It was a clear sunday afternoon in the middle of Canterlot City, the first traces of spring ripping away winter's frigid curtain for those that walked the streets. It was also the last chance a trio of teens had to spend some time with three little sisters and sister figure before they had to part ways for a week. Now that things had settled down, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack were more than willing to try mending their relationships with the CMC. As such, the six of them were spending time together at the food court in the middle of the mall, laughing and trading stories in a way only family could manage.
"S-So let me get this straight," Rainbow chuckled. "Sweetie saw some kind of weird bug and her best idea was to chase it with a bunch of cleaning supplies?"
"Yep!" Applebloom and Scootaloo said in unison, cheeky smiles gracing their lips as they stared at their friend.
"You guys saw that thing!" Sweetie protested, pointing at her friends. "What if it flew after us?!"
"Ah'd crush it?" Applebloom said flatly, raising a brow.
"Doubt it could've caught up with me," Scootaloo shrugged. "Why didn't you just trap it in a barrier?"
"I didn't know how at the time," Sweetie mumbled, her cheeks turing red as she looked away.
"And know?" Rarity asked, raising a brow.
Sweetie gave their surroundings a quick look over then brought her hands together. First, her bracelet gave off a faint glow, then a small green bubble appeared in her hands. Sweetie smiled sheepishly while the older girls looked at the small barrier. Applejack and Rainbow gave her impressed smiles and nods while her sister stared at the small display of magic with wide eyes filled with wonder.
"Can you make bigger ones?" Rainbow asked.
Sweetie nodded, then deactivated her magic as she nervously scratched the back of her head with an embarrassed chuckle.
"It's kind've why my parents aren't giving me any chores."
"Why's that?" Applejack asked.
"Let's just say," Rarity sighed. "We recently had to remodel the kitchen and never speak of it beyond that."
Applejack blinked at that for a moment, then shrugged and said, "Fair enough."
A small fit of giggles washed over the group as they took note of how crazy their lives had become recently. Now that the Anon-a-Miss incident has been resolved, all that was left for them to do now was move past it. While that was rocky and painful beyond anything they had ever experienced, the healing process helped them understand the extent of how bizarre said process was. Their sisters and sister-figure were doing community service for their magical Unicorn friend's Goddess mother in a world full of magical talking ponies. They highly doubted any other people their ages could say anything like that without some kind of drug running through their systems. Now those very same elementary students had magical powers of their own and they could only laugh at the insanity that was their lives as they accepted it with a shrug. Crazy or not, this was their lives.
"Hey," Rainbow smiled, elbowing her sister-figure. "Spill, what's Equestria like?"
"Indeed darling," Rarity nodded, giving her sister a small smile.
"Gotta say, Ah've been a mite curious too," Applejack snorted, putting an arm around her own sister's shoulders.
The CMC thought about that for a minute. While there were some obvious differences, Equestria wasn't that different from home. Sure, Terra had the edge in technology, but Equestria more than made up for it with the level of control their magic gave them over their world. They could control the weather, sun, and moon for peat's sake. In comparison, Terra's internet and devises looked rather flimsy in their utility.
"Well," Applebloom frowned, staring at the ground and rubbing her chin in thought. "There are ponies."
"Kind'a figured," Rainbow said, crossing her arms.
"We didn't get to see much," Sweetie shrugged. "We've been stuck in the castle cleaning for the most part."
Scootaloo nodded as she took a swig of her shake.
"Well, what do they do for fun?" Rainbow asked.
"Same things we do here," Scootaloo said. "Except there's no TV or internet there."
"No TV?" Rainbow balked. "What kind of evil place is it?"
Everyone laughed at that, then Sweetie added her thoughts on Equestria.
"It's not all bad. They gave us some cute uniforms to wear."
"Oh do tell," Rarity smirked, noting how her sister's friends faces paled.
"You know those french maid outfits you made for that café a few months ago?" she asked.
Rarity nodded.
"Just like that, but for ponies."
The three older girls took a moment to try and picture the younger members of their group in that kind of outfit. Rainbow nearly fell out of her chair clutching her sides as she started laughing, the image of a pouting Scootamaid proving too much for her to bare. Rarity let out a happy squeal as she pulled her sister into a hug, the image too cute for her to resist. Applejack just gave her sister a quick look over, smiled, and said that she could see her wearing something like that.
"Thanks," Applebloom said flatly before she leveled a deadpan at her bigmouthed friend.
Scootaloo just let out a small irritated grumble as she glared at the same friend.
Sweetie just stuck out her tongue at them over her sister's shoulder.
"I simply must have pictures when you three come back next weekend," Rarity gushed as she pulled out of the hug.
"NO!" Scootaloo and Applebloom cried, cheeks turning bright red.
"I'll work something out," Sweetie winked to her sister, ignoring her friend's protests.
"Over my dead body," Scootaloo growled.
"That reminds me," Applejack cut in. "Are y'all bein' fed properly? Ah don't want y'all loading up on anytin' ya' shouldn't."
"Yes sis," Applebloom chuckled. "We've been eating right."
"AB more than the rest of us," Sweetie snickered.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Applebloom demanded.
"Just that you eat more then Sweetie and I combined," Scootaloo snorted.
Applebloom just crossed her arms and pouted.
Applejack frowned and said, "None of y'all are sick or anything?"
"No?" Scootaloo said, raising a brow at her. "Why?"
Applejack gave her sister a concerned frown, then said, "Bloom here didn't finish her dinner last night."
"Really?" Sweetie asked, giving her friend a worried frown.
"Weird," Scootaloo said, staring at her friend.
"What can Ah say," Applebloom shrugged. "Ah wasn't all that hungry last night.
"But you're always hungry," Sweetie frowned.
"Ah guess not," Applebloom shrugged again.
"She's not the only one," Rarity added, staring down at her sister. "You skipped dessert last night. You never do that."
"Yeah," Sweetie sighed, staring down at her lap. "I just didn't have any room for it. I'm sorry."
"It's alright darling," Rarity smiled, pulling her sister into a one-armed hug.
"What about you Scoots?" Rainbow asked, turning towards her sister-figure. "Anything going on I should know about?"
Scootaloo mulled that over for a bit when Nightshade came to mind. Something about her didn't sit right with her, even after accepting the gem she offered. She briefly considered bringing it up to her mentor, but something stopped her just as the thought took form. Instead, she just smiled and shook her head in the negative.
"Nothing really," she laughed. "Everything's fine."
***
The CMC enjoyed their day with their sisters to the fullest, neither of them wishing for it to come to an end as they moved from store to store. At the same time, a strange sort of trend was starting to become apparent to the older girls. Every now and then, the younger members of their group would stop whatever they were doing and stair into space for a few seconds. Whenever this happened, a light touch on the shoulder would snap them out of it and they'd act like nothing happened. After the sixth or seventh spell, the older teens decided it was time to get in touch with someone a bit more familiar with Equestria and the portal.
"Do we really need to do this?" Sweetie wined from the back of her mother's SUV. "I'm telling you, I'm fine."
"I know Sweetie," Rarity said from the driver seat. "But we just want to make sure, okay?"
"Yeah," Rainbow nodded from the front passenger seat.
Sweetie rolled her eyes and leaned back into her seat, her friends on either side of her showing equal sines of irritation. Applejack just sighed at the display as she looked over her shoulder from the middle seat. The CMC could tell just how worried their siblings were, they could taste it. Literally. As they drove towards Sunset's house, a lightly bitter earthy taste filled their mouths. As it washed over their tastebuds and warmed their bellies, their eyes lost most of their focus. It was almost addictive, tasty in a way that they couldn't quite describe. It was almost as good as the plethora of flavors that bombarded them while they were at the mall.
What the heck is happening to me? Scootaloo thought, her head hazy as she licked her lips.
She gave her friends a quick glance. Sure enough, their eyes were mostly blank and their mouths hung slightly open.
What's going-
"Be at ease, my child," "Nightshade" whispered, her voice echoing in her mind. "All is well. This is just a sign that the gem is working."
Really?
"Yes," she cooed, voice as soft as velvet. "Trust me Scootaloo. Everything is fine."
"Everything...is fine," Scootaloo mumbled, her lips turning up into a small smile.
"Ya' say somethin' Scootaloo?" Applejack asked, looking over her shoulder.
"Huh?" she asked, shaking the cobwebs out of her head as she looked at the farm girl. "Nah, just thinking out loud."
"Alright," Applejack nodded, not completely buying the girl's explanation as she shifted her attention back to the front of the car.
After a few minutes of silence, the small group found themselves pulling up in front of Sunset and Derpy's house. The CMC stared out the window at the house with curious eyes. Even before The Incident, none of them found out where exactly the Equestrian lived. They threw back and forth ideas a few times, ranging from an elaborate mansion to a small one-bedroom apartment. The simple two story home was a happy medium of what they had expected, not too extravagant while sitting on the higher end of middle class.
"Is this the place?" Applejack asked.
"It would seem so," Rarity mused, staring at her phone.
"Welp, only one way to find out," Rainbow sighed as she opened her door and stepped out of the car.
Her friends and the CMC all shrugged as they reluctantly followed her out of the vehicle towards the house's front door. Upon reaching their destination, the three teens traded awkward stares. While they knew they were on good terms with Sunset now, they still hesitated a lot when she was involved. As such, Applejack had to take a leveling breath as she forced herself to knock on the door.
A vaguely familiar voice could be heard on the other side of the door, followed shortly by the clicking of locks undoing themselves. When the door creaked open, a bedraggled Sunset greeted them. Her hair was a total mess, as if she had just rolled out of bed, a fact that was further supported by her slightly bloodshot eyes. Her clothes were wrinkled and uneven, but was otherwise free of blemishes. She forced a smile as she stared at them, her slouching posture further showcasing her weariness.
"Hey girls," she yawned. "What's up?"
"Are you okay darling?" Rarity asked, concerned. "You seem kind of...um..."
"Drained?" Sunset offered.
Rarity and the rest of her group nodded.
Sunset chuckled then said, "Yeah. Didn't get any sleep last night. Don't worry about it."
"Ya' sure, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.
"Yeah, yeah," Sunset yawned, waving away her friend's concern, then walked further into the house as she gestured for the girls to follow her.
A bit nervous, they complied in silence as she guided them towards the kitchen. They blinked in surprise when they saw an equally exhausted Derpy sitting at the island at the kitchen's center sipping at a steaming mug. The gray teen gave the group a brief look over then smiled and shrugged as she took another drink from her cup.
"Hey," she chuckled, waving at the group.
They waved back, most of their shock replaced by confusion as they each took a seat at the island. The confusion quickly turned into understanding for Rarity when she thought back to what Sunset said at the assembly, how someone managed to pull her back from the brink at the absolute last second. She smiled at her fellow teen and gave a small bow as she took her seat.
"What?" Derpy blinked, then sighed as she looked down at her frumpy attire and chuckled. "Oh, sorry. If I knew we were going to have company I would've changed."
As she said that, she gestured towards her wrinkled gray sweatpants and sweatshirt, both a size too big for her.
"Not on my watch," Sunset smirked as she slid into a seat next to her girlfriend and planted a kiss on her cheek. Derpy blushed deeply at that as she playfully elbowed her. Sunset just laughed as she gave the poor girl a little space while Rainbow and Applejack took it all in with surprised wide eyes. Rarity, on the other hand sported a wicked grin that would make the Cheshire Cat look tame.
"Looks like someone found more than just a home recently," Rarity purred, her chin resting on top of her steepled arms.
"You could say that," Sunset smirked, then took on a more serous expression as she added, "But I don't think that's why you guys came by to see me."
They sighed as they gave the younger girls concerned looks. The very same girls shook their heads at that moment as another episode passed.
"Tha've been doin' that off and on all day," Applejack frowned. "We were wonderin' if goin' through the portal has somethin' ta' do with it."
Sunset gave the CMC a long hard look over, all the while trying to remember everything she knew about the portal. While that was remarkably little, she didn't recall any kind of adverse effects of using it. The only exception being the magical sealing Equestrians go through when using it to get to Terra, unless they use a magical artifact to circumvent it. A small smile spread across her lips as another possibility came to mind.
"Have any of them acquired magic recently?" she asked, shifting her attention back towards her friends.
"Yeah," Rainbow nodded.
"Thought so," Sunset said, letting out a relieved sigh. "If I had to guess, their bodies are just trying to adapt to having magic. Unicorns go through something similar when their magic starts to fully manifest. Once it settles, they should be okay."
"Are you sure?" Rarity asked.
"Definitely," Sunset nodded. "And if anything does happen, Discord's just a call away."
They sighed with relief, glad that the younger girls were safe and that there was a security plan in place. Now that they were free of that worry, a new curiosity tugged at them. Naturally, Rainbow was the first to find her voice while the others were trying to find the words needed to be more tactful.
"So, which of you two kept the other up all night?" Rainbow smirked, eyebrows quirked in a suggestive manner.
Rarity's hand met her face as she sighed while Applejack gave her friend a flat look as she swatted her across the back of her head. Sunset and Derpy blushed slightly as they rolled their eyes, though a small part of Sunset was happy to see her friends at least starting to act normal around her.
"It wasn't that kind of thing," Sunset sighed. "Tell me, have any of you tried to get in touch with Pinkie lately?"
They shook their heads, a hint of shame marring their features.
Sunset's face turned somber as she stared down at the table.
"Apparently, she's been in Equestria for the past few weeks."
"Well, that explains why she wasn't answering her phone," Rarity said thoughtfully.
"So," Rainbow added. "She hopped through the portal to apologize and have a bunch of parties to celebrate?"
"Not exactly,"Sunset frowned. "Apparently, Pinkie is a rare type of magic user called a Gapwalker. These are people that have the ability to create portals. Most of the time, they can only create portals between places that they are familiar with, but some of them can open a portal between worlds. The tradeoff is that they can't use natural portals. Pinkie didn't know that."
A tense silence filled the room for several long minutes before it was broken.
"Ah... Ah take it that thin's ain't all apple pie right now," Applejack said, nerves on edge.
Sunset shook her head as she continued to stare at the table.
Rarity gulped, then asked, "Is... Is she-"
"She's alive," Sunset sighed. "She's in rough shape, but she should make a full recovery."
"Thank god," Rainbow sighed. "So, how long before she get's back?"
Sunset reluctantly shrugged as she looked up at them.
"Depends on how long it takes for her to heal and learn how to create a portal back here."
"How's she going to manage that?" Rarity asked. "If what you are implying is true, then a teacher would be rather hard to find."
"Nah, that's covered," Derpy smiled, waving away Rarity's concern as she added herself to the conversation.
"Y'all found a teacher?" Applejack asked.
"Two technically," Sunset chuckled.
"Who?" Rainbow asked.
"Discord and an ancient magical fire bird," Derpy smiled, taking a swig from her mug.
The trio of teens took that in with a few confused blinks before Rainbow, again added her two cents.
"Okay, I don't think I'm the only one that has a few questions so spill."
Sunset sported a tired smile as she told her friends what happened the previous night. At the same time, the CMC sat silently, a part of their minds barely keeping track of what was being said as a familiar earthy taste graced their tongues. Worry was quickly becoming their favorite snack.