I walked with Twilight along the narrow path on the way to where the criminal was spotted, carrying a backpack containing supplies for the journey ahead of us.
As soon as we were done studying all the information on the criminal, we had packed and set out. We’d been walking for 3 days, using the occasional spell to hurry us along, and setting up camp every night not far from the near endless road to the dangerous man we had to capture.
“Sunset,” Twilight said, catching my attention and making me look up at her. “Something seems to be bothering you. What’s on your mind?”
I turned my head down again, and considered not answering truthfully, but I’d seen how that turned out when my boss did it, and decided against it. “Well...I know this sounds crazy, but I’m sorta wondering...if I deserve all this misery the rumour’s caused.” I scratched my head, waiting for what I was sure would be a big reaction.
Twilight didn’t disappoint. “What!?” She cried. “That’s ridiculous! You’ve changed so much since you abandoned your old ways that you’re basically a different person!”
I held my arm in a hand, and replied, “I know, it’s just that I’ve caused so much pain and suffering over the years to so many people, and I got so little punishment from the school which was at the epicenter of all of it. Or at least, a lot of it,” I added, thinking back to my days as a student of Princess Celestia.
Twilight’s eyebrows furrowed and she came closer to me. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Sunset. You’ve done a lot of good too, and you’re forgetting all the punishment other than that which you’ve wrongfully received. People who haven’t forgiven you treat you like dirt, new rumours about you keep sprouting out, and especially in the past week, you’ve had to suffer so much. I’m shocked that you’ve even gotten this far while remaining mostly strong.”
My spirits were lifted somewhat, but I still wasn't convinced and I argued, “You’re partially right, but you don’t know all the details of what I’ve done. You only know the basics. I was always frightening and threatening people, revealing the darkest secrets of anyone who stood up to me, I made basically everyone at school feel worse than trash, and I even resorted to heavy violence.” At that thought, I lowered my head even more than before, and went on. “One time, a couple of months after I'd started "ruling" the school, a team of magicians tried to end my “reign.” Obviously, that was before we went to that magic course and I properly learned how to use human magic, but I always had humongous raw power. Plus, I did have some basic skills from the training I got from Flash, so I defeated the team pretty easily.” Twilight raised an eyebrow, wondering who Flash was for a moment, then she realized he was that old boyfriend I’d mentioned a few times before. “I could’ve stopped there, and I wouldn’t have been that bad, but I decided to beat them up extremely badly to make a point. I thought it would keep any other potential threats away; but whatever motive I had, it was still a terrible thing to do. I even continued beating them up after they’d all been knocked unconscious. I actually gave them such a bad beat down that my attacks woke them up after they were knocked out. I at least let them escape then, though one did stay and tried to fight me, even though he had a bunch of injuries. He talked about how he couldn’t let me continue tormenting the school, and he dramatically told me his name was Shade Justice. He eventually ran away too after I pummeled him further. I wasn't exactly a fan of those heroes of goodness types back then, unfortunately for him.” I held my face in my hand for a moment after that, and sighed. Then I looked up to see Twilight's reaction.
Twilight was surprised, but she recovered and said, “I...see. That is pretty bad, but still. That was a completely different person. I know you don’t think it matters, but you went through a lot, and your terrible childhood is what shaped you into the person you were then.”
I shook my head. “So what? I’m the one who chose to let it shape me. There were so many chances for me to turn good, but it took 2 days of non-stop, very well thought out talking specifically meant to make me change my ways from you to convince me. And even then, I almost lost myself to the darkness.” Twilight looked like she wanted to speak, but I stopped her. “Before you go on about how it’s all fine, let me tell you about another terrible thing I did. There was one time when I was in Grade 10, at the point where everybody knew about me, when some random boy tried the same thing as the team of magicians.”
Twilight looked like she knew where this was going, and she bit her lip, a concerned expression on her face.
I kept talking, ignoring Twilight’s silent plea for me to stop. She needed to know the full extent of my evil. “He started off with a bold introduction, calling himself Shadow Comet, the future famous magician.” I chuckled, even though this was no laughing matter. When Twilight gave me a confused look, I explained. “Shadow was a cute, innocent boy, and his confidence mixed with his silliness was pretty funny, now that I think back to it. He wore really bright, colorful clothes to match his personality.” The smile disappeared from my face. “From my track record, I’m sure you can guess what happened next.”
Twilight nodded grimly, and I pursed my lips as I recalled the events of that day. “Well, to be specific, he gave a speech about how he’d defeat me, and defeat me again if I ever tried to take back the throne. I knew it didn’t work like that, but I didn’t bother telling him that. We fought, and he was actually a bit of a challenge. We had a conversation as we battled, regular sentences in-between magical incantations. It was fairly even, or at least until he brought up a sensitive subject.”
Twilight prepared herself for the full description, grimacing while partially closing her eyes. “He said that I got everything I wanted, and that it was completely undeserved. When he said that, I thought about all the things in my life that I didn’t have and that I’d lost...then I snapped.” I flinched at the thought, before resuming. “I overpowered him immediately after that, and I was so furious that I beat him up even more badly than I did the team of magicians, despite the fact that he had no idea that he’d done something wrong. He was strong, and he remained conscious, kept fighting back, even though it was futile. He probably had a wound on every inch of his body by the end of it, which was only when I had calmed down, and I left him there, half-dead. Even more than with the other magicians, I wanted to deeply apologize later. Even my thrashing of the magicians a year before had been somewhat justified, but with Shadow, I was just being an unreasonable brat. I heard that he moved away, and now I’ll never get to say sorry.” At those words, I stopped walking and fell down to my knees, clutching my arms. I started crying at the thought of my complete maliciousness.
Twilight stopped too, and she bent down, saying, “I know now that just telling you it’s gonna be okay isn’t enough." She paused briefly. "Look, I’ve been in a very similar situation as you before. With-,” she struggled to get her words out. “With Novel.”
I stopped crying and looked up with red eyes. Novel had been Twilight’s first crush, and was someone who had died many years ago.
“You know the story. Novel died while climbing a mountain. But I never told you the details.” I was curious. What could be so bad that it made that situation similar to what I did? “I’ve always thought that Novel was trying to do that to impress me, since he seemed to like me too.” It was a bit weird hearing my girlfriend say that, but I continued listening. “So that means if I never met him, it wouldn’t have happened. I know I shouldn’t blame myself for his death, but I can’t help it. There was so much I still wanted to tell him, so many opportunities to be together that we'd never be able to act on, and I would’ve done anything to stop his death. And I tried. But the time travel spells I found weren’t powerful enough to let me do what I wanted to do.”
We were both silent for a few seconds, one another’s deepest guilt weighing heavily on our minds (though what I did was still far worse than her). Then I spoke. “I guess we both need to get over some problems.”
“Yeah, I guess we do,” Twilight agreed.
I’m not sure exactly how it happened, but we just sorta gazed into each other’s eyes and slowly moved toward each other, until our lips were firmly pressed together, and we had our arms wrapped around each other. It was bliss. My mind relaxed and all my worries and guilt flowed out of it.
After a minute that felt too short, we reluctantly ended the kiss and stared at each other for a while, smiles on both of our faces. Twilight broke the silence, looking at my grin. “So I guess you’re feeling better too?” My smile widened and I nodded.
The perfect moment was shattered by a ringing sound. Twilight realized it was the magical journey which I had originally owned (but I gave it to Twilight after I realized she would have way more use for it than me) that she had packed in her bag just in case she needed it. She did officially live with me, but she still had to keep in contact with Equestria in case of an emergency or meeting she needed to attend. Twilight was a Princess and the living embodiment of an Element of Harmony after all. She reached into her backpack and took the book out. She read what was written there, then she closed the book and put it back in her bag, a frown on her face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“A very powerful monster has started terrorizing Equestria, and I’m needed there.”
My eyes widened, then I hung my head, my smile gone. “I understand. I guess we should head back then so you can go,” I said, turning around, my mood being completely reversed in less than a minute.
“Wait!” Twilight called. I turned back around. “I...think it can wait a few more days.”
I shook my head vehemently. “Don’t be ridiculous. You have to get to the portal before it closes.”
“Actually, if my calculations are correct, the portal will open in a few days, meaning it certainly won’t close before we get there.”
“Still,” I argued. “Every minute you spend here on this mission to cheer me up, is another minute this new threat is attacking Equestria. There are plenty of other missions we can go on later.”
Twilight flinched, then reluctantly said, “Uh, actually, I haven’t mentioned it, but…” She paused for a long moment. “I’ve been thinking about switching jobs and becoming a scientist.”
I was shocked into silence briefly. “You can’t be serious.”
Twilight morosely said, “Yes, I am. I love this job and it lets me spend more time with you, but I’ve always had a huge passion for science.”
I couldn’t believe it. I wondered if I was hallucinating. “But, but, this is so sudden! In all the time I’ve struggled throughout the past week, I thought about the fact that you’d be by my side the whole time and I’d feel better. Now you’re telling me that you’ll be at a lab most of the day, and I’ll barely see you!?” I knew I was acting a bit bratty, but you have to realize how much a revelation like that would sting after all the hardships I’d been through recently, especially since Twilight was my only true friend (I had several other friends, but they weren't nearly as close to me as Twilight was).
Twilight looked a bit hesitant. “We'll still see each other, and this mission should cheer you up. I will finish this mission with you, and you can avoid crowds until they stop gathering.”
I wasn’t really listening. I was just imagining how hellish life could be without Twilight by my side. Without really thinking about it, I ran off into a nearby forest.