The Student and The Princess

by ModMCdl

Epilogue

Two-and-a-Half Years Later

---

"Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes, Cady, I do," replied Twilight, exasperation in her voice. "I still don't understand why I need new friends. I have you and Sunset and Shining Armor too. What do I need more for?"

Cadence giggled at the young unicorn's bickering. "It's always fun to have more friends," she replied, using her magic to help Twilight lift her saddlebags onto her back. "Besides, didn't Celestia say it was important? The Princess would never lie to you about that."

Twilight huffed grumpily in defeat. "No, I suppose not," she said. "But just know that I'm doing this under protest!"

Sunset laughed as she came up alongside the two. "I was the same way," she said with a smile.

"Of course you were, Miss Shimmer," Twilight said. "You have some sensibility!"

The older unicorn rolled her eyes at the title. No matter how many times she reminded her, Twilight refused to call her Sunset. She had given up.

"Are you saying Princess Celestia isn't sensible?" Cadence asked with a fake look of horror.

"Oh my gosh I didn't mean it!" Twilight hurriedly spoke to assure her foalsitter. "Please don't tell her I said that!"

Cadence laughed before giving the young mare another hug. "It'll be our little secret," she assured Twilight before pulling away. "Shh now, here she comes!"

Sure enough, Celestia was walking towards the small group with a smile, the Captain of her Guard by her side.

"Shiny!" Twilight called out before racing forward to meet her big brother in a hug.

"Hey Twily!" he said. "You ready to go?"

Twilight nodded in response before turning to Princess Celestia. "I'm all set!"

"Good to hear, Twilight," Celestia replied. "Remember, you need to speak to everypony on that list, okay? And maybe make some friends along the way."

"Don't worry, Princess!" Twilight said. "The preparations will be all set by the time you arrive!"

"I'm counting on it."

With everything said, and Twilight Sparkle ready to go, her baggage was loaded into the carriage with the young unicorn close behind. The four ponies waved as the pegasi flapped their wings and began to take off.

Shining Armor gave one final wave to his younger sister as the carriage flew off. "Oh, don't you worry, Captain," said Celestia with a knowing smile. "I'm sure she will be just fine." Shining just nodded as a few drops of liquid pride rolled down his cheeks.

Celestia walked over to the other two ponies waiting for her by the entrance to the palace. "I'm still annoyed that you never told me you had another student," grumbled Sunset as Cadence laid a wing over her back. "Even Cadence knew, but not me."

The alabaster alicorn laughed at her former student's annoyance. "I was unaware that I needed to approve my new pupils through you, first," she said mirthfully.

Sunset just lifted her head in a mockingly haughty fashion. "As the arch-mage of the Equestrian Royal Court, I believe it is in my purview to oversee all new magical prodigies as they are discovered," she said, and let out a pained cry as Cadence swatted her with a wing playfully.

Celestia just smiled shook her head as she watched the two. "You know, I remember a time where you two could not stand each other," she said. "Let alone have Sunset be cuddling under Cadence's wings." Sunset blushed as she looked away from her former teacher, unconsciously sidling closer to Cadence as she did so.

"She has gotten awfully domestic, hasn't she," comment Cadence as she smiled at Sunset.

Sunset's heart fluttered in response. "You make me want to be domestic," she replied earnestly.

Celestia's smile refused to fade, and she felt herself grow warm at the love the two ponies in front of her shared. But unfortunately, as perfect as the moment was, it would not be able to last forever. "Comeon Sunset, we need to prepare for tonight."

Sunset nodded, giving Cadence one last kiss before pulling away. "The summer sun celebration," she said, following Celestia up the stairs to the palace. "It feels like just yesterday we were celebrating last year's."

The alabaster alicorn nodded as she looked down at her former student. "It does, doesn't it," she replied. "When you get to be as old as me, they all seem to fade together, unfortunately."

The unicorn let out a small laugh. "Oh please, I am never going to be as old as you, Princess," she commented.

Celestia chuckled lightly, but her smile faded after a few moment. "This year is going to be a little bit different," she said softly. "I'm going to need your help."

Sunset looked up at Celestia with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, what's different about this year?" she asked.

"Well," Celestia began as she opened the door to her study. "Remember the old fairy tale story about the mare in the moon..." The door closed behind them, cutting off their conversation to the rest of the palace.

In the courtyard, Cadence stood next to Shining Armor, watching as Twilight's carriage flew away towards Ponyville. Soon it was only a speck in the distant sky, and she finally turned away. The unicorn standing beside her was crying still, an unusual sight for the Captain of the Royal Guard.

"She will be alright, Captain," Cadence said gently.

Shining Armor sniffed, rubbing a hoof at his eye. "Thank you, your highness," he said earnestly. "I... I know she will. I'll just miss her."

With a smile, Cadence gently rested a hoof on the unicorn's shoulder. "She'll miss you too," she said, before heading back towards the palace.

Cadence did not know what the plans were for this evening, only that she would be in charge of Canterlot while Celestia went to the celebration in Ponyville. There was a strange feeling in the air that she could not quite place. Eventide, especially was acting differently, hurring to accomplish various tasks that no pony but Celestia seemed to see the importance was. The only thing that Cadence could surmise was that they were about to have a very important guest.

With a smile, the alicorn thought back to when she had first arrived in Canterlot. Everypony had given her the warmest welcomes she could have imagined. Everypony except, well, Sunset. But the unicorn had changed and grown so much over the years that she had come to know her. Now, Sunset was the most powerful unicorn in Equestria, the leader of the archmage guild and Celestia's right-hoof mare. This would be her first Summer Sun Celebration with the title, and the two of them would be the hosts of the party in Canterlot Castle that evening.

Cadence's smile only grew as she headed through the palace towards their new chambers. Tonight was going to be fun, and there would be so many more nights to follow. The alicorn could not wait to see what the future held for her and Sunset. And the best part was...

...they would face that future together.

~The End~

Author's Note:

Fin ~

Comments

[prism heart]

Any plans for a sequel?

[Secundum]

Good story. Quite an open-ended ending, what with leaving it on the eve of Nightmare Moons return.

[ModMCdl]

10604098
I'm not planning one, no. But I also won't rule it out.
10604113
I mean, that's where the series started so I figured that was a good place to lead up to and then let cannon (mostly) take its course.

[Kessie_amarra]

Thanks for the fic!

[JustFalcon]

And so ends the first SunDance story I’ve ever seen... time to search desperately for more!

[Blood Rarity]

[Sunset_Shimmer83]

Great way to end the story. Thanks for the awesome read

[redandready45]

Sunset being a mentor/sister to little Twily would be an interesting tale.

[Ali della Morte]

Great story

[Rhawkas]

Great story. I really enjoyed it, but I think I'd have mixed feelings about a sequel, since Sunset so often gets sidelined in stories where she's present for what happened in canon FiM. I just feel bad for her since so often in these stories Twilight basically just replaces her and goes on to become a princess and alicorn and Sunset is just ignored and forgotten.

[X 865]

That was absolutely wonderful! Fantastic job!!!

[ModMCdl]

10608979
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

I would like to see a sequel to show Sunset actually making a difference

[ModMCdl]

10611770
I'm not opposed to a sequel down the road. But for this story, it was always going to focus on Sunset's redemption, and lead up to the beginning of the canon series.

[Kichi]

The story is good after some chapters (and that is coming from someone that is not a big fan of romance)... Did you think about a spin-off when Celestia did not follow and could not find the portal back? Just to see how the two years and half with humans could change them

Or if you decide to go directly for a sequel, I wonder how things will change with Twilight, Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis and Sombra

[ScopeEva]

Well this was a real gem of a story I regret not reading sooner! Beautifully put together and well written.

So many good moments from Sunset being a nasty little piece of work while giving her enough back story that we can see where she's coming from to Celestia's somewhat out of touch decision making. Sunset certainly needed a bit of a kick in the butt to behave but I'm not sure that was the right way to go about it, as many others pointed out, it could have backfired badly, at the same time though I certainly can't think of a better way to handle her in the moment.

And of course the main dynamic between Cadence and Sunset was delightfully juicy to read. Perhaps could have used a little more interaction before any more romantic feelings surfaced but... eh, that's probably more likely to drag the story out then give it a smoother more realistic emotional transition.

The only thing I feel is seriously lacking would be an opportunity for Sunset to give back, to do something that makes as serious a difference in Cadence's and Celestia's lives as they have for her. I mean logically I know that she probably is but it's not something all that clearly shown in the story.

On a personal note I'm sad Sunset has given up on chasing Alicorn Ascension. However at the same time it seems like the idea she's been locked out of that is really all in her head, and if Celestia gave her honest opinion on it at this point would tell her she's closer now then she ever has been before. Maybe that's wishful thinking on my part, have always been in the "screw destiny, I'm gona chase my dreams" camp but can't help but think it's going to be a pleasant surprise for her in the future even if she has abandoned the idea.

The ending has also kinda spawned an idea for a story in my own head, maybe a short spin off to this where Cadence ends up having to call Sunset in to sit Twilight as a favour, hijinks ensue. I can also imagine the first date being an amusing mess, especially if it's run by Sunset awkwardly trying to show her affection by making it as great as possible.

Anyway, thank you for the fantastic read. It's been a most welcome mood lift given the times we're living in right now.

[ModMCdl]

10631764
I am so sorry it's been like... 8 months... I just randomly checked on this story and saw this comment that I never replied to...

Thank you so much! I'm really glad you enjoyed it as much as you did. It was a blast to write. I have thought about a few one-shot spin offs for a sequel like you had mentioned, but I already barely have time to write and have recently started writing stories outside of fimfiction as well.

I'm glad my story could provide you with some good times when you read it! That's pretty awesome!

[Bicyclette]

Firstly, SunDance is an absolutely beautiful ship that I officially love forever, so thank you for writing this.

But I had a mixed experience reading this fic, and I think a good deal of that has to do with reading it all at once as opposed to the months between chapters the original readers experienced. This way, the issues that are very common to fics that are published as they are written. The writing quality is inconsistent, though better than the alternative, since I noticed a definite improvement as the chapters went on. The chapters are episodic, with a lot of exposition repeated between them (a lot of exposition through internal thoughts in general which is telling not showing!), making the story really drag. A more episodic type of story could have worked with this, but this was a rivals-to-lovers arc that seemed to span only a few days, which meant that the emotional arcs should have been tight instead of meandering like they felt here. And then there's the issue of consistency between the characters, Celestia being the most jarring, but even Sunset and Cadance seem to go back and forth on what they learned and didn't learn.

But I understand. This isn't a work of serious business that had been completed and edited down before publishing. This was something that was written for fun, when the Spirit moved you, over the course of two years! And knowing that, there are a lot of gems here. Impactful scenes and bits of thoughtful worldbuilding that I really enjoyed. Really intriguing hints about more going on behind the scenes. (Though they ended up being dropped, alas, but they were really intriguing!) And the final chapter and epilogue were just so fluffy and warm, exactly what was promised, and clearly where the passion lay.

[iAmSiNnEr]

Our history is not our destiny - Alan Cohen

My, my, my. Three days of reading, scanning, and analyzing. And coming out of the story, I can confidently say that there has not been a story like this that I've read before. My word, you made an AU seem like canon, and I really thought this wasn't an Alternate Universe until I saw the Alternate Universe tag.

But that's just the plot. Let's get down to why I couldn't put this on my "greatest stories ever" list, even so I so dearly wanted to.

Pacing. So much is condensed into so little words, and not in a good way. Many chapters had heavy exposition, just dumping onto us without great effort to conceal it. But I understand. This was written over a year, depending on your mood! It's not easy doing a romance story, and I empathize. (also, can I also say how much I love the g a y)

Although, I must commend the plot. SO many good moments that I enjoyed, and the fluff was perfecto! Sunset's character arc was well done, bringing her from a brat to the Sunset we all love. Really, Cadance should have been the pony to help out Sunset from the start, not just shove her aside in the show like she didn't exist to Sunset.

I love love love the dynamic and interactions of Sunset and Cadance. They were extremely fluffy and heartwarming to read, and I have to give you props for that.

Several plot points that I'd love to point out except for the fact that they're all spoiling the story, really made the story into something I loved to read.

But, I do have to mention that it was surprising Cadance had no friends - she was the princess of love - oh, right, new to city and being a princess does tend to make ponies avoid eye contact with you. Right.

To end off, I would just like to say that this story convinces me that SunDance is a really good ship, and I should read more of these. Though the writing style was up and down, I could definitely see the improvement as you went along. You've come a long way, and I applaud you for the nice story. Thanks for writing!

The decisions you make to come out of any tough situation gives a route to your destiny - Rahul Desai

[ModMCdl]

10991296
I'm glad you enjoyed it. I personally enjoyed writing it very much, however it was indeed a sole effort with no prereaders or editors to crack the whip and fix my mistakes . Writing this taught me a lot, though, and I'm glad that you saw improvement as it went along.

As for the pacing/exposition, I understand. However 30k words was already a high milestone for me, and I desperately wanted to focus on the main story I wanted to tell. Because of this, I thought it best to leave some details to expository delivery, as my writing style (as seen in other stories of mine) tends to get quite dry and pedantic as I start to explain everything out dynamically.

This was definitely a learning experience for me, especially in how to actually get words down in a timely manner. But again, glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the feedback !

[Xpparda]

I need a sequel!!!!

[Cloudynight96]

11308857
Agreed!

SEQUEL!!!

[Lex the Pikachu]

This was a nice fun read. It was good to see how Sunset and Cadence's relation started and grew.

I must however stress that you should go through your story again as i frequently found missed used words which were largely do to a litter being missed off them that changes the meaning of the word written.