//------------------------------// // Prologue I.V: Penitence and Party // Story: The Little Pony Legend: The Redeemers // by eric-emanwu //------------------------------// Prologue 1.5: Penitence and Party Sunset felt a new tip in her trots as she made her way through Canterlot Castle’s walls. Celestia walked alongside her, smiling down at her all the way. As she made her way through though, she suddenly felt a frown cross her face. A frown that Celestia caught. “What is it Sunset?” Sunset looked up at her teacher. “The other ponies who were below me in classes. Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, the rest. I was such a mule talking with them before I ran away, and they were the closest thing I had to friends before everything happened. I need to go apologize to them for my behavior. Do you know where I could find them?” Celestia gave a lopsided smile at that. “Not exactly. However, I recommend you start at Moondancer’s old home. She’s currently considering moving in with the Airbenders to learn and grow her training there, but I heard she’s in town visiting the others. So you might want to start at the house by the stadium. It’s a quick trot out from here, take a left, and look on the far side of the east gate. At least that what Twilight first mentioned when she wrote me about her adventures with her.” Sunset gave a grateful nod. “Thanks.” Then they passed by the hall of stain glasses again. “So, what would it take for me to get up on one of these?” she half joked. Celestia gave Sunset a quick scrutinizing look, but quickly relaxed. “Do something great in the service of Equestria or the lands beyond, and I’m sure we can find space for you. I mean, look at Spike! He already has one and he’s only a kid.” Celestia gestured to the image of Spike saving The Crystal Empire. Sunset then remembered something from her way in. “Say Celestia, are there any white butterflies that appeared in Equestria lately?” Celestia asked with only mild curiosity, “What do you mean?” “On my way to see you, I happened to see a white butterfly outside the castle, only it looked like its wings were shimmering a rainbow color.” Celestia blinked. Then turned to look at Sunset. “I..can’t be sure. I mean, I've heard stories, but until I see it myself, I can't be sure what it is.” Then she considered. “But then again, Harmonic Convergence did change a lot of things. Perhaps if you see it again you can let me know, and we can figure out what it might be doing here.” As they finally reached the front door, Celestia gave Sunset another neck hug. “Come back here when you’re ready. I’ll summon a chariot to take you back to Ponyville when you’re set.” Sunset nuzzled up to Celestia one last time. “Thanks for everything. I’ll be back soon.” Moondancer was sweeping up her house. Or, her vacation home as Minuette now liked to call it. It was still going to take some getting use to not being in this place at all times, but Twilight was right. If she wanted to make friends, she needed to get out a lot more. And joining the airbenders was a good start. She was also grateful all her friends (well, all her canterlot friends) had come to lend a hand. Even Twilight and Korra had briefly stopped in for a few hours. And Twilight had been kind enough to lend her the book she’d always wanted. Said it was some ‘light reading’ for during basic training. Moondancer had to admit she hadn’t really taken care of herself during her long self imposed exile, so patching up her house was a big help to show how she’d changed. “Hey Moondancer!” Twinkleshine’s voice came into Moondancer’s ear. “Where do you want to put your collection of books?” “Put them by my trunk! I want to take at least a few more of them while I hoof basic training with the airbenders. Light reading won’t be enough.” Yes, it was indeed a good day. Then she heard a knock at the door. “Who in Equestria could that be? Is my sister finally here to help?” Sunset stood outside what looked like a cottage, though it didn’t look the best. The stone wall had chunks missing, the grass was unkempt. There were several dead trees in the area. The house itself though did look like it’d been under some changes recently. The windows looked brand new, and the roof tiles looked recently cleaned. Still on a high after everything, Sunset went right up to the house and knocked on the door. There was a brief sound of scuffling inside, some indistinguishable words, and finally the door opened. “Yes, who is..” The pony who answered the door suddenly scrunched her face up. “YOU!” Sunset felt the force of that comment so hard she actually took a step back. But, she recovered herself. “Uh, hi. You remember me?” The yellow pony did not look too happy. “It’s been years, but yes. I do remember you Sunset Shimmer! What are you doing here?” Sunset wracked her brain, trying to remember who this pony was, but then looking at her yellow coat, she got her head back on straight. “Well, Lemon...hearts, I’m back in Equestria for the weekend, and wondered if I could spend some time with my old classmates.” Lemon Hearts had a sour look on her face. “I dunno. I mean, why the sudden interest after all these years?” Just then another pony pushed past her. “Honestly, what is taking so long to answer a simple door Lemon? Just..” Then the blue unicorn saw who was outside. “Sunset Shimmer? What the hay are you doing here??” Unlike Lemon Hearts, this unicorn seemed less confrontational and more confused overall. So Sunset tried again. “I’m here to spend time with my old classmates.” The blue unicorn suddenly lit up. “Yay!” she cried, and promptly galloped over to give Sunset a hug. “After all these year you finally wanna join us! This is…” “Minuette!” Lemon Heart’s voice cut through the hug. “We still have cleanup to do. Shouldn’t we get all that finished up before making new friends?” Minuette however got a mischievous smile on her face. “Well why don’t we have Sunset help us finish up? That way, it’ll get done quicker, and we can spend time with her too.” For a moment, Lemon Heart’s face scrunched up like she was thinking. Sunset suddenly felt something welling up within her. That urge to lash out in frustration that after all this time, she still has to pay the price for her mistakes. And even worse here, because she knew she didn’t spend as much time causing misery here compared to Canterlot High. At least, not that she could remember. But before she could open her mouth to bite back at Lemon… “That’s...a good idea.” Lemon Hearts had a neutral look, but looked accommodating enough. “I mean, the sooner we finish here, the sooner we can get to Donut Joe’s, right?” “Exactly. Now, let’s get to it!” Quickly Minuette galloped back inside, leaving Sunset and Lemon Hearts with a bit of a surprised look. Both shot each other a look, before Sunset shook her head and made her way inside. ------------------------------ The inside looked...alright. Obviously it’d had better days, but it did look like there’d been some dusting recently. In addition, there were 2 other ponies there. Sunset easily recognized one of them. After all, nopony had as recognizable glasses as Moondancer did. Even she remembered that easily. The other pony bore...a striking resemblance to Lemon Hearts, which could only mean she was the last person she could remember: Twinkleshine. “Hey Moondancer! Turns out it wasn’t your sister coming to help.” Moondancer turned toward Sunset, and immediately got a reserved and sour look on her face. “Oh. How...nice. How can we help you?” “I’m here to help, Moondancer.” “Why?” “Because I want to spend more time with you all. You know, the time I didn’t get to spend during school with Celestia?” Moondancer got a sad look on her face hearing that. “I..try not to think too much about that time.” Then she looked Sunset straight in the eye. “But, before I let you do ANYTHING with my house, answer me one question.” “Go ahead?” Moondancer blinked once, then asked, “How did you find this place? I mean I didn’t get out much and all the people who would know this location already did. So how did you get here?” Sunset was caught a little off guard by this, but refused to let herself be shut out. “Princess Celestia gave me directions.” That got all 4 of the ponies to turn their heads. “How would Celestia know Moondancer’s home? It’s not like she’s that unique or connected to her...right?” asked Twinkleshine confused. Moondancer was poking at the dust in thinking about this, but then looked up. “Tax data.” The others looked at Moondancer like she’d just said a hydra was a pigeon, but Moondancer kept going. “Canterlot has a minor income tax for all ponies living within the city limits, so it would make sense she might’ve been able to glean my name from the herd when...I’m sorry, who are you again?” That question somehow broke the tension in the room, causing Sunset to give a small smile. “Sunset Shimmer. We went to school at Celestia’s school for Gifted Unicorns for some time before I...er, dropped out.” Moondancer scrunched her eyebrows, still trying to remember. “I’m sorry I...wait. Wait, I know you. You were the pony who totally overran the botany department during midterms one year!” Sunset smiled a bit remembering the praise she got for that. “Yeah. That’s me.” “And then refused to hang out with us, because you felt friendship...was a...waste..of..time..” The mood in the room suddenly dropped, and for the first time since meeting her again, Moondancer smiled. “Anyways, I guess Celestia really takes the time to know everypony who lives in Canterlot, so she somehow remembered my address and gave it to Sunset here.” Then Moondancer paused, but the smile never left her face. “I would be happy to have an extra hand.” Sunset gave a small nod. “So, where do you want me to start?” Moondancer indicated towards the closet. “Could you sweep up my bedroom please? There’s a broom in the corner.” Sunset made her way over there, feeling eyes of sympathy and a little distrust following her, but trying to block them out in her head. However, when she reached the room, she suddenly had a horrible thought cross her mind. How am I supposed to sweep? I haven’t practiced magic since I was briefly in the Crystal Empire! Ugh, I hope I still remember the basics! Sunset made her way over to the broom, but while still shaky about what she was about to do, she scrunched her brow slightly, and reached out with what she’d forsaken for so long. Immediately, the broom lifted up into the ceiling, causing some dust to fall. “Too much! Too much!” So, Sunset began to lightly move the broom down again towards her, then began making the slow motions of sweeping the floor. “What was that?” Sunset felt herself jump slightly as Lemon Hearts was looking at her. “What? I’m just sweeping?” “Not that! I saw the broom go flying into the ceiling. What was that about?” Sunset gave Lemon a slight glare. “Well, you try not using your magic for several months and then pick it up again. Not everything’s going to be easy anymore!” Lemon Hearts quickly backed off. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just, it’s been so long since we saw you, and it’s hard to see you being so..passive towards us. I still remember when you were obsessing over that..’mirror’ you swore would make you a princess or some hayseeded crazy thing. I mean, at least with Moondancer and Twilight we had something to latch onto, but your condescension and self obsession was really hard for me to get over.” “But it’s been years since then! I’ve changed! You’ve changed!” Sunset suddenly felt the same fear and desperation she had outside Celestia’s throne. “Can’t you at least trust me enough to explain everything after we’re done here?” Lemon Hearts looked down, and Sunset felt a scream of frustration rising up again. But then the yellow pony looked up, and smiled. “After that miracle Princess Twilight and Princess Korra did with Moondancer, yes. Yes I can.” Sunset gave a relieved sigh at that. “Then don’t you have other things to do right now Lemon Hearts?” Moondancer gave a light sigh. Minuette was right. The extra set of hooves had made things go faster. Looking at her house, it really felt like a place to live again. She then turned to look at her 3 friends. “You know, with me gone with the Airbenders, you all could use this place as a getaway if you ever wanted. You know, have a slumber party. Maybe even use it if some stallion comes into your lives?” “Moondancer!” they all shouted embarrassed! “I’m kidding!” she laughed. Then she looked at Sunset. “You know, how about we head over to the Twilight Bow?” “Where?” asked Sunset. “It’s one of the more….interesting places around Canterlot. I may have been a shut in for years, but I wasn’t an idiot about knowing my city. And I know the Twilight Bow should be a good spot for a meal after a hard day's work.” “Uh, Moondancer?” piped Twinkleshine. “Can you afford the Twilight Bow? You’re an Airbender now aren’t you?” Moondancer gave a small winny at that. “Perhaps, but I think that in this case, we’ll all make an exception.” The Twilight Bow was, surprisingly enough, an Elements of Harmony themed restaurant. Sunset raised an eyebrow seeing this, but didn’t say anything right away regarding the choice. However, she did speak up quickly before they entered. “You know I don’t have any bits on me, don’t you?” She could see Lemon Heart’s face give a slight twitch at this, but Minuette butted in. “Don’t you worry about that Sunset. I’ll cover for you.” Sunset gave a grateful bow at this. “Thank you.” As the 5 ponies were lead to a booth in the back, Twinkleshine spoke up first. “So Moondancer, how did you know this place? I mean, I thought you cooked and lived as a true hermit for years on end and never bothered with knowing anything outside your home.” Moondancer’s chuckle was both sad and relaxed. “I still needed to eat, and this place was always on my way to the market.” Then her face darkened. “I suppose part of me remembered it well because every time I passed it, I was reminded of how Twilight Sparkle ditched me for Ponyville, fueling my resentment and grief. And when they changed it up to reflect how the elements had saved the world, that only got me madder.” Moondancer then noticed the uneasy looks all the others were giving. “But, that’s all different now. No need to hold onto petty grudges anymore, right?” And Moondancer gave an uneasy winny at that. It was Minuette who spoke up first at that. “Of course not.” Then she shot Lemon a small wink, which Lemon Hearts had the good grace to look bashful at. Then Minuette turned to Sunset. “Anyways, so Sunset? What brings you back to Canterlot? After we heard about you being removed as Celestia’s pupil, we sorta never heard a clop about you since.” Sunset took a deep breath. This was it. The moment of truth. “It’s..kinda a long story, and not exactly a fun one.” “We have Aaalll dinner to hear it!” proclaimed Twinkleshine. “But first, we better order.” Then a waiter came up to them. “And what will this lovely party of mares be having tonight?” “I’ll have the double daisy burger with hayfries” answered Minuette promptly. “I’ll have a medium tomato salad with Fluttershy honey dressing” spoke Twinkleshine. “I’ll have a basket of Onion rings for the table, and a pasta salad with no olives” Lemon Hearts smoothly replied. Moondancer looked a bit bashful, but humbly asked, “One tulip special done the Applejack way.” Her friends gave her an incredulous look at choosing an applejack style, but moondancer mumbled, “I wanna try something spicy.” Finally, the waiter looked at Sunset. “Uhh, how about the fish special? With Twilight Sauce?” All the other ponies in the restaurant suddenly looked at Sunset like she’d just grown a 3rd eye. But the waiter merely blinked and replied, “Very good. Also, I should remind you that anypony who can finish the fish special gets half off, but it’s still one of the pricier items.” Sunset just gave him a steady gaze as he walked off. Then she turned to the mares who were staring incredulously at her. “What?” she asked. “I learned to eat meat while I was in another dimension.” “ANOTHER DIMENSION??” was the reply she got from everyone. “Maybe you better start telling us what you’ve been doing.” Lemon Hearts commented. Sunset again steadied herself, and began. “When I was removed as Celestia’s pupil, I was furious at her. I thought I’d be able to show I was princess material by going through the mirror I’d been asking about for so long. But instead, it sent me to another dimension where the main group that lives there are humans.” “Like Korra?” asked Twinkleshine. “Well, sorta. There weren’t any benders or spirits in that world. In fact, there wasn’t really any magic at all there when I first arrived. But it did turn me into a human when I got there, so I decided to use my own talent for making myself look good in order to get into a school nearby. The school’s name was Canterlot High.” Sunset raised a hoof in the air as the inevitable question began forming on all their lips. “This dimension also contains things and people that are very similar to Equestrian places and ponies, but not quite. They even have their own version of the elements of harmony...that I split up in order to gain power over the school.” “What a shocker” Lemon Hearts scoffed. Sunset felt the bite rising up in her again, but forced herself to keep going. “I ‘ruled’ there for a while as queen of the school, but no matter how many times I was named fall formal or spring prom queen, it wasn’t the same as becoming a princess of equestria. So, first chance I got, I returned back through the mirror, only to find that 36 equestrian moons had passed since I’d been there.” Sunset then swallowed. “And, I found out about Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia’s new student who somehow became an alicorn.” Sunset felt the shame rising up in her, but none of the other ponies had said a word, so she kept talking. “I decided to take revenge on Celestia by stealing Twilight’s element of magic, and then once I put it on, I’d be the princess I was meant to be.” Lemon Hearts gave a disbelieving “what?” “It made sense at the time. But in the rush to get back to Canterlot High, I accidentally lost the crown, and had to compete in the fall formal to get it. Naturally I didn’t think this would be a problem given my last few wins, but then Princess Twilight showed up and began changing the school around me. It was infuriating to think I would lose everything to this undeserving upstart!” “So what did you do?” asked Moondancer. “I used some tricks to get my hands on that element of magic, and after forcing Twilight to give it up, everything was going to be mine! Except…” Sunset took another deep breath. No matter how many times she’d tried to walk past this, it was still painful. “The crown didn’t make me an alicorn. Instead, it reacted to the darkness in my heart, and turned me into a raging she demon who would use the students of canterlot high to invade Equestria and crush Celestia for not thinking I deserved it.” Sunset looked at the ponies again. This time, all of them were staring in horror, barely believing what they were hearing. She had their full attention, so she kept going. “However, Twilight Sparkle used the bond she’d formed with the school’s version of her friends to somehow tap the elements of harmony, and blasted me with rainbow magic. But in the process, I was briefly forced to see myself as others saw me, and I finally knew what a monster I’d become. It was the worst feeling in the world, and I’m just lucky Twilight made the human versions of her friends promise to help me understand friendship before she left.” Then Sunset’s face darkened. “But that was just the beginning. After all the hell I’d given the people around me, everyone treated me with distrust and suspicion. Not helped at all by my recurring dream of being that she demon over and over.” Sunset closed her eyes, remembering the pain she woke to every night at that time. “Things only got crazier when Harmonic Convergence happened. Then I got Firebending and I didn’t even know what it was or how I got it or if it was even meant to be for good. And on top of that, evil Siren exiles from Equestria tried to use a singing showcase to turn us all against ourselves to feed off the negative energy and return to equestria.” “Luckily, I managed to call Twilight for help, and she also introduced me to Princess Avatar Korra. Together we managed to stop the sirens, and I even got to heal my scars by showing the school the new song I had in my heart.” The others were still dead silent. Sunset didn’t know if this was good or bad. They all just seemed enraptured, so as their food arrived and everypony absentmindedly helped themselves to an onion ring, Sunset plowed on to the last part of her life story. “Then some time later, during a competition between our school and another called the friendship games, I discovered that even Twilight Sparkle had a counterpart in that world. But she was so different from who Twilight was to us, and she seemed to be stealing the magic inside us that had begun to develop from Equestria being in contact with us all. I...kinda snapped at her really harshly, and that might’ve partially contributed to her becoming an evil creature called midnight sparkle.” Sunset closed her eyes once more, but this time she was savoring the memories. “But then I used the same device she had to borrow magic from the others, and used it to turn into a phoenix warrior to stop Midnight Sparkle and show her that Friendship is the greatest magic of all. She decided to transfer to Canterlot High to learn more like I had, and I decided I needed to come back here for this weekend.” There was a silence permeating the table, until Moondancer, with tears in her eyes asked, “But why come back here? You’d rebuilt your life fine at this..Canterlot High? Why come back to ponies who might suspect and fear you?” Sunset gave a fearless smile. “Because my Past is not Today. And I wanted to be friends with all the people of my past now that I know I’ve redeemed myself and can show that I do understand how important friendship is for all of us.” All the other ponies looked shaken. Then Lemon Hearts spoke. “Sunset...could you...quickly step out of the booth? I think we all owe you something quickly.” Sunset almost gaffed at this, but the others didn’t seem angry or fearful after hearing all this. At the same time though, the small nods they were giving made Sunset feel...hopeful. So she quietly stepped out. “Well, what is it?” Then she got a group hug from them all right there outside the booth. “That was an awesome story!” Minuette cheered. “You’re a real hero now Sunset!” “It’s quite the drama” Twinkleshine admitted. “And the fact you wanted to come back makes for a great cap to this part.” As the ponies pulled back, Moondancer and Lemon Hearts remained close to Sunset. Moondancer spoke first. “Sunset, I barely remembered you from school, but now I see that you had to fight for friendship even harder than I ever had to.” Then to the surprise of the others, she offered Sunset a bro-hoof. “I would be honored if you would become my friend.” Sunset responded promptly, and pounded back to her. “Thank you Moondancer.” Lastly, with a tear rolling down her cheek, Lemon Hearts moved a hoof to her chest. “You were right Sunset. All I had to do was wait for the proof. You have changed. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you at first. Can you forgive me?” Sunset smiled and gave Lemon Hearts another hug. “Of course I can.” Then she turned to the others. “Now let’s finish up this dinner. It’s you ponies turn to tell me what you all have been up to lately.” Sunset uneasily made her way through Ponyville, feeling the exhaustion in her front legs. After finishing up dinner and promising to visit them again, she’d made her way back to Canterlot Castle, and been given a royal pegasus ride back to Ponyville. However, after all the hoofing she did around Canterlot after not using her front legs the same way for years, she was starting to feel a little sore like she’d been farming with the human Applejack for a day again. “Uuuuggghhh” she groaned. “I need to work out more if I’m going to go back to being a pony.” As she made her way towards Twilight’s castle though, suddenly she came to a terrible realization. Where am I going to spend the night? I hope Twilight has an extra room around her castle somewhere. Arriving at the main door though, Sunset was surprised to see a note tacked on it. Scrunching her head in concentration, still adjusting to the old spark she once had, she levitated the note out to her face. Only to then drop it on accident. “Horseseed, I am SO out of practice! I definitely need to do some training of another kind if I ever come back here.” Still, she bent her head down, reading the note in the fading light of the day. “Sunset, we need to talk about your being in Ponyville. I’m currently helping Pinkie Pie and Korra with something at Pinkie’s home Sugarcube Corner. Please come there when you get this message. You’ll recognize it as the one with the gingerbread looking roof and the frosting appearing lining. -Princess Twilight.” Sunset felt a sigh of disbelief rising up in her throat, but slowly pushed it down. “It’s good training. It’ll be no problem talking with my friend about this.” Then taking a deep breath, she made her way away from the castle. Unbeknownst to her, since she was so focused on keeping herself moving, she didn’t notice the rainbow blur flying overhead that reached Sugarcube corner before she did. Sunset looked over the building in front of her with a good deal of disbelief. “Seriously? I’ve seen noblepony homes less decorated than this.” Sunset couldn't help but wonder how Equestria got all the fancy designs when the Mirror world Sugarcube Corner was just a plain building with augers. But this place looked positively delicious and fancy at the same time. Still, she had a job to do, so she made her way up to the door. It didn’t look too bright inside, so she quickly knocked with her hoof. She heard what sounded like some hooves moving around, then a voice called out, “Who is it?” Sunset didn’t recognize it directly compared with all the voices she heard normally around Canterlot High, but it did sound familiar. She just couldn’t quite place it yet. “It’s Sunset Shimmer. I need to talk with Twilight Sparkle about staying around Ponyville.” “Oh, of course. Come on in Sunset.” The door opened to what looked like a light over the counter where food would normally be served. Sunset made her way inside, wondering what in the world Twilight was working on that kept her out at this time, when… “SURPRISE!!!” The lights suddenly flicked on, Sunset giving a small jump in surprise. “WELCOME BACK SUNSET!” Sunset gave a look around the room. It was...Princess Twilight and all her friends. She could immediately recognize them by the color of their bodies. There was Applejack still wearing a cowboy hat. Fluttershy with a happy but bashful look. Rainbow Dash with her rainbow mane (Though styled quite differently from her original dash). Rarity with a big smile and… “It’s so good to see you back here Sunset!” Pinkie Pie. Who was currently bouncing right in front of her. “Were you surprised? Huh? Huh?” “Give her some space.” Sunset recognized that voice that opened to door for her. “She’s probably a little tired after her big day in Canterlot.” Yep. It was Mako. Sunset gave a happy look at the people and ponies around her, including Korra, Asami and Bolin who were also there in party hats. “You put this all together...for me? But, I’m not that big a deal.” “Sunset Shimmer, I know that’s not true” Korra spoke. “You saved 3 dimensions by using the magic of the elements. And Celestia just wrote us about some kind of..promotion you got with her? I think you coming back here is a big deal. And you deserve the homecoming party to finish off your big day.” Everyone nodded around Sunset. Sunset felt herself glowing. Glowing with joy and satisfaction. So much so that she had a phrase welling up inside her she couldn’t keep down. “I know this is more what Pinkie or Rainbow would say but,” and with that Sunset leaped in the air. “BEST DAY EVER!!! Now let's Party!” The party was fun, although Sunset eventually asked to wind it down. After all, she was more tired than a horse on a stagecoach after all her emotional ups and downs. So she quickly had a word with Twilight about staying in her castle while visiting, which Twilight quickly agreed to. The last 2 days Sunset had involved a lot of exploring Ponyville. Meeting different ponies and donkeys. Getting some time to know the Equestrian versions of her school friends, and even getting a chance to meet the infamous Discord. Sunset never did get a chance to go to the Crystal Empire to see Cadence, but Twilight assured her that it would be easy to do next time. She just needed some advance warning next time. So on Sunday evening Sunset stood in front of the mirror, the Mane 6 and Princess Korra around her. Her saddlebags had gotten slightly heavier with gifts, including a surprise book from Asami on Business Management. Something about it being ‘alternate ideas to think about your life’. Pinkie Pie looked pretty sad. “Do you have to go? We barely got any time with you!” Sunset gave a light laugh. “Pinkie, there will be other times. Trust me, I’ll be back. Besides, I have to find out how SciTwi did on sleepover night.” Princess Twilight gave a bemused look at that. “Sunset!” “Ugh!” Sunset groaned. “I still have to figure out how to tell you two apart.” “Why not just stick to using Princess Twilight’s formal title?” Korra lightly suggested. “It’s not like the other twilight’s going to become a princess anytime soon. That way, both of them can be told apart using terms both like.” Sunset scratched her mane awkwardly at that. “Well, I guess.” Then she turned around before looking back at everyone one last time. “I better head back. Bye everyone. See you all after graduation.” “You got this girl!” cheered Rainbow Dash. Sunset galloped up to the portal and moved though, letting the rainbow swirls take her again. Only this time, it felt downright pleasant. Then she felt herself fall splat on grass, gently opened her eyes, and saw her hand. A real human hand again. Only now, there was a white hand reaching down to her. Sunset looked up. “Rarity?” “Of course darling. I assumed you needed a lift home, so I got my mother to give you a lift. Did you have a good trip?” Sunset gave a content smile. “Better than I could’ve hoped. I was redeemed. How was sleepover weekend?” Rarity looked to the side. It was at that moment, Sunset noticed that her hair was way messier than Rarity normally kept it. “Well, why don’t I tell you about it at school tomorrow? Ooh, that reminds me, we have studying for finals soon. What would you like to work on in study hall?” Sunset didn’t answer that right away. Instead looking at the school beyond, and wondering what would become of her once she left.