Rainbow Dash entered the apartment with three pizzas as Sunset rode out her emotions. The athlete swiftly set them down and smiled as she found a seat.
Once Sunset had calmed down, she stared at Twilight. "How did..." She felt a tap on her shoulder. The rocker turned around to see Rainbow wearing her trademark smirk, and holding open her journal.
"Friendship emergency! Sunset needs you!"
Sunset's jaw dropped. She gawked at her journal, then glanced up at Rainbow. "You might want to have this back," the athlete said.
The rocker shot over to Rainbow and hugged her as tightly as she possibly could. "Rainbow," she whispered. "I... I can't thank you enough for all that you've done for me."
The athlete smiled warmly, then put the journal down and returned the hug. "It's what I do." She closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth.
Once the hug broke, Twilight spoke. "Rainbow filled me in on the way here," she said as she began to pace the floor. "While I'm a little disappointed in you all for initially believing Sunset to be the culprit, I'm proud of you for admitting your mistake and promptly apologizing."
Each of the girls nodded, then Twilight turned to Sunset. "...She also told me about your experience inside the rainbow."
The rocker looked away. The last thing she needed right now was a reminder of the hell she'd been experiencing.
"Nobody should have to go through something as terrible as that, no matter who they are." She hugged Sunset again. "I'm going to stay here as long as I'm needed."
"But what about Equestria, darling," Rarity chimed in. "You're a princess!"
"That's true," Twilight said. "But I'm the Princess of Friendship, and this is a problem that friendship can solve. Besides, if Equestria needs me, Spike knows how to reach me."
"Now that that's settled," Pinkie said before jumping up and executing a flip. "Let's party!"
Later that day, Apple Bloom sat still in her room. She had barely left it since Applejack dropped her off. She sighed heavily, then got into her pajamas. This had to have been the longest and worst day ever!
Sunset Shimmer's scream echoed in her mind, and she flinched.
Apple Bloom roared in frustration, then punched a pillow. She panted with her fists clenched for several moments. If she saw Wallflower or Trixie again, she'd give them the what-for! A yawn escaped her lips, and she crawled into bed.
Drained from the day's events, she fell asleep instantly.
Scootaloo entered her room after dinner after saying goodnight to her aunts, Holiday and Lofty. Without wasting any time, she brushed her teeth, then put her pajamas on. As relieved as she was that she and her friends weren't in trouble, she was filled with regret. She was against the whole damn thing from the start! What the hell was she thinking, asking herself what Rainbow Dash would have done?! Scootaloo should have done what Scootaloo should have done: stood up to her friends and told them how bad of an idea it was!
The Crusader got into bed with a heavy heart, then repeatedly hit her head on the pillow until she felt dizzy.
Within moments, sleep claimed her.
Sweetie Belle had been downhearted ever since she left Canterlot High. If she never had another day like that at school, it'd be too soon! All the sounds of her fellow students fighting in the hallways replayed through her mind, and she imagined she'd hear them again and again for a long time to come...
Sweetie wanted to cry. Unfortunately, she had already cried more times than she'd care to count already. She put her pajamas on and got into bed, then stared at her ceiling. At least she took some comfort in the fact that the day was almost over.
It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.
Trixie simply stared at the mirror in her room. Her cheeks were puffy, and she looked absolutely miserable. It was bad enough that she and Wallflower were suspended from school for a week. It was bad enough that they both had detention for six months. The Illusionist knew she wasn't going to get off easily when she got home, but to have all of her magical props taken from her for a month and grounded from watching her father's magic shows for twice as long was almost more than she could possibly bear.
Trixie walked away from her mirror slowly, then put her pajamas on. She crawled into bed, and as she drifted off to sleep she wondered for the first time in her life...
Was all that trouble really worth it?
Wallflower Blush felt hollow. She couldn't bring herself to speak once her parents picked her up. The tears in their eyes broke her almost immediately. She had never seen them so angry. So upset. The gardener sniffled, feeling a lump in her throat at the mere thought of them.
She felt her punishment of being grounded from gardening until her last detention was lenient. Her parents should've just locked her in her room, leaving her to starve to death. It was the least she deserved after the hell she put everyone through. Not just Sunset Shimmer. Her schoolmates, the staff, the Crusaders... her parents...
Wallflower put her head in her hands and broke. As cathartic as this release was, it would hardly make her feel better in the long run. Each sob only made her feel worse about what she did.
After a few minutes, she sighed heavily and got into her pajamas. This was a personal hell of her own making, and there was nothing she could do... or wanted to do to escape. She deserved this.
With that, Wallflower got into bed and slowly fell asleep.
Sunset Shimmer yawned. Everyone else had already fallen asleep at least an hour ago, and the rocker smiled warmly as she looked at her friends. She would always be grateful for them, especially after all that had happened the last couple of days. She opened the journal again and gazed at Rainbow Dash's writing.
"Friendship emergency! Sunset needs you!"
Sunset sighed happily, then closed her journal and yawned again. She went up the stairs to her loft and got into her bed. As she fell asleep, she felt glad that this whole mess was behind her and that she'd get a good night's sleep.
She would soon come to realize that that was merely wishful thinking.
To Be Continued in Anon-A-Miss Aftermath