Sunset Shimmer and her friends had just finished cleaning up the damage that was done to the Crystal Empire during the battle. Lighting Dust and the Wonderbolts even stayed behind to help reach the highest places. Sunset saw Spitfire talking with Lightning Dust, which apparently ended with Spitfire getting a salute from Lightning Dust, who then did a hoof pump while shouting 'YES!' at the top of her lungs.
Now, Sunset and the Mane Six were at the central plaza where the energy from the Elements of Harmony was still boosting the Crystal Heart. Twilight and the others were about to call the energy back to the Elements when something amazing happened.
The rainbow energy left the heart on its own, thus returning the Crystal Heart back to its normal bright turquoise blue color. The rainbow colored elemental energy then circled around Sunset really fast. Before everypony knew it, a bright flash of light engulfed Sunset and by the time the light dissipated, she was nowhere to be found.
The next thing Sunset knew, she was in this ethereal-looking place that was empty and yet so beautiful at the same time.
"Hello?" She called and her voice echoed out through the entire area.
"Congratulations, Sunset. I knew you could do it." Princess Celestia's voice suddenly echoed back towards her and throughout the area.
Sunset saw her and trotted towards her.
"Princess... I don't understand." Sunset expressed as she greeted her with a hug. "What did I do?"
"You have done something that no other pony, not even Twilight and her friends have done." Celestia answered her. "You merged the Magics of Love and Friendship together to defeat a mighty foe and save the Crystal Empire in its time of need. And thanks to all the lessons you have learned about friendship, both in Equestria and the world beyond the mirror, you saved Lockon from his own darkness."
"I was hoping this day would come, but I never expected it to come so soon." Celestia continued. "At long last, Sunset Shimmer, you have proven that you're finally ready."
"Ready?" Sunset questioned. "Ready for what?"
With that, Celestia pulled out a glow from her heart and sent it to Sunset's with her magic, then sending it spinning around Sunset. She was lifted up and she had no idea what was going on. A large bright light was centered in the middle of her body, specifically her chest. Then, the light then grew brighter as it completely engulfed her.
Back in the Crystal Empire, the others were getting worried about Sunset, especially Twilight, Cadance, Lockon, and Lightning Dust. Then, a huge explosion formed in the sky. When they turned towards it, they saw a huge version of Sunset's cutie mark being displayed in the sky. Then, a bright white light blinded them all for a brief moment before it dissipated and revealed Sunset Shimmer lying on the ground.
"Sunset, is that you?" Twilight's voice called out to her.
Sunset then stood up by herself, and to everypony's amazement, spread out a magnificent pair of amber wings, matching her coat color. Everypony gasped in surprise upon seeing this.
Sunset noticed the wings on her and placed a hoof on them to observe them, surprised of them herself.
"Ah…Ah can't believe this is happenin'." Applejack said in amazement.
"Ha! Sunset's got wings!" Lightning Dust cheered touching her new wings. "Sweet! A new flying buddy!" She hugged her.
"You've become an alicorn." Rarity stated obviously but in amazement. "Just like Twilight."
"Another Alicorn party!" Pinkie Pie screamed out loud, wearing a party hat and swung around a rope in order to imitate an Alicorn. She blew a party kazoo.
"Does this mean we should bow to you now?" Fluttershy asked in her namesake manner.
"Please don't, Fluttershy." Sunset giggled. "I may be an alicorn now, but I am no princess."
"That is where you are mistaken, Sunset Shimmer." Princess Celestia said as she flapped down for a soft landing. "As of now, you ARE a princess."
"What?!" Sunset gasped, along Lightning Dust and the Mane Six.
"Hold on a second!" Pinkie Pie paused and then searched for something only to come out empty-hooved.
"Would you like a glass of water, Pinkie Pie?" Discord asked her as he appeared right next to her.
"Oh, yes, please." She replied before accepting a glass of water he conjured up by snapping his fingers. "Thanks, Discord." Discord gave her a thumbs up and teleported away.
She then poured some water in her mouth and then immediately spat it out.
"A... a princess? Me?" Sunset questioned, obviously greatly surprised by this new change.
"Since you have returned from beyond the mirror, you have displayed many of the qualities characteristic of a true princess." Celestia explained. "Among those including charity, compassion, devotion, integrity, optimism, and leadership."
"But... does this mean I won't be your student anymore?" Sunset asked very worriedly.
"Not in the same way as before. I'll still be here to help and guide you, but we're all your students now, too. You are an inspiration to us all, Sunset." Celestia said as she herself bowed, with everypony else following suit.
"Please stop everypony." Sunset bashfully replied. "You're all making me blush."
Everypony else giggled slightly at that. "Group hug!" Pinkie exclaimed. And the Mane Six, along with Lightning Dust and even Princess Cadance and Celestia, gathered around Sunset for an enormous group hug, which Sunset eagerly returned with tears of joy in her eyes.
"Oh, girls," Sunset sighed in happiness, before immediately remembering something, "wait, don't we need to return the Elements to the Tree of Harmony?"
"Don't worry." Twilight assured her. "We'll take care of that."
The following day in Canterlot Castle…
Sunset was in an empty dressing room getting ready for her big day. She was wearing a bright fire-red dress with slips for the wings on the sides. She had just finished brushing her mane when a knock came on the door.
"Come in." She answered. A royal guard entered the room.
"The Princesses are finished with the preparations." He told her. "They are ready to start whenever you are."
"Then please inform them that I am ready." She answered him. The guard nodded his head in response and walked out.
Sunset then walked out of the room to then be escorted by a group of royal guards. She soon found herself behind the closed double doors leading to the hall in which she was to present herself. The group of guards that escorted her joined a group of mares holding banners that depicted her cutie mark. As Sunset stood behind the huge double doors, she began feeling 'nervicited' as Pinkie Pie would say.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, a huge crowd of ponies were gathered together. Twilight, her friends and her fellow princesses all had the biggest sense of déjà vu out of everypony else in the hall. Why, because it was exactly thirty moons ago that a certain other princess was crowned, albeit for a similar yet entirely different reason.
At the top of the small ceremonial stair case, the five royal alicorns were standing together in a row. Celestia stood in the middle. On her left was her sister, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance. To Celestia's right were Lockon Astros and Twilight Sparkle. The rest of the Mane six stood together in a line to Twilight's right. Even Lightning Dust, Moondancer, Twinkleshine, Minuette, Lyra, and Lemon Hearts were standing there with them.
After a moment, Princess Celestia began her announcement.
"We are gathered here today in celebration of a momentous occasion." She announced. "My faithful student, Sunset Shimmer, has done a few extraordinary things since she has moved to Ponyville. She even helped a certain trio of fillies get their cutie marks. But yesterday, she has done something extraordinary. In the Crystal Empire's recent and brief time of crisis and need, she combined the Crystal Heart's magic of love and light with the Magic of Friendship from the Elements of Harmony, proving without a doubt that she is now ready to be crowned Equestria's newest princess. Now, fillies and gentlecolts, may I present for the very first time, Princess Sunset Shimmer!"
The doors opened and Sunset began her walk. The four mares and guards followed her, beginning to chant a song in unison.
"The Princess Sunset cometh
Behold, behold
A Princess is before us
Behold, behold, behold"
As Sunset looked towards Princess Celestia, then over to Twilight and then back to Celestia, Spike walked over to her with a smile on his face and presented a small pillow. On it was Sunset's new crown. The base of it looked like the tiara that holds Twilight's Element of Magic. Only, instead of a pink, six-pointed star, the jewel was a red and yellow sun with flames on the outside, red on one side and yellow on the other. Inside those flames, two solid blots of red and yellow were swirling around each other in a yin and yang pattern. Just like her cutie mark.
As the choir raised their voices, Princess Celestia magically raised Sunset's crown and placed it on Sunset's head with a gentle grace.
Afterwards, Sunset looked to her pony friends on the side. Moondancer, Minuette, Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts all gave her their best and sincerest smiles. Lightning Dust gave her a wink, and Lyra used her magic to form a magic hand on her hoof, which she then held in a thumbs up position. Twilight gave Sunset a proud smile of approval, as did the rest of the Mane Six.
Sunset released a modest yet heartfelt smile at them before turning around to face the crowd with another sincere smile. Then, Celestia lead her towards the balcony, with Twilight and the others following her, where a huge crowd had gathered outside the plaza and were cheering loudly for Sunset.
"Behold, behold, behold, behold
The Princess Sunset cometh
Behold, behold, behold, behold
The Princess is
The Princess is here"
The choir finished as Sunset was waving out to huge crowd of excited subjects. As she continued waving with slight nervousness, Twilight walked up to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Say something, Princess." She whispered.
"Oh. Um..." Sunset cleared her throat and began announcing to everypony looking before us. The crowd lowered their cheering. "I need to be honest with all of you. Sixty moons ago, my teacher and mentor, Princess Celestia, tried to get me to learn about the Magic of Friendship. Back then, I wasn't the pony that I am right now. Back then, friendship was something I didn't really care about. In fact, in all honesty, back then it was something that I outright rejected. If it weren't for Princess Twilight Sparkle, who helped me see the light, I would not even be here…"
She looked over to Twilight and the girls, keeping her attention locked onto them. "…and I never would have found my way again. But now, on a day like today," Sunset gestured her hoof towards the Mane Six as well as Moondancer's group, signaling them to join her on the balcony.
"I can honestly say I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for the friendships I've made with all of you." Sunset began acknowledging each one of them, causing for every one of the girls to form tears in their eyes…even Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Lightning Dust and Lemon Hearts. "Each one of you taught me something about friendship, and for that, I will always be grateful. Today, I consider myself the second luckiest pony in Equestria. Thank you, friends. Thank you, everypony!" Sunset finished as she and the rest of them looked down crowd along with her.
The crowd was a bit surprised by her revelation, but nonetheless they still cheered for her again.
Then, she began walking back inside the building where she was immediately confronted by Twilight, Cadance, and Shining Armor.
"Sunset! I'm so proud of you!" Twilight hugged Sunset slightly, revealing teary eyes when pulling back.
"Twilight Sparkle, are you crying?" Sunset asked, hinting a slight amount of laughter in her voice.
"Of course not, it's...it's liquid pride." Twilight wiped her eyes. "Totally different thing."
"Now where have I heard that before?" Cadance playfully chided while nudging her husband in the side. Then all four of them laughed.
"Way to go, Princess!" Lightning Dust cheered, the girls and Lockon joining them.
"Best coronation day ever!" Pinkie Pie screamed out loud. "After, Twilight's, of course. No offense, Sunset."
"We all love you, Sunset!" Moondancer added, initiating a large group hug between them all.
"I love you too, girls!" Sunset answered warmly.
At the bottom of Canterlot Castle, Sunset was then pulled through the crowd of ponies on a carriage by two royal guards. Once she was pulled out to see the ponies before her, she began waving at them.
Later that evening, a celebration was held in Sunset's honor inside Canterlot Castle. All her friends were there, including Lightning Dust, Moondancer and company; even the Cutie Mark Crusaders were there under the supervision of their sisters.
"Sunset!" said the unmistakable voice of a certain trio of fillies. Sunset turned around and found the Crusaders all smiling widely at her.
"Congrats on becomin' a princess, Sunset!" Apple Bloom eagerly congratulated her.
"I can't believe two princesses are our friends!" Sweetie Belle agreed.
"And one of them even helped us finally get our cutie marks!" Scootaloo pitched in.
"Now Scootaloo, you know that ain't true." Apple Bloom corrected her pegasus friend.
"Apple Bloom's right." Sweetie Belle agreed. "The only thing Sunset did was help me get over my fear of singing in front of other ponies. We figured out our talents all by ourselves."
"They're right, Scootaloo." Sunset chuckled. "Although, I am quite flattered that you credit me for helping you. Now come here, you three."
She held out her front legs and the three fillies eagerly returned the hug.
"Now that's got to be the sweetest thing Ah ever saw." Applejack said as she, Rarity, and Rainbow trotted up to Sunset.
"Indeed." Rarity agreed.
"Yeah," Rainbow added. "Hey Sunset, I just wanna apologize for giving you such a hard time ever since you came to Ponyville."
"It's ok, Rainbow Dash." Sunset accepted her apology. "You were looking out for your friends, especially Twilight. It's who you are. I forgive you."
She and Rainbow shared a quick hug. "I heard the Wonderbolts are giving Lightning Dust another chance at the academy." Rainbow said. "Apparently, Spitfire was so impressed by her bravery and willingness to help the Crystal Empire that she decided to give her another chance."
"That's great. Good for her." Sunset said. "I gotta congratulate her later on."
"Well, see ya later, Sunset." Rainbow Dash replied before turning to Scootaloo. "Come on kid, wanna go meet the Wonderbolts?"
"Aw, yeah!" Scootaloo eagerly agreed. And the two of them walked away.
"So Sunset, darling, how does it feel to be a princess?" Rarity asked her.
"Well Rarity, to be perfectly honest, this is all so sudden." Sunset answered her. "At first I thought I would be happy, now with everypony bowing to me and calling me 'your highness', I feel as though they're treating me like I am an entirely different Pony. Now I know how Twilight must have felt when she became a princess."
"Yeah, she was a little nervous and self-conscious about her wings." Applejack replied. "But as long ya keep staying true to yerself and yer friends like Twilight did and still does, everypony will remember ya for who ya are and not what ya are."
"Still as wise and honest as ever, Applejack." Sunset replied with a heartwarming smile as they shared a hug. "Thank you."
"Yer welcome, sugarcube." Applejack responded.
"See ya later, Sunset." Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle said in unison as their sisters led them away.
"Hey, Sunset Shimmer." The unmistakable voice of Shining Armor. Sunset turned to find him, Cadance and Twilight walking up to her. "Look, I wanted to apologize for how I treated you when you first came back to Equestria."
"It's alright, Shining Armor." Sunset accepted his apology. "You were just looking out for your little sister. She's important to you, like she is to Rainbow Dash and all of her friends. I can't blame you for treating me like you did at first. So, no hard feelings?" She stuck out her hoof.
"No hard feelings." Shining Armor said as he shook Sunset's hoof. Then he and Cadance walked off leaving Twilight to converse with Sunset.
"You have no idea how proud I am of you, Sunset." Twilight told her with a sincere smile.
"Thanks Twilight, that means a lot to me." Sunset answered with equal sincerity. "Though to be perfectly honest, I meant what I said during my coronation ceremony. I would not even be here right now if it weren't for you."
Then Sunset gave Twilight a big hug before continuing. "I want to thank you, Twilight." She said. "Despite our past, you helped me see the light and guided me back onto the correct path. We may not have been friends when we first met, but in all the time I have known you up to now, you became like the sister I never had but always needed."
"Thanks, Sunset." Twilight said as she returned the hug. "And…for what it's worth…I might not be your biological sister, but I'm proud and happy that you think of me as one."
"Thanks, Twilight." Sunset responded. "You're the best, you know that?"
"Sunset, you kidder." Twilight giggled, with Sunset following suit. "Well, I'm gonna go mingle and check on our friends. See you later, Sunset."
"You too, Twilight." Sunset answered her as Twilight trotted away.
"Hey, Sunset." a new but familiar voice said to her. She turned around to find Lockon Astros looking at her.
"Hey Lockon, what's up?" she asked him.
"Can I talk to you in private for a while?" He asked in response.
"Sure." She answered him and followed him to a relatively secluded balcony.
"Sunset, I want to thank you." Lockon began as he started lowering his head in slight shame. "For saving me from myself. I just can't believe I let myself be blinded by my own desires to avenge my parents, my sister…"
Sunset then put a hoof to his lips to stop him. "You're welcome." She said while giving him a hug, which he eagerly returned. "You were one of the first friends I made after coming back to Equestria. I couldn't just let you let your desires for revenge consume you. I practically went down a very similar path for crying out loud."
Lockon chuckled slightly at that and Sunset couldn't help but join him.
"By the way, back in the Crystal Empire during that whole ordeal," Lockon continued, "you said that you fell in love with me. Is that really true?"
"Well…" Sunset stammered. "I honestly don't know how to answer that question. I mean, when I first bumped into you, I did think you were quite handsome, but I still wanted to put off dating until I could learn more about the Magic of Friendship. The way we talked with each other when you escorted me to my bedroom the night before I moved to Ponyville, I felt a really strong connection between the two of us, and I started liking you even more. When Celestia told me about what happened before and how she adopted you, I cared about you to the point that I could not bear the thought of losing you in anyway. I even Pinkie promised Celestia that I would prevent you from making a terrible mistake if the time ever came when you tried to take your revenge."
Sunset then took one of Lockon's front hooves in both of hers and lifted them up onto the rail of the balcony.
"So, yes Lockon," Sunset continued while looking straight into Lockon's beautiful sapphire blue eyes. "I do care about you a lot, and I do love you."
"Sunset…" Lockon sighed as he looked into Sunset's beautiful teal opal colored eyes. Then he began leaning his face in towards hers. Both their eyes closed as their lips met for only the briefest of moments.
"Would you like to join me for lunch sometime?" Lockon asked her awkwardly.
"I'd love to." Sunset eagerly answered him, before they shared another kiss, this one being longer and more passionate than the previous one.
Unbeknownst to either of them, behind the entrance to the balcony, four alicorns and five unicorns were witnessing the whole thing.
"Sunset Shimmer," Lemon Hearts silently chided her, "you sly diamond dog."
"I had a feeling those two were perfect for each other." Celestia said as she smiled tearfully at her adopted son, knowing that he had put his desires for revenge behind him.
"Well, I can confirm that." Cadance joined in. "I haven't sensed a love this strong since I fell in love with Shining Armor."
"I have never seen Lockon this happy." Luna said with a warm smile.
"Oh, I can just hear the wedding bells already!" Moondancer giggled softly.
"Moondancer, it's too early to think about that." Lyra admonished her friend.
"And besides," Minuette joined in, "it's up to them what they want to do or how far they wish to go with this."
"I don't know about you," Twinkleshine cut in, "but I would like to leave now before the lovebirds notice us eavesdropping on them."
Everypony else agreed and stated to walk away from the balcony.
"How far do you think they'll go?" Moondancer asked her former classmate turned princess.
"Only time will tell, Moondancer." Twilight answered her. "Only time will tell."
Unbeknownst to any of them, Sunset and Lockon knew all along that they were all watching and listening the whole time. But both ponies were enjoying their kiss too much to care about it and they just ignored their eavesdroppers.
Sunset Shimmer was the happiest pony in the world right now. She had a special somepony, she finally earned her wings and princesshood, she had made lots of friends, and she had saved the Crystal Empire, all through the Magic of Friendship. She couldn't have been happier, wondering what would happen next.
The End.