The seven ponies floated gracefully to the ground, and while most of them were speechless, Rainbow Dash, as always, was overjoyed.
“Oh my gosh, that was so awesome!” Rainbow cried. “He was all, ‘I’m unstoppable’, and we were all like, ‘no, you’re not’, and then we blasted him to bits and saved Equestria!” Likewise, Pinkie Pie was bouncing around in a happy little circle.
“Yeah!” Pinkie chirped in agreement. “And now Sunset Shimmer is one of us, an Element of Harmony who can help us fight big, mean dragons and ugly monsters who want to hurt our friends. This is the best day ever!” Twilight Sparkle, on the other hand, was silent as she trotted over to Sunset Shimmer and looked at her with concern.
“Sunset, I just wanted to tell you that I’m really proud of you for coming here.” Twilight said. “If you hadn’t come here to stop Inferno from destroying Equestria, we would have been powerless to stop him.”
“I know, Twilight, and thank you.” Sunset responded. “But to be honest, I didn’t come here to fight a dragon, at least, I didn’t mean to. I really came here because I wanted to talk to Princess Celestia. I wanted to apologize for how I acted when I was her student, being so obsessed with power that I didn’t realize that she was actually trying to help me become a better pony. If I had taken her advice and went looking for friends in the first place, none of this would have happened. And now Princess Celestia will never forgive me.” Sunset hung her head in shame, until a voice said,
“Oh, I don’t know about that.” Sunset and the others looked up into the eyes of Princess Celestia, who landed before them and looked at Sunset with a warm smile upon her face.
“Princess Celestia?” Sunset cried in surprise. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in Canterlot!”
“I was, until Inferno left the city.” Celestia admitted. “I heard him say that he was going to attack Ponyville, and after returning everypony in Canterlot to their respective homes, I flew down to Ponyville to help you fight the dragon.” Sunset was confused.
“But if you knew I was fighting Inferno in Ponyville,” Sunset inquired, “Why didn’t you come and help me fight?”
“Well, it hardly seemed that I was needed.” Princess Celestia explained. “I was flying over Ponyville and watching your battle from above, and I saw you performing splendidly as you battled a titanic foe that even I had difficulty in defeating. I was just about to come down and help when I saw that Inferno had you in his grasp, but before I could, I saw Twilight and her friends returning to Ponyville from their journey, and knew that they were best suited to helping you defeat Inferno, once and for all. After all, how were you to learn your true strength if I did all of the work for you?” Sunset Shimmer was speechless.
“You mean to say that you had faith in me all along?” Sunset asked. “You knew that I was an Element of Harmony, and that I had the power to defeat Inferno in me all along?”
“Well, yes and no,” Celestia admitted. “I will admit, I had my doubts at first, and I wasn’t sure if you were truly here to ask for my forgiveness or just seeking more power. But when you were willing to lay down your life to fight Inferno and save the day, regardless of the odds against you, I knew that you had truly changed for the better, and so I stepped aside and let you figure things out for yourself. In the end, you greatly exceeded my expectations and managed to save the day, and for that, I am truly proud of you.” The Princess gently drew Sunset Shimmer in for a consoling hug, wrapping her slender hooves and angelic wings around Sunset in a caring embrace. Celestia’s coat became stained with tears of joy from Sunset, but The Princess did not mind in the slightest.
“Does that mean you forgive me?” Sunset asked.
“Yes, it does.” Celestia replied. “Whatever may have happened between us in the past, it doesn’t matter now. I forgive you for what you did then, and I accept you for what you are now.” Sunset gave Celestia another hug as the other ponies watched in awed silence… that is, except for Pinkie Pie, who was sniffling and sobbing to herself.
“It’s just so beautiful.” Pinkie said between sobs. “Teacher and student are friends again.” Pinkie gave another sniffle, and then her ears perked up. “Hey, do you know what this calls for? A PARTY!” Pinkie Pie threw a hoof full of confetti into the air and honked a party horn joyfully, eliciting a slight chuckle from Princess Celestia and Sunset Shimmer.
“That sounds like a great idea, Pinkie Pie.” Sunset admitted. “Come on, we’ll invite everypony to celebrate with us.”
“Everypony?” Pinkie asked. “Do you mean Twilight, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy?” Sunset giggled.
“Well yes, I want them to join us, but I mean EVERYPONY.” Sunset responded, eliciting a giggle from Pinkie Pie.
“That’s the spirit!” Pinkie said, and trotted off to get her party decorations.