Sunset concentrated, keeping her feelings at bay and ordering them to calm down.
They obeyed as much as they could, stopping the impulses of her body, but her hooves still trembled.

She continued counting the time, getting close to two full minutes, and smiled at the prospect of having to get out due to a lack of air instead of her fears.

Sunset felt a hoof leave her back, but she didn’t get out immediately.
She forced herself to stay, putting even more pressure on her nerves as they screamed more fiercely for her to leave the river.

After passing the two minute mark, her lungs joined the demand to get out and breathe some air, and only then Sunset complied and sprung out of the river, making Rainbow fall back from the shore.

“Are you okay? I thought that I drowned you for a second,” the pegasus asked, looking at her companion drying herself off with the heat of her body.

“Better than okay!” Sunset responded with excitement. “I can stay by my own choice! It’s still a bit panic inducing but I can finally stay underwater!”
The unicorn grabbed Rainbow with her magic and gave her a big hug. “Thank you for all your help!”

The pegasus looked away, smiling with a blush, a little embarrassed by the warm embrace. “It’s what I promised, but I’m happy to help you face your fears.”

[Somewhere in Ponyville, Fluttershy felt her tail wiggle.]

Sunset just kept hugging her with a smile. “I couldn’t have done it without you. Which is something I never thought I would say to anypony ever. You really are awesome.”

Rainbow’s blush deepened. “Y-yeah. Of course I am!” she exclaimed, trying to sound like her usual self.

[The tail-wiggles intensified.]

Sunset finally let go, and the pegasus turned around to look at the sky, hiding her face. “So, what do you want to do now?”

Sunset pondered for a second. “I don’t know. I Didn’t make plans for today. Maybe I'll go visit Gilda, see how she’s doing with the house.”

Rainbow managed to bring her face back to normal colors and looked at her. “Hey, me and the girls are going to spend the day at Sugarcube Corner. Do you want to come and hang out?”

Sunset’s face lit up. “I would love to! I never really spent time with all of you together. It should be fun.”

Rainbow smiled and put a foreleg over her shoulders. “Of course it will! And even more with you coming along!”

Sunset put one hoof over Rainbow’s, happy to feel that she was finally being part of the group and not just the odd one out.

“Maybe that glass will finally break,” she thought before summoning her wings.

“Do you want to do some practice on the way back to town?”

Rainbow grinned at the challenge. “Let’s see how much you’ve learned.”

[Meanwhile, Fluttershy was writing on a little notepad, imprinting her sudden rush of inspiration for a new novel before the ideas left her head.]

Shining Armor stood at the entrance to the gardens of Canterlot Castle, trying to calm his nerves.

“Okay, today is the day. You’ve been planning for it; you have everything ready.”
He took one more look at the little box where he kept the ring, hoping that it would be enough for Cadence.

“Hi Shining!” Came a voice that almost made the unicorn jump in place.

He quickly turned around with a beaming smile, hiding the box from her. “Cadence! I missed you!”

They shared a quick kiss, and the alicorn giggled. “I know I know, sorry for that. I was busy with the preparations for the return of the Crystal Empire and I got a little out of orbit around the castle. But we can finally spend some time together!”

Shining stepped aside and moved his foreleg towards the garden. “Let’s not waste any time then. I’ve a bit of a surprise for you.”

Suddenly, Cadence smiled mischievously, and her voice had the same tone. “Oh, I also have a surprise for you.”

Shining’s nervousness came back with more intensity. “Does she know about the ring?”

He barely managed to remain calm and chuckled. “Oh really? I guess we will see who gets the more dramatic reveal.”

They walked into the garden, getting closer together and leaning over each other, sharing the occasional kiss until they reached the spot Shining had chosen for his declaration.

It was below a weeping willow with little birds singing, where he had prepared a small picnic area on a blue and pink chequered blanket, with a basket with some of Cadence’s favorite heart-shaped macaroons and a bottle of wine Shining’s father had gifted him for the occasion.

Cadence smiled at the presentation for their date. “Wow, I haven’t seen you put in so much effort since our first date.”
She quickly went over to the basket and took one of the pastries to try it out, savoring the familiar sweet taste she loved.

“It is a special day,” Shining said, taking seat next to her.

Cadence gave him a sweet little laugh. “On that we can both agree.”
She sat down and leaned on Shining, sharing another long kiss, enjoying the comfort of being in his embrace.

“So, what big surprise do you have for me?” Cadence asked, looking up at him with a smile.

Shinning gave her a kiss on the forehead before speaking softly. “I need you to close your eyes.”

Cadence chuckled and did as he asked, knowing full well she would have the final surprise of the day.

Shinning pulled out the little box, took the ring out, and put it around Cadence’s horn, making a clicking sound as the magic took effect.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered in a voice that definitely wasn’t Shining’s.

Cadence opened her eyes wide and leaped out of his embrace, ready to shout for help or to fight by herself if she needed to.

But, right at that moment, one of the birds in the weeping willow exploded in a ball of flames, leaving behind the tall form of the changeling queen, who quickly pounced on top of the princess of love.

Cadence, completely surprised by the sudden attack, was pinned to the ground.

She tried to cast a spell to fight back, but found her magic nullified by the ring ‘Shining Amor’ had put on her.

She saw a huge, toothy grin in the queen’s face right before a blast of magic hit her straight on the forehead, knocking her out with a surge of pain.

Chrysalis couldn’t stop her laughter at the perfectly executed plan.

The princess of love was hers, and soon her future husband would be under her spell.

By replacing one and marrying the other, she would undoubtedly inherit the Crystal Empire once it returned, and that would give her not only a good source of love for her hive, but a firm foothold to begin her conquest of Equestria.

“Is she okay?” Came the timid voice of Thorax behind her.

She would normally be annoyed by his sympathy for the pony and chastise him, but he had made a very good job replacing Shinning for her plan, so she let it slide.

“In fact, why not give him a little reward worthy of his nature?” the queen thought with a smile before turning around to face her subject.

“If you’re worried about her, you can keep watch over her cell and make sure stays there until we have no need for her anymore.”

Thorax took his eyes away from Cadence’s unconscious form and nodded. “Yes mother.”

Chrysalis smiled. She didn’t get to hear that word too often.

The changeling queen teleported Cadence along with Thorax to the already prepared cell in the caves beneath Canterlot and then took the alicorns form before walking out of the garden with a spring in her step.

Now, all she needed was for Shining Armor to stallion up and propose to her.

Twilight smiled as she looked at Sunset conversing with all her friends.

Hearing old tales from Applejacks family, sharing ideas with Rarity about new designs for her dresses, whispering to Fluttershy and making her blush, playfully butting heads with Rainbow and her challenges, and laughing at Pinkie’s antics.

She really had become a part of the group. A far cry from their more than bumpy start.

It warmed her heart to see her sister so happy, but under that warmth, a cold feeling remained.

Sunset’s disconnection from her friends.

By all means, Sunset should feel like Twilight’s friends were also her friends, but she still had that ‘glass’, as she described it, preventing her from feeling the magic of friendship.

And Twilight still firmly believed that it was because of her past, or rather, her lack of a past.

She had reached out to Celestia about convincing Sunset to delve into her past, but her mentor had stated, repeatedly, that she supported Sunset’s decision, and that Twilight should not insist on the matter.

She tried with Luna, but even if the lunar princess seemed less insistent than her sister, she also told her to leave the subject behind and focus on teaching friendship to Sunset.

Cadence and Shining were the only ones willing to support her, but after hearing about the royal princesses standing on the matter, they had no option but to back down, and left her on her own.

Suddenly, three fillies entered the door of the shop, getting everypony’s attention.

“Rainbow Dash! You’re here!” Scootaloo exclaimed.

The pegasus smiled smugly, as she usually did, and walked up to them. “I hear you're looking for my cutie mark story.”

“Oh yeah, Pinkie mentioned that,” Sunset thought with a smile, and got closer as Rainbow started telling the story.

The tale was as simple but awesome as the mare it was about.

It gave Sunset nostalgia about the time she saw Trixie get her own.

“I wonder how she’s doing. Maybe I should ask for somepony to look for her.”

When Rainbow finished telling her story, a surprised Fluttershy walked up to Rainbow.

“Wait a second. I heard that explosion. And I saw the rainbow too. Rainbow Dash, if you hadn't scared the animals, I never would have learned I could communicate with them and gotten my cutie mark.”

“I heard that boom! And right afterwards, there was this amazing rainbow that taught me to smile,” Pinkie said, joining in.

“When I got my cutie mark, I saw a rainbow that pointed me home. I bet it was your sonic rainboom!” Applejack exclaimed.

“There was an explosion I could never explain when I got my cutie mark,” Rarity added, joining in her friend’s excitement.

Twilight put a hoof on her forehead. “This is uncanny! If that explosion didn't happen when it did, I would have blown my entrance exam. Rainbow Dash, I think you helped me earn my cutie mark too!”

“We all owe our cutie marks to you!” Pinkie exclaimed, jumping on top of Rainbow.

“Do you realize what this means? All of us had a special connection before we even met,” Fluttershy said, walking up to the pair on the floor.

“We've been BFFs forever and we didn't even know it!” Rarity added with a smile.

“Come here, y'all,” Applejack shouted before the six friends shared a big hug, laughing and aww-ing with big smiles on their faces.

Seeing the group so united in the revelation of their previously unknown union made Sunset feel something pulling at her heartstrings.

It was a very painful feeling.

Right in this moment, watching them so happy just from being even closer together, Sunset understood what friendship meant.

That union. That irreplaceable connection. Like the ones love could have. That feeling of happiness just because you were close to somepony.

That was friendship.

And now that she knew what it was…

…she felt even farther from achieving it.

Not wanting to ruin the moment, she teleported out of the shop, and began walking towards the train station.

She needed some time to think. And some study to distract herself.

However, halfway through the way, she heard somepony shout her name.

“Sunset! Wait!”

She turned around, and saw the crusaders running up to her, clearly winded from their chase.

Swallowing her pain, Sunset put on a smile. “Is something wrong?”

“Why did you leave so suddenly?” Applebloom asked.

“Did seeing the girls hugging make you feel lonely?” Scootaloo added.

“Do you need some emergency ice-cream?” Sweetie finished.

Sunset gave a long sigh. “Look, I know you three mean well, but I don’t want to talk about it right now. I don’t want to even think about it. So, I’m leaving for a while, okay?”

The three fillies looked at each other, clearly dissatisfied with her answer.
Sunset was about to leave, but Applebloom stopped her.

“Please don’t run away.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “I’m not running away.”

“You are!” Sweetie exclaimed. “You’re avoiding a problem and let it get worse.”

“Yeah, you’re a strong mare, you should face it head on! That’s what Rainbow always says to do with a challenge.” Scootaloo complained.

Sunset shook her head. “Sorry girls, but no.”

“Then how about what our sisters and their friends will feel when they realize you left because of them!” Sweetie pointed out.

Sunset was surprised at the clever manipulative move the filly made.

But even if she was right, Sunset remained in denial.
“Okay, fair point. I will stay. But please, can we talk about anything else?” She pleaded, and Scootaloo quickly answered with a grin.

“Very well, what was your cutie mark story?”

“Yeah, what does it mean?” Sweetie asked, pointing at the half red, half golden sun in the mare’s flank.

“Oh, this?” Sunset asked, relieved to change topics. “It represents…”

Sunset’s mind drifted off, unable to repeat the answer everypony had given her over the years.

Seeing the mare getting stuck in her thoughts, Applebloom tried to guess. “Is it pyromania?”

“I think it’s paranoia.” Scootaloo corrected.

“No, my sister said it was pyromancy!” Sweetie exclaimed.

“Yes… pyromancy,” Sunset responded with a robotic tone, unsure of something she thought she knew all her life.

Inside Sunset’s mindscape, Nightmare saw something flash in the distance, close to Sunset’s mind-projection, and she quickly flew to it.

“So, what’s the story?” Scootaloo asked impatiently.

“Yeah, I’m sure it will be as awesome as Rainbow's!”

“I…” Sunset tried to recall the memory, but found nothing.

She tried harder, trying to recall anything about it, but her mind was blank.

A huge headache took hold of most of her brain, making her wince in pain.

“Are you okay?” Applebloom asked worried.

As Sunset tried to recall the memory, the image Nightmare had seen flashed again.

It was a large golden gate, with two big locks keeping it shut, and Sunset’s mind-projection was trying in vain to open it.

When it flashed a third time, Nightmare extended her wing, and managed to grab the bars of the gate with her hand, anchoring herself to it.

She could see something on the other side, something completely different from the rest of the mindscape.

“Finally, some answers.” She thought with a grin as she grabbed one of the locks and pulled with all her strength, tearing it off the door.

_“Stop!” Dawn shouted from the barrier.

“Sorry sister, but you refused to give me the answers I sought, so I will get them myself.”

She then pulled on the other lock, tearing it off with a grunt of victory.

_{“Fine! I will help you get the throne! We can kill Celestia and imprison Luna together! Just please, leave that gate closed.”}

Hearing her sister begging like that made Nightmare stop.

She slowly looked down at the barrier, where she guessed Dawn was floating.

She could feel her anxiety and desperation. Like the opening of the gate would mean her instant death.

She was clearly at her most vulnerable.
Nightmare could make her do anything she wanted while she threatened to open the door.

However, in the eyes of Nightmare, Dawn was too much of a risk to be considered a trusted ally.

Nightmare pushed the doors with all her strength, tearing them off their hinges and making them fall with a resounding thump that resonated over the entire mindscape.

Sunset’s mind-projection quickly ran inside, getting lost in the long-forgotten territory of her past.

Nightmare smiled, and was about to enter the forgotten section, when an earth-shaking scream coming from her sister made the entire mind-scape tremble like if it was about to collapse in on itself.

Dawn’s voice wasn’t full of anger, sadness, or desperation.

Her scream was of pure, inescapable, and extreme pain.

Nightmare wondered if the door opening was actually killing her sister, but that thought quickly became secondary when suddenly…

…The barrier cracked below her.

Sunset suddenly felt a rush of head-splitting pain, like if the worsts migraines in pony history were congregating in her brain to beat it to death.

She threw up on the ground, felt herself go blind for a few seconds in random intervals, and her heart was pounding painfully in her chest.

She was begging to pass-out from the pain, but she somehow remained conscious, just to suffer even more.

But suddenly, the pain subsided long enough for her brain to work, and it launched her straight to the past while screaming one word:

Sunshine.

Sunshine!

SUNSHINE!

“Sunshine! Are you ready yet?”

A little orange filly looked up from her drawings at her mother’s shout, and quickly scampered to her dresser, pulling out a small brush.

She went in front of her mirror and started brushing her mane into her usual curly style, trying to be as presentable as possible before finally going to see the princess.

“If you don’t come down, we will leave you behind!” Her father joked, but it got the filly to hurry up, not wanting to miss her first celebration.

She put the brush back, and gave herself one more look at the mirror, admiring her pure crimson mane before running down to join her family.

Author's Notes:

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Warning! Memory file corrupted.

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Next chapter: Chapter 33: “Dad?”

Little Sunshine 💗