//------------------------------// // Day 3 // Story: Not Fully Forgiven // by smirker //------------------------------// Morning comes and Sunset Shimmer wakes up when she feels somepony shaking her, "Hey, it's time to work." Arcana said, Sunset Shimmer wakes up and has trouble getting up, "I open shop today, I'll need you to pick any grapes if they're ripe." Arcana said, "No training today?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "We take breaks on Sundays." Arcana replied, "Oh, this is the last day I can work, I have to go back to school tomorrow." Sunset Shimmer said, "Alright, we'll finish early today then." Arcana replied, and Sunset Shimmer heads outside. Sunset Shimmer picks any grapes that were ripe while Arcana runs the shop and ponies buy wine and grape juice from her, "It's always nice to come here, darling, your wine never ceases to disappoint." a familiar female voice said, "Thank you, I have a temporary assistant right now, but she finishes working today, but other than that, I run the entire winery alone." Arcana replied, "My, it must be a lot of work, I will be looking forward to your nice bottle of wine I take from here." the familiar voice said, "Alright, take care." Arcana replied, and Sunset Shimmer runs into the winery and sees a pony with a white coat and a purple mane and tail leaving, "Wait, was that Rarity?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "Uh-huh, she's a regular at my winery." Arcana replied, "Wow, I never knew." Sunset Shimmer said, "Due to her bringing my wine to Ponyville, I have developed a small rivalry with the Apple family cider." Arcana replied, "Wow." Sunset Shimmer said, "Well, go on and work." Arcana replied, and she goes back outside. Sunset Shimmer picks whatever ripe grapes there were and put them in her silver bucket, she finishes quickly today and goes back into the winery, "That's all of the ripe grapes." Sunset Shimmer said, "Alright, go ahead and start crushing them." Arcana replied, and Sunset Shimmer goes into the cellar, she crushes the grapes until Arcana opens the cellar door, "Brunch time." Arcana said, "I'll pass." Sunset Shimmer replied, and Arcana closes the door and Sunset Shimmer continues crushing the grapes. Sunset Shimmer finishes crushing the grapes and goes back up, she sees Arcana was eating grapes, "Still brunch time?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "No, lunch." Arcana replied, "Oh." Sunset Shimmer said, "Go ahead and pack up, since you have school tomorrow, you finish early, and Ponyville is kind of far from here, even by train." Arcana said, "Where are the train tracks for Dreaming Paradise?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "There aren't any, the closest train station to here is in Canterlot." Arcana replied, "Oh, that is kind of far." Sunset Shimmer said, "Yeah, plus if you teleport there now, the train won't be there, so maybe you should wait a bit." Arcana replied, "You know what, I'll just teleport to Canterlot and wait there." Sunset Shimmer said, and she heads outside. Sunset Shimmer gets ready to leave and Arcana was with her, she gives Sunset Shimmer a lot of bits, "Here, for the work you did." Arcana said, Sunset Shimmer takes it while smiling and holds her front right hoof out, "What?" Arcana asked, "Well, do you forgive me?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "No." Arcana replied, "WHAT?!" Sunset Shimmer asked, "I almost died when you sent me to the hospital, that is not something I can let go of so easily." Arcana replied, "Wait, you're saying that I did all of that work for nothing?!" Sunset Shimmer asked, "No, I wouldn't say it was for nothing, I am still giving you money for the work you did." Arcana replied, "I don't want your money, I want your forgiveness, that's why I started working for you!" Sunset Shimmer said, "Well, if that's the case, then yes, you kind of did waste your time." Arcana replied, Sunset Shimmer's face turns red with rage, "Fine, in that case, I don't forgive you for beating me up and sending me to the hospital." Sunset Shimmer said, "You brought that onto yourself, if you didn't send me to the hospital while in a fit of jealous rage, I wouldn't have done that." Arcana replied, "Why did you do it?!" Sunset Shimmer asked, "Karma and punishment, when I heard Princess Celestia has accepted you back, I thought you were let off the hook and went unpunished, and if you didn't come here to try to win me over, I would've called it even and left you alone." Arcana replied, "Why did you wait for so many years for?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "Because Equestria was constantly attacked by other threats, and you were one of them when you took Princess Twilight's crown." Arcana replied, "Well, Twilight was the one who offered me friendship." Sunset Shimmer said, "Because that's her character, and she hasn't known you as long as I have, so she didn't see just how cruel you really are." Arcana replied, Sunset Shimmer becomes speechless, "Arcana, please, I wish for your forgiveness, I've been through this before, and I had nightmares of what I did back then before I was accepted." Sunset Shimmer said, "That's your problem, my forgiveness will not undo your nightmares, you have to come to terms with that, yourself." Arcana replied, "But it'll soothe my mind." Sunset Shimmer said, "The answer remains no, now take your money and go." Arcana replied, "But I did all of your work by hoof!" Sunset Shimmer said, "And I told you at the beginning, you didn't have to do that, you could've used your magic." Arcana replied, "Did the conversations we have mean anything to you?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "I'll admit, I did enjoy conversing with you, but that still doesn't change the fact that you're a cruel pony who is arrogant and jealous of those better than you, and you would do anything to protect this thing you call pride that exists nowhere but inside of your own head." Arcana replied, Sunset Shimmer fumes with rage, "Get mad all you want, it won't change the truth." Arcana said, "Why can't you see that I have changed?!" Sunset Shimmer asked, "Because you didn't, you just got better at hiding your true self." Arcana replied, "What do I have to do to win your friendship?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "Simple, just don't be my enemy to begin with." Arcana replied, Sunset Shimmer's face turns more red, "You're going to go after my friends next, aren't you?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "No, I will not." Arcana replied, "I doubt it, you're jealous that Twilight became the princess, and you want the crown for yourself." Sunset Shimmer said, "I have no quarrel with Princess Twilight." Arcana replied, "What?" Sunset Shimmer asked while calming down, "I'll admit, not becoming Princess Celestia's pupil was disheartening, but I was hoping to learn more magic, not become a princess." Arcana replied, Sunset Shimmer becomes speechless again, "You tried to become a princess and failed, now go, live out your life, Sunset Shimmer, and maybe you'll be miserable again when the others see your change of heart is a fake, and you wish to go back to being cruel and stomping over others when you have the chance." Arcana said, Sunset Shimmer gets angry and shoots a beam at her on impulse, she grunts and falls over, she gets up and Paladin and Robin run to her, "That's how you want it? Very well." Arcana said, and the three get ready to attack her. Sunset Shimmer sees Paladin, Arcana, and Robin coming to her, Paladin unsheathes her sword and shield, Robin takes two daggers out of her coat, and Arcana was ready to cast a spell. Sunset Shimmer tries to run but Robin throws a thin wire with her right wing and it wraps around Sunset Shimmer's hind legs, she pulls Sunset Shimmer back and she sees Robin was holding a dagger out and ready to stab her, she flings the dagger out of Robin's hoof with her telekinesis, Arcana casts a spell and makes jagged rocks appear on the ground. Sunset Shimmer gets dragged across the ground by Robin and she screams as the rocks cut her, Paladin goes near her and jumps onto her back, Sunset Shimmer screams in pain from the heavy suit of armor on her back, "Shame, I was hoping to have another friendly match with you." Paladin said, Sunset Shimmer groans in pain while Paladin stands on top of her, Sunset Shimmer thinks for a minute and sees the forest in front of her, she teleports to the closest tree branch and goes into the forest around Dreaming Paradise, the three go after her. Sunset Shimmer jumps down and runs around the forest in hopes of losing the three, a red, blue, yellow, and green aura appears around her and all of the trees in the forest, they all go up into the air, she looks back and sees Arcana casting telekinesis, Robin flies to her while Arcana puts the trees down but holds up Sunset Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer sees Robin flying to her and sees the double-bladed knives on her front hoofs, she flies to Sunset Shimmer and throws the two double-bladed knives forward, she uses telekinesis on them and the wires connected to them and Robin's front hoofs to hold them in place, Robin chuckles and she flies while shifting her body and kicks Sunet Shimmer with her hind hoofs, she exclaims when Robin hits her, she flies to her again and kicks her with her hind hoofs again, she was about to do it again, but Sunset Shimmer teleports. Sunset Shimmer appears and Robin flies to her, Sunset Shimmer teleports around and looks for an exit, she sees Robin take the two crossbows out of her coat again and fires the bolts at Sunset Shimmer, she teleports to dodge them, Robin swings her front hoofs out and a weapon comes out of her coat's sleeves, "Wait, what are those?" Sunset Shimmer asked, Robin aims the one in her front right hoof and fires, Sunset Shimmer screams while she gets on the ground, she realizes that they were guns, she looks more carefully and sees they were derringers, she aims the one in her front left hoof and fires it, Sunset Shimmer teleports to dodge the bullet. Sunset Shimmer reappears and sees Robin put them back in her coat and takes more derringers out of her boots, she fires one and Sunset Shimmer ducks, Robin fires the other one and Sunset Shimmer catches the bullet with her telekinesis. Robin puts the derringers back in her boots and her amulet glows dark green, she becomes black like a shadow and jumps into the shadow of the tree behind her, Sunset Shimmer shoots the shadow but Robin was not there, "What the?" Sunset Shimmer asked, knives and daggers get thrown out of the shadow to Sunset Shimmer's right and she screams while she jumps back, she sees Robin come out of the shadow partially and aims another gun, Sunset Shimmer looks and sees it was a revolver, she fires it and Sunset Shimmer teleports away, she casts telekinesis to pull Robin out of the shadow, but she jumps out and doppelgangers of herself begin to appear around Sunset Shimmer, the Robin doppelgangers fly forward and try to stab Sunset Shimmer with their daggers, she teleports away and reappears behind the real Robin, the Robins go into the shadows and thin wires are thrown from all directions to ensnare Sunset Shimmer, they begin to get pulled and Sunset Shimmer screams as they pull her limbs out and her neck backwards, she teleports out of it. Sunset Shimmer teleports onto a tree branch and pants, the tree goes up and she sees Arcana casting telekinesis, Sunset Shimmer teleports to her and kicks her in her abdomen with her front left leg, Arcana grunts and falls over while holding onto her abdomen, Paladin then goes to Sunset Shimmer's left blind spot and punches her in her jaw with her front left hoof, Sunset Shimmer screams as she flies through the air. Sunset Shimmer lands on the ground and pants, she sees wires get wrapped around her front legs and gets pulled forward while she exclaims, she sees the wires coming out of a tree's shadow, she gets pulled forward and the wires begin to go up, she sees she was about to go headfirst into a tree, she teleports away and the wires fall. Sunset Shimmer hears running and sees Paladin coming, she casts telekinesis and makes Paladin's helmet come off, she tries to do the same to the rest of her armor but Paladin jumps and tries to land on her, Sunset Shimmer jumps back and Paladin lands, Sunset Shimmer jumps and kicks Paladin in her jaw with her hind left leg, Sunset Shimmer looks at her with shock when she sees Paladin was unfazed, "Wow, you're actually pretty strong for a unicorn." Paladin said, Sunset Shimmer casts telekinesis to pick up Paladin, she grunts and sweats since her armor was heavy, Paladin's amulet glows red and her body turns into gray stone, she becomes too heavy for Sunset Shimmer to hold up and drops her and Paladin lands on Sunset Shimmer's back, she screams when she falls onto the ground. Sunset Shimmer screams and teleports away, she appears far away from Paladin and shoots beams at her head, they do nothing, "What the?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "The Amulet of Combat grants magic defense as well." Paladin said, Sunset Shimmer runs to her and jumps and kicks her in her jaw with her hind right hoof, but Sunset Shimmer hurts herself and screams as she falls, Paladin knees her with her front right knee and hits Sunset Shimmer in her chest, she screams loudly and flies into the air, she hits the trees behind herself and breaks them, she eventaully goes down and hits the ground and debris flies up. Sunset Shimmer groans in pain while covering her own chest, "So strong." Sunset Shimmer said weakly, she pants and telekinesis is cast on her and she gets pulled, she sees Arcana in the form of a blob made out of storm clouds and full of electricity, Sunset Shimmer tries to cast a spell but was too hurt at the moment, she goes into the storm clouds and gets electrocuted, she exclaims with pain before the wind in Arcana's form shoots her out. Sunset Shimmer grunts and hits the ground, "That wasn't too bad." Sunset Shimmer said, she is picked up by Paladin afterwards, "Maybe this one will." Paladin said, and she throws her, Sunset Shimmer screams and she sees Robin up ahead, she turns around and gets on her back and holds her hind legs up, she clicks her heels together and knife blades come out of the front of the toe caps of her boots, Sunset Shimmer looks on with shock at seeing that Robin had spring loaded knives in her boots. Sunset Shimmer casts telekinesis on herself so she does not get stabbed, Robin flies up and begins kicking her hind hoofs around, doppelgangers of herself come out of the shadows and jump onto Sunset Shimmer, they force her onto the ground and Robin takes a kunai out of the right sleeve of her coat and she stabs Sunset Shimmer on her left shoulder, she exclaims and gets up, Sunset Shimmer stops in place and screams, "What is this?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "The poison's already working." Robin said, "P... Poison?" Sunset Shimmer asked, and she falls onto the ground, "Don't worry, I used one to make you sick, it won't kill you." Robin said, and Sunset Shimmer falls onto the ground. Paladin, Arcana, and Robin gather together and look at Sunset Shimmer, Paladin stands in the center with Arcana to her right and Robin to her left, the three change back to their normal forms and look at Sunset Shimmer, who was unresponsive. The three mares watch and Sunset Shimmer quickly looks to her right and shoots a big blast out of her horn when the three put their guards down, they grunt loudly and were shot back and fall, the three were on the ground and groan in pain, Sunset Shimmer sighs and begins to walk away, but she stops a few seconds later when she hears movement behind herself, she turns around in shock and sees Paladin was already up and limping to her, Robin was crawling to her, and Arcana was still on the ground and groaning in pain. Sunset Shimmer tries to run but falls and coughs, "The poison." Sunset Shimmer said, and she falls onto the ground and coughs, Paladin walks to her and Robin stands up and limps, "Should I let her die?" Robin asked, "No, let's have her cured and sent out, Princess Celestia will be furious if she hears that we killed her." Paladin replied, "Alright, I'll get the cure, afternoon training might be postponed today." Robin said, "That's fine." Paladin replied, "Also, Paladin, Robin, you two can stand down, I'll deal with her alone from here." Arcana said weakly, "You sure?" Robin asked, "Yes, thank you both for your helps, though." Arcana replied, "Alright, let's go see the doctors." Paladin said, and she carries Sunset Shimmer back to Dreaming Paradise while Robin picks up Arcana and flies back. Sunset Shimmer groans and wakes up, she sees she was in a green hut, "You finally woke up." a familiar voice said, Sunset Shimmer sees Master Nocturne, "Head on home, it's dark." Master Nocturne said, and Sunset Shimmer goes outside. Sunset Shimmer sees it was night time and Arcana was outside, "Wait, Arcana." Sunset Shimmer said while she runs to her, Arcana looks at her, "I'm sorry I shot you with my horn, I got mad and lost control of myself." Sunset Shimmer said, "Apologizing will not undo what you did." Arcana replied, "Yes, I know, but I wanted to apologize since I regret doing that." Sunset Shimmer said, "You shouldn't have done it in the first place." Arcana replied, "I'm sorry, Arcana, it really was a heat of the moment action, I truly did not mean to lose my temper, can you let it go?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "No." Arcana replied, "What? Why not?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "Even if you regret it or acted on impulse, it won't change the fact that you attacked me." Arcana replied, "Please, Arcana, it'll put me at ease if you let it go." Sunset Shimmer said, Arcana glares and shoots her with her horn, Sunset Shimmer exclaims and is shot back to the front of Dreaming Paradise, Arcana teleports to her, "You want me to let go? Fine, I'll let go of the anger I've contained for many years when you sent me to the hospital." Arcana replied, and Sunset Shimmer gets defensive. Arcana casts a spell and fire, water, rocks, and gusts of wind appear around her, she shoots a giant beam of magic at Sunset Shimmer and she teleports to behind Arcana, she quickly casts another spell and makes her beam home on Sunset Shimmer, she teleports around to dodge the homing beam while Arcana's elemental shield protected her if it hit her, Sunset Shimmer shoots a beam at the homing beam but it destroys her beam, she teleports around and shoots fire out of her horn at Arcana, the water around her douses it, Sunset Shimmer growls and shoots out an even bigger fire while angry, Arcana lets out a small grunt and catches on fire while her beam stops homing and hits a tree. Arcana heals herself and casts a spell that makes chains appear to restrain Sunset Shimmer, she shoots a beam at Arcana and a shield appears and deflects it, Arcana's amulet glows and Sunset Shimmer's eyes turn purple, Arcana's eyes turn purple afterwards but soon disappear, "What the? I already know all of these spells." Arcana said, Sunset Shimmer sees the spell allows her to read the minds of other unicorns and replicate their spells. Sunset Shimmer teleports out of the magic chains and appears to Arcana's right, she bucks her and Arcana grunts loudly as she flies across the air and falls, she stands up and casts a healing spell on herself. Arcana's amulet glows while she casts another spell, her eyes glow green with purple mist coming out of them and a purple haze on her horn, Sunset Shimmer realizes she was casting dark magic. Sunset Shimmer grunts while an invisible force attacks her, she looks around and tries to see what was attacking her, she grunts again when she gets hit, she looks around and sees her own shadow punch her in her face with her front right hoof, Sunset Shimmer grunts while her shadow seprates itself from her and runs after her. Sunset Shimmer stands up and sees her own shadow running to her, she gets ready to shoot a zap at it, but she is hit from behind and exclaims as she falls, she looks back and sees Arcana's shadow with an aura around its horn, she looks and sees her own shadow coming to her, Sunset Shimmer shoots her with a zap and she flies away, but Sunset Shimmer grunts and is shot back as well and feels pain in the same area she hit her own shadow, Arcana's shadow gets ready to cast a spell but Sunset Shimmer teleports and appears behind her and bucks her, the shadow flies forward while Sunset Shimmer hears Arcana grunt loudly, she looks and sees her and runs to her. Sunset Shimmer runs to Arcana fires a beam at her while she was getting up, she exclaims as she is shot away, the two shadows return to them afterwards. Arcana stands up while casting a healing spell on herself, her amulet glows again and Arcana grows wings, she flies around while shooting zaps at Sunset Shimmer, some of the ones that hit the ground turn into pillars of fire, "I wonder." Sunset Shimmer said, and she shoots a beam at the amulet, the amulet glows and an explosion happens, Arcana exclaims and flies back, she grunts and falls, Sunset Shimmer sees she was a regular unicorn again, "That's it, hitting the amulet will undo the spell." Sunset Shimmer said, Arcana glares at her and casts another spell, her amulet glows while her eyes turn green with purple mist coming out of them and a purple haze on her horn. The ground erupts and two skeleton ponies come out, "What the?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "Clearly, you've never seen necromancy." Arcana said, and the two skeleton ponies run to attack her. Sunset Shimmer shoots a beam at one and it gets destroyed in one hit, Sunset Shimmer shoots another beam and destroys the other one, Arcana casts another spell while her amulet glows and Sunset Shimmer gets frozen. Sunset Shimmer remains frozen in ice while Arcana proceeds to use her telekinesis to take her out of the village, but the ice begins to melt, "Hmm?" Arcana asked, the ice explodes while Sunset Shimmer lets out a grunt, Arcana looks and sees fire around Sunset Shimmer, she teleports and Sunset Shimmer appears to Arcana's right, she punches her with her front right hoof, Arcana grunts loudly and slides across the ground when she falls. Arcana stands up and casts another spell while her amulet glows, she becomes light blue and transparent, Sunset Shimmer shoots a beam at her, but it goes through her, "Huh?!" Sunset Shimmer asked, "Can't hurt a ghost now, can you?" Arcana asked, and she disappears. Sunset Shimmer looks around while sweating and Arcana appears far away and shoots a zap at her, Sunset Shimmer screams since Arcana's zap burned her, filled her body with water, had rocks pelt her, and gusts of wind cut her all at once, Arcana disappears and reappears again and fires another zap at Sunset Shimmer, she grunts when she gets hit, Arcana disappears and another zap hits Sunset Shimmer from behind, she grunts and falls. Sunset Shimmer lets out an angry grunt while she stands up, Arcana appears in front of her and casts a spell that makes a bright white light appear, Sunset Shimmer screams and covers her eyes, "My eyes!" Sunset Shimmer said, she hears Arcana casting another spell and listens to figure out where she was at, she fires a beam at where she hears Arcana's magic aura but hears her disappear, she growls under her breath and tries to listen, she hears Arcana appear behind her and Sunset Shimmer quickly fires several beams while quickly turning around, none of them hit Arcana. Sunset Shimmer's vision comes back and she looks around, she sees Arcana appear and was about to cast another spell, Sunset Shimmer fires a beam and hits her amulet, an explosion happens and it knocks Arcana back and she was no longer a ghost, the two pant while Arcana stands up. Princess Celestia was getting ready for bed and her cutie mark starts to glow, "Oh, what is this, a friendship problem for me?" Princess Celestia asked, and she flies to Ponyville. Princess Celestia goes to Ponyville and sees the ponies were actually still awake, she goes to the Castle of Friendship and enters the throne room and sees Twilight Sparkle there, "I'm here, Twilight, where does the map need me?" Princess Celestia asked, "I don't know, I don't recognize this place." Twilight Sparkle replied, Princess Celestia looks and sees she was called to Dreaming Paradise, she realizes what she was called for, "Oh, that's Dreaming Paradise, it's an isolated village north of Canterlot." Princess Celestia said, "What's it like?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "Unique, each pony lives separately, I'll go now, Twilight, I wish to get this done as soon as possible." Princess Celestia replied, "Okay, good luck, Princess Celestia." Twilight Sparkle said, and she flies to Dreaming Paradise. Sunset Shimmer watches Arcana carefully and her amulet glows again, she disappears and four doppelgangers of her disappear, one was made of red, orange, and yellow fire, one was made of blue water, one was made of yellow rocks, and one was made of green wind. The four Arcanas begin to shapeshift and Sunset Shimmer shoots fire at Water Arcana and she disappears, Earth Arcana grows her front legs longer and tries to smash Sunset Shimmer with her front hoofs, Sunset Shimmer jumps back while Earth Arcana leaves a crater in the ground, Wind Arcana disappears with the air and strong gusts of wind appear, Sunset Shimmer screams a little as the gusts of wind push her back and cut her at the same time, Earth Arcana sends rocks out of her body and they fly forward from the wind, Fire Arcana disappears into the air and fire blows through the wind. Sunset Shimmer teleports to behind them and tries shooting them with a zap, the three turn around and Earth Arcana changes to sand, she shoots sand at Sunset Shimmer out of her mouth and Sunset Shimmer jumps back, she wonders about something and teleports to Wind Arcana, she holds her front hoofs out and sends two gusts of wind out, Sunset Shimmer disappears and she hits Fire Arcana and Earth Arcana, Fire Arcana's flames spread while Earth Arcana disappears, "Hmm." Sunset Shimmer said as she tries to find a way to destroy the other two Arcanas. Fire Arcana and Wind Arcana fuse their powers together and tornadoes of fire appear, she tries taking a chunk of the ground out with her telekinesis and puts it on Wind Arcana and she disappears, Sunset Shimmer smiles and uses telekinesis to get water from the forest and throws it at Fire Arcana and she disappears. Arcana appears and Sunset Shimmer shoots a beam from her horn while angry, Arcana shoots a beam from her horn and the two enter a deadlock, the other ponies exclaim and gasp at seeing Sunset Shimmer being able to match Arcana in a beam match. Sunset Shimmer screams with rage while Arcana remains calm and the two continue the deadlock, Sunset Shimmer continues to scream with rage and her beam gets a little bigger, but does not overpower Arcana. The two continue the deadlock until a yellow aura appears around the two and a spell was cast to cancel out their beams, "Sunset Shimmer! Arcana! That's enough!" Princess Celestia said sternly while raising her voice, everypony looks and sees her fly down, she had a sharp glare on her face, "Why are you two fighting again?" Princess Celestia asked, "I did my work for Arcana and finished, but she still refuses to forgive me!" Sunset Shimmer replied, "Explain yourself, Arcana." Princess Celestia said, "She's still the same pony, she hasn't changed, she just got better at hiding her true self." Arcana replied, "No, Arcana, she did not, Sunset really did change her ways." Princess Celestia said, "Yeah, I mean, Princess Celestia forgave me." Sunset Shimmer said, "On the surface, but deep down, she's probably still resentful and hateful of you." Arcana replied, "No, I am not, I love Sunset the way she is, and the fact that she has regretted what she did and learned the errors of her ways, that is why I forgave her." Princess Celestia said, "Even then, you let her go unpunished for the things she did." Arcana replied, "I think her having to atone and make everybody stop hating her at her school was punishment enough." Princess Celestia said, "Well, it's not punishment to me, she should have been jailed or killed." Arcana replied, "Now, Arcana, that's going too far." Princess Celestia said, "Too far? I think the death penalty should've been given to Queen Chrysalis and Starlight Glimmer." Arcana replied, "Why?" Princess Celestia asked, "Because the two have nearly destroyed Equestria, you should've killed Cozy Glow as well." Arcana replied, "Arcana!" Princess Celestia said with shock and her wings open, "It doesn't matter if she's a child, she nearly destroyed Equetria and was happy about it, you should've killed her, not imprison her." Arcana replied, "No! I will not give the death penalty to a child!" Princess Celestia said sternly, "Even though it would've made us safer in the long run?" Arcana asked, "That is still too harsh." Princess Celestia replied, "Forgiving as always, there are times when Equestria would've been safer if you imprisoned or killed the threats instead of forgiving and befriending them." Arcana said, "That brings up more problems on its own, Arcana, if I imprisoned or killed Queen Chrysalis, then we would've been at war with the changelings who would want to free or avenge their leader." Princess Celestia replied, "You should've killed her after Throax replaced her as the ruler." Arcana said, "No, Arcana, there were still some changelings who liked Chrysalis' way, they would've came after us in the name of revenge, that is why we forgive and offer friendship, revenge is an ugly cycle." Princess Celestia replied, "And let them go unpunished?" Arcana asked, "Social isolation and rejection is their punishment." Princess Celestia replied, "I went through that, too, and I didn't like one minute of it." Sunset Shimmer said, "I still can't bring myself to forgive you for nearly killing me." Arcana replied, "Then you'll just have to forget about it and move on with your life." Princess Celestia said, "I can't forget about something like that, either." Arcana replied, "Why not?" Princess Celestia asked, "She got jealous and nearly killed me, I can't forget nor forgive that, my father had a saying on stuff like that, too." Arcana replied, "What would that be?" Princess Celestia asked, "People don't forget. Nothing gets forgiven." Arcana replied, "That is not true, Arcana, well, the not forgetting part is true, but the nothing being forgiven part isn't, I forgave Sunset when she came back to me." Princess Celestia said, "My father also said forgiving is an easy way to say you don't care anymore." Arcana said, "That's not true, either, I still care about the things Sunset did before she reformed, and I'm still mad about it sometimes, but I put it behind me and accepted Sunset for who she is now, and we are on good terms now." Princess Celestia replied, Arcana becomes a little speechless, "I need you to forgive her as well, Arcana, not only because friendship strengthens our country's defenses, but also so your friends and Sunset's friends don't end up getting into fights, which will cause their friends to get involved and fight you guys out of anger, and then more of your friends, and I don't want that to happen, so can you please forgive Sunset?" Princess Celestia asked, Arcana thinks for a minute while the others watch, Arcana holds her front left hoof out and Sunset Shimmer grabs it with her front left hoof and they shake hoofs while Princess Celestia smiles, her cutie mark glows and sees she has solved her friendship problem, "It's dark, you all should head home." Princess Celestia said, and they do while Princess Celestia flies to Canterlot. The next day comes and Sunset Shimmer was at Canterlot High and having lunch with her friends, she talks about her experiences, "After Arcana forgave me, I headed home, and I used the money she gave me to pay and replace the things she destroyed in my home." Sunset Shimmer said, "So, she forgave you?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "Yeah, it wasn't easy, though." Sunset Shimmer replied, "Still, I kind of wish to meet her." Twilight Sparkle said, "Yeah, me too, her magic spells sound really cool." Rainbow Dash said, "I'm not sure about that, Arcana is kind of busy." Sunset Shimmer replied, "Did that world's Twilight ever meet her?" Fluttershy asked, "Only that one time to use the mirror to come to this world, Twilight doesn't know anything about her connection to Princess Celestia." Sunset Shimmer replied, "Wait, one question, how did she find out bout the mirror?" Applejack asked, "Now that you mention it, I don't know, maybe Robin found it for her, since she can disappear into the shadows and appear in any other shadow." Sunset Shimmer replied, "Her concealed weapons sound fun, I should try concealing candy and party items in my clothes." Pinkie Pie said, "Yes, still, I don't like the idea of hiding weapons in one's clothes." Rarity replied, "Did you see any pets in Dreaming Paradise, Sunset?" Fluttershy asked, "Sorry, but no." Sunset Shimmer replied, "Can you try to get one of her bottles of wine, it will go very well for photo shoots." Rarity said, "I can try." Sunset Shimmer replied, "Thank you, darling, I'll be looking forward to it." Rarity said, "I'll have to go back to Equestria next weekend." Sunset Shimmer said, "What?" her friends asked, "I've made amends and was forgiven by you guys, but Arcana showed me that I have to make amends with the ponies in Equestria for who I used to be, I'll have to see those other unicorns I competed with to be Princess Celestia's student, and apologize and make amends with them as well." Sunset Shimmer replied, her six friends look at with surprise, "Okay, good luck, Sunset." Twilight Sparkle said, the other five wish her good luck and finish lunch. The weekend comes and Sunset Shimmer goes back to Equestria, she heads to Canterlot and sees Twilight Sparkle sitting on a throne, "Excuse me, Twilight." Sunset Shimmer said, she looks at her and smiles, "Where can I find Princess Celestia?" Sunset Shimmer asked, and Twilight Sparkle shows her. Princess Celestia was relaxing and she sees Sunset Shimmer coming, "Hello, Sunset, how can I help you?" Princess Celestia asked, "Do you remember those other unicorns I competed with to be your student?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "Of course, I have records on all of them." Princess Celestia replied, "Great, I want to make amends with them as well for being mean to them when I was younger." Sunset Shimmer said, "Oh, that is wonderful, Sunset, here are their addresses." Princess Celestia replied, and she makes papers with their info on them appear with her magic. Sunset Shimmer looks at them and smiles, she leaves and goes to see the next pony she has to make amends with.