Friendship is Magic, but Who's Counting?

by lepory

Rating: teen
Tags: Sunset Shimmer, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Princess Luna, Spike, Profanity, Adventure, Daybreaker, Princess Celestia
Length: 21608

Sunset Shimmer, aided by her new friends Derpy Hooves, Sassy Saddles, Gilda, Zecora, and Coloratura, must defeat the legendary Daybreaker in order to save her teacher and prevent Equestria from being doomed to an eternal, blistering day.

In another universe, far from the one we know (but not too far), a butterfly flapped its wings. A baby was born, as we well know. But rather than being white, with a mane formed from a prism of color, this filly was blue, close to pitch, with a softer blue mane. Her parents lovingly named her Luna. Not too long after, they had another baby. White, this time. I'm sure you know what to imagine. They named this filly Celestia; thus, our two royal sisters were born.
And, due to this one small change in what was now ancient history, we must begin anew; hear the story from the beginning. A familiar story, and yet so very, very different.

~

Over a thousand years later, a young unicorn mare named Sunset Shimmer studies under the ruling princess of Equestria, Luna. With her sharp mind and spiky exterior, she's more than happy to spend her days alone, dedicated to her magical studies. She's made great strides with no one but her teacher and dutiful assistant, but when Equestria is faced with a forgotten villain of legend and she's the only one left who knows how to defeat her, "going it alone" may not be an option any longer.

CHANGED SOLAR FLARE TO DAYBREAKER FOR CLARITY'S SAKE

I've also posted this on Ao3!
Cover art is mine :)
For those of you who are as visual as me and want to see the references I drew up for myself, you can find them here!

Published 2020-08-22 10:10:00 UTC
Last updated 2020-09-17 18:06:04 UTC

Welcome to Ponyville!

Author's Note

Some things I'd like to clear up:
-I went with Derpy in the story because that was the name I always called her when I was younger. (it also feels... less insulting than "Ditzy"? Idk. Y'know.) Also, writing the word derp repeatedly and completely unironically in the year of our lord 2020 hurts me physically, and I am a masochist.
-Funny story; I didn't even know Daybreaker was a THING until my friend was like "lol you just drew Daybreaker" and I was like ???????? And as it turns out, I kind of did. The nature of humanity is that every so often someone accidentally reinvents Daybreaker. On that note, I changed the name from Solar Flare (which it was originally) to Daybreaker to help allay confusion
-Spike is genuinely the only universal constant. Do not question this. I will never provide an explanation for this. Accept this and move on.

Did some small edits on 9/23/20!
Small edits (Sassy's exclamations) on 7/12/21!

Welcome to Ponyville!

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the youngest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn, while the elder brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects: all the different types of ponies. But, as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies rested and admired the peaceful night her sister fostered, but spurned her marvelous, radiant daylight in favor of their own work and selfish interests. One fateful day, the younger sister refused to lower the sun to make way for the night. Her elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one’s heart had transformed her into a blazing mare of self-righteous fury: Daybreaker.

She vowed that she would envelop the land in a never-ending day. Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: The Elements of Harmony. Using the magic of The Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, and banished her permanently to the sun’s surface. The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon, day and night,

“and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since.

“The Elements of Harmony… It sounds familiar… but from where?” Sunset Shimmer muttered to herself, her eyes dancing over the passage she had just read.

“What’d you say, Sunset?” her companion, a purple and green baby dragon, asked. He sat nestled in the corner of a couch, looking up from a comic he'd been eagerly reading. Small to begin with, the fluffy sofa he sat in absolutely dwarfed him.

Sunset shook her head and brought her snout out of the massive tome in front of her (for the first time in hours) to address him. Her eyes were slightly glassy, which indicated that she was, truth be told, still entirely fixated on the thoughts bouncing around in her head. “Nothing; just talking to myself again.” Her bright teal eyes focused and narrowed at the dragon as her body finally caught up with her racing mind. “Spike, find-“

The door flung open with a crash, causing both occupants of the otherwise empty library to jump. A cream mare with a pink mane and tail that curled at the ends stood, slightly out of breath, in the doorway.

“Ha, finally! I told her I’d find you first!” The mare took a second to catch her breath, to which Sunset rolled her eyes. Really, the drama. Sunset figured she might as well see how much she could speed this along. She had more important things to do. “Twinkleshine, wh-“

“Right! So, Moondancer is having a little get-together in the west castle courtyard,” Twinkleshine interrupted Sunset again, who, at this point, looked about thirty seconds away from setting the mare on fire with her mind. Which, Twinkleshine suddenly remembered, she was perfectly capable and willing to do. “Do you wanna come?”

She beamed at her scowling pseudo-friend, but the smile quickly took on a more nervous twinge. Must be a bad time, then, she thought.

Sunset huffed. “I have work to do,” she said, only continuing because she saw Spike pouting at her out of the corner of her eye. “Maybe some other time.”

She waved her hoof and turned back to her book, where her eyes danced over the passage she had already read twice, leaving Spike to see Twinkleshine out of her library and close the door. Preferably quickly. Her attention turned back to the many shelves surrounding her, and she trotted from section to section, muttering that she was sure that she had read about the Elements before. She called for her assistant, once, twice, and once more. Spike finally ran over to stand next to her.

“Find me…” Sunset’s voice drifted and she muttered to herself for a second, attention never wavering from the books she was looking through. “Find that copy of Predictions and Prophecies, would you? I know it’s here somewhere…”

The two dug through the seemingly endless collection of books until Spike let out a triumphant shout. Sunset whipped around, galloping over to one of the only spots left on the floor that still had space to sit down on. A large pillow lay on the ground, which was more of a comfortable coincidence than anything else. Across the room, the book was enveloped in a bright teal glow and lifted out of Spike’s hands, floating over to meet Sunset. Shortly after, Spike did too.

She (and the book) dropped heavily onto the floor with an “oof!”, and she began flipping through it, subconsciously hugging the pillow to her chest. She was muttering again. “E… Elements… Elementsss. Here!” She glanced at the baby dragon peering over her shoulder before reading the disappointingly short passage. "Six... Laugher, honesty... Blah Blah... A spark to ignite... Ughhh!" Beneath the basically useless paragraph sat one line; “See: Blazing Mare.”

“Blazing Mare? But that’s just an old ponies’ tale,” Spike said while Sunset flipped back through the pages to “B”.

“Got it. Blazing Mare. There aren’t that many entries that start with ‘B’, surprisingly enough,” she grinned at Spike. “The Blazing Mare, a myth from olden pony times. A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the sun. She can be seen in the occasional bursts of fire that spring from the sun's surface - a sign that even after all these years, she fights tirelessly against her prison. Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the sun shall light wholly ablaze, and she will finally escape to bring about an eternal burning daytime.”

Sunset swallowed, her mouth suddenly feeling very dry. “That… doesn’t sound good. Spike; take a note.” She floated a piece of parchment and a quill to Spike, who grabbed it out of the air and watched her expectantly. She paced, and her gaze flicked around as she organized her thoughts into a message that was, hopefully, coherent despite its scrambled urgency.

“My dearest mentor,” she began abruptly. Spike scribbled as she spoke.

“My recent studies of pony magic have led me to the conclusion that we stand on the brink of disaster.” Spike nodded, so she continued.

“The supposedly-mythical Blazing Mare of pony legend is, in fact, much realer than a simple bedtime story. She is Daybreaker – a once terrible threat to Equestria that was defeated by the Elements of Harmony long ago, and banished to the sun.” She paused.

“Wait, wait, how does that even work?” she asked incredulously to no one in particular. “She should just be dead!” Spike’s continued writing drew her attention, and she realized her mistake.

“Don’t write that!” she exclaimed hastily, frantically shaking her hooves. Spike looked at her, then at the parchment in his hands, and crossed out the last couple of lines he had written.

“Okay, uh, where was I… Right!” She nodded at Spike. “This year’s Summer Sun Celebration brings with it anniversary of the thousandth year, the day that Daybreaker is prophesied to gain her freedom and bring burning destruction to Equestria. We must do whatever we can to prevent this terrible prophecy from coming to fruition. I anxiously await your hopefully swift reply. Your devoted student, Sunset Shimmer.”

Spike finished writing and grinned down at his claw-work.

“Cool, send it,” Sunset said with a nod.

Spike made no move whatsoever to do so. “Like… right now?”

“Yes, right now! When else?”

“I just, uh, don’t know, Sunset. Princess Luna’s super busy getting ready for the celebration!”

“Yes Spike, I know, that’s my point,” she huffed. “If we don’t find a solution as soon as possible, there won’t be a Summer Sun-setting to celebrate! Luna needs to know as. Soon. As. Possible!”

Spike shrugged and blew a green flame at the letter, watching it burn to ashes.

“Okay, okay. I wouldn’t hold your breath th-“ Spike stopped abruptly only to burp up another small green flame that coalesced into a letter.

“See? I told you so,” Sunset sang smugly, smile evident in her voice. “What’s it say?”

"That was... uncomfortably fast." Spike cleared his throat. “My dearest, most ardent student Sunset; you know that I value little more than your undying diligence and vigor, and that I trust your intuition completely.”

Sunset nodded sagely.

“But there comes a time when even you must turn your attention to something other than those dusty old books!”

“WHAT?” Sunset yelled, whipping around to face Spike so fast she lost her balance. She stumbled, righted herself, and stared at him.

“Should I… continue?” he tentatively offered.

Sunset snorted. “Yes, of course you should continue!”

“Right…” The tiny dragon’s eyes ran down the paper as he looked for where he left off.

“My dear Sunset, there is more to a young pony’s life than simply studying. What is the point of learning if you never put it to good use, at the least? Upon such consideration, I have decided to send you to supervise and finalize the preparations for the celebration in this year’s location: Ponyville; moreover, I have an even more essential, priority task for you as well: make some friends! A chariot awaits your arrival outside your home; gather what you need - and try not to keep them waiting for too long! Your proud teacher, Princess Luna.

Well, I guess we’re going to Ponyville!”

Sunset just gaped at him.

~~~

Sunset and Spike stood on a flying chariot, watching the humble town of Ponyville grow less and less distant. The fiery unicorn had cooled down and resigned herself to pouting, while her companion tried to cheer her up.

“Hey, at least the Princess arranged for you to stay in a library! That’s gotta count for something, right?” He paused and made a face. “Why does a library have a living space?”

Sunset stomped her hoof and turned to him, eyes blazing. “Yes, it does! You wanna know why, Spike? ‘Cause I'm right! We’ll check up on the prep as quick as we can, and then I can get to the library and find some proof or something of just how much of a threat Daybreaker really is!”

Neither of them noticed the descent of the chariot. Spike tipped his head. “Then… when will you make friends? Like the Princess said?”

“She said to “supervise and finalize preperations”,” Sunset whinnied. “I am her student, and I will do my royal duty and I will not let her down, but the fate of Equestria doesn’t rest on me making friends.”

The chariot bounced a few times as they landed, catching its two occupants off guard. Spike exclaimed and fell over, and Sunset barely caught herself from doing the same. She hopped off onto the ground and coughed, surprised, at the dust she kicked up.

“Streets aren’t paved,” she muttered as she levitated Spike onto her back, still trying to clear the dust out of her nostrils. She trotted around to the front, where the two white pegasi who had pulled their chariot stood stalwart.

“Thanks,” she said dryly, and she walked out a little, into the street proper. Which still was not paved. She heard, and ignored, the pegasi's "Have a nice day, Ma'am!" as she trotted away, coming to a stop in the middle of the road. Ponies of every kind trotted around; all of them simply going about their days, smiling and talking to one another. Completely comfortable in each other's company. Disgusting.

Quaint was a good word for it, Sunset thought. Obnoxiously so, she followed it up with. There wasn’t anything particularly unique about the town, except for the population. For all of her extensive knowledge, Sunset couldn’t think of any other place that had so many different types of ponies content to live together without any sort of fuss. It was strange; it was different from Canterlot in more ways than the unpaved roads. Life was hard enough dealing with the everyday annoyances that came from interacting with unicorns, and Sunset just hoped that the myriad of other types of ponies wouldn’t make it any harder.

“What’s first on the list?”

Spike jumped off her back, kicking up another cloud of dust, which sent the both of them into a coughing fit.

“We need to – cough – stop doing that,” Sunset said as she waved her hoof around to dispel the dust.

“Sorry,” Spike said, accompanied by a sneeze and a small burst of flame. “I think I’m allergic to this town,” he sniffed.

Sunset rolled her eyes and tried – and failed – to keep a small smile from creeping onto her face. “So, the list?”

“Right! Uh, first is… decorations!”

Sunset looked around quizzically before starting in a random direction at a slow trot. “So I guess we just… wander around until we find the town hall? I mean, it can’t be that hard, it not like the town is- oof!”

Sunset felt all of the air pushed out of her as a weight slammed into her side, sending her sprawled out on the ground, with a weight on top of her. She pushed the pony above her off, and scrambled to her hooves. “Watch where you’re going!” she snapped at the mystery mare, the fur on her back bristling.

The small pegasus sitting on the ground shook herself out of her daze and looked up at Sunset when she yelled. Or, well, Sunset assumed she looked up at her. Her head did. One of her eyes did, too. The other was looking in the complete opposite direction. She didn’t even have time to feel bad for yelling before the mare started giggling.

The pegasus wobbled to her feet. “Sorry about that! I forgot how'ta fly again,” she said, with the last hints of a laugh.

“You forgot how to fly.” It wasn’t a question. Next to Sunset, Spike snorted.

“It happens sometimes,” the mare said, picking up the saddlebag that had fallen off of her during the unexpected landing and placing it onto her back.

The mare turned back to Sunset. “Wait, if ya don’t know that, it means you’re new!” Her face broke into a wide grin, and she came up close to Sunset, shaking her hoof excitedly. “Sorry I didn’t notice sooner! I’m Derpy; Derpy Hooves!”

Sunset yanked her hoof back, taking in the odd pegasus in front of her. She was light grey, with a choppy yellow mane and tail. She had an overall smaller frame than Sunset, and through recent personal experience, she knew she weighed significantly less, too. Sunset wondered if that was because she was a pegasus. Research for another time, perhaps. The mare’s cutie mark was a group of rising bubbles. Fitting name, she thought in her annoyance.

“Right well, Derpy, I have things I need to do so… bye.” Derpy had moved on to shaking Spike’s claw, who was returning the gesture much more enthusiastically than Sunset had. Sunset was actually convinced that Derpy was so caught up in… whatever it was that she and Spike were caught up in that she didn’t even hear her, but the mare looked back to her before she could repeat herself. She tilted her head quizzically.

“But I don’t even know your name yet?”

Weird eyes, Sunset thought as she suppressed a shiver.

“I’m Spike! And this is Sunset Shimmer! We’re here to supervise the preparation for the Celebration!” Spike didn’t give Sunset the option to not answer.

“Yes, and we really must be going now, so, bye,” Sunset said and started walking away, in the direction that she hoped to Luna was the one town hall was in. She huffed as she felt Derpy fly to catch up and start walking next to her.

“If you’re new here, I doubt ya know your way around! I gotta deliver some letters anyway, so I can show ya around while we both do what we gotta! Where're ya headed first?”

Sunset sighed in resignation and pointedly ignored Spike’s giggling next to her. “Town hall.”

“Oh,” Derpy said, nudging Sunset until she turned right. “That’s that way.”

Sunset lowered her head and stalked off, scowling. “Of course it is.”

The three walked to the center of town, with Derpy and Spike talking back and forth over Sunset excitedly about some comic the entire way. She almost sighed in relief when they finally came across the colorful tower of a building, trotting up the stairs to the porch with a barely-repressed skip in her step. “Right, thanks Derpy, but we got it under control from here. So you can go do… your letter delivering thing now. Come on Spike.”

Derpy stayed right next to her, because of course she did. She cocked her head at Sunset, who silently wished in exasperation that she'd stop doing that. “Oh, it’s really no worry! It’s a light load today,” she patted her saddlebag, “and a whole buncha it is the same as your list! I can show ya all around Ponyville!”

Sunset resisted the urge to smack her head against a nearby pole. Barely.

“Awesome! We’d get totally lost without help.” Spike laughed. He leaned in towards Derpy and stage whispered, “Between you and me, Sunset’s a terrible navigator, even in places she’s known for practically forever!”

“I can hear you, Spike,” the aforementioned mare said dryly, rolling her eyes. Opening the doors to the hall with her magic, Sunset trotted in to find a small team of ponies diligently decorating the large, open space, all following the orders of a tall and lithe blue unicorn. She seemed to have a very sure idea of what she wanted the decorations to look like, and she made sure the ponies helping her knew as well. Sunset struggled to keep up as the mare called out a constant stream of commentary, using her own magic sort decorations all the while. The only object in the room not in constant motion was a large, colorful sheet of paper floating directly next to her. How one pony could keep so many things straight at one time was a mystery to Sunset; moreover, Spike seemed to agree with her, she noted as he stood next to her and made a soft noise.

“This is… a lot.”

Derpy, unperturbed by the constant movement and noise, leisurely flew through the chaos to meet the unicorn standing in the center of the room, surrounded by overflowing boxes of different materials.

“Sassy! I got a letter for ya!” Derpy landed next to the unicorn, who smiled at her. “And a pony,” she finished and pointed at Sunset, still in the doorway, with a giggle.

That got the unicorn’s – Sassy’s? – attention, and she finally turned to see Sunset and Spike standing in the doorway. Feeling pinned down by the mare’s scrutinizing look, Sunset figured it was time for her to trot over, before they started gossiping about her or something. Thankfully, Sassy’s previously judgemental look turned into a wide smile as she cantered over to meet Sunset halfway.

“Well, bust my buttons, Derpy! Hello, it’s such a pleasure to meet you! I am Sassy Saddles! My sincerest apologies for my behavior today,” she giggled with nervous energy, “I’m a tad bit frazzled, as I'm sure you can tell!”

Her extravagant accent made Sunset want to barf. Talk about putting it on. The mare certainly lived up to her namesake; it was like her every word was dripping with as much sarcasm a pony could get.

“Uh; Sunset Shimmer. This is Spike.” She nodded her head towards her companion, who waved shyly. Sunset noted that the room seemed a lot less hectic now that Sassy had turned all of her attention to her visitors, despite Derpy’s bumping around with one of the other ponies in the background. The mare's magic was actually kind of impressive if she was able to keep her focus on levitating so much as once.

“We’re here from Canterlot to-“

“Canterlot!” Sassy shot forward, eyes sparkling, her snout squished up against Sunset’s. Did nopony have any sense of personal space here, or what? Was that not a thing in Ponyville. Ridiculous. Sassy was either unaware of Sunset’s discomfort or she just didn’t care, and Sunset was leaning heavily towards assuming the latter.

“I am from Canterlot too! Sequins and sashes, how is everything? Have you been to Canterlot Carousel? I have been meaning to visit, but it has just been so busy-“

Sunset cleared her throat. Who knew how long this mare could go on? Well, lots of ponies here, probably. But Sunset did not intend to be one of them.

Sassy at least had the decency to look bashful. “Ah, haha. Anyway. You were saying?”

“We’re here from Canterlot to check on preparations for the festival, and it seems like you’re doing just fine,” Sunset gritted out. This was taking too long. She should have just been in and out, but noooooo.

“Oh, we're making progress, certainly.” Sassy looked distracted, but she quickly shook herself out of it and levitated her large paper over.

Now that it was closer, Sunset could properly see the painstakingly organized plan Sassy Saddles had drawn out and stuck multiple pins into. It was obvious that the unicorn had every last hoofstep plotted out. Suddenly, the chaotic atmosphere from before seemed to have a much sturdier foundation than Sunset had originally given it credit for.

“But, I personally believe things could be better. Faster. There was a huge delivery mix-up, so we wound up hours behind! It’s survivable, but definitely not ideal. Supplies should have come yesterday, but they came this morning instead. It won't be a problem, though! The keystone in the arch of success is the ability to adapt and overcome!” Sassy stuck a pin in on of the pictures on the paper to prove her point, but then she sighed. “At worst, we’ll have to start the midday party a little late.”

Spike perked up at that, while Sunset felt just the tiniest bit of anxiety rear its ugly head.

“Party?” they said in unison, with radically different tones.

Sassy looked at them quizzically. “Of course?”

“We party all day until Luna sets th'sun!” Derpy beamed as she landed next to Sassy Saddles. She looked at Sassy. “Do they have the Summer Sun Festival in Canterlot?”

The mare snorted. “Of course they do!”

“I just don’t go. I have more important things to do,” Sunset butted in before they could get started on their conjecture. Something told her that these two could go back and forth forever if they wanted to, so it’d be best to nip it in the bud.

“Well that’s kinda sad,” Derpy said.

Sassy elbowed her playfully and looked back at Sunset. “Oh no, I can absolutely understand that! Sometimes work feels like the only thing that matters!”

“Right, yeah, that,” Sunset gritted out, her already bad attitude darkening considerably. This mare had no idea. Sunset was literally racing time to try and save all of Equestria, and Sassy Saddles had the audacity to compare that to messing around with fabric? Unbelievable. “Speaking of, we still have a lot to do yet, so excuse me.”

Sunset turned and walked back out of the hall. Outside, Spike caught up to her. “Decorations… check. You know, she was just trying to be nice,” he said to his friend.

“I don’t have time to be nice!” Sunset exploded. She whirled to face Spike. “We are literally facing what could very well be the apocalypse, and I’m trotting around checking on decorations for an inconsequential party, chatting idly with a bunch of annoying ponies! This is just… UGH!” She kicked at the ground in frustration.

Spike hesitantly patted her shoulder. “I’m sure the Princess has a reason for sending you here. Knowing Princess Luna, she’s probably even got everything under control already!”

Sunset hung her head. “I sincerely doubt that, Spike.” But the thought lingered. Was Spike right? And if Princess Luna did have something prepared that she wasn't telling Sunset about for whatever reason - did she even need Sunset at all?

“Sincerely doubt what?” Derpy asked as she landed next to them. Both pony and dragon twisted around in surprise.

“Nothing! Nothing we just-“

“Oh, we were just saying that-“

Derpy snorted. “Yeah, okay,” she said; she didn’t push any further, and she didn't let them continue their frankly embarrassing attempt to cover up whatever they had been talking about. “Where to next?”

Spike scrambled, righting himself and the list he was holding. “Right! Next! Uh, Music! Sweet Apple… Acres? A farm? Wait, that doesn’t sound right,” he said. Worry creeped into his voice as he double, then triple-checked the list of locations.

“Nah, it is!” Derpy said, trotting off. “This way!”

Sunset and Spike shrugged at each other and followed her. It wasn't like either of them had any better ideas. The walk was longer than both would have liked, a fact which Spike in particular was very vocal about. It didn’t take long for Sunset to put him onto her back with a sigh.

They followed Derpy, who was happily trotting along the dirt road, completely unaffected by the late afternoon heat and rough road. Sunset idly wondered how the ponies could stand walking around on dirt and rocks all the time. Her hooves were starting to really ache. She also might have been bleeding, she thought as she noted some scuffed red on her front left hoof. Off in the fields, they could see two ponies, one red and one orange, bucking the trees; as they approached the farm houses, they could hear various instruments playing in what really did not sound like it should be introducing the regal ruler of the land. Sunset’s brow furrowed and she turned her head to share an apprehensive look with Spike.

Derpy led them to a small, open barn next to what must have been the main house, as evidenced by the electricity and the old mare snoring in a rocking chair on the porch. And the fact that it actually looked like a house. She nodded to the barn. “I’m gonna take these to Granny Smith, but you’ll find Rara in there. She’s in charge of th'music.”

As she watched Derpy fly away, Sunset realized how suddenly exposed she felt without the Pegasus leading them around. She wasn't even that far away, but meeting new ponies was a lot easier with such a lively buffer, as it turns out. Not that she would ever admit it. Sunset promptly shoved the thought down, refusing to even entertain the idea that she could prefer any other pony’s company to being alone. Especially that one. That pony was annoying and she had weird eyes, Sunset said to herself, bringing the train of thought to a stop.

Forcing herself to move forward, Sunset trotted into the barn. In the open space of what must have been a huge storage shed were four ponies: a ground pony holding a large string instrument (cello, was Sunset’s best guess), a unicorn levitating a saxophone, another unicorn sitting at a drum set, and another ground pony standing near a piano, but who seemed more focused on giving feedback to her companions.

All four turned to look expectantly at Sunset as she trotted in. Seeing her hesitation, the mare near the piano walked over to greet her. “Hey! I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before; what brings you to Sweet Apple Acres?”

The mare was intimidatingly pretty, and the soft look in her eyes as she tried to make herself approachable did nothing to change that. Her coat was a light seafoam, and her mane and tail were deep purple, curly and striped with a bright blue. She stood slightly taller than Sunset, but she lowered her head forward slightly to be on level with her. All in all, she was the last pony Sunset would expect to find in a barn that smelled like pig shit.

“I’m, uh, we’re here from Canterlot to-“

Sunset winced as Spike clambered to stand up, digging his claws into Sunset’s back and using her head to balance. “Derpy said to look for Rara!”

The mare blinked at them and laughed softly. “Oh, hello. I didn’t see you there,” she said, adding, “and, you found her. That would be me. Or, my nickname. My name is actually Coloratura, but my friends call me Rara. Do you two have names, or is that not a common practice in Canterlot?” she asked, teasing.

Sunset cleared her throat. “I’m Sunset Shimmer, and this is Spike,” she indicated to the dragon, who hopped off of her back onto the ground. It didn’t matter how pretty or nice this mare was; Sunset was getting real sick of wasting her time with introductions. She had a job to do, and she had to finish it fast if she wanted to make any progress on the whole Daybreaker Situation.

“We’re here on official business from Canterlot to check on preparations. Is the music coming along… alright?” Sunset cast her gaze over the musicians with only the slightest hint of doubt. Okay, maybe a bit more than the "slightest hint".

Rather than getting defensive, as Sunset would have expected, Coloratura beamed at her. How in Luna’s name could one pony seem so genuine? “Everything is going great here! Some of us are playing instruments other than the ones we usually play, so we're a bit out of practice, but everything sounds fantastic, all things considered. I’m very lucky to be working with such skilled, adaptable musicians. Here, I’ll introduce you!”

Sunset blanched. “Oh, no, no, it’s okay, really. We still have a lot to do so we really should be going-“

“It isn't like we’ll keep you all day, if you're really in such a rush,” Coloratura laughed. “But music sounds so much better when you know the talented ponies behind it, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Oh, Sunset knows nothing about music! She does nothing but study magic!”

Said unicorn ground her teeth. “Thank you, Spike.”

Coloratura just smiled at them and trotted over to her company, who all pretended they hadn’t been watching the interaction with varying degrees of interest. Pointing to the unicorn mare sitting on the ground, she said, "This is Lyra Heartstrings! She's playing the saxophone for tomorrow."

The unicorn grinned, mischief glinting in her eye. "I originally learned as a joke, but we needed a sax, not a lyre, so I figured I might as well. Sink or swim, amirite?" She winked at Sunset.

"And that is-“ Coloratura giggled and pointed to the grey ground pony mare, and then the white unicorn, “Octavia Melody and Vinyl Scratch - though they prefer DJ Pon-3 - with the upright bass and drums, respectively.” DJ Pon-3 nodded, while the other mare waved politely.

“Aw, cool!” Spike ran past Sunset to the pony sitting at the drum set, bubbling with barely contained excitement. “Can I try? Can I?”

With a small smirk, the pony nodded and gave their drumsticks to the baby dragon. Sunset let Spike assault everyponies’ ears for less than three seconds, at most, before she levitated him up and away from the drums.

“Well! That’s all we have time for, sadly, so we really have to go now, but thanks for everything and, uh, keep up the good work?” Sunset’s voice tipped up at the end, making her statement sound more like a question than the exclamation it was supposed to be. She turned around, and she promptly bumped into Derpy, who had just walked into the barn. Sunset groaned.

“Hey Rara! Just wanted to tell ya that you got a package; I left it with Apple Bloom!” She looked from Sunset to Coloratura and back again. “We’re leavin' already?”

“Yes,” Sunset groaned as she stomped past. It was just one thing after another. At the rate they were going, she was never going make any headway on Daybreaker! Not enough to mean anything, anyway. She heard Derpy and Spike say bye to Coloratura as she trotted away. They would catch up.

Sure enough, they did, chatting happily with each other. Sunset didn’t even bother eavesdropping, too caught up in her thoughts, which were back in full force. DID Princess Luna actually know about Daybreaker’s prophesied return? Was she laughing at Sunset's foalish, and ultimately futile, eager panic right now?

She decided that maybe she shouldn’t fall into that particular spiral and shook her head, tuning into her companions’ conversation. They were talking about some pony from the town; not one of the few that Sunset was familiar with. She slowed down to trot next to Derpy.

“Are you friends with everypony in this town?” It came out sounding nastier than she meant for it to be.

Unperturbed by the sudden input from Sunset, Derpy answered in stride.

“Oh, yeah, pretty much!” She smiled at Sunset. “You’d be surprised how happy some ponies get when they get their mail! I like bein' able to make ponies happy daily. AND, it’s a really good way to get to know everypony, too! Like I met you! It gives me an opportunity to give each pony a piece of my day, every day.” She shrugged. “And that can be a really big thing, sometimes. You never know how somepony’s day has treated them so far.”

Spike said something in response, but Sunset had already zoned out again. That… hadn’t been the answer she was expecting. In all honesty, she wasn’t really sure what answer she HAD expected. Not something so... well thought out. The seemingly ditzy and dumb pony trotting happily next to her had more depth than she let on. Granted, that didn’t mean Sunset liked her, but maybe she respected her a bit more. Maybe.

Sunset didn’t realize they were back in town until Derpy stopped in front of an extravagant and colorful storefront. “Ugh, I must be more tired than I thought,” Sunset muttered. Then, louder, “Where-“

“Sugar Cube Corner!” Derpy happily answered her question before she could ask it.

“Food,” Spike added.

Sunset eyed the shop warily. It looked like a gingerbread house. It looked like a dessert monster puked on it. There was no way any of that boded well. Sighing, she pushed open the door and trotted inside. It was empty, because why wouldn't it be. Sunset looked around apprehensively, thinking nothing at first of the quiet mechanical sounds above her; then, she heard a sharp *tink* of metal on metal, and looked up just in time to see the bucket that crashed onto her head, drenching her in some green liquid. She sniffed and wrinkled her snout. Dye. It was green dye.

Fuming, and now neon green, Sunset levitated the bucket off of her head. She heard laughter through the angry ringing in her ears. She heard Spike’s snorting, and Derpy chortling, and one other. Any positive opinions she may have started to have about this town evaporated as her eyes came into focus on a griffon with light purple feathers rolling on the floor, howling with laughter.

The griffin rolled to the side, dodging the bucket Sunset threw at her, and pulled herself upright with a couple of powerful wing-beats. “Hey, hey! There ain't no need for that!” She swallowed the rest of her laughter. “'S just a prank.”

“Just a- UGH!” Sunset yelled in frustration.

The griffon handed her a towel, which she begrudgingly swiped out of her claws. She’d still be green, and smelling mane-dye fumes for a week, but at least she wouldn’t be dripping.

“Way I see it, you needed that,” the griffon sniffed, eyeing her.

“Needed- I- I NEEDED to have dye dumped on me? Are you SERIOUS?” Sunset unconsciously moved to the side so Derpy could come in to the shop. The pegasus had gotten some backsplash, but nothing too bad. Absently, she wondered if that mare even HAD a bad side, and if she did, if it was possible to get on it.

The griffon rolled her eyes, unperturbed by Sunset’s petulance. “Uh, duh. You show up, acting like you’re better than everypony here from the get-go, and then at BEST, you give whatever pony talking to you the cold shoulder. Not cool. Somepony had to bring you down to size.”

Derpy lightly nudged the griffon. “Aw, c’mon Gilda, she’s not THAT bad.”

Gilda stood up and crossed her claws. The friendly, teasing atmosphere she had cultivated evaporated. “Nopony gets to come into Ponyville and act like that without some serious backlash. And since you ponies are too soft to do anything about it, I will.” She narrowed her eyes at Sunset. Pushing her weight forward, she came muzzle-to-beak with her. “Ya got that?”

Sunset gave her a tight smile, accompanied with a frustrated noise from her throat. “Ugh you – How do you even - I - You know what? Yes,” she snapped, baring her teeth. “I got that. But I have more important things to do! I’m trying to figure out how to SAVE you ungrateful ponies – griffon - WHATEVER! from an apocalyptic threat that most of you don’t even KNOW about- and if you do, you just wave me off like I’m some naive little filly who hasn’t trained in magic since practically birth! So, SORRY that I’ve been a bitch since I got here, but I don’t even want to BE here! And it’s just one damn thing after another in this town!” Sunset finished her outburst, heaving. She pretended she didn’t have tears in her eyes as the other three occupants of the room just stared at her.

She rushed out of Sugar Cube Corner, blinking the tears out of her eyes, and found her way to a nearby alley. She hadn’t seen if there were any other ponies around, and at this point, all she could do was hope there weren’t. She probably looked pretty terrible right now. All green and crying with a flat mane and dirty tail. Landing gracelessly on her haunches, Sunset just sobbed as she let all of the day's frustration out. She curled into a ball and started crying, and then she just couldn't stop. Her mind raced, and none of the thoughts made sense. The only thing Sunset could do was wait for it to be over as she struggled to breathe through the vile fumes coming off of her dyed fur. She felt a rush of air and a heavy thud as somepony landed next to her, but she didn’t bother greeting them. Probably Derpy, with her infinite joy, here to try and cheer her up.

After what seemed like a lifetime, the tears stopped coming, and her sobs quieted down, too.

“Feel better?” The voice was flat, and much gruffer than Derpy’s, and Sunset looked over to come face to face with the griffon, Gilda. Sunset just scowled at her, too drained to bother with a snippy remark.

Gilda sighed. “Sorry for being so hard on you, I guess. But I remember when I first came to Ponyville; I was… cruel. And I dealt some serious damage to the ponies 'round town. I don’t like seeing somepony show up and do that exact same thing, years later. Ponyville’s my home now.”

“So, what,” Sunset sniffled, “You’re just going to harass newcomers instead?”

Gilda scratched at the back of her neck with a claw, looking away. “Old habits die hard, I guess, heh. But you have to admit, I did have a point. Still do.”

“I- yeah,” Sunset sighed. “I’ve never socialized with other ponies very well. The current situation doesn’t help.”

“You’re doing fine right now,” Gilda pointed out, figuring she maybe shouldn't mention the apocalypse thing right now.

Sunset smiled weakly at her, eyes still red and teary. “Maybe it’s because you’re not a pony.”

Gilda bellowed a laugh, making Sunset wince at the volume.

“Derpy and your little dragon friend are inside, talking about the food for tomorrow with my roommate.” She tapped a claw to her beak with a thoughtful expression. “Sounds dangerous, now that I say it out loud.”

Sunset gasped, eyes wide. “The preparations! I still have to-“ she looked down and groaned. “Do so much.”

Gilda laughed at her wild swinging of emotions, which she quickly covered with a cough. “From what I heard, you only got one thing left anyway. Besides, I think you look good in green.” She shrugged and rubbed the back of her neck. “Just my opinion.”

Sunset frowned at her, but she found she didn’t hate the griffon nearly as much as she wanted to. She must be too drained to even muster up her usual passionate emotions.

As the two walked back to Sugar Cube Corner, Sunset found that she was hanging her head. She also found herself too tired to put on her usual bravado. Today was much, much too long.

Gilda pushed open the doors, followed by Sunset, who barely had a second to take in her surroundings before she was bombarded by a bright pink ball of fluff. Upon further processing, Sunset realized it was a pony. Upon even more processing, she found that it was speaking to her. Really, really fast. Too fast.

“-really am so excited to meet a new pony sorry I didn’t know you were coming or I would have had a party allllllllllll ready for you and Spike but I didn’t know you were coming and I was busy when you came in so Gilda got to you first! so sorry about that but she does have the best most awesome pranks though right? and now you’re a real member of Ponyville too! we’ve all been pranked by Gilda at some point it’s a real hazi- OOF!”

Gilda grabbed the pony by the scruff of her neck, lifting her up and away from a dazed Sunset Shimmer. “Give’er some space, Pinkie.”

Sunset blinked as her brain struggled to catch up. “Uh…”

“OH YEAH! I’m Pinkie Pie! And you’re Sunset Shimmer! And I promise I’ll have a party all ready for you lickity split, faster than- HEY!” Gilda dropped her.

"And I'm Spike!" The baby dragon so helpfully pointed out.

“I, uh, yeah.” Sunset was tired. Screw research, at this point, she just wanted to go to sleep.

Derpy flew over and landed next to Sunset, Spike sitting on her back. “Sunset still has'ta check up on Zecora before th'end of the day, so we oughta head off.” She nudged the unicorn with her muzzle until she realized it was her cue to start moving towards the door.

“Right, yeah, so, another time. See you,” Sunset said as they walked out. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gilda wave. Pinkie Pie may also have been waving, but Sunset would probably use the word ‘vibrating’ if she were going for accuracy.

The setting sun greeted them as they trotted out onto the street, its last rays of the day painting the sky brilliant pink, orange, and purple. “Ironic,” Sunset muttered. “This is when my mane always looks best.”

The walk to the edge of town was silent. Derpy was content to walk quietly with her new friends. Her two strange, new friends. Spike played with his foreclaws, unable to think of anything to say to break the uncomfortable silence. Sunset just didn’t care.

At the edge of town sat a hut – more of a hollowed out tree, really - surrounded by various flora, most of which Sunset had never even seen before.

“Steer clear'a that area over there,” Derpy said as she nodded her head in the vaguely-left direction of the hut. “That’s where she keeps th'dangerous ones. Some of 'em bite!”

Sunset thought she looked much, much too cheerful to be saying that.

Derpy trotted over the bridge that went over a small creek and up to the door. She knocked, and was greeted by a muffled voice:

“Come in, come in! I am busy, but that is little reason to turn guests away from me.”

Derpy gently pushed open the door before turning back to Sunset, smiling and waving for her to follow.

“What the hay, this might as well happen,” she muttered as she trotted to the door, hoping that the odd speech pattern was just a one-off thing – more for continuity’s sake than anything else.

Sunset followed Derpy into the hut; in front of them stood a large cauldron of some pink liquid that was bubbling quietly. She took in her surroundings, wrinkling her nose at the myriad of smells assaulting her nose. Added to the dye, she was starting to feel queasy.

The walls of the room they had entered into were lined with shelves, upon which sat a countless amount of plants, both dried and fresh, as well as other various jarred objects. There were also bottled potions, only some of which were labelled. Sunset had to wonder how this mystery mare knew where anything was. Any space left on the walls was decorated with masks of various shapes, sizes, and colors.

Sunset rolled her eyes as she felt Spike grab onto her foreleg and stand slightly behind it, but she didn’t kick him away. It had been a long day for him too, and he was still just a baby, after all.

The curtain in the doorway leading to another room shifted, and a zebra walked out from behind it, carefully holding a bundle of some dried plants wrapped in a cloth. Sunset watched as she trotted across the room to deposit the bundle on a counter, next to a small collection of various other items.

A zebra. Sunset had to say, she didn’t think she’d ever meet a griffon AND a zebra, let alone both in one day. Zebras were rare in Equestria, but she supposed she shouldn’t be TOO surprised, considering the rest of the town’s population, which, as previously mentioned, included a whole entire griffon. And maybe more that she just hadn't met yet.

The zebra – Zecora, Sunset assumed – finally turned to face her guests with a tired smile. “I must apologize for my poor hospitality, but I’m afraid today’s events have led me to a less-than-preferred informality.”

Sunset snorted. “You can say that again.”

The zebra looked at her, one brow raised. “I am Zecora. And am I correct to assume that such a bright green does not lend itself to your usual aura?” she asked, already trotting to a set of shelves holding a collection of various bottled liquids.

“Gilda got her good with a dye bucket!” Derpy shared cheerfully as Zecora balanced precariously on a stool to reach a bottle on the top shelf. Sunset found herself about to offer her aid, but Zecora made a triumphant noise as she grabbed her target and hopped down.

She brought it to the nearest counter, searching for a smaller vial that she then poured some of the liquid into. Trotting over to where her visitors stood, Zecora placed the vial on the ground in front of Sunset.

“Take this with you, and pour it all into a warm tub of water. It will remove the dye and restore your usual color.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Sunset levitated the vial next to herself. “And you just… have this prepared? No stipulations? Or preparation?” She squinted at the zebra. “No strings attached?”

Zecora laughed. “You are not the first pony Gilda has dyed another color, and I would be willing to bet there will one day be another.” She tsked. “The griffon means well, but it would be nice if she were to one day sit and think first for a spell. As for your doubt, it is a gift - from me to you. There is no need to pout.”

Derpy interrupted Zecora mid-pour as she was filling another vial. “I’m okay, actually! Th'spots are fun!”

Zecora looked at her oddly, but she poured the vial back into the bottle, and placed the bottle on a lower shelf.

“So, circling all the way back around to today being a generally terrible day; you’re the pony – er, zebra – in charge of effects, right? Fireworks and live decorations and all of that? Is everything… okay on that front?” Sunset asked.

Zecora shook her head. “Today has been difficult, to be sure. One small mishap has led to an entire day’s headache that I must endure.” She pointed to the cauldron. “Thankfully, my scrambling has made great time, and this is the last batch I must make before I shall lay claim to my bedtime.”

“Does that one… count?” Sunset heard Spike say to himself under his breath.

“Oh!” Derpy exclaimed from beside Sunset. “I almost forgot!” She dug through her nearly empty saddlebags until she found an envelope stamped with a mark matching the one on Zecora’s flank. Did zebras get cutie marks? The zebra smiled and took it from her, placing it on the counter directly next to Derpy.

“Thank you, my courier friend, indeed. I am glad to finally have this plant which I so desperately need.”

Derpy hummed happily in response.

“Right, so, if you’re good on that for tomorrow, then we’re going to leave. I still have to wash this… vile dye out of my coat,” Sunset said. This town is so weird, she didn’t say. She definitely thought it, though.

“I’ll walk ya to th'library! We came this far together, right?” Derpy bumped her good-naturedly, an action which she only got away with because Sunset was too tired to get angry.

“Goodnight, Derpy, Spike, and Sunset Shimmer, hopefully I shall see you tomorrow, as the daylight gives off its last glimmer,” Zecora said with a smile.

Sunset gave her a tired wave as the three walked out into the night. She didn’t realize what Zecora had said until they had already crossed the bridge. “Wait, what? How did she know our names? Spike, did we tell her our names?”

Spike looked at the ground thoughtfully for a second before shrugging his shoulders and making a noncommittal noise.

“Oh, Zecora’s just like that,” Derpy said with a giggle. Somehow, the mare’s energy had not flagged at all. A terrifying power, really. “If you ask her 'bout it, she just says “ZeBrA mAgIc” all spooky-like with a grin.”

Sunset looked at her wide-eyed. This town was more than weird – these ponies were all just straight up crazy.

The group slowed to a stop when they reached the library’s doors. Another hollow tree. Weird. Town. Not knowing how to proceed, Sunset stumbled through her words as she stood in the doorway. “Um, thanks. For sticking with me today, I guess. Better than. Getting lost? So I’ll, uh. Bye.” Levitating Spike and the vial Zecora gave her, she ducked through the doorway and closed the door on Derpy, letting out a belabored breath.

Derpy stood on the other side of the closed door, watching it with an unreadable look on her face. Then she tilted her head, shrugged, and trotted home.

~~~

Sunset Shimmer wandered idly through her dreamscape. Lucid dreaming may be fun most of the time, but when one’s head is buzzing with so much activity, one isn’t really going to bother playing around with the unparalleled power of their dreams. Them’s the breaks. Sunset trotted towards nowhere as she both contemplated the past day and anticipated the day to come with equal parts dread and eagerness. Despite her worries, there was some part of Sunset that loved nothing more than a challenge, and reveled in a seemingly impossible problem. It made her blood rush, and she felt invincible. Like she was walking on air. Like she had magic to contest even the strongest alicorn. As the time ticked nearer, she felt that part of her rear its head.

None of it was helpful when she wasn’t actually directly facing the challenge, however. So instead, she just stewed in her own nervous energy.

Speaking of alicorns, Sunset thought as the space in front of her rippled; the blankness of the dreamscape was interrupted by her teacher, and the ruler of Equestria,

“Luna!” Sunset galloped over, maybe. Maybe she trotted leisurely. It was all the same, here. Princess Luna smiled, and bent down to hug her protégé. Her tall, muscular stature was a stark silhouette against the pastel background, and her almost endless mane and tail of bright stars and galaxies cut a swath through the blank space.

“Hello, Sunset Shimmer. Has Ponyville treated you accordingly?” There was a look in the Princess’ eyes, one her student couldn’t decipher.

Sunset thought back on the previous day. “It… has certainly treated me,” she said as her snout unconsciously scrunched up.

Her teacher laughed softly. “And how goes your task?”

She grimaced. “I swear; these ponies have no clue what they’re doing! It’s a mess, Princess! I mean, I THINK everything will be done in time, but whether or not it’s actually up to any standards is a total crap shoot! Not a single one of them didn't have some problem or another. Some of the musicians aren’t playing their usual instruments; it’s not like Coloratura told me who, but honestly, it sounds like it might as well just be any of them! And yeah, Zecora’s nice and all, but apparently she messed up and had to redo literally everything. Everything! I’ve researched Zebra magic, Princess, and every single book stressed the importance of time and precision! How can you be precise if you’re rushing?!”

Luna smiled at her energetic, pacing student at she caught her breath. Lowering herself to lay down, so they were eye level, she asked, “And your other task?” That look was back.

“Ah.” A patch of dirt appeared at Sunset’s hooves just long enough for her to kick at it.

Luna’s smile became strained, but she quickly smoothed it out when her student hopelessly looked back up at her. The last thing she wished to do was give the volatile young mare any more reason to stress. “I think some of the ponies – and griffon and zebra? – I met today sort of… decided I’m their friend now? But I don’t get it. And I don’t think I’ll ever get it. Which is fine. It's all dumb and annoying, and I really just wish they’d leave me alone. I’m happier alone.”

The young mare in front of Luna suddenly looked a lot more like a filly again, insecure and unsure, trying to convince herself of what she said more than anypony else. “But you’re not alone, are you?”

Sunset looked at her teacher, confused, who continued, “You spend almost all of your time with Spike, and much of it talking to us. And are there not some fillies who attempt to involve you? You must have done something to garner their attention specifically. You are not so completely alone as you’re resolved to think, dearest Sunset.” Princess Luna grinned at her. “Stop overthinking it.”

The Princess nuzzled Sunset comfortingly before standing up abruptly. The look was back, much stronger than before. “We… must go. You will wake up soon. We wouldn’t wish to get stuck in your dreamscape.” She smiled feebly down at her student. “We will see you soon, dear Sunset.”

~~~

Sunset woke up sweating. She tossed the covers off of herself with a groan and rolled out of bed, casting a glance at the baby dragon sleeping on a smaller bed situated next to hers.

Scrutinizing herself in the mirror, she had to admit that whatever concoction Zecora had given her had worked wonders. There wasn’t a hint of green left in her fur. The smell still lingered slightly, now alongside a sharp earthiness, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Yawning, she trotted down the stairs. She had slept late, and she needed to start searching for topical information she might not already know ASAP. Of which there was a lot. While she doubted that the comparably tiny Ponyville library would have anything that the Royal Canterlot Library didn’t, Sunset figured it was worth a shot. It was better than sitting and waiting for the world to end.

She made it through about a third of the books, with no luck, before she was interrupted by three sharp knocks on the door. At some point, Spike had woken up, but Sunset supposed it would be too much to ask that he got the door.

She ambled over to the door, wincing at the stiffness in her joints from sitting in one position for too long. Unicorn perks and weaknesses were often one and the same. She opened the door to find a familiar grey pegasus with wonky eyes smiling at her.

“What.” Her voice came out flat and scratchy from the day’s disuse. Derpy, predictably so, did not care. It was possible she didn’t even notice. Maybe.

“I thought I’d come getcha for th'Celebration! Th'party’s been going on for a while already, but all th'real fun stuff is gonna start soon, and I figured you’d probably miss it if somepony didn’t come and getcha!”

Sunset stared blankly at her, parsing her options. Something told her she wasn’t going to be allowed to wiggle out of this one.

“Derpy! Hey!” The two mares turned their attention to the stairs as they heard Spike come running down. He came to a stop next to Sunset, panting. “You guys weren’t going to go without me, right?”

“Well actuall-“

“A'course not!” Derpy exclaimed. She even sounded slightly offended by the idea.

Spike let out a sigh of relief. “Cool! So we’re gonna go now?” He looked excitedly between Derpy and Sunset.

Derpy nodded and flew back to city hall, low and slowly enough for Spike to keep up and talk to her. Sunset groaned, and, resigned to the knowledge that she had little choice, trotted after the two.

Town hall was overflowing with ponies when they arrived. Literally; many ponies were gathered on the porch and the small expanse of land around the hall eating food and playing games. Inside, even more ponies milled about, talking and laughing. Sunset could spot a griffon weaving through the crowd, and she assumed there was also a zebra to be found in there somewhere. She shook her head, agitated and wondering why she even cared.

It didn’t take long for Spike to wander off, so Sunset just took to following Derpy around for most of the afternoon; an arrangement with which the pegasus seemed more than happy. She enthusiastically introduced her to what felt like every pony in Ponyville. Sunset forgot all of them, immediately. It was nothing personal.

At some point, they found themselves near the stage as Coloratura and the rest of the band were setting their instruments up. Sunset couldn’t help but ask, “Did you get all of the… issues straightened out?”

Coloratura turned and smiled, obviously tired. “Oh, yes, yes. It was an endeavor, but we are more than prepared today. Besides,” she giggled, “are you even a musician if you don’t pull a good crunch now and again?”

Sunset didn’t respond and just hoped she was being rhetorical. Which seemed to work out, as the ground pony just beamed at her before turning to fiddle with something inside her piano. Derpy had gone off to chat with Zecora and Sassy Saddles not too far away, and Sunset, realizing she could either join them or wander around alone, trotted over to the three familiar faces.

Zecora nodded in greeting, while Sassy threw a quick “hello” into the middle of her sentence before moving on. Sunset had to wonder whether that mare actually breathed.

After that, the afternoon went fairly quickly. Gilda joined their merry little group at some point. Sunset actually found herself enjoying the celebration; a fact which she studiously ignored. The air cooled pleasantly as sun fall grew nearer. Spike found his way back to her. Sunset Shimmer noted a familiar yellow glow envelop the curtains, all of them opening at once to let in the last of the dying sun’s light. The windows were crystal clean, impressively so.

Coloratura’s jazz band started playing as the Mayor stepped out onto the stage, and the clamoring quickly died down. Watching what should be the last of the sunlight, Sunset felt the churning in her stomach from the morning come back twofold. She suddenly felt like maybe she shouldn’t have eaten so many scones.

“Fillies and gentlecolts,” the mayor began. “As mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!”

Sunset was sweating again. Had it gotten hotter?

“In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the setting sun, and celebrate this, the end of the longest day of the year!”

Sunset flicked her eyes around as all of the ponies around her started cheering and stomping their hooves. Even Gilda was grinning excitedly. Cold dread settled like a stone at the pit of Sunset’s stomach as the anticipation grew. The sun had stopped moving, and it looked like it was pulsing. She hoped that she was just seeing things. She hoped that for once in her life, she was wrong.

“And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day; the good; the wise; the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria: Princess Luna!”

The curtains opened to show an empty dais. Sunset felt nothing, staring wide-eyed as the very event she had been trying to prevent came to fruition. She had slacked off. She had gotten distracted and didn’t find a solution in time, and now the Princess was gone. Her teacher. Time sped up around Sunset Shimmer, and it felt like she had fallen to a different plane of existence. She heard the mayor attempt to calm the crowd. She heard Gilda yelling. She heard Derpy say something from the stage with uncharacteristic worry in her voice. When did she get over there?

The world exploded. Or, more accurately, the sun did. Sunset Shimmer snapped back into reality and covered her face from the sudden brightness and wave of heat that washed over the crowd, curling around Spike. She squinted up at the dais when she heard a sharp, echoing laughter through the ringing in her ears.

Where her mentor should have stood was a bright white mare. She was all sharp angles and clean edges. Her mane and tail were a massive expanse of white-yellow flame, large enough to contest even Princess Luna’s otherworldly mane. Her flank appeared stained red, and where her cutie mark would be was a white sun engulfed in fire. She wore sharp red armor that seemed to be glowing; following the theme, Sunset could only assume it was with heat. She had sharp, unnaturally colored eyes with slit pupils that ran over the crowd.

"Oh. So that's how that works." Sunset Shimmer was past the depression stage. Now she was just pissed.

The mare’s voice was just as cruel as her laugh. “Oh, my dear, beloved subjects. How long it has been since I last saw your precious, ungrateful faces.” Her smile turned cruel, and she bared her sharp teeth at the terrified crowd.

Gilda shot into the air and yelled at her with barely restrained fury, “What’d you do to our princess?”

The mare sneered down her muzzle at her. “Why; am I not royal enough for you, griffon? Am I not good enough?” Her voice grew louder, and harsher. “Don’t you know who I am?”

The mare’s wings unfurled and she stood tall, looming over the crowd. Her wings were just as ethereally sharp as the rest of her. “Does my crown no longer matter to you now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?”

Sunset stepped forward, her voice sounding significantly more confident than she felt. Thank Luna for small victories. “I did.” The two words echoed through the hall.

The mare’s burning gaze turned to stare her down, and she swallowed. Her throat felt dry.

“You’re the Blazing Mare – Daybreaker.”

With a wicked smile, Daybreaker launched off the dais and landed directly in front of Sunset, the ponies standing there barely scrambling out of the way in time. She kicked Spike until she felt him let go of her, and saw Sassy Saddles holding onto him out of the corner of her eye. She stared up unflinchingly at the Blazing Mare, a myth made real. All too real, she thought, as the mare towered over her, easily double her height.

“Well, well,” she swooped her head down, bring herself muzzle-to-muzzle with Sunset Shimmer. “At least one of you knows me.”

She lifted her head, grinning down at Sunset. “And if you know me, then you also know why I am here.”

Sunset felt cold. She was still sweating. Despite the fear grabbing at her, she felt much calmer than she would have thought she’d be. It was not a fun combination. “Vengeance,” she whispered hoarsely.

Daybreaker started laughing, and it grew until she was howling: a sharp, grating noise that echoed past the walls and over all of Equestria before it stopped abruptly. She swung her head around, snarling at the crowd that she was standing in the middle of. “Remember this moment, little ponies! Remember your last setting sun, your last peaceful night! For I have waited long for this day, and now that it has finally come, the sun shall never set again!”

Welcome Home

Daybreaker laughed again, and Sunset Shimmer wished she would stop doing that, because it was getting really fucking annoying.

“Seize her! Only she knows where the Princess is!” Mayor Mare exclaimed, rallying the ponies around Daybreaker. She appeared to have shaken herself out of her daze; the only tell that she wasn’t quite as confident as she acted was the heightened pitch in her clipped words.

Sunset Shimmer charged her horn with power before she even knew what she was doing. She didn’t even have a particular spell in mind – she was just going to blast the ancient mythological being standing in front of her with a blast of raw magical energy and see what happened from there.

“Get away, you foals!” Daybreaker stomped her hoof, sending a shockwave of hot air into the crowd. The ponies nearest to her were blasted back, but Sunset stayed, as she had switched to a shield at the last second to brace herself.

When the crowd had regained their bearings, Daybreaker was gone. Sunset cursed herself for not doing more while she had the mare inches away from her. Mind already racing to formulate a plan, she shot out of the town hall towards the library.

What did she need? What did she know? Daybreaker had been defeated by the Elements of Harmony once before. The Elements of Harmony were a powerful… weapon(?), which had only ever been used by a powerful alicorn in any of the legends that mentioned them. Sunset Shimmer had no clue how to find the Elements, or how she was going to utilize them if she did. She barely even knew what they were!

This line of thinking was a lot less helpful than she thought it would be.

Sunset slammed the library’s door open and skidded to a stop, panting in the center of the room. She trotted in place as she swung her head around wildly, looking for anything that looked like it would be the slightest bit helpful. But honestly, what did she even expect to find here? She was really on the clock now, except it was judging her by seconds rather than days.

“I need… uh… Elements of Harmony… there has to be something!” Sunset was getting frustrated, and she knew it. She also knew that she got sloppy when she was frustrated. Missed things. And now she had to figure out how, exactly, she was going to save all of Equestria with a buzzing head.

“And what, exactly, are the Elements of Harmony?”

Sunset whipped around to see Gilda standing in the doorway, looking as pissed as any griffon possibly could be. The other four mares she had been with at the party were right behind her.

“I think,” Gilda growled, stepping into the room. “It’s about time you explained yourself. I let you slide before, but you knew about this.”

It wasn’t a question.

“I… uh… look…” Sunset’s eyes slid over Gilda to see Derpy standing off to her side, with Spike clinging on to her back. Her heart dropped. He looked exhausted – and scared.

“Oh. Spike, I… left you.” He just rubbed his eyes.

“I’m sorry, I - I got so caught up worrying about Daybreaker that I… forgot about you.”

He yawned. “S’okay.”

Sunset used her magic to float him over to her, frowning. After a moment’s hesitation, she hugged him. Or, she tried to do what she thought was a hug. “It’s not,” she whispered, more to herself than to the small dragon.

“You should try and sleep,” Sunset continued as she pulled away. “What comes next is…” Her eyes flicked to the girls waiting in the doorway. “Not foal-friendly.”

“How m’I s’posed t’sleep when it’s so bright out,” he whined, not even bothering to respond to her calling him a foal. Zecora tapped his shoulder, offering a tiny vial that she had to have pulled out from thin air while no one was looking.

“A sleeping potion, to help you rest. Right now, we should all do what we can to be at our best.”

Spike eyed the vial warily, but he was too tired to act on any apprehensiveness he felt. He took it and patted Sunset’s side before he plodded up the stairs, hopefully to get some rest.

Sunset Shimmer nervously turned back to face her five assorted guests, who were all sporting expressions of various levels of accusation. “So. I think the best place to start would be… yes, I did know about Daybreaker’s coming. Which I did mention in passing to you, Gilda, when, uh,” she cleared her throat, “yeah.

“Thing is though, I knew everything up to this point, right? And I even know how she can be defeated! Or, rather, how she was defeated once before, which is something called “The Elements of Harmony”, but that’s about all I know about them! So, that’s where we are now. Floundering uselessly.” Sunset smiled at her audience. It was more of a grimace.

“A name that I have heard before… the being from which, however, is a less than trustworthy source of magical lore.”

“Thank you, Zecora. That doesn’t help at all,” Sassy Saddles said, voice tight. She had barely contained panic written all over her face.

The zebra rolled her eyes and continued, looking pointedly at Sunset Shimmer, who squirmed under her gaze. “I could tell you what I know, if you’d like; it’s better than nothing if we’re trying to figure out how, exactly, we will strike.”

“Actually, I found a book,” Derpy offered. “The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide,”

Sure enough, the other five occupants of the room turned to see Derpy Hooves holding a massive tome, emblazoned with the title she had just read.

“How did you-“ Sunset stammered. “What??? How did I miss this?”

Derpy just shrugged. “It was under ‘E’.”

After letting out a closed-mouth scream of rage and frustration, Sunset took the offered book from Derpy’s hooves, and flipped through, eyes flitting over the pages. She stopped, stared off into space for a second, then whirled around to face the mares (and griffon) looking at her expectantly.

“There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known and named.”

She starting pacing, looking down as she spoke.

“Kindness,” Sunset said as she passed Rara, who was watching her with encouragement shining in her eyes. She didn’t doubt that Sunset could figure this out; despite the mare’s abrasive exterior and… unrefined social skills, she was smart and adaptable.

“Laughter,” Sunset said as she passed Derpy, who was making a tower out of books Sunset had left strewn about that morning. She wasn’t particularly worried; she knew these mares (and griffon), and she knew what they were all capable of – even Sunset. Derpy was a good judge of character like that.

“Generosity,” Sunset said as she passed Zecora, who was scrutinizing her every move for any sign of fatigue, as she had been since she arrived at the library - she half expected the manic unicorn to collapse soon, truth be told. It didn’t take a genius to see that Sunset had been burning her candle at both ends; however, Zecora was starting to wonder if that extended to before she came to Ponyville.

“Honesty,” Sunset said as she passed Sassy Saddles, who was waiting ever-so-patiently for a chance to give the crazy ponies (and griffon) around her a piece of her mind. Today was moving too fast, not that Sassy wasn’t used to that, of course, but there was a slight difference between a backlog of orders and a legendary villain taking over Equestria.

“And Loyalty,” Sunset finished as she passed Gilda, who watched her like a hawk for any sign of deceit. Gilda had named herself Ponyville’s protector, and she wasn’t quite sure if that included Sunset yet or not.

Sunset stopped pacing and looked up at her five companions, weariness beginning to make itself known on her face but doing nothing to quench the determined flame in her eyes. “The sixth is unknown.” She started pacing again.

“The last known location of the Elements was the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. A ruin that is now found in the Everfree Forest.”

Nopony responded for a beat, but none of them had what Sunset would call a positive look on their faces as they considered the new information. Quashing down whatever feeling had just started bubbling in her stomach, Sunset steeled herself for what she had to do, nodded at them, and went upstairs – quietly - to pack. Surely she hadn’t been disappointed that they didn’t offer to help, right? The Everfree was more than dangerous, and she worked better on her own anyhow. Other ponies were distracting, and they argued with her – even when she was right.

Sunset placed her saddlebags on her back, careful not to make too much noise. With any luck, Spike was asleep. Really, all she needed was a map, but the sun that was beating down outside was starting to worry her, and she figured it would be good to take some water from the jugs she had upstairs. A lot of water. Just in case.

Trotting back down the stairs, Sunset was met with the sight of the five girls still sitting in the middle of the library, now chatting excitedly.
“What are you… still doing here?”

“Well, duh,” Sassy said, smiling tightly at her. “We’re coming with you on your impossibly dangerous, probably-a-suicide-mission mission, obviously.”

Gilda snorted. “You really, actually think we’re gonna let you waltz into the Everfree Forest alone?” She had made up her mind in the time that Sunset was gone.

“Um… Yes?”

“Wrong!” The griffon yelled, cuffing her on the head.

Rara stepped forward. “What they mean to say is, you’ve figured out this much, and come this far. Who knows what would be happening now if you hadn’t? And I think I can speak for all of us when I say that no friend of ours will face whatever comes next alone. You did not have the choice of support before, but you do now.” She brought her face up close to Sunset’s in an aggressive manner that Sunset wouldn’t have expected from this mare, eyes narrowing. “Understand?”

Sunset nodded mutely.

“Right, then it’s decided!” Sassy unfolded a small parcel into a significantly larger piece of paper and stuck a pin in the image on the leftmost side, which was just a scribble of Sunset frowning. “Sorry it isn’t very neat; I was a bit too crunched for time to uphold my usual standards,” she giggled nervously.

Sunset squinted at her. “When did you even-“

“The next step is crucial if we want to succeed! We need water. I don’t know if you girls have noticed, but it is hot out there, and the temperature is rising by the second. While I’m sure the dense trees of the forest may – hopefully - help us somewhat, we’ll drop dead long before we get to the ruins if we don’t stay hydrated.”

“I don’t think it’s that far, Pincushion,” Gilda said, making a face at the unicorn now pouting at her.

“Maybe not, but as I’m sure you’ve noticed, the sun is quite a bit brighter – and therefore hotter – than it usually is. We don’t fully know what this Daybreaker is capable of, and I personally am not interested in finding out the hard way.”

Sunset spoke up. “I packed water, but I doubt it will stretch across six of us. Especially considering Gilda’s… uh, size. No offense.”

The griffon shrugged.

“My home is not far from our best forest entrance, and due to my garden’s needs, my water supply is essentially endless.” Zecora leaned out the door slightly, eyeing the sky with a grimace. “Though that may not be true for too long, as this sunlight only seems to grow more and more strong.”

Derpy flew out past her, almost knocking the zebra over in her excitement. “Let’s go then! There’s no time like th’present!” Her smile got softer, as did her voice. “I should getcha all presents when this is done…”

“Yeah, when we’re done,” Gilda said, flying after Derpy and sending Zecora off balance just as she found her footing.

Rara trotted over to help her up, giggling. Zecora joined her in her laughter as the two walked out the door, leaving the two unicorns to follow the rest of the group.

Sassy Saddles watched her strange new group of friends trot out. Well, her new group of friends minus one. She looked to the mare still standing beside her, who seemed significantly less confident than she had just a few short moments ago while explaining legendary magic made real, despite the impossible odds, and she smiled. “Shall we?”

Sunset Shimmer started at her words. She looked up at her with a smile that betrayed more of her anxiety than she would have liked. “Yeah. Uh… Yeah. I guess we shall.”

And the two trotted after their companions, into the unknown.

~~~

“The unknown is a lot scarier when you’re standing right in front of it.”

Actually staring into the Everfree Forest suddenly made their task seem much realer than it had up to this point. Outfitted with canteens and saddlebags at Sassy’s insistence (staying hydrated was important!), all six of them stood hesitant at the entrance to the forest. The only one not showing any sign of unease was Zecora, who seemed perfectly at peace with trotting into what may very well be her doom.

Gilda grinned at Sunset. “Technically it ain’t unknown, it’s just that everything we know about the Everfree Forest is really, really terrible.”

Sassy Saddles quietly took out her list, stuck a pin in a hastily-drawn forest, and put it back in her pack, never moving her eyes away from the trees in front of them.

“Thank you, Gilda,” Sunset responded dryly, tuning out Rara’s scolding the griffon to listen to Zecora.

“The Everfree Forest is not so bad, once you get to know it,” she chuckled; then her face grew darker. “But I imagine Daybreaker’s corrupted magic shall increase its hostility quite a bit.”

Sunset gulped. “Let’s just go,” she said hoarsely. “Let’s just go in.”

~~~

Minutes seemed like hours as the group trudged through the forest. It seemed that, despite the forest’s nature of caring for itself, it was not immune to Daybreaker’s meddling. The thought that her magic would be so strong as to override even the untameable Everfree Forest was not a comforting one.

Sunset also noted that the forest seemed unnaturally quiet. Wherever most of the animals were, it wasn’t here. Which was odd, to say the least, considering – again – how wild it must usually be. That one was a bittersweet sort of comfort.

With little warning other than a frustrated groan and quick “be right back”, Gilda shot up through a break in the trees, and her five companions stopped walking back on the ground, looking uneasily at each other.

Sassy Saddles sat down, sighing. “Guess we’re just going to have to wait for her, then.” She looked at Rara, who had taken the moment to lay down beside here. ”Paisley and poplin, love, you look absolutely horrendous.” And it was true. The mare looked flushed and fatigued, moreso than any of the others.

“I didn’t sleep well last night,” Rara said, giving Sassy a tired smile. “It’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”

Zecora offered Rara a canteen and a smile as she came to sit beside her. "Drink. None of us would be happy should you fall, I think." Then she turned to Sassy Saddles. "Do you have a mane-tie? Perhaps it will help with the heat from this... unforgiving sky," she finished dryly.

With a triumphant “Aha!”, Sassy levitated a ribbon out of one of her saddlebags and used it to deftly tie Rara’s hair up as the mare thanked them both profusely. Sassy dropped her magic and admired her handiwork.

“Well! I wouldn’t suggest you go out in public looking like that, but at least now your endless curls won’t be slowly suffocating you.”

~~~

Gilda the griffon circled above the trees, looking for the most forgiving path to the ruins. She could already see the castle, in the near distance. The problem wasn’t so much how far away it was, but rather how in Equestria they were going to get there. Well, she could fly. Derpy also maybe could? But there’d be no point, without the other four. They started this together, and they were going to finish it together, too.

There, not too far out of the way. Gilda went into a dive, pulling up just as she was about to hit the water of the river she had spotted from above.

“Auww yeah,” she preened. “Gilda, you’re awesome.” The river was slightly out of the way, but once they got there, it would be a straight shot up to the castle.

She prepared to take off, but hesitated when she saw a bright gleam coming from inside a nearby cave. Well, more of a hollow, really. Shut up, whatever. It was a hole in a cliff. Gilda wasn’t a rock-ologist. Or whatever. It didn’t matter. Curiosity piqued, Gilda flew over to where she saw the gleam. Just a quick peek, she thought to herself. I am still a griffon, after all.

She landed at the entrance to the cave-hollow and peered in. On a makeshift pedestal a little way in proudly stood a single golden treasure.

Gilda squinted and took a step in. “Is that-“

“The Idol of Boreas, yes,” a voice said, then coughed. An old – no - ancient griffon came out of the shadows behind the idol, causing Gilda to jump back, feathers fluffed and wings out.

The old griffon laughed noiselessly. It was more of a wet wheeze. Really gross. “Calm yourself, child. I am Grover – formerly King Grover, but the title rings a bit hollow, now.”

Gilda made a doubtful face that he didn’t miss. “I have watched, all this time, over my proud griffons. But when King Gael took the throne, I was forced to act. He did not deserve the Idol, for he would have corrupted it – so I hid it away until a worthy griffon could come to claim it once again, and bring Griffonstone back to its former glory, the way it’s meant to be.”

“And you think that’s…”

“You, Gilda,” he whispered hoarsely. “The idol’s power can only keep me alive for so long, and you are the only worthy griffon to have found me, in all these years. You were brought here for a purpose, Gilda!”

She shook her head and took a step back. “Yeah, I was. But it’s not you. Ponyville was actually there for me when Griffonstone turned its back on me. If you think I’ll abandon it for an ungrateful, decrepit place like that, you got another thing coming. So if you’ll excuse me,” she said as she gave the king a sarcastic bow. “I have some idiot friends to save.”

“But your home-!”

“Griffonstone hasn’t been my home in a long time.”

Taking off, Gilda ignored King Grover’s protests behind her. She knew exactly where her friends were, where they had to go, and what they had to do. And now, she knew how they were going to do it. Or at least, how they were going to get there, more or less. Plans were for ponies.

She was thinking a lot more than usual though, that was for certain. Was this how Sunset Shimmer felt all the time? No wonder that mare was so weird.

Gilda landed unnecessarily loudly next her circle of friends wearing a smug look on her face. Derpy launched herself at her the moment she hit the ground, hugging her surprisingly tight for such a small mare. She hesitantly patted Derpy’s back a few times. It was uncomfortably awkward and she never wanted to do this again.

“What took you so long?” Sunset asked, suspicion evident in her voice.

Gilda shrugged as she unwrapped Derpy from around her torso. “Oh, you know. Met an ancient king, turned down the only offer any griffon may ever get to save our race, the usual.” She grinned at the disbelieving mares. “Also I found a cool river that takes us right where we need to go.”

The four ponies looked at her, flabbergasted, but Zecora was staring off into the dense woods with a thoughtful expression on her face.

Rara was the only one to notice and she put a hoof on the zebra’s shoulder. “Zecora, are you okay?”

“Yes, yes, my friend, just lost in thought.” She stood up and offered a hoof to Rara, who took it gratefully. Speaking to the whole group, she said, “We should get going, to this river that Gilda has so helpfully caught. I imagine the cool water and easy path will make our journey much easier to trot.”

The aforementioned griffon puffed her chest out with pride. “Exactly!”

Zecora just waved her hoof in the universal “lead the way” sign.

~~~

While trotting upstream was far from easy, it was a welcome alternative to their previous plan. Five of them, at least, were moving upstream. Gilda plodded alongside them on the bank, less than eager to get her feathers wet again.

Derpy was humming happily to herself, apparently unaffected by the conditions of their journey. Which made sense, considering her job. Despite her occasional forgetfulness, she was a strong flier, and she was good at traveling long distances, both flying and on hoof. She was a mailmare – really, this was just another Tuesday for her. Or whatever today was. Honestly, she had no clue. Saturday? Point being, this was far from the hardest trek she’d ever made.

Upon Rara’s insistence, the group settled down for a short break. Zecora almost looked up to see how long they had been traveling before she realized that wasn’t exactly a reliant method of telling time right now. Especially with the sun glaring overwhelmingly bright like that. Which was a shame, because she just remembered that she had left Bon Bon’s usual brew simmering in the pot. So she looked down instead, because that’s how brains work. You tell it not to do one thing, so it does the opposite just to spite you.

What she did not expect, however, was her reflection grinning cruelly back at her. She jumped up from where she had been laying in the shallow water. The ripples distorted her twisted reflection, but it did not change. Well, it did, but not in the way she would have hoped. Instead, it took to moving of its own accord – and speaking.

“Hello, dear zebra, enjoying your vacation?” Her reflection’s voice was flat; it was nothing like her own poetic rhythm. Uncharacteristically flustered, Zecora sputtered at it in response, trying to get her words out, and her reflection laughed at her.

“You can’t deny it, can you? You left Ponyville for some grand, hopeless, selfish adventure, and now you’re acting like it’s actually all to help them!” Her reflection sneered, looking her dead in the eye. “How foalish can you be? You abandoned Ponyville when it needed your help the most!”

Around Zecora, her friends all found themselves in the same predicament, each of them unaware of the others. Rara stood in the water, squeezing her eyes shut in an attempt not to cry as her reflection yelled at her, beating her down with insult after insult. She couldn’t bear to hear herself saying terrible things - things she would rather die before saying aloud to anypony else - coming out of her own mouth. And she knew she was capable of this. Capable of being this pony.

Gilda stood at the riverbank and argued with her own reflection about the technicalities of whether or not she was a traitor to Griffonstone multiple times over. She was strong in her convictions, but the fury in her eyes was slowly giving way to doubt, little by little.

Sassy Saddles listened as her reflection bombarded her with the cold, hard truth, only offering up a few weak excuses. Tears were flowing from her eyes, but what could she do? Her reflection was telling the truth; that was the point. She was too blunt; too stubborn. She did overlook other ponies’ needs for her own vision of what she saw as the only path to success. She was too open with the truth, too aggressive in facing down reality – and it hurt ponies.

Sunset Shimmer… just watched. Her reflection told her what would be expected. She could never have friends. She was too mean. Too weird. Too goal-oriented. They didn’t actually like her for her. She didn’t even deserve Spike’s endless forgiveness. She didn’t deserve Princess Luna’s love. She heard her reflection telling her this, and it meant nothing to her. Sunset just felt tired. She had heard all of these things before, from a reflection that actually matched. This was nothing new. Though, she supposed, it did go to show just how hopeless she really was.

Derpy stood alone, happily chatting with her increasingly-frustrated reflected self as if nothing were wrong. She laughed, and joked, and her reflection was really just getting sloppy in her angry insults, now.

“You’re different! Strange! Everypony thinks you’re weird!”

Derpy sorted a laugh. “I mean, yeah, that’s what makes me fun!”

“People don’t actually like it when you bother them and interrupt their days! You’re nothing but a distraction!”

“Everypony needs a distraction every now’n then! Otherwise, what’s th’point?” She giggled.

“Speakin’ of…” She splashed the water with a laugh and turned around to see her friends facing their own reflections in the water, all of them faring significantly worse than her. She frowned, listening to Sassy’s reflection, who was fairly close to where Derpy was standing.

Derpy jumped and splashed down on Sassy Saddles’ reflection, snapping the mare out of her tear-stained staring. Surprised, she now looked down at Derpy, who had her snout scrunched up against Sassy’s.

“Hey!”

Sassy shook her head, taking a step back from her friend. “I’m sorry, sorry, I don’t wanna-“

Derpy fluttered forward after her, smile never wavering. “So what if we all have flaws? Some a’ them are strengths too!” She giggled and snorted, “Ya just gotta laugh at th’rest!”

Derpy grabbed her friend, hanging off her neck until she brought her head down to look at herself in the water. Derpy, smiling as bright as ever, had her face pressed up against hers, which was… not as composed as she would have liked. She had obvious tear tracks in her fur (the mascara definitely did not help), and her eyes were red and puffy, still leaking small tears.

“Ya always have a plan! Ya always know what t’do when nopony else does! You’re, like, three steps ahead all th’time! So what some ponies can’t deal with bein’ told they’re wrong? That’s their problem! Feelin’ bad about succeedin’ where other ponies fail is just silly!”

Sassy Saddles laughed softly and gave Derpy a small smile in their shared reflection. “Yeah, I guess it is.” She watched Derpy bounce away before looking back down at the water and letting out a startled laugh. She giggled, looking at herself in the water. She had mascara everywhere, and her eyeshadow wasn’t faring much better, yet somehow, Derpy’s good mood was infectious.

The pegasus, meanwhile, had wedged herself firmly between Gilda and her reflection, resting her head on her feathery chest as she grinned up at the shocked griffon. “Are ya arguin’ with your own reflection?”

Gilda, one claw having gone up to move Derpy’s head and was now just resting there, looked between her and the water. “I… Shit, I am. What?”

Derpy took the griffon’s incredulousness as a good sign and ran with it. “I mean, it’s kind of dumb t’say you’re a traitor. Who in the hay would ever believe that?”

“But I am. I just left Griffonstone hanging again. I could have, I could have saved it!”

“Who says that?” Derpy snorted. “Th’long dead griffon who told ya so after lurin’ you into some dank cave? ‘Sides, it’s not your fault Ponyville’s in more immediate trouble!”

“I- Lionfeathers, how stupid-” Gilda barked out a startled laugh, which grew into a real one; one that had her rolling on the ground and gasping for breath. Satisfied with the outcome, Derpy bounded over to Zecora, who was frozen stock-still, staring at her toneless reflection. She tackled her, because what else would she do? The zebra gave good hugs. Startled into autopilot, that was exactly what Zecora did – hold on to the small pegasus like her life depended on it.

Her mind caught up and she pulled away slightly, looking at Derpy with her brow furrowed. “What…“

Derpy lost it. “Did I just – snort – did I really just hear ya callin’ yourself selfish for tryin’ to – HA – save th’world?”

She laid in the water and laughed while Zecora stared shocked; then, after a beat, the zebra joined her. “I suppose – I suppose you did! Oh my,” she took in a shaky breath, smiling and giggling at Derpy. “How could I fall for such a bid?”

“Dunno, ya tell me!”

The zebra just shook her head, still smiling, and got up to go help Gilda, who had fallen into the creek in her laughing fit and has now taken to sputtering angrily.

Now that Derpy was closer to her, she could hear Rara sobbing quietly. The mare wasn’t even listening to her reflection’s jeers anymore; at this point, she was just spiraling in her own head. Derpy trotted over and nudged her crying friend. Rara just curled up tighter, so Derpy decided to just hold onto her awkwardly instead. Rara’s reflection was still going, and Derpy laughed at it. “Oh, please. She doesn’t even sound like that! Are ya even tryin’?”

The fake-Coloratura disappeared with an angry look and a huff, and Rara unfurled to look up at her, sniffing. “What did you say?”

Derpy used the opportunity to shift her friend into a more comfortable position. “I said that that doesn’t even sound like ya! Or look like ya, now that I think ‘bout it! You’re always so carin’ – even when you’re mad! It’s absolutely ri-donk-u-lus to think that you’d – ooooooo – suddenly turn into th’meanest mare in existence – oooooooooooo.” Derpy waved her arms around and let her eyes do whatever, and Rara giggled softly.

“I still… could though,” she said as her face fell again.

“Yeah and I could suddenly turn into th’most borin’ mare in all of existence. But screw that! I’m like this ‘cause I wanna be, and ya are too!”

“Yeah, I guess I am.” Rara laughed wetly to herself again.

Derpy clambered up, making a bit more of a show of her clumsiness than she usually did, drawing another giggle out of Rara. “Okay! I hafta go save our friend Ms. Shimmer!” She leaned down to softly nuzzle Rara, who was genuinely laughing now as she thought about how much of a caricature her reflection was in hindsight, before she trotted off to her last friend, who…

Looked bored. Sunset Shimmer was just laying there with an eyebrow raised, her muzzle being held up by one of her hooves. She just watched her ranting reflection with a bored expression, and Derpy slowed down a little, hesitant on how to proceed.

“Are you done yet?” Derpy startled at the unicorn's voice, but relaxed when she realized Sunset wasn’t speaking to her. The Sunset reflection yelled something at her, and the real one rolled her eyes with a sigh as her reflection went back to her rant.

Derpy trotted over. She was just going to wing it. Laying down and sticking her head between Sunset and her reflection, Derpy grinned up at her friend, whose pupils dilated so fast you’d think she was a cartoon character or something. Sunset jumped to her feet, looking more like a scared cat than a pony. Derpy stayed laying in the water and rolled around a little, because it was comfy.

“I- What- Where did you come from!” Not a question. The next bit was though, and it was lined with the edge of a threat. “How much did you hear?”

Derpy beamed at her. “I heard a buncha baloney comin’ from an evil copy a’ my friend!”

Sunset licked her lips nervously as she tried to figure a way out of the explanation. It was hard to think with Derpy just staring at her, though, so she just gave up with a sigh. It had been a hard couple of days. “It wasn’t an evil copy. It was just… me. I think that was probably the point.” She looked off to the side so she didn’t have to see Derpy watching her. “I’ve said all of those things before. My reflection has.”

Turning back to face the pegasus, Sunset put her mask back on and shrugged. “So no biggie. Let’s get moving before Daybreaker kills us with this heat, yeah?”

She made to trot away, but Derpy stopped her with a hug. Sunset just stood there, shocked and unsure of what to do, until Derpy pulled away and smiled up at her. “I think it was an evil reflection, actually,” she giggled. “’Cause what I was hearin’ didn’t sound anythin’ like th’pony I know. And I think they’d agree,” she said as she gestured towards their friends, who were all watching them, worried and in various states of disrepair. Sunset gave them a hesitant smile.

Gilda shrugged. “I mean, you kinda sucked yesterday, but at least you’re fun to tease,” she said, prompting Zecora to punch her in the arm, but Sunset just stuck her tongue out and grinned at her. The griffon grinned back.

Sassy Saddles stood up, wiping the last of the tears out of her eyes as she addressed her disheveled friends. “Well. I think we can all agree that that was bucking terrible, and that Daybreaker is definitely messing with us.”

Sunset silently noted the lack of her list. She usually would have had it out by now. Probably? Truth be told, she wasn’t too happy about how unaware she was of her… friends once she got caught up in her own reflection’s taunting. Sunset was usually so good with being aware of everything around her. Ponyville really has thrown her off her game. As she watched her friend, she saw something shift in the water.

“Sassy, watch-!“ Sunset yelled, panicked, before there was a bright flash. By the time they had all gotten their bearings again, they looked up to see two Sassy Saddles rubbing their eyes.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” Gilda said what Sunset was thinking.

The two Sassys looked at each other in alarm, each scrambling to put some distance between herself and the other. "Sashes and saddles!" They exclaimed in unison.

“There’s- My reflection! You-“ The Sassy on the left exclaimed. Sunset decided she was just going to call them Left and Right until they got this sorted out; she just hoped they wouldn’t switch sides for any reason.

“I’m- I’m not a- a reflection! You’re the reflection!” Said right.

The other five friends watched as the two squabbled for a second, hoping that maybe this would just sort itself out. It didn’t. Both Sassys turned to Sunset at the same time, both pleading, “Sunset, you have to believe me!”

Upon their singling her out, everypony else turned to stare.

“Oh so it’s my thing now? This is my thing to deal with now?”

“Are you not the clever and tricky academic? Should anypony figure this out, I assume it would be you: our skeptic.”

Sunset scrambled, trying to figure out just how she was going to figure out which was the real Sassy Saddles. She came up with nothing. Oh, well. Time to throw darts at the board and see what sticks. Or, pins, rather. “Which one of you has the list?”

Both of them lit up their horns, each levitating their identical list over to her with a hopeful look.

“Horsefeathers, I was really hoping that would work,” she muttered. Then, Sunset lit up as an idea popped into her head. A real one, this time.

She looked carefully between the two Sassys. “What was your opinion of me after our first meeting?”

Left balked. “I mean, it was… rough, but we’re together now, right?”

Right didn’t. “You were a total bitch, love, but first impressions aren't everything,” she said matter-of-factly. Then her eyes went wide and one of her hooves went to her mouth.

“Oh Luna, I’m so sorry! I don’t know why I said that! Especially after everything that just happened, and what my reflection was saying, and- BUCK!” The Sassy Saddles on the right shrieked as a spell hit the copy standing next to her right in the chest, dissolving her instantaneously. Sassy Saddles’ vision swam. “Oh, I feel woozy…” Rara darted over to catch her just in time as her legs collapsed out from under her.

Gilda side-eyed Sunset from her spot next to her. “How’d you know?”

Sunset grinned back and shrugged. “She's not wrong.”

~

The girls were on the move as soon as Sassy Saddles woke up.

As the castle ruins came into view, the forest seemed to grow wilder, almost like it was angrier. The stream became rougher too, enough so that the mares had to move to the bank to walk alongside Gilda. They refilled their canteens as they stepped out of the stream.

Eventually, their path drew them farther away from the water and deeper into the woods. Gilda and Derpy took turns flying up to make sure they were still on target, which they were. Thank Luna for small mercies, they supposed.

The party had to stop when Zecora suddenly snorted and veered off. Following their friend through the bushes, they came into a clearing, where they saw her sitting next to a large chimera. Sunset had to use her magic to keep Gilda from charging over and waking it up. She was uneasy as well, granted, but Zecora seemed completely comfortable, and she really didn’t want to upset the dangerous creature laying a hoof's length away from the zebra. At Rara’s insistence, the five just watched their friend and waited, tense and unsure.

The zebra was easily dwarfed by the chimera lying next to her. Its body and one of its heads seemed to resemble that of a white fox but much, much bigger. Its other head was a bull with sharp horns that stuck straight up. From the fluffy fur on its back grew two large blue dragon wings. It had one long tail where the fur abruptly faded into the dark green scales of an alligator. Or crocodile. One of those.

“Ah, my friend, whatever brings you so far out here?” Zecora asked the creature as she patted the fox head, which looked up at her wearily. “Were you perhaps caught by the sudden heat, unaware?”

Zecora took the three full canteens from her saddlebags and placed them in front of the chimera, who watched her with understanding and longing but didn’t move. She then went back to digging through her bag before raising her head back up with a noise of approval and a potion bottle in her mouth. Her friends watched as she helped the beast drink the water and potion. “A brew for revitalization, to help you stay awake. It would seem you need it much more than I, so your thirst you can properly slake. There is a river not too far away. You should be able to reach it if you head,” she pointed in the direction they had come from, “that way.”

Then Zecora packed her saddlebags with the now-empty canteens and bottle, stood up, and walked back over to her friends with an uncharacteristically dark look in her eyes.

“This villain has once again shown she's gone much too far. She has hurt innocent creatures as she carelessly brandishes that overblown star. Marshmallow there was not built to handle heat, but it has never been a problem – not until Daybreaker deemed herself a celestial elite.” She nudged her friends back onto the path. “Let’s go.”

Not willing to argue with the brooding zebra, the rest of the party followed.

~

The ground grew steadily rockier as they headed towards the castle, and the six girls were so preoccupied with trying not to trip, slip, or walk into a low-hanging branch that none of them saw the flash that came from nearby.

They did see, however, a bear come tearing out of the undergrowth straight for them, teeth bared. It didn’t seem to be trying all that hard to hurt any of them, all things considered, but it certainly kept them on the defensive. Regardless of what the bear’s intentions were, somepony was bound to get hurt sooner or later.

Rara watched her friends stand their ground against the irritated animal. None of them actually wanted to hurt the innocent animal, but they were all tiring out fast. Since she was the only one not fighting off their sudden, irritated guest, she had the chance to think. It just had to happen faster.

“Go! I have this handled, but you need to get out of here for it to work! I’ll catch up!”

Sunset looked at her, anxiety blowing her eyes wide. “Rara, we can’t just-“

“Go!” Rara yelled and swiped lightly at the bear to draw its attention away from her five friends, who acquiesced to her demands and ran off into the brush. They trusted her enough to assume she had some sort of plan. Good! Now all she had to do was figure out what, exactly, her plan actually was. Coloratura was not a planner, outside of music.

Wracking her brain as she dodged the bears blows, Rara struggled to remember what her marefriend did when the bigger animals on the farm acted up. The line of thought was cut short as she realized that there was no way she should have gone this long unharmed. Unless the bear was even more tired than her.

She stopped jumping around and looked up at the frustrated animal, panting. “You’re just sleepy, aren’t you?”

The bear roared back, but didn’t hit at her. It bristled, and swiped at the air in front of her, and roared again, and Rara began to understand. “You’re trying to scare us off! We most likely woke you up…”

Doing her best to make herself seem nonthreatening (and hoping that she didn’t screw up – she knew next to nothing about wild animals and she would really rather not be eaten by a bear today), Rara tried to move closer to the bear. She jumped back when it batted at her again, but noted that it didn’t seem angry anymore. Now it just looked huffy.

“I don’t blame you… it’s a bit bright out for what’s supposed to be night time. Let me just… I can help you, maybe.”

With no other course of action available, Rara began to sing. She went with one of her softer songs, a lullaby she had written for Apple Bloom back when the filly’s nightmares would keep her up.

Exhausted by its fight with the other girls and soothed by Rara’s unwavering voice, the bear found exhaustion winning out over the uncomfortably bright sun that had woken it up.

Still humming, Rara took a large leaf from a nearby tree and placed it carefully over the drowsy bear’s head, hoping it would help block out some of the sun, at least. She felt for the poor creature. They were all affected by Daybreaker’s actions, but at least the ponies (and griffon) knew why. Rara wasn’t the best with animals, but she knew they had to be feeling just as disoriented as her, if not more, considering they didn’t know why.

She smiled softly at the now-sleeping bear and let her voice taper off. Hopefully, it would be able to rest peacefully for at least a little while, now.

The adrenaline hit her like a wave, causing her legs to shake and vision to swim as Rara trotted in the direction her friends had gone. She could hear their voices faintly, and she followed that, excited to share her accomplishment that still had her buzzing. She ignored the woozy part of the excitement. Seeing their familiar colors through the leaves, she broke out of the underbrush into a sudden clearing and almost trotted off a cliff. Gilda caught her just as she slipped, and she shrieked as the griffon heaved her back on to solid ground. Rara crouched down as soon as her hooves hit ground again, looking at her tired friends with wide eyes.

“Good to know you’re not dead. And now you see our current problem,” Sunset sighed, nodding her head to the castle just across the massive ravine. There was one barrier between them and their destination; one massive, gaping barrier with bridge posts on either edge and no bridge to go along with them.

The girls looked over the cliff, into the bottomless ravine. Derpy gulped audibly. “How’re we s’posed t’get across that?”

Sassy Saddles looked at her with a weary smile. “Derpy, you have wings.”

The pegasus started and turned her head to see her own two flexing wings. “Oh yeah! I forgot ‘bout that.”

“Yeah, but the rest of you guys don’t,” Gilda groaned.

Sunset made a thoughtful noise in the back of her throat. “Can’t you two just fly us over? We can leave the bags and stuff here if it’s too heavy. Sassy can even take off her saddle.”

“I will not!” The other unicorn exclaimed, blushing.

“Usually, yeah. Be no problem. But I should be asleep right now, and my body’s really making sure I know it. I’d rather not have my wings give out while I’m halfway across with one of you.” Gilda watched the ravine with a grimace. “And while I don’t doubt Derpy’s unnatural mailmare strength, she’s like a camel. I’ve seen it. She fine one moment and then pfffffbt, unconscious the next.”

Derpy nodded proudly. “Yep!”

“Then we find another bridge. Or we make one. A unicorn, pegasus, or griffon," (she said with a glance at Gilda) "can then connect it to the other ridge,” said Zecora.

“Well, wait,” Sunset said, eyeing the other side thoughtfully. “I could maybe levitate you guys and myself over. And then Gilda and Derpy could fly themselves.”

“Aren’t you worried about your magic failing?” Sassy asked, doubt creeping into her voice.

Sunset waved her off. “Not at all. I’m up much longer than this all this time, so-“

“I hate to interrupt your planning for crossing our troublesome pitfall, but it looks like we may not need to worry after all,” Zecora said as a familiar, positively soaking wet chimera landed heavily next to them. It roared, a sound which really should not have come from either head, and then nuzzled the laughing zebra affectionately. “I see you are feeling better. Would you perhaps be willing to fly us across? It would be a wondrous help in preventing any more crucial time loss.”

The chimera roared again, and Zecora looked proudly at her friends. “That’s a yes.”

Marshmallow wasted no time in taking those who couldn’t fly across. Upon saying its goodbye (roaring, loudly), it took off, heading towards a friendlier spot to wait out this odd day than the one they had initially found it in.

The walk from the cliff to the castle’s decrepit entrance was short, almost anticlimactic after all they had been through. That didn’t make it any less imposing as they stood in the doorway. The party trotted in, nervously taking in their surroundings. Somehow, even in the staggeringly bright daylight, the ruins managed to loom over them in a more-than-sufficiently-creepy way. Sunset would hate to be here at night.

They didn’t have to wander far, as they found the Elements of Harmony in the entrance hall, sitting dormant on a tree-like set of six pedestals, only one of which was empty. Sassy Saddles ran forward, stopping at the foot of the pedestals to trot in place excitedly. “That’s it! We found them!”

“Yeah,” Sunset said softly, looking at the five odd-shaped stones in awe.

“So now what?” she heard Rara say, and she turned to see her and the others watching her expectantly. Sassy trotted back to stand with the group, the excitement making her fur stand on end.

Sunset stared up at the Elements. “All the book said was, when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed.”

Gilda cocked her head. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Language!” Sassy lightly hit the back of Gilda’s head, and the griffon hissed at her, tail lashing.

“I… don’t know,” Sunset responded. “I have an idea, though. Stand back.”

Closing her eyes, Sunset pointed her horn at the Elements and tried to channel as pure a form of raw magic as she could. Her friends around her gasped as they started to shake, responding to her magic. Then there was a flash, a loud boom, and all of the dust and dirt that had collected over a thousand years was blasted up and out, rushing at the six girls. When the dust finally settled, Sunset dropped the shield she had thrown up around herself and her friends, and Daybreaker stood before them once again – now on the dais beside the Elements of Harmony.

Daybreaker sneered at her, and Sunset mockingly sneered back. She wasn’t scared of her anymore. She focused her magic on the Elements again. “One spark… One spark…”

Seeing the Elements react sent a shot of cold fear through Daybreaker, and she snarled. “I don’t think so!”

She flapped her wings once, and a wave of heat rushed out from her, shattering the Elements of Harmony into red-hot pieces of rock.

Sunset stared in shock as her friends started talking and moving frantically behind her.

“But-” she muttered, eyes wide and unfocused. Her mind raced to make sense of it all. What now?

Daybreaker laughed that horrible laugh, like nails on a chalkboard, sounding almost hysterical. “You childish foal! Did you really believe you could actually defeat me? You will never see your precious princess again! You will never take for granted my bounteous day ever again, for it shall last forever!”

The world came into focus again. Sunset felt Derpy draped protectively over her back. She heard Gilda yelling at Daybreaker for even daring to threaten her friend. She heard Sassy, Zecora and Rara’s supportive proclamations. And a spark lit up Sunset’s eyes as realization set in, a bright smile drawing across her face.

She looked back up at Daybreaker, a new, determined set to her jaw. She stepped forward and stamped her hoof down. “You’re wrong! You can’t destroy the Elements of Harmony! They aren’t physical stones that you can just crush under your hoof – they’re right here!”

“Excuse me?” The villain snarled.

Sunset continued, her voice sounding surer and more confident with each word. “Gilda, who refused to abandon us when she knew we were depending on here, represents the spirit of Loyalty!

“And Derpy Hooves, who taught us to laugh at ourselves and see a silver lining, represents the spirit of Laughter!

“Sassy Saddles, who didn’t hesitate to tell me the truth, even though it may have turned me against her in a moment of life-or-death! She represents the spirit of Honesty!

“Zecora, who sacrificed her own supplies for a friend in need represents the spirit of Generosity!

“And Coloratura, who not only put herself in very real danger so that it might save us, but who chose to calm that danger rather than hurt it! She represents the spirit of Kindness!

“It was the spirits of these ponies who triumphed over every obstacle you threw at us. You thought to stop us, but you only made us stronger! Your schemes only brought us closer together, closer to defeating you!”

Daybreaker growled at Sunset Shimmer, her flaming hair lashing around wildly. “You still don’t have the sixth element! Your spark,” she spat the word out, “didn’t work! I still win!”

Sunset looked at her companions, who watched her, awestruck. “No; you don’t. Because it did work, just not in the way we all thought it would. I felt it when I realized just how much you all cared about me – and how much I cared about you. How much I didn’t want you to get hurt. The spark ignited in me when I realized that you… are my friends,” she finished with wonder in her voice. She turned back to Daybreaker, face hardening again. “When the Elements are brought together – ignited – by that spark, it creates the sixth element: Magic!”

The six friends felt a different kind of warmth coming from their chests, a comfortable one that stood in stark contrast to the stifling heat Daybreaker had brought. Their chests seemed to glow as they were lifted into the air, facing a horrified Daybreaker.

“No… No!”

But her screams went unheard as a rainbow shot out from the six unlikely friends before her. It swirled around her, engulfing her entirely, and then, just as soon as it began, it was over. The sunlight seemed less harsh as the girls were lowered to the ground, where they were lain, exhausted. Sunset Shimmer pushed up on to her hooves with a groan, and the others followed, minds all reeling.

“Bust my buttons, Zecora! Look at that necklace!” Sassy Saddles exclaimed, scooting over to her friend to get a closer look. It was gold, and in the middle it framed a light blue gemstone with darker blue swirls in its center. “It matches your eyes!”

Zecora nodded back at her, tired, but satisfied. “Look at yours.”

Sassy Saddles craned her neck to look down and gasped. Around her neck was a necklace similar to Zecora’s, but instead of a blue gemstone, she had an orange gem with a diamond protruding downwards from it – it looked like one of the pins on her cutie mark.

“It’s pretty,” Rara gushed, looking at her own, which framed a lime green eighth note. She then turned to Derpy, who was giggling at her own – the same gold band framing a set of butter-yellow gemstones resembling rising bubbles.

Gilda nodded coolly, bouncing back to her normal self. “I can dig it.” Around her neck was a framed violet feather.

She looked around lazily. “Where’s Sunset?”

“I’m right here,” said the unicorn, who was standing off to the side, swaying slightly. She looked exhausted. She also looked happier than any of them had seen her since she arrived. And on her head sat a gold crown that matched their necklaces in pattern, but had a square red gem delicately balanced at the top. It stood on its corner, and four more small triangles protruded from each side.

“Oh, your crown,” Sassy said breathlessly.

Furrowing her brows, Sunset raised a hoof to her head, and, sure enough, the crown sat just behind her horn.

Gilda laughed incredulously. “You know, I thought you were just spouting a load of horseshit, but you’re right. I guess we really are the Elements of Friendship." She cringed. "Or whatever.”

“That you are,” a voice said. The six girls whipped around to look at the dais, where Princess Luna stood, watching them all with admiration and pride in her eyes.

“Princess Luna!” Sunset’s friends frantically bowed, but she galloped over, encasing her teacher in a hug. The princess put a hoof around her.

“We are proud of you, Sunset Shimmer,” she said as the mare pulled back, not mentioning the tears in her student’s eyes.

“I thought you said it was just an old pony’s tale…”

“We told you to make some friends,” Luna laughed, tapping her student’s muzzle affectionately. “We knew of Daybreaker’s return. We also knew that it was you who had to defeat her – but you could not do it until you let friendship into your heart. Now… If only someone else could as well…”

Princess Luna stood up straight, turning to address the small figure on the dias that had gone unnoticed up to now. “Princess Celestia!”

The figure tensed.

“It has been a thousand years since I last saw you,” she said, offering a hoof to the smaller mare as she unfurled. After a moment’s hesitation, she took it and shakily made her way to her hooves. “I miss you. We were meant to rule together, little sister.”

Various noises of disbelief rose from their audience, Sunset Shimmer included, which went largely ignored. They all watched hopefully as the younger alicorn stared up at her sister before a sob tore its way out of her throat.

Princess Celestia threw herself at her older sister as she started crying. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I missed you too!”

The two hugged, and Sunset couldn’t stop the smile that crawled onto her face. Looking at the two, it was hard to believe one had stood without the other for so long. Celestia was white, with the same cutie mark she had had as Daybreaker, and her light pink, twisty mane didn’t have the same ethereal quality to it as her sister’s or alternate self’s, but she truly looked like she belonged next to Princess Luna.

When the two were done, Princess Luna lovingly looked over her sister, her student, and the ponies (AND GRIFFON) she had a feeling she would be seeing a lot more of. She smiled. “Let’s go home.”

~~~

Apparently, by “home”, Princess Luna meant Ponyville’s Sugar Cube Corner, where they found Pinkie Pie ready with a small “Congratulations, You Saved All of Equestria” party. The pink mare seemed no worse for wear considering she hadn’t slept, and she was more than willing to host the group as their adventure came to a close.

Outside, the moon hung low in the dark velvet sky. The endless blue was dotted with sparkling stars that seemed brighter and more exuberant than usual.

Gilda sat at the counter with Pinkie, excitedly telling her what had happened, and Spike rested on the griffon's back, rubbing his eyes and yawning from being woken up. Derpy, Sassy Saddles, and Zecora sat at a table, chatting animatedly among themselves and snacking on the desserts Pinkie had prepared. The excitement from their journey had yet to wear off, Sassy noted as she happily put a pin in the final drawing on her list, a hastily scribbled moon floating in the night sky. At another table, Coloratura sat beside the sheepish, newly-reformed Celestia, doing her best to help the princess through her guilt with pastries. "Pinkie's a phenominal baker, but she's the best with cupcakes... If you like scones though, Gilda's the griffon for that..."

Princess Luna and Sunset Shimmer stood near the door, watching the scene before them. A wistful look had settled on Sunset’s face, and her mentor looked down at her knowingly.

“You have had a busy past few days.”

Sunset startled out of her disassociation and looked back up at her teacher. “What?”

“You have been working nonstop for many days now. We suppose it must come as a great relief that you may now go home and rest without the threat of Daybreaker looming over Equestria.”

“Oh… yeah,” Sunset responded quietly, trying to keep the sadness out of her voice. Truth be told, many of the emotions she had been feeling recently were completely new to her, and it was arguably more exhausting than the physical exertion of the day. At the same time, though, she didn’t necessarily want them to end. It was tiring, and confusing, but Sunset Shimmer wasn’t ready to give her new friends up yet. Like Tartarus she was going to tell her teacher that, though.

“What is wrong, dear student? Are you not excited to finally go back to Canterlot and resume your magical studies in the solitude you adore?”

“I… No. I don’t think I am.” Well, that resolution went straight out the window.

Luna smiled down at her, with no absence of love in her eyes. “Then we believe we know what must be done. Spike, take a missive, please.”

At her request, the baby dragon jumped off of Gilda’s back, pulling out a quill and some paper before looking up at the princess expectantly. The rest of the room fell silent as they watched curiously.

“I, Princess Luna, do hereby decree that my student, Sunset Shimmer, shall stay in Ponyville for an indeterminate amount of time to continue her studies into the Magic of Friendship, with full access to any resources she may need. She will report to me her findings regularly.”

Luna then nodded at Spike, and he sent the missive to Canterlot. Cheering filled the room, which was quickly replaced by excited chattering. Sunset found herself pulled into an aggressive hug by Gilda, which her other friends were quick to join. Pinkie Pie squealed at the counter, words coming out too fast to understand as she zipped away. The two princesses watched, one with pride and one with shame, but both ultimately happy for the excited group of girls in front of them.

At the center of her first group hug, surrounded by the warm bodies of her friends, Sunset Shimmer smiled softly to herself and nuzzled her face against Gilda’s surprisingly soft feathers. As the other five spoke excitedly about what they could do tomorrow to properly welcome her to Ponyville, Sunset closed her eyes and also thought about their future – and what it would bring.

She was new to this whole friendship thing, but here, on the precipice of change, she found that she didn’t fear it any longer. Despite her attempts to the contrary, these five girls someone managed to become her friends, and Sunset found herself more excited for the future than she ever had been before. There was nopony else she would rather face the journey ahead with.

(AND- oh, you know what? Never fucking mind.)

Author's Note

various edits on 7/12/21