The Sun Sets on Motherhoodby Sudrian EngineerChaptersGraduation DayPreperations for a ReturnNo Place Like HomeA Party and A Special WishGraduation Day“Rarity Belle,” Principal Celestia called as she read off the list of names saying who would be graduating that day. Rarity walked onto the stage, shook hands with Celestia and Luna, who gave her a diploma, and walked back to her seat as all student before her had done and all students after will do. “Rainbow Dash,” Celestia continued as she went down the list. As she read, everything seemed normal. However, something strange happened. Sunset Shimmer, who was sitting with her friends, had a very confused look as she listened to Celestia speak. “They skipped me,” she said to herself. “What was that darling,” Rarity asked as she sat back down in her chair. “My name comes before Trixie’s, but they just called her,” She replied sadly. “Maybe I failed the tests and won’t be graduating with you girls.” Rainbow, who had just returned to her seat, spoke next. “Not a chance Sun Shim, your had all A’s this year. You must haves passed all your tests.” “Maybe they won’t let me cause of all the trouble I caused,” Sunset said, her worry growing as her mind raced with hundreds of possibilities. Twilight, the human one, had just sat back down and was about to speak when Principal Celestia spoke again. “Every year, for the senior class, we ask the teachers to vote for the one student they think has improved the most. This year, for the very first time, the voting ended with a unanimous decision, This class’ most improved student is... SUSNET SHIMMER. Please come up to the stage to accept your diploma, certificate, and if you are ok with it, give a short speech.” After she finished speaking, the auditorium erupted in applaise and cheers, the loudest of all coming from Sunset’s closest friends as she stood up and walked to the stage, blushing deeply at all the attention. Slowly she made her way to the stage, upon reaching it, she shook hands with both principals and walk to the microphone. “Hello Everyone,” she began, looking at the crowd, “I honestly have no idea what to say, and honestly, I don’t think I cam say everything I am feeling right now. I know my friends and I are supoose to preform at the end of the ceremony, but if it is ok with the staff, there is a song I wrote that fits how I feel perfectly.” The crowd started to chant, “SING! SING! SING!” This caused Principal Celestia to nod at Sunset with a smile. The rest of The Rainbooms stood up and came to the stage, grabbing their instuments. Sunset whispered to each of them, letting them know what song she was gonna sing, then she moved the podium on center stage and held the mic, waiting for the band to start the song. Rainbow started to play a soft guitar riff the others adding a slight beat to the riff. Sunset: Power Was all I desired (I desired, all I desired) But all that grewinside me Was the darkness I acquired When I began to fall And I lost the path ahead That's when your friendship found me And it lifted me instead Like a phoenix burning bright In the sky I'll show there's another side to me You can't deny Rainbooms too: I may not know what the future holds But hear me when I say That my past does not define me 'Cause my past is not today Sunset: Ambition Is what I believed Would be the only way To set me free But when it disappeared And I found myself alone That's when you came and got me And it felt like I was home Like a phoenix burning bright In the sky I'll show there's another side to me You can't deny Rainbooms too: I may not know what the future holds But hear me when I say That my past does not define me 'Cause my past is not today As she finished singing, Sunset look out at the crowd, nervous at the possibility of a negative reaction. However, as she closed her eye and waited for, what she thought was, the inevitable of a booing audience, she was plesently surprised with tons if cheers, amazed at how much everyone, even the staff, enjoyed her song. As the cheering continued, she cleared her through loudly, grabbing their attention, causing the cheering to stop. “Thank you so much everyone, this means so much to me.” She started, smiling exceptionally widely. “When I first arrived to this world, I was filled with many negative emations, and a desire to become the most powerful. However, after that fatefull Fall Formal, my outlooked changed and I have since strived to be the best friend I could be. I sincerly hope that, aside from a few bumps, namely a certain event around Christmas, I have proven I am a changed individual and am proud to call myself a student of CHS.” Sunset nodded at herself and her friends as they walked off the stage and back to their seats, applause following the ending of her speech. Once she reached it, Principal Celestia started to speak again. "Thank you Sunset for that wonderful song and speech, now students the time has come. You may now celebrate because senior students of CHS, you are officially graduated." The students all cheered and threw their hats into the air, largely welcoming their achomplishments and having tremendous fun. Throughout the rest of the day, Sunset and the girls went to various locations having fun, but at almost every location, one or two would noticed Sunset seemed distracted, her mind in the clouds. Finally, at the end of the day, while enjoying a sleepover at Pinkie's house, Rarity had enough and asked her the million dollar question. "Sunset darling, are you ok? Ever since the ceremony earlier you have seemed distracted." The others looked at her and nodded, agreeing with Rarity. Sunset looked at then and had a nervous yet calm smile. "Sorry girls, That speech Celestia gave before they began calling names really got to me, how she mentioned home and the fact that family will welcome you no matter what. It really made me think of Equestria, and how much I miss it." She sighed heavily, a few tears leaking from her eyes and prompting the other girls to hug her. "Relax, Sunny Bunny," Pinkie said, her usuall happy grin seemingly gaining a trace of seriousness. "Your so super duper fun that you always make good choices." She giggles and Sunset nods agreeing with her. "Yes, You seem to be very good at decision making, statistically speaking." Twilight added, smiling happily as she looked at Sunset "Darn Tootin, how else would we have defeated all thoes villians if ya weren't so smart." AJ agreed, wanting to try and help cheer her up. "You know what girls, your right, I am am smart, and I do make great choices," she said extremely confidently. "In fact, I just made a decision right now. Girls, I'm going home to Equestria!!" Author's Note This is the first story I have done almost 100% solo and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Preperations for a ReturnThe next day, Sunset started to prepare, of course, starting with telling Princess Twilight about her plans, the following message being written in the journal: Dear Twilight, How have you been? Things are ok here, but well, I have a request, can you possibly ask Princess Celestia if she would be willing to meet with me in your castle? Graduation was yesterday and well, thanks to some of the things said, and some encouragment from our friends, I feel like I am ready to make amends with her. Sincerly, Sunset Shimmer. A little while later, the book glowed and vibrated, alerting Sunset that the Princess of Friendship had replied. Her message was as follows: Dear Sunset, Things have been going well. I’m so glad you’ve decided to come back. I’ll send Princess Celestia an invitation right away. This gave the bacon-haired girl a smile as she continied to pack items of sentimemtal value. Of course, not everything in her mind was all sunshine and rainbows. The night before, she had a nightmare of what could happen when Celestia and her met. “I am very disappointed in you,” the dream version of the solar princess had said, “You clearly only returned to try and surpase me.” Sunset tried to prove she had changed but the dream’s Celestia would hear none of it and sent her to be executed for her crimes against Equestria. In her heart, the yellow-skinned teen knew that would never happen, but that didn’t stop her dream from entering her mind again as she finished packing. “That would never happen,” She said to herself, “Princess Celestia is very kind amd Twilight has told me many times about how much she seems to worry about me.” She then too a deep breath and her phone buzzed, it was Pinkie, inviting her to the cafe they always hung out at. Sunset replied that she would and set her phone down. The last thing the girl did before leaving her apartment was look around it one last time, remembering everything that had happened to her and the girls. She smiled, a few tears in her eyes as she gave the keys to the owner of her complex, and started down the road, pulling her wheeled suitcases behind her. A short time later she arrived at the cafe but noticed the lights were out. She had a suspision of what might be going on, but was still slightly confused as she opened the door. “Hello, anyone here?,” she called into the dark room, trying to look around. Suddenly, the lights came on amd there was a shout of, “SURPRISE!!” Sunset smiled in surprise as she looked at her friends, aside from the Humane 6, Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna were there, as well as Spike the Dog. She walked fully into the cafe, leaving her bags by the door, she hugged each of the people, and pet, present. “Thank you so much everyone, this is a very nice surprise indeed.” The other smiled, feeling happy that they were able to surprise here. “You are quite welcome darling,” Rarity replied “T’ain’t no problem, pardner,” AJ added, her country charm making Sunset smile. As the party progressed, they group had fun, talking about their memories, adventires, and so much more. Soon though, it was time for Sunset to go. The group had sad smiles and made their way to CHS and the portal. After she pushed her luggage through the portal, she turned to face the group, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “Well everyone,” she started, “This is it, I will try to visit regularly, but that may be hard if I am thrown in a dungeon or banisished from Equestria for my crimes.” By this point, she was fully crying, then Principal Celestia walked up. “If she is as much like me as you suggest, I am sure the Princess will forgive you and, she most likely missed you very badly dear Sunset.” This caused said teen to smile, but Celestia wasn’t done. “Luna and I would like to give you this so you will always remember your time here.” Vice-Principal Luna handed Sunset a box which was quickly opened. Inside, a picture of Sunset giving her speech at Graduation lay in a yellow and red trimmed picture frame, but that was not all. The other item was a seemingly normal pin, but when the girls saw it, they gasped. The pin was small and simple. It only consisted of the Wondercolt logo and was made of silver. It was the inscription however, that made the object very special. Wondercolt of The Year was engraved onto the pin, said title only being given to the student the Teachers deemed the best of the year. This gift caused a fresh wave of tears to come to Sunset’s eyes as she hugged the two adults, thanking them for all that they had done for her. Next, was Spike the Dog, he ran twords her and jumped into her arms, causing the teen to laugh and giggle. Once he finished, he spoke, “Ms. Sunset, thank you for being friends with Twilight. She worried me alot with how closed in she was, but when you became her friend, you changed that.” The pup went on to lick her more before running after a squirrel, causing laughter to spread through the group. Soon enough, however, the goodbye she dreaded most arrived, her best friends. “Well girls, I guess this is it, I am gonna miss you guys so so much.” The tears in Sunset’s eyes returned as Pinkie walked up, her hair poofy but a frown on her face. “Each one of us got you a gift, to help remember us by,” she said, pulling out a box with pink wrapping. Inside was what appeared to be a cupcake, but upon further inspection, it was revealed to be a wooden model. The “cupcake” appeared to be Red Velvet, Sunset’s favorite, with yellow and red frosting and little decorations in the shape of her cutie mark. “Just soemthing to help you remember all the parties we had Sunny,” Pinkie added, giving a hug and stepping back. Next was the country girl herself, “Well Partner, it has been quite an adventure, been great knowing ya, and I hope you will keep in touch somehow.” She presented the Equestrian with a box wrapped in orange. Inside, lay a clay model of an apple, said item having Sweet Apple Acre’s logo. As the other girls presented their gifts, Sunset gave each a hug. Finally, they all walked up, a large book in Twilight’s hands. “This last one is from all of us,” she stated, “we wanted you to know just how much you mean to us.” The book, Sunset realized, was a scrapbook, full of not only pictures, but items and notes the girls wanted her to have. She flipped through a few of the pages but then simple set it on the ground and spread her arms wide, the Rainbooms embracing her in a final hug. “I will miss all of you so much, each one of you has done so much to help me, some things you did seemed small at the time, but grew to so much more, so thank you girls, you are truely the best friends a girl could ask for.” She slowly pulled away from the hug and pushed the gifts through the portal. After one last smile and look at her friends, she stepped through, her vision going blurry and colorful. No Place Like HomeSunset felt her body twist and contort as she was slowly being turned back into a pony. Her eyes will filled with bright colors, and she was very dizzy. Thankfully this didn't last long and she came out of the other end. Still mentally in human mode, she was on her hind legs and tried to walk. However, due to being a pony now, when she took a step, she nearly fell over, thankfully Twilight ran over and caught her in a hug before she hit the ground. "Sunset! I am so glad your here," Twilight said as she smiled at the yellow coated mare. Sunset smiled back and laughed, "I am glad too, to be honest, I missed being a pony alot." The mare smiled for a moment, before taking a deep breath and sighing. "I am ready whenever Princess Celestia arrives, Twilight." The purole mare nodded, understanding Sunset's change in mood, a small smile still on the Alicorn's face as she spoke. "She is already here actually, she is in the map room, waiting for you, allow me to take you there." Sunset nodded and trotted along behind Twilight, mentally panicing as she worried what Princess Celestia would say. Many senerios ran through her mind, none of them good, and most resulting in her being banished from Equestria. Soon, however, a small smile came to her as she remembered what the other Celestia had told her. 'No matter what,' she thought to herself, 'I will accept whatever punishment she gives me with dignity and respect.' With new found hooe and acceptance, she smiled bravely and followed Twilight to the Map Room doors. Once they arrived, the purple princess spoke, "She is in this room waiting for you." Keeping her brave smile, Sunset nodded and pushed the door open, walking in silently, trying her best not to shake in fear. Soon enough, she fully saw Celestia and almost broke down sobbing, wanting desperatly to start apologizing profusely. Instead, however, she simply sat down in a chair across from the sun princess and spoke. "H-hello Princess Celestia." Saod alicorn seemed to make no response and they sat in silence for a bit. "Sunset Shimmer," Celestia finally began, "It has been a long time since I have seen you." Sunset nodded, "Yes," she replied, "It has, I have returned and want to ask for forgivness. I understand if you don't want to, I know I used to be a rotten, rude, rebellious filly. I don't deserve forgiveness and..." As she continued to speak, her defenses began to crumble. First a leg twitch and drops of water leaking from her eyes. Next, she fully sat, a steady stream of tears flowing out. Finally, she had fully collapsed to the ground, bawling profusely as she ranted about how horrible of a pony she used to be. Celestia, after having her own defenses fail, lifted Sunset up in a levitation spell and pulled the mare close, hugging her as a Mom would their Child. She stroked the unicorn's main gently, starting to speak calmly to her. "My dear Sunset, I have missed you very much. Yes, it is true you were not the best student, but I failed you in a way much greater than they way you think you failed me." "Wh-what do you mean Princess?" Sunset asked, confused. "I ran away and tried to take over Equestria." The Princess felt tears of her own begin to fall as she answered. "I have failded you as a teacher. I neglected your faults in hopes that they would vanish. I showed you things before you were read, and, worst of all, I failed to help you when you needed it most." "B-but, but, I made you be in a position that you COULDN'T help me, and never accepted the help you did attempt to provide..." Celestia simply shook her head and sighed. "That may be true, but as your teacher, or more accuratly, your caregiver, I should habe made time for you and done things to help, can you forgive me?" Sunset nodded tearfully, whimpering an answer. "O-only of you can forgive me." The two stayed in a hugging position for a good amount of time, neither wanting to let go. Soon, theu did let go though, still sharing a similar, tearful, smile. However, Celestia still had more to discuss with Sunset. "There is one last question I ask Sunset. but it needs some explanation first." Sunset nodded, looking at the princess, who took it as a sign to continue. "When you first became my student, I knew you had no parents, and, as you may remember, signed some papers to make you an official resident of the castle." At this, Sunset nodded, remembering the event. "Since that day, I had done, what I thought was, my best to be like a caregiver to you and help you, Obviously I wasn't that good..." Both shared a small laugh before Celestia went on. "I had always had a plan since that day, and was going to enact it on your birthday one year... the year you ran through the portal." Sunset gasped and teared up again. "You returning has proven to me that I still want to do it, so here goes." She pulled out some papers and set them on the table, "Sunset Shimmer. will you allow me to make up for my mistakes and become your mother?" Sunset gasped again, tearing up more as the weight of what Celestia asked hit her fully. With a large smile, she took the quill and signed the papers, wrapping the sun princess in a tight hug afterwards. The pair cried again, even happier tears than before, embracing in a much longer hug this time. Twilight, meanwhile, who had heard everything, smiled and got an idea. Quickly, she dashed out of the castle and down the main street of Ponyville. Her smile proceeded to grow bigger as she began to the the brown and white room of a familier bakery... It was time for a party. Author's Note I am SO SO sorry for how long this took... Life has been finding more and more ways to mess with me. I PROMISE the next chapter will be out much quicker and I thank you all for continued support. A Party and A Special WishMeanwhile, at Sugarcube Corner, a certain pink mare was busy baking and gathering supplies for the party. Twilight walked in, and was about to speak, but was interrupted by Pinkie Pie bouncing over and hugging her. "EEEEEK I am SO excited for the Yay, Sunset is back and Celestia adopted her party." The lavender alicorn was about to ask Pinkie how she already knew, but changed her mind, shivering as the remembered the Pinkie Sense incident. "Sounds good Pinkie," she replied, smiling as she continued. "I can go tell the other girls, since this is a spur of the moment party." At the party pony's nod, Twilight teleported away, telling the pony versions of Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy. As she teleported to each place, she made sure to teleport a bit away from each pony, as to not scare them. On some of her first uses of the teleportation spell, she had appeared directly in front of the ponies, and gave them quite a scare. Once the Princess of Friendship had told her closest friends about the party, she headed back to the castle, wanting to check on the Sun Princess and her new daughter. As she arrived, she heard laughter coming from the room the pair had been in when she left. Getting closer, she began to hear Sunset speaking between laughs, causing a smile to appear on Twilight's face. "So, there I am, painting calmly, when she bursts in, excited as usual," she heard the amber unicorn start to say. "She starts painting her canvas, splashing me with various shades of yellow, orange, and red. Finally, she finishes and, when I look over, she somehow painted a picture of me." Celestia giggled a bit and was about to reply, but Twilight walked in at that moment and blushed before speaking. "I hope I am not interrupting anything..." "Not at all," the regal white alicorn stated, "Sunset and I were just talking about some of her experiences in the other world." "Well, if it is ok with her, thoes stories will have to wait untill later." Sunset blinked in confusion before replying, "What do you mean Twilight?" "Well, I may or may not have asked Pinkie to throw a party for you two." Princess Celestia smiled, even giving a small laugh. "It has been a while since I enjoyed a party thrown by the Element of Laughter, it should be quite fun," she replied in joy. Sunset had a more nervous smile, a bit worried, nd voiced her concerns as such. "Is that the best idea? What if your friends think I am still evil Twilight?" The purple alicorn just gave Sunset a hug and replied, "I have been telling them of your adventures, they know you are reformed, and have been for a while." This made the bacon haired mare less nervous and her new smile reflected it. Soon, Pinkie and the others arrived, the party soon in full swing. At various times, Sunset told stories of events from the workd beyone the mirror, from helping Sci-Twi, to saving Camp Everfree. One such thing, however, caught Celestia's attention. "Sunset," she began, "You say there were seven gems, and they helped you save the day?." The unicorn nodded, walking to her saddlebag looking for hers. Weirdly, as soon as she brought it to the group, it glowed for a moment. Suddenly, it flashed brightly and, when said light faded, it was no longer a gem on a string, but a necklace with a sun shaped gem in the middle, much like what the Elements of Harmony used to look like. At this, Celestia had a wide smile and began to speak again. "I thought as much, congratulations Sunset, you are now the Element of Forgivness." The girls were all confused at first, but Celestia continued, "It is true I only used 6 elements back when I was forced to send Luna to the moon, which is why only 6 were claimed to be known. However, there was a 7th that Luna and I hadn't been able to activate. We obviously found the 6 we knew seemed to work, but the 7th remained a mystery, untill now. After hearing how you discovered said gemstone, and all your exploits, it is clear what this element represents. Sunset began to tear up a bit, emotionally taxed by this reveal. "I, I never expected this, thank you your highness," she said. Soon, it was decided they needed to go to the Tree of Harmony, and so they did. As soon as they arrived, they watched in awe as the tree began to grow a new branch, a sun shaped gem hole in said new limb. Sunset took the gem out of her necklace and took a deep breath. She levitated the gem into it's spot and smiled. Soon, they returned to the party and, that night, she wrote a message to her mirror world friends, explaining what had happened that day. As time went on, she got reaclimated to Equestria, and lived in peace. Little did she know, her life would soon be thrown another curveball... ***Meanwhile, in a different world*** In the heart of the Southeast, in the peach state to be specific, there was a small orphanage on the outskirts of a small town. It was rather run down, and not run that well. The owner was a frail old woman who loved the kids in the home, but was stuck at home due to her age. Her children, sadly, were only in it for the money, and couldn't care less about how the orphans were treated. While not extremely abusive, they didn't hesitate to slap, spank, and sometimes beat, the "guests" when they did something the owner's children considered bad or wrong. One such resident was a 6-year-old named Matthew Hope. Now, you may think I am going to say he was a perfect little boy who never did wrong. The fact is, however, he isn't, he has Autism and can get angry easily. A few times he fought other kids, but he did do his best to behave. His only posessions were a set of 26 books, known as The Railway Series and a stuffed bunny that he named Mr. Cuddles. This paricular night, he was in his bed, looking at the stars, thinking about himself. As he stared, he made a choice, not knowing it would change his life for the better. He looked t9 the brightest star he could find, and closed his eyes. "I wish," he began, "I wish to have a mom that loves me even when I get upset and understands who I am." Soon, he fell asleep, dreaming of a mom, not knowing what was happening in another land. Author's Note *Insert excuse for the long gap and apology here* But seriously. I AM sorry everyone... hope some people are still reading... I PROMISE the next chapter will be out sooner.
Graduation Day“Rarity Belle,” Principal Celestia called as she read off the list of names saying who would be graduating that day. Rarity walked onto the stage, shook hands with Celestia and Luna, who gave her a diploma, and walked back to her seat as all student before her had done and all students after will do. “Rainbow Dash,” Celestia continued as she went down the list. As she read, everything seemed normal. However, something strange happened. Sunset Shimmer, who was sitting with her friends, had a very confused look as she listened to Celestia speak. “They skipped me,” she said to herself. “What was that darling,” Rarity asked as she sat back down in her chair. “My name comes before Trixie’s, but they just called her,” She replied sadly. “Maybe I failed the tests and won’t be graduating with you girls.” Rainbow, who had just returned to her seat, spoke next. “Not a chance Sun Shim, your had all A’s this year. You must haves passed all your tests.” “Maybe they won’t let me cause of all the trouble I caused,” Sunset said, her worry growing as her mind raced with hundreds of possibilities. Twilight, the human one, had just sat back down and was about to speak when Principal Celestia spoke again. “Every year, for the senior class, we ask the teachers to vote for the one student they think has improved the most. This year, for the very first time, the voting ended with a unanimous decision, This class’ most improved student is... SUSNET SHIMMER. Please come up to the stage to accept your diploma, certificate, and if you are ok with it, give a short speech.” After she finished speaking, the auditorium erupted in applaise and cheers, the loudest of all coming from Sunset’s closest friends as she stood up and walked to the stage, blushing deeply at all the attention. Slowly she made her way to the stage, upon reaching it, she shook hands with both principals and walk to the microphone. “Hello Everyone,” she began, looking at the crowd, “I honestly have no idea what to say, and honestly, I don’t think I cam say everything I am feeling right now. I know my friends and I are supoose to preform at the end of the ceremony, but if it is ok with the staff, there is a song I wrote that fits how I feel perfectly.” The crowd started to chant, “SING! SING! SING!” This caused Principal Celestia to nod at Sunset with a smile. The rest of The Rainbooms stood up and came to the stage, grabbing their instuments. Sunset whispered to each of them, letting them know what song she was gonna sing, then she moved the podium on center stage and held the mic, waiting for the band to start the song. Rainbow started to play a soft guitar riff the others adding a slight beat to the riff. Sunset: Power Was all I desired (I desired, all I desired) But all that grewinside me Was the darkness I acquired When I began to fall And I lost the path ahead That's when your friendship found me And it lifted me instead Like a phoenix burning bright In the sky I'll show there's another side to me You can't deny Rainbooms too: I may not know what the future holds But hear me when I say That my past does not define me 'Cause my past is not today Sunset: Ambition Is what I believed Would be the only way To set me free But when it disappeared And I found myself alone That's when you came and got me And it felt like I was home Like a phoenix burning bright In the sky I'll show there's another side to me You can't deny Rainbooms too: I may not know what the future holds But hear me when I say That my past does not define me 'Cause my past is not today As she finished singing, Sunset look out at the crowd, nervous at the possibility of a negative reaction. However, as she closed her eye and waited for, what she thought was, the inevitable of a booing audience, she was plesently surprised with tons if cheers, amazed at how much everyone, even the staff, enjoyed her song. As the cheering continued, she cleared her through loudly, grabbing their attention, causing the cheering to stop. “Thank you so much everyone, this means so much to me.” She started, smiling exceptionally widely. “When I first arrived to this world, I was filled with many negative emations, and a desire to become the most powerful. However, after that fatefull Fall Formal, my outlooked changed and I have since strived to be the best friend I could be. I sincerly hope that, aside from a few bumps, namely a certain event around Christmas, I have proven I am a changed individual and am proud to call myself a student of CHS.” Sunset nodded at herself and her friends as they walked off the stage and back to their seats, applause following the ending of her speech. Once she reached it, Principal Celestia started to speak again. "Thank you Sunset for that wonderful song and speech, now students the time has come. You may now celebrate because senior students of CHS, you are officially graduated." The students all cheered and threw their hats into the air, largely welcoming their achomplishments and having tremendous fun. Throughout the rest of the day, Sunset and the girls went to various locations having fun, but at almost every location, one or two would noticed Sunset seemed distracted, her mind in the clouds. Finally, at the end of the day, while enjoying a sleepover at Pinkie's house, Rarity had enough and asked her the million dollar question. "Sunset darling, are you ok? Ever since the ceremony earlier you have seemed distracted." The others looked at her and nodded, agreeing with Rarity. Sunset looked at then and had a nervous yet calm smile. "Sorry girls, That speech Celestia gave before they began calling names really got to me, how she mentioned home and the fact that family will welcome you no matter what. It really made me think of Equestria, and how much I miss it." She sighed heavily, a few tears leaking from her eyes and prompting the other girls to hug her. "Relax, Sunny Bunny," Pinkie said, her usuall happy grin seemingly gaining a trace of seriousness. "Your so super duper fun that you always make good choices." She giggles and Sunset nods agreeing with her. "Yes, You seem to be very good at decision making, statistically speaking." Twilight added, smiling happily as she looked at Sunset "Darn Tootin, how else would we have defeated all thoes villians if ya weren't so smart." AJ agreed, wanting to try and help cheer her up. "You know what girls, your right, I am am smart, and I do make great choices," she said extremely confidently. "In fact, I just made a decision right now. Girls, I'm going home to Equestria!!" Author's Note This is the first story I have done almost 100% solo and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter.
Preperations for a ReturnThe next day, Sunset started to prepare, of course, starting with telling Princess Twilight about her plans, the following message being written in the journal: Dear Twilight, How have you been? Things are ok here, but well, I have a request, can you possibly ask Princess Celestia if she would be willing to meet with me in your castle? Graduation was yesterday and well, thanks to some of the things said, and some encouragment from our friends, I feel like I am ready to make amends with her. Sincerly, Sunset Shimmer. A little while later, the book glowed and vibrated, alerting Sunset that the Princess of Friendship had replied. Her message was as follows: Dear Sunset, Things have been going well. I’m so glad you’ve decided to come back. I’ll send Princess Celestia an invitation right away. This gave the bacon-haired girl a smile as she continied to pack items of sentimemtal value. Of course, not everything in her mind was all sunshine and rainbows. The night before, she had a nightmare of what could happen when Celestia and her met. “I am very disappointed in you,” the dream version of the solar princess had said, “You clearly only returned to try and surpase me.” Sunset tried to prove she had changed but the dream’s Celestia would hear none of it and sent her to be executed for her crimes against Equestria. In her heart, the yellow-skinned teen knew that would never happen, but that didn’t stop her dream from entering her mind again as she finished packing. “That would never happen,” She said to herself, “Princess Celestia is very kind amd Twilight has told me many times about how much she seems to worry about me.” She then too a deep breath and her phone buzzed, it was Pinkie, inviting her to the cafe they always hung out at. Sunset replied that she would and set her phone down. The last thing the girl did before leaving her apartment was look around it one last time, remembering everything that had happened to her and the girls. She smiled, a few tears in her eyes as she gave the keys to the owner of her complex, and started down the road, pulling her wheeled suitcases behind her. A short time later she arrived at the cafe but noticed the lights were out. She had a suspision of what might be going on, but was still slightly confused as she opened the door. “Hello, anyone here?,” she called into the dark room, trying to look around. Suddenly, the lights came on amd there was a shout of, “SURPRISE!!” Sunset smiled in surprise as she looked at her friends, aside from the Humane 6, Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna were there, as well as Spike the Dog. She walked fully into the cafe, leaving her bags by the door, she hugged each of the people, and pet, present. “Thank you so much everyone, this is a very nice surprise indeed.” The other smiled, feeling happy that they were able to surprise here. “You are quite welcome darling,” Rarity replied “T’ain’t no problem, pardner,” AJ added, her country charm making Sunset smile. As the party progressed, they group had fun, talking about their memories, adventires, and so much more. Soon though, it was time for Sunset to go. The group had sad smiles and made their way to CHS and the portal. After she pushed her luggage through the portal, she turned to face the group, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “Well everyone,” she started, “This is it, I will try to visit regularly, but that may be hard if I am thrown in a dungeon or banisished from Equestria for my crimes.” By this point, she was fully crying, then Principal Celestia walked up. “If she is as much like me as you suggest, I am sure the Princess will forgive you and, she most likely missed you very badly dear Sunset.” This caused said teen to smile, but Celestia wasn’t done. “Luna and I would like to give you this so you will always remember your time here.” Vice-Principal Luna handed Sunset a box which was quickly opened. Inside, a picture of Sunset giving her speech at Graduation lay in a yellow and red trimmed picture frame, but that was not all. The other item was a seemingly normal pin, but when the girls saw it, they gasped. The pin was small and simple. It only consisted of the Wondercolt logo and was made of silver. It was the inscription however, that made the object very special. Wondercolt of The Year was engraved onto the pin, said title only being given to the student the Teachers deemed the best of the year. This gift caused a fresh wave of tears to come to Sunset’s eyes as she hugged the two adults, thanking them for all that they had done for her. Next, was Spike the Dog, he ran twords her and jumped into her arms, causing the teen to laugh and giggle. Once he finished, he spoke, “Ms. Sunset, thank you for being friends with Twilight. She worried me alot with how closed in she was, but when you became her friend, you changed that.” The pup went on to lick her more before running after a squirrel, causing laughter to spread through the group. Soon enough, however, the goodbye she dreaded most arrived, her best friends. “Well girls, I guess this is it, I am gonna miss you guys so so much.” The tears in Sunset’s eyes returned as Pinkie walked up, her hair poofy but a frown on her face. “Each one of us got you a gift, to help remember us by,” she said, pulling out a box with pink wrapping. Inside was what appeared to be a cupcake, but upon further inspection, it was revealed to be a wooden model. The “cupcake” appeared to be Red Velvet, Sunset’s favorite, with yellow and red frosting and little decorations in the shape of her cutie mark. “Just soemthing to help you remember all the parties we had Sunny,” Pinkie added, giving a hug and stepping back. Next was the country girl herself, “Well Partner, it has been quite an adventure, been great knowing ya, and I hope you will keep in touch somehow.” She presented the Equestrian with a box wrapped in orange. Inside, lay a clay model of an apple, said item having Sweet Apple Acre’s logo. As the other girls presented their gifts, Sunset gave each a hug. Finally, they all walked up, a large book in Twilight’s hands. “This last one is from all of us,” she stated, “we wanted you to know just how much you mean to us.” The book, Sunset realized, was a scrapbook, full of not only pictures, but items and notes the girls wanted her to have. She flipped through a few of the pages but then simple set it on the ground and spread her arms wide, the Rainbooms embracing her in a final hug. “I will miss all of you so much, each one of you has done so much to help me, some things you did seemed small at the time, but grew to so much more, so thank you girls, you are truely the best friends a girl could ask for.” She slowly pulled away from the hug and pushed the gifts through the portal. After one last smile and look at her friends, she stepped through, her vision going blurry and colorful.
No Place Like HomeSunset felt her body twist and contort as she was slowly being turned back into a pony. Her eyes will filled with bright colors, and she was very dizzy. Thankfully this didn't last long and she came out of the other end. Still mentally in human mode, she was on her hind legs and tried to walk. However, due to being a pony now, when she took a step, she nearly fell over, thankfully Twilight ran over and caught her in a hug before she hit the ground. "Sunset! I am so glad your here," Twilight said as she smiled at the yellow coated mare. Sunset smiled back and laughed, "I am glad too, to be honest, I missed being a pony alot." The mare smiled for a moment, before taking a deep breath and sighing. "I am ready whenever Princess Celestia arrives, Twilight." The purole mare nodded, understanding Sunset's change in mood, a small smile still on the Alicorn's face as she spoke. "She is already here actually, she is in the map room, waiting for you, allow me to take you there." Sunset nodded and trotted along behind Twilight, mentally panicing as she worried what Princess Celestia would say. Many senerios ran through her mind, none of them good, and most resulting in her being banished from Equestria. Soon, however, a small smile came to her as she remembered what the other Celestia had told her. 'No matter what,' she thought to herself, 'I will accept whatever punishment she gives me with dignity and respect.' With new found hooe and acceptance, she smiled bravely and followed Twilight to the Map Room doors. Once they arrived, the purple princess spoke, "She is in this room waiting for you." Keeping her brave smile, Sunset nodded and pushed the door open, walking in silently, trying her best not to shake in fear. Soon enough, she fully saw Celestia and almost broke down sobbing, wanting desperatly to start apologizing profusely. Instead, however, she simply sat down in a chair across from the sun princess and spoke. "H-hello Princess Celestia." Saod alicorn seemed to make no response and they sat in silence for a bit. "Sunset Shimmer," Celestia finally began, "It has been a long time since I have seen you." Sunset nodded, "Yes," she replied, "It has, I have returned and want to ask for forgivness. I understand if you don't want to, I know I used to be a rotten, rude, rebellious filly. I don't deserve forgiveness and..." As she continued to speak, her defenses began to crumble. First a leg twitch and drops of water leaking from her eyes. Next, she fully sat, a steady stream of tears flowing out. Finally, she had fully collapsed to the ground, bawling profusely as she ranted about how horrible of a pony she used to be. Celestia, after having her own defenses fail, lifted Sunset up in a levitation spell and pulled the mare close, hugging her as a Mom would their Child. She stroked the unicorn's main gently, starting to speak calmly to her. "My dear Sunset, I have missed you very much. Yes, it is true you were not the best student, but I failed you in a way much greater than they way you think you failed me." "Wh-what do you mean Princess?" Sunset asked, confused. "I ran away and tried to take over Equestria." The Princess felt tears of her own begin to fall as she answered. "I have failded you as a teacher. I neglected your faults in hopes that they would vanish. I showed you things before you were read, and, worst of all, I failed to help you when you needed it most." "B-but, but, I made you be in a position that you COULDN'T help me, and never accepted the help you did attempt to provide..." Celestia simply shook her head and sighed. "That may be true, but as your teacher, or more accuratly, your caregiver, I should habe made time for you and done things to help, can you forgive me?" Sunset nodded tearfully, whimpering an answer. "O-only of you can forgive me." The two stayed in a hugging position for a good amount of time, neither wanting to let go. Soon, theu did let go though, still sharing a similar, tearful, smile. However, Celestia still had more to discuss with Sunset. "There is one last question I ask Sunset. but it needs some explanation first." Sunset nodded, looking at the princess, who took it as a sign to continue. "When you first became my student, I knew you had no parents, and, as you may remember, signed some papers to make you an official resident of the castle." At this, Sunset nodded, remembering the event. "Since that day, I had done, what I thought was, my best to be like a caregiver to you and help you, Obviously I wasn't that good..." Both shared a small laugh before Celestia went on. "I had always had a plan since that day, and was going to enact it on your birthday one year... the year you ran through the portal." Sunset gasped and teared up again. "You returning has proven to me that I still want to do it, so here goes." She pulled out some papers and set them on the table, "Sunset Shimmer. will you allow me to make up for my mistakes and become your mother?" Sunset gasped again, tearing up more as the weight of what Celestia asked hit her fully. With a large smile, she took the quill and signed the papers, wrapping the sun princess in a tight hug afterwards. The pair cried again, even happier tears than before, embracing in a much longer hug this time. Twilight, meanwhile, who had heard everything, smiled and got an idea. Quickly, she dashed out of the castle and down the main street of Ponyville. Her smile proceeded to grow bigger as she began to the the brown and white room of a familier bakery... It was time for a party. Author's Note I am SO SO sorry for how long this took... Life has been finding more and more ways to mess with me. I PROMISE the next chapter will be out much quicker and I thank you all for continued support.
A Party and A Special WishMeanwhile, at Sugarcube Corner, a certain pink mare was busy baking and gathering supplies for the party. Twilight walked in, and was about to speak, but was interrupted by Pinkie Pie bouncing over and hugging her. "EEEEEK I am SO excited for the Yay, Sunset is back and Celestia adopted her party." The lavender alicorn was about to ask Pinkie how she already knew, but changed her mind, shivering as the remembered the Pinkie Sense incident. "Sounds good Pinkie," she replied, smiling as she continued. "I can go tell the other girls, since this is a spur of the moment party." At the party pony's nod, Twilight teleported away, telling the pony versions of Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy. As she teleported to each place, she made sure to teleport a bit away from each pony, as to not scare them. On some of her first uses of the teleportation spell, she had appeared directly in front of the ponies, and gave them quite a scare. Once the Princess of Friendship had told her closest friends about the party, she headed back to the castle, wanting to check on the Sun Princess and her new daughter. As she arrived, she heard laughter coming from the room the pair had been in when she left. Getting closer, she began to hear Sunset speaking between laughs, causing a smile to appear on Twilight's face. "So, there I am, painting calmly, when she bursts in, excited as usual," she heard the amber unicorn start to say. "She starts painting her canvas, splashing me with various shades of yellow, orange, and red. Finally, she finishes and, when I look over, she somehow painted a picture of me." Celestia giggled a bit and was about to reply, but Twilight walked in at that moment and blushed before speaking. "I hope I am not interrupting anything..." "Not at all," the regal white alicorn stated, "Sunset and I were just talking about some of her experiences in the other world." "Well, if it is ok with her, thoes stories will have to wait untill later." Sunset blinked in confusion before replying, "What do you mean Twilight?" "Well, I may or may not have asked Pinkie to throw a party for you two." Princess Celestia smiled, even giving a small laugh. "It has been a while since I enjoyed a party thrown by the Element of Laughter, it should be quite fun," she replied in joy. Sunset had a more nervous smile, a bit worried, nd voiced her concerns as such. "Is that the best idea? What if your friends think I am still evil Twilight?" The purple alicorn just gave Sunset a hug and replied, "I have been telling them of your adventures, they know you are reformed, and have been for a while." This made the bacon haired mare less nervous and her new smile reflected it. Soon, Pinkie and the others arrived, the party soon in full swing. At various times, Sunset told stories of events from the workd beyone the mirror, from helping Sci-Twi, to saving Camp Everfree. One such thing, however, caught Celestia's attention. "Sunset," she began, "You say there were seven gems, and they helped you save the day?." The unicorn nodded, walking to her saddlebag looking for hers. Weirdly, as soon as she brought it to the group, it glowed for a moment. Suddenly, it flashed brightly and, when said light faded, it was no longer a gem on a string, but a necklace with a sun shaped gem in the middle, much like what the Elements of Harmony used to look like. At this, Celestia had a wide smile and began to speak again. "I thought as much, congratulations Sunset, you are now the Element of Forgivness." The girls were all confused at first, but Celestia continued, "It is true I only used 6 elements back when I was forced to send Luna to the moon, which is why only 6 were claimed to be known. However, there was a 7th that Luna and I hadn't been able to activate. We obviously found the 6 we knew seemed to work, but the 7th remained a mystery, untill now. After hearing how you discovered said gemstone, and all your exploits, it is clear what this element represents. Sunset began to tear up a bit, emotionally taxed by this reveal. "I, I never expected this, thank you your highness," she said. Soon, it was decided they needed to go to the Tree of Harmony, and so they did. As soon as they arrived, they watched in awe as the tree began to grow a new branch, a sun shaped gem hole in said new limb. Sunset took the gem out of her necklace and took a deep breath. She levitated the gem into it's spot and smiled. Soon, they returned to the party and, that night, she wrote a message to her mirror world friends, explaining what had happened that day. As time went on, she got reaclimated to Equestria, and lived in peace. Little did she know, her life would soon be thrown another curveball... ***Meanwhile, in a different world*** In the heart of the Southeast, in the peach state to be specific, there was a small orphanage on the outskirts of a small town. It was rather run down, and not run that well. The owner was a frail old woman who loved the kids in the home, but was stuck at home due to her age. Her children, sadly, were only in it for the money, and couldn't care less about how the orphans were treated. While not extremely abusive, they didn't hesitate to slap, spank, and sometimes beat, the "guests" when they did something the owner's children considered bad or wrong. One such resident was a 6-year-old named Matthew Hope. Now, you may think I am going to say he was a perfect little boy who never did wrong. The fact is, however, he isn't, he has Autism and can get angry easily. A few times he fought other kids, but he did do his best to behave. His only posessions were a set of 26 books, known as The Railway Series and a stuffed bunny that he named Mr. Cuddles. This paricular night, he was in his bed, looking at the stars, thinking about himself. As he stared, he made a choice, not knowing it would change his life for the better. He looked t9 the brightest star he could find, and closed his eyes. "I wish," he began, "I wish to have a mom that loves me even when I get upset and understands who I am." Soon, he fell asleep, dreaming of a mom, not knowing what was happening in another land. Author's Note *Insert excuse for the long gap and apology here* But seriously. I AM sorry everyone... hope some people are still reading... I PROMISE the next chapter will be out sooner.
