//------------------------------// // Sunset Shimmer // Story: Shine Like Infinity // by Phil Srobeighn //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer was getting used to having friends. After the second public appearance of the Magic of Friendship in a visible rainbow to cancel the effects of a villain attempting to brainwash the student body, Canterlot High School students were fully aware of the fact that the Rainbooms had saved their collective posterior, and were grateful. There was no question now, not with Sunset being at the center of the latest occurrence, that the former target of said power was now one of its wielders; a fact which had the double benefit of earning students’ gratitude and solidifying Sunset’s standing in their hearts as a reformed. Recognizing the importance of proper gratitude, Sunset had sent Twilight Sparkle a quick, simple thank you message through her journal. It was not answered within the day, so Sunset figured that it had delivered the intended message, and was content to leave her new friend to her regal duties. On the second day afterward, though, Sunset was surprised to find the book buzzing during lunch. Excusing herself from the Rainbooms’ table, she opened the book to find a wholly unexpected response: ~Dear Sunset Shimmer, I have received your note, and while I am honored by your thanks, I too believe in giving thanks where it is due. You and I share the same past, and I know that you know my ability to spread friendship is not of my own doing. Perhaps~ The studious Princess was in the process of writing the note, and was writing carefully, so by the time Sunset got to this word, it was the last full word on the page. As the next words were being formed, Sunset felt like her stomach was suddenly made of stone and was sinking to crush her from the abdomen down. ~it would be better~ Sunset bit her lip and begged silently in her thoughts, Please, Twilight, Please don’t ask it of me… ~to express your~ I owe it to you, but I’m not ready… ~thanks to~ I don’t think I’ll ever be… ~Princess Ce~ Sunset closed the book shut quickly. She did not want to read anymore. She knew what the rest of the note would say. It did not take two days to respond to a note just for modesty and an offhand reminder of a shared tutelage. The Princess of Friendship had seen a friendship problem, and had decided to fix it. No doubt she had set up an audience, wanted to take Sunset to Canterlot, wanted to take her to… …there. The throneroom. The throne. Her throne. Where She would be sitting. She would smile, and She would cry, and She would forgive, because She was perfect and… “Darling, are you okay?” Rarity interrupted Sunset’s thoughts. “Yeah!” Sunset faked. “Great! Why?” Applejack shook her head. “Hon’, your magic book buzzed, you came over here, opened it, turned white as a sheet, slammed it shut, and now you’re tearing up.” Sunset wiped her eyes. “It’s nothing, really. No problems. Everything’s fine.” Rainbow Dash leaned down. “No offense, but I know you’re still new to whole ‘having friends’ thing, so I’ll let you in on a secret: we’re here for you. Tell us what’s up.” Sunset started shedding tears, and Fluttershy moved in front of her to wipe her eyes and hide her from the other students nearby. Sunset opened her book slowly. “I was getting a message from Twilight, and I think…” She reached the page she had been at before. The words she expected had filled it. “Yes, it’s certain. She wants me to come back to Equestria.” “What!?!” screamed Pinkie Pie. “She can’t have you!” “It’s just for a visit,” Sunset comforted. “Twilight wants me to… to see Princess Celestia.” “She’s the big boss over there, I take it?” asked Rainbow Dash. “She’s the main ruler, but more importantly, she was my teacher. It’s a bigger thing than a school teacher, though, she was a direct mentor… and…” She buried her head a little into her jacket. “My parents and I weren’t close, and raising a foal was clearly not their priority. When the Princess took me in, I had nothing, and she gave me everything…” She looked up, catching Fluttershy’s eyes first, and was strengthened a little by their kindness. “How do I go back? How do I go to see the pony that practically gave me my life, my talent, everything I am, after I turned my back on her, told her I should rule over her, and abandoned her to turn into what I was my first years here?” The girls looked at her with love and compassion. “You just have to go through portal, silly!” The girls looked at Pinkie Pie with shock and curiosity. Rarity started in slowly, “…I don’t think that’s what she means.” Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Well, duh, but it’s still the answer. I mean, this Princessipal Celestia wants to see you, right?” Sunset looked down at the journal. “It seems so.” “And she knows you want to be better, right?” Pinkie continued. “I’m sure Twilight has said as much.” “And she’s going to forgive you, because she’s a perfect pony princess and she’s got her co-ruler and trusted student right there speaking on your behalf, right?” “That pretty much sums it up.” “What’s the problem, then?” “I… I guess I just don’t feel I deserve her forgiveness, so I can’t see why she’d forgive me. That if I step over into that world, that I’ll have misread Twilight’s intentions, or Twilight’s will have misread Celestia’s intentions, and I’ll just be cast aside and have to spend forever knowing that I came reaching out to her again, but that I never was good enough.” Fluttershy gave Sunset a sympathetic smile. “That doesn’t sound like the Twilight we know, nor anything like a good princess, especially one who is like Principal Celestia is to us.” Applejack nodded in agreement. “And even if your worst fears are true, you have to face them eventually. So go, now is the time they are calling you, and go trusting that they’re waiting for you with open arms… or whatever ponies have.” Sunset looked around at the loving faces of her friends and smiled. “No matter what happens,” she said, “I’m happy to have you all.” Rainbow Dash nudged her with her pen. She nodded, slowly but happily, and wrote a single word in response: “When?” It did not seem long at all, though it was a day and a half before a proper weekend evening found the portal clear enough for Twilight and Sunset to agree that it was time. There was a small vibration in the seemingly solid stone, which Sunset recognized as her cue. “I’m not ready, I never will be,” she said to herself, “but it is time. Here I go.” Strecthed, swrilled and put back together yet again, Sunset went quickly though a brief mental checklist: stand on all fours, yes you are furry, yes you are naked, yes you can feel magic through your horn again, yes your senses are oriented more towards smell and hearing. She was composed by the time she was hugged. “Welcome back!” Twilight Sparkle greeted cheerfully. “Hi, Twilight. Thanks for having me.” “Are you okay?” “Fine!” Sunset jumped. “Why?” “You seem to be looking around for… oh, no, Princess Celestia isn’t here. We have an audience set up for tomorrow morning.” Sunset eased up so quickly and so much that Twilight giggled. “Nervous?” she half-teased. “This is serious, Sparkle!” Sunset chided, though obviously relaxed. “I’ve not been back here on good terms since the day I left.” “Well, you’re on good terms now,” Twilight confirmed. “Just take it easy. You have the night to compose yourself and be ready for the morning.” The alicorn turned away, but noticed her guest was ignoring her unspoken request to follow. “What’s wrong?” she asked. Sunset looked at her hooves. “She’s going to forgive me, right?” Twilight embraced her friend. “I wouldn’t have brought you here if she wasn’t.” The two shared a smile. “Now come on, is there a pony food you’ve missed?” “Yeah, nachos. They’re just not the same with the chips humans use.” “Glad I didn’t bother trying any. Well, Spike makes the best nachos in Equestria, and is always excited to make them.” “Except when you have me make enough for a school and our guests all leave!” shouted a young drakes’ voice from around a corner. “Oh, and hi Sunset!” “Hi Spike!” she called back earnestly. “Wow, I can’t wait to see this. I only briefly caught a glance of Spike when I was around last time, I’ve wondered just what he’s like when he’s a dragon.” The rest of the night was spent in friendly conversation and mountains of nachos. Twilight offered to introduce Sunset to her friends, but Sunset politely declined, citing that such a meeting would take even more mental preparation. They retired to separate rooms, Sunset taking ink and paper to try to write out some thoughts before the meeting the next day. The next day, unadorned and nervous, Sunset waited outside the gilded doors of Canterlot Castle’s throne room, alone but for the ever-present guards. After a brief sky carriage trip (Sunset had forgotten how awesome sky carriages were) and short wait, Twilight had gone in for a few moments to greet and prepare the Princess properly. It seemed like forever, and Sunset was terrified about what discussion was occurring behind those doors. Finally, there was a brief glow in the left door’s guard’s horn, and he said, “The princess will see you now.” The door was opened, and simultaneously, four ponies caught their breaths: two dark alicorns on either side of the center in anticipation of what would happen between the other two, and those, the white alicorn and the golden unicorn, at the sight of each other after so long. Though the room was empty other than the four, Twilight Sparkle took her duties formally. As the door closed, she announced “Princess Celestia, may I present to you my friend, Sunset Shimmer.” Sunset, also formal, kneeled. Princes Celestia watched her former student shake slightly from nerves. “Sunset Shimmer,” she stated, herself steeling her own nerves in the formality, “I can see you are nervous. Let me thus make this quick.” she took a deep breath, then proclaimed: “Well done, my good and faithful student. My fellow princess, Twilight Sparkle, has informed me you have aided her in defeating a foe of both our worlds through your friendship. Because of your faithfulness, you have shown yourself to have come to understand the Magic of Friendship. All accounts and actions otherwise shall be forgotten, cast out as far as my sun travels in its circuit. You are welcome fully into my court, as in your days in my school.” They were the words Sunset had expected, yet she was still overwhelmed. Knowing full well what the last sentence meant, she ascended the throne and embraced her teacher, weeping. Princess Celestia wrapped her wings around her little pony and also shed tears of joy at her return. “I’m so sorry,” Sunset finally managed. “Forgotten as far as the sun travels,” Celestia confirmed, “and that is very long indeed.” Their embrace lasted, then finally, when the tears were done, and joy was full again, Princess Celestia cleared her throat and said, “Now, I believe Twilight told me you had prepared some remarks?” “Yes,” Sunset confirmed, and took a few steps back off the dais. Her mind focused on the notes that she had written the previous evening. “Once upon a time,” she started with a smile (how many stories had she been read in this very room, most of which started just like that), “we started something wonderful. Princess, when you met me first I was a lost and confused filly,” Sunset admitted. “No offense to you, majesty,” she bowed slightly to Luna, “but at that time your great sister made the night.” She turned and addressed Celestia again. “To a lost and confused soul like me, you were the awe-inspiring ruler who came into my world and made the stars align.” Her lips quivered. “And I’m sorry I couldn’t hold on to that awe in our darkest hour.” Not wanting to make Celestia feel a need to repeat her forgiveness, Sunset quickly continued. “Now, I can see the signs of what my studies under you were about. You had picked me up from the refuse, when I was down the lowest I had ever been, and offered to teach me magic. I accepted, feeling it was an offer to let me shine. Now, I realize that you had meant for me to shine, not in my own glory, but in friendship. “I have reviewed your lessons in my mind over and over since Twilight’s first trip to the human world. Using what you have taught me, I now have friends in my life. I had used people to my ends, but now, I have real friends, friends who can count on me to be by their side. “I joined a rock band.” Sunset smirked, and Princess Celestia giggled. “I did! We’re the Rainbooms. I don’t know how that term made it over into that side’s Rainbow Dash’s head, but there it is.” The three princess were now chuckling openly at the twist. “So here I am, a former top-tier magical unicorn with a practical goddess as a tutor, and I’m playing guitar in a high school band. “It’s perfect, really. It’s something you would love. Our music comes to life. We sing our songs, and we are touched by our friendship, and the magic of the Elements of Harmony is within us. We are lifted up, given pony ears and tails, a few girls get pegasus wings, and we rock. The song in our hearts reaches a crescendo, we are empowered by friendship, and just as you could see all those years ago, we shine. “We were faced with the Sirens, and even then, when it was darkest, as if it was a rainstorm, the light of friendship ignited in our hearts, and we stood together, glowing. With the power of our friendship, we defeated the Sirens, and took away their power. Now, I can return with my head held high, not because of the power of my magic, but because the magic of my friendship. As the dark rain began to fall, the clouds were dispelled. The Sun shined through it all.” Twilight smiled softly. Luna nodded a regal approval. Celestia wiped a few tears from her eyes. “I am very proud. When Starswirl the Bearded banished the Sirens, he thought their power could not be removed while keeping them alive. The Magic of Friendship has sustained them, though. It is because of this that I am asking that you return to that world. You are no longer a student of magic, but I believe you could do a great work as a student of friendship. Your assignment will be to try to show the Sirens the light of friendship, just as you have come to see it.” Sunset stepped back. “A friendship mission? I… Princess, I am honored, but I have only started to learn…” “I am sure,” Celestia said with a knowing smile, “that you can find an excellent tutor.” Sunset and Twilight blushed together. The rest of the day went smoothly. Sunset met Luna, and shared stories much to the embarrassment of her sister. They took lunch together in the gardens, and Sunset got to breathe deeply of the magic in the air surrounding Mount Canterlot. It ended too soon, Sunset needing to return outside the eyes of the student body. There were no more tears, only sweet embraces and promises to return and stay in touch. As Twilight made her final preparations to reopen the portal that evening, she noticed Sunset gathering the notes she had made. “Funny,” the purple princess commented, “if I’d have made notes like that, I probably would have taken them with me.” Sunset held up the parchment. “It’s not quite notes on what to say in court.” Twilight scanned it. “It’s a song!” she exclaimed in recognition. “‘Shine Like Rainbows.’” She hummed a few bars, and sang “Shine like rainbows” a few times to get the music. “Sunset, this is lovely!” Sunset rubbed her foreleg shyly. “Sometimes I have an easier time expressing myself in poetry. I thought if I wrote how I felt that way, it would be easier to speak my heart in front of the Princess.” She brought the notes back closer to herself. “I realized that I’m in a band now, so I thought I’d put some music down to it.” “You did well,” Twilight gushed. “Gee, I wish I could get a song.” “Actually…” Sunset smiled, and produced another paper. “I kind of wanted to thank you for saving me from what I had become. For seeing my potential when I couldn’t see how friendship made you special. For having the strength to overcome the division I had sewn in the hearts of everyone back in CHS. So I wrote this one for you.” Twilight smiled as she took the paper. “Thank you, Sunset. I hope I can hear you and the girls play it soon. What’s it called?” Sunset Shimmer stepped forward and embraced the Princess of Friendship. “It’s called ‘A Friend For Life.’”