“So, what did you think about your first Pinkie Pie slumber party on the other side?” I asked as we stepped out of the cottage, the warmth of the sun bathing my coat.
Fluttershy shook her wings for a moment and sighed in contentment.“It was interesting. It’s unreal how alike they are to our friends here.”
I nodded, stopping for a moment. The glittering walls of Twilight’s castle were visible in the distance.
“Are you ok, Sunset?”
I nodded absently. “I’m still puzzled by your transformation.” I looked at her as we turned the bend into Ponyville. “We’ve known that the bat has always been there, on the fringes, but you’ve been able to keep her in check lately.”
“And you’re worried that she may slip free again and wreak havoc?”
I shook my head. “I trust you, Shy, you know that.” I glanced again at the glittering spire of Twilight’s castle. “But you know she still thinks of it as a curse. One that she inflicted on you. How long do you think it’ll be until she starts going Twily-nanas again over a cure?”
Fluttershy sighed, her wings rippling. “Should I talk to her?”
I shook my head and pecked her on the cheek.
“No, I’ll do it. I might be able to get through to her.”
When I stepped into the library, I had to stop for a moment. Books laid around haphazardly, scrolls and scraps of paper were strewn about, and an uncharacteristically subdued Twilight was flipping through a bundle of papers, barely looking at their contents. Her mane was mussed and her eyes had bags large enough to carry Rarity’s daily shopping.
“Is this a bad time?” I asked.
“Sunset! No, what can I do for you?”
I went and sat down in front of her desk. “How long have we been friends, Twilight?”
“Three years, four months, ten days…”
I waved a hoof, cutting her off. “And how long have I been back in Equestria?”
“Eighteen months tomorrow.”
“Already?” I murmured. “And do you trust me now?”
“I trust you! I trust all my friends.”
“No, you don’t.” I said flatly.
I doubt she could’ve been any more shocked if I had revealed that I was a Changeling right then and there. She just stared, jaw working like she was trying to say something.
“If you really trusted us, you wouldn’t have spent months trying to find a way to reverse the spell on Fluttershy. Especially after we told you that we were fine and had her condition under control, and especially after it helped save you two nights ago.” I floated a scroll over and skimmed the hastily written notes in the margins. “Keegin’s Sphere of Annulment? Really, Twilight?”
“It works to neutralize curses and hexes on ponies. I thought that maybe…”
“Twilight, stop. Please.” I lowered the scroll and looked at her. “Fluttershy and I are fine. We have it under control and it doesn’t matter! Why are you so determined to try to change that?”
Her wings flared as she stood, an anguished look on her face. “Because it’s my fault!”
I blinked. “What?”
“It’s my fault, Sunset!” She slumped down to the floor. “I made Fluttershy endure countless nights of transforming into a monster, and it’s my responsibility to fix it!”
Tears streamed down her muzzle and she hung her head. Her voice dropped to near nothing.
“And I keep failing her.”
I approached her and draped a foreleg over her withers. “You aren’t failing her, Twilight. You’ve been there for her. It isn’t some countercurse that kept her strong in the nights, it was knowing that you stayed by her side despite it. And now she has a hold on her feral side and has come to accept it.”
“Accept that she could become a monster?”
“Sunny won’t let that happen, Twilight,” came a soft voice from the door.
I looked up to see Fluttershy standing there.
She walked in, a soft smile on her face. “Neither will Starlight, or Applejack. And I know you feel sorry for what happened, but you don’t bear any responsibility for me.”
She came over and sat on the other side of Twilight, draping a wing across her back.
“And you don’t need to feel sorry. I’m happier now than I have been for a long time. That’s how I stay in control. My friends give me strength and support and keep me centered.”
Twilight clung to her, tears leaking free.“But it bothers me, Fluttershy.”
“I know it does,” the soft voice was barely audible. “But I forgave you a long time ago, and if it hadn’t happened, I would never have been able to get together with Sunset. Can you at least try to forgive yourself, for me?”
We held our friend tightly as she cried herself out.
I laid in bed that night, snuggled close to Fluttershy. The moon shone into our window with an argent glow, glinting across our manes.
“Do you think she’s accepted it?” she asked.
“Maybe. She at least cleaned up the library.” I sighed and ran a hoof along her side. “But who knows how long until it sets in.”
“We’ll just have to be patient. After all, look at how long it took her to relax enough to go to the spa with Rarity and I.”
“True,” I murmured, feeling sleep tug at my eyes.
“Sunny?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“Love you too Fluttershy.”