Daybreaker laughed again, and Sunset Shimmer wished she would stop doing that, because it was getting really fucking annoying.
“Seize her! Only she knows where the Princess is!” Mayor Mare exclaimed, rallying the ponies around Daybreaker. She appeared to have shaken herself out of her daze; the only tell that she wasn’t quite as confident as she acted was the heightened pitch in her clipped words.
Sunset Shimmer charged her horn with power before she even knew what she was doing. She didn’t even have a particular spell in mind – she was just going to blast the ancient mythological being standing in front of her with a blast of raw magical energy and see what happened from there.
“Get away, you foals!” Daybreaker stomped her hoof, sending a shockwave of hot air into the crowd. The ponies nearest to her were blasted back, but Sunset stayed, as she had switched to a shield at the last second to brace herself.
When the crowd had regained their bearings, Daybreaker was gone. Sunset cursed herself for not doing more while she had the mare inches away from her. Mind already racing to formulate a plan, she shot out of the town hall towards the library.
What did she need? What did she know? Daybreaker had been defeated by the Elements of Harmony once before. The Elements of Harmony were a powerful… weapon(?), which had only ever been used by a powerful alicorn in any of the legends that mentioned them. Sunset Shimmer had no clue how to find the Elements, or how she was going to utilize them if she did. She barely even knew what they were!
This line of thinking was a lot less helpful than she thought it would be.
Sunset slammed the library’s door open and skidded to a stop, panting in the center of the room. She trotted in place as she swung her head around wildly, looking for anything that looked like it would be the slightest bit helpful. But honestly, what did she even expect to find here? She was really on the clock now, except it was judging her by seconds rather than days.
“I need… uh… Elements of Harmony… there has to be something!” Sunset was getting frustrated, and she knew it. She also knew that she got sloppy when she was frustrated. Missed things. And now she had to figure out how, exactly, she was going to save all of Equestria with a buzzing head.
“And what, exactly, are the Elements of Harmony?”
Sunset whipped around to see Gilda standing in the doorway, looking as pissed as any griffon possibly could be. The other four mares she had been with at the party were right behind her.
“I think,” Gilda growled, stepping into the room. “It’s about time you explained yourself. I let you slide before, but you knew about this.”
It wasn’t a question.
“I… uh… look…” Sunset’s eyes slid over Gilda to see Derpy standing off to her side, with Spike clinging on to her back. Her heart dropped. He looked exhausted – and scared.
“Oh. Spike, I… left you.” He just rubbed his eyes.
“I’m sorry, I - I got so caught up worrying about Daybreaker that I… forgot about you.”
He yawned. “S’okay.”
Sunset used her magic to float him over to her, frowning. After a moment’s hesitation, she hugged him. Or, she tried to do what she thought was a hug. “It’s not,” she whispered, more to herself than to the small dragon.
“You should try and sleep,” Sunset continued as she pulled away. “What comes next is…” Her eyes flicked to the girls waiting in the doorway. “Not foal-friendly.”
“How m’I s’posed t’sleep when it’s so bright out,” he whined, not even bothering to respond to her calling him a foal. Zecora tapped his shoulder, offering a tiny vial that she had to have pulled out from thin air while no one was looking.
“A sleeping potion, to help you rest. Right now, we should all do what we can to be at our best.”
Spike eyed the vial warily, but he was too tired to act on any apprehensiveness he felt. He took it and patted Sunset’s side before he plodded up the stairs, hopefully to get some rest.
Sunset Shimmer nervously turned back to face her five assorted guests, who were all sporting expressions of various levels of accusation. “So. I think the best place to start would be… yes, I did know about Daybreaker’s coming. Which I did mention in passing to you, Gilda, when, uh,” she cleared her throat, “yeah.
“Thing is though, I knew everything up to this point, right? And I even know how she can be defeated! Or, rather, how she was defeated once before, which is something called “The Elements of Harmony”, but that’s about all I know about them! So, that’s where we are now. Floundering uselessly.” Sunset smiled at her audience. It was more of a grimace.
“A name that I have heard before… the being from which, however, is a less than trustworthy source of magical lore.”
“Thank you, Zecora. That doesn’t help at all,” Sassy Saddles said, voice tight. She had barely contained panic written all over her face.
The zebra rolled her eyes and continued, looking pointedly at Sunset Shimmer, who squirmed under her gaze. “I could tell you what I know, if you’d like; it’s better than nothing if we’re trying to figure out how, exactly, we will strike.”
“Actually, I found a book,” Derpy offered. “The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide,”
Sure enough, the other five occupants of the room turned to see Derpy Hooves holding a massive tome, emblazoned with the title she had just read.
“How did you-“ Sunset stammered. “What??? How did I miss this?”
Derpy just shrugged. “It was under ‘E’.”
After letting out a closed-mouth scream of rage and frustration, Sunset took the offered book from Derpy’s hooves, and flipped through, eyes flitting over the pages. She stopped, stared off into space for a second, then whirled around to face the mares (and griffon) looking at her expectantly.
“There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known and named.”
She starting pacing, looking down as she spoke.
“Kindness,” Sunset said as she passed Rara, who was watching her with encouragement shining in her eyes. She didn’t doubt that Sunset could figure this out; despite the mare’s abrasive exterior and… unrefined social skills, she was smart and adaptable.
“Laughter,” Sunset said as she passed Derpy, who was making a tower out of books Sunset had left strewn about that morning. She wasn’t particularly worried; she knew these mares (and griffon), and she knew what they were all capable of – even Sunset. Derpy was a good judge of character like that.
“Generosity,” Sunset said as she passed Zecora, who was scrutinizing her every move for any sign of fatigue, as she had been since she arrived at the library - she half expected the manic unicorn to collapse soon, truth be told. It didn’t take a genius to see that Sunset had been burning her candle at both ends; however, Zecora was starting to wonder if that extended to before she came to Ponyville.
“Honesty,” Sunset said as she passed Sassy Saddles, who was waiting ever-so-patiently for a chance to give the crazy ponies (and griffon) around her a piece of her mind. Today was moving too fast, not that Sassy wasn’t used to that, of course, but there was a slight difference between a backlog of orders and a legendary villain taking over Equestria.
“And Loyalty,” Sunset finished as she passed Gilda, who watched her like a hawk for any sign of deceit. Gilda had named herself Ponyville’s protector, and she wasn’t quite sure if that included Sunset yet or not.
Sunset stopped pacing and looked up at her five companions, weariness beginning to make itself known on her face but doing nothing to quench the determined flame in her eyes. “The sixth is unknown.” She started pacing again.
“The last known location of the Elements was the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. A ruin that is now found in the Everfree Forest.”
Nopony responded for a beat, but none of them had what Sunset would call a positive look on their faces as they considered the new information. Quashing down whatever feeling had just started bubbling in her stomach, Sunset steeled herself for what she had to do, nodded at them, and went upstairs – quietly - to pack. Surely she hadn’t been disappointed that they didn’t offer to help, right? The Everfree was more than dangerous, and she worked better on her own anyhow. Other ponies were distracting, and they argued with her – even when she was right.
Sunset placed her saddlebags on her back, careful not to make too much noise. With any luck, Spike was asleep. Really, all she needed was a map, but the sun that was beating down outside was starting to worry her, and she figured it would be good to take some water from the jugs she had upstairs. A lot of water. Just in case.
Trotting back down the stairs, Sunset was met with the sight of the five girls still sitting in the middle of the library, now chatting excitedly.
“What are you… still doing here?”
“Well, duh,” Sassy said, smiling tightly at her. “We’re coming with you on your impossibly dangerous, probably-a-suicide-mission mission, obviously.”
Gilda snorted. “You really, actually think we’re gonna let you waltz into the Everfree Forest alone?” She had made up her mind in the time that Sunset was gone.
“Um… Yes?”
“Wrong!” The griffon yelled, cuffing her on the head.
Rara stepped forward. “What they mean to say is, you’ve figured out this much, and come this far. Who knows what would be happening now if you hadn’t? And I think I can speak for all of us when I say that no friend of ours will face whatever comes next alone. You did not have the choice of support before, but you do now.” She brought her face up close to Sunset’s in an aggressive manner that Sunset wouldn’t have expected from this mare, eyes narrowing. “Understand?”
Sunset nodded mutely.
“Right, then it’s decided!” Sassy unfolded a small parcel into a significantly larger piece of paper and stuck a pin in the image on the leftmost side, which was just a scribble of Sunset frowning. “Sorry it isn’t very neat; I was a bit too crunched for time to uphold my usual standards,” she giggled nervously.
Sunset squinted at her. “When did you even-“
“The next step is crucial if we want to succeed! We need water. I don’t know if you girls have noticed, but it is hot out there, and the temperature is rising by the second. While I’m sure the dense trees of the forest may – hopefully - help us somewhat, we’ll drop dead long before we get to the ruins if we don’t stay hydrated.”
“I don’t think it’s that far, Pincushion,” Gilda said, making a face at the unicorn now pouting at her.
“Maybe not, but as I’m sure you’ve noticed, the sun is quite a bit brighter – and therefore hotter – than it usually is. We don’t fully know what this Daybreaker is capable of, and I personally am not interested in finding out the hard way.”
Sunset spoke up. “I packed water, but I doubt it will stretch across six of us. Especially considering Gilda’s… uh, size. No offense.”
The griffon shrugged.
“My home is not far from our best forest entrance, and due to my garden’s needs, my water supply is essentially endless.” Zecora leaned out the door slightly, eyeing the sky with a grimace. “Though that may not be true for too long, as this sunlight only seems to grow more and more strong.”
Derpy flew out past her, almost knocking the zebra over in her excitement. “Let’s go then! There’s no time like th’present!” Her smile got softer, as did her voice. “I should getcha all presents when this is done…”
“Yeah, when we’re done,” Gilda said, flying after Derpy and sending Zecora off balance just as she found her footing.
Rara trotted over to help her up, giggling. Zecora joined her in her laughter as the two walked out the door, leaving the two unicorns to follow the rest of the group.
Sassy Saddles watched her strange new group of friends trot out. Well, her new group of friends minus one. She looked to the mare still standing beside her, who seemed significantly less confident than she had just a few short moments ago while explaining legendary magic made real, despite the impossible odds, and she smiled. “Shall we?”
Sunset Shimmer started at her words. She looked up at her with a smile that betrayed more of her anxiety than she would have liked. “Yeah. Uh… Yeah. I guess we shall.”
And the two trotted after their companions, into the unknown.
~~~
“The unknown is a lot scarier when you’re standing right in front of it.”
Actually staring into the Everfree Forest suddenly made their task seem much realer than it had up to this point. Outfitted with canteens and saddlebags at Sassy’s insistence (staying hydrated was important!), all six of them stood hesitant at the entrance to the forest. The only one not showing any sign of unease was Zecora, who seemed perfectly at peace with trotting into what may very well be her doom.
Gilda grinned at Sunset. “Technically it ain’t unknown, it’s just that everything we know about the Everfree Forest is really, really terrible.”
Sassy Saddles quietly took out her list, stuck a pin in a hastily-drawn forest, and put it back in her pack, never moving her eyes away from the trees in front of them.
“Thank you, Gilda,” Sunset responded dryly, tuning out Rara’s scolding the griffon to listen to Zecora.
“The Everfree Forest is not so bad, once you get to know it,” she chuckled; then her face grew darker. “But I imagine Daybreaker’s corrupted magic shall increase its hostility quite a bit.”
Sunset gulped. “Let’s just go,” she said hoarsely. “Let’s just go in.”
~~~
Minutes seemed like hours as the group trudged through the forest. It seemed that, despite the forest’s nature of caring for itself, it was not immune to Daybreaker’s meddling. The thought that her magic would be so strong as to override even the untameable Everfree Forest was not a comforting one.
Sunset also noted that the forest seemed unnaturally quiet. Wherever most of the animals were, it wasn’t here. Which was odd, to say the least, considering – again – how wild it must usually be. That one was a bittersweet sort of comfort.
With little warning other than a frustrated groan and quick “be right back”, Gilda shot up through a break in the trees, and her five companions stopped walking back on the ground, looking uneasily at each other.
Sassy Saddles sat down, sighing. “Guess we’re just going to have to wait for her, then.” She looked at Rara, who had taken the moment to lay down beside here. ”Paisley and poplin, love, you look absolutely horrendous.” And it was true. The mare looked flushed and fatigued, moreso than any of the others.
“I didn’t sleep well last night,” Rara said, giving Sassy a tired smile. “It’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”
Zecora offered Rara a canteen and a smile as she came to sit beside her. "Drink. None of us would be happy should you fall, I think." Then she turned to Sassy Saddles. "Do you have a mane-tie? Perhaps it will help with the heat from this... unforgiving sky," she finished dryly.
With a triumphant “Aha!”, Sassy levitated a ribbon out of one of her saddlebags and used it to deftly tie Rara’s hair up as the mare thanked them both profusely. Sassy dropped her magic and admired her handiwork.
“Well! I wouldn’t suggest you go out in public looking like that, but at least now your endless curls won’t be slowly suffocating you.”
~~~
Gilda the griffon circled above the trees, looking for the most forgiving path to the ruins. She could already see the castle, in the near distance. The problem wasn’t so much how far away it was, but rather how in Equestria they were going to get there. Well, she could fly. Derpy also maybe could? But there’d be no point, without the other four. They started this together, and they were going to finish it together, too.
There, not too far out of the way. Gilda went into a dive, pulling up just as she was about to hit the water of the river she had spotted from above.
“Auww yeah,” she preened. “Gilda, you’re awesome.” The river was slightly out of the way, but once they got there, it would be a straight shot up to the castle.
She prepared to take off, but hesitated when she saw a bright gleam coming from inside a nearby cave. Well, more of a hollow, really. Shut up, whatever. It was a hole in a cliff. Gilda wasn’t a rock-ologist. Or whatever. It didn’t matter. Curiosity piqued, Gilda flew over to where she saw the gleam. Just a quick peek, she thought to herself. I am still a griffon, after all.
She landed at the entrance to the cave-hollow and peered in. On a makeshift pedestal a little way in proudly stood a single golden treasure.
Gilda squinted and took a step in. “Is that-“
“The Idol of Boreas, yes,” a voice said, then coughed. An old – no - ancient griffon came out of the shadows behind the idol, causing Gilda to jump back, feathers fluffed and wings out.
The old griffon laughed noiselessly. It was more of a wet wheeze. Really gross. “Calm yourself, child. I am Grover – formerly King Grover, but the title rings a bit hollow, now.”
Gilda made a doubtful face that he didn’t miss. “I have watched, all this time, over my proud griffons. But when King Gael took the throne, I was forced to act. He did not deserve the Idol, for he would have corrupted it – so I hid it away until a worthy griffon could come to claim it once again, and bring Griffonstone back to its former glory, the way it’s meant to be.”
“And you think that’s…”
“You, Gilda,” he whispered hoarsely. “The idol’s power can only keep me alive for so long, and you are the only worthy griffon to have found me, in all these years. You were brought here for a purpose, Gilda!”
She shook her head and took a step back. “Yeah, I was. But it’s not you. Ponyville was actually there for me when Griffonstone turned its back on me. If you think I’ll abandon it for an ungrateful, decrepit place like that, you got another thing coming. So if you’ll excuse me,” she said as she gave the king a sarcastic bow. “I have some idiot friends to save.”
“But your home-!”
“Griffonstone hasn’t been my home in a long time.”
Taking off, Gilda ignored King Grover’s protests behind her. She knew exactly where her friends were, where they had to go, and what they had to do. And now, she knew how they were going to do it. Or at least, how they were going to get there, more or less. Plans were for ponies.
She was thinking a lot more than usual though, that was for certain. Was this how Sunset Shimmer felt all the time? No wonder that mare was so weird.
Gilda landed unnecessarily loudly next her circle of friends wearing a smug look on her face. Derpy launched herself at her the moment she hit the ground, hugging her surprisingly tight for such a small mare. She hesitantly patted Derpy’s back a few times. It was uncomfortably awkward and she never wanted to do this again.
“What took you so long?” Sunset asked, suspicion evident in her voice.
Gilda shrugged as she unwrapped Derpy from around her torso. “Oh, you know. Met an ancient king, turned down the only offer any griffon may ever get to save our race, the usual.” She grinned at the disbelieving mares. “Also I found a cool river that takes us right where we need to go.”
The four ponies looked at her, flabbergasted, but Zecora was staring off into the dense woods with a thoughtful expression on her face.
Rara was the only one to notice and she put a hoof on the zebra’s shoulder. “Zecora, are you okay?”
“Yes, yes, my friend, just lost in thought.” She stood up and offered a hoof to Rara, who took it gratefully. Speaking to the whole group, she said, “We should get going, to this river that Gilda has so helpfully caught. I imagine the cool water and easy path will make our journey much easier to trot.”
The aforementioned griffon puffed her chest out with pride. “Exactly!”
Zecora just waved her hoof in the universal “lead the way” sign.
~~~
While trotting upstream was far from easy, it was a welcome alternative to their previous plan. Five of them, at least, were moving upstream. Gilda plodded alongside them on the bank, less than eager to get her feathers wet again.
Derpy was humming happily to herself, apparently unaffected by the conditions of their journey. Which made sense, considering her job. Despite her occasional forgetfulness, she was a strong flier, and she was good at traveling long distances, both flying and on hoof. She was a mailmare – really, this was just another Tuesday for her. Or whatever today was. Honestly, she had no clue. Saturday? Point being, this was far from the hardest trek she’d ever made.
Upon Rara’s insistence, the group settled down for a short break. Zecora almost looked up to see how long they had been traveling before she realized that wasn’t exactly a reliant method of telling time right now. Especially with the sun glaring overwhelmingly bright like that. Which was a shame, because she just remembered that she had left Bon Bon’s usual brew simmering in the pot. So she looked down instead, because that’s how brains work. You tell it not to do one thing, so it does the opposite just to spite you.
What she did not expect, however, was her reflection grinning cruelly back at her. She jumped up from where she had been laying in the shallow water. The ripples distorted her twisted reflection, but it did not change. Well, it did, but not in the way she would have hoped. Instead, it took to moving of its own accord – and speaking.
“Hello, dear zebra, enjoying your vacation?” Her reflection’s voice was flat; it was nothing like her own poetic rhythm. Uncharacteristically flustered, Zecora sputtered at it in response, trying to get her words out, and her reflection laughed at her.
“You can’t deny it, can you? You left Ponyville for some grand, hopeless, selfish adventure, and now you’re acting like it’s actually all to help them!” Her reflection sneered, looking her dead in the eye. “How foalish can you be? You abandoned Ponyville when it needed your help the most!”
Around Zecora, her friends all found themselves in the same predicament, each of them unaware of the others. Rara stood in the water, squeezing her eyes shut in an attempt not to cry as her reflection yelled at her, beating her down with insult after insult. She couldn’t bear to hear herself saying terrible things - things she would rather die before saying aloud to anypony else - coming out of her own mouth. And she knew she was capable of this. Capable of being this pony.
Gilda stood at the riverbank and argued with her own reflection about the technicalities of whether or not she was a traitor to Griffonstone multiple times over. She was strong in her convictions, but the fury in her eyes was slowly giving way to doubt, little by little.
Sassy Saddles listened as her reflection bombarded her with the cold, hard truth, only offering up a few weak excuses. Tears were flowing from her eyes, but what could she do? Her reflection was telling the truth; that was the point. She was too blunt; too stubborn. She did overlook other ponies’ needs for her own vision of what she saw as the only path to success. She was too open with the truth, too aggressive in facing down reality – and it hurt ponies.
Sunset Shimmer… just watched. Her reflection told her what would be expected. She could never have friends. She was too mean. Too weird. Too goal-oriented. They didn’t actually like her for her. She didn’t even deserve Spike’s endless forgiveness. She didn’t deserve Princess Luna’s love. She heard her reflection telling her this, and it meant nothing to her. Sunset just felt tired. She had heard all of these things before, from a reflection that actually matched. This was nothing new. Though, she supposed, it did go to show just how hopeless she really was.
Derpy stood alone, happily chatting with her increasingly-frustrated reflected self as if nothing were wrong. She laughed, and joked, and her reflection was really just getting sloppy in her angry insults, now.
“You’re different! Strange! Everypony thinks you’re weird!”
Derpy sorted a laugh. “I mean, yeah, that’s what makes me fun!”
“People don’t actually like it when you bother them and interrupt their days! You’re nothing but a distraction!”
“Everypony needs a distraction every now’n then! Otherwise, what’s th’point?” She giggled.
“Speakin’ of…” She splashed the water with a laugh and turned around to see her friends facing their own reflections in the water, all of them faring significantly worse than her. She frowned, listening to Sassy’s reflection, who was fairly close to where Derpy was standing.
Derpy jumped and splashed down on Sassy Saddles’ reflection, snapping the mare out of her tear-stained staring. Surprised, she now looked down at Derpy, who had her snout scrunched up against Sassy’s.
“Hey!”
Sassy shook her head, taking a step back from her friend. “I’m sorry, sorry, I don’t wanna-“
Derpy fluttered forward after her, smile never wavering. “So what if we all have flaws? Some a’ them are strengths too!” She giggled and snorted, “Ya just gotta laugh at th’rest!”
Derpy grabbed her friend, hanging off her neck until she brought her head down to look at herself in the water. Derpy, smiling as bright as ever, had her face pressed up against hers, which was… not as composed as she would have liked. She had obvious tear tracks in her fur (the mascara definitely did not help), and her eyes were red and puffy, still leaking small tears.
“Ya always have a plan! Ya always know what t’do when nopony else does! You’re, like, three steps ahead all th’time! So what some ponies can’t deal with bein’ told they’re wrong? That’s their problem! Feelin’ bad about succeedin’ where other ponies fail is just silly!”
Sassy Saddles laughed softly and gave Derpy a small smile in their shared reflection. “Yeah, I guess it is.” She watched Derpy bounce away before looking back down at the water and letting out a startled laugh. She giggled, looking at herself in the water. She had mascara everywhere, and her eyeshadow wasn’t faring much better, yet somehow, Derpy’s good mood was infectious.
The pegasus, meanwhile, had wedged herself firmly between Gilda and her reflection, resting her head on her feathery chest as she grinned up at the shocked griffon. “Are ya arguin’ with your own reflection?”
Gilda, one claw having gone up to move Derpy’s head and was now just resting there, looked between her and the water. “I… Shit, I am. What?”
Derpy took the griffon’s incredulousness as a good sign and ran with it. “I mean, it’s kind of dumb t’say you’re a traitor. Who in the hay would ever believe that?”
“But I am. I just left Griffonstone hanging again. I could have, I could have saved it!”
“Who says that?” Derpy snorted. “Th’long dead griffon who told ya so after lurin’ you into some dank cave? ‘Sides, it’s not your fault Ponyville’s in more immediate trouble!”
“I- Lionfeathers, how stupid-” Gilda barked out a startled laugh, which grew into a real one; one that had her rolling on the ground and gasping for breath. Satisfied with the outcome, Derpy bounded over to Zecora, who was frozen stock-still, staring at her toneless reflection. She tackled her, because what else would she do? The zebra gave good hugs. Startled into autopilot, that was exactly what Zecora did – hold on to the small pegasus like her life depended on it.
Her mind caught up and she pulled away slightly, looking at Derpy with her brow furrowed. “What…“
Derpy lost it. “Did I just – snort – did I really just hear ya callin’ yourself selfish for tryin’ to – HA – save th’world?”
She laid in the water and laughed while Zecora stared shocked; then, after a beat, the zebra joined her. “I suppose – I suppose you did! Oh my,” she took in a shaky breath, smiling and giggling at Derpy. “How could I fall for such a bid?”
“Dunno, ya tell me!”
The zebra just shook her head, still smiling, and got up to go help Gilda, who had fallen into the creek in her laughing fit and has now taken to sputtering angrily.
Now that Derpy was closer to her, she could hear Rara sobbing quietly. The mare wasn’t even listening to her reflection’s jeers anymore; at this point, she was just spiraling in her own head. Derpy trotted over and nudged her crying friend. Rara just curled up tighter, so Derpy decided to just hold onto her awkwardly instead. Rara’s reflection was still going, and Derpy laughed at it. “Oh, please. She doesn’t even sound like that! Are ya even tryin’?”
The fake-Coloratura disappeared with an angry look and a huff, and Rara unfurled to look up at her, sniffing. “What did you say?”
Derpy used the opportunity to shift her friend into a more comfortable position. “I said that that doesn’t even sound like ya! Or look like ya, now that I think ‘bout it! You’re always so carin’ – even when you’re mad! It’s absolutely ri-donk-u-lus to think that you’d – ooooooo – suddenly turn into th’meanest mare in existence – oooooooooooo.” Derpy waved her arms around and let her eyes do whatever, and Rara giggled softly.
“I still… could though,” she said as her face fell again.
“Yeah and I could suddenly turn into th’most borin’ mare in all of existence. But screw that! I’m like this ‘cause I wanna be, and ya are too!”
“Yeah, I guess I am.” Rara laughed wetly to herself again.
Derpy clambered up, making a bit more of a show of her clumsiness than she usually did, drawing another giggle out of Rara. “Okay! I hafta go save our friend Ms. Shimmer!” She leaned down to softly nuzzle Rara, who was genuinely laughing now as she thought about how much of a caricature her reflection was in hindsight, before she trotted off to her last friend, who…
Looked bored. Sunset Shimmer was just laying there with an eyebrow raised, her muzzle being held up by one of her hooves. She just watched her ranting reflection with a bored expression, and Derpy slowed down a little, hesitant on how to proceed.
“Are you done yet?” Derpy startled at the unicorn's voice, but relaxed when she realized Sunset wasn’t speaking to her. The Sunset reflection yelled something at her, and the real one rolled her eyes with a sigh as her reflection went back to her rant.
Derpy trotted over. She was just going to wing it. Laying down and sticking her head between Sunset and her reflection, Derpy grinned up at her friend, whose pupils dilated so fast you’d think she was a cartoon character or something. Sunset jumped to her feet, looking more like a scared cat than a pony. Derpy stayed laying in the water and rolled around a little, because it was comfy.
“I- What- Where did you come from!” Not a question. The next bit was though, and it was lined with the edge of a threat. “How much did you hear?”
Derpy beamed at her. “I heard a buncha baloney comin’ from an evil copy a’ my friend!”
Sunset licked her lips nervously as she tried to figure a way out of the explanation. It was hard to think with Derpy just staring at her, though, so she just gave up with a sigh. It had been a hard couple of days. “It wasn’t an evil copy. It was just… me. I think that was probably the point.” She looked off to the side so she didn’t have to see Derpy watching her. “I’ve said all of those things before. My reflection has.”
Turning back to face the pegasus, Sunset put her mask back on and shrugged. “So no biggie. Let’s get moving before Daybreaker kills us with this heat, yeah?”
She made to trot away, but Derpy stopped her with a hug. Sunset just stood there, shocked and unsure of what to do, until Derpy pulled away and smiled up at her. “I think it was an evil reflection, actually,” she giggled. “’Cause what I was hearin’ didn’t sound anythin’ like th’pony I know. And I think they’d agree,” she said as she gestured towards their friends, who were all watching them, worried and in various states of disrepair. Sunset gave them a hesitant smile.
Gilda shrugged. “I mean, you kinda sucked yesterday, but at least you’re fun to tease,” she said, prompting Zecora to punch her in the arm, but Sunset just stuck her tongue out and grinned at her. The griffon grinned back.
Sassy Saddles stood up, wiping the last of the tears out of her eyes as she addressed her disheveled friends. “Well. I think we can all agree that that was bucking terrible, and that Daybreaker is definitely messing with us.”
Sunset silently noted the lack of her list. She usually would have had it out by now. Probably? Truth be told, she wasn’t too happy about how unaware she was of her… friends once she got caught up in her own reflection’s taunting. Sunset was usually so good with being aware of everything around her. Ponyville really has thrown her off her game. As she watched her friend, she saw something shift in the water.
“Sassy, watch-!“ Sunset yelled, panicked, before there was a bright flash. By the time they had all gotten their bearings again, they looked up to see two Sassy Saddles rubbing their eyes.
“Oh, you’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” Gilda said what Sunset was thinking.
The two Sassys looked at each other in alarm, each scrambling to put some distance between herself and the other. "Sashes and saddles!" They exclaimed in unison.
“There’s- My reflection! You-“ The Sassy on the left exclaimed. Sunset decided she was just going to call them Left and Right until they got this sorted out; she just hoped they wouldn’t switch sides for any reason.
“I’m- I’m not a- a reflection! You’re the reflection!” Said right.
The other five friends watched as the two squabbled for a second, hoping that maybe this would just sort itself out. It didn’t. Both Sassys turned to Sunset at the same time, both pleading, “Sunset, you have to believe me!”
Upon their singling her out, everypony else turned to stare.
“Oh so it’s my thing now? This is my thing to deal with now?”
“Are you not the clever and tricky academic? Should anypony figure this out, I assume it would be you: our skeptic.”
Sunset scrambled, trying to figure out just how she was going to figure out which was the real Sassy Saddles. She came up with nothing. Oh, well. Time to throw darts at the board and see what sticks. Or, pins, rather. “Which one of you has the list?”
Both of them lit up their horns, each levitating their identical list over to her with a hopeful look.
“Horsefeathers, I was really hoping that would work,” she muttered. Then, Sunset lit up as an idea popped into her head. A real one, this time.
She looked carefully between the two Sassys. “What was your opinion of me after our first meeting?”
Left balked. “I mean, it was… rough, but we’re together now, right?”
Right didn’t. “You were a total bitch, love, but first impressions aren't everything,” she said matter-of-factly. Then her eyes went wide and one of her hooves went to her mouth.
“Oh Luna, I’m so sorry! I don’t know why I said that! Especially after everything that just happened, and what my reflection was saying, and- BUCK!” The Sassy Saddles on the right shrieked as a spell hit the copy standing next to her right in the chest, dissolving her instantaneously. Sassy Saddles’ vision swam. “Oh, I feel woozy…” Rara darted over to catch her just in time as her legs collapsed out from under her.
Gilda side-eyed Sunset from her spot next to her. “How’d you know?”
Sunset grinned back and shrugged. “She's not wrong.”
~
The girls were on the move as soon as Sassy Saddles woke up.
As the castle ruins came into view, the forest seemed to grow wilder, almost like it was angrier. The stream became rougher too, enough so that the mares had to move to the bank to walk alongside Gilda. They refilled their canteens as they stepped out of the stream.
Eventually, their path drew them farther away from the water and deeper into the woods. Gilda and Derpy took turns flying up to make sure they were still on target, which they were. Thank Luna for small mercies, they supposed.
The party had to stop when Zecora suddenly snorted and veered off. Following their friend through the bushes, they came into a clearing, where they saw her sitting next to a large chimera. Sunset had to use her magic to keep Gilda from charging over and waking it up. She was uneasy as well, granted, but Zecora seemed completely comfortable, and she really didn’t want to upset the dangerous creature laying a hoof's length away from the zebra. At Rara’s insistence, the five just watched their friend and waited, tense and unsure.
The zebra was easily dwarfed by the chimera lying next to her. Its body and one of its heads seemed to resemble that of a white fox but much, much bigger. Its other head was a bull with sharp horns that stuck straight up. From the fluffy fur on its back grew two large blue dragon wings. It had one long tail where the fur abruptly faded into the dark green scales of an alligator. Or crocodile. One of those.
“Ah, my friend, whatever brings you so far out here?” Zecora asked the creature as she patted the fox head, which looked up at her wearily. “Were you perhaps caught by the sudden heat, unaware?”
Zecora took the three full canteens from her saddlebags and placed them in front of the chimera, who watched her with understanding and longing but didn’t move. She then went back to digging through her bag before raising her head back up with a noise of approval and a potion bottle in her mouth. Her friends watched as she helped the beast drink the water and potion. “A brew for revitalization, to help you stay awake. It would seem you need it much more than I, so your thirst you can properly slake. There is a river not too far away. You should be able to reach it if you head,” she pointed in the direction they had come from, “that way.”
Then Zecora packed her saddlebags with the now-empty canteens and bottle, stood up, and walked back over to her friends with an uncharacteristically dark look in her eyes.
“This villain has once again shown she's gone much too far. She has hurt innocent creatures as she carelessly brandishes that overblown star. Marshmallow there was not built to handle heat, but it has never been a problem – not until Daybreaker deemed herself a celestial elite.” She nudged her friends back onto the path. “Let’s go.”
Not willing to argue with the brooding zebra, the rest of the party followed.
~
The ground grew steadily rockier as they headed towards the castle, and the six girls were so preoccupied with trying not to trip, slip, or walk into a low-hanging branch that none of them saw the flash that came from nearby.
They did see, however, a bear come tearing out of the undergrowth straight for them, teeth bared. It didn’t seem to be trying all that hard to hurt any of them, all things considered, but it certainly kept them on the defensive. Regardless of what the bear’s intentions were, somepony was bound to get hurt sooner or later.
Rara watched her friends stand their ground against the irritated animal. None of them actually wanted to hurt the innocent animal, but they were all tiring out fast. Since she was the only one not fighting off their sudden, irritated guest, she had the chance to think. It just had to happen faster.
“Go! I have this handled, but you need to get out of here for it to work! I’ll catch up!”
Sunset looked at her, anxiety blowing her eyes wide. “Rara, we can’t just-“
“Go!” Rara yelled and swiped lightly at the bear to draw its attention away from her five friends, who acquiesced to her demands and ran off into the brush. They trusted her enough to assume she had some sort of plan. Good! Now all she had to do was figure out what, exactly, her plan actually was. Coloratura was not a planner, outside of music.
Wracking her brain as she dodged the bears blows, Rara struggled to remember what her marefriend did when the bigger animals on the farm acted up. The line of thought was cut short as she realized that there was no way she should have gone this long unharmed. Unless the bear was even more tired than her.
She stopped jumping around and looked up at the frustrated animal, panting. “You’re just sleepy, aren’t you?”
The bear roared back, but didn’t hit at her. It bristled, and swiped at the air in front of her, and roared again, and Rara began to understand. “You’re trying to scare us off! We most likely woke you up…”
Doing her best to make herself seem nonthreatening (and hoping that she didn’t screw up – she knew next to nothing about wild animals and she would really rather not be eaten by a bear today), Rara tried to move closer to the bear. She jumped back when it batted at her again, but noted that it didn’t seem angry anymore. Now it just looked huffy.
“I don’t blame you… it’s a bit bright out for what’s supposed to be night time. Let me just… I can help you, maybe.”
With no other course of action available, Rara began to sing. She went with one of her softer songs, a lullaby she had written for Apple Bloom back when the filly’s nightmares would keep her up.
Exhausted by its fight with the other girls and soothed by Rara’s unwavering voice, the bear found exhaustion winning out over the uncomfortably bright sun that had woken it up.
Still humming, Rara took a large leaf from a nearby tree and placed it carefully over the drowsy bear’s head, hoping it would help block out some of the sun, at least. She felt for the poor creature. They were all affected by Daybreaker’s actions, but at least the ponies (and griffon) knew why. Rara wasn’t the best with animals, but she knew they had to be feeling just as disoriented as her, if not more, considering they didn’t know why.
She smiled softly at the now-sleeping bear and let her voice taper off. Hopefully, it would be able to rest peacefully for at least a little while, now.
The adrenaline hit her like a wave, causing her legs to shake and vision to swim as Rara trotted in the direction her friends had gone. She could hear their voices faintly, and she followed that, excited to share her accomplishment that still had her buzzing. She ignored the woozy part of the excitement. Seeing their familiar colors through the leaves, she broke out of the underbrush into a sudden clearing and almost trotted off a cliff. Gilda caught her just as she slipped, and she shrieked as the griffon heaved her back on to solid ground. Rara crouched down as soon as her hooves hit ground again, looking at her tired friends with wide eyes.
“Good to know you’re not dead. And now you see our current problem,” Sunset sighed, nodding her head to the castle just across the massive ravine. There was one barrier between them and their destination; one massive, gaping barrier with bridge posts on either edge and no bridge to go along with them.
The girls looked over the cliff, into the bottomless ravine. Derpy gulped audibly. “How’re we s’posed t’get across that?”
Sassy Saddles looked at her with a weary smile. “Derpy, you have wings.”
The pegasus started and turned her head to see her own two flexing wings. “Oh yeah! I forgot ‘bout that.”
“Yeah, but the rest of you guys don’t,” Gilda groaned.
Sunset made a thoughtful noise in the back of her throat. “Can’t you two just fly us over? We can leave the bags and stuff here if it’s too heavy. Sassy can even take off her saddle.”
“I will not!” The other unicorn exclaimed, blushing.
“Usually, yeah. Be no problem. But I should be asleep right now, and my body’s really making sure I know it. I’d rather not have my wings give out while I’m halfway across with one of you.” Gilda watched the ravine with a grimace. “And while I don’t doubt Derpy’s unnatural mailmare strength, she’s like a camel. I’ve seen it. She fine one moment and then pfffffbt, unconscious the next.”
Derpy nodded proudly. “Yep!”
“Then we find another bridge. Or we make one. A unicorn, pegasus, or griffon," (she said with a glance at Gilda) "can then connect it to the other ridge,” said Zecora.
“Well, wait,” Sunset said, eyeing the other side thoughtfully. “I could maybe levitate you guys and myself over. And then Gilda and Derpy could fly themselves.”
“Aren’t you worried about your magic failing?” Sassy asked, doubt creeping into her voice.
Sunset waved her off. “Not at all. I’m up much longer than this all this time, so-“
“I hate to interrupt your planning for crossing our troublesome pitfall, but it looks like we may not need to worry after all,” Zecora said as a familiar, positively soaking wet chimera landed heavily next to them. It roared, a sound which really should not have come from either head, and then nuzzled the laughing zebra affectionately. “I see you are feeling better. Would you perhaps be willing to fly us across? It would be a wondrous help in preventing any more crucial time loss.”
The chimera roared again, and Zecora looked proudly at her friends. “That’s a yes.”
Marshmallow wasted no time in taking those who couldn’t fly across. Upon saying its goodbye (roaring, loudly), it took off, heading towards a friendlier spot to wait out this odd day than the one they had initially found it in.
The walk from the cliff to the castle’s decrepit entrance was short, almost anticlimactic after all they had been through. That didn’t make it any less imposing as they stood in the doorway. The party trotted in, nervously taking in their surroundings. Somehow, even in the staggeringly bright daylight, the ruins managed to loom over them in a more-than-sufficiently-creepy way. Sunset would hate to be here at night.
They didn’t have to wander far, as they found the Elements of Harmony in the entrance hall, sitting dormant on a tree-like set of six pedestals, only one of which was empty. Sassy Saddles ran forward, stopping at the foot of the pedestals to trot in place excitedly. “That’s it! We found them!”
“Yeah,” Sunset said softly, looking at the five odd-shaped stones in awe.
“So now what?” she heard Rara say, and she turned to see her and the others watching her expectantly. Sassy trotted back to stand with the group, the excitement making her fur stand on end.
Sunset stared up at the Elements. “All the book said was, when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed.”
Gilda cocked her head. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“Language!” Sassy lightly hit the back of Gilda’s head, and the griffon hissed at her, tail lashing.
“I… don’t know,” Sunset responded. “I have an idea, though. Stand back.”
Closing her eyes, Sunset pointed her horn at the Elements and tried to channel as pure a form of raw magic as she could. Her friends around her gasped as they started to shake, responding to her magic. Then there was a flash, a loud boom, and all of the dust and dirt that had collected over a thousand years was blasted up and out, rushing at the six girls. When the dust finally settled, Sunset dropped the shield she had thrown up around herself and her friends, and Daybreaker stood before them once again – now on the dais beside the Elements of Harmony.
Daybreaker sneered at her, and Sunset mockingly sneered back. She wasn’t scared of her anymore. She focused her magic on the Elements again. “One spark… One spark…”
Seeing the Elements react sent a shot of cold fear through Daybreaker, and she snarled. “I don’t think so!”
She flapped her wings once, and a wave of heat rushed out from her, shattering the Elements of Harmony into red-hot pieces of rock.
Sunset stared in shock as her friends started talking and moving frantically behind her.
“But-” she muttered, eyes wide and unfocused. Her mind raced to make sense of it all. What now?
Daybreaker laughed that horrible laugh, like nails on a chalkboard, sounding almost hysterical. “You childish foal! Did you really believe you could actually defeat me? You will never see your precious princess again! You will never take for granted my bounteous day ever again, for it shall last forever!”
The world came into focus again. Sunset felt Derpy draped protectively over her back. She heard Gilda yelling at Daybreaker for even daring to threaten her friend. She heard Sassy, Zecora and Rara’s supportive proclamations. And a spark lit up Sunset’s eyes as realization set in, a bright smile drawing across her face.
She looked back up at Daybreaker, a new, determined set to her jaw. She stepped forward and stamped her hoof down. “You’re wrong! You can’t destroy the Elements of Harmony! They aren’t physical stones that you can just crush under your hoof – they’re right here!”
“Excuse me?” The villain snarled.
Sunset continued, her voice sounding surer and more confident with each word. “Gilda, who refused to abandon us when she knew we were depending on here, represents the spirit of Loyalty!
“And Derpy Hooves, who taught us to laugh at ourselves and see a silver lining, represents the spirit of Laughter!
“Sassy Saddles, who didn’t hesitate to tell me the truth, even though it may have turned me against her in a moment of life-or-death! She represents the spirit of Honesty!
“Zecora, who sacrificed her own supplies for a friend in need represents the spirit of Generosity!
“And Coloratura, who not only put herself in very real danger so that it might save us, but who chose to calm that danger rather than hurt it! She represents the spirit of Kindness!
“It was the spirits of these ponies who triumphed over every obstacle you threw at us. You thought to stop us, but you only made us stronger! Your schemes only brought us closer together, closer to defeating you!”
Daybreaker growled at Sunset Shimmer, her flaming hair lashing around wildly. “You still don’t have the sixth element! Your spark,” she spat the word out, “didn’t work! I still win!”
Sunset looked at her companions, who watched her, awestruck. “No; you don’t. Because it did work, just not in the way we all thought it would. I felt it when I realized just how much you all cared about me – and how much I cared about you. How much I didn’t want you to get hurt. The spark ignited in me when I realized that you… are my friends,” she finished with wonder in her voice. She turned back to Daybreaker, face hardening again. “When the Elements are brought together – ignited – by that spark, it creates the sixth element: Magic!”
The six friends felt a different kind of warmth coming from their chests, a comfortable one that stood in stark contrast to the stifling heat Daybreaker had brought. Their chests seemed to glow as they were lifted into the air, facing a horrified Daybreaker.
“No… No!”
But her screams went unheard as a rainbow shot out from the six unlikely friends before her. It swirled around her, engulfing her entirely, and then, just as soon as it began, it was over. The sunlight seemed less harsh as the girls were lowered to the ground, where they were lain, exhausted. Sunset Shimmer pushed up on to her hooves with a groan, and the others followed, minds all reeling.
“Bust my buttons, Zecora! Look at that necklace!” Sassy Saddles exclaimed, scooting over to her friend to get a closer look. It was gold, and in the middle it framed a light blue gemstone with darker blue swirls in its center. “It matches your eyes!”
Zecora nodded back at her, tired, but satisfied. “Look at yours.”
Sassy Saddles craned her neck to look down and gasped. Around her neck was a necklace similar to Zecora’s, but instead of a blue gemstone, she had an orange gem with a diamond protruding downwards from it – it looked like one of the pins on her cutie mark.
“It’s pretty,” Rara gushed, looking at her own, which framed a lime green eighth note. She then turned to Derpy, who was giggling at her own – the same gold band framing a set of butter-yellow gemstones resembling rising bubbles.
Gilda nodded coolly, bouncing back to her normal self. “I can dig it.” Around her neck was a framed violet feather.
She looked around lazily. “Where’s Sunset?”
“I’m right here,” said the unicorn, who was standing off to the side, swaying slightly. She looked exhausted. She also looked happier than any of them had seen her since she arrived. And on her head sat a gold crown that matched their necklaces in pattern, but had a square red gem delicately balanced at the top. It stood on its corner, and four more small triangles protruded from each side.
“Oh, your crown,” Sassy said breathlessly.
Furrowing her brows, Sunset raised a hoof to her head, and, sure enough, the crown sat just behind her horn.
Gilda laughed incredulously. “You know, I thought you were just spouting a load of horseshit, but you’re right. I guess we really are the Elements of Friendship." She cringed. "Or whatever.”
“That you are,” a voice said. The six girls whipped around to look at the dais, where Princess Luna stood, watching them all with admiration and pride in her eyes.
“Princess Luna!” Sunset’s friends frantically bowed, but she galloped over, encasing her teacher in a hug. The princess put a hoof around her.
“We are proud of you, Sunset Shimmer,” she said as the mare pulled back, not mentioning the tears in her student’s eyes.
“I thought you said it was just an old pony’s tale…”
“We told you to make some friends,” Luna laughed, tapping her student’s muzzle affectionately. “We knew of Daybreaker’s return. We also knew that it was you who had to defeat her – but you could not do it until you let friendship into your heart. Now… If only someone else could as well…”
Princess Luna stood up straight, turning to address the small figure on the dias that had gone unnoticed up to now. “Princess Celestia!”
The figure tensed.
“It has been a thousand years since I last saw you,” she said, offering a hoof to the smaller mare as she unfurled. After a moment’s hesitation, she took it and shakily made her way to her hooves. “I miss you. We were meant to rule together, little sister.”
Various noises of disbelief rose from their audience, Sunset Shimmer included, which went largely ignored. They all watched hopefully as the younger alicorn stared up at her sister before a sob tore its way out of her throat.
Princess Celestia threw herself at her older sister as she started crying. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I missed you too!”
The two hugged, and Sunset couldn’t stop the smile that crawled onto her face. Looking at the two, it was hard to believe one had stood without the other for so long. Celestia was white, with the same cutie mark she had had as Daybreaker, and her light pink, twisty mane didn’t have the same ethereal quality to it as her sister’s or alternate self’s, but she truly looked like she belonged next to Princess Luna.
When the two were done, Princess Luna lovingly looked over her sister, her student, and the ponies (AND GRIFFON) she had a feeling she would be seeing a lot more of. She smiled. “Let’s go home.”
~~~
Apparently, by “home”, Princess Luna meant Ponyville’s Sugar Cube Corner, where they found Pinkie Pie ready with a small “Congratulations, You Saved All of Equestria” party. The pink mare seemed no worse for wear considering she hadn’t slept, and she was more than willing to host the group as their adventure came to a close.
Outside, the moon hung low in the dark velvet sky. The endless blue was dotted with sparkling stars that seemed brighter and more exuberant than usual.
Gilda sat at the counter with Pinkie, excitedly telling her what had happened, and Spike rested on the griffon's back, rubbing his eyes and yawning from being woken up. Derpy, Sassy Saddles, and Zecora sat at a table, chatting animatedly among themselves and snacking on the desserts Pinkie had prepared. The excitement from their journey had yet to wear off, Sassy noted as she happily put a pin in the final drawing on her list, a hastily scribbled moon floating in the night sky. At another table, Coloratura sat beside the sheepish, newly-reformed Celestia, doing her best to help the princess through her guilt with pastries. "Pinkie's a phenominal baker, but she's the best with cupcakes... If you like scones though, Gilda's the griffon for that..."
Princess Luna and Sunset Shimmer stood near the door, watching the scene before them. A wistful look had settled on Sunset’s face, and her mentor looked down at her knowingly.
“You have had a busy past few days.”
Sunset startled out of her disassociation and looked back up at her teacher. “What?”
“You have been working nonstop for many days now. We suppose it must come as a great relief that you may now go home and rest without the threat of Daybreaker looming over Equestria.”
“Oh… yeah,” Sunset responded quietly, trying to keep the sadness out of her voice. Truth be told, many of the emotions she had been feeling recently were completely new to her, and it was arguably more exhausting than the physical exertion of the day. At the same time, though, she didn’t necessarily want them to end. It was tiring, and confusing, but Sunset Shimmer wasn’t ready to give her new friends up yet. Like Tartarus she was going to tell her teacher that, though.
“What is wrong, dear student? Are you not excited to finally go back to Canterlot and resume your magical studies in the solitude you adore?”
“I… No. I don’t think I am.” Well, that resolution went straight out the window.
Luna smiled down at her, with no absence of love in her eyes. “Then we believe we know what must be done. Spike, take a missive, please.”
At her request, the baby dragon jumped off of Gilda’s back, pulling out a quill and some paper before looking up at the princess expectantly. The rest of the room fell silent as they watched curiously.
“I, Princess Luna, do hereby decree that my student, Sunset Shimmer, shall stay in Ponyville for an indeterminate amount of time to continue her studies into the Magic of Friendship, with full access to any resources she may need. She will report to me her findings regularly.”
Luna then nodded at Spike, and he sent the missive to Canterlot. Cheering filled the room, which was quickly replaced by excited chattering. Sunset found herself pulled into an aggressive hug by Gilda, which her other friends were quick to join. Pinkie Pie squealed at the counter, words coming out too fast to understand as she zipped away. The two princesses watched, one with pride and one with shame, but both ultimately happy for the excited group of girls in front of them.
At the center of her first group hug, surrounded by the warm bodies of her friends, Sunset Shimmer smiled softly to herself and nuzzled her face against Gilda’s surprisingly soft feathers. As the other five spoke excitedly about what they could do tomorrow to properly welcome her to Ponyville, Sunset closed her eyes and also thought about their future – and what it would bring.
She was new to this whole friendship thing, but here, on the precipice of change, she found that she didn’t fear it any longer. Despite her attempts to the contrary, these five girls someone managed to become her friends, and Sunset found herself more excited for the future than she ever had been before. There was nopony else she would rather face the journey ahead with.
(AND- oh, you know what? Never fucking mind.)