Sunset set the paperbox on the art table with a surprisingly heavy noise, making Pinkie look over from the seat next to her. “Oh wow, Sunset! Whatcha got there? New art supplies? Paper? Books? Candy?”

A tired chuckle escaped her as she dropped into her chair. “None of the above,” she responded, tugging the lid off to reveal a trashbag-lined inside full of the rich, dark, red-purple fizzleberries their magic had grown. “Roseluck found me after gym and gave them to me.” She reached in without thinking and popped one of the ripe berries into her mouth, savoring the tart-yet-sweet tang of the juicy morsel, followed by the ticklish fizzle on her tongue from its inherent magic. “I’m not sure why, but I loved fizzleberries as a filly, so I’m not complaining.”

Pinkie’s smile grew even wider. “Oh! I was wondering when they were going to give them to you!”

The redhead gave her friend an odd look as she pulled her sketchbook and pencils from the nearby cubby that housed her personal art supplies. “Wait, you knew?”

“Uh-huh!” came the cheerful response. “I told them they should, since I knew you'd be needing them soon!”

Frowning, she canted her head, absently popping another berry in her mouth. “Not that I’m upset about having a few pounds of my favorite snack, but…what? How…do you ‘know’ something like that?”

There was a hesitation, then Pinkie shrugged her shoulders. “Pinkie Sense,” she informed Sunset matter of factly.

Pinkie what? she wondered, then decided, given the sheer number of weird things that involved Pinkie Pie, that she did not really want to know. It was probably safer to just not think about it. Besides, she already had enough on her mind after the events earlier in the week.

When she’d left her girlfriend’s house for school that Wednesday morning, it had been to a very wan looking Velvet wishing her a good day while preparing a pot of homemade chicken soup for the family, since both she and her husband were feeling “under the weather.” While the woman had meant that she believed the family had picked up some kind of virus, Sunset knew the truth—they were still recovering from dark magic, and the severity of the reaction suggested that the exposure had not been entirely confined to the incident Tuesday night. Combined with the vision on Monday, and the horrific, warning nightmare the week before, and Sunset was worried. Very worried.

Sunset wasn't stupid, or naïve enough to ignore the obvious, and it was something that had been on her mind for most of the week. Some sort of powerful, dangerous dark magic was in Canterlot City…and it wasn’t Equestrian in nature. What she had felt had lacked the…flavor that all Equestrian magic had, something that had so deeply and intrinsically been part of her world that to her it was unmistakable. She analyzed it further as she flipped the big sketchbook open to a blank page and began sketching the loose design for a painting they were working on as their big project for the semester. Despite not being Equestrian magic, she had felt it, and like Equestrian dark magic, it had felt oily, insidious, and painful to her scarred psyche. It seemed to react strongly to negative emotions, at least at first glance, but Sunset was uncertain if that was the case, or if she once more reading far too much into the situation, a side effect of her desire to find more magic in a world that had so little. Not for the first time, she wished that she had access to the more esoteric and in-depth books on the subject from the palace’s restricted archives, or even just a few of the instruments that the princess had kept in her study.. Shining’s anger genuinely hadn’t spiraled into ugly aggression until well after she started feeling the magic…which left her questioning whether one had triggered the other or if it was like Equestrian magic in that regard: magic and emotions being intertwined.

Her hand wandered aimlessly over the page, the sketch more a reflection of her subconscious than anything, since she was not really paying attention, lost in thought. What had Shining encountered that had affected him so strongly, and why was it also targeting his family? How did that factor into the vision involving Twilight? Was he investigating someone or something that involved magic? Her vision originally had made her worry about Twilight’s project of trying to study the magic energy she and the girls had released, but with what had happened with Shining, she was no longer quite so sure as she had been. How was she supposed to protect them if she didn’t know where the threat was coming from or what it wanted?

Even her memories of lessons and conversations with Celestia didn't give her a concrete answer. The one time she could remember looking up from her history book and asking for what the solar Princess had done in the post-Discordian Reconstruction Era during the event known in the books as “the Wither Epidemic,” she’d gotten a very unsatisfying answer.

“How did you know what was going on, Princess?” The amber filly touched a hoof to the illustration in the book in awe.

The monarch glanced over at the book to see what Sunset was referring to. Her expression twisted slightly in exasperation. “The truth is, little sun, I did not. None of us had no idea about the life cycle of Withergloom Moths, or that they had started using ponies as hosts for their larva.” A wing stretched to drape over Sunset.

Blue-green eyes looked up at her teacher. “If you didn't know what it was, how did you know how to protect ponies?”

“I did the best I could, Sunset, and we kept trying new solutions based on the knowledge we had. Sometimes, that's all a leader can do—work with the knowledge they have to try and help. The important part is to not give up. You keep trying, all while seeking more information on the problem.”

Her memory of the gentle smile on Princess Celestia’s face was broken in a jarring fashion when Pinkie practically screamed in her ear. “Oh wow, Sunset! That’s super neat looking—is that Equestria!? Are those really what your kind of ponies look like!? The drawings from Christmas were real?! They look so amazingly huggable! Do magic pony friends like getting hugs? If I was so soft and huggable looking, I’d love hugs! They would be the bestest, softest hugs in the world!”

Sunset was proud of herself for not squealing in terrified surprise, though she did let out a rather undignified squeak. “Pinkie!” she managed. “Don’t do that—I don’t want to accidentally hit you!”

Summer sky eyes stated back at her. “Silly Sunset! You’d never really hit me! We’re friends!” Then she looked down at the drawing. “So is it?”

“Is it…what?”

“Equestria!”

The former unicorn looked down at her art, really seeing it for the first time, and feeling her heart twist in response. What met her gaze was a detailed sketch recreating the Canterlot Memorial Garden Terrace, the large, lower winding terrace that wrapped around part of the mountain. “Oh…I…guess…yeah, Pinkie, that’s Equestria. More specifically, it’s from our version of Canterlot.”

A long amber finger traced over the curved spires and carved marble of the pretty buildings visible on one side of the image. “It’s on a mountain, so the city is terraced, but there’s an amazing view of Gallopene Plains and the Everfree Forest.”

“So which pony is you?” Pinkie asked excitedly.

Sunset twitched a little, but let her eyes scan over the ponies scattered around on the grass. Some were clustered in groups, parents and foals or friends having picnics or playing games. Some were relaxing by themselves. In the sky, pegasi were flying, and on a higher terrace, she spotted the unmistakable form of Princess Celestia.

But her own unicorn self? She almost thought she hadn’t included herself, and was about to acknowledge as much when Pinkie pointed. “Oh! Oh! There! Is that you!?”

She followed the gesture, and found herself, her unicorn form tucked up under a tree, reading a book. Philomena was perched in the branches over her head. “Yeah,” she admitted, taking in the thick, curly fur on her body and the bouncing curls of her mane. “That’s me.”

Pinkie studied the picture with an intense look of concentration, and then, rather abruptly by Sunset’s measurements, she hugged Sunset in a tight bear hug. It felt good—well, once her ribs stopped protesting, that was—and she curled an arm around Pinkie to return the gesture.

When the hug ended, the former unicorn tilted her head. “What was that for?”

Blue eyes regarded her seriously. “You needed a hug. Even your drawing thought so—why else would you draw you over here, hiding and alone?”

The redhead glanced down at the mare all by herself under the tree. “Oh…” she said. “I wasn’t even really thinking when I was drawing. I’ve got a lot on my mind these days.”

“Uh huh, with the magic and school and stuff.” The other girl’s smile wavered a second. “Do…do you miss Equestria?”

Wasn’t that one of the million bit questions knocking around her head lately. “It wouldn’t matter if I did, Pinkie,” she deflected. “I’m an exile. If I went back, I’d probably get arrested and tried for all the stuff I did around the Formal.”

Frowning, Pinkie poked her. “That’s not what I asked.”

Right. No getting out of it then. “I…miss things about being in Equestria,” she confessed. “My magic, my real body, the way the air smelled and the food tasted….but I…I’m not sure…” Her head hung lower. “Other than my school work, I didn’t really have a lot else there. All my friends…the people I’ve come to care about are here. Going back would mean giving all of that up and…I’m not sure if I’d want to.”

“Because you’d be lonely? Couldn’t you make pony friends?”

Sunset shrugged. “I don't know. I tried when I was a filly, but it failed, badly. I’m not so sure it would work any better now.”

Pinkie tilted her head this way and that. “That’s a toughie,” she admitted. “If you went back, and you could make friends, that’d be great…but if you couldn’t…you would be sad and missing out, cuz you’re just so friendful here!”

The redhead rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the sting of truth in the words. “Pinkie, ‘friendful’ isn't a word.”

“Sure it is, silly! I used it, so it’s a word!”

A sigh escaped Sunset and she decided to pick her battles when she knew they wouldn't end in a migraine. “Anyway…I don’t know, Pinkie…part of me wants to go back…but another part of me…” she hesitated, then forged ahead, “…another part of me even wonders if there’s anything for me there anymore, or if I would just go back to being alone…”

“We wouldn’t want you to go, Sunset,” Pinkie told her in uncharacteristic seriousness. “We care about you and we’d be sad if you left…but we also want you to be happy. If going back to Equestria would make you sad, then we’d be extra upset…especially if it was because the other ponies couldn't see how much of a superfantabulous awesome friend you can be.” She hugged Sunset again, this time placing a cupcake in front of her.

The words alone would have done wonders to lift the former bully’s spirits, but the added bonus of what smelled like a vanilla cupcake topped with strawberry icing was surprisingly touching and her eyes burned slightly as she blinked back tears. “…thanks, Pinkie…that…means a lot.”

She reached for the cupcake, only for Pinkie to yell, “Stop!” Sunset froze, one hand inches from the treat, and watched her friend form a square with her fingers, one eye closed and her tongue poking out of her mouth in concentration. “It needs something!” Then she glanced around and spotted the box of fizzleberries. “Aha!” Pink fingers grabbed a ripe berry and expertly placed it on top of the cupcake. “Perfect!” She beamed up at Sunset. “Now it’s the best of both worlds, just like you, Sunset!”

As Sunset carefully peeled the wrapper off and took that first bite of the cupcake, she savored the mix of Pinkie’s amazing baking skills as well as the sharp fizzle-tang of the berry and its magic when she bit into it. Best of both worlds indeed…though she wasn't sure such a label applied to herself. Still…the cupcake did lift her spirits and make her smile, despite the thoughts still weighing her down.

“It’s good, right?” Pinkie grinned at her. “I know that smile! That’s a good smile!” She grinned, and snagged another berry for the cupcake she’d produced for herself. “I like seeing that smile on my friends.”

“It’s delicious. I don’t know why, Pinkie,” she said honestly, “and I know I don’t mention it at all really, but thanks for stuff like this.” Sunset motioned to the cupcake. “It really does make me feel better.”

The pink haired girl practically vibrated in her chair with joy. “That’s because when you make something with love and smiles, it’s like giving a friend a hug they can eat!”

A hug you can eat… Blue green eyes flitted to the box of berries, then to the cupcake, then to Pinkie, even as memory nudged her firmly. She closed her eyes, thinking back to the breakfast muffins Velvet had sent her off to school with the nights she’d stayed over before Winter Break, or to the emotions stirred still when she joined the family for dinner on Fridays and Velvet always made sure to have an entrée made just for her because of her dietary restrictions. And then her mind wandered further back, to breakfasts of thick, fluffy pancakes always made into fanciful shapes and designs that had made a filly laugh with delight, or the way dinners and desserts made by the Princess always tasted so much better and left her feeling much more satisfied than anything the palace chef’s could manage.

Her voice thick around the sudden lump in her throat, she asked, “Is…is it just a you thing, Pinkie? Or…can other people do that too?”

“Anyone can!” She munched on her cupcake, in between stealing a few berries. “You know, a lot of people will tell you that the secret to baking is the measurements. That you should use fancy scales and just the right measuring cups and all that, and be reeeeeeeeeeally precise.”

Sunset watched her, curious but also trying to contain the emotions that were making her itch inside her own skin. She could feel the low prickle at her senses that told her Pinkie was tapping into her magic subconsciously. “…Yeah, I’ve…heard that. Before.” From Princess Celestia, but she didn't add that.

“Well those people are wrong, Sun-Shim!” her bouncy friend announced with conviction. “Sure, that stuff matters, but the most important thing is putting what’s in here—” A finger poked Sunset in the chest. “—into what you’re making! You’ve got to put your feelings into it to make it taste super extra special!”

Maybe Pinkie had a point—she did feel better now than she had, and homemade food always tasted better than stuff in a package or even from a restaurant. Especially at her girlfriend’s house…Velvet’s cooking did feel like it did more than fill her stomach.

The redheaded girl thought back to how tired and pale Velvet had been when she’d last seen her, and she wished a hug or even a good meal was something that could solve the negative reaction to dark magic, but the only thing other than time that might help would be an infusion of good magi—

Oh. Well, for being one of the smartest students at CHS, she was remarkably thick sometimes. Her eyes studied the box of fizzleberries for a long minute. “Hey, Pinkie? If that’s true…do you think we could put some of our magic into the food as well? Like…if we made something out of these fizzleberries?”

Her friend’s eyes went wide at those words and she stared at Sunset so long and so hard that the redhead was concerned she might have accidentally broken Pinkie’s brain. Just as she was starting to actually worry, Pinkie broke into a broad grin. “Yes. Yes, we can.”

“Um…do you mean we can try?”

“Nope!” The pink haired girl rubbed her hands together. “We can totally make magic food with magic berries!”

Sunset blinked. “Okay…why do you sound so sure we can, when I’m not a hundred percent sure it’s even possible?” she asked slowly, half dreading the answer.

Pinkie’s grin got even bigger. “I have a good feeling about it, Sunset Shimmer! And good feelings can’t be wrong!” She poked the former unicorn in the nose. “After all, even when you were a super mean meany pants, something inside me always said ‘Pinkie, Sunset might act all mean and nasty on the outside, but she’s got a super nice inside somewhere! It’s just hiding!’” She gave a self satisfied nod, puffy pink hair bouncing cheerfully. “And it was right!”

There wasn’t much she could say—her friends didn't care much for her self-deprecating moods or rebuttals, and even on a good day she struggled to understand the living embodiment of confusion and chaos that was Pinkamena Diane Pie. So the teen just let it go, asking the question that seemed the next logical step in her plan to try and help Twilight’s family feel better. “…right…so do you think we can talk them into letting us use the Home Ec room after school?”

“Oh no! If we’re gonna do magical baking, we’re doing it at my house! Super special magical baking is going to need special ingredients and a happy kitchen! And my kitchen is the happiest kitchen this side of Sweet Apple Acres!” Pinkie patted her arm. “Plus I have waaaaay more ingredients there!”

The redhead wondered if she’d survive baking with Pinkie without developing a migraine or mental whiplash. “Okay…that works.”

“This is gonna be so great!” Pinkie was bouncing in her seat like a middle schooler on a sugar rush. “You never asked to cook with me before! We’re going to have sooooo much fun! After school, get your stuff and meet me outside—Maud will give us a ride to my house!”

It was a good thing she’d walked today, Sunset decided, so she didn’t have to worry about her bike. “You sure Maud won’t mind?” Pinkie’s older sister was a dour sort who never seemed happy about anything, and she’d always unnerved Sunset more than a little, even during her bullying days.

“She’ll be super excited that I’m bringing a friend home!”

That would be a first. Sunset fought back a snicker, going back to her drawing as a distraction, starting to fill in some of the details from her memory—like the stream that wound its way through the terrace and spilled off the side in a beautiful series of carefully carved ledges that created waterfalls that splashed their way to a lower elevation on the mountain and tended to throw up rainbows at all times of the day.

“You should totally draw all of us as ponies with you, that way pony-Sunset won't be all alone anymore! Because you aren’t!”

Sunset didn’t bother to fight the smile that formed at those words.

“Pinkie. Marble does her homework in the kitchen.”

Maud’s voice was still the same dry monotone that it always was, and her expression as she leaned out the window of the car to address her younger sister never showed an ounce of any emotion Sunset could read, but Pinkie went still next to her as if she’d been suddenly and thoroughly chastised. That made the former unicorn’s brow furrow in confusion and then worry, when Pinkie responded with an affirmative in an equally subdued tone.

Once Maud had driven off—something about work at the local university’s geology lab, Sunset wasn't listening too much to Pinkie’s stream of frantic consciousness chatter—she turned to Pinkie. “What’s going on, Pinkie? Who’s Marble?”

Pinkie was quiet for a long time. “Marble’s my twin sister,” she said at last. “Most of you girls have never met her….she’s…she’s not big on people.” Blue eyes were filled with a sort of sadness, and poofy pink hair seemed to sag a little under its weight. “Marble is really super sweet, but…she has problems with people. And when she gets upset she doesn’t talk and kids at school made fun of her, and she doesn't like loud noises or bright colors.”

Understanding started to dawn on Sunset, as she remembered several of Twilight’s panic attacks, triggered by the press of too many people or by really awful combinations of smells when they were out together. “Is that why she doesn’t go to our school?”

There was a slight nod. “Mom started homeschooling her in fifth grade. It’s helped a lot, but Marble still tends to hide when people come over and she…she doesn’t talk a lot.” Blue eyes flicked to Sunset. “She might leave when we come in, but it doesn’t mean she doesn’t like you, Sunset, really.”

Sunset drew Pinkie into a hug. “Pinkie, it’s okay—I’m friends with Fluttershy, remember? And I’ve…known some people who struggle with being around lots of other people. If she doesn’t want to talk or if she just feels more comfortable going to another room, I promise I won’t get offended or upset.” She chuckled. “At least I can be assured she’s not doing it because she hates the Queen Bitch of CHS.”

The party planner brightened and laughed. “Nope! That’s Limestone, but she got in trouble for screaming bad words at you last time, so we’re all good!”

Bad words. That was probably the nicest way a person could describe the blistering, aggressive, and furious diatribe from the eldest Pie sister at that sleepover during the Battle of the Bands. Sunset had actually needed to look a few of the terms up later on her phone—and only about half of them had been anatomically possible. “…she’s…not here, is she?”

“Limestone? Nope! She’s off at work until five, and then she’s got a night class!” Pinkie opened the door. “So you're safe!”

Sunset gave a small laugh. “Oh good. I don’t think me being terrified out of my wits would make for tasty baked goods. Fear doesn’t exactly taste good.”

Pinkie nodded in complete agreement. “You’re absolutely right, Sunset! It would ruin the recipe!” She led Sunset into the house, not seeming to notice the confused expression on the redheaded teen’s face.

Why did I say something like that? Fear doesn’t…have a taste…does it? Sunset shivered, as somewhere, deep inside she knew the answer…but she couldn’t explain how she knew. It left her mildly unsettled, but before she could dig too much into it, her bouncy friend had grabbed her arm and pulled her bodily into the kitchen, chattering away at ninety miles an hour, seeming oblivious to Sunset’s momentary silence.

“…could do that since the berries are sweet and tangy already, so they wouldn’t need a lot of honey—and you can watch that for me while I do the hard part for the topping, because that’s suuuuuuper complicated to get just right so it bakes up fluffy and light but still cooks right all the way through. If you don’t do it just right you get a super duper baked bad mess, all burned and lumpy and slimy in the center and I don’t think those would make our friends happy at all!”

The former unicorn could only nod, fairly out of her depth. She could cook just well enough to feed herself, but other than Princess Celestia’s famous pancakes, most of her recipes involved ‘throwing a bunch of ingredients together with enough spices and hope it tasted good.’ “Sure, Pinkie…just tell me what I need to do, and I’ll do my best.”

She let her gaze sweep the kitchen as Pinkie dove into cabinets and cupboards to retrieve ingredients and containers. The kitchen was spotless, and still warm and homey, though its colors and decorations were much more muted than she’d seen in both Velvet’s kitchen and the Apple farm. Seated at the well worn table in the kitchen was a thin, washed out, gray figure watching her warily through her hair. That had to be Marble—Sunset could practically feel familiar anxiety pouring off her, and she tried a faint smile to ease the tension.

“Hey,” Sunset said in the soft tone that she had gotten used to using when her girlfriend was upset. “It’s very nice to meet you, Marble. Pinkie is helping me with baking some treats for my friends. I’m Sunset Shimmer.” She very carefully set her box of fizzleberries on the table, and popped one into her mouth.

Marble stared at her for a long moment, then looked to her sister and made a series of very deliberate motions, the quick easiness of them suggesting it was a long mastered skill. Sunset wasn’t versed in what looked like sign language, but she’d made a personal study of human body language, and she could tell there was a question somewhere in there.

So she did the next best thing—she looked to Pinkie for an answer.

Pinkie nodded sheepishly at her twin. “Yeah, that Sunset Shimmer, but she’s our friend now! She’s super nice and an amazingly awesome super duper best friend who does nice things for all her friends!” She grinned. “Like today! We’re going to try and put magic feelings into the food using these neat berries Sunset likes, because she wants to make her friends feel good too! Which reminds me! Fill this bowl with berries, Sunset, and wash them super good with cold water, then put them in that pot! That will be just about enough to make the berry filling!”

Sunset nodded, taking the bowl quietly and focusing on filling it with ripe fizzleberries. The magic that had made them come into existence and bloom out of season was something she could feel in then, and she meticulously used her senses to pick out the best ones. She could see Marble scrutinizing her between bits of homework, but she didn’t call attention to it. If Pinkie’s sister had heard about the old her, then making loud accusatory statements or being aggressive would just be a disaster.

Instead, she hummed “Shine Like Rainbows” absently while she worked, feeling the magic start to bubble up faintly when Pinkie joined in. It wasn’t enough for either of them to Pony-Up, but it did lighten the atmosphere as she followed Pinkie’s instructions to add the berries to a pot with a little water and put them on the stove to start cooking them into a fruity filling for the pastries.

This part was familiar enough—it was the same process in many ways to the filling she and Princess Celestia had devised years ago for the energy bars. It made her wonder how much they could duplicate the magic infusion process without cloudflower honey, since such blooms were native to her homeworld, as were the bee species that made the honey.

She was still humming, accepting the masher from Pinkie once the berries had started to get soft in the simmering, bubbling mixture. Mashing had always been her favorite part as a filly, since it let her work out some of her frustrations, and she found it therapeutic even if her frustrations had a much different source lately. Sunset just hoped the idea she’d had was crazy enough to work; she needed some way to help and protect the family and friends who had given her so much in such a short time. She wanted to make sure dark magic couldn't hurt Mrs. Velvet or Shining again. And more than that, she needed to protect Twilight Sparkle.

The emotions that welled up in her were visceral, and they burned with magic as she stirred in drizzles of thick, sweet smelling apple-blossom honey courtesy of Granny Smith’s beehives. The former student of Princess Celestia turned her focus into willing that power, those feelings into her efforts, fighting the lack of proper pathways and something deeper, and tears formed at the corners of her eyes as she couldn't make the magic do what she so desperately desired it to do.

“Silly,” Pinkie said, suddenly there at her side, hand wrapping around the trembling one holding the spoon. “You should know by now you don’t have to do everything on your own—it takes all the colors to make a rainbow, not just one! That’s why you’ve got friends to help you out!”

For a second, Sunset could have sworn she saw Pinkie’s hand glow, but the rush of bubbly magic that always reminded her of cotton candy was flooding her veins, mixing with her own power and soothing the burn, and then flowing easily at her direction into the pot of fizzleberries. The mixture drank up the magic greedily, becoming a potent infusion that seemed somehow brighter and more vibrant than it had been a moment ago. She turned her gaze on Pinkie Pie, only to get a beaming smile in return. “These are going to be super duper awesome treats, Sunset!”

Sunset couldn't help herself—she laughed, a sound of such relief and happiness that she was going to have something she could give to her girlfriend’s family to help them that it made her shoulders shake and the tears that had been borne of frustration fall as ones of mirth instead. “You’re right, Pinkie…in more ways than one…”

“Great! Now we leave that on low, and you can help me make the dough for the crust!” Sunset was pulled over to the table and a big bowl. “You’re on mixing duty, while I measure!”

Sunset dutifully mixed while Pinkie sang a song to herself about baking, dumping ingredients into the bowl. It was a silly, childish thing, but it made her smile all the same, her head absently bobbing to the song’s rhythm. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Marble watching her again, frowning…but this time, instead of looking away, she made a soft “Mmm…” sound in her throat that got Pinkie’s immediate attention.

“Sure!” Pinkie responded. “What did you want to know?” she asked her sister.

Biting her lip, Marble gestured to Sunset, expression and posture communicating obvious confusion, even as her hands moved. Sunset braced herself for the inevitable description of how Princess Twilight had kicked her flank up one side and down the other.

So when Pinkie only laughed, and said, “Of course she doesn't move like we do! Sunset’s totally from a world full of magical talking ponies! She’s just living here with us, because she likes us better,” it took a minute or so for Sunset’s brain to react properly.

“Pinkie!” the redhead hissed. “That’s supposed to be a secret! Not something you just go telling everyone!”

“Marble’s not everyone—she’s my sister, and she’s super good at keeping secrets. Besides, Marble loves horses!” Pinkie grinned at her.

Deep breath, Shimmer. In. Out. Just like you make Twilight do. There you go. “It’s still not really your secret to tell, Pinkie. It’s mine, and I’d really appreciate it if you’d ask me if you want to tell someone. Also,” she ground out, “I am not a horse—I’m a pony.”

A hand tugged on her sleeve, pulling her attention to Marble, who was staring at Sunset with impossibly wide eyes, the question in them plain even without words or signs. Sunset blew a breath out her nostrils that came out as part snort, part sigh. “Yes, it’s true,” she said wearily. “I was born a unicorn pony in a world connected to this one via a magic mirror. I ran away from home and ended up here.” She ran a hand through her hair tiredly. “But I’d like to ask you not to go sharing that around, please. I’m afraid of what might happen to me if the wrong people find out.”

Marble nodded solemnly, making a few sharp hand gestures at her sister and frowning sternly. Then she looked back at Sunset, reaching over and patting her shoulder, a small, shy smile creeping onto her face. “…I won’t tell…” she said in a voice barely more than a whisper, “…I promise…” Her breathy, whispery tones were hard to make out, and she paired them with more signs.

Pinkie seemed delighted with Marble’s reaction, if a bit surprised by her sister’s chastisement. “Me too,” she said apologetically. “Sorry, Sunset.”

“It’s okay, Pinkie,” Sunset said. “You meant well, and I know you were trying to give us reasons to get along—that’s important to you.” It wasn’t a question.

“Uh huh!” The pink skinned girl nodded vigorously. “I want all my friends to get along, and Marble’s not just my sister, she’s one of my bestest friends, too!” She took the bowl from Sunset, so she could start rolling out the dough, already perking right back up. It was hard to keep Pinkie's mood down for long. “Can you get my big cookie cutters over there by the sink? I thought it would be super special to make these in fun shapes!”

Sunset laughed, and started collecting the metal bits shaped like hearts, stars, moons, balloons, diamonds, and even a few shaped like an apple, a butterfly, and a lightning bolt. “What, no sun shaped cookie cutters?” the former unicorn teased, holding them up.

“Already got that one over here, Sun-Shim!” Pinkie grinned knowingly at Sunset. “It’ll be my first chance to try it out!” Blue eyes glinted with humor. “I was gonna get a unicorn one for you until we found out that the sun thingie was super important to you!”

Sunset glanced down, to the shirt she was wearing that had her cutie mark embroidered on it—a gift from Rarity, of course—and couldn’t resist hugging Pinkie, feeling the magic well up inside her. “That…means a lot, Pinkie. That you girls are just…okay with what I am, I mean.” At an inquisitive noise from Marble, Sunset explained, “It’s hard to pretend to be a normal human all the time…but with my friends, I can…relax…a little.”

“You’re our friend, Sunset Shimmer. That means all of you, even the pony parts!” Pinkie turned Sunset’s one armed hug into a tight bear hug that threatened to drive the air from her lungs. As she did, the magic broke free, and she tipped her head back to avoid stabbing Pinkie’s twitching pony ear with her horn.

“Oooo…tingly…” Pinkie giggled, bouncing out of the hug. “Besides! we’re magic and part pony now too!” She hopped over to her sister, who was back to staring with the same expression Sunset had seen on Twilight on Christmas morning. “Check it out, Marble! I have pony ears, and I can make them wiggle!”

Marble made a squeaking sound of pure childlike delight, and Sunset chuckled in bemused tolerance. “There’s that part too, I suppose.”

The quiet teen tugged on one of Pinkie’s ears, then signed rapidly. Pinkie glanced Sunset’s way. “Marble was wondering if you would tell her about magic pony land! Ooooo—you could tell us about it while we bake!”

There was so much hope in Marble’s eyes that Sunset couldn’t have said no, even if she had wanted to. “I’ve got an even better idea. Would…would you like to help us, Marble? I could tell you some Equestrian legends while we work.”

A muted, grey haired head nodded so fast that she could have been mistaken for Pinkie without the coloration difference. The former unicorn grinned and picked up the sun shaped cookie cutter, pressing it into the rolled out dough. “Okay…then how about this…”

“Long ago, in Ancient Equestria, so long ago that it happened in places that no longer exist, there arose a great and terrible shadow. Formed in the guise of a powerful ram, he was called Grogar, the Fear-Bringer, the Death-Ringer of the Pale Bell, the Nightmare King, and the tolling of his terrible Bewitching Bell summoned forth his army of Fearlings, that they would take the form of the deepest fears of ponykind to make conquering them easy…”

She could see that both sisters were captivated now as they helped cut shapes from the dough, and she found herself getting invested in relating one of her favorite fillyhood stories. “But though ponies fled and hid, some were not content to be captive to Fear. Among those was a young unicorn, Gusty, whose bond with wind magic made her swift and tireless…”

“…and so, with a mighty heave of his magic, made strong by the six trials before this, by the frigid and Hateful Winter of the Windigo, and the bonds of friendship he formed, he held fast against the Winds of Despair, trusting in his allies to not abandon or betray him. Because of his efforts in the Cleansing of the Riverheart with the lost spells of Serendipity Song and from his studying the Way of Flame from the Wise Sage Smokebreath, he felt no heat from the subjugated dragon’s flame as he darted through to free the creature from the sorceress’ mental shackles.”

Sunset’s voice held her audience captive, Pinkie practically vibrating in place as the story came to its climax. “With the dragon now gone, fled from the castle as soon as its mind was its own again, very little stood between Clover and the Sorceress. He made sure his allies had the rest of the Sorceress’ forces occupied, and kicked open the doors of her castle…”

She painted a picture with words the way Princess Celestia had for her when she was a foal, describing in detail the shifting illusions and assault on his psyche within the castle, and how Clover the Clever’s struggles to return the Sunfire Salamander to her people and the years he’d spent learning ancient magics and enchantments to craft his Cloak of Resolve, had allowed him to outwit her defenses and reach her.

“The duel had been so fierce and lasted so long that that the two had destroyed the top of the castle, leaving them exposed to the whipping winds on the top of Ruby Peak, and Clover could feel his strength waning, his reserves of magic almost empty. Yet he knew he could not let her win—the fate of the world, of not just ponykind but all creatures rested upon this last battle against his long time foe.”

“But the Sorceress could see his exhaustion, and she wove a terrible, awful spell into being. In one last ditch moment, Clover flicked the scales of the Salamander Queen free of his satchel, bringing them to the rune inscribed on his cloak, and there was a terrible light and sound that left all around unable to tell what had happened. Then the light faded, and as Clover’s allies held their breath, fearing for the life of their friend, they heard it. Limping, unsteady hoofsteps, not soft paws, until Clover stood at the edge of the broken castle top, calling, ‘The Sorceress is no more! Her foul, dark magic has turned back upon her and destroyed her from within! The spell she meant to kill me has struck her down instead! We are free!’ And then he collapsed, too drained to remain standing any longer.”

Sunset took a sip of her water. “Clover recovered, and in time spent his life as a teacher of magic and advisor to the new kingdom that had formed after the tribes united, always willing to see his old friends and allies true. His Trials survived as one of our greatest legends, of how wit and intelligence can overcome even impossibly strong foes, and how one, unassuming pony can make the greatest difference.”

Pinkie and Marble stared. “Oh. My. Gosh!” Pinkie exploded into excited clapping and movements, as if sitting still for the story meant the fifteen minutes of fidgeting were now condensed into fifteen seconds. “That was the coolest story EVER! Sunset! Why haven’t you told us about pony stories before?! Those were so much fun! Magic and princesses and dragons and cat-people and duels! It’s got something for EVERYONE!”

The former unicorn shrugged awkwardly. “I…don’t usually think about it too much. Figured you girls wouldn’t be interested in a foal’s bedtime stories.”

“Are you kidding?!” Pinkie hopped up and down, her arms flung wide. “They’d be great for sleepovers! Even Fluttershy would love them, because they aren’t super scary! Even the Goat-gar one wasn't!”

“Grogar,” Sunset corrected absently. “And he was a ram, not a goat.”

The oven timer went off, catching them all by surprise, and making Pinkie Pie immediately change focus, so she could pull the last of the pastries out and turn the oven off. “Oh! These look great!” She set the tray down and brought over three of the ones off the cooling rack to the table. “Let’s see if they taste just as good as they look!”

The pastries certainly looked delicious—and far more professional than Sunset had expected since she had been involved in making them. They were some variant on a tart, with a buttery crust that the three of them had cut into shapes, the edges turned up just enough to provide a place for the layer of fizzleberry filling, then topped by some sort of fluffy meringue type topping that Pinkie had made, baked to what the party planner deemed perfection. All the while, to Sunset’s senses, it hummed with magic, the same Harmonic energies that the girls seemed to be capable of calling on.

It smelled as impossibly good as any of the baked goods to come from the palace kitchens, and Sunset was the first one to work up the courage to take a bite. Flavor and magic exploded on her tongue and she made a low sound of surprised pleasure in her throat. “Sweet sunfire, Pinkie…you were right…it is like a hug you can eat…we did it. They're like the Sun Bites…but…almost better.”

Pinkie’s smile practically split her face. “I told you—it’s the feelings you put into it that matter most, and we put in some super good ones.”

The redheaded girl didn’t disagree—her friend had made a believer of her. She just hoped it would be enough.

Right, so wow. Lots to say here.

First, hey gang, I'm back. Took a bit, but we did a lot of work to make sure this blended in with what we already had, and flowed nicely to help support some things in later chapters.

Second....okay, so, LOTS of worldbuilding references here. We actually had a sit down in march, the team, and we hashed out some mega super important cultural world building and stuff for Rubicon's Equestria, and ponies in specific. While it wont crop up until Supernova, we're dropping hints here, about locations and in particular Canterlot City.... (part of what we hashed out, amusingly was how the various species in Equestria handle their dead...which is what the Memorial Terrace is actually a part of. Maybe I'll do a blog on Equestrian Funeral practices at some point. Probably will need to for Supernova since it all ties together.)

We also figured out the actual story of Clover the Clever and those elusive "Seven Trials" (Eight, if you count the Memory Stone that was stricken from the record.) And I have an identity to the "Sorceress" who was his opponent. Its yet another G1 Reference for me, because the one G1 Major Villain who didn't at least get a reference, was the Movie's villainess herself: Catrina. So yeah. Enjoy the knowledge that the evil sorceress who challenged Clover was a Cat-lady named Catrina. :P

We also get some bits of Grogar and Gusty's story, which....maaaaaay end up being *super fucking important* to a potential Rubicon Sequel. Because. Reasons.

Third, the introduction of Marble Pie. Marble's a character that we get only a bare shell of in the canon, and then only on the pony side of things. I've alluded to her before, in one of the Pinkie interludes, but never showcased her. We sat down and hashed out exactly what it would mean for Marble in the human world, so here you go. A cripplingly shy child, home schooled because of severe social anxiety issues, she likely struggles with even speaking aloud--it doesn't show so much in her one line of dialogue, but she does suffer from a stutter when she gets agitated or upset. Between the anxiety and that, she learned sign instead because it was easier to communicate with her hands, and most people don't *notice* you when you make hand movements, even ones that are deliberate like sign language can be. So no, Marble isn't deaf, but I know from my mother (former schoolteacher), that they do sometimes encourage it as a supplementary method of communication to kids who suffer from communication issues, particularly severe ones.

The "Marble loves horses" is also a bit about how her family has tried to help her. She goes over to the Apple farm regularly to groom and ride some of "Cousin AJ's" horses--the Apples are keen to help out a friend and family member, and honestly, it means one less chore for AJ and Mac, since when Marble isn't the farm groom for the two or three horses they keep, AB and her friends are. There's a whole big thing about the fact that horses and ponies, which are surprisingly sensitive and intuitive, are really good for kids with disabilities, psychological issues, or behavioral problems. Besides, every little girl loves horses. I was a TERRIBLE example of a female growing up, and I. Loved. Horses.

Anyway. So yeah.

And now a hint at some of the fun magic stuff we'll be seeing, since I reworked Pinkie's powerset back when I started Rubicon. I wanted her to be more than "Exploding sugar bombs." So yeah.

Next week we'll see about what happens with the baked goods! Because Twilight Velvet is best mom, and it seems like she's the one needing some TLC!

*Cackles and runs off to write!*