My Little Pony: As the Sunsets on The Past pt 2

    Inside the throne room sat the princesses, Celestia and Luna, engaged in a thrilling game of chess. Celestia and Luna had the white and black pieces respectively. Luna levitated her King from E2 to E3, but Celestia countered with her Bishop from E5 to D4.

    “Check, dear sister,” Celestia beamed. Luna, not being very good at competitions, just tossed the board away and pouted. The sisters then shared a good laugh as they levitated the board and pieces back on the table.

    Before they could play again, two guards trotted in, followed by SIX ponies and a baby dragon. “Your highness,” bowed the unicorn guard, “Announcing Princess Twilight Sparkle and company." The six ponies and Spike walked right past them. “Wait, where’s Shimmer?” the unicorn whispered to his partner. His partner just shrugged.

    This surprised the princesses, “Why Twilight, isn’t this a delightful surprise,” commented Celestia.

    “Is there trouble in Equestria?” Luna asked nervously.

    “Oh, nothing’s wrong at all,” Fluttershy smiled, “quite the opposite, actually.”

    “In fact, we think this might be the best day EVER!!” Pinkie Pie cheered.

    “How so?” Celestia grew curious.

    Twilight could only smile widely. “Well, Princess,” she winked at the others, “we’d like you to say hello to an old friend!” The seven of them stepped out of the way making room for… Nopony.

    The princesses were confused. “Um, where is this ‘old friend’ of yours, Twilight Sparkle?” Luna asked.

    Twilight and her friends looked back and saw that Sunset was gone. Twilight started to sweat. “Um… will you excuse us for a minute?” Twilight awkwardly backpedaled and pulled her friends into a group huddle, “Where’s Sunset Shimmer?” The panic could clearly be heard in her voice.

    “I swear, she was right behind us,” Rarity panicked. “I looked over, and she was too busy admiring the stunning stained glass windows!”

    “Maybe she got too scared to go through with it,” whispered Fluttershy. “I know I’d be absolutely terrified if I had to do this.”

    “But what’s she got to be nervous about? We said we’d be here the whole time,” grunted Rainbow Dash.

    “Well it probably didn’t help that some ponies,” Rarity glared directly at two certain guards, “decided to maliciously gang up on the poor dear!”

    “Maybe she didn’t run away,” Pinkie Pie thought hopefully. “Maybe she had to use the bathroom.”

    “Pinkie, that’s crazy, who’d be able to find the darn bathroom in a castle this big?” Applejack retorted.

    “Do you think she ran back to the train station?” Fluttershy asked.

    “She couldn’t have, the next train isn’t for a few more hours,” Twilight remembered.

    Spike looked up nervously, “Uh Twilight?”

    “Not now Spike,” Twilight shrugged him off, “We need to figure out where she went!”

    “Where who went?” asked a familiar voice. Twilight turned around to see Celestia staring down at her and jumped back a little. “Twilight,” Celestia said sternly, “What is going on here?”

    “Tried to warn you,” whispered Spike.

    Twilight fidgeted her hooves nervously, “Well… you see… what happened is…”

    “Sunset Shimmer wrote a letter to Twilight!” Pinkie burst out.

    “She said she wanted to stay with us for the next few months!” Fluttershy squeaked next.     

    “And she gave us gifts!” Rarity exclaimed, “which reminds me, I probably should have worn those darling earrings today if we were visiting the princesses-“

    “And we were coming here because she wanted to talk to you about the past!” Applejack admitted.

    “But those jerk guards of yours harassed her and we think she might have run off!” Rainbow Dash couldn’t keep it in either.

    “…Pretty much what they said,” Twilight squeaked.

    Both princesses were shocked… but Celestia’s jaw dropped the hardest, “S-S-Sunset Shimmer?”

    “You mean she’s here, in Canterlot? Right now?” Luna asked in disbelief.

    Twilight plucked up courage, “Yes. But you have to believe us; she’s changed! She’s a much better po-“

    Before she could continue defending her friend, Twilight found herself caught in Celestia’s magic aura, “How was she when she got here? Was she all right? Has she been eating well? Why did she run away when she got here?” Celestia fired anxious questions left and right, desperately seeking answers about the wellbeing of her former student.

    “Sister,” Luna exclaimed, “You must calm yourself. I’m sure she was perfectly fine in the company of Twilight and her friends.”

    “She was a bit distant and nervous,” Twilight explained, “but she was very eager to come here to talk to you.”

    “Or at least she was before these two,” Applejack pointed an angry hoof at the guards, “made her feel lower than an apple worm on a lemon farm!”

    Celestia shot an angry glare at the two guards as they shrank under her stare, “I’ll deal with you two later.” Her voice was chilled and angered, “But for now, everypony must search the area! We must find Sunset Shimmer and bring her back with her friends!”

    “Indeed,” agreed Luna. “Rarity, Applejack, we’ll search the castle halls!” Rarity and Applejack saluted, “Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, you two search from the skies!”

    “We’re on it, Princess!” saluted Rainbow Dash.

    “We’ll do our best,” agreed Fluttershy meekly.

    “Pinkie Pie, you search the grounds,” Celestia continued, “Twilight, Spike, and I will patrol the towers.” Everypony saluted in agreement and dashed for the door to start the search.

    Twilight stopped short right next to Celestia, “Princess, just so you know, she came back here so she could apologize for all she’s done. She missed you very much.”

    “I know, Twilight,” Celestia answered sadly. She covered her eyes with her wings. “But I feel I owe her an apology as well.” Twilight wanted to ask what she meant by that, but she figured now wasn’t the time. With that, she and Spike followed her mentor out the doors to search for their runaway friend.

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    Sunset Shimmer kept running and fighting the tears until her hooves finally tired out. She collapsed onto the ground just outside the Canterlot Sculpture Garden but found she was too exhausted to keep crying.

    “Another brilliant idea as usual, Sunset Shimmer,” she said spitefully to herself. “What were you thinking? These ponies… These wonderful ponies are too good for you! Twilight’s already got enough problems being a princess without you adding more drama into her life.” Turns out she was wrong, there were a few tears left over. “I’m sorry, Twilight. I can’t drag you into this, you don’t deserve it… maybe I should just–”

    SCREEEEEEEEECH!

    Before Sunset could finish her thought, a loud screech was heard right above her head. She wiped her eyes, peered up, and gasped in awe. For right above her head, flew a majestic and beautiful red and yellow phoenix. Its feathers rivaled even Celestia’s shining sun as it flew through the air with grace and ease.

    Sunset immediately recognized this phoenix. “Philomena?” Philomena took one look at Sunset below and smiled widely. She swooped downward towards Sunset, who by instinct held out her hoof as Philomena landed on it. “H-Hey, old girl. I was hoping I’d get to see you,” Sunset cooed, giving the phoenix an affectionate nuzzle. Philomena chirped in delight. “Aww, I missed you too, Philomena. I owe you a lot for what you did for me,” Sunset sighed happily as she looked at her cutie mark. Then she sighed sadly, “Just wish the old me could’ve been nicer to you when she had the chance.” Philomena didn’t like seeing one of her old friends so sad, so she used her wings to wipe Sunset’s eyes. Sunset couldn’t stay sad in front of Philomena, and just gave another affectionate nuzzle.     

    Then Sunset noticed something, “Hey, Philomena, you’ve got something on your back.” Philomena looked on her back, and sure enough, there were two strange gray round objects on her back.

    Then suddenly, the gray objects opened up, revealing two big yellow eyes. Sunset screamed in terror as the two eyeballs rolled off Philomena’s back. In a bright flash of light, the eyeballs disappeared; in their place stood a very familiar draconequus; the master of chaos himself, Discord. Sunset couldn’t believe her eyes! Twilight wrote to her about how Fluttershy had reformed Discord, but what was he doing here?

    Discord chuckled heartily, “Oh-ho-ho, look at that! I win again, Philomena! I told you I was the hide and seek master!” Philomena pouted and chirped angrily, “Oh, don’t give me that sour beak, Philly.” Philomena chirped accusingly, “Cheat? How dare you, little Miss! I never cheat at hide and seek!” To prove a point, Discord literally pulled his eyes right out of his head, “I never peaked while my eyes were following you!” Philomena chirped again, Discord gasped, “Does your mother FEED that beak, young lady?!” Philomena only pouted again, “Oh fine. Don’t get your feathers in a bunch.” As a joke, Discord snapped his eagle claw, causing Philomena’s feathers to disappear. “Next time we play, I’LL hide and you’ll seek. And I won’t cheat.” This time, Discord grew three extra sets of arms, “See? Not a claw, talon, paw, or tail crossed.” One of the extra hands snapped again, giving Philomena her feathers back. She simply turned her back and blew a raspberry at Discord.

    Sunset’s jaw simply dropped in awe and her lip quivered. “You’re D-D-Discord,” was all she managed to say.

    Discord’s extra arms disappeared and he sighed, “Oh joy, another pony to introduce myself to.” Discord then stuck his claw in his ‘pockets’ and felt around until he pulled out some flashcards. He started reading from one.

    “Hello, [insert name of pony here]; my name is Discord, also known as the Master of Chaos,” he demonstrated by holding an inside-out umbrella under a cotton candy raincloud, “And the newest bestest friend of Princess Twilight Sparkle and company,” he used his magic to summon plush toys of Twilight and her friends and gave them a big hug.

    Discord then snapped his fingers, turning the plush toys all into Fluttershy plush toys, “Just between the two of us, I’m mostly Fluttershy’s friend,” He hugged the Fluttershy plushes tightly.

    Sunset couldn’t help but smile at Discord’s antics, as random as they were, “Um… hi, Discord. I’m-“

    “Ooh, don’t tell me,” Discord interrupted, conjuring a magnifying glass, “I love guessing games.” He looked all over Sunset Shimmer with his magnifying glass. He looked from side-to-side, underneath, in her mouth, he even shrunk down and snaked his way into her ear, popping out on the other side. She really didn’t like that one. “A-ha! I knew I recognized you,” Discord announced at last. “You’re Sunset Shimmer; Celestia’s little pupil who took off. Oooh, I haven’t seen you in years.”

    Sunset raised an eyebrow, “Wait, you knew me before? But last time I saw you, you were–”

    “Yes, yes, I was forced to trade in my free reign for stone prison cuffs,” Discord locked his hands into stone blocks to emphasize his point. “But, fun fact, being turned to stone doesn’t take away my ability to see and hear everything around me. I’ll never forget the time Celestia showed a certain adorable filly to my part of the garden. She took one look at me and said I was a ‘hideously beastly mess!’” Discord shot a mock glare at Sunset, not knowing how much it hurt her.

    “Oh… now I remember that. I’m sorry, Discord… I’ll just go, I won’t bother you anymore,” she said with her head lowered. But before she could trot away–

    “What? Oh-ho, don’t be silly,” chuckled Discord, “I’m way over that. I just said it to remind myself of how much you’ve changed and became an inspiration!”

    This made Sunset stop in her tracks, “Wait, an inspiration?”

    “Of course, after Twilight told me about you, I’ve been positively BURSTING to meet you!” Discord snapped his claw, and Sunset appeared in his arm. Then he snapped his paw and a camera floated right in front of them. “Ooh, say ‘friendship!’” He grabbed onto Sunset’s lips to force them into a smile while he pouted his lips, the camera flashed, and printed a picture of the two. “Another perfect picture,” he cackled, “I can’t wait to show this to Fluttershy, we’re making a scrapbook!”

    Sunset wiggled free out of Discord’s grasp, “Ok, just back up for a second; I’M an inspiration for YOU?”

    “Well of course! Don’t tell me you don’t remember; you went from a bossy, manipulative, conniving, raging she-demon into a heroic young rock star,” Discord leaped into the air and landed on his knees, strumming the air like an air guitar.

    Sunset giggled again, “Well, I wouldn’t really say rock star…”

    “Are you kidding? The way you took down those sirens! Ingenious!” Discord praised, “Good thing too; I’m not really into pop music. I prefer show tunes.” Discord snapped his claw again, and he gained a barbershop singer’s outfit and cane. He then danced and spun the cane giddily to an old-timey tune; Sunset clapped her hooves as he took his bow.

    Sunset felt a little better, but not by much. “Yeah, it was fun being able to restore friendships… Instead of always breaking them.”

    “Tell me about it,” Discord scoffed. “I can’t even remember why I wanted to drive a wedge in ponies! All it did was make them all grumpy and pouty… and in Pinkie Pie’s case, a little scary too. And what’s fun about any of that?”

    Sunset sighed sadly. “I don’t know, why don’t you ask my old me?” Philomena only nuzzled Sunset again.

    The wheels turned in Discord’s head and he got the message; something was wrong with her. He snapped his claw again, and the two of them disappeared, only to re-appear inside a brightly lit office with a large couch, a table, and a chair. Sunset found herself lying on the couch, while Discord sat in the chair with a clipboard, wearing a grey suit. Philomena sat on the table, and Discord grabbed onto one of her feathers and plucked it right out. Philomena didn’t like that one bit.

    Discord started writing on his clipboard with Philomena’s feather. “Now, Miss Shimmer, I’m sensing you have some emotional problems that are buried deep in that fiery head of yours.”

    “Was it that obvious?”

    “Not really, but Fluttershy’s taught me a thing or two,” Discord smirked proudly. “So tell me, what has you down?”

    Sunset had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to escape Discord anytime soon, so she just sighed. “I don’t know… it just feels like every time I try to remind myself that I’m in a better place now, something from my past just comes back to haunt me!” Discord listened with interest… while playing tic-tac-toe on the clipboard. “I keep talking about wanting to make up for it, to prove that I’m finally in a better place! But look at me, my one shot to finally talk to Celestia and make everything right… And I blew it! I was too scared to even make it a few feet to the door and I just ran away from my past… Again!

    “I owe everything to my friends, especially Twilight, I wouldn’t have had the courage to come back here without them… but they make it sound like this is easy for me to do, and the last thing I want to do is let them down… Tartarus knows I’ve done enough of that as it is.”

    Discord raised an eyebrow, “I see… Well who exactly have you let down?”

    “I ultimately failed Celestia as a student, remember?” Sunset didn’t mean to sound cruel to Discord. “Sorry.”

    Discord shrugged, “Meh, I’ve heard worse. Anyways, don’t let the jacket fool you, I am NOT a therapist-“

    “Gee. I never would have guessed.” Sunset rolled her eyes.

    Discord snapped his paw and the room and chairs disappeared, placing the three back outside. “But I’d say that you’re afraid Celestia’s going to take your apology and stomp it into the ground.”

    “Well, can you blame me?!” Sunset burst out. “I wouldn’t blame her if she did, I’ve been nothing but horrible to her even after all she’s done for me! After how awful I’ve been, how can I expect anypony to forgive me like that?”

    “Maybe the same way your friends forgave you?”

    “And that’s the other thing,” Sunset continued, “Twilight… even after everything I did to her, after I set her up for a fall, the minute she and the others blast the magic of friendship into me, she offered me friendship and told the others to look out for me. It took a little longer for the others to forgive me, but they didn’t give up on me once, and were there for me when no one else was. Why would they keep me around?”

    “Same reason they kept me around when I had a major fall,” Discord answered solemnly. Sunset stared in shock when he said that. “Look, I’m not gonna pretend any of that makes sense… because face it, what fun is there in making sense? But some ponies, or bodies, or whatever they call your friends in the other world, are more forgiving than others. And the only pony who still can’t forgive you, is you.” Discord snapped his tail and a mirror appeared in front of Sunset.

    Sunset recoiled in fright. “No, please, I don’t want to look in another mirror! The last one only showed the old me… Making fun of me!” Sunset shielded her eyes.

    Discord was confused by this… Then something clicked, “Oops… I uh… I think that might have been my fault.”

    “How is it your fault my old self won’t leave me alone?”

    “Well… When I was helping Twilight decorate her castle… I might have accidentally given her one of my trick mirrors.”

    “Trick mirrors?”

    “Eeyup, it shows anypony it reflects what they’re most afraid of… Uh, oopsies?” Discord smiled sheepishly.

    Sunset’s eyes couldn’t grow any larger at this point. That terrifying reflection that mocked her, all those worries from last night, all of that was because of Discord?! Sunset breathed heavily trying harder and harder to keep herself from snapping and yelling right at Discord’s face. She forced one eye open and saw how sorry Discord looked, and how he literally shrunk under her gaze. Her inner anger subsided and she sighed calmly.

    “No; it’s okay, Discord. I know you didn’t mean to do that. It was an accident,” she said calmly, and she meant every word.

    Discord beamed happily and returned to his normal size, “Aha! I knew it! You just proved my point!”

    Sunset was confused, “What point?”     

    “That you’re no different from Twilight, Fluttershy, OR Celestia! Even after I epically screwed up, you still forgave me! Congratulations, Sunset Shimmer,” he snapped his paw causing a scroll to appear, “You just made my friends list!” He then conjured a sticker in the shape of Sunset’s head, and stuck it onto the list right next to Twilight and her friends. “I’m still working on expanding this list. But anywho, looks like the only one you have to forgive is yourself. And don’t pretend you don’t know how to do it.”

    “I do know,” Sunset sighed. “But–”

    “It’s your choice, Sunny. You could go back in there, apologize to Celestia, let it sting for a brief moment, have a tear-jerking moment only to get interrupted by one of Twilight’s friendship speeches, and finally get some closure,” Discord snapped his tail, and Sunset was transformed back into her form from the other world, “or you could run back to the other world, and let it eat away at you that you were too scared to finally face that horrible past that’s been haunting you for years.”     

    In his own blunt way… Discord did have a lot of good points. Sunset looked at her other worldly reflection and thought about her friends. She thought about her friends back at Canterlot High, she thought of her new friends here in Equestria, but most of all she thought of Twilight and Celestia, the first mares who ever offered her friendship. She knew what she had to do… and so did Discord, who smiled knowingly and turned her back into her pony form.

    Sunset smiled again. “You know, you have a weird way of helping ponies.”

    Discord smirked. “Not what ponies expect, but it gets the job done. Anyways, just wait right here, I’ll be right back,” Discord snapped both his hands, and popped like a party balloon, leaving behind some confetti.

    “Wait, Discord, what are you…?” Sunset just grew nervous. “Why do I get the feeling I’m going to get what I asked for?”

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    Sunset sat there with Philomena, waiting for Discord to come back like he said he would. She was still nervous about where he could have gone, but most of all, she was thinking about what she would tell the other when they found her. Fortunately, she wouldn’t have to think about it too long because right above her flashed a bright white light and her seven friends appeared right in mid-air. They screamed when they realized where they were, and each plummeted to the ground.

    Rainbow Dash groaned and rubbed her head. “What just happened?”

    Twilight picked herself up. “I think I have an idea… DISCORD!!!!!”

    “You called?” Discord grinned mischievously as he floated down right next to the seven.

    “Now, Discord,” Fluttershy scolded gently, “remember what we talked about teleporting us without asking?”

    “Yeah, only in case of emergencies, or if I want to teleport ponies to an awesome surprise party,” Pinkie added.

    “Oh but this is an emergency, my little ponies,” Discord smirked knowingly. “I believe you lost somepony.”

    He gestured to Sunset who just rubbed her hooves awkwardly. “Uh… hi, guys,” she said awkwardly.

    “Sunset Shimmer!” The seven friends immediately ran up to Sunset and pulled her into a tight group hug, which she did not resist.

    “Darling, why did you take off like that?” Rarity asked. “We were worried sick about you.”

    “Yeah, we looked everywhere for you,” Pinkie added in her hyper fashion. “We looked in the bathrooms, and the hallways, and the dance floors, and the swimming pool…”

    “They have a swimming pool?” Applejack was curious.

    “Yep, and I maaaay or may not have jumped in and played Marco Pony to see if I could get Sunset to come out,” Pinkie smiled sheepishly.

    “I think what we want to know most of all is, Sunset, are you ok?” Twilight draped a wing over Sunset’s shoulder.

    “Yes, I’m ok now. And I’m sorry for running out like that, everypony. It’s just…”

    “We understand, Sunset,” Fluttershy interrupted.“This is one of the scariest things you’ve ever had to do… But we weren’t making it easy saying how easy it was going to be.”

    “Truth be told, sugarcube, we have no idea what it was like for you to go through all this,” Applejack sympathized. “We just wanted to make you feel better about having to go through with it.”

    Sunset could only smile. “No, it’s ok, really. I know all your hearts were in the right places. I guess I was just so scared… I forgot that I had all of you to have my corner… Which I could really use now.”

    “Well duh,” Rainbow Dash smirked. “Of course we’ve got your corner. Hello, we came all the way out here with you, didn’t we?”

    “We won’t leave your side for a second, darling,” encouraged Rarity. “We know this won’t be easy–“

    “But we know you can do it, Sunny! And then, after you and Princess hug it out, we can finally PARTY!!!” Pinkie cheered.

    Sunset sighed and smiled one last time, “Ok… For real, I’m ready.”

    “Oh, that reminds me,” Discord said knowingly. “I forgot some ponies.” He snapped his claw one more time, and Princesses Celestia and Luna appeared in another flash of light, right in front of the others.

    Celestia gathered herself. “Discord, what is the meaning of–“ She opened her eyes and gasped… And for the first time since all those years ago, Sunset and Celestia’s eyes met face to face. Their faces mirrored each other perfectly: Their eyes as wide as dinner plates, their jaws dropped and quivering, and a wet shine glazed over their eyes. Neither one dared to break eye contact.

    Twilight awkwardly cleared her throat to break the awkward silence, “Like we were saying before, Princess Celestia, say hello to an old friend.” Twilight gestured her hoof towards Sunset. “Move back a bit, ponies,” she whispered to her friends. “Give them some space.” Everypony stepped back a little to give the two enough space, but still stayed close to comfort them both.

    Celestia, still shocked, finally spoke. “S-S-Sunset Shimmer,” was all she could manage.

    “Princess Celestia…” Sunset was at a loss of words too, but she respectfully bowed on instinct.

    This shocked Celestia even more, she couldn’t remember the last time she had seen Sunset bowed like this. “Sunset… my little pony… my little Sunset.”

    That did it; the dam had burst, the tears were now flowing out of Sunset’s eyes, she couldn’t contain herself anymore. She galloped right towards Celestia and wrapped her hooves around her former mentor’s neck, clinging on as if her very life depended on it. Nopony dared to breathe a word as she clung to her mentor’s neck and sobbed into her chest.

    Her voice was sad and broken by her hysterical sobbing, but she didn’t care. “I’m sorry, Princess! I’m so, so sorry! I should never have left you! You didn’t deserve any of it! I’d take it back if I could! I’d take everything I said back! I’d… I’d…”

    “Shhh. It is alright, Sunset. I’m here now. Everything will be okay,” Celestia whispered to Sunset comfortingly, gently rubbing her back. Her tears were quieter than Sunset’s, but she didn’t try to stop them as she held her former student close like she wanted to all those years ago.

    Meanwhile, Twilight, her friends, and even Discord were shedding tears of joy of their own… though Rarity, Pinkie, and Discord’s cries were a bit more hysterical and almost comical in light of the situation.

    “Never thought I’d see the Master of Chaos cryin’,” Applejack teased.

    “I’m not crying,” Discord sniffled. “It’s… liquid pride. Everypony does it”

    Luna smiled approvingly at Twilight, “You know, Twilight, I do believe you’ve made a nice habit out of it.”

    “A habit of what?” Twilight wiped her eyes.

    “A habit of helping ponies face their past,” Luna answered. Nopony else could bear to speak as Celestia and Sunset stayed in their embrace; they all just watched happily at the touching reconnecting before them.

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    After an hour, the 12 of them returned inside the castle throne room. Celestia and Sunset had finally calmed down, but Luna stayed by her sister’s side and Philomena perched on her shoulder; Pinkie had wrapped Sunset into a tight hug and didn’t let go once as they all made their way inside.

    Fluttershy put her hoof on Sunset’s shoulder, “Are you feeling any better, Sunset? …Um, if you don’t mind me asking.”

    “I’m feeling way better, Fluttershy. Just glad to get all that out of my system.” Sunset smiled lightly, then turned to a certain hugging pink mare. “Pinkie Pie, you can stop hugging me now. I’ll be ok.”

    “Awww,” pouted Pinkie, “Can’t I stay like this for a few more seconds?” A blue and violet aura answered her question, as Twilight and Rarity used their magic to levitate her off of Sunset. Rarity then gave her bubbly friend a pat on the shoulders for caring for her friend.

    Twilight approached her fellow princesses, “What about you, Princess Celestia? Are you okay?”

    Celestia gently rubbed her eyes with her wing. “I assure you, Twilight, I’ve felt worse. In fact, tonight you and your friends have once again made me feel better than I’ve felt in days.”

    “They made me feel better than I ever felt in years,” Sunset added. She looked up at Celestia sadly. “I know I’ve said it already, but I’m…”

    Celestia gently placed a hoof over Sunset’s mouth, “Please, child; I think you’ve apologized more than enough… In fact, it is I that owes you the apology.”

    “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Rainbow Dash interjected. “No offense, your majesty, but what’ve you got to apologize for?”

    “Yeah, why should you apologize?” Sunset was confused, “I was the one who ran away.”

    “That may be,” Celestia lowered her head, “But in a way, I drove you to run away.” Celestia solemnly turned away and started explaining what she meant.

    “You see, banishing your best and oldest friend to the moon does not come without feelings of remorse and sorrow. After I banished my sister, I made a personal vow that I would never let what happened to her happen to anypony else. Most of all, that if I ever took on a student, I would not allow them to be consumed by the dark side. Of course, I never counted that I would get a student as ambitious or eager as you.

    “I saw that you had dreams, BIG dreams. Dreams that seemed a little too big for a filly at your age,” Sunset blushed and looked away, but Celestia continued. “I could have been a better teacher; I could’ve shown you a much better outlet for your energy, hooves-on, and I could have done a better job of steering you to a better life… but I didn’t. I drove you away and let you go into that other world alone where you could have gotten hurt. It’s not every millennia that a princess fails TWO of the most important ponies in her life.” Celestia dropped her head downwards so nopony could see the one lone tear trailing down. Luna and Philomena saw the tear, and started nuzzling her from both sides.

    Sunset picked herself up. “Princess, I had no idea you felt that way about me running away.”

    “I never made it clear how I really felt, my little Sunset.” Celestia turned to face her subjects. “But just like Twilight, you were always like a daughter to me… And I should never have let you go.”

    Rainbow Dash couldn’t stop her tears. “Darn it! I thought we were done liquid pride-ing!”

    Twilight wiped her eyes and stepped up. “If I may, I think I can settle this.” Celestia, Sunset, and their friends listened. “Mistakes were made, we all know that, but it doesn’t mean either one of you are bad ponies. You made mistakes, I made mistakes, everypony makes mistakes.” Twilight’s friends nodded and looked away awkwardly. “But what’s important is that we learn something from our past to make us the better ponies we want to be.”     

    Discord whispered to Spike, “Do you think she practices these lessons in a mirror?” Spike just shrugged as they both grabbed a dog biscuit from Spike’s box.

    Celestia smiled at her fellow princess, “You still surprise me everyday, Twilight Sparkle. And you’re right; we cannot change the past, but the future is what we wish it to be.” Celestia pulled both her students close with her wings, “But Sunset, I must ask about you saying you’d take everything back.”

    Sunset grew nervous again. “Yes, Princess?”

    “I know you regret what you’ve done, but in a way I am actually glad they occurred.”

    “R-really? How could you be glad about all the horrible stuff I’ve done?”

    “Because, my little pony, without the events of your past, you never would have discovered the magic of friendship as the rest of us have.”

    Sunset’s friends all smiled at her. “I guess you’re right,” Sunset smiled back. “I never would have had the courage to come here if it wasn’t for my friends.”

    “A-hem!” Discord cleared his throat loudly as a halo appeared over his head.

    Sunset giggled, “All my friends, including Discord.”

    Fluttershy flew up beside Discord. “You did a good thing today, Discord.”

    Rainbow Dash joined them. “Yeah, not bad for a former manipulative creep.”

    “Oh you say the sweetest things, Rainbow Dash,” teased Discord. “But seriously, I felt I at least owed it to a fellow reformed villain, right?” He smiled knowingly at Sunset, who smiled back. “Well, I think it’s about time I head off. I’ve got a house to mow and a lawn to paint, you know how it is.” He handed Fluttershy the picture he took with Sunset, “Be sure to add this to our scrapbook; it’s a keeper.” Fluttershy nodded eagerly.

    “Discord wait,” Sunset called out, “Think I’ll get to see you again while I’m here?”

    “Oh I have the feeling you’ll see me a lot, Sunny; sometimes when you don’t want me around.” Discord winked. “Until next time, arrivederci everypony!” With that, Discord snapped his paw and disappeared back home.

    “Awww,” moaned Pinkie Pie, “I wanted to ask if he wanted to come to our Sunset Shimmer party afterwards.”

    “Either way, the past is behind us all,” Luna smiled, “and we couldn’t be happier for your return to Equestria, Sunset Shimmer.” The princesses bowed, and Sunset bowed back.

    “And should you ever need anything while you are here,” Celestia continued, “You need only ask.”

    Sunset pondered for a bit, then an idea popped into her head. “Actually, Princesses, there was one more thing I wanted to ask.” She motioned the two to come in closer; she whispered her request to the two of them. Both princesses looked on in surprise, they looked at each other and smiled warmly.

    Celestia then trotted right up to Twilight with the warmest of smiles, “Well, Twilight, Sunset seems to have an interesting proposal, and we all feel you’re ready for the next step of being a princess.”

    “The next step?” Twilight was confused, “What is the next step?”

    “Teaching your very own student.” Celestia and Luna stepped aside, so now Sunset and Twilight were staring straight at each other.

    The gears turned in Twilight’s head… and her heart pounded harder than ever in her chest.

     “S-Sunset? You… you want to be my… my…”

    “That’s right, Twilight,” finished Sunset. “It only makes sense; you were the pony who saved me from myself, you made sure I was being taken care of when you had to go home, and you encouraged me try my hardest to beat the Dazzlings, and you answered all my letters when I wrote to you in the journal. In a way, I was already your student by writing you those letters.”

    Spike smirked proudly, “Told you so.”

    “I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done, but I hope this is a good start.” Sunset respectfully bowed again, “So, Princess Twilight Sparkle, I would be honored if you could teach me more about friendship while I am here.”

    This was all too much for Twilight; she started to wobble and sway dizzily, “My… my… my very own student and it’s Sun…” Finally, the overwhelmed Twilight fell to the ground and passed out.

    Everypony was alarmed. “Maybe this was a bad idea,” sighed Sunset.

    That’s what she thought, until a few seconds later, Twilight was standing upright again, with a gigantic grin that stretched from ear to ear. “I GET TO HAVE MY VERY FIRST STUDENT!!!!” Twilight squealed loudly, she then leaped straight at Sunset, pulling her into a huge bear hug. “Oh this is so exciting!! All my time as a princess I’ve been wondering what it’s like to have my own student, somepony else I can teach everything I know about friendship! And I can write my own quizzes, and grade papers, and even read essays just like a REAL TEACHER!!!! And who better to teach than one of my best friends ever! Oh this is the best news ever, I’M GOING TO BE SUNSET SHIMMER’S TEACHER!!!”

    Sunset wiggled a bit in Twilight’s grip, but she couldn’t help smiling at Twilight’s enthusiasm. “So, I can count that as a yes?”

    Twilight giggled awkwardly, “Um… yes.” But as she let go of Sunset, it hit her, “Oh, my gosh… I’m going to be a teacher!” Her friends knew that it was panicking time for Twilight. “Oh no…. I don’t know the first thing about being a teacher! What if I grade an assignment wrong! What if I have to teach something even I don’t know! What if I fall behind of my friendships and my lesson plan! What do I do?! I CAN’T DO THIS ALONE!!!!”

    “Uh, ahem,” Applejack pointed out teasingly. “Ya ain’t exactly gonna do this alone, sugarcube. You’ll still have us.” She, and the rest of Twilight’s friends smiled reassuringly, as if to show Twilight and Sunset that everything will be ok.

    “Yeah, you didn’t think you’d have to do this all by yourself, did you? You know we always got your back,” Rainbow Dash added.

    “Plus, this is so fun-er-iffic! Now it’s like we’re ALL teachers,” Pinkie cheered.

    “There’s so much we can teach Sunset about friendship too,” Fluttershy added.

    “Plus, I think it might be delightful to have another regular unicorn in our group,” Rarity awkwardly added.

    “...Pretty much what they said,” Spike fidgeted awkwardly.

    “Thank you girls,” Twilight smiled, calming down.

    “Thanks from both of us,” Sunset added, and once again found herself pulled into a group hug, surrounded by her seven friends/teachers.

    As Celestia and Luna looked on, Philomena chirped something into Celestia’s ear. Celestia smiled. “Well, Sunset, it looks like Philomena has an idea for your very first assignment.” She then levitated a small box from behind to Sunset, and inside the box was a beautiful orange and yellow egg with a fiery pattern on its shell.

    Sunset gasped in amazement. “Is that… a phoenix egg?”

    “Consider it a gift from an old friend. Your fiery passion in what you did DID land you into trouble when you were younger, but it also gave me Philomena.” Philomena nuzzled Celestia’s cheek. And we hope your passion and rediscovered compassion will give this little egg the home it deserves.”

    Sunset looked at the little egg in the box and smiled warmly. “I’ll give this baby phoenix the best home it’ll ever have, Princess.” She held the box close, as everypony else smiled at the tender moment, happy for their friend.

    Then, Sunset turned to her friends and smirked, “Well, now that I’m officially a student, I think there’s only one thing left to do; right, Pinkie Pie?”

    Pinkie Pie’s grin stretched halfway across her face, “I thought nopony was gonna ask!” Pinkie pulled out her patented party cannon, and a large explosion of confetti burst out of it. Before anypony knew it, the whole room was covered in balloons, streamers, tables full of tasty goodies, and even a record player.

    Sunset raised an eyebrow, “How does she fit all that into one cannon?”

    “It’s Pinkie Pie, sometimes it’s better if you don’t ask questions,” Spike replied.

    Luna looked apprehensively around, “This IS all very impressive, but are you certain it is wise to have a celebration in the throne room?”

    “Oh come now, Luna; it has been a long time since we’ve celebrated one’s return,” Celestia winked at Luna, “and this is definitely a cause for celebration.”

    “Whoo-hooo! SUNSET SHIMMER’S WELCOME-BACK-TO-EQUESTRIA PAAARTAAAAY!!!!” cheered Pinkie Pie as she zoomed over to the record player and dropped the needle. Out of the record player blasted a loud upbeat musical tune. The rhythm of the tune was so infectious, most of the ponies couldn’t resist dancing to the tune; and nopony danced harder than Pinkie Pie or Celestia.

    Sunset and Twilight didn’t join the others on the dance floor just yet, “You do realize that as your new teacher, I take all school assignments VERY seriously,” Twilight explained, trying to sound authoritative… It didn’t work.     

    Sunset only giggled. “I don’t mind, really. Can’t be any harder than what I’ve already been through. …But we can still do all that other fun stuff you and the girls came up with?”

    Twilight beamed. “Well duh! The girls and I keep coming up with even more fun stuff we can do while you’re here. And I am NOT letting you miss the Star Swirl traveling museum! They’re going to display all the vials he used when he was mixing the potions that cured the Clydesdale fur blight epidemic!”

    Sunset was excited again. “No way!”

    “No kidding!”

    Both unicorns squealed loudly and excitedly.

    Twilight cleared her throat awkwardly. “But seriously, I only have one major assignment; every lesson you learn about friendship, I want you to write them down in your journal… I MAY or may not have a term paper ready by the end of the summer.”

    Sunset rolled her eyes, “I’ll write down everything you tell me. In fact, I already have an idea for my first entry.”

    “Oh? And what’s that?”

    “Letting go of the past is never easy,” Sunset began reciting, “but your friends will make sure you never have to do it alone.”

    Twilight smiled in approval. “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

    Pinkie Pie bounced up and grabbed a hold of their hooves. “What’re you silly fillies waiting for? We’ve still got a whole lot of partying to do!!”

    Twilight and Sunset just giggled and joined their friends on the dance floor. The last two days had been rocky, but none of that mattered now. For now, Sunset Shimmer was enjoying having a clear conscience and dancing with her friends. She was going to miss her friends back at Canterlot High while they’re away on break, but she was going to enjoy spending time with her friends in Equestria –old and especially new.

 

The End …for now.