“Home at last!” Applejack cried out as she practically jumped out of the portal and kissed the cobble stoned ground. Rarity followed soon after, stumbling until the farmer caught her in time. The portal behind the two glowed and came more people tumbling out with unanimous cries and groans.
Twilight let out a squeaked ‘OOF’, the wind knocked out of her as she was the last to come out. She rubbed at her head before she glanced at the amber hand that was offered. She shyly smiled before taking the offered limb. Now upright, she dusted herself off and looked around. Many of the tourists and students who were on the cruise slowly recovered, grunting and patting themselves as they got to their feet.
“What is the meaning of this?!” A voice shouted.
Twilight turned to the direction of the school’s entrance and found Vice Principal Luna gripping her hair as she gazed at the multiple people in the front yard.
Wincing, the bespectacled girl lifted a hand in a nervous wave. “H-Hello Vice Principal Luna. We’re back but I guess you can already see that… hee-hee.” Twilight winced as the admin’s stare landed on her. Before she could ask Sunset for help, Principal Celestia appeared next.
The elder woman took one long look around her, to her sister, then back to the tourists and other CHS students. With the grace and composure of a teacher who had handled students, both regular and magical wise, Celestia simply cleared her throat before saying, “Well, this is unexpected. Come, you all must be exhausted from your trip.” She then lifted a hand to gesture at the doors, not minding the disbelieving look being given to her by her sister.
There was a collective murmur before the people shrugged and started to head inside the building. Celestia led the way, expression composed as she tugged at the sleeve of her younger sibling after she momentarily glanced back behind her to mouth ‘Explain later’ to the Rainbooms.
The few remaining teens stared after their principal for a bit before they let out simultaneous sighs of relief.
“Man, we’re really bad at keeping this whole magic thing on the down low,” Pinkie commented. Fluttershy nodded beside her.
Rainbow Dash snickered. “True but did you guys see how we handled it back at the sinking ship? Awesome!”
Applejack rolled her eyes at that. “Ain’t exactly the word I’d describe it, especially the sinking ship part mind you.” Rarity let out a devastated nod, eyes glancing towards the plinth as her lips quivered with a muttered, “Fare thee well, my purchases.”
Twilight smiled. While not exactly thrilled that her well organized trip had obtained an equestrian magic sized hole in her plans, she could admit it was still interesting. She got to fix a ship’s engine, travel to another world, and accepted the fact that maybe they were heroes.
Taking a moment to refresh herself with a glance at the cloudy sky and assuring herself it was just the normal cloudy sky and not a magic induced one again, amethyst eyes scanned around before landing on a mother and daughter duo talking to a blushing Flash Sentry.
Eyebrows furrowed, the young scientist wondered what they were talking about, especially when the little girl’s eyes suddenly lit up and began tugging at the mother’s hand while pointing at the direction of the Rainbooms.
At this, Twilight felt Sunset tense in her grip which confused the bespectacled girl further. When the woman’s attention turned to her daughter then to the assembled teens, Twilight saw the way the mother’s eyes lit up as well. Recognition in her eyes, Twilight surmised.
The purple girl stood at attention when the woman nodded towards the blue haired boy before making her way towards them. The action brought the rest of her friends’ attention and they shuffled closer to Twilight in curiosity.
Twilight faintly heard Sunset’s hurried mutter of ‘I gotta go’ and took off without another word before the purple girl found time to process the words.
“Sunset,” Twilight managed to say but the fiery haired girl was gone.
The woman furrowed her brows, her eyes following the teen before she turned to the confused Rainbooms.
“I’m sorry, is she alright?”
Rainbow Dash stared at the direction where Sunset went, debating using her powers to chase her friend before another feeling told her to stay put.
At least for now.
With that in mind, the athlete answered when her friends remained speechless, “Yeah. She just needed to go home, been a crazy trip for all of us.” She punctuated the last bit with a laugh.
The woman looked unconvinced before the little girl tugged at her hand. Eyes softening at her daughter, she turned back to the remaining teens.
“Well when you do see her again, would you kindly pass on a message?”
“Certainly,” Rarity walked forward and her friends all silently thanked the fashion designer for taking the reins from here. They all wordlessly agreed that Rarity, being well-versed in the art of ‘truth twisting’ that came from her line of work, would be the best fit in dealing with the few people asking questions about their… ‘giftedness’ as the fashion designer put it.
“Please tell her that she’s welcome in our house for a meal.”
Rarity nodded, accepting the notepad that Pinkie produced from seemingly out of nowhere, and jotted it down. After a beat she pursed her lips. “If you don’t mind my asking…”
The woman lightly smiled before she said, “You’re wondering why a person you never met was making such an offer to your friend?”
The Rainbooms simultaneously nodded.
“S-She helped me get back to mommy. It was my idea to invite her,” a small voice answered. When all eyes were on the child, the little girl squeaked before hiding behind her mother’s leg.
“Aww, now I get it,” Applejack was the first to say, bending down to smile at the shy girl. Suddenly the farmer was reminded of her sister when she was but a wee thing. “I think it’s awfully kind of ya little one.”
The little girl didn’t say anything, just eyed the teens. Her mother patted her head affectionately as the elder nodded her head in agreement.
“Yes, my daughter wanted to thank your friend personally and perhaps get to know her better too. She could use a friend.”
The little girl suddenly huffed, squeezing her turtle stuff toy tighter. “Mr. Green and I have loads of fun. We don’t need friends.”
“Really?” Pinkie said, popping up beside the toddler. At the shriek, the pink haired teen waved and produced a small balloon. The child hesitatingly accepted the offer.
“I think it’s just great to have more friends. I mean, can you imagine getting twice as much fun. Wait, no- Seven times as much fun!” The party planner ended her statement by engulfing her friends in a group hug.
Twilight adjusted her glasses, chuckling a bit at the little girl’s guarded demeanor. It was surprisingly nostalgic, so she found herself saying, “I’m sure you and Mr. Green do have a lot of fun but with friends?” The bespectacled girl then eyed the athlete beside her, “They make life more interesting…even when they sometimes get on your nerves.”
Rainbow Dash chuckled, prepared to pull the egghead in a headlock before Fluttershy’s side hug interrupted her plan.
“And friends also make life 20% cooler,” the animal lover stared at the shy girl with a gentle smile. “They can bring you out of your comfort zone, help you be more confident.”
The athlete blushed at the sentiment before Rainbow added, “they can make sure you’re still awesome without getting carried away.”
The farmer clapped a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder with a good-natured smirk. “More often than not to be honest,” green eyes then turned to the kid who was slowly warming up when she lightly smiled at the teens’ interaction, “but they’re worth having, really. Trust me.” Rarity stood beside the farmer next, nodding as she hugged Applejack.
The mother warmly smiled at the group before looking down on her daughter.
“Well, I’m sure you just gave her something to think about.” The woman then shivered, as did the Rainbooms.
Lightly chuckling, Rarity eyed the deserted courtyard and said through another shiver when the sky darkened and brought forth a light drizzle, “Shall we enter the building then? It appears our cruise apparel might not be the best fit for this time and I have enough of being rained on, wouldn’t you agree?”
All of them gave collective murmurs of agreement and made their way to the entrance. Twilight lingered by the door, eyeing the empty streets and hoping a certain fiery haired girl will come back. Even just for her ease of mind.
When no such thing seemed to happen, the bespectacled girl sighed before she headed inside.
A small amber filly giggled as she eyed the dragon she had been chasing for a while now. She knew it had no where left to run. She had cornered it, just like she planned. When the dragon stopped and looked around, she crouched low. She waited until the coast was clear again. The dragon glanced back down to what it was doing, oblivious to one filly whose flank was up and wiggling in anticipation and was prepared to pounce.
“Got you now,” the tiny unicorn murmured with a grin. Tensing herself, she pounced at her prey.
“WAH!” A stallion shouted, startled as he felt something climb onto his back. He twisted around and spotted a blur of red and orange before he fell. Groaning, he looked up and withheld his disbelief when he spotted the giggling filly.
“What the- Sunset!” He tried his best to sound angry, annoyed even, but the smiling little one simply melted his heart even after all these years.
“Got you!” Sunset proclaimed before tackling the stallion with a hug, burying her nuzzle against soft oak colored fur. Cyan eyes glanced up. “Did I scare you?”
The farmer pony rubbed at his mane with an exasperated, “Yes…like the seven times you did.” At this point he feared his mane will get whiter the more times this one gave him a heart attack, never minding that his mane was already white. Grunting, he slowly sat up with the little filly still attached to him.
“Just what got you up at this time? Last I know, you’re not up till ten.”
Sunset slid down, plopping on the dirt ground once the earth pony stood up to his full height. Still, the smiling filly looked up at the towering stallion and answered as she shot up to her hooves, “Don’t tell me you forgot, Papa!”
The blue-eyed stallion stared at the little one.
Cyan eyes gaze back as she waited for the other to process what she said. When she saw the sudden widening of eyes, Sunset nodded with a pleased smile.
“It’s today?!” her father stated, running around and nearly trampling all their newly planted seeds as he hovered towards the calendar inside their simple shack. “Shoot, the kid’s right.”
He went back inside, still finding the small filly smiling a pleased smile. Looking back to his charge with an unimpressed look, he stated with a light poke on the filly’s blank flank. “Smug is not a good look on you, kiddo.”
The filly, unbothered, replied with a “True, but not as a good look on me than my cutie mark! Which I’ll be getting today, right?” She jumped in excitement following her statement, drawing a momentary crack in the stallion’s stern façade as he internally melted under the cuteness.
Shaking his head, the farmer turned towards the crops seated beside the shack. Going over to the labels on them, he eyed each one with a finesse of an expert.
Sunset watched him work, waiting patiently as she could. She knew this was the long-awaited day for her. She knew today would be the day she would earn her cutie mark. Her destiny that will show her purpose.
That will show all the earth ponies in town that she’s good enough. That she belonged, despite being the only unicorn.
When the stallion returned with a small seed in his hoof, Sunset’s excitement slightly ebbed away. “What is that?”
A white colored brow was raised. “A seed. Don’t tell me after years living with us you never once saw one?” He chuckled at the deadpanned look in reply. Shaking his head, he dropped the seed onto the little one’s hooves. “After checking, I decided that your first one shouldn’t be like any old boring produce that we produce, so I picked a sunflower seed instead.”
“But,” the filly started, looking at the seed in her hoof, “it’s not like yours then or Dad’s.”
The farmer nodded, walking towards a space in their property and checked around for good soil. “True but while we’re happy to see you grow up like us, it doesn’t mean we want you to be us.” He then tapped at the cutie mark on his flank, depicting a sickle facing the right. “A cutie mark’s gotta be unique, something that just… means you I guess.”
The filly mulled this for a bit, only stopping when an oak colored hoof ruffled her mane.
“I wouldn’t think much about it, I’m sure you’ll do fine.” He then pointed at the small hole he dug up. “Now do what you gotta do and grow a sunflower, kiddo.”
Smiling and fueled by the stallion’s words, Sunset trotted towards the hole and placed in the seed. She wracked her brain, going over every detail she memorized whenever she watched her parents working. She moved her right foreleg, collecting the tampered soil and slowly buried the seed, using circling motions as she returned the dirt that was dug out.
When she was done, she smiled at her father’s proud “Well done.” All that’s left was to wait.
The horn on her head twitched, drawing a brief spark. “Ow,” Sunset cried, moving a hoof to rub at it with annoyance.
The stallion stared with worry. “Horn still bothering you, kiddo?”
When a small panging feeling started up, Sunset chose to ignore it with a wave of her hoof. “It’s fine, I’m good. Must have hit my head when I jumped you.” While the lie made her feel a tad bit guilty, it was worth doing so as she was subjected to her father’s lecture of ‘irresponsible scaring.’ She didn’t need to worry him than she should.
The filly did her best to listen, yet her attention was focused on the seed she planted. Why wasn’t it growing yet? She had watched and calculated the time of a seed’s growth to a sapling, saw how her father worked with the carrots and remembered smiling in wonder as she saw a small tendril growing through the dirt. A sapling should be growing by now.
With Sunset’s focus diverted from the lecturing stallion, both did not immediately see two ponies entering their territory.
“Really, Oak? If you’re going to lecture her at least make sure the filly’s listening,” one of the two ponies, a mare, said with a hint of a smile.
Oak lightly jumped at the newcomers’ presence, drawing a small squeak before he glared at the two giggling ponies. He huffed in response. “Can’t a pony go one day without getting a heart attack inducing surprise?”
The mare rolled her eyes as the stallion beside her chuckled. “Not really, we can’t help it if you spook so easily.”
Oak huffed again, watching as the filly finally noticed the two and had started running towards them.
She wasted no time and jumped up, giggling as the stallion caught her in time and had proceeded to ruffle her hair in greeting. The brown pony smiled down at the filly. “Hey there Sunset, been giving your Papa a hard time since I’ve been gone?”
The filly, whose mane was now a disheveled mess, simple grinned wider. “Yep! Just like you told me to Dad.”
The mare giggled at her companion’s sudden freezing up and wordlessly took the filly as Oak trotted over to his husband with a fierce glare and an annoyed “So it was you then.”
“Your dad’s so in trouble,” she whispered to the filly, who giggled at the mare’s statement before she proceeded to hug her with a joyous cry of “Hi Auntie Maple!”
Auntie Maple smiled pleasantly, returning the embrace. “Hello Little one. I trust you’re doing well, all things considered.”
“Yep,” Sunset said, not seeing how Oak pulled at his husband’s ear and berated it to deafness, as she continued, “I planted my first seed today!”
“Wow, really?” The mare answered as she set the filly down and allowed herself to be pulled towards the planted soil. “What kind of seed then? Peaches? Potatos? Carrots?”
Sunset pouted. “A Sunflower seed.”
“Hmm,” the pinkish coated pony tapped her chin with a hoof, “well that’s different. Not really what I expected.”
“I know right?” the amber pony said in reply, hunching a bit. “Papa said it’s because he wants the seed to be different because my cutie mark should be different.”
“I said ‘unique’ not ‘different,’” Oak stated as he trotted to the two, with a sulking and red eared pony following behind him.
“Same thing,” Sunset muttered, drawing a head shake from Oak. His husband, Birch, chuckled at the little one’s feistiness. The brown pony squinted at the soil.
“Huh, nice work though,” Birch complimented, earning a small smile. “And a sunflower seed? I think it suits you.” He then poked at the filly, causing her to lightly stumble at the unexpected strength of the action before looking up at her dad. “Sunflowers are really tough, just like you kid.”
“Really?”
Birch nodded. “Can practically thrive regardless of the soil you planted it, so long as it’s not waterlogged that is.” He then ruffled the filly’s mane again with a wide grin. “Really proud of you and I can’t wait for your cutie mark to show up.”
“Whatever it may be,” Oak added, as he moved and hugged his family.
Auntie Maple smiled at this. She glanced away to give them privacy before her smile dropped as she spotted an unpleasant sight just entering near the fence. She moved first, meeting the three ponies before they reached the family, and said in a loud enough manner to warn the two stallions, “My, Vine Wiggles nice of you to drop by.”
“Maple,” he stated neutrally in reply.
He huffed when the mare corrected him with a smile, “Auntie Maple. Auntie. Maple. I may not be your aunt but it’s still my name.”
“Right,” the stallion then noticed the two stallions, grin widening as he pushed past the offended pony. “Oak and Birch, my favorite power couple. How’s you two been?”
“Save the pleasantries, Vine,” Oak stated icily. “What are you doing here with…” he trailed off as he eyed the two taller stallions, gruff looking in appearance. While he knew looks weren’t everything, the vibe they gave out simply spelled out wrong in many different ways.
“Assistants,” Vine supplied, unbothered by the coldness of the farmer’s tone. “And they’re here to help with an unsolved problem.”
“Good, so you finally decided to ask help. Been trying to get you to ever since you complained about our produce being heavy,” Birch added in, cheekily pointing at the stallion’s lanky form. “All that’s left is to work out more.”
The newcomer sneered. “Charming as always, Birch.”
Birch smoothed out his dark mane in response. “I know.”
Oak then trotted forward, shielding a certain curious filly from view. “Flirting with my husband aside, just what exactly is the problem?”
“Oh, you know,” Vine drawled with a raised hoof, “making sure everypony’s safe and happy in our quaint little earth pony town, making sure everypony’s off doing earth pony things and being the best earth ponies we could be.”
“You’ve said earth ponies thrice,” Auntie Maple observed, “and it’s not on you deciding to be redundant now.”
“Bingo, glad you’re perceptive as ever,” Vine stated with false cheer, drawing brief chuckles from his two intimidating assistants, before turning back to seriousness as he saw the unimpressed looks. Huffing, he rolled his eyes and stated, “We’ve been saying this from quite some time now, you two need to give up that unicorn.”
“Womp, there it is,” Birch said with a glare.
Oak shook his head. “It’s like we’re saying for some time too, she’s staying here.”
“That unicorn doesn’t belong here,” Vine managed to say through gritted teeth, temper already lost. “Who knows what it could do.”
“She, is but a child,” The mare retorted, pointing a hoof at him. “You’re simply out of your mind, the whole lot of you are.”
Vine snorted. “’Her’ magic. Unicorns have magic completely different than ours, it’s not to grow crops or take care of woodland creatures but it’s tampering with things that shouldn’t be tampered with.” His eyes then grew soft. “Look, everypony’s been talking about her since day one and boy it’s not getting any pleasant to my ears any time soon. I’m not asking about throwing her in a river or abandoning her on the roadside where you found her, all I’m saying is that she needs to be with her own tribe. It’s only natural.”
He then took the flyer his assistant offered and then showed it to the three. “Canterlot’s been known to home a lot of unicorns, they can teach her. Might help her get a cutiemark too.” Tired eyes stared at the three pleadingly, “This is the most reasonable compromise I can manage with the folks in town, please take it.”
Oak and Birch stared at one another, exchanged a look with Auntie Maple before all three simultaneously shook their heads.
Vine Wiggles pursed his lips. “So…you’re really dead set then?”
Birch shook his head once more. “Yes. We’re not going to give her up just because a bunch of pansies are afraid of a little filly.”
Oak added beside Birch, “She’s not a threat to the town’s safety, Vine. You know us, we wouldn’t want to harm anypony.”
The two exchanged a long look before Vine looked down with a disappointed head shake. He tugged at his hat, nodding to the three. “Very well. Just don’t say I did nothing.” He started heading back to town.
“That sounded suspiciously like a threat,” Birch commented with a raised brow, drawing a glare from Oak who had directed it at Vine.
The pony being glared at however remained unfazed. “A truth’s more like it. I did do everything I could so I wouldn’t be held responsible for what others might do.” He stopped to look back at them, “It wasn’t a threat, believe you me.” He then returned to his trek back down to town. “It’s a warning.”
Sunset trudged up the stairs with heavy footsteps. She walked past her neighbors with a barely acknowledged nod, took out her keys with shaky hands, and managed to get inside before more decided to question her about the trip.
She just needed to be alone right now.
Stomach heavy, she eyed all her things. Down to the books then towards her gaming station, Sunset should be feeling more at ease inside her home. She plopped down on her couch and stared at nothing as she hugged her pillow cushion.
The sight of the little girl earlier, the memory and feelings…it suddenly came to her all at once. She closed her eyes shut.
“Empathy residue, Sunset. It’s just empathy residue. You’ve used your powers and did not expect the drawback from the emotions of the little girl. You’re fine.”
The pillow that Sunset had been hugging was squeezed harder.
“You’re fine.”
“Ow!” Sunset cried out, startling both parents as they hurriedly went to the filly’s side.
“What happened?!” Oak said, worry evident as he searched for the culprit of the pain.
“Papa, I’m fine,” Sunset said over her sniffling, rubbing at her eyes as Birch glanced down at the filly’s horn. It had seemed redder than usual.
“No, you’re not fine Sunset.” The taller of the two stallions lightly touched the horn, immediately drawing back when he felt like he’d been burned. Birch glanced down at his hoof, seeing he was alright, before looking around while Oak continued to fuss over the whining filly.
He glanced at the soil where the sunflower seed of his daughter was planted. Something told him it must have something to do with his daughter’s sudden pain. Walking slowly, he gently tapped his hoof, channeling his earth pony magic, and then closed his eyes to listen.
“Papa, I’m okay. I just tripped,” Sunset stated. Oak simply ignored her as he then proceeded to check her legs for any sign of scrapes.
“Or used unicorn magic,” Birch added, startling the two. When he was near, he turned to the guilty filly who simply looked down in shame. The brown pony’s eyes softened as he brought a hoof under the amber pony’s chin. “Sunset, I’m not mad.”
“But I am,” Oak stated and merely huffed when Birch rolled his eyes and muttered a “Not now” before turning back to his daughter. “I just wanted to know why you used your magic on the seed.”
Sunset looked away, not able to face them. “I…just wanted it to grow faster.”
Oak furrowed his brows. “Kiddo, it will.”
“Well what if it won’t?!” Sunset shouted, startling her parents. “I’ve tried to be patient, but it’s been months and not a single thing sprouted! I’ve read up everything I could, I watched you and Dad work every single day, I’ve been going over everything I might have done wrong!” The filly panted, chest huffing before she looked down with tears in her eyes. “I got scared thinking that maybe…I’m the one that’s what’s wrong.”
“Sunset…”
“No!” the filly rejected the hoof that moved to touch her. “I’ve heard what they’ve said about me.” At her fathers’ surprised looks, Sunset nodded to confirm their doubts. “Yes, I’ve noticed them. They didn’t bother to whisper anymore.” The two stallions then noticed a few sparks leaking out of the filly’s horn.
“Sunset,” Birch tried to say first but was cut off by the unicorn.
“No! I know what you’re going to say, I know it’s not a big deal for you two but it’s a big deal to me!” Something in the air hummed, forcing the two stallions to back away unwillingly as the filly stomped a hoof on the ground. “I’m sick of the ponies in town looking at me like I’m a monster!”
Stomp.
“I’m tired of you two getting blamed for me!”
Stomp.
Birch and Oak tried to push against the force.
“Sunset-
“No! I’m tired and guilty of all these negative emotions that I’ve bottled up! I don’t deserve this! Auntie Maple doesn’t deserve this!”
Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.
“You TWO don’t deserve this!”
There was a crack in the air, a surge of unicorn magic, before a bright flash of white appeared before the two stallions, forcing them to shut their eyes. When the light cleared alongside their vision, Oak was the first one who ran up to the passed out filly. Birch followed suit, checking over their daughter.
Both pairs of eyes grew worried as they glanced the horn that fizzled with sparks again, more so by the uneven breathing.
“We have to get her to a doctor!” Oak cried, urging Birch to take action. The brown pony took their wagon, saddled himself up, urged his husband to hop on, before he ran like he never ran before.
Oak hugged the wheezing filly in his hooves, pulling the blanket he had snagged tighter.
“Pa…papa…?” He glanced down at the weak voice of his daughter, eyebrows knitted in worry, before he fought against the fear. He offered a small smile as he brushed back the little red tuft on Sunset’s head.
“Shh, you’re going to be fine. You’ll be fine.”
“Sunset?”
The fiery haired girl opened her eyes, blinking blearily before she turned to the doors. She wondered if it was just her imagination.
When a knock sounded against the door again, Sunset languidly moved away from her resting position.
“Sunset?”
This time the girl found herself walking over in surprise, not expecting to hear this voice any time soon. Pulling the door open, she was greeted by the sight of one concerned Flash Sentry.
She stared at him neutrally as he breathed in a sigh of relief.
“What are you doing here?” Sunset asked, making the boy recover as he rubbed the back of his head.
“Well, to be honest? I’m not sure.” When the girl made a motion to close the door, albeit playfully even, Flash raised a hand to stop her. “Kidding, bad joke. I- Um…do you mind if I come in?”
Sunset raised a brow. “A boy and a girl alone in an apartment, are you sure that’s a good idea?”
At this Flash can’t help but roll his eyes at her. “Okay, so when you make jokes it’s funny?”
“Yep.” Sunset then opened the door wider, allowing the guitarist to enter. She then closed it before leaning against the wood. “It’s funnier when you think about me not liking you that way.”
“Or any guy for that matter,” Flash corrected before he chuckled at the girl’s shrug. He settled with sitting on the couch. “The girls got worried when you took off,” he started, not missing a beat.
“I know.”
“The woman, Victoria, wanted to thank you for saving her daughter.”
“I know.”
“The girls wanted to check up on you but then decided to leave you alone when you looked like you wanted to be.”
“I know.”
“I mean, I got that the trip had been draining for everyone but you not staying with your friends and leaving them without notice…it’s kind of out of character for you.”
“I know.”
“Okay I can sense you don’t want to talk about it with all your short answers but I just gotta know why? Can you answer that, if not for me then for your friends? I know they didn’t want to say anything, but I get that they wanted me to check up on you, considering I live close by and all.”
“I…don’t know.”
Flash Sentry tried not to groan but he always had a hard time whenever his friend got like this, even when they dated back then. “Fine don’t tell me, I’ll just let them know you need to be alone. Just…try not to shut them out like you did to me before.”
He then produced a can he had brought with him, “I know it’s not much, but this always cheered me up.” He didn’t notice an amber hand shaking before unclenching and clenching. “It’s a tonic I picked up, really helps whenever I need it. I’m sure this could help you too.”
“I’m definitely sure this one could help her,” a mare dressed in doctor’s clothing stated as she showed the tonic to the two stallions.
“Are you sure? Because the previous ones still don’t-
“Who’s the doctor here, Oak?” the mare asked, eyeing the frazzled farmer. Her eyes softened after a beat. “I know you’re worried about her but trust me, this will help.”
Birch gave his husband a side hug, nodding to the doctor. “Thank you so much. Really, you have no idea how much this means to us. You are practically one of the few ponies nice enough to give her a chance.”
The doctor simply nodded just as a small cough sounded to the side. Both parents turned to see their daughter groaning before slowly opening her eyes.
“W-What… happened?” Sunset asked, albeit raspy.
Birch offered a glass of water. “Settle down, Sunshine.”
Oak followed beside him, brushing the filly’s hair away. “Never mind what happened, you’re all good now that’s what’s important. Here,” he offered the tonic, “the doc said this will make you feel right as rain.”
“She’s…lying…”
“You’re lying…”
Flash turned. He stared at the other, confusion written plainly in his eyes. “Sunset?”
He found her eyes, but they didn’t seem to be looking at him. Glazed cyan eyes pinned him to where he was standing. “Sunset, I think you need to sit down.” He stared at her shaking hands then to her far-off look. “I’ll leave just let me-
“No!”
Flash jumped at the shout, bringing his hands up in defense, more so in a calming gesture. “Okay,” he started, making sure to use a soothing and gentle tone. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m leaving, see?”
He started for the door, slowly backing away as if afraid of provoking an enraged animal. He maneuvered his way to the door, passing the couch as he circled the small area.
His heart dropped when Sunset frantically moved away as he drew nearer to the door.
“Just what’s happening to her?” Flash Sentry thought. He was almost at the door now but Sunset seemed to move towards the counter, where he left his tonic.
He caught the brief flickering of her jewel, the geodes as the Rainbooms once explained to him when he was curious and had asked them. He saw how her eyes flickered white, cyan fighting against the colorless glow. He managed to pull open the door just as he watched the tonic can sailed towards him.
“Sunset!” Two simultaneous voices cried out just as an amber filly shot a blast of magic at the doctor.
“What has gotten into you!” Birch cried out once he was the first to recover and tackled his daughter, grunting against the surge of magic trying to force him away. “We do not hit other ponies, young lady! Magic or otherwise!”
Oak ran up to the fallen mare, offering a hoof. “I’m so sorry Doctor. I didn’t know what-
Blue eyes zeroed in on the bottle laying beside the mare, seeing the skull print pasted on the vial. He moved to take it just before the doctor could. He read the contents but he knew regardless of actually reading it, it didn’t change one thing.
“Doc…” Oak said after a long beat of silence, sans the struggling behind them, and leveled a neutral look at the suddenly nervous mare. “Why do you have poison of all things with you?”
He didn’t give her time to speak before he went over to one of the cabinets where he saw her get the tonic from and had opened to see rows upon rows of the same bottle that he bought when he noticed the unicorn’s random bouts starting up long ago. He picked up one vial, the same colored liquid and size of the tonic he had now, sans the label.
“What is the meaning of this?!” He shouted at the mare, drawing the attention of his two family members.
The doctor got up to her hooves, now glaring at them. “I did what’s for the best!”
“By murdering a filly?!” Oak cried out, just as Birch grunted from the strain of holding his daughter down. He started feeling a searing heat, but he held on. He knew Oak could take it from here.
“It’s not to kill her, it’s just to drain her magic.” She motioned with a so and so gesture, “side effects aside, this is the only way I can think of.”
Oak stared incredulously. “Well how about say, I don’t know, not drain her magic and just bucking accept her?!”
“You left us no choice! Sooner or later that unicorn will be the death of us all.” She punctuated this off with a point of her hoof at the groaning filly. “You saw what she could do!”
“She attacked you out of defense!” Birch suddenly felt guilty for thinking that his daughter would attack someone without reason. He should have trusted her. “You’ve been hurting her this whole time!”
“What’s with all the ruckus?” A stallion’s voice entered the fray. A lime green coated pony equipped with saddlebags filled to the brim with herbs and assorted plants pushed open the doors. “Doc, I got the next batch like you as-
He paused shortly to see glaring eyes at him. One pair in annoyance while two in contempt.
“Guff?” Birch found himself saying, disbelief written across his features. The fussing filly had finally quiet down as she fell asleep. “How could you?! You said you were perfectly fine with her?!”
Guff drew back in guilt before he glared at him, matching his anger. “She nearly caused Petunia to lose a tail! You’re lucky it was only singed!”
Oak came face to face with Guff. “It was an accident; they were literally playing! You know how kids are!”
“Not if said kid could burn off tails and cause harm!”
The doctor went over to Guff’s side, glaring at the two stallions. “It’s not just us who feel this way, the whole town’s willing to go on a riot just so you could fix this problem you caused in the first place.”
The parents went silent after that, before Birch wordlessly picked up the filly and placed her on his back while Oak stated with a stern, “Fine.”
The remaining Rainbooms could only stare at one Flash Sentry, who was nursing a cold compress against his swelling eye.
“So…she just threw the can at ya?”
Flash grunted before looking down with a sigh. “Yeah.”
“Seriously, what’s gotten into her?” Rainbow Dash said.
The group had met up at Sugarcube Corner after receiving a call from Flash Sentry and had found him with a black eye.
“I don’t know but I know she didn’t mean it,” Flash said in defense.
Fluttershy worriedly eyed the black eye. “Well now I’m scared of what would happen if she did.”
“You should have seen her; her eyes were flickering white and her geode was glowing.” That further concerned the group. “She was really freaking out but…”
“But what?” Twilight asked as she stared intensely at the guitarist, hands still idly fiddling around with her hair in fear ever since she saw the boy and heard what he said.
“I think I saw this once, with my uncle. He just randomly lashed out once he saw a water gun I brought in when I was a kid. My parents explained to me how the water gun just reminded him of his son because my cousin used to play with water guns all the time. They said he just hadn’t fully accepted him being gone, preferred to ignore what happened.”
“Oh dear, you never mentioned this before,” Rarity said as she placed a hand on Flash’s shoulder. He nodded in thanks.
“I've come to peace with it and my parents helped but anyway, you get my point? I think Sunset’s dealing with suppressed grief.”
“Uh, I’m not so sure we should be putting a label on it. We’re no psychologists last I checked,” Applejack commented with a rub of her head.
“True,” Flash agreed, “but I can’t help but see the signs. Either way though, she’s hurting, and I don’t know who else to turn to about this.”
Rainbow Dash bit her lip before saying, “I doubt I can be of much help. I never…talked anything this heavy with her before.” Fluttershy sadly nodded beside her. “Me too.”
“I haven’t either and well…I don’t honestly want to try coz it might not be a good idea,” Pinkie supplied with her hair deflating a bit.
“My thoughts exactly,” Rarity piped in with a guilty look. “It isn’t that I don’t want to help but something like this?” She turned to scan their faces. “It requires a very delicate touch, one that not even I am confident to undertake.”
“Same here,” Applejack stated with a tug of her Stetson, “brutal honesty here might do more bad than good.”
All pairs of eyes scanned to one last person.
“I…” Twilight trailed off. Just what could she say to that? Sure, maybe out of the seven of them she and Sunset were the closest, but it stemmed more from having the same experiences with turning into demons and probably closeness in intellect. She didn’t know how to handle someone's else grief let alone talking about it. Then an idea popped in her head, “Wait, I think I know someone else who can help.”
“Papa, where are we going?” Sunset drowsily asked as she realized they were home now, but she became curious when Oak started packing things up in a large trunk.
“We’re leaving this town, no use staying when the folks are jerks,” Birch explained in Oak’s stead, ruffling the filly’s head.
Sunset looked down. “Is…is it because of me?”
Both froze at the question before Oak hurried to his daughter’s side. “No. Kiddo, no it’s not because of you. It’s them.”
Birch nodded. “They’re just…not open to differences but that’s their call, not ours and not even yours.”
“But maybe if I didn’t exist then-
“No!” Oak shouted, then apologized when he saw the tears brimming in cyan eyes. He wiped them away with another murmured apology. “Don’t ever think like that. You exist because you matter. You have a purpose, with or without some silly mark telling you that. It also doesn’t change the fact that you’re our daughter and we love you so much, okay?” Oak pressed a soft kiss on the filly’s crown. “Your Papa Oak loves you. Your Daddy Birch loves you. Even your Auntie Maple loves you.”
Birch placed a hoof on Sunset’s head. “You’re loved, you matter, and we’re glad for each day that you existed.”
“Even when you found me on the roadside?”
The two stallions hugged the filly tighter.
“The moment we laid eyes on you we knew we’re not planning to let you go anytime soon.”
After the long silence, Birch let out a small chuckle to lighten the mood as he playfully shouldered his husband and said to his little filly, “Even when you’re married, you’ll still be stuck with us.” He then brought his family closer. “Hope your future partner likes sharing.”
Oak and Sunset snickered at that, then slowly they all burst into laughter, filling the small shack with the sound of joy.
When the laughter died down, Oak pulled away and finished packing. He turned to the two. “Let’s just say one last goodbye to Auntie Maple before we leave.”
Birch nodded as he followed, gently assisting Sunset and pointedly ignoring the brief sparks and groans coming from the filly if only to control his anger at what that doctor had done. Birch exchanged a silent message with Oak, nodding to convey understanding.
Their main priority was getting real help for their daughter.
Three teens were silent. Rainbow Dash tapped her foot impatiently before scratching her head and finally breaking the silence.
“Well?”
Twilight pursed her lips, scanned the magic journal for the nth time before shaking her head no.
“So, I broke into Sunset’s locker for nothing,” the athlete muttered, drawing a scowl from the farmer.
“Settle down, it ain’t helping any. Granted I was the one who broke it with my powers to begin with so you’re in no room to complain.” Then Applejack turned to the magical book.
“Maybe the princess had something else to do or had called in Princess Celestia like she said she would.” Applejack reread the message. “Right?”
The bell entrance rang and the three turned to see the other Rainbooms enter.
“We helped Flash home. Luckily his parents weren’t there, so he didn’t have to explain the black eye to them yet,” Rarity said in greeting while Fluttershy and Pinkie dejectedly sat in the booth.
“What’s he going to tell them though?” Applejack asked.
“Flash said he’ll make up a story of slipping or something,” Pinkie answered, toying with the straw in her drink.
“Pinkie and I also rounded our classmates up in a group chat for the alibi Rarity will send later,” Fluttershy added.
Twilight nodded. “Glad to know that CHS students can keep the magic a secret and have it stay solely in CHS.”
Rainbow shrugged yet a proud smile was plastered on her face. “Wondercolts help Wondercolts. That’s the code.”
Twilight nodded once again before she turned to the three recent arrivals. “How is she?”
Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie fell silent for a moment before the animal lover spoke first with a pained, “Hurting.”
Everyone looked dejected to hearing this.
“Well from what we saw through her window anyway,” Fluttershy added as she tried to lighten the mood with optimistic news. “She may not be answering her door for us but at least she’s eating? I mean, she did order a box of pizza after we texted her to,” The shy girl stated with a hopeful smile.
“And she still chose a nice outfit to wear,” Rarity chimed, “sweat pants and loose shirts are the range these days anyway.”
“And she ordered an ice cream milkshake,” Pinkie said with a small smile, “those always make me feel better.”
“Thanks girls,” Twilight stated, a bit of relief in her voice.
Rainbow nodded in agreement. “Sides, once she’ll feel all better, we can tell her about the time you three agreed to be peeping toms,” She said with a snicker, drawing brief chuckles from the group.
“I’d gladly tell her I broke her locker too,” Applejack added, faintly chuckling just as the athlete slung an arm around the farmer along with a good-natured punch on the arm.
“We’re so getting in trouble,” Rainbow commented as she laughed.
The teens allowed themselves a chance of reprieve, spirits lightly boosted knowing that Sunset will get better.
They just needed to give her time.
The bell entrance rang, and a familiar calming voice spoke, “I thought I might find you all here.” This made all teens glance up and saw Principal Celestia standing in front of their booth.
“Not all of us,” Pinkie dejectedly corrected after a beat.
At the principal’s furrowed brows, Twilight explained as the words just tumbled out.
“Sunset’s been acting distant ever since we got back from the trip. First, I thought it was her missing being a pony again, so I asked my counterpart, but she thinks it stems from something more. We asked her to explain further but all we got was a cryptic “Celestia may know” which was very unhelpful by the way since we’ve been waiting for a response so she could let us talk to their princess but- Principal Celestia, where are you going?”
Sunset glanced down, refusing to make eye contact with other ponies as the three of them trotted towards the house of Auntie Maple. Even the young colts and fillies that she used to play with before did not even bother giving her a side glance, either due to bandwagon contempt or simply because of their parents’ order to ignore her.
Sunset didn’t care anymore. She was just tired.
When they approached the mare’s house, Auntie Maple immediately swept Sunset into a gentle hug and let out fresh tears drop on amber coat.
“I’ll make sure to give them Tartarus for what they’ve done,” she vowed but the two stallions waved her vengeance away.
“They’re not worth it,” Oak said as he gave his friend a hug. “No use making good carrot soup from a rotten carrot.”
Birch hugged the mare next after wiping sweat away from his brow. “Be safe, you hear me? We’ll send letters once we found a better home.” Oak nodded beside him before lightly tugging at his shirt. Why did it suddenly get hot in here? At Birch’s poking, Oak turned to see his husband pointing at something above their heads through squinting eyes.
Following and squeezing his own eyes, Oak managed to make out what seemed like a ball of fire.
And it was rapidly growing.
Multiple ponies started to scream as they felt the searing heat. Frantic hoovesteps and stomping could be heard as the townsponies ran away, pushing past one another and salvaging what they can.
Oak and Birch followed after the chaotic wave, wagon near close to collapsing over the multiple bumps from discarded wood of destroyed carts and barrels alongside being harshly maneuvered in order to avoid hitting ponies who had fallen and tripped. When the wagon hit a nasty rock, the contraption collapsed along with Birch who had been pulling the thing.
Oak hurried to remove the ties, grunting when he was shoved and hit by the frantic bodies of ponies.
“Got it,” Birch grunted, and he was set free, looking up over the dozen heads to stare at his husband, keeping his sight on him amidst the sea of moving ponies.
“Where’s Sunset?!” Oak cried out as he tried to push past the bodies. Birch looked to his side and the fallen wagon, panic in his features when he caught no sight of an amber unicorn.
Ponies screamed and ran, bumping with one another in sheer panic. One even ran and broke the pillar beams supporting the saloon roof making it start squeaking as the heavy sign wobbled.
Heavy creaking came from above, drawing Birch’s attention away from his search as he glanced up to see the wooden sign of the saloon about to give away. He turned to his husband, caught in the sea of frantic bodies and at the center under the sign, and then acted without a second thought.
No pony noticed a brown pony running up to another and using his body as a shield just as the smiling face of the pony plastered on the saloon sign came down on the two with a loud painful crack.
“Papa! Dad!” Sunset cried out with a nervous whimper, shielding herself from getting hit by the sea of trotting legs as much as she could. She got separated from her parents when the cart collapsed. She was snagged by one pony’s legs soon after, forcing the unfortunate filly to tumble and smack her face on the dirt ground. She got up when more seemed to come afterwards, making Sunset think to seek for a higher perch.
Thinking fast and with sweat pouring down her brow, the filly saw one of the lamp posts. Wasting no time, Sunset dodged as best as she could before she reached her salvation and climbed up.
“Papa? Dad?” She called out, scanning over the sea of heads and tried to focus over the screaming and panic. “Why is it so hot?” Sunset whined, wiping her brow. Her eyes then caught of uncharacteristic bright light that caused many ponies to shield their eyes and groan due to the heat. The action made her furrow her brows in confusion. When she searched for the source, she squinted as she tried to look up and make out what caused the light.
It was like staring at the sun, only with the sun seemingly about to drop over their heads.
Sunset found her eyes hurting but as she closed her eyes, she heard a deafening crash before she blacked out.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Sunset groaned, pulling her head up away from the pillow. She wiped at her puffy eyes, ignored the tear stains, and plopped back down.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Sunset ignored the knocking. She didn’t answer it before, why should she now?
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Her friends will know to leave her be, she thought she knew they would. She didn’t have to order a pizza when her friends texted her to eat but she did so anyway, knowing it would at least ease their minds.
“Sunset please…open this door,” An entirely new voice sounded behind the wooden barricade, making Sunset look up again. Surely, she must be hearing things.
“Sunset I know you can hear me, please just open up,” the voice continued.
The fiery haired girl could only stare at the wood serving as her shield. What she was protecting herself from, Sunset didn’t know but she knew she couldn’t ignore the person behind it now.
“I heard what happened, let me help you.”
Shaking her head, Sunset went back to cover herself with a blanket. She tried to block the voice out.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Sunset found herself crying but she didn’t know why. She’s fine. She shouldn’t be crying. She’s just tired.
Sunset’s fine.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Please talk to me, let me in.”
Sunset didn’t want to, she really really didn’t want to but for some inexplicable reason, she did anyway. With slow and languid movements, she headed for the frantic knocking on her door. Might as well get this over with before the noise drew her neighbors’ attention.
Not bothering to cover her tear stained face, the teen pulled the door open and was immediately enveloped into a familiar hug.
Soft hoofsteps echoed past the ringing in Sunset’s ears, the dirtied face and lightly bleeding filly looked up to stare at the towering pony. She squinted, not seeing anything but the silhouette of the newcomer blocking the sun.
“Can you hear me, little one?”
Filly Sunset looked around, saw the burning houses, smelled burnt wood and flesh. A filly should have cried. Cried for the loss of a friend. Cried out for the loss of a whole town. Cried out to the two stallions who found her when she was a foal. Cried out to the two important ponies in her life. Cried out to the parents that she knew, even at this age, were gone and who were not coming back.
But the pain didn’t register.
The filly stared at nothing, tears flowing freely but she couldn’t understand why. All she felt was a warm glow on her horn.
“Shh…shh…I’m here….” A gentle hoof wiped away the filly’s tears.
“I’m here. No need to cry anymore. I’m here.” Wings enveloped the young pony. Puffy cyan orbs glanced up at sympathetic purple ones.
“I’m here.”
Sunset blinked past the tears, wiping them away as she snuggled closer to the warm body against her, letting the gentle fingers run through her fiery tresses.
“I’m here. Let it all out, I won’t suppress it this time. That was my mistake, please… just cry.”
And so Sunset did.
For the first time in many moons, the filly finally cried for the loss of her parents.
