The voice rang out through the courtyard, causing the power-mad girl to stop and look for the source. Unfortunately, the crowd and the shape of the courtyard caused the voice to carry and bounce off the school walls making it seem like it could be coming from all around them. The CHS students, too, froze at the familiar sound of that voice before they quickly filled the shocked silence with hopeful murmurs as they glanced around for a glimpse of the girl they had wronged so many months ago.
There was a pop, and a bright flash of light, and when they looked again, what they spotted was not the leather-clad redhead that they had expected but instead a tiny, fiery-maned unicorn. The sudden appearance of the pony caused the chattering to die as those in the courtyard stared, open-mouthed at the mythical creature. All that is except for two. An audible squee escaped from Fluttershy, who promptly blushed and sunk into her long locks realizing she had been heard by so many people. This however was soon forgotten as Lyra Heartstrings shouted a triumphant, “I knew it!” garnering her a swift elbow to the ribs from Bon Bon who shot her a glare that screamed, Not now.
Despite the antics of those in the crowd, Midnight Sparkle’s eyes never left those of the new arrival. “Ah, Sunset,” she called, “Still here I see? I thought you would have hopped your first portal home by now and just been done with this miserable world.”
“Twilight,” Sunset frowned, “do you really think I would leave now when my friends are in trouble?”
“Friends?!” the winged girl screeched, losing her temper and actually tossing Principal Cinch aside to crash in an undignified heap atop a group of Shadowbolts before rounding on the pony. “Don’t tell me you still think of those girls as friends after everything they put you through!”
Sunset took a deep breath looking over the CHS crowd and easily spotting the Rainbooms among their number. The hurt and shame from their abandonment were still there, but looking at them now, the same sadness in their eyes coupled with the clear desire to make things right. Sunset’s mouth twitched up in the corner, a crooked smile forming on her lips.
“I do actually,” she replied, earning looks of surprise from the girls in question though Sunset’s attention was focused back on the girl hovering above, “but they aren’t the friends I was referring to, Twilight. I was talking about you and Spike.”
“Me?” Midnight scoffed, “As you can see, I am no longer in any trouble. With this power, I can easily get Spike back and make them pay for threatening us, for treating us like we didn’t matter. No, Sunset, I’m not in trouble,” she leveled a menacing gaze at the group from Crystal Prep, “but they certainly are.”
“Listen to yourself, Twilight,” Sunset called, “This isn’t you. What you’re doing is wrong and you know it.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Sunset, I think I’ve finally learned what Cinch has been teaching me all along. It doesn’t matter what you do or how much you know. The only thing that really matters is power, and now that they’re the powerless ones, they’re going to learn exactly how I’ve felt all these years.”
“Twilight this isn’t the way,” cried the unicorn, “Yes, what they all did was wrong, and what Cinch did to you was even worse; blackmailing you into being on the team, threatening your academic future, and kidnapping Spike.” The revelation of just what the Crystal Prep genius had gone through to push her to these lengths caused the entire population of Canterlot High, as well as many of those from Crystal Prep, to turn heated glares at the cowering administrator.
“Exactly,” Midnight cried. “She deserves to pay for what she’s done to Spike and me and what she plans on doing to your world.” This drew a confused look from the unicorn as well as the crowd. “She wants the energy, the magic, she has my research and she’ll use it to get to Equestria and who knows how many people or ponies she’ll hurt just to get it. Don’t you see? What I’m doing is what’s necessary. I need to stop her, to protect you, and everybody from her.”
“She should be stopped, Twilight,” Sunset replied calmly as she slowly approached the still-hovering girl, “but punishing her, that’s not for you to decide.”
“Who then? The school board…the police?” Twilight scoffed, “Really? Who are they going to believe, the principal that has boosts the school's prestige or some dorky nobody? Don’t you see? This is what she does. Her and her damned reputation. With so many Crystal Prep alumni she’s helped find positions of authority and her penchant for blackmail and coercion who knows who else she has in her pocket.”
Despite staring down a raging magically empowered harpy, Sunset didn’t flinch. She just smiled and said as her horn lit with a crimson glow, “Oh, I think I can help with that.”
Seeing the light, Midnight became defensive and readied herself for a possible attack, but nothing came. “What did you…” she began before she was cut off by a guitar riff.
Exit light. Enter ni~ight.
All eyes departed from the showdown between magical beings to the front steps of Canterlot High where Vice Principal Luna was hurriedly trying to pull out her cell phone from her pocket so she could silence it, garnering a reproachful look from her sister.
“Really, Luna?” Celestia questioned her sister.
“I put it on silent,” Luna began only to be cut off by a new sound coming from Celestia’s pocket.
I’m walking on sunshine.
It was then followed by a cacophony of ringtones and vibrations going off all around the courtyard.
“What’s going on,” Midnight asked warily.
“I told you I had a plan,” Sunset said. “This morning, before we left Crystal Prep, while I did my search for Spike, I made a little stop in Cinch’s office. Thanks to magic and that little device Indigo so kindly left in your lab when she was trying to steal your research, getting into Cinch’s computer was a breeze. Guess when you think your reputation makes you untouchable, you don’t feel the need to hide all your incriminating documents that well, and man were there a lot of them. It took this long to get them all uploaded and sent to everybody. Figured everyone should know how her reputation was built on threats and blackmail of her students, not to mention the more criminal dealings I found that I sent to the principals, Cadance, the school board, oh, and your brother at the CPD.”
“The police?” Midnight asked incredulously, “That’s it? After everything she’s done, you want me to forgive and forget and hope that she actually gets punished?”
“She will be punished, Twilight. Her reputation is ruined. She won't be able to hurt anyone ever again," Sunset said consolingly, before continuing, "But no, you shouldn’t just forget what happened. Take what you can from the experience and learn from it, but you need to let the hurt go because forgiveness isn’t about them. It’s about you. When you forgive them, it frees you from the pain they have done to you. Holding onto it only allows them to continue hurting you.”
“Why should I,” demanded the magically possessed girl, her eyes flaring with blue magic. “You preach about forgiveness of my tormentors, but what about yours; this school, the ones who created Anon-A-Miss, your friends? How can you forgive them? After what they did to you, using you to defeat the Sirens and then throwing you away without so much as listening to your side of the story.” There were visible winces from those CHS students in the crowd at the condemnation. Five girls, in particular, were wearing sad, guilty looks on their faces. “With everything you went through in Equestria, considering what it takes for you to trust, how can you forgive them?”
“Because they didn’t know,” Sunset said simply before sighing. “I never told them about my past or my cutie mark. I never opened up enough, never trusted them with any of that. Maybe if I did, they would have understood and believed me, or maybe after everything I did to hurt them in the past, they still would have left."
“You’re not to blame. It was our fault, dar-Sunset,” Rarity said, stepping out of the crowd toward the magical beings, "after the Fall Formal, Princess Twilight asked us to give you a chance and to teach you about friendship, but wasn’t that simple. After years of you hurting us it was hard to let that image of you go.” Rarity’s gaze became hard though as she met the cyan eyes of the pony that she had once called a friend. “But we should have, with everything you did for us, especially after everything that happened with the Sirens.”
Pinkie nodded as she joined Rarity, “You were trying so hard to move on from your past, but we weren’t very helpful. I mean, how could you forget when we wouldn’t let it go? Yeah, the whole, “No offense,” thing was kinda funny the first time, but it doesn’t really cut it as far as apologies go when it’s bringing up something that painful. I love jokes, but even I could tell that one was overused and not funny anymore.”
Surprisingly it was Fluttershy who stepped forward next. “I told you I forgave you for all of the mean things you said and did to me, but I think part of me was still scared of you.” Sunset started to respond but was cut off by the other girl, “No, I’m not blaming you. You apologized and were trying your best, but I never told you how I really felt. When we were trying to be friends, I thought it would be kinder to try and just try and forget about what had happened between us. It wasn’t a good way to start a strong, stable friendship as our old wounds left us all unwilling to open up to each other. I should have told you the truth, and even if it hurt, we could have tried to work it out…together.”
Applejack stepped up and joined them, hat in her hands. “It’s not yer fault fer not trustin’ us. We gave ya no reason ta. We may have said we were yer friends, but we didn’t really act like it. We should have trusted ya, and even if ya were behind it, we should have talked ta ya and figured it out instead a jus’ cuttin’ ya loose and leavin’ ya on your own.”
Rainbow joined the girls, an uncharacteristic look of seriousness on her face. “Sunset, you trusted us to be your friends during that Anon-a-mess, but we failed you big time. I don’t blame you for not wanting to tell us you were back or about what’s going on now. I know we can’t make up for what we did, but please let us help you now. Let us help you like we should have helped you before.”
“No, I was wrong, and I’m sorry, girls,” Sunset said, a smile coming to her face despite the tears forming in her large eyes, “I should have come talk to you sooner and ask for help instead of stealing your magic. I thought you would still be mad at me because of Anon-A-Miss, but I should have had more faith in you, that you would be willing to put that aside when there were magical problems at hand.”
“You had no reason to think things would have been different and that we would have heard you out this time,” Rarity began.
Sunset shook her head, “Maybe at first, but I saw what you’ve been trying to do to make up for everything even if you didn’t think I’d ever see it. After seeing that, I could have come to you and asked for help, but I was still angry and refused to believe it. What you did hurt me but holding onto this anger only made me bitter and lonely. You’ve worked hard to make up for it learn from what you did, to be better. I forgive you so please, forgive yourselves, and maybe we can try building a friendship for real this time.” Looking up at Midnight, she added, “It’s time for us all to move past this.”
“No,” Midnight shouted. “That’s not good enough!” Scanning the crowd of Crystal Prep students, she was unable to locate the school’s principal, glowing eyes narrowed as anger welled inside her until she spotted a familiar goggle-wearing girl cowering in the back. Raising her hand, Midnight enveloped Indigo in a ball of blue energy and brought the girl to hover before her.
“Twilight don’t!" Sunset called, "Please believe me when I tell you, I know what it’s like to feel hurt and ignored by everyone. To be betrayed by those who were supposed to look out for you. The loneliness and fear that it leaves in you so easily turn to anger, as you lash out at the world you think abandoned you."
“Then you understand how I feel, why she deserves it,” Midnight said, drawing Indigo closer.
“I do. It’s the same reason I would have deserved it after the Fall Formal. All that anger, I let it consume me for years and I pushed everyone who tried to help me away. I let that hate fester until I finally decided everyone else should share in how I felt. I broke up friendships, blackmailed and threatened others, just like Indigo did to you, and just like Cinch has been doing to your whole school.
“You once asked me what the difference was between ponies and humans. I stole from Princess Twilight, embarrassed and belittled her, I even kidnapped her Spike, and in the end, I tried to kill her. She could have used the Elements of Harmony to banish me, turn me to stone, or even destroy me. As a princess she would have been well within her right and nopony would have questioned her.
“But she didn’t. Instead of exacting revenge, she offered me her hand. She gave me a second chance to both makeup for what I had done to the school, as well as the chance to learn what it was like to live without the hate, without pushing people away. She wanted me to learn what it’s like to finally open up to others and to be honest, to treat others with kindness and compassion instead of belittling them, to enjoy the happiness that comes from being around others and sharing a good-hearted laugh, to be generous and give of yourself to help people without expecting anything in return, to learn to loyally stand up for my friends and be there for them no matter what the cost or threat. But none of that would have been possible if she had held on to the pain I had caused her."
Sunset sighed, hanging her head in shame, “It’s why she’s a princess and I’m not. This whole time I’d forgotten what she did for me and haven’t been acting very pony-like. I was holding on to my anger and resentment. Their betrayal and abandonment hurt me. To have my first real friends tell me to go away and leave me to the wolves, I thought it proved how pointless friendship was in the end, and I closed myself off from it again. So much so that I shut out everypony who was trying to help me and just shut myself away.
“Until I met you. Twilight, you were there to take care of me when I was hurt and lonely. No matter what you stood by my side, took me in, and promised to help me try to get back to Equestria. You never asked for anything and were even willing to give up on your project and your chance to get out of Crystal Prep and away from Cinch just to help me. You didn’t demand answers when I wasn’t ready to give them, but when I did, you listened and gave me honest feedback, and you have to admit we had fun along the way, despite the craziness.”
As Sunset had spoken, the words resonated with the Rainbooms who started to glow faintly. Looking at the Rainbooms who now stood around her, a silent look of understanding passed between them, knowing what needed to be done, and with a silent nod, they each smiled as the colored auras grew brighter. Though still faint, the energy was steady. Then the light of their magic flowed from each of the girls toward Sunset, growing in intensity as it neared the unicorn. Power coursed through Sunset’s body returning her to her true stature, and taking in the power of the Elements of Harmony as she had done once before. But unlike during the Fall Formal, this time Sunset was not trying to control the Elements. She did not try to bring them to bear, to master them. Instead, she let their power flow through her.
Sunset remembered the feeling she had during the Battle of the Bands when her magic joined with that of the others. That was what she needed now. She needed the Elements power united, not for herself, but to save someone else. Someone so much like herself, from going down a dark path and doing something Sunset knew the real Twilight would never do and would not be able to live with. Sunset took all the element’s powers into herself and prayed that she would be enough to show Twilight that she wasn’t alone. The power shone through her, focused like a prism on saving a friend, as her horn glowed with an ethereal light making the spiraled appendage appear longer. From her back, the same fiery energy took on the shape of magnificent wings that lifted her into the air.
“Twilight, that’s what friendship is, what it’s meant to be. But we can’t have that if we bury ourselves in the anger and pain we feel towards those that have hurt us. We have to learn to let go and forgive others.”
Midnight watched in shock as the crumbling ground beneath her was repaired. Rage gripped her first, but when she looked back at the one who had undone her work, she didn’t see the anger or disgust she was expecting to see on Sunset’s face. No, the expressive too-large eyes of the pony radiated worry, not for the unicorn's well-being, but for Midnight's and it touched something inside the power-mad girl as she remembered that there were those out there who cared for her and stood by her. She had done this because she wanted them safe. Was she really going to fight one of those she had tried to protect?
Seeing her resolve seem to waver, Sunset floated closer to Midnight and pressed on, “Harboring hate for someone, is like drinking poison and expecting it to harm them and not you. It doesn’t work like that. Anger and hate will fester and corrupt you until it turns you into something you aren’t. A hollow shell of the girl I met who was willing to sacrifice her own chance at happiness to help a grumpy unicorn.
“The choice is yours, Twilight. You can take this power and exact your revenge on Indigo here, Cinch, and all of Crystal Prep, but would that make you happy? Do they deserve to be punished and suffer for everything they’ve done to you? I don’t know, maybe, but would that really help you? You’ve been hurt and betrayed as much as I have if not more, but is this really what you want…to become just like them? You have so many people who care about you Twilight, your family, Cadance, Spike…me. You’re better than that Twilight. The girl who stood by an angry unicorn despite everything and helped me find friendship again is better than that. If you choose to do this, Twilight, you’ll have buried that girl in so much pain and hatred, nothing short of a rainbow laser to the face will be enough to bring her back.”
Midnight looked at Indigo, the girl she held trapped in her magic, and for the first time saw not the face of her tormentor, but of a girl just like her who was terrified. The glowing fire around Midnight’s eyes faded, leaving behind scared, amethyst orbs. She allowed herself to take in those around her, and while they all shared a look of fear, it seemed to be not just for themselves, but a worry for her as well. Even the Crystal Prep students seemed concerned though they shied away from her gaze as their eyes fell to the ground, guilt seemed apparent on many. Then, on the school steps, Twilight saw Cadance in tears. The woman who had looked out for her and taken care of her for so long still wanted to help her and protect her and even in spite of a super-powered magical rampage showed a desire to run to Twilight as evidenced by the CHS principals straining to hold her back.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” the girl whispered, as tears started to run down her cheeks as she slowly lowered Indigo to the ground.
“I know, and I forgive you, but you need to let go, and start to forgive, both them and yourself." Knowing she was getting through, Sunset hovered closer and extended a foreleg, “Take my hand, Twilight, let me show you there’s another way. Just like you once did for me.”
“That’s a hoof, not a hand,” Twilight corrected automatically, before shrinking in on herself as she remembered where she was.
Sunset, however, just burst out laughing, “Whichever,” she said before continuing in a mock whisper, “You’re ruining the moment.” Sunset extended her hoof once more giving Twilight a smile that the winged girl returned as she took the offered appendage.
The power that Sunset held was immense, and she wondered if this was what Princess Celestia felt like all the time. Finding herself and Twilight pulled into a realm of light, she could feel the magic of the Elements of Harmony, magnified within her, were ready to be used again in the face of great darkness. They called for her to claim them and use them as they had before, but looking into the teary eyes of her friend, Sunset knew that was not what was needed. Instead, she allowed them to flow away from herself and into the other girl infusing her and healing what the corrupted magic had done with the true Magic of Friendship.
Sunset knew that pain and reminders the Elements had left her after the Fall Formal and did not want that for Twilight. Orange energy flowed from Sunset up the forearm and to the jagged horn of power emerging from the girl’s dark hair. The tingling power sent a feeling of warmth through Twilight. She was blinded by the flash of light as it removed her horn. In that moment, she would have sworn that Sunset was not the unicorn she had become friends with, but a radiant angel wearing a beautiful dress and sporting a glowing horn.
Blinking to clear her eyes, Twilight heard the voice of her friend and savior as she was lowered to the ground. “Everything’s going to be okay now. I just have one more thing to take care of before this power trip ends. I'll be right back.” And with a final squeeze from a fuzzy hoof, Twilight heard a pop, and when she opened her eyes again, she was standing once again in the courtyard of CHS with the eyes of all the students upon her.