Sunset's Isekai

by Wanderer D

Reignition (Firebird Dahlia — Fanfic)

Spitfire breathed out another sigh as she closed the umpteenth folder and put it in the complete file. Only a few performance reviews to go, then she would be free from this Tartarus for another whole year. 

She had gotten the hard ones out of the way first at least, leaving the Wonderbolt officers for last. From the notes she kept, none of them had royally screwed up this year, so Spitfire hoped to breeze through them.

She hated that she had to start the new year grading last year’s performances of her teammates. For her, the second Hearth’s Warming and New Year’s ended, she had to get back to work while everypony else got a few more days of rest.

It sucked being the leader sometimes.

Instead of being at home, spending a few extra days with her parents, Spitfire sat at her desk in the Wonderbolts Academy office. The central heating purred, the only sound in the room aside from the scribble of her pencil. She should have been drinking eggnog with her dad, or baking cookies with her mom, or throwing snowballs at her sister.

Spitfire paused her writing as her thoughts turned to Sunset Shimmer, her baby sister. The unicorn in a family of pegasi, and could do no wrong. 

No, she can do wrong. She did do wrong. And then she made up for it. Their sibling rivalry was over. They had both come out on top as winners. Neither of them had anything left to prove.
Spitfire hastily scribbled a few more notes into Fleetfoot’s file, slapped it shut, and tossed it onto the pile. Two to go. She opened up Soarin’s and looked over the year he had. He had gotten sloppy a few times, and his top speed was a few seconds slower than the year before. Spitfire new he could bounce back if he applied himself. A few refresher drills would do him some good too.

Open and shut. Spitfire put his file aside and looked at the last one. Her own name looked up at her. Right. Crap.

With another sigh, Spitfire opened her own file up. It was… remarkably bare. Nothing bad, nothing noteworthy either. Her flight times were on par with previous years. Her peers had given her good marks on her stunt performances. She was just…

She was just.

Spitfire pressed a hoof between her eyes. She hated grading herself most of all. Especially since she didn’t give herself anything to work with. Good job, Spitfire, you had an average year! Keep up the average work!

Meanwhile, her sister had defeated some evil alternate dimension version of the Princess of Friendship… after beating three ancient monsters. 

Spitfire slouched back in her chair, remembering why she had left the house to come work in the first place. She needed a place where she wouldn’t snap at her sister and all her achievements. It wasn’t a competition. Anymore. And Sunset was by no means flaunting it. And yet, the entire holiday during her visit—during the mini-adventure they had to find a cure for their mother’s sickness, Spitfire looked at Sunset and saw success. And they laughed and joked and play-fought like sister should. But a bitter note lingered throughout all that familial sweetness; one that drew closer and closer to the surface as Sunset’s visit from the human world dragged on. 

“It must be nice, getting to be the hero all the time.”

In her head, it had been a flippant jab at worst. But the bitterness inside her had devolved into poison and had coated her words on their way out. Sunset asked what Spitfire meant by it. Spitfire said, ”Nothing.”

It didn’t spin into a fight, but the tension Spitfire had thought was long past them had resurfaced. The next day, Spitfire made the mostly-true excuse that she had paperwork to do. She needed to cool off—to not think about Sunset and her amazing feats.

Staring down at her yearly review, Spitfire thought not of Sunset’s accomplishments, but her own. Or rather, everything she hadn’t done. She had made captain of the Wonderbolts, her dream since she had been a filly. But what had she done with it? In terms of aerial performance, she had been pretty good. Wowed the crowds and kept the Wonderbolts in top shape. But her services to Equestria? Spitfire needed a few extra hooves to count the times she hadn’t been able to do her job.

Her sigh turned into a groan and she pressed a hoof to her temple. Where had she gone wrong? Sunset disappears for ten years and comes back wielding magic almost as strong as Princess Twilight and can stare eldritch horrors in the face. Meanwhile, Spitfire wasn’t even the fastest pegasus in the Wonderbolts. 

Her eyes found the blank lines waiting to be filled in. Spitfire gave a slow shake of her head and stood up. “Yeah, I can’t do this sober.”

She stood up and trotted over to her office closet to grab her scarf. A warm pick-me-up from the local pub might put her in a good enough mood to make something up. And maybe go back home and have a level conversation with her sister.

She twisted the knob and pulled the door open, hearing a small chime that reminded her of the bells around Canterlot. She didn’t have time to process that, because inside the closet she found not the small nest of scarves, wing-warmers, and boots, but a narrow, dark corridor with another door at the end. Warm light spilled out from the space at its bottom, and Spitfire could faintly hear music. 

Spitfire closed the door. Blinked once, then opened it again, hearing the bell chime once more. The corridor was still there.

“The heck?” Spitfire was (semi) used to strange, magical happenings. Her sister was a unicorn. But this felt… different. Not bad different; her hackles weren’t rising and her wings remained unruffled, but this was definitely something out of the ordinary, even for Equestria.

“I just wanted to get a drink, I really don’t wanna deal with this,” Spitfire whined under her breath. Still, if there was a mysterious corridor in her academy, she should probably deal with it. She pushed forward, keeping her eyes on the thin bar of light, the only thing she could see in this tunnel. When she reached the door at the other end she considered knocking for a moment. But if whatever this was was going to pop in unannounced, then so was she.

Spitfire pressed the golden handle down and pushed the door open. She genuinely had no idea what to expect, but she still never would have expected this.

She had crossed over into what had to be a bar. Red-brick walls greeted her, bathed in a soft-orange glow from the lights overhead. Random knick-knacks hung from the walls: a guitar, swords, and various pictures of creatures Spitfire could never have dreamed up. To her right were a few empty tables. A jukebox sat in the back corner playing a soft, lonely jazz tune.
To the left was the bar counter, also empty save for the bartender and her vast collection of booze and spirits. Spitfire’s eyes fixed on her.

She had never seen the human world, but Sunset had written about it extensively, and about what these humans looked like. Spitfire could never get a clear picture, and them being mostly hairless sounded grotesque to her. But, it had been enough for Spitfire to be able to identify what kind of creature was tending this serendipitous bar inside her closet. However, it wasn’t the kind of creature that had Spitfire entranced. It was her mane. No matter what form she took, the red and gold cascade of hair was instantly recognizable. Her back was to Spitfire as she cleaned a glass and set it back on the shelf.

Spitfire worked her jaw and finally sputtered out, “Sunset, what the heck?”

Sunset finished polishing the frame of the last picture on the wall when she heard the silver bell ring. This sounded like less work than it actually was; after all, her bar (and the walls) adjusted its size depending on needs, so she had to keep it expanded to its full size in order to make sure she cleaned everything, and it had gotten big.

Not Dragon Night-big, thankfully, but it certainly wasn't the cozy little bar most guests got to see when they walked in.

Dismissing the rag into the air, and allowing the bar to slowly adjust down to the more friendly-sized venue where guests would feel more welcome and comfy, she started walking around the tables, stealing a glance at the figure that was silhouetted at the entrance, clearly trying to decide whether they should walk in or not.

All she could tell without enhancing her sight with magic, was that it was a pony, and from the lumps on the side, it was most likely a pegasus. She didn't spot a horn, so there was little chance it was an alicorn.

Just as the pony stepped in, she realized it was a familiar pony, but not one she had at the bar before, despite knowing well who this was. After all, it was rare to find a Rainbow Dash out there who would not gush at the mere idea of meeting this mare, much less talk to her.

Smirking, Sunset walked behind the bar and stared at the drinks on her shelf, while recalling what she knew about the different versions she had heard about. What would Spitfire want to drink? She struck her as a whiskey-type, but maybe some gin would work as well?

As she pondered what to do, she absently picked up a glass and gave it a considering look, deciding that it needed a bit of polishing. (It didn't, but it helped her think.)

A legend in her own right, Spitfire was always a topic of conversation whenever Wonderbolts old and new came up, and even though there were some occasional jabs at how strict she could be, no one ever spoke of her with anything less than the respect she had reached through hard work.

Well. No one but Commander Sparkle, but she was a bit of a unique case.

Much like her regular special-case visitors, this particular Spitfire seemed to carry on her back additional weight, and Sunset could only try to guess at what had caused it. But hopefully they could touch on that and her guest would come out of the bar feeling better in general. She watched as Spitfire stepped in and took in the bar, trying to take it in.

It was then that she heard her name. "Sunset, what the heck?!"

She quickly turned around and grinned at the baffled mare. "Oh, you know me? Sorry, I got distracted with trying to figure out what to serve a Wonderbolt." 

She bowed, her smile never failing. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai!" she said, greeting the now-frowning Spitfire. "Come on and grab a seat. What would you like to drink?" She leaned over the bar. "First drink is on the house, of course."

That was usually a good way to break the ice, after all, few creatures in the multiverse would say no to a free drink, but if anything, this particular Spitfire seemed a bit wary, more than intrigued. "Um, Spitfire? You okay there?"

Spitfire continued to stand in the doorway, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. She took another look around the bar then back to Sunset. She worked her jaw, her wariness morphing into what looked like annoyance of all things.

Gesturing between herself, Sunset, and then herself again, Spitfire asked, “What? How?” She grit her teeth together. “Why?”

"Well," Sunset said, leaning back a bit. "Free drinks are usually a good way to get visitors to loosen up?"

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it, dodo!” Spitfire finally took a few more steps toward the counter. “What are you doing? How is this—” She gestured to the bar as a whole. “—here? And why, when I need a drink the most, do you of all ponies happen to appear with an entire flipping bar?”

Carefully, Sunset looked down at herself, confirming that she was indeed still quite human and hadn't turned into a dodo. Stranger things had happened, after all.

"This is my bar," she started slowly, "and I think there's some confusion here as to who you're talking to. I'm not the Sunset Shimmer you know. I'm… from another universe altogether. And, um… I try to help ponies, or other creatures that might need an ear, by providing a nice, comfortable environment for them to relax." She grinned a bit uncertainly. "Doesn't seem to be working this time around."

Spitfire’s annoyance turned to exasperation. “Another universe? Seriously? What, was two not enough?” Despite her agitation, Spitfire climb onto a stool, if only to glare at Sunset at a more even height.

Sunset nodded. "Sort of. My bar moves between universes, sometimes I end up in places that are exactly like the Equestria I grew up in, and sometimes, well…" she motioned with a nod of her head at a poster of Princess Sparkle, anthropomorphic lead guitarist and singer of a hard rock band. "...sometimes, it's close enough."

She studied the mare in front of her for a moment, then offered a small smile. "It seems you know your world's Sunset very well if you're so comfortable glaring at a being of unknown origins and power in the eye because she looks familiar." Slowly, she slid a menu between them, pushing it with her fingertips to stand just in front of Spitfire. "Drink?"

Spitfire’s throat constricted like she wanted to yell. She glared at Sunset for a few seconds longer before slouching in her seat and pushing the menu back toward her. “Just get me your strongest whisky. On the rocks.”

"Heh. I knew it." Sunset turned and walked over to consider the top shelf. "For some reason, the moment I saw you thinking about walking in, I thought to myself: this is a mare that will enjoy a good whiskey."

She briefly considered the Wild Pegasus, but with Spitfire being as tense as she was, she'd probably need something not local to break through. The only concern was that her guest seemed to be in the state of mind where the first glass would be gone in a second, chunks of ice or not.

Spitfire steeped her hooves together, her eyes on Sunset but her mind was clearly still somewhere else. “So you’re for real with this different universe thing? I’m guessing… in that one… we’re not… related in anyway?”

The question made Sunset pause. 'MacCutcheon Whiskey it is,' she thought, grabbing the bottle and bringing it over to the counter, alongside a glass with a big piece of ice inside. She poured a few fingers worth of it for Spitfire before grabbing her own and serving herself a good helping as well.

"So that's how it is," she said, sliding the glass over to Spitfire. "No wonder you even had a nickname for me!" She chuckled. "But I'm afraid not. I was an only filly, as far as I know… I uh, never met my biological parents."

“That’s rough.” Spitfire ran a hoof around the rim of the glass. Her demeanor softened immensely as she stared at the drink in front of her. She looked pensive, almost sad. “Can’t be related in that world then. There’s no way our… my… our parents would ever dump either of us.”

Spitfire picked the glass up and pressed it to her lips. Sunset feared she would actually knock the whole thing back in one go. But, the ice seemed to deter Spitfire. She took a long sip, nursed it in her mouth, then swallowed. She shuddered and exhaled in satisfaction, then set the glass back on the counter with a firm thud.

“Yeah. We’re sisters where I come from. And you were the magical unicorn prodigy born to a family of pegasi. So I called you ‘dodo’ since you couldn’t fly. In hindsight, it’s kinda messed up, but, like… I usually mean it in good nature.”

"I wasn't offended, but maybe that's something you'd better bring up with your own Sunset," Sunset said. She raised her glass and swirled the contents a bit, more to hear the ice clinking against the glass than because it needed to cool or mix. "And yeah, it was a bit rough for me when I was little, but now I have a pretty big family." She sipped the whiskey, letting it burn her tongue before swallowing, the smoky aftertaste familiar and comforting. "Hey, maybe you'll get to meet your not-quite-nieces one of these days."

Spitfire’s head jerked up. “My what?”

Sunset grinned. "I have two adopted daughters… three depending on the moment in time, according to the latest one." She materialized a small, framed picture and showed it to Spitfire. "That's my girlfriend, Freya, and those two are Lena and Dani." She chuckled. "They're kinda competitive, but they get along well. How about you two?"

“I…” Spitfire leaned into the picture, eyes squinting. She leaned back, shook her head, and took another sip of her whisky. “Unless she’s keeping something from us, pretty sure she’s still single. And I… I’m not great with foals. Signing autographs and giving flying advice sure, but raising them? I wasn’t the best big sister, I’d hate to think what kind of mom I’d make.”

She leaned over and looked at the photo again. “Celestia, I have so many questions,” she muttered.

"Are they: are you dating a giant rat, is that a duck, and is that one semi-transparent?" Sunset asked with a grin, taking the picture back. "Because the answer is yes, of course." She chuckled, putting the frame down next to the cashier. "I imagine your Sunset would let her sister know if she had kids, so I'm sure you'll be the first to know. Besides her, I mean."

Spitfire finally broke a smile and chuckled as well. “Yeah, maybe. I could rock the cool aunt vibe, I think.”

Sunset nodded. "Not many foals can boast having a legendary Wonderbolt as their auntie."

It was subtle, but Sunset saw Spitfire tense up for a second. The mare took another sip from her glass and glared at the ice cubes drifting around. “What makes you think I’m ‘legendary’?”

Sunset tilted her head, giving the question some serious thought. It seemed like Spitfire was really interested in her answer, despite the attempt to make it sound unimportant.

"It has been my experience with ponies from different worlds that know you, or a version of you, that you have been an inspiration to a lot of them… if not an outright rival for a certain commander," she said. "Wherever your name is brought up, it's usually with that sense of weight that comes alongside very few creatures indeed."

Spitfire raised her glass and swirled its contents around. “Gee, sounds nice.” She hunched her shoulders. “‘Cept that’s not me, is it? The Spitfire in this world is just… fine. Yeah, I’m captain of the Wonderbolts, so what? What have I actually done?”

She looked up at Sunset. There was the faint red flush in her cheeks. The whisky was kicking in. “Fine, you’re not my sister. You’re some Sunset from out in the multiverse—gonna have to process that later. But you know what my sister did? She beat three Sirens at their own game with the power of music! Then, she saves Equestria and the human world from some evil version of Princess Twilight! And then, when I think I have the chance to be the hero for once, actually do something that matters and find a rare flower to stop our mom from dying, she just has to come with me because we’re sisters and we have to stick together! But of course, she’s the one who finds the damn thing!”

Spitfire finally tipped the rest of the drink back, ice and all and slammed the glass on the counter. “I know it’s not a competition! That’s what drove us apart in the first place: we both kept trying to outdo each other! She wanted to be the strongest unicorn ever! Princess Celestia’s prized pupil! I wanted to be the youngest Wonderbolt captain in history! Didn’t get that because our stupid rivalry resulted in her nearly blowing me up! She disappears for ten years, I become captain anyway and for a while, I think I’ve won! And then she comes back and does all these things, and she makes me feel…”

Spitfire wildly flailed her hooves. At some point during her rant, she had stood up on her barstool. She took a deep breath and sank into her seat again. “I thought… if I could be the one to save mom… maybe I’d…”

"Feel worthy of yourself?" Sunset asked gently, taking the bottle to pour more for the mare across from her. "Why do you think you're… losing? Is there anything to lose, really? We Sunsets have screwed up royally across the multiverse… most of the times it's sheer luck, desperate moments and being pulled out of the fire by others. Didn't she ever tell you how she met Princess Twilight?"

She drank the rest of her whiskey, remembering. "I lost myself back then… if it hadn't been for her, I'd be little more than your regular villain needed to be blasted by the Elements… or brought down in another way. If your Sunset hadn't been lucky that time, your claim to fame in the hero-ing business might've been bringing her down."

“Pfft, yeah right.” Spitfire looked at her refilled glasses. “I’m well-aware of your screwups. You blew me up, remember? I mean, the other you. My you. You know what I mean!” She took another sip.

“And it’s not even that I want to be a hero. I just… I want to not be a failure!” There were actually tears welling up in her eyes. “To not feel like a failure when it counted the most! How many times has Equestria been in peril? How many times have I led the Wonderbolts to step up and do some actual good? I’m proud of everything my Sunset accomplished, I really am! But every time Equestria’s in danger, the Wonderbolts fail to help—I fail to help!”

She pushed her glass away. Her raspy voice quivered. “We couldn’t even rally in time to face Nightmare Moon. Couldn’t lift a feather against Discord.” Her tears fell onto the counter. “A dragon trapped us in a water tower. I got beat up by changelings. Tirek sucked the magic out of me! I couldn’t even save a pony falling to their death because she punched me square in the nose!” 

Spitfire slumped forward. “I can’t even call myself the fastest pegasus in Equestria anymore. Not when Rainbow Dash broke almost every academy record and can make a Sonic Rainboom going upwards!” She reached for her glass, hesitated, then lowered her hoof.

Sunset let the silence linger for a bit before speaking up. "Don't you think you're being unfair to yourself? Nightmare Moon, Discord, Tirek… those guys are powerhouses in their own right, magical beings that Celestia can't fight on her own. The Wonderbolts are not limited to just fighting supervillains, or to a single occasion where failure rears its ugly head… when you start judging your own achievements as failures just because someone else did something bigger or flashier, you're taking away all the effort and success you had until now… and everything you did to become who you are is real too."

Spitfire wiped her eyes and looked longingly into the wooden countertop. “I… I don’t know. You’re right; Discord and Tirek are above my paygrade but… I would have liked to have done something against them instead of being sidelined from the jump. I feel like some days I’m just the pretty poster mare for the Wonderbolts.”

"Hmm." Sunset considered the whiskey in her glass, tilting it so that it pooled up a little. "So… what would you change if you could? In order to not feel like the poster mare, I mean."

Spitfire looked up at her, unfocused eyes dumbfounded. “Uhh…” She put her hooves together as she thought. “I… I don’t know. I guess… I just want to be able to say I did something as the Wonderbolt captain. One solid victory I can claim under the title. That I’m not just average.”

"I've mostly been a solo-act when it comes to adventuring or doing crazy stunts," Sunset said after a moment. "But what I have learned from watching other, much better leaders than I, is that their value is not that easy to describe." 

Sunset started pacing behind the bar as she spoke. "You became the Captain of the Wonderbolts, and you're the one Rainbow Dash looks up to, right? You're the one the Wonderbolts follow… nopony else. That's not something that a random mare or stallion can just do, and you're still early in your career. If you're already commanding this level of respect and admiration from others, what's stopping you from reaching greater heights?"

She shrugged. "So Rainbow Dash can perform a Sonic Rainboom… did that take your wings away? Aren't you the one that coordinates the stunts that she's trying to master? Speed is not everything for a Wonderbolt, is it?"

“Nooo…” Spitfire dragged the ‘o’ out for a second and it almost sounded like a question.

"The correct answer is: Hell no, Ma'am!" Sunset said, grinning. "Speed is important, I get it, but come on, don't tell me that when you wanted to become the Captain it was just so you could fly fast? If that was it, why would you venture in to take on enemies like Chrysalis, or Nightmare Moon? What makes a Wonderbolt a Wonderbolt?"

“Agility, daring, determination,” Spitfire listed off automatically, rising higher in her seat witch each word. “I wanted to be a Wonderbolt not just to be the fastest, but the greatest. Not just in all of Equestria, but…” She let out a sheepish snort. “Between the two of us.”

Spitfire gave a bitter chuckle and ran a hoof through her mane. “I tried to tell myself it wasn’t a competition, but part of me was always jealous of you. I let our sibling rivalry fuel my drive to be the best. And then you left and I thought you were dead and I became the captain and thought, that’s it. I won. I got to the top. But you came back… and we made up. And thinking I was at the top while you came back and started having all these adventures and victories again made my accomplishments feel trivial. But… maybe you’re right. I’m still young. I just need a new drive.”

"You do know that feeling like you won because you thought I croaked is kinda messed up right? Just sayin'…" Sunset smirked.

Spitfire snorted. “It wasn’t—” She snorted then laughed, wiping her eyes clean of the last remaining tears. “I mean yeah, when you say it like that! It’s… complicated. I only thought you were dead because it made me less angry with you.” Spitfire grew sober. “If you were still alive, it made you disappearing without a trace… without telling mom and dad anything hurt more.”

"But it seems like you two have… sort of made up in a way, right?" Sunset said. "Now that you have new challenges before you, doesn't it make more sense to let that competitiveness between you go and, you know, face things together? Like sisters?"

“It should.” Spitfire heaved a sigh. “I always wanted to be a Wonderbolt, but being better than her was the fire that fueled that dream. I want to let that competitiveness go but… how do I climb higher without it?”

"The easy way out of this would be to say that Rainbow Dash is a good pony to compete with, but as a Captain, I think you have even better opponents." Sunset looked Spitfire in the eye. "Every other famous Wonderbolt Captain. Your own heroes. Your mentors. Put them to shame, don't just be the Captain, be the best one. Help your troops grow and do stunts and missions that no pony has ever done before. Don't you have some crazy signature move?"

Sunset watched Spitfire’s dilated eyes widen. “The Firebird Dahlia,” she whispered. “You’re right.” 

Spitfire jumped up and slammed her hooves on the counter. “You’re right! Why am I throwing myself a pity party? I’m gonna make sure my Firebird puts Rainbow’s Rainboom to shame! She may be fast but she still has a lot to learn! And I’ll drill my Wonderbolts so hard, they’ll fly circles around whatever threat tries to attack Equestria next. You said there were more Spitfires out there? Well you know what? I’m gonna be the best one!”

"Make it something nocreature will ever forget!" Sunset cheered her on. "And hell, I'll host a multiverse of Spitfires here at the bar so you can compare notes." She raised her glass. "That way you can plan on how to show them all up."

With a mischievous grin, Spitfire grabbed her glass and clinked it against Sunset’s. “I like the way you think, dodo.” She tossed back the rest of her whisky. When she set her glass down, she smacked her lips and said nonchalantly, “That probably wasn’t a great idea.”

Sunset chuckled, following suit. She grimaced as the whiskey burned her throat on the way down. "Whooo." She coughed. "It's fun to do occasionally, just don't do it with this one too often." She shook her head to clear it. "So, I'm dodo too now? What should I call you?"

Spitfire laughed softly. “Well, my Sunset calls me ‘Spits’. She couldn’t say my full name as a foal, so she only said the first half, and it kinda stuck. I’m partial to ‘Ma’am’ or ‘Captain’ as well,” she said, lifting her chin in playful haughtiness.

"Captain it is," Sunset said, soberly. Then she grinned. "When we're in public. You're Spits here too, if you don't mind… it's too good a nickname, and the story is adorable. Besides, I've got a Captain Morgan here that wants to meet you, unless you have plans? I should tell you, time does not pass outside the bar while we're in here."

Spitfire tipped her glass toward Sunset. “I mean, if you’re offering. I would love to meet a fellow captain.”

Sunset nodded, grabbing two new glasses. "Well, get comfortable, he inspires long conversations."

"Sisters, huh?" Sunset considered the wall of pictures, the frame containing the most recent one she had taken with Spitfire in her hand.

She knew there were versions of her out there that had siblings, but she hadn't had any. Her closest family had originally almost been Celestia, then her friends in Canterlot High, and finally her daughters. A family she had built over the years, but none by blood.

When she was younger, studying under Celestia, she'd often wondered what it would be like to have a sister or brother of her own. Would they admire her, or be jealous? Would they be supportive or mean to her?

It had been a fun thing to think about… how she'd awe or amaze them. She'd not only be the perfect big sister, she'd be the hero! It'd never occurred to her back then that sibling rivalry could be a thing that could affect the course of her entire life and relationships, or how hard it could be to get past that for all involved.

Sunset chuckled, hanging the picture up. Spitfire looked a lot more like the one she remembered: confident and ready for anything. A big difference from when she had walked into the bar.

Whatever Spitfire and her sister's issues were, she had the feeling that they'd be okay now that Spitfire's focus was on her own future, rather than showing up Sunset, and ideally with a healthier outlook on being competitive without destroying that relationship they had so recently revived.

Spitfire had been on the verge of discovering this on her own, Sunset was sure, but she was glad that she had been able to provide the Wonderbolt with a good place to vent, rant, and get everything out of her chest without risking hurting someone else however unintentionally. Especially remembering just how… sensitive… she had been shortly after being Harmony-Blasted by Twilight and the others.

It would be a process to achieve those high ambitions that Spitfire had set for herself, but Sunset was sure that the legendary Wonderbolt Captain would be more than up to the challenge.

And of course doing a Spitfire night would probably fuel that fire.