A few weeks passed with little incident. Most days were the same as the first, when nobody really talked to me or asked me any questions. I still hadn’t heard from the police, although I felt that I should’ve heard something by that point. Of course, Henry wasn’t in school, not that I expected him to be. I’m certain it caught the attention of some of the other students, but still, nobody said anything about it. Maybe they already knew, or maybe they just didn’t care. Either way, my life continued on as though nothing had ever changed, but I was beginning to appreciate the monotony of everyday life.
Although school was the same thing, day in and day out, working on the farm with Applejack and her family had begun to grow on me. The simplicity of growing your own food and raising your own livestock seemed to peak my interest. I would find myself asking question after question about why we do things a certain way, or how long any given chore would take to do properly. I had actually found that most of the time, I would take my time to do things correctly rather than rushing through the tasks to get them over with as quickly as possible. Maybe it was because I felt like a guest in their home, like I needed to earn my keep, and if I did a bad job, then I would be tossed out onto the street. I knew this wasn’t the case, obviously. Applejack would never do that to me. But still, I tended to lean on her more than I would’ve liked to at that time. Most of my questions were directed towards her and, though she assured me countless times they never bothered her, I sometimes felt like a lost child. I had no idea what I was doing the majority of the time, so Applejack often volunteered to guide me through the process. I enjoyed her company, but sometimes I felt like a burden. I could only hope that she was being honest when she said she enjoyed mine as well.
Twilight had returned to school every day following my first day back, but refused to give me any explanation for her absence, always redirecting the question or changing the subject completely. I wasn’t a fool, though, and could see as clear as day that it was because she still blamed herself for what had happened. ‘If she had never asked for help,’ I thought, ‘Then none of this ever would have happened, right?’ Maybe. Or maybe not. There was no way to tell now. I wished I could break through to her and tell her that I don’t blame her for anything, but every time I tried to tell her I would be met with, “I know, Sky.”
How long would it be until everything truly returned to normal? Would things ever go back to the way they were? Probably not. There was only the future to look forward to, but that was looking brighter and brighter, as long as I could bring Twilight into the shining sun’s warmth.
“Sky?” I heard a voice suddenly break through my thoughts. “Are you even listening?”
I blinked to clear the dryness from my eyes, and was met with the return of several gazes. “What?”
“Pinkie was saying that we should throw a Halloween party, and we all thought it was a marvelous idea!” Rarity returned, excitement filling her voice. “I would absolutely love to design some costumes!”
“And all the party games are going to be super-duper fun!” Pinkie cheered from the other side of the table.
“Yeah!” Rainbow interjected. “Don’t forget the food Pinkie and Sky are making for us!”
“Wait!” I jumped into the conversation. “When did I get volunteered for that?”
“You kind of deserve it for blankin’ out like that, Sky,” Applejack stated simply, and was met with a murmur of agreement from the rest of the table.
“I don’t think that really means I should be in charge of food, but okay,” I sighed. I figured there was no point in trying to worm my way out of it at that point, since all of the girls seemed to be on board with it.
“Oh, you won’t forget Angel Bunny’s dessert, will you?” Fluttershy stared at me with the greatest puppy-dog eyes I had ever seen.
I sighed again. “Don’t worry, I won’t forget about him,” A bright smile lifted my spirits on the matter. I glanced towards the end of the table where Twilight was sitting quietly, simply reading a book she had pulled from her backpack. We had all spent the first few days trying to initiate a conversation with her, but rarely received more than a few words or a blank smile in response. There were a handful of times that I caught her looking in our direction as we talked, but her eyes quickly darted away as soon as they met mine.
Rarity seemed to catch my eyes and followed my gaze to the girl. She quietly spoke towards me, as to not disturb the conversation going on around us. “Do you think she’ll want to join us?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, but there’s not really any harm in asking, right?” She simply nodded in response as I lifted my head towards Twilight. “Hey, Twilight,” I spoke loudly enough to catch the attention of the girls around us, who each turned to face the purple-haired girl as she lifted her head towards my voice, face as blank as ever. “Do you want to come to our Halloween party?”
“It’ll be lots of fun,” Applejack added.
Twilight opened her mouth in response, but was quickly cut off by Pinkie. “Yeah! There’ll be cake and ice cream and games and costumes and-”
“I think she gets it, Pinkie,” Rainbow stated.
“I’ll help design your costume, if you like, Dear,” Rarity smiled at her.
Twilight stayed quiet for a moment before Fluttershy spoke up. “It won’t be the same without you...” We all turned to face Fluttershy, who sheepishly hid behind a wall of hair. “I mean… not that we-”
“Sure,” Twilight spoke up to catch our attention. “I’ll go. I… don’t really have anything better to do, anyway,” Her face was as blank as when we first caught her attention, and it quietly turned back to face her book after stating her answer.
We all stared for just another moment before turning back to our own conversation. “Well,” Rarity began, “I didn’t think she would say ‘yes.’”
“Yeah, me neither,” Applejack agreed.
“At least we finally got her to talk to us,” Rainbow started. “I mean, it’s been weeks!”
“Yeah, I know,” I flatly assured. “But now we have to make sure this party is perfect. Hey, Pinkie?” The pink puff perked up to my voice. “Do you mind if I invite a couple of other people?”
----------
The night had finally arrived, after only a couple of weeks of anticipation. I’ll admit that I was rather excited about the party. It would be fun to actually get a chance to do something fun with the girls, since the only time I got to see any of them, apart from Applejack, was during school. But even if I lived with her, our chores tended to keep us preoccupied the majority of the time.
Rarity had generously offered to help make my outfit, as I soon learned she offered to everyone. I tried to avoid her assistance, stating that a store-bought costume would be just fine, but she insisted that a handmade costume is the “only way to truly experience the joy of Halloween.” So she helped me design a simple pirate costume. Well, I thought it would have been simple, but Rarity had a way of making absolutely everything to sheer perfection. It was complete with an eye patch, which I had flipped onto my forehead at every other moment, a bandana, captain’s hat, trenchcoat, boots, belt, and even a holster and sheathe for a toy flintlock and sword I bought, because I refused to let her do everything.
After questioning her about it, Pinkie confessed that she refused Rarity’s help, stating that she already had the perfect costume for the occasion. Thinking on her cooking skills and interests, I assumed she might have a gingerbread costume, or maybe even a chef’s outfit. But after arriving to help make some of the food for the party, I was met with a Pinkie-sized chicken. She was feathery, and her outfit was completed by her skintight chicken legs and her beak, which nearly poked my good eye out at first sight.
It didn’t take long to finish most of the food. Pinkie admitted that she got excited and did most of it beforehand. I didn’t mind, especially since there appeared to be more than we all could ever eat in one sitting.
Pinkie and I were putting some of the finishing touches on some of the cakes and desserts when the door to Sugarcube Corner let out a jingle as the first guest stepped into the building. I dropped my icing bag and peered around the corner to see Fluttershy and Rarity make their way into the room, Angel Bunny sitting snugly in Fluttershy’s arms.
I noted that Fluttershy was in a blue bunny costume, with a bunny-eared hood over her head. It was simple, which suited her. Rarity, on the other hand, was dressed in a seashell top with a long, fishtail dress, which was ornately decorated with more shells and starfish, and her hair was neatly decorated with another shell holding it in place.
“Oh, hey!” I shouted towards the pair as they made their way towards me. “We’re just finishing up some of the food, but everyone else should be here soon,” I stepped back into the kitchen as the two followed.
“Oh, I hope we aren’t too early...” Fluttershy mumbled.
“Nonsense!” Rarity exclaimed, “If anything, we can- good heavens! How much did you two think we would eat?” Rarity’s expression on the mere sight of the buffet would have been enough of a sign of her shock.
“Don’t look at me!” I stated. “Pinkie started on most of it before I even got here!”
“Yep!” Pinkie seemed more cheerful at their surprise than I was. “I didn’t know what everyone liked, so I tried to make everything!”
Fluttershy made an attempt at a response, but was quickly interrupted by Angel Bunny trying to pry himself from her arms towards a cake sitting nearby. It had a carrot crudely drawn on the top with icing. Fluttershy’s eyes furrowed. “Oh, is that…?”
“Yeah, that’s Angel’s dessert,” She seemed to look at me rather crossly for someone as softspoken as she was. “Don’t worry, we did the research and made sure to make it safe and healthy for him,” Her expression softened.
“Well,” Rarity spoke up, “Now that we’re here ahead of schedule, is there anything that still needs to be done?”
I turned towards her voice and smiled. “Actually, there are just a few things...”
----------
It wasn’t long before the other girls had arrived, Twilight being the last to show up. All of their costumes were well thought out and well designed, and I was certain that Rarity at least had a small part in all of them. Rainbow Dash wore a rainbow-themed soccer uniform, with “Dash” written across the back. Applejack dressed as a scarecrow, with jeans and a flannel shirt that looked to be overflowing with hay and straw. Her hat was replaced by a similar-looking one made of straw. Twilight was dressed as a bearded wizard in starry robes, along with a similarly themed wizard’s hat. When none of us recognized the name of the character, she said simply, “He’s from a book I read a while ago.”
After almost everyone had arrived, Pinkie officially declared that the party had started, but my eyes were fixed on the clock. “Yeah, it’s starting at six,” But the clock read almost six-thirty.
Through all the commotion, I heard Applejack speak up behind me. “Do you think they’ll really come?”
I turned at the sudden voice that ripped me away from my thoughts before shrugging. “I thought they would.”
“Maybe they-”
The ringing bell of the door cut her off. We all turned to see a girl wearing black, striped, victorian-era pants, covered by a black and white top of the same style. On her head a sat a mini top hat with a pair of goggles wrapped around it. At the sudden attention, she gripped the cane in her hands tight against the frills on her skirt, compressing them to her thighs.
Rarity was the first to speak up. “Uh, hello there. Do we-”
“This is Jenna!” I quickly spoke up and made my way towards the suddenly timid girl. “She’s one of the other people I mentioned I wanted to invite. She’s one of my other friends and I’m trying to help her… you know… make more friends.”
Everyone, save for one girl in particular, seemed to be satisfied enough with my excuse. “Oh!” Rarity broke the silence. “Well then, allow us to introduce ourselves!”
Through their introductions, I looked towards Twilight, who had made her way towards the back of the room towards a seat, hat tipped down in front of her face. Deciding that Jenna had suddenly made five more acquaintances, I excused myself to talk to Twilight.
I brushed through the sudden crowd that had gathered around the new face, and towards Twilight. “Hey, uh,” I tried to make myself known before getting too close. “Everything okay?”
She looked up at me, eyes narrowed, staring through my own. “No, Sky, everything is not okay. How could you invite her here? Why would you even bring her here?”
I stood firmly, my feet shifting a bit on the wooden floor. “Look, she’s not really as bad as-”
“As bad as what? As bad as I made her out to be? You were the one who told me about everything she’s done to everyone!” She tried to keep her voice below a shout, but it was quickly building to that level. I didn’t have to turn around to know that the others had already begun noticing the argument. “And now you think just because you bring her to a party that I didn’t even want to go to-”
“If you didn’t want to come, then why did you?” My voice slowly began raising to match Twilight’s, although I couldn’t be sure why.
“I don’t know, Sky!” She jumped up to meet me face-to-face as her body tensed beneath her starry robe. “Maybe it’s because I wanted to give friendship another chance, or maybe because my mentor told me I shouldn’t be so hard on everyone, including myself, but now I see that we were both wrong! Do you have any idea what she said to me? What she did to me?”
My expression softened. It was then that I realized that Twilight had never actually told me what Jenna had done to her. The only thing that she told me was that Jenna was bullying her, but she never specified how. “What did she do?”
She rolled her eyes in response. “Oh, now you want to know, now that you realize that you’re in the wrong, now that you’re the bad guy, not the victim. Now that everyone looks down on you for even a second, you act like you actually care about me. All you want is to make yourself look good, Sky, just like everybody else. Just like all the other ‘friends’ I’ve ever had!”
I didn’t respond. Was she right? It never crossed my mind to think about what Jenna had ever actually done to Twilight. No, that couldn’t be it. I was perfectly happy living my life of solitude. If I never talked to Jenna… The anger began to fill my veins once again. “Twilight, I got shot because I was trying to help you!”
Twilight reeled back, her expression instantly changing into a wide-eyed shock. However it wasn’t until the tears began welling up in her eyes that I realized what I had said, and at that moment I would’ve given up anything to take those words back. But there was nothing I could do. “Twilight, I...”
She backed away from my touch, and hid her face again as she pushed by me, sliding through the spectators as she made her way towards the door, the bell ringing as she pushed past a lanky Pikachu in glasses. “Uh, what did I miss?” Jingle said as he turned back to the group, which slowly looked back in my direction. A mixture of sorrow and disgust filled each of the girls’ faces.
I looked back in horror at each of them. “I… I didn’t…” But the words never came out. I could only hide my face in my hand as my body slid limp onto the chair that Twilight once sat in.
There was a moment of silence before I heard Jenna speak up. “I’ll try to talk to her.”
“Quite frankly,” Applejack spoke sternly, “From the sounds of it, right after Sky, I think you’re the last person Twilight wants to talk to right now.”
“Don’t worry, I know exactly what to say,” Following the tapping of boots on the floor, I heard the bell ring once again. After a few brief moments that seemed to last ages, I heard the girls try to continue whatever conversations they had before our outburst.
I tried to tune them out. I knew I was the topic of their conversations, specifically what I had said. I hadn’t meant it, but in that moment, it was all I could say in my own defense. How could she stand there before everyone and try to tell me that I wasn’t really her friend? Of course I was her friend. At least, I tried to be. But ever since that day, she made it a point to have nothing to do with any of us. The party was the only chance I had at making things better between us, and I had gone and blown it all away with a simple screw-up.
That was one of the few moments in my life that I could truly say I was lost. I had no idea what to do, where to go, who to turn to, or what to say. I felt like everyone hated me, not just Twilight. They all knew what I said was wrong, just as much as I did, but if any of them were in that same situation, would they have done the same thing? I told myself they wouldn’t have. They would have found a way out, and even made up with Twilight. Twilight would have been best friends with every single one of them by that point, but all I could do was prove her right to have ignored me for the past couple of months.
I felt like I wanted to cry, but nothing would come out. Twilight could say what she wanted, but deep down I knew we were friends, even if she didn’t think so. But I couldn’t be sure about that anymore.
“Sky,” I nearly jumped at the sudden voice next to me. I looked through my hands to see Rainbow Dash sitting next to me, trying to make eye contact, but quickly glancing away every time our eyes would meet. “Uh, you sure have a way with words, huh?” A little chuckle filled the silence, but was quickly followed by a “Rainbow!” from nearly everyone else in the room.
Applejack spoke up in her place. “Sky, look up at us,” I begrudgingly complied. “Look, obviously the rest of us know you didn’t mean it like it sounded, but sittin’ in here mopin’ isn’t going to convince Twilight any more than Jenna out there talkin’ to her for you is.”
“That’s right, Darling,” Rarity said, “Why don’t you go out there and try to apologize?”
I felt a pressure on my leg and glanced down to see Angel bunny sitting on my lap staring up at me through my arms. His expression seemed to match that of everyone else.
“Sky,” I looked back up to see Jingle looking at me, but he quickly turned away at the attention. “I still don’t really know what’s going on here, and I feel a little out of place right now, but it’s not really like you to give up like this.”
“Yeah!” Pinkie exclaimed. “If Twilight’s sad about not having any friends, shouldn’t you go out there and prove to her that not everybody is like her other, mean friends?”
“I don’t really-” I was quickly cut off.
“You know,” Rainbow spoke from beside me. “We’re not going to let you off the hook until you at least try to talk to her, Sky,” The others nodded and murmured in agreement. Somehow I knew they were telling the truth.
I sighed, wiping any wetness from my eyes with the palm of my hands. “Fine, but I just want you all to know,” I rose to my feet. “I really don’t like any of you right now for making me do this.”
“Well,” Fluttershy said as I brushed past the small group, “What kind of friends would we be if we didn’t push you out of your comfort zone every now and then?” She sheepishly smiled, as did everyone else.
I smiled back as I pushed open the door, the little bell ringing above my head once more.
I heard Jenna talking softly to Twilight as I stepped out of the building. Looking towards the road, I could see several of the girls’ vehicles. The setting sun coated each of them in a warm glow, and made distinguishing them difficult from color alone. I turned towards the pair and noticed that Twilight was avoiding eye contact. Even so, Jenna was trying desperately to meet her gaze to no avail.
Deciding it a good time to intervene, I stepped forward and made my presence known. Jenna turned to face me, yet Twilight barely budged at the sound of my voice, which suddenly felt weak and shaken. “Hey Jenna, do you mind if I try to talk to Twilight a bit?”
Jenna nodded as she rose to her feet. She had been kneeling beside Twilight as I went outside, who was seated on the grass just beside the building. Jenna spoke quietly as she walked by me towards the entrance. “I don’t know if what I said made any difference, but at least she heard me out.”
I nodded as I waited for the ringing of the bell, then took the moment of silence to seat myself beside Twilight, who still hadn’t so much as glanced in my general direction.
I simply waited for just a few moments, hoping Twilight would be the first to speak, although every ounce of me knew there was no way she would say more than a word to me after what had just happened. Still, I waited.
I stared off into the sunset, watching the flaming mass slowly disappear over the horizon. After a couple of minutes, I heard shifting from my side, and glanced over to see Twilight look up from the ground, following my gaze towards the vanishing sun. Even from the second that I saw her face, I could tell that she had been crying. I could only imagine that she had just managed to dry her tears as I made myself known.
She knew what I wanted to say, I was certain. She knew that I would apologize, and tell her that I didn’t intend for what I said to hurt her the way it did. I knew that she expected me to say that I still thought of us as friends, although we hadn’t had more than a passing greeting in the couple of months prior.
I found my lips moving before I had finished deciding what would be the best way to say what I had been thinking about. “Twilight, I’m sorry about what I said. The last thing I want is for you to think any of that was your fault.”
“I know. But I can’t help but think that it is,” She spoke so calmly, as if we were having a normal conversation about anything else. I could only wish I was mimicking her demeanor.
“Even if I had never talked to Jenna that day, she would have found me out and confronted me herself. Did she tell you about her, and me, and… Henry?” She simply nodded, still keeping her gaze towards the fading light. “Well, she wanted us to all be friends again, but that could never happen now. She would have found me, then tried to get us to make up in the same way, then Henry would be there and… shoot me… Just like how it happened the first time,” I turned my head to face her. As I did, I noticed a slight quiver in her lip. “But you know what?” She turned towards me suddenly, and I could see the wetness returning to her eyes in the setting sun. “Somehow I’m happier that things happened this way. I feel proud knowing that I was trying to help a friend when all of this happened,” I smiled a bit before letting out a chuckle. “Regardless of what you or anyone else has to say about it, I know that I did it to help somebody in need.”
She giggled before wiping the tears from her eyes. She turned back to face the sun, as did I. “I’m sorry too, Sky. I didn’t really mean that you were only being nice to show off. But… I do wish you’d have told me that you were inviting her.”
“Would you have come if I did?” She stayed quiet, but I knew her answer. “I think Jenna decided to try and change her ways, especially after what happened. I think…” I paused, trying to piece together my own thoughts. “I think she realized that… it’s better to be with friends, and people who care about you through the hard times… than it is to be alone and numb to the world,” I looked back at Twilight, who turned back to face my eyes. “Don’t be mad, but I think you and her have a lot in common, from the sound of it.”
She smiled. “You know, after talking to her for the few minutes that we were out here, she really doesn’t seem so bad. Just… lost,” Her eyes faced the ground once again. “But you’re right. It’s better to be hurt with friends than to feel nothing by yourself,” Twilight paused, recollecting her own thoughts. “It reminds you that you’re alive.”
“Exactly,” I agreed.
We were quiet for a moment more, simply caught up in our own thoughts on the matter. Twilight broke the silence. “Sky?” I turned towards her once again. “Do you think people can change?”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t think anybody really changes. I think people are who they are, but sometimes they wear a mask to hide who they are. You might go your whole life thinking you know a person, only for them to take off the mask and prove you wrong,” She looked back at me. “And people only take off the mask if they’re scared.”
Twilight’s eyes darted towards the ground, and I watched her brow twitch before returning her attention to the horizon. I followed her lead. We sat that way a while, looking at the quickly vanishing sun. It had nearly gone for the day by that point. I wasn’t sure why Twilight had asked me such a strange, seemingly random question. Did she think Jenna might be truly changing? Did she think it was for the better, or possibly for the worse? Was Jenna still wearing her mask, or was this her true self? Was it even about Jenna at all? Maybe Twilight was afraid she didn’t really know me, or maybe she wanted to try to change herself and be our friend. As much as I would have liked, Twilight’s mind was the one thing I could never make any sense of. Maybe it was best that way.
“I think we should go back inside now,” Twilight said suddenly.
“Oh?” I rolled my head towards her. “But I was just getting comfortable.”
She smirked at me. “Very funny. But I would hate for everyone to continue thinking I’m upset over something so stupid.”
I smiled. “Yeah, I’m sure everyone wants to get a chance to talk to you after all this time. You might not believe it, but,” I rose to my feet, and grabbed Twilight’s outstretched hand, pulling her up as well. “We all really missed talking to you. It was just like you were a totally different person.”
Although she tried to hide it, I watched her cheeks turn rosy. “I know. I’m sorry.”
I nudged her arm to catch her attention. “Trust me when I say that it’s okay,” I led the way towards the door. “I just think everyone will be glad to have you back.”