Starlight Glimmer walked back into Sunset's bedroom, having changed into a spare pair of orange pajamas. It turned out they weren't exactly the same size—the bottoms were a little short in the legs—and the ensemble definitely wasn't her color. But given that she'd come through the mirror wearing literally nothing, she figured she'd come out ahead in the fashion department.
As she walked in, Sunset, wearing her own black pajamas patterned with her cutie mark, sized her up. "Yeah, definitely not your color. We'll go shopping tomorrow—" She snapped her fingers. "Better idea. Rarity first, then shopping. I'm sure she'll have a million brainstorms about your color scheme. I don't think she's run into it before."
Two of everyone, Starlight reminded herself. "Still haven't found the other me in this world, eh? Guess I'm one of a kind."
Sunset grinned. "Now you're thinking like a Shimmer."
Starlight grinned back. "I'll take that as a compliment. For now. Anyway, Rarity visit definitely sounds like a plan." She turned to walk over to the sofa bed—which Sunset had already pulled out and made while Starlight had been changing—but then turned back. "Sunset?"
Sunset looked up from her phone, where she had been busily texting. "What's up?"
Hands behind her back, Starlight shuffled over to Sunset, looking in either direction before just looking ahead of herself towards her friend. "I just... I really wanted to thank you. For everything tonight. When I first wrote to you in Twilight's book, I thought it was because I just wanted to run away from everything. And that might have been part of it, but not all. Maybe I..." She hesitated, then decided to just push ahead. "Maybe I just missed you. Maybe a part of me just... knew something, felt something, the last time we met, but couldn't really place it. And tried to tell me that spending more time together was just the right thing to do because we had a lot we could talk about—" Starlight put her hand to her forehead. "Sorry, rambling, trying to make sense of this, ugh, forget it. What I mean is... thanks for understanding me. And... for saying those things. I appreciate it."
Sunset closed the distance between them, and brought Starlight's hand down, holding it. "I missed you too," she said. "Take what I said to heart, and we'll call it even."
Starlight fought with a Rockhoofian effort to speak through her burning cheeks. "I'll do my absolute best."
"Great. And remember, this is just day one of your vacay. Let's see if we can't get to the heart of your emotions while you're here... and then you can start making some decisions." Sunset let go, walking back to her bed. "We won't be able to do that without rest, though."
Sunset was right. Starlight walked back to the sofa bed, pulled back the covers, and crawled inside. Soon, she saw the light go out, leaving only the faintest light of the moon in the room. She closed her eyes.
After an indeterminate amount of time, as Starlight floated in the limbo of consciousness, she heard Sunset's voice, soft and close by. "Hey. Hey, Starlight. Are you asleep yet?"
Starlight opened her eyes and turned around to see Sunset sitting on the arm of a sofa. "Anyone ever tell you you're a ninja?" she groaned.
"Couple of times. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's all right." Starlight propped herself up on one elbow. "What's up?"
"I've just been thinking about all this," Sunset said. "And about us. And I realized something. As crazy as the Elements of Harmony drove me, they also were a guiding force, showing me what I had the potential to be, one day. They gave me blueprints, and something to work towards. But... you haven't had that. You've never had that. We both have friends by our side, but you've otherwise had to figure out who you can be, all on your own, all your life, and even now."
Starlight nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's true." She scoffed. "Wow, Glimmer. Never an easy moment for you, huh?"
Sunset chuckled. "I guess not. But what I mean is, don't feel bad about your progress, ever. Because it's always progress. Making one's own path in life is never easy. I'm only learning that now, but that's always been your thing. And I think you're very brave to take on the challenge." She stood up. "That's all that was on my mind. Good night, Starlight." She walked back to her bed.
"Night, Sunset," Starlight said, as the two snuggled back into their beds, and went back to sleep.