//------------------------------// // Apologies and Forgiveness (Honesty and Laughter) // Story: Lesson Learned // by Diamond Sword //------------------------------//     Sunset opened her eyes slowly, squinting as she saw nothing but bright white color. She looked around, standing up as she frowned. “Where am I?”              “Sunset?” A familiar voice called out.              The former equestrian turned to the direction of the voice, seeing a familiar lavender skinned girl.               “Twilight! You’re here!” Sunset cried, running towards the girl and embracing her tightly.                “Of course I am. Are you okay?” The princess asked.                Sunset closed her eyes tightly. Her hug grew tighter. “No. Everyone still thinks I’m Anon-a-miss. Rainbow Dash tried to hurt me. No one wants to believe me...I want to show them I changed, but they think that I’m still the bad guy….”                  “Why should you bother?”                 The question from the pony princess caused Sunset’s eyes to pop open. Her eyebrows furrowed once more, as she stayed in her tight embrace. “....What?”                  “Why should you bother?” Twilight asked once more. “It’s like you said, they don’t want to believe you. Why keep fighting anymore? They’ll just take advantage of you…” She explained.                  Sunset finally released Twilight from her embrace, stepping back slowly, the worried expression on her face. “Twilight, What do you mean?”                  Twilight’s expression grew somewhat irritated. “Sunset, think about it. These humans….” Venom dropped from Twilight’s voice as she stepped closer to her. “They’re fools. Hypocrites. Liars. They talk about forgiveness, but look at the situation you’re in now. Everyone thinks that you’re the one at the reigns. That you’re still the monster you used to be. Rainbow Dash and the others think that they’re heroes. The stars in their fairy tales. If they want a villain so badly, why don’t you give them what they want?” She asked.                     Sunset’s aquamarine eyes widened, as she walked backwards at a faster pace. “Twilight, that’s not….I can’t….” she struggled to find the words, as the supposed princess of friendship encouraged her to be a bully again. “I don’t want to.” She finally said.                     ‘Twilight’ became more frustrated, walking up to Sunset and grabbing her shoulders. “Sunset. You can’t play nice forever. Especially when they’re not going to. Look at Fluttershy. Why do you think so many people take advantage of her? She’s weak. Quiet. It’s why she was so easy to bully when you were in control.”                     Sunset felt her heart stop as ‘Twilight’ continued to throw her friend under the bus.                   “Admit it, being in control, having people be afraid of you, it felt good, didn’t it?” Twilight’s frustrated expression turned into a smile. “No one had the guts to go against you. Everyone knew what you were capable of. But once everyone knew that you tossed the crown away….” her smile fell. “They struck. The girls kept convincing you to play by the rules. That the past was behind you. But they abandoned you. One hell of a wake up call if you ask me. This is how they thank you after helping take down the Sirens? That’s the life of a hero. You get thrown to the wolves the second you’re not useful.”                    “That’s not what you said.” Sunset pointed out, prying ‘Twilight’s’ hands off her shoulders. The fire haired girl’s eyes narrowed. “You told me that they’d help me. Teach me about friendship. Why are you telling me otherwise?”                     ‘Twilight’ still had her intense expression. “Yes, I did. They taught you so much about friendship. The lies, the betrayal, the greed, the cruelty, the mockery.” She walked closer, while Sunset continued to back away. “And they tried to mask it as something wonderful. Manipulation.”                     If Sunset had needed more clues about how the ‘Twilight Sparkle’ standing before her wasn’t the real one, Sunset would’ve realized it now. She needed to find a way out of here.                   “Just be yourself, Sunset…” ‘Twilight’s’ voice grew gentle, along with her expression. “Isn’t that what you want to do?”                   “Yeah…..” Sunset answered. But soon after, she glared at the imitation of her friend. “But I know that’s not the way to do it. The ‘me’ you’re thinking of is someone else. And I don’t wanna be that person anymore.” Sunset turned to find a way out, but she felt her hand get grabbed by something warm.                Looking over her shoulder, she saw that the imitation of the lavender princess had grabbed her. But there was a massive difference. For one thing, her skin was an off-white color, her eyes had turned bright red, and her hair had burst into flames that nearly resembled solar flares.                            “Stop fooling yourself, Sunset Shimmer!” She roughly began to pull Sunset closer to her. “They don’t care about you! They only see you for who you used to be! Who you truly are deep down! A monster!” As ‘Twilight’ began to pull her closer, Sunset could feel the intense heat radiating off of her, causing beads of sweat to form on her own face.                Sunset desperately tried to pull away, only to be more horrified as she saw that the dark magenta tendril that ‘Twilight’ had grown was engulfing her arm. Sunset pulled harder and harder, as the fake princess kept ranting on and on. She tried to drown her out. It wasn’t true...it wasn’t. She was sick and tired of being called a monster. All of her hard work being undone by some faker. She wanted everything to just stop. Sunset shut her eyes as she felt the heat grow hotter. She just wanted her to shut up…. Just shut up….   Just “SHUT UP!” Sunset screamed as loud as she could. She felt the fake’s grip release, and heard the sound of glass shattering. She opened her eyes and felt her heart drop in horror. Red flames danced around her, only leaving the small clearing that she stood in. But other than that, the imitation Twilight Sparkle was no more. She had been scattered across the white room, broken like an old porcelain doll. The parts that Sunset could recognize as being the copy’s head no longer held flame, or anything resembling hair. The broken pieces where her eyes were held, were frozen wide out of shock, along with a stray piece that held her mouth left ajar.  “Don’t you see what you’re capable of?”  Sunset heard a voice, or multiple? The loudest voice echoed around the void, but weirdly enough, other voices seemed to whisper around it, repeating the words it said. “All that power you had when you wore the crown, you still have it. You know that, don’t you? And you’ve squandered it for a weaker power….” Sunset covered her ears, desperately trying to drown out the overbearing voice in her head. She tried to hold back to tears welling up in her eyes. “You can’t run away from your past Sunset, it’s a part of you! IT ALWAYS WILL BE! Listen to me! SunSET! SUNSET!” “Sunset Shimmer! Please wake up!” Sunset sat upright, breathing heavily and blinking away tears. She looked around to see Artemis and Persephone standing on both sides of her, both with concerned expressions.  “It’s alright, Sunset, you’re here.” Persephone said, the shorter spirit putting a hand on her shoulder.  Sunset looked around. They weren’t in a void, but they were in a cyan colored room. But there were various things that she noticed felt familiar. She saw a large bookshelf, a large window with a sitting space behind it, a few scrolls containing spells on the floor, and she happened to be sitting on a bed which, when she moved her legs, had a large sun symbol on it. “Is this...my old room?” Sunset asked. “When you were in Princess Celestia’s school? Yes.” Persephone said. “I tried my best to construct a memory that comforted you. Is this okay?” Sunset stroked the sheets of the bed she sat on, Despite it being made of magic, she could feel the softness of them, as though she was truly there.  “Yeah...It’s fine.” Sunset agreed. “But...what am I doing here?” She asked. “As in...here. Wherever this is?” Artemis chimed in. “We brought you here for the trial! For your friends’ trial!” Sunset’s eyes widened. “Trial? Like...like a law trial? Defense and Prosecution? Juries? Judges? That sort of thing?” Persephone nodded. “In a way, yes. They’ve gone against what their elements represent, that’s why they are here. We’re deciding whether or not they should keep their powers.” Sunset frowned. “They could lose their pony powers? Forever?” Artemis Doolittle sighed. “There’s a chance, yes. We might give those powers to another group in this world if they don’t own up to their mistakes or change.” Persephone adjusted her glasses. “You also seem to care an awful lot about these girls. But didn’t they hurt you during these times?” She asked. Sunset ran her hands through her hair. “It’s…..complicated. I’m not sure how to explain it yet.”  Persephone and Artemis’ eyes briefly flashed through the colors of the rainbow, before going back to their original colors. “Um, are you guys okay?” Sunset asked, a bit shocked from the moment. Artemis shook her head. “Don’t worry about us. We need to bring you to the trial. Your ‘friends’ and the other spirits are waiting.” The taller spirit opened the bedroom door, revealing a light so bright, Sunset had to shield her eyes a bit.  “Everything will be fine. We need you for the full story to piece everything together.” Persephone adjusted her tie. “We’ll be convincing them that you aren’t the culprit, you’ll be providing part of the story…” “And they will be attempting to defend themselves, of course...” Persephone muttered. “It’s all to show them that they’re wrong, and to show them who the true culprit is.” Artemis said. “Go on through the door, we’ll be right behind you.” Sunset nodded, slowly walking towards the door, stopping when she was an inch away. Being this close to the light caused her to squint hard, hesitant to continue, but feeling the close presence of Artemis and Persephone caused her to slowly step forward. Once she walked in, she heard the door shut behind her, and the light grew brighter to the point where she had to completely shut her eyes and hid them behind her elbow. But just as quickly as the light grew brighter, it had dispersed.  “There you are!” Sunset gasped as she opened her eyes, recognizing the voice of her former athletic friend. The red and yellow haired girl’s eyes landed on the enraged face of the other, along with the more bitter faces of the other girls. Rainbow Dash had gotten up from her chair and began to march towards her. Artemis and Persephone each put a hand on Sunset’s shoulders. “To think that we could actually trus-” Rainbow Dash to say, but was cut off as she felt something wrap around her foot and cause her to trip and fall forward, her chin hitting the crystal floor. The other Rainbooms cried out her name in shock, running over to her.  “The hell?” Rainbow Dash looked back and saw a crystal vine wrapped around her leg.  Sunset’s and the Rainbooms looked up to see that Luminous Spark had pointed her staff at Rainbow Dash, the eldest spirits’ eyes and the gem that sat atop her staff glowing a bright white.  Luminous Spark gently lowered her staff, gently striking the ground with the bottom end of it. The crystal vine unwrapped itself from the hothead’s leg, retracting until it became crystal flooring once more.  Luminous Spark’s eyes stopped glowing, her multicolored pupils becoming visible once more. “Return to your seats.” She simply commanded, a withering glare sitting upon her face.  The Rainbooms did as they were told, slowly making their way back to the chairs. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but glance angrily at Sunset.  Another chair, made out of the same crystal material as everything else, yet the same size and fashion as the Rainbooms’ chairs, had taken place behind Sunset Shimmer. It sat between the large area of space that separated the spirits of Harmony and the Rainbooms. Sunset hesitantly sat down. “There shall be no physical violence during this trial. That is not how we intend to solve this dilemma.” Luminous Spark started as she carefully sat down in her chair. “You’ve failed to represent your elements…” She continued, as Artemis and Persephone sat in their respective chairs. “You have broken a promise a certain friend of yours asked you to keep, and in the midst of antagonizing another, you refuse to acknowledge your own faults and misdeeds.” Luminous Spark finished.  “Wait, what?!” Pinkie cried out. “When did we do any of that stuff?” Rarity stood from her chair. “I don’t remember any broken promises!”  “Yeah! If anyone’s broken a promise here, it’s Shimmer!” Rainbow Dash pointed an accusing finger at the amber skinned girl, glaring at her.  Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose. “I keep telling you guys, it’s not me!” “We ain’t fallin’ for your tricks again, Sunset!” Applejack stood as well. “No one is! I dunno how you fooled these guys,” She paused to gesture at the spirits of Harmony, “But everybody at school’s got ya figured out!” True Shot folded his arms. “If anyone seems to know about lies, it’s definitely you and your friends, Ms.Applejack.” He said. “Pardon me?!” Applejack’s face turned a slight shade of red. “I’ve never lied to anyone! We’re tellin’ y’all, she’s the one who’s lyin’!” True shot’s eyes narrowed through his glasses, leaning forward and resting his chin on the back of his hand. “You’re awfully defensive when you’re being accused of lying. Yet you’re perfectly fine with throwing the word at Ms.Shimmer. If I were in her shoes, I know I wouldn’t exactly be happy either.”  Applejack choked on her words momentarily, her face becoming a deeper shade of red close to her elder brother’s complexion. “Let us just get this show on the road!” Smile Time called out, the younger looking spirit raising his hand. A large chandelier formed out of the crystal from the ceiling, a white light glowing from it. True Shot summoned his bow and a singular arrow, pulling back the string until a rainbow colored light sparked to life from the tip of the arrow. He quickly aimed up towards the chandelier and released it, the arrow striking the light source and causing it to rapidly change through colors of the rainbow.  Pinkie Pie could be heard making sounds of awe as she stared up at the chandelier. “From all this talk about Honesty, perhaps we should get that out of the way first….” Atlas Staros suggested.  Sure enough, the chandelier settled for the color that matched the element, illuminating the room.  “Now, we are all aware of the despair Ms.Shimmer has caused you previously.” True Shot started sternly. “But she claims to be a better person now. Especially under the teachings of Princess Twilight herself.”  “Yeah, claims…” Rainbow muttered. That earned her a glare from Luminous Spark, causing the athlete’s body to tense. “Ms.Shimmer,” True Shot called out, causing the fire haired girl to perk up. “When expressing your concerns about your past, what did your friends claim?” He asked in a more calm tone.  Sunset gripped her arm. “They told me that I had them. And they forgave me. That was back when the school still didn’t trust me. When I only had them.” She explained.  “Is this true?” True Shot turned to look at the Rainbooms.  Rarity had a faint shade of pink on her cheeks. “Y-yes, that is true…” She said in a quiet tone, remembering what she had told the other girl. “But...but that was before!” She added hastily.  True Shot tilted his head. “Before Anon-A-Miss?” “Yeah!” Pinkie chimed in. “She was probably trying to get closer to us to get our secrets! And it worked!” She stuck her tongue out at Sunset.  Sunset groaned, both from Pinkie’s childish tone and her and the others’ increasing stubbornness. “But did you truly forgive her?”  The Rainbooms fell silent. They found themselves staring at the floor, trying to find the right words.  Sunset’s eyes widened, an unreadable expression crossing her face as she stared at the other girls. "Sunset did apologize, didn't she? Both verbally and metaphorically. There is a saying that 'one way to apologize is to change.' And that is what she did. She followed the path Princess Twilight showed her and you girls were supposed to lead her through." True Shot stated, folding his arms behind his back. "You were never honest with her. You never told her if you forgave her or not." Surprisingly, Fluttershy was the only one to speak up.  “W-we did forgive her….” She said. As if Fluttershy could sound less confident than she usually did… Smile Time stood from his chair. “Did you really?” The smaller, younger spirit had lost his theatrical tone. “I will take over from here, True Shot.”  True Shot gave a firm nod to the fellow spirit, once again firing an arrow at the chandelier. It shifted through colors again before illuminating the room with a pastel blue.  True Shot took his seat.  “You all know the definition of ‘forgiveness’, yes?” Smile Time asked.  The Rainbooms nodded, this time Applejack spoke. “Why are you asking this?” Smile Time cleared his throat. “Usually, forgiveness would involve moving past the bad parts of previous events. And making good memories with that person.” “But we did that!” Pinkie cried out.  “Then how do you explain this?” Smile Time lifted his top hat off of his head, then placed it on the ground. The opening of the top hat began to glow, until a projection of Applejack appeared. “ Last thing she needs is another CHS event almost ruined by some power-crazed lunatic.” The projection paused, realizing what she’d said before turning to a projection of Sunset Shimmer. “Er, no offense.” The projection of Sunset Shimmer let out a sigh before saying a resigned “None Taken.”. The projection flickered before changing to outside of the school area, focusing on Rainbow Dash as she kicked a soccer ball around.  “It's not like we haven't tangled with dark magic before and totally whooped its sorry butt!” Once again, the projection paused, before she looked over at the projection of Sunset Shimmer. “Uh, no offense.” The projection of Sunset Shimmer sighed again. “None taken. Again.” She said in an annoyed tone.  The projections ended, flickering out along with the glow from Smile Time’s hat. He picked it up, dusted it off and placed it back on his head. He looked at the girls with a risen eyebrow.  The Rainbooms had mixed reactions. Fluttershy hid behind her long pink locks of hair. Pinkie chewed on her lip nervously. Rarity wrung her hands. And Applejack and Rainbow Dash simultaneously rubbed the back of their necks.    Finally, Rainbow Dash spoke up. “Alright, we get it, it was a bad move, but she said she was used to it!” She crossed her arms.  Smile Time shook his head. “Just because someone is ‘used to’ a situation doesn’t always make it good.” He started. “Getting used to your friends bringing up a bad moment in your life like it’s not a big deal isn’t a good thing! Nor is saying ‘no offense’ fixing it!” “But we didn’t mean it!” Applejack cried out.  “It doesn’t matter if you meant it or not!” Smile Time held up a finger to emphasize his point. “You’ve been making her uncomfortable, instead of giving her a place of enjoyment after all of that talk about how you never did anything wrong!” “We GET IT!” Rainbow Dash cried out, gripping fistfuls of her hair. “We fucked up! But that doesn’t excuse Sunset’s shit!” “Are you really trying to imply that I started Anon-A-Miss because of your dumb jabs?” Sunset stood from her chair. “That’s insanely petty! Even when you guys hurt me, I forgave you guys! I get it! No one was ready to forgive me yet, but YOU!" She gestured to them with both hands. "YOU GUYS told me that you were my friends! Twilighttold me that you were my friends! And I believed you!" "We believed y'all too, ya know!" Applejack responded. "Sure as hell didn't seem like it, AJ!" Sunset retorted angrily. She could feel tears well up in her eyes, causing her to blink them back to avoid letting them fall. Rainbow Dash was ready to fight again. Smile Time teleported in between the girls, his arms spread out as he stood in front of Sunset. "That's enough, everyone! Please!" He said. AJ and RD sat down reluctantly. Smile Time turned to Sunset Shimmer. He spoke to her in a lower volume. "I'm awfully sorry about this, ma'am." Sunset shakily sighed, wiping away the tears. "It's okay..." Luminous Spark stood, along with the other spirits. "Perhaps we shall take this time for a short recess." The Chandelier's light began to shift through the colors again, before it turned back into the regular light it had before. "You girls may go out into the hallway." Luminous Spark said. "Sunset Shimmer shall come with us." The Rainbooms all stood, each one leaving through the door into the hallway. Fluttershy glanced over her shoulder at the spirits and Sunset, an unsure frown sitting on her face. Soon after, she followed the others out of the door. Luminous Spark rose her staff, her eyes and the gem top turning white again. Atlas Staros jumped down from the set of chairs and held his hand out toward Sunset. She gently grabbed it. Soon enough, the spirits of harmony each began to turn into balls of light, each in their respective colors. Atlas Staros' light enveloped Sunset, and as the other lights began to disappear, he followed suit. Sunset found herself sitting on her bed in her old room again, except all of the Spirits of Harmony were present. "Those friends of yours are real pieces of work.." Atlas shook his head, resting his chin on Sunset's bed. "It's Rainbow and Applejack I'm worried about..." Sunset said. "Those two are the most stubborn. And when Twilight wasn't around, they usually hyped up the group. I've bullied each one of them before, and they haven't let that go as well as I thought." Smile Time crawled on to the bed Sunset sat on. "But we said that we'd get through to them! We have all the proof! We just need them to see through the lies!" He proclaimed, his theatrical tone returning. "Whatever concerns you have about the others," Luminous Spark began. "You may put them to rest." For the first time, Sunset saw the eldest spirit smile. True Shot smiled as well. "We are very aware of your past, as well as theirs, and we can say for certain, you have made progress. And you're still trying your best to make up for your misdeeds." Sunset softly smiled. "Thank you all. It's nice having someone be there for me again." Artemis clasped her hand around Sunset's. "It's no problem! We're glad we are giving you a place of comfort!" Persephone pushed her glasses close to the bridge of her nose. "Anon-A-Miss won't be getting off scot free, we can assure you that. And your friends will have quite a bit of thinking to do after this." "We will show them the truth, Sunset. Their denial can only go so far." Luminous Spark said.