Rich In Dollars, Poor In Sanityby SilverNotesChaptersUpscaleMoneyedAffluentWell-OffUpscale"Musical counterspell? Is that really a thing in Equestria?" Sunset paused in tuning her guitar, and turned to look at Twilight. "Sort of?" The two had been hanging out in the Rainbooms' usual practice room in the school for the past while--they'd volunteered to play a song at a school sporting event that would be next week, so they were squeezing in all the practice time they could--and so questions about the band had naturally started flowing. Human-Twilight Sparkle had an insatiable curiosity about the girls' previous adventures, as well as Sunset Shimmer's homeworld, and for a stranger in a land that she'd had to rapidly learn to blend into, it was freeing to be able to talk about it. Twilight blinked and adjusted her glasses slightly. "What do you mean 'sort of?'" "Well..." Sunset placed the guitar down entirely. "What you've got to realize is that magic is kind of... everywhere and in everything. It's a background radiation, and most creatures that use magic just... do it. Pegasi fly, kelpies turn into water, diamond dogs can smell jewels... it's barely thought of as magic because it's just... what we are." She waved a hand around. "So for us, there's magic in music, but it's also not something anyone's doing deliberately most of the time, and it usually doesn't do much." "But the sirens were... different?" She nodded. "Something that's usually passive magic, they could use actively, and put a lot more power into it. Unicorns can do a lot of active magic, and sometimes we do channel it through words, but it's more like short rhyming incantations. So expanding that into a musical spell is something that makes sense as possible." She held her arms out to gesture at the room around them. "And, y'know, since we're not all a bunch of thralls right now, it clearly worked. But it's not something you're exactly taught to do in magic school. Princess Twilight was snapping around in the theory zone trying to get a jaw grip on something workable." "Fascinating. And how does--" The door slammed open, colliding with the wall with a deafening smack as a blue blur raced into the room. "Twilight! We've got to go to Fillydelphia!" Sunset was on her feet in an instant. "What's wrong, Rainbow?" "Is there an artefact? Did someone transform? Did a portal open?" Twilight's words were accelerating with each horrible option. "Did a portal open and drop in an artefact that transformed someone?" "No no no, way less horrible and way more awesome." Rainbow grinned triumphantly, waving around her hand, the object in it moving several times faster than the human eye could manage to identify it. "There's a huge robotics convention there in a couple of months! You gotta go, Twilight!" "Robotics?" Twilight blinked several times, and when the waving blue hand came close enough to her face, she instinctively grabbed the object flapping around in its grasp. It revealed itself to be a now thoroughly-creased pamphlet. "I mean, that sounds fun, but robotics aren't really my main field..." "Uh hello." Dash opened both hands and extended her arms toward the small, white device covered in orange propellers sitting innocently on a pushed-out-of-the-way desk. "You built a drone that can fly around all kinds of places without bumping into anything and that listens to voice commands. You could make bank on that kinda thing!" Twilight, helpless in the face of the wave of Rainbow Logic and looking for a life raft, turned to Sunset. Unfortunately, all she could do was shrug. "Don't look at me. Something like that is tricky to do back home, but there are wizards who pulled it off with a mix of magic and clockwork, so I didn't think about it." She gave a wry smile. "Hate to say it, but when it comes to tech, Rainbow's the better judge than I am of what's average and what's special." "See! Even Sunset agrees--Hey what do you mean by hate to--" The words faded as Twilight got up, and both girls watched her walk over and pick up her drone. "It's... not really that impressive, is it? I threw it together in my spare time as a fun side-project. I mean, we go to school with Micro Chips and he builds actual robots." Rainbow shook her head. "Twi, who do you think told me about the expo? He's going and he thinks you totally should too." Sunset raised an eyebrow. "You were chatting Micro Chips?" "Well yeah. Duh." She looked at the stares she was getting and crossed her arms. "What's with the looks? We share a History class and talk sometimes. He's cool." She grinned, gesturing in the air. "He's a supersmart dude who builds robots. It's like hanging out with supervillain. A comic book supervillain instead of the like... 'it's Tuesday and someone's drunk on alien magic again' kinda supervillain." Twilight, well and truly washed out into the Rainbow Logic sea, looked down at the pamphlet thoughtfully. "I'll... think about going." She looked between the two of her friends. "If you and the other girls come with me?" Sunset shrugged. "I'm in." She smiled. "And I'm sure the others will enjoy the trip to Filly." "Woo!" Rainbow's fist shot into the air. "Fillydelphia, here we come!" The door of the hotel room opened, and an ecstatic-looking Pinkie Pie, concerned-looking Sunset, and exhausted-looking Twilight Sparkle strode in. The room could have been kindly described as "economical." The more accurate would be "cramped." The idea of splitting the costs of a single room for all seven of them had been floated, encouraged--it would just like a sleepover, had been the logic, and that train of thought had only reached the obvious difference that slumber party participants technically had the host's entire house to spread out through, instead of a single room, shortly after check-in--and booked, with the chaotic results now on display. There wasn't enough room in the provided dressers for all of their clothes. Rarity alone had her personal skin, hair, and nail care routines taking up half of the bathroom's space and left everyone else's supplies battling a bloody war over the remaining territory. The two beds could hold four people, and so Applejack had taken the floor, Rainbow had claimed a chair, and Rarity had been the one to have the misfortune to wake up in the middle of the night for a drink of water and see Pinkie Pie dangling from the ceiling in a sleeping bag like something out of a low-budget horror film. Other convention-goers were still shooting glares at anyone who stepped out of the room due to the resulting hotel-permeating shriek. Rarity was, thankfully, in much better spirits than she had been during the night, as she leaped up with smile. "There you girls are! We were just talking about going to..." She stopped, and blinked. "That... is a lot of business cards." Sunset nodded. "Yeah, somebody got really popular, really fast." Pinkie bounced on the balls of her feet. "Everybody wanted to see Droney McDroneFace, especially when Twilight started showing off all the words he knows!" Twilight, struggling beneath the cumulative weight of small paper cards, still managed the frustrated sigh. "I told you Pinkie, that's not--" "But he needs a name now that he's famous!" "My drone is not famous! And does not need a name! Or a gender!" "I did see a lot of people with their phones out," Sunset admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. "So there might be videos online after the con's over." Twilight made her feelings on that known with a irritated groan and leaned against the room's wall, prompting Applejack to get up and stroll over. "You want me t' take those, sugar? You're lookin' a bit overwhelmed." "Please." Twilight handed the business cards over, and heard the grunt as the girl who could casually bench-press the population of CHS, student and faculty alike, was surprised by the heft of the cumulative paper. "It looks like you have a lot of potential jobs for this summer," Fluttershy commented from her place playing cards with Rainbow Dash, a stack of oreo cookies between them and Rainbow currently staring down the fact that Flutters had been systematically taking her to the cleaners the whole time and so she would get to eat none of them. "That's the thing," Twilight said as she worked the soreness out of her arms. "These aren't just summer jobs. These are big offers. The kind of thing you usually give to college graduates." She shook her head. "There's no way I can juggle being a highschool student, investigating magical phenomenon, and working in a robotics lab. And I don't even want to work in a robotics lab!" "So what would you like to do?" Fluttershy asked gently, as Rainbow reached out toward the oreo pile behind her with all the stealth of a flatulent hippo. "I..." Twilight looked at the stack of cards that Applejack was searching for a place to put down, then around to everyone else, then back to Fluttershy. "I think I'll look into registering some patents?" She gave a weak smile. "After all, a little extra money to fund other projects won't hurt." "That's the spirit! Told you this was a good--Ow! Come on, Shy." "If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen," Fluttershy responded smoothly, not having even looked back to smack Rainbow's hand. "And don't bet what you can't bear to lose." Giggles broke out around the hotel room, and even Twilight couldn't help but smile. Despite the exhaustion, this convention weekend really was turning out to be a good idea. MoneyedAfter the convention, things had gone back to a relative normal. Between school, homework, and band practice, with hangouts squeezed in where they could, Sunset hadn't gotten much time to herself. Thankfully, in their group, the extroverts only slightly outnumbered the introverts, and so she wasn't alone in needing recharge time. They'd all agreed to take this weekend off to do their own things and meet back up at school on Monday morning, and as Sunset tossed her backpack to one side and collapsed onto her couch, she could feel how much she'd needed to take a little unwind time. Then she made the mistake of turning on the television. "From high school nerd to hotshot roboticist, our own local Twilight Sparkle--" Click. The words were lost as the TV turned off, and Sunset was left reflecting on the split-second image of cell phone footage of the drone and Twilight's very awkward smiling picture, likely snatched directly off social media as the first thing that came up with a search of her name. Distantly, Sunset noted that it was fortunate that her picture had come up from a search of "Twilight Sparkle," since it'd been impossible to scrub the presence of the other Twilight from the internet entirely after the Fall Formal, but her mind was primarily on other things. "Welp. There goes my weekend." Sunset got up and got her coat. Twilight's parents had been kind enough to let her in as soon as she'd shown up at the door. She'd been there enough times that they likely assumed that either a) their daughter had forgotten to inform them of plans, or even forgotten the plans themselves or b) the girls had to go blast things with rainbow lasers. Both were fair assumptions, and neither parent seemed perturbed by option b. Then again, after Twilight had come home with a talking dog, they likely had needed to adapt very quickly. I wonder what my parents would think... Sunset tried to shove away the thought as she headed up the stairs. Princess Celestia had informed her that she had made her family aware of where she was, in the broad strokes. The mirror was still a closely-guarded secret, but that their long lost daughter was in another nation, among another species, and had established herself as something of an unofficial ambassador for Equestria... That reunion would see a lot of yelling, she was sure. But they were apparently proud. They may even still be proud if they knew about the demon incident, if full of questions. That's what happened when magic-focused careers ran in families; what you did and why faded among the questions of how and what could be learned? Other than the power of friendship, Sunset had mostly learned not to mess with things above her magical weight class. Something she'd tried to pass on after the Friendship Games. They'd gotten close since then. Sunset had learned to separate her from the other Twilight in her mind very quickly, and make friends with her instead of projecting. Some of the others at school had taken longer, and some of the ones who didn't interact with the girls much still seemed to struggle with it. Flash at least wasn't being awkward about it anymore, which Sunset would take as a win. She pushed open the door to Twilight's room, and found a bed, computer that was still on, and a suspicious lack of Twilight. Spike sitting on the bed with a comic book, looking completely serene, at least pointed away from kidnapping. "Uh, where's--?" The words had barely started when Spike wordlessly pointed a paw downward, and Sunset blinked. She then got down to the floor, peered under the bed, and spotted the shine of light off of a set of glasses. "Soooo, I'm guessing you saw the news?" "What? No! Why?" Sunset had to hurry backward as a frantic purple face emerged from the shadows. "What's on the news? What happened?" "Hoooow about I help you out from under there first?" Sunset offered her arm, which Twilight obligingly took, and she carefully pulled her classmate out and helped her stand. "And you tell me what's got you so wound up." Spike carefully flipped a page of his comic. "She's rich and it's freaking her out." "I..." Twilight finished brushing dust from herself and went to her computer. "I made a few licensing deals with my new patents, and..." She turned the monitor toward Sunset, gesturing at the screen, and she saw the logo of one of the local banks before becoming focused entirely on the numbers. "That's... a lot of digits." "I wasn't expecting the royalties to be so much! Or come so fast! I was doing research on how to handle the sudden influx and..." Twilight started to wave her arms around frantically. "I found all these stories about how people would suddenly get wealthy and it would completely ruin their lives." "Twilight, it's--" "They'd start being hounded by their own friends and family for the money and jealousy and resentment would tear everything apart! Or they'd try to make everyone happy and eventually all the money would run dry and they'd be left with strained relationships and be broke." "Twiligh--" "I just started forming real friendships!" Sunset suddenly found herself yanked forward as Twilight grabbed fistfuls of her shirt. "I can't let this ruin everything!" "Okay, Twi, breathe." Sunset placed her hands over Twilight's, carefully prying the mangled cloth from her fingers. "This isn't going to ruin anything." "But how do you know?" "Because," Sunset said, with a gentleness right out of Princess Celestia's book. "Think about your friends for a second. You remember that one harvest season when Applejack was working after school and every weekend because her brother hurt himself?" "Yes?" came the confused response. "You remember how badly we had to twist her arm to let us come over for one weekend and help out a little?" "...Yes." "So if she's that bad about letting us give up a couple of days' worth of time to help her, how offended to you think she'd be if you offered her money?" Twilight blinked at that, seemed to picture it, and then flinched. "You have a point." Sunset smiled, and guided Twilight over to sit together on the bed. Spike obligingly moved over a bit to give them room. "And you remember Rarity's birthday? She was giving us all these gorgeous handmade outfits all year for ours, and then it took that gargantuan effort to let us give her anything back on hers. Pretty sure if you ever gave her money for anything, she'd pay you back the first chance she got, with interest." "That's... true." Twilight started to scratch at Spike's ears, and he quietly wagged his tail in response. "Fluttershy might encourage you to donate some of the money to charities she likes, but only as much as you can comfortably spare. And Pinkie? I think the only thing you'll get from her is a 'Twilight's financially secure' party." She chuckled gesturing at herself. "And me? All I need to do if I need money is go back to Equestria for a little bit. Magically-inert jewels are worth almost nothing over there but plenty here." She patted Twilight on the shoulder. "So see? No risk of your friends going nuts over you suddenly being well-off." "You're right." She smiled back. "Thanks Sunset. You're good at calming me down when I start going a bit bananas." "Anytime." They hugged, and both let out a sigh of relief. Then Twilight froze. "Wait." She pulled back a bit, not ending the hug entirely, but enough that she could see Sunset's face again. "You didn't say anything about Rainbow." Sunset grimaced, pulling back an arm to rub the back of her neck. "Wellllll..." "Sunset." "I mean..." "Sunset." Both arms withdrew to hold up her hands defensively. "Okay okay... Well, it's Rainbow, so she'll probably come up with a ton of things for you to buy with your new money and mention it a few... dozen... times." She then lowered her hands again to rest them on Twilight's shoulders. "But it's Rainbow, so she cares a lot more about you than money, and so what will matter most to her is that you're happy with what you do with it." Twilight sat with that, for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah... that all makes sense." She smiled. "This kind of thing just shows you who your friends really are, and we've already been through enough to know we're real friends, right?" "Exactly." They pulled each other in for another hug. "So, what was that about the news earlier?" "Um..." There was no surprise when it was Rainbow Dash through the bedroom door first. "We got your texts!" Applejack strolled through next, pushing Rainbow aside slightly to let her pass. "We got here as soon as we could." She made her way over to the bed, where Twilight was curled in a tight ball, arms over her head. "You doin' okay, sugar?" "No I'm not okay!" she blurted at enough of a volume to send Applejack jerking back. "I was on the news. As a 'hotshot roboticist.' Why would I be on the news as a hotshot roboticist?" "Slow week?" Spike offered. "It was the local station. They once did a whole segment on bear sightings without having actual footage of the bears." "That's what wrong?" Rainbow asked. "But that's awesome. You were on the news." "Rainbow Dash, really." Rarity huffed as she stepped into the room as well. "This news segment happened without her foreknowledge or involvement. Not once asking for an interview or even a quote. I'd be upset too." Fluttershy squeezed past Rarity, and came over to sit on the bed as well, next to Applejack. "If you want to lay low for a while, until it all blows over, you can stay at my place." "That's the problem!" Twilight clutched at her hair like she might pull it out. "I can't!" "Twilight's afraid we're going to have another magical incident," Sunset filled in from where she stood vigil against an attempt for the girl in question to crawl back under her bed. "And this extra press could lead to unwanted cameras following her right to it." Rarity hummed at that. "Well, our identities as local superheroes was always something of an open secret, no? Ever since the first... ah..." "Ever since I blew up the front of the school?" Sunset offered. "Yes, that." Rarity smiled reassuringly. "Ever since that, our classmates have taken the influx of magic and our involvement in it rather well, all things considered." Twilight slowly sat up with a groan, waving her arms. "But there's a difference between our classmates being okay with the fact I tore open reality in front of them one time, and the government sending agents to show up on our doorsteps and recruit us for who knows what!" Spike rolled his eyes. "She's been reading Shining Armour's old comic books." "So have you!" "For fun, not as a how-to book." "We have superpowers, you're a talking dog and it's the only research material I have on the subject!" "Alrigh', calm it down, Twi." Applejack laid a hand on her shoulder. "There hasn't been any trouble lately, an' if there is, it's okay if you want t' sit one or two adventures out t' keep from drawin' unwanted attention." Twilight blinked. "It...is?" She looked around at everyone, and their comforting smiles. "You don't think it's selfish of me?" Rarity shook her head. "You've made it very clear that you're thinking of the wellbeing of all us." She gestured in the air with her hand. "Trust us to handle a few magically-charged ruffians, darling. Things will be fine." "Thank--" A buzz cut her off, and everyone turned to Sunset. She reached into her pocket, pulling out her cell phone. "Uh... just got a text from Pinkie." She frowned. "There's something going on at the bakery. Something about... talking sock puppets?" All five looked at one another, to Twilight. "Leave it to us." Rainbow grinned. "We've got this." Affluent"Y'know, there's somethin' I've been wonderin' 'bout, an' was thinkin' you might know the answer, Sunset." Six girls had squeezed themselves around a table at Sugarcube Corner, each with a milkshake and a cupcake larger than their fist with about twice as much frosting and sprinkles than was necessary. Sunset had been undergoing calculations in her head on how best to eat the pastry when the question was directed at her, and she gladly took the opportunity to set it down and turn her attention on the asker. "What's up, Applejack?" "Me preguntaba que era la amistad..." "Hasta que su magia me quisierón dar..." Applejack, for her part, sipped at her milkshake, the cupcake likewise untouched. "Well, y'see, when Twilight--the other Twilight--came through that there portal and got dumped right in front of the school... she had a lil trouble with the whole 'two legs' thing an' didn't know what t' do with herself with computers, but one thing she didn't seem t' have a problem with was language." She toyed with the straw between her fingertips. "She could understand us, an' we could understand her." "Heeeey, you're right!" Rainbow Dash had leaped right into eating the dessert, and when her head jerked up, her face was plastered in multi-coloured sprinkles. "I never thought about that. She has a local accent and everything." "An' when there was the whole thing with Wallflower, she erased your memory up t' before you came here. An' the first words outta your mouth when you were callin' for help, not knowin' where or what y'were, were still ones we could understand." "That's a very good point," Rarity piped up from her efforts to scrape off the excess icing to make the cupcake into something she could bite and actually get some of the cake itself. "The only real change was that you used the word 'somepony.' With the context of what your previous form is like... one could be forgiven for thinking you would start neighing at us instead." "I mean... we don't... we're not exactly like the ponies here and our vocalization is a bit more complex than..." Sunset visibly blushed. "But you have a point. I... guess I didn't think too hard about the lack of language barrier when I was dealing with... everything else." Applejack shrugged. "Neither did I. Figured it was jus' a quirk o' how goin' from there t' here works. The priority is blendin' in, so here's free language knowledge t' go with the transformation. But after what we all jus' went through, it's kinda beggin' the question..." "Mi aerodeslizador está llena de anguilas!" "Why do the sock puppets speak Spanish?" Sunset offered. "Of why do the sock puppets speak Spanish." "Sorry, I don't have a clue." She shrugged. "I'm just glad Pinkie knows it too." The whole table looked over, to where Pinkie Pie was in spirited conversation with a pink sock puppet that had googly eyes, a small black moustache, and an sombrero perched on top of its head. The sock part hovered at roughly waist-height, and where the fabric ended and one would normally expect to see an arm, there was instead open air. Said air did occasionally ripple and warp, but staring at it too long had already rapidly proven to cause migraines. Best to just... not question too much. "They do seem to be awfully nice, once you get used to them." Fluttershy offered her cupcake to a yellow puppet who had wandered close, and didn't flinch at the row of teeth made of felt that were revealed when it opened its mouth to devour the sweet treat. Precisely where the food had just gone and how was another thing best not to question. "I'm sure it won't be hard to find people willing to give them a place to stay until the portal opens again." "Yeah!" Rainbow grinned at a blue puppet who'd floated up next to her. "Me and Senorita Tocino are already best buds, right?" The two proceeded to share a friendly fist bump. Headbutt? Something like that. Twilight hadn't touched her milkshake or her cupcake, sitting slouched in her seat. "I guess you guys did pretty well without me..." "Oh, don't look so put-out, darling." Her cupcake properly shaved down, Rarity finally took a bite, not noticing that the puppet who had eaten Fluttershy's cupcake was now eyeing the excess frosting; the subtle ominous music as it "swam" through the air and slowly opened its mouth similarly went unnoticed. "This was hardly a big emergency. If there were a villain involved, I'm certain your heroically swooping in to help us despite your fears of exposing your identity would have been perfectly timed." Fluttershy smiled gently. "I really liked the part of your speech where you said that no matter how afraid you were, we're you're friends, and you'll always back us up. That was very inspiring for something you didn't have much time to rehearse." "Thanks..." She sighed. "Still, all's well that ends well, right?" "Twilight Sparkle?" "Uh, that's..." She turned, spotted the pair of middle schoolers walking toward the table. "Me...?" The one of the two with a tiara-shaped hairclip revealed herself to be the one who'd spoken as she went on. "It's come to my Daddy's attention that you've recently become one of the nouve riche." Applejack blinked. "...The what now?" Rarity rolled her eyes slightly. "It means 'new rich.'" "Then why don't they jus' say that." The girl ignored the comment entirely, pulling out a piece of paper and holding it between two fingers. "He'd like to invite you to a dinner party my family is putting on next week." She offered it to Twilight, and the moment she took it, she and her friend turned on their heels with a simple, "See you there." Rainbow grinned, pumping her fist in the air. "Sweet! Free dinner at the Rich house--aaaaand she's under the table." "No no no no no..." The speed at which Twilight had gotten under the table and assumed the fetal position might have even broken one of Rainbow's records, but she was in no position to marvel at her achievement. "My friends may not be treating me differently, but I don't want complete strangers trying to... schmooze either!" She started to rock back and forth. "It was just a side project... I don't want to jump to a whole different social class..." "Oh dear..." Rarity slowly got beneath the table with her, valiantly keeping her flinching over the cleanliness of the floors to a minimum. "Now now, don't get so wound up. It's just a single party." She placed her hand on her shoulder gently. "If you like, I can be your plus one and come along, for moral support." A snort came from above them. "An' you'd have no extra motives for wantin' t' go t' a fancy party." "Shush." Rarity smiled gently. "I can even help carefully steer away anyone trying to convince you to make unwise investments, or date their son or daughter." Twilight took several breaths, and then slowly smiled back. "Thanks Rarity." "I have good news!" Pinkie's hands slamming onto the table was enough to have several milkshakes jump. "Senior Huevos says that the portal should open again in a few weeks, according to the legends he was told when he was a little finger puppet." She grinned around the table, before leaning down to also grin beneath it. "What'd I miss?" Rainbow made a small tch sound as she went to sip her milkshake. "Twilight got invited to a rich people party and started to freak out aga--" All further words were drowned out by the resulting GASP. "A PARTY?!" Well-OffSunset Shimmer had grown up playing a simple game, nearly every day, first with her parents and then, when she'd been taken on as an apprentice, with Princess Celestia. It'd been impressed upon her as something essential for a filly with a growing mind, especially one who was growing as fast as Sunset had been. That game was called "What Did I Learn?" No matter what had gone on that day, whether she'd had a shining success in her studies or an abysmal failure, she would have to succinctly explain one thing she had learned. The first of those days had been her being taught, and then reciting, what "succinct" meant, and then until the moment that she raced through the mirror, it had been the daily ritual. Once she'd met, and got to really talk to, Princess Twilight Sparkle, she'd found out that the tradition had been continued to the next of Celestia's students, at least until the pressure had gotten to her and resulted in some kind of enchanted doll riot. Sunset had never gotten clarification of whether it was a riot over an enchanted doll or a riot made up of enchanted dolls, because when it came to the neurotic alicorn, either seemed equally likely. Upon befriending this world's Twilight Sparkle, Sunset had slowly come to realize that she saw her not just as a friend, but also a student of her own. She'd been the one to pull Twilight out of the same dark place she herself had once fallen into, and for Sunset, that meant taking her under her wing and looking out for her from then on. She loved all of her friends, but she felt like Twilight was her responsibility. That's why, when she was jolted out of her late night movie watching by the sound of an explosion, after confirming that everyone was okay, she had to physically restrain herself from following up the relieved sighing with, "And what did you learn?" She had a feeling that, if she had, the response would have been how much Filthy Rich's mansion cost. "So..." Twilight sighed as she clicked the send transfer button, leaving the number on the computer screen with significantly fewer digits than there used to be. "After paying for the damages, I still have a little left over to set aside for my 'new book' fund until the next round of cheques come in..." "Pinkie and Rarity did say they'd chip in for that," Sunset commented as she leaned against Twilight's computer desk. "On a part-time baker and apprentice seamstress's salaries. I told them they didn't have to worry about it." She laughed a little. "It's almost a relief having a big chunk of it gone, even if that's..." The laughter turned to a grimace. "...Not reaaaaaally how I would've wanted to get rid of it. You know, of the two of them, you'd really expect Pinkie to be the one to accidentally set off an explosion." Sunset shrugged. "Rarity can be pretty scary when she's mad, and nobody knew that Jet Set and Upper Crust were going to be there. At least Mr. Rich was pretty chill about it, all things considered." She offered a weak smile. "At least it gives you some time to figure out how you're going to manage the money coming in from now on. Aaaand it definitely helped distract everyone from the 'hotshot roboticist' thing." "Didn't really want us to get a reputation for destroying buildings but..." Twilight winced. "I guess it was already too late for that, given that Mr. Rich said he 'should have expected this outcome.'" "Yeaaaaah..." Sunset rubbed the back of her neck, then gently laid her hand on Twilight's shoulder. "So... we're good, no more hyperventilating and crawling under furniture?" Twilight nodded. "Yeah, we're good. It's clear to me now that nothing's really going to change if I don't want it to." Her eyes brightened as her voice picked up pitch and speed. "Besides, I think I know what I'm going to spend some of it on!" "Oh? New project?" Sunset asked, with the sort of voice someone tended to use when encountering a friend who had recently checked out several books on bear-taming. Said tone was entirely lost on Twilight. "Yes! It was something you said, before this all got started, about magic and clockwork." She gestured at the white and orange device innocently laying near her chair. "My drone was pure tech, but I think it's about time I started really seeing how magic and technology can be blended to-- Why are you looking at me like that?" Sunset looked over at the bed, where Spike and a purple sock puppet with glasses were eagerly reading their way through an issue of Power Ponies, then back at Twilight, all the while smiling the endeared-yet-exasperated smile she reserved for only her closest friends. "Nothing. Just... you're right, I don't think anything's going to be changing any time soon."
Upscale"Musical counterspell? Is that really a thing in Equestria?" Sunset paused in tuning her guitar, and turned to look at Twilight. "Sort of?" The two had been hanging out in the Rainbooms' usual practice room in the school for the past while--they'd volunteered to play a song at a school sporting event that would be next week, so they were squeezing in all the practice time they could--and so questions about the band had naturally started flowing. Human-Twilight Sparkle had an insatiable curiosity about the girls' previous adventures, as well as Sunset Shimmer's homeworld, and for a stranger in a land that she'd had to rapidly learn to blend into, it was freeing to be able to talk about it. Twilight blinked and adjusted her glasses slightly. "What do you mean 'sort of?'" "Well..." Sunset placed the guitar down entirely. "What you've got to realize is that magic is kind of... everywhere and in everything. It's a background radiation, and most creatures that use magic just... do it. Pegasi fly, kelpies turn into water, diamond dogs can smell jewels... it's barely thought of as magic because it's just... what we are." She waved a hand around. "So for us, there's magic in music, but it's also not something anyone's doing deliberately most of the time, and it usually doesn't do much." "But the sirens were... different?" She nodded. "Something that's usually passive magic, they could use actively, and put a lot more power into it. Unicorns can do a lot of active magic, and sometimes we do channel it through words, but it's more like short rhyming incantations. So expanding that into a musical spell is something that makes sense as possible." She held her arms out to gesture at the room around them. "And, y'know, since we're not all a bunch of thralls right now, it clearly worked. But it's not something you're exactly taught to do in magic school. Princess Twilight was snapping around in the theory zone trying to get a jaw grip on something workable." "Fascinating. And how does--" The door slammed open, colliding with the wall with a deafening smack as a blue blur raced into the room. "Twilight! We've got to go to Fillydelphia!" Sunset was on her feet in an instant. "What's wrong, Rainbow?" "Is there an artefact? Did someone transform? Did a portal open?" Twilight's words were accelerating with each horrible option. "Did a portal open and drop in an artefact that transformed someone?" "No no no, way less horrible and way more awesome." Rainbow grinned triumphantly, waving around her hand, the object in it moving several times faster than the human eye could manage to identify it. "There's a huge robotics convention there in a couple of months! You gotta go, Twilight!" "Robotics?" Twilight blinked several times, and when the waving blue hand came close enough to her face, she instinctively grabbed the object flapping around in its grasp. It revealed itself to be a now thoroughly-creased pamphlet. "I mean, that sounds fun, but robotics aren't really my main field..." "Uh hello." Dash opened both hands and extended her arms toward the small, white device covered in orange propellers sitting innocently on a pushed-out-of-the-way desk. "You built a drone that can fly around all kinds of places without bumping into anything and that listens to voice commands. You could make bank on that kinda thing!" Twilight, helpless in the face of the wave of Rainbow Logic and looking for a life raft, turned to Sunset. Unfortunately, all she could do was shrug. "Don't look at me. Something like that is tricky to do back home, but there are wizards who pulled it off with a mix of magic and clockwork, so I didn't think about it." She gave a wry smile. "Hate to say it, but when it comes to tech, Rainbow's the better judge than I am of what's average and what's special." "See! Even Sunset agrees--Hey what do you mean by hate to--" The words faded as Twilight got up, and both girls watched her walk over and pick up her drone. "It's... not really that impressive, is it? I threw it together in my spare time as a fun side-project. I mean, we go to school with Micro Chips and he builds actual robots." Rainbow shook her head. "Twi, who do you think told me about the expo? He's going and he thinks you totally should too." Sunset raised an eyebrow. "You were chatting Micro Chips?" "Well yeah. Duh." She looked at the stares she was getting and crossed her arms. "What's with the looks? We share a History class and talk sometimes. He's cool." She grinned, gesturing in the air. "He's a supersmart dude who builds robots. It's like hanging out with supervillain. A comic book supervillain instead of the like... 'it's Tuesday and someone's drunk on alien magic again' kinda supervillain." Twilight, well and truly washed out into the Rainbow Logic sea, looked down at the pamphlet thoughtfully. "I'll... think about going." She looked between the two of her friends. "If you and the other girls come with me?" Sunset shrugged. "I'm in." She smiled. "And I'm sure the others will enjoy the trip to Filly." "Woo!" Rainbow's fist shot into the air. "Fillydelphia, here we come!" The door of the hotel room opened, and an ecstatic-looking Pinkie Pie, concerned-looking Sunset, and exhausted-looking Twilight Sparkle strode in. The room could have been kindly described as "economical." The more accurate would be "cramped." The idea of splitting the costs of a single room for all seven of them had been floated, encouraged--it would just like a sleepover, had been the logic, and that train of thought had only reached the obvious difference that slumber party participants technically had the host's entire house to spread out through, instead of a single room, shortly after check-in--and booked, with the chaotic results now on display. There wasn't enough room in the provided dressers for all of their clothes. Rarity alone had her personal skin, hair, and nail care routines taking up half of the bathroom's space and left everyone else's supplies battling a bloody war over the remaining territory. The two beds could hold four people, and so Applejack had taken the floor, Rainbow had claimed a chair, and Rarity had been the one to have the misfortune to wake up in the middle of the night for a drink of water and see Pinkie Pie dangling from the ceiling in a sleeping bag like something out of a low-budget horror film. Other convention-goers were still shooting glares at anyone who stepped out of the room due to the resulting hotel-permeating shriek. Rarity was, thankfully, in much better spirits than she had been during the night, as she leaped up with smile. "There you girls are! We were just talking about going to..." She stopped, and blinked. "That... is a lot of business cards." Sunset nodded. "Yeah, somebody got really popular, really fast." Pinkie bounced on the balls of her feet. "Everybody wanted to see Droney McDroneFace, especially when Twilight started showing off all the words he knows!" Twilight, struggling beneath the cumulative weight of small paper cards, still managed the frustrated sigh. "I told you Pinkie, that's not--" "But he needs a name now that he's famous!" "My drone is not famous! And does not need a name! Or a gender!" "I did see a lot of people with their phones out," Sunset admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. "So there might be videos online after the con's over." Twilight made her feelings on that known with a irritated groan and leaned against the room's wall, prompting Applejack to get up and stroll over. "You want me t' take those, sugar? You're lookin' a bit overwhelmed." "Please." Twilight handed the business cards over, and heard the grunt as the girl who could casually bench-press the population of CHS, student and faculty alike, was surprised by the heft of the cumulative paper. "It looks like you have a lot of potential jobs for this summer," Fluttershy commented from her place playing cards with Rainbow Dash, a stack of oreo cookies between them and Rainbow currently staring down the fact that Flutters had been systematically taking her to the cleaners the whole time and so she would get to eat none of them. "That's the thing," Twilight said as she worked the soreness out of her arms. "These aren't just summer jobs. These are big offers. The kind of thing you usually give to college graduates." She shook her head. "There's no way I can juggle being a highschool student, investigating magical phenomenon, and working in a robotics lab. And I don't even want to work in a robotics lab!" "So what would you like to do?" Fluttershy asked gently, as Rainbow reached out toward the oreo pile behind her with all the stealth of a flatulent hippo. "I..." Twilight looked at the stack of cards that Applejack was searching for a place to put down, then around to everyone else, then back to Fluttershy. "I think I'll look into registering some patents?" She gave a weak smile. "After all, a little extra money to fund other projects won't hurt." "That's the spirit! Told you this was a good--Ow! Come on, Shy." "If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen," Fluttershy responded smoothly, not having even looked back to smack Rainbow's hand. "And don't bet what you can't bear to lose." Giggles broke out around the hotel room, and even Twilight couldn't help but smile. Despite the exhaustion, this convention weekend really was turning out to be a good idea.
MoneyedAfter the convention, things had gone back to a relative normal. Between school, homework, and band practice, with hangouts squeezed in where they could, Sunset hadn't gotten much time to herself. Thankfully, in their group, the extroverts only slightly outnumbered the introverts, and so she wasn't alone in needing recharge time. They'd all agreed to take this weekend off to do their own things and meet back up at school on Monday morning, and as Sunset tossed her backpack to one side and collapsed onto her couch, she could feel how much she'd needed to take a little unwind time. Then she made the mistake of turning on the television. "From high school nerd to hotshot roboticist, our own local Twilight Sparkle--" Click. The words were lost as the TV turned off, and Sunset was left reflecting on the split-second image of cell phone footage of the drone and Twilight's very awkward smiling picture, likely snatched directly off social media as the first thing that came up with a search of her name. Distantly, Sunset noted that it was fortunate that her picture had come up from a search of "Twilight Sparkle," since it'd been impossible to scrub the presence of the other Twilight from the internet entirely after the Fall Formal, but her mind was primarily on other things. "Welp. There goes my weekend." Sunset got up and got her coat. Twilight's parents had been kind enough to let her in as soon as she'd shown up at the door. She'd been there enough times that they likely assumed that either a) their daughter had forgotten to inform them of plans, or even forgotten the plans themselves or b) the girls had to go blast things with rainbow lasers. Both were fair assumptions, and neither parent seemed perturbed by option b. Then again, after Twilight had come home with a talking dog, they likely had needed to adapt very quickly. I wonder what my parents would think... Sunset tried to shove away the thought as she headed up the stairs. Princess Celestia had informed her that she had made her family aware of where she was, in the broad strokes. The mirror was still a closely-guarded secret, but that their long lost daughter was in another nation, among another species, and had established herself as something of an unofficial ambassador for Equestria... That reunion would see a lot of yelling, she was sure. But they were apparently proud. They may even still be proud if they knew about the demon incident, if full of questions. That's what happened when magic-focused careers ran in families; what you did and why faded among the questions of how and what could be learned? Other than the power of friendship, Sunset had mostly learned not to mess with things above her magical weight class. Something she'd tried to pass on after the Friendship Games. They'd gotten close since then. Sunset had learned to separate her from the other Twilight in her mind very quickly, and make friends with her instead of projecting. Some of the others at school had taken longer, and some of the ones who didn't interact with the girls much still seemed to struggle with it. Flash at least wasn't being awkward about it anymore, which Sunset would take as a win. She pushed open the door to Twilight's room, and found a bed, computer that was still on, and a suspicious lack of Twilight. Spike sitting on the bed with a comic book, looking completely serene, at least pointed away from kidnapping. "Uh, where's--?" The words had barely started when Spike wordlessly pointed a paw downward, and Sunset blinked. She then got down to the floor, peered under the bed, and spotted the shine of light off of a set of glasses. "Soooo, I'm guessing you saw the news?" "What? No! Why?" Sunset had to hurry backward as a frantic purple face emerged from the shadows. "What's on the news? What happened?" "Hoooow about I help you out from under there first?" Sunset offered her arm, which Twilight obligingly took, and she carefully pulled her classmate out and helped her stand. "And you tell me what's got you so wound up." Spike carefully flipped a page of his comic. "She's rich and it's freaking her out." "I..." Twilight finished brushing dust from herself and went to her computer. "I made a few licensing deals with my new patents, and..." She turned the monitor toward Sunset, gesturing at the screen, and she saw the logo of one of the local banks before becoming focused entirely on the numbers. "That's... a lot of digits." "I wasn't expecting the royalties to be so much! Or come so fast! I was doing research on how to handle the sudden influx and..." Twilight started to wave her arms around frantically. "I found all these stories about how people would suddenly get wealthy and it would completely ruin their lives." "Twilight, it's--" "They'd start being hounded by their own friends and family for the money and jealousy and resentment would tear everything apart! Or they'd try to make everyone happy and eventually all the money would run dry and they'd be left with strained relationships and be broke." "Twiligh--" "I just started forming real friendships!" Sunset suddenly found herself yanked forward as Twilight grabbed fistfuls of her shirt. "I can't let this ruin everything!" "Okay, Twi, breathe." Sunset placed her hands over Twilight's, carefully prying the mangled cloth from her fingers. "This isn't going to ruin anything." "But how do you know?" "Because," Sunset said, with a gentleness right out of Princess Celestia's book. "Think about your friends for a second. You remember that one harvest season when Applejack was working after school and every weekend because her brother hurt himself?" "Yes?" came the confused response. "You remember how badly we had to twist her arm to let us come over for one weekend and help out a little?" "...Yes." "So if she's that bad about letting us give up a couple of days' worth of time to help her, how offended to you think she'd be if you offered her money?" Twilight blinked at that, seemed to picture it, and then flinched. "You have a point." Sunset smiled, and guided Twilight over to sit together on the bed. Spike obligingly moved over a bit to give them room. "And you remember Rarity's birthday? She was giving us all these gorgeous handmade outfits all year for ours, and then it took that gargantuan effort to let us give her anything back on hers. Pretty sure if you ever gave her money for anything, she'd pay you back the first chance she got, with interest." "That's... true." Twilight started to scratch at Spike's ears, and he quietly wagged his tail in response. "Fluttershy might encourage you to donate some of the money to charities she likes, but only as much as you can comfortably spare. And Pinkie? I think the only thing you'll get from her is a 'Twilight's financially secure' party." She chuckled gesturing at herself. "And me? All I need to do if I need money is go back to Equestria for a little bit. Magically-inert jewels are worth almost nothing over there but plenty here." She patted Twilight on the shoulder. "So see? No risk of your friends going nuts over you suddenly being well-off." "You're right." She smiled back. "Thanks Sunset. You're good at calming me down when I start going a bit bananas." "Anytime." They hugged, and both let out a sigh of relief. Then Twilight froze. "Wait." She pulled back a bit, not ending the hug entirely, but enough that she could see Sunset's face again. "You didn't say anything about Rainbow." Sunset grimaced, pulling back an arm to rub the back of her neck. "Wellllll..." "Sunset." "I mean..." "Sunset." Both arms withdrew to hold up her hands defensively. "Okay okay... Well, it's Rainbow, so she'll probably come up with a ton of things for you to buy with your new money and mention it a few... dozen... times." She then lowered her hands again to rest them on Twilight's shoulders. "But it's Rainbow, so she cares a lot more about you than money, and so what will matter most to her is that you're happy with what you do with it." Twilight sat with that, for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah... that all makes sense." She smiled. "This kind of thing just shows you who your friends really are, and we've already been through enough to know we're real friends, right?" "Exactly." They pulled each other in for another hug. "So, what was that about the news earlier?" "Um..." There was no surprise when it was Rainbow Dash through the bedroom door first. "We got your texts!" Applejack strolled through next, pushing Rainbow aside slightly to let her pass. "We got here as soon as we could." She made her way over to the bed, where Twilight was curled in a tight ball, arms over her head. "You doin' okay, sugar?" "No I'm not okay!" she blurted at enough of a volume to send Applejack jerking back. "I was on the news. As a 'hotshot roboticist.' Why would I be on the news as a hotshot roboticist?" "Slow week?" Spike offered. "It was the local station. They once did a whole segment on bear sightings without having actual footage of the bears." "That's what wrong?" Rainbow asked. "But that's awesome. You were on the news." "Rainbow Dash, really." Rarity huffed as she stepped into the room as well. "This news segment happened without her foreknowledge or involvement. Not once asking for an interview or even a quote. I'd be upset too." Fluttershy squeezed past Rarity, and came over to sit on the bed as well, next to Applejack. "If you want to lay low for a while, until it all blows over, you can stay at my place." "That's the problem!" Twilight clutched at her hair like she might pull it out. "I can't!" "Twilight's afraid we're going to have another magical incident," Sunset filled in from where she stood vigil against an attempt for the girl in question to crawl back under her bed. "And this extra press could lead to unwanted cameras following her right to it." Rarity hummed at that. "Well, our identities as local superheroes was always something of an open secret, no? Ever since the first... ah..." "Ever since I blew up the front of the school?" Sunset offered. "Yes, that." Rarity smiled reassuringly. "Ever since that, our classmates have taken the influx of magic and our involvement in it rather well, all things considered." Twilight slowly sat up with a groan, waving her arms. "But there's a difference between our classmates being okay with the fact I tore open reality in front of them one time, and the government sending agents to show up on our doorsteps and recruit us for who knows what!" Spike rolled his eyes. "She's been reading Shining Armour's old comic books." "So have you!" "For fun, not as a how-to book." "We have superpowers, you're a talking dog and it's the only research material I have on the subject!" "Alrigh', calm it down, Twi." Applejack laid a hand on her shoulder. "There hasn't been any trouble lately, an' if there is, it's okay if you want t' sit one or two adventures out t' keep from drawin' unwanted attention." Twilight blinked. "It...is?" She looked around at everyone, and their comforting smiles. "You don't think it's selfish of me?" Rarity shook her head. "You've made it very clear that you're thinking of the wellbeing of all us." She gestured in the air with her hand. "Trust us to handle a few magically-charged ruffians, darling. Things will be fine." "Thank--" A buzz cut her off, and everyone turned to Sunset. She reached into her pocket, pulling out her cell phone. "Uh... just got a text from Pinkie." She frowned. "There's something going on at the bakery. Something about... talking sock puppets?" All five looked at one another, to Twilight. "Leave it to us." Rainbow grinned. "We've got this."
Affluent"Y'know, there's somethin' I've been wonderin' 'bout, an' was thinkin' you might know the answer, Sunset." Six girls had squeezed themselves around a table at Sugarcube Corner, each with a milkshake and a cupcake larger than their fist with about twice as much frosting and sprinkles than was necessary. Sunset had been undergoing calculations in her head on how best to eat the pastry when the question was directed at her, and she gladly took the opportunity to set it down and turn her attention on the asker. "What's up, Applejack?" "Me preguntaba que era la amistad..." "Hasta que su magia me quisierón dar..." Applejack, for her part, sipped at her milkshake, the cupcake likewise untouched. "Well, y'see, when Twilight--the other Twilight--came through that there portal and got dumped right in front of the school... she had a lil trouble with the whole 'two legs' thing an' didn't know what t' do with herself with computers, but one thing she didn't seem t' have a problem with was language." She toyed with the straw between her fingertips. "She could understand us, an' we could understand her." "Heeeey, you're right!" Rainbow Dash had leaped right into eating the dessert, and when her head jerked up, her face was plastered in multi-coloured sprinkles. "I never thought about that. She has a local accent and everything." "An' when there was the whole thing with Wallflower, she erased your memory up t' before you came here. An' the first words outta your mouth when you were callin' for help, not knowin' where or what y'were, were still ones we could understand." "That's a very good point," Rarity piped up from her efforts to scrape off the excess icing to make the cupcake into something she could bite and actually get some of the cake itself. "The only real change was that you used the word 'somepony.' With the context of what your previous form is like... one could be forgiven for thinking you would start neighing at us instead." "I mean... we don't... we're not exactly like the ponies here and our vocalization is a bit more complex than..." Sunset visibly blushed. "But you have a point. I... guess I didn't think too hard about the lack of language barrier when I was dealing with... everything else." Applejack shrugged. "Neither did I. Figured it was jus' a quirk o' how goin' from there t' here works. The priority is blendin' in, so here's free language knowledge t' go with the transformation. But after what we all jus' went through, it's kinda beggin' the question..." "Mi aerodeslizador está llena de anguilas!" "Why do the sock puppets speak Spanish?" Sunset offered. "Of why do the sock puppets speak Spanish." "Sorry, I don't have a clue." She shrugged. "I'm just glad Pinkie knows it too." The whole table looked over, to where Pinkie Pie was in spirited conversation with a pink sock puppet that had googly eyes, a small black moustache, and an sombrero perched on top of its head. The sock part hovered at roughly waist-height, and where the fabric ended and one would normally expect to see an arm, there was instead open air. Said air did occasionally ripple and warp, but staring at it too long had already rapidly proven to cause migraines. Best to just... not question too much. "They do seem to be awfully nice, once you get used to them." Fluttershy offered her cupcake to a yellow puppet who had wandered close, and didn't flinch at the row of teeth made of felt that were revealed when it opened its mouth to devour the sweet treat. Precisely where the food had just gone and how was another thing best not to question. "I'm sure it won't be hard to find people willing to give them a place to stay until the portal opens again." "Yeah!" Rainbow grinned at a blue puppet who'd floated up next to her. "Me and Senorita Tocino are already best buds, right?" The two proceeded to share a friendly fist bump. Headbutt? Something like that. Twilight hadn't touched her milkshake or her cupcake, sitting slouched in her seat. "I guess you guys did pretty well without me..." "Oh, don't look so put-out, darling." Her cupcake properly shaved down, Rarity finally took a bite, not noticing that the puppet who had eaten Fluttershy's cupcake was now eyeing the excess frosting; the subtle ominous music as it "swam" through the air and slowly opened its mouth similarly went unnoticed. "This was hardly a big emergency. If there were a villain involved, I'm certain your heroically swooping in to help us despite your fears of exposing your identity would have been perfectly timed." Fluttershy smiled gently. "I really liked the part of your speech where you said that no matter how afraid you were, we're you're friends, and you'll always back us up. That was very inspiring for something you didn't have much time to rehearse." "Thanks..." She sighed. "Still, all's well that ends well, right?" "Twilight Sparkle?" "Uh, that's..." She turned, spotted the pair of middle schoolers walking toward the table. "Me...?" The one of the two with a tiara-shaped hairclip revealed herself to be the one who'd spoken as she went on. "It's come to my Daddy's attention that you've recently become one of the nouve riche." Applejack blinked. "...The what now?" Rarity rolled her eyes slightly. "It means 'new rich.'" "Then why don't they jus' say that." The girl ignored the comment entirely, pulling out a piece of paper and holding it between two fingers. "He'd like to invite you to a dinner party my family is putting on next week." She offered it to Twilight, and the moment she took it, she and her friend turned on their heels with a simple, "See you there." Rainbow grinned, pumping her fist in the air. "Sweet! Free dinner at the Rich house--aaaaand she's under the table." "No no no no no..." The speed at which Twilight had gotten under the table and assumed the fetal position might have even broken one of Rainbow's records, but she was in no position to marvel at her achievement. "My friends may not be treating me differently, but I don't want complete strangers trying to... schmooze either!" She started to rock back and forth. "It was just a side project... I don't want to jump to a whole different social class..." "Oh dear..." Rarity slowly got beneath the table with her, valiantly keeping her flinching over the cleanliness of the floors to a minimum. "Now now, don't get so wound up. It's just a single party." She placed her hand on her shoulder gently. "If you like, I can be your plus one and come along, for moral support." A snort came from above them. "An' you'd have no extra motives for wantin' t' go t' a fancy party." "Shush." Rarity smiled gently. "I can even help carefully steer away anyone trying to convince you to make unwise investments, or date their son or daughter." Twilight took several breaths, and then slowly smiled back. "Thanks Rarity." "I have good news!" Pinkie's hands slamming onto the table was enough to have several milkshakes jump. "Senior Huevos says that the portal should open again in a few weeks, according to the legends he was told when he was a little finger puppet." She grinned around the table, before leaning down to also grin beneath it. "What'd I miss?" Rainbow made a small tch sound as she went to sip her milkshake. "Twilight got invited to a rich people party and started to freak out aga--" All further words were drowned out by the resulting GASP. "A PARTY?!"
Well-OffSunset Shimmer had grown up playing a simple game, nearly every day, first with her parents and then, when she'd been taken on as an apprentice, with Princess Celestia. It'd been impressed upon her as something essential for a filly with a growing mind, especially one who was growing as fast as Sunset had been. That game was called "What Did I Learn?" No matter what had gone on that day, whether she'd had a shining success in her studies or an abysmal failure, she would have to succinctly explain one thing she had learned. The first of those days had been her being taught, and then reciting, what "succinct" meant, and then until the moment that she raced through the mirror, it had been the daily ritual. Once she'd met, and got to really talk to, Princess Twilight Sparkle, she'd found out that the tradition had been continued to the next of Celestia's students, at least until the pressure had gotten to her and resulted in some kind of enchanted doll riot. Sunset had never gotten clarification of whether it was a riot over an enchanted doll or a riot made up of enchanted dolls, because when it came to the neurotic alicorn, either seemed equally likely. Upon befriending this world's Twilight Sparkle, Sunset had slowly come to realize that she saw her not just as a friend, but also a student of her own. She'd been the one to pull Twilight out of the same dark place she herself had once fallen into, and for Sunset, that meant taking her under her wing and looking out for her from then on. She loved all of her friends, but she felt like Twilight was her responsibility. That's why, when she was jolted out of her late night movie watching by the sound of an explosion, after confirming that everyone was okay, she had to physically restrain herself from following up the relieved sighing with, "And what did you learn?" She had a feeling that, if she had, the response would have been how much Filthy Rich's mansion cost. "So..." Twilight sighed as she clicked the send transfer button, leaving the number on the computer screen with significantly fewer digits than there used to be. "After paying for the damages, I still have a little left over to set aside for my 'new book' fund until the next round of cheques come in..." "Pinkie and Rarity did say they'd chip in for that," Sunset commented as she leaned against Twilight's computer desk. "On a part-time baker and apprentice seamstress's salaries. I told them they didn't have to worry about it." She laughed a little. "It's almost a relief having a big chunk of it gone, even if that's..." The laughter turned to a grimace. "...Not reaaaaaally how I would've wanted to get rid of it. You know, of the two of them, you'd really expect Pinkie to be the one to accidentally set off an explosion." Sunset shrugged. "Rarity can be pretty scary when she's mad, and nobody knew that Jet Set and Upper Crust were going to be there. At least Mr. Rich was pretty chill about it, all things considered." She offered a weak smile. "At least it gives you some time to figure out how you're going to manage the money coming in from now on. Aaaand it definitely helped distract everyone from the 'hotshot roboticist' thing." "Didn't really want us to get a reputation for destroying buildings but..." Twilight winced. "I guess it was already too late for that, given that Mr. Rich said he 'should have expected this outcome.'" "Yeaaaaah..." Sunset rubbed the back of her neck, then gently laid her hand on Twilight's shoulder. "So... we're good, no more hyperventilating and crawling under furniture?" Twilight nodded. "Yeah, we're good. It's clear to me now that nothing's really going to change if I don't want it to." Her eyes brightened as her voice picked up pitch and speed. "Besides, I think I know what I'm going to spend some of it on!" "Oh? New project?" Sunset asked, with the sort of voice someone tended to use when encountering a friend who had recently checked out several books on bear-taming. Said tone was entirely lost on Twilight. "Yes! It was something you said, before this all got started, about magic and clockwork." She gestured at the white and orange device innocently laying near her chair. "My drone was pure tech, but I think it's about time I started really seeing how magic and technology can be blended to-- Why are you looking at me like that?" Sunset looked over at the bed, where Spike and a purple sock puppet with glasses were eagerly reading their way through an issue of Power Ponies, then back at Twilight, all the while smiling the endeared-yet-exasperated smile she reserved for only her closest friends. "Nothing. Just... you're right, I don't think anything's going to be changing any time soon."
