Sunset didn’t resist the royal guards’ control as they led her to the throne room. Perhaps it was because she was still disoriented from her nightmare. Or maybe it was because a part of her knew that she deserved to be punished in the most painful way.
When she arrived at the throne room--her body tightly in the control of several guards--she saw that Twilight had also been brought here and was also being restrained by guards. The look on Twi’s face was one of rage, but Sunset couldn’t figure out if her glare was directed inwards at herself for getting caught up in this game of revenge, or outwards at Sunset for starting this game in the first place. Though, in the end, did the answer really matter?
Celestia was standing in front of her throne, glaring with an intensity that Sunset couldn’t ever imagine from the regal pony. Her gaze wavering, Sunset tried her hardest to look the princess in the eye, but she couldn’t maintain eye contact for more than a moment. In the end, she just hung her head.
“I know everything,” Celestia said, her words sharp like a spear digging its way through Sunset’s heart. “I know the truth of the dinner, Sunset Shimmer, and I also know of your attempt to murder your fellow student. And you, Twilight Sparkle, I know of the Alicorn Amulet and what you were planning to do with it.”
Twilight’s glare melted away into regret, and she hung her head as well. Sunset mustered up what little courage she had left to raise her head for a moment and gaze at the princess again. Tears were welling in Celestia’s eyes, a sight which caused Sunset to have to fight back tears of her own. The royal guard Sunset had hypnotized to lead Twilight into the dungeons was standing beside the princess.
“I cannot believe that both of my students are this rotten,” Celestia practically shouted, causing Sunset and Twilight to flinch. “But perhaps this is my fault, for choosing the two of you.”
The urge to break down into tears was too much for Sunset to control any longer. Her voice trembling, she screamed out, “Princess Celestia, this is my fault--”
“No!” Celestia stomped the ground, causing the room to shake as if an earthquake was happening. Sunset froze, a sharp pain stabbing at her heart. “Both of you are expelled and hereby banished from this palace.” With one final glare for her pupils, she turned around and began walking to her throne.
The royal guards tightened their grip around Sunset and began to lead her and Twilight out of the palace. As Sunset took one last gaze at her home for the past few years, she glanced at Twi, who was wincing with regret and still hanging her head. “I’m sorry,” she said, but Twi made sure not to respond or even look at her.
When Sunset was at the palace exit, the guards let go of her. “You are free to go where you wish now,” one of the guards said, before he and the others led Twilight to her parents, who were waiting for her a block away. Twilight’s mother’s face was pale from worry, while her dad was glaring. When the guards let go of Twilight and she walked to her parents, her mother gave her a tight hug, and despite his anger, her father joined the embrace.
The sight of the hug hurt Sunset more than being kicked out of the palace and losing her one shot at success. Now alone, she turned ahead, to the sight of the kingdom she had once promised herself would be hers to rule one day. She began to ponder where she would go, but it only took her a few seconds to come up with the obvious answer, as painful as it was.
…………………………………………….
With a deep breath, Sunset prepared to enter her house. After being expelled by Celestia, she had immediately begun the journey back to her village, a trek which took her a few hours by train. Since there was no chance of her becoming a princess now, there was no point for her to delay returning home any longer. She knew she’d be mocked and ridiculed by her mother endlessly for her failure, but facing her defeat head-on was a more worthy fate than hiding and running away forever.
She was standing in front of the door into her house, which was a small, one-story wooden cabin that stood on the outer edge of her equally small village. Lost Cause was her hometown’s name. It was made of only twenty or so buildings, mostly homes plus a few stores in the town center. It was located in the Frozen North. Only about a hundred ponies lived in this place, and all of them looked as miserable as Sunset did. Due to the heavy snowfall and thick layer of clouds overhead, barely any sunlight ever reached the village, and when it did, it only highlighted how dull and dreary this place and its residents looked. It was a place where dreams came to die, as Sunset had always said as a filly. She had always prided herself on being the only pony here whose color wasn’t a dull grey or ghostly white, but now, she realized that her bright orange color meant nothing. She was the same as them on the inside, which was all that mattered.
Hanging her head, Sunset opened the door and entered her home for the first time in years. Her home only had three rooms. The living room, a bedroom, and a bathroom. Her mother was in the living room, sitting on a splintered, creaking wooden chair, reading the newspaper. When she saw Sunset, she gave her daughter a look of indifference, as if seeing her own flesh and blood for the first time in years meant nothing and wasn’t even a small surprise. “Let me guess, you failed?”
Sunset hung her head lower, so low that her mane masked her eyes, but not her frown. She walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. She’d often lock herself in this room as a filly as a way to be away from her mother. She’d even sleep here often as a way not to share her home’s only bed with her mom. After locking the door, Sunset collapsed to the wet, dirty floor and let out a scream filled with all the hatred she had towards herself. She pulled at her mane, wanting to rip it out of her body. She wanted to rip her very soul out of her body. She was ready to do anything to be somepony other than herself.
Sunset continued pulling until she ripped out a large chunk of hair from her mane, after which she lay on the floor, content with withering away alongside the rest of her townsponies.
“I hope this teaches you a very important lesson,” she heard her mom say. “You should never push yourself like you did. It only leads to this. Those dreams you used to talk about, they’re not for ponies like you and me. The faster you accept this, the faster you’ll be happy.”
Sunset buried her head against the floor. Just hearing her mother’s voice was more painful than any dagger or magical attack. Perhaps this was the punishment she deserved. Yes, a fitting fate for her. Only a few weeks ago, she had everything. A mentor in Celestia, a potential sister in Twilight, and the possibility of becoming ruler one day. But, in the end, she’d messed everything up, just like her mother had warned her.
Please, forgive me, Twi. You deserved so much better than me.
“Before I forget,” her mom said. “Did you buy something expensive, wherever you were?”
Sunset raised her head, confused.
“A man came knocking on our door here a few days ago, asking for money. Scary looking fellow.”
Scary looking fellow? Asking for money? There’s no way it could be… No, but that was a hallucination.
That was when Sunset realized, her hiring an assassin to kill Twilight wasn’t a hallucination. She had done that in real life, meaning there was no time to lose if she wanted to save her.