The Princess of Friendship had decided to stick around a bit longer to oversee the situation until she felt it was resolved. She had requested Sunset meet with her at her earliest convenience so that she could return to Equestria without concern for the two Sunsets having further problems. Realistically she had no true requirement to care, but her devotion to her friends in this world made her feel obligated to perform her duties here just as much as Equestria.

Sunset agreed to meet with her that morning in front of the school so that Princess Twilight would be able to leave as quickly as possible once the situation was explained to her. As punctual as ever, the Princess found herself standing at the portal in front of the school at 10 AM sharp, tapping her foot as she waited to leave.

Pulling up in her dilapidated car, Sunset parked at the roadside so she could meet with Princess Twilight quickly. Running over to her, Sunset smiled at the Princess before bowing. Princess Twilight frowned and gave a dismissive gesture. “Please, that’s not necessary. We’re friends after all.”

“Fair enough, I was just trying to be respectful, given your position…” Sunset chuckled as she stood upright and brushed off her shirt.

“So how is Shimmer doing? Is everything okay?” Princess Twilight cut right to the chase, crossing her arms and taking a stance of concern.

Sunset nodded before smiling. “I owe Twilight a big thanks. She apparently had to climb over Shimmer’s wall and then scaled her house to get a chance to talk to her. I kind of wish I got that on video…”

The Princess blinked and stifled a chuckle. “That… Does sound impressive, probably more athletic skill than I could muster, for sure.”

“Yeah, I guess I better pick on her a little less,” Sunset joked as she attempted to imagine the Princess partaking in physical activity.

"I guess the Twilight of this world is in far better shape than me..." The Princess frowned.

"Guess you better lay off the cake," Sunset teased.

Princess Twilight rolled her eyes. “Anyways, what’s happening with Shimmer and you?”

Sunset took a breath and exhaled before answering. “Well, she came to my place and we talked it over… Turns out… Shimmer acquired magic when I first arrived here…”

The princess leaned in with fascination. “Interesting…”

“Not really…” Sunset grimaced, “because that same magic accidentally killed her parents; she lost control of it and they were killed in the process… I feel horrible…”

The Princess stepped forward and placed a hand upon Sunset’s shoulder in comfort. She gave a genuine smile and looked the girl in the eyes. “Sunset, time can heal a lot of wounds, but there are some it can never heal. Those wounds you just learn to carry. Shimmer is a strong girl, and she’s clearly only made stronger by you. So long as she has you by her side, I’m sure she can get through this… Just understand this isn’t your fault. Everything has a reaction, and most of the time we can’t predict what that reaction will be, you’re no exception.”

Sunset looked to the gravel in defeat. “I still can’t help but feel responsible… I feel like I’m a failure… Like I am not worthy of your teachings…”

The Princess placed a hand upon Sunset’s chin and made her look up to meet eyes with her. “A long time ago, I didn’t think I was worthy of my mentor’s teachings. I didn’t think I was worthy of wearing the crown I wear now… But thanks to a certain girl in this world, I learned how to wear it with confidence. That same girl is now one of my best students… She’s learned so much about friendship, about loyalty, and about responsibility…” Twilight wiped a tear from her eyes as her smile lit up her face, “that girl is you, and with all you’ve accomplished, I don’t see how you can even think you’d be a failure to me. You may be my greatest success story… You have friends, a girl who considers you family, and you go out of your way for them. Only a year ago, you were a power-hungry creature… Look at how far you’ve come in such a short time, I would never call you a failure in my wildest dreams.”

A tear rolled down Sunset’s cheek. She reached up and touched it before she realized she was crying. A smile came to her face as she pulled herself into a hug from the princess. Twilight obliged and held the girl firmly before releasing her, keeping her hands upon Sunset’s shoulders. “You write your own path, Sunset. Remember that. The past doesn’t make you who you are, and I think you’ve learned that more than anyone else. I can leave with confidence knowing that Shimmer is in great hands with you, perhaps the best hands I could ever leave her in.”

"Yeah imagine if you left the poor girl with Rainbow Dash," Sunset joked, trying to lighten the mood a little.

"I try not to think of such a thing..." Princess Twilight giggled.

When their laughter subsided, the two grew silent and met each other's eyes again.

With a nod, Sunset’s face lit up with pride. “Thank you, Princess… I won’t let you down!”

Finally releasing the girl, Twilight nodded as she stepped back towards the portal, placing a hand upon it. “I know you won’t. I have more faith in you than you’ll ever know.”

With those words, Twilight stepped through the portal to return home to her duties. Sunset stood staring for a few more seconds before releasing a sigh of content. The road ahead definitely was unclear, but she knew she could face it with confidence.

Storming into the living room, Shimmer placed her arms in a crossed manner to show she wasn’t open to conversation as her two parents followed her. Her father tried to reasonably approach a discussion she was desperately trying to avoid with everything in her being. The couple, however, followed their daughter and tried to speak.

“Sunset, we just want to know why you did this…” Her father attempted to reason with the angry child.

Shimmer growled and took a step back to get away from him and her mother. “I don’t know okay!”

Her father and mother looked at each other and frowned. “Well, Mr. Sack is not very happy that you punched his son at the ceremony. He was supposed to be getting on the school honor roll just like you, and it ruined his entire evening.”

“He was picking on me!” Shimmer defended.

“We understand that Sunset, but you can’t just hit someone as you did…” Her mother attempted to reason.

Pouting, Shimmer looked away in anger. “Why not? I’m supposed to defend myself aren’t I?”

“Sunset, you hit him with a chair over the head, the boy needed stitches! Did you take your medication this morning?” Her mother questioned.

She hated it when they resorted to trying to tell her she needed to take her medication. “That stuff is stupid, and it doesn’t help.” Shimmer stuck her tongue out in protest.

“Well, then we can call the doctor and get your dosage increased if that will help…” Her mother gave a genuine smile and extended a hand to the little girl while she knelt to her level. Her gorgeous light green eyes looking inviting to the girl, however, she could only hear the sound of the word “doctor” as she looked to her caring mother.

“To hell with that guy!” Shimmer grunted.

“Sunset! Language!” Her father scolded.

“Who cares!? I don’t want more stupid pills! I hate them!” Sunset argued, her anger flaring up more and more.

“We understand sweetie, but they will help you…” Her mother attempted to convince her.

Shimmer growled and threw her hands to her sides in little fists as she continued to argue with the two adults, “I don’t want them! I just want to be normal like everyone else!”

“The pills can help with that…” Her father explained.

“No! I hate you both! I don’t want them!”

Her father frowned, but then grew a stern look as he stepped forward to the girl. “Alright, little lady. You’re taking them and that’s final. That’s not a request, that’s an order.” His normally rather pleasant tone became far more serious and commanding.

“No! Leave me alone!” Shimmer ran to the back of the room to get away from them, but they closed in on her pretty quickly.

“I SAID GO AWAY!” She shouted at the top of her lungs while holding her hands out to block them from getting closer. Before she knew it though, a bright light flashed through the room, and her hands lit up with what appeared to be fire. She could only catch a glimpse as the flash blinded her for a brief moment. During the sound, she could hear a splatter.

The shock wave from whatever came from her hands had pushed her back and forced her bottom onto the floor. When she could open her eyes again she looked to her hands, no fire, but smoke emanated from them, but that wasn’t all. Red covered them, and speckled its way up her arms and even on her clothing.

Looking forward she screamed at what she saw.

“Mommy! Daddy! I’m sorry!”

Thoughts of that day continued to ring in Shimmer’s memory. Ever since her episode the other day, she couldn’t get it out of her head. She remembered it so vividly despite years of therapy, medication and everything in her power to suppress it and keep it forgotten. Part of her knew that she would live with this memory for the rest of her life, she was cursed to recall what she had done in anger, what she was capable of doing when she lost control of her rage. It was troubling, but what choice did she have but to deal with it?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a girl tapping her shoulder and sitting next to her. Shimmer blinked and looked over to her to see that it was Rarity. Her soft features lit up as Shimmer gazed at Rarity’s smile. Shimmer admired how pretty Rarity truly was, her features were so soft, so perfectly done. Her face, her body, everything about her was art. While not overtly into the same-sex despite a bit of experimenting in her past, Shimmer could appreciate an attractive lady when she saw one, and Rarity definitely fit that description. When it came to romance, Shimmer definitely always kept the option open for going either way, but she knew if she ever did go for a girlfriend again, she would want one as gorgeous as Rarity.

Rarity placed an arm around the girl and leaned over the table to talk to her. “You look troubled, darling. Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah…” Shimmer looked away as she answered, blushing. “Just thinking about a lot of stuff lately, that’s all…”

The group had come to their usual hang out at the ice cream parlor and the other girls were still standing in line to get their deserts. Rarity mentioned something about being on a diet and opted out, as did Shimmer so the two were at the table alone while they waited for the others.

“You know you can tell me anything, right darling?” Rarity reminded as she rubbed Shimmer’s shoulder.

“It’s nothing…” Shimmer replied.

Rarity frowned and pulled the girl in closer. “It’s about your parents isn’t it?”

Shimmer blinked and looked to Rarity with confusion. “H-how did you know about that?”

“I didn’t. I guessed, but I guess I do now.” She smirked deviously.

Shimmer shook her head and looked in the opposite direction. “Forget it…”

“Shimmer, I understand what happened to you was dreadful. It’s okay to be upset; I understand what you’re going through…” Rarity attempted to soothe the girl.

“That’s not remotely possible…” Shimmer grumbled.

Shaking her head, Shimmer clenched her fist tightly just thinking about it. Rarity, however, wasn’t backing down. “It’s true actually if you want to talk about it, I’m always here…”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it!” Shimmer yelled at her, facing Rarity with eyes filled with fire. Rarity blinked in confusion at her sudden anger.

“S-sorry darling… I was just trying to-“

“BUTT INTO SOMETHING THAT ISN’T ANY OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS!” Shimmer yelled so loud that the entire group at the counter were staring in her direction. That didn’t stop her however as she stood up and pushed Rarity away.

Rarity adjusted herself and tried to stand, reaching a hand out to Shimmer. “Shimmer, please… Calm down…”

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” Shimmer hissed swatting Rarity’s hand away.

When their hands touched, Shimmer could see a bright spark of light coming from her hand in a thin line. The spark pushed Rarity back and when the fashionista looked down to her palm red dripped from it in a perfect cut created from the flash. Quickly Rarity clenched her palm and leaned forward so as to not get any on her expensive outfit. Frantically she reached for some towels to try and wrap the wound.

At this point, the group had abandoned their positions in line to get ice cream and raced over. Applejack and Fluttershy both approached first, Fluttershy instantly fainting at the sight of blood, and Applejack gripping Rarity’s palm quickly. “Shoot… What happened!?” Applejack’s voice was filled with concern.

“I-I don’t know…” Rarity admitted with tears in her eyes.

“Hold still, lemme see…” Applejack commanded.

Sunset looked to Shimmer and the two’s eyes met. Shimmer said nothing but shook her head before running at full speed out the door. The sound of her Audi starting up outside could be heard to the group, and confusion filled the room.

Approaching Rarity, Sunset looked at her hand closer as Applejack patted the blood with napkins. “Pinkie, see if the Cakes got a first aid kit…” Applejack spoke.

Pinkie did a quick salute and didn’t answer verbally as she raced to the counter.

Taking it all in for a few minutes, Sunset shook her head and ran outside. She approached her own car and fumbled through the pocket on her skinny jeans to retrieve her keys. Once she had them she hopped inside and tried to turn the key. It became stuck, forcing her to violently jiggle the steering wheel. This time however it wasn’t budging. She attempted it for another thirty seconds before banging her fists upon the steering wheel in frustration. “Damn it!”

Wasting no time she jumped out of the car and ran back inside, skidding to a stop as she approached the group of friends. Applejack had managed to wrap Rarity’s wound at this point and was cleaning up the excess blood with a wipe. “Rarity!” Sunset nearly yelled.

The stylish girl blinked and looked up to Sunset with confusion. “Y-yes?”

“I need your car.”

“B-but why?” Rarity raised a brow.

“There’s no time to explain, I need to talk to Shimmer,” Sunset said.

It was true, at that moment she sensed something terrible would happen if she didn’t run to Shimmer as soon as possible. She had no clue how she knew, but she had learned this late in her life to never question such feelings, as they always seemed to pan out.

Deciding not to question her logic, or doubt Sunset’s intuition, Rarity dug through her purse with her good hand and located the keys. She tossed them to Sunset, who caught them in both hands and gave Rarity a nod before making a run for the door only to be stopped by Rarity’s voice.

“Sunset!”

The redhead stopped and looked back to Rarity from over her shoulder.

“Make sure she’s okay…” Rarity smiled, clearly showing she didn’t hold animosity towards her for the cut.

Nodding, Sunset bolted outside and spotted Rarity’s Honda Accord. It was a rather nice car for a girl in high school, and Sunset quickly realized despite this being an emergency she needed to drive carefully or she’d be pulled over. Given that her license was fake, the last thing she needed was that encounter.

Hopping into the car, Sunset started it up and pulled out of the parking lot.

Bursting through the front door of her estate, Shimmer shooed away the faithful companion that had rushed to her the moment she entered. “Not now, Moon. Go lay down,” She instructed. The dog whimpered and instead tried to follow her.

Rushing to her father’s old study she opened the door to a room filled with every wall converted into a bookshelf, filled to the brim with textbooks and other various learning material. Everything was exactly as she had left it. Seldom did she enter this room, and as a child, she was forbidden from it.

Quickly she removed the necklace around her neck and retrieved the key from it. She approached the desk and opened a drawer, removing a small metal box from it. Picking up the box she rushed upstairs with it in her clutches, Moon following quickly behind her. Making her way to the lab, she shut the recently fixed door in the dog’s face and locked it so that he could not follow her. Shimmer could hear pawing and scratching at the door followed by whimpers.

Trying her best to ignore them, she placed the box on the table near her computer before waking it from sleep. A few clicks and she pulled up the recording application and adjusted herself before hitting the record button.

“Log entry… Crap I don’t even remember anymore… It’s not important.” She shook her head and leaned in, “all attempts to suppress magic have proven a failure. I can’t control it… I can’t make it stop… And more importantly… I hurt someone else with it… No more though, I’m ending this once and for all. I can’t let it happen again…” She sighed and unlocked the box with the key and dug through old photos, various important items her father had kept in there before retrieving a semi-automatic pistol inside.

With it shakily in her hand, she checked the magazine to check the load. Fully loaded.

Luck was on Sunset’s side, as Shimmer had forgotten to close the gate to her estate, meaning that she could pull Rarity’s car all the way inside and parked it directly in front of the front steps. Peering to the right of the building she could see Shimmer’s Audi, confirming that she did indeed come here.

She pushed through the large door and called out to her friend, “Shimmer!?”

Barking echoed through the halls as a dog approached Sunset and jumped up on her. Sunset pet the creature and looked down at him. “Moon, take me to Shimmer. Where’s your mom? Go on boy, take me to mommy!”

The dog barked again and ran up the stairs. Trusting the creature, Sunset followed and pushed herself to move as quickly as possible, scaling the lavish staircase and coming to Shimmer’s laboratory where Moon scratched at the door. To no surprise, the door was locked. Without even asking for Shimmer to open it, Sunset backed up and heaved her body into the wooden barrier three quick times before knocking the door off its hinges and tumbling inside.

Taking a breath, Sunset pulled herself up to see Shimmer standing in a corner with what appeared to be a gun in her hand. Sunset had only seen them in holsters on police officers, and in a few movies that Twilight had shown her, but she was fully aware of what they do. Looking up, she could see Shimmer’s hand shaking as she stared at Sunset.

Coming to a stand, Sunset took a step forward with her hands out defensively. “Whoa… Shimmer… Put the gun down.”

Shimmer shook her head in response, her eyes were dilated and serious.

Sunset took another step, causing Shimmer to raise the weapon and point it directly at Sunset. Her hand was still shaking fiercely as she pointed the barrel at Sunset. “DON’T COME ANY CLOSER!”

Halting her forward motion, Sunset kept her hands in front of her so that Shimmer could see them. She didn’t make any sudden movements, but tried to speak to Shimmer as calmly as she could, “Shimmer… It’s me… Sunset…”

“Don’t make me kill you, Sunset…” Shimmer warned.

“You wouldn’t do that…” Sunset replied.

Shaking the gun, Shimmer shook her head. “I’m capable of killing, I’ve done it once before, and I’ll only do it again if given enough time…”

Detecting where this was going, the puzzle came together pretty quickly. Sunset needed a way to diffuse this situation as quickly as possible.

“Shimmer… That was an accident…”

“It was out of anger… My anger did that… And now my anger has hurt someone else… Who knows when I’ll kill again…” Shimmer frowned.

Quickly, Shimmer shifted the gun and pointed the business end at her own skull, her finger wrapped around the trigger, ready to pull it at a moment’s notice.

“You’re not going to kill anyone, Shimmer… I know you…” Sunset tried to speak.

“You apparently don’t know me well enough…” Shimmer shook her head.

Sunset took a chance took a step forward and extended her hand to Shimmer. “Give me the gun, Shimmer…”

Met with instant rejection, Shimmer shook her head and pressed the gun tighter to her skull. “Take one more step… I dare you…”

“You’re not a murderer, Shimmer… I know you’re not,” Sunset coaxed, her hand still extended for Shimmer.

“You weren’t there! You didn’t see them! You didn’t see what I did! All the blood! It was everywhere!” Shimmer shouted her hand shaking yet again as she remembered the events so vividly.

“It was an accident, Shimmer. You didn’t mean for that to happen, it wasn’t your fault! It wasn’t anyone’s fault.” Sunset said.

Closing her eyes, Shimmer refused to give in to the feelings welling up inside of her. She suppressed them as much as she could before opening her eyes again. “You’re wrong. I tried to blame you for it, but the truth is that I killed them. My anger killed them. I couldn’t control it, and that’s what made it happen…”

Frowning Sunset sighed. “That doesn’t make you a murderer. You made a mistake, people make them, some big, some small. However, you have to learn to forgive yourself for your mistakes…”

“That’s easy for you to say… You don’t know what it’s like, Sunset. You don’t know what it’s like to turn into this monster… When I get angry, I just… I blackout… I don’t have control of myself… How could you possibly understand something like that…” Shimmer’s voice was shaky as she spoke.

“I don’t understand?” Sunset raised a brow. Standing up tall, she turned around, putting her back to Shimmer. Shimmer paused as she watched Sunset remove her simple T-shirt and toss it to the ground. There she stood with only a simple red bra concealing her front side, but on her back, Shimmer gazed as a laceration scar that went from her lower shoulder blade down to her mid-back. The scar looked like some kind of burn mark.

Sunset spoke with her back facing Shimmer. She looked over her shoulder so that Shimmer could at least partially see her face.

“When I first came to this world, I was angry too… Bitter… I let that anger control me… It drove me to do terrible things, to become a person that saw only power.”

Shimmer remained silent so she could finish her story.

“That power quest drove me to steal a magic crown and try to take over my homeworld of Equestria. That power… It changed me, it turned me into something I never want to be again… A monster… If it weren’t for Princess Twilight and our friends, I would still be that monster today… They saved me from myself, but when I was changed back… This scar appeared where the dark magic left my body; I carry this scar as a reminder of what I was,” Sunset explained.

Almost speechless, Shimmer was shocked at this story. “Sunset… I’m… I’m sorry… I didn’t know…”

Sunset turned so that her front side faced Shimmer as she smiled. “However… Just like my past, that scar is behind me. I can move on from that past, and I can carry this scar. I can do it because I have my friends by my side. I can do it because I knew when to say I needed help.”

Shimmer became silent as she listened, the gun still firmly planted against her head.

“You can too, Shimmer. We can get you help for your anger; we can be there for you while you get better… However, I can’t help you if you don’t meet me halfway…” Sunset reached forward again. “Give me the gun.”

“I… I can’t…” Shimmer shook her head.

“Yes, you can. I know why you get angry, Shimmer. I can sense it… It’s the same reason I would get angry…” Sunset explained.

“And why is that?” Shimmer grunted, not believing her at first.

“When bad things happened to me, I convinced myself I was stronger if I didn’t cry. I convinced myself that crying was for the weak, but it didn’t make me stronger, it just turned into anger and you’re never weaker than when you’re angry. You never let yourself cry about what happened, you blamed yourself, but you refused to let yourself cry… It’s time to give in, Shimmer. It’s time to do something you should have done almost half a decade ago…” Sunset explained. She took another step closer, her hand still extended. “Give me, the gun, Shimmer.”

Hesitating for a second, Shimmer looked at Sunset’s hand. Her left hand holding the gun shook but finally, she lowered the weapon and placed it into Sunset’s hand. Without wasting a second, Sunset tossed the weapon aside and opened her arms.

Almost hypnotically, Shimmer leaped forward and buried her face into Sunset’s chest, painful tears rolling down her face as she clutched Sunset tightly and sobbed. “Mom… Dad… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

Pulling the girl closer, Sunset placed her hands into Shimmer’s hair and hugged her tightly before stroking her head gently. “It’s okay… Let it out…”

Shimmer just kept sobbing uncontrollably, it was painful, but at the same time relieving to finally get this feeling out. She had held it in for so long that it was like a valve had been opened and her emotions were pouring out of her.

She squeezed the one girl who had stuck with her despite how she was, despite how terrible she treated her, despite how she didn’t need to. That girl was Sunset Shimmer.

Chapter 12 is done! So... I guess now is a good time to reveal... Chapter 13 will be the end of Act I. I know! It's been over 3 months and we are finally at the end of Act I! So how will things go down from here? Well we will pick up right away with an Intermission, and then Act II.

SUPER thanks to Applety whom I think really has outdone herself this time!

Behind the scenes: Sunset's scar was originally going to be on her stomach, but I ended up deciding to put it on her back instead for symbolic reasons.