//------------------------------// // The Last Goodbye // Story: The World Beyond Her Dreams // by Foals Errand //------------------------------// Trenderhoof’s mouth flipped down into a deep scowl, and he stomped forward, stopping the redheaded woman who was making her way up the red carpet that had been laid out for the premiere. He lifted himself up, pen and paper in his hands, before meeting the woman’s eyes. “So, Miss Faust, might I know where your boss, Twilight Sparkle is? I know it can be hard sometimes to get interviews with her, as she’s so busy, but I would have thought that even she’d show up to her big movie premiere.” Lauren let out a small sigh as she nodded in agreement. “Yes, Twilight should be here. Unfortunately, earlier tonight, I got a call from her betrothed saying that the excitement had gotten to her, and she pushed herself too hard in her physical therapy today. As such, she is resting at home. I’m sorry, but I would hope the press can understand that.” Trenderhoof stepped back, biting into his lip as his cheek’s reddened. “Of course. We wouldn’t want to try to punish Miss Sparkle for her condition.” Faust rolled her eyes, moving past him as he slunk back into the crowd. Of course he wouldn’t, not after the press hounded the ‘Coma Creator’ as she had been dubbed after the premiere of My Little Pony. In fact, she was almost happy she hadn’t been able to make it so that her and Rainbow could spend the evening together. And so they were, but not where she though. Rainbow stood beside Twilight, both staring at the red carpet as it passed. They were wearing long cloaks to hide themselves in, not wanting to get discovered. Not when being able to just focus on tonight meant so much to Twilight. The crowd surged forward as the last of the celebrities entered the theater. Rainbow glanced back at Twilight, before grabbing her hand and giving her a slight tug. Her lover’s eyes flickered over to her for a moment, before returning to that thousand yard stare she’d had on since this morning. Another tug let Rainbow know that she would at least move now. Twilight was mostly on auto-pilot though, her heart hammering in her ears. She glanced to her side, biting her lip as she saw the girl beside her. Leather jacket, purple skirt, and ridiculous, bacon colored hair. “H-Hey, Sunset.” Sunset glanced at Twilight. She grinned a little bit, before nudging Twilight with one of her elbows. “So, are you excited? Your first movie, and you couldn’t ask for a larger crowd.” Twilight looked down, her cowl shaking a bit with the movement. Only someone looking directly at her face could tell who it was, another precaution to make sure she wasn’t caught. “I’m just happy that you’re here for this, even if…” Sunset patted her friend on the shoulder as they got into the theater, slowly trudging towards the ticket master. “Hey, don’t listen to those idiots. If you want me here, I’ll be here. Besides, it’s not like I could miss the movie about me. Though, did I really need to be the bad guy? I mean, I know I can be a bit brash, but- Hey, idiot, I’m walking here!” Twilight smirked at the faux Boston accent she put on, watching as a person walked through her friend. Sunset could always be abrasive, but she loved movies, and whenever they made stories, she pretended to be the bad guy. The one causing trouble, and convincing her to try possibly dangerous experiments. It had seemed fitting while writing the movie. “Name for the tickets?” Rainbow Dash and Twilight both glanced up, before Rainbow slid twenty dollars and her I.D. forward. “Sunset Shimmer, and please, leave it at that. For the creator’s sake.” The ticket master took one glance at the I.D., before slipping the three tickets back over, along with the twenty. “I see no problems here, Miss Shimmer.” Sunset scoffed upon hearing her name. “Oh, really? The super successful show creator needs me to pay for this? You better at least be paying for the popcorn!” Twilight smiled a little, before pretending to nudge Sunset in the ribs. “I will, I promise. You always owed me though for buying the chemicals.” Sunset turned away, acting as if she’d been wounded. “I should have known you would have kept me to my debts. You’ve always a stickler for the rules, aren’t you?” She shrugged, holding her hands up before going to the concession stand. It was going to take a while to get through, sure, and Twilight didn’t normally care about popcorn, but there was a tradition to be kept. “So, what shall I be trying today?” Sunset brought a hand to her chin, tapping it as she thought. “Well, last time, it was some of those cinnamon balls, but it’s been so long that I bet you’d have an all new reaction to it. Hmm…” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Oh, well, I suppose if that’s the case, I’ll just have to have you get some chocolate covered raisins. I know how much you love those.” A gagging escaped the teenage girl, before she shook her head furiously. “Nope! Not doing that again.” She tilted her head up again, before nodding, having chosen something better. “Cookie dough bites.” Twilight nodded. “Then you’re getting sourheads.” Sunset’s lips puckered at the mere mention of the candies, before grinning. Both of them knew that the two candies were each others favorites, and it honestly made sense for them to have those tonight. Rainbow heard what she got and instinctively puckered her lips too. Luckily, she didn’t have the same tradition as Twilight and Sunset, and would remember to give Pinkie her set tomorrow. Or, tonight, since she bet their ‘housekeeper’ would be waiting for them, just as she always did. “At least it means Twilight isn’t alone when I’m gone.” The next ten minutes were what you’d think they were. Shuffling to the theater, finding a cramped seat, getting yelled at for not giving up the empty seat (while Sunset joked about not knowing what they meant), and small banter before the movie. At least, most of those. The last one was fairly minimal, as Twilight shrank back into her seat, staring at the screen. As the first frames came on, Rainbow and Sunset both grabbed one of her hands, making sure she knew they were there until the final frames of the movie. Through the movie, Twilight just stared, her eyes only looking away to look at Sunset. Her friend simply watched the movie, taking it in, and giving the odd chuckle here and there. By the end frames, Twilight hung her head down, tears beginning to form in her eyes. She’d hoped for more. For her friend to love it. For it to be the tribute that she’d always wanted. For it to… for it to fix Twilight’s failure. And, as the credits came on, and people waited, knowing that they’d get to talk to the creator, or thinking they would, afterwards, Twilight felt a soft set of lips on the back of her head. Looking over, she saw Sunset smiling, tears coming down her cheeks. Sunset squeezed her friend’s hand slightly, before whispering, “Thank you. I… I always wanted to make sure that after I was gone, I would be remembered. That I’d leave an impact. To see how much I meant to you, and how much everyone enjoyed this…” Twilight smiled back, and squeezed Sunset’s hand back, before she found herself holding nothing. She blinked a few times, staring at the empty seat beside her. Rainbow’s hand came onto her shoulder, and she said something, but Twilight didn’t hear it. No, Twilight’s mind was elsewhere, and as she saw Derpy appear in the credits, she stood up. Not many people immediately noticed the thin girl walk down the steps, with those who did showing concern as each one almost made her fall. She didn’t slow down though, and didn’t accept Rainbow’s help when she tried to give it. This was her moment to be the girl that Sunset had always admired. The one who was so smart, the one who came up with their biggest ideas. The one who didn’t shirk her responsibilities, no matter what, and did everything she could for her friends. The crowd took note of her as she weakly climbed onto the stage. A podium was being wheeled out for Faust to talk in front of, but the assistant producer stopped following it as she saw the struggling figure. Instead, she ran over to the figure, and smiled as Twilight looked up at her. The two walked back to the podium, with Twilight almost collapsing onto it they stopped. There was a murmur running through the crowd now, before Lauren pushed Twilight’s hood back. At that, the room erupted in applause. Twilight stood up, her arms supporting her more than her legs at this point, and smiled at the audience. Rainbow helped with moving the mic, and Twilight let out a small, not entirely fake, cough to quiet them all. She then took a deep breath, and spoke. “I know this is a time for you to ask me whatever you want to. Why I included Flash, why a high school setting, all those questions I’ve been seeing on the forums. And yes, I do look at the forums. However, I think the best way for me to explain why, is to explain who this movie was for. She stood tall, pushing back her pain. ’Stop being so weak! If you keep doing that, people will keep using you.’ Her muscles turned to steel, and all the shaking in Twilight’s body stopped on a dime. “This movie is for Sunset Shimmer, my best friend. I knew her since I was four years old, and ever since then, she has been one of the biggest parts of my life. She pushed me to be bigger, better, and stronger than what I was. If not for her, I would not know my friends, who you may or may not know.” She chuckled a little at her own joke, as the fact that her friends were the other five stars was not a secret to any degree. “When we got into high school though, she wanted me to do even more. She pushed me to be Secretary of our school government, even though she wanted me to be president, forced me to date a nice guy for a year, before I came out as being a lesbian. You cannot imagine how awkward that conversation was, especially when she ended up dating the same guy after me.” She then hung her head, gripping the podium with all of her strength as she forced her tears back. “And then… then we were seniors. It was early in the year, and we thought we had a hypothesis never tried before. I went to get the materials, and she…” Twilight took a deep breath in, before looking out to the crowd. “By the time I got back, the gas left on by another student had already been ignited, knocking parts of the ceiling loose, and burning my best friend alive. I went to go help, but slipped, and fell unconscious.” Twilight wiped a tear from her eye. “So, thank you for coming, and seeing my tribute to a dear, dear friend. And,” turning to Lauren, who was smiling at her, “thank you for letting me say goodbye to her one last time on my terms.” Lauren nodded, before shoo-ing Twilight away. Twilight was confused for a moment, before she felt every ounce of strength in her just leave. Luckily, Rainbow was there to catch her, especially before the crowd noticed, and the two took their exit stage right while Lauren explained why she left. Twilight smiled, listening to the questions backstage, before she wrapped her arms around Rainbow. “I’m sorry. I know this should have just been for the two of us, but I needed to bring her.” Rainbow patted her on the head with a soft sigh. “Hey, you know I don’t mind. If it helps you, I’ll even let the pony version of me interrupt our dates.” Twilight chuckled a little as she laid her head on Rainbow’s thigh. “No… I don’t think this will happen again. Promise.” She then closed her eyes, and, for the first time so long, saw nothing in that darkness. No Sunset, no ponies, and certainly no world she needed to run to. Not anymore.