Sunset Glow gave her guest at the table a tremulous smile. "Cady, thank you so much for stopping by. It's been a big help."
Cadance smiled as she sipped her tea. "Shiny would've come himself, but he's helping his father cope."
"I'm glad Shiny is here," said Shimmering. "He's always been a stabilizing influence on the family. He was so very helpful when, um ..." He glanced nervously at his wife.
"Shimmy, you can say it," said Glow. "I've managed to get to where I don't cry every time I hear that Sunset is gone."
Cadance glanced around. "Your family pictures only show Night Light. Shall I ask Auntie Celestia to remove that part of the spell as well?"
"Not yet," said Glow in a quavering voice. "I haven't worked though this enough to handle seeing her everywhere I go."
"Maybe ask her to remove the spell from one picture," said Shimmering. "Let us ease into this."
Cadance glanced at Glow. "Celestia would like to talk to you, when you feel you can."
Glow frowned. "She's the last pony I ever want to talk to."
"I know you're upset with her, but eventually--"
"I don't have to do anything she wants!" Glow snapped.
"Cady, this is going to take a while," said Shimmering.
"A while? How about never!"
"Glowy, please--"
"No, Shimmy, there's nothing I want to hear from her," Glow declared. "There's nothing she can possibly say to make up for this. She lied to me, Cady, right there in the throne room. Right when she could've explained all this to me."
"Celestia knows she can never make it up to you," said Cadance. "But she does want to apologize."
"Apologize? How is that going to bring Sunny back?"
"It wasn't Celestia's fault that--"
"How do you know that?" Glow demanded.
Cadance hesitated. "I beg your pardon?"
"Glowy--" Shimmering began in a warning tone.
"What if Celestia pushed Sunny too hard?" Glow continued. "What if Sunny went too far just to please her mentor?"
"You know that's not true," said Cadance. "You know what Sunset believed."
"Maybe that's not true, either," Glow said in a low voice. "Maybe ... m-maybe she pretended to believe that ... maybe the Princess taught her that ..."
"Sunset Glow," said Cadance in a firm voice. "My aunt has done some wrong things but she would never hold a belief like that, nor teach it to anypony else."
Glow swallowed hard. "We didn't teach her that. It must have come from somewhere."
"Celestia was just as shocked to learn of her beliefs as you and Shimmering were." Cadance stared down into her tea. "We may never know where she obtained such ideas."
"It's so hard for me not to blame the Princess, Cady," said Glow in a soft, tremulous voice.
"We want somepony to take responsibility for what happened," said Shimmering.
"Celestia is taking full responsibility," Cadance said softly. "Maybe it's not enough, but I don't know what would be."
"I wish I could go back in time," Glow said in a strained voice. "Tell my past self not to let Sunny be Celestia's student."
"Then she may have simply worshiped Celestia from afar, taught herself what she needed to know, and nopony would have been watching her when--"
Glow hopped off the chair onto unsteady hooves. "I don't think I'm quite as ready for this as I had thought. Cady, I'm sorry, but I need some time alone."
Shimmering gave his wife a forlorn look as he stepped up to Cadance. "I'm really sorry about this. I know you still look up to your Aunt Celestia, but Glowy is not seeing past the need to blame somepony for this."
Cadance nodded slowly. "I figured as much. What about you?"
"I admit, I found it easy to blame her for everything as well," said Shimmering in a slightly terse voice. "But I'm trying to work past it. It's not going to do any good, and it's not going to bring Sunny back."
Cadance finished off the rest of her tea and left her chair. "I better leave for now, otherwise I'm going to start trying to defend Auntie Celestia again." She sighed. "I hope Shiny is having better luck than I am."
"Shiny, I'm a little concerned about what you said earlier," said Night Light in a low voice in the living room of his home. "Do you really believe Celestia was in the right for wiping our memories of my sister?"
"Well, I don't like the idea that our heads were messed with, no," said Shining Armor said in a distracted voice.
"That didn't answer my question."
"Because I don't know how to answer it, Dad. Why do you think I still haven't talked to the Princess?"
Night stepped closer. "Are you sure you're not acting out of misguided loyalty?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You were Captain of the Guard for a long while."
Shining turned more fully towards his father. "Yes, I was, and I swore an oath of absolute loyalty to Princess Celestia."
"Which you're not necessarily bound to today."
Shining face-hoofed. "Dad, just listen to yourself! I don't just discard those things if they become inconvenient."
"I don't want you falling into the same trap that Sunset did."
Shining frowned. "This is not the same thing. I've been closer to the Crown than anypony in this family save for Twilight and Aunt Sunset. I know the hard decisions the Princess has to make. So maybe I'm not as angry about this as I thought I was." He paused and murmured, "Or at least not in the way everypony else is."
Night was quiet for a moment. "This is more about Twilight, isn't it?" he said softly.
"Cady told me something Princess Celestia said to her when they talked," said Shining. "That in death, some ponies become more powerful and influential than they were when alive. The last thing Twilight ever said after Aunt Sunset died and before the Princess wiped our memories was 'I'm going to be just like Auntie Sunset when I grow up.'"
"Oh, now, Shiny, you can't know that she included Sunset's philosophy as well!" said Night. "She was likely just referring to Sunset's skill at magic."
"Maybe she was," Shining said. "But I'm glad we never had to find out."
"If she had lived, maybe she could have been reformed," said Night. "Maybe Twilight could've reformed her, you ever think of that?"
"Dad--"
Night's eyes misted. "She helped reform Luna, Discord, and Starlight Glimmer." He paused and turned away. "Or s-somepony in the family could've done it. We could've saved her."
Shining stepped up to his father and draped a fore-leg around his barrel. "Dad, I'm sorry."
Night lowered his head. "I miss her, Shiny. I miss her terribly. We had such a wonderful foal-hood together."
Shining drew his father close. "When this is all over, you'll have to share some of your stories with the family."
"What I really regret is that all her things are just ... gone. I have no mementos to remember her by." Night looked up and wiped an eye with the back of a hoof. "I made her a set of cutout paper wings once, so she could be a little princess."
Shining smiled.
"She took them with her to the palace after becoming Princess Celestia's student." Night took a deep breath. "I would give anything to have them again, just as a reminder of how good things were for a while."
Shining drew his father into a hug. "We'll get past this, Dad," he said in a soft voice. "And we'll all be stronger for it in the end."
Night gave him a tremulous smile. "I guess you're right, Shiny. I'm so glad you're here. You were always the strong one."
Shining's smile faded slightly. "Yeah, I guess I am. I was in the Royal Guard after all."
"I'm so sorry I questioned your--"
"No, please, Dad, stop," Shining said softly. "If anything, you helped me see a few things a little more clearly."
"Maybe that will help you in talking to Princess Celestia," said Night.
"It just might," said Shining in a subdued voice.
Starlight paused for an awkward moment as she stepped into Celestia's presence before remembering to bow. "Um, uh, thank you seeing me, Princess."
"Until we get this matter with the portal sorted out," said Celestia. "I am at you and Twilight's disposal. What may I do for you?"
Starlight rose to her hooves. "Um, well, this is kinda awkward. Normally Twilight would've asked you about this, but she's busy with trying to figure out how the portal works."
"Whatever information you need, I will provide, Starlight Glimmer," said Celestia.
Starlight glanced to the side and rubbed her mane with a hoof. "Well, I wanted to ask you about that day when Sunset died."
Celestia hesitated, her eyes glistening. "I see," she said in a small voice.
"I kinda need some specific details about what happened." Starlight sighed. "I know I'm not the most tactful pony in existence but--"
Celestia held up a hoof. She took a deep breath and left her throne. "For some things, all the tact in Equestria would not be enough. How do you wish me to proceed?"
"Maybe describe in a little more detail what happened that day," said Starlight. "What you heard. Um ... what you saw."
Celestia nodded and started to slowly pace. "I had reached her residence. Her lab was on the third floor. I had considered walking up the stairs so she would hear me coming. I wanted this to be as non-confrontational as possible. Yet she had set a ward at the bottom of the stairs I did not see."
Starlight raised an eyebrow. "Wait, she was able to hide a ward from even you?"
Celestia smiled gently. "I was not specifically looking for one. But I had felt it trip, thus I decided to fly up instead." Her smile faded. "When I reached the second floor, I hesitated." She lowered her head. "I wish to all the powers that be that I had not hesitated."
"Um, why did you?" Starlight asked.
"Because that was where she had built her shrine to me. It was the first time I had seen it. I was ... aghast. It was like something out of a historical play, when proto-pony tribes worshiped ancient pantheons of gods." Celestia paused. "Then I heard Sunset scream. Then a ... a loud noise, a combination of a splintering and ... a wet splatter."
Starlight's pupils shrank. "Splatter??"
Celestia resumed pacing, her hooves clopping into the silence for a few moments. "When I got to the lab, the portal was closed and roiling with unstable energy. I had to seal it before I could deal with the blood."
Starlight swallowed hard.
"Which was tremendously difficult considering how my stomach turned at the sight and smell," said Celestia in a quavering voice.
"H-How much blood are we talking about here?" Starlight asked.
"It was all over the walls, the floor, the ceiling."
Starlight paled. "O-okay, I don't want to ask this any more than you want to answer it, but here goes. Was there ... was there enough?"
"I know where you are going with this, Starlight," said Celestia softly. "This was not a case of a little splatter that she could have done by cutting herself. It was determined that there was about half a pony's worth of blood and tissue in that room. It was tested, and it was indeed Sunset's."
Starlight slowly nodded. "Um, okay, thanks."
Celestia turned to Starlight. "Did Twilight suggest that Sunset may have faked her death?"
"Well, yeah, we considered that, but now I'm not so sure."
"You are thinking everything I was forced to at the time," said Celestia. "Once I got past my initial shock and grief. She was clever enough that she could have done it. I searched for any evidence that she had ever done any such preparation in that area and came up empty."
Starlight paused. "How did you go about looking for that evidence?"
"I checked to see if Sunset had procured materials she could have used to create a convincingly gory display. I asked the biology department at Canterlot University to do a thorough inventory in case Sunset had stolen what she needed. I had other biology and medical suppliers do the same. All materials were accounted for."
"What about Star Singer?"
Celestia hesitated. "I'm sorry?"
"Did you look for anything referencing Star Singer?" Starlight asked.
"Why would I do that? Who is Star Singer?"
Starlight's eyes widened. "Princess, how did you find out about Sunset's research into transformation magic? Wasn't it by finding research she did in the Archives?"
"No, I discovered her plans more directly," said Celestia. "I detected the energies themselves and paid her a visit to ask her about it. She had not expected me to arrive at that moment, and much of her research was out for me to see."
"So you have no idea that Star Singer was assisting her?"
"No, I did not," said Celestia.
"But you must have!" Starlight said. "I found documents in the Archives where Star Singer collaborated with professors on transformation magic. How did you pull those into your spell if you didn't know about them?"
"I did not want to track down every document or pony by hoof," said Celestia. "So I let the spell do that for me. It had two simple directives: find all documents and memories on Sunset Shimmer herself, and find all documents and memories on her research."
"So you pulled in those documents without realizing that they hadn't been authored by Sunset herself."
"Starlight, what does this all mean?" Celestia asked in an urgent voice.
"I'm not sure yet," said Starlight. "I'm going to have to do more research before I know for sure."
"I've given you just as much authorization as Twilight to obtain the information you need," declared Celestia.
"Thank you, Princess. I better go." Starlight turned away and galloped for the doors.
"Starlight, wait!" Celestia called out.
Starlight skidded to a halt and spun around.
Celestia stepped towards her, her eyes misting. "Starlight ... does this mean that Sunset might be alive?"
Starlight hesitated. "I'm not sure. I promise to let you know what I find out."
Celestia nodded, not trusting her voice. She let out a shuddering breath. "Sunset ... my beloved student ... a-alive ..."
Spike stepped over to the table in the far corner of the Canterlot Archives where Twilight sat poring over sheets of equations that nearly covered every available space. Several more were levitated in the air around her head. He held a tray in his claws with a daffodil sandwich and salad on one side, and a bowl of gems in the other.
"Um, Twilight?" Spike said softly.
Twilight's head jerked up, and the pages floating around her head fluttered to the floor. "Huh, what?! Oh." She levitated the dropped pages back to the table. "Hi, Spike. How long have you been standing there?"
"I just got here." Spike smiled and lifted the tray. "I brought food."
Twilight blinked. "Is it lunchtime already?"
Spike's smile faded, and he raised an eyebrow. "Um, this is dinner, Twilight."
Twilight's eyes widened. "It is? How long have I been at this?"
"Pretty much all day." He glanced at the myriad papers. "Make any progress?"
Twilight sighed and leaned her head on a fore-hoof. "Not as much as I would like."
Spike stepped around the table. He balanced the tray in one claw while rearranging pages on the table with the other. "Not having much luck, huh?"
Twilight's horn glowed, and she assisted in clearing a space on the table. "It's just going far more slowly than I would like."
Spike set down the tray and hopped into a chair. "What about your idea of using the transformation magic equations?"
"I've confirmed that there is definitely transformation magic leaking through the portal," said Twilight. "That's why I'm getting a little frantic. It could mean that at the very least Sunset's magical device survived the trip through the portal." She picked up the sandwich in her magic. "But until I discover how to properly control the portal, I can't do anything about it."
Spike munched on a gem before responding. "Are you really going to try to travel to that other world?"
Twilight took a large bite of her sandwich, not realizing until then how ravenous she was. She chewed a few perfunctory times before swallowing. "I feel I have to, Spike. Best case scenario is that Aunt Sunset's device survived the trip but is inactive, and what I'm detecting is just energy leakage."
"Inactive?"
Twilight took another bite from her sandwich. "Her device was built with this world's biology in mind," she said with her mouth full. She swallowed and continued. "Another world is likely to have a different biology. Theoretically, her device shouldn't work there unless it was adjusted somehow, not just for that world's pathogens but to ensure the resulting pony body is an optimal fit with their biosphere."
Spike popped a gem in his mouth and smirked. "I've been hanging around you too much. I actually understood most of that."
Twilight rolled her eyes but smiled faintly.
"So if it's inactive, what are you worried about?" asked Spike.
"We haven't had contact with these natives in seven centuries," said Twilight. "In that time, they may have developed the skills to manipulate the device, even understand its purpose. The last thing I want is for another world to think that Equestria has hostile intent. Or if they already believe that, somepony has to correct that impression."
Spike grinned. "I think you just like the idea of being an emissary to another world."
Twilight's smile widened slightly. "I have to admit, the idea is a little exciting."
Spike raised an eyebrow.
Twilight giggled. "Okay, it's very exciting, especially considering that we have an advantage if we do have to travel to that world."
"We do?"
"The first expedition to that world recorded a great deal of their culture, including what seemed to be a fairly universal language among their imperial institutions," Twilight explained. "Their name for it was 'Latin'. I can learn enough of it to gain the trust of a native so I can cast a translation spell."
"If they're still speaking that language now," said Spike.
"Yes, I considered that. Even our own language has drifted in that time. I'm hoping that this imperial period was significant enough historically that the natives will have retained some knowledge of their older language." Twilight considered as she chewed another bite of her sandwich. "Maybe I better hedge my bets and learn the secondary language called 'Greek' that they used largely for literary--"
"Twilight!" came Starlight's excited voice in the distance, accompanied by her galloping hoofsteps. "Twilight, I found something!"
Twilight's eyes widened as she saw the batch of scrolls and papers Starlight levitated before her. "What is it?"
Starlight skidded to a halt, some of the papers working loose and fluttering to the floor. "Remember that name Star Singer?"
"Yes, I remember," said Twilight. "She helped divert attention from Aunt Sunset while she did her transformation magic research."
Starlight smirked as she picked up the fallen pages. "Well, guess what? Star Singer wasn't just some random student Sunset pressed into service for her. They were close study-buddies. Take a look at this."
Starlight passed a page to Twilight, who grabbed it in her magic. "This is Star Singer's student transcript," said Twilight. "What does this have to do with ... wait ... she changed her major from high magic to biology?"
Starlight smirked. "And, of course, it's not at all suspicious that she did that six months before Sunset disappeared."
"But what exactly does this mean?"
Starlight face-hoofed. "Oh, come on, Twilight, put two and two together! This gave Star Singer -- and Sunset by proxy -- access to materials she could use to fake her own death."
"But isn't that circumstantial evidence?" Twilight said.
"Maybe." Starlight levitated another set of pages. "But take a look at this."
Twilight took the pages from her. "These are lesson plans for biology lab work for Star Singer's classes. What am I looking for?"
"Go to the end of each one," said Starlight. "It lists the materials the instructor provided. I circled them."
Twilight shuffled through the papers. "Sterile storage flasks ... Long term preservation jars ... Tissue sample extraction gems? ... Stasis crystals??" She recoiled, her pupils shrinking. "Desanguination spells?!"
Spike scratched his head. "Um, what's a desan ... desangu-in-a, um ..."
"Desanguination," Twilight said in a slightly quavering voice. "It refers to the process of removing blood from a body."
Spike gulped, his eyes wide. "Why would you even want to do that?!"
"Its main use is a safe means of allowing a pony to donate blood to another," said Twilight.
"I doubt that was the use Sunset had in mind," Starlight said. "Especially when you consider everything else that Star Singer acquired."
Twilight paled. "Do you realize what you're implying??"
"Implying? I'll come right out and say it!" Starlight declared. "Sunset created an elaborate ruse to fool everypony into thinking she died. Everything she had Star Singer get for her was designed to extract samples of her own blood and tissue over time, all the while avoiding leaving a single mark on her that could be suspicious. The fact that they were spread out over multiple projects for Star Singer's biology courses made it even harder to figure out what she did. She would have had to do it over time, as Princess Celestia told me there was half a pony's worth of blood and tissue in that room."
Spike's claws settled over his stomach. "You had to tell us this over dinner," he muttered.
Twilight fell heavily to her haunches. "This is terrible. It means Aunt Sunset was planning to prey on this other world from the moment she started to work on the portal."
"Well, isn't that what we thought might be true?"
"I was hoping I was wrong!" Twilight cried. "I'm nowhere near close to getting the portal to work!"
"Well, it's just a matter of time, right?" Starlight said in a tentative voice. "You've figured out stuff like this before."
Twilight frowned and stood, marching up to Starlight. "I don't think you understand. It's not just a matter of opening the portal and hopping through. This is a very complex set of mechanics, and some of it is beyond me right now."
Starlight's eyes widened. "What, seriously?"
"Did I hear that right?" Spike said.
Twilight turned towards her notes and levitated a blueprint. "I have enough data to construct a thaumic matrix to open the portal by brute force -- assuming the crystals don't shatter from mana overload -- but I don't know how to control the other endpoint yet."
"Uh, I don't follow," said Starlight.
Twilight set down the design and turned to her. "If the other endpoint is anchored, we have no idea where or how. If the ambient transformation magic is the anchor, we could wind up right in the middle of a heavily populated area. If Aunt Sunset anticipated somepony discovering her ruse, she could anchor it in a trap or dead end. If she has no idea the portal is active and she's unwittingly the anchor, we could come out standing right next to her. Maybe we could subdue her quickly enough, but if we fail, we're in big trouble. And that's assuming she hasn't become even more powerful in the two decades she's been there!"
"But what about the data on the previous portals?" Spike asked.
"Those are observations of naturally occurring portals, where the endpoints open at random." Twilight sighed. "This could take weeks. Or months. If Aunt Sunset is really in this other world with an intact device, and she's starting to use it, that's time we don't have. I need some sort of primer, something that will give me an idea of how ultra-high energy magic works without having to recreate years of Aunt Sunset's research."
"Surely some of her research made it into the Archives," Starlight said. "Maybe we should start there."
"I've already been through it all," Twilight said. "Aunt Sunset was very sparing in what she released to the Archives. It's all high-level and very little detail. Celestia was right; in those final days, she was very calculating. I found evidence of where she withdrew papers from the Archive, probably to destroy them along with the rest of her notes."
Starlight sighed. "Wow, talk about burning your bridges. Literally."
Twilight frowned and slapped the pages she held to the table. "And that makes no sense!"
"Er, what?"
"Maybe I was really young, Starlight, but my memories now of Aunt Sunset are very clear, as if they had happened yesterday." She turned to face Starlight. "In a way, they did. They've been restored to me as I remembered them when I was young. I can't imagine she would destroy all knowledge of what she had accomplished!"
Starlight raised an eyebrow. "And you don't think you may be just a weensy bit biased?"
Twilight looked taken aback. "What are you talking about?"
"Listen to you. Ever since you got your memories back, you refer to her as 'Aunt Sunset' every time."
"Wait, what??" Twilight cried. "Why wouldn't I? She is my aunt!"
"I just thought you would act a little more removed from this considering what she did, and especially what she believed."
"Maybe I'm not entirely convinced about what she really believed!" Twilight shouted.
Starlight narrowed her eyes. "And you're not biased. Nope, not at all. Right."
"Listen to me, Starlight," said Twilight in a lower but no less urgent voice. "I've been going over in my head what she taught me. I realized something very important. Not once -- not once -- did she ever come out and say that ponies were better than other species."
"But you said that's what you got out of it," said Starlight.
"And maybe that's my fault and not hers. Maybe I misinterpreted what she was trying to tell me."
"All right, fine. What was she trying to tell you?"
Twilight paused. "I don't know yet."
"What about what Shining said?" said Starlight. "About Sunset praising the essay you wrote?"
"Yes, she started by praising it, but she was about to point out a flaw in it when Shining barged in and interrupted," Twilight said. "What if she was going to tell me that I had learned the wrong thing out of what she was teaching me?"
Starlight frowned. "I still think you're trying to gloss over what Sunset did."
"I am not glossing over it!" Twilight exclaimed. "What I question are her assumed motives. I'm not convinced that what she did was purely to spread pony hegemony across the planet."
"Does it really matter anymore?" Starlight asked. "The point is, she may be wreaking havoc on another world."
"It might still be important," said Twilight in a lower voice. "Knowing her true motivations could give us a clue as to what exactly she planned to do and what the end result would be." She sighed. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, Starlight. My emotions concerning Aunt Sunset are stronger than I thought they would be."
Starlight stepped up to her. "That was more what I was concerned about," she said in a less confrontational tone. "That your feelings might be affecting your judgment. I'd like to think we've been a good team up to this point. The last thing I want is something to mess that up."
Twilight smiled faintly. "You're doing what you should be doing, which is forcing me to see the bigger picture. But I'm going to have to ask you to trust me in this case when I say that I believe there's more here than meets the eye."
"Just so long as it doesn't distract you from figuring out how that portal works."
"It won't," said Twilight. "We're both going to start building that matrix first thing in the morning and start milking that portal for all the data its worth."
Celestia had left word with the Royal Guard that she would receive Shining Armor in her private suite as she had Cadance, only to be told upon his arrival that he preferred to see her in her throne room. The message was delivered just as she and Luna had finished dinner, and Celestia gave her sister a forlorn look.
"I would not say that this formality necessarily bodes well," said Luna delicately. "But nor would I jump to conclusions."
"He had been at Canterlot Court for some time," said Celestia in an even voice. "He knows how protocol can be manipulated to make a point or set the tone for discourse."
"Still, he is your nephew-in-law," said Luna. "And thus family. I am sure he has not lost sight of that point."
Celestia rose. "I can only hope. I apologize for cutting our time short, dear sister."
Luna shook her head. "This is more important. I wish you luck."
Celestia smiled faintly before turning away. Her thoughts returned to Shining and the wedding. It had taken some time for Shining to accept that, upon his marriage to Cadance, he was officially family, and thus protocol could be eased. Shining had not truly begun to accept that until he had retired from his position as Captain of the Guard to join Cadance in ruling the Crystal Empire, and even then it took the birth of Flurry Heart to really loosen him up.
When Celestia entered the throne room and saw Shining standing practically at attention, she felt as if time had suddenly rewound. His eyes were set hard, a small frown on his muzzle, and Celestia had no idea what he could be thinking.
Celestia took a chance that Shining would not insist this be conducted as a formal audience. She bypassed sitting upon the throne to accept his greeting and approached him instead. If this had perturbed him in any way, he didn't show it, maintaining that stoic air that had served him well in the Royal Guard.
Celestia stopped when Shining dropped into a bow, which he thankfully held for only a few seconds before rising to his hooves again. "Princess," he said in a clipped voice.
Celestia managed a smile. "It is good to see you again, Shining Armor, despite the circumstances."
Her attempt to set a more casual atmosphere was met initially by stony silence, which made Celestia feel only all that much more uncomfortable. Shining finally took a deep breath and said, "I apologize for not seeing you sooner, but ... to be honest, I'm still at a loss."
Celestia slowly nodded. "I think I understand."
"I'm not sure that you do."
Celestia paused. "Then please, Shining, enlighten me. I wish to understand what everypony is thinking."
"I've been going over this in my head all day," said Shining. "And all I did was run in circles. Only after talking to my father did I really start to make sense of anything. Cady finally prodded me into seeing you, thinking that we need to talk this out."
"Which I am perfectly willing to do."
"Yes, but I'm not sure I am!"
Celestia was silent for a long moment. "I fear I do not follow."
Shining started to pace the width of the throne room. "When I was in the Royal Guard, I swore an oath of absolute loyalty to you. I would do anything and everything to protect you, regardless of your policies or your decisions."
"Yes, and you performed your duties admirably."
Shining stopped and turned towards her, frowning. "With all due respect, Princess, I was not looking for accolades."
"My apologies," said Celestia in a soft voice. "Please, continue."
"When Cady expressed concern over this mess, I had told her that there were many secrets in Canterlot," said Shining. "And if I were not told those secrets, there was a reason for it. It did not -- and should not -- stop me from carrying out my duties. I believed that with all my heart back then."
"And what do you believe now, Shining?" Celestia asked.
"I don't know!" Shining exclaimed. "That's the problem! Ever since I got here, I've been saying that maybe what you did was for the best considering the alternative. I keep telling myself that's a practical approach. But is that my real reason? Or am I just falling back into the role of a loyal guardspony, never questioning your decisions simply because it's not my place to question them?!"
Shining's voice had slowly risen to a shout, and his last words echoed for a second. Celestia uttered a soft sigh and cast her gaze downward. "I'm sorry this has caused you such pain, Shining."
"Do you even understand what kind of pain?" Shining cried. "After I was freed from Chrysalis' control, I vowed never to let that happen again. I would never let my mind be messed with again. And now I don't know if I can trust my own head anymore! Is there anything else that's lurking in my mind that I don't know about yet?"
"I can assure you, Shining, there is nothing more that is suppressed. I removed--"
"Yes, you removed your spell," Shining snapped. "But now I'm having to question the sanctity of my own thoughts all over again. I went through this for months after Chrysalis, I didn't want to do it again!"
Celestia took a deep breath. "Shining, Twilight's friend Starlight Glimmer has unparalleled knowledge of mind magicks. She would be more than happy to ease your fears that--"
"You're missing the point!" Shining shouted.
Celestia fell silent.
"You can have every mage in Canterlot examine me and tell me my mind is untouched, and it won't mean a thing to me. It's not a case of whether I really have something lurking in my head, it's my own attitude towards it. You ... this is making me admit to a failing that I don't want to acknowledge."
"Shining, feel free to blame me for this," Celestia declared.
"You don't understand, Princess," Shining said. "That's the last thing I can do right now."
"I-I don't understand."
Shining took a step forward. "I need a way to deal with this. I need a way to stop questioning every thought or feeling that enters my head. It's not a matter of right and wrong, it's a matter of remaining strong for my family. It's my duty."
Celestia remained silent, her eyes glistening.
"And I have a duty to you as well, Princess."
Celestia swallowed. "Y-you have no duty to me any longer, Shining Armor."
"But I do," said Shining. "I have to. I must accept your decisions and actions. I must not question them. Not now. Maybe not ever, I don't know."
Celestia's throat tightened too much for her to speak.
"Please understand me, Princess. I don't blame you. I can't. I don't know what went through your head when you made your decisions, and it can't be my place to ask right now."
"Th-that's not ..." Celestia croaked. "I ... i-it's not about blame. I just don't want to see you like this."
"I'm sorry, Princess," said Shining in a low voice. "I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm not trying to punish you. This is for myself, not you. I can't let anypony down. Especially not myself."
Shining Armor turned and headed out of the throne room. A pony who had been a close member of the family now seemed even more distant than he had been the very first time he had come into an audience with her after becoming Captain of the Guard.
The doors closed silently behind Shining. Celestia lowered her head and wept softly.
Take all the time you need
The plot is becoming as thick as blood...
Darn. Some crazy stuff is going down.
Holy Throne.... this is getting more complex by the second...
Well that went well. I think they need to check on Star Singer, she may be the true mastermind of everything. Now waiting two weeks is going to be excruciating with both chapters cliffhangers.
so ....what was the deal with shining i dont get it what did he have to do?
Man, Celestia should have just tried to blow up the world. Ponies get over that.
Poor Shining Armor..
And.. wait..
Maybe there is not only Sunset go to human world?
I bet 5 bits.. , maybe there is more pony go to human world with Sunset!
I'm still curious about the griffon that was turned into a mare. How did the memory spell affect her? Wouldn't it basically have to wipe her mind clean to abolish the knowledge of the transformation magic? I can't imagine she's doing very well, and she was the first victim to all of this.
Everyone is confused...I personally believe that there is a third party involved here.
And allow me to explain to those who may claim I'm biased here but, not only did Twilight notice there was no direct claim of "Pony Superiority" in any of Sunset's monologues, there was also that leak that to griffons that got out that Celestia herself could not figure out how it happened, combined with the involvement of Star Singer and I think someone may have been coordinating this behind the scenes.
Oh man, just when you get more answers, you get even more frustrating questions.
That is the sign of a truly gripping tale.
To me most if not all characters in this story are such bizarre bundles of emotions and emotion fueled logic that I can't bring myself to relate to them even after much headscratching. It makes this rather wierd read as the plot itself is interesting.
8013418
I understand that. Just kinda driving me nuts, but in a good way.
This plot is getting thicker than Celestia's!!
Yeah I am starting to wonder if Star Singer is the ultimate mastermind and Sunset Shimmer is a patsy either willing or unknowingly. Star Singer could have actually banished Sunset into the other world because she knew she needed an anchor there. The entire faking Sunset's death could have been done by Star Singer and not have been an actual plan of Sunset's. That would make Sunset as much a victim as anyone. The spell could have sat inactive for some time needing a stable connection to Equestria to power it and Star Singer knew that Sunset wanting to get home would find a way to stabilize the connection only to find out late what doing that would trigger.
At least that's my conspiracy theory.
Damn damn damn. Every answer opens new questions and the mystery just keeps on deepening.
The thing with Shining really hit home. Being affected by mind magic once is terrible, but twice? This is nightmare stuff, especially when you consider the implications of this happening on a wider scale. How many layers are there? This goes right to the image of a dystopian future scenario, something Shining seems to be thinking very hard about. Sunset changed bodies, Celestia changed everyone's 'truth' in response. Not sure what's worse.
This right here. It makes me happy.
Now enter Star Singer, the pony Celestia had no idea was involved. Celestia was so kind as to cover all of Star Singer's tracks with her mind magic. Someone's been playing a high stakes game here for a long time and so far is winning. Question is: who's the Afghan girl...
This weekend's double update was so worth the wait.
8013465
I mean, I can kinda understand, what with Sunset talking with him, but it's like he's not giving a second thought to everyone else who is suffering...
Possibility: Sunset did get telefragged, but intentionally by Star Singer, as a way to cover her flank.All the evidence that was shown so far places the blame on Sunset. Think 'Orgy of Evidence'.
Yay, new chapter
Isn't there a spell to make something bigger or having a larger quantity? Could Sunset of cut herself, use that spell and threw it all over the room?
Celestia fucked up... big time... but I don't think I'd be able to hate her, she to damn adorable!
Can't wait for next week... TIME MACHINE!!!
And now, the story so far.
The good: The characters are decently written. The plot is quite interesting. The jumps back and forth between the two sets of characters work well and don't feel jarring. The way it makes use of the whole Equestria Girls thing, which I usually can't stand, is actually quite cool. It has a nice twist on the "ponification of humans" trope.
The not-so-good: The story is moving too slowly. After 20 chapters and nearly 140k words, we've basically learned the whole picture, but pretty much nothing has been resolved. The clearly foreshadowed meeting between the ponies and humans seems to be nowhere in sight, despite how much has been revealed.
Thanks to all the good, I want to know how it all ends, so I'm definitely going to keep reading. But I can't help feeling a bit frustrated at the slow pace.
EDIT TO ADD: Uh oh, looks like some childish thumbs-down troll can't handle someone posting some constructive criticism. Grow up and get over it, whoever you are.
8014689 While I agree that this story has a rather slow pace, it's refreshing compared to the usual fanfictions, which simply rush to the climax like the author wants to win a marathon.
8015200 To each their own, I suppose. As a point of comparison, the average full-length novel ranges between 80k to 120k words. This story is now longer than the average full-length novel, but still hasn't really resolved anything.
If we're going to use a marathon as a metaphor for writing, the way you finish a marathon isn't by sprinting, but by pacing yourself and setting goals. It's fine for a story to run long, but you have to have some solid markers somewhere along the way, and we haven't really had any. For example, it feels like the human characters are being hung out to dry, because they still don't know *anything*. Meanwhile, the pony characters are faffing about and being indecisive. With the arguable exception of Twilight reconciling with Celestia, nobody has actually accomplished anything. To continue with the marathon metaphor, it feels like the story is just running in circles rather than making its way toward the finish line.
I don't want or expect the story to be all wrapped up in the next chapter or two. But I do want the characters to be thrown a bone and allowed to actually *accomplish something*.
8014689
Thanks for the candid feedback, it's really appreciated.
It's a fact that I do tend to write slow-paced stories. I think part of it stems from the fact that I've been heavily influenced by works of fiction that themselves are rather long, and I may have picked up that propensity in my own writing. I likely will not be going back to do a rewrite of this story now, but as another reader said, this is a site where writers are expected to improve. That you are still interested in the story despite the flaws you see in it means I did something right.
Definitely wasn't me. I have a strict policy of not deleting or downvoting comments on my stories. I do find the votes on comments to give me a better idea of who agrees with what.
And so Sunset was revealed to have been working for... ME!!
Yes, it was I who created the mutagenic virus with my genetics knowledge and expertise! Soon the TRUE Conversion Bureau will take place nothing can stop the diabolical schemes of I, the super villain Bastard Man! Nyah ha ha!
I'm enjoying the story so far, but I'll echo 8014689's sentiment that it could benefit from a faster pace. The mystery and character interactions are interesting enough for now, but it'll be great to hit a breakthrough in the plot soon, especially on the human side. We can only be teased for so long.
I do have a nitpick to air, though. The ear migration part has been bothering me ever since it was first mentioned because I'm having a tough time picturing how that's supposed to work. I'm no expert on equine anatomy, but it looks like horses have their ears pretty high up because their jaw hinge is quite close to the top of the head. There are gaps for the ear canal to reach the eardrum. Like so:
thinklikeahorse.org/images/mouihfkjsf.jpg
From what I can tell, the people having those symptoms haven't yet experienced sufficiently drastic changes to their jaw structure to accommodate that. Having ears at the top of the head this early could work if the skull suddenly develops a couple of new perforations (ouch), but then there's the issue of the ear canals or eardrums eating up brain space.
Granted, we're talking about magical ponies here, but since this story involves bridging the gap between magical and mundane, this seems a bit too much of a fantastic jump to me. It's not a major issue, but it's funny to me from an anatomical perspective.
8015927
Oh, definitely. There's a reason why the "goods" paragraph in my post has five points and the "not-so-goods" paragraph has just the one.
No worries, I figured it probably wasn't you, if only because of the time stamps on when you'd last logged in.
Of course, the CMC is more than likely involved. Just look for tree sap.
8017128
My hope is Bob or Laura's friend whose name escapes me are the two I would like to see go this way.
Goodness, I just binged the story and I must say that I am hooked. Kudos to you for writing such a detailed story. Especially how both halves of the story are intertwined even though both halves haven't directly interacted with eachother yet. I'm looking forward to the next chapter, which comes in 2 weeks.
8016851 what the fuck does that have to do with anything I said?
8013947
Yeah I was wondering that too. What's even more suspicious is that Celestia doesn't recognize the name at all.
Well now - this was certainly a much more substantial pair of chapters; it's good that things are moving again.
And the introduction of Star Singer raises some interesting questions - was she really Sunset's accomplice, or was it actually the other way around? It has been brought up several times that no-one could understand where Sunset's philosophy came from, after all - and Star Singer may well be the answer (which means, I imagine, that her family is part of said philosophy adhering cult as well - much like Sunset, Star must have gotten it from somewhere as well).
And Sunset would make for a very tempting indoctrination target - being Celestia's apprentice, she would have access to the materials, lab space and magical know-how to make their crazy plan a reality.
Hmm, now that I think about it - where is Star Singer now? Is she still in Equestria, even? Or did she jump the portal together with Sunset (assuming that's what actually happened back then). For all we know, she's the one who could have been manipulating Fred all this time. Anyways, that's all speculation for now - but I think it's safe to say that Star Singer at least had a role to play in Sunset's developing philosophy. Looking her up (or her family, failing that) should be their first priority.
And oh man - Latin! While not terrible by any means, that's certainly going to complicate the very start of first contact a bit. In a small town like Lazy Pines, it's quite possible that there is no-one who actually knows the language. And ancient Greek is going to be of even less help, I imagine. At any rate, contact should be all sorts of interesting - I sure hope it won't take Twilight half a dozen chapters to get it open properly.
---
As for the "radiation" Janet and Kevin were feeling ... well, I guess either Sunset's device is buried in Fred's basement, or that's where the portal's exit is currently anchored - and in either case, it gives off enough magic that even a, say, developing unicorn, can feel.
Which brings up another point, along with the emerging pony ears - differences in sensory input. Hightened hearing, hightened smell, huge field of vision when pony abnormally-large eyes start coming in (realistically, with eyes that big and considering their placement, ponies should be able to see almost straight behind them almost without turning their heads at all) - add to that the ability to sense magic, and you have a whole new host of adaptation problems beyond the physical form - I imagine it would be very, very easy to get confused and overwhelmed by all this different sensory information when it fully comes in.
--
All in all this was definite improvement over the previous two chapters and I'm looking towards more.
Really, it's a good fanfics but... It's just... too much focus on "drama" and too little actual action for me. Sorry.
8020634
I'm pretty sure all people who have medical education are required to know Latin.
8015624
8015927
I think that at this point, it is less about the slow pace (wich is fine, although I would prefer it if you tried to contrast things by giving a fast frantic pace to one of the "side" of the story while keeping the other one slow), and more about running in circle. How many scene of ponies angry with Celestia and now sure how to deal with the truth did we have so far compared to scene that actually made the story move forward? How much time did we have new scene of Kevin not having a solution and more upseted patients, of scene with Sarah and Harold complaining about their family's trouble?
Your writting well, but we are starting to run out of way to re-write the same scenes with small differences.
8022787
I readily admit I'm no expert on this and may be wrong and/or missing something, but that's the first I have heard of it. A quick google search seems to confirm that one doesn't need to know a word of Latin to become a doctor or a practitioner in the field of medicine and healthcare.
It's certainly true that a fair few medics (relatively speaking) tend to pick up bits and pieces of it (or even the whole deal if they are interested) because a lot of medical terms are derived from Latin and some people find it easier to understand rather than memorize otherwise alien labels, but it's not a requirement by any means.
Though granted, if there is someone in Lazy Pines who would know Latin (at least to some degree - or even fully, if lucky) he/she would probably come from the medical personnel. So I guess there is a reasonable chance that Kevin does know at least some of it.
8023668 Well, although it's largely fell out of favor, some universities still have Latin classes for medical students. So, I dunno.
8022990
Well, yes. Those are basically the same thing. The reason the story's pace is so slow is that it isn't actually going anywhere. At some point, the plot needs to have the characters actually do something.
8024181
I think part of the problem stems from the approach I took. I had wanted to tell a story about ordinary people having extraordinary things happen to them, so the human half of the story took a slice-of-life approach. This did necessitate things happening to them rather than them taking specific action against what was happening. I do realize I may have emphasized the day-to-day stuff too much, but that was intended to tell a story in its own right, I just likely could have condensed it more. Also, this was my first story where I had this many characters, so giving them all adequate "screen time" was a challenge.
We are at a point in the human side of the story, however, where things are starting to pick up. While I still intend to keep telling the part of the story centered around the lives of the characters, the plot is starting to move forward more. Part of the issue with the slow movement is that it took time for the condition to be noticed and classified a threat. During that time, the only one really able to take action was Kevin.
Thus the emphasis in the first part of the story had been the reaction of the characters to events and how it affected their lives. There wasn't as much action in that part as I felt it was not quite needed yet. I felt I still had an interesting story to tell from that perspective. So I'm not necessarily disagreeing with your perspective; I'm more explaining the how and why of my approach.
Thanks again for the continued feedback.
Sorry, I lost track of what feedback I was going to post. I'll make sure to leave some on the next set of chapters. Good set of chapters by the way, and it only adds more to the story.
~ Super-Brony12
802381 Latin was required of doctors and lawyers throughout the westrn world right up until the end of World War Two or so. It (and Greek) was considered essential to academic learning. Latin was used as an unchanging, unbiased, neutral international language for science and mathematics. Catholic priests are still required to learn Latin to this day. Of course, there are actually several dialects of Latin and the version the Church teaches is Liturgical Latin, which I THINK has simplified syntax.
She studied transformation magic. She didn't need to procure materials. All she needed was another pony, who would be Sunset Shimmer for the last few moments of her life.
I am honestly surprised none else has reached the same conclusion as myself as to who is the mastermind behind Sunset's fall. I am so sure that I am right that I wont even tell you all, although I have PMed the author, and I asked him to mention me when he makes the big reveal so I can justly say "CALLED IT!" if it is true. But the fact that no one else sees it has convinced me to give you all a hint. Focus not on what we have, but what we DON'T, and why. In short.....
.....why was the mirror never made?
No update this week? ahh man...
8036387
To be fair, I'd complete forgotten she'd even shown up once in-story.
And, well, I'll stand by my statement that a pony that's barely been seen on-screen turning out to have such an important role as the only ex-chick?
Would be less then dramatically resonant.
I know that there was to be no update last week but is there going to be one this week?
I can not wait new chapters .. , I think I have to wait 7 hours from now ><
8049130
8049499
I'll be updating later today. I'm shooting for the morning (US Mountain time zone) but may be delayed to the afternoon due to a family function. It will depend on how much editing these chapters will need.
8036648 I just assumed that this was an alternate universe. After all, the human world isn't like the EQG one.
I did think of Starswirl at one point, but I kind of am assuming that he still is a fairly distant figure compared to Sunset.