It was half-past eleven by the time Sunset found herself in front of Sugarcube Corner again, and through the wide windows she could see that the party had long-since ended. A few decorations still hung from the walls, but Fluttershy and Crystal Prep’s Twilight were at work removing the last of them now. Rainbow Dash was helping Pinkie Pie sweep up, the two of them making fast circuits with wide push brooms as they raced around the shop, and Applejack stood in front of their group’s regular booth, talking to the seated duo of Rarity and Princess Twilight.
Sunset cringed at the sight of the latter, with her sagging shoulders and a half-empty tissue box set on the table in front of her. Part of Sunset wanted to just keep driving, dreading the conversation to come, but one deep, fortifying breath later she parked in her usual place and pulled off her helmet. She took a moment to try and straighten out her hair, but quickly decided it was a lost cause and made her way to the door, being careful not to put too much weight on her injured knee.
“Sunset!” seven voices (six if one considered that two of them were technically the same) exclaimed together as she opened the door. She had barely put down her helmet before she found herself mobbed by a concerned pastel rainbow full of questions.
“What happened?”
“You’re limping! Are you okay?”
“Didja find Flash?”
“You punch his lights out?”
“Rainbow Dash! Sunset would never stoop to such appalling behavior!”
“Pfft, you didn’t see her face when she took off.”
“Was it fun?!”
“Pinkie, why in the world would punching Flash be fun?”
“I’unno.”
“Girls, stop!” Sunset put her hands up and finally managed to get a word in edgewise, bringing silence to the room. “I’ll tell you everything, I promise, but I’m exhausted.” She gave them a weak smile. “Can we just sit down for a minute first?”
“Of course, darling,” Rarity smiled warmly and took her by the arm, leading her to a seat. “Pinkie, would you mind getting Sunset something to drink?”
“And maybe some ice for my knee?” Sunset added hopefully.
“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie chirped with a trademarked smile as she threw a sharp salute and dashed away to the kitchen while the others headed for their regular booth. Applejack pulled over an extra chair and helped Sunset elevate her injured leg. As they all finally settled in, Sunset gave Princess Twilight a weak smile.
“How are you holding up?”
“Okay, I suppose,” Princess Twilight returned the look with a slight sniff. “I’m not exactly experienced when it comes to these kind of relationships, but the girls have been very supportive.”
“Of course!” Fluttershy said sweetly as she leaned over and gave Princess Twilight a quick hug, “what kind of friends would we be if we weren’t?”
Sunset smiled anew at the touching scene as Pinkie emerged from the kitchen carrying not one but eight haphazardly balanced glasses of juice for her friends and with a frosty blue gel pack half-stuck in her hair.
“Thanks,” Sunset smiled as she accepted the items. She wrapped the ice pack around her throbbing knee, gently holding it in place with her injured hand while she used the other to gulp down almost half of her drink in one go. She hadn’t even realized how thirsty she was.
“So,” Princess Twilight began, nervously folding her hands on the table. “Did you...?”
“I caught up to Flash,” Sunset nodded.
“You knock his block off?”
“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity admonished again, but Sunset’s sudden grimace gave her pause. The fashionista gasped and put a hand to her chest. “Sunset, you didn’t!”
“Ha!” Rainbow pumped her fist in the air as almost everyone else’s mouths fell open. “Told ya! Five bucks, AJ, pay up!”
Applejack glowered but nevertheless fished a crumpled bill from her pocket and handed it over to the snickering athlete. “Sunset, what in tarnation were you thinkin’?”
“I wasn’t thinking,” Sunset groaned. “I just sort of reacted. I assumed that Flash had dumped Twilight, but I didn’t find out it was the other way around until... after.”
“Well that’s certainly an understandable mistake to make given the circumstances, but to actually strike him?” Rarity questioned. “Darling, even the old ‘you’ never stooped to such things.”
“Ugh, I know!” Sunset put her hands over her face. “I feel awful. What’s worse is that Flash wasn’t even mad. I punched him in the face and he tried to cheer me up. In the end he somehow managed to screw that up too, but still...” Her hands fell back to the table as she shook her head tilted back to stare at the ceiling. “Sweet Celestia, what a night...”
“Okay, back up,” Rainbow put her hands up as she fought to contain herself. “You straight-up punched him in the face? That’s priceless!”
“Rainbow!” Fluttershy was the one who spoke up this time, her brow knit in anger and with just a touch of disappointment staining her voice.
“Okay!” Rainbow waved her off, suppressing one last snicker. “Okay, I get it, I’ll stop now... sorry.”
Fluttershy huffed and turned to Sunset. “Why don’t you start from the beginning?”
“All right,” Sunset said as she sipped her juice again, more slowly this time. “Well, I had to take a bit of a shortcut to catch up to Flash, but when I did…”
“... After that he left, and I decided I needed some time to think, so I rode around for a bit and then came back here.” Sunset finished. A brief silence fell over the group.
“I’m sorry,” Princess Twilight murmured, “I didn’t want any of this to happen.”
“It’s not your fault, Twilight,” Fluttershy laid a comforting hand on the Princess’ shoulder.
“Actually it kiiiiiinda is,” Pinkie Pie added, earning more than a couple disapproving glares.
“No, Pinkie’s right,” Princess Twilight insisted. “I tried to let Flash down gently but I didn’t expect him to be so… so...”
“Stubborn?” Applejack suggested.
“Lovestruck?” Rarity batted her eyelashes.
“Sincere?” Fluttershy piped up.
“Hot?” Rainbow shrugged, taking the blunt stares of her friends in stride. “What? Just sayin’.”
“Ooh, ooh!” Pinkie Pie waved her hand in the air. “So super-completely wrapped up in the idea of being with you that the thought of not being with you never even crossed his mind, and when you finally dropped the bomb on him it was like watching a little kid who’s just been told that Santa Claus isn’t real try to keep it together even as everything he thought he knew about the world suddenly comes crashing down around him?!?”
“All of the above, actually,” Princess Twilight admitted with a ghost of a smile that faded all-too quickly. “I didn’t expect it to hurt me this much, either, and the fact that it caused so much trouble for Sunset makes it even worse.”
“I was the one who went running after him,” Sunset shook her head. “That’s my problem, not yours.” She gently laid her hand on top of the Princess’. “If it’s any consolation, I think Flash really does feel terrible about the way he reacted. He’s willing to try and patch things up, just... not tonight. He needs some time, that’s all.”
Princess Twilight’s face brightened a tiny bit. “That’s good to know. Thanks, Sunset.” The redhead returned the smile, only to have the heartfelt moment rudely interrupted by the rumbling of the Princess’ stomach. “Uh… sorry,” she blushed. “With everything else going on I guess I forgot to eat.”
“Aw, that stinks!” Pinkie Pie said. “And all the party snacks either got eaten or went home with people!” Her frown literally flipped upside down (kind of weirding the others out in the process). “Good thing we’re sitting in the best bakery in all of Canterlot, and Chef Pinkie is in da house!” She blinked. “I mean da kitchen!”
She produced a ludicrously large chef hat and plopped it atop her head. “Now let’s see… it’s so late today that it’s gonna be early tomorrow soon, so I’m thinking breakfast!” She put a finger to her lips in a pensive manner before a devious grin blossomed. “How does a batch of my special strawberry sprinkle funfetti pancakes with honey-maple syrup sound?”
Princess Twilight’s eyes glazed over as a tiny bit of drool dribbled from the corner of her mouth. “That sounds incredible.”
The others laughed as Pinkie zipped away to the kitchen with a perhaps too-eager Princess trailing close behind.
“Well, I’m thinkin’ it’s time for me to head on out,” Applejack said she she stretched her arms over her head. “Gotta get an early start tomorrow; life on the farm waits for no one.”
“Since Applejack is our ride this evening I’m afraid that means we three must be on our way as well,” Rarity said as she stood along with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.
“Twilight, will you be all right getting home?” Fluttershy asked.
“Huh?” Twilight looked up, her glasses slipping down her nose a bit from the sudden movement. “Oh, yes! The buses run late on weekends, so I should be fine,” she smiled.
“Okay, catch you later then!” Dash waved as the group headed off.
“Yeah… later,” Twilight offered a weak wave before her gaze fell back to the table in front of her.
Sunset frowned. “Everything okay? You’ve been pretty quiet.”
“I guess I’m just... not quite sure what I’m supposed to say.” She adjusted her glasses and looked up at Sunset. “Everyone else seems to already have their place in the group’s dynamic, but in the end I was finally able to convince Starlight Glimmer that what she was doing was wrong and restore the original timeline.” Princess Twilight Sparkle paused, taking a bit of a breath as she finished the rather lengthy tale of her recent exploits in Equestria. A moment of silence and blank looks of shock from the other girls followed.
“Uh,” Sunset furrowed her brow. “What?”
“Good gracious!” Rarity said. “I shudder to think of what might’ve happened had you not succeeded, Twilight. We might never have heard from you again!”
“Rarity?” Sunset turned to regard the fashionista. “Didn’t you just leave with Applejack?”
Rarity blinked. “Whatever do you mean, dear?”
“This is incredible!” Princess Twilight’s human counterpart exclaimed. “This Starlight person--er, pony was actually able to alter past events in a way that translated to meaningful changes in the future timeline?”
Princess Twilight beamed. “I know; I didn’t think it was possible! My previous experience with time travel led me to believe that everything was predetermined, but this event completely contradicts that theory! It’s so exciting!” She made an indistinct, high-pitched squeaking noise. “I can’t wait to start researching it when I get back home!”
“Wait, what is-” Sunset put her hands on the table and started to stand when she realized that the party was back in full swing. Sugarcube Corner was once again filled with a mixture of Wondercolts and Shadowbolts, most of whom were gathered around Rainbow and Indigo as they went head to head in that same fluffy fighting game. Fluttershy and a few others sat off to one side talking quietly. Vinyl and Lemon were rocking out. Sunset shook her head briskly, blinking several times as she took in every detail for a second time. “What’s going on?”
“Sunset?” Crystal Prep’s Twilight said, putting a hand on the other girl’s arm. “Is everything okay?”
Sunset could only shake her head as she continued to stare at everything around her. “I… I’m not sure. A second ago I could’ve sworn I was sitting over there,” she pointed to their usual booth, “talking to you, and then all of the sudden I was back here listening to Princess Twilight talk about how she dealt with the...”
She froze. A deep, clutching chill coursed through her body, reaching from the tips of her toes to the very top of her head.
“No…” she breathed. “No, it couldn’t be.”
“What?” Princess Twilight asked. “Sunset, what’s wrong?”
“Did I just...” Sunset stammered. “Th-there’s no way; it shouldn’t be poss-”
Someone cleared their throat. Sunset’s eyes went wide as sweat started to bead on her forehead. She turned to regard Flash Sentry, his hands stuffed in his pockets right where she expected to see them, and wearing a nervous grin that was all-too familiar.
No...
“Hey girls, sorry for interrupting.”
“Oh, um, it’s no trouble at all, darling,” Rarity recovered quickly and offered him a sweet smile. “Would you like to join us?”
No, no, no!
“Um, actually, Twilight can I talk to you for a second?” he mumbled, before adding a hasty “In private?”
A vibrant blush quickly overtook Princess Twilight’s features. “Oh, um... sure!” She pushed herself up from the table and took a moment to smooth her skirt before regarding her friends with a smile. “Hold that thought, I’ll be right back.”
Sunset stared open-mouthed as she watched the two of them enter the kitchen, and only after the door had closed did she turn back around and slump down into her seat, her gaze flitting about as her mind attempted to rationalize what the rest of her senses were trying to convince her was happening. She closed her eyes and started taking deep breaths one after another.
“Sunset, are you sure you’re feeling all right?” Rarity asked. “You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.”
Sunset took one final, calming breath and opened her eyes. “It… it’s nothing. I’m sure it’s nothing, I just… I need some air.”
Rarity and Twilight exchanged confused, worried frowns as Sunset quickly slid from her seat and made a beeline for the front door.