//------------------------------// // Three // Story: Repercussions // by shallow15 //------------------------------// “And then we all covered the whole place in nacho cheese!” Pinkie finished. “Isn't that the weirdest dream you've ever heard, Sunset?” Sunset, naturally, didn't respond. Pinkie, sitting in a chair next to her friend's hospital bed, leaned forward and took Sunset's hand. “I know you're still in there,” she said quietly. “I know it. And I know you'll come back. You need us as much as we need you. It's not as fun with you not around.” There was a knock on the door. Pinkie quickly wiped her eyes and turned to see who had arrived. She blinked when Moondancer walked into the room, holding a small bunch of flowers. “Hi,” Moondancer gave a small wave. “I thought I would come by to see Sunset. That's okay, isn't it?” Pinkie gawked for a few more seconds, then snapped out of her astonishment. “Sure, Moondancer, come on in.” Moondancer walked into the room and placed the flowers on the windowsill, then turned back. Pinkie stood up and gestured to the chair. “Here, you can sit down if you want.” “No, I'm fine.” The two girls stood in awkward silence for a few moments. Moondancer kept looking from Sunset to Pinkie and then back to Sunset. She took a few steps closer to the bed, watching Sunset. “I messed up,” she whispered. She raised a fist to her mouth and began gnawing on her thumbnail. “I messed up so badly.” Pinkie walked over and put a hand on Moondancer's shoulder. “Are you okay?” “I didn't mean for all this to happen. I just wanted her to understand. She hurt so many people. So many of my friends. I just wanted her to realize what she did.” “Did you ever talk to her after she changed?” Pinkie asked. Moondancer looked over at her. “No,” she answered. “I didn't believe it. Even after the Dazzlings, and the Friendship Games, I didn't believe she changed. I thought it was just a big con. That all she was doing was keeping everyone else off her turf.” Pinkie looked at the sorrowful expression on Moondancer's face. She bit her lip as a thought came to her. “What happened between the two of you?” Moondancer looked back down at Sunset. “She hurt someone close to me. A couple of weeks after the Battle of the Bands, she forgave her. Said she knew she was making an effort to change. I don't think Sunset ever knew. But, I didn't – couldn't agree with her.” Moondancer took off her glasses and wiped her eyes. “I don't know why I'm here. She can't hear me. She can't see me. She doesn't even know I'm here.” “She can hear you,” said Pinkie. “She's still in there. Applejack and Fluttershy saw her.” “How?” Moondancer replaced her glasses. “How can you know that?” “The magic.” Pinkie held up her geode. “We don't really know how it works, but these connect us. Flutters and AJ used them and they saw her.” Moondancer stared at Pinkie. “Is... is she okay?” Pinkie's face fell. “We don't know. She was fighting something that looked like her. It managed to kick them back out. When we all got back in, she was gone.” Moondancer looked back at Sunset. “How is that possible?” “I don't know,” Pinkie also looked down at Sunset. “But I know she's still in there. She's tough. She fights. She fights all the time.” Moondancer frowned. “I don't follow you.” Pinkie gave a sad smile. “She's always fighting. Fighting to prove she's better. Fighting to keep herself from going back to who she was. Fighting to figure out how the magic works and how to keep it from being a bad thing. “She fights for all of us. Whenever we're feeling down, or scared, or lonely, she's there. She's a fighter. She always has been. That's how I know she's still there. Because she won't stop fighting to get back.” Pinkie looked up, her eyes shining with tears of pride. “She didn't start out that way, but Sunset Shimmer is the best friend anyone could have. Because she'll fight for you, she'll fight with you, and she never, ever, gives up until she's won. She may have always done that, but now, she's fighting for more than herself. She has other, better things to fight for. And when she fights this and wins, I'm gonna have the biggest welcome back party for her you've ever seen.” “Wow,” Moondancer blinked, surprised at the outpouring of emotion from the pink haired party girl. “You really think that much of her? After everything she's done in the past?” “She told us something once, a few weeks after the Battle of the Bands. 'My past is not today.' I dunno how she came up with it, but it's true. Her past really isn't today. She's not the person she was when she first came here. She's not even the person she was after the Fall Formal.” “How do you mean?” “After the Fall Formal, she was nervous. Scared, even. So sure everyone was going to turn on her after what she did. Now, she's confident again. But it's not the mean, selfish confidence she used to have. It's brighter, happier. And that's why I can't understand why some people think it's all an act.” Moondancer looked at Pinkie, a strange expression on her face. “Maybe... maybe it's because they haven't seen it like you have. Maybe they missed part of that. Maybe they –“ Moondancer's sentence was interrupted by a loud cartoonish “sproing!” Pinkie blushed and pulled out her phone. “Sorry. Forgot to silence it. Do you mind?” Moondancer let out a small laugh. “Go ahead. Don't mind me.” “Thanks!” Pinkie looked down at her phone. Her text message icon had a small number one on top of it, indicating a new message. She tapped the icon. Her loud gasp of astonishment caused Moondancer to let out a yelp of surprise. She whirled around only to find Pinkie staring at her in shock and disbelief. “Pinkie?” Moondancer stepped forward, frowning. “Are you all right? What's wrong?” Eyes wide, Pinkie walked forward and handed Moondancer her phone. The other girl took it and looked down at the text that had just arrived from Rainbow Dash. “Oh no,” she murmured.