A gleaming crystal castle is a new addition to Ponyville's skyline.  Sprouted from the magic of the Tree of Harmony, this glorious palace is both the new home of Princess Twilight Sparkle and the official headquarters of the Mane 6's efforts.  It took a lot of time for Twilight to really make the place feel like somewhere she could live, but with the help of her friends, it's a home like no other.  In the wake of the destruction of Ponyville's library, Twilight has opened up one of the castle's wings as a new public library, resuming her role as librarian to boot.

Safely locked away within the many seemingly endless halls and rooms of Harmony Castle laid Twilight's lab - a private study area where only she and specific invited Ponies were ever allowed.  Both for the sake of privacy and safety, really.  Twilight had many projects going that needed a controlled environment, which was harder to come by in Ponyville than one would have expected.  One particular invention especially required care in handling, which was why it was stationed in its own private sealed area with plenty of magical wards around to keep the potential wanderer out.

Not that Spike felt it was necessary for him to be there on top of it all... wasn't a four-tier magical defense grid enough?  The little Dragon yawned as he sat slouched against one of Twilight's work benches, lazily munching on a bowl of jade stones while waiting for something... ANYTHING... to happen.  The tall mirror-turned-bizarre machine he was tasked to watch over remained in stand-by mode while he waited for any sort of response from the open book in his lap.  He felt like risking a nap just before the pages of the book shimmered and began to show words that had not been there a moment before.

"Finally!  What took them so long?"  Spike grumbled as he hopped over to the portal.  It took him a few moments to remember how Twilight had shown him to activate it before he got it back to life, jumping out of stand-by mode with a flare of magic that sent its reflective surface swirling.  He was quick to step away as, only seconds later, Twilight herself strode through the portal on her hind legs.  She wobbled and flared her wings to balance, settling back down onto all fours with a sigh of relief.

"Good job, Spike.  Did anything happen while I was away?" Twilight asked her loyal assitant as she stepped down from the mirror's platform.

"You were only gone a few hours.  Ponyville's hectic, but it's not that bad."  the dragon shrugged.  He looked past Twilight at the still-open portal expectantly, then back to her.  "Is she coming?"

"Yep.  She'll be here soon - just give her time to say goodbye." Twilight assured Spike as she sat down beside him to wait.  Spike just grumbled and leaned to pull over his snack bowl once more to help pass the time.

Canterlot High, Another World

As Twilight stepped through the statue's base, Sunset stood surrounded by the friends who had seen her through. The past year had been trying for them all, and it felt like it had been over so quickly...  The fire-haired graduate was flush, looking between her friends. "I... guess this is it, now...? I didn't think this would feel so final."

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity stood in a semi-circle, and all but Pinkie looked a little forlorn.

"Aww, c'mon, Sunset! You're finally gonna get to go home and   do your magic and your pony things and  be back with your family and you'll have Twilight there!"

"B-but she won't be here, with us anymore, Pinkie..." Fluttershy mumbled, and Pinkie sagged a little, lunging forward and hugging Sunset tight.

Sunset smiled, and bit her lip, putting an arm around Pinkie. "Yeah. But all of what's happened these past five years - it's all been my fault. I even broke up your bonds of friendship for my own selfish goals. The Equestrian magic I let into this world has caused so much harm. If it wasn't for me..."

"Sunset, darling! How can you say such a thing after all we've been through together?" Rarity objected, and drew a deep breath, before stepping forward, and producing, from behind her back, a freshly-made jacket, stitched with the Rainboom's logo. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have you and Twilight as our friends."

"I mean, sure, you caused a bunch -" Rainbow started, only to be cut off

"-A bit-" Applejack smiled as she chipped in.

"Ahem. A bit of damage, but it wasn't that bad. It's all taken care of, now. Besides. You turned yourself around." Rainbow finished, giving Applejack an eye.

"Yes! Exactly! And nobody can take that away from you." Rarity chimed. She approached, and helped Sunset remove her jacket, before  replacing it with the new one, marked with the Rainbooms insignia.

"A... farewell gift?" Sunset looked between her friends, cheeks glowing.

"You didn't think we were gonna' let you walk off without mementos, did you, Sunset?" Rainbow said, stepping forward. She unslung the guitar from her shoulders, and held it out to Sunset.

Applejack reached up, behind her ear, and produced a bright red guitar pick, with a faint green bit like a stem. She slid it under the the strings over the frets, and nodded to Sunset. "Even once 'yer back home, Sunset, yer' always gonna be a Rainboom."

Pinkie, still clinging around Sunset's waist, sniffled. Sunset reached down and perked her hair up with a pat of her hand. There were tears in her eyes, as she accepted the gifts, and settled Rainbow's guitar  around her neck. "Girls... you saved me." She smiled, and helped Pinkie to her feet. "Now I have to go and face what I've done, back home..."

"I... I just... wish I could go with you... for moral support...?" Fluttershy squeaked as the others looked at her, surprised.

Pinkie turned and stepped up to her, putting an arm around her conspiratorially. "You just want to go see Equestria, don't you? Confess~!" She exclaimed playfully.

Fluttershy blushed deeply,fidgeting, before she muttered softly. "I.. I'd like to be a pony..."

Everyone laughed, even Fluttershy, and Sunset and Pinkie collected them all into a big embrace. Tears flowed like rain, and, after a few moments of closeness, everyone stepped back.

Sunset smiled. "Speaking of farewell gifts..." She began, and approached Fluttershy, holding out her message book. "I want you to tell me all about everyone. Whenever you can, whenever you need to talk, whenever danger looms...  write to me."

"M-Me? I don't know.. I'm not the best writer, and I - "

"Fluttershy, dear, you're wonderful."

"And I can't think of anyone better, Fluttershy..." Sunset said warmly.

The pink-haired girl  squeezed Sunset tight, sobbing . Pinkie put an arm around her, and Sunset smiled sadly, stepping back. "A-Alright. I think it's time to go."

Rainbow put ona  determined grin despite her tears, and gave Sunset a thumbs up. "Don't you look back! We're right behind you, always!" Applejack took her hat off, holding it over her heart with a nervous smile. Rarity touched a hand shakily to her lip as she watched, and Pinkie gently reassured Fluttershy as Sunset Shimmer turned away and stepped up to the statue.

"...Time to go home..." She whispered, and stared at her hand, wiggling her fingers. She reached her hand into the portal, glimpsing its form as a hoof. Was it bigger than she remembered it? She'd grown as a human for so long... She smiled, and stepped forward, the stone rippling into a kaleidoscope of light in her eyes as she passed through the mirror.

Harmony Castle

Sunset emerged on two hooves, wobbled and clattered to four quite abruptly, looking down in surprise. She still wore rainbow's guitar around her neck, with Applejack's pick, but the jacket Rarity had made her was now a pair of sleek black leather saddlebags.

Sunset looked up to see Twilight and Spike, and raised a hoof to her face, wiping away tears she'd managed to hide from the girls. She nodded to Twilight. "Best friends ever." She said, beaming through the pain as she put her hoof to her chest.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:11, Mon 29 June 2015.

Twilight sighed softly as Sunset emerged from the portal and, with a gentle flick of her head and a snap of magic, shut it down behind her.  The surface swirled back into a stationary mirror once more, showing only the reflection of the lab.  While the Alicorn didn't want to make the parting too abrupt, she was concerned about leaving a portal to another dimension open for any longer than necessary... if anything, part of her worried that one of their Human friends might try to dive in after Sunset.

"You'll be able to see them again."  Twilight assured Sunset as she spread a violet wing over her shoulders in a reassuring touch.

"Yeah, and not just the eerie doppleganger versions either!  But how come I didn't get to say goodbye to the girls too?  I got stuck with gate duty."  Spike grumbled.  While his lack of tact had Twilight rolling her eyes, she tucked under her wing and drew out a small photograph where it had been held amid her feathers.

"And I appreciate your sacrifice, Spike.  The girls wanted you to have this." she said as she handed over the picture.  A simple quick snap-shot of the whole lot of them: Twilight, Sunset, and the rest of their Human friends from the other realm.  On the back were little notes and greetings written from the girls for their favorite Dragon-turned-Dog.  Twilight left Spike cooing affectionately over the gift as she returned her attention to Sunset once more.

"He's right, in any case.  I know you'll be able to make plenty more friends while you're here, Sunset.  Ponyville is a wonderful place." she said with an honest grin.  "But in the meantime, how about I show you to your room?  Let you get settled in a bit, then maybe take a tour around town?  There's so much for you to see and so many Ponies to meet."

Sunset smiled slightly as Twilight literally took her under her wing. "Yeah. It might be sort of weird, seeing them as ponies, but they wouldn't remember the things I've done with their otherworld counterparts... I guess I'll be starting over, sort of?" She said to Twilight. She smiled a bit at Spike as he chimed in, and looked over his shoulder at the picture. "I'll get you a frame for it, Spike." Sunset glanced him over. "Wow, you really are a Dragon. I gotta say, you look a lot more impressive like this." She observed, then stepped after Twilight. She seemed just a little unsteady on her hooves.

"Yeah, thanks for putting me up in the castle, Twilight." She said, following close under her wing. It reminded her of  Celestia, in a way. It was different, though - very different. She had been so much smaller, and Celestia - so much more stern. Just as caring, but...

Sunset realized that she was what had changed.

Sunset sighed softly, then nodded. "It just feels weird to me, walking the halls of a castle when I've been walking the halls of that school for yea--aah!" she raised a hoof, midstep and swayed on the spot, but caught herself, quickly. "And I can't walk and gesture anymore~!" she complained, and actually laughed, if only lightly.

Twilight was quick to try and catch Sunset when she staggered, but the effort wasn't needed as her friend stabilized all on her own.  She offered a sympathetic smile all the same.  "It took me a while to get the hang of using those weird Human limbs.  Sort of like re-learning how to walk all over again, huh?  Of course, it took a while to learn how to use these too..."  She muttered as she flexed her wings.  They still gave her trouble from time to time.  "Still, I bet you're going to love using magic again!  I miss Telekinesis more than hay fries whenever I visit the other world."

There was frankly so much to learn and re-learn.  Twilight wanted to be there for Sunset as much as she could to help her adjust to Equestria after living in another world for so long, but she knew it was something that Sunset would mostly have to manage on her own.  It wasn't just a matter of Twilight having so many responsibilities to attend to, but also Sunset needing to make peace with her own life and the changes it was going through.  A hoofs-off approach was tough for the Alicorn to take though.  Still, she was intent on being there as much as she could.

The first order of business was making sure Sunset's basic needs were taken care of.  So long as she was staying in Ponyville, Twilight would look out for her.  She'd taken care of everything already!  A nice room in the castle, a modest allowance from Twilight's own royal salary that she could use until she felt like trying to start a job, and all the amenities of home that could be offered.  Of course, the room was a little on the sparse side... practically bare was more like it.  Twilight grinned bashfully when they arrived to the effectively empty room and its bare, crystalline floors and walls.  It was plenty spacious though, bearing an enormous fireplace built into the far wall, and had its own balcony that overlooked the town.

"Sorry there's not much in the way of interior decorating.  The whole castle is still getting put together... it's just so huge!  I swear I keep finding new rooms that weren't there before." Twilight shook her head in annoyance.  There wasn't even a bed yet.  "I figured we could do some shopping.  Y'know - walk the market, stop by the Quills-and-Sofa's shop for furniture... sounds fun, right?"

With Twilight's help, all the same, Sunset sheepishly turned to her and nodded. "Yeah. And I think my legs are a bit longer now, too. Even from earlier, when I stole your crown..." She blushed slightly, and fussed a hoof up by her temple - Twilight would recognize the gesture, an awkward little headscratch. "... Sorry about that, by the way. I did grow a lot as a human, so I guess I'm bigger here than I used to be." She reasoned.

"I have missed my magic, though." She said, and closed her eyes. A sea-green glow, like her eyes, shined around her horn, and she lifted the guitar around her neck. She wobbled it slightly, dealing with it's uneven weight and balancing it. "It'll take a little getting used to, again." She separated the pick from it, and gave a few strums, brushing her hoof over the frets." She gave Twilight a flat stare as she followed her on to the room being set aside for her.  "... I'm going to have to relearn the guitar, as played with magic. Not so much relearn - I just need the magic-memory. Weird as they were, I'm going to miss fingers, sometimes."

Entering the rather... unadorned room, Sunset was a bit awestruck by the overlook balcony out onto Ponyville. She stepped out as Twilight spoke to her, and gave her mane a shake, breathing in deep. "... Clean air, though." She looked back to Twilight as she spoke. "Well, I've been shopping plenty, but I've never actually gone on a shopping trip like this." She smiled. "Thanks for putting me up, Twilight."

She stepped back inside, and slid the pick back into place. Levitating the guitar up, a section of wall briefly shimmered green, and she pushed the guitar into place, where, as the glow faded, it adhered. "Well, that still works. A shopping trip sounds great. I need to learn the lay of the land, and walking it's the best way, right?"  She stuck with Twilight on the way back through the castle. She felt like she'd be getting lost in here more often than not. "... Quills and Sofas? Is that... literal?"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:43, Mon 29 June 2015.

"Of course not!  Don't be silly."  Twilight laughed as she gave a dismissive wave of her wing, only for the other shoe to drop a moment later.  "They sell beds too."

Twilight's new castle held many wonders, most of which she hadn't even fully figured out yet, but her favorite so far had to be the elevator.  Even for a Pony who could fly and teleport at will, having a lift in the central trunk of the giant crystal tree was a guilty-pleasure sort of luxury for her.  Every time she rode it she couldn't help but smugly think back on Sombra's stairwell back in the Crystal Empire.  Nopony would spend ages climbing steps in her castle!  A quick lever pull and the two mares were at the ground level in no time at all, leaving them free to head on out into another busy Ponyville afternoon.

"Alright, let's get started then!  The castle here is located on the southern end of Ponyville.  Canterlot is to the north, Town Hall is also north from here in the center of town.  All of Ponyville spreads out from Town Hall, so if you ever get lost, just head there and reorient yourself." Twilight was in full-blown tour guide mode already and surely more was yet to come once she really got into the swing of it.  "The Business District surrounds the central area of town and the Residential District is beyond that.  If you want clothes, head east to Rarity's boutique.  If you get a sweet tooth, head back to the center of town for Sugar Cube Corner.  If you want a proper meal, head a little ways north west from Town Hall for the Summer Song Cafe; they have amazing tea.  Ooh, and just up ahead is--"

Sunset stared at Twilight as she detailed the shop in question.  These out-of-he way towns were certainly odd, she had to admit. As a city pony from Canterlot proper, this was the first Sunset was actually seeing of the eclectic nature of more specialized shops in the wider, more rural parts of Equestria. So, perhaps some of her amazement had an explanation. Fortunately, she did laugh as the other horseshoe dropped, absorbing the surprise with a bit of humor.

At the very least, things were already promising to be exciting. The ride down the central elevator found her intrigued, but she'd used elevators in the otherworld before... "Convenient." She said, taking Twilight's confident smile  for the pride it was. "At least I only have to remember where my room is up on that floor..." She added, as she accompanied Twilight out into the bustle of Ponyville proper.

Twilight really did make it sound simple - and to her credit, she did present things in the best way possible. And fortunately for her, Sunset was no intellectual slouch. As Twilight indicated what was where, she followed the alicorn's directions, mentally cataloging. Of course, as Twilight began to launch into her full tour guide speech, Sunset found it easiest to let her keep going - there would be plenty of time for questions and comments later, after all.

The mention of clothes did make Sunset balk for a moment - of course, they were hardly so crucial in the case of ponies. Still, going from a habit of wearing clothes to none did leave one feeling a bit exposed... Maybe a visit sooner rather than later would be in order. At the mention of Rarity, though, Sunset lightly glanced back to the saddlebags she wore - empty for now, she did note they still had the Rainbooms insignia on the flaps. "Sounds like you've got just about everything here... hmm?" Keeping up to Twilight's energetic trot was manageable, though Sunset had a bit of a lanky gait. Following Twilight's words,she brought her gaze back, front and center.

"Just about.  All we're really missing compared to somewhere like Canterlot is a sizable library... and I'm still working on that." Twilight seemed all too keen on the idea of gathering a collection to rival that of Canterlot's royal archives.  She was pretty well on her way to managing it too, given what Sunset had seen of just how many books she had stored up all around the place already.

The Alicorn paused in her gait long enough to round about on Sunset, smiling energetically.  Getting able to show someone new around was always exciting, but even better when it was a friend from out of town, so to speak.  "So... where do you want to go first?  I don't want you just tolerating me while I drag you around by the tail."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:47, Sun 05 July 2015.

Sunset seemed  just a little surprised as Twilight turned to her and asked her where to go.  She let up a little, and quickly caught up to the young Princess, where she stopped to raise a hoof toward the Business district, then lightly tapped Twilight's shoulder.

"You are right - we need to pick me up some furniture... Though, maybe a stop at the cafe or Sugercube Corner, first. I'll confess I feel a bit hungry. We had a big lunch before we left, but, maybe the portal takes it out of you?" Sunset laughed at that notion, and started to trot along toward the Business District at Twilight's side.

"Up to you which one, though. I just want a little snack. And to meet people - ponies I guess..." She seemed a little nervous, taking a deep breath. "... It's going to be... a little weird.  Except for your friends, nobody here knows... what I've done, do they? It's like a fresh start."

Sunset scuffed the ground with a forehoof in an old, uncertain gesture, head lowered thoughtfully, before she glanced back to Twilight. She smiled. "I better make the most of this chance, huh?" She prompted, trying to sound optimistic, but it just carried that guilty little undercurrent with it.

---> Following Twilight's Lead to either SCC or SSC!

"I was actually doing some biology work - even though those other forms are bigger than our Pony bodies, they have significantly smaller stomach capacity than we do.  So a full meal on that side of the mirror is barely a snack on this side." Twilight was always eager to discuss her studies from the very beginning - these days she understood the value of friendship, which just made her eager to discuss her studies with friends instead.  Though at least she knew Sunset could keep up with her...

That notion instantly flicked a switch in Twilight's brain as her thoughts jumped over to Widget, who shared that same boon with the Alicorn.  She never had to slow herself down or simplify her ideas for him, which had been a genuine point of attraction right off the bat.  She'd have to introduce him and Sunset!  The young Princess of Friendship was already giggling to herself at the prospect of sharing their company.  Sunset's question over whether or not Twilight had told anypony about her past did bring her back down to earth though.

"Pretty much.  I've told the girls and the Princesses about what we'd been through in that other world.  There was a lot of bad stuff to cover..." Twilight tried to soften that part with a bashful smile.  "But there was just as much good to tell them as well.  Celestia told me that your falling out with her before you used the portal the first time was pretty well-contained, so you don't have a bad reputation in Canterlot or anything lingering around.  Like you said - it's a fresh start."

Twilight seemed to be pretty comfortable with her own wings by that point as she readily used them to gesture while she spoke.  A feathery drape settled over Sunset's back once again as the Alicorn gave her a reassuring squeeze before leading her along down the road.  "Everypony deserves a second chance.  And, technically speaking, you already got yours and proved it with helping fight off the Sirens.  So I'd say you're off to a great lead already!"

--> Twilight and Sunset exit to Sugar Cube Corner
This message was last edited by the player at 14:14, Wed 08 July 2015.