//------------------------------//
// Fate and Choice (Edited) 
// Story: Vanishing Act 
// by redandready45 
//------------------------------//

"So, what are her scientific interests?" Sunset asked, pausing to take a sip of tea before she sat back in a comfy velvet chair and pulled out her digital notepad. The white-skinned man sitting on a couch opposite her smiled, happy to gush about his favorite and only sibling. 

"Well," Shining said with a cheerful grin, "mechanics, engineering, programming, theoretical physics, thermodynamics, the electromagnetic spectrum, the atmosphere, the magnetosphere, rocket science, geometry, chemistry, robotics, motions studies, the ancient and noble art of the to-do-list."

"Is that all," Sunset said with an uneasy smile as she felt her hand throbbing from all the note-taking. One of the things she missed about being a unicorn was how much easier it was to levitate a quill than to use a pencil with her hand. 

"No," Shining said. "Those are just the main interests." Sunset barely suppressed a frown. "So why are you asking me about this?"

"Lemon Zest has another idea," Sunset, her optimistic smile returning. "Twilight loves science a lot. So Lemon thinks Twilight is out there, bringing modern technology to Equestria." Shining smiled at the thought of his little sister bringing a pony kingdom into the modern age. "So, what we're gonna do is go through all the academic journals in Equestria," Sunset continued. "See if we can discover some invention being developed that could only exist on Earth. Once we find one, we'll know it's her."

"That's...not a bad idea, actually," Shining said with an optimistic smile. But then he frowned with concern. "Academic journals?" Shining asked. "But wouldn't she, you know, have to get into school first. I don't she can get a copy of her transcript all the way in Ponyworld," the blue-haired detective asked with a grin that was both wry and nervous. 

Sunset smirked. "Well...as I've said before, Equestria doesn't obsess over things like grades and paperwork. We're a very hands-on, or as we say, hooves on, society. To qualify for a job, you just have to show ponies your special talent is real, and then you can get the job." Sunset Shimmer smirked. "Back home, you wouldn't be asked for references or two years experience just to become a cashier. In Equestria, all you have to do is show the cashier you can push the button on the cash register."

Shining Armor looked uneasy. "It is really that simple? You're saying that...all Twilight has to do to get a job Is show off how smart she is?"

Another confident smirk appeared on Sunset's face. "Well, considering she was able to build a magic-absorbing machine without even knowing what magic was, I can imagine every mage and engineer in Equestria will be lining up to hire her."

"Really?"

Sunset's smile got even wider and more hopeful. "I bet there might be some stallions in the scientific community who would love to study her," Sunset teased with a cocky smile and a teasing raising of her left eyebrow but paused when she noticed Shining's smile was getting somewhat...strained. Not only that, Shining's eyes didn't seem to be looking at her. "Shining is something wrong?"

"No... no... I'm fine." The slight stammer and nervousness in his voice and the lack of eye contact did little convince Sunset, who grew even more concerned.

"Shining," the former unicorn said with reassurance. "I was just teasing you. I'm certain Twilight might get some real friends who-," Shining suddenly sprang from the couch saying how hungry he was and strode toward the kitchen. Sunset was taken aback by the bizarre behavior. Sunset found Shining Armor in the kitchen, pulling out a box of sandwich cookies and stuffing him into his mouth. This wasn't the hunger of joy or desperation but stress. "Mr. Armor," Sunset said to the white-skinned man with a slightly sterner tone, "why are you getting upset?" The man seemingly ignored her, continuing to shovel, or possibly force, food down his throat. With a sigh, Sunset continued to press the detective. "Are you still mad at Sunny and her friends?"

Shining put down the box and stopped eating, his anxious binge-eating replaced with a stern look. "Why are you asking that?"

"Well," Sunset began with a serious tone in her voice, "Sunny told me about you kicked her out of the house when Cadence wanted to offer them drinks. I mean, Sunny and her friends are trying to change, and what you did was kind of harsh-"

"You know what's harsh," Shining interrupted in a cool, no-nonsense voice. "Having to hear my aunt screaming in agony over the phone when I have to tell her that her niece died over a stupid contest." Sunset's mouth slammed shut, her defenses of the Shadowbolts crashing and burning inside her larynx. "I mean, it isn't your sibling who nearly was vaporized, but what do I know?" He continued with angry sarcasm. 

Sunset let out a sigh. The Shadowbolts were much better people. None of the Shadowbolts could be labeled a Pinkie Pie or a Fluttershy just yet, but they definitely had become far more mature and empathetic since the Friendship Games. They learned the lessons of friendship and extended it to Juniper Montage, they'd become excellent lab assistants, and they were giving up their weekends looking through every form imaginable, effectively volunteering for the detention so they could find the classmate they long scorned. And now they were working with Juniper on building a magic-detecting satellite to increase the chances of finding Twilight.

Sunset could find it hard to imagine that just three months ago, they'd been so horribly abusive toward their own teammate over a game or that Sunset herself fantasized about strangling them to death.

But that didn't change what they did. Yes, the Shadowbolts never intended to commit murder or get someone killed. What happened was mostly Cinch's idea. They were honestly remorseful over their actions. But none of that changed the fact that they were still cruel toward a girl they should've been looking out for and showed little concern with her safety, and Shining and his family suffered horribly from it. 

"I'm not mad or holding a grudge against Sunny and her friends," Shining continued. Sunset tried to find any anger or defensiveness in his voice, but there was none. "I was really mad at them," Shining admitted in a secure and honest tone. "But...I realize that it was mostly Cadence and my fault for sending her there." Shining's mouth pursed for a moment before he continued. "And I do agree with you they're much better people, and I have been treating them as such. I don't know if you know this, but I did take Lemon Zest shopping for apology presents and sang karaoke with her."

"Lemon told me that," Sunset said with a confused look. "Then why did you boot them out of the house?"

Shining had a serious expression on his face that brooked no argument. "Because they have yet to make it up to my family and the person whose forgiveness matters the most." 

Sunset figured out who that person was. "Twilight."

"I want them to be better people. That's why I'm not letting them off the hook early; if I do, they'll go back to being the entitled brats who hurt not only me but my family." Shining Armor didn't say this with an ounce of vindictiveness but with a sense of justice. "I know this because that's what I did when my dad let me off easy." Shining Armor looked young, yet he spoke with fatherly wisdom only someone 20 years his age ought to have. "If they want the family friend treatment, they have to earn it first, which means bringing Twilight back and treating her with respect. If she wants them too, that is," Shining added firmly, reminding Sunset of the fact that he was not sending Twilight back to Crystal Prep unless she wanted to."If they find Twilight safe and sound, and she forgives them, then it's all good," Shining said with an honest smile before his stern, prison warden face returned to his mouth. "But until then, my home is off-limits to them."

The blue-haired older brother was making himself into the Shadowbolts' de facto parole officer. If Cadence was the nurturing soul trying to mold the Shadowbolts into being better people, Shining was the figure of authority who was there to remind them that there were consequences if they stepped out of line. Shining apparently did this by punching a wall in front of them. 

Sunset couldn't help but smirk, remembering that Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna more or less had the same dynamic in the months following the Friendship Games: the former was the kind soul who tried to teach Sunset right from wrong. At the same time, the latter was effectively the prison matron, who would ensure that Sunset was following through on her punishment. 

Sunset decided he agreed with Shining's approach, and so she didn't challenge it. Changing the subject, she returned to Shining's previously bad mood. "So why were you stress-eating?" Sunset asked him. But before Shining could answer with some lame excuse, Sunset already had a good guess. "Are you nervous because we haven't found Twilight yet?"

Shining's eyes fell to the kitchen floor momentarily. "Well...it is partly that..." Shining said, his blue eyes still turned downward. He didn't follow through on that, just standing eerily still.

"Then what?" Sunset asked in some annoyance. "Look, Mr. Armor, I know we're not friends, but if your upset about something, I was always taught the best thing to do is get it off your-,"

"I'm told that Twilight is going to this land of friendship and harmony all that junk," the blue-haired ex-football player said. "And the...Princess tells me how she'll be making so many friends; she won't want to leave." A conflicted smirk formed on the former Crystal Prep alumnus' face. "Part of me is...afraid of that." A more melancholic expression. "But....then I remember my therapist telling me that I should put her in a special needs school since no one is going to like her. Dr. Lobe turned out to be right, and so-"

"You're afraid that she won't make any friends in Equestria," Sunset surmised. Shining's blue eyes fell to the floor, confirming Sunset's suspicions. "Shining," Sunset said in a soothing tone, "I know Crystal Prep didn't work out for her," Sunset paused. "OK, Crystal Prep was a horrible disaster, but Equestria is a culture that celebrates the unique specialness of everypony."


"Yeah, the pink woman kept telling me that Crystal Prep would accept Twilight for who she was," Shining interrupted, hurt tinged with a bit of resentment toward his wife for not doing more to help Twilight, "after they dumped paint on her and she stayed home for three weeks." His rage faded, to be replaced with sadness. "But not only did my therapist not only turn out to be right about Crystal Prep, but even my own principal hated her," Shining said, the hurt and betrayal from what Cinch had done bubbling to the surface. 

"Shining, Cinch was a bitter woman using Twilight as her punching bag-"

"Yeah, well, everyone saw my sister as a punching bag!" Shining yelled a fit of pique, shocking Sunset. He realized he had wrongly raised his voice, took a deep breath, and apologized for his outburst.

"But Equestria is different-,"

"Weren't you, the lovable pony from Ponyworld, some kind of supervillain?" Shining inquired with an edge to his voice.

A sheepish smile formed on Sunset's face. "Touche," Sunset said uneasily. "But I think calling me 'supervillain' is giving me...too much credit. I think the better way to describe me was 'a horrible brat who threw a tantrum so big, it lasted two years and stretched across two dimensions.' " Shining snorted and rolled his eyes as he pictured that. "But I swear that I was the exception. Most ponies love making friends..."

"There are good people, they said, but Twilight somehow never seemed to meet any of them," Shining said, the bitterness dripping back into his voice. 





Unbeknownst to him, Cadence and Spike were upstairs in her bedroom, listening in, concerned frowns on their faces. While both tried to be optimistic, Cadence and Spike couldn't ignore the harsh reality of her husband's words. 





"I'm not trying to whine or be a downer," Shining said uneasily. "My doctor told me it would be hard for her to make friends because of her autism, and that was with her own species. She's in a new world, with a new body, and with new rules. And I'm afraid...she'll make one mistake..." Shining paused to keep himself tearing up, "and they'll treat her like a loser all over again."





Human Twilight, now a pony, sat under a tree, her bespectacled eyes happily pouring over the dozens of encyclopedias. "I love learning!" the formerly two-legged creature gushed as she read. Unbeknownst to her, a group of ponies watched her with sheer contempt. 

"A pony who likes to learn!" A big, mean one hissed. "C'mon fillies, let's use her to vent our numerous insecurities and anxieties!" The other ponies cheered.

"Let's teach her a lesson for making us aware of our own shortcomings!" Another pony declared. 

"Hey, Sparkle!" Human Twilight looked up, only to see the ponies all carrying water balloons in their hooves.

"What? And how are you able to hold objects in a hoof?" The analytical former human observed. "How can creatures without digits progress to complex-," the balloons started flying, soaking her and her books."STOP IT!" Human Twilight squeaked. "PLEASE!" The other ponies sadistically laughed at the former biped, even as hot tears flowed down her glasses.  "WHY DOES EVERYPONY HAVE TO BE MEAN TO ME!" Pony Twilight cried before galloping away, tears flowing down her eyes, as the other ponies laughed.

"FREAK!"







Sunset looked at Shining Armor with no small amount of pity. It was only normal that Shining should feel so negative: he sent his sister to his alma mater, expecting her to have as much fun as he did when he was the most popular student at Crystal Prep. Instead, her own classmates and principal nearly got her killed. And that was after two years of emotionally abusing her for her odd behavior.

Sunset's heart was torn apart seeing the white-skinned man look so broken. 

"Shining," Sunset said in a soothing tone. "You're right. Us ponies can just as mean as humans." Sunset walked up to the man and put a warm hand on the despondent man's shoulder. "But I know for a fact that Twilight isn't with the bad ones."

Shining's eyes narrowed a little. "How do you know?"

"Because Harmony brought her to Equestria," Sunset offered. "I doubt Harmony would purposefully send her to ponies who would bully her."

"How does this Harmony thing work?" Shining asked with some annoyance. "I keep hearing that word, but it sounds like a bunch of gibberish."

"It isn't gibberish," Sunset stressed. "I know it because I've experienced it too."

"You mean when it brainwashed-,"

"I'M NOT BRAINWASHED!" Sunset yelled defensively. "Why does everyone think that?"

"Because the way people say it, you turned good overnight," Shining observed. "I mean, I have a hard time believing you could be as bad as Sunny and her friends."

"I didn't turn good overnight," Sunset muttered uneasily. "It doesn't work like that."

"So, how does this Harmony thing work, and why do you believe it isn't screwing over my sister?" Shining asked, keen interest in his voice. Sunset frowned, not comfortable talking about her experience. But she looked at the desperate face of the white-skinned man and realized she had to tell him to give him some comfort.

"OK," Sunset said. "Let's start with me getting hit with the Magic Laser Rainbow Of Death..." Shining snorted. 





Sunset was in terrible pain. Those rainbows that surrounded her felt like they were ripping her body apart. Her vision was consumed by a rainbow that grew brighter and brighter until it became a white light that blinded her.

With one final scream of agony, Sunset was consumed by a bright light, and then everything went dark.

Sunset regained consciousness, pulling herself up and seeing she ended up in some...place. It was a void. All around her was some weird dimension with stars all around her. She saw she regained her normal human form. "Hello! Sunset said, her voice echoing. "Hello," she said again, getting no answer. "Is this some kind of...magical prison?" She began stamping her feet in a rage, the noise echoing around her."WHERE AM I?!" she bellowed. Suddenly, some kind of screen appeared.  To the fire-haired girl's shock, It showed... the former unicorn turning into a demon, turning Snips and Snails into demon followers, destroying a chunk of the school, brainwashing everyone, and finally trying to kill Twilight and her friends. All with a gleeful smile on her face.

"No," Present Sunset muttered with horror. "NO! I didn't want this. All I wanted was to be strong and prove I was worthy. Not to hurt or kill people!" The screen now showed her-

She was kidnapping an innocent puppy. "Make any noise, little mutt," Past Sunset threatened Spike, who was being held up by evil-looking Snips and Snails, "And I'll wring your neck!"

Present Sunset was...disturbed. She only intended to kidnap Spike, but she still threatened him anyways. But she didn't actually wring his neck...but thinking back, Sunset might have actually done that. "I swear I wasn't gonna hurt-" Sunset paused as another screen appeared on the air. It showed Sunset lashing out after her bluff against Princess Twilight failed, her jealous rage over Princess Twilight's popularity finally overwhelming her.

"OH, SHE'S SO SPECIAL!" Past Sunset yelled before tackling her and the other girls. Present Sunset watched with horror, showing she did want to hurt someone, not just for a crown, but out of red-hot envy. 

"I....I...." Present Sunset muttered, not being able to excuse herself. Another screen appeared. It showed her angrily ranting at and threatening Fluttershy over giving the crown to the Principal.

"Oh, I'm really sorry," the shy girl said. "I-I just found it, and-and I thought I should give it to her. I didn't know you had dropped it." Sunset gave her a very unsympathetic look.

"Well, I did," Sunset bellowed. "And I was about to get it before you swooped in and ruined everything! You shouldn't pick up things that don't belong to you!"

"It... doesn't really belong to you, either," Fluttershy said meekly.

"Excuse me," Sunset said, slamming her arms into the lockers, trapping Fluttershy between her and the lockers.

"Nothing," the girl said, sliding down the locker onto the floor.

"That's what I thought," Past Sunset gloated to the yellow wallflower. "It's as good as mine, and you know it." Her grin became wider as she twisted the knife further. "You really are pathetic. It's no wonder your best friends are all stray animals," Past Sunset said with glee, reveling in the shy girl's eyes glistening with tears.

Present Sunset look utterly horrified. Looking back, she came very close to attacking a lonely girl who couldn't have known what Sunset was planning. Her eyes began to water at seeing the poor girl sitting on the ground in tears."I'm...I'm sorry," Present Sunset said as if trying to apologize to Fluttershy.

Another screen appeared, showing her in Canterlot High. It was the First Spring Fling she participated in. Rarity and Sunset were both in competition with one another. Both of them were standing on the stage, awaiting the judgment of the school.

"Well, Sunset," Rarity said kindly. "May the best girl win," Sunset smirked.

"Oh, we'll find out soon enough who is the best," Past Sunset said, crossing her arms and giving her rival a seemingly kind smile. Rarity didn't pick up on the dark look in Sunset's eyes.

Principal Celestia stood on stage with a microphone in her hand. "Our two contestants are...Rarity Belle and Sunset Shimmer," the principal said. She pulled out an envelope. "The winner is-," she paused as she saw Snip and Snails running around near the stage carrying buckets of paint, apparently trying to douse each other with it. As if by accident, they threw their paint, blue and yellow, together, splashing Rarity and ruining her dress. Suddenly everybody started laughing at the fashionista, who began tearing up before running off stage in an embarrassed fluster. Past Sunset watched her rival's humiliation with utter joy that no one noticed, while Present Sunset watched this with no ounce of remorse.

"Uh," Princess Celestia said with some sadness at what happened, "Sunset Shimmer." Celestia ran off the stage to chase after the crying girl. "Give me that," Sunset barked, ripping the crown from the young student's arms. The girl was confused and upset by Sunset's roughness. "This crown," Sunset said, putting it on her head, "is mine!" she finished with a vicious grin. Her grin grew as she basked in the applause.

Present Sunset looked mortified at her past self's joy at humiliating her rival and Rarity's tears.

Another screen appeared as she walked by. It showed her receiving breakfast in bed from a servant. This was when she was a pony and a student of the princess. Her face scrunched with anger when she saw what was on the plate. "I ordered hay fries," Sunset bellowed to the servant, who looked sad. "Not cucumber chips!" She took the plate and threw it against the wall near the servant's head, who ran out in grief. Present Sunset began to feel a searing loathing for her past self. 

Another screen appeared. It showed how  Sunbeam, a sun yellow unicorn mare with glasses, wanted to hang out with her, but Sunset, more interested in gaining power, turned her down quite rudely.

"I have more important things to do than deal with your annoying voice," Past Sunset said with disdain. Stardust looked downcast.

"OK," Stardust said with a whimper like she was almost crying. "Sorry for bothering you." She galloped away, leaving behind a smirking Sunset. 

"Now I can learn more about the mirror!" Past Sunset gushed as she pushed her muzzle into her book.

Present Sunset flinched at her past self's nasty tone, and her heart hurt from seeing Stardust so upset.

Another screen appeared as she walked by. It showed Past Sunset pleading with Celestia to learn more about the mirror. "Please, Princess," Past Sunset asked. "Can't we learn about the mirror?"

"No Sunset," Princess Celestia said with strained patience. "You are not ready. You have knowledge and intelligence, but you lack the wisdom and empathy to rule properly."

"But-,"

"Enough," Celestia almost yelled, fed up with her pupil's impudence. "Now, please remove yourself from my presence at once." 

Past Sunset snarled at the Equestrian ruler as she trotted away."You never do anything I want," Sunset said, zero wisdom or empathy in her voice before storming off.

Present Sunset was in tears, but cry as she wanted, she couldn't escape the truth: from the very beginning, she had always been a selfish brat. Every decision she made after she looked into the mirror, from being a brat to savagely bullying people, had led up to her being an evil demon who would kill people to get what it wanted. 

No, she'd always been an evil demon. The crown just made people see it on the outside.

The screen vanished. Suddenly a massive light appeared over Sunset's head. "What the-," Present Sunset paused as she suddenly realized she couldn't move her legs. She looked down and saw...

Her feet being turned into stone! She couldn't move her feet, and the more she tried, the faster the stone traveled up her legs.

This was to be Sunset's punishment: to spend the rest of her life as a statue. The worst punishment an Equestrian could ever receive, given to the most wicked and the most willing to destroy Harmony. It filled Sunset with regret, despair, and desperation! "Please," Present Sunset said in desperation and tears toward the light, as her torso was encased in stone. "Please give me one more chance! I promise to be good! I promise I won't hurt anyone again. Why show me everything I did if you're gonna turn me to stone?!" The stone continued to crawl up her torso.

"Please," she said, openly weeping. Her panic increased as the stone hit her neck. "NO! NO! N-." she couldn't say anymore. Her mouth was now stone. As the stone reached her eyes, everything went black, and she let out one last bloodcurdling scream in her mind.





"...and then I woke up in a crater... surrounded by everyone who hated me..." Sunset choked out uncomfortably, remembering the worst moment of her life.

Shining was astonished and a little bit frightened. Both at the story and how shellshocked Sunset was. "Do you...want me to get you some water?" The white-skinned man offered kindly. Sunset nodded, rubbing tears out of her eyes. Shining returned from the kitchen, a bottle of water and a box of tissues in his hands. Sunset thanked Shining before taking a chug and drying her eyes. Taking a deep breath, Sunset calmed down.

"I'm sorry for asking," A remorseful Shining asked.

"Don't be," Sunset said, still shaking a bit. "I mean, it wasn't fun going through all that." Sunset took another deep breath. "But again, despite all the horrible things I did, the Elements of Harmony didn't kill, vaporize me, or turn me to stone. They made me realize the truth: Princess Celestia didn't keep me from being a princess because she was a jerk: because I was so immature and mean that I would hurt everypony if I got that power. She was trying to protect Equestria..and me from power I wasn't ready for..." Sunset began crying, still ashamed for being so stupid and cruel. Shining began patting Sunset on the head, assuring her it was OK to cry. After a few minutes, Sunset finally stopped and dried her eyes again.

"C'mon," Shining said to the forlorn teenager, "it all worked out. I mean, you did turn your life-,"

"That didn't happen!" Sunset said forcefully. "I mean, it didn't happen overnight. The Elements of Harmony didn't turn me good. They only taught me a lesson. I was still the same brat," Sunset said, her voice laden with self-loathing, "just with all my illusions shattered. What turned me good was..." Sunset finally smiled. "Princess Twilight and her friends telling me I could be a better person. I thought the Princess was gonna lock me up in a dungeon. Instead, she begged everyone to give me a chance and begged Principal Celestia not to expel me." Her eyes narrowed. "But...I wasn't off the hook. Principal Celestia and Luna suspended me for six weeks and gave me community service rebuilding the damage to the school. They claimed I only caused a gas leak, but I still had a vandalism charge put on my permanent record." Sunset shuddered. "And everyone was out for my blood when I came back. People threw things at me, tripped me, dunked my head in the toilet. And I only got it to stop by doing favors for other people."

"Ouch..."Shining commented.

"Don't feel too sorry for me," Sunset said with a roll of her eyes. "I kind of did have all those things coming. I think Celestia and Luna suspended me because they were trying to save me from being lynched. But again," Sunset stressed when he saw Shining's pitying look. "I kind of did have those coming. And...Twilight's friends did give me a chance...after I did some favors to make it up to them...but things weren't easy then. They 'joked' about the demon thing, they didn't invite me to their band, and then last winter, our friendship nearly fell apart over...Anon-A-Miss."

"Anon-A-Miss?" Shining asked. Sunset took a deep breath and told the white-skinned man about her friends' sisters' hare-brained scheme to frame her for cyberbullying. She talked about how the whole school, and even her own friends, turned on her.

"They did all that because of a slumber party?" Shining asked with disgust in his voice. 

"No. It was because they still resented me for how I used to be," Sunset admitted. "Me getting invited and them not brought that resentment to the surface."

"I'm surprised you didn't just leave after all that," Shining remarked, still a bit horrified. "You were working your ass off for forgiveness, and everyone was still giving you-,"

"Oh, believe me, I was," Sunset admitted. "I was actually going to transfer to Crystal Prep," Sunset smirked, as did Shining. "I might have actually met your Twilight. Maybe we could've been friends-" Sunset speculated, only to stop as Shining was upset over that lost opportunity. "But-,"

"You remembered how your friends gave you a chance, and so you realized it was only fair to give them a chance," Shining inferred.

"Well, that was part of it," Sunset began, "but...honestly, I stayed for me." Shining was confused. "I didn't just try and make it up to everyone because it was the right thing to do. I...spent years and years trying to be a princess. Everything I did was for that stupid, selfish goal. And when that failed, I had nothing to hope for. Nothing to plan for. No goal or journey. And so I stayed because...I just wanted to accomplish something. If I couldn't be a princess...maybe I could try becoming the best person ever. I wanted to say I did something of value." 

"I mean, what about...going to college," Shining offered.

"To me, this world wasn't anything but a place to the hideout until I could claim my rightful place," Sunset admitted. "I never thought about actually putting down roots or finding a career. I mean, getting into college isn't an issue. I have plenty of money, and my grades are good. But even after I made it up to everyone, I haven't really thought about what I want to do after we all split up."

"What about going home?" Shining offered. "Don't you have any family-?" Shining paused as he saw Sunset was again about to cry. "Are you OK?" Shining asked the fire-haired girl. The girl just stared at the floor, almost on the verge of tears. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Shining said, realizing he was asking about a personal life Sunset wasn't ready to talk about yet.

Sunset took a breath before continuing. "But yeah, I did make amends with my friends. And after a few months, everybody did finally forgive me completely," Sunset said with a smile. "I mean, I did have to beat a bunch of evil sea witches to do it, but after that, everybody finally accepted I wasn't evil anymore." Sunset looked at Shining with a look of both benevolence and wisdom. "The Power of Harmony didn't solve all my problems, but it did put me on the path to being better. If it did that for someone like me, then why would it do something horrible to your Twilight and put her someplace mean?" With that, Shining felt a more optimistic smile form on his face. "Besides, I see Harmony is helping other people too."

"What do you mean by that?" Shining asked.

"I mean, Sunny and her friends have become better people. They've helped Juniper out," Sunset continued with a sunny expression, "and...before all this, I didn't take studying magic seriously. And because of what happened, I am taking it-,"

"So you're saying this all happened for a reason?" Shining said. Sunset nodded.  "Yeah, the reason was that I was an idiot brother who sent my sister to the school full of shallow idiots." Sunset was saddened, seeing Shining's pessimism and self-loathing return.

"Shining-,"

"Yeah, I use to believe in destiny and fate and all that crap," Shining muttered with contempt. "I thought my sister was destined to become the Queen of Crystal Prep." Shining frowned like he swallowed vinegar. "Because of that, I didn't care what Twilight was actually going through. I kept telling her useless crap-," Shining stopped, realizing he needed to end the self-pity. "I'm not a religious person. I don't know what the mystical forces that control Terra Prime are, if the Ameliorists are right, or if the Great Text and the Fifteen Tenets are actually the way to live. I don't know if I buy this Harmony stuff either. But since the Friendship Games, my beliefs are this: what matters is what happens, what you choose to do, and what you choose not to do. What should've mattered to me was not my vain little fantasy, but the fact that my sister looked miserable on what was supposed to be the best day of her life." Shining let out another regretful sigh.

"Well," Sunset said with a smile, "your choosing to be a better brother, I've chosen to be nice to people, and the Shadowbolts are choosing to be better people. And if all those things are possible, then somepony choosing to be Twilight's friend certainly is possible. In fact, by the time we find her, I bet she'll have a ton of friends." Sunset's grin got wider. "I mean, I want to be her friend."

Shining felt a grateful smile. "Really?"

Sunset's grin grew manic. "I did beat Cinch to a pulp, didn't I?"

Shining's anxiety and fears faded with a good, deep breath. "Thanks, Sunset."

"Anytime," Sunset said. She then remembered her original reason for coming to the Sparkle residence and brought out her digital notepad. "So what were Twilight's projects." Shining looked as happy as a clam, happy to be able to gush to someone about how supersmart his younger sister was, and now hopeful about her sister finding happiness.

On the second floor, Cadence and Spike grinned with renewed optimism.

"I'm really having a hard time believing she was evil," Spike commented.

Cadence looked at her sentient pet with a smile. "I guess that's what friendship, and being blasted with a Friendship Laser, can do."