From a Shimmer to a Shine

by Infernity Zero

Dazzled

The next day, Sunset felt brave enough to return to Canterlot High. Twilight's--no that wasn't right--her friends accompanied her through the doorway. Unlike before, the school hallways were relatively peaceful. The students were simply going about their business like a normal day. A few even waved as she passed by. Had they finally grown tired of their punching bag or were they simply afraid of a reappearance from Searing?

"What do you think?" She looked at the others.

They exchanged looks with each other before Applejack shrugged. "Honestly, ah think ya shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth." It took a few seconds before the words sunk in. "Uh, no pun intended. Just enjoy the peace while it lasts."

"Point taken." Sunset put her hands in her pockets before walking to her locker. This time, there was only one note. The words were tiny, but she could just barely make them out.

Sunset Shimmer. Please come find me as soon as you read this. We need to talk. Principal Celestia.

Though her stomach pinched slightly at the message, Sunset only allowed herself the outward concern of a single sharp breath. It appeared her peace wouldn't last very long. But that was to be expected. After a second appearance from Searing, she was out of warnings. And no matter how much the girls would protest, Sunset knew it wouldn't help a second time. So all she could do, was walk silently towards the principals' office.

Thunk. Thunk.

"It's open." Came a voice from inside. The door slowly creaked open, revealing the student behind it. "Oh. Hello Sunset Shimmer. Please sit down."

Sunset obeyed, sitting down across from the elder woman's desk. "Where's vice-principal Luna?

"She's finalizing the paperwork for a new student. But that's not important right now. Did you read my note?"

She nodded.

"I'd planned on simply calling you over the loudspeaker, but you were absent for the past two days. And after everything that happened, I had my doubts as to whether you'd return."

That makes two of us.

The principal continued. "I seem to recall warning you that the only reason you weren't sent away after the Fall Formal was the intervention of Princess Twilight and her friends. Is that correct?"

"Y-yes."

"And is it also correct that a few days ago, you transformed again and endangered the school a second time?"

The word was a mere whisper. "Yes."

She stood up from her desk and walked over to Sunset. "Then bearing those facts in mind, I have just one thing to say to you."

Here it comes. Sunset closed her eyes and braced herself.

Principal Celestia leaned down so that the two could make eye contact, then put a hand on Sunset's shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

"Look, I know you're upset, and I know nothing I say will change that. But you need to know...." The sentence came to a halt as the wrong words reached her brain. "Did you just say 'I'm sorry'?"

Celestia nodded. "I did. As much as it pains me to admit this, your second transformation was partially my own fault." She put her hand in her hands. "In actuality, I was scared. Luna and I have seen many things during our tenure over the school, but nothing could have possibly prepared us for an attack from a demon. So when Princess Twilight left you in our care, my sister and I wanted to send you away just so we wouldn't have to deal with something like that again."

Sunset had to pause to digest each new word. The principal had been afraid? Of her? Inconceivable.

"But in doing so, I was unfaithful in my duty as the school's leader. More importantly, I neglected the safety and well-being of a student under my care." She paused for a brief shudder. "I knew you were being bullied by everyone and did nothing to stop them. Tell me, if I look the other way out of nothing more than fear, what kind of principal does that make me?"

Sunset had no response to that.

"I know this isn't going to mean much." She returned to eye contact. "But I hope you can forgive me."

Sunset's eyes shot down as memories of her previous time in the office stormed into her mind. "Nothing to forgive. I deserved it."

Celestia squeezed her shoulder. "No. No one deserves to be treated like that. What you did wasn't right, but neither was what we did in response. And at the end of the day, our retribution only led to another transformation and another step in an endless cycle of revenge."

Sunset took another deep breath. "Let's forgive each other, okay?"

"I'd be willing to accept that." The principal nodded. "And as of this moment, you are no longer on probation. So long as you're willing to work to repair the damage to the school, you may continue your classes unabated."

"It's a deal. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." She paused to take a look at her phone. "That was my sister. Apparently, she wanted to give the new student a tour, but had to rush in to break up a popcorn fight between Trixie and Photo Finish. So do you think you could help the student while we try to restore order? She's in the library sitting in the history section."

"Sure."

With nothing more to say, Sunset exited the office and headed to the vending machine for a well-deserved snack. Principal Celestia sat back down again and watched her leave. A supportive smile stretched across her face, and a green glow flashed in her eyes.

---

Unlike Princess Twilight, Sunset had never really given the library much thought. A bunch of musty old books could hardly compare to hands-on experimentation, and her old evil self had lacked the patience for anything but achieving Princesshood. But that being said, there was one subject that did peak her interest, and that subject was history.

Despite or perhaps because of their lack of magic and inability to control the world around them, human beings had still managed to achieve so much. And since for all intents and purpose, she was human now, she ate it all up. Without wings, they had learned how to fly and even explored their planet's moon. Wouldn't Nightmare Moon have been surprised to find two-legged creatures walking around on her heavenly prison?

How do we have spells to send a pony to the moon, but we don't have space travel?

She supposed it was because they didn't need it. In Equestria, ponies controlled everything from the weather to the passage of time. So why would they want to leave?

And yet, that didn't stop me. Or whoever it was that made the portal to begin with.

She supposed it all evened out eventually. After all, the human world didn't have random mood swings transforming people into horrifying monsters bent on taking over/destroying it. Or at least not until she'd shown up.

wonder what humans would do if they could use magic.

Her musings stopped as she reached her destination. And it appeared that the new student was just as interested in history as she was. Whoever it was was sitting at a table, sweeping her eyes over a historical figure book while several others lay scattered around her. Walking closer, Sunset cleared her throat slightly.

The stranger looked up from the book and in her direction; then took off their jacket and stood up.

"Hello there." She greeted with a warm smile. "I was told to wait for you. Are you Sunset Shimmer?"

Sunset found herself smiling back without warning. "Yes I am. Welcome to Canterlot High."

"It's really nice to meet you. My name is Adagio Dazzle."

Author's Note:

And here's where we go off rails. I admit, part of the reason, I'm making this divergence is to avoid this thing getting flagged...again.

One of the complaints of the original Shine was that certain plot points like Twilight's arrival or Aria going behind Adagio's back just sort of...happened without any buildup. The problem is that unlike a movie or tv show, you guys can't see what's happening, so between the author and the readers, information gets lost in translation. Here, I'm going to work on that to make the story more coherent.

For a while, I was stumped as to how to incorporate the Sirens without the band competition, as there didn't seem to be enough conflict in the story to fuel their rise to power. But after a period of thinking, I realized that it wasn't the venom I needed to change but the prey.

I always imagined that both Sunset and Twilight would be fascinated by humans. Both because Earth works so differently than Equestria and because humans have done so much without magic.

Rose: There's religion too, but that's another story.

Comments

[calinjc]

Adagio without Sonata or Aria?

I am very interested in where this goes.

[redandready45]

Man, this was deep. Sunset's story fascinates me because I've always been fascinated by the themes of forgiveness and repentance.

****
Now Adagio is entering the scene. I wonder how she'll react to Sunset's demon form?

[Mr-Astounding]

nicely done, but two things:
1)

They exchanged looks with each other before Applejack shrugged. "Honestly, ah think ya shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth." It took a few seconds before the words sunk in. "Uh, no pun intended. Just enjoy the peace while it lasts."
"Point taken." Sunset put her hands in her pockets before walking to her locker.

are we're going to run into unintentional horse puns throughout the story? I need to be certain since the fandom went through quite a few headaches with that "No offense" nonsense...
2)

Sunset took another deep breath. "Let's forgive each other, okay?"
"I'd be willing to accept that." The principal nodded. "And as of this moment, you are no longer on probation. So long as you're willing to work to repair the damage to the school, you may continue your classes unabated."
"It's a deal. Thank you so much."
"You're welcome." She paused to take a look at her phone. "That was my sister. Apparently, she wanted to give the new student a tour, but had to rush in to break up a popcorn fight between Trixie and Photo Finish. So do you think you could help the student while we try to restore order? She's in the library sitting in the history section."
"Sure."
With nothing more to say, Sunset exited the office and headed to the vending machine for a well-deserved snack. Principal Celestia sat back down again and watched her leave. A supportive smile stretched across her face, and a green glow flashed in her eyes.

...should I be concerned about the sincerity of Principal Celestia's apology?

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

A supportive smile stretched across her face, and a green glow flashed in her eyes.

oh crap

[Infernity Zero]

8522086

8521643
It's nice to see the old gang's still around.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

8522132
Yup, kinda ha e to reread since its been awhile

[Vigriff]

8520408
I must say this is a far better approach than what she did in RR.

[Infernity Zero]

8534092
How do you figure?

[nioniosbbbb]

I don't quite understand what you mean by flagged.

[Infernity Zero]

8836535
A while back, someone tried to report the original story for plagiarism because I spent a few chapters following the Rainbow Rocks plotline before branching off to more original work.

[DovahLord1233]

With nothing more to say, Sunset exited the office and headed to the vending machine for a well-deserved snack. Principal Celestia sat back down again and watched her leave. A supportive smile stretched across her face, and a green glow flashed in her eyes.

umm.... Dafuq?