Sunset paused and took a deep breath, savoring the earthy scent of the forest around her. She smiled sadly as she breathed in the forest around. This was going to be the last time she ever walked this path, the last time she smelled these trees, the last time she was going to do so many things.
She turned around and looked back the way she had come. Just barely visible between two trees a ways back was the old dirt road that went up this side of the mountain. Some decades back a farmer had bought all the land around here, including the road. In the end he had died before he could cultivate the land and with no family to claim it the land had fallen into a sort of bureaucratic limbo. The land wasn’t fit to build on and it didn’t hold any mineral value so no one wanted to buy it so it sat forgotten. Sunset turned away from the road, looking back into the thick forest ahead of her.
How lonely it must be out here.
Sunset started walking again with a heavy sigh. Memories drifted through her mind as she walked. Many of the memories where darker but the closer she got to the present in her mind the warmer they became. She’d come so far, changed into a completely different person thanks to her friends. A tear rolled down her cheek as she thought about everything but it was wiped away.
It wasn’t long before she heard the familiar sound of the creek. The creek was the first sign that she was getting close and it made her pick up her pace. When she reached her destination she paused and leaned against a tree, taking in the little clearing she had reached.
Along one side meandered a creek of clear water that started at a small pond deeper in the forest. Before it reached the end of the grove the creek turned off to the side and disappeared underground. But none of this was important to Sunset, she was more interested in the fallen tree at the far end of the grove. It had fallen at an angle and wedged itself between two trees that kept it from laying flat on the ground. Over all it could be called picturesque, the perfect place to take some friends for a picnic, for most people.
Sunset moved across the clearing towards the tree, regret coloring the beauty of the clearing in deep shadows. To Sunset Shimmer this beautiful place was scene to some of her darkest memories and deepest regrets. Ever since she had gotten her friends she had come here once a year on the same day and walked over to the tree. Slowly she traced the words carved into the tree with her fingertips as she kneeled down next to the tree.
The words where in her native tongue and composed a single sentence and a name. The remains of some flowers rested against a small pyramid of stones in the shade of the fallen tree, Sunset removed them and replaced them with a fresh batch. Turning around she leaned back against the tree with a heavy sigh, tears brimming in the corners of her eyes.
“Hey, I’m back.” She placed her hand on the loamy earth beside the little stone pyramid. “I can’t believe it, how much I’ve changed, how much stronger they’ve made me.” Her voice trembled and she wiped the tears from her eyes. “I don’t think I ever really said it but, I’m sorry. If I could go back, change things...”
Sunset’s eyes drifted closed as her sentence trailed off. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she leaned her head back against the tree behind her. “I wonder if you could have become their friend if I hadn’t taken your place.”
The sound of sirens slowly filled the grove and Sunset smiled sadly.
“I know it’s not much and way overdue but, well I called someone to take you.”
The sound of sirens was replaced by the crunching of boots on the forest floor.
“Before they get here, do you think you could ever forgive me?”
Sunset curled her fingers into the soft soil, tears trailing down her cheeks now. She swallowed the lump in her throat and leaned forward.
“Do you think there is any forgiveness for what I’ve done? Can what I did to you, replacing you in this world, can that ever be forgiven?”
A group of policemen burst into the grove and Sunset laid down face first in the dirt. Tears trailed up from the ground to her face as she was hoisted off the ground by two burly policemen. She didn’t fight them as they dragged her out of the grove. As they cleared the forest onto the dirt road that led up into the forest Sunset caught sight of her friends. Before she could look away and close her eyes the looks of horror and betrayal on their faces burned itself into her memory. There was no forgiveness there for her anymore. She’d lost that, never really deserved it in the first place but it had been nice while it lasted.
A coroner passed her with a shovel as Sunset was shoved into the back seat of a squad car and he glanced at her for just a moment before turning back and picking up his pace. The cars sirens lit up and Sunset felt the car jerk and bounce down the old road, news vans were parked along the main road as they turned onto it. Several of them tried to get a picture of Sunset as the cop sped up past them.
Sunset leaned back in the squad car, her chest felt lighter than it had in a long while. She felt like she had finally shed the last weight that held her down and she was ready to truly move forward again. Thoughts of Equestria wandered through her mind momentarily, there probably wasn’t anything left for her in this world anymore. The memories of Equestria quickly faded, there was no escape for her this time. Sunset smiled sorrowfully and thought to herself,
At least one lost soul is going home today.
