//------------------------------// // Bonus Prompt-Unforgiven // Story: Ponywatching // by ThunderTempest //------------------------------// It felt both familiar and wholly unnatural to have hooves again. The last time she had been back in Equestria, Sunset Shimmer had only been there for just long enough to steal the Element of Magic, so taking the time to contemplate the feeling of walking on four legs as opposed to two was out of the question. Unfortunately, this time there was no such high-action chase nor immediate task that she needed to do that could take her mind from how wrong and how right it felt to have hooves, a tail and her horn back. No, this time, Sunset was seated on a cushion in a somewhat luxurious, but still simple room in one of the rooms of Canterlot Castle. Across from her sat Princess Celestia, who was almost pointedly not looking at Sunset, just as Sunset was not looking at Celestia. Unfortunately, Twilight Sparkle had locked the two of them in the room because she thought that the two needed to reconcile. Sunset had begun to curse the newest princess with all the mental vitriol that she could manage. She had run out of both curses and hate twelve minutes ago, and so finally had time for her mind to eventually wander onto the topic of her old body, along with a whole host of other topics that she normally didn’t think about. Just as Sunset was about to start her fifth mental plan to get revenge on Twilight for putting her in a room with Celestia, Celestia spoke. “I...am sorry, my faith...Sunset Shimmer,” began Celestia, “I should have been more attentive to you. I should have concentrated on teaching you properly. I could offer you reasons why I didn’t teach you, but we both know that they would simply be excuses. The fact of the matter is, I wronged you, and I did not intend to.” “Yes,” replied Sunset, “You did wrong me.” For the first time in the last hour, Celestia looked directly at Sunset as she spoke. “Perhaps it would not have mattered,” said Celestia, “you were always ambitious, even before I took you as my student. Had I taught you properly, would you have still run to the mirror world? Would you have still chafed against my teachings? Truth be told, Sunset, your abilities were never really in question for me. Yours is a talent that does not come along often.” “Then why?” asked Sunset, “Why keep me from the more advanced spells? Why keep me in the dark about Nightmare Moon, and the Elements of Harmony?” “Because, Sunset, I was not sure that you were the one to help my sister,” said Celestia, “but at the same time, I did not see another suitable candidate until a year after you left, a candidate in Twilight Sparkle. So I made preparations, just in case that you were the one to cure my sister of the Spirit of Nightmare.” “Don’t talk about me like I’m some pawn, Celestia,” growled Sunset, “I’m not your chess piece anymore.” “No, you aren’t,” agreed Celestia, “You’ve started your own little board in the mirror world, from what Twilight has told me. You may not believe me, but I am proud of you, faith...Sunset Shimmer.” Sunset turned away from Celestia, to hide her expression. “I guess I’m sorry too,” said Sunset, “I was a bit of an impatient, insufferable pony at the time, and you probably didn’t deserve some of what I gave you, and I’m grateful for all the lessons, but I don’t think I’ll ever forgive you for what you did. I didn’t make a wrong decision when I dived through the portal, but there it is.” Celestia nodded silently, and the two fell back into silence. There was a soft click, and Sunset guessed that the door had unlocked, and she made to leave. “Sunset,” said Celestia, “I never took your portrait down from the Hall of Learning. You can take it, if you want. It’s the last record that you were ever my student.” Sunset paused for a minute. “No thanks,” she said at length, “It can stay there. Keep it as a reminder of the time you failed to teach.” And with that, Sunset vanished in a burst of blue sparkles, teleporting back to the room the mirror was in before its portal closed. Twilight entered the room several minutes later, to find Celestia sitting there, staring at an already cold cup of tea. “Some things, Twilight, are not meant to be forgiven,” said Celestia, anticipating Twilight’s eventual question. “Some things, you don’t want to forgive out of sheer principle. And some things, you do not want the other party to forgive.”