The study session was a weekly tradition that dated back to before Sunset had split up the group, and it was reinstated when she joined it. It moved from house to house each week, and this time, it was in Rarity's apartment over the Carousel Boutique. The mannequins and rolls of fabric had been moved out of the way to open floor space for textbooks, scratch paper, and laptops.

Rainbow Dash was lying on her belly, trying to force herself to focus on a passage about Commander Hurricane. She frowned and looked up from Hurricane cutting the Discordian Knot. "Hey, Sunset."

Sunset Shimmer looked over from helping Applejack with trigonometry. "Yeah?"

"You're supposed to be some kind of super-genius wizard, right?"

Sunset nodded. "I was Celestia's personal student back in Equestria, yeah."

"Then how come you suck at history?"

The other girls looked up from their efforts. Rarity scowled at her. "Really, Rainbow, is that any way to speak to a friend?"

Dash sat up and shrugged. "Hey, all I'm saying is that the rest of us need this. Applejack can't do math."

Applejack pulled her hat over her face. "Not well," she muttered.

"Pinkie's essays have to get translated before Ms. Singer will even take them."

Pinkie jabbed her fist into the air. "'Funnerificest' is a word no matter what she says!"

"Rarity can't remember anything in Prench past 'Bonjour,'"

"It's true!" Rarity sobbed. "It's true-hoo-hoooo!"

Dash waited for her to finish before continuing. "Shy has such crappy participation grades that she's gotta keep up everywhere else."

Fluttershy simply nodded.

"And I got my dumb learning thing where I don't get anything until I actually do it. But we're not magic genius ponies." Dash crossed her arms. "What's your deal?"

"My deal," said Sunset, "is that I was never immersed in this world's history the way you all were. You hear names like Cherry Chopper and Stovepipe Hat and you immediately know who they're talking about. I don't. Even when I find a name sounds familiar, it's in a completely different context." She sighed. "I didn't really care before. I was always planning on going back home and taking over. These past few months have been me trying to catch up with the rest of the world."

There was silence. A few of the girls had edged back to their work when Fluttershy asked, "Do you ever miss Equestria?"

"Not as much as I used to." Sunset smiled. "Not now that I'm able to appreciate what I have here."

She leaned back. "If I hadn't run away from Equestria, if I hadn't been a self-entitled little brat... Well, I'd have never discovered this world. I'd have never met all of you."

"You never would've taken a rainbow to the face!" said Pinkie Pie.

"I might not have needed to. But looking back, seeing what's come of all of the struggle and heartache and kicking siren butt?" Sunset looked about the room. "I've gone through the school of hard knocks, and I've come out better for it. I don't know what I'd be if I hadn't messed up, but looking back?" She beamed. "I wouldn't change a thing."