Sunset Shimmer never really missed her home back in Canterlot. But now, she is, and is ready to go back home.
It has been 6 years since Sunset Shimmer has lived in the world of ponies and magic. After these 6 long years, she is ready to go home. But is she ready to face the one that she had been so mean to only 6 year prior?
It had been six years since Sunset Shimmer passed through the portal into the human world of Equestria.
It had been six years since Sunset Shimmer saw, or even talked to Princess Celestia.
Six years since Sunset Shimmer abandoned her studies.
Sunset looked at the calendar hanging up on her bedroom wall. She and the rest of the human 5 had graduated two years prior, and had set off to achieve their dreams.
Sunset had decided to stay in Canterlot, on the off chance that Princess Twilight decided to pass through the portal again or if she herself wanted to go back to Equestria.
The fire-haired girl had never wanted to go back to Equestria. Until a few days ago. She never really missed Equestria’s Canterlot. She hadn’t made friends there, she was only there to study magic under Princess Celestia. Sunset wasn’t even born in Canterlot. Manehatten was her true home.
Sunset looked around her near empty apartment. She wasn’t a huge fan of possessions, so her apartment was desolate. She walked out of her room and sat in the living room, with six pieces of paper, six envelopes, and one pen. She began writing.
Dear Fluttershy,
Thank you for letting be a part of your amazing group. Without you, and the rest of our friends, I would not have learned what magic friendship can actually hold. I would have kept terrorising the humans in our school. But you five showed me something that I hadn’t experienced. Friendship. So I thank you for that, Fluttershy.
I am writing to tell you that I am going back to my home - Equestria. I miss it dearly, and want to become a student under Princess Celestia once more. I no longer care if I will become a Princess in that world or not, I just want to learn magic again.
It has been six long years since I have spent any considerable amount of time back home.
I promise I will come back to visit this world very often.
So thank you, Fluttershy. For everything that you have done for me.
Love,
Sunset Shimmer
Dated: August 21, 2015.
Sunset repeated this letter a couple more times, and sealed them in their respective envelopes. She turned the light off in her apartment and walked downstairs to the lobby.
“How may I help you, Sunset?” the clerk at the front desk asked sweetly.
“Hey, Berry Punch. I was wondering if you could send these letters out for me?” Sunset asked, handing the woman the envelopes.
Berry Punch grabbed them and put them in a bin beneath the desk. “Of course. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Yes, actually. Can you take my name off of my apartment? I’m moving,” Sunset responded.
Berry Punch nodded and pulled up Sunset’s apartment number on the computer. “Where are you moving to, if I may ask?” Berry asked as she filled in the things needed.
“Back home. I haven’t been there in a few years, and I think it’s time that I return,” Sunset mentioned. “I’m sure my family is missing me.”
“Well, have fun! Okay, your name is no longer on the apartment. I hope you have a marvelous day!” Berry Punch beamed.
“And to you,” Sunset responded, turning on her heel and walking out the door.
It was only a 45 minute walk to Canterlot High School. Sunset Shimmer took all the time she needed, stopping to take last looks at everything she passed. She wasn’t quite sure when she would return, or if she would return at all. She knew she told her friends she would return, but if she was accepted as Princess Celestia’s apprentice again, she may not have time to visit very often.
As Sunset approached the portal to get back to her home, she looked back at the high school that she had destroyed only a few years prior. Memories flooded back to her as she remembered the hell that she put the students of Canterlot High through.
However, she was also greeted with the memories of graduating the top of her class. Even though the first two years that she was at the school entailed her bullying students into submission, she took her studies very seriously. Graduating as valedictorian granted her the happiness that she desired so much.
She remembered being welcomed into the amazing group of Twilight’s friends. She never imagined she would ever be able to make friends, no matter where she went.
Sunset turned around and looked at the statue where the portal was held. She reached out a hand and touched the portal, not surprised by the lack of solidity of the wall.
“Going back?” a voice said.
Sunset Shimmer quickly turned around. “Princess- er - Principal Celestia!” she exclaimed.
“Do not worry, Sunset. I’m not here to yell at you for being on school grounds,” Celestia chuckled.
Senior year, Sunset told Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna everything. They were tempted to not believe her, but after the fiasco at the Fall Formal, they believed her story.
“I just really miss home. I miss Princess Celestia. I miss being her student and learning all I can about magic. The magic in this world makes no sense. I couldn’t prove why my friends would suddenly change form when they would play music, and that was so frustrating to me,” Sunset explained.
“I was never one to not understand something. It would always make sense to me. Granted, I had access to a huge library and magic. Here, I don’t have the resources I had back home.”
Principal Celestia walked forward and laid a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “You need to do what you think is right. Who knows, maybe back home, you will learn some things about the magic in this world,” Celestia calmly said.
Sunset laughed. “Sadly, you are wrong at that. I tried to find all the information that I could about this world back when I was Princess Celestia’s student. There really isn’t much to tell. The Princess’s kept the mirror locked up and away from everyone. They had never crossed through the mirror. The first one’s sent through were the Sirens. Then me.”
“Well, then I hope that you have a great time back home. And know that you are always welcome here,” Principal Celestia comforted.
Sunset nodded her head and turned back to the portal. She reached out, hoping that she wasn’t making a terrible mistake. She sent the rest of her body through, and felt the pulling of the portal on her sides. Her DNA changed rapidly, and her form changed as well.
The next thing Sunset knew, she was laying on the floor of a castle with seven pairs of eyes looking at her. Sunset got up, and looked around. “Uh, hey, Twilight,” she laughed.
Twilight Sparkle got up from her throne. “Sunset Shimmer?” she asked.
Sunset looked at the alicorn who stood before her. “I- uh. I decided to come back home.”
“THIS is Sunset Shimmer?!” Rainbow shouted. “The one who blew up a school, and then saved all of you from the Sirens? This is Sunset Shimmer?”
Sunset looked towards the ground. “I can’t say that I wasn’t the one who did that. Because I did. I moved on from that time. That was almost four years ago. It’s all in the past. But I came here for a different reason than to tell you what I’ve done,” Sunset commented.
Twilight stepped forward. “What are you here for then?” she asked.
“I want to go see Princess Celestia. I wish to apologise to her for what I did before I left.”
Twilight smiled. “I was hoping you would say that,” Twilight turned around and walked over to Spike. “Spike, take a letter please,” Twilight asserted.
Spike grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill. “Ready!” he beamed.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I am proud to say that your former student, Sunset Shimmer has returned home. She is requesting a meeting with you to talk about her past. With your permission, I would be glad to bring her to Canterlot for you. Please respond as soon as you can. If a meeting is allowed, I will bring her in tomorrow morning.
Your Royal Highness,
Princess Twilight Sparkle
Spike rolled up the letter and sent it flying in a cloud of fire to Princess Celestia.
“Now we wait for a response,” Twilight said.
Sunset stared at the ground. “What if she doesn’t want to talk to me? What if she doesn’t forgive me for what I did to her all those years ago?” Sunset worried. A tear fell from her eyes.
Before Twilight could comfort Sunset, Spike burped and a piece of parchment fell from the fire. Sunset lit up her horn and levitated the scroll over to herself.
“Dear Twilight Sparkle, please bring Sunset Shimmer to the castle gardens tomorrow morning. Your Royal Highness, Princess Celestia,” Sunset moved the letter over to a nearby table.
“See? She wants to talk to you. So we will catch the train tomorrow morning and meet up with Celestia in the morning,” Twilight spoke.
“Yeah. I think I’m going to take a walk around Ponyville. I never traveled here and I want to see what this town is like,” Sunset said. She turned around and walked out of the castle.
Walking into the town, she noticed that even though the sun was going down, the ponies were still walking around, like the time of the day didn’t stop them from doing shopping and hanging out with their friends.
When she walked through the middle of the town, she noticed a building. A very peculiar building at that. It was a tree. Sunset walked up to the charred tree and tried to figure out what this used to be. It couldn’t have just been a tree. It was hollowed out.
“That used to be where Twilight lived,” a voice said.
Turning around, Sunset finally got a good look at the pony version of Rarity. “Oh. Rarity. What brings you here?”
“I was on my way home, and noticed you standing here. Twilight used to live here. This used to be a library,” Rarity mentioned.
“Sounds like Twilight to live in a library,” Sunset laughed turning back to the tree.
“Well, it’s time I be getting back home. My sister is probably waiting for me. Have a nice night, Sunset,” Rarity said as she walked home.
Sunset Shimmer turned away from the burnt library and began to make her way back to the castle where she would be staying tonight.
When she got back, she was surprised to see streamers and balloons strewn all around the castle. “What’s this?” Sunset asked, turning to Twilight. Streamers were covering almost everything that was at least two feet off the ground. Balloons were tied to anything that a balloon string could wrap around without it slipping off.
“It’s a party. Pinkie Pie throws one whenever someone new comes to town. Just be glad I was able to talk her out of inviting everypony in town here. Because that’s what she did for me and it was the worst thing ever,” Twilight commented.
“Oh. Well, okay then,” Sunset said.
“WELCOME BACK SUNSET SHIMMER!!” Pinkie Pie shouted from the ceiling. Balloons were tied around her and she was stuck on the ceiling. “Do you think you could get me down?”
Sunset grabbed Pinkie with her magic and pulled her back down to the floor.
“Thanks, Sunset!” Pinkie beamed. She grabbed a piece of cake and handed it to Sunset.
“Oh, no thank you. I don’t like sweets. Thank you though,” Sunset said.
“Okay then!” Pinkie threw the piece into the air and caught it in her mouth, and abruptly ate it.
A few hours later, Sunset Shimmer retired to a bedroom to get some sleep. She would have to wake up early to make it to Canterlot on time to meet up with Princess Celestia. As she laid down, thoughts swirled around her mind. She was terrified that she would be banished back to the human world. She knew this was irrational, because she didn’t do anything ‘wrong’ per say, but she still did something to warrant something happening to her.
An hour later, Sunset Shimmer managed to fall asleep. When she woke, the moon was slowly lowering in the sky. “I wonder how Princess Celestia manages to stay up all the time to raise and lower both the sun and the moon,” she wondered aloud.
“She doesn’t. Well, at least not anymore. You left before her sister returned here,” Spike said as he walked into Sunsets room. He was sent to go wake her up so they could all eat breakfast and make their way to the castle on time.
“You mean, Princess Luna returned?” Sunset asked.
“Yeah. How did you know about Luna? Even Twilight didn’t know about her. She barely even knew about Nightmare Moon,” Spike questioned.
“I was really interested in Old Pony Tales. When I asked Princess Celestia about Nightmare Moon, she scooted around my question for about a year. After a while, she finally told me that she had banished her sister to the moon with the Elements of Harmony after she had turned into Nightmare Moon. I was really surprised when I crossed into the human world and Celestia and Luna were perfectly fine and they were working together,” Sunset explained.
“Oh, well it’s time to get eat breakfast. After that, you and Twilight are going up to Canterlot to meet up with Princess Celestia,” Spike said as he left the room.
Sunset got out of bed and ate her breakfast. The way to the train station was silent. The train ride consisted of a “Are you ready?” from Twilight, and a short response of “I’ll never be ready,” from Sunset.
Two hours later, Twilight and Sunset stepped off of the train and began to make their way to the castle.
Walking up to the gardens, Twilight bid Sunset farewell for now, and Sunset walked into the gardens, looking for her former teacher.
Turning a corner, she noticed Princess Celestia talking to one of the Royal Guards. Sunset slowly approached, trying to keep her anxiety level down.
Princess Celestia turned around and looked at her former student. “Hello, Sunset Shimmer.”
“Princess Celestia,” Sunset gulped. “How nice to see you again.”
Princess Celestia looked at Sunset. “Come over here, Sunset Shimmer,” the Princess spoke.
As Sunset Shimmer walked over to her former teacher, thoughts swirled into her head as to what the Sun Goddess would do to her.
Princess Celestia opened a wing, and moved Sunset Shimmer to walk with her. Sunset began to worry. What if she throws me in the dungeon and she is walking me there herself so she knows I don’t sneak away or something? What if she is going to find a guard to bring me somewhere where no one will ever be able to find me again?
Sunset’s thoughts soon stopped as she felt herself step on cold tile. She was inside the Princess’s Throne Room. Sunset looked around and noticed the stain glass windows. Many of them depicted Twilight and her friends defeating foes. The one that stood out to her the most was the one of Twilight and her friends attacking Nightmare Moon with the Elements of Harmony.
That didn’t make any sense to Sunset. Nightmare Moon was imprisoned on the moon for her crimes against Princess Celestia and Equestria. How could she even be back? Most ponies didn’t even believe in that tale because there was no evidence to support it besides a face on the moon and Nightmare Night.
However, Sunset Shimmer never really believed in that tale. She had tried asking Princess Celestia if it was true or not, but she would always duck around the question, or never fully answered it. When she would somewhat answer, her most common answer was, “Someday I will tell you about the Mare in the Moon. But now is not the time. That is something you will learn later on in your studies with me.”
Sunset Shimmer looked back to her former teacher who was now sitting upon a throne. Next to her was another throne, slightly smaller and clad in blacks, blues and silvers. It was decorated with a crescent moon and starts around it. Sunset wondered who would sit there. She hadn’t heard of another Princess in this world besides Princess Twilight, but she had her own castle and her own throne.
Then it hit her. The other part of the tale of the Mare on the Moon. That she would be back on the longest day in a thousand years. That would have only been a few years ago. Could Nightmare Moon be the one who assumed the throne?
An alicorn stepped out of the shadows behind the throne and sat down in the empty seat, almost like the world was answering the unicorn’s question. It wasn't Nightmare Moon, though. Sunset Shimmer had seen depictions of Nightmare Moon and knew that wasn't her.
“Sunset Shimmer. Welcome back to Equestria. You may not recognise the mare sitting next to me. This is Princess Luna. She returned to us a few years prior. You were gone during that time so you may not know of the return, however that is not why I have brought you here today,” Princess Celestia commented, gesturing to her sister before turning back to Sunset.
Sunset sat down on the floor, wondering where she should place herself. She hadn’t been told to move, so she decided to sit there. Sunset gulped, worried of why she was brought into the Throne room. This room was rarely used, and Sunset never really came in here, even when she was still a student who lived in the castle.
The Throne Room always seemed like a private place, where Princess Celestia would come to do business with the ponies of the country. Sunset never liked to interrupt her teacher while she was working, so she tried to stay out as best as she could. The only times she would come in here was when she was invited to come inside.
Sunset looked up at the two Princesses. “Then why have you brought me here?” Sunset began to worry once more. The thoughts returned to her head as to why she was here. Even though she was terrified of what the Princesses would do to her, she tried her best not to show her fears.
Sunset had become quite adept at hiding her emotions. That was a skill that she had to learn somewhat quickly so the students at the high school wouldn’t be able to find a weak spot in her. She knew that once they found a weak spot and was able to target it multiple times, she would have probably cracked under the pressure.
Princess Luna looked at the elder alicorn sitting next to her. Luna knew what was going to happen next, however she didn’t know what the outcome would be.
“Sunset Shimmer. You have been brought here today by the High Princess of Equestria, Princess Celestia of the Sun to speak for your crimes against Equestria and Princess Twilight Sparkle of Friendship. These crimes include attempted war against Equestria, attempted usurpation of Equestria, grand robbery of the Element of Magic from Princess Twilight Sparkle, and attempted murder of Princess Twilight Sparkle and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony in the other world," the guard pony proclaimed.
Sunset’s face fell. She knew she had done some wrong things, but she never realised just how much she did, and their severity until now. She began to think that she would be tossed in a dungeon somewhere to rot for the rest of her life.
A voice in her head repeated itself, saying that she should have stayed in the other world. If she never came back to this world, she wouldn’t be sitting here, facing punishment for her crimes against Equestria.
“Sunset Shimmer. How do you plead to these crimes?” Princess Celestia asked.
Sunset felt a tear roll down her face. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She had come back to this world to seek forgiveness, not a trial.
“I plead guilty to the crimes that I committed,” Sunset squeaked out. She could barely hear herself, but it seemed that at least Princess Celestia had heard her.
“Sunset Shimmer, you are here today after pleading guilty to the crimes that you have committed against the country of Equestria. These crimes include attempted war against Equestria, attempted usurpation of Equestria, grand robbery of the Element of Magic from Princess Twilight Sparkle, and attempted murder of Princess Twilight Sparkle and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony in the other world. If you would like to bring in a witness to help you in your case, you may.”
Sunset shook her head. “No. I will fight this battle on my own.”
“And so it is written. Sunset Shimmer, while living in the alternate universe of Equestria, you planned and almost succeeded in bringing a war here to Equestria. You did this after the robbery of the Element of Magic, which was in possession by Princess Twilight Sparkle, as she resided in the castle in the Crystal Empire. As I have heard by Princess Twilight Sparkle, you planned to take over Equestria by bring an army of humans here into this world.” Princess Celestia mentioned.
The words hit Sunset like a dagger. She didn’t quite remember all of what happened at the Fall Formal all those years ago. It was like a fog in her mind. She remembered the pain that the Element of Magic forced on her as she placed it atop her head. She remembered her cells changing, twisting. Everything else was hazy, as she tried to forget what she had done to the people in her school. She remembered waking up, at the bottom of a hole in front of the school and being helped out of the hole that she basically dug herself.
“Finally, you attempted the murder of Princess Twilight Sparkle and her five friends in this other world,” Princess Celestia said.
Princess Luna looked at Sunset Shimmer, knowing what was going to happen. She had to go through it herself. Hearing all the things that she threatened to do was unbearable. Princess Luna had broken down while she sat on the cold stone of the room. She remembered how her sister had looked at her during the trial. Princess Celestia had been nice to Luna when she arrived, but that didn’t excuse what she had done during her time as Nightmare Moon.
The same applied to Sunset. She stared at the floor, tears welling up in her eyes. The words of her former teacher hitting her like needles everywhere in her body. She wanted to run away. Sunset wanted to come here for forgiveness, but it didn’t seem like that would be happening.
Princess Luna leaned over to her sister and whispered, “Sister, don’t you think you are being a little harsh on her? She came back for forgiveness, and you are giving her a trial. I do not think that Twilight would want to hear about this.”
“Luna, you know as well as I do how the law works here. You had to go through it as well. This is to see how sorry she is, and if she honestly wants to remain here in Equestria,” Celestia whispered back.
After being in the human world for so long, Sunset forgot how good she was at hearing. Humans ears weren’t as good as picking up sound as a pony’s ears were.
“Sunset Shimmer. Do you wish to remain here in Equestria, and continue your studies under me?” Princess Celestia asked.
Sunset raised her head. “What about the trial? What about all of the things I did wrong? You said it yourself, I tried to kill people. I tried to take the throne away from you. You should throw me in a dungeon!” Sunset exclaimed. She didn’t want to be thrown into a dungeon for the rest of her life, but she figured she did probably deserve it for what she had done.
“I am willing to excuse your crimes. That is what I did with Princess Luna. She was once in the spot that you are now. Do you see her in a dungeon? The point of this was to let you know that your actions do not come without consequence. Remember that, Sunset Shimmer.”
Sunset was confused. She couldn’t understand why Princess Celestia would be willing to excuse everything bad that she had done.
“Do you think that I could become your student once more?” Sunset asked quietly.
“What was that?” Princess Celestia asked. Normally she wouldn’t have to ask, but she was talking to her sister.
“I want to become your student again. But I want to be able to stay in Ponyville with Twilight if I want to. I will come here when needed, but from what I hear, Twilight did the last year of her studies living in Ponyville,” Sunset said.
“I believe that could be arranged. You were a wonderful student, Sunset Shimmer. I wish to see you thrive in this world, and not be held back by greed and jealousy like you once were.”
Sunset said a quick thank you, and left the throne room. She desperately needed from fresh air. The trial weighed on her heavily. However, she did get the forgiveness that she originally wanted.
Princess Luna came out of the castle and sat next to Sunset. “I am sorry for what happened in there. I should have stopped my sister from making you go through with that.”
Sunset looked at the alicorn seated next to her. “No, don’t worry about it. I deserved it. I did do all those things, and I understand that certain protocols must be met. Princess Celestia said that you had to go through it as well, after you came back from your time as Nightmare Moon. Was that a scary thing?”
“Yes. It was terrifying. When I had changed back, Celestia welcomed me home. When I got back to the castle, I was met with a trial. It was the worst thing. Celestia named all of the things that I had done. I too almost killed Twilight and her friends. I threatened to bring Equestria into eternal night. I obviously hadn’t thought that one out very well. Ponies would have died from the cold, and then nopony would be able to see the night that I so eagerly wanted them to see.”
Sunset looked back towards the ground. “I guess that wouldn’t be very smart. But neither is bringing a whole army of people into another world when the portal was going to close that night. They would never be able to leave for another 30 moons. That’s always how it is though. The villains always have a huge flaw in their plans that they never think about until after the fact,” Sunset laughed.
“I should probably go and find Twilight. I don’t think she expected me to take this long,” Sunset said to Princess Luna.
“You are probably right. She is most likely in the library here in the castle. Do you want me to show you the way?” Princess Luna asked.
“Yes, that would be nice, thank you.”
Princess Luna lead Sunset to the library, where Twilight actually was.
“Oh, Princess Luna. Thank you for bringing her here. I didn’t know when you guys would be done, so I decided to catch up on some of my reading,” Twilight chuckled. “So how did it go?”
“It was good. I’m gonna be Princess Celestia’s students again, so I guess that it could have gone worse,” Sunset said.
Twilight’s eyes lit up when she heard this. “You going to become her student again! Where will you be staying?”
“I was actually hoping that you would let me stay at your castle. If not, then I can talk to Princess Celestia about it. I told her I might stay with you, so if it’s a problem, then say so,” Sunset noted.
“No, it’s no problem at all! You’re welcome to stay. I’ve got tons of unused rooms. You can stay in one of them,” Twilight beamed.
Sunset looked at Twilight happily. She was glad that she was being accepted here. Yes, she knew she would miss her friends back in the human world, but if she could be friends with them there, she could definitely be friends with their counterparts here.
A few years after the fiasco, Sunset Shimmer was finally truly happy to be back home. She had gone and seen her family who lived over in Manehatten. They had been told about what happened after Sunset had escaped through the portal. Her parents cried when they saw their little filly all grown up. Sunset’s little sister, Dawn, was so glad to see Sunset again. She hadn’t completely understood what had happened all those years ago.
Sunset was able to get a small house in Ponyville. When she would go up to Canterlot to study under Princess Celestia, she would stay in one of the rooms in the Castle Tower.
“Do you ever miss the other world?” Twilight asked one day.
“Sometimes I do. I would like to know how my friends are doing over there, but I think it would be better if I stayed here. I don’t even know what they are doing. Rarity probably has a shop somewhere in town, but Canterlot is a huge city. Rainbow Dash is probably off racing somewhere. We stopped talking after high school. That seems to be a common thing with humans. Losing all your friends after high school, that is. Everyone goes off to a college, and then they never talk again. You’ll talk for maybe a few months, but you won’t see each other and you just naturally drift apart,” Sunset said.
“You could go back if you wanted to,” Twilight responded.
“No. I don’t think that would do me any good. I wouldn’t be able to find anyone, and here, they are all here in Ponyville. Sometimes I leave to go to our Canterlot, but it’s not hard to come back here if it’s needed. And the structure of the Canterlot here is different than the structure in the other world’s Canterlot.”
“I understand,” Twilight said.
Princess Celestia was glad that her old student was back. Since Twilight was no longer her student, Celestia’s life had been very boring. She would always worry about Sunset’s safety. Now that Sunset was back, she was glad to see how safe she actually was.
Sunset once more prided herself in her studies. She was at the top of the class over at Canterlot High, although some speculated she bribed the teachers into giving her good grades. This wasn’t true at all. Although she was busy running the school, and scaring students into submission, school was always her top priority. She wasn’t going to let some students get in the way of that.
Back in Equestria, she was able to immerse herself completely into her studies, and once more, she was top of the classes. She began to take classes at a prestigious school up in Canterlot along with her studies under Princess Celestia. She knew that although she was Celestia’s student, that wouldn’t get her far if she wanted a real job. It was obvious she wasn’t going to become a Princess, but that didn’t bother her anymore. Being a student under Princess Celestia was good enough for her.
Sunset was happy that she was able to essentially restart her life. The first time that she did that, she ended up bullying people to attain what she wanted. This time, however, it was another lease on life. She was able to make ponies like her for who she is now.