Sunset's first mention of Flash had Twilight nearly inhaling her straw in immediate surprise.  But as she continued on, the Alicorn gave a soft sigh of relief.  Things with Flash had been... confusing... "That's actually a big relief... You wouldn't believe how much the girls teased me when I ran into this world's Flash Sentry.  He's a royal guard in my big brother's squadron."

Twilight took a moment of quiet introspection as she chewed on her straw.  "Honestly?  Flash is a really sweet guy and I do admit there were attractive things about him... But it was more his behavior, really.  I liked him and I love our friends, but I don't think I'll ever really get used to those bodies.  They were like monkeys, or centaurs missing their back half."

When the subject shifted to food, Twilight had to wince in memory of her own experiences.  The learning period in the other world was a strange one indeed.  She had made the mistake of looking up what a hamburger was and had spent several minutes curled in a corner, hyperventilating while Spike tried to calm her down.  While she understood that other beings ate meat, the detailed process and culinary industry around it in that world was staggering.  Thankfully Canterlot High had a varied cafeteria menu with plenty of vegan options.  Twilight might have starved otherwise.

"Hey, you're talking to the mare who walked around on all fours with Spike riding on my back when I first got there.  I got some weird looks..." Just one of many embarrassments to come of her first trek across. "But you don't need to worry about food.  I'm two steps ahead - I already talked to the owner of the Summer Song Cafe.  She's used to serving all sorts of customers.  We've had Griffons, Sea Ponies, Kirin... Lots of carnivores in general.  She'll be able to hook you up with eggs, fish, and probably even some fowl.  I told her you spent time out of Equestria and adopted some foreign tastes.". It was true, after all... Twilight had just chosen to leave out how far outside Equestrian Sunset had been precisely.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:55, Fri 10 July 2015.

Sunset cracked a smile at talk of Flash. "Yeah.  You now, I'm glad he got to meet you, though. I think I had really...  Well... I was not the nicest girlfriend to him. I was just using him, back then, anyway..." She confessed, taking a bite of the delicious muffin to sweeten the bitter words in her mouth. "I'm just glad you helped him ... get over me and what I did to him. That wasn't something I was ever going to really be able to make right on my own." And really, Twilight hadn't done much beyond a little nervous flirting...

Sunset let out the stress with a heavy sigh, and sipped her water once more. She as handling both the glass and muffin with grace now, her pleasant, soothing sea-green aura gently gripping both items. Honestly, that in itself was a bit odd. the magic she'd displayed in their musical duel with the Sirens was definitively bright scarlet...

Sunset brightened a good deal as Twilight revealed some relief for her carnivorous cravings. Beaming, she held up one hoof, hesitated, then cheerfully clapped her forehooves together. So awkward. Gestures! "I'm.. missing  my fingers already..." She confessed with a laugh. "That, and I'm so used to gesturing. I'm sure I'll get over it eventually. But yes - I really appreciate you doing that for me, Twi. I was dreading the idea of actually asking someone about it face to face."

She cast an eye up to the door back to the kitchen... "... Not that I know this world's Pinkie Pie, but do you think something's wrong? I was half-expecting to be jumped already... But don't tell her that." Sunset said, voice dropping to a whisper... Her humorous tone was clear, a slightly playful smile on her face as she made optimistic small talk of the subject.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:12, Sat 11 July 2015.

"I'm happy to do anything I can to help your transition along, Sunset.  Equestria is your home, after all.  Even if you decide to go back through the mirror someday, I want you to be comfortable and happy here all the same." Twilight tended to cover all her bases regardless, but when a friend's happiness was on the line, it offered extra motivation to make sure everything was perfect.

That said, the mention of Pinkie's rather notable absence was bugging Twilight as well.  "Pinkie is pretty much Pinkie no matter where you're from.  It's kinda freaky, to be honest..." she mentioned as she peered about over her shoulder at the distant swinging kitchen doors.  "You're right though.  I wonder what's keeping her?"

Twilight was quick to flag down Mr. Cake as he ambled past with a tray from the kitchen in his mouth.  "Uh... Mr. Cake?  Does Pinkie know we're here?"

"Oh yeah, she knows." the stallion chuckled through his teeth before he continued on to his task.  That just left Twilight blinking in momentary confusion before her expression shifted to a bit of a scowl.  "Well, now that's just worrisome..."

>>> From: Widget's Workshop >>>

The day was brisk but sunny outside, and the brightness made Widget smile. He enjoyed the warmth of the sun on his coat, but he knew the chill of winter would be here soon, so he soaked up as much of it as he could. The smell of fresh baked apple fritters, his favourite, wafted from the bakery's open window. Well, he knew what he was going to have. He usually tried to tell himself to have other things, to expand his horizon, but goodness did that apple always smell so good... He stepped into the door, and was delightedly surprised at what he saw.

"Well, speak of the dream and she shall appear," he said jovially as he saw Twilight inside with another pony he didn't know. "I was just coming to surprise you with lunch. Looks like you beat me to it and surprised me instead. How are you?" He didn't sound too disappointed. He moved for her and kissed her in greeting. It had taken a few months to work up courage to kiss her in public, but it was second nature now. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't notice you had a friend with you." He smiled at Sunset Shimmer in a friendly manner.

- "Hi hi!"

Starcrasher walked in, beaming a smile inside even though she didn't even know whether anypony was here that she had met before, or who would still recognize her if she had. Turned out there was someone familiar. She walked up to Twilight and Sunset.

- "Hi Twilight, long time no see huh? Who's your friend? Her mane is pretty..."

Alternating a look between Twilight and Sunset, she waited for a reply from either. She couldn't quite place Sunset, she had a pretty good memory so odds were she was pretty new in town, but then again she hadn't been in Ponyville long enough herself to really know everypony that lived here.

"Well, your Pinkie doesn't actually know me... You told her a bit about me, right?  You don't think she's worried over the... ah... she-dem--" Perhaps fortunately, Sunset's anxious considerations were cut short with the arrival and approach of a glasses-and-wing-wearing young stallion... He approached Twilight as if he knew her, and Sunset quickly clammed up at the distinct company they suddenly had.

Sunset smirked a little bit as Widget swept in and lightly kissed her friend, taking the perfect opportunity to whistle a little to call out the romantic bit of affection -  it wouldn't go unnoticed with that afoot. "Oh, now you've been holding  out on me, Twilight..." Sunset chuckled, and turned her eyes to the young filly who accompanied him.

She grinned a little at her words, and raised a hoof to brush back her mane lightly - a bit of an odd gesture, all told. She grinned at the young pony, then eyed Widget teasingly. "Well, at least someb-pony noticed me..." Her hesitation on that 'somepony' was odd, but not particularly glaring...

Her joking mood was pretty clear, and she tipped her head to Twilight, with a very discreet little wink. She lifted her hoof a moment, giving it a little tap as she returned it to the table, and lightly bit her lower lip. "Nice to meet you two~ I'm Sunset Shimmer. I'm a friend of Twilight's, from out of town."

Better this time, it seemed. She wasn't coming on quite as strongly with the whole 'friendly introduction' bit... Sensing that they were likely to join them, Sunset's magic slid out a chair next to her for the young Filly - a chair that did happen to put her in hooves' reach of that fiery mane.

Widget and Starcrasher's arrival was certainly a major point of distraction for Twilight just then.  She brightened, blushed, and giggled bashfully as her beau swept right in, meeting her as she rose from her seat to catch her with a quick greeting kiss.  By that point they had been together long enough that such little displays of affection were the norm by them both, given and accepted happily either way.  The only reason she flustered was because she realized, mid-kiss, what was coming up next.



Aaaaand there it was.  It had taken weeks for everyone who discovered the two were dating to stop giving them playful jabs and wry grins, and now there was another Pony in town who could pick up where everyone left off.  Twilight had learned a lot about friendship during her time in Ponyville, and it turned out one aspect of being friends was the potential to be endlessly teased with good-natured playfulness over just about anything.

"It's not like that, Sunset.  I was planning on introducing you all later today, but this is a bit more convenient." Twilight rolled her eyes a little as she moved to stand between the two new arrivals.  "This is my coltfriend, Widget Whatsits.  And this is one of my students, Star Dasher.  Whom, I might add, did not let me know she was back from her vacation..."  the Alicorn set her wings fondly over the backs of the two, though she had to spare Starcrasher a little smirk as she gave a tease of her own.  Widget wasn't the only one perturbed by the filly's lack of communication while she was away.

With all attention turned around on Widget and Starcrasher, none of them would notice the way the kitchen doors swung openly briefly, seemingly all on their own...

BAM! CRACK! PHWEEEEEEEEEEEEE~~!

Hidden confetti bombs set over the entrance to Sugarcube Corner burst with a noisy crack, showering the group in sparkles, paper confetti, and twirly streamers.  From all around the bakery, every table suddenly sprouted a cluster of colorful balloons from within the flowered centerpieces.  All at once a brightly decorated banner rolled down, unfurling to read "WELCOME BACK" - and from bundled up within the banner rolled a familiar pink whirl of energy who came spinning along into a somersaulting ball across the floor.

"WOOOOO~!  Welcome back~!  I got a two-fer!  Sunset Shimmer ~and~ Star Dasher!"  Pinkie Pie was in full bombastic effect as she sprang up to her hooves.  Before the bunch knew it they suddenly had pointed party hats incoming - each landed perfectly atop their heads, except for Twilight who ended up having hers spinning on the tip of her much-longer-these-days horn.  The cotton-candy maned Earth Pony darted right up to Starcrasher to catch her in a tight hug that would lift her clear off her own hooves.

"Welcome back home~!  I know we didn't hang out a lot but we've totally gotta fix that!  And this is the perfect time to start!" Pinkie chattered as she let the filly go and bounded right over her in a quick hop, landing briefly atop Twilight and Widget's backs - somehow she was so light she wouldn't even make the lean Ponies flinch under her presence before she used them like a springboard to clear the table and land right next to Sunset.  It was her turn for a rib-aching hug as Pinkie snatched her up, squeezing Sunset with delight and plenty of cheek-nuzzling.  "Welcome back to Equestria, Sunset!  Twilight has told me soooooooooooooooooooooooooo~ much about you that it's like we're already bestest best friends!  Ooh, you're going to love it here!"

"And this is Pinkie Pie." Twilight finished the introductions in a deadpan.

Sunset perked up as Twilight flustered a little, but she never quite had a chance to continue, when, abruptly, Pinkie finally made her move! Even expecting it, the delay had been such that it took Sunset completely by surprise, and she exclaimed a cry of surprise as the confetti-bombs exploded, balloons inflated from unseen places, and party hats were thrust upon everypony's heads!

Sunset couldn't help but laugh - it was infectious, overwhelming - exactly like the Pinkie she knew and treasured. Sunset laughed a little as poor Star Dasher got vigorously embraced, but then - all too quickly, really,  Pinkie had bounded across two ponies, and had tackled her into a crushing hug.

Sunset's eyes went wide with alarm as she was plucked off her own hooves and wrapped in Pinkie's absurdly strong and comfortable grasp. She flailed her hooves a bit, with her fumbling sense of balance thrown off, but she was laughing, all the same. It felt decidedly strange - sure, the Pinkie in her own world was nearly  so animated, but it almost felt like the same girl entirely... She couldn't keep the familiarity out of her voice in her state of surprise. She laughed, and accepted Pinkie's eager nuzzling with a hoof around her in return. "Hehe~ You got me, Pinkie! I knew it was coming, and you still got me." She squeezed the eager mare in return. She was grinning, as she cast a glance over to Twilight. She felt like she was back home, already. Then again, nopony was better at making someone feel welcome than Pinkie.

Managing, after a few moments of tense embrace, to extricate herself to a degree, Sunset got to her hooves and leaned into Pinkie for the moment. "Well,I am looking forward to meeting everyone." She flashed Pinkie that bright, happy smile that made all her party-planning more than worth it.

Starcrasher sat down, and raised her hooves defensively when Twilight mentioned her not having sent word that she was coming back.

- "Hey there, i only got back about an hour ago myself."

She perked up for a moment, but before she could continue the conversation, the sound of the Party Cannon followed by a bear hug from Pinkie managed to keep her from actually doing so, in favor of hugging Pinkie back. She didn't really think Pinkie had known her that well since she hadn't been in Ponyville for long, but then again Pinkie generally seemed to know everyone right up to the ponies that were visiting Ponyville for the first time. Better to just go along with it. Once the hug was broken, she showed Twilight (and Pinkie and Sunset) her Cutie Mark.

- "*ahem* Right, so i got my Cutie Mark too, got it fighting this guy called Tirek. Which is... kind of related to why i didn't send word, i can't really recall much from the past few months since i was out for most of it. Eh~hehheh."

She sweatdropped, waiting to see how Twilight would take the news, looking a little nervous as she remembered Widget's reaction to when she had told him the full story earlier.

Widget raised his brows in some surprise when Sunset playfully accused Twilight of holding out on her, but smiled when his fillyfriend's wing came down over his own metal ones. He knew by now he should expect stuff like this in Sugarcube Corner, but he wasn't, and Pinkie's party bombs gave him a good startle. However, unlike Twilight, Pinkie always made him laugh, and laugh he did good-naturedly as he watched Pinkie proceed to pounce and cuddle the new arrivals, or more appropriately the returning arrivals. Widget knew as much about Sunset as Twilight had been willing to tell him (he was always willing to listen in confidence, of course, that's what coltfriend's do), but truth be told he wasn't too bothered beyond what she wanted to say. It was between the Elements and Sunset, and had nothing really to do with him. The last thing he wanted was for Twilight to think he was prying into business that wasn't his!

"Yes," he said to Sunset with a smile, agreeing with Pinkie Pie. "Welcome back to Equestria, and to Ponyville. Any friend of Twilight's is a friend of ours."

He looked back at Twilight. "Have you had lunch yet? I was going to get something light from here, maybe a muffin or something. We can all have lunch together if you have the time."

There was a lot to process - the return of her student, figuring out a lunch schedule with Widget, trying to decide how that would fit in with her already-organized plans with Sunset, fending off Pinkie Pie... it was enough to even give Twilight pause in order to begin parsing everything in her head.  But Starcrasher's revelation of her Cutie Mark threw a wrench in all that, both from the momentary glee of seeing she'd gotten it to the abrupt look of utter shock and horror that followed when she explained how she got it.

"You did what?!" Twilight tried not to shriek and mostly succeeded.

"You fought Tirek too?  Neat!  I thought Twilight was the only one who fought him?  It was really cool!  She absorbed all the magic from the other Princesses and went all super-powered and controlled the sun and the moon and got into this huge climactic magic battle with Tirek with giant explosions and fire and she was all NYOOOOOOOOOOOO~M! and he was all RAAAARGH! and then we all got our hair done and he's back in jail now!" Pinkie had a knack for summarizing things in her own flavor, gesturing wildly on every point to boot.

Meanwhile, Twilight was still trying to wrap her head around everything and breathe at the same time.  "How could... When... Did you know about this?!" her puzzling ended up rounding on Widget with a demand for an explanation.

As much of Equestria that was new to her, Tirek was an old name, a very old name, and Twilight had already briefed her on exactly what had happened to the old library - and that had required a discussion on how her best friend in Equestria had saved the world from a magic-hungry menace...

No offense ; none taken

Smiling, Sunset regarded Star Dasher with an impressed expression, even as Twilight began to freak out a little bit. She patted the chair she'd drawn out to invite Star Dasher to sit, then spared a glance to Pinkie as she summarized the events Twilight had more... helpfully... arranged for her earlier.

"That's... actually kind of amazing, Star Dasher..." She paused at Twilight's frantic state, and reached a hoof out, to her shoulder, across the table. "Twilight?" She waved her other  hoof, and then stared at it for a moment.

So much for telling her to snap out of it...

"H-Hey, Twilight. Star Dasher's fine. You've already put Tirek away, right? Just relax, breathe..." Sunset cracked a smile to Widget, then Pinkie, before taking her hoof back. She sipped at her water, watching Twilight with a concerned frown....
This message was lightly edited by the player at 14:27, Wed 15 July 2015.

Widget, on the other hoof, knew better than to try and snap Twilight out of a state of rage or shock by touching her. It only took one burned hoof to figure out that was a bad idea and he hoped Sunset didnt suffer the same fate. Instead he immediately put his front hoofs up to his chest defensively, leaning back on his back legs as his eyes widened behind his glasses. His ears dropped as she demanded an explanation, and he was quick to give it.

"Not before ten minutes ago when she got to the workshop and told me," he assured her. "Are you kidding? That is not something Id keep from you. She already got an earful from me about it." Well, kind of... He wasn't much of a disciplinarian. It reminded him too much of his dad!

Once he was sure she was not about to explode, he lowered down to all four hooves again and adjusted his wings. "At this point, though, I sorta figured it better if you heard it from her."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:53, Wed 15 July 2015.

Starcrasher winced when Twilight's reaction was... well, what she had expected it to be. She tried to calm her mentor down somewhat.

- "Well, not exactly fought, more like kept him busy. He got strong-- well, bigger absorbing Ponies' magic and you know how i've always been good at disrupting it, right? That seemed to work pretty well, actually, up until the exploding energy beams of death. That was... less successful, even the shockwave was enough to knock me out cold."

She turned to Sunset, nodding enthusiastically in agreement when she called her feat pretty amazing, a wide grin appearing on her face before it was replaced by a rather shocked look as she realized Twilight was probably still upset to her about that. She turned to the purple-maned alicorn, sporting the kind of smile a filly would after having been caught with her hoof in the cookie jar.

- "Oh come on, Twilight. You save Equestria all the time."

Okay so... maybe reminding Twilight that her actions trying to save Equestria from certain doom on numerous occasions were setting a bad example of the amount of risks any sane Pony was expected to take to those around her wasn't exactly the best she could think of, but it was the only think she could think of right then. After all, if Twilight saved Equestria several times, she couldn't blame her for trying to do the same and living up to her mentor's example, right? Even if she wasn't an alicorn, or trained by Celestia herself, or had access to the Elements of Harmony, or -- oh my that was a bad excuse.

Twilight really had been doing a lot to try and control her freak out moments, but she just wasn't herself if she didn't get stressed from time to time.  Pinkie Pie was in the same boat as Widget and knew it was best to just let Twilight ride it out for a little bit, though the Princess' dynamic with Sunset was a bit different.  Each time she and Sunset had faced a conflict together, it had always been immediate and with both of them in unfamiliar territory to varying degrees, so it was only natural they'd cope by relying on one another.  But when something like Starcrasher's story, where it was already in the past and done with?  Best to just let the poor Alicorn freak out a little.

There were plenty of things Twilight had lost her cool over in the past that she felt ridiculous for doing so later, but this didn't seem like it would be one of them.  Sure, plenty of Ponies had stood up against Tirek when he was making his way through Equestria, but that didn't make the idea of Starcrasher squaring off with him any easier to swallow.  Plus there was the personal bias to consider as the Princess' reaction was indeed colored by the fact that Starcrasher was her pupil.  Along with the outrage of Starcrasher endangering herself like that, there was an unexpected rush of misplaced guilt that Twilight had ever let Starcrasher come into danger at all, completely ignoring how far out of her control or awareness the situation had been.  She couldn't help but wonder if Princess Celestia felt the same way whenever some great danger rose up that Twilight and her friends would have to face...



"That does not make--!" Twilight started to snap back, but immediately caught herself mid-word.  There was a visible look of restraint in her expression as she took a few deep breaths, bringing her hoof to her chest and out again in a little gesture of self-meditation Cadance had taught her.  The Princess brought herself down to a simmer before she even tried to speak again.  "That's just... a lot to take in all at once." she was careful with her words as she rubbed her temples.  "Tirek was the most dangerous enemy we've ever faced, bar none.  You could have been killed!"

Twilight's tone picked up its edge again in that last moment and she took another breath to calm herself before she let her ire get the better of her.  "Look, Star Dasher - I'm glad you're alright, and I'm proud that you'd want to use your talents to help others.  It was a noble thing to do." while her words were genuine, they did also serve as a bit of a disclaimer before Twilight grabbed Starcrasher by the shoulders and gave her a little shake.  "But, for the love of Faust, you're going to give me a heart attack if you ever do something like that again!"

Sunset looked between Twilight and Star Dasher, putting on a wistful smile as the exchange reminded her of... well...

She sighed, heavily, and turned to focus on her meal, instead. Sunset seemed to close herself off a little. being a pony again, back in Equestria, was bringing back more than a few memories, and seeing a Princess and her Student, Sunset couldn't help but be reminded of her own past...

She spoke up, softly. "...Star Dasher, she's just worried about you. She doesn't want you to hurt yourself, trying something you aren't ready for. I know it's been a while since the Tirek incident, right? Did you get hurt? Is that why you're just now getting back home?" She glanced briefly to Twilight for confirmation, then looked to Star Dasher again... "... Take it from me, you don't have a teacher so you can ignore their advice."

...Those were some heavy words. But Sunset didn't want to dwell on things. She took a deep breath, then looked up, first to Pinkie, managing to smile a bit with just the sight of the cheerful pony still prancing from her description of Twilight besting Tirek. Then, she looked to Widget more directly. She glanced to his withers, spotting the rather distinct and unique wings he wore for the first time.

That was certainly unusual. Sunset didn't coment on them right away, though, simply turning from the wings to his eyes with a curious expression, and a half-smile.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:02, Wed 15 July 2015.

- "Yeah, but so could you have, right? I mean... Nightmare Moon, Discord, the Changelings... Those were all from before you became a Princess!"

Starcrasher was quick to retort in the opening Twilight left to collect herself, when Sunset stepped in as well, and she gave a hesitant nod at her asking whether she got herself hurt in the process. While King Sombra would definitely have made that little list, the threat he posed had been limited to the Crystal Empire during his return, and so she knew little of it. When Twilight gave her shoulders a little shake, she got the feeling that she was less angry than she had been a moment ago, but she knew how much Twilight could worry, so much more so than Widget. She mumbled out an apology.

- "Sorry Twilight. I just wanted... I guess part of me just wanted to be like you."

She paused for a moment, letting out a brief chuckle before collecting herself.

- "Hey, still do, so tell those baddies to stay away from Ponyville or i might have another go at being a hero."

Widget had to bite back his smirk. Star seemed in prime form for buttering Twilight up. Twilight was just mad enough for it to totally fail, and just relieved enough to fall for it. Either way, well played, Star.

While Twilight and Star were busy, he went to the counter to purchase two apple fritters, one for him and one for Star. "Exciting day, huh?" he chuckled at Mr. Cake. With Pinkie around, Widget was going to bet that something like this was all but totally normal.

Of the Ponies present, it was Pinkie and Widget who knew Twilight the longest and best, so it'd be pretty easy for them to see the contained frustration she had just then.  She could pitch some pretty overt signs of panic (especially given her wings as of late) but it was the subtle stuff that really locked it in.  The way her shoulders would arch, or how she'd canter a hoof in place.  Twilight was really doing her best not to lose her cool, but there was no denying the sheer level of distress Starcrasher had brought to the table.  She appreciated Sunset's support in the conversation as well, but was left worrying about the context of that particular bit of advice...

"We'll talk about this later." was the best she could manage just then.  Twilight generally needed a little while to collect her thoughts in order to best handle a situation.  "For now, I'm just glad you're back."

Meanwhile, Widget just got a soft chuckle in reply from Mr. Cake while the stallion dished up a pair of piping hot fritters, still glossy and sparkling with a fresh dusting of cinnamon and sugar.  "Seems pretty quiet to me.  Only been one explosion so far and it didn't involve fire, so it's gearing up to be a dull day."  It was admirable Mr. Cake could joke like that, but what did it say about the standard of living around Ponyville that he was right?

Sunset sighed gently as her advice seemed to fall on rather deaf, eager filly ears... Turning her attention from the issue - if only by Twilight's own request. She could see the tension in Twilight's  pose, even if she was more used to her human stress mannerisms. She'd recalled seeing her hunched over, trying to mouth-write a countersong, after all...

Managing a smile, she put a hoof out to pat the seat beside her again, only to bump into Pinkie, who'd apparently occupied it in the process of giving her a hug.  She grinned a little, then turned her eyes to a nearby table. A pale green glow wreathe done of the chairs, and it wobbled as it turned around, sliding over to the end of the table, to provide a fifth seat, to make room for everyone to join them. "Anyway~ Twilight and I were going out to get some furniture for my guest room at the castle. I'm going to be staying with her for a while." She announced, for pinkie and Widget and Star Dasher's benefit. "Though... I don't suppose lunch would hurt. I ate before I arrived, but I could use a little more, I think, if you wanted to do lunch..."

She glanced to Twilight for her approval, then over to Widget and Mr. Cake's little conversation... One explosion was 'quiet'? She glanced aside to Pinkie. Ah, of course... Of course, this left her eyes on Pinkie's, with a smile on her face. That was practically inviting antics!

"True, I suppose. But the day's still young," Widget joked back with a smile, magicking the plates up and placing his bits on the counter to pay for them. "Just give me a ring if Pinkie does get a little overexcited when she realized there's still one more scheduled arrival to show up today. I'll have my repair tools for the stove ready." It wouldn't be the first time Pinkie actually overbaked the oven and blew the conduit coils.

He went back to where Twilight and the others were sitting, and set down the two plates of fritters, one before his charge and the other before himself. He hadnt had lunch yet, but he just couldnt come to Sugarcube Corner without having an apple fritter, especially when they were this fresh! "This day's already turning out to be exciting," he said brightly, trying to lighten Twilight's worried mood.

- "Yeah, i'd like that. Later is good."

Starcrasher smirked at Twilight, who seemed to be doing a good job calming down so far and eager to change the subject to something lighter away from certain doom. Fortunately, Sunset had a great setup and Widget proved to have impeccable timing.

- "Ohh, nice!"

She looked at the fritters before lifting one with magic and taking a hesitant bite to test how hot they were. Being capable of using magic now without problems had advantages in that she didn't burn her hooves on hot food anymore, though her mouth did not share that same protection so she would still need to blow if it was too hot. After chewing, she swallowed before grinning.

- "Tell you one thing, been to a lot of places but you just can't beat Ponyville when it comes to cooking... Sugarcube Corner and the Summer Song, between Merri and the Cakes it's a surprise everypony here isn't weighing a ton by now."

As Widget returned, he received a welcoming nod from Sunset. She, however, had already finished off her muffin. Glad to see that the tension was fading between Twilight and Star Dasher, Sunset turned her attention to the latter. "Twilight mentioned the Summer Song Cafe to me. It sounds great." She gave a little chuckle. "I've never really lived in a town this small, before. It's a bit of a change for me."

Giving a little tip of her head, Sunset prompted  a question, next. "...How long have you been Twilight's student, Star Dasher? Just curious."

Starcrasher had to think for a moment to answer Sunset's question.

- "Umm... Not long, actually. I got here from Canterlot, got a job and stay at Widget's as his former assistant hired me to be his assistant, and then Widget got me in touch with Twilight for magic lessons. That continued for a bit--"

She leaned in to whisper something to Sunset...

- "Lots of homework."

...before sitting back upright again to continue the conversation.

- "And after we had a breakthrough i left for a small break, saw the festival in the Crystal Empire, and decided to take the long way back. Not counting those... a couple of months, i think?"

Sunset perked up a little. "You're originally from Canterlot? Me too! Although, I haven't really been back there in years... You could say I've been away." She glanced up to Twilight. And Widget.

Sunset put on a little smirk, with just a slight teasing edge. "I think someponies want to have a dinner date." Sunset teased, and lightly tapped her hoof on the table. She lidded her eyes in a playful expression, before turning to Star Dasher. "Why don't you show me to Quill and Sofa, and Twilight can catch up when she's had her fill?" She  made to stand on her own hooves. "After all, I can't have a Princess escorting me everywhere I go, here." She said, with a nod to Twilight. "... Though, it would help to have some bits on me... if that's alright...?" Sunset lightly blushed, biting her lower lip sheepishly. She raised up her right hoof to brush at her ear.