//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: Reconciliations 
// by Soufriere 
//------------------------------//

The morning was unusually chilly for Spring. Nonetheless, most of the kids at Canterville High School wore clothes better suited to the inevitable warm snap coming later in the day as they made their ways across the carefully manicured lawn in front of the school, past the large horse statue that served as the school’s – and, by extension, the city’s – mascot.

As the crowd thinned out, a hand reached out to gently stroke one corner of the statue’s massive four-sided base (that secretly housed a portal to another dimension).

“Hey there,” Sunset Shimmer said quietly to the base. “Been a while, hasn’t it? Sorry I’ve been gone so long.”

A brief blast of chilly wind whipped across the lawn, causing Sunset to bring her legs – exposed to the elements due to her choice of orange skirt – closer together for warmth. Her upper body was not cold in the slightest thanks to her decision to wear Rachel (the warmer of her two jackets). As she stared up at the unblinking eyes of the life-sized concrete horse, she was startled by something touching her shoulder.

Whirling around, she found Rarity, dressed impeccably and smiling so wide it could probably turn on a stove. Sunset was incapable of that level of happiness, but she tried her best to respond in kind. They embraced.

Once they disentangled, with Rarity making sure to keep an arm around Sunset’s shoulder, they both turned toward the school’s imposing recently-reconstructed front entrance. Sunset took a deep breath.

“You can do this,” Rarity said.

“I can do this,” Sunset confirmed, though whether to Rarity or to herself was not clear.

“We’re all here, and we’re all rooting for you,” said Rarity.

The morning sunlight reflecting off the school’s windows forced Sunset to squint, but she could make out four girls – her friends – standing between her and the doors. Two of them were waving, one excitedly, perhaps calling out to her, but with the din of crowd and traffic noise, she could not hear and did not need to.

Sunset intoned, “Even if the whole world has turned against me…”

“…It doesn’t matter. Your friends will always be here for you,” Rarity said in response as she removed her arm. “And you know the others agree too.”

“Mm-hmm,” Sunset nodded in agreement. Turning to her friend, Sunset adopted an expression that melded determination with what might have been indigestion or mild apprehension that passed after a few seconds.

Rarity, for her part, briefly glanced to the quartet of girls before turning back to Sunset and asking simply, “Shall we?”

“Let’s go,” Sunset replied, placing one foot in front of the other. Tentative steps, yet eager to restart her journey.

END