Her First Time
Being Punished
What was that old saying? That there was a first time for everything? Well that couldn’t be more true than it was right now for Sunset Shimmer as for the first time she suffered defeat and experienced true humility. All of her plans, all of her schemes, all of her deceit and manipulation; all undone in a rainbow colored flash and brought forth by a force that she never fathomed could be so powerful despite all of her former mentors teachings. Was she wrong? Was friendship truly THAT strong? Surely this had to have been a fluke right?
However as Sunset Shimmer, former apprentice to Princess Celestia; lay on the ethereal crystalline ground wrapped in multicolored chains, her hair ragged and her eyes flooded with tears, she knew that this was no fluke and it was here that she was to be judged for her crimes for which there were MANY. Unable to move under the threat of the chains tightening if she did, all she could do is hang her head in mild abject defiance but in truth? She hung her head in shame, from the ether a voice…no, several voices would boom out harmonized in perfect unison.
“Sunset Shimmer, daughter of Daylight Dawn & Shimmering Sunrise, former apprentice to Princess Celestia, former tyrannical queen of Canterlot High School and now; traitor to your homeland. Do you understand where you are? Who WE are?”
The voices spoke with authority, the kind she’d only ever heard from the likes of Celestia but this was different, this commanded a far more demanding presence, it was like Celestia but her presence was multiplied by six. This ethereal space felt hot to her yet cold at the same time, her body shook like a leaf in the frigid cold and yet her brow was sweating bullets and her heart was pounding erratically. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she still refused to look up and show her shameful visage, not even sure if there was anything or anyone to show herself to.
“I…This is…you’re the elements of harmony and this is your domain if I had to guess. W-What’re you going to do with me?”
Sunset may have been blinded by her rage and desire for power, by her petty and childish desire to get ‘even’ with Celestia for ‘replacing her’ and dismissing her as her student but even still she remembered the many tales told to her by Celestia about the elements and their amazing powers. One such story that stuck in her mind was where she and her sister Luna turned the chaos God Discord into stone, was that to be her fate or worse?
“That all depends. Sunset Shimmer, we ask you this; do you know WHY you are here?”
There was a long and pregnant pause, the silence was deafening and if a pin dropped you’d hear it and the echo it would no doubt make, instead the only thing that could be heard is the rapidly increasing beat of her heart as she began to recall the events that brought her here. Lying, theft, manipulation, bullying, blackmail, extortion, kidnapping a small animal, vandalizing school property, brainwashing the students in an attempt to march them to war in a foreign land and of course attempted murder of six teenage girls one of whom was THE crowned Princess of Friendship. By all accounts Sunset knew deep in her gut what the combination of all these transgressions meant but her stubborn nature refused to let her acknowledge her wrong doing.
“I…I may have…crossed the line…a bit.”
“THAT is a grave understatement Sunset Shimmer! Tell us, have you ever truly tried to comprehend the fallout and consequences of your actions? Did you truly believe that all your machinations would not come back to haunt you and continue to haunt those you chose to spite for years to come?”
“I-”
“NO! NO YOU HAVEN’T! DO NOT BOTHER TRYING TO LIE TO US! HERE IN THE HARMONIC VOID ALL IS LAID BARE! NO TRUTH IS HIDDEN! NO SECRET SHROUDED IN SHADOW! YOU WILL ANSWER FOR YOUR MISDEEDS AND IT BEGINS WITH ACKNOWLEDGING YOUR WRONGS!”
The void shook with a thunderous boom! Sunset felt like an entire tube of hot glue had been squeezed down her throat as she was forced to stay silent not by any force of magic no, but by the crushing weight of the guilt that lingered deep within her heart, which was aching in pain with how fast it was beating in her chest, she couldn’t move and she was hunched over in an uncomfortable position seated on her knees, forced to submit to the forces of harmony. However, that fiery, defiant pride simply would not die and Sunset finally raised her face, tears still coming out of her eyes but her eyes were full of anger and resentment, a sorrowful frowning scowled adorned on her face.
“MY WRONGS?! WHAT ABOUT HER WRONGS HUH?! I’M ONLY HERE BECAUSE SHE DENIED ME WHAT WAS RIGHTFULLY MINE!!!! I SHOULD BE THE PRINCESS OF FRIENDSHIP! NOT THAT…THAT….STUPID BOOKWORM! I TRAINED MY ENTIRE LIFE! I DRAGGED MYSELF UP FROM NOTHING! CELESTIA PICKED ME WHEN NO ONE ELSE WOULD! SHE TOLD ME I WAS SPECIAL! THAT I WAS DESTINED FOR GREATNESS! BUT SHE…SHE THREW ME AWAY! THREW ME AWAY LIKE AN OLD TOY JUST TO GET A SHINY NEW ONE! I-IT’S NOT FAIR! I SHOULD BE PRINCESS! I….I….I-!”
“YOU’VE DONE NOTHING TO EARN THE TITLE OF PRINCESS OF ANYTHING! YOU’VE BEEN CRUEL! ARROGANT! SELFISH! YOU SCOFF AT THE VERY IDEA OF FRIENDSHIP AND MAKE A MOCKERY OF ALL THAT CELESTIA ATTEMPTED TO TEACH YOU! TWILIGHT SPARKLE EARNED HER RIGHT TO RULE! SHE EARNED HER TITLE NOT JUST THROUGH BATTLES AND HER MAGICAL SKILL! BUT THROUGH HER VIRTUE! THROUGH HER PASSION! SHE LOVES AND CARES FOR HER FRIENDS AND EQUESTRIA WHEREAS YOU DO NOT! YOU SPEAK OF FAIR!? TELL US, HOW FAIRLY DID YOU TREAT THE DENIZENS OF THIS WORLD WHEN YOU ARRIVED?!”
They didn’t give her time to answer, as one of the chains wrapped around her, the yellow one that seemed to be covered in butterflies, began tightening and glowing radiantly. In that instant, Sunset’s mind was FLOODED with an array of memories but they weren’t her own, they were Fluttershy’s and Sunset was once again brought to tears with what she was forced to watch, the revelations she was forced to realize. Fluttershy was a fragile soul and Sunset was just a cruel action or two away from having the poor innocent girl make a decision that would’ve darkened the worlds of SO many.
“S-STOP! STOP, STOP, STOP, STOP, STOP!! N-NO MORE! PLEASE NO MORE! I-I DON’T….”
“DID YOU EVER STOP FOR HER WHEN SHE BEGGED YOU FOR MERCY?! DID YOU EVER SHOW HER ANY KINDNESS THAT WASN’T FALSE?! WHAT DID SHE EVER DO TO YOU?! WHAT DID SHE EVER DO TO DESERVE SUCH VENOM, WHEN ALL SHE EVER SHOWED YOU WAS KINDNESS?!”
This time as the void echoed there was only a singular voice this time instead of the harmonized one that had spoken previously, it sounded familiar but she had never heard this kind of anger or even volume from her before. She’d never seen her as anything more than a meek little chew toy for her to torment and pick at when she got bored, but there was a deeper truth behind it. One she simply refused to admit! She…she was nothing like her! She never was!
“S-SHUT UP! SO WHAT, HUH?! MAYBE IF SHE WASN’T SUCH A SPINELESS CRYBABY AND HAD A LITTLE BACKBONE I WOULD’VE LEFT HER ALONE! IT ISN’T MY FAULT SHE SO WEAK WITHOUT HER IDIOT FRIENDS TO SPEAK UP FOR HER! I NEVER WOULD’VE LET SOMEONE TREAT ME THE WAY I TREATED HER!”
“YOU’RE A FILTHY DAMN LIAR!”
The voice of the harmonic space changed yet again, still angry and yet now the voice had a southern twang to it, the orange chain wrapped around her adorned with three glowing red apples began glowing brightly but this time instead of memories being forced inward and being forced to watch them like a movie on the inside, this time the memories were projected outward and this time, they were her memories. They showed themselves as floating spheres in the empty rainbow colored space, each sphere showing a memory from her past thought lost.
When Sunset was a little filly she was no different from Fluttershy; meek, shy, low self esteem and very soft spoken. A far cry from the mare she would become and more so the girl she was now. In her filly days before getting accepted into Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns and even after for a little while, she dealt with bullies. Much to her horror she would see that many of her bullying methods she used, she had picked up from them. She felt sick, like she wanted to throw up but she couldn’t look away from the memories as they played out.
“T-THAT’S NOT ME ANYMORE! I GREW UP!”
“THAT WOULD BE FUNNY IF IT WEREN’T A BIG FAT LIE!”
The voice yet again changed however this time sounded kind of upbeat yet still angry and judgemental, the pink chain around her that had three balloons on it tightened and shined bright pink and suddenly more memories began playing in front of her but this time they were more embarrassing than anything else, memories or events she hoped to never relive because of how little they made her feel but as the memories played out all she could hear was the sickening and mocking laughter of her demonic self laughing at her as if to mock her.
“STOP! WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY HUH!? YOU THINK THIS IS SOME KIND OF GAME HUH?!”
As she spoke and yelled the white chain around her that had three blue diamonds on it shined and this time there were no memories but instead she regressed in age now reverted back into her filly state and the laughter grew louder as she attempted to spark her horn but to no avail and with each failed spark the laughter grew louder. Tears came to her eyes faster and faster as she struggled against her restraints, not caring about how tight they got.
“STOP IT!!!! STOP LAUGHING AT ME! I’LL SHOW YOU! I’LL SHOW ALL OF YOU! LEMME OUTTA HERE OR I’LL….I’LL-!!!!”
“You insist on acting like a petulant child and thus we’ve given you the appearance of one darling, such horrid manners are unbecoming of someone trained by one so benevolent as Celestia!”
Then the rainbow colored chain wrapped around her tightened extra hard and she yelped in pain and cried out as tears poured from her eyes as what she saw as the worst day of her life played out in front of her eyes on loop. The day Celestia dismissed her, the day that Sunset had lost her right to be called her most faithful student.
“YOU BETRAYED HER! LEFT HER BEHIND! YOU BROKE HER HEART AND MADE HER RELIVE THE GUILT AND SORROW OF HAVING TO SEND AWAY ANOTHER LOVED ONE! YET YOU STILL BLAME HER!?”
Yet another voice rang out and this one was gruff but firm and as it rang out the rainbow lights across the void shimmered even brighter than usual. Lastly the violet colored chain with the six pointed star shines brightly and similar to before, memories are played out in front of her but this time they were the memories of Princess Twilight from her foalhood all the way up to her crowning as the princess of friendship, she witnessed her entire life in a matter of seconds and it was in that moment she understood that she and the princess weren’t so different. In fact? They were virtually the same.
“Twilight Sparkle was not without her struggles! She was not without her faults! She, much like you at first, denied friendship! But once she accepted harmony, once she accepted that she truly did want friends; she became the beacon of light that Celestia was waiting for! It is NOT too late Sunset Shimmer; there is still time. We ask you this, do you regret anything or do you truly wish to remain alone; forever…for if that is your wish? We shall grant it to you.”
Regret? After having seen so many different memories, looked at her own past with absolute clarity, felt the crushing and intense weight of her own guilt as well as the combined sorrow of the six girls whom she had hurt for no other reason other than to spite them; tears came to her eyes again but this time not out of anger or resentment in denial of the truth. This time, the tears flowed and she truly cried, sorrowful and regretful tears, she would nod not sure if someone could even see her motion. She couldn’t deny it anymore, she couldn’t fight it anymore! She had been wrong and she wanted to make things better! To make Celestia proud! The harmonic voice said she still had a chance? That there was still time! She could still repent! There was a first time for everything and for the first time in a long time, Sunset Shimmer uttered two simple words.
“I’M SORRY!!!! I’M SORRY, I’M SORRY, I’M SORRY, I’M SORRY, I’M SORRY!!!! I WAS WRONG! I-I DON’T WANNA BE ALONE ANYMORE! I WANT TO CHANGE! PLEASE!? I WANT ANOTHER CHANCE!”
Once again there was a pregnant pause, the only sounds coming from the void were the cries of Sunset Shimmer as she sat on her knees, now reverted back into her human form but still in the form of a small child, her head hung as the tears flowed down her cheeks and shoulders jumped wildly as she cries harder and harder. All of the weight of her guilt and sins were coming down on her at once and she could still see many of the painful memories of Fluttershy plaguing her mind, she had so much to answer for, so many apologizes to make but she just didn’t know where to start or if anyone would accept her.
“We have heard your pleas Sunset Shimmer and shall give you another chance, you are not to first to face our judgment and shall not be the last. However be warned, this chance shall not come without a cost. Should you fail to atone for your misdeeds or should you fall back into your past evils? You will leave us no choice but to take more…drastic measures. Are we clear?”
“Crystal, I…I want to change. I really do but…I know it won’t happen overnight but…I want to try.”
“Then go forth and let friendship be your guide.”
The chains wrapped around her body would go slack and release her, now back to normal and laying on the ground, the ethereal world would begin to vanish and time began to flow as normal. What seemed like minutes or even hours to her, had only been a couple of actual real time seconds up to a minute. Laying in a large crater, her jacket torn to shreds and hair a matted mess, Sunset Shimmer could barely hear anything past the sound of her own sobbing but she could make out Princess Twilight’s voice speaking with authority and passion.
“YOU’LL NEVER RULE HERE OR EQUESTRIA! WHATEVER MAGIC POWER YOU ONCE HELD HERE IS GONE!”
Still feeling a whirlwind of emotions she showed her face, sobbing and crying for mercy as she whimpered out loud for everyone to hear her.
“I-I’m sorry…I’m so, so, sorry. I-I didn’t know there was another way…”
“If you spend your life rejecting the magic of friendship, eventually all you’ll be is alone.”
“B-But what am I supposed to do now? A-All I’ve ever done is drive people apart…I-I don’t know the first thing about friendship!”
Sunset said through strangled cries but then, Princess Twilight extended a hand of friendship to her. Taking it with apprehension, Sunset rose to her feet and the Princess smiled at her, turning to the 5 girls whom she had made her friends.
“I bet they can teach you. Right girls?”
The five other teenage girls would look at Sunset, each with a puzzled look and Sunset returned it, that was when Fluttershy of all people spoke up as she made her way to the front of the group, poking her fingers together in her typical demure manner.
“Um…I…I wouldn’t mind…starting over…I mean, everyone deserves a little bit of kindness right?”
Sunset looked at Fluttershy, the poor, innocent girl she had bullied and hurt for so long with bewilderment. Was she…serious? Did she really mean it? This wasn’t just some ploy to curry favor with the magical alicorn princess?
“R-Really? But…I…the way I treat you…”
Fluttershy blushed and ducked into herself a bit but she didn’t exactly back down, doing her best to stay strong and firm. She had always been nervous around Sunset but this was…different. It was like there was a whole new level of understanding between the two of them but Sunset nor Fluttershy could place why exactly.
“I…I think we can um…let the past be where it is. Wouldn’t it just be better to move forward? I don’t want to be mad at you or hold what has happened against you. You were um…really, really mean but…I…I don’t think you want to be a meanie anymore…right?”
Sunset would shake her head, sniffling as she wiped her eyes shivering from the night cold.
“Then, I think we can start again and try to be friends. I…I don’t think you're a bad person. You just…made a bad choice…a few bad choices…but they don’t have to be your last or ones you’ll regret for the rest of your life and I don’t want to see you go to jail or anything. That wouldn’t help anything at all and would just be punishing you, not helping you. I…WE….want to help you…will you let us? Please?”
Sunset was beside herself, here stood the one girl she treated the WORST out of anyone in school, the one girl she went out of her way to bully and make miserable, the one girl she made sure to make cry every single day since the day she met her; offering her forgiveness and friendship. She didn’t understand, she wanted to but the ability to do so simply escaped her! How could someone be so kind, especially to someone like her!?
However, before Sunset could properly give an answer Vice Principal Luna and Principal Celestia approached, one of course looking more irritated than the other with the younger sister glaring at Sunset Shimmer.
“Ladies, while I do appreciate you attempting to reconcile things? I am afraid right now isn’t the BEST time as we must do damage control here as well as ensure you get home Princess Twilight.”
“Ah, yes of course. The portal will be closing soon in about I would say…2 and a half hours. I think we will go back into the gym and try to enjoy a little more time together before I go. Though please, I do ask that you show her some mercy, there…well….I will allow them to fully explain. Sunset? For the time being I am going to pardon you of any crimes against Equestria but until further notice? I am sorry to say thanks to your actions you will have to remain here but I can at least happily say you won’t be alone.”
“That she won’t, fret not Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer will be taken good care of.”
“What my sister means to say is that we will look after her properly from now on, we seek to rehabilitate, not scornfully punish.”
“You are far too soft sister.”
“Be that as it may, I am the head principal and thus my decision is final. Now you girls run along; Sunset Shimmer? Do come with me, we have MUCH to discuss.”
“Y-Yes ma’am….um…see you girls…and um…t-thank you”
“You’re welcome Sunset; until we meet again”
Twilight and the other girls would make off for the gym, each waving goodbye to Sunset as she was taken ahead by Celestia and Luna to their office to be questioned. This was it, the beginning of her new chapter, the start of her path to redemption. They say there was a first time for everything and now it was Sunset first time to experience actually being punished. No one ever said this was going to be easy but as Pinkie Pie would say ‘Where's the fun in it if it's easy?’. Walking in between the two principals she felt a similar feeling to what she felt in that void, an overbearing heat and shivering cold, taking a deep breath she sighed as she walked to their office to face further judgment.