Infinity Era

by JDPrime22

Chapter 4 – Making Amends

The party started mere hours after Sunset Shimmer stepped hoof in Twilight’s library. She hardly had any time to set her bag in the guest room Twilight provided, or even walk around the castle before guests started pouring in. Being a party hosted by the Princess of Friendship herself, plenty of high members from Canterlot and even some celebrities managed to drop by.

Sunset barely knew anypony, but everypony seemed to know her.

The folks from Canterlot, particularly Fancy Pants and the lovely Fleur de Lis, just gabbled on and on about Princess Twilight’s stories from another dimension. She particularly spoke highly of Sunset Shimmer, causing the unicorn to blush whenever it was something positive. It always was. Nopony seemed to mention her past, almost as if it never happened. Part of Sunset wished for that, the other part knew that wouldn’t be possible and accepted that. Though she wasn’t fond of it, the past still happened, and she still lived with that. Her past wasn’t today, however. It didn’t define her now.

Several celebrities managed to drop by for a quick visit. Some Sunset barely remembered, others that were completely new to her. She, of course, remembered Countess Coloratura, who went by “Rara” now. She mostly chatted with Applejack, but spent a good portion of the night meeting Sunset. The unicorn also met Songbird Serenade for the first time. Apparently, she was a new pop artist that sprang up a couple years back. She knew Twilight from when she and her friends saved Canterlot from the Storm King’s invasion not too long ago. That earned Sunset’s attention, something she’ll definitely have to discuss further about with Twilight.

Even some of the students from Twilight’s School of Friendship dropped by with their respected guardians. Sunset had trouble remembering all of their names, but she managed. The first was Sandbar, a young Earth pony who obviously had a crush on Sunset the moment he laid eyes on her. Sunset could catch the hints. Then there was Silverstream, a Hippogriff of all creatures who couldn’t stop freaking out over the fact that Sunset had been to another dimension. Her guardian turned out to be General Seaspray, one of Queen Novo’s naval leaders. Then there was Ocellus, a shy changeling hiding under the legs of Thorax, the leader of said changelings. Sunset really enjoyed his company.

Next was Smolder, accompanied by Dragon Lord Ember. Strange. The last Sunset heard was that the dragons tried to keep as far away from ponies as possible. Something must’ve changed. Something she should discuss with Princess Twilight. Then there were the yaks, two in particular. The smaller one’s name was Yona, who almost crushed Sunset with her hug. Then there was Prince Rutherford. He made it abundantly clear—very loudly to be exact—that he welcomed “dimension pony” into Equestria. Sunset’s ears couldn’t stop ringing. And finally, there was Gallus and what appeared to be his grandfather griffon, rightfully named Grandpa Gruff. One was smug and the other practically coughed his lungs out right in front of the unicorn. Sunset tried to keep her smile the entire time.

None of the students or their guardians stayed very long. They met Sunset, offered their greetings and goodbyes to Princess Twilight and her friends, and left to their respective lands. All except for Sandbar, who Sunset could have sworn was following her for at least an hour before his parents finally arrived to drag him home. Sunset just laughed as he waved goodbye lovingly.

The party started off slow, but once the moon started to rise that’s when things really started to kick off. More guests arrived by the dozen, and everypony present was visited by the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony himself, Discord. The guests from Ponyville especially enjoyed his appearance. They had particular experience when dealing with Discord’s antics, what with the party Discord threw a couple years back in Ponyville that left the town in shambles. Sunset found Discord to be quite the charmer, but also kind of a wack job. He took both as compliments.

As the party dragged on and the celebrities came and went, things started to slow down into the night. The castle wasn’t as crowded as it had been earlier that night, but there were still a good number of ponies filling the halls. Trash lied on empty tables in the dining area, empty plates and cups being thrust into garbage pails by Spike and several other ponies. Small conversations filled the castle, ponies sticking to small groups and chatting amongst themselves until they decided when it would be best to turn in for the night. Others, the more knowledgeable ones, knew Pinkie Pie had at least one more trick up her sleeve, and chose to prepare by finishing off their drinks and moving towards the dining area for a refill. These ponies waved to Sunset as she strode past them.

Sunset Shimmer tried to find her way through Twilight’s castle, through the dining area and entering the maze-like hallways. She frowned. The last time she was in Twilight’s castle, all she saw was the library and a few hallways. Sure, it was big, but she couldn’t have imagined it was so large on the inside with how it appeared on the outside. She tried to keep her mind on the physical attributes of Twilight’s castle, and not on what she had been both anxiously waiting for and dreading all night…

Making amends once again.

There wasn’t any sign of the princesses, nor of Twilight, who Sunset had been looking for after breaking herself away from the conversation in the dining area. She was grateful there were so many ponies who were willing to accept and meet her, but a few minutes of breathing room to gain some insight on her current mission was desperately needed.

The library was closed off for the night, so no finding Twilight in there. None of the guest rooms were occupied, and the throne room was blocked off from all guests. Aside from some lingering ponies in the hallways, the only other place in the castle that she knew ponies would be would have to be in the foyer, directly next to the entrance of the castle.

She found her way there rather easily, standing at the very top of the stairway and gazing down at a room that was nearly full of ponies. Discord was present, which earned most of the attention of the room. Sunset didn’t pay the bystanders any attention, though. Her full gaze was latched with Twilight chatting with some friends from Canterlot. The rest of her friends were scattered throughout the foyer, speaking with close friends and family. Especially Starlight, who was engrossed with the tale of adventure and excitement that Trixie, Derpy, and Maud were trying to tell her. Well, mostly Trixie and Derpy. Maud just stood by with her younger sister, Pinkie, listening and offering her own slice of the adventure she, Trixie, and Derpy had been a part of.

Her words were minimal, yet the story was so… fascinating. Sunset definitely needed to hear about their little “space adventure”. Definitely later. Now, she needed to focus on just one pony.

“Oh, Sunset Shimmer!”

Nearly jumping out of her coat, Sunset spun her neck around, her mane whipping with her. She smiled in relief to only see Spike behind her, quickly making his way down the steps. “Oh, Spike, you can call me Sunset. No need for such formalities,” she told him with a giggle and a wave of her hoof.

Stopping just a few steps above her, Spike frowned, rubbing the back of his head. “Right, sorry. It’s just that Twilight wants me to be on my best behavior tonight and…”

Everything seemed to click shortly after he said Twilight’s name. He snapped his claws, turning to Sunset with a smile and eyes brimming with excitement. “Oh, that’s right! Twilight wanted me to find you and bring you to the foyer! But it looks like you already found your way, so my last job for the party is nearly done!”

He offered his claw and bowed respectively. “M’lady.”

Sunset chuckled and placed her hoof in his claw. “Heh… Don’t call me that,” she said with a deadpan tone, but smirked Spike’s way. They descended the stairs and entered the foyer, passing ponies and making their way near the doors where Twilight was speaking with several other ponies. The whole time she tried not to look at the small wings protruding from Spike’s back.

Instantly, Twilight’s eyes widened with excitement when she spotted Sunset’s bright mane. “Sunset!” Twilight exclaimed, breaking away from the group she was speaking with, all of which turned their attention onto Sunset. “I’m so glad you’re here! You came just in time! Wait, it is time, isn’t it?”

Spike nodded to her, tapping his watch.

“Great!” Twilight said with a giddy smile, hopping on the tips of her hooves like a little filly. Several of her friends from Canterlot, such as Moon Dancer, Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, and Minuette, all giggled at her reaction. “Oh, I can’t wait! This reunion is going to be fantastic! I just know it!”

Stepping forward and away from Spike who joined in on another far-off conversation, Sunset chuckled nervously, rubbing her foreleg. “That’s… actually what I wanted to talk with you about, Twilight.”

Twilight paused for a moment, smiled warmly, then turned to the four behind her. “Excuse me, girls,” she told them, facing Sunset and stepping aside with her. “Yeah? So, what’s on your mind?”

“You… do you remember when I came back during the Memory Stone incident, right?” Sunset asked, nearly at a whisper. Twilight nodded, her smile fading and a worrisome expression growing on her face. “So, you should probably know that I’ve already… kinda made amends with Celestia already. Sure, I’ve done some pretty terrible things, said even worse things to Celestia herself. So… what do I even need to say?”

Twilight’s worry vanished when Sunset mentioned Celestia. She just smiled in response, resting her hoof on Sunset’s shoulder. She noticed it was shaking. “Well, that’s always difficult,” she told her in the kindest tone she could manage for her. “Although you did meet with Celestia and apologized already, it wouldn’t hurt to do it again. By the way, you didn’t really stay in Equestria that long.”

Sunset nodded slowly at first. “I guess you’re right.” That nod quickened, her smile growing as she exclaimed, “Yeah, I’m worrying over nothing! It’s gonna be easy!”

Smiling in response to that, Twilight leaned her neck back as Sunset moved in, brow furrowing, the unicorn whispering, “By the way… when did you say the princesses were getting here?”

Three sudden and powerful knocks on the door brought everypony’s attention backwards to the entrance of the castle. Before anypony could intervene, the Mark 45 Iron Man armor flew over everypony’s heads, landing in front of the twin doors and pulling them open. The AI nodded her metallic head, stepping aside to announce loudly for the entire foyer to hear.

And Friday said, “Presenting the rulers of Equestria, the Princess of the Sun and the Princess of the Moon, Celestia and Luna, as well as their guests for the night!”

Sunset’s confident smile fell, replaced only with a confused expression. “Guests?” she asked. Twilight could hardly contain her excitement.

That confused expression was then replaced with a look of surprise when she forgot who Friday just mentioned by name. They stepped into the castle, looking as elegant as ever, Celestia mostly. The dark blue Alicorn standing on her right was obviously Princess Luna. Sunset, like everypony else, knew of the story of Nightmare Moon. She knew Luna had returned, but it was still just the second time she had met her… face to face.

The two were trailed by a few Royal Guards who kept the doors open despite the fact that the princesses had already made it inside. Twilight and the ponies around her began to move forward. The entire foyer began to move forward. Sunset stayed where she was, eyes trained on the bright white Alicorn. And she shivered.

“Your Highnesses,” Twilight greeted, bowing to the royal sisters. Everypony else in the foyer followed in the princess’ hoofsteps, save for Discord and Sunset Shimmer. She eventually snapped out of her daze and bowed like the others. She could have sworn she saw Celestia’s warm smile turn her way. She gulped nervously, already sweating with her snout nearly touching the floor.

Nodding to Friday behind her, the AI doing just the same before flying off to the end of the room, Celestia turned her attention forward. “Princess Twilight, I must say this is quite the impressive celebration you’ve thrown,” Celestia addressed, smiling to the rest of the room. Everypony stood back up. Leaning down to her past pupil, Celestia whispered, “I see your organization skills from previous Galas have helped?”

Chuckling in response, Twilight nodded. “Certainly, Celestia,” she said, stepping aside and looking back for the right mare. She saw her standing amongst the crowd, almost looking like she was unsure whether she should back away or remain frozen. Twilight smiled warmly.

“There is somepony here who has been dying to see you again. I think it would all be in our best interests…” Twilight paused, turning back to gaze right into Celestia’s eyes, the twin orbs that held the radiance of the rising sun, “… if we let her speak.”

Celestia’s smile almost broke. She forced herself to keep it, but even Twilight saw that slight falter. “So, I have heard,” the Princess of the Sun said, following Twilight’s gaze.

Everypony followed Celestia’s eyes. Straight to the unicorn now at the center of attention. Sunset instantly crumbled on the inside by the sudden attention shifted her way. Really didn’t imagine it going this way, she thought, taking the first few and very brave steps forward. She had hoped for a smaller crowd, preferably just Twilight and her friends as witnesses. She tried not to focus on them and instead focused on…

“Princess… Celestia?” Sunset asked, the bravery in her voice still standing strong.

The Princess of the Sun awaited the unicorn’s approach with the brightest smile she could offer. Her mane danced to the flow of the wind that wasn’t there, sparkling in the shade of the rainbow it was. “Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia said sweetly, smiling to the unicorn as she slowly approached her. She noticed the shake in her step, causing her to chuckle warmly. “It is a true pleasure to see you once again.”

She shot out her wing, causing Sunset to flinch back and shut her eyes, almost like she was preparing for a strike to come. Nothing did. Instead, she opened her eyes to be met with Celestia’s smile and her left wing opened up to her. Almost like an embrace awaiting her arrival. Sunset was cautious for a short time, but the longer she stared at Celestia’s smile—that same warm, motherly smile—tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes, tears she couldn’t stop. Just like how she couldn’t stop what came next.

The unicorn ran forward and clutched onto the princess’ chest like it was her lifeline, already releasing the waterworks right into the Alicorn’s chest. Even when she spread her dampness onto her coat, even when she bawled like a little filly, Celestia didn’t turn her away or break the embrace. She sealed it. Sunset felt the large wing drape over her like a comforting blanket, like a shield to keep her safe. Just like before. Just like so long ago when she was still her pupil. The thought of that caused Sunset to clutch onto her chest and cry even harder.

“I’m sorry…” the unicorn cried, face buried into Celestia’s chest. “I’m so… so sorry. I wish I could… I wish I could take it all back.”

“Oh, my little pony,” Celestia said, her voice nearly breaking as she rubbed the unicorn’s mane. “It’s okay. Everything’s all right.”

Sunset looked up at her, tears staining her cheeks and burning her eyes. Celestia only smiled, saying in a soothing tone, “From what I’ve heard… there is no need for such apologies, Sunset.”

She lifted her gaze and brought it to Twilight and the approaching Elements of Harmony. Even as she stared at them, she spoke to Sunset. “Your actions in the other world, everything you’ve done to make amends, all of the wonderful friends you’ve made and problems you’ve solved all in the name of friendship… it has all proven that you have changed… in the most wonderful of ways.”

Using her wing, she wiped away Sunset’s tears, but that didn’t stop more from flowing freely. Even Celestia couldn’t shield her own. She bent down and practically scooped the unicorn into her forelegs, holding her as if she was her own daughter.

“Welcome home, Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunset could hear the shaking in Celestia’s voice, almost causing more tears to spring up in her eyes. But she stopped them, wiping her nose with a foreleg and breaking away from the princess. Celestia smiled to her. “Thank you, Princess Celestia,” Sunset said, sniffing loudly before turning to her left, where the Princess of the Night stood with a grin.

Sunset nearly jumped, rubbing her eyes rather quickly. “Princess Luna… it’s great to see you again.”

The Alicorn nodded and began to speak, addressed Sunset as fluently as she could, so clear that everypony could hear her. “I must say, it is an honor to be speaking to the one most highly praised by Princess Twilight once more. And I think it goes to show… that any friend of my sister’s is most certainly a friend of mine.”

Before Sunset could reply, Luna stepped forward for a hug. At first, Sunset was uncertain, but slowly fell into it when Celestia’s calming smile egged her on. Sunset chuckled, breaking away from the princess. “Thank you, Your Highness,” she said to Luna, who smiled and nodded in response.

“How are the ‘Faculty Lots’?” Luna asked.

Sunset actually laughed at that. Luna’s smile dwindled, confusion rippling across her brow. “Was it something we… I said?”

“As much as I would love for this reunion to last, it would be disrespectful to not introduce Sunset to our guests for the evening,” Celestia said, stepping forward with her sister.

“Oh, I agree wholeheartedly, sister,” Luna said, smirking to Sunset.

Catching that smirk and not knowing what to do with it, Sunset took a step forward and said, “Yeah, Friday mentioned something about gue—”

Both princesses backed away, making room for their guests as they entered through the large doors of Twilight’s castle. The doors closed at long last, finally revealing why they had remained open for so long. Sunset’s voice completely failed her, her eyes widening to a size she almost couldn’t fathom. She caught her breath, almost failing to breathe, but did so in small, silent bursts. Her heart practically stopped dead in its tracks, her mind almost doing the same.

When her parents stepped through those doors and entered Twilight’s castle, Sunset didn’t move. She didn’t breathe for a moment, then shortly continued. She didn’t think. Just stood in complete and utter shock. Sunrise and Evening Shimmer nearly shared the same exact fate.

Despite knowing full well why they were brought by the princesses themselves to Princess Twilight’s castle that night, the mare and stallion almost couldn’t believe who was standing just mere feet in front of them. Sunrise Shimmer, Sunset’s father, was a golden unicorn with a dull red mane and heavy wrinkles under his eyes, which were colored a light orange. He stood frozen in time, jaw unhinged, as did his wife. Evening Shimmer gasped loudly, trying to hide her shrieks with a raised hoof. Unlike her husband, her coat was a darker shade of gold and her mane a light shade of yellow and dark orange. She had her daughter’s eyes, bright cyan. Just like Sunset’s.

Sunset quickly looked over to Twilight. The Alicorn smiled as wide as ever, her eyes almost burning with tears as her hoof rose to cover her mouth. Those eyes of hers, just like Celestia, egged her on, pushed her forward.

Almost unsure at first, Sunset took those brave steps of hers forward, between the royal sisters and towards the ponies she was even more terrified to see than Celestia. Neither of them moved, just stood in tense silence as their daughter approached them. Each step was harder than the last, each inch closer a tug at Sunset’s heart after seeing the expressions on her mother’s face. Her father remained frozen in his own way, expression solidified into absolute nothingness. She didn’t care if there was a crowd anymore. She forgot about them a long time ago.

She stopped at a distance that she felt was right, just a few feet between them. Sunset didn’t smile, didn’t say a thing, but stand and stare. That couldn’t even last when she saw her mother break down into tears. That tore her apart, the dam breaking and releasing the flood. The rives flowed free once more when her mother shot forward and clutched onto her with a certain warmness she hadn’t felt in a long time.

“My baby…” Evening whimpered, causing Sunset to start bawling when that voice touched her ears. She brought up her forelegs and embraced her mother, her wavering strength just being enough. Even through the tears, she could see her father follow shortly, his chin resting on her opposite shoulder as he held onto his only daughter.

Sunset cried. She didn’t care anymore. She cried like she never had before. Even worse than when Twilight reformed her, because back then she was being brought out of the darkness. Now, she was being brought back into the life she left, one she never wanted to leave again. She felt her father bring up his hoof, gently rubbing her mane.

“I’m so sorry, Mom,” Sunset whimpered, breaking into more tears as she buried her face in her father’s mane. “I’m so sorry, Dad.”

“Oh, baby girl,” her father whispered, kissing her mane. “It’s okay… It’s all right.”

“If you’re going to leave…” her mother said, breaking away but still keeping her hooves pressed firmly to her daughter, “… please tell us when you’re coming back.”

Sunset managed a tear-stained smile. “Okay… I promise.”

They all fell back into another hug, and right away Sunset knew that all the bad blood they had before was washed clean, leaving nothing but a clean slate for her to rebuild. It was perfect. It was just so absolutely perfect.

“So, Sunset,” Celestia said, stepping forward. “Is it all you imagined a warm welcome home would be?”

She managed to pry her mother’s and father’s hooves off of her for a short period, chuckling at them, who smiled back to her. Turning to Celestia, the reunited family smiled, only Sunset Shimmer nodding. And she said, “It’s even better than I could have imagined.”

“It’s about to get even better, Sunset,” Pinkie declared, bounding forward and becoming the new center of attention. “Because starting right now, the ‘Sunset Shimmer Welcome Home We’re Glad You’re Not a Villain Anymore Party Extravaganza’ after party has officially begun!”

She blew her party cannon after that announcement, spreading confetti all across the room. It covered party guests, the princesses, and Sunset and her family, yet it earned the biggest hoot and holler that the night could offer.

Pinkie Pie stood tall on her smoking party cannon, waving a bright orange flag with Sunset’s cutie mark etched on its face. The three unicorns all laughed at the pony’s antics, watching as she turned to them. “Woohoo! Better stack up on the sugar Mr. and Mrs. Shimmer, ‘cause we’re going all night long!” Pinkie screamed.

Everypony cheered. Everypony except Spike, who was looking forward to turning in for the night. Now he had an after party to attend to. The small dragon sat on the steps leading to the hallways, sighing and letting his head fall back on the upper steps, his wings resting flat. A certain Spirit of Chaos wasn’t even enough to get him up.

“Oh, Spike, you simply must try the refreshments!” Discord exclaimed, hovering a glass filled with popping liquid into Spike’s limp claw. Discord took a large sip out of his own, sighing and smacking his lips. “I added a little something here and there to ours just to give them that much of a kick in the after taste! Twilight wouldn’t let me anywhere near the punch bowl, so I had to sneak these. She has been on my case all night, you wouldn’t believe!”

Sighing once more, Spike leaned forward, his spikes drooping to the side. He didn’t even look into his drink as he clutched the glass with both claws. “Tell me about it,” he muttered, heavy bags under his eyes. He watched Twilight being introduced by Sunset to the unicorn’s parents, laughing and having a great time. It’s like she forgot about his job, or his entire existence. Wouldn’t be the first time.

Discord leaned close to his cheek, sipping on his floating glass. He sighed again, not with content, but with sadness. “There they are… the mares that rule this nation. And here we are… just players trying to get through the game,” he said, paw held out to Celestia, Luna, and Twilight. The rest of his body lay wilting like a shed python skin on the steps.

Spike yawned, looking down at his bubbling drink. He downed it all in one gulp. His weariness left him, the dragon’s eyes widening, his voice rising. “You said it!” he declared, staring into his empty cup, almost as if he was searching for another drop.

Discord caught the look and smirked. “I thought you might like the drink. Now we can groovy all night long!”

However, Spike began to feel dizzy, hiccupping and stumbling to his feet. Discord caught him before he could fall down the steps. He froze in horror, hiding the dragon from the eyes of such ponies like Twilight, or worse, Fluttershy. “On second thought, giving that mixture to someone underage was probably a bad idea,” he whispered to himself, looking down to the baby dragon drooling face-first on the steps. “Do you wanna go lie down instead? Would you like that, lizard?”

Spike turned his head and shook it.

“Wanna go on the balcony and point obscene gestures at ponies leaving the party?”

Spike nodded lazily, burping flames.

“Okay, let’s go on the balcony and point obscene gestures at ponies leaving the party,” Discord said, dragging the baby dragon by his tail, out the door and out of the party. He shut the door with his own tail, but not before muttering under his breath, “It’s more fun than this borefest anyhow.”