A Bitter Sunset

“I hope for my wallets sake that she didn’t break that phone in half…” Rainbow Dash muttered as the five girls walked towards the front entryway of CHS. The Principals had got everything fixed quickly, and to someone who didn’t know better, the front entrance to the school had never actually been torn apart by magic.

“Yes, well we all chipped in, in case you forgot, darling.” a tired sigh escaped through Rarity’s pursed lips.

The five of them had all banded together to buy Sunset a new phone after leaving her apartment the other night, and when they returned the next day to give it to her she was away, so they were once again forced to break in.

“Ya really changed yer tune quick, RD.” Applejack commented, nudging the shorter girl playfully. “Ya were mighty hesitant ta go lookin’ fer her.”

“Ya, well none of us knew what sort of state she was in, okay?” the shorter girl shot back, scowling in annoyance. “She seemed fine when she left after the Fall Formal!”

“Well we know now that she wasn’t.” the group grew quiet at Rarity’s comment, entering the school and pausing in the middle of the circular hall.

“...Have any of heard from her yet?” Fluttershy asked as she looked up from her phone, the other four girls confirming that they hadn't either.

“Hm?” Rainbow’s brow furrowed as gasps of shock and noticeable murmuring filled the air. “What’s going on?”

The floor seemed to quake as the doors leading in and out of the school flew open, a single, imposing figure standing proudly in the middle, holding the wooden barriers open with unbridled ease.

“Denizens of Canterlot High School!” came the booming voice of Sunset Shimmer, the defining grin of self superiority plastered across her face as she looked down, quite literally, at students.

“Your Queen… has returned.”

<(‘-‘<) ^(‘-‘)v v(‘-‘)^ (>‘-‘)>

Sunset smiled as the doors shut behind her, her eyes closing as a perfectly mixes wave of distress, shock, and anger flowed out of the student body and over her. Yes… It was good to be back.

“What the hell is she doing here!?”

“Why are you back, Sunset?”

“We don’t want you here, freak!”

“Freak?” Sunset gave a heartless chortle as she walked over towards the plump, drama club girl. “If you want to see a freak, just get a mirror.”

Sunset smiled as she watched the girl start to form a retort, only for the sound of muffled laughter to come from behind her.

“Pixie…” Sunset frowned as she walked over to the group, pausing as resting an elbow on the top of Rainbow Dash’s head as she addressed the group of five.

“You five need to stop breaking into my apartment.” she narrowed her eyes dangerously as she reached down into the pocket of her leather jacket, pulling out a shiny smartphone. “But at least you pay for your crimes, so I’ll spare you for now. Besides, I have bigger fish to fry.”

“W-What are you talking about?” Rarity was scared by just how offhandedly Sunset had turned around and started marching down the hall. All around them students were giving worried or outraged cries at the sight of the former oppressor.

“Oh, I just figured I should talk to the Sisters first is all. I suspect things have happened since I left for vacation.”

“Oh, is that what your calling it?” Sunset paused and looked down at the source of the flippant remark, glaring dangerously at Rainbow Dash.

“If you so much as utter a single word about that, I will force feed you your own cleats…” Sunset turned around and resumed her march without waiting for a reaction.

The amber giant made her way through the halls, students quickly making way for her, Sunset giving the odd, sarcasm-ridden comment as she passed, before finally pausing before the front office for the school.

“Sunset…?” the girl paused and looked over her shoulder, a cruel smile coming to her face as she addressed the boy looking up at her in awe.

“Ah, Flash, have you been practicing that g chord?” she snarked as she addressed the boy.

“W-What are you doing here?” he asked cautiously, obviously paying no regard to Sunset’s jab.

“I was just about to go see the Principals, actually, before I was distracted. So, ciao!” Sunset waved, but paused when she saw the group of five girls standing on her other side.

“Why are you five still following me?”

“If’n yer gunna talk ta tha Principals, were joinin’ ya.” Applejack’s tone said that there was no compromising, and rather than try to debate the stubborn fool, Sunset sighed and relented.

“As you wish, bumpikin.” Sunset gave an apathetic shrug as she strode forward and into the empty office, a small dinging sound alerting the secretary to Sunset’ presence.

“Hi there, what can I- Waahg!” the older lady nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of Sunset looming above her.

“Hi there, are the Principals in? I need to talk with them.” Sunset’s smile was more similar to that of a genius talking to a child than actually polite, but the secretary was too busy flailing around to notice.

“Um- Er- Ah- Y-Y-Yes! L-L-Let me buzz- er-” the woman eventually put on her wireless headset and pressed a button. “P-P-Principal Celestia? S-S-Sunset Shimmer is here to-”

“Sunset Shimmer.” an eternally calm voice called out as the door to the Principal’s office opened. “Please come in, my sister and I were just talking regarding you.”

“Gladly, Celestia.” Sunset nodded with a smug smirk before pausing and turning slightly to the side. “Ah, I should mention though that these five are insistent on joining us. I do hope you don’t mind?”

“Girls? I do think you should head to class, don't you agree?” Celestia’s smile was visibly strained as she addressed the gathering.

“With all due respect, Principal? Tha Princess would’a wanted this.” Applejack’s determined look nearly spoke louder than her resolute tone of voice.

Principal Celestia’s lips drew thin and her brow furrowed as she studied the two parties before giving a tired sigh. “All right… Come on in you six.”

<(‘-‘<) ^(‘-‘)v v(‘-‘)^ (>‘-‘)>

“So, Sunset… You look… fine…”

“Please, Celestia, don’t talk to me like these children. I’m not much younger than you, technically.” Sunset chuckled as she shook her head at the human version of the Goddess of the Sun.

“Pardon me?” Celestia shifted around in her chair, a look of bemusement glinting across her features.

“Well, you are closing in on your fourth decade, whereas the you back in Equestria is a timeless Goddess able to control the very sun and moon themselves and has been around for almost all of recorded Equestrian history.” Sunset grinned as she rested her hands on her hips. “But that is besides the fact.”

“Why have you returned, Sunset?” the amber girl looked over at the Vice Principal, Luna’s face dour. “What makes you think we won’t call the police on you?”

“Simple, you would have during the week I was away.” Sunset’s smirk deepened. “You have my address after all, nothing would have stopped you from calling the police on me after the Fall Formal.”

“You still haven’t answered why you came back.” Sunset looked back at the other sister. “Surely you were seen by the students, and I have a feeling that you may have intentionally made your presence known. Their reactions alone-”

“Were as expected. Boos, hissing, and a few freaking out. Not that I blame them.” her shoulders rose and fell as Sunset sighed. “I actually came here to bargain, actually.”

“Bargain? What could you possibly have to bargain with us over?” Luna’s hands slammed down onto the table as she rocket up to her feet, fire flowing from her dark eyes.

“I wish to return to Canterlot High School and finish my studies.”

Explosive fits of laughter erupted from the two women as they fell back into their chairs, tears starting to stream down their reddening faces as they tried to wipe them away with shaking hands. Sunset stood facing them, her arms crossed gently across her stomach as the other five students stood in amazement at what was occurring in the room.

“Y-Y-You want to… To come back?” Celestia managed out between cackles of laughter, her chair threatening to fall over more than a few times.

“Why do you think we would let you come back here? Especially after all that you have done to this school?” Luna asked as she calmed down, a bemused smile spreading across her features.

Sunset stood there, waiting patiently as the two sisters slowly composed themselves, holding out a single finger to silent the two when they tried to get Sunset to answer them. The teen slowly turned, looking at the five girls behind her, a surprisingly emotional look on her face as she studied each of them, lingering for what felt like aeons on each before moving to the next, before returning back to the Principals.

“Because I’m going to ask you kindly.” Sunset said simply, her voice quiet.

A silence enveloped the room, its cold pall weaving between each and every party present.

“Your going to ask kindly? That’s it?” Sunset looked up from the ground towards the Principal Celestia.

“Part of the reason I let these five come with me is that they can verify that I spent the last week in a not good spot. Truth be told, I have nothing else in my life but this school.” Sunset started, her voice low and tone surprisingly humble. “I spent the the last week drinking in my apartment and cutting my wrists, miring in my defeat. Now I’m not blind, I know that I’ve spent the last three plus years being the biggest terror to ever walk this school to everyone present and more.

“Now you never spoke up against me before, mainly because I got really good at keeping my presence out of any evidence, but now you have easy proof with the Fall Formal, and what I became that night. I’m not asking for your forgiveness cause I’m not stupid enough to think that you will, but I am asking for a chance to finish my studies here as a student.”

The five friends watched as Sunset slowly drew closer and closer into herself, her body clenching in every way possible as her head lowered closer and closer towards the floor. The two women on the far side of the room had sat in silence as Sunset spoke her piece, only moving well after Sunset was finished.

“Girls? Can you verify what she is saying?” Celestia asked, her tone cold and neutral as she looked past the girl standing in the middle of the room.

“Well, uh…” Rainbow stuttered as she tried to think of something to say, the amazement she felt at Sunset’s transformation shared among her peers. “Y-Yeah, we can. A-Applejack? You’re better at the whole explaining thing than I am.”

Applejack looked at Rainbow with a shade of betrayal in her eyes as she strode forwards toward the side of Sunset Shimmer, the amber girl’s face hidden by her long hair. “Principal, ya remember after tha Fall Formal? When we spoke? Princess Twilight asked us to give Sunset Shimmer a second chance... Ta be her friends.”

“The five of us most of all had no reason to be her friends.” Rarity added as she walked up beside the farm girl. “After what happened at the Spring Fling, why I stayed home for almost two weeks! But… But when we found Sunset on Friday afternoon…”

“She’s different! Even if she did call me Pixie and rest her elbow on me…” Rainbow’s voice grew quiet as she realized what she was saying. “What I mean is, we found her at the end of her ropes- like, her apartment should have been destroyed with fire with the state it was in!”

“She was so… Sad.” Fluttershy murmured as she walked up beside her childhood friend. “She spent all that time driving us apart, making us fight… Bullying us…But when we found her, she wasn’t like that at all.”

“Even iiif she kept yelling at us, it wasn’t because she was mad!” Pinkie somehow appeared at the side of the snow white woman. “She was all sorts of crazy! Like, you would not believe the amount of Pinkie magic went into cleaning that place!”

“When we found her, and saw tha state she was in… We couldn’t find it in ourselves to hate her. We realized that she needs help.” Applejack reached down and grabbed Sunset’s closest arm, the limp extremity rising up as the farmer pulled back the sleeve to reveal fresh bandaging. “These bandages are fresh, tha ones we saw yesterday looked like they were rotten. This itself is proof that Sunset isn’t quite tha same same. Would the old Sunset attempt suicide?”

The room remained quiet after Applejack finished, the eyes of the two sisters looking around the room as Applejack slowly rolled Sunset’s sleeve down her arm, gently returning it to the girl’s side.

“Sister…” Luna started as she looked over to her elder sibling. “I know that look…”

“Sunset… You said you wanted to bargain. It’s going to be one heck of a bargain for you to convince us that you should be allowed to come back to this school.” Celestia slowly stood up and walked over to the Equestrian, crossing her arms. “If we allow you to come back, there could be a riot from the students, let alone the faculty.”

“I know…” Sunset’s voice was a muffled whisper.

“What sort of bargaining pieces do you think you have?”

“...” Sunset slowly lifted her head, her hair blocking her face from the other students in the room. “Nothing except my word.”

“As if that amounts to anything!” Luna shouted as she stared at her sister. “Celly, please! You know that it’s for the best to get rid of her! Her word is as vile as she is!”

“Luna…?” the night coloured woman paused when she heard Sunset’s voice. “Back in Equestria… Back there, you are one of Equestria’s greatest villains. You’re known as Nightmare Moon, and have been banished in the moon for the last thousand years by your sister.”

“So? What does it matter what a different version of me is like?” Luna crossed her arms defensively as she examined Sunset.

“Because I’d ask you to think of me as a different person now…” an amused huff escaped from Luna at Sunset comment. “Like I said, I’m not asking for forgiveness, because I know I won’t get it. I’m asking just for the chance to finish my studies here, so that I have a chance to live a life in this world… Nightmare Moon never killed anyone…

“Would you?” Luna’s eyes widened in shock as Sunset addressed her, her voice stumbling in indignation as she tried to respond to the girl’s comment. “Because if I leave here without being a student, I have no chance at a life here… I’m an illegal alien by all accounts. I don’t have any family here. I only have a home because I convinced an elderly landlady to help an orphan runaway.

“If I’m able to get a high school diploma, and I know I could if I am allowed to stay here- I’m your smartest student after all- I could use that to make sure I get the chance to fully legalize myself in this world.”

“And what’s stopping you from returning to the other world?” Celestia asked, slowly walking over to her sister. “Why should you be our problem?”

“...Let’s just say there’s a reason I’m still here after all this time.” Sunset’s tone grew bitter as she looked down at her clenched fists. “I know that by you allowing me to stay, it will cause all sorts of problems for the school, and for you. I can promise that the students will come after me, in every way possible, and there is no way to prevent that other than by sending me away.”

“And what happens when the students inevitably come after you?” Luna’s tone held a razor edge as she shifted her posture. “They will be justified after all.”

“Oh, I’ll defend myself. I’m not gonna let people walk all over me.” Sunset’s tone carried a hint of her smug self confidence that she always exuded for as long as anyone had known her. “I’m better than anyone here, and I know it. Sure, I’m a bully, but that’s just to remind people that they should leave me be. And besides, I didn’t go after everyone here. I had limits.”

“You would be one strike away from expulsion if you stayed, you know that?” Celestia said, earning a small nod from Sunset.

“If I am allowed to come back, I promise not to go after anyone. I won’t be the initiator- but if anyone comes after me? I will defend myself. Within equal measure of course. Someone says something? I’ll remind them of our difference in intelligence. If someone tries to physically attack me, I will return in kind, but never more.”

The two women’s eyes narrowed at the same time as they listened to Sunset’s promise, their minds obviously moving at a kilometer a second as they tried to judge the girl’s strength of word.

“Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy.” each of the five girls stood up as their names were called, snapping to attention as they looked towards Principal Celestia. “Do you think Sunset Shimmer should be allowed to return to our school? You five are part of the reason we still have free will, after all.”

Nods and various noises of agreement were issued by four girls.

“If it means I don’t have to think that I’m the reason that someone committed suicide, I’m fine with her returning to school.” Rainbow strode forward, breaking the line of students. “Hell! I’ll even keep an eye on her! Make sure she doesn’t get into too much trouble- cause I think we all know she will.”

Soft, knowing chuckles came from the amber girl in response. She knew that if she was able to come back that things would be… tense.

“...I see. Do the rest of you hold that same conviction?” Celestia turned back to the other four girls who slowly nodded. “Good, because not only will you five be responsible for Sunset Shimmer, but any punishments that should fall onto her shall fall onto you all as well.”

Sunset gave the five girls some small amount of credit, they didn’t show too much fear in regards to the Principal’s statement. Well, other than Fluttershy, but that was to be expected.

“Now you all won’t be expelled should Sunset make a mistake, but you all will join her for any detentions or suspensions that she is assigned.” Celestia finished instructing, turning slowly onto Sunset once more.

“Sunset… You are hereby welcome to rejoin us here at Canterlot High School. But! You will be on a tight leash. If I get proper evidence of you reverting back to your old ways…”

“I promise… Only to those who come after me, first. An eye for an eye.” Sunset said as she looked up, a surprisingly warm smile on her face.

“Makes the whole world blind.” Luna said as she shook her head. “Celly, I don’t know why you want this, but I will respect your decision…”

“I hope you can prove me wrong, Sunset Shimmer.” Celestia said as she walked back to her desk, pausing in front of the intercom to look up at her sister. “Lulu? Would you escort these six girls to the auditorium?”

“Auditorium? What do you mean?” Rarity asked in confusion, the five human girls looking at one another in confusion.

“We have to have an assembly, dear.” Celestia’s voice grew a delicate edge. “To announce the return of Sunset Shimmer.”