It had been almost a month since the both disastrous and amazing Fall Formal. Canterlot High’s front facade had been repaired to the extent that it could now be used as the main building entrance again, with the remaining cosmetic work being done on weekends when the student body was no longer present.

To say everything was back to normal however would be a bald faced lie.

Sunset Shimmer sat in the waiting area outside Vice Principal Luna’s office, staring at her boots. Her new boots, given to her by her new friend Rarity Belle.

“Darling, black and violet just do not go with your colors. A teal might work but shades of purple just don’t suit you, and black just projects too rough an image for everyday wear, don’t you agree?”

Rarity had insisted on helping her with her new look; “We can’t change who you are, or what you’ve done, but maybe we can give people a fresh perspective, hmmm?”

The red and yellow sunburst she insisted on wearing stood out now on a cream colored shirt, set off by her new teal blazer with the school’s symbol and name across the back, and a smaller version of her sunburst blaze decorating the pockets had been stitched on by Fluttershy, whose fine needle work skills seemed to even better than Rarity’s. Her new boots however were special; Whereas she has purchased her newer clothes with the advice of Rarity, the fashionista has refused to give direct recommendations for footwear, insisting that she had to give them some serious thought. Three days later a package has been waiting at her locker, with stylish if somewhat short ankle boots in a combination of yellow and teal, and several pairs of knee high socks patterned after her flaming red and yellow hair.

A buzz startled Sunset out of her reverie and she glanced at the door as the speaker beside it announced: “You may come in now Miss Shimmer.”

Sunset stood and took a moment to compose herself. She hadn’t been in the wrong this time. That alone should be enough. She straightened her shoulders and walked into the Vice Principal’s office. Luna eyed her from behind her desk and motioned her to take a seat. After she did so the older woman stood up and walked over to the print of Van Gogh’s Starry Night. Clasping her hands behind her back, the vice principal seemed to be studying the picture intently when suddenly she spoke, “I’m tired of your little games Miss Shimmer.”

“Games?”

“Please don’t act the innocent with me. Even though I’ve only been back from my sabbatical a short while, I’ve had sufficient proof of how deceitful and manipulative you are. I understand how you think, maybe better than you do yourself,” the vice principal turned around and locked her gaze coldly with younger girl’s eyes. “One could say I see recognizable patterns. Besides which that doesn’t even begin to explain what happened last month. Principal Celestia’s decision or not if I thought I had any hope of getting someone to believe me about what really happened that night I’d tell them in an instant if I thought it would protect my students from you, whatever it is you are.”

Sunset Shimmer just stared at her silently, determined not to break down. She was going to prove she could change. That she already had changed. But doing so would take time.

“But that’s not why you’re here now, of course. You know that. I’ve talked to almost everyone else involved already, why don’t you give your version. What happened at lunch?”

Sunset closed her eyes for a moment, “I’m not in the wrong here,” she thought, “just tell the truth and I’ll be fine.” Opening them back up she looked straight into the vice principal’s eyes. “I was passing the girls restroom when I heard talking. I couldn’t hear what was being said but I thought I heard at least one person crying. I looked inside and found Lightning Dust and Strawberry Sunrise crowded in the door of one of the stalls. They were teasing Bright Eyes about one of her episodes. I told them to stop. They told me to mind my own business. We got into a shouting match and it escalated from there.” She smiled grimly, “I managed to get them mad enough at me that they forgot about Bright Eyes and chased me back out into the hall.”

“And that’s when you had your goons ambush them,” stated Luna flatly.

“Snips and Snails are not my goons, and anyway I didn’t know they were anywhere nearby. In any case Snips was the only one that tried to do anything and that was just squeezing between Lightning and me when she hit him.

“Miss Dust and Miss Sunrise both claim you three assaulted them. Mr. Shears and Mr. Steady back up your story, mostly, but I believe they’d say anything you told them.”

“And Bright Eyes?”

“You are the first person to mention her. I’ll have to see what she says, but I’m not sure I could accept her word either way. She is, to put it kindly, far too easily bullied by the likes of people such as both you and Miss Dust to be sure if she’s telling the truth,” Luna turned back to the reproduced painting, “Frankly I’m inclined to accept Miss Dust’s version no matter the actual facts, just to give me a reason to get you out of my school”.

Sunset jumped to her feet, “You can’t do that!”

Luna turned slowly around and glared at the girl until she slowly sat down. “You’re probably right, I wouldn’t be able to. Not from personal choice but because Celestia doesn’t want to let you go. But perhaps you would be willing to educate me on the reasons I ‘cannot’ send you away. I assume this has something to do with last month’s events at the Fall Formal?”

The teenager slumped forward, peering intently at the floor, and began in a monotone voice, “If you send me away I may never go home. I may never get to see my family again. It’s possible that’s already the case but if I’m not here I feel,” she hesitated, “I know in my heart that I’ll never get to go back.”

Luna snorted, “You don’t lie very well. I’ve seen your record, you don’t have a family. Your mother and father died in a car wreck. They were only children. Your grandparents have all passed away. If a court hadn’t decided you were responsible enough you’d be living with a foster family or in an orphanage instead of having a social worker visit weekly and being allowed a stipend from your inheritance. Which, I might add, is quite plentiful.”

“You’re wrong, I lie far too well.” She looked up at the Vice Principal who had walked over so as to loom over the seated student intimidatingly, “I’m from the same place that Twilight Sparkle came from. Her and the talking dog. My mother and father were very much alive when I…” she hesitated a moment, “left. Though I can’t really say I had any friends, I did have the most wonderful teacher.” She closed her eyes and slumped over in the chair again, “I… I disappointed her so much; betrayed her trust and when she tried to help me understand what I was doing to myself, turned against her.”

“You didn’t just leave,” the vice principal said softly, “did you?”

“I… she…” stuttered Sunset, her voice beginning to choke up, “there was no choice. I was out of control. Dangerous. What I did at the Fall Formal was just a taste of what I could have done there. I was a threat to everypo…” she bit down on her lip, “to everyone. Even without the crown, even if I hadn’t learned even more of the sorts of things no-one should know, I could hurt far too much if allowed to run loose. I didn’t know it at the time but there were far greater threats than I was out there, but my ruthlessness and desire for power could have interfered with stopping those threats.”

Without a word, Luna stepped back and sat on the edge of her desk, her face softening.

Openly crying now, Sunset continued, “I was supposed to be part of her plans. But I wanted too much too soon. I thought I knew better than her, better than anypony, what was right for me. I was manipulative, deceitful, spiteful. I studied things that were forbidden to anyone, not just those who were not experienced enough to handle them; I was a prodigy after all, the best and brightest student anypony could remember. Who were the other teachers, who was she, who was anypony, to tell me what I could and couldn’t handle”.

Luna waited a few moments for Sunset’s crying to settle down, before she prompted with a single word, “And?”

“I crossed too many lines. My teacher… my Princess tried to clamp down on me. I ran, I hid, I plotted and planned. I was incensed when I found out she had replaced me with some snot nosed little purple brat. But while it seemed large to us, where I come from is really a small place. I was wanted; eventually, I was caught.” Sunset’s voice grew quiet, “she exiled me. She sent me to this magicless place where my knowledge could do no harm,” she snorted slightly, “at least no direct harm. I was still the conniving manipulative little brat I had always been. I used that to my advantage. Then I finally figured out the statue; When I arrived I was out cold, it took me a while to figure out the way back and even then returning, even for a short time, was risky. Also time flows differently between the two worlds when the gate isn't open. When I went back much more time had passed there than I had expected. I found out what had happened in my absence. Twilight Sparkle had saved the world. She was famous. Powerful. She was my former teacher's 'Most Faithful Student'.”

“She had taken your place,” said Luna. It wasn’t a question.

"And so I came back to come up with a plan. When I went back she wasn't just famous; she was a Princess now, in her own right. I was furious."

“Celestia,” she said, making Luna’s eyes widen in surprise, “my Celestia, princess, teacher, was grooming me for that role. The Element of Magic. Possibly the next Princess of Equestria. And I threw it away. But I couldn’t see that, I saw it stolen by that purple maned interloper.”

“Thus, the Fall Formal.”

Sunset was silent for almost a minute before she continued, "yes, the Fall Formal. I went back and stole the crown. I brought it here hoping I could use it’s magic even in this world. As you saw it worked far better than I expected, at least for a while.”

“If you’ve repented, why can’t you go back, ask forgiveness, perform some contrition less drastic than an exile to an unfamiliar world?” Luna asked softly.

“It doesn’t feel like I can. Something is holding me here, in my gut. Besides, she has little reason to trust me, just a month ago I was ready to invade her world with an army of mind controlled slaves.”

Luna sat silently for almost a minute on the edge of her desk, her face difficult to read, before getting up and walking behind her desk. Bending over, she sat a small box on the desk, opened the top and pulled out a sheet of paper, followed by a small pile of perhaps a dozen envelopes. “This box was found in the quad this morning. It was marked ‘Bring to Principal Celestia or Vice Principal Luna please’. As I was the only one here at the time, I got it. I’ve shown it to the Principal and we were not sure what to do with it; however I think I’ve made a decision now.”

She held up the sheet of paper and began reading aloud;

Dear Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna,

I hope this letter finds you well and things are more in order at Canterlot High than they were when I left. My fellow Princesses would like to apologize for the havoc caused at the Fall Formal, one in particular as she feels a great deal of the blame falls on her shoulders. Enclosed you will find a number of letters for several of the people at the school, I would ask you to deliver them unopened. If you decide it would be in the best interest of the students involved or your school in general not to deliver them, we understand and then ask only that you destroy them unopened.

In case you are worried, or someone has investigated the box, the box and letters were given an enchantment which should last for at least a few weeks in your world which will prevent others from realizing exactly what they have on their hands, or anyone other than the intended recipients from reading anything innocuous from these letters. We do ask that even this missive be destroyed in relatively short order, no matter what you decide.

You may wonder why I or someone else does not present these letters in person, this is difficult to explain, I’m only beginning to understand the theory myself. The easiest description would be if our two worlds were on separate sides of a very sensitive scale balance. Since we’ve discovered she’s been here prior to the incident, we’ve found that the balance is, in effect, oscillating from the transfers of ‘weight’. My own trip, compounded with the addition of Spike who was very much not supposed to come, caused additional gyrations. It will be some time before it will be safe for anyone to cross the threshold. This is not a matter of actual material mass but the spiritual existence or soul of an individual if you will, and the safety I speak of is not for those making the trip, but for the worlds themselves. I now know that had Sunset Shimmer managed to bring her small army across to Equestria the damage to both worlds would likely have been immense. That said, I am certain she was unaware of this at the time; few who would invade another world wish to do so just to see that world destroyed.

You may wonder how we managed to get this message to you given there has not been sufficient time for the gate to re-open since I have left. While we're unsure of the timing on your end, it has been three and a half lunar months since I returned to Equestria. While the portal will not be truly open for quite some time, I along with one of my fellow Princesses have managed to determine how to pass small, inanimate objects through the portal.

This brings up another matter of grave importance which you must pass on to Sunset Shimmer no matter what you decide to do in terms of the letters; While I and the others whose duty it is to decide such things believe she should be allowed a chance to prove herself redeemed, she cannot come back to Equestria for some time, and must not come back without our consent and cooperation. We have warded the gate to prevent others from entering Equestria, as many who were there that night are aware of the gateway and some may let their curiosity get the better of themselves, but these wards will not keep out one of our own. But for her to return now could very well be disastrous to both sides of the balance. If she wishes to come back I can explain in more detail later.

Thank you,

H.R.H. Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria

Sunset Shimmer stared wide-eyed across the desk as Luna put the open letter off to the side, after which she picked up four envelopes from the small pile, each marked with the same symbol that adorned her shirt in the corner, the first with an elegant cursive “For Sunset Shimmer, please read first.” As she flipped it over to open it, she paused at the wax seal holding the envelope shut, the impression in the wax vaguely similar to the symbol inked on the front but at the same time less ornate, with two simple imposed circles surrounded by 8 curling tongues of flame. The Cutie Mark of her teacher, her ruler, and the pony she had most thoroughly betrayed.

Princess Celestia.

Author's Note

Some of this story doesn't agree with some of the expanded story material (Sunset Shimmer ran into the mirror herself, for example). Also the only specified time for the gate's functioning is '30 moons', which is generally accepted to be 30 lunar months, or about 2.3 years. However I'm going to push some 'sliding timescales' in here to make things a little more compact, and also I may feel the need to adjust the actual lunar month of Equestria, which is never specified anyway.