With no more obstacles to prevent the train from reaching Silver Shoals, Sunset was able to finally reach her destination in the hope of reuniting with the former princess of Equestria. Although she had already reunited and made amends with her awhile back during the Wallflower memory stone incident, it still felt like another proper reunion, as a good amount of time had already passed since their last meeting. Stepping off of the train, the town appeared to be located within a coastal area, and there appeared to be many elderly ponies roaming around, giving off the impression that it was an ideal place to live in during retirement. This made sense, as Sunset was already told that both Celestia and Luna moved here to enjoy their well-deserved retirement after ruling Equestria for so many years.

Having not even a single clue about Celestia's whereabouts in this town, Sunset did the most logical thing and asked around for help. Most elderly ponies didn't seem to know, nor did any workers who were serving drinks around a swimming pool. This came across as unusual to Sunset, as she would've expected most residents to react with excitement after learning two former princesses were finally moving into town with them. With seemingly nopony else knowing where Celestia was living, Sunset was pretty unsure of what she was going to do next. That was until, she was approached by an elderly female Earth pony with glasses.

"Are you by any chance lost, dear?" Dusty Pages questioned the unicorn who was seemingly wandering all over town on her own.

"Well, not really lost, as much as I'm looking for somepony. I'm wondering where Princess Celestia and Luna are staying, so I can go visit them." Sunset said. "Twilight's told me that they live here in Silver Shoals now?"

"Oh?" Dusty's eyes widened. "My stars, you're friends with the one pony who's taught me how to accept imperfection?"

"Come again…?" Sunset asked, not understanding the context.

"I've known Twilight Sparkle for a while, and we go way back, even during the days when she was considered 'Best Book Borrower' at my old library." Dusty explained. "Yep, that library is now just as old as me and I've made all sorts of memories there, but I'll never forget when Twilight neglected to return one of her books and it inspired me to no longer care about being a perfectionist."

"You were once a perfectionist like Twilight?" Sunset reflected toward her days as Celestia's pupil. "I guess I'm in the same boat too. I actually used to be Princess Celestia's pupil myself, and… trying to be the perfect, overachieving student would be an understatement when I was in that position. I'm happy to hear that whatever Twilight did with forgetting about a library book, it positively impacted your life, ma'am. She's done the same for me, let's just say."

"Wonderful to hear, dear!" Dusty smiled. "Now, you said you were primarily here to visit Princess Celestia? You are aware that she is no longer the princess of Equestria anymore, yes?"

"Yeah, I know." Sunset said. "I still called her by that title since… it's going to take some time to get used to. Do you by any chance know where she might be living? I'm still wanting to visit my former mentor who taught me the essentials in magic."

"Oh, well in that case, she and her sister are residing in the house directly across from mine." Dusty pointed to the blue house in front of her own home. "I'm guessing they wanted to move here as to not be bothered by the pizza-rasberry, or something like that? I don't quite know what you young ponies call it, but they don't like the attention when being recognized as former princesses everywhere they go, so they asked most residents here in Silver Shoals to not reveal their whereabouts."

"Huh, I guess that explains why nopony seemed to know where they lived when I was asking them." Sunset understood. "Also, did you mean paparazzi?"

"Ah, yes." Dusty remembered. "I'm not good with these new and fancy terms, they certainly weren't around back in my day."

"But… if that's the case, why would you let me know where she's living?" Sunset asked, somewhat confused.

"Because any friend of Twilight is a friend of mine." Dusty smiled. "Plus, you mentioned that the former princess knows you, so I'd imagine it would be okay. Come to think of it… I think Twilight's told me a thing or two about you. You must be… Starlight Glimmer, is that correct?"

"…No, I'm afraid that's way off." Sunset replied. "It's Sunset Shimmer."

"Oh, my mistake then." Dusty apologized. "Well, have fun visiting Celestia, Sunset. I hope your visit to this marvelous coastal town will be just as splendid."

"Thank you, ma'am." Sunset smiled, as Dusty went about her way.

Now that Sunset had a clear direction to visit her former teacher, she was glad she no longer needed to knock door to door until she found her. Sunset trotted up to the house, which admittedly didn't look much different from the rest of the homes in the area. This definitely gave off the impression that Dusty wasn't kidding when she mentioned that the former princesses would prefer to be living here discreetly. It made sense as a motive for them to not attract unwanted attention from being two alicorns casually living in this ordinary town during their retirement. Sunset knocked on the door, waiting for somepony to open it. Before long, Luna arrived and opened up, surprised to see who the visitor was.

"Sunset Shimmer?" Luna widened her eyes. "Hello, long time no see!"

"Nice to see you again too, Vice-Principal- err, I mean, Princess Luna." Sunset greeted. "Sorry, that's still going to take some getting used to."

"Just 'Luna' will do, since my sister and I are no longer the princesses of Equestria." Luna giggled. "By the way, were you ever able to take care of that nefarious 'faculty lot' you had briefly mentioned before?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that, and I did recently encounter a siren there too." Sunset recalled jokingly, when she unexpectedly ran into Adagio in the CHS parking lot.

"Sirens, you say?" Luna said with astonishment. "I haven't heard anypony mention those creatures in moons. I don't think we've seen any ever since Starswirl banished those three into some other realm. That might mean the species has now become completely extinct from Equestria. Regardless, I'm sure you would like to say 'hi' to my sister?"

"Yeah, for sure!" Sunset said, enthusiastically. "Is it true that you two are laying low here as to avoid any unwanted attention?"

"Yes, you would not believe how hard it always has been to live a casual life without bypassers constantly acknowledging you as a princess or putting you on a pedestal." Luna reflected. "At least the elderly folks here at Silver Shoals are more understanding with respecting our wishes. Out of curiosity, did you by any chance know who I was that one time you came to Canterlot to reconcile with my sister?"

"I didn't recognize you at first, but Twilight eventually caught me up on everything when we were in the library doing research together." Sunset recalled. "To be fair, I'm pretty sure that back when I was your sister's pupil, you were still stuck in the moon, right?"

"Hard to say, since you begin to lose track of time when you get banished for 1,000 years." Luna replied.

"Fair point, but I recall Twilight mentioning that she and her friends freed you from being Nightmare Moon long after your sister removed me as her pupil." Sunset speculated. "I guess that would explain why I didn't immediately recognize you, since it was technically our very first meeting. Regardless, I can connect with you pretty well as far as having a troubled past with Princess Celestia."

"I'm glad to hear you can relate with where I've been myself, Sunset." Luna smiled. "My sister and I may not always agree on everything, but at the end of the day, we love each other as good siblings. If you ask me, I've always felt grateful for how forgiving of a pony she can be."

"You and me both." Sunset agreed. "Where is your sister, by the way? She's not busy at the moment, is she?"

"Well, she's mostly continuing to unpack our belongings upstairs, since we just moved here and began renovating." Luna explained. "It's getting late soon, so I was about to start dinner. Would you like to stay over for the night?"

"Oh, really?" Sunset said with enthusiasm. "I'd love to, especially since this was my last stop for the day, and I hadn't really considered where I was going to hit the hay for the night."

"Glad to have some company over for today, at least when the company's familiar, and not constantly bothering you because you're a princess." Luna sighed in relief. "I'll get started cooking our meals, feel free to meet my sister upstairs."

Sunset nodded and trotted up the stairs, as she set her saddlebag down in a corner. She continued to keep in mind that her former teacher could have vital information regarding her real family, as her time in Equestria had already helped her learn a lot. More specifically, she was at least hoping Celestia knew something, anything about this seeming Solstice pony whom she's speculated for a while was once her birth mother. As Sunset searched the various rooms upstairs, she eventually saw Celestia facing the opposite direction within what looked like her bedroom, still opening some moving packages that contained old belongings from Canterlot. Since the door was already opened, Sunset simply gave a knock on it to make her presence known, before the former princess turned around and saw her old student once more.

"Dear Princess Celestia." Sunset began, trying to deliver a cool entrance line. "Today I learned where you live."

"Ohhhhhh, Sunset Shimmer!" Celestia dropped everything and ran up to hug her former pupil. "This is a wonderful surprise. I know I've said this before, but I'll say those exact words once more. I've missed you… Sunset Shimmer."

"I've missed you too." Sunset cried a few tears of happiness. "It's already been quite a journey getting to this point, but you might be wondering why I've only come to visit you just now?"

"Hmm." Celestia thought to herself. "Are you by any chance coming to me for guidance once more, or simply visiting as a matter of checking in after Twilight took over as the Princess of Equestria?"

"Eh, a little bit of both, actually." Sunset replied. "Well, maybe more toward the latter, since I really missed you dearly, even when I was often preoccupied with my human life in the other world. I hadn't realized back when I was your pupil, how much over the years you truly cared for me, as if I was your daughter. Let's just say… I've kinda been reflecting everything we've been through together before I betrayed and abandoned you back then. I realize now, how important our relationship always was, since you weren't just my teacher, but also like a mother to me. You gave me everything when I was just an ordinary filly who was curious in learning magic, and I shouldn't have taken it all for granted."

"I'm happy you're letting me know how grateful you were for all I've given you back when you were my pupil, but I'm sure it was really nothing." Celestia tried to be humble. "Being the former princess of Equestria entailed much more responsibility over 1,000 years, making it so I was too occupied and never able to have any children of my own. Despite this, I've always had a more motherly side when it came to the matter of teaching. Since having my own children was out of the question, I put this motherly instinct toward my students, not only as a way of encouraging them to succeed, but to also teach them the values and morals of making friends."

"Yeah…" Sunset began. "I can completely see that now, especially after remembering how wrong it was of me to simply ignore your concerns of making friends when I was under your wing. I basically only cared about being an overachieving perfectionist, and pushed away anypony who wanted to be my friend, simply because I wanted to come out on top. Then I became too obsessed over some magical mirror, which ultimately tore us apart. Though now that I've spent a good chunk of my life in that other world, at least I can now confidently say that my curiosity's been completely satisfied. Ironically, while that mirror did make us distant, the world within was where I genuinely embraced friendship for the first time and made a bunch of legitimate friends there. Funny how that works out, huh?"

"Are you saying I WASN'T your first friend?" Celestia asked, offended.

"Oh, n-no, that's not what I meant, I" Sunset stuttered.

"Gotcha!" Celestia laughed it off, similar to the last time Sunset returned, and jokingly interjected that Twilight and Sunset were implying she wasn't ever a good teacher herself.

"Ah, yes." Sunset joined in with her former teacher's laughing. "I almost forgot a certain somepony now has a sense of humor and changed, just like me."

"But serious talk, it does seem amusing that the portal to this other world was the main reason you grew distant from me, yet finally also understood the importance of making friends as I had hoped you would one day." Celestia realized. "Twilight did in some ways almost remind me of yourself before I sent her off to Ponyville. She always used to be a perfectionist who put her studies first, even going as far as neglecting her friends. Since I had mostly let you live in the luxurious residential area of Canterlot, I almost imagined giving you the high-class, privileged life might've unintentionally spoiled you a fair bit?"

"Honestly… I agree with that." Sunset reasoned with her own beliefs. "I even remember some of my old classmates at the School For Gifted Unicorns used to acknowledge the things I had that they didn't. Being your pupil, having a luxurious home all to myself, and even getting to eat high-class foods almost every day. Although Twilight's never really touched upon why you sent her to Ponyville, I think I can kind of understand myself now. You wanted her to make some new friends there, sure, but you also wanted to make sure she didn't become as spoiled and entitled as I once did when I believed I always had the finer things in life?"

"Precisely." Celestia replied, impressed. "I've never actually straight-up told anypony else of why specifically I sent her to Ponyville, since it wouldn't sound good to word things that way, but you did hit the nail right on the head. The fact you were able to surmise this on your own surely tells me that you now completely understand the most important lesson I've struggled to teach you for years. Do you remember when you read about the mirror and bluntly demanded that I make you a princess? Well, if this current Sunset Shimmer was my pupil back then, I could almost guarantee she would've truly earned it all one day."

"I appreciate your kind words, but…" Sunset explained her changed mentality regarding the whole princess motive. "If I'm honest, I've kinda lost interest in the whole princess dream. I feel like I only wanted to become a princess because I began to grow mad with power, without considering any of the responsibilities of actually being one. After all, being the leader of my friends back in the other world is already a lot of work, and I couldn't imagine how busy Twilight's become, now that she's in charge. She even goes as far as putting others before her own needs and duties, so I'm sure Equestria will be in good hooves for many years to come."

"Honest and humble too." Celestia noted even more pleasant traits regarding her former student. "I really now believe that in some ways, even though I joked about you and Twilight implying I wasn't a good teacher back then, that statement wasn't necessarily wrong. Ever since your return and theft of Twilight's crown, I wasn't really involved in the process of making you a better pony. It was Twilight who went into that world on her own, and even managed to discover a method to keep that portal open without needing to wait every 30 moons. Twilight's also kept me updated that she's been helping you out with information regarding magical artifacts which somehow ended up in that world. The point being, after some thinking myself, I can concede that I never actually did anything to set you on the road to becoming the pony you are now. It was all Twilight's doing in the end, especially since my teaching methods didn't seem to work out for you."

"But… you taught Twilight, and she taught me, so I believe you should still get some credit." Sunset insisted. "Plus, to tell you the truth, that's not entirely true. That one time I did return to Canterlot in the hopes of seeking your guidance, you did actually teach me something else valuable."

"I did?" Celestia asked in astonishment. "I mean, I guess I helped you and Twilight search for answers in regards to the memory stone, but I wouldn't think that's something noteworthy."

"Err, no, it's not that." Sunset began elaborating. "It wasn't something you taught me directly, but rather something that you did unintentionally inspire me to embrace more of, empathy and forgiveness. Sure, it did feel nice when over time, I proved myself to the rest of my human friends and everyone else at CHS that I truly changed for the better, but it was particularly your opinion that mattered the most for me, deep down. I know it didn't really seem like it at first, but I was always heartbroken and felt lonely when I first entered the mirror and realized I couldn't go back. During some of my first nights there, all I could really think about was how dumb of a decision I made, and that I immediately regretted disobeying your orders."

"Hmm, I had no idea you even felt this immediately after our dispute." Celestia reflected. "But considering what had happened soon, shortly following Twilight's ascension into an alicorn princess, something did change along the way?"

"Well, feeling all lonely in a world where no one seemed to accept or understand me would've been a contributing factor." Sunset internalized. "I guess after being trapped, I realized I had no one left to share my achievements and accomplishments with. During those all those moons, without even the simplest motivation to make friends, out of my pride in admitting you were right all along, I just grew distant, lonelier, sadder, meaner, until I just became a full time bully who ruled CHS with an iron fist. I even recall that at some point, I also began to go as far as to blame you for being trapped there, since you failed to gave me the simplest explanation of why it was dangerous. This began to make me heavily resent you over time, when I should've been looking in a non-magical mirror this whole time. It was clearly my own fault and decision to begin with."

"I'm happy to hear how open you're willing to be with me regarding our troubled past." Celestia put a hoof on Sunset's cheek. "To be fair, you did actually raise a good point, in that I could've handled things better myself. Constantly telling you that you weren't ready to know about that mirror, never giving you at least a little information to satisfy your curiosity, nor teaching you the true importance and values in making friends. It's why in my own time, I do feel like I was still responsible for what had happened to you, and reevaluated myself before taking on a new pupil. I might've been the Princess of Equestria, but even princesses can make mistakes. Banishing my own sister to the moon for 1,000 years without even considering why she was feeling hurt herself to begin with? That would certainly still be my biggest regret."

"Yeah, I might not know Luna as well as you, but I can certainly understand why she went down the path she did, based on what Twilight wrote to me about her." Sunset reflected. "Feeling like her hard work in creating a beautiful night every day, only for everypony to basically sleep through it, thereby shunning her duties, she grew bitter over time and eventually embraced her Nightmare Moon ego."

"Correct, I can see that Twilight's been teaching you more than just friendship lessons." Celestia smiled. "But yes, admittedly, I feel as though being the ruler of Equestria for so long, that was always a bad habit I've had for far too long, in the sense that I never seemed to empathize with others or attempted to understand how I'd feel if I was in their position. Not even my own sister, which… you can certainly understand hurt the most for me. I've felt like this aspect in my life was one that I tried heavily to correct for the longest time, in that I should never push away an opportunity to make amends if I can see the other pony is being genuine. Since I felt I was still partially responsible for what had happened with both you and Luna, it was practically an instinct for me to immediately be willing to reconcile with you both when the two of you had finally returned after so long."

"Huh, I never thought about it like that." Sunset finally understood her former teacher's psychology. "But regardless, since you did forgive me in that light, that does bring me back to what I meant when you unintentionally taught me something else, last time I sought guidance from you. Let's just say, I eventually found out who was responsible for the memory stone, and I really wanted to let her have everything she had coming to her. I mean, if you were in my position, wouldn't you feel the same way?"

"From what Twilight's reported to me ever since she got word of that situation being resolved, I'd understand where you were coming from." Celestia resonated with Sunset's mentality. "If somepony erased everypony's memories of me out of pure pettiness, I would certainly not be happy and not hold back in punishing them dearly."

"Right, that's exactly how I felt initially." Sunset continued retelling her story of the Wallflower incident. "Earlier when I came back to visit you, I think you could definitely tell how anxious and afraid I was when Twilight advised me to seek you for guidance once more. I mean, after what I did, I would've completely been prepared for the possibility of you being unforgiving or never wanting to see me again. That was far from the case, when I heard you not only said you missed me yourself, but also accepted me into your hooves like you did all those years ago. And I guess… this act of kindness from you inadvertently inspired me to do the same when I finally confronted the culprit behind the memory stone. I ended up forgiving her after learning the extent of it all being a misunderstanding."

"Twilight specifically reported that based on your story of events, this culprit did erase your friends' memories out of pettiness." Celestia recalled. "Was this not the case?"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly agree that it wasn't petty of her per se, but I mean, I resonated more with her when I was finally able to understand how she was feeling herself." Sunset elaborated further. "She got too used to erasing memories and began to rely on its power too heavily, so much to the point where others lacked memories of her at all. But given how much of a good reputation I had at CHS, despite how awful I was to everyone during freshman year, she began to grow resentful toward me, especially when I went as far as to treat her like she never existed. I know this was never my intention to begin with, assuming she even erased my own memories of her without ever realizing it, but I could've talked things out and treated her better, rather than just ditching her to hang with the rest of my friends."

"This reminds me of what happened with my sister, when I simply brushed off how hurt she was when seemingly nopony else was ever appreciating the beautiful night she created every evening." Celestia related. "Going back to what happened with you and this culprit, I'm happy to hear I've influenced you in a good way, albeit unintentionally. We all make mistakes, since nopony's perfect, but it's always good to recognize who you can genuinely forgive, compared to those who expect forgiveness without doing anything to earn it."

"Agreed, though I mostly forgave her because I was able to understand myself what it was once like to be part of a society that never understood my deep complexities." Sunset reasoned. "Plus, it just feels good to be forgiven for your mistakes if you genuinely did go the extra mile to be a better pony than you once were. I guess you can say… although Twilight's taught me everything I needed to know about friendship, you taught me how to show empathy and forgiveness toward others."

"Maybe you're like a seventh Element of Harmony then, Sunset." Celestia smiled. "The Element of Empathy. It's just a shame we'll never see anything like that now, after a certain king destroyed the original six, along with the Tree of Harmony."

"So I've been told." Sunset recalled what Rarity and Fluttershy shared with her on the train. "Even then, like with being a princess, I don't need a superior title to prove to myself that I'm now a better pony than I once was years ago. All I really need is some commitment and friends by my side, and that's it, really."

"Twilight and I have both set the bar pretty high for your future, it seems." Celestia said, proudly. "Thank you very much for visiting and being so open with me, given how you had far more… urgent circumstances to worry about last time you came by. I'm not sure if Luna's mentioned to you yet, but I'd be happy to have you stay over for the night. I let her know that if you or Twilight by some chance stopped by, we'd be willing to let either of you make yourself at home."

"She did, and I'd happily take the offer." Sunset smiled. "It's one reason that I decided to take a more extensive stay in Equestria, mostly to spend more time with my friends and family since graduation at CHS is finally approaching for me and the rest of the girls."

"Oh, congratulations on making it that far." Celestia acknowledged. "Speaking of schools, did Twilight tell you that back at the School For Gifted Unicorns, I… well, how do I put this?"

"Made it so all my records and educational history was still completely intact, rather than being erased after I was removed from pupil status?" Sunset finished Celestia's sentence. "Yeah, and it made me realize just how much you cared for me, in the hopes that I'd one day return. Twilight said that I've fulfilled every requirement necessary to receive a degree, but I still decided I'm not ready yet. Since I've been living in a world that doesn't normally have magic, it's admittedly been many years since I've had decent practice with magic, so it doesn't really feel right yet to accept an award for something that I can barely pull off now. She also advised me to come visit you here in Silver Shoals, just so we could spend a little more time together before I remastered my skills in magic."

"Twilight really does care for her friends and students, on top of balancing her royal responsibilities." Celestia noted. "I'm glad to see I've made the right decision putting her in charge. As for relearning magic, I may be old and retired now, but that doesn't mean I can't still effectively use magic when I had my own plate of duties. For example, my sister and I are still raising the sun and moon in our own time, just to give Twilight a little more breathing room as she gets more used to all of her new responsibilities. Once she believes she's ready to do it all on her own, that might be when Luna and I will be on an indefinite hiatus when it comes to using magic to such an extent. But since you expressed interest in relearning these skills, I can still teach you a thing or two, being that I was once your teacher."

"Oh, I guess that explains why I wasn't seeing Twilight raise the sun or moon, or mention doing anything like that in her new position." Sunset understood. "And sure, I'd love to learn some new things if you're willing to take the time and effort to teach me again. The last thing I want to do now is waste a good opportunity like this from my teacher."

As Celestia was prepared to show her old student some basic tricks to get her more familiar with the art of magic, they both heard Luna calling from downstairs.

"Sunset! Big Sister!" Luna called out. "Dinner's ready, come get it while it's hot!"

"Hmm, we might need some fuel before we do a few private lessons." Celestia suggested. "Are you hungry yourself right now and would like something to eat?"

"Sure, I'd love to join you both for dinner." Sunset accepted. "I… particularly miss actual Equestrian food, let's just say."

"I'd imagine so." Celestia replied, amused, before she and her former student began trotting down the halls and downstairs to the dining room. "By the way, on another subject, during Twilight's coronation, I was looking over the guest list, and noticed that Twilight added your name to it, meaning she had to have invited you. But if memory serves correctly, I don't think I saw you anywhere at the event, not even with Twilight and the rest of her friends before my sister and I said our final goodbyes to them. Did you somehow miss the invitation? It seems very unlike you to not attend, given how close you and Twilight are."

"Oh yeah, that." Sunset recalled what happened that day. "It's… kind of a long story, there was a mishap with some castle guards after I showed up late, Twilight had to vouch for me to clear up a misunderstanding, and… a number of things led me to miss most of the coronation. I can assure you that despite missing most of the event, I was able to still meet up with Twilight and her friends before they all headed home. Plus, I still barely caught the main highlight of the coronation from a distance, when Twilight received her new crown and slipped off the balcony, prompting me to rush in to see if she was okay. Long story short, I was definitely still part of her coronation, even if I wasn't physically there during the main event."

"Oh my." Celestia reacted in shock to Sunset's story. "Sounds like to me you've already gone through quite a wild ride during your visit back. I dearly hope Twilight and her friends have been making your return feel that much more special?"

"For the most part, yes." Sunset replied, as she still had to deal with making amends with Rainbow Dash. "I've gotten to know them all more closely these past few days, and as far as I can tell, they do remind me of my human friends, who're the human versions of all of them. Speaking of which, aside from what we've already discussed regarding my motives in coming by to visit you, I also wanted to ask you a few tough questions, if that's fine?"

"What kind of questions did you have in mind?" Celestia asked curiously, before arriving in the dining room.

"Well, two things in particular." Sunset began, as she and her former teacher finally took their seats at the dinner table. "I wanted to ask if you knew anything about my biological family, whom I've already gotten somewhat of an idea about thanks to Twilight and a few other friends helping me. Secondly, I had some questions regarding the portal itself, and why specifically you kept it away from me all those years ago."

"Hmm, fair questions, I suppose." Celestia agreed and obliged to Sunset's request. "However, I may warn you ahead of time that you might not like what you hear, even if what I tell you is the truth. But before we get to that, we might as well have dinner. Do you like spaghetti?"

"Mmm, some pasta sounds pretty good right about now." Sunset licked her lips, as she saw Luna using her magic to place some plates of spaghetti with sauce and Parmesan cheese in front of the two ponies.

Sunset and Celestia began to dig in, as Luna joined them. Once again, the tantalizing tastes of food native to Equestria proved to be even more of an incentive to the unicorn who was too used to devouring foods meant more for omnivorous beings like humans. All the ingredients tasted so fresh, Sunset almost believed she was eating high quality food prepared by Gourmand Ramsay, a chef who used to cook her meals back in Canterlot when she was a filly.

"Mmm! This is literally the best pasta I've had in ages!" Sunset complimented Luna's cooking.

"Much obliged, Sunset. It should taste familiar, as Mr. Ramsay gave me the recipe before we moved away from Canterlot." Luna explained, furthering the reasoning of why it tasted so familiar. "I actually used fresh tomatoes grown from our old private Canterlot garden, and the cheese had been aged for approximately 1,000 years while I was on the moon."

"Oh, Luna." Celestia giggled at her sister's last statement. "Even though we've both changed quite a lot since that incident, I can still see some things will never change. For context, Sunset, my sister always loved to crack a few jokes from time to time, and I feel as though ever since she returned, she's been rubbing off on me. My new sense of humor had to come from somewhere, after all."

"Well whether this cheese is 1,000 years old or not, it's still got some of the best flavor I've ever tasted." Sunset affirmed.

Before long, the three ponies had already finished their scrumptious supper, leaving behind some clean plates. Although now fed for the evening, Sunset was still adamant about asking Celestia the questions swimming around in her mind for quite some time, even tracing back to her days as the former princess's pupil. Celestia saw this in Sunset's eyes, and initiated the conversation.

"Alright, Sunset." Celestia began. "As promised, we can now discuss some of these tough questions you wanted to ask me. Did you have anything specific regarding these topics you'd like us to touch upon?"

"Yes, I guess I'll first ask regarding my family." Sunset began, as she knew this was going to be pivotal. "Earlier on when I was hanging with Twilight, I was told that you mentioned at some point, you felt like you wanted to give me the mother I needed? Does that mean… there was something much more troubling with my family earlier on, or my real mom was already gone by the time I was born? Did neither of my parents truly want me?"

"Well Sunset, I wouldn't say that, I mean"

"Sister." Luna interjected. "You've already told me what happened, and it sounds like to me Sunset really wants to know nothing more than the truth. I don't believe it's right of you to keep this from her any longer, even if it is tragic."

"Y-You're right, Luna." Celestia shifted her tone to ensure she wouldn't sugarcoat anything. "Alright, Sunset, are you sure that you really want to know what happened?"

"I've already come pretty far in this mystery, including learning my real dad was some stallion named Sunspot, as well as the fact I've always had a half brother, Sunburst." Sunset began explaining her journey. "This was already proven to be legitimate, since Twilight conducted a DNA test that confirms this, but I'm still missing a piece of the puzzle. I've been curious about this whole mystery ever since I had an urge in wanting to spend time with my real biological family that originated here in Equestria, and noticed a distinct word engraved on the bottom of my saddlebag."

She held her saddlebag up and showed it to the two princesses, as Celestia's eyes widened.

"For a while, I had no idea what this word meant, until I realized it might've been linked to one of my parents. Let's just say… after doing some further digging, along with the way other ponies have reacted when I mentioned this name, I think I now have a reason to believe this Solstice pony was my mother. Could you… please let me know if that's the case or not?"

"My, my." Celestia said with amazement. "I'm impressed at how you were able to figure out all those things on your own, without me providing you any information yet. I must admit, I was rather confused myself when Sunburst first came to study at the same school you left a few years prior, and mentioned his father's name. It sounded familiar, but I eventually realized it was the same name of your father, making me realize that he must've remarried and had another child. Since you're already aware about your half brother and father, I'll start off by saying, your hunch was correct. Solstice was indeed your mother."

"Was?" Sunset questioned the implication behind Celestia's word choice. "You mean… she passed away shortly after I was born, or she disowned me, just like my dad?"

"Your father disowned you?" Celestia asked, rather confused. "That… doesn't sound like him, are you sure we're talking about the same Sunspot here, who's also the father of Sunburst?"

"Positive." Sunset replied. "I might've visited him earlier today, and let's just say… it was far from pleasant, what I had experienced from him…"

"Oh, Sunset…" Celestia put a hoof on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry. To answer your question though, Solstice did not disown you, but rather… your father did something that resulted in them being separated shortly before you were born. I was not given the full extent of every detail regarding their case settled in court, but to make a long story short, your mother found out Sunspot cheated on her."

"He did…?" Sunset's ears went down in sadness.

"As badly as he hurt her, my sister initially didn't want you to know the full extent of these circumstances because… she didn't want you to hate your dad." Luna added. "That's how big her heart is."

"I understand, but…" Sunset began, horrified at what her father seemingly did before she was even born. "I think at this point, it's better that I know the truth so that I don't spend the rest of my life wondering why I only grew up with him and not mom. Speaking of which, what happened after I was born?"

"Although your mother initially wanted full custody of you, the court wouldn't allow it." Celestia began. "They still ruled in favor of your father wanting some custody as well, given he was the more financially stable parent. Solstice sacrificed her dreams and career to help your father become successful over the years, only to find out he was never a faithful husband. Following the divorce, it would've originally granted her a large sum of bits in alimony support, but your mother did something completely unexpected. She turned down the alimony in its entirety, because she didn't want anything to do with your dad's money anymore. Being prideful enough to reject anything from him, she unfortunately realized a crucial detail far too late after already signing the papers. It didn't occur to her at the time, but due to an old Equestrian law that prohibited parents with no income to have custody of their children, she suddenly lost complete custody of you. Being so emotionally broken over your dad's actions had her make a mistake so severe, she signed herself into not being able to legally see you after you were born. And if you're wondering, the decisions on such matters in Equestria have always been strict, meaning that once she signed the documents, it was final, whether she wanted it or not."

"I… I can't believe it." Sunset said, exasperated. "Dad cheated on mom, then tricked her so that he could have 100% custody of me when I was born?"

"Supposedly, his appeal to the court claimed that he would never do something so horrible to his wife, and that even if Solstice wanted to separate, they should both still get custody over you." Celestia clarified. "Your mother believed that if she could start her own career and have complete custody over you as you both lived off of her life savings, things would still work out. But unfortunately, the old law, which had since then been revoked, prevented her from getting even a fraction of custody, since she turned down your dad's alimony."

"Hmm, I see." Sunset began brainstorming. "Something about this doesn't seem to add up, though. If dad was really unfaithful to her to willingly have an affair behind his back, why would he still want to raise me? During my visit to his home earlier, he went as far as claiming he put me up for adoption because he never wanted me."

"He really said that?" Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm afraid that would be far from the truth back then, especially given how my exchange with him went, shortly after you were born."

Celestia began sharing a flashback when Sunset was already born, but barely a year old. She was already able to start learning magic in her own time, after her father had begun teaching her this important life skill. Princess Celestia was stopping by, looking for potential recruits who might be interested in attending a new institution which had recently opened up in Canterlot, the School For Gifted Unicorns. The princess had already found a number of families all over Equestria who were interested in giving their unicorn children this opportunity, even if it meant a few had to move away. In the meantime, Celestia knocked on the door of Sunspot, not realizing she was about to change the life of a young filly forever.

"Oh, hello, Princess!" Sunspot bowed to the ruler of Equestria. "To what do I owe the pleasure this fine day?"

"I appreciate the formalities, sir, but I can assure you, I could do without them every time I visit a house." Celestia said. "Anyways, I won't take up too much of your time, I just wanted to let you know that back in Canterlot, I've set up a new institution specialized on teaching young unicorns the wonders of magic. According to the residence information in Ponyville, you happen to have a young unicorn daughter, is that correct?"

"Well, yes." Sunspot replied. "But you said this magic school is located in Canterlot? Even with my job and income, I don't even know if I'm able to afford that kind of tuition. All I know is, Canterlot's most likely out of my budget, even if my wife was still with me…"

"Oh?" Celestia sympathized with the stallion. "I'm sorry to hear, you mean she is…?"

"She divorced me." Sunspot clarified. "Over something that I never even did, and then made a huge mistake in our divorce papers to where she couldn't even legally see our daughter anymore."

"Hmm, I was not aware such a law existed, so I might need to look into the terms of Equestria and see if anything needs updating." Celestia said. "I hope things have at least been going well for you now that you're raising your daughter on your own, but I'm happy to know she has a wonderful, caring father. Could I please see your daughter?"

"Of course." Sunspot agreed. "She's not even a full year old yet, so I'm not really sure if she can do anything to prove she's magic school material."

"That's okay, I'm not exactly looking for such skills at the moment, I wanted to mostly check and see if anypony had interest in attending the school whenever they're ready and old enough." Celestia assured.

"Well, even though Sunset's still really young, I recently started teaching her a few skills to prepare her for the future." Sunspot explained. "It's nothing really that impressive, though."

"Sunset, that's a beautiful name." Celestia smiled. "It almost reminds me of my own name, Celestia. This is actually the first family I've come across where I've heard anypony with an attribute in their name related to the sun."

"I originally wanted to name her 'Sunny', but long before our divorce, my wife wanted 'Sunset'. Thus, we eventually ended up with 'Sunset Shimmer', as we felt it had a nice ring to it. We mostly chose this name since we also have sun-like names ourselves. I'm Sunspot, and my ex-wife's first name was 'Solstice'."

"Nice to meet you, Sunspot." Celestia said. "Also, I agree, that sounds like a wonderful name for your daughter. Are you sure she'd be interested in learning magic?"

"Well, I can't really speak for her, maybe we should let Sunset herself decide." Sunspot said, as he went upstairs to fetch his daughter, who was still taking a nap in her crib.

Sunset woke up upon hearing her father's hoofsteps, but unlike most babies her age, she didn't immediately cry upon waking. She simply looked up at her father's face in curiosity, before Sunspot took her out of the crib and downstairs to the princess. By this point, Sunset was still confused at what was going on, before noticing the princess with a colorful, wavy mane standing before her. The baby Sunset smiled and giggled with happiness upon seeing Celestia.

"Ohhhhh, she's so adorable." Celestia said with glee.

"Thank you, your highness." Sunspot said happily. "I mostly wanted to show you what she looked like since… I was actually being hypothetical when I said we should let Sunset decide. She hasn't said her first word yet, and I'm not really sure when she's ready to speak."

"It's all right, Sunspot." Celestia assured, before showering the filly with motherly affection. "In the meantime, Sunset? Would you ever want me to teach you magic with that horn of yours?"

Although Sunset could not speak yet, she seemed to be able to understand Celestia's words, especially when she used the word 'magic'. She waved her hooves excitedly in her dad's lap, before doing something completely unexpected. She somehow managed to use her magic to levitate two picture frames from the wall, and held them in front of Celestia without any issue. One picture was of her father, while the other was of herself, presumably taken by Sunspot a few weeks ago. If Sunset's impressive feat with magic wasn't astonishing enough, she even began to utter a few noises before saying what sounded like her first word.

"…M-MM-Mama… ?" Sunset tried her best to speak, as her father was shocked, before the princess cried tears of joy.

"She… she thinks you're her mother." Sunspot exclaimed in surprise. "M-Maybe we should"

"Yes, Sunset." Celestia quickly cut Sunspot off, before holding Sunset in her own hooves. "I am your mama, and I love you very much."

The princess winked to Sunspot, subtly letting him know that since Sunset seemingly understood her when she used the word 'magic', she could potentially overhear and understand them clarifying that Celestia was not her mother, likely leaving the filly feeling sad and confused. Sunspot understood this, and let the princess continue this act, believing it was the best thing to make her daughter happy. Sunset meanwhile, looked quite overjoyed that after so long, she could finally see the pony who was supposedly her mom. After a while, Celestia handed Sunset back to Sunspot, who was still staring at the princess as if she had finally met her real mother.