looked at the bulbs she had in her hands with a sigh. “To be fair, I don’t blame her, if that’s what you’re wondering. From what my dad told me, she was ‘sent somewhere she couldn’t come back from.’” A snort escaped Sunset as she shook her head. “Honestly, I know what he meant. I just wish I’d gotten the chance to know her, and for my dad to stop telling cryptic tales of why she wasn’t there.”

“Ah know that feeling a little too well.” Sighing with a small smile, Applejack moved over to Sunset’s spot and put a hand on her shoulder. “Do... do you want to talk about it?”

Sunset got her turn to raise an eyebrow, smirking at the apple farmer. “Weren’t you just trying to apologize for bringing it up?”

A blush danced across Applejack’s face as she rubbed the back of her head. “S-sorry, but, it’s just that talking ‘bout it helped me, and Ah gotta admit that you’ve got me curious.” Applejack looked up at the sky, making a note of a few clouds floating by. “Ah mean... stories about a world full of magic? Why wouldn’t anyone wants to listen ta that when they know, it’s something that actually exists? Heck, All the girls and Ah went there a few days ago! We all want ta hear more about it.”

“Okay, you got me there.” Sunset laid back on the grass, staring up at the clouds, and Fluttershy joined in on their impromptu break. “Well, I guess I could start with that story in particular since I already brought it up. Every time my dad would start the story, it was of how he saved her from falling off the edge of Canterlot.”

Applejack blinked in confusion, tilting her head back some to look at Sunset. “Falling-- How could you fall off of a city?”

Fluttershy grimaced at the thought. “That sounds scary.”

Sunset nodded a bit and chuckled. “Well, when the city’s built into a mountain, easily, but back to the story.” The two friends kept themselves quiet, staring up at the clouds, picturing the events as they were told. “Apparently, my mom was an old friend of his, who had been away for years, before she came back and accidentally slipped past the railing on the city’s edge.” A smirk started to grow on Sunset’s face as she pictured her dad animatedly going about her old bedroom, telling the story and half acting it out. “Dad would go on and on after that about how they had a whirlwind romance that got them both running around all over Equestria as something more than friends, from Las Pegasus to the Alpaca mountain range.”

Fluttershy snorted in a somewhat Pinkiesque manner as she held back a laugh. “Alpaca. Did they make good cheese?”

Sunset was starting to wonder if her eyes would roll out of her head like Celestia said they would with how much she’s been doing that lately. “Yes, and I know, Equestria has a thing for being punny compared to this world. And yes, they do. Best cheese ever.”

Still giggling a bit into her hand, Fluttershy blushed. “Sorry, I just find puns funny. Blame my dad.”

Applejack chuckled a bit and adjusted her hat. “Then go and date Flash. You’d be set for life.”

The two other girls both jumped, and Fluttershy started to stammer face trying to both turn red and pale at the same time. “W-What!? Wh-Why would I ask out Flash!?”

“Well, he’s apparently hot enough to catch an interdimensional princess’s eye and made Sunset the most popular girl in school just by dating him, so Ah think that gets him some points in his favor.” Applejack kept chuckling as she got comfortable again. Got a hunch it wouldn’t really work between the two anyhow.

“How exactly do you know that?” Sunset narrowed her eyes a bit as she leaned her head back.

“His Pa brought him over one day after Flash done goofed and ruined some of our fences. Granny had him fixin’ it, and Ah swear that man wouldn’t stop saying’ puns for the life of me.” Applejack shook her head. “They were so bad, Ah think one of our trees toppled.”

“Can I get back to my story, please?” Sunset crossed her arms and rolled onto her side to glare at Applejack for a moment.

Applejack raised her hands. “Right, right. Sorry for interrupting, Sunset.”

Huffing a bit, Sunset got herself comfortable again and rolled a few inches closer to Fluttershy. “Anyways, after a year of adventures, the two fell for each other and soon, I was on the way.” Sunset grimaced for a moment, trying to figure out how to properly word the next part of the tale. “Now, neither of them expected me to be, er, magically gifted, when I was born, let alone a unicorn at all. Dad’s a pegasus, and Mom was an earth pony. And a detail about baby unicorns and pegasi is that when Equestrians are still newborns... our magic is a bit uncontrollable.”

Fluttershy blinked in surprise, her embarrassment temporarily forgotten. “Wait... you mean you couldn’t control it at first?”

A wry chuckle escaped Sunset as she focused her attention skyward. “More like infants just do what they want. A multiversal concept I hear.” An echo of pain echoed behind her eyes as she stared at a pegasus shaped cloud. “Just... in Equestria, it can be a bit more dangerous for anypony involved, or even nearby, when they surge.”

Applejack and Fluttershy shared a glance, before sitting up and looking to their friend. The shy girl put a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “Y-you don’t mean...?”

Sunset sat up and pulled her knees closer to her chest. “Dad says he never blamed me, not even once. The three of us were in the Royal Palace at the time. Something to do with a summons from the princess and Princess Celestia isn’t somepony you ignore. My mother was in the middle of talking with the princess when I had a surge that took her from us. It was only thanks to the princess that I didn’t tear the capital to the ground. The surge was one of the biggest ones to ever happen in recent history.”

Applejack felt the urge to take her hat off as she and Fluttershy both moved closer to hug Sunset from each side. “Sunset...”

It was an embrace Sunset accepted for a moment, before gently pulling herself from their arms and giving a sad smile. “It’s alright. I’ve had time to get over it.” A sigh escaped the amber teen as she stared at the freshly planted garden. “Still, that moment... it hurt my dad. Not physically, just, he couldn’t bring himself to stay in Canterlot after that. There was too much heartache tied to that city. So, we ended up moving all the way to Baltimare to just get away. He started a hot air balloon service, and it’d be years before I ended up getting selected by the princess as her pupil. Coincidently by a second surge that thankfully was less disastrous.” Sunset ran a hand through her hair as an annoyed grimace spread across her face. “After that, it was pretty much just one egotistical choice after the other that lead to me getting stuck here.”

The three stood up and started heading back inside. All the while, questions buzzed in the heads of Sunset’s two friends. Fluttershy had her hand to her mouth from worry. “Do you think the princess recognized you when you first became her student?”

Heading to the couch she started her morning with, Sunset sat down and shook her head. “I don’t think so. If she did, she didn’t say anything about it.”

Applejack sat down with her and looked to her amber friend with concern. “Have ya told the others?”

Sunset gave another shake of her head. “Just you two, and you just brought up a good point.” Looking at her hands, a sad smile started to spread across her face. “I really should tell them more about my life back in Equestria before I left. Especially with all that keeps happening because of it.” Sunset looked to her friends and chuckled. “It kinda makes me wonder how my dad’s holding up just thinking about it. He always was a pretty big goofball.”

Fluttershy twiddled her fingers for a moment before turning back to Sunset. “Well, um... do you think Twilight would mind if you went to visit?”

Sunset flinched a bit, rubbing her arm as she looked away. “I... Fluttershy, I don’t feel ready to do that. I want to, but--”

A gentle, butterscotch hand landed on Sunset’s thigh. “You’re scared of what the princess will do?”

A slow nod was all Sunset could do to answer. “Yeah.”

Fluttershy and Applejack shared a look before the two joined their friend to comfort her. “We understand.”

It was then, that Applejack perked up, an idea striking her mind. “Maybe you can just go for a while and just talk with yer pa?” At the confused look she got from Sunset, the apple farmer raised a hand. “Ah mean, no one said ya had ta talk with the princess. Maybe you could just slip over, and Twilight could go with ya to see yer pa.”

Sunset perked up a bit, mulling over the thought. “You really think she’d be okay with that?”

Applejack smiled wide as she patted Sunset on the back. “Sure as sugar she would! If being a princess is as hard as Ah think it is, then she’ll probably jump at the chance to help a friend like Winona going after a squirrel on a summer day!”

Fluttershy muttered under her breath. “I really wish she’d stop doing that.”

Sunset smiled after a moment of looking down in thought. “You know, you’re right. I probably should go back and talk to my dad. Hopefully, he still lives in Baltimare. It’d be hard to find him if not.” Tapping her chin, Sunset hummed. “A trip like this might take a while, so if I do this, then I would be gone for almost a week. We were all going to go on that Camp Everfree trip the school was offering Spring Break, so that wouldn’t be a good time.” Her two friends stood up and stepped to the side as Sunset started pacing if only to keep their toes out of her path. “I may need to ask Celestia for a week of excused absence, but what if something happens while I’m not here? Even if we can pony up without playing now, the Rainbooms would be down a person and might not be enough if some new magical threat shows up.”

A hand on her shoulder got her to stop and look at Applejack. “Don’t you worry about us Sunset. Ah am more than sure that we’ll be able to tackle whatever hocus-pocus pops up if it does.”

“You sure?” Sunset grimaced for a moment. “It’s just... I’m not sure how many people might have done what Twilight did and detected the magic coming from the portal, or worse, managed to accomplish what Starlight did and use the magic.”

“And if they do, we got the two girls ya just mentioned on our side.” Applejack gave a smirk and a thumbs up. “Leave it to us, sugar cube.”

Sunset smiled and got a hug from both of her friends. “You girls are the best.”

Fluttershy sighed a bit. “I really want to go with you, but I have to make sure Zephyr isn’t doing anything stupid while our parents are out of town.”

Both Sunset and Applejack inhaled sharply as they winced. “Ouch.”

A second sigh and a nod was Fluttershy’s response. “Yeah.”

Applejack looked at the clock and jumped a bit. “Shoot, Ah best be off, or Ah’m gonna be late. See ya later Sunset.”

As the apple farmer was leaving, Fluttershy started to follow, only to pause and turn around. She gave Sunset a quick hug that was maybe slightly tighter than it should have been, and when she let go there was a faint blush on her cheeks. “Bye Sunset.”

Fighting back a blush of her own, Sunset waved her two friends off. “Bye Applejack! Bye Fluttershy! Thanks for the help today!” With the click of the door shutting, Sunset sighed and flopped back onto the couch.

“You know,” Luna’s sudden appearance behind her made Sunset jump out of her seat with a totally-not-a-squeak, “I’m pretty sure Tia would let you go if you asked. I’m sure she would be more than thrilled that you were visiting your family.”

“Really?” Sunset asked once she got a hold of her heart rate. Luna gave a brief nod before Sunset noticed a detail about the older woman. Namely, the large cooking pot she was clutching to her stomach. “Um... did you get all of it out of your system?”

Luna pulled her large pot closer to her chest and took a deep breath. “No. I’m probably going to continue in a minute, but after hearing you and your friends just now, I couldn’t just sit by without giving some advice, so I took the precaution of the pot.” A micro heave made Sunset move just a touch farther away from Luna. “That being said, I’m going back upstairs.”

As Luna did just that, Sunset went to her room and pulled her journal out of her bag. She had to sit for a moment to figure out how to word her letter, but she eventually did write to Twilight that night.