The streets were almost empty of pedestrians on the Sunday evening. They walked in silence with Sunset Shimmer holding a hand on her friend's shoulders, careful not to make any skin-to-skin contact and activate her power. It didn't take them long to get to Sunset Shimmer's place, but it sure felt like an eternity to Sunset Shimmer, and probably to her friend just as much. Inside, Sunset Shimmer sat Wallflower Blush on the couch and got her a glass of water. She drank it down in large gulps and sighed.
Sunset Shimmer cleared her throat. "I really didn't do it on purpose. I seems to happen whenever I'm in skin contact with someone and I really wish I could turn it off."
"Well... Now you know," Wallflower Blush said quietly. There was no anger in her voice, only sadness and defeat. "I didn't want anyone to find out and this is what happened." She leaned back and covered her eyes with her hands again. "I'm totally messed up, Sunset."
"Shh." Sunset Shimmer put a hand around Wallflower Blush's shoulders.
"Magic, demons, sirens, Memory Stones..."
Sunset interrupted her. "Yeah, I know. Makes my head spin when I try to think about it all."
"And the first thing I do when I get even a bit of it for myself? I use it to hurt people."
"But it didn't start out like that, did it? You didn't mean to hurt anyone." Sunset Shimmer said.
"At first, no. But then when you couldn't even remember we were supposed to work together on the yearbook and you kept making all the decisions alone I got so angry."
"And that's totally on me," Sunset Shimmer said.
Wallflower Blush shook her head. "No, it isn't. There's probably a million other things I could have done, but I went for revenge. Revenge for something you hadn't even actually done." She once again lifted her knees up to her chest. "I just thought you deserved it."
"I think so too," Sunset Shimmer said quietly.
Wallflower Blush looked at her in surprise "Huh?"
"I think I got off too easy too. I did awful things for years, then BAM! Everything's okay, everything forgotten, here, have great friends to support you and all's forgiven. I mean, even the rest of the school forgot the whole thing with me singing a single song."
"So you... all this time you thought you were getting off too easy too?" Wallflower Blush asked.
"I did. I mean, I've tried to make amends to everyone, I've tried to fix my mistakes and worked really hard on it... but I sometimes thought I still didn't deserve any of it."
"So what did you do?"
Sunset Shimmer blushed and shook her head and turned away "You wouldn't believe me."
Wallflower Blush put her own hand on Sunset Shimmer's shoulder. "Please?"
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but..." Sunset Shimmer took a deep breath. "I went through a magic portal to a magical land of ponies where the winged unicorn Princess ruling the place gave me a loud spanking yesterday."
Wallflower Blush stared at her in disbelief, then sadness took her expression over, and finally, anger. "I thought... I thought you took this seriously!"
"I do! I told you you wouldn't believe me!" Sunset Shimmer said weakly.
"You really expect me to believe... umm... what are you doing?"
Sunset Shimmer had gotten up, turned around and was now lowering her yoga pants. She knew exactly how taboo the thing she was doing was in the human world, but it was the only way she could prove what she was saying. As she lifted her shirt up and pulled her underwear to the side of one of her buttocks, she heard a loud gasp from behind. In the silence that followed, she quickly pulled her pants up again and sat back next to her friend.
"So..." Wallflower said, her eyes still quite wide.
"Yeah," Sunset Shimmer said.
"Ponies? Princessess?"
Sunset Shimmer patted her friend on the shoulder. "I know it's a lot to take in. But that's where I'm from. Equestria. That's where all the magic is from too."
"Wait, so you're a... pony?"
"Unicorn. So is Twilight Sparkle. Well, the old one. Not the one from Crystal Prep."
"There's two..."
"Is it any harder to believe than any of the other stuff that's been going on?"
"It's a lot." Wallflower Blush rubbed her temples. "Do you have any Aspirin?"
"Coming right up."
After swallowing her pill and drinking another half a glass of water, Wallflower Blush was left looking into her glass and swirling the liquid around. "Can I ask you something?"
Sunset Shimmer tried to keep the worry from her voice. "Anything."
"What did you see when you touched me?"
It was the question Sunset Shimmer had been worrying would come up sooner or later. She tried to brave on. "I saw a few flashes of you. I saw you, umm, had trashed what was probably your room."
Wallflower Blush looked away. "It was the day you and your friends broke the Memory Stone. I went home and kinda lost it. I don't even really remember too well what happened. Only that I've never felt so awful than then."
"Are things okay at your home?" Sunset Shimmer asked.
"I almost never see my parents because of their work and I mostly do everything there myself. They leave me some money for food but I basically live alone I guess. I mean, it's been a while now and I haven't even cleaned my room since, but they haven't even noticed."
"Mom? Dad?" The sad voice echoed in Sunset Shimmer's head.
"I also saw you talk about..." Sunset Shimmer had to swallow "...killing someone."
A shiver ran through Wallflower Blush's body. "You. I meant you."
"I'm not sure I follow."
"When I used the magic stone on you at full power. I erased everything that you'd done for years, ever since I remembered you came to the school. Isn't that almost like killing someone? Especially if I had gone any further? What if I'd erased everything you remembered ever?" Two hot tears rolled down Wallflower Bush's cheeks. "And I almost did. I was so angry and desperate and..." She couldn't continue.
"Yeah, that was pretty bad," Sunset Shimmer said. "I... I was back at the moment when I came through the portal here. I didn't understand where I was or what happened. I was so scared..."
Wallflower Blush tried to look at her, but lost her nerve at the last minute, instead staring down again. "Is that why you acted so weird and talked about Celestia? I thought you were talking about the principal."
"No, I was talking about my former mentor, Princess Celestia from Equestria. We had a falling out and I ran away through the portal without knowing where it would lead me." Sunset Shimmer tried to smile. "Not my greatest moment."
"So you really are a unicorn."
"Guilty as charged," Sunset Shimmer said softly. She moved next to her friend and wrapped both of her hands around her friend's shoulders and pulled her into a hug. Wallflower Blush didn't resist. "Are you going to be okay?" Sunset Shimmer asked.
Wallflower Blush leaned her head against Sunset Shimmer's shoulder. "I really don't know," she answered in a muffled voice. "I just don't know what I should do to stop feeling this way."
"You're already doing everything you need to." A memory of Princess Celestia looking at her with her gentle eyes that could pierce anything crept into her mind. "All you need to do is forgive yourself. Everyone else already has." Her answers were a few hot drops falling onto her shoulder as Wallflower Blush hugged her harder. She gently stroked the girl's hair. "I know it's not easy, but it's something you need to do if you don't want to shatter completely."
They sat like that on the couch, holding each other, until Wallflower Blush's breathing finally started to calm down and she pulled back from the hug and wiped a sleeve over her red eyes. "Did it really help?"
Sunset Shimmer was confused. "Huh?"
"The s-spanking. Did it really help you?"
It was Sunset Shimmer's turn to blush. "I really think it did. I needed to feel like I got punished for everything I did to everyone so I could finally forgive myself. I mean, it hurt like heck, but now I can finally move on."
"That's exactly how I feel. I did all those things to everyone and they don't even remember it. Folks at CHS don't even know how many times I used the stone on them, how much time they're missing because of me. And it's even worse with you and your friends because you actually know everything!"
Sunset Shimmer nodded in understanding. "So you feel like you can't just be forgiven, but need to earn it somehow?"
"Exactly," Wallflower Blush finally let go of her knees and let her feet fall to the floor. She leaned back on the sofa and looked at the ceiling with a sigh. "That's exactly it. How can I earn it if everyone is lining up to tell me everything's okay! Why don't you people shout at me or hit me or something? This makes no sense."
"Believe me. I totally understand what you mean," Sunset Shimmer said. "I mean, I'm probably the absolute last person to tell anyone about earning forgiveness, but if there's anything I can do to help, then I will."
"This Princess Celestia... Do you think you could ask her to give me a spanking too?" Wallflower Blush said with a thin smile on her face.
Sunset Shimmer was slightly taken aback by that. She wasn't sure if her friend was joking or not. "I mean, I could ask her if you want. It would be quite complicated to set up and you'd have to go to Equestria and everything."
"I thought so," Wallflower Blush turned to look Sunset Shimmer in the eyes. "Then would you do it?"
"Wha... huh?" Sunset Shimmer was left staring at her friend with her mouth hanging open. She blinked a few times before the words even completely registered. "You want me to... Are you serious?"
Wallflower Blush's face grew several shades redder, but she didn't break eye contact as she nodded.
"But I've never even given someone a spanking! What if I hurt you?" Sunset Shimmer said, not even realizing how silly her words were.
"I thought that was the point," Wallflower Blush said. "And you said you'd do anything if it would help."
"Yeah, I said that..." Sunset Shimmer stammered, before she took a breath to calm herself. "I did say that."
Wallflower Blush's eyes grew wider and she made a panicked wiping motion with her hands. "I didn't mean it like you had to. I just meant that you said it and I thought maybe it would work because I'm ready to try almost anything after today too."
Sunset Shimmer's brow furrowed for a moment, but soon it was replaced with a determined expression. "No, you're right. If you really think it would help, then I'll do it. Princess Celestia did it because I asked her, so what kind of a friend would I be if I didn't."
"Thank you." Wallflower Blush gulped. "I guess..."
"Have you ever gotten a spanking before?"
Wallflower Blush shook her head. "I know what it means but it's not really used around here any more."
"Oh. It's still used very much in Equestria. There's something about having to go to school the next day and everypony sees you've gotten it that really makes you think again before doing something dumb again."
Wallflower Blush's eyes had grown wide in disbelief again. "Are you telling me ponies could see if you'd gotten a spanking?"
"Well we don't usually wear clothes," Sunset Shimmer said, already expecting what would happen next.
Wallflower Blush's cheeks were glowing red and her mouth was trying to form words, but no sound came out.
"Yeah. I hear it's a big thing here. That's why I was okay about showing you my tush before. People around here would think I'm sort of a nudist or something."
She only got a very awkward cough as a response.
"You do realize that if I'm going to spank you, it'll be on the bare?" Sunset Shimmer asked.
"I just did," The blushing Wallflower Blush said. "I guess it's okay. I know you won't tell anybody about any of this either."
Sunset Shimmer nodded. "Of course not. Just between you and me."
Wallflower Blush took a deep breath, then nodded. "Okay. What do I do?"