Five sets of wide eyes stared at Fluttershy, who brushed her long pink hair out of her eyes before looking back at them.
“Something wrong?” she asked, innocence permeating her voice. The stunned silence continued. Rainbow Dash was the first to recover.
“I can't believe you played that!” she yelped.
“I was expecting it, and I can't believe she played that,” said Sunset.
Twilight, her face a bright crimson, shook her head. “Never again,” she muttered. “I am never playing this game again.”
Applejack quirked an eyebrow at Fluttershy. “Sugarcube, I love ya, but I'm pretty sure you're goin' straight to Hell for playin' that.”
“I think we're going to Hell for seeing her play that!” Pinkie exclaimed.
The sound of the toilet flushing came from the bathroom in the hall. After a moment, they heard the door open and Rarity wheeled her way back into Pinkie's living room, where the girls had set themselves up. She looked slightly more pale than she usually did.
“I hope no one minds, but I think I'll sit the rest of the game out,” she said. “Suddenly, it seems to have lost its appeal for me.”
“I think we can safely declare Fluttershy the winner after that,” Sunset said, reaching for the game box.
“Oh, I hope I didn't go too far for all of you,” said Fluttershy, reaching down to gather up the cards from the board. “Usually, I'm terrible at this game.”
Rainbow blinked and opened her mouth. She closed it a second later and shuddered. Fluttershy smiled to herself as she helped Sunset clean up the game.
Once the game was back in the box and put aside, the girls made themselves comfortable on the couch and armchairs. Sunset squeezed in on the couch between Fluttershy and Twilight.
“So, what's next? Movies or video games?” she asked. The other girls all exchanged glances. Sunset frowned.
“Girls? What's going on?”
Rarity wheeled herself slightly forward. “Sunset, darling, before we get on with the rest of the evening, we all need to talk to you.”
“About what?” Sunset's expression became suspicious.
“You haven't been yourself over the last few days, Sunset.” Fluttershy reached down and took Sunset's hand. “We hoped that it was just nervousness about talking to Firecracker's parents, but afterward you seemed even worse.”
“It wasn't exactly a pleasant time there, or hadn't you noticed?” Sunset's voice was bitter.
“There's also what happened earlier this week,” Applejack replied.
“We talked about that. I am not suicidal!”
“But you are a guilt junkie.” Rainbow leaned forward in her chair. “I thought I was just joking, but I thought about it. You're taking on more than your fair share of guilt for everything that happened last week, Sunset.”
“I am not.” Sunset folded her arms and frowned.
“Yes, you are, Sunset,” Twilight insisted. “And I caused some of that, and I'm sorry. I should have given you an answer a lot sooner than I did. I kept you waiting because I was too ashamed.”
Sunset blinked. “Ashamed? Of what?”
“Of doubting you. Of doubting your friendship or your reformation. You've been nothing but supportive and helpful ever since we met and I lost faith in you. And I made you feel even more guilty because of it.”
Sunset's expression softened. She put a hand on Twilight's shoulder. “Twilight, you have no reason to be ashamed. What I did was so, so wrong. It's understandable you'd feel that way.”
“But that was the old you, darling,” Rarity said. “As you've said so many times, your past is not today. You're carrying around a great deal of unearned guilt and grief.”
“It's because of me that all this happened in the first place! How is that 'unearned?'”
“Because Gardenia Glow forgave you,” said Twilight. “She didn't have to help us after she woke up. She didn't have to go with us to see Firecracker's parents. And she told me outright that she forgave you. Yes, she says she only did it so she could move on, but she still gave you her forgiveness.”
“It doesn't change the fact that Firecracker's dead!” Sunset's voice began to rise in volume.
“And if you're guilty of being responsible for that, then the blame falls equally on our shoulders.” Rarity fixed Sunset with a stern gaze. “We were all there. You said yourself that the magic could only be used by all of us together. If you're going to claim responsibility for Firecracker's actions, then you need to admit that we're just as much to blame as you are.”
“No, you aren't!” Sunset yelled. She stood up and faced Rarity down. “You all did nothing wrong! Firecracker targeted me! This whole thing happened because she wanted revenge against me! If not for me, none of you would have been in danger! Twilight wouldn't have had her doubts. Rainbow wouldn't have beaten herself up over Pepperdance. You wouldn't be a – “
Sunset abruptly snapped her mouth shut. The other five girls stared at Rarity, eyes wide. Rarity calmly folded her arms and looked at Sunset.
“I wouldn't be a what?” she asked quietly. Sunset swallowed.
“Y-you wouldn't --”
“I wouldn't be a cripple? Is that what you were going to say?” Rarity's gaze was cold and piercing. Sunset looked at the floor, shame tinting her cheeks. Rarity frowned.
“Sunset Shimmer, look at me,” she commanded. Sunset reluctantly raised her head to meet her friend's disapproving eyes. She swallowed, seeing nothing but hurt and anger behind them. She braced herself for the tongue lashing she knew was coming and that she deserved.
“I forgive you.”
Sunset blinked. “W-what?”
Rarity's expression was still stern. “I forgive you for the thoughtless remark you were about to make in a moment of ill advised, and again, completely undeserved self-hatred. You hurt me, and I am still angry with you for the moment, because all of you know I've been working through my own issues this week. Applejack pointed it out yesterday morning. Yes, I have been avoiding all of you. Because I had my own shame to deal with.”
“What?” Sunset whispered.
Rarity nodded. “Yes, shame. Shame that I couldn't have done more to stop Firecracker's rampage. Shame that I was no longer able to do basic things for myself without help. Shame that no matter how much I've tried, I simply cannot get my lower half to do anything as simple as flex my toes. Shame that at age 16, I have been required to go back to wearing diapers because I can't trust my own brain to receive signals from my excretory system alerting me when I need to use the toilet.
“I know shame, Sunset. I know anger. And I know guilt. And therefore, darling, I think I know what I'm talking about when I say that you are overwhelming yourself quite needlessly.”
Sunset stared down at Rarity. Her eyes began to water. “But... But I started all of this. Firecracker. The magic. Everything.”
“Perhaps,” Rarity replied. “But have you considered the other things you're responsible for?”
Sunset looked perplexed. “What do you mean?”
“Well, first off, darling, what would have happened if you hadn't come through the portal in the first place?”
“There wouldn't be magic everywhere. I never would have ruined CHS. You'd all be friends through all of high school.”
“Not all of us!” Pinkie piped up. Sunset turned her head to look at her, confusion on her face.
“Sure the five of us would have still been friends,” said Pinkie. “But what about Twilight?”
Sunset blinked again and turned so she could look at both girls. “She never would have turned into Midnight Sparkle.”
“And I would never have met any of you beyond the Friendship Games,” Twilight said, getting to her feet. “And, as much as I hate to say it, Crystal Prep would have probably won again. Afterwards, I wouldn't have transferred to CHS, but gone on to the Everton Independent Study program.”
She reached out and touched Sunset's cheek. “And I wouldn't ever have made the wonderful friends I have in this room. I would have continued my studies, alone and isolated, not ever realizing what it meant to have people other than family love and care about you.”
“And then there's Camp Everfree,” said Fluttershy. “If you hadn't brought the magic here, we probably would have been the last campers there. If Gloriosa hadn't started using the magic, we wouldn't have gotten our geodes, and you wouldn't have been able to put everything together. She would have kept all her money troubles to herself and the camp would have closed down for good.”
Pinkie popped up next to Sunset. “Which means we'd never have needed to enter the Chance to Prance contest to get the money to save it! And we wouldn't have made friends with the Crystal Prep girls! And they wouldn't have won the contest since they couldn't figure out an original song, and then they'd have disappointed their entire school when they couldn't hold their dance on a yacht!
“And if that had happened,” Rainbow began. “Then we wouldn't have been on the Daring Do set while Juniper was sabotaging everything and the movie would probably never have been made!”
Applejack gave Sunset a grin. “Not only that, you wouldn't have made friends with Starlight Glimmer and given her a chance to see this world!”
“And even before all that, darling,” Rarity said, her expression softening into a smile. “While the Dazzlings may not have ever come here in search of Equestrian magic or regained their full power, they would still be out there today causing low grade misery and strife wherever they went.”
Sunset looked at each of her friends and sniffled. A tear escaped her eye and ran down her cheek. She felt her knees buckle and she landed on the floor in front of Rarity's chair. Rarity reached down and tilted Sunset's head up, wiping the tear away with her thumb.
“You see, Sunset, darling?” The fashionista smiled. “Just as much good has come out of you coming to this world and bringing the magic here. I would argue that more good than bad has come out of it. Because of you, we're all friends with Princess Twilight, the Dazzlings are no longer a threat, Twilight has gotten herself to a much better place, Camp Everfree is still open, the Crystal Prep girls have opened up to us, the Daring Do movie is a hit and we're a part of it. You brought Starlight Glimmer here and, in turn, she was able to use her own experiences to help Juniper come back to herself. And there's one more very important thing you've done for all of us.”
Sunset sniffled again. “What?”
Rarity leaned forward and embraced her. “We became friends with you, darling.”
Sunset burst into tears and she collapsed in Rarity's arms, bawling uncontrollably. The other girls rushed forward, taking her into a giant group hug. Soon, tears of their own started flowing.
As she cried, Sunset felt something in her chest. Her mind envisioned a large, black pulsing growth of self-hatred and guilt lodged in her sternum between her breasts. Inky tendrils spread out from it, seizing her heart. As the tears fell, Sunset felt an invisible hand grab the growth and begin pulling. The growth gave a little, but the tendrils held fast, trying to pull it back into her chest.
Sunset's mind changed the form of the invisible hand into an invisible crowbar. One end wedged itself between the growth and the hole it had burrowed in her chest. The crowbar levered against the edge of the hole and began to pry the growth out. A snarl rose from it as it began to lose its grip on her. Sunset's mind forced the crowbar to continue, causing more pain in her chest. Sunset grit her teeth and focused on the love and warmth of her friends surrounding her. The crowbar pried again. The tendrils began to snap. The growth snarled louder. The crowbar slid further into Sunset's chest, found purchase under the growth and pried. In the real world, Sunset let out a wail of pain and anguish that caused her friends to hold her tighter.
The final tendrils snapped and the growth rolled out of the hole in Sunset's chest. Her mind's eye caught a brief glimpse of an inhuman face on the other side before it tumbled into the darkness. A horrible, snarling face of sharp teeth, and solid black eyes with cold cyan pupils.
The demon's eyes.
The hole still remained, stinging and sore, but Sunset felt – she knew – that it would heal. Her sobbing slowed down and she slowly calmed down, shivering quietly. After a moment she looked up into the concerned, loving faces of her friends.
“Thank you,” she whispered.