Juniper Montage stared at Vignette Valencia, quiet and blinking.
Vignette stared back from Juniper's front steps—after almost having dropped the umbrella she was using to shield herself from the rain. It was that much of a shock to see just how much her little cousin had grown in not even a decade's time.
But it still had been too long.
"Hey, Junie," Vignette said, just before instantly regretting using the nickname. As if she had the right, anymore. Even after their Applewood tour, they'd used to talk on the phone all the time, for years, before drifting apart—or, one should say, before Vignette's career and online presence had started to take off.
Slowly but surely, Vignette started declining Juniper's offers to hang out or spend time together, because she logistically couldn't. She'd always been traveling, chasing the next "opportunity" and chance for "exposure."
Eventually, Juniper had stopped calling. Vignette heard from Canter Zoom that she'd started interning in a studio he often used in Canterlot City. At the time, she put it out of sight and mind—good that Juniper finally found something else to take up her time, she'd remembered thinking.
And that was the last either had heard from the other. Until today.
Things were still silent except for the rain. Juniper hadn't replied. Of course she wouldn't. She shouldn't, Vignette thought, berating herself. This was a mistake. This was such a mistake—
"Val?" a wide-eyed Juniper said, slowly. "Is... that really you?"
Vignette stifled a gasp. "Yeah, it's me," she said, looking away. "Sorry I haven't... you know."
She just barely heard Juniper take a step forward, then another. She chanced turning her head forward again, and saw Juniper standing under Vignette's umbrella, right in front of her, with a happy, genuine smile.
The next thing she knew, Juniper's arms were around her, and she heard a shaky whisper in her ear:
"I'm so happy to see you again."
Vignette's mind spun. It'd been years. She'd deserted her! Juniper should be furious! Vignette surely would have been, if a client... no, if a contact...
Wait, no. None of those described Juniper, did they?
As she felt Juniper's warmth against her, she realized that this really did feel like home. Half of her felt even worse about leaving Juniper in the lurch. The other half, however, was simply overjoyed to be here now. "But... why?" Vignette barely managed to utter.
Still smiling, Juniper replied, "Duh. 'Cause I'm more than a fan." Her grin got bigger, showing teeth. "Besides, I knew you couldn't stay away from me forever. I'm irresistible."
That caught Vignette off guard. She laughed, loud and long. "Wow, I really did rub off on you, didn't I?"
Juniper's voice and expression sobered. "A bit, yeah. At least I thought you did." She looked closer, studying Vignette's face. "Okay, but not gonna lie? I've... never seen you without a completely confident smile before. Kinda weirding me out. Isn't that bad for PR?"
Vignette gave a small smile back. "It would be, if I cared." She hesitated, then went for it. "I know this is super #ShortNotice, but do you..." Another hesitation, another deep breath, before nodding towards her yellow sportscar. "...want to catch up?"
Juniper looked lost in thought for several moments, before nodding. "Two conditions. First, let me change my blouse."
"Sure. What's the other?" Vignette asked.
Juniper's toothy grin was back. "Anywhere but Starcolts."
Happy reunion between the cousins. Glad Val has June to help her through her tough times.
i still don't evin know who the hell vignette is or where shes from than again it took me a few years to find out what the whole sunset and anonymous thing was
like is she from the comics or something i know some exist but i don't care for comics
9790124
Vignette was the antagonist of Rollercoaster of Friendship, the seventh Equestria Girls special. It's actually on Netflix by now if you want to watch it without any fuss.
9790124
she's from the EqG special "Rollercoaster of Friendship"
I'm eagerly awaiting the conversation where they both realize that they've dealt with and been helped by the Humane Seven
9790174
Oh, I promise that's happening.
9790172
wait a second they made for specials since when i mean for Christ sake i cant keep up with them all hell i cant evin watch the last session of the show cause i watch reactors and all of them have copywriter claims on session 9 mind you when that shit never happened on that scale before
9790190
This should help at least a little.
And yeah, keeping track of the million and one things that got made after Legend of Everfree is a gargantuan task. I'm convinced it's a huge reason why people just write/read Sunset Shimmer all day these days instead of branching out. They don't know the branches exist.
But we die-hards fight on through the media maze!
9790211
That's why, partway into season 1 of the Digital Shorts, I pretty much stopped caring about everything but the music videos and the future specials.
That, and the non-music video shorts just didn't have enough substance to them.
There's definitely going to be some awkwardness on both sides, magic-related and otherwise, but for now, they can just enjoy the warm fuzzies of the reunion.
What a happy reunion. Look forward to more. Especially when they realise that they've both dabbled with Equestrian Magic
im Sure social media influencers are all just sociopaths who pretend to have friends
Vingette is the kind of person that profits off of tragedies with the whole instagram mentality of “each like is a prayer for X” and will have a complete non-reaction to one of her fans commiting suicide
I will NEVER sympathize with her ilk