The Princess and the Penitent

When Sunset Shimmer emerged on the other side of the portal, she stumbled on her hind legs and fell to the floor. “I’ll have to get used to four legs again,” she said to herself, easing herself up on her hooves. Hooves. She had been relying on fingers for so long that she worried it might cause a problem. But at least, in her unicorn form, she had her magic.

Magic! Oh, how she had missed her magic while she lived in the human world. She decided to stretch her horn, so to speak, by practicing some teleportation across the smooth floor she had landed on. Smooth… and cold. It wasn’t winter in Equestria, so it couldn't be ice, and the floor of Cadence’s castle wasn’t quite like this. At once, Sunset took in her surroundings, and realized she was in a place she did not recognize. By its size it must have been a castle, if the seven thrones that graced the room’s center weren’t a dead giveaway. She realized it must be Twilight’s castle, as the princess had described in her letters! Sunset suddenly felt fearful about Twilight Sparkle noticing her intruding on her home. She and Twilight were friends, but they weren’t so close that Sunset could show up in her home, across a dimension, unannounced. She searched for a window, judging the distance between herself and the ground below. Then, focusing her magic, she used a powerful teleportation spell to reach her destination.

When Sunset reappeared on the grass outside the castle, she felt dizzy. A teleport of such distance was no easy task, even for a powerful unicorn like her. “Besides,” she told herself, “I am out of practice.” She waited a moment, rubbing her forehead with a hoof to make the twinges of headache disappear, and then set off into Ponyville. The sun had not quite risen yet, and Sunset suddenly realized how strange it seemed to her that the sun did not move on its own in Equestria. She’d spent her life as a human too long, perhaps. Her thoughts momentarily turned to the one who raised it, but she shook the thoughts away. As Sunset had spent her life as a pony in Canterlot, she had never been to Ponyville, and she wanted to explore it before Twilight or any other ponies woke up. She started off at a walk, and as her reflexes on four legs returned to her, she sped up to a trot, internally praising herself for warming up to her old body so quickly. She made her way into town and grew wide-eyed when she saw the buildings. Human architecture couldn’t compare to that of ponies in a million years! She trotted along the path toward the center of town, watching as ponies started to wake and begin their day. She passed a fountain where ponies were stopping to drink, and noticed an especially cute building whose roof appeared to be made of chocolate and frosting. Sunset thought it must have been the alternate for the sweet shop Pinkie Pie worked at in the human world, and sure enough, Mrs. Cake, in her pony form, emerged from the shop. Sunset Shimmer read the sign out front and saw that it read Sugarcube Corner. “How sweet!” she thought. She momentarily searched for what might be the alternate for Keen Bean’s coffee shop, but she didn’t see one. She explored for a while longer, and after she had taken in her fill of Ponyville, Sunset decided it was time to go see Twilight.

She made her way back through the town toward Twilight’s crystalline castle. As she trotted along, ponies waved happily at her, and Sunset suddenly felt very shy. These ponies had no idea who she was. Would they have been so welcoming if they knew about her past? Sunset brushed these thoughts away and tried to ignore the smiles coming her way. She soon reached the edge of town and breathed a sigh of relief as she continued up the path to the castle. She wondered what Twilight would think when she saw her, and hoped her reaction wouldn’t be too negative. Sunset raised a hoof to knock on the castle door, feeling anxious. What would Twilight say? Sunset rapped on the door a few times and waited. And… waited. “It is a pretty big castle,” she thought. “And I don’t think Twilight exactly has any guards to do things for her like Princess Celestia or Cadence.” But, surely, it shouldn’t be taking this long. Especially for a pony who can teleport. Sunset started to worry. Maybe Twilight wasn’t home? The unicorn was about to leave, when the door opened and Twilight appeared in the doorway.

“I’m sorry, but I’m extremely busy right now and I don’t have any time for… Sunset Shimmer?” Twilight said, confused. “I didn’t recognize you at first! What are you doing here?”

“Just, uh, visiting,” replied Sunset. “Um, am I supposed to bow or something?” she asked awkwardly.

Twilight laughed. “No, don’t worry about that! Come on in.” She turned and led Sunset into the castle.

“I thought you said you were busy,” Sunset mused.

“Oh, I am, a little,” Twilight responded. “But… Sometimes ponies from town come to me with things like complaints about the town because they think I have some kind of power over it. They don’t realize they’re still supposed to go to town hall for that kind of thing. And some ponies want to have a look at the ‘famous princess.’” Twilight smiled at Sunset. “So I sometimes just, you know, tell them I’m busy to get them out of my mane.”

“The famous princess lies?” Sunset scolded jokingly.

“It’s not really lying, is it? I am always studying,” Twilight said, laughing as she did. “But you’re my friend. You’re welcome here anytime.”

Sunset blushed a little. She knew Twilight considered her a friend, but she didn’t realize she thought of them as so close. “Wow, thanks Twilight.”

“Of course!” Twilight responded. She had led Sunset to a sitting room with cushions of various colors arranged in a circle on the floor. Twilight motioned for Sunset to sit, and she chose a teal cushion. Twilight sat in a blue cushion next to Sunset.

“So, what made you come back to Equestria? I was kind of under the impression you didn’t want anything to do with this place,” Twilight said.

“It’s not that,” replied Sunset. “I think I always wanted to come back, somewhere deep down. I was just scared. I won’t lie,” she continued. “I feel like the human world is my home now more than this place, but I missed Equestria so much. I didn’t realize how much until I came back.”

“Well, it sure is nice to have you here as a friend and not as a crown thief,” Twilight said, smiling. “But it doesn’t seem right that you would just come here on a whim. You’re not that kind of per… er, pony.”

“Well, you’re right about that.” Sunset sighed heavily, preparing herself for what she was about to say. “I’m here because I want to make up for what I did. I did it in the human world and I want to do it here, too. I… I want to be on good terms with Princess Celestia again.”

“Well, that’s lucky! She’s in town today, actually,” Twilight said excitedly, but Sunset’s whole body froze. “I could take you to talk with her.”

“She’s in Ponyville right now?” Sunset questioned nervously.

Twilight nodded. “One of her regular visits. But we should hurry! Ponies will be lining up to see her,” she said.

“Um, I don’t know if that would be a good idea,” said Sunset, shrinking in her seat.

“Why not? Tomorrow she’ll be back in Canterlot, and we’ll have to take the train. I’d say that’s not a very good idea,” Twilight said.

“No, I mean…” Sunset tried to tell Twilight that her courage was failing her, but Twilight interrupted.

“In fact, she’ll probably come here herself! Now that I’m a princess, she’ll want to see how I’m doing.”

Sunset suddenly found herself needing to run. She dashed from her seat and out of the sitting room, searching frantically for the throne room in which she had arrived.

“Sunset Shimmer, where are you going?” Twilight called, running after her.

“I, um, just remembered,” Sunset called back. “I have things to do today! I need to get back home, sorry!” When she reached the throne room and approached the portal, Twilight stopped behind her. “Please, don’t say anything to Celestia about my visit, okay?” she asked.

“But… She’ll want to know, won’t she?” Twilight said.

“Twilight, please!” Sunset begged.

Twilight’s ears went back and she looked worried for a moment, but she said, “Okay, I won’t tell her.”

“Thank you,” Sunset said, before vanishing through the portal.