Author's Notes:

As I was writing I realised two things: one, this is being released on halloween but has nothing to do with Halloween, so, sorry about that, and two: the actual chapter was already fixing to go over 25k+ words, so I split it into two for the finale of Arc II, so here you all are; part 1 of a two part episode!

Adagio kicked her feet in boredom as she leaned back on the park bench she was sharing with Sonata while Aria paced back and forth, tap-tap-tapping away on her phone. Adagio watched her sister as she paced, her eyes fixed on the screen, darting back and forth as she muttered Coltlantian curses under her breath now and again.

Sonata was staring straight ahead, humming a tune that Adagio suspected she’d made up and smiling vacuously. It was a trick of course, Adagio knew, although she suspected it was an unintentional one. Whenever Sonata looked like she was simply spacing out, it simply meant she was lost in her own head which, Adagio knew for a fact, was a maddeningly complex place. The world in Sonata’s head was a place so vibrant that Adagio was slightly impressed that her youngest sister ever emerged from it.

Once, centuries ago, Adagio had asked her sister that very question in fact. ‘Why would she ever wake up if her dreams were so bright.’

‘Because they’re just dreams,’ had been Sonata’s answer before going back to staring vacuously over the edge of the ship’s prow they had been on at the time.

Despite the short, frank nature of the answer, it was one that Adagio found herself thinking on again and again. ‘They’re just dreams’ had a hidden depth to it, one that Adagio didn’t truly appreciate when she first heard the answer but over the decades and centuries she had found more and more meaning to it.

No matter how hard things became, they had to be faced, because the alternative was ‘just dreams’. It was, in point of fact, one of the reasons that Adagio found herself admiring Sunset. It was certainly the main reason she had begun considering the fiery redhead as a member of their little family. Aside from that fact that Sunset was another exiled Equestrian, well, formerly exiled anyway, and understood their trials and tribulations better than any human, it was also true that Sunset was, put simply, an admirable person.

Despite every hardship thrown her way, Sunset had displayed a drive, a force of personality, and a strength of character that Adagio wasn’t a hundred percent sure that she possessed, even with all of her immortal lifetime taken into account.

Sometimes all immortality meant was an eternity of stagnation, after all, and Adagio was beginning to suspect that she had become complacent over the years after seeing Sunset in action.

“Hell yeah!” Aria snapped, grinning at her phone screen. “Eat that, idiots.”

Adagio sighed, hanging her head. “Sister, I’m starting to think you’ve become addicted to that game.”

“Hey, you try having to sit in a locker room waiting for your bout to start for hours with nothing to do and see how long it takes you to find something,” Aria grumbled as she tapped through the menus. “Besides, I just unlocked The Feaster and these dumbasses don’t know how to combat his lateral attack angles, they just run right into my tentacles.”

“I legitimately have no idea what you’re talking about,” Adagio replied dryly before glancing around the park, “and where is everybody?”

“Well we did get here like, two hours early, ‘Dagi,” Sonata replied.

“Still… Sunset’s message made this sound urgent,” Adagio said, sighing as she glanced down at her neckline and lifting the small sea-green gem. “We owe her so very much, sisters…”

Aria lowered her phone and nodded, glancing down at her own gem.

“Yeah… she seemed pretty intense over the phone, too,” Aria noted, tracing her fingers over her gemstone. “Not that I blame her… a human with magic? Even weak magic? That’s pretty bad… humans are monsters.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Adagio said softly. “We three have the excuse of being predators by nature, apex predators in fact… we hunt to survive; even here we couldn’t survive off of physical food alone… but humans? They could work together they just…”

“-don’t,” Sonata finished, scowling. “For some reason they just don’t. They don’t need to hunt each other, they’re a herd species, and they still spend most of their time killing each other.”

“Yeah well, I’m pretty sure we all decided they were created inherently stupid, right?” Aria said with a dry laugh. “I mean, look at the CHS students.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Adagio spat.

“Hey girls!”

The three former sirens looked up at the blue-haired girl who was walking down the cobbled park path towards them, waving and smiling widely. Just behind her were two other familiar faces, the dark-haired cellist and her DJ girlfriend were walking a few paces back and holding hands.

“Heh, well, maybe not all humans,” Aria said with a small grin. “Hey ladies, what’s shakin’?”

“You all got a message from Sunny, right?” Penny said, holding up her phone for emphasis.

“Mm, yes, although she was… unusually cryptic,” Adagio replied.

Vinyl flashed a few signs, and Octavia picked up the message a half-second later. “Did she ask you three to be here too?”

The sirens glanced at each other and nodded.

“Well, technically yes and no,” Adagio replied. “She said all three of us were welcome but that she specifically needed me.”

Nodding, Octavia and Vinyl joined Adagio and Sonata on the bench while Penny walked over to Aria, glancing down at her phone in interest. As they sat, Octavia smoothed her skirts and glanced over at Adagio who was staring off into the distance.

“You’re worried about her aren’t you?” Octavia said quietly, causing Adagio to look over with a raised eyebrow.

“And if I am?” Adagio answered. “She’s… important to me, although I can’t one hundred per cent say why…”

“Isn’t it just because she’s your friend?” Octavia replied with a small laugh. “I like to think we’re all friends.”

“We are!” Sonata chirped happily. “Or, at least… I hope we are!”

Vinyl nodded, signing as Octavia translated. “We haven’t known each other long, and we’ve even been enemies at one point but there’s something about Sunset that brings people together, you know?”

“I do know,” Adagio replied with a small grin. “I once told Gilda that being immortal means that the closest thing to a friend you might ever have is an enemy… I think, now, that sometimes the lines blur more than that.”

“I think the word you’re looking for is rival,” Aria called from where she was playing on her phone with Penny leaning over and watching excitedly.

“And I like to think my friendship with Sunny is a bit more complex than that,” Adagio retorted with playful annoyance. “Although you’re probably not wholly wrong, there’s certainly an element of rivalry to our relationship…” A sudden smattering of familiar voices cut through Adagio’s good mood as she spun around to glare down the park pathway. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

The five girls approaching were painfully familiar to the three sirens, and more so for Octavia and Vinyl as they shared classes with them. Applejack led the group with Rarity on her arm, Pinkie and Fluttershy walked just behind, chatting quietly, while Rainbow Dash walked slightly to the side of the others. Adagio’s eyes narrowed at that last bit… there was a small but noticeable divide, a fracture in the group that had defeated them and the eldest siren didn’t have to be a seer to guess why.

Before Adagio, or indeed any of the sirens, could get to their feet, Octavia was up and standing defiantly in front of the approaching Rainbooms.

“Pardon, but may I ask what you five are doing here?” Octavia asked, her voice dripping with venom. “I cannot possibly imagine that this is a coincidence.”

“I should think not,” Rarity replied, pulling away from Applejack and walking up to Octavia. “We were invited here by Sunset Shimmer, and if you don’t believe me, here…”

Rarity held out her unlocked phone to Octavia who glanced down at it suspiciously. “You are aware that I could just chuck that against the concrete out of spite.”

“I suppose you could, darling,” Rarity said in a slightly weary voice. “I can’t deny I might deserve it but… I don’t think you will, neither of us are that manner of spiteful, after all.”

“Hmph… fair enough,” Octavia replied before taking the phone and examining the text message that was left open.

Sure enough, the phone contact was Sunset Shimmer and the message was a slightly terse request for all of them, including Rainbow Dash, surprisingly, which the message made sure to specify, to meet at the park this afternoon. Even with the evidence right in front of her, Octavia couldn’t quite fathom why Sunset would ask all of them to be here. She had no illusions that Sunset was planning to forgive the girls after all…

“Why?” Octavia looked up at Rarity with narrowed eyes, glaring past her obsidian bangs. “Why would she invite you?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, darling,” Rarity replied with a weak smile.

“Honestly,” Applejack said as she stepped up beside Rarity. “We were sorta hopin’ ya’ll might know when we saw ya… not that I ain’t mighty grateful for the invite, but… I ain’t sure why.”

Adagio scoffed as she stood and walked up until she was toe to toe with Applejack. “You should be grateful, you wretched human. You owe that girl everything… we had you… even with your vaunted Princess of Friendship reinforcing your countersong, we had you, at least until Sunset lent her fire to your song.”

“Don’t ya’ll think Ah know that!?” Applejack spat, getting up in Adagio’s face. “We all know it,” Applejack gestured to the rest of the Rainbooms who looked down at the ground shamefacedly, all except Rainbow Dash who had never looked up. “It ain’t a secret that we screwed up, ya overgrown pufferfish!”

Raising an eyebrow and smirking as her sister looked on with dark expressions, but Adagio just chuckled. “Fish insults? Really? You’ll have to do better than that, blondie.”

“Please stop arguing,” Fluttershy said softly, stepping between the two. “We’re not here to start a fight, we’re here to apologise to Sunset.”

Vinyl stood alongside Fluttershy and moved her hands through her signs, and Octavia picked up the sentence a second later. “Fluttershy is right; Sunset wouldn’t want us picking fights with her old friends-”

“Ex-friends,” Aria interjected, earning a glare from Octavia and a flinch from most of the Rainbooms. “Sorry for interrupting…”

Vinyl shrugged and continued. “-if Sunset asked us all here on purpose then I doubt it was for a battle royale.”

Through all of it, Pinkie remained silent as she stared at the ground, her hair straight and the dark cloud hanging over her only rivaled by the one that followed Rainbow Dash around almost perpetually ever since the incident on the soccer field two weeks ago. Penny stared awkwardly at the group as the silence spread between them.

Whether or not there was a fight here, and Penny wasn't sure that whatever tentative peace that currently existed was guaranteed to last, she knew she stood apart from it all to a degree. It was obvious to anyone with working eyes just how much baggage existed between the girls. A baggage she didn't carry.

Taking a deep breath, Penny looked at the two girls that stood to the side of the new group.

The first girl had a drooping mane of pink hair that seemed dull and faded. Her blue eyes were unfocused and her expression spoke of real, genuine sadness

The other girl had a scruffy head of prismatic hair, with sharp, cerise eyes. Her brow was furrowed with something like anger or frustration, and she consistently stayed apart from the rest.

Making her decision, Penny walked between everyone and up to the pink-haired cloud of sadness that was the blue-eyed girl.

“Hi, I'm… my name is Pennyroyal Tea,” Penny said in a soft voice, holding out her hand. “But you can call me Penny.”

“I'm… I'm Pinkie,” Pinkie replied, trying to muster a small smile and only half-succeeding as she took Penny’s hand. “Are you one of Sunny’s new friends?”

“Yeah, we met at a bus stop, actually,” Penny said with a weak laugh, remembering her less-than-stellar first impression. “I was… kind of a bitch… I come off a little too strong sometimes.”

Pinkie laughed a little and nodded. “Me too, usually I'm really loud and friendly, but…”

“You look kinda scared,” Penny said carefully, but she needn't have bothered as Pinkie just nodded.

“We hurt Sunset… we hurt her really bad, see?” Pinkie said, her eyes narrowing as she scowled. “Because of it she… she lost everything. We promised to look after her and be her friend… we called her family and then…”

“So you’re scared of Sunset?” Penny asked.

Pinkie clammed up for a moment, looking stuck in place as she glanced around at her friends. Rarity grimaced and Applejack frowned. Rainbow still hadn’t looked up, but Fluttershy put a hand on Pinkie’s shoulder, giving her a comforting squeeze.

“I… Y-yeah,” Pinkie said after a moment. “I uh, guess I am… silly, huh?”

“Nah,” Penny replied, “if you’re anything like me you’re just scared she won’t want to be friends anymore, right?”

Pinkie nodded dolefully, wringing her hands as she frowned as she stared down at the ground. A pair of gentle, pink hands reached out to take hers, surprising her as she looked up at Penny who smiled broadly at her.

“Do… do you want to be friends?” Penny asked suddenly, startling Pinkie, and everyone else in both groups.

“W-what?” Pinkie stared, her jaw hanging open.

By this point all members of both groups were watching carefully as Penny smiled at Pinkie. Trying ignore the weight of the gazes on them, Penny took a deep breath and stood a little straighter.

“Look, I’m not a part of your school, so I don’t know what happened exactly,” Penny said, glancing back over her shoulder at the others and then shaking her head and looking back at Pinkie. “I… I wasn’t a part of that, okay? But you look really sorry, you look… okay, no offense, but you look awful.”

“Heh… yeah,” Pinkie agreed with a dry chuckle. “I feel pretty bad, too.”

“Right? That’s my point!” Penny turned to the others with a pleading look. “I’m not asking you guys to be best friends or anything but… we’re just kids… remember? I don’t want to go through the rest of my high school career with a blood feud.”

Adagio sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Penny, honey, I get it, but you weren’t there for the aftermath… you didn’t see how Sunset used to be, you didn’t-”

“You’re right, I didn’t!” Penny exclaimed, standing straight and staring at Adagio with an intense but unreadable expression. “And I think Sunset is incredible! Yeah, I get it, they hurt her and that pisses me off too but what am I supposed to do, hate them for the rest of our lives?”

“I…” Adagio stammered as she took a step back. “It’s not that simple!”

“Or maybe it is!” Penny followed forward, putting Adagio on her back heel and earning in impressed whistle from Aria. “You guys were all closer to this than me, okay? I get that, and maybe that’s good. Maybe you need someone who wasn’t that close to try and… I dunno…”

Vinyl flashed a sign and Octavio filled in: “Bridge the gap?”

“Y-Yeah…” Penny said softly before turning away from Adagio and looking back at the rest of the group, both of them. “I’ve spent so much of my life alone, you guys,” Penny raised a hand to rub the back of her head awkwardly, “like… Crystal Prep is a great school but… you don’t really make friends there, you make connections.”

“That sounds awful,” Pinkie said, frowning as she stepped out of the group and walked up to Penny. “Did… did you mean what you said though? Do you really want to be friends?”

Penny smiled and nodded. “I really do, I want to have lots of friends, and laugh and cry and do crazy stuff with them! I… I want a life of my own.”

Pinkie grinned, and not the weak, half-broken thing it had been before, but a full-fledged, ear-to-ear, Pinkie Pie Grin (patent pending).

With a cry of delight, Pinkie threw her arms around Penny, giggling as her hair poofed up into bright bouncy curls. Penny let out a high pitched shriek of laughter and surprise as they both toppled over into the grass, with Pinkie Pie giggling uncontrollably as she sat up.

“Oops! Sorry!” Pinkie chirped, standing and holding out a hand for Penny. “Toldja I come on a little strong…”

“Oof, no kidding,” Penny said with a laugh as she stood up, shook a few strands of blue hair from her eyes, and dusted herself off. “Still made a new friend, though!”

“Yupperooni!” Pinkie exclaimed happily.

Applejack turned from the two to look at Adagio, smiling hopefully.

“Not a chance,” Adagio said in an arid voice.

“Well, can’t blame me fer hopin’, can ya?” Applejack replied, her smile faltering. “But, who knows… maybe one day.”

A piercing whistle from the side stopped all conversation as the small crowd of girls startled and began looking for the source. It only took a moment to spot it, too; a red-haired, wheelchair-bound girl sat off to the side of the path with thick blankets covering her legs, her dark leather jacket closed against the chill, and her sharp cyan eyes were observing the exchange carefully.

Behind her, looming over her like a guardian, was the other girl that almost everyone knew to look for anytime they saw Sunset Shimmer. Gilda was lowering her hand from her lips from where she had whistled to get their attention and watching them as well, her gold eyes fixed on the Rainbooms, and Rainbow Dash in particular, who flinched away the moment she saw Gilda watching her.

“I’ll be honest,” Sunset said, wearing an even, neutral expression, “when I realised we were running late I thought I would show up to find an all-out brawl happening.”

“I daresay it might have been a near thing,” Rarity said weakly. “Although I do believe we have your friend Penny, as well as Pinkie, to thank for easing the tensions.”

“I saw,” Sunset agreed, as Gilda settled a hand on her shoulder. Looking back at her girlfriend, Sunset raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Be right back, Sunshine,” Gilda said after a moment.

Stepping past the girl who had, in many ways, become the most important part of her life, Gilda approached the Rainbooms with her hands in her pockets. The five of them tensed as the larger girl came to a stop in front of Rainbow Dash. Both girls stared each other down belligerently, Gilda’s expression was a combination of stern and impassive, while Rainbow’s was both defiant and pained.

“Gonna punch me again?” Rainbow asked, though not spitefully. Her tone even suggested she’d take it on the chin, as it were.

Gilda sighed. “Nah, ain’t gonna apologise f’the first one neither, though, savvy?”

Rainbow scoffed and nodded. “Yeah… I deserved it.”

“Just right, y’did,” Gilda snarled, unable to keep the heat from her voice as Rainbow flinched. “If you were gonna fake bein’ me y’coulda at least not half-assed it, Rainbutt,” Gilda jabbed a finger into Rainbow’s chest, causing her to back up. “Ya can’t just think about you all the fuckin’ time, savvy? Ain’t how it works! If there’s somethin’ out there that means more ‘ta you than you then you gotta be whatever it takes to keep that thing safe, a’right?”

“I know!” Rainbow shouted, suddenly seeming to come to life as her face contorted in pain. “I fucking know it, G! I know I fucked up, okay!?”

“Knowin’ it don’t mean a fuckin’ thing!” Gilda snapped. “You knew you fucked up when Sunshine split up you’n your friends the first time! You knew you fucked up when you fucked over Sunflower later, now you know you fucked up again!”

With every snap and remark, Rainbow wilted and backed up further and further as Gilda advanced. None of the others came to Rainbow’s aid, none of them wanted to get between her and Gilda. Moreover… Rainbow wasn’t sure she wanted them to stop Gilda at all.

‘I deserve this,’ Rainbow thought bitterly as Gilda towered over her. ‘I deserve all of this.’

Tears lingered at the edges of Rainbow’s eyes as she stared up defiantly at Gilda who just sighed and stepped back, taking a deep breath and shaking her head.

Suddenly Gilda’s hand moved… it moved fast. Rainbow Dash’s eyes were used to tracking lightning fast movement, she was a soccer player, it was a natural skill to develop. Her reactions moved faster than her conscious mind could process but it still wasn’t enough. Gilda’s hand was already past Rainbow’s arms that were rising to defend her face.

Rainbow squeaked in surprise as Gilda flicked Rainbow across the forehead.

“Just ‘cause y’know don’t mean y’ever gonna fuckin’ learn, huh, Rainbutt?” Gilda said in a low, tired voice, glaring at Rainbow with a kind of cold contempt that settled into Rainbow’s gut like a cold ball of iron. “S’always about you, huh? Even when I’m yellin’ y’fuckin’ ear off it’s always about you.”

A quiet weight settled between the two girls are Gilda stared down at Rainbow Dash who stared back at her teary-eyed.

“How ya expect t’be loyal if everything’s always about you, huh?” Gilda asked, her eyes narrowed with disgust. “Even this… me yellin’ at ya… I bet the only thing y’even thinkin’ about is how you deserve it.”

Rainbow’s jaw dropped and the stricken look on her face told Gilda everything she needed to know about the answer to her last guess. Her face twisting into a contemptuous snarl, Gilda spat onto the ground, swearing under her breath.

“Fuck, I was hopin’ you’da learned somethin’, but I guess it just ain’t in ya, huh?” Gilda said in a resigned voice.

“G… c’mon, I…” Rainbow started in a choked voice before glancing past Gilda to Sunset, hoping beyond hope to see something there. Some iota of sympathy, or forgiveness.

Sunset was looking determinedly to the side, away from her, from Gilda, and from everyone else. Her hands were curled into fists and, although distant, Rainbow could see she was shaking, and at the last moment she caught sight of Sunset’s hand darting up to wipe at her eyes with the stained rim of her jacket sleeve.

Rainbow only got a glimpse of the heart-wrenching sight before Gilda moved between the two of them and gave Rainbow a rough shove backward.

“Don’t even think about it, Rainbutt,” Gilda said in a deadly voice. “You even think’a comin’ near Sunshine without her say-so and I’ll shove my boot so far up your ass you’ll be tastin’ steel-toe for a week.”

“So… so that’s it?” Rainbow asked after a moment of working her jaw to find words that wouldn’t sound completely asinine. “What… what about-”

Rainbow never got the last word out as Gilda's hand shot out faster than Rainbow could react again, only this time it wasn’t to flick her forehead. This time Gilda’s hand went around Rainbow’s throat ending her sentence in a strangled gurgle.

“Swear t’god, Rainbow Dash if you say us in front of my Sunshine after the shit you pulled I will fucking end you,” Gilda snarled, her eyes blazing as she nearly bent Rainbow backward.

Rainbow Dash flailed for a moment, a few squeaks and shrill, inarticulate cries left her throat before several pairs of hands were suddenly on Gilda, pulling at her arms and trying to pry her off of Rainbow Dash with little success. A red mist of rage was covering Gilda’s vision as she stared down at Rainbow Dash, with all of her pent up fury suddenly rearing its ugly head.

“GILDA!”

Sunset’s voice split through the red mist like a cold knife as Gilda snapped out of her rage, letting her hand go slack as she did and allowing Rainbow to collapse to the ground hacking and coughing, massaging her bruised neck and taking harsh, ragged breaths as Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity crowded around her, with Pinkie looking on worriedly from the side.

Her hands hanging limply at her side, Gilda groaned, closing her eyes and taking several deep breaths.

“Fuck… I fuckin’ did it again, huh?” Gilda said angrily, turning back to Sunset who was looking at her with a sorrowful expression.

“Don’t be like him, Gil,” Sunset said softly. “You’re better than that.”

Gilda flinched and scowled, wrapping her arms around herself. “Sometimes I ain’t so sure, Sunshine, but… I’ll keep tryin’,” she replied.

“That’s all I’m asking,” Sunset replied, her expression warming to a small smile.

Turning to Rainbow Dash was still coughing on the ground, Gilda scowled.

“And us, Dash? We’re done,” Gilda said bitterly. “I ain’t got time f’you no more, savvy? We’re done.”

With that, Gilda turned on her heel and stalked back to Sunset and the moment she got to Sunset, Gilda did something that even the other girls hadn’t seen before, something that even surprised Sunset, if only that she was doing it in public.

She never showed this kind of weakness in public.

Gilda dropped to her knees like a puppet on cut strings, her knees striking the snowy ground hard as she took ragged, gasping breaths. Slowly, Gilda reached out and wrapped her arms around Sunset, pulling herself closer to bury her face in Sunset’s shoulder. Her grief was betrayed only by the slight movement of her shoulders as she shook, the tiny, quiet gasps of breath she made between her tears as they silently escaped down her cheeks.

“Ssh, it’s okay,” Sunset cooed softly, tangling her fingers into Gilda’s hair and stroking up and down, petting her softly as Gilda cried out her pain and anger. “I’m here… and I’m never, ever going to leave you.”

Gilda just nodded, her heart aching and her throat burning as it clenched with sorrow. Her chest felt like a vice and her whole body screamed at her to take her grief and turn it into anger, to take her anger and change it to rage, and then visit that rage on whatever was close, whatever was near.

But she couldn’t. She wouldn’t. Gilda refused to let it happen this time. She never wanted it to happen again at any time because… because the one whom she always wanted to be nearest to her was Sunset.

“I’m not the only one you broke, Rainbow Dash,” Sunset said in a quiet voice as she calmingly stroked the back of Gilda’s head, gently tracing her fingers up and down Gilda’s neck to bleed out the tension. “It took you all of one conversation to do this to her.”

Finally, after so long of avoiding looking at Rainbow Dash, Sunset fixed her eyes firmly on the girl with cyan skin and cerise eyes, the girl who had been party to one of her worst nightmares coming to life. The girl Sunset that thought she could have relied on above all others if or when everything went wrong.

Once upon a time.

“I’m not saying this to hurt you, or to twist the knife, savvy?” Sunset said in an even tone, but the anger on her face still lent venom to her words. “I’m saying it so you’ll know, for the rest of your life, just how little effort it takes to hurt someone once they let you in… I’m saying it in the hope that, maybe next time, you’ll be more careful.”

A pale hand settled onto Gilda’s shoulder as Vinyl knelt next to her, Gilda looked up just in time to see Vinyl tipping her shades up for the first time since Gilda had known her. Eyes the color of blood stared back at her, and Gilda’s eyes widened. For the first time in her life she was staring at a pair of eyes that were more intense than her own, and that was quite saying something.

Vinyl moved her hands slowly, allowing Sunset to translate for her, despite being a bit less proficient than Octavia.

“I know you probably feel bad for crying,” Vinyl signed. “But no one here… at least no one that matters, thinks you’re weak, and we never will.”

Gilda sniffled, wiping at her eyes as she leaned back, sitting on the snowy ground and taking several deep breaths for before looking up at Vinyl.

“I… yeah, I know, Blue” Gilda replied after a moment. “Just hard, y’know? Y’taught y’whole life not to show any weakness and…”

“Tears aren’t weakness anyway,” Vinyl signed.

“Vinyl is right, Gil,” Sunset said, “but… I need you now, we’ve still got work to do, you with me?”

Taking another deep breath, Gilda nodded and stood, shaking the snow off of her jeans and dusting herself off.

“Always, Sunflower,” Gilda said, smiling down at Sunset before turning to face the rest of the girls. “A’right, now that all that sappy shit is outta the way, Sunshine’s got some words f’ya.”

Sunset rolled forward, narrowing her eyes as she looked over her old friends. Each of them wilted back under the intensity of her glare before she finally let her gaze soften.

“Alright, us? We’re dealing with that some other time,” Sunset said, “right now I can’t afford to hold a grudge because we’ve run into a huge problem. An Equestrian problem.”

“What’s horsemanship have to do with anything?” Penny asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sunset blinked in confusion, then burst out laughing. “Oh wow, I can’t believe I forgot! You… you don’t know, do you?”

Penny raised an eyebrow, looking around at the crowd of girls who were all looking back at her, some in surprise and others with a semblance of pity.

“What do you mean?” Penny asked, feeling a pit of worry open in her stomach. “What do I not know?”

“Oh my,” Rarity lifted a hand to her mouth before turning to Sunset. “You didn’t tell her?”

“I didn’t think I had to!” Sunset snapped. “I didn’t plan on letting that part of my past come up ever again, but apparently that’s not a choice I get to make!”

“Can someone tell me what I’m missing!?” Penny demanded, staring at Sunset and Gilda. “Please? I don’t like being kept in the dark, okay?”

Taking a deep breath, Sunset nodded. “Alright, well, I’m going to need you to suspend some disbelief here for me, okay? Because believe me this is going to get a little… unbelieveable.”

“Uhm, alright,” Penny said hesitantly. “I trust you, Sunset.”

“You might come to regret that,” Sunset said with a dry chuckle. “Especially if I’m right about my suspicion.”

Turning to the Rainbooms, Sunset took a deep breath, bracing herself for the conversation.

“Alright, ladies, I have a question… a really important one,” Sunset said quietly, “and I need to know absolutely for sure, so please, have any of you ponied up since… since what happened with Anon-A-Miss?”

Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all glanced between one another, silently sharing the question between them before coming to the conclusion they each knew in their hearts.

“No, we ain’t used our magic since what we did,” Applejack said softly. “Ah never really thought about it but… none of us really felt like playin’ together since what happened, y’know? Figured without ya’ll singin’ with us it’d just be a reminder.”

“I agree, darling,” Rarity joined in, stepping forward and grimacing. “I admit, I have missed playing but… the idea of playing music without you, Sunset, was… too painful to bear, at least for now.”

“Yeah, I just can’t feel the beat right now, y’know?” Pinkie agreed.

Fluttershy and Rainbow just nodded solemnly along with the others as Penny looked on in confusion.

“Uhm, someone wanna explain ‘Ponied Up’ to me?” Penny said with a nervous laugh. “It sounds… silly.”

Sunset laughed as she turned to Penny. “Sorry, it’s a pun, mostly because we couldn’t think of anything else when it first happened and the name just… stuck.”

“Fair enough, but what is it?” Penny asked.

Sunset sighed and gestured to Gilda.

“Show her.”

Gilda frowned but nodded. “A’right, well… everyone stand back,” Gilda said, gesturing at the small crowd. “This ain’t exactly quiet, savvy?”

Closing her eyes, Gilda mentally reached for the place in her mind that she had found held the power that Sunset had taught her to control, at least partially. It was a place filled with thoughts of Sunset, of the girl she loved more than life itself. Ever since the night she had proposed to Sunset, Gilda had found getting to that place in her mind becoming easier and easier.

A thunderclap rippled through the air as wide, feathered wings spread from Gilda’s back, lightning crackled in her eyes, and a faint gray glow limned her body.

“How… how’d ya do that?” Applejack asked, shock writ plain on her face as she approached Gilda who looked at her questioningly.

“Wha’dya mean?” Gilda asked in confusion. “Took some practice but I just, y’know… do it.”

“None’a us ever managed to pony up without all playin’ music together,” Applejack said before looking pensive and amending herself. “E-except the first time with the Princess, that is…”

Gilda shrugged. “Couldn’t tell ya, Hoedown, I just do what the lady says, savvy?”

“I think Gilda can pony up on her own because she managed it in a time of crisis,” Sunset said. “Also… well, I’ll get to the second part later… so Penny…?”

Penny was staring at Gilda who grinned sheepishly at her.

“What… what did I just see?” Penny asked, dumbfounded. “And… are those real? Am I on drugs?” Penny asked, glancing over at Sunset worriedly. “Are they at least good drugs?”

Sunset laughed a little weakly. “Uh, no… short of it is: I’m not from around here. I’m from the dimension next door, and I kind of… accidentally brought an energy force that is colloquially known as ‘magic’ with me when I turned into a supervillain last fall.”

Penny stared silently at Sunset for several moments before laughing. “Uh-huh… you… you expect me to believe an extra-dimensional being looks human? That would be a massive coincidence.”

“Oh, I don’t look human,” Sunset replied, waving her hand. “I’m actually an equine-like quadruped; mane, tail, hooves; the whole shebang…” Sunset waved her hand and conjured a small image made of sparkling motes of light in front of her, reveling in the more magic-rich environs of Canterlot, and displaying an illusion of her birth form. “The transition between dimensions forces anyone crossing the transdimensional boundary to assume a form suited to that dimension’s dominant sapient inhabitants.”

“Oh my god…” Penny gasped, staring down at the illusory image of Sunset’s pony form. “That’s… you’re…”

“Yeah, I know, it’s a lot to take in, huh?” Sunset said a little uneasily. “I understand if you want to take some time to digest this.”

“That’s you?” Penny asked, pointing at the pony-form image.

“Uhm, yes?” Sunset replied with a raised eyebrow.

Penny stared at it for a few seconds longer. “You’re fucking adorable.”

“Really?!” Sunset croaked. “I reveal the presence of multiple dimensions and literal magic, and your first comment is how cute my unicorn form is?!”

“Hey! Just because I’m punky doesn’t mean I didn’t want a pet unicorn as a little girl okay?!” Penny shouted, throwing her hands in the hair. “And I might also just be silently freaking out under all of this so don’t blame me for trying to get a grip on something here!”

Octavia set a hand on Penny’s shoulder, giving her a sympathetic look. “Dear, we understand how… unbelieveable all of this is, but it is very true, trust me… we’ve seen the effects of magic first hand more than once.”

“Was that a dig at my sisters and I?” Adagio called from the side as she strutted up to Penny. “Oh, yes, by the by, I’m also from that dimension, though I’m not pony by any means.”

“We’re Sirens,” Sonata chimed in, walking up next to Adagio. “Think like… huge sea-dragons! A mean old pony mage banished us to this dimension for stupid reasons.”

“We were causing mass war and strife on a continental scale, sister,” Adagio retorted, and then looked thoughtful for a moment, “though it did seem funny at the time.”

“It was funny,” Aria said, laughing from where she had perched herself on the back of the bench. “We just lost, which sucked, but hey, that’s life.”

“So wait, all those rumors and that weird Haytube video of the lightshow near CHS was…” Penny said, her eyes widening. “That Battle of the Bands thing was real?”

“Ayup, sure was,” Applejack said, walking over to Rarity and sliding her arm around the pale girl’s waist. “An’ them figures in the distance, playing on the hilltop? That was us… all’a us, Sunset included. She was the one who saved us in the end.”

“Holy crap,” Penny said breathlessly, “that’s awesome…”

Rainbow Dash chuckled dryly and nodded. “Yeah… it was.”

“To give a truncated explanation,” Sunset began, rolling forward so she was between all of the girls. “In my world, the five girls you see here represent a nearly all-powerful force called the Elements of Harmony; here, on this world, they took up that mantle and defeated a source of corrupt magic, me, when I foolishly brought the catalyst of the Elements, a crown that bore the Element of Magic, to this world.”

Sunset frowned as she remembered how selfish she had been at the time. It was a phenomenally risky plan that could have endangered an entire world, but all Sunset had cared about was proving herself… all she wanted was to come back to Equestria as a being worthy of ruling. To prove to her mother, to Princess Celestia, that she had been wrong to cast her out.

Ironically, Celestia already knew that, but Sunset had been so focused on revenge she had never once considered just going back and apologising… just talking to her adopted mother.

“I used the crown and proved unworthy of it,” Sunset explained. “But by activating it I dragged magic into this world… something I don’t think this world was ready for but, well, there’s no putting the oats back in the bag, so now I have to try and clean up as much as I can.”

“Them Elements were how we transformed,” Applejack explained, looking downcast. “But… Ah think Ah know what Sunset is headin’ for.”

“Yeah…” Sunset turned to the five girls and sighed. “I need you five to play… we can head to CHS if we need to, but I really need to confirm something.”

“Don’t bother,” Rainbow Dash grumbled, earning a glare from several of the girls. “What? You can all feel it, can’t you? We don’t have it anymore… I sure as hell can feel it and I’m pretty sure I know why!”

Rainbow Dash stood, wrapping her arms around herself and glaring over at Gilda momentarily before turning to Sunset.

“And you already know it, too, don’t you?” Rainbow hissed. “You already know what Gilda has…”

Sunset mouth tightened to a thin line, but nodded. “I… I think so… but-”

“Don’t bullshit, Shimmer,” Rainbow snapped. “You know it so just say it! Actually don’t, I will!” Turning to the rest of the girls, Rainbow swung her hand out, gesturing to Gilda. “We fucked up girls, and the Elements know it! That’s why it feels like we’re missing something, and don’t say you all don’t feel it too, we’ve all felt it! The Elements of Harmony… we lost them!”

Rarity turned to Sunset with a haunted look in her eyes. “Sunset… is that true?”

Sunset sighed, but nodded. “Yes… I think so.”

“Right?” Rainbow said bitterly before turning to Gilda. “So since I’m basically just a half-assed version of you, that means you got my old Element.”

Gilda looked down at her gauntlet, her talon, at the faint amber glow that suffused the symbol on the back of her hand.

“We’ll see,” Sunset replied tersely before turning to Gilda. “You said it yourself, though, Gil… there’s no one as loyal as you.”

“Wait… so if all’a them lost their Elements then…” Gilda started, staring over at the girls who were looking over at her and Sunset’s new friends with wide eyes.

“Wait, time out,” Adagio said, holding up her hands. “You say that they lost their Elements, and you’re suggesting those same Elements have chosen new bearers, correct?”

Sunset nodded.

“Then you’re missing one,” Adagio pointed out. “See? One, two,” she pointed to Gilda and Sunset, “three, four,” Octavia and Vinyl glanced at each other as Adagio ticked off her fingers towards them, “And Penny makes five, and the last time I checked there were six.”

“You’re… not wrong,” Sunset said with a small laugh. “But I’m not missing any of them, ‘Dagi.”

“Did one of them keep theirs?” Adagio asked, raising an eyebrow. “I’d be surprised if that were the case.”

“No, you’re just not counting everyone,” Sunset said, her smile becoming a little smug. “Let’s go down the list… and bear in mind that some these are educated guesses, but I’m pretty confident in them.”

Sunset rolled over to the group of girls who had been friends for the past few weeks, the girls who had shown themselves to be far truer than her old friends. Stopping in front of Octavia, Sunset reached out and took her friend’s hands.

“Octavia… you could be a lot of things with the amount of money your family has…” Sunset began with a wry smile, “and believe me, having spent as much time around wealthy nobles as I have, not many of those things are good.”

“Oh trust me, I’m aware,” Octavia replied with a frown and tightening her grip on Sunset’s hands. “My family has many connections I feel we could do without, but needs must…”

“And yet you never let that change you,” Sunset said firmly. “You never let your wealth blind you to your own privilege and status, or cause you to start seeing other people as beneath you like… like I did.”

“Sunset…” Octavia said softly.

“No, don’t deny it, I let my power, my ego, and my status turn me into just as much of a monster as that crown did,” Sunset said firmly. “But… the point is that you didn’t; you know in your heart how lucky you are, so when you see those who are less fortunate you extend a hand to them.”

“It’s the right thing to do,” Octavia said softly.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Sunset agreed, “but the fact that you know that is why you were chosen by Generosity.”

Every magi, neophyte to master, knows the power of words… the power of names. When a name is spoken the owner of that name feels it, even from a distance. There is a magic to it, a subtle but powerful magic called ‘recognition’, and the power of that recognition is equal to the power of the name’s owner.

And the power of an Element of Harmony is nearly endless.

The moment the word was spoken and the spark of recognition lit behind Octavia’s eyes, a soft purple glow suffused the dark-haired musician. Octavia gasped softly as a powerful but calming energy seemed to spread through her like warm liquid, leaving her skin tingling for a moment. It passed in seconds, and a gentle weight settled on Octavia’s chest.

Glancing down, Octavia’s eyes widened at the sight of a gleaming treble clef symbol wrought in gleaming amethyst.

“I knew it,” Sunset said with an assured grin. “And you, Vinyl…”

Turning her chair to face Octavia’s girlfriend, Sunset took Vinyl’s hands the same as she had taken Octavia’s. “I have to say… I regret not being friends with you a lot earlier… I feel like you would have been a voice of reason for me,” Sunset said before realising her choice of words and wincing. “Uh, pardon the wording there…”

Vinyl waved it off with a chuckle before signing. “You were kinda scary back then, but I wish I had been your friend, too.”

Sunset nodded. “You have something in you that the old me lacked badly… maybe it’s just a part of who you are, or maybe it’s because your disability gives you a unique perspective on what other people need,” Sunset pushed the neckline of her jacket out of the way to display the headphones. “You’re so thoughtful, and gentle… you could have let the unfairness of your differences make you hard and angry but you didn’t, you let it open your eyes to the suffering of others and you responded by reaching out to ease that suffering… that’s why I’m certain that you inherited Kindness.”

An almost electric-white glow crackled over Vinyl’s form the moment the final word left Sunset’s lips, and Vinyl lifted her shades in surprise, looking down to see a gleaming sapphire set of bridged eighth notes reversed and clasped to the front of Vinyl’s jacket.

“Two f’two, Sunshine,” Gilda said with a chuckle.

“Right, let’s keep it rolling,” Sunset said, turning and gesturing to Penny, whose eyes went wide.

“W-Wait… seriously?” Penny asked in disbelief as she walked numbly over to Sunset.

“Yeah, seriously,” Sunset said, taking Penny’s hands. “Pennyroyal Tea, you… are hilarious…”

“Uhm, thanks?” Penny said with a weak laugh.

“I mean it,” Sunset insisted. “It’s more than just being nice or being funny or… anything like that. You want to smile, you want people to smile. You want to be friends with people and you want other people to be friends.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” Penny demanded, frowning.

“Absolutely nothing,” Sunset replied, gripping Penny’s hands a little harder. “That’s the point though… you make friends so easily because your heart is so open and, I’ll be honest, given your relationship with your parents that’s kind of surprising.”

“Yeah well, I’m not going to let some old fuddies ruin my life,” Penny said, furrowing her brow. “My parents might want me to sit in the back and be the quiet, ‘seen-but-not-heard’ good girl, but I want to have a life.”

“Exactly,” Sunset confirmed. “Out of all of my new friends, you were the only one to look past the fighting and the bad blood and see that my… my old friends were just people.” At that, Sunset looked over at the Rainbooms with a pang of nostalgia and, for the first time in months, a feeling of warmth. “You didn’t see them as enemies, just people who had… had made a terrible mistake.”

Penny looked down at the ground between her and Sunset, nodding. “I hate seeing people hurting themselves,” Penny said softly. “I thought… maybe if I could reach out, then… maybe…”

“That’s my point,” Sunset said. “You reached out a hand of friendship when… when even I wouldn’t…” Sunset glanced over at Pinkie Pie and gave her a weak, fragile smile, but one that wasn’t forced at least. Pinkie grinned radiantly back at her, nodding knowingly.

Turning back to Penny, Sunset took a breath and gave a nod. “You brought someone’s smile back with the simple act of reaching past the darkness that sat between the two groups and offering friendship… you took pain and replaced it with joy, you took sadness… and replaced it with Laughter.”

A light shone in Penny’s eyes for a moment before spreading through her whole body. The sensation tickled and Penny couldn’t help but giggle as a smile worked its way onto her face. A flare of pinkish-blue light rose up from Penny’s chest to coalesce into a symbol on her chest worked in pale garnet: a heart bound into a fretboard.

“Woohoo!” Pinkie cheered and rushed over to tackle Penny with a hug. “That’s me! You got MINE! I’m SO, SO, SO~ HAPPY! THAT MEANS YOU’LL CARRY ME WITH YOU EVERYWHERE!”

Penny laughed as Pinkie cheered and giggled, hanging off of her and nuzzling her cheek with a broad, utterly genuine smile.

“You’re… you’re not upset?” Penny asked as Pinkie settled down onto her feet.

Pinkie shook her head, letting her wild pink curls swing uncontrolled. “Nope! I did a bad thing… it wasn’t your fault my Element left, it was mine… I’m just happy that it found a new home, that’s all. And I’m even happier that it found a home with my newest friend!”

Penny smiled, feeling tears trickle from her eyes. “Aw… Pinks…”

Wrapping her arms around Penny more gently this time, Pinkie patted Penny’s head. “Don’t worry, I know magic is scary sometimes, but it’s also amazing! And you have good friends, and you’ve got me! We’ll be besties, right?”

Penny nodded, burying her face in Pinkie’s shoulder. “Yeah, you’re the coolest, Pinkie.”

“Nah, that’s Rainbow Dash, even if she’s a silly-head sometimes,” Pinkie said with a laugh. “I’m just Pinkie Pie!”

Sunset felt a warmth fill her heart. Pinkie was always one of the best of them, the one who would look past so much and understand so much… she was also the one who was easiest to hurt, even if she never showed it. Seeing Pinkie so genuinely happy… Sunset couldn’t help but smile along with her as she turned and gestured to Gilda.

“Of course, the next one isn’t even a guess,” Sunset said as Gilda walked up to Sunset and knelt in front of her. “Gilda Grimfeather… oh… Written’s Quill, what do I even say?” Sunset leaned in to rest her forehead against Gilda’s for a moment before pulling away. “From the moment we became friends you’ve always been there for me,” she said softly, stroking Gilda’s cheek. “When we became girlfriends you turned your whole life upside down to make me happy… I felt so guilty about it for so long until I realised it was just how you showed your love.”

“Damn right,” Gilda replied easily. “Life ain’t a damn thing without’ya, Sunflower… s’no point in keepin’ somethin’ how it is if changin’ it’ll make you smile, savvy?”

“You’re such a sap, Gil,” Sunset said with a laugh. “And I love you so much… when I was crippled, you never left my side until I was stable… when I’m scared you’re always there to hold me…” she brought her hand up to rest on Gilda’s cheek, tracing the lines of Gilda’s face with her thumb. “And when you asked me to marry you I honestly couldn’t have been happier.”

A gasp rose from almost all of the girls, with only Adagio and Applejack looking unsurprised. Rarity looked absolutely over the moon, practically vibrating in place with her hands over her mouth and tears in her eyes as she finally noticed the tiny gleam of copper wire around Sunset’s finger.

“I think if there was an Element of Love you’d own it,” Sunset said with a laugh, “but as it is… I think it’s not unreasonable to say that maybe the highest form of love, in any shape, is real and true Loyalty.

The etched scarring on the back of Gilda’s talon glowed amber for a moment before turning to a fiery gold that spread and arced up Gilda’s body until it sheathed her entire form. The shine lasted for less than a moment before it faded, leaving behind an insignia of a winged spear, whose wings encircled a divided sun; the whole of the symbol shone like gold except for one half of the sun which was the scarlet of the evening sky.

A harsh snort came from behind Sunset and both her and Gilda turned to see Rainbow with her back to the rest of the group.

“C’mon Dashie,” Applejack said soothingly. “Ain’t like anythin’ was… stolen, or nuthin’ y’know? We lost it fair’n square, sugarcube.”

“Screw you, AJ,” Rainbow hissed, “guess you always were fine just being normal,” she spat before stomping away from the group, back towards the city.

Applejack flinched at the venom in Rainbow’s tone, and sighed before turning back to Sunset and Gilda with an apologetic look in her eyes.

“Mighty sorry ‘bout that, ya’ll,” Applejack said quietly. “Guess Ah don’t need t’tell ya that Rainbow gets real sore about things sometimes, takes it personal-like, but she’ll come around once she cools off.”

“AIn’t my problem,” Gilda said with a grimace.

“And my point still stands,” Adagio said from the side, looking over the small group. “You’re missing one Element, unless dear Applejack over there miraculously retained hers.”

“Nope,” Applejack replied with weak chuckle. “Dashie was right… Ah ain’t got it, don’t need no magic spell to tell me when Ah lost somethin’ like that, sugarcube.”

Sunset sighed as she watched Rainbow Dash’s form grow smaller and smaller in the distance. She knew Rainbow wasn’t going to take the notion of losing her Element to her old friend, especially not after said friend rejected her romantically… and Sunset was still sore about the fact that Rainbow even tried that. Still… she had been hoping Rainbow would step back gracefully, she wasn’t expecting her to react like Pinkie Pie had but…

Sunset had had enough enemies in her life.

“Head back in the game, Shimmer,” Sunset murmured as she turned away from the retreating sight of Rainbow Dash. “One more…”

“So now what?” Aria asked, raising an eyebrow. “Y’know where the last one is?”

“Oh… I’ve got a pretty good idea,” Sunset said with a small laugh. “It’s right here with the rest of them.”

The girls look around curiously, but Gilda just lightly swatted at Sunset’s ear. “C’mon babe, enough’a the cryptic bullshit, y’ain’t doin’ nothin’ but screwin’ with’em now.”

“I’m a mage, Gil,” Sunset retorted, sticking out her tongue. “Being cryptic and vague about powerful magical artifacts is part of the gig.” Gilda snorted with laughter as Sunset wheeled away from her towards the group. “But you’re right,” she said, glancing back at Gilda, “time to get this done…”

Rolling through the small crowd of girls, Sunset came to a stop in front of one particular one, drawing an odd look from everyone but Gilda.

Adagio looked down at her in confusion.

“What?”

Sunset smiled as she reached out and took Adagio’s hands, and the Siren blanched, her mouth dropping open for a moment as she tried to pull away. Aria stepped back with wide eyes and even Sonata raised her hands to her mouth in shock.

“No… you’re not- no!” Adagio stammered as she tried backing away, but Sunset held her fast.

“Believe me, I was as surprised as you when I realised it but…” Sunset laughed a little and shrugged. “When I thought about I couldn’t deny it.”

“I’m a Siren,” Adagio practically spat. “I hunt your kind, we all do! We’re apex predators-!”

“Were,” Sunset corrected her. “You were predators, and only out of a combination of necessity and corruption by dark magic.”

“But-”

“Adagio Dazzle, just because we started as enemies doesn’t mean a damn thing!” Sunset insisted, pulling the terrified-looking Siren towards her. “When I was confused and hurt and adrift, you looked me in the eye and told me what I needed to hear, not necessarily what I wanted but what I needed,” Sunset laced her fingers into Adagio’s and the curly-haired immortal reflexively gripped Sunset’s hands. “In all the time we’ve known each other you’ve always been straight with me, even with what you said the day we met at CHS, when you cornered me in the halls… at the time you may have only told me it to hurt me, but it only worked because it was true, right?”

“Not a thing in the world hurts more than the truth,” Adagio said softly.

“And yet you’ve never shied away from it,” Sunset said in a calmer voice. “You’re always there when I… when your family needs you, and you never disrespect me by sugarcoating your words. Do you know how rare it is for me to know I can always trust what someone will say to me, ‘Dagi?”

Sunset stared up at Adagio with a glimmer of pain, and hope, in her eyes, and Adagio felt something… a faint glow, a connection. One that had been there for a while but that she was only beginning to acknowledge.

After a moment, Adagio nodded.

“If I need help, I know I can go to any of my friends,” Sunset said as she smiled. “But if I want advice? If I’m feeling lost? I would come to you every time, because I know that if you think I need to hear something then I can bet my bottom bit I’ll hear it… so it’s no surprise that, Siren or not, you inherited Honesty.”

Adagio’s eyes widened as she felt a powerful feeling well up within her as a gem-like glow of amber and orange suffused her. A faint crackling sound could be heard from Adagio’s gem as it vibrated wildly, shaking in place on her neck with violent force before finally shattering with a loud, ringing bell-tone.

But the shards did not fall.

The shards of the gem floated in mid air, orbiting around a glowing light that seemed to be be attached to the link of Adagio’s choker. With a sound like windchimes, the shards floated back together in a new configuration.

A amethyst musical staff with a gleaming topaz superimposed over it now hung from her neck where the sea-green gemstone had been a moment ago.

“The Elements of Harmony don’t care who you are or were, ‘Dagi,” Sunset said as the light died down. “They care about your potential; they care about the people you can help now and in the future… so it’s not just me, alright?” Sunset took Adagio’s hands again and gave them a squeeze. “Now you’ve got an ancient magical artifact rooting for you, too.”

“How nice,” Adagio said weakly as she stared down at the gem with unease. “I’m still not… certain how I feel about this, Sunny.”

“I know, but you have us to back you up, ‘Dagi, okay?” Sunset said in a soft voice. “It’s not just you and your sisters anymore, now you’ve got all of us.”

“Kinda hard ta believe mah old Element is in the hands of Adagio Dazzle,” Applejack said in a heavy tone. “But Ah guess Ah can’t rightly complain, can I?”

Adagio grimaced but walked up to Applejack nonetheless.

“Look, Hayseed, we’re not friends, alright?” Adagio said in a tired voice, pinching the bridge of her nose. “But… fair is fair, I suppose… we didn’t endear ourselves to any of you, either. So maybe we can call ourselves… cordial acquaintances for now?”

Adagio held out a hand towards Applejack, to the surprise of everyone including Sunset.

“Uh, not that Ah’m opposed t’new friends’n all, but Ah gotta ask why,” Applejack replied, looking down at Adagio’s hand in suspicion.

“Because,” Adagio answered in a tone of irritation, “in this moment of weakness which I shall deny to my grave, I’m admitting that as the former holder of the Element which has, against all odds and reason chosen me, you may have some insight which I would be… mistaken not to avail myself of.”

“Well, that’s… fair enough Ah guess,” Applejack said after a moment, smiling wryly and she took Adagio’s hand and gave it a firm shake.

Rarity sighed as she watched Applejack and Adagio bury the hatchet, at least to an extent, and turned to Octavia. “Well, darling, I suppose bowing out gracefully is the thing to do in this instance, wouldn’t you say?”

“I suppose so,” Octavia replied in a chilly voice, only to be nudged in the side by Vinyl who pulled her shades down slightly to shoot Octavia a glare. “Ugh… very well…” Turning back to Rarity, Octavia held out a hand. “Miss Belle I can’t say I have any love for you or your friends… you all acted just as atrociously as the rest of the school during the Anon-A-Miss fiasco and… it was disappointing because up until that point I had looked up to you greatly.”

“I… I see,” Rarity said in a hitched voice, her eyes widening perceptibly before hesitantly reaching out to take Octavia’s hand. “I’m so sorry then… for disappointing you, Miss Melody, believe me you can’t be nearly as disappointed in me as I am in myself, though.”

Octavia nodded stiffly, before letting her shoulders sag as she grimaced. “I had… after the fall formal, found something to strive for in you, is all,” Octavia said quietly, gripping Rarity’s hand. “A generous soul, a truly noble spirit, maybe? I’m not sure… I know we’re barely more than children and perhaps it’s the romantic in me talking but… seeing you and your friends save so many people twice was… inspiring.”

“In the end we are just as flawed as anyone else,” Rarity said quietly, laying her other hand over Octavia’s. “But I see now why you in particular have been so cold to me, they do say one should never meet their heroes, I suppose… for whatever it’s worth… I’m so very sorry, not just to Sunset but to you.”

Shaking her head, Octavia gave Rarity a wan smile. “It’s a childish grudge, nothing more… I should be better than that, and I intend to be… I will hold your Element with honor, Rarity.”

“It’s not mine anymore, darling,” Rarity replied.

Vinyl looked silently over at Fluttershy who blinked owlishly at the mute girl before glancing down at the Element at Vinyl’s neck and then back up at the girl.

“Oh, don’t mind me,” Fluttershy said with a small laugh, waving her hands slightly. “Uhm… if I’m being honest I’m a little relieved that I don’t have it anymore… even if it was an awful way to lose it, having that kind of responsibility was very stressful, I think you’re much better suited to it than me.”

Vinyl signed a short sentence, nudging Octavia to translate. Octavia eyed Vinyl’s hands for a half-second before looking back up to Fluttershy.

“Are you sure?” Octavia translated. “No hard feelings?”

Fluttershy giggled lightly. “No, no hard feelings at all,” she replied. “Honestly I’d trade the Element away a hundred times if it meant being friends with Sunset again, besides… I don’t need a magical artifact to be kind, right?”

Vinyl smiled and nodded, opening her arms to Fluttershy who stepped forward and gave in to Vinyl’s hug.

“I’m very happy for you all,” Fluttershy said from Vinyl’s embrace. “I know it doesn’t mean a lot coming from me but… please be better to her than we were…”

Nodding again, Vinyl patted Fluttershy on the head as she stepped away, only to be quickly enveloped by Octavia’s arms from behind. Vinyl laughed silently and made a few quick, sharp signs are Octavia who harrumphed when she saw them.

“I did not get jealous,” Octavia muttered, her cheeks reddening before quietly adding, “just because Fluttershy is cuter than me…”

Vinyl shook her head emphatically, turning around in Octavia’s grip and pulling her shades off only to perch them on Octavia’s head and reach up to rest her pale hands on the grey cellist's cheeks, guiding her down to an insistent kiss. Octavia hummed in appreciation as she moved her arms slowly down to rest on Vinyl’s waist.

“Mm, so it seems the rumors are true, then,” Rarity said with a wry grin, drawing a caustic glare from Octavia and a shameless grin from Vinyl. “Oh don’t look at me like that, darling, after all…” Rarity leaned up to Applejack, taking the farmgirl’s chin in her hand and turning the blonde's face to press their lips together in a gentle kiss, “...I’m hardly one to judge, don’t you think?”

Octavia raised an eyebrow and shrugged before snuggling back into Vinyl’s embrace, earning a small cascade of laughter from the crowd.

Through it all, Sunset watched, her hand gripping Gilda’s, who was looking down at the redhead with concern.

“You alright, Sunshine?” Gilda asked quietly.

Sunset sighed as she leaned back in her chair. “Yeah… I think I’m just starting to realise how petty I’ve been being… you know?”

“Not really,” Gilda replied with a laugh. “Ain’t no one sayin’ ya gotta do one thing or another, Sunflower… you do you.”

“It’s just… seeing everyone like this…” Sunset gestured to the Rainbooms and to her new friends who had very cautiously begun breaking the ice. “And maybe most importantly… hearing Penny’s words… it just makes me think, I guess.”

“Wha’dya mean?” Gilda asked.

“Aside from Octavia, who kind of had her own reasons for holding a grudge,” Sunset began, wringing her hands nervously, “the only real reason anyone has been hesitant in making friends with the rest of the Rainbooms is because of me.”

“It ain’t weird t’take y’friends side in things, Sunny,” Gilda countered. “Look, those fuckos made their bed, savvy? They pissed off folks and now they gotta deal.”

“But what if I’m just making it worse?” Sunset asked weakly. “I want… I want to be someone that my mom, and Princess Twilight, can be proud of. I want to foster friendships not… to divide people up.” Scowling, Sunset gripped the arms of her wheelchair hard. “I’ve done that plenty in my life already…”

Sighing, Gilda turned and knelt in front of Sunset, reaching up to caress her cheeks and let her fingers trail playfully through Sunset’s red-and-gold hair.

“Whatever y’gonna do, Sunshine? I’ll always be right beside ya, savvy?” Gilda said with a calming smile. “Do what ya need to, a’right?”

Sunset brought her hand up to rest over where Gilda’s palm was cupping her cheek, and she smiled warmly.

“Thank you,” Sunset said in a voice so soft that Gilda could hardly hear it. “Gilda,” she said in a stronger voice as she sat up straighter, “grab the album, will you?”

To her credit, Gilda didn’t hesitate or question Sunset’s request for a moment. She stood and moved behind Sunset’s chair, kneeling to retrieve the wrapped, leather-bound folio from where it had been stashed in the undercarriage of the wheelchair. Settling the album on her lap, Sunset ran her hands over the cover, feeling the delicate embossing, and every bit of love and care that went into the crafting of it.

“Oh my,” Fluttershy’s soft voice broke through the light chatter as she spied what Sunset was holding in her hands, and nudged Applejack lightly. “Look!”

Applejack glanced over to Sunset and her eyes widened, she passed the silent message on to Rarity, then to Pinkie and the chatter died down almost as suddenly as it had begun. Even Sunset’s new friends were watching the redhead with a mixture of curiosity and caution.

“I suppose you’re wondering why I brought this?” Sunset said once the chatter had quieted. “To be honest, I wasn’t even sure myself why I made us late by going back for it…”

“So that’s why you took extra time,” Adagio said in a low voice. “May I ask what it is?”

“A photo album,” Applejack answered, “one me’n the girls made for Sunset as a Christmas present.”

“And I suppose it was filled with sappy reminders of your former friendship?” Adagio said caustically.

“Weren’t filled with nothin’,” Applejack replied. “Thought about it… ain’t gonna lie, we sure thought about it but…”

“In the end,” Rarity continued, “we felt it was more meaningful to tell Sunset how much she meant to us, even if it meant never speaking to her again.”

“It was just an empty album,” Pinkie said quietly. “And… and a hope that she’d find happiness and fill the album with it.”

“Huh,” Aria grunted in slight annoyance. “That’s… actually kinda nice.”

Sonata and Adagio both grudgingly nodded in agreement as Sunset rolled turned to face the rest of her former friends, album in hand.

Silenced stretched out between the five girls and their former friend who stared nervously up at them from her chair. Sunset’s fingers drummed against the leather binding as she considered her next words carefully.

“I don’t… hate you,” Sunset began haltingly. “I… I want to… but I know that's the ‘old me’ talking.”

“Honestly, darling,” Rarity said in a quiet voice from Applejack’s side, “I’m personally just thrilled to hear that first part.”

The rest of the girls nodded in agreement, but Sunset held up a hand to forestall any joyful upswelling before she had finished saying her piece.

“Let me finish,” Sunset said and the girls immediately quieted down. “I… I miss you all, I miss you all so much,” tears began trickling down Sunset’s cheek as she made the admission. “It hurts so much that can’t breathe sometimes…”

The pain on the faces of both Sunset and her ex-friends was palpable and Gilda, from where she stood behind Sunset, had to clench her fists and grit her teeth to keep from interjecting. She wanted to just pull Sunset away, take her back home, and tell the Rainbooms to get lost and never show their faces again.

But Sunset would never stand for that.

One of the main reasons Sunset had stayed in the human world was to face her demons; Gilda knew that… she knew that her Sunshine was stronger than anything this place could throw at her but still… she hated hearing that tone in Sunset’s voice.

She hated hearing the pain.

“I loved you all so much,” Sunset choked the words out, wrapping her arms around herself as the taste of salt touched her lips. “I was so alone for so long until you five showed up and took me in… and I was so happy being your friend.”

“Aw… sugarcube…”

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” Sunset shouted, sending Applejack back a step in shock as Sunset shook in her chair, tears falling from her cheeks to stain the covers that lay over her legs.

It took the redhead several moments of slow, calming breaths, before she finally found it in herself to trust her own voice again.

“Everytime you call me that…” Sunset said, her voice reedy, as if she were out of breath, “all I can think of is all the time we spent together… you said I was like family to you! Do you know what family means to an orphan?!”

Everyone of them looked down, ashamed as they stared at the ground. Every one of them except Applejack who looked poleaxed. She stared at Sunset and saw the pain in her eyes, the tears as they stained her cheeks, and the heave of her chest as she gulped in ragged breaths.

After a few moments, Applejack stepped forward, pulling away from Rarity as she approached Sunset. Out of instinct, Gilda started to step between the two girls, but surprisingly it was Sunset who barred the way with an upraised hand. Applejack stopped in front of Sunset and sniffled, kneeling so she could look Sunset in the eye without looking down at her.

“Ah ain’t got no excuse, su-... Sunset,” Applejack said quietly. “After Ah lost mah folks Ah thought to mahself, that’s it… never again, Ah ain’t ever lettin’ no one Ah love go like that ever again and…”

Applejack hiccuped as tears fell from her eyes and she lowered her head as she took off her hat and held it close to her heart as she wept.

“Galdangit ah did it again,” Applejack sobbed. “Ah let ya go jus’ ‘cause Ah was scared and mad and Ah’m so, so sorry…” taking a few ragged breaths, Applejack looked up at SUnset. “Ah weren’t all alone like you, but Ah lost mah parents an’ when ya live yer whole life seein’ everyone else goin’ home to their momma’s and poppa’s and knowin’ you ain’t got nothin’ like them at home for you… Ah’m so… so damn sorry Sunset, ‘cause Ah should’a known… Ah should’a been there an’ Ah wasn’t!”

Applejack’s hat had fallen to the ground halfway through her rambling as she gripped the pale covers that kept Sunset’s legs warm in the chilly January air. As her words trailed off, Applejack just lowered her head and buried her face in the covers as her shoulder shook in silence.

After a moment, a hand settled on Applejack’s head, drawing her attention up to Sunset who looked down at her wearily.

“Look,” Sunset said simply as she held up the album. “All of you, come look.”

Cautiously, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity approached and lowered themselves down next to Applejack as Sunset turned the album to face them and opened up the cover to reveal the first set of photos.

Three pictures sat ensconced on the page.

The first was of a redheaded girl with a deliriously happy smile staring up at the photo, her hand up in a ‘V’ as another girl, Gilda, hugged her from the side and kissed her cheek. She wore a hospital gown and she looked exhausted. Gilda looked ragged and worn thin, with small bags around her eyes and messy hair.

Beneath it were the words: ‘This Is The First Day Of My Life’

The second picture was of a group of people standing in front of a fireplace, with Gilda and Sunset right in the middle smiling, with one of Sunset’s hands up on Gilda’s where the dark-skinned girl rested at her shoulder, the other holding up a fiery-colored set of headphones, and Sunset’s grin stretched from ear to ear. Octavia and Vinyl were holding hands on Sunset’s right, while Penny and a young man they assumed to be her boyfriend where on the redhead’s left. At either shoulder were a pair of adults; the first was clearly Principal Celestia and her sister, Vice Principal Luna, while the other pair was unknown to the girls but a quick glance told them they could only be Octavia’s parents; the resemblance was simply too strong.

More than anything they looked like a family, and beneath that photograph was another set of words: ‘Everything Belongs Somewhere’

The final picture, like in the second, had Sunset and Gilda in the center, though Sunset lacked her chair. Instead Gilda held up Sunset in a princess carry, with Sunset’s arms wrapped around Gilda’s neck as she pulled herself in to kiss Gilda’s cheek with a radiant smile while Gilda blushed furiously, smiling all the while along with Sunset. To their left was an amazonian woman covered in tattoos and wearing a toothy grin, who towered over even Gilda, with dark orchid skin and a wild red mohawk. Her left arm was held up in an traditional flex while her other was lifting another, smaller woman with curly, messy green hair, grey skin, and an infectious smile who was practically sitting in the curve of the taller woman’s massive arm.

Sunset and the grey-skinned woman were both holding up their right hands, and in the flash of the camera a faint gleam could be seen on both of their fingers and beneath the picture were the words: ‘Happy Wives Mean Happy Lives’

“You wanted me to fill this album with happy memories,” Sunset said quietly as the girls looked up from the album with happy tears in their eyes. “And that’s what I’m doing but… I think… or maybe I hope… one day… maybe a long time from now… maybe one of these spots will… will have us in it, together again.”

“Nothing would make us happier,” Fluttershy said with a teary smile.

“I don’t know if I’m forgiving you,” Sunset admitted. “I don’t know if I can, but… but I’m open to maybe… trying again? Maybe that’s it… maybe I’ll look in my heart one day and realise I did forgive you but… I’m a mess right now girls, I… I really don’t know.”

“You don’t have to know, darling,” Rarity said, extending a hand to cover Sunset’s. “A chance is all we ask, and if that means starting from nothing well… we’ll start from nothing and figure it out from there.”

“Hey, maybe if I’m lucky we’ll be friends again by the time you and Gilda get married!” Pinkie cheered. “I’d love to plan your reception!”

“You’d really love Gilda’s side of the family, too,” Sunset said wryly, chuckling as she turned and looked up at Gilda. “But for now… yeah, how about we go for coffee tomorrow at Sugarcube Corner… all of us?”

Sunset looked around at her new friends and her old ones, there were a few grudging nods from the Siren side of the gallery but everyone agreed.

“Okay… I guess… let’s give this a try,” Sunset said quietly.

“Hate ta spoil the moment,” Applejack said in a low voice looking around at the other girls. “But… what should Ah tell Rainbow Dash?”

Sunset sighed.

“I don’t know but… I’m not sure I’m ready to try again with her yet,” Sunset admitted. “She… I don’t trust her.”

Applejack nodded. “Ah was afraid’a that… well, Ah’ll break the bad news to’er… she made’r bed so she’s gotta lay down in it.”

“Guess that means we’re tryin’ t’make friends, huh?” Gilda said suddenly, her gruff voice breaking through. “Don’t expect much from me early on.”

Giving the taller girl an arid smile, Applejack nodded. “Wouldn’t have it any other way, Gilda. The way Ah see it, you’ll be there t’watch us like a hawk’n keep us honest.”

For the first time in a while, Gilda grinned. “Y’damn right.”