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// My Most Faithful Student 
// Story: When the Sun Sets 
// by Deep 
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"Go on, my most faithful student. I have the utmost confidence in you."

Standing in a room in the royal palace, Sunset Shimmer concentrated all the magic she could muster from her filly body. Focusing the magic in her horn, she counted down the seconds until it was time to unleash it on her target. Princess Celestia--her teacher who could do no wrong--stood close behind her, giving the type of warm smile that could calm even the most tense of ponies. Not that Sunset needed any calming. Four ponies in scholarly uniforms stood beside the princess, writing on pads as they glanced as their watches. They were yawning, and each had the snootiest look on their face. The type Sunset despised. 

Never one to let anypony doubt her abilities, Sunset Shimmer smiled confidently and focused on the object a few feet in front of her, a large black metallic weight. Cracks crept out from the floor beneath it, but that only caused the filly to smirk. She shot a glance at the four bored ponies and scoffed, saying to herself, "Like you'll ever even have the power to think about attempting this." Her horn burned with a fiery aura, and in an instant, the magic concentrated in it was unleashed on the tower of weight.

The aura covered the weight and lifted it up a few inches from the ground. The four ponies in the back all dropped their jaws in quick succession, as well as their pads and pencils. Celestia stood unphased and nodded with her same motherly smile. Sunset Shimmer continued lifting the weight higher into the air, making sure to hide any sign of struggle. The thought of only being able to lift this weight a few inches made her growl, and she continued pushing until her horn felt like it was about to be ripped out right at the root.

The weight rose up inch after inch until it stood several feet above the ground. Applause broke out from the back of the room, but Sunset Shimmer held the weight where it was, growling at the fact that the four ponies were clapping already. "You think that's all I got... Ha!" she said. Her horn was enveloped by another fiery aura, and at the same time the aura around the weight began to brighten until the light produced caused everypony else in the room to shut their eyes. The light disappeared a second later, and the five ponies in the back, Celestia included, gasped from the sight in front of them. The weight was gone, replaced by a mass of fire patterned flowers that floated down onto the cracked ground.

Sunset Shimmer jumped into the air screaming, "Ha! Like I'd actually fail!" She picked up the flowers with her magic and threw them around the room, with special aim on the four ponies and the area around them. She pointed at them. "And you clowns... What was with the early clapping, huh?! What, did you think I was done?!"

Celestia’s warm smile transformed into a scowl. "Suns-.”

Sunset Shimmer stepped towards her targets, getting all up in their faces, "Did you think I couldn't do more. Is that it?! That I was too weak to do anything greater?!"

Celestia raised her voice. “Su-”

"I know what it is. You're all jealous! You know your own pathetic kids are too weak to do what I can, and always will be!" Sunset Shimmer would've continued on, but was stopped and held in place by Celestia's magic. The princess glared at her but returned to her normal look when facing the three victims she had just saved.

"Ignoring that last bit..." She shot a dirty look at her student. "I trust you see that Sunset Shimmer is still the top student in my school."

"That she is," one of the mares said, glaring at the filly. "No question there. Her behavior however is a different matter entirely. I hope you made the right choice picking her as your personal student, Princess. But all in all, yes, she passes with top marks." The four ponies began walking out of the room. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we have some other students to grade, as well as this one filly who's looking to join us. Should be a treat. Always a pleasure, Princess... and good luck." They closed the door, leaving Celestia alone with her student.

"So, you going to say anything or what?" Sunset Shimmer said, jumping with glee. "Admit it, I surprised even you."

Celestia paused. "That is true. I expected you to succeed as you always have, but the spell with the flowers was something else indeed."

Sunset Shimmer smirked. "Yeah, it was pretty cool. What can I say? To be honest, though... I did it to impress you... Glad it worked."

Celestia wrapped her hoof around her student and pulled her in for a hug. "You don't need to impress me... You know that."

"Yeah right. I see you always just smiling whenever I do anything... I want to see you shocked when you see what I can do. What? You can't blame me for that," Sunset Shimmer said, giggling.

"That I cannot. And yes, I was shocked. Happy?"

"Obviously!" Sunset Shimmer played around in her mentor's embrace. Celestia played back, resulting in a game where Sunset tried to escape her grasp, only to be caught again. "I'm getting out of this... Just watch me." As the game progressed, though, Celestia's smile fell into a frown.

"Hey, what's wrong? Don't tell me you're sad because you're losing," Sunset Shimmer said, actually managing to escape. "Princess Celestia...?"

Celestia sighed. "It is true that your power is greater than what even I could have hoped for... but I fear for you my student. Your behavior can be... troublesome at times, and I am unsure if even I am up to the task of reforming it.

"What?! If this this about those clowns then they deserved it. You saw how they were doubting me."

Celestia brought her student back into her embrace. "Sunset Shimmer, I accepted you as my personal student because you showed great promise. But ask yourself, is treating others with such malice really how you want to be known. Does it really do your powers justice?"

"Known? Who cares what those weaklings think. The only thing that matters is power. I mean the only reason you're princess is because you can control the sun.”

"You are mistaken. My powers over the sun are not what make me princess. Being a ruler is as much about knowing how to lead with your heart as it is knowing when to lead with your power."

Sunset Shimmer laid back in Celestia's hoof with a pouty face and crossed her hooves. "Still, not my fault they're weak. I mean, I was right when I told them off."

"Perhaps in your mind, but even if you are right, that does not give you permission to-."

"Yeah yeah, I know what you're going to tell me. I got to be modest and humble.”

Celestia shook her head and released her student. "We will continue this later. I have some important matters to attend to. In the meantime, reflect on your actions. I have high hopes for you, my student, but I fear that your ways will one day lead to your downfall." And with that she walked to the door and stepped out.

Sunset Shimmer stuck out her tongue at her. "As if..." She scoffed at the very thought of her downfall and looked around at the sea of flowers that blanketed the room. If it was up to her, no one would be allowed to clean the flowers up. They were a reminder of how far she had come from her days before being Celestia’s student--days she wanted nothing more than to forget. "Sorry, Princess, you might be wise and all, but it seems like the thousands of years you've been alive haven't taught you anything.”

With her business in the room now done, Sunset Shimmer ran through the door and into the halls of the royal palace with a confident smile. The palace staff walked alongside her, but many times also in front of her at a snail’s pace. "Really?" Sunset Shimmer made sure to barge into everyone of them, knocking the royal guards to the side and the dusters and such to the walls. A maid stopped in front of her as she ran by, and found herself almost being knocked down a flight of stairs for her offense. "Walking isn't that hard you know!"

The filly went from hall to hall, zooming past everything and everypony in her way without even considering to slow down. It was only as she ran in front of an open window did she stop, freezing from the beautiful view of the kingdom. Canterlot was basking in her mentor's rays, at the same appearing to be only a hoof away and yet so far from atop the high palace window. She set her sights on the horizon and stuck out her hoof towards the lands beyond the city, wishing they were hers.

That was when she remembered, they were already hers. 

She continued on through the palace and ended her journey by ramming through a door and entering her room. She landed on her bed and stretched out her body as she gazed at her room’s many decorations. The walls around her held countless framed pictures of her and Celestia spanning back to the day she entered the palace a few years ago. There were also many pictures of herself alone, and each had a crown or other royal ornament glued to the top of her head. On the ground were several trash bins overflowing with crumbled paper. Each sheet was filled front and back with a myriad of different titles and names for herself with the word princess in front. Princess Sunset Shimmer the Magnificent and Powerful was a common one.

The centerpiece of the room was a map of Equestria on the ceiling on top of her bed. "One day... Oh, who am I kidding?" Sunset Shimmer got up and began jumping on her bed in joy. "The way I'm going, it's probably just a few years before I'm made princess.” She put her hoof on the map, but found herself beginning to frown. "But maybe Princess Celestia was right? I mean, now that I think about it, I can be a little mean. I hope I was never mean to her." But as quickly as the frown had come, it vanished. "But still, those ponies had no right to judge me like that. At least let me finish before judging me! And these stupid maids really need to learn how to walk. Seriously, it shouldn't be that hard!"

Sunset Shimmer fell back onto her bed with her future kingdom in view. "One thing's certain, though. Nopony can take this away from me."