As Sunset and Twilight came into view of Twilight's castle, Sunset looked to the sky to see if she could see the chariot.
"So how long do you think it will take before your chariot arrives?" Sunset asked, still looking upwards.
"Any minute now." Twilight said as they reached the front door to the castle.
Sunset then saw the chariot being pulled by the Solar Guards as it came into view.
"Hey, there it is now." Sunset said, pointing towards the chariot as it came to rest on the landing platform.
Once the chariot landed, Twilight and Sunset both climbed in. As the guard began to pull the chariot back into the sky, Sunset sat there and wondered what she was going to say when she saw the princesses. What would she say to Princess Luna now that she was her student, and how would she apologize to Princess Celestia for leaving and abandoning her teachings?
"Sunset, are you still nervous?" Twilight asked, looking at her friend.
"Yeah." Sunset admitted, "I just don't know how to apologize to Princess Celestia, or what to do about Princess Luna."
"Well, I'm not sure about Princess Luna, but I do know that Princess Celestia is really looking forward to seeing you again. So any type of apology you make will be good enough, as long as it’s sincere." Twilight said with a smile.
"Yeah, I guess you’re right." Sunset said, though she was still a little nervous.
The ride to Canterlot was fairly quick, with Twilight making small talk to help ease Sunset’s nerves.
"I never thought I'd ever be back here again." Sunset said to herself as she stepped out of the chariot.
"Princess Celestia should be in the throne room, while Princess Luna is probably in her chambers." Twilight said, coming up next to Sunset, "So, who do you want to go see first?"
"I-I don't know, I thought they would both be in the same room." Sunset said, thinking about who she would go to first.
"We could just wait for Luna to meet us in the throne room." Twilight offered as they entered the Palace.
Sunset thought about that. I could just wait for Princess Luna to show up, but I also need to apologize to Princess Celestia.
"No, I think I'll talk to Princess Celestia first. She deserves an apology from me." Sunset said, coming into the main hall.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Twilight asked out of habit and concern for Sunset.
"No, I think I can handle this." Sunset said as she came to the large double door that led into the throne room.
"Okay, I'll go let Princess Luna know you're here then." Twilight said as she trotted off towards Luna's chamber.
Taking a deep breath, Sunset pushed open the large doors and peered inside to see the large white alicorn sitting on her throne. Sunset slowly trotted in, keeping her head low until she came just close enough to her former mentor that she could speak.
"Sunset Shimmer, I'm glad to see you again. How have you been?" Celestia asked in her smooth, elegant voice, her ethereal mane flowing in an invisible breeze.
Celestia’s voice somehow managed to calm Sunset’s nerves, enough for her to look Celestia in the eye.
I wonder when Twilight’s mane will become ethereal? Sunset asked herself thinking about the younger Princess before answering Celestia.
"I've been better." Sunset said, fidgeting and avoiding eye contact.
"So I've heard." Celestia said as she got up from her throne and walked towards Sunset.
"Celestia, I'm sorry for running away like I did, I was just so upset and frustrated that-" Sunset said as she began to shed tears.
"It's ok." Celestia said, putting one of her wings over the teary mare and pulling her into an embrace, "I'm just happy to see that you're alright and that you have changed your ways."
"B-but I did so many horrible things. I even broke into your Palace and stole Twilight's crown!" Sunset said as she was held close by Celestia.
"We all do things that we regret, but what matter is that you learn from your mistake." Celestia said trying to calm Sunset down.
Once Sunset had calmed down from her teary moment, Celestia removed her wing from Sunset as she took a step back.
"But Sunset, what you have done was a serious offence against both me and Twilight, so I am required to give you some form of punishment to ensure that this doesn’t happen again." Celestia said, sitting down in front of Sunset.
"O-of course there would be." Sunset said under her breath. Sunet knew in the back of her mind that she might have to face some kind of punishment for what she did.
"As punishment, you are to visit me once a day for a month, and help me around the Palace or any visit I may go on. Is that understood?" Celestia said, giving Sunset a warm smile.
Sunset was taken aback by the punishment that was placed on her. Sunset knew this wasn't a punishment, but an excuse for her to visit Celestia for a month.
"I-I understand.” Sunset said with a small smile.
"Good. Now, Sunset, tell me everything that happened from the time that you left until now." Celestia said as she sat next to Sunset.
"Didn't Twilight tell you everything?" Sunset asked, not wanting to talk about the past.
"She did, and I don't doubt what Twilight said, but I want to hear it from you. There's always two sides to the same story." Celestia said. It seemed she wasn't taking no for an answer.
Sunset sat there and thought about it. Sunset didn't want to relive her past, but Celestia already knew what she had done from Twilight’s point of view.
"Okay." Sunset said reluctantly.
Sunset retold how she found the mirror, what happened when she went through it, and how the mirror closed behind her. How she wandered the night alone before she learned how to use her magic again. How she used her magic to run a family out of their home, earning a disappointed look from Celestia. How she used her magic to rule over the students through fear. How she had checked the mirror countless times to see if it had opened again.
"And once the mirror was finally open and I could go through it, my only thought was that I could rule that world if I had enough power. That’s when I came across Twilight’s crown and the power that drifted off of it, and the rest is what Twilight told you." Sunset said, not looking at Celestia.
Celestia gave Sunset a disappointed look, as she went over everything her former student told her.
"What about the Sirens? Twilight told me and my sister that you helped defeat them." Celestia asked.
That put a small smile on Sunset’s face as she retold the more recent event.
"I would have loved to been there, to witness all of you come together." Celestia said, "I would have especially loved to see what you all looked like with that alicorn that you all summoned."
It then occurred to Sunset that she had a couple of photos on her phone from the event.
"I just remembered, I have a couple of photos on my smartphone from that event." Sunset said, going into her saddlebag to retrieve her phone.
"Smartphone?" Celestia asked.
"It’s one of the devices I used back in the human world." Sunset answered, taking her phone out with her magic and laying it on the floor in front of her.
Celestia eyed the strange device while Sunset turned on her phone. Just then, Princess Luna came into the throne room with Twilight following behind her.
"Hello sister." Luna greeted Celestia, as she and Twilight came over.
"Hello Luna, Twilight." Celestia said warmly.
Sunset looked back to see Twilight and the slightly larger alicorn come into the room. Princess Luna had light-blue eyes and a dark-blue coat, with a matching dark-blue mane that glistened like it had stars within it. She also had a cutie mark of a white crescent moon surrounded by the night stars.
Princess Luna cantered over to Celestia and Sunset.
"And I believe you to be Sunset Shimmer." The Princess of the Night said.
All Sunset could do was nod. She had been around Luna’s human counterpart before, but this was her first time seeing Princess Luna herself.
"What are you doing, Sunset?" Twilight asked, coming around to see Sunset holding her phone in her hoof.
"I was going to show Princess Celestia some photos from the Battle of the Bands." Sunset answered, going back to her phone.
"You were? Why do you have photos from that? Twilight asked curiously.
"It was the first time I truly felt connected to everyone," Sunset said, "And I wanted something to remember it by." Sunset said in a lower voice.
Twilight and Luna came over and sat down as they watched Sunset struggle with her phone.
"This might be harder than I thought." Sunset said, as she put one hoof on the screen and tried to swipe it.
After a few seconds of fooling around with the phone, Sunset managed to access her photos and bring up the picture of her and the girls in their anthro form.
"Here we go.” Sunset said, raising her phone with her magic.
"Do you mind if I see that?" Celestia asked.
"Not at all." Sunset said, confused.
Celestia picked up the phone in her magic, then cast an illusion spell on it and projected the larger image on the wall so that she, Luna, Twilight, and Sunset could see it better. Celestia and Luna stared at the image as they studied the human form of Twilight, Sunset, and all their friends.
"Sunset, you wouldn't happen to also have a photo of that giant alicorn that Twilight mentioned, would you?" Celestia asked, still staring at the image.
"I think so." Sunset said, taking the phone from Celestia’s magical grasp.
Sunset went through her photos and found a picture of the alicorn. Sunset then gave her phone back to Celestia, who projected the image for everypony else to see. After Celestia and Luna had a good look at the image, Celestia gave Sunset back her phone.
"I must say, this is very interesting." Celestia said as she turned around to face her sister.
"Interesting indeed, sister." Luna agreed.
Celestia turned back to Sunset, who had put her phone away.
"Well, I'm sure you and Luna have something to talk about." Celestia said, indicating that Sunset should go speak with Luna.
"Y-yeah." Sunset answered, looking at the Night Princess.
Luna then looked over to Sunset and motioned for her to follow. Sunset trotted over to Luna before looking back to see that Twilight and
Celestia were discussing something out of earshot. With Sunset’s nerves on high, she followed tentatively alongside Luna.
"If you don't mind me asking, where are we going?" Sunset asked, looking around the corridor as they walked.
"We are heading to my chambers, as a discussion like this would best be done in private." Luna answered back.
Something about how Luna said that off put Sunset, but she dismissed it, believing her nervousness was just messing with her again. At the end of the hall they came to two large, dark-blue doors, each bearing emblem matching Luna’s cutie mark. Luna used her magic to open the door and let Sunset through.
"Whoa." Sunset said as she entered the dark chamber.
The chamber wasn't as dark as Sunset thought it would be. The chamber was lit only by small orbs that looked like stars against the ceiling, giving the illusion of nighttime. Yet the room appeared to be brighter than she imagined, and Sunset was in awe at the room as she looked around.
"Now Sunset, let us ask you the question from our own mouth." Luna said as she sat down, "How would you like to take up the chance to be a student under me?"