“And that's game, everyone. Great job!” Chrono-Master Joe's voice echoed off the ballroom walls. “I'll send out the closing announcements via e-mail … but for now, I've been told the party suite's ready to go, so I'll see you there!”
The crowd cheered.
“Hey guys! Wha'd I miss!” Pinkie Pie materialized next to Applejack and Rarity.
“Hold up.” Applejack furrowed her brow. “Where you been all this time? Ain't you been payin' attention?”
“Not really, no! I got kinda bored after the first twenty minutes, so I kinda wandered off and then I wound up helping some people put the party suite together for the after-party! Would you believe they didn't even have ONE banner that said 'Party Time' on it? Good thing I had an emergency party decoration kit handy!”
“I thought it was quiet.” Rarity deadpanned.
Pinkie whipped her head from side to side, hard enough to make her poofy hair wobble. “Hey, wait a sec, where's everybody else?”
“Welp.” Applejack raised a hand to the brim of her hat and scanned the room. “Rainbow's still talkin' to that feller with the fuzzy boots. Fluttershy's over there, too. And, uh, here comes Sunset. She don't look happy.”
“Hi Sunset!” Pinkie Pie chimed, “where's Twilight?”
Sunset winced. “Uh. About that.”
“Oh! Right! Sorry, I meant, where's Tara? We're still doing those code names, right?” Pinkie Pie said.
“No, not that.” Sunset said. “Right before the game wrapped up, Twilight told me she needed some alone time to, uh, unwind, I guess.” Sunset thrust her hands into her pockets and hunched her shoulders. “I … figured I'd let her. I mean, she was a lot more emotionally invested in the game than any of us were. And … well, I can't even imagine what she's going though. She said she'd be at the after party.”
“Then we'd better go 'head n' meet her, then.”
“Woo!” Pinkie said, throwing up a handful of confetti. “It's gonna be great! There's a punchbowl and balloons and everything!”
“You go ahead.” Rarity said, “Applejack and I will meet up with you once she takes this dress off of me.”
“Do what now?” Applejack sputtered.
“Please, Applejack?” Rarity fluttered her eyelashes at the cowgirl. “I know I make wearing such fabulous attire look entirely too easy, but a dress like this is a work of architecture as much as it is fashion. You're quite simply the only person I know strong enough to help me unlace it safely.”
“How'd ya even get into it, then?”
“It was a process, let me tell you. A winch may have been involved.”
“Oooh!” Pinkie Pie chimed in. “What if Fluttershy put on her old timey costume and helped you out, and then you would've used a wench! Or what if she was the one doing the cranking, and then it would be a wench winch!” She elbowed Rarity. “Huh? Huh?”
Sunset, Applejack, and Rarity stared at Pinkie.
“Jeez. Tough crowd.” Pinkie murmured.
“Right.” Rarity said. “We'd better be going, before this corset starts warping my bone structure.”
“You're jokin', right?” Applejack said, only to be met by Rarity's impassive stare. “You ain't jokin'.”
“A lady must make certain sacrifices in the name of fashion. Now, come.” She caught Applejack by the elbow and dragged her off.
Sunset looked after the departing pair for a curious moment, and shrugged. “Well, c'mon Pinkie. Let's get the others and hit up your party.”
“Yay party!” Pinkie Pie blew on a noisemaker she'd magically produced from her pocket. “Hey! You don't think the others are gonna need help undressing too, do you?”
“Hopefully not.” Sunset said.
“Just checking!”
It was a simple enough matter to collect Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash (the latter being absolutely relieved for an excuse to slip away from more stories about Alixiares of Thebes) and then head up to the party suite.
True to form, Pinkie Pie had transformed a monument to drab hotel monotony into something halfway festive, pasting up streamers and banners and fake paper clocks on every possible surface she could. A punchbowl sat precariously balanced on a nightstand, and a cooler full of various drinks sat next to it. Cheery, uptempo music pumped out from a small stereo set up beneath the hotel television.
Sunset recognized several players from the game, even if she couldn't remember their names-- their character names, that is. The realization she barely knew anyone's real name just added a sense of surreality to the gathering. Most of the guests had shed their costuming; Betram swapped his white tie and gloves for a black T-shirt and jeans, the Cardinal probably shouldn't have been referred to as such without his cassock, and Sunset almost didn't recognize the Observer after he'd combed his hair and slipped out of the straightjacket.
“Okay, everybody.” Sunset said as they walked through the door into the rapidly-crowding party. “Just keep an eye out for Twilight. She told me she'd be fine, but after everything that went down with Lyra-- er, Captain March, or whoever, I just want to make sure.”
“Got it!” Pinkie Pie chimed in. “Maybe you should ask them yourself, 'cause they're right over there!”
Sunset followed Pinkie Pie's point, and sure enough, Lyra and Twilight had staked out a corner by the window. Twilight still wore her hoodie (though now with the hood pushed back), while Lyra had abandoned her goggles and body armor somewhere along they way.
Both of them were laughing.
Sunset Shimmer blinked. It took her a few minutes to weave her way through the crowd, until she could get close.
“Uh. Hey.” She said, at a sudden lack of anything else to say.
“Sunset! Hi!” Twilight said, cheery.
“I'm glad you could make it!” Lyra chimed in, beaming. “I didn't get the chance to tell you earlier, but you were great back there! I can't believe this was your first ChronoQuest game.”
“Uh. Thanks?” Sunset managed.
“You picked a great one to enter in on, too!” Lyra grinned. “Honestly, Twilight, I just wish I'd known you played Tara sooner.”
“Yeah. Well. It's not like there's a local branch or anything. Easier to sit down at a computer than to get a bunch of people together in funny costumes.”
“Good point.” Lyra said. “Still, we should hang out more!”
Twilight smiled. “I'd like that.”
“So you're not … y'know. Mad?” Sunset said. “Either of you?”
“Why would we be?” Twilight asked.
“She betrayed you!” Sunset said to Twilight. “And she killed you!” Sunset said to Lyra.
“I know!” Lyra's smile shone bright enough to hurt. “Wasn't it great?”
“What.” Sunset said.
“It really was better than I could've hoped for.” Twilight said, and patted Lyra on the shoulder. “Thanks!”
“No, thank you!” Lyra said. “I mean, Captain March was gonna go down eventually, but having Tara be the one to figure everything out? That's perfect! I honestly should be thanking Twilight.”
“For killing you.” Sunset said.
“Exactly!”
“I still don't get it.”
“Okay, so … Lyra actually tracked me down after the game ended, and hashed things out with me. I mean, everything was entirely IC. So she didn't have any hard feelings. It … honestly wasn't as weird as I thought it'd be.”
“Honestly, if anyone were to kill Captain March, Tara was the right one to do it.” Lyra noted.
“Technically, the Observer killed her.” Twilight noted.
“It was still cool!” Lyra beamed.
“But … “ Sunset looked between Lyra and Twilight, confused. “Weren't you two-- I mean, weren't Tara and the Captain … “
“Totally a thing!” Lyra said, with no small degree of pride.
“Which is what made their story so interesting. And tragic. And, uh … fun.” Twilight said.
“So, let me get this straight. Your characters did terrible things to each other, and you're happy about it?”
“Yep!” Lyra beamed.
“It's kind of cathartic, actually.” Twilight said. “You know, having a way to explore stuff like love and betrayal and all that. Just … without the actual love or betrayal. If that makes sense?”
“That's the appeal, you know? Being able to do stuff that you can't do in real life. How often do you get to be a supervillain?” Lyra said.
“Eheh. Right.” Sunset said.
So deep into her nerdy enthusiasm, Lyra failed to notice the way the breath caught in Sunset's throat. “I-- er, Captain March has been working on her whole scheme for the better part of a year now.”
“That long?” Twilight said, with no small degree of appreciation.
“Yep!” Lyra beamed. “Ever since the thing at Tunguska.”
Twilight gasped. “That was you?”
“Yep! Captain March deliberately sabotaged the containment effort so she could use the impact of the explosion to set up her pocket dimension. Then she stole the AI core out of the Skycrafter so she had something to run the Reset factory.”
“That's brilliant!” Twilight said.
“Thanks!” Lyra said. “I probably should have mentioned that in my whole 'laying out my evil plan' speech, but eh. If I'd known you were coming, I would've planned ahead and written one. But hey, that element of surprise is what makes a game like this so great!”
“So what do you think you're gonna play next?” Twilight said.
“Oh, I dunno. Captain March was fun, but I think I might pick somebody from the past, next time around. Maybe something medieval.”
“You wanna be a princess?” Twilight teased.
“I was thinking more knight errant, actually.”
“Hold on.” Sunset held up a finger. “You-- your character nearly killed everyone at ChronoCon, and they're just gonna let you start all over?”
“Well, yeah?” Lyra said, “I mean, if they kicked everyone out of the game who ever had their character try to wreck up the place, ChronoQuest wouldn't have any players at all. Besides, it's not like anybody's gonna have any hard feelings. IC and OOC separation and all that.” Lyra made a chopping motion with her hand, as if to physically separate the two concepts.
“All of it?” Sunset said. “Even the part with … you know, Tara and Captain March being … “
“Especially that.” Lyra laughed, and nudged Twilight. “No offense, but Bon-Bon would kill me.”
“None taken.” Twilight said. “I should've told you earlier who I was playing, though. I didn't want to make things awkward.”
“Hey, that awkwardness is what makes Tara so cute.” Lyra said.
“Right.” Sunset peered at Twilight from the corner of her eye. “Tara.”
“Oh hey!” Lyra leaned over as she saw more of her friends slipping into the party suite. “Some more friends of mine just showed up-- gotta make the rounds, y'know?” Having excused herself, she slipped out of the corner, moving to go meet her friends with a cheery hug.
“So … “ Twilight said, “have fun?”
“I guess so?” Sunset managed. “It's just a lot to take in. I'm glad you had fun, though. Even if your character went and amnesia’d herself.”
“Uh. Actually … she didn't.”
“Wait, really?”
Twilight nodded. “Oh, she thought about it, but, after everything, she decided that some memories are worth hanging onto, even if they're painful. Not to mention the fact that if the Council thinks Tara Reset herself, they'll leave her alone … which gives her the perfect cover to make some more investigations of her own.” Twilight allowed herself a cat-with-the-canary grin. “She'll have to lay low for a couple of months, sure, but I've been pretty busy since I met you guys anyway. Still, by the next time ChronoCon rolls around, Tara will probably have another evil scheme to thwart. Should be fun! I just hope the cleaning staff doesn't have too much trouble getting that blue stain out of the carpet.”
“That … is surprisingly devious. Am I being a bad influence on you?”
“Maaaaybe.” Twilight scuffed one sneaker against the hotel room carpet. “Just think of it as practice for the next time we need to go save the world from some magical pony thing.”
“Twilight Sparkle, element of subterfuge.”
“It does have a nice ring to it.” Twilight giggled, and soon Sunset found herself laughing along just the same. Twilight took off her glasses to wipe the laughter-tears from the corner of her eye, and sighed happily. “Oh! Sunset? One more thing.”
“What's that?”
“Do you have any plans for the summer yet?”
“No. Why?”
“Well, Lyra told me she'd heard about this thing they do at an old summer camp a few hours southwest of here. They call it Elfwood or something. Do you think you, er-- think the girls would want to go? I'd be starting a new character from scratch, so it'd be nice to go in with some friends already ...“
"You are such a dork."
Sunset Shimmer made it a term of endearment.