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// Finale: Punishment 
// Story: Sunset Shimmer: Path of the Damned 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Sunset stood there for a few moments as the Pantheon of Death stared at her, finding that they were keeping a neutral expression on their faces, or at least three of them anyway since the Arbiter had that helmet on, before she worked up the courage to actually speak in their presence.

"Am... Am I dead?" Sunset asked, because while she knew that the Elements of Harmony, both the gems and the wearers, didn't kill, and both the Princesses and her other other selves weren't actually trying to kill her, the evidence of her demise was in front of her, she was in the heart of the Shadowlands.

"Dead? Hardly. Your soul, Sunset Shimmer, has been ushered to Oribos in this dire and most critical moment." the Archon replied, where she found that Kyrestia, despite the elegant nature of her foe, was deeply displeased with Sunset and she had an idea why, two of the figures she had slain and raised into her service were Kyrian, and one was one of her Paragons, an important figure in Bastion.

"Right now you are at a critical turning point," the Winter Queen continued, showing that they were likely going to speak in turn while Sunset stood there, listening to everything they had to say, especially her judgement based on the fact that she could feel the Arbiter reading her very soul, silently judging her for every action she had taken in her life, though the Winter Queen seemed more neutral than Kyrestia, "either your soul will be consumed by the darkness of the Maw, or you will let the healing of those waiting for you to escape your dark fate."

"And if you fall to your darkness, my Harvesters and I will attempt to absolve you of your many sins." the Sire added, which told her that if she was sent to Revendreth she would likely spend an eternity being forced to face all of her sins, those she had committed before being sent to Azeroth and those after being raised as a death knight, "After that it would all depend on you: would you move beyond your sins and become a functioning member of the Shadowlands, to be returned to the Arbiter for final judgement on where you'd spend the rest of your afterlives, or would you cling to them and be sent into the darkness of the Maw, to be tormented with the worst of the worst."

Oddly enough the Arbiter remained silent as the Eternal Ones, the other name for the Pantheon of Death, spoke to her, but in that moment Sunset realized that she had missed someone in her initial search, a floating figure, who was roughly her size and wore a robe similar to the Arbiter, that seemed out of place.

"I am Tal-Inara, and I speak for the Arbiter." the figure said, which meant that they must have been designed to hear some sort of frequency to understand whatever the floating figure was saying, or at least Sunset assumed such a thing since all of this was far more than what she expected, as she assumed she would have had more time in the mortal planes, fulfilling her desires before coming here, "She is displeased with how you have been corrupted by the Jailer's darkness and have used all of your powers to deprive the mortals of their chance to enter the Shadowlands upon death. Most of your kind, the ponies of Equus, are passionate about so many things and while some would be sent to Bastion, to help ferry souls to Oribos, there are others who would go to Maldraxxus to become warriors and guardians, others who would go to Ardenweald to preserve the spirits of nature, and some would even go to Revendreth, to be freed of their sins before finding their rightful place in the Shadowlands. You, however, have twisted yourself to the point where your only options are Revendreth or the Maw..."

"So... this is some sort of... cosmic intervention?" Sunset inquired, speaking once she was sure that Tal-Inara was done with his translations of what the Arbiter was saying, as it sounded like part of her must have died, since she came here in the first place, and they were using this opportunity to speak with her before she reawakened in the plane that she and all of the others lived in, "Might I say something first?"

"By all means, take the floor. We are, after all, here to speak with you and hear your sentencing." the Sire stated, where he made it sound like all of this was a game or an event to him, which Sunset guessed made sense since he was the master of an entire realm of Death and everyone who called it home followed his orders without question, "I do, however, hope that you come home to Revendreth, as I might have a position suitable for your talents... once you've been absolved of your many sins, anyway."

"While they were disobeying my orders, to go after the soul of a mortal who should have perished, I say she ought to be punished for tampering with the order of the Shadowlands." the Archon said, showing Sunset that despite her calm facial expressions she harbored some resentment for her, to the point where she felt redemption was impossible in the face of her many crimes against the living.

"Patience, sister, for her fate will be decided like all those who come before the Arbiter." the Winter Queen remarked, still preferring to be the more neutral figure among the three that were actually talking right now, even though Sunset felt that the Arbiter might be the most neutral of them all, given her important position, before she turned towards her for a time, as if wondering what her fate might be.

"Look, when I first became the Lich Queen I put on the Helm of Domination and... well, I discovered a being who was in the middle of a terrible plan." Sunset said, deciding to get straight to the point before the Arbiter judged her, mostly to give all of the other Eternal Ones the information that the silent figure had no doubt gleamed from gazing into the depths of her twisted soul, though at the same time she found that her soul was altered again, losing the armor and taking on her attire from when she was a student in Canterlot High, "That being didn't give me his name, but I understood that he was known as the 'Jailer' and that he intends on breaking the cycle of Death, as he forced someone in his realm to make the Helm of Domination and Frostmourne so the Dreadlords could ferry them into the Mortal Plane. Sire, during my time as a pawn of the Jailer I took down several of his demonic pawns, where most revealed that while they served the Legion, to wipe out all life across the universe, they actually served several others and only one, the Jailer, was their true master... and, from what I could gather, they were originally made in your realm."

"How amusing. Are you suggesting that I am a secret ally of the Jailer?" the Sire inquired, where he sounded amused by all of this, making her wonder what he might be like when he was in his actual realm and not in Oribos, something she might learn if she stayed in his realm for any length of time, after her initial stay anyway.

"No, I was just revealing what happened to the beings that were created in your realm, nothing more." Sunset replied, as she knew that trying to implicate one of the other Eternal Ones in the plot to destroy the Machine of Death and disrupt all of the Shadowlands, to ensure that the Jailer claimed the souls and Anima of everyone who died, would only land her in a great deal of hot water, more than her current situation, "I don't know what the Jailer is planning, since he trusts little with that sort of information, especially someone who might be working for her own benefit, but, since I was a pawn of his for a time, I have an idea of what you'll ask of me: to delve into the Maw and put an end to his plans."

"The Arbiter says that the first step should be you setting everything on Azeroth right, to try and undo some of the harm you have done to it." Tal-Inara said, though it was hard to tell when the Arbiter was speaking to her attendant, as that was what the smaller floating figure had to be in Sunset's eyes, before he glanced over at the two empty slots, indicating that two of the other Eternal Ones, one likely being the Jailer and the other being the ruler of Maldraxxus, "but even then she says that your destiny resides in Revendreth, like many of those who slaughtered people... to set an example... and that it will likely take you a long time before you are absolved of your many sins."

Sunset stood there for a few seconds, wondering where she had gone wrong to end up in this situation, before sighing as she tried to call forth her power, summoning Frostmourne into the space in front of her before sending it flying into the Sire's shadow, breaking some dark chain that had been hiding there, surprising the others as she called the runeblade to her side and knelt before them.

"I know I am in no position to say anything, but I am, now and forever, a servant of Death and the Pantheon that serves to maintain balance in the universe," Sunset said, something she would have only said if she was no longer clouded by all of her hate and anger towards Princesses Cadance and Celestia, not to mention everyone else that she felt had wronged her in some manner, like Tirion, the heroes of Azeroth, and everyone else she killed, "I understand that I have sinned, greatly by your reckoning, to the point where I should be sent to the Maw and not Revendreth... I have ruined timelines, slain the various people of multiple worlds, forced those who have fallen to my Scourge to serve me in undeath, and many other sins... I do not deserve redemption, even if you claim that I do. I have broken the shadowy chain that the Jailer, or one of his pawns, left on you, Sire, and off to you my solution: allow me to go back to my body and I will attempt to right some of the wrongs I committed in my war against the living, and, to ensure they don't trouble anyone, I will deliver the Scourge to Oribos as souls, so they may be judged accordingly... I, alone, deserve to go to the Maw."

"Your newfound determination is... impressive... but it doesn't change anything." the Archon stated, though from what the three of them could tell someone had attached that chain to the Sire in an attempt to darken him into a unknowing pawn, where she had to wonder what else Sunset knew and knew the Arbiter wouldn't say, not unless it was important, hence why she raised her spear for a moment, "The Arbiter..."

"Agrees with your proposal." Tal-Inara finished, causing the three other Eternal Ones to turn towards their sister, where it seemed like they were shocked that she was willing to trust her, that she wouldn't go back to murdering everyone that she came across, but, just as Sunset expected, they bowed their heads and backed off, "She also says that if her brother, the Jailer, is plotting to destroy the Machine of Death, and throw the Shadowlands into pure chaos, than he needs to be taken care of before anything terrible happens... such as the Primus' sudden disappearance. Can you, Sunset Shimmer, defeat Zovaal the Jailer?"

"I will endeavor not to fail." Sunset replied, bowing her head to the Arbiter, to show her respect towards the figure, though at the same time she understood that this was basically, in no uncertain terms, her condemning herself to the deepest and darkest pits of hell, as some of the humans of the Mirror World would have said, but the Arbiter said that it was one of her destinies and she was accepting her punishment.

"Then return to the Mortal Plane and right the wrongs you have committed." the Sire said, though while it was clear that he and two of his sisters didn't agree with the Arbiter, in fact he seemed like he wanted to introduce her to Revendreth, they did respect her wishes and backed off to avoid offending her.

Sunset said nothing to that as she nodded her head and focused her mind, allowing her magical energy to track down the stream of energy that brought her to Oribos in the first place, which had been left open based on what she could tell, so she grasped it and her soul dissolved as she returned to the Mortal Plane. Sure enough she found that it was directing her back to Equus, to the plains that she had fought the others in before the Elements of Harmony had been used against her, as in all six of them and not one with five people that represented a specific trait. She discovered that next to no time had passed since she had been overwhelmed by the force of Harmony, as the scene in front of her was her other selves using chains to hold her down, made of their various powers, while Celestia and Luna did the same to ensure Twilight's group succeeded in their mission. In that moment her soul spiraled around where her body was resting and found that the darkness, as she had expected, had been purged by the fires of Harmony, to which she settled into her body as the energy finished washing over her, breaking her twisted form and leaving her in a 'purer' form.

As the magic died down, however, Sunset found that she was back in the form she had started in when she landed in front of Arthas, back at the start of her dark adventure, before finding that she did have a pair of wings still, black feathered wings that looked more like a raven's, to show that she was still Death's servant.

"Sunset? Are you with us?" Celestia asked, as while she had been devastated by having to fight her own student, just like how she had been devastated to punish Luna with the Elements, part of her hoped that this was the end of their fight and that they could go back to their daily lives.

"Yeah, I'm back." Sunset replied, where she found that her opponents sighed before releasing her from the chains that they had used to hold her down, while Twilight and her friends seemed happy to have purified someone else of the darkness that took hold of them, even though they were surprised in the change of her wings, "I know you have questions, but I have one thing to do before I can even answer them."

As Celestia started to open her mouth she found that Sunset raised her left hand towards the sky and opened her palm, as if sending something away from where they were standing, before they watched as the fissure in the sky started to mend itself before their eyes, until nothing of it was left, causing her to wonder what was going to happen next.