A Day in Destiny

by Lunaravenue

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, Slice of Life, Alternate Universe, Sad, Princess Luna
Length: 2948

Sunset Shimmer never completed her studies on friendship. A single glitch helps a broken pony feel whole again.

Before Twilight Sparkle ever saved the crystal ponies, before defeating Discord, freeing Luna, meeting all her friends, before all of that, Sunset Shimmer was on the rise to royalty. She never knew it, but one visit back to Equestria changed everything.

"All hail Princess Sunset!"

Published 2014-12-21 01:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-01-01 22:06:06 UTC

Going Back

Sunset sighed and gazed up at the moon. No cars where nearby, and if anyone was still awake, they wouldn't have been able to see her behind the enormous statue. She poked her hand to the stone and white swirls started to form all around it. She quickly drew it back and sighed once more.

"A little late to be waiting for a princess, isn't it?" a voice asked. Sunset shot up like a bullet and turned around. She glared back at the person talking to her. "What?" the purple and green-haired girl asked with one eyebrow raised.

"What are you doing here, Aria?" Sunset replied back.

"I needed to get out. Besides, I thought I might actually try, ya know, singing without powers. I would practice at home, but those two are the worst!" Aria sighed. "No one is usually around here anyway."

It was Sunset's turn to raise an eyebrow, but she didn't question further. Aria couldn't possibly use mind-control with no amulet....right? Either way, she went back to gazing at the portal.

"It's been a long time..." Sunset whispered. Aria walked up next to her. She sat down lazily and began to stare at the portal as well. Sunset looked questioningly at Aria. Was this the right siren who tried to rule the school? Aria did not seem like the person who would....gaze at things. At least not this portal.

"You're thinking about going back. See what's new, what's different. See if anyone remembers you," Aria stated. She didn't even show a hint of guessing, and yet the previously evil girl was right.

"How did you know?" Sunset asked in astonishment. She knew Aria was from Equestria, but never really knew anything else besides the fact that she was a siren and all. Aria didn't even seem....emotional at any time.

"You're not the only one who had a life back there," Aria explained white putting her head on her knees. Her eyes never left the portal. "You should try going back, right now. If you can, why don't you? I mean, Twilight knows you're good, and she must have told her friends. Right?" Aria's tone remained deep and brooding, but Sunset could sense something....deeper.

"Well, why don't you try going back? I mean, I doubt anyone would remember sirens......no offense..." Sunset trailed off at how incomplete that statement was. Of course Aria couldn't go back. She was known by the books, and who knows where the mirror is now.

"I wish I could," Aria grumbled as she got up and placed a hand on the portal. Sunset got up and was about to stop Aria from crossing when something hit her. Aria's hand didn't pass through. It lay flat on the surface of the stone.

"What....how??" Sunset was at a lost for words.

"We've changed, Sunset. The sirens and I are just like everyone else. We don't have the amulets, which was what Starswirl banished in the first place. It was a part of us, the part of us that led us here. Without it, none of us can go back. I think there's some other stuff in there that would make it all clearer, but what's it to you?" Aria explained. She looked upset, so Sunset didn't push any further.

"Anyway, I'm just going to wait until you leave. If it were me, I'd just go. You can always come back if you don't like what you see." Aria muttered. The ex-siren sat down on a nearby bench and sighed. Sunset looked at the portal again.

"Here goes......"

RAINBOW! LOTS OF RAINBOW. Bright lights swirled around and a strange sensation enveloped Sunset Shimmer's body. Everything was pulling her in every way. She was half pony now. Her horn had just sprouted. Sunset immediately regretted her decision. She tried to use magic to go back, but instead, the rainbows stopped. Purple mist replaced the white shines and images were floating everywhere....

"This is stupid! Why do I need friends? Why do I need any of this anymore? Why are you here? You don't do anything! A few dozen Unicorns could do what you do I bet. I don't know why I ever listened to you..."

Memory Lane

Author's Note

Eh, there may be some typos here, but I'm still trying to figure some things out. I'm publishing just to get a wind of what you guys think. Any suggestions? :)

Memory Lane

Sunset rapidly spun around, startled by the sudden noise. She was a pony again...but where? Mist and sparkles flew all around her and soft colors floated around her, twisting and tossing like the wind. She saw a bunch of images...no...images don't move. They were memories.

Celestia and Sunset Shimmer from the past were standing in front of a large mirror. The room was dim, and no other ponies were around. The Sunset from the memory had a dark, mean expression on her face. Present Sunset recognized this as her old look. Always a clever smirk, or an evil eye somewhere....and this was the start of it all....

"Sunset, where is all of this coming from?" Celestia asked. Sunset remembered the moment clearly now. It was when she threw a fit, decided she was better than everyone, and escaped to Canterlot high.

"I've been working for you forever, and all you do is always pile on more and more work. I've made my friends, I've completed all your challenges. I've been working my flank off since before I got my cutie mark! Oh oh oh, and thanks for that too!" Past Sunset rambled on sarcastically and stopped to point at her cutie mark. Present Sunset looked on her flank to see the same thing. Her eyes darkened. The memory didn't stop there, however.

"Remember when I got this? When I helped you raise the rays of light from the sun. It was nice, the rays danced, the sun shone so bright, but just petty work! This is useless. All of your lessons...were useless! ARRGH!" Past Sunset threw her hooves down in fury. She stopped her heavy breathing and started manically laughing. The pony's orange and red mane was messed up and thrown all about her face. She continued speaking. "Although, I must thank you, Celestia. You've showed me my escape. Escape to a better life, a better fate. Good-bye, princess!" Past Sunset leaped into a mirror... the mirror, and the memory faded away....

Sunset sighed deeply. She hated all the reminders, but based on the looks of what was ahead, there were a lot more before she could reach wherever she was going. Nothing was behind her, so forward, must be the way to go...right? The pony kept on walking. Before she even walked a half inch, another memory caught her attention. She was in her bedroom at the Canterlot Castle. Past Sunset was sitting on her bed...waiting. It didn't take long for Present Sunset to realize what this memory was....

"Sunset! Hey! You wanted to see me? Be quick though, Dazzle Rich is waiting on me," a voice came out. Both Sunsets recognized that voice immediately: Flash Sentry. The orange stallion strolled in and plopped himself right next to Sunset. Past Sunset blushed, as she twirled her hooves around in a circle.

"Well....I....I" Past Sunset stuttered. Flash looked confused, so Past Sunset took a deep breath and started speaking. "You see....well....we've been hanging out a lot recently, and I think you're a super cool guy...so I was wondering......"

Present Sunset couldn't handle it anymore. She immediately ran from the scene. She knew what happened next. Tears formed in her eyes as she overheard the last moments of those memories. She asked Flash out that day, and got brutally rejected that day. Flash used to like her until Dazzle Rich showed up. Super fancy, and of course, rich. She swept him far away, and made him different. Sunset thought asking him out would snap him back, but apparently not.

"I can't believe I ever trusted someone like you to be a friend...."

Sunset paused after running for what seemed like forever and collapsed on the floor. Flash turning her down was the last straw to breaking her niceness. Sunset never got her revenge on Dazzle at Canterlot High as a human, but now the pain was too much to handle. She just felt sad all over again. Another memory played as she silently sobbed.

"Hey Sunset!" a lavender pony chimed as she walked into the Canterlot Gardens. A young Sunset was sitting in a meadow of flowers. The small pony beamed when she saw her friend.

"Twilight!" Sunset ran across the field and met up with Twilight Sparkle, her best friend and one of Celestia's newest students. Twilight was pretty absorbed in studying, but even she had a few friends around. Sunset was one of them.

Present Sunset Shimmer smiled as she watched memories of her and Twilight playing around, studying, and just plain goofing off. Celestia wiped away most memories of Sunset after she left. It was too embarrassing, too complicated to explain to the good ponies of Equestria. Memory spells were the easy way to go, besides, Celestia wanted the best for her citizens. The last she saw of her old friend since leaving Equestria was right before Celestia told Sunset about a special surprise she had waiting for her. She told Twilight all about it, and was super curious. Sunset forgot all about it when she left.

It didn't matter now, Sunset got back up and shook her head. She picked herself up and put everything behind her.

"I'm strong now. I'm new. I can face what's going to happen." The orange pony reassured herself. A bright light began to envelop her surroundings. She was nearly blinded, and closed her eyes tightly. She couldn't do anything, so she ran. She kept on running until no more pain remained in her eyes. When she opened them again, she was sitting right in front of four ponies. Only two she recognized.

"Hi!" the lavender one waved.

"Wow, that's what she looked like, huh?" a pink one laughed jokingly.

"Greetings from Equestria, or should I say, your old home?" a dark blue one smiled.

"Welcome back Sunset, we've been expecting you."

Finishing Touches

"Um, hi everybody...I mean, ahem, everypony," Sunset sheepishly smiled at the four princesses sitting on the throne. "How did you know that I was coming back?"

"It all began a day or so ago," a pink pony with a blue heart as her Cutie Mark explained. "I was in the Crystal Empire, when one of the guards informed me of a disturbance in the mirror."

"Princess Cadence brought it to my attention. when I looked inside, I saw you approaching. You then panicked and cast a spell to go back, but the mirror refrained you," Princess Celestia spoke up. "I knew that you needed to go one way or another, so the other princesses and I created an opening for you to come here."

"And we're glad you made it here safely. You would have been stuck in between our worlds if you stayed in the mirror!" Twilight sighed in relief. She went up to Sunset and gave her a hug. "Glad to see you again, Sunset Shimmer!"

"Thanks everpony, but I seem to have missed a lot, haven't I?" Sunset asked. She took two steps forward to face Celestia, but everypony just looked at her in amazement. Twilight stifled a laugh. "What?" Sunset asked.

"You really haven't been back in a long time," Twilight giggled as she pointed to Sunset's hooves. The orange pony had been walking on her two hind legs the entire time.

"Heh, thanks for catching that" Sunset smiled. She carefully placed all of her hooves back on the ground before beaming at her friend. She turned to face Celestia. The Princess soon spoke up.

"I had your old room restored to it's former glory. I added a few things, since you left with some. Luna can show you to your room while Princess Cadence, Twilight, and I go work on your....surprise..." Celestia smiled and nodded at everypony. All of them began to split off, but Sunset Shimmer remained confused in the middle. Twilight noticed and laughed again as the lavender pony cleared her throat. Celestia looked back and saw a confused Sunset awkwardly smiling.

"Right. This is my old sister, Princess Luna. Twilight Sparkle restored her to her original self when she first made friends in Ponyville," Celestia gestured to the dark blue mare. "Princess Cadence is Twilight's sister-in-law and the new ruler of the Crystal Empire. The empire was an ancient land that disappeared long ago, but was restored properly thanks to Twilight once more." Celestia nodded again and everypony dispersed. Sunset chased up to Luna and the two began walking to Sunset's room.

"I hear you used to be Celestia's pupil," Luna started the conversation.

"Yes, I was. I didn't know Celestia had a sister. Were you away during my time studying here?" Sunset asked in the nicest way possible. She didn't want to make Luna feel uncomfortable.

"Well, you can say that...." Luna trailed off. Sunset remained silent, thinking she offended the pony in some way. It wasn't long before they reached her old room. Her cutie mark was proudly painted on the door like in the old days, but this door looked newly painted. She opened the door and stepped inside. Everything was the same, except some lighting upgrades here and there, but for the most part, Sunset felt like she was in between the mirror portal again.

"I shall be joining my sister and the other princesses. Someone will come fetch you once everything is ready. In the meantime, I'm sure my sister wouldn't mind if you relaxed here for a while. It was nice meeting you, Miss Sunset Shimmer," Princess Luna announced. Sunset Shimmer nodded and bowed to the Princess before she was alone in her room. Sunset trotted over to her bed, the sheets nicely folded and washed. She flopped down and stared at the ceiling. No one remembered her, and there was nothing to do.

Sunset got back up and reassured herself. Of course there were things to be done. Two new princesses and an empire! That must have been quite the adventure. "The library. How could I not visit the library?" Sunset face-hoofed herself and immediately began walking out of the room. "Library.....where was the library?" Sunset murmured to herself as she looked around at the doors.

BUMP!

Sunset Shimmer was so busy looking at the rooms, she didn't realized she bumped into something....or somepony. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. I was just looking for the library!" the pony apologized.

"It's quite alright. Third door to your right. Make another left and you're there." The maid Sunset walked into smiled kindly and continued on her way.

"Thanks!' Sunset called out to the pony. She continued on her way and finally found the library. When she entered the room, Sunset immediately noticed a shortage of books, and many new books as well. Many of her old favorite reads were gone such as "The Spells of Starswirl the Bearded" and "Magical Cures, Potions, and Tonics". A new wing about the Crystal Empire had opened up. That was where Sunset intended to go.

"Wow, I sure have a lot to catch up on....." Sunset whispered to herself as she opened a book on the history of the Crystal Empire. Time flew as she skimmed book after book. She learned a lot about Sombra, and even more about how Spike helped Princess Cadence save the crystal ponies. "I'd love to go to a Crystal Fair. I wonder what that's like...." Sunset read and read until the sun was about to set. She was about to start on finding books about Princess Luna, but a familiar voice interrupted her.

"Sunset Shimmer?" the guard asked.

Sunset spun around rapidly and turned red in the face. "Ye....yes?" She stammered. Sunset internally face-hoofed and looked down at her hooves. She didn't expect him to be here.

"The princesses are all waiting in the throne room," the orange stallion announced. Sunset nodded and silently followed Flash in and around the halls.

"So, what's it like being back in Equestria? I don't think we've met before. The name's...."

"Flash Sentry. I know," Sunset finished his sentence. She immediately regretted saying anything. Flash didn't remember. No one did. Now she had a lot to answer for.

"How do you know who I am?" Flash questioned. He peered suspiciously into Sunset's eyes.

"I...um, Princess Twilight told be about you! I mean, everyon....I mean everypony here is also kind of...there? I mean, that sounds weird, well it's just that....." Sunset blubbered on hopelessly until Flash interrupted her.

"I'm sure magic is hard to explain after being away for so long. I think you made a lucky guess on who I was. Either way, we have arrived," Flash motioned for Sunset to enter the throne room, and she did. Inside, all four princesses stood in the middle of the room. All eyes were on her.

"Um, good evening, princesses," Sunset bowed.

"Good evening to you, Sunset Shimmer." Celestia acknowledged. "As you know, before you left, I had a special surprise waiting for you."

"Oh right. I guess I forgot about that..." Sunset looked down again. It's not normal to forget when a Princess tells you something, especially if it was made specifically for you.

"Well, you've waited long enough...."

All four princesses used their magic and shot beams of all different colors to the ceiling. In a burst of light, something fell from the roof...