//------------------------------//
// New Old Friends 
// Story: Penitence 
// by Jay911 
//------------------------------//

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"TWILIGHT SPARKLE!"
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"OPEN THIS DOOR"
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"THIS VERY INSTANT!"
Despite her sleeping chambers being a great distance away from the front doors of the castle - a distance that should have prevented sound from carrying that far - the previously peacefully slumbering princess' eyelids shot wide open, her pupils shrinking to pinpoints as she recognized the shrill shrieking voice calling her name.
Then she mumbled a single phrase.
"Oh, horseap-"

Starlight Glimmer stomped toward
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the entry hall of the castle, ears flattening against
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her skull as she got closer to the racket.
"TWILIGHT! SPIKE! STARLIGHT! ANYPONY!"
Spike had met Starlight in the hallway connecting the bedrooms, but before she could speak, he shoved her towards the stairs, clapped his little clawed digits over his ears, and hurried back towards his bed.
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So it had fallen to Starlight to go answer the door.
"I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE HOLDING OUT ON ME!"
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Starlight thought of a number of retorts she could have thrown the hollerer's way. Or maybe I could magick away her mouth... no, knowing her, she's got some way around that.
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-Starlight opened the door and was about to yell, but instead got headbutted by a bubblegum-pink earth pony.
"Ow!" Starlight winced, rubbing the tip of her horn and wincing. "What is your problem, Pinkie?!"
The normally bubbly party pony looked beyond miffed, past agitated, straight to downright furious as she stared down Twilight's pupil. Chillingly, her voice was just as chipper as ever. "Hi, Starlight! I just wanted to talk to Twilight about something. Is she in?"
"In bed, probably," Starlight grumbled. "Like everypony else is. I don't think even Celestia's up to raise the sun yet-"
"Don't be silly, I always get up at the crack of dawn," Pinkie Pie grinned, indicating the early morning light spilling onto the ground outside. "But this is important. I got up this morning and got out of bed, and when I hit the floor, I was like THIS!"
Pinkie had stepped back and stood still - for a rare moment - and Starlight glanced over her briefly. "And?" she finally said.
Pinkie leaned back in, snout-to-snout with Starlight. "My left front is an eighth of an inch shorter than the others today! And you have to know there is only one thing that manifests in left front hoof shrinkage! Don't you?"
Starlight blinked, then remembered: the ridiculous 'Pinkie Sense' gibberish that Twilight had told her about one time. "I must have slept through that friendship lesso-"
Pinkie suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her face back into Starlight's personal space. "There's a pony in town that I haven't met yet," Pinkie said through gritted teeth.
"Gah," Starlight squirmed in Pinkie's grasp.
Momentarily, another voice was heard as another pony descended one of the grand staircases in the lobby. "Starlight?" Sunset called out sleepily. "What are you yelling about?"
Sunset blinked and froze in place as she registered a stunned, wide-eyed Pinkie Pie clinging tightly to Starlight Glimmer, both of them staring at her.

An hour later, the main meeting hall was full - beyond capacity, truth be told, with Starlight and Sunset having to stand, as all the chairs were occupied by the bearers of the marks inscribed on the chair backs.
"So, um, everypony," Twilight said with a nervous smile, "I think you all know Sunset Shimmer."
"We don't know her know her," Pinkie said, cheery as ever, "but we know what you've said about her stealing your Element and spiriting it away to another world where other versions of us helped defeat her and return your crown back here to Equestria..."
Sunset's foreshoulders drooped along with her ears and expression. Yup, you're Pinkie for sure, she kept to herself.
"We get that," a casual but accented voice said, which Sunset attributed to the hatted Earth pony off to her right. "But why is she here?" Applejack cast a look towards Sunset. "No offense meant."
Twilight spoke up while Sunset nodded acceptingly towards the farm pony. "Her time at Canterlot High was done," the princess explained, "and she needed someplace to go. I for one think she was very brave to come home and face the music."
"Oooh! Music!" Pinkie said with realization, and pulled a notebook out of her fluffy mane, scribbling briefly in it while mumbling aloud, "Get music for tonight!"
"Are you really going to subject the poor mare to one of your parties so suddenly, dear?" Rarity asked. "That's a lot for a pony to take all of a sudden."
"It's okay," Sunset said, managing a smile. "I'm used to it."
"From the other us'es, right?" the one that could only be Rainbow Dash chimed in.
"Haven't we been through this before?" Twilight said with mild agitation.
"Yeah, from you," Dash said, pointing at her with a wing. "We want to get her take on 'us'!"
"I'm not sure I want to hear about another me," came Fluttershy's soft voice. "It feels strange to even think about."
"Oh, I disagree, darling," Rarity countered. "It's a very mysterious and intriguing concept."
"Pinkie," Twilight said, turning to the earth pony, "Let's get this back on track. Why did you call for us all to gather together?"
Pinkie beamed. "To welcome Sunset home, of course!"
At least four heads hit the table.
"Couldn't we've done that at something approaching noon?" Applejack commented. "I mean, welcome back to Equestria and all, Sunset, but I got chores to do."
"I have napping to do," Rainbow Dash supplied.
Sunset couldn't help it; she giggled at that. Starlight cast a sidelong glance at her, and smirked.
Twilight allowed herself a smile, but it faded after a moment as she saw Sunset's expression darken and her head dip down, her mane enveloping her face.
"Sunset? Are you okay?" Twilight asked, getting half out of her seat.
"I-I'm fine," she said, holding up a hoof, lifting her head, and drawing in a deep breath. "I'm just... it's gonna be hard fitting in. I hear your voices, the voices of familiar friends, but I've never met any of you. And I'm thinking of how I treated them back... then... and how they befriended me despite all that... and... and I'm worried you might not..."
As Sunset trailed off, Starlight was the first to reach her and offer comfort. "Sunset, I have first-hoof experience in this, so trust me when I say, these ponies are physically incapable of holding a grudge. Especially when you didn't wrong them in the first place."
Sunset looked around at the six smiles facing her as Twilight picked up where Starlight left off. "That's right. My friends are your friends. They may not be the same people you've known from the other world, but trust me, they're just the same when it comes to friendship. They won't let you down, and even if you manage to do something you might regret, they'll stick right beside you, no matter what."
Sunset smiled at the nods she was seeing from around the map/table. For the second day in a row, she found tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "Thanks, everyo... everypony," she said sincerely.
The group crowded around her to offer their kind words and support. Pinkie was the one to break the group hug first. "Well, time for me to go! Make sure you don't eat too much today, so you have room for yummy treats tonight!"
"I guess you're a lot like the other Pinkie," Sunset smiled. "I'm surprised I didn't balloon up like a pig while I was in school."
Pinkie grinned devilishly as she headed for the door. "We've got time to work on that! Happy Sunset Shimmer Day!"
The amber unicorn blinked. "Say what?" she blurted out, nearly drowned out by peals of laughter.