“Hey Sunset, how come there’s only one of you?”

“Huh?” Sunset Shimmer stopped and turned to look at Rainbow Dash.

“I mean, if you came from pony-world or whatever and we all have doubles, where’s human-Shimmer?”

“Oh.” Sunset’s eyes widened a little in realization. She stood unmoving, lips pressed tight and her face a blank mask.

“Uhhh, you okay there, Sunny?”

Sunset took a shallow breath, as if she just remembered this was a thing she was supposed to do from time to time. “It... I...” she stammered for a moment. “I don’t really, umm... yeah... let’s not.”

“What?” Rainbow tilted her head and half-closed one eye.

Sunset turned and kept walking.

[hr]

[i]Bzzzzzzt Bzzzzzzt[/i]

Rainbow paused, jogging in place while she dug her phone out of her pocket.

[i]93 W. Percheron Ln. if you really want to know
Up to you I guess
But please don’t[/i]

She frowned. “Yeah, okay, way to make me totally not curious, Sunny.” She opened the phone’s map and entered the address. GPS said it was a good distance, but nothing she couldn’t cover on what was left of what she still planned to jog. It was a little out of the way, and the sky was overcast, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t going to rain, so she set out for her destination.

When she started getting close, she was irked. It looked like just a big empty grass field. Assuming she’d been pranked, she started planning to respond with a less than appreciative text.

Then she got close enough to notice the rows of grey and white stones.

Morbidly curious, she slowed to a sedately paced walk and caught her breath while she explored.

After twenty minutes of looking around, she found it.

[quote][smcaps]Sunset Shimmer
1997-2005
A Ray Of Sunshine
Set Too Soon[/smcaps][/quote]

Rainbow just stared, her face as grave as the stones around her.

“Oh.”

[hr]

Sunset looked up when Rainbow Dash sat down across from her.

“You went?”

“Yeah.” Rainbow nodded.

They sat in silence for a few seconds, awkward and avoiding eye contact.

“Why tell me, though?” Rainbow finally asked. “I still kinda don’t get that part.”

“I don’t know.” Sunset sighed and set down the book she was reading. “Just tired of it.” She shrugged. “Didn’t want to keep secrets anymore, I guess.”

Rainbow nodded slowly and thought for a moment. “So, like, you wanna talk about it or whatever?”

“I don’t know what there is to talk about, Rainbow.”

“I dunno.” Rainbow rolled her hand slowly. “Feelings ‘n junk?”

“I don’t really know how I feel.” Sunset paused. “I never knew her. She was already gone years before I got here.”

“It’s still gotta be weird,” Rainbow said. “Like... that’s you, you know?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Sunset smirked. “Just what I needed to hear.”

“Ugh.” Rainbow face-palmed. “Sorry. I’m just... I’m pretty mixed up right now.”

“You’re telling me,” Sunset mumbled. “Welcome to the club.”

“I mean...” Rainbow started fidgeting, nervously drumming her fingertips on the table. “I just saw a gravestone with my friend’s name on it. And she’s a dead eight-year-old. Been there for years and I never knew. I... I never...” Her voice wavered.

“Hey.” Sunset reached out and wrapped her hand around Rainbow’s. “Hey. I’m right here.”

They locked eyes. Rainbow’s were misty. Sunset moved to the other side of the table to sit next to her.

“You alright?” she asked quietly.

“I don’t know.” Rainbow sniffed and cleared her throat. “It’s like you said, I’m not sure how to feel.”

“Well, how do you think you feel?”

“Confused,” Rainbow said. “Like I shouldn’t be too sad, ‘cause she’s just some stranger, but I am, ‘cause you’re my friend, and in a way that’s you out there, but at the same time neither of those feel right, because they’re both kinda true and kinda not. And she was just a little kid. So that’s pretty messed up.”

“Yeah.” Sunset nodded. “Yeah, it is.”

“Just... like... what does it mean?” Rainbow asked.

“I don’t know.” Sunset shook her head. “I try not to think about that. I try not to think about her at all, really. It’s easier, because there’s nothing to deal with, and nothing else I can do. After a while, those conflicted feelings just... kinda... go away.”

“How do you ignore something like that?”

“Well, I was doing pretty good lately until you brought it up.”

“Sorry,” Rainbow apologized sheepishly.

“It’s alright.” Sunset said, staring off distantly. “It’s worth remembering, sometimes.”