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Empress Yuè took only a couple moments to process Medo’s request. While her words may have sounded awkwardly vague and stilted on a surface level, the unicorn’s unspoken, taboo desire was unmistakable. But given the circumstances, who was the Empress to refuse? And besides; Yuè was loath to admit it, but with the sibling duo Presteza and Silverheart having both returned to their Equestrian homeland, her private dinner table felt rather lonesome as of late. At the very least, Medo deserved the chance to get to be known better.

A smile crept its way onto Empress Yuè’s muzzle after a few seconds; “.....Then a friend you shall receive. My servant will show you to our Peony Garden after you acquaint yourself with the Chamberlain and your new quarters. My royal duties for the day will be concluded then... and we’ll have a moment to ourselves, so that we may have an opportunity to get to know one another better over tea. I hope that arrangement will be to your liking....?”

With an uncharacteristically despondent voice, Princess Cadence barely managed to eek out an answer to her mama’s question; “Oh, uh, we’ll see I guess, if Flurry likes singing that is.....”

“Princess Twilight Sparkle requests an audience with everypony gathered here.” The overly formal voice came from a Twilight Guard stallion standing at the doorway; guess Twily was finally able to drop what she was doing to spend quality family time. “This way please..."

As all the guests got up from their seats to follow their armor-wearing usher, Cadence took a brief moment to put on a smile and leaned in close towards Flurry Heart, whispering; “Mommy hoped you like our moving picture, you cutie pie. Maybe you’ll be in one of them someday.....”

As cute as it was to see Twilight’s snout being utilized to activate her device, Sunset Shimmer was genuinely excited to see Twi appear on her own screen. She could genuinely video-chat with her friend across dimensions now! That WAS super rad!!!

Once she waved back to the alicorn, a grinning Sunset looked back up at the elderly Starswirl; “This is... this thing is wonderful!!! I can’t wait to give it a go once I get home! Say though Starswirl, have you given this device a name yet?”

Being lost in thought, it took Sunset Shimmer a few moments to realize her turn to step up had finally come. “Ohh, uhhh,” the unicorn stammered as she adjusted her mental bearings; “Hello, Applejack. Whatever types of apples you’ve got left are fine by me. Preferably those suited for snacking instead of baking.” Miss Shimmer might not spend all that much time in the company of her fellow friendship professor in this world, but a little bit of apple facts taught by Applejack’s counterpart Over There HAD managed to rub off onto Sunset.....

Sunburst was going to mess around with an unidentified rune? ...Sunset Shimmer had a bad feeling about this. On a couple of occasions, Princess Celestia had harped about the dangers of casting mystery incantations without proper safeguards in place, which Sunset failed to truly appreciate at the time. Nowadays ironically, the amber unicorn believed this was one department where her friend and former teacher's pet, Twilight Sparkle, was kinda reckless at times.

“Ummm,” the mare asked nervously; “You uhhh, HAVE worked with runes before..... right, Sunburst?”

Sunset Shimmer offered a knowing nod to Luster about the grades not coming easy. Back then, the amber unicorn had quite happily made a ton of sacrifices in her single-minded quest to become the best of the best. Few others tended to be willing to go without things like social connections and recreational time.

After a few moments of silence — which Sunset used up to finish her sandwich — Luster Dawn’s next round of questions caught the older mare a bit off-guard. “.....You know,” Miss Shimmer scratched her chin; “I’ve haven’t really thought about becoming a mentor at all. Maybe if I didn’t have to jump between worl-... make long-distance commutes every other day, I’d have the time to give somebody a proper arcane mentorship.”

With a sigh, Sunset glanced back towards the window; “...If I choose to relocate to Ponyville once this current school year ends, then it’ll something I’ll consider for the future...” Great; now the Equestrian Girl was once again reminded of the anxiety-inducing time bomb that was Graduation, and what it would mean to six of the most meaningful friendships in her life. As if she didn't need more to worry about already.....

“Ehhhhhh.....” Sunset Shimmer’s unsure mind drew up a blank; “This is my first time visiting Las Pegasus; I have no idea at all where to eat here. Gee, I don’t know... I GUESS I don’t really care where we go, just as long as it isn’t a total dive.....” In other words, the sort of establishments that Temy was drawn towards. Aside from that, Sunny wasn’t all that motivated right now to take charge and assert what type of restaurant she’d like the group to eat out at.

“If I may ask,” the voice of a fiery unicorn mare from up front broke Filthy’s line of thought. It was somepony the stallion didn’t know all that well, having only spotted her around the Castle and School of Friendship district once or twice. “What is the toughest monster you’ve ever been up against in your career?”

There was no such thing as an easy day around these parts. Not one day after recovering from her illness, Princess Cadence was already replying to a doozy of a letter. Although the letter itself didn’t specify WHAT sort of significant life change happened, the alicorn inferred that it had to be on a Blueblood/Bluebelle level of magnitude to explain how the colt described didn’t know he was friends with the letter’s author in the past.....

“Yeaaaah, puzzle room. It was basically like a hall of mirrors designed as an escape room. Each clue you unlocked allowed your friend to move on to the next room, and so on and so on. It was kinda getting a bit tedious at the end, but we overcame that challenge, and at last it seemed like we had finally found the Nameless Wizard’s treasure room. Tons of gold and jewels and other treasures piled everywhere! Temy was just about to snag some loot for herself when, ummm... all of a sudden...”

Sunset Shimmer didn’t seem too particularly keen on telling this next part of the story.....

Sweating bullets, Sunset Shimmer did what no good friend was theoretically supposed to do; she LIED. “Well, there was this purple flash in the middle of the room, and you wouldn’t believe this, but remember when I told you about the Midnight Sparkle incident Over There? Well, there she seemed to be right in front of us... in pony form of course, heh eh-heh heh....!”

Following Sunburst’s lead, Sunset took a sip of the Unyasian tea. “Hmmm..... pretty good!” She set the cup down on the desk; “You know Sunburst, you should consider tracking down Mage Meadowbrook one of these days. She’s quite the expert on tea too, and I betcha’ she’s got knowledge of some special ingredients that have never been written down anywhere!” While Miss Shimmer didn’t know this for sure, it did seem highl to hery likely considering the special gift she received from the legendary healer some time ago.

The unicorn mare let out an “Ooooooh” as the other stallion revealed his latest find. “A rune, huh?” Sunset gazed intently at the parchment; “I remember from my World Arcana class that the Viking Caribou rely heavily on runes for their magic rituals.” She briefly looked back at Sunburst; “You don’t think this rune is of caribou origin?”

‘Yeah,” Sunset explained about the school; “But then again, you can’t really use normal teaching methods to explain Friendship, can you?”

While Liviel was busy describing life story, Sunset noticed that a few other ponies had arrived. None of them were ponies she knew; all of them seemed like the sort of folks you’d find lurking in the background, not saying much. At least the diamond dog monk would have an attentive — if quiet — audience.

Once Liviel finished, Sunset nodded with a knowing “Ahh.” The unicorn was ready for whatever the monk had in store this afternoon!

Hmmmm..... Sunset Shimmer wasn’t quite sure what to make of Starswirl’s latest invention yet. On the one hand, Sunset and Twilight already possessed a reliable means of interdimensional communication that’s worked out well enough for them so far. Then again, said interdimensional friendship journals also didn’t have infinite pages, and they could only display written messages. Maybe this artificed contraption had a feature which made up for its limited power supply? Only one way to find out...

After affirmatively nodding in response to the wizard, Sunset asked; “So how do we use this device?”

The filly’s exuberance earned a blush out of Sunset Shimmer. “Well, I remember the professors over at Cel-Twilight’s School were pretty top-notch too. Oh and don’t forget; if you show a really REALLY high aptitude for magic... Princess Twilight could very well take you on as her personal apprentice!” Sunset nodded and smirked; “You gotta admit she’d make an awesome teacher...”

“Sounds like you don’t get into many magic duels at school,” the older mare quipped; “Do you, Luster?” She quickly added a disclaimer; “That’s not to say that you SHOULD be dueling, being against the school rules and all. Not to mention the risk of serious injury when participating in unsanctioned duels!” It was here that Sunset betrayed her inner rebel with a cheeky grin and a flip of her mane; “...But I wiiiilll say I was a pretty good duelist at your age, kiddo.....”

Sunset chuckled, admitting in her mind that this kid was starting to grow on her a ton; “Heh heh, I betcha you’d be able to conjure stun rays yourself in no time!” If only the unicorn mare could go back in time and relive the sheer joy of beginning the voyage of learning the secrets of arcane magic…

With this pair of questions, Sunset grew ill at ease, which was a real shame because of the good vibes she was feeling between herself and Luster up until now. “Ehhhhhhh,” Miss Shimmer grimaced as she rubbed the back of her neck; “I keep in touch with a FEW alumni who were there at the same time I was, but well... let’s just say I used to be the sort of girl who focused more on making good grades than making friends.” Sunset wasn’t quite up to the task of conveying her complete Magic School story right then and there.

“If I had to guess though,” Sunset forced herself to smile; “You’re probably doing a better job at the whole Friendship thing than I did back then.....”

While Sunset Shimmer kept up appearances by manufacturing a friendly smile and waving back at Wind Dancer when introduced by Tempest, her heart was already experiencing a sinking feeling. Like it or not, Sunset was tagging along as a third wheel. That wasn’t entirely a new situation for the Equestrian girl; there was once a brief time when she had acted as a 6th (or 7th) wheel in her then-new friend group, just hanging back at the periphery. As a mare who wanted to feel useful... it wasn’t exactly the most pleasant of times.

And now, Miss Shimmer by accident would now be joining an outing that was originally intended to involve only Tempest and this... Wind Dancer gal. Considering that Sunny wasn’t the invested fangirl in this VIP duo nor the designated object of fangirlism, she was already preparing herself to be regarded as little more than an afterthought for the next couple hours.....

“.....Huh.” Sunset Shimmer absent-mindendly nodded in understanding, not having a comment ready at that present time. If she understood things correctly, Prince Lián and the Empress did not share the same pair of parents as the other royal heirs. It also sounded like jealousy ran rampant in the Imperial Family. Heh, and Sunset believed her family situation was messed up!

At the very least however, Empress Yuè could count her sibling as a loyal wingman. Sunset would have killed to known somepony like Lián during her Hope Hollow days. But alas, the past was in the past, and all this thinking about childhood pasts and siblings gave Miss Shimmer the uncomfortable remembrance that she herself had left behind a sibling who had not yet been born when the then-filly abandoned everyone and everything she once knew. Sunset wondered how that kid was holding up, what sort of pony he or she was... and whether that kiddo would have been better off with a faithful older sister by her side....?

Sunset Shimmer quickly dismissed that thought. She herself had been a horrible filly back then; factoring in the corruptive influence of Hopelessness Magic, in all likelihood, Sunset would have been nothing more than a resentful tormentor to her younger sibling. No... the unicorn mare’s family was clearly better off without her.

Lost to her rueful thoughts, Miss Shimmer appeared to develop a thousand-yard stare as she appeared to disconnect from her surroundings.....

“My attendant will show you to the Respected Sir’s chambers once our meeting is concluded,” the Empress informed Medo. Just as there was an official taboo against referring to the Imperial Sovereign by her name, it was tradition to always address the Chamberlain by his title or appropriate honorifics... and the current Chamberlain was a huge stickler for the Old, Venerable ways.

With nothing else important that needed to be addressed, Empress Yuè sat up from her luxurious chair and gracefully walked over to Medo, stopping mere inches away from the unicorn. “...My meager expression of gratitude today cannot fully repay the debt I owe you,” the qilin mare placed a hoof over her heart as she stared deep into Medo’s green eyes; “If you have any request to make of me, then as long as I have the power to grant it, it shall be yours.....”

“Ahhh,” Sunset Shimmer nodded in understanding; “Yeah, I’m down for that. We didn’t really get into practical down-to-earth applications of the Path during Magic School. It was mainly just going over its history and yada-yada-yada... basically dry academic stuff that can be taught in classrooms.”

With cat-like curiosity, Sunset asked the diamond dog; “So, how’d you become a monk, anyway?”

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If Cadence had this straight..... Mama didn’t even remember Papa‘s name! How. Very. Lovely..... if it weren’t for the fact that Flurry Heart and Shining Armor were around, the pink alicorn would be giving her mother the biggest earful that Canterlot has ever heard. As it was, it took every inch of Cadence’s willpower to prevent herself from exploding into a ball of frustration.

But it was all fine. Really. It was. For everypony’s sake, Cadence would wait until she and Mama were behind closed doors before venting out her aggravation over the simple fact that the daughter may never get to know a fact so minor and trivial as the identity of her very father. So no, although the princess’s thousand-yard stare looked on the verge of erupting into a furious gaze, Cadence was okay. Nothing is wrong. Nothing wrong whatsoever. Let’s just all finish watching the projector show and carry on like a normal, healthy family. Because everything was fine right now.....