//------------------------------// // Repercussions, Consequences, and the Days That Followed // Story: Consequences // by shallow15 //------------------------------// Firecracker Burst's funeral was held the following Saturday. The turnout from Canterlot High was substantial. Everyone said it was a lovely service, and offered their condolences to Blazing Spark and Shiny Stars. Firecracker's parents nodded and smiled and said all the right things. Sunset Shimmer watched from a distance as the funeral began to break up. That was it. It was finally over. Soon, the coffin would be in the ground, Firecracker's parents would finally say goodbye to their late daughter, and the entire nightmare of the last few weeks would be behind everyone involved. “I'm surprised you didn't come with your friends.” Sunset blinked and turned to find Gardenia Glow standing next to her. Firecracker's girlfriend ran a hand through her hair. “I didn't see you at the service at the church.” “I was in the back of the room,” Sunset explained. “I thought it'd be better if I just hid in the crowd. Didn't want to agitate her parents again.” Gardenia nodded. “I can see that.” They stood there in silence, watching as the funeral attendees went their separate ways. After a while, Firecracker's parents began to walk away from the grave site, leaving the coffin behind. “So, who's in there?” Gardenia asked, nodding at the coffin. “As far as I know, no one,” Sunset answered. There hadn't been anything left of Firecracker to bury. “That fed help you set all this up?” “Mm-hmm.” “How did you arrange that?” “Helped her solve another case she was working on,” Sunset said. Not the whole truth, but Gardenia didn't really need to know or necessarily care about that. “In return, we got her off our backs, and she helped arrange all... this.” Gardenia nodded again. “So what does the world at large think happened to her?” “Accident in the woods. She went for a hike and slipped off a cliff.” Gardenia finally turned her head to look at Sunset. “That's pretty thin.” “Tempest said the simpler the story, the better,” said Sunset. “Less chance of it unraveling.” Gardenia let out a sound of assent. “I suppose that makes sense.” The two of them stood for a moment, watching as the coffin was lowered into the grave. Sunset turned her own head to look at Gardenia. “Did you get your sister set up with your aunt?” she asked. “Next week. She's staying with me for now. We had that funeral while you were... gone.” Sunset nodded. “I should probably go.” “Yeah,” said Gardenia. “Me too.” The two of them began to walk away from each other. After a few steps, Sunset turned around. “Gardenia!” Gardenia paused, and looked back over her shoulder. “What is it, Sunset?” Sunset opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. “Good luck, Gardenia.” Gardenia looked at her then walked back. “I tried to kill myself because of you. Did you know that?” Sunset swallowed and nodded. “Yeah. Firecracker told Rarity. Rarity told me. I don't know what to say. Nothing sounds right.” “Then don't say anything, because honestly, I don't want to hear it. You hurt me, Sunset Shimmer. You hurt me in a way that you can't fix. But, like I said before, I forgive you for all of that. And if this really is all over, then let's just say goodbye and try very hard to never see each other again.” Sunset swallowed again and nodded. Gardenia let out a sigh through her nose, turned, and walked away. Sunday, the girls convened at Rarity's house to help her move back to her upstairs bedroom from the downstairs guest room where she'd been sleeping since her paralysis. It didn't take long, since there was no furniture moving involved. Within a couple of hours, all seven of them were eating pizza and relaxing. Rarity had excused herself a few minutes before. As Applejack and Rainbow Dash began arguing over who would get the last slice of pizza, she came back into the room, carrying a large white garment box. Rarity sat down on the bed next to Sunset and placed the box on her lap. Sunset looked down at the box in confusion. “What's this?” Rarity smiled. “Just a little something I've been working on for you during the last couple of weeks. Go try it on!” “What, without looking at it?” “Surprise us all, darling!” Rarity insisted. “I think it's some of my best work to date.” “Well, if you insist.” Sunset got up from the bed and went into Rarity's huge walk in closet. “What did you make her?” Applejack asked. “Remember when you two were planning to go to Klugetown?” Rarity asked. “Sunset said she was having doubts about wearing her old outfit. I thought maybe a change was in order.” As if on cue, the bedroom door opened and Sunset walked in. The girls let out assorted noises of approval and surprise. Sunset was dressed in an orange top that left her shoulders bare. Her cutie mark was stenciled onto the front and accented with glitter. A magenta skirt was wrapped around her hips and featured two buckles that held it in place. A black studded belt separated the two items. A matching pair of black ankle boots with similar studded straps were on her feet. But the capper was the leather vest with gold studs on the collar and lapels. The entire ensemble said tough, but friendly. Sunset herself was grinning from ear to ear. Tears were visible in the corner of her eyes. “Do you like it, darling?” Rarity asked. “It's perfect!” Sunset cheered. “How did you do this?” “When we talked about your old outfit, I noticed that you still had a little nostalgia for it, so I thought perhaps you needed something similar, but different. So I simply reversed the colors of the top and bottom, letting everyone know that you've turned yourself around. I made things a little more open, making you seem more inviting. And right there...” Rarity pointed at Sunset's chest. “Your insignia.” “Cutie mark,” Sunset automatically corrected. Rarity smiled. “Either way, darling. You mentioned something about accepting it again, so it seemed time to start wearing it openly.” Sunset came forward and hugged her friend. “Thank you so much!” Rarity returned the hug. And soon, Sunset found herself surrounded by her friends in another group hug. After a few moments, they separated and went back to chatting, goofing around, and other assorted activities. Sunset glanced at herself in her new outfit again in the mirror. It felt good. Another crisis had been dealt with, and they had all come out of it stronger than ever. She felt like she could take on anything the world, or the magic, could throw at her. Suddenly, there was a loud pounding sound and the door to the bedroom burst open, revealing a very flushed and disheveled Princess Twilight Sparkle. She looked at the group with a crazed eye. “WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?!” she yelled, concern in her voice. The other girls looked at her, then at each other, then burst out laughing. Princess Twilight blinked, then stared at them, one eye twitching. “Did I miss something?” she asked. Sunset waved her into the room. “Come on in, Princess. I think we've all got a lot to catch each other up on.” “And that's it?” asked the interim director of STORM over the sound system in Tempest's rental car. “Yes, ma'am. They've agreed to the informal reports now that the funeral has been taken care of.” “Good, I'm glad.” “Anything else we need out here, ma'am?” Tempest asked. “No, head back to the office tomorrow, Tempest. I think we're done in Canterlot City for a while. Thank you.” “Thank you, Director Shimmer.” Tempest ended the call and pulled out into traffic.