A Short Visit

The last time Sunset Shimmer had seen a glimpse of Equestria was inside the royal castle: the moment she had flung herself into the portal to escape her fate. Now that she had learned of her wrongdoings, she wished she could have known of them before they happened. The greedy way she sought power so many moons ago had led to another pony achieving what she had worked so hard for. Her old heart had held a grudge against Princess Twilight Sparkle but now she could only feel remorse for the lengths she had gone through to get her nowhere she needed to be. If she had just listened. She should have never let her desires consume her thoughts and emotions! The mistakes she made were the reason she had human legs and lost an entire life spent in another world.

Sunset looked to her hands lying face-up in her lap as she sat crumpled on her bed. Her eyes delved into the patterns of her human skin, all of the lines and curves that created the shape of her palms. She wouldn’t allow herself to cry again: Instead, she squeezed her eyes shut to hold back the emotions spilling over. Having Twilight’s friends in this human world was nice, but four years couldn’t erase the almost two decades she had spent in Equestria.

The open window let in a breeze that made the calendar flutter. Sunset always used a paper calendar rather than the one on her phone. It reminded her of the weird mix of magic and technology Equestria had. There were trains and machines all over the place yet paper was their primary canvas for literature, art, and especially messaging. The feel of the paper and permanent marker when she marked certain dates was welcome to her. The main purpose of her calendar though was to count down the days until her next connection with Equestria...which was soon! The fiery haired girl had completed put it out of her mind with all of her studying! When was the portal supposed to open next?!

Sunset hurried to the calendar hung neatly on her wall and scanned the month’s page for the next opening of the portal. It was this month, she remembered. Her eyes met the sparkling yellow stars and pink swirls around the date of the 24th. Pinkie Pie had gotten to her calendar as she had gotten to all of her now sparkly and pink doodled-on notebooks. The 24th, that was in...that was tomorrow! She was so thankful she remembered about it just in time. Twilight had written to her that she wouldn’t be visiting but it was still reassuring to know when the portal was open.

What if...

No. That was...that was beyond outrageous to think about! She couldn’t even let the whole sentence form in her mind. To—to go back to...Equestria...that...how could she be so stupid to think of such an idea? Was she even allowed there? The question had never come to her mind. Though if she wasn’t allowed in Equestria, tomorrow would be the best time to sneak through the portal for a quick visit. Twilight wasn’t going to be expecting Sunset Shimmer at the portal entrance and Sunset wouldn’t accidentally pass Twilight on her way through the portal if she wouldn’t be using it...

There was no real plan. The whole idea was built upon negative emotions but Sunset couldn't get it out of her mind. It was as if fate had already decided for her what she would do. Clenched fists and eyes shut, her decision was reckless but decided upon.

She was going back to Equestria.