Sunset walked nervously towards Sugarcube Corner, the place where Pinkie had asked her to meet her for their day together.
She asked to start with Pinkie since she was the only one she didn’t have any growing hatred. In fact, quite the opposite, she felt bad for making the pony think she killed her. She didn’t want somepony carrying that kind of weight, especially because of her.
Sunset did some of the breathing exercises Twilight taught her in preparation for this, and went to knock on the door, just for it to be open by Pinkie.
“Hello Sunset!” she exclaimed with her usual enthusiasm.

The unicorn couldn’t help but smile. “Hi Pinkie. You were waiting for me?”

“Of course silly! Come inside.” She said waving her hoof.

Sunset stepped into the building and saw the grand assortment of deserts and other sweet food that made her suddenly feel very hungry. “Why didn’t I come here for my food? Besides the possible diabetes.”

“Well, if you’re hungry, I can make you something in the kitchen,” Pinkie offered her with a smile.

Sunset looked at her surprised. “Wait, you work here?”

“I live here silly. And I help every time I can while I’m not making parties in town.” Pinkie guided her to the kitchen, showing her around before looking at the pantry for ingredients. “Do you want to help me cook?”

Sunset looked away with a little embarrassment. “I’m not a good cook… Moon Dancer has been trying to teach me some, but we didn’t have much time.”

“Oh, that’s okay, you don’t need to worry about not knowing. Just follow my lead and you will be a master chef in no time.” Pinkie gave her a big smile that was really contagious for Sunset. “Let’s start by making a batch of cupcakes!”

“All you have to do is take a cup of flour!
Add it to the mix!
Now just take a little something sweet, not sour!
A bit of salt, just a pinch!
Baking these treats is such a cinch!
Add a teaspoon of vanilla!
Add a little more, and you count to four,
And you never get your fill of...
Cupcakes! So sweet and tasty!
Cupcakes! Don't be too hasty!
Cupcakes! Cupcakes, cupcakes, CUPCAKES!”

Even if Sunset didn’t sing along, she was affected by the enthusiastic personality of Pinkie as she baked along with her, trying, failing, and trying again until she slowly but surely got the hang of it, and when they finally presented each other’s batches, even if they didn’t look as good as Pinkie’s, she felt proud of her progress.

Pinkie took a bite out of one of Sunset’s cupcakes, looking surprised. “Wow, you learn really fast.”

Sunset smiled with pride. “I aim for perfection in everything I try.”

“But you don’t have to.”

The words took Sunset by surprise. “Why not? Why would you not want to be the best at what you do?”

Pinkie shrugged. “To enjoy it more? I’m not the best baker around, and if that bothered me, I wouldn’t have the same fun doing it.”

Sunset looked at her cupcakes. “I don’t think I would be happy without fully mastering something.”

“You look happy now,” Pinkie pointed out, and Sunset realized she hadn’t stop smiling. “You should let yourself be happy about what you do without worry of perfection.”

Sunset didn’t know how to respond, so she just ate one of Pinkie’s cupcakes, her eyes widening immediately. “Are you sure you’re not the best baker around?” She asked, quickly grabbing another one of the far more delicious cupcakes.

“Nope, that would be Mrs. Cake. But I am the best party planner in Ponyville!”

“You mentioned that before, I should see one to judge it,” Sunset said teasingly.

“Well, usually I just throw a party for anypony who is new in town,” Pinkie seemed a little nervous. “But Twilight asked me to not throw one for you.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Why exactly?”

Pinkie got more nervous. “She told me you weren’t the kind of pony who would enjoy it.”

Sunset looked away, her ears dropping a little. “That’s… not far from the truth. I usually just went to the gala every year, but it was more of a formality than a celebration.”

Pinkie repressed her questions about the gala. “But what about your birthday? Or Twilights?”

Sunset sat down on the floor, her eyes looking sad and lost. “Well, Twilight and I didn’t’ consider each other sisters then, so I always refused her invitations to focus on my studies.” ‘And I still saw her as my replacement.’ She added in her mind. “And my own birthdays… I guess I just didn’t really care. I can’t even remember my last birthday. I think it should be soon…” Once again, the word Sunshine resonated from deep inside Sunset’s mind.
She looked at Pinkie, finding the pony with her mouth hanging open in shock. “Uhm… are you okay Pinkie?” The pink pony grabbed her by the sides, lifting her over her head with ease. “What are you doing?”

“I’m fixing this.” She declared before inserting her lower half into a canon pointing at an open window.

Sunset started to panic. “Where did that canon come from? What’s going on?!”

“To party!” Pinkie exclaimed before the canon fired, sending them flying across Ponyville.

Savoir Fare looked at the sky and saw an orange and pink blur followed by a terrified scream. “Oh, she’s back. I hope Pinkie doesn’t scare her off,” he said before returning to cleaning the tables.

Sunset screamed even louder as they approached the floor at top speed. She had tried teleporting away but couldn’t think straight with Pinkie so close to her, so when they were about to hit the hard ground, she closed her eyes and braced for impact.
But the impact never came.
She opened her eyes and found herself standing in front of a house with the pink pony jumping in excitement. “Please don’t do that again.”

“Oh, don’t worry, it was just an emergency.” Pinkie smiled as she pulled up a cart full of party supplies, and the cannon they had just shot themselves out off.

Sunset did a double check with her eyes. “How in the- Is this a ursa kind of thing?”

“No. No more spoilers on my part,” Pinkie said as she entered the house.

Sunset gave a long sigh and followed her inside. “Are we pranking somepony?”

“No silly, we are throwing a party!” she exclaimed launching confetti all around her.

“For who?” Sunset asked while helping her unload the cart with her magic.

“A new colt just moved from Trottingham to Ponyville. So we are making a Welcome to Ponyville Party!” Confetti exploded around her again. Sunset didn’t want to question from where it was coming from.

The unicorn looked as Pinkie started decorating the room with balloons and streamers and did the same. “Does he know somepony on Ponyville?”

“That’s what this party is for, so he can make new friends!” Pinkie explained while she installed a turntable on a nearby table.

“Who are you inviting then?”

“Oh, I have a list.” Pinkie pulled out a clipboard from her hair, again Sunset didn’t want to ask questions, and checked each name. “I will go and round them up so we can give him a surprise. Could you take care of the food and drinks?”

She pulled a second clipboard from her hair and handed it over to Sunset, who did a quick look. “I can look around town to see where I can buy them, but I don’t have the money on me right now.”

“Just tell them that Pinkie sent you on a party mission. They will send me the bills later.” Pinkie pushed her cart outside of the house.

Sunset looked at her list one more time, memorizing everything. “I will get going then.”

“Sunset.” She turned towards Pinkie, who had a far calmer smile. “Have fun.”

Before the unicorn could inquire about the sudden change in tone, Pinkie jumped into her canon and fired herself towards the center of town.
Sunset shook her head in resignation and walked to the market to complete her list.
She had to dodge a few construction workers who were currently fixing most of the destroyed buildings after the parasprites incident. They had been sent from Manehattan by order of the princess to help in the reconstruction.
“Now that I think about it, I hope that there isn’t a food shortage.”

She reached her first stop and knocked on what was left of the front door of a store.
An earth-pony stallion poked his head through a hole in the entrance. “Can I help you?”

“I was wondering if you could have some of the things in this list?” The stallion looked at the list while rubbing his chin. “Pinkie sent me on a party mission.”

“Oh, a party mission? Sure thing, give me a second.” The earth-pony vendor walked towards the back of his store and came back in a few minutes with Sunset’s order. “Here you go.”

“Thank you very much.” Sunset used her magic to teleport everything to the house, getting the attention of the stallion.

“Excuse me, aren’t you the one that helped during the food poisoning incident?”

Sunset was surprised by the question. “Uhm, help how?”

“You are her. They told me you asked for medicine straight from Canterlot. My wife thanks you deeply. She says she’s never eating something that isn’t prepared by me.” The stallion gave a hearty laugh which made Sunset giggle.

“I was just trying to help.”

“Then I’m glad you’re back in town. Have a nice day.” The stallion got back to his store, and Sunset crossed out part of the list.

‘Who did he mean by “they”? Maybe the nurses?’ she wondered while walking to her next destination but was stopped by an old mare that she recognized. She was the old lady that Gilda had sacred off with her tail.

“Excuse me dear but is your name Sunset by any chance?” she asked looking at her mane and cutie mark.

“I am, what can I help you with?” she offered with a smile.

“Oh, yah have already done quite much for me dear. Ah wanted to thank you for kicking some sense into Applejack. That mare can be quite stubborn. Ah just wish that ah could still help more around, but the years keep passing and mah body gets left behind. Ah remember when-”

Sunset interrupted her before she could start rambling about the past as any old pony does. “I’m glad that I could help her. Mostly just so she stopped causing chaos in town.”

The old mare laughed. “Yeah, she can cause some trouble. And yah haven’t met Applebloom yet. That filly will give yah a headache.”

“Are you part of the Apple family?”

“Oh, where are my manners? The name’s Granny Smith, pleasure to meet yah Sunset.” Both mares shook their hooves with a smile. “Yah should come by the farm someday. Ah will make yah some old family recipe as thanks.”

“I will be meeting with Applejack in some days, so I’m probably going there.”

Granny Smith’s smile faded at her words. “Be honest with me Sunset. Did Applejack… hurt you?”

Sunset didn’t know how to respond, getting a little nervous. “I… Don’t know why you’re asking me this.”

“She came back from that mountain almost crying. Didn’t leave her room all day, and she avoided every pony’s eyes afterwards. But then she went to that Twilight girl’s house and came back looking more hopeful.” She looked at Sunset’s eyes with an apologetic look. “Yah disappeared the day of the mountain, and that royal captain came back the day she went to Twilight’s. Ah may be old, but ah can still get hints now and then.”

Sunset couldn’t look at her in the eyes. “Look, it’s complicated. It’s not Applejack’s fault. At least not only her. I… I…” Tears started to gather in the corners of her eyes. ‘I wanted to burn your granddaughter.’

“Hey hey, don’t go into that dark corner yet.” Granny Smith touched Sunset’s forehead with the tip of her hoof, almost between the eyes, and rubbed it with small circling motions.

Sunset was surprised as her eyes seemed to forget that she was crying, and the weird location of the motion both made her concentrate on it and calm her in a weird way. “Wow. What was that?”

“Oh, just an old trick ah used when Applejack was growing up. It would calm any foal in seconds.” She looked at Sunset as she tried to rub her forehead in the same way. “Listen Sunset. Sorry if ah made yah remember something bad. Yah don’t need to spill your problems to me, ah can understand that you have them, ah can even understand that you have them with mah granddaughter. Ah just wanted to know what had Applejack so worried and see if ah could help in some way.”

Sunset took a moment to choose the right words. “I can’t… tell you why. But we are working on… fixing it a little.”

“That’s all ah need. Have a good day Sunset.” Granny smith turned to leave, but Sunset stopped her.

“How about I go to the farm tomorrow? Maybe some food will help clear things out?” She really hoped so. She knew that family meant a lot to Applejack, and now that she had one, she could relate.

“Oh, then make room in that belly of yours because yah will be filling it nonstop once yah take the first bite.” Granny smith laughed as she walked away, and Sunset continued her walk through the market with a little smile.

She quickly reached her next destination, which was worse than the last seeing that the mare attending the stand had just a counter with some boxes filled with ice and drinks in front of a collapsed building. Even her mane seemed to have been chewed by the parasprites.
‘Maybe I should aid in the reconstruction,’ she thought as she reached the mare with her list.

“Party mission?” the mare asked before she could talk.

“Uhm, yeah. Sorry about your… everything.”

“Don’t worry, that librarian is paying for the reconstruction so it will get better.” The mare started searching her boxes for Sunset’s order. “She’s apparently loaded with the royalty so I don’t think she will care about the destruction she caused.”

Sunset frowned at her words. “She does care. She’s just… not good at handling stress. And she’s very sorry about it.”

“Well, if you see her you can tell her to-” The mare stopped as she took a closer look on Sunset. “Hey, you’re the one that scared that griffon straight, right?”

Sunset looked away nervously. “I wouldn’t say scared. More like… forceful convincing?”

The mare raised an eyebrow. “You mean torture?”

“What?! No! I only do big sister torture. And only to my sister.”

“Well whatever method you used, I’m glad you did. The town needs somepony who can put some order around.” She finally put Sunset’s order in a bag and the unicorn teleported it to the party. “Do you want a drink as a thank you? Or do you just drink coffee?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow at the last question. “No thanks. And… yeah, I prefer coffee.”

“Suit yourself. Have a nice day Sunset.”

The unicorn waved her goodbye and started to walk towards the house, but a thought lingered in her mind. ‘How did she know my name? Or that I like coffee? Wait…’
Sunset teleported herself to Café Hay, finding it in quite good condition compared to the rest of the town. She quickly located Savoir Fare walking around the tables.
She took a seat in one and waited until he was free to call his attention.
“Sunset! So glad that you came back. I was missing one of my favorite customers.”

Sunset smiled. “I’m glad to be back too Fare. But I wanted to ask you something.”

The waiter took seat in front of her. “Ask away.”

“Did you… tell ponies about what I’ve been doing? They seem to recognize me now; some even turn in my direction while I walk around town.”

Savior gave her a small smile. “Well, you told me that you felt that your actions were being unnoticed, so I chatted a little more with my clients. I may have mentioned a thing or two about you. Good things I hope.”

Sunset smiled and pulled him close with her magic, giving him a big hug. “Thank you! That’s the kindest thing somepony in this town has done for me.”

Savoir Fare smiled a little awkwardly at the looks of his clients, but still felt happy for her. “I hope I’m not the last.”

Sunset let go of him and noticed that the sun was setting in the horizon. “The party!” She exclaimed before teleporting away.
She appeared in front of the house, and saw that the lights were on, and music was playing inside.
Sunset’s ears dropped a little, disappointed that she had arrived late to help Pinkie.
‘Nothing I can do now.’ She gave a heavy sigh and turned around, walking towards her house to rest, but a pink hoof grabbed her by the chest.

“Get over here!” Pinkie shouted before pulling her inside, moving her arm like a whip and making her spin in circles just to stop right in front of a colt with a white coat with light-brown patches, making a little bow to regain balance.
All the other ponies clapped their hooves at the theatrical entrance, and Sunset sheepishly smiled at them and gave a little wave.
Pinkie quickly stepped beside her and looked at the colt. “Pipsqueak, this here is none other than the Fairy Godmother of Friendship! Protector of Ponyville and friend of the town!”
Sunset was about to scream at Pinkie to stop but was surprised as the entire party cheered in agreement. ‘Do… Do they really believe it?’

“Wow! Really?!” the little colt said in a squeaky voice, which Sunset couldn’t help but find endearing.

She smiled. Truth or not, this was about him right now. “That’s right, and I’ve come to welcome you to our, once rebuilt, beautiful town. I’m sure you will find plenty of friends here.”
The colt gave her a beaming smile, and Pinkie quickly grabbed the attention away from Sunset before it could put too much pressure on her.

As the night went on, Sunset found herself talking with a lot of the town’s ponies. Many were curious about the rumors Savoir Fare had been spreading, and others wanted her to do some party tricks like the ones she showed in Trixie’s stage, but she said that it was a thing that only the real Trixie could do.
Between talks, drinks, food and dances, Sunset had completely forgot about everything outside the house.
She was just having fun.

Author's Notes:

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Sunset's morale has gone up!: +5
Current morale: 40/100

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Glad to be back for this, hope the next chapter doesn't take too long.

I will be watching you.