Being a Saturday, the schools were, naturally, not in session for the day, and as such, many of the boys and girls attending Canterlot High, Crystal Prep and all the other schools in the district were instead spending their day in more relaxed ways. Nowhere was this more evident than in the large park right on the edge of the town of Canterlot. Here, students and other residents of the town came to enjoy themselves, be it playing some sports with their friends, or even just having friendly conversations with one another. For two girls in particular, however, other things took up their time. For there, jogging down a single path right down the middle of the park, was Sunset Shimmer and Indigo Zap. These two girls, as one might expect given their current activity, were outfitted in jogging suits, with Sunset’s a Wondercolt-style blue and Indigo’s bearing a Crystal Prep purple. As both girls continued to run together, Sunset looked to her companion with shock on her face.

“Her mother?!”

Indigo nodded, though never took her eyes off the path ahead.

“Yep. Sunny and old Cinch, they’re family.”

Turning at last, Indigo caught sight of the incredulous look on Sunset’s face, leading to her letting out a chuckle.

“Yeah, I didn’t believe it either. But it’s true.”

Looking ahead again, Sunset considered that for a few moments.

“Well…now that you mention it…I guess I can see something of a resemblance.”

Indigo nodded as she too looked ahead.

“Yeah…but you know, it probably isn’t cool to talk about her behind her back like this.”

Understanding that, Sunset nodded.

“Trust me, I know what it’s like to have people talking about you like that.”

With her curiosity piqued, Indigo turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s still kinda weird to think that you were ever a “bad girl”. I mean…just look at you!”

To that, Sunset let out a hearty laugh.

“Oh, believe me, what you see here is a far different person than what I used to be.”

Indigo nodded, and it wasn’t long after that when the two girls started to pant a bit more than they had been doing through the rest of their run. Looking to each other, they both gave a silent nod, agreeing without words that they should stop for the time being. So, spotting a nearby park bench, they both stopped there, taking a moment to catch their breath. Indigo, during this pause, took out a bottle of water from one of her suit pockets, taking a few sips before offering it to Sunset. Looking to her with an appreciative smile, Sunset took the bottle and began to down it herself, all while Indigo watched her with continued curiosity.

“You know…you being bad isn’t the only thing I heard since spending time with you CHS folks. Is it true that…you know..?”

Sunset looked to her with a raised eyebrow.

“What?”

Indigo began to look uncomfortable, scratching the back of her head for a few moments before letting out a sigh and just blurting out what she needed to say.

“Is it true you were…er…a pony?”

To that, Sunset put on a small smile.

“Yeah, it’s true. A unicorn, specifically.”

Indigo looked her over, from head to toe, before looking her in the eye at last.

“That…that seems so weird to me.”

Putting a hand on her hip, Sunset let out a brief chuckle.

“Oh, you think it’s weird? Imagine what it was like for me, having to come to a whole new world, having two legs instead of four, having no magic, having to deal with…with…these things.”

To emphasise her latter point, Sunset raised a hand, wiggling her fingers in front of Indigo, all while the other nodded, acknowledging her point.

“Yeah…I guess it would be kinda…off.”

Sunset nodded, looking away and putting on a more ponderous look.

“If it hadn’t been for the rift between me and my old teacher…I’d have spent my entire time just sending her messages, just gushing over how bizarre this world is.”

Indigo took on yet another look of curiosity.

“You’re teacher…that was the pony Celestia?”

Sunset turned to her again and nodded, prompting Indigo to look away and appear deep in thought.

“A talking unicorn…who was a student to a magical pony princess.”

After a few moments of silence, Indigo looked to her with an incredulous look.

“No offense, Sunset…but that’s probably the girliest thing I’ve ever heard.”

To that, Sunset nodded a little.

“Yeah, that was another weird thing for me to get used to. For me, and for everypony else in Equestria, it was just…normal. Here, there were all these ideas of unicorns and magic and who could like it and stuff. It was…just odd.”

Indigo looked away from her, considering that.

“Yeah…sorry about that. Still, you got used to it all, right? Being human and all?”

Sunset nodded at that, handing her bottle back before staring down at her own hands.

“I did get used to it. Nowadays, as strange as it may sound…I actually think of myself as a human more than I do as a pony.”

For a moment, she looked somewhat dour.

“There was a time when…when I actually forgot what my old face looked like.”

Indigo looked to her, and in this moment, she gained a look of guilt, perhaps from having brought this subject up in the first place.

“Ah…geez…sorry about that.”

But Sunset, letting out a sigh, looked up at her.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just something I think about from time to time.”

Taking a deep breath, Sunset put on a smile, giving Indigo her full attention.

“But enough about me. I haven’t really asked that much about you yet, have I?”

At that, Indigo leaned against the bench, shrugging her shoulders.

“Not much to say when compared to you. Born and raised in the city, went to Crystal Prep as soon as I was old enough. Pretty standard story really.”

But Sunset shook her head at that.

“Oh come on! I’m sure there’s more to you than that! I mean…you’re pretty big on sports, right?”

Looking back to her, Indigo cracked a sly smile.

“Pretty big? I love sports! The movement, the energy, the excitement of it…I’ve been into that sort of stuff for as long as I can remember. As far as I’m concerned, I eat, sleep and breathe the stuff.”

Letting out a brief giggle, Sunset folded her arms and nodded a little.

“I can tell. Your performance at the Games was pretty awesome.”

To that, Indigo gave her a wink.

“You know it. But, you guys did pretty good too…you know, even if you did have a little magical help here and there.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow, after which she let out a sigh and slumped her shoulders a bit,

“Yeah…sorry about that.”

But Indigo shook her head.

“Don’t worry about it. Besides, I thought it was pretty cool. I mean…can you guys do that all the time?”

Sunset shook her head.

“Not exactly. I’m still not entirely sure on the specifics…but it’s not really voluntary. It just sorta…happens, usually when we’re doing stuff that’s true to who we are. Basically, it’s intrinsically tied to our personalities and behaviours, being triggered only once a certain set of criteria are met.”

To that, Indigo just gave her a blank stare, after which she let out a chuckle.

“Oh yeah, you and Twilight are gonna get on just fine!”

Yet again, Sunset let out a laugh, scratching the back of her head as she did so.

“Sorry, got carried away a bit there. Basically…it just happens when we do something special.”

Looking to her, Indigo raised an eyebrow.

“So…you can’t just switch it on whenever you like?”

Sunset shook her head in response, prompting Indigo to look away from her, before then looking right back.

“So…just out of curiosity…you couldn’t just “pony up” right here and now?”

Looking to her, Sunset hesitated for a moment.

“Er…no, not really.”

Hearing that, Indigo’s smile became even more mischievous, as she took a few steps closer to the other girls.

“Alright then. In that case…race you to the end of the park!”

“Wait…what?!” Sunset blurted.

But she was too late, for Indigo was already off like a shot, running as fast as her newly-rested legs could take her. In barely a moment, she was so far ahead of Sunset that the latter could barely see her anymore. Now alone at that bench, Sunset placed her hands on her hips, sighing and shaking her head, before eventually breaking into a smile and chuckling, looking up to where the other girl had been. In the end, she resumed her jogging in that direction, albeit nowhere near as fast as Indigo had been.

“Okay...now I see why Rainbow likes her so much.”