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// The Sentencing of Sunset 
// Story: TD vs Equestria Girls 
// by BronyWriter 
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I suppose that I shouldn't have been surprised that Celestia didn't want me to have anything to do with Sunset's punishment. In fact, I found out a few minutes after my return that Blaze and Rapids had attempted to secure Sunset with hoofcuffs and a horn blocker, but Celestia vetoed that with, and I quote, "such gusto we didn't really feel like following the rule to only take orders from you."

Charming. 

As a matter of fact, I hadn't even seen Sunset since my return. I guess Celestia didn't trust me to not upset her plans, which hurt a little. Granted, I had just gotten through a couple of face punching sessions with our human counterparts, and caused a significant ruckus before that, so I guessed that I could see why. Still, we were in a relationship, so I felt like she should trust me more. 

Not that I had too much time to think about it. 

"So, how was punching yourself? How did it compare to punching my sister and her human counterpart? Did you go down easily? I always imagined that would be the case."

Sometimes I hate Luna, especially when she grins at me like she's doing now. I was so going to have her pelted with blueberries sometime very soon.

I suppose we didn't have much to do since Celestia had begun her private talk with Sunset. I mean, she even put a sound spell around the hall that both Luna and I combined would have trouble breaking. I could see it in Blaze and Rapids' eyes: they'd totally be making lewd jokes about what was happening on the other side of the door if not for the fact that I was their princess. 

Still...

"They've been in there for hours. What are they talking about?" I grumbled. 

"I frequently ask myself the same thing when I'm guarding doors for you, Princess Antares," Captain Blaze said. 

I didn't bother to dignify that with a response. Well, not a verbal response, anyway. I did have one, though, and it involved a lot of door guarding duty for both of my officers. Then maybe they'd not spread around stories of my punching. 

"Tia will inform us of what was said when she feels it is necessary," Luna said, ignoring Blaze as well. "These are old scars, Antares, for both of them. They need time to sort things out."

"I know, I know, but that doesn't make things less boring out here."

"You could use an old guard trick for boredom, Princess Antares," Rapids said much too chipperly for my liking. "I got the idea from some of Princess Celestia's guards: just count the bolts in the ceiling tiles until your shift is up!"

"That could be a good idea if it wasn't absolutely ridiculous," I snarked back.

"Yeah, it's better to count the threads in the carpet," Captain Blaze replied. 

"That's not what I mean either," I grumbled. "Just... forget it."

I sighed and leaned against the wall, not fully aware that my gaze had begun moving towards the ceiling. Not until it was too late, anyway. 

One. Two. Three. F-... no, that one's broken. Three-and-a-half. Four-and-a-half...

Wait. 

Dang it, Rapids!

I groaned and covered my head with my wings. As an alicorn, I'd gotten very good at stoicism, but I still needed to work on patience sometimes. Rapids must have figured out the reason for my frustration, as she began giggling behind her hoof. 

Before I could plan just how often she'd get latrine duty, the door to the throne room opened up, and Celestia and Sunset walked out. Sunset's eyes looked all red and puffy from crying, and even though Celestia had no such problem, I knew my marefriend well enough to see the mix of joy and pain in her eyes. It's just a slight glint in her eyes that gives away everything. Odd. She's not usually so expressive with her real emotions.

Sunset notices me and, with a whimper, leans up against Celestia, who wraps a wing around her. Gotta admit, I know that my arrest of her wasn't really... pleasant, but that hurt a little bit. I tried to be as gentle as possible with her at the end of the day. 

"Sunset and I have talked, and I have come to a decision," Celestia said as we all stood up. "Sunset will return through the portal to make amends for her actions there. In return, I have pardoned her for all of her actions taken here."

She didn't call them crimes. Very deliberate there, Celestia. 

None of us thought that we could change Celestia's mind about it, so us other princesses nodded in agreement. I could see Sunset visibly relax as a result. I guess she needed conformation from me that I wouldn't veto Celestia on it, or try to add anything. Not that I could if I wanted to. 

Celestia leaned her head down and whispered something to Sunset, who slowly nodded. A small, hopeful smile even crossed her face. In a way, I felt glad that Celestia picked this for Sunset. We didn't need more ponies in our prisons, so a rehabilitative punishment worked better for me than just tossing her in a cell for... the rest of her life, probably. 

Like I said: any other pony...

With a nudge from her wing, Celestia had Sunset walk towards the mirror. I guess she didn't want to waste any time with that. Celestia looked over to Luna and tilted her head in a nod, something that Luna returned. She followed Sunset towards the portal, leaving just Celestia, me and my dopey guards left.

"So..." I began when I was sure we were alone. "That seemed to go well enough, right?"

"Yes. Sunset told me everything that happened since she left." Celestia leaned up against me and nuzzled my shoulder. "A prison cell would be the worst thing possible for her, Antares. She has made her mistakes, but she is willing to correct them. I feel it shall take time, though. She'll need some support to make it through."

"You know, I think there was a certain group of girls over there that could help her out with that."

"Yes, she told me about the human counterparts of Twilight's friends."

I snorted and shook my head. "Not who I was talking about. Canterlot High also has human counterparts of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Sunset needs another shot at childhood."

Celestia raised an eyebrow at me, but rolled her eyes when she noticed my grin. "Indeed," she replied stiffly.

"But, I think she'll be okay," I said. "Like you said, though, it'll probably take a lot of time."

"Yes. Though there is one more matter that we need to resolve."

I tilted my head. "Oh? What's that?"

A hint of a smile crossed Celestia's lips. Somehow it made me feel uneasy. "Somepony else needs to make amends for mistakes they made on the other side of that portal."

No.

"Really? Who could that be?"

"Come now, you're smart, Antares," Celestia said, widening her smile ever so slightly. "You surely remember all of the events that took place? There are unresolved issues there."

"Hey, I paid for that house and car through legitimate means," I said, rising a hoof defensively. "I did it through the proper channels there. We can have a nice summer home."

"Guess again, Antares."

I shot Captain Blaze a glare. "Captain Blaze, what did you do?"

Celestia let out a quiet laugh and shook her head. "Warmer, but not quite."

No. 

"Ah, so this is about the 'male mind control device' stunt that Lieutenant Rapids pulled, then?"

"N--" Celestia's smile faltered for a moment, and she shot Rapids a bewildered look. Rapids returned it with a shrug.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?"

"I shall have to hear that story," Celestia muttered. "But at the same time, that's not the issue here." Her smile returned in full force, and she began nudging me in the direction of the portal. "You left on bad terms with our counterparts. We cannot afford that."

No, I don't want to do that, I thought to myself.

"No, I don't want to do that," I said to Celestia. 

"Come now, Antares, you are a princess of Equestria." I dug my hooves into the floor, refusing to be pushed any further. Celestia responded by abandoning all pretense and merely picking me up with her magic. "When princesses make mistakes, they atone for them."

"Celestia, I swear," I growled, doing my best to cancel her magic. No luck there. "If I step foot on that campus I'm going to be arrested. It's not going to work."

"Oh, I'm sure we can think of something, Antares. After all, Equestria can't afford to lose you to something as silly as being arrested for assault." 

"So we are above the law, then?"

"No, no, we're just smart enough to find ways to dodge it and twist it when it suits our needs," Celestia responded chipperly. I couldn't help but notice that Blaze and Rapids weren't even trying to hide their smiles as they followed us to the portal. 

"I'm going to say no the next time you ask me to join you in your room unless you stop," I said through gritted teeth. 

"Oh good, then maybe I can finally get some sleep," Lieutenant Rapids said, making a show of wiping her brow in relief. 

"I will end you," I growled. 

"You're acting like a little filly, Antares," Celestia said as we entered the room with the portal. The room that still had Luna in it. Her face twisted into a Cheshire Cat grin very quickly at the sight of Celestia carrying me around. 

"Come now, Antares, this will only take a short time, then we can come back to Equestria and Luna and I will console you after the trauma of apologizing to the people you punched."

"We'll help if you want, Princess Antares," Captain Blaze said with the tone and expression befitting of a royal guard. "It would be our honor to listen while you talk about your feelings."

"You're playing with fire, Blaze!" I roared. 

"How do you think I got my cutie mark, Princess Antares?"

Before I could respond to that, my surroundings went all LSD on me, signifying that Celestia had shoved me through the portal. Guess I couldn't do anything about it now. 

I landed on the ground underneath the statue on the campus of Canterlot High, and opened my eyes to see Celestia, now a human herself, standing next to me. I groaned and got to my feet. 

"I could still run back through the portal," I muttered. "I don't want to do this."

"You're a better pony than that, Antares," Celestia said. "Besides..." She grinned and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "I can do this all day."

I sighed, but realized that Celestia really had no intention of letting me get out of this. I shook her arm off of me and began walking towards the school. Frankly I have no idea if this world's Celestia and Antares are still at the school. We were gone for a few hours. I'm surprised no cops had been called to campus, honestly. If they had, I couldn't see any cop cars. 

I entered the school with Celestia in tow and went straight for the principal's office. Even as I drew near, I could hear the other Celestia's voice, with the voice of my counterpart cutting in every now and again. They didn't sound happy. 

Nothing else for it, really.

I opened the door to the office the moment I reached it, and saw Principal Celestia pacing around the room, with Sunset and Mr. Antares sitting on the chairs in front of her desk. Both Celestia and Antares held ice packs to their heads. 

"A talking pony world," the other Celestia said. "You say you were born and raised in a land of magical talking ponies."

Sunset nodded meekly. "Yes, Principal Celestia. I... I made some mistakes there, and I hid here. But I just make new mistakes during my time at your school, so I'm here to atone for them."

"And your kidnappers just let you go?" Antares asked, adjusting his ice pack on his face. 

"I prefer the term 'arresting princess'," I said, cutting into their talk, "but yes, we decided that Sunset's time would be better served here than in an Equestrian prison."

Ah, the looks on their face when they saw me. Priceless. Shock, horror, and rage do go together so well. Of course, shock, horror, and bewilderment go together even better. The latter aptly describes the expressions of our counterparts when the Equestrian Celestia walked in, smiling that serene smile of hers. I knew her well enough to guess that she knew darn well what kind of reaction she'd get from just walking in. 

"Good afternoon to you two," she said. "I must apologize if I startled you, but Antares didn't feel that you would listen to him if he came alone."

"Uh..." Mr. Antares blinked. "When did I say that?"

"Not you, me," I said, pointing to myself. "My name is Antares. We talked about this, remember?"

"So..." the other Celestia brought a hand up to her temple. "Everything Sunset has been saying..."

"Is true," Celestia said with a nod. "For reasons unknown to me, your school statue hosts a portal to an alternate dimension that opens for a few days every few years. On the other side is a land called Equestria, inhabited by, as you put it, magical talking ponies."

"I see..." Antares looked over to me. "And... so you're my double over there? You're from Equestria too?"

I chuckled and shook my head. "No, no, I wasn't born there. It's an adopted country for me. You've probably been teaching at this school for longer than I've been ruling Equestria." I inclined my head to Celestia. "Well, co-ruling with her and our world's Luna. I'm from an entirely different dimension, one where all of you are fictional."

"Okay, okay, stop, stop!" Antares said, putting his hand out and adjusting his ice pack. "My head hurts a little too much for all of that."

"Yes, and that is why we are here. Princess Antares has something to say to you." 

I didn't want to have anything to say, but Celestia nudged me until I stepped forward. 

"Principal Celestia, Mr. Antares..." I lowered my head and kicked at the ground like a colt caught with his hoof in the cookie jar. Grumpy expression and all. "I'm sorry for punching you in the face. I should have thought of a better way to handle the situation."

"I can't help but agree," the other Celestia said, a glare of her own on her face. 

"In my dimension, I'm an immortal, nearly all-powerful god who can move the sun and moon. I'm used to punching things a touch more resilient."

Mr. Antares raised an eyebrow and glanced knowingly at my Celestia, something neither of us missed. 

"All that to say, Princess Antares wishes to make amends for his behavior while at your school," Celestia said. "I assure you that he meant no harm. The crown was a magical artifact vital do the defense of our nation, something that Ms. Shimmer will confirm."

"If you didn't look exactly like me, I'd call you a lunatic," Principal Celestia said. "However, after everything that I've seen lately..." Principal Celestia sighed and put her ice pack down. "I feel I must take your word for most of this. It's far better than trying to sort it out on my own." She waved a hand. "Very well, I won't have you arrested for assault." Her glare returned. "But I'd still rather you leave the school premises."

"Fair enough," I said. 

"Still, though, if that statue wasn't a portal to an alternate dimension, I might take a sledgehammer to it," Mr. Antares said.

I shrugged. "Probably best you don't. Who knows? You might need someone on my end to hop on over here at some point."

Mr. Antares looked up at me, his expression blank, before looking at Principal Celestia. 

"Where's my sledgehammer?"

END OF PART ONE