Book one of "Who We Become".
Sunset always knew that she was destined for greatness, but she never dreamed of how great she could become. Not until she had seen it - the mirror had shown her as an alicorn. Ignoring Celestia's warnings, Sunset goes l...
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Everything was different. Once Sunset opened up to Crystal Clear she noticed an immediate change in how she felt. She didn't have nightmares anymore, her mood swings had largely stopped, even her outlook on dealing with other kids was better. Suddenly, everything fell into place. All the stupid things she had to deal with were all temporary, just unimportant things she would handle one day at a time.
Talking with Crystal Clear became something to look forward to every week. It wasn't just that it was liberating to finally talk about Equestria after so long away, either. That was definitely part of her excitement, but even more importantly he had said that he could help her find her way home. She had no doubt he had his own reasons, but that wasn't a problem. Naturally, he would want to see this other world with its magic, and even if he wanted monetary compensation that should prove simple enough. Sure, bits wouldn't help him much, but Princess Celestia could easily arrange a reward of gold or valuable gems.
The thought broke through her good mood. Sunset had been feeling cheerful as always while she waited for Rose Petal to take her to her weekly appointment, but as always found mixed feelings rushing back to her at the memory of her former mentor. What would she do if Sunset returned?
'When,' Sunset reminded herself. What would Celestia do when she returned, not if. Because she was returning to Equestria, even if it was going to take years.
There was no way to know what Celestia would do. She had always been patient and forgiving in the past, but she had also dismissed Sunset from her tutelage. Would an apology still be enough?
There was no way of knowing, so she was better off not thinking about it. Before that could even be a concern, Sunset would have to find her way home.
"Alright, let's get going," Rose Petal said, snapping Sunset from her thoughts. She was smiling happily, the way she did before the past few appointments with Crystal Clear. Everyone was happy with Sunset's change in attitude, but none more so than Rose Petal.
"Okay." Sunset followed Rose Petal out to her van. It had been over a month since Sunset had found herself living with humans, and finally she seemed to be getting used to their world. For example, she could now tell that the little old lady looked out of place behind the wheel of such a large vehicle. But of course, she was one of the primary caretakers of twenty-seven children and needed something large enough to transport as many of them as she could.
"So who's it going to be today?" Rose asked once she started the engine.
"Today's definitely an Arpeggio Harmony kind of day," Sunset answered.
"Good choice, as always." Rose Petal pulled the cassette tape out from between their seats and put it into the van's tape deck. The sound of the string section opening the song filled the van, with the more dominant piano coming in shortly after.
Sunset and Rose shared a love for classical music, much to their mutual surprise. Rose was amazed to find a child who was interested in anything but pop music, while Sunset never mentioned that it was hardly something she'd consider 'classic' since it was still a very dominant music genre in Equestria. In particular, Arpeggio Harmony instantly became one of Sunset's favorites. She recognized the name as a long dead Equestrian composer, although she had only read about him and wasn't actually familiar with any of his music. Still, the coincidence in the name was very amusing, and she liked to imagine it was some sort of bizarre connection between the two worlds.
