Two months. Its been two months since Sunset Shimmer's banishment. Two months of grief. Two months of remorse. And two months of looking through the portal just to see how well her teacher was doing back in their home world. In that span, she had more than enough time to think about what she had done.
She shouldn't have hurried. She should have been patient. She shouldn't have had the promise of power get to her head. If only she had done those, she would have been right next to Celestia, learning about Starswirl the Bearded and the other legends of Equestria by the warm glow of the crackling fireplace.
The princess taught with an unbelievable level of detail that no book nor professor from her own school could hope to match. Coming from her, Sunset could practically see Equestria being built around her, its triumphs, its failings, and most importantly, the ponies who made it all possible, the founders of Equestria and their unified tribes.
Night after night, Sunset Shimmer would be laying down by the fireplace with a stack of reading materials until Celestia joined her and filled in all the gaps with her first-hoof accounts. She taught her parts of history that were either lost in the passage of time, or have been left out or forgotten by scholars of old.
Sunset Shimmer had tried to emulate that feeling of closeness she and her teacher once shared, but the cheap rug she laid on was no comparison to the regal carpet of Celestia's bedchamber. Neither was the electric heater to the open fireplace that she had grown so accustomed to. Nor was the cramped school dormitory compared to the one in Canterlot, of which she had so many fond memories of.
Twenty-eight more moons to go, Princess Celestia, please wait for me, and again, I'm sorry... If only I could, I'd let you know that I've seen where I went wrong. I'm willing to make it up to you, I promise.
Please don't hate me.
~Your faithful student,
Sunset Shimmer
There was no way for Sunset to send the tear-mottled letter to Celestia, but it alleviated her guilt a little. She lit a match and pretended Philomena took the letter to her mentor as it burned inside a metal bin with the rest of her letters. Sorrowful tears trickled down her cheeks as the fire ran out of fuel and died. She knew she was only fooling herself, but she couldn't help but hope that Celestia would open the portal early so she could once again be in her mentor's warm embrace, and have things the way they were, perhaps better the next time around.
She often had dreams of just that, and she wakes up crying every time. Other times, it was Celestia who came to check on her, and she'd wake up in the same manner. There were times where she considered just throwing herself into Principal Celestia's arms and just cry it all out. Just let all the bottled up sorrows free so she could at least have some peace of mind. But she stopped herself every time. This world's Celestia wasn't her Celestia, and those tears would be for naught. No, those tears would be better saved up for their tearful reunion when she finally gets to say how sorry she was for being such a blind fool. Just twenty-eight months more. She just needed to hold on to those dreams for a while longer.
When Sunset had calmed down, she looked at her clock and saw that it was a few minutes till midnight, which meant everybody was asleep, or at least indoors. She picked up her brown cloak and made her way out of her dorm room. The hall was empty, much to her relief.
After locking her door, she went out to the horse statue in front of the school. After making sure no one was around, she sat down behind the statue, and waited till the moonlight struck the statue at just the right angle. Her reflection distorted before fading completely, being replaced by the figure of her mentor working at her desk in her School for Gifted Unicorns. Although she couldn't hear what was on the other side, she was content just watching the princess and imagining herself being there, happily reading her books. This was as close as she could get to her now, and it had become routine.
But something was about to change that.
A knock caught Celestia's attention. After allowing it, her door opened, and in came a young purple unicorn with a stack of books floating right behind her. She laid them out by the fire, just like how Sunset did in the past. With a mixture of worry and intrigue, she watched on as Celestia walked towards the pony and sat down beside her as an open book floated between them.
Suddenly, Sunset felt her heart being slowly crushed by hands as cold as ice.
That unicorn, she was being tutored by the princess herself! But that wasn't what killed her inside. It was the look Celestia gave the purple unicorn. It was warm, comforting, and inspiring. It was of motherly affection and pride. It was the look Celestia gave Sunset every night they studied together.
The longer she watched, the harder it became to look. The two cuddled up close with tea the princess had prepared, and laughed as Celestia—as Sunset Shimmer could tell from her movements and gestures—was telling the unknown pony about the time she and Starswirl fought off a pack of Timberwolves that were attacking the Castle of the Two Sisters. It was a tale of heroics, but somehow ended up lost from textbooks.
It was Sunset's most favorite tale. And Celestia was telling it to this... nobody, while they sat by the fireplace, studying, and with fresh tea the princess had prepared herself?
Sunset was grinding her teeth as she thought of the worst case scenario: She had been replaced.
She refused to believe it, but what she had just seen could not be denied. The purple pony was doing what Sunset herself had done with Celestia during her days as her faithful student, and Celestia was giving her the exact treatment. There was no other way of looking at it.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I see you have a new student. That's great, really...
I hope she won't be as disappointing as I was.
I just wanted you to know that this will be my last letter for a while. I'll be busy with things here, but know that I'll be a changed mare when I come home.
Good bye for now.
~Your fai former student,
Sunset Shimmer
Author's Note
Possibly gonna do something similar for Trixie in the future. Maybe Sombra too. And maybe for Zecora I could write the whole story in rhyme.
Could be fun, what do you think?
