The seven girls sat around in the cafeteria, chatting. It had been a little over a month since the Friendship Games and Twilight had transferred to CHS. The school year was coming to a close, and they had started making plans for the summer. Applejack had to work on her family farm, and Pinkie was going to help out at the bakery. But otherwise, they were looking forward to a summer of hanging out and having fun. While the rest kept chatting, Applejack ate her pizza quietly, a studious look on her face.
“Heya Sunset?” Applejack asked. She looked up to her fiery haired friend, a look of confusion on her face.
Sunset Shimmer turned, grinning broadly, to face Applejack. She was still chuckling at Pinkie Pie’s latest joke. “Ya, AJ?”
“So, Ah’ve been wonderin’.” There was a note of seriousness to Applejack’s voice. “We know there’s a Twilight on both sides o’ the mirror now. Have you met the Sunset from this world?”
Sunset froze. A wave of memories washed over her, memories from before Princess Twilight had helped her. Memories of a much darker time in her life. Her face went blank as she worked to not have a breakdown. The rest of the girls saw her reaction, and went silent.
“Darling, are you alright?” Rarity asked quietly.
Fluttershy gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to tell us, it’s-”
A shiver ran through Sunset as she fought back tears. “No, you all deserve to know the truth.” Sunset set her face, and looked up at her friends. The corners of her eyes began to glisten as the tears formed. “I warn you though, it’s not pretty. I was a much different person back then. It’s really hard for me to talk about.” Her friends gave her only nods in return. “If you want to hear the story, I’ll tell you what I can. But not here. How about you come to my place Saturday? Oh, wait, you’ve never been, hang on.” She pulled out her phone and texted everyone her address. “You know what, why don’t we make a sleepover of it.” Another shiver ran through her. “If you want, of course. I’ll understand if you don’t want to ever see me again after what I have to tell you.” With her friends staring at her, a few tears worked their way free and ran down Sunset’s face. “I have to go. See you girls later.” With that, Sunset stood up and left, taking her half eaten pizza with her.
Twilight was the first to speak up. “Have any of you ever been to her house?” They shook their heads. “Well,” she glanced back down at the address. “It’s over near Crystal Prep. If you wanna meet me by the bus stop, I’m sure I can get us there. But I’ll tell you now, I don’t think there was a Sunset at CP.” With a nod, they were agreed.
Six girls stood in front of a large mansion, five of them gawking up at it. It was easily larger than any house any of them had ever seen before, even larger than Applejack’s barn. Twilight rolled her eyes. “Well, ya, why do you think Crystal Prep is so rich?” With a quick glance around, Twilight found the buzzer and pressed. A soft, musical chime sounded from within. They only had to wait a few seconds before Sunset pulled the door open.
“Hey girls! Glad you could make it, come on in.” Once everyone was inside, Sunset closed the door. The entryway was equally massive, with a large staircase dominating the far wall. Seeing the stunned looks on their faces, Sunset quickly directed her friends to an adjacent sitting room. “Please, sit.”
Once everyone was seated, Sunset pulled out a rubix cube. Idly, she began to fiddle with it, scrambling the sides. “Glad you found the place alright. Was the trip okay?”
Rainbow nodded. “Ya. Twilight showed us the way.” She chuckled. “I bet the dork could walk these streets blindfolded.”
With a blush, Twilight sank down into her chair. “So I grew up around here-” She started defensively.
“Relax, darling. Rainbow is only teasing you.”
“Oh.” Twilight blushed. “Right.”
“I must ask though,” Rarity continued, “We’ve been your friends a whole year now, why did you never tell us you lived in such a grand château?”
“Well, that’s kinda related to why I asked you all here today.” A small ‘oh’ slipped from Rarity’s mouth. “After Princess Twilight saved me from what I had become, and we started to become friends, I was too ashamed to invite you over. I’ve considered moving out a few times, having my own place, just to get away from the memories wandering around this place.” Sunset leaned back, a grumbling sigh escaping her lips. “But, I can’t. I have to stay.”
“Why? Is it your parents? If you don’t like it here, you should totally move out! OH! I know!” Pinkie answered, bouncing with joy at the thought of having a new roommate. “You could totally move in with me! I’ve got some extra space, I’m sure we could squeeze you in! It’d be like one super duper extra long sleepover! We-”
Before Pinkie Pie could go any further, Applejack reached over and put a hand in her mouth. “Let’s hear her reasons, sugar.” She pulled her hand back from her friends mouth and turned to Sunset. “So, what’s the story?”
Sunset stared down at her feet. She was fighting hard to hold back the waves of tears. With a deep breath, she looked up and began, her voice flat, devoid of almost all emotion. “Girls, I want you to remember, first and foremost, that three and a half years ago, when I first came to this world, I was a much different person. There was a lot of hate and anger in my heart. I was convinced that I had the right to rule. Princess Celestia had pretty well spoiled me and gotten me addicted to power. Not that any of this is her fault, I just need you to understand who I was back then. I lost it when Celestia told me she wasn’t going to make me a princess. That I needed to learn humility first. My ego couldn’t take it. If you remember, I was going to march an army of brainwashed slaves across Equestria to take it over.”
Sunset gave a weak chuckle before continuing. “Not my smartest moment. Anyways, when I arrived here I quickly noticed the similarities. I met Principal Celestia within minutes of running through the portal. I freaked out at first, thinking Princess Celestia had followed me. It didn’t take me long to figure it out though. Everyone exists on both sides of the mirror. You’ve all met Princess Twilight, but there’s an AJ, Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie in that world too.”
Fidgeting slightly, Sunset had to take another calming breath before she could continue.“So ya, there’s a Sunset Shimmer from this world too. Once I figured that out, I knew I had to find her. Mostly because it would have ruined my plans if the ‘real’” Sunset made air quotes as she said real. “Sunset showed up. It wouldn’t work for there to be two of me. But I also wanted to find her because I figured she would be able to provide me with a place to stay.”
The slightest hint of pain and sorrow had creeped into her voice, and she could feel her eyes glistening as well. Leaning back, Sunset stared up at the ceiling, ashamed at herself. “So, I tracked her down. Didn’t take long; humans, like ponies, are so helpful. I pretended to be tired and lost, and someone quickly led me ‘home’”
“I snuck in through the back. It was really easy to be honest. This whole house and no one was in it. Except the other me. ” Sunset stopped, a few tears trickling down her face as another wave of memories surfaced. “I broke into her room and beat her unconscious.” Sunset looked down from to ceiling to stare at the backs of her shaking hands. “I dragged her down into the basement, tied her up, and left her there.”
The room was silent as Sunset spoke. Fluttershy had hidden behind her hair while the rest just stared at her. A minute passed and, with Sunset not speaking, Rarity spoke up, her voice barely above a whisper. “Is she still-?”
A quick head shake answered. “No, I- Let me back up a bit. Tell me, what do you all know of psychology?”
Twilight, as usual, was the first to answer. “Psychology is the study of how the mind works. It’s a pretty new field, compared to the other sciences. We still don’t know much of how the mind works, or where consciousness comes from, but it’s pretty interesting.”
Sunset nodded. “In Equestria, the field is far more advanced. With magic, we can study the brain as things are being done to it. None of that trying to ask the right questions and get the right answers after. We’re centuries ahead of you in that field. Think of the mind like this cube.”
Sunset held up the now thoroughly scrambled Rubik's cube. “Each of us has a different cube, with different colors in a different arrangement. There’s a natural state, where everything is where it should be. When we get stressed, or angry, or what have you, that’s the sides getting rotated. Here in this world, the most you know how to do,” Sunset twisted a few sides. “Is tweak it a little bit. That’s really it. In Equestria though, we know a lot more.
“We know how to shuffle it back. We learned what twisting each side means for that pony. And,” Sunset had to take a breath. “We know how to,” With a practiced twist, Sunset shattered the toy, the pieces flying everywhere. The other girls jumped as bits of plastic flew past them. “Break it. Now, you can collect the pieces, and put it back together. But if you’re not careful, it’s possible to put it in a configuration that just can’t then be solved again. And after it’s been broken once, it’s just a little easier to break it again. About fifty years ago, somepony figured out how to not just completely destroy someone’s mind, but even how to create new pieces to put it back together with, effectively creating a whole new personality.” She dropped the spokes to the floor and gently kicked them aside.
Sunset had to take a deep, calming breath before continuing. “Before I came here, psychology was my favorite subject. Being the personal student of the princess meant that I could read just about any text from the royal library that I wanted. Even the ones that described exactly how to break somepony.” Sunset shook her head. After a few tears slipped free, she continued. “Celestia always believed that no knowledge was inherently bad. The only evil came from certain applications of knowledge. So she had no issues with me learning all I could on the pony mind.
“Those years I spent driving everyone apart, I knew how to do that with all the years I spent studying. The mind control spell I used, that’s not easy magic. It relies on such a deep understanding of how the mind works. I’m not sure even Princess Twilight could have done that. I can’t even begin to explain how deep my understanding of psychology is.
A shiver ran through Sunset as the memories came back to her again. “When it came to Sunset, I had to do more. I needed to go farther than just controlling her from the shadows. I needed her broken. I needed her under my complete control. So, I used everything I knew to break her. I spent months torturing and abusing her. I left just as many physical scars as I left mental ones. I still remember every one I gave her. Turns out that while the physical structure of our brains may differ, our minds work in much the same way.” Sunset sighed, looking defeated; her shoulders had slumped forward and her head hang low. “I destroyed all traces of who she was. And from the shattered remains of her mind, I built a new personality for her. One that would be completely subservient to me. It took me most of the remainder of that school year, but I did it.”
An oppressive silence fell over the room. Fluttershy had curled up on her chair, trying her best to hide behind her hair. Pinkie’s hair had deflated and now lay flat against her face. Rarity had wrapped her arms around herself and was gently shivering. Applejack and Rainbow Dash sat staring at their friend. Twilight stared down at the carpet, unable to look up at Sunset.
With a deep breath, Sunset continued. “For those two and a half years I kept her under my heel. I replaced her completely. I kept her inside the mansion while I went to school. It was easy enough passing her classes, I wasn’t Celestia’s personal student for nothing. And it was obvious she never had many friends. When that first school year ended, I made sure to transfer over to Canterlot High. I needed to be close to the portal for my plans. Back then, there wasn’t much to them, I spent much of those two years planning. Over the first summer I finally let her out of the basement. Mostly as a joke I made her wear a maid’s outfit as she cleaned the house and made food. I had so thoroughly broken her she was more than happy to do whatever I asked of her.”
Pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them, Sunset looked at her friends. “I did some absolutely horrible things to her over the years. If you really need to know, I’ll tell you, but I’d just as soon leave it all in the past.”
The silence once again fell over the group. It was a full minute before anyone spoke. “Where is she now?” Twilight asked.
“She’s got a routine. I’m pretty sure I know where she’ll be right now, we can go talk to her, if you want. And please, don’t push her too much. She’s happy to just clean and cook; She’s more afraid of upsetting me than anything.”
Twilight nodded her understanding. “Okay. I think we can handle that.” She turned to look at the rest of her friends. “Right?” The other five slowly nodded.
Sunset rose and walked to the door, motioning for the rest to follow. She had to take a deep breath to keep her voice under control. “She should be finishing clearing lunch.” A weak smile spread across Sunset’s face as they crossed the entryway. “Evening makes such wonderful tomato sandwiches,” she said, a little wistfully.
“Wait Evening?” Rainbow asked, confused. “Who’s that?”
Sunset stopped with her hand on the door knob. Swallowing back more tears, she replied. “In my arrogance and hate, I decided to strip even her name from her. Needing something to call her by, I gave her a new name: Evening Shine.” With that, Sunset pushed open the door to the kitchen.
Evening was on the far side of the large kitchen, putting away leftovers into the fridge. Even bent over as she was, she was unmistakably Sunset’s doppelganger. Her hair fell in the same red and gold waves down her back. She wore a simple monochromatic maid’s outfit. Quickly standing, Evening spun around, her whole face lighting up at the sight of Sunset. The biggest difference between the two was Evening’s skin; every inch was covered in scars to the point it was hard to tell where they ended and her undamaged skin began. Rarity gasped. “Mistress! Do you need anything? Are your friends here hungry? I can whip something up real fast for them.”
Sunset shook her head, having to force a smile. “No thank you dear. They just wanted to get a chance to meet you.”
Evening’s smile didn’t falter, although Sunset’s did. “Okay. Well, hi!” With almost the exuberance of Pinkie Pie, she bounded forward. Grabbing Twilight’s hand, she shook it energetically. “My name is Evening Shine. I’m here to take care of Mistress Shimmer. She’s been so kind to me.” Turning her head slightly, she gave Sunset a warm, loving smile.
A shudder ran through Sunset. “Girls? I’m going to step out to the bathroom. I’ll meet you back in the sitting room in a minute.” Applejack turned in time to see her slip out the door.
Evening’s face fell slightly, staring at the door Sunset had just left through. “She tries to hide it, but she’s often like this around me,” she explained. A small grimace flashed onto her face. “I figure the best thing I can do is just be as happy as I can be.” The contentment and love returned to her eyes. “She deserves so much more than I can give.” Turning back to the six girls still in the room she asked, “Mistress says you’ll be staying for dinner. Do you have any dietary requests?” The girls shook their head. “Alright. Well, it was nice meeting you all, but I must return to my chores.” With that, Evening returned to the fridge, humming to herself.
The six girls took a moment to collect themselves before slowly leaving. Just outside the door, slumped against the wall was Sunset. She had her knees pulled up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them. Her whole body shook with quiet sobs.
Twilight kneeled down next to her, wrapping an arm around her. “Sunset?”
It took a while for Twilight to coax the fiery haired girl out of her ball. “I’m sorry. The love and affection she looks at me with,” she trailed off, shaking her head. A few more tears tracked down her cheeks. After a minute or so more, Twilight was able to lead Sunset back to the sitting room, where they returned to their seats.
Rarity fidgeted slightly before opening her mouth. “Darling, I have to ask, why do you have her wear that?”
Sunset shook her head to clear it, looking up. “Oh, right, sorry. I’d kinda forgot. I’ve just gotten used to it.” Sunset looked past Rarity, up at the ceiling, unable to look at any of her friends. “Part of what I did to break her was,” Sunset had to pause and take a deep breath to keep her tears in check. Though she managed to continue keeping her voice calm, a few more tears slid their way down her face. “I sexually abused her more times than I can count.” Sunset blushed, though it quickly turned into a shame filled frown. “I kinda have a thing for a maid’s outfit, so, I put her in one for my enjoyment.”
“But why does she still wear it?” Rarity replied with a mixture of outrage and confusion. “Surely you don’t still-”
“NO!” Sunset’s outburst pulled the rest out of their stupor. “Of course not. She just loves it that much. I had to buy her a dozen of them so she would finally wash the first one. It’s the only thing she’ll wear. Again, entirely my fault. But like I said, she’s happy.” Sunset buried her face in her hands. “I’m just trying to do right by her. I’m done ordering her around for my convenience. It if makes her happy, who am I to say no?”
Applejack shook her head, standing. “Look, Sunset. Ah know you’ve changed an’ all. Ah get that. But this, Ah just don’t know. Ah’m sorry, but Ah have to go. Ah need to think on this.” Her face a mixture of emotions, Applejack left. The others watched as the door gently shut behind her.
Rainbow Dash was the next to move. She didn’t say anything, just walked over and helped Pinkie to her feet. “Come on, Pinkie,” she whispered as she pulled her party friend up. After a moment, she added to the rest, “I should get her out of here.” Half carrying her, Dash led Pinkie out. The four remaining girls stayed in their seats. Fluttershy had come out from behind her hair, but was not moving, save her hands wringing in her lap. Rarity could only stare at Sunset with a mixture of disbelief and fear. Twilight was staring at the floor, her expression unreadable.
With a deep sigh, Sunset stood. “Do you girls still want to stay the night? I understand if you want to leave.”
Twilight and Rarity shook their heads. “No, we’re here for you.” Rarity replied. Fluttershy simply sat, still staring off at the wall.
“I’ll go pull out the extra mattresses then,” Sunset whispered. She had to swallow back her tears. “I’ll be back in a few.”
Once the door had closed behind Sunset, Rarity spoke again. “Darling, are you feeling alright?” she asked of Fluttershy.
“Oh, I’m.... I don’t know.” Fluttershy’s voice was softer than usual, barely audible. “I mean, what she did was horrible, right? But she’s changed, we know that. And it’s not like she’s still doing any of it, in fact she’s trying to make amends. And we’re her friends, right? We should support her through dealing with this. But maybe she doesn’t want us involved, she didn’t tell us for so long. And what about the others? I don’t want this to end our friendships. I just don’t know.”
Rarity moved over to sit with and hold her shy friend. “It’s alright darling. I’m sure the others just need some time to come to terms with this, that’s all. I know I do. It’s a lot to take in.” Fluttershy nodded slowly before resting her head on Rarity’s shoulder. “But right now, Sunset needs us. We need to support her too.”
Silence fell over the three girls as they waited for Sunset to return. When she did, Twilight finally looked up from the floor. “Sunset, what was Princess Twilight’s thoughts on this?”
“When did the princess get involved in this?” Rarity asked, surprised.
“Applejack took a whole month to figure it out.” Twilight replied, locking eyes with Sunset. “I would have figured it out in a few days, but I’ve kinda been pre-occupied with what I did and learning about having friends. I’m sure it took the princess all of a few seconds after meeting me to figure out there had to be another Sunset, and to ask. So, what did she say?”
Barely holding back the tears that had been threatening to overflow all afternoon, Sunset collapsed into a chair. “You should understand first that Celestia gave her jurisdiction over this world. Not in everything obviously, but when it comes to magic. Since she’s the only other pony to have been here, it fits. And she’s a princess and all, so.” Sunset shrugged. “So, as the princess with jurisdiction over me in this matter, she had to pass sentence on me.” Sunset’s eyes unfocused, tears streaming down her face. “I have to take care of her. That’s my punishment.”
“That’s hardly-” Rarity, confused, began before Sunset cut her off.
“You don’t understand. In Equestria, there are only a few things that carry the penalty of death. Even cold blooded murder only gets you ten to twenty years hard labor. The death penalty is reserved for things like mass killings and serial killers. And even then, most of the time ponies have been given some other horrible punishment, like banishment or a life sentence. But for what I did, for the cruelty I visited upon her, no pony has received anything but execution. I am the only being bound by Equestrian law to not be executed for what I did. Twilight knew I was trying my best, so she showed me mercy in her judgement. I honestly expected her to strike me down then and there, and was prepared for it. But she didn’t, instead giving me a sentencing of her own design.
“First, for the rest of our natural lives, I have to fully provide for Evening. I have to ensure that she is comfortable and happy. All so that I can never forget what it is I did to her. I begged Twilight to erase my memories of what I did.” The tears Sunset had been holding back all afternoon finally won out, and began to freely fall from Sunset’s cheeks. Her voice wavered before breaking too, her words now coming out in heaving sobs. “To let me forget those horrors. She refused. She said that it would be painful, but she was obligated to appropriately punish me for what I did.
“Second, I have officially been banished from Equestria. The furthest I’m allowed is whatever room the portal is in, and only when Twilight gives approval. It’s like a visiting room. I can never go home and see my family again.” Rarity slowly closed her mouth, which had fallen open during Sunset’s explanation. Fluttershy ran over and threw her arms around Sunset, holding her tight.
“Why would she do something like that?” Rarity asked. “I thought Princess Twilight was nicer than that.”
“Believe me, she could have done a lot worse. And she is normally kind. But she’s also a princess, and has to hand out punishments as befit the crime. I broke a serious Equestrian law, and I’m sure a number of human laws too. Since this can’t really be handled by anyone on this side, she had to.” With the back of her sleeve, Sunset wiped the tears from her face. “I’ve accepted my punishment with grace, and will suffer it.”
Author's Note
For those of you not familiar with the idea, here is the TV Tropes page: Death of Personality
