I drove away from the beach back to CHS, where I changed in the gym locker room from my swimsuit to my regular clothes. Thinking back on it now, I'm not exactly sure why I felt it was necessary to do that. Every other time I'd gone through the portal to Equestria, my clothes didn't come with me. I looked around, making sure no one would see me disappear into what would seem to them like solid marble. I placed my hand on the stone, causing the ripple of the portal to emanate from my hand. I took a quick glance back at the school.
I'd only been to Equestria once since my reformation to pick up a new journal from Princess Twilight. She wasn't there that time, and I wondered if she would be there this time. I had only seen her in her human form ever since I stole her crown. And yes, there was still a bit of confusion from time to time when I looked at this world's Twilight Sparkle where I would have to remind myself that, despite looking like my purple savior, she was a very different person.
Even back then, I knew I was stalling. I pushed my way through.
I closed my eyes, hoping it would help dispel any disorientation and let the magic pull me to my destination as my body contorted back into its equine form. You'd think it would hurt to have parts grow and fall off, and joints being dislocated just to be located somewhere else, but surprisingly it wasn't. I think that's part of the magic of interdimensional portals. It wasn't long before I felt the resistance of the other side. I stepped through, and opened my eyes to see the same library I'd come through last time.
Closing my eyes had worked. I wasn't disoriented at all, my vision wasn't blurry like it was last time, and I saw the familiar purple of Princess Twilight standing in front of the mirror.
"Twilight!" I stretched out my forelegs and stepped forward, forgetting momentarily that I was no longer human. I'd come through standing on my hind legs, and as a result, when my hoof went to the lower base of the mirror, I'd started falling over, since my center of gravity was significantly higher as an upright pony than as a human. I would have fallen on my face if Princess Twilight hadn't been there to break my fall.
"Oops." I chuckled nervously, running my hoof through my mane. "I was trying to hug you."
She didn't judge for the fluke, and after all we'd been through both together and apart, I didn't expect her to. As far as we knew, we were two of the only three ponies to know what it was like to cross between worlds. Later that day we would later learn that two more had, and it wouldn't be until years later that we discovered that the Pinkie Pies from our worlds had been swapping places occasionally ever since we'd figured out how to keep the portal open.
I stepped forward and wrapped my foreleg around her shoulders, and she did the same. It was a warm, tender hug, the kind you give a sister after not seeing each other in a long time. We were both smiling, but knew we probably couldn't afford to take any longer than we needed to.
After about a second, we separated, and Princess Twilight's expression had become serious as she asked me what had been happening. I gave her the quick version as we walked toward the door to the rest of the castle. If I hadn't been so concerned about my friends, I probably would have gotten a better look at the purplish crystalline walls. I told her about how on Friday my friends at Canterlot High and I were best pals, but by Saturday morning they were acting like I was still the selfish, manipulative bully that I had been before that fateful night at the Fall Formal. I told her that I'd shown pictures of us together as proof we were friends, but they reminded me, and rightfully so, that I'd once forged photographs of Princess Twilight trashing the gym before the Fall Formal.
I hesitated. "I... never apologized for doing that to you, did I?"
"Not with words," she replied, turning to me, "but I knew from what you did during the whole Battle of the Bands debacle that you were truly a changed person. Besides," she continued with a smile, "I'd already forgiven you by then. But back to the matter at hoof," she said, starting to walk again, and I followed beside her. "This is bad, Sunset. It's way beyond anything I've ever heard of. Although..."
"What?"
"I just had an idea, but you might not like it."
"I'll do anything to get my friends back, Twilight."
"There is one pony who might be able to help, but I don't know if you two want to see each other."
"Who?" I asked, desperate for a solution. Almost as soon as I asked, I had a pretty good idea who she meant, and my face fell. Princess Twilight must have recognized that I'd figured it out, as she didn't say anything.
"Oh..."
"Are you sure you want to do this, Sunset?"
"It doesn't matter if I want to, Twilight," I replied, sighing. "I need to."
Only a few minutes later, we were about to leave Princess Twilight's castle on our way to the Ponyville train station. I hesitated at the door, my hoof on the handle. I knew I had a horn again and could use telekinesis to open it, but after so many years as a human, I had just grown a lot more used to using my hands for mundane tasks like opening doors.
"Is something wrong, Sunset?"
"I haven't been outside a castle in Equestria since I was a filly," I admitted. "I never even left your castle when I came to pick up the new journal, and even when I stole your crown, I never actually left that castle either."
"Yeah. That was a bait-and-switch that went wrong."
"True, but at least it went wrong in what turned out to be all the right ways." I smiled, but turned the conversation back to my original point. "Will anybody -- anypony -- recognize me?"
"Spike, Starlight Glimmer, and I are the only ponies in Ponyville to know what you look like in person. Even my friends know what you look like, but they haven't actually met you. I'd say it's pretty safe that nopony here will recognize you." At that, Princess Twilight opened the door with her magic and passed through.
"I'm going to follow behind, just in case anypony asks you who your new friend is," I said. She turned her head and nodded.
As I followed Princess Twilight's path through the streets, it struck me how similar Ponyville looked to other villages I'd seen before. Where Canterlot in the human world and Canterlot in Equestria were laid out pretty similarly, where the streets were designed in a grid pattern and the buildings were designed with square corners, Ponyville looked more like pictures of centuries-old villages in Europe, especially old German villages. The buildings were almost all wider at the top than at the base, but structually sound. I had little doubt that these buildings would last longer than most ponies would live, unless they were destroyed by some sort of disaster first.
And everypony was so friendly. Nearly all of them greeted me, and I greeted them back. When vendors asked if I wanted to buy some of their wares, I smiled and kindly declined, saying, "not today". Walking through the town eased my mind a little, but even so, I still had misgivings.
I cantered to catch up to Princess Twilight, who had just arrived at the train station's ticket window.
"Can we get a private car?" I asked before she was able to purchase our tickets. "I need to prepare for this, and having anypony else in the car might be a distraction."
"Of course we can, she replied. "I don't like using my title to get special treatment, but in cases like this I'll gladly do it for you."
It occurred to me at that moment that Princess Twilight could have pulled rank and ordered me to meet up with Princess Celestia at any time, and I would have been obligated to obey. If she had been born into nobility like most royalty, I'm sure she would have attempted it, but there's a reason the Princess of Friendship held that title. Princess Twilight used to be a normal Canterlot unicorn like myself, whose only real innate talent was being talented with a wide variety of magic spells. She looked up to Princess Celestia just like I had, and tried to make her proud in everything she did, just as I once had.
"I'd like to have a separate car for my friend and myself on the next train to Canterlot, or the next available train."
"You're in luck, Princess," the clerk replied. "A train just arrived, so you've got whatever car you want."
"The last one," I said, and Twilight confirmed it for the clerk. The clerk asked for the bits, she gave them to him, and we made out way to the train car in front of the caboose.
We boarded the train car, and I sat down on one of the benches as Princess Twilight made sure all the shades on the windows that faced the train station were pulled down. I looked out the window next to me at nothing in particular, my hoof under my chin. I saw Princess Twilight's reflection in the window, looking at me, and I glanced up at her.
"I bet I know what you're going through right now. Would you like to talk on the ride over?"
"Thanks Twilight, but I don't think so. I need to figure out what to say to her."
"I understand. I'll be right there if you need me," she said, indicating the seat across the aisle from mine.
I thanked her and lay down on the bench with my fetlocks behind my head. I can't begin to describe all the emotions I felt during that train ride. I was about to face a pony I was both excited and terrified to see again. I closed my eyes and thought through what I was going to say to her when the time came.
Dear Princess -- no, this isn't a letter, and besides, it's too informal for this...
Princess Celestia -- that's more formal. Princess Celestia, much has changed since -- no, that's not very diplomatic...
Princess Celestia, when we last saw each other...
I don't remember much about the journey between the train and the castle. From what I can tell, though, I must have been going over all the different scenarios I could think of that might happen soon. In the castle, I found myself glancing at the guards frequently, wondering if any of them were the guards I'd assaulted in order to escape through the mirror so many years ago. If they were, they didn't show any recognition, and besides, I hadn't gotten a good enough look at the two I'd assaulted in the first place.
Walking down those old familiar corridors, I could feel my heart start beating harder with each step. The doors to the main hall opened before us, and that feeling increased tenfold. There at the end of the hall, standing in front of her throne, was Princess Celestia, my former mentor, friend, and mother figure, whom I'd betrayed.
Princess Celestia stood up, spread her wings, and stomped her hoof, and I lowered my head, suddenly expecting the meeting to go poorly. Though I couldn't see her face clearly from the distance between us, I had a gut feeling that her muzzle held an expression of dissatisfaction and disappointment. It was a gesture I remembered well from my days beside her as a filly, but until now had never been on the receiving end. She only used that gesture for nobility who had wronged her in some political way, intimidating them in a way that assured they wouldn't dare try to weasel their way out of the consequences. I looked down at the floor and continued to do so until after Princess Twilight and I had approached the throne.
The tension during that walk of shame was nearly unbearable. I forced my legs to keep moving forward, knowing that pausing would only delay the inevitable.
A couple seconds passed as everypony waited for someone to speak. It was another tactic I'd learned from her: force the accused to speak first, so that everypony in court could be a witness to their testimony. Beside me, Princess Twilight spoke.
"Sooo, Princess Celestia..." she nervously laughed. If there was any doubt that she wasn't nervous, that dispelled it quickly. Having been mentored under Princess Celestia as well, she certainly would have recognized the tactics used against us. "You'll never guess who's back! Actually, maybe you can guess, 'cause she's right here," she said, poking my shoulder. I looked up at her, my face pleading with her to calm down and be more diplomatic, but she was too focused on ahead of her to notice. "But, um..."
I glanced up, my head still cast down, and saw Princess Celestia blink, her face as firm and unflexible as it was before. Princess Twilight must have known something was up, because she whispered "Am I helping?" to me just then.
No, she wasn't really helping. I took a deep breath, knowing that I had to be the one to get this over with, and looked directly at her.
Princess Celestia always did have a certain way with silence that made a pony feel exactly what they needed to.
"Princess Celestia," I said, stepping forward as I recited the words I'd practiced since we left Ponyville, "the last time we saw each other, I was your snide little pupil who betrayed and abandoned you." The words cut deeply with their honesty. Sometimes someone exaggerates how bad their actions in the past used to be to make themselves look better in the present. This was not one of those times.
"I wouldn't have said it that way!" I heard Princess Twilight whisper behind me, and then clear her throat. "What Sunset means to say is—"
I held out my hoof, silencing her. I had to do this myself. To her credit, though, what she'd said had provided a convenient segue to what I had to say next.
"I mean that I come before you a changed pony, humbly asking for forgiveness, guidance, and knowledge."
I watched as she lowered her wings and started walking down the steps toward me. My heart was in my throat again in expectation of her judgment, but kept looking at her. I wasn't sure if her expression had softened or not as she started towards me, but I'd hoped it had. Her shadow covered me, and suddenly I felt a chill, not from cold, but from the fear that I'd made a huge mistake coming here. She stopped right in front of me, but despite my misgivings, I kept my posture firm until I looked at her face. Her eyelids were lowered, and her lips were neither curled up in a smile nor down in a frown. It frightened me to be face to face with the very imposing neutral figure that she was. In that moment of fear and uncertainty, I took a step back and lowered my body, looking up at her with only my eyes.
"Ooor I can just go, and you never have to see me again." I'm sure my eyes were starting to water as I finally lowered my gaze, closing my eyes. By that point I was sure I'd made a mistake, but then I felt something under my chin. It was cold metal, yet the touch was as gentle as a mother touching a newborn foal. I opened my eyes, and raised my head. I don't remember if I raised my head on my own, or if she lifted it, or if it was some combination of the two.
What I saw both surprised me and gave me an immense amount of relief. Princess Celestia was smiling down at me with joy and love in her eyes.
"I've missed you, Sunset Shimmer."
It's incredible how much difference only five words can make. In an instant, the weight that had been on my shoulders since the Fall Formal had disappeared. In only five words, Princess Celestia had assured me that she'd forgiven me for my misdeeds, that she was proud of the step I'd taken, and that she was more than willing to grant me the guidance and knowledge I'd longed for since my escape through the portal.
Princess Celestia always did have a certain way with words that made a pony feel exactly what they needed to.
Hearing those five words had given me a very big smile. I remembered my earlier conversation with Twilight about apologies, and though I'm sure Princess Celestia, like her star student, knew that I was genuinely sorry, I had to say it. My smile fell, not out of fear this time, but of genuine sorrow. "I... I'm so sorry." She still had that expression of joy and love, so I stepped forward, lowered my head, and placed my hoof on her foreleg, imitating the hugs I used to give her. She wrapped her other foreleg around my barrel, and for a moment, I was that filly who'd just gained a mother figure after losing another. When we separated, we looked at each other with expectations of great things ahead in our relationship.
Princess Celestia always did have a certain way with silence that made a pony feel exactly what they needed to.
Behind us, Princess Twilight let out a squeal. I asked her about it later, and she admitted that she'd been relaying my progress to Princess Celestia since the Battle of the Bands, and they had both been waiting for my reunion with our mentor since then.
Author's Note
And in that moment, the entire brony fandom was Twilight Sparkle.
Squeee!
11/4/23: seems the link is broken. it was a gif of Tiwlight squeeing at Sunset and Celestia's reunion and hug
