Author's Note

Bit of a long one again. I suspect there may be some errors I haven’t caught yet, but I haven’t had a ton of energy lately and I kinda just want to publish. Any errors pointed out in the comments are greatly appreciated, as always.

Pulse

While they were a little estranged these days, Sunset Shimmer wasn’t exactly a stranger to hubris. She and it went way back, and while she was making strides to distance herself from it, every once in a while it reached out to her and before she knew it, it was just like old times.

She didn’t think the thoughts in such terms, per se, but somewhere in Sunset’s head, she got the idea that the progress she’d been making in improving her living situation was incredibly good progress. So good, in fact, that she had more or less resolved things for herself. She had options for a place to stay every day of the week (not a great number of them, but that there was multiple choices felt massive), she was eating more than a single discount school lunch most of the week, and it was coming up on three weeks that she’d ever had to think about her squatting spot in that ruined skeleton of a gas station store front. That all looked like success to her.

Then circumstances had simply not worked out ideally. One morning after bunking with Luna the previous night, something came up and she’d had to fly at something like 6:30, well before most anyone was awake and before most of Sunset’s backup options for squatting somewhere warm and dry had opened up that day. She had permission to stay overnight, but the apartment complex was not a homeless shelter, so she couldn’t stick around.

She had told Luna that she had ideas and that she’d work it out just fine. What actually happened was that Sunset had been caught flat-footed at a bad time and had been too embarrassed to admit it, thus seeing herself cast to the streets where she might have been fine if she’d been smarter about it. She more or less walked around for several hours in the dark kicking herself until the public library opened up and she could take shelter till one of her friends was awake enough to drive by and pick her up.

It definitely stung her pride, but it was a reality check worth having. In hindsight, Sunset admitted to herself that she should have known better. She had been feeling almost euphoric with how much better things had gotten lately, just to be reminded that while she was getting some help - and it was helping - she was still homeless. She still woke up sore from the weeks and weeks of strain that her body had gone through, she still had lost a lot of weight and didn’t show clear sign of putting any of it back on yet, she still had to punctuate her day with cough syrup and medication to keep the sickness she had from causing its full capacity for disruption and discomfort, and when push came to shove, she still had nowhere to go. Her situation was better, but that did not mean her situation was good. There was still a lot of work to do before it was anything close to that.

Sunset wasn’t stupid. She knew what the answer was. She just didn’t like it. She’d never liked it. That’s why she’d put it off as long as she had.

And therein was the problem, wasn’t it? Delay. Denial. The usual thing. It wasn’t smart, so why was she still doing it? What was she waiting for?

Sunset breathed in through her nose, then sighed the stream of air quietly through her lips. Despite the lunch tray in her hands where it rested against her lap, she stared at the front entrance of the lunch room, sitting back far enough that her back was touching the corner behind her. She could see clearly into the lunch room, yet her angle was such that relatively few would be able to see her from the distance she stood back from, if they even cared to look. It also meant that she couldn’t see them clearly, but that was kind of fine. It was one less excuse to leave. It was also sort of bad in that she couldn’t tell where they were and thus couldn’t plan where exactly to go, making the whole thing seem just a pinch less certain as a result.

Sunset went to stand up twice. It wasn’t really clear what she intended to do either time, but she felt it all the same, staring into the open cafeteria doors. The third time she felt the impulse, it actually reached her feet, and she managed to bring herself to stand upright. Before she could consider doing much more than that, however, she became aware of a commotion down the hallway to her left, running parallel to the cafeteria.

Calling it ”commotion” was perhaps not the best way to describe it. “Commotion” implied something disorderly, something adjacent to or at least within arm’s reach to conflict, and this wasn’t that. It was definitely a marked increase and shift in noise coming from down the hall, however - sounds of surprise and pleasantries coming from some of the students from further down the hall and around the corner, just out of sight. She watched several other heads turn, and from where Sunset stood she watched two kids’ faces light up in surprise, then delight as they got up from where they were sitting to hurry around the corner towards something.

Sunset was confused by this, but curious. She started walking down the hall towards whatever was doing on, leaning forward slightly as she tried to wrack her brain for hint of what this could possibly be, when she heard - amidst the pleasantly-aligned clamor coming from around the corner - the intonation of something that sounded entirely too familiar to Sunset that brought her to a halt mid-step. Before she could even begin to process what her feelings were or how to handle this, Twilight Sparkle stepped around the corner, a dozen hangers-on in her shadow, and walked straight towards her.

By all accounts, Twilight Sparkle was a pretty girl. She had nice hair, nice clothes, and everything about her expression and the very features on her face beamed signals to one’s brain that said, ‘this one is friendly.’ Little didn’t appeal in some way or another, as far as appearances went. It was actually one of the initial hurdles that Sunset had been forced to deal with when she first meant to confront her: it was like her brain conspired to make her want to like her.

Whether her brain wanted to like her or not, however, in that moment it was like facing an oncoming pair of headlights coming in from the other side of a tunnel. Sunset froze where she stood, eyes wide, and perhaps the only thing keeping fight-or-flight from pulling the trigger one way or the other - paradoxically - was the way Twilight’s face lit up when she saw her and waved. Somehow being identified made it better.

Twilight’s hangers-on fell out of her shadow as Twilight hurried forward, no one else particularly eager to close the distance with Sunset Shimmer of all people. If Twilight noticed, she gave no indication, seemingly far too interested in scurrying up to her ex-enemy to notice her crowd peeling back. “It’s so good to see you again, Sunset! How’ve you been?”

Sunset, in complete contrast to how Twilight was all smiles, was stiff with panic. She was not prepared to be in this situation in any capacity, and the gears in her head were currently jammed up hard midway through three completely separate thoughts: the visceral and invasive memory of broken concrete under her burning hands as she pulled herself out of a crater, a feeble attempt to discern the current phase of the moon (though apparently the answer was “full”), and half-visualizing the hallways adjacent to the one they were standing in in a half-formed first step of trying to formulate an escape that was no longer possible.

Perhaps expectedly, a response did not make its way to Sunset’s lips quick enough to play the whole thing off. Twilight Sparkle regarded the silence and deer-in-headlights expression with a slightly concerned yet no less sympathetic slanting of her own smiling expression. “…hey, relax. It’s okay.” She reached out and touched one of Sunset’s arms where they were locked in place, holding the lunch tray she’d already forgotten about. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. We’re friends now, remember?”

An ugly half-laugh burst out of Sunset. “Are- are we?” The quality to her voice as she laughed this was not quite manic, but not exactly far from it, either.

“Of course we’re friends, Sunset!” Twilight’s response managed to straddle the line between upbeat and chiding. “We do have a history, but all of that’s behind us. Right now, I’m just glad to see you!” Twilight’s face was washed over with a new tide of joyful delight till it nearly shone as much as her big purple eyes did. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to visit sooner, but I’ve been thinking about you ever since last time, and I’ve been really hopeful that everything has been working out well! Have you been doing okay? How’re your new friends?”

Sunset let out a single high-pitched, anxiety-wrought chuckle as she struggled to process a response that would make sense. Every alarm in her head was wailing and shrieking, and she couldn’t hear herself think. The hands holding her plastic lunch tray were trembling, gripping the edges like it was the only thing keeping her from falling down the face of a cliff. “Oh, y- y’know, work in progress.”

“Work in progress is good!” Twilight clapped her hands together a little as she did a little excited bounce in place, all of her words just as animated as she. “I won’t lie, I’m really excited to see how you’ve all been bonding since I was last here. There was so much progress being made already, and I’m so eager to see how you’ve been getting along without me!”

Sunset nodded along, her smile like a strip of netting pulled so taut that one twitch in any direction would make it split straight down the middle. “They’re uh,” she turned in place and had to physically flex her fingers to get them to release the tray enough to gesture in the direction of the cafeteria. “They’re right in there, if you- um- they- lunch.”

Twilight clapped her hands together with a declaration of, “Perfect!” and immediately started moving in that direction, though not before stopping waving Sunset along. “C’mon, let’s say hi! Spending time with your friends will help calm you down, too.”

“O- okay.” Sunset glanced around herself briefly, looking for anything she could possibly use - any kind of escape, anything. Her eyes found her tray in her shaking hands. “Give m- give me one second, just let me just find- find somewhere to- put this.”

It wasn’t a good excuse. It was kind of a pathetic excuse, actually, but Twilight was excited enough to not be thinking about things like analyzing it. Even though she was waiting, Twilight was clearly eager and tugged ahead just a bit towards the cafeteria, just far enough that it took her past the edge of the wall. Sunset had been looking around herself, wandering in the opposite direction in a show of looking for somewhere to sit her tray down, and the moment she glanced back and saw Twilight break line of sight, her brain screamed, “BREAK FOR IT,” and she listened. She dropped her lunch tray on a bench outside the attendance office and broke into a mad dash, rounding the bend in a second’s time and sprinting down the closest hall like Hell was on her heels.

She wasn’t ready. She wasn’t ready she wasn’t ready she wasn’t ready she wasn’t ready she wasn’t ready she couldn’t be here she wasn’t ready. She wasn’t ready. She couldn’t be here.

Sunset didn’t stop running until she made it to the girls’ bathroom on the other side of the school. She blasted through the door, ignored the surprised shriek of whoever she’d nearly flattened on her way in, locked herself in the farthest stall, and there she stayed. She tucked in her legs such that she wouldn’t be visible if viewed from below, hugged her knees in the fetal position, and waited for time to pass.

Lunch period hadn’t ended yet when her pocket vibrated. This wasn’t surprising to her. She let it sit there for a while, and just as she was settling into the idea of not even checking it, much less responding, her phone vibrated again, as if in defiance of these thoughts.

Sunset’s eyes rolled as she shoved a hand into her pocket and yanked her phone out in front of her, leering at the screen.

Rarity
Did you want some company, or would you rather be by yourself right now?
Today at 11:47 AM

…Sunset lowered her phone slightly as her gaze shifted to the side slightly. She didn’t know the answer to that.

While she was considering this, she raised her phone again to see the other message. It wasn’t from Rarity.

Fluttershy
Hey. I don’t know what happened but I just wanted you to know that I’m thinking about you and hope you’re ok. If I can make it better at all, just let me know
Today at 11:48 AM

The corner of Sunset’s mouth tugged upward slightly, though it faded after a moment.

She meant to reply to either of them, she really did. However, each time she went to, the words just…fizzled. She blanked hard each time she tried to sum up even the basics of a rudimentary response, and Sunset eventually gave up trying to respond at all. She sent both of them a heart emoji just to demonstrate that she was alive, then put her phone back in her pocket and let her head fall forward onto her knees, intent on staying in this bathroom stall until she got tired of sitting in here, she felt like talking to someone, or she was forcefully removed, whatever came first.

Naturally, this took her well past the extent of lunch period. Three groups of girls entered the bathroom in the time it took fourth period to start, each one turning the room into an echo chamber of their chattering and gossiping. To no one’s surprise, Twilight Sparkle’s unexpected arrival was the talk of the town, as reflected by each of them talking either about her or gossiping about people who were totally eying her up or whatever they thought was going on. Every time someone entered, Sunset half-expected it to be either Twilight herself or someone about to knock on her stall and tell her to get out of there. Neither of these were proven true, and by the time fourth period’s starting bell chimed, she had yet to be bothered even incidentally.

The silence that followed felt good to Sunset. It was in the vacuous stillness while class was going on that Sunset was able to bring herself to properly relax and fall still. She didn’t think, simply falling in sync with time’s passage and zoning out. It wasn’t quite peace, but it was peaceful, enough so that Sunset may have briefly lapsed into a nap. She wasn’t sure, just that she had that sensation that felt sort of like coming to if you only really became aware at the tail end of it.

It was only then that Sunset thought to check the time: 12:41. Most of fourth period had been skipped already…may as well just carry on with it, at that point.

As she probably could have predicted, Sunset had received other texts since she’d completely mentally checked out.

Rarity
I love you too, but how can I best help you, darling?
Today at 11:48 AM

Rarity
Twilight has been filled in. She’s aware that you’ve struggled with things like this in the past and we’ve convinced her to give you some space until you’re more up to seeing her. It wasn’t hard. She’s concerned, but understanding. All she wants to do is see how you’ve been and talk about how things are going for you.
Today at 11:52 AM

Rarity
Twilight is going to be sticking around with those of us who can stay after school. I forgot whether you still have detention or not, so whichever way it is, she’ll be lingering around with us in the courtyard today. She wanted to know if you were willing to talk to her then or if you needed more time.
Today at 11:58 AM

Rarity
Are you doing alright?
Today at 12:02 AM

That made up the backlog, but like Rarity knew when she was looking, a text arrived as Sunset had the phone in her hand.

Rarity
Remember that I love you, sweetheart. I’m in your corner
Today at 12:44 PM

That brought a proper smile to Sunset’s face.

You
I love you too
Sorry for vanishing. Locked myself in the bathroom and nodded off in here. I think I needed a hard reset
And thanks for covering me. Idk if I’m gonna be cool to see her by the end of the day or not tbh. I’ll have to see
Today at 12:44 PM

Rarity
Well, I did say I was in your corner. Talk after class?
Today at 12:45 PM

Not about to turn that down. Seemed like a good idea besides.

You
Ok
Today at 12:45 PM

Rarity
♥️
Today at 12:45 PM

You
♥️
Today at 12:45 PM

Earthy, down-to-business when something needed doing, dependable. Good ol’ Rarity.

And then there was Fluttershy.

Fluttershy’s responses after the initial heart she’d sent contained little text. There was the direct response of a heart emoji of her own, and from that point on her responses were composed almost solely of animal pictures. Her own, namely; picture after picture of her two cats, a dog she hadn’t seen before but which had been in Fluttershy’s house apparently, and of course, a great number of photos of Angel Bunny in action. There were 27 of them uploaded that had petered off after class started, but even just recently there was an Angel Bunny with a leaf sticking out of his mouth trying very hard to figure out what the person taking the picture (wonder who that could be) was doing. Cute animal picture after cute animal picture after cute animal picture for nearly an hour, all posted because, and quoted from the only text-based response Sunset received:

Fluttershy
You get the pet reel now. It’s decided
Cute pet pictures always make me feel better when it’s time to be alone
Today at 11:50 AM

And y’know what? It kinda worked. They made Sunset want to pet Fluttershy’s animals. They all looked so soft and well-groomed. She wished that the one that was always laying on Fluttershy wasn’t so skittish and that Angel Bunny was less of a dick to anyone that wasn’t his owner.

You
Hey, sorry I vanished. I think I went full nonverbal and crashed from stress. Twilight Sparkle jumpscare bucked me up, I guess. Sounds like you guys covered me though so I guess I’ll try to deal with that later. Somehow. Idk
Today at 12:47 PM

Fluttershy
That sucks >x<;;;
Today at 12:48 PM

You
Not my idea of a good time
Today at 12:48 PM

Fluttershy
It’s definitely not!! Don’t push yourself if you’re not ready, ok?
Pace yourself and know your limits. Twilight will understand if you need time!
I’ll start saving some hugs for you for tonight (Or today, if you really really really need them. I always have spares!)
Today at 12:48 PM

It wasn’t often, but sometimes Sunset wanted to pet Fluttershy too. Forget her animals, sometimes she herself deserved to be patted on the head and told she’s good. She’d make such a face, too, which would make it even better.

The combination of the cute animal reel and the Fluttershy distracted Sunset for long enough that the hour elapsed and the bell rang in the hallways, briefly filling the school with its one-note chorus. In a matter of seconds the halls would be flooded with students, and while Sunset wasn’t exactly feeling eager to fling herself out there and potentially run face-first into Twilight Sparkle immediately, she had at least caught her breath enough that she could cling to courage and step out of the bathroom, then hide amidst the tides of people till she could make her way to the locker of one of her closest friends.

Rarity was waiting for her. Sunset could tell because she was standing in front of her closed locker, hand on the handle, looking around in waiting. Once she spotted Sunset, she flashed a smile and opened her locker up, sinking back a bit until it seemed her only destination could be the interior of her locker as Sunset stepped up. They kept the locker door acting as much of a barrier to the surrounding students as possible. It wasn’t quite privacy, but it was about as good as it got in the middle of a crowded public hallway.

“Hi darling.” They were up close and neither locker on either side of hers was being attended, so Rarity didn’t hide the warmth in her voice, though she did keep her voice down. “Feeling better?”

“A bit.” Sunset leaned against the edge of the door, both because she wanted to anyway and because it made her an extension of the barrier to block line of sight. “Still don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

“Have you tried talking to her?” Rarity’s tone was very dry as she said this, though after she eased up. “At the risk of stating the obvious, that is my advice.”

“And say what?” Sunset threw the arm she wasn’t leaning with as part of this question. “Am I supposed to be all buddy-buddy with this mare? She wrecked my shit! She and I, we- we’re not- this isn’t like two old friends coming back together. We fought with each other! I humiliated her in front of hundreds! She shot me with a bucking divine rainbow laser!”

Rarity raised a finger to clinically point out, “I also contributed to the rainbow laser predicament.”

Sunset mouthed something at first, finally able to manage, “Okay?”

“You talk to me just fine.”

“Well it- that’s not-“ Sunset lowered her voice and leaned in a little to mutter with a half-chuckle, “That’s not entirely the same, now is it?”

“It could be.”

“I’m not dating Twilight.”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Don’t be dull. I’m saying, we had a relationship that could be described as confrontational at one point, too.”

“We’ve had months to move past that. Closer to half a year at this point. For Twilight, I’ve had like, one entire hour and a panic attack.”

“Oh,” Rarity chuckled quietly, “I don’t think it’ll take long to recategorize that one in your head once you start talking to her. She’s very friendly.”

“I’m sure she is,” Sunset replied, trying to sound less annoyed than she was, with limited success. “I’m just saying-“

“Look, Sunset-“ Rarity stepped up closer to Sunset. She rested the tips of her fingers in the window where her jacket wasn’t completely zipped up, right where a necklace would go if she was wearing one. “Listen, you’ve got this habit of getting in your own head about things, and I think you’re doing it here. That girl’s a sweetheart. Just talk to her.”

Sunset frowned openly. She plucked Rarity’s hand off her chest and pushed it down, though when she did, she failed to release it afterwards. Both their grips adjusted themselves as they held hands where no one would be able to see them doing it at the angle they were at. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Oh that I’m very much not concerned with,” Rarity laughed. “You could make word salad sound charming and intentional. You frequently do, even!”

“I’m being serious...”

“So am I.” Rarity’s voice was immediately depleted of cheer to demonstrate this. “I’m not just saying that because I think you’re funny. I do, mind, but your ad lib skills are not insignificant. Just roll with it, darling!It’s one of your best talents! It’s half of your charm, for God’s sake, you can absolutely manage that. What are you so nervous for?”

Sunset leaned on the locker door, casting a look down that hall that looked irritated but was very much meant to look irritated. The reality was that she was indeed nervous and trying to figure out what to do with that anxiety. “I don’t know.”

“You’ve completely got this,” Rarity encouraged, emphasizing with a squeeze of their discreetly linked hands. “Sunset Shimmer can handle talking to one girl. She’s already decided she’s on your side, even, so you’re not even winning her over here.”

Sunset’s only response was an anxious, wordless noise of quiet dread. It was responded to with an equally wordless supportive smile, and a soft squeeze of their clandestinely joined hands.

After standing there for a little longer, simply holding hands and sharing wordless looks where they were tucked in with Rarity’s locker door shielding them, the warning bell chimed. Rarity’s expression became one of longing as she looked at Sunset, a quiet sigh slipping past her lips as the few students around them began to scurry. “Oh, to have more minutes in the day…”

Sunset nodded in solemn agreement. Their hands remained tightly linked for just a few seconds longer before they were forced to part, then go their separate ways for fifth period.

Maybe the threat of Rarity’s little sister discovering them wasn’t quite so bad if it meant she got to go home with Rarity. Once she sobered up a little bit, Sunset would realize it was almost assuredly not worth Crusader involvement, but there were days - more now than before, especially - where having the attention of the trifecta of trouble didn’t seem so bad if it meant she could have Rarity back so they could spend all their time together again.

Fifth and sixth periods came and went. Fifth period was at least remarkable for Sunset in that she really enjoyed art class. With the exception of certain history courses and the honorary mention of social studies before Ms. Harshwhinney became particularly intolerant of her ability to draw breath, art was Sunset’s favorite class. It was a little harder to enjoy it than usual today, as Sunset found herself particularly distracted with the thought of facing Twilight Sparkle months after their conflict and while Sunset was only just now starting to recover from her fall. She thought a lot about what Rarity had said, though, and she also found herself asking what it is that she was so worried about with their meeting. She couldn’t pin down exactly what her fear was, though analyzing it did help a little with reducing the grip the anxiety had on her. Anxiety lingered, of course, and she wasn’t completely able to shake the vague dread she felt about having to face Twilight, but it was at least to the point where she was confident enough about it that she texted Rarity and let her know that she was probably okay to see Twilight before the day was up. Time would tell if she’d regret that or not.

Meanwhile, Sunset’s day went on. Sixth period ended, and as most of the student body prepared to go home, Sunset attended detention, as per the arrangement with Luna.

Most of the time Sunset had at least made a token effort to remain on task for it, if for no other reason than to have an alibi for if some member of school staff walked in the room, but today was one of those days where Sunset wasn’t feeling particularly bothered with letting her hair down. She placed her backpack on the single table placed in the center of the room, though rather than even open it, Sunset instead strode to the far side of the room to one of the windows. The angle it offered wasn’t great, but Sunset was able to peer down into the courtyard from here, and she did so.

Dozens of students were streaming out the front of the building, though the largest surge had already made its way out the double doors as everyone either found their car from the rapidly thinning parking lot, boarded the conga line of yellow busses currently parked along the road in preparation to begin their circuits through town, or were wandering off on foot. Very few were dawdling, though those that were did so in anticipation of a ride or to make use of the school’s exterior as a meeting spot now that everyone was out of class and still roughly in the same place. Among those people were the Rainbooms, who were primarily visible from the distance because they routinely chose the statue towering over the courtyard as their meeting spot and no one was willing to challenge that territorial claim - hell, they’d practically been awarded it after they’d saved the school.

The group loitering out front was a fair bit bigger than normal today. Twilight Sparkle was there and no doubt the cause of this as she continued to turn heads and draw a fair bit of attention from other students. Despite the extra bodies she’d pulled with her presence, Sunset was able to make out the profile of some of the more distinct-looking Rainbooms. She saw Applejack first because of the hat, and from there she was able to pick out most of the others from their peers, though not all of them. Rarity had left already, of course, and Sunset couldn’t tell if Pinkie was around or if she had departed herse- nope, there she was. There was only one person that streak of pink could be.

Sunset just watched. There wasn’t much point to it - she couldn’t hope to hear what was being said down there and they were too far up and over for her to make out much detail - but she had an angle she could watch from, so she did. After standing around for a minute, Sunset hopped up onto the counter so she wouldn’t have to lean as much, propping one foot up against the window frame as she rested one arm against that knee. Her other leg gently swang where it hung as Sunset peered on, watching from afar while Twilight Sparkle held the attention of a group of a dozen or so other kids and appeared to be juggling dialogues with all of them with a big, friendly smile on her face.

It wasn’t clear when exactly Luna joined her in people watching, but at some point Sunset felt Luna’s presence come up behind her as the room all but shifted as the weight of her aura caused the entire room’s center of mass to drift to one side. Sunset glanced in her direction, but didn’t do much more than confirm she was there before looking back out the window again. “You talk to her yet?”

“Briefly,” was the response. Luna’s tone was nonchalant, almost offhandedly so, though her expression had a quality to it as she observed the loitering students that looked distantly disapproving. “That portal isn’t open now, is it?”

Sunset’s eyes briefly touched on the statue’s base, where the portal would be. Rainbow Dash was sitting on it, leaning against the ankle of the wondercolt. “It’s open from now to the midnight of the day after the full moon. Then it closes.”

Luna’s disapproval deepened on her expression. The worry did as well. “I’m still concerned about students falling through.”

“Twilight’s right there.” This was said alongside a dismissive wave of the hand. “And if they did go through, they’d either freak out and go back or get turned around.”

If this assuaged Luna’s fears at all, it didn’t reflect in her expression. She opened her mouth to say something, then leaned slightly forward, peering more towards the front of the school, then let out a relieved breath of, “Good, Celestia’s there.”

Sunset likewise leaned forward a little. Sure enough, Dean Celestia was standing out in front of the school while all these students were gathered. She didn’t appear to be doing anything and wasn’t involved in the conversation, but she was there and appeared to be keeping active watch. Sunset sat back again, grunting noncommittally, “So she is.”

Luna seemed far more comforted by this than anything. Her posture loosened and she leaned back. “Good, very good.” She let out a quiet breath with a shake of her head. “Still, I wish we could put barriers up, or tape it off, or…something. Knowing there’s a hole right there that any student could slip into by accident fills me with such anxiety.”

Sunset half-turned her head in Luna’s direction at this. “Why don’t you?”

“My sister is convinced that such measures would draw attention to the portal’s existence and create far more potential for peril than they’d prevent. To some extent I agree with this,” Luna leaned against the counter as she went on, “but I also feel like depending on something not happening in the first place isn’t so much a solution as it is standing idly by and hoping for the best. The best is preferable, certainly, but seldom do ‘what is preferable’ and ‘what we get’ correlate as often as we’d like. I also can’t help but feel like something less passive would be the more responsible choice. At least then if some accident were to occur, we could say that we took steps to prevent it in advance.” Luna then sighed, adding, “I will admit, however, I’ve yet to come up with a solution that would be better than what silence and inaction has done so far. As with so many of my sister’s ideas, I wish they were not the preferable choice, but…”

“But they are,” Sunset finished, a note of grimness in her voice. She leaned forward a little more so she could look down at the side of Dean Celestia’s head as she watched on with that professionally tailored smile of hers. “Celestia has good ideas. It’s one of the best and worst things about her.”

Luna looked at Sunset with a look of equal parts curiosity and caution. “What do you mean?”

“Well…” Sunset tapped her hand lightly against the countertop she sat atop, mulling over her words for a second or two. “She’s smart. Right? Celestia’s a really, really smart person, and her ideas are almost always good ones. I’d trust just about any- well.” She paused at that, reconsidering her word choice. “I would trust that an idea she came up with is sound enough that it would work. Even if it’s not perfect, the fact that she’s presenting it at all means she’s put enough thought and consideration into it that- like, you can rely on that most of the time. She has good ideas.”

“She does, yes.”

Sunset nodded. She paused for a beat, and then tapped on the counter to emphasize as she went on, “The problem is when it doesn’t work. Celestia doesn’t make stupid little mistakes: she makes big ones. When something goes wrong with Celestia’s plans, it’s not because it was a bad idea. It’s because something went horribly, horribly wrong - something she either couldn’t have known, or which she did know, but it was way worse than she thought. So when Celestia bucks something up, she bucks it up hard. Lives will be turned upside-down for it.” Sunset looked on at Celestia down there for a little longer, then decided she could stand it no longer and looked somewhere else instead - the statue became the new focal point of her vaguely ireful stare. “I kind of hate it about her.”

The curiosity on Luna’s expression shifted along its axis, metamorphosing into something like suspicion. “Is there some history here I’m not privy to?”

Sunset winced at this question. She scratched the back of her neck. “Um…”

“You speak of my sister as though you know her. More so than most, even. You’ve been in our world for no more than four years, and I know for certain that no such relationship between you and her exists.” Luna turned to face Sunset more head on, arms crossing over her chest. “Not in this world, at least.”

Sunset’s expression continued to reflect a grimace - she’d tipped her hand too much there, far too much. Maybe Celestia didn’t make stupid mistakes, but that surely didn’t extend to her wayward apprentice. “Y- yeah, um…I knew- I know your sister, um…in the- in the other world.”

Luna nodded along with this. Her suspicion ebbed as her expression in general softened, replaced by that curiosity that had begun this line of questioning. “Extensively, by the sounds of it.”

“Yeah. She’s um…she’s been my tutor for over a decade. Almost two. Uh, before my whole ‘runs off through the portal’ thing, anyway.” The words dragged their heels as they shuffled out of her throat, at first, but the more she spoke, the more easily Sunset felt the words come to her. She’d never talked about this before, and now that she’d begun, she couldn’t bring herself to stop. “She has a school of magic, in Equestria. That’s how she found me to start with, I had a um…I was different from the other foals in my class. The kind of magic that came to me was more natural, more…more free-flowing. My relationship with my magic’s always been a little different from everyone else’s like that. She says my force of will is remarkable. It impressed her, and she wanted to nurture that. Guide it.”

When Sunset glanced up, she saw Luna simply watching her, waiting attentively. Some of that curiosity was still on her face. By now her arms had uncrossed and hands had been folded in front of her, patiently awaiting whatever came next.

Sunset swallowed and looked back out at the courtyard. “...so…yeah, I’ve kinda always been under her wing. When she’d taught me everything a classroom could about magic, my studies broadened. Things became more general, but then they narrowed again, focusing on statecraft and managing people. I learned a lot about how to open doors, and how to make use of some of the opportunities that had been left available to me, as Celestia’s student. Meanwhile she taught me about making decisions that would affect other people. She taught me about why people rallied, and when they did, what they looked for, what they needed, examples to set…things like that. Needs people have, how to fulfill them…then like, if I can’t fill them, how to find someone that can, how to move cogs that won’t turn on their own…the sorts of things to look for when I’m delegating tasks, how to surround myself with people that know more than I do about something…”

“How to lead.”

“How to lead, yeah.” Sunset nodded, smiling a little as she did. She was well into the nostalgia trip by now. “I hit a slump for a while there, but then she told me what the plan was. I was going to inherit a kingdom one day.”

Luna’s eyebrows arched. “Did you not know from the start?”

“I didn’t.” Sunset shook her head, and both her eyes and voice began to become increasingly animate as she went on. “How exciting, though, isn’t it? Isn’t that just the- isn’t that the most crazy thing? To finally know your calling? To have someone put them to words, after having spent a lifetime wondering? Such an insanely important task, and to have someone tell you that they’ve known from the very beginning that this was something I’d be good at? That I was practically born for?” She was at a loss for words briefly, looking down as a grin spread across her face. She gazed into her open hands like the keys to her destiny had been placed in them. Her eyes practically shone, and her voice was low, almost reverent. Even now it moved her. “What an honor. What a…a…”

“What a burden.” Luna’s voice was far more measured. Cautious, even. “That’s a mighty burden to have to bear.”

Sunset’s hands closed, balling into light fists. “It was.” Her smile waned, replaced with something harder. Something determined. “But it was something to live for. I hadn’t really…I didn’t have that before, but I did then. I finally had a goal. I could focus.” Her fists tightened. “I knew what I was meant to do, and I was determined to do it right. My entire life had led up to this, I needed to make it work. I had to.”

And then she didn’t.

Sunset’s fists continued to tighten. She watched this happen, and after observing her hands for a few more moments, she slowly unclenched them. She opened her hands, then closed them again, closing them into looser fists and repeating this motion a couple times as she took a couple of quiet, steadying breaths. Her chest was tight. “Um,” she began, somewhat lamely- more than a little actually. She chuckled quietly at herself. “I uh…I think I distracted myself from your question.”

Luna merely shrugged, mirroring the gesture with her hands at the same. She had one of those familiar, welcoming smiles on her face. “My question was answered. I found the detour rather interesting to listen to.”

“Sorry.”

“No need to apologize,” she assured gently. “As I said, I found it interesting. It’s nice to learn more about where you came from after having gotten to know you these last few weeks.”

Sunset chuckled quietly to herself as she pointed her gaze out the window, feeling a little awkward. The students outside were something to focus on, at least. ”…well uh…stick around I guess. I ramble about my life and home randomly, sometimes.”

“It sounds like you’ve a lot to say.” Luna quit leaning on the counter and strode over to the table in the middle of the room, where her work was assembled. “Should you decide you’d like to share in the future, I’ll gladly listen.”

“Um…yeah.” Sunset nodded, keeping her eyes out the window rather than at Luna. Her foot bobbed and caused her whole leg to rhythmically bounce up and down with anxious energy. “Noted.”

Conversation petered out from there. Luna went back to the work she was usually doing during this little cover operation they ran here, though she seemed to spend more time staring at or through her laptop in thought than normal. Sunset decided that she didn’t want to do what most would consider “productive” or “on-task” today. She remained at the window for most of the detention, eying the students outside or simply zoning out and letting her mind wander.

Among other things, Sunset considered telling Luna about more things in the future - things she wouldn’t tell most people, but realized then as she had realized in the past and then forgot that it felt nice to share. She didn’t get to talk about her life much, either because it just didn’t come up or she wouldn’t let herself. Maybe that should change.

…maybe. She’d think about it.

Much like the hours leading up to it, detention hour came and went. Sunset collected her things (easy to do, considering she never opened her backpack), said a brief farewell to Luna, and went to leave.

“Oh, Sunset?”

Sunset was mid-step out the door when she leaned back into the room to answer. “Yeah?”

“In the future, if you ever feel the need to escape somewhere during school hours, please let me know.” It was said pleasantly enough, though to Sunset’s ears it felt like a reprimand. “That way we can arrange something a little easier to keep tidy for the record’s sake, and possibly address whatever issue you’re having while we’re at it.”

It was about then that Sunset recalled how she’d spent fourth period that day. She nodded, trying to not look or sound scolded. “Okay.”

“Thank you.” Luna smiled that resting smile she so often wore at ease. “Will you be needing a ride?”

It took Sunset a second or two to register the question. “Uh, I got a couple things to do, but I can walk. I’ll make my way over to your place eventually.”

Luna nodded as her attention went back to the laptop and papers in front of her. “I’ll leave a key under the welcome mat, if you need it.”

“Okay, cool.” Sunset hesitated in case there was more, but that seemed like the end of it. “I’ll uh-” She began to un-lean from the room. “I’ll see you tonight, then.”

“Have a good night, Sunset.”

And she left.

Sunset wasn’t in a hurry as she walked down the hall away from the old chemistry lab. She knew what came next, and while she’d had ample time to come to terms with it, she still wasn’t looking forward to it. Some nameless fear left her footsteps increasingly hesitant as she rounded the corner, though her nerve was strong enough that she was able to keep a steady pace as she moved towards the front door of the school and, eventually, stepped through them.

It was slightly over an hour after school had gotten out that day, so unsurprisingly, the crowd of kids and any lingering groups that had been out here earlier were long gone. The parking lot was almost totally empty save for a handful of stray vehicles, most of which were faculty’s. It was always odd seeing the school so barren, no matter how many times Sunset saw it like this.

It only took Sunset a moment or two to find Twilight Sparkle. She’d moved from in front of the statue to over on one of the benches in one of the half-circle blocks of grass carved out by the drive for the buses in front of the school. That wasn’t much of a surprise, though slightly more surprising was the company she kept. Rainbow Dash was the only other person around right now, seated next to Twilight, though stretched out to take up far more than her fair share of space in a very relaxed-looking pose. Twilight didn’t seem to mind at all, who looked fully bundled up for winter and had her head back with her eyes closed.

Sunset hesitated to approach, though ironically the presence of Rainbow Dash was striking enough to her that the weirdness of it distracted from the anxiety of approaching. She thus found it a bit easier to walk up to the two of them, keeping her footsteps about as quiet as possible, though not enough to keep either head from turning in her direction as she closed the gap. “What’re you doing out here?”

“Uh, waiting for you?” It could have sounded accusatory if not for the smirk Rainbow wore when she said it. “Did you fall asleep in there or something?”

“I left as soon as I was released,” Sunset replied in a measured tone. “They don’t like it when you leave early.”

It was here that Twilight perkily joined the conversation: “What’s important is that you’re here now!”

“Yeah, as opposed to like, this mo-oof-“ Rainbow’s remark was cut off by a lavender elbow to her ribs.

“You’re here now!” Twilight repeated, sounding almost aggressively cheerful with a stiff smile. “And that’s all that matters.”

Sunset couldn’t completely repress the smile that the sight of Rainbow Dash rubbing her side inspired. She played it off by adopting an easygoing stance, shifting her weight to one leg. “Yeah well, glad to be here and all, but you guys didn’t have to wait outside for me this whole time. It’s cold out here.”

“Oh, that’s no trouble.” Twilight pat herself across her torso, indicating the dark teal coat that Sunset couldn’t decide whether it was meant to be a coat or a sweater, or some weird combination of the two. Whatever it was, it looked rather warm. “I’m pretty set for this weather. Besides, it’s nice to enjoy a little fresh air!”

“And a runny nose.”

“Bah,” Twilight waved both hands dismissively at the matter. “It’s nothing. I’m just enjoying being human again!”

Sunset refrained from commenting on this - both on the human thing and how it was kind of bullshit that the portal had seen fit to shit out an entire winter outfit for Twilight while Sunset had been out here freezing her ass off for weeks. Definitely not high key annoyed by that little detail. Sunset instead channeled her annoyance to give Rainbow Dash an inquisitive look and like her presence here was weird. Because it was. “Shouldn't you be home by now? Everyone else’s long gone.”

Rainbow Dash prickled. “What, and leave Twilight out here all by herself? You can’t just leave a girl completely alone in the middle of the city.”

“It’s broad daylight,” Sunset pointed out. “And it’s Canterlot. And she’s like ten feet from the school.”

“So?! The city’s a city and the school’s like, totally empty right now! What do cameras matter if you get stuffed in a van and you’re gone?!”

Twilight cut in front of Sunset's next comment with a warm, “It’s appreciated.” She gave Rainbow Dash a thankful pat on the arm, who started to preen. “Besides, it’s been nice to have some company. There’s a lot to catch up on!” Twilight clapped her hands together as she hopped to her feet, turning to more fully face Sunset with a beaming expression. “Speaking of which: Sunset!”

“That’s the name, don’t wea- h-hey.” Sunset shied back as Twilight sprang towards her, half expecting the girl to throw her arms around her for a moment. “Easy there,” she chuckled anxiously.

“Sorry! Sorry I’m just- gosh I’ve got so much I want to say to you! You look good!”

“Uh, thank you.” Sunset rubbed the back of her neck, trying to not look like that meant very little to her. Twilight obviously had no idea what a human that ‘looked good’ looked like. That or Sunset didn’t look anywhere near as crummy as she felt most of the time, which she wasn’t super sure about. “You look, uh…” Sunset briefly eyed Twilight up and down once with eyes only. “…human.”

“Well I certainly hope I look human,” Twilight giggled. “Otherwise I think we’d have a problem on our hooves!”

It was a small thing, but hearing a ‘hooves’ slip-up in human company from someone that wasn’t her was a salient point for Sunset, and it put her at ease enough for just a moment to let out a proper laugh at Twilight’s joke. “Yeah, no kidding. I dunno know though, I think it might end well. I know at least one girl who’d probably enjoy seeing a pony in person.”

Rainbow Dash snorted at this. ”Fluttershy would lose her shit.”

“Probably!” Twilight chimed as Sunset chuckled. “I suspect ponies are a lot smaller in stature than humans are, so I can see her taking a liking to us pretty easily.”

“We would not get out of it without getting our manes brushed.”

“Definitely not,” Twilight agreed, sharing a chuckle with Sunset. “That could be fun! Ignoring all the problems it could cause, of course.”

“Of course.” Sunset nodded. She crossed her arms as she let out a wistful sigh at the thought of such a scenario. “Idunno, I think it would be really nice to be a pony again, even if I had to like, hide for a while before we fixed it. I miss my horn.”

Twilight’s hand went to her forehead, the sensation of which made her recoil slightly with a grimace. “Yeesh I forgot how weird that feels…” She did it again, the grimace shifting back and forth as she probed the smooth space beneath her bangs where a horn would normally be protruding. She could only handle it for a few more seconds before she pulled her hand away like she had been touching something slimy with her bare skin. “Yeah that’s weird! Yeah I don’t like that so much, actually. Thanks for reminding me about it!”

Sunset snapped up a pair of lazy finger guns Twilight's way with a coy grin. “Enjoy your next three days as a human. Don’t think about how sweaty feet get, either.”

A beat. “Wow, you are still evil, huh?”

“Damn right I am,” Sunset laughed. “And don’t you forget it, either!”

“…aaand on that note-“ Rainbow Dash hopped to her feet, speaking over Twilight’s groaning and Sunset’s snickering. “Imma call my dad and get that whole thing set up? Enjoy talking about sweaty feet.”

Sunset didn’t know what she meant by that, but Twilight was outraged. “You’re going to abandon me now?!”

“Sure am!” Rainbow Dash pulled her phone out of her pocket as she started to stroll away. “Cuz it’s gettin’s weird over here. Peace!”

“WOW, alright! Abandon me in my hour of greatest need, why don’t you?! Greatest need!” To this Twilight merely got a peace sign flashed her way, making Twilight huff and cross her arms in a pout only royalty could manage. “I take back all the praise I’ve sung about them. Humans are dumb and lame.”

Sunset shrugged out her arms in a ‘whattya gonna do?’ manner. She eyed Rainbow Dash briefly as she exited earshot and let her curiosity get the better of her. “You got plans over there, or..?”

Twilight pouted a little longer before she loosened up a bit where she had been scrunched up, her dramaticized expression ebbing quickly. “Yeah, I’m going to be staying with her while I’m here, I guess. Or, um,” Twilight turned her head to look at where Rainbow Dash went with uncertainty, “that’s what it sounds like.”

Sunset glanced at where Rainbow Dash had wandered off to, then back at Twilight again, eyebrow arching. “Doesn’t sound like a plan.”

Twilight smiled sheepishly. “Well,” she chuckled, “originally I was going to go back to Equestria in between visits while the portal’s open, but then I…so, funny story-“ Twilight leaned forward as she twiddled her fingers about, sounding increasingly like a filly who’d just been caught out on a lie or something. “-so while I was here the first time, I may have spent a night or two in the school library? And I may have told her about that.”

“And she flipped out.”

“She may have flipped out,” Twilight admitted. “And then she announced that I’d be crashing at her place, and-“ Twilight fumbled this a little, gesticulating vaguely for a few moments before she threw her hands out in defeat and let them fall back to her lap. “I don’t know, I kind of just want to make her feel better. Like she’s helping, you know? It’s sweet of her, so…” She looked over at Rainbow Dash, who was well away from them by now and talking on the phone by the fence. “I can probably move a few things around to make that work.”

Sunset didn’t say anything. She saw the silence coming from a mile away, and she let it happen, simply crossing her arms and casting her gaze in the opposite direction Rainbow Dash had wandered.

After a time, there was a quick pair of taps of a palm against wood. Sunset glanced at Twilight and found her looking at her, smiling invitingly as she moved her hand from the space next to her on the bench. Sunset stared for several moments, eyes shifting from Twilight to the spot beside her, then back and forth once more before she drifted over to that spot and took a seat, motions slow and careful. She crossed one leg over the other shortly after settling in.

Conversation did not ignite immediately after this. Sunset spent a moment examining Twilight until Twilight looked at her, at which point her gaze deflected and the silence started feeling awkward.

“So,” Twilight started, sounding to Sunset like she was putting on her professional voice, “I hear you’ve been having a little trouble settling in.”

Here we go. Sunset bit back a sigh. “Little bit.”

Twilight nodded. There was a note of solemnity in her voice as she said, “I had hoped it would be easy, but I guess that wasn’t gonna happen, huh?”

Sunset shrugged. A direction not in Twilight’s felt like a decent place to be looking right now. “Yup.”

“What sort of thing has been giving you trouble?”

Sunset felt her lips part to speak, but no part of the process of forming words followed, so they closed again.

Twilight waited, though when it became clear a response wasn’t coming, she went on, undeterred. “Sorry for scaring you earlier, by the way. I uh…” She chuckled anxiously, brushing a lock of hair out of her eyes as she did. “I probably could have done a better job of broadcasting my arrival before just kind of, um, y’know…showing up.”

Sunset shrugged one shoulder at this, maintaining her gaze elsewhere. “Sorry for ditching you.”

“That’s okay! We’re here now, right?”

In a sense, perhaps. Sunset found her engagement slipping as time passed.

After another silence, Twilight tried again to overcome it. “…well, it sounds to me like in spite of the trouble you’ve been having, you’ve still managed to get some friends out of it.”

Sunset didn’t know whether or not this was a topic to relax about. She chose caution for now. “One or two.”

“Sounds like exactly two to me!” Sunset could feel Twilight’s smile in the side of her head. “Fluttershy and Rarity, huh?”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah.”

“Very good choices. Rarity’s the most giving person I know, and Fluttershy’s…well,” Twilight chuckled. “Need I say more? She’s Fluttershy.”

“She is Fluttershy.” Sunset cracked the smallest smile at this. “They’ve both been really good to me.”

“What made you decide to trust them?”

Sunset considered whether or not she wanted to answer this. Eventually she decided that it couldn’t hurt, so she went on, if somewhat slowly. “Well, um…I just uh…I just started talking to Rarity at one point, and it was fun. We got along really well, and, uh…things just kinda…just kinda went from there.”

“She sounded surprised that you decided to talk to her when you did.”

“Yeah I was uh, I was surprised too, a little bit. It was a…” Sunset rolled her wrist as she looked for the words. “Spur of the moment thing. I don’t remember what I was thinking at the time. Honestly, it was kinda stupid of me. I woke her up at like, two in the morning or some shit.”

“Yikes.”

“Bit of a yikes out of ten, yeah, can confirm.”

Twilight giggled. “Paid off though, huh?”

Sunset’s thoughts only briefly touched on the intimate longing she felt for Rarity before she metaphorically reached out with a hand and applied it to its face, intent on keeping it and anything pertaining to it well beyond arm’s reach for this conversation. “Something like that.”

“Very good!” Twilight clapped her hands together at this as she bounced in her seat briefly, once again all smiles. “What about Fluttershy?”

“Oh, um…” Sunset had to stop and think about how she and Fluttershy had started talking. They didn’t hit it off immediately like she and Rarity did, so it took a moment to map things out. “She wanted to know if I wanted a random movie ticket her brother gave her. I don’t remember the specifics, but, uh…she seemed lonely, and it bothered me, so uh…so we started sitting together in her car listening to music.”

Twilight let out a little ‘aww’ noise. “That’s sweet.”

Sunset shrugged, giving off a small embarrassed smile. “I was sick of sitting by myself every morning, Idunno. We weren’t friends yet.”

“But you are now, right?”

“Yeah, definitely.” Sunset nodded emphatically as she said this. “I’m over at her house a lot. We play a lot of video games and she lets me crash at her place on the weekends, and…y’know, off and on, kinda whenever.” A beat. “…well I guess her parents are the ones letting me do it, but- y’know.”

Twilight clapped her hands together repeatedly, letting loose an especially girly giggle that even Twilight Sparkle wasn’t femme enough for that to sound normal. “Perfect! Oh that’s exactly what I was hoping for! Very good, very very good! Good job, Sunset.”

“Um…thank you?” It sounded unsure when Sunset said it. “I don’t know if it’s like, celebration-worthy or anything, though.“

“Oh don’t be ridiculous,” Twilight dismissed, like she wasn’t the one who looked ready to football cheer over hearing that Sunset had the skeleton of the fundamentals of a life. “Friendship of all things is worth celebrating. If I can’t get excited about emotional bonds forming between people I care about, what even is there to get excited about? That is the thing to be happy for, in my mind.”

“If you say so, dude.” Sunset briefly hesitated, then decided to say what she’d been tempted to a moment prior. “All I know is if this is how you get about sleepovers, I don’t even wanna know what would happen if we kissed.”

Twilight gave Sunset a suspicious look, narrowing her eyes at her. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I think you’re shipping trash.”

The response of, “Oh buck you,” was so knee-jerk and instantaneous that Sunset was pretty sure Twilight’s brain cells hadn’t even registered the words before the response was being spat back at her from sheer instinct. It was also confirmation in Sunset’s mind that this wasn’t the first time she’d heard it. “I’m not a shipper! I just like it when my friends get along.”

Sunset replied with as much disbelief as she could compact into a single intonation of, “Mhm.”

“I don’t! I mean I do! Like it when you get along! And nothi- nothing else! Nothing w- oh buck off.” Twilight crossed her arms and petulantly looked away from Sunset with an industrial-grade pout on her face. “Fine, I hope you get coal instead of a birthday cake this year and that you celebrate it all by yourself. How’s that sound?”

“Ah, my favorite flavor.” Sunset couldn’t completely arrest the chuckles that worked their way up her throat. “Perfect, thanks.”

Twilight was visibly trying to maintain the scowl, but as Sunset started laughing, she wasn’t completely able to hold it together herself, and her voice was fracturing as she spat out, “Jerk.”

Sunset threw her arms out with a grin. “Mald about it! I got free coal cake. Screw you guys, I got mine.”

“You’re a jerk.” Twilight couldn’t hold up the facade anymore and was freely giggling away. “Nevermind, I changed my vote: a pox on your house.”

“Joke’s on you, bitch, I already got sick.” That was meant to be part of a joke, but Sunset was laughing and halfway through she lost the train of thought, so instead she just enjoyed the moment.

They laughed for a little while. It probably wasn’t even all that funny, but there was a sense of relief that came with it as a big chunk of the tension between them rattled free and was carried off by the late autumn-early winter wind, allowing the giggling and laughter to carry farther on its own power than it might have otherwise been able to. They came to a stop before long to the tune of a pair of pleasant sighs, though the silence that followed wasn’t nearly as oppressive as it had been leading up to this.

After a few seconds of taking in the quiet, it was Twilight who broke it first. Her head fell back where she sat, and in a voice like her worst fear had been put to rest, she breathed out, “I am so glad we can talk.”

Sunset looked at her as she placed her arm on the back of the bench they were sitting at. “Yeah?”

Twilight nodded where she’d let her head fall back. “I was so nervous that like-“ She brought her head forward so she could better rub her eyes with both hands. “-that I was going to walk up to you and try to be friends, and you were going to laugh, or like, bite my head off for trying. This is so much nicer.”

Sunset tapped her hand against the back of the bench as she bobbed her head this way and that. “I mean…I dunno, I might have, if you’d shown up like a month ago.” A beat. “…maybe.” Sunset cast her gaze elsewhere. Nowhere in particular, just elsewhere. “I dunno. I barely know what I’m feeling most of the time.”

“…well that…doesn't sound great.” Twilight leaned forward, looking at Sunset with concern and compassion in equal measure. “Are you doing alright out here? I know that a lot has happened, and…how are you holding up? Like, really holding up?”

It wasn’t a question that Sunset would have given as much consideration as she ended up doing if not for the specifics of the moment. It felt like they were being real right now, and Sunset was inclined to be real back. She’d not given an especially real answer about this before, though, so she had to think about it. Like, really think about it.

Fortunately, Twilight was patient here. It probably helped that the consideration was painted all over Sunset’s face, so rather than prompt her or try to keep things moving, she waited.

Finally, Sunset had gathered her thoughts enough that she was willing to try to respond. She raised her hands in front of her as the start of some gesture, and she asked, “Have you ever felt like you’re not…like, has something ever happened to you where you walked away from it, but afterwards you don’t really feel like a person anymore? Like, you’re alive, but not a person?”

To her credit, Twilight tried to answer this, but it was apparent by the look on her face how she was going to answer well before she did. “I can’t say I have, no.”

“Right.” Sunset didn’t really expect her to get it; she was halfway trying to get it herself as she walked through it. This was equally for her own sake as it was Twilight’s. “Well…that’s how I feel. I feel like I was a stain on the floor, and I managed to like, get up afterwards, but-” She gestured out with her hands, like she was holding armfuls of something in front of her stomach, “-but I’m still carrying so much of myself from when I was just getting up to walk away. There’s tons of me here that I’m carrying around here, instead of-” She brought her hands up to her chest and stomach, pressing them flat there. “-here, as like, actually part of me. And like…” She gestured to herself, shaking her head a little. “I’m…okay. I’m not going to fall apart right now. I can get through the day today, and, y’know, maybe a lot of days after this, but this is just…this is just me being alive. I-” She motioned like she was holding bits of herself in front of her, “-am still here. You know? And I don’t- I don’t know how to get what’s here-” the hands went to her chest and stomach, “-back in here again. I’m…” She searched for words a bit, grasping at the air like she was searching for the piece she needed, then let her hands fall down into her lap. “I feel like a pulse. I don’t wanna be a pulse. I want to be a person, and I don’t know if I remember how to be one anymore. I don’t know what to do.”

There were a lot of emotions on Twilight’s face as she listened. It was a heavy topic, and that heaviness was apparent, as was a growing sadness as she listened to Sunset tell her she felt broken as earnestly as she was. Twilight nodded along the whole way through, and when Sunset was done, she let the silence hang for a good while before she ever spoke up: “I’m really sorry that you’re going through this, Sunset. I’m even more sorry when I say that I don’t think I’ve got the answers for you.”

Sunset didn’t expect answers. It would have been nice to get them, though. She turned her hands over as though to check if there were any such answers beneath them and, failing to find anything but her own worn-out jeans, let them fall back in place again with a bleak smile.

“...I may be able to give a little advice, though. Maybe not…maybe not the kind of advice you need right this moment, but something that can get you started somewhere. You know?”

Sunset lifted her hands up again, though finding nothing different, she let them fall in place again. “Up to you,” she mumbled. Speaking in general felt a lot harder with the weight that had settled over her. “I’ll take what I can get.”

“Okay.” Twilight cleared her throat quietly, sitting up a little bit straighter as she clasped her hands together atop her thighs. She observed her own thumbs as she twiddled them, contemplating whatever she meant to say with a great amount of focus, and after a short time like that she took in a breath and spoke clearly: “I don’t know your opinion on some things, so this might come off as demeaning, or maybe dismissive, or super obvious, but I want you to know that I’m being very thoughtful and serious when I say this, okay?”

Always a good start. Sunset had to bite back the urge to turn those thoughts into words, though she couldn’t stop the small, slightly bitter smirk as she shook her head to herself. “Lay it on me.”

“I think you should see a therapist.”

An ugly snort bubbled up from the back of Sunset’s throat, which kept coming as waves of quiet chuckling. “A therapist,” she repeated, stating the words with a deadpan kind of awe.“You want me to see a therapist.”

“Yes.” There wasn’t a trace of humor or amusement on Twilight’s face. She was, in fact, dead serious, and she sallied forth to meet the almost mocking incredulity with complete frankness. “You said it yourself: you don’t know what to do. I think you should find a professional who can help you figure it out.”

Sunset continued to chuckle that bleak, humorless laughter. “Pray tell, Princess,” she started, opening her arms slowly, inviting a response, “where the buck am I supposed to find someone to talk to about this? How am I- where would even start with this? I can’t be honest with humans about what happened. I’d be lying out my ass the entire time just so they wouldn’t laugh me out of the room.”

“What about other ponies?”

The chuckling stopped dead in its tracks.

“Come home.” Twilight’s voice started firm, but it was quickly becoming soft enough that Sunset could sleep on it if she rested her head against it. “Come back to Equestria with me. You don’t have to stay, just- just come home for a little while. Long enough to get some help.”

Sunset struggled to process this. Her fists were frozen halfway through clenching, her expression reflecting the way she was torn straight down the middle about three or four different ways about this prospect that had been thrust at her. There was anger in there, certainly, but there were some other things too. Things that were about as lost on what to feel as she was.

After several seconds, her fists completed clenched. They were tight, but they weren’t a bone-crushing vice, just…tight. Tense. A pursed frown formed on Sunset’s face as she ran this suggestion through her head again, then again. When she spoke, her voice was stiff, but steady: “I’m a traitor.”

“No charges were pressed.”

This didn’t register at first. She heard the words, and she could intuit that they meant something, but she couldn’t fathom what they could mean. After a few seconds, Sunset lifted her head to look at Twilight and asked, completely at a loss, “What?”

“No charges were pressed,” Twilight repeated. “The courts haven’t gotten involved here.”

As before, Sunset could understand on an intellectual level that the words that had been spoken to her just now had meaning, and that she could technically understand each of them, but when arranged like they were, it just…it didn’t connect. She didn’t understand. She blanked, hard, opening her mouth a slight like offering the chance for words of her own to occur, just for the sound of silence to fill her ajar mouth.

She didn’t get it. Couldn’t get it. She was stunned.

“But…” Sunset didn’t recognize her own voice when it eventually crept out of her throat. “But I- the Element of Magic-”

“Was returned,” Twilight filled in, patient and calm. “Equestria was just fine, and no one got hurt. Things could have gotten bad, but they didn’t, and…I mean, it’s not like you had no remorse about it afterwards.” Twilight offered a supportive smile, tempered slightly by the gravity of everything being discussed. “Why does anything need to go further than that? You needed friends and support, not prosecution. You still need friends and support.”

There were implications here. There were vast implications to what was being said to her, and at that moment, Sunset was equipped to understand precisely none of them. She could feel her world swaying beneath her where it had been struck, but she didn’t see the impact, or even begin to comprehend.

Sunset felt numb. She licked her lips, sort of feeling it, but also sort of not. In a voice that still didn’t feel like her own, she replied so unsteadily that it somehow looped back around to sounding steady again: “I see.”

Twilight nodded. She was searching Sunset’s face for something, and it wasn’t clear if she found what she was looking for or not, just that from then on her voice sounded much softer on Sunset’s ears. “I’m going to be in this world for three days, counting today. If you need more time after that, the portals open every full moon, so there’s no time limit here.” Twilight’s smile was as warm as her voice sounded. “Just think about it for me, okay?”

Sunset nodded limply.

“Okay.” Twilight leaned over towards Sunset and placed one arm around her shoulders, giving her a light but heartfelt hug. She encountered no resistance. “I care about you and support you, Sunset. Don’t ever forget that.”

Sunset knew she meant that. It took her a moment, but she returned the one-armed hug as best she could while only halfway feeling her own limbs. She heard Rainbow Dash say something nearby, and while Sunset didn’t know when she’d come back, she also didn’t really have it in her to care. Apparently all Rainbow Dash and Twilight had to do now was wait for Rainbow Dash’s father to arrive. Sunset would not be doing that, and she separated from the pair with a mumbled farewell.

Sunset didn’t know where she was going when she stepped away, just that away was indeed what she needed and that it was all she wanted. Her head would be filled with the equivalent of television static for the rest of the evening.