Sunset didn't respond. She just stared, blankly, at an angle towards the ground, overwhelmed by the conversation she'd just had. Rarity stretched, de-stressing her body after the tension of the ordeal. "It's alright if you need a moment, dear. I'm afraid all this chatter has…" She interrupted herself with a yawn. "…has taken quite a bit out of me, too."
"I—" Sunset stammered. She looked up and found Rarity there, meeting her gaze. "I don't know what to say. I… Thank you. Thank you so much for this. For everything. I-I'll do what I can with your advice. And I'm touched beyond words that you were able to trust me with your feelings like that."
"Oh, come now, it's nothing."
"No, really. I mean it. I don't know if we've ever had a talk like this before, and I'm only disappointed we couldn't have had it sooner."
"Aw." She embraced Sunset yet again, and this time Sunset instantly reciprocated. "Any time, darling. Any time."
They stayed like that for a few happy moments before eventually withdrawing. Sunset still didn't feel ready to go back inside, however.
"Remind me, you're going to the…"
"Zephyr Heights School of Fashion. I still can't believe I got in!"
"Honestly, I don't even know where that is. It's the only place I've heard of in this world that doesn't have an equivalent in Equestria!"
"It's a fairly recent development, actually, built in its entirety in the last decade. A planned community, and an extraordinarily successful one too. Perhaps the pony world will get one of its own in time. But the school has been around that general area for decades; it merely renamed itself to capitalize on all the hype. Ah, it's a dream come true…" She looked off into space for a moment, before her face fell slightly as she turned back to face Sunset. "But yes, sadly, it is rather far away from Canterlot… you're headed off to Crystal Arts, aren't you?"
Sunset nodded.
"As if Flanksy would ever dream of going anywhere else," Rarity mused. "Well, it's not very far from Twilight over at CrysTech, at least. You could spend every weekend together if schoolwork permits! I certainly won't have any such luxury."
"That's alright… I'm sure Pinkie already has thousands of ideas for virtual meetups for us all set to go!"
"Oh, it's not that. I have full confidence that we'll all keep in close contact no matter how far apart we are. But I don't look forward to the idea that soon that'll be the only way we keep in contact most of the time."
"I know the feeling. Like I said before, I don't think it's helping with my stress at all. And speaking as someone whose powers work through touch, well, it isn't gonna feel the same."
Rarity cocked her head slightly. "Well, that'll be true with regard to the seven of us. But with all we've spent learning about friendship these past few years, surely it'll be easy for us to make a few new ones in person, right?"
Sunset smirked. "We can only hope. Do you want to go back inside?"
Rarity shot up. "Yes! It's time to salvage some beauty sleep out of this night! And just look what this heat is doing to my hair!"
Sunset stood up with her and moved to grab the sliding-glass door handle. "Thank you so much. It meant everything."
Rarity beamed. "Of course, darling. Any time."