Applejack was the first to see Sunset and Sparkle come back. She called out to the others that they were approaching; to which Pinkie responded in her Pinkiest of ways that there was no need to shout since they were all standing within ten feet of each other. Applejack scowled at Pinkie for a bit but realized that she actually had a point. The excitement of the moment had overridden her normal sense of proportionality.

"Um, why are they holding hands?" Rarity asked as the two came closer into view. Rarity was open minded and cared for everyone; but (and she hated to admit this even to herself), the idea of two girls being more than just friends did weird her out a bit. It was one of the reasons even though she loved Rainbow Dash to bits, she still kept a small distance between them until she found out that Rainbow was heterosexual.

"I don't know Rarity," Applejack said. "But I wouldn't read too much into it. Look at how wrong we were with Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow's head snapped around so fast it's a wonder it didn't fly off her shoulders. "Uhg! Really? You know if I hear one more person say something about me being gay I'm gonna clock 'em. Jeez; what do I gotta do? - wear a shirt that says I love di . . ."

"Hey guys," Sunset said as she and Sparkle got to where they group was. She saw that Rainbow looked angry but didn't know why. But she wanted to diffuse the situation as soon as possible. "Everything ok?"

"Everything's fine Sunset," Fluttershy said; surprising everyone by being the first to speak. "How are Twilight and Flash?"

Sunset got a small smile on her face and moved her eyes slightly back in the direction from which she had left them. "Oh, they're doing just fine."

"I still don't this is a good idea," said Applejack. "This can't end good."

"'Well'," Chip hesitantly interjected. "It's 'this can't end well'.'" Applejack shot him a death stare and he flinched, but he continued. "And, well, honestly, no relationship ends well. If you think about it. Best case scenario is you meet someone, fall in love, marry, spend a lifetime of sharing yourself with them; emotionally, mentally, physically; probably have a couple kids, then they die. Or you die. One of you dies. So the survivor is left alone and heart broken until they die or find a replacement."

Everyone just looked at Chip. Some looked aghast, some blankly, some just curiously, as if to say, why would you say something like that? .Chip kind of shrunk down and everyone turned to Applejack as if they were expecting her to explain him.

"I, I . . . I didn't mean it in a bad way. I only meant to point out that if one only enters a relationship based on whether they perceive its' outcome to be successful or not; then based on what the best possible outcome one could ever really expect; then no one would ever enter in to a relationship. All relationships end in pain; whether that pain is through being dumped or through death, it's still pain."

"You just keep diggin' that hole deeper don't you?" Applejack asked sarcastically.

"No, I mean, . . . , ok; I love you. But I know that by loving you, I'm opening myself to loss and heartache. But that doesn't matter because that's in the future and now I have you. I have you to talk to, play video games with, watch TV with, tell jokes with, hug, hold, ah, um, uh, kiss. And the pain of losing you in the future is worth the joy I feel now. That's why we enter into relationships."

"Aww, Chippy-poo," Applejack said as she gave him a big hug and kiss on the cheek.

"That and all living organisms are biologically driven to reproduce," Chip added with a smile but soon lost it when he saw Apple's expression. "I should have quit while I was ahead, shouldn't I?"

"Yeah." Apple responded flatly.

"Well instead of finding reasons to keep people apart we should look for ways to help them stay together," Rarity said.

"So what's going on? Is Twilight gonna stay for a while or what?" Rainbow asked impatiently. Love talk was fine, even though it made her miss Soarin more, but something told her that there was more going on.

"That depends," Sunset said. "There's something going on, something we both need to talk to you guys about. But I'll wait `til we're both here."

Fluttershy walked up to Sparkle and touched her shoulder. "How are you doing?"

"Uh, getting there. My entire world view has been up ended and turned on it's head. I discover magic's real, become a winged monster, open up portals to another dimension, and then meet myself from that dimension, but other than that, I'm ok."

Sunset squeezed Sparkles hand. Sparkle turned and looked at Sunset who smiled back at her. Sunset sympathized with the girl on so many levels. She felt for her and just wanted to do all she could to make her feel better.

Sparkle smiled back. Having Sunset by her, holding her hand, smiling at her, made her feel better. There was a grace in presence that calmed her nerves. When she looked into Sunset's eyes she saw a power and kindness, it filled her with a warmth and ease that she never wanted to lose. Just Sunset being beside her, not saying anything, was enough and she was grateful for her.

"I'm glad," Fluttershy said sweetly. "I also think there are things we need to tell you two as well, " Fluttershy turned to Rainbow. "Right Rainbow Dash?"

She knows! I don't know how she knows, but she knows, Rainbow thought to herself. "Yeah, sure," was all she said.

Sunset looked confused but said nothing. No sense in trying to ask what was going on now. She would just wait until Twilight got here and get everything out in the open all at once.

For the next fifteen to twenty minutes the group engaged in small talk. Small talk in the best of times was tedious and annoying; but it was exponentially more so now as everyone knew there were much more serious matters to discuss. Still, they knew they had to wait for Twilight to come back. Eventually she did; walking arm in arm with Flash.

"Sorry it took so long, " she said in a truly apologetic manner; but still smiling broadly at Flash.

"It's ok. We understand," Sunset said. "Now, I think it's time to get down to business."