Celestia sighed into the microphone as she watched the antics of the girl who, in another universe, was a werewolf. An enormous, pink, fluffy werewolf. She shook her head to clear it before returning her attention to the screen on her laptop. “I’m sorry, Agent Victory, but as much as I appreciate the agency’s position, I’m afraid I cannot budge on this. The school’s facilities are for the student’s education, not real estate for federal offices.”
Sunset’s aggrieved sigh caught her attention, she looked up to see her daughter being heavily doted on by Pinky, who had somehow in the brief moment when Celestia had been looking at her computer screen had changed into a nurse’s uniform. Thank goodness it’s actually an authentic uniform and not the “Nightmare Night Sexy” variety, she mentally sighed in relief, Or I’d have some very pointed questions regarding her intentions toward my daughter. Sunset was allowing her friend to “examine” her with a series of increasingly bizarre questions, not bothering to wait for a response as she bounced from one random topic to the next. (“Do your ears hang low?” “How many licks does it take to get to the center of a taffy-pop?” “Do you hear a ringing in your ears when the devil dances by the pale moonlight?”) The former unicorn was wearing a flannel shirt over her pajamas, which was apparently enough of a hospital outfit to satisfy “nurse” Pinkie that she was playing along. Sticking from her mouth was an old-style thermometer with a comically large red bulb at the end. Satisfied that Sunset wasn’t being unduly stressed by her visitor, she returned her full attention to the agent on the screen.
“What we’re saying is that it should be both. After all, these students of yours are already starting to show some fairly unusual talents even before the Fall Formal incident. What I’m offering is to have our training program become your training program. We’d of course be integrating your staff with the agents assigned, primarily to promote continuity and trust, and along with that would come top-tier equipment for both physical fitness and monitoring the health and safety of the students.”
Before Celestia could reply, Pinkie popped up from behind her monitor, “Sorry Miss Celestia, but I’m s’posta ask you if I wanted to take Sunset out of the house. Can I, please?”
For the first time since the meeting began, Celestia’s patience came close to being tested. “Miss Pie, I’m in a meeting…”
“I know, and I wouldn’t have interrupted if this weren’t super important for Sunset, but I gotta friend that wanted to help and she doesn’t have long for her lunch break so we gotta go in the next, like, five minutes.”
Doing her best to ignore the amusement of the agent on the screen, she set the computer to the side and looked over to Sunset to assess her condition. Surprisingly, the girl who had just been in PJs and loungewear was suddenly dressed for a school day, wearing her jacket and holding her backpack in one hand and her phone in the other. The look on her face made it clear that she was just as confused by the quick change as Celestia was. The principal pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation, “Aren’t you supposed to be in class? What about your schoolwork?”
“Got that covered!” So saying, she dropped a stack of papers that appeared to be homework in Celestia’s hands and presented her phone with the other. Cranky Doodle was on the screen and scowling (not unusual for him, really).
“Principal Celestia!” snapped the codgerly social studies teacher, “Remind Miss Pie that I do not allow any sort of remote classwork,” he reached off screen and pulled back a surprisingly life-like cardboard cutout of Pinkie Pie sitting at a desk, “Even if she leaves this in her seat with her laptop’s camera pointed at the blackboard!”
Celestia’s brows furrowed, Pinkie Pie was here before Luna left this morning...again! When did she get time to set that up? I know Luna wouldn’t have done it...wait, didn’t Luna take Pinkie with her to work?! When did she get back and why didn’t I notice?! Realizing she was keeping Agent Victory waiting, she inhaled abruptly. “Cranky, just...check her homework when she gets back, and please give her the latitude for it this time, it’s as good a solution as any.” She ignored the other educator’s grumbling as Pinkie smiled even brighter, “Pinkie, just stay with Sunset and have her back here within two hours. She’s taking the day off to recover from the magic incident yesterday, not go sight-seeing in Canterlot City.”
Sunset’s face was etched with confusion and broadcast a question to Celestia as the pink girl dragged her out of the room. Celestia mouthed silently, “Just go with it for now…” and shrugged at her daughter. Sunset’s exasperated eyeroll was the last thing she saw of either teenager before the sound of the front door opening and closing could be heard.
With a beleaguered sigh, she sat back down at the desk. “Unusual talents,” indeed, she pondered briefly, I doubt Pinkie’s...Pinkie-ness was what Agent Victory had in mind when he suggested this but… She turned the screen back so she was facing the federal agent directly. She chose to ignore the smirk as the twinkle in his eye made it clear it was humor-motivated as opposed to calculating or malicious, “Alright, Mr. Victory, I’m listening. How would this new program work?”
Though Pinkie had kept up a stream-of-consciousness-style chatter all the way from the Principal’s home, as they deboarded a bus in the middle of the industrial district, Sunset finally managed to get a word in edgewise (after having dug through her phone’s menus the entire ride), her phone issuing a monotone, “Where?”
Pinkie giggled, “We’re visiting a friend at her work. Well, I say it’s her work when she actually lives there, too. She also sleeps there and eats there and…”
Sunset snorted in irritation and once again tapped, “Where?”
The poofy-haired party planner grabbed her friend’s hand and started dragging her to a nearby building, its design appearing more in the style of the Oriental peninsula than the surrounding architecture. Before they got too much closer, a sudden voice barking from a guard shack they had nearly walked right past caused Sunset to jump so high she nearly landed in Pinkie’s arms.
“WHERE do you think you’re going there, young ladies?! Nobody’s allowed into the monastery factory!”
Pinkie simply giggled, “Oh, Mr. Tracks, you know that’s not true. Mrs. Shine told me so just the other day!”
Mr. Tracks turned out to be a grizzled old man leaning out of the guard shack’s window so far he was nearly falling out of the small building. Sunset edged herself behind Pinkie as the security guard gave them the stink-eye. “MISS Shine doesn’t say anything, and you know that!” he bit back at the girls.
“Psht, tsk, pffft!” expectorated Pinkie in a nearly perfect imitation of Rarity’s dismissive attitude, “You know what I mean. Besides, she thought you’d be like this, so she had me prepare.” So saying, Pinkie pulled her phone from her purse and started tapping and swiping quickly until she found what she was looking for. She held the phone so her friend could see over her shoulder and showed a woman, nearly as tall as Celestia, wearing a stoic expression on her face and simple brown robes held closed by a tidily knotted rope and holding a sign written in what appeared to be permanent black marker reading, “Loose Tracks, your job is to lower our insurance premiums, not keep people out.”
Sunset snickered as Pinkie turned the phone for the guard to read, “Mrs. Rain Shine said that if you don’t stop keeping visitors out, she’ll have to find another guard, and that this is a pretty good gig for an older gentleman. They need a security guard to make their insurance agent happy, you need a job, it’s a win-win!” Pinkie shrugged, “Well, that’s what she told me, anyway.”
Loose Tracks glared at her and started grumbling as he pulled himself back into the booth, “...lazy, no account delinquents. Should be in school instead of bothering old men just trying to do their jobs…” he cut himself off as he closed the window to the guard shack hard enough to rattle the glass pane.
Pinkie grabbed Sunset’s hand and continued to guide Sunset inside the fence line. Sunset read the sign on the fence posted just inside the gate and tugged Pinkie’s arm, cocking a thumb at the sign and jerking her head to the guard shack with a questioning look on her face. The sign read, “Welcome to PerilousPeaks Outfitters - Your source for ethically sourced athletic gear,” and, “Visitors encouraged.”
Pinkie giggled, “Oh, yeah, it’s like Mrs. Shine said, Loose Tracks is just there because the insurance company said the factory has to have a security guard to keep their premiums down. It’s not like they don’t live here. Heck, the first time I came in by myself, he actually yelled at me. Not like, 'Get offa my prop'r'tee, ya meddlin' kids,'" Pinkie mimicked a crotchety old man, "I mean just, 'AAAAAAAAAAH!!!'” and she giggled again.
“What.” came from Sunset’s phone.
The somewhat vague question was left unanswered as Pinkie pushed open the doors to the factory and led Sunset past a reception desk. Behind the desk was a young woman wearing a familiar expression, like Maud Pie had started a trend for off facial tics, and monk’s robes similar to what the woman was wearing in the photo on Pinkie’s phone. “Morning, Blossom! I’m gonna get you that surprise birthday party, just you wait! 22 days, missy!” she winked as she hurried past. The young woman, apparently named Blossom, smiled very slightly and nodded her head at them before returning to whatever she was working on at her desk.
They pushed through a pair of doors to enter a hallway lined with alternating panel windows and paintings of mountain vistas. Plaques below the pictures apparently identified the vistas they portrayed, with names like, “Mount Wisteria,” and “North Mountain Basin.” Through the windows could be seen various assembly machines, rolling bins, and factory workers, a few wearing robes like the woman at the desk, but these were being careful to not step past yellow lines painted on the factory floor. The yellow lines appeared to be safety markers as they all appeared ten or so feet from any of the equipment. The people working the equipment wore clothing that appeared similar to the robes in color and style but were clearly made to be around factory machines. All the people in the rooms through the windows wore hardhats and safety glasses...and the same stoic expression as Rain Shine had in the photos and Blossom at the desk. Lidded gazes and closed, flattened mouths dominated; were it not for the occasional focused stare or look of intense concentration, they could have all had full-face Botox treatments and gotten their faces stuck that way. Shaking her head with a look of disbelief on her face, Sunset hurried to catch up to Pinkie, who had been skipping down the hall during their short trek down the hallway. “...and she really doesn’t like surprises since she came back from overseas. I guess the military had her doing something that makes her reeeeal jumpy around loud noises, so I give her plenty of warning for all my surprise parties. I think she likes them anyway, at least when I warn her about the surprise party in advance. Oh, hey, we’re here!”
Pinkie stopped in front of a regular looking door that had an engraved 60’s-style faux-wood grain sign on it that said, “Break Room.” Before Sunset could respond, Pinkie pushed open the door and pulled Sunset in after her.
The room had a few occupants, all of whom were wearing monk’s robes and stoic expressions with an obvious equipment worker sitting quietly in the corner. Save for the shuffling of shoes on laminate tile and clothing as the people moved and the low, almost inaudible bass thrum of the operating machinery on the other side of the wall, the room was silent. A pair of service windows leading into what was obviously a small service kitchen with a handful of people staffing it, all wearing simple robe-like uniforms that were safe for kitchen work. While half their faces were covered with simple disposable masks covering their nose and mouth, their eyes had the same mild, stoic expression that everyone they had encountered in the factory. The quiet wasn't the enforced quiet of a library, it was the worshipful quiet of a temple.
And then it suddenly wasn’t, “Pinkie! Hey, what are you doing here so early? Did you skip school again, ya delinquent?” Any rancor in the words was belied by the jovial, playful nature of the voice. Sunset started and they turned to see a woman, also in monk's robes with the hood up but not covering her face, standing up from a table with a half-eaten lunch. She swept over and grabbed Pinkie up in an enthusiastic hug.
The pink girl giggled and replied, "Noperonni!" she chirped, "I even got the principal's permission to bring her daughter with me!"
Sunset glanced around at the other people in the room and saw a couple watching with curiosity and more than a few showing signs of irritation at the clearly unwelcome noise. Suddenly, she was grabbed up in a great big hug by the robed woman, "Oh, you're Pinkie's new friend that she's been telling me about! I'm Autumn Blaze and I'm so glad to meet you finally! I gotta warn you, I'm a hugger." Sunset's only reply was a wheeze of breath and some facial twitches, "Ooooh, right! Sorry!" Dropping Sunset and helping her maintain her balance, she pulled out a chair that Sunset was clearly grateful to accept.
For several minutes Pinkie and Autumn chattered happily, catching up on ranging on topics Sunset either had no interest in or only tangential awareness of the subject. Some of the other people in robes would occasionally glare at their table, and Sunset's eyes tracked a couple leaving hastily, either leaving their food on the table or hastily packing it up and tossing their trash in the waste bin by the break room door.
"So, Sunset, Pinkie tells me you can't talk, some sort of disability…?" the woman left the question hanging.
Sunset's eyebrows drew together. She pulled out her phone and tapped twice. "Yes," and then "No," came from the phone in monotone.
"Ah, it's complicated, huh?" Autumn nodded sagely and continued without waiting for an answer, "We got all sorts here at the monastery." At Sunset's confused blinking, the woman clarified, "Oh, Pinkie didn't tell you? Our factory doubles as a monastery. Everyone here has taken a vow of silence for whatever reasons they had to bring them here. I mean, some people are quite open with their reason; well, as open as you can be without actually saying anything. But there's a big-ol' book out in the lobby of people who've joined the order and wanted to share their story."
She pointed to one of the others in the room, "Radiant Sunset over there came from an abusive family when he was 19. His dad hit him...alot...and Radiant realized he was showing the same temper as his old man and came to find a place that would help him manage his anger. He decided to become a lifer after his 2-year sabbatical ended."
Autumn waved to the door to the breakroom, "Blossom Burst has PTSD from her time in the military. Never did find out what caused it, but then that's between her and her maker, so whatever, but she realized she was one public disagreement from a jail sentence or a stint in the shrink ward so she came here."
Sunset tilted her head to the side, one eyebrow raised. "Oh, me?" replied the other woman, "My parents were lifers," a sad smile crossed her face, "Just made sense for me to join the family business, if you will, and keep it going. I...well, I just had a lifestyle gut check that made me realize that maybe the life-long vow of silence wasn't my jam, 'course, the factory's my home, so they couldn't exactly toss me out…"
The apparent monk went quiet at the same time as every eye in the break room and kitchen went to the break room door, which had just opened to reveal the tall woman from the photos on Pinkie's phone.
Pinkie jumped up and waved her hand like she was on the other side of a high school cafeteria instead of just the other side of a much smaller break room, "Oooh, ooh, Mrs. Shine! Over here!"
Eyebrow arched, the taller woman practically glided through the room. In her hands was what appeared to be a silver tray with some objects on it. The objects in question were revealed to be a traditional Kirinese calligraphy set, complete with writing brush, a block of ink, a sloped stone with a shallow well in one end, a small cylinder of water, and a pad of paper.
"Oooooooh…" Pinkie groaned and pulled out her phone. At Sunset's questioning glance, she said, "Texting Principal Celestia, we're going to be here for a while."
Message sent, they settled in to watch as Rain Shine wet the stone and began grinding the ink stick on it, preparing to write out a message in the most patience-demanding way possible.
The night of Sunset's suicide attempt…
Pinkie was bawling into her hands, her normally very poofy hair was falling in sagging curls around her face. She was practically in Autumn's lap as she cried, sobs wracking her frame as the older woman gently stroked the girls back, attempting to sooth her.
"...a...an…'n then they said we couldn't all get in th'am…" she drew in a shuddering breath, "...ambulance…'n Rainbow was gonna punch the EMT, and Rarity convinced them to let one of us go, and I wanted to but I couldn't talk 'cause it was so scary and.." another convulsing sob shook the girl, "...'n Applejack went and said she'd call her Granny, 'n I called Maud to take me to the hospital…" she sniffled and took the facial tissue Autumn offered and blew her nose into it. The thing was soaked through in an instant and Pinkie almost absently dropped it into the rapidly filling trash bin her friend held out for her. "Thanks…" she muttered around her sobs for probably the hundredth time.
She stayed quiet, letting low moaning sobs out as Autumn quietly held the girl, being a rock of support as Pinkie vented her emotional overload from the events of the day. "They wouldn't let us see Sunny," she finally said when her breathing started approaching normal, "Only Applejack had any idea what her condition was, and that was only 'cause she had rode over in the ambulance and they assumed they were sisters." Pinkie sniffled and wiped under her nose with the back of her arm. Autumn winced slightly at the unhygienic display and wiped Pinkies arm off with another tissue before offering a fresh one. Pinkie took it with a nod, "After that, there wasn't much point in staying around. Granny got Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy drove home, Rainbow got her dad to come get her. I...I couldn't go home yet." She took another shuddering breath, "I...I just...started walking. I couldn't be at the hospital, I couldn't go home yet, so I...I guess I recognized the area and that's why I came here so late."
Autumn blaze looked at the cell phone Pinkie had tossed on the bed, an inbound text message turning on the phone's display to show the time; 11:08 PM. "It is...rather late…" said the older woman.
Pinkie sighed again, "Yeah, Maud must be worried sick." She picked up the phone and unlocked the screen, her eyes widening as she read the text and then smacking her forehead, "OH DUH! I'm so stupid!" so announcing, she started smacking her head with her fist.
Now alarmed, Autumn grabbed Pinkie's wrist, "Pinkie! Stop!" she gently pushed the girl's arms down and put her other hand on Pinkie's shoulder, "What did the text say?"
Pinkie looked like someone had just taken her golden retriever out behind the woodshed for a date with a rifle, "Sunset...Sunset doesn't have any family. She's an orphan." Pinkie's face scrunched up in anger, "I mean, of course she's an orphan, she comes from another world, duh Pinkie!" a brief, half-hearted struggle occurred where she was clearly about to start smacking her head again but Autumn held her hand down. With an angry huff, Pinkie continued, "A magical princess gives us gifts of magical magic and one job...one job, to be her friend, and we screw it up so bad…" another tear leaked down her cheek, "...so bad…"
Autumn just pulled Pinkie into a hug. "Pinkie, if you ask me, and you haven't, but if you did, I'd say you're already a great friend!"
A muffled, "Mrph?!" came from the shoulder she'd buried Pinkie's head in.
"Yes, Pinkie, you're a wonderful friend to her. Think about it," the monk pulled Pinkie's face out of her robes and held her by her shoulders, "Just last week you were telling me that you wished she would just drop off the face of the earth because she was such a ‘meanie pants,’ and now you’re absolutely heartbroken because you couldn’t be there for her.” Autumn giggled, “And you saved her life, Pinkie, that’s a pretty big deal when it comes to being a friend!”
Pinkie hiccupped a few times, wiping the tears from her cheeks, “Yeah…yeah!” suddenly, it was as if her hair simply…inflated. Autumn flinched in surprise as the pink curls suddenly bounced back to their normally fluffy state. “I’m a GREAT friend! I’m going to go over to the hospital and I’m going to show Sunset Shimmer so much friendship!” As the girl’s hair poofed out from her enthusiasm, an unfazed Autumn Blaze cheered like Pinkie’s own personal pep squad, “By the time I’m done, she’s going to Feel The Friendship!”
A victorious pose was interrupted by a blipping chime from her phone. She glanced at the screen and cringed, “…aaaand I’m gonna have to do it tomorrow, Maude’s asking where I am, she’s at the hospital right now.”
The older woman giggled, “Well, let her know she can pick you up here. Don’t want you walking around the warehouse district after dark, after all.” So saying, she stood and put Pinkie in a one armed hug and guided her to the door. “Let’s go, I’ll walk you out.”
As they walked, Pinkie sighed, “Thanks Autumn, I guess I needed a friend too.”
With a smile to her friend, Autumn nodded sagely, “We all need friends sometimes, especially when life hits you in the kidney.”
The teenager giggled, somewhat mutedly, at the mental image. “Speaking of…how’d it go at the doctor’s office?”
With a melancholic sigh, Autumn Blaze’s smile turned wistful, “Not so good. I mean, they did say it was a long shot, and they did everything they could, but apparently…”
Pinkie remained silent as her friend trailed off, just hugging her closely.
“But!” if the sudden interjection surprised her, Pinkie didn’t show it. Autumn continued, “The good part is they’ve improved their procedure! Apparently, the work they had to do to even run the tests to see if I could take a donor kidney meant they overcame several obstacles that kept them from helping others. I heard they were already getting treatment protocols set up for five other patients that they were expecting to have to get ready for hospice care. They’re calling it the Blaze Protocol!”
Pinkie’s smile returned full force, “That’s awesome!” she began gesticulating as Autumn opened the front door, “I can see it now, in big, bold letters, ‘The Blaze Protocol, coming soon to a theater near you!’”
Autumn’s laughter could be heard in the factory even after the door closed behind them.
“…and while I do understand that my current life’s path, the one that I started on after we parted ways in our college days, may make it a challenge for someone who’s love of words was legendary among our group of friends, it would only add to the sense of daily wonder and tranquility I experience in my daily life if we were to rekindle our relationship, even if it were just as good friends.”
“I also look forward to getting to know your sister, whom I hadn’t had the chance to meet while we were in school due to the circumstances that caused you to cut your second year short.”
Celestia wiped absently at the wet spot that appeared on the paper before it could soak all the way in, realizing that it was her own tear in the instant before another appeared. Goddess, Luna would go crazy trying to ‘talk’ with Rain Shine these days… she giggled absently as she continued reading.
“With my responsibilities, now a great many more than I ever dreamed, I truly do understand in ways that I never could before your obligation to your sister. Though, of course, every person in need of healing is different, having helped so many others, even just briefly in some cases, I believe I now understand the love for Luna in ways I never could before.”
Sunset was sitting next to her, listening as Celestia read the note out loud. She had intended to wait for Luna to get home to deal with the emotional…mess that remembering her time with Rain, a bond that began being two of the tallest women on campus, but swiftly grew into a hot, blazing passion that Celestia had never experienced before or since. But along with that fire that made their intimate moments so memorable came the burn of imagined slights and misunderstandings that flared into a schism that would eventually cause the relationship to end. It had hurt Celestia deeply, even now she felt the old scar on her heart sizzle with both kinds of heat.
A gentle squeezing on her wrist brought her out of her introspection and she looked up at Sunset, the teenager’s gentle gaze flickering from the paper to Celestia and back. The principal smiled and turned back to the page of dense calligraphy.
“Being the principal of a school as well as adopting a daughter may not have been what I imagined your life’s path would be, but it nonetheless brings me joy to see that you have built your family up again, as well as building a legacy that will endure.”
Celestia sniffled then chuckled, “Rain Shine always did like to talk. I can’t imagine how long it took her to write this, no wonder you were late getting home.”
Turning the page over, she continued, “I would love to formally invite you and Luna, as well as your daughter and her friends, to the factory. Your student Pinkie Pie will perform wonderfully as a tour guide and Autumn Blaze has volunteered to be an ambassador to the students. We do, of course, recognize that contemplative silence, vow or not, is not a good fit for teenage attention spans.”
Both women, both mature and teenaged, giggled at that.
“Though I know that I have not real right to ask, I feel I must beg forgiveness for the pain I caused you when we had our parting. I know now the demands I was making of you were unreasonable and, in some ways, unconscionable. I am truly sorry and have felt the pain of hoisting my own petard so deeply since I realized the trap I had laid for myself.”
Celestia sighed again, this time laden with the pain of regret, “Oh, Rain, I forgave you…so long ago…” Sunset wrapped an arm around her mother and hugged gently.
After a few moments, Celestia read the last of the letter, “In sincerest hopes that we can be friends again, I close with a riddle. Your daughter has it with instructions on presenting it to you, and I will leave you with one hint; your science teacher and your language arts teacher both teach this subject in their class. With friendship, if not more, Rain Shine.”
Quizzical expression on her face, Celestia turned to Sunset, who now had a slightly impish expression. Without prompting Sunset pulled an envelope out of her jacket pocket. The packet wasn’t sealed, and in moments Sunset had dumped the contents onto the kitchenette table.
A smile returned to Celestia’s expression, “Oh, Rain always did love origami…” And this was truly paper folding taken to high art. A stylized sun with a distinct pattern drawn on it, a series of shades and squiggles that hinted at an image but couldn’t be fully discerned. Next to it was a cloud, carefully folded so as to hint at fluffiness and rain, though how that had been achieved with just folds of paper Celestia couldn’t guess. Where the sun had drawn art on it, this papercraft had a negative pattern cut out of it. It looked almost, but not quite, like an arch composed of triangles and quadrilaterals, but there were enough extra cutouts that created significant enough “noise” in the paper sculpture that she couldn’t be sure if it was an arch or something else.
A riddle… she thought, and glancing at Sunset realized that the reveal of the pieces was the entirety of the presentation and the remainder would be for Celestia to figure out.
Pondering, she held the two designs in her hands. The sun was a dead ringer in shape to the cutiemark inscribed on her sword’s crosspiece. So, I guess that’s really my cutiemark… she contemplated it for a moment longer and realized that she could see some vague similarity to the pattern draw on the sun and the voids on the raincloud. She placed the cloud on the sun and realized the holes formed a filter, and that there was an outline on the sun that hadn’t been obvious without the cloud. A memory teased her conscious mind, something that Rain Shine had started saying just about two weeks before their breakup after having encountered one of the order’s monks, one who was on a six-month hiatus between the renewals of their two-year vow of silence for the purpose of finding others in the community who may need the refuge of the monastery factory.
“…Rainbows! Of course!” she gasped out. She lined up the cloud with the outline, realizing it was slightly misaligned she tweaked the positioning, and before their eyes the eye twisting patterns merged to show a rainbow that was only visible when the two pieces were properly fixed.
Celestia started chuckling and looked up at Sunset. At the girl’s curious expression, she said, “It was one of Rain’s favorite sayings from the monks, ‘Rainbows can’t light up the sky unless you let it rain.’” She indicated the papercraft puzzle, “It means that you can’t have the good that comes in life if you’re unwilling to experience the bad.”
Sunset smiled, her eyes lighting up in understanding as she began to take a deep breath…and then suddenly gasped, her form shuddering. Celestia was about to scramble to the girl’s side when Sunset’s eyes lit up in a familiar way, the second time in one day. The projection of the odd gear shape lighting up yellow and then going out before Sunset sagged against the table.
Celestia smiled, “Well, let’s try to get ahead of it this time,” she said as she gently pulled Sunset to a standing position and guided the girl down the hall to her room. Sunset, panting like she had run a mile, just nodded her head tiredly.