“So you really did it,” the pony Rarity said. “You found the Elements of Harmony!”
They’d relocated to the band room, away from the noisy and cramped gym. The pony-siders stood on the left side of the room; their human counterparts stood on the right. In the center of the room sat the dormant elements, arranged in a circle. Sunset, Twilight, and Starlight stood by the door. Ember sat in a chair in the corner.
“Been a long time since we saw the Elements like this,” pony Applejack said.
Pony Rainbow Dash squinted. “Weren’t there only five of these last time?”
“I’m pretty sure there were,” pony Rarity said. “One of them must be Magic, then.”
Pony Rainbow turned to Sunset. “What gives?”
Sunset shrugged. “We just found them like this.”
“So, what now?” the human Rainbow Dash said. “We’ve got the Elements, we’ve got two sets of bearers, what do we have to do to wake these things up?”
“I… don’t know,” Sunset admitted. She turned to the ponies. “How did you all awaken them the first time?”
The pony-siders looked at each other.
“We… don’t really know,” pony Applejack said. “Twilight was the one who did it.”
“Yeah,” pony Pinkie said. “We were just along for the ride.”
“There was a prophecy, as I recall,” pony Rarity said. “Something about a spark?”
“When the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed,” Sunset said.
The pony-siders all turned to look at her.
“Yes, I… believe that was it,” Rarity said. “You seem to know an awful lot about the Elements, Sunset.”
“I did my research before I, uh…” Sunset started, then stopped. “Actually, it’s not important.”
“Well, I think the spark back then was our friendship,” pony Fluttershy said.
“But we have all six elements here already,” pony Rainbow pointed out. “So does the spark even matter?”
“…Maybe not?”
“Your friendship definitely does,” Sunset said. “At least, it did on this side. That’s how you guys—” she gestured towards the humans on the right side of the room “—became Elements.”
“Okay, friendship’s good and all that,” pony Rainbow said. “The problem is…”
“Twilight,” pony Applejack said, naming at last the elephant in the room.
Sunset stepped forwards. “I think—I’m hoping—that one of us three can act as a substitute.”
“You?” pony Rainbow said. “Human Twilight I get, and I guess Starlight might fit, but…”
“I’ve had experience with the Element of Magic before,” Sunset said.
“You stole it, you mean.”
“Does it matter?” Sunset said. “It’s just a possibility.”
“Yeah, Rainbow,” Applejack said. “Knock it off. It doesn’t hurt us any if Sunset tries.”
Rainbow snorted and crossed her arms. “Fine.”
“So, um…” Starlight began. “What do we do now?”
Silence filled the room.
“I guess we could just… try holding them, maybe?” Sunset said. “Make physical contact.”
“Sounds like as good a plan as any,” pony Applejack said. “C’mon, everypony, let’s give it a try.”
Everyone moved towards the Elements.
“Honesty,” Applejack said, placing her hand on her Element. Her human counterpart did the same.
The two Fluttershys nodded to one another. “Kindness,” they said, as they touched their orb.
“Laughter!” Human Pinkie said, her pony self joining in, but a little quieter. They set their hands on the Element.
The two Rarities placed their hands on their orb. “Generosity.”
The two Rainbows approached their Element. “Loyalty,” they said, touching it in unison.
“And…” Sunset said. She swallowed, looked to her right at Twilight, to her left at Starlight.
They all nodded.
“Magic!” they said. All three of them set their palms on the Element…
…
…
…
…and nothing happened.
Starlight stared at the Element of Magic, at all the Elements, waiting for something, a spark, a sign, anything to happen.
Nothing did.
“It’s… not working,” she said. She felt something heavy settle in the pit of her stomach.
“No,” Sunset hissed. “Come on! It has to!”
Moments passed, and still there was nothing.
“Please…” Sunset whispered.
The Elements did not heed her words.
Slowly, giving in one by one, the others removed their hands from their orbs. All except for Sunset.
Twilight spoke up. “Sunset…”
Sunset lowered her head, clenching her eyes shut. Her hand slipped from the Element, dangling down limp by her side.
“I don’t get it,” pony Applejack said. “The Elements have always come through for us in the past…”
“Well, I think the issue’s pretty obvious,” pony Rainbow shot back. “No Twilight. It was never gonna work without her.”
She turned to Sunset, whose eyes were still shut and pointed at the floor. “And there was no way you,” she said, pointing at her, “could ever be her replacement.”
“Hey!” the human Rainbow snapped. “You leave Sunset alone! She’s trying her hardest for you guys!”
“Oh yeah?” pony Rainbow said, turning on her counterpart. “Well that’s not gotten us very far, has it? We’ve got the Elements, but there’s no way we can use them, and she should’ve known that!”
“Why you—”
“No, Rainbow,” Sunset said. “It’s okay.”
She exhaled. When she looked up, her eyes were hardened. She turned to face the pony Rainbow Dash.
“If you want to blame me, that’s fine. This was my plan. I’m the one who thought we might be able to fix things with the Elements. If anyone is to blame, it’s me for giving you all false hope.”
“Sunset, this isn’t your fault!” Twilight said. “You didn’t know the Elements would be like this.”
The other humans nodded their agreement, as did most of the ponies.
“She’s right, Rainbow,” pony Applejack said. “The Elements were our best shot, you know that. Sunset did a mighty good job to even get them back here. We took a long shot and missed. That isn’t on her.”
“Why are you defending her!?” Rainbow shouted. “She’s the one who said we could use them without Twilight!”
Applejack narrowed her eyes. “I’m defending her because you’re being unreasonable. What in tarnation’s gotten into you, Rainbow?”
“I—”
“I understand how you must feel,” Sunset said, and everyone turned towards her. “It must be really hard for you to have to sit around and drag your hooves waiting because you can’t do anything to help your friends. I get that. I would feel the same way if our situations were reversed.”
Rainbow opened her mouth, but no words came out.
“And if you need someone to take out that frustration on, I don’t mind being it,” Sunset said. “Whatever makes things more bearable.”
“That’s not fair to you,” Starlight said. “You shouldn’t have to be Rainbow’s punching bag.” She glared at her Rainbow Dash.
“She’s right, Rainbow,” pony Fluttershy said.
“It’s not nice,” Pinkie said.
Rainbow looked at her friends. “Seriously? Are all of you siding with her!?”
They all nodded.
“You…” Rainbow scowled. “Fine! Have it your way!”
She turned and ran off, out the door to the room and away from everyone else.
“Rainbow…” pony Applejack said. She shook her head and turned to look at Sunset. “I’m sorry about her. She’s just taking this hard. We all are.”
“You didn’t have to defend me,” Sunset said. “But thanks.”
“So, uh…” human Rainbow began. “What now?”
Twilight sat down at her desk in the tent and tried her best not to stare.
They’d brought the Elements back to the tent; they now sat on one of Twilight’s desks. Their other friends had been dismissed and had left one by one after attempting to console Sunset, until it was just the two of them. Even Starlight and Ember had gone away somewhere.
Sunset herself sat in a folding chair on the other side of the tent. To Twilight, she looked defeated. Frail, almost. Like a gust of wind could knock her down and she’d never get back up again.
Twilight swallowed.
“Sunset…”
“I’m so stupid,” Sunset said, holding her head in her hands.
“You’re not stupid,” Twilight said. “You didn’t—”
“I am,” Sunset said. “How could I have ever thought that one of us could replace Princess Twilight? I mean, she’s the Princess of Friendship, and we’re just… I’m just… agh!”
She mussed up her own hair.
“I led our friends into one of the most dangerous places in Equestria for nothing. We could have been killed. For no reason. If we can’t awaken the Elements, they might as well just be plain, un-magical rocks!”
“That’s not true,” Twilight said.
Sunset looked up. “How?”
“W-well,” Twilight said, “we know they can be awakened. We just need to figure out how. If we can’t awaken them with the bearers, then we’ll just have to find another way… right?”
“Assuming there is another way,” Sunset said.
“Well, yeah, but…”
Sunset looked down again. She let out a long breath.
“This was kinda my last hope, y’know?” she said. “I don’t… I don’t know what else to do now. What can we do? If we can’t rely on the Elements of Harmony, then what can we possibly do to save Equestria?”
Twilight didn’t have an answer to that. So, instead:
“I’ll… do some tests on the Elements,” Twilight said. “Maybe I can find out something.” She tried to make her smile a reassuring one. “Don’t give up hope yet. We can still find a way to turn this around.”
Sunset looked at her. She sighed.
“Well, if anyone can, it’s you,” she said, smiling just a little bit, but her voice betrayed her. “Thanks. I, uh… I think I’ll go home for the day. Call me if you find anything.”
Twilight nodded. “I will.”
“Rainbow!” Starlight called out. The girl in question turned around.
They were behind the school; Rainbow was leaning against a brick wall. Starlight ran up to her.
“There you are,” she said. “I was looking all over for you.”
Rainbow’s eyes were hard. “Yeah, well, I didn’t exactly want to be found,” she said. “What do you want, Starlight? Are you here to tell me I’m wrong about Sunset, too?”
Starlight bit her lip. “Well…”
Rainbow closed her eyes and exhaled.
“Rainbow…”
“Look, I get it, okay?” Rainbow said, opening her eyes again. “Everyone else is happy Sunset’s doing her thing. You don’t have to tell me.”
“Fine,” Starlight said. “Then you tell me something.”
Rainbow looked surprised at Starlight’s sudden tone change. Good; that was what Starlight wanted.
“Why do you keep blaming Sunset for every little thing that goes wrong?” Starlight asked. “Even when it’s not her fault?”
“I—she—” Rainbow let out an exasperated grunt. “Because who else am I supposed to blame? She should be doing a better job! She’s in charge of this whole thing you guys are doing and everything still keeps going wrong!”
“But why do you need to blame someone for that?” Starlight said. “Why not blame all of us? I’m as much at fault as Sunset for what happened to Rarity! Why don’t you blame me?”
“Because you’re my friend,” Rainbow said. “I trust you.”
“Why can’t you trust Sunset, too?”
“Because…” Rainbow screwed her face up. “Because I just can’t, okay?”
She turned away from Starlight. “What’s it even matter to you? Why are you getting so worked up about this? Just leave me alone.”
Starlight shook her head. A meaningless gesture, as Rainbow couldn’t see it. “No. I won’t leave you alone like this.”
“Why not?”
“Because I know that won’t fix anything,” Starlight said. “The others think you’ll simmer down if they call you out on it. They know you’re too stubborn, and they’re all busy trying to process their own grief, too. But I…”
Her thoughts went back to the two Pinkie Pies.
“I know that just leaving you alone isn’t going to fix whatever’s hurting you.”
“Well, the other girls are right,” Rainbow said. “I am stubborn. If you think you can change my mind just like that, then maybe you don’t know me as well as you think.”
“Maybe so,” Starlight said. “But maybe that makes me the perfect pony to try.”
Rainbow snorted.
“You’ve got guts, you know that Starlight?”
“Yeah,” Starlight said. “I do.”
Rainbow Dash sighed.
“Alright,” she said. “Fine. You win. I don’t blame Sunset for anything that’s happened.”
“You… you don’t?” Starlight said.
“No,” Rainbow replied. “I know none of it’s her fault. I know that, okay? But I can’t help it! Whenever I see her, I just…”
Rainbow punched the bricks. Her fist came away red.
“It’s just so hard for me to know that there’s nothing I can do. And then I see Sunset actually doing things, and when those things go wrong I just need to blame someone because otherwise I just don’t know how else to deal with it.”
Rainbow inhaled sharply.
“Every time I see her, it’s just another reminder that Twilight died while I was doing nothing. Do you have any idea how hard that is for me? I can’t stand it… I can’t stand myself.”
She put her hands on the wall and looked down at the dirt.
“So yeah,” Rainbow said. “I know Sunset isn’t to blame. I know none of it’s her fault. I know I’m not being fair to her. But…”
She squeezed her eyes shut.
“I just don’t know how else to deal with this.”
Starlight put a hand on the other girl’s shoulder. “Rainbow…”
Rainbow sniffled. “I’m pathetic, aren’t I? I’m acting like a little kid.”
“You’re not pathetic,” Starlight said. “You’re just dealing with things in your own, stubborn way. But you don’t have to deal with this alone. I’m here. So are our other friends. So are Sunset and the other Twilight and their friends. We all lost someone precious to us, and we’re all going through the same thing.”
Rainbow let out a sigh. When she turned back around, her eyes glistened, but she wasn’t crying.
“What should I do, then?” Rainbow asked her. “What do I do, Starlight?”
“You should start by apologizing to Sunset,” Starlight said. “I’m sure that if you settle your differences, you’ll feel a lot better.”
Rainbow sighed.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll apologize.”
She lightly punched the other girl in the shoulder. “You know,” Rainbow said, “you’re pretty cool, Starlight.”
“No, I’m not,” Starlight said.
“Yeah, you are.”
Sunset inserted her key into the lock on her front door and twisted it. She grabbed the knob and pushed her way into her apartment.
She felt… dull. Lifeless. Emotionally drained. She didn’t want to cry; just fall into bed and pull the covers up over her face.
Sunset dragged herself over to the sofa and collapsed there instead. She shut her eyes and focused on her breathing. In out. In out.
She let out one last long breath, more of a sigh than anything else. She turned on her side.
Her eyes fell on the pair of brown-bound books sitting forgotten on the table. Each with a sun on the front cover: one fiery and bright, one calm and regal.
She stared at them for a while. Then, grimacing, she picked up the one with Celestia’s mark on the front. The journal once owned by her teacher, and then by her friend.
She sat up and cracked the journal open in her lap. She flicked through the pages aimlessly, written scrawls and delicate cursive flipping past too fast to read. Soon, one set of handwriting gave way to another.
Then, the pages became blank.
She stopped, began turning the pages the other way, flipping backwards through empty page after empty page, until she reached the last entries in the journal. They were all from her, back when she’d still had hope that there might be a response one day. The corner of her mouth twitched; a grim half-smile.
Then, something caught her eye.
There was an entry in the journal, before all her unanswered messages.
One she didn’t recognize.
Her hands trembled as she read it. The steadiness of the writing lessened as it went on.
Sunset,
I don’t know if you’ll get this message. The magic that powers this journal may already have been consumed, like the alicorn magic that resided in me.
I think I might die soon. It’s taking everything I have just to write this. I can feel myself fading. I don’t think I’m going to make it to Canterlot.
Please, take care of everyone for me. They are all my dear friends. This is the last favour I can ask.
I’m sorry for placing this burden on you. If there were another way, I would have taken it. There was no time to come up with anything else. I hope you can understand.
Goodbye, Sunset.
Forever your friend,
Twilight Spark—
The writing cut off suddenly at the end.
Sunset stared at the page. Her eyes ran over the sentences contained within it over and over. The colour had drained from her face.
But there was one thing that caught her attention more than anything else. One word that re-lit a fire in her that had gone out.
And that word was:
“…Canterlot?”