It's Your Birthday!

After stuffing her tummy full with Twilight's cooking, Sunset would go about her morning routine as normal. Taking a shower, she freshened up from head to toe, washing out her long, flowing crimson and gold locks that cascaded down her back like flames. It was her most distinguishing feature and she wanted to flaunt it today. Her shampoo gave her hair a strawberry and rose scent and her body wash made her skin smooth to the touch after she was fully washed off. Now feeling fresh and clean, Sunset stepped out of the bathroom and would get herself dressed in one of her favorite outfits.

Purple jeans with her sun cutie mark printed on the right leg, her magical pendant replaced with a belt that bore her cutie mark as well, purple and yellow boots, and a sunset color pattern shirt under her black jacket. Posing in the mirror she got a good look at herself and smiled, remembering when she got the outfit from Rarity for her birthday when they were still in High School and ever since then Sunset Shimmer had truly come into her own as a woman. It still befuddled her to no end why the portal aged her down into a teenage body when she crossed dimensions but it mattered little now, the best she could guess was that the magic in the portal sensed her mentality and as such, regressed her to how she behaved.

Looking at herself now in this normal mirror, she no longer saw the visage of her old self and was proud of that. She didn't see the spiteful, cruel, mean, sadistic and heartless girl who hated friendship anymore. She didn't see the self entitled brat of a pony that she had become under Celestia's guidance and to this day she still tries to remember where exactly she had begun to go bad. With a sigh and shake of her head, she would chuckle and shake the bad thoughts from her mind, none of those mattered today.

'Always remember where you've been so you have a good idea of where you are going or want to go.' Sunset thought to herself as she walked through the bedroom she shared with Twilight Sparkle, a gentle smile on her lips as she reflected on the life she had been living for the past five years since graduating college. She had the best friends in the world, a loving girlfriend, a job she loved and a place to call home.

"Life is good." Sunset said as she walked through her room to grab her backpack and her keys. Heading into the hallway she saw Twilight was waiting for her, Spike sitting next to her.

"Ready to go birthday girl?"

"Always." Sunset smiled and took Twilight's hand as they opened the door and headed out of their apartment, Twilight would smile as they exited the apartment complex and the light of the midmorning sun shined down on them both as if greeting Sunset happy birthday.

"First stop, Canterlot High!" Twilight said as she pulled out a checklist.

Canterlot High School

Arriving at Canterlot High School, it had seen some noticeable improvements in size since their time spent there. Principal Celestia was still in charge and Vice Principal Luna still did her due diligence to keep the students in line, though every now and again Sunset and the Rainbooms would pay the school a visit just to make sure no magical mishaps were going on. It didn't take long for one to crop up and it was nostalgic to say the least, though she had no idea a freshman could be that evil; Cozy Glow reminded her of a very important lesson: Don't judge a book by its cover.

After that incident, Sunset had taken it upon herself to do the work needed to earn her college degree and was currently a substitute teacher/tutor at CHS and she was given special permission to teach a very special class: Friendship 101. An idea she had gotten from Princess Twilight after seeing her Friendship School in Ponyville, Sunset admired the idea but knew that something that large was out of her reach. So she opted to go for the next best thing and do what she could to spread the magic of friendship as far and wide through the human world as possible. This world may not have had a princess of friendship but it did have Sunset Shimmer & the elements of harmony and that was more than enough.

Today however was her day off, mandated by Celestia since Sunset had a tendency to be a bit of a workaholic just like Applejack. As she waited near the portal with Twilight, she wondered when the Princess counterpart of her girlfriend would arrive but then right on cue, the magic portal rippled open and Princess Twilight Sparkle stepped through. She'd gotten a bit taller and filled out more compared to how she looked as a teenager in this world, her body a spitting image of the more nerdy version of her, though the Princess lacked glasses.

"Hi Sunset, Happy Birthday" Princess Twilight said as she came out and hugged Sunset Shimmer.

"Heya Princess; it's so good to see you Twi." Sunset said as she returned the hug, after a moment or two she would break away from Twilight and smiled at the friendship princess. "So ya got something for me?"

"mhmm. Hold out your arm." Twilight said as she reached into the backpack using her magic.

Sunset did as she was told and held her arm out to Twilight, a moment later Twilight would fasten a bracelet to Sunset's wrist. From the gold band of the bracelet hung 8 miniature versions of her friend's cutie marks, each representing one of the elements of harmony. Sunset looked in awe and felt a surge of energy course through her body, she then looked back at Twilight curiously.

"What is it?"

"Simply put? A friendship bracelet. One that I and the other elements of harmony poured our magic into. It would be a little weird for this world's princess of harmony to walk around with a crown on since royalty works differently in this world so this was my idea."

Still in awe at the gift Twilight had given her, she hadn't processed part of what she said. Looking up in confusion, Sunset blinked. "Wait...back up, say that last part again."

Twilight smiled wryly and repeated herself. "It would be weird if this world's princess of harmony was always wearing her crown. So I got you a friendship bracelet instead."

Sunset felt her heart skip a beat and tears come to her eyes as she stared in disbelief at Twilight. "Twilight I..."

"You earned this. Don't even try to convince me you haven't. You've saved this world more times than I've saved Equestria, you've shown you embody the virtues of friendship and even became one of them under your own power! Sunset Shimmer, I; Twilight Sparkle hereby royally declare you as this worlds Princess of Harmony. Go on, try it, you'll notice the change."

Sunset marveled at the bracelet around her wrist and could feel a warm surge of power rush through her body, similar to what she felt during the friendship games and she became Daylight Shimmer. Activating her magic she would pony up, her hair extending and pony ears appearing but this time from her back flaming phoenix wings sprouted and a long infernal tail sprang from her tailbone, A crown of fire appeared above her head and a shimmering glow surrounded her body.

The two Twilight's would gaze in awe at Sunset, Princess Twilight smiled with pride and Sci-Twi smiled with astonishment as Sunset floated to the ground majestically and opened her eyes to reveal her sparkling teal eyes, tears pouring down her cheeks as she smiled happily. She floated over to Princess Twilight and hugged her tight, wrapping her flaming wings around her in a warm embrace.

"Thank you Twilight, thank you so much! T-This...I..."

"Shh, you don't have to thank me Sunset. You truly did earn this, this world needs a protector, a guardian angel to help show them the way when they are unable to see it, a beacon of friendship and harmony. That is what I believe your purpose is and I know in my heart that you'll serve that purpose well." Twilight smiled and bow curtsy bow to Sunset in reverence. "Hail to the princess of harmony; Sunset Shimmer."

Sunset couldn't believe it, her lifelong dream of becoming a princess was actually coming true! These wings were proof of her ascension, this magic power that burned through her was proof of her growth, the warmth in her heart was proof that she was worthy. She cried happily into Twilight's shoulder, unable to find any other way to express her thanks that didn't involve making out with the Princess on the spot! She loved her Twilight Sparkle with all her heart but she would be lying if she said she had no feelings for the princess of friendship.

Princess Twilight hugged her back and comforted her, patting her back as she smiled warmly. "I'm so proud of you Sunset and Celestia is too. She looks forward to seeing you again soon."

Sunset sniffled and regained some of her composure, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand, she giggled and hiccupped. "I-I'll be sure to visit as soon as I can. Thank you so much Twilight, this means more than the world to me. Is this a dream?"

Sci-Twi smiled and pinched Sunset's cheek.

"Ow!" Sunset flinched.

"Nope, not a dream." The two Twilight's said at the exact same time.