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title: No Better Timing

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It was a warm, lovely day in Ponyville. So, like any sensible pony, Twilight was holed up inside.

She sat on her chair, quietly perusing one of the multiple books that were open before her on the Cutie Map. A little ways away was Spike, stretched out on the floor as he flipped through his comics. This had been the bulk of their activity, for the day, and Twilight couldn't have been happier. What could be better?

Three loud knocks rang through the air, making Twilight twitch an ear. She threw a look toward Spike.

"Nuh-uh." He flipped a page of his comic, not even looking up. "It's your turn."

"Argh. Fine." She huffed out a breath, bouncing her bangs, and rose from her chair. Well, more company wouldn't be so horrible. She hadn't heard much from the girls this weekend, and Starlight had gone out to do something with Trixie. If nothing else, moving around brought with it the rumbling remembrance that she hadn't eaten anything today, thanks to her reading. Some (bad) habits were just inescapable.

Anyway! Twilight pulled the front door open with a smile. "Hello—"

"Hi! Heya! How're you doing!?"

Twilight screeched as a blur of multiple blues assailed her vision. She flared her wings and took a step back, only to quickly calm down once the blur came into focus. "...Party Favor?" She tipped her head to the side, looking around the excitable unicorn. "And Night Glider! Sugar Belle, Double Diamond! What a surprise, how lovely to see you all!"

"Hi, Twilight!" Sugar Belle said with a warm smile, stepping forward to gently nudge Party Favor aside. "We aren't imposing on anything, are we?"

"No, no! Of course not. It's a pretty lazy Sunday. Please, come in!" Twilight backed up and let the group move inside, swinging the front door closed once Night Glider swooped in last.

"Wowza..." Double Diamond's eyes roved from the floor all the way to the high, gleaming ceiling. "This is wicked!"

"It sure looks sturdy," Glider said, running a hoof along the crystalline pillars that rose from the floor. "Cool. I bet my baby cousin would flip out over it."

Twilight laughed, waving a dismissive hoof. "Thank you both. It took a little getting used to, but I'm happy to have it. Come on, I'll introduce you all to Spike!"

The group happily trailed after Twilight into the Map room. Spike was already looking toward them as soon as they entered, curious after catching snippets of their voices. Party Favor was the first to rush toward him, giddy as ever.

"Whoa! Uh, hi!" Spike said as Party Favor all but shook his arm out of its socket. "Nnnniicee t-to mmm-meet you!"

"I've never met a dragon before! You're purple, too! I know lots of purple ponies! And green ones! Oooh, this is just so—!"

"Aha, ah..." Double Diamond threw an arm around Favor's shoulder and pried him loose. "Sorry! It's been a colorful day for us, so we're all a bit excitable. It's really nice to meet you, Spike. I'm Double Diamond."

"I'm Party Favor! Sorry, I get... y'know. Really easy."

"Night Glider. Call me Nights, if you wanna."

"And I'm Sugar Belle! Twilight and her friends told us all about you, after she helped us out, but it's lovely to meet you face to face." Belle lit her horn and dug into one of the saddlebags strapped to her side, pulling out a thick, tasty looking cookie. "Do you like chocolate? I baked these myself!"

"Uh, yeah!" Spike snatched the cookie from the air with gusto, earning a pleased laugh from Belle and a smirk and eye-roll from Twilight.

Actually. Twilight re-centered her attention on Sugar Belle. "I'm curious, everypony. What brings you to Ponyville?"

"Oh, right." Night Glider gracefully dropped from the air, and the four ponies drew together, turning toward Twilight as a collective. They took a deep breath and:

"*Thank you!*"

Twilight blinked, somewhat confused, but held her smile. "Er, you're welcome?"

"Aw, no, no. Uhm, we messed up." Belle shook her head and took a step forward. "We came to thank you for what you've done. You know... everything. Saving us, and saving Starlight, too. When she dropped by for the Sunset Festival it really..." She sniffed, holding back the warble in her voice. "You and your friends..."

Favor rubbed Belle's back, expression soft as he locked eyes with Twilight. "We all talked after you first came by, but it didn't... well it didn't seem like enough after seeing that, you know? So! We all decided to pack up and come to Ponyville to thank all six of you, one-on-one."

"Four-on-one, I guess." Glider said with a wry smile. "But yeah. Thank you. Really. From the whole village." Everypony else nodded. Spike turned away from the scene, hiding his sniffling.

"I... wow." Twilight folded her ears down, blinking away the creeping wetness of her eyes. "I'm flattered. Knowing that my friends and I have reached so far and touched so many is just— I don't know what to say."

"Well, you don't have to say anything." Diamond broke into a massive grin. "Sugar Belle brought cookies for a reason! Please, try a few!"

"R-right! They aren't much," Belle used her magic to un-hook her saddlebags, and after getting a look of approval, set them down on the Cutie Map. "But I hope you enjoy them!" Spike launched himself into his chair, salivating at the amount of cookies confined within the bag.

"They look delicious." Twilight levitated one to her mouth and took a bite. Perhaps it was her hunger, but they were absolutely incredible. She wolfed down the rest of the cookie and smiled. "Wow! Please, let me get a few plates and cups. We can chat while eating, and Applejack brought me a pitcher of lemonade I'd be happy to share!"

"Sure," Glider said, "Apple juice sounds- oh, lemonade. Alright, yeah."

Twilight motioned at the empty chairs surrounding the Map with a hoof. "Take a seat! The girls won't mind. I'll be back in just a second." She turned away and started toward the kitchen.

"Oh! Please, let me help!" Belle hurried to follow after her, and the twosome ducked into the hallway. It was a short trip to the kitchen, and when they arrived Twilight quickly broke away to move toward the cabinets.

"The lemonade pitcher is in the refrigerator," she began, pulling the cabinets open with her magic to pull out a large plate for the cookies themselves and six smaller ones for everyone to use. "I think I should have a little milk left in there too." Twilight squinted. Why were the cups so far back? Even with two magic users living here it wasn't exactly optimal for grabbing. She quickly pulled them forward and aligned them with a smile, only to sigh and pull them down anyway.

Behind her, she heard the clunk of a glass container settling on the countertop in the center of the kitchen. The door to the fridge swung closed just as Twilight turned around completely. Sugar Belle was staring at her, and they both broke into warm smiles when their eyes locked.

"So we did have milk! More than I thought, too. Well, let me move all these cups and plates into order and we'll head back."

"Sure. Oh, actually... isn't Starlight here?"

Twilight waved a hoof. "She's out and about with her friend Trixie. We'll just have to make sure to save her come cookies, assuming she doesn't come back soon."

"Alrighty!" Belle ran a hoof down across her puffy ponytail. "Starlight with friends... wow." She winced. "Sorry! Sorry, that sounds awful out loud."

"Hah! It's okay. She's made worse jokes about herself, trust me."

Sugar Belle gave a weak laugh. She mindlessly moved the jug of lemonade back on forth on the counter with a hoof, watching the movement of the liquid silently. Twilight knit her brows together.

"I uhm. I just- wanted to thank you, again, Twilight. Really. You saved us all."

"You certainly don't have to thank me, Sugar Belle. Getting your cutiemarks back, helping you see the beauty in uniqueness and friendship... it was the right thing to do. My friends and I would do it again and again for anypony that needed it."

"In this case I ah... I just meant you, specifically."

Twilight's ears perked upward. "Hmm? I wouldn't have been able to do anything without my friends there. It—"

"Do you remember just before Starlight ran into the caves?"

The interruption had been so abrupt Twilight needed a moment to realize it came from Sugar Belle. Eventually, she regathered her bearings and nodded. "You four cut her off, then my friends and I came along shortly after."

"You showed up first." Belle said softly, still staring at the lemonade. "I remember the whole day, but what I remember the most is that you got there first and..."

The pieces fell together in Twilight's mind. "I... blocked Starlight's magic."

Sugar Belle hung her head. "I hate bringing it up. I do. But sometimes I just- remember her face. How horribly angry she looked. And then I-I'll think about how scared I was, thinking that she was going to—"

"Hey, hey. It's alright." Twilight rounded the counter and draped a wing across Belle's back. "I understand. It was a tense, serious situation. For us *and* Starlight. It's a sore spot for everypony, you aren't alone." Belle heaved a deep sigh, nodding.

"I feel so bad when I think about it like that. I know Starlight's an amazing pony. But I'll think back to that day and imagine if you hadn't made it in time..." She sighed. "I'm really being a downer, aren't I? I'm sorry. I just really had to get that out. I hate bringing it up with everypony else."

Twilight gave her another reassuring pat with her wing. "I understand completely. Don't let bad memories hold too much power over you, Sugar Belle. You've already done so well in moving past them!"

Sugar Belle snorted. "Very sage, princess," she said with a silly smile that made Twilight huff in feigned annoyance. "You're right, of course. We're all just fine, and I suppose that's all that matters." She shook her head as if she were physically dislodging the thought from her mind. "Well, come on! I think I've held up the party for long enough." Her horn glowed and she took not only the milk and lemonade in her magical grip, but the plates and cups as well.

"Can you handle all that? I feel horrible making a guest do all the work."

"It's fine! Us bakers aren't so scared of handling lots of things at once!" With that, Belle turned around and moved toward the doorway. Twilight took a step, only to hesitate and take a step backward.

"I'll come along in a second," Twilight said when Belle noticed she wasn't following her. "There's something else in the fridge I think would be good to have as a side." She smiled pleasantly as Belle nodded and left. When she was alone, Twilight closed her eyes and thought.

In the heat of the moment, it had really just been instinct driving her forward. Even from a distance she had seen the light on Starlight's horn, felt the thick pulse of her magic in the air. She'd never forgotten. But everything afterward, her attempt to make Starlight see the beauty of friendship, Starlight's escape, returning to town... They made it easy for it to fall to the back of her mind. It was just one of the altercations they had on the winding path to Starlight's redemption.

*You saved us all.*

Twilight hadn't been able to fully analyze what exactly spell Starlight was casting. She'd simply seen enough to know exactly what she needed to do; not let it touch Sugar Belle and her friends. Unconsciously, Twilight's tail began to lash back and forth behind her. She opened her eyes and looked toward the fridge. Everypony was waiting for her to return, so she really should—

She hadn't been able to glean what the spell was, so maybe it was entirely different from something of... that caliber. The way Starlight had drawn power into her horn had been too focused for it to have been a simple magical blast. It had needed time to be cast, needed to build power. Would it have been some sort of transformation? Unlikely. A long distance teleport? No, no. She'd sustained it too long for it to be a teleport and the beam had none of the typical hallmarks of telekinetic magic. It wasn't a spell for surrounding and subsequently moving, rather overwhelming and piercing.

Twilight chewed at her lip. Why was she focusing on this? Nothing happened, because she and her friends had been there. Because she'd gotten there first. And sure, Starlight had been angry, back then. Completely livid and standing before some of the very ponies that had, in her eyes, wronged her. And obviously, her magic wouldn't have been pleasant, but would it have—

*I studied that spell for years!* Studied. Something from a book, then? Again, the spell rung no bells in her mind but if it were something from a tome then surely it had at least some semblance of a practical use. She could maybe find it outright if she dug around in her collection long enough.

Or maybe she wouldn't. Maybe it was something born of self-study. Starlight had an incredible knack for spell creation, or at least twisting them about in creative, interesting ways. Maybe the spell had been something of her own make. And if that were the case, Twilight was back to square one. Years, she said. Something from when she was younger? Or was it made within the time she'd been leading the village? If it were the latter, then why? Something of that strength for a village of near totally subservient ponies.

One of the countertop's corner dragged against Twilight's side as she paced around it, head down, but she hardly noticed. So what had she really done, ultimately? At the absolute base level, she had protected them all from Starlight's magic. But had she *saved their lives?* Starlight was a good pony, though it was still wrong for her to lash out like she had. But, she was good, and sweet, so Twilight couldn't say for certainty that the spell would've done—

What would it have done? Where would they be, had she been any slower to arrive? What—

"You uh, you alright in here, Twi?"

Twilight snapped her head upward and looked to the kitchen's doorway. There, peeking inside sheepishly was Starlight Glimmer. For just a moment, Twilight's eye widened in surprise. Just as quickly, though, she stopped her pacing and turned toward her pupil in full with a hopefully not strained smile. "Starlight, you're back!"

"Yeah, and you aren't. Sugar Belle sent me in here to drag you back to the party. But uh," she coughed, "looks like you're a bit busy."

"No, no, uhm. Sorry I was just- doing some thinking. Lost track of time." Starlight quite obviously didn't fully believe what she was saying, but she thankfully let it slide with a slow nod of her head. She did, however, enter the kitchen in full and drape a comforting hoof on Twilight's back.

Blue eyes bored into violet ones. "Are you up for the party, still? Spike's doing a real number on the cookies."

What if she'd never arrived? If her shield hadn't been powerful enough? It would've been unpleasant, surely, but would it have...

"Ahah... of course he is. They're absolutely delicious, to be fair. Have you tried any, yet?"

Starlight snorted a laugh. "Duh! You think I'm gonna risk not getting a bite of Sugar Belle's baking? I mean between her,"

*You saved us all.*

"Pinkie Pie and Applejack,"

*How horribly angry she looked*

"I don't think anypony would survive,"

*...how scared I was, thinking that she was going to*

"if all three of them were shoved into a kitchen. So," Starlight playfully slugged Twilight on the shoulder. "How about we go chow down, alright?"

"Starlight," Twilight croaked out, "Starlight what would that spell have done to—"

"*Hey!*"

Both mares flinched and turned their attention toward the doorway. There wasn't anyone there, but they could hear Spike's voice echoing down the hallway.

"*What's the holdup!? The girls have come to hang out too, c'mon, Twilight!*"

"Hah! Yup, that's it. Come on Princess of Friendship, are we really gonna keep all our friends waiting?"

"...no. No, we won't. Sorry, Starlight." She turned her head back toward the doorway and raised her voice, "*We're coming, Spike!*"

With that, the two made their way out of the kitchen, albeit at a slow pace set by Twilight that Starlight didn't try and push. Just outside of the map room, Starlight looked to her companion.

"Oh, hey. What were you going to ask, back in the kitchen?"

"Ah... nothing important. I've just been doing some thinking. Spells, and such. Just wanted to pick your brain a little."

"Always with the studying, huh? Typical Twilight. Well, maybe later? Lets just go have a nice time!" Starlight drew Twilight into a brief hug, then happily trotted into the room before them, ready to party. Twilight watched her quietly until she was fully gone from view.

Slowly, Twilight took a deep, deep inhale, and let it out with a drawn-out exhalation. She shook her head, put a lid on her thoughts, and went to join all her friends.

